BlackBerry maker wants Nortel sale cancelled!

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) has urged the Canadian government to throw out the sale of Nortel`s wireless assets to Sweden`s Ericsson to stop a "national treasure" from falling into foreign hands.
Source: Zee News : Business | 8 Aug 2009 | 6:14 am

Indian companies lay off a net 1.31 lakh staff in Q1!

Indian manufacturing and service sector firms laid off a net 1.31 lakh employees during April-June period, mainly in textiles, gem and jewellery sectors as the exports continued to shrink, a labour ministry report said.
Source: Zee News : Business | 8 Aug 2009 | 6:14 am

Wall Street hits fresh 2009 highs on upbeat jobs data!

US stocks surged to their best levels of the year after a much-awaited July jobs report was better than expected, signaling a likely turnaround in the long and painful recession.
Source: Zee News : Business | 8 Aug 2009 | 6:14 am

US regulators close 3 banks, total now 72!

Bank regulators closed three banks on Friday, bringing the number of failures so far this year to 72 as the weakened economy takes its toll on the financial services sector.
Source: Zee News : Business | 8 Aug 2009 | 6:14 am

Market retreat on monsoon worries, Sensex down 3%!

Below the normal rainfall so far this year has halted a strong bull run on the bourses pulling down the key indices Sensex and Nifty by more than three percent amid a sudden pullout by foreign institutional investors.
Source: Zee News : Business | 8 Aug 2009 | 6:14 am

Air Canada posts $155 mn profit!

Air Canada, the world`s ninth largest airline, has reported a second quarter profit of USD 155 million -- 27 percent up from the same period last year.
Source: Zee News : Business | 8 Aug 2009 | 6:14 am

Lithuania under pressure, may turn to IMF

Lithuania's increasingly desperate economic situation may make it the next country in Eastern Europe to ask the International Monetary Fund for emergency loans.
Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 8 Aug 2009 | 6:06 am

Market retreat on monsoon worries, Sensex down 3 %

Below the normal rainfall so far this year has halted a strong bull run on the bourses pulling down the key indices Sensex and Nifty by more than 3 per cent amid a sudden pullout by foreign institutional investors.
Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 8 Aug 2009 | 4:30 am

Amartya Sen welcomes government's Right to Food Act

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen Saturday praised the government's draft for a Right to Food (Guarantee of Safety and Security) Act saying it was a 'step in the right direction'.
Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Aug 2009 | 3:30 am

Bulls take a breather, key indices slip 3 percent (Weekly market ... - Sify


Indian Express
Bulls take a breather, key indices slip 3 percent (Weekly market ...
Sify
Though benchmark indices touched a 14-month high this week, continued selling pulled them down 3 percent from their last weekly close, as the government voiced concerns that the revival of the economy may be hampered due to deficient rains. ...
Market retreat on monsoon worries, BSE down 3 pcPress Trust of India
Fall season? Sensex sheds another 354 ptsEconomic Times
Sensex down 354 pointsHindu
Business Standard -Times of India -Moneycontrol.com
all 136 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 8 Aug 2009 | 3:26 am

Satyam, Maytas will be prosecuted if found they diverted funds - Hindu Business Line


Indian Express
Satyam, Maytas will be prosecuted if found they diverted funds
Hindu Business Line
NEW DELHI: The government is investigating whether Satyam and Maytas siphoned off funds from their respective companies and whosoever is found guilty would be prosecuted according to the law. Revealing this, Corporate Affairs Minister Mr Salman ...
Maytas Infra sells assets to stay afloatEconomic Times
Satyam owes Rs530 cr in income tax duesLivemint
Satyam, Raju owe Rs 541 cr in income tax duesBusiness Standard
Times of India -Reuters India -Indian Express
all 64 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 8 Aug 2009 | 3:08 am

Interest rates may go up next year: DSP Merrill

As the Indian economy starts to recover, the Reserve Bank of India might look at reversing the interest rate cuts over the last year, said Mr Jyotivardhan Jaipuria, Managing Director and Head of Research (India) at DSP Merrill Lynch.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Aug 2009 | 3:04 am

Bharti Airtel seeks $1billion loan from SBI

Bharti Airtel has approached State Bank of India for loans of $1 billion and Rs 5,000 crore, according to the Minister of State for Finance, Mr Namo Narain Meena.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Aug 2009 | 3:02 am

Make contingency plans to tackle drought: PM to states

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said agriculture had been adversely affected in several parts of the country due to the delayed and deficient monsoon this year and urged state governments to draw up contingency plans to deal with the situation without delay.
Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Aug 2009 | 3:00 am

Matrix launches costeffective AIDS drug regimen

Drug costs to fight HIV/AIDS are set to go down further thanks to the launch of a new, second line regimen by Matrix Labs and the Clinton Foundation.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Aug 2009 | 3:00 am

SBI unveils new home loan scheme

State Bank of India on Friday introduced a new home loan scheme whereby a borrower can take a home loan up to Rs 5 lakh at 8 per cent (fixed interest rate) for five years.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 8 Aug 2009 | 2:58 am

'Ambani row to have no impact on NELP auction' - Hindu Business Line


All India Radio
'Ambani row to have no impact on NELP auction'
Hindu Business Line
MUMBAI: The government on Saturday launched the largest auction of oil and gas blocks and said the ongoing dispute and litigation between Ambani brothers will have no impact on the bidding. “There will be no effect because of this. ...
Murli Deora launches NELP VIII and CBM-IVIndia Infoline.com
India relaunches largest auction of oil, gas areasPress Trust of India
Govt set to curb pricing freedom of Nelp-VIII cosEconomic Times
Business Standard -Reuters -Indian Express
all 41 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 8 Aug 2009 | 2:29 am

Ambani dispute to have no impact on NELP auction: govt

Mumbai: The government on Saturday launched the largest auction of oil and gas blocks and said the ongoing dispute and litigation between Ambani brothers will have no impact on the bidding.
“There will be no effect because of this. You see the presence here (at the road show). This is self explanatory. I don’t see any adverse effect on the bidding rounds,” petroleum secretary R S Pandey told reporters at the first road show for NELP-VIII here.
India had on 9 April launched the eighth round of auction of blocks for exploration under NELP with 10 August being the last date for bidding. But it was deferred within a week over ambiguity on tax holidays for natural gas.
All the major oil and gas companies operating in India as well as foreign firms, including BG Group of UK and Cairn Energy, participated in the jam-packed road show.
Pandey denied reports that the government was diluting the policy for gas price fixation and marketing proposed in NELP since its advent in 1999.
NELP provides for the government’s approving the pricing formula for the gas produced from the areas auctioned in the NELP rounds and the fuel being sold in accordance with the government’s gas utilization policy.
“There is no change in policy. We are proposing no modification... Don’t believe in misinformation being spread,” Pandey said, adding, that the fundamentals of NELP in the latest offering remain same as in the first seven rounds.
“Only bidding criteria has been tweaked, but there is no fundamental change in the policy,” he said.
Pandey and petroleum minister Murli Deora who kicked-off the road-show here declined comments on the dispute between the Ambani brothers.
Government on Saturday relaunched its largest ever auction of oil and gas exploration areas, aiming to attract an investment of $3-4 billion towards boosting energy security.
Petroleum minister Murli Deora kick-started the offer of 70 oil and gas exploration areas in the 8th edition of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) and 10 coal bed methane (CBM) blocks with the first roadshow here.
“NELP can be portrayed as India’s success story in our endeavour to achieve self-sufficiency in hydrocarbons,” he said at the promotional roadshow.
Under NELP, 71 oil and gas discoveries have already been made in 21 exploration blocks by accretion of in-place hydrocarbon reserves of more than 600 million tonnes of oil equivalent, he said.
“Major natural gas production in KG basin commenced from April. With this, gas production in the country would be doubled, and in monetary terms it would be about $42 billion.”
Total committed investment in NELP rounds for exploration so far is around $10 billion, out of which $5.3 billion has been invested in exploration. Further, $6.6 billion will be invested towards development of the Exploration and Production sector.
Deora said the last date of bidding for the nation’s largest ever auction of oil and gas blocks is 12 October.
A revised timetable has been drawn after finance minister Pranab Mukherjee extended the 7-year income-tax holiday to natural gas production.
India had on 9 April launched the eighth round of auction of blocks for exploration under NELP with 10 August being the last date for bidding. But it was deferred over ambiguity on the availability of tax holidays for natural gas.
After Mumbai, roadhows will be held in Houston (20-21 August), Calgary (24-25 August), London (8-9 September), Perth (22 September) and Brisbane (24-25 September).
Data centres have been set up at oil regulator DGH’s office in Noida, on the outskirts of the national capital, London, Calgary, Houston and Perth, he said.
The round is being relaunched after Mukherjee in his Budget speech for 2009-10 said, 7-year holiday from payment of income tax on profits earned from production and sale of natural gas would be available for blocks to be awarded in NELP-VIII.
India is offering 24 deep-sea blocks, 28 shallow water blocks and 18 onland blocks for bidding in NELP-VIII hoping to attract $3 billion investment in exploration.
The 75% energy-import-dependent nation has also offered for bidding 10 areas for extraction of gas from below the coal fields or CBM.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Aug 2009 | 2:26 am

Adequate foodgrains available for any difficult situation: PM

New Delhi: Observing that the country was facing a “difficult situation” following delayed and deficient rainfall, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the Centre has adequate foodgrains and would not hesitate to take strong measures and intervene in the market if the need arose.
“Agricultural operations have been adversely affected in several parts of the country causing distress to farmers. A deficit of more than 6 million hectares has been reported in paddy, which is the worst affected crop,” he said addressing the Conference of chief secretaries on the monsoon situation here.
The government has enough cushion on account of bumper production in the previous two years, Singh said.
“We are in a position to ensure adequate availability of foodgrains in drought affected areas. We should not hesitate to take strong measures and intervene in the market if the need were to rise,” Singh said in the presence of agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.
Emphasising the need to act promptly, collectively and effectively, he assured the Centre’s full support regarding any additional assistance that States would require on this front. “In no case, should we allow citizens to go hungry.”
Cautioning that the reduced production of Kharif crop in the current year may have an inflationary impact on prices of food items in the coming months, Singh said the Centre and states will have to work together and activise the public distribution system (PDS).

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Aug 2009 | 2:23 am

Markets retreat on monsoon woes; Sensex drops 3.26% this week

Mumbai: Below the normal rainfall so far this year has halted a strong bull run on the bourses pulling down the key indices Sensex and Nifty by more than 3% amid a sudden pullout by foreign institutional investors (FIIs).
The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer, the Sensex, ended the week at 15,160.24, at a net a fall of 510.07 points, or 3.26%, from its last weekend’s close.
The sensex crossed 16,000 level for the first time in 14 months to touch a trading high of 16,002.46 on 4 August.
It rose by 2,166 points or 16% in the last three weeks on impressive earnings season.
The broader 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also tumbled by 155.05 points, or 3.34%, to close the week at 4,481.40 from its previous weekend’s close.
The initial public offer by state-run NHPC, which got good response on the first of its opening, also raised fears that it will absorb liquidity from the secondary market.
Analysts said monsoon rains is the main source for nearly 60% farm irrigation in India and considered crucial for Asia’s third-largest economy, which has started showing signs of recovery.
As per the provisional figures, FIIs sold shares worth Rs2,113 crore in the concluding three days of week.
FMCG, Realty and Auto sectors witnessed heavy profit selling after the recent surge in these stocks.
During the week, the trading volume also showed marked fall. The volume on the BSE was relatively low at Rs30,859 crore compared to Rs33,007 crore in the last week. The turnover on the NSE also fell to Rs94,108 crore from Rs1,07.707 crore in the previous week.
India’s largest public sector company, Reliance Industries however, gained 1.98% after petroleum minister Murli Deora made a statement in the Parliament on 6 August that price approved by the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) for RIL gas from the KG D6 field was lower than the price it had approved for some of the other operators in the country.
Among major losers, Hindustan Unilever lost 7.33%, ITC 7.96%, Maruti Suzuki 8.63%, Hero Honda 7.74%, HDFC Bank 7.14%, Reliance Comm 7.58% and DLF 6.99%.
The BSE FMCG index dipped by 6.71%, the BSE Realty Index by 5.93%, the BSE Auto Index by 4.49% and the Bankex by 4.20%.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 8 Aug 2009 | 2:01 am

Bulls take a breather, key indices slip 3 percent

Though benchmark indices touched a 14-month high this week, continued selling pulled them down 3 percent from their last weekly close, as the government voiced concerns that the revival of the economy may be hampered due to deficient rains.
Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Aug 2009 | 2:00 am

