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Nine out of ten CEOs feel US economy in 'poor' stateAmidst rising hopes of an early recovery, nine out of ten corporate chiefs say the American economy is in a poor state and many of them are looking at emerging markets including India for growth opportunities.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 6 Sep 2009 | 7:18 am `New pact to help India trace black money`!Swiss government has said it was confident that the new tax pact would enable India to trace black money.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Sep 2009 | 6:24 am Volkswagen plans over two-fold increase in India headcount!Europe`s largest car maker Volkswagen is planning to more than double its India headcount with addition of 1,500 employees at its Chakan plant alone in Maharashtra.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Sep 2009 | 6:24 am AIG sells asset management unit for $500 million!US insurance giant AIG announced the sale of part of its investment advisory and asset management business to a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Pacific Century Group for USD 500 million.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Sep 2009 | 6:24 am G20 nations to counter tax havens!Finance Ministers of G20 nations, have decided to take counter measures against tax havens.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Sep 2009 | 6:24 am Indian ADRs gain $165 mn in a week!With IT firm Mahindra Satyam, seeing a jump of about USD 554 million, the over all market capitalisation of 16 Indian firms trading on American bourses increased by USD 165 million for the week ended September 4.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Sep 2009 | 6:24 am G-20 nations pledge to continue with stimulus measures!Concerned over recessionary pressures, Finance Ministers of G-20 countries, including India, on Saturday pledged to continue with stimulus measures to revive the global economy and committed to checking black money menace.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Sep 2009 | 6:24 am G20 to maintain economic stimulus measures !Top finance officials from rich and developing countries agreed on Saturday to curb hefty bankers` bonuses, but the proposed crackdown on excessive payouts so far falls short of European demands.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Sep 2009 | 6:24 am India`s budget airlines to gain strength!India`s low-cost airlines are set to go from strength to strength as they grab market share from ailing premier carriers such as Air India, whose debts and losses continue to pile up, experts say.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Sep 2009 | 6:24 am D-Street to remain upbeat on firm global cues: AnalystsDalal Street is expected to trade with a positive bias on firm global cues and stocks are going to touch their 52-week highs this week, analysts say.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 6 Sep 2009 | 4:14 am Oil India seeks extension of expired PELs for 15 blocksMumbai: Ahead of its public issue that opens tomorrow, Oil India Ltd has pressed for extension of its expired Petroleum Exploration Licences (PEL) for 15 blocks, without which it cannot hunt for hydrocarbons. The country’s second-largest PSU explorer is engaged in exploration and development activities in 16 independently held blocks, covering an area of 5,367 sq km. However, its PELs for 15 of those blocks (covering about 4,997 sq km) have expired, forbidding it from commencing or conducting further exploration activities. “Our PELs in respect of 15 of the 16 independently held blocks have expired; there can be no assurances that we will be granted extensions of these PELs and, consequently, that we will not lose our nomination for these blocks,” OIL said in its red herring prospectus. “Although we have applied for extensions of the PELs, we are currently awaiting approval from the Government of India for such extensions. If we fail to obtain extensions of the expired PELs, our business could be adversely affected,” the company said. OIL, which produces 3.5 million tonnes of oil annually, will tomorrow hit the capital market with an Initial Public Offer (IPO) that closes 10 September. The explorer seeks to raise around Rs4,500 crore through the issue and plans to utilise the funds for capital expenditure over the next two years. The Mini-Ratna will offload 11% stake to the public, while the government will divest 10% of its stake in the company to state refiners. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Sep 2009 | 4:04 am India would see improvement in its growth performance: surveyIndustry body Ficci agreeing that the government stimulus has spurred economic activities on an upswing with a majority of the companies surveys corporate India's confidence on the state of economy.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 6 Sep 2009 | 4:03 am 89 banks go belly up in 09; Sep sees five failures in one dayFive more US banks shut down on September 4, pushing the total failures to a whopping 89 entities so far this year.The count of collapses is more than three-fold that of 2008, when 25 banks went out of business in wake of the raging financial meltdown. Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 6 Sep 2009 | 4:00 am Oil India seeks extension of expired PELs for 15 blocksAhead of its public issue that opens on Monday, Oil India Ltd has pressed for extension of its expired PEL for 15 blocks, without which it cannot hunt for hydrocarbons.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 6 Sep 2009 | 3:59 am New tax pact will help India trace black money: Swiss govtAs India and Switzerland prepare to renegotiate the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, the Swiss government has said it was confident that the pact would be finalised by next year and enable New Delhi to seek details about blackmoney stashed in banks there.