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Rising steel prices in China may not hold in Q4: SBBRoger Manser, Managing Editor of Steel Business Briefing, said the increased steel production in China was being used for infrastructure but some of it was also restocking. Chinese flat steel prices were turning up and continue to hold for a month or two, he said, but there were chances that they may see weakness toward the end of the year.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Aug 2009 | 8:49 am Data watch: Heavyweights that underperformed in Nifty\'s runThe Nifty 50 touched a 52week high of 4731 yesterday. The benchmark index had crossed its previous high of 4693 recorded on 12th June 2009. However, on analyzing the stock price movement of Nifty 50 stocks from 12th June 2009 to 4th August 2009, interesting takeaways were drawn from it.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Aug 2009 | 8:26 am No plans to fill post vacated by Nilekani: Infosys CEOInfosys today said there were no immediate plans to appoint a co-chairman, a post vacated by one of its founder Nandan Nilekani.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 5 Aug 2009 | 7:32 am See growth rate of 18% in replacement market: EscortsRohtash Mal, Executive Director and CEO, Escorts, sees a growth rate of 18% in the replacement market. \"Q1 results were boosted by the replacement, industrial sector.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Aug 2009 | 7:02 am SP downgrades Tata Motors on concerns over JLRSP has downgraded Tata Motors rating to \'B\' and has a negative outlook for the company on the back of concerns over the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) recovery. There are no signs of revival and the JLR July volumes were the lowest in last three years.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:58 am Sensex turns negative on profit-booking; down 78 pointsThe 30-share index, which gained 142.12 points in early trade, declined by 78.37 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 15,752.61 as realty, FMCG, capital goods and banking stocks succumbed to profit-booking.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:33 am Canadian markets cross 11,000 mark first time in 2009 !Canadian markets crossed the 11,000-point mark Tuesday for the first time in 2009. The last time the composite index on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) stood at this mark was in October 2008.Source: Zee News : Business | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:03 am Sensex recovers 142 points in opening trade!The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex moved up by over 142 points in early trade on fresh buying by foreign funds.Source: Zee News : Business | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:03 am Standard Chartered bank posts record profits!Emerging markets bank Standard Chartered posted record first-half profits on Tuesday and launched plans to raise extra cash from shareholders to fund ambitious growth in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.Source: Zee News : Business | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:03 am No quick end to China`s fiscal stimulus: Researcher!China will stick to its loose fiscal policy for at least three years despite a growing budget deficit, a government economist said in comments published on Wednesday.Source: Zee News : Business | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:03 am BMW, Toyota lift auto industry spirits!The world`s top carmaker Toyota posted improved results, BMW returned to profit and Germany reported surging car sales on Tuesday, further signs that the troubled industry may have turned a corner.Source: Zee News : Business | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:03 am Rupee up 5 paise at 47.69 a dollar in opening trade!The Indian rupee on Wednesday strengthened by five paise at 47.69 against the US currency in opening trade on anticipation of fresh capital inflows by funds amid dollar selling by exporters.Source: Zee News : Business | 5 Aug 2009 | 6:03 am Subros guides Rs 1,000 cr revenues in FY10In an interview with CNBCTV18 DM Reddy, CEO, Subros said that he hoped to achieve Rs 1,000 crore of revenues in FY10 and expected volumes to be 20% higher this fiscal.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:42 am Indian sugar cos expect prices to remain firm till 2011Speaking on the soaring sugar prices, Vivek Saraogi, Managing Director of Balrampur Chini, said there was shortage of sugar across the world.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Aug 2009 | 5:15 am ITI scouts for partners for 3 arms, eyes MoU of Rs 5760crITI was proposing to have joint venture (JV) partner in three of its units and was in the process of identifying consultant for JV. The company had started current fiscal with orders worth Rs 6,800 crore, SK Chatterjee, CMD, ITI said. We have memorandum of understanding (MoU) target of Rs 5,760 crore, he added.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:48 am Rel Infra wins Rs 11,000cr Mumbai MetroII proj; stock upReliance Infrastructure, in consortium with SNC Lavolin Inc, Canada and Reliance Communication has been awarded Mumbai MetroII project on BOT basis for a concession period of 35 years with an extension clause of another 10 years.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:38 am Bank employees to go on nationwide strike on August 6,7 - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:37 am New Sony e-book reader $100 cheaper than KindleElectronic books are often mentioned in the same breath as Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle digital reader. Now e-book rival Sony Corp. is determined to recapture consumers' attention with a smaller reader that's also $100 cheaper.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:24 am Nalco sees aluminium prices risingKOLKATA (Reuters) - State-run National Aluminium Co Ltd expects aluminium prices to reach $2,000 a tonne by December on rising demand, its chairman said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:17 am Indian shares provisionally rise 0.3 pct - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:16 am Malaysia's Maxis eyes $2bln listing, taps banks - sourcesSINGAPORE/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's biggest mobile phone operator, Maxis Communications, plans to raise $2 billion in a public offering later this year, underscoring the revival of Asian IPO's as equity markets rebound.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:12 am BSE Sensex provisionally rises 0.3 pctMUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex provisionally rose 0.3 percent on Wednesday, tracking higher European markets and led by energy giant Reliance Industries.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:07 am Trai puts new telecom licences on holdNew Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has asked the government not to issue new licences until it decides whether there is a need for more players in the crowded market, a move that could further delay entry of firms such as AT&T. Trai has asked the government to “keep in abeyance” the grant of new 2G licences till the watchdog finalizes its recommendations, it said in a letter posted on its website www.trai.gov.in. India has issued 281 licences for the country’s 22 telecoms zones, or up to 14 licences per zone. These include 122 licences from 575 applications received in 2007 from 46 firms, including real-estate and technology firms with no telecoms experience. “Sufficient competition seems to be already in place and spectrum is a scarce resource,” the government had said in a letter to the regulator recently. The government had also sought the watchdog’s views on auctioning spectrum for 2G mobile standard, instead of the current practice of giving licences entitlement for spectrum. The government is also planning to call bids for 3G licences. AT&T had expressed interest to acquire licence for all of India’s 22 telecoms zones. Others in the queue include firms linked to Videocon Group, DLF, JSW, Hinduja Group and Moser Baer. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:04 am AXA reports first-half profit twice, beats analysts expectationParis: The AXA insurance multinational reported a 38% drop in first-half net profit on Wednesday to €1.323 billion ($1.9 billion) but this was twice the figure expected by analysts. The group said that it had ample capital and suggested it was eyeing expansion opportunities in central Europe and South America, and the price of its shares surged by 3.92% to €15.91 euros. The overall French market was showing a gain of 0.45%. The French group said that the life assurance business had slowed down, capital gains had fallen and that it had had to make new provisions. The figures pointed to a sharp fall by savers in the amounts they were putting into instruments offered by AXA, and the amount of funds in portfolio management fell heavily. A consensus of analysts’ forecasts as polled by Dow Jones Newswires had put the outcome at €592 million. The results mark a switch into profit for the group which had reported a net loss of slightly more than one billion euros in the first half of last year. Chief executive Henri de Castries told a telephone conference that these “solid” results marked a clear recovery from the equivalent figure last year but said that AXA had not been spared by the crisis. He said that the fall in profit on a 12-month basis reflected mainly a fall in the contribution from activities for life assurance, savings and pension plans. The profit from these areas had fallen by more than 60%. These activities account for more than 60% of group sales, and the overall volume of business in these divisions had fallen further, by 16 %. The margin on new business had fallen. The overall results had been set back by a fall in capital gains and by provisions of €312 million for depreciations. But there was compensation for this because adjustment of deeply depreciated assets amounted to €280 million instead of €1 billion 12 months ago. The results had been bolstered by a good performance in the damage insurance sector for which sales rose by 2.8%, and by a 3.5% rise in international insurance business. But portfolio management was hit with a €38 billion drop in assets under management on a 12-month basis, and this cut commission income. However, “when one sees the total volume of assets managed by the group, it is almost stable over six months,” de Castries said. AXA was one of the biggest managers of assets in the world, he added. He said that when markets began to rally “we will benefit.” The signals about the state of the world economy were “generally encouraging.” AXA said that the ratio of its available shareholder funds relative to regulatory shareholder funds had improved by six points to 133% and that it had reduced borrowings. “We have €7 billion in surplus relative to the capital needed for our business,” de Castries said. The group was also working to save about €600 million in 2010, finance director Denis Duverne said. De Castries also said that there were “opportunities” for external growth, implying takeovers or ventures, in central Europe and in some countries in South America. At brokers CM-CIC, analyst Pierre Chedeville said: “These results show a more favourable financial environment than that in the fourth quarter of 2008, despite still significant asset depreciations.” But “at operating level, the situation has deteriorated badly and remains difficult for life-savings-pension activities as well as asset management.” Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:01 am Close: Markets make moderate gains on higher EuropeMumbai: Indian shares rose 0.46% on Wednesday, tracking higher European markets and led by energy giant Reliance Industries. The 30-share BSE index ended up 72.85 points at 15,903.83 with 12 stocks gaining. The 50-share NSE index closed up 13.65 points at 4,694.15. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 4:00 am India rupee gains in line with shares; weak dlr helps - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:58 am Five more power plants seek gas from KG-D6 fields - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:58 am Rupee gains in line with shares; weak dlr helpsMUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee was stronger on Wednesday closely tracking gains in the domestic sharemarket with weakness in the dollar versus majors overseas also helping.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:53 am Infosys pursuing deals worth $1bn this quarterInfosys Technologies is pursuing deals worth $1 billion in this quarter and has 12-15 deals in the pipeline, its chief executive and managing director said on Wednesday.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:52 am TRAI puts new telecom licences on hold - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:49 am Yum! to increase KFC outlets in IndiaNew Delhi: US-based Yum! Restaurants is planning to invest up to Rs150 crore to more than double the number of outlets of its quick service restaurant brand ‘KFC´ in the country by 2010. “We are planning to invest up to Rs150 crore in the Indian market by 2010. We will expand the KFC chain in the country to 110 restaurants by end of the period, from 50 now,” Yum! Restaurants India managing director (Indian Subcontinent) Niren Chaudhary told the agency. The fast food brands operator is also aiming to tap the ‘chilled beverages´ market with its newly launched store-in-store concept of ‘Krushers´ in the KFC restaurants. He said the company will also undertake transformation of the KFC restaurants’ interior and ambience. “Our new restaurants will have a totally new decor packaging intended to give a more contemporary look,” Chaudhary said, without providing further details. KFC is also keen to tap its just-launched beverages store-in-stores concept — dedicated to the brands’ chilled beverage range ‘Krushers´. “The chilled beverage zones have already proved to be a big hit since their launch earlier this month. Krushers is being branded separately within the KFC restaurants and we hope the beverage will form at least 10-15% of our total sales by this year end,” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:49 am Five more power plants seek gas from RIL’s KG-D6 fieldsNew Delhi: Five more power plants have joined the scramble for natural gas from Reliance Industries’ KG-D6 fields, seeking a minimum allocation of 4.73 million cubic metres a day. Two power plants each in Delhi and Andhra Pradesh and one in Gujarat have sought gas from of RIL fields before they are commissioned this fiscal, a government official said. RIL is currently producing 36 mmscmd gas from KG-D6, half of which goes to power plants. The firm has the capacity to produce 60 mmscmd but is constrained to produce less as the government is yet to identify customers for buying gas beyond the initial 40 mmscmd, allocated primarily to fertiliser and power producers in accordance with the Gas Utilisation Policy. RIL cannot sell gas to these and other users including its own refineries, which are starved of the fuel, unless allocation is approved by the government. The official said the Central Electricity Authority, the technical arm of the ministry of power, has recommended 1.37 mmscmd of gas to Lanco’s 366 MW Kondapalli extension project, which will be commissioned in February 2010. It sought 1.21 mmscmd for the 374 MW Utran plant in Gujarat, which will go on stream in November, and 0.82 mmscmd for the 220 MW Tanir Vavi plant before its commissioning in March 2010. For the 108 MW Tithalia and 250 MW Bawana power plants in Delhi, the CEA recommended 0.40 mmscmd and 0.93 mmscmd of gas from KG-D6. The CEA has recommended these allocations considering a maximum power capacity of 70% and if these plants operate at full capacity, the requirement would be 6.33 mmscmd, the official said. He said from among the customers so far identified by the government, Ratnagiri Gas and Power, the firm that operates the Dabhol plant, and state-run NTPC are yet to draw even a single unit from RIL’s Krishna Godavari (KG) basin D6 fields. RGPPL has been allocated 2.7 mmscmd but is not taking any gas as it has a contract to buy gas from Petronet LNG Ltd till September-end. NTPC, which was allocated 2.67 mmscmd, has not signed the contract with RIL so far. Fertiliser firms, who had been given the first right over KG-D6 gas, from this week are drawing 14.5 mmscmd, the highest ever after urea-making plants that were shut for maintenance became operational. Fifteen fertiliser firms have been allocated 14.96 mmscmd gas. Power firms are drawing 18 mmscmd while steel makers like Essar are drawing between 3 and 3.5 mmscmd, the official said. The RIL spokesperson declined comment. Sources said RIL gas sales will cross 40 mmscmd the day the country’s largest gas-fired power plant, RGPPL, starts drawing gas. RGPPL currently buys 4-5 mmscmd of expensive imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) under a take-or-pay agreement from Petronet. Its allocation is 8.4 mmscmd in April next year. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:47 am Five more power plants seek gas from RIL's KG fieldsFive more power plants have joined the scramble for natural gas from Reliance Industries' KG-D6 fields, seeking a minimum allocation of 4.73 million cubic metres a day.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:44 am July auto sales bring cheer; stocks upbeatMUMBAI (Reuters) - Cars and utility vehicle sales in India grew about a third in July, their best performance in a year, thanks to new launches and easier availability of finance, raising hopes for a strong pick up in the coming months.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:39 am Playboy plans expansion in India, to launch range of productsChicago: Playboy Enterprises, publisher of the eponymous adult magazine, says it is bullish on expanding its presence in India and is working to launch its range of apparel, footwear and accessories in Indian market by end of the year. The city-based company, that had launched fragrances for men in India earlier this year, has signed agreements under which its Indian partners would manufacture and sell its range of products in the world’s second most popular market. “In signing these kinds of deals, we look for partners who have experience in manufacturing, know the retail and distribution markets, and perhaps most importantly share our passion for the brand.” Alex Vaickus, company’s executive vice president and president for global licensing said in a press conference. “Our partners in India are gearing up quickly and they should have the product in the market by the end of the year,” he added. As the adult entertainment company chalks out its growth plans, it said its priority would be to “expand into new territories like India”. Beyond being one of the most populous countries in the world, India has a growing consumer economy and a large per cent of its population comprises our target audience of young adults, which makes it a particularly attractive market for us,” Vaickus said. The company, known for its adult magazine for men ‘Playboy’, made its foray in the Indian market in April this year when it launched its range of perfume for men - Hollywood playboy, Malibu playboy, Miami playboy and Vegas playboy. The perfumes would be sold in India through distribution house JL Morison (India) that entered into an agreement with New York-headquartered manufacturer of fragrances COTY. Playboy reported a net loss of $8.7 million for the second quarter ended 30 June ,2009, as against a net loss of $3.2 million a year ago, mainly due to slump in the sale of its print and television adult entertainment. Second-quarter revenues also declined to $62.2 million from $73.4 million in April-June 2008. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:38 am Rupee gains in line with sharesMumabi: The Indian rupee was stronger on Wednesday closely tracking gains in the domestic sharemarket with weakness in the dollar versus majors overseas also helping. At 3:18pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs47.62/63 per dollar, off an early low of Rs47.73, and stronger than its previous close of Rs47.73/74. On Tuesday, the rupee had risen to as much as Rs47.43, its strongest since 12 June. The dollar was little changed against a currency basket as the safe-haven US currency found its footing after plumbing its weakest level of 2009 early this week due to escalating risk demand, but risks were seen tilted in favour of more selling. Indian shares were trading up 0.5%. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contract on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX was quoting at Rs47.7175 and Rs47.7150 respectively, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $1.4 billion. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:38 am TRAI puts new telecom licences on holdNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's telecoms regulator has asked the government not to issue new licences until it decides whether there is a need for more players in the crowded market, a move that could further delay entry of firms such as AT&T.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:35 am Sensex climbs back into greenA key index of the Indian equities markets climbed back into the green Wednesday after languishing in the red for much of the trading day. But about an hour and a quarter before the end of trading, it was 66 points up from its last closing figure.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:32 am Infosys looking at overseas acquisitionsIT major Infosys Technologies is looking at acquisitions in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Japan and Australia, a top company official said here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:32 am Now flaunt a diamond lookalike, without spending too muchMinimalist, elegant and affordable, the first international cubic zirconia jewellery brand has forayed into the Indian market in the capital and neighbouring Noida.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:31 am Hotels to be disabled friendly by Commonwealth GamesIn an effort to keep abreast with international norms, hotels in India will adopt changes to become disabled friendly by next year, the tourism ministry said here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:30 am Orissa seeks PM's help in irrigation project rowOrissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to stop neighbouring state Andhra Pradesh from setting up the controversial Polavaram irrigation project, saying it would submerge many tribal villages in his state.