|
Loading...
|
|
|
Loading...
|
Bosch loses $60.4m rev in February due to Bangalore strikeBosch loses $60.4m rev in February due to Bangalore strike The Bosch Group has lost USD 60.4 million in revenue in February alone due to the strike at its factory at Naganathpura in Bangalore.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 11:00 am IFFCO sells CO2 offsets to Spanish fundIndian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative, the country\'s biggest fertiliser producer, has sold UN carbon credits worth 40 million rupees (USD 880,000) to a Spanish fund, a company statement said on Wednesday.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 9:34 am India takes measures to tide over sugar shortfallIndia\'s sugar mills have backed out of import deals to the tune of 100,000 tonnes, and traders have diverted cargoes as prices tumble.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 9:33 am SBI\'s capital adequate, no urgent need for rights issueChairman and Managing Director of the country\'s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), OP Bhatt said the bank was capital adequate. There is no urgent need for a rights issue, he added.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 9:23 am Banks must pull up their socks, says ICAI\'s Amarjit ChopraThe newly elected President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Amarjit Chopra said he is expecting amendments to the Companies Act and feels the banking sector needs to pull up its socks.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 9:19 am To foray into solar, biomass, geothermal energy: ThermaxIn an interview with CNBCTV18, MS Unnikrishnan, Managing Director of Thermax Ltd, spoke about his outlook for the company.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 9:13 am Nagarjuna Fert plans to buy German Specialty Chemical CoIn an interview with CNBCTV18, RS Nanda, Director and COO, Nagarjuna Fertilisers Chemicals, spoke about the latest happenings in his company and sector.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 9:09 am Zylog Sys forecasts Rs 18002000cr topline in FY11Zylog Systems has recently acquired a Canadian consulting and engineering firm Brainhunter for about USD 35 million. In an interview with CNBCTV18, Ramanujam Sesharthnam, MD, Zylog Systems spoke about the company\'s acquisitions and the road ahead for the business.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 9:04 am Supreme Infrastructure bags 2 orders worth Rs 405crSupreme Infrastructure has bagged two orders worth Rs 405 crore. In an interview with CNBCTV18, Vikas B Sharma, Whole Time Director of the company discusses it.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 8:57 am Sugar prices down due to improved production: Oudh SugarsIn an interview with CNBCTV18, CS Nopani, Managing Director of Oudh Sugars, spoke about his outlook on sugar prices.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 8:18 am China signs up to climate deal - Financial Times
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Mar 2010 | 7:37 am Ford to launch more global products in India - Economic Times
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Mar 2010 | 7:36 am Rupee at 2-month high of 45.38 - NDTV.com
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Mar 2010 | 7:28 am BoA to consider fresh SEZ proposals on Apr 9New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) The Board of Approval (BoA), the nodal agency under the commerce ministry for SEZ related issues, will consider fresh applications for setting up of tax-free zones on April 9.Source: Latest Business News | World Business Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 7:26 am SSTL expects to get Russian govt investment by April''10New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) Sistema-Shyam Teleservices (SSTL), a joint venture between Russian telco Sistema and Shyam group, today said it expects to get funds from the Russian government by April-May.Source: Latest Business News | World Business Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 7:21 am Mamata not obeying Govt discipline, says Cong MP in RSNew Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) Apparently stung by a Congress member's remarks in the Rajya Sabha that some ministers were "not obeying" discipline of the government, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today left the House briefly when discussion on the Railway Budget was on.Source: Latest Business News | World Business Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 7:19 am Oil inches toward $82, OPEC ups demand growth outlookOil edged higher towards $82 per barrel but without clear momentum as investors waited to see if data on U.S. stocks later on Wednesday would provide impetus as OPEC's monthly report gave little fodder for bulls.Source: Latest Business News | World Business Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 7:18 am FII net inflow in equities crosses $2 bnNew Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) The strong post-budget rally has seen the net inflow from foreign institutional investors crossing the USD 2-billion-mark so far this year.Source: Latest Business News | World Business Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 7:17 am India invites investment in food processingNew Delhi, March 10 (IANS) India Wednesday invited investment in the food processing industry to raise the processing levels of its agricultural produce from the current 10 percent to 20 percent.Source: Latest Business News | World Business Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 7:15 am Daimler sees slow trucks rebound, hopes in BRICDaimler, the world's leading truckmaker, expects commercial vehicle markets in developed countries to rebound only slowly while major growth comes in emerging markets, a top official said.Source: Latest Business News | World Business Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 7:13 am Thermax inks deal with US firm for supercritical boilers - Sify
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Mar 2010 | 7:04 am UPDATE 1-DQ Entertainment IPO subscribed 84.3 times - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Mar 2010 | 7:04 am Microfinance under the microscope - The Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Mar 2010 | 7:02 am Two IIMs reduce recruitment fee to attract companiesNew Delhi, March 10 (IANS) The Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore and its counterpart in Lucknow have reduced their placement service charges substantially to attract more companies for on campus recruitment.Source: Latest Business News | World Business Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 7:02 am One in two sovereign funds invest in alternatives - reportLONDON (Reuters) - Around one in two sovereign wealth funds invest in private equity, real estate and infrastructure assets to seek a diversified source of returns, a report showed on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:56 am One in two sovereign funds invest in alternatives - reportAround one in two sovereign wealth funds invest in private equity, real estate and infrastructure assets to seek a diversified source of returns, a report showed on Wednesday.Source: Latest Business News | World Business Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:56 am Indian investors allowed access to US capital market - The Hindu
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:47 am NMDC public offer subscribed 17% on Day 1New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) The follow-on public offer of the state-run mining major NMDC got subscribed 17 per cent at the end of first day of its opening today, with most of the bids coming in at the lower end of the price range.Source: Latest Business News | World Business Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:43 am Rupee hits 2-month high tracking Asian peersMUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee hit its highest in nearly two months, boosted by stronger regional peers and expectations of robust dollar inflows related to a share sale.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:37 am Gallery - Image2 US President Barack Obama signs a book as first lady Michelle Obama looks on during a Nobel Signing Ceremony at the Nobel Institute in Oslo on Thursday. Susan Walsh / AP Source: Gallery - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:35 am Gallery - Image6 Source: Gallery - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:35 am Gallery - Image3 Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg with US President Barack Obama in the Norwegian prime minister’s office in Oslo on Thursday. Hakon Mosvold Larsen / AP Source: Gallery - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:35 am Gallery - Image7 Commonwealth Games Organising Commttee chairman Suresh Kalmadi exchanges MoU documents with NTPC chief R S Sharma in the presence of Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and MoS for power Bharatsinh Solanki in New Delhi on Thursday. NTPC shall be official Power Partner for the XIX Commonwealth Games. Kamal Kishore / PTI Source: Gallery - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:35 am Gallery - Image1 US President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Barack Obama receives his medal and diploma from the chairman of the Nobel committee Thorbjorn Jagland at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at City Hall in Oslo, on Thursday. Bjorn Sigurdson / AP Source: Gallery - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:35 am Gallery - Image5 Supporters of the Telangana movement celebrate after Centre’s decision to initiate the process of creating a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh, at Osmania Universaity in Hyderabad, on Thursday. Mahesh Kumar A / AP Source: Gallery - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:35 am Gallery - Image4 US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama arrive in Oslo for the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony to be held later at Oslo City Hall on Thursday. Heiko Junge / Reuters Source: Gallery - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:35 am State aid for UAE banks seen after Dubai World dealDUBAI (Reuters) - Banks in the United Arab Emirates may require more government support if the debt restructuring of state-owned Dubai World forces lenders to take significant "haircuts" or debt writedowns, analysts say.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:33 am WTO members behind in providing farm subsidy dataGENEVA (Reuters) - Most members of the World Trade Organization are years behind in providing data about farm subsidies, essential to see whether they are sticking to agreements, an internal WTO document shows.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:21 am NMDC share sale 17 pct covered on first day - Reuters India
