Monnet Ispat to invest Rs 2,400cr into cement foray

Monnet Ispat is looking to invest about Rs 2,400 crore to expand its cement business.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Mar 2010 | 8:41 am

Union Bank, Belgian KBC to invest 50 m euros in JV

Union Bank of India and Belgium\'s KBC will jointly invest 50 million euros in their planned mutual fund joint venture, the Indian bank\'s Chairman and Managing Director M. V. Nair said on Friday.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Mar 2010 | 7:19 am

Execution risk looms large for Bharti in Africa

Now comes the hard part for Bharti Airtel. On its third attempt in two years, Bharti is poised to become No 2 in Africa after it completes its USD 9 billion purchase of most of Zain\'s operations on the continent.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Mar 2010 | 7:14 am

Taro files audited financials for yearended Dec 31, 06

Pharmaceutical company Taro has filed audited financials for the year ended December 31, 2006 and restated financials for 2005 and 2004, CNBCTV18’s Ekta Batra reports.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Mar 2010 | 6:39 am

To have independent 10yr contract with UNICEF: Panacea

In an interview with CNBCTV18, Rajesh Jain, Joint Managing Director of Panacea Biotec, spoke about his outlook for the company.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Mar 2010 | 6:34 am

To sign agreements for Zain Africa assets soon: Bharti

Bharti Airtel Ltd said it was working with Zain to finalise definitive agreements for buying the Kuwaiti firm\'s African mobile business and expected to sign them soon.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Mar 2010 | 6:23 am

Shoppers Stop maintains samestore sales growth at 20%

It has been a difficult trot over the last one year or so for many of the retail companies in India. However, now the tide of consumer sentiment might just be turning if same store sales are any indication.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Mar 2010 | 5:50 am

JSPL starts ops in Bolivia, says most issues resolved

In an exclusive interview with CNBCTV18, JSPL\'s Director Sushil K Maroo, said JSPL had started iron our mining in Bolivia. \"Though most issues have been resolved now, discussions with the Bolivian government to set up pallet plant are on.\"
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Mar 2010 | 5:14 am

Ruchi Soya IOC ink LLP agreement to produce biofuels

Indore based Ruchi Soya Industries (RSIL) and oil major Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) signed a Limited Liability Partnership Agreement to form ‘Indian Oil Ruchi Biofuels LLP’.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Mar 2010 | 4:09 am

Bharti hopes to sign deal with Zain in next 10 days - Economic Times


Business Standard
Bharti hopes to sign deal with Zain in next 10 days
Economic Times
26 Mar 2010, 1515 hrs IST, PTI HELSINKI: Bharti today said it hopes to sign the USD 10.7-billion deal to acquire the African assets of Kuwait's telecom firm Zain in the next 10 days. "Hopefully," said Bharti Enterprises Vice Chairman and Managing ...
Bharti Forms Units for Zain's Africa Asset Purchase: Times LinkBloomberg
Bharti Airtel shares fall, Zain assets deal weighsReuters India
African risks in Bharti-Zain dealTimes of India
Reuters -Rediff -Moneycontrol.com
all 784 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 26 Mar 2010 | 3:57 am

Mahindra Ugine to spend Rs366.5 million on new plant

Mahindra Ugine Steel Company Ltd said on Friday its board approved investing Rs366.5 million to set up a stamping unit at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Mar 2010 | 3:42 am

Nakheel repayment to avoid "complexities" - official

DUBAI (Reuters) - Dubai offered to repay in full two Islamic bonds issued by property unit Nakheel to avoid "potential complexities," Dubai's finance chief was quoted as saying on Friday.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Mar 2010 | 3:29 am

Earth Hour: Nothing but tokenism?

Earth Hour, an initiative that encourages people around the world to turn off their lights between 8:30-9:30PM on March 27 to raise awareness about climate change, has been the WWF or World Wildlife Fund’s pet project for the last few weeks.
In India, the initiative has garnered a fair amount of attention, with over one million people signing up to pledge support on the Earth Hour website. In Delhi, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and actor Abhishek Bachchan have publicly declared their support for the campaign.
Initially conceived of in 2007 in Australia, Earth Hour has now become an annual, global initiative. India first participated last year, when Delhi and Mumbai formally pledged to be involved. This year, along with Delhi and Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata are all participating.
The one hour of “lights off” does amount to a considerable amount of energy saved--WWF says that one hour saved India 1000MW last year—however, one has to wonder about the event’s significance in the grand scheme of things.
For one thing, while the WWF does have several programmes aimed at mitigating the impact of climate change, it does not yet have a sustained grassroots campaign that raises awareness about climate change issues year round. So far it has relied on a one hour, once a year campaign, which has not produced any measurable impact in terms of changing long-term behavior patterns.
“We’re not trying to say that in one hour on one day we will make a lot of difference,” says Bhavna Mathur, who is working as a Consultant to WWF India on the Earth Hour initiative. “The main message is that people can do something to address climate change by something as simple as switching off the lights.”
While its efforts are laudable, the fact remains that as the world’s leading conservation organization, the WWF should be doing far more to raise awareness about climate change.
“The climate change crisis is political in nature but Earth Hour is constructed like a carnival or a festival,” says Pradip Saha, associate director the New Delhi based Centre for Science and Environment. While Saha acknowledges that any effort towards raising awareness about the crisis is a step in the right direction, he maintains that the outcomes of Earth Hour are not commensurate with the money and effort being poured into the initiative. “Between last year’s Earth Hour and this year’s Earth Hour I haven’t seen anything,” he says referring to the lack of any sustained awareness about climate change.
The hope is that after tomorrow, with Earth Hour 2010 out of the way, the WWF will go about constructing more relevant programmes that have the potential to engage with audiences, change attitudes and influence consumption patterns on a more sustained basis.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Mar 2010 | 3:20 am

UBI sees credit, deposit growth at 20% this fiscal

Mumbai: Union Bank of India said on 26 March it aims at a credit and deposit growth of 20% by the end of this fiscal, a top bank official said.
“By the end of the current financial year (FY 10), we expect to have a credit and deposit growth of 20%,” Union Bank of India chairman and managing director M V Nair, told reporters on 26 March.
Nair said credit growth for the industry in the next financial year (FY 11) would be 20-21%.
“Credit growth for the industry in FY11 will be 20-21% and we (Union Bank) are targeting a growth of 25% during the next fiscal,” Nair said, adding “our growth will be higher than that the industry.”
Nair said the bank would require a capital of Rs1,400 crore during the next fiscal.
When asked whether the bank was planning to increase its lending rates in the wake of the Reserve Bank hiking the repo and reverse repo rates, Nair said the bank would wait for the credit policy to be announced on 20 April before taking any decision.
“We need to wait for indications in the (credit) policy and by which time we will also get a reasonable understanding of the liquidity position. I don’t think we will look at hiking our interest rates for one more month,” Nair said.
Last week, the Central Bank raised repo and reverse repo rates (short-term rates at which RBI lends and borrows from banks) by 0.25% each.
Nair said the bank was planning to open an office in Belgium and has received RBI’s approval for it.
“We will now apply for approval from Belgium’s regulator--we expect to receive final approval in the next four to five months,” Nair said.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Mar 2010 | 3:14 am

Euro up on Greece plan; Nikkei hits 18-month high - Reuters


Times Online
Euro up on Greece plan; Nikkei hits 18-month high
Reuters
HONG KONG (Reuters) - The euro rebounded from a 10-month low on Friday and Asian stocks rallied after euro zone leaders and the IMF agreed to provide a joint financial safety net for debt-laden Greece, lifting some pressure on the single currency. ...
Euro strengthens after EU agree Greece dealBBC News
Greek aid deal may not end euro zone jitters: An analysisMoneycontrol.com
Greece deal lifts euro off 10-month lowsFinancial Times
Wall Street Journal -BusinessWeek -Times Online
all 6,274 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 26 Mar 2010 | 2:54 am

Mahindra Ugine to spend 366.5 mln rupees on new plant

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Mahindra Ugine Steel Company Ltd said on Friday its board approved investing 366.5 million rupees to set up a stamping unit at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Mar 2010 | 2:49 am

Wi-fi phones bloom as network clogging cramps carriers

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Using wi-fi to access the Internet on mobile handsets is rapidly emerging as an alternative to phone networks as customers look for ways to save money and carriers grapple with the issue of network congestion.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Mar 2010 | 2:47 am

Oil tops $81; Greece plan boosts commodities appeal

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil rose above $81 on Friday after an agreement to create a safety net for debt-ridden Greece helped restore confidence among investors to buy riskier assets, including commodities.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Mar 2010 | 2:42 am

News Corp to charge for UK Times online from June

LONDON (Reuters) - News Corp will charge readers for online versions of its UK Times and Sunday Times newspapers from June, becoming the first media firm to test consumers' appetite to pay for mass-market news online.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Mar 2010 | 2:39 am

