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Wal-Mart to continue sourcing from India; plans more pvt labelsThe world's largest retail chain, Wal-Mart, said it has hired a company in India for undertaking quality control of its sourcing business and has no plans to cut down sourcing from here for its international operations.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 13 Sep 2009 | 7:46 am Sensex may be volatile but positive sentiment allays worriesThe Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark Sensex, which raced past the 16,000-mark, may see some volatility which may not be worrying as the index would bounce back because of a positive trading sentiment.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 13 Sep 2009 | 7:43 am ONGC Durand Cup Society joins Zee News “India First” initiative!In its journey of empowering India through India First Campaign, Zee News has garnered the support of the ONGC Durand Cup Football Society, the oldest tournament of Indian Army in the country for the campaign.Source: Zee News : Business | 13 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Ten US banks collapse each month; 107 since Sept `08!A staggering 107 banks have folded up in the US since the collapse of the once-famed Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers last September, with 92 entities of them failing in 2009.Source: Zee News : Business | 13 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Jet cancels 152 flights, efforts to restore normalcy on!Over 150 Jet Airways flights Sunday remained cancelled even as the airline tried to restore normalcy after its pilots called off their stir.Source: Zee News : Business | 13 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Indians favour govt-aid for failing banks, industries: Survey!In the backdrop of many developed nations throwing lifelines to financial institutions in fighting the financial crisis, a majority of Indians too are in support of government aid for failing banks and industries.Source: Zee News : Business | 13 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Seven of top-10 cos add Rs 81k cr in m-cap; NTPC loses most!As many as seven of the top-10 firms added more than Rs 81,000 crore to their market capitalisation during the week, while three state-run companies -- NMDC, NTPC and ONGC -- saw erosion in their valuation.Source: Zee News : Business | 13 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am NMDC in talks with West Australian Govt for iron ore mine buy!State-owned NMDC Sunday said it is in discussion with the Western Australian government to acquire an iron ore mine for the first time outside the country.Source: Zee News : Business | 13 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Textiles Ministry demands change in Drugs and Cosmetics Act!The Textiles Ministry is pushing for amendments in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act to ensure that quality standards are set for new medical textiles used in products like baby diapers, contact lenses.Source: Zee News : Business | 13 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Dabur plans second manufacturing unit in Egypt!FMCG major Dabur, which is currently hunting for acquisitions in the African continent, is setting up its second manufacturing facility in Egypt as part of its expansion plan in the region.Source: Zee News : Business | 13 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Magna wants to cut 10,500 jobs, 4,500 in Germany: Report!Canadian auto parts maker Magna and its Russian finance partner plan to cut 10,500 jobs in Europe when taking over car makers Opel and Vauxhall, 4,500 of them in Germany, a German newspaper reported.Source: Zee News : Business | 13 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Food items to get less weightage in new inflation index!Food items will be given less weightage in the new Wholesale Price Index (WPI) to reflect the changing consumer behaviour and lifestyle and make the inflation measuring barometer more contemporary.Source: Zee News : Business | 13 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Jet lost around Rs 200 crore in five-day stir: officialEven as Jet Airways limped back to normalcy on Sunday after a five-day stir by over 500 pilots, the stand-off has proved costly for the airline - a loss of over Rs.2 billion ($40 million).Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 13 Sep 2009 | 5:23 am DMRC engineer suspended for train derailment in Delhi - Little About
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Sep 2009 | 4:28 am WTO trade talks resume in Geneva tomorrowNegotiators from WTO member countries will meet in Geneva tomorrow to kickstart trade talks that broke down 14 months ago and will focus on specifics like farm and industrial products.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 13 Sep 2009 | 4:22 am Coke, Pepsi asked to source sugar from abroad: MinisterConcerned over high prices of sugar, low supplies and fall in output because of drought, the government has asked soft drinks manufacturers and bulk users like Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Nestle to buy sugar overseas.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Sep 2009 | 4:01 am Government decision on IHFL sale likely in 3 months: officialMumbai: Public sector lender IDBI Bank expects Government’s decision on the sale of its Pune-based home loan subsidiary—IDBI Home Finance Limited (IHFL)—in the next three months, a top official said. “The decision is now pending with the Government. It should be clear in the next three months,” a highly-placed official with IDBI Bank told PTI here. Early this year, the bank had shortlisted Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL), Religare Enterprises and Tata Capital as potential buyers for the sale. DHFL is understood to have emerged as the front-runner in the race. IDBI Bank Chairman Yogesh Agarwal had said that the banks’ board deferred the sale plan as it wanted more information about the potential buyers. The banking major decided to sell its wholly-owned home loan subsidiary as it did not want to sell the home loan products from the bank and its home loan unit. IDBI bank acquired the erstwhile Tata Home Finance in 2003 to exclusively sell housing loan products. IDBI Bank received 10-12 proposals from various companies for IHFL, from which it shortlisted three. The lender is also weighing options to merge IHFL with itself as this would help the bank to retain IHFL’s customer-base, the official said. However, a final picture will emerge in this regard only after the Government makes its decision clear, the official said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Sep 2009 | 3:55 am Russian, Turkmen leaders fail to reach new gas dealTURKMENBASHI (Reuters) - Russian and Turkmen leaders failed on Sunday to set a timeframe for the return of Turkmen gas flows to Russia, halted since April after a pipeline blast which left the central Asian nation short of revenues.Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Sep 2009 | 3:51 am Jet Airways to raise capital through shares saleMumbai: Indian carrier Jet Airways said on Sunday it plans to raise capital through the sale of shares to institutions within the next 2-3 months. “We are planning a domestic issuance of shares through the QIP (qualified institutional placement) route in 2-3 months to deleverage our balance sheet, increase working capital and also strengthen our balance sheet,” K.G. Vishwanath, vice president, commercial strategy and investor relations, told reporters. Vishwanath said the company has not yet finalised the amount to be raised through the share sale. Advisors to the issue have not been appointed so far, he said. Shares in Jet ended 1.6% up at Rs257.4 on Friday in a Mumbai market that closed 0.3% higher. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Sep 2009 | 3:44 am Political passions run high at Venice film festivalVenice: The award of top prize to hard-hitting Israeli war movie Lebanon was a fitting end to this year’s Venice film festival, where political passions ran high throughout. The appearance of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and veteran US director Oliver Stone together on the red carpet half way through the 11-day cinema showcase said it all. Film makers from around the world tackled issues from capitalism to war, Iranian democracy to suicide in a further sign that independent cinema is determined to take on tough contemporary themes despite limited box office appeal. And after a spate of films about US involvement in the war in Iraq, the focus is likely to switch to the economic crisis, starting with Michael Moore’s documentary Capitalism: A Love Story which had its world premiere in Venice. The award of the coveted Golden Lion to Lebanon will be a broadly popular choice after critics lauded the film and its harrowing depiction of the horror of battle, with the New York Times calling it “an astonishing piece of cinema.” Iranian video artist Shirin Neshat picked up the best director Silver Lion for Women Without Men, about four women living through Iran’s foreign-backed coup in 1953 but which the director said had clear parallels to today’s protests. “In a political verdict, the festival rewarded two pacifist films coming from two countries that hate each other,” said Italian daily Corriere della Sera. Lebanon director Samuel Maoz shot almost the entire drama from inside a tank to communicate the claustrophobia and fear he experienced as a young Israeli conscript during the 1982 war. Despite its theme, Maoz told Reuters the film was not a condemnation of Israel’s policies, but a personal account of what he went through. Explaining why the jury chose Lebanon from 25 competition films, its president and two-time Golden Lion winner Ang Lee told reporters: “We all come from different countries, but we are happy that we are not inside that tank. It could be any tank and any war in the world, that’s what is so precious about the film.“ “Although it’s a narrow point of view, that of Israeli soldiers, the ripple is incredible.” Neshat was one of three Iranian directors at the world’s oldest film festival this year. Twenty one-year-old director Hana Makhmalbaf brought the bloody street protests that followed June’s presidential vote directly to the big screen in Green Days, which examines the hopes and frustrations of the country’s youth. Moore presented his attack on corporate greed with Capitalism: A Love Story, striking a chord with its mix of tragic personal tales, humour and over-the-top stunts. Moore likens Wall Street to a casino, where billions of dollars of risky trades are made with little thought to the harm they can cause ordinary citizens if they go wrong. Capitalism, he concludes, is evil. Stone was in Venice with South of the Border, another documentary that questions US economic policy and lauds a generation of leftist leaders in South and Central America. It centres around Chavez, portrayed by Stone as a champion of the poor and guarantor of democracy. The leader came to Venice to support the movie and looked every bit the Hollywood star as he shook hands and signed autographs on the red carpet. Among the Italian films, Erik Gandini’s Videocracy criticised Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s media empire, and how it has shaped popular culture over the last three decades. And also out of competition, Egyptian drama Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story portrayed the subjugation of women in Muslim societies. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Sep 2009 | 3:34 am Father of green revolution Norman Borlaug diesDallas: Agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, the father of the “green revolution” who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in combating world hunger and saving hundreds of millions of lives, died in Texas, a Texas A&M University spokeswoman said. He was 95. Borlaug died just before 11pm on Saturday at his home in Dallas from complications of cancer, said school spokeswoman Kathleen Phillips. Phillips said Borlaug’s granddaughter told her about his death. Borlaug was a distinguished professor at the university in College Station, Texas. The Nobel committee honoured Borlaug in 1970 for his contributions to high-yield crop varieties and bringing other agricultural innovations to the developing world. Many experts credit the green revolution with averting global famine during the second half of the 20th century and saving perhaps 1 billion lives. Thanks to the green revolution, world food production more than doubled between 1960 and 1990. In Pakistan and India, two of the nations that benefited most from the new crop varieties, grain yields more than quadrupled over the period. “We would like his life to be a model for making a difference in the lives of others and to bring about efforts to end human misery for all mankind,” his children said in a statement. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Sep 2009 | 3:12 am NPCIL environmentalist A. I. Siddiqui passes awayMumbai: The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd’s environmentalist and editor of prestigious journal Nu-Power A. I. Siddiqui passed away after a brief illness, family sources said on Sunday. He was 54. Siddiqui, who died at a city hospital on Saturday, was suffering from lung infection and was undergoing treatment for a month. He was on ventilator for the last three weeks, sources said. Siddiqui is survived by wife Tahseen Fatima, two daughters and a son. “Siddiqui, an engineer and a technologist, was steering the NPCIL’s Environment Stewardship programme. He was also a crusader in transforming the public perception of nuclear power as an environmental friendly one,” S. Thakur, NPCIL’s executive director (Corporate Planning), said. Also a spokesperson for the NPCIL, Siddiqui showed how nuclear power plants attracted even the most endangered and migratory birds to their exclusion zone of 1.6 kilometre declaring them safe in a most natural way through his photography skill, he said. Siddiqui, DGM Corporate communication, hailed from Bulandshahr District in Uttar Pradesh. He began his career from Narora Atomic Power in the Radiography section in 1976. The top management of NPCIL brought him to the headquarters in Mumbai in 1990 after the Narora project was over where he was made in-charge of the public awareness programme, executive director of Koondankulam Project K. K. Kuldip told PTI. In 1993, he took over