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Strike in crashhit Air India drags, woes mountA strike at Air India, the country\'s beleaguered national carrier, dragged into its second day on Wednesday and forced many flight cancellations days after one of its aircraft crashed killing 158 people.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 8:29 am Deepak Fert shares rise 6.6% on bright FY11 outlookShares of Deepak Fertilisers Petrochemicals Corp rose more than 6 percent during early trade on Wednesday on brighter FY11 outlook and expansion plans, analysts and dealers said.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 8:28 am Microsoft\'s formula to increase productivity, reduce costSmall and Medium Businesses (SMBs) are facing a challenging business environment. Turmoil in the markets, decrease in consumer demand, uncertainty in the future, and numerous other factors are making it harder to access capital.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 7:00 am What\'s holding back the hand that feeds?Sonia Gandhi wants to make sure that no one goes hungry in the country. But many in the government dont seem to have an appetite for the planSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 6:02 am Why they wont come to teach you from HarvardAnd you thought allowing foreign universities into India will bridge the yawning gap in higher education? Think againSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 6:02 am A Religion for AtheistsIt is not just god that defines religion. There are so many fabrics in it that have held societies together for ages and given man his peace. Whats more, it can even be tweaked to suit the modern, secular worldSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 6:02 am Inside the mind that killsWe have seen even ordinary people committing horrific violence by thinking of victims as less than human. We cant ignore dehumanisation any moreSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 6:02 am Freedom from IntoleranceThe right to dissent and tolerance are the bedrock of a democratic society. Unfortunately, they cannot be legislatedSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 6:02 am MM buys majority stake in RevaMahindra and Mahindra (MM) has bought a majority stake in electric car company, Reva. With this, the commercial vehicle major would hold 55.2% in Reva via the stake sale and fresh equity infusion.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 6:00 am NMDC to double iron ore export pricesNMDC Ltd, India\'s biggest iron ore miner, aims to double the price for new export contracts from Nippon Steel Corp and POSCO, the Press Trust of India said in the Mint newspaper.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 5:16 am Sensex remains firm on strong global cuesThe BSE benchmark index on Wednesday managed to hold on to its morning gains as sentiments improved across Asian markets and European bourses opened in the green.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 26 May 2010 | 3:41 am Bajaj Electricals Q4 net profit down at Rs 37.5 cr - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 May 2010 | 3:40 am BHEL's Q4 net jumps 42% to Rs 1909 cr - NDTV.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 May 2010 | 3:33 am Deepak Fert shares rise 6.6% on bright FY11 outlook - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 May 2010 | 3:30 am Banks vulnerable but profits, pay at pre-crisis levels - OECDPARIS (Reuters) - Banks are making sizeable profits and paying staff as much as in 2007, before the global financial crisis, yet they remain vulnerable, the OECD said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 May 2010 | 3:26 am BSE Sensex extends gains to 2 pct on dayMUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex extended gains to 2 percent on Wednesday afternoon, with financials leading the rise, taking cues from strong global peers.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 May 2010 | 3:18 am OECD raises global growth forecast due to AsiaPARIS (Reuters) - The global economy is recovering faster than expected from recession with Asia leading the way, but it is at risk from huge debts in developed countries and possible overheating in countries such as China, the OECD said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 May 2010 | 3:15 am Subscribe to Standard Chartered IDR: Angel Securities - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 May 2010 | 3:15 am Nifty hits 4900 on short covering; IT, realty, metal shine - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 May 2010 | 3:15 am Strike in crash-hit Air India drags, woes mount - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 May 2010 | 3:15 am JFE Steel Holdings plans investment of $7.8 billion over two yearsThe company, which is in talks with India's JSW Steel on strengthening their ties, did not say how much money will go to overseas investments.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 May 2010 | 3:15 am Now browse Facebook on your mobile for freeThe Emirates' new integrated telecommunications service provider, Du, and social networking website Facebook have announced free mobile browsing of the new 0.facebook.com website for its customers. It is a faster, lightweight version of Facebook's mobile site m.facebook.com.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 3:09 am Indian rupee extends gains mirroring moves in shares - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 26 May 2010 | 3:07 am Rupee extends gains mirroring moves in sharesMUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee extended its rise in afternoon trade on Wednesday buoyed by gains in domestic shares and also helped by losses in the dollar against major currencies overseas.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 May 2010 | 3:06 am India gold demand stays weak as prices hit recordMUMBAI (Reuters) - India gold demand stayed weak for a second day on Wednesday as prices hit a record high tracking overseas markets, where safe-haven buying supported the yellow metal, dealers said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 May 2010 | 3:05 am M&M shares jump 4 pc on Reva stake buy - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 26 May 2010 | 3:01 am Angel Securities neutral on HUL - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 26 May 2010 | 2:45 am FACTBOX - What's in Italy's austerity packageROME (Reuters) - Italy's cabinet approved an austerity package late on Tuesday to cut the budget deficit by 24 billion euros in 2011 and 2012, to lower it to 2.7 percent ofSource: Reuters: Money News | 26 May 2010 | 2:38 am 3G will revolutionise the games people playNew Delhi: Now, get ready to enjoy an enhanced gaming experience with third generation (3G) technology! With the onset of 3G technology, there will be high data transfer rates over longer distances, efficient bandwidth use, map and positioning services and multi-player gaming facilities. With the mobile value added services (VAS) market pegged at around $45 billion, the latest trend is 3G spectrum which is expected to create a paradigm shift in the VAS market in India. According to various estimates, the number of mobile handset users in the country is expected to reach nearly 800 million in next four years, and 3G will change the way people communicate. Says Nitish Mittersain, CEO of Mobile entertainment company Nazara Technologies, “3G is the new buzzword in the world of telecommunications whose launch opens the door to innovative value added services which will bring everything to one convergent device. Larger bandwidth will permit high quality and large games to be downloaded easily and quickly, enabling a large number of consumers to access such games in a fraction of seconds.” “High end mobile devices with more processing power, memory and larger screen embedded with speed will enhance the overall gaming experience for the consumer. In fact, 3G users are expected to spend at least 3-4 times more on gaming as compared to normal users,” Mittersain, also the chairman of the mobile committee of Indian Merchants’ Chamber, told PTI. According to him, multi-player and social gaming is set to see the biggest uptake as Indian version of games on SNS platform will be sought after by avid gamers. “Nazara has already launched social mobile Internet games such as Mobile Housie which has received a great response from the users,” he says. Jump Games CEO Salil Bhargava anticipates that 3G would have a positive impact on the consumption of mobile games. “Faster download speeds and newer, more powerful devices, will help in offering better user-interfaces thereby improving content discovery. 3G will also help in offering users enhanced gaming experience with possibilities of multiplier and 3D gaming,” he says. On the impact mobile Internet-based games will see after 3G’s arrival, he says, “Gaming will become more persistent. Faster connection speeds will enable offering higher quality gaming experience to the end user. Going forward, features like in-game micro-transactions will also help increase the game play longevity and keep the user hooked to the game.” Meanwhile, experts from telecommunications industry from across the country would huddle in Mumbai on May 28 to discuss the impact of 3G on Mobile VAS. The spotlight would also be on the mobile TV services as well as the impact of 3G on mobile gaming and streamlining of innovative ideas to create casual gamers. “After 2G, 2.5G, GSM and CDMA, it is now 3G, which is expected to bring changes the way people communicate. After 132 countries across the world, 3G is now set to revolutionise mobile communications by introducing high speed connectivity and infotainment to Indians,” says Indian Merchants’ Chamber president Gul Kripalani. