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Want speedy implementation of GST: Dabur IndiaOn the forthcoming Budget, Sunil Duggal, Chief Executive Officer of Dabur India, said there are two issues which stare at you in the faceone is a speedy and effective and transparent rollout of GST and second is continuation of economic stimuli in the rural areas.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2010 | 8:51 am See 1520% revenue growth going forward: Burnpur CementIn an interview with CNBCTV18, Ashok Gutgutia, VC and MD, Burnpur Cement, spoke about the latest happenings in his company and sector.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2010 | 8:45 am Demand robust; not looking at any pricing changes: DaburIn an exclusive interview with CNBCTV18, Sunil Duggal, Chief Executive Officer of Dabur India, spoke about the company and his outlook for the sector.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2010 | 8:35 am Nalco cuts aluminium prices by Rs 8000/tIn an interview with CNBCTV18, BL Bagra, Director Finance at NALCO, spoke about the price cut and the companys plans going forward.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2010 | 7:45 am KMPG: The winning moves for India Inc\"The tax depreciation rate for plant and machinery to be restored to the erstwhile rate of 25%,\" says Shabbir Motorwala of KPMGSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2010 | 6:41 am SME: Need continuation of fiscal stimulus from Budget 2010FM needs to aggressively promote the development of the MSME sector and its entrepreneurial spirit through various fiscal measures.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2010 | 6:31 am Govt clears revision in fertiliser sops, FDI thresholdThe Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the revision in subsidy for decontrolled fertilisers. The hike was on account of the higher gas rate as per the administered price mechanism. The revision will cost the exchequer Rs 15.9 crore.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2010 | 6:19 am Radical reforms promised, but will it come true?A key development has been introduction of Direct Tax Code (DTC), which is proposed to be implemented from 1 April 2011.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2010 | 6:17 am See Q4 revenue around Rs 30cr: Comp U Learn Tech IndiaIn an interview with CNBCTV18, P Obul Reddy, Director, Comp U Learn Tech India, spoke about the latest happenings in his company and sector.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2010 | 6:17 am Govt eases foreign investment rulesForeign Investment promotion Board (FIPB) can approve investments of up to Rs 12 billion (USD 259 million), Home Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters on Thursday after a cabinet meeting.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2010 | 6:10 am Infosys to hire 15000 people - The Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 11 Feb 2010 | 3:22 am January exports jump 11.5 pc - The Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 11 Feb 2010 | 3:21 am Infosys for acquisitions in Europe, Non-Eng speaking countriesStating that discretionary spends were happening, an Infosys official said that it, however, remained to be seen how fast it would rise and what would be the quantumn.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 3:19 am Sympathy to Toyota recall not good though say rivalsGlobal carmakers, including GM, Ford and Honda, said on Thursday that they are not going to take advantage from the crisis faced by Japanese auto giant Toyota, which is recalling over eight million vehicles worldwide but agreed it is not a good sign for the industry. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 11 Feb 2010 | 3:18 am EU summit gets to grips with Greece rescue plan - Reuters
Source: Business - Google News | 11 Feb 2010 | 3:11 am Patni hopes to sign deals worth $150-$200 mn - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 11 Feb 2010 | 2:52 am Tyre cos seek lowering of import duty on natural rubberThe Budget is slated to be presented by the Union finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee, on February 26.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 2:52 am Boeing India signs aircraft pact with Hindustan Aeronautics LtdBoeing's Indian unit has signed a $4.7-million aircraft contract with India's state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 2:46 am Greece needs psychological, political support - PMPARIS (Reuters) - Greece needs psychological and political support from Europe and does not envisage calling on the International Monetary Fund for help, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou was quoted as saying on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 2:45 am India bond 10-yr bond yield rises after data - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 11 Feb 2010 | 2:42 am WRAPUP 1-India food, fuel prices rise; no cbank action until Apr - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 11 Feb 2010 | 2:42 am Safe Skies: A disaster waiting in the wings?New Delhi: Nalini Khandelwal hasn’t had the nerve to board a plane since 1 July 2007. Click here to view a slideshow on aviation safety That day the 50-year-old stockbroker was travelling from New Delhi to hometown Indore by a Jet Airways (India) Ltd flight on a clear afternoon. She says things started going wrong when the turboprop ATR-72 came in to land at the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport. “I think the pilot overshot the runway,” Khandelwal recalls. “He decided to do a belly landing, we bounced, lost the wheels as they were broken. The wheels hit the airport wall and the impact was so strong the wall broke.” The plane bounced three times and came to a halt in a ditch filled with rainwater. Inside were 49 badly bruised and shaken passengers, lucky to be alive. Khandelwal escaped with an injured back and a broken wrist. Statistics show there has been no fatal accident involving a commercial airliner in India since 17 July 2000, when an Alliance Air Boeing 737 approaching Patna airport crashed in a residential neighbourhood, killing 58 people in an accident the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) blamed on crew not following “the correct approach procedure”.  Air pocket: A Kingfisher aircraft that skidded off the runway in Mumbai in November. The fleet strength of scheduled domestic airlines has more than doubled to 400 from 160 in 2005 as has the number of aircraft-related incidents, rising from 806 to 1,132, according to the air safety regulator. “The DGCA said it was miraculous that passengers survived,” says Khandelwal. “We should have been a ball of fire.” Also See Airborne Crisis (Graphics) She has been fighting in consumer courts for “respectful compensation” after declining the eight free tickets per passenger offered by Jet Airways, India’s largest carrier by passengers flown, which also apologized for the “inconvenience caused”. Jet Airways did not comment on the Indore mishap. In an email, a Jet Airways spokesperson said: “Aviation being a high reliability system demands stringent processes and procedures are in place to achieve the expected level of safety.” DGCA categorized the mishap in Indore as an “incident” and not as an “accident” because, by the regulator’s definition, an accident necessarily involves deaths. “If you have an aircraft which is nearly broken, would you call it an accident or an incident?” asks Ranjana Kaul, a Delhi-based lawyer fighting Khandelwal’s case. Aviation boom Every day, some 3,500 civilian flights criss-cross the Indian skies, a number that has nearly doubled from 1,900 just five years ago, according to DGCA, as a growing economy, rising incomes and low air fares prompt more people to fly. India’s aviation market has doubled in four years from 22.30 million passengers in 2005 to 44 million in 2009. The fleet strength of scheduled domestic airlines has more than doubled to 400 from 160 in 2005. At the time of the Alliance Air crash, only four domestic passenger carriers were operating in the country—state-run Indian Airlines and Air India (which have since merged), Air Sahara (now JetLite) and Jet Airways. Alliance Air was a subsidiary of Indian Airlines and has also been absorbed in Air India. Since 2004, they have been joined by Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, InterGlobe Aviation Pvt. Ltd-run IndiGo, SpiceJet Ltd, GoAir (India) Pvt. Ltd and Paramount Airways Pvt. Ltd. The number of aircraft-related incidents has kept pace, rising from 806 in 2005-06 to 1,132 in 2008-09, according to DGCA. The number of “near