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Procter Gamble: Educating rural IndiaCNBCTV18s Shereen Bhan caught up with PGs India CEO, Shantanu Khosla to find out how does educating rural India tie in with PGs social responsibility.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jul 2010 | 8:23 am Unitech to delist UCP if 75% shareholders accept: SourcesReal estate major Unitech, which is considering a possible offer for its AIMlisted Unitech Corporate Park (UCP), is learnt to have made a 31 pence offer to UCP for an \'all or no shares\' deal, reports CNBCTV18 quoting sources.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jul 2010 | 7:56 am Banks up deposit rates: Will lending rates follow suit?Commenting on the road ahead for rates, MD Mallya, CMD of Bank of Baroda said deposit rates are headed higher in coming days.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jul 2010 | 7:38 am Partners to invest $58mn in Qualcomm India JVQualcomm said on Friday Global Holding Corp and Tulip Telecomwould each invest USD 28.86 million for the 13% stake that each would take in its India broadband venture.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jul 2010 | 6:40 am Vedanta posts record EBITDA for Q1 of $794 mnIndiafocused mining group Vedanta Resources Plc posted record firstquarter EBITDA of USD 794 million in the three months to end June as production of its three most profitable metals rose.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jul 2010 | 6:39 am Reliance MediaWorks says not in talks for InoxReliance MediaWorks said on Friday it was not in talks to buy a controlling stake in cinema chain operator Inox Leisure, responding to a media report that it had made on offer for the rival firm.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jul 2010 | 6:38 am Geely gets state planner approval for Volvo buyThe privately held parent of China\'s Geely Automobile said on Friday it had received the nod from China\'s state planner for its purchase of Ford\'s Volvo unit, a critical step for its plans to turn around the Swedish carmaker.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jul 2010 | 6:27 am Maruti\'s royalty high due to low upfront payment: KhattarIn an interview to CNBCTV18, Jagdish Khattar, CMD, Carnation Auto explained that royalty can be high if upfront payment is low. Therefore Maruti had to shell out high royalty as it had been paying low payment to Suzuki.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jul 2010 | 5:52 am Growing smartphone battle seen hitting vendors profitsAn increasingly heated battle in the global smartphone market is set to weigh on handset vendors\' profit margins during the remainder of the year, analysts said on Friday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jul 2010 | 4:54 am IRDA to issue IPO norms for general insurance in two months - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jul 2010 | 4:00 am SAIL sees steel prices firming up in next few months - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jul 2010 | 3:43 am HCC April-June net profit up 55 5 at Rs 28 3cr - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jul 2010 | 3:40 am Samsung Elec to introduce Android-based tablet in Q3SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co plans to introduce tablet computers this quarter based on Google's Android operating system, joining a growing list of firms seeking to challenge Apple's popular iPad.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 3:39 am Honda Raises Profit Forecast on Global Sales Recovery - Bloomberg
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jul 2010 | 3:37 am ABB net plunges on exit costs, pricing pressureMumbai: India’s ABB Ltd, unit of swiss engineering group ABB, posted a 545 fall in quarterly net profit on certain exit costs in some projects and increasing pricing pressure in the market, it said. ABB Ltd posted a net profit of Rs383 million compared to Rs836 million a year ago, on a marginal net sales drop of 4% to Rs14.46 billion in April-June quarter. “The market continues to be a challenge, especially on the utility side,” vice chairman and managing director Biplab Majumder said in a statement. The engineering firm’s order intake during the quarter was also sluggish and plunged 42% to Rs12.35 billion from the year-ago quarter. However, its order backlog was up 12% to Rs85.32 billion, it said. “Orders were impacted due to delays in conclusion of a number of large projects...and continued price pressure in the market,” it said, adding it will focus on large opportunities in power projects coming up in the later part of the year. On 27 July, its swiss parent announced that it had increased its share holding in the Indian unit to 75% by lapping up about 23% additional shares for up to $965 million. At 3 p.m, shares in the firm were down 4.2% to Rs810.9 in a Mumbai market that was down 0.7%. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jul 2010 | 3:37 am BPCL June quarter net loss 17.2 bln rupees(Versus the same period a year earlier, in billion rupees unless stated)Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 3:34 am China overtakes Japan as No.2 economy - FX chiefBEIJING (Reuters) - China has overtaken Japan to become the world's second-largest economy, the fruit of three decades of rapid growth that has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 3:34 am Sony surges after lifting outlook, Q1 profitSony, the world's second-largest camera maker after Canon Inc, reported April-June operating profit of 67 billion yen ($766 million) versus the consensus for a 13 billion yen loss.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 3:30 am Aditya Birla Nuvo reports June-quarter profit - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jul 2010 | 3:29 am Edelweiss home finance biz to start by SeptMumbai: Financial services firm Edelweiss Capital Ltd said on Friday it plans an equity investment of over Rs100 crore in its housing finance business in FY11, a top official said. The firm plans to start its housing finance business in the next couple of months, chairman Rashesh Shah told reporters in a conference call after the results. In March, a unit of Edelweiss got a registration certificate from National Housing Bank to start housing finance business. Besides, it expects its life insurance venture with Japan’s Tokio Marine Holdings to start operations by March, Shah said. The partners plan to invest a total of Rs550 crore as initial capital in the venture and have applied to the insurance regulator for in-principle approval, Shah had told Reuters in May. Earlier the company posted a 17% rise in consolidated net profit for the June quarter to nearly Rs61.4 crore led by its investment banking business. The firm’s investment banking division has a strong pipeline of IPOs and its advisory division was also performing well, Shah said. “Investment banking and advisory did good business this quarter. Our treasury and bank deposit business continued to suffer,” Shah said. “In investment banking, we are seeing QIPs are slowing down, IPO is seeing a lot of momentum,” he added. Shares of Edelweiss traded 2.7% down at Rs489.9 in a weak Mumbai stock market. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jul 2010 | 3:25 am Food security law could double food billNEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's proposed food security act could nearly double to as much as $23 billion the food subsidy bill from targeted levels, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar suggested on Friday, potentially spooking plans to cut the fiscal deficit.