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 May 2010 | 2:22 am 3G will revolutionise the games people playNew Delhi: Now, get ready to enjoy an enhanced gaming experience with third generation (3G) technology! With the onset of 3G technology, there will be high data transfer rates over longer distances, efficient bandwidth use, map and positioning services and multi-player gaming facilities. With the mobile value added services (VAS) market pegged at around $45 billion, the latest trend is 3G spectrum which is expected to create a paradigm shift in the VAS market in India. According to various estimates, the number of mobile handset users in the country is expected to reach nearly 800 million in next four years, and 3G will change the way people communicate. Says Nitish Mittersain, CEO of Mobile entertainment company Nazara Technologies, “3G is the new buzzword in the world of telecommunications whose launch opens the door to innovative value added services which will bring everything to one convergent device. Larger bandwidth will permit high quality and large games to be downloaded easily and quickly, enabling a large number of consumers to access such games in a fraction of seconds.” “High end mobile devices with more processing power, memory and larger screen embedded with speed will enhance the overall gaming experience for the consumer. In fact, 3G users are expected to spend at least 3-4 times more on gaming as compared to normal users,” Mittersain, also the chairman of the mobile committee of Indian Merchants’ Chamber, told PTI. According to him, multi-player and social gaming is set to see the biggest uptake as Indian version of games on SNS platform will be sought after by avid gamers. “Nazara has already launched social mobile Internet games such as Mobile Housie which has received a great response from the users,” he says. Jump Games CEO Salil Bhargava anticipates that 3G would have a positive impact on the consumption of mobile games. “Faster download speeds and newer, more powerful devices, will help in offering better user-interfaces thereby improving content discovery. 3G will also help in offering users enhanced gaming experience with possibilities of multiplier and 3D gaming,” he says. On the impact mobile Internet-based games will see after 3G’s arrival, he says, “Gaming will become more persistent. Faster connection speeds will enable offering higher quality gaming experience to the end user. Going forward, features like in-game micro-transactions will also help increase the game play longevity and keep the user hooked to the game.” Meanwhile, experts from telecommunications industry from across the country would huddle in Mumbai on May 28 to discuss the impact of 3G on Mobile VAS. The spotlight would also be on the mobile TV services as well as the impact of 3G on mobile gaming and streamlining of innovative ideas to create casual gamers. “After 2G, 2.5G, GSM and CDMA, it is now 3G, which is expected to bring changes the way people communicate. After 132 countries across the world, 3G is now set to revolutionise mobile communications by introducing high speed connectivity and infotainment to Indians,” says Indian Merchants’ Chamber president Gul Kripalani. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 26 May 2010 | 2:22 am Google's Pac-Man logo cost $120 mn to economyGoogle's Pac-Man logo led to almost five million wasted hours and cost the economy about $120 million, an analyst estimated. Google apparently had about 505 million users on Friday when the Pac-Man doodle went live.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 2:16 am US Justice Dept probes Apple’s digital music tactics: reportNew York: The US Justice Department is examining Apple’s tactics in the market for digital music, says a media report. Investigators have asked questions about recent allegations that Apple used its dominant market position to persuade music labels to refuse to give online retailer Amazon.com exclusive access to music about to be released, The New York Times reported. The antitrust inquiry is in the early stages, the report said, citing people familiar with the situation. According to the publication, representatives from Apple and Amazon declined to comment. Gina Talamona, a deputy director at the Justice Department, also declined comment. In March, Billboard magazine reported that Amazon was asking music labels to give it the exclusive right to sell certain forthcoming songs for one day before they went on sale more widely. In exchange, Amazon promised to include those songs in a promotion called the “MP3 Daily Deal” on its Web site, the NYT said. The magazine reported that representatives of Apple’s iTunes music service were asking the labels not to participate in Amazon’s promotion, adding that Apple punished those that did by withdrawing marketing support for those songs on iTunes, it added. Apple is by far the largest seller of online music in the US, with 69% of the market, according to data from the NPD Group, a marketing consultancy. Amazon’s MP3 store was in second place, with an 8% share. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 May 2010 | 2:02 am US Justice Dept probes Apple’s digital music tactics: reportNew York: The US Justice Department is examining Apple’s tactics in the market for digital music, says a media report. Investigators have asked questions about recent allegations that Apple used its dominant market position to persuade music labels to refuse to give online retailer Amazon.com exclusive access to music about to be released, The New York Times reported. The antitrust inquiry is in the early stages, the report said, citing people familiar with the situation. According to the publication, representatives from Apple and Amazon declined to comment. Gina Talamona, a deputy director at the Justice Department, also declined comment. In March, Billboard magazine reported that Amazon was asking music labels to give it the exclusive right to sell certain forthcoming songs for one day before they went on sale more widely. In exchange, Amazon promised to include those songs in a promotion called the “MP3 Daily Deal” on its Web site, the NYT said. The magazine reported that representatives of Apple’s iTunes music service were asking the labels not to participate in Amazon’s promotion, adding that Apple punished those that did by withdrawing marketing support for those songs on iTunes, it added. Apple is by far the largest seller of online music in the US, with 69% of the market, according to data from the NPD Group, a marketing consultancy. Amazon’s MP3 store was in second place, with an 8% share. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 26 May 2010 | 2:02 am WR to run special Rajdhani train from Mum to DelWestern Railways said that it will run a special Rajdhani train today from Mumbai to Delhi for passengers stranded at the city airport in view of the ongoing strike by a section of Air India employees.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 1:58 am Hardy says Indian exploration well suspendedLONDON (Reuters) - British oil exploration company Hardy Oil and Gas said on Wednesday the drilling of a well in deep water off the coast of India had been suspended due to a problem with the control of the rig's blowout preventer.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 May 2010 | 1:56 am Strike in crash-hit Air India drags, woes mountNEW DELHI (Reuters) - A strike at Air India, the country's beleaguered national carrier, dragged into its second day on Wednesday and forced many flight cancellations days after one of its aircraft crashed killing 158 people.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 May 2010 | 1:45 am Indian tourists giving Australia destinations a missNEW DELHI (Reuters) - A spate of attacks on Indian students in Australia last year has rattled travellers from the subcontinent, with up to 30 percent fewer tourists opting to take the trip Down Under.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 May 2010 | 1:17 am China’s taste for luxury unaffected by downturn: surveyBeijing: The global downturn has not dented China’s thirst for luxury goods, according to a survey by global consultancy KPMG that found the crisis had little impact on most respondents’ spending habits. The survey, which interviewed more than 900 people in 15 cities, found that 62 % maintained their spending on expensive goods in 2009 and 2010, as the country emerged from the effects of the downturn. “Despite a tougher economic climate, respondents demonstrated their brand loyalty, as they chose to stick with existing brands rather than downgrading to less prestigious options,” KPMG said. It also said more respondents cited self-reward and pampering as strong factors for buying luxury items than in a similar 2008 survey. Buying luxury brands to be shown off at formal occasions also was cited as a key factor. China has the world’s second-highest number of dollar billionaires after the United States, and a new class of wealthy Chinese created by the country’s three-decade boom has seized on foreign luxury brands as status symbols. While the global economic downturn that began in late 2008 brought recession to the United States and Europe, China’s economy has slowed but has continued to post some of the world’s fastest growth rates. According to the report, 71% of respondents were educated to university level or above. Those polled were between 20 and 44 and earned at least 4,500 yuan (660 dollars) per month, with a minimum income of 6,500 yuan in the larger cities of Beijing, Shanghai and the southern industrial hubs of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 May 2010 | 1:16 am How many hours Google Pacman ate away, Facebook privacy and 25 years of dotcomWelcome to this weeks edition of “Playcast 2.0”, with our hosts Sidin Vadukut, Samanth Subramanian and Krish Raghav. This week we take on a gamut of issues, ranging from dotcoms to pacman to privacy and rights on social networking sites. We begin with a sneak peek into the upcoming edition of Lounge, which is a tech special. Krish Raghav who is coordinating the issue takes us through some of the key stories we can look forward to reading this Saturday. We talk about 25 years of the dotcom, India’s first regional language websites and an Indian company’s answer to Apple’s ipad. Next we look at the sheer number of man hours that were spent playing Pacman on the Google homepage last Friday. Based on an annoucement by “Rescue time”, a blog that tracks exactly how businesses and individuals spend their time and attention. Next we look at what “rights” individuals have over photographs they upload on to social networking sites like Facebook and Orkut. The issue was particularly brought into focus after a few newspapers reproduced Facebook photographs of the pilot and crew who died in last weeks plane crash in Mangalore. Do you still own your photographs when you upload them on a social networking site? Can you sue for unauthorised usage? And what’s all the fuss about privacy? Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 May 2010 | 1:13 am How many hours Google Pacman ate away, Facebook privacy and 25 years of dotcomWelcome to this weeks edition of “Playcast 2.0”, with our hosts Sidin Vadukut, Samanth Subramanian and Krish Raghav. This week we take on a gamut of issues, ranging from dotcoms to pacman to privacy and rights on social networking sites. We begin with a sneak peek into the upcoming edition of Lounge, which is a tech special. Krish Raghav who is coordinating the issue takes us through some of the key stories we can look forward to reading this Saturday. We talk about 25 years of the dotcom, India’s first regional language websites and an Indian company’s answer to Apple’s ipad. Next we look at the sheer number of man hours that were spent playing Pacman on the Google homepage last Friday. Based on an annoucement by “Rescue time”, a blog that tracks exactly how businesses and individuals spend their time and attention. Next we look at what “rights” individuals have over photographs they upload on to social networking sites like Facebook and Orkut. The issue was particularly brought into focus after a few newspapers reproduced Facebook photographs of the pilot and crew who died in last weeks plane crash in Mangalore. Do you still own your photographs when you upload them on a social networking site? Can you sue for unauthorised usage? And what’s all the fuss about privacy? Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 26 May 2010 | 1:13 am New discoveryWith its powerful yet frugal engine, Bajaj’s new 150 cc is the right choice for those looking for an affordable bike with extra zip.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 12:57 am Laura and hardyLooking to buy a car and dont know where to invest... Too many options in the market and too much confusion?? Here's a way out! Ask our expert and get the best deal.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 12:45 am Power struggleBitter rivalry has always been a constant in the BMW and Audi relationship. And the launch of the new A4 3.2 FSI, was almost an invitation for a rematch with the Beemer 325i.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 12:38 am Oil rebounds in Asian trade as 'fear factor' easesNew York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, gained 62 cents to $69.37 a barrel.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 26 May 2010 | 12:37 am Mahindra to buy 55.2 pct stake in RevaMUMBAI (Reuters) - Mahindra & Mahindra, India's largest utility vehicles and tractor maker, said on Wednesday it would buy a 55.2 percent stake in Reva Electric Car Company.Source: Reuters: Money News | 26 May 2010 | 12:30 am Geithner in Europe to press for action on crisisLondon: US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner flew to Europe on Wednesday to press for united action to tackle a deepening debt crisis that has rekindled fears of a return to recession and sent global stocks tumbling. Asian equity markets rallied from nine-month lows but the euro remained under pressure with sentiment downbeat as costs for banks to borrow dollars from each other reached the highest levels in 10 months. Investors are not confident that measures so far, including Germany’s unilateral ban on some financial trades, austerity plans by indebted euro zone members or even a €750 billion ($926 billion) rescue fund will be enough to prevent Europe’s woes from derailing the global recovery. “I think we all have to understand that the world economy is very lame and it is getting everybody nervous that the problems we are seeing in Greece (and) Europe will not be isolated in Europe,” Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said at a company event in Singapore. Geithner, in London after a trip to China, will “discuss the economic situation in the region and the measures being taken to restore global confidence and financial stability and to promote continued recovery,” the US Treasury said in a statement. He will also urge European officials to conduct bank stress tests, CNBC reported. The Treasury declined to comment. Any stress tests, however, would have to differ from those conducted by US regulators in the spring of 2009, because Europe lacks a huge bailout fund like the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program to plug any capital deficiencies found, CNBC said. Geithner and other Treasury officials routinely cite the US stress tests, which helped open the door for private capital to return to the banking sector, as calming intense market turmoil caused by the financial crisis. German bans “counter-productive” Geithner will meet with Britain’s new finance minister, George Osborne and Bank of England governor Mervyn King before heading to Germany for meetings with European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet and German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. One senior US Treasury official said Washington was unhappy with Germany’s decision to go it alone in banning some types of speculative trading as it considers the measures counter-productive. In fact, Germany on Tuesday proposed extending restrictions on speculative short-selling trades to include all shares, a government source said. Last week, the euro area’s biggest country imposed a ban on naked short-selling of shares in top financial firms and euro government bonds and using credit default swaps for speculation. Also on Tuesday, Italy’s cabinet approved a multibillion-euro package of budget cuts designed to slash the government’s deficit to beneath the EU ceiling of 3.0% of GDP by 2012, a government source said. A draft of the package obtained by Reuters included a four-year freeze on public sector salaries, and a reduction in state personnel by replacing only one in five of those who leave. Italy reluctantly joined Greece, Spain and Portugal in trying to slash budget deficits but the downside could be slower economic growth. “There is indeed a risk that, under market pressure, some countries overdo austerity,” Olivier Blanchard, chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, said in a newspaper interview. “That would be a mistake.” Caution pervasive Reflecting the challenges facing the euro zone, the region’s common currency languished near multi-year lows against the dollar and yen. Stocks however saw some reprieve from weeks of selling as investors looked for bargains. The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan rose 1.6%, helped by a late rally on Wall Street overnight. But since peaking in April at a 22-month high, Asian stocks have fallen 18%, just short of a 20% fall that usually defines a bear market. Tighter funding in money markets was a key concern, reminding investors of the freezing in the interbank loan market that followed the collapse of Lehman Bros in 2008 and played a significant role in the financial crisis that followed. “Doubts and caution pervade the market. There are doubts whether southern European countries are the only ones with debt problems,” said Suh Dong-pil, a market analyst at Hana Daetoo Securities in Seoul. Worries that the European debt crisis could engulf banks, fuelled last weekend by a Spanish takeover of a small savings bank, have pushed the global benchmark borrowing rate of three-month LIBOR to a 10-month high. Money markets are “pricing in for a credit crunch,” said Michael Pond, Treasury strategist at Barclays Capital in New York. “A crisis of confidence is developing once again.” The US Federal Reserve could cut the rate it charges the European Central Bank for dollar supplies via swaps if the debt crisis worsens, the Wall Street Journal said. Few markets have escaped the turmoil. The Reuters-Jefferies Commodities index has tumbled more than 10% so far in May due to concerns that Europe’s debt woes will hurt global demand for raw materials such as industrial metals, oil and agricultural goods. Global miner Rio Tinto, however, gave an upbeat outlook on Wednesday, particularly on iron ore and aluminium, cheering investors in the stock and the beaten down Australian market. “The outlook for global iron ore remains very positive and growth fundamentals remain the same as before the financial crisis, dominated by the rise of China,” chief executive Tom Albanese told the miner’s annual meeting in Australia. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 May 2010 | 12:30 am Euro down as debt fears lingerHong Kong: The euro fell on Wednesday driven by fears that Europe’s debt woes can wreak havoc in its banks, though Asian stocks rebounded from nine-month lows as value investors hunted for bargains. European shares were poised to open as much as 2.3% higher, financial bookmakers said, helped by a late-session rally on Wall Street where the big indexes finish largely unchanged. Overall, investors continued to cut risk in their books because of ever more difficult financing conditions in the euro zone, tightening US banking regulation and mounting antagonism between North and South Korea. Since global equity markets peaked on April 15, $4.2 trillion in market value has been erased from the MSCI all-country world stocks index. Unless confidence builds around a solution to Europe’s debt crisis, the rally in equities may prove fleeting. “Doubts and caution pervade the market. There are doubts whether southern European countries are the only ones with debt problems,” said Suh Dong-pil, a market analyst at Hana Daetoo Securities in Seoul. “Growing tensions with North Korea are also a negative.” The euro was down 0.8% on the day at $1.2270, creeping back to a four-year low near $1.2140 hit on 14 May. It is on its way to its biggest monthly decline since January 2009. Against the yen, the euro was down 1% to ¥110.67, with support at 108.85 yen, an 8-1/2-year low struck on Tuesday. The Australian dollar fell 0.7% to $0.8233, on track for the biggest monthly decline since October 2008. Stress in funding markets has brought back memories of the fallout from the Lehman Brothers failure in 2008 when a breakdown in trust of counterparties led to US dollar hoarding and a lending freeze. This time a combination of a rush out of euros and into US dollars and fears that last weekend’s takeover of a small Spanish savings bank by the country’s central bank might be a sign