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Economy to grow by 7.5% in 2009-10: PM!Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the economy is expected to register a growth rate of 7.5 percent in this financial year (2009-10), up from 6.7 percent a year ago.Source: Zee News : Business | 6 Feb 2010 | 5:19 am Maruti records highestever monthly salesIndia\'s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki reported a 33% increase in sales in January to a monthly high amid general strength of vehicle sales in the country.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 6 Feb 2010 | 4:42 am Aviation Budget \'10 wishlist: Focus on air traffic controlIn the runup to the Union Budget 2010, CNBCTV18 puts the spotlight on the aviation sector. Ravi Nedungadi, Chief Financial Officer of Kingfisher Airlines and Dinesh Keskar of Boeing India discuss the outlook for the sector and its wishlist from the Finance Minister.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 6 Feb 2010 | 2:58 am Is Greece's debt trashing the euro? - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 6 Feb 2010 | 2:56 am Farm outlook brightens, food prices to dip: PMNew Delhi: India’s farm output in 2009-10 will be higher than initial estimates, raising prospects that food inflation, which has soared in recent months, will soon be controlled, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday. Singh also said the economy was likely to grow at 7.5% for the fiscal year ending March, at a faster clip than the 6.7% economic expansion recorded for the previous year. India’s food price index rose an annual 17.56% in late January, just ahead of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) setting the stage for rate hikes by raising banks’ cash reserve requirements more than what markets had been expecting. As persistently high food prices spill over into broader inflation and stoke public anger, government officials and the RBI are walking a fine line between controlling prices and nurturing the recovering economy. Singh told a conference of chief ministers that state governments should improve data collection as gloomy forecasts after 2010 saw the worst monsoon in 37 years had raised inflationary expectations. “This year the initial data made available by states showed much less production than what the states’ latest estimates show,” Singh said. The government is expected to issue the latest crop estimates next week. In November, the government said the country’s summer-sown rice output would fall 18%, while cane production would drop 9% - a forecast that raised the spectre of higher food prices and large imports of sugar and rice. “As expectations play a very big role in determining food prices, the initial low expectation, therefore, also contributed to the price increase,” the Prime Minister said. Prospects of large imports by India, the world’s top sugar consumer, catapulted New York raw sugar futures to a 29-year high this week, although on Friday, fears over the global economy helped futures fall to a six-week low. Singh said the prospects of winter-sown crops were also bright, further improving the supply situation. “Post-monsoon rains have been good. All this augurs well for our ability to stabilize food prices at a reasonable level,” he said. Rising food prices have given opposition parties ammunition against the UPA coalition, which was voted back to power last year on the back of strong support in rural areas, where farmers have gained from higher grain prices. “We are all very concerned about the distress that the sharp rise in food prices has caused to the common man,” Singh said. “I believe that the worst is over as far as food inflation is concerned. The Prime Minister said India had adequate stocks of rice and wheat to maintain food security. On Friday, Singh was quoted by a spokesman of the Congress party as saying the country would try to control rising prices by increasing production. The government has also taken a series of measures to control sugar prices. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 6 Feb 2010 | 2:37 am Farm outlook brightens, food prices to dip: PM - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 6 Feb 2010 | 2:12 am Economy to grow by 7 5 pc in 2009 10 PMPrime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the economy is expected to register a growth rate of 7.5 per cent in this financial year (2009-10), up from 6.7 per cent a year ago.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 6 Feb 2010 | 2:07 am Sensex rises 0.79% led by realty, metalsMumbai: After two days of mayhem, the markets got a reprieve on Saturday on a special 90-minute session with the BSE benchmark Sensex gaining 125 points on all-round buying driven by positive cues from the Wall Street. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share index Sensex resumed higher by 142 points and touched an intraday high of 15,951.07 points before ending at 15,915.65, a net rise of 124.72 points, or 0.79%, from its last close. On Friday, it crashed by 434 points on global cues. Significantly, all the sectoral indices ended in the green, with the worst hit sectors in the past two sessions - realty, metals, oil & gas and IT counters - leading the rally. The National Stock Exchange’s 50-share index Nifty also shot up by 38.60 points, or 0.82%, to finish at 4,757.25 from its previous close, after opening over 42 points. US stocks rose on Friday on speculation that the European Union may propose a solution for Greece’s budget deficit. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat after rising 163 points intraday due to last hour profit booking, while Nasdaq gained 0.74% and the S&P 500 0.29%. The markets also got some consolation from the chairman of the Prime Minister’s economic advisory council C. Rangarajan, who had on Friday said the government might not roll back the economic stimulus measures at a go and efforts could be be made in the budget to lower fiscal deficit, said marketmen. Realty and metals were the biggest gainers. While realty counter rally was charged by the largest real estate company DFL which rose by 1.60% and the metals rally was driven by Hindalco which shot up 2.39%. The Sensex gainers pack was led by Hindalco, followed by Jaiprakash Associates which gained 2.24%, Sterlite 1.73%, Infosys 1.59%, Tata Steel 1.50%, Wipro 1.42%, RIL 1.26%, Tata Power 1.22%, Tata Motors 1.11% and M&M rose 1.07%. Among the BSE sectoral indices, the Realty rose by 69.63 points, or 2.14%, followed by the Metals by 246.53 points, or 1.60%, the Oil & Gas by 115.57 points, or 1.21%, and the IT by 49.68 points, or 1.04%. The small-cap and mid-cap indices also finished higher by 124.01 points, or 1.54%, and 88.56 points, or 1.40%, respectively. The market breadth was positive with 1,931 shares ending with gains while only 607 finished with losses on the BSE. Trading volume was limited to Rs835.26 crore. Reliance Media World was the top traded share with a turnover of Rs29.42 crore followed by Essar Oil (Rs25.26 core), Reliance Industries (Rs21.46 crore), Indraprastha Gas (Rs19.71 crore) and SpiceJet (Rs18.22 crore). Source: Home - Livemint.com | 6 Feb 2010 | 2:06 am U.S. begins probe of Prius as Toyota woes mount - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 6 Feb 2010 | 2:02 am TIMELINE - Govt takes measures to tide over sugar shortfallNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government said on Friday that it will bar large sugar consumers from stocking sugar equivalent to more than 10 days of consumption.Source: Reuters: Money News | 6 Feb 2010 | 2:01 am Farm outlook brightens, food prices to dip: PMNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's farm output in 2009/10 will be higher than initial estimates, raising prospects that food inflation, which has soared in recent months, will soon be controlled, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 6 Feb 2010 | 1:49 am Europe debt woes leap to top of G7 agendaEuro zone countries like Greece, Spain and Portugal are under increasing pressure to show that they will bring public finances under control.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 6 Feb 2010 | 1:18 am IAS officer has 220 bank accounts, assets in millions - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 6 Feb 2010 | 1:17 am Market strength tempts India back into M&A frayThe Indian search for new markets and technology may be more cautious even as the recent turbulence has left hard-hit foreign firms having to shed assets.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 6 Feb 2010 | 1:15 am BSE Sensex snaps 2-day fall tracking Wall StreetMUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex snapped a two-day falling streak to close 0.8 percent higher on Saturday buoyed by overnight gains on Wall Street, but investors remained cautious about European debt and the global recovery.Source: Reuters: Money News | 6 Feb 2010 | 1:14 am Sensex up 125 pts in special sessionSnapping a two-day bloody fall, the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex breathed easy today and gained 125 points in a special 90 minutes session on revival of buying interest in blue-chip counters.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 6 Feb 2010 | 1:14 am Sensex ends 125 points up on special trading session - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:58 am Toyota s president apologises for recallToyota Motor Corp's president apologised for recalls of millions of his company's cars worldwide in his first public appearance since the problems began last month at the world's largest carmaker, which once had a stellar reputation for quality.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:41 am Sensex up 101 points in special trading sessionSentiments were positive at Indian equities markets which opened 11 am on Saturday for a 90-minute special trading session with a key index ruling 101 points higher than its previous close, about half an hour into trade.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:36 am Bernanke to testify on Fed programs on February 10Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify on Feb. 10 on unwinding the Fed\'s emergency programsSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:33 am UK mobile industry gears up for phone advertisingMobile phone operators in Britain have teamed up with digital market research firm comScore to measure mobile Internet usage in the first exercise of its kind...Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:33 am JPMorgan CEO Dimon gets $16 million in stock, optionsJPMorgan Chase Co, which reported USD 11.7 billion in profit in 2009, awarded Chief Executive Jamie Dimon a compensation package worth about ÙSD 16 million.gSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:33 am Agencies: Airport scanner radiation risk lowNew fullbody airport security scanners using Xrays generate much lower doses than normal background radiation.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:33 am Don\'t count on banks to sop up MBS when Fed exitsDon\'t count on banks to rescue US mortgage securities once the Federal Reserve leaves the market this spring.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:33 am Barclays bans \'PIIGS\' from research notesBarclays Capital told its research analysts in a memo this week not to use the relatively new but increasingly common \"PIIGS\" acronym to describe five European nations ..Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:33 am US companies\' sales turnaround may be misleadingUS companies\' sales are expected to rise for the first time since the third quarter of 2008, but it may be too soon for investors to cheer the turnaround as proof the economy is about to take off.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:30 am BofA\'s Price may need to be sidelinedBank of America Corp executive Joseph Price has already been moved from his job as CFO.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:30 am Euro debt tops agenda at G-7 meetIqaluit, Canada: Europe’s deepening debt crisis leapt to the top of the agenda of a meeting of G-7 rich country finance leaders in the Canadian Arctic on Friday amid fears that Greece’s fiscal sickness was spreading. Canadian finance minister Jim Flaherty, host of the meeting, said he and his peers were talking about Europe’s problems even before their meeting got underway, with particular concern about the situation in Greece. World stock markets slid to three-month low on Friday as the worries intensified about a potentially huge bailout and a destabilization of the euro zone. The euro currency dropped to its lowest since May against the US dollar. “I think we have to be very mindful of the potential failure of domestic economies and of the persistence of some toxic assets in some banks,” Flaherty told reporters. Euro zone countries like Greece, Spain and Portugal are under increasing pressure to show that they will bring public finances under control as financial markets’ fears about the situation in one country spread to others. European Central Bank (ECB) president Jean-Claude Trichet denied speculation in financial markets that the ECB might hold emergency discussions this weekend over the crisis. German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the euro would remain stable despite the problems in individual countries. “I don’t think they have to concoct a bailout, but they do need to show that they are committed to solving the issues,” said Kathleen Stephansen, managing director and chief economist at Aladdin Capital Holdings LLC. “We need to see a show of unity in backing the steps taken by the various government... Saying nothing about it would be negative.” The organizers of the meeting say there will be no communique at the end of their discussions -- in part a reflection of the diminished importance of the G-7. It has been replaced as the main forum for discussing the world economy by the wider G-20 group that includes China and other big developing economies. Some officials have suggested this weekend’s meeting in Canada might be the group’s last before becoming a sub-group within the G-20. The G-7 meeting starts with a working dinner featuring local delicacies like caribou and Arctic char and ends with a news conference scheduled for 1:15 pm on Saturday (1815 GMT). Earlier on Friday, some of the ministers ventured out on dog sleds on Frobisher Bay, a frozen inlet of the Arctic Ocean that fringes this remote and inaccessible town. Iqaluit, home to just 6,000 people, is a three-hour flight from either Ottawa or Montreal and features blocky aluminium-clad buildings set up on stilts to avoid the permafrost. While most of the fiscal concern was expressed about Greece, the United States and other big economies are also saddled with debts, having spent heavily to stave off a depression in the wake of the 2008 credit crisis. Ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service this week said the United States must do more to keep its AAA rating after the Obama administration said it expected a deficit equivalent to 10.6% of gross domestic product in 2010, more than three times the level considered sustainable by economists. Japan was hit with a warning by Standard & Poor’s in January that it might suffer a downgrade over its deficit. Nonetheless, the G-7 ministers were not ready to start scaling back their spending to keep their economies on the road to recovery after the worst global recession in decades. “We are all agreed that continued stimulus is necessary, that we have not seen entrenched growth, we have not seen an adequate replacement of public demand with private demand,” Canada’s Flaherty said, adding there was also a concern about the level of public decifits and how to tackle them. Financial reform Another key issue is the global push for financial sector reforms. This was thrown into confusion last month by far-reaching proposals from US President Barack Obama who called for limiting the size of banks, restricting proprietary trading and severing their ties to hedge funds and private equity. That was on top of a previous call for fees on big institutions to recoup the billions spent rescuing the sector. Flaherty admitted that the approach from different countries was “not entirely consistent,” but that was all the more reason for the ministers to get together to talk. The declining role of the G-7 has raised questions on whether the G-7, which cut its teeth on efforts to steer currency markets in the eras of Plaza and Louvre accords in 1985 and 1987, remains the right place to discuss currencies. “It’s more fair to debate the yuan at the G-20 instead of G-7 meetings,” Japanese finance minister Naoto Kan told reporters before leaving for Iqaluit. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:06 am Little choice but to pass on CRR hike: BankersBanks are expected to pass on the impact of the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) on to interest rates but will probably wait for a pick up in creditSource: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Snow, rain forecast over western Himalayan regionThe ‘active' western disturbance may have already started affecting the western Himalayan region from Friday, according to an update by the India Meteorological DepartmentSource: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am PM reaffirms commitment to sustainable developmentIndia will spare no efforts in contributing to the success of post-Copenhagen process, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, assured world leadersSource: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am ESOPs out, tenure-linked bonuses inIt was seen as the most brilliant HR initiative in Indian corporate history; stuff that made all other compensation practices lookSource: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Govt to bring down fiscal deficit graduallyThe Government will bring down the fiscal deficit, but in a calibrated manner and in a way that the stimulus continues. However, some adjustment will be made to the deficit, said Dr C. Rangarajan, Chairman Economic Advisory Council to the PrimeSource: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Prospects brighten for bumper wheat cropAs things stand now, the country seems on course for a fourth successive bumper wheat harvest thisSource: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am PSU insurers booking profits in DunlopThe re-listing of Dunlop shares may have opened an opportunity for six PSU insurance companies to make profits on decades-old investment, once consideredSource: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am GE-Hitachi eyes Gujarat site for n-plantGE-Hitachi Nuclear is keen on a site on the west coast for building its nuclearSource: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Sensex falls to 3-month low on US job dataThe poor US job data published on Thursday had its ripple effect thousands of miles away here in India where itSource: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am NTPC issue subscribed fully; retail response tepidAfter an uncertain three days of the NTPC's follow-on public offering (FPO), the issue was subscribed 1.2 times on its last day on Friday, according to NSESource: Business Line - Home Page | 6 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Worst is over, food prices will be stabilized soon: PMPM Manmohan Singh on Saturday warned hoarders of strict action under the Essential Commodities Act. Food distribution system is hopelessly outdated and needs complete overhaul, said PM.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:57 pm Equity funds sweeten portfolios with sugar picksMUMBAI (Reuters) - Equity mutual funds are lapping up sugar shares on hopes the rally in the commodity to near record levels will extend, boosting earnings at the firms that refine and sell the sweetener.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:39 pm Economy to grow by 7.5% in 2009-10: PMNew Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday the economy is expected to register a growth rate of 7.5% in this financial year (2009-10), up from 6.7% a year ago. “In the current financial year, the growth rate of economy is likely to be 7.5%,” he said while addressing a meeting of the chief ministers on price rise here. The economy, which had been growing at over 9%, slipped to 6.7% in 2008-09 following the impact of the global economic crisis triggered by the fall of investment bank Lehman Brothers in September 2008. Driven by stimulus packages and easing of monetary policy, India’s economy during the second quarter (July- September 2009-10) expanded by 7.9%, much more than anticipated by any analyst or thinktank. The RBI in its recent review of the monetary policy too projected a growth rate of 7.5% for the current fiscal. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, while presenting the Mid-Year Review of the Economy had said that economy could grow in excess of 7.75% despite the impact of drought and floods on agriculture output. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:38 pm Economy to grow by 7.5% in 2009-10: PMManmohan Singh today said the economy is expected to register a growth rate of 7.5% in this financial year (2009-10), up from 6.7% a year ago.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:26 pm Euro debt crisis yet to prompt big investor exodusLONDON (Reuters) - Euro-denominated assets are getting the cold shoulder from markets as worries about the stability of peripheral euro zone economies increase, but there is little sign so far of any mass flight by long-term investors.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:25 pm Markets breathe easy on US cues, Sensex ends 125 pts higherAfter two days of mayhem, the markets got a reprieve today on a special 90-minute session.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:10 pm Government tightens sugar stock holding limitSugar output in India, which has emerged as a large importer of the sweetener, fell 44% to 14.7 million tonnes.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 5 Feb 2010 | 10:47 pm Barclays bans 'PIIGS' from research notesThe cost of insuring Greek, Portuguese and Spanish government debt against default rose to record highs on Friday.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 5 Feb 2010 | 10:32 pm Japan tells G7 Tokyo focusing on ChinaIQALUIT, Canada (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan told his Group of Seven counterparts on Friday that Tokyo was focusing on China's economy as it was showing signs of a bubble.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Feb 2010 | 10:24 pm Disunity, economic woes dog EU image driveBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's efforts to improve its global image are looking increasingly unconvincing as it struggles to contain a debt crisis in Greece and put down talk that its 16-nation euro currency bloc could break up.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Feb 2010 | 10:13 pm Japan finance minister says his focus at G7 meeting is ChinaJapanese finance minister Naoto Kan said on Friday his focus at a Group of Seven meeting was China's economy as it was showing signs of a bubble.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 5 Feb 2010 | 9:56 pm Japan, US discuss common economic challengesJapan and the United States face similar roadblocks as they deal with fiscal and economic challenges, Japanese finance minister Naoto Kan said on Friday.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 5 Feb 2010 | 9:34 pm 'Fuel price cap can't control inflation' - IBNLive.com
