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Great Offshore open offer closes todayThe open offer for Great Offshore closes today. Great Offshores current market price, hovering at about Rs 465, is much lower than the price of the two offers Bharati Shipyards offer is at Rs 590 per share while ABG Shipyards is at Rs 520 per share.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Dec 2009 | 7:59 am Sun TV to restructure distribution bizSun TV Network Ltd said on Tuesday it will restructure its distribution business to create two verticals.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Dec 2009 | 7:25 am Taro woos Mark Mobius in battle with SunIn the latest effort to stave off Sun Pharmas efforts to take over Taro, the company has written to Mark Mobius, Chairman of Templeton AMC, which owns 10% in Taro, urging him to rethink his stand of supporting Sun Pharma.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Dec 2009 | 6:30 am Ansal Properties to raise Rs 6.5 bn via QIPAnsal Properties and Infrastructure will raise around Rs 6.5 billion through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) in February 2010, a banker involved in the process told the Financial Express.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Dec 2009 | 6:25 am Adani Power says Rajasthan utility to buy 1,200 MWAdani Power Ltd said on Tuesday its unit, Adani Power Rajasthan Ltd, has won an letter of intent from the Rajasthan utility for purchase upto 1,200 mega watt of power on a longterm basis.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Dec 2009 | 6:25 am UAE economy to grow 1.3% this year!The UAE economy is set to grow at 1.3 percent this year, the Gulf country`s minister of economy, Sultan Al-Mansouri, has said.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Dec 2009 | 6:07 am RIL announces 3rd successive gas discovery in KG basin!Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Tuesday announced its third successive gas discovery in the exploration block of KG gas basin.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Dec 2009 | 6:07 am Rupee gains 4 paise in early trade!The Indian rupee on Tuesday appreciated by 4 paise against the US currency in early trade on hopes of fresh capital inflows into equity markets in line with firming trends on other Asian markets.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Dec 2009 | 6:07 am Top China developer warns of property bubble !China Vanke, the country`s second-largest property developer, warned of a property bubble forming in major cities including Beijing and Shanghai as a result of the surge in bank lending this year, a local newspaper reported.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Dec 2009 | 6:07 am Rajaratnam, Chiesi plead innocent in Galleon case!Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam and co-defendant Danielle Chiesi asserted their innocence on Monday to charges of securities fraud, in what US prosecutors describe as the biggest hedge fund insider trading case ever.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Dec 2009 | 6:07 am Microsoft executive named GM chief financial officer !General Motors (GM) has hired Microsoft`s Chris Liddell as chief financial officer, the US carmaker said Monday.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Dec 2009 | 6:07 am Sensex up 110 points in opening trade on global cues!The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Tuesday rose by 110 points, or 0.66 percent, in opening trade on fresh capital inflows by funds and retail investors driven by firming global markets.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Dec 2009 | 6:07 am Food prices may start softening from January: Montek!Food prices, that are currently ruling at 10-year high, will start easing from next month, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Tuesday.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Dec 2009 | 6:07 am IBM bags Rs 380-cr deal from Digicable!IT major IBM on Tuesday said it has bagged a Rs 380-crore deal from cable and broadband player Digicable.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Dec 2009 | 6:07 am Ford offers early retirement offers to workers to cut expenses !Ford Motor Co said on Monday it is offering its 41,000 US factory workers buyouts and early retirement offers in a bid to reduce its payroll costs as it aims to return to profit by 2011.Source: Zee News : Business | 22 Dec 2009 | 6:07 am See 15% shortage in nonbasmati segment: Kohinoor FoodsIn an interview with CNBCTV18, Gurnam Arora, Joint Managing Director of Kohinoor Foods spoke about the latest happenings in his company and sector.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Dec 2009 | 5:40 am Indage admits Rs 400cr to debt restructuring cellThe troubled Indage Vintners has admitted Rs 400 cr of debt to the Corporate Debt Reduction (CDR) cell, reports CNBCTV18 quoting sources.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Dec 2009 | 5:40 am See revenue generation from \'Mandwa\' from FY11: Orbit CorpIn an interview with CNBCTV18, Pujit Agarwal, Managing Director, Orbit Corporation, spoke about the latest happenings in his company and sector.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Dec 2009 | 5:31 am Travel agent to airline operatorEvery travel agent dreams of starting an airline, only Indigo\'s Rahul Bhatia and Jet\'s Naresh Goyal have succeeded.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Dec 2009 | 5:04 am RIL announces 3rd successive gas discovery in KG basinMukesh Ambanipromoted Reliance Industries on Tuesday announced its third successive gas discovery in the Krishna Godavari (KG) D3 block.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 22 Dec 2009 | 5:00 am Government may pay cash to state oil firms: Finance secretaryThe oil ministry had sought Rs200 billion of bonds for state-run firms as compensation during the full fiscal year ending March 2010.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 3:16 am Lupin Ltd settles litigation with Forest LaboratoriesThe settlement will allow Lupin to commercially launch its genric product in January 2015 or earlier.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 3:14 am OPEC agrees unchanged oil output targets - delegateLUANDA (Reuters) - OPEC oil producers agreed on Tuesday to keep output restrictions unchanged, an OPEC delegate told Reuters.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 3:11 am INTERVIEW - Moody's: further Greek cut "more likely than not"ATHENS (Reuters) - It is more likely than not that Moody's will cut Greece's debt further in the next 12 to 18 months, the agency's lead analyst for Greece told Reuters after Moody's cut Greece's rating to A2 from A1 on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 3:09 am BSE Sensex provisionally closes up 0.55 pctMUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex provisionally closed 0.55 percent higher on Tuesday, with ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel contributing most to the rise.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 3:06 am Markets end 0.5% up; ICICI, Airtel lead gainsMumbai: Indian shares closed 0.5% higher on Tuesday, with ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel contributing most to the rise. The 30-share BSE index provisionally ended up 90.80 points at 16,692 with 19 components advancing. The 50-share NSE index closed up 0.7% at 4,985.85 points. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Dec 2009 | 2:57 am Govt may pay cash to state oil firms - fin secyNEW DELHI (Reuters) – The government is likely to offer cash instead of bonds to state-run oil firms for compensating them for selling fuel at lower than market price, Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla said on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 2:43 am Eight states raise 51.65 bln rupees via 10-yr loansMUMBAI (Reuters) – The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said eight states raised 51.65 billion rupees via 10-year state development loans on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 2:37 am FBI probes computer security breach targeting CitigroupFBI is probing a computer-security breach targeting Citibank that resulted in a theft of tens of millions of dollars by hackers who appear linked to a Russian cyber gang, according to a media report.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Dec 2009 | 2:36 am Two China web firms set up fund for Hollywood filmsBoth firms will invest up to $10 million in total for the fund and also pledged to remove pirated video content from their websites.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 2:27 am World Stocks, dollar rise on U.S. recovery hopesLONDON (Reuters) - World stocks rose for a second day running on Tuesday and oil also gained on rising expectations of U.S. economic recovery, which sent U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar higher.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 2:20 am Nifty may test 4600 in the short-term: Ray Barros - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Dec 2009 | 2:20 am Anti-plastic drive in Himachal Pradesh gets a shot in arm - Daily News & Analysis
