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QIP funds will help pay debt, buy strategic assets: OrbitOrbit Corporation plans to raise USD 2030 million via the qualified institutional placement (QIP), which opened on Wednesday, at Rs 185 per share. We would use the QIP to acquire strategic assets and repay debt, said, Pujit Aggarwal, Managing Director of the company. The debtequity ratio would fall to 0.7 from 0.9, he added.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Aug 2009 | 9:32 am Bad monsoon won\'t affect tractor industry much: MMGautam Nagwekar, COO of MM, said growth in the tractor industry has been good and that he expects the momentum to continue despite the scant rainfall. \"There is a certain boom in the rural economy. There is income diversification. Agriculture is not the mainstay of the rural economy. It augurs well for us.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Aug 2009 | 9:16 am Unitech Corp Parks FY09 pretax loss at £13.6mnUnitech Corp Parks has announced its FY09 results. Its pretax loss was at £13.6 million versus profit of £2.3 million.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Aug 2009 | 9:14 am Q2 revenues may be 810% lower than Q1: Sasken CommRoyalty revenues of Sasken Communication will accrue in Q3 and a good turnover will be seen said Rajiv C Mody, Chairman and CEO of Sasken Communication. Talking about the companys business he said that it has flourished in four areas namely network equipment, handset, semiconductors and the operators side.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Aug 2009 | 9:04 am Govt not looking at other gas suppliers in Noida: IGLIndraprastha Gas sent a letter to the Petroleum Regulatory Board saying that the Adani Group should not be granted license for gas supply in Noida. The government had, in 2004, given authorization to IGL to supply gas to Noida, which stands till date. Thus, there is no question of Adani or any other party getting it, said, MD, Rajesh Ved Vyas.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Aug 2009 | 8:41 am ONGC hits 52wk high on news of likely gas price revisionThe ONGC stock has been on fire today. It touched its 52week high of Rs 1,229.80. At 14:06 pm, the share was quoting at Rs 1,216.80, up Rs 52.40, or 4.5%. CNBCTV18\'s Gautam Broker finds out why the stock is buzzing.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Aug 2009 | 8:22 am IMF to inject $250 bn into members` forex reserves!The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said it would inject USD 250 billion into foreign exchange reserves of member nations to boost liquidity amid the global economic crisis.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Aug 2009 | 6:55 am Boeing pays USD 25 million to settle US probe!Boeing Co agreed to pay the US government USD 25 million to settle claims the company did defective work on critical military refueling planes in Iraq and Afghanistan.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Aug 2009 | 6:55 am India to get $4.78 bn in SDRs to battle recession!India will get the equivalent of about USD 4.78 billion as its share of International Monetary Fund`s (IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDR) worth USD 250 billion to provide liquidity to the recession hit global economic system.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Aug 2009 | 6:55 am Sensex opens lower on profit-booking!The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Friday opened lower by over 61 points on emergence of profit-booking at higher levels.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Aug 2009 | 6:55 am Volkswagen, Porsche seal merger deal: Companies!Volkswagen, Europe`s biggest carmaker, and luxury auto manufacturer Porsche said they had approved a plan to merge by 2011 and create an automotive giant.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Aug 2009 | 6:55 am Permission sought for $1 bn tax-free bonds by Air India!The civil aviation ministry has sought the Cabinet`s nod for Air India to float tax-free bonds worth Rs 5,000 crore (USD 1 billion) and fresh equity from the government to fund its fleet expansion plans and other expenses.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Aug 2009 | 6:55 am India-ASEAN FTA to make Malaysian goods 80% duty-free by 2016!Malaysia has said its business community will enjoy better market access to India as more than 80 percent of its products entering the country will be duty free by 2016.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Aug 2009 | 6:55 am Coal India talks stake-sale with disinvestment secy!Coal India, after getting the necessary approval from the coal ministry, has begun discussions with the disinvestment department of the finance ministry to divest up to 10 percent of government stake in the company.Source: Zee News : Business | 14 Aug 2009 | 6:55 am RIL discovers gas in Mahanadi basin blockReliance Industries has found natural gas reserves in a well drilled on its NEC-25 block in Mahanadi basin, off the Orissa coast, the company's junior partner Niko Resources of Canada said on Friday.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 14 Aug 2009 | 6:50 am Steel prices to increase significantly ahead: Usha MartinP Bhattarcharya, Jt MD of Usha Martin said China and India will see stable prices. Expect significant rise in steel prices over three months. Net sales of the company in Q4FY09 is up by 8 % which is Rs 531.6 cr vs Rs 493 cr. The company is expected to complete its Rs 2100 cr capex by Sept\'10.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Aug 2009 | 6:15 am Datawatch: 50 stocks that gained over 500% in one yearThe analysis suggests that nearly 50 stocks listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange have recovered a phenomenal 500% or more return from their 52week lows. If one would have invested Rs 100 in any of these 50 stock, he/she would have fetched a minium profit of Rs 500 on the investment of Rs 100.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Aug 2009 | 5:42 am Saw 51% volume growth in July: JSW SteelThere is a huge cost push taking place in steel across the world, Seshagiri Rao, Joint MD and Group CFO of JSW Steel said. JSW Steel saw 51% volume growth in July, he said, adding that the company had however delayed its capital expenditure plan by one year.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Aug 2009 | 5:26 am Steel Authority of India raises 3 bln rupees via bondsSteel Authority of India on Thursday raised 3 billion rupees through bonds, two sources with knowledge of the deal said on Friday. Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 14 Aug 2009 | 4:49 am CEOs'tips for blogging rightRichard S. Levick recommends having a strategy to coordinate your blog with your use of social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook, to help your company find out about and nip crises before they blow up. Klaus Kneale reports.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 14 Aug 2009 | 4:40 am Cheaper home loans as HDFC, PNB cut interest ratesPNB has cut rates of loans below Rs 30 lakh to 8.5 per cent for 3 years. And, HDFC has cut rates on loans from Rs 30 to 50 lakh rupees by 50 basis points to 9 per cent rate of interest.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 14 Aug 2009 | 4:30 am BSE Sensex provisionally falls 0.9 pctMUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex provisionally closed down 0.9 percent on Friday as fears that poor rains would hit economic recovery and downbeat U.S. data soured investor sentiment.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Aug 2009 | 4:14 am Oil rises towards $71 on confidence for recoveryLONDON (Reuters) - Oil headed toward $71 a barrel on Friday, rising for the fourth day, on growing confidence the global economy was exiting the worst of recession in decades and beginning to boost energy demand.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Aug 2009 | 4:11 am Axis Bank hires banks for share sale - sourcesMUMBAI (Reuters) - Axis Bank has hired JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs to arrange a roughly $1.25 billion share sale, two sources with direct knowledge said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Aug 2009 | 4:07 am INTERVIEW - Climate means new business, not trade war - U.S. envoyBONN, Germany (Reuters) - Trade wars after a planned U.N. climate deal are implausible, partly because of a surge of new business opportunities creating jobs in clean energy, the head of the U.S. delegation at U.N. climate talks said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Aug 2009 | 4:05 am HSBC plans to step up India mortgage lendingMUMBAI (Reuters) - HSBC will step up mortgage lending in India after keeping to the sidelines for the past 18 months, and plans a cautious resumption of growth in consumer finance after unsecured loans soured across the industry, the global bank's country chief executive said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Aug 2009 | 3:57 am Sensex moving like a seesaw - Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Aug 2009 | 3:44 am Rupee weakens tracking local sharesMumbai: The Indian rupee traded weaker in afternoon session on Friday tracking losses in the local sharemarket, which raised concerns about capital outflows, while dollar demand from some foreign banks also weighed. At 3:15pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs48.32/33 per dollar, weaker than its previous close of Rs48.11/12. Shares fell 0.8% in choppy trade on Friday as jitters poor rains will hit economic recovery and downbeat US data soured sentiment, a day after the market rose 3.3% to its best close in more than a week. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contract on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX was quoting at Rs48.3550 each, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $1.1 billion. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoting at Rs48.30/40, marginally weaker than the onshore spot rate. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Aug 2009 | 3:44 am European shares rise as oils gainLondon: European shares rose in early trade on Friday, helped by gains overnight in Asia and the United States, with energy companies among the biggest gainers as hopes of a global economic rebound remained intact. At 2:00pm, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.4% at 952.00 points. Energy companies were among the early gainers, as crude prices edged up towards $71 a barrel, on global economic recovery hopes. Total, BP, Royal Dutch Shell and StatoilHydro rose between 1 and 1.5%. Analysts said the market remained positive after France and Germany surprisingly reported a return to growth on Thursday, and the Federal Reserve’s reassuring statement on Wednesday. “There’s still an ongoing reaction to Wednesday’s statement from the Fed that the economy is stabilising,” said Bernard McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers, in Dublin. He added that weak US retail sales data on Thursday could yet take its toll on the market, depending on confidence data from the University of Michigan, due at 7:30pm. Banks continued to gain, boosted by hedge fund manager John Paulson buying stakes in their US counterparts, such as Bank of America. BNP Paribas, Banco Santander, Barclays, and UBS were up between 1 and 1.6%. Allied Irish Banks was 9.3% higher after the Irish Times reported that a Canadian bank had approached it and the Irish government with a proposal to buy a stake in Allied when it has been cleansed of its risky loans. A spokeswoman for Allied Irish Banks declined to comment. The DJ Stoxx Index of European Banks is up more than 157% from its low of 9 March. With copper at 10-month highs, miners rose. Anglo American, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, Vedanta Resources and Xstrata rose between 2.8 and 4.4%. Across Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC-40 were up between 0.5 and 0.7%. Volkswagen was down 3.8%, while Porsche was up 10%. Late on Thursday, VW agreed to buy a 42% stake in the sports car unit of debt-ridden Porsche, another step toward combining the two German carmakers into a European automotive giant. Among other individual stock movements, Swatch Group, the world’s largest watchmaker, rose 9.8% after saying it expects demand to pick up in the second half, while reporting first-half net profit that beat forecasts. The European benchmark index is up more than 47% from its lifetime low of 9 March, as investors have become more confident on the prospects of recovery. The index is on track for its highest close in more than nine months, and to notch up a slight gain for the week, which would be its fifth straight week in positive territory. Inflation data for the euro zone is due at 0900 GMT. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Aug 2009 | 3:39 am HSBC to step up India mortgage lendingMumbai: HSBC will step up mortgage lending after keeping to the sidelines for the past 18 months, and plans a cautious resumption of growth in consumer finance after unsecured loans soured across the industry, the global bank’s country chief executive said. Stuart Davis, who was appointed to his new position in April after heading the London-based lender’s Australian operations, said the bank was seeing signs of increased loan demand in India, although the basis for that demand remains unclear. “Is it simply the result of restocking and a catch-up for investment that hasn’t been done over the last 6 to 12 months, or is it part of increased economic activity?” he said on Friday. “My personal view is here in India it’s both. Perhaps in the rest of the world it’s not so clear,” he said in an interview in the firm’s country headquarters in South Mumbai. India is seeing a resurgence in industrial activity and consumer demand after economic growth slowed last year to 6.7% following three straight years of at least 9%. But bank loan growth is averaging just above 15% compared with 27% in late 2008 and 30% in the year through March 2008, after companies hit by the global financial crisis slowed expansion and banks curbed retail lending to rein in bad debts. RETURN TO MORTGAGES Indian home buyers are returning to the market after more than a year of subdued activity, lured by a 25-40% drop in prices. Demand has also been spurred by smaller projects that have raised affordability. Davis said HSBC is looking to rebuild its mortgage portfolio in India. “We’re keen to not only get back to our previous levels but expand that quite strongly,” said Davis, who began his career with the bank in 1981 in its investment banking arm in Australia. Of HSBC’s $5.2 billion India loan portfolio at the end of June, $997 million was in residential property, a 275 drop from a year earlier. Overall lending in the country was down 315 from a year earlier as HSBC shrank its global loan book. “The property market is more balanced, the supply and demand equation and the affordability is much more balanced than what it was two years ago, when on the back of the boom conditions prices of property went ahead of themselves,” Davis said. CONSUMER PAIN HSBC’s business saw a 465 drop in net profit for the first half of 2009 to $201 million, as losses on retail lending more than doubled to $124 million. Banks slashed unsecured consumer lending after personal loans and credit card dues turned bad. HSBC discontinued consumer finance loan origination in India towards the end of last year. ICICI bank, the second biggest lender and once the most aggressive bank in the segment, has almost stopped unsecured lending and is cutting the size of its retail portfolio. “Certainly, like everyone else we’ve felt a bit of pain on the unsecured retail asset side, and we’re just working our way through that,” Davis said. “We think we’re over the hump and so we will be at some time looking to cautiously grow our portfolio again,” he said. He said HSBC would build consumer lending through its branch network, including its InvestDirect brokerage, and would only use direct sales agents sparingly if at all. “Our focus will be more on sustainable growth rather than the fast growth which you have when you start an initiative like cards or personal loans,” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Aug 2009 | 3:39 am Britain pledges 340 mln stg to Airbus A350 buildBRISTOL, England (Reuters) - Britain will pledge 340 million pounds ($564.9 million) in loans to plane-maker Airbus to make sure a part of its upcoming A350 passenger jet is built in the UK.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Aug 2009 | 3:37 am Banks see loan growth improving on infrastructure push in H2Mumbai: Banks expect a revival in demand for loans from companies, primarily in infrastructure, apart from non-traditional sectors like healthcare and education as the busy season picks up in September, bankers and analysts said. An overall general slowdown and sluggish loan demand has put the brakes on India’s loan growth that was hovering around an annual rate of 15-16% in July, way below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) expectations of 20% for 2009-10. Indian loan growth was as high as 27% in December 2008 and over 30% in 2007-08, before the global slowdown hit demand. It fell to 17% in March before slipping further in the April-June quarter. Loan demand (in the second half) is expected mainly from the corporate sector, said Anando Bhowmick, analyst at Fitch Ratings. “Growth in industries would drive the demand for funds from banks. We expect core sectors like engineering, infrastructure may need more funds going forward,” Bhowmick said. On Wednesday, India’s factory output expanded at its fastest pace since February 2008 by rising 7.8% in June outpacing a rise of 2.2% in May raising hopes that a strong momentum in factory output could help mitigate the effects of a poor monsoon season on overall economic growth. A study of loan data between February and May shows loans were driven by small and medium enterprises, he said. Seasonal sowing also helped agriculture spruce up loan growth to a certain extent, he said, adding infrastructure has been showing secular growth throughout. A few banks are also looking to lend to non-traditional sectors as demand picks up. “We are looking at lending to some non-traditional sectors like hospitals, education institutions and biotech that are showing good growth,” said J M Garg, chairman and managing director at state-run Corporation Bank. The bank is also targeting a 30% rise in its corporate loan book, which includes the new sectors, he said. “We are also looking at lending to agro-based, pesticide and textile industries apart from the traditional industries like steel, cement and infrastructure.” The bank would, however, remain cautious on retail lending. Growth in retail comprising auto, home and personal loans is expected to be marginally higher at 10% in 2009-10 as delinquency rates were high, Garg said. Fitch’s Bhowmick also agrees that consumer loans would take some time to pick up as delinquency rates were high during the economic downturn. Data on the first half of the year showed that retail loans did not rise much owing to the cautious approach adopted by bankers, Bhowmick said. B A Prabhakar, executive director, Bank of India, is of the view that there was some demand for loans from healthcare and education segments even during the slowdown. But it remains a miniscule part of the loan book for banks to look at as an effective force to boost loan growth, he added. “We expect infrastructure, consumer durables and automobile sector to help grow loans in second half of the year.” Some banks are targeting the affordable housing sector, which is showing good demand. “A lot of affordable housing projects are coming up in tier I and II cities. We are looking at 54% rise in the housing loan portfolio this year,” said D L Rawal, chairman and managing director at state-run Dena Bank. In the April-June quarter most banks reported decent profits on higher non-core incomes like treasury profits, making it more important for them to aim for higher loan growth to attain a sustainable rise going forward, analysts said. Banks are expected to bet on infrastructure backed by the government’s push on the sector as some capex plans have been lined up as demand is seen coming back, Parag Jariwala, analyst at CARE Ratings, said. “Some smaller banks may look at healthcare and education as a good bet since it will help them grow their loan book.” However, some analysts are sceptical about terming the slight pick-up in loans as a signal of revival in loan demand. “A clear picture on whether the pick-up will be sustained will emerge only after the busy season starts in September,” said an analyst with a Mumbai-based brokerage, on condition of anonymity. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Aug 2009 | 3:34 am RIL discovers gas in Mahanadi basin blockNew Delhi: Reliance Industries has found natural gas reserves in a well drilled on its NEC-25 block in Mahanadi basin, off the Orissa coast, the company’s junior partner Niko Resources of Canada said on Friday. Gas was discovered in the well AJ2 last month, Toronto-listed Niko said in a regulatory filing. A source in know of the development said this is not a new discovery but appraisal of earlier gas finds. “AJ2 is an appraisal well drilled to access the potential in the previous A6 and J1 discoveries. Gas was struck in AJ2 but it is not a new pool.” Since AJ2 is an appraisal well and not a new discovery, RIL — the operator of the block NEC-OSN-97/2 or NEC-25 — has not made any announcement. Niko Resources holds 10% interest in the Mahanadi basin shallow water block covering an area of 10,755 sq km in water depths ranging between 20-600 meters. RIL holds 90% interest in the Bay of Bengal block. RIL has so far made eight gas discoveries in NEC-25, off which six were declared commercially exploitable and development plan submitted to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) in 2007. Field Development Plan (FDP) is investment proposal for bringing to production oil or gas finds. Operators like RIL can only begin such investments after getting the necessary approval from DGH, the sector regulator. Niko did not give potential reserves in the AJ2 well but the source said the discovery “looks promising”. “Approximately 1,000 square kilometers of 3D seismic have been acquired along the central portion of the northwest boundary of the previous 3D survey,” the Canadian firm said. The discoveries in NEC-25 are besides the 19 gas and one oil find RIL made in the Krishna Godavari basin deepsea block KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6. Of these, two gas finds were put to production in April this year and are currently producing 36.25 million standard cubic metres per day. The MA oil discovery in KG-D6 started output in September 2008 and is currently producing 13,000 barrels per day. Niko, which holds 10% interest in KG-D6, said oil production is targeted to reach up to 35,000 bpd before March 2010. Gas output would touch 80 mmscmd before year-end, it added. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Aug 2009 | 3:31 am Man Industries bags two orders worth Rs 750 cr - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Aug 2009 | 3:30 am Agriculture situation disturbing - SubbaraoHYDERABAD, India (Reuters) - The agriculture situation in India is disturbing but it is too early to take action on inflation, the Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao told reporters on the sidelines of an event on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Aug 2009 | 3:15 am Sensex moving like a seesawA key index of the Indian equities markets, which was trading in a seesaw pattern throughout Friday, was 87 points lower than its previous close about 90 minutes before the closing bell.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Aug 2009 | 3:00 am McNally Bharat reduces stake in Sayaji Engg to 77.5% - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Aug 2009 | 2:59 am Gold slightly higher on rupee, crudeMumbai: India’s gold demand abated on Friday as prices neared the most-watched Rs15,000-mark, along with a weak rupee weighing on sentiment, dealers said. “We are not hearing much from our customers as prices have touched Rs15,000,” said a dealer with a state-run bank in Mumbai. “A weak rupee is also keeping buyers away.” The most-traded October contract was 0.31% higher at Rs14,985 per 10 grams at 2:03pm, after hitting a high of Rs15,004, the loftiest level since 6 August. The Indian rupee eased as a choppy start to domestic share market failed to provide clarity on direction of foreign fund flows. A weak rupee makes the dollar-quoted yellow metal expensive. However, dealers said demand had picked-up since the start of the month after a period of lull as traders sought to replenish stocks to meet festive demand. “Demand is definitely better than last two months,” said another dealer with a private bank in Mumbai. A section of India’s top gold merchants are preparing for a sharp pick-up in gold sales this festive season, suggesting demand by the world’s top consumer is rebounding despite near-record prices and a bleak monsoon. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Aug 2009 | 2:59 am RIL discovers gas in Mahanadi basin block - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Aug 2009 | 2:57 am Indusind Bank at 52-week high on QIP issue - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Aug 2009 | 2:49 am Banks see loan growth improving on infra push in H2MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian banks expect a revival in demand for loans from corporates, primarily in infrastructure, apart from non-traditional sectors like healthcare and education as the busy season picks up in September, bankers and analysts said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Aug 2009 | 2:47 am Sensex opens lower on profit-bookingThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today opened lower by over 61 points at 15,457 pts on emergence of profit-booking at higher levels.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 14 Aug 2009 | 2:31 am India to get $4.78 bn in SDRs to battle recessionIndia will get the equivalent of about $4.78 billion as its share of International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights to provide liquidity to the recession hit global economic system.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 14 Aug 2009 | 2:02 am UBS tax deal seen involving big accountsZURICH (Reuters) - A landmark settlement that will spare UBS a lengthy and damaging U.S. tax trial is set to be signed next week and will involve the disclosure of the biggest holders of secret Swiss accounts.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Aug 2009 | 1:55 am Volkswagen, Porsche seal merger deal: companiesVolkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker, and luxury auto manufacturer Porsche said they had approved a plan to merge by 2011 and create an automotive giant.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 14 Aug 2009 | 1:53 am Swine flu death toll mounts to 24Pune/Raipur: With an elderly woman and a teenaged boy dying of swine flu in Pune and Raipur, the pandemic toll in the country has risen to 24 even as the government decided to organise an orientation programme for experts from private laboratories for conducting flu tests. 70-year-old Parubhai Shinde, who was admitted to a hospital in Pune four days back following high fever and other symptoms of swine flu, died late last night, health officials said. With this, the toll in Pune, severely hit by the virus, has mounted to 15. An 18-year-old boy Sitaram Varma died in Raipur on Thursday of suspected swine flu, the first such fatality in Chhattisgarh. Varma, hailing from Bhilai was suffering from pneumonia and throat infection, hospital sources said. Nodal officer in-charge of swine flu cases in Chhattisgarh T.K. Aggarwal said that Varma’s throat swab was sent to Delhi for the flu test as the boy had recently visited Pune. Besides the fatalities in Pune, one person each has died due to the viral infection in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Nashik, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Bangalore, Raipur and two in Mumbai. As flu cases continued to mount, the union health ministry has decided to conduct from Friday an orientation programme for experts from private laboratories engaged by the government for carrying out diagnostics test for patients suspected to be infected by the virus. The decision to conduct the orientation programme was by the ministry at a meeting in Delhi yesterday with different private diagnostic laboratories to check their preparedness in terms of testing swine flu samples. “It was decided during the meeting with health ministry officials that two experts from each laboratory who are engaged in conducting different tests will undergo an orientation programme before starting actual work on swine flu samples,” Vinay Batra, global director, sales and marketing, Super Religare Laboratories said. “In this orientation programme, their technical staff will tell us their experience and explain certain do’s and dont’s while conducting the tests. They will tell us the guidelines to be followed while conducting the tests, how to handle the transportation of samples, how to wear the mask, the goggles, the cap and use other logistics,” he said. An official from National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) present at the meeting said, “first we will give them 10 already tested samples for validation and if they give correct results, we will go ahead with the commercial samples.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Aug 2009 | 1:50 am India's fast nuclear reactor project costs rise 40 percentIndia's first fast breeder nuclear reactor, coming up at Kalpakkam near here to produce 500 MW of power, is facing a cost overrun of over 40 percent, but officials hope it will achieve criticality by September 2011 after a year's delay.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Aug 2009 | 1:30 am Saw 51% volume growth in July: JSW Steel - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Aug 2009 | 1:26 am Online news venture says over 500 publications sign upJournalism Online, a company which seeks to help news organisations make money on the Web, said that more than 500 newspapers and magazines have agreed to join the venture.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 14 Aug 2009 | 1:19 am JSW Energy files draft paper for $620 mln IPOMUMBAI (Reuters) - JSW Energy Ltd has filed regulatory application for an initial public offer to raise up to 30 billion rupees ($620 million), joining a rash of power utilities looking to tap the capital market.Source: Reuters: Money News | 14 Aug 2009 | 1:10 am Are short-term Indian bonds too cheap?Mumbai: Are Indian short-term bonds too cheap, given the prospects that a rapid economic recovery may lead to quick interest rate rises? Or will the weak monsoon trip up growth and keep policy rates low for a long time? India’s bond curve has been flattening with the shorter-end moving up as investors price in an economic recovery, but with disappointing rainfall threatening the agriculture-dominant economy, some market participants worry that money markets may have gotten ahead of themselves. The 3-month treasury bill yield has climbed 25 basis points since the start of July to 3.36% in the previous auction, while curve spreads between 1-year and 10-year bonds have narrowed to 250 basis points from a record wide 326 basis points on July 24. Some analysts expect that term spread to narrow to 200-240 basis points in a month. Spreads between 1-year, 5-year swaps have tightened to 191 basis points from near 217 in early July. At a review last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its policy rates steady after cutting them by a record 425 basis points since October and said growth in the 2009/10 fiscal year is expected at 6 percent, with the risk on the upside. Sell Recommendations to sell short-term bills, therefore positioning for a bear flattening of the curve, are based on expectations the central bank will start tightening policy soon, but longer-term rates would rise less quickly as inflationary expectations are still subdued. Official data showed factory output expanded at its fastest pace in 16 months in June. A 31% rise in car sales in July indicated the positive momentum might be sustained. “Rate hikes are not seen immediately but may happen in another six months time or so ... it’s not that far away now,” said Vineet Malik, head of interest rates at HSBC India. The Reserve Bank of India raised its inflation target for the year end to 5% by end-March 2010 from 4% earlier. Analysts at Goldman Sachs expect policy rates to be tightened by 300 basis points in 2010. “With growth and inflation expected to be higher, the ‘exit´ policy from an extremely loose policy would entail in our view, tightening via currency, rate hikes, liquidity absorption, and a gradual removal of fiscal stimulus, in that order,” they said. Expectations are that the central bank’s first move would be to start withdrawing the more than Rs1,100 crore ($22.8 billion) in excess cash from the money markets, and swap rates have already started pricing in tighter money market rates ahead. K Ramkumar, head of fixed-income at Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual fund, forecasts the 91-day t-bill will rise to 3.50% in the next month. With appetite for longer-dated paper falling as inflationary pressures start building, policymakers are issuing more shorter-dated paper to complete the borrowing plan. In addition, the government has said it will start selling cash management bills which will carry a maturity of less than 91 days, which is currently the minimum tenor of money market instruments in India. All these measures are telling on the front end of the curve. “It seems the RBI would go all out to arrest the spike in the longer tenor yields and access shorter tenor funds for the government till things are back to normal,” said J. Moses Harding, head of global markets at IndusInd Bank in Mumbai. Buy But with India’s economic revival facing headwinds from a weak monsoon and question marks over the timing and strength of a global recovery, bond dealers said tightening expectations may be premature. Between the start of the summer monsoon season on 1 June and Wednesday, rainfall was 29% below normal. Deficient rainfall usually hurts rural demand. “The shortage of rain is likely to keep regulators focused to the easy monetary stance for a longer duration than expected earlier, and rates may not harden much on both ends,” said Sanjay Arya, deputy general manager, treasury at Bank of Maharashtra.“ Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Aug 2009 | 1:04 am Chandigarh to have integrated warehousing complexAn integrated warehousing complex, to be called Logistics Park, will soon come up here to meet the growing demands of both industry and agriculture sector in and around Chandigarh.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Aug 2009 | 1:00 am Watch/Listen - Mint in Multimedia 14 AugustVideo story: Banking on technology RBI deputy governer K.C. Chakrabarty says that despite 40 years of nationalization, half of all Indians do not have bank accounts. Slideshow: What’s bigger than swine flu? The panic Even as the media has tracked each successive death from H1N1, masks have broken out like rashes in cities Video story: Grab your screen Want to make a quick demo for a website? Screenjelly helps you do it online, on the fly Slideshow: The day the music lived The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, as it was officially titled, was originally intended to be a ticketed event for 200,000 attendees Audio story: How did hackers crash Twitter? Last week, millions of people around the world experience severed attacks of panic as Twitter blacked out for hours, caused by a ‘denial of services’ attack: We try to find out exactly what this means Video story: The Mint report The government expects aviation industry to return to the growth path, Sensex shoots up nearly 500 points; wholesale prices fall the most in 30 years Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Aug 2009 | 1:00 am JSW Energy files draft paper for $620 mn IPOMumbai: JSW Energy Ltd has filed regulatory application for an initial public offer to raise up to Rs3,000 crore ($620 million), joining a rash of power utilities looking to tap the capital market. The company, part of the group that runs JSW Steel, has mandated eight arrangers including JM Financial, Kotak Mahindra Capital Co, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley for the offer, the draft prospectus showed. JSW Energy will primarily use the money to part fund power projects and mining venture, it said. The company has a capacity of 560 megawatts and is building 3,090 megawatts of capacity, it said. Indian companies have raised almost $10 billion by selling shares so far this year, surpassing the money raised in 2008, helped by a more than 90% rise in the benchmark index from its March lows. Adani Power and state-run NHPC have raised a combined $1.9 billion through IPOs since late July with their offerings subscribed more than 20 times each. A clutch of Indian firms including at least a dozen state-run companies are eyeing share sales to fund expansion in Asia’s third largest economy. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:59 am Nikkei hits 10-mth closing high but Shanghai weighsHong Kong: Japan’s Nikkei average rose 0.8% to hit a 10-month high on Friday, helped by growing evidence of an improving global economy but falls in Chinese stock markets helped it come off earlier highs. Big gainers for the day included Komatsu Ltd, the world’s second-biggest maker of construction machinery equipment, as well as rival Hitachi Construction Machinery which rose on rating upgrades from brokerages. Concerns over an increased supply of shares amid new listings and rights issues sent Shanghai shares down over 3 percent at one point and dragged Hong Kong down as well. “There’s no question that the world economy is improving, but stock markets have risen further than is warranted by recovery at this point, making them vulnerable to profit-taking,” said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management. “Short-term investors are looking to China for cues.” The benchmark Nikkei rose 0.8% or 80.14 points to 10,597.33, its highest close since early October, after earlier rising as much as 1.1%. Volume was boosted mostly by trade related to the settlement of Nikkei options contracts. It gained 1.8% on the week for its fifth straight week of gains. The broader Topix added 0.5% to 973.57. Helping lift the market was data showing Germany and France ended their recessions in April-June, earlier than many policymakers and economists had expected. That helped the market shrug off a US Commerce Department report that retail sales fell 0.1% in July, defying market expectations of a gain. Initial jobless claims also rose, though economists had expected a drop. “The general trend of economic recovery hasn’t changed,” said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC. “The market simply reaffirmed the fact that consumer spending and employment haven’t really caught up with the recovery momentum yet.” Japan’s second-quarter GDP is due out on Monday, and a Reuters poll of analysts showed they expect on average the economy to have grown 1.0 percent following contractions the previous two quarters. Amid a dearth of news, a slew of brokerage upgrades - which analysts said reflected a generally solid first-quarter earnings season - kept the Nikkei supported. Komatsu jumped 5.3% to ¥1,716 after Macquarie Research lifted its rating to “outperform” from “underperform” and while Hitachi Construction soared 8.4% to ¥1,930 after Mitsubishi UFJ lifted its rating. Ebara Corp, a maker of pumps, surged 7.9% to ¥382 after UBS Investment Research gave it a short-term “buy” rating and put the stock on its list of focus stocks. Computer security firm Trend Micro gained 3.2% to ¥3,510 after Nomura Securities raised its rating and lifted its target price to ¥4,000 from ¥3,000,citing new product launches and an early recovery from the recession as companies prioritise security investment. Trade was moderate on the Tokyo exchange’s first section, with 2.1 billion shares changing hands, in line with last week’s daily average. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:43 am Markets volatile, Sensex still in the redIndian equities markets were trading on a volatile note a little before noon Friday, with a key index still in the red and 52 points below its last closing figure.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:30 am Noon: Markets fall 0.3%; Infosys dropsMumbai: Indian shares fell 0.3% in choppy trade on Friday as jitters that poor rains will hit economic recovery and downbeat US data soured sentiment, a day after the market rose 3.3% to its best close in more than a week. Outsourcer Infosys Technologies, which gets most of its revenue from the United States, fell 1.5% to Rs2,035.10 after fresh data on Thursday dented hopes the US economy is on the verge of a strong rebound. US retail sales for July were much weaker than forecast, while weekly jobless claims rose more than expected. Top Indian mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp, private-sector lender ICICI Bank and diversified cigarette maker ITC were the other major losers. But energy giant Reliance Industries rose 0.2% to Rs2,027, and Reliance Infrastructure gained 2.1% to Rs1,192.10. “Right now there is a tug-of-war happening between the positives and the negatives of the market,” Ajay Parmar, head of institutional equities at Emkay Global Financial Services, said. “The market seems to be moving into a phase of randomness where it is up one day and down the next,” he said. “But on the concerns side, there are a lot of them.” By 11:48am, the 30-share BSE index was down 0.3% at 15,480.33 points, with 18 stocks declining, after opening up 0.1%. The 50-share NSE index was down 0.2% at 4,595.90. The benchmark posted its best one-day percentage gain in more than three weeks on Thursday as a proposal to overhaul the country’s tax system and a global equities rally on upbeat comments from the US Federal Reserve buoyed sentiment. Analysts warned just bullish sentiment may not be able to spur the market significantly higher, as worries that poor monsoon rains would dent economic growth and concerns about rich valuations still persist. The monsoon rains were 56% below normal over the past week, government data showed on Thursday, disappointing farmers for a third consecutive week while consumers felt the pinch of rapidly rising food prices. With just over 40% of agricultural land irrigated, farm output is heavily reliant on rains and the shortfall could potentially hurt rural demand, which accounts for more than half of India’s domestic consumption. India’s wholesale price index fell in the year to 1 August for the ninth week in a row, but there were signs prices could rise faster in the coming months due to the weak monsoon and growing manufacturing demand. The BSE index had slid 3.25% last week on rain concerns after jumping 16% over the previous three weeks, buoyed by a worldwide equities rally on strong corporate earnings and improving signs of a global economic recovery. Despite concerns about rich valuations after the benchmark leapt 93% from a 2009 low in early March and 61% this year, a rush of liquidity pouring into equity markets could support stocks in the short term as investors look to buy on dips, traders said. However, ICICI Bank fell 1% to Rs749.25, while Housing Development Finance Corp eased 1.9% to Rs2,318.10, ITC dropped 1.9% to Rs234.50. In the broader market, gainers led losers 1,357 to 924 on relatively heavy volume of 172.3 million shares. Asian shares were mixed on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei up 0.8%, while MSCI’s measure of other Asian markets was flat. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:24 am Coal India talks stake-sale with disinvestment secretaryNew Delhi: Coal India, after getting the necessary approval from the coal ministry, has begun discussions with the disinvestment department of the finance ministry to divest up to 10% of government stake in the company. “We have had a very good discussion on setting a road map for disinvestment in Coal India,” Coal India chairman P.S. Bhattacharyya said. Bhattacharya met the disinvestment secretary, Sunil Mitra, on Wednesday to finalise the “5-10%” equity dilution in Coal India. The company has already received the coal ministry’s nod to reduce the face value of its shares to Rs10 from Rs1,000 at present. “The coal ministry has given us its approval to lower the face value of our shares from Rs1,000 a share at present to Rs10 per share,” Bhattacharya said. The navratna firm’s equity base thus would be expanded to 631.6 crore shares from the current 6.316 crore shares. The company has a paid up equity capital of about Rs6,300 crore. Also, the coal ministry has approved the conversion of the PSU from a “private limited” firm to a “public limited” one. It has approved increasing number of shareholders to seven from the current six, a condition for any state-run entity to become “public limited”. Coal India is registered as a “private limited” company and will soon be a “public limited” firm with an small amendment, Bhattacharya said. It is a pre-requisite for disinvestment and coming out with a public offer. Coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had last month said he would take up the dilution of government equity with the Prime Minister after the monsoon session of Parliament. The session ended on 7 August. The company aims to give a boost to its R&R policy by way offering shares to the people whose land is acquired for mining purposes. Besides this, Coal India will offer shares to its employees. The remaining will be left for transaction on the bourses. To do all this, the coal ministry would have to introduce a bill to amend the present Coal Mines Nationalisation Act, paving way for the proposed disinvestment. CIL has an estimated coal reserves of up to 100 billion tonnes and over 80% market share in the country. Coal India produced about 403 million tonnes of coal last fiscal. The company has a capital expenditure plan of Rs3,200 crore for this fiscal and aims to increase production by 7.5% to 435 million tonnes by the end of the current financial year. Coal India had a profit before tax of Rs8,738.46 crore in the last fiscal. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:20 am Permission sought for $1 bn tax-free bonds by Air India - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:04 am Kohinoor Foods (Rs 61.45): BuyWe recommend a buy in the stock of Kohinoor Foods from a short-term perspective. It is apparent from the charts of the stock that it was on an intermediate-term downtrend from its September 2008 peak of Rs 130 till its July low of Rs 43. However,Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Stimulus packages boost sales of infrastructure cosBL Research Bureau Infrastructure is among the few sectors that have demonstrated clear signs of revival in revenue growth for the quarter ended June 2009.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Old wine in new bottleThe Direct Taxes Code Bill, 2009 has evoked great interest among the practitioners of this facet of law.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Soaring food prices belie falling headline inflationNew Delhi, Aug. 13 Inflation in essential items such as vegetables, cereals, pulses, sugar and manufactured food products continued to skyrocket even as the Wholesale Price Index-based aggregate inflation crashed to a record low of minus 1.74 perSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Preferential status for double tax avoidance treaties may goNew Delhi, Aug. 13 The Government proposes to unilaterally adopt a controversial concept whereby non-residents would lose the right to opt for either the provisions of double taxation avoidance treaty or domestic tax law, whichever wasSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideWe recommend a buy in DLF with tight stop at Rs 385. ICICI Bank and SBI are facing key resistance at Rs 785 and Rs 1,840 respectively. Both the stocks are likely to experience sellingSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Tax Code cheer, global cues lift SensexThe proposal to overhaul the direct tax system and reports on the prospects of global economic recovery pushed up the benchmark stock indices by more than 3 per cent onSource: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Equity funds see lower inflows post entry load waiverBL Research Bureau It may be too early to assert that this is a trend, but the first week after the entry load waiver on equity mutual funds, has not been positive for the fund industry.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Govt to re-look jet fuel prices to pilot airlines to safetyNew Delhi, Aug 13 A Group of Ministers is to look into both the high base price of aviation turbine fuel compared to international benchmarks and the incidence of sales tax on aviation fuel.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Arabica coffee imports likely in next 7-8 yearsBangalore Aug.13 The growing domestic demand for quality coffees could possibly make the country a net importer of the arabicas — the mild and superior variety, over the next seven to ten years, predicted a major industry player.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 14 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Demand for Indian flags lukewarmIndependence Day is only a day away but the usual fervour for tri-coloured flags is missing this time.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Aug 2009 | 11:30 pm Goa draft mineral policy allows mining near sanctuariesThe Goa environment ministry ordered the closure of 12 mines last week for their proximity to wildlife sanctuaries, but the government's new draft mineral policy allows mining in close vicinity of the protected areas.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Aug 2009 | 11:30 pm Permission sought for $1 bn tax-free bonds by Air IndiaThe civil aviation ministry has sought the cabinet's nod for Air India to float tax-free bonds worth Rs.5,000 crore ($1 billion) and fresh equity from the government to fund its fleet expansion plans and other expenses.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Aug 2009 | 11:30 pm Sensex opens lower on profit-bookingThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today opened lower by over 61 points on emergence of profit-booking at higher levels.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Aug 2009 | 11:03 pm Behind India's rise as IT power lies 25 years of C-DOTThis month marks the 25th anniversary of what is now widely acknowledged to be India's first defining steps towards an information and communications revolution. It was in August 1984 that the Centre for Development of Telematics or C-DOT was set up with the specific intention of indigenising digital switching technology to meet India's unique requirements.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Aug 2009 | 11:00 pm Rupee falls by 18 paise in early tradeThe Indian rupee on Friday depreciated by 18 paise against the US dollar in the forex market on steady capital outflows amid jittery financial markets.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Aug 2009 | 10:54 pm Sensex opens lower on profit-bookingThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today opened lower by over 61 points on emergence of profit-booking at higher levels.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Aug 2009 | 10:50 pm Bhuvan, the Indian version of Google EarthThe web-based tool allows users to have a closer look at any part of the subcontinent barring sensitive locations such as army and nuclear installations.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Aug 2009 | 10:50 pm Sensex slips after openingA key index of the Indian equities markets slipped into the red and was 49 points below its previous close about five minutes after the start of trade.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Aug 2009 | 10:31 pm Wall Street rises as Wal-Mart offsets weak dataNew York: US stocks rose on Thursday as better-than-expected earnings by Wal-Mart Stores Inc helped offset disappointing government numbers on retail sales and jobs. Shares of Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, gained 2.7% to $51.88 following its second-quarter earnings and its outlook for the full year. The rest of the retail sector was lukewarm, however, after the US Commerce Department reported retail sales fell 0.1% in July, defying market expectations of a gain. Analysts had expected a boost to retail sales from the government’s “cash for clunkers” program that offers taxpayers money for trading in gas guzzlers for more fuel efficient new cars. The S&P retail index added 0.3%. Also on the negative side, the government said the number of workers filing initial applications for unemployment benefits rose by 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 558,000. Economists had anticipated a drop. “What really helped us this morning was Wal-Mart coming out and kind of across the board saying early back-too-school numbers were pretty good,” said Warren Simpson, managing director at Stephens Capital Management in Little Rock, Arkansas. “That kind of keyed the market, at least having some resiliency and some support, and consequently, we’ve rallied just a little here.” The market had surged on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said the economy appears to be “leveling out.” But Thursday’s data served as a reminder that the economic picture remains unsettled. “To be up after a day like we had yesterday is a pretty good day,” Simpson added. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 36.58 points, or 0.39%, to 9,398.19. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 6.92 points, or 0.69% to 1,012.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 10.63 points, or 0.53%, to 2,009.35. Financial stocks were among the bright spots, a day after hedge fund manager John Paulson - who had made a fortune betting against financial companies after foreseeing the credit crisis - disclosed that he had bought large stakes in several banks, including Bank of America. Bank of America shares gained 6.7% to $17.00, and the KBW Bank index gained 3.1%. After the closing bell, shares of Nordstrom Inc slipped 0.9% to $29.50 after the upscale department store operator reported a steep decline in quarterly profit, that nonetheless met expectations. Shares of AutoDesk Inc added 0.8% after the bell after the software designer posted forecast-beating quarterly results. Stocks briefly extended gains at midday after a 30-year US Treasury bond auction was well received, providing a boost to confidence in US assets including stocks. Homebuilder shares fell on a string of downgrades, with D R Horton Inc down 3.7% to $12.95 after Citigroup cut its rating. KB Home fell 2.5% to $17.83 after a downgrade by Raymond James. The Dow Jones US Home Construction index shed 1.5%. Volume was light on the New York Stock Exchange, with 777 million shares changing hands, well below last year’s estimated daily average of 1.49 billion, while on the Nasdaq, about 1.01 billion shares traded, below last year’s daily average of 2.28 billion. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Aug 2009 | 10:16 pm IE 8 is Microsoft’s champion in browser warsSan Francisco: Microsoft is touting freshly-launched Internet Explorer 8 as its champion in the competitive Web browser arena, urging holdouts to upgrade from earlier versions of the software. IE 8 has been catching on since its release five months ago, but Microsoft is hoping to leave behind aging IE 6 as well as much-maligned Vista after Windows 7 operating system launches in October. Despite being released nine years ago, IE 6 still claims 27.2% of the browser market, according to figures released in July by Net Applications. “The reason to still be on IE 6 at this point is lack of awareness, or the ‘good-enough’ problem that people are satisfied with what they are using,” said Amy Barzdukas, general manager of IE and consumer security at Microsoft. “Particularly in this economy, it is difficult to be cavalier and just say update to IE 8.” Schools, hospitals and other cash-strapped operations could be daunted by the cost of upgrading computer systems to new software. IE 6 also tends to be used with pirated versions of Windows XP operating system because newer software is better designed to expose illegitimate copies, according to Barzdukas. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 13 Aug 2009 | 10:05 pm IE 8 is Microsoft’s champion in browser warsSan Francisco: Microsoft is touting freshly-launched Internet Explorer 8 as its champion in the competitive Web browser arena, urging holdouts to upgrade from earlier versions of the software. IE 8 has been catching on since its release five months ago, but Microsoft is hoping to leave behind aging IE 6 as well as much-maligned Vista after Windows 7 operating system launches in October. Despite being released nine years ago, IE 6 still claims 27.2% of the browser market, according to figures released in July by Net Applications. “The reason to still be on IE 6 at this point is lack of awareness, or the ‘good-enough’ problem that people are satisfied with what they are using,” said Amy Barzdukas, general manager of IE and consumer security at Microsoft. “Particularly in this economy, it is difficult to be cavalier and just say update to IE 8.” Schools, hospitals and other cash-strapped operations could be daunted by the cost of upgrading computer systems to new software. IE 6 also tends to be used with pirated versions of Windows XP operating system because newer software is better designed to expose illegitimate copies, according to Barzdukas. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Aug 2009 | 10:05 pm India, ASEAN ink FTA covering 4k products - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Aug 2009 | 9:09 pm Mayday! PM forms GoM on food security and drought - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Aug 2009 | 5:26 pm Yes, it's a droughtAgriculture minister Sharad Pawar declared 177 out of 626 districts as "drought-affected", raising fears of lower crop production.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Aug 2009 | 4:29 pm Simpler tax = more tax for middle classIf you think the new direct tax code unveiled by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday will save you tax, think again.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Aug 2009 | 4:29 pm In defence of entry loadAn agent's commission is redundant information in an investment decision-making process. Even worse, it is positively detrimental to decision making.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Aug 2009 | 4:21 pm Govt moots higher FDI for FM radio, DTHThe government has revived the proposal on rationalisation of foreign investment in the broadcasting and telecom sectors.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Aug 2009 | 4:12 pm Convert crisis into opportunityThe news on the farm front is becoming grimmer with each passing day. Parched lands and parched mouths are desperate for water.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Aug 2009 | 4:10 pm Asean FTA worth $10 bn in 1st yearIndia and Asean signed a free trade agreement on Thursday, after more than six years of negotiations, to create a European Union-style single market.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Aug 2009 | 4:09 pm GoM to be set up for ATF pricingThe government has finally agreed to set up a GoM for looking into the twin issues of sales tax on aviation turbine fuel and its base price.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Aug 2009 | 4:03 pm Code ends tax-saving schemesIf the provisions of the new direct tax code were to be implemented, the number of tax-saving instruments that a taxpayer has access to will come down dramatically.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Aug 2009 | 4:03 pm Ministers’ group to guide govt on gas rowPrime Minister Manmohan Singh has constituted a ministers group to monitor the government's stand on the Ambani gas dispute in the Supreme Court.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 13 Aug 2009 | 2:45 pm Reliance gas to help IGL cut costsMukesh Ambani controlled Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) signed its first agreement for sale of gas for city gas distribution with Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL), the sole supplier of CNG (compressed natural gas) for transportation and PNG (piped natural gas) to households.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 13 Aug 2009 | 2:35 pm Mat fine print may tax losing firmsA proposal to change the existing norms of minimum alternate tax (MAT) might well turn out to be a major a thorn in the flesh for corporations with experts fearing that even loss making firms might be forced to pay taxes.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 13 Aug 2009 | 2:28 pm GE Energy plans Rs 400-cr IPO - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Aug 2009 | 1:52 pm 13 August | The Mint reportNew Delhi: After weeks of turmoil, there was some good news for India’s airlines. Aviation minister Praful Patel said his ministry expected the industry to grow by at least 8.5% every year, until 2015. This is in sharp contrast to the last calendar year, when the country’s airline market fell by 4.7%. But the government is also trying to address the industry’s concerns. Patel said a group of ministers would look into both high sales taxes and base prices for jet fuel. CavinKare wants to take on the giants of the fast-food industry. The company already sells packaged foods, but has now opened a restaurant in Puducherry. It eventually plans to take on McDonald’s and KFC in India, and then expand overseas. Standard Chartered is investing in an Indian infrastructure firm. Its Private Equity arm is buying a 10% stake in Ramky Infra, for Rs200 crore. In 2006, three other private equity firms bought a total of about 14% of the company. Markets zoomed upwards on Thursday after the previous day. The Sensex shot up 498 points, closing at 15,518, while the Nifty went up 148 points ending the day at 4,605. India’s wholesale prices have taken the steepest fall in 30 years. The Wholesale Price Index was down 1.74% in the week ending 1 August. But analysts say food inflation, which is already high, may increase from October, because of the poor monsoons this year. The government may be struggling to contain swine flu, but a biotech company in Pune says it has created a new anti-viral drug to help fight the virus. Indus Biotech says their drug is derived from a plant in the human food chain, making it low on toxicity. The Indus team will present their data in front of the Union Health Ministry next week and seek an approval roadmap. But some wonder if the new drug is a way to cash in on the current flu scare. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Aug 2009 | 1:45 pm Populism leads to ineffective governanceThe current credit crisis and ensuing economic contraction has had the distinction of swinging the world’s most unabashedly capitalist nation into a moment of introspection and self-doubt. As a result, new age Robin Hoods have sprung all over America. Admittedly, unbridled capitalism has its pitfalls but socialist programmes, while garnering political mileage, are seldom as effective as advertised.  You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that there is something fundamentally flawed with the healthcare system in the US. The looming deficit of the Medicare programme is not as much a case of misallocation of funds, as a case of funds mismanagement, among other issues. To add some meat to the thought, the funds for the Medicare programme are obtained through payroll taxes and these funds are placed in trusts to fund future obligations. But these funds have already been drawn upon by other government departments to fund everything from war efforts to highway construction. The result is that these funds now end up holding IOUs from government entities, instead of real, liquid assets to fund future obligations. To mitigate this deficit, the current administration has devised a plan which, among other things, recommends a tax surcharge on the rich—an idea that according to a recent NBC-Wall Street Journal poll is the only one that finds mass appeal. The unanimous endorsement, while understandable, given the smaller number of people who will be impacted by the surcharge, flies in the face of capitalism. This arguably has grave economic impact as the ones getting taxed are the very people capable of creating jobs and investing capital towards economic activity. Increased taxation undermines the competitive edge of a country. Social causes with an eye on the ballot should be restrained. In a banal example of political irresponsibility, the US transportation secretary was quoted as saying on the Cash for Clunkers programme (which provides a $4,500 (Rs216,630) cash subsidy to anyone willing to trade in their old, gas-guzzling car for a new one): “People in America love to buy cars, and we’ve given them the incentive to do that. I think the last thing that any politician wants to do is cut off the opportunity for somebody who’s going to be able to get a rebate from the government to buy a new vehicle.” This is a classic example of the inane policies and the thought process that underlines some of the widespread populist social programmes that have sprung all over the world. Surely the US, with 20% more vehicles than licensed drivers, can do without a rebate. If such handouts were in the education, rehabilitation or healthcare segments, at least they are defensible from a social standpoint but not because Joe six-pack wants a lifestyle upgrade. The socialist roots of India’s current administration are well known. We have in prior articles disputed the efficacy of oil subsidies, funds mismanagement for which is hardly a whodunit but more of a howdunit, but other feel-good social programmes such as farmer subsidies are also fundamentally flawed. Public sector banks providing subsidized loans to farmers, and then at the behest of the government, writing these off is hardly justifiable. The Indian farmer is a prime example of what ails socialist policies. Over the years, while vast sums of money have been dedicated to the uplift of the farmer, the farmer’s plight hasn’t changed. Instead of a handout, if there were a focus to remedy the inefficiencies of the supply chain, which is infested with middlemen, the farmer would be better off. These half-baked social initiatives just make for great headlines and voter turnout, at the same time saddling the country with ever-increasing deficits. Examples of populist socialism are all over the world and not all of them are utter failures. For instance, in Brazil and Mexico, from time immemorial, there have been initiatives in some shape and form towards providing housing for the low-income segments. The current initiative is directed by government agencies which are funded through employer contributions, much like the public provident fund in India. The housing account, as it is referred to, is mandatory for any formally employed person, and serves as collateral against the mortgage. Monthly payments are deducted through payroll and indexed to inflation, as is the wage. This system has actually seen tremendous success with surprisingly low non-performing loans. The programme, at least in Mexico, seems flawless with the right balance between capitalism and socialism. It has led to the development of a profitable homebuilding industry, which also has an economic multiplier effect with the sector creating jobs and economic activity throughout the supply chain. Having extolled these programmes, both the countries have in the past seen housing entities fail rather spectacularly, albeit in conjunction with broader economic turmoil, saddling their governments with looming deficits. The tug of war between capitalists and socialists is only just about intensifying. The merits and demerits of both philosophies are up to debate. We remain free-market loyalists with little faith in the ability of democratic regimes that acquire a taste for populist, social causes. Rajeshree Varangaonkar and Bharat Indurkar have day jobs with US-based hedge funds. They write every other Thursday. Send your comments to globalbeat@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Aug 2009 | 1:45 pm Govt move in Ambani case hurts NTPCNew Delhi: India’s solicitor general Gopal Subramanium has criticized the government for jeopardizing state-run power company NTPC Ltd’s case in the Bombay high court against the Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) over the supply of gas from the latter’s Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin, off the eastern coast of India.  