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EdServ buys ERP solutions provider SchoolMATEChennaibased education and placement company, EdServ has announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to acquire Hyderabadbased SchoolMATE, a CRM and ERP software solution provider for schools.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 23 Feb 2010 | 7:29 am Migrating to the new Dell Management ConsoleThe Dell Management Console powered by Altiris from Symantec centralizes multiple aspects of systems management into a single easytouse tool.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 23 Feb 2010 | 7:25 am Total economic impact of Dell\'s PC products and servicesIn the fall of 2008, Forrester Research commenced work on a research project commissioned by Dell, Inc., that focused on examining the potential net savings and benefits enterprises may realize by adopting Dells PC products and services.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 23 Feb 2010 | 7:21 am Poor mkt response won\'t alter govt\'s disinvestment planThe government will not defer plans to sell stakes in staterun firms, required to bridge its yawning fiscal deficit, despite a poor response to two of its recent sales, a finance ministry official told Reuters on Tuesday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 23 Feb 2010 | 7:05 am Dell PowerEdge R710 VS Dell PowerEdge 2850: ReportDell Inc. (Dell) commissioned Principal Technolgies (PT) to estimate how many months it would take to recapture initial investment costs when consolidating multiple 4year old Dell PowerEdge 2850 server and storage solutions onto a Dell PowerEdge R710 server and storage solution using Microsoft Windows Server 2008 with HyperV technology.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 23 Feb 2010 | 6:39 am Table Talk: A bar? A bistro? Jakarta eatery intriguesClark Kent turned into Superman in a phone booth, and television detective Maxwell Smart entered his secret lair through one. And if you discover what lies behind the telephone box in Jakarta bar Tabac, you\'re also in for a surprise.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 23 Feb 2010 | 6:19 am TCO of Dell, HP, and IBM blade solutionsTCO includes hardware, support, management software, IO virtualization, power, cooling, network ports, and data center space. We examined the TCO of these blade solutions at acquisition and at 1, 3, and 5 years.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 23 Feb 2010 | 5:57 am Expect major reform moves outside of Budget: Sanjaya BaruSanjaya Baru, Editor, Business Standard believes Budget should set the tone for the next four years.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 23 Feb 2010 | 5:44 am GDP: And the right number is...Its a mystery how, presumably, the same set of data would allow for such variety for forecasts.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 23 Feb 2010 | 5:27 am Build trust in your team: Anand DeshpandeIf you trust your engineers, they will do the right thingSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 23 Feb 2010 | 5:27 am Passenger fare hike unlikely in Rail Budget!Passenger fares are unlikely to be revised in the Railway Budget to be presented Wednesday.Source: Zee News : Business | 23 Feb 2010 | 5:14 am General Motors names Stephen Girsky vice chairman, John Smith to retireUntil he retires at the end of the year, Smith will serve as special adviser to GM vice chairman and chief financial officer Chris Liddell.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:56 am See EBITDA of $18m, topline of $36m for Northgate: Religare - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:50 am Maruti recalls 1 lakh 'A-Star' cars over fuel pump - NDTV.com
Source: Business - Google News | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:48 am Sensex quiet; auto stocks lose steam prior to Budget - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:45 am Current order book around Rs 450cr: GEI Industrial - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:45 am UIDAI gets corporates on board to suggest publicity strategy - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:37 am Maruti recalls one lakh ‘A-Star’ to replace fuel pump part New Delhi: The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India is recalling about one lakh units of its flagship export model ‘A-Star´ to replace a faulty fuel pump part. According to sources, the company is replacing a faulty rubber gasket in about one lakh cars—manufactured before August 2009 and sold in domestic as well as overseas markets, to prevent any possible fuel leakage. The problem was discovered in an internal survey by the company and no complaint has been received so far, they added. When contacted, a company spokesperson said: “At Maruti Suzuki, we constantly monitor quality of our products through feedback and internal analysis. In one such exercise in November, 2009, we came across an anomaly reported in the fuel tank in some of the vehicles and by December, 2009, we started contacting the customers through letters.” The company started replacing the gasket from December, 2009, and has so far changed the part in about 50,000 units. Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) had launched its fifth global model—A-Star—on 19 November, 2008. The 998cc K10B petrol engined car is manufactured only in India at its Manesar facility. “The recalled vehicles belong to a lot made till 22 August last year,” the spokesperson said. “No problem has been reported by customers. However, as a proactive step, we decided to check all vehicles from the lot, around one lakh units including those exported overseas. We are changing fuel pump gasket and ‘O´ ring at no cost to customer,” he added. The final cost for this replacement would be shared with the supplier partner after completion of the entire exercise. A-Star is currently exported to about 70 countries and is sold as Suzuki Alto in Europe, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Besides, some of the other major markets are Chile, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria and UAE, where it is sold as Suzuki Celerio. Japanese car major Nissan also sells A-Star in the European market under a contract manufacturing agreement with MSI’s parent Suzuki. Nissan sells the model as Pixo. In December last year, A-Star had crossed one lakh mark of overseas shipments in less than a year of selling the car in the global markets. It started the export of the car since January, 2009. The company is expecting to double its export this fiscal on the back of robust demand from A-Star, as against 70,023 units in 2008-09. Last month, Japanese auto major Honda recalled 8,532 units of its sedan City in India due to defective power window switch as part of a global recall initiative. The company’s Indian subsidiary, Honda Siel Cars India, would call back the lot of the 2nd Generation City, manufactured in 2007, for a preventive part replacement. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:36 am Rupee higher on dollar weakness overseasMumbai: The Indian rupee rose on Tuesday afternoon as a weaker dollar triggered buying in the local currency from exporters. The partially convertible rupee was at Rs46.13/14 per dollar, off an early high of Rs46.0650 and stronger than Rs46.21/22 at close on Monday. The dollar was broadly lower on the day, dipping 0.3% against a basket of currencies. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoting at Rs46.13/17, little changed from the onshore spot rate. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were quoting at Rs46.1025 and Rs46.1075 respectively. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:32 am REC FPO fully subscribed - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:28 am Rupee higher on dollar weakness overseasMUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee rose on Tuesday afternoon as a weaker dollar triggered buying in the local currency from exporters.Source: Reuters: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:28 am Aqua Logistics shares rise after market debut - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:25 am GM India to expand R&D activities Bangalore: General Motors India on Tuesday said that it will expand its research and development activities in India for which it will be hiring 150 more engineers by the end of this year. The company, which is currently working in tandem with its US parent General Motors (GM) for support in next generation engines, transmissions and hybrid, also said it will get into fuel cells research in India. “Besides expanding the work that we do, which includes engines transmissions and hybrids, we are looking to get into fuel cell research in India,” GM Technical Centre India, director powertrain engineering Rohit Paranjpe said. He was speaking at the launch of the automatic transmission version of the company’s luxury sedan Cruze priced at Rs13.45 lakh (ex showroom, Delhi). “We will be hiring up to 150 people for R&D. At present GM Technical Centre here employs 700 people working on various fronts including petrol and diesel engines, manual and automatic transmission, besides hybrid and electric cars and the centre here also made significant contribution in rolling out the automatic version of Cruze,” Paranjpe said. Earlier this month, GM India had said it will be hiring 800 people during next 7-8 months for meeting additional requirements including its plan to double car output at the company’s Talegaon. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:20 am Uproar over price rise shuts parliamentNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Noisy opposition protests over rising food prices shut down the parliament on Tuesday, signalling mounting political pressure on the government to rein in inflation and distracting it from financial reforms.Source: Reuters: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:17 am Wal-Mart buys Vudu online movie on-demand serviceWal-Mart hopes to combine Vudu's technology with its own scale and expertise to get into a burgeoning market staked out by Netflix and other digital movie distributors.