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Satyam allots shares to VenturbayMahindra Satyam (the new brand identity of Satyam Computer Services Ltd) announced that its board of directors had allotted 19,86,58,498 (Nineteen Crores EightSix Lakhs FiftyEight Thousand Four Hundred and NinetyEight Only) shares of the Company to Venturbay Consultants Private Limited, a subsidiary controlled by Tech Mahindra Limited.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Jul 2009 | 3:23 pm Punj Lloyd Group bags orders worth over Rs 5,904 croreSembawang Engineers and Constructors (Sembawang), a wholly owned subsidiary of global conglomerate Punj Lloyd Group, announced its first three breakthrough projects in Libya totalling more than Rs 5,904 crore (US$ 1.2 billion) to build commercial and residential developments.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Jul 2009 | 3:18 pm Current order book at Rs 3600 cr: Subhash ProjectsSubhash Sethi, Vice Chairman, Subhash Projects, said the company had a complete order book of about Rs 3,600 crore. \"Water and environment constitute about 61% of the order book, which is about Rs 2,200 crore plus. In infrastructure, the company has about Rs 804 crore and in energy about Rs 600 crore of order book as on today.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Jul 2009 | 3:13 pm Financing not pricing continues to be a problem: VoltasMM Miyajiwala, Executive VP Finance and CFO, Voltas, said though industrial activity has picked up slightly, the outlook continues to remain uncertain. He feels pricing is not a major issue but financing continues to be a problem area. He expects interest rates to trend higher.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Jul 2009 | 2:52 pm Fortis looking to acquire hospitals: Malvinder SinghFortis is looking to acquire hospitals, Malvinder Singh has said. His exit from Ranbaxy was a mutual decision, he said, and added that the pharma major faced problems mainly on currency issues.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Jul 2009 | 2:35 pm Fellow Infoscians rue Nilekani\'s exit, see voidOn Thursday, July 9, 2009, Nandan Nilekani took his last bow and bid farewell to Infosys. Infosys members fondly remembered the stalwart and spoke about coping without one of its most prominent cofounder members and the global face of Infosys.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Jul 2009 | 2:26 pm Infosys Q1 net profit down 5.33% QoQ!Infosys on Friday announced a drop of 5.33% in its net profit for the first quarter ended June 30.Source: Zee News : Business | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:57 pm `Bernard Madoff won`t appeal 150-year sentence`!Bernard Madoff, who was charged with 11 criminal counts in the biggest investment fraud in history, won`t appeal his 150-year prison sentence, his attorney has said.Source: Zee News : Business | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:57 pm May industrial output up 2.7% YoY!India`s industrial output rose by a faster-than-expected 2.7 percent in May from a year earlier.Source: Zee News : Business | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:57 pm Vikram Pandit stays as Citi reshuffles top management!Citigroup has announced changes in several top management roles in the company in what the troubled bank`s Indian American CEO Vikram Pandit described as moves that will "further help in positioning our company for the future".Source: Zee News : Business | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:57 pm GM close to bankruptcy exit, sale to government!US carmaker General Motors could exit bankruptcy in record time and come under the control of the US government by the end of this week, as a Thursday deadline for challenges expired.Source: Zee News : Business | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:57 pm Japanese wholesale prices log record drop!Japanese wholesale prices fell at the fastest ever pace last month, data showed, deepening concern that another bout of deflation could hinder a recovery in the world`s number two economy.Source: Zee News : Business | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:57 pm UNGA endorses world financial crisis summit outcome!The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday endorsed the outcome of the Conference of the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development.Source: Zee News : Business | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:57 pm Bank of England holds key rate at 0.5%!The Bank of England kept its key interest rate on hold at a record low 0.5 percent on Thursday and surprised markets by saying it would not for the moment seek to expand its GBP 125 billion cash injection into the British economy.Source: Zee News : Business | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:57 pm `AIG to pay more executive bonuses in July`!American International Group is preparing to pay next week millions of dollars more in bonuses to dozens of corporate executives, a source familiar with the development said.Source: Zee News : Business | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:57 pm CAG raps Eastern Coalfield for Rs 135-cr revenue loss - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:28 am Govt plans reforms to cut deficit - Jr FinminNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will start reforms including that for subsidies, taxes and stake sales of state-run firms to bring the fiscal deficit under control, a junior finance minister told lawmakers on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:28 am Sensex falls again on monsoon concernsThe fall in the BSE benchmark Sensex continued for the third day in a row with the index losing over 253 points.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:25 am Indian shares post biggest weekly fall in 8 mths - Reuters
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:20 am Tech Mahindra gets Mahindra Satyam nod to hike stake to 42.7%New Delhi: The board of Mahindra Satyam on Friday cleared a proposal of Venturebay, a unit of Tech Mahindra, to hike its stake in the company (Mahindra Satyam) through a second round of preferential share allotment to 42.7%. “Satyam has stabilised. It was a normal board meeting. The main issue was allocation of shares, which is being done,” Kiran Karnik, chairman, board of Satyam, told reporters in Delhi. Later Mahindra Satyam in a statement said its board of directors has allotted 19.86 crore additional shares to Venturebay, which would take Tech Mahindra’s stake to approximately 43% of the outstanding share capital. A Tech Mahindra spokesperson said after the preferential allotment Venturebay’s stake in Mahindra Satyam would be 42.7%. Venturebay has deposited Rs1,152 crore as subscription in the company’s public escrow account. Venturebay had earlier paid Rs1,756 crore for the 31% stake in Satyam through preferential allotment. But if all the equity options are exercised and the shares are issued, the stake would be 42.03 of the enhanced share capital, Tech Mahindra said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:16 am BSE Sensex posts biggest weekly fall in 8 mthsMUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex fell 1.8 percent on Friday and posted its biggest weekly fall in more than eight months as concern about the economy kept investors jittery, but Infosys bucked the trend and rallied on strong quarterly result.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:15 am Sensex falls again on monsoon concernsThe fall in the Sensex continued for the third day in a row with the index losing over 253 points, recording its biggest weekly fall of the year, as the market remained volatile on concerns over the weak monsoon.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:12 am New steps aimed at lifting growth - secyNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government has to take more steps to stimulate a slowing economy and the widening fiscal deficit should not be a worry now, Revenue Secretary P.V Bhide said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:06 am Foreign tourist arrival increases by 0.2% in JuneNew Delhi: Foreign tourist arrival in the country, which slipped to -10% early this year, increased by 0.2% in June due to aggressive campaigns launched in the overseas markets, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday. Several measures were taken to counter the downfall after the Mumbai terror attacks like organising road shows and conducting familiarisation tours to India for international travel trade and media to keep them updated on safety and security in the country, tourism minister Kumar Selja said in a written reply. She said other measures like liberalising the marketing development assistance scheme for service providers promoting India and launching ‘Visit India´ scheme in collaboration with all stakeholders were also initiated to attract more number of tourists. She said the ministry is spending Rs250 crore during the current financial year from funds allocated for overseas promotion and publicity. Last year it has incurred Rs220 crore, she said. In a separate reply, minister of state for tourism Sultan Ahmed said number of Indian tourists who visited foreign countries rose to 10.65 million in 2008. It was 9.78 million in 2007 and 8.34 million in 2006. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:05 am Goa takes cue from Kerala, to develop backwater tourismKnown more for its beaches, Goa now wants to cash in on the tourism potential of backwater tourism on the lines of Kerala.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:03 am Tech Mahindra gets 43 percent stake in SatyamMahindra Satyam, formerly Satyam Computer Services, Friday said it has allotted 198.6 million shares to Venturebay Consultants, a Tech Mahindra arm.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:03 am Industrial output up 2.7 percent in MayIndia's industrial production registered 2.7 percent growth in May - the highest since September last year - signalling economic recovery, fresh data showed Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:02 am Sensex crashes 318 points at closeA key index of the Indian equities markets crashed towards closing bell Friday ending trade more than 318 points lower than its last close.