miss” incidents rose to 20 from 14 in the same period, according to available DGCA data for 2005-06 and a DGCA official who didn’t want to be named. A near miss occurs when two aircraft come close to each other in an unplanned way, without causing injury or damage, but with the potential to do so. One near miss took place in February last year when a helicopter from the fleet that carries President Pratibha Patil landed metres away from an Air India aircraft that was taking off from Mumbai airport. Only the presence of mind of the Air India pilot, who applied the brakes after having been cleared for takeoff, averted a potential disaster Emails sent to an Air India spokesperson for comment were unanswered. “Near misses really need to be looked into as some of them could have become accidents,” says a retired DGCA joint director who didn’t want to be named as he still works as an aviation consultant. DGCA information accessed by Mint suggests there were four serious accidents and five serious incidents in 2009, besides around 1,000 incidents. Airports under stress “Near misses have been high because the safety apparatus is not geared up for (the growing volume of) traffic,” says Sanat Kaul, a former joint secretary in the ministry of civil aviation who also represented India at the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations-affiliated global body for aviation safety. Increasing air traffic has put tremendous pressure on airports as well as DGCA, which is responsible for ensuring safety. The Mumbai airport, which handled 654 flights a day in 2009 compared with an average 419 in 2004, is a case in point. “Mumbai has no solution right now other than a new airport,” says Kaul, referring to the plan to create a second airport in Navi Mumbai. The plan has been cleared by the Union government, but the project work hasn’t begun yet because of delays in securing environmental clearances. Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd, which operates the Mumbai airport, denies it runs a “high risk” facility. “We are one of the safest airports in the country as borne out by statistics,” spokesman Manish Kalghatgi said in an email. “The international safety benchmark outlined by Airports Council International (ACI) is 0.021 incident per 10,000 aircraft movements. The Mumbai airport is currently (at) 0.015.” Kalghatgi added that the airport was implementing a master plan to increase its capacity. In 2009, Delhi overtook Mumbai as the country’s busiest airport, handling 666 flights a day. It has had its share of near misses. In May 2008, a SpiceJet flight from Bangalore was approaching the runway in stormy weather and poor visibility when a European airliner entered the runway without clearance. A year earlier, an Indian Air Force Boeing 737 aircraft carrying Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi came dangerously close to a Virgin Atlantic wide-body A-340 aircraft that had arrived from London. “Near misses mean rules are not being followed by either the ATC (air traffic control) or flight operator or airport operator,” says the retired DGCA joint director quoted earlier. Safety audits DGCA needs to make the safety system transparent, speed up its investigations and carry out more safety audits, says Chennai-based air safety expert Mohan Ranganathan. Safety audits typically cover everything from an inspection of the qualifications of technical personnel to the airworthiness of planes. “They have done just 14 audits in three years,” says Ranganathan, who has 20,000 hours of flying experience, citing information released by DGCA in response to his application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The DGCA reply of 3 December said in 2007 it audited Paramount Airways, Alliance Air, Air India Charters Ltd and IndiGo. JetLite was audited the next year, and in 2009, safety audits were carried out on Jet Airways, Paramount and SpiceJet. For its part, DGCA, which employs 306 people compared with Air India’s 32,438, simply does not have the staff required for the job. Its air safety team has only 82 personnel to supervise around 800 aircraft in the skies. Most of them are limited to accident investigation and just a handful are allotted to accident prevention. Even so, the regulator is trying, initiating training programmes for its staff and augmenting its workforce, says a top DGCA official, on condition of anonymity. A top flight safety official at an Indian carrier says airlines themselves tend to cover up safety-related “occurrences” instead of reporting them, as they are required to. When occurrences go unreported, and consequently uninvestigated, they can lead to incidents, said the official, who has dealt with air safety issues for 30 years. When even these are covered up by airlines, chances are that sooner or later, there will be an accident. The official requested anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to the media. Raw hands Pilots with insufficient experience add to the chances of a mishap. Pilot training programmes have suffered because of intense competition following liberalization of the aviation market and its mushroom growth. “Then came youngsters with 250 hours’ experience those days and a CPL (commercial pilot’s licence). It was like fast food. Today, from 250 hours, the licence requirement has come down to 200 hours,” says the airline safety official quoted above. The official says many new pilots, who had “never seen anything beyond a little bit of Cessna (a small aircraft)”, are suddenly put in a high-tech hot seat with scores of lives in their hands, at a time when cockpit operations have become more dependent on pilots. In the 1960s, he says, the Boeing 707 cockpit work was shared by the pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer and navigator. Today, with most systems becoming automated, the work is done by just the pilot and co-pilot. The pilots for their part have a list of grievances. They talk of the unmitigated stress they are under as they cope with delays in securing landing clearance at congested airports and pressure from their employers to maintain on-time performance, and confess that they fear this increases their chances of making a mistake. A senior pilot with a low-cost airline says some of the near misses happen because of cross-runway operations at airports such as Mumbai that “require more oversight and control than parallel or single runway operations”. “If you combine this with constant delays which put us under pressure, the congestion on ATC radio channels and inefficient controllers, incidents are bound to happen,” he says. While all this may explain the context in which Khandelwal’s plane nearly met with catastrophe, it’s not going to make her take to the skies anytimesoon. Graphics by Paras Jain/Mint Source: Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2010 | 2:38 am Nifty near day's highs; Unitech, Hero Honda up - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 11 Feb 2010 | 2:37 am World stocks, euro firmer ahead of EU Greek debateLONDON (Reuters) - World stocks hit a one-week high while the euro rose broadly on Thursday as investors looked to European Union leaders to lay the foundations for a financial rescue of Greece at a summit in Brussels.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 2:28 am Jan exports up 11.5pct at $14.3 bln - Anand SharmaNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's exports in January rose 11.5 percent to $14.3 billion, Trade Minister Anand Sharma told a news conference.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 2:20 am Finance Commission's report in Parliament before the BudgetThe government said it will table the 13th Finance Commission report on sharing the Centre's tax receipts with states in Parliament before the Budget.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 2:14 am Government to debate fuel pricing on February 14On Wednesday, the oil minister, Murli Deora, said his ministry would submit its recommendations on fuel prices to the cabinet on the same day.