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Obama looking at all options for creating jobs!Prez Obama is considering all options to create jobs, including another stimulus package, while trying to pull the economy out of a deep recession.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 6:16 am Crisis shows need to right imbalances: Fed Res Chief !The financial crisis has spotlighted the importance of dealing with global imbalances in trade and capital flows, Fed Res Chief Bernanke said on Sunday.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 6:16 am British economy in for painful recovery: Report!Britain`s recovery from recession will be slow and painful, with growth unlikely to hit one percent in 2010, a report out Monday warned.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 6:16 am Google goes global with Apps, has 2 million customers!Google has said over 2mn businesses now use its online office software, and the Web search leader is going global on Monday with an advertising campaign.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 6:16 am European consumers must learn to buy responsibly: IOM!European consumers must learn to "buy responsibly" in order to help combat trafficking of migrant labour.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 6:16 am CME in informal talks to take over CBOE: Report!CME Group is in talks to take over Chicago Board Options Exchange in a deal that would value the largest US options mkt at up to USD 5bn.Source: Zee News : Business | 19 Oct 2009 | 6:16 am S.Lanka shares fall on US insider trading case - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 19 Oct 2009 | 4:15 am Oil retreats from one-year high above $79LONDON (Reuters) - Oil hit a year-high above $79 a barrel on Monday, driven by bullish sentiment across financial markets, but later slipped back as traders questioned whether ample fuel supplies justified current price levels.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Oct 2009 | 4:03 am Insider-trading accused seeks leave from ISBNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Anil Kumar, charged with other executives over the biggest hedge fund insider-trading scheme, has sought leave from the board of a top Indian business school that he helped set up.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:52 am MySQL creator: Oracle should sell MySQL to get SunOracle Corp should resolve antitrust concerns over its acquisition of Sun by committing to selling Sun's open source database MySQL.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:51 am Govt files reply to RNRL affidavit in Supreme CourtNew Delhi: The centre filed its reply to an affidavit on Monday filed by Reliance Natural Resources in the Ambani brothers’ gas dispute and said that its legal rights have been affected by the Bombay high court ruling on the matter. The government, in its affidavit filed through Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas under secretary S M Sundaram, said that its filing of Special Leave Petition in the case was justified and maintainable even if it was not a party to the case in the Bombay high court. The affidavit asserted that the central government’s legal rights were affected by the High Court judgement of 15 June, wherein the court had asked Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries to honour the commitment made in a 2005 family settlement for supply of gas to Anil Ambani group’s RNRL at a committed price of $2.34 per mmBtu. RIL, however, contends that it cannot sell the gas at a price below government-approved rate of $4.2 per mmBtu. The apex court will begin hearing tomorrow on the cross- appeals filed by the companies of the two Ambani groups as also the admissibility of the government’s petition to become a party in the matter. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:39 am Tech services: Don't bet on Indian big buysIn an industry where size matters, India's showpiece software services firms need to be bold and acquire firms or risk playing second fiddle.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:38 am Inflation data to be released monthly - Press Trust of India
Source: Business - Google News | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:33 am ANALYSIS - Indian outsourcers shy of blockbuster M&A - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:30 am Oil industry body writes to PM against AdagNew Delhi: The apex body of oil firms has petitioned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh against Anil Ambani Group’s media campaign, saying it conveyed a distorted and negative view of doing business in India and sullying the industry and its achievements. Association of Oil and Gas Operators, which was set up in 2006 and has members cutting across the E&P industry from ONGC to Reliance, on 8 October wrote to Singh taking exception to “external parties” seeking fixed returns only on investments made in producing hydrocarbons while the risk money and that spent on unsuccessful exploration was forgotten. The industry will be affected “if such a campaign creates a wrong perception and results in further creating complicating procedures, or delaying decisions,” AOGO said without naming Anil Ambani Group. Adag says it has an agreement with Reliance Industries to get gas at $2.34 per mmBtu, but the Mukesh Ambani firm says it can’t do so as the government has approved rates for its KG-D6 gas at $4.20 per mmBtu and it will not make profits at the price committed in 2005. Anil Ambani group firm RNRL had launched a media campaign in August, alleging that oil ministry was helping RIL wriggle out of the gas supply contract. “The upstream segment of the hydrocarbon industry is characterised by very high risk and cannot be judged by norms of returns or margins of manufacturing sector,” AOGO said. Adag spokesperson did not offer any comment. “Upstream operates in a market driven by volatile price regime. In the 17 year history PSC regime in India, we have sold oil above $130 as well as below $10,“ AOGO said. Price interventions by the government add additional risk factors not considered while bidding or for NELP. “The campaign conveys a distorted and negative view of doing business in India. This will adversely affect new companies coming to India as well indigenous companies from investing in the country,” it said. AOGO said the campaign would have negative effect on the bidding in the eighth round of New Exploration Licensing Policy which ended in a damp squibb four days after the receipt of the letter. “We request a very quick and time-bound and decisive action protecting the image of industry, ensuring the brand India (is) not tarnished,” it wrote. The Association raised concern over tarnishing the reputation of ministry or DGH saying technical achievements were being “sullied by external parties without any basis.” “We are also affected if such campaign creates a wrong perception and results in further creating complicating procedures or delaying decisions,” it said. “We are also affected if the number of entrants into upstream does not grow at least at the rate seen in the last few years, resulting in increase of service cost,” AOGO said. The Association sought Prime Minister’s interference in ensuring upstream growth by simplifying procedures, speedy decisions and honouring both contractual. “AOGO sometimes has a divergence of views with Petroleum Ministry and (oil regulator) DGH on many policy and procedural matters. “While we have our differences both on specific issues, as well as how to resolve the same, not once has any operator brought forward an instance or suggestion of resolving any issue by means other than professional or legal,” it said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:28 am Oil industry body writes to PM against AdagNew Delhi: The apex body of oil firms has petitioned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh against Anil Ambani Group’s media campaign, saying it conveyed a distorted and negative view of doing business in India and sullying the industry and its achievements. Association of Oil and Gas Operators, which was set up in 2006 and has members cutting across the E&P industry from ONGC to Reliance, on 8 October wrote to Singh taking exception to “external parties” seeking fixed returns only on investments made in producing hydrocarbons while the risk money and that spent on unsuccessful exploration was forgotten. The industry will be affected “if such a campaign creates a wrong perception and results in further creating complicating procedures, or delaying decisions,” AOGO said without naming Anil Ambani Group. Adag says it has an agreement with Reliance Industries to get gas at $2.34 per mmBtu, but the Mukesh Ambani firm says it can’t do so as the government has approved rates for its KG-D6 gas at $4.20 per mmBtu and it will not make profits at the price committed in 2005. Anil Ambani group firm RNRL had launched a media campaign in August, alleging that oil ministry was helping RIL wriggle out of the gas supply contract. “The upstream segment of the hydrocarbon industry is characterised by very high risk and cannot be judged by norms of returns or margins of manufacturing sector,” AOGO said. Adag spokesperson did not offer any comment. “Upstream operates in a market driven by volatile price regime. In the 17 year history PSC regime in India, we have sold oil above $130 as well as below $10,“ AOGO said. Price interventions by the government add additional risk factors not considered while bidding or for NELP. “The campaign conveys a distorted and negative view of doing business in India. This will adversely affect new companies coming to India as well indigenous companies from investing in the country,” it said. AOGO said the campaign would have negative effect on the bidding in the eighth round of New Exploration Licensing Policy which ended in a damp squibb four days after the receipt of the letter. “We request a very quick and time-bound and decisive action protecting the image of industry, ensuring the brand India (is) not tarnished,” it wrote. The Association raised concern over tarnishing the reputation of ministry or DGH saying technical achievements were being “sullied by external parties without any basis.” “We are also affected if such campaign creates a wrong perception and results in further creating complicating procedures or delaying decisions,” it said. “We are also affected if the number of entrants into upstream does not grow at least at the rate seen in the last few years, resulting in increase of service cost,” AOGO said. The Association sought Prime Minister’s interference in ensuring upstream growth by simplifying procedures, speedy decisions and honouring both contractual. “AOGO sometimes has a divergence of views with Petroleum Ministry and (oil regulator) DGH on many policy and procedural matters. “While we have our differences both on specific issues, as well as how to resolve the same, not once has any operator brought forward an instance or suggestion of resolving any issue by means other than professional or legal,” it said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:28 am Post-Diwali gold sales slow; premiums hardly movedSINGAPORE (Reuters) - Bullion holders from Indonesia cashed in their gold on Monday as the precious metal held near a record, but physical trading slowed to a trickle in Asia as the festive season ended in India, stirring price correction hopes.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:27 am FUND VIEW - First State sees value in overlooked marketsLONDON (Reuters) - Israel and South Africa offer investors an attractive alternative to India and China where stocks are expensive as a result of emerging equities becoming the fashionable asset class, First State Investments said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:25 am Govt files reply to RNRL affidavit in Supreme Court - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:02 am Kapil Sibal breaks deadlock; IIM Singapore, IIM Dubai…can now become a reality! - MBAUniverse.com