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:30 am India’s ‘09/10 sugar imports seen up by 80%New Delhi: India is likely to import a record 4.5 million tonnes of sugar in 2009/10, a jump of 80% over the previous season, as the cane crop contracted for a second straight year, a Reuters poll forecast on Wednesday. Estimates ranged from a low of 2.8 million to 3.0 million tonnes forecast by some European trade sources and Shree Renuka Sugars, India’s biggest refiner and importer of raws, to a high of 5 million tonnes projected by the International Sugar Organisation, Sucden and Morgan Stanley. India, the world’s top consumer and the biggest producer after Brazil, has contracted to import about 2.5 million tonnes of raws in 2008/09, helping drive up benchmark New York raw sugar to multi-year highs this year. India’s sugar marketing year runs from October to September. White sugar futures hit a record high and raw sugar touched a 3-1/2-year peak for a second day on Tuesday, buoyed by strong Indian demand prospects and concern over slow cane harvesting in top grower Brazil. Weak monsoon rains have hurt the cane crop in the main cane producing regions and local officials said on Tuesday that western Maharashtra state, India’s top refined sugar producer, would start cane crushing a month later than usual, further delaying the replenishment of the country’s depleting sugar stocks. India, which allowed duty-free imports of raws in February, said on Monday mills could buy tax-free raws without an obligation to export an equal quantity of whites until March. The government also allowed state-run firms and private firms to buy whites at zero duty before 30 November. Domestic sugar prices have risen but are not yet high enough to make imports attractive. “At current prices, they (India) are going to keep it (imports) as low as they can,” said Alex Oliveira, a senior analyst with Newedge in the United States. India would also rely on sugar shipped in this season to limit imports, he added. Shree Renuka Sugars, recently said that of 2.5 million tonnes of raws contracted, 1.3 million would be refined in the year to September and the rest in the next season. In a recent research report, Morgan Stanley said India was expected to import 5 million tonnes in the next season. London-based International Sugar Organization (ISO) agreed. “I don’t think 5 million tonnes is out of question,” Sergey Gudoshnikov, a senior economist with the ISO, said. Vinay Kumar, managing director of the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd, said mills were keeping an eye on domestic cane output and current trends suggested the country was on course to import around 5 million tonnes. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:23 am No plans to fill post vacated by Nilekani: Infosys CEOKolkata: Infosys on Wednesday said there were no immediate plans to appoint a co-chairman, a post vacated by one of its founder Nandan Nilekani. Nilekani resigned as the company’s co-chairman last month after being appointed head of the Unique Identification Authority that is tasked with providing each Indian a single identity number. There are no plans to fill the post of co-chairman, Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan told reporters at a CII event in Kolkata. Infosys, which posted a 17.3% rise in first quarter net profit, said it would honour all the 18,000 campus hiring commitments made during this year. However, campus recruitments for next year would depend on the situation then, Gopalakrishnan said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:21 am Sensex slips further, down 119 points - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:17 am ArcelorMittal to continue mining coal in SiberiaMoscow: Transnational steel giant ArcelorMittal will continue mining coal in Siberia and will not lay off any miners. An agreement to this effect has been reached between the company and the regional government of Russia’s coal mining region of Kemerovo in Western Siberia. According to the agreement, ArcelorMittal will invest in the modernisation of the Pervomaiskaya mines to keep it running in accordance with the local environmental and labour laws. And the local government for its part would ensure the sale of coal produced by ArcelorMittal, ITAR-TASS news agency reported. ArcelorMittal had planned to close the Pervomaiskaya coal complex and retire the miners. In response, the Kemerovo governor, Amana Tuleyev, had sent an angry telegram to promoter Laxmi Mittal to hand over the control of the mine to the government and warned that the license for the exploration and mining of a new prospective coal deposit would be cancelled. ArcelorMittal owns the Pervomaiskya mine in the town of Beryozovsky and Anzherskoye in Anzhero-Suzhensk in the Kemerovo region’s coal basin. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 3:10 am Tatas may supply steel to Toyota, NissanTata Steel may provide steel to Toyota and Nissan for the production of their new cars in India.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:43 am Qualcomm sees huge 3G demand in IndiaIf the first few months are any indication, third generation (3G) services in India seem to be catching the consumer attention.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:38 am Infosys pursuing deals worth $1 bln this qtrKOLKATA (Reuters) - Infosys Technologies, India's No. 2 outsourcer, is pursuing deals worth $1 billion in this quarter and has 12-15 deals in the pipeline, its chief executive and managing director said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:35 am Indians defy high gold prices as festive season startsMUMBAI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Indians have started buying gold jewellery and wholesalers are stocking up against anticipated price rises as the busy season gets under way in the world's largest bullion consumer, dealers said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:23 am Infosys pursuing deals worth $1 bn this quarterKolkata: Infosys Technologies, India’s No. 2 outsourcer, is pursuing deals worth $1 billion in this quarter and has 12-15 deals in the pipeline, its chief executive and managing director said on Wednesday. “Typically in a quarter we have 12-15 deals in the pipeline and it continues to remain the same in the current quarter,” S. Gopalakrishnan told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference. The company is also looking at making acquisitions in places such as Japan, Australia, Latin America and Europe. “We are looking at companies which are 10 percent of our revenues... you can say we are looking at companies with revenues in the range $450-500 million,” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:21 am Infosys pursuing deals worth $1 bn this quarterKolkata: Infosys Technologies, India’s No. 2 outsourcer, is pursuing deals worth $1 billion in this quarter and has 12-15 deals in the pipeline, its chief executive and managing director said on Wednesday. “Typically in a quarter we have 12-15 deals in the pipeline and it continues to remain the same in the current quarter,” S. Gopalakrishnan told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference. The company is also looking at making acquisitions in places such as Japan, Australia, Latin America and Europe. “We are looking at companies which are 10 percent of our revenues... you can say we are looking at companies with revenues in the range $450-500 million,” he said. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:21 am Deals could bring more Jackson productsLos Angeles: Michael Jackson products could start appearing on store shelves, cell phones, even in X-Box add-ons if a judge signs off on a merchandising deal. The current administrators of the singer’s estate have presented several proposed contracts to a probate judge for approval. The agreements offer a taste of how the King of Pop may be sold in the coming months and years. Trading cards, T-shirts, calendars, lighters, stuffed animals that play Jackson’s music and games are among the tangible items being considered. So too are denim products and high-end clothing lines, according to the filings. But Jackson seems destined to try to conquer the digital domain too. Some of the possible products include cell phone screen savers, X-Box themes, video games and digital tattoos for characters in games such as “Second Life.” The proposed deals are between Jackson’s estate, concert promoter AEG Live and Bravado International Group Merchandising Services. The contract calls for Bravado, which is Universal Music Group’s retailing arm, to receive worldwide merchandise rights. AEG Live will retain rights to sell certain merchandise related to Jackson’s canceled London performances, the agreements state. Despite a tainted legacy while he was alive, some believe Jackson will become top The King, Elvis Presley, in annual merchandise sales. Presley’s estate $55 million in revenue last year, $14 million of which came from retail sales. A separate agreement is being pursued between the estate’s administrators and Columbia Pictures for a feature length movie based on footage of Jackson’s preparations for his 50 comeback concerts in London. The studio paid $60 million for the rights to the project, the contract filed in Los Angeles Superior Court states. Jackson’s estate, which primarily benefits his mother and three children would receive 90% of the profits from the film, according to the agreement. The agreements with Bravado are more heavily redacted and do not indicate how much the estate would be paid. A judge has scheduled a hearing for Monday to consider the proposals. Jackson died 25 June in Los Angeles and his lavish spending had pushed him hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. Attorneys for the current administrators of his estate, attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain, have stated in court records that they believe Jackson’s estate is solvent. One of the men’s attorneys, Jeryll S. Cohen, wrote in a court filing on Friday that the merchandising and film and other entertainment agreements are expected to generate “advances in the high eight figures.” Negotiations for other deals are also in the works, Cohen wrote. The administrators have the authority to combat unauthorized merchandise, and the deals provide Bravado with access to the use of Jackson’s name, image, symbols, emblems and other trademarks. Jackson’s estate would have input into which products are ultimately manufactured, the proposed agreements state. An amendment to an agreement between Jackson’s estate and AEG Live allows for a traveling exhibit of the performer’s memorabilia. Exact details of the exhibit were redacted, but it calls for the displays to be shown only at museums or venues that both sides agree on. If approved, the agreements would continue a trend that Jackson seemed to be pursuing in his final months marketing products based on his days of superstar status. A lawsuit filed in January by “Thriller” director John Landis accused Jackson of trying to turn the groundbreaking 14-minute music video into comic books and video games. The director also sued over a proposed Broadway show based on “Thriller.” Landis owns some of the creative rights to the project and didn’t grant approval to the ventures Jackson was apparently pursuing. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:10 am Indians defy high price as festive season startsMumbai/Singapore: Indians have started buying gold jewellery and wholesalers are stocking up against anticipated price rises as the busy season gets under way in the world’s largest bullion consumer, dealers said on Wednesday. India, which accounted for more than 20% of global demand for gold jewellery in 2008, celebrates the Hindu festivals of Raksha Bandhan, Janmasthami and Ganesh Chaturthi in August, when demand for bullion usually picks up. Elsewhere in Asia, gold’s rise to a two-month high above $970 an ounce spurred selling, but premiums for gold bars were steady at 70 cents to the spot London price in Singapore, suggesting that consumers would still buy on dips. “As against nothing earlier, there is at least something now. This month for the festivals, the real consumers will be buying, so demand has revived a bit,” said Haresh Acharya, bullion desk head at Parker Agrochem Exports Ltd, a wholesaler in Ahmedabad. “However there is hardly any demand from northern India because of the below normal monsoon. If the monsoon fails, the full year will be very bad,” said Acharya, referring to sales. Jewellery is the most common gift during religious events in India and forms an essential part of the dowry basket. Weddings usually take place during the festive season, when parents give gold jewellery to their daughters for financial security. Weak monsoon rains could hurt demand because farmers, who account for 65% of India’s gold demand, depend on good harvests, but some dealers said wholesalers were active in the local market, looking for an opportunity to buy. “When prices fall a bit, there is buying. The sentiment we saw in the first half of the year has turned around,” said Ajit Shinde, a director at wholesaler Magna Projects Pvt. Ltd., which is based in the eastern city of Kolkata. The most active October contract on the Indian gold futures added Rs25, to Rs14,920 ($312.8) per 10 grams on Wednesday. Cash gold fell $3.20 to $963.55 but was within sight of a two-month high of $970.05 on Tuesday. India’s jewellery demand has suffered because of high global prices earlier this year and an economic slowdown, with consumption falling 52% to 34.7 tonnes in the first quarter. Gold was around 4% below an 11-month high above $1,000 hit in February. “In the near-term, it certainly has a bit of upside pressure and with expectations for the dollar to weaken further, I would expect gold to remain buoyant for now,” said Adrian Koh, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore. Premiums were also steady in Hong Kong at 30 cents to the spot London prices, but physical trading slowed to a trickle in Tokyo during the summer holidays. Japanese dealers offered gold bars at a discount of 50 cents to London, compared with a premium of 25 cents two weeks ago. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:08 am Oil falls towards $71 after last week’s rallySingapore: Oil inched lower on Wednesday, giving up earlier gains made on the back of a surprise drawdown in US crude inventories, pausing for breath after a rally that helped the market to gain 13% since late last week. US crude, which lost 0.2% a day earlier, found support earlier in the day after American Petroleum Institute data showed crude stocks unexpectedly fell 1.5 million barrels last week, adding to positive news from buoyant stock markets and a dollar that hovered near 2009 lows. The oil market will also be closely following a meeting between trade representatives and Britain’s financial powers, the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the UK Treasury, which comes just ahead of a third Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) hearing in Washington over how to rain in speculation. The UK meeting will discuss market transparency and efficiency, according to the FSA invitation to oil market participants, a copy of which has been seen by Reuters. US light, sweet crude fell 24 cents to $71.18 a barrel by 12:21pm, while ICE Brent crude fell 2 cents to $74.26 a barrel. The market is still trading at less than half the record highs of over $147 it hit in July 2008. “The market is reacting to the news from the API but I think in the next few months there will be a downward bias for oil. Supplies are quite adequate to meet demand,” said David Moore, commodity strategist at the Commonweath Bank of Australia. Trading should remain subdued while the market waits to see if data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, due to be released later on Wednesday, is in line with the API numbers. A Reuters poll of analysts forecast an 800,000-barrel build in crude stocks in the week to 31 July. The poll also predicted a 1.2-million barrel rise in distillate stocks and a 1.0-million barrel drop in gasoline stocks. Optimism that a potential turnaround in the global economy could lift sagging oil demand has helped send crude up from lows below $33 a barrel in December, with energy traders keeping an eye on equities markets for signs of an economic rebound. “Equities is one of the key drivers for the oil market now and I feel oil could break $75,” said Daniel Liu, an energy strategist at MF Global Singapore. Japan’s Nikkei average was almost flat on Wednesday, with investors taking a breather after the index set a 10-month closing high the previous day. Pending sales of previously owned US homes rose at a faster-than-expected pace in June, advancing for the fifth month in a row, according to the National Association of Realtors, a real estate trade group. Energy traders also were watching an area of thunderstorms in the Atlantic Ocean several hundred miles southwest of the Cape Verde Islands associated with a tropical wave. The US National Hurricane Center said it had less than a 30 percent chance of becoming a tropical storm. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:02 am Mayawati insensitive towards those facing drought: CongressThe Congress party Wednesday said that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is insensitive to the suffering of the people of the state where 58 of 71 districts have been declared drought-hit.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Aug 2009 | 2:00 am Gold traders stay away as prices jumpMumbai: India gold traders stayed away from taking fresh positions on Wednesday as prices rose by about 1% in the previous session, even as a strong rupee lifted sentiment, dealers said. “Deals are not happening due to yesterday’s increase in prices,” said a dealer with a private bank in Mumbai. India’s festival season starts with Rakshabandhan on Wednesday, when gold-buying begins to pick up. The most-traded October contract was 0.17% higher at Rs14,918 per 10 grams at 1:23pm, after hitting a one-week high in the previous session. “The rupee is acting in the favour but the yesterday’s price jump is keeping them (buyers) away,” said another dealer with a state-run bank. A strong rupee makes the dollar-quoted asset cheaper. The Indian rupee rose, buoyed by weakness in the US unit versus majors overseas, but pared some of its rise in mid-morning trade as local shares turned negative after having risen nearly 1% early. “I have plenty of advanced orders in the range of $935-940 (an ounce),” said the dealer with the private bank. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:56 am Bill Clinton to address global IIT conference in ChicagoChicago: Former US president Bill Clinton will address over 3000 alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology at a global conference here in October. Clinton, 42nd president of the United States and founder of the William J Clinton Foundation, would speak about innovative ways to address challenges and opportunities in areas of education, energy, climate change and public health at the Seventh Annual ‘PanIIT Global Conference 2009’ on technology and innovation. The theme of the conference, being held from 9-11 October, is ‘Entrepreneurship and Innovation in a Global Economy’. The conference would bring together a diverse group of thought leaders from industry, academia and government, including IIT alumni, to address challenges and opportunities in key industries such as alternative energy, healthcare, digital infrastructure and climate change, it said. “The conference theme is aligned with the goals of the William J Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative in bringing together a community of global leaders and private citizens in identifying and implementing innovative solutions for the world’s most pressing challenges,” a PanIIT statement said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:36 am Sensex slips further, down 119 pointsA key index of the Indian equities markets slipped further into the red Wednesday as selling continued in realty, FMCG, and capital goods stocks. Early afternoon, the index was 119.78 points lower than its previous close.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:31 am L&T seeks regulatory nod to sell Satyam stakeBangalore: Larsen & Toubro Ltd has sought permission from market regulators to sell its stake in outsourcer Mahindra Satyam Ltd, a spokesman for the engineering and construction major said. L&T, which operates in industries as diverse as engineering, shipbuilding and software, has sought the permission as an “enabling arrangement” and has not set a timeframe for selling its holding, the spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday. Mumbai-based L&T had built up a 12% stake in Mahindra Satyam, earlier known as Satyam Computer Services Ltd, before the sale of the company, which was rattled by India’s biggest corporate fraud. In April, L&T lost out in the race for a controlling stake in the fraud-hit outsourcer, which was eventually bought by smaller rival Tech Mahindra Ltd — a unit of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Based on the expanded share capital after Satyam’s takeover, L&T’s stake in the company is at 6.9%, according to Thomson Reuters data. At the current Satyam share price, the holding is worth nearly Rs9 billion ($190 million). Under the conditions of the Satyam sale, bidders for the company are barred from selling their stakes, acquired prior to the bid, for six months as they were given access to Satyam’s financial information that was not public at that time. Satyam, which was once India’s No. 4 outsourcing firm, had not reported audited results beyond the September quarter after founder Ramalinga Raju shocked investors in January by saying the company’s profits had been overstated for years. In June, Satyam released financial figures for the first time since the revelation of the fraud, ahead of the launch of an open offer by Tech Mahindra. “We are asking for a concession since the information that were made available to us as a bidder is public now,” the L&T spokesman said. He, however, said that L&T was not planning to sell the stake immediately if the restriction was lifted, but would consider various issues including market conditions before deciding. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:25 am L&T seeks regulatory nod to sell Satyam stakeBANGALORE (Reuters) - Larsen & Toubro Ltd has sought permission from market regulators to sell its stake in outsourcer Mahindra Satyam Ltd, a spokesman for the engineering and construction major said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:24 am SBI, Tata Motors, Sahara figure in top 100 tax defaulters listNew Delhi: Country’s largest state-owned bank SBI, automobile giant Tata Motors and oil major Indian Oil Corporation, besides Sahara India and its promoter Subroto Roy figure in the list of top 100 tax defaulters in the country. Disclosing the list of defaulters in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, the minister of state for finance S S Palanimanickam said in a written reply that top 100 tax defaulters owe to the exchequer whopping Rs1.41 lakh crore -- more than three times the amount the government spends on NREGA scheme annually to provide employment to BPL families. The Centre is taking various steps to recover the outstanding dues, the minister said, adding that the government has requested the adjudicating authorities like ITAT and Settlement commission “to dispose of high demand cases expeditiously.” As per the list, disgraced stud farm owner Hassan Ali Khan tops the list of tax defaulters with an outstanding arrear of more than Rs50,000 crore. The list of tax defaulters also includes stock broker late Harshad Mehta and his associates and other brokers like A D Narrotam and Hiten Dalal. While the SBI owes Rs333.6 crore in taxes, Tata Motors and Indian Oil Corporation have to pay Rs206.5 crore and Rs210.3 crore to the treasury. As regards Sahara, many of its group companies figure in the list of defaulters, while its promoter Roy owes Rs230 crore to the exchequer. Among leading public sector undertakings, BSNL has a tax demand of about Rs2,417 crore, while NTPC faces a demand for Rs622 crore. VSNL Ltd (now Tata Communications Ltd) has a tax demand of about Rs505.5 crore. Among Sahara group companies, Sahara India and Sahara Airlines (now Jetlite) figure among tax defaulters apart from Sahara India Financial Corporation Ltd. Besides, corporates which owe taxes to the government are Coca