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:14 am Indian importers abandon deals as sugar prices fallNew Delhi: Indian sugar mills have cancelled import deals for 100,000 tonnes as traders divert cargoes on tumbling prices that made purchases unviable, sources with sugar firms and traders said on Wednesday. New York sugar futures extended their decline to 6.7% on Wednesday and traders said weaker demand from India was a key factor. Futures have dropped over 30% since hitting a 29-year high last month on technical selling driven by improving supply from top producer Brazil and also Europe. “There are some washouts and defaults. With very low prices and a rise in production estimates, the mood has suddenly turned very bearish,” said Mukesh Kuvadia, secretary general of the Bombay Sugar Merchants’ Association. The deputy director general of the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), Meka Narasimha Rao, said the world’s biggest sugar consumer did not need more imports. “The sugar situation is comfortable. We do not need more imports. Imports beyond requirement hurts the domestic industry. A fall in domestic prices beyond a point will not help efforts to raise production,” he said. On Monday, ISMA raised its forecast for this year’s sugar output by 5% to 16.8 million tonnes. Bearish Outlook Kuvadia said the new forecast made the outlook more bearish. Analysts say defaults, diversions or washouts — in which buyers give up the obligation to take delivery by paying a penalty — may further push down international sugar prices, making purchases by Indian mills attractive. Officials with two sugar firms and three trading houses, who did not want to be identified, said mills had backed out of import deals for raws and whites of more than 100,000 tonnes, which could rise to 600,000 tonnes if prices did not improve. “Some have been washed out and some diverted,” said a New Delhi-based senior official of the Indian arm of a global trading firm. A top official with another international trading firm said mills had backed out of deals mostly struck at around $605-$620 per tonne between January and February for July shipment. “Import prices have since dropped by about $100 a tonne now. I believe about 100,000 tonnes have been washed out,” he said. New York raw sugar futures fell almost 6% to a seven-month low on Tuesday, as a bearish crop estimate for top consumer India deepened losses that have wiped a third off prices since the February peak. Last October, tumbling domestic prices in India as well as declines in New York heightened speculation that importers backed out of some deals but evidence was elusive. Sugar prices in India’s Kolhapur, a key market in the biggest producing state, western Maharashtra, dropped to Rs3,037.65 ($66.5) per 100 kg last week, the lowest since 28 October. More Defaults A senior official of a top sugar firm said if prices did not rise, more mills would renege on import contracts. “A large quantity has been cancelled. I expect the trend to continue if prices do not pick up. Obviously, these defaults will lead to trade disputes between suppliers and buyers,” the official, who did not want to be identified, said. Two other traders contacted by Reuters said there were no fresh import deals since 20 February because of the lower prices. “Imports have dried up but India still needs imports,” said one of the two traders. Luke Mathews, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney said that apart from Egypt’s purchase of 90,000 tonnes of raws a few days ago, there was hardly any activity in the market. “The sugar market is bleeding very heavily,” he said. Industry officials say India has contracted for about 6 million tonnes of sugar since the beginning of the season on 1 October, almost double the quantity ordered in 2008-09 to bridge a shortfall after output almost halved to 14.7 million tonnes. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:08 am DQ Entertainment IPO subscribed 84.3 times Mumbai: Animation and gaming firm DQ Entertainment (International) Ltd’s initial public offer (IPO) to raise up to Rs1.28 billion was subscribed 84.3 times, as per the NSE website on Wednesday, the last day of the issue. DQ Entertainment had offered 15.73 million shares to the public at a price band of Rs75-80 each. In addition, employees would get up to 321,011 shares at a Rs7 discount to the issue price, the banker to the issue had said. “At 5 pm, the institutional portion was over-subscribed 100 times and the retail portion was over-subscribed 15 times,” said Antony Kottackal, executive vice-president and head of capital markets at SBI Capital Markets, the sole manager to the issue. “The high networth individuals portion was oversubscribed 180-200 times,” he added. Last week, the producer of television series such as Iron Man and Casper allotted 2.8 million shares at Rs80 each to seven anchor investors, including T Rowe Price International Discovery Fund and Morgan Stanley A.C.E. Fund. In February, it had raised Rs256.9 million through a pre-IPO share sale of 3.77 million shares to IDFC Investment Advisors and other corporate and high net worth investors, with IDFC taking the largest chunk of shares worth Rs200 million. DQ Entertainment will invest the proceeds in intellectual property, co-production deals, development of production and office units and a special economic zone in Andhra Pradesh, its Ireland unit and for general corporate purposes. DQ has produced / co-produced and distributed brands such as Mikido, Twisted Whiskers, third season of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and is now producing properties like Little Prince and Little Nicolas. The issue that opened on 8 March. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:07 am Opec raises 2010 oil demand forecastCairo: OPEC has raised its projections for oil demand growth this year by 100,000 barrels per day, but stresses that gains could be eroded if the US government scales back on stimulus efforts before the country’s economy fully recovers. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in a report released Wednesday that world oil demand was projected to climb to almost 900,000 barrels per day, or 100,000 barrels a day more than its February projection. But the 12-member group that supplies about 35% of the world’s crude cautioned that the recovery was tied to that of the global economy. It warned that demand growth could falter should governments scale back on stimulus efforts too quickly. Opec is scheduled to meet 17 March. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:02 am Congress faces turmoil over women’s BillNew Delhi: The ruling Congress party members met on Wednesday to resolve a political standoff over a contentious women’s quota Bill after two of its allies quit and left the government less elbow room to pass economic legislation. Already under fire over issues such as food inflation and a proposed hike in fuel prices, India’s coalition government has been hit by turmoil trying to push through legislation reserving a third of parliamentary seats for women. The Bill angered two of Congress’ partners — the regional Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) — which withdrew their support. On Wednesday they began mobilizing support for a possible parliamentary vote against the government. Also Read | UPA, a step away from history Edit |A million Helens now While the Congress-led coalition still has a majority, the standoff may prove a distraction for a government trying to push through key economic legislation, including the 2010-11 Budget. “We are talking to everyone, everything is fine and we are not worried,” senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily said. The two parties which quit backed the government from outside but their support gave the Congress the room to push through policy decisions in Parliament to maintain high growth. Samajwadi said it might consider bringing a “no-trust” vote against the government. “We do not have the numbers now, but we are in touch with other political parties and if the situation changes we may consider it,” Samajwadi chief Mulayam Singh Yadav told Reuters. The women’s quota Bill, which has wide support among parties including the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was passed on Tuesday after a raucous day in the Rajya Sabha. It still needs the approval of the Lok Sabha. Critics say the