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 2:09 am Boeing India signs aircraft pact with HALNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Boeing's Indian unit has signed a $4.7-million aircraft contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Boeing India's defence head Vivek Lall told reporters on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 2:08 am ONGC, IOC, OIL consortium wins oil block in VenezuelaNew Delhi: Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and partners Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) have won a bid to develop a major crude oil block in Venezuela, its first major overseas success since Imperial Energy Plc acquisition in 2008. The Indian firms will develop the Carabobo-1 block in Venezuela’s Orinoco Belt with Spain’s Repsol YPF SA and Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bdh, ONGC said in a statement. An official said the group will pay $1.05 billion to Venezuela as signing amount and will initially invest another $9 billion in developing the block that can produce 400,000 barrels of heavy oil per day (20 million tonnes per annum). Total spending on the block over 25 years would be $19 billion. Besides, the consortium would also extend some credit to Venezuela’s state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PdVSA), which would hold 60% interest in the project. Venezuela on Wednesday announced winners of two of the three Carabobo blocks it had auctioned in January. The Latin American nation gave out 40% stake to international firms, the largest oil investment in President Hugo Chavez’s 11-year rule. Chevron Corp will develop the Carabobo-3 block along with Mitsubishi Corp, Inpex Corp and Suelopetrol CA of Venezuela after paying a signing amount of $500 million. A third oil block in the Carabobo area of the Orinoco will be assigned at a later date. ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of the state explorer, Repsol and Petronas will each have a 11% share in the Empresa Mixta (or Mixed Company) which will develop the Carabobo-1 Norte and Carabobo-1 Centro blocks located in the Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt, while IOC and OIL will split a 7% stake in the project equally. The Corporacion Venezolana del Petroleo (CVP), a subsidiary of PdVSA, will hold the remaining 60% equity interest. “The Mixed Company will build heavy oil production facilities, upgrading facilities and associated infrastructure. The upstream production facilities are expected to produce around 400,000 barrels per day of extra heavy oil of which about 200,000 bpd will be upgraded into light crude oil in a facility to be located in the Soledad area in Anzoategui state,” the statement said. The licence term will be for 25-years with the potential for a further 15 year extension. The Carabobo area of the Orinoco is estimated to hold about 128 billion barrels of oil and Venezuela hopes to produce 1.2 million barrels of oil a day by 2015 to make up for declining output in aging fields elsewhere. Venezuela, South America’s largest oil producer, says its current crude output is about 3 million barrels a day, though independent estimates say it is closer to 2.3 million barrels a day. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2010 | 1:49 am Diageo H1 earnings up, sees early recovery signsThe London-based maker of Smirnoff vodka, Johnnie Walker whisky and Guinness beer posted underlying earnings for the half year to end-December of 44.2 pence a share.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 1:46 am Govt to debate fuel pricing on Feb 14 - officialNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Finance and oil ministers will meet on Feb. 14 to discuss fuel pricing and subsidies, a senior government official, who did not want to be named, told reporters on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 1:45 am Hexaware to recruit 400-500 engineersThe company is also looking at acquiring firms in US and UK mainly in sectors like banking financial services and insurance (BFSI), BPO and remote infrastructure sharing.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 1:23 am European shares rise ahead of EU summit; banks upLondon: European shares rose on Thursday for the fourth consecutive session, with banks the major gainers ahead of a key EU summit which could lay the groundwork for a rescue package of debt-stricken Greece. By 1:44pm, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.5% at 992.26 points. Banks featured among the top performers. Credit Suisse rose 1% as it continued to attract client flows while sector peers have struggled, despite quarterly profits missing forecasts. “All eyes on the EU meeting and what happens with the Greeks. It is all about a question of confidence today,” said Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at Seven Investment Management. “The markets want to see signs that Europe can stand up and have a clear path ... We are looking for clarity of thought to stop any further worries that this is not just in the peripheral economies but other European areas.” European Union leaders will lay the groundwork for a financial rescue of Greece at a summit, but any support is likely to require a big commitment from Athens on getting its economy in order. Miners were in demand, with Rio Tinto up 3% after its second-half profit was well ahead of analysts’ forecasts, thanks to $2.6 billion in cost cuts. Energy stocks also gained. French oil major Total was up 1.5% after it’s net results for the quarter was slightly over a forecast of 2.018 billion euros made by 16 analysts polled by StarMine, a unit of Thomson Reuters. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2010 | 1:14 am Wholesale gold demand slack for 2nd dayMumbai: India’s wholesale gold buying remained slack for a second day on Thursday as prices inched up to trade at around $1,080 an ounce in the overseas markets, dealers said. “There is no much activity today as prices are hovering near the $1,080-1,082 (an ounce), the same was the situation yesterday,” said a dealer with a state-run bank in Mumbai. International spot gold, which guides the domestic market, was $1,079.50/1,080.30 an ounce at 1:55pm, as against the previous close of 1,071.55/1,072.35 an ounce. Traders stocked the yellow metal for the whole of last week and until Tuesday, bracing for the upcoming wedding season begining April, when demand for the yellow metal peaks. “We sold about 300-400 kgs last week, and we executed decent number of deals till the day before,” said another dealer with a private bank. “We have sizeable orders below 1,060 levels,” added the dealer. India has imported 35-40 tonnes of gold during January 1-27, up from 9.8 tonnes in the whole of the same month last year, the head of a trade body and bank dealers said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2010 | 1:05 am Wipro first India Company to offer 100% recyclable computersWipro joins larger, global consumer electronics manufactures like Apple, HP and Nokia in the struggle to develop toxin-free electronics.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:59 am RBI asks banks to lower existing home loan rates - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:48 am Karnataka bags big deals from Hero Honda, TataGovernment okays plants in Hubli-Dharwad, Haveri.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:47 am Food, fuel prices rise; no RBI action until AprilNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's annual food inflation rose for the third straight week, threatening to drive up the headline inflation into double-digits and putting more pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to raise interest rates.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:40 am FIPB to approve FDI up to Rs1,200 crNew Delhi: The government on Thursday allowed Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to approve foreign direct investment (FDI) of up to Rs1,200 crore, against the existing limit of Rs600 crore. “The recommendation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board on proposals with total foreign equity inflow of and below Rs1,200 crore will be considered by the finance minister for approval,” home minister P Chidambaram told reporters after a meeting of Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) which approved the proposal. The move will further liberalize norms and expedite foreign investment inflow into the country. Earlier, foreign investment of up to Rs600 crore were approved by the finance minister and anything more than that were put up to the CCEA for approval. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:22 am Food inflation continues to rise in late JanuaryThe food price index rose 17.94% in the 12 months to Jan. 30, higher than an annual rise of 17.56% in the previous week, data released on Thursday showed.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:12 am Venezuela seals biggest oil deals under ChavezCARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela awarded on Wednesday the largest oil investment of President Hugo Chavez's 11-year rule, drawing tens of billions of dollars of much-needed foreign finance to the Orinoco Belt just three years after the leftist leader nationalized operations there.