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No plan to ban participatory notes: Govt!The government has ruled out imposing ban on participatory notes, even as market regulator SEBI is trying to bring more transparency in stock markets by encouraging foreign investors to directly register with it.Source: Zee News : Business | 18 Oct 2009 | 6:18 am Asian leaders to discuss economic ties, disasters!Closer economic ties and ways of coping better with devastating natural disasters in the region will be on the agenda as Asian leaders gather in Thailand this week, analysts and diplomats have said.Source: Zee News : Business | 18 Oct 2009 | 6:18 am One short of 100 US bank collapses; 99 bite the dust in `09!Inching towards the century-mark, a staggering 99 US banks have gone belly up so far this year, indicating that the banking sector continues to be shaky.Source: Zee News : Business | 18 Oct 2009 | 6:18 am Investors celebrate Diwali with Rs 30 lk cr gain in wealth!It has truly turned out to be a festive year for Dalal Street with investors becoming richer by nearly Rs 30 lakh crore since last Diwali, on the back of recovery in the stock market.Source: Zee News : Business | 18 Oct 2009 | 6:18 am Power tariff hike likely as NTPC mulls passing on cost burden - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 18 Oct 2009 | 4:05 am Govt forms Committee to expedite Satyam investigationNew Delhi: The government has formed a committee with representations from market regulator Sebi, CBI and Enforcement Directorate to expedite investigation in the over Rs10,000-crore accounting scam in IT firm Satyam Computer. The Coordination Committee will be headed by additional secretary in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, official sources said. “We want to finish the investigation (of the Satyam case) by the end of this year. Hence, the Coordination Committee,” an official said. Multi-disciplinary agencies have been asked to designate officers of the level of joint secretary to be part of the Coordination Committee. It is almost a year since Satyam Computer Services’ (now Mahindra Satyam) founder B Ramalinga Raju confessed to having cooked the company’s books by inflating profits. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), which was to submit its report on the money-siphoning angle on 13 October, is yet to file a chargesheet. The CBI, another agency investigating the scam, is also expected to file its second chargesheet soon. Sebi, however, said that it would complete investigation and take action against the Satyam accused latest by next year. The ED, which has attached close to 285 properties worth over Rs1,000 crore of Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju, his relatives and others on the charge of money laundering, is now probing more such assets. SFIO has already submitted a 14,000-page report on the Satyam scam to the MCA. The investigative agency in its preliminary report showed violations of various provisions of the Indian Penal Code like criminal breach of trust, forgery and cheating. However, sources say, the report does not indicate who the beneficiaries of third-party transactions, of about Rs600 crore, are. Similarly, the end use of funds raised through American Depositories Receipts worth $100 million is yet to be detected. On 7 April, CBI had filed a charge sheet against Raju and eight others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating and forgery. The CBI had submitted 1,532 original documents of bank transactions and 65,000-pages of other documents, which included the statements of 432 witnesses in the case along with the chargesheet. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 3:48 am NTPC to set up 100 MW eco-friendly plantNew Delhi: State-owned NTPC will set up a 100-MW green power plant based on synthesis gas (coal turned into gas) and would appoint consultants for the same by the end of this year. The plant will be based on Integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), which creates less pollution and has higher efficiency compared to conventional coal. “NTPC will appoint consultant for dealing with all techno-economic issues relating to 100 MW power project based on IGCC technology by December this year”, a Power Ministry source said. The project is part of NTPC’s cleaner coal drive. The technology turns coal into syngas (or synthesis gas)and removes impurities from it before it is combusted. The emerging clean coal technology is gaining importance, as coal-based thermal power plants are heavily polluting. Low-ash content coal is a prerequisite for IGCC and the technology has proved quite effective in countires where the ash content in coal is low (up to 10%). However, the technology needs to be developed further to use it in the Indian scenario where ash content in coal varies between 35-40%. The 100-MW thermal power generation project based on IGCC is aimed at adapting the new technology to Indian conditions. “If everything goes well, NTPC would award the project by October next year. The tender documents would be finalised in March next year,“ the source said. “The tender for the first phase of the project would be floated in April and would close in July next year,” he added. In the first phase, NTPC would procure and develop fluidised gasified and gas clean-up system and other required equipments of the capacity best suited for a 100 MW power plant. Under the second phase, the company would procure appropriate combined cycle gas treatment plant and integrate it with the gasifier and gas clean-up system. The IGCC technology has several advantages over the conventional pulverised coal-fired power plants. The IGCC systems can be built in modules and in a phased manner, depending on the availability of resources. The emission of oxides of nitrogen is reduced and the new system has higher efficiencies. The carbon dioxide levels are low compared to conventional coal-fired plants. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 3:38 am Indian ADRs gain $3.54 bn; Wipro leadsNew York: Indian stocks trading on American bourses gained more than $3.5 billion past week, led by software major Wipro, which alone accounted for one-third of the total gain. For the week ended 16 October, Indian entities listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq added $3.54 billion to their total market capitalisation. IT firm Wipro gained $1.3 billion with its valuation rising to $27.48 billion. Private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank together added $1.63 billion to their market-cap. While the valuation of ICICI Bank rose by $779 million to $22.55 billion, HDFC Bank’s market-cap grew by $851 million to $17.47 billion. Among the 16 companies trading that have their American Depository Receipts (ADRs) listed on the US bourses, another major gainer was copper producer Sterlite. Its valuation jumped by $548 million to $12.36 billion. Besides, Satyam Computer (now rebranded as Mahindra Satyam), too, witnessed a significant rise in its market-cap. The company saw an increase of $155 million in its valuation to $4.38 billion, while WNS Holdings added $74 million to its kitty, which swelled to $715 million. However, despite posting a collective trading gain by the ADRs of 16 Indian companies, as many as six entities witnessed a slide in their market capitalisation. IT bellwether Infosys was the biggest loser witnessing a wash out of $103 million from its valuation. Telecom firm Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and Tata Communication also saw their market-cap dwindle by $41 million and 23 million respectively. While BPO firm Genpact’s valuation fell by $60 million, auto maker Tata Motors and pharma company Dr Reddy’s valuation declined by $4 million and $17 million respectively, during the week. ADRs are bought and sold on American bourses just like stocks and are issued by banks or brokerage firms. Other ADR gainers were BPO company EXLService Holdings, Patni Computers besides, Internet firms Sify Technologies and Rediff.com. On Friday, the US markets ended in the red, with Dow Jones Industrial Average closing 67.03 points down at 9,995.91 and S&P 500 dropped by 0.81% to 1,087.68. Besides, tech heavy Nasdaq was down 16.49 points at 2,156.80. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 3:22 am Unique Identification Number could become mandatoryNew Delhi: The 16-digit Unique Identification number that the government proposes to give you could become mandatory for opening a bank account, getting your passport or even your driving licence, among others. The Unique Identification Number (UID) scheme, which is expected to roll out the first number in 12-18 months, however, will not confer on anyone any rights, including citizenship, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman Nandan Nilekani said. Stressing that the UID at present is completely voluntary, Nilekani, the Infosys co-founder who quit the IT firm to head the ambitious government project, said the number will become “pervasive and ubiquitous” in future. “When you go to get a passport, they will say where is your UID number, when you go to get a driving licence, they will say where is your UID number, when you go to tax, they will say where is your UID number, you go to open a bank account, they will say where is your UID number. Sooner or later you will have to get your UID number,” Nilekani told PTI in an interview. He said that in the coming years, all the above mentioned documents will start displaying the UID number, which proposes to weed out duplicate identities in the system, and hence the “number will become pervasive and ubiquitous. It will become embedded in all these documents.” He said, “It is not mandatory but more applications will make it a prerequisite. So sooner or later your life becomes simpler if you have the number.” Nilekani said talks are already on with various agencies and ministries and that “everybody is ready to partner with us on this and use our UID number in their database.” He said that UID will also help to check black money and result in higher tax collections as it will become difficult to have duplicate accounts. “Once the bank accounts start having the UID, then you can’t keep unaccounted money in the banking system. UID will sort of act as a check on keeping black money and all that. It will also strengthen security,” he said. Nilekani said it will take “years and not one day” for the entire process to change. He said about 600 million of the about 1.2 billion population will be covered under the project in the next five years. Asked by when could banks start having UID as a necessary feature to open accounts, he said, “that will be the choice of the individual agencies. We are providing a infrastructure. It is up to the ministry or the relevant departments to decide those things.” Explaining further, he said, “For example, RBI is the authority to decide when UID will be used for bank accounts. We are just giving this facility. So they will decide saying from this date onwards, new bank accounts must have UID. From this date, people having old bank accounts must come and upgrade with UID. These are decisions taken by them. We can’t dictate those things.” Asked how many agencies have agreed to partnering with his office, he said, “In fairness, everybody that we have met has agreed. They are all ready to come on board. All the agencies have agreed to be our partners.