legislation is being pushed through at the expense of other disenfranchised minorities such as Muslims and will only benefit women already in privileged classes. Noisy Protests The women’s quota Bill has also left a major government ally disaffected. The Trinamool Congress party, one of the government’s most influential allies, abstained from voting on Tuesday to protest against Congress’ handling of the Bill and said it would do the same in the lower House. The party has not spoken of breaking away from the coalition. On Wednesday, a handful of Samajwadi and RJD lawmakers forced the Lok Sabha to shut for the day with noisy protests against the Bill. Given the trouble still expected over the Bill, Congress members said it is unlikely to be introduced in the Lok Sabha, where the priority now is to get the 2010-11 Budget ratified. The Budget Session breaks for a month next week. Signalling its intentions to corner the government, the BJP said on Wednesday it may seek a discussion and a parliamentary vote on the Budget once the House reconvenes next month. “There are several issues over which the government has failed,” Gopinath Munde, the party’s deputy chief in Lok Sabha, told Reuters. Technically, a defeat in such a vote would mean the government would have to resign. The women’s quota Bill, which was first introduced in 1996, is intended to speed up women’s empowerment in a country where women lag far behind on many social and health indicators. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 6:00 am Air India to introduce direct flight to DehradunThe national carrier will be operating the flight with a 46-seater ATR aircraft, which will depart Delhi at 10.10 am and reach Dehradun at 11.10 am.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:57 am EMF backers have different "mindsets" - Strauss-KahnJOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - European leaders pushing for a regional monetary fund do not appear to have the same viewpoint on the issue, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:47 am OPEC sees higher 2010 oil demand growthLONDON (Reuters) - Global oil demand will rise more quickly than expected in 2010, OPEC said on Wednesday, increasing the need for crude from the 12-member group which meets to set policy next week.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:42 am FDI inflows dip by 25% to $2.04 bn in JanNew Delhi: Foreign direct investment in the country declined by 25% to $2.04 billion in January compared to the same month last year, snapping a trend of positive growth in the previous three consecutive months. “There is no specific reason why the inflows in January dipped,” an official said. When asked, he further said India’s total FDI by the end of 2009-10, will not be more than last fiscal’s. In January 2009, FDI inflows were $2.73 billion. India attracted foreign direct investment of $2.33 billion in October 2009, about 56% up over the same month last year, while in November FDI surged by 60% to $1.73 billion. The FDI increased by 13% to $1.54 billion in December from $1.36 billion in the year-ago period. In 2008-09, India received $27.3 billion FDI, higher than $24.5 billion in 2007-08. During April-January 2009-10, the foreign inflows declined by about 4% to $22.96 billion from $23.86 billion in the corresponding period last year, the official said. “The major sectors that received FDI include services, computer software and hardware, telecommunications and housing and real estate,” the official said. Crisil’s Principal Economist D K Joshi also maintained that “it would be difficult for the country to attract more FDI than what it received during 2008-09.” Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:38 am SAIL plans to double steel production by 2014State-run steel maker Steel Authority of India plans to increase its annual capacity to 26 million tonnes by 2014 from the the current 14 million tonnes.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:30 am Selloff in 12-15 CPSUs next fiscal: finmin officialNew Delhi: The government is likely to go ahead with divestment in 12-15 public sector units, including SAIL, Coal India, Hindustan Copper, SJVNL and EIL among others next fiscal to raise Rs40,000 crore, as stated in the budget. The selloff roadmap for the next fiscal will be prepared by the end of next month and may include BSNL as well, a key finance ministry official said. “Roadmap will be prepared by April-end...We have earmarked 12-15 companies. We will have to raise Rs40,000 crore so it will be 12-15 companies,” disinvestment joint secretary Sidhartha Pradhan said here on Wednesday. He said divestment in some of these companies will be through initial public offers while in some others it will be follow-on public offers. Pradhan further said disinvestment in Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam would be carried out in April, Engineers India in May-June, SAIL in August-September and Coal India around the end of the year. He pointed out that SJVNL has already filed the draft red herring prospectus with the Sebi and the approval from the market regulator is expected by this month-end. The cabinet has already cleared disinvestment in EIL. On a query whether divestment in telecom gaint BSNL can be done next fiscal, Pradhan said, “yes it could (BSNL divestment). We are still waiting for the telecom ministry to formally inform us what is the extent of divestment.” The Budget has upped the revenue target from sale of government equity in CPSUs at Rs40,000 crore in 2010-11 from the Rs25,000 crore targeted in the current fiscal. The government has already diluted its stake in Oil India, NHPC, NTPC, Rural Electrification during the past two quarters, while mineral giant NMDC issue opened Wednesday As per the cabinet decision, all listed profitable PSUs should have a public holding of at least 10% and all profitable unlisted CPSUs should be listed. As per the criteria, 60 state-run companies are eligible for disinvestment. Revenue secretary Sunil Mitra has said he does not anticipate any backlash from PSU employees against divestment in state-run companies and the target of Rs40,000 crore next fiscal is ‘modest’ and achievable. Before taking charge as revenue secretary, Mitra was with the secretary disinvestment. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:29 am 15 cases of dumping of Chinese products being probedIndia is investigating 15 new cases of dumping of products from China, the government said Wednesday.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:24 am SBI prefers rights issue to raise capital: BhattCountry's largest lender, State Bank of India, would prefer a rights issue to raise funds for business growth rather than diluting Government holding, the bank chairman O P Bhatt said.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:24 am Apollo to buy Citi’s property investment unit: reportLondon: US private equity player Apollo Management has inked a preliminary agreement to buy Citigroup’s property investment unit, says a media report. The deal would give the private equity firm a far bigger global presence. “Apollo Management signed a preliminary agreement to buy Citigroup’s property investment unit...,” British daily Financial Times has reported attributing to people familiar with the matter. The report noted that Apollo would get about $12.5 billion in gross assets and exposure to Europe for the first time. “It will also acquire the team of 60 professionals employed by Citi,” the daily added. As part of its efforts to shrink balance sheet and also raise money, Citi has been selling many of its assets in the past few months. According to the publication, Apollo was believed to have had an inside track against other bidders since its head of real estate, Joe Azrack, once headed the Citi real estate unit. “Azrack left Citi in June 2008 as part of a number of high-profile departures from the bank against a backdrop of heavy losses in real estate,” the report said. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:23 am Apollo to buy Citi’s property investment unit: reportLondon: US private equity player Apollo Management has inked a preliminary agreement to buy Citigroup’s property investment unit, says a media report. The deal would give the private equity firm a far bigger global presence. “Apollo Management signed a preliminary agreement to buy Citigroup’s property investment unit...,” British daily Financial Times has reported attributing to people familiar with the matter. The report noted that Apollo would get about $12.5 billion in gross assets and exposure to Europe for the first time. “It will also acquire the team of 60 professionals employed by Citi,” the daily added. As part of its efforts to shrink balance sheet and also raise money, Citi has been selling many of its assets in the past few months. According to the publication, Apollo was believed to have had an inside track against other bidders since its head of real estate, Joe Azrack, once headed the Citi real estate unit. “Azrack left Citi in June 2008 as part of a number of high-profile departures from the bank against a backdrop of heavy losses in real estate,” the report said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:23 am Drug maker Novartis announces $5 bn bond issueBasel, Switzerland: Swiss drug maker Novartis AG announced Wednesday a $5 billion bond issue to finance its purchase of eye-care company Alcon Inc. The pharmaceuticals company said the notes will be issued in three parts by its US subsidiary Novartis Capital Corporation. “Proceeds will be used for intercompany refinancing purposes in connection with the pending Alcon acquisition, as well as for general corporate purposes,” Novartis said in a statement. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:18 am Infosys seeing increase in deal inflowsMumbai: Software major Infosys Technologies on Wednesday said more IT deals were coming in the past two quarters as all major markets are back on the path of economic recovery. “What has changed in the last two quarters is that the markets have improved and deals are coming back. We see more deal flows,” Infosys CEO and MD S Gopalakrishnan told reporters on the sidelines of a CII meet here. IT companies were hit hard during the global economic slow down, the worst in the past 60 years, triggered with the fall of US-based Lehman Brothers in September 2008. As the deal pipeline is improving, the IT major is looking at diversifying its business worldwide. “The recovery is led by the US and other emerging markets such as India and China. The US contributes 60 per cent of the total business. Clearly this is having more impact on the Indian IT services. Proactively we are investing more on diversifying our business,” he said. At present, the company’s revenue distribution is 60% from North America, 25% from Europe and the balance from other parts of the world. “In five-years from now, we see the revenue distribution at 40% from North America, 40% from Europe and 20% from rest of the world,” Gopalkrishnan said. Pricing would remain stable, he said. On the increase in minimum alternate tax announced in the Budget, he said that his company would not be impacted by it. When asked if volatility in the currency movement would affect business, he said 1% appreciation or fall in currency would affect margins by 0.40%. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:15 am Shree Cement to set up clinker unitMumbai: Cement maker Shree Cement plans to set up a Rs350 crore clinker unit in Rajasthan and aims to start production by Nov-Dec 2010, a top official said. “It (new clinker unit) will be near our existing unit in Pali district of Rajasthan,” Shree Cement managing director H M Bangur said over phone. On Wednesday, Shree Cement had commissioned a 1.80-million-tonne per annum clinker-grinding unit in Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan. The Pali unit is in addition to the grinding unit, he said. The company would use internal accruals for funding the new plant, he said. With the addition of the new unit, the company expects total capacity to increase to around 13 million tonnes by the end of FY11, from the present 10 million tonnes. For the March quarter, the company expects a 10-12% rise in total production on a year-on-year basis, and around 15% increase on a quarter-on-quarter basis. By March-end, the company’s total clinker and cement production would be around 10.3 million tonne, he said. On the capex for FY11, the company has proposed a capital expenditure of Rs4 00 crore per quarter, which also includes expenses for its power units in Rajasthan. Shree Cement, which had announced its foray into commercial power business in October last year, expects to sell roughly 150 mega watt of power per day to various state governments and power exchanges. However, he declined to comment on price and revenue expected from power business. The company expects revenue of over Rs3,500 in FY10, approximately 25% increase from the previous financial year, he said. No price hike “Some price hikes (in cement) have taken place, and it is in direct relation to what the excise duty has been increased...,” he said. India’s finance minister has proposed to hike excise duty on cement to 10% from the earlier 8% and to impose a clean energy cess of Rs50 per tonne on domestic and imported coal in the federal budget. Following this, cement companies had hiked prices by Rs5-6 per 50 kg bag, he said. “Every time, the increase (in prices) cannot be passed to the consumer... Right now there is no mood to pass on (the hike in duties to the customer),” he added. There is no fall in cement demand after the price hike, he said. Shree Cement shares closed up 1.39% at Rs2,240 a share in a firm Mumbai market. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:13 am Brown says UK to maintain AAA credit ratingLONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Wednesday he believed Britain would maintain its coveted top credit rating and announced a pay freeze for senior civil servants and military officers to help tame a record deficit.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:12 am Ford launches Figo priced at Rs 3.5-4.48 lakh!US carmaker Ford Tuesday launched its much anticipated global small car `Figo` in the Indian market, priced at Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 4.48 lakh.Source: Zee News : Business | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:11 am India most optimistic nation on hiring in Q2: Manpower!India continued to be the most optimistic nation in terms of hiring plans for the next three months, driven by strong job opportunities across all sectors, global staffing services firm Manpower said.Source: Zee News : Business | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:11 am Infosys says increase in outsourcing dealsIT major, Infosys Technologies, has witnessed an increase in outsourcing deals as all major markets are back on the recovery track, a top company official said.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 5:04 am Sensex gains 46 points after choppy ride - NDTV.com
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Mar 2010 | 4:51 am Shell stops gasoline sales to Iran: TradeOil major Royal Dutch Shell has stopped gasoline sales to Iran, oil traders said on Wednesday, the latest addition to a growing list of firms that have halted supplies under threat of future US sanctions.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 4:42 am Bank of Japan leaning towards easing but not a done deal: SourcesBy easing policy now, the BOJ may avert government pressure and get some breathing space after facing repeated calls from Japan's finance minister for fresh action to achieve 1% inflation.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 4:41 am Chinese group files complaint over 'faulty' HP laptopsJiang Suhua, a lawyer at Yingke Law Firm in Beijing, said that the complaint centred on video cards which overheated and caused the laptop to malfunction.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 4:40 am India takes measures to tide over sugar shortfall - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Business - Google News | 10 Mar 2010 | 4:20 am Britain’s pension contract with TCS invites criticismLondon: The proposed multi-year contract between TCS and the UK government for administering its employment savings trust has evoked adverse comments from some British websites, one of which even suggested the deal could be reviewed if there is a change of guard in the government after the May elections. The British’s Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA) earlier this month had said it would sign a contract with Tata Consultancy Services to administer the National Employment Savings Trust(NEST). The Personal Accounts Delivery Authority is a non-departmental public body in Britain. According to the website www.moneymarketing.co.uk, the Conservatives have attacked the decision to sign the contract for NEST administration before the general elections. The website quoted Conservative’s shadow pensions minister Nigel Waterson as saying, “he is amazed that contract would be signed so quickly and stressed that this would not inhibit a Tory review of the scheme if they get into power”. “We wish to make it clear that our review of NEST, should we win the elections, will not be constrained in any way by any contract signed by this government in its dying days,” Waterson was quoted as saying in the report. When contacted, TCS declined to comment on the issue. Another website, www.citywire.co.uk, has reported that the “ahead of schedule” contract between PADA and TCS will cost the “taxpayer £25 million, even if the next government axes the NEST.” According to the report, TCS has been contracted to run NEST at a cost of about £600 million. The www.citywire.co.uk in a report has quoted Waterson as saying that he was told about the TCS contract just hours before it was announced. “We find the fact the government is pushing on without any consensus just weeks before a general election is just extraordinary,” he had said. The contract would be divided into two stages and runs for ten years. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 4:18 am Markets edge up 0.3%; RIL gainsMumbai: Indian shares nudged 0.3% higher on Wednesday, with Reliance Industries leading the gains, helped by small gains in Asia. The 30-share BSE Index closed 0.27% or Rs45.79 points higher to finish at 17,098.33, with 18 of its components gaining. The 50-share NSE index rose 0.3% to 5,116.25. Investors remain cautious after the main index rose 3.4% last week, posting the best weekly gains so far in 2010. “Market may consolidate for a while. It cannot have a one-way movement,” said Naresh Kumar Garg, CEO of Sahara Mutual Fund referring to the steep rise after the 26 February federal budget. Foreign funds have poured in around $1.8 billion in Indian equities, for the six sessions to March 8. Investors await the January-March quarter earnings for further cues. “While topline could show good growth, there could be some pressure on the margins due to higher input costs. These quarterly numbers could set the trend for the market to move subsequently,” said Garg. Energy giant Reliance Industries, which has the highest weight on the Sensex, rose 1.8% to Rs1,008.05. It had declined more than 3% over the last four sessions. Earlier this month, Macquarie said in a note Reliance Industries is poised to witness strong and highly visible earnings growth over the next two years. “We believe a recent tripling in GRMs (gross refining margins), further gas ramp up and shift to cheap in-house gas shall herald 4QFY10 as an inflection point,” the brokerage, which has an “outperform” rating on the stock, noted. Tata Steel, world’s eighth largest steelmaker by output, edged 0.4% lower after its vice-chairman told Reuters iron ore prices are headed as much as 35% higher this year and will likely pressure the profit margins of steel companies. Auto makers raced on expectations of good sales growth. India’s top vehicle maker Tata Motors rose nearly 1% while top utility vehicle maker and top motorbike maker Hero Honda rose 0.6% and 2.9% respectively. Maruti Suzuki India, however, bucked the trend and closed 1.3% lower. IT bellwether Infosys Technologies shed 0.9% as traders locked gains after the stock rose more than 2% over the previous three sessions. In the broader market, gainers outpaced decliners in the ratio of 1.4:1, while 403 million shares changed hands on the Bombay Stock Exchange, lower than Tuesday’s volume. World stocks were mute, with the MSCI’s measure of Asian markets other than Japan gaining 0.4% by 1010 GMT, while the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was almost flat. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 4:10 am Sensex closes flatA benchmark index for Indian equities shut shop on a flat note Wednesday, giving up its intra-day gains.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 10 Mar 2010 | 4:09 am INTERVIEW - Russia sees over $10 bln in deals with IndiaMOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia plans to sign over $10 billion worth of deals with India during the visit of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin later this week, Putin's deputy, Sergei Sobyanin, told Reuters in an interview.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 3:36 am Haryana Budget creates corpus to fund local bodiesThe Haryana budget for 2010-11 presented today increased the total plan outlay marginally by Rs100 crore to Rs10,500 crore.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 3:36 am Gujjar community hails Rajasthan budgetThe Gujjar community today hailed the Rajasthan budget 2010-11 in which a special welfare package has been provided to OBCs.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 3:31 am Oil struggles for clear direction from $81.50London: Oil failed to find momentum in either direction for a clear move away from $81.50 on Wednesday as investors waited for data on US stocks or Opec’s monthly report ahead of next week’s meeting to provide impetus. US crude for April delivery was flat at $81.49 by 3:58pm. It had earlier risen to within 80 cents of Monday’s peak of $82.41, the highest level since prices jumped to a 15-month high of $83.95 on 11 January. London ICE Brent for April edged up 7 cents to $79.98. “There’s a little bit of reticence about striking out one way or the other ... there’s not enough information to herald decisively a bull run,” said Paul Harris, head of energy and emissions at Bank of Ireland. Crude prices need a fundamental kick to score direction. “Technically, there are still no clear trends on WTI,” said Olivier Jakob at Petromatrix in a note. “WTI is maintained ... close enough to $82 per barrel for the bulls to try another attack at that resistance level upon the delivery of the (US) statistics as there will necessarily be one positive item in the weekly report,” he added. US inventory statistics from the government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be published at 9:00pm. The American Petroleum Institute’s figures, published on Tuesday, showed US crude inventories rose by 6.5 million barrels in the week to 5 March, against analysts’ forecasts for a gain of 1.9 million barrels. But Jakob said the crude stock build could be an alignment with the energy department figures. More indications on global supply and demand should come from Opec’s March report expected later on Wednesday. Further support for prices came from China, where oil imports data boosted evidence emerging that Asian economies will lead global demand back into growth this year. China imported 4.83 million barrels of crude per day in February, the second-highest daily tally on record. Fuel imports rose almost 14%, while fuel exports tumbled almost 41%. “It’s a strong reading, particularly because February was a short month and you had the Chinese New Year holiday,” said David Moore, commodities strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. Harris said he thought the impetus would be for gains. “We’re on an upward trajectory, however gentle the slope is ... there seems to be a groundswell of popular support for the notion that the US is past its worse and that China is pointing in a positive direction,” he said. Opec members, who meet next week in Vienna to discuss supplies, have suggested prices around $70-80 are reasonable and on Monday Algeria said levels in the low $80s were fair. The group’s biggest producer, Saudi Arabia, will reduce crude supply in April to a major Asian buyer, but will keep full contracted volumes to others. The cut by the world’s leading oil exporter surprised industry players, who could not immediately explain it. It could be due to refinery maintenance, for example. For March, top Chinese refineries will cut crude runs by 5.6% from record rates in February due to turnarounds and to lower bulging stocks. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 3:26 am INTERVIEW - Coal India says seeks equity, alliancesMUMBAI (Reuters) - State-run Coal India, the world's largest coal miner, is moving swiftly towards signing strategic alliances to help fill India's yawning coal supply-demand gulf, its director of marketing said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 3:21 am Sony India eyes 30 per cent market share in LCD TVsConsumer electronic goods major Sony India is targeting a 30 per cent market share in the liquid crystal display (LCD) television segment in 2010-11 from the present 25 per cent, a top company official said in Kolkata today.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 3:10 am Russia sees over $10 bn in deals with IndiaMoscow: Russia plans to sign over $10 billion worth of deals with India during the visit of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin later this week, Putin’s deputy, Sergei Sobyanin, told Reuters in an interview. The deals will range from contracts for the joint design of a fifth-generation fighter jet and production of multi-purpose transport planes to agreements to supply Russian mineral fertilisers and build new nuclear reactors. “I believe the overall volume of trade and economic agreements will exceed $10 billion,” Sobyanin, who chairs the Russian-Indian inter-government commission, said in comments e-mailed to Reuters on Wednesday. Russia wants to boost trade with India to $20 billion by 2015 from the current $8 billion. Together with China and Brazil, Russia and India make up the Bric group of major emerging economies, whose global influence is seen as rising. Sobyanin, who is also Putin’s chief of staff, said warm ties with former cold war ally India did not undermine relations with other Bric nations, although trade and investment volumes may differ. “I would like to stress that there is no conflict between Russian-Indian cooperation and relations with China and Brazil,” Sobyanin said. “Our relations with all three countries are equally important.” Sobyanin said Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) had expressed interest in developing oil and gas fields on Russia’s Yamal peninsula and was holding talks with Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom on the issue. “The Russian side ... is ready to extend cooperation with Indian partners in the oil and gas sector. I think it will become an important theme for discussion,” he said, adding Gazprom was ready to invest in oil and gas projects in India. Real Project Energy-hungry India is one of the world’s top arms importers and plans to spend tens of billions of dollars on defence in the next few years. Russia has successfully tested its new supersonic fighter aircraft, invisible to radar like the US F-22 Raptor stealth fighter. Sobyanin said Russia would sign a contract on 12 March to jointly design an Indian version of the plane. “It is an absolutely real project. As is already known, the fighter has already performed several test flights,” he said. He said almost 50 years of cooperation in the defence sector had created grounds for future strategic partnership with India. Sobyanin said Russia and India would also sign an amended version of a contract for the long-delayed delivery of a refurbished Soviet-era aircraft carrier that was a major obstacle to cooperation in recent years. He said Russia had almost completed equipment delivery for two reactors at Kudankulam nuclear power station and was in talks to build two more reactors. He said Russia was also ready to start nuclear plant construction in Haripur in West Bengal. Sobyanin said Russia wanted to jointly explore and develop uranium and thorium fields. He said the two sides would also sign a framework agreement on supplies of mineral fertilisers, produced by firms such as Ural Chem and Acron. Sobyanin said Russia and India would also create a joint venture to produce positioning equipment for Russian-made satellite navigation system GLONASS, a potential rival to the US Global Positioning System (GPS). He said Putin and his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, would discuss global economic issues ahead of the Bric nations’ summit in Brazil next month. “We see Bric dialogue as an efficient instrument for creation of a more balanced and predictable international system,” he said. “No doubt, Bric issues will be among key themes during the visit. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 3:01 am Coal India seeks equity, alliancesMumbai: State-run Coal India, the world’s largest coal miner, is moving swiftly towards signing strategic alliances to help fill India’s yawning coal supply-demand gulf, its director of marketing said on Wednesday. They would be in the form of equity or offtake deals with major coal mining firms in Indonesia, Australia and the United States and it has shortlisted 10 producers, A K Sarkar told Reuters on the sidelines of the Coaltrans conference in Mumbai. India’s coal shortages have affected a range of industries including aluminium smelting and caused power plant coal stocks to shrink to two or three days’ worth. “The thirst is for equity and we are going full steam ahead,” Sarkar said in an interview. “We would prefer not to sign purely offtake deals, we want security of coal supply.” Security of supply would best be guaranteed by owning all or part of existing or new mines, he added. To this end, Coal India has shortlisted 10 major coal producers and will take three months to carry out due diligence and decide which alliances to seriously pursue, he said. Coal India is looking at three alliance models: equity in existing mines; pure offtake deals and joint ventures to develop new mines and deals will be signed with producers “sooner rather than later,” Sarkar said. Some of the coal producers with whom Coal India is in talks will be able to supply coal this year and some next year, he said, stressing the urgency of getting coal flowing rapidly. India’s coal shortfall for 2010-2011 is 81 million tonnes but Coal India will fill only a portion of that as instructed by the Central Electricity Authority, Sarkar said. In February, Coal India subsidiary Western Coalfields said Coal India would import 6-10 million tonnes in 2010-11, up from around 1.5 million in the previous year. Imports to continue strong India has no choice but to import coal for the foreseeable future, at least five years, despite Coal India’s efforts to ramp up domestic coal output, Sarkar said. “Imports are a reality and will increase or decrease depending on how much we can increase our output but definitely imports will continue for the forseeable future, at least five years and will increase year to year,” he said. It is too early to discuss the structure of equity deals in exchange for coal or pricing for offtake agreements, Sarkar said, but the higher cost of imports would need to be reflected in domestic coal prices paid by end-users. “There is a cost component for imported coal - domestic coal is less than 50% the cost of imports - and also Indian coal is a depleting energy resource, this must also be taken into account,” he said. India has vast coal reserves in the east of the country but strict environmental laws and the difficulty of developing mines where there are towns and villages restricts Coal India’s ability to boost output, Sarkar said. “The fact is, in India, land is almost a raw material. People do not want to move but you need land to get at the coal,” he said. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 2:31 am Citigroup sells Japan ski resort to Malaysia s YTLCitigroup Inc has sold one of Japan's most famous ski resorts, Niseko Village, to Malaysia's YTL Corp, with the property and power conglomerate seeking to develop it into a world class summer and winter destination.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 2:26 am PE firms raise exposure to India’s logistics sectorMumbai: Private equity investments in India’s logistics services sector are set to rise as it gears up to improve transportation - with costs among the most prohibitive in the world - and boost related infrastructure bottlenecks. The last four years have seen considerable growth in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in logistics, ports, warehouses and container freight stations while Free Trade Warehousing Zones (FTWZ), freight stations, cold chains and captive spin-offs such as auto and retail logistics are seen as attractive targets now. While analysts expect logistics to be among the top five sectors for PE investments in India in the near term, deal sizes will likely be around $20-$25 million, which is where most planned PE ticket sizes converge. “Many PEs are wary of investing given the small size of companies and therefore, lower investment ticket sizes. The key to more deals in this sector is, thus, breaking this loop,” said Manish Saigal, executive director, KPMG Advisory. “The time is ripe for PEs to have the foresight to see a tree in five years’ time where others only see a seed at present.” Logistics is seen as an attractive sector for PE investment as it offers strong free cash flow, low capital expenditure and much higher growth rates than in the transportation industry as a whole. About 17 small-ticket acquisition deals worth close to $500 million were struck in 2009, despite the downturn and going forward, a strong bounceback is expected, Saigal said. “Infrastructure in India is very weak so logistics is very expensive than any other country,” said Sumir Chaddha of Sequoia Capital, which has invested in about 50 Indian companies including Cafe Coffee Day and Idea Cellular. “So, there is tremendous scope for improvement. Lot of it will be driven by infrastructure upgrades,” he said, adding container logistics, inland container depots and warehousing appealed to him. Logistics companies are on expansion drive, striving to grab a higher share of the fast-growing market. Trade estimates indicate overall logistics spending at about 13% of India’s GDP while the industry is growing at 15-18% annually. Supply chain and logistics firm Arshiya International plans to invest Rs2,500 crore to set up five FTWZs across India while Gateway Distriparks expects its unit’s terminal business to drive growth going forward. FTWZs are created near a port or in the hinterland, which allows duty-free storage of imported goods and also provide space for assembling products, which are services provided by firms such as Arshiya. “The scope is across the board... all the segments are very attractive,” said Darius Pandol of New Silk Route Partners, which manages $1.4 billion worth of funds. Higher fund allocation in this year’s federal budget to boost infrastructure in the world’s second-fastest growing major economy also offers tremendous growth opportunities for investors in the logistics industry. As investments into India’s infrastructure sector gain pace, investors will also look to put small money into related ancillaries such as warehousing and freight transport. Though PE players are quite active in the segment, analysts said rejections by these players are also very high, typically 97-98%. For example, for every 100 investment opportunities received, only 10-15 are considered for due diligence, KPMG’s Saigal said. “PE investments will rise but for that the number of logistics companies has to rise,” said Sameer Ranade, sector analyst from brokerage Asit C Mehta. “If PE investment has to be broadbased, then more investments in manufacturing has to take up.” Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 2:19 am Gold demand abates after pick-up a day earlierMumbai: India gold demand abated on Wednesday afternoon as traders awaited price falls after offtake picked-up in the previous session, when the yellow metal touched a two-week low, dealers said. “I struck deals at around $1,110-1,112 (an ounce) yesterday (Tuesday) evening, but now there are a few stray deals,” said Pinakin Vyas, assistant vice-president, treasury with IndusInd Bank in Mumbai. International spot gold, which guides the domestic markets, was trading at $1,124.65/1,125.45 an ounce as against the previous close of $1,121.15/1,121.95. It had hit an intra-day low of $1,108.55 an ounce on Tuesday, its weakest since 26 February, due to a resurgent dollar and weak oil prices. “Corrections till $1,108 (an ounce) could help generate demand,” said another dealer with a state-run bank. A strong rupee, which makes the dollar-quoted asset cheaper, helped sentiment. The Indian rupee continued to trade stronger as higher regional peers cheered sentiment, but gave up some strength in tandem with the sharemarket. which failed to sustain most of the early gains. Following were the prices being quoted by Scotia Mocatta in rupees in the spot market at 1:15pm. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 2:11 am Govt has no plans now to sell stake in ONGC, IOC: Oil secretaryOil secretary S Sundareshan said, 'This is not the correct market time anyway.'Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 2:09 am BPTP plans Rs 1 500 cr IPO early FY 11Real estate developer, BPTP Limited, plans to raise around Rs 1,500 crore through an IPO early next-fiscal, a top company official said.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 2:04 am US minted more millionaires in 2009America's millionaires are on the rise again after their ranks thinned out during the 2008 market meltdown, according to a new survey.