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Why SMEs should consider Microsoft\'s online servicesCheck out: Why small and midsized businesses should consider Microsofts Business Productivity Online SuiteSource: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 3 Jun 2010 | 7:37 am REI Ago: Management and expert view on rights issueREI Agro board has approved the rights issue, wherein the shareholders would get two equity share of Re 1 each for every one share held at Rs 19.50 per share.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 3 Jun 2010 | 7:31 am Microsoft on how to boost competitiveness, reduce costsCheck out: How to go about increasing competitiveness and reducing costs in today\'s economy.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 3 Jun 2010 | 7:25 am Shree Renuka Sugars says renegotiating Equipav dealShree Renuka Sugars Ltd said on Thursday it is renegotiating a deal to acquire a 51% stake in Brazil\'s Equipav SA Acucar e Alcool.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 3 Jun 2010 | 7:20 am Ranbaxy sees $100 mln rev from SA ops in 2010Indian drugmaker Ranbaxy expects USD 100 million in revenue from its South African operations in 2010, the firm\'s chief executive said on Thursday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 3 Jun 2010 | 6:08 am Not averse to subsidy sharing, want clear system: ONGCSeeing more seriousness from policy makers, RS Sharma, Chairman of petroleum major ONGC hopes to see a definitive decision in the June 7 meeting. \"We are not averse to subsidy sharing, we want a transparent mechanism,\" he says adding that the ad hoc nature of subsidy sharing of subsidy sharing can no longer continue.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 3 Jun 2010 | 5:45 am No IT budget cuts due to European crisis yet: TCSTCS will see a 9% negative impact on the total revenues due to euro, says its Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director S Mahalingam. The Euro is not a major currency that will impact revenues significantly. In fact the decline in revenue will be offset by decrease in the onsite expenditure.\"Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 3 Jun 2010 | 5:17 am Citi names Rajiv Nayar as India CMO headNayar, currently the head of Citi's Capital Management Group for Asia Pacific, will report to Ken Poon, head of Asia Pacific Capital Market Origination and Ravi Kapoor, head of Global Banking India.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 3 Jun 2010 | 4:15 am Reliance Comm mulls MTN merger, stake saleIndian mobile carrier Reliance Communications is considering a merger with South Africa\'s MTN or roping in a strategic foreign investor to raise funds, the Economic Times reported on Thursday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 3 Jun 2010 | 4:09 am NTPC to buy Australian coal mine for $1.5bln reportNTPC Ltd, India\'s top power producer, is set to buy controlling stake in a coal field in Australia in a deal valued at $1 billion to $1.5 billion, the Economic Times reported on Thursday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 3 Jun 2010 | 4:09 am Godrej buys Argentinabased hair care firm ArgencosPersonal care products maker Godrej Consumer Products Ltd said late on Tuesday it has acquired the entire equity stake in Argentinabased hair care firm Argencos SA, its second acquisition in Latin America in less than two weeks.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 3 Jun 2010 | 4:09 am More powers to DGCA: Praful Patel - The Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 3 Jun 2010 | 4:06 am Global Investors Meet begins in Bangalore - The Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 3 Jun 2010 | 4:05 am Reliance Communications surges further on Indian bourses - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 3 Jun 2010 | 3:59 am Unicorn Dazzler launched in ChennaiPriced at Rs64,890 ex-showroom Chennai, the bike has a floating side cowl, 110/180 wide rear tyre and half chain case.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 3 Jun 2010 | 3:56 am Sensex holds 17000; banks, oil&gas, IT up - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 3 Jun 2010 | 3:48 am Nokia unveils 4 cheap phones, bicycle chargerNokia has struggled to keep up with rivals like Apple and RIM in the high-end of the market, and its ailing smartphone offering has hurt the stock price over the last few months.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 3 Jun 2010 | 3:47 am Tata Nano set to drive into Taiwan - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 3 Jun 2010 | 3:42 am G20 officials see no deal in Busan on bank levyBUSAN, South Korea (Reuters) - The world's top nations will back general principles rather than a specific tax to make banks pay for their own bailouts in future, finance ministers and diplomats said on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 3 Jun 2010 | 3:34 am Indian summer for consumer goods, pharma funds in MayNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Stock funds that invest in consumer goods and pharma sectors led mutual fund gainers in May, while diversified equity funds fell in line with the benchmark as key stock indices dropped on euro zone worries.Source: Reuters: Money News | 3 Jun 2010 | 3:29 am DEALTALK - Affin a thorn in Malaysian billionaire Quek's EON planKUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian lender Affin Holdings has become a stumbling block in billionaire Quek Leng Chan's $1.6 billion plan to create the country's fourth-largest banking group.Source: Reuters: Money News | 3 Jun 2010 | 3:23 am UK regulator gives JP Morgan record fineLondon: Britain’s financial services watchdog has fined JP Morgan Securities Ltd. £33.32 million ($49 million) for mishandling clients’ funds. The fine announced Thursday is the largest penalty ever handed out by the Financial Services Authority. The regulator says that JP Morgan failed to segregate the client money held by its futures and options business for more than six years. Under the FSA’s client money rules, firms are required to keep client money separate from the firm’s money in segregated accounts with trust status to protect the client funds if the firm goes bankrupt. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 3:22 am Population, incomes tilt India towards food importsNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's anxiety over erratic monsoon rains will become more acute as rising incomes and a growing population push up demand for farmed produce faster than supply, turning the nation into a major importer within 5 years.Source: Reuters: Money News | 3 Jun 2010 | 3:19 am Food, fuel inflation quicken in late-MayNew Delhi: India’s food and fuel price inflation quickened in late-May, putting upside pressure on the wholesale price index that could prompt further monetary tightening by the Reserve Bank of India. The food price index rose to 16.55% in the year to 22 May, government data showed on Thursday, higher than the previous week’s annual reading of 16.23%, following a rise in vegetable prices. The fuel price index climbed 14.14%, compared with an annual rise of 12.08% in the previous week due to higher prices of electricity. Although food prices have moderated after hitting a peak of 20% last December, they continue to be near 17%. However, the prospects of a normal monsoon this summer are expected to cool prices. The four-month annual rains, vital for irrigation and farm output, hit the country’s southern coast on Monday as expected. Last year, the driest season in 37 years had damaged crops and drove food prices up. Wholesale prices, the RBI’s most closely watched gauge of inflation, stood at 9.59% in April after hitting 10.6% in February, the highest since October 2008. Any moderation in food prices is expected to bring down the headline inflation and provide relief to the Congress-led government that is facing flak over its handling of inflation. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who expects inflation to ease to 5-6% by December, said on Tuesday the price situation currently was a major problem and would require firm action. RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao said on Tuesday inflation remained higher than its comfort level. The bank has raised rates twice, by a total of 50 basis points, since mid-March to tame inflation and is expected to deliver another rate hike of 25 basis points when it reviews its policy on 27 July. The RBI has also not ruled out any off-cycle policy action, but worries over Europe’s debt crisis had dampened expectation that any action could come ahead of the next scheduled policy review. “The RBI will continue to normalise rates. But there is little reason why the RBI should be aggressive or hesitant in raising rates.” said Indranil Pan, chief economist at Kotak Mahindra Bank in Mumbai. “Adjustments in rates will be incremental as there is lot of uncertainty.” A Reuters poll last month showed expectations for a cumulative 100 basis points of tightening in key interest rates by the end of March 2011. Costly Fuel However, rise in domestic fuel prices runs the risk of offsetting any relief on food prices. A ministerial panel is meeting on 7 June to consider increasing state-set petrol and diesel prices as India looks to move towards a market determined price regime. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 3:04 am Ranbaxy scion unlikely to relent in Parkway battleMumbai: This time the surprise is on Malvinder Singh. Two years ago, Singh and his brother Shivinder sold their controlling stake in Ranbaxy Laboratories, a leading Indian drugmaker built by their grandfather, to Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo — an unlikely move in a country where families rarely sell. But the 37-year-old billionaire’s plans to build a global healthcare chain were disrupted last week when Malaysian government fund Khazanah unexpectedly launched an $835 million bid for control of Singapore’s Parkway Holdings. Singh’s Fortis Healthcare bought nearly a quarter of Parkway earlier this year — a slightly larger stake than Khazanah’s. With a combined fortune estimated at $3 billion by Forbes magazine — good for 17th place on its India rich list — the Singh brothers have the means and access to capital to take on the Malaysian fund if, as many expect, they choose to do so. Both were groomed for success, graduating from the prestigious St. Stephen’s College in Delhi and earning MBAs from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in North Carolina.  Singh Brothers: Shinvder Mohan Singh (L) and Malvinder Singh . Bloomberg “By nature, I am a risk-taker but I am not reckless,” Malvinder Singh told Business Today magazine recently. Singh, appears, however, to have made a miscalculation when he figured he could control Parkway with just a quarter of the company’s stock, and that Khazanah was operating only as a passive financial investor. His family had controlled Ranbaxy with a holding of roughly 35%. Singh moved from New Delhi to Singapore as chairman of Parkway, a hospital chain he planned to use as a platform for global expansion. Now, Fortis can either make a counterbid, sell out of Parkway or stay in as a minority shareholder. Given Singh’s ambitions for Parkway, many analysts expect Fortis to launch a rival offer, as its intention all along had been to build a controlling position, sources have said. Groomed for Success Wearing the beards and turbans of their Sikh faith, the Delhi-based Singh brothers are polished and have a confidence that belies their youth. Shivinder Singh, who runs Fortis’ domestic business, is 34. Malvinder, whose interests include golf, photography, travel and art, worked at American Express Bank and Merrill Lynch and joined Ranbaxy as a management trainee in 1994. When Parvinder Singh, who crafted Ranbaxy’s global ambitions, died in 1999, his sons were too young to take over. For many years, Ranbaxy was managed by professionals — first by Parvinder’s close aide, D.S. Brar, and later by Brian Tempest, a Briton. “Malav” to his colleagues, Malvinder took over as Ranbaxy CEO in 2006, the same year Shivinder joined its board as a director. That year, Ranbaxy made eight acquisitions, and Malvinder Singh has hardly let up on the dealmaking pace. While Shivinder Singh is known as a skilled, hands-on operator of businesses, Malvinder is a strategist with a passion for finance and an expansionist bent. Daiichi spent a total of $5.37 billion for Ranbaxy in the largest