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Steel to hold current price levels: JSW SteelThe steel industry, which had taken a big knock during the financial crisis, is on the track of recovery, said Sheshagiri Rao, Joint MD and Group CFO of JSW Steel. While demand from China had come down, India and developed countries were seeing an uptick, so prices may hold current levels, he said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Sep 2009 | 9:00 am Don\'t have plans to raise equity capital: GIC HousingGIC Housing currently has no plans to raise equity capital, says its CMD Yogesh Lohiya. \"There is no need for any fund raising currently.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Sep 2009 | 7:41 am Indian firm eyes European electric car marketIndian car maker Reva unveiled two electric cars at the Frankfurt motor show this week and announced the launch in Europe of one model in early 2010 as the buzz for electric vehicles grows louder.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 17 Sep 2009 | 6:33 am Nifty hits 5000 mark, first time since May `08 !The National Stock Exchange index Nifty Thursday crossed the 5000-mark, for the first time since May 2008.Source: Zee News : Business | 17 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Brazil`s oil reserves will last 50 years: Minister!Brazil will have crude for half a century and become a leading oil exporter and "an important player in international geopolitics", the country`s energy minister has said during a congressional hearing.Source: Zee News : Business | 17 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Canada won`t block Nortel sale to Ericsson!Canada`s industry minister said on Wednesday the government won`t block the USD 1.1 billion sale of Nortel Networks` wireless division to Sweden`s Ericsson.Source: Zee News : Business | 17 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Sensex starts on a high, Nifty crosses 5,000 mark!The BSE benchmark Sensex rose by 125 points in opening trade today on buying in metals and capital goods sector stocks by foreign funds on firming trends in global markets.Source: Zee News : Business | 17 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Bank of Japan keeps key interest rate unchanged!The Bank of Japan upgraded its assessment of the world`s second-largest economy and held its key interest rate unchanged at a near-zero 0.1 percent on Thursday as it tries to nurture a recovery.Source: Zee News : Business | 17 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Rupee rises by 26 paise in opening trade!The Indian rupee rose to a new one-month high after gaining 26 paise against the US currency in the opening trade on Thursday as exporters sold dollar, which weakened against major currencies.Source: Zee News : Business | 17 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Obama and Harper hopeful of productive G20 summit!Ahead of next week`s G-20 summit, US President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper have expressed hope that the meeting of the top economies of the world in Pittsburgh would be "useful and productive".Source: Zee News : Business | 17 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Asian stocks hit 13-mth high on US economic data!Asian stocks hit their highest level in 13 months on Thursday after US economic data raised hopes.Source: Zee News : Business | 17 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am `ABG to counter Bharati`s Great Offshore bid`!ABG Shipyard is prepared to counter Bharati Shipyard`s increased offer for Great Offshore, an ABG official said, as the battle for the provider of oil rigs and offshore platforms intensifies.Source: Zee News : Business | 17 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Venezuela, China sign 16 bn dollar oil deal!President Hugo Chavez has said that Chinese and Russian oil companies have agreed to invest USD 36 billion in Venezuela`s oil production over the next three years.Source: Zee News : Business | 17 Sep 2009 | 6:09 am Power sales to improve with 30% tariff hike: Dhampur SugarPower turnover and profit should improve with 30% tariff hike, says Gautam Goel, MD, Dhampur Sugar Mills.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Sep 2009 | 5:55 am No threat to Indian steel industry from China: Tata SonsThe steel demand outlook in India remined rosy, said, JJ Irani, Director of Tata Sons, adding that he saw no threat to the Indian steel industry from China.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Sep 2009 | 5:47 am Find out what SP Tulsian makes of RIL\'s treasury stake saleBy offloading treasury stocks, RIL has met two objectives one of cleaning up its book and the second of raising funds. Get SP Tulsian\'s complete analysis here.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Sep 2009 | 5:27 am RIL raises Rs 3,188 cr through sale of sharesThe country's largest private sector firm, Reliance Industries, said on Thursday it has raised around Rs 3,188 crore rough sale of 1.50 crore equity shares of the company.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 17 Sep 2009 | 5:20 am Bharati Shipyard ups Great Offshore open offer to Rs 560/shBharati Shipyardwill revise its Great Offshore open offer to Rs 560 per share, says its MD, PC Kapoor. \"We have internal accruals and other resources to fund the offer,\" he says, adding that he doesnt see Great Offshore to be overvalued.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Sep 2009 | 5:15 am Will do whatever it takes to buy Great Offshore: ABG ShipD Datar, CFO at ABG Shipyard confirmed that the shipping corporation was still in the race to buy out Great Offshore, terming his interest in the Great Offshore pretty serious.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Sep 2009 | 5:05 am Ranbaxy ties up with South Korean firm to market cosmetic drugDrug major Ranbaxy Laboratories has entered into a deal with South Korean biotech firm Medy-Tox for marketing its cosmetic product, Neuronox, in the Indian market.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 17 Sep 2009 | 5:03 am Hotel Leela expects spike in Q3 numbersVivek Nair of Hotel Leela Ventures said that the occupancy in Bangalore and Delhi has gone up to 7075%. Hotel Leela expects spike in numbers in Q3.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Sep 2009 | 4:47 am Reliance Industries raises $660 mn in share sale, stock falls - Livemint
Source: Business - Google News | 17 Sep 2009 | 4:36 am After 13 weeks, inflation turns positive at 0.12 per centAfter remaining in negative zone for 13 consecutive weeks, India's annual rate of inflation was back to positive at 0.12 per cent for the week ended September 5, a rise from minus 0.12 per cent the week before.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 17 Sep 2009 | 4:32 am Electrosteel Castings plans to raise Rs 550crElectrosteel Castings is looking to raise around Rs 550 crore, out of which around Rs 100150 crore would be raised via qualified institutional placement (QIP), says Uddhav Kejriwal, Director Promoter, Electrosteel Castings. See management\'s FY10 EPS estimate.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Sep 2009 | 4:30 am Nifty closes flat after hitting 5000 mark; RIL down 4.5% - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 17 Sep 2009 | 4:21 am Pepe Jeans earmarks Rs50 cr for 50 stores by Sep 2010The brand currently has a 25% marketshare in the premium jeans and casual-wear segment and is targeting a 20% growth in the next five years.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Sep 2009 | 4:19 am Markets end flat; Nifty slips by 7 pts from 5,000 markMumbai: Indian shares closed little changed on Thursday, as resistance after a recent run up and a fall in index heavyweight Reliance Industries weighed. The 30-share BSE index ended 0.20%, or 34.07 points, lower at 16,711.11, with 11 stocks falling. The 50-share NSE index closed down 7.15 points at 4,965.55. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 4:10 am BSE Sensex provisionally ends flatMUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex provisionally closed little changed on Thursday, as resistance after a recent run up and a fall in index heavyweight Reliance Industries weighed.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Sep 2009 | 4:08 am Reliance Industries raises $660 mn in share sale, stock fallsMumbai: India’s Reliance Industries Ltd raised about $660 million in a move likely to help the country’s largest listed firm make acquisitions, analysts said. Reliance’s sale follows the $630 million IPO of Adani Power last month and the $1.25 billion IPO of NHPC Ltd, and a raft of institutional share placements as firms capitalise on a stock market up some 70% this year. “This definitely adds to their coffer for possible acquisitions,” said Alex Mathew, head of research at Geojit BNP-Paribas Financial Services. “They have plans both within and outside India.” Reliance did not give any details on how it would use the funds. The company is the most widely held stock by fund managers in Indian in terms of the value of investments. Also read | Stock review: RIL In September 2008, Reliance said it wanted to acquire discovered oil and gas assets abroad and would look at fields in the Middle East, Latin America and the Far East, shifting its focus from exploration as it looks to balance its business portfolio. “In our opinion, overseas exploration and production assets could be likely targets,” said UBS analyst Harshad Katkar. “The company has a cash of $4.6 billion and gross debt of $10.8 billion. We believe that with such strong financials and cash raised from the proposed sale of treasury stock, the company would be looking aggressively at growth opportunities,” he added. Indian brokerage Motilal Oswal said in a report Reliance’s management had indicated the sale of the shares was intended to create a “more comfortable” cash position. Reliance sold 15 million of treasury stock at an average share price of 2,125 rupees ($44.3), a 2.7 percent discount to Wednesday’s close of 2,183.5 rupees. The company’s shares ended down 4.5 percent at 2,086.4 rupees, its lowest close since 8 September, and its biggest daily fall since 17 August. The broader market edged up 0.2% at 16-month closing high. Valued at about $70 billion, Reliance has the largest weighting in the main 30-share index. The company’s shares have risen about 70% so far this year, just behind a 73% rise in the main index. J.P. Morgan analyst Pradeep Mirchandani said Reliance planned about $4 billion capital expenditure in the year to March 2010, and could have raised the money to strengthen its balance sheet. “We see exploration and production, organised retail, and city gas as the main investment avenues over the next two to three years,” Mirchandani said in a note. Reliance’s initial planned sale of 10 million shares was increased by 5 million, or half the overallotment option in a deal handled by Citigroup and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Analysts said the near-term share performance would depend on the how the funds raised would be used, and the outcome of an ongoing dispute with Reliance Natural Resources. Reliance Industries, headed by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and Reliance Natural Resources, led by his estranged brother Anil, are battling over details of a gas-supply deal agreed upon when the Reliance empire was split between the two in 2005. The case will be heard in the Supreme Court on 20 October. The gas in dispute comes from the vast Krishna Godavari (KG) basin off India’s east coast, where Reliance Industries made the country’s deepest and biggest gas find. Reliance started pumping gas from the field in April, and when production is running at full throttle it is expected to nearly double India’s gas output. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 4:06 am Don't expect sugar levy price to be fixed soon - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 17 Sep 2009 | 4:05 am Swiss banks propose withholding taxes to fight tax cheatsGeneva: Swiss bankers on Thursday proposed a withholding tax system for revenues generated on foreigner-owned assets, describing it as an “efficient alternative” to data exchange in combating tax evaders. “The model would generate tax revenues while respecting the privacy of bank clients and it would represent an efficient alternative to a system of automatic information exchange,” said Urs Roth, chief executive of the Swiss Bankers Association which has almost 360 members from the financial industry. The proposed system is modelled after a deal between Switzerland and the European Union, in which taxes are withheld on interest payments and then transferred to EU member states. Swiss bankers said the system could be widened to other countries outside the EU. Under this model, revenues withheld on earnings would then be transmitted to the Swiss tax authorities to be passed on to the clients’ country of domicile. However, the client’s identity would only be known to the paying agent and not to the authorities. “Under this system, the foreign country would have a guarantee that all investment income ... received by their taxpayers via a Swiss paying agent would be subject to taxation,” added Roth. At the same time, once the taxes have been deducted, the bank client would have “automatically fulfilled his tax obligations with regard to this income.” Roth said bankers have already brought the proposal to the Swiss government, which has greeted it “with great interest.” Switzerland came under strong pressure in a global hunt for tax evaders, as critics say the strict banking secrecy rules here have helped to shield tax cheats. Earlier this year, Switzerland caved in to international pressure and said it would offer more cooperation to foreign tax authorities. The country’s biggest bank UBS also recently agreed to reveal the identities of some 4,450 American clients in a landmark out-of-court settlement of a US tax-evasion case that challenged Switzerland’s sacrosanct banking. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:59 am Rupee rises by 26 paise in opening tradeThe Indian rupee rose to a new one-month high after gaining 26 paise against the US currency in the opening trade today as exporters sold dollar, which weakened against major currencies.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:58 am Emerging market recovery to be weak - World BankLONDON (Reuters) - The recovery in emerging markets is likely to be weak and growth will remain limited, a senior World Bank official said on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:46 am Hyundai revamps flagship sedan to boost brandSEOUL (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Co on Thursday launched a new model of its flagship mid-sized sedan the world's no. 5 automaker hopes will help it grab more of the higher end car market.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:44 am Bank of Japan says economy on recovery pathTokyo: Japan’s central bank said Thursday the world’s number two economy was showing signs of a recovery, as it maintained its stimulative measures aimed at battling the worst slump in decades. The Bank of Japan left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.1% in a unanimous decision by the eight-member policy board. “Japan’s economic conditions are showing signs of recovery,” BoJ governor Masaaki Shirakawa said. “Public investment is increasing, and exports and production are also rising.” “On the other hand, business fixed investment is declining mainly reflecting weak corporate profits,” he said. Private consumption “remains generally weak amid the worsening employment and income situation.” The comments were slightly more upbeat than the BoJ’s view last month that economic conditions had “stopped worsening.” Japan’s economy returned to positive growth in April-June, limping out of a year-long recession, but exports and factory output remain much lower than before the economic crisis and unemployment is at a post-war high. Deflation has also deepened with core consumer prices dropping 2.2% in July from a year earlier — the fastest pace on record. And with the jobless rate at its highest level since World War II, prices are expected to continue to slide, albeit at a slower pace, Shirakawa said. Japan was stuck in a deflationary spiral for years after its asset price bubble burst in the early 1990s, prompting consumers to put off purchases in the hope of further price drops and reducing corporate earnings. “But the risk of the economy falling into (another) deflationary spiral is low,” Shirakawa said. Regarding the yen’s recent strength, he echoed comments by Japan’s new finance minister who said the previous day that the government was unlikely to intervene in currency markets to put a ceiling on the yen’s appreciation. “While a strong yen may pressure the economy in the short term by depressing prices, it bolsters it in the mid- to long-term,” Shirakawa said, adding that a stable exchange “is desirable.” The Bank has been fighting a severe recession with super-low interest rates and a policy of buying up corporate debt to keep credit flowing to firms during the financial crisis. One BoJ board member, Miyako Suda, said earlier this month that the need for the emergency measures to support cash-strapped companies were decreasing as the global financial crisis abates. But it is unclear whether the rest of the board shares her views. Suda is considered one of the more hawkish members and was a lone dissenter in January against the programme to buy corporate bonds. Shirakawa said that the decision on whether to renew the emergency measures — due to expire at the end of December — would depend on market conditions. Speaking a year after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, the governor warned that while threats to the Japanese economy were easing, any recovery might be tepid. But he said that the central bank would “continue to exert its utmost efforts” to return Japan to sustainable growth and price stability. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:42 am Inorbit to open three more malls pan-IndiaPlans to open malls in Hyderabad, Pune and Bangalore by 2010. The Hyderabad mall, spread over 81 lakh square feet, will be opened next month.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:38 am Railway employees to get bonusNew Delhi: Around 13.05 lakh employees of the Railways are in for a bonanza with the government Thursday announcing productivity-linked bonus to them equivalent to 75 days of their wages for the financial year 2008-09. The decision that will have financial implications to the tune of Rs889 crore was taken at the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The beneficiaries of the bonus would be non-gazetted employees of the railways and exclude Railway Protection Force and Railway Protection Special Force, information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni told reporters. This will be the highest productivity-linked bonus to be made by the Railways. Last year, the bonus was paid for 73 days of wages. The wage calculation ceiling prescribed for payment of the bonus to non-gazetted railway employees is Rs3,500 per month. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:33 am Stocks turn positive again; IT stocks gain - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:22 am Tata Communication forays into managed banking infra solutions spaceMumbai: Tata Communications today announced its foray into the fast-growing managed banking infrastructure solutions space through a subsidiary, Tata Communications Banking InfraSolutions (TCBIL). “It will offer managed payment infrastructure services to banks with a basket of products like, ATM, point of sale, internet banking, mobile banking and core banking solutions among others,” TCBIL President Rajiv Singh said here. Stating that the penetration of ATMs in India is only at 33 for one million people as compared to over 1000 for the same number in the devloping nations, Singh said that TCBIL has already tied up with almost all the leading vendors across the world to deploy ATMs in India. “We are going to bring in “through the wall” ATMs which will reduce the cost of putting up an ATM and will design the machines as per the need of the customers of the banks,” he said. The ‘Through the Wall´ ATMs would not require to be manned as they will be putting up on a side of the wall. The company also proposes to bring in machines which can even be installed in areas where there is no electricity and can be powered with solar energy. Biometric machines are also to be brought in. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:20 am CII seeks zero GST for processed fruit and vegetable industryNew Delhi: Industry body, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has demanded that fruit and vegetable processing industry be exempted from the goods and services tax (GST), proposed to be introduced from April 2010, as the sector is still at a “nascent stage” and needs support. “We have requested the government to keep fruit and vegetable processing industry under a special GST rate of zero%,” CII National Council for Agriculture chairman Rakesh Bharti Mittal told PTI. An empowered panel of finance ministers of different states on Wednesday resolved to meet the deadline of rolling out the GST regime in April next year and has reached a consensus to have two basic tax rates in the new system, and a special one for precious metals. But the rates are yet to be decided. Though India produces about 50 million tonnes of fruits and 90 million tonnes of vegetables, the level of processing is lagging pathetically at just about 2%, compared with that of 65% in the US and 23% in China. Low processing results in huge wastages of fruits and vegetables, estimated at Rs33,000 crore a year mainly because of lack of infrastructure and adequate support, he said. Mittal, who is also the vice-chairman and managing director of Bharti Enterprises that export fruits and vegetables under the brand name Fieldfresh, observed many states are levying additional cess even when the empowered panel of finance ministers of states on value added tax (Vat) has suggested a 4% Vat on processed fruits and vegetables. Moreover, some states are charging more by restricting the description of the processed fruit and vegetable category even when the VAT panel recommended a uniform tax rate structure and classification of products, Mittal pointed out. “Uniform classification of all processed fruits and vegetables across Centre and states on lines of the Cenvat structure is needed,” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:19 am India gold nears record high; buyers put offMUMBAI (Reuters) - India gold prices neared their record high on Thursday, with traders reluctant to stock the yellow metal even as festivals neared, dealers said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:09 am Gold nears record high; buyers put offMumbai: India gold prices neared their record high on Thursday, with traders reluctant to stock the yellow metal even as festivals neared, dealers said. Gold futures on the continuation chart was 0.31% higher at Rs15,958 at 2:27pm, after hitting a high of 15,968, nearing their previous record of Rs16,040, struck on 20 February. “Demand is dull and no one is committing to buy with prices nearing the peaks. The overall appetite has been hit,” said Pinakin Vyas, chief manager-treasury, IndusInd Bank in Mumbai. Dealers said traders sought lower prices to stock the yellow metal for festivals, starting later this month. “The volatility is killing the buying appetite, if prices stabilise below $990 (an ounce) level, we could see demand re-appearing,” said a dealer with a state-run bank. India celebrates Dussera festival later this month and Diwali and Dhanteras in October, which is expected to revive sagging gold sales. The World Gold Council’s January to June figures show India’s gold imports fell 55 percent to 126.7 tonnes from 282.3 tonnes a year earlier. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:07 am Inflation returns as food prices surgeNew Delhi: Surging food prices have driven India into inflation faster than expected, adding pressure on the Reserve bank of India (RBI) to speed an exit from easy monetary policy and prompting further government steps to curb price rises. India’s wholesale price index (WPI) rose by 0.12% in the year to 5 September, compared with the previous week’s 0.12% fall and analysts’ forecast of a 0.08% decline, a weekly data release on Thursday showed. The food articles sub-index rose an annual 15.4%, up from the previous week’s 14.8% rise, as a dry spell parched nearly half of India’s districts, hurting summer crops. In its latest move to check soaring food costs, India’s cabinet on Thursday approved an extension of limits on stocks that can be held by traders of sugar, vegetable oil, lentils and rice until September 2010. “Inflation is already positive again and the Reserve Bank of India faces a real tough task. The governor has said he wants to keep interest rates low till the economy recovers fully, but inflation is galloping and being responsible for inflation, it can’t ignore it,” said Amol Agarwal, economist at IDBI Gilts. High food prices pose a dilemma for the RBI, which can do little about price pressures caused by supply-side bottlenecks. Also, the effect of soaring fuel and commodities prices a year ago is poised to recede in coming weeks, as the WPI peaked in the first two weeks of September 2008. If prices held steady between now and the end of October, inflation would still reach 3%. Prices of industrial raw materials and fuels, meanwhile, have been rising in recent weeks. “Much of the increase in inflation is clearly indicative of input cost pressures picking up, and with demand set to recover we should see output prices also picking up with a lag,” said Sonal Varma, economist with Nomura in Mumbai. “This will clearly mean that the RBI’s concern on inflation is likely to continue and the exit from the current loose policy will depend on how soon growth picks up from here,” she said. India has taken steps to manage the impact of a poor monsoon, including increasing imports, limiting exports, and clamping down on hoarding. Private economists expect the central bank to begin retreating from easy monetary policy towards the end of the fiscal year. The first shift could be through withdrawing some of the extra liquidity in the banking system or increasing banks’ reserve requirements, rather than by raising interest rates. Government Pressure The rise in food prices has put pressure on the Congress party-led coalition government, which was re-elected this year partly on the back of its pro-farmer policies. It faces three state-level elections next month. But ministers have said food stocks were comfortable and that will help counter the drought situation although the government could import food to meet demand. On Tuesday, RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao said inflation was already 5.2% so far this fiscal year and it would accelerate further by the end of March. But he made it clear the RBI would not unwind its accommodative policy until recovery in Asia’s third largest economy was secured. “RBI will tighten only after there is a decisive upturn in the economy,” said D K Joshi, principal economist at rating agency Crisil. In its July policy review, the central bank left its key policy rate unchanged after cutting it by 425 basis points between October and April. The economy grew 6.7% in 2008-09, slower than rates of 9% or more in the previous three years, and policymakers expect it to slow towards 6% in 2009-10 due to lower farm output. India’s 10-year benchmark bond yield was at 7.13%, down one basis point from before the WPI data. The partially convertible rupee remained flat near 48 per dollar while the stock market was up 0.4%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:06 am Inflation returns as food prices surgeNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Surging food prices have driven India into inflation faster than expected, adding pressure on the central bank to speed an exit from easy monetary policy and prompting further government steps to curb price rises.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:01 am Sensex climbs 125 points in opening tradeThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex rose by 125 points in opening trade on Thursday on buying in metals and capital goods sector stocks by foreign funds on firming trends in global markets.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:00 am SC allows TVS to sell bikes with Twin Spark technologyThe ongoing patent battle between twowheeler majors Bajaj and TVS has taken a new turn. The Supreme Court (SC) has given its nod for TVS to sell its bikes with the controversial Twin Spark engine technology, which was seen in the TVS Flame but with conditions attached.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Sep 2009 | 3:00 am PVR to open over 30 screens within next 6 monthsIndia's largest cinema chain will invest Rs1.5-1.7 crore per screen within the next six months. The total money to be pumped in is likely to be over Rs30-40 crore.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:58 am Will do whatever it takes to buy Great Offshore: ABG Ship - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:57 am Euro zone July trade surplus up more than expectedBrussels: The euro zone’s trade surplus grew more than expected in July as exports contracted much less than imports year-on-year and rose from the previous month while imports fell, Eurostat data showed on Thursday. The seasonally unadjusted trade surplus in the 16-country area totalled €12.6 billion ($18.6 billion), compared with a €3.5 billion deficit a year before as exports fell 19% year-on-year and imports plunged 30%. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a trade surplus of €5.2 billion. Eurostat revised up the June surplus to €5.4 billion from 4.6 billion. The European Union’s statistics office said that adjusted for seasonal factors, the trade balance was €6.8 billion, up from 2.3 billion in June and 1.5 billion in May. Seasonally adjusted exports grew by 4.1% in July against June, the second consecutive month of gains after June’s 0.9% increase over May—a sign of improvement in external demand for euro zone goods. Seasonally adjusted imports, however, fell 0.3% against June after a 0.2% rise in June against May, pointing to continued weakness in domestic demand. Detailed data for July was not yet available, but a breakdown for the January-June period showed the euro zone’s trade deficit in energy was only two thirds of the gap a year earlier, thanks to a hefty fall in oil prices. The euro zone’s trade deficit with Russia, one of the main energy suppliers, almost halved to €12.3 billion in that period. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:53 am Gopinath reduces stake in Kingfisher to 1.75%Mumbai: Kingfisher Airlines on Thursday said its vice-chairman G R Gopinath has reduced his stake in the air carrier to 1.75% after selling shares worth Rs4.03 crore. Gopinath sold 8,63,035 shares representing 0.32% stake in the company for Rs4.03 crore, Kingfisher Airlines said in a disclosure on the Bombay Stock Exchange. On 15 September, Gopinath has sold a total of 13,59,473 shares of the private carrier for Rs6.31 crore through five separate transactions. Gopinath had 88,50,190 shares of Kingfisher, representing 3.33% stake, as on 30 June. Gopinath, who held over 9% stake in the company in June 2008, is on a selling spree since then. Gopinath had started Air Deccan in 2003 and sold it to Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher in 2007. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:51 am Global earnings recovery may have begun: CitigroupReuters - The global earnings recovery appears to have begun, with earnings expectations starting to push higher after their biggest fall in more than two decades, strategists at Citigroup said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:50 am Plaza Centers to open six new malls pan-IndiaMalls will come up in Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi and Pune at an investment of Rs3,000 crore by 2014 and the work will be started from early 2011.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:46 am US panel begins probe into financial meltdownWashington: Four months after its creation, a congressionally appointed panel modeled after the 9/11 Commission and the Iraq Study Group is opening a 15-month investigation into the causes of last year’s economy-crippling financial collapse. The 10-member, bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission holds its first meeting on Thursday. With a budget of $5 million, its instructions are to submit findings to lawmakers by December 2010, long after Congress hopes to have a new regulations in place for preventing another Wall Street meltdown. That deadline also assures that the findings won’t have any impact on the 2010 congressional races. The commission is co-chaired by Democrat Phil Angelides and Republican Bill Thomas, both from California. Angelides is a former state treasurer who in 2006 unsuccessfully challenged Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor. Thomas is the former Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. The panel’s executive director is Thomas Greene, a high-profile lawyer who was the lead attorney in a California case against the tobacco industry that resulted in a $26 billion settlement. Greene also brought several civil cases against Enron and worked on an antitrust case against Microsoft, according to a biography released by the panel. Both the White House and Democratic leaders in Congress said at the start of this year that overhauling how the government regulates banks and related financial businesses was a top priority. But that effort is bogged down in partisan bickering as well as differences between the Obama administration and key Democrats in Congress on what the new regulatory structure should be. And after passing a $787 billion bill to stimulate an economic recovery, Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate put health care reform and global warming ahead of dealing again with the financial collapse. While nearly every member of Congress agrees that the current regulatory structure is too lax in allowing banks and other lenders to write bad mortgages and sell them off to investors, Republicans and the financial industry say Obama’s plan would increase consumer costs and limit choices. There’s been little fanfare surrounding the financial inquiry commission. Just what impact it might have is uncertain. But at the start of its work in 2006, the Iraq Study Group also got little attention. It rose in prominence as violence in Iraq increased and ended up profoundly affecting the national security debate. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:44 am Dabur India earmarks $250-500 mn for overseas buysMumbai: Personal care and food products maker Dabur India Ltd is scouting for firms in US, Europe, U.A.E. and parts of Africa for acquisitions and has earmarked $250-$500 million, a senior company official said. “We are focussing on the MENA region (Middle-east, Egypt, Nigeria and Africa) mainly UAE and Africa... and also looking at companies in Europe and the US where we don’t have much of a footprint,” vice-chairman Amit Burman told reporters. “From the internal accruals and the debt we can raise we are looking at a size of $250-$500 million,” he said on the sidelines of a conference on Thursday. Dabur’s international business contributes about 15% of overall revenues and Burman said this segment was growing about 50% year-on-year. Its net profit may rise 25% on revenue growth of 22-25% in 2009-10 helped by new brand launches and the recent acquisition of Fem Care, he added. Net profit margins for the current fiscal may improve by 3-4% over last year, helped by the combination of portfolios with its recent acquisition of Fem Care, Burman said. Dabur also plans to invest Rs250-500 million over two years on expanding its retail store network in the country, he added. The firm plans to add 4-5 stores this fiscal and 10 stores each year from the next fiscal, he said. At 2.28pm, shares in the firm were up 1.14% at Rs132.75 in a choppy Mumbai market. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:42 am Arcelormittal sees China steel drop as temporary - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:40 am Rupee off 1-month high on importer dollar demandMumbai: The Indian rupee came off fresh one-month peak in afternoon trade on Thursday as domestic shares pared most of their early gains and importers bought dollars after the rupee rose past the Rs48 per dollar mark in early trade. At 2:20pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs48.08/09, stronger than its previous close of Rs48.24/25. In early deals, it rose to Rs47.92, its strongest since 11 August. The rupee is up 0.9% so far this week, taking its rise this month to 1.7%. Shares pared gains to trade up 0.3% as some resistance came in, after a sharp run up to 16-month highs. Dealers said broad weakness in the dollar was helping the rupee, but demand from importers was limiting further gains. The euro climbed to a one-year high against the dollar on Thursday as investors encouraged by growing evidence of a global recovery shifted funds away from the greenback into riskier currencies and assets. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were both quoting at Rs48.11 each, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about an average $2 billion. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:34 am Reva eyes European electric car marketFrankfurt: Car maker Reva unveiled two electric cars at the Frankfurt motor show this week and announced the launch of one model in Europe in early 2010 as the buzz for electric vehicles grows louder. In its first major presence at the German show, Reva presented the NXR city car that is to be built at a new plant in Bangalore and will retail for less than €10,000 ($14,700) for a city driving model. A two-seater NXG coupe that was shown here as a prototype is due to follow in 2011, the company said on Wednesday. Reva co-founder Chetan Maini said electric cars, which were a major feature of the fair, had come of age. “We are for the first time seeing everything come together, the technology and people’s concerns about the environment,” he told AFP in an interview. “The world cannot afford conventional cars anymore.” A surge in global oil prices last year had helped raise people’s consciousness, he added. “Five years ago I don’t think people were thinking about electric cars,” said Maini, Reva’s deputy chairman and chief technical officer. When consumers mull a purchase now however, “they would at least consider an electric car,” Maini added. Reva will launch its Bangalore output with capacity of 300,000 vehicles per year. “We believe it may take us two to three years to get to full capacity but we think market potential is very high, and that’s why we are setting up that kind of capacity,” Maini said. “There is a societal cost to pollution” that justified funding to help companies invest in infrastructure, technologies and product launches, he maintained. “Once people use it and feel the benefits, the volumes grow and prices come down and then you don’t need support” any longer, he said. Reva, which has produced electric vehicles since 2001, claims now to have solid experience in the field. Maini said 300,000 of its cars were already being used in 24 countries. Powered by a Lithium-ion battery, the NXR is a three-door model designed to carry up to four passengers. It is expected to cost €15,000 ($22,000), minus the battery, which specialists note are one of the most expensive components, for an “inter-city” version. A pure city car with less range and traditional batteries is to be offered for less than €10,000. Customers would be charged “a mobility fee” for battery rental, but they will be available for purchase as well. The prices were noticeably higher than the $2,055 tag for the Tata Motors produced Nano, which was launched in July and is currently the cheapest car in the world. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:30 am Reva eyes European electric car marketFrankfurt: Car maker Reva unveiled two electric cars at the Frankfurt motor show this week and announced the launch of one model in Europe in early 2010 as the buzz for electric vehicles grows louder. In its first major presence at the German show, Reva presented the NXR city car that is to be built at a new plant in Bangalore and will retail for less than €10,000 ($14,700) for a city driving model. A two-seater NXG coupe that was shown here as a prototype is due to follow in 2011, the company said on Wednesday. Reva co-founder Chetan Maini said electric cars, which were a major feature of the fair, had come of age. “We are for the first time seeing everything come together, the technology and people’s concerns about the environment,” he told AFP in an interview. “The world cannot afford conventional cars anymore.” A surge in global oil prices last year had helped raise people’s consciousness, he added. “Five years ago I don’t think people were thinking about electric cars,” said Maini, Reva’s deputy chairman and chief technical officer. When consumers mull a purchase now however, “they would at least consider an electric car,” Maini added. Reva will launch its Bangalore output with capacity of 300,000 vehicles per year. “We believe it may take us two to three years to get to full capacity but we think market potential is very high, and that’s why we are setting up that kind of capacity,” Maini said. “There is a societal cost to pollution” that justified funding to help companies invest in infrastructure, technologies and product launches, he maintained. “Once people use it and feel the benefits, the volumes grow and prices come down and then you don’t need support” any longer, he said. Reva, which has produced electric vehicles since 2001, claims now to have solid experience in the field. Maini said 300,000 of its cars were already being used in 24 countries. Powered by a Lithium-ion battery, the NXR is a three-door model designed to carry up to four passengers. It is expected to cost €15,000 ($22,000), minus the battery, which specialists note are one of the most expensive components, for an “inter-city” version. A pure city car with less range and traditional batteries is to be offered for less than €10,000. Customers would be charged “a mobility fee” for battery rental, but they will be available for purchase as well. The prices were noticeably higher than the $2,055 tag for the Tata Motors produced Nano, which was launched in July and is currently the cheapest car in the world. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:30 am Reliance Ind share sale raises $660 mln, shares downMUMBAI (Reuters) - Reliance Industries Ltd raised about $660 million by selling 15 million shares at a discount to its Wednesday close, knocking shares of India's largest listed firm down 5 percent in a steady Mumbai market.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:19 am Samsung eyes big name in laptop PC marketNew Delhi: Having earned a place for itself in the big screen (LCD TV) and small screen (cell phone) space in India, South Korean electronics firm Samsung wants to make a mark in the mid-screen (notebook and netbook PCs) segment. “We are number one in big screen and number two in small screen and now we want to mark our presence in the mid-size screen... We are eyeing a slot in top three players in next 1-2 years,” Seongwoo Nam, general manager, Computer Systems Division, Samsung Digital Media and Communications Business said. “The netbook and notebook PCs are a growth engine for our IT business in India. This is the first full year that we are selling these products in the Indian market and we are very satisfied with the consumer acceptance that we have received so far,” he said. As per technology advisory services provider IDC’s data, HP is leading the market with a 30.9% share followed by Dell and Acer in the April-June quarter, 2009. “We are looking at attaining a 7-8% market share in the Indian market by next year,” he added. The netbook market in India is showing a growth in India which is similar to the worldwide trends in this category. The netbook market globally is expected to grow to 42 million from 28 million this year. “In India, we expect the netbook market to double this year to around 200,000 units and grow to anywhere between 300,000 to 500,000 units next year,“ Nam said. In the notebook segment, Samsung have revamped the portfolio in August this year by launching five models of 14” notebooks in the R series taking our portfolio of Netbooks and Notebooks to 13 models in the price range between Rs19,000 to Rs1,00,000. “We are setting up My Digital within Samsung Plazas in top eight cities (across 50 counters). (We) Are looking at setting up IT Brand Shops as well. The Samsung NotePCs will be selling through this channel,” Nam said. The company has already set up the IT Brand Shop in Hyderabad and will be launching the next IT Brandshop in Chandigarh shortly, he said, adding that the plan is to cover another five cities by year end. “We also want to increase our channel presence from around 600 channel partners to around 1000 plus partners next year,” he added. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:17 am Samsung eyes big name in laptop PC marketNew Delhi: Having earned a place for itself in the big screen (LCD TV) and small screen (cell phone) space in India, South Korean electronics firm Samsung wants to make a mark in the mid-screen (notebook and netbook PCs) segment. “We are number one in big screen and number two in small screen and now we want to mark our presence in the mid-size screen... We are eyeing a slot in top three players in next 1-2 years,” Seongwoo Nam, general manager, Computer Systems Division, Samsung Digital Media and Communications Business said. “The netbook and notebook PCs are a growth engine for our IT business in India. This is the first full year that we are selling these products in the Indian market and we are very satisfied with the consumer acceptance that we have received so far,” he said. As per technology advisory services provider IDC’s data, HP is leading the market with a 30.9% share followed by Dell and Acer in the April-June quarter, 2009. “We are looking at attaining a 7-8% market share in the Indian market by next year,” he added. The netbook market in India is showing a growth in India which is similar to the worldwide trends in this category. The netbook market globally is expected to grow to 42 million from 28 million this year. “In India, we expect the netbook market to double this year to around 200,000 units and grow to anywhere between 300,000 to 500,000 units next year,“ Nam said. In the notebook segment, Samsung have revamped the portfolio in August this year by launching five models of 14” notebooks in the R series taking our portfolio of Netbooks and Notebooks to 13 models in the price range between Rs19,000 to Rs1,00,000. “We are setting up My Digital within Samsung Plazas in top eight cities (across 50 counters). (We) Are looking at setting up IT Brand Shops as well. The Samsung NotePCs will be selling through this channel,” Nam said. The company has already set up the IT Brand Shop in Hyderabad and will be launching the next IT Brandshop in Chandigarh shortly, he said, adding that the plan is to cover another five cities by year end. “We also want to increase our channel presence from around 600 channel partners to around 1000 plus partners next year,” he added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:17 am Indian inflation returns as food prices surge - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 17 Sep 2009 | 2:07 am SBI hopes to maintain 40 pct growth in UKMUMBAI (Reuters) - State Bank of India, India's largest bank, expects to maintain 40 percent growth in its business in the United Kingdom, Chairman O.P. Bhatt said on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Sep 2009 | 1:59 am State FMs to discuss GST roadmap on Sept 16 - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 17 Sep 2009 | 1:36 am Nasscom roots for alternate Vedic land - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 17 Sep 2009 | 1:35 am Chinese car maker BYD aiming to zoom past ToyotaShanghai: Fast-growing Chinese battery and automaker BYD Co is thinking big—really big. It aims to overtake Toyota Motor Co to become the global auto leader in under two decades, company officials say. “It’s our company’s long-term target, to be China’s No.1 automaker by 2015 and to be the world’s leading car maker by 2025,” Jasmine Huang, a senior marketing representative for BYD, said in a phone interview Thursday. “So far, our sales come mainly from domestic demand, but we are also thinking of expanding to overseas markets,” Huang said, confirming similar comments by another BYD executive, deputy general manager Wang Jianjun, to the state-run newspaper China Daily. Like other up-and-coming Chinese automakers, BYD has set its sights on breaking into major markets such as the US and Europe. Although it started out building conventional cars, late last year it became the first automaker to launch mass production of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, that can be charged off a standard home outlet. Whether BYD will succeed in meeting stringent US and European standards for safety and quality, as well as customer expectations for comfort and performance, remains to be seen. Chinese automakers remain reliant on mostly foreign technology and design and are still nowhere close to meeting finicky Western and Japanese standards, but they are catching up, analysts say. China’s auto industry earlier this year overtook the US in market size. BYD might initially launch exports of a limited number of vehicles, just for the sake of its marketing and branding, says Scott Laprise, an industry analyst at CLSA. “It’s all about advertising and brand building,” Laprise said. “That’s going to be massive publicity. Don’t sell anyone cars. Just let the world know you are the world leaders and then see what happens.” BYD was founded in 1995 and only branched into automaking in recent years. But it has won backing from billionaire investor Warren Buffett, whose MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., the utility division of his Omaha, Neb-based flagship Berkshire Hathaway, has a 9.9% stake in the Hong Kong-traded company. BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, recently announced it has approval to get its shares listed in the southern city of Shenzhen, where the company is based. In January-August it sold 246,881 cars, just ahead of rival domestic automaker Chery Automobile Co, which reported sales totaling 240,275 units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Its most popular car, the F3 sedan has been China’s top selling model for three months so far this year. But General Motors Corp led sales in China in the first half of the year at 814,442 units, followed by Volkswagen AG, with 652,436 vehicles sold. Toyota, which displaced GM as the world’s biggest automaker in 2008, sold nearly 9 million cars and trucks in 2008, while GM sold 8.4 million. BYD expects to sell 400,000 cars this year and to manage annual sales exceeding 10 million by 2025, Wang, the deputy general manager, told the China Daily. Company chairman Wang Chuanfu has said he plans to begin selling an all-electric vehicle in the United States by next year. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 1:24 am Google to reincarnate digital books as paperbacksCalifornia: Google Inc. is giving 2 million books in its digital library a chance to be reincarnated as paperbacks. As part of a deal announced on Thursday, Google is opening up part of its index to the maker of a high-speed publishing machine that can manufacture a paperback-bound book of about 300 pages in under five minutes. The new service is an acknowledgment by the Internet search leader that not everyone wants their books served up on a computer or an electronic reader like those made by Amazon.com Inc. and Sony Inc. The “Espresso Book Machine” has been around for several years already, but it figures to become a hotter commodity now that it has access to so many books scanned from some of the world’s largest libraries. And On Demand Books, the Espresso’s maker, potentially could get access to even more hard-to-find books if Google wins court approval of a class-action settlement giving it the right to sell out-of-print books. “This is a seminal event for us,” said Dane Neller, On Demand Books’ chief executive, as he oversaw a demonstration of the Espresso Book Machine Wednesday at Google’s Mountain View, California headquarters. In the background, some of the books that Google spent the past five years scanning into a digital format were returning to their paper origins. “It’s like things are coming full circle,” Google spokeswoman Jennie Johnson said. “This will allow people to pick up the physical copy of a book even if there may be just one or two other copies in some library in this country, or maybe it’s not even available in this country at all.” On Demand’s printing machines already are in more than a dozen locations in the United States, Canada, Australia, England and Egypt, mostly at campus book stores, libraries and small retailers. The Harvard Book Store will be among the first already equipped an instant-publishing machine to have access to Google’s digital library. The books published by The Espresso Machine will have a recommended sales price of $8 per copy, although the final decision will be left to each retailer. New York-based On Demand Books will get a $1 of each sale with another buck going to Google, which says it will donate its commission to charities and other nonprofit causes. The high-speed publishing machine itself sells for about $100,000, although On Demand Books is willing to lease the equipment to retailers instead. For starters, Google is only allowing The Espresso Machine publish from the section of its digital library that consists of 2 million books no longer protected by copyright. These “public domain” books were published before 1923 _ an era that includes classics like “Moby Dick” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” as well as very obscure titles. The paperbacks churned out in Wednesday’s demonstration of the Espresso included “Lathe Work For Beginners,” “Dame Curtsey’s Book of Candy Making,” and “Memoirs of A Cavalier,” a Daniel Defoe novel that never caught on quite like his most famous work, “Robinson Crusoe.” Millions more titles could be added to On Demand’s virtual inventory if Google gets federal court approval of a class-action settlement that would grant it the right to sell copyrighted books no longer being published. Google estimates it already has made digital copies of about 6 million out-of-print books. The settlement terms includes a provision that could authorize republishing the books with a machine like the Espresso. Some of Google rivals and a long list of other critics are hoping to block the settlement, mainly because they believe it will give Google a monopoly on the digital rights to out-of-print books and make it too easy to track people’s reading preferences. The US Justice Department is investigating the monopoly allegations and is scheduled to share some of its preliminary thoughts with US District Judge Denny Chin in a brief due Friday. Neller of On Demand Books is thrilled just to have the right to publish selections from Google’s digital library of public domain books. Neller thinks it could help him reach his ambition to turn the Espresso machine into the book industry’s equivalent of an automated teller machine. “It’s more efficient for everyone involved and readers are the biggest beneficiaries of all,” Neller said. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 1:22 am Sensex climbs 125 points, Nifty closes on 5,000 markThe Sensex rose by 125 points in opening trade today on buying in metals and capital goods sector stocks.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Sep 2009 | 1:21 am Ranbaxy to sell Neronox in India - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 17 Sep 2009 | 1:13 am Welspun Retail to add 50 stores in FY10Mumbai: Welspun Retail, the retail arm of Welspun India Ltd, expects to add 50 stores in FY10 due to a demand revival this fiscal, taking its store tally to 250, its director said on Thursday. The firm would re-open around 10 stores that it had closed due to the economic downturn in October, Dipali Goenka told reporters on the sidelines of a retail conference. Welspun Retail expects revenues to touch Rs1.2 billion by March 2010. In FY09 it had a turnover of Rs1.15 billion Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 1:07 am Bharati ups offer for Great Offshore; ABG may counterMUMBAI (Reuters) - ABG Shipyard on Thursday said it may counter Bharati Shipyard's sweetened offer for Great Offshore, as the battle for the oil rig and offshore platform company, valued at about $440 million, intensifies, lifting shares of all three firms.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Sep 2009 | 1:05 am Bharati ups offer for Great Offshore; ABG may counterMumbai: ABG Shipyard on Thursday said it may counter Bharati Shipyard’s sweetened offer for Great Offshore, as the battle for the oil rig and offshore platform company, valued at about $440 million, intensifies, lifting shares of all three firms. The bidding war between the shipbuilders for control of Great Offshore was kicked off early this year when Bharati made an open offer for 20% of Great Offshore after acquiring a near-15% stake. ABG Shipyard came in with a counter offer and since then the firms have raised their offers at least once. Late on Wednesday Bharati said it had raised its offer price for Great Offshore shares to Rs560, valuing the provider of oil rigs and offshore platforms at about $430 million and is almost 8% higher than ABG’s last revised price of Rs520 a share. An ABG company official, declining to be identified, told Reuters on Thursday the company was prepared to raise its offer price. Bharati bought 3.01% of Great Offshore from the open market on Wednesday through bulk deals on the BSE and NSE, taking its stake to 22.48%. NSE data also showed Videocon Industries had sold 223,600 shares in Great Offshore at about Rs557 a share. Shares in Great Offshore, which rose over 3% to a 52-week high of Rs584 earlier in the session, eased to trade 0.2% higher at Rs566.10 at 12:27 pm. Bharati shares rode up as much as 8.3%, while ABG Shipyard rose over 4% during the day. Bharati, whose original offer for Great Offshore was at Rs344, later raised it to Rs405 a share. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Sep 2009 | 1:04 am Inflation back in positive zoneIndia's inflation was 0.12 percent for the week ended Sep 5, data released by the government showed Thursday. The inflation figure has climbed back into positive territory after 13 weeks.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 17 Sep 2009 | 12:31 am Audi India targets sales of 1,500 cars this yearAudi India is targeting sales of 1,500 cars this year, an increase of over 450 from 2008, and hopes to capture 15 percent share in the domestic luxury car market.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 17 Sep 2009 | 12:01 am Advance tax numbers suggest pressure on cement cosMumbai, Sept. 16 UltraTech Cement, an Aditya Birla Group company, has skipped advance tax payment in the second quarter of this fiscal, fuelling speculation that the earnings of cement companies could come under pressure due to possibleSource: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am R&D offshoring set to pick up, says ZinnovBangalore, Sept. 16 The offshoring of R&D services to emerging countries such as India, China and Eastern Europe is expected to pick up in 2010 tracking the global economic recovery despite flattish R&D budgets.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Bharati Shipyard raises stake in Great Offshore to 22.48%The takeover battle for Great Offshore Ltd intensified further with Bharati Shipyard on Wednesday acquiring another 3 per cent stake, raising its holding in the company to 22.48 perSource: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Hanung Toys & Textiles (Rs 85.9): BuyWe recommend a buy in Hanung Toys & Textiles from a short-term perspective. It is apparent from the charts of the stock that after recording a 52-week low of Rs 24 in January, it began to trend up and has been on an intermediate-term uptrend.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am BSNL offers cheap PC, broadband for rural areasNew Delhi, Sept. 16 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has partnered HCL Infosystems to bundle a desk-top personal computer with a broadband connection for Rs 399 a month targeted at the rural users.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Apex court allows TVS to sell ‘Flame’New Delhi, Sept. 16 In a breather to two-wheeler major TVS Motor Company, the Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted it to manufacture and sell its 125-cc ‘Flame’ model motorcycles that allegedly uses the so-called ‘twin-sparkSource: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Railways to review land acquisition policyNew Delhi, Sept. 16 The Ministry of Railways, under the leadership of Ms Mamata Banerjee, has decided to avoid “forceful acquisition of land” and to “critically examine” the existing land acquisition cases.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideInitiate a fresh long position only if DLF surges above Rs 426, with tight stop-loss. The near-term outlook is positive for ICICI Bank and SBI. We recommend a buy in these two counters withSource: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am Low credit to bank performanceMumbai, Sept. 16 The financial inclusion drive by banks through the opening of ‘no-frills’ accounts leaves a lot to be desired, especially in the case of the urban poor.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am TCS eyes $700-m outsourcing deals in LatamMumbai, Sept. 16 Tata Consultancy Services is working on seven IT outsourcing deals worth over $100 million each in Latin America, a top company official said onSource: Business Line - Home Page | 17 Sep 2009 | 12:00 am ‘ACC’s expansion plans on track’New Delhi: The expansion plans of ACC Ltd, India’s largest cement maker, are on track but costs on some of the projects have been marginally higher than expected, a top official said on Thursday. “There have been some marginal cost overruns,” its managing director Sumit Banerjee told reporters at an industry conference. “Part of this increase has come from cement price increases.” He did not specifically quantify the rise in costs, although he said planned capital expenditure in 2009 would be Rs16 billion and in 2010 it would be Rs14 billion. The company had earlier said it would spend Rs29 billion in 2009 and 2010 on its expansion. ACC, in which Swiss cement firm Holcim holds over 46%, plans to expand annual capacity by a third to 30 million tonnes by 2010. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2009 | 11:42 pm Sensex starts on a highThe benchmark index of the Indian stock markets started on a high Thursday, opening above its previous close and moving up further in the first few minutes.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2009 | 11:01 pm US Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission begins probeWashington: A US financial crisis fact-finding panel will hold its first meeting on Thursday, in what may be the Obama administration’s best hope of reinvigorating a push for tougher financial regulation. The 10-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission—headed by an ex-California gubernatorial candidate—is charged with getting at the roots of the debacle that late last year brought world banks and capital markets to the brink of collapse. Some critics say the causes of the crisis are already understood, ranging from deceptive mortgage lending and reckless debt securitisation, to irresponsible banker bonuses and unpoliced over-the-counter derivatives markets. Dredging through all that again will only be a waste of time and a distraction from more urgent tasks, critics say. But it’s also true that the crisis has not yet been examined from top to bottom in a public forum by a single panel armed with the power to subpoena witnesses and documents. Key Senate and House of Representatives committees, often overwhelmed by political point-scoring and rigid ideological rhetoric, have not comprehensively tackled the task, despite the insistence of some lawmakers that it needs to be done. The bipartisan commission, say its proponents, at least has the potential to profoundly influence policy. They point at the impact in the 1930s of the so-called Pecora Commission, on which the present panel is loosely modeled. After the Wall Street Crash of 1929 that plunged the nation into the Great Depression, the Senate Banking Committee investigated, eventually hiring Ferdinand Pecora, a relentless New York assistant district attorney, to lead the probe, The hearings that followed, with Pecora himself sometimes presiding, riveted the public and exposed rampant misconduct among some of the richest and most powerful men in America. Legislation followed Pecora The Pecora Commission was followed by the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which separated commercial banking from investment banking, as well as other 1933 and 1934 laws that today form the legal basis of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Phil Angelides, former treasurer of California and failed candidate for governor in 2006 of that state, told Reuters last month in an interview that he’s no Ferdinand Pecora. But the modern-day commission he chairs will convene at a time when the Obama administration needs a spark to reignite its drive for tighter oversight of banks and capital markets. Now bogged down in Congress, financial regulation reform just six months ago appeared ready to sweep all obstacles before it, but its momentum has waned. Stiff resistance from powerful banking lobbyists has been a factor, as has the slow-walking of policy proposals by Republican opponents. The House looks set to move on several of President Barack Obama’s draft bills before the end of the year, but there is no clear path forward in the Senate, especially with the intense debate over healthcare reform holding center-stage. That could change, of course, and the commission is well-stocked with politicians and officials who know a thing or two about getting things done on Capitol Hill. Angelides’ vice chairman is former House Ways and Means Committee chairman Bill Thomas. Former senator Bob Graham is a commission member. So is Brooksley Born, who formerly chaired the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. She is well-known today for years ago calling publicly, but unsuccessfully, for regulation of OTC derivatives. Other commission members come from the business world, Wall Street and Washington think tanks. The commission is required to report its findings to Congress and Obama by 15 December 2010. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2009 | 10:38 pm Obama to reassure G20 on Wall Street reform - aideWASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will pledge U.S. action on financial regulatory reform at the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh and underscore the need for global coordination on the issue, a senior aide said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 16 Sep 2009 | 9:48 pm Asian stocks hit 13-month high on upbeat US dataHong Kong: Asian stocks hit their highest level in 13 months on Thursday and the Australian dollar surged after US economic data raised hopes that the global economic recovery was strengthening. Shares in Japan rose 1.2% as a Reuters Tankan survey showed the mood among Japanese manufacturers this month was at its highest level in a year on expectations conditions would improve in the next three months. Hopes that the pace of global economic recovery was accelerating kept the US dollar close to the one-year low it hit against a basket of currencies on Wednesday, as investors continued to buy riskier assets and higher-yielding currencies, including the Australian dollar, which hit a fresh one-year high. South Korean authorities were spotted intervening for a second day after the won hit an 11-month high at 1,204.9. Strong sales reports from the country’s top three department stores helped push the benchmark Kospi index up 0.9% although there was a note of caution from the finance ministry, which said the economy faced high uncertainty. EXPORTERS RISE Gold and oil prices steadied as the dollar stopped sliding. Gold was trading at around $1,016 after hitting an 18-month high on Wednesday but shares of gold miners were still in demand and Australia’s Newcrest Mining rose 1.6%. “Commodities are looking good again,” said Martin Angel, a dealer at Patersons Securities. “A lot of people are suggesting (gold) is a hedge against inflation, so a lot of people are looking around for gold stocks.” Oil steadied above $72 a barrel and was underpinned by data showing a much sharper-than-expected drop in US crude oil stockpiles last week. Share and commodity markets were buoyed by US data which showed industrial output in the world’s biggest economy rose for a second month in August and inflation was tame. That pushed the Dow Jones industrial average up 1.1% on Wednesday. In Asia, the MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan was up 1.3% by mid-morning on Thursday, its highest level since August last year. Winning stocks included exporters such as Japanese car maker Toyota Motor and electronics giant Sony Corp, as well as South Korea’s Hynix Semiconductor, the world’s No. 2 memory chip maker. Toyota and Sony were up 1.4 and 2.6% respectively while Hynix rose 1.7%. Shares of Australian resources shares were also boosted by optimism that global growth could be faster than forecast. Top miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto jumped 1.8% and 2.6% respectively while Australia’s biggest independent oil and gas group, Woodside Petroleum, surged 3.1%. Expected rising demand for commodities helped push the Aussie dollar past $0.8751 to a fresh one-year high while the Kiwi skirted 13-month highs at $0.7157 reached in offshore trade. China shares were 1.3% higher while Japanese government bonds retreated as Tokyo stocks gained ground -- further evidence that increasingly confident investors are moving away from safe havens into riskier assets. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2009 | 9:16 pm Oil steady above $72, inventory fall limits lossesSingapore: Oil steadied above $72 a barrel on Thursday, taking a breather after a rise of more than 2% the previous day after data showed that US crude oil inventories fell much more than expected. The stock decline, pegged to slowing imports, came a day after data from the American Petroleum Institute showed a sharp build up in gasoline and distillate stocks -- a combination that analysts say could hurt the profitability of US oil refiners. “I am bullish on oil in the long term, because this combination will pressure margins that will prompt run cuts and eventually pull down product inventories,” said Tony Nunan, risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo. And as US industrial production rose for a second straight month in August, reinforcing views the nation’s recession had ended, energy analysts said that investors’ appetite for risker assets was growing, which would eventually support oil. Nymex crude for October delivery was down 4 cents at $72.47 a barrel by 0242 GMT, after settling up $1.58 on Wednesday, when prices also got support from a weak US dollar. ICE Brent was down 6 cents at $71.61. Oil has more than doubled from this year’s low of $32.70 hit on 20 January and is trading 51% below a record high of more than $147 struck in July 2008. The market this year hit a high of $75 on 25 August. The Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday US crude stocks fell 4.7 million barrels last week, far more than the forecast for a 2.4 million decline in a Reuters poll. On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute had said crude stocks rose by 631,000 barrels last week, while distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, jumped by 5.2 million barrels, against a forecast rise of 1.3 million. Analysts said although there were no strong fundamentals to lift oil above this year’s high of $75 in the short term, a weakening dollar, buoyant stock markets and positive growth data from the United States would stem a big slide in prices. “Oil inventories are too high and demand is not too great. But we should remember that there is a big loss of confidence in the dollar and that will lend some support to oil,” Nunan added. After hitting one-year lows a day earlier, the US dollar stayed on the defensive on Thursday, as investors added long positions in commodity currencies. Commodities and equities also gained after US industrial production rose a robust 0.8% in August, boosting sentiment towards riskier assets. Tokyo’s Nikkei average rose 1.2% on Thursday. A weaker dollar can help fuel purchases of oil and other dollar-denominated commodities as they become relatively less expensive for non-dollar holding investors. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries might need to cut its oil supply next year to match an expected fall in demand for the group’s crude, an Opec delegate wrote in a Kuwaiti newspaper on Wednesday. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2009 | 9:00 pm Recovery signs raise world stocks to 11-month highBrightening signs of a global economic recovery pushed world equities to new 11-month peaks on Wednesday, with more and more investors joining the rush to sell low-yield dollars in favour of growth-oriented stocks and commodities.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 16 Sep 2009 | 4:36 pm Emerging slowly, steadilyThe 50-year-old proprietor of MG Enterprises, a Panipat-based maker of durries, or rugs, and other loom owners in this city, had borne the brunt of the global recession – especially in the panic-stricken days following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. However, export orders are now beginning to trickle in, but a full recovery and increase in employment will still take some time. Zia Haq examines...Freefall | Full coverageSource: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 16 Sep 2009 | 4:20 pm Your marketing margins are illegal: Anil to MukeshTerming the marketing margins charged by Reliance Industries on gas supplied to it as “illegal”, Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Infrastructure Ltd has asked RIL to withdraw these charges and refund the payments it had made till now.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 16 Sep 2009 | 4:18 pm MF investors get an index of their ownMutual fund investors in India can now benchmark the performance of their portfolio against the overall performance of equity mutual funds.Source: Hindustan Times News Feeds 'Business' | 16 Sep 2009 | 4:16 pm In six years, almost every Indian will own a mobileIndia's population is estimated to touch 1,280.85 million by that year. In other words, barring kids, who can't own mobiles, everyone will have a cellphone by 2015.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Sep 2009 | 4:12 pm OD-ing on realityCutthroat competition is spurring entertainment channels, including music channels, to outdo each other in the boldness of content. And nothing gets bolder than reality.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Sep 2009 | 4:04 pm The show must go onThe broadcast sector in India is in a state of flux and growth; with limitless opportunities.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Sep 2009 | 4:00 pm IT tweaks wage code as headwinds easeThere have been instances of multinational companies giving 5-15% offshore wage hikes with retrospective effect for the year and paying arrears to employees in recent months.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Sep 2009 | 3:28 pm RIL set to sell up to 2 crore treasury sharesThe transactions, steered by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, will be executed through the block-deal window of the stock exchanges.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 16 Sep 2009 | 3:26 pm India Inc settles for smaller M dealsICICI Banks Global Head (Investment Banking) Kalpesh Kikani says the time for multi-billion dollar deals is over. India Incs appetite for large deals has gone down. In any case, financing such deals would be tough, he says.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 16 Sep 2009 | 12:44 pm Kaushik Basu tipped for CEA's postKaushik Basu, the C Marks Professor of International Studies, professor of economics, and director of the Center for Analytic Economics at Cornell, has been asked informally if he would consider becoming Chief Economic Advisor (CEA), a post that will fall vacant after Arvind Virmani ends his tenure and leaves to join the International Monetary Fund at the end of the month.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 16 Sep 2009 | 12:41 pm Supreme Court raps MIDC for 'affectionate' treatment of M&MSays auto-maker got more land than it asked for its Logan factory, other claimants ignored.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 16 Sep 2009 | 12:40 pm Biyani eyes new revenue streamsFuture Group to get into talk time sales, invest in food companies, launch commodity brand.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 16 Sep 2009 | 12:38 pm US economy has bottomed out, to bounce back soon: Warren Buffett US investor Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., says that the markets are unlikely to fall any further and only a 9/11 kind of situation could rock the US economy now.  No regrets: Chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg In an exclusive interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick— marking the one-year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.—Buffett described the phone calls he got over that weekend in September 2008 as Lehman and American International Group Inc. (AIG) battled for survival. He didn’t make any deals and says he has no regrets about what he did or didn’t do. Edited excerpts: We are one year out from Lehman’s (collapse) and a lot of people are trying to figure out whether it was the right choice, whether it was the wrong choice (to let it collapse) ...What do you think? ...Lehman probably should have been—not saved, (it) isn’t the right word—but transferred in some kind of an orderly manner. I mean it was the chaos that came after the fact that it just happened and there was total disorder. And I think the trustee for Lehman has said between $50 billion (around Rs2.42 trillion today) and $75 billion at Lehman itself was lost unnecessarily because of the disorderly way that the liquidation took place. Obviously, there were a lot of calls that were going on behind the scenes at that point. Were you a part of any of those calls? Oh, I got a call. I was in Edmonton—at a social event—I was at the hotel (at) about 6 o’clock or so Edmonton time. And I did get a call from the head of Barclays—Bob Diamond—and Michael Klein, who was an investment banker. And they had just learnt apparently that the British authorities would not allow them to take over all of Lehman. This was not just the part that they took over later. But they were talking about coming in and taking over Lehman. And the British authorities had said if it involved more than £3 billion, as I remember, it needed the vote of shareholders and that couldn’t take place till sometime later, so they were asking if we would write an insurance contract that would protect everybody on the other side of trades until they got that shareholder approval. So they were looking for a solution, I can tell you, at about 8 o’clock on Saturday. And 8 o’clock in the evening. And they didn’t find one. Were you surprised? I mean, what happened? Did you turn down this offer? What happened? Well, what happened is they described the transaction to me, that I really couldn’t grasp, quickly. And so I asked them to send me a fax at the hotel. I was gonna go to the social affair that would break up around midnight. Send me a fax that explains the transaction in detail so I could understand it. Tell me how much of a limit they needed and—how much of a premium they would pay. And then I would get back to them promptly. I’d call them that night... Anyway when I got back to the hotel that night around midnight, there was no fax. Apparently, it blew up at some point in that period. What did you hear afterwards? Did they explain to you why or what? Well, no, I don’t know why they felt the transaction was unfeasible or I don’t know if (it was) for some other reason, that Barclay’s decided they couldn’t go ahead with Lehman at that point. And as you know, a few days later they actually made a transaction with the broker-dealer arrangement. But the way I understood it on Saturday at 8 o’clock New York time or so was that one of the authorities in England had ruled essentially that if it involved more than, I think, £3 billion, they couldn’t do it without shareholder approval. Did you get other phone calls that weekend? I got a lot of phone calls. I had a phone