the two leaflet Nu-Power house magazine of NPCIL and transformed it to a sophisticated technological corporate magazine of international standard with his skills of communication, he said. Even during his illness, he completed his editorial for the latest Nu-Power journal from the hospital bed where he has compared the global financial crisis and environmental degradation, Kuldip said adding three months back he climbed the Great Wall of China and got a certificate from Chinese authorities. Siddiqui took initiative to enter into a joint venture with Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) to have an environmental stewardship programme to monitor the fauna and flora in the exclusion zones of all the atomic power stations in the country, BNHS’s director Asad Rahmani said. “We have recently signed an MoU with NPCIL for continuation of the stewardship programme and I hope the NPCIL will continue the programme to keep the spirit of the initiator for the purpose of habitat regeneration,” Rahmani said. NPCIL had yesterday signed an MoU with the Surat Nature club to start an ‘Open Butterfly Park´ at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Plant site in Gujarat and will be named after Siddiqui as it was one of his dreams, Thakur said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Sep 2009 | 3:00 am Dabur plans second manufacturing unit in EgyptNew Delhi: FMCG major Dabur, which is currently hunting for acquisitions in the African continent, is setting up its second manufacturing facility in Egypt as part of its expansion plan in the region. The company is also aiming to increase contribution from international markets to 25% in its overall business in the next two to three years from 20% now. “We are in the process of setting up a new manufacturing facility in Egypt to cater to the growing demand in Africa and the neighbouring markets,” Dabur India chief executive officer Sunil Duggal told PTI. Dabur already has two units in the continent, one in Nigeria and another in Egypt. The proposed unit, which is likely to be completed by this fiscal, would make personal care products. The company said the proposed plant will help its foray into East, West and South Africa, where it is in the process of setting up a distribution network. “Dabur already has a sizeable presence in the Middle East and North Africa. We are now looking at expanding our presence to other parts of Africa, starting with East Africa in the first phase, to be followed by West and South Africa,” he said. Duggal said Dabur is currently scouting for acquisitions in Africa and is ready to spend up to Rs1,000 crore for it. “While the intent would be to look for smaller acquisitions, Dabur has the capability to even go in for big ticket acquisitions of up to Rs1,000 crore if we come across a good and viable target,” he said. In the international market, the company currently sells brands like Dabur Amla and Vatika amongst others. “Personal care and health care, including oral care, are the key growth drivers for Dabur in the international markets ...The overseas business now accounts for nearly 20% of Dabur’s consolidated turnover and we expect it to grow to about 25% over the next 2-3 years,” he added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 13 Sep 2009 | 2:41 am Jet Airways to sell shares to institutions - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Sep 2009 | 2:36 am NPCIL environmentalist AI Siddiqui passes away - Press Trust of India
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Sep 2009 | 2:26 am LG Indian operations to outgrow Korean parent by 2015New Delhi: Consumer durables major LG on Sunday said its India operations would outgrow the parent company in Korea as it is tipped to increase five-fold to Rs50,000 crore in revenue in the next five years. Betting big on the country, with decision to invest over Rs5,000 crore in marketing and R&D activities alone over the next five years, the Indian subsidiary has already overtaken neighbouring China, LG Electronics India managing director Moon Bum Shin said. Touching the size of LG’s US operations is also in sight, he added. “Every year we are going to grow 30 per cent and in 2015, we may touch the same level as that of Korea as long as India maintains the economic growth of 7-9%,” Shin told PTI. The Indian subsidiary contributes about 6% to the company’s global operations and hopes to double it by 2015. Shin said the Korean market is almost saturated, but LG expects its India sales to grow about 30% annually over the next five years, with revenues touching around $8-10 billion. LG’s Korean sales are around $6 billion. Over the next 10 years, the company expects India to be as big a market for its products as the US - the world’s largest consumer durables market. Although the US is getting saturated, there is room for growth for LG as its base there is still small, Shin added. “By 2015, we are targeting 12 per cent from India. As a subsidiary, we are No.1, after the US and Korea... Thanks to the Indian economy which is slightly better than the other western countries,“ Shin said. LG Electronics India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Korean major and has clocked a turnover of over Rs10,000 crore in 2008. It is expected to touch around Rs 13,000 crore ($2.5 billion), a 30% growth in 2009. “... if we maintain same rate of growth that we enjoy in the next five years, definitely we will catch up with Korea and be far better than Korea and may be close to the US,” Shin said. “May be in the next 10 years we can definitely be able to catch up the United States,” he added. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Sep 2009 | 2:25 am LG Indian operations to outgrow Korean parent by 2015New Delhi: Consumer durables major LG on Sunday said its India operations would outgrow the parent company in Korea as it is tipped to increase five-fold to Rs50,000 crore in revenue in the next five years. Betting big on the country, with decision to invest over Rs5,000 crore in marketing and R&D activities alone over the next five years, the Indian subsidiary has already overtaken neighbouring China, LG Electronics India managing director Moon Bum Shin said. Touching the size of LG’s US operations is also in sight, he added. “Every year we are going to grow 30 per cent and in 2015, we may touch the same level as that of Korea as long as India maintains the economic growth of 7-9%,” Shin told PTI. The Indian subsidiary contributes about 6% to the company’s global operations and hopes to double it by 2015. Shin said the Korean market is almost saturated, but LG expects its India sales to grow about 30% annually over the next five years, with revenues touching around $8-10 billion. LG’s Korean sales are around $6 billion. Over the next 10 years, the company expects India to be as big a market for its products as the US - the world’s largest consumer durables market. Although the US is getting saturated, there is room for growth for LG as its base there is still small, Shin added. “By 2015, we are targeting 12 per cent from India. As a subsidiary, we are No.1, after the US and Korea... Thanks to the Indian economy which is slightly better than the other western countries,“ Shin said. LG Electronics India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Korean major and has clocked a turnover of over Rs10,000 crore in 2008. It is expected to touch around Rs 13,000 crore ($2.5 billion), a 30% growth in 2009. “... if we maintain same rate of growth that we enjoy in the next five years, definitely we will catch up with Korea and be far better than Korea and may be close to the US,” Shin said. “May be in the next 10 years we can definitely be able to catch up the United States,” he added. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 13 Sep 2009 | 2:25 am South Africa minister cautious over MTN, Bharti proposalJOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda has expressed caution over a proposed tie-up between South Africa's MTN and India's Bharti Airtel.Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Sep 2009 | 2:24 am Jet Airways to sell shares to institutionsMUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian carrier Jet Airways said on Sunday it plans to raise capital through the sale of shares to institutions within the next 2-3 months.Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Sep 2009 | 2:24 am India's business with Sweden is boomingIndia's business with Sweden is booming and bilateral trade is likely to double to $5 billion in five years, according to a report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Sep 2009 | 2:01 am Gold prices may touch Rs.18,000 per 10 gram: AssochamGold prices may go up further during the forthcoming festive season to touch Rs.18,000 per 10 gram, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India(Assocham).Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Sep 2009 | 2:00 am Birla MF upbeat on auto, infra, IT, underweight on oil and gasBirla Sun Life Mutual Fund is upbeat on the IT sector while being cautious on telecom and underweight on oil and gas.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Sep 2009 | 1:42 am Mangalore: India Post to Offer Air Parcel Service - Daijiworld.com
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Sep 2009 | 1:38 am OMDC, BSLC to invest Rs1,000 cr in setting up plantsNew Delhi: Orissa Mineral Development Corporation and Bisra Stone Lime Co - two of the five Bird Group of Companies under the steel ministry - will invest Rs1,000 crore to set up a pelletisation and a cement plant respectively, besides upgrading their existing facilities. “In the Bird Group of Companies, two companies, OMDC and BSLC, have modernisation and upgradation plans. They will be making sufficient investments to the tune of Rs1,000 crore to achieve forward integration in terms of Pelletisation, Sponge Iron and Cement Plant,” Steel Secretary P K Rastogi said. Rastogi did not give a time-frame for these investments. It is understood that the plants would come up in a phased manner by 2012 at their existing sites. OMDC, which has an estimated iron ore reserves of 200 million tonnes, will set up a one-million tonne per annum (MTPA) Pelletisation plant to convert the ores into pellets, used in making steel. The plant would cost OMDC about Rs900 crore, he said. It will expand its capacity to produce sponge iron from 100 lakh per tonne to 300 lakh per tonne. OMDC also plans to set up a ferro alloy and ferro manganese plant as it has manganese reserves of about 44 million tonnes, he said. BSLC will set up a 1-MTPA cement plant as it has limestone reserves of 367 million tonnes and dolomite of about 280 million tonnes. The forward-integration plans of the two firms as a whole will benefit from the managerial expertise of its new parent Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), Rastogi said. The Bird Group includes five firms - Orissa Mineral Development Corp (OMDC), Bisra Stone Lime Co (BSLC), Karanpura Development Co (KDCL), Scott & Saxyby (SSL), Eastern Investments (EIL). On Thursday, the government announced, restructuring plans for the Group, by handing over the management control of three firms - Eastern Investments Ltd (EIL), OMDC and BSLC to RINL. It also decided to wind up operations of Karanpura Development Co and Scott & Saxyby. Rastogi termed the restructuring a “complex” but mutually beneficial exercise. “All the five companies ...as well as the employees will be immensely benefited under the top professional management of RINL having tremendous experience in steel making,” he said. RINL, he said, will also get benefited by way of having “first time a part fulfillment of their objective of getting raw material security.” EIL, an investment firm owns majority stake of OMDC and BSLC, while RINL will now be having 51% stake in EIL. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Sep 2009 | 1:37 am SAfrica minister cautious over MTN, Bharti proposal - Reuters
Source: Business - Google News | 13 Sep 2009 | 1:36 am Jet Airways lost around Rs.200 crore in five-day stir: officialEven as Jet Airways limped back to normalcy Sunday after a five-day stir by over 500 pilots, the stand-off has proved costly for the airline - a loss of over Rs.2 billion ($40 million).Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Sep 2009 | 1:30 am NALCO mulling setting up of nuclear power plantThe state-owned National Aluminium Company (NALCO) is in talks with another public sector undertaking to set up a nuclear power plant in the country, an official said Sunday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Sep 2009 | 1:30 am Jet Airways resumes normal operations from ChennaiJet Airways today resumed near normal operations from here today after a five day gap, following an end to the standoff between the pilots and management.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Sep 2009 | 1:28 am Jet Airways resumes flightsJet Airways today finally resumed operations after a crippling five-day strike by pilots that ended yesterday. “We are operating 172 domestic and 72 international flights. So far, 98 pilots have already reported fit. The operation is expected to return to normal soon,” a spokesperson for the airways said.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 13 Sep 2009 | 1:27 am American Airlines in talks to invest in JAL - sourceTOKYO (Reuters) - American Airlines is in talks to take a minority stake in Japan Airlines (JAL) and to form a joint venture to expand their business partnership, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Sep 2009 | 1:23 am India 3G spectrum auction in Dec - govtNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will start auctioning third-generation wireless spectrum from Dec. 7, the government said in a notice on a telecoms department website.Source: Reuters: Money News | 13 Sep 2009 | 1:20 am Increasing trend of swine flu in India: WHONew Delhi: Even as India is grappling with the swine flu which has claimed over 165 lives in the last two months, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said there is an increasing trend of the pandemic in the country. In its recent update on the deadly disease, the UN agency, on its official website, said, “In the tropical regions of Asia, respiratory disease activity remains geographically regional or widespread but the trend is generally increasing as noted in India, Bangladesh, and Cambodia.” The WHO has already termed as highest the number of fatalities due to swine flu in India as compared