Vodafone to sell Apple iPhone 3GS in India

India's top mobile firm Bharti Airtel also said earlier this week it would start selling iPhone 3GS from Friday.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Mar 2010 | 2:38 am

INTERVIEW - Goldman Sachs to ramp up Asian fixed income platform

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street investment banking powerhouse, is ramping up its fixed income operations in Asia, betting on a pickup in debt deals, a top Goldman official said.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Mar 2010 | 2:33 am

White House to announce housing aid Friday - sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House plans to announce on Friday that it will require lenders to lower the mortgage payments of some unemployed workers and encourage lenders to eliminate some principal debt of homeowners who owe more than their home is worth, sources familiar with the plan said on Thursday.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Mar 2010 | 2:24 am

Renault-Nissan, Daimler to take mutual stakes: media

Tokyo: Partners Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co are reportedly in the final stages of talks with Daimler AG to obtain symbolic stakes in each other as they look to share technology amid intensifying competition.
The Nikkei business daily reported on Friday that Nissan, which is Japan’s third-biggest automaker and is held 44.3% by Renault, was set to take a stake of 1 to 2% in Daimler. Negotiators are considering stock swaps or other arrangements that limit the need to raise fresh funds, it said.
All three declined to confirm the reports, which came a day after the FT said Renault and Daimler were close to agreeing a strategic partnership that would include a swap of small stakes.
The paper quoted one unidentified person as saying the “symbolic” stake could be around 3%.
Renault-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn has said he is open to a third partner for the 11-year-old alliance.
Renault’s board will meet on 6 April to discuss the partnership with Daimler, Le Figaro newspaper reported on Friday, adding that the deal would be announced to shareholders at the carmakers’ annual meetings later in April.
Carmakers are on the hunt to cut costs by building scale and spreading the load of heavy investments in new technologies such as hybrid and electric vehicles over large numbers of cars.
Renault and Daimler, maker of Mercedes cars, have made no secret of being in talks about cooperating to cut costs, pool technology resources and build scale as the crisis-hit industry tries to become more efficient. Both companies have said they were talking with a wide range of makers.
Analysts said a partnership among the three to seek operational synergies could be positive.
“It could set the stage for the expanded supply of electric vehicles or batteries (by Nissan) to Daimler,” JPMorgan Securities analyst Kohei Takahashi wrote in a note.
“However, given the failure of numerous past alliances and mergers to meet their stated targets, we caution against excessive expectations for sharp cost reductions through parts sharing until more details become available,” he added.
Small Gains
Nissan shares rose 0.9% to ¥775 by early afternoon, roughly in ine with Tokyo’s transport sector index.
“I personally think there aren’t a lot of merits for Nissan,” said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management.
“Just about the only merit I can see is that it might help make parts procurement less expensive and maybe open some routes into Europe. But overall the gains for Nissan look rather small, and I think the stock price is reflecting this view.”
Analysts also said a deal could fall through, with many citing widespread views that Renault-Nissan’s Ghosn was pushing for the equity deal.
“He’s (Ghosn) not into living together, he’s into getting married. And maybe Daimler is interested in only getting engaged,” said CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets analyst Christopher Richter. He added that operationally there could be advantages on both sides, with Nissan-Renault possibly supplying electric vehicle technology and Daimler providing big diesel engines.
“One nice thing with this alliance is that nobody would be stepping on anybody’s toes,” Richter said.
The auto industry is replete with capital alliances that have floundered or are yielding few or no synergies. Daimler itself has had numerous failures, with Chrysler, Mitsubishi Motors and Hyundai Motor.
Mitsubishi ended months of speculation earlier in March by announcing with France’s PSA Peugeot Citroen that the two had decided to forego an equity tie-up for now.
Small equity holdings within the industry are also not uncommon: Suzuki Motor and Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries hold a few% in each other, while Toyota Motor owns 4% of Yamaha Motor.
Meanwhile, carmakers have also aggressively sought operational tie-ups without an equity relationship.
Sources have said Japan’s Mazda Motor is discussing the possibility of asking Toyota for help in hybrids, though Ford Motor is Mazda’s top shareholder with 11%.
The Nikkei reported on Friday that Mazda planned to introduce a mid-size hybrid vehicle by 2013 based on core components supplied by Toyota.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Mar 2010 | 2:24 am

Renault-Nissan, Daimler to take mutual stakes: media

Tokyo: Partners Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co are reportedly in the final stages of talks with Daimler AG to obtain symbolic stakes in each other as they look to share technology amid intensifying competition.
The Nikkei business daily reported on Friday that Nissan, which is Japan’s third-biggest automaker and is held 44.3% by Renault, was set to take a stake of 1 to 2% in Daimler. Negotiators are considering stock swaps or other arrangements that limit the need to raise fresh funds, it said.
All three declined to confirm the reports, which came a day after the FT said Renault and Daimler were close to agreeing a strategic partnership that would include a swap of small stakes.
The paper quoted one unidentified person as saying the “symbolic” stake could be around 3%.
Renault-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn has said he is open to a third partner for the 11-year-old alliance.
Renault’s board will meet on 6 April to discuss the partnership with Daimler, Le Figaro newspaper reported on Friday, adding that the deal would be announced to shareholders at the carmakers’ annual meetings later in April.
Carmakers are on the hunt to cut costs by building scale and spreading the load of heavy investments in new technologies such as hybrid and electric vehicles over large numbers of cars.
Renault and Daimler, maker of Mercedes cars, have made no secret of being in talks about cooperating to cut costs, pool technology resources and build scale as the crisis-hit industry tries to become more efficient. Both companies have said they were talking with a wide range of makers.
Analysts said a partnership among the three to seek operational synergies could be positive.
“It could set the stage for the expanded supply of electric vehicles or batteries (by Nissan) to Daimler,” JPMorgan Securities analyst Kohei Takahashi wrote in a note.
“However, given the failure of numerous past alliances and mergers to meet their stated targets, we caution against excessive expectations for sharp cost reductions through parts sharing until more details become available,” he added.
Small Gains
Nissan shares rose 0.9% to ¥775 by early afternoon, roughly in ine with Tokyo’s transport sector index.
“I personally think there aren’t a lot of merits for Nissan,” said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management.
“Just about the only merit I can see is that it might help make parts procurement less expensive and maybe open some routes into Europe. But overall the gains for Nissan look rather small, and I think the stock price is reflecting this view.”
Analysts also said a deal could fall through, with many citing widespread views that Renault-Nissan’s Ghosn was pushing for the equity deal.
“He’s (Ghosn) not into living together, he’s into getting married. And maybe Daimler is interested in only getting engaged,” said CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets analyst Christopher Richter. He added that operationally there could be advantages on both sides, with Nissan-Renault possibly supplying electric vehicle technology and Daimler providing big diesel engines.
“One nice thing with this alliance is that nobody would be stepping on anybody’s toes,” Richter said.
The auto industry is replete with capital alliances that have floundered or are yielding few or no synergies. Daimler itself has had numerous failures, with Chrysler, Mitsubishi Motors and Hyundai Motor.
Mitsubishi ended months of speculation earlier in March by announcing with France’s PSA Peugeot Citroen that the two had decided to forego an equity tie-up for now.
Small equity holdings within the industry are also not uncommon: Suzuki Motor and Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries hold a few% in each other, while Toyota Motor owns 4% of Yamaha Motor.
Meanwhile, carmakers have also aggressively sought operational tie-ups without an equity relationship.
Sources have said Japan’s Mazda Motor is discussing the possibility of asking Toyota for help in hybrids, though Ford Motor is Mazda’s top shareholder with 11%.
The Nikkei reported on Friday that Mazda planned to introduce a mid-size hybrid vehicle by 2013 based on core components supplied by Toyota.

Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 26 Mar 2010 | 2:24 am

MBL Infra eyes Rs 1000cr revenue in FY11

MBL Infrastructure eyes revenues of Rs 1,000 crore for FY11 and hopes to get additional orders worth Rs 1,200 crore by June, a top official said on Thursday.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Mar 2010 | 2:20 am

India to have GPS based navigation system by next year: Patel

Washington: India would have a GPS-based aviation navigation system by next year, civil aviation minister Praful Patel has said.
Patel at a function organised by the US India Business Council on 25 March told reporters that the GPS based navigation system would be in place by next year because by then India would launch its own satellite.
“In the meantime we would be doing trial run on borrowed satellite. This is for the entire Indian network. Our entire air mapping would be done by GPS,” he said.
Patel also said that he has raised with top US officials the issue of American restrictions over dual use technology to India in the aviation sector. “Dual use technology restrictions were taken up by us also in our meeting with the US commerce secretary. Because of this there is a lot of restrictive growth in the aviation and aerospace industry.”
“They (America) must be a little bit forthcoming in the aviation dual use technology,” Patel said, adding that the issue was raised very strongly with the US officials during his meetings with them.
Patel said following the India-US Open Skies Agreement five years ago, the relationship between the two countries in the aviation sector has reached new heights.
“It has set the foundation for a very comprehensive partnership and it is not just purchase of few aircraft and equipment ... even in infrastructure like communication, navigation systems and air traffic systems.
“There is lot of partnership that is going on between the two countries and I think the level of engagement between the two countries is unprecedented,” he said.
“We have an aviation cooperation programme which we signed in 2007. We are discussing continuation of those programmes. It involves working with each other on the technical side, on the safety side and there are various initiatives which have already started,” he said.
Patel said India is moving into GPS satellite based navigation system from the present ground based navigation system. “That will shorten our air routes, especially in the time of global warming and environmental issues are paramount so that less emissions, more efficient aircraft all these are issues which we are able to discuss because of the aviation cooperation programme,” he noted.
Responding to a question, Patel said airport modernisation in Delhi is absolutely on track. “It would be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 3 July,” he said. He also said that Boeing is going to be paying compensation to Air India for the delay in the delivery of aircraft.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Mar 2010 | 2:07 am

Jewellers push gold sales higher; India buys

Singapore: Jewellers across Asia chased gold bars after bullion prices dropped about $10 this week, while main consumer India was stocking up ahead of the wedding season that begins in April, dealers said on Friday.
Dealers also noted active buying from jewellers in Indonesia and Thailand while consumers from the electronics sector in Hong Kong returned to the physical market as bullion prices slipped below the psychological level of $1,100 an ounce.
Cash gold rose $7.05 an ounce to $1,097.40 an ounce but was about 4% below a 6-1/2-week high near $1,150 hit in early March and more than $100 below record levels struck in December.
“We are actually running out of stocks. There’s not enough time to replenish gold bars. Thailand is the hottest buyer. Their demand is really good because they are quite price-sensitive,” said a physical dealer in Singapore.
“We’ve also seen inquiries from India. That’s quite good.”
The wedding season starts in April in India, which accounts for 20% of global demand for gold. Gold jewellery is the most common gift during religious events in India and local jewellers normally stock up weeks before key celebrations.
Premiums were steady at 80 cents to $1 an ounce to the spot London prices in Singapore, their highest since early February, but they could rise next week because of the strong demand and tight supplies.
Singapore dealers, who sell gold bars to consumers across Asia, normally get their supplies from refiners in Switzerland.
“There has been strong demand in Asia and the supply is tight as well in view of the approaching Easter holiday,” said another dealer. “The Swiss refineries will be closed for couple of days.”
In Hong Kong, premiums for gold bars inched up to $1.20 to the spot London prices, also their strongest in more than a month, versus $1 last week.
“It seems a drop below $1,090 an ounce attracts buybacks in the physical market. We are seeing demand from jewellers and the industrial sector,” a dealer in Hong Kong said.
“After the Chinese New Year, refiners have been receiving new order from the customers,” he added. Gold bars were on par with London prices in Tokyo versus a discount of 75 cents last week after purchases from the electronics sector accelerated as bullion stayed below the psychological level of $1,100 an ounce.
But a weaker Japanese yen pushed up gold contracts on Tokyo Commodity Exchange, which could eventually spur selling from retail investors and put pressure on the premiums again, dealers said.
Gold has dropped from recent highs, mainly due to a rally in the dollar and uncertainty over a bailout package for debt-ridden Greece, but an increase in ETF holdings showed gold still attracted investors as currencies remained volatile.
The world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings stood at 1,124.647 tonnes as of 25 March, up 4.568 tonnes from the previous business day.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Mar 2010 | 2:05 am

India expects $5 bn Canadian investment in road sector

Toronto: India expects a big investment of $5 billion (around Rs22,800 crore) from Canada in the country’s road development programme over the next three to four years, road transport and highways minister Kamal Nath has said.
“I am looking at Canada looking beyond NAFTA,” Nath said after meeting with top Canadian ministers and executives of financial institutions on Thursday.
“Canadian pension funds and financial institutions are actively consider participating in the National Highway Development Project (NHDP),” he added.
Nath said that of the $40 billion needed from the private sector for the road programme, about $10 billion is likely to come from foreign funds. “We expect $5 billion from Canada. The Indian government will put as many as nine mega projects up for bidding in the next two months.”
“Both countries are working on a memorandum of understanding expected to be sign within three months that aims to facilitate transfer of Canadian know-how, technology with respect to highway management, road safety, vehicle safety, and private investment by high profile Canadian financial institutions,” Nath said.
“I would like to foster partnership (between) India and Canada in infrastructure — especially for high speed highways construction and management and railway networks; there is a very good opportunity for Canada and India,” Nath said.
He met Canadian industry minister Tony Clement, transport minister John Baird and other top officials of the government.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Mar 2010 | 2:04 am

Vodafone to sell Apple iPhone 3GS in India

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Vodafone Essar, India's third-largest mobile operator controlled by Vodafone, said on Friday it was selling Apple Inc's iPhone 3GS in the country, effective immediately.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Mar 2010 | 1:54 am

Britain’s Times, Sunday Times to charge for online content

London: British newspapers The Times and The Sunday Times will charge readers to access the titles online from June, Rupert Murdoch’s News International announced Friday.
Customers will be charged £1 (€1.10, $1.50) for one day’s access and £2 for a week’s subscription.
Both titles will launch new websites in early May, replacing the existing combined site, Times Online.
The two new sites will be available for a free trial period to registered customers.
Access to the digital services will be included in the seven-day subscriptions of print customers of the two newspapers.
News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks said: “At a defining moment for journalism, this is a crucial step towards making the business of news an economically exciting proposition.
“We are proud of our journalism and unashamed to say that we believe it has value.
“This is just the start. The Times and The Sunday Times are the first of our four titles in the UK to move to this new approach.”
News International, a division of Murdoch’s News Corporation, also owns The Sun tabloid and Sunday tabloid News of the World.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Mar 2010 | 1:46 am

Top Canadian leaders lead business mission to India - Sify


Rediff
Top Canadian leaders lead business mission to India
Sify
Even before road transport and infrastructure minister Kamal Nath winds up his visit here, a high-level Canadian business delegation begins a four-day visit to India from March 29. Led by John Manley, former deputy prime minister and current CEO and ...
India expects USD 5 bn investment in road sectorPress Trust of India
Kamal Nath urges Canadian funds to invest in Indian highwaysNetIndian
Kamal Nath invites Canadian pension funds to invest in Indian highway projectOneindia
onlineindiannews -Globe and Mail -Toronto Star
all 42 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 26 Mar 2010 | 1:38 am

Rupee at near 11-week high - Economic Times


The Hindu
Rupee at near 11-week high
Economic Times
MUMBAI: The rupee strengthened to its highest level in nearly 11 weeks on Friday afternoon as gains in the domestic share market helped bring some capital inflows, while broad weakness in the dollar also underpinned sentiment. At 12:03 pm (0633 GMT), ...
Indian rupee edges higher on share gains; weak dlrReuters India
Re up, yields downFinancial Express
Rupee gains 5 paise against US dollar in early tradePress Trust of India
BusinessWeek -Daily Times -BloombergUTV
all 71 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 26 Mar 2010 | 1:27 am

Sensex northbound; HUL, ONGC, M&M, Maruti, Ranbaxy up - Moneycontrol.com


The Hindu
Sensex northbound; HUL, ONGC, M&M, Maruti, Ranbaxy up
Moneycontrol.com
At 12.47 hrs IST, Nifty was trading in a narrow band of 20 points with positive bias. The markets opened in green on the first day of new series. The Nifty was struggling to past 5290 zone on the upside. Buying was seen in consumer durables, auto, ...
Sensex up nearly 100 pointsSify
Penny stocks count dwindling; Fame India, Avance biggest moversBusiness Standard
Sensex slightly off day's highIndia Infoline.com
Economic Times -Myiris.com -Sify
all 222 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 26 Mar 2010 | 1:25 am

Polaris acquires IndigoTX

Chennai: Polaris Software Lab Limited, a leading financial technology company on Friday announced acquisition of IndigoTX, a company that provides GO TX, an enterprise brokerage solution for the securities market on a pay per use model.
The GO TX brokerage platform is a cutting edge technology platform that runs on a GRID architecture providing tremendous amount of scalability and performance using Commodity hardware platforms. A GO TX brokerage customer pays the company on a pay per use model, a company release said.
Under this model, the company provides trading in multiple instruments each such as equities, derivatives, mutual funds, commodities and currencies, providing access to multiple markets besides integrating the front, middle and back-office functions.
The Go TX layered architecture also allows it to integrate internet access, desktops and other user access devices into a single platform, the release added.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Mar 2010 | 1:24 am

EU plans recall of Indian-made generic Plavix

Plavix, or clopidogrel, is sold as a brand by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb. It is the world's second biggest selling medicine, with worldwide sales of more than $9 billion a year.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 Mar 2010 | 1:20 am

