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Government rules out rolling back fuel price hike - Hindustan Times
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jul 2010 | 4:08 am Indian demand for steel remains strong: JSW Steel - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jul 2010 | 4:00 am JFE eyes 14.99% in JSW for $ 1.04 billionJFE Holdings Inc, the world\'s fifthbiggest steelmaker, said it would announce details later on Tuesday of its alliance with JSW Steel Ltd, its first major capital tieup with a foreign steelmaker.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Jul 2010 | 3:58 am RBI hikes rates, loan EMIs unlikely to rise soon - NDTV.com
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jul 2010 | 3:38 am L&T Q1 net meets f'cast, sees sales up 20 pct in FY11MUMBAI (Reuters) - Larsen & Toubro Ltd met street expectations in its first-quarter net profit, and forecast 20 percent sales growth in this fiscal year to March 2011 on the back of a pick-up in orders.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jul 2010 | 3:30 am No plans to hike FDI cap in India defence sector - minNEW DELHI (Reuters) – The government has no plans to raise the foreign direct investment ceiling in the defence equipment sector, Defence Minister A.K. Antony told parliament in a written reply on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jul 2010 | 3:25 am More cash tightening not desirable - SBI chiefMUMBAI (Reuters) - State Bank of India Chairman O.P. Bhatt said on Tuesday that further tightening of liquidity was not desirable.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jul 2010 | 3:23 am L&T sees 20 percent sales growth in FY11 - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jul 2010 | 3:19 am Sensex moves higher; auto, realty, banks up - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jul 2010 | 3:19 am RBI tightens monetary policy more than expectedMumbai: Concerned about ‘high inflation’, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday hiked its key policy rates by 0.25% and 0.50% respectively even as it said that inflation, by the end of the fiscal, will be more than what it expected earlier. RBI hiked the repo rate, or the rate at which it injects liquidity in the system, by 0.25% to 5.75% and reverse repo rate, or the rate at which it drains liquidity from the system, by 0.50% to 4.50% with immediate effect. All other rates remained unchanged. The deposit, credit and money supply growth projections also remained unchanged. Edit | A clear task for RBI The bond market was a bit surprised by this move. The yield on the 10-year paper rose to 7.70% from 7.67% just before the policy announcement at 11.30 am. According to bond dealers, the market was expecting a 0.25% rise in both policy rates. “The tone is more hawkish, with this policy statement, the downside pace of yields will slow down,” said S. Raghavan, head of treasury at IDBI Gilts Ltd. Raghavan expects 10-year bond yield to remain within the range of 7.62-7.72% this week. The stance of the policy, according to RBI, is intended to contain inflation and anchor inflationary expectations, maintain an interest rate regime consistent with price, output and financial stability and actively manage liquidity to ensure that it remains broadly in balance so that excess liquidity does not dilute the effectiveness of policy rate actions, according to the policy remark by RBI governor D. Subbarao. Subbarao justified the narrowing of the policy rate corridor by saying while there is no unique way to determine the appropriate width of the policy interest rate corridor, but it should be broad enough not to unduly incentivise market participants to place their surplus funds with the central bank or it should not be so broad that it gives scope for greater interest rate volatility to distort the policy signal. “The challenge, therefore, is to strike the right balance.” Indian banks that used to park more than Rs1 trilion of the surplus fund with the central bank in January, now borrows a daily average of more than Rs40,000 crore from RBI due to a liquidity crunch caused by advanced tax outflow and payments towards telecommunication licenses. “The success of the policy depends on how banks responds to sector specific rate adjustments,” said Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at public sector lender Bank of Baroda. “I expect lending rates to go up but banks should make sure they adjust the spread in such a way that cost of borrowing rises in sectors that are showing some signs of overheating at the same time, genuine credit needy sectors like SMEs, labour-intensive, export-oriented sector continue to get cheap credit,” said Nitsure. Bankers were not available for comments by the time of filing this story. In the first quarter policy statement, the RBI governor said the economy is expected to grow at 8.5% in 2010-11 against the previous expectation of 8% and said he expected headline inflation to rise to 6% from 5.5% for the same period. “The dominant concern that has shaped the monetary policy stance in this review is high inflation,” Subbarao said in his first quarter policy statement. “… with growth taking firm hold, the balance of policy stance has to shift decisively to containing inflation and anchoring inflationary expectations,” he said. “Inflationary pressures have exacerbated and become generalized, with demand-side pressures clearly evident. “Inflationary expectations also remain at an elevated level. Given the spread and persistence of inflation, demand-side inflationary pressures need to be contained.” In sync with other global central banks, from now onwards, RBI will be conducting mid-quarter policy reviews, that is review every one-and-a half month after each quarterly review. “As per schedule, mid-quarter reviews will be in June, September, December and March. They will be by way of a press release, which will provide a rationale for either action or maintenance of the status quo,” Subbarao said. In the policy statement, the governor said that the recovery has consolidated and is becoming increasingly broad-based and there are some concerns about capacity constraints being reached over a wide range of sectors. Monsoon so far, too, has been “significantly better than during last year.” The double-digit growth in the index of industrial production, or IIP, continued during the current financial year with April and May recording a year-on-year growth of 14% with as many as fifteen out of the seventeen industry groups showing positive growth. However, the current inflation scenario remains “worrisome”. While the wholesale price based index has been in double digits since February 2010, inflation, as measured by year-on-year variation in WPI, rose to 10.6% in June from 10.2% a month ago and a revised estimate for March and April pegs the inflation at 11% and 11.2% respectively. RBI said deregulation in prices of petroleum is welcome for the long run but will have an inflationary impact in the short term. If the global crude oil prices remain stable, the immediate impact on inflation will be about 1% “with second round effects coming through in the months ahead.” RBI pointed out that a potential slowdown in capital inflows is a significant risk as India’s rapid recovery has resulted in a widening of the current account deficit, as imports have grown faster than exports, in this scenario, if there is a slowdown in capital flow, “apart from narrowing the comfortable buffer between the current account deficit and net capital inflows, this may constrain domestic investment, which is critical to achieving and sustaining high growth rates.” anup.r@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 27 Jul 2010 | 3:16 am FUND VIEW - RBI raises key interest ratesMUMBAI (Reuters) – The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised interest rates more forcefully than expected on Tuesday in the face of inflation that has held stubbornly above 10 percent for the past five months.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jul 2010 | 3:15 am Telecom software groups merge in app store battleHELSINKI (Reuters) - Two telecom operator-backed mobile software groups unveiled a merger plan on Tuesday to counter increasing competition from new rivals Google and Apple for applications.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jul 2010 | 3:07 am Glenmark Q1 jumps nearly three-fold to Rs 155 cr on good sales - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jul 2010 | 3:05 am Industry fears RBI's move will impede industrial growthContrary to the government's expectations, industry today said the RBI's move to up short-term rates may hinder industrial growth as interest rates are likely to be jacked up.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 27 Jul 2010 | 3:01 am MakeMyTrip files for USD 100 mn IPOOnline travel company MakeMyTrip filed with US regulators on Monday to raise up to USD 100 million in an initial public offering of common stock.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 27 Jul 2010 | 3:01 am RIL rises nearly 1 pc on hopes of good Q1 numbersThe country's largest company, Reliance Industries, rose nearly 1 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange in early trade on expectations of strong first quarter numbers to be announced later in the day.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 27 Jul 2010 | 2:21 am BP sets aside $32bn dollars for spill clean-up - BBC News
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jul 2010 | 2:20 am RBI raises rates to stamp on inflationMUMBAI (Reuters) – The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised interest rates more forcefully than expected on Tuesday, signalling its urgency to stamp on inflation that is on track to hit double-digits for the sixth month running in July.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jul 2010 | 2:18 am HUL Q1 net dips 1.8 pc to Rs 533.21 cr - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jul 2010 | 1:57 am Yahoo Japan to switch to Google's search engineTOKYO (Reuters) - Yahoo Japan, Japan's largest Internet portal operator, said on Tuesday it will adopt Google's search engine instead of teaming up with Microsoft like partner Yahoo Inc.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jul 2010 | 1:50 am BP replaces CEO; posts $17 bln Q2 loss on spillLONDON (Reuters) - BP Plc named American Bob Dudley as its next CEO on Tuesday, saying Tony Hayward would stand down after his gaffe-prone handling of the worst oil spill in U.S. history that triggered a $17 billion quarterly loss.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jul 2010 | 1:42 am MakeMyTrip plans $100 mn IPO in US; to get listed on NASDAQNew Delhi: MakeMyTrip Ltd, the parent firm of India’s largest online travel company, MakeMyTrip India Pvt Ltd, plans to raise up to $100 million (about Rs465 crore) through an initial public offering in the US. The company has filed a registration statement with US market regulator Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its ordinary shares, MakeMyTrip Ltd said in a statement. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined. The ordinary shares are expected to be traded on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol ‘MMYT’, it added. Morgan Stanley is the sole book running manager to the offering and Oppenheimer & Co Inc and Pacific Crest Securities LLC will act as co-managers. MakeMyTrip Ltd is the parent company of MakeMyTrip India Pvt Ltd and MakeMyTrip.com Inc. The company’s services and products include booking air tickets, customised holiday packages, hotels, rail and bus tickets, car hire and facilitating access to travel insurance. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Jul 2010 | 1:36 am JFE invests $1 bln for JSW Steel stakeTOKYO/MUMBAI (Reuters) - JFE Holdings Inc, the world's No.5 steelmaker, will spend about $1 billion for a 14.9 percent stake in JSW Steel Ltd, just shy of a mandatory takeover trigger level, in its bid to gain a foothold in the fast-growing Indian market.Source: Reuters: Money News | 27 Jul 2010 | 1:30 am Soros-Backed SKS Micro Wins Maximum Bids From Large Investors Before IPO - Bloomberg