Source: Business - Google News | 19 Oct 2009 | 3:00 am Government slaps anti-dumping duty on imports of fibre board New Delhi: The government has imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of a certain type of fibre board to protect the domestic industry from cheap shipments from countries like China and Thailand. The duty ranged between $308.7 per cubic metre and $395.5 per cubic metre, the finance ministry said in a notification. Plain medium density fibre board is widely used for partitions, furnitures and cabinets. Acting on an application of domestic producers on alleged dumping of the board from China, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, the directorate general of anti-dumping and allied duties (DGAD) had carried out an anti-dumping probe and recommended the duty. The DGAD said that the domestic industry had suffered material injury due to the dumped imports of plain medium density fibre board from these countries. Unlike safeguard duty, which is levied in a uniform way, anti-dumping duty varies from product to product and country to country. Both duties are allowed under the multilateral trade rules after investigations to stand the WTO scrutiny. India has slapped anti-dumping duty on several items such as yarn, fabrics, some of the stainless steel products and chemicals imported from China and other nations. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:47 am Telenor gets nod to up Unitech stake to 74% - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:44 am Inflation data to be released monthly, instead of weeklyNew Delhi: The government on Monday approved a proposal to release wholesale prices-based inflation data on a monthly basis, instead of every week now, and changed the base year to 2004-05 from 1993-94. However, data on primary and fuel items would continue to be released on weekly basis. “The new series of WPI (Wholesale Price Index) inflation with 2004-05 as base year would be launched soon,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. The government intends to release the new series after 14 November, he said. Thus, on a consolidated basis, WPI data would come on a monthly basis. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:42 am GM has ‘plan B’ if Opel sale falls through: reportFrankfurt: US automaker General Motors has an alternative plan up its sleeve if the EU blocks the planned sale of its European unit Opel/Vauxhall, a press report said on Monday. “While the automaker continues to prefer a sale to Magna, GM executives are prepared to move to its Plan B if that deal should fall through,” the Wall Street Journal Europe said, citing people familiar with the matter. The backup plan calls for GM keeping control of Opel and implementing deeper restructuring actions than the proposed buyers, Canadian auto parts maker Magna International and Russian state-owned lender Sberbank, are planning, the report said. If forced to act alone, GM would fund the restructuring, which includes far more drastic headcount reductions, by soliciting government support or putting Opel into insolvency, the paper added. GM on 10 September announced a preliminary plan to sell a 55% stake in Opel, with GM retaining 35% and employees 10%, a deal backed by 4.5 billion euros ($6.7-billion) in state aid promised by Germany. But EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes last week questioned German public aid to support the transaction, saying there were “significant indications” that it was contingent on Magna winning the bidding for Opel. Making state aid contingent on one particular buyer gaining control of Opel would violate EU competition rules. A final deal was meant to be inked last week but has been postponed. The car maker employs some 25,000 people in Germany, about half of its total European workforce along with sister brand Vauxhall in Britain. Magna is Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:29 am ABB sees Q3 net profit of around $1 bnZurich: Swiss-based electrical engineering company ABB Group on Monday said that it expected third-quarter net profit of around $1 billion after booking charges for an alleged price fixing fine, higher taxes and restructuring costs. ABB officially announces its quarterly results on 29 October. The predicted profits would represent an increase of nearly 8% from the $927 million it earned during the July-September period of 2008. The company said that it had previously made provisions for the charges, which amount to a total of $380 million. The company said that they are related to ‘alleged anticompetitive practices’ in the power transformer market, for which it was fined by European Union, and as well the increased cost of doing business in Russia. ABB, which employs about 120,000 people worldwide, was one of six providers of power transformers fined by the EU earlier this month for agreeing not to sell their products in each other’s markets. Brussels also fined Alstom SA and Areva T&D SA of France, and Asian companies Fuji Electrics, Hitachi and Toshiba. Power transformers modify the voltage in electricity transmission networks. Concerning Russia, ABB said that its charges related to ongoing tax matters and that it was reviewing the situation and assessing its business model in Russia. Shares in ABB were up 0.4% on the Zurich exchange at 21.90 Swiss francs ($21.52). Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:28 am ABB sees Q3 net profit of around $1 bnZurich: Swiss-based electrical engineering company ABB Group on Monday said that it expected third-quarter net profit of around $1 billion after booking charges for an alleged price fixing fine, higher taxes and restructuring costs. ABB officially announces its quarterly results on 29 October. The predicted profits would represent an increase of nearly 8% from the $927 million it earned during the July-September period of 2008. The company said that it had previously made provisions for the charges, which amount to a total of $380 million. The company said that they are related to ‘alleged anticompetitive practices’ in the power transformer market, for which it was fined by European Union, and as well the increased cost of doing business in Russia. ABB, which employs about 120,000 people worldwide, was one of six providers of power transformers fined by the EU earlier this month for agreeing not to sell their products in each other’s markets. Brussels also fined Alstom SA and Areva T&D SA of France, and Asian companies Fuji Electrics, Hitachi and Toshiba. Power transformers modify the voltage in electricity transmission networks. Concerning Russia, ABB said that its charges related to ongoing tax matters and that it was reviewing the situation and assessing its business model in Russia. Shares in ABB were up 0.4% on the Zurich exchange at 21.90 Swiss francs ($21.52). Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:28 am Low carbon revolution inevitable by 2014: reportSydney: The world has five years to start a “low carbon industrial revolution” before runaway climate change becomes almost inevitable, a new report commissioned by global conservation group WWF said on Monday. Beyond 2014, the upper limits of industrial growth rates will make it impossible for market economies to meet the lower carbon targets required to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, said the report by Climate Risk Ltd, which provides assessments on climate change risk, opportunities and adaptation. Also Read | Countdown to Copenhagen A global temperature rise from carbon emissions of two degrees Celsius has been identified by scientists as presenting unacceptable risks of runaway climate change. “In highlighting the critical nature of the time constraint, the report also shows that the current emphasis on carbon price as the key element of the climate change solution is dangerously misleading,” said co-author Karl Mallon. The “Climate Solutions 2” report found market measures, such as emissions-trading schemes like the one in operation in Europe and planned by Australia, will not by themselves deliver a sufficient reduction in emissions in time. Beyond 2014, “war-footing paced interventions” could be introduced to bring about rapid transition, but the report warns against relying on such action. “We have reached a pivotal moment in our history where the window of opportunity which remains to prevent runaway climate change will soon disappear entirely,” said Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF’s Global Climate Initiative. UN climate talks on expanding the fight against global warming have largely stalled ahead of a major climate summit in Copenhagen 7-18 December aimed at forging a new deal to extend or replace the Kyoto Protocol after 2012. Currently, emissions reduction targets are far below the 25-40% cut from 1990 levels by 2020 the UN climate panel says is needed to limit the growth of carbon in the atmosphere. Clean industrial revolution The WWF report called for simultaneous action on greenhouse emissions from all sectors, using market measures and other policies such as energy efficiency standards, feed-in tariffs for renewable energy and an end to subsidies for fossil fuel use. “The transformation will require sustained growth in clean and efficient industry in excess of 20% a year over a period of decades,” Carstensen said in a statement. “The report’s modelling shows how we can sustain these growth rates but also makes it clear this will be the fastest industrial revolution witnessed in our history.” Industries that will lead the transformation are renewable energy, carbon capture and storage, energy efficiency, low-carbon agriculture and sustainable forestry, said the report. A “clean industrial revolution” could see renewable energies become competitive with fossil fuels between 2013 and 2025 based on a two percent annual rise in fossil fuel prices and no price on carbon, it said. “The wind, the sea and the sun will cost the same today, tomorrow and into the future, unlike coal,” said Stephan Singer, who leads WWF’s Global Energy Initiative. The report calculates an extra $17 trillion would need to be invested up to 2050, or less than 15% of funds managed by institutional investors, to transform industry. It forecast investment returns from 2027 or earlier. “The basis for this transformation has to be laid in Copenhagen in December with a fair, binding and effective new global deal on climate change,” said Carstensen. “The time for playing politics with our future is long past.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:28 am ABB sees Q3 net profit of around $1 bnZurich: Swiss-based electrical engineering company ABB Group on Monday said that it expected third-quarter net profit of around $1 billion after booking charges for an alleged price fixing fine, higher taxes and restructuring costs. ABB officially announces its quarterly results on 29 October. The predicted profits would represent an increase of nearly 8% from the $927 million it earned during the July-September period of 2008. The company said that it had previously made provisions for the charges, which amount to a total of $380 million. The company said that they are related to ‘alleged anticompetitive practices’ in the power transformer market, for which it was fined by European Union, and as well the increased cost of doing business in Russia. ABB, which employs about 120,000 people worldwide, was one of six providers of power transformers fined by the EU earlier this month for agreeing not to sell their products in each other’s markets. Brussels also fined Alstom SA and Areva T&D SA of France, and Asian companies Fuji Electrics, Hitachi and Toshiba. Power transformers modify the voltage in electricity transmission networks. Concerning Russia, ABB said that its charges related to ongoing tax matters and that it was reviewing the situation and assessing its business model in Russia. Shares in ABB were up 0.4% on the Zurich exchange at 21.90 Swiss francs ($21.52). Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:28 am Govt approves NTPC stake sale, Telenor investmentNEW DELHI (Reuters) – The cabinet on Monday approved a 5 percent stake sale in state-run power producer NTPC Ltd, a minister said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:20 am Inflation data to be released monthly, instead of weeklyThe government today approved a proposal to release wholesale prices-based inflation data on a monthly basis, instead of every week.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:19 am Government approves 10% divestment in SJVN New Delhi: The government on Monday approved sale of its 10% stake in Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), the utility engaged in hydropower generation. “The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved 10% disinvestment in SJVN,” commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma told reporters after the CCEA meeting. SJVN is a joint venture between the Centre and the Himachal Pradesh government. The Centre holds 75% stake in the JV, while the rest is owned by the state government. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:12 am Govt says to keep food prices under controlNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government is confident of controlling prices of essential food items by ensuring adequate supplies, Trade Minister Anand Sharma told reporters on Monday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:11 am U.S. bank failure tally hits 99 for 2009On Friday regulators closed San Joaquin Bank of Bakersfield, California. It was the 99th U.S. bank failure of 2009.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:01 am Cabinet OKs release of new monthly inflation dataNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The cabinet on Monday approved release of new monthly inflation data with 2004 as the base year, Trade Minister Anand Sharma said, in line with global best practices.Source: Reuters: Money News | 19 Oct 2009 | 2:00 am NTPC stake sale gets Cabinet approvalNew Delhi: India’s cabinet on Monday approved a 5% stake sale in state-run power producer NTPC Ltd, a minister said. Trade minister Anand Sharma also told reporters the cabinet approved a proposal to allow Norway’s Telenor to raise its stake in India’s Unitech Wireless, a unit of realty firm Unitech. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 1:59 am NTPC stake sale gets Cabinet approvalNew Delhi: India’s cabinet on Monday approved a 5% stake sale in state-run power producer NTPC Ltd, a minister said. Trade minister Anand Sharma also told reporters the cabinet approved a proposal to allow Norway’s Telenor to raise its stake in India’s Unitech Wireless, a unit of realty firm Unitech. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 1:59 am GE, Vivendi $500 million apart on NBCU value: ReportSpeculation has risen in recent weeks that Vivendi will sell its 20% NBCU stake.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Oct 2009 | 1:58 am Scandal hits corporate role models IBM, McKinseyIBM, known for its conservative management, found itself entangled in the largest ever hedge fund insider-trading scheme involving Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Oct 2009 | 1:53 am Oil steadies after 1-year high above $79U.S. earnings results could again be a key driver of oil prices this week with a spate of earnings from bellwethers including Apple Inc and Caterpillar Inc.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 19 Oct 2009 | 1:47 am Wal-Mart attacks new markets with big price cutsSan Francisco: Wal-Mart Stores Inc is taking its ferocious price cutting into new markets as the economy shows hints of recovery. In the past year, the discount behemoth has been more focused on markdowns for necessities such as food that drove sales in the downturn. But now its aggressive strategy is spreading rapidly to other goods being sold online as well as in the company’s stores. In the past month, Wal-Mart has started selling more than 100 toys for $10 each and rolled out nationally a wireless service priced well below competitors. This Thursday, Walmart.com cut prices on 10 yet-to-be- released hardcover books to $10 each, igniting a price war with online giant Amazon.com. After both online retailers then cut their prices on those highly anticipated books to $9 each, late on Friday Walmart.com shaved a penny off that price and was selling titles such as Sarah Palin’s ”Going Rogue: An American Life” for $8.99 each -- discounts of nearly 60% or more off the cover price. Prices could fall further. Walmart.com said it would adjust its pricing as needed to ensure it offered the lowest prices on its top 10 pre-selling books. The moves show Wal-Mart is seeking new areas to dominate after more than a year during which the world’s largest retailer benefited from selling low-priced food and medicine. “Clearly they are more aggressive and they will cede no ground to the competition, whether it’s the Best Buy’s of the world, or Toys “R” Us or ... Amazon,” said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners. ”Any competitor that underestimates Wal-Mart, does so at its own peril.” While Wal-Mart is testing the mettle of its competitors, it also faces a test of its own -- showing the upgrades it is making to its U.S. business can help it retain newly won market share even after the economy improves. Wal-Mart is holding an analyst meeting 21and 22 October and Wall Street wants to hear how its sales performed in August and September, when many retailers noted improving trends. “Given sequential up-ticks in traffic at peers Costco and Target as well as department store retailer Kohl’s during August/September, the question looms whether Wal-Mart saw similar gains or donated share,” wrote JP Morgan analyst Charles Grom in a research note. SEEKING ONLINE DOMINANCE The longest recession since the Great Depression has been a boon for Wal-Mart as shoppers trade down and look for deals. While many retailers have seen sales slide and others, such as Circuit City, filed for bankruptcy, Wal-Mart has lured shoppers with discounted food, medicine and consumer electronics. Johnson estimates that, since January, Wal-Mart’s share of the US retail market has risen 0.85 percentage points to 11.3% -- a ”huge increase ... given the glacial changes that occur at the macro level.” Wal-Mart is known for being ferociously competitive. While Johnson said Wal-Mart is the No 1 US toy and food retailer, he said it won those spots by wrecking havoc in those sectors. For instance, price wars among toy sellers in the mid-2000s led to bankruptcy for FAO Inc, parent of the upscale FAO Schwarz toy stores, and KB Toys. Most recently, food retailers like Safeway Inc and Target Corp are working to convince shoppers their prices are as low Wal-Mart’s. Wal-Mart is flexing its muscles online in particular. At the end of August, Walmart.com said it would allow select retailers to sell goods on its site -- a tactic used by Amazon.com Inc. This week, it also announced home delivery of health and beauty items. Walmart.com CEO Raul Vazquez told Reuters on Tuesday its aim is to be the biggest and most valued online retail site. “In a few months, whenever someone thinks about buying diapers -- in the same way they think about going to a Wal-Mart in the physical world -- they will think about going to Walmart.com,” he said. “Eventually, we’ll be the biggest in sales and the biggest in mind-share and all of those other things that we’ve established in the offline world.” Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst with Forrester Research, downplayed the importance of book price wars, saying they represent a small slice of the merchandise that Amazon sells. But she said Amazon would not back down if Walmart.com continues to try to steal its market share. ”If they see anybody encroaching ... they become extremely aggressive to try to protect their turf,” she added. Amazon.com did not respond to a request for comment. WIRELESS SHOWDOWN Meanwhile, Wal-Mart said this week it would expand to more than 3,200 stores a mobile service plan, developed with TracFone Wireless Inc, the US unit of Mexican cellphone giant America Movil. The TracFone offering includes a $30 prepaid plan for 1,000 minutes -- a price that analysts said threatened to hurt profit margins across the US wireless sector. The move comes as Wal-Mart has infused its merchandise selection with brand name or exclusive products, such as Apple Inc’s iPod and a Miley Cyrus clothing line. It said the new products are building loyalty among its core lower- income shoppers and the higher-income ones that are trying shopping in its stores for the first time. Sarah Henry, a retail analyst at MFC Global Investment Management said Wall Street remains divided over which class of consumer is driving Wal-Mart’s market share gains. Either way, with economists forecasting the US recession may have ended in the third quarter, Henry said Wal-Mart needs to show that, as shoppers once again buy discretionary products, they will choose to do so in its stores. If they can “hang on to that new traffic that’s come in to their stores and that leaks over to the their higher-margin sales, that will be huge for them in terms of beating expectations, raising guidance,” she added. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 1:38 am Wal-Mart attacks new markets with big price cutsSan Francisco: Wal-Mart Stores Inc is taking its ferocious price cutting into new markets as the economy shows hints of recovery. In the past year, the discount behemoth has been more focused on markdowns for necessities such as food that drove sales in the downturn. But now its aggressive strategy is spreading rapidly to other goods being sold online as well as in the company’s stores. In the past month, Wal-Mart has started selling more than 100 toys for $10 each and rolled out nationally a wireless service priced well below competitors. This Thursday, Walmart.com cut prices on 10 yet-to-be- released hardcover books to $10 each, igniting a price war with online giant Amazon.com. After both online retailers then cut their prices on those highly anticipated books to $9 each, late on Friday Walmart.com shaved a penny off that price and was selling titles such as Sarah Palin’s ”Going Rogue: An American Life” for $8.99 each -- discounts of nearly 60% or more off the cover price. Prices could fall further. Walmart.com said it would adjust its pricing as needed to ensure it offered the lowest prices on its top 10 pre-selling books. The moves show Wal-Mart is seeking new areas to dominate after more than a year during which the world’s largest retailer benefited from selling low-priced food and medicine. “Clearly they are more aggressive and they will cede no ground to the competition, whether it’s the Best Buy’s of the world, or Toys “R” Us or ... Amazon,” said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners. ”Any competitor that underestimates Wal-Mart, does so at its own peril.” While Wal-Mart is testing the mettle of its competitors, it also faces a test of its own -- showing the upgrades it is making to its U.S. business can help it retain newly won market share even after the economy improves. Wal-Mart is holding an analyst meeting 21and 22 October and Wall Street wants to hear how its sales performed in August and September, when many retailers noted improving trends. “Given sequential up-ticks in traffic at peers Costco and Target as well as department store retailer Kohl’s during August/September, the question looms whether