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Dec 2009 | 2:18 am Rupee holds steady; month-end demand weighsMumbai: The Indian rupee held mostly steady in afternoon trade on Tuesday in line with firm stocks and higher regional peers but some month-end demand from refiners and importers limited further gains. At 2:45pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs46.81/82 per dollar, slightly above its previous close of Rs46.84/85. However, dealers said some month-end dollar demand from refiners and importers limited a further rise in the rupee. Bank stocks led a rise in Indian shares after three days of losses, helped by gains in Asia, but the rally’s momentum is not expected to sustain as activity thinned out into the end of the year. The dollar rose further against the yen on Tuesday, hitting a two-month high and keeping pressure on the euro, as year-end unwinding of short positions supported it along with higher Treasury yields. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at Rs46.80/90, marginally weaker than the onshore spot rate. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were quoting at Rs46.8425 and Rs46.8375 respectively, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $2.6 billion. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Dec 2009 | 2:16 am ADB to provide two loans totalling $850 mn to IndiaNew Delhi: India has signed two loan agreements totalling $850 million with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the finance ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The ADB will provide a $700-million loan, in three tranches in as many years, to state-run India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd. to fund the country’s infrastructure programme. The Manila-based bank will lend $150 million in four tranches over a period of three years, the statement added, for the restructuring and development of Khadi industry, which makes India’s traditional handspun fabric. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Dec 2009 | 2:13 am IBM gets $83 mln deal from DigicableNEW DELHI (Reuters) - IBM on Tuesday said it had signed a 10-year outsourcing deal with Indian cable and broadband distribution firm Digicable, which will make an initial payment of $83 million.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 2:10 am IBM gets $83 mln deal from India's Digicable - Reuters
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Dec 2009 | 2:09 am ADB to provide two loans totalling $850 mln to IndiaNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has signed two loan agreements totalling $850 million with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the finance ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 1:48 am Taro woos Mark Mobius in battle with Sun - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Dec 2009 | 1:45 am UAE economy to grow 1 3 pc this year says ministerThe UAE economy is set to grow at 1.3 per cent this year, the Gulf country’s minister of economy, Sultan Al-Mansouri, has said. The economy is expected to grow by 3.2 per cent in 2010, Al-Mansouri said while addressing at the opening session of the UAE-Azerbaijan joint committee in the UAE capital on Monday. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Dec 2009 | 1:40 am IBM bags Rs 380 cr deal from DigicableIT major IBM today said it has bagged a Rs 380-crore deal from cable and broadband player Digicable. As a part of the 10-year agreement, the US-based IT giant will support the integration of Digicable's digital media content delivery and value added services application with core businesses technologies and processes.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Dec 2009 | 1:33 am Bilfinger Berger eyeing takeovers: CEOBilfinger wants to expand its industrial services business into countries such as India, Turkey and the Middle East.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 1:25 am Russia, US plan unprecedented nuclear cut: LavrovMoscow: Russia and the United States plan “radical and unprecedented” cuts to their Cold War arsenals of nuclear weapons under a new arms reduction deal, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying on Tuesday. The world’s two largest nuclear powers have been trying to find a replacement for the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), the biggest pact to cut nuclear weapons in history, but have so far failed to clinch a deal. “The treaty will stipulate a radical and unprecedented reduction in strategic offensive weapons,” Lavrov was quoted as saying by state-owned RIA news agency. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Dec 2009 | 1:24 am Sun TV to restructure distribution businessThe key focus is to distribute Sun TV channels across the globe via all fixed networks including cable, direct-to-home, internet protocol television etc.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 1:23 am Ford plans job cuts offers golden handshakeUS carmaker Ford Motor plans further cuts in its factory workforce, a company spokeswoman said. The company is to offer incentive packages to 41,000 of its workers, offering payouts of up to $75,000, for them to quit their jobs.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Dec 2009 | 1:18 am Avatar debut box office raised to $77 mnLos Angeles: Director James Cameron’s new movie Avatar, considered one of the most expensive movies ever made, saw its initial weekend ticket sales raised to $77 million in the United States and Canada. The movie’s box office performance has been widely watched given its cost. Sunday’s initial estimates showed ticket sales at $73 million in the US and Canada and $159 million elsewhere for global ticket sales of $232 million. Box office watchers said a weekend snowstorm that buried cities from Washington to Boston hurt ticket sales along the US East Coast. But as final figures were tallied, the blizzard was slightly less of an issue than first believed. Avatar, which mixes live action and animation, paints a picture of a lush planet in outer space and tells of a man sent there to infiltrate an alien race of blue people. Film studio 20th Century Fox has said it spent $237 million to make the movie, but some newspaper reports have estimated it cost at least $300 million. The studio had said it would spend another $150 million to market the film. Despite its solid opening, Avatar did not set records. The top worldwide total for a weekend debut is $394 million for July’s “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.” The best US and Canadian initial weekend is $158 million for the 2008 Batman movie The Dark Knight. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Dec 2009 | 1:18 am China aims to speed up outbound investmentThe ministry estimated that non-financial outbound foreign direct investment by Chinese firms would reach $42 billion this year, level with last year's total of $41.9 billion.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 1:17 am IBM gets Rs380-cr deal from DigicableNew Delhi: IT major IBM Tuesday said it has got a Rs380-crore deal from cable and broadband player Digicable. As a part of the 10-year agreement, the US-based IT giant will support the integration of Digicable’s digital media content delivery and value added services application with core businesses technologies and processes. IBM would also provide IT infrastructure services network, support application maintenances services and security services. “IBM will help Digicable capitalise on market opportunities, efficiencies and drive additional revenue by facilitating accelerated launch of value-added services,” company’s India and South Asia Director (Solutions) K S Raghunandan said. This is one of the major deals signed by media and entertainment company in India. IBM already has made inroad in media and entertainment segment with deals with Star TV, Sun TV and Tata Sky. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Dec 2009 | 1:06 am UPDATE 1-Monetary policy can't tackle food costs-India adviser - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Dec 2009 | 1:03 am Slow credit growth a problem for bankers: Central Bank of India - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Dec 2009 | 1:02 am Reliance’s Lyondell buy seems unlikely in 2009Mumbai: Indian energy major Reliance Industries’ bid to buy bankrupt petrochemicals firm LyondellBasell is unlikely to result in a deal in 2009 as the target evaluates its options, analysts and bankers say. Last week, Luxembourg-based LyondellBasell filed an amended reorganisation plan with a US court, proposing a $2.8 billion rights issue, to simplify its corporate structure and exit bankruptcy protection with significantly less debt. In the amended plan, LyondellBasell said it continues to evaluate the Reliance proposal, which sources say may be worth as much as $12 billion. If debtors choose to pursue a deal with Reliance, payment of any break-up fee to the rights offering sponsors will not be required, LyondellBasell said. “It is unlikely that anything will happen this year,” a banking source familiar with the deal said. A court hearing on the amended reorganisation plan will not be held until after a February court hearing on the validity of a settlement with a US unit’s creditors. “Lyondell will be evaluating both plans concurrently and the understanding that we have is that clarity will not emerge for at least the next month or two,” said Deepak Pareek, an oil and gas analyst at Angel Broking. “It will take a while for clarity to emerge on all fronts -- price, value, synergies for Reliance and the reorganisation plan.” There are also concerns senior creditors including Apollo Management, which are controlling the bankruptcy, could incur a hefty loss at the up to $12 billion price Reliance has proposed and may gain more from an independent Lyondell. LyondellBasell has $25.7 billion in consolidated debt and plans to cancel $18.7 billion under the reorganisation plan. It will emerge from chapter 11 protection next year. “The earliest any development could occur is mid-to-late January,” the banking source, who did not wish to be named, said. Reliance Industries declined to comment. LyondellBasell could not be immediately reached. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:56 am Reliance discovers more gas in Krishna basinReliance Industries has struck gas for the third successive time at its exploration block in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin, the company said.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:45 am Wall Street climbs on health bill; Nasdaq at 15-month highHealthcare stocks rose after a bill to overhaul the US healthcare system, which is perceived as less damaging to industry profits than expected, passed a crucial test.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:39 am Reliance Industries discovers gas in Krishna Godavari basinThe potential commerciality of the discovery was being evaluated through more data gathering and analysis.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:36 am Excessive rise in food prices concerns AhluwaliaKolkata: The sharp surge in Indian food prices reflects the impact of the dought and inefficient distribution, which could not be addressed by monetary policy, the deputy head of India’s Planning Commission said on Tuesday. While the increase in food prices was to some extent expected, it was a concern - food prices rose an annual 20% in early December - but they should decline in January, Montek Singh Ahluwalia told a CII event by video conference. “From January you will see a decline a food prices. What you see now is speculative, probably due to the drought situation. The stock situation is relatively OK,” Singh said. “Problems such as this cannot be tackled by blunt instruments like monetary policy.” Food prices have jumped on supply shortages after the weakest monsoon rains in 37 years and then floods in parts of the country hit crops, raising expectations the central bank will tighten to stop inflationary pressures spreading into the broader economy. Analysts expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to tighten policy as early as this month, starting with a hike in banks’ cash reserve requirements followed by interest rate rises. Those concerns have pushed 10-year bond yields to 13-month highs and acted as a brake on the stock market. “Price increase at the retail level is much more than the increase at the wholesale level. This is because of dysfunctionality in the distribution system,” Ahluwalia said. “The ministry is looking into it, but whenever required, we should import,” he added. As part of the steps taken to shore the economy up against the global financial crisis and downturn, the RBI cut its short-term lending rate, by 425 basis points between Oct. 2008 and April and slashed banks’ reserve requirements. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:35 am Dubai Financial Market to buy Nasdaq Dubai for $121 millionThere are 65 companies listed on the Dubai Financial Market index while Nasdaq Dubai has 14 listed companies, including DP World and other securities.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:34 am Monetary policy can't tackle food costs - AhluwaliaKOLKATA, India (Reuters) - The sharp surge in food prices reflects the impact of the drought and inefficient distribution, which could not be addressed by monetary policy, the deputy head of India's Planning Commission said on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:33 am Ansal Properties to raise Rs6.5 billion via qualified institutional placementThe funds raised through the QIP would be mainly used to retire the company's debt of Rs10 billion and fund its Rs20 billion megapolis project.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:32 am IBM bags Rs 380 crore deal from DigicableIT major IBM today said it has bagged a Rs 380 crore deal from cable and broadband player Digicable.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:27 am Reliance discovers more gas in Krishna basin - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:22 am Food prices may start softening from January: MontekPlanning Commission deputy chairman said the food price situation suggests dysfunction in distribution as retail prices have shot much more than wholesale prices. Food inflation climbed to a 10-year high in early Dec.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:14 am Infy chief in trouble over BIAL - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:06 am 3G spectrum for 4 slots but allocation only in AugThe empowered Group of Ministers on Monday decided that auctions for third-generation mobile spectrum will take place in January, asSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Deora seeks oil bonds for Rs 20,872 cr for April-DecThe Petroleum Minister, Mr Murli Deora, has sought oil bonds worth Rs 20,872 crore to partially compensate the public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) for selling cooking fuels below the market price during the three quarters of the currentSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Proxy advisers cast their lot with SunWith days leading to Taro Pharmaceutical's annual shareholder meet on December 31, Proxy Governance Inc, a proxy advisory firm, has recommended that Taro shareholders withhold their votes for the re-election of Taro's existing board of directors,Source: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am India Inc pays 20% more advance tax on strong showingA pick-up in sales and extensive cost-cutting has shored up India Inc's profits in the current fiscal, leading to a 20 per cent increase in the advance tax payout up to the December 15Source: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Top 10 payout up 14%ITC, Punjab National Bank and Deposit Insurance & Credit Guarantee Corporation have entered the top ten advance taxpayers' league for the period up to December 15 instalment thisSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Italian cheers for SangliA joint venture agreement that has been signed between a Sangli-based winery and two Italian wine companies may bring more than just the first overseas investment in theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Curbing liquidity should be top priority: RangarajanExpressing concern over the excess liquidity in the system, the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman, Dr C. Rangarajan, threw his weight behind the possibility of the Reserve Bank of India increasing in the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)Source: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideUtilise rallies to sell DLF with tight stop-loss at Rs 358. Fresh short position is recommended only if ICICI Bank declines below Rs 799, with tight stop-loss. Infosys is experiencing selling interest at higher levels, we recommend a sell. LastSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Orchid Chemicals (Rs 183.1): SellWe recommend a sell in the stock of Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals from a short-term perspective. It is apparent from the charts of the stock that after bottoming in March at the low of Rs 56, the stock had been trending upwards. However,Source: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am TCS sees double-digit growth for industryMr S. Ramadorai, Vice-Chairman of TCS, today projected double digit growth for the IT industry on the back of more than seven per cent projected GDP growth in the current year, pointing out that the industry was coming out of the effects ofSource: Business Line - Home Page | 22 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Oil hangs below $74 amid Opec supply decisionSingapore: Oil prices hung below $74 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as traders anticipated Opec will leave crude production levels unchanged at the group’s meeting later in the day. Benchmark crude for February delivery was up 4 cents to $73.76 at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 70 cents to settle at $73.72 on Monday. The January contract, which expired Monday, closed down 89 cents at $72.47. The 12-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which accounts for about 35% of global crude supply, will likely keep its production quotas unchanged, the cartel’s leaders said Monday. Investors will be looking for signs Opec plans to boost compliance with existing output levels. As the price of oil has more than doubled from a year ago, some OPEC members have increasingly exceeded their quotas, analysts say. “A ’no change’ as far as production quotas are concerned appears virtually assured,” Galena Illinois-based Ritterbusch and Associates said in a report. “However, comments from the various oil ministers and language within the communique are likely to suggest a strong effort toward increased compliance.” In other Nymex trading in January contracts, heating oil was steady at $1.95 while gasoline rose 0.5 cent to $1.874. Natural gas rose 6.7 cents to $5.74 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, Brent crude for February delivery fell 2 cents to $72.97 on the ICE Futures exchange. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Dec 2009 | 11:30 pm Rupee gains 4 paise in early tradeThe Indian rupee on Tuesday appreciated by 4 paise against the US currency in early trade on hopes of fresh capital inflows into equity markets in line with firming trends on other Asian markets.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 21 Dec 2009 | 11:24 pm Reliance Ind discovers gas in KG basinMUMBAI Reuters) - Reliance Industries said on Tuesday it had made a gas discovery in one of its exploration blocks in the Krishna Godavari basin off the country's east coast.Source: Reuters: Money News | 21 Dec 2009 | 11:24 pm Asia markets rise as deals boost confidenceBangkok: Asian markets rose Tuesday, snapping a string of losses, as a weaker yen boosted Japanese shares and a flurry of corporate deals in Europe and the US suggested companies have greater confidence in the economic recovery. The deal announcements regarded as a sign companies are becoming more willing to part with cash to expand helped lift the Dow Jones industrials into positive territory for the month, giving it a 0.7% gain. Japan led Asia’s advance as weakness in the yen lifted exporter stocks like Toyota Motor Corp. Oil hung below $74 a barrel amid expectations Opec will leave production levels unchanged at today’s meeting. Asian stocks have rallied massively from their March lows but gains have dimmed since November amid worries that markets have gotten ahead of the patchy recovery in the global recovery. Economic news lately has shown that Asia is rebounding quickly from the recession, helped by lavish government stimulus spending, but the US one of the biggest markets for the region’s exports remains sluggish. Among the corporate transactions that boosted European and US shares Monday was French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis SA’s $1.9 billion deal to buy US health care products company Chattem Inc. Meanwhile, mining equipment maker Bucyrus International Inc. said it planned to buy Terex Corp.’s mining equipment division for $1.3 billion and Dutch automaker Spyker Cars submitted a new offer to buy Saab from General Motors Co. In Tokyo trade, the Nikkei 225 stock average was up 132.17 points, or 1.3%, at 10,315.64 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 243.38, or 1.2%, to 21,191.48. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.5% to 1,652.36. Elsewhere, Singapore’s market jumped 1.3%, Australia’s index was up 1.1% and Taiwan shares rose 0.9%. China’s Shanghai index marched to a different drummer, falling 0.6% to 3,104.45. Monday in the U.S., the Dow rose 85.25, or 0.8%, to 10,414.14, after rising as much as 129 points earlier in the day. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 11.58, or 1.1%, to 1,114.05, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 25.97, or 1.2%, at 2,237.66. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Dec 2009 | 11:13 pm Gold futures lower on firm dollarMumbai: India’s gold futures were slightly lower in early trade on Tuesday under pressure from a firm dollar, though technical buying in international gold limited losses, analysts said. At 10:59am, the benchmark February gold on the MCX was 0.27% lower at Rs16,660 per 10 grams. “We expect the downside to continue.... on the back of a firm dollar,” said an analyst with Nirmal Bang Commodities Pvt Ltd. The dollar rose further against the yen on Tuesday, hitting a two-month high and keeping pressure on the euro, as year-end unwinding of short positions supported it along with higher Treasury yields. A firm dollar takes shine from gold as an investment asset, analysts said. International Gold prices inched up on Tuesday in a technical bounce after hitting a 6-1/2-week low, but the dollar’s firmness limited the metal’s gains amid light trading ahead of the Christmas holidays. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Dec 2009 | 10:51 pm Markets up 0.4% on Asia gains; banks lead Mumbai: Bank stocks lead a rise in Indian shares on Tuesday morning after three days of losses, helped by gains in Asia, but the rally’s momentum was not expected to sustain as activity thinned out into the end of the year. Top lender State Bank of India climbed 0.9% and rival ICICI Bank was 1.8% higher. Both banks have fallen this month, but have attracted some buying at their lows on favourable longer-term prospects in a growing economy. At 10:38am, the 30-share BSE Index was trading up 0.37 % at 16,662.74, with 23 of its components gaining. On Monday, the index had closed at its lowest level since 10 November after three successive falls. The 50-share NSE index was up 0.6% at 4,981.30. “It is only because of rally in Asia that we are trading higher today. Otherwise the scene is not very promising with a likely CRR (cash reserve ratio) or a reverse repo rate hike,” said R. Ganesh, director of Systematix Shares. “This week and the next are skewed due to holidays. So the participation will be low,” added Ganesh. Indian stock markets are shut on 25, 28 December and 1 January for holidays. Copper producer Sterlite Industries rose 1.2%, aluminium maker Hindalco <HALC.BO> climbed 1.9%, and Tata Steel, the world’s eighth largest steel maker by output, was up 1.6%. Ganesh said the metals pack was trading firm on expectations of better demand for metals in 2010. Leading telecom companies Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications rose 1.9% and 1.4% respectively, with some investors seeing value after the slide in the sector in recent months. The stocks are still down 11.5% and 24.7% respectively so far this year. In the broader market, gainers led losers in a ratio of 2.6:1 on a volume of 75 million shares. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Dec 2009 | 10:45 pm Sensex up 110 points in opening trade on global cuesThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Tuesday rose by 110 points, or 0.66 per cent, in opening trade on fresh capital inflows by funds and retail investors driven by firming global markets.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 21 Dec 2009 | 10:41 pm Tata Steel braces up for talent crunch - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 21 Dec 2009 | 10:33 pm Iran nuclear trigger report fabricated: AhmadinejadWashington: A reported confidential Iranian technical document describing Tehran’s efforts to design an atomic bomb trigger was forged by Washington, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a US news program on Monday. Ahmadinejad was asked by ABC News about a Times of London report last week on what it called a confidential Iranian technical document describing a four-year plan to test a neutron initiator, the part of a nuclear warhead that sets off an explosion. “They are all fabricated bunch of papers continuously being forged and disseminated by the American government,” he told the US network in an interview in Copenhagen, Denmark, after he attended the United Nations conference on climate change. Reports that Iran is working on a bomb trigger are “fundamentally not true,” said Ahmadinejad. The Times of London published on 14 December what it said was the Farsi-language document, along with an English translation, entitled, “Outlook for Special Neutron-Related Activities Over the Next Four Years”. The document describes steps to develop and test parts for a neutron initiator, a device that floods the core of highly enriched uranium with subatomic particles to touch off the chain reaction of a nuclear explosion. Last week Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast called the report “baseless ... not worthy of attention, intended to put political and psychological pressure on Iran.” Iran, the world’s No. 5 crude oil exporter, says its uranium enrichment program is aimed at generating electricity so that it can export more gas and oil. The West believes Iran wants bombs from enrichment because of its record of nuclear secrecy. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Dec 2009 | 10:29 pm IIM-A students go green, to help SMEs save energy - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 21 Dec 2009 | 10:13 pm Bangalore airport promoter raked huge profit by selling stake panelA joint house committee of the Karnataka legislature on Monday took exception to the huge profits made by Unique Zurich Airport, one of the promoters of the Bangalore international airport, by off-loading 12 per cent of its 17 per cent equity holding in October 2009.