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Axis Bank may explore opportunities in health insuranceIn an exclusive interview with CNBCTV18, Shikha Sharma, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Axis Bank, spoke about the latest happenings in the bank and the sector.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2009 | 7:56 am Reliance Comm introduces new billing planReliance Communications, India\'s secondlargest mobile operator, on Thursday said it would charge 20 paise per minute (0.4 U.S. cents) for local and national longdistance calls within its network under a new bill plan.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2009 | 7:45 am Tata Motors settles Singur compensation issue with vendorsCNBCTV18 leans that India\'s largest automobile company, Tata Motors has decided to settle Singur compensation issue with the vendors. The company will compensate 7580% of vendors\' Singur loss. \"It has asked vendors to take bank loan of 8085% Singur loss, which would be repaid by the company,\" sources inform.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2009 | 7:42 am IOC yet to hear from govt on loss compensationStateowned oil marketing majors are keeping their fingers crossed as they for the government to compensate for their losses for selling fuel below cost price.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2009 | 6:29 am Nava Bharat signs share purchase agreement with Zambia govtIn an exclusive interview with CNBCTV18, Ashok Devineni, Chairman, Nav Bharat Ventures, spoke about the latest happenings in his company and sector.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2009 | 6:18 am Citigroup repays $20 billion to US!Citigroup Inc repaid USD 20 bn to the US, as the bank works to reduce govt involvement in its compensation practices.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Dec 2009 | 5:42 am Infosys bags Rs 3.87 bn Karnataka project: Sources!Infosys Technologies, India`s No 2 software exporter, has been selected to implement a 3.87 billion rupee (USD 83 million) IT project for Karnataka`s power distribution utilities, two government officials said.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Dec 2009 | 5:42 am Asian shares rise, dollar rally stalled!Asian stocks rose on Thursday led by gains in technology shares, while the US dollar edged further away from recent peaks after an unexpected drop in US home sales cooled optimism about the economic recovery.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Dec 2009 | 5:42 am China to deliver promised stimulus by end of 2010!: The Chinese government will deliver on its commitment to spend 1.18 trillion yuan (USD 173 billion) before the end of 2010, the core of the country`s stimulus package, vice finance minister Zhang Shaochun said on Thursday.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Dec 2009 | 5:42 am Sensex advances gain; RIL, HDFC lead rally!Advancing its gain further, The Bombay Stock Exchange bellwether index Sensex on Thursday opened 0.36 percent higher on a firm Asian market.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Dec 2009 | 5:42 am Nortel seeks buyer for Carrier VoIP business!Nortel Networks Corp has sought court approval to sell certain assets of its Carrier voice over Internet protocol and application solutions business to Genband Inc for USD 282 million, court papers showed.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Dec 2009 | 5:42 am GE sells India transport finance services arm: Report !General Electric has sold its India transport financial services business for 12 billion rupees (USD 255 million) to Shriram Transport Finance Co, a financial daily reported on Thursday citing people close to the development.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Dec 2009 | 5:42 am Ford to sell Volvo brand to Chinese carmaker!US auto giant Ford said Wednesday it had agreed on the main terms for selling its Swedish brand Volvo Cars to Chinese car maker Geely, a deal set to underline China`s growing economic clout.Source: Zee News : Business | 24 Dec 2009 | 5:42 am Licence to drill: The man who fueled Cairn India\'s growthFrom James Bond to Govinda, Rahul Dhirs love for movies is incessant. So is his determination to cut through adversity and make oil from sandSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2009 | 5:19 am Tyre prices to hike by 57%: JK TyreIn an interview with CNBCTV18, AK Kinra, Chief Financial Officer of JK Tyre, spoke about the increase in rubber prices and how it impacts the company.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2009 | 5:19 am McLeod Russel to buy Ugandabased tea firm for $30mMcLeod Russel, through its UKbased subsidiary Borelli Tea Holding, has signed a share purchase agreement with UK firms James Finlay Limited and James Finlay International Limited for acquiring a Ugandan tea firm.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2009 | 5:07 am Japan\'s Sapporo end Nakayama freezeoutFormer Japan striker Masashi Nakayama has been granted the chance for a final swan song with JLeague club Consadole Sapporo at the age of 42.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2009 | 4:51 am LT Info lowest bid for utility dealLT Infotech Ltd, a unit of India\'s top engineering firm Larsen Toubro, is the lowest bidder for an IT applications contract for a staterun power utility in Maharashtra, three sources at the utility said on Thursday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 24 Dec 2009 | 4:15 am McLeod Russel ends negative, down 1% - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 24 Dec 2009 | 3:25 am Core industries grew 5.6 percent in November - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 24 Dec 2009 | 3:06 am Maruti to showcase concept MPV at Auto Expo - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 24 Dec 2009 | 3:00 am PSUs ONGC, SAIL, NTPC get Maharatna status - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 24 Dec 2009 | 2:58 am India spot gold rises on bargain-buyingMUMBAI (Reuters) - India's spot gold prices rose on Thursday on some bargain-buying after prices fell nearly three percent in the last two sessions, dealers said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 2:58 am United States to probe banks on sale of risky securities: ReportIn some cases, the securities appear to have been deliberately stuffed with particularly risky mortgages, in order to perform poorly if the housing market tanked, according to the report.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 2:54 am Indian rupee gains tracking peers; stocks watchedMumbai: The Indian rupee extended gains in afternoon trade on Thursday tracking a 1% rise in the domestic share market and boosted by the dollar’s drop verus major currencies overseas. At 3:15pm the partially convertible rupee was at Rs46.71/72 per dollar, stronger than its previous close of Rs46.87/88. Financial markets will be shut on Friday and Monday for holidays. Indian shares extended gains to 1% on Thursday afternoon, led by in Reliance Industries and Tata Motors, with firm global markets underpinning the positive sentiment. All other Asian units were also stronger compared to the dollar. The index of the dollar against six majors was down 0.3%. The dollar dipped on Thursday, coming off three-month highs against a basket of currencies after weak US housing data the previous day dampened optimism about the outlook for the US economy. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were quoting at Rs46.7325 and Rs46.7300 respectively, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $2.3 billion. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2009 | 2:49 am ANALYSIS - French e-commerce struggles to catch upPARIS (Reuters) - French consumers may be keener than ever to shop online from the comfort of their own homes, but the French online retailing market still lags behind Britain and Germany and the gap is likely to persist unless food retailers like Carrefour invest more in e-commerce and expand their delivery coverage, analysts say.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 2:43 am ITI shares surge on order quota extensionNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Shares in Indian state-run telecom gear maker ITI Ltd jumped nearly 17 percent after the government extended until Sept. 2010 a requirement for state-run telecoms to source 30 percent of equipment orders from it.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 2:36 am Infrastructure industries expand by 5.3% in NovemberCement marginally improved by 9 %against 8.7 in November 2008, the official data said. However, crude oil slipped into the negative territory by 1.6 per cent.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 2:31 am Glenmark unit gets tentative nod from food and drug administration for two drugsThe second drug, Atomoxetine Hydrochloride, is used in the treatment of attention deficit or hyperactivity disorder, and has an estimated market size of $498 million.