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 2:44 am JAL task force to tap govt-backed rehab body - mediaTOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese government task force set up to keep Japan Airlines Corp afloat has decided to tap a state-backed institution tasked with revitalising struggling companies, the Sankei newspaper reported on Sunday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 18 Oct 2009 | 2:19 am Investors celebrate Diwali with Rs 30 lk cr gain - Press Trust of India
Source: Business - Google News | 18 Oct 2009 | 2:18 am Martial Rolland | Winning inningsSoon, Switzerland may get to witness some strange customs. Like the sight of a Frenchman breaking a coconut perfectly down the middle after a puja in a factory. “I have become an expert at it and this will be a nice thing to introduce there,” says Martial Rolland, chairman and managing director of Nestle India. He has spent about 14 years in the subcontinent and now that his five-year tenure as CMD has ended, he is looking for ways to keep a little bit of the subcontinental warmth in the icy mountain air of Switzerland.  Looking back: Rolland regrets that he didn’t learn any Indian language and that he still can’t understand cricket. Jayachandran / Mint I meet Rolland on a hot August afternoon, after an unexpectedly stressful drive through mid-afternoon traffic. The sail-shaped Nestle office in Gurgaon is at the periphery of a jumble of glass-and-chrome buildings. Rolland is cheerful, relaxed, with the sleeves of his shirt rolled to the elbow, and his voice fills the large sixth floor office. He offers me Nestle’s “very, very good green tea” and orders a cup of coffee for himself. He is trying hard to be optimistic about his new assignment as vice-president, Nestle SA, where he will be in charge of Africa, West Asia, Turkey and Pakistan. He joined Nestle in 1988, a year after he completed his MBA from Indiana University in Bloomington, US. His first assignment was as area sales manager in Karnataka. Rolland’s replacement is Brazilian Antonio Helio Waszyk, who moves from Switzerland where he was the head of the food strategic business unit. Despite the comfort of having worked in two out of his four new territories, Rolland constantly comes back to how much he is going to miss India. His office overlooks the new national highway, which splices the suburb into Bharat and India. “All this,” he says, pointing to shiny, glittering Gurgaon, “came up between my first and second stints in India. I remember driving down this highway. This was a sleepy town on the way to Jaipur, the Maruti factory was the only landmark. When I came back, I couldn’t recognize the place. I was shocked at seeing all these shopping malls. So I have seen the place grow up and it is very hard to leave it,” he says.  What makes selling to the Indian consumer difficult, he says, is the fact that the “Indianization” of Bharat did not diminish our value consciousness. Now not only do we want a great new concept, we also want it at a good price. Creating that is something Nestle seems to have done right. Even with the slowdown and sluggish demand in the last year, the company has reported strong growth in the last four years, under Rolland’s stewardship. Nestle India, he says, is only reaping the benefits of its vision of creating shared value. “We have been here for a very long time, we have invested here and have a strong connect with the people here,” he says. He illustrates with the example of the dairy farmers of Punjab. In the 1980s, when the state was seized by insurgency, Nestle had a problem on its hands. The company collects milk from a large community of farmers in Punjab. If milk collection is hampered for a day or two, the farmer can find something to do with the milk, such as make khoya (reduced milk), but after that he would have a huge problem. So, despite the security risks, Nestle kept its promise and managed to maintain business as usual with the dairy farmers. The bond that was built then between the company and the farmer community is still very strong. Nestle has contributed significantly to the prosperity of villages such as Monga, near Ludhiana. Since it’s a business relationship and not a philanthropic one, it has sustained. “In a financial crisis like this, the first thing that dries up is charity. But if you have an approach of creating value through business, then it won’t go, because it is a win-win situation, you are not doling out anything,” Rolland adds. He has only two minor regrets about his India stint. One, he hasn’t learnt any Indian languages (“I follow Hindi or Kannada well enough to understand whether sales are good and to understand if the sales guy is asking the shopkeeper to tell me something I want to hear”) and two, despite 14 years of living in India and Pakistan, he hasn’t been able to understand cricket (“I always wonder about the productivity of the fielder, if the ball does not come to you, what do you do?”). He tried hard to get the senior management of Nestle to play football, but with mixed results. “There were a lot of injuries, some of the guys