Business

Football: RCom set to negotiate Newcastle takeover

monika — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:06:47 +0530

Reliance Communications head Anil Ambani is still keen on taking over Newcastle United and bring in former manager Kevin Keegan for the third time at St James Park, English media reported in London on Sunday.

Reports said Ambani's representatives will start negotiations on Monday with the Premier League club owner Mike Ashley, who has been in the centre of hate by fans for forcing Keegan out.

"He (Ashley) is ready to sell (the club) with talks planned with the Reliance Communications Group led by Indian businessman Anil Ambani on Monday," the Sunday Mail reported.

"Billionaire Ambani is the sixth richest man in the world with a personal wealth estimated at 21billion pound sterling. He and his group plan to take control of a Premier League club and look for new revenue streams in the Indian market, with Newcastle considered ripe for the taking due to their current instability and Ashley's careful book-keeping," the report added.

Officials of India's biggest telecom company, however, denied such a move.

Reliance Communications head of Corporate Communications, Gaurav Wahi dismissed any such plans by his company to take over the Premier League club.

"We have denied this earlier and we have no plans to take over Newcastle United or any other English club. All these media reports are inaccurate," Wahi told PTI from Mumbai.

Ashley wanted 400 million pound sterling for handing over the keys at St James Park but the embattled owner was reportedly inclined to accept 300 million.

"If Ambani can close the 300 million pound sterling deal, then don't rule out a sensational move to reinstate Keegan. Ambani knows that restoring Keegan to the job would placate a Toon army in revolt," a Sunday Express report said referring to the Newcastle fans who were pouring vitriol over on Ashley over the departure of the "messiah of Tyneside".

"Ambani, whose personal fortune is estimated at 20 billion pound sterling, is anxious to join the growing band of foreign owners who seemingly have mountains of money to throw at the Premier League," the report said.

"Newcastle is his first choice - and negotiations have been going on behind the scenes at the club Ashley bought in July 2007 for 130 million pound sterling. But Ambani won’t wait for an answer from Ashley forever. He is determined to own a Premier League club as soon as possible and splash more transfer cash than Ashley," it added.

Detroit's Big Three turn to Washington for help

monika — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:27:12 +0530

Battered by weak sales, declining market share and miserable credit ratings, Detroit's Big Three automakers are now turning to the US government for help.

General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC will be launching a campaign in the coming days to secure at least 25 billion dollars in federal loans to help get past the current economic malaise.

"This isn't a bail out," said Greg Martin, Washington spokesman for GM, the largest US automaker which has been awash in speculation for months that it is running short of cash.

"These are direct loans that we have to pay back," added Ford spokesman Mike Moran.

Detroit's goal is to have new legislation in place for the aid package by the time Congress adjourns in late September or early October.

The combination of an economic slowdown, the credit crunch and presidential politics, have enhanced the prospects of such a plan.

The possibility of one or more of the Big Three seeking bankruptcy protection -- which could have an enormous economic impact -- has created a sense of urgency.

"We are encouraging Congress to take this up now," said John Bozzella, vice president of external affairs and public policy at Chrysler LLC, created by private equity investors for the spinoff of the former Chrysler Corp. operations from Germany's Daimler.

Bozzella said the loan authorization was included in energy legislation was signed into law last December by President George W. Bush after passing through the Democratic-controlled Congress.

The law requires automakers to raise the fuel economy of vehicles sold in the US market to 35 miles (56 kilometers) per gallon (3.8 liters).

The Bush administration has estimated that retooling for the new standards would cost the automakers 100 billion dollars.

"This was authorized by Congress. There was a consensus this was needed to transform and drive new technology," Bozzella said.

The bill also authorized the US Department of Energy to approve up to 25 billion dollars in loans to fund technology reseach.

The legislation, however, requires that any loans authorized under the measure have to be guaranteed by the federal government. To do that Congress needs to appropriate 3.7 billion dollars for the insurance premiums, automakers said.

The bill for the insurance could rise to more than seven billion dollars if Congress boosts the loan total to 50 billion dollars.

"The long term goal of the legislation was to increase energy security and to ensure the US has the domestic capacity necessary for building more efficient vehicles," Bozzella said.

Suppliers and even foreign carmakers operating in the US could qualify for the loans, notes Bozzella.

"There are no restrictions in the language on which companies are in and which companies are out," he said.

The automakers say they have a commitment from the congressional leadership to take up the enabling legislation when both the House and Senate reconvene in the coming week.

Both Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, and Republican nominee John McCain have endorsed idea of loan guarantees.

The chances for passage are helped by the fact that four of the states that would most benefit from the legislation, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri, would benefit from research and assembly plants from a new technology drive.

"Michigan, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio - that's where the election is going to be decided right there," noted one Ford official, who asked not to be identified.

Ellen Hughes Cromwick, Ford's chief economist, said the credit crunch has had a serious impact on carmakers, limiting their options for raising fresh capital.

"It could be the credit crunch could persist for some time," she said, adding, "That's a situation that adds a lot of uncertainty to the market."

Peter Morici, economist at the University of Maryland, said any loan program even if it is called a research plan would be a "fig leaf for a subsidy" that distorts the market.

But he added that "our trading partners give us no choice. Every other major auto manufacturing country protects their industry so we may have to do the same."

100 million mobile subscribers added in 1 year

monika — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:16:47 +0530

India's wireless subscriber base has witnessed a blistering growth of 54 per cent over the past one year by adding over 100 million new users into the mobile club.

As per data available with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), country's mobile users touched 296.08 million in July-end this year against 192.98 million last year in the same month, a year-on-year growth of 53.44 per cent.

In July this year, the telecom industry witnessed the highest-ever addition of 9.22 million wireless subscribers taking the total teledensity of the country to 29.08 per cent.

India has been adding more than eight million subscribers consistently for more than six months now, and this trend may continue as 700 million more remain to be tapped.