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 2:20 am MPs, MLAs from Telangana resign; violence during bandhNew Delhi: MPs and MLAs from Telangana cutting across party lines resigned their seats in protest against the Centre’s decision to put the issue of the separate state on the backburner as the region shut down following a 48-hour bandh call. Eleven Congress members of the Lok Sabha met in New Delhi this morning and decided to submit their resignation to party president Sonia Gandhi in protest against the Centre’s decision last night on the issue. They urged her to expedite the process of formation of the separate state. At a meeting in Andhra Bhavan here, the MPs also decided to meet union minister S. Jaipal Reddy, who is also an MP from Telangana region, and convey their decision. A senior MP Madhu Yashki said they would also like Reddy to be part of their struggle, an indication that they would like him to resign. Chidambaram’s statement on Wednesday said there was need for wide ranging discussions on the Telangana issue as the situation in Andhra Pradesh has altered since his 9 December statement. The ruling party MPs felt that the word consultations in home minister P. Chidambaram’s statement yesterday has created a perception among the people of Telangana that the issue of formation of separate state may take a longer time. “There is some dilution of Chidambaram’s statement of 9 December (in which he had talked about initiating the process of formation of Telangana). “We as MPs of the Telangana region will convey the sentiments of the people of Telangana to Gandhi and urge the high command to expedite the process of formation of Telangana by moving a bill in Parliament,” one of the MPs G. Vivekanand said after the meeting in Andhra Bhavan in New Delhi. He said their goal was to achieve the formation of a separate state. They said they would also urge the party members of Rajya Sabha to follow suit. Vivekanand said the formation of Telangana should be done in a “reasonable time”. In Hyderabad, eight Telangana Rashtra Samiti MLAs put in their papers after their party chief president K. Chandrasekhar Rao resigned in protest against the Centre’s alleged betrayal on the Telangana issue. Rao, who is a Lok Sabha member from Mahabubnagar, sent his resignation letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker late last night while the party’s eight MLAs have also quit their posts. “The party’s MLAs have also resigned over the Centre’s betrayal on the Telangana statehood demand,” senior TRS legislator T. Harish Rao said. Ten TDP MLAs also decided to resign and extend support to the two-day bandh called in the region. At a party meeting, 10 TDP MLAs belonging to Telangana decided to submit their resignations to Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy. Former Andhra Pradesh minister and TDP legislator N Janardhan Reddy told reporters that the Congress has “betrayed” the Telangana people by diluting its earlier promise of granting statehood to the backward region. Meanwhile, normal life was paralysed across Telangana region due to the bandh with violence breaking out at some places. The shutdown call had an immediate impact as students and other Telangana supporters came on to the streets and resorted to stone pelting on buses and shops in Hyderabad and other Telangana districts. Violence broke out in Hyderabad, Warangal and other places in the region within hours of the Centre’s announcement as police resorted to baton-charge to disperse angry crowds of protesters. In the state capital, several petrol pumps were shutdown soon after TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao and other Telangana leaders gave the bandh call. Long queues were witnessed at the few petrol stations that remained open. The Centre, meanwhile, deciced to rush about 1,150 additional para-military forces to Andhra Pradesh in view of the situation in the state. Ten companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) are being airlifted from New Delhi, Jalandhar and Chandigarh to be sent to Hyderabad, a senior home ministry official said. With this deployment, the total strength of the force will increase from 28 companies to 38 (about 4,000 men) in the state. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2009 | 2:19 am MPs, MLAs from Telangana resign; violence during bandhNew Delhi: MPs and MLAs from Telangana cutting across party lines resigned their seats in protest against the Centre’s decision to put the issue of the separate state on the backburner as the region shut down following a 48-hour bandh call. Eleven Congress members of the Lok Sabha met in New Delhi this morning and decided to submit their resignation to party president Sonia Gandhi in protest against the Centre’s decision last night on the issue. They urged her to expedite the process of formation of the separate state. At a meeting in Andhra Bhavan here, the MPs also decided to meet union minister S. Jaipal Reddy, who is also an MP from Telangana region, and convey their decision. A senior MP Madhu Yashki said they would also like Reddy to be part of their struggle, an indication that they would like him to resign. Chidambaram’s statement on Wednesday said there was need for wide ranging discussions on the Telangana issue as the situation in Andhra Pradesh has altered since his 9 December statement. The ruling party MPs felt that the word consultations in home minister P. Chidambaram’s statement yesterday has created a perception among the people of Telangana that the issue of formation of separate state may take a longer time. “There is some dilution of Chidambaram’s statement of 9 December (in which he had talked about initiating the process of formation of Telangana). “We as MPs of the Telangana region will convey the sentiments of the people of Telangana to Gandhi and urge the high command to expedite the process of formation of Telangana by moving a bill in Parliament,” one of the MPs G. Vivekanand said after the meeting in Andhra Bhavan in New Delhi. He said their goal was to achieve the formation of a separate state. They said they would also urge the party members of Rajya Sabha to follow suit. Vivekanand said the formation of Telangana should be done in a “reasonable time”. In Hyderabad, eight Telangana Rashtra Samiti MLAs put in their papers after their party chief president K. Chandrasekhar Rao resigned in protest against the Centre’s alleged betrayal on the Telangana issue. Rao, who is a Lok Sabha member from Mahabubnagar, sent his resignation letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker late last night while the party’s eight MLAs have also quit their posts. “The party’s MLAs have also resigned over the Centre’s betrayal on the Telangana statehood demand,” senior TRS legislator T. Harish Rao said. Ten TDP MLAs also decided to resign and extend support to the two-day bandh called in the region. At a party meeting, 10 TDP MLAs belonging to Telangana decided to submit their resignations to Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy. Former Andhra Pradesh minister and TDP legislator N Janardhan Reddy told reporters that the Congress has “betrayed” the Telangana people by diluting its earlier promise of granting statehood to the backward region. Meanwhile, normal life was paralysed across Telangana region due to the bandh with violence breaking out at some places. The shutdown call had an immediate impact as students and other Telangana supporters came on to the streets and resorted to stone pelting on buses and shops in Hyderabad and other Telangana districts. Violence broke out in Hyderabad, Warangal and other places in the region within hours of the Centre’s announcement as police resorted to baton-charge to disperse angry crowds of protesters. In the state capital, several petrol pumps were shutdown soon after TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao and other Telangana leaders gave the bandh call. Long queues were witnessed at the few petrol stations that remained open. The Centre, meanwhile, deciced to rush about 1,150 additional para-military forces to Andhra Pradesh in view of the situation in the state. Ten companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) are being airlifted from New Delhi, Jalandhar and Chandigarh to be sent to Hyderabad, a senior home ministry official said. With this deployment, the total strength of the force will increase from 28 companies to 38 (about 4,000 men) in the state. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2009 | 2:19 am Reliance Communications introduces new billing planIndia's second-largest mobile operator, on Thursday said it would charge 20 paise per minute for local and national long-distance calls within its network.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 2:14 am BSE Sensex extends gains to 1 pctMUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex extended gains to 1 percent on Thursday afternoon, led by in Reliance Industries and Tata Motors, with firm global markets underpinning the positive sentiment.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 2:13 am UPDATE1-Shriram Transport to tap internal accruals for buyout - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 24 Dec 2009 | 2:04 am Shares extend gains to 1%; RIL, Tata Motors leadMumbai: Indian shares extended gains to 1% on Thursday afternoon, led by Reliance Industries and Tata Motors, with firm global markets underpinning the positive sentiment. At 2:36pm, the 30-share BSE index was up 0.94% at 17,392.41 points, with 27 of its components advancing, having earlier risen 1.06%. The 50-share NSE Index was up 0.9% at 5,189.35. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2009 | 2:04 am Sensex lacklustre Tata Motors Hindalco DLF top gainers - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:53 am FII inflows hit record Rs80,000 cr-mark in 2009New Delhi:After their flight last year, foreign institutional investors flocked back to bet on the India growth story by pouring in a record over Rs80,000 crore in domestic equities in 2009. The FII investment of Rs80,500 crore in 2009 is the highest ever inflow in the country in rupee terms in a single year and comes a year after they pulled out over Rs50,000 crore. FII inflow so far this year has broken the previous high of Rs71,486 crore parked by foreign fund houses in domestic equities in 2007. Market analysts believe that the FII inflow in India may continue in the next year as well, if the liquidity conditions remain strong. “FIIs will continue to be positive on our markets and in general Indian markets will fare well in 2010,” Purpleline Investment Advisors director P.K. Agarwal said. Delhi-based SMC Capitals Ltd’s Equity head Jagannadham Thunuguntla echoed the view, saying, “If liquidity conditions remain strong next year, one can expect FII inflows to remain strong into India even in 2010 as well.” During a year when the stock market barometer added over 70% to its valuation, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) made a net investment of whopping over Rs80,500 crore (about $16.8 billion) in the Indian share market. The Bombay Stock Exchange’s benchmark Sensex, comprising 30 bluechip stocks, has gained more than 70% so far in 2009, one of the best performer among leading global bourses. “However, if dollar-carrytrade-unwinding starts, then one can expect rush of FII outflow from the country, resulting in pressure on Indian markets,” he cautioned. Significantly, last year the FIIs had pulled out a net Rs52,900 crore from the domestic bourses --a trend triggered with the collapse of global financial services icon Lehman Brothers in the middle of September 2008. This selling trend continued till the first two months of the passing year. However, with the sign of revival of economies, the trend turned positive during March and overseas investors started betting big on the domestic bourses. “As the liquidity conditions started improving after the governments across the world started putting in the stimulus packages, FIIs again tried to come back starting March 2009,” Jagannadham explains. As they came back, even Indian markets staged big rally. Moreover, FIIs don’t have many other choices but for coming and investing in the high growth economies of India and China, he added. The trend of strong FII inflows to the tune of Rs31,000 crore (about $6.3 billion) witnessed during April-June quarter gained further during the September quarter this year and the period witnessed an infusion of hefty Rs34,313 crore. So far in the December quarter, foreign fund houses have made a net investment of about Rs22,000 crore in the stock market, amid a period that witnessed the Dubai debt crisis. Moreover, in the debt instruments, FIIs have made a net investment of about Rs5,200 crore ($1.1 billion) so far in 2009, according to the market regulator Sebi data. Interestingly, the whopping inflow by FIIs into the local stock markets has alarmed the government and other authorities concerned. The inflow has also made industry chambers like Assocham demanding a two-percentage point tax on FII funds, whereas the exporter body FIEO (Federation of Indian Export Organisations) demanded government intervention to contain the flow. According to the FIEO, the FII inflow had been making the rupee stronger against the American greenback, rendering the exports incompetent from price angle. Last month, the government said record investments in the equities market by FIIs was not a matter of concern, but it would act if it finds any distortions. “It (FII inflows) is not a matter of concern. We have a system of monitoring. Whenever we find that there are some distortions, we have the arrangement to counter them. Therefore, it is not disturbing,” finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had said. However, describing the foreign capital inflows as the success story of India’s recovery, Reserve Bank deputy governor Subir Gokarn recently said that the inflow should not be viewed as a threat at this point of time. “You could see them as a positive sign which is that they reflect increasing global confidence in Indian recovery,” the newly appointed Gokarn had said. During the year, the number of registered FIIs increased by 114 to 1,708, while the tally of registered sub-accounts rose by 458 to 5,330, according to the Sebi data. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:50 am Google says AdMob deal gets federal trade commission reviewThe world's No. 1 Internet search engine said in a post on its company blog on Wednesday that it received a 'second request' from the US Federal Trade Commission this week.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:43 am Food inflation cools down to 18.65% in Dec second weekFood inflation softened to 18.65% for the week ended December 12, though essential items like potato and pulses continued to remain expensive.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:42 am Top PSUs to get 'Maharatna' statusThe government approved bestowing the 'Maharatna' status with enhanced autonomy to the PSUs which have a three-year track record of annual turnover of Rs 25,000 crore and net profit of Rs 5,000 crore.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:37 am Wall Street ends with small gainsThe Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.51 points (0.01 per cent) to 10,466.44 at the closing bell, managing to hold positive for a fourth day of gains.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:30 am FII inflows hit record Rs 80 000 cr mark in 2009After their flight last year, foreign institutional investors flocked back to bet on the India growth story by pouring in a record over Rs 80,000 crore in domestic equities in 2009. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:28 am Nov infrastructure output up 5.3 pct y/y - minNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's infrastructure sector grew an annual 5.3 percent in November, Trade Minister Anand Sharma said on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:25 am Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg on Walt Disney's boardSandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, is 40, which would make her the youngest Disney director.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:23 am Rise in food prices strengthen case for action by Reserve Bank of IndiaMonthly price data for November showed manufacturing prices rose an annual 4 percent, a sign a growing economic recovery is allowing firms to pass on higher costs.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:11 am FY10 growth may be over 7 Montek Singh - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:07 am Cabinet approves Jet Airways' $400 million share sale planCabinet on Thursday approved Jet Airways Ltd's plans to raise up to $400 million by selling shares.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:07 am Games give Facebook-weary employers more headachesBANGALORE (Reuters Life!) - For many employers, Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites are already a scourge that cut into productivity. Now they have something else to worry about -- the games hosted by these sites.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:04 am Toyota unit Daihatsu sees 2010 sales rising 3%Daihatsu Motor Co, the mini-vehicle unit of Toyota Motor Corp, aims to raise its sales by 3% next year with growth centred on Indonesia and Malaysia.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:04 am Rise in food prices strengthen case for RBI action - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am Jindal Power hires bankers for IPO: sources Mumbai: “Jindal Power, a unit of Jindal Steel & Power, has hired eight banks including Deutsche Bank,UBS, and Goldman Sachs for an initial public offering (IPO) to raise about $1.5 billion,” two sources with direct knowledge of the deal said. “The regulatory application for the IPO was expected to be filed over the next few days,” said one source, who declined to be named as he is not authorised to speak to the media. “The other arrangers are ICICI Securities, Enam, JM Financial, IDFC-SSKI and SBI Capital Markets,” the sources said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am FDI jumps 60% to $1.74bn in NovemberForeign direct investment in the country surged by 60 per cent to $1.74 billion (around Rs 8,000 crore) in November, an official said today.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:55 am Cabinet approves Jet Airways'$400 mln share sale planNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Cabinet on Thursday approved Jet Airways Ltd's plans to raise up to $400 million by selling shares to foreign institutions, the government said in a statement.