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:17 am KKR, TPG nearing Morgan Stanley CICC deal - sourcesNEW YORK (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley is in late stage talks to sell its stake in China International Capital Corp to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and TPG Capital for more than $1 billion, according to three sources familiar with the situation.Source: Reuters: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:11 am Kingfisher Airlines to join global airline group Oneworld AllianceNew Delhi: Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, the country’s second largest airline by passengers carried, will join Oneworld Alliance, a global grouping of airlines, becoming only the second airline in the country to become part of a global airline alliance after Air India which is already part of Star Alliance, according to the airline’s request submitted to the civil aviation ministry and reviewed by Mint. The airline in the letter said alliances have become an important part for airlines globally and it would like to seek clearance to join this alliance. The move has to be given a nod by the civil aviation ministry, a ministry official said. Kingfisher Airlines received approval to run flights on seven new international routes this month. The carrier, which runs 14 daily flights on seven international routes, said it will announce the launch dates of flights for the new routes later. Four of the new routes connect New Delhi to London, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Dubai, while the others link Mumbai with Colombo, Bangkok and Dubai. Losses in the wake of the global financial meltdown put brakes on Kingfisher’s international plans last year. For April-December 2009, the airline reported a loss of Rs1,075.32 crore. Flights from New Delhi to London and Hong Kong will be operated using the Airbus A330. The other five routes will be operated using Airbus A320. Oneworld airline members include - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Qantas and Royal Jordanian, and around 20 affiliates including American Eagle, Dragonair, LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador and LAN Peru. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:11 am Handset market rebounding in 2010: Gartner Helsinki: The cellphone market will rebound more strongly strongly than expected this year as improving economies boost spending on new gadgets and handset vendors push cheap smartphones, research firm Gartner said on Tuesday. The market fell 1% in 2009, the first decline in eight years as consumers cut spending amid recession. But Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi said that she now expects the market to grow 11-13% this year, compared with the firm’s December forecast for a 9% increase. “The economy seems to be stabilising more into a recovery trend than we forecast back in December,” Milanesi said. “Sales will return to low-double-digit growth, but competition will continue to put a strain on vendors’ margins,” she said. Gartner is more optimistic than the top cellphone maker Nokia, which has forecast growth around 10%, and also slightly ahead of analysts consensus of 11% in a Reuters poll this month. Gartner sees smartphone market volume growing a whopping 46% from 172.4 million sold last year, boosted by cheaper models. The most affordable now cost just over $100 excluding operator subsidies. Gartner said that it expects average sale prices in 2010 to fall more slowly than last year—when intense competition hurt pricing in markets such as China and India—helped by an improving economy and consumers upgrading to cheap smartphones. Nokia H1 tough Industry leader Nokia saw its market share slip last year to 36.4% from 38.6% a year before, and the research firm said more challenges lay ahead. “Nokia will face a tough first half of 2010 as improvements to Symbian and new products based on the Meego platform will not reach the market before the second half of 2010,” Milanesi said. “Its very strong mid-tier portfolio will help it hold market share, but its ongoing weakness at the high end of the portfolio will hurt its share of market value,” she said. Korean vendors Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics gained handset market share last year, up to 19.5% and 10.1% respectively. Android gaining BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion and Apple controlled 19.9% and 14.4% of the smartphone market in 2010, but both lost some share in the fourth quarter to phones with Google’s Android software. All vendors in total sold 6.8 million Android phones last year, giving it a 3.9% share of the smartphone market, compared with just 0.5% a year before. Gartner said that Android’s success should continue into 2010 as more manufacturers launch Android phones, but noted some manufacturers have expressed growing concern about Google’s intentions in the mobile market. If such concerns cause manufacturers to change their product strategies or operators to change which devices they stock, this might hinder Android’s growth in 2010, Gartner said. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:11 am Handset market rebounding in 2010: Gartner Helsinki: The cellphone market will rebound more strongly strongly than expected this year as improving economies boost spending on new gadgets and handset vendors push cheap smartphones, research firm Gartner said on Tuesday. The market fell 1% in 2009, the first decline in eight years as consumers cut spending amid recession. But Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi said that she now expects the market to grow 11-13% this year, compared with the firm’s December forecast for a 9% increase. “The economy seems to be stabilising more into a recovery trend than we forecast back in December,” Milanesi said. “Sales will return to low-double-digit growth, but competition will continue to put a strain on vendors’ margins,” she said. Gartner is more optimistic than the top cellphone maker Nokia, which has forecast growth around 10%, and also slightly ahead of analysts consensus of 11% in a Reuters poll this month. Gartner sees smartphone market volume growing a whopping 46% from 172.4 million sold last year, boosted by cheaper models. The most affordable now cost just over $100 excluding operator subsidies. Gartner said that it expects average sale prices in 2010 to fall more slowly than last year—when intense competition hurt pricing in markets such as China and India—helped by an improving economy and consumers upgrading to cheap smartphones. Nokia H1 tough Industry leader Nokia saw its market share slip last year to 36.4% from 38.6% a year before, and the research firm said more challenges lay ahead. “Nokia will face a tough first half of 2010 as improvements to Symbian and new products based on the Meego platform will not reach the market before the second half of 2010,” Milanesi said. “Its very strong mid-tier portfolio will help it hold market share, but its ongoing weakness at the high end of the portfolio will hurt its share of market value,” she said. Korean vendors Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics gained handset market share last year, up to 19.5% and 10.1% respectively. Android gaining BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion and Apple controlled 19.9% and 14.4% of the smartphone market in 2010, but both lost some share in the fourth quarter to phones with Google’s Android software. All vendors in total sold 6.8 million Android phones last year, giving it a 3.9% share of the smartphone market, compared with just 0.5% a year before. Gartner said that Android’s success should continue into 2010 as more manufacturers launch Android phones, but noted some manufacturers have expressed growing concern about Google’s intentions in the mobile market. If such concerns cause manufacturers to change their product strategies or operators to change which devices they stock, this might hinder Android’s growth in 2010, Gartner said. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:11 am Lufthansa expects normal ops by Friday after strikePilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) had called for a four-day strike last week as a dispute over job security escalated. The pilots feared that Lufthansa could try to cut staff costs by shifting jobs.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:10 am 8 per cent growth rate feasible next fiscal Pronab SenThe country's chief statistician was on Tuesday confident of the economy expanding by eight per cent in the coming fiscal riding on robust domestic demand, but said achieving nine per cent depends on global recovery.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 23 Feb 2010 | 2:00 am Greek unionists block Athens stock exchange entranceTrading is due to start at 0830 GMT. The protests was being conducted by Greek communist workers' group PAME.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 1:57 am Intel plans $2 billion fund to invest in US companies: ReportThe chipmaker, which has a unit that invests in many technology companies, is in talks with venture capital firms to seek investment ideas, the daily said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 1:55 am Lufthansa expects normal ops by Friday after strikeFRANKFURT (Reuters) - Lufthansa said it expects to return to its normal flight schedule on Friday, after pilots agreed to suspend a strike that had led to hundreds of cancelled flights and travel chaos on Monday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 1:47 am Rural Elec expects 2-2.5 times subscription for FPO - CMDMUMBAI (Reuters) - State-run lender Rural Electrification Corp expects to get 2-2.5 times subbscription for its follow-on public offer, Chairman and Managing Director P. Uma Shankar told television channel CNBC TV18.Source: Reuters: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 1:47 am Poor market response won't alter govt's stake sales planNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government will not defer plans to sell stakes in state-run firms, required to bridge its yawning fiscal deficit, despite a poor response to two of its recent sales, a finance ministry official told Reuters on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 1:31 am Amazon, Microsoft ink patent dealSan Francisco: Microsoft on Monday said that it has signed a deal with Amazon.com that lets each company tap into the other’s patented technology, including that for hot-selling Kindle electronic readers. Microsoft said that Amazon will be paying the software giant as part of the agreement, but declined to specify the amount. “We are pleased to have entered into this patent license agreement with Amazon.com,” said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice-president and deputy general counsel for Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft. “Microsoft’s patent portfolio is the largest and strongest in the software industry, and this agreement demonstrates our mutual respect for intellectual property as well as our ability to reach pragmatic solutions to IP issues,” Gutierrez said. The agreement clears the way for Microsoft’s proprietary software and open-source programs used by Amazon.com to be woven together more tightly without concerns about patent violations. Each company gets access to the other’s patent portfolio under the terms of a deal covering a broad range of products and technology, Microsoft said. Microsoft said that it has struck 600 such licensing deals since December 2003 with companies including Apple, Hewlett-Packard, LG Electronics, Novell, and Samsung Electronics. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 23 Feb 2010 | 1:29 am Amazon, Microsoft ink patent dealSan Francisco: Microsoft on Monday said that it has signed a deal with Amazon.com that lets each company tap into the other’s patented technology, including that for hot-selling Kindle electronic readers. Microsoft said that Amazon will be paying the software giant as part of the agreement, but declined to specify the amount. “We are pleased to have entered into this patent license agreement with Amazon.com,” said Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice-president and deputy general counsel for Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft. “Microsoft’s patent portfolio is the largest and strongest in the software industry, and this agreement demonstrates our mutual respect for intellectual property as well as our ability to reach pragmatic solutions to IP issues,” Gutierrez said. The agreement clears the way for Microsoft’s proprietary software and open-source programs used by Amazon.com to be woven together more tightly without concerns about patent violations. Each company gets access to the other’s patent portfolio under the terms of a deal covering a broad range of products and technology, Microsoft said. Microsoft said that it has struck 600 such licensing deals since December 2003 with companies including Apple, Hewlett-Packard, LG Electronics, Novell, and Samsung Electronics. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 23 Feb 2010 | 1:29 am Govt to continue counter-inflationary measures in FY11NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The government will continue to take measures to counter inflation during the financial year that begins on April 1, the finance minister said on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 1:20 am Toyota faces U.S. criminal probe, Japan govt eyes impactTOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp's woes deepened ahead of its testimony to Congress on safety issues, as it revealed it faces a U.S. criminal probe into the handling of its massive recalls, while Japan voiced concern over the economic impact of the automakers' problems.Source: Reuters: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:52 am Subscribe to United Bank of India for listing gains:Religare - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:25 am Godrej Consumer to announce buys by early FY11Mumbai: “Godrej Consumer Products, which has been scouting for acquisitions in personal care and household categories for over 2 years, hopes to close some deals by early FY11,” chairman Adi Godrej said on Tuesday. “We are looking at several acquisitions and we hope to announce some early in the next financial year, depending on how the negotiations go,” Godrej said. In December 2009, the company’s board had approved an enabling resolution to raise up to Rs3000 crore through debt and equity for mergers and acquisitions. “This fund raising will take care of all the opportunities we are looking at currently,” he said. The total cash on books of the firm as on date stood at Rs300 crore. The firm has been looking at buying 51% stake held by Sara Lee Corp in the joint venture (JV) Godrej Sara Lee, the market leader in the domestic insecticides segment. Godrej Consumer has also been looking at buys in hair-colour segment in the range of about $50-$100 million. In 2008, it had acquired South African hair brand, Kinky. Fighting competition The firm is planning to hike its advertising spend in the upcoming fiscal to retain its market share in the highly- competitive FMCG market in India. “The advertisement spend will be at least 25% higher than in this financial year. Ad spend currently stands at 8% of the total revenues,” Godrej said. Godrej Consumer, which makes and sells several brands across soaps, haircare and toiletries segments, is best known for its flagship brand Cinthol and Godrej Expert Hair Dye. The company also plans to launch new products at low price points in FY11 in an effort to increase revenues from rural business and does not plan any hike in prices going forward. “There is no price rise on the cards as most of the input costs are quite benign. Palm oil prices are below what they were a year ago and they are well under control, so margins in the coming quarters are going to be taken care of,” he said. Real estate business “Godrej group’s real estate arm Godrej Properties is also looking at entering into more joint JVs for residential projects,” Adi Godrej said. “Most of our projects are joint ventures with land owners, wherein we share either the profits, area or revenue. We have completed at least 15 JVs and we are doing many more,” he said, adding that the company was looking at least 15 more projects on a JV basis. It is also looking at private equity at project levels, which are being done through special purpose vehicles (SPVs). “In some of our SPVs we do take private equity, some of it is foreign investors, some are Indian investors. We are not taking any more equity at the corporate level. We may take in private equity at SPV level,” he added. In December, 2009 Godrej Properties, a unit of Godrej Industries, had raised about $100 million through an initial public offering (IPO) of 9.4 million shares. Shares of Godrej Consumer Products traded 1.84% down at Rs256.1 and Godrej Properties was down 0.92% at Rs468 in a firm Mumbai market. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:25 am M&A gaining momentum as growth picks upMumbai: With the shadows of financial crisis receding, India-related mergers and acquisitions are likely to gain momentum in the months ahead, top investment bankers said on Tuesday. “We are likely to see more cross-border mergers and acquisitions in the coming days, thanks to the sufficient liquidity and bullish stock markets,” DSP Merrill Lynch’s MD (mergers and acquisitions) Raj Balakrishnan said at a seminar. Compared to the last year, when mergers and acquisition (M&A) activities significantly slowed down on account of the impact of global financial turmoil, cross-border take overs are poised to gather momentum in the foreseeable future, Balakrishnan said. According to a recent study, M&A activity in the country more than doubled in the first month of 2010 as deals worth nearly $3 billion (about Rs13,950 crore) were announced amid improved signs of liquidity. In January this year, there were as many as 29 domestic deals worth $2,303 million compared to 14 transactions worth $589 million in January 2009. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:16 am 3G auction likely in next fiscal - telecoms minNEW DELHI (Reuters) – The government delayed third-generation mobile spectrum auction is likely to happen during the next financial year beginning in April, Telecoms Minister Andimuthu Raja told lawmakers in reply to a question on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:06 am Budget risks disappointing on fiscal disciplineMUMBAI (Reuters) - Anything less than a strong show of deficit-slashing intent in the budget, to be unveiled on Feb. 26, is likely to disappoint investors.Source: Reuters: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:04 am Oil slips from 6 week highs to trade near $80Crude stockpiles in the United States posted a fourth consecutive week of gains last week as imports grew, according to a Reuters poll, while gasoline supplies probably rose for a third week in a row.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am ‘SBI should have bought Citibank when shares were selling at $1'State Bank of India should have bought Citibank when its shares were selling at $1 a share, according to the former Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, here onSource: Business Line - Home Page | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Don't use the tax laws to make a political pointWhen Joe Stack rammed his light plane into an Austin, Texas, building that housed a Federal Income Tax office, he was no doubt making a point against his country's taxSource: Business Line - Home Page | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Unveil your Dream Budget 2010Business Line invites you to tell the Finance Minister your Budget expectations. Send in your Budget wish list (in about 200 words) to , along with reasoning. Attach yourSource: Business Line - Home Page | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Growth rate seen at over 8% next fiscalThe President, Ms Pratibha Patil, said that the country will aim for a growth rate above 8 per cent in 2010-11 and seek to achieve 9 per cent growth in the subsequent year.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Banks selling long-dated papers ahead of BudgetAnticipating a tightening of liquidity, banks have begun selling off their long-dated investment papers, ahead of the Budget for 2010-11. They are doing this to de-risk their investment portfolios to contain depreciationSource: Business Line - Home Page | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am RBI turns rulings on customer complaints into directions for banksA public sector bank was recently advised by the Reserve Bank of India to recalculate the interest rate on all housing loans according to the terms of the agreements entered into with the borrowers even though the borrowers had not applied forSource: Business Line - Home Page | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Private sector steers power capacity additionThe private sector is driving the new power generation capacity thisSource: Business Line - Home Page | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Bharat Forge (Rs 241.7): SellInvestors with a short-term trading perspective can sell Bharat Forge. This stock faces key intermediate term resistance in the zone between Rs 300 and Rs 330 and it reversed lower from this band in January. The weak rebounds since this peakSource: Business Line - Home Page | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Electrolux: Revenue visibility for HCL TechHCL Technologies' deal win from Electrolux, a global manufacturer of home appliances and appliances for professional use, would provide revenue visibility for theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am 3G auction process will start this week: RajaThe Government is all set to start the process of auctioning spectrum for 3G and broadband wireless services after delaying it for more than aSource: Business Line - Home Page | 23 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am Wal-Mart to buy digital movie provider Vudu Los Angeles: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it will buy broadband entertainment provider Vudu, a deal that gives the world’s biggest retailer the ability to sell movies directly through TVs and Blu-ray players over the internet. The deal could give Wal-Mart a way to compete with electronics rival Best Buy Co., which partnered with Sonic Solutions in November to offer Roxio CinemaNow movie-downloading software on all web-connected devices sold in Best Buy’s US stores. Wal-Mart did not disclose the terms of its deal or define its ambitions for the service. Eduardo Castro-Wright, vice-chairman of Wal-Mart, said in a statement on Monday that the acquisition will provide customers with unprecedented access to home entertainment options as they migrate to a digital environment. Vudu Inc. delivers movies to consumers for a price per transaction either $3.99 to rent or $19.99 to buy and requires broadband internet access and an internet-ready TV or Blu-ray player. That capability puts Vudu in competition for customers of video-on-demand services offered by cable operators such as Time Warner Cable Inc., and retailers such as Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. Such services charge similar prices to rent new movies. Another movie provider, Netflix Inc., charges a flat monthly fee starting at $8.99 to get DVD rentals in the mail or online, but those movies will come out a month later than other higher-priced services after the company agreed with Warner Bros. to a 28-day delay on new movies last month. Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities, said Wal-Mart’s acquisition won’t settle the race to offer consumers the best, most convenient way to watch movies at home. “They’re just one more guy in this me-too race to get the Internet connected to the TV,” he said. Andy Hargreaves, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, said Wal-Mart could try to use its position as a top-seller of DVDs to get Hollywood studios to lower the wholesale price for online movies, but it wasn’t clear if it would succeed. “There are lots of questions, not very many answers,” he said. Several Hollywood studios, including Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., declined to comment. With the acquisition, Wal-Mart returns to the internet movie business, which it tried several times in the past but failed. Its most recent attempt, offering movie downloads, ended in 2007 after less than a year. Wal-Mart, which is based in Bentonville, Ark., also handed off several thousand of its online movie subscribers to Netflix when it exited that business in 2005. Vudu’s service has been embedded in LG- and Mitsubishi-made devices since August, but Wal-Mart does not currently carry those brands of TVs or Blu-ray players. In January, Vudu announced it had expanded its partnership deals to include internet-connected TVs made by Sanyo, Sharp, Toshiba and Vizio. Wal-Mart sells high-definition TVs by all of those brands except Toshiba. Vudu says that it has licensing agreements with almost every major movie studio and independent distributors to offer about 16,000 movies, and has a large number available in high definition. Vudu, based in Santa Clara, California, was founded in 2004 and funded by venture capital firms Greylock Partners and Benchmark Capital. It started out selling set-top boxes for as much as $295 but began phasing them out six months ago in favor of working directly with makers of TVs and other devices. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 11:48 pm Toyota faces US criminal probe, Japan govt eyes impactTokyo: Toyota Motor Corp’s woes deepened ahead of its testimony to Congress on safety issues, as it revealed it faces a US criminal probe into the handling of its massive recalls, while Japan voiced concern over the economic impact of the automakers’ problems. New US documents showed on Monday how the company beat back US safety regulators’ efforts for a wider probe in 2007 and disclosure of a US Securities and Exchange Commission request for documents. It all comes as Toyota’s top executive prepared for a hearing on Capitol Hill over unintended acceleration problems that have been linked to at least five US deaths, with 29 other fatality reports being examined. In a gesture it said was intended to reassure customers, Toyota said it would install brake-override systems on three more models of vehicles already on US roads: the Tacoma truck going back to 2005 model year, the Venza crossover from 2009 and the Sequoia SUV. Shares of Toyota fell 0.5% to ¥3,325 on Tuesday in Tokyo, matching the Nikkei 225’s fall, suggesting little investor reaction to news of the criminal investigation and the plan for an additional brake override upgrade. “Investors are not worried about such one-time costs. Instead they welcome Toyota’s efforts to restore confidence in its products and its relations with the US government regardless of the costs,” said Yoshihiko Tabei, analyst at Kazaka Securities. He said the earnings forecast Toyota gave on 4 February for the year ending next month will likely be unaffected by the costs of the recalls and voluntary upgrades, while investors are more worried whether Toyota can revamp its brand and avoid a sales slump next business year. A Japanese government official expressed concern about the effect Toyota’s problems could have on Japan’s exports. “Strong growth in Asia-bound exports seems to be slowing, and we also have to consider Toyota’s recalls, so we’ve given a cautious judgment on exports,” Keisuke Tsumura, a parliamentary secretary on economic affairs, said as the government issued a report on the economy. Toyota has recalled more than 8.5 million vehicles globally in recent months for problems including sticky accelerators, accelerators that can be pinned down by loose floor mats and a braking glitch affecting its hybrid models. It is also investigating reports of steering problems in the Corolla, its second most popular US model. Toyota’s extra installation of the brake-override systems extends the scope and cost of a recall that had already targeted five models including the top-selling Camry. Toyota said it would have the same safety technology on most new models sold in the United States by the end of 2010. Akio Toyoda, who took the helm at the world No. 1 automaker last June, is scheduled to testify before the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday. In a preview of the line he could take in his testimony, Toyoda said in a statement published in the Wall Street Journal that he was committed to making sure that Toyota learned from the crisis and changed its ways. “It is clear to me that in recent years we didn’t listen as carefully as we should - or respond as quickly as we must - to our customers’ concerns,” Toyoda said. “While we investigated malfunctions in good faith, we focused too narrowly on technical issues without taking full account of how our customers use our vehicles.” The extended apology from Toyoda, a grandson of the company’s founder, came hours after Toyota said it had received a federal grand jury subpoena from the US attorney’s office in Manhattan on 8 February. The automaker also said the SEC had asked for documents related to unintended acceleration of Toyota vehicles and the company’s disclosure policies. Toyota said it would cooperate with the investigations. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 11:47 pm Toyota faces US criminal probe, Japan govt eyes impactTokyo: Toyota Motor Corp’s woes deepened ahead of its testimony to Congress on safety issues, as it revealed it faces a US criminal probe into the handling of its massive recalls, while Japan voiced concern over the economic impact of the automakers’ problems. New US documents showed on Monday how the company beat back US safety regulators’ efforts for a wider probe in 2007 and disclosure of a US Securities and Exchange Commission request for documents. It all comes as Toyota’s top executive prepared for a hearing on Capitol Hill over unintended acceleration problems that have been linked to at least five US deaths, with 29 other fatality reports being examined. In a gesture it said was intended to reassure customers, Toyota said it would install brake-override systems on three more models of vehicles already on US roads: the Tacoma truck going back to 2005 model year, the Venza crossover from 2009 and the Sequoia SUV. Shares of Toyota fell 0.5% to ¥3,325 on Tuesday in Tokyo, matching the Nikkei 225’s fall, suggesting little investor reaction to news of the criminal investigation and the plan for an additional brake override upgrade. “Investors are not worried about such one-time costs. Instead they welcome Toyota’s efforts to restore confidence in its products and its relations with the US government regardless of the costs,” said Yoshihiko Tabei, analyst at Kazaka Securities. He said the earnings forecast Toyota gave on 4 February for the year ending next month will likely be unaffected by the costs of the recalls and voluntary upgrades, while investors are more worried whether Toyota can revamp its brand and avoid a sales slump next business year. A Japanese government official expressed concern about the effect Toyota’s problems could have on Japan’s exports. “Strong growth in Asia-bound exports seems to be slowing, and we also have to consider Toyota’s recalls, so we’ve given a cautious judgment on exports,” Keisuke Tsumura, a parliamentary secretary on economic affairs, said as the government issued a report on the economy. Toyota has recalled more than 8.5 million vehicles globally in recent months for problems including sticky accelerators, accelerators that can be pinned down by loose floor mats and a braking glitch affecting its hybrid models. It is also investigating reports of steering problems in the Corolla, its second most popular US model. Toyota’s extra installation of the brake-override systems extends the scope and cost of a recall that had already targeted five models including the top-selling Camry. Toyota said it would have the same safety technology on most new models sold in the United States by the end of 2010. Akio Toyoda, who took the helm at the world No. 1 automaker last June, is scheduled to testify before the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday. In a preview of the line he could take in his testimony, Toyoda said in a statement published in the Wall Street Journal that he was committed to making sure that Toyota learned from the crisis and changed its ways. “It is clear to me that in recent years we didn’t listen as carefully as we should - or respond as quickly as we must - to our customers’ concerns,” Toyoda said. “While we investigated malfunctions in good faith, we focused too narrowly on technical issues without taking full account of how our customers use our vehicles.” The extended apology from Toyoda, a grandson of the company’s founder, came hours after Toyota said it had received a federal grand jury subpoena from the US attorney’s office in Manhattan on 8 February. The automaker also said the SEC had asked for documents related to unintended acceleration of Toyota vehicles and the company’s disclosure policies. Toyota said it would cooperate with the investigations. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 11:47 pm Nikkei dips, market holds breath before BernankeBut gains by shipping companies such as Kawasaki Kisen on a brokerage upgrade helped curb losses enough for the benchmark to close above its 25-day moving average.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Feb 2010 | 11:46 pm Passenger fare hike unlikely in Rail BudgetNew Delhi: For the seventh year in a row, passenger fares are unlikely to be revised in the Railway Budget to be presented on Wednesday as Mamata Banerjee is once again set to reach out to the common man with populist measures. The Budget may have something for every section and that includes additional trains and innovative schemes to corner more freight traffic from the road, Rail Bhavan sources said.  