Cola India (Rs600 crore), Baron International (Rs589 crore), Oracle Corporation (Rs558 crore), Rolex Holding Ltd (Rs558 crore), Aaditya Luxury Hotels (Rs564 crore) and Reliance Energy (Rs176 crore). Nokia, Daewoo Motors, Bunge India Ltd, Tata Industries, Satyam Computers and IBM Pvt Ltd are other companies which have been named on the list. The minister said that these tax demands also include those which are difficult to recover for various reasons like demands notified under Special Court, inadequate assets and companies under litigation. However, among special measures being taken by the government to expedite recovery of default taxes includes monitoring of the recovery of amount in large cases by a Task Force. “Invariably arrear demand above Rs25 crore is monitored by CBDT and between 10-25 crore by CCIT/DIT (Recovery),” the minister said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:10 am Larsen and Toubro bags orders worth Rs.853 croreConstruction and engineering major Larsen and Toubro (L and amp;T) Wednesday said it had bagged contracts worth Rs.853 crore for setting up coal handling plants in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Aug 2009 | 1:00 am L&T bags engineering orders worth Rs 853 cr - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:58 am New Sony e-book reader $100 cheaper than KindleSan Francisco: Electronic books are often mentioned in the same breath as Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle digital reader. Now e-book rival Sony Corp. is determined to recapture consumers’ attention with a smaller reader that’s also $100 cheaper. On Wednesday, Sony is expected to announce that it will release the Reader Pocket Edition by the end of August. Like the Kindle and Sony’s previous Readers, the Pocket Edition will come with an “electronic ink” display, which shows dark gray text on a lighter gray background. As the word “pocket” implies, its five-inch screen will be smaller than that on the Kindle and other Sony models. Unlike other Readers, the Pocket Edition won’t play digital music files, and it won’t have a slot for a memory card to supplement internal storage that can hold 350 books. It will retail for $199, a third off the price of the basic Kindle model and about $80 less than Sony’s PRS-505 reader, which will be discontinued. Color choices include blue, red and silver. The device is entering a small but growing market. US e-book sales totaled $113 million last year — up 68% from 2007 but still a fraction of the estimated $24.3 billion spent on all books, according to the Association of American Publishers. Steve Haber, president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division, expects the Pocket Edition’s price tag will lure new consumers who haven’t wanted to shell out for such a device thus far. And he’s not worried that the Pocket Edition’s chances for success will be diminished by the rising popularity of reading e-books on smart phones like the iPhone and BlackBerrys. “Once you see it, it’s been a consistent response of, ’That’s cool,”’ he said. Sarah Rotman Epps, a media analyst at Forrester Research, said the Pocket Edition’s price below $200 breaks an important psychological barrier. “This is something that is affordable for the holiday season, and I think that you’ll see sales of e-readers outpacing current forecasts,” she said. Her current forecast calls for sales of 2 million digital reading devices this year; she said a little more than 1 million were sold by the end of 2008. She doesn’t expect Amazon to rest on its laurels, adding that the online retailer will have to respond to counter Sony’s new price point. Sony is also announcing on Wednesday the release of a $299 touch-screen model to replace its existing $350 touch-screen PRS-700. The Touch Edition will have the same six-inch (15-centimeter) screen as its predecessor but not the PRS-700’s built-in light. Haber said removing the light will correct some screen clarity problems it has caused. With the PRS-700, users can highlight text and take notes with a touch-screen keyboard. On the new model, users also can write notes with a finger or a stylus that is included. The new model has a built-in dictionary and is faster at changing pages when readers swipe a finger across the screen. It will sell in red, silver or black and can hold 350 books in its built-in memory or more on a memory card. A big difference between Sony’s Readers and Amazon’s Kindle has always been the lack of wireless access for quick and simple downloads of books. The new models are no different: They have to be connected to a computer to acquire books. For the first time, they will be compatible with PCs and Mac computers, though. Sony will offer current Reader owners a software update to make theirs compatible with both. As he has indicated in the past, Haber said Sony is working on a wireless model, though he wouldn’t say when. Sony also is adjusting prices to some of the e-books it sells through its online eBook Store. New releases and best-sellers will now sell for $10, $2 less than current prices. Amazon’s Kindle Store offers most best-sellers and new releases for $10. Sony’s eBook Store includes more than 100,000 books, as well as a million free public-domain books available from Google Inc. through its Google Books project. The Kindle Store currently has more than 330,000 available titles. The Kindle can only download books from Amazon’s store, while Sony’s Readers can display texts sold in the “epub” format — an open standard supported by the International Digital Publishing Forum that numerous publishers use to make e-books. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:32 am New Sony e-book reader $100 cheaper than KindleSan Francisco: Electronic books are often mentioned in the same breath as Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle digital reader. Now e-book rival Sony Corp. is determined to recapture consumers’ attention with a smaller reader that’s also $100 cheaper. On Wednesday, Sony is expected to announce that it will release the Reader Pocket Edition by the end of August. Like the Kindle and Sony’s previous Readers, the Pocket Edition will come with an “electronic ink” display, which shows dark gray text on a lighter gray background. As the word “pocket” implies, its five-inch screen will be smaller than that on the Kindle and other Sony models. Unlike other Readers, the Pocket Edition won’t play digital music files, and it won’t have a slot for a memory card to supplement internal storage that can hold 350 books. It will retail for $199, a third off the price of the basic Kindle model and about $80 less than Sony’s PRS-505 reader, which will be discontinued. Color choices include blue, red and silver. The device is entering a small but growing market. US e-book sales totaled $113 million last year — up 68% from 2007 but still a fraction of the estimated $24.3 billion spent on all books, according to the Association of American Publishers. Steve Haber, president of Sony’s Digital Reading Business Division, expects the Pocket Edition’s price tag will lure new consumers who haven’t wanted to shell out for such a device thus far. And he’s not worried that the Pocket Edition’s chances for success will be diminished by the rising popularity of reading e-books on smart phones like the iPhone and BlackBerrys. “Once you see it, it’s been a consistent response of, ’That’s cool,”’ he said. Sarah Rotman Epps, a media analyst at Forrester Research, said the Pocket Edition’s price below $200 breaks an important psychological barrier. “This is something that is affordable for the holiday season, and I think that you’ll see sales of e-readers outpacing current forecasts,” she said. Her current forecast calls for sales of 2 million digital reading devices this year; she said a little more than 1 million were sold by the end of 2008. She doesn’t expect Amazon to rest on its laurels, adding that the online retailer will have to respond to counter Sony’s new price point. Sony is also announcing on Wednesday the release of a $299 touch-screen model to replace its existing $350 touch-screen PRS-700. The Touch Edition will have the same six-inch (15-centimeter) screen as its predecessor but not the PRS-700’s built-in light. Haber said removing the light will correct some screen clarity problems it has caused. With the PRS-700, users can highlight text and take notes with a touch-screen keyboard. On the new model, users also can write notes with a finger or a stylus that is included. The new model has a built-in dictionary and is faster at changing pages when readers swipe a finger across the screen. It will sell in red, silver or black and can hold 350 books in its built-in memory or more on a memory card. A big difference between Sony’s Readers and Amazon’s Kindle has always been the lack of wireless access for quick and simple downloads of books. The new models are no different: They have to be connected to a computer to acquire books. For the first time, they will be compatible with PCs and Mac computers, though. Sony will offer current Reader owners a software update to make theirs compatible with both. As he has indicated in the past, Haber said Sony is working on a wireless model, though he wouldn’t say when. Sony also is adjusting prices to some of the e-books it sells through its online eBook Store. New releases and best-sellers will now sell for $10, $2 less than current prices. Amazon’s Kindle Store offers most best-sellers and new releases for $10. Sony’s eBook Store includes more than 100,000 books, as well as a million free public-domain books available from Google Inc. through its Google Books project. The Kindle Store currently has more than 330,000 available titles. The Kindle can only download books from Amazon’s store, while Sony’s Readers can display texts sold in the “epub” format — an open standard supported by the International Digital Publishing Forum that numerous publishers use to make e-books. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:32 am Spotlight on experimental, new age works at India Art SummitVideo art, interactive projects and sound installations -- the second edition of the India Art Summit here promises the best in innovative, experimental, digital and new age art, shifting its focus from the conventional large format paintings and sculptures.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:01 am Patnaik demands revision of royalty on non-coal mineralsOrissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has demanded immediate revision of the royalty on non-coal minerals as the central government has not made any revision since 2004, the office of the chief minister stated here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:01 am Recession blues: Apparel exports dip 15% in Q1Continuing recession in the global markets is taking a toll on the country’s garment exports with the latest figures revealing a 15.4 per cent decline in the first quarter of the current fiscalSource: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Maharashtra cuts next season’s sugar output estimatesNew Delhi, Aug. 4 Maharashtra, the country’s No. 1 sugar producing State, has cut its output estimates for the ensuing 2009-10 crushing season, which technically runs from October toSource: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Qualcomm sees huge 3G demand in IndiaNew Delhi, Aug. 4 If the first few months are any indication, third generation (3G) services in India seem to be catching the consumer attention.