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 21 Dec 2009 | 10:10 pm Sensex up 110 points on global cuesThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today rose by 110 points, or 0.66%, in opening trade on fresh capital inflows by funds and retail investors driven by firming global markets.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 21 Dec 2009 | 9:59 pm Rupee gains 4 paise against dollar in early tradeThe Indian rupee today appreciated by 4 paise against the US currency in early trade on hopes of fresh capital inflows into equity markets in line with firming trends on other Asian markets.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 21 Dec 2009 | 9:49 pm India 3G auction to start as scheduled on Jan 14 minIndia, the world's fastest growing mobile market, plans to start auctioning third-generation wireless spectrum as scheduled from Jan 14, Telecom Minister Andimuthu Raja said on Monday.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 21 Dec 2009 | 9:08 pm Auto sales in rural markets boost China to No 1Minivan salesman Zhu Yi has a problem that most auto dealers elsewhere would happily swap for their own _ he doesn't have enough vehicles to satisfy customer demand.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 21 Dec 2009 | 9:02 pm Split offices of chairman, CEO, govt tells India IncIn a bid to strengthen corporate governance across India Inc, the government on Monday came out with a set of voluntary guidelines for the industry.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 21 Dec 2009 | 3:14 pm 'RBI can hike key rates to control price rise'The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council chairman, C Rangarajan, on Monday suggested that the RBI could reduce money supply and raise interest rate to tame the rising prices of food articles.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 21 Dec 2009 | 3:12 pm Bourses have say on trade timings: SebiBarely a week after premier bourses BSE and NSE announced advancing trading hours to 9am from 9.55am earlier, market regulator Sebi on Monday said stock exchanges have the discretion to decide the market timings.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 21 Dec 2009 | 3:10 pm '3G auction on schedule'The government on Monday said auction for 3G mobile spectrum would commence as per schedule from January 14 next year and allotment would be made to four private players simultaneously by August.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 21 Dec 2009 | 3:07 pm Choudhury front-runner for HPCL CMDSubir Roy Choudhury is likely to be the next chairman and managing director of Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd, India's third-biggest state refiner.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 21 Dec 2009 | 3:03 pm Coffee cafes brew heady cocktailsCafe Coffee Day, India's largest cafe chain, is brewing what it calls a High Spirits menu at its research and development centre in Chikmaglur.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 21 Dec 2009 | 2:59 pm Ask Mint | Car colour can add to its total cost —Ashwin Chatterjee Loans provided by relatives do not qualify for tax rebate on the principal repaid under section 80C of the Income-tax Act. Your brother can issue a demand note on your behalf in favour of the builder and a loan agreement can be drafted based on that. What are the factors that affect the price of a car? How can I negotiate on my car loan? —Lalitha Wamanan Some of the general aspects that finally add up to the total cost of a car include fuel, city of purchase, colour options, car insurance, add-on features such as power steering, safety systems and other requirement-based luxury accessories. To get the best deal, make sure your timing is right. Buy a car during the festive season or towards the end of the year when there are attractive interest rates on car loans and dealer discounts, such as an insurance premium waiver option, free luxury add-ons and cash discounts. If you are planning to sell your old car on which you made no insurance claims, then you can reduce the cost on your insurance for the new car you are buying by as much as 60%. All you need to do for this is to obtain a no-claim bonus (NCB) certificate from your previous insurer. In most cases, the official manufacturer’s insurance company works out cheaper. However, if you are happy with your current insurer, just carry your new car’s invoice and chassis number. Your NCB will be put to good use and you could get a reduction in premium and on-the-spot cover. I have dues on three credit cards. Some of my friends are advising me to take a personal loan to close these. Is it advisable? —Madhu Vardhan Before taking a personal loan, consider liquidating your assets, such as idle cash in your savings account, or gold that has multiplied several times in value. Yet another alternative is to get a loan against the value of your assets such as gold, shares, insurance policy and Public Provident Fund. These would be cheaper than a personal loan. If these are not viable, your next best option would be a personal loan as the interest rate on it would be much less than that on your credit cards.  I am planning to take a personal loan of Rs5 lakh. Can I apply for the loan along with somebody else since my income may not be sufficient to avail the loan? —Suneela P. You should go ahead and get on a co-applicant for your personal loan. The co-applicant’s income will be added to yours and the loan amount will be sanctioned on the collective income. Queries and views at feedback@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Dec 2009 | 12:45 pm Politics of border radio broadcastsNew Delhi: “Pakistan is caught in its own web of violence,” claims the deadpan voice on Radio Kashmir, All India Radio’s (AIR) Kashmir channel. “For years, India has been warning Pakistan about the dangers of supporting militants, but did Pakistan learn anything from this?” Listen to clips of broadcasts from Tabsara, a programme aired on Radio Kashmir. “No,” says the anchor of Tabsara emphatically. The programme is, according to G. Jayalal, director general of AIR, a “commentary” on current affairs. But month after month, the main subjects it seems to find worthy of comment are the troubles of Pakistan. Is this counter-propaganda? “No, we don’t do that,” protests Jayalal. AIR, he claims, likes to focus on national integrity, the democratic ethos of the country and positive developmental themes. “We have a policy,” he says, “of not attacking neighbouring countries.” The days of sputtering warmongering radio broadcasts might be over, but the game of “patriotism”, propaganda and counter-propaganda continues in India’s border areas. It retains its air of intrigue; the only difference is that today, the “propaganda” comes better camouflaged. Nearly all of it is, quite predictably, directed at Pakistan and China. The jousting is the most lively in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Arunachal Pradesh, where over the last few years AIR has been strengthening its programming and infrastructure. Under the J&K Special Plan, Rs100 crore is being spent on the improvement of FM and TV coverage in J&K border areas. New transmitters are being set up, programmes in regional dialects are being created and, as a letter from AIR states, “programmes to counter day-to-day propaganda of PAK Radio” are being introduced. Deceptively jovial “Our best counter-propaganda programme,” says a senior official of Radio Kashmir (who did not want to be named) rather candidly, “is Wadi ki Awaz.” The Urdu programme has actually been around since the 1960s, but its content and presentation, he claims, has changed. If you were expecting histrionics, you’d be disappointed. The programme is a deceptively jovial mix of popular music, interspersed with convenient and somewhat exaggerated bits of “news” and “information” from Kashmir. The target audience, as the AIR website says, are the people of Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. According to the official, it’s extremely popular across the Line of Control, the de facto border. The small dusty town of Kargil, a 10-hour drive from Srinagar, is another front in this battle. The town has changed in the 10 years that have passed since the war that made it famous. Everyone here now has cable television, nobody listens to the radio. But in a corner of the town, AIR has set up its own programme centre where programmes in Purgi, Balti and Shina, the languages spoken in the area, are created. The transmitter at the station has been upgraded from a meagre 1kW to 200kW, making it more powerful than transmitters in some metropolitan cities. It’s been done, points out Kacho Mohammed Ali Khan, chief executive councillor of the area, “to counter the Balti radio programmes that are beamed across from Skardu in Pakistan-administered Kashmir”. The station now broadcasts 5 hours of local programming every day, including news and music. It also relays programmes from Srinagar. Wavelength worries