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Gayatri Projects denies RoC\'s Maytas collusion allegationCommenting on the same, TV Sandeep Reddy, Managing Director, Gayatri Projects said the company had not received any notice from the RoC. It had three projects along with Maytas but none of the projects that were mentioned in news item, were actually concerned with those projects, he added.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Jul 2009 | 3:49 pm June dispatches higher due to rural demand: Shree CementsHM Bangur, MD, Shree Cements, said the increase in June dispatches in northern India was due to rural demand. The demand was already there but it got converted into dispatches because of the free cash flow available in the rural sector. The government last year also left a lot of money by loan waivers and rural employment schemes.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Jul 2009 | 3:28 pm To tie up with foreign partner to revive biz: SaregamaIndia\'s oldest music company, Saregama is yet to revive its business with new strategies and business models. Speaking to CNBCTV18, Apurv Nagpal, Managing Director, Saregama, who joined the company a few months ago, said an alliance with a foreign partner is part of his new strategies.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Jul 2009 | 2:43 pm No additional funding required: Shriram City Union FinanceArun Duggal, Chairman, Shriram City Union Finance, said he is delighted with Norwest Venture buying 8.4% stake in the company. \"There is no need for additional funds as the company is well capitalised.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Jul 2009 | 2:28 pm Eyeing acquisitions; to restructure BPO: HCL TechVineet Nayyar of HCL Technologies said, the companys margins would remain intact despite pricing pressure. We are exploring acquisitions and size will not be a constraint, he said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Jul 2009 | 12:45 pm Price Wars: Volvo to target mid segmentsTheres more competition is on its way for Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland. The world\'s second largest commercial vehicle companyVolvo is planning to move down in the price curve, while maintaining its leadership in the top bracket of the Indian bus market.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Jul 2009 | 12:29 pm Relentless bulls lift Sensex up by nearly 400 pts - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 15 Jul 2009 | 11:39 am Zenotech wants independent valuation for Daiichi open offer - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 15 Jul 2009 | 11:34 am Developing world leaders want fair economic systemSharm El-Sheikh (Egypt): The world needs a financial system that is fairer to developing states which have suffered most in a crisis caused by rich countries, leaders from a group of developing states said on Wednesday. The presidents of Cuba, Egypt and others were addressing a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which groups 118 countries meeting in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. “The developing countries were the most affected by the financial crisis,” Cuban President Raul Castro told the summit. “And as usual, the wealthy countries were the source of the current crisis, which was affected by the ... illogic of the international economic order that depends on blind market principles and consumption, and wealth of the few,” he said in an Arabic translation of his speech. He further called for creating an “equitable economic system”. The financial crisis has hurt Cuba by slowing production and pushing some factories to close in the import-dependent Caribbean island. Other developing nations, such as Egypt, have also seen growth rates slide. “We face the largest part of its repercussions and pressures and suffering,” said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whose country has taken over the chair of NAM from Cuba. “We call for a new international political, economic and trade order a more just and balanced order that prevents discrimination and double standards, achieves the interests of all, takes into account concerns of developing countries and establishes democratic dealings between rich and poor states.” Poor suffer Egypt’s economy depends on items such as tourism, shipping through the Suez Canal and remittances from abroad, all hurt by the global downturn that has sent growth rates tumbling from more than 7% before the crisis to around 4% now. Omar Hassan al-Bashir, president of Sudan which is among the world’s poorest countries, told the gathering that the developing world was being hurt by the crisis with rising jobless rates, growing hunger and deepening poverty. “The issues confronting humanity are so grave that there is no time, no time for rigid idealogies while the poor suffer,” the president of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, said, adding NAM could respond better if it “speaks as one”. Others said rich states were not helping the poor enough. “The nations of the G-8 have committed $20 billion to address the issue of food security. This is not an adequate sum, much more needs to be done,” Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez said. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, also addressing the 15th summit of NAM which was formally set up in 1961 at the height of the Cold War, said some developing states were suffering most and said he was worried about signs of economic protectionism. “We must counter this trend. Truly free and fair trade is crucial to stimulating recovery and spurring growth,” he said. The NAM grouping was originally established by countries which did not want to be aligned either with the Soviet Union or the United States. It has struggled to stay relevant since the 1989 fall of the Berlin wall marked the end of the Cold War. Much of the focus of the gathering may turn to bilateral talks on the sidelines, including a meeting of the prime ministers of India and Pakistan that could set the stage for resuming a formal dialogue between the two Asian rivals. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 11:27 am Phase I of ONGC’s Brazil project startsNew Delhi: State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s deep-sea project in Brazil has begun crude oil production and output is projected to touch 1,00,000 barrels a day soon. ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of the state-run firm, Shell and Petrobras of Brazil started production on 13 July at its multi-field Parque das Conchas project, also known as BC-10, 120 km off Brazil’s southeast coast, where heavy oil resources lie below nearly 2 km of water in the Campos Basin. The field is currently producing small volumes but the output will be quickly ramped up to 1,00,000 bpd or 5 million tonnes a year shortly, an official said. Parque das Conchas is a two-phase project with initial production drawn from three fields: Abalone, Ostra and Argonauta B-West. The first phase, now on-stream, involves nine producing wells and one gas injector well. The second phase will focus on the Argonauta O-North field. Oil is being produced using a floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) named Espirito Santo. The FPSO can process 1,00,000 bpd of oil and 50 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, and store nearly 1.5 million barrels of oil for shipment to shore by transport tankers. The field produces heavy oil, the official said Shell Brasil Ltda is the operator of the project with a 50% stake while Brazil’s state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has 35% interest. ONGC Campos Ltda, a fully-owned subsidiary of OVL, has 15%. OVL had in 2006 paid $170 million to buy a 15% stake in the Brazilian oilfield from Royal Dutch/Shell. The ONGC subsidiary had originally bought US energy giant ExxonMobil’s 30% stake in BC-10 for $330 million. It had committed another $490 million as its share in the development cost. However, Shell as the operator of the block had the first right of refusal on any stake sale in the venture by partners. It exercised its pre-emption right and OVL had to buy half of that stake from Shell for $170 million. On top of this, the company was to send another $234 million as its share of the cost involved in bringing the field to production by 2009. Shell had in November 2006 launched the development of BC-10. The BC-10 development plans involve a phased approach, developing three fields in the first duration, and a fourth one in the second. The company had previously said it estimates potential oil reserves in the BC-10 block at 400 million barrels. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 11:23 am Revenue from new GSK deal spread over 5 years: Mah SatyamT Hari, Chief Marketing Officer at Mahindra Satyam, told CNBCTV18 that he sees embargoes against the company being lifted soon. He also informed that the revenue from the GSK deal is spread equally over five years and that GSK is among top ten clients for the company.