Being a low-tariff mobile market, cheap calls have broken the class barrier to accommodate all kinds of subscribers.

Call rates today are as low as few paise per minute. Analysts said growth of India's mobile market remains robust as competition among mobile operators continues to intensify. With the mobile penetration level having just exceeded 25 per cent, considerable growth potential still remains, particularly in the massive rural markets.

All the mobile operators have started expanding into the rural markets. Their network-infrastructure-sharing initiatives will help speed up network roll-out in the rural and remote areas. The anticipated 3G roll licensing will give another boost to the competition level and help stimulate industry growth.

However, wireline or fixed line connections fell by 0.16 million in July 2008, as per the data released by the telecom regulator.

Services sector to grow over 9.5 pc this year: CII

monika — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:51:07 +0530

Indian service sector is likely to witness a growth of over 9.5 per cent in the current year, driven by huge investments, despite a slowdown in economic growth, a CEOs survey says.

In a snap poll conducted by Confederation of Indian Industry, majority of the CEOs from services sector felt that expansion in the sector would continue during the current year with more money to be pumped in, resulting in creation of more job opportunities.

"Both investment and employment is expected to increase in the services sector despite pressure on profitability during the current year," CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said.

CEOs also expect employment to increase during the year, particularly in the healthcare sector, followed by retail, tourism, IT and ITeS and financial services.

The survey revealed profits would be under pressure due to high interest rates, stiff domestic competition and increase in staff cost.

Major impediments to the sector's growth were global economic slowdown, deceleration in the economy and shortage of talent and skills, it said.

No issue with DoT on 3G, says TRAI chairman

monika — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:25:14 +0530

TRAI Chairman Nripendra Misra on Sunday dismissed rumours of differences with the DoT over the 3G issue, saying the role of regulator and power of the Department are well-defined.

"When it comes to a certain decision, if we find through detail reading that DoT has overlooked some aspects, then we bring it to their notice through letter. It is up to DoT to heed it or not. We know our responsibility and the power of DoT. We are here to complement them," he told PTI.

With regards to 3G, the TRAI Chairman had earlier written to DoT that if new licences are issued to foreign players then as per TRAI Act, DoT has to turn to TRAI for working out the consultation and recommendations before issuing new licences.

In the guidelines, DoT had said new 3G bidders will have to pay Rs 1,651 crore to acquire a modified UASL, in addition to the bidding amount, which begins at Rs 2,020 crore.

Reading it as a modified UASL licence, Misra wrote to DoT Secretary saying, "If the DoT makes any attempt to amend the UASL or even proposes a new 3G licence, it is obliged by law to seek our recommendations."

In its reply, the telecom ministry had earlier in August said, "The UAS licensees are authorized to provide triple play services. 3G service providers are not new category of licensees and they shall be offering 3G services under terms and conditions of UASL. This will include 3G spectrum allocation.”

After the exchange of series of letters and responses between DoT and TRAI over 3G, Misra said, "Licenses can be issued to new players. There is a new license only if government says that they have to issue new licences. Today there is only one licence Unified Access Service and if an UASL is issued to an auction winner for 3G with the same terms and conditions as has been issued to mobile voice operators in circles, then it is not a new licence."

"Government is competent to decide what will be the fee for licence or entry fee. That is not license per se. It is a revenue aspect. Auction of spectrum is not term and condition. It is implicit that certain bands are already mentioned in the UASL licence... and the 3G bands are new for which auction will take place has already been agreed between DoT and TRAI,” he added,

"DoT is competent to take a decision on the matter and it does not have to depend on TRAI. As long these two conditions (auction and issuance of UASL to a 3G winner with same terms and conditions) are there there is no new licence," he said.

RBI may agree on release of monthly inflation data

monika — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:04:41 +0530

The Reserve Bank is expected to give up its opposition to the proposal of a monthly compilation and release of inflation data, with D Subbarao moving to the central bank from the Finance Ministry, which was open to the idea of a shift in the time table of the Wholesale Price Index.

RBI had opposed the release of inflation data on monthly instead of weekly basis whereas most of the other ministries and departments had supported the shift. The Finance Ministry was also initially not too keen on the move because of the resistance from the RBI.

"Subbarao, as Secretary in the Finance Ministry, has been supportive of the monthly release of inflation data. Now that he is the RBI Governor, the central bank is expected to agree," a senior official told PTI.

With most of the departments, including the Planning Commission, clearing the proposal the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is expecting to move to the monthly release of the price rise data which is now keenly watched every Thursday.

The rate of price rise is expected to be released on a monthly basis by October-end or mid-November. The base year for the proposed new series would be 2004-05 and the index calculation would be based on 1,100 items instead of the present 440. In manufacturing too, the number of items would triple to about 800-900.

However, the price fluctuation in agricultural commodities would continue to be released weekly as is the practice now. The DIPP has completed the test run for agricultural items and would be undertaking the trial for manufacturing in the next one week.

"The quality of data would improve significantly once inflation is released monthly. It will also reflect the true price situation rather than a partial picture that a weekly data shows," the official said.

Bulls pin hope on N-Deal booster; but wary of global cues

monika — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:21:12 +0530

Dalal Street may turn bullish next week on the weekend-development of India getting a crucial waiver in the nuclear deal with the US, but cues from global stock markets would remain a key driver, analysts believe.

With the much-touted Indo-US nuclear deal getting the green signal from the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for the waiver, domestic markets are expected to start next week on a strong note, they said.

"The nuclear waiver is a positive thing for the market. The Indian markets were holding back because the investors were apprehensive about the NSG decision," domestic brokerage firm SMC Global's Vice President Rajesh Jain said.

The waiver would enable India to carry out civil nuclear commerce, ending 34 years of isolation enforced in the wake of the 1974 Pokharan nuclear tests.