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:45 am Sex workers demand legalization of prostitution New Delhi: Buoyed over Supreme Court’s observation on legalizing prostitution, a number of sex workers and associations working for their uplift have demanded that the world’s oldest profession be brought under the purview of law. Workers at the city’s prominent redlight area, Garstin Bastion (GB) Road, feel that legalizing the trade will put an end to their problems such as exploitation by criminal elements and help them live a better life. Welfare groups working for their uplift are also planning to submit a memorandum to the government in support of their demands. “There are lots of problems faced by sex workers. If it is legalized, they would have proper health cards and a valid licence. This will help them in living a humble social life. We will soon meet the official and give them a memorandum to inform them about our demands,” Iqbal, head of Delhi unit, Bhartiya Patita Uddhar Sabha, an NGO working for the welfare of sex workers said. India is among one of the nations where prostitution is banned. In its significant remarks, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and A.K. Patnaik on December nine had asked the Centre whether it can legalise prostitution if it is not practically possible to curb the world’s oldest profession with punitive measures. “When you say it is the world’s oldest profession and when you are not able to curb it by laws, why don’t you legalize it? You can then monitor the trade, rehabilitate and provide medical aid to those involved in the trade,” the bench had told Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam. “We are often arrested by police personnel and deprive of legal aid. Also, people consider us as criminal. Our children have difficulty in going to school. We even face bias in getting medical treatment and getting our rights,” said Kanta, a brothel owner. There are about 116 brothels in which about 5,000 women from across the country and some from neighbouring nations work as a sexworker at the G B road. “It will be better if government gives licence to both the brothel owners and sexworkers. This will help us in getting our identity,” said Renu, a sex worker. Another worker, Soumya said: “We can never get back to the civic society. People will not be able to accept us. It will be better if government gives us licence.” The apex court has said that sex trade has been operating in one way or the other and nowhere in the world have they been able to curb it by legislation. In some cases, they are carried out in a sophisticated manner. So why don’t you legalize it?. The apex court’s remarks came while hearing a PIL filed by an NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan and the intervention application moved by Childline complaining about largescale child trafficking in the country. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:37 am Rise in food prices strengthen case for RBI actionNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Food prices rose nearly 19 percent annually in mid-December, reinforcing the case for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to withdraw excess liquidity in January to stem inflationary expectations.Source: Reuters: Money News | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:29 am Pharmaceuticals drag down Singapore factory output govtA sharp drop in pharmaceuticals production pulled down Singapore's manufacturing sector as overall output shrank 8.2 percent in November from a year ago, government data showed on Thursday.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:28 am Rise in food prices strengthen case for RBI actionNew Delhi: Indian food prices rose nearly 19% annually in mid-December, reinforcing the case for the central bank to withdraw excess liquidity in January to stem inflationary expectations. Food prices have been surging after the driest spell in nearly four decades and flooding in some parts of the country hurt crops and pushed up food prices. Government data showed on Thursday that food prices rose 18.65% in the year to 12 December, slightly lower than the 19.95% annual rise a week earlier. “Even though the current food inflation is due to supply side shocks, it will spill over to other sectors. In that scenario, monetary measures are important to stem inflationary expectation,” said N.R. Bhanumurthy, an economist with the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. “A hike in cash reserve ratio (CRR) will make sense. We expect it to be raised by 50 basis points by January policy,” he said. The benchmark 10-year bond yield was steady at 7.71% after the data. The fuel index rose an annual 3.95% in the 12 months to 12 December, as the statistical aberrations caused due to price spikes of 2008 faded out. Monthly price data for November showed manufacturing prices rose an annual 4%, a sign a growing economic recovery is allowing firms to pass on higher costs. Policy tightening On Wednesday, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said inflation was now a challenge for the government. Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said an annual inflation of 5-6% was quite reasonable. The annual wholesale price inflation, which stood at 1.34% in October, rose to 4.78% in November, and analysts said it could reach 8% by the end of the fiscal year in March, above the central bank’s forecast of 6.5%. The Reserve Bank of India cut its main lending rate by 425 basis points between October 2008 and April, slashed the cash reserve ratio and pumped cash in financial markets to shore markets and the economy up against the global financial crisis and slowdown. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:17 am Sensex gains 116 points in opening tradeThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Thursday rose by over 116 points, or 0.67 per cent, in opening trade on buying by funds and retail investors in heavy weight stocks.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:03 am Survey shows jobs are back, direct hirings on the riseSource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Goods, services tax could boost India Inc's bottomline: BhideThe proposed dual-goods and services tax (GST) system could boost the bottomline of India Inc in an appreciable manner as it will bring down their net burden of taxation by as much as 25-30 per cent, informal calculations made by the FinanceSource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am McLeod Russel to buy tea estates in Uganda for $25 mMcLeod Russel India Ltd (McLeod) is set to acquire for the first time tea estates in Africa through UK-based subsidiary Borelli Tea Holdings (Borelli)Source: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Banks shore up funds fearing rate hikeCommercial banks appear to be trying to second-guess Reserve Bank of India's moves on interest rates and liquiditySource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Gold mining funds outperform ETFs in 2009Gold prices were often in the news this year due to its upward movements. However, investors who wanted to piggyback on the firm trend should have chosen global gold funds rather than the goldSource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Sugar output may rise on lower cane diversionMawana Sugars Ltd (MSL) expects to crush 10 per cent more cane during the current 2009-10 season (October-September) on the back of reduced diversion of raw material to makers of alternative sweeteners such as gur andSource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am 3i Infotech (Rs 92.5): BuyWe recommend a buy in 3i Infotech stock from a short-term perspective. It is apparent from the charts of the stock that since March low of Rs 25 the stock has been trending upwards. However, the stock encountered resistance around Rs 100 in earlySource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideInitiate fresh long position if DLF exceeds Rs 373 with tight stop-loss. ICICI Bank and SBI experienced buying interest in the last trading session. We recommend a buy with stiff stop-loss. Negating our prior view Infosys moved up in last tradingSource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Sensex gains 540 on Pranab talkStocks rose sharply on Wednesday, the BSE Sensex gaining by a massive 539 points, the highest in nearly twoSource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am H-1B quota of 65,000 for fiscal 2010 filled upMore than eight months after it began receiving H-1B applications, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached the Congressionally-mandated quota of 65,000 visa slots forSource: Business Line - Home Page | 24 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Rupee gains 12 paise against in early tradeThe rupee on Thursday appreciated by 12 paise to 46.75 a dollar in early trade in line with other firming Asian currencies.