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Feb 2010 | 9:29 pm India Inc in News - February 6 - Myiris.com
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Feb 2010 | 9:01 pm Apologetic Toyota looking for outside experts to review qualityToyota Motor Corp's president apologized said they would bring in outside experts, a highly unusual action for a company that has epitomized world-beating industrial standards.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 5 Feb 2010 | 8:55 pm Obama unveils plan to boost small business creditLANHAM, Md. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, looking for ways to drive down high U.S. unemployment in an election year, on Friday proposed to expand credit for small businesses and urged Congress pass laws to boost jobs.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Feb 2010 | 8:45 pm US slaps duties on ribbons from China, TaiwanThe action came on the same day that Beijing announced heavy anti-dumping duties on US chicken parts, in the latest of a series of spats.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 5 Feb 2010 | 8:32 pm Facebook removes Microsoft banner ads from siteMicrosoft -- the exclusive provider of Web search on Facebook -- will continue to sell text-based search ads on the website.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 5 Feb 2010 | 8:08 pm Apologetic Toyota looking to outside quality inputNAGOYA/DETROIT (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp's president apologized on Friday for safety problems and said the automaker would bring in outside experts to review quality controls, a highly unusual action for a company that has epitomized world-beating industrial standards.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Feb 2010 | 6:21 pm Facebook removes Microsoft banner ads from siteSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook is taking full control of display ads on the world's No. 1 social networking website, cutting short an exclusive deal that had allowed Microsoft Corp to manage part of that business.Source: Reuters: Money News | 5 Feb 2010 | 6:14 pm Corporate loan to be costlierInterest rates are likely to remain stable, but as liquidity dries up banks may hike the lending rates of short-term loans to companies, which are often 'mis-priced', a top central bank official said on Friday.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 5 Feb 2010 | 2:21 pm Istithmar sells 13.4% in SpiceJet for Rs 170cr - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Feb 2010 | 2:20 pm Inox raises stake in Fame to 50% - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Feb 2010 | 2:20 pm FDI norm may be relaxedThis, in effect, means that the finance minister, on the recommendation of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), can clear FDI proposals of up to Rs 1,200 crore.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 5 Feb 2010 | 2:20 pm Inox raises stake in Fame to 50%After buying the 43.28% stake owned by the promoter family of Fame, Inox Leisure on Friday purchased an additional 7.21% stake in the company in a block deal for Rs 12.77 crore.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 5 Feb 2010 | 2:15 pm 'Free fuel price to tame inflation'The Planning Commission on Friday said that decontrolling fuel prices would not flare up inflation rather it will soften generalised rise in prices.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 5 Feb 2010 | 2:13 pm EU debt worry batters sensexAt the end of the day's session, investors were poorer by Rs 1.7 lakh crore with BSE's market capitalisation now at Rs 57.5 lakh crore. The day's slide was led by sectors real estate and metals, while FMCG stocks were the least affected.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 5 Feb 2010 | 2:12 pm Istithmar sells 13.4% in SpiceJet for Rs 170crIn a possible fallout of the Dubai financial crisis, the investment arm of the crisis-ridden emirate, Istithmar, sold almost its entire 13.4% stake in budget carrier SpiceJet on Friday for about Rs 170 crore in two block deals struck at the market price of Rs 53.75 per share.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 5 Feb 2010 | 2:11 pm HUL may raise prices by JulyThere could be a change in FMCG-major Hindustan Unilever's (HUL) pricing strategy in the second half of this calendar year, if Unilever chairman Paul Polman's forecast is anything to go by.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 5 Feb 2010 | 2:09 pm QIB subscription at Rs 209 disappoints FIIs - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 5 Feb 2010 | 2:04 pm Quick Edit | The year of sovereign riskThe editorial pages of this newspaper have for quite some time been saying it is fallacious to believe that financial risk is no longer a threat to the global economy. All that has happened is that the taxpayer bailout of the Western financial system shifted risk from the private sector to governments. The recent round of fears about the solvency of deficit-ridden European economies comes in the wake of the Dubai default fears in November. This is likely to be the year of sovereign risk worries. The cost of insuring bond portfolios against defaults by select European governments has shot up this week. This risk aversion has also spread to the equity markets, which have tumbled. Indian stocks have not been able to stand upright in this new gale. The new financial fears come even as the growth in economies such as India and China bounces back. We may see a tussle between sovereign default fears and a strong economic recovery in Asia. Call it the battle of Brics (Brazil, Russia, India and China) versus PIGS, the new acronym to describe Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 12:12 pm Temple trusts chant new investment mantrasTemple and charitable trusts have always been insulated from recession. Where India Inc may have been struggling to meet sales and profit targets each quarter, these trusts seem to have no problem growing their top- and bottom lines.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 5 Feb 2010 | 12:09 pm RIL looks at $2-billion acquisition in CanadaReliance Industries (RIL), Indias biggest company by market value, has given a $2 billion acquisition proposal to Canadian oil-sand major Value Creation Inc. The move is part of the companys overall plan to expand globally and also to enter into multi-level oil production, two company executives said.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 5 Feb 2010 | 12:08 pm NTPC clouds primary market prospectsPublic sector major NTPCs follow-on public offer (FPO) managed to scrape through today, but raised questions about the state of the primary markets and the governments disinvestment programme.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 5 Feb 2010 | 12:06 pm Discovery splurges on Shah Rukh Khan seriesNew Delhi: Discovery Communications India, which operates Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and lifestyle channel Discovery Travel and Living (DT&L), is rolling out its most expensive production in the country, Living With A Superstar—Shahrukh Khan. The 10-part series on the private life of the Bollywood movie actor, to be aired on DT&L later this month, cost the company around Rs25 crore, said an executive at Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, a division of Discovery Communications. He didn’t want to be identified. Rahul Johri, senior vice-president and general manager (India) at Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, did not comment on the cost, but said the series reiterates the importance of the Indian market for the network. “It is our biggest investment in a show in India and we had 12 people following Shah Rukh Khan for a year,” he said. The cost includes Khan’s fee and the production cost paid to Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt. Ltd’s Idiot Box, the television content firm he owns, which co-produced the series with Blue Mango Films based in Delhi. Discovery is spending an additional $1 million (Rs4.7 crore) on promoting the show. DT&L is hoping for a good boost with the series on Khan, one of the country’s biggest stars and popular with Indians both at home and overseas. The channel has 30 million subscribers in India, but lags rival lifestyle channel NDTV Good Times in viewership share, according to TAM Media Research Pvt. Ltd. The niche English information-cum-entertainment segment accounts for just under 1% of the television viewership in India, according to TAM Media. The new thrust by DT&L on India is evident. It has moved its head of programming for the Asia-Pacific region to India and Johri promises a more local focus. “The Apac (Asia-Pacific) production base is now in Delhi instead of Singapore earlier. You will see more Indian influence in our programming,” he said. Discovery will telecast Living With A Superstar on DT&L from 26 February, after a prelude to the series on Discovery Channel on 19 February called Revealed: Shahrukh Khan. The 10-part series has roped in eight large advertisers, including Hyundai Motor India Ltd, Apollo Munich Health Insurance Co. Ltd and Parle Products Pvt. Ltd. “We are in talks with several others,” Johri said. The idea for a personal life series on Khan was generated jointly by Johri, Samar Khan of Red Chillies and the Blue Mango team. Johri hopes to take the idea forward with other celebrities. “We have a template, so after Shah Rukh this format is something we will build up on,” he said. Ruchira Raina, managing director of Dentsu Communications and Dentsu Media, said while the show may not be able to put DT&L at par with bigger general entertainment channels, it would give a spike to its viewership. “The loyal viewers will surely lap it up and at the same time it would pull curious onlookers as well,” Raina said. Manas Mishra, executive vice-president of Mudra Connext, said Discovery’s advertising rates for the show are not high enough to recover costs. “At Rs25,000-30,000 for 10 seconds, the DT&L show on Shah Rukh Khan cannot make enough money to pay for the nearly Rs25 crore production budget. It must have other revenue streams.” Johri said recovering the investment would not be an issue as the channel holds the rights to the series. “It can be monetized on our other channels globally,” he said. ishita.r@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 12:06 pm India feels the tremors from global marketsA global selloff over Europes sovereign debt problems and weak US economic data had a bruising effect on Indian stock markets today.