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 3:21 am Kotak ups below 1-yr deposit rates - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jul 2010 | 3:21 am Airbus to boost output as outlook brightensParis: Airbus parent EADS made sweeping increases in its financial forecasts on Thursday and pledged to increase jetliner production after a spate of new orders raised hopes of an end to a steep industry recession. The move by the world’s largest civil planemaker comes as rival Boeing also considers whether to increase output of popular models, though the US company has said it is not yet certain whether the network of suppliers is ready for it. Airbus said it would increase its production of A320 narrow-body planes in several stages from 34 a month at present to 40 a month by the first quarter of 2012. Planemakers bagged orders by the dozen at last week’s Farnborough Airshow, especially from leasing companies whose speculative decisions often anticipate the economic mood. EADS finance director Hans Peter Ring said the industry was more confident after a two-year downturn as airlines in emerging markets also step up to buy, but that major economies like the United States were yet to stage a clear-cut recovery. “Where we were cautiously optimistic we could say we are optimistic, but we still have to be vigilant,” he said. The aviation sector is already bubbling, however, and Europeans are cashing in on a weaker euro which helps them to export — even though EADS is paying a short-term price for hedging decisions it took when the currency was stronger. “Airline yields have recovered, the dollar is stronger and the financial sector has stabilised, so all of that goes in the right direction,” Ring told reporters on a conference call. Shares in EADS rose as much as 5%, making it the second-biggest gainer among French blue chips. At 0824 GMT they were up 2.7% at €18.065. Strong backlog Investors shrugged off a drop in the company’s mid-year profits after it raised both financial and industrial forecasts. The company had previously been criticised for being over-cautious in its forecasts following the first quarter. EADS predicted 500 Airbus plane deliveries this year, edging past last year’s record of 498 aircraft, and upped its forecast for new jetliner orders by a third to more than 400 this year after bumper orders at Farnborough and a Berlin show in June. Boeing is targeting 460-465 deliveries. However, deliveries at Airbus sister firm Eurocopter are likely to fall slightly this year and civil helicopter orders remain slack. EADS is also still worried about costs on the Airbus A380 superjumbo, which is recovering from lengthy delays. The firm raised its annual revenue forecast to €44 billion after previously aiming to match last year’s €42.8 billion, and predicted €1.2 billion in core profit before one-offs. It improved a cash target but left its forecast for reported operating profit unchanged at €1 billion. EADS profits halved in the first half due to weaker hedge rates and more research on new projects. Sales rose 1%. Widely watched operating profit before one-off items fell to €0.6 billion from €1.3 billion a year earlier. Boeing is targeting a total of 460-465 deliveries this year. Last month it announced plans to increase production rates on the popular 737 narrow-body jet to 35 a month in early 2012. But a “question mark” lingers over whether the aircraft supply chain can support increased aerospace output, the head of Boeing’s commercial unit said last week. Problems in the supply chain have been partly blamed for delays in developing Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner. Boeing chief executive James McNerney told investors this week he was targeting a production decision in the early autumn. Both planemakers, who have a duopoly over sales of jetliners with more than 100 seats, are meanwhile considering whether to upgrade their most-sold lines of aircraft with new engines. Boeing this week reported higher-than-expected second-quarter profit but saw its shares slip as revenues fell short of estimates. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jul 2010 | 3:16 am Honda posts record Q1, Renault returns to H1 profitTokyo/Boulogne-Billancourt, France: Honda Motor Co raised its full-year forecasts after posting a record quarterly net profit on Friday, while brisk sales returned France’s Renault to profit in the first half. Honda, Japan’s No.2 automaker, joined rivals in reporting strong results for April-June, but like the rest of the industry, faces concerns over slowing demand in the United States and China, the world’s two largest auto markets, and in Europe. Car makers are fearful that austerity measures in Europe including tax hikes in some markets will slow the recovery there, leading Renault to stick to its goal for the year. “In an uncertain environment in the second half of 2010, the group will continue to focus on its key target of generating positive free cash flow for the full year,” Renault said. Renault’s half-year sales rose 23.1% like-for-like to €19.67 billion ($25.7 billion), while recurring operating profit reached €780 million, or 4% of sales. In the year-earlier period the group had posted a recurring operating loss of €620 million. Renualt partner Nissan Motor Co, Japan’s No.3 automaker, had on Thursday reported its strongest quarterly operating profit in more than two years as sales surged, but it retained its cautious guidance. Honda lifts forecasts Honda, the maker of the Accord and Civic cars reported a nine-fold jump in quarterly operating profit to ¥234.4 billion ($2.7 billion), easily beating the average 138.3 billion estimated by six analysts surveyed by Reuters. First-quarter net profit, which includes earnings made in China, was ¥272.5 billion, its best quarter ever and up from ¥7.6 billion last year. Honda lifted its net profit forecast to ¥455 billion from ¥340 billion but undershooting a consensus of ¥484 billion from a survey of 19 analysts by Thomson Reuters. “The new forecasts may look conservative when you look at the first-quarter performance, but there are many concerns and risks to take into account for the rest of the year,” executive vice president Koichi Kondo told a news conference. One issue clouding the outlook for Japanese automakers is a further strengthening in the yen, with the dollar hitting an eight-month low below ¥86.27 on Friday. Tomomi Yamashita, fund manager, Shinkin Asset Management said that analysts’ forecasts might be too optimistic. “I do think there’s a scenario where earnings momentum could go down quarter by quarter, which would explain this quarter and then the full year forecasts,,” he said. “This does seem to suggest a gradually worsening momentum, but even so the numbers still aren’t that bad.” Honda’s operating profit margin improved to 9.9% from 4.2% in the previous quarter, thanks largely to its motorcycle business. Michelin margins at record Also reporting strong margins was French tyre maker Michelin, which said it was aiming for an operating margin close to 9% in 2010 as the rebound in tyre markets helped it post a record first-half operating margin. In South Korea, Kia Motors posted a 61% rose quarterly net profit, beating estimates as it enjoyed brisk sales of newly launched models. Renault shares fell 0.3% in early trade, while Honda ended down 0.3% ahead of its results. Kia gained 2.8%, while Michelin added about 0.7%. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jul 2010 | 3:16 am Food security law could double food subsidy billNew Delhi: The proposed food security act could nearly double to as much as $23 billion the food subsidy bill from targeted levels, farm minister Sharad Pawar suggested on Friday, potentially spooking plans to cut the fiscal deficit. The proposal, to provide cheap foodgrains to the poor, has been backed by the ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi. The government went back to the drawing board after she suggested the entitlements under the law be widened. Pawar told Parliament the cost of the new welfare scheme could be between Rs76,720 crore ($16.5 billion) and Rs1.07 lakh crore ($23 billion). This compares with the Rs55,578 crore budget target for food subsidies in 2010-11 fiscal year. The range represents two proposals for the bill, one offering 25 kg of grains each month to poor households and the other giving 35 kg. Backers say the scheme will protect the over 400 million poor in India from near starvation, but a rise in subsidies could hit India’s roadmap of cutting the fiscal deficit to 4.1% of GDP by 2012-13 from the 5.5% expected this fiscal year. The law is seen as easing some public anger over stubbornly high inflation and giving the Congress an edge in the eight state elections this year and next and Lok Sabha elections in 2014. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jul 2010 | 3:09 am Parliament shut for 5th day, reforms at riskNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The parliament speaker on Friday adjourned sessions for the fifth straight day as opposition protests over high prices scuppered debates, delaying discussion of key economic reforms.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:58 am Growing smartphone battle seen hitting vendors' profitsHELSINKI (Reuters) - An increasingly heated battle in the global smartphone market is set to weigh on handset vendors' profit margins during the remainder of the year, analysts said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:55 am Indian Hotels Q1 net profit down at Rs 3 cr - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:55 am Disney sells Miramax for $660mln to investor groupThe sale underscores Disney's plans to focus its film resources on bigger, franchise film properties such as "Pirates of the Caribbean" and then exploit them across various platform.