Commuters wait to board a train in Mumbai on Monday. Adeel Halim / Bloomberg Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee, who will be presenting her second budget in UPA-II, will also lay the foundation for the implementation of the ambitious Railways Vision document for the coming decade. The document may seek to attain inclusive development generate large scale employment and ensure environmental sustainability. Also See | Run-up to Budget 2010 The Vision Document 2020 was unveiled by Banerjee in the winter session of Parliament last year along with the white paper. “Most of the proposals mentioned in the vision document like expansion of rail network, raising train speed and safety measures and commercial utilization of railway land are expected to find mention in the Rail Budget,” the sources said. With elections round the corner in Bihar and West Bengal, Banerjee is unlikely to touch passenger fares though she is under pressure to review them, which have not seen upward revision for the last seven years. Banerjee might rationalize freight rates and announce innovative schemes to compete with road transport while leaving the loading rates of essential commodities like food grains untouched. At present more than 70% of the freight traffic movement takes place through highways.  Union minister for railways Mamata Banerjee and HRD minister Kapil Sibal witness an MoU signing between the two ministries regarding cooperation in the field of education in New Delhi on Tuesday. Shahbaz Khan / PTI Railway Budget will also contain proposals for introduction of more trains including about a dozen Duronto non-stop trains, a couple of Janshatabdis in southern states, and a number of new services for West Bengal. She is also likely to announce expediting project works of upcoming locomotive and coach manufacturing units in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal and expansion of Kolkata Metro network. With frequent train accidents becoming a major issue for railways, she is likely to announce enhanced budgetary allocation to address the problem. Banerjee had met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in this regard. Some of the safety measures include the implementation of Anti-Collision Device (ACD) and Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) in certain congested routes. Improving passenger amenities in stations and onboard trains, tightening security measures which include raising a special all-woman force would also find mention in the Budget. The sources said more passenger reservation counters would be announced and Tatkal scheme would be made more passenger-friendly besides launching of a new passenger enquiry number 138. Opening of more affordable food outlets like Janahar and improving hygienic condition in preparation of food for passengers are also likely to find mention. The railway minister is expected to reach out to the farming community by taking forward the kisan vision scheme and announcing introduction of special trains for transportation of farm produce. Putting its unused land to best use, the minister is set to lay the grounds to woo more private investment for its commercial utilisation. Railways had already announced tie-up with health ministry and HRD ministry for setting up medical facilities and Kendriya Vidyalays on rail land. The Budget is also expected to lay emphasis on the dedicated freight corridor as the Vision Document has underlined operationalization of the corridor before 2020. The document also mentioned optimum utilisation of railway land bank and setting up multi-modal logistic parks and industrial hubs along the corridor. Interacting with captains of Indian industry earlier this month, the railway minister has laid stress on private participation in expansion of rail network. The revenue sharing model for private participation in laying new rail tracks is likely to find mention in the Budget. Keeping the wagon shortage in mind, the budget might also contain measures to tackle the problem through a new wagon procurement policy. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 11:34 pm Market likely to stay volatile in short term: L&T MF CEO - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Feb 2010 | 11:25 pm Media Roundup: 23 February 2010Economic Times: Partial stimulus rollback may cut net govt borrowing in FY11 The Union government’s overall borrowings from the local debt market for the next fiscal may exceed that in the current year, but the large chunk of scheduled bond redemption could keep bond yields in check, say analysts. Times of India: How the budget may shape your year Will you have to pay more tax or will your dream home become a reality? What does the Budget hold in store for you? Economic Times: Exemption limit on medical costs likely to go up While industry is apprehensive of a possible rollback of the stimulus package, there could be some cheering news in the forthcoming Union Budget for salaried employees. The government is likely to increase the exemption limit for reimbursement against medical and travel expenses The Hindu: Centre admits “unhappy pressure” on food prices If the ‘aam aadmi’ is paying more for food, one of the reasons is that his income has risen, President Pratibha Patil said in her address to the joint sitting of Parliament on Monday at the start of the Budget session. Business Standard: Police budget increased Chhattisgarh government has increased the police budget for the fiscal 2010-11 by 17% to strengthen the law and order, and combat red terror in the country’s worst Naxal-infested state. Business Standard: Budget may lay roadmap against treaty shopping The Union Budget on Friday is expected to lay down a plan to plug loopholes in the double tax avoidance treaties which cost the Indian exchequer crores in tax revenues. Business Standard: UP MSME wants level playing field As the Union Budget 2010 date draws near, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in Uttar Pradesh are ready with their wish-list for a major push to the sector, which contributes over 50% of the state’s industrial output. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 11:11 pm Emaar Education to set up varsity in India Dubai: Emaar Education, a subsidiary of real estate company Emaar Dubai, is setting up a private university in India, a newspaper reports has said. “We have a plan to start the Raffles International University in Jaipur which will provide higher education in business studies, information technology, science, art, hospitality and other subjects,” Emaar Education vice-president, marketing and admissions, Celia Her told Emirates Business daily. The university is being started in collaboration with the Gamber Education Foundation and is likely to start formal operations by April. Recruitment has been progressing for the faculty and senior staff, the report said. Raffles International School, under Emaar Education, has already got a boarding school in Jaipur with about 1,000 students. Emaar has big construction and residential projects in India through its joint venture (JV) Emaar-MGF, a JV between Properties PJSC and India’s MGF Land. Emaar’s education business is expected to complement the residential projects in the second most populous country in the world. Emaar Education acquired Singapore-based Raffles Campus Pte Limited, a premier education provider, in September 2006 to spearhead its projects in the education sector. Raffles Campus has campuses in Singapore, Dubai, India and Vietnam. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 10:56 pm Toyota global sales up 15.3% on-year in JanuaryTokyo: Toyota Motor’s global sales in January were up 15.3% year-on-year, the company said Tuesday, as the Japanese automaker showed resilience despite being hit by massive recalls that month. “Toyota sold 537,454 vehicles in January, excluding subsidiaries Hino and Daihatsu Motors,” a spokeswoman said adding: “The world’s largest carmaker sold 416,411 Toyota cars, buses and trucks overseas and 121,043 units in Japan.” January domestic sales jumped 45.3% from the previous year, while overseas sales excluding Japan gained 8.8%. Toyota said it does not have global sales figures for Hino and Daihatsu. The new figures underlined robust demand for the iconic Japanese automaker although it faces a deep crisis over its flawed accelerator and brake systems that have forced it to pull 8.7 million vehicles worldwide. The major recalls in the US, its biggest overseas market, as well as Europe and parts of Asia came toward the end of the month and may have had a stronger impact on consumer sentiment in February. The company also said worldwide production jumped 55.8% to 643,925 units in January from the previous year. Including Daihatsu and Hino vehicles, that figure amounted to an increase of 46.5% to 716,570. Company president Akio Toyoda is set to face a grilling by US lawmakers Wednesday, after the company revealed Monday that it had been subpoenaed in a US criminal investigation of its handling of the recalls. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 10:41 pm Markets edge higher; financials leadMumbai: Financials helped Indian shares shrug off a shaky start and nose higher on Tuesday as Asian markets recouped early losses, but investors were wary ahead of the national budget on Friday. Top lender State Bank of India rose 0.8%, while private-sector rivals ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank gained 1.1% and 0.1% respectively on hopes for long-term boost in an expanding economy. By 10:46am, the 30-share BSE index was trading up 0.15% at 16,261.44, with 21 of its components gaining. It was down as much as 0.4% early. The 50-share NSE index was up 0.2% at 4,863.70. “We recovered a bit as Asian markets recovered,” said Kunal Sukhani, manager of institutional equities at Asian Markets Securities. “But there is no strength in the market to hold on to the gains. People will wait until the budget,” he said, who forecast the benchmark in a 16,000-16,500 range until budget. Though most expectations are centred on a rollback of stimulus measures, fiscal deficit is likely to get precedence in budget considerations, Dun & Bradstreet said in a note. “While the containment of the fiscal deficit will take place only over a period of time, the budget is expected to very clearly set the time-lines for it,” it said. Reliance Industries dropped 0.1% to Rs978.45, after a source familiar with the deal said the energy giant has raised its bid for bankrupt chemicals maker LyondellBasell to an offer which values the company at $14.5 billion. In the broader market, gainers led losers in a ratio of 1.4:1 on volume of 67 million shares. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 10:12 pm Sensex down 58 points on Asian cuesThe 30-share Sensex, which had gained 45.42 points in yesterday's choppy trade, shed 58.14 points, or 0.34% to 16,178.91 points, in opening trade.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Feb 2010 | 9:56 pm Rupee down 2 paise to 46.23 a dollarThe rupee fell by 2 paise to 46.23 a dollar. The rupee had closed higher by 9 paise at 46.21/22 a dollar in the previous session.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 22 Feb 2010 | 9:36 pm Sensex down 58 points on Asian cuesThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by over 58 points, or 0.34 per cent, in opening trade today on continued sell-off by funds and investors amid a weak trend on the other Asian bourses.