of widespread trouble have pushed up short-term dollar financing costs. Three-month dollar Libor fixed on Tuesday at 0.5362, the highest since July 2009, having more than doubled in the past three months. A Reuters poll of money market traders showed the rate was expected to rise to 0.70% over the next month. Japan’s Nikkei share average rose 0.7% after plumbing a six-month low on Tuesday, but was ultimately dependent on the direction of the euro. “We’re likely to see short-covering and bargain-hunting today, given how far the Nikkei fell yesterday,” said Toshiyuki Kanayama, a market analyst at Monex Inc in Tokyo. “But there’s still a lot of longer-term uncertainty and if the euro turns volatile the way it was yesterday, things could change.” The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan was up 1.7%, helped by a bounce in resource-related and technology shares. Since 15 April, Asian stocks have fallen 18%, just short of a 20% mark usually defining a bear market. The index was trading at 11.8 times earnings expected in the next 12 months, the lowest since March 2009, Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S data showed. Valuations have also tumbled in Japan, the United States and and Europe to where they were at the start of the 2009 rally. With investors focused on economic and financial risks though, attractive prices may not be enough to support the market in the near term. Ten-year US Treasury note futures were down 0.2% after hitting a one-year high on Tuesday and as equities gained. The cash market was stable, with the benchmark 10-year yield at 3.18% compared with Tuesday’s intraday low of 3.0642%. US crude for July delivery rallied 0.9% to $69.36 a barrel, after a report of a bigger-than-expected decline in gasoline inventories. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 May 2010 | 12:28 am Microsoft CEO concerned about Europe contagionSingapore: Microsoft Corp chief executive Steve Ballmer said on 26 May there are concerns that a debt crisis in the eurozone will not remain restricted to the region. His remarks follow comments from the company’s chief financial officer Peter Klein earlier this month that Microsoft was expecting a boost this quarter from a rebound in business tech spending, which would likely outweigh the negative impact from turmoil in Europe. “Before the Greek issue everyone has been saying they are more and more cautiously optimistic,” Ballmer told journalists on the sidelines of a Microsoft event in Singapore. “I think we all have to understand that the world economy is very lame and it is getting everybody nervous that the problem that we are seeing in Greece (and) Europe will not be isolated in Europe,” he added. Governments across the globe are assessing the potential fallout from a debt crisis in Europe. When asked about his views on the business and security environment in China after Google Inc’s withdrawal from the market there, Ballmer said Google’s move was due to censorship instead of security issues. In March Google closed its China-based search service and began redirecting Web searchers to an uncensored portal in Hong Kong, drawing harsh comments from Beijing that raised doubts about the company’s future in the world’s largest Internet market. “The reason that Google withdrew from China has nothing to do with security. There are hackers around the world there are hackers in every country. You cannot say ‘I cannot do business in some countries because there are some hackers who live here,” he said. Microsoft has said it remains committed to China even after Google’s decision to retreat because of censorship. Ballmer added that countries such as India and Indonesia have become more attractive compared with China to Microsoft because of better intellectual property protection. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 May 2010 | 12:25 am Stripped to the basicsThe diesel-engined Polo — though a tad expensive and not as swanky — is easy on the fuel tank, safe and offers a stable ride.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 May 2010 | 12:21 am UK spending cuts, an opportunity for Indian IT firms: NasscomThe British coalition government's plans to dramatically cut spending should provide a major opportunity for Indian IT services firms, Nasscom insisted as speculation that Tata Consultancy Services' £600-million contract to administer aSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 May 2010 | 12:00 am NSE suspends Pyramid Saimira, Computech trading from June 1Shares of Pyramid Saimira and Computech International will be suspended from trade on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) with effect from JuneSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 May 2010 | 12:00 am Voltas (Rs 161.7): SellWe recommend a sell in the stock of Voltas from a short-term trading perspective. It is visible from the charts that the stock's intermediate-term uptrend, which commenced from the March 2009 low of Rs 31, got arrested in January 2010 atSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 May 2010 | 12:00 am Operators withdraw petition against TRAI's 2G planBharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular on Tuesday were forced to withdraw their petition against the telecom regulator's recommendations on 2G spectrum. This came after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India told the Tribunal that itsSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 May 2010 | 12:00 am Sensex dips under 16,000 intraday on Europe crisis, Korea tensionConcerned with the European debt crisis and troubled by the tensions building up between the two Korean nations, FIIs sold heavily in equities here, sinking the Sensex and the Nifty by 2.7 per centSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 May 2010 | 12:00 am Central Mumbai plot fetches Rs 81,818/sqmThe Mumbai-based real estate developer Lodha Group has bid Rs 4,053 crore or Rs 81,818 a sq metre for a 25,000 sqm plot in an auction conducted by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region DevelopmentSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 May 2010 | 12:00 am Few takers for Standard Chartered's Indian Depository Receipts issueThe European crisis that plunged global equity markets into the red appears to have deeply impacted the Standard Chartered IDR issue that opened onSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 May 2010 | 12:00 am Chicago Mercantile Exchange to launch Nifty futuresThe Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) plans to introduce futures trading based on the National Stock Exchange's Nifty from JulySource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 May 2010 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideInitiate fresh short position if the stock dives below Rs 800 levels with tightSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 May 2010 | 12:00 am Too small is ‘too big' to fail“PIGS in Muck” — this was how, using the acronym ‘PIGS' for Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, the Financial Times London had titled an edit on August 31, 2008. Contrasting the decline of the ‘PIGS' with the rise ofSource: Business Line - Home Page | 26 May 2010 | 12:00 am The two Manmohan SinghsThe first anniversary of the second United Progressive Alliance government has brought forth a stream of commentary about its hits and misses in national security, foreign policy and economic management. In his first domestic press conference after the Congress-led alliance came back to power in May 2009, Manmohan Singh reiterated his commitment to inclusive growth in the opening remarks. It is a mistake to believe that Manmohan Singh has discovered the poor only recently. He has mentioned them in most of his important speeches through the years, though there have been subtle yet important differences in what he thought was a good way to help them beat poverty. This is as good a time as any to examine how the very concept of inclusive growth has evolved over the past two decades and what this has meant in terms of public policy. The Manmohan Singh who was the finance minister in the Narasimha Rao government seemed to project a very different idea of inclusive growth than the man who now runs the government does. In the course of his stunning budget speech in 1991 that basically announced an end to many decades of statist mismanagement of the economy, Manmohan Singh had said: “A vast number of people in our country live on the edges of a subsistence economy. We need credible programmes of direct government intervention focusing on the needs of these people. We have the responsibility to provide them with quality social services such as education, health, safe drinking water and roads.” And then had carried on in the same vein in his 1992 budget speech: “Our longer-term objective is to evolve a pattern of production which is labour-intensive and generates larger employment opportunities in productive, high-income jobs, and reduces the disparities in income and wealth between rural and urban areas.” The main lesson from these statements is that the government should create conditions whereby the poor can participate in economic growth by having access to public goods and employment opportunities in industry and services. The long-term task that Manmohan Singh clearly outlined in his 1992 budget speech was to create conditions that would allow the poor to move out of low-productivity jobs and into high-productivity jobs. The latter is most likely to be achieved when less stringent labour laws allow firms to hire and let go of workers, which is why labour market reforms were such an important part of the early reforms wish list, though they were later abandoned. This early vision of inclusive growth is clearly at odds with the one embraced by the ruling alliance. It is no longer about creating public goods and productive jobs; the focus now is on entitlements. Income redistribution through public spending has its attractions and the politically attractive programmes to guarantee people jobs, food and education act as useful safety nets for the poor. The question of how a fiscally responsible state can fund these programmes on a narrow tax base has never been adequately answered. Even the fiscal correction that was announced in the latest budget has left the revenue deficit at an unsustainably high