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Rupee to move sidewaysSharp decline in dollar and accelerated foreign institutional inflows helped rupee appreciate above 48 this week. Dollar index traded on the Intercontinental Exchange declined below the key intermediate support at 78.2, losing over 2 per cent inSource: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Essar Steel to acquire Shree PrecoatedMumbai, Aug. 4 Essar Steel entered into a definite business transfer agreement on Monday to acquire Pune-based Shree Precoated Steels (SPS) for an undisclosedSource: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Steel Ministry proposes 8.38% NMDC stake saleNew Delhi, Aug. 4 The Government has taken an important step towards disinvestment of an 8.38 per cent equity stake in the iron ore producer NMDC with the Steel Ministry recommending the stake sale to the Department of Disinvestment in theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am No slowing down on reforms: RBI chiefMumbai, Aug. 4 India will not go slow on financial sector reforms but its future response will take into account the impact of the global financialSource: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideDLF is moving sideways; avoid trading in this stock for the session. Utilise rallies to sell ICICI Bank and SBI, while maintaining stiff stop-loss at Rs 780 and Rs 1,873, respectively. We observe formation ofSource: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am An economy different from USMost Indian intellectuals, including the media, often love to draw a contrast between ‘India’ — meaning the urban — and Bharat — meaning the rural; the former as ‘modern’ and the latter as distanced fromSource: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Atlanta (Rs 108.35): BuyWe recommend a buy in Atlanta from a short-term perspective. It is visible from the charts of Atlanta that after bottoming at the March low of Rs 30, it has been on an intermediate-term uptrend. Since then it has been forming higher peak andSource: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Sensex turns negative, down 78 points Erasing early gains, the BSE's Sensex fell by 78 points on emergence of profit-booking at higher levels.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 4 Aug 2009 | 11:57 pm Great Offshore soars on higher bid; ABG, Bharati rise - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 4 Aug 2009 | 11:46 pm Sensex turns negative on profit-booking; down 78 pointsErasing early gains, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by 78 points at 1100 hrs today on the emergence of profit-booking at higher levels.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Aug 2009 | 11:45 pm INTERVIEW - Honda car business to return to profit in H2TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co expects improving sales to return its car business to profitability in the second half even without the support of its robust financial services division, a top executive said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Aug 2009 | 11:36 pm Honda car business to return to profit in H2Tokyo: Honda Motor Co expects improving sales to return its car business to profitability in the second half even without the support of its robust financial services division, a top executive said on Wednesday. Honda, Japan’s No.2 automaker, posted an unexpected profit for the April-June first financial quarter last week thanks to a ¥46.8 billion ($491 million) boost from its financial services business, which benefited partly from lower interest rates. “We’re expecting to sell just short of 100,000 more cars in the second half (than in the first), so that would result in a profit,” chief financial officer Yoichi Hojo told Reuters in an interview. Losses from a stronger yen assumed for the October-March second half would offset the absence of restructuring costs in that period, but better vehicle sales would have a net positive impact, he said. Last week Honda lifted its forecast for car sales in the business year to next March by 85,000 vehicles to 3.295 million, projecting better demand in Japan but weaker sales in Europe and the United States. Globally, Honda is using about 80% of its production capacity, Hojo said. Honda, also the world’s top motorcycle maker, raised its operating profit forecast to ¥70 billion from ¥10 billion. Honda now expects the overall US market to total 10 million vehicles in 2009, down from its previous estimate of 10.5 million despite an increasing likelihood that a “cash for clunkers” auto sales incentive would be extended by another $2 billion. “We just don’t know how this is going to affect us, or how long it will last,” Hojo said, adding that the first $1 billion in rebates mainly helped Ford Motor Co. Honda lowered its annual North American sales forecast by 50,000 to 1.30 million vehicles, without factoring in any sales boost from the scrappage scheme. While the rebate programme could ultimately result in higher US sales than Honda expects, Hojo said it could also negatively affect profit margins if it forces manufacturers to offer their own incentives to stay competitive. Honda now intends to spend about ¥30 billion ($315 million) more in sales incentives in the United States than it had planned three months ago, mainly to sell off 2009 model year passenger cars such as the Civic and Accord. HondaJets To Be Delayed Government stimulus measures are also helping to mitigate a freefall in Western European sales, but the outlook for demand is still uncertain due to the economy’s weakness, Hojo said. Separately, he said demand was similarly fragile in the corporate jet business, leading to some cancellations recently for Honda’s first aircraft, the HondaJet light jet. Honda has received orders for some 100 HondaJets to date, he said. The need to save on labour and other costs was also forcing Honda to delay the timetable for delivery by one year to the end of 2011, Hojo said. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 4 Aug 2009 | 11:30 pm Asian stocks flat as investors take a breatherHong Kong: Asian stocks steadied near 11-month highs on Wednesday, as investors paused for breath before more earnings reports, but rising dairy prices pushed the New Zealand dollar to a 10-month peak. Sentiment in Seoul got a slight early lift after former US President Bill Clinton secured the release of two US journalists jailed by North Korea. But the market later shrugged off the news as analysts said it would not ease tension between South Korea and its neighbour. “The market is confined in a very tight range after such a big rally, though positive news like US housing data continues to come out,” said Soichiro Monji, chief strategist at Daiwa SB Investments. The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan edged up 0.3% by midmorning, slowing down after rallying 40% since late April. Japan’s Nikkei index slipped 0.08% and Toyota Motor Corp faced light profit taking, falling 1%, after the world’s biggest automaker cut its annual loss forecast but announced a third straight quarterly loss on Tuesday. Camera maker Nikon was down 1.2% ahead of quarterly results later in the day. Investors were also reluctant to push the Korean market much higher after gains for 15 straight sessions and the benchmark KOSPI index was up just 0.3% by midmorning. Surprisingly strong US housing data pushed the Dow Jones index up 0.4% on Tuesday although a sharp drop in US personal income suggested economic recovery would be slow. US Treasuries fell on the housing report and put pressure on South Korean treasury bond futures, with Korean September futures dipping 2 ticks in early trade. Japanese government bonds bounced back though as Japanese stocks retreated and 10-year September JGB futures edged slightly higher. US economic data supported improving risk appetite and kept the US dollar close to 2009 lows against the euro. Economic recovery hopes meanwhile boosted Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, which was up 1% and shares in Cathay Pacific, which were up 2.5% ahead of interim results later on Wednesday. Previously one of the world’s most profitable airlines, the carrier’s fortunes took a turn for the worse last year amid volatile oil prices and the global economic downturn Oil prices edged higher again on Wednesday after Tuesday’s retreat, with US crude futures heading towards $72 a barrel after a surprise drawdown in US crude inventories last week. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Aug 2009 | 10:47 pm Chrysler creditors seek approval to sue Daimler Detroit: Creditors of Chrysler have asked a bankruptcy court to allow them to sue Daimler AG, arguing that the 2007 sale of the US automaker stripped it of its most valuable assets. Judge Arthur Gonzalez has scheduled a hearing on the request by the creditors for 13 August. Daimler, which sold a controlling stake in Chrysler to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management in 2007, said that the claim by a committee representing Chrysler’s unsecured creditors was baseless. “This is completely without merit and we intend to defend ourselves vigorously,” Daimler spokesman Han Tjan said. In a filing with the New York bankruptcy court on Monday, the group representing Chrysler’s unsecured creditors said that they were seeking to recover more than $3 billion. That recovery would be more than the $2 billion paid to Chrysler’s secured creditors. The group said that was equivalent to the value of certain unidentified Chrysler assets transferred in 2007 in the deal between Daimler and Cerberus. Gonzalez cleared the way for Chrysler to emerge from bankruptcy in June in a transaction that gave operational control of the No.3 US automaker to Fiat SpA. The sale, which was funded and directed by the US government, gave ownership of Chrysler to a trust fund affiliated with the United Auto Workers and the governments of the US and Canada. Other Chrysler assets, including shuttered plants, remain in bankruptcy under a legal entity now known as Old Carco. Daimler purchased Chrysler in 1998 but failed to integrate the company’s mass-market brands and with its luxury Mercedes business. Cerberus took control of Chrysler in late 2007, just as its sales began to tumble with the sharp contraction in US auto sales that began in 2008. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 4 Aug 2009 | 10:36 pm Microsoft to hire 400 Yahoo workers San Francisco: Microsoft Corp. will hire at least 400 workers from Yahoo Inc. if government regulators approve the companies’ proposed internet search partnership, and Yahoo will receive $150 million to cover any unexpected costs during the switch to new technology. The details emerged in a regulatory filing that elaborated on an agreement announced last week. Sunnyvale-based Yahoo said then that an unspecified number of its 13,000 employees would be offered jobs at Microsoft after the Redmond, Washington-based software maker assumes control of the search results and search advertising on Yahoo’s web site. The transition is supposed to begin early next year, assuming the alliance is approved by antitrust regulators in the US and Europe. Microsoft will pay $50 million annually during the first three years of the 10 year contract to supplement the revenue that Yahoo will receive from the ads appearing alongside its search results. The $150 million in guaranteed payments weren’t mentioned last week. Tuesday’s filing said Yahoo can use the $150 million to pay for unforeseen transition costs. Yahoo’s stock has fallen by about 15% since it unveiled the Microsoft deal, largely because announced terms didn’t include a large upfront payment. Tuesday’s disclosure probably won’t ease the disappointment much, given analysts had anticipated Microsoft paying $1 billion to $2 billion for access to Yahoo’s search engine. Yahoo’s shares ended Tuesday up 17 cents at $14.51. Microsoft eased 6 cents to $23.77. Most of the revenue from the Microsoft deal will flow from ad commissions. Yahoo will receive 88% of the search ad revenue during the first five years of the contract. After that, Yahoo’s commission will range from 83% to 93%, depending on whether it still