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No current media buyout plans: Moser BaerYogesh Mathur, Group CFO, Moser Baer India, said the business is starting to generate cash and is looking wellset to really grow on new content. Mathur stated that they do not have nay definitive media buyout plans. We are currently working on infusing capital into the business.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Jun 2009 | 3:55 pm Have a Rs 4000cr order on anvil: Kalindee RailArvind Gemini, Director of Kalindee Rail Nirman, said the company is trying to fetch big orders independent of what Larsen Toubro (LT) a stakeholder may give it. There is one bigger contract about to come: around Rs 4,000 crore especially from the freight corridor.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Jun 2009 | 3:37 pm Shree Ram Urban Infra goes to court over fund raising issueThe Kasliwal family, S Kumars Grouppromoted Shree Ram Urban Infrastructure (SRUI) on May 18 had proposed a warrants issue of 2.5 crore shares. However, the companys minor shareholders have now expressed their concerns over the allotment of 2.5 crore shares to the promoters and instead want a rights issue so that they can also subscribe to it.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Jun 2009 | 3:35 pm Gwalior Chem sells chemicals, windmill biz to LanxessAshwin Kumar Kothari, Founder, Gwalior Chemical, said the company has sold its Nagda Chemical manufacturing business and the wind power business to Lanxess India for the enterprise value of Rs 536 crore or 82.4 million Euros calculated at Rs 69 per Euro.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Jun 2009 | 3:17 pm Vedanta to invest Rs 50k cr on aluminium units in OrissaVedanta is all set to invest Rs 25,000 crore for aluminium units in Orissa. The company is talking to various institutions to raise debt for the same.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Jun 2009 | 3:04 pm No plans to merge businesses: Tata CommunicationsCommenting on the speculation surrounding the Tata Comm merger, he said, there was neither any imminent plan to merge the Tata groups communications businesses nor any plans to raise any fresh equity or bring in a fresh strategic partner.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Jun 2009 | 2:18 pm Anand Sharma pushes for reviving global trade talks - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:59 pm INTERVIEW - DLF sees property prices firming upNEW DELHI (Reuters) - DLF Ltd, India's largest listed real estate firm, sees signs of recovery in the country's beaten down residential property sector and expects prices to start firming up, a senior official said on Monday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:58 pm Will see Budgetary, extra-Budgetary spend for infra: Montek - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:57 pm Keep away from divesting PSUs, says DMK - Times of India
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:48 pm House panel opposes foreign investment in retailNew Delhi: A Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended a blanket ban on foreign investment in retail and has opposed even big domestic corporate entering the sector saying that it will lead to unemployment. “The committee ... recommend that a blanket ban should be imposed on domestic corporate heavy weights and foreign retailers from entering into retail trade in grocery, fruits and vegetables,” it said, adding that restrictions should be put for opening large malls by them for selling other consumer products. The committee, headed by Murli Manohar Joshi, feels that “opening of foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail trade by allowing single brand foreign firms in India will result in unemployment due to slide-down of indigenous retail traders”. The 42-member panel in its report on ‘Foreign and Domestic Investment in Retail Sector´ further said that the government should stop issuing “further licences for “cash and carry either to the transnational retailers or to a combination of transnational retailers and the Indian partner, as it is “mere a camouflage for doing retail trade through back door”. The government may consider setting up a national commission to study the problems in the retail sector and to evolve policies that would enable it to cope with FDI, the Parliamentary panel said. According to existing guidelines, FDI is prohibited in retail trading except for single brand retail in which 51% FDI is permitted. Whereas 100% FDI is permitted under the automatic route in wholesale cash and carry trading. The committee said allowing cash and carry wholesale in India is nothing but allowing back-door entry of foreign firms into retailing. “Consumers’ welfare would be sidelined, as the big retail giants by adopting a predatory pricing policy would fix lower price initially, tempting the consumers,” it said adding that after wiping the competition from local retailers, they would be in a monopolistic position and would be able to diktat the retail prices. It said procurement centres constituted by big corporates for making direct bulk purchases would initially pay attractive prices to farmers and cause gradual extinction of mandis and regulated market yards. Unorganized retail employs over 40 million people, which accounts for 8% of the total employment. “...the government should ensure that some in-built policy must be established to relocate or re-employ the people who are dislocated due to opening of big malls in the vicinity of their shops,” the Committee said. ”...there is a need for setting up of a retail regulatory authority to look into the problems and act as a whistle blower in case of anti competitive behaviour and abuse of dominance,“ it added. On the use of agricultural land for shopping malls, the Committee feels that diverting the land may not merely lead to reduction in production or income to farmers, it may affect the social and cultural life of farmers. “The government should come out with adequate safeguards to prevent diversion of agricultural land for setting up of malls,” it said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:39 pm Profit booking pulls Sensex down 437 pointsConsolidation set in at Indian equities markets Monday, with a key index plummeting 437 points as investors resorted to profit booking.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:33 pm NRI socialite Sheetal Mafatlal sent to jail till June 12Socialite Sheetal Mafatlal, president of Mafatlal Luxury, was remanded to judicial custody till June 12 by a court here Monday, a day after she was arrested for carrying diamond and gold jewellery whose true value she allegedly didn't disclose to customs officials to evade duty of around Rs.3 million.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:33 pm West Bengal jewellers on 72-hour strikeAbout 40,000 jewellers in West Bengal started a 72-hour strike Monday in protest against alleged harassment by income-tax (IT) department officials.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:32 pm Divestment can raise $95 bn, wipe deficit clean: StudyDivestment of even minority stake in state-owned firms can raise nearly $95 billion (Rs.450,309 crore), help clean the red ink on the government's balance sheet and make enough room for another fiscal stimulus, said an independent study released Monday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:31 pm Anand Sharma pushes for reviving global trade talksMoves to restart stalled global trade talks have begun with a series of meetings in Bali on the sidelines of a conference among 19 farm products exporting countries, where Commerce Minister Anand Sharma is representing India.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:31 pm DLF sees property prices firming upNew Delhi: DLF Ltd, India’s largest listed real estate firm, sees signs of recovery in the country’s beaten down residential property sector and expects prices to start firming up, a senior official said on Monday. Still, Rajeev Talwar, group executive director at the developer, said projects needed to be priced aggressively in order to sell. Talwar told Reuters in an interview a stable government and a view that the economy may be improving would help demand for real estate, after a property slump that analysts said has seen prices crashing by up to half. “I think we’ve done a fair amount on price correction, realistic pricing or aggressive pricing as it may be called,” Talwar said. “I think all Indians have imposed their faith to very immediate economic revival, rather than long term,” Talwar said. Last month’s decisive victory by the ruling Congress party-led coalition has fuelled market optimism that reform measures will help drive economic growth. The main stock index is up about 90% from an October low. “So it would stand to reason that ‘yes’,” he said when asked whether he expected the housing market had bottomed out. “In fact why only bottom, if demand is rising, prices should be hardening or firming up. At least the trend would be to move upwards, rather than to go downwards,” said Talwar, a former member of the country’s elite Indian Administrative Service. Real estate stocks have nearly tripled from their March low, but remain about 74% below their early 2008 peak at the end of a three-year bull run in property prices. The past 18 months have seen a rough run for Indian property companies. Heavy debt and a slowdown in fund flows to real estate projects in India forced the founders of 63-year old DLF to sell shares to institutions last month to raise funds. DLF’s founders, KP Singh and family, raised $783 million by selling 9.9% stake in the firm, which cut their holding to 78.6%. Talwar said the founders intended to maintain their current holding. “I think what they have announced is that no, there is no further scope of disinvestment,” he said. Affordable Housing India , which is plagued by homelessness in its cities, needs an estimated 25 million homes, and Talwar said public-private partnership is key to helping bridge that gap. He said mid-range housing to serve the country’s “bustling middle class” would make up the bulk of DLF’s residential business. Recent project launches by DLF have been priced aggressively and sold quickly as a result. For example, a new development in Delhi sold 1,400 flats within 24 hours of its April launch. “I think the lesson that we’ve drawn from the last year, year and a half is that if you price your product appropriately or competitively there is a market which is waiting to lap it up,” he said. “There is a demand if pricing is appropriate, aggressive, and competitive. People need to see the value for money.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:31 pm Barclays in BGI talks, $12 bln BlackRock deal seenLONDON (Reuters) - Barclays Plc is in talks to sell Barclays Global Investors (BGI), the British bank said on Monday, with U.S. fund manager BlackRock the frontrunner to land the asset manager for about $12 billion.Source: Reuters: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:29 pm Rupee at one-week low of 47.55/56 vs dollar - Economic Times
