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Videocon chief to sell Great Offshore stake to ABG Ship?Videocon\'s Venugopal Dhoot will sell his entire 3% personal stake in Great Offshore to ABG Shipyard, reports Mint. Interestingly, in a late evening development, after we broke the story, Venugopal Dhoot declined this stake sale to Newswire18 and on the contrary indicated that he might up the stake instead.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jun 2009 | 4:58 pm Co closely associated with national ID proj: BartronicsCommenting on the National ID project, Sudhir Rao, MD and COO, Bartronics, said, they have been closely associated with the project for almost a couple of years. He added they have been a part of the committee at the Ministry of Commerce level to define certain specifications.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jun 2009 | 4:27 pm Govt projects have huge potential for IT industry: MindTreeRostow Ravanan, CFO of MindTree, said he wouldnt want to comment on the one specific project but added that the company had, in the past, worked with governments. He said government projects had a huge potentialSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jun 2009 | 4:11 pm Gemini Communications acquires 51% in SanathT Ratinam, COO, Gemini Communications, said the company has acquired 51% stake in Sanath.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jun 2009 | 3:57 pm US FDA seizes 33 drugs of CaracoThe US Food and Drug Administration has seized 33 drugs of Caraco. Commenting on the same, Vikas Dandekar of PharmAsiaNews.com said last year there was a warning letter issued to Caraco. On the list, he said, is Tramadol. Sun Pharmas Caraco has grown to a good extent on the back of Tramadol.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jun 2009 | 2:53 pm Infosys to bid for unique identification card project - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jun 2009 | 2:31 pm SREI Infra to set up 27,000 community service centresHemant Kanoria, Managing Director, SREI Infrastructure Finance, said the company was operating ecommerce and elearning in about seven states. He said the company plans to set up about 27,000 community service centres. \"Of that, about 13,000 centers have already started in many of the states.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jun 2009 | 2:25 pm Bullish on performance in medium- to long-term: Tata Motors - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jun 2009 | 2:10 pm US to revamp immigration services, cut red tape: ObamaThe changes would help thousands of Indian-Americans who apply for Green Card, citizenship or approach USCIS for various immigration issues.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 Jun 2009 | 1:59 pm Kesoram plans to invest Rs.2000 crore in 15 months - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jun 2009 | 1:53 pm Spencer’s eyes 50% jump in liquor sales, to open 8 storesMumbai: RPG Group firm Spencers Retail is eyeing a sales turnover of Rs40 crore from its shop in-shop liquor stores in FY10, a hefty jump of 50per cent over the past year. The Kolkata-based company also plans to add eight stores to the existing 14 operating inside its hyper - and supermarkets, a company official said today. The multi-format food retailer, which had ventured into the liquor business 12 years back, saw sales jump to Rs20 crore in FY08 from Rs7.5 crore in 2007-08. “This year, we are targeting 50% growth in sales,” Spencer’s Retail ltd, vice president (merchandising) - food & FMCG, Mohit Kampani told the agency. The Indian liquor industry with an estimated market value of Rs34,000 crore is growing at 12-15% over the last couple of years and is on a steep growth curve, he added. “This year, we’ll take the number of our shop in-shop liquor stores to 32 across India by Q2 of FY10. We operate 14 stores in our retail chains at Karnataka, West Bengal, Haryana, Punjab and Maharashtra,” he said, without stating the amount to be invested. Spencers plans to open the new stores in Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata and the National Capital Region (NCR), he added. The sector is expected to maintain its CAGR of 15%, while the premium segment wine and vodka is expected to grow at a higher rate, the companysaid. Quoting a Price Waterhouse report, Kampani said 174 million cases were sold in India in 2008-09 compared with 157 million cases in the previous year. While it is relatively easier to set up shop, getting licence is tough and expensive, he said. “Alcohol is a state subject and it takes a long time to get a license,” Kampani said. The company has planned 20% expansion for the current fiscal, which is already being rolled out. “We have outlined dominant geographies where we want to be among the top three players. We are interested in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka (in Bangalore), NCR, Haryana and east and west Uttar Pradesh,” Kampani added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 1:51 pm Burning blueAfter watching vocalist Tips (Tipriti Kharbangar) twitch and uncoil on stage as she exorcized some of her own demons and raised a torch to the biggest god of rockdom, I expected a lot of that bite in Soulmate’s new album. But Hendrix is an experience like no other. And as her partner and Soulmate guitarist Rudy Wallang put it, paying a tribute to Hendrix feels like playing the guitar for the first time.  But to the band’s credit, Moving On is an incredibly good blues album, and coming from the most successful blues act in the country, that is a big deal. The band seems to be describing its evolution in the title track: Getting older, a little bolder/Building up my confidence/I’m getting stronger, a little wiser/Casting aside all pretence. The sound is more mature—this is the band’s eighth year on the circuit, and this progression to mellow vocals and guitar is inevitable on the blues road. A coming of age of sorts. Although I don’t like Tips “a lot less meaner” even inside the studio. Thankfully, she’s anything but on stage. But wait a minute. Before I could take in Tips’ new blue in tracks such as Set Me Free, I had another surprise coming. Is Rudy doing a Clapton on me in Remembering Rory? While the plucking was leaning ever so easily towards Slowhand, the vocals and arrangements (except for the finger-kissing drum-roll start, clearly the handiwork of a Deep Purple lover that Shaun Nonghulo might be) in Come ’Round My House sure took me back to Clapton’s record Back Home (2005). Rudy’s rock and rollin’ in Kool Kat Strut, the other instrumental in the track besides Peace Prayer and Come ’Round My House. Kool Kat Strut is also where drummer Sam Shullai displays, as always, remarkable restraint, a rarity in most percussionists. Bassist Ferdy Dkhar also steps out of the shadows here. The songwriting has evolved, especially in tracks such as Smile at Me, which you and I can relate to. But there’s a bit of gassing around in She is —I mean the guitar chops and wails are all great, but while a line such as Clever as a Vixen has an old world ring to it, it’s a dud line that sticks out. Just how many more songs do we want to hear about women being a paradox? Stay Away would be a blast on stage. Tips is back. It’s the hell’s angel you heard in I Am from Soulmate’s self-titled debut. In this one, she’s seething, spitting fire and threatening “to set those hound dogs”. I’ve promised myself another evening of Soulmate. Thing is, it’s tough to get Rudy’s blues out of your head. And tougher to take your eyes off Tips even when she’s wearing a scowl on her lips, feathers in her ears and a tambourine on her head. You go hit the bar and plug into the band. The album is worth every rupee you burn. Lalitha Suhasini is a freelance music journalist. Write to lounge@livemint.com. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 1:46 pm Ample cash helps push bond yields downMumbai: Bond yields fell for a second day on Friday as ample cash supported demand, but long bond yields rose over the week as traders worried about the government’s borrowing plans for the fiscal year 2010. The yield on the most traded 6.07% 2014 bond ended at 6.50%, lower than its previous close of 6.53%. Over the week, the 2014 yield fell 14 basis points. The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond, in which there were only 25 deals, ended at 6.99%, one basis point below its previous close. The 10-year yield is up six basis points this week and 29 basis points so far this month. Volumes were a heavy Rs96.25 billion ($2 billion) on the Reserve Bank of India’s trading platform. “The market is not very comfortable with the longer duration bonds because of a lack of direction on borrowing,” said Sanjay Arya, deputy general manager of treasury at state-run Bank of Maharashtra. At Friday’s bond auction, primary dealers had to buy Rs5.83 billion of of the 2027 bonds and Rs3.53 billion of the 2035 bonds that were unsold, while the 2014 and 2021 bonds were fully sold. “A lot depends on the budget now, there is a feeling in the market that borrowing may not be as high as anticipated earlier as there would be some efforts from the government for disinvestment,” Arya said. The government releases an updated budget on 6 July, and the market has been concerned that it would increase planned record gross market borrowing of Rs3.6 trillion for 2009-10. The past six weekly bond auctions have each been increased by 25% to Rs150 billion each, fuelling the concern, although the government may be able to raise cash through selling stakes in state-run firms and other assets. “Although the deficit will be high, we think it can be easily financed, in part due to impending disinvestment and the auctioning of 3G (telecom spectrum) licenses. Long bonds may rally as a result,” Goldman Sachs said in a note on Friday. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 1:44 pm Sensex ends the week on a high - India Infoline.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jun 2009 | 1:43 pm Adani Power IPO by third week of JulyMundra (Gujarat): Adani Power Ltd, part of the diversified Adani Group, said today it may tap the capital market for its initial public offering (IPO) in the third week of July. “We have got all the clearances from SEBI...we are waiting for the Budget. We will hit the market after the Budget is presented...may be in the third week of July,” Adani Power Ltd director Ameet H Desai told reporters in Mundra. The company proposes to raise Rs2,200 crore through the IPO by offloading 33.7 crore equity shares. After the IPO, promoter Adani Enterprises will hold about 73.5% in the power firm, Desai said. The company is currently implementing two thermal power plants in Gujarat, one in Mundra and another in Tiroda, totaling 6600 MW capacity. The overall debt requirement for the two projects is Rs22,000 crore which has been arranged from State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC). While SBI is lending Rs16,000 crore, ICICI Bank is arranging Rs1,200 crore. PFC and REC are lending Rs2,600 crore and Rs1,500 crore respectively. Adani Power has signed power purchase agreements with Haryana, Maharashtra and Gujarat governments for selling power from the Mundra and Tiroda projects. The equipment for the two plants would be sourced from three Chinese companies---Shanghai Electric, Dong Fang, and Harbin. The company also proposes to set up a 1320 MW plant in Rajasthan and another 1980 MW project at Dahej in Gujarat. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 1:42 pm Caraco fiasco: HDFC Sec cuts Sun Pharma\'s earnings estimateSun Pharma fell 17% after the news from Caraco, but managed to recover a bit. Ranjit Kapadia, Vice PresidentInstitutional Research, HDFC Securities, said that it was one of the biggest fall in the history of Sun Pharma that the stock has fallen by more than 15%.