Subhiksha on virtual collapse, needs Rs 300 cr immediately

NEW DELHI: Stating that its operations are "near standstill", retail chain Subhiksha Trading Services on Friday said it needs liquidity injection of up to Rs 300 crore to get the company back on track as it had run out of cash in October last year.

"(The company is at) a stage where operations are at near standstill. We are working with the financial stakeholders - lenders and investors - to inject liquidity and get company back on track," a company spokesperson said.

"We need a liquidity injection of up to Rs 300 crore, while we argue on whether it is debt or equity that really does not matter, the business can get back to near peak levels once this cash is available," he added.

The company's lenders, while supportive, were also unable to extend further lines unless the equity was raised. Net net it became a chicken and egg story with the company running out of cash by October, he said.

"We never took serious credit from suppliers, most purchases were on limited or nil credit. When we could not pay for fresh buying, the trade cycle collapsed in October and that is what brought us to a standstill," the spokesperson added.

He, however, insisted that the company was not closing shop. "No, we are in pain but we are not shutting down."

Despite the issues of large employment at risk and a sound business model it is taking time to get the pieces closed as all stakeholders have to come to agreement and it is stressed time for many of them as well, he said.

The company is now engaging in getting the restart plan approved by the financial stakeholders and then get the liquidity so that it can continue from where it left, he said.

Soruce: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Subhiksha_on_virtual_collapse_needs_Rs_300_cr_immediately/articleshow/4053562.cms

Sensex gains momentum; metals, realty up

MUMBAI: Equities moved higher on Friday led by gains in metals, realty and oil & gas stocks. However, traders were cautious ahead of US GDP data. European markets had a mixed opening.
At 2:20 pm, Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was at 9338.22, up 101.94 points or 1.10 per cent. It touched an intra-day high of 9356.05 and low of 9087.36.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was at 2855.85, up 31.90 points or 1.13 per cent. The broader index touched a high of 2856.90 and low of 2774.10.

BSE Midcap Index was up 0.64 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index moved 0.38 per cent higher.

BSE Metal Index was up 2.94 per cent, BSE Realty Index moved 2.89 per cent higher and BSE Oil&gas Index gained 2.66 per cent. Jaiprakash Associates (6.90%), DLF (5.15%) and State Bank of India (4.67%) were the major Sensex gainers.

Sun Pharmaceuticals (-7.07%), BHEL (-2.74%) and Tata Motors (-1.69%) were amongst the Sensex losers.

Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 1188 advances and 1080 declines.

European markets were choppy early trade ahead of announcement of unemployment figures in the Europe and GDP data from the United States. FTSE 100 was up 0.34 per cent, CAC 40 slipped 0.10 per cent and DAX edged 0.13 per cent lower.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Sensex_moves_up_realty_metals_gain/articleshow/4050882.cms

GDP grew by 9% in 2007-08: CSO

NEW DELHI: The economy in 2007-08 grew by 9% according to revised estimates, the same as estimated earlier, mainly due to high growth in agriculture; manufacturing; real estate; storage and communication; and trade, hotels and restaurants.

However, the growth rate of 9% is below the 9.7% clocked in 2006-07, according to quick estimates of national income, consumption expenditure, saving and capital formation, released by the central statistical organisation on Saturday.

Driving the high GDP growth rate, agriculture grew by 4.9%, manufacturing by 8.2%, real estate and business services by 11.7%, and transport, storage and communication by 15.5%, according to the data.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/GDP_grew_by_9_in_2007-08_CSO/articleshow/4051603.cms

GDP grew by 9% in 2007-08: CSO

NEW DELHI: The economy in 2007-08 grew by 9% according to revised estimates, the same as estimated earlier, mainly due to high growth in agriculture; manufacturing; real estate; storage and communication; and trade, hotels and restaurants.

However, the growth rate of 9% is below the 9.7% clocked in 2006-07, according to quick estimates of national income, consumption expenditure, saving and capital formation, released by the central statistical organisation on Saturday.

Driving the high GDP growth rate, agriculture grew by 4.9%, manufacturing by 8.2%, real estate and business services by 11.7%, and transport, storage and communication by 15.5%, according to the data.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/GDP_grew_by_9_in_2007-08_CSO/articleshow/4051603.cms

Rupee falls by 15 paise against dollar in opening trade

MUMBAI: The Indian rupee depreciated by 15 paise against the US currency in early trade on Friday on increased dollar demand by banks and concerns over fund outflows from the weak domestic equity markets in tandem with falling Asian bourses.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic currency was quoted at 49.12 against the dollar, a fall of 15 paise over the previous close of 48.97/98 a dollar.

Dealers said increased demand from state-run banks for the greenback on behalf of their clients put pressure on the rupee.

They added that fears of capital outflows from the domestic stock markets following the fall in Asian equity markets in early trade put pressure on the rupee.

Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei fell by 3.35%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng moved down by 1.55% in early trade.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Re_falls_by_15_paise_against_dollar/articleshow/4050604.cms

Sensex down 148 pts in early trade

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by over 148 points in early trade on Friday on heavy selling by funds following a weak global trend.

The 30-share index, which had lost 21.19 points in Thursday's choppy trade, fell further by 148.92 points to 9,087.36 points as heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys Technologies, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India recorded heavy losses.

The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 49.85 points at 2,774.10 points.

Marketmen said most of the bluechips retreated following overnight sharp losses on the US market on weak economic data.

They attributed profit-taking by speculators in bluechip stocks at prevailing higher levels after a recent rally to fall in stock prices.

Major losers, which dragged the Sensex down, are BHEL by 4.40% at Rs 1,296, RIL by 1.17% at Rs 1,253.25, Infosys by 1.27% at Rs 1,293, Tata Consultancy by 1.83% at Rs 499.70.

Besides, Larsen and Toubro lost 0.67% at Rs 655.85, Tata Power 2.04% at Rs 745.10, Tata Motors 2.03% at Rs 147.50 and Tata Steel 1.69% at Rs 180.20.

Japan's Nikkei fell 3.35% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.55% in early trade on Friday.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average had closed 2.70% down, while London's FTSE shed 2.45% on Thursday.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Sensex_down_148_pts_in_early_trade/articleshow/4050882.cms

HDFC cuts home loan rates by 150 bps, loans at 9.75%

MUMBAI: The country's largest housing finance company HDFC has reduced home loan rates by as much as 150 basis points following a reduction in its cost of funds.

With this cut all floating rate loans will be available at 9.75% the same level as they were in 2006.

Terming the reduction a special offer, HDFC officials said that such offers were typical of the financial year-end deals.

Biggest gainers this are those seeking to avail of loans between Rs 20 to Rs 30 lakh as interest rates have been reduced 150 basis points to 9.75% from 11.25% earlier.

For loans below Rs 20 lakh the reduction is 50 basis points as the earlier rate was 10.25%. HDFC lending rate cut comes on the back of two successive 50 basis point cuts in deposit rates in recent weeks.

Soruce: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/HDFC_home_loans_now_at_975/articleshow/3989196.cms

RBI may not cut rates in policy review: Finmin

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may not go in for key policy rate cuts in its quarterly policy review slated for January 23, said a senior finance ministry official.

"We don't expect rate cuts by the RBI," the offical said, adding the repo and reverse repo rates (short-term lending and borrowing rates) and policy ratios like the cash reserve ratio (CRR) are likely to be retained at the existing level.

The RBI is slated to announce a review of monetary policy on January 23 after taking into account the latest developments in international and domestic markets.

The central bank on January 4 reduced the repo rate (at which banks borrow from the RBI) by 100 basis points to 5.5 per cent, the reverse repo rate (at which the RBI pays to banks) by 100 basis points to 4 per cent, and the CRR (the amount banks are required to park with the RBI) from 5.50 per cent to 5 per cent.

These monetary steps were aimed at injecting more funds into the system and signalling a softer interest rate regime to boost economic growth.

The RBI has been reducing key policy rates since October to neutralise the impact of the global financial meltdown on the Indian economy.

While the repo rate and the CRR were at nine per cent in October, the reverse repo rate was at 6 per cent.

Bankers and analysts, however, have been expecting further cuts in key policy rates by the RBI in its January review as inflation has come down to 5.24 per cent from a peak of 12.91 per cent in August last year.

Soruce: http://www.business-standard.com/india/

Sensex ends up 277pts; NTPC, Reliance surge

The Sensex opened 79 points higher at 9,126 backed by a recovery in global markets. Steady buying therafter, mainly in the enery and metal stocks, helped the index display firm trend today.

The Sensex touched a high of 9,342 at the fag end of the day, and finally ended with a gain of 277 points (3%) at 9,324.

However, the BSE Mid-cap index was up a mere 0.5% at 3,027, and the Small-cap index ended a tad higher at 3,413.

The Oil & Gas index surged 5% to 5,934, and the Power index rallied 4.3% to 1,767. The Metal index gained 3.5% at 4,995. The Realty index, however, slipped 2.4% to 1,724.

The market breadth was marginally positive - out of 2,497 stocks traded, 1,241 advanced, 1,162 declined and the rest were unchanged today.

INDEX MOVERS...
NTPC soared 7.7% to Rs 180. Tata Power surged nearly 5% to Rs 773.

Reliance Infrastructure rallied 7.3% to Rs 541. Reliance gained 6.5% at Rs 1,218, and Reliance Communications moved up 4.8% to Rs 183.

Bharti Airtel gained 4.8% at Rs 633. ONGC, ICICI Bank and Hindalco moved up 3.7% each to Rs 648, Rs 424 and Rs 50, respectively.

BHEL and Tata Steel advanced over 3% each to Rs 1,398 and Rs 204, respectively.