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:27 pm Moody's downgrades rating of Tata Steel - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:26 pm House panel opposes foreign investment in retailNew Delhi: A Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended a blanket ban on foreign investment in retail and has opposed even big domestic corporate entering the sector saying that it will lead to unemployment. “The committee ... recommend that a blanket ban should be imposed on domestic corporate heavy weights and foreign retailers from entering into retail trade in grocery, fruits and vegetables,” it said, adding that restrictions should be put for opening large malls by them for selling other consumer products. The committee, headed by Murli Manohar Joshi, feels that “opening of foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail trade by allowing single brand foreign firms in India will result in unemployment due to slide-down of indigenous retail traders”. The 42-member panel in its report on ‘Foreign and Domestic Investment in Retail Sector´ further said that the government should stop issuing “further licences for “cash and carry either to the transnational retailers or to a combination of transnational retailers and the Indian partner, as it is “mere a camouflage for doing retail trade through back door”. The government may consider setting up a national commission to study the problems in the retail sector and to evolve policies that would enable it to cope with FDI, the Parliamentary panel said. According to existing guidelines, FDI is prohibited in retail trading except for single brand retail in which 51% FDI is permitted. Whereas 100% FDI is permitted under the automatic route in wholesale cash and carry trading. The committee said allowing cash and carry wholesale in India is nothing but allowing back-door entry of foreign firms into retailing. “Consumers’ welfare would be sidelined, as the big retail giants by adopting a predatory pricing policy would fix lower price initially, tempting the consumers,” it said adding that after wiping the competition from local retailers, they would be in a monopolistic position and would be able to diktat the retail prices. It said procurement centres constituted by big corporates for making direct bulk purchases would initially pay attractive prices to farmers and cause gradual extinction of mandis and regulated market yards. Unorganized retail employs over 40 million people, which accounts for 8% of the total employment. “...the government should ensure that some in-built policy must be established to relocate or re-employ the people who are dislocated due to opening of big malls in the vicinity of their shops,” the Committee said. ”...there is a need for setting up of a retail regulatory authority to look into the problems and act as a whistle blower in case of anti competitive behaviour and abuse of dominance,“ it added. On the use of agricultural land for shopping malls, the Committee feels that diverting the land may not merely lead to reduction in production or income to farmers, it may affect the social and cultural life of farmers. “The government should come out with adequate safeguards to prevent diversion of agricultural land for setting up of malls,” it said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:24 pm Omaxe to raise Rs1,800 cr, increase FII limit to 40%New Delhi: Realty developer Omaxe on Monday said it will raise Rs1,800 crore through various means, including issuing securities to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) on a private placement basis, and hiking the FII limit in the company to 40%. The company will raise up to Rs1,800 crore by various means including issuance of further securities to persons other than the existing equity shareholders and also by way of qualified institutional placement (QIP), Omaxe said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The board of Omaxe has given its approval for raising the funds, it said. Further, the board has also approved the rise in the limits of holding by the registered foreign institutional investors (FIIs) to up to 40%. At present the limit is 24%. Besides, Omaxe’s board has also decided to increase the authorised share capital of the company to Rs360 crore from Rs210 crore, the filing said. The real estate firm would convene an extra ordinary general meeting (EGM) for seeking approval of its investors for raising of funds, and increasing the FIIs’ limit and authorised capital. Reeling under acute cash crunch, a host of real estate companies are now resorting to QIP and preferential allotment of warrants to promoters to strengthen their cash balance. Realty firms like Unitech, Parsvnath, Sobha Developers, HDIL, Puravankara, Anantraj Industries, Akruti City and Orbit Corp are looking to raise additional long-term funds through sale of shares, mostly through QIP, where shares are sold to institutional investors. Unitech plans to raise over Rs11,000 crore, whereas HDIL is planning to raise about Rs3,000 crore through QIP and Rs850 crore through promoter warrants. Further, Parsvnath and Anant Raj Industries are also planning to raise Rs2,500 crore and Rs2,000 crore, respectively. Shares of Omaxe on Monday slipped 10% and hit its lower trading limit of Rs109.25 on the BSE. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:14 pm BRIC economies poised for growth; China to outperform peers - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Jun 2009 | 1:01 pm India corp bond yields up on supply worries,track govt bonds - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:55 pm Govt has scope for asset sales: MontekNew Delhi: The government has the scope to raise funds through asset sales of state-run firms, the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission said on Monday. Montek Singh Ahluwalia also told a news conference that there was a need for limiting subsidies. The Planning Commission said economy should record at least 6.7% growth rate this fiscal, the same as was witnessed in 2008-09. “What I can say is we should at least be aiming at the same growth as achieved last year and I think we could do a little better,” Ahluwalia said. Lots of it depends on how global economy behaves in the second half of this fiscal. Everybody expects that sharp downturn is coming to an end, but people are not sure how good a rebound we are going to see in the world economy, he said. “So, I think there are some real uncertainties. But compared to three months back, the economic situation is much more favourable. Investors are certainly seeing it as such,” Ahluwalia said. The fact that we have strong mandate for stable government holds for the prospects of stable policies and we have seen some of that reflected in investment growth already, he added. Ahluwalia also mentioned that international financial analysts were predicting 5% growth rate for last fiscal (2008-09), whereas actual expansion was 6.7%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:55 pm Ahluwalia: govt has scope for asset salesNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government can raise funds through selling up to 49 percent of state-run firms, the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission said on Monday, adding the economic outlook had improved over the past three months.Source: Reuters: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:52 pm India, US hold ‘positive’ trade talksNusa Dua (Indonesia): The United States and India, whose argument over agriculture subsidies scuttled a new global trade agreement last year, held positive talks on Monday at a meeting of leading agricultural exporters in Bali. “The discussions have been very positive and centred on a shared commitment to take things forward,” Indian commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma told Reuters. A spokeswoman for US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, who took up his job in March, said the talks between Kirk and Sharma on the sidelines of the Cairns Group meeting were “very friendly”. She did not elaborate. Trade ministers came close in July 2008 to a deal on the Doha round of talks, launched in the Qatari capital in late 2001 to help poor countries prosper through trade. But the talks collapsed over differences between Washington and emerging economies spearheaded by India over proposals to help farmers in poor nations cope with surges in imports. The Obama administration is conducting a review of US trade policy, including efforts to reach a deal on Doha, and some of America’s trading partners have been impressed by Kirk’s conciliatory style, though they are waiting to see the substance. Carol Guthrie, Kirk’s spokeswoman, said the former Dallas mayor and World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy talked informally at a dinner of ministers on Sunday night. The Doha deal is estimated to be worth $150 billion for the world economy and is considered even more important now that the world is facing its worst economic crisis in decades. Sharma said he and Kirk did not get down to discussing positions on the issues before them. “I had a very good meeting with Ron Kirk. We did not discuss specifics, only the broader aim to take the process forward. We didn’t discuss positions, we discussed the principles. “I can’t put a timeframe on when the Doha round will be concluded. More important is the shared expressed hope and political will.” Lamy was due on Monday to brief the Cairns Group -- 19 nations accounting for more than 25 percent of the world’s agricultural exports -- about the global trade talks at their Bali meeting, officials said. Australia’s trade minister Simon Crean, who is chairing the meeting, said there was a “clear commitment” from the United States and the Cairns Group to re-engage on stalled world trade talks before the end of July. Indonesian finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said new US and Indian trade figures would provide a “fresh perspective on how the issues in global trade can be solved”. Muhammad Zia-ur-Rehman, secretary of Pakistan’s ministry of food, agriculture and livestock, said negotiations on a proposed “special safeguard mechanism” -- under which developing nations could temporarily raise tariffs on imported goods when prices on their own produce drop -- had stalled but there was hope of reviving them this week. Zia-ur-Rehman also said US and European Union farm subsidies continued to be the sticking point in negotiations after both introduced dairy export subsidies this year. Lamy, who has been trying to edge countries back to the table for full-fledged negotiations, said in late May enough time had passed to have another shot at a global free trade deal. The Cairns Group consists of Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Uruguay. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:49 pm Bond yields rise on borrowing uncertaintyMumbai: The 10-year bond yields rose on Monday on persisting uncertainties on the government’s borrowing plans after the size of a fourth bond auction was increased, but the move was kept in check by some bargain hunting. The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond, which registered only 11 trades on the day, edged up to 6.58% from 6.56% on Friday, as dealers said the lack of clarity on borrowing made shorter-tenor papers more attractive. The yield on the 6.49% 2015 bond, the most traded on the day, ended at 6.47%, below its previous close of 6.49%. “The government may increase its auction size every week until the budget, but yields are attractive at current levels for banks’ SLR requirements,” said Piyush Wadhwa, senior vice-president at ICICI Securities Primary Dealership in Mumbai. The statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) is the proportion of deposits banks need to hold in approved government securities, and it currently stands at 24%. Volumes were a moderate Rs64.15 billion ($1.4 billion) on the central bank’s trading platform. The spread between the 1-year and the 5-year swap rates steepened to 201 basis points, close to a peak of 213 basis points last week, on a view of economic revival and a rebound in policy rates. The government will sell Rs150 billion of bonds on Thursday, raising the auction size by 25% from a scheduled Rs120 billion for the fourth consecutive week. The government will outline its market borrowing plan for 2009-10 at its budget in early July, and the increase in auction amounts has raised some concerns that the initial gross borrowing target of Rs3.62 trillion could be increased. “Government of India bonds are likely to trade in the 6-7% range till clarity emerges on the full year borrowing requirements,” Citigroup analysts said in a note on Monday. Borrowing needs may not be increased if the government, having won an unexpectedly strong hand at national elections, decides to push ahead with asset sales. On Monday, the deputy chief of the Planning Commission said on Monday said there was scope for asset sales. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:33 pm Moody's cuts Tata Steel Ltd to Ba3LONDON (Reuters) - Moody's Investors Service cut the rating of India's Tata Steel Ltd by one notch to Ba3 on Monday, citing a weak outlook for the steel industry.Source: Reuters: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:31 pm Rupee falls on inflow worries as shares dropMumbai: The rupee fell to its lowest since late May on Monday as a bout of uncertainty in equity markets raised some doubts over whether the strong capital inflows of recent months would continue. The partially convertible rupee ended at Rs47.555/565 per dollar, off an intraday low of Rs47.75, its weakest since 28 May, but still nearly 1% lower than its previous close of Rs47.105/115. “The rupee fell mainly because of stock market jitters,” a senior dealer with a foreign bank said, adding that some banks covered their short rupee positions towards the close of trading. The BSE benchmark fell 2.9% on Monday, in its biggest drop in six weeks, as investors took profits after a nearly 90% rally over the last three months, with weak global markets aiding the sell-off. Foreign capital is a key driver of the rupee, and hefty foreign portfolio inflows of more than $6.5 billion since mid-March have helped lift the rupee about 10% off a record low of Rs52.2 touched in early March. The dollar’s gains in overseas markets also weighed on sentiment for the rupee. The euro slumped against the US unit, which was supported by surging Treasury yields and a sovereign downgrade for Ireland. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoting at 47.65/75, slightly weaker than the onshore spot rate, which traders said that the near-term outlook for the local unit was still slightly bearish. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:15 pm Rupee falls on inflow worries as shares dropMUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee fell to its lowest since late May on Monday as a bout of uncertainty in equity markets raised some doubts over whether the strong capital inflows of recent months would continue.Source: Reuters: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:14 pm Oilmeals export declines by 64 per cent in May '09 - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:08 pm Close: Markets plunge 2.9% on weak global marketsNew Delhi:The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex tumbled to close 2.9% down backed by heavy profit-booking and weak opening of the European markets. Markets started the day with subdued sentiment and the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty fell below the psychological 15,000 mark and 4,500 respectively. In the sectoral front, investors off-loaded realty stocks heavily by almost 10.54%, others under pressure were metal, banking and consumer durables. Meanwhile the IT index witnessed some buying, gaining more than 1.5%. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed lower by 437.63 points at 14,665.92 and the 50-share NSE Nifty closed down by 157 points at 4,429.90. Among losers from the BSE pack Jaiprakash Associates led decline by 10.40% to Rs207.25, along with DLF by 10.34% to Rs365.85, Tata Steel by 10.21% to Rs416.55, Reliance Communications by 8.68% to Rs309.45, Reliance Infra by 8.55% to Rs1,121.95, State Bank of India by 6.76% to Rs1,695.10, Ranbaxy Laboratories by 6.45% to Rs266.20, Tata Motors by 6.25% to Rs364.75 and Hindalco by 6.14% to Rs87.20. With IT as the only sector in green, Wipro gained by 3.36% to Rs406, followed by Infosys by 2.52% to Rs1,733.20, Tata Consultancy Services by 2.29% to Rs738.10 and Hindustan Unilever Ltd by 0.14% to Rs251.30. Asian markets closed with mixed sentiments, Japan’s Nikkei ended 1% up to hit its eight-month closing high on better than expected US jobs data. Meanwhile Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell by 2% on profit-booking. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:03 pm Sensex sees the third-biggest fall of the yearThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Monday suffered the third-biggest fall of the year and ended below the 15,000 level.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:00 pm Indiabulls Real slips 10% on poor FY09 results - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Jun 2009 | 11:57 am Coal India initiates dialogue for IPONew Delhi: Coal India on Monday said it has initiated dialogues with the government for its initial public offer and the navratna public sector unit could be listed soon as the market scenario has turned favourable. “May be yes. We have initiated dialogue with the government. Market conditions are favourable now,” said Coal India chairman P.S. Bhattacharyya when asked if the coal major could get listed soon on the bourses. “Our shareholders, including the government, will be benefited,” Bhattacharyya said. “We have been primarily thinking of an IPO. It could be disinvestment, or a mix of both IPO and disinvestment,” he said. The company could also offer shares to its employees and also those people from whom it acquires land for mining purposes, the chairman said. The firm, which has an authorised capital of Rs8,000 crore, was given the navratna status in October 2008 and as per the rules, it has to get listed within three year’s ending October 2011. The listing could also strengthen the firm’s resettlement and rehabilitation policy, as shares could be offered to those losing their land, in addition to other compensation, against their asset, he said. “People losing their land can be made our shareholders and thus become beneficiaries of our profit. We will also look to offer shares to our employees,” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 11:54 am Gwalior Chem sells chemicals, windmill biz to Lanxess - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 8 Jun 2009 | 11:46 am Kamat to demand pro-industry, pro-Goan special statusPanaji: Goa government will pitch in for the special status which will restrict the sale of land and give financial benefits to the state, chief minister Digamber Kamat said on Monday. “We will move to the Centre for the special status under section 371 of the Constitution,” Kamat said. The chief minister said that the state will submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking special status. Goa will seek tax exemption for the industries and also protection to the land under special status category, he said. “Northeastern states and Kashmir have special status. We will also seek it on the same lines,” Kamat said. The issue of special status had figured in the last assembly session as the social groups in the state demanding security to the land in the state, which means that there would be restriction on sale of land to the non-Goans. Kamat in recent past had stated that the ensuing state legislative assembly will pass a resolution seeking special status to the state. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 11:29 am European shares lower as banks, commodities weighLondon: European shares were lower towards midday on Monday, led by banking stocks as investor sentiment weighed, while commodity stocks fell as metal and crude prices retreated. By 4:00pm, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 1.4% at 860.20 points. The index has risen for the past three out of four weeks and has gained around 33 percent since hitting a lifetime low in early March. “The market has had a tremendous run so it is not surprising money is being taken off the table. We do not think this is serious, but a correction which is long overdue,” said David Buik, partner at BGC Partners. “Yields on US government bonds are also sharply higher which may mean we could be looking at interest rates rises ... so investors could also be cautious over that,” he said. Yields on benchmark 10-year US Treasury ticked up slightly on Monday, but have risen by about 23% since the beginning of May. The banking sector took the most points off the pan-European index. British bank Barclays fell 2.2%. The bank said it is in talks to sell Barclays Global Investors (BGI), with US fund manager BlackRock the frontrunner to land the asset manager, according to people familiar with the matter. Lloyds Banking Group lost 5.6% after it said it had raised just under £3.5 billion ($5.56 billion) from shareholders which it will use to pay back some of the money injected by the British government last year. UBS slipped 1.8% after Swiss newspapers quoted UBS board member Bruno Gehrig as saying the bank was “not out of the woods yet” as it was still seeing outflows of client money. UBS declined to comment. However, Deutsche Postbank rose 7.4% on a report in German business daily Handelsblatt that said Deutsche Bank has raised its Postbank stake through purchases in the market. Deutsche Bank was down 1.9%. Commodities weigh as prices retreat Energy stocks were another drag on the index as oil fell below $67 a barrel after hitting a seven-month high of $70 last week as the dollar strengthened. BG Group, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total lost 0.5-2.3%. Miners were in the doldrums as metal prices fell with copper down 1%. Anglo American, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton, Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, Rio Tinto and Xstrata lost between 3.9-5%. “The market is trying to get some visibility on the 2010 economic outlook. At the moment there is relatively little visibility on that. We are going to see strong contributions to growth through (the rebuilding of) inventories in the next two months,” said Darren Winder, equity strategist at Cazenove. “Beyond that investors are looking to get some indications about what’s happening to the underlying level of demand. At the moment there is very little information about that.” German manufacturing orders held steady in April after a sharp increase in March, raising the mid-term prospects for the country’s industrial sector, the Economy Ministry said. On the upside, Volkswagen was up 4.3% after a German magazine reported the gulf state of Qatar will strike a deal with the company that will help Porsche, VW’s biggest shareholder, cope with its €9 billion ($12.45 billion) debt pile. Porsche was 0.2% higher. Novartis gained 0.9% after the Swiss drugmaker said its Afinitor medicine cut tumour size by 50% or more in a third of patients with lymphoma, in a mid-stage clinical trial. Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was down 1.4%, Germany’s DAX was down 1.6% and France’s CAC 40 was 1.6% lower. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 11:27 am Margins may be hit by 1.5% due to distributor stir: PVROn Friday, most multiplex stocks moved up quite a bit on news that distributors and multiplex owners stir has been resolved. Commenting on how this deal could impact the company\'s prospects, Pramod Arora, Group President, PVR, said, he sees margins getting impacted by 1.5%.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Jun 2009 | 11:21 am Raised Rs 269.5cr through 5.8% stake sale: Dish TVDish TV promoters have sold around 5.8% of the company\'s stake via a block deal. Commenting on the issue, Jawahar Goel, Managing Director of Dish told CNBCTV18 that Dish TV shares are placed at Rs 49 a share and that the company has raised Rs 269.5 crore through this placement.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Jun 2009 | 11:13 am Sensex drops 438 points, third-biggest fall of the yearThe Sensex, after completing 13 successive weeks of gains, fell 437.63 points ending at 14,665.92 as metal, banking & realty stocks suffered hefty losses.