level, a brute fact that finance minister Pranab Mukherjee coyly did not mention in his budget speech. But the more troubling question is whether the current entitlement schemes will come in the way of the essential transition of millions of poor Indians from dead-end farm work to jobs in the more productive parts of the economy. Interventions such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme will put a floor under wages that is unrelated to productivity and hence inevitably distort labour markets. The experience across Asia is that heavy investments in physical and human capital, as well as job creation in labour-intensive manufacturing and services, are the surest ways to beat mass poverty. Look at Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and now China, for example. An explicit policy to make growth inclusive is essential. The Commission on Growth and Development headed by Nobel laureate economist Michael Spence—and with Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia as a member—has argued in its 2008 report that inclusiveness has several facets such as equity, equality of opportunity and “protection in market and employment transitions”. Governments thus have to be sensitive to both market outcomes and access to opportunities. A strategy of inclusive growth is needed to manage this transition, but the better way to do so is through job creation rather than income redistribution. Finance minister Manmohan Singh seemed more focused on the former, while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seems to bank more on the latter. India would do better if he resurrects some of his old views. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha is managing editor of Mint. Your comments are welcome at cafeeconomics@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 11:57 pm NACIL to operate three domestic flightsThe NACIL will operate three domestic flights today using Air India aircraft and cabin crew in view of the ongoing agitation by a section of employees of the airline.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 25 May 2010 | 11:50 pm Markets bounce 1.5%; financials leadMumbai: Indian shares clawed up 1.5% on Wednesday after skidding to their lowest close in three-and-a-half months in the previous session, with firmer Asian peers helping soothe investor nerves. Financials and energy major Reliance Industries that had fallen sharply on Tuesday led the recovery, but doubts remained about the euro zone’s fiscal health and rising withdrawals by foreign institutional investors. By 10:08am, the 30-share BSE index was up 1.46% at 16,256.55 points, with 28 of its components gaining. It had dipped below 16,000 on Tuesday for the first time since early February. The 50-share NSE index was up 1.5% at 4,877.40 “The recovery that we are seeing could be fragile and it remains to be seen if it can last,” said Gajendra Nagpal, CEO of Unicon Financial. “The deluge of selling from FIIs will weigh.” Foreign funds have taken out nearly $2 billion so far in May as risk aversion intensified due to the debt woes in Europe, and largely contributed to a 7.4% drop in the benchmark index during the same period. The banking sector index was up nearly 2% after falling 2.6% on Tuesday. State Bank of India, which dominates the country’s banking, rose near;y 1%, while rivals ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank gained 2.7% and 2.3% respectively. Reliance Industries, which has the highest weight on the Sensex, climbed 1.3% to Rs1,000. Mahindra & Mahindra rose 2.6% after a source told Reuters the utility vehicle maker is set to announce on Wednesday it is buying a stake in an electric car company. Tata Steel, which is expected to release consolidated 2009/10 earnings after market hours, was up 1.7% at Rs486.65. A Reuters survey of six brokerages had forecast a net loss of Rs2,570 crore for the world’s eighth-largest steelmaker on net sales of 1.04 trillion. Other metal makers such as Sterlite and Hindalco rose 2.4% and 1.8% respectively as base metal prices firmed in Shanghai and London. In the broader market, gainers were nearly thrice the number of losers on volume of 52 million shares. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 11:47 pm Foster's beer and wine to be separate companiesFoster's Group Ltd. said on Wednesday it will split its global beer and troubled wine businesses into separate listed companies, as the Australian brewer and winemaker warned of a $1.1 billion write-down in the value of the wine operations.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 25 May 2010 | 11:36 pm Mahindra to buy stake in electric car firm, says sourceMumbai: India’s leading utility vehicle maker, Mahindra & Mahindra, is set to announce on Wednesday it is buying a stake in an electric car company, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. Mahindra, also India’s largest tractor maker, will make an announcement at 11:45 a.m. in Bangalore, where the Reva Electric Car Company is headquartered, he said. Details of the transaction were not immediately available. Mahindra shares, valued at $6.4 billion, were up 2.6% at Rs529.70 by 9.40 a.m. after falling 4.4% in the last two trading sessions. The main index was up 1.3%. The shares have fallen about 2% this year, while the main index is down nearly 7%. A deal will mark Mahindra’s entry into the electric vehicles segment and push it a step closer to being a complete automotive vehicles manufacturer. “Mahindra wants to consolidate its position as a company which wants to manufacture everything on wheels,” said Arun Kejriwal, director of KRIS Research. “This acquisition would go a long way in helping achieve this.” Last year, Mahindra had launched a range of scooters and later made a foray into commercial vehicles with one-tonne Maxximo. It is also scheduled to launch pick-up trucks in the United States towards the end of this year. “Mahindra can leverage on Reva’s technology to bring out more products,” Kejriwal said. Reva, founded by technocrat Chetan Maini in 1994, is an Indo-US joint venture with California’s AEV LLC and has launched more than 3,000 cars. Maini is its deputy chairman and chief technology officer. The cars are priced between Rs300,000 and Rs360,000 ($6,329-$7,595) in India, and mostly run in Bangalore and London. It struck a deal last year with the Indian unit of General Motors to develop electric cars and work has started on an electric version of the Chverolet Spark, which is scheduled to hit the roads in October. In this year’s budget the Indian government gave a fillip to the electric vehicle industry by removing customs duties on import of critical components used in such vehicles. The Times of India reported on Wednesday that Mahindra was close to a deal and valued Reva at about $100 million. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 11:25 pm Sensex rebounds, up 232 pts in opening tradeSensex recovered by nearly 232 points in opening trade on Wednesday, after dipping to a three-month low in yesterday's trade, on positive cues from Asian markets.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 May 2010 | 11:07 pm Rupee up 34 paise to 47.36 a dollarThe Indian rupee strengthened by 34 paise to 47.36 a dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange today, on fresh capital inflows by foreign funds and the US currency's weakness against other Asian currencies.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 May 2010 | 11:04 pm Rupee appreciates 34 paise against dollar in early tradeThe Indian rupee strengthened by 34 paise to 47.36 a dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange today, on fresh capital inflows by foreign funds and the US currency's weakness against other Asian currencies.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 25 May 2010 | 10:51 pm Air India cancels 76 flights on 2nd day of strikeNew Delhi: Air India has cancelled 76 domestic and international flights scheduled for Wednesday on its network in the wake of strike by 20,000 employees of the national carrier who are protesting against airline management’s gag order. “We have cancelled a total of 76 flights scheduled to be operated on domestic as well as international sectors from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore on 26 May,” an airline official said. The airline has decided to cancel these flights after reviewing the situation of the availability of the executive engineers, who are not part of the employees’ unions.  Stranded passengers stand outside the Air India counter at the domestic airport in New Delhi on Tuesday. Adnan Abidi / Reuters No flight could be operated until it is certified by an aircraft engineer. Since the number of executive engineers are less so Air India decided to cancel these 76 flights, said the official. The national carrier has cancelled 24 of its flights from Delhi, 37 from Mumbai, six from Kolkata, seven from Chennai and two from Bangalore. The flights that are cancelled from Delhi on Wednesday include: IC 134 to Mumbai via Bhopal-Indore, IC 409 and IC 415 to Patna, IC 411 and IC 811 to Lucknow, IC 413 and IC 813 to Kathmandu, IC 445 to Ludhiana, IC 471 to Mumbai via Jodhpur -Udaipur. AI 480 to Singapore, AI 638 to Amritsar, AI 747 and IC 895 to Dubai, IC 817 and IC 861 to Ahmedabad, IC 821 to Jammu-Srinagar, AI 841 to Abu Dhabi, IC 849 to Pune, AI 853 to Bangkok, IC 864 to Chandigarh, IC 869 to Raipur-Nagpur, IC 885 to Muscut, IC 889 to Guawahati-Imphal and IC 896 to Jaipur. Yesterday, over 20,000 employees went on a flash strike to protest Air India’s gag order that hit flight operations. Over 50 domestic and international flights were cancelled while several others were delayed by over two hours. Management has threatened stern action including termination of service if the agitation continued. AI management, striking employees to hold talks Striking a conciliatory tone, agitating Air India unions today decided to hold talks with the management over the gag order issue. “We have been invited by the management for talks and we are going to attend it. We will also meet the Chief Labour Commissioner and place our demands,” Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) General Secretary J B Kadian told PTI here. Over 20,000 employees, including engineers, went on a nationwide flash strike yesterday to protest Air India’s gag order -- a circular prohibiting union leaders from going public with their demands. With the striking employees unrelenting on their demand for withdrawal of the gag order and the show cause notices to union leaders, the AI management toughened its stand late last night threatening to even terminate service of the employees if they did not call off the stir. Air India has announced full refund to those whose flights were cancelled and made arrangements for hotel accommodation and local transport to those in transit. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 10:50 pm Sensex rebounds, up 232 points in opening tradeThe 30-share index, which had lost 447.07 in the previous sessions, bounced back by 231.41 points, or 1.44%, to 16,253.89 points.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 May 2010 | 10:45 pm Rupee appreciates 34 paise against dollar in early tradeMumbai: The Indian rupee pulled back from near eight-month lows on Wednesday as a firm start to local shares after a sharp slide the previous day lifted sentiment but the dollar’s moves versus majors would be crucial for direction. At 9:03 a.m. the partially convertible rupee was at 47.44/45 per dollar, stronger than 47.71/72 at close on 25 May when it had dropped to 47.75, its weakest since 1 Oct, 2009. Last week, the rupee had fallen 3.8% in its biggest weekly drop since an 11.7% dive in mid-July 1996. Indian shares rose over 1.3% early, tracking gains in Asian peers and Wall Street, after it had slid to the lowest close in 3-“months in the previous session. The euro fell on 26 May, slipping back towards a four-year low against the dollar and an 8-1/2-year trough against the yen as concerns about the health of the euro zone’s banking sector weigh on the single currency. Most Asian currencies were stronger compared to the dollar. The index of the dollar against six major currencies was marginally higher and would be watched for direction, traders said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 10:44 pm Marico acquires aesthetics biz of Derma Rx; stk up - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 25 May 2010 | 10:35 pm Asia stocks up, euro falls again as fear rulesHong Kong: The euro slid on Wednesday, with trade driven by fears that Europe’s debt woes can wreak havoc in its banking system, though Asian stocks edged up from nine-month lows as value investors hunted for bargains. Increasingly difficult financing conditions in the euro zone, tightening US banking regulation and escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula have kept investors slashing risk in their portfolios. Wall Street rallied late on Tuesday to finish flat, briefly pushing up US stock futures. Yet, persistent selling of euros and Australian dollars against the yen during early Asian trade deflated hopes for a sustained shift in sentiment and cut the gains in equities. “Doubts and caution pervade the market. There are doubts whether southern European countries are the only ones with debt problems,” said Suh Dong-pil, a market analyst at Hana Daetoo Securities in Seoul. “Growing tensions with North Korea are also a negative.” The euro was down 0.7% on the day at $1.2285 , creeping back down to a four-year low near $1.2140 hit on 14 May. The euro is poised for its biggest monthly decline since January 2009. Against the yen, the euro was down 1.1% to ¥110.60, with support at ¥108.85, an 8-1/2-year low struck on Tuesday. The Australian dollar fell 0.9% to $0.8210 , on track for the biggest monthly decline since October 2008. Stress in funding markets has brought back painful memories to the fallout from the Lehman Brothers failure in 2008. The combination of a rush out of euros and into US dollars and fears that last weekend’s takeover of a small Spanish savings bank by the central bank might be a sign of more widespread trouble have pushed up short-term US dollar financing costs. Three-month dollar Libor fixed on Tuesday at 0.5362 , the highest since July 2009, having more than doubled in the past three months. A Reuters poll of money market traders showed the rate was expected to rise to 0.70 percent over the next month. Japan’s Nikkei share average rose 0.4% after plumbing a six-month low on Tuesday, but was ultimately dependent on the direction of the euro. “We’re likely to see short-covering and bargain-hunting today, given how far the Nikkei fell yesterday,” said Toshiyuki Kanayama, a market analyst at Monex Inc in Tokyo. “But there’s still a lot of longer-term uncertainty and if the euro turns volatile the way it was yesterday, things could change.” The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan was up 0.7%, helped by a bounce in resource-related shares. Since peaking in the latest bull market rally on 15 April, Asian stocks have fallen 18%, just short of a 20% mark usually defining a bear market. The index was trading at 11.8 times earnings expected in the next 12 months, the lowest since March 2009, Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S data showed. Valuations have also tumbled in Japanese, US and European equities to where they were at the start of the 2009 rally, but with investors focused on broad economic and financial risks, attractive prices may not be enough to support the market in the near term. Ten-year US Treasury note futures were basically flat, cutting earlier losses as equities retraced gains. The cash market rose, with the benchmark 10-year yield at 3.1560% compared with Tuesday’s intraday low of 3.0642%. US crude for July delivery rallied 0.8% to $69.29 a barrel, after a report of a bigger-than-expected decline in gasoline inventories. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 10:09 pm Oil rebounds in Asian trade as ‘fear factor’ easesSingapore: Oil prices rebounded in Asian trade on 26 May, taking their lead from strong performances in regional equities markets, analysts said. New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, gained 62 cents to $69.37 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for July delivery advanced 60 cents to 70.15 dollars. Crude prices headed up as dealers were heartened by strong performances by Asian bourses on 26 May morning, analysts said. “Oil is taking its cue from equities,” said Victor Shum, senior principal of Purvin and Gertz energy consultants in Singapore. Major Asian stock markets rose in early trade on 26 May with the Japanese, Hong Kong and Singapore bourses heading up. Traders were buying into the market following a dive in Asian stock markets on Tuesday, Shum added. “The fear factor that drove markets plunging down yesterday has subsided, therefore we are seeing equities and oil prices heading up.... Enough investors felt it was oversold,” he said. Rising tensions on the Korean peninsula and fears that the European debt crisis could torpedo economic recovery had sent Asian stock markets plummeting Tuesday. Shum warned that oil prices could remain volatile until the issues are resolved. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 9:38 pm Mahindra & Mahindra to buy stake in RevaMahindra, India's largest utility vehicles and tractor maker, will be make an announcement at 11.45 am in Bangalore.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 May 2010 | 9:37 pm Tokyo stocks open higherJapanese share prices opened higher today, with the benchmark Nikkei-225 index rebounding 104.44 points.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 May 2010 | 9:03 pm Hong Kong shares open higherHong Kong shares opened 0.91% higher today, with the benchmark Hang Seng Index up 172.74 points.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 May 2010 | 9:01 pm GMR Infra Q4 net rises 37%GMR Infrastructure on Tuesday posted a growth of 37% in consolidated net profit to Rs 73 crore for the fourth quarter ended March, 2010, over the same period last fiscal.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 May 2010 | 6:24 pm DGCA prepares draft to stop fictitious low faresThe Directorate General of Civil Aviation had found last year that airlines and travel portals often indulge in fictitious booking of first few low fare seats so that the rest are sold at higher price slabs. It could not act then as there was no rule that prohibited them from doing so.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 May 2010 | 6:21 pm Skincare: Marico buys Singapore coAfter Godrej, its Parachute-maker Marico which has acquired the aesthetics business of the Singapore-based Derma Rx Asia Pacific (Derma Rx), through its skincare clinic, Kaya.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 May 2010 | 6:20 pm Reliance pack of stocks in redThe day after, as reality struck Dalal Street investors and also a weak global market wave engulfed them, the whole of the Reliance pack stocks ended in the red.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 May 2010 | 6:18 pm Bharti raises Rs 8,500cr to pay for 3G spectrumBharti Airtel is learnt to have raised about Rs 8,500 crore from a consortium of financial institutions, including the State Bank of India , to pay for third generation mobile spectrum.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 May 2010 | 6:15 pm HUL net profit soars 47% in Q4India's leading consumer products company HUL, which reported a 47% growth in net profit in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2010, on account of exceptional gains including sale of properties, is revisiting Project Bharat' with an ambitious plan to treble its rural reach in two years.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 May 2010 | 6:13 pm Re slips 72 paise, touches 8-month low against $The global rush for risk aversion is sending the US dollar from strength to strength against most other currencies , and the Indian rupee is no exception.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 25 May 2010 | 6:11 pm Rural Electrification Corp bonds are a good investing betThese offer investors an opportunity to lock-in at the contracted rate of interest for all of 10 years.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 May 2010 | 5:11 pm Hindu-Unilever rate of growthRaj Krishna, an economist, coined a term to express the slow rate of growth in socialist India, when the economy used to grow by around 3% every year.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 May 2010 | 5:09 pm Govt delays changes to Central Motor Vehicle Rules ActUnion minister Kamal Nath, has set up a new target to introduce the Bill in the monsoon session of the Parliament.