Source: Business - Google News | 27 Jul 2010 | 1:04 am BP’s Hayward quits as spill cost put at $32 bnLondon: BP Plc chief executive Tony Hayward will step down as head of the oil giant on 1 October and be replaced by fellow executive Robert Dudley. News of Hayward’s departure came as the company announced on Tuesday it would take a charge as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill amounting to $32.2 billion, driving BP to a second quarter loss of $16.97 billion. “The tragedy of the Macondo well explosion and subsequent environmental damage has been a watershed,” chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said, announcing Hayward’s departure. “BP remains a strong business ... but it will be a different company going forward.” BP said Dudley, currently head of BP’s US operations, would be based in London and hand over his present duties to Lamar McKay. Hayward will receive a year’s salary amounting to 1.045 million pounds ($1.6 million). Excluding oil spill and other non-operating costs, BP’s replacement cost profit was $4.98 billion, in line with the average forecast from a Reuters poll of 11 analysts. Replacement cost profit strips out gains or losses related to changes in the value of fuel inventories and as such is comparable with net income under US accounting rules. In a third statement BP said it planned to sell assets worth up to $30 billion over the next 18 months and cut its net debt level down to between $10 billion and $15 billion over the next 18 months. The company said it would consider its position on future dividend payments at the time of its fourth-quarter results. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:55 am Latin America should embrace India trade: IADBLatin America sends only 0.9 per cent of its exports to India, a commodity-hungry country that should be a major growth engine for the region, the Inter-American Development Bank said in a report today.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:45 am RBI hikes key interest rates to tame inflationReserve Bank of India today stepped up the attack in its battle against rising prices, raising some key rates in a bid to suck excess money out of the system that fans inflationary expectations. The central bank hiked the repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 5.75 per cent and the reverse repurchase rates by 50 basis points to 4.50 per centSource: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:43 am Markets wait for RBI decision, Sensex listlessAhead of a likely interest rate hike by the Reserve Bank of India, Indian equities markets today were placid as traders waited for the quantum of increase to be revealed.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:18 am SAP posts 15% rise in quarterly profitFrankfurt: German professional software giant SAP posted on Tuesday a 15% jump in second quarter net profit to 491 million euros ($638 million). Sales of software and related services gained 16% to 2.26 billion euros, a statement added. “We are pleased to report another quarter of growth in software and software-related service revenue,” it quoted finance director Werner Brandt as saying. “The top line results were driven by continued growth in software revenue, strong support revenue, mainly from the majority of our customers who endorsed Enterprise Support, and double-digit growth in subscription revenue.” SAP said it has also completed a cash tender for outstanding shares in its Sybase unit, which focuses on database, information management and mobile activities. For the first six months of 2010, SAP posted a net profit of 878 million euros, up from 622 million in the first half of 2009. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:14 am Canon Q2 profit more than doubles, keeps outlookTokyo: Japanese camera and office equipment maker Canon Inc posted a 153% rise in quarterly profit, a bigger than expected climb on robust sales of its high-end cameras. For the year to 31 December, the maker of IXY compact cameras and upmarket EOS cameras kept its operating profit outlook at 360 billion yen ($4.1 billion), compared with a consensus for 384 billion yen in a poll of seven analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. April-June operating profit was 113.4 billion yen, compared with a consensus forecast of 90.6 billion yen in a poll of four analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It marked the third straight quarter of year-on-year profit growth for the world’s biggest maker of digital cameras, ahead of Sony Corp and Nikon. Shares in Canon, which also competes with Xerox Corp and Ricoh Co in office equipment, fell 19.2% from April to Monday, underperforming Tokyo’s electrical machinery index, which fell 16.8% in the same period. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:01 am Britain courts a special relationship with IndiaWhen Mr David Cameron recently embarked on his first tour of the US as Britain's Prime Minister, one of the clear breaks with his Labour predecessor was the language with which he referred to the famed “special relationship” betweenSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Parkway ‘fail' is dealmaker's winIf there is anything the “peculiar” Fortis-Parkway fall-out illustrates – it is that the Singh brothers of the erstwhile Ranbaxy promoter-family are “good dealSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Despite higher sales, Maruti stalls on royalty outgoA 27-per cent year on year growth in sales backed by a 25-per cent volume growth notwithstanding, the Maruti Suzuki stock fell by over 12 per cent on Monday to close at RsSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Tata Elxsi (Rs 265.3): SellWe recommend a sell in the stock of Tata Elxsi from a short-term perspective. It is evident from the charts of the stock that after encountering a significant long-term resistance in the zone between Rs 340 and Rs 350 in March 2010 itstarted toSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am RBI for tighter policy to curb inflationFurther rate hikes are on the cards. The Reserve Bank of India on Monday emphasised the need to continue with tight money policy to check risingSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am New consumer price index series by JanA new series of consumer price index (CPI) will be rolled out in January next year, the Chief Statistician of India, Mr T. C. A. Anant, has said. This will be in addition to the CPI series that are already beingSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am FICCI against raising FDI cap for defenceArguing that the current 26 per cent FDI cap in the defence sector had been “effective” in attracting top global OEMs to India, FICCI said on Monday that up to 49 per cent foreign investment limit should only be allowed for casesSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Fortis quits Parkway race as Khazanah ups offerFortis Healthcare on Monday abandoned its bid to acquire Parkway after Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah offered to buy the Singapore based healthcare firm for Singapore $3.5 billion. Khazanah has offered to buy the remaining shares of Parkway atSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Profit booking, rising NPAs drag bank stocksThe Bank Nifty index shed about 70 points or 0.7 per cent on Monday to close at 10,024. Only two – HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank – out of the dozen constituents of this index were up. The same trend was observed in BSE's Bankex where theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 27 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Market shares flat; RBI review in focusMumbai: Markets were trading barely changed on Tuesday as investors were cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s quarterly policy review announcement. By 10:47am, the 30-share BSE index was trading up 0.02% at 18,023.02 points, with two-thirds of its components advancing. The 50-share NSE index was barely changed at 5,415.70 points. “People are just nervous before the RBI policy,” said Arun Kejriwal, director of research firm KRIS. “Monsoon is improving which is good. But looking at the recent earnings, we are seeing input cost pressures. For banks, asset quality is getting to be a worry.” Total rainfall since 1 June, the start of the vital, four-month monsoon season was 16% below normal on 19 July, but the seasonal deficit narrowed to 7% on Monday, data from the India Meteorological Department showed. The benchmark index is up 3.2% year to date. Foreign funds have poured in $9 billion in Indian equities so far in 2010, a portion of which was invested in primary market. Financials were mixed ahead of the central bank policy announcement. Leading lender State Bank of India rose 0.1% while rival ICICI Bank dropped 1.3%. Mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp was trading 0.1% lower. Energy giant Reliance Industries led the gains ahead of its quarterly earnings announcement. Reliance Industries, which has the highest weight on the main index, was up 0.5%. According to a Reuters poll, Reliance may report a net profit of Rs4,830 crore. Top power producer NTPC declined 0.9% as it reported a 16% drop in its June quarter net profit, after market hours on Monday. Top engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro was down 2.6%, as it details its June-quarter earnings later in the day, while Hindustan Unilever, which also declares its quarterly numbers, firmed 0.9%. In the broader market, gainers led losers in a ratio of 1.1:1 in a volume of 82 million shares. STOCKS Software firm Tech Mahindra was down 3.4% at Rs712.50 after it reported a 9.1% rise in its June-quarter net profit which did not meet expectations, dealers said. JPMorgan downgraded the stock to neutral from “overweight”, while BNP Paribas cut its rating to hold from buy. Mahindra Holidays dropped 4.9% to Rs518.55, after the hospitality services provider said its June-quarter net profit declined 61%. Motorcycle maker Hero Honda bounced back 3.1% to Rs1,868.70, after it had dropped 7.5% in the previous session. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 11:52 pm Rupee up tracking shares, weak dollar overseasMumbai: The Indian rupee rose in early trade on Tuesday, tracking gains in local share market and a weak dollar overseas, and is expected to move in a narrow band around the RBI policy announcement. At 10:07am, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs46.87/88 per dollar up from Rs47.04/05 on Monday, when it had touched an intraday high of Rs46.80, its strongest since 16 July. Market focus is on the Indian central bank’s interest rate decision and its review statement on economic growth and inflation projection for the first quarter of the current fiscal year. Markets rose 0.2% in early trade on Tuesday, with Reliance Industries leading the rise, taking cues from strong Asian markets. Rate hikes could temporarily hurt the rupee if the stocks fall, but in the long run would help the currency gain due to the interest rate differential, dealers said. The euro held near a two-month peak against the dollar on Tuesday on relief over stress tests on European banks, but it was capped at $1.30. The index of the dollar against six major currencies was down 0.1% and would be watched for cues, dealers said. Foreign capital in local shares is a key driver of the rupee. So far in 2010, foreigners have bought a net $9 billion worth of shares, in addition to last year’s record $17.5 billion inflows. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at Rs47.02, 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 both at Rs46.89, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $805 million. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 11:43 pm Foxconn suspends operation at Kancheepuram facility in IndiaFoxconn International suspended operations at a mobile phone parts manufacturing facility in Kancheepuram after workers became sick, but it said the incident would not effect its business.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 11:32 pm 3G roll-outAfter several hiccups, the stage is finally set for the launch of 3G or third-generation mobile telephony services by the end of the year in India. The services will allow a mobile phone user to access live video streaming and to download massive files to start with. Also See Date of 3G licence issued (PDF) The scope of 3G services is of particular interest since India is the second largest and the fastest growing telecommunications market in the world. At present 14 operators are scrambling for 15-20 million mobile phone subscribers that are added every month. The technology is expected to not only rationalize the tariffs and stabilize margins for the operators but could also lead to consolidation of the sector. Keeping this in mind, Mint looks at the 3G experience in other markets. Compiled by Shauvik Ghosh Graphics by Ahmed Raza Khan/Mint Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 11:27 pm Yahoo! Japan may adopt Google search engine: reportJapan's top Internet portal Yahoo! Japan may create a search alliance with Google, in a deal that would dominate the Japanese market and be a possible blow to Microsoft, a report said.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 11:24 pm Sensex opens 57 pts higher on RBI credit policy dayThe 30-share BSE barometer rose by 57.09 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 18,077.14 points. The index had lost 110.93 points yesterday.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 11:19 pm UBS beats forecasts in Q2, curbs outflowsZurich: Strong equities and currency revenues drove UBS’s second-quarter net profit well above forecasts despite choppy market conditions and client money withdrawals fell to their lowest level since early 2008. UBS improved investment banking performance, although partially helped by a gain on own credit, stood out against weak results at several US rivals in the face of sovereign debt concerns, suggesting chief executive Oswald Gruebel’s tough restructuring strategy is working. But Gruebel said in a letter to shareholders concerns about the sustainability of the global economic recovery “could lead to more subdued client activity levels across our businesses”. Analysts polled by Reuters expected Switzerland’s largest bank by market value to post second-quarter net profit of 1.34 billion Swiss francs ($1.28 billion). Clients drained a total of about 5 billion francs, the lowest quarterly withdrawal UBS has experienced since it started to bleed assets at the start of 2008, but not sufficient for Gruebel to say he has turned the tide. On Thursday, Credit Suisse posted second-quarter profit of 1.6 billion francs, helped by tax and accounting gains. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 11:19 pm Japan’s JFE to invest $1 bn in JSW SteelTokyo: JFE Holdings Inc, the world’s fifth-biggest steelmaker, said it would spend about $1 billion for a 14.99% stake in India’s JSW Steel Ltd to gain a foothold in the fast growing Indian market. The partnership, JFE’s first major capital alliance with a foreign steelmaker, will allow it to tap the rapidly growing market for auto-use steel in India. For JSW the deal will provide capital needed to expand production. JFE Steel, the core unit of JFE Holdings, said in a statement that it would spend about Rs4,800 crore ($1.02 billion) on a preferential allotment of shares, with the aim of acquiring a 14.99 percent stake in terms of voting rights. JFE and JSW had agreed in November to consider taking stakes in each other as part of an alliance that would include making auto-grade steel in India and a move towards joint sourcing of raw materials. The deal should make it cheaper and easier for JFE to supply locally-based carmakers, such as Suzuki Motor Corp, which has been one of the few bright spots for the global auto market. Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co also plan to source goods such as sheet metal for their Indian plants from Indian suppliers, rather than importing them from Japan. JFE has so far been relying on exports and lagging its bigger rival Nippon Steel Corp in setting up manufacturing bases in emerging economies. “JSW Steel has established a solid business base in India through strategies to expand capacity and raise the company’s rate of captive iron ore mines for improved growth and profitability,” JFE Steel said in the statement. “Based on JFE Steel’s equity participation, the two companies plan to cooperate in a variety of areas, including JSW Steel’s envisioned West Bengal steel plant project,” it added, referring to the mill in the state of West Bengal that had been put on hold due to funding problems. JFE said it had no plans to further raise its stake in JSW. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 11:06 pm Asian stocks up on US data, euro near 2-month peakHong Kong: Asian stocks rose to their highest in two and a half months on Tuesday, boosted by solid US housing data, while the euro inched up towards two-month peaks on relief over stress tests on European banks. High-yielding currencies like the Australian and New Zealand dollars held near recent highs and the dollar stabilised after retreating against the yen on Monday. “The environment is gradually improving, after US new home sales data and European banks’ stress tests, but investors are still not entirely convinced that the recovery is solid,” said Soichiro Monji, chief strategist at Daiwa SB Investments. “The yen has yet to weaken properly either.” The dollar was trading just below 87 yen after falling 0.7 percent in the previous session. The euro crawled up above key resistance of 1.30 with sentiment buoyed after the stress tests. Analysts are now eyeing a 2-month high of $1.3029 hit last week as the next test. The MSCI index of Asia Pacific ex-Japan stocks was up 0.4%, led by gains in the technology and consumer durables sectors. The index is down just 2% in the year to date, and could return to the black this week, although earnings from Asian corporate heavyweights hold the key to further gains. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei edged up above 9,520, a key technical resistance, but slipped back amid worries about a firm yen hitting exporters.. Overnight, Wall Street finished higher after new home sales in June logged a surprising jump and package delivery and business services company FedEx Corp’s, an economic bellwether, upgraded its quarterly and full-year earnings forecasts. Asian corporate reporting season enters its busy phase this week amid expectations of robust results for the April-June reporting period, though the picture in the months ahead looks murkier. Among those reporting during the day are Indian energy major Reliance Industries and Japan’s Canon Inc and Daiwa Securities. Bucking the trend, Shanghai’s composite, already the worst performer in Asia this year, fell 0.4% after a report the city’s banks are facing rising default risks on loans to real estate developers. The mood was already jittery after a report the previous day that almost a quarter of China’s local government debt is at risk of defaulting. Shanghai’s index is down more than 21% in the year to date despite a six-session rising streak which has taken it to month highs. The Aussie was trading at $0.9020 close to an 11-week peak and the kiwi hovered at $0.7344, not far from a six-month high. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 10:51 pm Wall Street Wrap for 26 July 2010Here’s what moved markets on Monday– in real estate, new home sales rose to an annual rate of 330,000 units in June, from 267,000 in May. May figures were the lowest number on record, dating to 1963. Although an improved reading, the June figures are still seen as low, reflecting the sluggish pace of the economic recovery. Still, the report was better than expected and investors reacted favorably, with the Dow up almost one percent, the S&P 500 rising 1.12% and the Nasdaq up 1.2%. The day’s stock movers included AIG, which rose on the news. FedEx Corporation surged after it revised its earnings-per-share guidance. The package shipping company is often seen as a barometer of the country’s economic health because of the nature of its business. In world markets, the UK’s FTSE 100, Germany’s Dax, and France’s CAC 40 ended trading on a high note. Asian markets also ended the day higher. In commodities, US light crude oil for September delivery was lower 6 cents to $78.92 a barrel, while gold for August delivery declined $2.70 to $1,185.10 an ounce. In bonds, treasury prices fell, increasing the yield on the 10-year note to 3.00% from 2.99% on Friday. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 10:11 pm Oil steady steady near $79; US inventories seen mixedSingapore: Oil was steady near $79 per barrel on Tuesday as forecasts indicated a trend of falling crude inventories and rising refined product stockpiles in the United States would continue. US crude inventories probably fell 1.8 million barrels last week, a Reuters survey showed, while supplies of distillate fuel including diesel may have climbed for the ninth consecutive week and gasoline for the fifth, even as demand peaks with summer. Over the past seven weeks, investors have trimmed long positions as oil approached $80 a barrel, while they have increased bets for higher prices as it fell towards $70, said Tetsu Emori, a fund manager at Tokyo-based Astmax Co Ltd. “Under current market conditions, people are thinking that oil would be overvalued at $80,” Emori said. “Evidence of much stronger demand would be quite a positive indicator for the crude market. Once oil hits $80, it can go up to $85 very quickly on short-covering.” US crude touched $79.60 on Friday, the highest price since early May, and has hovered around $79 for the past two days. On Tuesday, the September contract shed 2 cents to $78.96 a barrel at 0307 GMT, while ICE Brent added 6 cents to $77.56. On Monday, oil ended unchanged as stronger US home sales led to economic optimism, while some oil output was restored in the Gulf of Mexico after Tropical Storm Bonnie fizzled out. As much as 826,000 barrels a day of US production was shut in by Saturday, according to government estimates. By Monday, companies had restored about half of the idled output and operations were returning to normal. Government data showed US sales of new homes rebounded strongly in June from May’s record low, driving the number of houses on the market to the lowest level in more than four decades. The positive economic data helped lift oil and equities. The Nikkei benchmark inched higher on Tuesday with support from robust earnings at home and the pickup in US new home sales, after gains on the Wall Street that were also aided by an upbeat outlook from FedEx Corp. Industry group the American Petroleum Institute will publish data on U.S. inventories at 2030 GMT on Tuesday, followed by government statistics from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday at 8:00pm. For distillates the average forecast was for an increase of 1.6 million barrels in the week to 23 July, while gasoline stocks probably gained 600,000 barrels, the Reuters poll showed. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 10:04 pm Wall St climbs on FedEx view, home sales dataNew York: An upbeat outlook from FedEx, coupled with encouraging home sales, lifted US stocks on Monday, keeping the S&P 500 above 1,100 for a second day and suggesting the rally could last. FedEx Corp raised its outlook, boosting its stock by 5.6%. The news from the package delivery and business services company validates the optimism of those who believe the economic recovery is less fragile than recently thought. “FedEx was very real, on top of UPS (last week), so if the economy is slowing, people are still shipping a lot of stuff around for a slowing economy,” said Stephen Massocca, managing director of Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco. The S&P 500 closed above the 1,100 level for the second straight session, which some investors feel is of key importance because it represented the top of a trading range the benchmark index had failed to break several times in the past month. In another milestone, the S&P 500 also rose above its 200-day moving average of 1,113.71. “There is a certain psychological victory there,” Massocca added. FedEx closed at $83.39, helping the Dow Jones Transportation Average gain 2.6%. A surprising 23.6% jump in new home sales in June from May countered some disappointing data in recent weeks that had increased concerns the economy may slip back into recession. The Dow Jones US Home Construction Index gained 2.9%. PulteGroup Inc, up 4.7% at $9.07, led the home builders’ index higher. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 100.81 points, or 0.97%, to 10,525.43. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 12.35 points, or 1.12%, to 1,115.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 26.96 points, or 1.19%, to 2,296.43. Monday’s gains pushed the Dow up 0.9% for the year to date and lifted the Nasdaq 1.2% for the year so far, while the S&P 500 closed just shy of break-even, as the indexes have clawed back from declines from late April’s closing highs. The S&P 500 rose 7.8% during the three weeks ended Friday, the largest gain in such a period since the first week of August 2009. Genzyme Corp jumped on takeover speculation, as the Wall Street Journal said Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline Plc had recently made “a very casual approach,” to the U.S. biotech company, while Bloomberg reported Genzyme had rebuffed an offer from Sanofi-Aventis. Genzyme surged 7.8% to $67.38. BP Plc is expected to install an American known for diplomacy as chief executive, replacing Tony Hayward who has come under fire for his gaffe-prone handling of the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Bob Dudley, the US executive managing the response operation to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, is poised to get the top job in the next 24 hours, a move that could soften US criticism of the major British oil company, sources close to BP say. US-listed shares of BP gained 4.9% to $38.65. Volume was light with about 7.49 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, short of last year’s estimated daily average of 9.65 billion. Advancing stocks handily outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of 4 to 1, while on the Nasdaq, more than three stocks rose for every one that fell. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 9:54 pm RBI hints at hike in policy rates to contain inflationHinting at a hike in its key rates, the Reserve Bank on Monday said it would continue exiting from its easy money regime to check double-digit inflation, while ensuring stable economic growth.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 9:36 pm DMK, Left unions vie for Foxconn stake - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 26 Jul 2010 | 8:34 pm Fortis not a loser in Parkway deal: Apollo HospitalsFortis has opted out of the race for Parkway, paving the way for Khazanah to buy the firm in its general offer at S$3.95 per share. But, according to the Chairman of the Apollo Hospitals Group Prathap Reddy Fortis is not a loser in the deal.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 4:00 pm Ford \'cautiously optimistic\' on growth: MulallyFord Motor Co chief executive Alan Mulally said on Monday the company was \"cautiously optimistic\" that it would continue to grow as the US economy recovers.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:30 pm Anshu Jain overhauls Deutsche Bank investment bankAnshu Jain unveiled a new 15member management team for Deutsche Bank\'s investment bank, a day before the lender is due to publish its secondquarter earnings.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:24 pm Motherson Sumi board OKs merger of 2 units with selfMotherson Sumi Systems said on Monday its board approved a scheme to merge its fullyowned units Balda Motherson Solution India and Motherson Tradings Ltd with itself.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:16 pm Tying up funds for Parkway never an issue: Malvinder SinghIn a surprise turn of events, Fortis today backed out of the race for Parkway Holdings. In an interview with CNBCTV18, Malvinder Singh, Chairman, Fortis Healthcare explained the rationale behind the exit.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 3:01 pm IDBI Bank receives Rs 3119.04 crIDBI Bank has received Rs 3119.04 crore from the Government of India towards consideration for preferential issue of equity shares to GoI at a price of Rs 120.19 per share.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 1:46 pm Blue Star to buy DS Gupta ConstructionMumbai: Air conditioner maker Blue Star Ltd’s fully-owned subsidiary Blue Star Electro-Mechanical Ltd will acquire the Rs130 crore Mumbai-based plumbing contractor D.S. Gupta Construction Pvt Ltd for Rs80 crore, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday. With a current order book of Rs300 crore, B.Thiagarajan, president, Blue Star’s air conditioning and refrigeration products said his firm should be able to increase turnover of that portion of business by 10%. The promoters of D S Gupta Construction will continue as advisors till July 2011 The acquisition, done at a decent valuation, is also in line with the company’s decision to move towards one vendor and offer huge spectrum of services,said Jai Sharda, an analyst at brokerage Angel Broking Ltd said. Shares of Blue Star ended 1.28% lower to close at Rs434.70 per share on Monday.The benchmark Sensex closed 0.61% lower at 18,020.05 points. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 1:12 pm BP CEO Hayward to step down in October: OfficialAn official says BP CEO Tony Hayward will step down in October and take a job with TNK-BP, the company's joint venture in Russia. Hayward became the face of BP's flailing efforts to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and cover millions in damages.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 1:11 pm Union Bank of India records profit, up 36%New Delhi: State-run Union Bank of India on Monday reported a 36% increase in its first quarter profit, aided by higher income from its core operation,lower cost of funds and write back of provisions. For the quarter ended June 2010, the bank reported a net profit of Rs601 crore against Rs442 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. Net interest margin (NIM) -- the difference between yields on advances and cost of funds and a key parameter of profitability -- increased to 3.03% against 2.32% a year ago. For the quarter, the bank’s yield on funds was 7.80% against 8.09% a year ago while the cost of funds came down to 4.95% from 6.02% a year ago. The bank’s chairman and managing director M.V. Nair said NIM would remain at 3% for the entire fiscal year ending March 2011. Total deposits grew 19.18% where the share of low cost current and savings account stood at 32.57% against 30.40% a year ago. Advances grew at 30.72%. The bank’s gross debt as a percentage of advances rose to 2.19%, up from 1.95% a year ago. After accounting for provisions, bad debt fell to 0.94% from 0.72% in the year-ago period. The bank’s provisions rose to Rs442 crore against Rs345 crore a year ago, largely because of a write back of Rs135 crore in the June quarter last fiscal. . The bank’s shares close 2.03% lower on Monday to Rs319.30 while the benchmark Sensex closed 0.61% lower at 18,020.05 points. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 1:09 pm RBI says inflation remains a target lest it hurt growthThe Reserve Bank of India today indicated that the trend of rising interest rates would continue until inflation and inflationary expectations were contained, even as it stressed the need to improve supplies to bring down prices.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:57 pm Green signal to pvt tracksPrivate sector entities will now be able to construct, operate and maintain railway tracks in the country under a new policy framed by the ministry to promote investment in railway infrastructure projects. Though private companies now operate railway linkages to a few ports or have captive rail systems, it is for the first time that large-scale private operations in freight are being planned.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:56 pm Dabur picks up Turkey firm for Rs 323.78 crDabur India Ltd on Monday announced the acquisition of Hobi Kozmetik Group, a Turkish personal care products company, for Rs 323.78 crore. Its overseas subsidiary, Dabur International Ltd, acquired 100 per cent stake in three Hobi Group firms Hobi Kozmetik, Zeki Plastik and Ra Pazarlama.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:56 pm NMDC eyes two mines in Russia for Rs 1,881 crIndias largest iron ore producer and exporter, NMDC Ltd, is contemplating buying coking coal mines in Russia from Kolmar for $400 million (Rs 1,881 crore today).Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:55 pm Fortis reaps Rs 383 cr as it pulls out of Parkway bidAfter a two-month battle, Fortis Healthcare on Monday beat a retreat from its bid to acquire majority control in Parkway Holdings. This, however, not without leaving its shareholders led by Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh richer by Rs 383 crore.