Oil rises; Greece plan boosts commodities appeal

Singapore: Oil climbed towards $81 on Friday after an agreement to create a safety net for debt-ridden Greece helped restore confidence among investors to buy riskier assets, including commodities.
The euro rebounded from 10-month lows after euro zone leaders together with the International Monetary Fund on Thursday agreed to provide Greece with coordinated bilateral loans if the Mediterranean nation faced severe difficulties.
US crude for May delivery rose for the first time in three days, gaining 37 cents to $80.90 a barrel at 11:45am, while ICE Brent climbed 37 cents to $79.98 in London.
Japan’s Nikkei average hit an 18-month high on Friday, while a day earlier the Dow and S&P 500 jumped to similar milestones following a report showing the number of U.S. workers filing for jobless aid fell sharply last week.
“The initial jobless claims was a very encouraging sign,” said Clarence Chu, an energy trader at Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore. “If the number of unemployed people drops, it will be a big boost for oil.”
“And if something really concrete comes out of Greece, and people forget about Europe’s problems and the dollar comes back down, then oil could march higher,” Chu said, adding that for now he expects prices to trade between $80 and $83.50.
The European-IMF agreement for Greece included no numbers, but a senior European Commission source said the support package would be worth 20-22 billion euros ($27-29 billion) if required in an emergency.
“Most people think the bailout is a done deal, but I think it is still in the air,” Chu said. “The IMF has had to step in because they can’t agree on one thing.”
Oil prices were, however, little changed from last Friday as a larger-than-expected increase in US crude inventories offset declining stockpiles of gasoline and distillates.
Investors have mostly focused on currency movements and the speed of economic recovery as a cue for commodity price movements this week. Gold also rose today as the euro rebounded.
US oil demand grew 3.6% last week. But demand in Europe weakened sharply in January, down by 1.55 million barrels per day from a year earlier, Barclays Capital said earlier this week, citing data published by the Joint Oil Data Initiative.
“The whole demand picture is not that strong,” Hudson’s Chu said. “It has improved from a year ago, but it is still very weak.”
Oil inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key US crude oil hub, rose by 754,739 barrels to 31.8 million barrels in the week to 23 March, according to a report from energy industry data provider Genscape released on Thursday.
“Fundamentals really don’t support prices at these levels,” Chu said. “But the whole feeling is that oil is very resilient, and it doesn’t want to go lower.”

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Mar 2010 | 1:16 am

Asian stock markets climb after Greece rescue plan

Hong Kong: Asian stock markets rose Friday after Europe agreed to a rescue plan for Greece if the country’s debt crisis deepens.
The region’s shares were mixed in early trade before turning higher later in the day, while oil prices headed toward $81 a barrel. The euro, down sharply this week, regained some ground against the dollar.
Uncertainty about the fate of Greece, struggling under mountains of debt, has shaken markets in recent months as European countries that share the euro currency failed to come up with a decisive bailout plan.
But on Thursday, Greece won a pledge of financial support from other European countries and the International Monetary Fund, bringing a measure of relief, at least for now, to investors worried about spiraling debt levels on the continent.
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average was up 167.52 points, or 1.6%, at 10,996.37.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 79.74, or 0.4%, to 20,858.29 and South Korea’s Kospi added 9.33 points, or 0.6%, to 1,697.72.
Markets in Australia, Indian and Taiwan also gained.
The dollar fell to 92.50 yen versus 92.66 yen. The euro climbed to $1.3348 from $1.3277.
In oil, benchmark crude for May delivery was up 37 cents at $80.90.
In economic news, deflation continued in Japan as February consumer prices showed a decline for the 12th straight month last month, posing a threat to the fragile recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.
Wall Street futures were higher.
In New York Thursday, the Dow rose just 0.1%, to 10,841.21, after hitting a 2010 high earlier in the day.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:54 am

Union Bank, Belgian KBC to invest €50 mn in AMC JV

Mumbai: State-run Union Bank of India and Belgian’s KBC will jointly invest 50 million euros in their newly formed mutual fund joint venture in India, top officials said on Friday.
The joint venture, in which Union Bank would own 51% and KBC’s asset management arm the rest, is expected to get market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India’s approval in four to five months, Union Bank chairman and managing director M.V. Nair told reporters.
“The money will be invested after we get final approval from market regulator,” Nair said.
The joint venture would offer KBC approved capital protected investment funds, open-ended equity funds and other structured products for retail customers, KBC Group’s chief operating officer Danny De Raeymaeker said.
“India is a fast growing market and we are yet to tap most of the assets,” Raeymaeker said.
The joint venture company would target Rs120 billion of assets under management in the next 3 years, a market share of 3% at the end of fifth year of operations and break even by the fifth year of operations, the companies said in a statement.
Nair said the bank would train 500 people and place them in equal number of branches to sell mutual fund products.
“We will tap our client base of 26.5 million,” he said.
The bank is adding 3 million clients every year and is targeting a credit growth of 25% in 2010-11, he said.
At 12.25 p.m., Union Bank shares were 2.22% down at Rs283.70 in the Mumbai market that was up 0.3%.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:46 am

India to have GPS based navigation system by next year: Patel - Economic Times


Deccan Herald
India to have GPS based navigation system by next year: Patel
Economic Times
26 Mar 2010, 1137 hrs IST, PTI WASHINGTON: India would have a GPS-based aviation navigation system by next year, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has said. Patel at a function organised by the US India Business Council here on Thursday told ...
India to be among top 5 aviation markets: Praful PatelRediff
Airport delivers petition in bid to bring back Air IndiaThe Birmingham Post
Will a strategic investor rescue Air India?Daily News & Analysis
Assam Tribune -BloombergUTV -India Journal
all 15 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:22 am

Bharti Airtel shares fall, Zain assets deal weighs

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Bharti Airtel shares fell more than 2 percent on Friday on concerns that a debt-funded $9 billion deal to buy the African assets of Kuwaiti telecom Zain may stretch the Indian mobile operator's financials.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:13 am

Wall St finishes flat after auction, debt concerns

New York: US stocks ended flat on Thursday, dropping off earlier highs as a weak US bond auction and global debt concerns continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
Indexes advanced for most of the session, with the Dow and S&P hitting fresh 18-month highs, but their gains mostly disappeared after the auction of seven-year notes and comments from European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet on issues surrounding Greece’s sovereign debt.
Trichet told France’s Public Senat television that if the IMF or some other body exercises the responsibility in lieu of the Eurogroup or instead of governments, “it is evidently very, very bad.”
“We are losing our stock gains because of the threat of rising US yields and the weakening of the euro,” said Tom Sowanick, chief investment officer of the Omnivest Group in Princeton, New Jersey.
The session’s early gains came after both Qualcomm and Best Buy gave bullish profit outlooks, an encouraging sign ahead of the upcoming earnings season.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 5.06 points, or 0.05%, to end at 10,841.21. But the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 1.99 points, or 0.17%, at 1,165.73. And the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 1.35 points, or 0.06%, at 2,397.41.
Oracle Corp shares slipped 0.7% to $25.86 in extended trading after reporting adjusted third-quarter earnings that beat expectations by a penny. The stock, which is near a nine-year high, had jumped 1.1% in regular trading to end at $26.04 on Nasdaq.
Wall Street watches Oracle’s results closely to determine whether corporate technology spendng is on the mend.
Kim Caughey, senior analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group, said Oracle “did well this quarter, but what I’m most interested in is their plan for Sun, because that it a lower-margin business than they are used to being in, and it did drag the margins down somewhat.”
As for the late slump in Oracle’s stock, Caughey said, “People don’t now how to figure out if they did OK or not” because of the Sun acquisition. “It’s a confusing thing at this point.”
Oracle, one of the world’s largest software makers, bought Sun Microsystems for $7.5 billion as a way to get into the hardware business for the first time.
During the regular session, Bank of America Corp ended 1% higher at $17.74 while peer bank Citigroup, the most active stock on the New York Stock Exchange, ended up 2.9% at $4.27. Earlier, Bloomberg News reported that the U.S. Treasury could unveil a plan next month for the sale of its stake in the bank.
Banks are among the best performers this year and were one of the few sectors to rise on Wednesday when markets fell on fears related to global sovereign debt.
Wireless chip maker Qualcomm Inc gained 5% to $42.19 on Nasdaq after raising its second-quarter earnings outlook while Best Buy advanced 3.6% to $42.66 on the New York Stock Exchange after a better-than-expected outlook and results.
“Since the outlooks are obviously forward looking, they’re signs of encouraging things to come,” said Peter Lewis, fund manager at Murphy Capital Management in Gladstone, New Jersey. “We continue to expect strong earnings” this season.
First-quarter S&P 500 earnings reports, due in the coming weeks, are forecast to show year-over-year gains of 36.6%, according to estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters.
Also on Thursday, data showed the number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment insurance fell sharply last week.
About 10 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, above last year’s estimated daily average of 9.65 billion.
Decliners outnumbered advancers by a ratio of 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, while on the Nasdaq, about eight stocks fell for every five that rose.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:12 am