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 1:52 am Rupee off highs as share turn negativeMumbai: The Indian rupee retreated from the day’s highs on Wednesday afternoon tracking a choppy domestic sharemarket but higher regional peers continued to underpin sentiment. At 2:15pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs45.445/455 per dollar, off a high of Rs45.3975 but still stronger than 45.6250/6350 at close on Tuesday. On Monday the rupee hit 45.38, its strongest since 12 January. Dealers said the market was expecting good foreign institutional buying at the NMDC follow-on share sale that opens on Tuesday. This is expected to attract dollar inflows and help the rupee. The government begins selling shares in state-run miner NMDC <NMDC.BO>, the country’s largest iron ore producer, to raise about $3 billion in an offer from 10-12 March. The Malaysian ringgit hit a 19-month high against the dollar on Wednesday amid expectations of further policy tightening, while gains in the South Korean won and Philippine peso prompted central banks there to intervene. Indian shares trimmed gains and were trading just marginally higher. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were both quoting at Rs45.5225, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $3.9 billion. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 1:37 am Thermax US Babcock in JV pactThermax and US based Babcock & Wilcox have agreed to form a joint venture to make super-critical steam boilers for the domestic market, the two companies said today.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 10 Mar 2010 | 12:53 am Thermax, US Babcock in JV pactMumbai: Thermax and US based Babcock & Wilcox have agreed to form a joint venture to make super-critical steam boilers for the domestic market, the two companies said on Wednesday. Thermax will hold 51% and Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group Inc will own the rest in the venture, which will also manufacture sub-critical boilers of more than 300 megawatt capacity, the firms said in a joint statement. The two companies plan to invest a total Rs700 crore, split equally between debt and equity. Thermax will pump in a little more than Rs175 crore into the venture, its managing director MS Unnikrishnan told a media briefing. The super-critical boilers will be produced at a proposed new unit that will have an initial annual capacity of 3,000 megawatt equivalent, they added. Thermax already has a technology partnership with Babcock & Wilcox to make boilers of up to 300 megawatt. Thermax shares, which rose as much as 4% in the session ahead of the news, were trading 2.4% higher at Rs671 in a firm Mumbai market at 12:47. p.m. Super-critical boilers are high-end heat equipment that has attracted the attention of the country’s power sector planners for its ability to produce more heat per kilogram of coal burnt, saving costs and causing less harm to the environment. The government is planning to add capacity of 100,000 megawatt between 2012-17, a majority of which will be super-critical technology, fuelling demand for such high-end equipment. In August 2009, Thermax formed a joint venture with diversified US manufacturer SPX Corp to provide air pollution control systems for power plants above 300 megawatts and energy efficiency equipment. Thermax also has technology tie-ups with Japan’s Kawasaki Thermal Engineering, Germany’s Balcke Durr, Canada’s Eco-Tech and US’ Georgia Pacific. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 12:51 am Franklin prefers India to China for equitiesSingapore: India offers better opportunities for equity investors compared with China as the growth potential is stronger and there are more quality Indian companies to choose from, Franklin Templeton’s international chief investment officer said on Wednesday. India offered a larger investment universe of about 5,000 firms whereas foreigners hoping to tap the China growth story are restricted to a smaller number of Hong Kong-listed Chinese stocks, Stephen Dover told reporters in Singapore. “India is investible in a very broad range of companies and also a broad range of industries... (but) most investors have not really been able to participate in the big growth in China since 1982,” Dover said. Besides the wider choice of stocks to invest in, Franklin Templeton also said India’s growth trajectory was higher because of its younger population and the expected lift from large-scale infrastructure spending that had only began recently. Dover oversees investments at Franklin Templeton’s local asset management units around the world, which have about $25 billion in assets under management, including bonds. The local asset management group’s funds mostly carry the Franklin brandname unlike the emerging markets group headed by Mark Mobius whose funds use the Templeton prefix. According to Franklin Templeton, its Franklin India fund gained 81% in dollar terms in the 12 months to end-January, underperforming the benchmark MSCI India index which rose 96% over the same period. The Franklin fund’s three-year return was, however, higher at an annualised 7.7% versus 4.7% for the benchmark. The Franklin Asian Flex Cap Fund, which invests in Asia ex-Japan, has a one-year return of 64% compared with a 71% rise in the MSCI All Country Asia ex-Japan index. Sukumar Rajah, Franklin Templeton’s CIO for Asian equities, said the firm’s top picks in India included Infosys, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel, which had high growth and good margins and a track record of funding their expansion from free cash flows. He said that while there were concerns that Bharti, India’s largest mobile operator, is paying too much to buy the African operations of Kuwait’s Zain, Franklin Templeton will stay invested because of management’s good track record. “Our view is that management is sensitive to adding value to shareholders. Our experience with Bharti has been very good,” he said. Franklin Templeton owns about 23.2 million shares in Bharti, according to Thomson Reuters data. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 10 Mar 2010 | 12:37 am Govt has no plans now to sell stake in ONGC,IOC - secyNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government has no immediate plans to sell stake in state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corp (IOC) , Oil Secretary S. Sundareshan told reporters on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 10 Mar 2010 | 12:10 am GSK back to differential price for drugs in mid-income nationsIf high medicine prices have been the Achilles heel for drug majors in developing countries, GlaxoSmithKline has sought to tackle the challenge through “customised” pricing in middle-income countries such asSource: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am Daimler confirms sale of Tata Motors stakeDaimler, the German maker has finally confirmed it had sold all of its 5.34 per cent ordinary shares of Tata Motors to various investors, bringing it in a tidy cash inflow of €300Source: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am Low-pressure likely over north-west next weekThe European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (Ecmwf) has maintained the outlook for an incoming western disturbance that will induce a low-pressure area to spin up over north-west India nextSource: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am No Indian petrol for Iran since May; Govt denies US pressureIndia has not supplied gasoline (petrol) to Iran since May 2009. This information was given by the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr Jitin Prasada, to the Rajya Sabha onSource: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am NMDC shares plunge on FPO pricingNMDC shares plummeted close to 9 per cent on Tuesday, a day after the price band for its follow-on public offer was fixed at a discount to its marketSource: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am Emkay Global Financial Services (Rs 83.4): BuyWe recommend a buy in the stock of Emkay Global Financial Services from a short-term perspective. The stock has been on a longer-term uptrend since March 2009 low of Rs 25, shaping higher peaks and troughs. Moreover, the intermediate andSource: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am SEBI cracks whip on BoR promoter group entitiesShare price of Bank of Rajasthan (BoR) tumbled after a late Monday night interim ex-parte order by SEBI barred 100 promoter group entities from dealing in the market with immediateSource: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am New tax code should retain exemptions to SEZs: Commerce MinistryThe Commerce Ministry has proposed that the Direct Taxes Code should bring in “grandfathering provisions” exempting Special Economic Zones from its purview so that the developers and units of these tax-free enclaves can continue toSource: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am Cinema halls to seek liquor licence for IPLYou may get to cheer your favourite cricket team with a mug of beer, as cinema halls are set to apply for liquor licences during the IPL season from March 12 to April 26,Source: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideInitiate fresh short position if DLF dives below Rs 305, with tightSource: Business Line - Home Page | 10 Mar 2010 | 12:00 am Toyota, US officials investigate runaway PriusLos Angeles/Detroit: US safety regulators and Toyota dispatched teams on Tuesday to inspect a Prius that sped out of control on a California freeway a day earlier, as the automaker struggled to reassure consumers shaken by its recall crisis. US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said two investigators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration were sent to San Diego “to be part of the investigation” of Monday’s incident, which left the driver of a runaway car