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 6 Sep 2009 | 3:56 am Onida to exorcise its ‘iconic’ devil, give brand a makeoverNew Delhi: In the face of changing consumer tastes, Onida has decided to say goodbye to the ‘devil’, the company’s mascot that for years aroused envy of neighbours who didn’t own its TV sets, and relaunch the brand. The company’s ‘devil’ ad campaign, whose tagline was ‘neighbour’s envy, owner’s pride, was a rage at one point in time, but the multinational feels it has outlived its objective due to change in taste and financial capability of the consumer. At the time this famous campaign was launched, owning a television was a matter of pride for Indians. However, things have changed in the last 20 years due to liberalisation which has expanded market for both domestic and global brands as well as spending capabilities and owning a TV is no more a subject of neighbour’s envy. “Onida is in the process of building a completely new brand mascot to appeal to new consumerism. Noted ad veteran Prasoon Joshi and his team is helping the company in the brand re-birth process,” a senior company official said, while confirming that a decision has been taken to send the devil back to where it belongs. With stiff competition from international brands like LG and Samsung, Onida is now preparing to rebuild its brand to appeal to the new age consumers. “It is just like Air India doing away with its popular mascot Maharaja. Devil is no longer considered relevant in today’s market,” he said. Onida, established in 1982 under Mirc Electronics, today enjoys a strong equity among consumers making it one of the leading brands. It offers a wide range of household appliances, including air-conditioners, washing machines, DVDs, Plasma & LCD televisions and home theatre systems. Onida has a network of over 33 branch offices, 208 Customer Relation Centers and 41 depots spread across India. Once discontinued in 1998, the devil was brought back by the company in 2004, the official said, adding that now the time has come to move on. Asked by when the new ad campaign would be launched, he said by September-end the brand would be revealed as the contours are being finalised by the team working on it. “Since the devil has become as good as a logo for Onida products, shelving it is a brave decision and a brave step for the company,” the official said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Sep 2009 | 3:40 am Opec unlikely to cut output at Vienna meetingBy Vienna: With oil prices about where Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec )wants them and a modest economic upturn in the offing, the oil cartel isn’t likely to tighten the taps when its leaders meet this week in Vienna. Prices have been hovering near $70 a barrel, and with returning growth expected to support demand, analysts don’t expect the Opec will feel any need to cut output targets. “Absolutely nothing,” said John Hall, of John Hall Associates in London. Opec President Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos, who is also Angola’s oil minister, said last week that signs of recovery suggest the 12-member group won’t need to intervene. “Everything shows they will keep output unchanged,” he said. Kuwait also says it thinks oil prices are stable and there’s no need to cut production, even though stockpiles are rising. And Algeria, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have signaled they’re happy with the current output quota of just under 25 million barrels a day. Saudi Arabia, Opec’s no. 1 producer and most influential member, has said $75 a barrel is a fair price for both consumers and producers — a level that would allow for continued investments in the oil sector without undermining efforts at global economic recovery. “Unless Saudi says, ’We’re going to cut by a million barrels a day,’ nothing’s going to happen” at Wednesday’s meeting, Hall said. Benchmark crude for October delivery crested $68 a barrel Friday in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Over the past six weeks, it has fluctuated in the $65-$75 range amid conflicting signs of economic recovery. Opec meets more than a third of the world’s annual oil demand, which the International Energy Agency has put at nearly 86 million barrels a day for 2008 — about 2.5 million barrels more than for recession-ridden 2009. The economic downturn has taken such a big bite out of demand for Opec crude, it will take four more years just to recover to 2008 levels, the cartel predicts in its latest outlook. Still, stockpiles abound despite recent Opec production cuts: The US Energy Department said last month that US crude stocks rose by 2,00,000 barrels for the week ended 21 August. “We’re swimming in this stuff,” said Stephen T. Schork, president of The Schork Group in Villanova, Pa., and editor of a newsletter tracking industry trends. Schork thinks Opec may have to rein in output next March, but for now, oil prices “have settled into a range that the market can sustain,” Schork said. “Oil that’s $65 to $75 per barrel translates into gasoline prices of $2.50-$2.75 a gallon, and we know the consumer can handle that,” he said. Crude prices have taken a wild ride over the past year or so: They peaked at $147 a barrel in July 2008 and plunged close to $30 this past February before settling into their current range. Opec’s oil market report for August cautioned that “the market is still fundamentally weak amid ample stocks of crude and products.” Prices in the short term, it said, “will depend largely on economic developments.” But experts agree that markets will rebound. Morgan Stanley expects oil to average $85 a barrel in 2010, and crude prices are bound to rise with demand as the northern winter home-heating season draws near. Another perennial wild-card issue that threatens to drive up prices: hurricane season, which will run until early November and has the potential to disrupt refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. Experts say the flagging US dollar — which has nudged crude prices up in recent days — also could be a factor if it keeps weakening against the euro. The 12 Opec members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Iraq is the only member not bound by the cartel’s production quotas. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Sep 2009 | 3:29 am US seeks clarity from NKorea on uraniumSeoul: North Korea’s pursuit of a second path to nuclear weapons by enriching uranium is a problem likely to persist and Pyongyang needs to come clean about its intentions, a US envoy for the reclusive state said on Sunday. North Korea, which has produced enough plutonium for an estimated six to eight bombs, said on Friday it had made advances in uranium enrichment, a move analysts saw as a tactic to put pressure on regional powers after a month of conciliatory gestures. “This is not the first we have heard of HEU (highly enriched uranium) and it may not be the last,” Stephen Bosworth told reporters in Seoul, a day after having talks with South Korean officials. “If we are going to deal as we wish with the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, this is an issue that will have to be clarified,” said Bosworth, who has just visited Beijing and will next visit Tokyo to discuss stalled six-country diplomatic efforts on ending the North’s nuclear arms programme. The US has long suspected North Korea of trying to enrich uranium for weapons but proliferation experts said the North is nowhere near a full scale programme, and it would take several years at least before it could reach that stage. Bosworth said the enrichment was a concern and: “We have just begun to consider the question of what we might do in response.” Yonhap News reported later on Sunday, citing un unnamed Korean government official, that the United States and South Korea agreed that a two-way approach of sanctions and dialogue for North Korea would continue. Spy satellites A switch to uranium would alarm Western powers because it could be done away from the prying eyes of US spy satellites, it may lead to enhanced cooperation with Iran and it could lure customer states keen to start their own nuclear arms programmes. North Korea’s broken economy was dealt a heavy blow by UN sanctions for its nuclear test in May that were aimed at cutting into its arms trade, which is a vital source of cash that brings it an estimated hundreds of millions of dollars a year. North Korea last week sent a diplomatic mission China, which is the reclusive state’s biggest benefactor and has the greatest influence on the enforcement of UN sanctions. The North’s KCNA news agency reported on Sunday that Chinese officials said diplomatic exchanges between the two countries would be maintained and cooperation would grow, following meetings with the North’s delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Yong-il. Analysts said the North’s moves to warm ties by freeing US and South Korean citizens it held captive and trying to restore frozen business connections with the South were aimed at helping it bring cash to its depleted coffers. But in a move that could raise tension with Seoul, fire officials said on six South Koreans were missing near the border with North Korea after a sudden rise in a river possibly due to water released from a dam in the North. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Sep 2009 | 3:14 am Three killed, 880 people rescued from Philippine ferryManila: At least three people drowned and more than 800 terrified passengers, many roused from their sleep, were rescued early today from a ferry that listed and then sank in the southern Philippines, officials said. More than 80 people were missing. Coast guard chief Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said 880 of 964 passengers and crewmen on board the Superferry 9 were transferred to two nearby commercial ships and a navy gunboat hours after the ferry began to list off Zamboanga del Norte province before dawn. A search was under way for more than 80 people who remained missing, Tamayo said, adding that they may have drifted with their life jackets or have been rescued but were not yet listed as survivors. “We really hope they’re just unaccounted for due to the confusion,” Tamayo told The Associated Press. Navy ships were deployed and air force helicopters scoured the seas, defence secretary Gilbert Teodoro said. He said three passengers, including a child and a man, drowned during the scramble to escape the ship. Three other passengers were injured, the coast guard said. The cause of the listing was not clear. The ferry skipper initially ordered everyone on board to abandon the ship as a precautionary step, said Jess Supan, vice president of Aboitiz Transport System, which owns the steel-hulled ferry. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Sep 2009 | 3:04 am Art auction comes to your cell phoneImagine bidding for art or even jewellery on your cell phone! Auction house Saffronart has just made it possible, with its CEO, Dinesh Vazirani, saying more innovative tools are needed to reach out to a larger cross-section of investors and buyers.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 6 Sep 2009 | 3:00 am French econ min sees growth stabilising in Q3PARIS (Reuters) - French economic growth will stabilise in the third quarter after GDP rose 0.3 percent in the second quarter, Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said on Sunday during an interview on Europe 1 radio.Source: Reuters: Money News | 6 Sep 2009 | 2:52 am India '09 gold imports seen down up to 35% on yearGOA, India (Reuters) - India's gold imports in 2009 are seen between 460 to 550 tonnes, compared with 712 tonnes a year ago, with high prices and an economic slowdown hitting demand in the world's biggest market, trade members at an industry conference said on Sunday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 6 Sep 2009 | 2:21 am Doha deal possible, needs political shoveNew Delhi: A new global commerce deal is within reach if World Trade Organisation members are willing to compromise to close the remaining gaps, trade ministers say. But agreement in the WTO’s stalled Doha round will require a sustained political push from presidents and prime ministers if the long-running talks are not to stall yet again, they say. Ministers at a two-day meeting on “re-energising Doha” last week, hosted by India, agreed that a deal could be done by the end of 2010, as urged and pledged by political leaders. Whether it will be is another question. “It all depends on one rather simple thing... It depends on all the players wishing to finalise. If they wish to finalise and they know how to do it, you can do it. There is no big complexity,” said Brazil’s foreign minister, Celso Amorim. A deal in the Doha talks, now in their eighth year, would boost the battered world economy and ward off protectionism by cutting tariffs and subsidies on food like bananas and dairy produce, and industrial goods from cars and chemicals to clothes. It would also free up trade in many other areas. But countries have squabbled repeatedly over what waivers would be allowed to protect sensitive sectors. Developing nations point to Doha’s explicit development mandate, while rich countries say a deal must create new business