"Markets are likely to open strong on Monday and can look forward for a better week," Jain said. After a strong opening driven by positive sentiments created by nuclear deal waiver, the Indian markets could take cues from the global market, but a positive sentiment should prevail, he added.

However, the continuing stalemate over Tata's Nano plant at Singur in West Bengal could turn out to be detrimental for the domestic bourses, some other brokers said.

Domestic markets would also be keenly watching the meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries next week. OPEC is scheduled to meet on September 9 in Vienna, where a decision is expected on whether to cut down oil production or leave it unchanged.

The 13 OPEC countries account for 40 per cent of world's oil production and crude oil prices have always been a key factor for the stock market movements.

"The FIIs are not investing in any of the Asian markets as the positive sentiments are not there. Till the time the global markets do not come out of bearishness, any rally would be short lived," Jain said.

Having sold shares worth a total of close to Rs 28,000 crore so far this year, FIIs bought shares worth over Rs 500 crore in first week of September.

"Political uncertainty in Singur could also act as a dampener for the foreign investors. Further, the OPEC meet will be decisive factor for the market movement with investors closely watching the decision," Jain noted.

On the positive side, inflation has declined for the second week in a row. As on August 23 inflation stood at 12.34 per cent with prices of many food items including fruits and vegetables falling during the period.

However, Reserve Bank of India's new Governor D Subbarao, who took charge on Friday, has indicated the apex bank would continue to pursue policies to contain inflation to seven per cent by the end of current fiscal.

"The immediate priority for me as the Governor of RBI will be to manage inflation and anchor inflationary expectations," Subbarao has said.

The new RBI governor's moves are also likely to be closely watched by the markets. Meanwhile, recessionary fears in the US economy is persisting with the country witnessing job losses for the eight straight month till August.
According to the US Labor Department, payrolls shrank by 84,000 last month, higher than the 51,000 jobs lost in July.

The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex lost 80.70 points or 0.55 per cent to 14,483.83 while wide-based Nifty lost 7.70 points or 0.17 per cent to 4352.30 in the week ended September 5.

The market declined in three out of four trading sessions in the truncated week.

IDBI Bank mulls merger of its home loan subsidiary

monika — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:11:21 +0530

With a view to consolidate its home loan finance business, IDBI Bank is mulling the merger or sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, IDBI Homefinance (IHFL), by end-this fiscal, a top official of the bank said.

"It doesn't make sense for both the bank and its subsidiary to sell the same products. We plan to either merge or sell IHFL," a highly-placed IDBI Bank official told PTI in Mumbai.

The bank's board is likely to take a decision on the matter by the end of March next year, the official said.

IDBI Bank took over the erstwhile Tata Home Finance in September 2003 and renamed it as IHFL, solely meant for selling home loan products.

IHFL, at present, has a home loan portfolio of above Rs 2,700 crore with a presence in 18 centres across the country and 150 employees.

In the event of a merger, the biggest challenge IDBI Bank would have to face will be on the human resources side as the pay-scales of IHFL employees and the bank are different.

This has to be looked into during the integration process, the official said.

However, IDBI Bank, which has a home loan portfolio of around Rs 12,000 crore, would lose the customer base of IHFL in case of a sale and this factor too would weigh with the management when it makes its decision.
If a merger is effected, the bank's home loan portfolio would increase to around Rs 14,000-15,000 crore, catapulting it to a top player in the housing finance business.

For a merger, Reserve Bank approval needs to be sought, the official said.

"Getting regulatory approval for the merger of the bank and its subsidiary will not be a major task as IHFL is wholly-owned by the bank. The merger would be just a technical procedure," the official said.

For the year ended March 31, 2008, IDBI Capital posted a net profit of Rs 30 crore.

Microsoft seeks India patent for data snapshot generator

monika — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:05:13 +0530

World's largest software firm Microsoft Corp is seeking an exclusive patent in India for an electronic data snapshot generator, which has been co-invented by an Indian associated with the company.

Microsoft has filed its patent application before the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, following which the authorities have issued a public notice.

According to the company, which has filed the application on February 22, electronic data snapshot generator would be used to provide information about a file at a specific point in time.

"A snapshot of electronic data is generated to provide information about a file at a specific point in time. The snapshot may be shared between several users," the latest patent journal published by the authorities quoted Microsoft as saying.

The concept of the generator has been developed by Ramakrishnan Natarajan, an Indian associated with Microsoft along with Daniel C Battagin.

The US-based software company has already registered this invention with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

"The interactive snapshot is generated by saving static data associated with the file, but any links or references to dynamic file data are maintained. The published item snapshot includes specific file objects and static data associated with the specified objects", it said.

However, the static snapshot is generated by saving only static data associated with the file, Microsoft added.

Online retailers log onto 'price challenge' promos

monika — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 11:53:33 +0530

Be it air tickets, mobiles, MP3 players, cameras or air conditioners, the online marketplace is abuzz with the 'lowest price challenge' offers where consumers are being promised double the difference amount if they get a better price elsewhere.

In its "Lowest Price Challenge" running throughout September, eBay India is promising "rock bottom prices" on popular gadgets like mobile phones, digital music players and cameras.

Those who find prices lower than those advertised by eBay within 48 hours get twice the difference amount, the Indian arm of the world's largest online marketplace eBay says.

"This campaign was designed keeping in mind our promise of offering great prices and wide variety to online shoppers. I am positive eBay's Price Challenge will help shoppers to buy all that they need this festive season, at the lowest and most competitive prices online," eBay India's Marketing and Operations Director Kashyap Vadapalli said.

The campaign is supported by various online as well as offline marketing initiatives and involves outdoor ads, radio spots and Internet marketing tools.

At the same time, Yatra.com, an Internet portal selling flight tickets and holiday packages, is also offering its own lowest price challenge on international air tickets.

After buying an international air ticket from its website, if a customer finds a better price anywhere else for the same ticket, Yatra.com would cross-check the fare and after finding it valid would pay the customer double the difference.