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jun 2009 | 1:41 pm Indian firms plan $5 bn Iran LNG project: reportLondon: A consortium of Indian companies plans to spend around $5 billion to develop an offshore gas field in Iran and ship the liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India, Iranian news channel Press TV said on Friday. State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp’s overseas unit ONGC Videsh, Indian Oil Corp and state-owned Oil India plan to develop the Farzad field in the Gulf, according to an unnamed Indian source quoted by Press TV. “The oil and gas will belong to the National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC)... They have the marketing rights and we have requested them to allocate the gas to us for converting it into LNG,” the source said, adding that Iran had not responded to the plan submitted this month. The Indian companies would liquefy the gas and ship it to India if a contract is signed and the consortium gets development rights. Major European firms Total and Royal Dutch Shell have delayed or scrapped plans for multi-billion-dollar natural gas export projects in Iran, which is under UN and US sanctions over its disputed nuclear work. Iran, the world’s fourth-largest crude producer, sits on the world’s second-largest gas reserves after Russia but US sanctions hindering access to technology have slowed development of gas exports. LNG is gas cooled to liquid for transportation in special tankers. Iran has not yet exported any LNG but says it will be able to produce 77 million tonnes a year by 2014. The Farzad gas field forms part of the Farsi block in the Gulf. In November 2008, a senior source at an Indian company holding a stake in the block said Iran had approved the commercial viability of natural gas production at the Farsi block operated by Indian firms. ONGC and Indian Oil each hold a 40% interest in the block, while Oil India has the rest of the block, estimated to hold recoverable gas reserves of 12.8 trillion cubic feet. Iran is drawing interest from Indian and Chinese firms keen to tap the world’s second-largest reserves of oil and gas and are less susceptible than many other companies to Western pressure over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 1:40 pm Rupee rises to 1-week high on capital inflow hopes, weak dollarMumbai: The rupee rose to its highest in a week on Friday, as gains in equities supported expectations of capital inflows into Asia’s third-biggest economy, and a weaker dollar overseas also bolstered sentiment. The partially convertible rupee ended at Rs48.10/11 per dollar, its highest close since 19 May according to Thomson Reuters data, and about 1% stronger than its previous close of Rs48.595/605. On Tuesday, it had hit Rs48.90, its lowest since mid-May. “Stocks have been the biggest support to the market. If the momentum picks up next week, we may see the rupee strengthening beyond 48 a dollar levels,” a senior trader with a foreign bank said. Indian shares rose 2.9% on Friday, taking the market to its best close in almost two weeks, as investors took cues from Asian and European markets. Fund flows into shares have been a key driver of the rupee, which hit a record low of Rs52.2 in early March but rebounded as foreign investors bought about $8 billion of stocks over three months. However, since mid-June foreign investors have sold about $900 million of stocks, and the rupee has fallen about 2% so far this month. Dealers said the dollar’s weakness overseas added support to the rupee. The dollar index, a gauge of the US unit’s performance versus major currencies, was down 0.8% at 05:32 pm, as a series of global liquidity measures boosted investor sentiment. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 1:40 pm Monsoon progresses to central India - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jun 2009 | 1:28 pm Rupee strengthens by 50 paise against dollar - Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jun 2009 | 1:17 pm Mystery surrounds Michael Jackson’s sudden deathLos Angeles: One day after Michael Jackson’s sudden death, speculation was already turning on Friday to what killed the 50-year-old “King of Pop” just weeks before his long-awaited series of comeback concerts. Jackson, a former child star who became one of the best-selling pop artists of all time before a descending into a strange and reclusive lifestyle, died on Thursday afternoon at a Los Angeles hospital, where he had been rushed in full cardiac arrest after collapsing at his nearby rental home. His passing was front page news around the world, airwaves were filled with his greatest hits from “Thriller” to “Billie Jean”, social networking sites were bombarded with messages and tributes from fans and musicians continued to pour in. Also See |Photogallery “It’s so sad and shocking,” said former Beatle Paul McCartney. “I feel privileged to have hung out and worked with Michael. He was a massively talented boy man with a gentle soul. His music will be remembered forever.” Few details were known about the circumstances surrounding Jackson’s death, but the entertainer was reportedly unconscious and not breathing by the time he arrived at UCLA Medical Center, and doctors were unable to revive him. His body was flown by helicopter from the hospital to the coroner’s office late on Thursday. Brian Oxman, a spokesman for the Jackson family, told CNN on Thursday the family had been concerned about his health and had tried in vain to take care of him for months. “Michael appeared at rehearsals a couple of times, he was very seriously trying to be able to do those rehearsals,” Oxman said of Jackson’s preparations for a series of 50 concerts that were scheduled to begin in London in July. “His use of medications had gotten in the way, his injuries which he had sustained performing, where he had broken a vertebrae and he had broken his leg from a fall on the stage, were getting in the way,” Oxman told CNN. Authorities have scheduled an autopsy for Friday. But they cautioned it could take weeks to determine a cause of death, which will likely have to wait for the return of toxicology tests. Those tests will determine if Jackson had any drugs, alcohol or prescription medications in his system. Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery Homicide division searched Jackson’s home in the upscale Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles at the behest of chief William Bratton. But they called the investigation an “every day” event. Tainted Talent? Jackson dominated the charts in the 1980s and is considered one of the most successful entertainers of the past century, with a lifetime sales tally estimated at 750 million records, 13 Grammy Awards and several seminal music videos to his name. “Michael was and will remain one of the greatest entertainers that ever lived,” said Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, Jackson’s first label boss. “He was exceptional, artistic and original. He gave the world his heart and soul through his music.” But Jackson’s reputation as a singer and dancer was overshadowed in recent years by his increasingly abnormal appearance, and bizarre lifestyle, which included his friendship with a chimp and a preference for the company of children. He named his estate in the central California foothills Neverland Valley Ranch, in tribute to the J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan stories, and filled it with amusement park rides and a petting zoo. Jackson was twice accused of molesting young boys and was charged in 2003 with child sexual abuse. He became even more reclusive following his 2005 acquittal and vowed he would never again live at Neverland. Facing a battered reputation and mountain of debts the Wall Street Journal reported ran to $500 million, Jackson had spent the last two months rehearsing for the London concerts, including Wednesday night at the huge Staples Center arena, home to the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team. Despite reports of Jackson’s ill-health, the promoters of the London shows, AEG Live, said in March Jackson passed a 4-1/2 hour physical examination with independent doctors. “I can’t stop crying over the sad news,” Madonna said in a statement. “I have always admired Michael Jackson. The world has lost one of the greats but his music will live on forever.” Jackson was born on 29 August 1958, in Gary, Indiana, the seventh of nine children and first performed with his brothers as a member of the Jackson 5. His 1982 album “Thriller” yielded seven top-10 singles. The album sold 21 million copies in the United States and at least 27 million internationally. The following year, he unveiled his signature “moonwalk” dance move, gliding across the stage and setting off an instant trend, while performing “Billie Jean” during an NBC special. In 1994, Jackson married Elvis Presley’s only child, Lisa Marie, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1996. “I’m so very sad and confused with every emotion possible. ... This is such a massive loss on so many levels, words fail me,” Presley said in statement. Jackson married Debbie Rowe the same year and had two children, before splitting in 1999, and he later had another child with an unidentified surrogate mother. He is survived by three children named Prince Michael I, Paris Michael and Prince Michael II, known for his brief public appearance when his father held him over the railing of a hotel balcony, causing widespread criticism. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:49 pm Tata Steel will take longer to recover: Mohoni - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:46 pm Tata Motors posts $520 mn FY09 loss as JLR weighsMumbai: Tata Motors, India’s top vehicle maker, reported its first annual loss in eight years as it was hit by slumping demand and losses at the Jaguar and Land Rover unit it bought in 2008. The firm, which controls 60% of the world’s fifth-biggest truck and bus market, said it was readying for a major belt-tightening as it looked to cut costs. Tata Motors said Jaguar Land Rover unit posted a net loss of £281 million ($463 million) in the 10 months of the fiscal year to March 2009 that it was on its books, as a brutal global recession scuttled sales of cars, primarily the luxury and sports utility vehicles. The economic crisis has sent two of America’s three big carmakers into receivership and is set to plunge Toyota Motor Corp deeper into loss. The new president of Toyota on Thursday warned that the auto industry faces two more tough years. In India, higher borrowing costs and an economic slowdown put the brakes on auto sales for much of 2008-09, though sales have improved since February. Tata Motors reported a consolidated net loss for the year to March 2009 of Rs2,505 crore ($520 million) versus net profit of Rs2,168 crore a year ago. Net sales rose to Rs70,370 crore versus Rs35,409 crore. The numbers are not comparable as year-ago numbers did not include that of Jaguar and Land Rover, or other assets that Tata Motors bought and sold in the year. Last month, the company reported net profit from Indian operations fell 50.7% to Rs1,001 crore for 2008-09. Since completing the Jaguar Land Rover deal, Tata Motors has struggled for financing as the global credit crisis and economic downturn cut the availability of funds. A rights share offer last year did not attract great interest, it deferred an overseas share issue and had to refinance a $3 billion bridge loan it had taken to buy the two marquee brands from Ford. The firm, which has a line-up of the world’s cheapest car, the Nano, to some of most luxurious, said it had agreed to extend the final maturity of $1 billion by 18 months to end 2010. Shares in the firm have more than doubled so far this year compared to a 51% rise in the benchmark index. The shares fell by three-quarters in 2008. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:42 pm Tata Motors suffers loss of $521.8 millionIndia's Tata Motors said Friday that it suffered a loss of 25.05 billion rupees ($521.8 million) after taxes in the past fiscal year as the global meltdown exacted a toll on the auto industry worldwide.