IMF boosts loan to Pakistan by $3.2 bn

Washington: The International Monetary Fund on Friday said it had approved an additional $3.2 billion loan to Pakistan after the country asked for more help to weather the global economic crisis.
The IMF said the extra funds for the loan program to Pakistan would “help the country address increased balance of payment needs” and increase the total loan to $11.3 billion.
The IMF executive board also approved an extension of the loan to the end of 2010, an additional three months, and the payment of a third installment of the loan of $1.2 billion, the multilateral institution said in a statement.
Four billion dollars had already been disbursed from the $7.6 billion Stand-By Arrangement agreed in November to bolster the South Asian nation amid the worst global contraction since the Great Depression.
Pakistan approached the IMF last year for a rescue package as it grappled with a 30-year high inflation rate and fast-depleting reserves that were barely enough to cover nine weeks of import bills.
The board decisions were made after IMF completed its second review of the country’s progress in addressing its heightened balance of payments needs.
“The macroeconomic outlook for 2009-10 remains difficult, and the external position is subject to considerable downside risks,” said Murilo Portugal, IMF deputy managing director.
The extra IMF aid “will help mitigate these risks and enable the implementation of the government’s fiscal program; however, this financing is temporary and should be used as a bridge until the revenue reforms bear fruit.”
The board also agreed that part of the additional funding “could be used to finance priority spending until the disbursements of donor support pledged for 2009-10 are received.”
IMF mission chief to Pakistan, Adnan Mazarei, told reporters in a conference call that the funds would help the government build the social safety net and provide assistance to internally displaced persons in the violence-riddled country.
Mazarei said the funds were intended as “bridge financing” until the Friends of Pakistan donors honor their pledges from a Tokyo meeting in April, which he said was roughly $5.7 billion over two to three years.
“Here I must stress that because IMF financing for the budget is temporary, it is very critical that donors deliver their pledged support without any delay,” he added.
The IMF said the board had approved Pakistan’s request for waivers for failing to meet certain criteria, including a budget deficit that is 0.9% of economic output and continued weakness in banking supervision and tax policy.
“Pakistan’s economy has continued to stabilize,” Portugal said.
He welcomed Pakistan’s progress in reforms in the financial sector and the foreign exchange market and in strengthening the social safety net.
“These achievements are appreciable, considering the security developments that resulted among others in the large number of internally displaced persons, the global economic recession, and the difficult domestic political environment,” Portugal said.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 8 Aug 2009 | 1:51 am

Market retreat on monsoon worries, Sensex down 3%

Below the normal rainfall so far this year has pulled down Sensex and Nifty by more than three per cent amid a sudden pullout by foreign institutional investors.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 8 Aug 2009 | 1:50 am

India relaunches largest auction of oil, gas areas

India has relaunched its largest ever auction of oil and gas exploration areas, aiming to attract $3-4 billion investment towards boosting energy security.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 8 Aug 2009 | 1:38 am

Bank employees resume work from today

Bank employees on Saturday resumed work after a two-day strike by public sector bank employees union.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 8 Aug 2009 | 1:30 am

Chhattisgarh declares electricity workers strike illegal

The Chhattisgarh government Saturday declared as illegal a proposed day-long strike called by thousands of electricity workers. The authorities said the production and distribution of power comes under essential services.
Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 8 Aug 2009 | 12:31 am

Crop outlook dismal in AP

Hyderabad, Aug. 7 After four years of bountiful kharif seasons, the farmers in Andhra Pradesh are going to witness an unprecedented situation, with at least 1,000 mandals out of the 1,128 reporting deficit
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am

Markets this week

Indian markets extended the rally for the third straight day on Monday, driving the benchmark indices to their highest level in more than a
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am

Economy moving ‘slightly’, but worries over rains remain

New Delhi, Aug. 7 The Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, today said the Indian economy had started to “move slightly”, but quickly noted that he was unsure of its direction as other problems may arise from the adverse effects
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am

Banks, unions back to the negotiating table

New Delhi, Aug. 7 With the two-day bank strike bringing banking operations to a halt in most parts of the country, the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) now appears ready for a climbdown. Both the IBA and the United Forum of Bank Unions
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am

Monsoon clouds direction of economy’s growth

Chennai, Aug. 7 Clouds of worry hover over the Indian economy as the monsoon continues to play truant.
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am

Negative sentiment dampens market

Indian equities continued to dip the second day in a row on Friday, on rising concerns over the poor monsoon coupled with weak global cues. The Sensex and the Nifty fell by over two per cent each, the first shedding more than 350 points to close
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am

FIIs up holdings by Rs 2 lakh cr

Chennai, Aug. 7 FII holdings in S&P CNX 500 companies went up from Rs 3.52 lakh crore at the end of March 2009 to Rs 5.8 lakh crore on June 30. About 80 per cent of the increase was because of a rise in market
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am

‘Value formats’ lead retail sales recovery

BL Research Bureau Worries over job losses, tightened purse strings and the liquidity squeeze have cast a cloud over the prospects of the retail sector for a while
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am

India, Korea agree to cut tariffs to boost trade ties

India today signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the Republic of Korea in a bid not only to promote trade of industrial and farm goods but also boost exchanges of manpower, particularly in the services sector between
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am

PSBs help one another in fund raising efforts

Bangalore, Aug. 7 Public sector banks (PSBs) are supporting each other in their respective capital fund-raising
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 8 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am

Nuclear free world is possible: Ban

Washington: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon believes that realizing the dream of a nuclear free world is still possible despite the existence of a huge stockpile of nuclear weapons and efforts of several countries to get a hand on it.
“A world without nuclear weapons may be distant, but it is no longer just a dream,” Ban said in a message to the Seventh General Conference of Mayors for Peace.
“I look forward to continuing to work with governments and global citizens to realize this shared vision,” he said.
Sharing the Mayor’s vision of a world free of nuclear weapons, Ban said: “While we remain far from this goal, that is no reason to despair.”
Referring to the five-point plan he issued last year, he said there were practical and realistic steps the international community can take to make this vision a reality.
“Global awareness of the need for progress in nuclear disarmament is greater than it has been in many years. This support is broad-based,” Ban said.
“To build on this momentum, next month’s observance of the International Day of Peace will seek to mobilize the world to advance the disarmament and non-proliferation agenda,” he said.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 11:30 pm

Attacks on lone blogger reverberate across Web

New York: The outage that knocked Twitter offline for hours was traced to an attack on a lone blogger in the former Soviet republic of Georgia but the collateral damage that left millions around the world tweetless showed just how much havoc an isolated cyberdispute can cause.
“It told us how quickly many people really took Twitter into their hearts,” Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, said Friday.
Tens of millions of people have come to rely on social media to express their innermost thoughts and to keep up with world news and celebrity gossip.
Twitter “is one of those little amusements that infiltrated the mass behavior in some significant ways, so that when it went away, a lot of people really noticed it and missed it.”
The attacks Thursday also slowed down Facebook and caused problems for the online diary site LiveJournal. But Twitter, the 140-character-or-less messaging site used by celebrities, businesses and even Iranian protesters, suffered a total outage that lasted several hours.
Those attacks continued Friday from thousands of computers pummeling its servers, said Kazuhiro Gomi, chief technology officer for NTT America Enterprise Hosting Services, which hosts Twitter’s service.
Twitter crashed because of a denial-of-service attack, in which hackers command scores of computers toward a single site at the same time to prevent legitimate traffic from getting through. The attack was targeted at a blogger who goes by “Cyxymu” _ Cyrillic spelling of Sukhumi, a city in the breakaway territory of Abkhazia in Georgia _ on several Web sites, including Twitter, Facebook and LiveJournal.
But they could have just as well targeted Twitter itself. That’s because the effects were the same whether the excess traffic went to the “twitter.com” home page or to the page for Cyxymu at “twitter.com/cyxymu.” Same with Facebook and LiveJournal.
“A denial of service attack like this one is a very blunt instrument,” said Ray Dickenson, chief technology officer at Authentium, a computer security firm. It’s as if a viewer who didn’t like one show on a television channel decided to “knock out the whole station.”
Or like fishing with dynamite: You’ll catch something, but the blast will kill dolphins, sharks and other organisms, too.
Just who was behind these attacks is not yet clear, but the dispute was probably related to the ongoing political conflict between Russia and Georgia.
Gomi said the attacking computers were located around the world and the source of the attacks was not known.
The attacks seemed to come in two waves.
The first was a spam campaign consisting of e-mails with links back to posts by Cyxymu. This drove some traffic to the blogger’s postings on various social-networking sites, possibly to disparage him as the source of the spam.
The second and more destructive phase consisted of the denial-of-service attack, which attacked the sites’ servers by sending it lots of junk requests _ presumably to prevent people from reading his viewpoints.
It would have been much harder for the perpetrators of the attacks to isolate Cyxymu’s accounts on each social-networking site and shut it down. To do that, they would have needed to access his password by guessing it or somehow luring him into giving it out.
The blunt approach was easier _ and more damaging.
On Friday, the surge of traffic to Twitter was about as it was Thursday as much as 20 percent above normal traffic levels. But Gomi said NTT was better able to filter out the fake traffic, which is why Twitter stayed online.
Dickenson said Twitter was more vulnerable than Facebook and other sites because the company’s servers are hosted by a single service provider, something larger Web sites tend to avoid as they grow.
Although having several providers is no guarantee of avoiding harm, Dickenson said doing so at least gives the sites more tools and space to work with once they occur.
Craig Labovitz, chief scientist for Arbor Networks, said Twitter’s smaller size also made it more vulnerable.
“Twitter is just apples and oranges compared to Facebook,” he said. “Facebook is massive, and they presumably have massive infrastructure backing it.”
After the attacks on Twitter started, NTT turned on a technology that protects against denial of service attacks. The problem is it slows down access to the site.
“It’s still under attack,” he said. “If we turned that stuff off, the Twitter site could go down immediately, to be quite honest.”
According to comScore, Twitter had 20.1 million unique visitors in the United States in June, some 34 times the 593,000 a year earlier. This compares with Facebook’s 77 million this June, more than double the 37.4 million in the prior year.
The Twitter outage was widely blogged, reported and _ once the site was back _ tweeted about, but was it really that bad? Or a mere hiccup of the information age?
For people like Lev Ekster, who uses Twitter to keep in touch with customers of his mobile cupcake truck in New York, the outage proved no more than an inconvenience. His event planner, who normally arranges cupcake orders for birthdays and bar mitzvahs, fielded phone calls all day from customers wanting to know the truck’s location for the day.
“A temporary outage is not the end of the world,” Ekster said. “But if this kept happening, people like myself who rely heavily on Twitter would go elsewhere.”
With Twitter not working Thursday, Ekster went to Facebook instead to disclose where the CupCakeStop truck was parked. CupCakeStop has just 1,800 Facebook fans, compared with about 6,000 followers on Twitter, but it was better than nothing. He still sold out of cupcakes by 6 p.m.
As annoying as the Twitter outage may have been for some, it was nothing compared with the havoc that would have resulted from a cell phone service outage.
“A total blackout, even of television, which we consider such a charmingly old-fashioned medium ... would certainly be more massive than Twitter or Facebook,” Thompson said. “We haven’t gotten to a point where people are dependent on Twitter for crucial things other than reading Twitter.”
AP Technology Writer Jordan Robertson contributed to this story from San Francisco.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 11:12 pm

