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IOC, BPC, HPC losses seen at Rs 79,670 cr in FY'11State-owned Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum may see losses on fuel sales jump over 66% to Rs 79,670 crore this fiscal.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:46 am RBI relaxes overseas investment norms for telecom firms - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:37 am RBI relaxes overseas investment norms for telecom firmsThe Reserve Bank has liberalised investment norms for Indian telecom companies by allowing them to invest in international submarine cable consortia through automatic route.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:29 am INTERVIEW - Uniqlo eyes Russian gateway to India, BrazilMOSCOW (Reuters) - Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo may enter the high-growth markets of India and Brazil in coming years if its new expansion in Russia is a success, its chief operating officer said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:29 am HTC says Apple suit not affecting operationsLast month, Apple sued HTC, accusing it of infringing 20 hardware and software patents related to the iPhone.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:26 am Toshiba to make sub-25nanometres flash memoryToshiba currently makes NAND flash memory chips with circuitry widths of 32 and 43 nanometres. One nanometre is a billionth of a metre.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:24 am Several former staff may face Securities and Exchange Commission action: DellIn 2006, Dell disclosed that the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York had subpoenaed documents related to the company's financial reporting dating back to 2002.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:21 am Asian shares rise on upbeat U.S. data, autosTOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares rose on Friday, with South Korean stocks hitting a 21-month high, as upbeat U.S. manufacturing data and jobless claims boosted hopes for a sustainable economic recovery.Source: Reuters: Money News | 2 Apr 2010 | 3:02 am China c.bank says U.S. dollar may rebound in 2010BEIJING (Reuters) - China's central bank said on Friday that it expected the dollar to stage a rebound in 2010 and expected modest rises in global oil prices.Source: Reuters: Money News | 2 Apr 2010 | 2:56 am IIM-Shillong first B-School to webcast convocation - Hindustan Times
Source: Business - Google News | 2 Apr 2010 | 2:56 am Bajaj motorcycle sales jump 85% in MarchNew Delhi: The country’s second largest two- wheeler maker Bajaj Auto on Friday reported 85.12% jump in its motorcycle sales at 2,44,828 units in March. The company had sold 1,32,253 units in March last year, Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) said in a statement. During the entire 2009-10 financial year, the company sold 25,06,749 units in the motorcycle segment, a jump of 31.39% over 19,07,853 units in the year-ago period, it added. BAL attributed the growth to robust sales of Pulsar and Discover range of bikes. In March, total two-wheeler sales jumped by 84.57% to 2,44,889 units compared to 1,32,683 units in the same period a year ago, the statement said. BAL’s exports went up 38.96% to 65,134 units in March from 46,874 units in March, 2009. The company reported a rise of 36.76% in three- wheeler sales during last month at 29,344 units as against 21,456 units during the same month last year. Total vehicle sales of the company in last month stood at 2,74,233 units compared to 1,54,139 units in the same period a year ago, a growth of 77.91 per cent, the statement said. For 2009-10, the total vehicle sales of the company rose by 30.01% to 28,52,536 units from 21,94,154 units in FY’09. The company said its two-wheeler sales jumped by 30.83% at 25,11,600 units compared to 19,19,625 units. Exports during the last fiscal grew by 15.33% at 8,91,002 units as against 7,72,519 units in the previous fiscal. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 2 Apr 2010 | 2:43 am ANALYSIS - Light is the key in SEC's U.S. market overhaulNEW YORK (Reuters) - Regulatory change looms for the U.S. equity markets and likely entails greater disclosure and better surveillance of the rapid-fire trading that now dominates the buying and selling of stocks.Source: Reuters: Money News | 2 Apr 2010 | 2:04 am IOC, BPC, HPC losses seen at Rs79,670 cr in FY11New Delhi: State-owned Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum may see losses on fuel sales jump over 66% to Rs79,670 crore this fiscal. The three fuel retailers lost Rs47,960 crore on selling petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below cost in 2009-10 fiscal, a top official said. “The three firms are losing over Rs211 crore every day,” he said. Losses on fuel sales have widened as global oil rates firmed up in March. IOC, BPCL and HPCL currently sell petrol at a loss of Rs6.12 per litre, Rs4.60 a litre on diesel, Rs18.42 per litre on PDS kerosene and Rs265.27 per 14.2-kg LPG cylinder. The government has not yet said how it will make up for the projected losses for this fiscal. “There is an agreed formula to share under-recoveries for 2009-10 but there is lot of uncertainty for current year,” he said. For FY’10, losses on petrol and diesel are to be met by upstream firms like ONGC and the government was supposed to bear those on cooking fuel. However, the government has not kept its part of the deal. Of the Rs29,353 crore loss in April-December period, the upstream firms contributed Rs 8,364 crore to cover for entire shortfall on petrol and diesel. But of the Rs20,989 crore loss on LPG and kerosene in the first nine months, the finance ministry has provided only Rs12,000 crore. Besides the Rs8,989 crore uncovered amount of April -December, about Rs12,000 crore of revenue loss on LPG and kerosene in January-March quarter also remains uncovered. The firming of international oil rates had led to upward revision in estimates for under-recoveries (revenue loss) for 2009-10 fiscal to Rs47,960 crore from earlier projection of Rs45,000 crore. The official said IOC, BPCL and HPCL will get only Rs12,000 crore to make up for part of the losses on LPG and kerosene in 2009-10. IOC would get Rs7,100.18 crore, BPCL Rs2,370.77 crore and HPCL Rs2,529.05 crore. The compensation is, however, less than Rs 20,989 crore sought by the retailers to make up for the losses they incurred on selling domestic LPG and kerosene below cost during April-December period. IOC had sought Rs12,419 crore, BPCL Rs4,147 crore and HPCL Rs4,423 crore, he said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:53 am Toyota closes joint venture with GM after 25 yrs of operationToyota Motor Corp closed its joint manufacturing plant with General Motors Co in California after about 25 years of operation as a symbol of cooperation between the top US and Japanese automakers.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:45 am BHEL to invest Rs.690 cr for piping plant in Tamil Nadu - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:42 am Taiwan's HTC says Apple suit not affecting operationsTAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's HTC Corp, the world's No.5 smartphone maker, said on Friday a lawsuit against it by Apple Computer was not affecting operations.Source: Reuters: Money News | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:39 am Delhi building catches fire - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:33 am India's mobile handset market remain flat in 2009 - The Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:30 am Budget 2011 to revive investment, push growth to 9%: Finance ministerAfter clocking an impressive 9% growth for the previous three fiscals till 2007-08, India's GDP grew by a relatively modest rate of 6.7% in 2008-09.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:30 am Private equity investors increase cloutNEW YORK (Reuters) - Private equity investors have increased their clout since the financial crisis, but whether they can really dictate major changes in terms and structures of fund agreements remains to be seen.Source: Reuters: Money News | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:26 am India mobile handset sales in 2009 flat at 101.54 mn unitsBangalore: India’s mobile handset market remained flat in calendar year 2009 to register sales of 101.54 million units, mainly due to lower sales in the first six months (January-June), according to research firm IDC. Finnish handset maker Nokia had the largest share of 54.1% in terms of units sold during 2009. Korean companies Samsung with a 9.7% share and LG with a 6.4% share for the year ended December 31, 2009 were at number two and number three spots, respectively. The market showed signs of revival in the fourth quarter (October-December) of 2009 to record a year-on-year (Q4 2009 over Q4 2008) growth of 2.3% to touch 28.36 million units, according to IDC India. Overall, for the year 2009 new vendors registered a combined market share of 12.3% in terms of total India mobile handset sales. The number of such new vendors in the India mobile handsets market grew to 28 and they together garnered 17.5% of the total sales for the first time during the October-December 2009 quarter. This represented a steady growth from only five new vendors representing a 0.9% combined share of units sold in the January-March 2008 quarter. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:26 am 12 US colleges seek tie-ups with Indian varsitiesNew Delhi: With a law on the anvil to allow operation of foreign education providers in India, a top consortium of research institutions from the US has evinced interest in collaborating with Indian universities. A delegation of Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), which represents America’s top universities, visited India this week and met HRD minister Kapil Sibal to discuss areas of collaboration and institutional linkages. The CIC is a consortium comprising universities of Chicago, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State University, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Pennsylvania State, Purdue and Wisconsin-Madison. “We have come for discussion on collaboration on research and academic programmes. We are a consortium of research universities and we are together for over 50 years. We do lots of things together and we can collaborate with Indian institutions,” associate director, technology Collaboration for CIC, Keren Partlow told PTI. She said the delegation was on a fact-finding mission to explore the areas of collaboration. This was the first meeting of the CIC delegation with Sibal. “The minister is open to hear specific ideas like what sort of engagement we would like to have in India. We will prepare a detailed plan in this direction and come again,” Partlow, who led the delegation, said. The CIC is known for quality research and its advanced research laboratories. Through collaboration, the CIC members increase teaching, learning and research opportunities. These universities conduct funded research of $6.4 billion every year while the funded research of Ivy League universities and the University of California are pegged at $3.27 billion and $4.38 billion respectively. India is interested in institutional linkages between CIC institutions and universities here. This will help Indian universities take advantage of the high quality research facilities of CIC member institutions, a HRD ministry official said. The CIC universities enrol nearly three lakh under-graduate and 76,000 post-graduate students every year and deliver doctoral programmes in 147 areas of study. University of Illinois, a member of CIC, had earlier helped India set up IIT Kharagpur and G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology. The visit of CIC comes at a time when the government is likely to introduce the Foreign Educational Institution (Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010 in Parliament this month. The Cabinet approved the bill which lays down norms for allowing entry and operation of foreign education providers in India. Nearly 50 foreign institutions, including Boston, Yale and Duke University, have evinced interest in either setting up campuses or collaborate on research and academic programmes. The CIC delegation also met representatives of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and discussed facilitating more research students. The delegation evinced interest in sending students for pursuing studies in Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi and other Indian languages. The delegation comprised Wolfgang Schloer from University Illinois, Will Glover from University Michigan, Molly Portz from University of Minnessota, Ken Shapiro and Aseem Ansari from University of Wisconsin-Madison, Terry Webb from Madison Area Technical College and Partlow. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:25 am Daimler fined $185 million for briberyWashington: German automaker Daimler pleaded guilty to US charges of bribery and agreed to pay $185 million to settle the affair, the US government said Thursday. The Justice Department said Daimler and three of its subsidiaries had resolved charges related to a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigation into the company’s worldwide sales practices. US District Court Judge Richard Leon approved the settlement at a hearing Thursday in Washington. “Daimler AG’s Russian subsidiary DaimlerChrysler Automotive Russia SAO (DCAR), now known as Mercedes-Benz Russia SAO, and its German subsidiary, Export and Trade Finance GmbH (ETF), each pleaded guilty to criminal informations charging the companies with one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA and one count of violating those provisions,” the Justice Department said in a statement. As part of the plea agreements, DCAR and ETF agreed to pay criminal fines of $27.3 million and $29.12 million, respectively, part of the 93.6 million in criminal fines and penalties that Daimler and its subsidiaries paid in total, it said. “These are significant and widespread violations,” said prosecutor John Darden, speaking in federal court on behalf of the US government. Darden noted that the sentence is clearly below federal sentencing guidelines. “Daimler showed excellent cooperation,” said Darden. “The company has undertaken an effort to clean its own house. That reflects a serious change of mind on part of Daimler. This deserves credit.” Judge Leon acknowledged that it was “a very complex case” as he accepted the plea agreement. In a separate, related civil case, Daimler agreed to pay $91.4 million to settle a case filed by markets regulator the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Daimler had earlier admitted to making hundreds of improper payments worth tens of millions of dollars to foreign government officials in at least 22 countries between 1998 and 2008, according to a deferred prosecution agreement filed in a Washington court. The kickbacks of cash and gifts of luxury armored cars, golf clubs and vacations helped secure government contracts worth millions of dollars in China, Russia, Thailand, Greece, Iraq and other countries. Prosecutors recommended that the judge impose the $93.6 million fine and accept the guilty plea of two Daimler subsidiaries. They noted that Daimler had mended its ways and cooperated fully with the investigation. Daimler regularly presented its findings to prosecutors, fired 45 employees implicated in the bribery and reformed its practices, prosecutors wrote. The fines are significantly smaller than the $800 million German industrial giant Siemens paid in 2008 to settle a US investigation into its bribery of officials to secure contracts in Argentina, Bangladesh, Iraq and Venezuela. The bribery first came to light in 2004 when a former Daimler employee filed a whistleblower complaint saying he’d been fired for voicing concern about secret accounts maintained to pay the bribes. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 2 Apr 2010 | 1:04 am Microsoft loses appeal on Word patent verdictA tiny Canadian company i4i Inc. which had won a big legal battle and $290 million in fines against Microsoft over violations of its patent in Word applications, won yet another round on Thursday when US federal appeals court turned down Microsoft's plea for hearing of the case by a full bench.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:51 am India buys $70 mn worth of LNG from TrinidadTrinidad and Tobago exported $70 mn worth of liquified natural gas (LNG) to India in 2007, according to Trade and Industry Minister Mariano Browne.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:42 am Brickbats and bouquets for private power discom - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:33 am Militants attack Kashmir railSrinagar: Militants attacked the Kashmir rail network for the first time, blowing up nearly two feet of track in Pulwama district, resulting in suspension of rail service linking South Kashmir with North Kashmir. The ultras detonated an IED at Galbug, 43.6 km from here, around 10 pm last night, damaging two feet rail track, police said, adding there were no casualties. Rail service on the track has been suspended. This is for the first time that militants have targeted the railway service, started in the valley two years ago. The attack comes at a time when senior railway officers are expected to visit Kashmir to review progress of the ongoing work in the railways. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:29 am A new quarter of caution and riskLONDON (Reuters) - Row back three months and you would hear investors talking about volatile, but gradually gaining stocks, and steady bonds beholden to a spotty economic recovery.Source: Reuters: Money News | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:02 am Auto-makers wrap up year on a high noteCar and two-wheeler manufacturers ended 2009-10 on a bright note, thanks to good sales in March, though the outlook for the fiscal ahead is a lot moreSource: Business Line - Home Page | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am Rubber price surge may deflate tyre stocksThe stocks of tyre companies have had a good run this year. Some of the scrips have increased nearly 10 per cent. The run-off has been since sales of commercial vehicles and cars have increased rapidly since January. Also, tyre companies areSource: Business Line - Home Page | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am Innovation remains top priority for MicrosoftMicrosoft says that, while it is not impervious to the macro environment with its cyclical ups and downs, the company is here in the marketplace for the longSource: Business Line - Home Page | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am SBI extends teaser home loan plan till April 30State Bank of India's borrowers may have to pay a tad higher interest under its dual-rate home loan scheme, which has been extended to April 30 this year. The bank is the only lender to extend theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am Airlines to seek recast of Rs 50,000-cr debtThe Ministry of Civil Aviation has decided to ask the Ministry of Finance to lend a hand to the airline industry. It wants the Finance Ministry to ask banks to reschedule the debt of the domestic airline industry. The debt of Jet Airways,Source: Business Line - Home Page | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am India can be back to 9% growth by 2012: PMIndia can get back to 9 per cent growth by the end of the Eleventh Plan (2007-12) and do even better thereafter, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh,Source: Business Line - Home Page | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am Inflation shifts to non-food itemsPrimary food inflation was up 16.35 per cent year-on-year for the week ended March 20, after hitting a four-month low of 16.22 per cent in the precedingSource: Business Line - Home Page | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am Some thoughts on financial sector reformThere are three major sources of inspiration for reforms in the financial sector, currently underSource: Business Line - Home Page | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am Mittal gives £16 m for London skylineBillionaire Lakshmi Mittal is contributing £16 million of the £19.3 million needed to build a tower designed by artist Anish Kapoor which is being billed as one of the landmarks of the 2012 LondonSource: Business Line - Home Page | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am BHEL net jumps 37% on private sector demandPropelled by a heavy demand from the private sector in 2009-10, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) announced a 37 per cent increase in its net profit for the financial year ended March 31. The net profit for the year stood at Rs 4,287 crore asSource: Business Line - Home Page | 2 Apr 2010 | 12:00 am Sena slams Karnataka CM on Belgaum issue - IBNLive.com
Source: Business - Google News | 1 Apr 2010 | 11:57 pm Job creation expected in March as recovery buildsThe economy is likely to have added jobs last month for only the second time since the recession began 27 months ago. That, economists say, would mark a significant turning point in the recovery. It would mean the worst is over and that more job creation could be on the way in the months ahead. But, it does not mean enough new jobs are being created to bring down the unemployment rate. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 11:41 pm Billion dollar bids seen at spectrum auctionNew Delhi: Nine firms will compete in a widely watched airwaves auction in India starting next week that would pave way for the introduction of high-speed third-generation mobile services in the world’s fastest-growing mobile market. In what could be one of the world’s biggest such auctions over the past few years, the Indian government hopes to net revenues of nearly $8 billion from 3G and a near simultaneous auction of broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum. The 3G auction starts from 9 April and two days after it closes, the BWA spectrum auction will begin. India’s top six private telecoms operators are bidding for 3G spectrum across all 22 zones, while three others including Etisalat’s Indian telecoms venture will bid in select zones. Due to limited number of slots for 3G — three each in most of India’s 22 telecoms zones and four in some — and high competition for the scarce spectrum, analysts expect each winning bid to be more than $1 billion for a pan-India licence, or even touch $2 billion, compared with a base price of $780 million. The auction also comes at a time when operators have intensified a 2G price war, with per-second charges falling to around 1/50th of a US cent, eating into cashflows and margins. Heavy investments on licences and then on building networks could further stretch the winning firms’ financials. “Definitely bidding would be aggressive,” said Kunal Bajaj, managing director at telecoms consulting firm BDA Connect, which has local and international firms as clients. “There is sufficient competition in place. And very clearly, there’s high risk of losing your high-end, high-ARPU (average revenue per user) subscribers if you don’t get 3G spectrum,” said Bajaj. He sees market leader Bharti Airtel, Vodfone Essar and Tata Teleservices, which is backed by Japan’s NTT DoCoMo, winning spectrum in a majority of the zones. Eleven firms, including US chipmaker Qualcomm, will bid for BWA spectrum, for which two slots in each of the 22 zones are up for grabs. The base price for a national BWA licence has been set at around $390 million. India is a late adapter of 3G and is the biggest economy to not have these premium services in wide scale yet, though the state-run telecoms firms have 3G services in some zones. China, the world’s biggest telecoms market, took a long-delayed 3G plunge last year by awarding licences to the country’s top-three phone operators. Among others, the UK raised more than $35 billion from a spectrum auction in 2000, while the U.S. government got about $19 billion by selling spectrum in 2008. Slow pick up seen Winning operators have to deposit the money within 10 days of the auction, but they will be awarded spectrum only in September, meaning there is no immediate opportunity to make money out of new services such as faster Internet on mobile phones and video calling that 3G would facilitate. Also, some argue in a market like India, which is built on a low-price, high-volume model, there may not be many takers for luxury services and it would be limited to metros and big cities. Currently operators make only a tenth of their total revenue from data services. A study by telecoms researcher Wireless Intelligence estimates India will have 60 million 3G users by 2013, which is less than 10% of consultancy Gartner’s forecast of 771 million total mobile phone users by then. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:57 pm Billion dollar bids seen at spectrum auctionNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Nine firms will compete in a widely watched airwaves auction in India starting next week that would pave way for the introduction of high-speed third-generation mobile services in the world's fastest-growing mobile market.Source: Reuters: Money News | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:54 pm Toyota March US sales jump as industry ralliesDetroit: Toyota Motor Corp on Thursday said its US sales jumped nearly 41% in March as the automaker rebounded from consecutive monthly declines amid record company incentives aimed at getting beyond the worst recall crisis in its history. The results vaulted Toyota back to No. 2 in the US market behind General Motors, which saw its sales rise nearly 21% overall from a year earlier. Ford Motor Co came in third, with sales up nearly 40%. US auto sales overall were expected to be up as much as 27% in March from a year earlier, according to Ford. Only Chrysler among the largest automakers posted a US sales decline in March. Chrysler said sales fell 8.3% in March from a year earlier and it planned incentives. “Retail sales were really artificially inflated by huge incentives going on in the marketplace and did not reflect true demand,” Edmunds.com director of industry analysis Jessica Caldwell said, adding that April would be a better indicator. Toyota launched unprecedented discounts in March to try to win back customers including zero-percent financing for five years on top models such as the Camry sedan after monthly US sales declines in January and February. The world’s top automaker, Toyota faced multiple recalls, congressional hearings and an extraordinary sales halt because of potentially defective accelerator pedals. Toyota traditionally has spurned steep discounts to protect resale values and has said that it would announce its plans for incentives in April next week while executives hinted that they were likely to continue. GM and Ford had incremental increases in incentives in March from February, according to Edmunds data, while Toyota incentives jumped $375 from the prior month to $2,256, a record for the Japan-based automaker. GM, Toyota sales neck-and-neck, Ford close GM’s US sales rose 20.6% overall to 188,546 vehicles in March including brands that are being discontinued, pushing it slightly ahead of Toyota’s 186,863 in sales. Ford, which plans to sell its Swedish brand Volvo to China’s Geely, said March US sales rose 39.8% to 183,783 vehicles. Ford expected to gain US retail market share for the 17th time in the past 18 months. GM and Ford US sales were up 43.3% and 42.7% respectively in their continuing brands. GM said March US sales jumped across all of its core four brands. Newer GM models like the Chevrolet Equinox, GMC Terrain and Buick Lacrosse continued to see strong sales, GM said. GM vice president of marketing Susan Docherty said GM incentives for all of its brands averaged $2,800 in March, falling below the industry average for the first time and the automaker was not interested in buying market share. “We have been down that road before and know it’s a dead end,” Docherty said of using high incentives to drive sales. GM incentives were down $200 in March from February 2010, and $2,000 from a year earlier in JD Power PIN data. Nissan Motor Co US sales rose 43.3% in March from the prior year, putting it ahead of Chrysler. Chrysler, now under the management control of Italy’s Fiat SpA, extended sales incentives for most of its 2010 model vehicles through May 3 that were set to expire Thursday including zero-percent financing. Still, Chrysler incentive spending was down sharply from March 2009, when it had heaped sweeteners on its vehicles to drive sales as it sought to stave off bankruptcy. The Obama administration rejected a Chrysler turnaround plan at the end of March 2009, setting the stage for a government-supported bankruptcy plan. Hyundai Motor Co’s US sales rose 15.4% in March from a year earlier, in line with a forecast that Hyundai USA President John Krafcik gave at the New York auto show earlier this week. JD power raises full year sales forecast AutoNation Inc Chief Executive Mike Jackson, head of the largest US dealership network, said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday that he expected the industry to break the 12 million vehicle mark for an annualized rate in March. US auto sales ran at a 10.8 million vehicle annualized rate in January and at about 10.4 million in February. Influential tracking service JD Power and Associates has raised its outlook for full year US auto industry sales to 11.7 million vehicles, from 11.5 million vehicles. French and Japanese car sales rose in March, as government incentives boosted demand, while South Korea’s Hyundai Motor racked up impressive sales growth despite the end of subsidies in its home market. Carmakers have benefited from government scrapping incentives in major markets across Europe, but industry experts predict a dip in sales as the programs come to an end in some countries. French car sales rose 12.8% in March, French carmakers’ association CCFA said on Thursday, while Japanese sales jumped by a quarter to cap a business year that relied heavily on government incentives. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:01 pm Asian shares rise on upbeat US data, autosTokyo: Asian shares rose on Friday, buoyed by upbeat data on US manufacturing and jobless claims that strengthened hopes for a sustainable economic recovery. But trade was light, with many investors in the region as well as in Europe and the United States away for the Good Friday holiday. South Korean shares hit their highest level in about 21 months, with Hyundai Motor and Samsung Electronics surging to record highs on strong foreign buying. Japan’s Nikkei average hit an 18-month peak for the fourth straight day, getting a boost from a rise in tech shares and automakers such as Honda Motor and Toyota Motor following a jump in US auto sales in March. Shares of Japanese exporters drew additional support from the yen’s fall this week to a seven-month low against the dollar. “There are some short-term signs of overheating... But at the same time, the market has been gaining energy,” said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager in the equity division of Nikko Cordial Securities, referring to a recent pick-up in trading volume on the Tokyo bourse. “The global economy is recovering, and there are also strengthening hopes over corporate earnings,” he added. An index of US manufacturing activity in March rose to ts highest level in over 5-years, the Institute for Supply Management said on Thursday, while a US Labor Department report showed initial weekly claims for jobless benefits fell more than expected. The yen has been hurt by market expectations that the Bank of Japan, which has kept interest rates at 0.1%, will hold off on raising interest rates for the next year or two in a bid to spur economic growth. By contrast, US primary dealers see a better than even chance of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates late in 2010, a factor that has helped support the dollar this year. The dollar dipped 0.1% to ¥93.78 having hit a seven-month high of ¥94.05 marked on trading platform EBS on Thursday. Weighing on the yen was talk that Japanese investors may move funds into higher-yielding currencies abroad for returns now that the new fiscal year has started. “A recovery in the investment environment, given strong stocks and commodity prices and overall stability in financial markets, helps expectations for Japanese investors to show appetite for overseas assets,” said Kazuyuki Kato, treasury department manager at Mizuho Trust & Banking. The euro dipped 0.1% against the dollar to $1.3579 and held steady against the Swiss franc at 1.4326 francs. On Thursday, the euro posted its biggest one-day rise against the franc in nine months amid talk of intervention by the Swiss National Bank. The Swiss central bank declined to comment on the franc’s price action. Trade was cautious, however, ahead of the release of US data later on Friday which is expected to show nonfarm payrolls grew for only the second time since the economy fell into recession in late 2007. A good payroll number would bolster hopes that the world’s largest economy has now recovered enough to grow on its own without massive government support. The Nikkei ended morning trade up 0.5%. It earlier hit a fresh 18-month intraday high and briefly rose to 11,313.98, just above a 38.2% retracement of a sell-off from its 2007 peak to its 2008 trough. Honda and Toyota each rose more than 1% on news that US auto sales jumped to a seve-month high last month. The MSCI’s broad measure of shares in the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan rose 0.2% and hit its highest level in nearly three months at one point. South Korea’s KOSPI touched a high of 1,725.39, its loftiest level since late June 2008, as Hyundai Motor jumped 5 percent and Samsung Electronics rose 1.4% The index later pared its gains to 0.2%. Japanese government bonds dipped as investors took profits following the previous day’s rally. June 10-year JGB futures dipped 0.09 point to 138.60 after posting their biggest one-day gain in four months the previous day, when JGB investors began Japan’s new financial year by scooping up debt. Ten-year US Treasuries rose around 3/32 in price to yield 3.868% down about a basis point from late US trade on Thursday and staying below a nine-month high of 3.92% hit last week. US stock markets will be closed on Friday, and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is recommending an early Treasuries market close at 7:30pm. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 9:53 pm Gujarat's gold imports soar by 1,283%Recovery in the equity markets has led to a sharp rise in demand for gold.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 1 Apr 2010 | 9:28 pm Govt feels inflation will spikeThe govt feels inflation is sticking to projections and though March figures, expected to be out by mid-April, are set to breach the 10% mark, there is concern that any move to hike rates will impact growth and push up unemployment.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 1 Apr 2010 | 5:06 pm SBI hikes rates on home loans - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 1 Apr 2010 | 3:53 pm Airtel in Africa soonBharti will take the Airtel brand to Africa, across the 15country network, that it has acquired from the Kuwaiti telecom major Zain.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 3:37 pm To issue first set of UIDs by Feb 2011: NilekaniThe ambitious project to issue identity numbers to all Indian residents is now gathering pace. Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Nandan Nilekani is confident of rolling out the first unique ID\'s by February next year.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 3:35 pm 'RIL gave us books on KG expense for audit only on Feb 1'Vinod Rai, the CAG, spoke to DNA about its report on whether telecom operators are compliant with the licensing rules, Air India's merger with Indian Airlines and more.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 1 Apr 2010 | 3:28 pm Rival bidder cries foul over Aqua buyoutsOn Monday, Aqua Logistics announced the acquisition of three Hong Kong-based companies -- CIT, TAG and AGI Logistics -- through a wholly owned subsidiary.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 1 Apr 2010 | 3:22 pm European Union probes dumping by Indian steel makersThe investigation will determine whether the Indian producers are 'being subsidised and whether this subsidisation has caused injury' to the EU industry.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 1 Apr 2010 | 3:19 pm Government scripts new manufacturing policyThe inspiration for the policy is neighbouring China, which has grabbed the status of the manufacturing hub of the world through a combination of relaxed laws and strong infrastructure support.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 1 Apr 2010 | 3:17 pm Has rural offset urban for Maruti?Industry experts said that Maruti Suzuki India Ltd might lose 3-5% market share nationwide from the next year.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 1 Apr 2010 | 3:02 pm RBI guidelines on bad loans a relief for banks: IDBI BkWhen asked how this move would benefit banks and infra companies, BK Batra, Executive Director, IDBI Bank said, \"The guidelines are certainly a relief for the banking system. They will help banks whose portfolio contains such infrastructure cases which might be suffering from delays beyond a reasonable period.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 2:49 pm CLSA Capital invests $24m in EquitasOn the back of SKS Micro Finance filing red herring prospectus for a possible IPO, another MFI - Equitas - has managed to attract $24 million from CLSA Capital. While the exact stake picked up by CLSA Capital Partners is not known, sources said it was a minority stake for $24 million.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 1 Apr 2010 | 2:03 pm EU threatens tariffs on steelThe European Union threatened to impose tariffs on stainless steel from India, saying EU producers including Acerinox SA and Deutsche Edelstahlwerke GmbH may be victims of subsidies.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 1 Apr 2010 | 2:01 pm Indian visit to boost China ties improved by tradeForeign Minister SM Krishna travels to China next week to consolidate ties, recently improved by a trade boom and cooperation over climate change that shifted the focus away from a border dispute.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 2:01 pm StanChart consumer bank to hire thousandsStandard Chartered\'s consumer bank, which saw a strong start to 2010, is hiring thousands of bankers over the next three to four years to gain market share and take advantage of rising affluence in Asia.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 2:01 pm Pramanik is Oracle MDOracle Corporation has appointed a new country head for India. After a five year stint, Krishan Dhawan has relinquished his position as managing director of Oracle India, to pursue other opportunities.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:59 pm The inside scoop on Lehman's collapseBOSTON (Reuters) - A literary genre to emerge from the financial crisis is the Big Bank Biography, led by "The Partnership," Charles Ellis' history of Goldman Sachs, and several tales of the end of Bear Stearns & Co.Source: Reuters: Money News | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:58 pm Aditya Mittal joins board of WhartonAditya Mittal, CFO of worlds leading steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal, has been inducted in the Board of Overseers of Wharton School.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:56 pm PE, VCs fear bubble in microfinanceIs microfinance the next subprime? Though microfinance has emerged as the most favoured destination for PE/VC investors, a vast majority (75%) of those polled in a survey fear the sector is getting "overhyped to a bubble-like proportion".Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:55 pm Bhel profit increases 40% in Q4 to Rs 1886 crorePublic sector engineering major Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (Bhel), which has earned a revenue of Rs 34,050 crore in 2009-10, is aiming to achieve a turnover of Rs 39,500 crore in 2010-11, the companys CMD B P Rao said on Thursday.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:48 pm EU threatens India with steel tariffsBrussels: The European Union (EU) threatened to impose tariffs on stainless steel from India, saying EU producers including Acerinox SA and Deutsche Edelstahlwerke GmbH may be victims of subsidies. The EU opened a probe into whether Indian manufacturers of stainless steel bars and rods, which are used in construction, domestic appliances and cars, receive trade-distorting government aid. The investigation will determine whether the Indian producers are being subsidized and whether this subsidization has caused injury to the EU industry, the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s trade authority in Brussels, said today in its official journal. The inquiry stems from a 15 February complaint by the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries on behalf of producers representing more than 25% of EU output of stainless steel bars and rods, according to the commission. The lobby group, also known as Eurofer, alleges that Indian producers receive federal and regional subsidies. Eurofer says EU makers of stainless steel bars and rods have suffered substantial adverse effects as a result of an increase in imports from India, according to the commission. The complaint shows that the volume and prices of the imports have hurt the sales, prices and market share of European manufacturers, the commission said. Under EU practices, the commission can impose provisional anti-subsidy duties for four months and the bloc’s national governments can turn those measures into definitive five-year duties at the same or different rates. The commission has nine months from the start of an investigation to decide on provisional measures. EU governments have 13 months from the beginning of a probe to impose five-year anti-subsidy—or countervailing—duties. feedback@livemiont.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:45 pm NTPC scraps ceiling for TPENTPC has been pushing to scrap the tender and blacklist the company but was hamstrung as the move was seen as countering India's interests, particularly in the oil sector, in Russia.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:43 pm Meltdown should not stop financial innovation: PMPrime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the global economic crisis should not result in an end to financial innovation, as the Indian banking and the financial sectors were small and needed to be developed to support faster growth.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:36 pm Bing’s growth will come from India, China in next few yearsBangalore: The world’s largest software company Microsoft Corp. is accustomed to being the market leader vigorously defending its turf. However, in the Internet search business, it has been cast in the role of an upstart trying to topple the dominant Google Inc. After several iterations, Microsoft rebranded its search offering and relaunched it as Bing in June. According to market research firm comScore Inc., Bing has been steadily gaining market share since then. Bing had a market share of 11.5% in February in the crucial US market, compared with 65.5% for Google. Microsoft, in an attempt to take on Google, has also tied up with Yahoo Inc. All searches on Yahoo’s properties are addressed by Bing and the two have a revenue-sharing arrangement.  