The petroleum ministry and NTPC, which comes under the purview of the power ministry, have taken conflicting stands in the case between RIL and the Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) over gas from the former’s D6 block in the KG basin that is currently before the Supreme Court. The outcome of this case could have a bearing on the NTPC-RIL case. The solicitor general said in his opinion to NTPC that the Union government should take a “carefully uniform and unified stand” to protect public rights and interests. He further added that “the present case (between RIL and NTPC) requires considered and matured reflection by the Central government”. NTPC—as reported by Mint on 22 July—had sought the attorney general’s opinion on the government’s petition in the RIL-RNRL case and said that it could, based on this opinion, intervene in the case, too. Attorney general Goolam Vahanvati and solicitor general are India’s top two law officers. “We are examining the views given by the attorney general and solicitor general. The attorney general’s view is supportive of the solicitor general’s view. Based on these opinions, we are forming our strategy,” said a top NTPC executive, who did not want to be identified. The lawsuit between NTPC and RIL in the Bombay high court dates back to December 2005 with the point of contention being the existence and terms of a valid contract between the two. NTPC claims there is one in which RIL promised to supply 12 million standard cu. m a day (mscmd) of gas for the expansion of the state-owned power generator’s Kawas and Gandhar power plants, both in Gujarat, for 17 years at a price of $2.34 (Rs112.5) per million British thermal unit (mBtu). RIL claims otherwise. Government disposes Referring to RIL’s amendment in its plea in the high court in its ongoing dispute with NTPC that the contract between the two firms was scotched by the government’s policy on the pricing and allocation of gas, Subramanium, in his opinion to NTPC, said: “In fact, the said amendment by RIL seems to portray the Central government as the chief architect of the inability of RIL in being able to perform the contract.” NTPC claims its contract with RIL dates back to 2004. The government fixed the price of RIL’s KG basin gas on 12 September 2007. “It is indeed strange that RIL should place this burden on the Union of India as having impliedly taken away the fundamental basis of a very carefully structured bid, which must have been undertaken with the concurrence of the administrative ministry viz. the ministry of power of the government of India, and seeks to suggest that the contract is one which is incapable of performance,” Subramanium added in his opinion. RIL amended its petition in the Bombay high court so as to include an earlier affidavit filed by the Union government in the same court, but in the case between RIL and RNRL (This is the same case that has now reached the Supreme Court). This affidavit, filed in June, had reiterated the decision of a group of ministers on the $4.2 per mBtu pricing and the policy for allocation of gas from the KG basin. Subramanium also said that a private party (RIL) taking advantage of the government’s affidavit and using it as a primary defence could cause the government “great public embarrassment”. Hari Shankar Brahma, the power secretary, declined to comment; and Shinde and Deora did not respond to phone calls or to a message left on their mobile phones. 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 between the estranged Ambani brothers, but RIL has held that it cannot give gas to anybody without the approval of the government, the owner of all sovereign assets. The government had, in a petition filed in the apex court on 18 July, made a case for scrapping the gas supply agreement between RIL and RNRL. The three-year-old corporate battle has escalated to the Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear arguments on 1 September. Subramanium’s legal opinion is also critical of the way NTPC has handled the entire issue. It finds fault with the state-owned firm for entertaining RIL’s requests for the modification of the gas sales purchase agreement and for a delay in initiating legal action. It suggests that NTPC seek the Union government’s intervention in the Bombay high court, and if that is not possible, then seek interim relief in the Supreme Court. Subramanium said NTPC should present its case to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh so that full facts are brought to the attention of the Union government. “They (NTPC) have been given certain opinion. They should carefully process it and take it to the concerned ministries and then proceed,” said a senior petroleum ministry official, who did not want to be identified. While a spokesperson for the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, of which RNRL is a part, declined to comment, an external spokesperson for RIL said: “Our respect for the judicial process determines that we present our views and contentions on all aspects of the case before the honourable court.” Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Aug 2009 | 1:45 pm AG asks NTPC to move SC on gas rowIndia's top two law officers have advised NTPC to move Supreme Court at once to secure gas at a contracted price from RIL.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Aug 2009 | 1:33 pm Patel pitches for lower tax on ATFThe Union cabinet on Thursday decided to set up a ministerial group to look into the issue of high ATF prices due to high base prices fixed by the oil marketing companies and high sales tax by state governments.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Aug 2009 | 1:31 pm Pakistanis say US is bigger threatNew Delhi: Many more people in Pakistan consider the US, and not India, as the greatest threat to their country, a survey conducted by Gallup Pakistan for Al-Jazeera satellite TV network has found. As many as 59% of the respondents said they considered the US as the greatest threat to Pakistan, compared with 18% who said it was India. The survey was conducted among 2,500 people across Pakistan on 26-27 July. Al-Jazeera shared details of the survey exclusively with Mint and the Hindustan Times, both published by HT Media Ltd. Fragments of the survey were reported by PTI news agency on 10 August. The survey found that the respondents were deeply divided on their opinions about Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. Although 43% favoured a dialogue with the Islamic group, 41% supported military action against them. However, an overwhelming 67% opposed drone aircraft attacks by the US against Taliban and Al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan; 80% of those opposing were above 51 years of age. “One of the abiding features of Pakistan is that in this region the highest incidents of anti-US protests and attacks have been on Pakistan’s streets,” said C. Uday Bhaskar, defence expert and former director of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis. “The paradox is that the Pakistani establishment is closely aligned with the US, so much so that it has been designated as the only non-NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) ally in the war against terror.” Also See Mood of the Nation (Graphics) G. Parthasarathy, India’s former high commissioner to Pakistan and an expert on foreign affairs, said: “It has been this way for a long time. It (anti-US sentiment) started with the US ending assistance to Pakistan after the Soviet pull-out (from Afghanistan),” he said. “Also, the US started acting against and asking Pakistan to act against the Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, etc., whom the Pakistanis had been brainwashed into believing were great Islamic heroes.” The survey also had bad news for Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, with 42% saying his leadership has been bad for Pakistan, compared with just 11% who said Zardari has been a good leader. On a similar note, 38% said the Pakistan Peoples Party government has been bad for the country, against 20%, who say it has been good. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif emerged as the most popular political leader in Pakistan, with 38% of the respondents saying his rule would be best for Pakistan. Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani emerged a distant second with 13% support, while only 9% favoured Zardari. Graphics by Ahmed Raza Khan / Mint Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Aug 2009 | 1:30 pm FM code: Tax recast to offset EET lossThe new tax code has brought smiles to the faces of most taxpayers on hopes that it would put more money in their pockets once the proposal becomes the law.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Aug 2009 | 1:28 pm Srinivasan buys out brother's stake in ICLN Srinivasan, managing director of The India Cements Ltd, south India's largest cement maker, has laid to rest speculation on his relationship with his younger brother N Ramachandran by buying him out.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Aug 2009 | 1:20 pm Sensex rises by 498 pointsAfter opening about 200 points higher, the benchmark index gained through the session to close at 15,518, up 498 points on the day.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Aug 2009 | 1:17 pm HDFC reduces rates by 50 bps for Rs 30-50L slabHome loan major HDFC has cut interest rates by 50 basis points for the Rs 30 lakh-Rs 50 lakh slab. The new rate for this bracket will be 9% per annum, down from 9.5% earlier, a senior HDFC official said.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Aug 2009 | 1:11 pm Inflation dips to -1.74%, a 30-year lowInflation fell to (-)1.74% for the week ended August 1 the lowest in three decades even as prices of essential food items like pulses,cereals, fruits and vegetables continued to rise. In the previous week, inflation was at -1.58%.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Aug 2009 | 1:11 pm The day the music livedNew Delhi: When Maya Chadda was still Maya Kulkarni, an unmarried graduate student in New York City, she received a telephone call that was unusual but in no way indicative of the extraordinary events to come. Ravi Shankar, on tour in the US, was suddenly missing his tanpura player, who had fallen ill, so could she step in for a few concerts? Chadda could, fortunately—which is how, 40 years ago, she found herself on stage, in front of hundreds of thousands of people, at the century’s definitive rock-and-roll event: Woodstock.  Striking a chord: A file photo of Maya Kulkarni with the tanpura. Barry Zlevine / Getty Images “That’s right: Woodstock!” Chadda tells her students at William Patterson University today. Usually, there is then a spell of silence, as they wrestle with the image of their political science professor at a three-day, marijuana-clouded conclave of hippies. “Their jaws fall open. They cannot believe it,” Chadda says. “But it’s a bit of a teaching strategy. It’s what I use to get them to interact with me as an individual, not as a professor.” Fortunately for Chadda’s pedagogy, she had known Shankar from her girlhood in Bombay, when she used to visit the Bhulabhai Desai Institute to learn Bharatanatyam. “M.F. Husain and Vasudeo Gaitonde used to have studios there, and Raviji had classes and rehearsals and stuff,” Chadda remembers. “Then I came away to the United States to study, and Raviji was performing all over the place here. So even though I wasn’t part of his team, I had been a part of the dance and music world, and he had known me.” Chadda, a very sheltered 22 at the time, was uncertain at first if she should volunteer, if she would be able to sit with the requisite straight-backed elegance for two hours. Shankar offered a simple suggestion: Practise first. “So I did that,” Chadda says. “I was part of five or six performances, all on the east coast of the United States. I had very little knowledge of the popular music scene at the time, and even less knowledge that I was going to participate in something so historic.” Click here to watch slideshow As the Shankar entourage drove towards Woodstock, Chadda was struck by the road’s gradual transformation into “something like a parking lot”. Thousands of people were converging on the town, many by foot, and Shankar’s car was soon mired in this swamp of humanity. “Somehow, Raviji’s agent got in touch with the organizers,” she says. “So out of nowhere, this helicopter came, lifted us off the highway, and took us to our hotel.” The Woodstock Music & Art Fair, as it was officially titled, was originally intended to be a ticketed event for 200,000 attendees. It turned free in a hurry when more than half a million people flooded the grounds of the dairy farm owned by the benevolent Max Yasgur. Beginning 15 August, over three intermittently rainy days, these many thousands packed into a muddy field to listen to 32 concerts—including Shankar’s, on the festival’s opening day. The morning of that day, a Friday, Shankar, Chadda and tabla maestro Allah Rakha huddled with other musicians in a shed, waiting for their helicopter. “There were chickens there, and this guy was chasing the chickens. Then in the helicopter, he sat in front of me and started pulling hair out of his chest,” Chadda says. “I asked Raviji what was going on, and he said: ‘Pagal aadmi hai. Maja dekho.’ (He’s crazy. Just watch the fun).” She would later discover that the crazy man was Jimi Hendrix. Backstage, the artists waited in a big, sweltering tent for their turn to go on stage; there was no water, and the festival was already behind schedule when Swami Satchidananda, a religious teacher, declared it open in the late afternoon. With little to do, Chadda wandered about the tent, not knowing a single musician, just content to stare at what she calls “the highest rank of bizarre I’d ever seen, in how they were dressed, the colours, the hair, the tattoos, everything”. “It was very loud, and Raviji couldn’t really tune up because of the noise,” she says. “There was Janis Joplin backstage, and Joan Baez, who was just beautiful, with a serene face, singing really passionate songs about oppression. I could appreciate that—the words were clear, not like all the other singing that seemed so frenzied to me.” It was 10pm, with rain in the night air, when Shankar’s troupe finally took the stage, to begin a five-piece set with the raga Purya Dhanashri. “I remember people looking a little confused but also knowing who he was and what he did,” says Tommy Maher, who was in the audience at Woodstock, and who is still so stricken with its spirit that he signs off his messages with a “Peace Always”. “I do remember the girl in the group, and I remember a lot of smiling from the whole group.” Shankar and Allah Rakha played for an hour, virtually non-stop; one photograph from Woodstock, shot from the back of the stage, shows them bent over their instruments, outlined in light, as rain falls into their audience. “They were all listening in rapt attention, although I’m not sure if it was induced by marijuana or by the music,” Chadda says. “But it was received with a standing ovation—well, an ovation, since they were all standing anyway. Raviji that day was like God. Absolutely like God.” Shankar himself, however, was not enthused with Woodstock. Two years earlier, performing at the Monterey International Pop Music Festival, he had admired some musicians but been aghast at many others. “[W]hen he saw the Who destroy their instruments, followed by Jimi Hendrix burning his guitar…Shankar felt physically ill,” wrote Peter Lavezzoli in Bhairavi: The Dawn of Indian Music in the West. “Shankar was especially disappointed with Hendrix, whom he considered a brilliant guitarist, making the destructive act all the more wasteful.” In his autobiography, Raga Mala, Shankar would later write: “If Monterey was the beginning of a new movement or beautiful happening, I think Woodstock was almost the end.” When he spoke to interviewer Karan Thapar a few decades afterwards, Shankar’s murmured recollections were telling: “So much trash, so much violence.” Shankar’s visceral reaction was evident to Chadda even in 1969. “It would upset him. For him the music was intoxicating enough, and he didn’t like the fact that people heard the music stoned,” she says. “He really thought they didn’t quite understand the power of the music, and its potential, and that bothered a serious musician like him.” Shankar was always acutely conscious of the worshipful nature of his music. “Even at Woodstock, he got up at 4am, did his puja for 90minutes, and then did his practice,” Chadda says. “Only after that would he come out for breakfast.” For Chadda, though, the excitement was contagious. “The distinctions between artist and audience collapsed—not physically, but there was an incredible thread stretching between us,” she notes. “It’s a spontaneity that I have never encountered since then.” It was only after a few years that Chadda truly realised the magnitude of Woodstock. She had proceeded to complete her Ph.D., balanced for a few years her twin loves of dance and academia, and landed finally on the side of academia. Chadda continues to dance, however, and has been favourably reviewed by the New York Times, among other publications. But her accidental connection to Woodstock has remained strong; she learned recently that somebody “wanted to fly out from the midwest (of the US) just to get my signature on some memorabilia. Can you imagine!” Chadda has returned only once to Woodstock. In the mid-1970s, on her way to a dance performance in the town of Poughkeepsie, she took a small detour and stopped off at the farm. By then, Yasgur had sold the land and, in 1971, died of a heart attack. “It’s just a field now, of course,” Chadda says. “But immediately, the memories came flooding back.” samanth.s@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Aug 2009 | 1:11 pm Bajaj yet to finalize low-cost car planBajaj Auto is yet to freeze plans on its proposed ultra low-cost car that the company plans to build in partnership with French auto major Renault and Japan's Nissan.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 13 Aug 2009 | 1:07 pm Aditya Birla Nuvo in talks with global PE investorsAditya Birla Nuvo is in talks with global private equity players Blackstone, Carlyle and KKR to sell shareholding in its proposed holding firm for its financial services business. The financial services holding company will house its asset management, insurance, stock broking, wealth management and private equity businesses.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 13 Aug 2009 | 12:46 pm Pranab sees revival in second halfFinance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that the economy was expected to revive in the second half of the year on the back of the latest Index of Industrial Production numbers, return of foreign institutional investors to the markets over the last two months and the normal functioning of the credit markets.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 13 Aug 2009 | 12:43 pm Grab your screen with a single clickNew Delhi: For all the fancy hardware that goes into modern computers sometimes the simplest tasks can stump you. For instance suppose you’ve made a blog for the entire family and want to tell your uncle in Vancouver how to embed a video in his post. One option could be to send him a long, patiently written email with every step put out in excruciating detail. Or you could invest emotionally and financially in the activity by trying to explain it to him over the phone. All the while you’re pulling your hair wondering why you can’t just demo it on his computer screen. Well with screen capturing software you can do it. Almost. Screen capturing involves running a program in the background while you do things on your computer. The program quietly records everything you do into a video file, which you can then despatch as required. But this still means uploading this video somewhere and then sending out a link. Besides most free screencapturing software tend to produce somewhat flicker-y videos. Screenjelly.com, then, is a purely online service that let’s you record upto three minutes of on-screen activity, then stores it online and finally provides you with a link to the video. All with one link on a big red button. And the video quality is good enough to get the job down without hassle. See the latest PlayStream video to see how you can make your own 3-minute long web tutorials. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 13 Aug 2009 | 12:08 pm Mumbai, Chennai to get Rs.2,200 crore for water projectsThe government Thursday said it will set up two major water projects in Mumbai and Chennai at a cost of Rs.2,200 crore aimed at finding a permanent solution to the acute water scarcity in these two metros.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Aug 2009 | 10:03 am Ford increases production as demand reboundsDearborn, Mich: Ford Motor Co said on Thursday it is increasing production over the rest of the year to meet increased demand spurred by the US government’s “Cash for Clunkers” sales incentive program. Ford said it now plans to build 495,000 vehicles in the third quarter, up 10,000 from its previous forecast. That would mark an increase over year-earlier levels of 18%. The No. 2 US automaker also set a fourth-quarter production target of 570,000 vehicles, up 33% from year-earlier levels. The output gains will translate into immediately higher revenues for Ford, the only US automaker to have avoided a federally sponsored bankruptcy. Major automakers book revenue when vehicles are manufactured and shipped to dealers. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 13 Aug 2009 | 8:10 am Social gadgets added to iGoogle homepagesSan Francisco: Google on Wednesday added social-networking features to its customizable homepages by adding software “gadgets” that enable people to play and stay in tune with friends online. The Internet giant announced the US debuts on iGoogle of 19 community-oriented mini-programs including chess and trivia game play and firing off updates about one’s life. “Social gadgets let you share, collaborate and play games with your friends on top of all the things you can already do on your homepage,” Google vice president of search products and user experience Marissa Mayer and iGoogle product manager Rose Yao said in a joint message posted online. “Your friends are able to see what you share or do in your social gadgets either by having the same gadgets on their homepages, or through a new feed called Updates.” People using iGoogle can create a “Friends” group to designate who they want to share digital data with. The iGoogle social gadgets were launched recently in Australia and are being rolled out in the United States, according to Mayer and Yao. “The Google homepage has always been a place that connects people to information, and we’re excited to now also be a place that connects people to each other,” the executives said. “We hope these social gadgets make iGoogle an even more fun and personal homepage for you.” There are more than 60,000 mini-applications in a gadget directory that can be used to customize iGoogle homepages with hip, playful, or functional programs, according to the California-based Internet goliath. The addition of social gadgets comes as Google competes for people’s online time with social-networking services Facebook and MySpace and microblogging sensation Twitter. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 13 Aug 2009 | 6:37 am
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