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:38 pm Budget may unveil fuel price reform: Report!The govt may unveil a roadmap in its July 6 budget to deregulate fuel pricing and give leeway to state-run oil refiners to fix petrol and diesel prices.Source: Zee News : Business | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:36 pm Japan raps Citi for lax money laundering controlsTOKYO (Reuters) - Citigroup has been ordered by Japanese regulators to stop marketing financial products at its retail bank for a month, a slap that is unlikely to squeeze revenue but will further tarnish the U.S. bank's reputation in a key market.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:31 pm Oil rises towards $71 after Nigerian attack reportLONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose towards $71 a barrel on Friday after Nigerian rebels said they blew up a wellhead in a Royal Dutch Shell oilfield and as equity markets rallied on perceptions the global recession was easing.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:30 pm India refinery output down 4.3% in May: GovtNew Delhi: Indian refiners processed 4.3% less crude in May than a year earlier due to planned maintenance work at some refineries and shrinking margins, official data showed on Friday. Combined crude processing at Reliance Industries’ two export-focused plants at Jamnagar in western Gujarat state fell 6.9% from a year ago, smaller than an annual decline of 9% in April. Indian refiners processed 3.02 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in May, as margins for simple Asian refiners shrank to 82 cents from $1.57 a barrel in April. Crude oil output in May fell an annual 4.3% to 658,000 bpd, the data showed, while natural gas output grew 18.35 to 3.41 billion cubic metres from a year ago as Reliance stepped up supplies from its D-6 block in the east coast. Essar Oil, another private refiner, processed 3.4% less crude than a year earlier at its Vadinar refinery, which was upgraded in April to process 280,000 bpd. The refinery was restarted on 3 Mayafter a planned 17-day shutdown. Maintenance work at refineries reduced throughput of plants owned by Indian Oil Corp, the country’s biggest state-run refiner, by 8% and that of Bharat Petroleum Corp units by 19.1%. Crude processing at Hindustan Petroleum Corp’s two refineries rose 56.3% in May from a year earlier. The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest report said world oil demand would contract by less than previously expected in 2009, and raised its 2009 forecast for the first time in almost a year. The agency, which advises 28 industrialized countries, has not changed its Indian oil demand forecast of 3.2 million bpd this year. Crude processing at state refiners, which meet local demand, declined 3% in May. Overall, production at Indian refineries in May stood at 102.5% of installed capacity. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:20 pm Mahindra Holidays IPO subscribed 9.74 times - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:08 pm Tata Motors says may see more job losses at JLRMUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Motors may consider more job cuts and plant shutdowns for the Jaguar and Land Rover unit, a top official said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:05 pm Birla White cement elevated to superbrand statusMumbai: Birla White Cement, a product from the Aditya Birla group stable, has been elevated to the status of a ‘Superbrand´ by popular consensus among industry experts and consumers. Birla White is the only white cement company to be conferred Superbrand status, a release in Mumbai stated. “This global acknowledgement places it in an elite league of the world’s best brands,” it added. Superbrand is a concept that started in 1993 in the UK to chronicle case studies of exceptional brands, to pay tribute to them and their brand guardians. Since then, it has been replicated in 85 countries across five continents, the release said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 11:57 am Tata Motors posts $520 mln FY09 loss as JLR weighsMUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Motors, India's top vehicle maker, reported its first annual loss in eight years as it was hit by slumping demand and losses at the Jaguar and Land Rover unit it bought in 2008.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jun 2009 | 11:41 am BSE Sensex rises 2.9 pct, seen up next weekMUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex rose 2.9 percent on Friday to its best close almost two weeks as investors took cues from Asian and European peers and scooped up bargains after the market shed more than 7 percent over the past two weeks.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jun 2009 | 11:39 am Yamaha announces foray into racing kits businessNew Delhi: Japanese two-wheeler maker Yamaha today announced its foray into the racing kits business in India and has tied-up with racing equipment maker Daytona for import and sale of the merchandise. The company said the racing kits would be used exclusively for Yamaha’s YZF-R15 and FZ series models. “This is the first time we are venturing into the racing kits parts business. Our aim is to encourage safe racing culture among our customers and also build the company’s brand image,” India Yamaha Motor division head Product Planning & Brand Management Sanjay Tripathi said. Mobike racing kits include high-lift cams, full exhaust system, adjustable back steps and braking parts like big diameter petal disc brakes, master cylinder and stainless steel hose. Tripathi said the Indian racing kits market is nascent but evolving fast and it lacks organised players. “Racing kit parts are developed using valuable experience gained from Moto GP and World Superbike racing and Yamaha wants to provide its customers in India with the same thrill and feeling of racing instinct,” Tripathi said. “The parts will be available from September onwards and are exclusively for racing purpose in a closed circuit only,” Tripathi said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 11:36 am Budget may skip GST introduction New Delhi: The budget may not mention the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from next fiscal as there are already voices expressing doubts about meeting the deadline. Goods and Services Tax (GST) — the new tax regime which would do away with most of the indirect taxes— is scheduled to be implemented by 1 April, 2010. The Union government may restate the roadmap or modify it, only after building a consensus with the states, sources said, adding this is not likely to be in the budget, to be presented by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 6 July. The Centre and state governments have still not agreed on the GST rate, even though consensus may be building for 8% at each level. The only broad agreement reached is that GST would be a dual rate, that is both the Centre and states would impose the tax, the rates of which probably would be the same. Also Read More on Budget 2009 In case, the government wants to implement the new taxation structure by next fiscal, it should have been ready with the draft structure by at least April this year, the sources said. At a recent pre-budget meeting of the States’ finance ministers in the capital, some states had reportedly dissented on the point of introducing GST from next fiscal and said that they needed more time to implement the tax regime. Chhattisgarh commercial tax minister Amar Aggarwal had said categorically that he did not think that GST could be implemented in 2010. “I don’t think GST can be implemented from scheduled date because there are many problems in this,” he had said. Bihar deputy chief minister and finance minister Sushil Modi had said there should not be any haste in implementing GST and states should apply it after all preparation. VAT panel chairman Asim Dasgupta had also admitted that there are certain problems expressed by states regarding GST. However, he also added that the VAT panel is trying hard to meet the deadline. GST, that would replace excise duty, service tax at the Centre and VAT at the state level, would help in creating common Indian market which would have uniform indirect tax rate. It would be natural progression of VAT from the state level to the national level. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 11:36 am ANALYSIS - Infrastructure hopes may hit funding roadblockMUMBAI (Reuters) - India's hopes of launching much-needed road, port and power projects may be deflated by a funding squeeze as government finances are constrained, long-term domestic money is scarce and battered overseas investors and lenders watch from the sidelines.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jun 2009 | 11:31 am Max India Q4 net loss at Rs6.76 crMumbai: Diversified Group Max India on Friday said that it has reported a net loss of Rs6.76 crore in the fourth quarter ended 31 March, 2009. The company had a net profit of Rs20.22 crore in the March quarter of FY’08, Max India said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Total income decreased to Rs91.42 crore in the latest quarter from Rs111.43 crore in the corresponding year ago period. For the fiscal year ended 31 March, 2009, Max India posted a net profit at Rs21.84 crore as compared to Rs61.90 crore in the last fiscal. Total income increased to Rs419.93 crore for the year ended 31 March, 2009 from Rs375.37 crore in the previous fiscal. On a consolidated basis, Max India reported a loss of Rs218.38 crore in the fiscal ended March 2009. While it had a net loss of Rs48.9 crore in the last year. Total income increased to Rs4891.44 crore for the full year ended March 2009 from Rs3610.55 crore in the fiscal year ended 31 March, 2008. Shares of Max India were trading at Rs209.50, down 0.12% on the BSE. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 11:14 am Sensex ends 419 pts up on positive cuesSensex surged over 419 points on Friday on frantic buying as investors took cues from higher Asian and European peers.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 Jun 2009 | 11:13 am Deccan Chronicle FY’09 net falls 53% at Rs142 crMumbai: Deccan Chronicle Holdings on Friday reported a 53.13% decline in consolidated net profit at Rs142.35 crore for the financial year ended March 2009. The Hyderabad-based publishing house had a net profit of Rs303.66 crore in the fiscal ended 31 March, 2008, it said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The income from operations rose 8.22% to Rs968.33 crore in FY’09, from Rs894.76 crore in the year-ago period. On a standalone basis Deccan Chronicle, publishes English dailes — Deccan Chronicle and Asian Age — posted a 48.49% decline in net profit at Rs140.07 crore for FY’09, from Rs271.94 crore in the year-ago period. The income from operations rose 4.16% to Rs814.93 crore in FY’09, from Rs782.37 crore in the last fiscal. Shares of Deccan Chronicle were trading at Rs81.30, up 1.88% in the afternoon trade on the BSE. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 11:04 am Close: Sensex rallies by 2.9% on stronger global peersMumbai: Indian shares rose 2.9% on Friday to its best close almost two weeks as investors took cues from Asian and European peers and scooped up bargains after the market shed more than 7% over the past two weeks. The rebound took gains in the main index to 1.7% for the week, after falling 4.7% last week when it snapped a run of 14 weekly gains - its best in 4 years - during which it leapt 83%. Energy giant Reliance Industries, private-sector lender ICICI Bank and engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro led the gains. “I think the undercurrent next week is going to be very positive,” said Jayesh Shroff, who helps manages about $1 billion in equity at SBI Mutual Fund. Expectations the government’s budget on 6 July will unveil pro-market reforms such as privatisations and relaxation of foreign investment rules will underpin the market, he said. “Even if there are no specific numbers given in the budget, there is confidence it will be reformist and will lay out the government’s priorities,” Shroff said. However, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries tumbled as much as 17.6% after US officials said authorities seized all medicines produced by its Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories unit, following repeated violations of manufacturing standards. The 30-share BSE index ended up 2.92%, or 419.02 points, at 14,764.64, with 27 stocks advancing, after rising as much as 3 percent in late in the afternoon. The 50-share NSE index rose 3.15% to 4,375.50. “Everyone is eyeing the budget, and some may just take a shot at the budget expectations being met. So we could see a rally of about 700 points over the next week,” said Hitesh Agrawal, head of research at Angel Stock Broking. But trading could be choppy on worries a below-normal monsoon forecast will hurt demand in the crucial rural heartland and hit corporate profitability. There are also concerns shares are pricey after the market’s rally since mid-March. Over the past two weeks, net foreign fund inflows since mid-March have dropped to about $7.5 billion from around $8 billion. Still, the Indian fund unit of HSBC is overweight on industrials and is raising exposure to metals because of signs of an economic revival and hopes for higher government spending to boost growth, a fund manager said. “We are overall positive on the infrastructure sector given that we expect the new government to focus on economic reforms,” Jitendra Sriram, who took over as head of equity in February at HSBC Asset Management (India), said. Larsen climbed 5.5% to Rs1,611.20, taking gains for the week to 7.7%. ICICI Bank rose 8% to Rs754.35,ending the week up 5.7%. Reliance, which has the most weight in the main index, advanced 3.5% to Rs2,028.65. Sun Pharma, the country’s largest drugmaker by market value at about $5 billion, ended down 12.2% at Rs1,140.45, after sliding to as much as Rs1,070 - its lowest since April 8. In the broader market, gainers led losers by almost 2 to 1 on below-average volume of 383.2 million shares. Asian shares climbed, with Japan’s Nikkei rising 0.8%, while MSCI’s measure of other Asian markets gained 1.8%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 10:48 am Japanese prices slide, Swiss bank UBS seeks cashTOKYO/ZURICH (Reuters) - Japanese consumer prices fell at a record pace while Swiss authorities, who also face a threat of deflation, got some possible relief from their other headache when banking giant UBS sought to raise new capital.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jun 2009 | 10:41 am So why does Lenovo have a large ‘Delete’ key?Lenovo put nearly a year of research into two design changes that debuted on an updated ThinkPad laptop this week. No, not the thinner, lighter form or the textured touchpad rather, the extra-large “Delete” and “Escape” keys. It may seem like a small change, but David Hill, vice president of corporate identity and design at Lenovo, points out, “Any time you start messing around with the keyboard, people get nervous.” Computers get smaller and faster every year, but keyboard design remains largely stuck in the 19th century. When Beijing-based Lenovo, which bought IBM Corp.’s personal-computer business in 2005, looked into improving the keyboard on the new ThinkPad T400s, a $1,600-and-up laptop for businesspeople, it knew it had to proceed with caution. To understand Lenovo’s concern, turn the clock back to the 1800s. Back then, fast typing would jam typewriters, so a keyboard layout that slowed down flying fingers was devised. The commonly used “A” key, for example, was banished to the spot under the relatively uncoordinated left pinky. Typewriter technology evolved. Mainframe computing led to function keys and others of uncertain use today. The PC era dawned. Yet many laws of keyboard layout remain sacred, like the 19-millimeter distance between the centers of the letter keys. Tom Hardy, who designed the original IBM PC of 1981, said companies have tried many times to change the sizes of keys. That first PC had a smaller “Shift” key than IBM’s popular Selectric typewriter did, and it was placed in a different spot, in part because the industry didn’t think computers would replace typewriters for high-volume typing tasks. IBM reversed course with the next version to quiet the outcry from skilled touch-typists. “Customers have responded with a resounding, ’Don’t fool with the key unless you can you can improve it,”’ said Hardy, now a design strategist based in Atlanta. PC makers relearned this lesson in the past year, as netbooks tiny, cheap laptops have become popular with budget-conscious consumers. Early models boasted screens measuring as little as 7 inches on the diagonal, requiring shrunken keyboards that many people found to be too small. Some even repeated IBM’s mistake by cutting the size of the “Shift” key. The computer makers have largely shifted focus to 10-inch (25-centimeter) or larger netbooks, so that there’d be room for near-standard keyboards or better. Push-back from consumers hasn’t stopped companies from testing and even manufacturing keyboards with unconventional designs over the years, in some cases demonstrating that people could learn to type faster than on standard QWERTY keyboards, so-called because of the arrangement of the top row of letters. During Hardy’s time at IBM, researchers came up with ball-shaped one-handed keyboards that he said were faster than standard ones. “A lot of those things never passed the business planners and the bean counters because they were concerned about manufacturing something that was just basically an experiment,” Hardy said. Ones that did get made have remained niche. Paul Bradley, an executive creative director at the global design group Frog Design, said makers of ergonomic keyboards that also improved typing speed were counting on concern over carpal tunnel syndrome during the dot-com boom of the 1990s to drive demand, but the market never materialized. If ever there were a time to make radical changes to the keyboard, now might be it. As evidence, Bradley noted the high tolerance many younger people show for tapping out cell-phone messages on tiny keypads using only their thumbs. Lenovo is on a more conservative course. In designing the new ThinkPad, it installed keystroke-tracking software on about 30 employees’ computers (They volunteered). On average, they used the “Escape” and “Delete” keys 700 times per week, yet those were the only “outboard” keys, or non-letter keys, that hadn’t been enlarged. Lenovo made those two keys about twice as long in the vertical direction to fit the way people reach up, rather than to the side, and then deliberately whack those keys, said Hill, the Lenovo executive who was at IBM for nearly 20 years before the 2005 sale to Lenovo. The new design cuts down on accidental taps of the “End” and “Insert” keys, too. The new keyboard isn’t perfect. Hill called “Caps Lock” a frustrating hangover from typewriter days, a key that can introduce garble, emulate shouting or foil password entries without the user noticing. “I think maybe sometime in the future, we should maybe entertain removing it,” he said. “It’s one of those things you kind of have to approach with caution. There might be some people out there who just really like their ‘Caps Lock’ key for whatever reason.” Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 10:33 am Big guns bid for rights to retail CNG in seven citiesNew Delhi: Eight companies including Reliance Gas Ltd, GAIL Gas and the joint venture of Indian Oil and Adani Energy have bid for the rights to retail CNG in seven cities. Reliance Gas, a unit of Reliance Industries, bid for three cities of Rajahmundry, Shahdol and Yanam, officials in the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board said. GAIL Gas Ltd, a subsidy of state-run GAIL India Ltd, did not bid in the cities Reliance had opted for, but did so very aggressively in Allahabad, Chandigarh, Ghaziabad and Jhansi. While GAIL avoided being pitted against Reliance, it had no such hesitation in putting a bid against Indraprastha Gas Ltd in Ghaziabad. IGL is a joint venture of GAIL and Bharat Petroleum supplying CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in Delhi. The joint venture of Indian Oil and Adani Energy bid for Allahabad, Chandigarh, Ghaziabad and Rajahmundry while Hindustan Petroleum and Gujarat government-owned GSPC Gas Ltd bid for Chandigarh and Ghaziabad. Little-known Siti Energy also is in the fray for Ghaziabad. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 10:19 am Tata Motors to launch JLR showroom on SundayNew Delhi: Come Sunday, India’s automobile industry will achieve a unique distinction of showcasing both the world’s cheapest car Nano and two of the costliest brands — Jaguar and Land Rover — from the Tata Group. After acquiring the two British marques last year, the country’s largest auto maker Tata Motors will formally launch the Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) showroom in India on 28 June. And, within a few days, Ratan Tata’s dream car Nano — touted as the world’s cheapest — will hit the roads. The two iconic brands will sell a range of vehicles in the country, including Jaguar’s XF and XKR, and Land Rover’s Discovery and Range Rover. JLR is likely to begin selling its range of premium performance saloon cars and sports utility vehicles in the Indian market later this year, for which Tata Motors is the exclusive importer. The premier car division, formed by the Tata Motors passenger car business unit, will distribute the cars in the country and open the first showroom at Ceejay House in Mumbai. The brands have their presence in the country in very small numbers through some independent importers. In March, Tata Motors unveiled the much-hyped Nano -- By 06261535 DELHI touted as the world’s cheapest car -- in the country. Offered at an ex-factory price of Rs 1 lakh, the deliveries of the small car will start next month. The company has shortlisted 1.55 lakh customers for handing over the cars in two phases. The Indian auto major had acquired JLR last year for $2.3 billion from US car maker Ford. To fund this, Tata Motors had taken a $3 billion bridge loan. The purchase consideration of JLR included the ownership of the two brands or perpetual royalty-free licences of all necessary intellectual property rights, manufacturing plants, two advanced design centres in the UK, and the worldwide network of national sales companies. On refinancing the $3 billion bridge loan, Tata Motors has paid $2 billion and amended the bridge finance loan agreement, under which the car maker will have to repay the remaining $1 billion by 2010. Tata Motors had been struggling to raise long-term funds to replace the bridge loan. In July last year, it had got Board approval to raise up to Rs7,200 crore through three simultaneous but separate rights issues. Subsequently, it came up with two separate issues to raise Rs4,147 crore, which met with cold response from investors and the promoters had to subscribe and increase their stake to 42% from the earlier 33%. Tata Motors then borrowed from the public, first since 1995, which it termed as an ongoing requirement, in December, 2008, offering up to 11% annual interest for up to three years. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 10:18 am India seeks more talks on contentious climate draftNew Delhi: Indian negotiators have played down a proposal for major economies to consider setting a goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, saying there were contentious ideas in the draft on the cuts needed. The proposal is part of a draft document put forward by the United States and Mexico at talks in Mexico this week, without reaching an accord. A copy of the text was made available to Reuters and is expected to be discussed at a meeting of the 17-member Major Economies Forum (MEF) on the sidelines of a G8 summit in Italy on 9 July. Plans also include doubling of public investments by the major economies in low-carbon technology by 2015 and boosting funding from public and private sources as well as from carbon markets to fight global warming. But Indian negotiators returning from Mexico said there was no consensus over the draft text and many hurdles remained, especially on the scope of emission cuts for different countries. A top negotiator said the problems mainly related to mitigation measures such as determining the long-term global emissions goals and setting a peak year for global emissions. “There are differences on some of these issues, so it’s not a consensus text that is ready to be adopted in one more meeting,” the official told Reuters on Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. Another Indian official with knowledge of the negotiations said: “There is difference of opinion and approach among the participating countries.” The 17 MEF members account for 80% of global emissions so any agreement among them would go a long way to defining a new UN climate treaty due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December. The two-page draft declaration does not set clear goals but says that developed countries, including the United States, the European Union and Japan, would “undertake robust aggregate and individual mid-term reductions in the 2020 timeframe.” Developing nations such as China and India say rich nations should cut emissions by ”at least 40%” below 1990 levels by 2020 -- a target developed nations say is out of reach when they are trying to stimulate recession-hit economies. The Indian negotiators said there was broad consensus on the need for more funding for climate change adaptation and the transfer of clean-energy technology, but there were differences of opinion on the amount and how to disburse the money. “More than the volume of funds it’s the delivery mechanism, the commitment that is important,” one of the negotiators said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 10:11 am India's Reliance ready to sign NTPC priority deal - Reuters
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jun 2009 | 9:59 am Plan panel recommends more market borrowing room for statesWith the economy witnessing a slowdown, the Planning Commission has recommended to the finance ministry that states be given more freedom to borrow from the market.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jun 2009 | 9:56 am India strides to space, eyes $120 mn business this yearNew Delhi: India’s space agency plans to double its revenues to $120 million a year by increasing satellite launches to claim a bigger chunk of the global space business, the head of its space agency said on Friday. Last April, India sent 10 satellites into orbit from a single rocket, signalling its intention to expand into that business. It also dispatched its first unmanned moon mission last October to join the Asian space race in the footsteps of rival China. Isro has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with 26 countries for launching satellites and joint research work, including Russia, France, Germany and Italy, along with South Africa and Brazil. “We are opening up our market further and by next March we are looking at $120 million worth business,” G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) told the agency in an interview on Friday. “A mega European launcher has been delayed, so we will have more customers from Europe now,” Nair said by telephone from the Isro headquarters in Bangalore. Isro is also building a low-cost powerful satellite vehicle - GSLV Mark 3, which will help the agency double its capacity of sending payloads from 2.5 tonnes at the moment and would also reduce operational costs by 30%. “We have matured into the space technology and today we have established ourselves as a good service provider for building satellites and launching them,” the chairman said. The space agency is planning to launch five satellites this year, including one for ocean study by July, and at least two from Europe and Africa by the end of the year. This April, India launched an Israeli-built military spy satellite, highlighting growing defence ties between New Delhi and Tel Aviv, which is now the second biggest arms supplier to India after Russia. Isro, with its low-cost services, is also targetting the US to launch their spacecraft from its own space station under a commercial agreement, Nair said. “We are having discussions with the US government and we are trying to open up the market for launching their satellites,” Nair said. The space agency is planning it first manned mission to moon by 2015 following the successful mission of Chandrayaan-1 (moon vehicle), an unmanned cuboid spacecraft it sent to the moon to map the surface and look for precious metals last year. “We have mapped the entire surface, craters and mountains and we have some idea about where titanium, magnesium and aluminium is present,” Nair said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 9:51 am INTERVIEW - India strides to space, eyes $120 mln/year businessNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's space agency plans to double its revenues to $120 million a year by increasing satellite launches to claim a bigger chunk of the global space business, the head of its space agency said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jun 2009 | 9:40 am US FDA seizes 33 drugs of Caraco - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jun 2009 | 9:31 am IDBI Bank cuts lending rate by 25 bpsIDBI Bank has cut its benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) by 25 basis points to 12.75 per cent with effect from July 1.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jun 2009 | 8:51 am Oil rises over $71 after Nigerian attack reportsLondon: Oil rose above $71 a barrel on Friday after Nigerian rebels said they blew up a wellhead in a Royal Dutch Shell oilfield and as equity markets rallied on optimism the global recession was easing. The move in oil followed a 2% gain on Thursday and put it on course for a 7% gain this week, buoyed by prospects for an economic recovery that has lifted prices from below $40 over the past four months. The release of the June consumer sentiment index by the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers later on Friday was expected to reflect a mildly improving outlook for the US economy, auguring well for ailing world energy demand. Although US jobless claims last week rose, first-quarter gross domestic product shrank slightly less than estimated, suggesting the downturn may be easing. By 2:09pm, the benchmark August US crude oil contract was up 88 cents per barrel at $71.11, having hit a high of $71.23, up $1. London Brent rose 85 cents to $70.63. Nigeria’s Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it attacked the wellhead in the Afremo oilfield because the military had gone on a “punitive expedition” in Delta state shortly after President Umaru Yar’Adua announced an amnesty offer for rebels. Shut in production The military denied carrying out any such campaign. Independent confirmation of the details of the attack was not immediately available. Shell has said it is checking its operations for damage from Sunday’s attacks. Afremo was one of the sites MEND also said it had attacked in a triple raid on Sunday. It described the field as being 14 miles from an export terminal through which crude oil from Shell’s Forcados fields is pumped. Pipeline bombings, attacks on oil and gas installations and the kidnapping of industry workers over the past three years have prevented Nigeria from pumping much above two thirds of its installed oil output capacity of 3 million barrels per day. The intensity of recent attacks in Nigeria have taken the oil market by surprise and tightened West African oil supplies. “Attacks by the MEND have forced foreign oil companies to shut at least 133,000 barrels per day of Nigerian production in the last month,” said MF Global in its daily note to clients. Iranian tension has also supported oil. About 20 people have died in protests after Iran’s 12 June presidential election, the worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Fuelling oil’s rise, Exxon Mobil said its huge Baytown refinery suffered an operational glitch that triggered flaring, sparking worries the largest US oil refinery could tighten gasoline stockpiles during this summer’s peak demand driving season. Firmer Asian stocks on the back of Wall Street’s rally also lent support, with shares outside Japan climbing 1.4% and Japan’s Nikkei up 0.8%. European shares advanced in early trade. A further boost came from a fall in the dollar against most major currencies on Friday as investors shifted funds back into risky assets after the Federal Reserve this week appeared to confirm it would keep interest rates low for a while. The Reuters/University of Michigan final June consumer sentiment index, due at 7:25pm, is expected to show a reading of 69.0 compared with 68.7 in the May report, a Reuters poll of economists showed. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 8:48 am Tata Power to set up plant in NetherlandsTata Power has signed a memorandum of understanding with Tata Steel and Corus Staal BV for building a 525 MW combined heat and power plant at Corus IJmuiden works in the Netherlands.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jun 2009 | 8:47 am GAIL plans 2 pipeline projectsThe board of the public sector GAIL (India) Ltd has approved a Rs 7,600crore investment for two pipeline projects linking Karnataka to the National Gas Grid.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jun 2009 | 8:40 am Banks can give more comforts to farmers: RBIPublic sector banks have been authorized to give more relief to farmers under the debt relief scheme, provided the lenders do not ask the Government to bear the losses.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 Jun 2009 | 8:04 am Sun Pharma shares dive after U.S. seizes unit's drugsMUMBAI (Reuters) - Sun Pharmaceutical shares plunged as much as 17.6 percent on Friday, their biggest intra-day drop, a day after U.S. authorities seized drugs made by its U.S. unit for manufacturing-standards violations.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jun 2009 | 7:22 am Air India employees strike at airportNew Delhi: Continuing with their agitation, Air India employees today staged a sit-in at Delhi airport to protest the decision of the airline management to defer payment of their salaries by a fortnight. “Air India employees across the nation have gone on a sit-in at their respective stations. This is in protest against the management’s decision to defer the payment of our salaries,” V J Deka, Regional General Secretary of Aviation Industry Employees Guild (AIEG) told PTI. Three AI employees unions: AIEG, Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) and Indian Aircraft Technician’s Association (IATA) had earlier decided to wear black badges from June 22 to 25. The strike comes after news this week that the government is to offer AI a bailout to help with its cash flow problems. They had said if the management fails to issue salaries on June 30, about 24,000 employees, associated with the three unions, would boycott duties under the “no pay no work” policy, which is likely to affect the operations of national carrier. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 6:51 am AI employee stage sit-in to protest delayed salariesContinuing with their agitation, Air India employees across the nation staged a sit-in at their respective stations.