Rupee at near 11-week high on shares, weak dollar

Mumbai: The Indian rupee strengthened to its highest level in nearly 11 weeks on Friday afternoon as gains in the domestic sharemarket helped bring some capital inflows, while broad weakness in the dollar also underpinned sentiment.
At 12:03pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs45.33/34 per dollar, after hitting Rs45.31, its strongest since 11 January. The rupee had closed at Rs45.49/50 on Thursday, after touching Rs45.71, its weakest since 5 March.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:12 am

Spice Mobiles to make handsets India by 2010-end - Economic Times


Indian Tech News
Spice Mobiles to make handsets India by 2010-end
Economic Times
25 Mar 2010, 2314 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: Handset maker Spice Mobiles on Thursday said it will start manufacturing mobile phones in the country by the end of this year and plans to sell one million devices from April. The company will start trial ...
Spice Mobiles gears up various activities to target Indian Mobile marketUb News
Spice Mobiles To Start Manufacturing Handsets In India By The Year Endindia-server.com
Hi-end camera phone from SpiceThe Hindu
Telecom Yatra -India Today -indiablooms
all 18 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:01 am

Essar Group signs deal for Indonesian coal mine

Less than a month after it acquired a coal mine in the US, the Essar Group has signed an agreement to buy Aries coal mines in Indonesia for an undisclosed
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am

Videocon Telecom dials into mobile services

Videocon Telecommunications Ltd today launched its mobile telephone
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am

Day Trading Guide

Initiate fresh long position only if DLF jumps above its 21-day moving average which is poised at Rs 305, with tight
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am

RBI warns of lagged impact of slowdown on bank profits

The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday cautioned that the economic slowdown could have a lagged effect on the credit quality and profitability of
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am

Zain to sign definitive pact with Bharti soon

Mobile telecommunications company KSC, also known as Zain, said that it will sign a definitive agreement with Bharti Airtel in the next few days. The company confirmed that the board of directors of Zain met in Kuwait on Wednesday to review the
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am

Corporates' overseas borrowing on the rise

Indian corporates are increasingly raising overseas funds to meet their credit
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am

Mukand Engineers (Rs 48.7): Buy

This stock was in a strong medium-term uptrend since July 2009. The movement in this period has been a steady upward climb that can be enclosed within an upward rising trend channel. A break-out above the upper boundary of this channel at Rs 55
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am

N. Ram to sue Indian Express

Mr N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu and Group publications and Director of Kasturi & Sons Limited, has decided to launch defamatory proceedings, civil and criminal, against Archna Shukla, Senior Editor, The Indian Express, the
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am

Food inflation eases; fuels hold steady

Food inflation eased for the third straight week in mid-March even as fuel inflation remained steady. Government data released on Thursday showed the food price index rose an annual 16.22 per cent in the week-ended March 13, lower than the
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am

FII inflows through P-Notes hit all-time low

The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) desire to curb inflow of overseas funds through the controversial participatory notes (P-Notes) is finally getting fulfilled. P-Notes as a proportion of the FII assets under management has
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 26 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am

Sensex eyes 7th weekly rise; Bharti drops

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex was trading 0.4% higher on Friday, on track to post its seventh weekly rise in a row, with automakers pushing ahead on expectations for robust sales before the financial year ends.
Bharti Airtel fell more than 2% as the leading mobile operator moved closer to wrap up a $9 billion deal to buy most of Kuwaiti Zain’s African assets.
The mobile carrier is poised to become the No. 2 in Africa after it completes the purchase, but its management and finances will be stretched.
By 10:48am, the 30-share BSE index was trading up 0.35% at 17,621.02, taking gains so far in the week to 0.2%. The 50-share NSE index was up 0.3% at 5,277.80.
Twenty-one of its components advanced.
”There is a lot of optimism due to continued liquidity flow,” said Ambareesh Baliga, vice-president of Karvy Stock Broking.
Foreign funds have poured around $3.5 billion in Indian equities so far in 2010, a part of which was absorbed by offerings in the primary market.
Tata Motors, the No. 1 truck maker, top carmaker Maruti Suzuki were up 1.9% and 2.2% respectively while leading utility vehicle maker Mahindra and Mahindra climbed 1.8%.
”Usually March auto sales are higher as institutional customers and those who buy for business purposes want to take advantage of higher depreciation,” said Vaishali Jajoo, research analyst at Angel Broking.
”Also this time there are fears that prices may go up in April due to new emission norms coming into effect and higher raw material prices,” she added.
Bharti shares were trading down 2.2% at Rs306.80 after rising 0.7% earlier.
”The Zain deal is definitely lucrative from the long-term perspective. But margins will be hit in the near term due to high interest cost on the debt,” said R.K. Gupta, managing director of Taurus Mutual Fund.
Reliance Industries, which has the highest weight on the main index, was up 0.7% at Rs1,099.50.
In the broader market, gainers led losers in a ratio of 1.5:1 on volume of 139 million shares.
Baliga said valuations looked stretched and if March quarter earnings were below expectations there could be a sell off.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Mar 2010 | 11:56 pm

Pfizer faces $142M in damages for drug fraud

A federal jury has found that Pfizer Inc. violated anti-racketeering laws in promoting its epilepsy drug Neurontin for unapproved uses and must pay at least $142 million in damages.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 25 Mar 2010 | 11:54 pm

Rupee gains 5 paise against dollar in early trade

Dealers said the rupee strengthened against the US currency largely in tandem with other firming currencies and dollar selling by banks and exporters.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Mar 2010 | 11:46 pm

Videocon starts mobile services - Times of India


The Hindu
Videocon starts mobile services
Times of India
CHENNAI: The Videocon Group became the 13th mobile operator in India with its launch of GSM services in Chennai on Thursday. The company plans to roll out services in 100 cities and towns in the next 100 days and be a pan-India player by the end of ...
Videocon plans huge outlay on mobile servicesThe Hindu
Videocon still wants an IPL team: DhootSify
Videocon Telecom dials into mobile servicesHindu Business Line
india-server.com -Financial Express -Economic Times
all 34 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 25 Mar 2010 | 11:39 pm

AIG’s near-collapse yields gold for Wall Street

New York: The crumbling empire of American International Group Inc is helping to pave Wall Street with gold.
Auctions of the bailed-out insurer’s assets have generated more than half a billion dollars in fees since its near-collapse in September 2008, with every major Wall Street bank getting a piece of the action, estimates from Freeman Consulting show.
The largest sale assignments came to fruition this quarter, when, in a space of just a week, AIG struck deals to sell two major foreign life insurance businesses, one each to Prudential Plc and MetLife Inc, for some $51 billion.
Those two sales have also played a significant role in shaping the first quarter rankings of deal advisers, helping some investment banks make quantum leaps in the coveted league tables, Thomson Reuters data through 25 March shows.
Blackstone Group LP, which has advised AIG throughout the crisis, jumped to No. 9 in the worldwide rankings from No. 78 over the same period last year. Lazard Ltd, which advised Prudential, jumped to No. 5 from No. 11.
AIG, which has been selling assets to repay the US government after a $182.3 billion taxpayer funded rescue, has been involved in as many as 90 transactions with disclosed value of $67.7 billion, the data shows. Together, these deals will generate an estimated $567.2 million in advisory fees, according to Freeman.
But AIG is only one piece of the global financial crisis that has driven financial institution deals in the last two years. The aftermath of the crisis is likely to play a role in keeping investment bankers busy in the coming months as well.
“Ongoing restructurings, access to growth markets and consolidation — and they are all interlinked in a way — but those three things are going to drive the business pretty strongly in the next few years,” said Vikram Gandhi, head of Credit Suisse’s global financial institutions group.
Credit Suisse Group AG, which advised both the buyers, rose to No. 2 from No. 6.
The bank started bulking up its financial institutions practice before the crisis and has focused on improving global co-ordination, which has paid off as many of the deals created by the crisis have been cross-border transactions.
“To a large extent this is a return on that investment,” said Gandhi, who moved to Hong Kong from New York in the summer of 2008.
Negotiating Leverage
Although the two AIG deals have given advisers a good start to 2010, they took many months of work.
Indeed for scores of advisers and government officials working on stabilizing AIG and selling its assets, taking time out — even for events such as births, weddings and funerals — has often been difficult.
The fees are well-earned. Morgan Stanley, which is estimated to get the lion’s share with $131.9 million, has been the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s consigliere.
Morgan Stanley and Blackstone helped devise the strategy that allowed AIG to regain control of auctions that had devolved into fire sales in the months after the bailout.
So when Prudential, which had offered $11 billion for American International Assurance (AIA) in early 2009, came back with a bid closer to $30 billion in January this year, AIG could ask for more, according to sources close to the situation.
AIG was already well on its way to do an initial public offering for AIA, which gave chief executive Robert Benmosche and the special committee of the board, led by Suzanne Nora Johnson, the leverage they needed to push Prudential to raise its bid, these sources said.
It did, to $35.5 billion.
The groundwork also gave leverage to Morris Offit, the AIG director leading the committee negotiating with MetLife, these sources said, declining to be named because the deals have not yet closed.
MetLife, which had come in with about $11 billion early last year, agreed to pay $15.5 billion.
The deals are rewarding in other ways, too.
“These are two huge deals that are going to resolve one of the biggest crises we have had,” one of the sources said.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Mar 2010 | 11:38 pm