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:54 am Aditya Birla Nuvo reports June-qtr profitMumbai: Diversified Aditya Birla Nuvo on Friday reported April-June profit that beat analyst estimates on improved earnings in financial services, lifestyle and manufacturing businesses. Its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended 30 June was at Rs1.49 billion compared with a net loss of Rs350 million in the year-ago quarter. The firm’s consolidated revenue grew 18% to Rs38.52 billion. A Reuters poll of brokerages had expected a net profit of Rs483 million on a net sales of Rs31.8 billion. The financial services business of the group was the largest contributor to the consolidated revenue during the quarter with 32% share, followed by the manufacturing contributing 25% and telecom having a share of 24%, it said. Financial services business also led the contributions to the group’s profits during the quarter, followed by fashion and lifestyle business and manufacturing, the firm said. Shares in the firm were trading up 1.18% to 784.20 in a Mumbai market that was down 0.38%. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:46 am June fuel sales up on higher demandNew Delhi: India’s annual domestic oil product sales rose 1.8% to 12 million tonnes in June, slower growth than in the previous month, despite higher demand for auto fuel, government data showed on Friday. Auto fuel sales, including petrol and diesel, rose as dealers stocked the fuel in anticipation of a hike in prices. The government ended control on retail prices of petrol and raised the prices of diesel, cooking gas and kerosene late in June. The International Energy Agency expects India’s fuel demand to rise to 2% in 2010 from a year ago and 3.2% in 2011. The Paris-based agency, which advises 28 industrialized countries, expects global oil demand to grow by 1.77 million bpd this year and by 1.35 million bpd next year to 87.84 million bpd. Petrol sales rose an annual 12.7%, with the additional impetus of a 30% jump in car sales as rising incomes and a rapidly expanding economy pulled buyers to showrooms. Diesel sales grew by 7.1% in June, indicating higher demand from farm and industrial sectors. Diesel runs pump sets used for irrigating farm lands. Industrial output rose 11.5% in May from a year earlier, its slowest pace in seven months. Data for June will be released on 12 August. The crude imports declined and fuel imports rose in June, when the growth in country’s refinery output slowed to 2.9% due to some planned maintenance shutdowns and softened refining margins in Asia. Fuel exports rose 21.6% in the month from a year earlier, while imports rose 32.8%. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:39 am Reliance, Universal eye theme park in IndiaIndia\'s Reliance ADA Group is in talks with Universal Studios to build a USD 1.5 billion, 400 acre theme park and resort in India, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday citing a person familiar with the matter.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:26 am China overtakes Japan as No.2 economyChina has overtaken Japan to become the world's second-largest economy after the United States, the country's chief currency regulator said in remarks published today.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:23 am Qualcomm sells stake in India unit for $58mnNew Delhi: Qualcomm has agreed to sell 26% stake in its India broadband venture to Indian firms Global Holdings and Tulip Telecom for about $58 million, the US-based mobile chip supplier said on Friday. Global Holdings, which owns telecom infrastructure firms GTL Ltd and GTL Infra, and communications services provider Tulip Telecom will buy 13% each in the newly formed Qualcomm’s broadband unit in India. Qualcomm spent about $1 billion to buy wireless airwaves in a recent auction in India. The company is betting that ownership of the airwaves in India will boost sales of advanced cell phones and the chips that power them. According to Indian laws, Qualcomm’s stake in the Indian broadband venture cannot exceed 74%, and the remaining stake should be owned by Indian companies. Qualcomm’s equity investment for 74% stake in the broadband unit will be $164.3 million, the company said. Qualcomm expects to get broadband spectrum in two to three months time and aims to launch broadband services in 2011, said Kanwalinder Singh, president for Qualcomm’s Indian and south Asian operations. Qualcomm, which previously won spectrum bids in the United States and Britain, bagged wireless broadband spectrum in four of India’s 22 telecom zones, including the lucrative Delhi and Mumbai cities. Qualcomm will compete in India with billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries that made a dramatic return to telecom after agreeing to buy the only company that had won wireless broadband spectrum in all 22 zones. India’s broadband penetration -- connections per 100 people -- is extremely low at 0.7, whereas more than half of the population have a telephone, according to the Indian telecom regulator. Consolidation is underway in India’s telecom tower sector as carriers opt for mergers or alliances to be cost efficient. In June, GTL Infra agreed to buy the telecom tower business of Reliance Communications, to create what it said would be the world’s largest telecom infrastructure firm not controlled by an operator. In January, GTL Infra agreed to pay $1.8 billion for Aircel’s towers. A month later, US-based American Tower Corp announced plans to buy the tower unit of India’s Essar Group for $432 million. By 1.05 p.m., shares in GTL Infra was 0.7% higher at Rs46.25 and Tulip Telecom was nearly unchanged at Rs185 in the benchmark Mumbai market that down 0.2%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:22 am Daiichi Sankyo Q1 profit jumps, led by RanbaxyDaiichi Sankyo, Japan's No. 3 drugmaker, said on Friday that its first-quarter recurring profit jumped nearly tenfold and kept its annual outlook, crediting its Indian arm Ranbaxy for the rise in profit. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:18 am Rs.4,868 crore compensation to public sector banksThe government today approved compensation of Rs.4,868 crore to public sector banks for providing loans to farmers at lower interest rates.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:15 am Sensex subdued, Asian cues negative - Times of India
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:14 am Honda posts record Q1, Renault returns to H1 profitTOKYO/BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT, France (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co raised its full-year forecasts after posting a record quarterly net profit on Friday, while brisk sales returned France's Renault to profit in the first half.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:13 am Indian Oil Corp has no plans to revise petrol prices nowIndia freed petrol prices from government controls, giving state-run firms like IOC, HPCL and BPCL the freedom to fix retail prices for petrol, and raised prices of diesel, cooking gas and kerosene on June 25.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:12 am Qualcomm sells stake in India unit for $58 mlnNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Qualcomm has agreed to sell 26 percent stake in its India broadband venture to Indian firms Global Holdings and Tulip Telecom for about $58 million, the U.S.-based mobile chip supplier said on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:11 am Not in talks for Inox, says Reliance MediaWorksReliance MediaWorks and Inox have been slugging it out to buy another multiplex operator, Fame India.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:09 am Partners to invest $58 million in Qualcomm India joint ventureThe company is betting that ownership of the airwaves in India will boost sales of advanced cell phones and the chips that power them.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:07 am Mining group Vedanta posts record EBITDA for Q1 of $794 millionProduction of saleable iron ore, its most profitable product in the quarter, jumped 31% from the year-earlier quarter to 6.4 million tonnes.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:06 am Qualcomm sells stake in India unit for $58mln - Reuters