were very rusty and really, I think, they don’t have the passion for it as much as they do (for) cricket.” Rolland’s nine-year-old son Max is a cricket enthusiast as well. He has so far managed to stave off the nagging about the lack of cricket in Switzerland with the promise that there would be a lot of skiing there. “The children are also sad to go,” he says, “and my son knows that in Switzerland they speak this very strange language called French and he is worried he’ll be forced to learn it. I was shocked that he does not even know the word for egg in French,” he complains. One of his biggest regrets, he says, is the fact that Max and his daughter Chiara don’t speak French. But, he concedes, he is so busy with his work that he is not around much to teach them his language. He is hoping that will be one of the perks of his next assignment. Speaking of languages, Rolland narrates an incident from a training programme a few years ago. His future boss at the time wanted to meet him and asked people around how he would be able to recognize him. Don’t worry, the boss was told, Rolland is the only Frenchman who speaks English with an Indian accent. And that’s another strange thing Switzerland will soon be witness to. veena.v@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 2:03 am Microsoft's new Windows a hit, but no revolutionSEATTLE (Reuters) - Investors expecting Microsoft Corp's new operating system to juice the company's shares or spur a recovery in technology spending are likely to be disappointed, even if users embrace the new software.Source: Reuters: Money News | 18 Oct 2009 | 1:12 am Tata Daewoo ordered to recall 3,000 trucks in SKoreaSeoul: South Korean authorities have ordered Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle, an Indian-controlled joint venture here, to recall around 3,000 trucks for safety reasons, officials said Sunday. The recall was due to a problem discovered in the auxiliary part of the steering system in Tata Daewoo trucks made from 16 August, 2004 to the end of 2007, the transportation ministry said in a statement. The recall affects 3,276 vehicles, the ministry said. Free maintenance and repair services should be available to correct the safety defect at Tata Daewoo shops nationwide starting Monday, it said. Tata Daewoo was launched in 2004 when India’s top automaker, Tata Motors, purchased South Korean truck maker Daewoo Commercial Vehicle. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 12:34 am Tata Daewoo ordered to recall 3,000 trucks in SKoreaSeoul: South Korean authorities have ordered Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle, an Indian-controlled joint venture here, to recall around 3,000 trucks for safety reasons, officials said Sunday. The recall was due to a problem discovered in the auxiliary part of the steering system in Tata Daewoo trucks made from 16 August, 2004 to the end of 2007, the transportation ministry said in a statement. The recall affects 3,276 vehicles, the ministry said. Free maintenance and repair services should be available to correct the safety defect at Tata Daewoo shops nationwide starting Monday, it said. Tata Daewoo was launched in 2004 when India’s top automaker, Tata Motors, purchased South Korean truck maker Daewoo Commercial Vehicle. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 12:34 am Diwali session at Sensex ends flat on profit-bookingMumbai: Indian shares ended little changed on Saturday after a special one-hour session to mark the start of the new Hindu accounting year, as rich valuations following the market’s 80% rally this year pushed investors to cash in profits. No. 1 software-services firm Tata Consultancy Services climbed 1.6% to Rs608.65, a day after it beat forecasts with a 29% rise in quarterly net profit helped by demand from recession-hit financial customers. Declines in financials ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Housing Development Finance Corp weighed on the main index after it opened 0.7% higher. “People’s optimism about the market was reflected in the opening, but the reality that the market is overbought is what we are seeing at the close,” Arun Kejriwal, strategist at research firm KRIS, said. The 30-share BSE index ended up 0.02%, or 3.19 points, to 17,326.01 - its highest close since mid-May last year - with losers and gainers evenly matched at the end of the 60 minutes of trade that began at 7:05pm. The 50-share NSE index ended flat at 5,141.80 points. It had earlier gained nearly 1% to 17,493.17 points, its highest level in more than 17 months, as homes across Mumbai were lit in kaleidoscopic colours and firecrackers graced the evening sky to mark Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. The special session is held every year on Diwali during a period considered auspicious, following a ceremony at stock exchanges to worship the Hindu goddess of wealth, Lakshmi. “One should not be too euphoric right now. The market has already factored in a lot of the good news coming out,” said Amitabh Chakraborty, president of equities at Religare Capital. The market has more than doubled since last year’s special session, a possibility that seemed unrealistic at the time as the world financial system was haemorrhaging in the wake of the collapse of US investment bank, Lehman Brothers. The main index lost more than half its value in 2008, making it one of the worst-performing in the world. But since early March this year, it has been a riding a worldwide rally in stocks on hopes the global economy is