However, the offer is only applicable on purchase of an International air ticket from Yatra.com for travel originating from India and the two tickets need to carry "exactly the same fare rules and restrictions."

Yatra's website says that it would refund the entire money charged (after charging applicable cancellation/rescheduling charges of the respective airline) and also pay double the difference or adjust the amount against the ticket fare (only applicable on the basic fare) subject to a maximum cap of Rs 5,000 within 15 working days.

However, the amount of difference that Yatra would pay per passenger per booking is capped at Rs 5,000 per booking and per passenger.

Another leading online shopping portal IndiaTimes.com is also running an email campaign titled "Branded AC's Lowest Price Guaranteed!” while sometime back another such portal Indiaplaza had run a price challenge campaign for books and mobile phones.

In its promotional campaign, Indiaplaza claimed that those able to find books or mobiles on its website with a price higher than any other offline or online retail outlets in the country would get Indiaplaza Gift Certificates worth double the difference. In addition, it also said that it would cut the price for that particular product under the campaign.

Even in the traditional offline marketplaces, discount retailer Subhiksha was running a similar campaign a few months back where its advertisements told those buying a new mobile to take the Subhiksha Mobile Price Challenge.

Reliance Money enters US market

monika — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 11:46:40 +0530

Expanding its reach to American markets, Anil Ambani group's brokerage and financial services distribution entity Reliance Money has forged an alliance with the third largest online broker in the US, OptionsXpress.

The partnership would enable Indian investors to access the US stock market, while at the same time, NRIs and persons of Indian origin there would also be able to trade in Indian stock market, Reliance Money CEO Sudip Bandyopadhyay told PTI.

Besides, R-Money could use this opportunity as a starting point for further expanding its presence in the US and Canadian markets, he said.

R-Money has already similar tie-ups in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong and plans to expand its operations in other countries as well.

Bandyopadhyay said that R-Money is looking to enter Malaysia and Canada in coming months and aims to generate 50 per cent of revenues from overseas markets by 2012.

The deal with OptionsXpress would provide an opportunity to Reliance Money's 27 lakh customers for diversifying their portfolio by trading in overseas stocks, he noted.

Indian retail investors would be able to access stock exchanges including New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and Philadelphia Stock Exchange and can trade in all US delivery based instrument like equities, Mutual Funds and Bonds.
The US equity markets are mostly liquid and allow investors to spread country and sectoral risk more effectively, he said.

OptionsXpress operates third major online brokerage platform in the US, besides E*Trade and Charles Schab, that provides securities brokerage products and trade execution.

Reliance Money, part of 100-billion dollar Anil Ambani group's financial services arm Reliance Capital, provides services ranging from equities, equity options and commodities futures, mutual funds, IPOs, life and general insurance products, offshore investments and credit cards.

It is the largest broking house in India with over two million customers and 8,500 outlets across 4,250 locations and endeavors to change the way investors transacts in financial markets and avails financial services. The average daily volume on the stock exchanges is Rs 2,000 crore, representing approximately three per cent of the total stock exchange volume.

ArcelorMittal, RIL in WSJ's respected companies list

sitansu — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:08:20 +0530

PepsiCo, headed by India-born Indra Nooyi, is the ninth most respected company in the world, NRI Lakshmi Mittal led ArcelorMittal is ranked 60th and India’s Reliance Industries makes it at No 83 in the Wall Street Journal's respectability ranking of the world's 100 largest publicly traded companies.

The top five in the list are Johnson & Johnson, Procter and Gamble, Toyota, Berkshire Hathaway and Apple.

Search engine Google has jumped from 22nd spot in 2007 to the sixth, its rise is matched by the fall for software giant Microsoft, which has slipped from sixth spot to 21st this year.

In its fourth annual survey released on Saturday, the reputed business daily asked money managers the degree to which they respect - or don't - the world' 100 largest companies (as measured by total market value). The mean score was arrived at by assigning point value to each of the four categories - Highly Respect, Respect, Respect Somewhat and Don't Respect.

ArcelorMittal's mean score is 1.90 and Mukesh Ambani led RIL's 1.36, contrasted with the mean score of around 4 for the top five companies in the world.

Listed in France, ArcelorMital had 10 percent money mangers saying Highly Respect, 29 percent Respect, 37 percent Respect Somewhat and 10 percent Don't Respect to it. The steel maker has, however, improved its standing from 2007 when it was ranked 93.

RIL has much catching up to do - only four percent said Highly Respect, 17 percent Respect, 46 percent Somewhat Respect and 11 percent Don't Respect to the diversified group.

PepsiCo has come up three spots from last year's 12th rank, but is still behind soft drinks rival Coca-Cola which is ranked eight.

Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile company (by revenue) is at 66th spot in the list, an improvement from the 80th rank in 2007.

ICICI, Kingfisher, Taj top brands in Asia-Pacific: Survey

sitansu — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:20:54 +0530

Three Indian brands - ICICI, Kingfisher and Taj - have emerged as the most admired consumer brands across Asia-Pacific alongside global majors like LG, Sony, Cadbury, HP and Nokia in their respective segments.

According to the 'Asia Pacific's Top 1,000 Brands' survey for 2008, released by global research firm TNS, ICICI has been named as the top brand in both banks and credit cards segments, while Kingfisher and Taj have topped the rankings in airlines and hotels segments respectively.

Besides, three other Indian brands - SBI, Jet and Oberoi - have emerged as the second most admired brands in their respective segments - banks, airlines and hotels respectively.

Among banks, airlines and hotels, Indian brands have grabbed both the top two positions.

In other segments, Sony has been named as top brand in television and camera segments, South Korean major LG in the air conditioners segment, Cadbury in chocolates, Hewlett-Packard in laptops and Nokia in mobile phones, TNS said.