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jul 2010 | 2:04 am British Airways Q1 loss widens, sees FY break evenLondon: British Airways’ first quarter losses widened after it was hit by the impact of volcanic ash and strike-related disruption, though it expects to shrug off its troubles and break even in the full year. The British carrier’s pretax loss grew 10.8% to £164 million ($256.4 million) for the three months to the end of June, while revenues fell 2.3% to £1.93 billion. However, BA’s yields - the revenue it makes on each passenger for every mile travelled - rose 12.7% as costs fell and it maintained previous full-year guidance. ”While some economic experts are flagging the risk of a ”double dip” recession, the steady recovery continues and, on that basis, we continue to target to break even at a profit before tax level for the full year,” BA’s Chief Executive Willie Walsh said in a statement. The Unite union, which represents BA cabin crew, has been embroiled in a long running dispute with the airline, which has resulted in a series of strikes costing BA £150 million. It was also hit by the spread of ash from an erupting volcano in Iceland, which grounded much of Europe’s air traffic for a week in April, and cost the airline around £100 million. BA, whose merger with Spain’s Iberia was unconditionally cleared by the European Commission earlier this month, said passenger revenue fell 3.4% in the period but that without any disruption it would have jumped 11%. Shares in BA, which have risen 5% in the last month, closed at 216 pence on Thursday, valuing the business at around £2.5 billion. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jul 2010 | 1:51 am US economic growth seen slower in Q2 on importsWashington: US economic growth likely slowed in the second quarter as a capital investment drive by businesses was sated by imports and consumer spending tapered off, a government report is expected to show on Friday. Gross domestic product expanded at a 2.5% annual rate compared to a 2.7% pace in the first quarter, according to a Reuters survey. The Commerce Department is due to release its advance report on GDP, which measures total goods and services output within US borders, at 08:30am. “We expect the economy to have shifted into lower gear in the second quarter, primarily due to a widening in the trade deficit and also weaker consumer spending,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Although the slowdown in the recovery from the worst downturn since the 1930s was flagged by a stream of weak economic data in the past couple of months, a softer report could revive fears of a double-dip recession among investors. The sluggish economy and a 9.5% unemployment rate are eroding President Barack Obama’s popularity and dimming Democrats’ prospects in November’s mid-term elections. A Reuters-Ipsos poll this week showed only a 34% approval of Obama’s handling of the economy and jobs compared to 46% who deemed it unsatisfactory. This is a sharp decline from early 2009, shortly after he took office, when more than half of those surveyed approved of Obama’s handling of the worst financial crisis in decades. Analysts do not believe the economy will slide back into recession. They argue an import surge that will subtract from GDP is probably related to increased spending on equipment by businesses, which suggests strength in underlying demand. “We are forecasting that net trade will subtract more than a%age point from GDP,” said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities International in New York. “Imports are a bit peculiar because rising imports suggest strong demand in the economy, increased optimism. But also it’s a leakage from the US The production doesn’t go to the US income.” Apart from capital equipment, the rise in imports has also extended to consumer products. With hiring by private businesses slowing in the second quarter, consumer spending likely cooled somewhat from the 3.0% rate recorded in the first three months of the year, contributing to the slower economic growth pace. Consumer spending normally accounts for about 70% of US economic activity. Only a small contribution to growth is expected from the change in inventories, as the boost from the restocking of warehouses starts to wane. The rebuilding of inventories from record low levels has been a major force in the recovery which started in the second half of 2009. Analysts will be watching to see if final demand recovered after braking sharply in the first quarter. “The economy in the second half is going to lean more heavily on consumer spending because the biggest support from fiscal stimulus and inventories is now ending,” said Moody’s Economy.com’s Sweet. Growth excluding inventories is expected to have increased at a 1.8% rate, accelerating from 0.8% in the first quarter. While businesses scaled backed on hiring, they are expected to have stepped up spending on capital equipment and projects. An increase in spending on equipment and software will be viewed as a sign of confidence in the fragile recovery. “Business investment was cut too much during the recession,” said Jim O’Sullivan, chief economist at MF Global in New York. “Companies have been piling up cash and have huge potential to increase capital spending.” Many economists look for a decline in spending on nonresidential structures, although some say a rise in investment in oil and gas drilling structures should temper the blow if not lead to an increase. JPMorgan economist Michael Feroli said it was unlikely the the increased investment was related to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Support to growth in the second quarter is also seen coming from residential construction, which is expected to have rebounded reflecting a spurt in building activity spurred by a popular homebuyer tax credit that has since expired. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jul 2010 | 1:50 am IOC says no plans to revise petrol prices nowNEW DELHI (Reuters) - State firms have no immediate plans to revise petrol prices as international prices have not fluctuated significantly, the chairman of government-run Indian Oil Corp B.M. Bansal told reporters on Friday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 1:48 am Reliance MediaWorks says not in talks for Inox - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 30 Jul 2010 | 1:30 am ONGC hits a month's low on poor Q1 showState-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) today tanked nearly 2 per cent to a month's low before making a marginal recovery in the early trade, a day after it reported a 24.5 per cent decline in its net profit for the quarter ended June 30.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 30 Jul 2010 | 1:21 am Govt should free diesel prices immediately - adviserNEW DELHI (Reuters) – The government should free diesel prices immediately as global crude prices are stable, and could slap a windfall tax on producers if crude surged beyond $80 a barrel, a senior government adviser said.Source: Reuters: Money News | 30 Jul 2010 | 1:19 am Asia stocks slip, dollar near lows on US worriesHong Kong: Asian stocks sagged on Friday as worries US growth data may surprise on the downside and downbeat comments from a Federal Reserve official gave investors reason book profits from a steady rally this month. European shares were set to open lower for the third consecutive session, financial bookmakers said, with Britain’s FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC-40 seen opening down 0.3-0.8%. The dollar remained near a three-month low against a basket of currencies ahead of the second-quarter GDP data, due at 6:00pm, after a raft of data in the past month undershot market expectations. Asian stocks outside Japan were lower with materials and technology shares underperforming while consumer discretionary shares got a boost from Sony Corp’s robust results. The MSCI Asia ex-Japan Index fell half a percent. The index is up about 7% this month as steady flows into Asian funds continued through the month. “For all the risk on/off talk, I would suggest that risk is never off, rather it becomes more selective,” said Geoff Howie, Sales and Markets Strategist, MF Global Markets in Singapore. “At this juncture risk is being allocated to asset markets of economies with solid industrialisation trajectories, such as China and ASEAN; or economies seeing policy normalization, such as Korea.” Japan’s Nikkei closed down 1.6% as signs that the US recovery was faltering outweighed upbeat domestic earnings. “We expect US GDP to slow more sharply than consensus is calling for, which would confirm concerns over slowdown in the US, possibly adding to risk aversion bets,” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior economist and strategist at Credit Agricole in Hong Kong. Economists forecast US growth to have slowed to 2.5% in the