to other countries, according to the health ministry sources here. Contrary to India, the agency said, in the temperate region of the southern hemisphere (represented by countries such as Chile, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa), influenza activity continues to decrease or return to baseline. Noting that an average of two private health care facilities were visited by the patients in India prior to coming to the designated government hospital, the WHO said 44% of the fatal cases had a known underlying condition such as diabetes, lung or heart disease or AIDS. However, the WHO has still categorised as moderate the intensity and the impact of the swine flu in India so far. The agency, which is issuing guidelines from time to time to reduce the impact of the pandemic, has recommended closing down of schools to slow down the spread of the virus. “School closure can operate as a proactive measure, aimed at reducing transmission in the school and spread into the wider community,” the agency said. The WHO also said the main health benefit of “proactive school closure comes from slowing down the spread of an outbreak within a given area and thus flattening the peak of infections”. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Sep 2009 | 1:11 am PM to hold security meet to focus on terrorNew Delhi: Internal security threats including Left-wing extremism, terrorism and coastal security will be reviewed extensively by the country’s top police brass at a two-day conference beginning on Monday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will have an interactive session with directors general of police and inspectors general of police on Tuesday during which he will be directly briefed on key policing and internal security issues. Apart from chalking out strategies to check circulation of fake currency notes, insurgency in the Northeast and strengthening of intelligence apparatus, the DGPs and the IGPs will discuss national police Mission, corporate frauds and security arrangements being planned for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in 2010. Union home minister P Chidambaram will inaugurate the conference and he is likely to share his experience gathered during the just concluded visit to the US where he extensively interacted with top security experts of that country. The objectives of the conference are to provide an interactive platform to senior police professionals and security administrators in the country to freely discuss and debate diverse national security related issues, as also the various operational, infrastructural and welfare-related problems faced by police in the country. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Sep 2009 | 12:59 am Recessionary impact, lower exports loom over planters' meetPlantation owners from south India will deliberate on the effects of global recession on the exports of tea, coffee and spices among other issues during their annual jamboree beginning Monday in this small town atop the Nilgiri hills.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Sep 2009 | 12:31 am HCL judged best employer among tech firms, iGate nextShiv Nadar-promoted HCL Infosystems has emerged as the best employer in the Indian information technology industry, followed by iGate, Rolta, RMSI and SAS Institute, says a survey by Dataquest magazine and International Data Corp.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 13 Sep 2009 | 12:30 am Sensex gives 4.5% returns in September so farMumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange barometer Sensex gave a return of 4.58% to investors in the first two weeks of September on the back of investments by the overseas fund houses. The benchmark index gained 713.11 points, or 4.58%, in the first two weeks of the month to settle at 16,264.3 points on 11 September. The 30-share index lost 174.22 points at 14,300 levels, giving investors a negative return of 1.20%, in the comparable period last year. In terms of broader market performance, the Mid-cap and the Small-cap indices gave returns of 2.14% and 3%, respectively, during the first two weeks of September “Last year the overall market sentiment was negative ... Investor were under panic and the market witnessed broad-based sell off. Now, the market has recovered and has now stepped into the bullish trajectory,” SMC Global vice president Rajesh Jain said. Foreign institutional investors made net investment of Rs2,086 crore in equities in the first two weeks of September, against a net outflow of Rs2,935.90 crore in the comparable period last year. Among the sectoral indices, the BSE metal index gave the biggest return of 11%, while last year it gave a negative return of 10%. Other major sectoral gainers include banking (7.64%), oil & gas (5.86%), IT (4.26%) and PSU (3.73%). “In the bearish mode metal stocks are the hardest hit as the industry demand falls. Whereas in the bull market, as demand recovers metal tends to gain,” Jain added. With improved liquidity in the system backed by investments from both domestic and institutional investors, the country’s stock market witnessed an uptrend, he said. Other sectoral indices which gave positive returns were consumer durables (3.41%), technology (3.40%), capital goods (2.59%), pharma ( 2.21%), power (0.70%) and auto (0.13%). Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Sep 2009 | 12:30 am Jet limps to normalcy as pilots' stir endsJet Airways' operations today limped back towards normalcy with about 100 of the nearly 500 agitating pilots reporting for work across the country.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 13 Sep 2009 | 12:18 am Wal-Mart to continue sourcing from IndiaNew Delhi: The world’s largest retail chain, Wal-Mart, said it has hired a company in India for undertaking quality control of its sourcing business and has no plans to cut down sourcing from here for its international operations. The company had closed it offices in Mumbai and Delhi over past one year, leading to assumptions that the Bentonville (Kentucky)-based company was on way to reducing sourcing from India. “As a part of our efforts to achieve an efficient and effective supply chain, Wal-Mart consolidated and centralised certain functions in India ... As a result, we closed our offices in Mumbai last year and in Delhi this June,” a company spokesperson said. “These decisions should not affect local sourcing volumes in India,” she added. The spokesperson said Wal-Mart has engaged a third party service provider to conduct inspection of merchandise and plans to focus internally more on merchandise development and quality assurance. The company is present in India through a joint venture, Bharti Wal-Mart, with Bharti Retail in the wholesale cash-and-carry segment. It had recently introduced its global private labels in India and is now looking at enhancing the portfolio, the spokesperson added. Wal-Mart’s private labels are available through Bharti Retail’s large format stores ‘Easyday´. It already sells eight such brands in India through Bharti’s stores. “We are constantly working towards enhancing our private label portfolio,” the spokesperson said, without providing further details of brands or target sales. The spokesperson said private labels account for 13-15% of the total sales at the Easyday supermarkets. “Private label is a very intrinsic and important part of good retailing and wholesaling ... (They) provide us with the opportunity to work directly with the manufacturers and bring quality products at lower prices,” the spokesperson said. Wal-Mart’s eight brands introduced in India - Great Value, Aircare, Equate, George, Astitva, Home Trends, Mainstays, Kid Connection and Athletic Works - cover segments from food to personal care products and from sports items to apparels and furnishings. An email query sent to Bharti Retail remained unanswered. The JV company, Bharti Wal-Mart, had opened its first business-to-business wholesale store at Amritsar in May this year. The company plans to open 10-15 of these ‘Best Price Modern Wholesale´ stores across the country in next three years. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 13 Sep 2009 | 12:17 am Scrapping of IT township project disappoints Bengal’s youthKolkata, Sept. 12 The recent scrapping of the IT township project by the West Bengal government and the cancellation of land allotment to IT majors such as Infosys and Wipro have come as a heartbreaking news to youngsters in Kolkata.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am India Post’s same-day delivery set for takeoffNew Delhi, Sept. 12 The Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, and the Minister for Communications and Information and Technology, Mr A. Raja, are together making an Indian dream come true — parcels being delivered any where in theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am IT firms are back in hiring modeMumbai, Sept. 12 IT professionals finally have cause for cheer. With lateral hiring making a comeback in the software industry, albeit in a small way, they can get salary hikes, or change jobs. This renewed buoyancy can be attributed to a spateSource: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Hyundai’s second plant to start third shift from MondayChennai, Sept. 12 Come Monday, Hyundai Motor India’s factory at Irungattukottai, 45 km west of Chennai, will be busier thanSource: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Broadband hook up for 5,000 R&D units, 20,000 collegesChennai, Sept. 12 The Government has given its in-principle approval for providing broadband Internet network to hook up 20,000 colleges and 5,000 R&D institutions under the ICT (information, communication and technology) Mission, which wasSource: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Back at 16,000, but it’s a different, more expensive SensexAt 16,000, the Sensex is today at the same level that it was in the first week of June 2008.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Weekly news round-upStrike by the Jet Airways pilots entered the fifth day on Saturday after nine-hour long conciliation talks between them and the management ended in a deadlock. Jet Airways' 281 domestic and international flights, including 21 of themSource: Business Line - Home Page | 13 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Jet cancels 152 flights, efforts to restore normalcy onNew Delhi: Over 150 Jet Airways flights on Sunday remained cancelled even as the airlines made all efforts to restore normalcy after its pilots called off their five-day long stir and decided to get back to work following an agreement between them and the airlines management. About 139 domestic and 13 international flights, including 27 from the national capital, were cancelled this morning, as per the list of cancelled flights posted on the airlines’ website. The airlines said that normalcy is likely to return from this afternoon after the pilots resume their duties. Over 400 pilots, who reported “sick” for the last five days, decided to resume their duties after a nine-hour-long meeting with the airlines management in Mumbai last night. During the marathon meeting, which ended at around 2:30am, the airline management and the agitators reached a settlement under which the four sacked pilots will be reinstated and a consultative group made up of the two sides formed to resolve all issues. The airlines has started booking of seats for today’s flights since this morning, as the passengers trickling in following an end to the pilots’ stir. Jet’s ticketing counter at the IGI airport here, which wore a deserted look in the last five days, saw some anxious passengers enquiring about the status of flights. The airlines also tried to bring in some normalcy by combining Mumbai-Dubai and Dubai-Mumbai flights on international sectors. It also merged some flights on Mumbai-Delhi, Mumbai-Vadodara-Ahmedabad, Bangalore-Mumbai and Mumbai- Hyderabad sectors. During the agitation period, Jet had made the provision of accommodating its passengers in its low-cost arm JetLite flights on many sectors. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2009 | 11:42 pm Dubai exchange merger a 'possibility' - paperDUBAI (Reuters) - A merger between Dubai's top stock exchanges, Dubai Financial Market and Nasdaq Dubai, is a possibility, a leading official said, according to newspaper Emirates Business (www.business24-7.ae).Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Sep 2009 | 11:38 pm Jet resumes flights as strike endsJet Airways resumed operations on a modest scale with 37 flights Sunday after a crippling five-day strike by pilots ended overnight.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Sep 2009 | 10:30 pm Jet resumes flightsJet Airways resumed operations on a modest scale with 37 flights Sunday after a crippling five-day strike by pilots ended overnight.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Sep 2009 | 9:30 pm Jet Airways pilots call off strike - airlineNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The standoff between Jet Airways and pilots on strike over the sacking of four colleagues has ended, the airline said on Sunday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Sep 2009 | 8:34 pm Uneven growth makes India uncompetitive globallyIs India a good place to do business? The answer seems to be it is excellent in some areas and difficult in others. No wonder the Indian economy has risen in one global index of competitiveness and gone down in another on business climate.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 12 Sep 2009 | 8:30 pm Bengal has land, but not for IT firms - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 12 Sep 2009 | 7:09 pm Pranab walks the talk, flies low-cost - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 12 Sep 2009 | 6:50 pm CM Buddhadeb back, denies quit rumours - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 12 Sep 2009 | 6:10 pm Google proposes micropayments for online newsGoogle is working on a micropayment system that would allow newspapers to easily charge for online content, the web search giant has revealed in a proposal to the Newspaper Association of America.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 12 Sep 2009 | 4:52 pm Need watchdog for unfair trade practicesIt’s a pity that consumers have lost a powerful ally against unfair trade practices, particularly at a time when such practices are on the rise.