However, the reach of AIR programmes is limited. Khan says the signals are limited to a radius of 20km around Kargil. In a number of outlying villages, it’s easier to get Pakistani radio stations. The official at Radio Kashmir agrees that in many parts of the state it’s easier to get radio channels from across the border. Their transmitters are more powerful, and their frequencies often interfere with those of Radio Kashmir. Their FM channels, he says, reach all the way to Jammu. Part of the reason for their popularity, he grumbles, is that private channels and even some national ones broadcasting in J&K ignore the emotional needs of the people. “How can they broadcast film songs during Moharram?” he asks. On most religious occasions, people switch over to Pakistani channels such as Radio Pakistan. “Their programmes are more appropriate.” One among these is the shadowy Sada-e-Hurriyat Jammu Kashmir, or the Voice of Jammu Kashmir Freedom, which is broadcast from Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The content, as the name suggests, is dominated by discussions on the alleged excesses of the Indian government in Kashmir. The channel did not go unnoticed in India. A few years ago, says Alokesh Gupta, a Delhi-based radio enthusiast, a channel which went by the confusingly similar name of Sada-e-Kashmir was spotted on air. The content was pro-India, but there was nothing on the channel to identify its broadcasting location. Interestingly, and this is where the plot thickens, Gupta remembers hearing the AIR call sign once on the channel, and suspects that it belongs to them. But AIR denies having anything to do with it. “It might belong to the Army,” says Jayalal of AIR. The Indian Army public relations officer Colonel S. Om Singh says he is aware of the channel but that the Army is not involved. The Pakistan Broadcast Corp. believes that it originates from India. They list it as one of the “international” channels they monitor. Perhaps the similarity in names was a deliberate attempt to confuse listeners. Conspiracy theories surface and disappear, mimicking the wheezy fade-ins and fade-outs of short-wave signals. But so far, nobody has admitted to running the channel. Morale booster A similar game is being played out in Arunachal Pradesh. The air here is thick with Chinese radio channels. A few of these channels are in Tibetan, which is understood by many people in the state. To counter the Chinese channels, AIR’s programme centres in districts such as Tawang have been “working with the army, police and intelligence authorities to create programmes” that, according to L.C. Deka of AIR Tawang, promote “national integration”. These programmes in Monpa, the local language, often combine music and entertainment with coverage of camps and special programmes organized by the state government and police. Under the North-East Special Package of AIR, five substations are being created in the state, new transmitters are being installed and a 24-hour news channel is on the anvil. There are problems of large shadow areas where Indian signals don’t reach or Chinese radio stations drown them out. Deka also complains that the 15 minutes of programming in Tibetan that is relayed from Delhi is just not enough. However, he feels the local programming they’ve done has helped “boost the morale of the people”. The recent controversial visit of the Dalai Lama to Tawang is a case in point. At that time, there were a lot of rumours of Chinese aggression, and even a possible invasion. “A fear psychosis had been created in the villages,” says Deka. “I’m proud to say,” he continues with disarming honesty, “that at that time our team foot-marched to the last and remotest village in the district.” They walked for a whole week from 19 July, recording, talking to people in the villages and clearing misconceptions. It was, according to him, what the situation demanded. The people they met were so happy to see them that they often hugged the team members. In Mago and Thingbu villages, states Deka proudly, the people were so overwhelmed that they started crying. “For the last 35 years, they said no government official had come to their villages. But now they said, ‘We know that you are with us, we know that the Chinese are not coming, and we are proud to be Indian.’” akshai.j@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Dec 2009 | 12:45 pm Govt presses ahead with 3G auctionNew Delhi: India, the world’s fastest growing mobile market, plans to start auctioning third generation (3G) wireless spectrum as scheduled from 14 January, setting at rest speculation that the government may not be able to free up enough spectrum for four licences, and helping to curb the ballooning fiscal deficit.  Optimistic: Raja says the 3G spectrum will be allotted by August. Arvind Yadav / HT The “auction will be according to the schedule”, telecom minister A. Raja told reporters on Monday after a meeting of a ministerial panel on spectrum. “Allotment of spectrum to maintain the level playing field will be by August 2010. Allotment to the four service providers will be simultaneous.” The minister indicated that the department of telecommunications (DoT) would be able to overcome the defence ministry’s reluctance to give up the frequencies that will be needed to accommodate four new operators in 3G in addition to the state-run incumbent in each service area. “There is a consensus in the eGoM on vacation of spectrum and it would be allotted simultaneously to all the four winners by August 2010,” Raja said. DoT had earlier expressed concern over the delay in the vacation of spectrum by the defence ministry and had suggested, in its note to the empowered group of ministers (eGoM), that only three slots should be auctioned, as opposed to the planned four. The government has estimated that it will be able to raise Rs25,000 crore from the sale of 3G spectrum and had set a reserve price of Rs3,500 crore for 3G spectrum and Rs1,750 crore for Wimax (wireless broadband) licences, both of which are being auctioned. The auction is expected to give finance minister Pranab Mukherjee some breathing space in a year that sees borrowings surge to a record because of stimulus measures introduced to revive growth after being squeezed by the global financial crisis. “If the government is able to book all the 3G revenue this fiscal itself, then there might not be any requirement for additional borrowings above what the government has announced,” said Indranil Pan, chief economist, Kotak Mahindra Bank. “If it books only 25% of the revenue this fiscal and the rest in the next fiscal, then the additional government borrowing this year will depend on direct tax collections.” Mukherjee recently said he expects direct tax collections to touch Rs4 trillion above the Rs3.79 trillion budget estimate. “The third advance instalment of direct taxes look okay,” Pan said. “Therefore, there seems no serious risk on the borrowing side.” The government has budgeted for a fiscal deficit of Rs4 trillion, or 6.8% of the gross domestic product, this year with borrowings set at Rs4.51 trillion compared with last year’s Rs3.06 trillion.  In the interim budget for 2009-10, Mukherjee had budgeted Rs20,000 crore as receipts from the auction. The auction has been hanging for at least two years and the date has been postponed four times. The latest hurdle was posed by the defence ministry’s objections. The defence ministry told DoT earlier this month that only 10MHz of 3G spectrum could be vacated and that it was still using the frequency allotted to state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL). This would mean the spectrum available for auction could accommodate only one private operator. As per a previous decision of the eGoM on 3G, four private operators were to get spectrum. The government has already mandated BSNL and MTNL to start 3G services in the circles they operate in. The state-owned companies will need to match bid prices in those circles once the auctions are completed. DoT rejected the defence ministry’s claim that it holds all the spectrum (1,920- 1,980Mhz) needed for the long-delayed auction of frequencies required for third-generation (3G) mobile phone services that’s set to be held next month. “DoT does not agree with the ministry of defence that the entire 60Mhz of spectrum in the 1920-1980Mhz band, pan India, is with the defence (ministry) and that only 10Mhz 3G spectrum released by the defence (ministry) on signing of MoU is available for auction,” it said in an internal note for the eGoM, headed by finance minister Mukherjee. A copy of the note was reviewed by Mint. “Since DoT is the custodian of spectrum and as per DoT records, duly reconciled with ministry of defence in April 2007, 3G spectrum in the 1,920-1,980 Mhz band is available for commercial use,” the note added. Shauvik Ghosh and Asit Ranjan Mishra of Mint contributed to this story. feedback.livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Dec 2009 | 12:45 pm Pipavav faces $213 mn order cancellationMumbai: Pipavav Shipyard Ltd, which went public in September, is facing order cancellation from Greece’s AVGI Maritime Group for building six dry bulk