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:01 am Problems with PDS foodgrain distribution still serious: Pawar - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:00 am We are back on track: Finance Secretary - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Jul 2009 | 11:00 am Reliance Digital to invest Rs110 cr to set up 31 storesMumbai: Reliance Digital, the consumer durables arm of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Retail, plans to invest about Rs110-crore in the current fiscal to roll-out 31 stores across India. The company, which resells Apple products through its iStore chain, will open 10 outlets by March 2010 along with 21 Reliance Digital outlets, Reliance Retail’s president and chief executive (consumer durable, IT & telecom), Ajay Baijal, told the agency. Presently, Reliance Digital has a 14-strong network and 10 iStores pan-India in destinations such as Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Ludhiana and Jaipur. “This year, we plan to take the total number of stores (Reliance Digital and iStore) to 55. Each Reliance Digital store requires an investment of about Rs4-5 crore, while an iStore takes up to Rs40-lakh,” Baijal said. The company is currently scouting properties for its expansion plans, Baijal said. While iStores are spread over 1,000-1,500 sq ft, a Reliance Digital store is much bigger, covering 10,000-40,000 sq ft. The company on Friday launched its tenth iStore in the metropolis and will roll out one more in Chennai next week. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:53 am Mahindra gets 43 pc stake in Satyam - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:51 am RBI may hike rates in early 2010 - Goldman SachsMUMBAI (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs expects the central bank to hike rates in early 2010 as economic activity picks up in the second half of 2009/10 financial year and inflation gathers pace, it said in a note on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:42 am Real estate giant IREO to invest $500 mn in IndiaGlobal real estate giant IREO will pump in $500 million in various infrastructure projects in India over a period of seven years, the company said Thursday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:33 am Infosys hires 3,538 people in first quarterUndeterred by the impact of the global meltdown on its revenue and profits, IT bellwether Infosys Technologies and its subsidiaries hired 3,538 people in the first quarter of this fiscal.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:33 am Scanty rains ring alarm bells in AgraPoor agricultural yields, high irrigation costs and exorbitant prices of essential commodities - all this and more are causing alarm bells to ring as parts of western Uttar Pradesh are facing 'drought-like' conditions. Farmers are concerned about the lack of action by the government.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:32 am Insurance authority to finalise on M&A guidelines - Livemint
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:31 am New aviation regulator to decide on development fee: PatelThe new aviation regulator, Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA), will settle all contentious issues in the aviation sector, including the airport development fee issue, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said here Thursday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:30 am Worst seemingly over for India’s exports: SharmaNew Delhi: The “worst” for Indian exports, which are in the negative territory since October 2008 due to the global recession, seems to be over, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said. The contraction in exports following recession in major markets in the US and Europe was 29.2% in May, while it was 33.2% and 33.3% in April and March, respectively. Speaking at the Business Today SME award function, Sharma said the steps taken by the government has helped the embattled exporters and the contraction in overseas sales is bottoming out. “In the last three months, I have looked at the figures, looked at the projections...surely the worst appears to be over,” he said. The government had announced measures like 2% interest subsidy, enhanced insurance cover and service tax exemption on foreign agent commission. In the Budget 2009, too, the Centre announced more measures like enhanced allocation for market development assistance scheme and abolition of fringe benefit tax. India’s exports were estimated at $168.70 billion in 2008-09 showing an increase of 3.4% over the previous fiscal, largely because of a good showing in the first six months of FY’09. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:29 am OECD data detects trough in major economiesParis: Conditions in some of the world’s leading economies showed signs of improvement in May, raising the chances of recovery, according to a survey of leading economic indicators published on Friday. The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development issues the survey based on data which are designed to indicate turning points in economic activity about six months in advance. The findings showed indications that recession in major economies was bottoming out, including the US, the eurozone and China. Japan’s leading indicators pointed only to a slowdown in the rate of decline. “Potential recovery signals are emerging in Italy and France, with indications of troughs emerging in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, China and India,” the OECD said. “The trough signals are more tentative in Russia,” it added. Among the leading economies, the composite leading indicator for the US rose by 1.0 point to 92.2, though it was still 9.4 points off its reading a year ago. The 16-country eurozone also showed signs of recovery, rising by 1.0 point to 96.5, which was 4.7 points lower than May 2008. The leading indicator for Japan slipped 0.3 point to 88.4, down 14.1 points from a year ago. The result for Britain increased by 0.8 point in May to 98.3, but was 2.7 points lower than last year. Among the big developing economies, China added 1.1 points in May, India rose 1.4 points and Russia rose 0.7 point. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:27 am Single-window licence for hotel ind to be considered: ChavanThe chief minister said that the state government would set up a panel headed by the chief secretary to look into the 'single window' licence system for the hotel industry.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:26 am Infosys beats Q1 f'cast, flags tough environmentBANGALORE (Reuters) - Infosys Technologies Ltd marginally raised its full year forecasts after beating estimates with a 17 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by currency gains but warned of a challenging global environment.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:22 am Nifty falls sharply to close below 4000 - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:20 am AIG seeks US government nod for bonuses: reportWashington: Insurance giant AIG is to pay millions of dollars more in executive bonuses, despite a firestorm earlier this year over the issue, and is seeking government blessing to deflect public wrath, The Washington Post said on Friday. The taxpayer bailed-out firm is seeking approval from president Barack Obama’s “compensation czar” Kenneth Feinberg, the Post said. Feinberg is tasked with overseeing bonuses handed out to top executives at companies that received federal money. Once the world’s largest insurer, American International Group is now nearly 80% owned by the government under a bailout of some $180 billion, making it the largest single recipient of federal bailout money. The millions in corporate bonuses sparked a national furor in March as US taxpayers were buckling under the devastating impact of the financial crisis -- and part of the blame for the global downturn was being laid at the doorstep of financial firms such as AIG. “Anytime we write a check to anybody” it is highly scrutinized, an AIG official, speaking on condition of anonymity as talks with Feinberg are ongoing, told the Post. “We would want to feel comfortable that the government is comfortable with what we are doing,” the official said. Some $2.4 million in payments are due next week for 40 top executives, the newspaper said, but are not under Feinberg’s jurisdiction because they are delayed payments from last year. The firm is seeking political cover, however, following the firestorm that even saw protests outside the homes of some top AIG officers. US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told US lawmakers at the time he wanted to sue AIG to block the hefty payouts but was talked out of it by his lawyers. Bernanke told a congressional hearing he thought it had been “highly inappropriate” for bonuses to be paid to employees of the AIG financial products division, “the primary source of the AIG’s collapse” even though the payments were contractual. The financial products division was widely blamed for the company’s downfall through its investments in complex financial derivatives that turned out to be worth a fraction of their on-book value. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:14 am AIG seeks US government nod for bonuses: reportWashington: Insurance giant AIG is to pay millions of dollars more in executive bonuses, despite a firestorm earlier this year over the issue, and is seeking government blessing to deflect public wrath, The Washington Post said on Friday. The taxpayer bailed-out firm is seeking approval from president Barack Obama’s “compensation czar” Kenneth Feinberg, the Post said. Feinberg is tasked with overseeing bonuses handed out to top executives at companies that received federal money. Once the world’s largest insurer, American International Group is now nearly 80% owned by the government under a bailout of some $180 billion, making it the largest single recipient of federal bailout money. The millions in corporate bonuses sparked a national furor in March as US taxpayers were buckling under the devastating impact of the financial crisis -- and part of the blame for the global downturn was being laid at the doorstep of financial firms such as AIG. “Anytime we write a check to anybody” it is highly scrutinized, an AIG official, speaking on condition of anonymity as talks with Feinberg are ongoing, told the Post. “We would want to feel comfortable that the government is comfortable with what we are doing,” the official said. Some $2.4 million in payments are due next week for 40 top executives, the newspaper said, but are not under Feinberg’s jurisdiction because they are delayed payments from last year. The firm is seeking political cover, however, following the firestorm that even saw protests outside the homes of some top AIG officers. US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told US lawmakers at the time he wanted to sue AIG to block the hefty payouts but was talked out of it by his lawyers. Bernanke told a congressional hearing he thought it had been “highly inappropriate” for bonuses to be paid to employees of the AIG financial products division, “the primary source of the AIG’s collapse” even though the payments were contractual. The financial products division was widely blamed for the company’s downfall through its investments in complex financial derivatives that turned out to be worth a fraction of their on-book value. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:14 am INTERVIEW - Top global firms eye India port plans - secretaryNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Global firms including Rio Tinto and Noble Group are interested in participating in India's 558 billion rupees ($11.5 billion) port expansion projects, a top government official said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:13 am Factory output shows domestic econ resilienceNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Industrial output grew for a second successive month in May as strong domestic demand offset faltering exports, which analysts said added weight to a view the central bank would not cut rates further.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:05 am Orissa's software exports grew by 39 percent in 2008-09Despite the global economic slowdown, software exports from Orissa grew by 39.05 percent in 2008-09 over the year before, officials said Thursday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:03 am Close: Economic, monsoon worries nag markets; Sensex down 253 ptsMumbai: Indian shares fell 1.84% on Friday on course to their biggest weekly fall this year, weighed down by concerns over the monsoons and doubts about a recovery in the global economy. But Infosys Technologies India’s No. 2 software exporter provisionally rose 3.1% to Rs1,728 after it posted a better-than-expected rise in quarterly profit. The 30-share BSE Index provisionally closed down 253.24 points at 13,504.22, with 25 components losing. The 50-share NSE Index provisionally ended down 77.05 points at 4,003.90. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:03 am ‘Top global firms eye India port plans’New Delhi: Global firms including Rio Tinto and Noble Group are interested in participating in India’s Rs55,800 crore ($11.5 billion) port expansion projects, a top government official said. Shipping secretary APVN Sarma told the agency on Friday that India would build 50 new ports over the next five years as it looks to overhaul creaky infrastructure and reduce congestion at ports that is holding up trade and growth. “There is enthusiasm and lot of participation by the ‘who’s who’ internationally in the shipping and port sectors,” he said in an interview in his office overlooking the red sandstone Parliament. Other consortia to show interest include ones with Portugal’s top construction firm Mota-Engil, London-based investor Eredene Capital and local firms such as Larsen & Toubro, he said. India has 12 major ports, where ships load and unload three-quarters of the country’s annual traffic of 723 million tonnes. The rest is handled at 200 smaller ports. The global downturn has posed a major challenge to India’s ambitious plans to ramp up its infrastructure spending to $500 billion for the five fiscal years ending March 2012. Analysts have said the country needs to build roads, ports, highways and power plants faster than ever before to return to 9% growth rates. The economy grew 6.7% in 2008-09 (April/March), the slowest in the last six years. Inadequate Port capacity is inadequate to cope with rising traffic — Indian ports’ average turnaround time is 3.85 days compared with 10 hours in Hong Kong — and it can take more time to clear cargo within the port than to actually ship it there. Cargo traffic at major ports in India rose 2.1% in 2008-09 to 530.4 million tonnes, compared with a 13.9% rise a year earlier when external trade was booming. India allows foreign firms to build and maintain ports and harbours, but foreign investment in the sector was $493 million in 2008-09, nearly half of the flow in the previous year, a recent government report said. “Things are now coming on track,” Sarma said. “They (foreign investors) won’t really look into temporary 1-2 years of recession. They will look at what is the potential. And India is a destination which has big potential,” he said. On Monday, the government significantly raised spending on infrastructure in its budget and allowed state-run lenders to refinance up to 60% of long-term projects. Sarma said the country would double port capacity to 1.5 billion tonnes by March 2012, when cargo traffic would also have doubled to 1 billion tonnes. The shipping ministry has said six port projects worth Rs3,320 crore, which will increase capacity by 31.2 million tonnes, are set to be awarded. Fleet Acquisitions Sarma said the government would spend about Rs45,000 crore on fleet expansion and inland waterways by March 2012. He said state-run Shipping Corp of India’s plans to buy 32 vessels this fiscal year were on track, although tight global credit meant it was a challenge for it to raise the Rs5000-7000 crore needed to upgrade its fleet. “We have requested the finance ministry to make some line of credit available,” Sarma said. The ministry has also sought cabinet approval to buy three dredgers for redging Corp of India Ltd at a cost of Rs1,570 crore. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:03 am New look for Asia's largest rose gardenThe Zakir Hussain Rose Garden here, which the union territory administration says is Asia's largest rose garden, will soon have a new, refurbished look with new varieties of flowers and more amenities to attract tourists, officials said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:02 am Rs40,000 cr revenue foregone to give fiscal stimulus: PranabRevenue worth over Rs40,000 crore was foregone to provide fiscal stimulus to the economy following the global financial meltdown.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 10 Jul 2009 | 10:01 am ‘New GM’ ready to exit bankruptcyDetroit: General Motors on Friday prepared to exit bankruptcy with the message that a leaner and meaner automaker ready to win back American consumers and pay back taxpayers has emerged from its failure. A whirlwind 40-day bankruptcy for GM was expected to conclude with the closing of a deal to sell key operations and core brands, including Chevrolet and Cadillac, to a new company that will be majority owned by the US Treasury. Chief executive Fritz Henderson and Ed Whitacre, a veteran telecommunications executive and incoming chairman, were set to appear at a news conference 9 a.m. ET at the automaker’s Detroit headquarters to mark the launch of that “new GM.” The automaker’s US sales dropped 36% during June when it was mired in bankruptcy and executives said the relaunch of the company offered a chance to try and break that negative association for consumers. “I’m very much looking forward to the point where we’re operating in the clean air and the name of the company not being associated with bankruptcy,” GM sales chief Mark LaNeve said on Thursday. Henderson, who took over as CEO when his predecessor Rick Wagoner was ousted by the Obama administration at the end of March, has already detailed plans for a faster-moving and less-bureaucratic company with thinner executive ranks. GM is cutting its white-collar work force by more than 20% by eliminating 6,000 jobs by October. The reduction in executive ranks will slice deeper, with 35% planned. That bid to shake up GM’s long-criticized corporate culture will be a key issue for Henderson as the 100-year-old automaker seeks to relaunch itself. Steve Rattner, the head of the Obama administration’s autos task force, said earlier this week that it would be “natural” for Henderson to cut layers of management to make the company “a bit closer to the ground, leaner and meaner.” Another pillar of the plan is GM’s commitment to launch more fuel-efficient cars and to focus its resources on fewer brands, models and dealerships. GM has burned through $40 billion over the past four years and posted losses of more than $80 billion. The close of the court-approved sale would mark the completion of an unprecedented effort by the US administration to save GM and Chrysler from liquidation by slashing debt, labor costs and dealerships. The White House has also disbursed almost $80 billion to shore up the auto industry, including $5 billion in support for auto parts suppliers. Of that total, $50-billion has been earmarked for GM, emergency financing that will give the US government a more than 60% stake in the new GM. Chrysler exited bankruptcy a month ago after blazing a precedent-setting trail for GM by following an asset sale plan that gave operational control of the smaller automaker to Italy’s Fiat SpA. As part of the changes to be announced on Friday, Bob Lutz, GM’s outspoken and high-profile former product chief, has agreed to stay on in a new position, a person with direct knowledge of the plan said. Lutz, 77, had earlier announced plans to retire at the end of the year. The new GM will have slashed its debt and healthcare obligations by $48 billion, dropped almost 40% of the dealers from an unprofitable network and moved to cut loose laggard brands such as Saab, Saturn and Hummer. The new GM will also take advantage of a new labor contract with the UAW that the company says will put its hourly operating costs on par with Japanese competitors led by Toyota Motor Corp. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:57 am ‘New GM’ ready to exit bankruptcyDetroit: General Motors on Friday prepared to exit bankruptcy with the message that a leaner and meaner automaker ready to win back American consumers and pay back taxpayers has emerged from its failure. A whirlwind 40-day bankruptcy for GM was expected to conclude with the closing of a deal to sell key operations and core brands, including Chevrolet and Cadillac, to a new company that will be majority owned by the US Treasury. Chief executive Fritz Henderson and Ed Whitacre, a veteran telecommunications executive and incoming chairman, were set to appear at a news conference 9 a.m. ET at the automaker’s Detroit headquarters to mark the launch of that “new GM.” The automaker’s US sales dropped 36% during June when it was mired in bankruptcy and executives said the relaunch of the company offered a chance to try and break that negative association for consumers. “I’m very much looking forward to the point where we’re operating in the clean air and the name of the company not being associated with bankruptcy,” GM sales chief Mark LaNeve said on Thursday. Henderson, who took over as CEO when his predecessor Rick Wagoner was ousted by the Obama administration at the end of March, has already detailed plans for a faster-moving and less-bureaucratic company with thinner executive ranks. GM is cutting its white-collar work force by more than 20% by eliminating 6,000 jobs by October. The reduction in executive ranks will slice deeper, with 35% planned. That bid to shake up GM’s long-criticized corporate culture will be a key issue for Henderson as the 100-year-old automaker seeks to relaunch itself. Steve Rattner, the head of the Obama administration’s autos task force, said earlier this week that it would be “natural” for Henderson to cut layers of management to make the company “a bit closer to the ground, leaner and meaner.” Another pillar of the plan is GM’s commitment to launch more fuel-efficient cars and to focus its resources on fewer brands, models and dealerships. GM has burned through $40 billion over the past four years and posted losses of more than $80 billion. The close of the court-approved sale would mark the completion of an unprecedented effort by the US administration to save GM and Chrysler from liquidation by slashing debt, labor costs and dealerships. The White House has also disbursed almost $80 billion to shore up the auto industry, including $5 billion in support for auto parts suppliers. Of that total, $50-billion has been earmarked for GM, emergency financing that will give the US government a more than 60% stake in the new GM. Chrysler exited bankruptcy a month ago after blazing a precedent-setting trail for GM by following an asset sale plan that gave operational control of the smaller automaker to Italy’s Fiat SpA. As part of the changes to be announced on Friday, Bob Lutz, GM’s outspoken and high-profile former product chief, has agreed to stay on in a new position, a person with direct knowledge of the plan said. Lutz, 77, had earlier announced plans to retire at the end of the year. The new GM will have slashed its debt and healthcare obligations by $48 billion, dropped almost 40% of the dealers from an unprofitable network and moved to cut loose laggard brands such as Saab, Saturn and Hummer. The new GM will also take advantage of a new labor contract with the UAW that the company says will put its hourly operating costs on par with Japanese competitors led by Toyota Motor Corp. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:57 am Insurance authority to finalise on M&A guidelinesNew Delhi: Insurance Regulator and Development Authority (IRDA) on Friday said it is likely to finalise mergers and acquisitions (M&A) guidelines for the insurance companies in the next two months. “It (guidelines) would be out soon. It is most likely to be finalised in the next couple of months,” IRDA Chairman J Hari Narayan told reporters on the sidelines of a function organised by FICCI here. At present, there are no specific guidelines for M&A in insurance sector in the country. The new norms would encourage consolidation in the insurance sector. As on date there are 22 life insurance firms and 21 non- life insurance companies operating in the country. Asked if the regulator has taken any decision with regard to capping charges on ULIPs, Narayan said “we have not taken any view we are examining it. We are examining the possibility.” It would be in the best interest of the policy holders to fix a cap on ULIPs, he said, adding, it will take some time as the work is in progress. On the growth of general insurance, the IRDA Chairman said, the non-life industry during 2008-09 recorded total health insurance premium of Rs6,625 crore, which is 30% improvement over the previous year, and more than twice the level seen just two years ago. By the end of 2008-09, health insurance premium has thus grown over ten-fold from the level seen in 2001-02, Narayan said. From being largely a single product market marketed by four non-life insurers, today more than 300 health insurance products are offered by over 30 insurance companies, both general and life, he added. There are also innovations to target specific segments of the insured population, he said, adding, “for example, we now have six specific policies for senior citizens and over 30 recent health insurance products which allow entry up to 65 years of age.” However, he said, the growth in numbers is also fraught with numerous challenges of ensuring accessibility, affordability and efficiency in the health insurance system of the country, which requires sustained and focused efforts on the part of all stakeholders in the health insurance eco- system. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:51 am Glenmark gets ANDA approval for hypertension tablet - Livemint
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:41 am Punj Lloyd up 4.5%, adds 5 lakh shares in open interest - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:33 am IEA sees global oil demand bouncing back in 2010LONDON (Reuters) - Global oil demand will bounce back by 1.7 percent, or 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd), year-on-year in 2010, led by rising consumption in emerging economies, the International Energy Agency said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:31 am Midsession: Sensex rises 1% on short coveringMumbai: Indian shares extended gains to 1% on Friday afternoon as day traders covered their short positions ahead of the weekend, but the market was on course to its biggest weekly fall in almost five months. Infosys Technologies, India’s No.2 software outsourcer, led the rise climbing 4.7% to Rs1,756.10. By 2:20pm, the 30-share BSE index was up 0.9% at 13,882.96 points, with 18 components gaining, after rising as high as 13,897.19. The 50-share NSE index was up 1.15% at 4,128.05 points Markets were choppy as investors took profits on economic worries, but outsourcing bellwether Infosys Technologies rallied after its quarterly profit beat market forecasts. Shares in Infosys rose as much as 3.7% after the No. 2 software services exporter reported a 17.2% quarterly profit and raised its full-year forecast at the lower end on hopes for a pick up in outsourcing demand from overseas clients. However, the 30-share BSE Index was trading up 0.15% at 13,777.44 points by 12:37pm, with half of its components gaining. The 50-share NSE Index was up 0.39% at 4,096.45 points. Listen to Mobis Philipose analyse the Infosys Q1 results The index is down 7.9% so far this week and is headed to post its second weekly fall in 18 weeks. On Monday, it had fallen 5.8% after the budget failed to live up to market expectations. Traders said concerns about monsoon rains, the lifeline for the country’s domestic demand-led economy, was one factor weighing on the market. The rains were 8% below normal in early July, reviving after the driest June in 83 years, but water in the main reservoirs has more than halved, putting at risk even winter-sown oilseeds and wheat. There were also concern that foreign funds may lock in profits if the world economic recovery takes time. Foreigners have moved nearly $6 billion into Indian stock in 2009, including almost $1 billion this month. This has helped lift the benchmark BSE index 43% so far this year. “After the steep fall on budget day some amount of buying from foreign funds was quite natural,” said Ambareesh Baliga, vice president, Karvy Stock Broking. “But we do not expect that to be sustained in the future. Suraj Saraogi, managing director of Keynote Capitals, said world economic worries would impact inflows. Higher than expected industrial output in May failed to lift sentiment. Output rose 2.7% in May, above a Reuters poll forecast of 1.4%. Infosys, which gets more than half its revenue from the United States, was trading up 2.88% at Rs1,725. Other outsourcers also rose. Top software exporter Tata Consultancy Services was up 2.1% at Rs396.70, while No.3 Wipro rose 3.9% to 386.30. Tata Steel, the world’s sixth-largest steelmaker, was up 1.9% at Rs371.15 after the company said late on Thursday more jobs were at risk at its Corus unit in Europe as it aligned employment costs with expected steel demand. In the broader market there were 1,200 gainers to 1,083 losers on moderate volume of 150.4 million shares. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:29 am Infosys cuts revenue guidance for FY 10Mumbai: Software major Infosys Technologies today lowered its revenue guidance for FY 2009-10, with the consolidated earning expected to decline by up to 1.3% over the previous fiscal. In its outlook for the fiscal year ending 21 March, 2010, the company said the consolidated revenue is expected to be in the range of Rs21,416-21,747 crore. The firm’s revenue was Rs21,693 crore in 2008-09. The guidance shows a decline of 1.3% at the lower end of the revenue range and a marginal growth rate of 0.3% at the higher end over the previous fiscal, the company statement said. The company has lowered its revenue guidance for FY10 from the annual forecast given at the end of the fourth quarter last fiscal. In April, the company had forecast its revenue for FY10 to be in the range of Rs22,066-22,928 crore, a growth rate of 1.7-5.7% over the previous fiscal. Marketmen said Infosys had lowered its revenue guidance for FY10 as it expects volatility in global currency markets and the challenging economic climate to impact its earnings. “We believe in short term the global economic environment will continue to be challenging. We are working closely with our clients to help them navigate the downturn. We continue to invest in the future to take advantage of growth opportunities in medium to long term,” Infosys CEO and MD S Gopalakrishnan said in the statement. Further, the revenue for the July-September quarter is expected to be Rs5,318-5,413 crore, showing a decline of 1.9% to 0.1% over the same period a year ago. The earnings per share (EPS) is expected to be in the range of Rs94.59-96 in FY10, a drop of 9.6% to 8.2% over the same period last year. In dollar terms, the company’s full year revenue is expected to be $1,110-1,130 million, showing a year-on year decline of 8.7% to 7.1%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:23 am Europe shares fall as oil stocks weighFrankfurt: European shares fell on Friday, with oil producers leading the losers following negative statements from Chevron, the second-largest US oil company, that refuelled fears about company earnings. At 1:48pm, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.1% at 822.56 points after gaining 0.8% on Thursday. The pan-European index has fallen 7.6% since 10 June after rallying 38 percent from a record low hit on 9 March. “There is a lack of impulse, full stop,” said Giuseppe-Guido Amato, strategist at brokerage Lang & Schwarz in Germany. “Of course, the Chevron news is slightly negative, but only for the sector,” he said, adding that lower oil prices also weighed. Chevron Corp late on Thursday warned that second-quarter earnings would be hit by a sharp decline in US refining margins, sending its shares down in extended trading. Its shares in Frankfurt were down 1.3%. Oil and gas stocks took most points off the FTSEurofirst 300, and the DJ Stoxx Oil & Gas Index was down 0.3%, while crude oil dropped 0.5%. Royal Dutch Shell, BP and BG Group were down between 0.2 and 0.7%. Around Europe, UK’s FTSE 100 index was down 0.3%, Germany’s DAX index fell 0.03 percent and France’s CAC 40 eased 0.3%. Focus on US data Shares in German chipmaker Infineon rose 5.4% after falling as much as 5.2% earlier, as the company said it is planning a rights issue, while Apollo Management LP is to take a stake in the company. “Given the increasing uncertainty about Infineon’s, and especially Apollo’s, agenda we recommend staying on the sidelines,” Commerzbank wrote in a note to clients. Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto fell 1.2%. Chinese security officials accused four detained staff of the company of bribery on Friday. The DJ Telcom Index dropped 0.3%, with Telekom Austria falling 2.2%, as UBS pointed to uncertainty about its outlook for the current year following an interview with the company’s chief executive. Later in the day, investors will be focus on US macroeconomic data, with trade data due at 6:00pm. “The trade deficit improvement should have come to a halt in May, due to higher commodity prices and a likely end to the destocking process,” UniCredit wrote in a note. “The deficit probably increased to $32 billion vs $29.2 billion,” it added. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:22 am Infosys employee strength down by 945 in Q1Mumbai: IT major Infosys Technlogies on Friday said the number of its employees declined by 945 in the first quarter of this fiscal. The company had hired close to 3,538 employees in the June quarter, but after taking into account attrition and other factors its total strength has actually lowered. “During the quarter, Infosys and its subsidiaries added 3,538 employees (gross). The net decline during the quarter was 945,” the company statement said. As on 30 June, 2009, Infosys and its subsidiaries have a total of 1,03,905 employees on board, it added. “We believe that in the short term the global economic environment will continue to be challenging. We are working closely with our clients to help them navigate the downturn. We continue to invest in the future to take advantage of the growth opportunities in the medium to long term,” Infosys CEO and managing director S Gopalakrishnan said. In the fourth quarter last year, the company had seen net additions of 1,772 employees, while in the first quarter of previous fiscal there were net additions of 3,192 employees. The company witnessed an attrition of 11.1% in the first quarter of this fiscal against 13.6% in the corresponding period in previous fiscal. Besides, in the entire financial year ended 31 March, 2009, the company had hired 28,231 employees, but the net additions for the year were just 13,663. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:11 am Glenmark gets ANDA approval for hypertension tabletMumbai:Drug maker Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on Friday said its US based subsidiary, has got the Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) approval from the US food and drug administration for Fosinopril Sodium and Hydrochlorothiazide tablet, used for the treatment of hypertension. Glenmark Generics Inc, a subsidiary of the company has received ANDA approval through a partnership with another US based company, Invagen Pharmaceuticals Inc, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. “We are very pleased with this approval as it gives us the chance to provide customers with guaranteed and uninterrupted supply which they may not have been getting in the past. We anticipate a successful launch considering the limited competitive landscape coupled with the niche positioning of this product.” Glenmark Generics Ltd chief executive officer Terrance Coughlin said. Fosinopril Sodium and Hydrochlorothiazide(HCTZ) tablets are available in both 10mg/12.5mg and 20mg/12.5mg strengths and are indicated for the treatment of hypertension, the filing said. The company would exclusively market and distribute the product while InvaGen would be responsible for their manufacture and supply. All development, regulatory costs and profits on Fosinopril Sodium and Hydrochlorothiazide tablets’ sale in the US would be shared equally between Glenmark and Invagen, it added. The ANDA approval for Fosinopril Sodium and Hydrochlorothiazide tablets was obtained through Glenmark’s longstanding partnership with InvaGen Pharmaceuticals Inc (InvaGen), the filing added. In the fiscal year 2006, Glenmark and InvaGen entered into a collaborative agreement for the joint development, filing and marketing of several generic pharmaceutical products for the US market, it said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 9:09 am CAG pulls up FCI for avoidable expenditure of Rs45.39 crNew Delhi: The government’s official auditor has pulled up the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the nodal agency for foodgrains procurement and distribution, for avoidable expenditure of about Rs45.39 crore. FCI has made wasteful expenses on transportation, advertisement, hiring labours and private godowns. It had also not recovered excess interest charged by the State Bank of India, the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) said in a report tabled in Parliament. The agency had unduly favoured private millers in the allotment of foodgrains in 2007, which benefited Rs10.52 crore to Roller Flour Mills and atta chakkies, it said. During 2004-05 and 2005-06 (rpt) 2005-06 , FCI had made an excess reimbursement of Rs7.65 crore (combined for the two years) on transportation in Punjab and Haryana. It had paid higher rates for delivery of rice beyond eight kilometres in these two states. During 2000-06, the agency had spent Rs6.76 crore on transportation of foodgrains from Zira, Punjab, to the railhead, which could have been minimised by proper planning, it said. This apart, FCI had incurred wasteful expenditure of Rs1.66 crore between July 2004 and October 2006 due to hiring of a private godown when it had sufficient space in its own godown in Pune, CAG report said. On advertisements, it said, FCI had incurred an extra expense of about Rs3.02 crore for releasing advertisements through private agencies, instead of the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity during 2000-07. CAG further said that the agency had spent Rs1.10 crore on purchase of 26 new vehicles between October 2004 and March 2005 without taking the approval of the board of directors. It was also observed in Audit 2006 that on the cash credit availed by FCI East Zone, the Kolkata-based SBI charged interest of 16.75% per annum as against prevailing rate of 8.15% during September 2005 to March 2006. This could be not be detected by FCI due to absence of proper internal control system. FCI could not recover about Rs5.54 crore due to non-maintenance of records for claims of damaged gunny bags during 1998-2005, it added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:58 am Nilekani bids adieu to InfosysThe dark overcast Bangalore sky opened up in a burst of shower on Thursday evening adding a touch of divine blessings to an emotionally charged event at the Infosys Campus as the company bid farewell to one of its founder and cochairman, Mr Nandan Nilekani, who has moved on to take up a Government assignment.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:56 am Corus eyes over 300 job cuts in UKTata Steel UKs subsidiary, Corus, has identified 336 jobs at its Scunthorpe site in northeast England as being at risk. This follows its proposals to improve competitiveness here by aligning employment cost with anticipated demand, a statement from Corus said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:46 am Madras Cements to go for captive thermal plantsMadras Cements Ltd will invest Rs 280 crore to set up 65 MW of coalbased captive power plants at two of its cement production facilities.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:36 am Fin secy: factory data trend to continueNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Factory data is showing further signs of improvement, although not in all sectors, and the trend is likely to continue in coming months, a senior government official said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:24 am Gold prices lower; traders eye bigger fallsMumbai: India gold prices edged lower on Friday weighed by a strong rupee, but traders awaited bigger falls to replenish stocks for the upcoming festival season, dealers said. The most active August contract was 0.17% lower at Rs14,457 per 10 grams at 1:31pm. It hit a low of Rs14,436 earlier. The Indian rupee extended gains for a second day and traders said they would be watching quarterly earnings of companies for cues on economic outlook. “They all are waiting for good bargains to stock up before festivals,” said a dealer with a state-run bank. Dealers said a further three percent drop in prices could re-kindle buying interest. “A decline to Rs14,000 could attract traders,” said another dealer with a private bank. A series of festivals and auspicious days for weddings is expected to boost gold demand from August-end till the end of the year. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:18 am Industrial output grows 2.7% in MayShowing signs of economic recovery, industry grew 2.7 per cent in May though the growth is much lower than the 4.4 per cent recorded in the corresponding month last year.