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 12 Sep 2009 | 3:21 pm IMF chief: Economic crisis not over yetThe global economic crisis isn't over yet, despite positive signals from Europe's biggest economies, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned in comments published today.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 12 Sep 2009 | 2:50 pm Jet set to flyAfter five days of stalemate, the Jet Airways management and the National Aviation Guild (NAG) have reached an agreement. Flight operations are expected to resume as early as Sunday.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 12 Sep 2009 | 1:07 pm Vijender Singh's Percept deal runs into troublePugilist Vijender Singhs multi-crore image contract with Percept could run in to a spot of bother. Mumbai-based Infinity Optimal Solutions, which is currently managing the commercial contracts of Singh, has threatened to take legal action against him and Percept for breach of contract.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 12 Sep 2009 | 12:34 pm Housewives' budget deficit widensEssential items 65% costlier than last year; traders blame it on higher MSP, confusion in govt.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 12 Sep 2009 | 12:33 pm Jet pilots call off agitationIn a late night development, the agitating Jet Airways pilots decided to resume duty after seven hours of talks with the senior management.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 12 Sep 2009 | 12:31 pm INDEX OUTLOOK — Stepping beyond 16000 - Hindu Business Line
Source: Business - Google News | 12 Sep 2009 | 12:00 pm Affordable housing the next big thing in realty: BuildersExperts from real estate in India give a brief on how the sector is fairing. They are of the opinion that there is high demand in affordable housing segments.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Sep 2009 | 10:42 am Those magnificent men and their flying machinesNasty people may refer to them as bicycles with engines attached, but say the word ‘motorcycle’ aloud and most guys (and girls) will stop, stare and begin to salivate. Just what is it about these machines that turns us all on? Veenu Singh tells more.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 12 Sep 2009 | 10:31 am Fight looms over state aid to Magna-led OpelFRANKFURT/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A Canadian-Russian consortium's plan to buy automaker Opel from General Motors faced more hurdles as scrutiny of German state aid intensified and labour leaders demanded a veto over job cuts.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Sep 2009 | 8:26 am BSNL, MTNL doing due diligence for Zain - reportKUWAIT (Reuters) - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam are undertaking due diligence to buy a stake in Zain, the Indian ambassador to Kuwait said in remarks published on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Sep 2009 | 8:18 am Mallya looking to float Indian sports assetsMONZA, Italy (Reuters) - Indian drinks and aviation tycoon Vijay Mallya plans to gather his Formula One, cricket and soccer interests into one company and float it on the Mumbai stock exchange early next year.Source: Reuters: Money News | 12 Sep 2009 | 6:37 am India lodges strong protest after rockets fired from PakAmritsar: India on Saturday lodged a strong protest with Pakistan over the firing of three rockets from across the border that exploded two kilometres inside Punjab. The issue was raised at a flag meeting between the Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistani Rangers in the wee hours after the missiles landed in open fields in Modhey and Dhoneya Khurd villages in Attari sector on the Indo-Pak border, prompting retaliatory gunfire from the Indian border troops.  A BSF jawan collects the remains of a rocket fired from across the border at a village in Wagah sector, some 40 kilometers from Amritsar. PTI photo “We held a flag meeting at about 1 am and made a very strong protest to them (Pakistani Rangers) about this incident,” he told reporters here. “Yesterday night, at about 10 pm, the BSF troops posted at Pulkanjini border outpost saw flashlights and firing from Pakistan territory and after a very short gap, they heard explosions,” Singh said. “Our troops on the border retaliated immediately, very strongly... after that no incident of fire from Pakistani side was reported,” he said. “Three rockets were fired from Pakistani side. There was no damage but it raises suspicion about developments on the other side of the border,” a BSF official said. During the meeting, the Rangers “feigned ignorance (about the incident) but said they will look into it,” he said. New Delhi suspects that the border incidents were mainly aimed at diverting attention of the Indian forces to push in infiltrators. In the flag meeting, which was held at the joint check post at the international border in Attari, commandant H S Dhillon led the BSF delegation while wing commander Akbar Bhatt was leading the delegation of Pakistan Rangers. “The firing from Pakistan may be an attempt to demoralise the villagers as well as newly-deployed woman BSF constables,” Baljit Singh, panchayat member of a border village, said. For the first time in the history of BSF, 16 women constables of the force were deployed on Friday at Rorawali village near Attari border to facilitate frisking of ladies. The step was taken following demands from farmers to let village women pass the barbed fencing wire on the border to their agricultural fields within Indian territory. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2009 | 5:47 am Watch/Listen: Mint in Multimedia, 12 SeptemberVideo Story: The Mint report Industrial output continues to rise; no help may come for India on climate change; Satyam founder to be tried in fast track court ********* Video Story: The Week in Review Jet Airways pilots’ strike leaves the airline grounded; bonanza for automakers as sales shoot up; RNRL questions government’s role in pricing of gas ********* Slideshow: Hollywood hits the books Click here to view slideshow Mr Fox, Sherlock Holmes and a crew of wild things leap out from the pages of your favourite classics and on to the screen Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2009 | 5:47 am Global economic crisis to continue: IMFBerlin: The global economic crisis will continue and countries must do more to adopt financial market regulations, International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a German magazine on Saturday. “The global economic crisis will continue, even if Germany and France had some good figures in the second quarter,” Strauss-Kahn was quoted as saying in an advance copy of an article to be published in Der Spiegel on Sunday. Strauss-Kahn said he wanted to see more action from nations to curb bankers’ pay and tighten capital requirements in the banking sector. “It is right to say that not enough has happened. I hope the Group of 20 meeting in Pittsburgh will bring new momentum,” he said. Leaders of the G-20 meet later this month to try to agree on measures to help stop a repeat of the financial crisis. Strauss-Kahn said the lesson of the financial crisis was that the market economy needed rules to function. “Without new rules, there will be a return to the old behaviour,” he said. Governments needed to develop ‘exit strategies’ from the stimulus packages introduced to boost economies, said Strauss-Kahn, adding, however, that it was dangerous to think the crisis was already over. “We need such “exit strategies”. We are working on them, but I would disagree with any .... demand to think about implementing them now,” he said. Asked by the magazine how liquidity that had been pumped onto the markets would be withdrawn, Strauss-Kahn said a combination of higher interest rates and ending direct intervention of central banks would be needed. He also said the IMF had sufficient resources for now but that if the body were to take on additional responsibilities to coordinate a financial safety net for countries in financial difficulty, it would need a further financial boost. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2009 | 5:32 am Global economic crisis to continue: IMFBerlin: The global economic crisis will continue and countries must do more to adopt financial market regulations, International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a German magazine on Saturday. “The global economic crisis will continue, even if Germany and France had some good figures in the second quarter,” Strauss-Kahn was quoted as saying in an advance copy of an article to be published in Der Spiegel on Sunday. Strauss-Kahn said he wanted to see more action from nations to curb bankers’ pay and tighten capital requirements in the banking sector. “It is right to say that not enough has happened. I hope the Group of 20 meeting in Pittsburgh will bring new momentum,” he said. Leaders of the G-20 meet later this month to try to agree on measures to help stop a repeat of the financial crisis. Strauss-Kahn said the lesson of the financial crisis was that the market economy needed rules to function. “Without new rules, there will be a return to the old behaviour,” he said. Governments needed to develop ‘exit strategies’ from the stimulus packages introduced to boost economies, said Strauss-Kahn, adding, however, that it was dangerous to think the crisis was already over. “We need such “exit strategies”. We are working on them, but I would disagree with any .... demand to think about implementing them now,” he said. Asked by the magazine how liquidity that had been pumped onto the markets would be withdrawn, Strauss-Kahn said a combination of higher interest rates and ending direct intervention of central banks would be needed. He also said the IMF had sufficient resources for now but that if the body were to take on additional responsibilities to coordinate a financial safety net for countries in financial difficulty, it would need a further financial boost. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2009 | 5:32 am Jet impasse: Stalemate continues, no flights on Sunday tooJet crisis enters its fifth day today. The management and pilots have still not managed to break their deadlock.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 12 Sep 2009 | 5:24 am Jet cancels 260 flights; pilots’ strike enters 5th dayNew Delhi: Jet Airways’ 260 domestic and international flights, including 32 from the national capital, were cancelled today as the strike by the pilots entered the fifth day after nine-hour long conciliation talks between them and the management ended in a deadlock. The pilots maintained that they were “hopeful” of a breakthrough as negotiations will continue today. “A total of 235 domestic and 25 international flights remained cancelled for the fifth consecutive day today,” the airlines said in a statement. Jet tried to accommodate some of its passengers in its low-cost arm JetLite by combining the flights on Mumbai- Ahmedabad, Mumbai-Vadodara, Mumbai-Kochi, Mumbai-Mangalore, Kolkata-Bangalore, Kolkata-Guwahati, Mumbai-Mangalore and Kolkata-Agartala sectors. The airlines also merged their Chennai-Mumbai and Bangalore-Mumbai to fly on Bangalore-Chennai-Mumbai sector. The airlines run a total of 380 flights to domestic and international destinations. The strike by the pilots has caused huge loss of revenue for the airlines. Jet’s ticketing and check-in counters at the IGI airport here wore a deserted look. Yesterday, the pilots and the management representatives sat for face-to-face negotiations for the first time since the stir started on Tuesday, but the marathon talks before Chief Labour Commissioner here ended inconclusively. The talks would continue today in Mumbai, with only the two sides present. According to Capt Girish Kaushik, the president of the pilots’ body National Aviators Guild (NAG) leading the stir, the pilots will not resume work “as of now” and the agitation will continue. He said he was “hopeful” of resolving the issue soon. The management is ready to take back four sacked pilots, the main demand of the agitators, but wants “pre-conditions” to be applied to the NAG, a member of the pilots’ union said on condition of anonymity. “But we want the law of the land to dictate the fate of NAG,” he said. A solution to end the stir which had severely disrupted flights affecting thousands of passengers was widely expected on the first day of conciliation talks yesterday especially after the two sides were reported to have worked out a broad understanding on Thursday night to break the impasse. Sources said the talks saw a lot of hard bargaining by the two sides especially over issues which have a larger impact on the employees of the private airline. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2009 | 3:26 am Vijender in split decision over commercial rightsNew Delhi: Indian Olympic and world championship boxing medalist Vijender Kumar has been caught in unusual bout of sparring between two companies vying to promote the middleweight. Vijender secured India’s first world championships podium finish with a bronze at Milan this week after earning the nation’s first Olympics boxing medal, also a bronze at Beijing last year. The 23-year-old’s good looks has earned him commercial endorsements and ramp walks usually reserved for cricketers but his agents are crying foul over media reports of a new deal. Infinite Optimal Solutions (IOS) said in a statement they had exclusive commercial rights through a 10-year contract until 2015 with Vijender and any deal by another company would be illegal. However, rivals Percept Holdings, who local media reported had signed him up for around Rs50 million ($1 million) say it was a “business partnership” to promote live events and brand endorsements would stay with his old agents. Cricket-centric endorsement is facing a challenge from other sports in India after the medal-starved nation won three medals in Beijing, including a first-ever individual gold from shooter Abhinav Bindra. There was no immediate comment from the boxer, who lost his semi-final bout on Friday. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 12 Sep 2009 | 3:19 am Obama to impose tariffs on Chinese tiresPresident Barack Obama has slapped punitive tariffs on all car and light truck tires entering the US from China in a decision that could anger the strategically important Asian powerhouse but placate union supporters important to his health care push at home.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 12 Sep 2009 | 2:56 am
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