...AND THE SHAKERS
DLF plunged 3.5% to Rs 195. TCS and Grasim slipped over 1% each to Rs 503 and Rs 1,280, respectively.

VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS
Reliance topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 266.50 crore followed by Satyam (Rs 152.85 crore), Reliance Capital (Rs 120.85 crore), Reliance Infrastructure (Rs 115.45 crore) and Educomp Solutions (Rs 103.75 crore).

Satyam led the volume chart with trades of around 6.15 crore shares followed by Unitech (2.60 crore), Reliance Natural Resources (1.65 crore), Bank of Baroda (1.24 crore) and Suzlon Energy (69.30 crore).

Soruce: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/sensex-ends277pts-ntpc-reliance-surge/18/15/53045/on

Post Session Market

Date : Jan-16-2009 16:38
Positive cues from the global markets along with news that Bank of America will receive fresh aid from the US government, led the pleasant closure of the Indian markets. The largest U.S. bank by assets, Bank of America Corp., received a $138 billion emergency salvation from the government to support its acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. and prevent the global financial crisis from intensifying. The U.S. government agreed to invest $20 billion more in Bank of America and guarantee $118 billion of assets as part of its commitment to maintain financial-market stability. Confidence that the US government will act to prevent the yearlong recession from deepening as well as firm European markets also supported the rally.

The domestic market today made sharp turnaround from the yesterday’s losses and opened higher on the back of positive Asian Markets. Further, market continued to gain ground on the back of sustained buying interest seen across board contributed mainly by US government aid for Bank of America. Though, volatility ruled the bourses in mid-afternoon trade, market managed to make a rebound to trade on firm note. During the final trading hours market gained the most to close the day with gains on huge buying. From the sectoral front, most of the indices ended in green and most of the buying was seen in Reality Oil & Gas, Power, Metal, PSU, Bank and Teck stocks. However, Reality stocks remained out of favour today. Midcap and Smallcap stocks remained quiet during the trading but managed to close in green terrain.

Among the Sensex pack 25 stocks ended in green territory and 5 in red. The market breadth remained in favor of advancers as 1241 stocks closed in green while 1162 stocks closed in red and 94 stocks remained unchanged in BSE.

The BSE Sensex closed higher by 276.85 points at 9,323.59 and NSE Nifty ended up by 91.75 points at 2,828.45. The BSE Mid Caps and Small Caps ended with gains of 16.02 points and 2.29 points at 3,026.83 and 3,412.77 respectively. The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 9,342.47 and intraday low of 9,125.65.

Gainers from the BSE Sensex pack are NTPC Ltd (7.69%), Reliance Infra (7.34%), Reliance (6.56%), Tata Power (4.89%), Hindalco (4.64%), RCom (4.79%), Bharti Airtel (4.77%), ONGC Ltd (3.72%), ICICI Bank (3.69%) and BHEL (3.24%).

Losers from the BSE Sensex pack are DLF Ltd (3.51%), TCS Ltd (1.38%), Grasim Indus (1.11%), ACC Ltd (0.27%) and Maruti Suzuki (0.22%).

The BSE Oil & Gas index outperformed among all the sectoral indices to close higher by (5.09%) or 287.66 points at 5,933.69. Major gainers are Reliance (6.56%), Reliance Natural Resources (4.05%), Cairn India (3.94%), Gail India (3.75%), ONGC Ltd (3.72%) and HPCL (2.59%).

The BSE Power index inclined (4.29%) or 72.74 points at 1,767.43. Gainers are Neyveli LIG (10.76%), NTPC Ltd (7.69%), Reliance Infra (7.34%), Suzlon Energy (5.42%), Tata Power (4.89%) and BHEL (3.24%).

The BSE Metal also contributed to the rally and ended up by (3.45%) or 166.41 points at 4,995.43. Main gainers are Steel Authority (7.70%), Sesa Goa Ltd (5.13%), Jindal Steel (4.17%), NMDC Ltd (3.86%), Hindalco (3.63%) and Welspan Gujarat SR (2.87%).

The BSE PSU index witnessed northward journey today to close higher by (3.36%) or 165.09 points to at 5,085.20 as Neyveli LIG (10.76%), Steel Authority (7.70%), NTPC Ltd (7.69%), NMDC Ltd (3.86%), Gail India (3.75%) and NMDC Ltd (3.86%), ended in green.

The BSE Bank index gained on hopes lower interest rates may boost lending growth and on expectations of strong Q3 December 2008 results and advanced (2.42%) or 118.96 points to close at 5,037.84 as Federal Bank (9.41%), Yes Bank (4.21%), ICICI Bank (3.69%), Bank of India (3.28%), Kotak Bank (3.10%) and Union Bank (3.09%) ended in positive territory.

The BSE Reality index underperformed the benchmark indices to close with losses of (2.39%) or 42.26 points at 1,723.76. Scrips that lost are Unitech Ltd (5.49%), Mahindra Life (4.27%), DLF Ltd (3.51%), Indiabull Real (3.34%) and Orbit Co (0.75%).

Market nudging higher on global cues: Sensex above 9K mark

Date : Jan-16-2009 13:37
Market extended early gains, well above that psychological level of 9k mark, as fresh buying was seen in Index stocks. Recent news relating to Bank of America, newly nominated board member of Satyam and positive results from TCS supported the sentiments of the investors. However, concerns over economic slowdown, increasing number of job losses, stringent monitory policy, lack of liquidity, lower purchasing power parity and threat of depression are resisting the market to rally.

On the sectoral front, traders on-loaded position across sectors except Realty and IT. Auto stocks continues its northward direction on hopes lower interest rates and fall in fuel prices would boost demand for vehicles which are mainly driven by finance.

The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was positive. On BSE, out of 2,314 stocks traded so far, 1,136 shares advanced while 1,097 shares declined. Nearly 81 shares are unchanged.

At 1.30PM, the BSE Sensex is trading higher by 164.6 points at 9,211.35 and NSE Nifty is up by 57.65 points at 2,794.35.

The BSE Mid Cap is trading higher by 7.7 points at 3,018.52 and Small cap is trading down by 0.23 points at 3,410.25.

Gainers from the BSE Sensex Pack are NTPC Ltd capitalized 5.24% to Rs. 175.75 along with Reliance Industries Ltd gained 4.30% to Rs. 1,192.50, R. Com 4.73% to Rs. 182.50, Reliance Infra 4.01% to Rs. 524.40, Bharti Airtel by 3.47% to Rs. 625.00, Tata Power by 2.73% at Rs. 757.40 and OCL by 2.50% at Rs. 640.50 among others.

Losers from the BSE Sensex Pack are DLF slumped 4.77% to Rs. 192.65 along with Wipro Ltd down by 1.83% at Rs. 231.00, TCS Ltd 1.47% to Rs. 502.50 and ACC Ltd by 0.90% at Rs. 498.00 among others.

The BSE Oil&Gas index is higher by 204.86 points or 3.63% at 5,850.89. Stocks trading in green are Reliance Industries Ltd gained 4.30% to Rs. 1,192.50, Gail India by 3.30% at Rs. 206.50, OCL by 2.50% at Rs. 640.50, Cairn Ind 2.41% to Rs. 153.20 and RNRL by 2.32% to Rs. 53.00 among others.

Satyam Computer Services galloped 18.72% to Rs. 24.10, on high volumes of 3.01 crore shares after Deepak Parekh, statement that if the cash-strapped company''s receivables come on time, it would not need any financial assistance from the government.

Reliance Industries Ltd gained 4.30% to Rs. 1,192.50, after announcement that it will start fuel exports from its new refinery this month. RPL, last month, commissioned its 5,80,000-barrels-per-day only for exports refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation rose 2.71% to Rs. 641.85 on reports of investment of $5.3 billion in developing gas finds in two of its eastern offshore KrishnaGodavari basin blocks to produce 25 million standard cubic meters per day of gas by 2013.

Ranbaxy Laboratories slipped 0.35% to Rs. 215.25 despite it is planning to exit its Japanese joint venture - Nihon Pharmaceuticals Industry (NPI) by selling 50% stake after the Indian drug maker was acquired by Japanese drug major Daiichi Sankyo. The acquired company will sell the stake back to its Japanese partner Nippon Chemiphar.

DLF slumped 4.77% to Rs. 192.65 on reports it is planning to turn down its special economic zone (SEZ) plans, battered by low demand for real estate. The company is planning to start five of its SEZs after 2010 when demand revives.

Tata Consultancy Services fell 1.52% to Rs. 502.25 on posting a lower-than-expected rise in net profit in Q3 FY09.

Everest Kanto Cylinder gained 0.80% to Rs. 170.00 as board of directors will meet on 23 January 2009 to explore opportunities for buying back of foreign currency convertible bonds.

Punj Lloyd slipped 1.21% to Rs. 110.10 despite the company said a joint venture bagged an overseas order worth Rs 1311.19 crore. The company announced the overseas order win after trading hours on Thursday, 15 January 2009.

Hindustan Zinc declined 2.68% to Rs. 350.00, after the company lowered zinc prices by about 2%.

Power Finance Corporation''s fell by 0.76% to Rs. 131.05 despite net profit rose 5.76% to Rs 338.98 crore on 32.33% rise in total income to Rs. 1720 crore in Q3 December 2008 over Q3 December 2007.

Bajaj Finserv Ltd hit 4.99% lower circuit to Rs. 187.45 after reporting a 5.1% fall in net profit to Rs. 11.05 crore in Q3 December 2008 over Q3 December 2007.