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 5 Feb 2010 | 12:05 pm Indian Sea Biscuit injects a dose of enthusiasm post-recessionMumbai: It’s a story with an unremarkable beginning, but may yet have a dramatic end. Jacqueline, the chestnut-coloured three-year-old filly, is the overwhelming favourite to win Sunday’s McDowell SignatureIndian Derby horse race in Mumbai. But at no point, till recently, did anyone anticipate she would turn out so special—in more ways than one.  Great expectations: Jacqueline (No. 591) at the Mahalaxmi racecourse in Mumbai. The filly, which is the favourite for the Rs1.25 crore Indian Derby race on Sunday, has never run the full 1.5 miles (derby distance). Abhijit Bhatlekar / Mint If Jacqueline, who has already won three classics this year, wins the derby, she would—according to statistics available with the Stud Book Authority of India and Racing World magazine—become the first horse ever to win all four classics in the same season. There are five classics, the Indian St Ledger being the last to be held on 28 March. The one other horse that won four classics in a season, Her Majesty in 1946-47, did not win the derby. Jacqueline has already won the 1000 Guineas, 2000 Guineas and the Indian Oaks, the kind of form that makes her the current favourite with bookmakers. Dhunjibhoy says Jacqueline would be “hard to toss. She has far exceeded expectations, much to our good luck. She has never run the full 1.5 miles (2.4km, the derby distance), which is the real test of speed and stamina. But she is beating the boys. She is one of the finest Indian products in a long time”. Even competitors, such as trainer Narendra Lagad, whose Mighty Crusader and Native Knight will compete against Jacqueline, says his horses have only a “25% chance”, forcing him to try and bring in a French jockey, Olivier Peslier, to “improve chances”. Peslier could not get a visa, but Brazilian S.A. De Sousa, who won last year’s derby, will ride Native Knight. Jacqueline, unknowingly, has injected a dose of enthusiasm to a sport that has only spluttered in the recent past, reminiscent of the depression-era American winner Sea Biscuit, who inspired a film by the same name. Jacqueline may yet have bigger responsibilities to creating racing history—to revive a dwindling racing scenario in Mumbai, which was hit by the equine flu last year, a slowdown in the economy and lessening live audience. Only 28 days of racing were held last year, the season shortened by two months due to the flu. The derby, always held on the first Sunday of February, was pushed to April. Race regulars say the option of going to the cinema, malls or just watching television has kept the younger lot away from the racecourse. “Many years ago, the only thing you could do on a Sunday was go to the racecourse,” says the editor and publisher of Racing World magazine, Lynn Deas. The numbers attending the derby have reduced from approximately 40,000 a decade ago to about 15,000-20,000 in 2009, according to people at Royal Western India Turf Club Ltd (RWITC), though no authorized figures are available. Hit by heavy government taxes (up to 26%), an increased amount of illegal betting has made racing the sort of “taboo” that does not encourage “people from good families”, says leading trainer Imtiaz A. Sait. In this scenario, several race regulars say the excitement of whether Jacqueline will indeed create a record—and improve upon it by winning the fifth classic as well—has propelled interest in Sunday’s race. Accompanying this is the focused publicity drive—one example, RWITC gave photographers access to the stables three days before the race, an area that’s considered out of bounds— which has brought more visibility, says Vivek Jain, chairman of RWITC. This year, the Indian Derby has hiked its overall prize to more than Rs2.25 crore, which, according to RWITC, makes it the richest individual sporting event in the country. The winning horse is to get Rs1.25 crore. Jacqueline is also the product of a move that started several years ago—of improving the bloodstock.  Fitness routine: Horses undergoing their daily workout at the RWITC-run Mahalaxmi racecourse in Mumbai. Abhijit Bhatlekar / Mint With costs of a racehorse ranging from Rs5 lakh to Rs1 crore, there are indications of greater buying power in India and the magnified effects of the recession in the West that has brought prices relatively down. Most imports come from England and Ireland. “To be competitive, you need good bloodstock, you have to upgrade and improve,” says Vinayak J. Gaekwad, whose Indictment won the derby in 1997, but does not have a runner this year. “Indian stallions are nothing to rave about. So when the recession brought prices down abroad, it made sense to import,” says Sait. Dhunjibhoy says Jacqueline was not inexpensive, but complete value for money. Her worth, post a derby win if that happens, would go beyond mere rupees. arun.j@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 12:01 pm 3 month low sensex tanks below 16KThe Sensex plunged 434 points on Friday as stock markets across the world plummeted amid mounting fears of a sovereign debt crisis in countries like Greece and Portugal, while gloomy employment data from the US suggested the global economic recovery could take longer than expected.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:51 am SC halts Lafarge’s Meghalaya miningNew Delhi: The Supreme Court stayed the mining of limestone by Lafarge Umiam Mining Pvt. Ltd (LUMPL) in Meghalaya on Friday. The decision may hit the production of cement by a unit of Lafarge SA, the world’s largest cement maker, in neighbouring Bangladesh unless it’s able to source limestone from alternative sources to feed the plant. The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by 21 local tribals and the Shella Action Committee, a non-governmental organization. The petition claimed that LUMPL had obtained environmental clearance by falsely declaring forest areas as wasteland and non-forest areas; it also alleged that the company had illegally transferred tribal land protected under the sixth schedule of the Constitution to itself and mortgaged it in favour of foreign banks to secure a loan of $153 million (around Rs713 crore today). “This is a serious allegation and Lafarge must clarify its position,” said justice S.H. Kapadia, a member of the three-judge bench. “This cannot go on.” By staying mining operations, the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan overturned a previous order passed in November 2007 that had allowed the France-based company to carry on mining operations in the area. LUMPL is a 100% subsidiary of Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd of Bangladesh, which operates the 1.2 million tonnes per annum cement plant at Chhatak, Bangladesh, the company said in emailed press release. Lafarge Surma is a joint venture between Lafarge SA and Cementos Molins SA of Spain. The ore is transported on a conveyor belt over a 17km stretch, with 7km of this in India and the rest located in Bangladesh across the international border. The sixth schedule of the Constitution protects the rights of various hill communities, especially with respect to land. Responding to the judge’s remarks, LUMPL’s lawyer Mukul Rohatgi said: “I am not aware of these allegations.” LUMPL has been asked to file its responses to the points raised in court at the next hearing, which has been fixed for 19 March, the company said in the release. “We are studying the details of the order and all necessary information will be provided as per the directions of the Honourable Supreme Court— within the stipulated time,” the company said. In the interim, “the court has asked LUMPL to hold its mining operations in abeyance... However, the Honourable Supreme Court has allowed the company (LUMPL) to export the mined limestone lying at the site.” Harish Salve, amicus curiae (adviser to the court) in the matter, asked for a stay on the mining operations, referring to the adverse Central Empowered Committee (CEC) report of September 2007, which had observed there was no public interest in allowing this to be undertaken in a location that had ecological implications. The CEC report had stated that Lafarge Surma Cement was situated in Bangladesh and that since the company only sourced raw material, it didn’t generate value addition, employment generation, taxes, revenue or other economic benefits to India. “This raises serious doubts and concerns about the public interest and desirability in allowing the mining in an eco-sensitive area in the North-Eastern region,” CEC noted. CEC had decided to give its go-ahead for the project since the matter was too advanced to be reversed, but recommended levying “penal consequences and deterrent cost” on the company and government officials. Referring to the committee’s report that the government was left with no option, but to permit the Lafarge project to proceed, justice Kapadia said: “There is no question of fait accompli and things can be redressed.” manish.r@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:48 am Microsoft India rolls out BizSpark OneBangalore: Microsoft Corp. India Pvt. Ltd has identified a software backup provider in Chennai for an advanced version of its global start-up programme. The Indian arm of the world’s largest software firm rolled out BizSpark One in the country on Friday and picked Vembu Technologies Pvt. Ltd as one of 45 start-up firms from 10 countries for the new initiative. Microsoft launched the earlier version, BizSpark, in India in December 2008, under which a start-up firm could use its tools and technologies free for three years. Some 1,000 companies in the country have opted for the programme. For the new initiative, Microsoft selected from firms that had adopted its BizSpark programme on the basis of their potential to succeed in global markets. “There has to be some alignment of what these start-ups are doing with Microsoft’s products and services, as well as with our business and goals,” said Matthew Clark, senior director of Microsoft’s Start up Engagement for the Strategic and Emerging Business Team. Sekar Vembu, founder and CEO of Vembu Technologies, is now a part of a programme called “routes to market”. Under this, Microsoft introduced him to five firms Vembu had identified as potential partners. “We are now working closely with one of them and hopeful that they would become our partner in six months,” he said. For investors, initiatives such as BizSpark One help spot potential deals with more confidence. “It takes us one step closer to offering financial resources to deserving young companies,” said Mohanjit Jolly, executive director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson India. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:45 am Debt scare sinks stocks globallyMumbai: Indian stocks fell to a three-month low on Friday, part of a worldwide sell-off in equity markets on fears that some European nations may default on their debt payments, raising questions about the economic recovery. As foreign institutions continued to sell, the Indian currency hit a five-week low against the US dollar.  