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 8 Jun 2009 | 11:10 am Videocon eyes 1.5 mn subscribers for DTHMumbai: Videocon Industries Ltd is targetting 1.5 million subscribers for its direct-to-home (DTH) service, riding on its large network of consumer appliance dealers, its top official said. The company has developed new liquid crystalline design televisions that can directly receive DTH signals and is aiming for a 20 June launch, Chairman Venugopal Dhoot told television channel NDTV Profit on Monday. “No set-top box is required,” Dhoot said. “We are also giving this (technology) through different models.” “We have already invested around Rs500-600 crores (Rs5-6 billion) and further investments will be made as required,” he added. The electronics and appliance maker also plans to rope in foreign investors once the service acquires a sizeable customer base, he said. Videocon will be entering a market that already has large competitors including Sun Direct, Tata Sky, Dish TV, majority owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises, and Reliance Communications Ltd’s BIG TV. At 2.57 pm, shares of the company were down 3.89% at Rs176.5 in a weak Mumbai market. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 11:06 am Audi May sales down 6%Frankfurt: German carmaker Audi AG said Monday its unit sales for May declined 6%, as the recession continued to affect demand, despite strong sales gains in the Asia-Pacific region. The Ingolstadt-based company, a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, said it sold 82,800 cars in May, compared with 88,168 a year ago. Audi said despite the overall decline in sales, it was able to achieve higher market shares in European countries outside Germany and in the US. Furthermore, Audi had another record month in China, which helped drive sales in the Asia-Pacific region 24% higher to 15,650 cars sold for the month, compared to 12,607 in May a year ago. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 11:04 am BSE Sensex drops 2.9 pct; State Bank, ICICI fallMUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex fell 2.9 percent on Monday in its biggest drop in almost six weeks as investors took profits after a near 90 percent rally over the past three months, with weak Asian and European markets aiding the selloff.Source: Reuters: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 10:56 am See 30% rise in sugar production next season: Triveni EnggDhruv M Sawhney, CMD, Triveni Engineering said he expected better yields next year and a 30% jump in sugar production next season (Sugar season starts from October and ends in September).Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Jun 2009 | 10:54 am FIPB gives nod to Hyatt-Emaar JV for hotels in India New Delhi: The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has cleared global hospitality major Hyatt group’s proposal to set up Hyatt Place hotels in the country in a joint venture (JV) with realty firm Emaar MGF, with an investment of about Rs125-150 crore. The FIPB has cleared the proposal, sought through Mauritius-based H P India Holdings, a Hyatt group entity, and has recommended it for a final approval by the finance minister, official sources said. H P India Holdings intends to set up a JV with Emaar and MGF Ltd, in the name of Aashirwad Cobuild Pvt Ltd, with a foreign equity of 26%, amounting to $25-30 million (about Rs125-150 crore) over the next five years by itself or any other Hyatt overseas entity. The FIPB approval had been sought for developing, owning and operating Hyatt Place hotels in various cities and markets in India, sources added. H P India had also sought FIPB’s nod to allow any Hyatt overseas entity to enter into agreements with the Indian JV partner for strategic oversight agreements and agreements related to trademark. Earlier this year, Global Hyatt Corporation announced the JV with Emaar MGF for setting up six hotels by 2013 with an inventory of 950 rooms under the group’s mid-market brand Hyatt Place. The hotels are to come up in Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Mysore, Lucknow, Indore and Mangalore. H P India Holdings had sought approval for any Hyatt entity to enter into any future financial/technical collaboration with any other Indian JV partner as it erstwhile Indian JV partners have conveyed that no-objection. It had also asked approval for relaxation of the automatic route for facilitating technical collaboration, the sources said. Besides the JV with Emaar MGF, Hyatt had also earlier announced plans to develop 14 others hotels with local developers with a total of 3,000 rooms in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Goa and Pune. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 10:48 am BMW May sales fall 18%Frankfurt: German carmaker BMW AG said Monday it sold 109,042 vehicles in May, an 18% decline from the same period a year earlier, but noted that the sales trend was improving from previous months. The Munich-based premium carmaker said its BMW brand sold 90,643 cars last month, down 18% from the 110,707 sold in May 2008. The Mini brand saw sales fall 19%, to 18,348 cars from 22,685. Sales of the super-luxury Rolls-Royce brand declined 54% to 51 cars for the month, compared with 110 in May a year ago. BMW’s motorcycles division saw a 12% decline, to 10,172 motorcycles from 11,580. “Sales decreased much more slowly in May than in recent months,” Ian Robertson, a board member responsible for sales and marketing said in the company’s report. “Overall, I am cautiously optimistic that our global sales figures will continue to improve over the course of the year. “We were able to increase our market share in the premium segment in major markets such as the US and Japan over the previous month. That puts us right on track to maintain our position as the world’s number one premium manufacturer in terms of sales volume in 2009,” he said. BMW said its BMW Z4, a new sports coupe on the market since 9 May, has seen 2,365 deliveries worldwide. The 7 Series limousine, the company’s biggest sedan, sold nearly 3,400 units in May — a 1.5% increase. BMW sold 801 7 Series cars in the German home market, making it market leader in the luxury sedan segment. Meanwhile, the X6, an SUV-car crossover sold 3,625 units worldwide, a 109% improvement over May a year ago. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 10:41 am Global airlines fear oil rally as losses mountKUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Global airlines called on Monday for concerted action to prevent another runaway surge in oil prices as the International Air Transport Association nearly doubled its forecast of industry losses to $9 billion in 2009.Source: Reuters: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 10:40 am Have orders for more than 6,000 wagons: TexmacoAshok Vijay, Vice President, Texmaco, expects dedicated freight corridors to be announced in this year\'s Railway Budget. He feels the primary focus needs to be on expansion of metrorail projects all over country. According to Vijay, all orders received last year are for new design wagon. \"Our order book in hand is for more than 6,000 wagons.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Jun 2009 | 10:39 am Global airlines fear oil rally as losses mountKuala Lumpur: Global airlines called on Monday for concerted action to prevent another runaway surge in oil prices as the International Air Transport Association nearly doubled its forecast of industry losses to $9 billion in 2009. The head of the Geneva-based airline lobby lambasted “greedy speculation” in oil markets and accused governments of squandering money raised from aviation while carriers suffer from still slumping demand. “This is the most difficult situation the industry has faced,” IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani told the aviation body’s annual meeting in the Malaysian capital. “I am a realist. I don’t see facts to support optimism.” However, John Leahy, commercial director at European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, said that while 2009 would be tough, plans by United Airlines to order as many as 150 new planes from Airbus or rival Boeing Co showed the market was starting to turn. “Cancellations are not as much of an issue as deferrals. I don’t think we’ll have that many more cancellations,” he told Reuters in an interview. Oil Pressure IATA, the voice of more than 200 airlines, has repeatedly warned of a grim year for carriers as global recession shrinks passenger demand and weak financing drives down cargo trade. Conditions have worsened after the outbreak of H1N1 swine flu caused a worldwide health scare and as oil prices -- until recently a sole bright spot on the horizon after peaking near $150 a barrel last year - climb again. “The risk we have seen in recent weeks is that even the slightest glimmer of economic hope sends oil prices higher. Greedy speculation must not hold the global economy hostage,” Bisignani said. Prices for jet fuel in Singapore have jumped almost 60 percent since bottoming out at $46 a barrel in March. Still, IATA estimates the industry fuel bill will decline by $59 billion to $106 billion in 2009, or 25% of costs versus 31% in 2008, a year of extraordinary volatility. As the downturn bites, more consolidation in the airline industry was “definitely a possibility”, Leahy said. Shares of China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines were suspended on Monday after media said the two loss-making carriers may merge. Singapore Airlines, which tried unsuccessfully to buy a stake in China Eastern last year, was still keen on acquisitions in China and India, its CEO said. Airlines said there were few signs of respite from the crisis which has driven passenger traffic down 3% and freight down 22% as of April, according to IATA. In Europe, airline stocks underperformed a weaker market and fell about 2% after IATA revised up its 2009 industry loss forecast from $4.7 billion just three months ago. “These new estimates confirm the difficulties the airline sector is currently going through due to the slump in passenger traffic since end-2008,” said Harald Liberge-Dondoux of CM-CIC Securities in a note. “The rise in oil prices might weigh even more heavily on airline companies that thought they could offset the losses stemming from the drop in traffic with savings on fuel costs.” Order Delays Bisignani said the aviation industry’s 2009 revenues would fall by $80 billion to $448 billion because of the crisis. Following a three-year boom in orders ending last summer, IATA airlines collectively have unfilled orders for some $500 billion worth of aircraft at today’s prices, Reuters calculates. While new capacity offers precious savings in fuel costs due to modern plane design, a shortage of financing for final payments has forced many airlines to postpone their deliveries. The chairman of state-owned Air India said his company was considering delaying planes on order from Boeing. “I don’t have cash, what do you expect me to do?” Arvind Jadhav told reporters. Air India has over $8 billion worth of planes on order from Boeing, including 27 Dreamliners. Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s largest carrier, said it was also looking to further delay deliveries of new planes as it had seen no signs of recovery in its business. “Once again, aircraft ordered in good times are being delivered in recession. Finding customers to fill them will be a challenge,” Bisignani said. A rare exception is Qatar Airways, which has about $27 billion worth of planes on order and wants deliveries speeded up, according to its chief executive. The airline says it will order more at next week’s Paris air show. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 10:31 am Global airlines fear oil rally as losses mountKuala Lumpur: Global airlines called on Monday for concerted action to prevent another runaway surge in oil prices as the International Air Transport Association nearly doubled its forecast of industry losses to $9 billion in 2009. The head of the Geneva-based airline lobby lambasted “greedy speculation” in oil markets and accused governments of squandering money raised from aviation while carriers suffer from still slumping demand. “This is the most difficult situation the industry has faced,” IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani told the aviation body’s annual meeting in the Malaysian capital. “I am a realist. I don’t see facts to support optimism.” However, John Leahy, commercial director at European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, said that while 2009 would be tough, plans by United Airlines to order as many as 150 new planes from Airbus or rival Boeing Co showed the market was starting to turn. “Cancellations are not as much of an issue as deferrals. I don’t think we’ll have that many more cancellations,” he told Reuters in an interview. Oil Pressure IATA, the voice of more than 200 airlines, has repeatedly warned of a grim year for carriers as global recession shrinks passenger demand and weak financing drives down cargo trade. Conditions have worsened after the outbreak of H1N1 swine flu caused a worldwide health scare and as oil prices -- until recently a sole bright spot on the horizon after peaking near $150 a barrel last year - climb again. “The risk we have seen in recent weeks is that even the slightest glimmer of economic hope sends oil prices higher. Greedy speculation must not hold the global economy hostage,” Bisignani said. Prices for jet fuel in Singapore have jumped almost 60 percent since bottoming out at $46 a barrel in March. Still, IATA estimates the industry fuel bill will decline by $59 billion to $106 billion in 2009, or 25% of costs versus 31% in 2008, a year of extraordinary volatility. As the downturn bites, more consolidation in the airline industry was “definitely a possibility”, Leahy said. Shares of China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines were suspended on Monday after media said the two loss-making carriers may merge. Singapore Airlines, which tried unsuccessfully to buy a stake in China Eastern last year, was still keen on acquisitions in China and India, its CEO said. Airlines said there were few signs of respite from the crisis which has driven passenger traffic down 3% and freight down 22% as of April, according to IATA. In Europe, airline stocks underperformed a weaker market and fell about 2% after IATA revised up its 2009 industry loss forecast from $4.7 billion just three months ago. “These new estimates confirm the difficulties the airline sector is currently going through due to the slump in passenger traffic since end-2008,” said Harald Liberge-Dondoux of CM-CIC Securities in a note. “The rise in oil prices might weigh even more heavily on airline companies that thought they could offset the losses stemming from the drop in traffic with savings on fuel costs.” Order Delays Bisignani said the aviation industry’s 2009 revenues would fall by $80 billion to $448 billion because of the crisis. Following a three-year boom in orders ending last summer, IATA airlines collectively have unfilled orders for some $500 billion worth of aircraft at today’s prices, Reuters calculates. While new capacity offers precious savings in fuel costs due to modern plane design, a shortage of financing for final payments has forced many airlines to postpone their deliveries. The chairman of state-owned Air India said his company was considering delaying planes on order from Boeing. “I don’t have cash, what do you expect me to do?” Arvind Jadhav told reporters. Air India has over $8 billion worth of planes on order from Boeing, including 27 Dreamliners. Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s largest carrier, said it was also looking to further delay deliveries of new planes as it had seen no signs of recovery in its business. “Once again, aircraft ordered in good times are being delivered in recession. Finding customers to fill them will be a challenge,” Bisignani said. A rare exception is Qatar Airways, which has about $27 billion worth of planes on order and wants deliveries speeded up, according to its chief executive. The airline says it will order more at next week’s Paris air show. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 10:31 am Ceragon to expand Tata Teleservices GSM networkNew Delhi: Tata Teleservices Ltd on Monday said it has selected Ceragon Networks for supporting expansion of its GSM mobile network in seven new circles. Ceragon has received new orders and will support TTSL in expanding its GSM mobile network to seven new communication circles that cover a population of nearly 400 million, TTSL said in a statement. TTSL has already deployed Ceragon’s equipment in three circles following a long-term supply agreement that the companies signed in 2008, it added. The agreement has been extended, bringing the number of circles served by Ceragon equipment to a total of 10, including the Delhi metro area, it said. “We found that Ceragon’s systems offer a variety of benefits including advanced IP capabilities and a nodal solution with integrated cross-connect, which fit our network expansion strategy perfectly and will also serve to support our network evolution towards 3G,” TTSL president and chief technology officer A.G. Rao said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 10:21 am Rs1 crore pay hike for TCS top brassNew Delhi: IT firm, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), has enhanced total pay packages of its top management personnel and board members by over Rs1 crore in the process of giving a better hike to its incoming CEO than his predecessor. The Tata group entity paid a total remuneration of Rs12.80 crore to its key management personnel and board members during 2008-09, up from Rs11.08 crore in the previous fiscal. In terms of total package, company’s CEO S.Ramadorai was the highest paid executive with a total remuneration of Rs4.1 crore in the fiscal, according to TCS’ annual report. Ramadorai’s pay package grew by about 22% from Rs3.37 crore in 2007-08, but it was lower than a hike of 36% for chief operating officer N.Chandrasekaran. Chandrasekaran, who would replace Ramadorai as TCS CEO later this year, saw his remuneration rise from Rs1.41 crore to Rs1.92 crore. Executive director Phiroz Vandrevala got the highest pay hike of 41% among the company’s board members as his remuneration rose from Rs1 crore to Rs1.41 crore. The hike in the remuneration for both Chandrasekaran and Vandrevala exceeded also the increase in the company’s total employee cost of about 25%. At the same time, Ratan Tata, TCS’s non-executive chairman, saw his remuneration, comprising of a commission and sitting fees for board members, unchanged at Rs55.6lakh. The company has identified cost reduction as one of its focus areas. Its ‘other operating expenses´ fell to 14.58% of revenue in 2008-09, from 16.37% in the previous fiscal, primarily due to reduction in costs related to software and hardware, recruitment and training and travel and conveyance. Interestingly, TCS’s chief financial officer S.Mahalingam got a lesser total remuneration of Rs1.7 crore in 2008-09, as against Rs2.31 crore in the previous year. TCS said that it pays remuneration by way of salary, benefits, perquisites and allowances and commission to its MD and executive directors and the annual increments are effective 1 April, each year. During 2008-09, TCS paid sitting fees of Rs10,000 per meeting to its non-executive directors for attending meetings of the board as also that of the board committees. Besides, the company also pays commission to non-executive directors within a ceiling of 1% of net profit and also reimburses the out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the board members for attending meetings. TCS CEO and MD Ramadorai was paid a salary of Rs76.20 lakh, benefits, perquisites and allowances of Rs83.35 lakh and commission of Rs2.5 crore in 2008-09. At the same time, the incoming CEO Chandrasekaran got Rs27.43 lakh as salary, Rs34.66 lakh as benefits, perquisites and allowances and Rs1.3 crore as commission. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 10:13 am Singapore Air eyes acquisitions in China, IndiaKUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Singapore Airlines, the world's leading carrier by market value, is still keen on acquisitions in China and India, its CEO said on Monday, just weeks after indicating it had no plans to revive talks to take a stake in China Eastern.Source: Reuters: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 10:10 am Northeast India seeks Norway's help to set up power exchangeIndia's northeastern states are keen on setting up a power stock exchange in the region on the lines of Nord pool, the world's first multinational exchange for trading power in the Scandinavian market, Tripura Power Minister Manik Dey has said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Jun 2009 | 10:00 am Singapore Air eyes acquisitions in China, IndiaKuala Lumpur: Singapore Airlines, the world’s leading carrier by market value, is still keen on acquisitions in China and India, its CEO said on Monday, just weeks after indicating it had no plans to revive talks to take a stake in China Eastern. “We are still interested in the consolidation of the industry,” Chew Choon Seng told reporters on the sidelines of an aviation meeting in Kuala Lumpur. Chew singled out India and China as markets the Singapore flag carrier was most keen on. Last year, Singapore Airlines, along with majority shareholder Temasek, offered $920 million for a combined 24% stake in China Eastern, but the Chinese carrier’s shareholders rejected the bid, which also faced strong opposition from rival Air China. According to UBS, Singapore Airlines had net cash of around $1.85 billion at end-March, putting the carrier in a stronger position relative to rivals also hit by falling passenger and cargo loads. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 9:55 am Fortis Holding faces euro362.5 million claim Brussels: Belgian insurer Fortis Holding said on Monday that it faces a legal claim for €362.5 million from a former financing unit now owned by the Dutch government. Fortis Holding was once the largest bank in Belgium and the Netherlands but was carved up in an October bailout by both governments that took over or sold off its banking operations, leaving shareholders with near-worthless stakes in a small insurance group. The company said the Dutch government wants it to pay cash compensation for preference shares in Fortis Bank Nederland Holding, now owned by the Dutch state that are held by a Jersey-based financing unit Fortis Capital Company Limited, or FCCL, also owned by the state. It says the option of a cash settlement was only ever intended to be used in an extreme situation and that the Dutch government refuses to accept the consequences of its decision or to provide compensation to Fortis Holding, badly battered by the botched bailout and the financial crisis. Fortis Holding also claims that the original terms of an agreement should see it get new shares in Fortis Bank Nederland Holding in return for the cash payment and that the Dutch state was reluctant to see that happen. It said it would challenge a suit it expects FCCL to file later today that would seek €362.5 million from Fortis Holding. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 9:40 am Gold demand abates as rupee weakensMumbai: India gold demand abated on Monday on a weaker rupee and scattered buying as the current wedding season draws to a close, traders and dealers said. “There was some (buying) activity on Friday, but it has turned quiet today. There are no great volumes,” said Daman Prakash, director, MNC Bullion in Chennai. “Currently, we are not witnessing much purchases as wedding season is coming to an end,” he added. The current wedding season ends this month. The most active August contract was 0.38% lower at Rs14,579 per 10 grams at 2:31pm. “The rupee is not in favour of India gold, making it expensive,” said Pinakin Vyas, chief manager IndusInd Bank in Mumbai. The Indian rupee weakened as the dollar edged higher against major units, and traders braced for profit-taking in the local stock market. A further drop in prices could rekindle some buying interest, traders and dealers said. “In case of any correction on the rupee front and overseas gold, demand would pick-up immediately,” added IndusInd’s Vyas. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 8:54 am May car sales rise 2.5 pct y/y - industryNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Car sales in India rose an annual 2.5 percent in May, climbing for the fourth month, as aggressive rate cuts and stimulus packages helped, but the momentum is set to ease, an industry body said on Monday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 8:34 am TCS hikes salaries of top brass by over Rs 1 croreTCS has enhanced total pay packages of its top management personnel and board members by over Rs 1 crore -- in the process giving a better hike to its incoming CEO than his predecessor.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 8 Jun 2009 | 7:50 am 2009 tough year for orders: AirbusKuala Lumpur: European aircraft manufacturer Airbus said on Monday that 2009 would be a tough year for plane orders, with quite a few being deferred, although it did not expect many more cancellations. United Airlines’ plans to order as many as 150 new planes from Airbus or rival Boeing showed the market was starting to turn, Airbus sales chief John Leahy told Reuters. “This is a tough year for orders,” Leahy said in an interview on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association. Asked about what the United tender meant for the industry, he said: “It’s indicative of the fact that the market is starting to turn. We’re starting to see more activity. We are in negotiations with various airlines about new orders.” Both Airbus and Boeing have suffered as travel demand has dried up in the global economic downturn, prompting several airlines to cancel or defer orders. Airbus expects to report some orders at the Paris Air Show next week but they will be nothing like last year, Leahy said. “There will at least be a few announcements, but I can absolutely assure you it will be nothing like the 400 orders we had at last year’s airshow,” Leahy said, referring to the annual event that alternates between Paris and Farnborough in Britain. He also said he saw several orders being deferred but he did not expect many order cancellations. “Cancellations are not as much of an issue as deferrals. I don’t think we’ll have that many more cancellations,” he said. Shares in parent EADS opened up 0.9% at €11.8. Market is not dead Airbus, the world’s largest producer of commercial airliners ahead of Boeing, has net orders for just 11 aircraft so far this year after cancellations for 21 planes by end-May. Leahy’s comments follow the positive outlook from some global policymakers and economists about a recovery in the wake of recent data such as slowing US job losses. However, analysts say it remains unclear whether the market for airliners, such as the next-generation mid-size planes now being developed with a $200 million price tag, has hit bottom. “I guess this won’t just happen overnight but at the same time it is clear that it shows that the market is not dead, so it is a bit of both,” said Paris-based aerospace analyst Olivier Brochet of Nattixis Securities of the United tender. Analysts say United is certain to drive a hard bargain as the planemakers scour a thin market for orders. United is an existing customer for Airbus short-haul planes following an epic battle in the early 1990s, but a Boeing client for long-haul. Airlines have cut capacity and jobs in response to a slide in profits, rising fuel prices and weak demand, made worse by the recent outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus. Leahy said more consolidation in the industry was “definitely a possibility” as the downturn squeezes earnings. Shares of China Eastern Airlines and smaller Shanghai Airlines were suspended on Monday after media said the two loss-making carriers were close to a merger deal. IATA forecast global airlines could lose $9 billion this year, nearly double its estimate of just three months ago. Leahy told Reuters on Sunday that Airbus was maintaining its 2009 sales target of 300 gross orders, but it was more difficult to accomplish. Airbus has booked 32 gross orders to end-May. The head of IATA told Reuters last week that plane orders could fall 30 percent in 2010. Separately, Leahy told a small group of reporters its A330-200 aircraft was safe and was essential for the airline industry. “It’s the backbone of the industry,” he added. An Airbus A330-200 operated by Air France crashed in the Atlantic Ocean last week, killing all 228 on board. Investigators are considering the possibility that the speed sensors may have iced up but say it is too early to single this out or pinpoint any possible cause with the information to hand. Air France said at the weekend it was speeding up the replacement of speed sensors after first noticing icing problems in May 2008 and disclosed disagreements with Airbus on how to act on the speed sensor problems before the crash happened. Airbus said it could not comment during the official crash investigation. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 8 Jun 2009 | 7:44 am India's passenger vehicle sales inch upIndia's passenger vehicle sales grew a marginal 1.68 percent in April-May to about 275,000 units from nearly 272,000 units sold in the corresponding period last year, according to an industry body.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Jun 2009 | 7:31 am 'Motwani inspired every piece of technology'In global technology hub, Silicon Valley, he was known to be a friend and a guide to almost everyone.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 7:06 am Anand Sharma kicks off process to revive global trade talksMoves to restart the stalled global trade talks have begun with a series of meetings in Bali on the sidelines of a conference among 19 farm products exporting countries, where Commerce Minister Anand Sharma is representing India.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Jun 2009 | 7:01 am SMS, listening to music top mobile phone usage: SurveyText messages, listening to music and surfing the Internet are the most popular activities of the Indian mobile user, while work-related tasks such as checking emails and managing meetings take a backseat, according to a report by a leading IT publication group.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Jun 2009 | 7:00 am 73 construction companies declared defaulters in BiharState's NDA government has put 73 construction companies involved in road construction in the state, into the list of defaulters after their failure to complete projects on time.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 6:57 am State cos gain 200% in just three monthsWelspun Guj tops the chart with its share prices rising by over 350%.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 6:38 am Sensex boom revives Guj realtyThe upswing on the stock exchanges has had a positive impact on the city's real estate market, too, but buyers fear that renewed demand for property may lead to a rise in realty prices.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 6:36 am Sensex slips further, down 138 pointsIndian equities markets went on a correction mode within about an hour of trading Monday morning with a key index shedding 116 points from its last closing figure.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Jun 2009 | 6:31 am Western firms shutting shop in India: WSJCitigroup Inc. and insurance firms AXA SA and Aviva PLC, among others, have sold offshore computer-programming shops and other operations to companies in India over the past year, WSJ reports.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 8 Jun 2009 | 6:16 am India, China to sparkle in gem market: ReportResearch firm report says the two nations could emerge market leaders by 2015.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 5:59 am Rupee weakens 18 paise against dollar in early tradeThe Indian rupee quoted low by 18 paise against the dollar in early trade following weak Asian currencies and selling of the USD by banks.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 4:39 am U.S. top court asked to delay Chrysler saleWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Indiana pension funds and consumer groups asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Sunday to stop the sale of bankrupt automaker Chrysler LLC to a group led by Italian carmaker Fiat SpA while they challenge the deal.Source: Reuters: Money News | 8 Jun 2009 | 4:22 am Car sales up 2.48% in May, bikes jump 12.34%Domestic passenger-car sales increased by 2.48% to 1,13,490 units in May from 1,10,745 units in the same month last year.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 8 Jun 2009 | 4:21 am Rupee weakens 18 paise against dollar in early tradeThe Indian rupee quoted low by 18 paise against the dollar in early trade on Monday following weak Asian currencies and selling of the dollar by banks.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 8 Jun 2009 | 3:56 am Day Trading GuideSource: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am 16 out of 17 drug consignment seizures in the Dutch were from IndiaMumbai, June 7 There were 17 incidents of drug seizure last year in the Netherlands on the grounds of patent-infringement and 16 of them were Indian medicine exports, says Health Action International (HAI), a Dutch network that works onSource: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Hyundai looking at setting up diesel engine plantSriperumbudur, June 7 Hyundai Motor India is studying the feasibility of setting up a diesel engine plant close to its existing car manufacturing plant near Chennai.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am GM — a creative destructionOne of the most remarkable events in recent business history has been the decision of General Motors Corporation USA to file bankruptcy proceedings — a decision forced on the company after it lost market share in the ongoing recession. ItsSource: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Wipro Infotech hopes to outpace industry averageBangalore, June 7 Wipro Infotech expects to grow at a faster pace than the industry average in India as it continues to win large deals, besides having on a robustSource: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am ‘Connectivity with hospitality is key’Battered by the global economic slowdown, growing competition and several inherent constraints, Air India is deep in the red. It urgently needs a lifeline to come out of it and the government is reportedly working on it.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am IFCI (Rs 53.80): SellWe recommend a sell in IFCI stock from a short-term trading horizon. It is evident from the charts of IFCI that it bottomed in early March, taking support around Rs 16, which is a key intermediate-term support level. Since March low the stock hasSource: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Tax issue may delay Cairn’s crude oil output from BarmerNew Delhi, June 7 The flow of crude oil from Cairn India’s on-land in Barmer, Rajasthan fields may get delayed.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Industry on road to recovery; output nearing last year’s highGreen shoots of recovery have started to sprout on the landscape of India’s industrial output.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Budget expectations to decide market moves this weekThe equity market has been moving up since the middle of last month as if wishes were horses – a stable Government would usher in a quicker recovery.