Road ahead: Li says Microsoft’s focus right now is on improving search quality rather than market share. Hemant Mishra / Mint Qu Li, who earlier headed the search business at Yahoo, is president of Microsoft’s online services division and spearheads the firm’s quest to gain market share in the search business. On a visit to Bangalore, he spoke in an interview on the progress made by Bing and the challenges ahead. Edited excerpts: Bing has been gaining market share since its launch. However, Google’s share has remained steady and your partner Yahoo has been losing market share. So do you see friction in the relationship in the future? Search is still a nascent market, and instead of just looking at market share, for Microsoft our focus right now is in improving search quality. Search is very sensitive to scale. More people use the product, the better it gets and that is the reason for our partnership with Yahoo. The technology behind search itself is fairly simple but the more number of users use it, we are able to better test our hypotheses and serve them ever more relevant results. The relationship (with Yahoo) is beneficial to both of us, more importantly the consumer benefits as do the advertisers. It is win-win all around. The regulatory clearances for this partnership have only come recently and we are in the process of actually implementing. So the focus is not on monetization right now as much as gaining market share? Our focus not just for Bing but for the entire online services division is to provide a great consumer experience based on our technological capabilities. We are confident that we will be very profitable. Microsoft has positioned Bing as a decision-making engine. Is the strategy to go after specific business segments such as travel, shopping etc.? We view search holistically. Instead of each query just throwing up a mass of blue links, our strategy is to look at the user intent behind the search and serve up the most relevant result. One of the way you have been increasing—your competitors would say buying—market share has been bundling Bing with your partners such as Hewlett-Packard (HP) or partnership with Twitter to bring real time results. There has also been talk of exclusive partnerships with News Corp. where their content is only available on Bing. Are these kinds of alliances the growth model going forward? What you are referring to are our efforts to build a pure search brand and as a part of that we have done (the alliances). It is one thing to build a great product and it is another to make it accessible to as wide an audience as possible. Distribution is key. That is where relationships like HP are important. But wouldn’t it attract regulatory attention specially given your past when Internet Explorer was bundled with Windows? (Laughs) Let me just remind (you about) the market share situation... Google is exiting China. Do you see that as an opportunity though Chinese search engine Baidu is the leader there and Bing has less than 1% market share? Microsoft has an official stated position on the China issue and I won’t be able to comment anything further on that. However, let me reiterate that markets such as India and China are very critical and strategic to us. That is where growth will come from in the next few years, even next few decades. We are committed to those markets, regardless of what others do. Google offers local search including voice-assisted search in India. Will Bing offer such services? Without commenting on specific (India) plans, local search is very important. We have invested across the globe heavily in geospatial data, maps, speech etc., which will help us deliver relevant results. What about the India picture and Microsoft India’s contribution? The Hyderabad centre works both on search and the advertising parts and is very critical to our global plans. (Microsoft on Thursday announced the setting up of a development centre in Bangalore that will have at least 200 employees, a majority of whom would transition to Microsoft from Yahoo as a part of their alliance.) venkatesha.b@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:34 pm Bing’s growth will come from India, China in next few yearsBangalore: The world’s largest software company Microsoft Corp. is accustomed to being the market leader vigorously defending its turf. However, in the Internet search business, it has been cast in the role of an upstart trying to topple the dominant Google Inc. After several iterations, Microsoft rebranded its search offering and relaunched it as Bing in June. According to market research firm comScore Inc., Bing has been steadily gaining market share since then. Bing had a market share of 11.5% in February in the crucial US market, compared with 65.5% for Google. Microsoft, in an attempt to take on Google, has also tied up with Yahoo Inc. All searches on Yahoo’s properties are addressed by Bing and the two have a revenue-sharing arrangement. Road ahead: Li says Microsoft’s focus right now is on improving search quality rather than market share. Hemant Mishra / Mint Qu Li, who earlier headed the search business at Yahoo, is president of Microsoft’s online services division and spearheads the firm’s quest to gain market share in the search business. On a visit to Bangalore, he spoke in an interview on the progress made by Bing and the challenges ahead. Edited excerpts: Bing has been gaining market share since its launch. However, Google’s share has remained steady and your partner Yahoo has been losing market share. So do you see friction in the relationship in the future? Search is still a nascent market, and instead of just looking at market share, for Microsoft our focus right now is in improving search quality. Search is very sensitive to scale. More people use the product, the better it gets and that is the reason for our partnership with Yahoo. The technology behind search itself is fairly simple but the more number of users use it, we are able to better test our hypotheses and serve them ever more relevant results. The relationship (with Yahoo) is beneficial to both of us, more importantly the consumer benefits as do the advertisers. It is win-win all around. The regulatory clearances for this partnership have only come recently and we are in the process of actually implementing. So the focus is not on monetization right now as much as gaining market share? Our focus not just for Bing but for the entire online services division is to provide a great consumer experience based on our technological capabilities. We are confident that we will be very profitable. Microsoft has positioned Bing as a decision-making engine. Is the strategy to go after specific business segments such as travel, shopping etc.? We view search holistically. Instead of each query just throwing up a mass of blue links, our strategy is to look at the user intent behind the search and serve up the most relevant result. One of the way you have been increasing—your competitors would say buying—market share has been bundling Bing with your partners such as Hewlett-Packard (HP) or partnership with Twitter to bring real time results. There has also been talk of exclusive partnerships with News Corp. where their content is only available on Bing. Are these kinds of alliances the growth model going forward? What you are referring to are our efforts to build a pure search brand and as a part of that we have done (the alliances). It is one thing to build a great product and it is another to make it accessible to as wide an audience as possible. Distribution is key. That is where relationships like HP are important. But wouldn’t it attract regulatory attention specially given your past when Internet Explorer was bundled with Windows? (Laughs) Let me just remind (you about) the market share situation... Google is exiting China. Do you see that as an opportunity though Chinese search engine Baidu is the leader there and Bing has less than 1% market share? Microsoft has an official stated position on the China issue and I won’t be able to comment anything further on that. However, let me reiterate that markets such as India and China are very critical and strategic to us. That is where growth will come from in the next few years, even next few decades. We are committed to those markets, regardless of what others do. Google offers local search including voice-assisted search in India. Will Bing offer such services? Without commenting on specific (India) plans, local search is very important. We have invested across the globe heavily in geospatial data, maps, speech etc., which will help us deliver relevant results. What about the India picture and Microsoft India’s contribution? The Hyderabad centre works both on search and the advertising parts and is very critical to our global plans. (Microsoft on Thursday announced the setting up of a development centre in Bangalore that will have at least 200 employees, a majority of whom would transition to Microsoft from Yahoo as a part of their alliance.) venkatesha.b@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:34 pm Ackruti City plans Rs 400500 cr venture capital fundProperty developer Ackruti City Ltd is planning to launch a venture capital fund with a corpus of around Rs 400500 crore, two sources with direct knowledge of the development said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:22 pm Power, fertiliser firms reap gainsNatural gas from Reliance Industries prolific D6 field has generated savings worth thousands of crores of rupees for power and fertiliser companies the main users of the gas even as it continues to be at the centre of the dispute between the Ambani brothers.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:16 pm Wockhardt-Abbott deal abortedForeign lenders to Wockhardt have succeeded in stalling the debt-ridden pharmaceutical companys attempts to sell its nutrition business to Abbott Laboratories.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:12 pm Ganguly guides Kolkata to 24 runs win over ChargersKolkata: Sourav Ganguly led from the front with a blazing 54-ball 88 as a resurgent Kolkata Knight Riders bulldozed a hapless Deccan Chargers by 24 runs in their return-leg Indian Premier League match on Thursday. Ganguly blasted nine fours and five sixes and added 78 runs for the fourth wicket with David Hussey to take the Kolkata Knight Riders to a competitive 181 for six at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The home team then returned to restrict the defending champions to 157 for five to zoom to the fifth place, just behind Rajasthan Royals with eight points from eight matches in the points table. Barring offie Mohnish Parmar, the KKR bolwers put up a disciplined performance with Shane Bond, Angelo Matthews, Murali Kartik, Ajit Agarkar and Chris Gayle taking one wicket each to contribute to their team’s win.  Kolkata Knight Riders’ skipper Sourav Ganguly plays a shot as Deccan Chargers’ wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist looks on during their IPL3 match at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday. Swapan Mahapatra/PTI Andrew Symonds hit a 37 ball 45 but 34 runs from the last over proved to be a bit too much for the Chargers who had lost their opening match to the Knights earlier. Opting to bat, Ganguly set his home ground on fire with his fireworks. The ace southpaw stood tall among the ruins of Chris Gayle (4), Cheteshwar Pujara (17) and Manoj Tiwary (5). David Hussey gave a fine support to Ganguly at the other end with a 27-ball 31 that included one four and two sixes. Deccan Chargers’ strike bowler Kemar Roach was ripped apart by the Knights as the West Indian conceded 48 runs from his quota of four overs.  Jaskiran Singh, Andrew Symonds and Pragyan Ojha claimed two wickets apiece for the chargers. Chasing the tall target, the Deccan began all charged up with KKR at the receiving end. Ganguly started off the proceedings with rookie off-spinner Mohnish Parmar, a gamble that did not pay off. The Gujarati off-spinner conceded 14 from the first over with Herschelle Gibbs plundering three boundaries. A miss run-out chance of Gibbs in the second over did not help the cause as Deccan had a flying start with 23 runs in two overs. Brief Score Kolkata Knight Riders: 181 for six in 20 overs (Sourav Ganguly 88, David Hussey 31; Andrew Symonds 2/26, Pragyan Ojha 2/38, Jaskaran Singh 2/18). Deccan Chargers: 157 for five in 20 overs (Herschelle Gibbs 50, Andrew Symonds 45; Angelo Matthews 1/25). Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:08 pm Companies take to social media, target young clienteleMumbai: On 14 March, Ching’s Secret, a Chinese cuisine brand, crossed 100,000 fans on its Facebook page, prompting 42 “likes” and 26 congratulatory messages on the social media site that is increasingly drawing the attention of companies as a way to reach out to the next generation of consumers. And when General Motors India Pvt. Ltd launched its new small car Beat in the country, it first made the announcement on Yahoo, said Nitin Mathur, director (marketing) at Yahoo India. As firms in India jump on to the social media bandwagon, they are increasing their digital media spending budgets to promote brands and products through online networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Click here to view a slideshow of Indian brands that are effectively using social media platforms as marketing and communication tools “Social media has now become an entry point for most marketeers to foray online,” said Atul Hegde, chief executive officer, Ignitee Digital Solutions Pvt. Ltd, a digital media marketing company. In the past six months alone, Hegde said the firm has seen the number of its clients looking at social marketing actively as a part of their online digital marketing plan grow from 10 to 45. India has 60 million Internet users, according to a December report by the National IT Task Force, a government body. Facebook has at least eight million users in India, while Google’s social networking site Orkut has at least 17 million. It is this population that companies are trying to target aggressively. Vivek Nayer, senior vice-president (marketing, automotive sector) at Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, India’s largest maker of utility vehicles, said the firm is spending 5-8% of its marketing budget on social media outreach for its utility vehicles Scorpio and Zylo, including themed online games that have gained about a million users in two-and-a-half months. “These games will act as brand evangelists as it will help in creating brand awareness and loyalty among prospective buyers and influencers of today. We want to catch them young and it also helps in engaging customers,” he said. PepsiCo. India has created skins, or custom page designs, on Orkut and arranged live chats on Facebook with Ranbir Kapoor as a precursor to launching an online game—titled just that, “The Game”— that is being developed by Hungama.com. “We are looking at creating a third pillar to engage the youth as they spend a lot of their time playing games and (are) online on social networking sites,” said Rohit Ohri, senior vice-president, JWT India, the advertising agency for PepsiCo India. “Over the last two years, we have reduced our mass advertising spends (read as television) from 80% to 70% and these spends have been diverted to other mediums, largely digital,” said Punita Lal, executive director, marketing, PepsiCo. India. Earlier, Tata Motors Ltd used social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Orkut in the run-up to the launch of Tata Nano, the Rs1 lakh car that has been hailed as a game changer for the auto industry. Other companies such as Dell Inc., Intel Corp. and United Spirits Ltd have also established a social media presence in India to create alternative routes to reach consumers. “In today’s agile marketing environment, as marketeers look for interesting ways to get consumer attention, online advertising is bound to grow. It provides marketeers the unique opportunity to communicate the right message to the right audience on a real-time basis,” said Nitin Mathur, director (marketing) at Yahoo India. But these are early days, say others, and Indian firms are still finding their feet around the new medium. “Around 60% (of) Indian marketeers are in a state where they are not sure about what to do in the social media, while around 20% has done some amount of work on social media,” said Gaurav Mishra, CEO of social business strategy firm 20:20 Social. The rest, he said, are still thinking about what’s after the traditional marketing medium. Consumer goods companies are normally separated from end consumers by five to six layers, said Ajaay Gupta, chairman and managing director at Capital Foods Ltd, which makes Ching’s Secret. “Here (on social media) we have cut across and reached our consumers directly… We are using the social media for crowd sourcing and to track what are the next flavours to launch,” Gupta said, adding that they also use it to track stocks at stores. pr.sanjai@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:08 pm Wockhardt debt recast suffers blowMumbai: Embattled drug maker Wockhardt Ltd’s debt restructuring plan suffered a setback on Thursday after a deal to sell its nutrition business to US-based drugs and nutritional giant Abbott Laboratories Inc. was terminated by both sides.  Abbott said on its website that the plan had been scrapped because the Indian company was unable to resolve debt recast issues with some of its lenders. Wockhardt did not say why the plan to offload the unit, valued at Rs620 crore, was called off. Mint had reported in January that the deal might be blocked by this group of lenders. The deal had been regarded as critical to the beleaguered Wockhardt’s bid to retire some of its debt. The Indian drug maker, which has liabilities of about Rs3,700 crore, needs to raise Rs790 crore over the next five years under a corporate debt restructuring (CDR) plan approved by its key lenders. Since the funds to repay debt were expected to come from the divestment of non-core assets, including the nutrition business, Wockhardt had sold two of its businesses—a pharmaceutical unit in Germany and its entire animal health division in 2009. The valuations of these deals were not officially announced, but people familiar with the matter put the total realization at around Rs200 crore. The Abbott deal was also part of the non-core sell-off announced in July, but Wockhardt was unable to close it after a group of foreign lenders moved the Bombay high court in December seeking liquidation of Wockhardt to recover their dues. In another blow, Wockhardt on Thursday informed stock exchanges that its finance head of three decades and whole-time director B. Rajiv Gandhi had resigned. Regarded as chairman and key promoter Habil Khorakiwala’s confidant, Gandhi was also on the board of at least four other group companies promoted by Khorakiwala. Gandhi could not be reached for comment. Khorakiwala did not answer calls made to his mobile phone. Scott Stoffel, responsible for external communications at the Abbott group, said on Thursday in an email that “there are no financial penalties to either party (for terminating the deal).” Wockhardt’s foreign lenders, including a group of investors who subscribed to $110 million (Rs496.10 crore) of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB) in 2004, had filed winding up petitions against the company after it failed to repay them in October, when the securities were due for redemption. As per the CDR plan, approved by Wockhardt’s lenders, the company was to buy back the bonds at a 65% discount or convert them into equity shares by 2015. However, the group of bondholders had threatened to block the Abbott deal in the event of the company not resolving the debt. A final court order is awaited. A spokesperson for the bondholders blocking the deal said, on condition of anonymity, that they have also offered to resolve the matter through an out-of-court settlement. A Wockhardt spokesperson declined to comment on the matter. Meanwhile, in order to comply with the terms of the CDR, Wockhardt must find another buyer for its nutrition business, one of the few attractive segments among its non-core assets. A sector analyst, who did not want to be identified, said Wockhardt is already on the radar of a couple of foreign drug multinational companies that are interested in acquiring the entire domestic business of the firm. “So, it must be looking at those opportunities in which the nutrition business, which comprises brands such as Farex, Dexolac, Nusobee infant formulas and Protinex, may get a better valuation,” he said. ch.unni@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:05 pm Final draft Bill denies food security as a rightNew Delhi: The draft food security legislation readied for cabinet’s approval is much narrower in scope than what was initially envisaged and, hence, stops short of assuring an entitlement as had been previously pledged.  Watered down: Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The draft food security legislation, influenced by the fiscal constraints on the UPA, falls short of the original proposal approved by Gandhi. Nand Kumar / PTI The final draft Bill which has been approved by the empowered group of ministers (eGoM) and reviewed by Mint restricts coverage only to poor citizens, confines it to the supply of 25kg of wheat and rice, does not lock in the government to a fixed issue price and excludes destitutes from the purview of other welfare schemes covered by the proposed food security Bill. As a result, it is unlike what has been provided under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), which guarantees employment to one member of every rural household and does not restrict it to those living below the poverty line (BPL). While the eGoM decision is considered to be final, it requires a formal nod by the cabinet through its inclusion in the agenda. Thereafter, it will be put in the public domain for discussion. Mint could not confirm the date on which it would be put up for approval. The legislation, influenced by the fiscal constraints on the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), in its present form falls short of the original proposal approved by Sonia Gandhi, Congress party president and chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC). The election manifesto of the Congress promised entitlement by enacting “a right to food law that guarantees access to sufficient food for all people, particularly the most vulnerable sections of society.” The contours of the food security law were laid out by President Pratibha Patil in her speech to members of Parliament in the first session of the 15th Lok Sabha in June, where she maintained that it would amount to an entitlement. She said the legislation would “provide a statutory basis for a framework, which assures food security for all. Every family below the poverty line in rural as well as urban areas will be entitled, by law, to 25kg of rice or wheat per month at Rs3 per kg. This legislation will also be used to bring about broader systemic reform in the public distribution system (PDS)”. However, the eGoM headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has delinked the proposed National Food Security Act (NFSA) from nutritional security and thereby restricted it to the BPL sections of the population. Further, instead of providing for all foodgrains, including coarse cereals such as jowar and bajra, it has restricted it to wheat and rice. Also Read The previous stories in the series An economist closely associated with the development programmes of the government who did not want to be identified said that the draft Act had been “completely watered down”. “It is a shell without content and this is not good enough to address the real issue of poverty and hunger in India,” the person said. Harsh Mander, the Supreme Court-appointed commissioner on food security, had a similar argument. “The proposed law adds nothing whatsoever to impoverished people’s rights and access to sufficient food for an active and healthy life,” Mander said. “In fact, it actually reduces these entitlements.” Mander pointed out that the PDS already provides for more subsidized foodgrains per poor household than the proposed law—35kg