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American Airlines announces new baggage policyAmerican Airlines' passengers travelling between locations in Europe, India and the US will soon have to pay 50 dollars (about Rs 2,400) to check-in their second baggage under the airlines' revised baggage policy.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 22 Aug 2009 | 7:40 am Air fares between India and Trinidad to become cheaperIndian High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago Malay Mishra has announced that state-owned Caribbean Airlines and Air India are working on a project to reduce air fares between the two countries.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 22 Aug 2009 | 6:56 am Ex-UBS banker turned informant gets 40-month sentence!Bradley Birkenfeld, a key informant in the US tax evasion case against Swiss bank UBS, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison on Friday by a federal court judge in Florida.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Aug 2009 | 6:39 am India, Nepal agree for new trade treaty!India and Nepal on Saturday reached a new trade treaty and an agreement to control unauthorised trade, particularly from a third country, aimed at widening the bilateral economic engagement.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Aug 2009 | 6:39 am GM executives, board, split over Opel fate: Report!General Motors` newly-appointed board has failed to support a plan backed by its executives that would sell the US auto giant`s European subsidiary, Opel, to Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc, according to reports.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Aug 2009 | 6:39 am Jet pilots serve strike call notice!National Aviators Guild, the recently formed union of Jet Airways pilots, today said it is serving a strike call notice to the airline management on Monday to protest the termination of two senior pilots.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Aug 2009 | 6:39 am Honda to introduce electric vehicle in US in 2010!Honda Motor Co. will join two domestic rivals in introducing electric cars, seeking to market the environmentally friendly vehicles in the United States in the first half of the 2010s, sources said on Saturday.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Aug 2009 | 6:39 am Ericsson CEO clueless about fate of Nortel deal!Swedish telecom major Ericsson, whose acquisition of Nortel`s wireless business here last month has been challenged by BlackBerry maker RIM and Canadian opposition parties, says it is still in the dark about the fate of the deal.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Aug 2009 | 6:39 am Anand Sharma reaffirms India`s commitment to Africa!India is committed to further expand and diversify its trade with Africa, to which South Africa was a gateway, Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma said in Johannesburg on Friday.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Aug 2009 | 6:39 am Sensex stems losses!A two-day rally by a key index of the Indian equities markets stemmed losses this week, but the index still ended 1.11 percent lower on Friday than its previous weekly close.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Aug 2009 | 6:39 am Obama to raise 10-year deficit to $9 trillion!The Obama administration will raise its 10-year budget deficit projection to approximately USD 9 trillion from USD 7.108 trillion in a report next week, a senior administration official a news agency on Friday.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Aug 2009 | 6:39 am Delhi airport roof collapse: Govt to pull up contractor GMRThe roof of Delhi\'s new swanky airport terminal1D built to weather even earthquakes and cyclones came crashing down in the storm that hit the capital last evening.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Aug 2009 | 6:05 am ADAG counters govt claims: Stated facts in ad campaignIn a response to the governments statement, JP Chalasani, Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Power, said there was no question of carry out any propaganda against the government. ADAG is committed to uphold the country\'s legal system. All facts in the advertisements are correct, he added.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Aug 2009 | 5:55 am Ericsson CEO clueless about fate of Nortel dealSwedish telecom major Ericsson, whose acquisition of Nortel's wireless business here last month has been challenged by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and Canadian opposition parties, says it is still in the dark about the fate of the deal.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 22 Aug 2009 | 4:32 am RBI limits withdrawls, transactions f... - India Infoline.com
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Aug 2009 | 4:02 am WTO asks India for greater responsibility for Doha trade deal New Delhi: The World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Sunday said that countries like India, China and Brazil, which have emerged as key players in the multilateral negotiations, need to show greater responsibility for reaching a Doha trade deal.  WTO deputy director general Harsha Vardhana Singh at Ficci meet on Saturday. Ramesh Pathania / Mint He said that Doha negotiations reflects changes in the international political economy due to growing importance of India, China and Brazil. “The negotiations have shown that today, the main group of large negotiating in any multilateral negotiations will always include these countries,” he said. However, he said that it is imperative that a change in mindset is brought that greater responsibility falls on the shoulders of those who are given more authority. Doha round talks had collapsed in July 2008 primarily on concerns over level of protection available to farmers in the developing countries in the multilateral global trade pact. On the forthcoming ministerial meeting scheduled here in September, Singh said it is a laudable effort by India towards making the talks successful. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Aug 2009 | 4:01 am Price rise hits Ramadan observance in KeralaThe high prices of fruits, especialy dry fruits, and other popular Iftar items in Kerala have left this year's Ramadan an expensive affair, say traders and devotees.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 22 Aug 2009 | 4:00 am 12 million jobseekers in China won't find workAs many as 12 million people in China who are looking for jobs will not be able to find employment this year, an official newspaper reported on Saturday.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:59 am Everybody free in BJP to kick ‘ideological football’: Jaswant New Delhi: Jaswant Singh, who was unceremoniously ousted from BJP for ‘attacking’ the party’s core ideology, had described the saffron organisation as an open field where one gets to kick an ideological football everyday. The 9 June letter Singh had written to the party’s core group calling for a deep review of the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections raised the hackles of the party leadership. The letter, which had also set the stage for his expulsion two-and-a-half-months later, had lamented that the analyses of the defeat in the 2004 parliamentary elections and Rajasthan Assembly polls had not been made public. “The party has become an open field where one gets an ideological football every day. Everybody is free to kick it anywhere as there is no goalpost,” Singh (71), had said in the letter. In the missive that brought him into confrontation with the top party brass, Singh raised questions about rewards and performance of leaders during the elections. “When the top leadership can accept responsibility, why not us or those managing the party affairs. Is there no link between rewards and results? Or do we claim credit for success and lay the blame for failure at other’s door?” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:58 am Cox and Kings plans IPO of 18.49 mln sharesMUMBAI (Reuters) - Travel operator Cox and Kings (India) Ltd, the parent of UK-based unlisted Cox and Kings, said on Friday it has filed regulatory application for an initial public offering (IPO) of 18.49 million.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:51 am Doha breakthrough possible with more focus - officialNEW DELHI (Reuters) - An early agreement on a global trade deal is possible with more cooperation and negotiators are working overtime for the success of the Doha round of talks, a World Trade Organisation (WTO) official said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:51 am Anand Sharma reaffirms India's commitment to AfricaIndia is committed to further expand and diversify its trade with Africa, to which South Africa was a gateway, Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma said in Johannesburg.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:48 am Luxor group forays into lifestyle productsLuxor, the market leader in writing instruments, has come up with lifestyle products - like women's wear, home and fashion accessories - with the aim of providing affordable luxury to its customers.