rattled but unhurt. “NHTSA is reminding owners of all recalled vehicles to contact their dealers immediately if they are experiencing problems,” NHTSA spokeswoman Olivia Alair said in a statement. Toyota Motor Corp said its own inspectors were working on Tuesday to try to find out what caused the 2008 Prius to surge uncontrollably to over 90 miles per hour as it was being driven by its owner, James Sikes, 61. The incident, involving a dramatic pursuit by a highway patrol car, came at a bad time for Toyota, which has struggled in recent weeks to reassure a jittery public it has turned a corner in dealing with safety issues that sparked a recall of 8.5 million vehicles worldwide. Seven weeks into the crisis, Toyota has begun trying to reverse a slump in its new car sales by offering buyers aggressive discounts. Just hours before news broke of the San Diego mishap, Toyota held a news conference seeking to discredit an external study critical of its computerized safety systems and denying again the existence of a flaw in its electronic engine throttles that could cause sudden, unintended acceleration. Adding to Toyota’s woes, the company said on Tuesday it was expanding a repair campaign for 2002-2003 model Tundra pickup trucks. Separately, the Japanese automaker asked a Michigan appeals court to intervene to keep its top two U.S. executives from being questioned under oath by lawyers for the family of a woman killed while driving a Camry in 2008. Toyota has insisted that cases of unintended acceleration, when not caused by human error, were rooted in mechanical problems - namely ill-fitting floor mats, a sticky accelerator pedal, or both, although some motorists have reported the problem after going through with repairs. Sikes told police his car surged out of control when he deliberately accelerated to pass another vehicle on the road and the engine seemingly jolted into higher speed by itself. “I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car and it did something kind of funny,” Sikes told reporters. “It jumped and it just stuck there. As it was going, I was trying the brakes ... It wasn’t stopping.” California Highway Patrol spokesman Brian Pennings said police have no reason to doubt Sikes’ account, based on officers’ own observations and evidence of heavy brake use. “There was heavy brake dust on the inside of the wheels and the brakes were smoking when the officer finally caught up to him,” Pennings told Reuters. Pennings said Sikes also appeared genuinely shaken by the incident and complained of chest pains, prompting police to call paramedics, who evaluated him at the scene and managed to calm him down without taking him to the hospital. Because there was no crash or injuries, the highway patrol did not conduct its own inspection of the car, he said. The Prius has been a “halo” car for the world’s top automaker and dominates the market for fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles, though 2004-2009 models were recalled due to concerns that loose floor mats could entrap the accelerator pedal. Sikes told reporters he received a recall notice for his Prius and brought it into a dealership, but was turned away and told the vehicle was not on recall lists. Sikes’ brush with unintended acceleration lasted about 20 minutes and covered about 30 miles of freeway at high speeds before he managed to regain control of his car. A highway patrol officer sent to assist Sikes after he called emergency dispatchers pulled alongside the Prius and used his loudspeaker to tell him to apply foot brakes and the emergency brakes together and turn off the engine. Once the Prius slowed to around 50 mph, Sikes turned off the ignition and the car rolled to a stop with the trooper’s car in front of it. Monday’s incident, which attracted widespread media coverage, occurred a short distance away from the site of a similar incident in August 2009 that ended in a fiery crash of a Lexus sedan, killing the off-duty highway patrol officer who was driving and three members of his family. That wreck played a major role in renewing government scrutiny of unintended acceleration complaints leading to Toyota’s huge recall. “While all of the facts surrounding the latest incident have yet to be fully known and investigated ... it certainly does have great potential to erode whatever consumer confidence was rebuilding for Toyota,” said Geoff Sundstrom, a spokesman for the American Automobile Association. Toyota shares closed down 1.6% at $76.67 in US trading on Tuesday. The stock has lost about 15% since 21 January, when the company announced a recall of 2.3 million vehicles to fix sticky accelerator pedals. Unintended acceleration in the company’s Toyota and Lexus vehicles has been linked to at least five US crash deaths since 2007. Authorities are investigating 47 other Toyota crash deaths over the past decade. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:57 pm Govt has no plans now to sell stake in ONGC IOC secyThe government has no immediate plans to sell stake in state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Oil Secretary S Sundareshan told reporters today.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:52 pm Rupee falls by 12 paise against dollar in early tradeAt the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the rupee fell by 12 paise to 45.50 a dollar. The rupee closed lower by 10 paise at 45.62/63 a dollar in the previous session.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:28 pm Oil down in Asian trade ahead of energy reportNew York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, dropped 16 cents to $81.33 a barrel. London's Brent North Sea crude for April delivery was down 20 cents to $79.71 a barrel.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:27 pm Sensex rises by 46 pts to seven week highThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today gained 46 points to close at a seven-week high of 17,098.33 points with funds, buoyed by strong global cues, buying into frontline stocks. Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:17 pm Sensex rises 44 points in opening trade on firm Asian marketsSensex recovered by nearly 44 points in opening trade on Wednesday on fresh capital inflows from foreign funds amid firming Asian markets.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 9 Mar 2010 | 9:34 pm Rupee falls by 12 paise against dollar in early tradeThe Indian rupee depreciated by 12 paise against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, following the American currency's gains overseas.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 9 Mar 2010 | 9:32 pm Sensex rises by 46 points to seven-week highThe 30-share index was volatile throughout the session but added 45.79 points to end the day at 17,098.33 points, a level last seen on January 20.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 9 Mar 2010 | 9:12 pm Airlines say no to costly snoop techAirlines, said sources, have told DGCA that the installing the cockpit door surveillance system in each aircraft costs upwards of $50,000.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 9 Mar 2010 | 4:15 pm Investors richer by Rs 34L cr in a yearThe stock market witnessed a lacklustre trend on Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of the current rally, with the BSE sensex ending 50 points lower at 17,053 and turnover taking a dip.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:29 pm After 52 years, Daimler sells stake in Tata MotorsThe over fifty-year-old association between Daimler and Tata Motors came to an end as the German carmaker sold its entire 5.34% stake (2.56 crore shares) in India's largest automobile company for Rs 1,861 crore on Tuesday.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:27 pm Companies set to hire 10 lakh in '10-11It's official. Jobs are back. The organised sector in India is set to create close to a million new jobs in 2010-2011, according to a Ma Foi Employment Trends Survey.Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 9 Mar 2010 | 1:26 pm India Inc faces higher gratuity provisioningOver 50 per cent of Indian companies will have to make higher provisions in their balance sheets as gratuity expenses. This follows last weeks Union Cabinet decision to raise the tax-free ceiling of gratuity payable to private sector employees from Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 9 Mar 2010 | 11:49 am RBI to amend rules to control NBFCs turning LLPsThe Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to amend its rules to pre-empt non banking finance companies (NBFCs) from misusing the liberal rules governing limited liability partnership (LLP) firms.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 9 Mar 2010 | 11:47 am States in one-upmanship on crop loan ratesIn their efforts to show that their hearts bleed the most for farmers, several state governments are turning competitive in providing crop loans at concessional or even zero rates of interest.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 9 Mar 2010 | 11:46 am Now, nuclear liabilities bill under a cloudBJP says no quid pro quo as SP, RJD withdraw support over womens Bill.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 9 Mar 2010 | 11:44 am NMDC FPO in Rs 300 350 price bandIron ore producer NMDC on Tuesday announced its follow on public offer of shares from March 10.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:10 am Apollo to open 20 hospitals this yearApollo Hospitals Group will set up 20 hospitals this year at a cost of Rs 1,800 crore, its chairman, Dr Prathap C Reddy, told Hindustan Times.Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 9 Mar 2010 | 10:07 am
|