Wal-Mart saw similar gains or donated share,” wrote JP Morgan analyst Charles Grom in a research note. SEEKING ONLINE DOMINANCE The longest recession since the Great Depression has been a boon for Wal-Mart as shoppers trade down and look for deals. While many retailers have seen sales slide and others, such as Circuit City, filed for bankruptcy, Wal-Mart has lured shoppers with discounted food, medicine and consumer electronics. Johnson estimates that, since January, Wal-Mart’s share of the US retail market has risen 0.85 percentage points to 11.3% -- a ”huge increase ... given the glacial changes that occur at the macro level.” Wal-Mart is known for being ferociously competitive. While Johnson said Wal-Mart is the No 1 US toy and food retailer, he said it won those spots by wrecking havoc in those sectors. For instance, price wars among toy sellers in the mid-2000s led to bankruptcy for FAO Inc, parent of the upscale FAO Schwarz toy stores, and KB Toys. Most recently, food retailers like Safeway Inc and Target Corp are working to convince shoppers their prices are as low Wal-Mart’s. Wal-Mart is flexing its muscles online in particular. At the end of August, Walmart.com said it would allow select retailers to sell goods on its site -- a tactic used by Amazon.com Inc. This week, it also announced home delivery of health and beauty items. Walmart.com CEO Raul Vazquez told Reuters on Tuesday its aim is to be the biggest and most valued online retail site. “In a few months, whenever someone thinks about buying diapers -- in the same way they think about going to a Wal-Mart in the physical world -- they will think about going to Walmart.com,” he said. “Eventually, we’ll be the biggest in sales and the biggest in mind-share and all of those other things that we’ve established in the offline world.” Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst with Forrester Research, downplayed the importance of book price wars, saying they represent a small slice of the merchandise that Amazon sells. But she said Amazon would not back down if Walmart.com continues to try to steal its market share. ”If they see anybody encroaching ... they become extremely aggressive to try to protect their turf,” she added. Amazon.com did not respond to a request for comment. WIRELESS SHOWDOWN Meanwhile, Wal-Mart said this week it would expand to more than 3,200 stores a mobile service plan, developed with TracFone Wireless Inc, the US unit of Mexican cellphone giant America Movil. The TracFone offering includes a $30 prepaid plan for 1,000 minutes -- a price that analysts said threatened to hurt profit margins across the US wireless sector. The move comes as Wal-Mart has infused its merchandise selection with brand name or exclusive products, such as Apple Inc’s iPod and a Miley Cyrus clothing line. It said the new products are building loyalty among its core lower- income shoppers and the higher-income ones that are trying shopping in its stores for the first time. Sarah Henry, a retail analyst at MFC Global Investment Management said Wall Street remains divided over which class of consumer is driving Wal-Mart’s market share gains. Either way, with economists forecasting the US recession may have ended in the third quarter, Henry said Wal-Mart needs to show that, as shoppers once again buy discretionary products, they will choose to do so in its stores. If they can “hang on to that new traffic that’s come in to their stores and that leaks over to the their higher-margin sales, that will be huge for them in terms of beating expectations, raising guidance,” she added. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 1:38 am India announces $20,000 to anti-doping funds ahead of CWG New Delhi: Gearing up to host the Commonwealth Games (CWG) next year, India has reinforced its commitment to check doping in the event and has contributed $20,000 to the International Fund for the Elimination of Doping in Sports. India, in 2007, ratified the International Convention against Doping in Sport, which has been developed by UNESCO. There are 105 other countries signatory to the convention. The human resource development ministry coordinates with UNESCO on international cooperation on the issue. “Given India’s commitment to the international campaign against doping in sports, it has announced a contribution of $20,000 to the International Fund for the Elimination of Doping in Sports,” a ministry source said. The convention helps formalise global anti-doping rules, policies and guidelines in order to provide an equitable playing environment for all athletes. The convention also aims to ensure the effectiveness of the World Anti-Doping Code in international law, creating obligations on nations to take steps in accordance with its principles. Under the convention, the government will need to take specific action to restrict the availability of prohibited substances to athletes, including measures against trafficking and withhold financial support to athletes and support personnel who commit any anti-doping code violation. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 1:29 am US aircraft forced to land over an airspace violation at Mumbai - PunjabNewsline.com
Source: Business - Google News | 19 Oct 2009 | 12:54 am Developed nations should lead in combating climate change: Azad Beijing: India has asked developing countries to maintain steadfast unity on the issue of climate change to ensure that developed nations take due responsibility for scaling down greenhouse gas emissions. With the world gearing up to meet for a major climate summit in Copenhagen this December, union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that developing countries were not responsible for concentration of green house gases in the atmosphere and hence Western nations should take lead in combating climate change. Azad said that the countries of the ‘south’, whose per capita emissions are still very low, should unite to ensure that these obligations are met by the developed countries. “We, the countries of the south should maintain steadfast unity to ensure that these obligations are met by the developed countries,” he said while addressing the 5th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSHR). “The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has specifically recognised that parties should take action to protect the climate system on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities,” he said. He said that accordingly the developed country parties should take the lead in combating climate change and the adverse effects thereof. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 12:52 am Language translation industry set for big growth in IndiaChennai: Despite global recession, the $500 million Indian language translation sector,a sunrise industry, is likely to take off in a big way in the next three years, trade sources feel. The Asian language translation market revenue accounted for $1312 million in 2008 and is projected to reach $1410 million in 2009 and touch $1516 million in 2010, according to Research and Consulting firm, Common Services Advisory. The Indian translation market is poised for big growth as it is regarded as a great consumer base and especially as more and more multinational companies are setting shop here and the need to speak the language of the local populace is being felt more strongly than ever before, the sources said. Currently Indian language market size might be estimated at “approximate value” of $500 million, Chinmayi Sripada, CEO of Chennai-based Blue Elephant, a leading language translation service provider, told PTI. The estimate was based assuming India’s share at 5% of the global market as per the growth pattern projected by Common Sense Advisory and also Nasscom reports that India was sharing 5.2% of the Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) market, she said. She feels the language translation market has not yet hit boom time.“It is still classified as a sun-rise industry and I think the boom will happen perhaps in the next three years.’ Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 19 Oct 2009 | 12:34 am Gold futures may correct lowerComex gold futures ended lower due to profit-taking amid a strengthening dollar. The dollar rose on the back of safe-haven buying as equities resulted in profit-taking.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am Sept quarter scorecard: So far, so goodBL Research Bureau Are the worst of the growth pangs over for India Inc?Source: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am MS Windows: And now comes SevenChennai/New Delhi, Oct. 18 In science, sunlight is said to comprise seven colours. In technology, digital clocks use the seven-segment display method to show you numbers. In mythology, the seven seas, seven worlds, seven Rishis, seven hills andSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am Liquidity flow to set direction of benchmarksThis week, the flow of fresh liquidity or the absence of it would make a difference on valuations. At the macro level, any meaningful correction may be deferred in the short-term if fresh flows continue to prop up demand for equities. At a microSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am Further profit taking in gold possible; crude looks firmThe price performance of commodity markets continues to remain attractive for investors. Last week saw gains, especially on the crude front. The macro-economic environment presents a positive picture. There are indications of the beginning of aSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am Voith in talks with Tatas for sourcing diesel loco enginesRecently in Kiel (Germany) The locomotive manufacturing division of Voith AG of Germany is in talks with the Tata group for sourcing diesel engines forSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am ISRO, Environment Ministry tie up to study climate change issuesThe Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has partnered with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to set up a national institute of climate and environment (NICE) in Bangalore to study climate change issues.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am CAT: The final lap beginsTraining institutes across the country have changed their training methods and installed new infrastructure to help over two lakh students across the country prepare for the first-ever computer-based CAT (Common Admission Test) which is theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am Fed called to accountIn the US, there has always been a constructive tension between the Federal Reserve and the legislators, who are jealous of its powers. The central bank, created in 1913, is seen as exercising powers far beyond what was originally envisaged. It notSource: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am Govt plans to sell 5 lt wheat in open marketChennai, Oct. 18 The Centre has fixed wheat prices between Rs 1,379.7 and Rs 1,728.23 a quintal for sale from the stocks it is holding in the open market.