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Jul 2009 | 11:15 am Developing world leaders urge fair economic systemSHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - The world needs a financial system that is fairer to developing states which have suffered most in a crisis caused by rich countries, leaders from a group of developing states said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Jul 2009 | 11:08 am Harrisons Malayalam sees tea exports dip in FY10Mumbai: Harrisons Malayalam Ltd, the largest tea producer in south India, expects tea exports to drop 29% in FY10 due to a production shortfall and firm domestic demand, a top official said. “Last year we touched about 170 million kgs. This year we are expecting a figure of 120-130 million kgs because, simply put, quantities are not there and plus demand internally is good,” managing director Pankaj Kapoor said. A production shortfall due to severe drought in the major growing regions of the country is expected to hit tea output severely, he said in a telephone interview. In April-June, the company produced 3,300 tonnes compared to 4,100 tonnes the same period last year. “In the first four months our production is down by about 20%. For the year, we were expecting to do 10% better but given the current conditions I am expecting that at the best case scenario we can be at par with last year,” Kapoor said. However, good local demand and a supply shortage is helping the company get better realisations due to high prices, he said. “For us current prices are in a range of Rs90 (per kg) in bulk. At the same time last year it was Rs70 (per kg). We are getting more for our orthodox teas,” he said. Orthodox tea is a premium quality tea and fetches a better price than the CTC (crush, tear, curl) variety. Harrisons Malayalam is also spending Rs160 million in the next four years on tea replantation, out of which Rs50 million will be spent in the current fiscal. To increase exports, it has set up two new factories for manufacturing orthodox tea, taking its capacity to 60% from 40%, up by 85-90 tonnes per day, Kapoor said. The company, which is also the country’s largest rubber producer, is planning to spend Rs320 million in the next three years on rubber replantation in 1,700-1,800 hectares. Rubber prices, which are currently on the higher side due to a production shortfall, are expected to fall by 15-20% in coming months as demand in overseas markets is low, Kapoor said. Prices of the most-traded RSS-4 (ribbed smoked sheet) variety are in the range of Rs98-100 and they should come down to Rs85-90, he added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 11:03 am Sensex soars, ends 433 points upA key index of the Indian equities markets soared towards closing bell Wednesday, ending the day 433 points higher than its previous close.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Jul 2009 | 11:02 am Development for the people, by the people in DelhiTwo municipal councillors in the national capital have decided to put 'power back into the public's hands' by choosing to hear them out before undertaking any development work in their areas.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Jul 2009 | 11:02 am India can have 500 mn internet users by 2012: MAIT - Press Trust of India
Source: Business - Google News | 15 Jul 2009 | 11:02 am Assam plans to revamp education systemGuwahati: The Assam government has chalked out an ambitious 100-days action plan to revamp the education sector in the state, an official said on Tuesday. The education department has decided to fill up vacant posts of teachers at the lower primary, middle schools, high schools and higher secondary schools, the official said. A sub-inspector of schools will also be appointed soon, the official said. The state government will also provide financial assistance to non-government educational institutions. Selection of additional list of non-government educational institutions for extending financial assistance will also be completed. Scholarships will be extended to students belonging to below poverty line families and special scholarships to meritorious girl students will be provided. Completion of all preparatory activities including preparation of pre-project plan for implementation of Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhijan (RMSA), establishment of model schools in each block and girls hostels for scheduled caste/scheduled tribe and weaker sections will be taken up. Retention of tuition fees for streamlining of management of non-government colleges and provincial colleges with the college authority for development of colleges will be done by the department, the official said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 11:02 am Foreign investors return to India: Moody'sIndia along with China will again emerge as the preferred destinations for foreign investors, the research arm of global rating agency Moody's said Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Jul 2009 | 11:01 am Business growth at garment fair to be flat: MaranThe 43rd India International Garment Fair that began here Wednesday will fetch manufacturers almost the same amount of business as the previous one.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Jul 2009 | 11:01 am No rollback of tax cuts announced in stimulus packagesThe government Wednesday ruled out rollback of tax cuts offered to various sectors as part of the fiscal stimuli announced earlier and said it intends to bridge the fiscal deficit largely through internal resource mobilisation.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Jul 2009 | 11:01 am See 3% yield on advances in Q2: South Indian Bank - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 15 Jul 2009 | 10:58 am Transaction platform for Indian funds by end-2009MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's mutual funds industry will launch a common transaction platform by the end of 2009 in a bid to cut cost and expand reach, an industry official said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Jul 2009 | 10:57 am Google Q2 results expected to feel recession pinchSan Francisco: Internet search leader Google is scheduled to report its second-quarter results after the stock market closes Thursday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period. After Google began the year with its most sluggish quarterly growth yet, Wall Street is fretting over how much of the financial lethargy lingered during the three-month period that ended in June. Google chief executive Eric Schmidt thinks the worst of the US recession is over, but that doesn’t mean he sees blue skies on the horizon. “When you talk to people, no one has any particular insight into what happens next,” Schmidt told a group of reporters during an interview last week at media conference. For now, Google is operating under the assumption that both consumers and businesses will be pinching pennies. The rampant frugality has curtailed spending on ads — the main source of Google’s revenue. Unlike most other ad-dependent businesses, Google is still pulling in slightly more money. Its first-quarter ad revenue rose 5% to $5.3 billion. But that rise marked the first time Google’s year-over-year growth had fallen below 10% since the company went public in August 2004. Google has turned to cost cutting to boost its earnings at a higher rate than its revenue. The company has jettisoned contractors, laid off a few hundred full-time workers, closed little-used Internet services and even taken away some employee perquisites, including free bottled water at its headquarters. The tough times also prompted Google to start selling ads on once commercial-free zones like its news and finance sections and made it easier for companies to use their rivals’ US trademarks in their ads. Google draws its moneymaking prowess from its search engine, which processes nearly two out of every three online queries in the United States. That dominance is attracting more scrutiny from antitrust regulators worried Google may be abusing its market power. The US Justice Department is currently taking a hard look at a proposed settlement of a class-action lawsuit that would grant Google the rights to sell digital copies of millions of out-of-print books. BY THE NUMBERS Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Google to earn $5.06 per share on revenue of $4.05 billion. The estimates exclude Google’s expenses for employee stock compensation, unusual charges and the revenue that the company pays its advertising partners. ANALYST TAKE Benchmark Co. Clayton Moran believes Google started to have more trouble selling ads in June after getting off to strong start early in the second quarter. He suspects the adverse conditions will remain through the summer. ”No advertising bottom has been reached yet,” Moran wrote in a research note on Monday. ThinkEquity analyst William Morrison echoed many of the sentiments in his own research note. ”The path ahead could be a bumpy one,” he warned. WHAT’S AHEAD Google’s already bitter rivalry with Microsoft Corp. is escalating with both companies trying to steal each other’s thunder. Microsoft recently renamed its search engine Bing as part of an upgrade that is getting positive reviews and is being promoted with a $100 million marketing campaign. Schmidt told reporters last week that Bing hasn’t fazed Google so far. Meanwhile, Google is gearing up its development of a free computer operating system in a challenge to Microsoft’s pervasive Windows franchise. The new operating system, which will be tied to the Chrome Web browser that Google introduced nine months ago, isn’t expected to hit the market until he second half of 2010. STOCK PERFORMANCE Google shares surged 21% in the second quarter, extending a yearlong rally driven by the belief that the company is among the best positioned to weather the ongoing turbulence. Google’s stock closed at $424.30 Monday. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 10:57 am 168 dead in Iran plane crashTehran: A Tupolev passenger aircraft crashed in northwestern Iran on Wednesday on its way to neighbouring Armenia and all 168 people on board were killed, Iranian media reported. “On board the plane there were 151 adults, 2 children and 15 crew members,” said Caspian Airline’s representative in Yerevan Arlen Davudyan told the agency at Yerevan Airport. “15 or 16 minutes after take-off the plane fell near the Iranian city Qazvin about 150 kilometers north of Tehran,” he said, adding it was a Tu-154aircraft and that the cause of the crash was not clear and the black box had not yet been found. The Caspian Airlines plane was carrying 153 passengers and 15 crew, Reza Jafarzadeh, a spokesman for Iran’s aviation organisation, told state television. The plane was travelling from Tehran to Yerevan in Armenia. Crying relatives gathered at Yerevan airport and on one wall a notice listed people who were on board. A senior Iranian provincial official, Sirous Saberi, said the aircraft had experienced technical problems and had tried to do an emergency landing. “Unfortunately the plane caught fire in the air and it crashed,” he told semi-official Fars News Agency. Television showed footage of debris from the plane and some body parts. Eight members of Iran’s national junior judo team and two coaches were among the dead, the semi-official Mehr News Agency said. It was the third deadly crash of a Tupolev Tu-154 in Iran since 2002 and the deadliest crash in the Islamic Republic since 2003 when an Ilyushin Il-76, also Russian built, crashed into a mountain. “It’s been a major disaster with pieces of aircraft spread over an area of 200 square metres,” a fire brigade official told state television. “There was an explosion which left an indentation 10 metres deep in the ground. There was nothing we could do. We tried to put out the fire as best we could,” he said. Television pictures also showed a large crater gouged into farmland with mangled pieces of metal scattered around. Smoke rose from the site as police and bystanders gathered around. Totally Destroyed “The Tupolev plane has been totally destroyed and the corpses, unfortunately, have been totally burnt and destroyed. All on board are dead,” Qazvin police commander Massoud Jafarinasab told Fars. The official IRNA news agency said it crashed at 11:33 a.m. (0703 GMT) but Jafarzadeh later told state television this was the time it departed from the capital’s Imam Khomeini International airport. Iran has suffered several major air disasters over the last decade, some also involving Tupolev planes. US planemaker Boeing Co has not exported a plane to Iran since 1979, when the US government imposed sanctions against Tehran. Those sanctions have also hampered Iranian efforts to buy spares for US planes bought earlier or to buy European planes powered by US-built engines such as Airbus airliners. In September 2006, 29 people were killed when an Iran Air Tour Tupolev 154 passenger plane caught fire on landing in the northeastern city of Mashhad. In 2002, all 118 people aboard were killed when an Iran Air Tours Tupolev 154 crashed near the western city of Khorramabad. Caspian Airline’s Davudyan said around 20-25 passengers were Armenian citizens. Iran is home to some 100,000 ethnic Armenians, many of whom frequently use the flights between Tehran and Yerevan to visit relatives in Armenia. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 10:53 am BSE Sensex rises 2.9 pct on global optimismMUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex rallied 2.9 percent on Wednesday, its second consecutive rise, as upbeat results from U.S. firms Goldman Sachs and Intel helped shore up investor confidence worldwide.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Jul 2009 | 10:51 am Google Q2 results expected to feel recession pinchSan Francisco: Internet search leader Google Inc. is scheduled to report its second-quarter results after the stock market closes Thursday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period. After Google began the year with its most sluggish quarterly growth yet, Wall Street is fretting over how much of the financial lethargy lingered during the three-month period that ended in June. Google chief executive Eric Schmidt thinks the worst of the US recession is over, but that doesn’t mean he sees blue skies on the horizon. “When you talk to people, no one has any particular insight into what happens next,” Schmidt told a group of reporters during an interview last week at media conference. For now, Google is operating under the assumption that both consumers and businesses will be pinching pennies. The rampant frugality has curtailed spending on ads — the main source of Google’s revenue. Unlike most other ad-dependent businesses, Google is still pulling in slightly more money. Its first-quarter ad revenue rose 5% to $5.3 billion. But that rise marked the first time Google’s year-over-year growth had fallen below 10% since the company went public in August 2004. Google has turned to cost cutting to boost its earnings at a higher rate than its revenue. The company has jettisoned contractors, laid off a few hundred full-time workers, closed little-used Internet services and even taken away some employee perquisites, including free bottled water at its headquarters. The tough times also prompted Google to start selling ads on once commercial-free zones like its news and finance sections and made it easier for companies to use their rivals’ US trademarks in their ads. Google draws its moneymaking prowess from its search engine, which processes nearly two out of every three online queries in the United States. That dominance is attracting more scrutiny from antitrust regulators worried Google may be abusing its market power. The US Justice Department is currently taking a hard look at a proposed settlement of a class-action lawsuit that would grant Google the rights to sell digital copies of millions of out-of-print books. BY THE NUMBERS Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Google to earn $5.06 per share on revenue of $4.05 billion. The estimates exclude Google’s expenses for employee stock compensation, unusual charges and the revenue that the company pays its advertising partners. ANALYST TAKE Benchmark Co. Clayton Moran believes Google started to have more trouble selling ads in June after getting off to strong start early in the second quarter. He suspects the adverse conditions will remain through the summer. ”No advertising bottom has been reached yet,” Moran wrote in a research note on Monday. ThinkEquity analyst William Morrison echoed many of the sentiments in his own research note. ”The path ahead could be a bumpy one,” he warned. WHAT’S AHEAD Google’s already bitter rivalry with Microsoft Corp. is escalating with both companies trying to steal each other’s thunder. Microsoft recently renamed its search engine Bing as part of an upgrade that is getting positive reviews and is being promoted with a $100 million marketing campaign. Schmidt told reporters last week that Bing hasn’t fazed Google so far. Meanwhile, Google is gearing up its development of a free computer operating system in a challenge to Microsoft’s pervasive Windows franchise. The new operating system, which will be tied to the Chrome Web browser that Google introduced nine months ago, isn’t expected to hit the market until he second half of 2010. STOCK PERFORMANCE Google shares surged 21% in the second quarter, extending a yearlong rally driven by the belief that the company is among the best positioned to weather the ongoing turbulence. Google’s stock closed at $424.30 Monday. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 10:51 am Close: Markets rally by 3% on Goldman, Intel profitsMumbai: Indian shares rallied 2.9% on Wednesday, their second consecutive rise, as upbeat results from US firms Goldman Sachs and Intel helped shore up investor confidence worldwide. Traders said higher start for European bourses boosted investor appetite for riskier bets after the market appeared to lose steam due to concerns about the domestic economy and rich valuations. State-run power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals extended gains after the finance secretary said the government would announce plans to sell small stakes in state firms in 3 to 4 weeks. “Bhel has received a few orders in the past few days, and these hopes for divestment is driving the stock further,” Alex Mathew, head of research at Geojit BNP-Paribas Financial Services, said. Engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro, energy giant Reliance Industries and private-sector lender ICICI Bank powered the main index a day after it rose 3.4%, the best in almost 7 weeks. “We saw some buying by institutions in the latter half of the day, as well as a significant amount of short-covering,” Mathew said. “The volume was also more in the afternoon.” The 30-share BSE index ended up 2.88%, or 399.54 points, at 14,253.24, its highest close in nearly two weeks, with 29 stocks advancing. But traders said the market may not be able to sustain gains in the near term, with profit-taking set to emerge unless investors are reassured corporate earnings growth will pick up pace in the next few quarters. Last week, the market fell 9.4% - its biggest weekly fall in eight months - after the government’s budget disappointed investors who were expecting bold economic and financial reforms. “The market is still finding it difficult to attract liquidity, and in the absence of any domestic triggers, there is still downside risk even though we are up now due to international markets,” Harendra Kumar, head of research at Centrum Broking, said. However, the benchmark index is set to gain another 12% by the end of 2009, taking its rise for the year to 60%, as an economic revival boosts corporate earnings and attracts liquidity, a Reuters poll showed. Larsen rose 4.2% to Rs1,430.15, while Reliance Industries, which has the most weight in the main index, climbed 3.5% to Rs1,875. ICICI Bank advanced 2.5% to Rs696.45, Bharat Heavy Electricals added 6.3% to Rs2,176.05 and State Bank of India gained 3.2% to Rs1,633.90. In the broader market, gainers led losers by more than 3.5 to 1 on moderate volume of 417.6 million shares. The 50-share NSE index ended up 3% at 4,233.50. Asian shares were higher, with Japan’s Nikkei rising 0.1%, while MSCI’s measure of other Asian markets firmed 2.8%. At 1023 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 1.6% and futures pointed to a higher start on Wall Street. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 10:45 am UK says global low carbon market to grow by a thirdLondon: The global market for low carbon goods and services could grow by a third in six years and may expand even faster if a climate change deal is reached in Copenhagen later this year, the UK government said on Wednesday. The sector could expand to £ 4.3 trillion ($7,047 billion) by 2015 from £ 3 trillion in 2007-08, boosted by countries looking for ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a government policy paper. Britain will say at 1200 GMT how it plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change, after the G8 summit in Italy set a goal of cutting emissions by 80% by 2050. That target was undermined within hours when Russia said it could not meet it and Canada called it “aspirational”. A second drive to persuade China and India to cut emissions by 50% by 2050 also failed. With Britain in its worst recession in 50 years and an election less than a year away, the Labour government has been keen to talk up the benefits of the growing environmental sector. “There is no high carbon future,” business secretary Peter Mandelson said in a statement. “But if the transition to low carbon is inevitable, what is not inevitable is that we use the transition as a chance to develop new jobs, new industries here in Britain.” Britain’s low carbon sector will be one of the few areas of the economy that will grow during the recession and beyond, the government policy document said. It should see growth of more than 4% each year up to 2014-15. The number of people employed in the sector in Britain could rise to more than 1 million by 2015, compared to 880,000 today. Energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband will later set out how Britain hopes to cut emissions by 34% by 2020 from 1990 levels and by at least 80% by 2050. Britain’s proposals are expected to call for an enlarged nuclear programme as well as far greater reliance on renewable energy sources like wind, solar and tidal power, Miliband signalled in interviews ahead of the report’s publication. Under European Union targets Britain will have to get 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 compared to just 1.3% in 2005. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 10:42 am Dismiss RIL\'s petition, RNRL requests SCReliance Natural Resources Limited (RNRL) submitted its reply to Reliance Industries (RIL) special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The petition says that the SLP filed by RIL deserves to be dismissed.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Jul 2009 | 10:29 am Mayawati writes to PM, seeks UMPP for UPLucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding the setting up of an ultra mega power project (UMPP) in the state and priority in allotting coal and gas linkages for it. The state government has a plan of increasing power generation by 25,000 MW to make UP a power-surplus state in the next few years, but lack of coal is an impediment, Mayawati said in her letter to the Prime Minister. “Priority in allotment of coal block and gas linkages should be given to states like UP, which do not have resources for hydro-generation, coal mines or coastal areas,” she said in the letter, released today. Pointing out that the economic growth of UP is directly linked to that of the country, Mayawati suggested that the ministries concerned should consider amending policies regarding allocating coal and gas to improve the power situation in the state. “Kindly intervene in the matter immediately and ask the power and coal ministries to issue necessary amendments to coal and gas allotment policies,” she said. Mayawati blamed successive central governments for the power crisis in UP. “No concrete measures (have been) taken to solve the power crisis in the state during the last 60 years,” she said in the letter. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 10:29 am Suzlon's REpower unit wins 150 mw orderMUMBAI (Reuters) - Suzlon Energy said on Wednesday its German unit, REpower Systems, had won an order to supply 30 turbines with total output of 150 megawatts to a subsidiary of Vattenfall AB.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Jul 2009 | 10:16 am NEWSMAKER - After autos, Rattner faces next challengeNEW YORK (Reuters) - Steven Rattner is leaving as the head of the White House autos task force that oversaw the bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler, only a few months after taking on the job.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Jul 2009 | 10:14 am Analysts raise 2009 earnings outlook on Goldman - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 15 Jul 2009 | 10:10 am Bajaj Auto Finance Q1 net profit at Rs15.21 croreMumbai: Bajaj Auto Finance on Wednesday reported a jump of fivefold in its net profit for the first quarter ended 30 June to Rs15.21 crore over the corresponding period a year ago, fueling a surge of 20% in its share price on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The company had a net profit of Rs3.01 crore during the June quarter a year earlier, the company said in a filing to the BSE. The total income of the auto financing firm rose to Rs189.56 crore during the April-June quarter of FY10 from Rs127.88 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Shares of Bajaj Auto Finance jumped 20% from its previous close to hit the upper trading limit of Rs177.35 on the BSE. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 9:59 am Japan central bank extends emergency credit stepsTokyo: Japan’s central bank said on Wednesday that while the economy has ended its slide, it would extend a series of emergency measures to ensure that credit keeps flowing to companies. The Bank of Japan’s eight-member policy board also voted unanimously to leave its overnight call rate target unchanged at 0.1%, as widely expected by the market. “Japan’s economic conditions have stopped worsening,” Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa said. “Public investment is increasing and exports and production are picking up. Business sentiment, especially of large manufacturing firms, has stopped deteriorating.” The world’s second-biggest economy will begin recovering in the second half of this fiscal year through March 2010, the central bank said. Japan’s gross domestic product fell at a record annual pace of 14.2% in the first quarter. Its assessment follows a similar upgrade earlier this week in a monthly report from the cabinet office. The government predicted better news in the coming months thanks to massive fiscal stimulus measures. Still, the central bank warned of ongoing pockets of weakness that could undermine a recovery. Capital spending by companies is falling sharply. Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of the country’s gross domestic product, remains lackluster as unemployment rises. In May, Japan’s jobless rate hit 5.2% the highest level in five and a half years. The fragility led policy board members to slightly reign in their economic forecasts. They now expect real GDP to shrink 3.4% this fiscal year instead of the 3.1% decline projected in April. In the year through March 2011, they predict GDP will grow one percent, down from an earlier forecast of 1.2%. Financial conditions are also “headed in the right direction but remain tight,” Shirakawa said. Policy board members thus decided to continue several emergency liquidity programs beyond their original 30 September expiration date. The central bank said it will buy commercial paper and corporate bonds for three extra months to 31 December. It will also extend a special lending program offering banks low-interest loans with eligible collateral. The steps were among those introduced in the wake of last year’s global financial crisis and credit crunch. With interest rates close to zero, the central bank had little room to tweak regular monetary policy and instead focused on less conventional measures to help cash-strapped companies. Japan’s interest rates are among the lowest of major economies. The Federal Reserve’s targeted range hovers between zero and 0.25%, while the European Central Bank held its benchmark rate at one percent at its last meeting. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 9:53 am IDBI Bank Q1 net up 7.6%Mumbai: Public sector IDBI Bank on Wednesday reported 7.6% growth in net profit at Rs171.83 crore for the first quarter ended 30 June, 2009. The bank had a net profit of Rs159.76 crore in the first quarter of FY09, IDBI Bank said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The total income increased 53% to Rs4,218.91 crore during the June quarter, from Rs2,756.15 crore in the corresponding period a year-ago. During the quarter, the bank’s interest income grew 43% to Rs3,463.30 crore, while the interest expenditure for the April-June period stood at Rs3,146.86 crore, up 35 % over the year-ago period. Shares of IDBI Bank were trading at Rs101.10, up 6.87% over previous close on the BSE. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 9:50 am IBN18 Broadcast June net profit at Rs5.90 crMumbai: Media firm IBN18 Broadcast on Wednesday said its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended June stood at Rs5.90 crore in the current fiscal. However, the media firm had a net loss of Rs16.55 crore in the same period ended June 2008, IBN18 Broadcast said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. As per the scheme of arrangement between BK Fincap Private, Jagran TV Pvt (now known as IBN18 Media & Software Ltd.) and the company for acquisition of IBN7 channel business from Jagran TV and the merger of BK Fincap into the company. Accordingly, the corresponding previous period numbers for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 are not comparable with the current period, the filing added. Revenue stood at Rs106.67 crore for the quarter ended 30 June, 2009, however it had a revenue of Rs 30.10 crore in the same period last year. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 9:48 am Road map for PSU disinvestment soon: fin secretary - Livemint