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:53 pm Intl seat factors to lift seasonally weak Q2: JetJet Airways (India) Ltd expects seat factors on international routes to improve in the second quarter ending September 30, which would offset a seasonally weak domestic market, a senior official said on Monday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:50 pm SKS Microfinance public issue too expensive, say analystsMumbai: SKS Microfinance Ltd, India’s largest microfinance institution (MFI), will sell 16.7 million shares from Wednesday and has priced its initial public offering (IPO) at between Rs850 and Rs985 a share. Analysts say the shares are too expensive for the industry, which makes loans to the unbanked poor. The lower end of the price band is a 33.7% premium to the Rs635.58 per share at which SKS chairman Vikram Akula sold nearly 950,000 shares to Tree Line Asia Master Fund (Singapore) Pte Ltd in April. The share sale includes an offer to sell 9.3 million shares of some existing shareholders—Sequoia Capital India II Llc and an assortment of SKS trusts— and a fresh issue of 7.4 million shares. At the lower end of the price band, the combined share sale would raise Rs1,420 crore. Retail investors get a discount of Rs50 and one day more than institutions to subscribe to the offer. The offer closes on 31 July for institutional investors and on 2 August for retail investors. At Rs850 a share, the implied valuation for the firm is 3.8 times post-issue book value (net worth) and 35 times the earnings of fiscal 2010, which appears quite expensive, said Pankaj Agarwal, analyst at the UK-based investment advisory firm Execution Noble. SKS, which counts Infosys Technology Ltd chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy and Indian-American venture capitalist Vinod Khosla among its shareholders, is the first entity of its kind to sell shares in India. In a 23 July note, Execution Noble’s Agarwal said though global MFIs are trading at 3.5-4.5 times book value, they have had a much longer operating history and higher returns on equity (RoE) of 30-45%. In comparison, SKS has an RoE of 21.5%. “The pricing seems to be on the higher side,” said Tejas Doshi, vice-president, research, at Mumbai-based brokerage firm Sushil Financial Services Ltd. To be sure, SKS has managed its margins well and its bad loans are capped at 0.33%. In the last two fiscals, its profit grew by 116% and 329%, respectively. “Whilst cost to income ratio of SKS has come down from 79% in FY07 to 52%, it is primarily driven by increased loan ticket size rather than operating leverage in the business model,” Agarwal wrote. “Doubtlessly, it is an expensive issue, given the risks and uncertainty associated with the microfinance industry”, said Apurva Shah, head of research at Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt Ltd. MFIs face risks such as limited ability to leverage, regulatory clampdowns and unusual credit risks that could lead to collective defaults by a large number of borrowers. They also find it difficult to leverage beyond five times their balance sheet values since banks and regulators may not be comfortable with a higher degree of leverage, Agarwal wrote in the note. Experts say the industry is yet to evolve in India, making it difficult to rely on the high growth rates and low bad loan percentages. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) does not allow MFIs, which are registered as non-banking financial companies, to raise deposits. They typically face interest costs of 9-12% and operating expenses of 15-18%. This makes it “difficult for MFIs to raise margins”, said Abizer Diwanji, director and head of financial services at consulting firm KPMG. It also leads to high lending rates of up to 30% that MFIs charge their customers, who are among India’s poorest wage earners. “The only way to get commercial capital is to be not just profitable, but extremely profitable,” Akula had recently told Mint. “If you are making 57% after cost of capital, what does it matter to you if the loan is 28% or 36%?” But this might not be sustainable, especially with state governments and RBI frowning upon the high rates. A bigger risk that could upset calculations is the unusual credit risk involving mass defaults by borrowers. A decree issued by some religious leaders to not pay back the loans taken from MFIs caused mass defaults in Kolar district of Karnataka last year. Political protests were also staged in Andhra Pradesh against MFIs. Such instances could become more common as MFIs scale up their operations, unless they lower their charges, Diwanji said Mass defaults have been a recurrent feature in several countries that saw aggressive growth in microfinance loan portfolios in the previous three-four years, said a February report by Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, a research organization. The sector also faces the problem of multiple lenders lending to the same borrower, which would impact asset quality of MFIs several years down the line. pramit.b@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:46 pm Dabur acquires Turkey cos, eyes 19% FY11 marginPersonal care and food products maker Dabur India Ltd said on Monday it acquired three personal care products firms of Turkey\'s Hobi Kozmetik Group for USD 69 million, boosting its presence in the international markets.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:42 pm Quick Edit | Reliable sourcesOn Sunday, the Wikileaks.org website released over 90,000 documents called the Afghan War Diary concerning the use of lethal force by the US Army between 2004 and 2010 in the country. As one website put it nicely, “It’s time to start shipping Alka-Seltzer to the Pentagon by the boatload.” WikiLeaks is shaking the foundations of investigative journalism. Whistle-blowers no longer need to confide to a newspaper or television channel. One email to Wikileaks.org will do. The site never discloses sources, it verifies leaks and revels in its agenda to bare all, bar none. So no more dark parking lots, Deep Throats or exclusive exposes. Instead, it makes sense to find a spot on WikiLeaks’ mailing list. Not least because the site says it still has millions of submissions, including revelations on BP’s oil spill, that are pending verification. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:38 pm Scourge of SMS spam swamps mobile usersNew Delhi: The SMS you got last night—the one that woke you up just as you’d fallen asleep, urging you to consider exquisite three and four BHKs in Supertech Noida, starting from Rs24.35 lakh all inclusive—very possibly came from Jaspreet Singh’s office. Citi Flight Online Data Solutions Pvt. Ltd operates out of a handful of cubbyholes in a basement in Connaught Place. The walls are covered with strange blue sheets of laminated wood, and sometimes an employee may be snoozing in the claustrophobic conference room. For a data solutions firm, computers are noticeably absent, but Singh, the owner, vaguely mentions a back-end in Naraina. “And the SMSes,” he says, “I send from my laptop, wherever I am.” Last year, noting an upwelling of demand for text-message marketing, Singh started a service called SMS4India. At the time, he had already been running, for nine years, another business called Database4India, which hawked fat databases of mobile phone numbers to anybody who wanted them. These records are, Singh realized, “the lifeline of the SMS marketing industry”, so the new venture seemed a logical step. Today, Singh sends close to 20 million SMSes per month, roughly half of them on behalf of real estate developers, who have become the most prolific and annoying spammers in this particular medium. It takes Singh just a minute to send 100,000 SMSes, for which he charges Rs4,000; for one million SMSes, the rate drops to 3 paise per message. “If you call 100,000 people, even at 30 paise per call, imagine how much more expensive it would be,” Singh points out. Comparisons with other media are instructive. According to Lodestar UM, a media buying agency, the cost to reach 1,000 people via print is, on average, Rs180 for an ad sized 100 column cm. Via a 30-second television advertisement, reaching 1,000 people costs Rs25. The average response rate to these SMSes is, Singh estimates, roughly 1%, and even less for realtors—low, but acceptable for such inexpensive advertising, and higher than an Internet banner ad’s average of 0.5% for click-throughs. The sheer ease of sending these messages and a per-SMS price that has plummeted in near-suicidal manner over the last two years, have combined to yank this industry into overdrive. SMSes go out now from every manner of business: insurance companies, realtors, bars and restaurants, neighbourhood grocers, stockbrokers, gyms, and schools. Satya Yerramsetti, founder of Hyderabad-based firm SMSCountry Networks Pvt. Ltd, says he even has, as a client, a barber in Mumbai, though he professes to not know what kind of messages this barber sends. The largest sender of such SMSes is ValueFirst Messaging Pvt. Ltd, and its chief executive officer Vishwadeep Bajaj estimates that 150 million marketing messages—of both spam and non-spam variety—are sent every day in India; his firm sends a full one-third of these. On a half-wiped whiteboard at his office in Gurgaon, Bajaj chews through the numbers; assuming each message costs, on an average, 3 paise, that would bring the industry’s annual revenue to Rs200 crore. “Around 30% of these are promotional SMSes,” he says, politely refraining from the word “spam”. The remaining would then be service messages—SMSes that the receiver has opted to get, such as bank account activity alerts. Bajaj insists this is the split, though the empirical experience of relentlessly spammed receivers suggests perhaps that the ratio is lopsided in the opposite direction. As rapid as the industry’s growth has been, Bajaj predicts just as rapid a demise. “A couple of companies have driven down the per-SMS price so low that the margins are very thin,” he says. He remembers the “good old days”, in 2002, when SMSes cost anywhere between 90 paise and Rs1.50; the margin, per SMS, is now often a solitary paisa, and sometimes less. “We survive because of our scale, but other companies should just go home. Wait six or eight months, and you’ll see that everyone is going to die.” ValueFirst is already preparing, Bajaj says, to reorient itself, towards the construction of mobile applications. The ecosystem of SMS marketing is a varied and fractured one. Most visibly, there are half a dozen big companies (such as ValueFirst and SMSCountry) and a smattering of smaller ones, all of which buy bulk messaging capacity—or “pipes”—directly from telecom operators. Around 60-70% of the capacity used by SMS marketeers is sourced from Tata Teleservices Ltd, Bajaj says, often at rates so low that they translate into 1 or 2 paise per SMS. But Lloyd Mathias, chief marketing officer of Tata Teleservices, puts his company’s share in the market far lower. “We are not focused on this market at all,” he says. “It does form a part of the value-added services revenue that we make, but I would not be able to say how much it contributes to our revenue.” According to rules set down by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), every telemarketeer must be registered with it. Also, every marketing SMS must be stamped with a unique sender name, bearing a prefix that identifies the operator who has provided the requisite capacity. A “TM” prefix, for example, fingers Tata Mumbai; an “AD” message comes via Airtel Delhi. Even these basic rules are now flouted routinely. “We have…started getting complaints of people sending SMSes without the mandatory stamping, which is against the rule,” a Trai official, who asked for anonymity, confirms. So an SMS simply stamped “PRIME”, advertising the Rosewood City Township in Jaipur, is, to put it most bluntly, illegal. And it can only be delivered, as per the existing system, if a rogue operator sells messaging capacity and allows the SMSes to pass through unstamped. Another new method for bypassing the stamp—another method, in essence, that makes it difficult for the regulator to bear down on illegal telemarketeers—involves the use of modems with multiple SIM cards. “These modems are slower,” Bajaj says. “They send maybe eight messages a minute.” But with pre-paid SMS cards, costs are low, and with spam, it matters less how fast it