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:11 am Vedanta’s India bauxite mining to begin by OctoberNew Delhi: Vedanta Resources Plc will begin bauxite mining for its alumina plant in eastern India by October and will invest $1.23 billion to expand its capacity sixfold by 2011, a top company official said on Friday. The start of the mining to feed the alumina refinery in Orissa has been delayed for at least four years by protests from indigenous people, who consider the area that will be mined as sacred ground. In August, India’s Supreme Court allowed the London-listed company to proceed to mine bauxite from open-cast mines. “Mining operations in the Niyamgiri hills to feed our plant in Orissa will start by October this year,” Mukesh Kumar, chief executive of Vedanta’s project in Orissa, told the agency in an interview. “Protests have died down and the local tribal people are confident that we will look after them well.” The company has so far invested $823 million in the plant, and will spend another $1.23 billion to expand the capacity to six million tonnes from one million tonnes by 2011, Kumar said. “By 2011, it will be one of the world’s largest plants,” Kumar said by telephone from Orissa. The company has deposited $28 million with the government as payments to ensure it preserves wildlife, does reforestation projects and launches development work for residents. “We have complied with all the court orders and we have already received an environmental clearance from the government and we should be getting one more mandatory clearance in one month’s time,” Kumar said. The Orissa Mining Corporation, Vedanta’s joint-venture partner, will supply 150 million tonnes of bauxite to Vedanta’s plant every year from various locations, including Niyamgiri, which has a 79 million-tonne deposit, Kumar said. Sacrilege? The indigenous Dongria Kondh people that have lived in the lush forests of Niyamgiri for generations say the project threatens their existence, and call mining there sacrilege. Thousands have marched near the plant site over the past few months in protest, backed by environmental groups who say the project will threaten the livelihood of local people. “For centuries the Dongria Kondh community have considered the Niyamgiri Hills sacred; central to their collective identity and religious beliefs,” Madhu Malhotra, rights group Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific deputy director, said in a statement. “Now the very existence of the Dongria Kondh as a distinct indigenous people hangs in the balance.” Vedanta said the welfare of the people was a top priority for the company. “We have even taken them to another plant to show how bauxite is being mined without harming the mountains,” Kumar said. “They seem to be convinced.” Acquisitions of large tracts of land by foreign and domestic companies have been controversial in several Indian states, with courts having to resolve disputes over big projects, including South Korea’s POSCO’s proposed $12 billion steel plant, also in Orissa. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 8:07 am Lanco Infra awards Rs 265-cr contract to Alstom Projects - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Jul 2009 | 7:50 am Infosys Q1 profit up17%, beats forecastBangalore: Infosys Technologies Ltd beat expectations with a 17% rise in quarterly profit and raised its full-year forecast at the lower end on hopes for a pick up in outsourcing demand from overseas clients. India’s No. 2 software services exporter forecast consolidated revenue to fall 3.1-4.6% to $4.45-$4.52 billion in the year to March 2010. It expects earnings to decline 11.1-12.3% in dollar terms. That compares with its April forecast of earnings to fall 11.1-15.1% on a revenue fall of 3.1-6.7%. Listen to Mobis Philipose analyse the Infosys Q1 results “We believe that in the short term the global economic environment will continue to be challenging,” said S Gopalakrishnan, the chief executive of the Nasdaq-listed company, which kicks off the sector’s results. The Indian software sector’s scorching pace of growth has halted as many leading customers are struggling to stay afloat, have gone bankrupt, or are tackling severe cost cuts, leaving little room to boost technology spending. Infosys, rivals Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro also face competition from big players, IBM, Accenture and Hewlett-Packard who have raided their home-turf and are winning contracts. Analysts said reduced pace of deal cancellations and signs of stability in the key financial sector was positive, but a pick-up in the sector’s growth was unlikely. “Still there are concerns and their guidance shows they are not very optimistic about business recovery in the IT sector. Let’s wait for a quarter or two,” said K K Mital, head of portfolio management services at Globe Capital in New Delhi. Infosys, which develops applications, supply chains and runs back-office services, said net profit rose to Rs1,527 crore ($314 million) in April-June, its fiscal first quarter, from Rs1,302 crore a year ago. A Reuters poll had estimated a net profit of Rs1,397 crore for the company, which counts Goldman Sachs, Philips Electronics, BT Group Plc and Australia’s top phone company Telstra Corp among its clients. Analysts said the upward revision in dollar revenue could be due to the US currency’s fall against the euro and the sterling in April-June. Infosys earns more than a quarter of its revenue in currencies other than the dollar. Powered by an army of low-cost, English-speaking workers, India’s $60 billion outsourcing sector provides services ranging from managing complex computer networks and call centres to software coding to maintaining technology operations. Infosys stunned markets in April when it forecast its first decline in annual revenue in dollar terms, marking a watershed for a sector that is a magnet for thousands of young job-seekers in the country. Infosys and its key rivals are expanding in markets such as Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific to cut their dependence on the United States, which accounts for more than half the sector’s revenue. Shares in Infosys, valued at more than $20 billion, climbed 34% in April-June versus a 44% rise in the sector index and a 49% jump in the main index. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 7:50 am US to launch $15 billion food initiative at G-8L’aquila, Italy: World leaders are set to announce a fundamental shift in the way the West tackles world hunger, taking wisdom from the old proverb about teaching a man to fish. President Barack Obama is expected Friday to announce an up to $15 billion agriculture investment initiative, delegates attending the Group of Eight summit in Italy said. The initiative includes $3 billion from Washington. The strategy seeks to enable poor farmers to produce more of their own food by improving productivity, shifting the focus from delivering aid. It takes a new approach on an issue — food security — that has also emerged recently as a political stability threat. The money is expected to be distributed over three years, and not all of it is new funding, as several countries are already well behind in aid pledges to Africa made four years ago. “The figure of $15 billion has been quoted and we expect President Obama to make this announcement ... and to call on other G-8 countries and emerging economies to support this initiative,” said Kana Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, who is participating in G-8 talks in Italy on Friday. Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who is hosting the three-day talks in L’Aquila, said the group was looking to pledge between $10 and $15 billion to be destined to concrete projects. White House national security aide Denis McDonough said he could not confirm reports that the G-8 food security package would total $15 billion, of which the US would provide $3 billion. “These numbers are bouncing around. It may end up being something similar to that,” he told reporters. “It is the kind of investment that the president promised or committed to at the G-20 in London in April, when he pledged to double (US) food security funding.” In Ghana, where Obama travels to after Italy, the president “will be talking about a new way of looking at food security,” McDonough said. Nwanze said the initiative would use existing institutions rather than creating a new framework. UN food agencies as well as the World Bank and the Africa Development Bank would likely be involved, he said. There are 500 million small-holder farmers in the world, and they produce 80% of the food that feeds the world’s population, according to IFAD. Just like the old saying “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life,” the strategy aims at enabling the farmers to make productive use of their land rather than giving them food. Increase the small farmers’ productivity would have long-term impact on world hunger, regional trade and eventually help curb immigration toward Europe and other rich nations, delegates and experts said. “You’re setting the foundation for transformation of communities,” said Nwanze. “It is the foundation for food security.” Like the old saying “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life,” . Food security, or ensuring adequate access food, has jumped to the fore of the political agenda recently. High prices last year led to food riots in some countries, including some violent ones. The prices have receded from mid-2008 highs, but they remain high. And a recent estimate by the Food and Agriculture Organization, a UN agency based in Rome, said the number of hungry people this year was a record 1 billion. “We know that the best way to tackle poverty is through growth of the agricultural sector,” said Oliver Buston, the European director of the anti-poverty group ONE. But he expressed worry that the amount of money to be pledged was simply not enough. “It’s important that they focused on agriculture, it’s important that they’re looking seriously at ways to make this effort more effective, but you’ve got to put your money where your mouth is and this isn’t additional resources” aside from a few countries, he said. For example, for Africa alone, Buston said, an additional $25 billion are needed over the next three years. One area where significant progress can be expected in the initiative is how to make food aid more effective, said Buston, for example by cutting bureaucracy and targeting the money better. ONE, the group of Bob Geldof, called on Berlusconi, as the talks’ chair, to make a significant pledge. Italy has been under intense criticism going into the G-8 summit for having maintained only 3% of its aid pledges of $3.5 billion to Africa made at a 2005 G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland. The G-8 at that time promised to increase aid to sub-Saharan Africa by $25 billion a year by 2010. Berlusconi has acknowledged Italy’s failure to respect its Gleneagles aid pledges, but has said it only was a delay and that he had no other choice but to cut aid because of Italy’s mounting debts and the global financial crisis. He said Thursday that Italy would provide $160 million over the coming weeks. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 7:38 am Infosys employee strength down by 945 in Q1IT major Infosys Technlogies on Friday said the number of its employees declined by 945 in the first quarter of this fiscal.