acquisition of an Indian company by an overseas buyer, a deal that proved well-timed for the Singhs. Ranbaxy shares have not returned to a peak reached soon after the sale was announced and the company was hit by charges from the US Food and Drug Administration that it sold misbranded or adulterated drugs in that country. Ranbaxy has said a “corrective action plan” was underway. Malvinder, who is married with three children, stepped down as chairman and CEO of Ranbaxy last year, but has remained busy. Besides Parkway, Fortis bought 10 hospitals from India’s Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd for $187 million last year. Religare Enterprises Ltd, the family’s financial services conglomerate, bought Hichens Harrison, London’s oldest stockbroker, in 2008. Earlier this year, it bought a controlling stake in US private equity firm Northgate Capital as part of a $1 billion plan to build a global asset management business. In April, Malvinder stepped down as Religare’s chairman, passing the reins to close confidant Sunil Godhwani, to focus on his healthcare business. Controlling Parkway is key to the Singh’s strategy. Brar, who has known the brothers since they were children, does not expect them to relinquish Parkway willingly. “They will do everything to retain control of the company, as it is a strategic piece in their growth story,” he said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 3:03 am United Phosphorus buys DuPont's mancozeb fungicide biz - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 3 Jun 2010 | 3:02 am I-T Dept told to make arrangements to tackle last-minute rushNew Delhi: The government has asked the Income Tax Department to make special arrangements in major tax collecting centres from 28-31 July, the last four days of accepting returns, to tackle the rush. “The Income Tax Department has been asked to make special arrangements by setting up additional counters from 28-31 July 2010, to help taxpayers file their Income Tax returns,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said. In Delhi, special counters would be set up at Pragati Maidan to receive about five lakh income tax returns filed in the last few days. Similar arrangements would also be made in other major tax collecting centres of the department, including Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. “Taxpayers are advised to file their income tax returns early to avoid last-minute rush. Taxpayers are also requested to use the e-filing facility of the Income Tax Department to get faster and error-free services,” the CBDT said. It also asked the Income Tax Department to make extra arrangements for receiving Income Tax returns on 31 July, the last date. Over 3.5 crore people come under the Income Tax net in the country. The rules for the same were recently amended to include the receipt number on TDS certificates as a mandatory field from next year. “It is clarified that the receipt number will not be required for the income tax returns to be filed this year (assessment year 2010-11), but only from next year,” it added. Tax deductors are, however, requested to quote the receipt number for all the tax deducted in this financial year. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 2:56 am Global stocks rally on U.S. optimism, dollar sagsLONDON (Reuters) - Global stocks rose to their highest in two weeks on Thursday while the dollar sagged after recent upbeat U.S. data and ahead of the key non-farm payrolls report.Source: Reuters: Money News | 3 Jun 2010 | 2:55 am BP inches ahead in latest bid to control oil spillVENICE, La. (Reuters) - Robot submarines plying the dark, frigid depths of the Gulf of Mexico made halting progress in BP'slatest bid to siphon off oil belching from its ruptured wellhead, but tar balls and other debris from the spill posed new threats to the region's shoreline.Source: Reuters: Money News | 3 Jun 2010 | 2:49 am HDFC Bank to double in size every four years: ParekhMumbai: HDFC Bank can double in size every four years, but it is not in a race to become the largest among all, says Deepak Parekh, chairman of the private sector lender’s parent company HDFC Ltd. “Our bank is growing very well, we are satisfied with that. We are not planning to be State Bank of India, we are not looking to grow more than we can chew, what we can handle,” he said. “Yet, we (HDFC Bank) have been growing at 25-30%.” Asked if this growth rate would continue, Parekh said that he was confident of 20-25% growth in the medium term. He replied in the affirmative when asked if HDFC Bank saw itself doubling in size every four years. At the same time, Parekh asserted that he did not want to be part of any race to get to the top slot. HDFC Bank, in which HDFC Ltd holds around 23% stake, is currently the country’s second largest private sector lender after ICICI Bank, while state-run SBI is the largest of all. At the end of last fiscal ended 31 March 2010, HDFC Bank had total assets of Rs 2.2 lakh crore and total business, comprising of deposits and advances stood at Rs2.9 lakh crore. Besides its banking operations through HDFC Bank, HDFC group is also present in mutual fund, life and general insurance and other financial services such as brokerage. Talking about other subsidiaries promoted by HDFC, Parekh said that they were the second largest player in asset management (mutual fund), but most profitable. HDFC Mutual Fund had asset under management to tune the tune of over Rs1 lakh crore at the end of May 2010. In life insurance, there were some issues which have been corrected now, he said, adding, performance has improved significantly. “In non-life, we are way down because we had a difficulty in our relationship with our partner. So, if you look at the last two years since we have Munich Re as a partner we have really come up from right at the bottom to 4-5th level and our aim is to become top three in the next couple of years.” In general insurance business, HDFC started with US-based Chubb Corp as its foreign partner, but parted ways in May 2007. Later, it joined hands with German insurer Munich Re. Parekh, however, asserted: “I don’t see that we are unhappy about growth in any other sector and partnerships, and in our management... there is continuity, and so, we are reasonably content.” Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 2:40 am Ranbaxy scion unlikely to relent in Parkway battleMUMBAI (Reuters) - This time the surprise is on Malvinder Singh. Two years ago, Singh and his brother Shivinder sold their controlling stake in Ranbaxy Laboratories, a leading Indian drugmaker built by their grandfather, to Japan's Daiichi Sankyo -- an unlikely move in a country where families rarely sell.Source: Reuters: Money News | 3 Jun 2010 | 2:37 am Sensex regains 17k level at noonThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex regained the 17,000-point level at noon on Thursday on buying by funds in heavy-weight stocks, led by the auto and metal sectors, on a firming global trend.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 3 Jun 2010 | 2:10 am Emkay expects Godrej Consumer to touch Rs 371/share - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 3 Jun 2010 | 2:06 am Govt to invest $1.7 trn in infra in next decade - minMUMBAI (Reuters) – The government will invest $1.7 trillion in infrastructure projects in the next decade, Trade Minister Anand Sharma said on Thursday while delivering a speech at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).Source: Reuters: Money News | 3 Jun 2010 | 1:41 am Nokia launches bicycle-powered charger, new cheap phonesHelsinki: The world’s top mobile phone maker Nokia on 3 May released details of four new cheap phone models and a battery charger powered by the energy generated from riding a bicycle. The charger, which can be fitted into any Nokia phone with a 2 mm charger jack, uses a dynamo to generate electricity from the movement of the wheels, Nokia said. “Bicycles are the most widespread means of transport in many markets around the world, so this is just one more benefit to be gained from an activity people are already doing,” Alex Lambeek, vice president at Nokia, said in the statement. The price of the charger kit, which also includes a holder for securing the phone to the bicycle, will vary according to market, but in countries like Kenya, where the product was introduced on 3 May, it would be around 15 euros ($18.43), a Nokia spokesman said. To begin charging, a cyclist needs to travel around six kilometres per hour (four miles per hour), and while charging times will vary depending on battery model, a 10 minute journey at 10 kmh produces around 28 minutes of talk time or 37 hours of standby time, the spokesman said. The faster you ride, the more battery life you generate. The charger is set to become available through selected retailers and the company’s online store before year-end, Nokia said. The four new phones it also introduced in Kenya Thursday target developing markets, a key growth area for the Finnish company, and also contain features designed for the needs of people in countries where access to electricity is limited, such as a six-week battery standby time. Shipments of the phone models, priced at 30-45 euros, will begin by September. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 1:40 am Nokia launches bicycle-powered charger, new cheap phonesHelsinki: The world’s top mobile phone maker Nokia on 3 May released details of four new cheap phone models and a battery charger powered by the energy generated from riding a bicycle. The charger, which can be fitted into any Nokia phone with a 2 mm charger jack, uses a dynamo to generate electricity from the movement of the wheels, Nokia said. “Bicycles are the most widespread means of transport in many markets around the world, so this is just one more benefit to be gained from an activity people are already doing,” Alex Lambeek, vice president at Nokia, said in the statement. The price of the charger kit, which also includes a holder for securing the phone to the bicycle, will vary according to market, but in countries like Kenya, where the product was introduced on 3 May, it would be around 15 euros ($18.43), a Nokia spokesman said. To begin charging, a cyclist needs to travel around six kilometres per hour (four miles per hour), and while charging times will vary depending on battery model, a 10 minute journey at 10 kmh produces around 28 minutes of talk time or 37 hours of standby time, the spokesman said. The faster you ride, the more battery life you generate. The charger is set to become available through selected retailers and the company’s online store before year-end, Nokia said. The four new phones it also introduced in Kenya Thursday target developing markets, a key growth area for the Finnish company, and also contain features designed for the needs of people in countries where access to electricity is limited, such as a six-week battery standby time. Shipments of the phone models, priced at 30-45 euros, will begin by September. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 1:40 am Cyclone "Phet" looms large on Pakistani coast as president alert troops - Xinhua
