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Audi Q5 will now come with Made in India tagThe Indian economy is driving at a steady speed, but German premium car maker, Audi is driving much faster than that. The company now plans to start local assembly of its currently imported compact sports utility vehicleQ5 from next year.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Sep 2009 | 6:39 am Five banks closed by US regulators!Bank regulators closed four Midwestern banks and one in Arizona on Friday, bringing to 89 the number of US banks to fail this year as deteriorating loans continue to take their toll on financial institutions.Source: Zee News : Business | 5 Sep 2009 | 6:15 am SEC chiefs in dark as Madoff evaded junior staff!Top US SEC officials were in the dark that staff were probing Bernard Madoff until the former financier was arrested in December 2008 for running a USD 65 billion Ponzi scheme.Source: Zee News : Business | 5 Sep 2009 | 6:15 am G20 to tackle rift over bankers` bonuses!Sharp divisions between Europe and the United States over bankers` bonuses were set to dominate talks between the finance ministers of the world`s largest and fastest-emerging economies here Saturday.Source: Zee News : Business | 5 Sep 2009 | 6:15 am Need to regulate financial market: Pranab!India has said there is a need to regulate the financial market but opposed any kind of protectionism.Source: Zee News : Business | 5 Sep 2009 | 6:15 am At 9.75%, US unemployment rate highest in 26 years!The US unemployment rate jumped to 9.7 percent in August, as employers slashed an additional 216,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labour Statistics reported Friday.Source: Zee News : Business | 5 Sep 2009 | 6:15 am India has US backing on IMF reforms - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 4:33 am NTPC moves SC against Bombay HC order - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 4:22 am G20 draft backs expansionary policy, IMF reform(Reuters) - The G20 group of leading powers agreed on Saturday to continue expansionary fiscal and monetary policy until a global recovery was firmly secured, and to raise "significantly" emerging nations' say on the world stage, a draft statement showed.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Sep 2009 | 4:00 am Pakistani court resumes trial of Mumbai suspectsIslamabad: A Pakistani court on Saturday resumed hearing a case against suspected Islamist militants accused of involvement in last year’s attack on India’s business capital, Mumbai, that strained relations between the nuclear-armed rivals. India wants forceful action by Pakistan against leaders of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the group it says was behind the 26-29 November attacks that killed 166 people, before resuming a peace process that was frozen in the aftermath of the violence. Proceedings were initially launched against five men, but two more suspects have since been arrested, according to a state-run news agency report last week. The case has been shrouded in secrecy as the court is holding the trial in camera at jail in Rawalpindi, the garrison town next to Islamabad, and lawyers were under instruction not to discuss the proceedings. Shahbaz Rajput, a lawyer for one of the accused, told Reuters after Saturday’s hearing that they did not want the trial behind closed doors. Express news reported the hearing had been adjourned until 19 September. The five suspects arrested earlier and being tried at Adiala Jail are Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a commander of the LeT, and four others—Hammad Amin, Abdul Wajid alias Zarar Shah, Mazhar Iqbal alias Abu Qama and Shahid Jameel Riaz. The two more recently arrested men are Jameel Ahmed and Younus Anjum. India is pressing Pakistan to prosecute LeT founder, Hafiz Saeed, who was detained in Pakistan in December, after a UN Security Council resolution put him on a list of people and organisations supporting al Qaeda. A court released him in June on grounds of insufficient evidence, prompting the Pakistani government to appeal at the Supreme Court for his re-arrest. The case is pending. India says Saeed was the mastermind of the Mumbai attack and says it has provided sufficient evidence against him for Pakistan to prosecute. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:32 am Trade with India can go up to $10 bn: Pakistani officialTrade between India and Pakistan can go up to $10 billion a year in 5-6 years if the countries resume their dialogue and the overall political environment improves, Pakistan's Commerce Secretary Suleman Ghani said here Saturday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:31 am Power ministry wants more gasIndia's Power Secretary H.S. Brahma Saturday sought an increase in allocation of gas from the Krishna Godavari basin to the power sector. A decision on this is to be taken by an 'empowered group of ministers' (EGoM) that is yet to be constituted.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:30 am LN Mittal bid: Uttam Galva open offer from Monday - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:25 am G20 agree on some bankers' pay curbs - sourceLONDON (Reuters) - The G20 group of advanced and emerging nations have agreed on some curbs on bankers' pay, such as clawback for poor performance and forcing banks to disclose how much top earners receive, a G7 source said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:17 am IOC open to new tie ups for coal power projectWith the joint venture with Tata Power for a 1,000 MW project not taking off as planned, Indian Oil Corporation is open to joining hands with other private sector companies for putting up coalbased power projects.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:02 am Over 90% of emails categorised as spamOver the years, spam has gone from being the most common Internet menace to being the most dangerous weapon in the cyber criminals tool kit.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:00 am Moving cars by rail to become costlier from todayMoving automobiles by Indian Railways wagons is set to become more expensive with effect from Saturday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:57 am CSE index slumps 101 points in weekly bizKolkata: The Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE) failed to hold its previous weekly gains for profit-booking and ended the week in red. The benchmark CSE-40 index lost 101.38 points as against gaining 229.57 points in the corresponding week. The bourse opened firm at 6,865.02 and in the first four trading sessions, the market lost ground to touch intra-week low of 6,724.39 but on the last trading session the index recovered some ground to close at 6763.64. Blueprint was at Rs303.75 at the end of the week. Bolton Properties was at Rs390.65. ONGC finished the week down to Rs1,166.05. Larsen & Toubro was Rs1,567.50 at end of the week. Reliance Industries ended lower to Rs1,958. SBI lost marginally to close the week at Rs1,769. Twenty-First Century was at Rs290.15. Tycoon Trades & Investment was at Rs126.15. Vindus Holding finished the week at Rs293. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:57 am Russia, China, Brazil endorse India’s stand on protectionismLondon: India’s stand that protectionism remains a real threat to the global economy and emerging economies need to guard against tendencies in some developed nations to extend it beyond trade to financial markets and investment has been endorsed by Russia, China and Brazil. A joint communique issued at the end of the two-hour meeting of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries’ finance ministers here last evening asserted that “protectionism remains a real threat to the global economy and should be avoided, both in direct and indirect forms.” Addressing a press conference along with his counterparts from Brazil, China and Russia, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said that “emerging markets also need to guard against tendencies in some developed countries to extend protectionism beyond trade to financial markets and investment.” He said it could “collectively undermine not only growth in developing countries but also the hard earned welfare gains from globalisation.” The communique also emphasised that the reform of international financial institutions is crucial to ensuring a stable and balanced global economy. “For the IMF and the World Bank Group, the main governance problem, which severely undermines their legitimacy, is the unfair distribution of quotas, shares and voting power. Priority should be given to a substantial shift of quotas and shares in favour of emerging markets and developing countries,” the communique said. “We propose the setting of a target for that shift of the order of 7% in the IMF and 6% in the World Bank Group so as to reach an equitable distribution of voting power between advanced and developing countries,” it said, adding “this would lead the overall share of emerging markets and developing countries in the IMF and World Bank to correspond roughly to their share in world GDP.” Emphasising that emerging markets were not the cause of the ongoing financial crisis as their financial systems were conservatively regulated, Mukherjee said “their growth prospects have nevertheless been badly damaged. It is particularly gratifying that BRIC countries are leading the global recovery.” Stating that he expected India to grow between 6-7% in both 2009 and 2010 on the back of strong fiscal and monetary measures that saw the central bank repeatedly lowering its benchmark interest rates by 425 basis points over a short period following the Lehman debacle, he added that government has also tried to cover the fall in private demand through fiscal stimulus equipment to 3-4 per cent of the GDP in 2008-09, and this is being carried through to 2009-10. Mukherjee, however, cautioned that a return to earlier levels of 9% trend growth in India on a sustainable basis hinged on stabilisation of western markets. “The recovery would be greatly assisted if international trade is kept open. In this context, we are keen for an early, successful conclusion of the stalled Doha Round,” he said. The BRIC countries expressed their support for an open and merit-based selection of IMF and World Bank management. “The next Managing Director of the IMF and the next President of the World Bank should be elected in such a manner, irrespective of nationality or any geographical preference,” the communique said. They also supported a revision in the composition of the executive boards of the IMF and the World Bank, of the IMFC and of the Development committee to allow for a more adequate representation of the emerging markets and developing countries. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:42 am HIGHLIGHTS - G20 finmins, c.bankers meeting in LondonLONDON (Reuters) - Finance ministers and central bankers from the G20 nations were meeting in London on Saturday to lay the foundations for a summit of leaders in the U.S. city of Pittsburgh later this month:Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:34 am NTPC moves apex court against Reliance IndustriesState-run power utility NTPC has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court order that permitted Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries to amend its petition on the Krishna-Godavari gas row.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:31 am Sentiments damp at Indian equities marketsSentiments at Indian equity markets remained damp this week though a key index rose 290 points Friday, after four consecutive losing days.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:30 am IIT Bombay faculty joins nationwide stir over higher pay - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:29 am Delhi Ministerial agree to revive WTO talks - Financial Express