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Jul 2009 | 7:35 am Renault CEO sees 2010 as difficult as 2009Paris: French carmaker Renault’s CEO Carlos Ghosn expects 2010 to be “as difficult as 2009” as the crisis in the worldwide auto industry continues, he told Europe 1 radio. Ghosn, who is also CEO of Renault’s Japanese alliance partner Nissan Motor Co, said he expected Europe to be among the last regions worldwide to return to growth, along with Japan. He said he saw the US and major emerging regions starting to pick up in the first quarter of 2010, and Europe and Japan returning to growth in the first quarter of 2011. Ghosn said the group had sold around 180,000 new cars in June in total. Renault’s global market share remained more or less stable in the first half, Ghosn said, adding that “we could have expected a bit better”. “I’m expecting 2010 to be as difficult as 2009. I am not expecting an immediate recovery,” Ghosn said, noting that the end of scrappage schemes in European markets — whereby governments fund cash bonuses for drivers exchanging old cars for new — could be difficult. Ghosn said a gradual transition rather than a sudden end to such schemes would help prevent a brutal shock for markets. Ghosn said the group would start to pay back a €3 billion ($4.2 billion) loan it was granted by the French government earlier this year when it was reasonable to do so, but that it was “in no particular hurry”. Rival PSA Peugeot Citroen also received a €3 billion loan. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 7:21 am I'm losing my identity today: Nandan Nilekani"I've been wrapped up in Infosys for 28 yrs. My only identity is Infosys. I will lead a programme to give identity to every Indian. But today I am losing my identity," he said.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Jul 2009 | 5:45 am Rupee up 9 paise to 48.61 a dollarRupee appreciated by 9 paise at 48.61 in early trade on Friday on increased dollar sales by exporters amid expectations of capital inflows by fundsSource: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Jul 2009 | 5:17 am Infosys employees bid emotional farewell to Nandan NilekaniOn Thursday, Infosys co-chairman Nandan Nilekani took his last bow at a company he founded 28 years ago. A company employee said it best, "Infosys' loss is India's gain".Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Jul 2009 | 4:41 am Tech upgrade must to ease interbank ATM transactionsMumbai: On 30 June, customers trying to withdraw money from their bank accounts through ATMs (automated teller machines) of other banks discovered that they couldn’t do so for some time. The reason: a switch that enables such transactions crashed because it couldn’t handle the volumes, an example of technology not being able to keep pace with usage and policy. Click here to watch video The policy has to do with interbank ATM transactions (like a customer withdrawing money from his account from the ATM of any bank) that have risen 400% since April, when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) waived fees on such transactions. The technology backbone that operates the ATM network in the country was unprepared for the rise in usage: the national financial switch (NFS), the router that handles interbank ATM transactions, faced some problems a couple of times in April and May and on 30 June, crashed entirely, rendering interbank transactions at about 40,000 ATMs across India non-functional for about half an hour. Same bank transactions, however, were unaffected. At the time, the switch— which is the router that reads a card and routes the request to the respective bank’s servers— had a capacity of two million transactions a day. On 30 June that number spiked to 2.7 million—way beyond the average of 1.6 million transactions a day—crashing the system. Before RBI’s waiver, the switch handled an average of 400,000 transactions a day, said B. Sambamurthy, director of NFS. He said the system had been upgraded in March to handle two million transactions daily in view of the RBI waiver of transaction fees. NFS, based in Hyderabad and developed by the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology that was established by RBI, waived its fee of Rs2 per transaction in December 2007 as part of a central bank initiative to increase ATM usage in the country. Since then, along with the surge in the number of transactions, the average cash withdrawal has less than halved from Rs5,000 to about Rs2,000, a likely indication that consumers no longer feel the need to access large sums of money in a single transaction as they can now access any bank’s ATM. “Now, we are in the process of building a system which can handle one billion transactions per year and this will be one of the largest globally,” Sambamurthy said in an emailed response. “This new system is being tested and should be operational in about six-eight weeks.” On a daily basis, however, the new system, will be able to handle 2.74 million transactions, just a shade more than what brought the system down on 30 June. “NFS is fully prepared to handle two million transactions per day even now. It is handling the daily traffic of over one million (transactions) successfully,” Sambamurthy added.  Switch matters: Soon a new system can be in place with a capacity of one billion transactions per year. Rajkumar / Mint According to Sunil Udupa, country head of AGS Infotech Pvt. Ltd, an ATM vendor, the maximum daily transactions on an ATM can go up to 800, while the current average is about 200-300. “Technically, there is no limit as to how much (many times) an ATM communicates with the switch,” he said. “The ATM hits (transactions) are limited by the cash available (in the machine).” There are a total of four switches in the country—NFS, MasterCard, Visa and Cashnet. About 40 banks, including all public sector ones, are connected through the NFS network. Overall, at least 38,000 ATMs are connected through NFS, according to bankers and ATM vendors. Banks typically subscribe to more than one switch provider for customer convenience. However, networks other than NFS charge the banks for their services. Although the NFS switch is free, other operational issues remain and the transactions are not entirely free of cost. According to banking sources, the per-transaction cost to a bank when another bank’s ATM is used is around Rs10-18. These charges are, however, not levied on the customers. Bankers are not too worried by NFS’ crash. “So far, we haven’t faced a major problem from NFS glitches,” said R.P. Sinha, deputy managing director for information technology at State Bank of India, which has the largest ATM network of 12,000 and plans to add another 10,000 over the next year. “There were some incidents in April and May, but that was sorted out quickly. We are in total coordination with NFS when these glitches happen.” ATM vendors also said there hasn’t been any slowdown in demand from banks. While some banks want to piggy-back on other banks’ ATM network, others are aggressively expanding to tap into the fee income that can be generated by offering their networks to other banks. “Earlier, banks used to give orders of about 500 ATMs, now they are ordering about 1,000 per order,” said Udupa of AGS Infotech. “After the ATM transaction fee has been waived, banks have really become very aggressive on their ATM expansion plan.” anup.r@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 10 Jul 2009 | 4:15 am Infosys Q1 profit up 17%, beats forecastSoftware major Infosys Technologies on Friday reported a 17.28% growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,527 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2009.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Jul 2009 | 4:13 am "New GM" ready to exit bankruptcyDETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors on Friday prepared to exit bankruptcy with the message that a leaner and meaner automaker ready to win back American consumers and pay back taxpayers has emerged from its failure.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Jul 2009 | 4:13 am Gold glitter dims, import into Gujarat dips by 50% this yearHigh gold prices and the economic slump have been mainly responsible for the low demand for the yellow metal in Gujarat.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 10 Jul 2009 | 3:52 am Speculators beginning to exit agri futures marketWith weather concerns waning in major producing countries, crop prospects looking increasingly better and finally, continued anxiety over the macro-economic environment, speculators in major agricultural futures markets are viewing the priceSource: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Indian Hotels Company (Rs 58.15): SellWe recommend a sell in Indian Hotels Company from a short-term trading perspective. It is evident from the charts of Indian Hotels that after recording a 52-week low of Rs 34 in early March it was on an intermediate-term uptrend till early JuneSource: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Other side to ‘borrow-and-spend’Mr Pranab Mukherjee’s Union Budget 2009-10 has been lampooned by many as a ‘borrow-and-spend’ exercise. This is worse than a ‘tax-and-spend’ Budget, in which there is some basic correspondence between what theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Madras Cements to go for captive thermal plantsChennai, July 9 Madras Cements Ltd will invest Rs 280 crore to set up 65 MW of coal-based captive power plants at two of its cement productionSource: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Free access to all ATMs still wrought with problemsThe promise of ‘Free access to all ATMs for bank customers’ across the country was expected to revolutionise customer experience.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Key Ministries to review FDI policy in tobacco sectorNew Delhi, July 9 Senior officials of Ministries of Health, Commerce and Industry, and Finance will meet on Friday to discuss and review the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in the tobacco sector. They are expected to deliberate on whetherSource: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am International advisory board to help AI chart a new courseNew Delhi, July 9 In addition to Mr Ratan Tata, the retiring CEO of Lufthansa and the ex-Chairman of Singapore Airlines (SIA) may be soon asked to help Air India chart a course through the current troubled times.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Cognizant beefs up testing businessChennai, July 9 Cognizant Technology Solutions has increased its employee strength in software testing practice by ten times to around 9,000 people in the last four years. Nearly 75 per cent of the testing staff are sited in India and the rest atSource: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Jul 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 | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Tax deduction at source: Quoting PAN will entail lower rateThe Finance Ministry has come up with an innovative proposal to expand the use of permanent account numbers (PAN) and, thereby, widen the tax base in the country.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Exporting Indian innovation: The Nilekani viewNandan Nilekani speaks about the use of technology to revitalise Indian society and the potential for exporting Indian innovation.