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 19 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am Oil steadies after 1-year high above $79Perth: Oil prices steadied after hitting a 12-month high above $79 a barrel on Monday, taking a break from seven straight sessions of gains to see if corporate results continue to point to a strong global economic recovery. US earnings results could again be a key driver of oil prices this week with a spate of earnings from bellwethers including Apple Inc and Caterpillar Inc, after strong results lifted commodities across the board last week. On Friday weak numbers from General Electric and Bank of America again clouded the economic outlook and may spur profit taking from oil’s recent rally. US crude for November delivery touched a fresh high of $79.05 in early trading, but pared some gains to be up 4 cents at $78.57 a barrel by 10:44am. London Brent crude crept up 6 cents to $77.05. “Oil prices are now trading at very high levels considering the fact that we’re still seeing very high stockpiles in the US,” said David Moore, a commodities analyst at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. “Crude may trade sideways today, getting direction from the U.S. dollar and the equities market.” The US dollar index rose 0.3% against a basket of currencies to 75.848 points on Monday, with the yen holding near a 3-week low against the greenback. A positive economic outlook from China, the world’s second-largest energy consumer, lent some support to oil prices on Monday. China’s gross domestic product grew more than 7% in the first nine months, a senior official from the National Development and Reform Commission said on Monday, adding that the country would have no difficulty reaching the government’s full-year GDP growth target of 8%. At least some of the recent gains come from speculative flows, with money managers hiking net long crude oil positions on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the week to 13 October, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in a report on Friday. On the economic front, investors will scrutinise reports on September housing starts due on Tuesday and September existing home sales due on Friday. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 11:07 pm Watch/listen: Mint in multimedia, 19 OctoberVideo story: Cook stuffed chicken in mushroom sauce To make a mouth watering Italian dish, try this recipe of stuffed chicken, a favourite at Terrior, the Galaxy, Gurgaon Audio story: Kerala wants to mine sand from sea Listen to Thrivikramji, a geology professor at University of Kerala, talk about why Kerala should in fact resort to sand mining Video story: Taking stock Ramesh Sadhwani of Angel broking says he expects the Sensex to be in the range of 16,500 - 17,735 in the next couple of weeks Slideshow: IndiGo profits from cost cuts Click here to view a slideshow in IndiGo’s cost cutting measures Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 10:43 pm Google goes global with apps, has 2 mn customersSan Francisco: Google Inc said more than 2 million businesses now use its online office software, and the Web search leader is going global on Monday with an advertising campaign to lure customers away from Microsoft Corp and IBM products. The campaign, which starts Monday in countries including France, Japan and Britain, represents a rare foray by Google into mass-market advertising and underscores increasing competition to provide businesses with email and other office software. While Microsoft and International Business Machines Corp dominate the market for enterprise email, Google is trying to convince businesses to switch to its so-called cloud-based services, in which software is accessed over the Internet and maintained at Google’s data centers instead of on a company’s computers. Cloud-based services can provide cost and maintenance savings over traditional software, though recent high-profile outages -- including an outage of Google’s Gmail last month -- have raised questions about the reliability of online software for business users. Gartner analyst Tom Austin said most businesses will eventually switch to cloud-based email, but the process may take years. He noted IBM and Microsoft have introduced cloud products recently, and that Cisco Systems Inc appears to be preparing to offer its own cloud-based software. On Thursday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told investors during the company’s quarterly earnings conference call he intended to boost investments in new business initiatives. Google’s Apps business -- which the company has said is profitable and generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue a year -- is a tiny portion of Google’s overall business, which yielded almost $22 billion revenue last year. According to spokesman Andrew Kovacs, its Apps team has doubled over the past year to more than 1,000 employees. Google said Apps is used by 2 million businesses, up from 1.75 million in June. Those include both larger businesses that pay $50 a year per user for Apps, as well as firms with fewer than 50 employees that get the software for free. The company also said there are now 20 million active users of Google Apps, up from 15 million in June, although that number included students who use the free version Google provides to universities. Google’s marketing campaign, which it first rolled out in the United States in August, will feature ads in publications such as The New York Times, Forbes and The Economist, as well as on billboards at airports and train stations in various cities. Google Enterprise Product Marketing Director Tom Oliveri would not say how much Google is spending on the campaign, which runs through 2009. He said the creative part of the campaign was designed in-house by the Google Creative Lab team led by former Ogilvy & Mather executive Andy Berndt. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 10:31 pm ECGC planning to expand overseas, to open four officesExport credit insurer, ECGC, is looking at expanding its operations in overseas markets and has identified four destinations to open its offices, a top company official said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Oct 2009 | 10:30 pm Crisis shows need to right imbalances: Ben BernankeUS officials have sought to pressure China, which has a massive trade surplus with the United States, to allow the value of its yuan currency to appreciate against the dollar.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Oct 2009 | 10:15 pm Battle for Asarco to face key test in Texas courtBROWNSVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - India's Sterlite Industries and Grupo Mexico SAB de CV will head to court on Monday to begin the final stage of their year-long face off for control of bankrupt U.S. copper miner Asarco.Source: Reuters: Money News | 18 Oct 2009 | 10:05 pm Google goes global with Apps, has 2 million customersSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc said more than 2 million businesses now use its online office software, and the Web search leader is going global on Monday with an advertising campaign to lure customers away from Microsoft Corp and IBM products.Source: Reuters: Money News | 18 Oct 2009 | 10:03 pm Crisis shows need to right imbalances - BernankeSANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Reuters) - The financial crisis has spotlighted the importance of dealing with global imbalances in trade and capital flows, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Sunday at a Fed conference on Asia.Source: Reuters: Money News | 18 Oct 2009 | 9:39 pm Asia shares slip on earnings bluesHong Kong: Asian shares pulled further away from 14-month peaks on Monday after disappointing earnings from US corporate bellwethers such as General Electric Co spurred some investors to take profits. The dollar edged up, thanks mainly to a retreat in the euro as European policymakers voiced some concerns that the single currency’s surge is approaching levels that would damage the euro zone’s recovery. Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said he was concerned about a continuous euro rise. The US currency’s gains helped nudge gold and oil prices lower, though activity was limited as investors focused on what the next batch of quarterly earnings will say about how companies are managing the recovery from the deepest global recession in decades. Some 135 of the companies in the S&P 500 will report quarterly results this week, with the battered financial sector expected to post the highest growth rate, according to Thomson Reuters data. “What we’re seeing is just profit-taking, with Wall Street’s Friday fall providing the excuse, along with a sense that the market may have risen too far, too fast,” said Noritsugu Hirakawa, a strategist at Okasan Securities in Tokyo. The benchmark MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.6%, tracking a 0.8% drop in the S&P 500 on Friday, but was not far from its 14-month peak hit on Thursday. Asia ex-Japan shares remain among the top performers in the world as the region has powered out of the recession the strongest, while its major companies have benefitted from a pick-up in demand for electronics. The Thomson Reuters index of Asia ex-Japan shares slipped 0.7%. The latest run higher in stocks has been accompanied by an investor shift into Asian fixed-income and credit markets that has pushed spreads tighter, prompting issuers to roll out new bonds to take advantage of attractive funding levels. The iTraxx credit derivatives index of top Asian companies was quoted at 96.7 basis points after shrinking below the 100 basis points threshold last week for the first time in 17 months, underscoring the strong demand for higher yields. In currencies, the euro slipped 0.2% to $1.4858 and shed 0.3% against the yen to 135.10 yen The dollar index, a gauge of its performance against six major currencies, rose 0.2% to 75.771. The dollar’s slight rise put pressure on commodities. US crude oil prices were steady at $78.53 a barrel after hitting a 12-month high of $79.05 in early trade, while gold shed 10 cents an ounce to $1,050.70 Government bonds were mixed and swap rates fell in some countries after having surged in Australia, New Zealand and South Korea last week on expectations that their respective central banks will be lifting interest rates in coming months. The five-year Korean swap rate dipped 2 basis points to 4.57% after reaching 4.60% on Friday, a one-year high. The five-year Australian swap rate dropped 8 basis points to 5.97%, off a one-year peak of 6.12%. Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor Philip Lowe said that it was appropriate for the central bank to go back to a more normal monetary policy setting, reinforcing expectations another rate hike is coming in November. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 9:17 pm Voith in talks with Tatas for JV, to expand India ops - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 18 Oct 2009 | 5:37 pm Nuclear power: The consumer always pays - guardian.co.uk