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:10 am Food, fuel prices rise; no RBI action until AprilNew Delhi: India’s annual food inflation rose for the third straight week, threatening to drive up the headline inflation into double-digits and putting more pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to raise interest rates. Soaring food prices also raise prospects of more street protests and political pressure on the Congress-led government. A RBI deputy governor on Thursday played down, however, expectations of any central bank action ahead of its April policy review. “Don’t expect any action between now and the next announcement unless there is a completely unanticipated, unwarranted event,” Subir Gokarn told reporters in New Delhi. Food prices rose 17.9% in the 12 months to 30 January, higher than an annual rise of 17.6% in the previous week, data released on Thursday showed. Fuel prices rose an annual 10.4% in the same week, following an upswing in world crude prices amid signs of a global recovery, further stretching household budgets. The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond yield rose 3 basis points after the data, reflecting speculation that the central bank may tighten its policy ahead of its scheduled meeting. The yield briefly revisited its 15-month high of 7.84% before edging down to 7.83%, up from Wednesday’s close of 7.78%. Analysts expect high food prices, due to a poor harvest after the worst monsoon in 37 years, to push up the wholesale price index into double digits by March from 7.3% in December, above the central bank’s revised forecast of 8.5%. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week said India’s farm output in 2009-10 would exceed initial estimates, raising prospects that food inflation would soon be controlled. The government also decided to form a panel to recommend long-term measures to raise agricultural production and reduce the gap between farm gate and retail prices. Protests While rising food inflation is seen pressurising the central bank to take sterner measures such as raising interest rates ahead of its April policy review to prevent it from spilling over, it may also distract the government from pushing economic reforms. On Wednesday, opposition-driven protests over rising food prices erupted near India’s parliament and in the east of the country, even as the government considers a proposal to liberalize fuel prices. A government panel has advised eliminating price controls for gasoline and diesel and an income-linked rise in kerosene and cooking gas prices. But analysts say any hike in petrol and diesel prices would further drive broader inflation. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:10 am Food price inflation rises to 17.94%India's annual food inflation based on wholesale prices rose to 17.94% for the week ended Jan 30 from 17.56% the week before, according to official data released Thursday.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:09 am Credit Suisse Q4 profit lowest in ’09, upbeat on 2010Zurich: Credit Suisse missed forecasts by posting its weakest quarterly profit in 2009 as market conditions toughened, but it continued to attract client flows while rival Swiss bank UBS struggled. Credit Suisse, which weathered the financial crisis without state aid, has rebounded under the leadership of former investment banker Brady Dougan from a 2008 record loss to post a healthy 6.7 billion Swiss francs ($6.3 billion) net profit in 2009. Dougan said in a statement 2010 had started well. “We have a had a strong start to the quarter with strong client activity. Our transaction pipeline and net new asset flows are the best we have seen since the crisis,” he said. “We are confident about our prospects for 2010,” he said. However, the bank’s bottom line of 0.8 billion francs in the final quarter, hit by a one-off charges, was the weakest of all quarters last year and was lower than UBS’ fourth-quarter profit. Even stripped of some non-recurring items, the bottom line was weak. “As with its peers, Credit Suisse saw a notable slowdown in investment banking activity,” said Christian Stark, an analyst with Cheuvreux. “Perhaps the disappointment on the investment banking side in the fourth quarter will be offset by a good start to the year.” Analysts polled by Reuters had expected Credit Suisse to post a 1.3 billion franc profit in the fourth quarter and 7.2 billion profit in the full year. UBS surprised the market on Tuesday when its first quarterly profit in more than a year came in at 1.2 billion francs well above expectations, though the fourth-quarter figure was overshadowed by accelerating outflows from its core wealth-management division. Charges Credit Suisse’ bottom line was hit by a 0.5 billion franc charge following a US settlement for hiding thousands of transactions on behalf of clients from countries subject to US sanctions like Iran. A recurring accounting loss on own credit to the tune of 300 million francs also took its toll on the Swiss bank’s results. Credit Suisse continued to attract new client money, albeit at a slower pace than what analysts had predicted. Its total net new inflows were 6.5 billion francs in the quarter, lower than in previous quarters this year as it was hit by an aggressive Italian tax amnesty in the final part of 2009. Credit Suisse has attracted more than 42 billion francs of new client money in 2009, in sharp contrast with a bleeding of nearly 150 billion francs UBS suffered in the same year. Reuters analysts had expected Credit Suisse to win an additional 8 billion francs from wealthy clients. Despite a weakening of Swiss bank secrecy in 2009 and ongoing pressure from foreign governments on Switzerland’s multi-trillion dollar offshore banking industry, Credit Suisse has been able to attract net new client money in each quarter throughout the crisis. Signs trading conditions in the market had been weakening towards the end of the year emerged as trading profits weakened at both JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:01 am Excise hike in Budget to set off stimulus exitWhat goes down must go up. So, excise duties are likely to be raised in the forthcoming Budget by between 2 and 4 percentageSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Why no rate cuts for old customers: RBIConcerned that existing borrowers of home loans are getting a raw deal vis-à-vis new borrowers, the Reserve Bank of India, on Wednesday, sent a missive to the Indian Banks' Association asking it to explain why the reduction in interest ratesSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Every generic drug is not spurious, says courtFor the domestic drug industry, constantly fighting global attempts to label generic drugs as spurious, clarity came from a seemingly unlikely quarter – the Delhi HighSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am IT industry sees return of large dealsIndian IT industry sees large deals making a comeback as the global recovery drives deal pipelines and speeds-up decisionSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Bank deposits, a major draw stillBanks appear to be facing a problem of plenty as far as deposits go. Despite the fact that inflation-adjusted returns are currently negative, investors are still seeking sanctuary in fixed deposits as their appetite for equities is stillSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am NIIT Technologies (Rs 170): BuyWe recommend a buy in NIIT Technologiesfrom a short-term horizon. It is apparent from the charts that the stock has been on a long-term uptrend from its all-time low of Rs 42.5 touched in March 2009. Since then, the stock has been forming higherSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideNote: In a buy recommendation, the resistances would be the targets and the nearest support would be the stop loss; In a sell recommendation, the supports would be the targets and the nearest resistance would be the stop loss; The recommendationSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am AP asks Deccan Chargers to quit IPL-3 if matches leave StateIn view of reports of shifting of matches from Hyderabad, the Andhra Pradesh Sports Minister has appealed to the Deccan Chargers not to take part in IPL-3 if the matches are held outside theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Budget may signal end to issue of oil bondsIssuance of oil bonds are expected to be phased out as the first step towards containing fiscalSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am India must engage with Iran despite US sanctionsThe announcement of the US President, Mr Barack Obama, to push for a “significant regime of sanctions" against Iran could put a question mark on investments by Indian companies in the Gulf state. The US is opposed to Iran developing nuclearSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Unitech strengthens as Telenor hikes stake in telecom JV - NDTV.com