Attacks on lone blogger reverberate across Web

New York: The outage that knocked Twitter offline for hours was traced to an attack on a lone blogger in the former Soviet republic of Georgia but the collateral damage that left millions around the world tweetless showed just how much havoc an isolated cyberdispute can cause.
“It told us how quickly many people really took Twitter into their hearts,” Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, said Friday.
Tens of millions of people have come to rely on social media to express their innermost thoughts and to keep up with world news and celebrity gossip.
Twitter “is one of those little amusements that infiltrated the mass behavior in some significant ways, so that when it went away, a lot of people really noticed it and missed it.”
The attacks Thursday also slowed down Facebook and caused problems for the online diary site LiveJournal. But Twitter, the 140-character-or-less messaging site used by celebrities, businesses and even Iranian protesters, suffered a total outage that lasted several hours.
Those attacks continued Friday from thousands of computers pummeling its servers, said Kazuhiro Gomi, chief technology officer for NTT America Enterprise Hosting Services, which hosts Twitter’s service.
Twitter crashed because of a denial-of-service attack, in which hackers command scores of computers toward a single site at the same time to prevent legitimate traffic from getting through. The attack was targeted at a blogger who goes by “Cyxymu” _ Cyrillic spelling of Sukhumi, a city in the breakaway territory of Abkhazia in Georgia _ on several Web sites, including Twitter, Facebook and LiveJournal.
But they could have just as well targeted Twitter itself. That’s because the effects were the same whether the excess traffic went to the “twitter.com” home page or to the page for Cyxymu at “twitter.com/cyxymu.” Same with Facebook and LiveJournal.
“A denial of service attack like this one is a very blunt instrument,” said Ray Dickenson, chief technology officer at Authentium, a computer security firm. It’s as if a viewer who didn’t like one show on a television channel decided to “knock out the whole station.”
Or like fishing with dynamite: You’ll catch something, but the blast will kill dolphins, sharks and other organisms, too.
Just who was behind these attacks is not yet clear, but the dispute was probably related to the ongoing political conflict between Russia and Georgia.
Gomi said the attacking computers were located around the world and the source of the attacks was not known.
The attacks seemed to come in two waves.
The first was a spam campaign consisting of e-mails with links back to posts by Cyxymu. This drove some traffic to the blogger’s postings on various social-networking sites, possibly to disparage him as the source of the spam.
The second and more destructive phase consisted of the denial-of-service attack, which attacked the sites’ servers by sending it lots of junk requests _ presumably to prevent people from reading his viewpoints.
It would have been much harder for the perpetrators of the attacks to isolate Cyxymu’s accounts on each social-networking site and shut it down. To do that, they would have needed to access his password by guessing it or somehow luring him into giving it out.
The blunt approach was easier _ and more damaging.
On Friday, the surge of traffic to Twitter was about as it was Thursday as much as 20 percent above normal traffic levels. But Gomi said NTT was better able to filter out the fake traffic, which is why Twitter stayed online.
Dickenson said Twitter was more vulnerable than Facebook and other sites because the company’s servers are hosted by a single service provider, something larger Web sites tend to avoid as they grow.
Although having several providers is no guarantee of avoiding harm, Dickenson said doing so at least gives the sites more tools and space to work with once they occur.
Craig Labovitz, chief scientist for Arbor Networks, said Twitter’s smaller size also made it more vulnerable.
“Twitter is just apples and oranges compared to Facebook,” he said. “Facebook is massive, and they presumably have massive infrastructure backing it.”
After the attacks on Twitter started, NTT turned on a technology that protects against denial of service attacks. The problem is it slows down access to the site.
“It’s still under attack,” he said. “If we turned that stuff off, the Twitter site could go down immediately, to be quite honest.”
According to comScore, Twitter had 20.1 million unique visitors in the United States in June, some 34 times the 593,000 a year earlier. This compares with Facebook’s 77 million this June, more than double the 37.4 million in the prior year.
The Twitter outage was widely blogged, reported and _ once the site was back _ tweeted about, but was it really that bad? Or a mere hiccup of the information age?
For people like Lev Ekster, who uses Twitter to keep in touch with customers of his mobile cupcake truck in New York, the outage proved no more than an inconvenience. His event planner, who normally arranges cupcake orders for birthdays and bar mitzvahs, fielded phone calls all day from customers wanting to know the truck’s location for the day.
“A temporary outage is not the end of the world,” Ekster said. “But if this kept happening, people like myself who rely heavily on Twitter would go elsewhere.”
With Twitter not working Thursday, Ekster went to Facebook instead to disclose where the CupCakeStop truck was parked. CupCakeStop has just 1,800 Facebook fans, compared with about 6,000 followers on Twitter, but it was better than nothing. He still sold out of cupcakes by 6 p.m.
As annoying as the Twitter outage may have been for some, it was nothing compared with the havoc that would have resulted from a cell phone service outage.
“A total blackout, even of television, which we consider such a charmingly old-fashioned medium ... would certainly be more massive than Twitter or Facebook,” Thompson said. “We haven’t gotten to a point where people are dependent on Twitter for crucial things other than reading Twitter.”
AP Technology Writer Jordan Robertson contributed to this story from San Francisco.

Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 11:12 pm

12 Goa mines near wildlife sanctuaries face closure

Twelve mines, including one owned by Sesa Goa, face closure because of their proximity to wildlife sanctuaries.
Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Aug 2009 | 11:00 pm

Wall St Week Ahead: Stocks' rally up to shoppers, Fed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street's rally could persist next week as investors' conviction grows that the U.S. economy is on track for a recovery. But retailers' results, CPI and other consumer data could cast a pall if shoppers fail to show signs of life.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 8:44 pm

Strike ends, banks to resume work from today - Times of India


Indian Express
Strike ends, banks to resume work from today
Times of India
LUCKNOW: The two-day strike by the bank employees ended on Friday with the Indian Bank Association (IBA) reportedly agreeing to the demand of the agitating bank employees for 17.5% hike in their salaries. Convener of the United Forum of Bank Unions ...
Banks, unions back to the negotiating tableHindu Business Line
Mangalore: Bank Strike Ends: People face InconveniencesDaijiworld.com
PSU banks employees strike endsBusiness Standard
Hindu -Rediff -Myiris.com
all 379 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 7 Aug 2009 | 8:21 pm

New bidder emerges for Boston Globe - source

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A new bidder has emerged to buy the 137-year-old Boston Globe from New York Times Co, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 7:18 pm

ANALYSIS - Obama cautious despite unemployment cheer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The news was positive, but the response cautious.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 6:04 pm

AIG posts first profit since 2007; shares jump

NEW YORK (Reuters) - AIG, the giant insurer bailed out by the U.S. government, posted its first profit in seven quarters on Friday, helped by large investment gains as financial markets improved, sending its shares up 20 percent.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 5:15 pm

Can live-in and same-sex couples get joint home loans?

As we know, joint loans increase loan eligibility, simply because the income of the two borrowers is always more than one, hence the loan eligibility is higher.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 4:07 pm

Air India to begin low cost domestic flights - Hindu


Zee News
Air India to begin low cost domestic flights
Hindu
VYING FOR A PIE: Air India Chairman and Managing Director Arvind Jadhav addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Friday. NEW DELHI: Air India on Friday announced launching of its low-cost domestic operations from September. ...
Air India's 'privy purse' soars to Rs 16000 croreEconomic Times
AI on LCC flight path to stay airborneBusiness Standard
Sinking Air India has Rs 16000 crore debtTimes of India
Moneycontrol.com -Indian Express -Calcutta Telegraph
all 131 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 7 Aug 2009 | 3:42 pm

'No Ponzi game can ever be allowed to stop'

"The global economy has, in all probability, entered a period of stability after a fairly big decline," says renowned derivatives expert Satyajit Das.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 3:41 pm

Monsoon activity likely to improve - Hindu


Indian Express
Monsoon activity likely to improve
Hindu
NEW DELHI: There could be some positive developments on the monsoon front in the coming days. The India Meteorological Department on Friday forecast that monsoon activity, which remained weak over the past 10 days over most parts of the country, ...
Country looks stressed as monsoon hopes dry upEconomic Times
Monsoon clouds direction of economy's growthHindu Business Line
Dread of drought in weather dataCalcutta Telegraph
Livemint -Daily Pioneer -Reuters India
all 54 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 7 Aug 2009 | 3:40 pm

GSK Consumer to step up hinterland play

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare Ltd is looking to increase rural focus through marketing initiatives.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 3:02 pm

Matrix-Mylan in AIDS drugs deal with Clinton

To offer second-line antiretroviral treatment for under $500 per patient per year.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 2:59 pm

AI to hive off units, enter low-cost biz in turnaround plan

Air India is seeking a guarantee from the government for lowering the interest repayment on Rs 10,000-11,000 crore of high-cost debt.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 2:59 pm

Berger to set up Rs 100 cr plant

Berger Paints is setting up a water-based paints plant in South India at an investment of Rs 100 crore.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 2:58 pm

Ushacomm hunts for $200 m buy

Ushacomm, an IT solutions vendor, is eyeing acquisition in India, continental Europe or the UK in the telecom product space.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 2:56 pm

Indian airports not as expensive as touted

For long airlines have been crying themselves hoarse about airport charges in India being amongst the highest in world.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 2:56 pm

Jet, Kingfisher running out of peer support in mid air

Some feel the government should let the two perish and that the shakeout will be good for other airline companies.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 2:54 pm

India foreign reserves up 3.9 bn to USD 271.64 bn

India's forex reserves rose by USD 3.930 billion to USD 271.641 billion for the week ended July 31 from USD 267.711 billion in the previous week.


Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 7 Aug 2009 | 2:40 pm

U.S. loses fewer jobs in July, jobless rate eases

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. unemployment rate fell in July for the first time in 15 months as employers cut far fewer jobs than expected, giving the clearest indication yet that the economy was turning around from a deep recession.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 2:36 pm

SBI ups home loan market stakes - Economic Times


Thaindian.com
SBI ups home loan market stakes
Economic Times
MUMBAI: SBI has upped the stakes in the competitive home loan market by offering loans up to Rs 5 lakh at a fixed rate of 8% for five years and cutting rates by 50-75 basis points for higher value loans. The rates will apply only to new customers as ...
SBI cuts home loan ratesTimes of India
SBI slashes home loan rates yet againBusiness Standard
SBI peps up home loansCalcutta Telegraph
Daily News & Analysis -Indian Express -Indopia
all 54 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 7 Aug 2009 | 2:25 pm

Marginal decrease in property price: govt

Government on Friday said a downward trend has been witnessed in the property prices in the global reality markets.
Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 7 Aug 2009 | 2:09 pm

RIL has given vague reply, responds RNRL

JP Chalasani, CEO of Reliance Power, who has been spearheading RNRL’s battle in the media, said RIL had responded to the ADAG group’s earlier comments with vague generalities.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:58 pm

Mukesh saddened, Anil pained by their fight

Mukesh Ambani is 'saddened' and his younger brother Anil Ambani is 'pained' by the ongoing tussle between the two over supply of gas from the K G Basin.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:52 pm

India, South Korea ink free trade pact - Economic Times


Straits Times
India, South Korea ink free trade pact
Economic Times
NEW DELHI: India and South Korea signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement on Friday which will make Korean consumer products and auto-parts cheaper in India. The deal excludes fully built-up vehicles, and provides for easier movement of ...
India, Korea agree to cut tariffs to boost trade tiesHindu Business Line
Trade pact with South KoreaCalcutta Telegraph
India, S Korea sign trade pactThe Statesman
India Infoline.com -Wall Street Journal -BBC News
all 335 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:51 pm

SBI cuts home loan rates

State Bank of India reduced its home loan rates further by announcing a three-month-long 'My Home Campaign', starting from Saturday.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:49 pm

RIL has shown disregard for the judiciary: RNRL

RNRL said RIL has failed to respond to charges of causing loss of Rs 30,000 crore to state-owned NTPC by reneging on deal to supply gas at $2.34/unit.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:47 pm

3L Americans line up to trade in cars

The trade-in vehicles should be in a drivable condition (even though they will be scrapped); they must be less than 25 years old; and only the purchase or 5 year minimum lease of new vehicles qualify for the voucher.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:46 pm

Sinking Air India has Rs 16000 crore debt

Saddled with Rs 16,000 crore debt, Air India (AI) has approached government for fresh capital infusion and soft loan even as the airline launched a major cost-cutting exercise.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:43 pm

MFs should charge uniform exit load: Sebi

Market regulator Sebi on Friday asked asset management companies not to discriminate between mutual fund holders while charging exit load.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:42 pm

Satyam, Raju owe government Rs 541 crore in I-T dues

The government on Friday said it would complete all investigations into the income tax cases against Satyam, its former owners and his other group companies by December 2009.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:36 pm

Merrill Lynch bullish on India forecast

The Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, one of the world’s leading financial management and advisory companies, has taken positive outlook on India GDP forecast. It has projected India GDP to grow 7.3 per cent as against the earlier projection of 7.1 per cent.
Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:36 pm