Source: Business - Google News | 18 Oct 2009 | 5:09 pm Festive season sales push up retail targets - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 18 Oct 2009 | 1:28 pm Countdown to Copenhagen sparks flurry of meetingsNew Delhi: With less than 50 days left for about 190 countries to try and hammer out a global climate-change agreement, the flurry of meetings, summits and statements reflect the urgency with which governments view the United Nations Climate Change Conference that will be held in Copenhagen from 7-18 December. The sense that time may be running out has given a keener edge to the debates and discussions that are going on across the world as the scene of action shifts to the Indian capital this week.  Jairam Ramesh, environment minister, has told Mint that even if an accord does not happen at Copenhagen, smaller agreements on other issues of climate change such as forestry and technology are very much possible. But no breakthrough on either emission reduction or financing and technology assistance has taken place yet, which has deepened the distrust between industrialized and developing nations. Todd Stern, the US special envoy for climate change, speaking ahead of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) on energy and climate being held in London on Sunday and Monday, said that “major emerging economies (such as India) were taking or (are) poised to take significant steps”, without giving details. MEF is a grouping of 17 of the world’s largest economies, a group initiated by former US president George W. Bush, and promoted by his successor Barack Obama. The group, which includes India, negotiates outside the legally binding United Nations Framework on Climate Change to enhance political dialogue. “What we need to have happen is for China and India and Brazil and South Africa and others to be willing to take what they’re doing, boost it up some, and then be willing to put it into an international agreement,” Stern said. While calling for “significant actions” from such countries, he said that this would make a deal possible in December. After Monday, the action will shift to Delhi, where China and India are poised to sign a cooperation deal on Wednesday on each other’s domestic plans on climate change. Apart from this, environment ministers from all over the world will meet on Thursday and Friday at a two-day high-level conference in Delhi on Climate Change: Technology Development and Transfer, which will be jointly held by the Indian government and the United Nations department of economic and social affairs. The participants at the meetings, aimed at facilitating a successful outcome in Copenhagen, will include government officials, experts and representatives of industry and civil society. More specifically, it will seek to aid understanding on key actions needed to accelerate technology development and transfer in all countries in accordance with their national needs, develop institutional and business models of development and deployment, and enhance the scope for cooperation on research and development. “There is the possibility for a political statement at the end of the high-level meeting and a draft is at present being circulated among all the parties,” said a government official, who did not want to be identified. AFP contributed to this story. padmaparna.g@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 1:19 pm Mall developers rebuild their hopes on housing projectsWith declining demand making commercial projects increasingly unviable, a host of developers are busy converting mall projects into residential ones.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 18 Oct 2009 | 1:11 pm Govt orders audits of IT firms for possible STPI Act violationsThe principle suspicion is that several companies have claimed tax breaks on software exports without actual service delivery, prompting the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) under Salman Khurshid to take action to prevent Satyam-like frauds from recurring.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 18 Oct 2009 | 1:10 pm ISB asks Kumar to step down voluntarilyThe Galleon hedge fund fraud, the largest insider trading scandal in US history, has had a fallout in India with McKinsey Director Anil Kumar, one of the six accused in the case, being asked to step down voluntarily from the board of Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB) today.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 18 Oct 2009 | 1:08 pm CBDT to relook at MAT, tax on savingsThe Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the governments apex tax policy and collection body, has suggested that the new direct taxes code abolish Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) and continue to offer individuals tax exemptions on savings under the existing EEE (exempt-exempt-exempt) method.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 18 Oct 2009 | 1:06 pm RBS plans up to £5 million bonus: reportLondon: Even as the British economy continues to reel under financial turmoil, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) is planning to hand out bonuses of up to £5 million (around Rs38 crore) to its employees, acording to a news report. “The average employee in its high-risk investment banking arm is likely to take home £240,000, with the top 20 staff in line for payments of between £1 million and £5 million, respectively,” The Sunday Times reported. The report said the bank plans the payout from its total pay and bonus reserve of £4 billion. “The payouts by the investment banking division would top the deals awarded at the peak of the financial boom in 2007 and are 66% higher than those paid last year,” it said. In October 2008, the UK treasury rescued the ailing bank with an initial injection of £20 billion paid out of taxpayer money. Taxpayers now hold a 70% stake in the bank. “Any suggestion of bumper bonuses will put RBS on a collision course with UK Financial Investments, which oversees taxpayers’ investments in banks. It would have to approve the payments,” the daily added. Earlier this year, RBS had drawn flak over its plans to pay around £1 billion in bonuses to its staff, just weeks after it was forced to go cap in hand to the government. The bank has also been in a storm for paying a pension of £700,000 a year to former chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin. feedback@livemint.com Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 11:26 am Vodafone introduces local & STD calls at one paise per secondThe one paise per second rate would be available for one year and would also be valid for calls made to any operator across the country.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 18 Oct 2009 | 10:01 am Five assumptions a leader should keep in mindMost of the time, crises blindside leaders: You first learn there’s a problem when someone stops you in the cafeteria to ask a perplexing “Did you hear?” kind of question, or you receive an email about a possible “irregularity”, or there’s an unexpected phone call at an odd hour.  You can be sure, however, that it will end. The trip to the bottom of the mountain will probably be unpleasant, but eventually it will be over and normal life resumes. That is, until another crisis emerges. Also See Jack and Suzy Welch videos Plan of action In times of crisis, there are five assumptions a leader should keep in mind: 1. The problem is worse than it appears. The majority of crises are bigger in scope than you could ever imagine. More people will be involved than you first estimated, more lawyers will poke their noses in than you’d ever imagined possible, and the terrible things that will be said and published will exceed your worst nightmares. So, adjust your mindset early on. Go into every crisis assuming that the absolute worst has occurred somewhere in your organization and, just as important, that you completely own the problem. In other words, get into a worst-case scenario mindset and start digging for the facts. 2. There are no secrets in the world, and everyone will eventually find out everything. You can be sure that if you try to suppress information during a crisis, it will eventually be disseminated, and as it spreads, it will certainly morph, twist, and darken. The only way to prevent that is to expose the problem yourself. If you don’t, someone will do it for you. Your lawyers will tell you to say as little as possible; push them to let you say as much as possible. Just make sure what you do say is the whole truth, with no shades of gray. Johnson and Johnson probably set the gold standard for full disclosure with its handling of the Tylenol crisis in the 1980s. It held press conferences every day, opened its packaging factories to scrutiny and kept the public posted on its investigation and its recall efforts. It was the company's transparency that saved its credibility. This holds true during any crisis. The more you speak about the problem openly, the more trust you will earn—inside the organization and out. 3. You and your organization's handling of the crisis will be portrayed in the worst possible light. No matter how much positive media coverage you’ve received over the course of your career, all bets are off during a crisis. You and your organization will be portrayed so negatively that you won’t recognize yourselves. Don’t hunker down—you’ve got to stand up and define your position before someone else does. If you don’t, your silence will be taken as an admission of guilt. Now, not all organizational crises generate public scrutiny, but even if the media has no interest, your people will. Openly discuss the situation, define your position, and explain why the problem happened and how you're handling it. And just as with big, public crises, don’t ever forget that you have a business to run. Make sure you’re running it. 4. There will be changes in processes and staffing. Almost no crisis ends without blood on the floor. Most crises officially end with a settlement of some kind—financial, legal or otherwise. Then comes the cleanup, and cleanups mean change. Processes usually get overhauled first. Sometimes, this fix is enough. Usually not. That’s because the people affected by the crisis, or sometimes those just watching it, will demand that someone be held responsible. This will not be easy or pleasant. But sadly, it is often necessary so the company can move forward again. 5. The organization will survive, ultimately stronger for what happened. After a crisis is over, there’s the tendency to want to forget about it. Don’t. Use a crisis for all it’s worth: Teach its lessons every chance you get. In doing so, you’ll spread the immunity. When a crisis erupts, it feels like you’re trapped in a house on fire. But try to remember the flames will eventually die down because you’re keeping your head and remembering how to handle the situation. You’re going to face the problem and own its solution, all the while running the business as though there will be a tomorrow. Then one day, you will realize that tomorrow has arrived and, stepping back, you may be startled by what you discover: The whole place looks better than ever. Write to Jack & Suzy Jack and Suzy are eager to hear about your career dilemmas and challenges at work, and look forward to answering some of your questions in future columns. Jack and Suzy Welch are the authors of the international best-seller, Winning. Their latest book is Winning: The Answers: Confronting 74 of the Toughest Questions in Business Today. Mint readers can email them questions at winning@livemint.com Please include your name, occupation and city. Only select questions will be answered. ©2009/BY NYT SYNDICATE Adapted from Winning (HarperBusiness Publishers, 2005) by Jack Welch with Suzy Welch. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 9:45 am Microsoft forecast looks partly cloudyRedmind, Washington: Ray Ozzie, the chief software architect at Microsoft Corp., bristles when asked whether people think that new versions of his company's flagship software—such as Windows and Office—are exciting. “It’s tremendously exciting,” he exclaims defensively, wheeling back from an office table and allowing his hands to flail. “Are you kidding?”  Broader plans: Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer says the US computer giant is the only company prepared and positioned to merge computing from both ends—the desktop and the cloud. Matthias Schrader / AP “What’s the old movie line from Annie Hall? Relationships are like sharks; they move forward, or they die,” says Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive. “Well, technology companies either move forward, too, or they die. They become less relevant.” And according to Ozzie, we have entered an age that’s a far cry from that of the PC enshrined on his altar to beige-box antiquity. Consumers and workers have been gripped, he says, by a “gizmo revolution”. But gizmos are only half the battle for Microsoft. True, girls obsess over whether a new laptop will fit into their purses and what type of fashion statement the device will make. Corporate road warriors, meanwhile, exude pride as they whip ultra-thin computers with exotic finishes out of their satchels. Yet the most desirable devices these days are those that also allow information addicts on the move to untether themselves from the desktop PC and communicate through the so-called “cloud”. With the arrival this week of Windows 7 and a host of complementary, slick computers, Microsoft intends to undermine those Apple Inc. ads that mock PCs and their users as stumbling bores. Ozzie, who plays the role of visionary and strategist at Microsoft, says Windows 7 will let PCs keep pace with other computing devices and, in short, finally make them sexy. In a bid for its piece of the cloud, Microsoft plans to release a software platform, Windows Azure, next month that represents its offering to lure businesses with online services. While late to cloud computing in spots and a lacklustre participant in the mobile market, Microsoft, Ozzie says, has a shot at reinventing itself and moving beyond the desktop.  