against the 25kg promised in the law. The final draft cleared by the eGoM also moves away from some of the decisions taken at its meeting on 12 February and reported in Mint on 5 March. It had, for instance, sought the inclusion of destitutes, beggars, street children and the homeless within the BPL category, which the final version omits. The final draft of the food legislation approved by the eGoM also implicitly indicates that the government can, if it so requires, vary the issue price of PDS foodgrains. It does so by omitting any reference to the proposed price of Rs3 per kg and says that the price would be specified in the rules that will be issued separately. Similarly, while the final draft commits to a social audit, it has left it to the government to notify through the rules the periodicity and the institutions that would conduct it. The original proposal had sought a commitment to an annual audit by the local bodies and linked the renewal of fair price shop licences to performance. anil.p@livemint.com The Hunger Project is a joint effort of the Hindustan Times and Mint to track, investigate and report every aspect of the struggle to rid India of hunger. If you have any suggestions, write to us at thehungerproject@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:04 pm Icai report calls for regulating foreign firmsNew Delhi: A panel formed by the apex body of accountants to study the fallout of the scam at Satyam Computer Services Ltd has suggested the formation of a separate regulatory framework to oversee foreign entities providing a range of management consultancy, auditing and other services to Indian clients. The recommendation is contained in a report the committee submitted on 4 February to the central council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, or Icai, which regulates Indian auditors and accountants. The high-powered panel was headed by former Icai president Uttam Prakash Agarwal. A copy of the report has been reviewed by Mint. “The council may consider recommending to the government to bring all entities that are providing a range of management consultancy and other services in competition with members of the institute under a regulatory mechanism,” said the report.  Hyderabad-based Satyam has been at the centre of India’s biggest corporate fraud inquiry after founder B. Ramalinga Raju confessed in January 2009 to having misstated accounts to the tune of Rs7,136 crore over a period of several years. The government asked Icai, one of several agencies investigating the fraud, to look into auditing lapses at Satyam. Satyam auditor Price Waterhouse Bangalore, an Indian partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers Llp, one of the world’s big four auditing firms, also came under scrutiny following the scam, with two partners arrested in connection with the fraud. The Icai committee, in its recommendations, said the council may consider action needed to be taken against the audit firms that had not yet provided the information it had sought from them. According to the report, information has been sought from 94 accounting firms which were perceived to have affiliations with international entities on their tie-ups. The committee said firms having affiliations with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, KPMG, Ernst and Young Ltd (E&Y) and PricewaterhouseCoopers had tried to maintain confidentiality while replying to Icai and not backed up their responses with documents. All Deloitte affiliates sent similar letters to the institute, saying they had networked with Deloitte Haskins and Sells, which is registered with the Icai, and that they did not see any link between the formation of the high-powered committee and documents asked for, the report said. Six BSR and Co. firms said they had an agreement with KPMG, but details of their partnership had to be kept confidential. “They have mentioned that normal remittances have been made to KPMG, but have declined to reveal details thereof,” the report said. Two SR Batliboi and Co. firms failed to send copies of agreement/contract with E&Y; they also didn’t mention details of remittances made by them to their foreign affiliate, it said. Seven Price Waterhouse firms wrote to the institute stating that they would like to make a presentation rather than sharing certain crucial information, it said. Two firms of Lovelock and Lewes responded to the institute on the same lines. The committee concluded that affiliate firms don’t have uniform resources and it was evident that some firms with lesser resources had to rely on other firms to fulfil their professional commitments. The council may consider “appropriate action” needed to be taken so that the firms that had not supplied the information sought by the committee ensure there is no violation of the code of ethics prescribed for Icai members. Some executives at the big four accounting firms, however, see the report as Icai’s bid to discredit them because the institute is governed by small CA firms. “Rather than talking about what should be the profession’s focus post Satyam, such as rotation of partners or firms, joint audits etc, the institute is slandering large auditing firms,” said a senior executive at one of the four firms, who did not want to be identified. “We have passed on information relevant to the institute but, of course, we have to maintain certain confidentiality on commercially sensitive information like our partnership agreements, tax returns etc as we don’t want all information to become public,” said this person. Icai is trying to be a regulator and a competitor, which is not justified, the person added. He also said all the affiliates of international firms are registered with Icai and the institute had given them permission to practice as audit firms. He also said supporting documents were not given as they contain confidential information on revenue sharing. Currently, an auditing company can operate with a maximum of 20 partners and to have deeper penetration the big accounting firms have tie-ups with their different associates. A partner at Deloitte, who did not want to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter, said he was surprised that Deloitte firms were being labelled as surrogate audit firms in the report when all their partners are qualified members of Icai, holding valid certificates of practice and thus see themselves as 100% Indian firms. An Icai sub-committee, headed by Kolkata-based CA Subodh Agrawal, is expected to study the report and finalize its recommendations by April-end, after which the report will be presented to the government. “We had a brainstorming session when the council met on 13 March and several suggestions were made. The committee may seek more information from various auditing firms including the big four. It will then finalize the report of the high-powered committee and present it to the government somewhere in May,” said Amarjit Chopra, Icai president. This will be the second report prepared by Icai on issues relating to Satyam. The first one submitted in August to the ministry of corporate affairs did not find favour with the government. Mint had reported on 21 October that Icai’s investigation of the role of the auditors in the fraud at Satyam didn’t shed any new light on the subject. It only repeated charges made by the Central Bureau of Investigation, India’s federal investigative agency, besides suggesting generic measures to improve the audit process. “A lot of suggestions were made by the government nominee Prithvi Haldea on various issues relating to better corporate governance of auditing firms and the committee will take up all that,” said a person familiar with the move who did not want to be identified. Haldea is chairman and managing director of Prime Database, a New Delhi-based primary market tracker, who advises the government on corporate governance issues. He declined to comment on the matter. On matters relating to Satyam and its associates, the second report has recommended to the central council disciplinary action against auditors of 37 associate companies of Satyam that extended Rs1,240 crore in loans to the software services provider, which didn’t disclose the loans in its financial statements. It has also said that the council may suggest to the Reserve Bank of India an examination of the role of banks in sanctioning loan facilities to Satyam. The committee suggested that the council take up with the Central Bureau of Direct Taxes the issue of Satyam creating more tax liability than what was owed by overstating its revenue and profit figures. The big four accounting firms declined to comment for this story. sangeeta.s@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:04 pm Quick Edit | A market for Somali piratesA world away from the financial centres of the globe, a business model is raking in profits enough to make heads turn. Somali pirates lording it over the Gulf of Aden, one of the busiest trade routes in the world, collected an estimated $60 million in ransom last year. As the United Nations’ latest report on Somalia uncovers, behind this massive revenue lies a neat system of investments and returns, and even non-pirate Somalians are cashing in. To be sure, it is an efficient model—with sophisticated risk to return ratios and investor classes—put to a questionable end. But the phenomenon can be traced back to Somalia’s turbulent political and economic history, and rampant exploitation by a nexus of warlords and foreign companies looking to make an easy buck. This may be piracy in its most institutionalized form, but there is a larger lesson here: Markets can come up at the most unlikely places, but the outcomes will depend on the environmental factors that breed such exchanges. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 1:04 pm IRB achieves financial closure for 2 projectsIRB Infrastructure Developers Limited, one of the largest toll road operating companies in India, has achieved financial closure for its TalegaonAmravati highway project and Goa Tollway project.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 12:40 pm Hexaware joins with Oracle TuxedoHexaware Technologies announced today that it is working with Oracle to enhance its Legacy Modernization services using the Oracle Tuxedo Application Runtime for CICS and Batch 11g and Oracle Tuxedo Application Rehosting Workbench 11g.