Source: Business - Google News | 3 Jun 2010 | 1:36 am Six men to brave 520-day isolation on ‘Mars mission’Moscow: Six men from Europe, Russia and China will on Thursday be voluntarily locked away in a module for almost one and a half years to simulate the psychological effects of a mission to Mars. An Italian, Frenchman, three Russians and a Chinese man will spend the next 520 days in the isolation facility at a Moscow research institute when its hatch slams shut at 2:00 pm (1000 GMT). Like a real Mars mission, the crew will have to survive on limited food rations and their only communication with the outside world will be by email, with a delay of up to 40 minutes. The hatch will only re-open when the experiment is over or if one of the participants is forced to pull out. “It will be trying for all of us. We cannot see our family, we cannot see our friends, but I think it is all a glorious time in our lives,” said Chinese participant Wang Yue, 27, ahead of the experiment. The volunteers will have their days in the module at the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems (IBMP) divided into eight hours of sleep, eight hours of work and eight hours of leisure. A team of three will spend one month aboard a special module meant to represent the Mars landing craft, while two will also spend time exploring a reconstruction of Mars itself. The idea is to exactly mimic the timescale of a Mars mission — 250 days for the trip to Mars, 30 days on the surface and 240 days for the return journey, totalling 520 days. The crew also conspicuously lacks women, meaning the experiment will not be able to examine the possible sexual tensions that could arise on a trip to Mars for a mixed-gender crew. Yury Karash, a Russian space policy expert, said the gender composition of the crew would allow the participants to focus on their professional duties instead of unwittingly competing for attention of their female crew members. “It is better for the crew to be same-sex,” he said on Russian television. “No-one has abolished the basic instinct yet.” Volunteers have already admitted that they will be tested by being separated from their loved ones and partners for such a long period of time. Frenchman Romain Charles, 31, said the hardest thing will be the disruption of contact “with the family, the girlfriend, the friends with whom the distance is going to be difficult to manage.” Their diet will be no different to that enjoyed by real-life astronauts on the International Space Station and the crew will be given the food at the beginning of the experiment, forcing them to ration out their supplies. The experiment is a joint venture between the IBMP and the European Space Agency (ESA), which describes the project as a mission “to mimic a full mission to Mars and back as accurately as possible without actually going there.” The ESA and the US space agency NASA have separately sketched dates in around three decades from now for a manned flight to Mars. The Red Planet’s distance from Earth varies between 55 million kilometres (34 million miles) and more than 400 million kilometres (250 million miles), depending on where the two planets are in their respective orbits. The project, the first full-duration simulated mission to Mars, follows a similar experiment at the (IBMP) last year which saw six volunteers shut away for a mere 105 days. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 1:34 am Six men to brave 520-day isolation on ‘Mars mission’Moscow: Six men from Europe, Russia and China will on Thursday be voluntarily locked away in a module for almost one and a half years to simulate the psychological effects of a mission to Mars. An Italian, Frenchman, three Russians and a Chinese man will spend the next 520 days in the isolation facility at a Moscow research institute when its hatch slams shut at 2:00 pm (1000 GMT). Like a real Mars mission, the crew will have to survive on limited food rations and their only communication with the outside world will be by email, with a delay of up to 40 minutes. The hatch will only re-open when the experiment is over or if one of the participants is forced to pull out. “It will be trying for all of us. We cannot see our family, we cannot see our friends, but I think it is all a glorious time in our lives,” said Chinese participant Wang Yue, 27, ahead of the experiment. The volunteers will have their days in the module at the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems (IBMP) divided into eight hours of sleep, eight hours of work and eight hours of leisure. A team of three will spend one month aboard a special module meant to represent the Mars landing craft, while two will also spend time exploring a reconstruction of Mars itself. The idea is to exactly mimic the timescale of a Mars mission — 250 days for the trip to Mars, 30 days on the surface and 240 days for the return journey, totalling 520 days. The crew also conspicuously lacks women, meaning the experiment will not be able to examine the possible sexual tensions that could arise on a trip to Mars for a mixed-gender crew. Yury Karash, a Russian space policy expert, said the gender composition of the crew would allow the participants to focus on their professional duties instead of unwittingly competing for attention of their female crew members. “It is better for the crew to be same-sex,” he said on Russian television. “No-one has abolished the basic instinct yet.” Volunteers have already admitted that they will be tested by being separated from their loved ones and partners for such a long period of time. Frenchman Romain Charles, 31, said the hardest thing will be the disruption of contact “with the family, the girlfriend, the friends with whom the distance is going to be difficult to manage.” Their diet will be no different to that enjoyed by real-life astronauts on the International Space Station and the crew will be given the food at the beginning of the experiment, forcing them to ration out their supplies. The experiment is a joint venture between the IBMP and the European Space Agency (ESA), which describes the project as a mission “to mimic a full mission to Mars and back as accurately as possible without actually going there.” The ESA and the US space agency NASA have separately sketched dates in around three decades from now for a manned flight to Mars. The Red Planet’s distance from Earth varies between 55 million kilometres (34 million miles) and more than 400 million kilometres (250 million miles), depending on where the two planets are in their respective orbits. The project, the first full-duration simulated mission to Mars, follows a similar experiment at the (IBMP) last year which saw six volunteers shut away for a mere 105 days. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 1:34 am ‘Twilight’, a bleeding success for author and publisherParis: Stephenie Meyer, the Mormon mother turned best-selling author, closes a five-year rags-to-riches saga next weekend with the release of the final chapter in her vampire romances. Launched worldwide at 0401 GMT 5 June, “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner”, dubbed a novella by her publisher, is expected to be greeted by huge turnouts at booksellers across the globe. “At this point,” said publisher Megan Tingley, “Stephenie does not have plans to return to the saga.” A homebody with a degree in literature but professional experience only as a receptionist, the 36-year-old has sold over 100 million copies of her four-novel vampire story, with rights sold in almost 50 countries. Though two successive film instalments of the book also hit the jackpot at the box-office, “Breaking Dawn”, released in 2008, “is the fourth and final book in the Twilight saga,” said publisher Tingley, senior vice president of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. In a written interview with AFP, Tingley, who had never specialised in fantasy, said the 2004 acquisition of Twilight had been “unusual”. For a nobody she was offered an unprecedented sum of $750,000 for three books and world rights. She said she “simply had a powerful, visceral response to the story and was was confident others would too.” Twilight, she added, was “un unparalleled break-out phenomenon not only for her but for Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.” Set in a small US town, the books and movies follow the fortunes of a high school teenager Bella Swan (in the films played by Kristen Stewart) and her vampire lover Edward Cullen (played by British heart-throb Robert Pattinson). Meyer, a devout Christian and mother, has said the idea of a vampire in love with a girl but thirsting for her blood, came to her in a dream. In three months she penned a novel she claims was never intended for publication but for her own enjoyment. Official history has it that it was her sister who persuaded her to send it to a literary agent, Jodi Reamer of Writers House, who submitted it to several agents. “When a publisher feels confident that they have discovered a promising new talent, they will sometimes offer an author a multiple book contract,” said Tingley. “This way we are investing in an author’s career, not just one book.” “In the case of Twilight, it was clear that this was the work of a major storyteller and the author clearly had many more ideas for how the world of Twilight could develop, so it made sense to sign up three books”. Tingley said the publishing house planned for the first three to come out one year apart to keep the momentum going. “It is remarkable that she was able to write and publish five 500+ page novels in the course of four years (the four Twilight books and “The Host”),” she said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 1:29 am Food inflation rises to 16.55%The overall inflation for April stood at 9.59%, moderating slightly from 9.90% in March, according to the provisional data.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 3 Jun 2010 | 1:22 am Markets rise 1.3%; RCom ralliesMumbai: Indian shares rose 1.3% on Thursday as encouraging US home sales data raised hopes for a global recovery and lifted investor appetite for risker assets worldwide. Energy major Reliance Industries, engineering and construction firm Larsen and Toubro and No. 2 software-services firm Infosys Technologies led the main index higher. No. 2 telecoms firm Reliance Communications rose 2.3% to Rs158.20, after the Economic Times newspaper said the Anil Ambani-controlled firm is considering a merger with South Africa’s MTN or roping in a strategic foreign investor to raise funds. Abu Dhabi’s Etisalat said on Wednesday it was looking to buy a stake in an Indian mobile operator, but did not disclose any names. A newspaper had reported it was in talks with cash-hungry Reliance Communications for a $3.8 billion deal. By 9:53am, the 30-share BSE index was up 1.3% at 16,964.78 points, with all stocks advancing, after rising as much as 1.5% earlier. The 50-share NSE index was up 1.5% at 5,093.80. The benchmark is down 4% this year, having posted its first monthly decline since January in May as investors pared their exposure to risky assets in the wake of Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. “Though we cannot say that the entire scenario has changed until the euro zone debt crisis has been resolved, funds which had earlier booked profits are now re-entering the market as they think the prices are cheap,” Alex Mathews, head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said. “They are being opportunistic and may continue to buy into the market in the short term,” he said. On Wednesday, surprisingly strong US housing data for April drove optimism about the world’s largest economy, boosted stocks overseas and drove up oil prices. The stock rally also eased concerns that Europe’s debt woes could restrain a fragile economic recovery. On Thursday, Reliance Industries, India’s largest-listed firm with the most weight in the main index, rose 1.2% to Rs1,024.30. Larsen and Toubro gained 1.5% to Rs1,653.65, while Infosys Technologies climbed 0.9% to Rs2,669.05. In the broader market, gainers led losers by more than 4 to 1 on moderate volume of 69.3 million shares. Other Asian shares were also higher, with Japan’s Nikkei up 3%, while MSCI’s measure of other Asian markets rose 2.8%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 1:12 am Food inflation rises to 16.55% - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 3 Jun 2010 | 1:09 am United Phosphorus buys DuPont's fungicide businessUnited Phosphorus Ltd (UPL) has purchased the global non-mixture mancozeb fungicide business and related assets from DuPont, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 3 Jun 2010 | 1:08 am PC users can now use computers to test stress levelsTaipei: A new gadget that helps computer users check their stress and mood levels was unveiled on 3 May at Asia’s biggest IT trade fair. The BioDynamic Signature (BDS) technology, unveiled by Israeli high-tech company IDesia, uses a person’s unique heartbeat to tell whether they need to take some time out to relax. The user grasps two sensors shaped like computer mouses to measure the electric activity of the heart in minute detail. Software then combines the measurements with prerecorded personal details such as age and sex to calculate various indicators for stress and mood. “It’s like fingerprints. Everyone’s is different,” said David Chang, a vice president with the company, at Computex Taipei. And the BDS, which IDesia aims to put on sale in the fourth quarter, got the thumbs-up from members of the public who tested it at the fair. “Understanding your mood at the start of the day is especially critical,” a 60-year-old man told AFP after trying out the technology. “It’s just like turning on a television to watch a weather forecast report so you can prepare better for work each day,” he told AFP. IDesia said the technologies have drawn interest of leading Taiwanese computer makers such as Compal Electronics and Wistron. “They have displayed products at the show using our solution,” Chang said, declining to give details of the price. The sensors can also be linked to other devices such as mobile phones and gamepads, the company said. More than 1,700 exhibitors are taking part in the five-day Computex Taipei, featuring 4,861 booths and expected to greet around 120,000 visitors, including 35,000 international buyers, organisers say. They expect the fair to generate around $20 billion in business. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 1:07 am PC users can now use computers to test stress levelsTaipei: A new gadget that helps computer users check their stress and mood levels was unveiled on 3 May at Asia’s biggest IT trade fair. The BioDynamic Signature (BDS) technology, unveiled by Israeli high-tech company IDesia, uses a person’s unique heartbeat to tell whether they need to take some time out to relax. The user grasps two sensors shaped like computer mouses to measure the electric activity of the heart in minute detail. Software then combines the measurements with prerecorded personal details such as age and sex to calculate various indicators for stress and mood. “It’s like fingerprints. Everyone’s is different,” said David Chang, a vice president with the company, at Computex Taipei. And the BDS, which IDesia aims to put on sale in the fourth quarter, got the thumbs-up from members of the public who tested it at the fair. “Understanding your mood at the start of the day is especially critical,” a 60-year-old man told AFP after trying out the technology. “It’s just like turning on a television to watch a weather forecast report so you can prepare better for work each day,” he told AFP. IDesia said the technologies have drawn interest of leading Taiwanese computer makers such as Compal Electronics and Wistron. “They have displayed products at the show using our solution,” Chang said, declining to give details of the price. The sensors can also be linked to other devices such as mobile phones and gamepads, the company said. More than 1,700 exhibitors are taking part in the five-day Computex Taipei, featuring 4,861 booths and expected to greet around 120,000 visitors, including 35,000 international buyers, organisers say. They expect the fair to generate around $20 billion in business. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 1:07 am Gaza activists given hero’s welcome in TurkeyIstanbul: Hundreds of activists from a Turkish-led aid flotilla landed at Istanbul early on Thursday, dazed and shaken after their ordeal but given a hero’s welcome by thousands of cheering supporters waiting at the airport. Three Turkish planes that bore the activists from Tel Aviv to Turkey also carried the simple wooden coffins of the nine killed when Israeli commandos stormed the ships trying to take aid to Gaza. “We’ve been scared, frightened, kidnapped and attacked with battleships while we were taking aid to needy people in Gaza,” said Mustafa Ahmet, a British citizen of Turkish origin. The Israeli military said the deaths occurred when commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara, the cruise ship on which most of the violence occurred, from helicopters and dinghies. As activists descended from the planes at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport they lifted their arms in defiance, but afterwards some were overcome with emotion and wept. The majority of the 466 people aboard the planes were Turkish with some British, Norwegian, Dutch and Spanish citizens among them. Several activists suggested the death toll was higher than nine, and accused the Israeli army of hiding bodies and destroying forensic evidence. “The soldiers shot a doctor who wanted to surrender and they threw dead bodies into the sea. We still don’t know what happened to them,” said Bulent Yildirim, chairman of the IHH, the Turkish Islamic charity which organised the convoy. He said Israeli commandos had forced activists to kneel with their hands behind their backs after they stormed the flotilla, and helicopters circling overhead poured cold sea water onto them. Kevin Ovenden of Britain said a man who had pointed a camera at the soldiers was shot directly through the forehead with live ammunition, with the exit wound blowing away the back of his skull. Israel says its commandos were attacked as they came aboard the Mavi Marmara, forcing them to shoot in self-defence after activists clubbed and stabbed them and snatched their weapons. Many of those waiting at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport carried Palestinian flags and bore slogans such as “murderer Israel”, while one group of protesters tore up an Israeli flag. Hours earlier thousands had demonstrated in a central Istanbul square. The injured were flown separately to a military airport in Ankara aboard two air ambulances. The killings of Turks onboard the flotilla has brought the already strained relationship between the Jewish state and Turkey’s Islamist-leaning government close to breaking point. Turkey recalled its ambassador and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has called for Israel’s act to be “punished”. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 1:03 am RPT-SCENARIOS-The future for BP after the oil spill - Reuters
Source: Business - Google News | 3 Jun 2010 | 1:01 am Food, fuel inflation quicken in late-MayNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's food and fuel price inflation quickened in late-May, putting upside pressure on the wholesale price index that could prompt further monetary tightening by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).Source: Reuters: Money News | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:59 am Food inflation rises to 16.55%Food inflation rose to 16.55% for the week ended May 22 on account of high prices of pulses, fruits and vegetables.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:58 am Godrej grows haircare biz with Argencos buyMumbai: Personal care products maker Godrej Consumer Products Ltd said late on Tuesday it has acquired Argentina-based hair care firm Argencos SA, its second acquisition in Latin America in less than two weeks. On 23 May, Godrej had acquired the Issue Group, a market leader in the Latin American hair colour market. “Latin America is a very large market for haircare products. If you take both the acquisitions together we will become leaders in the haircare market in four countries-Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Peru,” chairman Adi Godrej told Reuters. “The buys are highly accretive to our company in the first year itself,” he added. The firm, which now plans to take powder hair colours from India to Latin America, estimates the hair colorants market in Argentina at around $200 million. “It is growing at a compound annual growth rate of of more than 22% over the last two years,” Godrej said. The firm will complete the acquisition of Argencos by the end of this month or early next month, Godrej said. The combined sales of the two acquisitions is estimated to be over $45 million, with the equity value of both the purchases being an approximate $43 million, the firm said. The revenue mix in FY11 after all the buys will be approximately 35% from the household care segment, 25-30% from soaps, 10-15% from hair colour and the rest from other personal care products, Godrej said. “Argencos is a good pick in the Argentinian hair care market,” said an analyst with Prabhudas Lilladher, adding that most of the Godrej’s acquisitions have been accretive in the first year itself. Still on the Lookout Godrej has been on an aggressive acquisition spree in a bid to have its presence in hair colour, insecticides and soap businesses in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Godrej recently acquired the balance 51% stake in its joint venture with Sara Lee Corp Godrej Sara Lee, which is now renamed as Godrej Household Products Ltd. Following this acquisition, household products now accounts for a lion’s share of the company’s revenue, overtaking the soaps segment. It also acquired Nigerian personal care company Tura and Indonesian household care company Megasari earlier this year. The company’s board in December 2009 had given approval to raise up to 30 billion rupees in debt and equity to fund mergers and acquisitions. Godrej had earlier told Reuters, his company would raise a total equity of Rs600-700 crore via qualified institutional placement or private equity or both and the rest will be raised through debt. “Even after these buys we will still have some funds available because we have a lot of cash on the books of Godrej Consumer and Godrej Household Products Ltd...which will be utilised for further acquisitions.”,“ he said on Thursday. At 11.43 a.m., shares of the firm were up 2.57% at Rs335.65, after rising more than 7% to the day’s high of Rs352 in early deals in a firm Mumbai market. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:56 am G20 strives to cut deficits without killing growthBUSAN, South Korea (Reuters) - Disagreements over how quickly to reduce billowing budget deficits and restore balance to the global economy risk straining high-level Group of 20 talks starting on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:49 am India's food price index up 16.55 per centIndia's food price index rose 16.55 per cent in the year to May 22, while the fuel price index climbed 14.14 per cent, government data released today showed.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:36 am Tablet PCs loom as sequel to netbooksTaipei:Hot sales of Apple’s iPad is attracting a growing group of developers to a new generation of stylish, multimedia tablet devices that could be the next big thing for on-the-go computing. New tablet offerings from Taiwanese firms such as MSI and China’s Hanwang are on show in Taiwan this week at Computex, with models specialising in everything from reading books to taking pictures from a webcam fixed on the top of a bright touchscreen to general Web surfing. Some say tablets could soon take sales from netbook computers — the low-priced darlings - that debuted at Computex three years ago and were one of the PC industry’s few bright spots through the global economic slowdown. “I have never seen a singular device that has captured the imagination of so many companies in the world,” said Huang Jen-hsun, chief executive of Nvidia, which has launched new processors to power tablets and laptops. “It’s logical because it is about enjoying content,” said Huang, who was in Taipei to promote his company’s processors at Computex, the world’s second-largest PC trade fair. Like netbooks, tablets are relatively cheap, drawing on lower-cost processors and software to often sell for $500 or less. Their prices are likely to fall further as sales grow. Apple and other large players, along with their parts suppliers, are set to gain most, possibly at the expense of major netbook sellers including Asustek and Acer. Tablet PCs may be especially suited for reading-type applications such as e-books and other applications that don’t require a lot of typing on a separate keyboard. While tablets may not completely slay the netbook, research firm Gartner expects the new devices to significantly hit mini-notebooks starting in 2013 as tablet prices fall below those of mini-notebooks and functionality becomes comparable. The most basic netbooks now sell for as little as $299, compared with the iPad’s $499 US retail price tag. Wide Audience The iPad has been wildly successful since its US debut in April, with buyers storming Japanese and Australian shops last week to be among the first outside the United States to snap up the long-awaited device Gartner estimates mini notebooks will drop to 13.9% of the laptop market in 2014 from 18.6% in 2010. Rival IDC said media tablets will move in the opposite direction, growing by an average 57.4% every year in the same period. That has caught the attention of Taiwan’s MSI and other big tech brands including Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and Samsung, which are testing the waters with their own designs. “I’m afraid that the fever on netbooks is gone,” Joseph Hsu, chairman of Micro-Star International (MSI), said at the show. “New designs always create new value, that’s a sure thing,” Hsu said, standing next to a line of his company’s “Wind Pad” tablets that run Google’s Android operating system and has USB ports, a feature absent on the iPad. As tablet sales rise, netbooks sales are set to fall. Shipments of notebook computers leapt 43% in the first quarter, their highest year-on-year growth in eight years, driven by consumer demand for netbooks, Gartner said. Hsu said new tablets and other higher-end laptops would drive MSI’s revenue up at least 20% this year. Not far away from MSI’s booth, Aidata and Cideko were showing off iPad stands and holders to lure tablet buyers. Up the production chain, analysts say touchscreen maker Wintek and battery suppliers Simplo and Dynapack are also charging up for a tablet future. Still, Asustek was keen to point out the netbooks it pioneered may still have a trick or two left. The company will ship new models from its Eee line of netbooks with a pre-installed, customized “Asus App Store” later this year via Intel’s online infrastructure. The race for strong content — one of Apple’s strong suits — could ultimately determine who wins the day. “iPad is a catalyst and we might can see another phenomenal success like netbooks did before,” said Bevan Yeh, a fund manager at Prudential Securities Investment Trust. “The key will be how quick you can allow users to find a lot of apps on their devices in the future. If you are not Apple, what are you going to do to reach a wide audience?” Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:26 am Tablet PCs loom as sequel to netbooksTaipei:Hot sales of Apple’s iPad is attracting a growing group of developers to a new generation of stylish, multimedia tablet devices that could be the next big thing for on-the-go computing. New tablet offerings from Taiwanese firms such as MSI and China’s Hanwang are on show in Taiwan this week at Computex, with models specialising in everything from reading books to taking pictures from a webcam fixed on the top of a bright touchscreen to general Web surfing. Some say tablets could soon take sales from netbook computers — the low-priced darlings - that debuted at Computex three years ago and were one of the PC industry’s few bright spots through the global economic slowdown. “I have never seen a singular device that has captured the imagination of so many companies in the world,” said Huang Jen-hsun, chief executive of Nvidia, which has launched new processors to power tablets and laptops. “It’s logical because it is about enjoying content,” said Huang, who was in Taipei to promote his company’s processors at Computex, the world’s second-largest PC trade fair. Like netbooks, tablets are relatively cheap, drawing on lower-cost processors and software to often sell for $500 or less. Their prices are likely to fall further as sales grow. Apple and other large players, along with their parts suppliers, are set to gain most, possibly at the expense of major netbook sellers including Asustek and Acer. Tablet PCs may be especially suited for reading-type applications such as e-books and other applications that don’t require a lot of typing on a separate keyboard. While tablets may not completely slay the netbook, research firm Gartner expects the new devices to significantly hit mini-notebooks starting in 2013 as tablet prices fall below those of mini-notebooks and functionality becomes comparable. The most basic netbooks now sell for as little as $299, compared with the iPad’s $499 US retail price tag. Wide Audience The iPad has been wildly successful since its US debut in April, with buyers storming Japanese and Australian shops last week to be among the first outside the United States to snap up the long-awaited device Gartner estimates mini notebooks will drop to 13.9% of the laptop market in 2014 from 18.6% in 2010. Rival IDC said media tablets will move in the opposite direction, growing by an average 57.4% every year in the same period. That has caught the attention of Taiwan’s MSI and other big tech brands including Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and Samsung, which are testing the waters with their own designs. “I’m afraid that the fever on netbooks is gone,” Joseph Hsu, chairman of Micro-Star International (MSI), said at the show. “New designs always create new value, that’s a sure thing,” Hsu said, standing next to a line of his company’s “Wind Pad” tablets that run Google’s Android operating system and has USB ports, a feature absent on the iPad. As tablet sales rise, netbooks sales are set to fall. Shipments of notebook computers leapt 43% in the first quarter, their highest year-on-year growth in eight years, driven by consumer demand for netbooks, Gartner said. Hsu said new tablets and other higher-end laptops would drive MSI’s revenue up at least 20% this year. Not far away from MSI’s booth, Aidata and Cideko were showing off iPad stands and holders to lure tablet buyers. Up the production chain, analysts say touchscreen maker Wintek and battery suppliers Simplo and Dynapack are also charging up for a tablet future. Still, Asustek was keen to point out the netbooks it pioneered may still have a trick or two left. The company will ship new models from its Eee line of netbooks with a pre-installed, customized “Asus App Store” later this year via Intel’s online infrastructure. The race for strong content — one of Apple’s strong suits — could ultimately determine who wins the day. “iPad is a catalyst and we might can see another phenomenal success like netbooks did before,” said Bevan Yeh, a fund manager at Prudential Securities Investment Trust. “The key will be how quick you can allow users to find a lot of apps on their devices in the future. If you are not Apple, what are you going to do to reach a wide audience?” Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:26 am NTPC to buy Australian coal mine for $1.5billionThe 720-million-tonne Australian coal field will enable state-run NTPC to fire about 3,500 megawatt of power capacity.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:15 am Nokia Siemens conducts 30 LTE network trialsShanghai: Nokia’s telecoms gear venture Nokia Siemens Networks said on Thursday it was conducting trials on 30 commercial next generation LTE networks globally and was in talks with 15 top tier operators to build commercial networks. “It’s unbelievable how the momentum is growing, this is what we are seeing with our customers,” Thorsten Robrecht, Nokia Siemens’ head of LTE product management, told Reuters in an interview at the sidelines of an industry conference in Shanghai. “There are big customers which I hope to get very soon under contract,” Robrecht said, adding the firm has signed contracts to build 12 commercial LTE networks to date, most of them this year. Nokia Siemens and industry leader Ericsson have increasingly come up against Chinese up-and-comers Huawei and ZTE in the global rush to build new long-term evolution (LTE) networks, also known as 4G. Nokia Siemens and Ericsson beat out Huawei in January for contracts to build a key next-generation LTE network contract from European operator TeliaSonera. But last year they lost out to Huawei on another deal to build an LTE network for Nordic carrier Telinor. TeliaSonera opened the first LTE network late last year in Sweden and Norway, but many other mobile operators have only slowly started to invest in the new technology, which promises to ease data overload in many networks. Robrecht said the current push for LTE was primarily from North America and Europe and driven by data usage from USB sticks and dongles, with smartphone data usage expected to start driving the market in the second half of next year. Nokia Siemens is also seeing a lot of interest in TD-LTE in Japan, India and Europe and expects the TD-LTE standard to be on par with the LTE standard. TD-LTE is a standard of LTE pushed by China’s flagship mobile firm China Mobile. Nokia Siemens Networks, a 50-50 venture of Nokia and Siemens is aimming for an operating profit margin of up to 3 percent on revenue of between €3.1-3.4 billion ($3.88-$4.25 billion) in the current quarter, according to a newspaper. The firm posted a surprise profit in the first quarter and repeated its forecast for no growth in the telecom equipment market this year. The venture reported a January-March underlying operating profit of €15 million ($20.2 million), compared with a loss of 122 million a year ago. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:08 am Nokia Siemens conducts 30 LTE network trialsShanghai: Nokia’s telecoms gear venture Nokia Siemens Networks said on Thursday it was conducting trials on 30 commercial next generation LTE networks globally and was in talks with 15 top tier operators to build commercial networks. “It’s unbelievable how the momentum is growing, this is what we are seeing with our customers,” Thorsten Robrecht, Nokia Siemens’ head of LTE product management, told Reuters in an interview at the sidelines of an industry conference in Shanghai. “There are big customers which I hope to get very soon under contract,” Robrecht said, adding the firm has signed contracts to build 12 commercial LTE networks to date, most of them this year. Nokia Siemens and industry leader Ericsson have increasingly come up against Chinese up-and-comers Huawei and ZTE in the global rush to build new long-term evolution (LTE) networks, also known as 4G. Nokia Siemens and Ericsson beat out Huawei in January for contracts to build a key next-generation LTE network contract from European operator TeliaSonera. But last year they lost out to Huawei on another deal to build an LTE network for Nordic carrier Telinor. TeliaSonera opened the first LTE network late last year in Sweden and Norway, but many other mobile operators have only slowly started to invest in the new technology, which promises to ease data overload in many networks. Robrecht said the current push for LTE was primarily from North America and Europe and driven by data usage from USB sticks and dongles, with smartphone data usage expected to start driving the market in the second half of next year. Nokia Siemens is also seeing a lot of interest in TD-LTE in Japan, India and Europe and expects the TD-LTE standard to be on par with the LTE standard. TD-LTE is a standard of LTE pushed by China’s flagship mobile firm China Mobile. Nokia Siemens Networks, a 50-50 venture of Nokia and Siemens is aimming for an operating profit margin of up to 3 percent on revenue of between €3.1-3.4 billion ($3.88-$4.25 billion) in the current quarter, according to a newspaper. The firm posted a surprise profit in the first quarter and repeated its forecast for no growth in the telecom equipment market this year. The venture reported a January-March underlying operating profit of €15 million ($20.2 million), compared with a loss of 122 million a year ago. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:08 am First Nano rolls out of Tata Motors' Sanand plantTata Motors Ltd today inaugurated its new manufacturing facility at Sanand for the world's cheapest car, Nano, and said the group has “more surprises” in store forSource: Business Line - Home Page | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Prudential dumps deal with AIGBritish insurance giant Prudential has finally abandoned its hopes of creating an Asian-focussed insurance giant, after failing to re-negotiate a cheaper deal with AIA owner,Source: Business Line - Home Page | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Oil spill crisis can be dire for BPIt's hard to see how things could get much worse for beleaguered energy giantSource: Business Line - Home Page | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Gujarat State Petronet (Rs 98.7): BuyInvestors with short-term trading perspective can consider buying the stock of Gujarat State Petronet. The correction that began in December last year halted at Rs 82 after the stock retraced around 30 per cent of the up-move from January 2009Source: Business Line - Home Page | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Equity benchmarks yet to catch up with GDP growthGoing by the Central Statistical Organisation compiled GDP numbers and growth projection for the current quarter and the CNX Nifty growth numbers, the economy has outperformed the equity market in the two-year period of upheaval to March 31 andSource: Business Line - Home Page | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Rig problem may slow Reliance Ind's hydrocarbons huntReliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) hunt for more hydrocarbons on India's East coast could slow as the company's drilling programme in the region is facing delays due to ‘unresolved mechanical' issue in the rig hired fromSource: Business Line - Home Page | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Sun Pharma rejects US firm's offer on TaroThree years after Sun Pharmaceutical made its $454-million proposal to acquire Israeli drug-maker Taro Pharmaceuticals it finds itself in an intriguing situation, having rejected a third-party offer to buy out its stake in Taro for a higherSource: Business Line - Home Page | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Super Cyclone Phet may spare RIL's Jamnagar refineriesWhile making landfall, Super Cyclone Phet is expected to wind down a couple of notches as a Category-3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale of stormSource: Business Line - Home Page | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am ArcelorMittal offers stake to farmers in Karnataka projectThe Karnataka Government has said that ArcelorMittal is willing to offer stake in its Rs 30,000-crore steel project to farmers whose land will be acquired for theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Land correctly rather than softly, DGCA tells airlinesA soft landing of your aircraft without any jerks or thuds may not necessarily be a safe landing! So says the regulator Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), asking all airline operators to strictly comply with the standard procedures forSource: Business Line - Home Page | 3 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am Rupee climbs 39 paise against dollar in early tradeThe Indian rupee appreciated by 39 paise to 46.59 a dollar in early trade today on the back of fresh capital inflows by foreign funds into equities and the dollar's loss against other Asian currencies.