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 May 2010 | 5:06 pm 'We have shortlisted 12 US coal mining firms for talks'The coal ministry is ready with its strategy and funds to acquire stake in coal mines abroad.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 25 May 2010 | 5:02 pm Employee strike grounds Air India flightsA flash strike called by two employee unions today grounded at least 50 Air India (AI) flights and delayed many others.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 25 May 2010 | 1:25 pm Lodha secures Mumbai land for Rs 4,053 crThe Lodhi group of real estate developers today emerged the highest bidder to acquire a 22.5-acre plot in Wadala, central Mumbai, for Rs 4,053 crore.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 25 May 2010 | 1:25 pm Aditya Birla Group revs up power plansThree years after exiting the power business, the Rs 1.4-lakh crore Aditya Birla Group is planning a powerful comeback into the sector and is eyeing a major acquisition in Tamil Nadu, two people with direct knowledge of the deal told Business Standard.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 25 May 2010 | 1:22 pm Markets melt on Europe, Korea concernsStock markets across Asia, Europe and America tumbled, currencies weakened, commodity prices fell and borrowing costs jumped to the highest level in several months on heightened fears over Europe's debt crisis and the impact of austerity measures on economic growth. What added to the negative sentiments were fears of a military conflict on the Korean peninsula.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 25 May 2010 | 1:20 pm The Mint Report for 25 May 2010In what is appears to be a coincidence just days after the Air India crash, airline regulator, DGCA is calling for a programme that will identify air operators in trouble. The proposed scheme will try to make sure airlines facing financial or other issues are not cutting corners on safety. It’ll make airlines produce details about personnel, layoffs and delays in salaries. Operators will also have to submit details about the maintenance, sale or repossession of planes. As of now, the DGCA has sent out a circular on the proposals to domestic airlines, asking for their comments. To add to Air India’s woes, at least 13,000 of the airline’s staff went on strike Tuesday grounding flights across the country. They’re protesting both delays in salary payments and a gag order from management threatening action against them if they spoke to the media. HUL beat expectations with its quarterly profits. Net profit shot up 47% to Rs581 crore. Net sales, on the other hand, went up to Rs4,316 crore for the quarter from Rs3,989 crore HUL’s profits were driven by sales of property and investments. Worries about Europe sent the bears to work in India Tuesday. The Sensex lost 447 points to close 16,022. And the Nifty followed it down, falling one 137 points to finish at 4,807. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 12:39 pm Marketing and Media | ‘Kites’ is first Bollywood film to open in US top 10Los Angeles: ‘Kites’, a film from Reliance Big Pictures, took in nearly $1 million (Rs4.74 crore) during the weekend to become the first Bollywood film to open in the top 10 in the US and Canada. The film, introduced in 207 theatres, had sales of $958,673, researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said in an email. Reliance Big Pictures said in a statement that no other Indian film has opened in the top 10. At least one other Indian-produced film had a bigger US opening than ‘Kites’. ‘My Name is Khan’ took in $1.94 million in February, ranking 13th in the weekend line-up. Bloomberg Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 12:21 pm Insurers oppose Irda plan to put cap on Ulip surrender chargesMumbai: Arecent proposal by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) to cap surrender charges at 15% in unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) has drawn widespread criticism from life insurance firms. Irda is in a legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) over the regulation of Ulips. The firms raised their concerns at a 20 May meeting of the industry lobby, Life Insurance Council, saying the limits may lead to a significant cut in agents’ commission or force companies to hike ticket sizes again, thereby turning the business unviable.  Graphic: Naveen Kumar Saini/Mint Irda had proposed to cap first-year surrender charges at 12.5% for Ulip policies with a term of less than 10 years and 15% for those longer than 10 years in draft regulations unveiled on 18 May. The charges were proposed to be capped at 10% and 12.5% for surrenders in the second year. “Irda is now going overboard and getting into micromanagement of Ulips, and that also at a time when debate on Ulips is going on with Sebi,” said an industry expert present at the council meeting. “The regulator has already capped charges in January, then tightened the disclosure norms last month, and is now again capping surrender charges. If Irda keeps tightening norms so frequently, the business of Ulips itself may turn unviable.” Ulips are insurance products that invest a part of the premium paid by investors in equity instruments, while another part accumulates as insurance. The surrender charge is levied on a policyholder if a policy is discontinued. The policyholder is given the amount remaining in the fund account after deducting these charges. The charges currently range between 10% and 60%, varying from firm to firm and product to product. The lobby group will forward the demand by insurance firms to relax the surrender charge limit to Irda. “Fifteen per cent is too low a limit for first-year surrender charges, for the cost of acquisition is high in the first year,” said S.B. Mathur, secretary of Life Insurance Council. “Frequent tightening of Ulip norms may send the wrong signals to the industry. We’re collecting comments and proposals of life insurers and will send it to Irda before 27 May. The limits could be relaxed to 25-30% for the first year.” Another official said on condition of anonymity that if the proposal was implemented, it could lead to a 10-12% cut in agent commissions. At present, at least 200 Ulips are in force. Agents get commissions of 12-23% for selling such products, though the law allows commissions of up to 40% in the first year of the policy. “If a policy lapses in the first year itself, it assumes the structure of a single-premium policy, whereby an agent gets only 2% commission,” the official added. Most company officials refused to comment as the matter is a regulatory one. While imposing limits on surrender charges, Irda, in its proposal note, had mentioned: “It’s observed that insurers apply different surrender charges while paying the surrender value to the insured.” The limits need to be relaxed, so that the firm can recover costs, said an official at a large private sector life insurer. “Nearly 100 Ulips in the industry could be currently charging more than 15% as surrender charges in the first year,” he said. “Going by the current proposal, all these products will have to be repriced and refiled. We try to offer highest returns in the shortest possible term. We pay high commissions and incur huge acquisition costs in the first year of the policy.” anirudh.l@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 12:14 pm Quick Edit | Cars, bicycles, stock marketColumnist Thomas Friedman has a rare knack of coining evocative phrases that become part of popular language—give or take a few horribly mixed metaphors. The man who told us that the world is flat has now compared the current state of the global financial system to a traffic jam. Countries in our tightly knit global economy are akin to cars driving bumper to bumper, “so misbehaviour or mistakes anywhere can cause a global pile-up”. There is no shortage of malfunctioning cars and errant drivers right now. European governments continue to struggle against huge debt piles and fiscal deficits. The latest economic data from the US is insipid. North Korea thinks this is a good time for some scary war games. The US is close to rewriting the rules of the financial system. China needs to crack down on its bubble. No wonder markets across the globe have tumbled. But let’s forget Friedman and his traffic jam. This now looks like Navjot Sidhu’s bicycles in a stand: one falls and the complete row will be down. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 12:11 pm ICICI Venture plans to float public issueMumbai: The private equity arm of ICICI Bank Ltd is considering a public issue though it will move ahead only after it launches a greater variety of funds to create an “alternative asset platform”, its new managing director and chief executive said in an interview.  Stability first: ICICI Venture’s Vishakha Mulye spent the first year in charge steadying operations after the sudden exit of her predecessor. Ashesh Shah / Mint Such a listing would be unusual even by global standards. Private equity has come to the public markets only fitfully, with the most famous instance being the public issue of the Blackstone Group in June 2007 on Wall Street. In India, only IL&FS Investment Managers Ltd is listed on the local exchanges. The future listing goal and more immediate plans to float new funds is part of a renewed expansion drive that comes in the wake of a difficult year when ICICI Venture Funds Management Co. Ltd had to manage investor worries and build a new team. Vishakha Mulye, the 44-year-old head of the private equity firm, has spent her first year in charge trying to stabilize operations after the sudden exit of her predecessor Renuka Ramnath in April. “We chose to stabilize our team and resolve with our investors first,” she said. The problems with investors that she alluded to concern what is called the “key man clause” that allows investors in a private equity fund to refuse to honour investment commitments in case important members of a fund’s management team leave. The exit of Ramnath led to a minor investor revolt when it was raising money for its $810 million (Rs3,839 crore today) second fund in 2009.  