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:28 am India to invest up to USD 10 bn to supplement IMF resourcesIndia has decided to invest up to USD 10 billion from its reserves to supplement the IMF resources.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:22 am Religare, Swiss Re not to form joint venture - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:12 am Pak not serious in punishing Mumbai attackers: KrishnaBangalore: Accusing Pakistan of not being serious in punishing perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks, external affairs minister S. M. Krishna on Saturday said India has provided enough evidence for their prosecution. He also made it clear that Pakistan was to be blamed for the suspension of the composite dialogue after the 26/11 terror strikes and said it has to take the initiative for the resumption of the process. “According to legal experts, the six dossiers which we have provided to Pakistan contain enough evidence against the conspirators, abettors and perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks to get them punished in a court of law,” he told reporters here. “If Pakistan were to be serious about taking the logical steps to punish those responsible for the attack on India or Mumbai, this is an instance that they can show to the world and India that they are serious,” he said. The Minister said India has given to Pakistan the names and other details of those involved in the strikes in Mumbai. “It is but natural that they should arrest all those and bring them to justice,” he said. Krishna said New Delhi will keep engaging Pakistan on the “logical follow up” that should be taken. “We expect that it will be done,” he said. Asked about Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s remarks that India is not coming forward for resumption of talks, Krishna said, “India was happily conituning with its composite dialogue till the Mumbai attacks which abruptly ended, temporarily, the composite dialogue. “So, I think Pakistan has to blame itself for the suspension of the composite dialogue and again it has to be Pakistan’s initiative now to satisfy India’s requirement for the resumption of composite dialogue,” he said. The Minister said India is fully aware that Pakistan is the “epicentre of terror in this region”. This, he said, has been brought to the notice of Pakistan as well as friendly countries. On a question about incursion by a Chinese helicopter in Leh sector recently, Krishna sought to downplay the incident saying there was an in-built mechanism to deal with such issues. “Whenever they take place this mechanism comes into operation and things are settled,” he said. Asked about the recent incident of a farmer couple from Karnataka who were bundled back by French officials at the Paris airport while they were on way to meet their son in Finland, Krishna said the French government had regretted the incident. The French authorities have promised to hold an inquiry and provide its report to India within a week. 59-year-old K. N. Ashok Kumar, a farmer, and his wife Meenakshamma (46) from Hassan district in Karnataka were in transit in Paris and headed for Finland to meet their son K. A. Darpam Gowda when they were stopped by French officials for not carrying the invitation letter sent by their son. The Minister said those who travel outside the country should carry documents of invitations. In this case, he said, the letter of invitation was handed over to the visa issuing authority in Chennai but the couple had not carried a copy with them. On the attacks on Indian students in Australia, Krishna said that there was a “qualitative change” in the situation and there were no incidents of attacks on students since his visit last month. “This is a positive development,” he said commending the Australian authorities in tackling the problem. “I am glad that they have kept their promise. From the Indian students’ perspective, it is quiet and normal there,” he said. He said he will raise the issue of handing over of Bodo outfit NDFB’s chief Ranjan Daimary during his meeting with visiting Bangladesh foreign minister Dipu Moni on Monday. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:05 am Religare, Swiss Re not to form joint ventureMUMBAI (Reuters) - Financial services firm Religare Enterprises Ltd and Swiss Reinsurance Co have mutually decided against forming a health insurance joint venture in India, the Indian firm said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:01 am Weekly review: Sensex declines 233pts - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 1:58 am Suzuki to build factory in India - NikkeiTOKYO (Reuters) - Suzuki Motor plans to spend about 30 billion yen ($322.6 million)to build a factory in India around 2011, boosting its production capacity in the country by 30 percent, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Sep 2009 | 1:44 am Audi Q5 will now come with Made in India tag - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 1:31 am NTPC moves SC against Bombay HC orderNew Delhi:State-run power PSU NTPC on Saturday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court judgement that allowed Mukesh Ambani Group company RIL to amend its petition on the gas dispute. A ministerial group had approved $4.2 per mmBtu as the value of gas from RIL’s KG-D6 fields, but before that the company had won a contract to supply 12 million cubic metres of gas per day to NTPC’s Kawas and Gandhar projects with a bid of $2.34 per mmBtu in 2004. The government has separately filed a petition in the Ambani brothers’ gas dispute, saying it alone had the right to approve gas price. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Sep 2009 | 1:12 am Sri Lanka imports machines to clear landminesColombo: Sri Lanka has imported equipment to speed up mine clearing in the former war zone in the island’s north, the defence ministry said on Saturday. The mine-clearing machines imported from Slovakia would be used to accelerate resettlement of people driven out of the area during the height of fighting, the ministry said in a statement. Sri Lanka’s army and eight other organisations were involved in removing thousands of mines, but most of the work was done manually, K. Kumarasiri, secretary to the Nation Building Ministry, told AFP. “Only 10 square metres (about 100 square feet) can be de-mined daily (by one mine clearer) through manual work,” added major general D.M.D. Alwis, coordinator of the Sri Lanka Humanitarian Demining Project. “But these machines can clear 5,000 square metres,” he said. Sri Lankan troops crushed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam by killing the rebels’ leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran in mid-May, ending a decades-long separatist conflict that had claimed tens of thousands of lives. The army has said it was sending more troops for mine-clearing operations to speed up the resettlement of nearly 300,000 people displaced by the recent fighting. They are being detained in the northern district of Vavuniya under tight security to be screened for remaining Tamil Tiger rebels. Colombo has come under growing international pressure to release the civilians. The government promised UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who visited the island in May, that 80% of the refugees would be returned home before the end of this year. The rebels had been fighting since 1972 to carve out an independent Tamil homeland in the north of Sri Lanka. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:55 am Brokerages are unanimous: Say subscribe to Oil India IPO - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:51 am Afghanistan postpones release of election result: officialKabul: Afghan electoral authorities have cancelled the scheduled release on Saturday of the latest tranche of results from controversial elections that have been overshadowed by fraud allegations. The next batch of results from polling stations would be released on either Sunday or Monday, a spokeswoman for the Independent Electoral Commission said. “It is because of a technical problem that we will not be able to make any announcement today,” Marzia Siddiqi told AFP. She said the IEC hoped to be able to release the preliminary result at its next announcement. Final results are not due before 17 September. The IEC has been releasing the results piecemeal since the elections for president and provincial councillors were held on 20 August. Throughout the laborious process of gradual announcements, the two main contenders for the presidency, incumbent Hamid Karzi and Abdullah Abdullah, have each claimed victory. Abdullah, formerly foreign minister, has also alleged widespread vote-rigging by Karzai’s camp and has threatened to reject any result he regards as compromised. The latest results were released 3 September, and showed Karzai maintaining a lead with 47.3% of the results from 60% of the polling stations used in Afghanistan’s second only direct presidential election. Out of 3.69 million valid votes, Karzai won 1.74 million and Abdullah 1.2 million or 32.6%, the IEC announced. The winner needs to secure an outright majority of 50% plus one vote in order to avoid a run-off, which many observers have warned could be damaging if turnout proves even lower a second-time round. Nato and Western allies have stressed in recent days their long-term commitment to keeping troops in Afghanistan to fight a resurgent Taliban, despite concerns about fraud and low turnout in the elections. The country was still reeling Saturday from a Nato air strike in northern Kunduz province on Friday that officials said killed scores of people. Officials said the dead were mostly insurgents, but Karzai said any targeting of civilians was unacceptable. His office said 90 people were killed and injured. Memorial prayers were said on Saturday in nearly a dozen villages for those killed in the strike. Daily attacks and bombings highlight the challenges that the next president will face in combating an insurgency that has made 2009 the deadliest year for more than 100,000 foreign troops fighting against Taliban rebels. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:38 am Court issues notice after 87 days without waterThe Delhi High Court has issued notice to the chairperson of the city water authority Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit and other executive officers to explain why a locality in east Delhi had not been getting water supply for the past 87 days.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:31 am Cheap holiday plan for couples with daughters packs Himachal hotelsHimachal Pradesh's unique package of a discounted stay in all government-run hotels for couples with daughters has evoked a good response, tourism industry members said Saturday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:31 am Guatemala: Honduran leader must return before voteGuatemala City: Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom said on Friday that scheduled elections in neighboring Honduras will not be valid if ousted President Manuel Zelaya is not reinstated before the 29 November vote. “President Zelaya must be reinstated before the elections, because if he is not, the elections will not be legitimate,” Colom said after meeting with Zelaya. Other countries including the United States have also said they would not recognise the results of the presidential election under current conditions. The government in charge since a 28 June coup that removed Zelaya has pledged to hold out against international isolation and pressure to reinstate the ousted leader and go through with the vote. Observers say Zelaya’s time is running out, with just over four months remaining in his term. But Zelaya said on Friday there is no time limit on his fight and repeated previous vows to return home. “The time period for fighting a principle, for democracy and justice, is undefined and is part of a historic process,” he said. The United States cut all non-humanitarian aid to Honduras on Thursday to express its disagreement with the coup and ratchet up pressure on the interim government to allow Zelaya to return. The cutoff of $31 million in non-humanitarian assistance makes permanent a temporary suspension of US aid imposed after the coup. The decision drew praise from Zelaya and his ally President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Chavez told Venezuelan state television by phone from Iran on Friday that “it’s about time” Washington took action against the coup. He added that he hopes Washington will make good on its statement that it would not recognise the election under current conditions. Zelaya said as long as the interim government refuses to yield, “all electoral activity is illegitimate.” Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:23 am Okada to become Japan’s new foreign minister: reportsTokyo: Katsuya Okada, a senior figure in the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), is to be appointed the nation’s new foreign minister, newspapers reported on Saturday. Japan’s next prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, has “decided in principle” on the appointment, which will be announced on 16 September when he takes office, the Mainichi Shimbun said, quoting sources close to Hatoyama. Okada, the secretary-general of the party, has personal connections with influential figures in the United States and is also known as an advocate for Asian-oriented diplomacy. News reports also said DPJ senior adviser Hirohisa Fujii is a likely candidate for the finance minister post, while former health minister Naoto Kan may be tapped for the head of the newly-formed National Strategy Bureau. Hatoyama’s DPJ claimed a landslide win in last weekend’s general election, ending more than half a century of almost unbroken rule by outgoing Prime Minister Taro Aso’s Liberal Democratic Party. The 56-year-old Okada has said Japan must get out from underneath the United States after years in the shadow of its major ally and must reach out more to its Asian neighbours. “It will be the age of Asia, and in that context it is important for Japan to have its own stance, to play its role in the region,” Okada said in an interview with AFP last month. He is the second son of Takuya Okada, who remains honorary chairman of one of Japan’s two leading supermarket operators, Aeon. He joined the trade ministry in 1976 after graduating in law from the prestigious University of Tokyo. Okada, who also studied at Harvard University, was first elected to parliament representing Aso’s LDP in 1990 but bolted for the new opposition party in 1993, when Japan saw its first non-LDP ruling coalition in 38 years. Okada, dubbed the prince of the DPJ, was elected head of the party in 2004 but forced to step down following a massive defeat in the 2005 general election. One of his more peculiar hobbies is collecting items that depict frogs. But there is a serious political point—“frog” in Japanese is a homonym for “change”—the slogan used by the DPJ during last month’s election campaign. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:08 am Non-wireless income may be taken out of spectrum chargesNew Delhi, Sept. 4 The Department of Telecom is considering allowing telecom operators to exclude revenues from non-wireless services for the purpose of calculating spectrumSource: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Moving cars by rail to become costlier from todayNew Delhi, Sept. 4 Moving automobiles by Indian Railways’ wagons is set to become more expensive with effect from Saturday.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Markets this weekThe Union Government has decided to hand over the reins of management and promoter status of Maytas Infra Ltd (MIL), promoted by Mr B. Teja Raju to IL&FS.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am IOC open to new tie ups for coal power projectChennai, Sept. 4 With the joint venture with Tata Power for a 1,000 MW project not taking off as planned, Indian Oil Corporation is open to joining hands with other private sector companies for putting up coal-based powerSource: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Tariff cap proposed on short-term power tradesNew Delhi, Sept. 4 A sharp spike in electricity prices, coming in the wake of the looming drought situation and upcoming elections in several key States, has prompted the regulator to crack the whip.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am MFs remain cautious on interest rate futuresMumbai, Sept. 4 Mutual funds are adopting a wait-and-watch approach instead of participating in the recently launched interest rate futures (IRFs) on theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am ArcelorMittal picks up stake in Uttam GalvaMumbai, Sept. 4 ArcelorMittal Netherlands BV will step in as co-promoter of Mumbai-based Uttam Galva Steels. The company was promoted by Mr Rajinder Miglani in 1985.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am 45-50 lakh ha fall in area under kharif paddy likelyThe Centre expects a shortfall of 45-50 lakh hectares (lh) in the total kharif paddy area thisSource: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Wipro Tech may wind up centre in FranceWipro Technologies, global IT arm of Wipro Ltd, is exploring options to wind up its development centre in Sophia Antipolis, France.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Delhi meeting re-opens doors on Doha RoundNew Delhi, Sept 4 Trade ministers representing the broader membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Friday lifted the logjam in the Doha Round of trade talks to clinch a global free trade agreement on goods and services by resolving toSource: Business Line - Home Page | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am WTO ruling in favour of Boeing reflects pre-crisis timeWashington: The World Trade Organization’s ruling that European loans for Airbus were illegal subsidies is being cheered by US lawmakers loyal to the Boeing Co, even though the preliminary decision may seem quaint in a world where government subsidies, bailouts and takeovers are now commonplace. Friday’s ruling reflects the world as it existed five years ago when the United States brought the case against the European Union, arguing that such subsidies were unfair trading practices. But since then, the deep global recession has led to hundreds of billions of dollars in government subsidies and intervention in nearly all the world’s major economies, including big government ownership stakes in banks, and auto and insurance companies. Furthermore, other countries, including China, Japan and Brazil, are busy expanding or developing their domestic airline industries. At issue is a 1,000-page confidential ruling that was given to US and European trade officials. It was not released yet, and officials were under instructions not to speak publicly. Still, lawmakers from Washington state and other US states where Chicago-headquartered Boeing has a major presence were briefed by the Office of the US Trade Representative on Friday. Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state who led efforts in 2004 to get the Bush administration to initiate the WTO case, said the ruling “confirms that Boeing has been competing on an uneven playing field for decades.” Friday’s decision confirms that “all Airbus aircraft have received illegal subsidies and that these have caused material harm to Boeing,” said Rep. Norm Dicks, a Washington Democrat. Neither Boeing nor Airbus would comment on the ruling publicly, nor would US or EU trade officials. However, European officials who were briefed had a somewhat different take on the ruling than American lawmakers, suggesting that it was more of a mixed bag and that many of the complaints lodged by the US had been dismissed and the government loans to Airbus were in some instances deemed a permissible form of financing. The WTO finding was the first step in a process that could take years to produce a final result. The organisation doesn’t have the power to impose sanctions itself, but it can allow a nation that has been harmed—in this case the US—to raise tariffs or impose other barriers to imports from an offending country or countries. And that wouldn’t be limited to aircraft. It could also include, for instance, purses, sweaters or French wines. The amount of such tariffs could be high enough to offset the damages done by the illegal practices. “The United States has always maintained that the European governments have provided unfair subsidies to Airbus that harm US interests,” said Deborah Mesloh, deputy assistant US trade representative in Washington, ahead of Friday’s ruling. Friday’s ruling was Part One of the process. A ruling on an EU counter-complaint against the US claiming that the Pentagon and Nasa are indirectly subsidising Boeing is being heard by a separate WTO panel and a ruling is expected in about six months. “We have a good case against them, and they have a serviceable case against us,” said Jeffrey Schott, a trade expert with the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Both disputes in the Boeing-Airbus rivalry are over what is projected to be a $3.2 trillion global aviation market over the next 20 years. Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington state, said the case “sets an important precedent that must be respected by all countries with an emerging commercial aircraft industry.” She also said it should discourage European governments from going ahead with an additional $4.6 billion in proposed subsidies for Airbus to develop its new extra wide-bodied A350 airliner, which will compete with Boeing’s long-delayed 787 Dreamliner. Financing for the A350 airliner was not part of the US case before the WTO. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 4 Sep 2009 | 11:55 pm Need to regulate financial market but no protectionism: PranabIndia has said when there is a need to regulate the financial market, the same should not be used to devise any kind of protectionism.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Sep 2009 | 11:29 pm FMPs are back in vogue as returns on debt riseAugust alone saw 12 launches as against 24 in the previous seven monthsSource: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Sep 2009 | 11:21 pm Revenue deficit at 48% of budgetTax receipts down; 45% of market loans tapped.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Sep 2009 | 11:09 pm Doha talks to resume September 14New Delhi ministerial meet cracks 'impasse', but positions of most nations unchanged.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Sep 2009 | 11:06 pm NGOs, retired people to spread banking services in villagesThe Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon engage agents to provide banking services in villages, says RBI deputy governor Usha Thorat.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 4 Sep 2009 | 10:00 pm WTO says Airbus loans illegal - U.S. lawmakersWASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The World Trade Organization ruled on Friday that European loans for Airbus were illegal subsidies under world trade rules, U.S. lawmakers said, but European sources said Washington did not win a sweeping victory.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Sep 2009 | 9:44 pm Disney-Marvel deal has $140 mln termination feeLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Marvel Entertainment Inc would have to pay the Walt Disney Co a termination fee of $140 million if it terminates a proposed merger with Disney, according to a securities filing on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Sep 2009 | 9:43 pm Google's investors look for next big thingSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc made its fortune on Internet search ads, but Wall Street is increasingly eager for signs that the company's other money-making bets will pay off.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Sep 2009 | 9:39 pm SEC chiefs in dark as Madoff evaded junior staffWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission officials were in the dark that staff were probing Bernard Madoff until the former financier was arrested in December 2008 for running a $65 billion Ponzi scheme, a federal watchdog said in a report released on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Sep 2009 | 9:20 pm Wall St Week Ahead - Stocks face volume test after summer rallyNEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street's mettle will be tested next week as traders return from summer to resurfacing signs of weakness after a six-month rally for stocks.Source: Reuters: Money News | 4 Sep 2009 | 9:07 pm Four-member panel to probe fire in aircraft: Air IndiaAir India has set up a four-member panel to probe the fire in the engine of its Riyadh-bound Boeing 747-400 aircraft at Mumbai Airport on Friday morning.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Sep 2009 | 6:55 pm Why Doha round talks are stalled and G-20 has become a realityThroughout the eighties and nineties, there was so much enthusiasm for globalisation, particularly among manufacturers, financial market participants and IT companies.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Sep 2009 | 5:08 pm Yakult targets nine-fold rise in India salesThe company had started India operations nearly two years with the launch of Yakult in Delhi, Jaipur and Chandigarh markets.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Sep 2009 | 4:22 pm ICICI-V names pvt equity team chiefsICICI Venture has appointed Prashant Purker and Parth Gandhi as presidents in its private equity team, taking the total number of presidents to five.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Sep 2009 | 4:15 pm TCS on course to beat its Q2 estimatesTata Consultancy Services, India's largest IT firm by headcount, may beat its own estimate of a flattish revenue growth for the second quarter.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Sep 2009 | 4:12 pm Dutch impressions on Indian honchosNA has launched a special book on Business Adventures in the Netherlands.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Sep 2009 | 4:11 pm As lifestyles change, Bunge gives Dalda a 'health' makeoverThe new look and contemporary brand logo has been designed by Shombit Sengupta, who has redesigned some of the biggest international and national brands.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 4 Sep 2009 | 4:10 pm ‘We’re always confident about economy’s resilience’In just over two years since setting up its assembly plant in Chennai, BMW India has achieved what was once thought as something extremely difficult if not impossible — emerge as the No 1 in luxury car segment in the country. Hindustan Times caught up with BMW India President Peter Kronschnabl at his office in Gurgaon for a short tete-a-tete. ExcerptsSource: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Sep 2009 | 3:20 pm Bilaterals could be way out: USThe United States on Friday asked WTO member nations to work towards filling the gaps for a successful conclusion of the global trade talks even as it said proposed bilateral negotiations between countries would help a great deal in securing a an acceptable rule based model, reports HT Correspondent.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Sep 2009 | 2:59 pm We’ve missed your buses, Govt to TataIndustrialist Ratan Tata is facing pressure from the Centre after his group slipped up in delivering 4,700 buses ordered by three state governments under the ambitious JNNURM to spruce up their public transport system, reports HT Correspondent.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Sep 2009 | 2:47 pm Liberalise gas markets, make them transparent, regulate themThe present policy approach for gas seems to be derived from a mindset that India is relatively “gas short” and this scarcity is attempted to be met through rationing or allocating available gas through quantitative allocation with its consequent under-pricing.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Sep 2009 | 2:40 pm RPG Group jumps on power bandwagon, to invest Rs 10000crThe RPG Group will invest Rs 10,000 crore in the power business, Chairman Harsh Goenka said, adding that the company was looking to acquire a power transmission company.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Sep 2009 | 2:40 pm Sensex up 291 pts on global cuesTaking positive cues from the global markets that witnessed strength and improved prospects of a better Rabi crop, the sensex at the BSE gained 1.9 per cent or 291 points on Friday to close the week at 15,689, reports Sandeep Singh.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Sep 2009 | 2:36 pm Delhi breaks Doha ice, Geneva talks on Sept 14Hope sprung anew on creating a rule-based global trade regime with the two-day informal meeting of 35 trade ministers agreeing to resume discussion on the stalled negotiations in less than two weeks’ time. The chief negotiators and senior officials will resume the talks in Geneva from September 14. HT Correspondent reports.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Sep 2009 | 2:09 pm YSR's death may hit infra companiesReddys tenure was known for infrastructure development.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 4 Sep 2009 | 1:48 pm PM congratulates trade ministers for Delhi 'breakthrough'Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today applauded the breakthrough reached at the mini-ministerial meeting in New Delhi of some 40 members of the WTO that would lead to resumption of talks to conclude the Doha round of negotiations.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Sep 2009 | 1:37 pm 'Big B' gets ready for TV comebackAfter nearly four years off the small screen, Bollywoods biggest icon, Amitabh Bachchan, is ready to return, this time as anchor for the third edition of Hindi general entertainment channel Colors reality show, Bigg Boss.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 4 Sep 2009 | 1:28 pm ArcelorMittal to be co-promoter of Uttam GalvaArcelorMittal will become the co-promoter of the Rs 4,500 crore Uttam Galva Steels, marking the worlds largest steelmakers entry into the Indian steel space. The Miglani family currently owns 40.71 per cent of Uttam Galva.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 4 Sep 2009 | 1:26 pm Breakthrough on Doha, talks to resume on Sept 14The two-day informal meeting of trade ministers has broken the impasse that engulfed the Doha Round of global trade talks under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) last year, Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma said today.