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 2 Jun 2010 | 11:59 pm India pushes for expansion of permanent seats in UNSCUnited Nations: India, which is seeking a permanent berth in the UN Security Council, has said that expansion of only non-permanent seats does not constitute reform of the world body and demanded that membership be increased in both categories. In a closed-door meeting at the UN headquarters convened to discuss the negotiating text for the Security Council reform, India also pointed out that a vast majority of countries were in favour of expanding the current size of the world body’s top organ from 15 to the mid-20s. “There cannot be any reform without expansion in both the categories of membership,” Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s envoy to the UN, said on Wednesday night. “Equally, expansion only in the non-permanent category or any of its other variants does not constitute reform and is merely the perpetuation of the current inefficiency by the same ineffective means in vogue since 1963,” he said. India along with Japan, Germany, South Africa and Brazil is seeking permanent membership of the Security Council. Puri’s remarks came a day after a top US official said India would play a “central part” in the Security Council reform process but stopped short of publicly endorsing the country’s bid for a permanent seat. “We’re open to expansion of permanent membership of the Council and we believe that India’s going to have a central part to play in the consideration that’s going to come of that reform of the UN Security Council,” under secretary of state for political affairs William Burns said. During the inaugural discussions on the UN reform, Zahir Tanin, Afghanistan’s permanent representative to the UN, in his capacity as the chairperson of the process asked member states to submit proposals that can be worked into a negotiating text, which will be the basis for future discussions. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 2 Jun 2010 | 11:59 pm Rupee climbs 39 paise against dollar in early tradeForex dealers said the rupee strengthened against the US currency largely because of increased capital inflows by foreign funds into equities and dollar's weakness against other Asian units.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 2 Jun 2010 | 11:26 pm Sensex up 247 points in opening trade on global cuesThe 30-share index, which rose by 169.81 points in the previous trading session, shot up by 247.25 points, or 1.47%, to 16,989.09.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 2 Jun 2010 | 10:27 pm Reliance Communications shares rise more than 3%Abu Dhabi's Etisalat said on Wednesday it was looking to buy a stake in an Indian mobile operator, but did not disclose any names.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 2 Jun 2010 | 10:22 pm Godrej Consumer shares up 7% on Argencos buyShares of Godrej Consumer Products Ltd jumped more than 7% to hit a high of Rs352 in early trade on Thursday.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 2 Jun 2010 | 10:19 pm Sensex regains 17k level at noonBSE's Sensex regained the 17,000-point level at noon on buying by funds in heavy-weight stocks, led by the auto and metal sectors, on a firming global trend.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 2 Jun 2010 | 10:18 pm Sensex positive on firm global cuesThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Thursday surged by over 247 points in opening trade tracking firm global cues.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 2 Jun 2010 | 10:17 pm Rupee climbs 39 paise against dollar in early tradeThe Indian rupee appreciated by 39 paise to 46.59 a dollar in early trade today on the back of fresh capital inflows by foreign funds into equities and the dollar's loss against other Asian currencies.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 2 Jun 2010 | 10:15 pm Reliance Comm shares rise more than 3 per centShares in No 2 telecoms firm Reliance Communications rose more than 3 per cent today after a report it was considering a merger with South Africa's MTN or roping in a strategic foreign investor to raise funds.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 2 Jun 2010 | 10:14 pm Asia shares rally on US data, yen weakensHong Kong: Asian stocks rose for the first time in three days on Thursday as US housing data fueled optimism about the world’s largest economy, while the yen was pressured by expectations that Japan’s new political leaders will favour a weaker currency. Solid sales growth for May from major US automakers also helped the auto sector in Japan, while stocks in Seoul received an additional boost from foreign buying. Tokyo’s Nikkei share average surged 2.6% to its highest in nearly two weeks, as exporters received a leg-up from the upbeat economic data in the United States, one of Japan’s biggest export markets, with the weak yen also helping. Honda Motor and Toyota Motor both rose 3.7%. In Seoul, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was up 1.4%, its highest in over two weeks with foreign buying of a net won 123 billion ($102 million) worth of stocks, after selling on Tuesday. The Seoul market was closed on Wednesday for a public holiday. “US shares’ strong gains on Wednesday have helped ease broader external worries about the euro zone’s debt issues and consequent economic slowdown, boosting appetite for risk once again,” said Park Suk-hyun, a market analyst at KTB Securities. US stocks rallied more than 2% after pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes topped expectations in April to hit a six-month high, and as investors rushed back to heavily sold sectors such as energy, looking for bargains. Economists are hoping for a strong US non-farm payrolls report on Friday, suggesting a broadening economic recovery will be able to weather Europe’s debt storm. On Thursday, the MSCI index of Asia Pacific ex-Japan stocks was up 2.4%, led by resources and materials stocks materials and financials The yen’s woes continued following a two-week low struck against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday after Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his deputy resigned to try to boost the ruling party’s faltering fortunes in an election next month. Finance Minister Naoto Kan, who is tipped to be the successor, surprised markets earlier this year by saying he wanted the yen to weaken more and that most businesses favoured a dollar/yen rate around 95 yen. In Asia trade, the dollar inched up 0.1% to ¥92.20 hovering near a 2-week high of 92.36 yen hit the previous day. The weaker outlook for the yen benefitted the floundering euro also, with the single currency rising 0.4% to 113.26 Despite Thursday’s rally in riskier assets, investors remained wary as Europe’s debt problems continued to fester. “That (the market bounce) is not to say concerns toward the euro zone have ebbed. The situation continues to be watched with caution following the recent rise in Spain’s short-term yields,” said Shoji Yoshigoe, a senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Wednesday the government would present long-awaited labour market reforms on June 16 whether or not it had reached a deal with unions and employers. Bank of Japan policy board member Miyako Suda highlighting the risks to the Japanese economy amid concerns that Europe’s problems and the ensuing market turmoil could hurt Japan. Debt-laden Greece outlined plans to raise more than 3 billion euros by selling stakes in some of its struggling state-run businesses but said it will hold back its more attractive assets. “We would be more convinced of the rally’s durability if it were accompanied by falling Western European Sovereign CDS,” said a client note from ING Bank. Overnight, The Markit SovX Western European index of credit default swaps widened 7.5 basis points to 154.5 bps. It is just off the record peak of around 170 bps struck last month. US oil futures prices rose as much as $1.03 to $73.89 a barrel after an industry group reported U.S. crude inventories fell more than expected last week. Safe haven US Treasuries were steady despite the sharp rise in demand for riskier assets, indicating there were investors who remained suspicious of the rally. Benchmark 10-year notes are yielding 3.34% after rising 7 bps overnight. They are still far below the high of 4.00% hit in early April. Gold prices fell on speculative selling but an increase in ETF holdings to another record suggested demand from investors remained firm. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 2 Jun 2010 | 10:06 pm Rupee rises as dollar drops; share gains helpMumbai: The Indian rupee rose on Thursday, boosted by a return in risk taking globally that also pushed up local stocks. The dollar’s losses against major currencies also helped. At 9:42am, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs46.62/63 per dollar, 0.8% stronger than its close of Rs46.98/99 on Wednesday. “The broad rally in global equities is helping the rupee as well. The euro’s moves will be closely watched for direction,” a senior dealer with a foreign bank said predicting a range of Rs46.45-46.75 for the day. Indian shares gained 1.4% early tailing other Asian peers that rose after solid US home sales data lifted sentiment and sparked a rally on Wall Street overnight. Foreign fund flows are a crucial determinant of the rupee’s fortunes. In May, foreigners withdrew a net $2 billion from the stock market, in their biggest single-month pullout since October 2008, pushing the rupee down 4.3%. However, they are still net buyers of $4.5 billion in 2010, adding to record inflows of $17.5 billion last year. The index of the dollar against six major currencies was 0.4 lower. The euro however remains sensitive to any signs the euro zone sovereign debt crisis might spread to the banking system and will be watched for further direction. Almost all Asian peers were stronger compared to the dollar. “For the fortnight, we expect the INR to trade in the range Rs46.50-47.50/USD with a bias towards USD strength, a ‘wait and watch´ call for market participants in the near term,” economists at Yes Bank wrote in a note. “For our medium-term outlook, we see risks to our end-March INR level of Rs43.0 if the euro zone crisis prolongs leading to flight of capital to dollar as safe haven. However, if euro zone woes ease in the next few months, we expect capital flows to resume on stronger domestic fundamentals and reverse the currency moves back in favour of INR appreciation,” they added. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at Rs46.81, weaker than the onshore spot rate. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were at Rs46.7750 and 46.7725 respectively, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $840 million. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 2 Jun 2010 | 9:59 pm United Phosphorus buys DuPont’s Mancozeb fungicide bizMumbai: United Phosphorus Ltd said on Thursday it has acquired DuPont’s non-mixture mancozeb fungicide business. Financial terms of the acquisition, which includes existing inventory, manufacturing and formulation production facilities in Colombia, were not disclosed. The acquisition provides the company an opportunity to strengthen its fungicide business across emerging markets like South and Central America, the company said in a statement. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 2 Jun 2010 | 9:47 pm Oil rises towards $74 on equities, US stock drawSingapore: Oil advanced for a second day on Thursday to near $74 as robust US economic indicators re-injected some confidence into financial markets and signaled oil inventories at the world’s top consumer may shrink. Surprisingly strong US housing data and double-digit auto sales growth lifted Wall Street on Wednesday. The optimism extended into Thursday, sending the Nikkei up more than 2.5% and the dollar down by a third of a percent against a basket of currencies. US crude stockpiles fell a larger-than-expected 1.4 million barrels last week, an industry group said on Wednesday. Oil traders awaited confirmation of the decline from government statistics due later on Thursday. Prices of US crude for July delivery rose as much as $1.03 to $73.89 a barrel and were up 70 cents at $73.56 by 8:49am. ICE Brent crude climbed 70 cents to $74.45. “We’ve seen oil prices taking their cues to a large degree from equity market movements,” said Toby Hassall, chief commodities analyst at CWA Global Markets Pty Ltd. “If this spike in risk aversion is reversing, you might expect the US dollar to give up some recent gains. That improvement in risk appetite might feed into oil prices, and the typical seasonal decline in stockpiles in the US would also be supportive.” US gasoline supplies fell a larger-than-expected 962,000 barrels last week, according to Wednesday’s American Petroleum Institute report, compared with forecasts for a 500,000 barrel drop. Distillates, including heating oil and diesel, rose 852,000 barrels, beating expectations for a 100,000-barrel gain. Government statistics on inventories from the Energy Information Administration will be published on Thursday at 8:30pm, a day later than usual because of this week’s Memorial Day holiday. Concern of a slowdown in the Chinese economy weighed on oil prices earlier this week, adding to soured sentiment because of Europe’s debt crisis. Oil prices have traded in a range between $71.64 and $75.33 this week, torn by evidence that the world’s biggest oil-consuming nations are posting steady demand growth and speculation that consumption will be hurt by a stagnant European economy. “There is still uncertainty throughout the global economy,” Hassall said. “I expect volatility to remain elevated in the near term. Europe has structural problems that have yet to be solved.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 2 Jun 2010 | 9:38 pm Aditya Birla Minacs to hire 1,500 peopleThe firm raised Rs 250 crore about 4 months ago to fund its expansion plans including acquisitions and organic spread.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 2 Jun 2010 | 4:27 pm India set to defend fuel subsidy at G20 meetIndia is expected to stand firm on its fuel subsidy regime at the meeting of G20 finance ministers at Busan in South Korea on Friday.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 2 Jun 2010 | 2:04 pm Hindujas eye $1bn via Petromin IPOThe Hinduja Group is planning to raise up to $1 billion through the maiden public offering of the Saudi Arabia-based lubricants maker Petromin.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 2 Jun 2010 | 2:02 pm Godrej buys Argentinian hair care coFMCG major Godrej Consumer Products on Wednesday said it has acquired another Argentinian hair care company Argencos, making it the company's second buyout in Latin America in less than two weeks.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 2 Jun 2010 | 2:00 pm 'ONGC reviewed safety steps after BP oil spill'In the backdrop of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, seemingly the world's worst oil spill, state-run explorations major ONGC said it has reviewed several times over the safety measures put in place in its operating oil fields.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 2 Jun 2010 | 1:58 pm Sasol-Tata to invest $10bn in coal to motor fuelSasol Ltd, the largest producer of motor fuel made from coal, plans to spend $10 billion in India in partnership with the Tata Group on a block awarded last year, following similar investments in Indonesia and China.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 2 Jun 2010 | 1:57 pm 'Looking to buy stake in Indian telco'Etisalat confirmed on Wednesday that it was looking to buy a stake in an Indian mobile operator. TOI reported on Tuesday that Etisalat was in talks with Reliance Communications for buying 25% stake.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 2 Jun 2010 | 1:55 pm World arms spending soars despite recessionStockholm: Worldwide military spending surged to a record $1.5 trillion last year, defying an economic downturn caused by the global financial crisis, a leading think tank said on Wednesday. Military spending last year rose 5.9% in real terms compared with 2008 with the US accounting for more than half of that increase, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in its annual report on arms spending. Also See Leading The Surge (Graphic) “The far-reaching effects of the global financial crisis and economic recession appear to have had little impact on world military expenditure,” the think tank said. “Although the USA led the rise, it was not alone. Of those countries for which data was available, 65% increased their military spending in real terms in 2009.” Global gross domestic product (GDP) suffered a rare contraction last year, shrinking 0.9% according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, as the financial crisis sent economies across the world into recession. SIPRI, which conducts independent research on international security, armaments and disarmament, said the rise in spending reflected the mild economic slowdown for some major purchasers, such as China, but also longer-term strategic aims. “Many countries were increasing public spending generally in 2009, as a way of boosting demand to combat the recession. Although military spending wasn’t usually a major part of the economic stimulus packages, it wasn’t cut either,” said Sam Perlo-Freeman, head of SIPRI’s Military Expenditure Project. “The figures also demonstrate that for major or intermediate powers such as the US, China, Russia, India and Brazil, military spending represents a long-term strategic choice which they are willing to make even in hard economic times.” Deficits could weigh US military spending, burdened by huge costs for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, rose 7.7% in real terms to hit $661 billion, more than six times as much as China, the second biggest spender ahead of France, Britain and Russia. But China’s rise as a global military power becomes clearer when viewed over the past decade. During that period its military spending has surged 217% compared with a 76% rise for the US and an increase of 49% globally. The economic crisis severely strained public finances in many countries, not least in southern Europe, and the daunting task of cutting gaping budget deficits might hold back arms spending in the coming years, the think tank said. “For many countries, the need to cut deficits will mean a reckoning in 2010 or 2011, in which military spending will likely be one area that comes under scrutiny for potential cuts,” SIPRI said in the report. “For others, however, this reckoning may be delayed, or may not come at all. In the US, the Obama administration’s budgets for financial years 2010 and 2011 show US military spending—boosted by the escalating conflict in Afghanistan—continuing its seemingly inexorable rise—crisis or no.” Graphic by Yogesh Kumar/Mint feedback@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 2 Jun 2010 | 1:45 pm Fast foes, firm favouritesAt the Pune Club the other night (where I had gone to give a talk on the Indian Premier League controversy and its aftermath), former cricketer Chandu Borde disrupted his spellbinding story on the late leg-spinner Subhash Gupte to watch Rafael Nadal play the final point in his three-set victory over Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci.  Passing the baton: Federer and Nadal (extreme left) took over where Sampras and Agassi (in black) left off. AFP I could think of hundreds of others, my daughter included, who would not have restrained themselves from biffing even an old man on the head for such sacrilege. I once heard her explaining to her friends Nadal’s several virtues on court, his “speed and guts”, not to mention the bandana which apparently makes millions of girls swoon. The Federer-Nadal rivalry has not just engaged people across the globe but also divides the world down the middle: If you prefer Fedex, beware of the Rafa fan and vice versa! Meeting their nemeses I can sense tennis aficionados referring urgently to their notes and record books. Would I place this rivalry ahead of Laver vs Emerson, Margaret Court vs Billie Jean King, McEnroe vs Borg, Agassi vs Sampras, Graf vs Monica Seles, to name a few legendary contests? To each his own, but I would. In my reckoning—for its sheer excellence and intensity—Federer vs Nadal has swept aside every other. Play the World Cup Quiz | The World Cup Quiz: Part 2 – Captains in the 2010 World Cup A rivalry is, of course, distinct from a comparison, though many people tend to mix the two up. Whether Maradona was a better footballer than Pele has been the subject of debate for almost three decades, whether Sachin Tendulkar has reached Don Bradman’s greatness has been the subject over the past year. Both these are impossible to assess because there was no direct rivalry, hence no sustainable measure (opponents, conditions, etc.) as there was, for instance, when Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee were playing international cricket. All four were outstanding all-rounders and by a remarkable quirk of fate happened to be contemporaries too. This provided fodder for endless qualitative and statistical scrutiny of who among them was the best. It was an exercise that had more legitimacy than a mere comparison and it would be fair to say that at different stages of their careers, each was No. 1. Collectively, this four-way rivalry was perhaps the most engaging facet of cricket in that era. Rivalries may not be as sanguine as the one between Federer and Nadal, where both players behave impeccably and show great mutual respect. Boxer Muhammad Ali, who fought three blockbuster heavyweight bouts with Joe Frazier in the 1970s, gave his opponent so much “lip” in the three months leading up their “Thrilla in Manila” in 1975 that Frazier is thought to bear the scars of that psychological humiliation till date. Sprinter Ben Johnson, who vied for almost a decade with Carl Lewis to be recognized as the world’s fastest man, was driven to take drugs to beat his arch-rival for an Olympic gold in 1988. He won the most valued medal at Seoul, but tested positive and became an outcast in international athletics. He lives in relative obscurity today. Fan fights There is always an emotional pitch to such a conflict which spills over to the fans, sucking them into the rivalry. The more the number of such encounters, the more heated the rivalry, the greater is its appeal. While generally this adds to the excitement of the contest, the consequences can sometimes be grave. Individual, club and country loyalty can sometimes lead to fans or players taking extreme positions. Monica Seles, it might be recalled, was stabbed in the back during a match by a diehard Steffi Graf fan because she threatened to dislodge the German from the No. 1 position. Seles’ career was snuffed out prematurely. In 1961 when Pakistan toured India, a fan slashed opener Hanif Mohammed’s hand in Mumbai because he was seen as the biggest impediment to India’s fortunes in the Test series. Indo-Pak cricket has always been followed with extreme passion by followers on either