Air India goes radical to survive

New Delhi: India’s struggling flag carrier, Air India, has put in place a determined turnaround plan, the initial focus of which will be on survival and return it to profits in three years.
Restructuring plans: A file photo of Air India building in Mumbai. Abhijit Bhatlekar / Mint
Restructuring plans: A file photo of Air India building in Mumbai. Abhijit Bhatlekar / Mint
Air India, operated by the state-run National Aviation Co. of India Ltd (Nacil) has committed to undertake an overhaul of its business operations, restructure its massive Rs15,241-crore debt, raise funds through a public offering in fiscal 2011 and convert three out of four of its flights into low-fare services.
Alongside, it will also attempt a rationalisation of its work force, chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav said on Friday, without elaborating.
“It’s going to be a painful exercise,” Jadhav said, announcing the measures. “It is going to hurt; it’s going to hurt a lot of people.”
Air India has accumulated losses of Rs7,200 crore and is saddled with debt of Rs15,241 crore, taken to pay for 49 of the 111 planes, worth Rs50,000 crore, it has ordered from Airbus SAS and Boeing Co. It now plans to cancel some of its aircraft orders.
“We’ve got into a cash-flow problem. We are unable to service our interest and debt liabilities with our internal resources,” Jadhav, a 1978-batch officer of the Indian Administrative Services who took charge of the airline in May, said in his first public briefing.
Air India was forced to delay salaries in June and seek government aid to tide over the worst crisis in its over 70-year history. The airline must reorganize after the government asked it for a time-bound programme as part of conditions for the rescue package.
Indian carriers had losses of around Rs9,740 crore in the fiscal year ended 31 March after oil prices spiked and passenger count fell. Many of these are finding it difficult to fund operations in the wake of the global crash crunch and some have missed payments to vendors, including the state-run oil marketers.
Nacil had asked for a loan and equity infusion of around Rs15,000 crore from the government. Its current equity capital is Rs145 crore.
The proposal is being vetted by the finance ministry, Jadhav said. The next meeting is on 25 August. Based on the outcome of this meeting, the airline will finalise its financial restructuring, though it has already set a three-year road map to recovery with milestones of nine, 18 and 36 months.
Also See Air India’s Road To Recovery—The Eight Step Path (Graphics)
The first six months of this restructuring, Jadhav said, will be focused on filling up aircraft that are flying at half occupancy by making sure its on-time performance improves.
Over the next nine months, its cargo, engineering services, ground handling and airline operations will be carved out into separate divisions, making them individual revenue and profit centres to take away the burden from the main airline group. Air India plans to spin off non-core units after 18 months through an additional public offering.
Also, Air India and Indian Airlines, which were brought together under Nacil in 2007, will have a single code by March 2010, allowing passengers to book tickets through a single website. Currently, Air India operates under the AI code, and Indian Airlines under IC.
Air India’s much delayed entry into Star Alliance, the world’s largest alliance of airlines, would have to wait until June 2010 and international route rationalisation and code-share agreements will be carried out keeping this in mind, Jadhav said. Code sharing refers to a ticket marketing practice among airlines that allows carriers to share the two characters in codes used in airline reservation systems. This helps customers purchase a single ticket on a journey that has two flights such as a New Delhi-London leg and a London-New York one on two different airlines. Air India will also return the leased aircraft.
The airline plans to relocate its 31,000 employees into its four new subsidiaries. “For the first time in Air India’s history, we are officially involving all employees representatives... We have set up a turnaround committee. Fifty percent of committee members are union representatives,” said Jadhav.
“Well, if the people in Air India and those who have to support them within the ministry really want these things to be done, these would certainly be done,” said Vasudevan Thulasidas, who presided over the merger of the Air India and Indian Airlines between 2007 and 2008.
Air India Express, the airline’s low-fare service, will start its flights in September, taking on rival low-fare carriers SpiceJet Ltd and InterGlobe Aviation Pvt. Ltd-run IndiGo.
It will try to reduce its cost per average seat kilometre, an aviation benchmark to calculate costs, to 6.5-7 cents (Rs3.11-3.35), in line with what Jadhav said was the international benchmark. “We are not going to sit back and watch.”
Bloomberg contributed to this story.
tarun.s@livemint.com
Graphics by Sandeep Bhatnagar / Mint

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:36 pm

SC upholds conviction of Margabandhu in 1992 securities scam

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the conviction and sentence of former Uco Bank chairman and managing director K Margabandhu and bank's former general manager R Venkatkrishnan.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:35 pm

Small stakes rule in PE game

Is it emotional attachment to one’s work or strong family ties? Whatever the reason, Indian entrepreneurs are reluctant to part with majority stakes while raising private equity.
Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:34 pm

MFs find a way to beat entry load

Mutual fund investors are clear winners after the regulator scrapped entry loads on investments from August 1 — but with a rider.
Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:30 pm

Subir Gokarn is front-runner for RBI post

Mumbai: Subir Gokarn, Asia-Pacific chief economist of global rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P), seems to have emerged the front-runner for a deputy governor’s post in the Indian central bank that has been lying vacant since mid-June after Rakesh Mohan quit months ahead of his retirement.
According to two persons familiar with the development, Gokarn’s name tops the list of candidates approved by the search committee, headed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D. Subbarao, and sent to the finance ministry. The appointment needs the approval of the Prime Minister’s Office.
“Unless things change at the last moment, it’s fairly certain that Gokarn will get the job. The announcement is expected soon,” said one of the persons. He did not want to be identified given the sensitivity of the issue.
Most preferred: S&P’s Asia-Pacific chief economist Subir Gokarn. Madhu Kapparath / Mint
Most preferred: S&P’s Asia-Pacific chief economist Subir Gokarn. Madhu Kapparath / Mint
If Gokarn, 49, gets the job, he will be one of the youngest deputy governors at RBI in recent times. R.K. Hazari, who was a deputy governor between 1969 and 1977, is the youngest in RBI’s history and was in his late 30s when he was appointed to the post.
Gokarn’s appointment, if it happens, will also mark a radical shift in RBI’s approach. It will be the first time the bank is looking beyond the circle of bureaucrats and “government economists” to fill the post, traditionally reserved for a macroeconomist.
Mohan, who quit in June, had served as a secretary, department of economic affairs, and chief economic adviser to the finance minister. His predecessor Y.V. Reddy, who later became governor, also was a part of the finance ministry.
Apart from Subbarao, the other members of the search panel are Ashok Chawla, finance secretary, former State Bank of India chairman Janki Ballabh and former RBI deputy governor Vepa Kamesam.
Even though these members were involved in preparing the list of prospective candidates at the initial stage, Subbarao alone interacted with the chosen few.
JPMorgan’s chief economist in India Jahangir Aziz was one of those he met. Aziz, according to one of the two people cited in the first instance, expressed his inability to take up the job soon because of his other commitments.
Arvind Virmani, the chief economic adviser in the finance ministry, is also being considered, but he may not make the cut because he retired on 30 June and is currently on an extension. Technically, a retired person cannot be considered for the job.
There is yet another person who was interviewed by the governor for the job, but Mint could not ascertain his identity. Mint reached out to both Gokarn and Aziz, but neither of them was willing to talk about the appointment.
According to the two people, after the initial shortlisting by the search panel, Subbarao formally met the candidates in mid-July and continued interacting with them over phone till early this week, before the final list was made.
Gokarn assumed his current position in August 2007, and is responsible for shaping S&P’s macroeconomic views in this region and expanding its research and commentary, after being chief economist of Crisil Ltd, an S&P company, for at least five years. He was the chief economist at the National Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi, and associate professor at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.
Educated at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and the Delhi School of Economics, Gokarn received his PhD in economics at Case Western Reserve University at Cleveland in Ohio, the US. His doctoral dissertation was on the impact of capital market liberalization on industrial performance in South Korea.
Aziz was previously the principal economic adviser in the ministry of finance. He was involved in the Indian government’s economic policy-making process, especially in the areas of monetary policy and financial sector reforms. Prior to this position, he was with the International Monetary Fund, where he spent 14 years mostly in the Asia-Pacific department. Aziz has a PhD in economics from the University of Minnesota, and graduate degrees from Kolkata’s St Xavier’s College and Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University,
A recipient of the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour in India, Virmani is a PhD in economics from Harvard University. He has served as director and chief executive officer of economic think tank Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, and has been a senior economic adviser in the finance ministry and adviser (development policy) in the Planning Commission.
Mohan quit in June, eight months ahead of his retirement as deputy governor, to take up an assignment at the Stanford Center for International Development at Stanford University as a distinguished consulting professor.
The first deputy governor born after India’s independence in 1947, Mohan came to RBI’s headquarters on Mint Road in September 2002, but before finishing his three-year term, he moved back to North Block as secretary, department of economic affairs, in October 2004. He came back to RBI in July 2005.
Mohan was in charge of monetary policy, financial markets, economic research and statistics, among others. He also headed the committee on financial sector assessment that conducted a stress test on the Indian financial system.
After he left, Subbarao kept most of these critical portfolios with himself—till the time a fourth deputy governor came on board.
Traditionally, RBI has four deputy governors. Among the existing three, Usha Thorat and Shyamala Gopinath belong to RBI cadre. The third one, K.C. Chakrabarty, took over as deputy governor in June, six months after V. Leeladhar retired. This time around, the government seems to be taking just around half the time to appoint Mohan’s successor.
feedback@livemint.com

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:26 pm

Mukesh misguided by cronies: Anil

RIL is still doing everything in its power to renege on its binding commitment to supply gas to us,” Anil Ambani said in a statement on Friday, soon after RIL made its first public statement on the ongoing gas dispute.
Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:25 pm

Is there one rule for judges, another for MPs?

New Delhi: Earlier this week, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was forced to defer the introduction of the judges’ assets Bill in the Rajya Sabha after rival parties, even some Congressmen, opposed it because it entitles judges to keep information about their wealth out of the public realm.
It emerges that information on the net worth or wealth of the country’s elected representatives is also termed “confidential” according to Indian law. This, despite a sunshine law that requires everyone contesting an election to declare their wealth.
Plugging loopholes: Parliament House in New Delhi. Anyone contesting an election is required to declare their wealth as per legal requirement. Reuters
Plugging loopholes: Parliament House in New Delhi. Anyone contesting an election is required to declare their wealth as per legal requirement. Reuters
“At the time of election, candidates have to declare assets which are made public but once elected, there is no annual update available publicly, until perhaps the next election,” said T.S. Krishnamurthy, former chief election commissioner of India. The irony, added Krishnamurthy is that these representatives “want judges to make information about their wealth public.”
Rules on the declaration of assets and liabilities by members of the Lok Sabha (framed by the Speaker in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by sub-section (3) of section 75 A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951), clearly state that while every elected candidate shall furnish details of his assets and liabilities within 90 days of taking oath, and would be maintained in a register, the “information contained in the register shall be treated as confidential and it shall not be made available to any person except with the written permission of the Speaker.”
“What is the secrecy that you are trying to maintain by giving the power to the Speaker? There certainly is justification for making this information public,” Krishnamurthy said.
The judges’ assets Bill was opposed by members of Parliament (or MPs) because it effectively exempts judges from disclosing their wealth.
“There is a distinction between information of assets and liabilities of candidates contesting elections and that of MPs. As far as the former is concerned, it is in the public domain. But for MPs, the rules continue to apply. At present, till the matter is taken up by the CIC (Central Information Commission) and it rules otherwise, the Speaker has the discretion to decide whether the information should be made public,” said Subhash Kashyap, former secretary general of the Lok Sabha and constitutional adviser to the government of India.
There’s also the possibility of MPs’ wealth increasing significantly while they are in office and the current laws make no effort to disclose it in the public domain.
Interestingly, while it is a 2002 ruling by the Supreme Court that paved the way for publicizing assets of candidates contesting elections, it was only in 2004 that the rules made the disclosure of wealth by MPs compulsory and adjudged it confidential.
The enactment of the Right to Information or RTI Act in October 2005—this gives citizens of India the right to secure access to information under the control of public authorities—made the situation more complex. The CIC, meanwhile, referred one such RTI application to former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee (speaker between 2004 and May 2009), acknowledging Lok Sabha rules that say information on MPs’ wealth can be made public only after the Speaker’s nod.
Chatterjee issued an order asking the designated staff to make the information public.
While that sets a precedent, the decision in each case is “entirely up to the Speaker,” said Kashyap. “He can decide not to allow it (the sharing of information.).”
The rules for Rajya Sabha MPs, meanwhile, are slightly different. The rules (Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Rules, 2004) state that MPs should declare their assets and liabilities to the Speaker within 90 days of taking oath and this information “shall be made available to any person with written permission of the chairman”. Unlike the Lok Sabha, rules for the upper house do not classify this information as “confidential”.
“The word confidential does make a difference because when it is used, it means the information would be disclosed only if there is an absolute need,” said Krishnamurthy. Some activists, however, believe that the precedent set by the previous Speaker is enough to ensure future transparency as well.
“Because of the precedent, the Speaker now would be hard-pressed to explain why the information cannot be disclosed. RTI does not apply to any information which violates the privileges of the House. It was believed that disclosure of this information would violate that privilege and hence the rule was inserted saying only the Speaker could allow it. But in light of the previous order (Chatterjee’s decision to make it public), it can be said that it does not violate Parliament’s privilege,” said RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal. “But theoretically, yes, even now it is up to the Speaker.”
While the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Arun Jaitley said the “observation that the details of the MPs are kept secret is pointless” because candidates declare their wealth during the polls, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury said the rule that treats the information on MPs’ wealth as confidential is “tantamount to creating two classes of citizens, which is against the Constitution”.
Liz Mathew and Santosh K. Joy contributed to this story.
ruhi.t@livemint.com