ships together worth $213 million (Rs996.84 crore). Pipavav Shipyard said in a statement that the owner had referred the contracts for arbitration. “However, both parties decided to explore the option of resolving the issues bilaterally and mutually kept the arbitration proceeding in abeyance,” the statement said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Dec 2009 | 12:24 pm Policy | Sugar mills association seeks cut in importsNew Delhi: The Indian Sugar Mills Association (Isma) called on the government to reduce the country’s dependence on imports as domestic production is expected to meet demand in the next sugar season, which runs from October to September. “With higher prices being assured to sugar cane producers this year, we expect farmers to grow more sugar, which will help narrow the gap between demand and supply in 2010-11 so that dependence on imported sugar is considerably reduced,” Isma president Sameer Somaiya said. India is expected to close the current sugar season with production at 16-16.5 million tonnes, whereas demand is at 22 million tonnes, leaving a gap of around 7 million tonnes. This is being met through imports of raw and white sugar. “The country has contracted to import 3.8 million tonnes of sugar so far this season, of which, 1.8 million tonnes have arrived,” Somaiya added. —Sangeeta Singh ********* Markets panel meet remains inconclusive Mumbai: The high level co-ordination committee (HLCC) on financial markets on Monday discussed formalization of the structure of the regulatory panel to make it more efficient. The meeting remained inconclusive and no decision was taken. “Even though no paper was circulated in advance, there was a presentation made and we did informally discuss it,” one of the members of the committee told ‘Mint’. HLCC consists of top officials of Indian banking, capital markets, insurance and pension regulators besides representatives from the ministry of finance. The government is in favour of creating a formal structure, even enacting a law to enable and strengthen coordination between various financial sector regulators and plug the gaps in the current regulatory framework. The Indian banking regulator seems to be not comfortable with the idea. The Reserve Bank of India governor D. Subbarao has said the issue has to be debated. —Anirudh Laskar Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Dec 2009 | 12:21 pm Announcement on rules for insurance IPOs soonMumbai: India’s Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority will announce disclosure rules for initial share sales of insurance companies next week, chairman J. Hari Narayan said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 21 Dec 2009 | 12:15 pm India cracks human genome, joins elite clubSamir K Brahmachari feels like Bhuvan, the lead character in Aamir Khan-starrer Lagaan.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 21 Dec 2009 | 12:08 pm Anant Goenka to be Ceat deputy MDAnother son is rising at India Inc. Anant Goenka, son of RPG Group Chairman Harsh Goenka, will take over as deputy managing director, a post created at tyre major Ceat.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 21 Dec 2009 | 12:06 pm Left against Shivraj Patil for Bengal GuvThe Left no longer has a position of pre-eminence with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, having slid from 61 MPs in the last Lok Sabha to 24 in the present one, but it continues to cast its shadow on the political fortunes of at least one prominent Congress leader: Former Home Minister Shivraj Patil.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 21 Dec 2009 | 12:05 pm Debt dents Tata Sons net profitThe net profit of Tata Sons declined 19 per cent to Rs 3,054 crore for the financial year ending March 31, 2009 as interest cost increased nearly four times to Rs 504 crore.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 21 Dec 2009 | 12:04 pm Despite GDP cue, Indirect tax kitty down 21%A higher-than-expected growth rate has not brought any cheer to the government coffers. Indirect tax receipts for eight months (April-November 2009) has dipped 21 per cent to Rs 1,45,824 crore, despite an unexpected 7 per cent growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 7.1 per cent rise in industrial output till October.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 21 Dec 2009 | 12:01 pm ‘Vested interests’ to blame, says Tata SteelKolkata: People with “vested interests” and “politics” were slowing the construction of Tata Steel Ltd’s proposed 6 million tonnes (mt) plant at Kalinganagar in Orissa’s Jajpur district, the company’s managing director H.M. Nerurkar said in Kolkata on Monday. The plant is to be built in two phases of 3 mt each, and its construction was to start earlier this year. Construction of the Kalinganagar plant was stalled because about 100 families refused to leave the project site even though barely 20km away, Tata Steel’s ferrochrome project had raised people’s “standard of living”. The resistance, it seems, is motivated by “vested interests and elements of politics”, he added. Nerurkar’s statement recalls Tata group chairman Ratan Tata’s allegation in August 2007 that political protests against land acquisition in Singur in West Bengal, where Tata Motors Ltd was building a small-car factory, were backed by “vested interests”. The project was eventually abandoned, and the factory moved to Sanand in Gujarat. Tata Steel had signed an agreement with the Orissa government in November 2004 to build the 6 mt steel plant. It has been facing resistance from local people right from the beginning because the project was initially seen as displacing some 1,200 tribal families. In January 2006, at least 14 people protesting against the steel plant died in police firing, following which the agitation intensified. Even workers of the erstwhile Corus Group Plc—the Anglo-Dutch steel maker Tata Steel acquired in 2007—are giving greenfield projects such as the one in Kalinganagar a thumbs down. Tata Steel has had to scale down Corus’ operations in Europe as the steel industry went into a tailspin soon after the acquisition was completed, and recently the Teesside steelworks in the UK was mothballed because of flagging sales. A section of the British media has since been saying that Tata Steel is abandoning old steelworks and building new ones in India to cut carbon dioxide emissions. The immediate benefit to Corus is it would save a lot of money that it would otherwise have had to pay for exceeding European maximum emission limits, said the British media. On the other hand, by building new plants, Tata Steel would be able to claim a substantial amount of money under the United Nation’s Clean Development Mechanism which allows companies in developed countries to buy carbon credits from those in India and other developing countries, the British media added. Nerurkar said Tata Steel was looking to reduce by 2012 carbon dioxide emissions from 2.1-2.2 tonnes to 1.8 tonnes for every tonne of steel manufactured, but reiterated that the Teesside steelworks had to be mothballed because four key buyers “reneged on contracts”. “There was excess capacity at Teesside... We tried running the plant for six months (despite flagging sales) to protect people’s jobs, but ended up losing a lot of money.” In Orissa, at least three global firms—the Indian arms of ArcelorMittal SA and Posco, besides Tata Steel—are looking to build steel plants, but almost all steel projects in the state have been delayed by protests over land acquisition. The competition is intensifying with more firms such as Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd and JSE Steel of Japan looking to enter India. To overcome resistance at the grass-roots level, managers need to speak the local language, Nerurkar said. “Because many of us have been brought up in cities, we do not understand the way things work in rural India.” Time has come for the Centre to intervene in Tata Steel’s project in Orissa, said Narayan Sengupta, director of MN Dastur and Co. Pvt. Ltd—a consulting firm, which has advised Tata Steel, Posco and ArcelorMittal on their projects in the state. “Orissa should clearly earmark land that could be used for projects like these, and make sure companies didn’t have to face delays for families not agreeing to leave,” Sengupta said, adding that for Tata Steel’s Orissa project, almost everything is ready. “Even some of its equipment has arrived.” But the long-term solution for problems with land acquisition in Orissa lies only in economic development of the tribal people there, according to Sengupta. aveek.d@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 21 Dec 2009 | 11:55 am Deals with Google, Microsoft push Twitter into profitabilityNew York: Internet firm Twitter Inc. will make around $25 million (Rs117 crore) from Web search deals with Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. announced in October, enough to push the site into profitability, people familiar with the matter said. An agreement that made Twitter’s messages searchable on Google’s site will generate around $15 million, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the terms