goes out and more that it goes out at all. The sway of the unorganized section of the SMS marketing industry is strong: Onais Rafiq, manager of media sales and alliances at SMSCountry, estimates that only 40% of these text messages are sent by “organized” firms such as his own. Instead, a tier below ValueFirst and SMSCountry lies a sea of resellers—mom-and-pop shops such as Singh’s Citi Flight, which purchase capacity from the big players, dice it up further, and sell it on to either still-smaller resellers or local customers. These resellers have now become difficult to ignore. Bajaj says that ValueFirst started, last year, to sell capacity to resellers. Similarly, SMSCountry began only a few months ago to sell a white-label version of its SMS-sending software to resellers because, as Yerramsetti admits frankly, “We thought we were losing a large market share to our competitors.” SMSCountry has grown rapidly in the same time frame; from 70 employees in December, Rafiq says, they now have 300, and hope to reach 500 by the end of the year. In the bitterest irony, though, Bajaj notes that as per-SMS prices have plunged, the smaller resellers, who have grown the industry to such mammoth proportions, suffer first and the hardest. Margins dilute further as they squeeze down the chain. “It’s the mom-and-pop guys—you know, two guys somewhere with a PC—who’re telling us: ‘Thanks boss, but we’ve had enough’,” Bajaj says. “Once upon a time, the margins for these guys used to be enough that they could buy a Honda City after eight months. Now, they can’t even buy a Maruti.” samanth.s@livemint.com Gouri Shah in Mumbai contributed to this story. This is the first of a two-part series on the SMS spam industry. Next: But how did they get my number? Source: Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:32 pm Scourge of SMS spam swamps mobile usersNew Delhi: The SMS you got last night—the one that woke you up just as you’d fallen asleep, urging you to consider exquisite three and four BHKs in Supertech Noida, starting from Rs24.35 lakh all inclusive—very possibly came from Jaspreet Singh’s office. Citi Flight Online Data Solutions Pvt. Ltd operates out of a handful of cubbyholes in a basement in Connaught Place. The walls are covered with strange blue sheets of laminated wood, and sometimes an employee may be snoozing in the claustrophobic conference room. For a data solutions firm, computers are noticeably absent, but Singh, the owner, vaguely mentions a back-end in Naraina. “And the SMSes,” he says, “I send from my laptop, wherever I am.” Last year, noting an upwelling of demand for text-message marketing, Singh started a service called SMS4India. At the time, he had already been running, for nine years, another business called Database4India, which hawked fat databases of mobile phone numbers to anybody who wanted them. These records are, Singh realized, “the lifeline of the SMS marketing industry”, so the new venture seemed a logical step. Today, Singh sends close to 20 million SMSes per month, roughly half of them on behalf of real estate developers, who have become the most prolific and annoying spammers in this particular medium. It takes Singh just a minute to send 100,000 SMSes, for which he charges Rs4,000; for one million SMSes, the rate drops to 3 paise per message. “If you call 100,000 people, even at 30 paise per call, imagine how much more expensive it would be,” Singh points out. Comparisons with other media are instructive. According to Lodestar UM, a media buying agency, the cost to reach 1,000 people via print is, on average, Rs180 for an ad sized 100 column cm. Via a 30-second television advertisement, reaching 1,000 people costs Rs25. The average response rate to these SMSes is, Singh estimates, roughly 1%, and even less for realtors—low, but acceptable for such inexpensive advertising, and higher than an Internet banner ad’s average of 0.5% for click-throughs. The sheer ease of sending these messages and a per-SMS price that has plummeted in near-suicidal manner over the last two years, have combined to yank this industry into overdrive. SMSes go out now from every manner of business: insurance companies, realtors, bars and restaurants, neighbourhood grocers, stockbrokers, gyms, and schools. Satya Yerramsetti, founder of Hyderabad-based firm SMSCountry Networks Pvt. Ltd, says he even has, as a client, a barber in Mumbai, though he professes to not know what kind of messages this barber sends. The largest sender of such SMSes is ValueFirst Messaging Pvt. Ltd, and its chief executive officer Vishwadeep Bajaj estimates that 150 million marketing messages—of both spam and non-spam variety—are sent every day in India; his firm sends a full one-third of these. On a half-wiped whiteboard at his office in Gurgaon, Bajaj chews through the numbers; assuming each message costs, on an average, 3 paise, that would bring the industry’s annual revenue to Rs200 crore. “Around 30% of these are promotional SMSes,” he says, politely refraining from the word “spam”. The remaining would then be service messages—SMSes that the receiver has opted to get, such as bank account activity alerts. Bajaj insists this is the split, though the empirical experience of relentlessly spammed receivers suggests perhaps that the ratio is lopsided in the opposite direction. As rapid as the industry’s growth has been, Bajaj predicts just as rapid a demise. “A couple of companies have driven down the per-SMS price so low that the margins are very thin,” he says. He remembers the “good old days”, in 2002, when SMSes cost anywhere between 90 paise and Rs1.50; the margin, per SMS, is now often a solitary paisa, and sometimes less. “We survive because of our scale, but other companies should just go home. Wait six or eight months, and you’ll see that everyone is going to die.” ValueFirst is already preparing, Bajaj says, to reorient itself, towards the construction of mobile applications. The ecosystem of SMS marketing is a varied and fractured one. Most visibly, there are half a dozen big companies (such as ValueFirst and SMSCountry) and a smattering of smaller ones, all of which buy bulk messaging capacity—or “pipes”—directly from telecom operators. Around 60-70% of the capacity used by SMS marketeers is sourced from Tata Teleservices Ltd, Bajaj says, often at rates so low that they translate into 1 or 2 paise per SMS. But Lloyd Mathias, chief marketing officer of Tata Teleservices, puts his company’s share in the market far lower. “We are not focused on this market at all,” he says. “It does form a part of the value-added services revenue that we make, but I would not be able to say how much it contributes to our revenue.” According to rules set down by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), every telemarketeer must be registered with it. Also, every marketing SMS must be stamped with a unique sender name, bearing a prefix that identifies the operator who has provided the requisite capacity. A “TM” prefix, for example, fingers Tata Mumbai; an “AD” message comes via Airtel Delhi. Even these basic rules are now flouted routinely. “We have…started getting complaints of people sending SMSes without the mandatory stamping, which is against the rule,” a Trai official, who asked for anonymity, confirms. So an SMS simply stamped “PRIME”, advertising the Rosewood City Township in Jaipur, is, to put it most bluntly, illegal. And it can only be delivered, as per the existing system, if a rogue operator sells messaging capacity and allows the SMSes to pass through unstamped. Another new method for bypassing the stamp—another method, in essence, that makes it difficult for the regulator to bear down on illegal telemarketeers—involves the use of modems with multiple SIM cards. “These modems are slower,” Bajaj says. “They send maybe eight messages a minute.” But with pre-paid SMS cards, costs are low, and with spam, it matters less how fast it goes out and more that it goes out at all. The sway of the unorganized section of the SMS marketing industry is strong: Onais Rafiq, manager of media sales and alliances at SMSCountry, estimates that only 40% of these text messages are sent by “organized” firms such as his own. Instead, a tier below ValueFirst and SMSCountry lies a sea of resellers—mom-and-pop shops such as Singh’s Citi Flight, which purchase capacity from the big players, dice it up further, and sell it on to either still-smaller resellers or local customers. These resellers have now become difficult to ignore. Bajaj says that ValueFirst started, last year, to sell capacity to resellers. Similarly, SMSCountry began only a few months ago to sell a white-label version of its SMS-sending software to resellers because, as Yerramsetti admits frankly, “We thought we were losing a large market share to our competitors.” SMSCountry has grown rapidly in the same time frame; from 70 employees in December, Rafiq says, they now have 300, and hope to reach 500 by the end of the year. In the bitterest irony, though, Bajaj notes that as per-SMS prices have plunged, the smaller resellers, who have grown the industry to such mammoth proportions, suffer first and the hardest. Margins dilute further as they squeeze down the chain. “It’s the mom-and-pop guys—you know, two guys somewhere with a PC—who’re telling us: ‘Thanks boss, but we’ve had enough’,” Bajaj says. “Once upon a time, the margins for these guys used to be enough that they could buy a Honda City after eight months. Now, they can’t even buy a Maruti.” samanth.s@livemint.com Gouri Shah in Mumbai contributed to this story. This is the first of a two-part series on the SMS spam industry. Next: But how did they get my number? Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:32 pm Innovative ideas that can bring about changeNew Delhi: The inaugural mBillionth awards, presented by the Digital Empowerment Foundation on 23 July in New Delhi, showcased several mobile innovators from South Asia. One of the 24 winners was the paperless admission system developed by a team of students and professors from the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), Sylhet, Bangladesh. It allows final year school students to apply to the university through just two text messages. Not a single form or visit to the university is required.  