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jun 2009 | 6:45 am Cinepolis to introduce ‘VIP’ to IndiaNew Delhi: Mexican multiplex chain Cinepolis will introduce its luxury brand ‘Cinepolis VIP’ in India as part of its plans to set up 500 screens by 2016 in the country. “We have the Cinepolis VIP brand globally which is our luxury offering. We intend to introduce the brand along with our other normal multiplexes,” Cinepolis India managing director and country head Milan Saini said. About 5-10% of the screens set up would come under the VIP brand, added. The global multiplex operator had announced an investment of Rs1,700 crore in India last month for setting up around 500 movie screens by 2016. Cinepolis VIP, the premium property of the multiplex chain, would have a separate lounge and the cinemas would be equipped with a separate catering service as well as an exclusive seat-pick system for clients to buy tickets and select the location of their seats without queues. The tickets would cost about 3-4 times more than that of the average cost. “Our first multiplex comes up this year most probably in Pune, which will have one of the screens under VIP,” Saini said. On an average, each Cinepolis multiplex would have about eight screens and the number could go up to 14 screens. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 6:41 am Qantas cancels order for 15 Boeing DreamlinersSydney: Boeing Co, the world’s No.2 plane-maker, suffered another heavy blow to its Dreamliner project on Friday when a major customer, Australia’s Qantas Airways, scrapped and deferred orders for 30 new planes. Aviation analysts warned that more Boeing customers could follow Qantas, noting that cancellations of the fuel-efficient, long-haul plane were gaining momentum as airlines worldwide looked to conserve capital during the global recession. Citing the tough operating environment, Qantas cancelled orders for 15 of the B787-9 Dreamliners that had been due for delivery in 2014-15 and deferred for four years an order for another 15 of the same aircraft. It said the decision would save the company $3 billion in capital spending. Qantas denied it was reacting to this week’s fresh delays to the Dreamliner’s development, when the first test flight was set back for a fifth time, but analysts said there was a clear risk of more order cancellations or deferrals from other airlines. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all if we see more deferrals and more cancellations, particularly given the economic environment in the US at the moment, it’s a complete basket case,” said Bruce Low, investment analyst at Australian fund manager Fortis Investment Partners. “The aviation industry is suffering very badly ... I guess the Boeing delays actually give the airlines an opportunity to pull out or defer.” Boeing’s defense unit was recently hit hard by sweeping cuts announced by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates in the Pentagon’s fiscal 2010 budget request this year. Even before the Qantas decision, the plane-maker had logged only nine net orders so far in 2009 as global economic weakness has spurred a string of cancellations, including 58 Dreamliners. Rival Airbus faces the same economic pressures. In March, Air France said it would defer taking delivery of the sixth and seventh Airbus A380 aircraft in an order for 12 of the giant planes, to save cash on down payments. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said in a statement that “the operating environment for the world’s airlines has clearly changed dramatically” since Qantas announced its original B787 order in December 2005. Qantas shares rose as much as 2.5% in early trade. The stock has dived 24% so far this year, while the wider S&P/ASX 200 index has risen about 5 percent. Last month, Qantas said it expected to navigate the current aviation crisis, the industry’s worst, without having to further cut capacity or jobs or raise capital. But it has forecast a loss in the second half of its 2009 financial year, and announced in March it would shed 90 top management positions, adding to 1,500 job cuts announced in 2008. Qantas said it retained the ability to buy up to 50 additional aircraft. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 6:35 am Lenders working to revive Subhiksha: MDCash-strapped retail player Subhiksha has said that almost all its lenders and shareholders are working together to revive the company and it is on its way to completing the ongoing corporate debt restructuring programme on schedule by the end of July.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 Jun 2009 | 6:24 am PC makers race to comply with China’s Web filterBeijing: Days before a deadline abruptly imposed by China, computer makers are scrambling to comply with an order to supply Web-filtering software with PCs amid concerns about what it might do to their reputations. Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Inc. and Taiwan’s Acer Inc., the top three global producers are asking regulators for details of the order that takes effect 1 July to provide Green Dam Youth Escort software with every laptop and desktop PC sold in China. The conflict reflects the clash between the authoritarian government’s efforts to control information and China’s high-tech ambitions. China is important to PC suppliers both as a major manufacturing site and a fast-growing market. It accounts for up to 80% of world production and sales that state media say rose to 147 billion yuan ($21 billion), up 12.8% from 2007. The conflict comes as Beijing launched new criticisms this week against search giant Google Inc., which a foreign ministry spokesman accused Thursday of spreading pornography. Chinese users were unable to connect to Google’s main site or its China-based service, google.cn, from late Wednesday into Thursday. But spokesman Qin Gang, speaking at a regular briefing, sidestepped questions about whether the government was blocking access. Washington has already called on Beijing to revoke the order to supply the software, calling it a “serious barrier to trade” and saying the software could pose a security risk. Government regulators say Green Dam must be supplied with every computer to prevent children from surfing the Internet for pornography. But technical analyses of the software developed by a previously unknown Chinese company have shown embedded programs to filter out content the government deems politically objectionable. Manufacturers could face the same criticism that US Internet services did in 2006 after complaints they cooperated with Chinese censorship, said David Wolf, a technology consultant in Beijing. At that time, the US Congress held hearings and some lawmakers accused the companies of aiding dictators. Yahoo had provided e-mail account information to the Chinese government that led to a jail sentence for a political activist and writer. Microsoft had disabled some blogging services critical of China, while Google had agreed to remove some political content from its Chinese service. The threat to the reputations of companies that comply with the new order is real, Wolf said. “That’s a concern that they have to have. The overall credibility of the brands will be at risk,” said Wolf, president of Wolf Group Asia. The move has also touched off criticism among China’s 298 million Internet users, raising the possibility that sales of brand name PCs domestically might suffer too. Chinese consumers who object to the filter may switch to buying generic components that come without software, said JP Morgan analyst Charles Guo. In its battle to control information, China has assembled the world’s most extensive system of Internet monitoring and filtering. Despite those efforts, the Web in China is far more freewheeling than rigidly controlled state television and newspapers. Requiring Green Dam to be supplied and possibly installed with computers would take the controls to a new level, placing monitoring technology inside the individual’s computer. Under the order, which was given to manufacturers in May and publicly released in early June, producers are required to pre-install Green Dam or supply it on disc with every PC sold in China from 1 July. Last week, it appeared the government backed away from requiring compulsory installation by users, but manufacturers are still being required to provide the software. Taiwan’s Acer Inc., the No. 3 PC maker, says all its computers sold worldwide are produced by contractors in China. No. 2 Dell exports from one Chinese factory to Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong and operates another for sales in China. HP, the world’s biggest producer, and China’s Lenovo Group did not respond to questions about how much of their China production is exported and to where. “We are reviewing the policy initiative and are working with government officials and others to understand its application,” a Dell spokesman, Jess Blackburn, said in an e-mail. HP is trying to get more information about the order and “clarify open questions,” the company said in a statement. It declined further comment. Manufacturers’ immediate problem is the cost of complying at a time when the global economic slump is slashing profits, said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China Ltd., a Beijing research firm. “Given how razor-thin margins are, anything that adds costs, even if it’s just dropping a CD into the box, is not welcome,” Clark said. Wolf said costs could rise if regulators decide the software must be pre-installed on every PC. That would force makers that sell computers without software, such as in corporate bulk orders, to pay for operating systems to support the filter. “It’s another one of those great ideas that somebody had that nobody thought all the way through,” Wolf said. The top US trade officials said the lack of transparency and inadequate notice may violate World Trade Organization rules. In a letter to Chinese officials this week, US secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and trade representative Ron Kirk called on Beijing to revoke the order. On a technical level, researchers at the University of Michigan who studied Green Dam say they found “serious security vulnerabilities due to programming errors” that could allow any Web site a PC user visits to take control of the computer. A California company, Solid Oak Software of Santa Barbara, says parts of its own filtering software were used in Green Dam, raising questions about possible violations of intellectual property rights. The fracas adds to a series of disputes between the US and China over trade and the use of regulation to protect Chinese companies. The United States and European Union filed complaints this week over China’s curbs on exports of industrial raw materials, saying they unfairly favored its domestic industries. Last year, Beijing ordered foreign sellers of computer security technology to disclose how their products work. Following US protests, the government agreed in April to postpone that for a year. The order still applies to products sold to Chinese government agencies. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 5:36 am Rupee up 11 paise against dollarThe Indian rupee on Friday appreciated by 11 paise against the US currency in early trade on capital inflows by foreign funds.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 Jun 2009 | 5:22 am Swiss bank to raise equity,expects Q2 net lossNew York: Swiss bank UBS AG, one of the world’s hardest-hit major banks in the global financial crisis, said on Thursday it plans to raise about Swiss francs 3.8 billion by selling stock, and expects to post a second-quarter net loss. The world’s largest wealth manager by assets is trying to bolster capital and return to profitability after suffering the biggest annual loss in Swiss corporate historyin 2008, hurt by more than $50 billion of write-downs tied significantly to investments in risky US assets. UBS said it is offering about 293.3 million new shares at a price of Swiss francs 13.00 per share, a 6.9% discount to Thursday’s closing price of 13.97. Shares of UBS fell 5.9% on Thursday before the announcement. The Zurich-based bank said it expects its tier-1 capital ratio will be higher on 30 June than it was three months earlier, reflecting a reduction of risk-weighted assets. It had reported a ratio of 10.5% as of 31 March. In a statement, the Swiss government said the government welcomed UBS’ efforts to strength its capital base. In October, the government had injected Swiss francs 6 billion in UBS, in exchange for mandatory convertible notes that could give it a 9.3% stake. UBS said most of the expected quarterly loss relates to what it called “own credit” and to previously announced restructuring charges. It nevertheless said operating results are likely to be better than the first quarter, helped by improved investment banking conditions and lower losses and write-downs. UBS said it has also suffered net outflows in its three wealth and asset management units so far this quarter. The bank on 5 May reported a first-quarter net loss of Swiss francs 2 billion. In its statement, the government agreed to restrictions on its ability to sell shares before 4 August, when the bank expects to report second-quarter results. It called this limitation “supportive to investors” taking part in the capital-raising. Analysts believe UBS wants the government to exit its stake quickly to lessen perceived competitive disadvantages. These include a demand that the bank comply earlier than other Swiss rivals with new rules on pay for bankers. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 5:06 am Corus to cut nearly 2000 British jobsLondon: Europe’s second largest steelmaker Corus said on Thursday it was planning to cut a further 1,922 jobs in Britain’s industrial heartlands, alongside axing another 123 staff in the Netherlands. Of the jobs to be cut in Britain, some 800 will go from Corus’s engineering steel sites in the northern English towns of Rotherham and Stocksbridge, while in the Netherlands, the jobs will go from the Corus Tubes division. Office workers will not escape the cull, with some 500 white-collar jobs under threat in Scunthorpe. Unemployment in Britain is already running at its highest rate in more than a decade, with 7.2% of people out of work. Michael Leahy, general secretary of the community trade union, described the plans, which come after the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker axed 2,500 jobs at the start of the year, as “devastating”. “This brings the Corus job cuts for the year to around 4,500 and that’s without the threat to thousands of workers on Teesside,” Leahy said in a statement, referring to the group’s search for a buyer for a majority stake in the plant. Corus, part of India’s Tata Steel, said the additional job cuts, equivalent to 2.5% of its global workforce of 82,700, were necessary to cope with the decline in steel demand, and that while it hoped to implement voluntary cuts, it could not rule out compulsory redundancies. “Any recovery in Europe appears to be some time off, so it is vital that we take this proportionate and responsible action now,” Corus said. Global steel production has fallen over the last year as demand in key sectors such as construction and automotive shrunk, forcing steelmakers such as ArcelorMittal to cut back on production. Peter Hogg, commercial director for Corus’ engineering division, said the group’s order book had fallen by three quarters and the group had to alter its cost structure accordingly. “What’s clear to us now is that the economic downturn is going to last much longer and is going to be be much deeper than we’d ever anticipated,” Hogg said. Governemnt action Unite, the UK’s largest trade union, called on the government to support British manufacturing. “Unless there is action from the government to support British manufacturing we will continue to see skilled jobs wither on the vine,” John Rowse, Unite’s national officer said in a statement. Opposition work and pensions secretary Theresa May also called on the labour government to get credit flowing through the system and described the cuts as “grim news”. A spokesman for British prime minister Gordon Brown said the government had written to Corus offering up to £5 million of training support to help secure jobs at Corus sites. “Clearly this is very disappointing news for those affected and we do understand the difficulties that the company is facing as a result of the severe downturn in demand for steel around the world,” the spokesman said. Separately, Tata Steel reported a 60% drop in net profit for the year. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 26 Jun 2009 | 4:58 am Market wipes out week's loses with Friday surgePrior to Friday's rise, the Sensex had been steadily falling for three out of four days and looked to end the week in the red for the second time running.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Jun 2009 | 4:29 am GM says bankruptcy sale delay would kill suppliersDETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp needs to exit from bankruptcy quickly in order to avoid a "fatal" blow to many of its suppliers and the loss of thousands of jobs, Chief Executive Fritz Henderson said in a court filing on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Jun 2009 | 1:46 am Sibal wants Class 10 board exams to be optionalNew Delhi, June 25 The Minister of Human Resource Development, Mr Kapil Sibal, on Thursday, proposed the formation of an autonomous overarching regulatory and assessment authority for higher education which would subsume the University GrantsSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am ‘Aila’ encore over Arabian Sea likely to cost lessNorth-east Arabian Sea is about to witness a ‘Cyclone Aila’ replay, but with lesser collateral damage for the monsoon, as a resident storm system over coastal Gujarat waded back into waters and intensified.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Nilekani to head Govt’s unique identification projectNew Delhi, June 25 Mr Nandan Nilekani, co-chairman of Infosys Technologies, has been appointed by the Government to head a newly created authority that will supervise the creation of a unique identification database of the country’sSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Tata Steel consolidated net down 61% on demand dipMumbai, June 25 Tata Steel has reported a 61 per cent drop in its consolidated net profit at Rs 4,849 crore for the year ended March 31, 2009, against Rs 12,322 crore registered in the same period last year mainly due to a sharp fall in demand inSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideNote: In a buy recommendation, the resistances would be the targets and the nearest support would be the stop loss; In a sell recommendation, the supports would be the targets and the nearest resistance would be theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am ATMs running out of Rs 100 notesHyderabad, June 25 Planning to withdraw money from ATM? You may have to withdraw not less than Rs 500. The reason: shortage of Rs 100 notes.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Flat growth in shipping tonnage so far this yearHyderabad, June 25 Facing tighter access to funds and a global freight market that is yet to firm up significantly, Indian shipping companies have delayed some of their expansion plans. This has resulted in the domestic shipping fleet remainingSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Hydel generation could trip as reservoir levels dropNew Delhi, June 25 A majority of the country’s key hydro reservoirs are precariously close to their minimum draw down levels.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Steel imports surpass last year’s volumes only since April, says RastogiNew Delhi, June 25 While the steel industry has been demanding fiscal measures against cheaper imports, it is only since April that imports have surpassed last year’s volumes. And China only accounts for 1.36 per cent of the totalSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Syndicate Bank (Rs 69.70): SellWe recommend a sell in Syndicate Bank from a short-term trading standpoint. It is evident from the charts of Syndicate Bank that after forming a multi-year low at Rs 37.6 in early March it bottomed out. Since then the stock was on anSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Jun 2009 | 12:00 am Is China faking economic recovery?Cynical crunchers of statistical data believe there are three degrees of 'mistruths': lies, damned lies and statistics.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Jun 2009 | 10:29 pm Tata Steel net drops 60%Net profit after minority interest and share of profit of associates came in at Rs 4,950 crore, compared with a consolidated net profit of Rs 12,350 crore a year ago.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Jun 2009 | 10:21 pm JSL plans Rs 2,500 cr debt recastJSL Ltd is pinning hopes on a corporate debt restructuring plan of Rs 2,500 crore to fund its Rs 5,600 crore, 1.6 million tonne per annum expansion in Orissa.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Jun 2009 | 10:18 pm Suzlon may exit Hansen fullySuzlon acquired Hansen through its subsidiary AE-Rotor Holding for $465 million (over Rs 3,000 crore) in an all-cash deal, in March 2006.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Jun 2009 | 10:14 pm Run Prasar Bharati like BBC: NPCA board meeting of the public broadcaster, Prasar Bharati, discussed the ways and means to restructure its units--Doordarshan and All India Radio.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Jun 2009 | 10:10 pm 'PC sales will be back on growth track in H2'After a disastrous one-year run, the Indian PC market will be back on the growth track in the second half of 2009, according to IT intelligence firm Gartner Inc.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Jun 2009 | 10:05 pm Want easy money? See where you goMore often than not, schemes promising huge returns are Ponzi traps.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Jun 2009 | 10:01 pm Tata Steel net declines 60%Tata Steel, India's biggest producer reported a 60% drop in full-year profit after incurring costs to reorganize operations at its UK unit Corus.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 Jun 2009 | 8:34 pm Younger bros leaving home: MurthyI feel its like a younger brother going out of home, seeking nobler aspirations. Nandan has been an integral part of Infosys history.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 Jun 2009 | 8:33 pm All AI revamp panels to have union repsArvind Jadhav formally announced that union representatives will be included in each of the nine committees formed last month to revive the airline.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 Jun 2009 | 8:29 pm Multibillion dollar opportunity for IT cosA billion smart cards for a billion population. It throws up a multi-billion dollar business opportunity for domestic technology players.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 Jun 2009 | 8:22 pm India shines at Cannes: 23 metals and countingIts Indias day out at Cannes the ad worlds biggest annual awards competition and trade show. In its best-ever performance, India Inc has already won 23 metals and the counting hasnt ended yet, as the Films, Integrated & Titanium Lions are still to be announced.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 25 Jun 2009 | 7:36 pm RBI may tighten capital adequacy normsThe Reserve Bank of India may tighten prudential norms for banks to provide a cushion for financial soundness when the economy faces turbulent times.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 25 Jun 2009 | 7:35 pm UB Group's investment plan hits FIPB roadblockRevenue department objects to foreign loans routed through Mallya's mother's firm.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 25 Jun 2009 | 7:34 pm PM picks Nilekani to head national ID card schemeThree weeks after celebrating his 55th birthday, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani will step down from the board of Infosys Technologies, of which he is co-chairman, on July 9 to take over as chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the governments ambitious project to provide every citizen with a unique biometric identity card.