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Feb 2010 | 11:52 pm Govt eases foreign investment rulesNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Foreign Investment promotion Board (FIPB) can approve investments of up to 12 billion rupees ($259 million), Home Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters on Thursday after a cabinet meeting.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Feb 2010 | 11:47 pm Indian firms looking for business in Latin America WSJMore and more Indian companies are looking to do business in Latin America as they seek exposure to growing markets and a more secure investment destination, according to the Wall Street Journal.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 10 Feb 2010 | 11:45 pm Google plans superfast internetGoogle plans to build a fibre optic broadband network that will connect customers to the internet at speeds 100 times faster than most existing broadband connections in the US, the company announced on its corporate blog.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 10 Feb 2010 | 11:42 pm Cheaper home loans to old customers not feasible: IBAMumbai: Amid a debate over teaser rates, bankers are believed to have turned down the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) suggestion to extend the cheaper home loans to existing customers saying that the move will impact their bottom lines. Banks, led by State Bank of India (SBI), under special schemes offer home loans at lower interest (teaser) rates to the new customers for the first few years of the credit period, which has kicked up a storm in the industry. A month ago in January, the central bank had voiced concerns over ‘teaser’ rates. Also Read RBI to free loan rates from 1 April Later, it said the cheaper rates should be extended to existing borrowers as well. “The IBA said if banks offer lower rates to old customers as well, this will affect their earnings as it is not feasible for them to change their deposit rates accordingly to compensate this loss of interest arising from such a move,” an official of the Indian Banks Association told the news agency on condition of anonymity. The RBI had sent two letters over the past two months to the IBA seeking an explanation on this issue of teaser rates, the official said. On 9 February, the country’s largest lender, SBI, said that the central bank has not objected to ‘teaser’ rates. SBI was the trend setter in teaser rates. It offers the special home-loan at rates as low as 8% for the first year. It was a roaring success and even rivals like HDFC, which initially termed the strategy as “gimmick” followed SBI steps. The RBI had voiced its dissatisfaction on discriminatory approach adopted by banks in not letting their existing customers benefit from the current low interest rates. “We have no concern on teaser rates...you (banks) tease both new and old customers...don’t leave out one segment,” RBI deputy governor KC Chakrabarty last week had said. Earlier, another deputy governor Usha Thorat had said, “teaser rates by banks is a cause of concern. Banks must ensure that borrowers can service higher rates when rates return to normal.” The country’s largest private sector lender, ICICI Bank, had also recently said the main issue about teaser rates is transparency. Customers should know exactly what these rates are, ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar had said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Feb 2010 | 11:19 pm BSE Sensex rises; financials lead gainsMUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex rose more than 1 percent on Thursday morning, supported by stronger Asian markets and powered by gains in financial stocks on expectations they will prosper in a growing economy.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Feb 2010 | 11:06 pm Banks say no to RBI advisory on cheaper home loans to existing customersBankers are believed to have turned down the RBI's suggestion to extend the cheaper home loans to existing customers saying that the move will impact their bottom lines.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Feb 2010 | 11:02 pm Rio Tinto H2 profit slides 23%, beats forecastsMelbourne: Global miner Rio Tinto reported a 23% slide in half-year profit on Thursday, its worst second-half profit in three years, dented by a sharp drop in iron ore prices, but the result beat analysts’ forecasts. Rio said it believed the commodity price recovery would continue in 2010, showing its confidence in the outlook by declaring its first dividend in a year, although this was lower than some analysts had expected. July-December underlying earnings before one-offs fell to $3.733 billion from $4.829 billion a year earlier, compared with analysts’ forecasts of $3.08 billion on Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Rio, the world’s no.3 miner behind BHP Billiton and Brazil’s Vale, is back on track for growth having halved its $40 billion debt through a rights issue and asset sales after scrapping a planned tie-up with China’s Chinalco. Rio shares have fallen more than 9% this year, and last week hit a 13-week low. BHP shares are down 7.5% in 2010. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm Markets rise as financials lead gainsMumbai: Indian shares rose more than 1% on Thursday morning, supported by stronger Asian markets and powered by gains in financial stocks on expectations they will prosper in a growing economy. Private-sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank climbed 2.8% and 1.8% respectively, and top lender State Bank of India firmed 1.2%. Mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp rose 1.5%. At 10:25am, the 30-share BSE Index was up 1.38% at 16,142.46, with 29 components rising. The 50-share NSE index was up 1.3% at 4,820. The market had dropped 0.8% on Wednesday. “It seems like yesterday’s fall was a bit overdone. We are rising today, on the back of rise in Asian equities,” said Kunal Sukhani, manager of institutional equities at Asian Markets Securities. “Technically, if we rise above 16,200, the market can even test 16,500-16,700 levels,” he added. Asian stocks were trading higher, powered by strong economic data from Australia and China. The MSCI’s measure of Asian markets other than Japan was up 1.6%, while Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday. Export-focused software companies rose, supported by a view that a recovering global economy would be good for business. Sector leader Tata Consultancy Services rose 1.7% to Rs744.50. A senior company official said on Wednesday it would hire 30,000 staff in 2010/11 on hopes of increase in demand. Infosys Technologies and Wipro rose 1.4% and 1.7% respectively. In the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers by nearly 3:1 on a volume of 106 million shares. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Feb 2010 | 10:44 pm Patni Q4 net profit rises over 2-fold, declares 150% dividendMumbai: Software exporter Patni Computer on Thursday reported over 2-fold growth in consolidated net profit at Rs188 crore for the fourth quarter ended 31 December 2009. The software exporter had a net profit of Rs78 crore in the fourth quarter of FY08 as per the US accounting rules, Patni said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company’s revenue at the end of the December quarter stood at Rs789.61 crore, down from Rs857 crore in the corresponding period a year-ago. “As the economies globally stabilize, we are prepared well and poised for growth. We remain cautiously optimistic of our growth prospects and managing our business with due focus on operating and strategic priorities,” Patni Computer CEO, Jeya Kumar said. The board has declared a dividend of 150% at the rate of Rs3 a piece, on every share of Rs 2 held for FY09. For the fiscal year ended 31 December 2009, Patni posted a net profit of Rs555.79 crore, 14% growth over the year-ago period. The net revenues at the end of the financial year stood at Rs3,043.46 crore, down from Rs 3,492.34 crore in the previous fiscal. Shares of Patni were trading at Rs476.75, up 0.89% over previous close on the BSE. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Feb 2010 | 10:42 pm Rupee at 1-week high on rising shares, dollar fallMumbai: The Indian rupee strengthened to a one-week high on Thursday, lifted by gains in the sharemarket and as hopes of support for Greece and strong Australian data improved risk appetite among investors. At 10:35am, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs46.43/44 per dollar, 0.1% stronger than its close of Rs46.49/50 on Wednesday. In early trade the rupee rose to Rs46.40, its highest since 4 February. Financial markets will be shut on Friday for a holiday. The euro rose on Thursday ahead of a key European Union summit that may shed light on a possible rescue package for Greece, while the Australian dollar surged as strong jobs data revived talk of a rate rise as early as March. “Dollar pared most of its gains overnight which is helping the rupee. Rupee is likely to trade in a 46.35-55 range with a strong upward bias tracking positive equities and dollar weakness,” said V. Kumar, chief foreign exchange trader with State Bank of Travancore. Most Asian units were firm compared to the dollar. Indian shares were up 1.3% led by gains in ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries and tracking higher Asian equities. Foreign fund flows into and out of the local sharemarket are a key driver for the rupee. Foreigners have so far in 2010 sold a net $570 million worth of local shares, but buying of $2.5 billion worth debt has supported the local unit. Dealers said there was some oil-related buying seen in the market which was keeping the rupee from rising further. Oil is India’s biggest import and refiners are the largest buyers of the US unit in the local currency market. “There is some dollar buying seen but no good reason for the rupee to break Rs46.40, unless we see the euro clear 1.38/dollar or unless we see the stocks gains over 300 points,” a senior dealer with a private bank said. The euro was trading at 1.3791/93 against the dollar. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoting at Rs46.42/52, little weaker compared to the onshore spot rate. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were both quoting at Rs46.4850, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $700 million. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Feb 2010 | 10:07 pm Sensex gains 174 points in opening trade on Asian cuesThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Thursday rose over 174 points in opening trade on fresh capital inflows by foreign funds driven by firm trend in other Asian bourses amid expectations of positive IIP data.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 10 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm Reliance Capital Partners buys 1.88% in Fame IndiaMumbai: Fame India Ltd said on Thursday that Reliance Capital Partners has bought 0.65 million shares, or 1.88%. stake on on 9 February. The cinema chain operator had said on Wednesday that Reliance Capital had purchased 0.48 million shares, or 1.37%, stake on 5 February. Reliance Capital held 8.13% in Fame as on 9 February, Fame said in Thursday’s filing to the NSE. According to data available on the BSE and NSE, Reliance Capital partners did not hold any stake in Fame as on 31 December. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Feb 2010 | 10:00 pm Kingfisher likely to raise Rs400 cr by issue sale: reportMumbai: Kingfisher Airlines Ltd is likely to come out with a rights issue offering shareholders one equity share for every one they hold to raise nearly Rs400 crore rupees, the Economic Times reported on Thursday. The funds would be used to retire the mounting debt, the newspaper reported citing sources close to the development. The troubled carrier has appointed SBI Capital as the arranger of the issue, the newspaper reported. A Kingfisher spokesman contacted by Reuters refused to comment. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Feb 2010 | 9:32 pm Sensex gains 174 points in opening trade on Asian cuesThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today rose over 174 points in opening trade on fresh capital inflows by foreign funds driven by firm trend in other Asian bourses amid expectations of positive IIP data.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Feb 2010 | 9:32 pm Rupee up 4 paise against dollar in early tradeExtending its gains for the third straight day, the rupee today appreciated by another four paise to 46.44 a dollar in early trade, largely in line with other firming Asian currencies amid rise in the domestic equities market.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Feb 2010 | 9:30 pm Fuel price hike likely tomorrow !The Cabinet is likely to discuss on Thursday a Petroleum Ministry proposal for increase in fuel prices.Source: Zee News : Business | 10 Feb 2010 | 5:15 pm RBI wants banks to cut interest rates !RBI has asked banks to pass on the lower interest rate benefits to consumers by slashing lending rates.Source: Zee News : Business | 10 Feb 2010 | 5:15 pm RBI to free loan rates from 1 AprilMumbai: In a move that will change the way banking is done in India, the country’s central bank on Wednesday proposed to deregulate all lending rates from the next fiscal year, beginning 1 April.  Banking reform: RBI governer D. Subbarao. Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint Draft guidelines posted on the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) website late on Wednesday said “all categories of loans should henceforth be priced only with reference to the base rate,” abolishing the system of administered rates. RBI will accept public comments on this proposal till 17 February before issuing final guidelines. Mint had broken the story on Monday. Currently, all small loans up to Rs2 lakh given to agriculture and small industries and export loans are administered—capped at banks’ BPLR. Although BPLR is meant for banks’ best customers, 70% of bank loans are given below the prime rate. Banks keep their BPLR at an artificially high rate because both small loans to farmers and small industries as well as export loans are linked to BPLR and when the prime rate goes down, the rates on these loans automatically decline, denting their earnings. Loans to exporters are given at 2.5% below a bank’s BPLR. For the past few years, banks have been giving small agricultural loans at 7% with the government offering a 3% subsidy on such borrowings through a budgetary provision. Also Read “Since the base rate will be the minimum rate for all commercial loans...the current stipulation of BPLR as the ceiling rate for loans up to Rs2 lakh stands withdrawn,” the RBI statement said. “It is expected that deregulation of lending rates will increase the credit flow to small borrowers at reasonable rate.” M.V. Nair, chairman of Union Bank, said the move marked a significant step in banking sector reforms. “It will bring in transparency and intensify competition,” said Nair, who also heads the industry lobby, the Indian Banks’ Association. Not too many other bankers were willing to comment on the RBI proposal. In private, some of them said they will find it difficult to price short-term loans. “Currently, short-term loan rates can be as low as 6-7% but once we are not allowed to lend below the base rate we will find it difficult to give cheap short-term loans as the base rate cannot be that low,” one senior banker said on condition of anonymity. Bankers will discuss this with RBI to find a different benchmark for short-term loans. BPLRs of public sector banks now vary between 11% and 13% and most private banks charge even more. Analysts said banks’ net interest margin (NIM), or the difference between cost of funds and earnings on deployment of funds, will not be affected much as earnings on those loans which have so far been administered will go up. RBI wants the banks to decide on the base rate depending on cost of funds, the cost of reserve requirements (banks do not earn any interest on the cash reserve kept with RBI and the earning on their mandatory investment in government bonds is also less than what they earn on loans) and a profit margin. “The actual lending rates charged to borrowers would be the base rate plus borrower-specific charges,” the RBI statement said. The decision to deregulate loan rates follows the recommendations of an internal panel headed by executive director Deepak Mohanty. The panel was formed in June 2009 to review the BPLR system and suggest an appropriate loan pricing system. The Mohanty panel report was put up on RBI website in October, inviting comments from public, until 17 November. For the RBI statement, go to http://bit.ly/baserate Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Feb 2010 | 5:12 pm Honda expands airbag recall as more Toyotas probedTOKYO/DETROIT (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co said it would recall another 440,000 cars around the world for faulty airbags as rival Toyota Motor Corp faced further probes over its largest-ever safety crisis.