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 23 Dec 2009 | 11:32 pm U.S. Senate on verge of passing healthcare billWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate was poised to approve President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul on Thursday, backing major changes in the medical insurance market and new coverage for tens of millions of uninsured Americans.Source: Reuters: Money News | 23 Dec 2009 | 11:01 pm Sujana Metals raises $30m via GDR issue - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 23 Dec 2009 | 10:50 pm Infosys picked for Karnataka’s power distribution project: sourcesMumbai: Infosys Technologies, India’s No. 2 software exporter, has been selected to implement a Rs3.87 billion ($83 million) IT project for Karnataka’s power distribution utilities, two government officials said. “We have issued the letter of intent to Infosys,” a source at the Bangalore utility said on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media. “It will cover entire Karnataka,” he said. The project was awarded by all five electricity distribution utilities in the state last week and will cover 100 towns in the state, he said. Infosys outbid 10 other companies, including Tata Consultancy Services, for the contract, the source said. The projects must be implemented within 36 months, the other source said. Infosys officials could not be reached for comment. The project is part of a central government-funded program to use information technology to cap electricity losses in the country. Tata Consultancy and HCL Infosystems Ltd have won contracts for similar projects in West Bengal and Rajasthan, respectively. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2009 | 10:25 pm Ackruti gets Rs1,000 cr funding Mumbai: “Real estate firm Ackruti City Ltd has received a funding of Rs1,000 crore for 15 projects and is in talks to raise funds for another 3-4 projects,” Ackruti chief financial officer Bharat Mody said. “We have achieved financial closure of around Rs1,000 crore from various banks and financial institutions. The funding has been received for 15 commercial and commercial projects in Mumbai, Thane and Pune regions,” Mody said. “The real estate firm received funding from State Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of India, Indus Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and IFCL,” he said. Ackruti is building 12 million square feet of residential and commercial properties, of which 3.5 million is in Pune and the rest in Mumbai and Thane regions. “The company is in talks with various banks and financial institutions for raising funds for another 3-4 projects,” Mody added. “Ackruti is also lining up another 6-7 residential and commercial projects for the next quarter,” he said. On Monday, Ackruti City managing director Vyomesh Shah had told reporters that the company would look at private equity funding for its projects that would cost over $60 million to $150 million. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2009 | 10:22 pm Gold futures inch up on global cuesMumbai: India’s gold futures were slightly higher in early trade on Thursday trade tracking international cues, though a firm rupee limited gains, analysts said. International gold prices inched up closer to $1,100 per ounce on Thursday as a recent drop to seven-week lows spurred some bargain hunting in a holiday-thinned market. At 10:39am, the benchmark February gold on the MCX was 0.32% lower at Rs16,685 per 10 grams. “MCX gold futures were higher in line with international markets,” said an analyst with Karvy Comtrade Ltd. The Indian rupee gained on Thursday in line with regional peers and tracking gains in other Asian shares, with traders eyeing the local stocks open after they rose to their highest close since mid-October. Gold traders track rupee movements as a weak rupee makes the dollar denominated imported commodity expensive, while a strong rupee makes the commodity cheaper. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2009 | 10:20 pm Sensex gains 116 points in opening tradeThe Sensex moved up by 116.38 points to 17,347.49 points in opening trade. It had jumped by 539.11 points yesterday.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 23 Dec 2009 | 10:17 pm Infosys picked for Karnataka project - sourcesMUMBAI (Reuters) - Infosys Technologies, India's No. 2 software exporter, has been selected to implement a 3.87 billion rupee ($83 million) IT project for Karnataka's power distribution utilities, two government officials said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 23 Dec 2009 | 10:01 pm Citigroup repays 20 billion to USCitigroup Inc repaid $20 billion to the United States, as the bank works to reduce government involvement in its compensation practices. The bank sold $17 billion in common shares and $3.5 billion in convertible notes to help raise capital to repay the government.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 23 Dec 2009 | 9:51 pm Rupee gains 12 paise against dollar in early tradeThe rupee today appreciated by 12 paise to 46.75 a dollar in early trade in line with other firming Asian currencies.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 23 Dec 2009 | 9:38 pm Climate discontent is justified: ObamaWashington: US President Barack Obama said that disenchantment over the Copenhagen climate talks was ‘justified’ but defended the chaotic outcome as the top UN envoy urged an end to post-summit recriminations. The climate change conference held in the Danish capital ended last week with a non-binding agreement that the European Union has blasted as a Sino-US stitch-up which will do little to curtail global warming. “I think that people are justified in being disappointed about the outcome in Copenhagen,” Obama told PBS television on Wednesday after the summit ended with only vague prescriptions to curb greenhouse gas emissions. “The science says that we’ve got to significantly reduce emissions over the next 40 years. There’s nothing in the Copenhagen agreement that ensures that, that happens,” he acknowledged adding: “What I said was essentially that rather than see a complete collapse in Copenhagen, at least we kind of held ground and there wasn’t too much backsliding from where we were.” Sweden, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, this week called the summit a ‘disaster’ and declared both China and the US, the world’s two biggest polluters, responsible for the result. Exposing the stark divide between rich and developing nations, Britain and China have traded verbal blows over who was to blame for the Copenhagen outcome. Brazil has blasted Obama, while India has congratulated itself for emerging from the summit without any constraints on its booming growth. Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said: “All this finger-pointing and recrimination could cloud fresh attempts next year for sealing a post-2012 pact on tackling global warming.” “We need to work together constructively, whereas countries are in the media blaming each other for what happened—the same countries that are going to have to be back at the negotiating table next year with an open willingness to work together,” he said. “It’s bad for the atmosphere, it’s bad for the relationship among people that ultimately have a common goal to move this forward,” he said. In frenzied backroom haggling on Friday, leaders of some two dozen countries put together a ‘Copenhagen Accord’ that strived to save the gruelling 12-day UN marathon from collapse. A total of $30 billion was pledged from 2010-2012 to help poor countries in the firing line of climate change, and rich nations sketched a target of providing $100 billion annually by 2020. The deal set the aim of limiting warming to two degrees celsius (3.6 degrees fahrenheit), but did not set binding targets to reduce the emissions of gases that scientists say are heating up the world’s atmosphere to dangerous levels. Obama, who traveled to the summit in its final days to push for a comprehensive agreement, said that the limited agreement was hard to win, and came after talks nearly broke down entirely. “The prime minister of India was heading to the airport and the Chinese representatives were essentially skipping negotiations,” he said. “Everybody’s screaming, but eventually, cooler heads prevailed,” he said. In her annual Christmas broadcast, Queen Elizabeth II was to urge the 54 Commonwealth nations to keep taking the lead on global issues such as the environment. “It is important to keep discussing issues that concern us all—there can be no more valuable role for our family of nations,” Britain’s monarch and the head of the Commonwealth will say, according to extracts released Thursday. De Boer said that going forward, it might be useful for a principal group of countries to propose a climate deal. “But time was needed to have it debated and endorsed in a process that is inclusive, representative and transparent,” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2009 | 9:28 pm Wall Street ekes out fourth day of gainsNew York: Wall Street ended with small gains after a surprisingly weak report on US new home sales dampened optimism from strong earnings news and data showing gains in US income and spending. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.51 points (0.01%) to 10,466.44 at the closing bell, managing to hold positive for a fourth day of gains. The technology-rich Nasdaq composite climbed 16.97 points (0.75%) to 2,269.64 while the broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 2.58 points (0.23%) to a preliminary close of 1,120.60. Some early gains faded after a government report showed sales of new US homes slid 11.3% in November to their lowest level since April. Michael Zoller at Moody’s Economy.com said the surprisingly weak report negates several months of gains. But he said the figures may have been skewed by a government tax credit set to expire in November before Congress extended and expanded it. “Those who were considering contracting a new home in November would have been unable to meet the 30 November deadline in order to claim the tax credit,” he said. “Though the tax credit was extended and expanded, November buyers had no way of knowing in advance that their sales would qualify. This month may therefore be an anomaly, and an increase in new home sales in December would not be shocking.