side of the border and has been one of the more engaging—and financially lucrative—rivalries in cricket. Bodyline, of course, remains cricket’s most famous controversy, and it came about because of Douglas Jardine’s bitter pursuit of the Ashes. To win the coveted urn—the symbol of cricketing supremacy against arch-rivals Australia—the England captain knew he had to quell Don Bradman’s prolific run-getting. Jardine used Harold Larwood’s extreme pace and devised a line of attack which aimed at the batsman’s rib cage. Larwood won the battle against Bradman, and Jardine the series, but not before igniting a diplomatic row. “He may win us the Ashes but cost us the empire,” was the trenchant observation by one of Jardine’s critics while the series was being played, and it took a Herculean effort from the government in England to prevent this grim prognostication from becoming reality. Legendary tales The Ashes today, of course, reflect cricket’s best legacy. Indeed, some sports rivalries acquire such massive historical or cultural value that they can shape community, society and country. Individuals fade away, but these rivalries can grow, engulfing in their wake successive generations: Manchester United vs Chelsea, Barcelona FC vs Real Madrid, England vs Argentina, to name a few in football, Boston Celtics vs LA Lakers (who vie again for the US NBA title this year) in basketball, etc. Competitive sport thrives on great rivalries—between individuals or teams, representing themselves, clubs or countries. A solo performer in the sporting sphere, like, say, a mountaineer, is unlikely to evoke the same excitement/anguish in followers. There might be large-scale admiration or disappointment at the success or failure of a soloist, but it can never have the same flavour as a contest between two individuals (or teams) because of the absence of “open” conflict and the opportunity to take sides. By the way, if you still haven’t taken a position on whether you support Federer or Nadal, you might still not be miscast as a sports lover. As I write this, Robin Soderling has caused the year’s biggest upset in tennis by beating Federer in the quarter-final of the French Open. Last year, it might be recalled, he had ousted Nadal in the fourth round of the same tournament. Is an old tennis rivalry giving way to a new one, I wonder. Ayaz Memon is a senior columnist who writes on sports and other matters. Write to Ayaz at beyondboundaries@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 2 Jun 2010 | 1:45 pm Renuka Sugars seals revised Equipav deal, for lower priceIn a thriller-like climax, Shree Renuka Sugars has managed to salvage its billion-dollar acquisition of closely held Equipav SA Acucar e Alcool, the sugar and alcohol assets of Brazils Equipav Group.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 2 Jun 2010 | 1:16 pm GTL eyes RCom in tower tangoA mere five months after buying Aircels portfolio of 17,500 telecom towers, GTL appears to be hungry for more. The worlds largest independent tower company is believed to be in talks with Reliance Infratel, the telecom tower arm of Reliance Communications (RCom), for a strategic partnership.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 2 Jun 2010 | 1:14 pm Mamata gets vote, Nano a new homeThe Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) today swept municipal elections in the state, winning 36 municipalities out of 81 where elections were held. The states ruling Left Front could secure only 18, while the Congress managed a win in only six civic bodies.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 2 Jun 2010 | 1:13 pm FinMin to make shareholding rules less cosyNo pre-IPO placement to count for minimum public float; relaxations for PSUs to end.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 2 Jun 2010 | 1:11 pm Space and style give it the edgeMahindra’s Xylo bridges the price and style divide between its flagship Scorpio and the raw Bolero. Mumbai-based CA Ujjwal Jain (30) found it fit the bill for a steady, spacious and stylish family vehicle.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 2 Jun 2010 | 12:03 pm Bold, sporty and masculineGrande Punto and stable-mate Linea helped Fiat script a turnaround in Europe. Now, they seem to be repeating the story for the Italian carmaker in India as well.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 2 Jun 2010 | 11:54 am A subtle, tranquil ride to gloryWhen the Civic was launched in 2006, it aroused expectations as a Honda car had not failed in the country till then.With its aircraft-like design, the car not only met those expectations but exceeded them. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 2 Jun 2010 | 11:51 am Epitome of elegance, classSince its launch in 2003, the Honda Accord has perhaps chauffeured more CEOs and businessmen in the country than any other set of four wheels.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 2 Jun 2010 | 11:49 am Linea makes heads turnIf ever the advertising campaign of a product foretold the consumer response to it, the Fiat Linea is a good example. With a tagline of ‘admiration guaranteed’, the car’s looks made a big splash, and the first few cars on road drew stares from all quarters.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 2 Jun 2010 | 11:45 am Malaysia’s Khazanah heads overseas with bid for ParkwayKuala Lumpur/Singapore: Malaysian state fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s $835 million (Rs3,941 crore) bid for Parkway Holdings Ltd may signal the start of more focused, major acquisitions abroad to help Malaysian companies venture beyond the home market.  Healthcare rush: Parkway Holding’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. India’s Fortis is in the running for the hospital operator. Jonathan Drake/Bloomberg The move, which caught potential suitor India’s Fortis Healthcare Ltd and the market by surprise, has drawn attention to the strategy of Khazanah, whose $28 billion assets are mostly concentrated in South-East Asian financial, healthcare and telecom companies. “It’s consistent with their (Khazanah’s) strategic thrust to be in healthcare,” said Michael Lai, associate director of investment at Fortress Capital Asset Management. He said Khazanah’s move gave it first mover advantage over Fortis. “Healthcare assets are quite lucrative in this part of the world. I think it is a bit of a strategy whereby if someone wants to buy over my assets and I don’t want to sell, I might as well offer first,” said Lai, who helps to manage around 200 million ringgit (around Rs285 crore) at Fortress. The Malaysian fund’s mandate is to make strategic investments on behalf of SouthEast Asia’s third biggest economy, and also oversee a programme to transform state-owned firms beset by inefficiencies into global players. Khazanah has been less aggressive than Singapore state funds Government of Singapore Investment Corporation Pte Ltd (GIC) and Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd, which hold assets totalling over $400 billion and have invested in Western banks and real estate. The Parkway bid has put some investment banks, hungry for more deals from the Malaysian government, in a bind and could make them less keen to pitch for a mandate from Fortis. “Anyone who has a franchise here would find it very hard to challenge the Malaysian government,” said a Singapore-based banker, who asked not to be named. Khazanah’s move comes as the Malaysian government, in a bid to revive the country’s stock market, pledged to attract foreign portfolio funds back by increasing the market’s free-float. The fund was told to progressively divest its non-core assets and last year, made a total of eight divestments worth 3.1 billion ringgit. It has said that the asset sale programme will continue this year. Khazanah is not bulging with cash unlike the deep pocketed GIC with its $300 billion in assets or multi-billion-dollar Chinese and West Asian funds. It does not receive a constant supply of surplus cash from the Malaysian government. Instead, it relies on dividend income and gains from stake sales, mirroring Singapore’s Temasek. But with the Malaysian government looking to cut Khazanah’s stakes in state-owned firms as part of broad economic reforms, the fund may have a bigger war chest to do more deals. The fund does not disclose details of its cash holdings. Deutsche Bank AG estimates Khazanah’s exposure in the market as of late last year represented 8% of MSCI Malaysia component stocks. “They still have a big balance sheet. If they think something is strategic like healthcare, they will look at it,” said a banker, who has covered the fund. “Their main focus is Malaysia and south-east Asia, but they do look at stuff in China, India and West Asia.” Khazanah’s investments have been restricted to Asia. “Khazanah is moving more of their investments outside of Malaysia. But their strategic role is still very much in place—to develop Malaysia Inc.,” said Lim Jit Soon, head of equities research, south-east Asia, at Nomura Securities. REUTERS feedback@livemint.com Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 2 Jun 2010 | 10:14 am Google extends freebies for Rajasthan to boost online salesJaipur: In an effort to popularise online retail shopping in India, Google India has decided to extend free support and advertisement offer for entrepreneurs in Rajasthan on its portal, Google Search. “We will offer free expert support to help entrepreneurs build an online advertising campaign to grow their business through ‘Jump Start´,” Google India head of online Ssles Sridhar Seshadri said. Rajasthan, a popular tourist destination, is a hub of textile and jewellery exporters and hosts 4 lakh small-scale industries. Google’s offer will allow the Small and Medium Scale Industries to directly work with Google specialists, who will help them to set up their ‘Google AdWords accounts’ and build a customised ad-campaign to suit their business. “By extending free support and advertisement offer on Google search in the state, we want to encourage these business to grow and gain from the benefits of internet advertising. Google search allows them to target customers across the world and ensures that they only pay when their advertisement is clicked on,” Seshadri said. All business with an online presence (website) will be allowed to register their business with Google India AdWords platform and Rs2,500 worth of free advertising coupons by dialling a toll-free number. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 2 Jun 2010 | 4:29 am Google sets ‘late fall’ release for ChromeTaipei: Google expects to release its Chrome computer operating system in the “late fall”, a top executive said on Wednesday, as it aims a competitive strike at rival Microsoft’s Windows. The Chrome system will designed initially to work on laptop PCs, Sundar Pichai, Google’s head of the Chrome project told reporters at the Computex PC show. “We will be selective on how we come to market because we want to deliver a great user experience,” he said. “We’re thinking on both the hardware and software levels.” Google is seeking to challenge the dominance of Microsoft’s Windows operating system, which currently runs on more than 90 percent of all personal computers currently. Microsoft on Thursday waved off Google’s efforts to develop an open source operating system, saying that software developers would have to create different versions of the same application for different brands. Pichai disputed that contention, saying the similarity in the base core would mean software companies would not have to develop a new version for Chrome. “Chrome OS is one of the few future operating systems for which there are already millions of applications that work,” Pichai said. “You don’t need to redesign Gmail for it to work on Chrome. Facebook does not need to write a new app for Chrome.” Open source software allows tech companies such as Acer to develop their own versions of the software using the skeleton provided by Google to fit their own needs, and its presentation may differ between brands. The Chrome operating system will be centred around the web browser, with all software including high-end applications such as those used in photo and video editing housed in external servers known as a cloud. “We expect a generation of applications, including games, to work inside the browser,” Pichai said. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 2 Jun 2010 | 2:56 am
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