three months to June from 2.7% in the first quarter. But worries persist it could come in weaker. Shares of world’s No.1 memory chip maker Samsung Electronic closed 2% lower on outlook worries after its warned of weak margins, dragging Seoul shares lower. Wall Street fell on Thursday after US technology firms offered glum outlooks, with the Philadelphia semiconductor index falling nearly 2%. Macquarie, Australia’s top investment bank, joined global peers in warning weak markets were hurting key businesses, pulling back from a bullish forecast in April and sending its shares down as much as 6%. St. Louis Federal Reserve bank President James Bullard said on Thursday he is worried about the risks the United States might fall into a Japan-style quagmire of falling prices and investment, helping push major US indexes marginally lower. The dollar fell to an eight-month low against the yen, hurt by selling from Japanese exporters and concerns about the US economic recovery. Sluggish jobs growth, marked by a 9.5% unemployment rate, is the biggest obstacle to the economy’s recovery from the most brutal recession since the 1930s. US equities have been supported by earnings this month, according to MF Global, with 74.5% of S&P 500 components that have reported earnings in the United States beating estimates and only 15% posting a negative surprise. “Going forward, those positive surprises to second quarter earnings need to transform into third quarter jobs,” said MF Global’s Howie. Asia ex-Japan equity funds absorbed more than $1 billion in the week ending 28 July 28, their biggest inflow in 14 weeks, with China equity funds enjoying their best since mid-April, according to data from fund tracking firm EPFR Global. US crude prices paused from the previous session’s strong gains and hovered at just about $78 a barrel while gold edged up but trading was thin in both markets as investors awaited the release of US second quarter GDP data. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jul 2010 | 12:57 am SC refuses to stay Kingfisher Airlines’ plea against CCI probeNew Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to stay the Bombay high court order that directed Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines to co-operate with the fair trade regulator CCI. A bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia said that they are hearing a petition by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) regarding its powers to initiate an investigation against a company on the complaints of a rival. Kingfisher Airlines had moved the Supreme Court against a probe into its two-year-old strategic alliance with Jet Airways. The CCI began the probe last year to examine if the alliance was a case of cartelisation. Kingfisher, however, approached the apex court arguing that the alliance was formed before the Competition Act came into force, and therefore, it couldn’t be probed under it. Justice Kapadia said that the court would lay guidelines for such an investigation and it would hear Kingfisher’s plea after that. Meanwhile, additional solicitor general Parag Tripathi appearing for CCI informed the court that Kingfisher was not co-operating in the investigation. The matter would be heard after four weeks. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jul 2010 | 12:56 am Govt to give banks Rs4,868 crore for cheap farm loansNew Delhi: The government on Friday decided to release Rs4,868 crore to public sector lenders for providing concessional loans to farmers. The decision, taken at a Cabinet meeting, will help lenders provide farmers short-term crop loan at 7% interest. “The union cabinet today gave its approval for the release of Rs4,868 crore as interest subvention to public sector banks (PSBs), regional rural banks (RRBs), cooperative banks and Nabard for refinance to RRBs at concessional rates to reimburse the amount of interest subvention to ensure that the farmer, in general, should receive short-term crop loan at 7% per annum this fiscal,” the government said in a statement. The lenders would have given loans to farmers at 9%, had the subsidy of 2% not been provided by the government. The government has, since 2006-07, been subsidising short term crop loans so as to ensure the availability of funds to farmers. This interest subvention scheme has been continued for 2010-11 for public sector banks, regional rural banks and cooperative banks. In 2009-10, an additional subvention of 1% was being provided to farmers who repaid on time. This has been increased from 1% in 2009-10 to 2% in 2010-11. Thus, the effective rate of interest for such farmers will be 5% per annum. The banks have been consistently meeting the targets set for agriculture credit flow in the past few years. For 2010-11, the target for agricultural credit flow has been raised to Rs3,75,000 crore from Rs3,25,000 crore in 2009-10. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jul 2010 | 12:38 am Markets drop 0.4%; ONGC, Hero Honda fallMumbai: Indian shares eased 0.3% on Friday, with state-run explorer Oil & Natural Gas Corp and top motorcycle maker Hero Honda among the losers after weak quarterly results. Outsourcers such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro fell on concerns over the pace of economic recovery in the United States, their biggest market. “Recent key earnings have been a mixed bag. Global markets are also under pressure. These things are weighing on our market,” said Neeraj Dewan, director of Quantum Securities. By 11:44am, the 30-share BSE index was trading down 0.25% at 17,946.40, with 19 of its components declining. Hero Honda fell as much as 4.3% to Rs1,790.65 after it posted a 1.6% drop in quarterly net profit, its first decline in 11 quarters, and analysts said margins would remain under pressure in the current quarter as well. JPMorgan cut its share price target for the stock to Rs1,845 by next March from Rs1,915. ONGC dropped as much as 1.7% as it reported a more-than-expected 24.5% drop in quarterly profit, as a rise in crude oil prices meant it had to make higher subsidy payouts. Tata Consultancy dropped 0.7%, Infosys shed 0.8% and Wipro lost nearly 1%, after glum outlooks issued by US technology companies and downbeat comments from a US Federal Reserve official. Energy giant Reliance Industries, which has the highest weight on the Sensex, climbed 0.8%, after declining 4.1% in the previous two sessions on concerns over the delay in the ramp up of its gas production. In the broader market, gainers led losers in a ratio of 1.6:1 on volume of 157 million shares. For the week to 28 July, India equity funds had their eighth-straight week of inflows while Asia ex-Japan had the biggest inflow in 14 weeks, according to EPFR Global. The BSE index has risen 2.7% in the year to date, helped by foreign equity inflows of $9.3 billion since the start of January to 28 July, data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India showed. The 50-share NSE index was down 0.3% at 5,393.55. STOCKS Kalpataru Power which makes transmission line towers and is also into real estate development, rose 1.3% to Rs1,010 after its April-June net profit rose 15%. Real estate firm Omaxe jumped 6.1% to Rs117.25 on a 38.7% rise in quarterly profit. Titagarh Wagons rose 3.8% to Rs415.50 after its April-June net profit jumped 84%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 30 Jul 2010 | 12:26 am New security norms worry telecom gear vendorsExpansion plans of mobile operators could slow down considerably with telecom equipment suppliers raising concerns about the security linked norms announced by the Government on Wednesday.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am ONGC net dips 24% on subsidy payoutHigher subsidy payout pulled down ONGC's net profit by 24.5 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal. The company's net profit for the quarter stood at Rs 3,661 crore against Rs 4,848 crore in the same quarter last year.