In the credit cards segment, ICICI is followed by Visa at the second rank, while LG is followed by Samsung among air conditioners and Sony is followed by Canon in cameras.

Besides, Nokia, HP and Sony are followed by Sony Ericsson, Dell and Samsung at the second position in mobile phones, laptops and TV segments. Nestle has been named the second most favoured after Cadbury in chocolates segment.

Commenting on the findings, TNS India Executive Director Shobha Subramanian said, "The survey goes beyond mere market or sales share into the realm of consumer share of mind.

Brands such as Sony, Nokia, ICICI and HP are in the forefront not just in India but across various markets in this region."

Around 3,600 people were interviewed for the survey across 10 countries, including Japan, Korea, Australia, China, Hong Kong and India, said in a release issued by TNS.

1,200 MW thermal plant to be set up in Chhattisgarh

monika — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:13:55 +0530

The Chhattisgarh government said on Saturday that it will sign an agreement with a Karnataka firm Monday to set up a 1,200 MW thermal power plant in the state's coal-abundant northern region.

"Karnataka Power Corp Ltd (KPCL) will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board (CSEB) Sep 8 at Raipur," Chhattisgarh Industry minister Rajesh Munat told IANS.

He added that plant would be commissioned latest by 2012.

M B Jayaram, general manager of KPCL's corporate communications, told IANS from Bangalore on phone that the company would invest around Rs 60 billion to set up the project.

The Chhattisgarh government will ensure early allocation of land and coal linkage for KPCL under the state's industrial policy.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, Energy Minister K S Eshwarappa, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and several of his ministerial colleagues besides senior officials from both side will be present at the function in a hotel in Raipur.

The plant will come up in the state's northern region, where India's leading coal producer South Eastern Coalfields Ltd has dozens of coal mines.

Government allows export of 'Pusa 1121' rice

monika — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:57:06 +0530

India has allowed the export of the Pusa 1121 variety of rice from Oct 15 this year, according to a senior government official.

This variety is exported mainly to the Gulf countries.

"Pusa 1121 rice will be exported with effect from Oct 15 this year," a senior official of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) told IANS on Friday. He did not wish to be identified.

Traders will have to register themselves with the Apeda before they start exporting Pusa 1121, which is nearly as good as basmati rice.

This variety is grown mainly in Punjab and Haryana, two of India's key rice-producing states.

The official said the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has lifted the ban on the export of Pusa 1121. Traders will be allowed to export the rice at a minimum export price (MEP), which is yet to be decided.

He said that export of this rice would be permitted only from the ports of Kolkata, Kandla, Kakinada, Navi Mumbai, Mundra and Pipavav.

The government March 31, 2008 banned the export of non-basmati rice, and increased MEP for basmati rice to $1,200 (Rs 54,000) per tonne to rein in inflation.

The government is considering lifting the ban completely by November 2008 in view of a good monsoon and a good paddy crop.

The agriculture ministry on Friday said that the area under rice cultivation had gone up to nearly 36.1 million this year as against 34.5 million hectares September 4, 2007.

India is likely to export a record quantity of basmati rice in the current fiscal. In July alone, traders got the official go-ahead for exporting 165,148 metric tonnes of basmati rice.

In July this year, Apeda issued 658 registration-cum-allocation certificates (RCAC) to traders to enable them to export basmati rice worth nearly $252 million (Rs 11.34 billion).

In 2007-08, the estimated production of rice stood at 96.43 million tonnes, wheat 78.40 million tonnes, coarse cereals 40.73 million tonnes, maize 19.31 million tonnes, pulses 15.11 million tonnes, and oilseeds 28.82 million tonnes.

The government has set a target of achieving an annual production growth rate of 3.7 per cent for all food grains including rice.

In absolute terms, however, the government target is to achieve a production of 129 million tonnes of rice by 2011-12 since the domestic demand for rice by that time has been projected at 128 million tonnes.

Hence, according to official estimates, this level of production can be achieved only if the yield per hectare for rice goes up to an average 3,000 kilograms up from only 1,930 tonnes now.

Equity markets end week with big losses

monika — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:48:53 +0530

Indian equity markets had a poor week despite a good start, thanks to weak global markets.

The markets ended in the red in three out of four trading sessions. They were closed for Ganesh Chaturthi on Wednesday.

The 30-share benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Sensex, lost 80.70 points or 0.55 per cent to slip to 14,483.83 in the week. The S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange lost 7.70 points or 0.17 per cent to 4,352.30.

The BSE Small-Cap index rose 13.58 points or 0.2 per cent to 6,905.22. The BSE Mid-Cap index advanced 11.43 points or 0.2 per cent to 5,753.72.

The Sensex lost 66.02 points or 0.45 per cent Monday to end at 14,498.51.

A sharp fall in crude oil price helped the key benchmark indices register gains on Tuesday. The Sensex jumped 551.35 points or 3.80 per cent to 15,049.86. The Nifty was up 155.35 points or 3.57 per cent to 4,504.

After Wednesday's break, weak global cues pulled the Sensex down 150.76 points or 1 per cent to 14,899.10 Thursday. The Nifty lost 56.25 points or 1.12 per cent to close at 4,447.75.

The uncertainty over the India-US nuclear deal weighed heavily on market sentiment on Friday, pulling down the Sensex by 415.27 points or 2.79 per cent to 14,483.83.

India's biggest private sector firm by market capitalization and oil refiner Reliance Industries (RIL) lost 2.68 per cent to Rs 2079.40 in the week.

Tata Motors, India's biggest commercial vehicle maker by market share, lost 4.6 per cent to Rs 419.95.

However ONGC, India's biggest state-run oil exploration firm by market capitalization, jumped 4.6 per cent to Rs 1,070.75.

Boeing workers to strike work after talks fail

monika — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:40:50 +0530

Nearly 27,000 members of Boeing's largest labour union are to go on strike after last-ditch contract talks failed on Friday, the US aviation giant said.