Mulye tackled investor worries about the exit of Ramnath by capping investor commitments in the second fund and inviting new investors into a third private equity fund that is now raising money. “We decided we would continue with existing commitments we had with companies. But all new commitments will henceforth be done from the new fund,” she said. This $350 million new fund was raised from domestic investors, and was the third one managed by ICICI Venture Management and the first floated under Mulye’s watch. She now plans to raise another $150 million from international investors, who will take the total corpus of the third fund to $500 million. There is no key man clause in the domestic part of the fund while Mulye will be the “key man” for the international portion of the fund. Other funds on the anvil are a $500 million infrastructure fund and a Rs500 crore real estate fund. ICICI Venture Management currently manages around $2 billion of assets in three private equity funds, one real estate fund and a mezzanine fund that invests in senior debt and equity of growth companies. The public offer is much further down the road. “We will do that (a public offer) at an appropriate time...we are slightly away from that right now,” said Mulye. “We are not in a hurry to do that as it has to be driven by an objective. Once we bring the company to the right level, at the appropriate time and if there is investor interest, then we will go to our parent ICICI Bank Ltd,” she added. “The Indian PE (private equity) industry is not so mature yet, as it’s just a 10-15-year-old industry and globally funds such as Carlyle, Blackstone and Morgan Stanley all have diversified plays,” says Pankaj Dhandharia, national director at consulting firm Ernst and Young India Pvt. Ltd. The launch of an alternative asset management platform, according to him, is a natural step of progression for one of the oldest funds such as ICICI Venture Management. baiju.k@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 12:10 pm Government likely to set aside more funds for RTENew Delhi: The Union government wants to increase the money it plans to spend on implementing the Right to Education (RTE) Act, while putting up a larger proportion of the funds for programmes under it to counter complaints by states that they are strapped for cash.  Promise of education: Children at a government school in Lucknow. Priyanka Parashar/Mint The Act promises compulsory education to all children up to class VIII, and is one of the key policies of the United Progressive Alliance government. The proposals are likely to be sent to the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC). “Looking at the historic Act and its long-term implication on the education scenario in the country, we are not against taking a bigger responsibility in relation to RTE expenditure,” said a ministry official on condition of anonymity. The government had previously estimated that Rs1.7 trillion would be spent over five years for the successful implementation of the Act. Another ministry official confirmed the development and added that the effort was aimed at addressing the financial concerns of states and at helping with the smooth implementation of the Act, which came into force on 1 April. The officials said the proposals would be circulated among the ministries concerned and depending on inputs, “we will put a strong case” to EFC. If EFC accepts the proposals in their entirety, then the Union government will bear an expenditure of at least Rs1.3 trillion over a period of five years. Several states such as Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh have demanded that the Centre foot a larger share of the RTE bill as they are facing a financial crunch. Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik had met HRD minister Kapil Sibal early this month and asked that the Centre bear 90% of the expenditure for at least two fiscal years. The education ministers of UP and Bihar will be coming to Delhi later this week, an HRD ministry official said. “They’ll meet the minister on RTE and are expected to present their argument for a better deal,” he said. “They have a wish list. We are trying to increase the Central share, but the states too have a responsibility.” Currently, 220 million children are in schools across India, while at least 8.1 million children of school-going age are excluded from the system, HRD ministry data shows. prashant.n@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 12:10 pm Dell to ship iPad rival next monthLondon: Dell Inc., the world’s third-largest personal computer maker, will start selling its Streak tablet computer in June in the UK, competing with Apple Inc.’s iPad. The device, equipped with a 5-inch (12.7 cm) screen and using Google Inc.’s Android operating system, will be offered by Telefonica SA’s O2 starting in early June. Dell will also sell the tablet on its website, the Round Rock, Texas-based company said in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday. The Dell Streak hits the sweet spot between traditional smartphones and larger-screen tablets, Ron Garriques, president of Dell’s communications group, said in a statement. Garriques, the former Motorola Inc. phone chief, joined the unit in December. Dell is seeking to offer tablet-style computers after the success of Apple’s iPad, which has a 9.7-inch screen and sold 1 million in less than one month after its debut. feedback@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 11:12 am Facebook to unveil simpler privacy controlsSan Francisco: Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the Internet social network will roll out new privacy settings for its more than 400 million users, amid growing concerns that the company is pushing users to make more of their personal data public. “Many of you thought our controls were too complex,” said Zuckerberg in an opinion piece published on Monday in The Washington Post. “Our intention was to give you lots of granular controls; but that may not have been what many of you wanted. We just missed the mark,” said the 26-year-old Zuckerberg, who co-founded Facebook in his Harvard dorm room in 2004. In the coming weeks, Zuckerberg promised, Facebook will add privacy controls that he said would be much simpler to use. Facebook will also give users an easy way to turn off all third-party services, Zuckerberg said. It was not clear whether the third-party services referred to applications designed to be used within Facebook, such as games from companies like Zynga and Electronic Arts Inc’s Playfish, or to separate websites which have recently begun to incorporate Facebook data. The comments come a few weeks after Facebook, the world’s largest Internet social network, unveiled several changes to its service that have prompted sharp criticism from privacy advocates and spurred a few high-profile Facebook users, such as tech commentator Jason Calacanis, to delete their accounts in protest. A feature called “instant personalization” automatically imports Facebook users’ personal profile information to the music site Pandora and the user-review site Yelp. Another recent change forced Facebook users to make some of their profile information, such as education, hobbies and hometown, tied to public pages devoted to those topics. And many users decry the service’s byzantine privacy settings, which one blogger has called the modern-day equivalent of the notoriously complex task of programming a VCR. Palo Alto, California-based Facebook is a private company and does not disclose financial data, though analyst estimates for its 2009 revenue range from $500 million to $650 million, primarily from selling online ads targeted at users based on their activity and profile information on Facebook. The service is expected to reach half a billion users in the next several weeks, up sharply from 150 million users in January 2009. Zuckerberg also noted in his opinion piece in The Washington Post, whose chairman, Donald Graham, is a member of Facebook’s board of directors, that Facebook will always be kept as a free service for everyone. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 8:23 am NASA unveils enhanced search and rescue systemWashington: NASA has unveiled an advanced satellite-based search and rescue system that it claims would quickly identify the locations of people in distress. The next-generation system called the ‘Distress Alerting Satellite System’ (DASS) will be able to locate emergency beacons carried by aircraft, boats and hikers almost instantaneously, the US space agency said in a statement. DASS, designed and developed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, could offer help in minutes and replace the current ‘Search and Rescue Satellite´ system that usually take an hour or more to locate lost boaters and hikers, the agency said. “DASS technology is the future of international satellite-aided search and rescue,” NASA Search and Rescue Mission Manager David Affens said while its unveiling on Monday. “A few years ago, we looked to see how we could improve the system and we concluded that the international search and rescue community would benefit from new technology installed on GPS. “We would be able to identify distress signals faster and with a greater level of precision. In the end, this will save more lives, reduce risk to rescuers, and save money because less time will be spent searching. “When it goes online, DASS will be able to almost instantaneously detect and locate distress signals generated by 406 MHz beacons installed on aircraft and vessels or carried by individuals, greatly enhancing the international community’s ability to rescue people in distress.” However, the new technology won’t be operational until the hardware can be fully deployed aboard a constellation of 24 new US Air Force Global Positioning System satellites. Nine are already in orbit, but the rest may not get there until 2017 or later, officials said. In the meantime, the existing satellite rescue system continues to save lives, they said. So far NASA-developed technology has saved more than 27,000 lives worldwide since its inception nearly three decades ago. The officials also urged people, setting off in boats, planes or on foot into the wilderness, to carry a satellite beacon that costs between $200 and $700 for the handheld models, and $800 and $1,500 for those used on boats. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 25 May 2010 | 4:06 am
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