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:42 am Honda to introduce electric vehicle in US in 2010Honda Motor Co will join two domestic rivals in introducing electric cars, seeking to market the environmentally friendly vehicles in the United States in the first half of the 2010s, sources said on Saturday.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:40 am Sahara to sponsor BCCI Corporate Trophy Mumbai: Sahara will be the title sponsors of the newly introduced 12-team BCCI Corporate Trophy which will start in four centres on 1 September. Four matches are scheduled on the opening day of the tournament for the Sahara Corporate Trophy at Mohali (group-A), Vishakhapatnam (group-B), Dharamsala (group-C) and Bangalore (group-D). Three teams make up each group and the winners of each pool would enter the semi finals to be held on 5-6 September at Bangalore and Mohali. “Nimbus Communications is the media partner for the event and three preliminary matches, the two semi finals and the final would be shown live on Neo Sport, BCCI secretary N.Srinivasan said in a statement on Saturday. The winners of the 8 September final at Bangalore are to receive Rs1 crore as prize money while the runners-up would get Rs50 lakh. The man of the series would pocket Rs2 lakh and the man of the match Rs50,000, the release added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:32 am Honda to unveil electric car in US by 2015Honda Motor Co Ltd plans to develop an electric car to debut in the US market by around 2015 as tighter environmental regulations push demand for zero-emission vehicles, the Nikkei newspaper said on Saturday.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:29 am US stocks soar to new 2009 highsNew York: US stocks soared to fresh year highs on a record jump in existing-home sales in July and Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke’s comments that global recovery prospects “appear good.” The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 155.91 points (1.67%) to finish at 9,505.96 yesterday, the fourth day in a row of gains. The blue-chip index had not finished above 9,500 since early November and has now climbed about 45% from its March low. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite leapt 31.68 points (1.59%) to 2,020.90, while the broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 index advanced 18.76 points (1.86%) to 1,026.13. “Ben Bernanke helped Wall Street rally to new highs for the year. Stocks jumped after the Fed chairman said that the economy is on the verge of recovery,” said Scott Marcouiller of Wells Fargo Advisors. “A better-than-expected report on home sales also provided evidence the economy is improving,” he added. After opening higher, stocks surged after the National Association of Realtors reported existing-home sales blazed a record in July, setting a four-month rally for the first time in five years. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:28 am RBI to sell state loans for $925 mlnMUMBAI (Reuters) – The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said late on Friday it will introduce a non-competitive bidding facility in conducting an auction of 10-year state development loans on Aug 25.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:26 am Govt to get Rs 84,000 cr from KG Basin D6 projectTerming the ongoing media campaign by certain shareholders of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group as most unfortunate, the Government said that it is necessary to correct the ongoing propaganda against the Government in the matters, some of which are sub judice in Courts.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:23 am Loans at 4% for sugarcane growersThe Centre will extend loans to sugarcane growers at 4 per cent towards purchase of seed, fertilisers and pesticides.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:19 am India will keep providing evidence to Pak : Krishna New Delhi: A day after India gave ‘additional information’ to Pakistan on the Mumbai terror attacks, external affairs minister S.M. Krishna on Saturday said that New Delhi will keep providing more evidence to Islamabad as and when it is collected. The statement comes in the backdrop of Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s claim that India was not responding to Islamabad’s request for intelligence sharing on possible terror attacks as indicated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently. “We are in continuous touch with the government of Pakistan. It is an ongoing exercise between India and Pakistan. So, as and when, we collect more evidence we will keep sending it across to Pakistan and that is what foreign secretary did yesterday,” Krishna said. In her meeting with Pakistan high commissioner Shahid Malik yesterday, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao handed over additional information on Mumbai attacks including inputs on some of the key aspects and accused involved. New Delhi had earlier given four dossiers to Islamabad providing inputs on the terror suspects and logistics including communication used by those involved in carrying out the attacks in Mumbai. They also contained responses to many queries raised by Pakistan relating to lone surviving terrorist Ajmal Kasab and others. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:09 am CPI-M misleading farmers on Asean trade pact: Vayalar RaviMinister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi Saturday charged Kerala's ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) with misleading farmers on the Asean Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed by India earlier this month.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:01 am Government takes grim note of Friday's Delhi airport chaosThe civil aviation ministry has sought an explanation from the airport developer here and will soon summon its top officials after a portion of a roof at the new terminal collapsed Friday, even as torrential rains resulted in waterlogging at key areas and disrupted flights.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:00 am Shutdown cripples life in KashmirA shutdown called by the separatist Hurriyat Conference protesting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Independence Day speech paralysed life in the Kashmir Valley Saturday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:00 am Fortis to buy Wockhard's hospitals for $206 mln - reportNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Hospital chain Fortis Healthcare Ltd will pay around 10 billion rupees ($205.7 million) to buy 10 hospitals from unlisted Wockhardt Hospitals, the Economic Times newspaper reported on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:00 am India receives uranium for Kudankulam second unitIndia has received the first consignment of uranium for the second unit of the 2,000-MW Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu from Russia, a top official of the project developer has said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 22 Aug 2009 | 3:00 am PM not mediating in Ambani brothers' gas disputePrime minister Manmohan Singh is not intervening or mediating in the Ambani brothers' gas dispute.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Aug 2009 | 2:26 am Afghan vote generally fair, not free everywhere: EU observerKabul: Afghanistan’s landmark elections this week were generally good and fair, but not free in some parts of the country due to violence and intimidation, the chief EU election observer said on Saturday. “Free was not the case in some parts of the territory due to terror installed,” EU chief election observer Philippe Morillon told reporters. “Fair -- generally what we have observed was considered by our observers with our methodology good and fair,” he added, stressing it was still early days in assessing the presidential and provincial council elections. The election, which took place on Thursday, has been widely hailed as a success by the international community, which has pumped billions into Afghanistan and deployed 100,000 troops to contain a Taliban insurgency. “We can say it is a victory, a victory for the Afghan people,” Morillon told a news conference in Kabul. The EU Election Observation Mission to Afghanistan said in a statement based on its preliminary findings that participation was “considerably higher in the north of the country and particularly low in the south.” “Election day was marred by a number of violent incidents, including rocket attacks and explosions targeting polling centres and government facilities throughout the country,” the statement said. The Taliban call on Afghans to boycott the vote was “supplemented by an increasing number of attacks, resulting in civilian injuries and deaths. “Despite these significant deterrents, Afghan citizens came out to cast their votes,” it said, adding: “That the election took place at all is a notable achievement.” President Hamid Karzai and his main rival former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah have both cited figures from their own election observers across the country as showing them in the lead. The Independent Election Commission has said the victor will not be announced until 3 September. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Aug 2009 | 2:25 am US workplace suicides jump 28 per cent: reportThe financial meltdown is taking its toll on the workplace, where the US Labour Department found a record 28 per cent rise in suicide rates last year amid widespread layoffs and overall belt-tightening.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 22 Aug 2009 | 2:12 am Ambanis should patch up in national interest: PMONew Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is not intervening or mediating in the Ambani brothers’ gas dispute, though he believes that the two top industrialists should patch up in national interest, an official in Prime Minister’s Office said. The official, who did not want to be named, said that the reports in a section of media were not true that Singh has suggested the two brothers to follow a middle-path to resolve their ongoing dispute over natural gas from Krishna-Godavari basin. He, however, said that Prime Minister’s known views have been that the two warring brothers should patch up and work together. “PM’s general approach has been that instead of fighting, they should patch up as both their groups contribute sizeably to India’s economic growth,” he said. Anil Ambani group firm RNRL is fighting a long-running legal battle to secure gas at a committed price of $2.34 per mmBtu in accordance with a family agreement from elder brother Mukesh Ambani-led RIL and their case is coming up for hearing in the Supreme Court on 1 September. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Aug 2009 | 1:57 am North Korea envoys hold talks with South ministerSeoul: Senior North Korean officials visiting the South for the funeral of a former president met Seoul’s unification minister on Saturday, in the highest-level meeting between the rival states in nearly two years. The nearly two-hour meeting ended with Yonhap news quoting South Korean minister Hyun In-taek as saying the Northern officials’ departure could be delayed. Local media said his comment hinted at North Korean officials meeting with the South’s president Lee Myung-bak later in the day. The presidential house said it was unaware of any such meeting with the delegation sent by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, while the Unification Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment. “There is a message just in holding the meeting,” Hyun told reporters ahead of the talks. But in an indication of the North’s anger at the South Korean president Lee Myung-bak’s government, the group is set to leave on Saturday before the state funeral for former president Kim Dae-jung, awarded the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for brokering the first summit between the leaders of the two Koreas. Relations chilled after Lee took office last year and effectively ended Kim’s “Sunshine Policy” of engagement by cutting off a steady flow of unconditional aid to the North, calling on it to reduce security threats to the region if it wanted help. Impoverished North Korea has all but severed ties with Lee’s government, which ended aid once equal to about 5% of the North’s estimated $17 billion yearly GDP. The first dispatch of envoys to the South in nearly two years follows moves by the communist North this month to reduce tension after conducting a nuclear test in May, firing missiles and threatenin1g to attack its capitalist southern neighbour. The North’s rare conciliatory step could mean it wants greater contact with the outside world after being hit with UN sanctions for its nuclear test. The North Korean delegation is scheduled to leave later on Saturday. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Aug 2009 | 1:47 am Bengal industrialists in race to praise MamataRailways Minister Mamata Banerjee, known for leading agitations against the Tata Group's small car project in Singur and a special economic zone in Nandigram, was lavishly praised by West Bengal industrialists at a meeting here.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 22 Aug 2009 | 1:00 am WHO issues new guidelines on swine flu United Nations: Issuing a new set of guidelines for the use of drugs against swine flu, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said otherwise patients with uncomplicated illnesses do not need to take antiviral drugs. Worldwide, most infected patients continue to display typical influenza symptoms and fully recover within a week without any form of medical treatment, the WHO said. According to the new guidelines, formed by consensus by a global group of experts, patients with uncomplicated illnesses do not need to be treated with antiviral medicines. The guidelines emphasise using drugs such as oseltamivir and zanamivir, to which the pandemic virus is susceptible, to prevent severe illness and deaths, reduce the need for hospitalisation, and shorten hospital stays. When properly prescribed, oseltamivir is found to significantly curb the risk of pneumonia, a leading cause of death for both the pandemic and seasonal influenza, it said. WHO recommends treatment with the drug as soon as possible among people who are severely or whose conditions begin to deteriorate. Where oseltamivir is not available, zanamivir can be given. The virus is currently resistant to a second class of antiviral, known as M2 inhibitors. As pregnant women are among the groups considered to be at increased risk, WHO recommends that they receive antiviral treatment as soon as possible after the onset of symptoms. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Aug 2009 | 12:36 am Sensex stems lossesA two-day rally by a key index of the Indian equities markets stemmed losses this week, but the index still ended 1.11 percent lower Friday than its previous weekly close.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 22 Aug 2009 | 12:30 am Fortis to buy Wockhard’s hospitals for $21 bn: report New Delhi: Hospital chain Fortis Healthcare Ltd will pay around Rs1 trillion ($20.57 billion) to buy 10 hospitals from unlisted Wockhardt Hospitals, the Economic Times newspaper reported on Saturday. The deal could be announced on Monday, the report said, citing two sources close to the development. Fortis, which has 28 hospitals currently, plans to have 40 by 2012, and some of this addition would come through acquisitions, it has said. Last week, Fortis approved a rights issue to raise Rs9.97 billion, much of it slated to fund expansion. Fortis officials were not immediately available, but the Economic Times said chief executive Shivinder Mohan Singh declined to comment. Wockhardt Hospitals’ chairman Habil Khorakiwala said the two firms were in talks but did not give details, the paper said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Aug 2009 | 12:11 am Govt to get Rs 84,000 cr from KG Basin D6 projectNew Delhi, Aug. 21 Terming the ongoing media campaign by certain shareholders of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group as ‘most unfortunate’, the Government said that “it is necessary to correct the ongoing propaganda againstSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Markets this weekBourses took a beating on Monday on the back of fears that the global economic recovery will be far slower than expected even as poor monsoons continued to cast its shadow on investorSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Tata Chem not to consider Rallis merger for nowMumbai, Aug. 21 Tata Chemicals has ruled out the merger of Rallis India with itself for the next six months but said options wereSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am NTPC move on gas row to hinge on Ministerial panel decisionNew Delhi, Aug. 21 A final call on whether power major NTPC Ltd will move the Supreme Court to protect its interests in the ongoing gas supply dispute with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is expected early next week.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Nearly half the country’s districts drought-hit: PranabNew Delhi, Aug. 21 The ‘grim’ prospects for the kharif season in view of a 26 per cent monsoon rainfall deficiency offer States a ‘good opportunity’ to ensure early and higher coverage of rabi crops,Source: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Education sector attracting pvt equitiesMumbai, Aug. 21 Private equity players are beginning to show a fair amount of interest in the non-regulated education business in India. More than half a dozen companies in the education business have received private equity investments in theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am CVC blames CAs’ ‘erroneous advice’ for banks’ lossesNew Delhi, Aug. 21 The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has charged the chartered accounting fraternity with giving erroneous advice to banks resulting in huge losses for the lenders.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Advance ruling facility extended to PSUsNew Delhi, Aug. 21 Public sector companies can now seek advance ruling on Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax matters.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am SREI wants to get into jail constructionChennai, Aug. 21 SREI Equipment Finance Pvt Ltd, part of the Kolkata-based SREI group, wants to build jails on public-private-partnership model. It has been talking to various State governments a plan it hasSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Low credit offtake pushes banks to mutual fundsBanks collectively invested over Rs 50,000 crore in liquid and ultra-short-term mutual fund schemes in July alone; their total investments in mutual funds as at July end stood at Rs 1.4 lakh crore, according to the RBISource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Aug 2009 | 12:00 am Import of fodder seeds likely: Pawar - Financial Express