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2009 | 9:13 pm Asian shares rise, dollar rally stalledSingapore: Asian stocks rose on Thursday led by gains in technology shares, while the US dollar edged further away from recent peaks after an unexpected drop in US home sales cooled optimism about the economic recovery. Gold prices gained 1% to $1,097.65, adding to the previous day’s 1% gain spurred by the dollar’s retreat and after sliding to a seven-week low on Tuesday. The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan rose 1% but trading was thinned ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays. The Shanghai Composite Index led the regional gains, jumping 1.9% and extending its rebound from its lowest in seven weeks hit on Tuesday. The Thomson Reuters index of Asia ex-Japan equities was up 0.9%. Japan’s Nikkei jumped 1.6% to its highest in three months, lifted by high-tech exporters such as Advantest on a weaker yen and after better-than-expected earnings from US peers. “Investors are welcoming gains in US stocks and stabilising currency moves. The solid performance of US technology stocks is particularly positive for the tech-heavy Nikkei average,” said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities. US technology shares rose on Wednesday after solid earnings from Micron Technology Inc and Red Hat Inc, but the broader market’s gains were capped by the home sales data. Sales of newly built US single-family homes unexpectedly dropped 11.3% last month to a 355,000 unit annual rate, analysts had forecast an increase to 440,000 units. The data reminded investors that the path to a recovery will be bumpy, one day after a larger-than-expected jump in sales of existing US homes fueled a market rally. The dollar hovered below a three-month peak against the euro and two-month high on the yen hit earlier this week. The dollar index, a gauge of its performance against six other major currencies, was also sitting below this week’s three-month high. The euro is on course for its biggest monthly fall against the dollar since January and was holding just above its weakest levels since early September after dipping near $1.42 this week. For further direction, investors will focus on weekly US jobless claims due at 1330 GMT to see whether a recent improvement in monthly payrolls will be sustained. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a total of 470,000 new filings in the week ended 19 December compared with 480,000 in the previous week. US crude oil for February delivery gained 71 cents, or 0.9%, to $77.38 a barrel, after jumping 3% in the previous day, driven by a weak dollar and US data showing a fall in crude oil stockpiles last week. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2009 | 9:06 pm Oil up above $77 on US crude stock drop, weak dollarSingapore: Oil rose above $77 on Thursday, after surging more than 3% the previous day, boosted by the weaker dollar and a deeper-than-forecast drop in crude and fuel stocks in the world’s top energy consumer. The dollar’s recent rally stalled following news of a surprise drop in US home sales that dampened optimism about the economy, holding the currency below a three-month high against the euro and two-month high on the yen. US crude for February delivery rose 65 cents at $77.32 a barrel by 9:10am, the highest since 4 December, after settling up $2.27 on Wednesday. The contract has gained about $7 since 14 December, when it hit a near 2-month low. London Brent crude for February rose 76 cents to $76.21. “Before the Christmas and holiday season by the end of last week, momentum of the crude oil market was quite bearish and the market has been a little bid oversold,” said Tetsu Emori, a fund manager at Tokyo-based Astmax Co Ltd. “But the EIA data were much more positive than the market had expected, so many factors are now quite bullish,” he said. “I think the market is heading towards the upside, probably will hold the level by the end of the year.” US commercial crude oil stockpiles fell 4.9 million barrels to 327.5 million barrels last week, inventory data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed, far exceeding the 900,000-barrel drop forecast by analysts. Lower imports into the US and year-end drawdowns in crude stocks for tax purposes were the main reasons for the decline, analysts said. Distillate stocks fell a larger-than-expected 3.1 million barrels, while gasoline showed a surprise drop of 900,000 barrels. DRAWDOWNS ELSEWHERE “Gasoline and gas oil inventories held in independent storage in Europe’s oil hub also fell over the past week on increased demand ahead of the holidays,” Dutch oil analyst Pieter Kulsen said on Wednesday. Gas oil inventories stored in independent tanks in Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp eased to 2.873 million tonnes as of Wednesday, down for the first time since the week to 26 November. And in Japan, the world’s third-largest oil user, commercial crude stocks dipped by 27,000 kilolitres to 15.07 million kl last week, after hitting their highest level in two months the previous week. Crude stocks were below their year-ago level as refiners keep low inventories due to falling demand. Oil also rallied as the dollar took a pause from its recent run-up, with the dollar index versus a currency basket hovering under this week’s three-month high, as trading activity wound down before Christmas. Oil has often risen this year when the dollar softens, making crude more affordable for holders of other currencies. The focus will now be on weekly US jobless claims later on Thursday as investors and traders try to assess whether a recent improvement in monthly payrolls is likely to be sustained and what that means for the timing of US interest rate increases. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2009 | 8:56 pm Sensex rises 539 pts on FII pushThe BSE sensex up by 539 points to 17,231, its highest close in two months, mainly on the back of a Rs 770-crore net buying by FIIs.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 23 Dec 2009 | 1:15 pm Gold catches fancy of common investorsGold has made a tentative entry into the portfolios of many common investors in 2009.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 23 Dec 2009 | 1:13 pm PM may take up freeing of fuel pricingPMManmohan Singh may deliberate on freeing auto fuel prices when he reviews the financial health of state-run oil firms with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and oil minister Murli Deora on January 13.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 23 Dec 2009 | 1:12 pm Economy well-placed for 8% growth in '09-10: FMFinance minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday that the economy was well-placed to register growth of upto 8% in the current fiscal though food inflation remained an area of concern for the government.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 23 Dec 2009 | 1:10 pm Advance tax kitty shows eco upturnAdvance direct tax payments received till December 15, 2009 reflect a bounce back in the economy supported by industrial growth spread across all sectors.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 23 Dec 2009 | 1:09 pm Editors Guild denounces practice of “paid news” - Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 23 Dec 2009 | 12:22 pm Sensex lifeline: high beeps and pratfalls3i Infotech (4.70% up) 3i Infotech Ltd rose 4.70% after NW18 reported that ICICI Bank is in talks to sell its stake to a US-based private equity firm at Rs110-120 per share. At the end of the September quarter, ICICI Bank and ICICI Strategic Investments Fund held 6.79% and 23.18% respectively in 3i Infotech. NTPC (6.98% up) NTPC Ltd rose 6.98% on reports that power producers may get to sell unused output in the open market at market-determined prices. At present, the power ministry has the flexibility to allocate 15% of the overall power produced by generating utilities owned by the Centre. ICICI Bank (4.47% up) ICICI Bank Ltd rose 4.47% on a CNBC-TV18 report that the bank is back in recruitment mode. Top officials told CNBC-TV18 that full-scale recruitment would take place by April next year and that they are looking to add 3,500 employees by the first quarter of FY10. SpiceJet (8.49% up) SpiceJet Ltd climbed 8.49% on reports that the airline may post a profit this fiscal after restructuring efforts. Analysts believe that the yields have already seen a more than 20% recovery in the ongoing busy season and are expected to maintain this level over the next year. Gujarat NRE Coke (5.96% up) Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd climbed 5.96% as the company expects coke prices to go up from January as the supply has been very low. Coke prices have been rising steadily in the range of Rs 1000-1500 on a monthly basis from January to September. Adhunik Metaliks (11.50% up) Adhunik Metaliks Ltd rose 11.50% after IDFC Project Equity Fund bought a 27% stake in subsidiary Adhunik Power for Rs250 crore . The investment be used to set up a 540MW power project over the next two years. Adhunik Metaliks owns 99% of Adhunik Power. ETC Networks (4.86% down) ETC Networks Ltd fell 4.86% after the board approved the demerger of its education business after the merger with Zee Entertainment; the merger has been approved by Zee’s board. Zee Entertainment said the demerged education firm will be listed separately. JK Tyre (9.93% up) JK Tyre and Industries Ltd ended up 9.93% on the news that the company is scouting for acquisitions in South East Asia. On the domestic front, the tyre company is set to hike rates of its products by up to 10% by early next month on account of increasing commodity prices. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2009 | 12:14 pm Season of cheer Sensex soarsFinance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the Indian economy could grow by 8% in 2009-10, aiding an optimistic mood in the equity markets where Sensex recorded a handsome 539-point gain in the biggest single-day jump in seven months.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 23 Dec 2009 | 12:11 pm ‘Firms violating norms, laws must be delisted, promoters thrown out’New Delhi: Less than a year ago, six men were chosen by the government to save Satyam Computer Services Ltd when the software services firm was reeling under a Rs7,136 crore accounting scam perpetrated by its founder B. Ramalinga Raju. In an interview, three of the saviours—Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd chairman Deepak Parekh, C. Achuthan, former head of the Securities Appellate Tribunal, and Kiran Karnik, former president of software lobbying group National Association of Software and Services Companies—share the inside story of the challenges they faced in pulling Satyam back from the brink of disaster.  Solving a crisis: (from left) Kiran Karnik, Deepak Parekh and C. Achuthan. Parekh: You can frame any amount of rules, regulations and guidelines and laws. But corporate governance must come from within. It has to come from within an organization, the senior management and the board. No amount of legal laws and restrictions you put can get you the right spirit of corporate governance. It has to be voluntary, it should come from the top, and it should percolate down to the entire organisation. But if it is not part of the DNA, then what do you do in that situation? Parekh: Then you have to change the management, the board and the promoters; you have to take some drastic steps. But we don’t have activist shareholders in this country. Most of these companies are promoter-driven as was the case with Satyam. So what really is the solution? Parekh: There are a number of things we can do. For instance Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has prescribed clause 49 for all the listed companies. There are many companies who don’t follow the guidelines. But no action is taken because there are far too many companies listed on the exchange and the Sebi staff is too small. If you have a law and if you have a rule and if you have violated it then there is no punishment. You have to delist those companies; you must force the promoters to pay back the money to the shareholders. You must force half-a-dozen companies to do this ...and then promoters will be extra careful. Today, everyone goes scot-free if you don’t follow any Sebi rules or any listing requirements....You must close some companies and delist some, and throw some promoters out. You have to give a lesson. To your mind, what is the biggest lesson as far as the Satyam scandal is concerned that corporate India needs to take note of? We have also seen the ministry of corporate affairs putting in an early warning system to be able to spot issues like this, but to your mind what is the biggest lesson and what is the big imperative at this point in time? Achuthan: In my view, Satyam is only an aberration...if we were not having a framework on corporate regulations, perhaps the story would have been different. The ground rules have already been prescribed. If somebody is playing foul, we cannot say the rules are bad. How many such cases have happened in the past, there are very few? So from Satyam, please don’t generalize. This was an example of public-private partnership of a very different kind and the first time a private sector company was being rescued by a government-appointed board. It gave public private partnership a whole new meaning... Karnik: As Mr. Achuthan just said, that is very exceptional and you need to take exceptional action. I do think that the role of the government has not got its due credit—acting quickly and decisively and making sure that they moved ahead. In our jobs, if someone asked me, I would say our job was like (that of) a bomb-disposal squad. We were sent there and we knew this is ticking and we didn’t know which wire to cut and yet you had to act quickly. So, that’s a rare sort of thing and I am glad that we were able to do it. So I think in such exceptional cases—this just proves the point that there are people willing and happy from the industry—corporate professionals are willing to step (in) with the government and work and do such things. Too many times the government feels it has all the wisdom and all the knowledge and all the patriotism; that everyone else is trying to cheat, mistrust and no one else is there, and for a change the government took a very different approach, and I think that has paid off. cnbctv18@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2009 | 12:04 pm The Mint Report for 23 December 2009New Delhi: Home minister P. Chidambaram has proposed a complete overhaul of his ministry. He wants the home ministry’s functions to be divided so that one section can deal entirely with internal security. Chidambaram has also said a new national center for counter terrorism would be set up by the end of next year. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee says he expects India’s economy to grow at 7.5-8% in the year 2009-10. The country’s economy grew at 7.9% in the quarter ending in September. Mergers and acquisitions may not get any easier for India’s phone companies. Mint has learnt the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is unlikely to recommend any major changes to the norms on mergers and acquisitions in the telecom sector. One of TRAI’s concerns is that the large telecom companies will buy out smaller ones based only on the spectrum they hold. TRAI is likely to submit its recommendations to the government in the third or fourth week of January. Toyota says it hopes to capture 10% of India’s SUV market with the launch of a new car. Toyota will launch a new version of its Prado Landcruiser in India. Earlier this month Toyota had announced it would produce a new compact car in India by December 2010. A court in Hyderabad has extended the judicial remand of all the ten accused in the Satyam fraud case. The ten accused including Satyam founder B. Ramalinga Raju will continue to be in judicial remand until 6 January. The government has asked Sebi to give it more details of a probe it conducted on RIL. Sebi had investigated a case in which RIL allegedly used dummy companies to buy its own shares in the year 2000. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2009 | 12:01 pm Auto component firms eye 'offset' bonanzaA week ago, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) group bought majority stakes in component firm Aerostaff Australia and aircraft maker Gippsland Aeronautics for Rs 175 crore. Aerostaff supplies components to Boeing and Airbus. The purchase was made along with Kotak Private Equity.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 23 Dec 2009 | 11:46 am Markets soar on global cuesMarkets today surged after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said economic growth may accelerate at a faster pace and the stimulus package would continue till the Budget. The feel-good mood got a further boost from a positive sentiment in the global markets.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 23 Dec 2009 | 11:43 am Upbeat FM sees 8% growthUpbeat on higher-than-expected growth rate for 2009-10, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said the continuation or withdrawal of fiscal stimulus to the industry, given to combat the global financial meltdown, would be decided in the Budget for 2010-11 in February.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 23 Dec 2009 | 11:41 am Small B follows Big B, to make small-screen debut on ColorsMumbai: Another A-list Bollywood star will be hitting the television screens, following in the wake of such marquee names as Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar. Next in line is Small B—Abhishek Bachchan. Colors, the country’s leading Hindi entertainment channel from Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd, has signed on the younger Bachchan for a reality show called Bingo, the American name for the game better known as Tambola in India or Housey Housey (also spelled as Housie) in parts of the former British empire.  