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Feb 2010 | 4:01 pm Auto, cooking fuel prices may riseMinistry okays Rs 3 rise for petrol, Rs 2 for diesel.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:19 pm Social networking gets a new BuzzGoogle Inc is tapping its huge network of Gmail users and Web surfers to create a Buzz that it hopes will help it catch up with online networking leaders Facebook and Twitter.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:18 pm Airlines start recruiting againAirlines that had downsized capacities last year are thinking of adding capacity. This has opened up the job market, as some airlines have begun hiring pilots, co-pilots, cabin crew and engineers.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:15 pm Don't fall prey to SMSes, emails, Sebi tells investorsTOI had carried a story warning investors that mass SMSes and emails were being sent and even telemarketing calls were being made to people, inducing them to trade in particular counters.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:13 pm TCS to hire 30k in '10-11This year, till the third quarter, the company had made a gross addition of 21,000 employees, but the net addition was much lower.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:13 pm Economy may grow more than CSO's 7.2%: FMFinance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said he is hopeful that the economy will perform better than the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) forecast of 7.2% for 2009-10.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:02 pm Audit deadline for telcos extendedDoT has extended till March-end the deadline for special auditors of four telcos Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices and Bharti Airtel to submit their final reports. The earlier deadline was February 7.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Feb 2010 | 1:00 pm RBI changes prime lending rate system to base rateAs any change in the interest rate scenario will affect the base rate as it is linked to the cost of funds, existing customers of banks will benefit from lowering of interest rates, which do not happen in the PLR system. RBI governor D Subbarao wants to correct this anomaly.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:59 pm Crompton's Sudhir Trehan is BS CEO of the YearA six-member jury selects L&T as Company of the Year.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:25 pm New loan pricing regime from AprilRBI issues draft norms for shift to base rate.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:22 pm RBI wants transparency in fixing loan ratesIn a far-reaching reform measure, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked banks to be more transparent in the way they charge interests rates from borrowers and proposed to introduce a new concept called “base rate” to serve as the minimum rate for all loans, reports Rahul Singh.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:15 pm Stimulus rollback: 2 percentage point excise hike in budgetTo shore up revenues: April-Nov 09 tax receipts fell 21%.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:15 pm HCC: delays hit profits With these new contracts, the firm’s order book stands at around Rs16,000 crore, which is about four times analysts’ projected revenues for the fiscal. Until the first half of this fiscal, HCC’s order inflows were a matter of concern, as they dropped by around 60% compared with a year ago, while its peers such as Nagarjuna Construction Ltd and IVRCL Infrastructure and Projects Ltd showed a growth. While the return of big orders is a positive development, much depends on timely execution. HCC’s losses from the Bandra-Worli Sealink project have dragged down profits. Analysts point out that HCC’s growth has lagged its peers in the last three years on revenues and profits. For the December quarter, its revenue inched up by around 9% over the year-ago period to Rs900 crore. Sequentially, revenues were up around 13%. Interest cost at 6% of revenues was slightly lower on a yearly basis. But again, delays in project execution led to lower operating profit, which dipped by around 4% to Rs100 crore. Net profit, too, was down by about 37% at Rs15 crore. This has taken a toll on the HCC stock, which has underperfomed the Nifty in the last one month. The current share price of Rs135 leaves little room for appreciation, given that the forecast earnings per share of Rs4.50 for 2009-10 is discounted around 33 times and 2010-11 expected earnings of Rs6 per share are discounted about 23 times. Write to us at marktomarket@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:10 pm KN Raj shaped India’s economic planning processKN Raj: 1924-2010 Thiruvananthapuram/New delhi: Economist K.N. Raj, who made a significant contribution to the preparation of India’s First Plan (1951-56) and set the nation on the path of a planned economy, died in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, his family members said. He was 86 years old.  Key rolein Kerala: K.N. Raj An alumnus of the London School of Economics, Raj served as economic adviser to prime ministers from Jawaharlal Nehru to P.V. Narasimha Rao. He contributed to the preparation of the First Plan when he was just 26 years old as an expert member in the Planning Commission. “Raj was an outstanding economist,” said C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister’s economic advisory council and former governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). “His contribution in the area of developmental economics will always be remembered. He started with monetary economics and later on got interested in every aspect of economics. The country has lost one of its foremost economists in recent times.” A distinguished academician, Raj also headed the economics department of Delhi University and later served as its vice-chancellor from October 1969 to December 1970. Raj was one of those instrumental in setting up the prestigious Delhi School of Economics and taught there around the same time as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen. In a condolence message, Singh described Raj as a “very close friend and a great economist” and voiced “great sorrow and a profound sense of personal loss” at his passing. “He contributed to the reputation that the Delhi School of Economics enjoys today,” said Suresh Tendulkar, a former chairman of the Prime Minister’s economic advisory council and the National Statistical Commission. “In the 1960s, he was instrumental in bringing in economists like Sukhamoy Chakravarty, Amartya Sen and Jagdish Bhagwati to the Delhi School of Economics. His demise is a personal loss to people like me who personally knew him.” In the 1970s, Raj returned to his home state Kerala and founded the Centre for Development Studies, an institution for applied economics and social science research whose early work gave shape to what later came to be known as the Kerala model of development, marked by high social sector spending that led to human development indices envied by other states. The author of several works, Raj delivered lectures in leading universities in India and abroad. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2000. Raj was looked up to as “an institution builder” by younger generations of economists, said Mint columnist Himanshu, a professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, who didn’t know Raj personally. Former RBI governor Bimal Jalan, who worked with Raj, described his death as a “great loss for the country and all the institutions he built”. “The most striking thing about him, apart from the institutions building, was his tremendous sense of humour,” Jalan said. “It’s hard to believe how modest, kind and friendly he was. He must have nurtured so many of today’s economists.” feedback@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:10 pm Deposit growth slowsThere has been a steady decline in the year-on-year growth in bank deposits since May last year. This may have an impact once credit picks up and the hikes in the cash reserve ratio start to bite. Also See Deposit growth slows (Graphic) Graphic by Yogesh Kumar / Mint Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:05 pm RBI seeks to track money market activityMumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) wants to track the activities in the commercial papers (CPs) and certificates of deposit (CDs) markets for transparency and better price discovery. CPs and CDs are short-term instruments with maturity varying from three months to one year. Normally, they are floated to raise money to meet asset-liability mismatches or working capital needs.  