Graphic: Yogesh Kumar / Mint The slide in Indian stocks mirrored losses elsewhere as the MSCI Asia Pacific Index tumbled by the most in 10 weeks, extending a global rout. From its recent high reached in January, the benchmark index has fallen 10.79%, wiping away Rs5 trillion of investor wealth on paper. This correction is deeper than the 6% fall in November, during a similar financial crisis in Dubai. NSE’s volatility index (VIX) has been steadily climbing in the past two weeks. On Friday, the VIX jumped 13.89% to close at 30.07. Investors expect the volatility to continue even as they wait for more clarity on the hit that banks and financial institutions will take from their exposure to Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain. “Given the news flow, possibly it might fall more,” said Vetri Subramaniam, head of equity assets at Religare Asset Management Co. Pvt. Ltd. “We will see volatility for a while.” “Judging from market valuations, I sense quite a gap between consensus market expectations and key political and economic realities, especially in the US,” wrote Mohamed A. El-Erian, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co. Llc, one of the world’s largest funds, in a 3 February newsletter. “If the gap isn’t bridged by the validation of the more optimistic expectations, investors may well find that January’s global equity sell-off was just a precursor to a disappointing year for several asset classes.” International news flow is negative. The US unemployment rate fell to 9.7% in January, off a 26-year high of 10% in December, but Spain is stuck in a recession and there are concerns Greece lacks the ability to contain its 12.7% fiscal deficit. This is true of other high-deficit Euro zone nations such as Portugal and Ireland too. Credit default swaps on Greek debt—the cost of insurance against a default—soared 19.5 basis points to 446.5, on early trades, Bloomberg said. This means its costs $446,500 (Rs2.1 crore) to insure against a default of a notional $10 million of debt for five years. “We don’t know banks’ exposure to this (the European situation),” said Andrew Holland, chief executive officer of equities at Ambit Holdings Pvt. Ltd, a Mumbai-based investment management and brokerage firm. The dollar has been strengthening in recent weeks against all major currencies, no longer making it attractive for investors to borrow in the greenback and invest in riskier markets. On Friday, the dollar index rose to its highest in seven months, while the rupee plunged by 48 paise to 46.73 against the US currency. Foreign institutional investors, the main driver of the markets, have started pulling out money from the country. In the past 10 days, they have withdrawn $1.5 billion from India. Overall this year, they have taken away $140 million after pumping $17 billion into Indian equities in 2009. Emerging market equity funds lost $1.6 billion in weekly withdrawals, the biggest outflows in 24 weeks, EPFR Global said. Investors withdrew $516 million from Asian stocks outside of Japan, the research company said. “The mood is bearish globally,” said Anoop Bhaskar, head of equity at UTI Asset Management Ltd, India’s fourth largest mutual fund with Rs74,500 crore assets under management in January. “Even if you are bullish about India, you would prefer to wait. Even domestically, fair valuation is what you want” “Valuations were outside the comfort zone,” said Subramaniam of Religare. The Sensex is trading at 15.09 times earnings for fiscal 2011. While this has come down from the highs of 20-21 times, it’s still above the long-term average of 14.5 times. Despite the near 11% fall in the Sensex from its recent peak, Indian stocks are still more expensive than that of China, Russia and Brazil. “Risk aversion is leading to an outflow from all emerging markets, including India,” said Navneet Munot, chief investment officer of SBI Asset Management Ltd, a unit of the nation’s biggest bank. Investors are concerned that “growth, particularly in the developed world, will not be as robust as some people expect”. Ashwin Ramarathinam of Mint and Rajhkumar K. Shaaw of Bloomberg contributed to this story. ravi.k@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:45 am Microsoft India rolls out BizSpark OneBangalore: Microsoft Corp. India Pvt. Ltd has identified a software backup provider in Chennai for an advanced version of its global start-up programme. The Indian arm of the world’s largest software firm rolled out BizSpark One in the country on Friday and picked Vembu Technologies Pvt. Ltd as one of 45 start-up firms from 10 countries for the new initiative. Microsoft launched the earlier version, BizSpark, in India in December 2008, under which a start-up firm could use its tools and technologies free for three years. Some 1,000 companies in the country have opted for the programme. For the new initiative, Microsoft selected from firms that had adopted its BizSpark programme on the basis of their potential to succeed in global markets. “There has to be some alignment of what these start-ups are doing with Microsoft’s products and services, as well as with our business and goals,” said Matthew Clark, senior director of Microsoft’s Start up Engagement for the Strategic and Emerging Business Team. Sekar Vembu, founder and CEO of Vembu Technologies, is now a part of a programme called “routes to market”. Under this, Microsoft introduced him to five firms Vembu had identified as potential partners. “We are now working closely with one of them and hopeful that they would become our partner in six months,” he said. For investors, initiatives such as BizSpark One help spot potential deals with more confidence. “It takes us one step closer to offering financial resources to deserving young companies,” said Mohanjit Jolly, executive director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson India. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:45 am Week in Review for 05 February 2010 Industry body Nasscom, estimates that the country’s IT-BPO industry, will reach close to a historic $50 billion in export revenues for the financial year ending March 2010, a growth of 5.5%. For financial year 2010-2011, it expects an even stronger growth in software and services exports of 13-15 percent, and domestic revenue expansion of 15-17%. A strong domestic market and more spending on IT by the government have helped the industry. The makers of aircraft like Airbus, Boeing, and EADS, are banking on Asia to pull the industry out its slump. According to Airbus, passenger traffic is likely to grow an annual average of 5.9% in the next 20 years, overtaking both the US and Europe. This would make Asia the largest air transport market. A growing middle class that will likely be traveling more, Asia will need about 8,000 planes costing $1.2 trillion by 2028. In addition, its expected that demand for the helicopter market in the region will grow at least 10% in the next 10 years. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has warned that rising prosperity is going to put India’s food supply under greater pressure. Singh stressed that the country would have to increase its farm productivity to cope with the increasing demand. Food prices in India have shot up ever since last year’s floods and poor monsoons. India’s annual food inflation is on the rise. The food price index rose 17.56% in the 12 months to 23rd of January, higher than an annual rise of 17.40% in the previous week. Auto companies announced their monthly sales volumes for January on Monday, with some companies breaking records. Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest car maker, reported it’s highest ever monthly sales while Hyundai Motor India, the country’s second largest car maker saw both total sales, and domestic sales grow over 40%. Bajaj Auto also saw its January sales more than double. India’s manufacturing output may have risen faster than it has in the last 17 months. The Purchasing Managers’ Index reached 57.6 in January, which is higher than December’s reading of 55.6. Any figure above 50 indicates an increase in factory production. And markets took a plunge on Friday, falling below the 16,000 mark. The Sensex fell 434 points to end the day at 15,790 and the Nifty fell 126 points to end trade at 4,718. And finally, there’s another win for composer AR Rahman who won two Grammy awards, for best film song and best soundtrack. Both tracks are from the Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire. Often called the Mozart of Madras, Rahman beat rivals like Quentin Tarantino and Bruce Springsteen. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:44 am NTPC gets bids worth Rs9,850 crore Mumbai: State-owned NTPC Ltd, India’s biggest power generator, received bids for more than all the shares offered by the government on the last day of a sale aimed at raising funds to help plug the budget deficit. Investors bid for 490.5 million shares compared with 412.3 million offered, according to data on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange websites. NTPC has received bids worth at least Rs9,850 crore, based on the floor of Rs201 a share. Union power secretary H.S. Brahma said though he was happy with NTPC’s follow-on public offer performance, his ministry would try to ascertain reasons behind the less than expected response. R.S. Sharma, chairman and managing director, NTPC said “The QIB (qualified institutional buyer) portion has been subscribed 2.18 times. Specially today, when all the markets have tanked, NTPC has stood quite well.” Utpal Bhaskar contributed to this story Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:37 am A simple hiring mantra: focus on smart people That’s the finding of a survey conducted by Bain and Co. in association with the Harvard Business Review (HBR) that has just landed on my desk. It’s interesting that one of the authors of the study is the redoubtable Orit Gadiesh, one of the finest management thinkers of our times and chairman of Bain and Co.—one of the few women to rise to the top of a multinational consulting firm. The study has lots of interesting details—Mint will carry a detailed charticle on it next week—but there are a few findings that stand out: Women disappear as they “climb rungs up the corporate ladder”; “only 3% of Fortune 500 companies had a female CEO in 2009”; women make up only 12% “of the boards of FTSE 100 companies” in Europe; and that a full fourth of these companies still had “all-male boards”.  