How to Save the Fuel

1. Small cars designed with fuel saving technology consume less fuel.
2. The lesser the luggage the lesser will be the fuel consumption.
3. Pool your car wherever practicable.
4. Travel by bus if feasible.
5. Avoid using automobiles for short distances.
6. Effectively plan and combine purchases and activities.
7. Go to the farthest place of business first followed by others while returning to avoid repeated starting of engine in cold condition.
8. Maintain required tyre pressure.
9. Maintain uniform and economic speed as far as possible using appropriate gear.
10. Accelerate and retardate slow in general.
11. Avoid abrupt braking.
12. Anticipate traffic conditions. Don’t drive very close to the leading vehicle. Maintain safe distance so as to avoid unnecessary braking and acceleration according to manner of driving of the vehicle in front of you under heavy traffic conditions.
13. Whenever possible, turn off A/C and open the air vents.
14. Select good road.
15. Let the periodic servicing be done without fail.

How to Reduce Weight

1. Drink two tumblers of water on rising from the bed, and in a day drink at least three litres/liters of it.
2. One third of your food should be salad. It fills the stomach and gives less calories of energy.
3. Take fruits and sprouts raw.
4. Avoid refined food item like polished rice, refined sugar, white flour (maida).
5. Avoid potatoes, nuts, cream, ghee, sweets, fried food, and dairy products.
6. Take regular exercise sufficiently, so as to burn more calories of energy, than its intake.
7. Participate in games without taking glucose in between.
8. Go for brisk walk, jogging or running.
9. Avoid eating outs with friends; say you are dieting.
10. Fast once a week by only drinking adequate water or fruit juice.
11. Don’t overeat. Eat slightly less than your requirement. When you feel to have some more food, control the desire.
12. Use skimmed milk instead of full cream milk.
13. Use yoghurt instead of cream or curd.
14. The order of preference of food is (1) steamed, (2) boiled, (3) baked, (4) roasted, (5) grilled, and (6) fried.
15. If frying is unavoidable, use oils like sunflower oil, safflower oil, etc having less bad cholesterols to stay slim.

How to Increase Weight in a Healthy Manner

1. Being lean is good, but being very lean and thin and underweight is bad.
2. A lot of medical tests are there to find out why a person is underweight.
3. To gain weight and be healthy you need to consume more calories than you burn them every day from healthy, protein enriched, and nutritious foods and choose the right types of exercise.
4. Exercise a little like mild weightlifting so as to feel hungry, to eat more balanced food and to develop muscle.
5. Take tuna, salmon, flax and walnuts. They contain healthy fats like omega-3.
6. Take meat, fish, poultry, nuts, and legumes. They contain protein.
7. Take fruits, vegetables and whole grains. They contain carbohydrates.
8. Take healthy beverages like milk and fruit juices to add calories instead of sweetened aerated sodas.
9. Take food supplements after consulting a physician to get all required vitamins and minerals.

Home Treatment for Cracked Feet

1. Keep feet clean and dirt free.
2. Rub pumice stone on the cracked part of the feet while taking a bath, to remove dead skin.
3. Before going to bed wash and dry the feet. Apply olive oil or a mixture of Vaseline and lemon juice on the cracked portion of the feet.
4. Do not walk barefooted at your home. Use slippers conveniently.
5. Consume a diet rich in calcium, iron, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins.
6. Milk, cheese, yogurt, goat’s milk, fortified soy milk, cereals and broccoli are excellent sources of calcium.
7. Cereals, millets, pulses and green leafy vegetables contain iron.
8. Meat, chicken and fish are good sources of iron.
9. Oysters, chicken, crab, kidney beans, yogurt, brown rice and spaghetti are Zinc rich foods.
10. Tuna, salmon, flax and walnuts are good sources of Omega-3.
11. egetable oils, green vegetables, cereals, wheat germ, whole-grain products and nuts are Vitamin Enriched foods.

Tips for Healthy, Strong, Long and Shiny Hair

1. Handle your hair gently and carefully while combing and brushing.
2. Try using wide teethed combs or own fingers to detangle hair.
3. Don’t take a bath in very hot water. It will stress the hair and affect its growth.
4. Gently massage the scalp to stimulate the hair follicles and to enhance the growth of hair.
5. Trim the hair periodically to eliminate split ends.
6. Take adequate rest. It makes the growth of hair fast.
7. Remove all the tangles before washing hair.
8. Don’t rub hair vigorously using towel to dry.
9. Eat a healthy diet.
10. Avoid foods that are high in sugar or fat.
11. Hair is made up of a kind of protein called keratin. Therefore intake of protein is necessary for the healthy and shiny growth of hair.
12. Fish, beans, yoghurt, soybean (soyabean), eggs, red meat and chicken are examples of good source of protein.
13. The diet for healthy hair should include beta-carotene, vitamins C and E, B-complex and biotin.
14. Beta-carotene, Vitamins C and E are antioxidants that reduce hair loss.
15. Vitamins C and E help to keep hair healthy, shiny and lengthy.
16. All citrus fruits, tomatoes, cabbage, potato, strawberry are examples of good source of vitamin C.
17. Biotin prevents scalp from itches.
18. Nuts and most fresh vegetables are good source of Biotin.
19. ron, zinc and copper provide nutrients for hair follicles for strong hair growth.
20. Enriched cereals, millets, pulses, green leafy vegetables contain iron.
21. Omega-3 fatty acid provides luster (lustre) to hair.
22. Tuna, salmon, flax and walnuts are good sources of Omega-3.
23. Fruits like berry, orange, lemon, grape and melon contain necessary nutrients required for hair.
24. Vitamin A is very effective in preventing hair loss and hair thinning. Carrot, milk, butter, dark green vegetables are some good source of vitamin A.

Tips to gain height

Height is determined by genetics and one’s growth is according to heredity.

However, some efforts will help us to grow taller.

Jumping, cycling and swimming, running, pull-ups, skipping or jumping rope and participating in games like volley ball and foot ball are some good exercises to grow taller.

Adequate sound sleep also helps to improve height.

Eating healthy and nutritionally balanced food for the development of muscle and for strong bones is also important to grow tall.

Drinking plenty of water helps in metabolism and flushes out toxins from the body more readily thereby helping to grow tall faster.

25 tips to manage through the slowdown

9. Renegotiate contracts
If you already service and input contracts in place, take a good look at all of them and see whether there is scope for a renegotiation on rates. Can you do with a lower level of service on service contracts? If deployment of manpower is included in these contracts (like manning point-of-sale positions) can you do with fewer people? If sales is down, obviously you can. What about your courier and other delivery mechanisms? Maybe you can do with a slightly longer delivery window. Can increasing the delivery window from, say, three days all-India to five get you a lower rate?

Managed service contracts and annual maintenance contracts are another set that should be up for closer scrutiny. Can the service windows be relaxed to reduce costs?

And while at it, be prepared to renegotiate contracts others have signed with you. Now that you know about it, be prepared beforehand, at least for key clients, with what you can offer and, whereever possible, try and ensure that you do not end up with nasty surprises like the cancellation of a critical order.

10. Can mergers make your business stronger?
Typically we tend to consider a merger as one of our last options. The problem with this approach is that, firstly, we will be negotiating with our backs to the wall, and, more importantly, at a point when the valuation will be at its lowest. So, without being emotional or superstitious about it, it is important that we do not keep this option for the last minute.

Basic questions to have an answer in hand include: Who are the possible suitors? What are they likely to be looking for? How all can a merger improve your business ? Can a part of the business be merged/sold? What level of control of ops are you willing to accede?

What about establishing a few initial contacts with the prospects if you do not already have them?

11. Reduce travel and overnight stay
Travel has just become way more costlier, and airports have moved far away from the city in at least two cities, Hyderabad and Bangalore. What this means is that you are going to be spending more time and money on travel and overnight stay. All the more reason why in tough times such as these you should look at saving on both time and money.

Three tools come to mind immediately that help achieve this objective. Audio conferencing, Web conferencing, and video conferencing. Actually, all three are variations of the same theme – remote conferencing. All telecom service providers have phone bridge services that multiple people can join in at the same time and hold a conference. One person has to setup the conference and others dial into a given number to join the call. Here at DARE, we have tried voice bridges for both national and international voice conferences. Our experience is that this works best for groups of under 10 people if all are expected to be talking. If, however, only one person is going to be talking at any given time, the number of callers logged in can be really large without any problems. Web conferencing as offered by Webex, among others, lets you share your desktop with other participants. This is useful if you have to run a presentation or you have to demonstrate a software application. Web conferencing applications also support text chat. Typically, you combine a Web conference with an audio bridge for best results. Video conferencing is capital intensive to set up afresh, but there are third party networks like the one run by Reliance. The only problem is that you have to move to their Webworld to conduct the video conference. One of the limitations of video conferencing is that it is not easy to interconnect different systems. Which means you cannot easily dial out to clients’ video conferencing system from yours and have a conference. Therefore, if your travel is mostly for client meetings, then video conferencing may not be a cheaper alternative.

And while on the topic of travel and stay, what about sharing rooms?

Sabsebolo is a recently launched free conference service by Yogesh Pate and Sabeer Bhatia. It enables as many as 10 parties to listen to or participate in a conference call you make – for free. Besides this free service, they also provide paid plans and business plans and fax to email service. Binesh Kutty at the DARE blogs

12. Reduce printing and posting costs
If your business involves printing and posting a large volume of bills every month, consider emailing them as PDF. This saves you printer costs, paper costs, electricity and postage costs, not to speak of manpower and time costs. Many banks and telecom service providers today offer both printed and electronic versions of their bills to customers; but may small businesses and single entrepreneur initiatives have gone a step further and completely done away with paper bills. No reason why you should not join them. And while at it, add a line at the bottom to each PDF bill to show your concern for the environment with a message like: “Save the environment; please do not print multiple copies of this bill unless it is absolutely essential .”