Source: Business - Google News | 15 Jul 2009 | 9:45 am NAM summit opens in EgyptSharm El-Sheik: A summit of the Non-Aligned Movement opened at this Egyptian Red Sea resort town Wednesday with a call from Cuban President Raul Castro for a new international financial system to shield developing nations from the global recession. Castro was addressing the opening session of the movement’s two-day summit at Sharm el-Sheikh, the 15th such gathering since the group was founded in the 1950s. “We demand the establishment of a new international financial and economic structure that relies on the participation of all countries,” Castro said. “There must be a new framework that doesn’t depend solely on the economic stability and the political decision of only one country,” the Cuban leader said, apparently referring to the United States. The new system, he said, must give developing countries “preferential treatment.” He did not elaborate. Castro later handed the movement’s presidency over to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whose country will head the group for the next three years. Egypt, India and the former Yugoslavia are the movement’s founding members. The 118-nation Non-Aligned Movement was born during the Cold War more than five decades ago as a group of countries that is neither allied with the US-led camp or the Soviet bloc. A middle course, they argued then, was in their best interest. However, the movement has lost much of its relevance when the Cold War ended nearly two decades ago. Made up mostly of African, Asian and Latin American nations, it has since become primarily an international speaking forum for developing nations. Castro’s call for a new world financial system follows up on a similar demand by foreign ministers and senior officials from the movement who warned after four days of meetings here that the global financial crisis will adversely affect their developing nations the most. Joint action, they said, was needed to ward off its impact. The summit’s draft declaration also calls for the group to coordinate with China — attending the summit as an observer — to have their voices heard at international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The prime ministers of nuclear powers Pakistan and India, meanwhile, were expected to meet on the sidelines of the summit in what would be one of the conference’s highlights. The two leaders met in Russia last month for the first time since the Mumbai terror attacks last year, but they made little headway in defusing the tension in their relations. India blamed Pakistan-trained militants for the attacks, which killed 166 people. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 9:44 am Indian investors remain most optimistic in Asia: INGNew Delhi: Indian investors continue to be the most optimistic lot in Asia and as much as 84% of those surveyed expect the stock market to rise in the third quarter of 2009, according to global financial services group ING. As per the Quarterly Investor Dashboard Sentiment survey by ING, investors in the surveyed Asian countries believed that economic situation has improved and 93% Indians feel conditions would further improve in the third quarter. “The Indian investor index jumped to a record high of 182 for second quarter of 2009 from 133 from first quarter of 2009 amidst anticipated strong GDP growth and stock market improvements,” the ING report stated. In the first quarter of this year as well, investor index had jumped 75% to 133 from 76 in Q4 2008. Overall, there was a significant 81% upswing in the investor sentiment in Asia for the first half of 2009 and a 55% quarter-on-quarter increase for Q2 2009 from Q1 2009, the survey said. Investors in India have emerged optimistic in almost all the key performance indicators including household financial situation, impact of US economy, property prices and stock marker recovery. “Almost 84% of the Indian investors feel that the stock market will further rise in Q3 2009, reflecting bullishness and reinforcing the optimistic outlook for the next quarter,” the report said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 9:44 am IDBI Q1 net up 7.56% - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 15 Jul 2009 | 9:40 am Up to 169 aboard feared killed in Iran plane crashTEHRAN (Reuters) - A passenger aircraft crashed in northwestern Iran on Wednesday and up to 169 people on board were feared killed, ISNA news agency reported.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Jul 2009 | 9:35 am Bhilai power plant stops generation due to coal shortageA 500-MW power plant near here stopped generating electrictiy merely two days after it was dedicated to the nation Sunday because of a severe shortage of coal.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Jul 2009 | 9:30 am Steel use up 5 percent in first quarterIn what may be seen as an early sign of economic recovery, use of steel in the country rose 5.2 percent to 12.83 million tonnes in the first quarter of this fiscal from 12.2 million tonnes in the same period a year ago.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Jul 2009 | 9:30 am Steel use up 5 pc in first quarter - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 15 Jul 2009 | 9:28 am Adani Power IPO likely to be priced at Rs 100-110/share - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 15 Jul 2009 | 9:23 am Apollo Sindhoori Capital June quarter net up 30% at Rs2.71 crMumbai: Retail broking firm Apollo Sindhoori Capital Investments on Wednesday said its net profit rose by 29.66% to Rs2.71 crore during the quarter ended June in current fiscal, over the same period last year. The company had a net profit of Rs2.09 crore in the same period ended June 2008, Apollo Sindhoori Capital Investments said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Income from operations rose to Rs26.66 crore for the quarter ended June, against Rs24.22 crore in the same period last year. Shares of Apollo Sindhoori Capital Investments were trading at Rs37.70 on the BSE, up 4.87% from previous close. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 8:59 am Most asian economies set for rebound in 2010Hong Kong: China is on track to reach its 8% growth target this year, while Asia’s worst hit economies Singapore and Taiwan will see a sharp turnaround next year as the continent rebounds, a Reuters poll shows. The poll, which covered estimates from more than 100 analysts in 12 economies, forecasts gross domestic product in Singapore and Taiwan will shrink by just over 5% this year -- deteriorating from a previous poll in March, which forecast they would both contract 4.9%. While this year will be Singapore’s worst ever and Taiwan’s weakest performance since records began in the 1950s, the worst does appear to be over for the export-reliant economies. Both will see the sharpest turnaround in Asia from recession to growth next year, the poll shows. Singapore already leapt out of recession in the second quarter and the poll forecasts the island economy will rebound 4.4% next year while Taiwan’s GDP will increase 4%. Signs that China’s economy is picking up after a sharp slowdown is boosting trade, while fiscal stimulus across the continent is helping stem the downturn. But while economists foresee a rebound in Asia next year, that assumes an upswing in the United States. “Recent data from China has indicated that their economy is building momentum, supported by their fiscal stimulus, and data from Korea and Taiwan show exports appear to have bottomed out,” said David Cohen at Action Economics. “There are still clouds over how much of this can be sustained: a lot will depend on global export demand and that will largely hinge on how much the US and European economies can turn around.” INFLATION RISK China will continue to see the fastest growth in Asia, expanding by 8.8% in 2010 after an estimated 8% expansion this year. India is set to grow 7.2% during its financial year to March 2011, up from an estimated 6.3% expansion in the year ending March 2010. The forecasts for next year are slightly better than in the March poll amid signs that exports are declining less sharply than early in the year and consumption in the United States and Europe may be stabilising. Inflation is benign for most of Asia, and consumer prices are declining in Thailand and a few other economies. However, the poll shows prices are likely to pick up next year as the economic climate improves, notably in India where inflation is forecast to average 5.5% in 2010. That means the downtrend in interest rates is probably over. New Zealand is expected to see the sharpest increase in rates by the end of next year, by 125 basis points, while South Korea’s benchmark policy rate is set to increase by 100 basis points. That will spur currencies. The kiwi dollar, which is forecast to depreciate slightly between now and the end of the year, will rally 8% next year. The South Korean won, which was quoted at 1,282 to the dollar on Wednesday, is set to gain 13% between now and the end of next year as the economy expands 4% in 2010. Indonesia will be southeast Asia’s best performer, growing 5% this year and 5.9% in 2010, as its more domestically driven economy insulates it from the export downturn. Malaysia and Thailand should enjoy a modest rebound next year, of 4% and 3% respectively, after struggling with weak exports this year. Australia is the only one of the 12 Asia-Pacific countries where growth will slow next year, to 0.5% for the year ending June 2010 from an estimated 0.8% for the year through June 2009. Neighbouring New Zealand is starting to shake out of recession but growth next year of 2.2% will be modest compared with growth in Asian economies. “The big picture points to an extended period of relatively subdued growth over a number of years as the economy rebalances,” said Cameron Bagrie, chief economist at ANZ-National Bank. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 8:59 am Dena Bank hopes to get Rs 500cr capital infusionDena Bank is hopeful of receiving Rs 500crore capital infusion from the Government by September, according to the Chairman and Managing Director, Mr D. L. Rawal.