AIG’s near-collapse yields gold for Wall Street

New York: The crumbling empire of American International Group Inc is helping to pave Wall Street with gold.
Auctions of the bailed-out insurer’s assets have generated more than half a billion dollars in fees since its near-collapse in September 2008, with every major Wall Street bank getting a piece of the action, estimates from Freeman Consulting show.
The largest sale assignments came to fruition this quarter, when, in a space of just a week, AIG struck deals to sell two major foreign life insurance businesses, one each to Prudential Plc and MetLife Inc, for some $51 billion.
Those two sales have also played a significant role in shaping the first quarter rankings of deal advisers, helping some investment banks make quantum leaps in the coveted league tables, Thomson Reuters data through 25 March shows.
Blackstone Group LP, which has advised AIG throughout the crisis, jumped to No. 9 in the worldwide rankings from No. 78 over the same period last year. Lazard Ltd, which advised Prudential, jumped to No. 5 from No. 11.
AIG, which has been selling assets to repay the US government after a $182.3 billion taxpayer funded rescue, has been involved in as many as 90 transactions with disclosed value of $67.7 billion, the data shows. Together, these deals will generate an estimated $567.2 million in advisory fees, according to Freeman.
But AIG is only one piece of the global financial crisis that has driven financial institution deals in the last two years. The aftermath of the crisis is likely to play a role in keeping investment bankers busy in the coming months as well.
“Ongoing restructurings, access to growth markets and consolidation — and they are all interlinked in a way — but those three things are going to drive the business pretty strongly in the next few years,” said Vikram Gandhi, head of Credit Suisse’s global financial institutions group.
Credit Suisse Group AG, which advised both the buyers, rose to No. 2 from No. 6.
The bank started bulking up its financial institutions practice before the crisis and has focused on improving global co-ordination, which has paid off as many of the deals created by the crisis have been cross-border transactions.
“To a large extent this is a return on that investment,” said Gandhi, who moved to Hong Kong from New York in the summer of 2008.
Negotiating Leverage
Although the two AIG deals have given advisers a good start to 2010, they took many months of work.
Indeed for scores of advisers and government officials working on stabilizing AIG and selling its assets, taking time out — even for events such as births, weddings and funerals — has often been difficult.
The fees are well-earned. Morgan Stanley, which is estimated to get the lion’s share with $131.9 million, has been the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s consigliere.
Morgan Stanley and Blackstone helped devise the strategy that allowed AIG to regain control of auctions that had devolved into fire sales in the months after the bailout.
So when Prudential, which had offered $11 billion for American International Assurance (AIA) in early 2009, came back with a bid closer to $30 billion in January this year, AIG could ask for more, according to sources close to the situation.
AIG was already well on its way to do an initial public offering for AIA, which gave chief executive Robert Benmosche and the special committee of the board, led by Suzanne Nora Johnson, the leverage they needed to push Prudential to raise its bid, these sources said.
It did, to $35.5 billion.
The groundwork also gave leverage to Morris Offit, the AIG director leading the committee negotiating with MetLife, these sources said, declining to be named because the deals have not yet closed.
MetLife, which had come in with about $11 billion early last year, agreed to pay $15.5 billion.
The deals are rewarding in other ways, too.
“These are two huge deals that are going to resolve one of the biggest crises we have had,” one of the sources said.

Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 25 Mar 2010 | 11:38 pm

Bharti shares fall, Zain assets deal weighs

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel shares fell more than 2% on Friday on concerns that a debt-funded $9 billion deal to buy the African assets of Kuwaiti telecom Zain may stretch the Indian mobile operator’s financials.
New Delhi-based Bharti said late on Thursday due diligence on the deal to buy Zain Africa BV, a company incorporated in the Netherlands, is complete, and expected to sign definitive agreements with Zain soon, echoing what the Kuwaiti group said the previous day.
The acquisition would give Bharti access to 15 countries in Africa.
“The (Zain Africa) deal is extremely good from a long-term point of view, but the market generally does not like such deals because they could stretch the balance sheet,” said Ambareesh Baliga, vice president at Karvy Stock Broking.
Bharti shares were down 2% at Rs307.40, in a Mumbai market up 0.4%. The company’s shares fell as much as 2.7% earlier in the session.
Bharti and rival Reliance Communications were the only two benchmark index components that gave negative returns in 2009 as a price war clouded their growth outlook, even as the broader market jumped 81%.
“We are buyers at Rs290 and sellers at Rs320 and that is the range I see the stock moving in,” Baliga said.
At 10 times enterprise value to EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), Bharti is paying a rich price for a group of loss-making assets on a continent full of operational challenges, analysts say.
Bharti is borrowing up to $8.5 billion to pay for the acquisition just as it gears up for third-generation (3G) operations in its home market, which will cost billions in licence fees and equipment.
The financing is estimated to lift Bharti’s debt to EBITDA ratio to more than 2 times, from 0.4 times before the deal.
The Economic Times newspaper said on Friday Bharti had formed two special purpose vehicles in the Netherlands and Singapore to execute the purchase.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Mar 2010 | 11:37 pm

Rupee gains 5 paise against dollar

The rupee today appreciated by 5 paise to 45.44 a dollar in early trade on increased capital inflows by foreign funds into the stock markets.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 Mar 2010 | 11:19 pm

Sensex up 80 points on Asian cues

The 30-share index gained 80.10 points, or 0.46%, to 17,640.25 points in the opening trade. The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also moved up by 19.40 points, or 0.36%, to 5,279.80 points.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Mar 2010 | 10:59 pm

Bharti shares, down 1 per cent on Bombay Stock Exchange

Bharti Airtel, the country's largest private telecom company, today fell by one per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange, a day after the company announced entering into "definitive agreements" with Kuwait-based Zain Telecom to acquire the latter's African assets.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 25 Mar 2010 | 10:53 pm

Bharti Airtel forms 2 special vehicles for Zain deal: Report

The SPVs will own the acquired assets and will repay the debt from the cash flows from the African operations, but Bharti will step in if there is a default, the newspaper said on Friday.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Mar 2010 | 10:51 pm

Sensex up 80 points on Asian cues

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex rose by over 80 points in the opening trade today on continued capital inflows by foreign funds, which took cues from firming Asian bourses.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 25 Mar 2010 | 10:23 pm

'It is easier to set up new ventures in US than in India'

Christine Kelly, Sr MIT faculty, says that start-up ventures in the US & India share similar enthusiasm, but...
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Mar 2010 | 10:21 pm

Sensex up 80 points on Asian cues

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex rose by over 80 points in the opening trade today on continued capital inflows by foreign funds, which took cues from firming Asian bourses.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 Mar 2010 | 10:19 pm

Guru Pushya Nakshatra doubles gold sales across Gujarat

Pushya Nakshatra is considered an auspicious occasion to invest and acquire material such as gold.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Mar 2010 | 10:15 pm

5 Gujarat firms' IPOs in the offing; to raise over Rs4,000 crore

As many as 17 IPOs have been listed on India's two premier stock exchanges, the BSE and NSE, in less than three months, equalling the total number of IPOs registered in 2009.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Mar 2010 | 10:13 pm

Mittal's Africa call finally connecting

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Persistence is paying off for Sunil Bharti Mittal, the chairman of Bharti Airtel. The billionaire founder of Bharti is finally close to realising his dreams of building a major presence in Africa with a deal to pay $9 billion for Kuwaiti group Zain's assets in 15 African countries.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 25 Mar 2010 | 10:12 pm

Expert warns of currency crisis after financial crisis

Avinash Persaud is the chairman of Intelligence Capital, a firm that advises governments of many G20 countries on managing their finances and an expert member of the UK government's Treasury Group.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 Mar 2010 | 9:29 pm

Key takeaways from RBI's Financial Stability report - Moneycontrol.com


The Hindu
Key takeaways from RBI's Financial Stability report
Moneycontrol.com
In its first ever Financial Stability Report, the Reserve Bank of India said economic growth is robust, while inflation and government market borrowing will be key problems. It added that Indian banks are adequately capitalized and can withstand stress ...
India call rate steady near 3.5 pct on reporting dayReuters India
Bond yields edge down; seen in tight rangeEconomic Times
RBI warns of lagged impact of slowdown on bank profitsHindu Business Line
Business Standard -Financial Express -Livemint
all 152 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 25 Mar 2010 | 9:20 pm