opportunities. Political leaders have called for the talks to end in 2010 but ministers say they need to keep up the pressure, notably at a 24-25 September G20 summit in Pittsburgh when ministers will report on the resumption of negotiations they set for Sept. 14. “I never underestimate the power of political statements,” EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton told reporters. “The next step in this, absolutely, is a reaffirmation in Pittsburgh and that’s a precondition to this process moving forward,” New Zealand Trade Miniser Tim Groser told Reuters. End game? Whether the talks have entered their end game, and how long that phase will last, prompted much discussion in Delhi. The end game implies that the WTO’s 153 members put their cards on the table and clinch the final deal by bargaining across sectors, cutting an industrial subsidy here in order to protect a particular farm crop there. For Amorim, it also means that the roughly 80 percent of the deal that is understood to be settled so far is not revisited. “We may have to have some sort of retouching here and there but we cannot reopen what we discussed before, that’s what I mean by the end game,” Amorim told a news conference. That will require negotiators to find a balance between U.S. demands for more market access in big emerging countries like India, China and Brazil, and the reservations those countries have about opening up more than they are already doing. Emerging states say they should not make further concessions to help developing countries, but US negotiators must point to gains to sell a deal to a sceptical public. UStrade representative Ron Kirk said a deal would win support at home if it boosts the American economy and creates jobs, while meeting labour and environmental standards. “There are very few people in America who would think that in Congress or the traditional constituencies that support free-trade agreements, that believe that Doha currently meets those objectives, but we think it can be constructed so it would,” he told a news conference. The entrenched stances by the United States and emerging countries, even as they urge intensified negotiation to close a deal, may of course be for public consumption. “Let’s be adult about this. People who haven’t seen negotiations up close and personal think ‘Oh my God, this is irreconcilable´. Well it’s not irreconcilable, it’s what a negotiation is for,” said Groser, a veteran of trade talks who previously chaired the Doha agriculture negotiations. Commerce minister Anand Sharma is under pressure from a vocal opposition over any hints he could soften New Delhi’s hitherto intransigent stance on a range of issues, but he said differences could be overcome. “When the negotiators return to the negotiating table, surely everything will be discussed by them,” he said. “I’m encouraged with the expression almost universally here today that we’re ready to engage in those types of tough negotiations and we might be able to close the gap,” Kirk said. Kirk said progress would require sustained one-on-one contact between the United States and the other major players, an approach that alarms some developing countries who fear a stitch-up behind their backs, but Amorim said bilateral contacts had always been a fact of life in the negotiations. The prize would be a boost to the global economy in the coming years, estimated in one recent study at $300-700 billion a year, that does not require countries to go further into debt just as they plan their exit strategy from crisis measures. “If we were to conclude this deal by the date that the world leaders have agreed on, the end of 2010, this fits in perfectly with the need for a stimulus to come that is not dependent on yet more taxpayer fiscal impetus but is genuinely arising from a positive shot in the arm for the international trading system that’s taken such a beating this year,” Groser said. . Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Sep 2009 | 1:14 am Tea production dips by 4mn kg in July; exports riseNew Delhi: Tea production fell by 4 million kg in July to 126.98 million kg on a decline in output mainly in West Bengal, though higher realisation pushed up the export of the commodity marginally, according to the Tea Board. The decline in production in July widened the shortfall in output by close to 16 million kg at 460.88 million kg, as tea crop was dented in April and May due to drought in parts of the largest producing state of Assam. “The country produced 126.98 million kg in July mainly due to a dip in output in West Bengal, compared with 130.95 million kg in the same month last year. Moreover, the output till July this year stood at 460.88 million kg against 476.63 million kg in the year-ago period,” a Board official said. Interestingly, production in drought-hit Assam rose marginally in July from the level last year. Tea export rose to 19.47 million kg in July from 18.53 million kg a year before. The overseas shipment from January to July at 94.02 million kg, however, lagged the last year level of 109.30 million kg. In value terms, however, the rise in export is more significant. India exported tea worth close to Rs1,258.07 crore till July this fiscal, compared with Rs1,161.60 crore in the year-ago period despite a dip in volume. An industry official said high prices of Indian tea in the global market due to a surge in demand has boosted the export in value terms. The average price rose to Rs133.80 a kg till July from Rs106.27 in the year before. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 6 Sep 2009 | 12:56 am Suzuki to spend $215 million on new India factoryTokyo: Japan’s Suzuki Motor said it plans to invest about ¥20 billion ($215 million) to build a new car factory in India, aiming to upgrade its production facilities in the face of growing competition. Suzuki, which controls about half the Indian car market through unit Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, said late on Saturday that the new facility would come on-line as early as 2011 and have an annual output capacity of about 250,000 cars. The plant will expand its existing Manesar facility in the state of Haryana, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from New Dehli. The investment will not alter Suzuki’s annual production capacity of about 1 million cars in the country because it plans to shift about 250,000 units of capacity from its ageing Gurgaon facility to Manesar. Suzuki Chairman Osamu Suzuki told a briefing on Saturday that the investment would likely come to about ¥20 billion, according to a public relations official. Suzuki is bracing for tougher competition in the Indian market. Tata Motors’ Nano, the world’s cheapest car, hit the roads in July. Toyota Motor Corp, Ford Motor Co, General Motors and Volkswagen are all set to launch small cars in India next year. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 6 Sep 2009 | 12:52 am ANALYSIS - Doha deal possible, needs political shoveNEW DELHI (Reuters) - A new global commerce deal is within reach if World Trade Organisation members are willing to compromise to close the remaining gaps, trade ministers say.Source: Reuters: Money News | 6 Sep 2009 | 12:39 am Tata Tele knocks at DoT, seeks GSM spectrum in DelhiNew Delhi: Tata Teleservices said today it has again approached the government for airwaves to roll out its GSM service in Delhi immediately. TTSL is peeved by the denial of GSM spectrum in the key telecom circle of Delhi despite its frastructure is in place. And its MD Anil Sardana, said, “we have knocked at DoT and will keep doing it. We are very good at pressing the doorbells and will keep on doing till we are heard.” Asked about the government’s response, he said, “we have not heard from DoT... We paid the licence fee more than year ago.” Tata Teleservices was considered for GSM spectrum under the dual technology clause. But Reliance Communications and Swan Telecom were given the spectrum for Delhi circle ahead of TTSL. Sardana said, “here is a company which has delivered results on the ground... wherever we have been given GSM spectrum the services are being launched in all circles one after another.” By not giving spectrum to Tata Teleservices in Delhi, where the company is closing on to become the leading mobile operator, millions of subscriber have been deprived of competitive rates and quality services, he said. TTSL entered the GSM space after Government allowed dual technology polcy where an operator can offer both GSM and CDMA services on the same license. Sardana claimed TTSL has a subscriber base of over five million in the GSM space in eight circles after two months of launching operations. NTT DoCoMo, the Japanese mobile operator, is the joint venture partner of TTSL which has launched GSM service under the brand name Tata DoCoMo. NTT DoCoMo has acquired 26 per cent shareholding in TTSL. Asked when the company would achieve a pan-India footprint, Sardana said the services have been launched in eight circle and in some circles they are waiting to get frequency in some districts. The company has the infrastructure in place and as and when the DoT releases spectrum, he said the services would be launched shortly. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Sep 2009 | 12:29 am Govt waiting for ICAI report 7 months after Satyam fraudNew Delhi: Corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid has said he would exert pressure on ICAI for a final report on the multi-crore Satyam fraud, although the accounting regulator said it has submitted one in July. “I don’t know why it (ICAI report) is not coming. I am not able to understand what the delay is about... I will ask him (ministry’s secretary) to put pressure,” he told PTI when asked by when he expected the report on the Satyam fraud from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). The fraud was disclosed by Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju himself in January and ICAI began looking into it that month. “I think they (ICAI) are a bit slow on that...now that we have finished everything else, this will be our first priority,” the minister said. The Institute, when contacted, said it has submitted an interim report on the fraud to the government and is working on a second report. The findings of the first report are not known. Stressing that Satyam report was a priority for the ICAI, its president Uttam Agarwal had told reporters in Hyderabad last month, “It (probe) will be completed before February next year, when my term as President ends.” Following the disclosure of the accounting fraud in January by the disgraced founder of Satyam Computer Services B Ramalinga Raju, the ICAI had appointed a high-powered committee to look into the role of chartered accountants in the fraud and also initiate disciplinary proceedings against them. The six-member committee is headed by Agarwal and ICAI council members — S L Dogra, Amarjeet Chopra, Subodh Aggarwal and Akshay Gupta — alongwith government nominee K R Maheshwari, a banker and chartered accountant. Agarwal also said S Gopalakrishnan, one of the partners and auditors of Price Waterhouse, who signed the financial statement of Satyam, has been stripped off all non-standing committee posts. Gopalakrishnan would, however, continue as the ICAI council member, he said. Further, the disciplinary committee of the ICAI had also issued a showcause notice to the Price Waterhouse auditors — S Talluri and Gopalakrishnan in January this year. The time given to them was extended thrice and the last date given to them was 30 June. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Sep 2009 | 12:18 am Ex-Google China chief to fund Chinese tech start-upsHONG KONG (Reuters) - Kai-fu Lee, Google Inc's former China chief who quit the search giant this week, said on Sunday he will launch his own business next week to fund Chinese technology start-ups.Source: Reuters: Money News | 6 Sep 2009 | 12:04 am Of windows and enhancing home decorPeople spend a lot of time and effort on doing up their homes, but they often neglect an important part - windows. A husband-wife design duo says the entire exercise will be in vain if windows are ignored and that a medium to large investment can work wonders for home decor.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 6 Sep 2009 | 12:01 am India Inc.'s confidence up, but rising costs a concernIndia Inc.'s confidence is up, though high interest rates and rising costs of raw materials and manpower have marred its capacity to do better, a survey released here Sunday said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 6 Sep 2009 | 12:01 am Infrastructure companies' tax expenses up: AssochamContrary to popular belief, tax expenses of companies with the infrastructure status have gone up by 90.3 percent, a survey released here Sunday said.