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:22 pm

ITI Partnerships | Plan panel review shows little progress in skills development

New Delhi: Less than 3% of Rs1,500 crore allotted in the two years to 31 March to upgrade industrial training institutes in partnership with the private sector has been utilized, India’s apex Plan panel said in a report.
As little as Rs42 crore of the Rs1,500, or 2.8%, has been utilized, a review by the Planning Commission has found.
The review has also pointed out inefficiencies such as dropouts, vacant faculty positions, limited demand in the manufacturing sector, obsolete and poor quality courses and lack of multi-skilling in these institutes.
Government data suggests 80% of new entrants in the labour market have no skills training. Only 2% of the existing workforce has some skills training against 96% in Korea, 75% in Germany and 80% in Japan.
Training capacity at ITIs and Information Technology Centres is about 30% of the total available training capacity, which caters to about 11% of the projected increase in the labour force every year, according to official data.
These figures compare poorly with the projected work opportunities of 58 million in the five years to 31 March 2012. This is in spite of India’s focus on skills development, articulated in the 2008-09 budget, which spoke of establishing a national mission to address the issue.
The government has also recently set up a National Skill Development Corporation, which aims to foster public-private partnerships to ensure that increasing numbers of people are trained in skilled jobs. It plans to train 150 million people in a decade.
There are 6,906 ITIs in India, of which around 1,500 have been upgraded to some extent with help from the private sector.
“The review suggests that public private partnership in industrial training is not working out. There have also been instances of delayed release of funds,” said a Planning Commission official, who declined to be identified.
“Besides, industry partners as also the principals of ITIs are hesitant in spending the money as there are too many conditionalities attached to the funds by the governemnt.”
Currently, these funds— Rs2.5 crore per ITI—have to be utilized over five years. Not more than 50% has to be kept as seed capital and not more than 25% has to be set aside for construction purposes.
“It is a wrong time to conclude private-public partnership is not working. Because of a downturn, demand for skilled workers has fallen dramatically,” said Amir Ullah Khan, director of research at Bangalore Management Academy.
To make ITIs more productive, the Planning Commission has suggested setting up institute management committees (IMCs) as registered societies, which will help monitor and evaluate their performances. It has also said that interest-free loans of Rs2.5 crore per ITI by the Union government should be directly disbursed to the IMCs. Besides, it has suggested that the IMCs prepare institute development plans, which will be a roadmap for future growth.
“Establishing IMCs is a good idea provided they are professionally managed with a big representation from the industry,” Khan said.
The plan panel has also proposed that IMCs take the responsibility of putting in place placement cells, making ITIs self-sustaining, oversee training and re-training of teachers and making the courses more relevant.
These include focusing on new areas such as architectural assistance, interior decoration and design, and technical assistance at power plants, among others.
sangeeta.s@livemint.com

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:22 pm

Old medicine, new patents

There has been a steady rise in the number of applications filed with the Indian Patent Office by companies seeking patents in Ayurvedic and Unani medicines, a top a government official said.
Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:20 pm

Government deficit relevant for stabilisation: RBI paper

At a time when fiscal deficit was burgeoning at 6.8 per cent of GDP, a RBI's occasional paper has made it clear that the government deficit is relevant for stabilisation as expansion of money supply leads to inflation.
Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:19 pm

Brokerages worry over equity valuations, deficient monsoon

Mumbai: Better-than-expected June quarter earnings by Indian companies, signs of a global economic recovery and a comfortable liquidity situation are making an increasing number of global brokerages bullish on Indian equities. Steep valuations and a deficient monsoon will, however, cap further upside for the markets in near term.
In its mid-year outlook released on Friday, Merrill Lynch’s global analysts said the recession is over and better days are ahead for equity markets.
Jyotivardhan Jaipuria, managing director and head of research (India) at DSP Merrill Lynch Ltd, is, however, asking his clients to sell the rallies in the near term. “Corrections are likely. After the Budget, we had one, but despite that we are up nearly 100% (from lows). Will we make another 100% in the next 6-12 months? I don’t think so,” he said.
Drought worries: Analysts say a slowing monsoon is one of the major threats to India’s growth, considering the high contribution—nearly 18%—of the agricultural sector to the country’s gross domestic product. AFP
Drought worries: Analysts say a slowing monsoon is one of the major threats to India’s growth, considering the high contribution—nearly 18%—of the agricultural sector to the country’s gross domestic product. AFP
JPMorgan Chase and Co. analysts Adrian Mowat and Bharat Iyer, in a report released on Friday, said they have upgraded India to “overweight” status from “neutral” in their regional model portfolio.
“Investor sentiment has improved significantly over the past quarter,” Mowart and Iyer said, attributing this to the result of the national elections, positive global cues and economic indicators that suggest vast improvement in domestic growth momentum.
“Additionally, Q1 FY10 earnings performance indicates that earnings growth momentum is resuming after two quarter of decline,” they said.
Earlier this week, Credit Suisse Group AG had upgraded its target for the Sensex, India’s benchmark equity index, to 17,000 points, saying revival of corporate earnings cycle and the quantitative easing by the central bank will help equity markets’ growth.
The Sensex has rallied 57.14% since January against the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s rise of just 5.4%. Analysts are concerned that the valuation is running ahead of the fundamentals. In past two days, the index has lost 743 points, or 4.68%, on growing concerns about failing monsoon and a heavy bout of profit booking by investors.
However, brokerages are not worried yet. Dinesh Thakkar, chief of Angel Broking Ltd, a Mumbai-based domestic brokerage firm, said: “The correction should not be taken as part of a longer downturn unless it sustains. There is lot of money waiting in the wings.”
According to him, if the market drops another 10% from these levels, it would be an attractive buying point.
Stephen Corry, director and head of investment strategy (global wealth management) at Merrill Lynch (Asia-Pacific) Ltd, is bullish on equity markets, but even he felt that for India, relative valuation is a concern.
“There are no major concerns on India except in relation to other emerging markets. India is, in fact, trading at a 40% premium to emerging markets, while the historic premium is around 25%,” he said.
Globally, Corry is advising clients to lower their cash positions. “We are recommending increased allocation to equities. Earnings are beating analysts’ expectations, but they are beating analysts’ expectations by cutting costs. But they can only cut costs so much. Going ahead, we are looking at more top line revenue growth.”
Corry is advising an asset allocation of 50% in stocks, 45% in bonds and 5% in cash.
According to DSP Merrill’s Jaipuria, the scope for upgrading the valuations is limited as the Indian market is already trading at a premium on FY10 earnings. “Valuations are no longer cheap at around 16.5–17 times; this is more than the long-term average of around 15 times. Markets are being supported by global liquidity and increasing earnings upgrades.”
“Slowing monsoon is one of the major threats to the growth. Given the high contribution (18%) of agriculture to the GDP (gross domestic product), a failure in monsoon could hit our growth forecasts of 7%,” Jaipuria said.
Other concerns include the return of inflation later in the year and a revival in primary market activity, with lot of qualified institutional placements (QIPs) and initial public offerings lined up.
At least 60 companies have board approvals for QIP issues totalling nearly Rs75,000 crore, according to Bloomberg data.
The biggest positive for the Indian markets, according to Jaipuria, is global liquidity. “We have that in plenty. When US pumps in liquidity, the emerging markets benefit more than the US markets.”
Nilesh Jasani, head of research (India) at Credit Suisse, had early this week said the Sensex could dip 15-20% from its present level around the end of this year because of factors such as monetary tightening, regional or global market corrections, reform disappointments, primary market issuance pressure and fiscal deficit worries.
While these factors could cause equities to fall for a few months, Jasani believed the Sensex would return to 17,000 by mid-2010, provided none of these factors dealt too serious a blow to the growth outlook.
n.subramanian@livemint.com

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:19 pm

Quick Edit | Dark age of macroeconomics

There has been an interesting debate on the state of macroeconomics on the pages of The Economist. One side of the debate has seen Robert Lucas from Chicago defending the orthodoxy against charges that they could not predict the crash and crisis of 2007-09.
Against the mainstream are Brad DeLong and Paul Krugmanwho argue that past 30 years of macroeconomics were a “costly waste of time”. Their argument: go back to Keynesian economics and find salvation in an expansionary fiscal policy. While they were quick to say what to do, their explanations for the crisis were, at best, a blogger’s explanation.
Predicting crashes has never been the forte of forecasting models of any kind, except under drastic, model-breaking assumptions. Lucas, too, did not do much better when he fell back to the Efficient Markets Hypothesis argument that the price of a financial asset reflects all available information relevant to its value.
The truth is that modern economics has little room for modern finance. Unless models add financial flesh to bare bone macroeconomics, we will continue with the new dark age.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:16 pm

Godrej may buy Sara Lee’s Asia biz, stake in JV

Kolkata: India’s largest consumer goods company, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), has told its US partner Sara Lee Corp. that it is willing to acquire its household and body care business in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, in addition to its 51% stake in the Indian joint venture, Godrej Sara Lee Ltd, according to H.K. Press, vice-chairman of GCPL.
Expanding reach: H.K. Press, vice-chairman of Godrej Consumer Products , says the firm has told US partner Sara Lee Corp. that it finds the latter’s household and body care business in the Far East ‘attractive’. Abhijit Bhatlekar / Mint
Expanding reach: H.K. Press, vice-chairman of Godrej Consumer Products , says the firm has told US partner Sara Lee Corp. that it finds the latter’s household and body care business in the Far East ‘attractive’. Abhijit Bhatlekar / Mint
Under the home and body care segment, Sara Lee manufactures and sells products such as Kiwi shoe polish, Brylcreem hair cream, Radox body wash, Ambipur air fresheners and GoodKnight insecticides. In some countries, it also sells food products and beverages. In North America, it runs bakeries and sells meat products to retail chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
On 30 March, Illinois-based Sara Lee had said in a press statement that it was “reviewing strategic options for its international household and body care business after receiving expressions of interest”, including outright sale.
Sara Lee had said in a guidance to investors that revenues from its international home and body care business were expected to be a little above $2 billion (Rs9,580 crore today) in fiscal 2009, which ended in June. The firm is going to announce its financial results for fiscal 2009 on 12 August. “Sara Lee’s household and body care business in the Far East is very attractive…we have conveyed our interest in acquiring it,” Press told Mint.
“Whether Sara Lee’s body care and household business would be a good buy for Godrej or not would depend on the price they pay for it vis-à-vis the size of the business. It is too early to comment,” said Anand Shah, an analyst with Angel Broking Ltd, a Mumbai brokerage firm.
In fiscal 2008, 21% of Sara Lee’s revenues from the home and body care business— around $400 million—came from the Asia-Pacific region, according to a regulatory filing.
Mint couldn’t independently assess the value of the non-India business of Sara Lee that GCPL wants to acquire.
Sara Lee’s press office refused to comment on Godrej’s interest in its home and body care business in the Far East.
GCPL’s interest in Sara Lee’s Asia-Pacific operations is in line with its strategy to grow through acquisitions in markets such as Latin America, China, Africa and West Asia, where it has minimal or no presence, according to Press.
In an interview with CNBC-TV18 television channel on Thursday, Godrej Group chairman Adi Godrej said GCPL was looking to acquire consumer goods firms in India and other developing countries and that to fund buyouts, his company could raise cash by selling shares.
GCPL’s revenue was around Rs1,400 crore in fiscal 2009. The company’s net profit for the year was Rs172.6 crore. In the quarter that ended in June, GCPL’s net sales rose 21% year-on-year to Rs439 crore while its net profit rose 78% to Rs70 crore.
GCPL has offered to acquire Sara Lee’s 51% stake in the Indian joint venture. Godrej Sara Lee ended the year to March with revenue of a little above Rs750 crore.
Recently, GCPL merged into itself two group firms—Godrej Consumer Biz Pvt. Ltd and Godrej Hygiene Care Pvt. Ltd—that held the 49% stake in the joint venture with Sara Lee. GCPL said in a statement that the aim was to strengthen its consumer goods business and to build “scale to pursue growth opportunities”.
While announcing Sara Lee’s strategic decision to exit the home and body care business on 30 March, its chairman and chief executive Brenda C. Barnes had said, “Our household and body care business has very strong brands… In keeping with our commitment to value creation, we will carefully evaluate all opportunities and do what is in the best interest of the company and its stakeholders.”
According to news reports, firms such as Unilever Plc., Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc., SC Johnson and Son Inc. and Colgate-Palmolive Plc. have evinced interest in acquiring Sara Lee’s household and personal care businesses in certain geographies.
If Godrej’s acquisition of Sara Lee businesses in other Asian countries goes through, it will be the second Indian consumer products firm to acquire Asian assets. In 2007, Wipro Ltd acquired Singapore-based Unza Holdings Pte Ltd, a detergent and personal care manufacturer for Rs1,010.2 crore.
aveek.d@livemint.com