No new taxes in Maharashtra budget, but debt could rise

Maharashtra Finance Minister Sunil Tatkare on Thursday unveiled a budget free of additional taxes and levies on the common man.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 25 Mar 2010 | 9:08 pm

India Tata Motors to sell stake in unit - Reuters


Reuters
India Tata Motors to sell stake in unit
Reuters
A worker cleans a Tata Motors logo outside its showroom in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad October 26, 2009. MUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Motors (TAMO.BO), India's largest vehicles maker is selling about 20 percent stake in its equipment and services ...
Sensex up 67 pts as stocks open on firm noteSify
Tata Motors to sell 20% in Telcon to HitachiBusiness Standard
: Tata Motors to shed Telcon stakeFinancial Express
Livemint -Economic Times -BloombergUTV
all 39 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 25 Mar 2010 | 8:36 pm

Kuwait's Zain approves Bharti's bid to connect with Africa

India's top telecom company Bharti Airtel was set to become the 7th largest global player in this business, with an approval from Kuwait's Zain to buy its African assets, other than those in Morocco and Sudan, for $10.7 billion.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 25 Mar 2010 | 8:24 pm

Banks pass muster in stress test

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) maiden financial stability report (FSR), released on Thursday, said Indian banks are healthy and can withstand unexpected levels of stress in terms of credit and market risks, but identified rising inflation, high government borrowing and a likely surge in capital flows as key challenges to financial stability in India.
The wholesale price-based inflation rose to 9.89% in February and analysts expect it to inch closer to 11% in March. The Indian central bank had last week raised its key policy rates by a quarter percentage points each, a month ahead of its annual monetary policy, to rein in inflation.
RBI had set up a financial stability unit sometime back in the wake of the global financial meltdown that followed the collapse of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and plans to prepare FSR periodically like many other global central banks.
Incidentally, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Union Budget proposed to set up an apex level Financial Stability and Development Council to monitor the overall supervision of the economy and large financial conglomerates.
“It is hoped that FSRs will emerge as one of the key instruments for directing pre-emptive policy responses to incipient risks in the financial system,” said RBI deputy governor Shyamla Gopinath.
The stress test conducted by RBI on credit risk, interest rate risk and liquidity risk that commercial banks are running has shown that the Indian banking system is resilient and can withstand any unexpected shocks.
For instance, in the worst case scenario even if all loan accounts restructured after the global meltdown turn bad, the banking system will remain resilient as banks have enough capital. RBI allowed banks to restructure loan accounts where borrowers were not in a position to pay after an unprecedented liquidity crunch hit the financial system.
Going by RBI estimate, even if all such accounts turn bad, the non-performing assets of the banking system will rise by 3 percentage points, but this will not affect the system as banks are well capitalized.
Similarly, Indian banks’ vulnerability to interest rates risk is not significant. They have long-term assets, but most of them are floating rate loans. This means the loans are re-priced periodically in accordance with the rise and fall of interest rates. Indeed they need to set aside a portion of their profits to provide for any loss in the value of their bond portfolio, but such requirement is not huge as they do not need to do so for bulk of their bonds where such an accounting practice is not applicable.
Some banks run liquidity risk, but the risk is not that high as they invest at least 25% of their deposits in government bonds, which they can sell to generate liquidity
“Stress tests for credit and market risk reveal banks’ ability to withstand unexpected levels of stress. The liquidity scenario analysis, however, shows some potential risk. We have to keep in mind that banks were subject to stringent stress conditions, nevertheless the results of the stress test suggest banks will have to monitor their contingency liquidity plans on an ongoing basis,’’ said Gopinath.
Other risk factors are unhedged corporate foreign exchange exposures and funds flow between non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and banks and mutual funds. The RBI report has, in fact, made a strong pitch for close monitoring of the systematically important non-deposit taking NBFCs.
The report also highlighted the need to evolve a strong supervisory regime for systemically important NBFCs, and enhance the framework for regulation and supervision of financial conglomerates. Gopinath said, “The sector was able to manage the fallout of the crisis without creating systemic issues. However, asset-liability mismatches, credit quality and the interconnected flows between NBFCs and other financial sector entities would need to be closely monitored.’’
The focus is also on “excessive growth in non-insured” deposits. Currently up to Rs1 lakh deposit is insured and the depositors run the risk of losing money beyond this in case a bank goes down under. At present, both strong and week banks pay an identical premium for deposit insurance cover. “There has been a significant element of cross-subsidization”, but the RBI report has ruled out introduction of “risk-based premiums” at this juncture.
Among other risk factors for the Indian financial system, the report identified credit equivalent of off-balance sheet items for banks. Even though they are as low as 3% of the overall balance sheet size of the banking system, but such exposures, particularly related to complex derivatives, are concentrated in a few foreign banks and this “could be a cause for concern”.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Mar 2010 | 1:45 pm

Mumbai maraud Chennai; Dhawan, Tendulkar shine

Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar and Shikhar Dhawan hit sparkling half-centuries as Mumbai Indians upended Chennai Super Kings by five wickets to soar to the top of the points table of the Indian Premier League in India’s business capital on Thursday.
Dhawan (56 off 34 balls) dominated the 92-run opening stand with Tendulkar (72 off 52 balls) to lay the foundation for a successful chase and the Mumbai Indian skipper lingered nearly till the end as the home side cruised to 181 for five in 19 overs for their fourth victory in five matches.
Up and away: Mumbai Indians captain SachinTendulkar plays a shot during the Indian Premier League-3 match against Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai on Thursday. Shashank Parade / PTI
Up and away: Mumbai Indians captain SachinTendulkar plays a shot during the Indian Premier League-3 match against Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai on Thursday. Shashank Parade / PTI
Earlier put into bat, Chennai Super Kings rode on the unbeaten 142-run stand between Suresh Raina (83) and Subramaniam Badrinath (55) to post a competitive 180 for two which in the end proved inadequate.
With Dhawan setting alight the Brabourne Stadium with his fifth IPL fifty, Mumbai Indians’ chase got off to a flier as boundaries came thick and fast.
Tendulkar was not at his fluent best early on but Dhawan’s clean hitting glossed over even that as the home side cruised along.
Dhawan hit Joginder Sharma for three fours in his first over and smote L. Balaji for back-to-back sixes to make his intention clear.
A massive six off Shadab Jakati brought up his fifth IPL fifty but the left-arm spinner settled score in the same over when Raina pouched Dhawan’s miscued shot.
Muttiah Muralitharan did not allow Saurabh Tiwary (2) to bloom, while Joginder castled R Sathish (5) but Dhoni dropped Tendulkar off Jakati when the batsman was on 23 and the batting great did not look back since then.
Desperate for a breakthrough, Dhoni pressed Thissera Perera in service but the Sri Lankan bled 19 runs in his maiden over and the match was in Mumbai Indians’ pocket by then.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 Mar 2010 | 1:45 pm

Flying out of Delhi may become more expensive

New Delhi: Passengers will have to pay steeper fees when flying from the Capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) after June—the result of a 42% increase in the cost of modernizing the airport before the Commonwealth Games in October.
The board of Delhi International Airport (Pvt.) Ltd (DIAL) on Thursday set the final cost of the project at Rs12,700 crore, up from the Rs8,975 crore estimated earlier, according to a company official who asked not to be named. The revision was adopted at a board meeting.
The increase clears the way for raising existing charges and possibly levying new ones on passengers using IGIA. It would also mean higher charges such as landing, parking and navigation fees for airlines.
IGIA, being modernized by a consortium led by GMR Infrastructure Ltd, will be the biggest and most expensive airport in India when the under-construction Terminal T3 is commissioned in June, offering passengers a world-class, integrated domestic-and-international facility with the latest in equipment.
For passengers and airlines, it will come at a price because the developer would have to pass on the increased project cost to end users.
Passengers are already being charged to help the developer recover Rs1,827 crore, or 20% of the earlier project estimate of Rs8,975 crore. They are paying Rs200 for taking domestic flights out of IGIA and Rs1,300 for flying abroad until 1 March 2012, as an airport development fee.
“We have to audit the cost given by them (DIAL), which will take six-eight weeks after which a final tariff would be arrived at,” Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (Aera) chairman Yashwant S. Bhave had said earlier this week.
Aera is the new airport regulator and approval of the new fees at IGIA is likely to be its first big decision, posing a potential test of its ability to protect consumer interests.
DIAL is expected to submit the final cost estimate to Aera for clearance by the end of this month or early next month after which the regulator will appoint an external auditor to vet costs and then decide on the new airport charges.
The new charges could either be an extension of the duration of the existing airport development fee, an increase in the amount charged, or an additional passenger charge such as a user development fee, or a combination of such measures, said the DIAL official quoted above.
The method of arriving at these charges is likely to be finalized by next month, Bhave had said.
India’s airlines are laden with losses and debt, and there are concerns about the impact of increased tariffs on air traffic growth, which has started to pick up after a two-year downturn.
“Rules should be made for the customer and not just the rich customer,” said G.R. Gopinath, who pioneered low-cost aviation in India with the erstwhile Air Deccan and recently launched the cargo carrier Deccan 360. “The fundamental problem is there must be competition in all sectors. Competition will bring down cost for the consumer, which I think is not there in some airports.”
Gopinath said the regulator should strike a balance between the interests of consumers and the airport operator when setting tariffs.
“Airport cannot be allowed to lose, but they cannot exploit (consumers),” he said. Airports are built on public land given at concessional rates by the government, and “this concession has to be shared with the public”.
In October 2006, the cost estimated for the first phase of IGIA modernization by DIAL was Rs5,900 crore. The cost estimated for the Mumbai airport modernization has risen from Rs5,826 crore to Rs9,802 crore.
“A regulator is always supposed to regulate competition and not monopoly,” Gopinath said, recommending the government be more flexible in allowing competing airports to come up.
Return on investment alone does not justify what an airport operator can be allowed to charge passengers, he added.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Mar 2010 | 1:09 pm