Source: Business - Google News | 21 Aug 2009 | 11:58 pm GM executives, board, split over Opel fate: ReportGeneral Motors' newly-appointed board has failed to support a plan backed by its executives that would sell the US auto giant's European subsidiary, Opel, to Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc, according to reports.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 21 Aug 2009 | 11:50 pm Luxor group forays into lifestyle productsLuxor, the market leader in writing instruments, has come up with lifestyle products - like women's wear, home and fashion accessories - with the aim of providing affordable luxury to its customers.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 21 Aug 2009 | 11:30 pm Honda to unveil electric car in U.S. by 2015 - NikkeiTOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co Ltd plans to develop an electric car to debut in the U.S. market by around 2015 as tighter environmental regulations push demand for zero-emission vehicles, the Nikkei newspaper said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 21 Aug 2009 | 10:13 pm Cox & Kings prepares again for IPO issue - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 21 Aug 2009 | 7:27 pm Auto dealers ask for extension on "Clunker" submissionsNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. auto dealers are asking the government to extend the deadline for submissions for its "Cash for Clunkers" program to August 31, citing computer problems that are delaying the entry of applications into the system.Source: Reuters: Money News | 21 Aug 2009 | 7:07 pm Wall St Week Ahead: Housing, consumers may drive rallyNEW YORK (Reuters) - Is it game over for the recession? Or will consumers stay in hibernation?Source: Reuters: Money News | 21 Aug 2009 | 6:53 pm Fed, ECB eye recovery, too soon to hit the brakesJACKSON HOLE, Wyo. (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and other central bankers said on Friday the worst global recession in 70 years was nearing a close but warned it would be a long, slow climb back to normal growth.Source: Reuters: Money News | 21 Aug 2009 | 6:49 pm GM declines to name Opel winner, new talks loomFRANKFURT/DETROIT (Reuters) - The board of General Motors Co declined on Friday to name Canada's Magna International as the winning bidder for Opel, leaving the fate of its German unit up in the air.Source: Reuters: Money News | 21 Aug 2009 | 5:23 pm Sugar cos seek decontrol promise from... - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 21 Aug 2009 | 4:15 pm EXCLUSIVE - Obama to raise 10-year deficit to $9 trlnWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration will raise its 10-year budget deficit projection to approximately $9 trillion from $7.108 trillion in a report next week, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 21 Aug 2009 | 4:12 pm 'Sebi is looking at reforms in interest rate futures market'Sebi chairman CB Bhave talked to DNA on what the market can expect from the regulator in the future.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 21 Aug 2009 | 3:57 pm Only 5 free withdrawals from other banks' ATMsFrom October, customers will be allowed only five transactions per month from ATMs other than their own bank.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 21 Aug 2009 | 3:35 pm New tax code puts India in sync with global peers: KPMGWilbert Kannekens, Partner and Head International Tax Group, KPMG, says the simple structure of India\'s new tax code makes it in sync with global peers.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Aug 2009 | 3:18 pm 'No major complaints from Satyam staff 'Even as hundreds of employees are being shown the door as part of restructuring at Mahindra Satyam, the ministry of corporate affairs feels all's well with the affairs at the fraud-hit company.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 21 Aug 2009 | 3:12 pm Khurshid moots 'trained' directorsCorporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid gave indications about certain provisions likely to be included in the new Companies Bill regarding directors.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 21 Aug 2009 | 3:11 pm Don't reduce drought impact to a statisticComments in the media and by economists on the unfolding situation on the farm front betray a woeful lack of perspective, if not downright callousness.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 21 Aug 2009 | 3:08 pm Angels keen to go where vencaps fear to treadThe largest association of angel investors in the country, the Indian Angel Network (IAN), is looking to branch out into the backwaters of the country.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 21 Aug 2009 | 3:05 pm Cox & Kings files draft IPO prospectusThe IPO will be for 18,496,640 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash, at a price to be decided through a 100% book-building process.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 21 Aug 2009 | 2:59 pm Homeowners living in rented premises can get dual benefitSome of us live in rented accommodation near the workplace, even while keeping a house in the same city.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 21 Aug 2009 | 2:54 pm Interest rate futures soon, says Sebi - The Statesman
Source: Business - Google News | 21 Aug 2009 | 2:49 pm Sensex recoups early loss, manages to... - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 21 Aug 2009 | 2:40 pm RBI's 'bottomline' growth impressiveTo the government, fiscally in a very poor shape and desperately in need of funds to meet the challenges posed by drought, this is good news indeed.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 21 Aug 2009 | 2:12 pm New direct tax code simple, to reduce litigation: ExpertsMukesh Butani of BMR Advisors, Tejpreet S Chopra of GE India, and Anand Prasad of Trilegal, say the new code is a simple, transparent, and will help reduce litigation.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Aug 2009 | 2:07 pm 'No sweetening MTN deal' - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 21 Aug 2009 | 2:04 pm Food import likely to tide over crisis - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 21 Aug 2009 | 1:45 pm Maruti plans R&D unit in Haryana - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 21 Aug 2009 | 1:45 pm Govt: ADAG's charges all gas and a ju... - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 21 Aug 2009 | 1:42 pm Soon, your UID number could become your mobile numberFaced with the prospect of the 10-digit series of mobile numbers being exhausted soon, owing to the rapid growth in mobile telephony, the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), a telecom research and development organisation, is studying whether the Unique Identity Number could be converted into mobile numbers.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 21 Aug 2009 | 1:31 pm Bharat Forge’s roller coaster ride For the week, though, the stock was down 3.2%. It’s not just this week; the company’s shares have been on a roller coaster ride for the past few months. They rose from the March lows of Rs77.50 to cross Rs190 by end-May, before correcting to the sub-Rs130 levels last month. Then, in less than a month’s time, the stock nearly doubled to the Rs250 levels, before correcting to current levels of Rs219. During this time, the firm has reported weak results for the March and June quarters, and so it’s interesting that valuations have nearly trebled compared with the March lows. For the June quarter, the company reported a consolidated loss of Rs20.3 crore before tax and exceptionals. In the year-ago period, the firm had a profit of Rs131.6 crore. Sales more than halved on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, with the majority of the pain being felt by various overseas subsidiaries of the company. The Indian unit’s sales grew at a lower rate of 43.7% y-o-y and it reported a profit of Rs16.3 crore before tax and exceptionals.  Graphics: Sandeep Bhatnagar / Mint. The company’s overseas subsidiaries have suffered immensely owing to the global slowdown and the sharp cuts in auto production. Bharat Forge has gone on a restructuring mode and has written off Rs16 crore in the June quarter as restructuring and redundancy costs. (The losses mentioned above are before accounting for this exceptional item.) These costs will be charged through the year and hence there could be a write-off of Rs64 crore. Note that Bharat Forge reported a net profit of Rs58 crore in the year till March. Because of the losses suffered on account of the global slowdown, the company has said that it will focus on the non-auto part of the forging business. This segment accounted for about 21% of consolidated revenues in the previous fiscal year and the company intends to increase it to 40% by fiscal 2012. The fund-raising initiative is to finance growth of this segment. This is the main reason the markets have been apparently excited about Bharat Forge stock in recent months. But there’s a big difference between stated intent and execution. Last month the company said the capacity utilization at its two new non-automative plants has been subdued because of weak market conditions, and that the ramp-up of production at these facilities will be slower than earlier projected. This is not to say that the company’s non-auto initiatives won’t bear fruit, but as far as the market reaction goes, it seems to be a case of putting the cart before the horse. Write to us at marktomarket@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Aug 2009 | 1:30 pm A-I unions oppose 50% cut in productivity paySay they won't go on strike so that govt does not 'make mileage' out of it.