handles some of the ad sales in the partnership. The main reason Yahoo decided to turn over its search engine to Microsoft was to save money. If Yahoo wants to save even more on technology, it has the option of adopting Microsoft’s online mapping service replace of its own, according to Tuesday’s filing. Yahoo Chief Executive Carol Bartz has already made it known she isn’t impressed with Yahoo’s online maps. As it is, transferring 400 workers to Microsoft would prune Yahoo’s current payroll by about 3%. Yahoo will lay off some workers if the Microsoft deal goes through, Bartz said last week. Tuesday’s filing didn’t provide any layoff projections. Although it also has been jettisoning workers because of the recession, Microsoft finished its latest fiscal year end in June with 93,000 employees — an increase of about 2,000 people from the previous year. Microsoft is counting on the Yahoo partnership to help it reverse years of losses in its online operations and siphon some traffic and ad sales from Internet search leader Google Inc. Yahoo’s search engine is the second largest, making it the quickest way for Microsoft to gain ground on Google. Even so, Microsoft and Yahoo combined have less than 30% of the US search market compared to 65% for Google, according to comScore Inc. To keep Yahoo happy, Microsoft will have to produce ad revenue per search that is within a certain percentage of Google’s industry-leading rate. If Microsoft doesn’t hit the target, Yahoo can abandon the partnership before the contract expires. Tuesday’s filing didn’t specify how close Microsoft has to come to Google’s revenue per search. Microsoft estimates that Google gets 7 cents in ad revenue for every search, while Yahoo gets 4.3 cents and Microsoft gets 3.9 cents, according to a PowerPoint slide Microsoft mistakenly posted online. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 4 Aug 2009 | 10:04 pm RPT-Reliance Infra consortium wins Mumbai rail project - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 4 Aug 2009 | 9:06 pm ‘The comeback is going to be slow, but worst is over’In a chat with Sumant Banerji, Rajendra Hinduja, managing director of country's largest exporter of textiles and garments Gokaldas Exports, discusses how bad the situation and how far are we from a revival.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Aug 2009 | 5:01 pm Dabur gets stars in battling HULDabur used the Rakhi Sawant show to demonsrate the intent behind its Rs 250-crore acquisition of Fem Care Pharma last year, pushing the Fem brand on the prime-time show to grab mindshare. Saurabh Turakhia reports.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:58 pm GKW shares jump six-fold in 2 weeksThe share price of GKW Limited, an industrial goods company that makes nuts, screws, stampings and wheels, has jumped six-fold between July 20 and August 3—for no clear reason, though it appears linked to a share swap deal with Graphite India proposed earlier this year.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:52 pm Govt spikes plan to sell Finlay MillIn what may put a spanner in the modernisation plans of sick public sector enterprise National Textile Corporation, the government has expressed its disapproval in the PSU's bid to sell 10.4 acres of Finlays Mill in Mumbai citing low realty rates.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:47 pm Govt clears deck for NMDC stake saleMining heavyweight National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) became the first navratna public sector undertaking to be disinvested by the new government.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:45 pm Rs 600 cr buy steels up EssarEssar Steel Ltd, the privately held flagship of the Shashi and Ravi Ruia’s Essar Group has entered into a definitive business transfer agreement with the Ajmera group to acquire the assets and steel business of Shree Precoated Steel to broadbase its product offerings.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:43 pm DGH rubbishes Anil’s gas claimThe petroleum sector regulator, directorate general of hydrocarbons, rubbished the charges made by Anil Ambani on increased capital expenditure by his elder brother Mukesh’s RIL in producing gas from its D6 fields in the Krishna Godavari basin.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:40 pm Jolly June after, St awaits upgradesStocks have sprinted since early March, coinciding with the once-reviled-now-being-revered Ben Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, telling the world of his green-shoots vision.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Aug 2009 | 4:15 pm 'Mobile is the right choice for rural marketing'Changes in consumer technology has played a crucial role in the development of the digital marketing industry, believes Neeraj Roy, managing director and CEO of Hungama Mobile.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:57 pm Cognizant blows away St & own Q2 guidanceIT services major Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp raised its revenue guidance for 2009 from the earlier 10% to at least 11.5%.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:57 pm DGH gives a clean chit to RIL capital expenditureAnil Ambani alleged that there were loopholes that allowed contractors like RIL to overstate their expenditure on oil & gas exploration blocks like the D6.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:56 pm Govt to list Airports AuthorityAAI owns and manages 125 airports across the country and has been seeking as much as Rs 12,000 crore during the 11th Five Year Plan to modernise.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:55 pm A bubble in the making in India?The recent spike in foodgrain prices and the simultaneous rally in the equity markets in an unwelcome phenomenon.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:54 pm Unitech eyes Rs 500 cr selling 20 hotel plotsUnitech is looking to raise Rs 500 crore by selling about 20-25 hotel land parcels as its hospitality expansion plans have been deferred due to low demand.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:52 pm Guess what? US has appetite for Indian carsAround 11% of new car buyers in the US would consider buying a car from India, without knowing of specific brands or vehicle makes.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:52 pm DGH counters Anil's chargeExploration regulator V K Sibal on Tuesday joined issue with Anil Ambani a day after the tycoon raked up charges of Mukesh Ambani's RIL inflating Andhra offshore field's development costs.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:43 pm Andhra does a U-turn on KG gasChief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy expressed satisfaction and hoped that the company would continue to supply gas to all the upcoming projects as well.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:40 pm ABG increases offer for Great Offshore The tug of war for control of Great Offshore is intensifying with India's largest private sector ship builder, ABG Shipyard, increasing its open offer price again to Rs 520 a share.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:36 pm Manu Chhabria's mom claims share in S WallaceRanibai Rajaram Chhabria, mother of late Manohar Rajaram Chhabria, has challenged the merger of Shaw Wallace with UB group in the Supreme Court, saying she was entitled to a fifth of her deceased son's estate.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:34 pm Satyam's Raju took Australia for a ride tooSatyam was reportedly given 10 hectares of prime land at Deakin varsity campus for setting up an IT hub, with the hope of creating 2000 jobs. Yet, not even a single job resulted from this project.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:30 pm National interest: NTPC wants gas at $2.34Forwarding a letter from NTPC chairman R S Sharma to petroleum secretary R S Pandey, power secretary H S Brahma sought the oil ministry's intervention for allocation of gas to NTPC's Gujarat expansion projects in national interest''.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:22 pm S&P cuts Tata Motors' rating to 'B'Global ratings major Standard & Poor's (S&P) has cut its long term rating on automobile major Tata Motors to B' from B+' citing challenging operating performance of JLR'' and has also said the outlook on the company is negative'.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:19 pm Founding partner of Barings PE fund quitsIt is splitsville at one of the oldest PE funds in the country. Simmering tension between partners at Barings Private Equity Partners (BPEP) has resulted in one of the founding members - 'Subbu' Subramaniam - walking out on the fund.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:17 pm DGH, Anil clash on D6 capex claims - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 4 Aug 2009 | 2:03 pm Giant particle collider fizzles, faces problemsThe biggest, most expensive physics machine in the world is riddled with thousands of bad electrical connections. Many of the magnets meant to whiz high energy subatomic particles around a 17 mile underground racetrack have mysteriously lost their ability to operate at high energies. Some physicists are deserting the European project, at least temporarily, to work at a smaller, rival machine across the ocean. After 15 years and $9 billion (Rs42,750 crore), and a showy switch-on ceremony in September, the Large Hadron Collider, the giant particle accelerator outside Geneva, has to yet collide any particles at all. But soon? This week, scientists and engineers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, are to announce how and when their machine will start running this winter.  No-show: After 15 years and $9 billion, and a switch-on ceremony in September, the collider has to yet collide any particles at all. Adrian Moser / Bloomberg The energy shortfall could also limit the collider’s ability to test more exotic ideas, like the existence of extra dimensions beyond the three of space and one of time that characterize life. “The fact is, it’s likely to take a while to get the results we really want,” said Lisa Randall, a Harvard physicist who is an architect of the extra-dimension theory. The collider was built to accelerate protons to energies of 7 trillion electron volts and smash them together in search of particles and forces that reigned earlier than the first trillionth of a second of time, but the machine could run as low as 4 trillion electron volts for its first year. Upgrades would come a year or two later. Physicists on both sides of the Atlantic say they are confident that the European machine will produce groundbreaking science—eventually —and quickly catch up to an American rival, even at the lower energy. All big accelerators have gone through painful beginnings. “These are baby problems,” said Peter Limon, a physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, who helped build the collider. But some physicists admit to being impatient. “I’ve waited 15 years,” said Nima Arkani-Hamed, a leading particle theorist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. “I want it to get up running. We can’t tolerate another disaster. It has to run smoothly from now.” The delays are hardest on younger scientists, who may need data to complete a thesis or work towards tenure. Slowing a recent physics brain drain from the US to Europe, some have gone to work at Fermilab, where the rival Tevatron accelerator has been smashing together protons and antiprotons for the last decade. Colliders get their oomph from Einstein’s equivalence of mass and energy, both expressed in the currency of electron volts. The CERN collider was designed to investigate what happens at energies and distances where the current reigning theory, known as the Standard Model, breaks down and gives nonsense answers. It got the nod in 1994 