On the subject of printing, have you considered reducing the quality of paper that you use for your marketing literature and for bill printing? A small reduction in the quality of paper used – a reduction in grammage or a shift from art paper to normal paper will result in substantial savings while having no effect on your business’ image.

Another point we have already touched upon is whether you really have to use that costly courier? Can a cheaper local courier work out? If you have to absolutely deliver printed material, what about sending electronic documents to your local offices for printing and local delivery instead of printing and couriering from a central office? Savings in courier costs could be significant.

What about documents for internal customers: your employees? Why not save some paper there by putting them up on an intranet? Don’t have one? You can create one for free on Ning. And here is something that most organizations do anyway – recycle ink cartridges.

13. Implement open source software
There is a saying that when times get tough, open source gets going. Why? The logic is simple: IT budgets are amongst the first to get cut and at the same time the pressure from software companies (who have their own huge targets) to license software goes up. The way out? Open source.

How usable is open source? A majority of the Websites in the world run on Apache, an open source software. Tomcat and Jboss are widely used application servers. The DARE Website is implemented on Joomla, another open source software. The emailing system for the Website runs on yet another open source software – PHP List. We use another open source software LimeSurvey . This article is written using OpenOffice.org, an open source office suite. Some of my article concepts are developed using Freemind and open source mind mapper. Some of my basic graphics work is done using Paint.Net. We run our network asset management on SpiceWorks, and use many other open source tools for network monitoring and management.

If you are considering this approach, then there are a few things that you must keep in mind. Open source does not necessarily mean free. There are implementation and maintenance costs that you will have to pay. And many open source software have paid versions that are more feature rich or offer assured support. The biggest cost differential comes in the per-seat licensing fee. Most paid software operate on such a basis. Most open source application software do not either charge a license fee or charge a low fee. That is where your savings actually come from.

14. Reduce telephone costs
Communication costs are never insignificant for any business. If you have a lot of international calling to do, have you checked out Skype phones or services like World Phone that give you cheaper international telephony?

For calls within the country, did you know that you get better rates with closed user groups?

Soruce: http://www.dare.co.in/strategy/business-essentials/25-tips-to-manage-through-the-slowdown/Page-2.htm

25 tips to manage through the slowdown

The Sensex is down to half of what it was six months back. The world’s top investment banks no longer exist, and the US and European governments are rolling out the mother of all financial rescue packages. So, how are you affected? Unless you are in the export or BPO businesses, the slowdown may not yet have manifested in loss of business.

What will first become obvious is delayed payments and delays in signing new deals.

As I write this, the full impact of the financial meltdown is yet to reveal itself, particularly in India. Is it just a a slowdown? Is it a recession? Is the worst over, or will there be further shocks? All these questions are still up in the air. Clearly, we have not seen the end of this. We will have to wait for the next cycle or two of corporate results to assess the full extent of the situation. Meanwhile, how does one tide over these uncertain times? We have put together a list of things to do and to keep a close watch on. Reducing costs is, of course, the most obvious — so much so that it does not merit a mention as a separate item. The question is, where does one reduce costs and how does one go about it? This is what we shall answer in some detail in the following pages.

1. Reassess your business plan
The first thing to do is to completely reassess your businesses plan to figure out where and by how much you will be impacted. Figure out which input costs have gone up and by how much. Which are the target markets in turmoil? How are your key clients affected? By how much will their order position be affected?

Even if you have just finished wrapping up your half-yearly budgets, recast them if you expect dramatic changes. It is absolutely imperative that you understand the extent of impact the current scenario is going to have on your business.

2. Become cash flow and cash positive
With banks freezing working capital loans and lines of credit, it important to manage your cash flow tightly. For this, you first need to have a clear assessment of your potential cash flows. If there are negatives in the monthly cash flow, how do you make it positive? Is there any money you can collect a little faster to improve cash flow during bad months? Which payments can you defer or delay? Which are the clients you need to watch closely in order to ensure that there are no nasty surprises by the month end?

Add potential investors turning coy to banks freezing credit, and you can be out in the deep end if you are a startup or are bleeding. Therefore, an added question is, how fast can you turn cash positive? Do all that you can to turn positive as fast as you can. Here I am talking about operational income and expenses, and not profits, which take into consideration things like depreciation.

3. Manage key clients
Most businesses follow the 80/20 rule when it comes to their clients. Eighty percent of your revenues will come from 20 percent of your clients. Identify this 20 percent. How healthy are they now? Reassess their ability to pay on time. Take them into confidence. Can you help them a bit more in these troubled times without hurting yourselves? Is there some way your business can help them reduce costs and reach markets faster? Can you find a new use for their products or services? In short, do everything you can to not only retain them, but also increase business from them, as getting a new big client is not going to be as easy. On the other hand, ensure that you are amongst the first to know if they are in trouble.

4. Identify expenditure that can be deferred
Identify all non productive and long-gestation-period expenditure, and see which can be deferred. Non-productive expenditure start with small ones like redecorating the office. Capital investments include purchase of new offices or land, setting up new factories, plant and machinery, and so on. Decisions on which capital expenditure is to be deferred will flow from a revised business plan. Another set of capital expenditure that can be deferred is the purchase of computers , which we discuss separately.

5. Convert capital expenditure to monthly payouts: Lease
There are capital items that cannot be deferred as expenditure that is critical to the continuation of business. Can you convert at least some of the new capital expenditure into a monthly payout by going the lease route? Almost everything from plant and machinery to office space to computers to cars and software can be leased today. Using the lease route does away with the need for lumpsum payouts and to that extent reduces the drain on your cash flows, as well as the need to organize new loans. There are organizations that will help you lease anything and everything, and there are those that specialize in specific items.

General purpose leasing firms tend to look only at providing the cash flow for your equipment, while the specialists also take care of maintaining and managing equipment. To give a casual example, India Leasing will organize the finances for purchasing, say, printers and cars, which you have to separately own and maintain, while Black Magic Toners will lease manage and maintain printers, while Leaseplan will do the same with cars.

Have you considered a sale and leaseback option for assets you already own, where you sell these assets to a leasing company and then lease it back yourselves? This will release some cash for short-term needs.

6. Barter
This is something that most businesses do not consider. There is a healthy ecosystem out there for bartering goods and services. You can offer an exchange for goods and services you produce for those you need, including advertisement space. Thus, when you cut down your advertising budget, you can still get advertising space by offering to barter.

Net4barter and Tradex are organisations that will organize a barter for you for a fee. Craigslist, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites are also good places to get barters going.

7. Collect smarter
There is something that one tends to forget in the hurry. With payment schedules being stretched, you will obviously put a lot of focus behind overdue payments. But what about
advances? What about collecting some of the dues before they actually become payable?

One of the techniques that I saw being used during the dotcom slowdown was to offer discounts for payments made in advance and for collections done before due date. Such discount offers made to selected clients or even on selective deals could help in managing during critical cash flow situations.

8. Leverage the Web and mobile
One of the first items you will cut (or defer, if that is the term you prefer) from your budgets will be advertising expenditure. When the total available budget is reduced, you should also take a fresh look at your media mix. And you should take a long hard look at Web-based advertising options.

You may already be doing click-through advertising on Websites. Have you considered leveraging social networks for recruiting employees as well as customers? Have you looked at blogs? What about setting up employee blogs to improve customer touch points (and reduce costs for reaching out to the customer)?

SMS in bulk can be very cheap. Have you considered that as a response mechanism in place of printed letters and phone calls? Have a new deal to advertise? What about using SMS and email to get the word out? Somewhere inside your organization there is a treasure trove of email IDs and cellphone numbers. They are there in visiting card holders, in customer feedback forms, in registration and warranty cards, in emails and printed letters that customers send you, in your investor database, and so on. If you have not done it yet, now is a good time to get all of them organized and put to use.

Soruce: http://www.dare.co.in/strategy/business-essentials/25-tips-to-manage-through-the-slowdown.htm

Arjun tanks' comparative trials with T-90s this summer

NEW DELHI: Army and DRDO will jointly carry out comparative trials of indigenous 'Arjun' tanks with Russian-made T-90s this June, increasing prospects of the former's induction in the force soon.

The trials would pave the way for the army to finally accept Arjun tanks for induction, over 36 years after the project was commissioned by the government, defence ministry sources said on Friday.

"The comparative trials of Arjun tanks with the Russian-made T-90s would take place this summer in June, before the army gets to induct the indigenously developed tanks," a defence ministry source said.

These trials will come exactly a year after the summer trials of Arjun tanks in the Rajasthan deserts had "failed", compelling Minister of State for Defence Production Rao Inderjit Singh to suspect "sabotage" to be behind the tanks performing below expectations during the trials.

The trial in June, sources said, would be the first of the series under which the army and the DRDO would test and compare technologies and capabilities of the two tanks.

"During the summer trials of the two tanks in June, they will be subjected to various other comparative tests in the following months and it is likely to be completed by June 2010," the source said.

After the trials, the army and the DRDO would carry out a detailed analysis of the tests to determine which of the two tanks was better, sources said.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Arjun_tanks_trials_with_T-90s_soon/articleshow/3987151.cms

Arjun tanks' comparative trials with T-90s this summer

NEW DELHI: Army and DRDO will jointly carry out comparative trials of indigenous 'Arjun' tanks with Russian-made T-90s this June, increasing prospects of the former's induction in the force soon.

The trials would pave the way for the army to finally accept Arjun tanks for induction, over 36 years after the project was commissioned by the government, defence ministry sources said on Friday.

"The comparative trials of Arjun tanks with the Russian-made T-90s would take place this summer in June, before the army gets to induct the indigenously developed tanks," a defence ministry source said.