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 25 Jun 2009 | 7:32 pm Tech guard: HP aims to make paper forgeries a thing of pastBangalore: In 2008, one batch of students at the Indian Institute of Information Technology in Bangalore (IIIT-B) graduated with unique mark sheets—they were tamper-proof. The mark sheets carried a bar code, generated by a new technology from Hewlett-Packard (HP) Labs India. The bar code could be printed on paper by any printer and scanned by normal scanners. The test run at IIIT-B of the Trusted Hardcopy Solution (THS) is part of a programme at HP Labs, the advanced research group of the technology corporation Hewlett-Packard Development Co. Lp, that is trying to address paper-based frauds which—it estimates, globally cost firms $660 billion (Rs32 trillion) annually.  Tech solutions: HP Labs India research director Anjaneyulu Kuchibhotla says the new software consists of generation and verification modules, which can be easily integrated with any existing IT system in a firm. Hemant Mishra / Mint “Most of the existing technologies in this space either address the digital world or the paper world, but this one (THS) bridges the gap, so we decided to be the experimental site,” said S. Sadagopan, director of IIIT-B. Since the 1990s, digital watermarking technology has been largely used for ensuring data integrity, but THS is different in the sense that it tests the content, whereas the former tests the veracity of the source of the document. Moreover, its low cost and simplicity make it useful for large institutions; forgery of documents is a growing concern, said Sadagopan. In fact, in the first quarter of this year, the discrepancy rate in recruitment background checking is as high as 26% in India, according to First Advantage, one of the largest pre-employment screening services providers in Asia. So, in a way, HP’s market is cut out. Its new software consists of generation and verification modules, which can be easily integrated with any existing IT system in a company or an institution, said Anjaneyulu Kuchibhotla, a research director at HP Labs. Besides automating the verification system, THS enables remote or online verification. Kuchibhotla said the tool is in the process of a commercial roll-out. But even before that happens, as is the norm in technology, the next generation tool is ready. Called “content integrity of printed documents using error correction”, the new software automatically detects even small changes made to a printed document and displays them. All that a document issuer and a receiver need to do is to run the installed software on the new document. Any tampering in the document, even at the pixel level, pops up in colour. Researchers say even old legacy documents can be protected by this with a scanned copy acting as the original. Forged documents are a bane for businesses everywhere, but the problem is particularly severe in India. In a “Fraud Survey” in 2008 by audit firm KPMG India involving 1,000 top business executives, 60% of the respondents reported instances of fraud in their organization within a year and most of them felt that fraud cases would increase in the next two years. Even though forged documents are one of the Top 3 causes of fraud in companies, HP’s technology is not the silver bullet, said Murali Talasila, director-Forensic Services, KPMG India, as several other kinds of frauds happen. Still, it’s a very useful tool which could eradicate fraud in sectors such as education, or inventory management which is not easily automatable, but its success would depend on how HP manages to leverage this innovation, he said. “It has to be implemented top-down as well as bottom-up. HP must tie up with government bodies and end users to ensure that it is used.” Globally, HP says determining the authenticity of documents is not just a technical challenge, but a logistical nightmare. There are hundreds of authorities issuing documents such as birth certificates, driver’s licences, educational degrees, property rights, etc., which need tens of thousands of verifiers. Creating a dedicated online infrastructure for these agencies is expensive and sometimes not feasible. Unlike in the past, deriving business propositions in fundamental research which also affect society is the new maxim at HP Labs, especially since August 2007 when Prith Banerjee came at the helm in the headquarters at Palo Alto, California. It’s no different at the Bangalore centre. For instance, the Lab recently tested TVPrintCast or print augmented broadcasting technology, which simultaneously broadcasts data that can be printed at the consumer end, without any disruption to TV viewing. During the trials, seven out of 176 centres of the Training and Development Communication Channel Network of Abdul Nasir Sab State Institute of Rural Development in Karnataka were augmented with TVPrintCast. Researchers demonstrated that this technology requires little learning and expertise to operate and provides a ready vehicle to leapfrog to the digital world. HP is now looking to licence the technology. However, the biggest thrust of the Lab in India is on making the computing interface more people friendly by using “multimodal interaction”, particularly speech. “The work is in progress and we hope to demonstrate this in the near future,” said Sudhir Dixit, who took over as the new director of HP Labs India in May. seema.s@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 25 Jun 2009 | 7:11 pm DoT may consult Trai on spectrumNew Delhi: The department of telecommunications, or DoT, plans to ask the country’s telecom regulator for its views on licence related recommendations made by a committee on allocation of spectrum , or radio waves, to phone firms in its report on 13 May. DoT is seeking advice of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, or Trai, for recommendations on a number of issues including whether it is possible to issue new UAS (universal access service) licences without bundling spectrum as is the practice at present. “If yes, what should be the entry fee and other terms and conditions for such UAS licences,” according to a draft of the department’s letter, reviewed by ‘Mint’. The UAS licence, valid for 20 years, currently comes bundled with 4.4MHz of spectrum. The Trai Act of 1997 says all phone firm licensing issues have to be dealt with only after the regulator gives its recommendations. Trai has 60 days to submit its recommendations after the government asks for its advice. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 25 Jun 2009 | 5:55 pm India potential market for expansion: Best BuyAtlanta: Best Buy Co.’s new chief executive officer, Brian Dunn, said the world’s largest electronics retailer is looking at India as a potential market. “India is obviously something we’re watching very closely,” said Dunn, who took over as CEO on Thursday. There’s very healthy internal whispers about how important that market is. The company is trying to not spread itself too thinly in its international expansion, he said at the annual shareholders meeting in Richfield, Minnesota. Dunn took over from Brad Anderson, 60, who is retiring 36 years after starting at the company as a stereo salesman. Anderson will remain as vice-chairman until his term expires in 2010. Dunn, 49, joined the company in 1985, selling VCRs in a Minnetonka, Minnesota store, one of 12 the retailer had then. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 25 Jun 2009 | 5:50 pm Vista buyers to get free Windows 7, says MicrosoftSeattle: Prices for Microsoft’s Windows 7 computer operating system will be largely in line with those for Vista. In announcing prices on Thursday, Microsoft Corp. says people who buy computers before the new system goes on sale in October will get free upgrades. To drum up demand among people who aren’t in the market for a new PC, Microsoft is taking limited pre-orders, selling some for as little as $50. People who buy Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate computers starting Friday can contact their manufacturer for a free upgrade when Windows 7 becomes available. Microsoft is hoping Windows 7’s debut will be much smoother than Vista’s. Vista was plagued by delays, and many people complained it was sluggish and didn’t work with existing devices and programs. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 25 Jun 2009 | 2:23 pm Kimberly-Clark to cut about 1,600 jobsChicago:Kimberly-Clark Corp said on Thursday that it would cut about 1,600 salaried jobs, or roughly 3% of its workforce, as it tries to trim costs and respond faster to rivals and store brands. The latest move comes four years after the maker of Kleenex tissues kicked off a three-and-a-half year cost cutting plan that included slashing about 6,000 jobs and closing about 20 manufacturing plants. The plan announced on Thursday does not include closing any facilities. Kimberly-Clark had said in April that it expected to cut jobs in the second and third quarters as it tries to squeeze more costs out of the organization. Its household products, such as Kleenex and Huggies diapers, have faced stiff competition from lower-cost store brands sold by retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc as consumers cut back. At the same time, its K-C Professional division has been pressured because the restaurants and other businesses it serves have been hit hard by the recession. The move is “likely a necessary step” to allow Kimberly-Clark to invest in areas such as advertising and promotion as it tries to protect its market share, Sanford Bernstein analyst Ali Dibadj said. Procter & Gamble Co, in particular, has stepped up its push to grab cash-strapped consumers with lower priced versions of Bounty paper towels and Charmin toilet paper, as well as a lower cost line of diapers, Luvs. Kimberly-Clark competes directly with P&G in those categories. Predicts $60 million in saving this year Kimberly-Clark said that the latest round of job cuts would be in all regions and businesses and mainly impact salaried and non-production jobs. The company offered a voluntary severance program for US salaried employees this spring which about 600 people accepted, a spokesman said. Those jobs are included in the plan to reduce about 1,600 jobs from the company’s total of around 53,000. Kimberly-Clark expects to record charges of $140 million to $150 million, or about 25 cents per share. About $110 million of those charges are slated for the second quarter. It expects to see savings of about $60 million, or 10 cents per share, during the second half of the year. In another effort to save, Kimberly-Clark decided earlier this year to freeze pension plan benefits for US non-union employees. Shares of Kimberly-Clark fell 0.6% to $51.46 in morning trade. The shares slipped 1.8% from the beginning of the year through Wednesday, outperforming P&G, whose shares fell 11% in that period. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 25 Jun 2009 | 2:19 pm Smart new driving licence issued in BangaloreBangalore: Driving licenses and registration certificates of vehicles have just become “smart” in Karnataka, with a micro-processor based chip fitted in a plastic card soon to replace the booklet format. Chief minister B S Yeddyurappa on Thursday inaugurated the programme of issuing smart card based licenses and registration certificates at a function here. The smart cards come with a facility to record traffic violations and details of any convictions relating to road accidents. An additional feature is that the license comes with an accident cover of Rs1 lakh for death and Rs50,000 for permanent disability for a period of one year from the date of its issue, transport department officials said. They added that the another feature in this system is the facility for digital storage of data and easy access to it, while also being tamper proof and having secured operations. “The smart card also prevents creation of forged documents,” transport minister R Ashok said. These driving licenses and registration certificates would be issued on payment of Rs200 each, the officials said, adding that, the existing driving licenses and registration certificates should be converted into smart card within two years. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 25 Jun 2009 | 1:05 pm
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