A statement from Boeing said mediated talks between the firm and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers ended without agreement. The IAM has vowed to strike from 12.01 am (0701 GMT) on Saturday.

"Over the past two days, Boeing, the union and the federal mediator worked hard in pursuing good-faith explorations of options that could lead to an agreement," Boeing Commercial Airplanes president Scott Carson said.

"Unfortunately the differences were too great to close," he said.

Boeing said non-IAM members were expected to report for work as normal. The aircraft said customers and their airplanes in service would continue to receive support during the stoppage.

The company would also deliver planes completed prior to the strike but does not intend to assemble airplanes during the strike.

Boeing made a contract offer on August 28 providing employees with about 34,000 dollars on average in additional annual wages and incentive payments over a three-year period, including an overall 11 per cent wage increase.

The current contract expired on Wednesday.

However the IAM said Boeing must fix "takeaways" in its proposal and address the issues its members have identified: job security, medical coverage, wages and pension benefits.

A strike could cost Boeing an estimated 120 million dollars a day in revenues at the company's current level of production, analysts at Jefferies investment bank said.

It also could seriously clip the wings of Boeing in its fight with Europe's Airbus for dominance of the commercial aircraft skies.

Obama calls for streamlining of H2B visa process

megha — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 13:06:28 +0530

Driving home the point that he is for creating jobs in the US, Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama has favoured streamlining the process for the high-skilled H2B visas for Indians and other foreigners to make sure that employers were not "gaming" the system.

"For those who don't know, the H2B visa programme is the programme whereby people with specialised skills, foreign nationals with specialised skills, are supposed to be able to come in and be sponsored by their employer. That's the idea," he said at a campaign event in Duryea, Pennsylvania on Friday.

Noting that there are some "highly specialised" areas meant to be covered under it, the Illinois Senator said: "Let's say, you know, you need a nuclear physicist in a particular area, and you just can't find one.

"And it turns out there's a guy who is Indian, who fits the bill. And you've gone out and you've tried to recruit people. And your business needs this. That's what the H2B visa is supposed to be for."

However, he said, the "problem" is that if employers want "to game the system, they might decide. We'll get a software engineer from India, even though there are a bunch of software engineers here... because we can pay him or her less. And that then undercuts the labour market and wages" in the US.

Obama's remarks were actually in an obvious reference to the H1B visa category in which software engineers would fit into.

It is unclear whether the Senator had inadvertently strayed into the realm of H1B visas in the course of making his thoughts on the issue known, but he made it clear he will ensure that the high skilled visas will not be manipulated.

He was asked to comment on reports that businesses are pressuring the Bush administration to change the ways about determining the employment status where businesses would grant H2B status instead of having a state agency ascertain if there is a need.

The H-2B visa category allows US employers in industries with peak load, seasonal or intermittent needs to augment their existing labour force with temporary workers.

Typically, H-2B workers fill labour needs in occupational areas such as construction, health care, landscaping, manufacturing, food service and processing and resort and hospitality services.

"I want to return it (H2B) to its purpose, which is to make sure that it is only for these very specialised jobs, where there is a shortage" in the United States, Obama said. He said it is also important to remember the fact that US really had a "shortage" of PhDs, scientists and engineers.

"We really do have a shortage of certain key occupations that, if we want to continue to grow, we've got to develop our kids here," Obama continued, still perhaps having in mind the H1B visa that covers architects, engineers, computer experts, accountants, doctors and college professors.

"We've got to make sure that they are being pushed into the high-skill, high-wage jobs of the future. And that's got to be a group effort. The government can do some things.

Paying teachers more, giving them more support, making sure that they're certified in the subjects that they teach, making college more affordable. Those are all critical areas."

Obama said the US has a "continual" nursing shortage, "not because there aren't people here who could be great nurses. The problem is we pay our nurse educators so little, that there aren't enough slots to train the nurses that we need. And nursing - working conditions for nurses aren't good enough to attract enough people into the profession.

"So we end up bringing thousands of nurses from other countries, which by the way those countries themselves need nurses. So they really need to be nursing back home. But the problem is we're just not providing the incentives that are going to create more nurses," the Democrat said.

"I want to start creating jobs here in the United States. That's going to be my central focus when I'm president of the United States," he said.

Japan's Nomura eyes Lehman bid: Report

monika — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:55:25 +0530

The president of Japan's biggest brokerage house Nomura Holdings said the company was considering buying a stake in troubled US investment bank Lehman Brothers, a report said on Saturday.

The move would be part of a plan to spend more than 200 billion yen (1.9 billion dollars) on investment in US and European financial institutions Kenichi Watanabe said in an interview in the Yomiuri Shimbun.

Lehman "is one of the candidates in which we plan to invest," Watanabe said without elaborating.

A number of overseas banks and securities firms are said to be considering bidding for a stake in Lehman, which suffered billions of dollars in writedowns and credit losses amid the meltdown in US subprime mortgages sector.

A news report from Seoul said the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) had offered to buy a 25 percent stake in Lehman for more than four billion dollars.

Japan's largest banking group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, has denied a news report that it was considering bidding for a stake in Lehman, which will report third quarter results next week.

US jobless rate jumps to 6.1% as 84,000 jobs cut

sitansu — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:13:08 +0530

The US unemployment rate jumped to a five-year high of 6.1 per cent as 84,000 jobs were slashed, according to a government report on Friday suggesting fragile economic conditions.

The Labor Department report considered one of the best indicators of economic momentum marked the eighth consecutive month of shrinking nonfarm payrolls, and was worse than expected by private economists.

Wall Street analysts had expected a loss of 75,000 jobs and a steady unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent.

The agency also revised its figures from the prior two months to show a loss of 60,000 positions in July and 100,000 in June, up from earlier estimates of a drop of 51,000 in each of the two months.