These trials will come exactly a year after the summer trials of Arjun tanks in the Rajasthan deserts had "failed", compelling Minister of State for Defence Production Rao Inderjit Singh to suspect "sabotage" to be behind the tanks performing below expectations during the trials.

The trial in June, sources said, would be the first of the series under which the army and the DRDO would test and compare technologies and capabilities of the two tanks.

"During the summer trials of the two tanks in June, they will be subjected to various other comparative tests in the following months and it is likely to be completed by June 2010," the source said.

After the trials, the army and the DRDO would carry out a detailed analysis of the tests to determine which of the two tanks was better, sources said.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Arjun_tanks_trials_with_T-90s_soon/articleshow/3987151.cms

Childbirth: One mother dies every 7 mins

NEW DELHI: Avoidable complications during child birth are killing 78,000 women in India every year. This means on an average, one woman dies from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth every seven minutes.

On the other hand, one million children born in India are dying every year even before they become 28 days old. A child born in India is 14 times more likely to die during the first 28 days than one born in the US or UK.

These are some of the shocking findings of UNICEF's `State of the World's Children 2009' report released on Thursday.

According to the report, an Indian woman is 300 times more likely to die in childbirth or from pregnancy-related complications than women in America or England. For every mother who dies, 20 others suffer pregnancy-related illness. Around 10 million women annually experience such adverse outcomes.

Despite an increase in institutional deliveries, 60% of pregnant women still deliver their babies at home.

In India, more than two-thirds of all maternal deaths occur in a handful of states -- UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, MP, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Assam.

In UP, one in every 42 women faces risk of maternal death, compared to 1 in 500 women in Kerala.

As far as neonatal deaths (within the first 28 days of life ) are concerned, the worst-off states include Orissa (52 deaths per 1,000 live births), MP (51), UP (46), Rajasthan (45), and Chhattisgarh (43).

The report points out that babies whose mothers die during the first six weeks of their lives are more likely to die in the first two years of life. "For every 100 children born in the world, 20 are from India. For every 100 children who die globally, 22 die in India," UNICEF India chief Karin Hulshof said.

According to her, the health and survival of mothers and their newborns are intrinsically linked. "Many of the same interventions that save maternal lives also benefit their infants. Even though India has cut its under-five mortality rate from 117 per 1,000 live births to 72 between 1990 and 2007, neonatal deaths contribute to 50% of these under-five deaths," Karin added.

According to the report, three-quarters of all maternal deaths in India occur from complications either during delivery or in the immediate post-partum period.

A quarter of the world's unattended deliveries take place in India, which is one of 10 countries which together account for two-thirds of births not attended by skilled health workers.

The report also points to India's shameful statistics regarding breastfeeding. Experts say universalisation of early breastfeeding, within one hour of birth, would reduce neonatal mortality in India by 22% while universalisation of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life would avert nearly 16% of young child deaths.

However, the report says only one in four children are breastfed within one hour of birth.

Annually, around 6 million children born in India have low birth weight.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Childbirth_1_mother_dies_every_7_mins/articleshow/3985176.cms

Childbirth: One mother dies every 7 mins

NEW DELHI: Avoidable complications during child birth are killing 78,000 women in India every year. This means on an average, one woman dies from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth every seven minutes.

On the other hand, one million children born in India are dying every year even before they become 28 days old. A child born in India is 14 times more likely to die during the first 28 days than one born in the US or UK.

These are some of the shocking findings of UNICEF's `State of the World's Children 2009' report released on Thursday.

According to the report, an Indian woman is 300 times more likely to die in childbirth or from pregnancy-related complications than women in America or England. For every mother who dies, 20 others suffer pregnancy-related illness. Around 10 million women annually experience such adverse outcomes.

Despite an increase in institutional deliveries, 60% of pregnant women still deliver their babies at home.

In India, more than two-thirds of all maternal deaths occur in a handful of states -- UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, MP, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Assam.

In UP, one in every 42 women faces risk of maternal death, compared to 1 in 500 women in Kerala.

As far as neonatal deaths (within the first 28 days of life ) are concerned, the worst-off states include Orissa (52 deaths per 1,000 live births), MP (51), UP (46), Rajasthan (45), and Chhattisgarh (43).

The report points out that babies whose mothers die during the first six weeks of their lives are more likely to die in the first two years of life. "For every 100 children born in the world, 20 are from India. For every 100 children who die globally, 22 die in India," UNICEF India chief Karin Hulshof said.

According to her, the health and survival of mothers and their newborns are intrinsically linked. "Many of the same interventions that save maternal lives also benefit their infants. Even though India has cut its under-five mortality rate from 117 per 1,000 live births to 72 between 1990 and 2007, neonatal deaths contribute to 50% of these under-five deaths," Karin added.

According to the report, three-quarters of all maternal deaths in India occur from complications either during delivery or in the immediate post-partum period.

A quarter of the world's unattended deliveries take place in India, which is one of 10 countries which together account for two-thirds of births not attended by skilled health workers.

The report also points to India's shameful statistics regarding breastfeeding. Experts say universalisation of early breastfeeding, within one hour of birth, would reduce neonatal mortality in India by 22% while universalisation of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life would avert nearly 16% of young child deaths.

However, the report says only one in four children are breastfed within one hour of birth.

Annually, around 6 million children born in India have low birth weight.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Childbirth_1_mother_dies_every_7_mins/articleshow/3985176.cms

Stocks to open higher on positive global cues; TCS in focus

MUMBAI: Stocks are likely to open higher on Friday with global markets stabilising. The Nifty may claw back to the 2800 level given the magnitude of the fall in the previous session. On a stock-specific note, TCS' lower-than-expected rise in quarterly profit late Thursday may have a sentiment impact on its shares.

Technology major Tata Consultancy Services posted a net profit of Rs 1,362 crore for the quarter ended December 31, up 2.68 per cent year-on-year. Revenues stood at Rs 7,277 crore for the reporting quarter, up 24.13 per cent year-on-year. The company has declared a dividend of Rs 3 per share. Market conditions were tough as global economic turmoil crimps outsourcing demand and puts pressure on fees, the company said.

US stocks ended slightly higher on Thursday amid optimism the government will act to prevent the year-long recession from deepening, offsetting news that Bank of America was seeking fresh government aid, which fueled worries about the health of the financial sector.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 12.67 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 8,212.81. The S&P 500 Index gains 1.12 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 843.74. The Nasdaq Composite Index adds 22.20 points, or 1.49 per cent, to 1,511.84.

Asian markets were trading higher mirroring Wall Street. The Nikkei was up 1.5 per cent, Topix gained 1.2 per cent, Hang Seng rose 0.23 per cent and Straits Times climbed 0.79 per cent.

Back home, Indian equities shed overnight gains Thursday as investors booked profits and created fresh shorts after sentiments turned bearish on deteriorating global market conditions.

Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex closed at 9,046.74, down 323.75 points or 3.45 per cent from Wednesday. The index touched an intra-day low of 8946.62 and high of 9123.78. National Stock Exchange's Nifty ended at 2736.70, down 3.48 per cent or 98.6 points. The broader index touched a low of and high of 2701.75 and 2832.30 during the day.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 484.33 crore amid volatile market sentiment, that led the benchmark Sensex sharply lower. However, domestic institutional investors continued their investment in the market and invested in shares worth Rs 175.12 crore.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Mkts_to_open_higher_on_positive_global_cues/articleshow/3987084.cms

Oil prices fall more than 10%

NEW YORK: Oil prices fell more than 10 percent on Thursday to a one-month low as thickening economic gloom added to expectations that world energy demand would keep shrinking.

US crude fell $3.74 to $33.54 a barrel by 1:30pm EST (1830 GMT), after falling as low as $33.20 -- the lowest since Dec. 19. London Brent fell 90 cents to $44.18 a barrel, maintaining an unusual premium to the US benchmark.

The losses came after US data showing the number of US workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week and US foreclosure activity jumped 81% in 2008, suggesting the recession is deepening. "We have gotten more dire economic news and the notion is that 2009 will not result in any significant turnaround, with sentiment mounting that may happen in 2010 instead," said Jim Wyckoff, independent energy analyst in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

The gloomy global economic outlook prompted OPEC on Thursday to forecast a fall of 180,000 barrels per day in world oil demand this year, 30,000 bpd steeper than its previous forecast.

Earlier in the week, the US Energy Information Administration forecast a world consumption drop of more than 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year.

US refiners, facing slumping demand from consumers and businesses, have been putting crude oil into storage instead of into processing units, pushing stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub -- the delivery point for US crude futures -- to record highs. The brimming inventories at Cushing have upended US crude's relationship with Brent, driving the higher-quality grade well below its European counterpart.

The American Petroleum Institute on Thursday said US demand for crude oil and petroleum products slid 5.9 percent in December from a year earlier, with demand in 2008 dropping at the fastest rate in almost three decades due to high energy prices and the slumping economy. US oil prices struck a peak of $147 a barrel in July but have tumbled since because of the economic crisis.

"The considerable uncertainty about the course of the recovery implies the potential for further deterioration in world oil demand growth this year," OPEC said in its Monthly Oil Market Report. This could build a case for the producer group to cut output again after already reducing supply by about 4 million bpd since September to try to halt the oil price slide.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Oil_prices_fall_more_than_10/articleshow/3986979.cms

Indian rupee gains

Date : Jan-15-2009 09:50
The Indian rupee On Wednesday firmed up on the back of hopes for fresh Capital inflows after the Indian stock market surged by breaking its past four day losing trend. The rupee closed at 48.85/86 per dollar stronger than its previous close of 49.11/12.