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:16 pm

Deora does a U-turn, NTPC to lobby govt

New Delhi: NTPC Ltd has taken strong exception to petroleum and natural gas minister Murli Deora’s remarks made in Parliament on Thursday, when he said that the government had not approved the price of $2.34 (around Rs112) per million British thermal unit (mBtu) for the natural gas to be supplied by Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).
Deora’s remarks also contradicted the current stand of the petroleum ministry.
India’s largest power generation firm said it will lobby with the government to protect its case in the Bombay high court that it is fighting against RIL over the pricing issue.
“We will present our case with the concerned government authorities. Petroleum minister cannot give this argument when the case is still on in the Bombay high court. He is not the whole and sole in the government,” said a top NTPC executive, who declined to be named given the sensitive nature of the issue. “We will go everywhere, including the power ministry. We will ask the power ministry, which is our parent ministry, to take up this issue with the Prime Minister’s Office.”
Deora’s remarks also contradicted the current stand of the petroleum ministry. Sandeep Bhatnagar / Mint
Deora’s remarks also contradicted the current stand of the petroleum ministry. Sandeep Bhatnagar / Mint
NTPC is concerned as the minister’s statement significantly weakens its position in the litigation with RIL over the supply of gas from the latter’s Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin, off the eastern coast of India.
The lawsuit between NTPC and RIL in the high court, which dates back to December 2005, is about whether there is a valid and concluded contract with RIL.
RIL had secured the bid to supply 12 million standard cu. m a day (mscmd) of gas for the expansion of NTPC’s Kawas and Gandhar power plants, both in Gujarat, for 17 years at a price of $2.34 per mBtu in 2004.
Replying to a debate in the Rajya Sabha on the availability of gas to the power sector, Deora said on Thursday: “It must also be noted that the contractor (RIL) has made no proposal on the price formula for determining the pricing of supply of gas to be made to NTPC, which is required under the PSC (production-sharing contract). This process not having been undertaken, e-GoM’s (empowered group of ministers) approved price is applicable.”
PSC is an agreement between the Union government and RIL regarding the percentage of production each will receive after the company has recovered a specified amount of costs and expenses.
“In the course of the discussions, the minister replied to various points raised. He has clearly stated that the NTPC matter is sub judice and he can’t be quoted out of context. It was not the intention of the minister to make any final statements on all the pending issues,” a petroleum ministry spokesperson said.
“The matter (between NTPC and RIL) is pending in the Bombay high court. Let the court decide,” said a top power ministry official, who did not want to be identified.
The minister’s remarks contradict the existing stance of the petroleum and natural gas ministry, which has carefully avoided any views on the disputed NTPC-RIL gas supply arrangement.
The decision to price the gas produced by RIL from its KG-D6 block at $4.2 per mBtu was made by an e-GoM on 12 September 2007. The petroleum ministry in a press statement on the same day had said that the e-GoM’s decision will be “without prejudice to the NTPC versus RIL and RNRL (Reliance Natural Resources Ltd) versus RIL court cases, which are at present sub judice”.
Similarly, another petroleum ministry press statement dated 4 December said: “Regarding the NTPC-RIL sale price, it has been decided that the verdict of the court should be awaited.”
NTPC has already sought legal opinion from India’s attorney general on the government’s petition in the lawsuit between RIL and Anil Ambani-promoted RNRL.
Based on the feedback, NTPC may intervene in the case between the firms promoted by the estranged Ambani brothers, as reported by Mint on 22 July.
“We are still awaiting the attorney general’s opinion,” the NTPC executive said.
RIL is contesting the claims of RNRL over the supply of 28 mscmd of gas from the offshore block for 17 years at $2.34 per mBtu, 44% cheaper than the government fixed price of $4.20.
RNRL is basing its claims on a 2005 family pact, but RIL has held that it cannot give gas to anybody without the approval of the government, the owner of all sovereign assets.
The three-year-old corporate battle has escalated to the Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear arguments of the stakeholders on 1 September.
An external spokesperson of RIL declined comment.
“We have already pointed out in our letter to the power minister that NTPC’s interests are materially affected by the petroleum ministry’s newfound stand on pricing and utilization of gas, and the potential loss to NTPC could be up to Rs30,000 crore,” a spokesperson for the Reliance- Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, of which RNRL is a part, said in an email response. “The petroleum minister’s reported statement in Parliament—if it was made—is very surprising because the e-GoM, while determining a price of $4.20, has categorically stated that this is without prejudice, and hence not applicable to the pending court cases between RIL-RNRL and RIL-NTPC.”
utpal.b@livemint.com

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:16 pm

RIL breaks silence, launches offensive

Mumbai: Mum is no longer the word for Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).
Breaking its silence on the gas dispute between companies owned by the estranged Ambani brothers, Mukesh Ambani’s RIL on Friday lashed out at Anil Ambani and his fuel marketing firm Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) for its “baseless, tendentious and motivated allegations and insinuations” and converting legal issues into a “self serving media campaign”.
An RNRL spokesperson, in response, said that it was “typical of RIL’s conduct” to evade “substantial issues of national and public interest” under the garb of “vague generalities”.
Hot issue: The control and raiser platform of Reliance Industries’ gas exploration in the Krishna-Godavari basin, off India’s east coast.
Hot issue: The control and raiser platform of Reliance Industries’ gas exploration in the Krishna-Godavari basin, off India’s east coast.
Mukesh Ambani was “profoundly saddened by his brother’s remarks” while Anil Ambani has found it “deeply, deeply distressing...at a very personal and emotional level”.
Each side has accused the other of disrespecting the judiciary.
The Supreme Court will hear the arguments on 1 September, but much ahead of that the three-year-old corporate dispute has snowballed into a national debate, drawing in several stakeholders, including upstream regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) and the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas, into the crossfire of accusations.
The RIL outburst, late on Friday afternoon, has come after several days of a mounted attack—and a daily exchange with the mediapersons—by RNRL and its executives on RIL and the petroleum ministry.
Union petroleum minister Murli Deora and DGH made official statements on the government stance on the issue this week and soon after, received sharp reactions from the Anil Ambani aides.
Refuting RNRL’s allegations, RIL said that Anil Ambani’s public statements “are a part of an orchestrated campaign designed to bring into public debate and prejudge the issues that are pending” before the apex court for “private and personal gain”.
RNRL shot back quickly late evening saying, RIL had not answered why it was deliberately “shortchanging” state-owned NTPC Ltd of “up to Rs30,000 crore, by reneging on a binding gas supply contract”—another gas dispute between RIL and NTPC in the Bombay high court.
It also accused the oil refiner of not explaining the hike in its capital spend in the Krishna Godavari (KG) D6 project; hiding it “through tainted reports of alleged independent experts” with “serious and undisclosed conflict of interest”, and deliberately keeping the gas production lower.
Friday’s RIL statement, read out by its president of its international operations Atul Chandra, said: “RIL has chosen to refrain from reacting to the malicious propaganda unleashed by Mr Anil Ambani in the national media... We shall continue to exercise restraint in the face of Mr Anil Ambani’s provocative public statements.”
“Anil Ambani and his associates will also exercise similar restraint,” it hoped.
Its legal counsel Harish Salve had told Mint, after younger Ambani’s acerbic comments in RNRL shareholders’ meet on 28 July, that his comments “are improper”.
On another occasion, Salve said he had strongly advised RIL against getting drawn into a verbal duel.
These developments pertain to a three-year-old gas dispute between RIL and RNRL in which the latter is claiming rights to 28 million cu. m of gas a day for 17 years from the KG basin at $2.34 (around Rs112) per million British thermal unit (mBtu), quoting a 2005 family pact that formed the basis of splitting the Reliance businesses.
This is 44% cheaper than the government-mandated price of $4.2 per mBtu.
RIL is contesting this claim, saying it cannot give the gas to anyone at any price without government approval—a stance seconded by the petroleum ministry.
The dispute has rocked the nation’s legislature, with policymakers demanding in Parliament on Thursday that government nationalize its asset. Deora fended it off, saying “old days of nationalization are gone” and that RIL’s gas price—mandated by the government—of $4.2 per mBtu was lower than other private contractors.
On Monday, Deora had clarified in Parliament that the government has nothing to do with a “private dispute between two industries or industrialists” and will protect government and public interest in the gas distribution policy.
This was a step down from the ministry’s earlier hardline stance in a petition filed in the Supreme Court that the private family pact between the two Ambanis, the epicentre of the gas dispute, should be scrapped.
On Tuesday, the head of DGH, V.K. Sibal, had defended RIL’s capital spend plan as being one of the lowest for comparable projects of its size and gas production, saying these figures were vetted by three independent experts.
RNRL retorted that the increase in spend was disproportionate to hike in output, violating the principle of scale economies, and its experts were connected to institutions in which either RIL or Mukesh Ambani had some representation.
bhuma.s@livemint.com

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:15 pm

7 August | The Mint report

New Delhi: Petroleum minister Murli Deora may have wanted to clear the air on Reliance Industries and its gas supplies, but one of his statements has upset NTPC. Deora told Parliament that Reliance Industries would have to sell gas to NTPC at the government price of $4.20 per unit rather than the previously agreed upon $2.34 per unit. NTPC is concerned Deora’s statement will weaken its court case with Reliance Industries. It now plans to ask the power ministry to lobby the prime minister’s office.
Meanwhile, Anil Ambani is quoting a family agreement with his brother Mukesh, to dispute the government price of four dollars and twenty cents. And he’s now initiated moves of his own. His company Reliance Power has invited bids for the construction of power projects running on natural gas. The projects are at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and Shahpur in Maharashtra. The Dadri project is at the heart of the gas supply dispute between the Ambani brothers.
The RBI is looking for a new deputy governor and could make an unusual choice. At the top of its list of candidates is Subir Gokarn, the chief economist of Standard and Poor’s Asia Pacific. He’s an out-of-the-box choice because the RBI has only chosen bureaucrats and government economists in the past. Also, if the 49 year old Gokarn gets the job, he’ll be one of the youngest deputy governors the RBI has had.
Merrill Lynch released an optimistic mid-year outlook on Friday. It said the recession is over and that the prospects for equity market investments were improving. Analysts also say there’s hope the economy will recover and take economic growth to 7% in the last quarter.
State owned NHPC opened its IPO on Friday and was soon subscribed more than three times. The hydropower power company is selling 160 crore shares, to divest 14% of the government’s stake in the company.
Markets continued to fall on Friday. The Sensex plunged 354 points to close at 15,160, while the Nifty fell 104 points, ending trade at 4,481.
India’s largest consumer goods company is looking to enter Southeast Asian markets. Godrej Consumer Products has told its US partner Sara Lee it’s ready to acquire its household and body care business in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. It’s also ready to buy Sara Lee’s stake in joint venture between the two companies.
Air India has laid out a three-year plan for returning to profitability. It plans to modify ten of its aircraft for all-economy low-fare travel. The airline also plans to begin low-fare domestic flights and return the aircraft it has leased.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:13 pm

Anil remarks baseless and self-serving: RIL - Business Standard


Indian Express
Anil remarks baseless and self-serving: RIL
Business Standard
More than a week after Anil Ambani accused the government of bias towards his estranged brother, Mukesh Ambani, in the dispute over gas supply, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) today broke its silence by saying comments by Reliance Natural Resources ...
RIL has shown disregard for the judiciary: RNRLTimes of India
Deora does a U-turn, NTPC to lobby govtLivemint
RIL advises Anil to exercise restraintExpress Buzz
The Statesman -Economic Times -Hindustan Times
all 107 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:05 pm

Anil remarks baseless and self-serving: RIL

More than a week after Anil Ambani accused the government of bias towards his estranged brother, Mukesh Ambani, in the dispute over gas supply, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) today broke its silence by saying comments by Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) have been made to malign the formers public image.
Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:01 pm

Artificial rates may lead to crisis: HDFC

Hitting out at rivals offering home loans at low interest during early years of the credit period, HDFC on Friday warned that artificial rates could lead to a crisis like the US housing collapse.
Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 7 Aug 2009 | 1:00 pm

Subir Gokarn tops list for RBI Deputy Governor's post

Subir Gokarn, Executive Director and Chief Economist at Standard & Poors Asia Pacific, is heading the shortlist of candidates for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governors post. Gokarn is also a Business Standard columnist.
Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 7 Aug 2009 | 12:59 pm

SBI slashes home loan rates yet again

The rate war in the home loan segment has just intensified, with the State Bank of India, the countrys largest bank, slashing rates today to attract customers across income segments.
Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 7 Aug 2009 | 12:59 pm

A-I on LCC flight path to stay airborne

Air India (A-I) chairman Arvind Jadhav today announced that the state-owned airline was making an aggressive move to become a low cost carrier (LCC) in the domestic skies, competing against IndiGo, SpiceJet and JetLite, which control over half the market.
Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 7 Aug 2009 | 12:57 pm