call on Friday night—late Friday afternoon—on AIG. And they were going to need many, many billions of dollars by the following Wednesday, so I went down to the office on Friday night and looked hard at whether we might possibly buy a very large property casualty operation from them. And spent a few hours then. And then I called (AIG’s CEO) Bob Willumstad and I said, “Unfortunately, I can’t do this deal. And don’t waste your time with me, so go someplace else.” Then on Sunday, after I got back from Edmonton, AIG was in the picture again and they were looking for an insurance policy in connection with an offer that was being made for AIG. I think it was by Chris Flowers (founder of private equity firm JC Flowers and Co.) and perhaps KKR (private equity firm), a few people. Right. A few people. And they said they were going to get going to a board meeting and decide whether they were going to accept this. But if they did accept it would we be good on a certain type of reinsurance transaction. I said I thought we would. But then that blew up on Sunday night, so it was a lot of action. Is this different from any time you’d ever experienced before? It was—except for the Solomon experience I had in 1991, when I was more directly involved. This was a very extraordinary weekend. What did you see in the AIG deal, in the offer there that you that you thought, “Forget about it. This is not going to work?” I just—we were talking about buying a property casualty operation that might have sold in the $25 billion range. And what I saw indicated to me I wouldn’t have wanted to pay that in the first place. And beyond that it would have required New York state insurance department approval and who knows what else. And I just—there was no way to hand a lot of money by Wednesday the next week. And in hindsight do you have any regrets about any of the decisions you made that weekend? No. I should have been probably doing other things too. No, I am glad we didn’t buy that particular insurance operation. I would have done the reinsurance transaction that was involved on Sunday night. The Lehman thing I still don’t understand, even to this day, exactly what the transaction was. No, it was—it was—it was a movie to see but not to participate in. We are one year out. Last year, what was the worst possible thing you could imagine happening that didn’t happen? Well, I think if the country and the Fed. I mean if (Federal Reserve chairman Ben) Bernanke and (former treasury secretary Henry) Paulson and whoever else was involved with the decision, if they hadn’t have stepped up to guarantee—in effect guarantee—commercial paper and guarantee the money market funds, the meltdown would have been immediate. I mean it’s hard to tell how far it would have gone. But it would have gone—it would have gone further than anybody would have wanted to see. And that—you can argue, if Bank of America hadn’t bought Merrill Lynch on Sunday, on Monday I think Merrill would have gone. And so if you had Lehman and Merrill go in the same day—who knows what would have happened. Who do you think the biggest heroes are? Well, I think... Bernanke. I think Paulson’s a hero. I think (current treasury secretary Timothy) Geithner’s a hero. You know, you can look back and say you could have done this a little differently or that a little differently, but at the time I called it an economic Pearl Harbor and in the end we got through Pearl Harbor. And and it could have turned out a lot differently. There are some people, including (bank analyst) Meredith Whitney, who say we’ve just kicked things down the road. That the banks are still struggling. That we have a lot of problems that could still come up from credit cards, from other areas, from consumers getting pinched for—needing credit. Are we through the worst of it? Oh, I think we’re certainly ...through the worst of it in residential real estate in all probability. And the reason is we’re building a lot fewer houses and we’re forming households, so that solves itself over time. Doesn’t do it in a day or a week, but it solves itself. So we’re further on that. We’re going to have unusual losses in credit cards and in commercial real estate, all of that. But we’re a lot better off than we were a year ago. I mean for one thing, some of the toxic assets have been flushed through. There’s been capital raised. There’s... We’re immeasurably better than we were a year ago. But is there a risk of a second downturn? Will unemployment levels climb to a point where it becomes a leading indicator rather than a lagging indicator? I think the odds are very much against getting significantly worse. It’s sort of plateaued at the bottom right now, but if you got some horrible exogenous event, some—some, you know, 9/11-type event or worse—you know, you could have something that would be really disruptive and start things all over again. But in terms of problems that we have identified and are working with, we’ve got more to come. But we’re past the critical point. cnbctv18@livemint.com Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2009 | 10:07 am Infosys, Wipro projects kept on hold, not scrapped: West BengalWest Bengal's ruling Left Front Wednesday said the IT township project involving giants Infosys and Wipro has only been kept on 'hold' and not cancelled.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2009 | 9:30 am RCom launches mobile numbers starting with '8'Reliance Mobile, the GSM arm of telecom operator Reliance Communication (RCom), Wednesday said it would launch a new mobile number series beginning with the digit '8' in the Delhi-National Capital Region circle.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2009 | 9:03 am Supreme court allows TVS Motor to sell Flame bikeTwo-wheeler maker TVS Motor Co Wednesday got a shot in the arm, with the Supreme Court allowing it to sell a particular model that rival Bajaj Auto had claimed was using its patented technology.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2009 | 9:02 am Yamaha launches superbike for Rs.20 lakhTwo-wheeler manufacturer Yamaha India Wednesday rolled out a super bike, VMax, priced at Rs.20 lakh.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2009 | 9:01 am Nissan Motor launches luxury sedan Teana in IndiaAuto major Nissan Motor India Wednesday launched the second generation model of its luxury sedan 'Teana' in two variants in Indian market.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2009 | 9:00 am Bharat Sanchar, HCL tie-up for rural broadband servicesState-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and software solutions provider HCL Infosystems Wednesday signed an agreement to work together on the National Broadband Penetration Programme (NBPP), a nationwide initiative to accelerate spread of information technology in rural India.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2009 | 8:31 am Tata Steel signs bonus agreement with workers' unionTata Steel management has signed a bonus agreement with employees, the company said Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 16 Sep 2009 | 8:30 am India to launch Oceansat-2 on 23 September: IsroBangalore: Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will launch Oceansat-2 satellite, which will help identify potential fishing zones and in coastal zone studies, on 23 September in a mission that would have European flavour. The 970-KG spacecraft would set-off by the home-grown Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Sriharikota spaceport on the east coast, where preparations for the launch are in full swing. “Oceansat-2 is tentatively scheduled to be launched at around noon on 23 September,” S. Satish, spokesperson of Bangalore-headquartered Isro, told PTI. The satellite is intended for identification of potential fishing zones, sea state forecasting, coastal zone studies and providing inputs for weather forecasting and climate studies. It is an in-orbit replacement to Oceansat-1, launched by Isro in May 1999 and was used to study physical and biological aspects of oceanography. “Data from Oceansat-1 (which has completed ten years of service) was widely used by fishermen,” Isro chairman G. Madhavan Nair said. Besides Isro, European space agencies would be keenly looking forward for the missions success as a set of six European nano satellites would ride piggyback and accompany Oceansat-2 on its trip to orbit. Besides two Rubin nano satellites from Germany, the four cubesats lined up for the mission are: Beesat (built by Technical University, Berlin), UWE-2 (University of Wuerzburg, Germany), ITU-pSat (Istanbul Technical University, Turkey) and SwissCube-1 (Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne, Switzerland). Oceansat-2 would carry an Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer, besides a Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric Studies (Rosa), developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Isro chief said the Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer with a ground resolution cell of 50 KMs X 50 KMs is expected to provide the wind vector range of four to 24 metres per second with better than 20% accuracy in speed and 20 degree in wind direction. The on-board Scatterometer is a very good instrument for getting surface wind on the sea. It is required for sea state forecasting. And for maritime navigation, the wave height and disturbance is also important, Nair said. The eight-band OCM is similar to the one in Oceansat-1 with appropriate spectral bandwidth modifications based on the experience gained. OCM, with 360 metres spatial resolution and a swath of 1,420kms, would provide a two-day repeativity. Since Oceansat-2 is a continuity mission to Oceansat-1, the same polar sun synchronous orbit of 720 KMs has been retained. An Isro official said Oceansat-1 essentially could look at only the colour of the ocean but the upcoming spacecraft is a comprehensive system and would look at surface winds and temperature, among other things. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2009 | 3:18 am Facebook becomes ‘cash flow positive’Washington: Facebook announced on Tuesday it was earning more money than it was spending and had signed up its 300 millionth member. Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the fast-growing social network had become “cash flow positive” last quarter, meaning that it is now earning enough to cover operating costs. “Earlier this year, we said we expected to be cash flow positive sometime in 2010, and I’m pleased to share that we achieved this milestone last quarter,” Zuckerberg said in a blog post. “This is important to us because it sets Facebook up to be a strong independent service for the long term.” Facebook’s announcement is significant in that the Palo Alto, California, company, unlike other Web giants such as Amazon, eBay, Google and Yahoo!, had yet to prove how it would translate traffic growth into cash. Zuckerberg, who created Facebook with two Harvard University roommates five years ago, did not provide any financial details but the company is believed to pull in hundreds of millions of dollars a year from advertising. The chief executive also announced that “as of today, Facebook now serves 300 million people across the world.” Facebook signed up its 200 millionth user in April. US software giant Microsoft bought a 1.6% stake in Facebook in 2007 for 240 million dollars, valuing the social network on paper at 15 billion dollars. A Russian Internet company invested $200 million in a nearly 2% stake in Facebook in May in a deal that valued the social networking giant at $10 billion. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 16 Sep 2009 | 3:00 am
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