Insurers'' investments in the IT space, not an issue: IRDA

Date : Jan-15-2009 12:13
J Hari Narayan, Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) chairman isn’t too agitated about investments made by insurers in the IT space, despite intense World Bank heat on Satyam and Wipro. The AA rating is good enough for insurers to take coverage in IT companies, says the Narayan.

Insurers are required to hold on to the AA (double A) rating for investing in equities of any company and that is satisfactory even for IT companies. Wipro’s blacklisting by the World Bank is no cause for jitters. The company was blacklisted a few years back. Hence there should not be any worries," IRDA chairman said.

We have called for information on the exposure of insurers in Satyam. The Wipro case and other companies that may have been blacklisted is no call for concern, at least for now, he added.

At IRDA, we don’t intend to introduce any upper investment limit in so far as exposure in the IT sector by insurance companies goes. Insurers will keep investing as per existing guidelines, said Hari Narayan.

On supply concerns, sugar prices shoot 50% in a year

Date : Jan-15-2009 17:28
Since January 2008 the price of sugar has grown by 50%. In order to contain this inflationary trend in sugar prices, the government is expected to take a decision on raw sugar imports (on a tonne-to-tonne basis) within a fortnight and increase domestic supply manifold. Wholesale sugar price between time span of January 1, 2009 and January 9, 2009 in Kolkata was Rs 120 per qtl, in Mumbai it was Rs 156 per qtl and in Delhi it was just Rs 40 per qtl. The surge in the prices of sugar in the beginning of 2009 was due to low output of 180 lakh tonnes in 08-09 sugar year as compared to earlier estimates of around 220 lakh tonnes.

The government is likely to allow import of raw sugar on a tonne-to-tonne basis soon to meet the shrunken supply situation. The food ministry is likely to take a decision within a fortnight. As per NCDEX data wholesale price for sugar registered a significant growth of 50% over the period prior to January 2008 in Mumbai. In Kolkata it surged 45% and in Delhi it shot up as much as 46% during that period.

HDFC MF declares dividend for its 90 days plan

Date : Jan-15-2009
HDFC Mutual Fund has announced January 19, 2009 as the record date for declaration of dividend under dividend option of HDFC Fixed Maturity Plan -90D October 2008 (2), on face value of Rs 10 per unit. The Fund house has decided to offer dividend under retail plan and wholesale plan. The fund house has decided to distribute 100% of surplus available as on record date. The NAV under retail plan as on January 12, 2009 was Rs. 10.2567 per unit and Rs 10.2587 per unit for wholesale plan. HDFC Fixed Maturity Plan -90D October 2008 (2), which was launched in October 2008 is a close-ended income scheme. The objective of the scheme is to seek to generate regular income through investments in debt/ money market instruments and government securities.

124 arrested in wake of Mumbai attacks, says Pak

Pakistan on Thursday reaffirmed its commitment to root out extremists on its soil, saying it had so far arrested 124 people in a crackdown on banned groups in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.

Interior ministry chief Rehman Malik, the country's point man on counterterrorism, said those arrested were members of an Islamic charity linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which New Delhi has blamed for the Mumbai carnage.

"We are very, very serious" about fighting extremism, Malik told a press conference, saying the anti-terror fight was the "only option" for Pakistan.

The people arrested are members of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, one of the country's biggest charities, but which is widely viewed as the political wing of LeT, banned in Islamabad after an attack on the Indian parliament in late 2001.

The crackdown came in response to a UN Security Council resolution passed last month, describing Jamaat-ud-Dawa as a terror group.

Malik said that Islamabad needed more information from India in order to proceed with its own investigations into the Mumbai attacks and eventual prosecution of suspects.

"This is the time that Pakistan and India need to stick together," he said. "We'll be needing more information."

Soruce: http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=8e3b64d0-7536-4ca2-b154-92cafe8df433&&Headline=124+arrested+in+wake+of+Mumbai+attacks%2c+says+Pak

Markets tumble, Sensex below 9,000

MUMBAI: Equities opened sharply lower on Thursday dragged down by weak overseas markets. All sectoral indices took a sharp hit with realty and IT stocks leading declines.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s 30-share Sensex plummeted 377.39 points to 8993. National Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nifty slumped 119 points to 2719 from Wednesday’s close.

Nortel Networks Corp, North America's biggest telephone equipment maker, filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, hoping to save a once highflying business whose decade-long decline has accelerated with the global economic crisis. The filing marks a crucial stage in the slow deterioration of one of Canada's most prominent companies.

However, the bankruptcy filing of networking vendor Nortel is expected to have only a marginal impact on Indian IT companies. The telecom giant is a long-time outsourcer to Indian service providers. The top three Indian IT service providers - Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies and Wipro — as well as a few smaller firms like Sasken Technologies are vendors to Nortel. TCS, which is set to announce its third quarter results on Thursday, said its exposure to Nortel was very minimal and less than 1% of its revenue.

Meanwhile, US stocks fell to six-week lows on Wednesday on worries about deeper losses at banks worldwide and as US retail sales data pointed to a deepening recession. US retail sales dropped for a sixth month with a 2.7 per cent slump in December, the Commerce Department said yesterday, twice the drop economists had estimated.

The Dow lost 248.34 points, or 2.94 per cent, to 8,200.22; while the S&P 500 slid 29.12 points, or 3.34 per cent, to 842.67 and the Nasdaq Composite shed 56.82 points, or 3.67 per cent, to 1,489.64.

Asian stocks fell, dragging the regional stock benchmark to the lowest in five weeks, after Japanese machinery orders and US retail sales dropped at more than double the pace economists expected. The Nikkei dropped 2.5 per cent, Topix fell 2.46 per cent, Hang Seng lost 4.67 per cent Straits Times dipped 3.13 per cent.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/?in_leftnav

Inflation eases to 5.24% against 5.91% week ago

NEW DELHI: Inflation declined for the tenth consecutive week on Thursday to 5.24% for the week ended January 3, primarily due to decline in prices of food articles.

Inflation, measured by movements in wholesale prices, dipped by 0.67 percentage points from 5.91 per cent in the previous week. It stood at 4.26 per cent a year ago.

The index of the food articles group declined by 0.6 per cent as prices of fruit and vegetables fell by three per cent, and gram, barley, condiments and spices by one per cent each.

However, the index of manufactured goods declined one per cent. Among manufactured items, paper and paper products declined by 0.4 per cent, and chemicals and chemical products fell by 1.2 per cent.

The index of fuel declined by 0.2 per cent due to lower prices of aviation turbine fuel (8 per cent) and light diesel oil (3 per cent).

However, naphtha became expensive by three per cent, and among food items jowar, tea, urad moong and rice moved up by one per cent each, and masoor by two per cent.

Inflation has been declining after it touched a peak of 12.91 per cent in August last year.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Inflation_eases_to_524/articleshow/3982305.cms

J&K vigilance chief is new NIA head

Radha Vinod Raju, Special Director General of Police in Jammu and Kashmir, was on Thursday appointed as Director General of the newly established National Investigation Agency (NIA).

A 1975-batch IPS officer, 59-year-old Raju, who heads the vigilance department in the militancy-hit state, will be the head of the NIA till January 21, 2010, an official spokesperson said.

He was selected for the coveted post considering his wide knowledge and experiences in investigating high-profile cases, including assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram recommended Raju's name which was signed by Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has issued orders relieving Raju so as to enable his deputation to the Centre. He was to retire on July 31, this year.

Raju, who has served in various capacities in CBI and returned to his parent cadre after being promoted as Additional Director in the investigating agency, also had a stint in the vigilance department.

Serving as head of the Vigilance Bureau in Jammu and Kashmir earlier, Raju streamlined the department which was in shackles due to the ongoing militancy.

The government had also sought views on it from various investigating and intelligence agencies, including the CBI, Intelligence Bureau and newly constituted National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO). MORE

A Bill for the formation of the much-talked about National Investigation Agency was cleared by Parliament in December last year.

As per the proposal, NIA will have concurrent jurisdiction which empowers the Centre to probe terror attacks in any part of the country, covering offences, including challenge to the country's sovereignty and integrity, bomb blasts, hijacking of aircraft and ships, and attacks on nuclear installations.

The organisations, from which views have been elicited, have favoured an Indian Police Service official to head NIA.

The ground staff of the agency in the national capital could be drawn from existing central staff and security organisations while in the states, permanent deputation from the state police could be taken, they said.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Redir.aspx?ID=78fbf468-e449-4678-b70a-d653005d2f8b&SectionName=HomePage

Govt rules out bailout package for Satyam

The government on Thursday ruled out any bailout package for crisis-ridden Satyam Computer, but assured to do everything required to save jobs under the framework of its responsibilities.

"This is a decision that the new board of Satyam would take. This government is not going to directly or indirectly subsidise wrong doing and fraud in Satyam," Minister of State for Industry Ashwani Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of a Petrotech-2009 conference.

When asked, is government not in favour of bailout package for Satyam as such, Kumar said that the new Satyam board "... Are the ones to decide. The government would try and support within the framework of its responsibilities and do whatever it can to preserve and save jobs and to protect the good name of India in corporate sector".

He said, "The government will try to ensure to the extent possible that the brand equity of the country and Stayam in terms of its intellectual capital is preserved and the jobs are secured to the extent possible".

The minister said, "I do believe that Satyam aberration should not in any way take away from the great success story of India in the IT sector."

Earlier speculation was rife that the government is considering a package of up to Rs 2,000 crore to bail out Satyam Computer. But shortly after the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's review meeting on Satyam on Tuesday, there was media speculation that government would be considering a financial assistance ranging between Rs 500 crore and Rs 2,000 crore but

However, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, who attended PM's review meeting, had said that the government was open to consider a financial package for Satyam Computer.