The matter of land acquisition and displacement of people

I would like to deal with the most important issue of land: that of government acquisition and the associated mechanism for dealing with compensation and displacement of affected people. This has become increasingly contentious.
The market for land in India is underdeveloped, non-transparent and extremely distorted. A fundamental underlying problem is the balkanized manner in which land records are maintained, making land titles difficult to establish and often contestable.
A second problem emanates from a historical, albeit no longer relevant, concern with preserving farm land. This concern has led to a number of regulations controlling the sale of farm land to non-farmers and of tribal land to non-tribals, the net impact of which is to prevent the proper functioning of land markets by creating artificial supply shortages and myriad opportunities for hugely profitable regulatory arbitrage.
The result is that land acquisition involves enormous transaction costs, is uncertain and extremely time-consuming. This makes infrastructure projects, which are supposed to be subject to regulated returns, quite unattractive for the private sector.
Given the associated risks, promoters are focused on aggregating land not so much for building infrastructure, but for monetizing gains that come with getting land use changed from farm to non-farm purposes. And where they do need land for infrastructure, they prefer to get the state to acquire land on their behalf.
The problem is that the state has been invoking its powers of eminent domain too often to acquire land for projects, the benefits from which are not perceived to be fairly distributed.
The Land Acquisition Act of 1894 empowers the state to acquire land for public purposes, subject to the payment of just compensation. But what exactly is public purpose and just compensation?
Public purpose
In the absence of a clear definition, public purpose has been widely interpreted by our courts. In a recent Supreme Court judgment on the legality of land acquisition in the Ranga Reddy district near Hyderabad for use by private entities, the government argued that the acquisition is in line with the policy to develop Hyderabad as a business destination. The court held that public purpose was wider than public necessity and included land acquisition by the state for use by private entities.
The wider application of public purpose has caused resentment among those whose lands are forcibly acquired.
The proposed Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2007, which is pending in Parliament, correctly provides a narrower definition of public purpose. It says public purpose includes strategic acquisition (such as for a military purpose), acquisition for building government’s own infrastructure projects and acquisition of land for a person who has bought 70% of the land through market mechanisms but is unable to acquire the rest due to a hold-out problem.
Though a significant step forward, the draft Bill needs improvement, especially in clarifying the precise mechanisms for invoking eminent domain in the case of the hold-out problem. For instance, suppose the vast majority of landholders own a small fraction of land, the 70:30 rule could ignore the majority view.
Compensation
Determining just compensation has been contentious. The draft legislation requires that compensation for loss of land and associated assets should be estimated at market value but it does not specify how such value should be determined.
Taking the average of the past few transactions suffers from several problems: recorded sale values are generally underreported, transactions are few, the market quite illiquid, and there are various regulatory distortions, such as restrictions on sale of land to non-farmers that may have kept past prices artificially depressed.
More importantly, should the compensation be based on market prices based on past land use or should rather be based on likely future prices resulting from the new or proposed land use? If the landowner gets a compensation based on past or existing land use, as is the case, a windfall gain accrues to those when the land use is changed from say, agriculture to non-agricultural use.
The increase in property values also benefits the adjacent landowners whose land has not been acquired. Moreover, development of the land further raises its value. There is inequity in distribution of these gains.
Rehabilitation
Land acquisition displaces people. It affects not just landowners, but others whose livelihoods depend on the land. Displacement also has psychological and socio-cultural consequences.
While it is true that new development projects generate employment opportunities, there is a mismatch between the skills of local people and skills typically required for the new jobs.
The 1894 Act makes no reference to rehabilitation and resettlement but there is a national policy of rehabilitation and resettlement which recognizes the non-monetary consequences of displacement. Since the policy does not have legal backing, such aspects have suffered from neglect.
The proposed Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2007, is more comprehensive and inclusive and, notwithstanding some weaknesses, should hopefully provide the basis for effective rehabilitation and resettlement of affected persons.
Eminent domain
Land pooling and readjustment is used successfully in many countries as an alternative to eminent domain. The principle underlying land pooling schemes is to aggregate the land required for a project not by displacing and compensating the specific owners of that land, but by getting a larger group of adjacent land owners to make room by contributing a portion of their land parcels to a common pool in a manner that no one is displaced and all get to benefit from the project. The Sardar Patel Ring Road in Ahmedabad is an excellent example of this.
Land readjustment schemes involves the use of land-for-land swaps or other mechanisms for exchange of property ownership rights as a way of aggregating land. The idea is again to minimize displacement and eliminate the need for cash compensation. Under these schemes, land owners are typically provided serviced land of similar value to what they part with.
In countries where private property rights are strong, as in Japan, or the definition of public purpose is narrow, as in Israel, land readjustment is the only way to acquire land for development projects.
In conclusion, there are three points to note. First, while the draft land acquisition Bill and the draft Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill represent a significant improvement in existing legislation related to land acquisition, the former in particular could benefit from changes to make it fairer and less vulnerable to abuse.
Second, land acquisition under eminent domain by its very nature will always raise fairness concerns that could easily become controversial in a vibrant democracy such as ours, no matter how refined the legislation becomes. This means that eminent domain must be invoked only sparingly in our country and we must actively experiment with alternative approaches to land acquisition such as land pooling and land readjustment schemes.
Third, much more than the proposed Bills, land aggregation, especially for privately sponsored projects, would become much easier, more transparent and fairer if only the government applies itself to cleaning up the administration of land records.
Rajiv Lall is managing director and chief executive officer of IDFC.
Respond to this column at feedback@livemint.com

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 12:54 pm

Matrix Labs partners with Clinton Foundation

Hyderabad: Drugmaker Matrix Laboratories Ltd on Friday said it has agreed to supply the Clinton Foundation an affordable second-line of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs for patients with HIV/AIDS who have developed resistance to first-line drugs.
The Hyderabad-based Matrix Labs, a subsidiary of the US drug firm Mylan Inc., said its second-line ARV therapy would cost a patient some $475 for a year now, and $425 in 2010.
Former US president Bill Clinton, who runs the Clinton Foundation, announced two deals on Thursday evening in the US, the other agreement being with Pfizer Inc. for the supply of affordable second-line ARV drugs for patients also suffering from tuberculosis.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 12:34 pm

Avoid NHPC IPO from a valuations perspective: Sanju Verma - Moneycontrol.com


Sify
Avoid NHPC IPO from a valuations perspective: Sanju Verma
Moneycontrol.com
nhpc's initial public offering has been over subscribed almost twice. Speaking on whether investors should subscribe to the IPO, Sanju Verma, CEO- Institutional Business, Proactive Universal Group, says investors can avoid NHPC from a valuation ...
NHPC public issue fully subscribed in 5 minutesHindu Business Line
NHPC issue overbid by 3.5 timesBusiness Standard
NHPC float gets good responseCalcutta Telegraph
VC Circle -Economic Times -Reuters India
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Source: Business - Google News | 7 Aug 2009 | 12:33 pm

Satyam owes Rs530 cr in income tax dues

New Delhi: Satyam Computer Services Ltd, the software exporter at the centre of India’s biggest corporate fraud probe, has outstanding income tax dues of Rs530 crore ($110 million), a federal minister said.
The Income-tax department is reexamining assessments for Satyam and its former chairman B. Ramalinga Raju, junior finance minister S.S. Palanimanickam told Parliament on Friday. The cases will be finalized by 31 December, he said.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 12:11 pm

Innovations are needed during bad times too

New Delhi: Marketeers have realized that in an economic downturn, it is important to listen harder to consumers, said Frances Li, executive director and head of customer experience, Asia, at Synovate, market research arm of global marketing communications firm Aegis Group Plc.
The firm has found its clients in India are investing an additional 5-10% in managing customer experience, a trend that Li said is likely to pick up. Li and her Indian counterpart, Meeta Luthra, associate director and head of customer experience for Synovate India Pvt. Ltd, spoke in an interview about key trends in consumer experience management and pointed to factors influencing consumer behaviour in India and the world. Edited excerpts:
Trend experience: Synovate’s Frances Li (left) and Meeta Luthra. Li says consumers in India now have better access to information and are more involved in decision making, so firms can’t fool them any more. Ramesh Pathania / Mint
Trend experience: Synovate’s Frances Li (left) and Meeta Luthra. Li says consumers in India now have better access to information and are more involved in decision making, so firms can’t fool them any more. Ramesh Pathania / Mint
How can research help in making a customer’s experience better?
Li: Most marketeers are under the impression that they need to innovate only in good times when consumers are ready to buy. But they need to know that it is more important to innovate when times are bad because by doing so, it helps customers become more efficient and research helps marketeers learn how to go about it.
There are some pain points, a term we use to describe facts that consumers can’t articulate in words for what they want, or what they are looking for.
Consumer research helps marketeers read between the lines and address these pain points. It helps marketeers deliver their brand promise with methodologies that are designed to ask consumers the right questions and listen to them in the right way.
Store managers have an idea about how customers are behaving, but research makes it more scientific because the insight derived pinpoints specific areas where customers spend more time, what influences their decision at the point of sale, whether in-store promotions are helpful in that particular environment, etc.
What are some key trends in the consumer research and management?
Li: Earlier, managing customer experience was more operational for companies and it was kept quite separate from the brand. But today it can’t work that way.
Customer experience management and the brand have to be in alignment. Marketeers have begun to translate their business strategy in what they want their customer experience to look like.
In India, understanding the science of customer management is a relatively new concept and something companies have begun to consciously invest in only in the last three years or so. Sandeep Bhatnagar / Mint
In India, understanding the science of customer management is a relatively new concept and something companies have begun to consciously invest in only in the last three years or so. Sandeep Bhatnagar / Mint
Secondly, social media is becoming an important part of customer experience. It is no longer a one-way communication stream, or for that matter, even two-way communication. It is multi-way, thanks to social media which helps companies to communicate with their customers and then customers to communicate between themselves, and companies need to manage that.
Earlier, at the most there was a customer management board that took care of feedback and issues, but now companies are using online forums that do that, which initiates quick feedback analysis.
Also, there are a lot of companies that are measuring Internet buzz and research companies are setting up search tools to understand what these themes are, so when a marketer comes in to work the next morning, she can get a report to see what is being discussed and if there is any looming crisis that they need to manage with a PR (public relations) perspective.
You see, in India, understanding the science of customer management is a relatively new concept and something companies have begun to consciously invest in only in the last three years or so because businesses in India have faced more competition in their respective sectors, and standards of service or products are now also easily comparable to international companies that are present in India. So companies are slowly recognizing the need for research tools to stay ahead of competition and at par with international standards.
What are the factors influencing consumer behaviour and how is it different from international markets?
Li: We did a study recently where we asked customers in India and in 15 other markets to compare customer service in their respective countries from three years ago. We asked them if brands are doing a better or worse job in earning their loyalty.
India had a good proportion of consumers saying that brands were doing a better job, so it’s clear that there is a reinforced focus on consumer-centric strategy being applied on businesses to influence consumer behaviour.
Indian consumers are making informed decisions now because they have better exposure to information on products and are able to compare these products with their rivals. As a result, companies cannot fool consumers any more because consumers are getting more involved in the decision-making process. Also in India, as consumers get more exposed to other parts of the world, it raises expectations from what they want out of marketeers in India.
Unlike a few years ago, Indian consumers are not okay with just seeing a product and buying it, they have to experience it, too. From the clients we talk to, it is evident that consumers want to touch and feel their product in a simulated environment. This is especially true for the retail sector, where a lot of emphasis is being put on creating an ideal environment for shoppers.
Which are the prominent industries in India that invest in customer experience management?
Luthra: Financial sector, retail, consumer durables, telecom and FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) companies have been using consumer research for years now but there has been a renewed focus on creating what we call ICE, for ideal customer experience, ever since the downturn.
There has been a 5-10% increase in understanding consumer behaviour in slowing times through research by some of our existing clients.
Realty and media are some of the newer sectors that have begun using research tools. Also PSUs (public sector units), such as railways, and Indian drug and oil companies have really started looking at customer research seriously and got into it in a big way.

Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 12:06 pm

Innovations are needed during bad times too

New Delhi: Marketeers have realized that in an economic downturn, it is important to listen harder to consumers, said Frances Li, executive director and head of customer experience, Asia, at Synovate, market research arm of global marketing communications firm Aegis Group Plc.
The firm has found its clients in India are investing an additional 5-10% in managing customer experience, a trend that Li said is likely to pick up. Li and her Indian counterpart, Meeta Luthra, associate director and head of customer experience for Synovate India Pvt. Ltd, spoke in an interview about key trends in consumer experience management and pointed to factors influencing consumer behaviour in India and the world. Edited excerpts:
Trend experience: Synovate’s Frances Li (left) and Meeta Luthra. Li says consumers in India now have better access to information and are more involved in decision making, so firms can’t fool them any more. Ramesh Pathania / Mint
Trend experience: Synovate’s Frances Li (left) and Meeta Luthra. Li says consumers in India now have better access to information and are more involved in decision making, so firms can’t fool them any more. Ramesh Pathania / Mint
How can research help in making a customer’s experience better?
Li: Most marketeers are under the impression that they need to innovate only in good times when consumers are ready to buy. But they need to know that it is more important to innovate when times are bad because by doing so, it helps customers become more efficient and research helps marketeers learn how to go about it.
There are some pain points, a term we use to describe facts that consumers can’t articulate in words for what they want, or what they are looking for.
Consumer research helps marketeers read between the lines and address these pain points. It helps marketeers deliver their brand promise with methodologies that are designed to ask consumers the right questions and listen to them in the right way.
Store managers have an idea about how customers are behaving, but research makes it more scientific because the insight derived pinpoints specific areas where customers spend more time, what influences their decision at the point of sale, whether in-store promotions are helpful in that particular environment, etc.
What are some key trends in the consumer research and management?
Li: Earlier, managing customer experience was more operational for companies and it was kept quite separate from the brand. But today it can’t work that way.
Customer experience management and the brand have to be in alignment. Marketeers have begun to translate their business strategy in what they want their customer experience to look like.
In India, understanding the science of customer management is a relatively new concept and something companies have begun to consciously invest in only in the last three years or so. Sandeep Bhatnagar / Mint
In India, understanding the science of customer management is a relatively new concept and something companies have begun to consciously invest in only in the last three years or so. Sandeep Bhatnagar / Mint
Secondly, social media is becoming an important part of customer experience. It is no longer a one-way communication stream, or for that matter, even two-way communication. It is multi-way, thanks to social media which helps companies to communicate with their customers and then customers to communicate between themselves, and companies need to manage that.
Earlier, at the most there was a customer management board that took care of feedback and issues, but now companies are using online forums that do that, which initiates quick feedback analysis.
Also, there are a lot of companies that are measuring Internet buzz and research companies are setting up search tools to understand what these themes are, so when a marketer comes in to work the next morning, she can get a report to see what is being discussed and if there is any looming crisis that they need to manage with a PR (public relations) perspective.
You see, in India, understanding the science of customer management is a relatively new concept and something companies have begun to consciously invest in only in the last three years or so because businesses in India have faced more competition in their respective sectors, and standards of service or products are now also easily comparable to international companies that are present in India. So companies are slowly recognizing the need for research tools to stay ahead of competition and at par with international standards.
What are the factors influencing consumer behaviour and how is it different from international markets?
Li: We did a study recently where we asked customers in India and in 15 other markets to compare customer service in their respective countries from three years ago. We asked them if brands are doing a better or worse job in earning their loyalty.
India had a good proportion of consumers saying that brands were doing a better job, so it’s clear that there is a reinforced focus on consumer-centric strategy being applied on businesses to influence consumer behaviour.
Indian consumers are making informed decisions now because they have better exposure to information on products and are able to compare these products with their rivals. As a result, companies cannot fool consumers any more because consumers are getting more involved in the decision-making process. Also in India, as consumers get more exposed to other parts of the world, it raises expectations from what they want out of marketeers in India.
Unlike a few years ago, Indian consumers are not okay with just seeing a product and buying it, they have to experience it, too. From the clients we talk to, it is evident that consumers want to touch and feel their product in a simulated environment. This is especially true for the retail sector, where a lot of emphasis is being put on creating an ideal environment for shoppers.
Which are the prominent industries in India that invest in customer experience management?
Luthra: Financial sector, retail, consumer durables, telecom and FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) companies have been using consumer research for years now but there has been a renewed focus on creating what we call ICE, for ideal customer experience, ever since the downturn.
There has been a 5-10% increase in understanding consumer behaviour in slowing times through research by some of our existing clients.
Realty and media are some of the newer sectors that have begun using research tools. Also PSUs (public sector units), such as railways, and Indian drug and oil companies have really started looking at customer research seriously and got into it in a big way.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 12:06 pm

Obama: Worst may be over in economic crisis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday the latest U.S. unemployment figures showed the worst may be over in the economic crisis but acknowledged there was more work to be done to put the economy back on track.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 12:02 pm

RIL rubbishes ADAG\'s claims; vague reply, says latter

RIL’s President Petroleum Business, said Anil Ambani’s statements against the company were prejudged and were aimed at maligning it. \"We reject the allegations made by Anil Ambani,\" Chandra said in a press conference
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Aug 2009 | 11:52 am

See low inventory, shortage in next quarter: Sugar cos

Dr GSC Rao, ED, Simbhaoli Sugar said there would be a shortage of sugar in the next quarter. “Sugar will be tight till the season starts, that is sometime in November in Northern India and October in Maharashtra and South, so the inventories will be lower,” he added.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Aug 2009 | 11:23 am

Bleeding Air India chalks out survival roadmap

Arvind Jadhav, CEO of Air India said that the company is targeting a turnaround in the next 36 months. It is necessary to focus on lowcost carrier for high density routes. According to him the current market pressures are seen contributing for two to three years.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Aug 2009 | 10:56 am

Expect growth in Q2 to be better than Q1: Brigade Ent

MR Jaishankar, MD, Brigade Enterprise, said, “We are in good stage of negotiations for office space. Some of the commercial space has been leased and securitized. There are project loans for office space, which is being built and which is not securitized or not completed. 4050% of the retail space is leased.”
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Aug 2009 | 10:43 am

To produce 2.5 lakh barrels in FY10: Selan Exploration

Rohit Kapur, Chairman, Selan Exploration said that production in FY10 would be slightly lower with a 2.5 lakh barrels output. On infrastructure spend Kapur said “We have spent over Rs 100 crore in the last few years in appraising, developing and building the infrastructure.\"
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Aug 2009 | 10:23 am

Bharti Airtel may sweeten MTN stake offer - source

LONDON/MUMBAI (Reuters) - Mobile phone giant Bharti Airtel may increase its offer for a stake in South African peer MTN by between 5 and 10 percent, a source familiar with the negotiations told Reuters.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 9:57 am

FUND VIEW - Morgan Stanley favours Indian drug firms, shuns banks

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley believes Indian generic drug makers are good bets for investment because of the world's drive towards bringing down healthcare costs and making medicines affordable, a fund manager said on Friday.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 9:38 am

Now Reliance Industries speaks on gas dispute

Breaking its silence on the ongoing dispute with the Anil Ambani group over gas from Krishna-Godavari basin, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) Friday said it will comment on the matter only in the court.
Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Aug 2009 | 9:30 am

Air India Express to start domestic operations in September

Air India's low-cost carrier Air India Express will launch its domestic operations with 27 flights a day mid-September and increase it to 75 later, a top company official said here Friday.
Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Aug 2009 | 9:00 am

GAIL to supply gas to Rajasthan power plant

State-run gas major GAIL India will supply gas to the 160-MW power plant in Ramgarh, Rajasthan.
Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Aug 2009 | 9:00 am

Himachal legislators criticise neglect of state's rail network

Cutting across party lines, members of the Himachal Pradesh assembly Thursday decried the 'discriminatory approach' of the central government to expansion of railway network in the hill state.
Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Aug 2009 | 8:31 am

Goa offshore casinos impeding barge traffic, says mining industry

Offshore casinos parked in the Mandovi river are severely impeding the traffic of nearly 250-300 river barges ferrying ore from Goa's mining belt to the trans-shippers docked at the Mormugao port, an industry spokesperson said Friday.
Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 7 Aug 2009 | 8:31 am

Strike hits Indian bank operations for 2nd day

MUMBAI (Reuters) - A strike by about 900,000 employees of state-run Indian banks demanding higher wages and pensions hit trading volumes on the currency and bond markets for a second day on Friday.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 8:24 am

Indian cos lay off a net 1.31 lakh staff in June qtr - report

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian manufacturing and service sector firms laid off a net 1.31 lakh employees during April-June period, mainly in textiles, gem and jewellery sectors as the exports continued to shrink, a labour ministry report said.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Aug 2009 | 8:00 am

Citi starts sale process for Bellsystem24: sources

Tokyo: Citigroup Inc has started the process to sell Japanese telemarketer Bellsystem24 in what could be the largest private equity deal in Japan this year, three people with direct knowledge of the deal said.
The sale of Bellsystem24 Inc was originally scheduled for last year but was delayed as the credit crisis deepened, making it difficult for would-be buyers to procure funds.
Citigroup has been unloading its assets globally to bolster its capital. Bellsystem24 was the core investment made by Nikko Principal Investments Japan, a private equity arm of Citigroup.
Last month Citigroup agreed to sell Nikko Asset Management to Sumitomo Trust Banking Co. In May it announced the sale of retail broker Nikko Cordial and part of the operation of Nikko Citigroup, the investment banking arm of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.
Sale advisers have asked potential bidders to sign an confidentiality agreement, the initial step in the official bidding process, the people said.
Nikko Citigroup and Goldman Sachs Group Inc are advising on the sale of Bellsystem24, sources had told Reuters in June. At that time they said the deal could be worth $1.5 billion.
Permira, Bain Capital, Carlyle Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co are potential bidders, they said, asking not to be identified because the process is not public.
A spokeswoman for Bellsystem24 and a Citigroup spokesman in Tokyo both declined to comment.
Nikko Principal Investments owns a 94% stake in the Japanese telemarketer, which has the largest share in Japan’s telemarketing industry.
Bellsystem, which operates call centres, competes against Moshi Moshi Hotline Inc and Transcosmos Inc. Nikko Principal initially owned 71.73% of Bellsystem24. In 2004 NPI bought a larger stake for ¥28,000 ($294) per share, valuing the company at ¥151 billion yen.

Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 5:07 am

The latest craze: Free e-books offerings

New York: James Patterson’s latest best seller, “The Angel Experiment,” is a little different from his usual hits. The novel isn’t new; it came out four years ago. Its sales aren’t happening at bookstores, but mostly on the Kindle site at Amazon.com.
And the price is low even for an old release: $0.00
“I like the notion of introducing people to one book, while promoting the sales of another,” says the prolific and mega-selling author (and co-author) of numerous thrillers.” His Kindle download is the first book of Patterson’s “Maximum Ride” young adult series.
“We’ve given away thousands of free e-copies,” Patterson said. “‘Maximum Ride’ is big already and we think it could be a lot bigger. That requires getting people to read it.”
Patterson is among the biggest brands added to the growing list of free e-book offerings. Over the past few months, top sellers on the Kindle — with downloads in the tens of thousands, authors and publishers say — have included such public domain titles as “Pride and Prejudice” and “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” and novels by Jennifer Stevenson and Greg Keyes.
In recent days, the top three Kindle sellers have been free books: Patterson’s, Joseph Finder’s “Paranoia” and Keyes’ “The Briar King.”
“There’s always going to be someone who wants free things. What we’re trying to do is link free with paid,” Maja Thomas, senior vice president of digital media at Patterson’s publisher, the Hachette Book Group, said. “It’s like priming the pump.”
“What we like to do is make the first book in a series free, usually a series that has multiple books,” said Scott Shannon, publisher of the Del Rey/Spectra imprint at Random House, Inc., which published Keyes’ fantasy novel.
Shannon said Del Rey has had especially good luck with Naomi Novik’s “Temeraire” fantasy series after offering the first book for free. He said sales for the other Temeraire novels increased by more than 1,000 percent. “It’s been stunning,” he said.
Publishers and authors have been nervous that the standard cost for electronic editions of new releases, just under $10, will take away sales from the more expensive hardcovers and set an unrealistically low price for the future. They are concerned, but open-minded, about free books, which present a chance and a challenge: Readers may buy other books, or, they may simply seek more free titles.
“It’s a huge hot-button topic we’ve been discussing within our division and at the corporate level,” Shannon said. “We have had phenomenal success with using free books to get people to buy others by an author. But in the long term, we have to guard the market. We have to make sure people understand that time and energy goes into writing a book.”
“Consumers love free — free is a good price. But the opportunity they present to publishers is to experiment, and I stress experiment,” Ellie Hirschhorn, Simon & Schuster’s chief digital officer, said.
The dominant e-book seller Amazon.com has been aggressive about keeping prices low, and has given free e-books high visibility by including them on the Kindle best-seller list. A leading rival, Sony, does not include free works among its best sellers, although some free books have popular downloads.
“We do withhold them from the best-seller list, so that it’s an accurate reflection of what people are actually buying,” says Sony eBook store director Chris Smythe.
In an e-mail statement about free ebooks, Amazon.com spokeswoman Cinthia Portugal, said, “We work hard to provide customers with the best value possible and pass savings on to them whenever possible.” Portugal added that Amazon includes free books among its top sellers because the list is “based on customer orders — customers are still ordering these books, they just have a price tag of $0.00.”
David Bailey, 56, a systems analyst in Tacoma, Wash., is the kind of customer publishers and authors want to get. He has downloaded free texts by Kelly Link, Scott Sigler and others, but has then purchased other books by those authors, sometimes “just to support them.”
One of Bailey’s free downloads was Finder’s “Paranoia,” a thriller first published in 2004. Finder, whose “Vanished” comes out 18 August, said he initially saw the free offering as a “no lose” deal since “Paranoia” wasn’t selling many copies anyway and sales for his other books, including “Power Play” and “Killer Instinct,” have gone up. But, noticing all the free best sellers on the Kindle, he wondered if readers will get used to not paying.
“I get a lot of e-mails from people, saying, ‘I hadn’t even heard of you until I read your free book.’ So no question, it does bring in free riders,” Finder said. “But I’m also increasingly concerned. There are so many free e-books that basically you could stuff your Kindle or Sony Reader with free books and never have to buy anything.”

Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 7 Aug 2009 | 4:55 am