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 4 Sep 2009 | 1:20 pm Sunil Sethi: Who judges the judges? - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 4 Sep 2009 | 1:13 pm US unemployment hits 9.7% as job losses narrow furtherUS unemployment climbed to 9.7 per cent last month as 216,000 jobs were lost, according to official data on Friday highlighting fragile labor conditions as the economy struggles to emerge from recession.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 4 Sep 2009 | 12:44 pm Goldman Sachs seeks easing of approvals for NBFC activities Mumbai: In a move targeted at relaxing regulatory approvals for activities undertaken by its Indian non-banking finance company (NBFC), Goldman Sachs has written to the government requesting a composite approval for its committed investments worth almost Rs200 crore. Goldman Sachs has written to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for an exemption of Press Note 1 of 2005 applicability, saying that it has to take approval from the board each time it wants to invest or indulge in NBFC activities in India due to applicability of the press note, according to people with knowledge in the matter. It is pushing for a composite approval for any further investments, which will expedite investments into India, it has said, according to the people who declined to be identified. Foreign direct investment of up to 100% is allowed in NBFC activities, including asset management business, but since Goldman Sachs had prior joint ventures with Kotak Securities Ltd and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, it needs to get FIPB nod for each new tie-up or investments in the NBFC arena. The board’s response would be crucial as that could possibly set a precedence for composite FIPB approvals to other companies looking at investing in NBFC activities in India. cnbctv18@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Sep 2009 | 12:42 pm Archies dismisses rumours of stake sale to VideoconMumbai: The retail chain that sells greeting cards and gift items, Archies Ltd, has recently seen a rally in its stock prices. The firm’s joint managing director, Pramod Arora, said in an interview that Archies hoped to grow at 18-20%, the rate at which it had been growing a year ago. He also clarified that it was not looking to sell any stake to Videocon Industries Ltd, a maker and distributor of household goods and electronic items. Edited excerpts:  Strategic tie-ups: Archies joint managing director Pramod Arora. You posted a net loss last year because of a foreign exchange derivative. How is business this year? What kind of sales and profit growth do you think you can report for 2009-10? I guess we expect to grow at around 18-20%. The profits will be back, they are already back as you might have noticed in the Q1 results. We again hope to be in line to grow over the year before. Are you forging any alliances with companies like Shoppers’ Stop or any other malls? Secondly, Videocon Industries was looking to buy some stake from you. Are you still looking at any kind of strategic partners? There is nothing on the anvil as far as that is concerned. But on your first question about strategic tie-ups with other retail chains, we are already working on it, which we started last year. We have tied up with quite a few modern trade and other retail chains. We are now present in quite a few of them with either a shop-in-shop or a kiosk or something of that sort, different models with different people, which we feel is going to be a pretty big growth driver in the years to come. For the last 20-30 years, I have seen Archies everywhere. Yet in the last five-six years as India has boomed, you have gone from Rs100 crore to only Rs139 crore. Could you tell me what is wrong? It is a brand everybody knows, it is found everywhere, and yet the sales don’t seem to show up the numbers they should. What is wrong here? No, there is nothing wrong here. The thing is that our business is a low-ticket business. Globally if you look at the top two companies, which is Hallmark and American Greetings, their social expression business is to the tune of $2.6-3 billion (Rs12,714-14,670 crore). These are companies that are 100-year-old. They are the leaders in the world in this business. You are comparing Archies with other businesses that make revenue of $1 million a day. When do you see yourself go to Rs200 crore? Do the current promoters want to be in this business or do they sell this off to some bigger player? We are very much there to be in this business...Rs200 crore I see somewhere around within the next maximum three years. cnbctv18@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Sep 2009 | 12:36 pm Ratnamani Metals aims to maintain margins at 10%Manoj Sanghvi of Ratnamani Metals said the companys operating margins were likely to remain at 10%Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Sep 2009 | 12:31 pm 7-year bonds post weekly loss on supply, rate concernsMumbai: India’s seven-year bonds posted a third weekly loss on speculation government debt sales will reduce demand for existing securities. Yields on the most-traded notes due 2016 touched a nine-month high as the Union government sold Rs12,000 crore ($2.5 billion) of securities on Friday. Additionally, eight Indian states plan to sell a total of Rs8,350 crore of 10-year securities on 8 September. Bonds also fell on concern a slower pace of decline in wholesale prices, indicating a rebound in the economy, will prompt the central bank to raise interest rates. Supply is the biggest concern for investors as it is making portfolio management difficult with each successive debt sale, said Kamlesh Chand, a trader at IndusInd Bank Ltd in Mumbai. The yield on the 7.02% note due August 2016 this week rose 10 basis points to 7.43% at close, according to the central bank’s trading system. The price fell 0.54, or 54 paise per Rs100 face amount, to 97.80. One basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point. Wholesale prices fell the least in 12 weeks, suggesting that inflation may soon turn positive in Asia’s third largest economy. In the derivatives market, the 10-year bond future maturing by 31 December was traded at 8.20%, while the contract due 31 March 31 was at 8.34%, according to the Web site of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. The cost of five-year interest-rate swaps, or derivative contracts used to guard against fluctuations in borrowing costs, was little changed. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Sep 2009 | 12:29 pm Quick Edit | Green economic renaissanceIt is difficult to disagree with the growing consensus that the world economy is finally stabilizing. The oft-repeated question is whether this recovery will be gradual or quick. International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn visited some of these issues in a talk he gave in Berlin on Friday. His view is that the recovery could be sluggish and will not create new jobs. But the IMF chief also speculated on new sources of growth that could power the world economy once private spending revives. Strauss-Kahn put forward an intriguing possibility. “Advances in green technology could even become the microprocessor revolution of tomorrow—while at the same time helping address global climate change,” he said. There is no doubt that monetary policies fan booms and busts. But it is also true that technology shocks cause huge economic dislocations as new technologies come into our lives. Think cars, plastics and microprocessors. Will green technology lead the next economic boom? Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Sep 2009 | 12:26 pm Delhi meet ends Doha deadlockNew Delhi: Trade ministers made a “breakthrough” on Friday, agreeing to end a deadlock of more than a year to try and conclude the Doha Round of negotiations in 2010, at the two-day New Delhi informal ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Officials will start talks in Geneva on 14 September. “There has been a breakthrough. The impasse has been broken,” commerce minister Anand Sharma announced after the meeting ended.  Taking initiative: Anand Sharma. Ramesh Pathania/Mint Within days of taking charge of the commerce and industry ministry, Sharma took the initiative to re-energize the Doha negotiations. India had been widely blamed in the Western media for the breakdown of the July 2008 talks on the issue of differences over farm tariffs with the US. The Doha Round is named after the city of Qatar where talks started in 2001. “This is a victory for India, politically,” a commerce ministry official said on condition of anonymity. “We were unnecessarily blamed for the failure of last year’s talks. With the success of the Delhi round, India showed that it is keen to complete the negotiations.” While Sharma said that the sequence of negotiations as agreed in Hong Kong will be followed, he added that negotiations in services should also be expedited. During the Hong Kong ministerial meet in 2005, it was decided to adopt a sequential approach in negotiations, with priority being given to agriculture and non-agricultural market access. “What happened today is a reality check. There is a big political push to conclude the Doha Round. Now it is time to go back to real engagements,” WTO director general Pascal Lamy said after the meeting. Lamy will report on the progress made at the Group of 20 leaders meeting in Pittsburgh on 24-25 September, he said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hailed the breakthrough at a meeting with some of the trade ministers. “This will uplift the animal spirit of economic agents all over the world,” he said, according to a spokesman of the Prime Minister’s Office. India had an abiding interest in an open, liberal and rule-based global trade regime, he said. He hoped that the success achieved by the trade ministers would help world leaders at their deliberations at the Pittsburgh summit. However, differences persisted on the process to revive the talks, with the US putting more emphasis on bilateral negotiations to resolve issues at the multilateral forum. “We believe to get to a successful conclusion, we must reinvigorate the process with sustained bilateral engagement in order to go further,” US trade representative Ron Kirk said. “The reality is we have three failed successive rounds. We believe that creates a fairly obvious imperative to look at other alternatives.” Kirk