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Jul 2009 | 8:54 am Rupee extends gains as stocks rise over 2%Mumbai: The Indian rupee extended gains in afternoon trade on Wednesday, rising for a second consecutive session, as higher local shares renewed hopes for more capital inflows while rise in Asian units also boosted sentiment. At 2:25pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs48.66/67 per dollar, stronger than Tuesday’s close of Rs48.96/97. On Monday, the rupee had dropped to as low as Rs49.47, its weakest since 15 May. The main stock index rose more than 2% in afternoon trade. Foreigners have purchased a net $5.8 billion worth of local stocks in 2009, after having sold more than $13 billion last year. The inflow has been key to the rupee’s recovery from a record low of 52.2 hit in early March. The South Korean won and Malaysian ringgit led Asian currencies firmer on Wednesday after a slew of strong US corporate earnings boosted appetite for riskier assets and hopes of a global economic recovery. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contract on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX was quoting at Rs48.7150 and Rs48.7175 respectively, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $965 million. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 8:49 am POLL - Asian economies set for sharp rebound in 2010HONG KONG (Reuters) - China is on track to reach its 8 percent growth target this year, while Asia's worst hit economies Singapore and Taiwan will see a sharp turnaround next year as the continent rebounds, a Reuters poll shows.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Jul 2009 | 8:47 am Volvo expects orders for 600 buses under JNNURMVolvo Buses India expects orders for 600 buses from various municipal corporations under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 15 Jul 2009 | 8:44 am Goa seeks Rs 1,310 crore in Central grantGoa has sought Rs 1,310 crore from the Planning Commission as special grant for the development of roads and beach safety.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 Jul 2009 | 8:38 am Asia stocks near 2-week highs on Intel earningsLondon: Global stocks rose to their highest level in nearly two weeks on Wednesday as blockbuster results from major firms such as tech bellwether Intel Corp underpinned appetite for riskier assets. Goldman Sachs and Intel posted solid results while Johnson & Johnson beat analysts’ forecasts with a 5% fall in second-quarter earnings, getting the US earnings season off to a bright start. The news helped lift US crude oil above $60 a barrel and drive three-month copper up 1.6%, but the dollar and less risky assets such as government bonds suffered. Investors and policymakers are anxiously looking for signs of a pick up in US demand, which is key to a solid global recovery. World stocks as measured by MSCI rose 0.8% to 241.86, having earlier touched 241.93 - a level last seen on 2 July - and the emerging markets sector index jumped 2%. Intel shares surged 8.0% in Frankfurt, while the Nasdaq futures climbed up 1.5%. In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top regional shares was up 1.0%, rising for a third day running. Japan’s Nikkei average, however, edged up just 0.1%, underscoring some concerns ahead of more earnings in the United States and Japan. “Despite positive Q2 results from Intel and Goldman Sachs ... equity markets posted only modest gains, with the focus shifting to worries about whether other US banks reporting their Q2 figures this week will be as robust,” said Stuart Bennett, senior FX strategist at Calyon in London. Despite the underlying caution, investors gave government bonds a wide berth, sending the euro zone’s benchmark yield up towards a two-week high near 3.35%. The dollar fell to a two-week low against a basket of currencies as investors sought higher-yielding units such as the Australian dollar. The dollar index slipped 0.6% to its lowest since the start of the month, while the euro gained 0.5% to $1.4044. Against the US dollar, the Australian currency rose a third of a percent to $0.7967. The yen showed little reaction to the Bank of Japan’s widely expected move to extend special corporate finance-support measures by three months, although some analysts were surprised that the extension was not longer. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 8:35 am Sensex goes past 14,000-markA key index of the Indian equities markets went past the 14,000-mark Wednesday, the first time this week, as buying interest picked up, especially in realty stocks. It was ruling 232 points above its last closing figure, about 90 minutes before closing bell.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Jul 2009 | 8:30 am LG Display to invest $2.6 billion for flat screensSeoul: South Korea’s LG Display Co., one of the world’s top LCD panel makers, said Wednesday it would invest 3.27 trillion won ($2.6 billion) to meet the growing demand for flat-screen televisions. The company on Wednesday held a board meeting and approved a plan to expand its LCD display production lines at its plant in Paju, 25 kilometres (16 miles) north of Seoul, it said. “The company has been experiencing a shortage of 20-30%” in its supply to meet swelling demand, the company said. It plans to start production at the new facility in the second half of 2010, the statement said. LG Display and local rival Samsung Electronics lead the global flat panel screen market. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 8:30 am Downpour continues in Mumbai, traffic hit againHeavy rains continued to batter India's financial capital for the third consecutive day Wednesday, causing waterlogging in many areas, traffic snarls and affecting rail services.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Jul 2009 | 8:02 am Mayawati goes all out to impress 13th Finance CommissionChief Minister Mayawati is out to impress the 13th Finance Commission whose members are here look into Uttar Pradesh's financial demands out of the central government's kitty.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 15 Jul 2009 | 8:00 am Gold prices flat as demand remains slackMumbai: India gold prices were flat on Wednesday on weak demand in the middle of a sesonally lean period, dealers said. “Yesterday, there were enquiries, but there is nothing today,” said Pinakin Vyas, chief manager-treasury with IndusInd Bank in Mumbai. “As we are into a lean season, traders are not just willing to buy.” The most-active August contract was up 0.01% at Rs14,658 per 10 grams at 1:43pm, as presssure from a strong rupee was offset by strong crude oil prices. Fewer weddings take place during monsoons, making it a lean season for India’s gold market. But a series of festivals and auspicious days for weddings is expected to boost gold demand from August-end till the end of the year. There could be intermittent buying if there is a drastic decline in prices, dealers said. “There could be buying if prices decline below $900 an ounce level,” said another dealer with a state-run bank. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 7:57 am Weak start to Indian monsoon theatens drought - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 15 Jul 2009 | 7:47 am Weak start to Indian monsoon theatens droughtBHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - Much of India is facing the threat of a major drought after the worst start to the vital monsoon in eight decades, despite flash floods in the east that killed at least 15 people.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Jul 2009 | 7:30 am Intel’s strong numbers suggest PC business on mendSan Francisco: Intel Corp.’s second-quarter results bolster the company’s position that the computer business is on the mend after its roughest patch in years. Intel is the world’s biggest maker of microprocessors, the electronic brains of PCs. More than three-quarters of the world’s PCs use Intel chips. The company late Tuesday posted second-quarter sales substantially stronger than Wall Street expected, and its outlook suggests there’s more good news to come. The stock jumped 7 %in after-hours trading. That’s not to say that personal computers are flying off the shelves. PC makers are still hurting, which shows how brisk business for Intel might take months to translate into better numbers for its customers. The No. 2 PC maker, Dell Inc., for example, warned this week that the US computer market might have hit bottom, but its sales to businesses remain weak. CEO Michael Dell said penny-pinching computer buyers appear to be holding on to their existing machines for longer than is typical. Intel’s numbers show that PC makers bought more chips than expected in the quarter that ended 27 June. Part of the reason is a pickup in end user demand, but another big reason is that customers have burned through massive amounts of inventory to save money, and now need to restock. A $1.45 billion antitrust fine from the European Union, which Intel had to pay while it appeals the case, gave the Santa Clara, California-based company its first quarterly loss since 1986. Including the fine, Intel lost $398 million, or 7 cents per share, compared with year-ago profit of $1.6 billion, or 28 cents per share. But excluding the EU fine, Intel earned $1 billion, or 18 cents per share, in the second quarter easily beating the 8 cents per share expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Sales fell 15 %to $8.02 billion in the most recent quarter but also topped Wall Street’s $7.28 billion average forecast by a wide margin. “I’m in shock, it’s great news,” said Kevin Cassidy, a semiconductor analyst with Thomas Weisel Partners. “It’s just amazing the market can snap back this quickly. The question is, is it sustainable?” Intel’s numbers are closely watched because they reflect the health of the computer market and technology spending in general. Interest in the second-quarter numbers was particularly acute because CEO Paul Otellini predicted in April that PC sales had “bottomed out” after their worst holiday season in six years. The trends that helped Intel should also help its smaller rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which reports its numbers 21 July. AMD has racked up billions of dollars in losses over the past few years under pressure from Intel, and is trying to bounce back by spinning off its chip-making factories. Global PC shipments in 2009 are expected to fall for the first time since the dot-com meltdown in 2001, according to the iSuppli Corp. research firm. Yet analysts said Intel’s numbers Tuesday indicated that the industry is not in as dire shape as it appeared just months ago. “How can we not be happy? I think they did a tremendous job,” said Leslie Fiering, a research vice president with Gartner Inc. “It has to inspire some confidence in the market. ... There is uncertainty in this market, but we’re seeing improvement, and it beats the alternative.” Intel offered a third-quarter sales outlook of $8.5 billion, plus or minus $400 million, which is significantly better than the $7.8 billion average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The numbers helped drive Intel shares up $1.27 to $18.10 in extended trading. Before the earnings report, the stock closed at $16.83, up 2.1 %on the day. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 6:51 am Ambani brothers' gas dispute ups India investment risksMUMBAI (Reuters) - The wrangle over an energy deal between India's billionaire Ambani brothers has highlighted the risks inherent in an economy dominated by big family businesses and spurred calls for the government to intervene.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Jul 2009 | 6:39 am India expected to see an uptake in desktop virtualizationBangalore: With virtualization being the new buzzword in IT, India is expected to witness momentum in the field of desktop virtualization as more and more enterprises drive efforts at scaling down cost of per unit desktop. IT services followed by telecom are expected to lead the virtualization wave considering their need for technology savings, Krishnan Thyagarajan managing director, India sub-continent, Quest Software, a Nasdaq-listed enterprise system management vendor, said. “In India, we tend to hire more knowledge labour and work in shifts which means we need more desk tops. But cost per desk top unit is pretty expensive”, he told the agency. The use of desk top virtualization would mean cutting cost of having so many physical desktops. “You could have 1000 physical desktops and 18000 people working through desktop virtualisation thereby cutting on cost of operation and saving on power, space and management”, he said. Enterprises are now becoming aware of virtualization and the value proposition it brings. “They are now checking out - Where is the noise and where is the reality”, referring to promises made and actual delivery, said Thyagarajan, whose firm is in talks with 15 potential clients in this space. Server virtualization is also taking place simultaneously but the uptake in server was not expected to be the same as desktop. Server virtualization was taking place in specific heavy server environment, as it entailed cost. India is also witnessing the need for IT automation tools, Krishnan said. “The axiom labour (knowledge labour) is cheap is no longer valid in India”, he said. In India the situation is made worse as knowledge labour is considered cheap but cost of hiring, training, retraining is up and margins are getting smaller. “In a slowdown story, the use of IT automation helps reduce cost by taking away mundane task and freeing employees to high-value work”, Thyagarajan said. Quest’s clients in India include Infosys, Wipro, Ranbaxy and Cummins. A survey revealed that minimum of 30-35% and maximum of 60% of the help desk work had to do with password resetting. Automation tools could help to pass the onus of changing password to the end user, thereby cutting cost of employees to do it and freeing them to do high-value work. “In dowturn, there are no holy cows and one has to revisit every dollar spend”, he said adding that investing in automation tool could help in cutting down increasing cost. While corporates were exploring the need for automation tools, in government sectors it was PSUs that were looking at it but it would take some time before hardcore government departments get to looking at it”, said Krishnan whose firm is in talks with PSUs for the automation tools. QS, engaged in educational awareness of the tools, was focussing on early adopters in each field, he said, adding, “we hope to add critical mass by 12-18 months and see geometric growth progression.” The company which offers applications, databases and infrastructure management solutions including virtualization management, says it hopes to grow by tying up with channel partners, educating, and working with system integrators to embed their products in the system. Thyagarajan said the roadmap for India would be different from the US where it has been in the market for past two decades. The awareness of TOAD (a tool from the Quest Software stable that improves a software developer’s productivity) was high in India. “We are now in talks with companies to license it and legitimise its use as it is being downloaded illegally.” Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 15 Jul 2009 | 6:10 am Fiscal prudence won't be easy for India - AhluwaliaNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's widening fiscal deficit poses a major challenge and returning to the path of fiscal prudence would not be easy, the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 15 Jul 2009 | 5:25 am Sensex rises 131 points in opening trade on global cuesThe Sensex rose over 131 points in opening trade today, rising for the second straight session on higher capital inflows.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 15 Jul 2009 | 5:18 am MSP advantage blown away for cotton growersJamnagar, July 14 Ranjit Sinha Jadeja of Jabida village in Dhrol taluk of Jamnagar district in Gujarat sold 1,100 quintals of Bt cotton reaped from his 30 acres at Rs 520 a quintal.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am PC sales fall over 7% in FY09New Delhi, July 14 Hit by the general slowdown in the economy and subdued IT spends, personal computer (PC) sales - for the first time ever - fell over seven per cent in FY09, but the industry is hopeful of seven per cent growth this fiscal asSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Disinvestment firmly back on Centre’s agendaNew Delhi, July 14 Disinvestment in central public sector undertakings (PSUs) is now firmly on the UPA Government’sSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Asset prices: More deficit sensitive than traditional inflation?Has the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, thrown fiscal prudence to theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Cement sales grow 11% in Q1 this fiscalChennai, July 14 Cement consumption increased 11 per cent in the first quarter of this financial year over the same period last year.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Sasken Communication (Rs 115.65): BuyWe recommend a buy in Sasken Communication Technologies from a short-term trading perspective. This stock witnessed buying interest in line with the benchmark indices and jumped almost 13 per cent accompanied with good volume on July 14. It brokeSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Pranab breaks his silence on divestment, financial sector reformNew Delhi, July 14 The initial reactions to the Budget as being low-key and devoid of any reform proposals might have been unfavourable.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideFresh long-position can be initiated only if DLF exceeds Rs 310, with stiff-stop. ICICI Bank is facing key resistance at Rs 700. Initiate long-position if it penetrates the resistance with tight stop. WeSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Rupee holding above 49Weak outlook for equities and fear of accelerated outflow of foreign institutional investor funds from the country caused the rupee to decline below the support at 49 on Monday to record the trough at Rs 49.4 against the dollar. But the currencySource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am Sensex surges amid thin volumesMumbai, July 14 After falling close to ten per cent since the Union Budget, the benchmark indices surged more than three per cent on Tuesday, the highest they have risen in more than aSource: Business Line - Home Page | 15 Jul 2009 | 12:00 am India likely to post 8% growth in FY `10: Kamath!India`s economic growth is likely to be at a minimum of eight percent in 2009-10, a leading banker said.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jul 2009 | 11:46 pm 50 cities identified by NASSCOM for IT, ITES sector!National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has identified 50 cities for the IT and ITES sector by classifying them as leaders, challengers, followers and aspirants.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jul 2009 | 11:46 pm High fiscal gap leaves politicos, economists worried!The government`s dependence on large borrowings leading to high fiscal deficit in 2009-10 Budget left Opposition parties, industrialists and well-known economists worried on Tuesday.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jul 2009 | 11:46 pm Details on disinvestment soon: FM!Firm on divesting stake in public sector undertakings, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said he has initiated talks with other ministries to identify PSUs where a portion of government equity could be sold.