New role: Abhishek Bachchan will host a reality show called Bingo, to be launched on 23 January. Kunal Patil/HT Colors, which has displaced Star Plus from the No. 1 slot, has been running a teaser campaign featuring Abhishek Bachchan without divulging the show or the identity of the channel. The campaign refers to “aaram classes” and leads to a website called abhishekaaramclasses.com, which does not divulge any details either. An executive at Colors, who declined to be identified, admitted that the teaser campaign featuring Abhishek Bachchan was for a show on the channel, but he refused to share any details. According to a senior executive of a media-buying agency, who did not want to be named either, Bingo will be telecast once a week at 9.30pm and will have 13 episodes. “It will be based on the same concept as Tambola and will involve general viewers as well as the participants on the show. Idea Cellular Ltd has already been roped in as presenting sponsor, while Maruti Suzuki India Ltd is the associate sponsor,” he told Mint. He said advertising on the show is being sold at a premium—Rs1.5-2 lakh for 10 seconds, as opposed to regular inventory on Colors, which is sold for up to Rs1.2 lakh. The media expert added that the main sponsor is shelling out Rs7 crore for the show and the associate sponsorship costs Rs3 crore. The Maruti spokesperson said it was too premature to offer comment while Pradeep Shrivastava, chief marketing officer at Idea Cellular, confirmed that the company was the presenting sponsor for the show. However, he did not disclose any financial terms of the contract. The celebrity quotient has always been high on Colors with stars such as Shilpa Shetty, Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan hosting shows on the channel. Previous media reports have stated that Colors paid Amitabh Bachchan Rs1.5 crore per episode for Bigg Boss Season 3. Top stars such as Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan are signed on for multi-crore deals, according to Manish Porwal, chief executive, Percept Talent Management, a division of Percept Ltd. “At the very least, they would be paid Rs1 crore per episode. However, the contracts are complex and involve clauses on promotions, public appearances, merchandising brands that the stars represent and even commitments on the number of guest celebrities that the star can attract,” he said. However, not all channels endorse the celebrity route to get eyeballs. Joy Chakraborthy, chief revenue officer, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, said Dance India Dance on his channel has opened with a 5-plus television rating. “Roping in big celebrities at a huge cost is not going to ensure ratings,” he said. “Our strategy has always been to invest in cost-effective programmes that work.” Colors has held on to the top slot for several weeks now. “On an average, viewers spend more time on Colors than on either Star Plus or Zee TV,” Sudarshan Rajan, senior business director, MediaCom India Pvt. Ltd, told Mint. During prime time, the average time spent on Colors is 110 minutes, 93 on Star Plus and 91 on Zee. Shashi Sinha, chief executive of Lodestar Universal Pvt. Ltd, said that though the new format is certainly unconventional, “the show would be of interest to me if it involves viewers in the Housie game and on a large scale”. Shuchi Bansal contributed to this story. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2009 | 11:19 am Chidambaram wants home ministry splitNew Delhi: Home minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday proposed a division of his ministry’s functions so that it can focus purely on internal security, and outlined a blueprint to tackle terrorism that, he said, had been influenced by a sense of humiliation felt by the nation over last year’s Mumbai attacks.  Home truths: Chidambaram says about a dozen terror attacks have been foiled this year. As part of the proposed overhaul of the security set-up, a national centre for counterterrorism will be set up by the end of 2010.Shahbaz Khan/PTI A division of the current functions of the home ministry is unavoidable given the challenges of the times, the minister said in the Intelligence Bureau Centenary Endowment Lecture to intelligence officials and paramilitary officers “Subjects not directly related to internal security should be dealt with by a separate ministry or should be brought under a separate department in the ministry of home affairs and dealt with by a minister, more or less independently, without referring every issue to the home minister,” he said. “The home minister should devote the whole of his/her time and energy to matters relating to security.” The home ministry doesn’t even have a desk for dealing exclusively with forensic science. Yet it has a division dealing with freedom fighters, and divisions or desks dealing with Centre-state relations, disaster management and the census. “These are undoubtedly important functions and deserve close attention. However, internal security is an equally, if not more, important function that deserves the highest attention,” Chidambaram said. A total of 166 people were killed in Mumbai when 10 heavily-armed gunmen stormed the city, targeting hotels, a train station and a Jewish centre. The government blames the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group for the attacks, which also left 300 people hurt. “A billion-plus people felt they had been humiliated and the country had been brought to its knees by a small band of terrorists,” said Chidambaram. “I, therefore, propose a bold, thorough and radical restructuring of the security architecture at the national level.” The new security architecture would consist of political, administrative, intelligence and enforcement elements. The national centre for counterterrorism’s tasks would involve preventing terror strikes, containing any attacks and effectively responding to them. “Such an organization does not exist today. It has to be created from scratch,” Chidambaram said, noting that the US had been able to set up such a counterterrorism unit within 36 months of the 11 September 2001 attacks. The national centre for counterterrorism’s mandate should be to respond to violence unleashed by any group—be it insurgents in the North-East or the Maoists in the heartland of India or religious fanatics anywhere in the country—acting on their own or in concert with terrorists outside. “We may have enhanced the capacity to contain and repulse an attack, but I think that there is still some distance to go before we can claim to have acquired the capacity to respond swiftly and decisively to a terror attack,” Chidambaram said. He said it was this assessment that led him to argue that the security architecture at the top must be thoroughly and radically restructured. The minister said some organizations dealing with security issues, including the National Investigation Agency, and the National Security Guards, may have to be brought under the ambit of the counterterrorism centre. He appealed against turf wars. Chidambaram said 12-13 terror attacks were neutralized in 2009 by security forces with better intelligence. “Luck was also on our side and we will have to be lucky every time,” he said. Yet, there may be another crisis such as the 1999 hijack of Indian Airlines flight 814 to Kandahar, in Afghanistan, or a Mumbai-type terror attack. “Hence, the time to act is now and I would spell the last word with capitals—NOW,” he said. The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Chidambaram’s statement that 12-13 terror strikes had been foiled during this year could spread a feeling of insecurity and pessimism among the people. “I am absolutely perturbed to hear the statement of the home minster. It is unfortunate and we condemn it. It is an irresponsible statement,” BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said. “It is the job of the home minister to ensure that people feel safe and secure. He should create an atmosphere of hope and security.” AFP contributed to this story. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 23 Dec 2009 | 11:18 am Economic growth to exceed 7 in current fiscal MontekThe Planning Commission on Wednesday expressed optimism that economic growth during the current year will exceed 7 per cent, up from 6.7 per cent recorded during 2008-09.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 23 Dec 2009 | 9:02 am LG expects India sales to grow 20South Korean consumer durables major LG Electronics is betting big on the Indian market and expects its contribution to overall global sales to double over the next six years. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 23 Dec 2009 | 8:51 am Signs of realty reboundAnshuman Magazine, chairman and managing director, South Asia, at property consulting firm CB Richard Ellis, spoke to Hindustan Times about the state of the industry. Excerpts.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 23 Dec 2009 | 8:49 am Government sets up Invest India JV to attract FDIThe government on Wednesday set up a new entity ‘Invest India’ tasked with the mandate of facilitating and promoting foreign investment in India.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 23 Dec 2009 | 8:48 am
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