Gizmo revolution: A file photo of the Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The firm expects that the arrival of Windows 7 this week will let PC users keep pace with other trendy computing devices. Steve Morgain / Bloomberg These days, however, Microsoft has legions of doubters. While it still commands a prominent and profitable position in computing, brand experts say consumers stumble when trying to define what the company stands for and whether it can create a grander technological future. “Microsoft sort of disappeared from the scene,” says Regis McKenna, a Silicon Valley marketing and strategy expert. “Every once in awhile, they have a delayed Windows release or something like that. By and large, I think the marketplace is focused on what Google and Apple are up to.” Critics of Microsoft say it has hugely underestimated market changes and plotted a long and winding course towards irrelevance. It remains too fixated on its old-line, desktop-based franchises, they say—too slow, too predictable and too, well, Microsoft. “They are trapped in their own psychosis that the world has to revolve around Windows on the PC,” says Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce.com, which competes against Microsoft in the business software market. “Until they stop doing that, they will drag their company into the gutter.” While the Internet and network-connected devices are anything but novel, the ability to snatch data anywhere off the Web—so-called cloud computing—has started to catch on with consumers and businesses in a more meaningful way. As such services become more popular, Microsoft’s grip on computing loosens, its critics say. “They are not the company they once were in terms of market position,” says Bruce R. Chizen, a former Microsoft employee and former chief executive of Adobe Systems Inc., the publishing software maker. “They no longer have a monopoly that is critical to the future of computing.” Ballmer, Ozzie and others at Microsoft see things rather differently, and for the last year have argued that coming software releases for PCs, data centres, mobile devices and game consoles will confirm exactly how Microsoft will remain a pivotal force on the tech landscape. Ballmer contends that Microsoft is the only company prepared and positioned to merge computing from both ends—the desktop and the cloud. “We’re just investing more broadly than everybody else,” he says, adding that, when it comes to software, “I want us to invent everything that’s important on the planet.” Pundits and investors are ready to judge how well Ballmer lives up to these claims, and his tenure may ultimately be decided by how well his enterprise floats up to the cloud. Like almost all companies in the PC industry, Microsoft has been punished by a historic decline in computer sales during the recession. Over the past year, it has endured a string of humbling company firsts. In January, it began laying off up to 5,000 people—its first ever broad personnel cuts. That followed its first declines in Windows sales and preceded its first yearly drop in revenue. Despite such setbacks, Microsoft continues to produce profits that are the envy of the technology industry. In July, it ended its fiscal year with a 3% drop in revenue, to $58.4 billion (Rs2.7 trillion), still bringing in a $14.6 billion profit. Microsoft has a war chest of $31.45 billion, including cash and short-term investments, and its shares have recovered from a low of $14.87 in March—its lowest price in at least 10 years—and trade at $26.50. Executives at Microsoft say it has gotten its house in order, putting an end to delayed, clunky products such as the maligned and then ignored Windows Vista. If a broad economic recovery occurs, Microsoft’s fortunes will rise as they always have in rosier times. Despite its hunt for the next big thing in so many areas, Microsoft more often than not finds itself playing the role of follower, trying to buy its way into markets that other companies dominate. “This used to be the company that everyone looked to for innovation and excitement,” says James R. Gregory, the chief executive of CoreBrand, a brand consulting firm. “It has lost that edginess in a fairly convincing way.” According to a new CoreBrand study, Microsoft’s reputation and the perception of its management and investment potential have been declining for over a decade, with the drop-off accelerating over the past five years. Ballmer concedes that some Microsoft shareholders take issue with its long, costly pursuit of businesses such as music players and search. Still, he remains committed to a broad course of action. “I think a lot of companies in our business do give up on things too early, in my opinion,” he says. But for Microsoft, just doing the basics has been problematic. It released the Windows Vista operating system in 2007 to widespread ridicule. The software arrived years late and had lost many of its planned ground-breaking features. Microsoft’s primary selling point over a narrow specialist such as Apple has long been that it offers choice and caters to the masses. Yet Microsoft couldn’t get Vista to work well with partners’ hardware and software. “We were trying to do too much change in too rapid a fashion,” Ballmer says. “And so, for me the issue isn’t that we know how to make hardware and software work together and the like. The question there was I think we attempted too much.” Microsoft also faces hurdles in the mobile phone market. For many years, it has sold software for a broad array of phones, but Ballmer has been disappointed with his mobile division, particularly when devices such as the iPhone blind-sided his company. While Microsoft has tried to bolster its phone business through acquisitions and internal development, it remains months away from announcing the fruits of a project, code-named Pink, to revitalize its phone technology. And former insiders contend that Pink, like so many Microsoft efforts, has been dragged down by bureaucracy and compromise. Even worse, Microsoft’s top executives have fretted recently about the potential fallout with customers when the company lost personal data tied to T-Mobile USA’s phone services—especially any doubts the incident raised about its mobile, cloud and security claims. But Microsoft can point to places where its big bets have paid off. Bing takes a new approach to search by giving customers a glossier interface and, often, more detailed results than they’ll find with Google. And the Xbox game console and Xbox Live service have put Microsoft at the forefront of online gaming. Next year, Microsoft is expected to release Project Natal, a computing system that lets people use their bodies rather than controllers to play games. Microsoft says the cloud acts as a natural complement to its traditional software products, and the company often talks about the “three screens and a cloud” strategy—which covers computers, phones and TVs all connected to common services. “I would say there’s clearly a change in the fundamental platform of computing,” Ballmer says. “The cloud is now not just the Internet; it’s really a fundamental computing resource that’s getting thought about and looked at in a different way.” But the cloud presents Microsoft with a host of challenges to its time-tested model of selling desktop and computer server software for lucrative licensing fees. Fast-paced rivals such as Salesforce, Amazon.com and Google Inc. hope to undercut its prices while adding software features every few weeks or months rather than every few years, as Microsoft has done. Microsoft executives acknowledge that the company had perhaps stalled, licking its wounds and trying to figure out how to behave while under scrutiny after years of antitrust court battles. “We've moved to be a mature company, but maybe too nice a guy in some senses, and not maybe moving fast enough in things,” says Bob Muglia, a 20-year Microsoft employee and president of its server software business. Rivals now simply dismiss Microsoft as a laggard rather than hitting it with the Evil Empire criticisms so familiar in the 1990s. In its place stands Google, which now has Microsoft’s mantle as a game-changing technology behemoth and is also increasingly perceived as a dominant competitor whose power warrants concern. Google’s rise has cast Microsoft at least partly in the unfamiliar role of a white knight. “Until recently, Microsoft was the only empire,” says Nicholas G. Carr, an author who has chronicled the rise of cloud computing. “Now, I think there are empires of the Internet as well as of the PC, and they are colliding.” In an effort to continue remaking its image, Microsoft is courting young software developers and cloud computing start-ups. Company executives acknowledge losing touch with these crucial audiences as open-source software turned into the standard for people looking to create the next wave of applications and services. These days, Microsoft gives away business software to students and will let certain start-ups use its software free. “They got scared,” says Bryan Trussel, a former Microsoft executive and now head of Glympse, a mobile software start-up. “I think they get it now, but the question is how far behind they are.” Microsoft’s investors have started to put the company on the clock, expecting its traditional software to thrive and pay for a grander vision that needs to materialize sooner rather than later. “I am willing to give the present management another 15 months,” says Marilyn J. Dicks-Riley, chief executive of investment firm Lynmar Capital Group. Even Microsoft's loudest critics consider the company itself durable. “They won't fade away as long as there are PCs,” says Benioff of Salesforce.com. “But they are not delivering the future of our industry, either.” Executives at Microsoft talk in far more pragmatic terms. Slick laptops, cloud services and fancy cell phones all play into its strengths of making software that hundreds of millions of people can use. The trends come and go, but Microsoft’s reach and ability to play on the grandest scale remain constant. “We can never become complacent, because just when the services transformation has gotten to this point, the next transformation comes,” Ozzie says. “That’s the way our company works.” ©2009/ The New York Times Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 9:44 am Microsoft forecast looks partly cloudyRedmind, Washington: Ray Ozzie, the chief software architect at Microsoft Corp., bristles when asked whether people think that new versions of his company's flagship software—such as Windows and Office—are exciting. “It’s tremendously exciting,” he exclaims defensively, wheeling back from an office table and allowing his hands to flail. “Are you kidding?” Broader plans: Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer says the US computer giant is the only company prepared and positioned to merge computing from both ends—the desktop and the cloud. Matthias Schrader / AP “What’s the old movie line from Annie Hall? Relationships are like sharks; they move forward, or they die,” says Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive. “Well, technology companies either move forward, too, or they