Mass communication: Winners of the mBillionth South Asia Awards. Pradeep Gaur / Mint “The only purpose to develop this app was to help students save time and money. Secondly, it is eco-friendly, no use of paper. All the database is maintained online, so no more endless form filling,” said Abu Awal Md. Shoeb, lecturer at SUST and a member of the winning team. Another winner was Suruk—an application for mobile phones with global positioning systems (GPS) that allows auto-rickshaw passengers to keep track of the distance covered, the rate charged and detect if the driver is over-charging or taking a wrong route. Suruk has around 450-500 customers in Bangalore, including 300-350 regular users, and plans to expand its services to other cities. “We wish to bring hospitality and travel, value-added services and personal commuting under Suruk’s umbrella of operations and utility,” said BalaSundaraRaman, chief mentor, Suruk. One other unique function of this application is its inbuilt capability to send an emergency SMS to a contact (provided by the user at the time of registration) with a geographic location (via an URL of a Google map) in case of any unforeseen incident. Also Read mBillionth Award: the winners of 2010 Yet another mBillionth award winner hopes to fight an age-old problem: how to prevent leakage from the public distribution system (PDS). Laxmikant Deshmukh, district collector of Kolhapur, Maharashtra, decided to take control of things by using an innovative m-distribution system. The mobile application he developed helps in tracking the various steps in the supply chain of PDS food shipments and can be used on a GPRS-enabled phone. “We have to train people to use computers, but using a mobile phone needs no training,” said Deshmukh. It ensures transparency in the supply and distribution of foodgrains, and enables effective inventory management and helps in curbing unethical practices such as hoarding and arbitrary price escalation. With hundreds of similarly innovative and disruptive nominees, awards jury member and consultant Madanmohan Rao related how difficult it was to choose the best out of so many. “The criteria were that projects should be up and running, no pilot projects; client and third-party testimonies; snapshot of the products/apps and, lastly, access to the contestant to cross-question,” he explained. geetika.r@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:11 pm Innovative ideas that can bring about changeNew Delhi: The inaugural mBillionth awards, presented by the Digital Empowerment Foundation on 23 July in New Delhi, showcased several mobile innovators from South Asia. One of the 24 winners was the paperless admission system developed by a team of students and professors from the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), Sylhet, Bangladesh. It allows final year school students to apply to the university through just two text messages. Not a single form or visit to the university is required. Mass communication: Winners of the mBillionth South Asia Awards. Pradeep Gaur / Mint “The only purpose to develop this app was to help students save time and money. Secondly, it is eco-friendly, no use of paper. All the database is maintained online, so no more endless form filling,” said Abu Awal Md. Shoeb, lecturer at SUST and a member of the winning team. Another winner was Suruk—an application for mobile phones with global positioning systems (GPS) that allows auto-rickshaw passengers to keep track of the distance covered, the rate charged and detect if the driver is over-charging or taking a wrong route. Suruk has around 450-500 customers in Bangalore, including 300-350 regular users, and plans to expand its services to other cities. “We wish to bring hospitality and travel, value-added services and personal commuting under Suruk’s umbrella of operations and utility,” said BalaSundaraRaman, chief mentor, Suruk. One other unique function of this application is its inbuilt capability to send an emergency SMS to a contact (provided by the user at the time of registration) with a geographic location (via an URL of a Google map) in case of any unforeseen incident. Also Read mBillionth Award: the winners of 2010 Yet another mBillionth award winner hopes to fight an age-old problem: how to prevent leakage from the public distribution system (PDS). Laxmikant Deshmukh, district collector of Kolhapur, Maharashtra, decided to take control of things by using an innovative m-distribution system. The mobile application he developed helps in tracking the various steps in the supply chain of PDS food shipments and can be used on a GPRS-enabled phone. “We have to train people to use computers, but using a mobile phone needs no training,” said Deshmukh. It ensures transparency in the supply and distribution of foodgrains, and enables effective inventory management and helps in curbing unethical practices such as hoarding and arbitrary price escalation. With hundreds of similarly innovative and disruptive nominees, awards jury member and consultant Madanmohan Rao related how difficult it was to choose the best out of so many. “The criteria were that projects should be up and running, no pilot projects; client and third-party testimonies; snapshot of the products/apps and, lastly, access to the contestant to cross-question,” he explained. geetika.r@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:11 pm Applications will take mobiles beyond voiceNew Delhi: Mobile phones can do more than just transmit voice. Combine the versatile platform with clever applications and meaningful tools and you have an instrument capable of substantial mass impact. The inaugural mBillionth South Asia Awards 2010 provided a platform for mobile content and application developers to showcase their best products and services. And on the basis of the winners, finalists and nominees, mobile innovation in the region is ripe for breakthrough ideas.  New trends: Digital Empowerment Foundation founder Osama Manzar at the mBillionth South Asia Awards. Amit Agrawal / Mint Mobile density in South Asian countries has reached critical mass levels with Sri Lanka leading the pack. Sri Lanka covers 81.35% of its population with 16.27 million mobiles. Pakistan follows with 97.58 million mobiles covering 59.6% of the country; India has 584.32 million mobiles; Maldives, 46% coverage with 0.14 million mobiles; Afghanistan and Bangladesh are almost there with 35% (12.9 million mobiles) and 52.43 million (34%). Nepal lags behind with only 23.22% population coverage reaching only 5.77 million people. “We will have ‘m’ in every format. The decade (up to 2010) was the year of ‘e’, but the coming decade is of the ‘m’,” said N. Ravi Shanker, joint secretary, department of information technology (DIT) and chief executive officer (CEO), National Internet Exchange of India. Industry experts and veterans who attended the awards ceremony on Friday said mobile apps as an allied sector to mobile phones has great potential and its growth lies in many factors. According to Sukanta Dey, head, corporate business development, Tata Teleservices Ltd, accessibility and affordability of the smart devices, cheap tariffs and integrated micro billing have fuelled the growth of the mobile industry. “The entire ecosystem of handsets, service providers, competitive tariffs and innovative content is responsible for the development of this sector.” “Entertainment and utility based apps are the way to go, I believe. Moreover, utility is the way to sustain a business model, because of the utility factor people will pay,” explained Kunal Bajaj, partner, director India, Analysys Mason. Rural value-added services (VAS) is another revenue provider for app developers. But experts and jury members said that rural mobile consumption differed from urban trends in three ways. Firstly, entertainment will not sell as much as it does in towns. Secondly, people need authorized information. Lastly, and most importantly, the apps must help in quality of life and livelihoods. “The challenge lies in creating the value addition by providing livelihood to the user,” added Umesh Sachdev, CEO, Uniphore Software Systems Pvt. Ltd. The only disappointment has been from the education and learning branch, said Osama Manzar, curator of the mBillionth Awards, founder of Digital Empowerment Foundation and also a jury member, who feels there is a tremendous scope in providing m-learning solutions. Content discussion and success is always marred by the never-ending debate of premium versus free content. Though there are many takers for free content, how far can this allow a developer to sustain his app? “Free is already available. Innovative and exclusive content will sustain the business model and to make it profitable; one can explore option of advertising,” argued Bajaj. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and managing director, One97 Communications (P) Ltd, provides a completely different viewpoint and favours paid content not for revenue earning but for sustenance. “If a poor person is getting something out of a service, then he is ready to pay. A charge is required not to make revenues but to sustain the value-driving process,” he added. Given the potential for VAS, many large VAS companies are searching for talent and a few small start-ups have seen the light of the day because of this association. According to industry veterans, VAS companies are nurturing new talent and entrepreneurs, which is very encouraging. Also, another trend that’s catching on fast is that the giants are making a war chest for acquiring and investing in smaller firms. Given the impetus from consumers and investors, most of the discussions and panel sessions at the mBillionth awards this year pointed out one missing element: supportive policy. The industry is growing at a healthy pace and according to Arvind Rao, CEO and co-founder of OnMobile, the mobile content industry’s revenue is pegged at Rs15, 000 crore currently. The problems are local, solutions also stem from them. What the sector needs are policies for indigenous needs, which accelerate the process. The introduction of 3G, broadband and Wi-Max will provide the necessary push for such endeavours. “The government is ensuring that a proper ecosystem is build for it to thrive. I think proper utilization of this sector is only possible with the right policy formulation,” said Ashis Sanyal, senior director, DIT. The main challenge at the moment as seen by R. Chandrashekhar, secretary, DIT, is the absence of unifying standards for technology. The cost of providing services is still not affordable for many. “How do we bring down the cost to affordable levels?” he asked. It gets severe when complexities such as building a new-age system on old infrastructure arise. “Policy needs to provide the unifying framework without constraining the innovations.” Incentive for research and development is another demand from the industry. As Manzar says, the government should pick up these services and use them on a larger scale for delivering their own services. This can take the industry a long way in progressing from being an allied branch to a full-fledged industry. “What we need are tax and support benefits. The telecom industry is a revenue-sharing sector, but mobile app developers are an industry requiring support,” said Sharma. geetika.r@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 12:09 pm MBillionth Award: the winners of 20101. Many to One SMS The Many to One SMS application involves participation of the Secretaries of Gram Panchayats, who send an SMS in a prescribed format to a designated telephone number. The time spent on collecting data is minimized and the output is maximized. 2. GPS/GSM Based Train Tracking System GPS/GSM based Train Tracking System is developed by gTrack solutions to provide information for train operations to the Railways in order to improve there efficiency. It includes an alerting mechanism, which can be evolved into a Public Information System. 3. Paperless Admission System of Shahjalal University of Science & Technology (SUST) Shahjalal University of Science & Technology has introduced an SMS based automated registration system for Admission Tests where candidates send in their HSC information from any Tele talk prepaid mobile phone and get a confirmation message instantly after the information is processed and verified by the Education Board . 4. M – Distribution The M-Distribution application is the brainchild of Shri Laxmikant Deshmukh : District Collector of Kolhapur to ensure proper distribution of food grains to all ration card holders, especially those below the poverty line. The software is cost effective and can be used in GPRS enabled mobile phones. CATEGORY: M- INCLUSIONS 5. Dialog Tradenet Dialog Tradenet is a trade information platform integrating technologies like Web, Wireless Access Protocol, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, SMS and Voice to help traders reach their target market through mobile phones 6. Dakia One97’s Dakia is a rural empowerment multi-lingual mobile service where information relating to major issues like impending power cuts, weather reports, crop diseases and treatments, new market prices and general welfare can be disseminated. 