went to the extent of saying that any further concessions will be made through bilateral talks. “We believe that is the best way forward for a nation to move beyond public posturing into real hard negotiations necessary in order to bring Doha to conclusion.” Brazil objected to any attempt to substitute multilaterals with bilaterals. “I would strongly stress to my friends of the developing world that if you want to change it (the Doha Round) to a bilateral process, we can be sure the results will be much worse from the point of view of the developing countries,” said Brazil’s external relations minister Celso Amorim. “The danger with bilaterals in agriculture issues is that it may isolate some countries. The reason why developing countries have a strong position today is because they are negotiating together,” said Biswajit Dhar, a trade expert and director general of Research and Information System for Developing Countries. The agreements in the meeting held that the multilateral process should continue to be the main process of negotiations for the strength of its inclusiveness and transparency, while other forms of engagement can work as adjuncts for a better understanding among members. India also supported bilateral engagements while holding that such negotiations should only “feed into the multilateral process”. The ministers also agreed that negotiations should resume on the basis of the draft reports prepared in December, which are improvements over the July 2008 draft reports when talks broke down. The chairs of the various negotiating groups have been entrusted to draw up work plans and finalization of texts as well as timelines for the submission of revised offers on services. Trade ministers also agreed that the work agenda for least developing countries covering all specific issues should be put on a fast track. Liz Mathew contributed to this story. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Sep 2009 | 12:25 pm IndusInd gets 3 years to pare founders’ stakeMumbai: The Hinduja Group-promoted private sector lender IndusInd Bank Ltd got a three-year extension from the banking regulator to pare the promoters’ stake in the bank to 10%. The bank recently raised at least Rs480 crore by selling 54.8 million shares to qualified institutional investors, bringing down the promoters’ stake from 25.63% to 22.2%. Even after this, the promoters were to reduce their stake by another 12.2 percentage points by March, to comply with the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). They would not do so now as RBI has given the bank time till December 2012. A formal communication from RBI was sent to the bank in late August after the qualified institutional placement (QIP) offer was over.  Graphics: Ahmed Raza Khan/Mint According to him, the promoters will have to dilute their stake to 10% in the next three years. In its presentations to institutional investors in the run-up to the QIP issue in early August, IndusInd had said, “In the course of ongoing discussions and correspondence with us, the RBI has stated that our promoters will need to reduce their shareholding to less than 10% of our total outstanding equity shares by the end of the current fiscal year. Any such divestment process could adversely affect the price of our equity shares.” RBI’s guidelines on ownership in private banks, released in February 2005, said no entity or group would be allowed to hold over 10% stake in a private sector bank directly or indirectly. The central bank also said no investor can buy over 5% stake in any bank without its approval. The objective was to broadbase the shareholding pattern and ensure corporate governance. The RBI norms also stipulate that all banks need to have a minimum Rs300 crore networth. However, the central bank has not set any deadline for the industry to pare the promoters’ stakes and raise the networth. Instead, it has been directing individual banks on these two critical issues, depending on their health and quality of governance. Unable to conform to these norms, promoters of quite a few private banks, including Ganesh Bank of Kurundwad Ltd, Sangli Bank Ltd and Lord Krishna Bank Ltd have sold out to relatively larger private players in the recent past. In 2007, RBI had stopped IndusInd Bank from opening new branches as its promoter holding was way above the permissible limit. Another private bank denied new branch licences around the same time was Dhanalakshmi Bank Ltd and for the same reason. After the promoters started diluting their stake in June this year, IndusInd Bank received RBI’s nod to open 30 branches. With this, IndusInd will have 210 branches across India. The regulator has also approved 66 branch licences for Dhanalakshmi Bank. This will strengthen the bank’s branch network to 273. A 3 June Mint report quoted an IndusInd Bank official saying the lender has applied to open another 140 branches. At the end of June, the bank’s total assets were Rs27,800 crore, up from Rs27,600 crore at March-end. The bank’s net profit for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 was Rs86.49 crore, a growth of over three times compared with the corresponding period last year. The bank’s non-performing assets as a percentage of loans dipped to 1.01%, from 2.14% during the June quarter. Ahead of the recent equity issue, IndusInd Bank’s promoters held a 19.3% stake under IndusInd International Holdings Ltd, a 4.37% stake under IndusInd Ltd and 1.97% through De Five (Mauritius) Holdings Ltd. The bank shortlisted 32 qualified institutional buyers to allot 54.8 million equity shares. The list of investors who actually bought stakes included Templeton Asset Management Ltd and firms from the stable of Goldman Sachs and Blackstone Group. IndusInd Bank is one of the nine private banks that got RBI licence to start business when the regulator opened the sector in 1994. Till May 2004, the promoters of the bank were holding a 41.32% stake, but it fell to 31.3% when Ashok Leyland Finance Ltd, a non-banking financial company, was merged with the bank. The bank issued global depository receipts in 2007 and 2008 and these brought down the promoters’ stake first to 28.45% and later to 25.63%. The IndusInd stock fell marginally on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday to end at Rs99.80 even as the Sensex, the exchange’s bellwether index, rose by 1.89% to close at 15,689.12. Anita Bhoir contributed to this story. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Sep 2009 | 12:25 pm West Bengal govt to buy land for RailwaysChampadanga, Hooghly: The West Bengal government will soon start acquiring about 500 acres of farmland some 20km from Singur, where violent protests a year ago by farmers and the Trinamool Congress—the state’s main opposition party—against land acquisition forced Tata Motors Ltd to abandon its small car project and move it to Sanand in Gujarat. There may not be any resistance this time because the land is going to be acquired for the railway ministry, headed by Mamata Banerjee,―the Trinamool Congress chief. Click here to view a slide show of land acquisition scandals in the recent past The Left Front government, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPM, won’t oppose the move as it senses a political opportunity ahead of the 2011 assembly election. The rail ministry has written to the state government asking it to acquire land under the controversial Land Acquisition Act for a railway track between Bargachhia in Howrah district and Champadanga in Hooghly district, 20km from Singur, according to Balbir Ram, principal secretary of the state’s land and land reforms department. A privately owned narrow gauge railway track connecting the interiors of the Hooghly district was abandoned more than 35 years ago. The new broad gauge track will be laid to improve accessibility, explained an official of the land and land reforms department, who did not want to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media.  New project: The narrow gauge line, abandoned 35 years ago, terminated here. The land will be acquired under the Land Acquisition Act. Indranil Bhoumik/Mint The notification for the proposed acquisition is going to be issued soon, with the price to be paid derived by using the formula laid down in the Act. Under this formula, the state government offers the average of prices at which land in the neighbourhood has been sold over the past one year. Because people understate the price to save on stamp duty, which is levied on transfer of ownership, the price derived under the formula does not normally reflect the true market rate. Land in Champadanga and its neighbourhood typically yields two-three crops a year, and according to locals, annual income from one bigha, or one-third of an acre, is Rs15,000-20,000. The current market price, say farmers, is Rs9-15 lakh an acre depending on productivity and proximity to the nearest highway. West Bengal has seen violent protests in the past two years over land acquisition. Besides Singur, a proposed hub of chemical industries at Nandigram in East Midnapore district was also relocated due to opposition by local residents. The Trinamool Congress supported both the agitations and benefited in the recently held national elections, winning 17 parliamentary seats compared with just one in 2004. In the 42 constituencies in the state, CPM and its allies won 16, down from 35 in 2004. “Who is going to form a resistance group now?” asks Ashok Jana, a farmer who fears the state government may seize his two bighas. Samar Lohar fears losing his home because it’s close to the abandoned railway track. “The CPM is not going to lead us, nor would the Trinamool Congress, which means we are going to lose everything,” he said. Trinamool Congress legislator Partha Chattopadhyay, leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, sought to draw a distinction between this case and that of Tata Motors. “This and land grabbing for a private party are not the same things,” he said. “We are not opposed to development. In this case, land is going to be acquired for a national cause.” Suhrid Datta, a prominent CPM leader from Singur, who a year ago bitterly opposed the Trinamool Congress and the farmers in their campaign against the Tata Motors project, doesn’t seem perturbed. “We aren’t Mamata Banerjee,” he said, when asked if his party was going to oppose the proposed land acquisition at Champadanga and its neighbourhood. However, CPM leaders from Champadanga are more vocal than others from the rest of district. “They (Trinamool Congress) stopped Tata Motors from building its factory in Singur because it was fertile land, and now their chief wants equally fertile land for the Railways,” said Asit Patra, chairman of the local government body of Champadanga. But leaders such as Patra are going to toe the line that the CPM has decided at the highest level. “Let the people see for themselves. We are not going to oppose development,” said Robin Deb, a CPM state secretariat member. “But we will make sure that the compensation package reaches everyone, even sharecroppers and landless labourers.