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Mafatlal Luxury president Sheetal detained at Mumbai airport!Sheetal Mafatlal, president of Mafatlal Luxury, was on Sunday detained upon arrival at Mumbai international airport for allegedly carrying undisclosed jewellery and diamonds worth several lakhs of rupees.Source: Zee News : Business | 7 Jun 2009 | 11:47 pm India a safe harbour for investment: K V Kamath!ICICI Bank Chairman K V Kamath on Sunday said the country`s infrastructure space alone would need 750 billion dollars over the next three years, one-third of which would come from foreign and domestic institutions.Source: Zee News : Business | 7 Jun 2009 | 11:47 pm Mumbai SEZ can buy time from BoA for land acquisition!Mukesh Ambani-promoted Mumbai SEZ that is close to getting scrapped over its failure to acquire land for the project, has the option of approaching the Board of Approval to extend the deadline beyond Monday.Source: Zee News : Business | 7 Jun 2009 | 11:47 pm Top-10 firms add Rs 29k cr in a week!The country`s top 10 firms added Rs 29,000 crore to their market capitalisation last week, with public sector trading firm MMTC contributing the major chunk.Source: Zee News : Business | 7 Jun 2009 | 11:47 pm Hutch warns of tax, other obligations in Vodafone India deal!Nearly two years after it sold its Indian telecom business to British giant Vodafone, Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom International has warned of possible tax and other obligatory payments in connection with the deal.Source: Zee News : Business | 7 Jun 2009 | 11:47 pm Vedanta to invest Rs 25,000 cr for aluminium units in Orissa!Vedanta announced its plan to start bauxite mining project in Orissa`s Niyamgiri Hills within a month and to invest Rs 25,000 crore more for its aluminium units in the state in next two years.Source: Zee News : Business | 7 Jun 2009 | 11:47 pm Mkt hits Rs 50-tn mark; attracts 1 lakh new investors!The ongoing surge in the stock market has pushed the shareholders` wealth past Rs 50,00,000 crore mark -- in the process bringing in over one lakh new investors on-board in just one month.Source: Zee News : Business | 7 Jun 2009 | 11:47 pm TCS fattens top-mgmt package by over Rs 1 cr!TCS has enhanced total pay packages of its top management personnel and board members by over Rs 1 crore.Source: Zee News : Business | 7 Jun 2009 | 11:47 pm Future of outsourcing continues to be bright: Young!At a time US President Barack Obama has proposed changes in tax laws to curb outsourcing, visiting US economist to India Douglas J Young has termed it as politics and said that future of outsourcing continues to be bright.Source: Zee News : Business | 7 Jun 2009 | 11:47 pm Realty firms plan to raise over Rs 25,000 cr by share sale!Enthused by improving market conditions, eight real estate firms including Unitech, Parsvnath and Sobha Developers are looking to raise more than Rs 25,000 crore together through sales of shares, mostly to foreign investors.Source: Zee News : Business | 7 Jun 2009 | 11:47 pm The opportunity in India is too extraordinary: Edward PullingEven for someone who has, by his own admission, been optimistic about India for the past 15 years, Edward Pulling sounds over-the-top bullish.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jun 2009 | 10:18 pm Treasurers forecast a dollar delugeTreasurers are bracing for a huge dollar deluge into the country over the next few months as cheap foreign liquidity chases high returns.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jun 2009 | 10:11 pm 'Massive deficits make India vulnerable'The American consumer holds the key to a recovery in Asian markets, feels Stephen Roach, chairman at Morgan Stanley Asia.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jun 2009 | 10:06 pm Steel cos considering price hike on global cuesDomestic steel giants like JSW Steel and Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) are considering increasing prices of their products following the firming global cues and the improvement in domestic demand.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 7 Jun 2009 | 7:45 pm Pharma firms continue to face patent violation charges in EuropeEven after India raised concerns with EU, troubles of generic companies which export drugs to developing countries through Europe are far from over as seizures by Dutch customs still continue.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 7 Jun 2009 | 7:43 pm ONGC to invest more in Cairn fieldsState-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has bowed to the diktat of the petroleum ministry and approved higher investment in Cairn India's Rajasthan oilfields.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 7 Jun 2009 | 7:41 pm Barriers force TCS to hire more foreignersSeeking to mitigate protectionist measures like visa restrictions being adopted by countries like US, the top Indian IT exporter, TCS, is looking to hire more local nationals in key markets.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 7 Jun 2009 | 7:39 pm 'Economy set to grow 6.5%'Private sector lender HDFC Bank has revised India's growth forecast upwards to 6.5% for this fiscal on the back of increase in demand and signs of recovery in industrial production.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 7 Jun 2009 | 7:37 pm Blogs use scuttlebutt to compete with mainstream mediaAt 2.56 in the morning on 5 May, a headline flashed on Gawker, the New York gossip site that also carries a smattering of Silicon Valley buzz. It was tentative in its phrasing: “Could Apple Buy Twitter?” But the post boldly claimed that “a source who’s plugged into the Valley’s deal scene and has been recruited by Apple Inc. for a senior position” was saying negotiations were well under way. Hours later, TechCrunch, a popular Silicon Valley technology news site, was reporting the same thing. The posts generated a good deal of traffic for both sites. They were picked up by numerous reputable sites and retweeted endlessly on Twitter. The TechCrunch post yielded 405 comments from readers, an unusually large response. Within 12 hours the Gawker post had been viewed 22,000 times, enough to earn it the orange flame that Gawker editors use to designate a post as hot news. Neither story was true. If we (bloggers) don’t have rumours, what do we have as journalists? But they reported it anyway. “I don’t ever want to lose the rawness of blogging,” said Michael Arrington, the founder of TechCrunch and the author of the post. (Owen Thomas, the writer of the Gawker post, has since taken a job at NBC and did not want to comment on the record.) Such news judgement is not unusual among blogs covering technology. For some blogs, rumours are their stock in trade. In October, for instance, Silicon Alley Insider discussed a rumour that first appeared in a “citizen journalism” section of the CNN website that Steve Jobs, the chief executive of Apple, had had a heart attack. He hadn’t. The truth-be-damned approach recalls an earlier era of newspapering that was memorialized in the movie classic Citizen Kane. The main character, modelled on the newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, is told that a writer sent to Cuba to report a war can find no war. “You provide the prose poems. I’ll provide the war,” Kane replies. W. Joseph Campbell, who chronicled the newspaper wars at the turn of the last century in a book titled Yellow Journalism, says, “It was far more freewheeling than they are today.” At least a dozen big dailies fought for an audience in New York City, but gradually papers embraced credibility to survive. “It may have meant some of the newspapers lost a lot of their pizazz,” he notes. (Campbell, who is an associate professor at the School of Communication at American University, also researched the origins of the Citizen Kane quotation and concluded that it was unlikely that Hearst uttered a similar phrase.) But seeking credibility may be a less-important strategy for the blogs at this stage. Arrington, a lawyer, is quick to point out that he has no journalism training. He is at ease, even high-minded, in explaining the decisions to print unverified rumours. Arrington and the other bloggers see this not as rumour-mongering, but as involving the readers in the reporting process. One mission of his site, he said, is to write about the things a few people are talking about, “the scuttlebutt around Silicon Valley”. His blog will often make clear that he’s passing along a thinly sourced story. He said he did agonize a bit before publishing the post about Twitter and Apple. In fact, he waited 5 hours. But in the end, he decided, “it was interesting and it didn’t hurt anyone to write about it”. TechCrunch, with about five million monthly visitors, dominates rival blogs, which Arrington disparages. (And they do the same to his.) But he doesn’t think of sites such as Gawker or All Things Digital as competitors. He has his eyes set on The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. (And he disparages both.) That drive to compete with the so-called mainstream media is what’s behind his strategy. He doesn’t have the luxury of a large staff to confirm everything, so he competes where he has the advantage. “Getting it right is expensive,” he says. “Getting it first is cheap.” Brian Lam built Gizmodo into the pre-eminent gadget site with a similar philosophy. “The only way to compete with a news organization with more resources is to fit between the cracks,” he says. Sometimes the method appears to pay off, though it never really establishes an organization’s claim to credibility. As editor of Gizmodo, which is owned by Gawker, Lam decided to post an item last December, attributed to an unnamed source, that Jobs would not make his usual appearance at the MacWorld show because he was seriously ill. It was thin reporting at odds with the company’s explanation, he acknowledges. “We were scared to death actually,” he said. “We knew it was a risk.” Lam was lectured privately by Walt Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal’s veteran technology-product reviewer, about ethics, and several bloggers gave him a hard time. A CNBC reporter took to the air to say Gizmodo got it wrong. A few days later, Lam could claim vindication when Apple announced that Jobs was taking a leave of absence because of his health. To this day, it is unclear how much his health figured in Apple’s decision to withdraw from the MacWorld show. Nevertheless, Nick Denton, Lam’s boss and the founder of the Gawker blog network, crowed, “This is why access is overrated.” Lam says it taught him a lesson. “If we don’t have rumours, what do we have as journalists?” he asks. “You have press releases. So maybe there is some honour in printing rumours.” ©2009/THE NEW YORK TIMES feedback@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2009 | 7:09 pm IITs to market patents with help from investment firmsSitting on a pool of close to 900 patents, the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are, for the first time, planning to monetise these intellectual properties (IPs) by exploring tie-ups with firms that invest in "inventions".Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 7 Jun 2009 | 6:37 pm Sebi for phased reduction of securities transaction taxMembers of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) have suggested a phased reduction of the securities transaction tax (STT), as part of a package of measures to develop the capital markets that was discussed with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee last week.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 7 Jun 2009 | 6:34 pm Govt against capital infusion in SBIWants to wait for amendments to the SBI Act for a follow-on public issue.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 7 Jun 2009 | 6:33 pm Defence signs deal to free 45 MHz of spectrumA critical battle has been won for the telecommunications industry as the defence ministry has agreed to release 45 mega hertz (MHz) of spectrum, the radio frequency on which mobile phone signals travel.