after the Superconducting SuperCollider, which would have been 87km around and 20 trillion electron volts, was cancelled by the US Congress. The collider’s own prodigious energies are in some way its worst enemy. At full strength, the energy stored in its superconducting magnets would equal that of an Airbus A380 flying at 450 miles an hour, and the proton beam itself could pierce 100ft of solid copper. In order to carry enough current, the collider’s magnets are cooled by liquid helium to a temperature of 1.9 degrees above absolute zero, at which point the niobium-titanium cables in them lose all electrical resistance and become superconducting. Any perturbation, however, such as a bad soldering job on a splice, can cause resistance and heat the cable and cause it to lose its superconductivity in what physicists call a quench. Which is what happened on 19 September, when the junction between two magnets vaporized in a shower of sparks, soot and liberated helium. Technicians have spent most of the last year cleaning up and inspecting thousands of splices in the collider. About 5,000 will have to be redone, Steve Myers, head of CERN’s accelerator division, said in an interview. The exploding splices have diverted engineers’ attention from the mystery of the underperforming magnets. Before the superconducting magnets are installed, engineers train each one by ramping up its electrical current until the magnet fails, or quenches. Thus the magnet gradually grows comfortable with higher and higher current. All of the magnets for the collider were trained to an energy above 7 trillion electron volts before being installed, Myers said, but when engineers tried to take one of the rings’ eight sectors to a higher energy last year, some magnets unexpectedly failed. In an email exchange, Lucio Rossi, head of magnets for CERN, said that 49 magnets had lost their training in the sectors tested and that it was impossible to estimate how many in the entire collider had gone bad. He said the magnets in question had all met specifications and that the problem might stem from having sat outside for a year before they could be installed. Retraining magnets is costly and time-consuming, experts say, and it might not be worth the wait to get all the way to the original target energy. “It looks like we can get to 6.5 relatively easily,” Myers said, but 7 trillion electron volts would require “a lot of training”. Many physicists say they would be perfectly happy if the collider never got above five trillion electron volts. If that were the case, said Joe Lykken, a Fermilab theorist who is on one of the CERN collider teams, “It’s not the end of the world. I am not pessimistic at all.” Pauline Gagnon, an Indiana University physicist who works at CERN, said she would happily take that energy level. “The public pays for this,” she said in an email message, “and we need to start delivering.” ©2009/THE NEW YORK TIMES feedback@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 4 Aug 2009 | 12:53 pm Chhabria's mother claims share in Shaw WallaceRanibai Rajaram Chhabria, mother of the late Manohar Rajaram Chhabria, has challenged the merger of Shaw Wallace with Vijay Mallya-promoted United Spirits, saying she was entitled to a fifth of her deceased son's estate.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 4 Aug 2009 | 12:33 pm Capital gains tax blow may soften for foreign firms exiting JVsA precedent-setting order by the Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) could enable foreign companies exiting their India joint ventures to pay long-term capital gains tax at a concessional 10 per cent rate instead of linking it to a complex indexation formula that requires multiple foreign currency conversions.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 4 Aug 2009 | 12:32 pm Road toll premium may be cut 35%National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is working on a proposal to scrap the 30 to 35 per cent premium on toll charged on highways that bypass cities.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 4 Aug 2009 | 12:31 pm Roche prepares to defend local patent for ValcyteMumbai: Swiss drug maker F Hoffmann La Roche Ltd —which trimmed prices of its valganciclovir hydrochloride drug used to treat HIV-related infections after India reduced import duty on it in April—is set to defend later this week its local patent for the drug against at least five post-grant oppositions at the Chennai patent office. Patient groups and local drug makers claimed that the price cut will not help Roche in its defence of the 2007 patent.  Drug tussle: The Roche AG headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. A generic version of Roche’s valganciclovir hydrochloride, used to treat HIV-related infections, was launched by Cipla under the brand name Valcept. Adrian Moser / Bloomberg Roche last week announced it had cut the retail price of its valganciclovir hydrochloride drug, sold under the brand name of Valcyte, by 35% in response to the central government’s budget recommendation to cut customs duty on it. After the price reduction, Valcyte sells for Rs475 a tablet, down from Rs700, said Amitabh Dube, business unit director of Roche Scientific Co. (India) Pvt. Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Roche in India. Treatment with Valcyte is typically spread over four months and 264 tablets, which means the cost of the treatment is Rs1,25,400. Valganciclovir hydrochloride is considered the most effective antiviral treatment for an eye infection known as cytomegalovirus retinitis among HIV-positive patients. “The company offers the drug under its patient access programme in India and at least one fifth of the patients undergoing treatments with Roche’s speciality drugs in India have been enrolled in these access programmes,” Roche Scientific’s managing director Girish Telang told the media. The company would continue such support programmes irrespective of the status of its patent, he added. A generic version of valganciclovir hydrochloride, launched by Cipla in 2008 under the brand name Valcept, costs about Rs245 a tablet, or Rs64,680 for the entire treatment, almost half the price of treatment with Valcyte. Since Cipla’s product was launched in spite of Roche’s patent, the Swiss company filed cases against Cipla in the Bombay high court for patent and trademark infringements. The high court asked Cipla to change its brand name in the trademark case; the patent litigation is still pending. In March, following an appeal by the two patient groups against the Chennai patent office’s decision to reject their pre-grant opposition, the Supreme Court in March directed the patent controller to hear and dispose all post-grant opposition in 12 weeks. Cipla’s joint managing director Amar Lulla said: “We welcome Roche’s decision to immediately pass on the custom duty cut to patients as it will reduce the prices to the patients, but the only thing we don’t want is the exploitation of patients by creating monopoly through evergreening of patents.” Evergreening refers to the extension of the life of a patent with a variation, often minor, of the original patent. Leena Menghaney, Delhi-based campaign co-ordinator of the global healthcare non-profit Medecins Sans Frontieres’ Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, said: “Originator discounts are not as effective as generic competition. In HIV/AIDS treatment worldwide, the discounted price of $10,439 (Rs4.95 lakh) for a year’s treatment per patient has come down to $61 per patient per year as a result of increased generic production.” A patent lawyer for one of the Indian drug makers that have filed the post-grant opposition to Roche’s patent clarified that his client is objecting to the validity of the patent in terms of technology and innovation that deserves a monopoly under Indian patent law, and not just the pricing. The lawyer declined to be identified. According to two of the opposing parties in the case who Mint spoke with, the technical grounds against the patent include special clauses in the law. These clauses don’t allow new forms of an old drug for a grant of patent, these people said on condition of anonymity. Valganciclovir hydrochloride is a salt of a known drug ganciclovir. These people claimed that valganciclovir hydrochloride thus does not fulfil the criteria of novelty, as the anti-viral properties of ganciclovir and its salts have been known since 1982. “If patents are granted for known medicines, which block generic competition in India, there is a definite need to revisit the validity of the patent,” Menghaney said, adding that her organisation believes this to be the case with valganciclovir hydrochloride. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 4 Aug 2009 | 11:44 am GM takes more time to negotiate over Opel saleFrankfurt: General Motors is taking more time to negotiate with Magna and RHJ International over the planned sale of its European arm Opel, the company said on Tuesday. Canadian auto parts group Magna and Belgium-based RHJ are locked in a takeover battle for Opel, in which GM is relinquishing control in return for state support. GM was expected to recommend one of the two bidders to its new board of directors at a meeting on Monday. But it said on Tuesday that it merely brought the board up to speed on talks without making a recommendation as negotiations were still dragging on. Sources informed earlier this week that the German government officials and GM representatives are expected to meet with Magna and RHJ this week to further discuss the sale. GM, which holds 35% of Opel shares, and Germany, which will provide state aid, must agree on the buyer but so far the two have disagreed. Germany prefers the Magna offer and GM likes RHJ’s bid. German economy minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg had said in a weekend newspaper interview that both suitors had to improve their bids to win government backing. Magna, a Canadian auto parts supplier, wants to expand Opel’s full-scale car assembly business and forecasts high growth rates, particularly in Russia, home of its bidding partner, state-controlled bank Sberbank. RHJ aims to shrink production to return Opel to profit and may be open to selling it back to GM at a later date. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:47 am Nissan-Renault signs electric car deal in VictoriaTokyo: An alliance between carmakers Nissan and Renault said Tuesday it had reached an agreement with the government of the Australian state of Victoria to promote the use of electric cars. The companies said in a press release they had signed a preliminary accord to “identify potential areas of cooperation” for electric vehicles. Nissan Australia chief executive Dan Thompson said in the release that his company hopes to sell a “battery-powered family sized car” in the country by 2012. Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA, which have had an alliance since 1999, have fallen behind other companies in gas-electric hybrid technologies and are looking to take the lead in purely electric, or zero-emission, vehicles. The alliance has partnered with local governments in the US, Europe and Asia to promote the cars. Nissan, Japan’s No. 3 automaker, showed an electric hatchback called the Leaf to reporters in Japan earlier this week. The company said the car will cost about the same as gas-powered models and have a range of 100 miles (160 kilometers) on a single charge. General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and other automakers are also planning electric vehicles in the near future. Governments in the US, Europe and Japan are offering or planning tax breaks and other incentives for environmentally friendly vehicles. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 4 Aug 2009 | 3:11 am
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