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jul 2009 | 11:46 pm Russia forecasts 10.2% contraction in 1st half!The Russian government expects the economy to shrink by 10.2 per cent in the first half of 2009 and 6.8 per cent in the second ahead of a turnaround in 2010, news agencies reported on Monday.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jul 2009 | 11:46 pm Govt to set up authority for expressways: Nath!The Govt on Tuesday said it is set to form an authority for expressways on pattern of NHAI.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jul 2009 | 11:46 pm Economy showing signs of recovery: Pranab!Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday that the economy was showing signs of recovery.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jul 2009 | 11:46 pm Disclose instructions on unclaimed cheques: CIC to RBI!The CIC has directed RBI to clarify if it has issued any instruction regarding a private bank`s alleged practice to credit amounts of clearing instruments.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jul 2009 | 11:46 pm 206 sugar mills sick, 153 went under this season: Govt!The government on Tuesday said as many as 206 sugar mills across the country are sick, with two major producing states of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh accounting for over half of them.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jul 2009 | 11:46 pm Exports were in line with FTP targets, except for FY`09!India`s exports were in line with the Foreign Trade Policy 2004-09 targets but for the last fiscal when the country`s merchandise trade became a victim of demand recession in the US and Europe and ended flat.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Jul 2009 | 11:46 pm FM says larger deficit is key to spurring growthPranab Mukherjee said a wider budget deficit "right now" is critical to accelerate growth, justifying the record Rs 4.51 lakh crore the government plans to borrow this year.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jul 2009 | 8:29 pm Ministries told to name selloff cosFinance secretary Ashok Chawla on Tuesday met senior officials from seven ministries to chalk out the divestment programme, a senior government official said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jul 2009 | 8:26 pm Nacil's losses at Rs 7,200 croreThe accumulated losses of National Aviation Company of India Ltd were in the region of Rs 7,200 crore till March this year.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jul 2009 | 8:19 pm India talks FTA with SwitzerlandInstead of stopping the West and multinational drugmakers in their efforts to block India's low-cost generic drugs exports, the government is helping their cause.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jul 2009 | 8:17 pm Members irked with Nasscom overIndian IT and BPO trade body Nasscom's suggestion that multiple standards should be chosen over a single standard for e-governance projects has irked a few members.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jul 2009 | 8:16 pm Steel minister's 124 mt target for 2012 unreal?Virbhadra Singh, the Union steel minister, said India would almost double its steel production to 124 million tonnes (mt) by 2012.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jul 2009 | 8:14 pm Spending more cannot provide the answer to fiscal crisisPrinting notes is an easy option but means a looming crisis for the aam aadmi.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jul 2009 | 8:12 pm 'I am a buyer in India. I am looking for long-term gains'Robert Higginbotham, president of Fidelity International says he is not averse to investing in equities despite the current mayhem, given that he has two decades of work-life ahead.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 14 Jul 2009 | 8:07 pm Indigenous research on green technology lagsNew Delhi: In a world that is urgently seeking technological answers to climate change, the quality of Indian research on renewable and clean energy has been deteriorating, a government study has found. This has serious implications for a rapidly developing nation such as India because it means indigenous green technology would be hard to come by. It also potentially ties the country down to imports, which are often expensive and have severe technology restrictions, especially with respect to intellectual property. Although the number of research papers relating to coal, solar, hydrogen and fuel cells published by the country’s scientists has almost trebled between 1995 and 2007, citations of these, a key measure to gauge quality, have fallen precipitously.  However, citations from these papers dipped from 200 in 1995 to less than 50 in 2007 for solar energy research; from 50 to 10 in wind energy research; from 120 to 60 in bio-energy and from 175 to 50 in hydrogen research. Ahmed Raza Khan / Mint The study—conducted by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India’s largest publicly funded research body—found that from 250 publications in 1995, Indian universities and organizations including the Defence Research and Development Organisation, the Indian Institutes of Technology and laboratories of CSIR, published nearly 730 papers in 2007 on subjects related to renewable and clean energy. However, citations from these papers dipped from 200 in 1995 to less than 50 in 2007 for solar energy research; from 50 to 10 in wind energy research; from 120 to 60 in bio-energy and from 175 to 50 in hydrogen research. The decline in coal-based technologies has been the sharpest—from 750 citations in 1995 to only 50 in 2007. The study, tentatively named India S&T Research Output: S&T and Industry, is likely to be released later this month by science minister Prithviraj Chavan. The authors of the study said they have scanned for papers by combing the Web of Science database, a compendium of technical research that hosts research publications from at least 10,000 international journals. None of these authors gave comments for the story, saying that they weren’t allowed to do so before the report was officially released. Experts aren’t surprised by the study results. “The late 1990s and early 2000 was the crest of solar energy research in India. Around that time most of the researchers who worked on solar energy in the 1970s and 1980s began to retire. Plus, government froze scientific recruitment, meaning there was no new talent coming on. And third, oil prices were low then. So the Indian government actually disincentivized research in solar and clean coal,” said a scientist who’s an expert on India’s R&D policy and is familiar with the report. He declined to be named. “That’s why the quality of research dipped.” Prodipto Ghosh, former environment secretary and an adviser at The Energy Research Institute, said that India’s plans to establish a green technology fund as part of its national action plan on climate change would help research. “This (the current state of affairs) was part of a misguided government policy some years back to freeze recruitment,” he said. “Now funds are more forthcoming.” Ghosh also pointed out that high citations and good papers doesn’t necessarily mean much. “You need a good industry base to use that research.” jacob.k@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 14 Jul 2009 | 7:00 pm Adani Power IPO by July-endAdani Power, part of the diversified Adani Group, will launch its initial public offer by the end of this month. It got the capital market regulators clearance today.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 14 Jul 2009 | 6:43 pm Sensex up 3.4% as optimism returnsReceding concerns over the monsoon and positive global cues lifted stock market indices on Tuesday.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 14 Jul 2009 | 6:42 pm FM says no to monetising deficit, promises reformsFinance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today sought to soothe industrys and stock markets nerves by saying that the government would not monetise the fiscal deficit. Spending a good part of his reply in the Lok Sabha on allaying fears over the seeming lack of reforms in his July 6 Budget, Mukherjee promised a roadmap for disinvestment in public sector undertakings and the financial sector.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 14 Jul 2009 | 6:40 pm DoT for evergreen mobile licencesSeveral were to expire in five years; valuations may rise.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 14 Jul 2009 | 6:38 pm Poor IT job market may fuel online crime: CiscoWashington: The ever-weakening job market could well lead to an increase in online crime as laid-off workers, especially those with computer skills, turn to scams to support themselves, Cisco Systems Inc said in a mid-year security report. Disgruntled employees may target their former employers, and Cisco warned that insiders can be especially damaging for an organization because insiders know security weaknesses. A former information technology analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was arrested in April along with his brother on suspicions of taking out loans using false identities. FBI investigators found a flash drive attached to the bank employee’s computer with applications for $73,000 in loans in the names of stolen identities, the report said. Cisco warned companies which use short-term IT consultants or who contract out the tasks to be particularly vigilant about the level and term of their access to sensitive data. The report included snippets of a conversation with a botmaster, or someone who remotely takes over computers without users’ knowledge and often sells the resulting access to spammers. The hacker declined to say how much he earned but said: “A guy I know can earn $5000-10,000 weekly, by phising (sic) bank accounts.” Phishing is the practice of convincing a victim to give up valuable information — like a password to a bank account. The account can then be emptied. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 14 Jul 2009 | 2:40 pm
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