7. Voice of Youth Is a free SMS service that combines mobile technology with the web and national radio networks and provide a platform for the youth of Nepal to voice their opinions on contemporary issues. 8. Panini Keypad Panini Keypad a patented multi – lingual keypad, enables a user to type in all the regional languages of India on the keypad of his mobile phone. Based on the premise of statistical predictive texting it doesn’t require a separate dictionary application. 9. Nepal Wireless The Nepal wireless network aims to bridge the digital divide and provide the benefits of ICT to people living in remote areas in Nepal. It comprises of a number of applications including E-commerce through the internet, VOIP using SIP protocols, virtual-ATM service, video conferencing and hotel booking system through mobile phones. CATEGORY: M-NEWS & JOURNALISM 10. Reuters Market Light Reuters Market Light is a service that provides local and customized information to Indian farmers via mobile phones. Information provided includes: Spot Crop Prices, crop advisory for selected crops, commodity news and any other information relevant to the farming community. 11. Gaon Ki Awaaz Gaon Ki Awaaz, a voice enabled local news service for the people of Rampur – Mathura village of Uttar Pradesh. The voice calls are in Avadhi and the rationale behind the creation of this application is to make information easily available to people living in villages and also to create a channel for them to communicate their woes to the government. 12. See‘n’Report See ‘n’ Report is a citizen journalism service that enables people in Pakistan to report photos and videos directly from their cell phones as and when they witness a breaking news story. 13. CGnet Swara ----- CGnet Swara is a community radio station based in Chhattisgarh, accessible via mobile phone. It aims to provide a platform for the rural folk to upload and share important community related information. Swara has given a voice to the poor and marginalized tribes, who are plagued both by Maoist insurgents and the security forces stationed by the government. CATEGORY: M-EDUCATION & LEARNING 14. English Seekho English Seekho aims at teaching situational, spoken English through a simple interactive voice call. The user learns through lessons recorded in an easy-to-listen radio style and can also speak sentences in English that are analyzed by an advanced speech recognition system. 15. Drona Drona, a mobile learning solution empowers organizations and trainers to create their mobile learning courses and applications. The users can add content similar to multi-media, making the lessons more interactive and also collates scores and results, and generates reports to help analyze the performances. 16. Ability The product is a unique communication tool which converts text to sign language to voice and vice versa. Also the application can also be used as a teaching tool for their relatives and others interested in learning the sign language. CATEGORY: M- ENTERTAINMENT 17. 3G Play 3G Play, enables subscribers to engage in Multi-Player Games via video calls through 3G enabled handsets. The subscribers can challenge others by inbound video calls or by single player games with the system. 18. M-Search M-Search is a music content search and delivery solution which works across Voice, SMS and WAP channels. It has the capabilities to tap vernacular differences and provide users with personalized results. 19. Colombo Ride 2.0 Colombo Ride 2.0 a Sinhala multiplayer mobile game, launched in 2008 revolves around a taxi driver who must find passengers to make a living. It is an innovative way of educating people about the roads and locations in Colombo. 20. Mobile Antakshari Mobile Antakshari is the first ever multilingual mobile game based on the classic Indian music game of antakshari. This innovative speech recognition based game enables users to play antakshari against their mobiles. CATEGORY: M-TRAVEL & TOURISM 21. SMS 139 Railway Enquiry The SMS 139 service, an initiation by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited and is aimed at increasing customer satisfaction by giving the commuter easy access to information regarding PNR status, train arrival/departure, its running location, accommodation availability and fare enquiry. 22. AWATAR Mobile Booking The AWATAR Mobile Booking is an advance ticket booking application for Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) passengers through mobile phone. It enables customers to cancel tickets, if and when necessary. 23. Suruk Suruk an application for GPS-enabled mobile phones allows auto rickshaw passengers to keep track of distance covered, rate charged and detect if an auto driver is overcharging or taking a wrong route. Suruk is an attempt to provide a practical solution to these difficulties faced by common people 24. MobileWish Pocket Travel Assistant MobileWish Pocket Travel Assistant is a freely available application for Flash Lite 3x enabled mobiles that combines data from Google Maps, Yahoo, Wikipedia, BBC, Reuters, Twitter, You Tube and others to provide users with all the information needed for their journey. CATEGORY: M-BUSINESS & COMMERCE 25. EKO EKO SimpliBank connects banking and telecom infrastructure seamlessly. The project has partnered with two of India’s largest organizations- AirTel and State Bank of India (SBI), and has crossed the mark of 50,000 customers. Delivering banking services through mobile brings down the cost substantially for the population to afford it and makes it a viable business opportunity 26. WorldGSM WorldGSM is the first viable GSM system that is independent of the power grid. It runs exclusively on solar power and requires no diesel generator backup. This solution aims to make wireless telecom viable for the next billion customers in the most remote rural areas of our planet. 27. Mobiquity mMoney The mobiquity platform embraces the mobile phone as a convenient, cash-free, and card-free payment and transaction medium, delivering a range of financial and payment applications. 28. Business Express Business Express in Bangladesh is a new process which includes the automatic reporting of sales force, including customer orders and credit collection. The system has been made into a platform for all stakeholders related to Sales Information to provide and update relevant information. 29. Voice-ERP Voice-ERP is an interactive Voice based application targeted for manufacturing, retail and contract farming organizations and has created a unique proposition by using mobile phones as the channel and local language voice based communication to-and-fro the ERP systems. CATEGORY-HEALTH 30. JPNATC- JPN Apex Trauma Centre AIIMS initiated this project to streamline the process of hospital visits and minimize wait times for patients by using m-governance. A secondary objective was to improve transparency and accountability in the OPD’s. Patients can now take appointments from the comfort of their homes 31. Jaroka Tele-Healthcare Jaroka tele-healthcare is an effort to provide healthcare to the underprivileged in the far flung areas of Pakistan. Using this SMS based service a community health worker can register a patient, report his/her symptoms, acquire diagnosis and even get trained. 32. Students Health Information Tracking System (SWHITS) Students Health Information Tracking System aims at providing better monitoring mechanism of the health of the school children, in increasing transparency and reviewing of the hygiene environment maintained at these residential institutes. 33. Aarogyam Aarogyam, a project begun in the state of Uttar Pradesh, is India’s first end to end community based digital health mapping. Through this the citizens anywhere in India on any existing telecom network can access information with respect to their health profile. CATEGORY: M-ENVIRONMENT 34. M-Governance for Forest & Wildlife Management The main objective of this ICT application conceptualized by the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department is to develop a system which aids in the organized monitoring of forests and wildlife, along with providing a repository for the collection, aggregation and storage of MIS and geo – spatial data . pooja.c@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 11:44 am Rewarding the best mobile innovationsAre you the mBillionth mobile user? It is this figure that is driving mobile telephony companies to invest billions of dollars in the telecom sector in South Asia. An initiative to accelerate this process, and give it a socially relevant direction, was the mBillionth South Asia Awards 2010, which concluded last week in New Delhi. Presented by the department of information technology (DIT), Digital Empowerment Foundation and OnMobile, a provider of mobile value-added services (VAS), the awards offer a platform to bring together the best mobile content and applications with mass utility and social purpose. “If the mobile platform is expected to be the next disruption in empowering masses...then the day of reckoning has come,” said Osama Manzar, curator of the mBillionth Awards, founder of the Digital Empowerment Foundation and a jury member. The awards, presented in Delhi on Friday, saw participation from five South Asian countries. The organization received more than 250 entries and 165 nominations were finally accepted: India–121, Sri Lanka–28, Bangladesh–seven, Pakistan–five, Nepal–three, and Maldives–one. Judged by a 14-member jury in Colombo, 24 winners took home the trophy in 10 categories. The categories were m-Education and Learning, m-Inclusion, m-Governance, m-News and Journalism, m-Entertainment, m-Travel and Tourism, m-Business and Commerce, m-Health, m-Environment and m-Culture and Heritage. The nominations were an eclectic mix of entrepreneurs from all sectors, community leaders and government officials. “These applications are not replicas of any existing app, and each one of them is unique. Many of them were made by people who thought about the average citizen and what is accessible to them,” said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and managing director of VAS provider One97 Communications (P) Ltd, also a member of the jury. The awards ceremony saw participation by telecom companies, VAS developers, information and communication technology (ICT) entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, experts and academics. The mobile congress was a brainstorming session providing food for thought for many participants and speakers. As a precursor to the actual awards ceremony, a series of panel discussions and interactive sessions brought together nominees, policymakers, investors and telecom firms. The underlying purpose of this mobile congress was to make recommendations to the government and industry in devising appropriate policies, applications and platforms. Most experts agreed that this was an integral step for development of the entire mobile phone ecosystem. “We will push policies and advocate the cause of ICT in governance, development and citizen service delivery. Also, we’ll be submitting a white paper and policy paper for using mobile as the inclusive medium,” said Manzar. geetika.r@livemint.com Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 26 Jul 2010 | 11:44 am
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