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am UltraTech plans Rs 5,600-cr spendUltraTech Cement has reported a 42 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 243 crore for the quarter ended June 30 against Rs 418 crore logged in the same period lastSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am India, UK to double trade in 5 years: PMIndia and the UK are to work towards doubling bilateral trade in five years, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, said here onSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am SEBI amends MF regulationsTo bring greater transparency in the fee structure and improve turn-around time for customer service processes, market regulator SEBI has amended four mutual fund regulations and omitted oneSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Food inflation eases to single digitFood inflation eased to single digits, rising to an annual 9.67 per cent during the week ended July 17, compared with the previous week's year-on-year surge of 12.47 perSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Post Karnataka ban, Centre to go into mining issuesTaking exception to Karnataka Government's ban on iron ore exports, the Union Commerce Minister, Mr Anand Sharma, said a Group of Ministers, led by the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, will decide on all mining sectorSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Ashok Leyland acquires 26% in UK's OptareAshok Leyland today announced that it would acquire a 26 per cent stake in Optare plc, a UK-headquartered bus manufacturer, for $7.5 million (Rs 28Source: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Petronet LNG (Rs 94.4): BuyWe recommend a buy in the stock of Petronet LNG from a short-term perspective. The stock jumped 10 per cent on July 29, conclusively breaking out of its medium-term sideways consolidation range between Rs 76 and Rs 86. With this break through theSource: Business Line - Home Page | 30 Jul 2010 | 12:00 am Vodafone, TalkTalk sign tie-up deal: ReportTalkTalk will use Vodafone's network to target its existing broadband customers through low-cost monthly contracts, the report said.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jul 2010 | 11:45 pm Toyota working on new car for emerging markets: ReportThe compact car will be based on its Vios and VitzYaris subcompact models, and Toyota is aiming to slash production costs by 30-40% by procuring more parts locally, said the report.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jul 2010 | 11:31 pm Oil prices down in Asian tradeNew York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, was down 20 cents to $78.16 a barrel following gains in US trade overnight.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jul 2010 | 11:29 pm Rupee weakens by 7 paise against dollar in early tradeThe rupee had risen sharply by 22 paise to close at one-month high of 46.53/54 a dollar in the previous session.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 29 Jul 2010 | 11:26 pm Daiichi Sankyo Q1 profit jumps, led by RanbaxyTokyo: Daiichi Sankyo, Japan’s No. 3 drugmaker, said on Friday that its first-quarter recurring profit jumped nearly tenfold and kept its annual outlook, boosted by its Indian arm Ranbaxy. Daiichi posted an April-June recurring profit of ¥70.1 billion ($808 million), up from ¥7.2 billion a year earlier. It kept its forecast for recurring profit to drop 18% to ¥85 billion in the year to March. The company’s full-year forecast is short of the consensus of a ¥99 billion profit in a poll of 15 analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Daiichi bought a majority stake in generic drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories in 2008 and launched a new flagship drug, blood-thinner Effient, this year. The makers of new drugs, including Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical and Astellas Pharma as well as global rivals, are struggling to develop strong successors to their mainstay drugs which face imminent patent expirations. Effient has generated disappointing initial sales, but it, as well as Ranbaxy, have put Daiichi at a relative advantage, as other drugmakers have recently failed to launch new drugs and are mainly dependent on brand drugs. Ranbaxy reported a net profit of 9.6 billion rupees for January-March, the first quarter of its financial year, compared with a net loss of 7.7 billion rupees in the year-ago quarter. Daiichi’s results reflect Ranbaxy’s with the timelag of a quarter. Daiichi Sankyo shares were up 0.8% at ¥1,587 after the announcement. The stock lost 14% as of Thursday’s close from the start of the year, underperforming the benchmark Nikkei 225 average, which shed 8 percent during the same period. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jul 2010 | 11:19 pm Rupee climbs to new 1-month highMumbai: The Indian rupee climbed to a fresh one-month high on Friday as custodian banks, representing foreign investors, sold dollars. Sentiment was also bolstered by the dollar’s weakness against major currencies and other Asian units. At 10:10am, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs46.46/47 per dollar, after hitting Rs46.43, its strongest since 30 June and 0.15% firmer than Thursday’s close of Rs46.53/54. “There is some selling by a big foreign bank and some other custodian flows as well. There is also some initial public offering related money coming in, which is boosting the rupee,” a senior dealer with a private bank said. “I expect the rupee to hold in a Rs46.50-60 range initially and then break out either ways towards Rs46.40 or Rs46.70 depending on shares and dollar moves,” the chief dealer with a large state-run bank said. Dealers said the domestic sharemarket performance would be watched for cues on foreign fund flows which are a key determinant of the rupee’s fortunes. Indian shares fell 0.4% in early trade after disappointing earnings from Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Hero Honda Motors, and weak global cues. Foreigners have been net buyers of shares worth $9.2 billion so far in 2010, adding to last year’s record $17.5 billion inflow when the rupee gained 4.7%. Traders said most of the month-end dollar buying from oil refiners and importers had already been completed. Oil is India’s largest import and refiners are the biggest buyers of dollars in the local currency market with their demand tending to peak at the end of each month when they make payments. Gains in most other regional peers are also seen supporting sentiment for the rupee. The dollar fell to an eight-month low against the yen on Friday, hurt by selling from Japanese exporters and concerns that US GDP data would add to signs of fading momentum for the US economic recovery. The index of the dollar against six major currencies was little changed in Asian trade and would be watched for cues, dealers said. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 46.66, 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 Rs46.6550, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $630 million. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jul 2010 | 10:49 pm WikiLeaks may have blood on its hands, US saysWashington: The whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks may have blood on its hands, the Pentagon said on Thursday, warning its unprecedented leak of secret US military files could cost lives and damage trust of allies. An Army intelligence officer, already under arrest, is at the center of an investigation into the leak of more than 90,000 secret records to WikiLeaks, one of the biggest security breaches in US military history, US officials have said. Defense Secretary Robert Gates declined to comment on the probe but said he could not rule out more leaks of classified information. He also announced plans to tighten access to sensitive intelligence data. “I don’t know whether there is anyone else out there that is a party to this,” Gates said at the Pentagon in his first public comments since Sunday’s publication of the documents. Admiral Mike Mullen, who as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the top US military officer, lashed out at WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange, who says he aims to expose corporate and government corruption. “Mr. Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing,” Mullen said. “But the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family.” Gates said he did not know whether Assange should face criminal prosecution or whether WikiLeaks should be treated like a media organization protected by free speech rights under the US Constitution. “I think that’s a question for people who are more expert in the law than I am,” he said. But asked about a possible broadening of the criminal investigation to include WikiLeaks, Gates said he had asked the FBI to assist the Army’s probe to ensure that the investigation “can go wherever it needs to go.” President Barack Obama and military top brass have played down any revelations from the leaked documents, which have fanned doubts in Washington about the unpopular and costly nine-year-old war. June was the deadliest month for foreign troops since the start of the conflict in 2001 and US officials warn they expect casualties will keep rising over the summer. Obama met his national security team at the White House on Thursday and officials said the WikiLeaks case was discussed. Gates, a former CIA director, told reporters his biggest concern was that Afghans and other allies would no longer trust the United States to keep their secrets safe. The documents include intelligence reports and expose names of contacts. “I spent most of my life in the intelligence business, where the sacrosanct principle is protecting your sources,” Gates said. “It seems to me that, as a result of this massive breach of security, we have considerable repair work to do in terms of reassuring people and rebuilding trust, because they clearly -- people are going to feel at risk.” He said there were technological solutions to tighten security of classified military networks. One defense official suggested possible measures could include deactivating computer functions used to download data onto portable devices, like CDs or thumb-drives. Beyond exposing US contacts, the leaked documents also threw an uncomfortable spotlight on links between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency and insurgents who oppose US troops in neighboring Afghanistan. Mullen acknowledged some ties remained but said Islamabad was “strategically shifting” against insurgents. “There have been elements of the ISI that have ... a relationship with extremist organizations and that we, you know, we consider that unacceptable. In the long run I think that the ISI has to strategically shift,” he said. “And they are strategically shifting. That doesn’t mean that they are through that shift at all.” The Army investigation into the incident has focused on Army specialist Bradley Manning, who was already charged earlier this month with leaking information previously published by WikiLeaks, US defense officials say. Manning is awaiting trial on charges of leaking a classified video showing a 2007 helicopter attack that killed a dozen people in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists. Neither Manning nor anyone else has been named as a suspect in the latest leak and investigators are not ruling out the involvement of multiple individuals. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jul 2010 | 10:35 pm Elite Model Management files case of cheating against Mindscape MaestroMumbai: Elite Model Management, one of the larger modeling agencies in India, announced that it has filed an FIR against the directors of Mindscapes, the company which organized the Kolkata Fashion Week held in 2009. The FIR had been registered against the directors - Pratik Sen, Yudhajit Dutta and Randeb Paul of Mindscapes under Section 420 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code for cheating, according to a statement released by Elite. “We and other industry vendors worked in sincerity and good faith to make Kolkata Fashion Week a success. Now, after having cheated us all, they (Mindscapes) are trying to find new vendors to hold other events including another edition of Kolkata Fashion Week (KFW). We hope that the authorities will act promptly to prevent further injustice,” said Sushma Puri, chief executive and director of Elite Model Management India in a statement to the press. The directors for Mindscapes, represented by Pratik Sen, refuted the charges of cheating through a statement to the media claiming that they had not received a copy of the FIR. They clarified that director Yudhajit Dutta, also director of Purple People Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, had been overseeing all these deals with Elite and had failed to keep the board of directors on Mindscapes Maestro informed about these deals, including ones with Elite which charged “excessive costing” for their models. The statement sent by Sen to the media, maintained that Dutta had been removed as a director from the company after the board realized that he had started selling the KFW property to multiple sponsors through his new company Purple People while the vendor bills continued to be directed to Mindscapes Maestro “which clearly indicates his ill intentions and that is when the board of Mindscapes removed him from directorship but he continued to hold the stake in the company.” Sen maintained that the company was open to discussions with Elite “if they can come forward with justified reworked outstanding…. otherwise we will also have to look at legal advices from our panel of advocates and move this forward,” said Sen. The company also clarified that Mindscapes Maestros Event and Sports Management Pvt. Ltd, was very different from Mindscapes One, which was recently in the news for striking a Rs200crore deal with the Indian captain MS Dhoni. gouri.s@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:19 pm Noel Tata moves to a new roleResigns as Trent MD to become non-executive vice-chairman, appointed MD of Tata International.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:19 pm Top RBI official turns loose cannonCentral bank mandarins are almost always taciturn, mostly withdrawn, reticent, and at worst, measured with what they speak, as any unintentional slippage can wreak havoc in the financial markets.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:18 pm Pranab rejects 3G refund pleaRaja may now seek more subsidy for BSNL.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 29 Jul 2010 | 1:16 pm In Apfel PradeshTurn into any lane off NH21 between Kullu and Manali and you’ll quickly find yourself in an orchard. Stop at any of the local restaurants, however, and unlike other great apple-growing regions of the world, you won’t find apples on the menu. Apples have been grown in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu Valley since 1870, introduced by the British along with trout and hollyhocks, but apart from juice and the occasional chutney, they have failed to make a mark on the local cuisine. In northern France, every village has its own treasured recipe for tarte aux pommes and even the tiniest bistro boasts apple-based pies, galettes, crêpes, soufflés, charlottes, liqueurs, compotes and sorbets. Also Read | Pamela’s previous Lounge columns Where are all the Kullu pies, crumbles and cakes? As we discovered recently, there is some consolation for apple fans at Martin Kiener’s Himalaya Sports Club, nestled in the hills above Manali. Devoted locals, tourists in the know, maharajas and the odd passing chief minister all flock to the Sunday-only restaurant where Martin serves up home-smoked fish, wood-fired pizzas and outstanding roast chicken under the dappled shade of walnut trees. While Martin, who has lived in the valley for over 30 years, is perplexed at the local attitude to apples—“they’re only for selling”—his own dessert menu is a showcase for seasonal fruits, including a Mountain Berry Flan and, as soon as the apple season starts, apfelstrudel from his native Austria. An authentic apfelstrudel is one of the home baker’s most feared projects involving a fragile pastry, similar to Greek filo, which requires enormous patience and experience. According to an awestruck Jane Grigson, the British food writer who once watched the process, “eventually you may be able to read the newspaper through it—text not headlines: this is the counsel of perfection”. Martin gave me a masterclass and I swear he didn’t draw breath from the moment he started to roll the lump of dough until he had patiently and tenderly coaxed it into the flimsiest of gossamer sheets. He made it look like child’s play but even with years of experience, he says, the whole thing can break into a mass of holes. His apfelstrudel was perfection: a lightly spiced apple filling rolled in a delicate crispy pastry, a fitting tribute to India’s apple country. Make strudel on a day when you have a few hours to spare with no distractions, a day that’s neither too hot nor too cold and when you have a companion with a delicate touch on hand to help with the pulling process. Your reward will be in the gasps of amazement of your diners. Click hereto view a slide show for making Apfelstrudel Apfelstrudel Serves 12-14 Ingredients Strudel pastry 200g plain flour (maida) 1 tbsp sunflower oil Grated zest of half a lemon 125ml of water Strudel filling 1.5kg apples 200g breadcrumbs 100g butter 2 pinches of ground cloves A handful of raisins (optional) A handful of vanilla sugar 1 tsp cinnamon Melted butter for basting 1 tbsp rum Method Have ready a large baking tray lined with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Sift the flour into a wide metal tray, make a crater in the middle, then add the oil. Gradually add the water a little at a time, kneading well to incorporate fully before each addition. At times the pastry will look very soggy but keep kneading until all the water has been used and the dough is soft and smooth and doesn’t stick to the tray. Pat the pastry into a ball then moisten all over with a little oil. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rest for about 15 minutes. While the pastry is resting, prepare the filling. Peel, core and very thinly slice the apples—a mandolin is ideal to get the apple slices uniformly wispy. Tip the slices into a bowl with a handful of sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice to prevent the apple turning brown. Stir in 1 tbsp of rum (Martin uses the Austrian variety Stroh 80—perhaps someone could start making a Kullu “Calavados”?). In a frying pan, melt 100g of butter then tip in the breadcrumbs and cloves. Cook until breadcrumbs are nicely but lightly browned. On a large table or work surface, lay out a large clean cloth, sprinkle with sifted flour to stop the dough sticking. Place the pastry in the centre of the cloth and with a rolling pin press gently into a large rectangle. Brush the entire surface of the pastry with melted butter to keep the pastry supple and prevent cracking. Cover the pastry with a clean cloth and leave for 10-15 minutes. At this point, take a deep breath. Pick up the dough and start to stretch it gently over your hands, rather like a pizza dough. Place the pastry back on the cloth and gently pull at the edges. Martin worked deftly with his daughter Erika, expertly stretching until it was “a bit like roomali dough”. Grigson recommends doing this with palms facing down to avoid poking holes in the dough with fingers. When the pastry is as fine as you can make it, trim the edges, using trimmings to cover any holes that appeared during the pulling process. Breathe again. Sprinkle two-thirds of the breadcrumb mixture over the pastry, add an even layer of apple then the remaining crumbs. Sprinkle over the raisins (if using), vanilla sugar and cinnamon. Run a knife around the edges of the pastry to loosen slightly then, working quickly, roll up tightly the pastry and filling, using the cloth underneath to keep the roll firm. Tip the roll on to the prepared baking sheet. Seal the strudel by pressing the pastry edges together, brush off the excess flour then brush all over with melted butter. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes to 1 hour until brown and crispy. Eat hot, straight from the oven with cream, custard or ice cream. Pamela Timms is a Delhi-based journalist and food writer. She blogs at http://eatanddust. wordpress.com Write to Pamela at pieceofcake@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jul 2010 | 12:51 pm In Apfel PradeshTurn into any lane off NH21 between Kullu and Manali and you’ll quickly find yourself in an orchard. Stop at any of the local restaurants, however, and unlike other great apple-growing regions of the world, you won’t find apples on the menu. Apples have been grown in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu Valley since 1870, introduced by the British along with trout and hollyhocks, but apart from juice and the occasional chutney, they have failed to make a mark on the local cuisine. In northern France, every village has its own treasured recipe for tarte aux pommes and even the tiniest bistro boasts apple-based pies, galettes, crêpes, soufflés, charlottes, liqueurs, compotes and sorbets. Also Read | Pamela’s previous Lounge columns Where are all the Kullu pies, crumbles and cakes? As we discovered recently, there is some consolation for apple fans at Martin Kiener’s Himalaya Sports Club, nestled in the hills above Manali. Devoted locals, tourists in the know, maharajas and the odd passing chief minister all flock to the Sunday-only restaurant where Martin serves up home-smoked fish, wood-fired pizzas and outstanding roast chicken under the dappled shade of walnut trees. While Martin, who has lived in the valley for over 30 years, is perplexed at the local attitude to apples—“they’re only for selling”—his own dessert menu is a showcase for seasonal fruits, including a Mountain Berry Flan and, as soon as the apple season starts, apfelstrudel from his native Austria. An authentic apfelstrudel is one of the home baker’s most feared projects involving a fragile pastry, similar to Greek filo, which requires enormous patience and experience. According to an awestruck Jane Grigson, the British food writer who once watched the process, “eventually you may be able to read the newspaper through it—text not headlines: this is the counsel of perfection”. Martin gave me a masterclass and I swear he didn’t draw breath from the moment he started to roll the lump of dough until he had patiently and tenderly coaxed it into the flimsiest of gossamer sheets. He made it look like child’s play but even with years of experience, he says, the whole thing can break into a mass of holes. His apfelstrudel was perfection: a lightly spiced apple filling rolled in a delicate crispy pastry, a fitting tribute to India’s apple country. Make strudel on a day when you have a few hours to spare with no distractions, a day that’s neither too hot nor too cold and when you have a companion with a delicate touch on hand to help with the pulling process. Your reward will be in the gasps of amazement of your diners. Click here to view a slide show for making Apfelstrudel Apfelstrudel Serves 12-14 Ingredients Strudel pastry 200g plain flour (maida) 1 tbsp sunflower oil Grated zest of half a lemon 125ml of water Strudel filling 1.5kg apples 200g breadcrumbs 100g butter 2 pinches of ground cloves A handful of raisins (optional) A handful of vanilla sugar 1 tsp cinnamon Melted butter for basting 1 tbsp rum Method Have ready a large baking tray lined with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Sift the flour into a wide metal tray, make a crater in the middle, then add the oil. Gradually add the water a little at a time, kneading well to incorporate fully before each addition. At times the pastry will look very soggy but keep kneading until all the water has been used and the dough is soft and smooth and doesn’t stick to the tray. Pat the pastry into a ball then moisten all over with a little oil. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rest for about 15 minutes. While the pastry is resting, prepare the filling. Peel, core and very thinly slice the apples—a mandolin is ideal to get the apple slices uniformly wispy. Tip the slices into a bowl with a handful of sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice to prevent the apple turning brown. Stir in 1 tbsp of rum (Martin uses the Austrian variety Stroh 80—perhaps someone could start making a Kullu “Calavados”?). In a frying pan, melt 100g of butter then tip in the breadcrumbs and cloves. Cook until breadcrumbs are nicely but lightly browned. On a large table or work surface, lay out a large clean cloth, sprinkle with sifted flour to stop the dough sticking. Place the pastry in the centre of the cloth and with a rolling pin press gently into a large rectangle. Brush the entire surface of the pastry with melted butter to keep the pastry supple and prevent cracking. Cover the pastry with a clean cloth and leave for 10-15 minutes. At this point, take a deep breath. Pick up the dough and start to stretch it gently over your hands, rather like a pizza dough. Place the pastry back on the cloth and gently pull at the edges. Martin worked deftly with his daughter Erika, expertly stretching until it was “a bit like roomali dough”. Grigson recommends doing this with palms facing down to avoid poking holes in the dough with fingers. When the pastry is as fine as you can make it, trim the edges, using trimmings to cover any holes that appeared during the pulling process. Breathe again. Sprinkle two-thirds of the breadcrumb mixture over the pastry, add an even layer of apple then the remaining crumbs. Sprinkle over the raisins (if using), vanilla sugar and cinnamon. Run a knife around the edges of the pastry to loosen slightly then, working quickly, roll up tightly the pastry and filling, using the cloth underneath to keep the roll firm. Tip the roll on to the prepared baking sheet. Seal the strudel by pressing the pastry edges together, brush off the excess flour then brush all over with melted butter. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes to 1 hour until brown and crispy. Eat hot, straight from the oven with cream, custard or ice cream. Pamela Timms is a Delhi-based journalist and food writer. She blogs at http://eatanddust. wordpress.com Write to Pamela at pieceofcake@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 29 Jul 2010 | 12:50 pm
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