Graphic: Yogesh Kumar/Mint “All money market and debt securities, including floating rate securities, with residual maturity of over 91 days shall be valued at weighted average price at which they are traded on the particular valuation day,” a 2 February note of the markets regulator said. This has put fund managers in a fix as there is hardly any information on the secondary market transactions of these papers. The mutual funds industry is the biggest buyer of these papers for their liquid funds schemes. Money market mutual funds are popular debt schemes where banks and company treasuries park their surplus money. They account for 10% of the Rs7 trillion assets managed by the Indian mutual funds industry. Now all such funds would need to value their investments at their trading price. Only when such securities are not traded on a particular day, they will be valued in accordance with the norms laid down by industry lobby group Association of Mutual Funds of India, Sebi said. The regulation will come into effect from 1 July. RBI has asked the Fixed Income Money Markets and Derivatives Association (Fimmda) to build a trading and reporting platform for these money market instruments that banks and corporations float, according to sources familiar with the matter. Fimmda represents market participants and aids the development of the bond, money and derivatives markets. If the platform becomes ready by 1 July, that will take away all ambiguities regarding the valuation norms, according to a liquid fund manager with a foreign bank who did not want to be named because the news on the proposed trading platform is not in the public domain as yet. The outstanding volume of the CDs in mid-December was Rs2.48 trillion and that of the CPs was Rs90,305 crore, as per RBI data. The rate of interest at which these CDs were issued ranged from 3.60% to 6.75%, depending on the rating and credit profile of the issuer. For CPs, the interest rates ranged between 3.72% and 10.00%. Both CPs and CDs are traded but the secondary market trade data is not reported at all. According to a bond dealer, RBI could ask the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange to make it mandatory for traders to report the daily trade volume, in the absence of any dedicated platform for trading such instruments. When these instruments are issued to raise money, brokers, registered with exchanges, report to the exchanges. They also report those secondary market transactions in which they are involved, but the bipartite deals or private placements where brokers are not involved are not reported. According to bond dealers, the secondary market trade is largely conducted over the phone and the issuer has to get quotes from several buyers before finalizing the coupon. The daily transaction volume in this segment is about Rs200-250 crore and is gaining traction, they said. The exact nature of secondary market trades, volumes and yields are largely unknown except to buyers and sellers of such instruments. Traders do not want to share information about these over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives products, rendering an opaqueness in the pricing of such instruments. “It will lend a lot of transparency in the rates dealt in the markets. There is no uniform rate in these instruments and if you are not careful, you end up paying more,” said Harihar Krishnamoorthy, head of treasury at FirstRand Bank India. According to Arvind Sampath, director, rates trading at Standard Chartered Bank, the RBI move could be in sync with the global practice of bringing OTC products traded in the exchanges and greater dissemination of information on these products. This may not have been prompted by a desire to regulate the market, which is small compared with other OTC products such as interest rate swaps and currency forwards, which have an outstanding trading volume of Rs35 trillion and Rs23.3 trillion, respectively, constituting 85% of the derivatives markets. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:03 pm Sibal says he wants to stay at OIL, not seeking early retirementNew Delhi: Former director general of hydrocarbons V.K. Sibal, who was caught in the crossfire between the feuding Ambani brothers, wants to continue at state-run Oil India Ltd (OIL), the organization he rejoined after his term ended on 31 October. “I had applied for early retirement. It can be only given after vigilance clearances. That time I had applied for retirement but it didn’t happen. My application has been perpetually withdrawn,” Sibal said.  VK Sibal, officer on special duty, Oil India Ltd The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to look into allegations of a nexus between Sibal and Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). CVC oversees the functioning of government agencies and state-owned firms. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) is a government body that manages petroleum resources of the country and falls under the purview of the ministry of petroleum and natural gas. Mint had reported on 28 October about Sibal’s application for voluntary retirement from OIL. “Sibal has rejoined work and has two more years to go,” said a top petroleum ministry official who did not want to be identified. “He wants to continue with OIL.” After leaving DGH, Sibal went on three months’ leave which ended 31 January, after which he assumed office on 1 February as an officer on special duty (OSD) at OIL. S.K. Srivastava, director of operations at OIL, took additional charge as director general after Sibal’s term was not renewed last year by the petroleum ministry. OIL has however not received a request for the withdrawal of Sibal’s application for early retirement, said a senior OIL executive who did not want to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the issue. “Our position is consistent which states that early retirement can be given subject to vigilance clearance,” he added. “However, he has asked for an upgradation of position to an executive director.” The allegations regarding Sibal had emerged amid the bitter dispute between Mukesh and Anil Ambani over gas that’s being fought out in the Supreme Court. Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources Ltd said the director general improperly approved a fourfold increase in capital expenditure by RIL on the D6 exploration block of the Krishna-Godavari basin to $8.8 billion (around Rs41,008 crore). RIL made made one of the country’s biggest gas discoveries at D6. Exploration companies get to recover their cost from the hydrocarbons they find and any increase in capital expenditure means more of so-called cost oil or gas. Both Sibal and RIL have denied allegations regarding financial favours bestowed on members of Sibal’s family. The ministry of petroleum and natural gas advertised for the post of director general of hydrocarbons on 23 December, with the last date for applications being 13 January. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Feb 2010 | 12:00 pm Elder pharma eyes buyouts in Africa AsiaThe Rs 600-crore Elder Pharmaceuticals, having emerged as one of the fastest growing pharma companies in India, has outlined growth plans for international markets.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 10 Feb 2010 | 11:54 am Uttam Galva to sell 4 9 more to MittalThe world’s largest steel-maker ArcelorMittal will hike its stake in UttamGalva to 33.7 per cent following a 4.9 per cent promoter stake transfer by the end of this month.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 10 Feb 2010 | 11:52 am Arcelor Q4 profit at 1 1 bnArcelorMittal SA, the world’s largest steel maker, on Wednesday posted a fourth quarter profit of $1.07 billion and said it sees steel demand strengthening after a sluggish year.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 10 Feb 2010 | 11:50 am Demand supply gap in steel widensSteel Minister Virbhadra Singh on Wednesday said the demand-supply gap in the sector was widening and the production of steel in the country, currently at 56 million tonnes needs to pick up.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 10 Feb 2010 | 11:47 am Deora talks to allies; Cabinet to discuss issue today - The Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Feb 2010 | 11:42 am
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