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 21 Aug 2009 | 1:30 pm Gone with the windOur Motoring editor was witness to the chaos at Delhi airport.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 21 Aug 2009 | 1:27 pm New MAT provisions to cost large firms over Rs 11,500 cr267 firms with gross assets of over Rs 500 crore will feel the heat.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 21 Aug 2009 | 1:25 pm ADAG ad campaign unfortunate, untrue: GovtThe government has called the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group\'s advertisement campaign unfortunate, reports CNBCTV18. \"The statement is aimed at ending misinformation on the D6 case.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Aug 2009 | 1:21 pm Time taken to complete rights issues must be reduced In India, rights issues make investors happy, only next to getting bonus shares. Firms, too, prefer it as they do not have to sell the issue extensively and if shareholders are happy and the pricing is right, issues sail through comfortably. But the timing and its effect on pricing makes firms wary of using rights issues. If a firm’s share price was to fall below the rights issue price, when the issue is open, investors would rather buy shares in the open market. Hence, firms favour qualified institutional placements or preferential allotment of equity shares. These are faster, cheaper and require fewer disclosures. This is not the first time Sebi is changing rules governing rights issues. A year ago, it shortened the issue process, so that issues could be completed within 43 days instead of 109 days. Now, the regulator is easing the kind of disclosures needed for a rights issue, shortening the pre-issue process too. Since listed companies report material developments to stock exchanges, issue quarterly results and also publish annual reports, there is sufficient information available to investors. Therefore, firms can make do with minimum disclosures in their offer document, which reduces the time and cost involved in documentation. However, Sebi has also said that issue proceeds can be used only after the allotment is complete. Earlier, firms could use the money after getting 90% subscription. This is a dampener. If rights issues are to gain parity with other forms of equity issuance, the time taken to complete the process has to be shortened further. A month and a half is a long time in today’s equity markets and sharp fluctuation in prices can affect issues, even after Sebi’s relaxed guidelines. Tata Motors Ltd and Hindalco Industries Ltd are two well-known examples in this category. Success of a rights issue is a mix of the discount to the market price and the market price prevailing when the issue is open. Normally, firms would like to keep the window short and decide the price closer to the issue date. But rights issues have a peculiar feature: Shareholders can renounce their rights to other issuers, a process currently involving paperwork. This requires time to account for postal delays. Sebi had earlier considered the electronic route for rights entitlement so that processing could become faster. It seems a good idea to experiment with it so that rights issues can become faster, regaining popularity among both issuers and investors. Write to us at marktomarket@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Aug 2009 | 1:11 pm ‘Hundreds’ of bids expected for oil searchHouston: India’s oil ministry hopes to get hundreds of offers from contractors to drill for crude and natural gas in the country, which is now conducting its eighth round of bidding for energy assets. “More people are getting aware of our new bidding round,” Vivek K. Dewangan, director of the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, said in Houston on Thursday, between meetings with potential investors. BHP Billiton Ltd and Hess Corp. were among the oil and gas producers attending the meeting. Executives from both firms declined to comment. India, which has held seven rounds of biddings previously, received 181 bids for 57 blocks in its most recent auction, Dewangan said. The current round of bids, which kicked off on 9 April, will offer 70 blocks. As the number of offered blocks increases, officials hope the amount of bids will also grow proportionally, Dewangan said. Potential bidders shouldn't be dissuaded by a dispute between Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani that could affect the price of gas, he said. In 2005, the Ambani brothers, India’s richest resident billionaires, split the business founded by their father. They have since sparred over the quantity and price of gas to be supplied by Reliance Industries Ltd from the KG-D6 field it operates. Investors have got enthused by such a big discovery made in the D6 block. They are more interested in investing in India. If natural gas is discovered, the government will have to approve the pricing formula proposed by the producer, Dewangan said. The government will conduct a transparent process of bidding, he said. Rakteem Katakey in New Delhi contributed to this story. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Aug 2009 | 1:00 pm Dr Reddy’s lines up 6-7 drugs for USBangalore: Indian drug maker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd plans to launch six or seven new generics in the US this fiscal, but sales at its ailing German unit could drop from a year ago, a senior official said. The new launches will include blockbuster omeprazole, which the company plans to start selling in the US by early next quarter, chief operating officer Satish Reddy said in an interview on Friday. Omeprazole is a generic version of AstraZeneca’s Prilosec and is indicated for the treatment of stomach ulcers and acid reflux. Dr Reddy’s will be the second generics maker after Perrigo Co. to sell the copycat variant of this drug. “It’s a steady plan where every year there will be one winning product,” Reddy said, adding the company planned to launch one major product such as omeprazole, which will have limited competition, every year for the next five years. Last year, the New York-listed company launched acute migraine drug sumatriptan, a generic of GlaxoSmithKline’s Imitrex, in the US market, which helped its North America revenue nearly double in the June quarter. Revenue from sumatriptan is expected to decline from this quarter after its exclusive marketing period ended this month, and rival manufacturers Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd and Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd have got regulatory nod to launch the drug. Analysts say launch of omeprazole would be a key growth driver for the fiscal year that ends in March. Global demand for generic drugs is booming as nations around the world battle rising healthcare costs. Shares in Dr Reddy’s, which has a market value of around $3 billion (Rs14,610 crore), ended 0.1% higher at Rs802.50 in a Mumbai market that advanced by 1.5%. Reddy said the company’s business in India, one of its key markets, was expected to grow faster than a sector rate of 12-15% in 2009-10, mainly helped by launches of new products and change in distribution model. “The (Indian) market is on the upswing,” he said. “It will be the most prolific year as far as new launches are concerned.” Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s, the country’s No. 2 generic drug manufacturer, expects revenue in its German unit Betapharm Arzneimittel GmbH to decline this year as a rise in volume gets offset by pressure on prices due to regulatory issues, Reddy said. Betapharm, which Dr Reddy’s bought in 2006 for $572 million, has been facing supply constraints and falling prices. It has started supplying drugs to German health insurer Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse (AOK) under contracts won in December. “It’s a total market in transition, because what used to be clearly a branded generics market has become a commodity tender-based market,” he said. In June, Dr Reddy’s entered into a pact with GlaxoSmithKline under which Glaxo will get access to its drugs and supply them in emerging markets such as Africa, West Asia and Latin America. Reddy said revenue from the Glaxo alliance would start flowing in a significant way in one to two years and that the deal would help it tap new markets without making huge investments to establish its own presence. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Aug 2009 | 1:00 pm Retail stores continue to face slowdown troublesNew Delhi: Last year, Bharti Enterprises Ltd launched its much talked about retail venture with a few stores in Punjab. Barely over a year into the business, the firm has already shut two stores, one each in Amritsar and Karnal, out of its two dozen outlets.  Lost paradise: A file photo of a Spencer’s Retail outlet in Kolkata. Organised retailers in India have shut hundreds of outlets in the past few months. Indranil Bhoumik / Mint Although Bharti Retail’s store closure is minuscule in number, it illustrates a general trend that is sweeping the industry. Over the months, several of India’s so-called organized retailers have closed outlets nationwide amid an economic slump that has hit retailers hard. Together, India’s modern retailers have closed more stores than they have opened over the past year. Firms such as Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, Reliance Retail Ltd, Spencer’s Retail Ltd, Aditya Birla Retail Ltd, and Subhiksha Trading Services Ltd have closed hundreds of outlets. Also See Shutter Down (Graphics) Mint research shows that the sector has seen the closure of at least 2,000 stores in the last 12 to 18 months. Subhiksha accounted for a major portion of this number—it closed all of its 1,600 stores. Arvind Singhal, chairman of retail consultancy firm Technopak Advisors Pvt. Ltd said, many of the shuttered outlets were actually moved to locations with cheaper rentals. rasul.b@livemint.com Graphics by Sandeep Bhatnagar / Mint Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Aug 2009 | 12:58 pm BJP appoints Advani as party leader for another five yearsShimla: The three-day brainstorming session of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended on Friday with the party declaring that its octogenarian leader L.K. Advani would lead the party for the next five years. India’s main opposition party also deferred a decision on an action plan for the next meeting of its national executive and steered clear of fixing accountability for the 2009 election defeat but issued a stern warning to those opting to defy the party leadership.  Back to basics: BJP president Rajnath Singh in Shimla on Friday. PTI The right-wing party also indicated it would remain committed to its ideological roots and would lean on its parent organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, for guidance on important issues. “We will stick to the political ideology on the basis of which the party was founded and will continue to do so in future. Our ideology of cultural nationalism and integral humanism is non-negotiable,” said Singh, who heads the party organization. Singh announced that Advani would continue to lead the party. “He is our leader and he will continue to be our leader,” he said, adding that the BJP plans to reach out to the weaker section, the poor, middle class, women and other deprived sections in society. Singh reiterated that he is to be held accountable for the failure of the party in the Lok Sabha polls. The simmering distrust within the leadership was evident on Friday with Advani deputing his trusted lieutenant Sushma Swaraj to brief the press about his concluding address at the party meet. Swaraj, who held her briefing just before Rajnath Singh, said Advani was of the view that the BJP lost its considerable support base in the last decade and needed to strengthen its presence in many parts of the country. “People in important positions in the party need to present an ideal example by their conduct in public life...the image of the party has suffered in the eyes of a common worker,” Advani said. He added that the decision to expel Jaswant Singh was both painful and necessary. Referring to Singh’s statement that Vallabhai Patel had banned the RSS and was not core to the BJP’s ideology, Advani said it was at Jawaharlal Nehru’s behest that Patel banned the RSS. Party insiders said there were heated arguments on the second day of the deliberation and finger-pointing was rampant among the senior leaders during discussions. Advani on Friday said alliances were necessary for the BJP to break the hegemony of Congress rule. Analysts said the BJP’s expulsion of Jaswant Singh on the first day of the “chintan baithak” was a tactic to divert attention from the party’s core problems. “BJP and its leaders never expected any result out of this exercise. The party by nature has to fall back on RSS for guidance. The expulsion of Jaswant (Singh) on the first day was part of the strategy to divert attention from its internal problems,” said Jyotirmaya Sharma, a professor of political science in Hyderabad University. santosh.j@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Aug 2009 | 12:57 pm Government refutes R-Adag allegationsNew Delhi: The government on Friday broke its silence and put out a statement to refute the allegations made against it by Reliance-Anil Ambani Group (R-Adag) in a controversial series of front-page advertisements in several newspapers, including Mint. The statement that was vetted by solicitor general Gopal Subramanium said the government would earn revenues of Rs84,000 crore from a gas field operated by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) off India’s eastern coast and not Rs500 crore as claimed in the advertisements.  Mind games: A shot of the ads that were splashed in several newspapers. The government also said in its statement that “ministry of petroleum and natural gas is committed to protect the interests of NTPC by all means.” R-Adag was quick to respond. “We are happy to note that in response to recent events, the petroleum ministry has in its statement today expressed its commitment to protect the interests of NTPC. We trust the petroleum ministry will take all steps to now ensure that NTPC gets 12 mscmd (million standard cubic metres per day) of gas from RIL at a price of $2.34/mBtu (million British thermal unit) for 17 years for its Kawas and Gandhar expansion projects,” the firm said in a statement. “We trust that, in view of today’s statement, all consequential steps will now be taken to fully enforce NTPC’s contract with RIL,” it added. The press note also explained that the increase in capital expenditure was on account of various factors such as “increase in reserves by over 2.5 times, production facilities by three times, peak production by two times, increase in number of wells, field life and inflation in equipment and services industry”. It also added, “it may be noted that the figures are only estimates and cost recovery would depend on actual audited expenditure figures”. “The petroleum ministry has now taken up the task of defending RIL’s apparently “gold-plated” capital expenditure upon itself rather than seeking clarification from RIL in national interests,” said the R-Adag statement. NTPC’s fortunes are inextricably linked to the case between the warring Ambani brothers in the Supreme Court. The government had, in a petition filed before the Supreme Court, made a case for scrapping the gas supply agreement between Mukesh Ambani, who controls RIL, and brother Anil Ambani, who heads Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL). The terms of this agreement, including the price of $2.34 per mBtu, are similar to the terms of gas supply to NTPC’s Kawas and Gandhar plants in Gujarat by RIL, being contested in the Bombay high court. The government had also intervened in the same case (RIL versus RNRL), when it was being fought in the Bombay high court. Both interventions have been seen by analysts as weakening NTPC’s case. RNRL is involved in a bitter corporate battle with RIL over the validity of a family agreement between the two Ambani brothers for the supply of gas from RIL’s D6 block in KG to a power plant being set up by Reliance Power Ltd, an RNRL associate. NTPC is fighting a case in the Bombay high court against RIL over the supply of gas from KG D6. 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 mscmd)of gas for the expansion of its Kawas and Gandhar power plants for 17 years at a price of $2.34 per mBtu. RIL claims there is no contract. The press note also defended the way the price was fixed and gas allocated, and stated, “The price formula is based on the principle of ‘arm’s length’ and in accordance with the provisions of the production sharing contract (PSC).” The decision to issue the press note was taken after a meeting of the four-member ministerial panel, comprising finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, law minister M. Veerappa Moily, power minister Sushilkumar Shinde and petroleum minister Murli Deora, which has been mandated to come up with a unified stand of the government. Explaining the rationale for issuing the press note, the release stated, “it is considered necessary to issue the present press release to correct the ongoing propaganda against the government in matters, some of which are sub judice in courts. The government is of the view that such an advertisement campaign on the eve of the hearing in the Supreme Court is most unfortunate.” Media executives had pegged the R-Adag campaign at Rs15 crore. While R.S. Sharma, chairman and managing director of NTPC, declined comment, a senior company executive who did not want to be identified termed it a “positive move”. On 20 August, Mint reported that the