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Sep 2009 | 12:24 pm ArcelorMittal gets in through Uttam GalvaMumbai: Riding piggyback on specialty steel maker Uttam Galva Steels Ltd, the world’s largest steel maker ArcelorMittal Netherlands BV is finally entering India. Mumbai-based steel maker Uttam Galva, which has a capacity of 0.8 million tonnes, on Friday announced a “co-promotion agreement” that will entitle the Luxembourg-headquartered steel maker to become a co-promoter in the Indian steel maker. Uttam Galva, in a late evening notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), announced that it will allow ArcelorMittal to acquire shares in the company through an open offer.  Back home: ArcelorMittal chief Laxmi N. Mittal. Madhu Kapparath / Mint At the first stage, Lakhmi Mittal-owned ArcelorMittal will purchase a 5% stake for Rs69.6 crore at Rs120 a share. Subsequently, the Mittals will make an open offer to purchase a 30% stake at the same price paid to the promoters for the 5% stake, valuing the company at Rs1,384.3 crore. In case the open offer gets poor investor response, the Miglanis, Uttam Galva’s promoters, will sell part of their stake to make up the difference. This is to ensure that ArcelorMittal’s stake equals that of the Miglanis in the company. The open offer will cost ArcelorMittal Rs415 crore. Uttam Galva stock rose nearly 10% to close at Rs113.70 on BSE on Friday even as the benchmark index Sensex ended 1.9% higher. At this price, Uttam Galva’s market value is Rs1,362.69 crore. The open offer is priced at a 5.54% premium to Friday’s closing price. “We have been talking to ArcelorMittal for sometime,” Rajinder Miglani, who has been in the business for 45 years, said over the telephone. “The whole purpose of the joint venture is to grow the business in India and transform Uttam Galva Steel from a galvanized player to an integrated steel maker,” said Miglani, a long-time friend of the Mittal family. Uttam Galva has been growing at a rapid pace. “The company had plans to invest Rs400 crore in enhancing capacity at a service centre and product mix over the next one year with investments from internal accruals and debt,” according to a 27 August report by KR Choksey Shares and Securities Ltd.  Eyeing India: Workers at a smelter in the Arcelor Ghent mill in Belgium. ArcelorMittal plans to build a 12 million tonnes steel plant in Orissa. Paul O’Driscoll / Bloomberg Niraj Shah, an analyst with Centrum Broking Ltd, a Mumbai-based brokerage, said it’s a win-win situation for both the companies. For Uttam Galva, it would mean security on the raw materials front and value addition to the brand, while for ArcelorMittal, which does not have a presence in India as of now, the relationship will mark a symbolic presence. “It will be ground testing for ArcelorMittal before they enter the Indian market,” he said. India-born Lakshmi Mittal, who holds an Indian passport and had for many years expressed his desire to set up a greenfield project in India, has not yet been able to make headway in his plan for setting up greenfield projects in India. ArcelorMittal plans to build a 12 million tonnes steel plant in Orissa, and the initial plan was to commission the first phase of the project by 2012. The India plan also includes setting up a similar greenfield project in Jharkhand. Meanwhile, Malay Mukherjee, senior executive at ArcelorMittal, joined Essar Steel Ltd as its CEO on Friday. Mukherjee, who joined the group in 1993 from Steel Authority of India Ltd, was on the board of ArcelorMittal and was a confidante of Mittal. The net sales of Uttam Galva for the June quarter were down 4% to Rs1,073.3 crore. Profit after tax stood at Rs42.49 crore, a fall of 13% quarter on quarter. Shally Seth contributed to this story. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Sep 2009 | 12:23 pm Britannia: bonus debentures welcome but concerns remain Wheat, sugar and milk are some of the key inputs for Britannia’s biscuits and dairy businesses. Wheat contributes to 30% of raw material costs, fats and oils 19% and sugar 12%. In the fiscal year ended 31 March, average realizations for biscuits increased by about 9%, in line with the rise in wheat and sugar prices. But there is a limit to which prices can be increased without hurting demand. In the June quarter, Britannia’s sales grew by 5% while sales during the previous fiscal year had grown by about 20%. Of course, this need not be the trend for the full year but is a slow start to the year. Although inflation is a key concern for the company, its balance sheet is going to look healthier. In 2008-09, Britannia’s return on net worth (RONW) dropped to 22.6% from 26.1% in the previous year. This was not due to a decline in profits but due to a significant jump in its net worth.  Graphics: Ahmed Raza Khan / Mint Hence, it is transferring Rs406 crore from reserves to debt, by issuing bonus debentures to shareholders. These debentures will be free and fetch shareholders 8.5% interest for three years, after which the principal amount of Rs170 will be redeemed. For the company, the transfer improves its RONW as reserves decline. And, there is no immediate cash outflow. Notionally speaking, if this had been implemented in 2008-09, Britannia’s RONW would have increased to about 50%. Shareholders can also sell the debentures in the secondary market. Shareholders would be happy with these debentures but would be more keen on seeing how Britannia does in the coming quarters. The current fiscal year is also the first in which it will own 100% of the dairy business, having bought out New Zealand-based Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd’s stake of 49% in the venture. The dairy business has potential but is intensely competitive, and incurs losses. It will require more support from Britannia and also depress profits. The business makes Britannia a more diversified foods company but adds an element of uncertainty to its financials. All these concerns have weighed on the stock, with its price being lower by about 7% from its level a month ago. Write to us at marktomarket@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Sep 2009 | 12:21 pm Amtek turns to domestic market, to step up non-auto business Mumbai: New Delhi-based Amtek group, one of India’s largest auto component makers, is shifting plant and machinery from overseas subsidiaries to India to lower manufacturing costs, besides cutting excess capacity and diversifying into the aeronautics business.  Taking stock: Chairman and managing director Amtek group Arvind Dham at a factory in New Delhi. He continues to be bullish and feels that the crisis has bottomed out. India Today The company had raised $150 million in 2005 and another $250 million in 2006 through foreign currency convertible bonds or FCCBs and loans from commercial banks. About $100 million of this has been retired. Amtek is relocating units in Letchworth and Tipton in the UK and Stanberry and Kellogg in the US. “We are restructuring the overseas operations and moving them to India, ” said Arvind Dham, chairman of the group. This, according to him, will create capacities in a low-cost manufacturing base that will give exports relatively higher margins. The sharp fall in revenue as well as profits has largely been on account of large-scale inorganic expansion, including overseas acquisitions, between 2002 and 2007. The objective was to access technology as well as developed country markets. The global auto industry has been severely hit by the economic downturn that began in early 2008 and those investments now weigh heavily on the firm’s balance sheet. This has also forced Amtek to reverse its export-led business model as revenue from overseas operations plummeted from $250 million in the fiscal year to March 2008 to $20 million last year. For the fiscal year ending March 2008, the group had sales of Rs5,700 crore and profit of Rs550 crore. In 2009, sales dropped to Rs2,200 crore and sales to Rs350 crore. “Exports are finished,” conceded Santosh Singhi, chief financial officer at the group. Branching out With countries like China, Hungary, Poland and Thailand also saddled with excess capacity and looking for markets for their products that are more cost-competitive than Amtek, Singhi is sceptical about the firm’s exports recovering. Amtek is also increasing its focus on non-auto businesses in the domestic market, such as railways, aerospace and defence. The group is targeting business of Rs300-Rs500 crore from the defence industry and at least Rs2,000 crore from railways where margins are relatively higher. It is also studying the aeronautics business for opportunities in aircraft and airport equipment. “We still believe what we did was right and we will again follow the same path to grow,” Dham insisted, adding that he is scouting for an overseas acquisition in the aerospace industry. “Even if we buy a company abroad, lots of key functions will have to be relocated to India, so that we enjoy high margins on them,” he said. In the next three to five years, Dham is confident that the non-auto segment should contribute 40% in the turnover. An uphill drive Amtek, like Bharat Forge Ltd, Sona Group Ltd and Mahindra Systech Ltd, wanted to leapfrog into the big league through aggressive acquisitions overseas. In fact, between 2002 and 2007, it has made at least a dozen acquisitions in the US, UK and Germany. “Nobody expected the industry to go through such a traumatic experience outside India,” said Dham, adding that the company suffered mainly because of acquisitions made in the US and Europe. In the US, which is struggling with a deep recession, the demand for cars was down to nine million from 17 million in 2007. In Europe, it had shrunk 30%. But Dham is optimistic that the restructuring will yield quick results. “We will now be in a growth phase,” he said. Analysts, however, are not convinced yet. “It’s going to be a struggle for them as the market in Europe and the US has still to revive,” said Ramnath S., an analyst at SSKI-Securities Ltd, a Mumbai-based brokerage. According to him, Amtek’s entire outsourcing story