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 6 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Air India's COO hunt to take off in OctThe Maharaja's global search for a Chief Operating Officer (COO) to run the day-to-day affairs of the airline will get going from the middle of next month. The idea of having a COO for Air India was mooted in July as the airline looked to cut costs,Source: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Coal fetches premium in spot e-auctionsKolkata, Sept. 5 There is total lack of buyer interest in Coal India Ltd’s recently launched forward e-auction platform, reportedly due to the high reserve price. The coal produced by loss-making underground mines is offered on this forwardSource: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Weekly News Round UpIn a communication to the stock exchanges, Uttam Galva said its board on Friday approved the co-promotion agreement to accommodate ArcelorMittal. ArcelorMittal Netherlands BV will step in as co-promoter of Mumbai-based Uttam Galva Steels.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Maruti to shift part production to ManesarMaruti Suzuki India has said that it will shift production from one plant at the Gurgaon factory in Haryana, to the factory at Manesar, 25 km to the south, also in the same State. The plant at the Gurgaon facility will be gradually changed to aSource: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Uttam Galva leaves options open for Arcelor hiking stakeMumbai, Sept. 5 The Mumbai-based secondary steelmaker Uttam Galva Steels, which signed an agreement to divest 5.6 per cent stake to ArcelorMittal Netherlands BV, has left options open for the LN Mittal-owned company to hike its stakeSource: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am NTPC moves apex court against HC order in gas rowNew Delhi, Sept. 5 NTPC on Saturday moved the Supreme Court against the Bombay High Court decision to allow the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to amend its plea in the Krishna Godavari D6 block gas supply row.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am G20 aims at tougher bank action; stimulus to stayLondon: G20 finance leaders on Saturday took aim at excessive bank pay and risk-taking at the root of the financial crisis and insisted trillions of dollars of emergency economic supports would be needed for some time. Although the global economy looks brighter than when the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers met in April, their closing statement said they would not remove economic stimulus until the recovery was well entrenched. While the timing of these eventual policy reversals may vary, the G20 said for the first time there should be some coordination to avoid adverse international fallout. But as the focus shifted from crisis-fighting to establishing a safer financial system for the future, ministers searched for consensus on precise plans to rein in bankers’ huge bonuses and use more of their profits to build buffers against any future crisis. “We cannot put the world in a position where things go back to where they were at the peak of the boom,” US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said. “It cannot happen, will not happen and you can’t expect the markets to solve that problem on their own because it’s a huge collective action problem...so it has to come through things that countries legislate.” Exit, but not now On the public stage, the message was one of solidarity as policymakers agreed they must keep spending the $5 trillion already earmarked as economic stimulus and delay any unwinding of emergency fiscal and monetary measures until economies are sturdy enough to stand on their own. “The classic errors of economic policy during crises are that governments tend to act too late with insufficient force and then put the brakes on too early,” Geithner said. “We are not going to repeat those mistakes.” In a final statement, the G20 officials from rich and developing countries also said they would work with the International Monetary Fund and Financial Stability Board to develop cooperative and coordinated exit strategies. Behind the scenes, some G20 sources expressed frustration that there was not more progress made in curbing excessive pay packages for bankers — particularly those employed by firms that have received billions of dollars in government support. “There is broad agreement on what to do. The problem is we need to go beyond agreement. We need to have concrete measures,” said International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. “I’m impressed by the level of consensus but I’m still waiting for strong measures to be decided and also to be implemented at the national level.” Bank pay and buffers Much of the public pressure before the meeting had centred on excessive bank remuneration, particularly for those who worked at banks receiving billions of dollars in public aid. “It is offensive to the public whose taxpayers’ money in different ways has helped (keep) many banks from collapsing and is now underpinning their recovery,” British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said at the start of Saturday’s meetings. On pay and bonuses in the financial sector, the statement fell short of calling for caps, saying that: “We also ask the Financial Stability Board to explore possible approaches for limiting total variable remuneration in relation to risk and long-term performance.” That was seen as a compromise between France and Germany, which had pushed hard for pay limits, and Britain, the United States and Canada, which were opposed to caps. But it also effectively delayed a tricky political issue until the Pittsburgh summit later this month. Finance leaders broadly agreed that banks ought to hold more capital as a cushion against the sort of catastrophic losses that led to bank failures and bailouts. The final statement said that banks would “be required to hold more and better quality capital once recovery is assured.” Geithner called for “greater urgency” on regulatory reform and cautioned that as the crisis recedes and the economy improves, the momentum for reform may wane. He had surprised many of his colleagues by releasing an 8-point proposal on new capital rules just two days before the G20 meeting, with some ministers saying they did not have time to review it. It is a delicate issue because tighter capital rules would likely hurt banks’ profits and restrict their lending, both of which could be harmful to the economy. Changing world order The statement showed agreement that emerging nations like India and China should have a greater say in the running of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank but did not offer up any formula of how this should be achieved. It said only that their voice in global economic policymaking would grow “significantly” and that it expected “substantial progress” to be made on the issue at a summit of world leaders in Pittsburgh later this month. But the group said reforms need only be completed by the existing deadline of 2010 for the World Bank and 2011 for the IMF. The BRIC group of leading emerging powers — India, China, Russia and Brazil — had laid out on Friday concrete targets for how much movement they wanted in IMF and World Bank quotas. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Sep 2009 | 11:15 pm Suzuki to spend $215 million on new India factory - Reuters
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 9:46 pm Britain, China to discuss trade and G20LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Business Secretary Peter Mandelson will lead a delegation to China from Sunday to discuss trade and G20 commitments ahead of the group's next meeting in Pittsburgh, the British government said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Sep 2009 | 9:41 pm G20 aims at bank pay and capital; stimulus to stayLONDON (Reuters) - G20 finance leaders on Saturday took aim at excessive bank pay and risk-taking at the root of the financial crisis and insisted trillions of dollars of emergency economic supports would be needed for some time.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Sep 2009 | 9:29 pm Guns, money & a marred village idyll - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 5:06 pm Anil Ambani is only Indian on Vanity Fair listAnil Ambani is the sole Indian on this year’s Vanity Fair Power List, called The New Establishment 2009. He fell 30 places — last year, he and his brother Mukesh were jointly ranked 67.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 5 Sep 2009 | 5:06 pm Britain's Brown says 'real progress' at G20 meetBritish Prime Minister Gordon Brown welcomed a pledge by G20 finance ministers on Saturday to maintain emergency measures to fight the global economic crisis, saying they had made "real progress".Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 5 Sep 2009 | 4:58 pm NTPC moves SC against Bombay HC - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 4:02 pm Tread carefully while buying propertyInvesting in a property is often fraught with risks. That’s the reason why one has to tread carefully and scrutinize each and every paper connected with the property. Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:50 pm More powers for emerging economies - Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:26 pm SBI cuts deposit rates of 1000-day deposit scheme - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:49 pm Indian shares to track global trends, industrial output dataIndia's stock market are likely to consolidate further, tracking global market trends and local manufacturing data next week, dealers said.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 5 Sep 2009 | 2:22 pm BBMP to take the high road to development - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 1:28 pm Oil India IPO opens on Sep 7: Should you subscribe? - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:45 pm G20 to slap sanctions on tax havens from March 2010LONDON (Reuters) - Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 on Saturday gave tax havens until March 2010 to cooperate on tax evasion or face sanctions.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:37 pm Centre's plan to secure telecom network suffers setbackA suggestion by the Home Ministry that mobile operators should buy SIM (subscriber identity module) cards only from companies that have been screened has been rejected by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). This could be a setback to the Home Ministrys plans to secure the country against any misuse of its vast telecommunication network by terrorists.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:34 pm Uttam Galva banks on Mittals' 'Midas touch'Says the co-promoter deal will give it technology access, assured raw material supplies.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:33 pm Uttam Galva leaves options open for Arcelor hiking stake - Hindu Business Line
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:33 pm SBI drops 1,000-day deposit schemeState Bank of India, the countrys largest bank, today said that it is withdrawing its blockbuster 1,000-day deposit scheme that was largely instrumental in helping it mop up over Rs 1,000 crore a day at the height of the global financial crunch late last year.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:32 pm NTPC moves SC against RIL petition changeState-owned NTPC today moved the Supreme Court challenging Bombay High Courts decision that allowed Reliance Industries, a Mukesh Ambani Group firm, to amend its petition on the gas dispute citing governments pricing policy.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 5 Sep 2009 | 12:31 pm Uttam Galva eyes new segments post ArcelorMittal dealWith the ArcelorMittal deal, Uttam Galva has a huge opportunity for to enter new segments, says the company\'s Commercial Director Ankit Miglani. This collaboration is not to enhance volumes but to enhance products, he added.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Sep 2009 | 11:30 am See crude at $100/bbl in foreseeable future: ONGCRS Sharma of ONGC said crude oil prices were likely to again touch the threedigit levels in future and does not see oil prices to go lower than the current levelsSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Sep 2009 | 11:00 am Half of India to have unique IDs in 5 yrs: Nandan NilekaniCommenting on the UID project, Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of the National Identity Authority says a preliminary approach has been presented to the Prime Ministers Council on this. He is confident that within a span of five years, halh of India\'s population will have UDI numbers.