The latest figures show a cumulative loss of 605,000 US jobs since the start of 2008, highlighting the woes of the world's largest economy from a horrific housing slump and credit squeeze.

The report suggests a struggling economy in which employers are cutting more jobs and reluctant to hire because of weak consumer and business confidence.

Although official data showed the US economy grew at a robust 3.3 per cent in the second quarter, many analysts say that figure was skewed by a surge in exports and helped by spending from a massive tax rebate program.

Avery Shenfeld, senior economist at CIBC World Markets, said the payrolls figure indicates a weak economy teetering close to recession.

"We are looking for the turn in economic conditions and the second quarter GDP report gave a false signal that the turn had occurred," Shenfeld said.

“Taking the revisions into account and including the big rise in the jobless rate, this (payrolls data) is clearly weaker than the markets anticipated. We haven't had a recession in GDP growth but the rise in unemployment is looking as bad as it gets in a recession,” the economist said.

"Our forecast of a 7.0 per cent peak headline (jobless) rate might now be too low," Ian Shepherdson, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics, said.

The report comes less than two weeks ahead of a meeting of Federal Reserve policymakers on interest rates.

The current base rate of 2.0 per cent is considered stimulative but officials say troubles in the banking sector make credit difficult. Some Fed officials have said the next move is likely a rate hike in view of inflation pressures but analysts say the central bank is unlikely to move to choke off economic activity.

Among various sectors, manufacturing shed 61,000 jobs and construction employment dropped by 8,000. The service sector lost 27,000 jobs.

Among the sectors gaining jobs were education (55,000) and government (17,000).

Average hourly wages rose 0.4 per cent to $18.14, slightly above expectations of a 0.3 per cent increase.

How many poor does India have? Experts to decide

tejas — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:17:41 +0530

How many "actually poor" is India home to? Amid some confusion, sparked in part by a World Bank report, the government is setting up a new group to get the answer.

The rural development ministry has constituted an Expert Group to recommend a methodology to conduct the Below Poverty Line (BPL) census in the country.

The 16-member group will look into the institutional system for conducting the BPL survey, processing of data validation, and approval of the below poverty line at various levels for the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12).

The surveys to determine the number of poor is conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), which is attached to the ministry of statistics and programme implementation.

"There was a long felt need to evolve a transparent methodology to identify and capture the actually poor BPL households in the rural areas," a rural development ministry official said Friday.

The expert group, headed by M Shankar, a former secretary in the rural development, will submit its report in six months.

Estimates of how many Indians are poor vary.

According to a World Bank report released Tuesday, the actual number of poor in India has gone up over the years if the new poverty benchmark - a daily income of $1.25 - is taken into consideration.

This benchmark would put the numger of poor in India at 456 million - in 2005 - out of population of 1.2 billion.

But if one were to consider the decades-old poverty line of daily income of less than $1 or around Rs 40 a day, the number of poor below the poverty line has gone down in the past three decades.

Inflation a major concern: PM

tejas — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:29:32 +0530

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said rising prices have emerged as a major concern for the government and stepping up productivity is the only way to ensure that economic growth is not inflationary.

Government has taken several measures to moderate rising prices and at the same time tried to ensure that inflation control measures did not hurt the growth momentum in the last four years, Singh said after laying the foundation stone for the Rs 1,750-crore expansion and modernisation of the Salem Steel Plant in Salem.

"In the Eleventh Five Year Plan period, we expect the economy to grow at around nine per cent. To ensure that growth process is not inflationary, we must step up productivity and increase output," Singh said.

In order to ensure non-inflationary growth, the country must step production in all sectors, he said, adding that India still has a long way to go in creating infrastructure for modernising the country.

Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and several central ministers were also present on the occasion.

Lauding the role of public sector Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) in the country's economic growth, Gandhi said the PSUs would continue to occupy a crucial position in areas like steel, power, gas, telecommunication.

The UPA government is committed to empower the PSUs, she added.

Rising prominence

The Prime Minister said that the rising prominence of the domestic steel industry on the world's steel landscape showed the country's emergence as a leading economic power and gave India the status of fifth largest producer of the alloy in the world.

"If the present trends continue, we will become the second largest producer in the world by 2015," Singh said.

He said the per capita consumption of steel in the country is still very low in comparison to industrialised and industrialising countries and yet "we are today in a sellers' market and will continue to be so".

He said SAIL played a vital role in the country's march towards industrialisation and self-reliance and hoped the key public sector unit will rise to the new challenges of today's intensely competitive global steel market.

Speaking on the importance of public sector, Gandhi said it (SAIL) has been acting as a "catalyst" in the industrialisation of the country and attributed the overall public sector growth to the "visionary investments" made in the 1950s and 1960s by former Prime Minister, late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Recalling that late Indira Gandhi laid the foundation for the Salem Steel Plant 38 years ago, Gandhi said there was a move to privatise the PSU but after UPA government came to power, it "abandoned" the policy of "indiscriminate privatisation" by the earlier BJP regime.

She said the social obligations by the PSUs could be best met by making profit in a sustainable manner.

Concern over steel prices

Union Minister for Fertilizers, Chemicals and Steel Ram Vilas Paswan said that though the demand for steel was increasing at the rate of 13 percent, the production was growing only at six percent, creating a mismatch in demand-supply.

The National Steel Policy of 2005 had set a target of 110 million tonnes of production capacity by 2020, which has been now revised to 124 million tonnes by 2011-12 and over 300 million tonnes by 2020.

Paswan said SAIL had set a target of increasing its capacity from 14 million tonnes to 26 million tonnes in the next three years.

Voicing concerns over the steel prices, Paswan said the government has taken strong measures to contain domestic the rates and increase the availability of the alloy in the country.

"As per present indications, we expect a further correction in steel prices in the domestic market," he said.

He also announced a reward of Rs 3,000 each to the employees of the Salem Steel Plant in recognition of their contribution.