government may soon file an affidavit in the Supreme Court case between the Ambanis seeking to protect NTPC’s interests. A RIL spokesperson said: “As stated earlier, the release of the advertisement completely demonstrates the fact that RNRL is indulging into an orchestrated campaign intended to bring into public debate and prejudge the issues that are pending adjudication before the courts. As stated earlier, we reiterate that we will present our views and contentions on all aspects only before the courts.” In a related development, the same senior executive at NTPC said, that the utility has refused to claim damages from the Mukesh Ambani controlled Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) for its refusal to honour a contract on the supply of gas. RIL claims there is no valid contract between the two firms. The executive was reacting to a Wednesday report by PTI that NTPC could claim damages from RIL for not keeping its commitment and that the difference between the government approved price of $4.2 per mBtu and the $2.34 per mBtu committed in the tender would have to be made good by RIL. Bhuma Shrivastava in Mumbai and Manish Ranjan in New Delhi contributed to this story. utpal.b@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Aug 2009 | 12:56 pm Foreign funds pull out the most money since JanuaryMumbai: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold $440 million (nearly Rs2,145 crore today) of Indian shares this week till Thursday, the highest in close to seven months, according to information from market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India. These investors had pulled out $426 million in the week ended 23 January. This week also saw investors pull money out of various emerging market funds the world over. “I think there is some circumspection partly on account of a threat of tightening in China, drought in India and swine flu,” said Ullal Ravindra Bhat, managing director of Dalton Strategic Partnership Llp, an FII. To be sure, Friday’s numbers are not included in this $440 million figure, since the regulator publishes such data with a lag of one working day and the Friday figure would be available only on Monday. On Friday, Indian shares pulled back some of their recent losses after the government said monsoon rains revived in some parts of the country even as other regional markets recovered. The benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Sensex, rose 1.52%, or 228.51 points, on Friday to close at 15,240.83. This week, it has lost 1.11%. “Investors are sitting on the fence and the direction has changed,” added Bhat. After five months of consecutive net inflows, which saw foreign investors buy as much as $8.8 billion worth of Indian stocks, August is the first month where this number has turned negative, with net outflows so far of $140 million. Again, this is in line with what has happened in other emerging markets. According to data gathered by EPFR Global, a global funds tracker, emerging market funds outflows during the third week of August totalled $946 million, the most since the second week of December 2008, while Asia ex-Japan equity funds were hit with redemptions that exceeded $810 million. China, which is now considered as a lead indicator for emerging and even European markets by many analysts, led the outflows as investors booked profits due to concerns about the quality of the country’s growth and fears of a new asset bubble. “Risk appetite may be moderating,” wrote Henry Hon and Daniel McCormack, analysts with Australian financial services firm the Macquarie Group Ltd, in a 21 August note. “Weaker economic data recently is seeing market concerns about the strength of the cycle grow.” In India, despite the strong 7.8% growth in industrial output in June, drought fears have prompted economists to cut growth forecasts by as much as 1.5 percentage points. Not only that, analysts believe that liquidity—which has been the key driver of the current rally—may not be as strong given the new share offers and government debt issues in several markets. In India, there is a limit of $5 billion on foreign investment in government securities. According to a July study by Delhi-based primary market data provider Prime Database, companies that have applied for regulatory approval so far, plan to raise some Rs6,600 crore through share issuances this fiscal. This is not counting the Rs60,000 crore they plan to raise through so-called qualified institutional placements or private sales of shares to institutions. These new issues compete for the same investment from FIIs as existing shares. Despite these factors, local factors would likely remain attractive to global investors for some more time because of stronger fundamentals in Asia, such as better growth and healthier balance sheets, wrote Hon and McCormack. ravi.k@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Aug 2009 | 12:56 pm RGTIL may soon raise Rs1,000 crMumbai: Mukesh Ambani’s privately owned firm Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Ltd (RGTIL) could soon be raising short-term debt of Rs1,000 crore as it will increase the capacity of the cross-country pipeline grid that will carry natural gas from the Krishna-Godavari (KG) river basin, off India’s east coast, to Gujarat. The gas pipeline firm, which is now wholly owned by the promoters of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and not by the listed entity, has been under a spotlight ever since Anil Ambani, the younger estranged sibling, went public with his allegations in a blistering speech to the shareholders of his Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) about a month ago.  Risk rating agency Crisil Ltd, in a release dated 11 August, assigned its highest P1+ rating to RGTIL’s short-term debt programme of raising Rs1,000 crore, as reflection of “RGTIL’s contractual commitments and strong operational linkages with RIL for evacuation of natural gas from the KG basin reserves” and “underpinned by stable project economics”. “The ratings reaffirm the financial position of the company. We have not raised any funds recently,” said an RGTIL spokesperson in an emailed response late on Friday evening. He did not respond to specific queries on when and from whom the money will be raised, at what expected rates of interest and the end uses it could be put to. According to the rating agency, RGTIL had reported losses in 2008-09 “largely due to delay in commissioning and starting of commercial operations, and adverse foreign exchange rate movement”. The unlisted company doesn’t declare its financial results. RIL has struck huge natural gas reserves in the D6 block in the KG basin and has begun producing gas from April this year, to be supplied to gas-starved fertilizer, power and city gas projects. Also Listen to a podcast on the Ambani gas dispute This gas will be transported through RGTIL’s 1,386km-long East-West gas pipeline that will take the gas from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, the first landfall point for the offshore hydrocarbon find, to Bharuch in Gujarat, servicing companies across the country. The government has fixed a price of $4.2 (Rs204.54) per million British thermal unit (mBtu) as well as drawn up the list of buyers, prompting the rating agency to comment in its release that “despite the substantial debt-funding of the project, the cash flows...will be stable and predictable”. The entire project, according to Crisil, could cost about Rs18,500 crore. “The transportation cost will be $0.5-1 per mBtu depending on the distance (through which gas has to be piped). It is a high capital expenditure, high margin business with very low operating costs,” said a Mumbai-based analyst with a domestic brokerage, who did not want to be identified. The pipeline with a capacity to carry 80 million cu. m a day (mscmd) of gas—the only one with such a capacity—is critical to RIL’s business plans and could even be used, in case huge spare capacities are developed, to push gas finds from several other promising exploration blocks that RIL is exploring on the eastern coast. Currently, infrastructure required to transport 60 mscmd is complete and the installation of the remaining capacity is under way. The production from KG D6 is far below the capacity at 35 mscmd. One of the other benefit for the owners of RGTIL, said the analyst quoted above, is the insulated nature of the revenues from this business that will not be affected by the outcome of the ongoing “messy court dispute” between RNRL and RIL, since the transportation costs accrue anyway. RIL as well as its promoter Mukesh Ambani are looking to enter the gas pipeline business in a bigger way. According to a 4 August report by PTI, RIL will acquire a majority 67% stake in the Krishna-Godavari Gas Network Ltd, set up by the Andhra Pradesh government, for setting up a statewide gas distribution project that is estimated to cost Rs1 trillion. The Investment Corporation of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat State Petroleum Corp. Ltd and IDFC Private Equity Fund will hold the remaining 11% stake equally. The gas transportation business has also got a shot in the arm with a recent policy announcement. The Union Budget this year, which marked a shift to “investment-linked tax incentives” as against profit-linked incentives, extended a tax holiday to “the business of laying and operating cross-country natural gas or crude or petroleum oil pipeline network for distribution on common carrier principle”. This makes all the capital spend made by RIL or RGTIL on pipeline laying fully deductible. The rating agency, however, has pointed out possible spoilers—operational and regulatory—for an otherwise stable outlook on RGTIL. “These ratings strengths are partially offset by RGTIL’s exposure to uncertainties on gas transportation tariff to be fixed by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, the (downstream) regulator for the sector, and to residual project risks,” said the Crisil statement, mentioning significant delays in the ramp up of KG D6 production as one such example. The regulator’s recent guidelines have recommended a tariff that envisages a 12% post-tax return on capital employed. bhuma.s@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Aug 2009 | 12:55 pm Rains disrupt Delhi flights, damage portion of terminalAt least 20 flights were delayed and 10 diverted in the national capital Friday evening following gale and torrential rains that also flooded and damaged a portion of the new domestic terminal building.