has gone wrong. Abdul Majeed, partner at accounting and advisory firm PricewatehouseCoopers India, said the larger question should be how quickly the company is able to leverage the cost efficiency of its India units to offset high costs in developed markets. “It throws up interesting opportunities for such firms,” Majeed said. “After the financial crisis, the global manufacturers have heightened their pace to shave off costs by sourcing from low-cost countries.” Singhi, the group’s chief financial officer, said while Amtek’s profit margins have fallen to 14%-15% in 2008-09 from 18%-19% in 2007-08, margins from the exports business have dropped from 28% to 7%, largely because of underutilized capacity and high fixed costs. However, because of capacity expansion at its Daruhera unit near Gurgaon and at Pune, margins will be unchanged on increased depreciation costs, he said. In a 4 August report, Ramnath said that given the sustained margin pressure at its key subsidiaries, SSKI-Securities expects the company to post a loss of Rs52.5 crore for the fiscal year ending March 2010 and a profit after tax of Rs62 crore the year after. While Dham fixes structural weaknesses, Singhi has his hands full paying off at least $300 million in liabilities due June 2011. “With this problem in mind, I can’t look forward,” Singhi admitted. Several options The company is considering a series of steps to reduce the $300 million liability. It is negotiating with the bondholders and weighing several options, including conversion of FCCBs into equity and rolling over part of the debt beyond 2011. The debt restructuring, according to Singhi, will be finalized in September. Meanwhile, on 3 September, in a statement issued to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Amtek Auto said it had opened a foreign currency convertible bond issue to raise $175 million. Jefferies International Ltd will manage the issue of the securities that are to be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, the auto parts maker said. The money raised will be used to retire part of the old debt. Both Dham and Singhi are confident that the worst is over for the company. While Dham is bullish, Singhi prefers to be realistic. “I think things have bottomed out and one can see a small curve going up, ” said Dham. Singhi had a slightly different take. “We feel the (global) auto sector will start coming back from 2011 onwards. We need another two three years from there to meet all our obligations.” The merger of Amtek India with Amtek Auto awaits approvals from lenders and will be done in another six months. In July 2008, Amtek had announced the merger of Amtek India, Ahmednagar Forgings and three unlisted companies with Amtek Auto through a share swap to strengthen its balance sheet and minimize overhead costs. The merger was to be concluded by December 2008. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 4 Sep 2009 | 12:20 pm Looking to bid for highway projects: Gayatri ProjectsWith Highway Minister laying special emphasis on roads, Gayatri Projects is looking to bid for a number of highway projects, the companys Managing Director TV Sandeep Reddy, saidSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Sep 2009 | 11:07 am Move over Wall Street, Shanghai to dictate global mkt cuesShankar told CNBCTV18 that liquidity tightening in the country has blown up the global impact. According to him Shanghai will now drive the global cues.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Sep 2009 | 11:05 am To maintain margins at 10% ahead: Ratnamani MetalsManoj Sanghvi, Business Unit Head, Ratnamani Metals said, the companys net profit margins would remain at 10%. We are going for high valueadded items on the stainless steel. We have started manufacturing titanium tubes and successfully executed one order, Sanghvi said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Sep 2009 | 10:07 am IIFCL to raise Rs.3,000 crore by MarchThe state-owned India Infrastructure Finance Co Ltd (IIFCL) will raise Rs.3,000 crore from the domestic market by issuing bonds by March, a top company official said here Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 4 Sep 2009 | 10:01 am Delhi 'breakthrough' will restart Doha trade talks: Anand SharmaTop officials of the 153 members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will meet in Geneva later this month after a 'breakthrough' was reached to resume the Doha Round of trade talks, India's Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said Friday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 4 Sep 2009 | 10:00 am Archies hopes to resume growth journeyArchies is seeing a legup in the past ten days to one month. The company is expected to grow about 1820% compared to previous year and would go up to Rs 200 crore in the next three years, Pramod Arora said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 4 Sep 2009 | 9:43 am Tipaumukh, trade, transit to top India-Bangladesh talksIndia is keen to bridge differences with Bangladesh over sensitive issues like the Tipakimukh hydrolectric project and move ahead on trade and transit as Foreign Minister Dipu Moni arrives here Monday on a four-day trip, ahead of Sheikh Hasina's visit here later this year.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 4 Sep 2009 | 9:03 am Satellite being designed to connect villages: IsroKochi: The Indian Space Research Organisation is in the process of designing a satellite for providing connectivity to villages,Isro Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said on Friday. “We have plans to use multiple spot beams for the satellite, which is expected to be launched in another two and a half years time,” Nair told reporters here. There are about 600,000 villages in the country of which at least 50,000 have no connectivity, he said. On the abrupt end of India’s maiden moon mission Chandrayaan I, he said “we had anticipated some problems at the beginning and wanted to complete important experiments much earlier. About 95% of data collection has been completed and analysis will take another six months to two years.” Stating that the space agency had no immediate plans for a manned mission to moon, he said that Isro was concentrating currently on developing a ‘man capsule´ by 2015 to take man to circumnavigate the earth. “Only five to six years after this mission, a manned mission to moon will be planned,” he said. No conclusive evidence of water has been found on moon from the data collected by Chandrayaan I, he said adding that Isro was conducting a joint study with Nasa in this regard. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 4 Sep 2009 | 5:32 am Apple iPod updates expected, Jobs show uncertainSan Francisco: Apple Inc’s media extravaganza next week is being greeted with unusual calm, as it is uncertain if charismatic CEO Steve Jobs will appear and investors have nothing much to bet on apart from new iPods with cameras. Apple’s stock has often swung wildly and rumors have swirled about game-changing products ahead of such events, but this time the stock has held steady in the two weeks leading up to the 9 September event. Few expect any surprises, but the potential is always there, given the host’s track record. Apple has traditionally held a September gathering where master showman Jobs showed off new iPods for the holiday season and trumpeted new content for iTunes. Revamped iPods are again on tap this year. But much of the focus has been on whether Jobs will make his first public appearance since taking medical leave in January, and what new partners or services Apple may bring into its booming online store. Rumors also continue to rumble that the Beatles catalog may finally be coming to iTunes, but such speculation is not new and many are doubtful. Some analysts think Jobs is unlikely to show up, as other members of Apple’s management team have become more visible in his absence. “It would be great if he (Jobs) does appear, but I’m not expecting it,” said Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu. “Most investors have moved beyond that.” “It shouldn’t have a material impact on the stock if he doesn’t,” he said, noting that it could edge higher. Apple’s stock, which is up more than 90% so far this year, has been relatively tame this week as expectations have been subdued. But analysts don’t foresee a bold new product announcement at the event, such as the long-rumored tablet device, that would immediately boost the stock. Referesh The iPod nano and touch models are widely expected to be updated with digital cameras, while the iTouch may also get a video camera. “A non-event,” predicted Broadpoint Amtech analyst Brian Marshall. “We’re going to see the focus on iPods and iTunes and then leave it at that.” Apple’s invitation for the event was typically cryptic, featuring a dancing figure, an iPod and the tagline, “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it.” Apple has acknowledged that its dominant iPod business is changing as growth has slowed. IPods accounted for less a than one-fifth of the company’s revenue last quarter. “The key here is what Apple ultimately sets for pricing and storage capacity for these new iPods,” said Wu. Apple has said it expects sales of its traditional iPods such as the shuffle, nano and classic to decline as they are cannibalized by the newer iPod touch and the iPhone. Beyond iPods, many are still talking about Jobs, who joked openly about his health issues at last year’s event. Jobs’ last appearance at an Apple event was in October of 2008. He returned from a 6-month medical leave in June, during which time he underwent a liver transplant. In his absence, marketing chief Phil Schiller, who has led other events this year, may again be master of ceremonies. However, FTN Equity Capital analyst Bill Fearnley Jr. said it is “likely” that Jobs will make an appearance. “There is no other fall event that we are aware of that would present a keynote-type address or presentation opportunity for Apple or its CEO,” he wrote in a note. While an appearance by Jobs might dominate media coverage of the event, an announcement that songs from the Beatles — the most high-profile iTunes holdout — were headed to the online store would also be headline-grabbing. However Tim Bajarin, president of consulting group Creative Strategies, called the Beatles chatter “wishful thinking.” “This rumor does come around every year at this time and I am afraid that we will be disappointed again,” he said. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 4 Sep 2009 | 5:00 am
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