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Feb 2010 | 9:34 pm Sensex down 58 points on Asian cuesReliance Industries fell by nearly 0.90 per cent to Rs 971 following reports the company had raised its bid for the bankrupt chemicals maker LyondellBasell.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 22 Feb 2010 | 9:34 pm Mergers and acquisitions gaining momentum as growth picks upDuring January 2010, there were as many as 29 domestic deals worth USD 2,303 million as compared to 14 transactions worth USD 589 million in January 2009.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Feb 2010 | 8:59 pm Wall St flat on Bernanke watch; Nordstrom sinks lateNew York: US stocks finished flat on Monday as investors held back before congressional testimony by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, while scattered buying lifted shares of health insurers and banks. President Barack Obama revised plans for an overhaul of US healthcare. The Morgan Stanley healthcare payor index rose 1.7%, but investors said financial shares benefited from the focus shifting away from reform in that sector. The KBW bank index rose 1.9%, but energy shares weighed on the broader market. Investors are hoping Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke clarifies the Fed’s thinking behind last week’s surprising hike in the discount rate that begins the removal of the extraordinary liquidity that has propped up markets. Investors treaded carefully, leading to the lowest daily volume so far this year. “People are still trying to figure out what the intentions of Bernanke are, moving forward,” said Dennis Cajigas, senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock, a retail brokerage firm in Chicago. Was the increase in the discount rate “simply technical rebalancing or normalization? Or is it going to be something that’s indicative of monetary policy down the road?,” he added. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 18.97 points, or 0.18%, to end at 10,383.38. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index shed 1.16 points, or 0.10%, to 1,108.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.84 points, or 0.08%, to 2,242.03. After the bell, upscale retailer Nordstrom Inc reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit despite strong holiday and online sales and higher margins, driving its shares down 5% in after-hours trade. The stock had ended regular trading at $36.13, up 1.2% on the New York Stock Exchange. This week, Wall Street will stay focused on the Federal Reserve chairman. Bernanke is scheduled to testify on monetary policy and the economy before House and Senate committees on Wednesday and Thursday. During Monday’s regular session, energy shares weighed on the S&P 500, but their impact was mitigated by a jump in banks as investors bet that the White House’s bid to resuscitate the stalled healthcare overhaul would take some of the intense regulatory scrutiny off the banks. The S&P energy index dropped 1.3%, while shares of Chevron Corp shed 1.5% to $72.96, while Exxon Mobil Corp declined 0.7% to $65.40. But among banks, JPMorgan Chase rose 2.1% to $40.85 and gave the Dow its biggest boost, while Bank of America added 2.1% to $16.21. The S&P financial index rose 1.1%. “The Democrats are going to spend so much political capital trying to get healthcare through that they might not necessarily have that capital to get any major financial reform through,” said David Lutz, managing director of trading at Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets in Baltimore. Slow trading volume also made investors reluctant to push stocks higher, but a spurt of takeover news involving energy and the pharmaceutical sectors pointed to optimism about share valuations. In takeover news, oilfield services company Schlumberger Ltd agreed to buy Smith International Inc for $11.34 billion in stock, a deal with “a significant premium,” according to Schlumberger’s own chief executive. Schlumberger shares fell 3.7% to $61.57 and led decliners in the S&P energy index, but Smith International rose 8.8% to $41.03. Millipore Corp shares jumped 22.4% to $87.35 after the company received an unsolicited bid from Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc of about $6 billion. Thermo Fisher fell 2.3% to $48.10. Among health insurers, WellPoint Inc rose 1.7% to $59.44, while shares of Humana rose 5.6% to $47.87 and the stock of UnitedHealth Group Inc gained 3.6% to $33.08. Analysts said the spur for health insurers was a late Friday announcement of a higher-than-expected payment rate for 2011 for privately run Medicare plans. Nearly 7 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, well below last year’s estimated daily average of 9.65 billion. Declining stocks slightly outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,540 to 1,511, while on the Nasdaq, about 14 stocks rose for every 13 that fell. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 8:32 pm Asian shares head down, await Bernanke viewTokyo: Asian shares turned lower on Tuesday and the dollar was trapped in a tight range as investors waited for Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke to shed light on how soon key US interest rates may start to rise. After the surprise increase last week in the rate the Fed charges banks for emergency loans, the market focus is now on how Bernanke explains the move in testimony in the House and the Senate on Wednesday and Thursday. After a soft performance on Wall Street, the MSCI index of Asian shares excluding Japan fell 0.5%, faltering just below the 399 level that has blocked it in the past week, while Japan led the losses with a drop of 1%. “Investors probably want to hear that the US discount rate hike was not intended as tightening, and that the Fed plans to maintain its current monetary policy stance for some time,” said Kim Se-jung, a market analyst at Shinyoung Securities in Seoul. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei fell 1.2% to 10,280 after climbing 2.7% the previous day to its highest finish in three weeks and making the first break in a month above its 25-day moving average at 10,300. Toyota Motor Corp shares slipped after news it faces a criminal investigation into its handling of safety problems. Investors are also keen to see how president Akio Toyoda’s testimony to Congress pans out. Shares in Hong Kong fell 1%, after a jump the previous day, and Shanghai slid 2%. Ping An Insurance, China’s second-largest insurer, fell after it said three of its mainland shareholders would sell shares over the next five years. Seoul shares retreated, with the Korea Composite Stock Price Index down 0.6%. Shares in LG Display, the world’s No.2 flat panel maker, retreated 4% on concerns second-quarter demand could slow after robust growth in the first quarter. On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.2%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite Index eased 0.1%. San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Janet Yellen, who is not a voting member of the Fed’s monetary policy-setting committee this year, said the U.S. economy still needed extraordinarily low interest rates, as inflation was “undesirably low” and growth was likely to be sluggish for several years. The tension kept the dollar in tight ranges. The dollar index was flat at 80.500, well below an eight-month high of 81.342 last week. The euro was steady at $1.3600, up from a nine-month low at $1.3443 set last Friday. It was flat against the yen, after losing ground on Monday when a spokesman for Germany’s Finance Ministry said it had made no decisions on a lifeline for heavily indebted Greece. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 8:27 pm Oil slips from six-week highs to below $80Singapore: Oil fell from six-week highs to below $80 on Tuesday as forecasts for higher US crude and gasoline stockpiles offset concerns that a strike at Total’s French refineries would trigger fuel shortages. US crude for April declined 43 cents to $79.88 a barrel by 8:35am, NYMEX March futures expired on Monday having touched $80.51, the highest intra-day price for a front-month contract since 13 January after six days of walkouts at the French refineries. “The impact of the strikes will probably not be too big because refinery utilization is still low, so I assume that others will step in and increase their production if this is an issue that lasts longer,” said Stefan Graber, a commodities analyst with Credit Suisse in Singapore. “We don’t see a lot of signs of an immediate pick-up in U.S. oil consumption, so we could see more rounds of increasing inventories.” Crude inventories in the United States posted a fourth consecutive week of gains last week as imports grew, according to a Reuters poll, while gasoline supplies probably rose for a third week in a row. London ICE Brent for April slid 46 cents to $78.15. US crude inventories rose 1.9 million barrels and gasoline stockpiles added 500,000 barrels in the week ended 19 February, the survey showed. “On the fundamental side, we really didn’t see a significant improvement that would warrant a move above $80,” Graber said. The recent price increase “has been more related to the fact that sentiment and risk appetite have improved a bit.” Recent unusually cold weather probably drained US distillate stockpiles for a fourth consecutive week. Inventories in this category, which includes heating oil and diesel, fell by 1.9 million barrels, the poll showed. “The cold spell seems to be over and this could mean that total oil consumption is not likely to pick up very strongly in the short term,” Graber added. The industry group American Petroleum Institute will release its weekly inventory report on Tuesday at 2:00am, , while the federal Energy Information Administration will follow with weekly statistics on Wednesday 9:00pm. Motorists rushed to the pumps in France on Monday after a union said the refinery workers’ strike would close more than half of France’s oil refining capacity. Total said it would meet unions on Tuesday morning after talks collapsed late on Sunday. Petroleum industry body UFIP said on Monday France had around 7 days of fuel supply left before it faced a shortage. The CGT union said output would grind to a halt at Total’s six refineries by Tuesday. This will cut more than 1 million barrels-per-day (bpd) in French refinery capacity, of a total capacity of 2 million bpd, according to Reuters calculation. Workers at Exxon’s two French refineries voted to join the action from Tuesday. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 8:05 pm True lies: Stats can lift fiscalNew national income series, inflation may come to the government's rescue.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 22 Feb 2010 | 3:07 pm Strike on, Lufthansa cancels some flightsLufthansa has made adjustments to its flight schedule from February 22 to 25 following the strike initiated by the German pilots' union 'Vereinigung Cockpit'.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 22 Feb 2010 | 1:30 pm Sweet idea, well executedSaw the Aman ki Asha commercial and liked it immediately. A simple thought of music being the great unifier told in a very charming manner. Liked the refreshing use of dumb charades in an unusual setting, liked the fact that someone wisely cast an old man versus a young bloke trying to act out a song.  