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 21 Aug 2009 | 12:31 pm Anti-Posco leader released on bailAnti-Posco leader Abhaya Sahu, who was arrested in October last year for his alleged involvement in several crimes, was released from jail Friday, a day after the Orissa High Court granted him bail, police said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 21 Aug 2009 | 12:30 pm Switch proxies like a proNew Delhi: Proxy servers are the gatekeepers that often stand between you and the internet. They are servers that sit between your machine and the web and, at first sight, might seem like a bad idea. But in fact proxy servers are useful for more than just blocking employee access to Facebook or Orkut. They also help to keep your machines anonymous and secure and in some places speed up internet usage, by caching some online content. (Think of it as a pool of popular web content that everyone wants to access. The proxy server keeps a copy of it so you don’t have to query the web for Gmail or Google homepages every single time. Saving time and bandwidth.) But if you work in a large office, chances are you have the option of several proxy server addresses to connect to the web. Which is not so bad, but then proxy servers have a nasty habit of mysteriously refusing to work. And remembering the long list of proxies, and then changing them can take time. Play the latest edition of the PlayStream video to see how a simple Firefox browser add-on can make saving and switching proxies just a matter of point-and-click, a huge time-saver. Especially if need the web and you’re working on a deadline. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 21 Aug 2009 | 12:17 pm RIL appoints two additional executive directorsThe Board of Directors of Reliance Industries announced the appointment of R. Ravimohan and P.M.S. Prasad as Executive Directors on the Board with immediate effect. With this, the Board will expand to 14 members with 7 members on the Board being Independent Directors.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Aug 2009 | 12:10 pm MTN seeks better valuations from Bharti to ink deal: KPMGRomal Shetty, ED, KPMG, says due diligence from both sides is yet to be completed \"MTN wants the deal to go through but for a better valuation.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Aug 2009 | 11:55 am IPO listing in five days can happen in a year: BhaveHyderabad: The Indian capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India, or Sebi, is hopeful that in an year’s time it can ensure the listing of shares in initial public offers (IPOs) within five working days from the closure of an issue. The regulator also expects to kick up trading in interest rate futures and launch a separate trading platform for mutual funds in the next couple of months. Meanwhile, a Sebi-IRDA working group is also was working on disclosure norms for insurance companies planning to go public. Edited excerpts of Sebi chairman CB Bhave’s media interaction at the Institute of Insurance and Risk Management in Hyderabad on Thursday. You have been planning to reduce the time of listing of IPOs to less than a week. Any progress on that front? The main difficulty in reducing the period between the end of an issue and the day of the listing is the fact they need to handle a lot of physical applications along with the cheques, which have to be cleared. It is our hope that as the ASBA (applications supported by blocked amount) process becomes more popular, the processing time will get reduced and then we will be able to reduce the timelines. (Under ASBA when an investor applies for an IPO, money does not leave her account. Instead, it is blocked and only after the allotment is made, money leaves the account.) We have some encouraging response in NHPC Ltd’s IPO, where about one and a half lakh applications have come through the ASBA process. So, it is picking up. Of course, the banks need to gear up and we need to inform investors more about the ASBA process. And hopefully as the ASBA process becomes more dominant we will be able to reduce the processing time. And, therefore, issues will get listed faster than before. When do you expect this to take place? I don’t have a timeframe because ASBA is a kind of a systemic change and we need to see how it progresses. But our ultimate aim is to reduce the time period to five working days. We would like for it to happen as soon as possible. But we have to deal with the fact that the whole system has to change. Hopefully, in about a year’s time we should be able to get that. What has been the progress so far? The fact that a 1.5 lakh applications came in (in NHPC issue) is good and the market is testing out the new process. Any thing new that you plan to introduce in the market? We are looking at interest rate futures market being started. An RBI (Reserve Bank of India) and Sebi committee has worked on it. We have called for applications from the stock exchanges. My information is that the stock exchanges are in a fairly advanced stage of preparations and we should see some result in the next couple of months. You are also planning to have a separate trading platform for mutual funds. We recently had a meeting with the mutual funds. The Association of Mutual Funds of India has told us that they have more or less frozen the kind of design and they will now look to competitive vendors for deciding on what kind of platform needs to be in place. In the next couple of months it should be launched. None of the insurance firms is listed so far and many of them are making losses. Would Sebi consider waiving the three-year profit track record stipulation for the insurance companies planning to go public? For insurance firms the disclosure requirement will be different. An IRDA (Insurance Regulatory Development Authority) and Sebi working group has be working on the relevant issues such as what kind of disclosures are required when an insurance company comes with an IPO. Once the working group decided on what needs to be done and our respective boards approve that, we will make it public. Any update on extension of trading timings on Indian bourses? We have taken up the issue in our secondary markets advisory committee and by and large the opinion was that there is no harm in extending the timings but we need to look at the practical issues. We have requested the stock exchanges to form a committee along with the practitioners to understand what their issues are. What has been the progress of Sebi probe into the Satyam Computer Services Ltd’s accounting fraud that rocked the corporate world early this year? The Government of India and Sebi together made sure that the company goes over to another management in an open and transparent manner. That part is over. That takes care of employees as well as the clients of Satyam. The issue of fraud is something into which investigations are being carried out by CBI Central Bureau of Investigation), SFIO (Serious Fraud Investigation Office of the corporate affairs Ministry) and Sebi and we are maintaining close coordination. Sebi has also issued some show cause notices. And once show cause notices are issued, that becomes a quasi-judicial process. So we do not comment on it. Only when the final order is issued, we will make it public. What is the progress on listing of stock exchanges? It is our consideration at this stage that the stock exchanges need to worry about many other things and not about listing. They need to see what their role is going to be in future and whether they are technologically equipped to perform their role. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Aug 2009 | 11:37 am Ramesh Damani tracks the evolution of Indian BPOsRamesh Damani, on his CNBCTV18 show RD 360, takes a circular view of Indias booming business process outsourcing (BPO) industry as it tries to serve the worlds best.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 21 Aug 2009 | 10:43 am
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