The official sources had also indicated that the government appointed Satyam board had written a letter to the finance ministry raising concerns about the liquidity crunch in the troubled company.

Satyam has 53,000 employees and needs over Rs 500 crore a month to meet the staff cost. Satyam had plunged into a deep crisis following the founder-chairman B Ramalinga Raju's admission that he fudged the company accounts to the tune of Rs 7,800 crore.


Soruce: http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=63ad1a16-af36-4332-92ca-5a8bc4422e4aSatyamsinks_Special&&Headline=Govt+rules+out+bailout+package+for+Satyam

Pak to formally respond to India's dossier in a week

Pakistan will formally respond within a week to India's dossier on the Mumbai attacks by describing the information provided in it as "scanty and insufficient" and by renewing its offer for a joint probe into the terrorist strike, a media report said on Monday.

"The Pakistani response is almost prepared after prolonged consultations in Islamabad among the Foreign Office, interior ministry and other security agencies and it is being given a finishing touch," a senior official who did not want to be named told the pro-establishment The Nation daily.

The response will be handed over to India in a week after it is approved by the President and Prime Minister, he said.

The dossier had been thoroughly examined and the Pakistani response could be summarised by saying that "the Indians would be told to extend concrete evidence to Islamabad and not information", the official said.

The response will also describe "the so-called Indian evidence as scanty and insufficient," the daily said.

Pakistan would repeat its offer for a joint probe into the Mumbai attacks with "a plea that it was the only workable solution" to the standoff between the two countries, he said.

The official declined to share details of the Pakistani response but said that it described the "Indian information (as) not something that could be produced as admissible before the court as a piece of evidence".

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, in his address to parliament on Tuesday, had said material provided by India constituted information and not evidence.

Reacting strongly to Gilani's statement, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday accused Pakistan of evasiveness.

Meanwhile another Pakistani official said instead of indulging in a blame game, India should accept Pakistan's offer of a joint investigation. He said if Pakistan were not serious in cooperating with India on the Mumbai attacks, it would not have made such an offer.

The official added that the world community too is asking for joint work by Pakistan and India to trace those involved in the Mumbai attacks.

Soruce: http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=0bc2dfbe-f221-4d59-b3fd-1344e1998362SabreRattling_Special&&Headline=Pak+to+formally+respond+to+India's+dossier+in+a+week

Ultras explode grenade in Manipur hotel

IMPHAL, Jan 13 – Unidentified militants exploded a powerful grenade inside a private hotel near here in Imphal West district, official sources said today. The militants triggered the explosion near the reception of Hotel Bheigo at Wahengbam Leikai area here last evening, sources said. Nobody was injured in the blast but windows and a motorbike parked near the hotel was damaged in the blast, police said. Senior police officers visited the spot for investigations. No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the incident. Police said some militants of banned Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) allegedly had demanded money from the hotel authorities a few months ago but the matter was settled after negotiations with the militants. – PTI

RIL asks Govt to free fuel pricing

NEW DELHI, Jan 13 (PTI): Reliance Industries, which had shut down all of its petrol pumps last year because of huge losses, today asked the government to free retail fuel pricing to provide a level-playing field to its PSU competition. The government should use only fiscal measures to moderate retail rates in times of high international crude oil prices and extend fuel subsidies, which are currently available only to state-run firms, to private companies as well, said P Raghavendran, president of Reliance’s refinery business. “Removal of government controls is much more critical than a simple statement that the private sector can come in,” he said, adding, the company would reopen its outlets only when it gets a level-playing field. The Mukesh Ambani-run company had shut all of its 1,432 petrol pumps in March 2008 after it failed to compete with public sector companies, who sold fuel at rates much lower than their cost, as they got government subsidies. However, with the fall in international oil prices, margins on both petrol and diesel have turned positive. State-run oil companies Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are making a neat profit of Rs 9.10 a litre on petrol and Rs 3.70 per litre on diesel. Essar Oil, the second-largest private fuel retailer, has reopened about 1,000 petrol pumps since September, when international crude oil prices began declining.

Oil falls below $37 on demand outlook, stock build

PERTH: Oil fell again on Thursday to below $37 a barrel, extending an overnight 1.3 per cent decline on another build in US crude stocks and grim data from the world's major economies.

Asian shares followed their US counterparts down, hitting a 5-week low as weak US retail sales data overnight was followed by a record fall in Japanese machinery orders, while continued strength in the dollar against the euro also weighed on crude.

US light crude for February delivery fell by 71 cents to $36.57 a barrel by 0306 GMT, after settling down 50 cents on Wednesday.

London Brent crude fell 28 cents to $44.80 a barrel. "The flow of international economic news remains poor, leaving a range of commodity and energy prices under pressure," said David Moore, a commodity strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

The US Commerce Department said on Wednesday that total retail sales fell 2.7 per cent to a seasonally adjusted $343.2 billion last month following a revised 2.1 per cent drop in November, previously reported as a 1.8 per cent decline.

Underlining the global nature of the economic problems, the German economy contracted sharply in the final quarter of 2008 and euro zone industrial output plunged in November.

Slowing economic growth means less need for oil, a link confirmed by figures showing US distillate demand fell to the lowest level in five years, causing stocks to surge by 6.4 million barrels in the week to Jan. 9.

Crude stocks also rose for the third consecutive week, by 1.2 million barrels to 326.6 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Supplies at the NYMEX delivery point in Cushing, Oklahoma, were up 800,000 barrels to 33 million barrels, a record storage level at the site.

Analysts said oil traders will be looking towards US economic indicators due out later on Thursday, including weekly jobless claims and monthly producer price changes, to gauge how the economy is faring.

Oil prices have toppled from record highs over $147 a barrel struck in July as the economic crisis clips global oil demand, with the EIA now forecasting world consumption will drop by more than 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year.

With recent supply cuts by producer group OPEC having had little success in propping up collapsing oil prices, several members, including top exporter Saudi Arabia, have said that the group may reduce output again in March.

Soruce: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Oil_falls_below_37_on_demand_outlook_stock_build/articleshow/3981237.cms

Govt may ban deemed varsities

MUMBAI: Hundreds of deemed universities have sprouted across the country, but if the report of the Yash Pal committee appointed by the prime minister, is accepted and implemented, there will be no more such universities.

"Deemed university system has become exploitative. These institutes charge huge fees, but have not been successful in providing quality education to our students. Besides, most members feel that they give a very different projection of the university system," said a committee member.
Initially, just three institutions - the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, the Indian Statistical Institution and PUSA in Delhi, were recommended for deemed university status for their academic excellence.
However, since then, the number of deemed universities have grown at an extraordinary rate. State governments have no control over them. In fact, while March 2002 to 2006 saw central and state universities growing by 11 per cent and 22 per cent respectively, deemed universities grew by 96 per cent, according to data available from the ministry of human resource development.
The high-profile 27-member national committee is likely to meet in February and finalize its report before submitting it to the ministry and the prime minister's office.
In a draft report, a copy of which is with this paper, members have stated that universities must be treated as self regulatory bodies, not subjected to inspections from any central regulatory bodies. Moreover, the University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which have called the shots in higher education for decades, should make way for a single body. The UGC was set up in 1956, while the AICTE came into existence in 1987.
Committee members have also stated that the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, that accredits colleges across the country, be disbanded and state-wise bodies be set up.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Govt_may_ban_deemed_varsities/articleshow/3979661.cms

Apple chief Steve Jobs takes medical leave, shares tumble

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc chief and tech visionary Steve Jobs will take a leave of absence till end-June because of health problems "more complex" than thought, backtracking on reassurances, stunning investors and sending its shares skidding 10% on Wednesday.

Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor, dropped his bombshell in a cryptic announcement on Wednesday -- only nine days after he soothed jumpy investors somewhat by saying his dramatic weight loss over the past seven months was due to an easily treatable hormone imbalance. He had promised to remain at the helm throughout his treatment.

Wednesday's revelation, which contained scant detail on Jobs health, comes at a difficult time for the company behind iPod media players and iPhones but now grappling with a slowing product line, rapidly worsening consumer spending and an uncertain succession plan.

Jobs, 53, vowed to remain involved in major strategic decisions while he's away. Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook will take over day-to-day operations in what experts say could be a dress rehearsal for a more permanent CEO performance. It will be a familiar role for Cook, who stepped in to run the company in 2004, when Jobs sought treatment for cancer.

"Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well," Jobs said in a letter to employees that was released by the company. Analysts were divided over the longer term impact were Jobs to take himself out of the equation. Some were confident a successor will rise from within Apple's ranks, others lamented the loss of the firm's helmsman and inspiration. "It's the classic blind man feeling around the elephant. We are all dealing on partial information," said Collins Stewart LLC analyst Ashok Kumar.

"There's no individual or even a management team that can fill his shoes. That being said, there is hope that the management bench is deep enough to continue the track record and also that Steve will be able to return in some capacity or the other to the company in the near future."

Speculation about Jobs' health resurfaced in June 2008, when he appeared dramatically thinner at an Apple event. Jobs is viewed as the driving force behind Apple's consumer-friendly products, which also include Macintosh computers.

"The next six months are going to be basically a trial period for Tim Cook to be CEO," said Brian Marshall at Broadpoint Amtech." "If that period goes well, my expectation is that Steve will pass the baton over to Tim in June and basically Steve will be his senior adviser."

But with details scarce in Wednesday's statement, fears about Jobs' health will continue to haunt markets. Investors have blasted the company for failing to announce a succession plan, considering how vital Jobs is to Apple's success.

"Apple is more dependent on its CEO than most other companies," said Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies. "Steve is a critical judge of the company's business, and that maestro role that he performs is what makes Apple great. But there is no maestro-in-training to take over Steve's role."