aren’t public. A similar deal with Microsoft’s Bing search engine will earn Twitter around $10 million. The multi-year agreements will allow Twitter to make a small profit in 2009, said the people, who estimate that its operating costs are around $20 million to $25 million a year. The San Francisco-based company, which started in 2006, has around 105 employees, according to its website. Until earlier this year, Twitter wasn’t even focused on revenue—let alone profit. The firm attracted millions of users with a free service that posts 140-character messages, known as tweets. Chief executive Evan Williams said two months ago that the firm was spending almost all its time improving the product, rather than seeking ways to make money. That left many analysts and investors wondering how Twitter would convert its popularity into earnings. Twitter has at least 58 million global monthly users, according to US research firm ComScore Inc. The service is the third most popular social-networking site in the US, after Facebook Inc. and MySpace. The firm’s co-founder, Biz Stone, declined to comment on its finances, saying only that Twitter is proud of the work it accomplished in 2009. “We’re thrilled about the partnerships we’ve formed this year and we’re looking forward to opening Twitter even more in the future,” Stone said in an email. Jane Penner, a spokeswoman for Mountain View, California-based Google, declined to comment, as did Pete Wootton, a spokesman for Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft. When the agreements were announced in October, none of the companies involved disclosed their value. Twitter got help achieving profitability by reducing expenses, the people familiar with the situation said. It used to pay more money to telecommunications firms for distributing its billions of tweets over wireless networks. Twitter’s popularity has given it bargaining power with phone companies, helping it renegotiate deals to bring down costs. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 21 Dec 2009 | 9:29 am Russia to sign Turkmen gas accordAahgabat: President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday travels to Turkmenistan to sign a deal that could see the resumption of gas supplies from the isolated ex-Soviet state to Russia from next year, officials said. “The signing of a document on gas is scheduled” for Tuesday, an official with the Turkmenistan government told AFP on condition of anonymity, declining to provide further details. A Kremlin spokesman confirmed that Medvedev and his Turkmen colleague Gurganbuly Berdymukhamedov would discuss energy but declined to elaborate. Earlier this year, Turkmenistan accused Russia of abruptly decreasing the volume of Turkmen natural gas in the pipeline, causing it to rupture and allowing Russia to drastically scale down its imports of Turkmen gas at a time when demand in Europe fell. Analysts estimate the gas rupture has caused Turkmenistan to lose around one billion dollars a month. The Kommersant daily, citing a source at the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, reported Monday that during the visit Russia and Turkmenistan would sign an agreement that would see Russia purchasing 10 or 11 billion cubic metres of gas a year between 2010 and 2012. The new volumes would represent a four-fold reduction in purchases compared to earlier years. If the document is signed, gas supplies from Turkmenistan — Russia’s main source of natural gas in Central Asia — would restart from 1 January next year, the report said. The resumption of gas would come after several false starts earlier this year. Kommersant said Moscow and Ashgabat had been unable to agree on the gas price since autumn, with Gazprom insisting on lower prices in line with falling prices for gas worldwide. The fact that Gazprom wants to pare down Turkmen gas purchases also meant the launch of a long-planned Moscow-backed Caspian gas pipeline would be postponed indefinitely, Kommersant said. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 21 Dec 2009 | 4:56 am Dubai World to meet creditors over debt restructuringDubai: Dubai World will not make any concrete proposals to delay $22 billion in debt when it meets creditors on Monday, a move that is likely to dismay investors who have been left in the dark for weeks. Saddled with debts and in need of restructuring, Dubai’s flagship company had been expected to formalise a request for a payment standstill when it meets some 90 creditors at Dubai’s World Trade Center complex on Monday. But Dubai World moved to temper expectations, saying its two-hour presentation would only offer a look at its financial situation. The emirate sent shockwaves through global markets on 25 November when it requested a standstill on $26 billion of debts linked to Dubai World and its property units Limitless and Nakheel, developer of three palm-shaped islands. A $10 billion lifeline from neighbouring Abu Dhabi last week — the third this year — helped Dubai stave off default on a $4.1 billion Islamic bond from Nakheel and provided enough funds to service debts until April. Banks had lent to Dubai government-linked firms on the implicit understanding that they were backed by the federal government or Abu Dhabi. While the support eventually came, the delay and the lack of communication shook global markets and may have caused lasting damage to the reputation of the Gulf hub. Bankers predicted that Monday’s meeting would mark only the start of what could be lengthy negotiations. “Providing clarity is clearly the number one priority,” said Raj Madha, banking analyst at EFG-Hermes. “Obviously a standstill is not ideal. But a standstill with visibility of when payments will be received or the extent of these payments would be sufficient to call it a result.” UAE economy minister Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri told reporters on the sidelines of a conference that Dubai, which faces more debt maturities next year, may get more aid from the federal government or Abu Dhabi and downplayed the impact on the UAE economy as whole. “This issue has to be studied in a proper manner, evaluated and based on that, an answer will be provided on the federal level or the local level because the way we see this is one economy not separated from each other,” he said. Pay in full? Dubai may still repay lenders in full, an Abu Dhabi-based newspaper reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources. The National daily said two top Dubai officials, on a confidence-building mission to Britain and the United States in recent days, told financial leaders in London that repaying all bank loans in full “was discussed as a medium-term possibility”. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum, head of Dubai’s supreme fiscal committee and the uncle of Dubai’s ruler, and Mohammed al-Shaibani, deputy head of the committee, met officials in London last week. “They made clear there were a number of options the government of Dubai saw as feasible and desirable for Dubai World and repayment in full was one of them,” the newspaper quoted a person who attended the talks as saying. But a full repayment seems the most unlikely of available options and bankers expect Dubai World to propose the extension of maturities for at least a year or more while paying interest. A steering committee of Dubai World’s largest lenders met the company on 7 December. The committee consists of London-listed Standard Chartered , HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, and local lenders Emirates NBD and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. Lenders had been expected to take Dubai World’s requests back to their credit committees, which were expected to agree a standstill request in the new year, several bankers said. “A lot of banks will get information and background to the group (on Monday),” said a Dubai-based lawyer. “There will be a lot of questions asked but I don’t think that many will be answered.” Rebuilding trust In the boom years, Dubai lured wealthy visitors and courted the media with celebrity-endorsed projects and developments such as The World, an archipelago in the shape of a world map. But whereas neighbours funded growth with proceeds from soaring oil prices, Dubai borrowed to invest through a network of state-linked conglomerates that offered limited transparency. Dubai World’s troubles have raised question marks about the region as a whole and fears among investors that other government-linked firms could also face problems. Economy minister al-Mansouri said that the UAE could not change economic forecasts for 2010 as a result of the debt crisis, adding that it did not have a “huge reflection” on the seven-member federation, the world’s No.3 oil exporter. Speculation has continued to mount over which assets Dubai Inc., the network of government-owned companies, is willing to sell to help pay off its debt obligations. One such asset, luxury hotelier Jumeirah Group, is not for sale, said its owner Dubai Holding, which belongs to Dubai’s ruler. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 21 Dec 2009 | 3:03 am
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