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 7 Jun 2009 | 6:31 pm Google founders’ professor diesNew York: Rajeev Motwani, a Stanford University professor who advised Google Inc. founders in their college days, died at his home in Palo Alto, California, on Friday.  Midas touch: Rajeev Motwani. His body was found in the swimming pool at his backyard, said Dan Stober, director of media relations at Stanford University, in a telephone interview. The cause of death is still unclear at the moment, Stober said. Motwani, best known for mentoring Sergey Brin and Larry Page who later established the search engine giant Google in Mountain View, California, advised a number of companies, including PayPal Inc. “His legacy and personality live on in the students, projects and companies he has touched,” Brin wrote on his Web blog. “Today, whenever you use a piece of technology, there is a good chance a little bit of Rajeev Motwani is behind it.” Motwani, who was born in New Delhi in 1962, obtained his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, in 1983 and got his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1988. Motwani founded Mining Data at Stanford, or MIDAS, a group that helped develop data-management concepts. His research covered databases, mining and privacy, according to his homepage. Awards include the Godel Prize, the Okawa Foundation Research Award and the Arthur Sloan Research Fellowship. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2009 | 4:01 pm Twitter allows you to join the diverse and civilized chatterYou know you’re doing something strange and new—or at least something new—when every time the activity comes up in conversation at a social gathering, the barbs come out. “Why do you waste your time with such nonsense?” people ask. And so it is with Twitter, the social networking thingamajig which we have both lately adopted with a degree of enthusiasm that surprises our friends and family and, well, even ourselves.  But this doesn’t explain why we find ourselves tapping away at our keyboards in 140-character bursts ever so often. OK, three or four times a day. We tweet because we can’t stop. Also See Jack and Suzy Welch videos Why? Well, not for the reasons we first thought. In fact, one of us (that would be Suzy, @suzywelch in the lingo) started tweeting for good, old-fashioned marketing purposes. Suzy had a book coming out, and everyone who was in the know kept insisting, “Social media is where it’s happening.” That proved to be excellent advice. Twitter’s accessibility, informality and reach helped to Suzy land several great interviews (mainly with bloggers), generate crowds at book signings, disseminate dozens of reviews, drive traffic to the book’s website and, best of all, create a warm and encouraging community for the book’s readers. On @suzywelch, Suzy started calling this group her “twiffers”—Twitter friends— after many of them replied sympathetically to her Easter tweet, “Just been informed by family I will not make the mashed potatoes this year. What do they mean, ‘Too much butter?’”) Eventually, @suzywelch became such a Twitter booster (read: fanatic) that @jack_welch decided to Twitter too—albeit with the caveat, “I just don’t get this thing.” But within 24 hours, he did. Every time he opined about the Red Sox or Celtics, dozens of sports enthusiasts opined back. It was the same for politics and business, and this launched dozens of fascinating mini-debates about everything from US President Barack Obama’s economic policies to the Chrysler, and now GM bankruptcies. Twitter allows you to attend the world’s biggest cocktail party, and to join the diverse and (typically) very civilized chatter. Some of what you hear (and say yourself) will be frivolous. But most of the chatter will provoke, inform and otherwise engage you in a way that you simply cannot replicate offline. Best of all, at least for us, Twitter helps you to test—and improve—your ideas. A few weeks ago, for instance, @jack_welch tweeted that two events might be the “green shoots” of a new bipartisan movement in the US. The thoughtful pushback—yes, even in 140 characters—certainly contributed to the column we wrote on the topic. Similarly, when @suzywelch was preparing to interview financial guru Suze Orman (@suzeormanshow, by the way) she reached out to Twitter world for input. One comment—“I love Suze Orman, but I’m not sure she’s walked in my shoes”—ended up being the spark for Orman’s much-discussed “Are you kidding me?” response. Let's not get carried away, though, regarding Twitter’s usefulness as a work tool. Any boss would be annoyed by how much time we fritter away on our new toy. To wit: Writing this column took about twice as long as expected because we had to keep checking for reactions to the “What’s so good about Twitter?” query we had lobbed out there. In typical Twitter fashion, the answers came fast and furious. People told us they tweet “because it’s fun,” “to feel more connected in a disconnected world,” and to “communicate with staff”. All good reasons, for sure. But this message really resonated with us: “I have tried to explain to people why I tweet,” it read, “but the best I can come up with is: Start tweeting yourself and you’ll figure it out.” That’s exactly what happened to us. We stumbled on to a conversation that seems to be just getting started. We think we’ll stick around. ©2009/BY NYT SYNDICATE Write to Jack & Suzy Jack and Suzy are eager to hear about your career dilemmas and challenges at work, and look forward to answering some of your questions in future columns. Jack and Suzy Welch are the authors of the international best-seller, Winning. Their latest book is Winning: The Answers: Confronting 74 of the Toughest Questions in Business Today. Mint readers can email them questions at winning@livemint.comPlease include your name, occupation and city. Only select questions will be answered. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2009 | 3:56 pm Competition law: coming into force in phasesThe market principles stipulating that enterprises must be prevented from abusing their dominance in the marketplace is an old one, recognized from the times of the rise of the great capitalist economies of the West. Along with this realization came laws prohibiting unfair business practices in order to encourage competition in the interests of the general public as well as smaller businesses. John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Co. in the early 1900s and Bill Gates’ Microsoft Corp. towards the turn of the millennium are among the famous players whose activities were questioned and penalized under various laws relating to competition.  Illustration: Jayachandran / Mint While the Act was passed in 2002, it has been put into force in stages. In a significant development, the government on 15 May issued notifications giving effect from 20 May to, among others, the provisions dealing with anti-competitive agreements (section 3) and abuse of dominance (section 4) in the Act. These sections regulate all types of agreements which, among other things, deal with production, supply, distribution, storage and control of goods or services and regulate the abuse of dominance by an enterprise or group. Interestingly, as the Competition Act is being notified in phases, sections 5 and 6 (dealing with combination, mergers and acquisitions) and section 66 (dealing with the repeal of the MRTP Act), are yet to be notified and brought into force. Due to section 66 not having been notified, the MRTP Act is still in existence even as the Competition Act is being notified and is coming into force. With the latest developments, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) will have the power to initiate cases against enterprises (i) where the “enterprise” is involved in anti-competitive agreements; and (ii) where the “enterprise” is indulging in abusing its/their dominance in the relevant market. “Enterprise” is defined to include persons/governments engaged in any occupation relating to production, storage, supply, distribution, acquisition or control of goods or provisions of services of any kind or in investment or in a business of acquiring, holding, underwriting or dealing with shares, debentures, or other securities. However, sovereign functions of the government, for example atomic energy, currency, defence, etc., are excluded from the purview of the Competition Act. To determine the anti-competitiveness of agreements, what is examined is whether an agreement causes or is likely to cause an appreciable adverse affect (AAE) on competition in India. Section 3 of the Competition Act impliedly classifies agreements as horizontal agreements and vertical agreements. Horizontal agreements are between persons engaged in a similar or identical kind of trade in goods or provision of services. Vertical agreements are mainly between persons or enterprises at different stages or levels of the production chain in different markets. CCI will presume that horizontal agreements that fix prices, limit or control production, allocate markets or bid rigging have an AAE on competition. This presumption can, however, be rebutted by parties/enterprises to such agreements. However, vertical agreements, which include conditional purchase/sale, exclusive supply arrangements, refusal to deal, etc., will be evaluated on the basis of “rule of reason” approach. This means that CCI and/or the complainant (as the case may be) will have the onus to prove that such an agreement will have an AAE on competition. To determine whether an agreement has AAE on competition or not, CCI will consider all or any of the factors listed under section 19(3) of the Competition Act, such as creation of barriers, or driving existing competitors out of the market. Agreements imposing “reasonable conditions” for protecting intellectual property rights and export agreements are outside the purview of section 3 of the Competition Act. Further, certain joint venture agreements that aim to increase efficiency in aspects such as production, storage, supply, etc., are exempted from being construed as anti-competitive horizontal agreements. Other provisions that have been notified deal with the abuse of dominant position by an enterprise or a group (entity) (section 4). Importantly, the Competition Act does not restrict or prohibit an entity from being dominant in a relevant market but what it restricts is the “abuse” of dominance by an entity. In this regard, the Act specifies a list of practices that constitute abuse of dominant position, such as imposition of unfair or discriminatory conditions in purchase or sale or in price, or indulging in predatory pricing tactics. CCI, while considering whether an entity is abusing its dominant position, will first determine the relevant market in which the entity is operating and then determine whether such an entity is enjoying a dominant position in the relevant market or not and abusing its dominance. The Act lists out several factors for CCI to consider and to determine “relevant market” and “dominant position”. Unlike the MRTP Act, there are no minimum thresholds for determining dominance in the Competition Act. Apart from this, certain regulations have also been notified and put into effect which, among other things, aim to define the procedure and manner in which CCI will appoint experts to undertake investigations, the format in which complaints/information and references from persons/government are to be filed with CCI and the detailed procedure on hearing such matters. The business community and other stakeholders in the economy are waiting to see the Competition Act in action now that some of its more significant provisions have come into force. Send your comments to lawfullyyours@livemint.com This column is contributed by Aparna Mehra of AZB & Partners, Advocates & Solicitors. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2009 | 3:55 pm
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