die. They become less relevant.” And according to Ozzie, we have entered an age that’s a far cry from that of the PC enshrined on his altar to beige-box antiquity. Consumers and workers have been gripped, he says, by a “gizmo revolution”. But gizmos are only half the battle for Microsoft. True, girls obsess over whether a new laptop will fit into their purses and what type of fashion statement the device will make. Corporate road warriors, meanwhile, exude pride as they whip ultra-thin computers with exotic finishes out of their satchels. Yet the most desirable devices these days are those that also allow information addicts on the move to untether themselves from the desktop PC and communicate through the so-called “cloud”. With the arrival this week of Windows 7 and a host of complementary, slick computers, Microsoft intends to undermine those Apple Inc. ads that mock PCs and their users as stumbling bores. Ozzie, who plays the role of visionary and strategist at Microsoft, says Windows 7 will let PCs keep pace with other computing devices and, in short, finally make them sexy. In a bid for its piece of the cloud, Microsoft plans to release a software platform, Windows Azure, next month that represents its offering to lure businesses with online services. While late to cloud computing in spots and a lacklustre participant in the mobile market, Microsoft, Ozzie says, has a shot at reinventing itself and moving beyond the desktop. Gizmo revolution: A file photo of the Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The firm expects that the arrival of Windows 7 this week will let PC users keep pace with other trendy computing devices. Steve Morgain / Bloomberg These days, however, Microsoft has legions of doubters. While it still commands a prominent and profitable position in computing, brand experts say consumers stumble when trying to define what the company stands for and whether it can create a grander technological future. “Microsoft sort of disappeared from the scene,” says Regis McKenna, a Silicon Valley marketing and strategy expert. “Every once in awhile, they have a delayed Windows release or something like that. By and large, I think the marketplace is focused on what Google and Apple are up to.” Critics of Microsoft say it has hugely underestimated market changes and plotted a long and winding course towards irrelevance. It remains too fixated on its old-line, desktop-based franchises, they say—too slow, too predictable and too, well, Microsoft. “They are trapped in their own psychosis that the world has to revolve around Windows on the PC,” says Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce.com, which competes against Microsoft in the business software market. “Until they stop doing that, they will drag their company into the gutter.” While the Internet and network-connected devices are anything but novel, the ability to snatch data anywhere off the Web—so-called cloud computing—has started to catch on with consumers and businesses in a more meaningful way. As such services become more popular, Microsoft’s grip on computing loosens, its critics say. “They are not the company they once were in terms of market position,” says Bruce R. Chizen, a former Microsoft employee and former chief executive of Adobe Systems Inc., the publishing software maker. “They no longer have a monopoly that is critical to the future of computing.” Ballmer, Ozzie and others at Microsoft see things rather differently, and for the last year have argued that coming software releases for PCs, data centres, mobile devices and game consoles will confirm exactly how Microsoft will remain a pivotal force on the tech landscape. Ballmer contends that Microsoft is the only company prepared and positioned to merge computing from both ends—the desktop and the cloud. “We’re just investing more broadly than everybody else,” he says, adding that, when it comes to software, “I want us to invent everything that’s important on the planet.” Pundits and investors are ready to judge how well Ballmer lives up to these claims, and his tenure may ultimately be decided by how well his enterprise floats up to the cloud. Like almost all companies in the PC industry, Microsoft has been punished by a historic decline in computer sales during the recession. Over the past year, it has endured a string of humbling company firsts. In January, it began laying off up to 5,000 people—its first ever broad personnel cuts. That followed its first declines in Windows sales and preceded its first yearly drop in revenue. Despite such setbacks, Microsoft continues to produce profits that are the envy of the technology industry. In July, it ended its fiscal year with a 3% drop in revenue, to $58.4 billion (Rs2.7 trillion), still bringing in a $14.6 billion profit. Microsoft has a war chest of $31.45 billion, including cash and short-term investments, and its shares have recovered from a low of $14.87 in March—its lowest price in at least 10 years—and trade at $26.50. Executives at Microsoft say it has gotten its house in order, putting an end to delayed, clunky products such as the maligned and then ignored Windows Vista. If a broad economic recovery occurs, Microsoft’s fortunes will rise as they always have in rosier times. Despite its hunt for the next big thing in so many areas, Microsoft more often than not finds itself playing the role of follower, trying to buy its way into markets that other companies dominate. “This used to be the company that everyone looked to for innovation and excitement,” says James R. Gregory, the chief executive of CoreBrand, a brand consulting firm. “It has lost that edginess in a fairly convincing way.” According to a new CoreBrand study, Microsoft’s reputation and the perception of its management and investment potential have been declining for over a decade, with the drop-off accelerating over the past five years. Ballmer concedes that some Microsoft shareholders take issue with its long, costly pursuit of businesses such as music players and search. Still, he remains committed to a broad course of action. “I think a lot of companies in our business do give up on things too early, in my opinion,” he says. But for Microsoft, just doing the basics has been problematic. It released the Windows Vista operating system in 2007 to widespread ridicule. The software arrived years late and had lost many of its planned ground-breaking features. Microsoft’s primary selling point over a narrow specialist such as Apple has long been that it offers choice and caters to the masses. Yet Microsoft couldn’t get Vista to work well with partners’ hardware and software. “We were trying to do too much change in too rapid a fashion,” Ballmer says. “And so, for me the issue isn’t that we know how to make hardware and software work together and the like. The question there was I think we attempted too much.” Microsoft also faces hurdles in the mobile phone market. For many years, it has sold software for a broad array of phones, but Ballmer has been disappointed with his mobile division, particularly when devices such as the iPhone blind-sided his company. While Microsoft has tried to bolster its phone business through acquisitions and internal development, it remains months away from announcing the fruits of a project, code-named Pink, to revitalize its phone technology. And former insiders contend that Pink, like so many Microsoft efforts, has been dragged down by bureaucracy and compromise. Even worse, Microsoft’s top executives have fretted recently about the potential fallout with customers when the company lost personal data tied to T-Mobile USA’s phone services—especially any doubts the incident raised about its mobile, cloud and security claims. But Microsoft can point to places where its big bets have paid off. Bing takes a new approach to search by giving customers a glossier interface and, often, more detailed results than they’ll find with Google. And the Xbox game console and Xbox Live service have put Microsoft at the forefront of online gaming. Next year, Microsoft is expected to release Project Natal, a computing system that lets people use their bodies rather than controllers to play games. Microsoft says the cloud acts as a natural complement to its traditional software products, and the company often talks about the “three screens and a cloud” strategy—which covers computers, phones and TVs all connected to common services. “I would say there’s clearly a change in the fundamental platform of computing,” Ballmer says. “The cloud is now not just the Internet; it’s really a fundamental computing resource that’s getting thought about and looked at in a different way.” But the cloud presents Microsoft with a host of challenges to its time-tested model of selling desktop and computer server software for lucrative licensing fees. Fast-paced rivals such as Salesforce, Amazon.com and Google Inc. hope to undercut its prices while adding software features every few weeks or months rather than every few years, as Microsoft has done. Microsoft executives acknowledge that the company had perhaps stalled, licking its wounds and trying to figure out how to behave while under scrutiny after years of antitrust court battles. “We've moved to be a mature company, but maybe too nice a guy in some senses, and not maybe moving fast enough in things,” says Bob Muglia, a 20-year Microsoft employee and president of its server software business. Rivals now simply dismiss Microsoft as a laggard rather than hitting it with the Evil Empire criticisms so familiar in the 1990s. In its place stands Google, which now has Microsoft’s mantle as a game-changing technology behemoth and is also increasingly perceived as a dominant competitor whose power warrants concern. Google’s rise has cast Microsoft at least partly in the unfamiliar role of a white knight. “Until recently, Microsoft was the only empire,” says Nicholas G. Carr, an author who has chronicled the rise of cloud computing. “Now, I think there are empires of the Internet as well as of the PC, and they are colliding.” In an effort to continue remaking its image, Microsoft is courting young software developers and cloud computing start-ups. Company executives acknowledge losing touch with these crucial audiences as open-source software turned into the standard for people looking to create the next wave of applications and services. These days, Microsoft gives away business software to students and will let certain start-ups use its software free. “They got scared,” says Bryan Trussel, a former Microsoft executive and now head of Glympse, a mobile software start-up. “I think they get it now, but the question is how far behind they are.” Microsoft’s investors have started to put the company on the clock, expecting its traditional software to thrive and pay for a grander vision that needs to materialize sooner rather than later. “I am willing to give the present management another 15 months,” says Marilyn J. Dicks-Riley, chief executive of investment firm Lynmar Capital Group. Even Microsoft's loudest critics consider the company itself durable. “They won't fade away as long as there are PCs,” says Benioff of Salesforce.com. “But they are not delivering the future of our industry, either.” Executives at Microsoft talk in far more pragmatic terms. Slick laptops, cloud services and fancy cell phones all play into its strengths of making software that hundreds of millions of people can use. The trends come and go, but Microsoft’s reach and ability to play on the grandest scale remain constant. “We can never become complacent, because just when the services transformation has gotten to this point, the next transformation comes,” Ozzie says. “That’s the way our company works.” ©2009/ The New York Times Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 18 Oct 2009 | 9:44 am
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