Indeed, legal experts said investors are likely to take the firm to court for less-than-timely disclosure -- and they would have a case. Jobs and the firm have remained close-mouthed amid swirling speculation in the media and on the Internet about his health.

"It is extremely difficult because it is the most private part of his life," Steve Williams, a plaintiffs attorney for Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy, said. "At the same time, Apple is Steve Jobs." Some investors had long since bet on Jobs' imminent departure.

Adam Harter, an analyst at Financial Enhancement Group, said last week that his company had added to its position in Apple a couple of months ago when the stock was trading in the mid-$80s, thinking that the so-called "Jobs premium" had been discounted from the share price. Jobs' apparently seesawing health also complicates what was already expected to be a difficult year for Apple and the electronics industry, as a severe downturn saps consumers' spending appetite.

Some fear that Jobs' absence will mean no big product launch -- such as last year's 3G iPhone -- in 2009, and hence put a dampener on the firm's share price. "Steve Jobs is known as the company but we have to see how well his 'support system' -- the people he put in place -- will hold up," said Tom Sowanick, chief investment officer of Clearwater Financial.

Customers at a bustling Apple store in San Francisco said they knew about Jobs' health-related issues from the media, but thought his absence from the company wouldn't immediately influence their buying decisions.

"A visionary man draws visionary people to him, so even if he isn't at the helm, the company is still in good hands," said Sam Brown, a 22-year-old Pittsburgh resident. Jobs, 53, turned around a once-moribund Apple in large part due to the blockbuster success of the ubiquitous iPod.

A showman, he often unveiled the latest Apple products at trade shows and conferences amid cheers and applause from thousands of software developers, customers and employees. Jobs, a college dropout, started Apple Computer with his friend Steve Wozniak in the Jobs family garage in Silicon Valley more than 30 years ago. The company soon introduced the Apple 1 computer.

But it was the Apple II that became a huge success and gave Apple its position as a critical player in the then-nascent PC industry. Today, Jobs is a board member and the largest individual shareholder of Walt Disney Co, a position he took when Disney bought his animation company, Pixar Animation Studio, now known as Disney-Pixar, in 2006. Disney did not respond to queries about whether Jobs would continue to serve on the company's board.

Apple's stock fell as much as 10% following Jobs' announcement, before paring losses to trade at $79.64 after hours. The stock had closed down 2.71 percent at $85.33 on Nasdaq.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Apple_chief_Steve_Jobs_takes_leave_shares_tumble/articleshow/3981510.cms

Top Satyam bosses fly out of country

HYDERABAD: Satyam's former interim CEO Ram Mynampati is not the only one to quietly go abroad. Two other senior staffers of Satyam are also currently out of India.

While senior vice president and director Virendra Agarwal has gone to Singapore, another senior VP and director Keshub Panda has pushed off to London. Mynampati, now in the US, is an American citizen. Most of his immediate family members also have US passports.

Satyam insiders claim that all three executives have journeyed overseas to reassure clients and make collections for bills due.

"But the possibility of their travelling overseas to avoid questioning by the police and other regulatory bodies cannot be discounted," a senior Satyam staffer admitted. He felt that the chances of Mynampati ever returning are very remote.

It is learnt that the three decided to go abroad on January 9. Satyam insiders claimed that letters to clients were dispatched after Ramalinga Raju quit.

The letters counselled the clients to bear with the situation in Satyam and generally sought their support.

"Between January 7 and 9 phone calls were made to clients. But making phone calls is one thing and interacting in person is quite another. In fact, some clients wanted presentations from the company in person. So it was decided that they would go and physically meet them," a senior Satyam staffer said.

For Satyam, 62% of all business comes from the US where Ram Mynampati will have to meet scores of clients. Europe contributes over 20% of the business and Keshub Panda looks after this region. Virendra Agarwal looks after Asia Pacific/Africa/Middle East markets which account for over 15% of Satyam's business.

Meanwhile, senior staffers of Satyam who had said that they were happy after hearing of government-appointed directors have now changed their status message to "feeling less unhappy" compared to their state after Raju left. These staffers confessed that there was still a vacuum in the company. "With the appointment of new directors, there is at least a cheque-signing authority in the company but without a full-time CEO, there is no day to day decision-making authority," a senior manager admitted.

"Maybe the government will step in and provide some liquidity for the time being. But if clients and investors do not feel comforted, then there is very little chance of the company being able to stand on its feet," a senior Satyam staffer said.

The fact that the entire top level leadership of Satyam is under a cloud has added to the sense of disquiet among staffers.

Soruce: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Top_Satyam_bosses_fly_out_of_country/articleshow/3980686.cms

Deloitte, KPMG are new joint auditors for Satyam

The newly appointed three-member board of fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services on Wednesday appointed Deloitte and KPMG as the new joint auditors for the company in place of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The development was confirmed by Deepak Parekh, one of the board members of the beleaguered firm, which is going through turbulent times following the admission of a Rs.70 billion ($1.43 billion) fraud by its founder and former chairman B. Ramalinga Raju.

The board comprises Parekh, chairman of Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC), Kiran Karnik, former president of the National Association of Software and Service Companies, and C. Achuthan, former member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the markets watchdog.

KMPG and Deloitte, along with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst and Young, form the big four of global audit firms.

The inability of PricewaterhouseCoopers in detecting the major scam came under scrutiny with state investigation agencies Tuesday conducting a raid on its premises at the upscale Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad, also the headquarters of Satyam.

The markets regulator is also probing the role of the former auditors in the scam. A team of SEBI officials had also checked the records of the firm in Hyderabad last week.

Soruce: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Homepage/Homepage.aspx

Market rallied on firm growth in foreign Indices: Sensex nearing 9,500 mark

Date : Jan-14-2009 13:34
Market came back from choppy volatility of yesterday and now trading strong as sustained buying is experienced in Index stocks. Further, firm return in foreign Indices and strong results by Infosys boosted the sentiments of domestic investors. However, the concerns over the slowing economic momentum and corporate earnings is acting as a resistance in the market and keeping many of the investors away.

On the sectoral front, traders on-loaded position across sectors. IT stocks capitalized for the second day in a row boosted by stronger than expected Q3FY09 results from Infosys Technologies. Meanwhile, special economic zones (SEZs) set up by IT majors like Infosys, Wipro and TCS under the parent companies will soon be able to benefit 100% tax exemption on profits on par with SEZs set up as separate entities, as the government has reportedly decided to amend the income tax law relating to tax exemption for units operating of SEZ.

The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was strong. On BSE, out of 2,281stocks traded so far, 1,329 shares advanced while 852 shares declined. Nearly 100 shares are unchanged.

At 1.30PM, the BSE Sensex is trading higher by 271.96 points at 9,343.32 and NSE Nifty is up by 77.4 points at 2,822.35.

The BSE Mid Cap is trading higher by 43.83 points at 3,050.25 and Small cap is trading up by 36.44 points at 3,478.80.

Gainers from the BSE Sensex Pack are Reliance Industries Ltd surged 6.51% to Rs. 1151.30 along with Infosys Tech by 5.43% at Rs. 1,297.00, TCS surged 4.25% to Rs. 545.00, Tata Steel grew 3.94% to Rs. 210.85, Reliance Infra by 3.79% to Rs. 494.20, Mahindra & Mahindra by 3.79% to Rs. 315.10 and Sterlite Ind by 3.56% at Rs. 272.10 among others.

Losers from the BSE Sensex Pack are Sun Pharma tumbled 1.20% to Rs. 1,120.90 along with Ranbaxy Labs down by 1.13% at Rs. 213.95, Tata Motors by 0.64% at Rs. 154.25.

The BSE IT index is higher by 98.67 points or 4.56% at 2,246.36. Stocks trading in green are HCL Tech gained 8.24% to Rs. 117.55, Infosys Tech by 5.43% at Rs. 1,297.00, Aptech by 5.13% at Rs. 75.80, TCS surged 4.25% to Rs. 545.00 and Tech Mahindra by 3.50% to Rs. 240.75 among others.

TCS surged 4.25% to Rs. 545.00 on speculation it has got a significant portion of World Bank contracts that were previously serviced by Satyam Computer Services.

Wipro rose 0.77% to Rs. 242.95 as American depository receipt jumped 6.67% on Tuesday, 13 January 2009.

Nucleus Software Exports gained 3.29% to Rs. 53.40 on bagging an overseas contract.

Reliance Industries Ltd surged 6.51% to Rs. 1151.30 as it would re-enter the retail fuel business when government deregulates fuel prices and allows the market-determined prices to prevail.

ONGC advanced 4.39% to Rs. 658.00 on rise in crude oil price.

NTPC rose 1.49% to Rs. 170.65 as it approved investment of Rs. 6,037 crore in super thermal power projects in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chattisgarh.

HDFC Bank gained 1.60% to Rs. 1,004.75 on anticipation of strong Q3 results due later in the day today, 14 January 2009. The results will include the impact of the merger of Centurion Bank of Punjab and hence will not be comparable.

Airline stocks Jet Airways up 5.19% to Rs.151.00, Kingfisher Airlines up 5.07% to Rs. 35.20, and SpiceJet up 5.70% to Rs. 13.90, rose on reports the government may allow foreign airlines to pick up a minority stake in domestic airlines.

Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone surged 4.77% to Rs. 371.00 on signing a pact with the state government of Gujarat, involving a total investment of Rs. 15,000 crore for expansion and development of new facilities in the state.

Satyam Computer Services slipped 5.12% to Rs. 29.65 on reports the government is finding it difficult to move ahead with a rescue plan for the company.

HOV Services jumped 6.41% to Rs. 34.85, after its board approved buyback of shares at a price not exceeding Rs. 50 per share, a 42.86% premium over the ruling market price.