The expansion plan of the Salem plant envisages installation of steel melting and continuous casting facilities to produce 1.8 lakh tonnes of slabs per annum, besides a second Cold Rolling Mill Complex to enhance capacity from 65,000 tonnes to 1.46 lakh tonnes.

It also seeks capacity expansion of hot rolling mill to 3.70 lakg tonne per annum.

Tata to top global car market share growth: Study

tejas — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:13:11 +0530

By 2013, the global market share growth of India's Tata brand cars will be the highest among all brands, says a study by leading global market intelligence firm US-based Global Insight.

The study prepared for the Indian automotive industry lobby Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) says that by 2013, Tata brand light vehicles will double their global market share from 0.6 percent now to 1.2 percent - a gain of 0.6 percent.

The second fastest growing car brand will be the Chinese brand Chery, the market share of which will grow from 0.6 percent - the same as that of the Tata brand now - to 1 percent by 2013.

India's Maruti brand too will see an increase in its global market share from 1 percent now to 1.1 percent by 2013.

Apart from the Indian brand Tata and the Chinese brand Chery, the other brand that will see a big rise in market share is the French Renault. It is predicted to gain 0.3 percent share from 3.1 percent now to 3.4 percent by 2013.

The other gaining brands are the Japanese brand Nissan, German brands BMW and Audi, Japanese brand Mitsubishi, Czech brand Skoda and Chinese brand Wuling.

All these brands will gain 0.1 percent market share by 2013, the study forecasts.

Out of 26 brands studied, 13 brands will lose market share while 10 brands will gain.

For three brands - Japanese brand Honda, German brand Mercedes-Benz and US brand Dodge - the market share will remain the same, the study forecasts.

The worst hit among the declining brands will be the US brand Ford. Its market share will decline from 7.1 percent now to 6.4 percent - a loss of 0.7 percent. This represents the maximum change either way - loss or gain.

Vehicle sales

The next worst hit will be the French brand Peugeot. Its market share will go down to 2.5 percent from 2.9 percent now, the study says.

The other brands that will see big declines in market share will be the Japanese brand Daihatsu - its market share is forecast to go down to 0.9 percent from 1.2 percent now and the Russian brand Lada - its share will decline to 0.9 percent from 1.1 percent now.

The losing brands apart from Ford, Peugeot and Daihatsu will be Japanese Toyota, US's Chevrolet, Germany's Volkswagen, South Korean Hyundai, Italian brand Fiat, South Korean brand Kia, Japanese brands Suzuki and Mazda and US brand Opel.

"Global Insight projects that world light vehicle sales will rise 19.3 percent between 2008 and 2013 to over 84.1 million units," the study says.

"Sales growth in Asia will account for 51 percent of world growth. By 2013 one in three light vehicle sales will be made within Asia," the study forecasts.

The study was released in New Delhi on Thursday at the 42nd Annual Convention of SIAM.

Global Insight is widely recognized as the most consistently accurate forecasting company. It has over 3,800 clients in industry, finance, and government with revenues in excess of $100 million (Rs 4.5 billion).

It has 700 employees and 25 offices in 14 countries covering North and South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

India wants US to effect WTO ruling on shrimp exports

tejas — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:07:58 +0530

India wants the United States to abide by a World Trade Organisation ruling in the "shortest possible time" to end an anti-dumping measure that has put a financial burden on the Indian shrimp industry.

WTO's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) had ruled in August this year that the US measure, requiring importers of warm-water shrimp to deposit cash and customs bond equal to the margin of dumping that may exist in investigation, was illegal and violative of the international trade practices.

Announcing its intention to implement the DSB ruling, the US has declared it would need a "reasonable period of time (RPT)" for the corrective steps.

"India is disappointed at the US request for RPT, as the Indian shrimp industry continues to face an enormous burden on its exports due to the US anti-dumping measure," a WTO statement said.

Thailand, which is also a party to the dispute, has saidit would hold talks with the US soon for an RPT to ensure prompt implementation of the WTO ruling.

Of India's total shipment of marine products, frozen shrimp is the largest export item, constituting 54 percent in value terms. Shrimp exports declined in 2006-07 to 137,397 tons from 145,180 tons.

Shipments to the US dropped sharply by 37 percent in 2006-07 to $99.28 million from $158.12 million in the previous fiscal.

"Although the US has decreased its anti-dumping duty to 1.69 percent from 14 percent on shrimp exports, we want it to be brought down to zero," Sea Food Exporters Association of India President Anwar Hashim said.

The US is the largest market for Indian shrimps followed by Japan, he said.

Subbarao takes charge as RBI governor

tejas — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:26:59 +0530

D Subbarao on Friday took charge as the governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from Y V Reddy and set for himself the immediate task of containing inflation, which is hovering above the 12 percent mark despite moderation in the past two weeks.

"The immediate priority for me as the Governor of RBI will be to manage inflation and anchor inflationary expectations," Subbarao told reporters in Mumbai.

He said the priority in short-to-medium term will be to pursue financial sector reforms in the context of financial and price stability.

Inflation eased to 12.34 percent during the week ended August 23 due to fall in food prices from 12.40 percent a week earlier.

However, the RBI on Thursday indicated that there will be no softening of its hawkish monetary stance to contain inflation as volatile food and energy prices remain a challenge.

"It is critical at the prevailing juncture to demonstrate on a continuing basis a determination to act decisively, effectively and swiftly to curb any signs of adverse developments in regard to inflation expectations," the RBI had said in its report on Currency and Finance.

The RBI has been tightening money supply to contain inflation. It raised short-term lending rate Repo five times and the mandatory requirement for banks to keep cash with the central bank 13 times since January 2007.

Subbarao, who relinquished the post of Finance Secretary, also appreciated the role of Reddy as his predecessor. Reddy had earlier this week said that he will settle down in Hyderabad and may take up the job of teaching.