Malvika Mehra, Group creative director, Ogilvy and Mather The only thing I would have tweaked perhaps is to change the dialogue from “Radio station ko phone lagana” to a plain, simple “Mil gaya” being passed on till the old man actually calls up the station and says what he does. Leaves you wondering a tad longer. Might have substituted the song at the end with a song from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Might have been more fun and real. And would have dropped the “Somewhere on the India-Pakistan border” —know that one is for the “firang” (foreign) jury, but they needn’t have worried. The Times of India, Jang and Aman ki Asha logos would have given the context clearly. Besides, this one is a clear winner. Wish I had done it. As told to Priyanka Mehra Dayal. priyanka.m@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 12:45 pm Will Mukherjee’s Budget deliver on disinvestment promise?Mumbai/New Delhi: When Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) was sold to the Tatas, the telecom company’s then chairman and managing director S.K. Gupta used a metaphor that partly explains why disinvestment hasn’t always had a smooth ride in India.  Strategic sale: A 13 February 2002 photo of Tata group chairman Ratan Tata (right) holding a replica of a cheque for Rs1,439.25 crore with then communications and technology minister Pramod Mahajan (centre) and VSNL’s managing director S.K. Gupta in Mumbai. Sebastian D’Souza / AFP Gupta was alluding to the fears of millions of public sector employees about job cuts accompanying privatization, especially when he pleaded for patience from the Tatas for “acclimatization”. Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Sons Ltd, was impassive, merely saying that the “professional organization” would be leveraged fully in the coming years. A large replica of a cheque for around Rs1,439 crore was handed to then communications minister Pramod Mahajan to symbolize the money the Tatas had paid. Also See | Run-up to Budget 2010 These concerns that Gupta referred to translated into the stout resistance to asset sales by the Communists, which effectively put disinvestment into cold storage during the United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) first term from 2004 to 2009. Now that the Congress-led government doesn’t need Communist backing, privatization is back on the agenda. Disinvestment first caught the public’s attention when Yashwant Sinha, finance minister in the short-lived Chandrashekar government, proposed in the interim budget of 1991 to disinvest 20% of hand-picked public sector firms.  D.K. Srivastava, director of the Madras School of Economics, who was a member of the 12th Finance Commission (2002-04), said money from asset sales couldn’t be relied upon as it wasn’t “a steady stream”. Disinvestment has perhaps generated more controversy than any other policy decision since 1991. Pradip Baijal, who became secretary in the disinvestment ministry in 1999, was in charge at the time of the VSNL sale. He recalls the current Prime Minister cautioning him about the pitfalls. “Manmohan Singh told me that you can get into trouble,” Baijal recalled. “People could question your motives.” Eight years have passed since VSNL was privatized. The Tatas transformed the organization into a multinational enterprise even as its monopoly over international long-distance telephony was ended ahead of the promised deadline. Much else has changed at VSNL, including its name; the company is now called Tata Communications Ltd. “VSNL had a strong position in the international long-distance voice and Internet segments of the telecom business,” said Srinivasa Addepalli, senior vice-president, corporate strategy, at Tata Communications. It also came with a robust infrastructure as well as a sound technical team that managed the international and Internet networks, apart from generating cash. “The company had a strong balance sheet that enabled it to expand into new business areas and markets,” Addepalli said. The Tatas used that cash astutely, putting some of it into Tata Teleservices Ltd and making a few big-ticket acquisitions such as Tyco Global Network and Teleglobe that transformed the Indian firm into a global operator of undersea cable networks and satellite links. “VSNL has successfully transformed itself from a single-market, single-business company to becoming a leading global provider of communications services,” Addepalli said. “Tata Communications has invested over Rs10,000 crore over the last seven-eight years in building infrastructure and services capabilities, in India as well as globally. Tata Communications has also more than doubled its organization size during this period.”  In 2009, disinvestment moved to what could possibly be classified as the fourth phase. The UPA government explicitly linked disinvestment to investments in social sector areas such as education and health. Opposition to disinvestment seemed to fade as the receipts were directly linked to benefiting the poor. That has increased the magnitude of receipts finance minister Pranab Mukherjee can anticipate through disinvestment in the coming Budget from estimated receipts of Rs1,120 crore in the current year. This new phase has also been marked by economists with experience in government putting forth a clear intellectual and ethical case for disinvestment. In January 2010, Vijay Kelkar, chairman of the 13th Finance Commission, said: “When the state chooses to own Re1 of something, this comes at the cost of owning Re1 of something else.” Kelkar pointed out the state’s assets need not remain static for all time. In his speech, he cited analysts who had valued the Central public sector companies at between $400 billion and $500 billion (Rs18.5-23 trillion), or close to 50% of the size of the economy. Kelkar’s views were echoed by Shubhashis Gangopadhyay, who was economic adviser to the Union finance minister in 2008. “If we can logically and consistently argue that we need education and health for every citizen, since it is their birthright, then it is the responsibility of the government to find the resources,” he said, providing an ethical context for disinvestment.  Merely by listing public sector companies on stock exchanges, there could be productivity gains through indirect channels such as enhanced transparency and accountability, economists such as Kelkar have argued. A linked argument is that the current structure of government ownership has yielded meagre returns on capital. “They give you a return which is around 2%. If these PSUs (public sector units) were in education and health, then a return of around 2% is understandable,” Gangopadhyay said. “Most of these PSUs are in areas where private sector units operate, and they don’t earn 2% on their capital. So clearly, there is a waste.” For the moment, it would appear there has been grudging acceptance of disinvestment as an inevitable development by all sections. However, the UPA government has clearly indicated it would retain the public sector nature of its companies by keeping majority ownership. The stand appears conservative when juxtaposed with the suggestion by the chairman of the Prime Minister’s economic advisory council, C. Rangarajan, in April 1993. Rangarajan, as head of a committee on disinvestment in 1993, suggested the government sell 74% or all of a public sector unit if it was not operating in an area explicitly reserved for the public sector. The jury is out on where the fourth phase of disinvestment will go. Baijal said “it will evolve into privatization” of the kind India saw almost a decade ago. Srivastava, on the other hand, said disinvestment would be marked by an incremental approach, even in the absence of political opposition. For the moment, disinvestment appears set to live up, at least partially, to the promise it showed in 1991 as a source of revenue. For VSNL and Balco, growth may be stymied in the future if the government continues to hold a sizeable equity stake. Unless the government decides either to retain or allow their stake to get reduced, the new promoters may find it tough to continue with their ambitious expansion plans, because there is only so much you can raise as debt. satish.j@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 12:45 pm Ad flow surges into IPL tourney, to franchisees' delightWith advertisers willing to pay from 30 per cent to 40 per cent more than last year to have a tryst with cricket, the eight franchisees of the Indian Premier League (IPL) are laughing their way to the bank.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 22 Feb 2010 | 12:33 pm The Mint Report for 22 February 2010With just four days to go for the Union Budget, the UPA government has indicated it will continue to focus on welfare programmes and rural infrastructure. On Monday, President Pratibha Patil addressed a joint session of Parliament outlining the government’s agenda for the next one year. On top of the list was inclusive growth and protecting people from the effects of both the economic crisis and last year’s poor monsoon. Patil also announced a new scheme for distributing liquefied petroleum gas to rural India and providing electricity to everyone by 2012. And while Patil’s speech mentioned a commitment to the food security bill for India’s poor, but did not provide a deadline. In other news, Star Aviation plans to be one of India top regional airlines, but it’s already trimming its operations. The airline has told Mint it plans to lay off most of its 140 employees, but could start hiring again when its commercial operations take off. Star Aviation says it plans to start flying commercially in late May or early June. Reports say Reliance Industries Limited has sweetened it offer for control of bankrupt petrochemicals company LyondellBasell. The new bid is thought to be worth $14.5 billion. LyondellBasell had earlier rejected bids from RIL worth $13.5 billion and $12 billion. In auto news, Hero Honda could be eyeing opportunities in Africa. An analyst report from the brokerage India Infoline says the company is looking at exporting its motorcycles to African countries. But executives at Hero Honda have told Mint the company has no specific plans. As part of its 1984 agreement with Honda Motor, Hero Honda is not allowed to sell motorcycles to most of the big markets where Honda Motor already has assembles its own products. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 12:27 pm Tebma loses Rs400 crore order for shipsBangalore: Chennai-based Tebma Shipyards Ltd has lost a contract worth Rs400 crore to build four ships after US-based Trico Marine Services Inc. cancelled part of an order to reduce expenses. The original contract in 2007 was for seven ships that would be used for supporting offshore oil exploration activities. The cancellation would reduce capital expenditure obligations by $100 million (Rs462 crore), Trico Marine said in a statement on 18 February. A spokesman for Tebma Shipyards said discussions were held with Trico Marine on cancelling four ships as the shipowner was going through a financial restructuring exercise, but declined to give details. Such cancellations typically entail penalties. Tebma will now have to re-sell the four ships to another buyer at current prices, which are lower than the peak rates that prevailed in 2007. Trico said in its statement it expects the global offshore supply vessel market to remain “very weak” and has tailored its fleet to this reality, trimming it to 37 vessels from 45. Tebma has delivered two of the seven ships to Trico and another two were in advanced stages of construction, said the firm’s spokesman. Each of the seven ships were valued at around Rs100 crore, he added. In 2007, ICICI Venture Funds Management Co. Ltd, through its India Advantage Fund–VI (IAF-VI), had acquired a 33% stake in Tebma. Subsequently, IAF-VI acquired an additional 20% stake from the public in an open offer as per India’s take-over laws. For the year ended 31 March 2009, Tebma had a net loss of Rs82 crore, mainly on account of foreign exchange losses of around Rs78 crore. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 12:13 pm Anti-dumping duty on Chinese tyre, steelConcerned over surge in imports particularly from China, India has slapped anti-dumping duty on several stainless steel products and radial tyres.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 22 Feb 2010 | 12:03 pm Budget may lay roadmap against treaty shoppingThe Union Budget on Friday is expected to lay down a plan to plug loopholes in the double tax avoidance treaties which cost the Indian exchequer crores in tax revenues.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 22 Feb 2010 | 12:02 pm All 3G issues resolved: RajaThe government is all set to start the process of auctioning of spectrum for 3G mobile services as all issues with the law and the finance ministries have been resolved, telecom minister A Raja said on Monday.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 22 Feb 2010 | 12:01 pm Base rate for SBI around 8%SBI on Mobday said that the proposed base rate for the bank seems to be around 8%. "Base rate at this point seems to the around 8% for the bank," SBI chairman O P Bhatt said on the sidelines of an event here.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 22 Feb 2010 | 12:00 pm Realty stocks take a beating despite revival of the sectorDespite a steady revival in the real estate sector, realty stocks have been on a slide for the last few weeks.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 22 Feb 2010 | 12:00 pm ADAG moves Sebi against Fame dealThe Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance MediaWorks has approached Sebi, seeking a probe into the sale of Fame India to Inox Leisure at a price much lower than it had offered.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 22 Feb 2010 | 11:58 am Reliance sweetens Lyondell offerMukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries (RIL) has raised its offer for bankrupt petrochemicals maker LyondellBasell (LB) to $14.5 billion. This is about $1 billion higher than its previous offer made in November.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 22 Feb 2010 | 11:57 am Low-cost airlines plan fleet expansion, to step up hiringThanks to the economic revival, the Indian aviation industry has taken off again, overcoming fears of being grounded for long by the threat posed by last years slowdown.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 22 Feb 2010 | 11:56 am Takashi Nagai to be Honda Siel CEOAs it works towards launching a new low-cost compact in India, Japanese car major Honda on Monday announced a change of leadership, getting in Takashi Nagai as president and CEO in place of Masahiro Takedagawa, who moves out after a five-year stint.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 22 Feb 2010 | 11:56 am Hero Honda may be gearing up to enter AfricaHero Honda Motors Ltd, the country’s largest two-wheeler maker, may be considering the export of motorcycles to Africa, and is talking to its Japanese partner Honda Motor Co. in this regard, according to an analyst report dated 8 February that cites a senior executive at the company. Interestingly, the same executive as well as another at the motorcycle maker said the company, which sells one of every two motorcycles and scooters sold in India, had no immediate plans for Africa. As part of the joint venture agreement between the Hero Group and Honda Motor in 1984, Hero Honda Motors is not allowed to export motorcycles to most of the large markets where Honda has its own assembly units. According to a report by Mumbai-based brokerage firm India Infoline Ltd, the company is discussing the possibility of exports to African markets with Honda Motor. The report was based on comments made by Surender Chhabra, Hero Honda’s general manager (finance), at an investor conference organized by India Infoline. “We have been talking to Honda to expand our export destinations, but there is no specific talk on Africa,” Chhabra told Mint on Saturday. “As far as talks with the joint venture partner is concerned, that is a continuous exercise, it’s premature to talk of anything specific,” said Ravi Sud, chief financial officer of Hero Honda Motors. “As and when something comes out, we will be the first one to talk about it to the world.” “The partners have been talking about it for several months and have been trying to sort out details like branding, etc.,” said an analyst with a domestic brokerage, who did not want to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media. In the India Infoline report, analyst Jatin Chawla wrote that Honda Motor does not have an assembly unit in Africa, and has a presence only in the higher engine capacity models, while at least 95% of the models sold in Africa are 100cc models. “Given Hero Honda’s strength in 100cc markets and (its) low-cost structure, we believe it makes for a strong case for Honda to allow exports to Africa from Hero Honda,” Chawla wrote, adding that if Honda agrees, “this could be a big opportunity for Hero Honda”. Hero Honda exports to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and some Latin American countries but these account for a very small portion, around 100,000 units, of the 4.5 million units it sells every year, said Sud. Hero Honda sold 389,802 two-wheelers in January, 23% more than that in the year-ago period. The African market is estimated to be worth half a million to one million units annually. If its Japanese partner agrees, Hero Honda will compete with Bajaj Auto Ltd in the region, said Umesh Karne, an analyst with Brics Securities Ltd. Bajaj Auto, the only Indian motorcycle manufacturer that exports to African markets, currently has around 25% market share of the entry-level motorcycle segment on that continent, according to the India Infoline report, while Chinese manufacturers have the rest. “The move augurs well for Hero Honda,” added Karne, because it gives the firm an opportunity to compete with Bajaj. With Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd, the local arm of Honda Motor, entering the entry-level segment that has been a stronghold of Hero Honda in India, Hero Honda’s argument for exports to destinations such as Africa may find favour with its Japanese partner, said an analyst with a domestic brokerage firm, who declined to be identified. Hero Group and Honda Motor inked a joint venture to make two-wheelers for the Indian market in 1984. The companies have been renewing the equity and technical collaboration every 10 years. The renewal in partnership in 2004 allowed the companies to enter into each other’s product segments—Honda Motorcycles into motorcycles and Hero Honda into scooters. The partners also formed a model coordination committee to minimize the scope of cannibalization with competing products. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 22 Feb 2010 | 10:43 am On track for 9 growth PresidentPresident Pratibha Patil said on Monday the economy was likely to register a 7.5 per cent growth in 2009-10, touch 8 per cent in the next fiscal year and hit 9 per cent in 2011-12, clearly signalling the government’s optimism of a return to the high growth path, reports HT Correspondent. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Feb 2010 | 10:26 am Small units to get credit helpThe government on Monday said it would take steps to enhance credit flow to the country’s cash-strapped small and medium enterprises, on the lines suggested by a government-appointed task force. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Feb 2010 | 10:22 am Social sector hit by idle funds delayed releaseThe centre and the states together spent more than Rs 3.5 lakh crore last year on social sector programmes such as the MDM scheme, the universal education programme called Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, the National Rural Health Mission and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, report Abhijit Patnaik & Swaha Sahoo. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Feb 2010 | 10:19 am Government prepares the mood for elaborate disinvestmentPresident Pratibha Patil said on Monday that the Centre plans to profitable public sector undertakings (PSUs) amid indications the government is giving final touches to a comprehensive programme to sell stakes in a welter of state-controlled companies, reports HT Correspondent. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Feb 2010 | 10:17 am Plan to nurse back Air IndiaThe government on Monday said adequate steps are being taken to nurse state-owned Air India back to health. “The civil aviation sector could not remain unaffected by the global slowdown,” President Pratibha Patil said in her address to both Houses of Parliament. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Feb 2010 | 10:14 am Heavy crude oil set for exports Cairn may gainThe case for exporting newly-discovered crude oil such as the one being produced by Cairn India from Rajasthan oilfields is gaining ground. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Feb 2010 | 10:11 am Maruti against sudden brake on stimulusAhead of the Budget presentation on Friday, the country’s top car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki has asked the government not to roll back the entire stimulus package at once. The move was likely to hamper economic growth, Maruti Suzuki India Chairman RC Bhargava said on Monday.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Feb 2010 | 9:48 am Deregulation will result in more choice for consumersFrom being the director, business development, at Indian Oil Corporation, Naresh Nayyar moved on as the first chief executive officer of London-based ONGC-Mittal Energy Ltd, before joining Essar Oil Ltd. As its CEO and MD, Nayyar has been instrumental in taking some key decisions, including Essar’s plans to pursue acquisition of Shell’s refineries in Europe. He spoke to Anupama Airy on the group’s plans.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 22 Feb 2010 | 9:46 am India 3G auction likely next fiscal yr - Reuters
Source: Business - Google News | 22 Feb 2010 | 7:25 am
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