Illustration: Jayachandran / Mint There is one finding that I will mention here, one that is very disturbing: “A 5% decrease in female retention, after 10 years, results in the equivalent of wiping out the benefits of increasing female recruitment from 30% to 50%.” I know the number in this case is nowhere close to 5%, but for some reason I thought of ICICI Bank where several high-profile senior women executives had left around the same time. I do think companies are missing a trick by not making it possible for enough women to rise to the top. Since we all know that rising to the top of an organization is equal parts skill and chance, let’s look at this mathematically. Given that there are as many women as men in the world, and assuming there is an equal probability (say 0.33%) of finding a smart woman (in any universe of women) as there is of finding a smart man, then a company that discriminates against women, actively or passively, either at the hiring stage, or at a subsequent stage, is lowering the probability of staffing itself with smart people. Let me explain this with numbers. A company has a universe of 10 women and 10 men to hire/promote. In any group of 10 men, there will be three smart ones (continuing with our assumed probability). And in any group of 10 women there will be three smart ones. So, if the company ends up hiring or promoting five people out of this group, four men and a woman, it would have made two mistakes: one of the men hired isn’t smart; and two smart women have been overlooked. (I am aware that there is one basic error in using probabilities thus, but treat the example as illustrative, not mathematically perfect). If Bain and HBR were to conduct a similar exercise in India, they are likely to find the situation in India far worse than in the US or Europe (despite the surfeit of “Power Women” listings that this writer helped start in a previous avatar). Even a casual perusal of these listings for the past few years will show that there are few new names. And the worst offenders are companies in areas such as software (despite the large number of women engineers the country churns out every year), pharmaceuticals and services—not because their sex ratios are any lower than those of, say, car makers or petroleum refiners, but because they have more of an opportunity to hire and promote women and haven’t really done so. Just for the record, Mint is an equal opportunity employer and has roughly as many men working for it (in the newsroom), as it does women. There are also three women in Mint’s 11-member editorial leadership team. The interesting thing is that we didn’t achieve these numbers by consciously hiring women; we did so by simply focusing on hiring smart people. Which means there is some practical benefit to the math I described earlier in this column. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:33 am Govt set to unveil new package to combat price riseNew Delhi: The government is poised to announce a fresh strategy to counter the runaway rise in food inflation that will target key items such as rice, wheat, pulses, onions, potatoes and sugar. Food inflation, measured in terms of the Wholesale Price Index, ruled at 17.5% for the week ended 23 January from a year earlier—an 11-year high. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has been under political pressure to curb inflation. The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s apex decision-making body, expressed concern over spiralling prices on Friday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was asked to “motivate” agriculture minister Sharad Pawar not to “scare people” by making public statements that prices would go up again. Pawar’s warning that milk prices could go up drew criticism. “CWC told the Prime Minister that the agriculture minister should take the matter seriously,” said a Congress leader at the meeting on condition of anonymity. According to Congress leaders who attended the meeting chaired by party president Sonia Gandhi, the Prime Minister told his colleagues that the situation was improving. “The Prime Minister said things are getting back on track,” according to party general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi. “The welfare measures introduced by the UPA government have also started showing results.” The food price proposals, likely to be announced by Singh during his meeting with chief ministers on Saturday, include more subsidized rice and wheat to the poor through the public distribution system (PDS). Accordingly, an additional 10kg of rice and wheat would be provided through PDS at the minimum support price of Rs10.80 a kg. “The idea is to release 2 million tonnes (mt) of wheat and 1 mt of rice in the system, which will increase supply and help arrest inflation,” said an official in the know of the development, who did not want to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter. The same person also added that the government has calculated an additional subsidy outgo of Rs280 crore this fiscal because of this measure. The proposals have been put together by an inter-ministerial group headed by cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar. It also decided that Food Corp. of India (FCI), the procurement agency, will auction wheat and rice at select districts to small millers to prevent the bigger ones from cornering stocks. In sugar, prices of which have increased by Rs10 in the month ended 15 January and which has a supply shortfall of 7 mt, the government proposes a national campaign to cut consumption. It has also been suggested that processing of imported raw sugar lying at ports be expedited and stock holding limits be strictly enforced by states. On pulses, it has been decided to step up sales of yellow peas, the cheapest variety, at Rs26 a kg through institutions such as National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd, or Nafed. The group was of the view that pressure on onion, potato and milk prices was easing and hence would not require a supply-side intervention. The same was concluded for potatoes, where prices have fallen from Rs24 to Rs11 in three months (November-January), and milk, where prices have remained more or less stable at Rs22 over the year. The cabinet committee on prices had convened a meeting of all chief ministers last month to curb hoarding. After the meeting, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said the rise in sugar prices could be attributed to excess demand, but the inflation in rice, wheat, pulses and vegetables was due to supply-side problems that need to be addressed jointly by the Centre and the states. Agricultural economist Y.K. Alagh said enhancing foodgrain supplies was a good measure and that FCI should play a proactive role in this. “This also has macroeconomic implications as it helps suck out the purchasing powers of the consumers. The government should listen to the Reserve Bank, which is saying food inflation is high and something needs to be done about it,” said Alagh. Liz Mathew contributed to this story. sangeeta.s@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:31 am Istithmar sells most of its stake in SpiceJetMumbai: Istithmar PJSC, the investment arm of Dubai World, has sold most of its 13.39% equity stake in Delhi-based low-fare airline SpiceJet Ltd for Rs169 crore, a top executive of the airline said. It sold the stock to domestic funds and foreign institutional investors.  Equity exit: Despite the sale, Dubai World still holds FCCBs worth $12 million in the low-budget airline. Punit Paranjpe/Reuters “All I will say is that we are aware that Istithmar had sold most of its equity investment in SpiceJet. Based on our information, it has sold two-third of its funds to domestic funds and one-third to foreign institutions,” SpiceJet chief executive officer Sanjay Aggarwal told Mint. “However, it still holds FCCBs (foreign currency convertible bonds) worth $12 million (Rs56 crore),” he added. Mint could not immediately reach Istithmar. Shares of SpiceJet, India’s second largest low-fare carrier, on Friday fell 1.65% to close at Rs53.80 on BSE. The benchmark Sensex index fell 2.68% to close at 15,790.93 points. The sale gives more space for another foreign investor to buy SpiceJet shares while complying with India’s 49% foreign holding limit in an airline. The current foreign holding in SpiceJet is around 30%. Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross had in July 2008 injected $80 million in SpiceJet through New York-based private equity fund WL Ross and Co. Llc.Goldman Sachs also invested $20 million in the carrier at that time. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:25 am Young fists of fury Gaurav*, 7, is the only son of a couple in their 40s, both of whom have extremely demanding professional lives. His aunt Lata* says that since the age of 3, he has been a difficult child.  Unprovoked: Is your child hitting his classmates? “Earlier, he used to hit only his mother. Then he started biting, pinching and hitting not just his parents but other people around too. We have heard of classmates who have refused to attend his birthday parties. He is cruel to my dog whenever he comes over and pulls his ears and tail. I don’t think it is because he dislikes animals but it is just that Gaurav is always angry and wants attention. I think he senses that all is not well between his parents and is constantly seeking attention from both,” says Lata. Last year, Gaurav’s father took a year’s sabbatical from work to spend more time with him since his mother found it impossible to handle the child alone. “When a child between 2 and 4 hits out at a parent, it is a way to express himself. But when this behaviour continues between 4 to 7 years, then it is a learned behaviour. He or she knows that this is a way to seek attention and that is worrying,” explains Maya Kirpalani, a clinical psychologist and family therapist at the Jaslok and Bhatia hospitals in Mumbai. “As a parent, you have to teach your child to express his feelings through language and not fists,” Kirpalani adds. There are many reasons why young children are aggressive and hit out at parents, peers, siblings or sometime even other adults such as teachers or caregivers. Hitting is a form of seeking attention, an expression of extreme anger or frustration by a child or simply a result of inconsistent disciplining by the parents. “Just as too little attention is a problem, parents who stand to attention at a child’s every whim are doing him harm too. The child will feel frustrated if he doesn’t get the kind of attention that he is used to in other social situations, such as in school, and can hit at people around to get noticed,” says Gouri Dange, a Pune-based psychologist, Lounge columnist and author of The ABCs of Parenting. Abha Adams, a New-Delhi based education consultant, believes there is a distinct correlation between the violent images young children see in video games and on TV, and their own inappropriate violent behaviour. “Frankly, in eight out of 10 cases, this unprovoked aggressive behaviour in a child is rooted in some family issue. Parents are reluctant to open up about their family atmosphere, marital issues,” explains Dange. At times, there may be no overt violence in the house. But an overworked mother and an absent father make for a fairly fraught atmosphere. The child may get the feeling that he is a “big chore” for his mother. “Whatever the circumstances, no parent should accept being hit by their children. As soon as a child hits you, be firm in your response. Hold their hand, look them in the eye—and depending on their age—very firmly tell them that they are never to hit again because it hurts,” advises Adams, adding that teachers need to follow the same course—swift intervention is critical in school—setting boundaries, making the child understand what is acceptable and what is not. “If a child continues to hit other children in class, isolate him. He should be made to understand that his actions will have consequences and he will not be allowed to play or sit next to other children. Also, inform the parents immediately and encourage them to seek counselling with the child,” says Madhulika Sen, principal, Tagore International school, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi. One of the key factors in discouraging aggressive behaviour is to try and get an aggressive child to empathize with others. This can be done effectively by teachers. “Take his hand and help him touch things, people, very gently. Not during a meltdown, but sometime during the day, encourage him to touch a flower, or a fragile object, and explain how a harsh touch can hurt or destroy the object,” adds Dange. Teach such a child to express his emotions and feelings in words. Parents should do the same. “But don’t make all communication about negative emotions and feelings only—I am angry, I am sad. Include positive expressions as well,” says Kirpalani. Both counsellors advise parents whose child hits them or others against hitting the child as a means of instilling discipline. Work on soothing the child. Never slap and chastize him in front of other children or their parents. If you have to deal with complaints about your child, never react offensively or defensively to the person making the complaint or shrug off all blame. “But don’t turn around and yell at your child either. It is advisable to apologize and promise to look into the matter,” adds Dange. Try and include physical games—yoga, martial arts—in such a child’s schedule. Even physical activities such as child-friendly carpentry, where “legitimate” force may be needed to hammer a nail into a board, could be worked into his routine. * Names changed to protect identity. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:13 am Rahul snubs Shiv Sena, hops on local trains, ignores threat Mumbai: In a snub to Shiv Sena, Rahul Gandhi hopped on to two suburban trains on Friday throwing caution to wind in the wake of security threat to make a last minute detour through Sena bastions during his brief visit to this metropolis. With Bal Thackeray issuing a diktat to his party cadres to greet the ‘Italian Prince’ with black flags to mark the party’s protest against his ‘Mumbai for all’ remarks, the defiant Congress general secretary cocked a snook at the Sena supremo when he jettisoned plans to go to a slum in Ghatkopar by a waiting helicopter for his second and final engagement in the city. Unfazed by the Sena threat and in a gesture loaded with symbolism, Rahul, who was on his way from suburban Vile Parle to Ghatkopar after addressing college students abruptly disembarked from his motorcade outside Andheri railway station of Western Railway line and got in a Dadar-bound local train. There were reports that Rahul even went to an ATM. He travelled on the Virar-Dadar fast train in a second class compartment along with the general public much to their delight but sending security personnel in a tizzy. He got off 15 minutes later around 1.15 pm at Dadar. At Dadar railway station, Rahul crossed a bridge to come to the central line from where he took a train to Ghatkopar. “He got into a first class coach of the Kalyan-bound to go to Ghatkopar which is four stations away,” a railway official said. Rahul also signed autographs for starry eyed passengers who gushed at seeing him in their company. After a four-hour visit, Rahul left for Puducherry. The scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family did not not lose an opprtunity to send a loud and clear message to the Shiv Sena warning people here against attempts to divide them on communal and linguistic basis. “My father was born in Mumbai and mother in Italy. My great-grandfather was born in Allahabad, who also had origins in Jammu and Kashmir. I live in Delhi. Where should I say I belong to. I know one thing that I am an Indian and belong to India,“ he said in an interaction with students without even a mention of the Sena or the protests. An SPG protectee, Rahul (39) was accompanied by the newly-appointed Indian Youth Congress president Rajeev Satav and party MP Jitendra Singh. This is Rahul’s maiden visit to the financial capital after he became the AICC general secretary. Scores of Sena supporters have been rounded up while staging protests in the city as a massive security blanket was thrown in the city by the Mumbai police. According to Mumbai Youth Congress president Sunil Ahire, Rahul was earlier slated to board a chopper at Pawanhans helipad in Vile Parle and land at Godrej Compound in Vikhroli to avoid any ugly incidents involving the Sena. “But Rahul changed his mind midway,” Ahire said adding: “in a dramatic action outsmarting the Shiv Sena, fuming over his ‘Mumbai for all Indians’ remark, to board a suburban train to connect with Mumbaikars leaving the saffron protestors clueless, in a show of disdain for the outfit’s threats.” Rahul shook hands with ordinary commuters getting clicked on mobile phone cameras and asking them about their problems. Unmindful of the Shiv Sainiks carrying black flags and chanting slogans against him a few kilometres away in suburban Ghatkopar where he was scheduled to interact with slum youths, the Nehru-Gandhi family scion was endearing himself to the common man on his favourite mode of transport—the local train. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:09 am The Savage sleuths By then, it didn’t really matter. I was swept into a mysterious narrative circling around an investigation into the disappearance of poets. Just like rock stars and film stars, poets too fade away into oblivion and not always as mercifully. Set primarily in the 1970s and written in a diary format, the novel begins in Mexico and tracks two quixotic poet-detectives—Belano and Lima—who are searching for a poet, Cesárea Tinajero. She disappeared in the 1920s in the sinister Sonora desert, which is crawling with scorpions and tarantulas. After a number of chapters, one starts to suspect that the story is woven around an enigmatic central event—most likely a case of manslaughter—the exact details of which will be revealed only at the end. Bolaño seems to have had a fascination for a town called Juarez on the opposite side of the Rio Grande from US city El Paso. Juarez apparently has an unusually high homicide rate. The town, fictionalized as “Santa Teresa”, represents a descent into a hell on earth, something paralleling La Divina Commedia. The same city also features in Bolaño’s other, even more famous, novel 2666—perhaps meant to be read as “two times the number of the beast” or “the second coming of the devil”.  Visceral: Roberto Bolaño. Bloomberg The novel closes with us returning to the unreliable diarist, who travels in a stolen Ford Impala with Belaño, Lima and a runaway prostitute in the Sonora desert: a road movie taking us through small-town Mexico until the end is revealed in its sad brutality. The parallels between Bolaño’s life and that of one of the “savage detectives”, the bohemian Arturo Belaño, who is Bolaño’s alter ego, may encourage readers to think this book is autobiographical. But such assumptions would lead us to miss the point. At its core, the book is a larger statement about the documented and undocumented histories of artistic movements—exemplified by “Visceral Realism” which may or may not have been based on a little-known surrealistic Mexican left-wing movement called infrarrealismo and that Bolaño belonged to—and how meaningful or meaningless individual authors are to world literature. Keep in mind that Bolaño wrote against the clock, knowing that he was going to die within the next few years (in fact, he only lived five years after the book was published). That is a serious deadline. As a vehicle for this enormous investigation, he uses the aesthetics of the hard-boiled crime novel—the narrative is packed with tequila, sex, violence, pot, lunacy—written in a lean, mean prose. We, the readers, are turned into savage detectives and presented with all the evidence, the mysterious leads, the testimonies, the documents relating to the lost poets, so that we may unravel “the case” before us. For a reader of detective fiction, the effect is mind-blasting. Zac O’Yeah is a Bangalore-based writer of crime fiction.Write to him at criminalmind@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 11:04 am Choice cutsA diamond’s quality is assessed not just by carat, colour and clarity but also by the cut. “People know very little about assessing the cut of a diamond, which affects the light return of the stone and hence makes it sparkle. Until all parameters and proportions are maintained perfectly while cutting and polishing, a diamond will not have the right light reflection and hence not be considered a quality diamond,” says Biren Jhaveri, manager, sourcing, and senior gemologist, Tanishq. The good news is that all the information you need about a diamond is usually on the certificate you get with it. But you need to be able to interpret it easily too. “Remember, when you are talking about the cut, you are actually talking about the shape of the diamond. However, when you are asking how well a diamond has been cut, you are asking about the quality of the cut and not the shape,” he explains.  Token: An engagement ring at Zoya by Tanishq The certificate should also indicate whether the diamond is an original one or a man-made one. For colour, the grades are from D to Z. “D indicates the diamond is exceptionally white. As you go from D towards Z, the diamond becomes yellow,” explains Jhaveri. “Also, know that clarity does not mean that the diamond has no flaws. It refers to the relative absence or presence of inclusions (inside the stone) and blemishes (on the surface on the stone). There are 11 grades in clarity—from flawless to three levels of inclusions,” he explains. The last parameter on the certificate indicates fluorescence. “This indicates that when a diamond is subjected to ultraviolet light, it absorbs light and glows blue. Ideally, a diamond should not fluoresce. Diamond with strong and medium fluoresce should be avoided but if a diamond has mild fluoresce it will not affect its beauty,” he says. — Seema Chowdhry Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 10:59 am Stimulus rollback to be gradual: RangarajanMumbai: India is in no hurry to roll back economic stimulus measures in one go, but efforts will be made in the Budget to lower the fiscal deficit, C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister’s economic advisory council, said on Friday. “It will be calibrated and done in a manner that stimulus in the economy continues to persist and at the same time some adjustment is made as far as the deficit is concerned,” he said. The government has launched two fiscal stimulus packages since October 2008 worth $4 billion (Rs16,840 crore). The central bank raised the banks’ reserve requirement for the first time in nearly a year and a half in its policy review on 29 January. It raised the cash reserve ratio for banks by a higher-than-expected 75 basis points to 5.75%, to be effective in two stages this month. One basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point. “It has been pointed out repeatedly that the process of exit must be gradual, coordinated and must not be sudden, should not disrupt the economy, and efforts will be made to bring down the fiscal deficit in the coming Budget,” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 10:56 am Mahindra Satyam bags two orders in BrazilSoftware firm Mahindra Satyam (earlier Satyam Computer Services) on Friday said that it has won two contracts in Sao Paulo in Brazil, which would executed by its subsidiary Satyam Servicos De Informatica Ltda. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 5 Feb 2010 | 10:05 am Bold amp beautifulClassier version Here’s why the new and improved BlackBerry is a better business handset to upgrade to, writes Shayne Rana.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 5 Feb 2010 | 9:47 am Electric two wheeler industry seeks subsidies for survivalThe domestic electric two-wheeler industry is banking on incentives in the budget for survival. Manufacturers of electric bikes and scooters are blaming lack of subsidies and infrastructure for poor market response for their products, reports Sumant Banerji.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 5 Feb 2010 | 9:24 am Church of England dumps Vedanta stakeThe Church of England joined a growing list of organisations that have disinvested stakes in Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta Resources casting aspersions on the company’s human rights record.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 5 Feb 2010 | 9:20 am Green energy Airvoice lines up 13 000 mwAirvoice Group, a Gurgaon-based entity with core interests in commodity exports, has launched an ambitious diversification into green energy with a plan to produce 13,000 megawatts (mw) of power.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 5 Feb 2010 | 9:17 am Align workers with PSUsOver the years, the size of the public sector has increased and currently there are 473 central PSUs, including banks and insurance companies. Out of these, 104 are listed and 369 unlisted; while at the state level, there are 1,160 PSUs.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 5 Feb 2010 | 9:14 am Toyota chief to address safety as Prius recall eyedTokyo/Detroit: Toyota Motor Corp president Akio Toyoda will face the media on Friday for the first time over a string of safety issues rocking the company as it prepared to recall its iconic Prius hybrid over braking problems. Toyota, the world’s No.1 automaker, is already recalling some 8 million cars around the world for problems related to unintended acceleration which have been linked to up to 19 crash deaths in the United States over the past decade. Except for a brief, impromtu interview with a Japanese broadcaster while in Switzerland a week ago, Toyoda has not been seen on the issue, prompting criticism from public relations experts and consumers about the company’s response to the crisis. Toyoda, 53, is the grandson of Toyota’s founder who took over as president last year with a promise to steer the company out of its worst downturn in history and bring greater transparency to its sprawling corporate culture. Toyota said he will brief media in Nagoya, near its Toyota City headquarters, at 9.00 pm. Kazutaka Oshima, president of Rakuten Investment Management, said Toyoda needed to explain what was happening. “A listed company, which has raised money from the capital markets, is a public entity and if the management does not want to fulfill such responsibilities it should go private,” he said. “Toyoda is responsible for explaining to shareholders since they have lost a significant part of their assets.” Toyota shares have lost about $30 billion or a fifth of their value since 21 January when it launched a US recall related to faulty accelerator pedals. Toyota said its US dealers had started fixing the pedals and notifying affected owners on Friday. Standard & Poor’s put Toyota and its group suppliers on negative watch, citing increased concern over the quality issues. Now Prius Safety regulators in both the United States and Japan are now investigating braking problems with the company’s latest version of the Prius, Japan’s top-selling car last year and an icon of green design that has lifted the public image of the whole company. A source with knowledge of Toyota’s discussions with Japanese safety authorities told Reuters on Friday the company was leaning towards issuing a recall for the new model versions. Japan’s transport minister said he had heard from ministry officials that Toyota would recall or voluntarily fix the Prius’ affected, including those shipped overseas. “Toyota’s response came up short from the perspective of its customers,” transport minister Seiji Maehara said. Since its launch last May, Toyota has sold 311,000 units of the newest version of the Prius -- around 200,000 in Japan and another 103,200 in the United States. In what could be deemed a broader problem with hybrid cars, Ford Motor Co said on Thursday it would roll out a software patch for consumers to address similar problems with braking reported on its Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan models. Braking down Both Toyota’s and Ford’s hybrids capture the energy from braking to recharge an on-board battery to boost mileage from its gasoline engine. On bumpy roads and on ice, the regenerative brakes appear to slip, allowing the vehicle to lurch forward before the traditional brakes engage, Prius owners have said. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it has received 124 complaints from drivers of the third-generation Prius. Four crashes were alleged by motorists to have been caused by the problems, NHTSA said. Both Toyota and Ford said they had come up with software fixes for the problem. Toyota said it had started fixing the problems last month, a step it only revealed on Thursday. Ford’s action came after Consumer Reports said one of its test engineers had experienced what appeared to be a loss of braking power with a Fusion hybrid. Ford said it was aware of one minor accident related to the braking problem but no injuries. The No.2 US automaker by sales notified its dealers of the problem in October but not the public because it did not believe the glitch represents a failure of the brakes. Ford shares were ended almost 5% lower on Thursday. Shares in Toyota picked up from a 10-month low on Friday in Tokyo after it reported better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its outlook despite its growing recall-related problems. The stock ended up 1.1% at ¥3,315 defying a sharp drop in other auto stocks and the broader market. “The issues facing Toyota are not going to be solved that easily,” said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities. “What we’re seeing today is a technical rebound because it was sold so much.” Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 4:02 am DBS chief seeks expansion in southeast Asia, IndiaSingapore: The new chief of Singapore’s DBS Group plans to earn more from Southeast Asia and India by broadening consumer and private banking services, even as analysts raised concerns about the bank’s latest quarterly earnings boost. In his first news briefing since taking over at southeast Asia’s largest bank late last year, Piyush Gupta, outlined plans to shift the bank’s focus, with southeast and south Asia to account for 30% of revenue in five years, with the same coming from greater China, while Singapore’s share would drop to 40% from 60%. Analysts had earlier said Gupta’s plans would be key in driving the outlook for DBS, which is 28% owned by state investor Temasek. “For the first time in a decade, DBS has a credible strategy in our view,” said Sanjay Jain, who heads research on Asian financials for Credit Suisse in Singapore. “It may not be very different from the path many others have taken (and many have failed), but it’s a good start and half the job is done.” DBS ambitions to build a business beyond its domestic borders have proved elusive in the past due to its reluctance to pay a rich premium for deals and its small presence in Indonesia and India. Last year, Greater China, primarily Hong Kong, accounted for 27% of revenues, and southeast Asia-south Asia just 7.5%. The bank has not been able to build a significant foothold in China, unlike rivals which have bought stakes in domestic lenders there. Greater China outside Hong Kong accounts for only 6% of its income. “Unlike its two major peers, DBS doesn’t have sizeable operations in the fast-growing emerging markets and its outlook largely hinges on the mature economies of Singapore and Hong Kong, which make it less capital-efficient,” Todd Dunivant, head of banking research at HSBC, said in a note. DBS reported a forecast-beating 67% rise in quarterly profit as fee income surged, it dodged larger losses on its exposure to Dubai World and gained from a tax writeback. Gupta, the former Southeast Asia head at Citigroup, said DBS would try to build its existing businesses in Taiwan and Indonesia and broaden consumer banking services in India and China, while focusing on large Asian corporates and the rich. DBS shares closed 1.1% lower at S$14.04, while the benchmark Singapore market lost 2.2%. Clouded By Dubai The bank’s fourth quarter was clouded by its exposure to a unit of Dubai World, which is trying to restructure some $22 billion in debt repayments. Gupta said the Dubai World loan had been classed as non-performing, but Dubai World was still servicing its debt and he was hopeful of a positive outcome to debt talks. “We have chosen to be conservative and taken some provisions,” he said. DBS took S$384 million in bad debt charges, but did not specify how much of that was from loans linked to Dubai World. Overall non-performing loans (NPL) jumped 43% from S$269 million a year earlier. October-December net profit was S$493 million ($348 million) versus S$295 million a year ago, the bank’s second straight quarter of earnings growth. The bank’s year-ago performance, hit by the global crisis, was its worst quarter in three years. Analysts were mostly unimpressed with the result because of the jump in bad debt charges and the boost to earnings from a S$47 million tax writeback. “Bottom line is all a tax adjustment,” said Morgan Stanley’s Matthew Wilson. Analysts had forecast net profit of S$372 million, factoring in big losses from DBS’s exposure to the Dubai World unit, according to the average of five forecasts in a Reuters survey. The outlook for Singapore banks in 2010 has improved on the back of an economic rebound in Asia, feverish capital market activity and a likely decline in bad debt charges. DBS shares have fallen about 7.8% so far this year, less than rival Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp’s 9.2% drop but more than a 6.4% fall in United Overseas Bank stock. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 2:57 am Kraft gets 75% of Cadbury, to delist sharesLondon: Kraft Foods on Friday said it had 75.41% acceptances from Cadbury Plc shareholders on 4 February in its takeover of the British confectioner and will now move to delist Cadbury no earlier than 8 March. Kraft said in a statement that assuming it gets 90% acceptances from Cadbury shareholders it intends to move towards the compulsorily purchase of any outstanding shares of Cadbury. It added that its final offer remains open until further notice and urged all Cadbury shareholders to accept its takeover offer. Kraft announced on 2 February that it had acceptances of almost 72% of Cadbury’s stock to seal its £11.7 billion ($18.4 billion) takeover of Cadbury and create the world’s biggest confectionery group after a near five-month takeover battle. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 5 Feb 2010 | 2:21 am
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