on the steady road to recovery. “It always happens that what falls the most, rises the most. There was extreme pessimism last year,” Chakraborty said. Traders expect the good run to continue in the long term, but have warned of short-term consolidation as the rally since March has stretched valuations. The BSE index trades at 18.9 times forward earnings, much higher than benchmarks in other emerging markets such as South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand that trade at multiples of 12-16, but below the 22.2 times multiple for the Shanghai Composite Index. Brazil trades at about 16.1 times forward earnings, while Russia trades at a multiple of just 7.9. Still, a surge of liquidity flowing into emerging markets is expected to sustain the market and prevent a significant decline. Foreign funds have ploughed in more than $13.5 billion into Indian stocks this year after they withdrew about $13 billion last year. ”We could see a 15 to 20% rise by the next Diwali,” KRIS’ Kejriwal said. On Saturday, private-sector lender ICICI Bank fell 1.1% to Rs948.40, while rival HDFC Bank slid 0.9 percent to Rs1,703.40. Top mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp dropped 0.5% to Rs2,809.80 . In the broader market, advancers led losers by more than 3 to 1 on volume of 173 million shares. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 17 Oct 2009 | 11:00 pm GM CFO search complicated by U.S. pay rules - WSJCHICAGO (Reuters) - General Motors Co's bid to find an outsider to replace its chief financial officer is being complicated by pay restrictions imposed on companies that got big U.S. government bailouts, The Wall Street Journal said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Oct 2009 | 9:07 pm Chavez backs dropping U.S. dollar for oil tradeCOCHABAMBA, Bolivia (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday that countries including Venezuela, Russia and Iran had proposed the U.S. dollar should be replaced as the currency used for the oil trade.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Oct 2009 | 9:05 pm U.S. must learn to live within its means - GeithnerWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States must live within its means once its economy recovers if it is to preserve global confidence in the U.S. dollar's status, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Oct 2009 | 9:04 pm INTERVIEW - Early deal for poor states in Doha talks tough - LamyDAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Poor countries will have to wait for the Doha Round of trade talks to conclude and are unlikely to get an advanced package directed to them before then, the head of the World Trade Organisation said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Oct 2009 | 8:25 pm BSE changes in contract specifications for Index F&OThe December 2009 contract, presently expiring on December 31, 2009, will be compulsorily expired on Thursday October 29, 2009.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Oct 2009 | 9:46 am Germany says EU concerns don't endanger Opel dealBERLIN (Reuters) - Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg expressed confidence on Saturday that Germany could address EU concerns about a sale of carmaker Opel to Canada's Magna, saying they did not put the deal at risk.Source: Reuters: Money News | 17 Oct 2009 | 9:40 am Samvat 2066 positive for CSE, OMDC trading resumesThe Samvat 2066 Muhurat trading of the Calcutta Stock Exchange was firm today with the trading of Orissa Minerals Development Co Ltd resuming after 14 years.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Oct 2009 | 8:42 am Sensex closes flat in Mahurat tradingThe stock market today ended moderately higher in the first trading session of the new Samvat year 2066 as investors preferred to book profits to start their new accounts.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Oct 2009 | 8:40 am 4.5 billion euros in aid for Opel to a Magna takeoverCompetition commissioner Neelie Kroes had written to Guttenberg voicing doubts about Germany's offer to provide 4.5 billion euros in financial aid for Opel as part of the deal with Magna.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Oct 2009 | 7:43 am Talks fail as UCIL strike continues - Press Trust of India
Source: Business - Google News | 17 Oct 2009 | 7:21 am Don't play cricket on a boatPepsi has not just changed taglines like hostilities change underwear, from Nothing Official to Youngistaan. It's also changed brand ambassadors like Hefner changes Playmates -- Amitabh, SRK, John, Ranbir, Deepika and Sachin.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Oct 2009 | 4:35 am Can't beat 'em? Dupe ThemThere are two sides to an ad. The way it's made and the way it's seen. Here Pepsi explains the thought behind its latest boat ad and we get an expert view on it.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Oct 2009 | 4:32 am Apple's on a roll, but iPhone sales pivotalApple Inc is once again expected to top Wall Street's estimates when it unveils quarterly earnings next week, but it may have to beat by a lot to drive an already lofty share price higher.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 17 Oct 2009 | 3:40 am GE looking to acquire cos with energyefficient techThe global conglomerate General Electric (GE) is on the look out to acquire companies with innovative energy efficient technologies.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 17 Oct 2009 | 2:45 am
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