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 12:30 pm Utilities with low exposure to merchant market may benefitThe frenzy over high merchant power prices will subside as factors, such as long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) capacity and the parlous finances of state utilities and regulatory bottlenecks, come into play. We have a bearish stance on long-term merchant power rates, based on an analysis of these factors, and prefer utilities that have less exposure to merchant power. Also See Current Status (Graphics) In addition to power deficit, other factors, such as fresh long-term PPA capacity, fragile state utilities reeling under losses and the willingness of state regulatory bodies to allow recovery of high power purchase costs, could play a pivotal role in governing merchant power rates. Merchant rates slid significantly in the second half of FY10 due to greater procurement in the first half of FY10 and better grid discipline. The weighted exchange-traded price rose to Rs5.50 per kWh (March, month-to-date) from Rs3.20-3.40 (January-February). The reasons attributed for the lower rates in the second half of FY10 are: no political compulsion on states to buy costly power (as in the first half due to the general elections) and better grid discipline (less overdraw from the grid) resulting in lower unscheduled interchange rates. The addition of capacity against long-term agreements (14 gigawatts) and international processing plant capacity (2 gigawatts) in the short-term market would benefit states such as Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, besides major buyers in the merchant market. PPA capacity is designed for baseload, so we expect peak deficit to continue. We prefer utilities with low exposure to the merchant market: NTPC Ltd and Tata Power Co. Ltd. JSW Energy Ltd’s and Adani Power Ltd’s earnings could be volatile given high exposure to merchant power. Despite the gargantuan deficit of about 5,000MW, Maharashtra purchased only 600MW on average in the spot market. This stems chiefly from the huge cash losses the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd (MSEDCL) suffers. In FY10 also, against the petition to purchase 3 billion units in the traded market, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) had not permitted a single unit to be purchased in the traded market. That said, MSEDCL has gone ahead and bought an average 350 million units in spot. It remains to be seen how that would be balanced in the truing-up exercise by MERC. In the future, although demand for power would grow at about 5-7%, yet, because much of the PPA-based capacity is coming online and, most importantly, there are no political compulsions (such as elections), this would lead to, at best, last year’s level of spot buying by MSEDCL. Despite a huge deficit of about 1,500MW, Punjab has only purchased an average 300MW in spot. Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) was compelled to purchase a huge amount of power in the spot market only in July, August and September, primarily because the lack of rainfall resulted in huge amount of electricity required for irrigation. In other months, the PSEB has been a reluctant buyer despite a shortage, and in some cases, an actual seller on the spot market. Graphics by Yogesh Kumar / Mint feedback@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 12:29 pm RollsRoyceLT to collaborate on global nuclearLarsen Toubro Limited and RollsRoyce have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation to effectively address the projected need for light water reactors in India and internationally.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 12:21 pm Siesta challenges Aqua Logistics’ acquisition plansBangalore: The acquisition of three Hong Kong-based firms by Aqua Logistics Ltd is being challenged by Bangalore-based Siesta Logistics Corp. Ltd, which said it had signed a “transition agreement” with the companies on an exclusive basis on 25 February. Siesta Logistics, which said it had hired Ernst and Young Pvt. Ltd to conduct due diligence prior to acquisition, plans to seek legal remedy, it said. Aqua Logistics told the stock exchanges on 29 March that it had entered into an agreement on 26 March in Hong Kong to acquire three logistics companies—CIT Logistics Ltd, TAG Logistics Ltd and AGI Logistics Ltd— through its wholly owned subsidiary Aqua Logistics HK Pvt. Ltd. As per the terms of the deal, Aqua Logistics will initially acquire a 60% stake in the three for a total consideration of $7.09 million (around Rs32 crore). Aqua plans to acquire an additional 15% stake over a five-year period, in tranches, subject to certain terms and conditions and as per business performance targets to be achieved by the Hong Kong companies. Aqua Logistics said it has no knowledge of the Siesta Logistics agreement. “I am hearing this name (Siesta Logistics) for the first time today. Somebody called me up today to say that they had some agreement with the companies we acquired,” Mohammad Sabir Sayad, Aqua Logistics vice-chairman and wholetime director, told Mint. “They were supposed to send me the said agreements by email. But they have not done it so far. I have not really given a thought on what should be done at this point of time.” Aqua Logistics was listed on the bourses recently. “We are subject to disclosures and other regulations. Therefore, we will not violate norms. Why would a target company sign two different agreements? In fact, we had started talking to these companies nine months (ago),” Sayad said. “The target companies have also clarified that they do not have any binding agreements with any parties. Also, we had mentioned in our public issue that we will using the proceeds to acquire overseas companies.” Ashok Chattaraj, chairman and managing director of Siesta Group, told Mint that his company was in talks with the three companies and a couple more. “After signing a transition agreement on 25 February with these three logistics companies, Ernst and Young was doing due diligence during 9-28 March,” Chattaraj said. “I took up the issue late as Alfred Lam, the consultant of these three companies, told me that he was coming to India to discuss the issue.” Chattaraj said he can prove that Siesta was in talks with the Hong Kong companies to buy them, but for less than what Aqua is paying. “I spoke to some representative of Aqua,” he said. “But I wanted to take it up with Lam.” Siesta Logistics is the arm of Siesta Hospitality Services Ltd, in which venture capital firm Matrix Partners India had invested $10 million in October 2009. Aqua Logistics dropped by a marginal 0.04% to close at Rs271.05 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Thursday when the benchmark index rose 0.94%. pr.sanjai@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 11:52 am The Dabhol decadeDabhol was conceived in the 1990s and was originally promoted by Enron. It ran into trouble soon after, with the government with which the US company had signed the agreement losing in the polls to the state assembly, and the new government questioning the high cost of the power the plant would produce. The plant was taken over by new owners after Enron’s collapse. The gas-fuelled project having three blocks, with each block having two gas and one steam turbine, was finally fully commissioned on Wednesday evening. It has a capacity of 1,940MW. Though the project was originally planned with a 2,150MW capacity, it has been de-rated, and supplies power to Maharashtra at a tariff of Rs4.50 per unit. Also See The Dabhol Plant (Graphic) Graphic by Ahmed Raza Khan / Mint Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 11:49 am Reliance not renewing Iran crude import deal: SourcesReliance not renewing Iran crude import deal sourcesSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 11:28 am Union Bank to cross Rs 3 lakh-cr biz soon: Nair - Business Standard
Source: Business - Google News | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:38 am No selloff plans for SCI, DCI: Shipping secyThe ministry has no plans to divest stakes in Shipping Corporation and dredging firm Dredging Corporation, shipping secretary K Mohandas said in Mumbai today.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:10 am RIL may rejoin ONGC for Venezuela projectReliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which had walked out of its arrangement with ONGC to submit a joint bid for the multi-billion Venezuelan Carabobo field, is likely to be roped in again in the project.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:06 am Sops costing oil companies Rs 90,000 crWith crude oil prices peaking up to $83 a barrel mark, the petroleum ministry has raised fears that under-recoveries of state-owned oil marketing firms (selling fuel below the cost price) may touch Rs 90,000 crore during 2010-11.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 10:03 am OVL eyes new oil assets, less costlyWhile China is aggressively pumping funds to procure oil and gas assets overseas, state-owned ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) said its strategy continues to be the acquisition of “comparatively newer oil and gas assets that are less costly,” as against matured fields, available at a higher cost.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 9:59 am Geithner’s India visit to push infra investmentUS Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will discuss opening India’s vast infrastructure needs to financing from US firms, financial investment and economic stability during his visit next week.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 9:57 am L&T-Rolls Royce to make N-partsInfrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and UK’s Rolls-Royce have signed a memorandum of understanding to make components and provide services for Light Water Reactors (LWR) in India and abroad.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 1 Apr 2010 | 9:54 am What is the God Particle or Higgs Boson?Few experiments in physics have attracted as much attention as the Large Hadron Collider. Ever since its inception in September 2008, the LHC has been plagued by problems, and it could get back into operation only earlier this week. One of the most-anticipated events within the LHC is the detection of the Higgs Boson, the so-called “God Particle.” On Just to Clarify, we wanted to investigate the nature of this Higgs Boson, to figure out what it does and how its discovery will change particle physics. Our guest on the show today is CS Unnikrishnan, a faculty member in the department of High Energy Physics at the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research in Mumbai. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 6:24 am Microsoft India R&D expands product development to BangaloreBangalore: Microsoft India R&D, which currently has a development centre in Hyderabad, today announced expansion of its activities to Bangalore. The Bangalore team will focus on product development and applied research in web search and online ad technologies. “It will initially have 200 plus employees, vast majority of whom would transition to Microsoft from Yahoo! as part of the Microsoft-Yahoo! Search alliance,” Satya Nadella, Senior Vice-President, R&D, Online Services Division (OSD), Microsoft told reporters here today. “The Bangalore centre joins Hyderabad as one of the core hubs of development and research for OSD. The innovations from our Hyderabad team are already having significant impact on our US, UK, Canada, Australia and India products. The combined skills and talent of our existing OSD team at Hyderabad and the Yahoo! employees who join us now in Bangalore will enhance India’s contribution to our OSD innovation charter inclusive of Microsoft Bing and Microsoft Ad Centre,” he said. “We are confident that once transition is completed, the companies’ unified search market place will deliver even greater and improved innovation for consumers, better volume and efficiency for advertisers and better monetization opportunities for web publishers,” Satya said. Of the 400 Yahoo employees taken, 200 were from India. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 1 Apr 2010 | 4:18 am Wockhardt, Abbott Call Off Nutrition Business Deal - Wall Street Journal
Source: Business - Google News | 1 Apr 2010 | 3:21 am
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