Patel Engg bags $1 bn Mauritius project

Mumbai-based Patel Engineering has been awarded the contract to develop the largest waterfront project in the southern hemisphere. The project, an integrated township in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, is valued at $1 billion.
Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 25 Mar 2010 | 1:01 pm

'Hazard line' to trace India's fragile coast

The government is planning an extensive exercise to map a hazard line along the countrys 7,500 km coastline, from Gujarat to West Bengal. This marks the first time environmentally sensitive coastal areas will be clearly demarcated.
Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 25 Mar 2010 | 12:59 pm

StanChart to become top M&A advisory

Size indeed matters. The celebrated Bharti-Zain deal, the second- largest cross-border transaction, would easily make Standard Chartered Bank the top M&A advisory house in the country.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 Mar 2010 | 12:59 pm

Delhi may kick off direct subsidy plan

Petroleum ministry mulls scheme to open bank accounts for targeted recipients.
Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 25 Mar 2010 | 12:58 pm

Post-deal: Stock prices dip initially, rise later

Short-term scepticism about mergers & acqusitions (M&As) by Indian companies prompt Dalal Street investors to sell the stock of the acquiring company, but as the positives from the deal seep, the stock appreciates.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 Mar 2010 | 12:53 pm

Once, Mittal thought about quitting telecom business

Despite a difficult market condition, Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel took less than a month to raise $7.5 billion debt to fund buyout of the African operations of Zain.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 Mar 2010 | 12:51 pm

'To sign Zain agreements soon'

Bharti Airtel and Zain's Board on Thursday concluded their exclusive talks with a statement that due diligence has been completed and definitive agreements would be signed soon to seal Airtel's $10.7 billion purchase of Zain's 15-country telecom assets in Africa.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 Mar 2010 | 12:46 pm

Zain is largest Indian acquisition in Africa

The Bharti-Zain deal at $10.7 billion is by far the largest Indian acquisition in Africa, which takes India's total investment in the continent to $16.7 billion.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 Mar 2010 | 12:40 pm

People integration a challenge: Experts

People are the most critical asset and harmonising the human factor is the toughest challenge enterprises encounter today while they chase a string of pearl strategy.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 Mar 2010 | 12:33 pm

SBI may extend teaser home loan

Despite RBI's reservation on teaser scheme, in which banks offer home loan to the new borrowers at lower interest rate than that to the old or existing customers, State Bank of India (SBI) indicated at extending its special home loan scheme beyond March 31.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 Mar 2010 | 12:31 pm

Videocon starts mobile services

The Videocon Group became the 13th mobile operator in India with its launch of GSM services in Chennai on Thursday.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 Mar 2010 | 12:27 pm

Cash flow outlook boosts Cairn

Oil and gas company Cairn India Ltd’s shares have risen by 5.8% in the past two trading sessions, after the firm announced an increase in reserves at its Rajasthan
field. The potential resource for the Rajasthan block has been revised to 6.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Earlier, the discovered resource base stood at 3.7 billion boe, which has been revised to 4 billion boe, apart from which there is a prospective resource base of 2.5 billion boe. The prospective resource is based on seismic and well data analysis, a large part of which has been validated independently.
The company’s total recoverable reserves stand revised at 1.4 billion boe, versus the earlier estimate of 1.1 billion boe. The shares haven’t risen as much as the increase in the estimate of recoverable reserves simply because analysts’ models were already factoring in higher reserves. Citigroup, for instance, has had a recoverable reserves estimate of 1.5 billion boe.
Prior to the rise in past two trading sessions, Cairn’s shares have been subdued after its quarterly result announcement in January. Despite a 10% rise in the price of crude oil since end-January, Cairn’s shares rose by only around 4%, underperforming even the Nifty index on the National Stock Exchange. This was because of the markets’ disappointment at a delay in the increase of production at its Rajasthan oilfields.
Graphic: Yogesh Kumar / Mint
Graphic: Yogesh Kumar / Mint
Analysts had factored in an increase in production to 125,000 barrels a day by the end of the first half of this year. But infrastructure, especially at the buyers’ end, still needs to fall in place, and those levels of production will be achieved only in the second half of this year.
According to an analyst, a delay of a quarter or two in production ramp-up isn’t a serious concern and doesn’t affect the valuations of the company materially based on discounted cash flow. What’s more important, according to him, is that the reserves estimate has increased and this will ultimately lead to higher cash flows.
Besides, the company has said that there is a production potential of 150,000 barrels a day at the Rajasthan oilfields, higher than the previous estimate of 125,000 barrels. Of course, it would need government approvals and also capacity upgrade of one of its processing trains to achieve the higher production levels.
According to a recent Royal Bank of Scotland report, these shouldn’t be an issue: “We believe that the government will not object to the prospect of higher oil production, and regulatory red tape will not hamper a rise in production. Hence, we expect the government to approve a rise in Mangala production by 2QFY11 (the second quarter of the next fiscal), which would allow it to reach 150 kbd (150,000 barrels a day) by 4QFY11 (the fourth quarter of the fiscal). Debottlenecking of train capacity could be done within a quarter, in our view.”
If production levels rise, as indicated above, cash flows would accrue earlier than anticipated, which is another positive for the stock.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 Mar 2010 | 11:11 am

Pawar to discuss food security with BRIC agri ministers

Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar will discuss issues related to food security and agriculture when he meets his counterparts of BRIC countries in Russia at a three-day conference that began today.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 25 Mar 2010 | 10:52 am

Bankers see future in villages

Financial inclusion will fast become a business opportunity, provided banks are able to reach out to the masses in a cost-effective way and offer a package deal of deposits, loans, insurance and mutual funds.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 25 Mar 2010 | 10:32 am

Reliance media in satellite deal to grow

Reliance ADA’s media arm (Reliance MediaWorks) is betting big on its integrated film and exhibition business to drive further growth.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 25 Mar 2010 | 10:28 am

LG guns for 25% of global 3D TV market

South Korea’s LG Electronics said on Thursday that it aims to corner 25 per cent share of the global market for 3D televisions this year.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 25 Mar 2010 | 10:27 am

No local assembly: JLR

British marquee brands Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR), which set up operations in India last year, are looking to make room for themselves in the luxury car segment dominated by the German trio of BMW, Mercedes and Audi.  
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 25 Mar 2010 | 10:26 am

Food inflation falls even as index moves up a tad!

Annual food inflation fell marginally once again to 16.22 percent for the week ended March 13 from 16.3 percent for the week before even as prices of lentils, fruits and vegetables moved up over the past week.
Source: Zee News : Business | 25 Mar 2010 | 7:34 am

IBM develops anti-spam software for Chinese mobile operator

Beijing: IBM said Thursday it has developed a system for a Chinese mobile phone operator that blocks spam text messaging, but denied the software could be used as a censorship tool.
The US software giant said the system had been developed for a subsidiary of China Mobile, the world’s biggest telecom operator.
“The anti-spam texting system IBM developed for Fujian Mobile is solely designed to improve the performance of telecommunications networks by blocking high network traffic associated with spam SMS activity,” IBM spokeswoman Harriet Ip told AFP.
“It is not designed to filter content or censor data and it is not technically capable of doing so.”
“Its sole purpose is to improve mobile phone customer service by eliminating meddlesome spam text messages.”
No other companies had plans to install the system, she added.
Ip’s comments came after the Financial Times reported that IBM’s anti-spam software could be used by the Chinese mobile phone operator to censor text messages.
China is the biggest mobile phone market in the world, with more than 750 million subscribers, official figures show.
Beijing, which strictly censors the Internet and other media, has launched a crackdown on “illegal short messages”, state media has reported.

Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 25 Mar 2010 | 5:15 am