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Jul 2009 | 10:05 pm Spending Rs 10 trillion, but capital outlay a minuscule 12%With the fillip to the gross budgetary support to the plan to the tune of Rs.40000 crore, this share is expected to go up to 12.1 % in the current year.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Jul 2009 | 10:02 pm China's loan growth's mind-numbingChina's central bank, the People's Bank of China (PBoC), announced that new loans issued in June rose to 1.53 trillion yuan (about $224 billion).Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Jul 2009 | 9:57 pm How the global economic system is built to failThe model has sellers of goods and services indirectly financing the purchase. When buyers are unable to pay, the system runs into trouble.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Jul 2009 | 9:50 pm 'The monopoly of Bill Gates is over'Jan Baan ventured out into the market again with his new technology company Cordys and is promising to make it big with cloud computing strategies.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Jul 2009 | 9:46 pm Tech firms stare at weak sequentialsAnalysts were cautiously optimistic about IT sector even as the bellwether IT company Infosys Technologies prepared to announce its first quarter result.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Jul 2009 | 9:39 pm India plans intact despite FDI restrictions: WalMartIn an exclusive interview with CNBCTV18, Doug Mcmillion, President and CEO, WalMart International, said, the company would live with current FDI regime. He believes the FDI in retail should eventually open. We continue to be bullish on India, he said, adding WalMart would accelerate investment plans in India.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 9 Jul 2009 | 9:10 pm Rajus to undergo lie detector testA CBI court allowed the investigation agency to conduct a lie detector and brain-mapping tests on B Ramalinga Raju, his brother Rama Raju and former Satyam CFO Vadlamani Srinivas.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 9 Jul 2009 | 7:10 pm Encashing the bull run: Honchos sold shares when sensex soaredTurns out that even seasoned company executives couldn't resist the huge surge in stock prices that swept the bourses.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 9 Jul 2009 | 7:09 pm Ranbaxy recalls skin drug from US marketRanbaxy said that its US-based subsidiary is conducting a voluntary recall of a top-selling drug sotret isotretinoin used for skin treatment, being sold in US retail markets.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 9 Jul 2009 | 7:08 pm Fill it, shut it, remember itIn the years that the economy boomed and consumers had more money to spend, two-wheeler makers lured buyers with performance and presence. Now, the focus is back on fuel efficiency.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 9 Jul 2009 | 7:03 pm Wockhardt gets CDR lifeline, with ridersWockhardt Chairman Habil Khorakiwala can breathe easy, as bankers have approved the debt restructuring package he had sought three months ago.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 9 Jul 2009 | 7:02 pm Draft rules allay fears of misuse of data ActCompanies can sigh with relief. The draft rules of the Collection of Statistics Act, cleared by Parliament earlier this year, neutralise some of the powers given to data collecting officials.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 9 Jul 2009 | 7:00 pm No more seats to rivals; low-cost domestic flightsThe civil aviation ministry has drawn up a plan for revamp of Air India, which proposes a ban on grant of new bilateral rights to international carriers, whose liberal distribution in recent years has come to be seen as a reason for the national carriers woes.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 9 Jul 2009 | 6:59 pm Avoid the pain of retypingNew Delhi: Have a wonderful collection of old documents? Want to use some of that text in a blog post? Hate retyping? Click here to watch video Then optical character recognition (OCR) is the the way to go. OCR software can process scanned documents and images and recognize letters and numbers. So if you have a scanned copy of an old magazine or journal you can use OCR software to pull out the text. www.free-ocr.com is a reasonably useful website that does this for free. While there are some restrictions in terms of formats and number of conversions, Free-ocr.com is good enough to get basic jobs done. See the video for an intro and a quick live demo. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 9 Jul 2009 | 3:33 pm India spawns global technology products, servicesBangalore: When Google Inc executives in India found that the country was largely “terra incognita” when it came to digital maps, they saw the makings of a new product. The fruit of their labor was Google Map Maker, a wiki of maps to which users in some 160 countries can now contribute, mapping out their local roads, schools and businesses. Research and development work in India by global technology giants is helping create products that not only use Indian expertise but also have originated in the country. As they design products and services, technology companies are tapping India’s unique characteristics, drawing inspiration from the country for product ideas and looking to take advantage of the attractive market that India offers. “We have a concept: locally inspired innovation for global products,” said Rick Steffens, who heads Hewlett-Packard’s systems technology and software division, which focuses on storage and server product development in Bangalore. Products created wholly or in part in India include Intel’s Xeon server chip, Google’s Map Maker and SAP’s Business ByDesign software suite. “Now in the product development side, what you’re starting to see is the entire life cycle of a product — from concept to completion — actually being done out a single hub in a remote location like India,” said Noshir Kaka, director at global advisory firm McKinsey & Co. “A lot of the companies have used the logistic part of using India as a services hub to develop a whole suite of new products and applications out of India.” Companies are involved with more noteworthy products and are playing a bigger and more complex role in the development of each product. “It’s not about going up the value chain,” said Prasad Ram Bharat, head of Google India’s R&D. “It’s about the engineer doing everything from start to finish. And the team does it all here.” Google Map Maker “was ideated and inspired by India,” Bharat said. “And the technology was developed here.” Another Google India innovation was its News Archive Search, which helps users search historical archives for events, people or ideas to see how they have been described over time. “Our ability to take a scan of a newspaper, understand that image, fully index that content and make the whole thing searchable requires extraordinary levels of technology,” Bharat said. Intel’s corporate technology group developed the world’s first programmable processor delivering teraflops performance from its Bangalore center. Teraflops is a measure of a computer’s speed equaling 1 trillion floating point operations per second. Floating point engines are used for accurate calculations, such as for graphics as well as financial and scientific modeling. Half of the global development of SAP’s latest customer relationship management software such as CRM 7.0 has been done in India. The need for HP’s successful all-in-one storage product was realized and conceptualized in India, since the country’s small and medium-sized businesses could not afford several storage products, and it was developed globally. Made in India, Sold to the World While India is a source for R&D work, its growing economic power makes it a destination too. IBM piloted the Spoken Web project to take advantage of the world’s fastest-growing wireless market. Spoken Web, with its speech interface, allows people who have never used a PC but own mobile phones to surf the Web effectively. “We pick the products that are very strategic to India,” said Google’s Bharat. The Map Maker product has resulted in the mapping of millions of kilometers of roads in India. Google stitches together the collaborative content generated by users. “Everything we do in India gets distributed around the world,” said HP’s Steffens. “We have an impact on every customer in the world that runs our systems.” Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 9 Jul 2009 | 12:11 pm Wal-Mart world’s biggest employer in 2008: FortuneNew York: At a time when the economic crisis is forcing companies to reduce costs and cut jobs, retail giant Wal-Mart has emerged as the biggest employer in the world with a whopping 2.1 million people working for it last year, according to the Fortune magazine. The Fortune Global 500 list ranks Wal-Mart Stores as the top company in terms of employee strength at the end of 2008. After Wal-Mart, China National Petroleum is the second biggest employer with 1.61 million employees in 2008 followed by the State Grid with 1.53 million employees in the third place, followed by the US Postal Service with 765,088 employees in the fourth place, followed by Sinopec with 639,690 employees in the fifth place. However, Wal-Mart has fallen to the third place in the overall list of 500 elite companies in the world this year as compared to its numero uno position in the 2008 list in terms of revenues. “In 2008, Wal-Mart racked up $30 billion in additional sales -- the equivalent of adding the annual sales of a Fortune 75 company. That growth was fueled by double-digit sales increases at international stores (US sales only grew 6%). Wal-Mart China alone added 28 stores over the year,” says the magazine about Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart’s 2009 prospects remain promising as shoppers battered by the recession shop for value, it added. The retailer has seen 7.2% increase in profit at $405,607 in 2008 as compared to the previous year. Other companies ranking amongst the top ten employers in this year’s list are China Telecommunications in the sixth place, France’s Carrefour in the seventh place, Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry in the eighth place, Russian Gazprom in the ninth and German Deutsche Post at the tenth place. Interestingly, troubled financial major Citigroup has also been included in the top employers list and has been ranked at the 26th place. Other leading firms in the top employers list compiled by Fortune include IBM (16th place),Volkswagen (20th place), General Electric (28th place), Hewlett Packard (29th place), and ArcelorMittal (31st place) amongst others. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 9 Jul 2009 | 10:21 am
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