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 5 Sep 2009 | 10:27 am Chinatrust offers $2.4 bln for AIG Taiwan unit - sourceTAIPEI (Reuters) - Chinatrust Financial, Taiwan's top credit card issuer, offered $2.4 billion for AIG's Taiwan Nan Shan Life unit, outbidding rivals, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Sep 2009 | 9:54 am Strike, violence across India on Teachers' Day - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Sep 2009 | 9:18 am Wipro to offer software-as-service platform to independent vendorsWipro Technologies will offer independent software vendors a platform to provide software-as-service (SaS) using Oracle grid computing and Oracle application grid middleware, the IT bellwether said Saturday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Sep 2009 | 7:32 am Security, development of Andamans interlinked: Military commanderThe security and development of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal is interlinked as one cannot be achieved without the other, a top military commander said Saturday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Sep 2009 | 7:31 am 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 NTPC drags RIL to Supreme CourtThe National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC) challenged RIL's move to incorporate the now-withdrawn government petition into its defence pleadings, by filing an appeal in the Supreme Court.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 5 Sep 2009 | 6:37 am Gold sets new peak at Rs16k despite beginning of ShradhhNew Delhi: Jewellers on Saturday continued buying gold despite the onset of Shradhh pushing up prices to the landmark Rs16,000 level per 10g in the national capital, amid positive trends in the global market where the precious metal is reigning at a six-month high. Standard gold surged by Rs100 at Rs16,000 per 10g in the domestic market where stockists and jewellers built up their stocks despite the commencement of Shradhh, a fortnight considered inauspicious for making valuable buys. Similarly, silver coins too touched a peak at Rs31,400 per 100 pieces, up by Rs200, backed by a steep rise in silver prices. Silver rose by Rs250 to Rs25,550 per kg. Marketmen said, prices shot up despite retail customers keeping away from the market, while stockists were keen buyers preparing to meet demand for the festival and marriage season, which starts on 18 September, after the end of Shradhh. They added that the sentiment was further bolstered by firm trend in the global market where gold is trading around a six month-high of $1,000 an ounce. Traders said stockist were unconcerned about Shradhh as plenty of jewellery orders were booked in advance for the coming seasons and on fears that prices may rise further. “Customers feared the firm overseas trend and beginning of festival season may give another big push to the precious metals,” All India Sarafa (Bullion) Bazar President Sheel Chand Jain said.( Another leading bullion merchant Ravi Jalan said the steep rise in gold prices in global markets was a major factor behind the current rally. He said the market also witnessing some investor fund shifting from the uncertain equity to bullion markets. Standard gold and ornaments surged by Rs100 each at Rs16,000 and Rs15,850 per ten gram respectively. The sovereign held unchanged at Rs12,800 per eight gram piece. Silver ready shot up by Rs250 to Rs25,550 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs450 to Rs26,150 per kg. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Sep 2009 | 6:01 am Fast-track court to settle Satyam case soon: Salman KhurshidThe Andhra Pradesh High Court has approved setting up a fast track court to settle the multi-crore accounting fraud in Satyam Computers, Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said here Saturday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Sep 2009 | 5:30 am Close liquor shops on major roads: Kerala church groupThe Kerala Catholic Bishop Council (KCBC) Saturday asked the state government to follow the directive of the central government to close down all liquor outlets that are located on highways and busy roads.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Sep 2009 | 5:30 am Himachal seeks Rs.608.13 crore for drought reliefHimachal Pradesh has sought Rs.608.13 crore in central assistance for drought relief measures in the state, an official statement said Saturday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Sep 2009 | 5:30 am Johari Digital to foray into retail and medical spa spaceJaipur: Medical devices manufacturer Johari Digital Healthcare Ltd is planning to foray into retail and medical spa space. Johari Digital Executive Director Nisha Johari said the company is planning to invest Rs15 crore in setting up medical spas in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Udaipur. “We will set up around 20 such spas across the country in the next two years. We are on the verge of closing the deal with a US-based private equity player for raising funds to fuel our expansion,” she said. The company plans to expand through the franchisee model. “It will not be like any other wellness lounge or fitness centre. We would develop doctors and hospital groups as our franchisee so that they can guide people in a better way. These spas would also function as retail counters from where people can take away compact electronic gadgets,” she said. The company supplies its equipments to VLCC and other fitness centres. Its products are based on electrotherapy, which include therapeutic products, home care products, beauty, body shaping, body fitness products, besides, hearing aid nerve and muscles stimulators. “We also manufacture DNA protein extraction equipment which is being exported to US, Japan, France and Singapore,” she said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Sep 2009 | 5:30 am Evacuation drill of Air India under scannerThe evacuation drill followed by Air India, after the engine of a Boeing aircraft bound for Riyadh from Mumbai caught fire Friday, has come under the scanner as the slides to evacuate passengers were also seen open on the same side as the fire.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 5 Sep 2009 | 4:31 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: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Sep 2009 | 3:32 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
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