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Friday, October 31, 2008

Indian Economy will grow at 7%: FM

The Finance Minster Chidambaram on Friday briefing to media said the Indian economy would grow at 7 per cent. He told that the economy growth rate would not be lower than 7 per cent according to the estimate of the Reserve Bank of India. On Friday, the stock markets are seen in green those ended at the around 743 points up. In the meanwhile, the global crisis is the prime cause for the tumble stock markets for many day. According to media reports, most of the investors have lost their hard earning in the stock market crash.

The assurance from the finance minister would help the market to catch the sentiments and may bounce back to normal trading in near future. But until the global crisis and liquidity crisis back home are rooted out there will be uncertainty in the market. The global crisis is also the prime cause for the costs cut measures adopted by the companies to protect themselves from the impact. There were reports of job cuts across the glob and the Indian companies might adopt these measures too. The Jet Airways lay-off and taking back the employees could be the signal towards the future measures of cost cutting. That was only seen in the aviation sector but other sectors of the economy have been badly affected due to the global meltdown.

Regarding the job cuts the finance minister said that the nine per cent growth rate was a stage for the rapid jobs expansions but the seven per cent growth would not indicate job cuts, according to media reports. However, the measures to check the liquidity crisis back home are being proved effective in checking the inflation too, which significantly dropped to 10.68 per cent. Let’s hope the economy should not go beyond the rate of 7 per cent at least, as once there was dream of having dual digit growth rate.

Govt approves insurance bill; to hike FDI cap to 49 %

The government today approved the much-awaited comprehensive insurance bill, which seeks to raise foreign direct investment cap in private sector to 49 per cent from 26 per cent. The bill to be tabled in the Parliament in December. According to media reports, the Finance Minister said the Union Cabinet gave its approval for introduction of the Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2008 for amendment to Insurance Act 1938, General Insurance Business Act, 1972, and Insurance Regulatory and Development Act, 1999, in the Rajya Sabha on the basis of recommendations made by GoM. The Cabinet also decided to introduce the Life Insurance Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2008 in the Lok Sabha, media reports say.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Inflation dips to 10.68%

India’s headline inflation, as measured by wholesale price index (WPI), stood at 10.68% for the week ended October 18 this year, as compared to 11.07% for the previous week. The annual rate of inflation was at 3.11% a year- ago. The three major commodities group showed a decline in the week ended October 18, 2008, according to Business Standard. This is a great respite for the economy. During the time of liquidity crisis the downfall of the inflation is an advantage for the government and the people. On the contrary there may the cut in fuel prices as the global crude has been trading at lower and lower day by day.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

India not in recessionary mode: RBI

The GDP of India for FY09 will be round 7.8 per cent according to projection from the RBI. The Governor of RBI, D Subarao assures as India's growth is mainly driven by domestic demand and consumption, the country would be less affected by the global financial turmoil but it would not go completely unscathed, according to media reports. The global meltdown is the only factor that brought the projection figure of the India growth to 7.5 per cent.

The inflation however has been declining but still a concern for the nation as there is liquidity crisis too. But inflation continued to be a matter of concern as RBI forecast is based on not merely the wholesale price index but also other data. The RBI makes a deeper study and if one analyses the consumer price index, the CPI for agricultural and rural labour was up by 11 per cent and that for industry was up nine per cent, according to media reports.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Rupee breaches 50-mark against a US dollar

Indian rupee today breached the historic 50-mark against a US dollar in intra-day on sustained demand for the greenback amid the American currency's sharp rise against its major rivals in overseas markets. The domestic currency later closed the day a little lower at 49.95/96 after suspected intervention by the Reserve Bank in the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market. Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex also posted its second biggest single-day fall of nearly 1,100 points on relentless capital outflows. Source

Sensex plunges despite RBI’s credit policy

Markets suffered losses as traders offloaded positions soon after the Reserve Bank of India’s credit policy review was out. This time the credit policy by the RBI failed to keep the market sentiments intact. The central bank on Friday left its policy rates and reserve ratios unchanged in its half yearly review of the monetary policy. The central bank has revised GDP growth target to 7.5-8.0 per cent from 8.0 per cent earlier.

On the other hand, inflation target has been retained at 7 per cent for FY09. Inflation continued to show a welcome decline on 23rd October with the wholesale price index rising to 11.07 per cent from 11.44 per cent last week, according to media reports. However it was expected that credit policy would ease the inflation and check the global crisis.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

7 PSU banks to be recapitalised

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said that seven PSU banks having a capital adequacy ratio of below 10% would be recapitalised, according to media reports. The Finance Minister had meeting with bankers over the liquidity and global crisis. RBI has been taken many measures to check the impact of global crisis on Indian banking system and Indian economy.

The impact of the global crisis and meltdown have been affected almost all sectors including Indian banking system. In order to ease the liquidity crisis, RBI had cut the repo rate and prior to that CRR was also decreased. It is worth mentioning that the inflation is down despite such measures to contain the global crisis and fluctuation was there in the stock markets. The Prime Minister of India has assured about having sound banking system in India despite the global meltdown, according to media reports.

Source

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Will the government reduce petrol, diesel price?

There was hike in petrol, diesel prices in India in contrast with the rising global crude prices globally. The scenario now has been changed; the crude price in the international market has been reduced drastically to around $60/barrel to $70/barrel from all time high of around $140/barrel. There were speculations about oil prices of touching the highest of $200/barrel. In India, the impact of the rise in the global prices was very high; the government had raised the petrol and diesel price.

Experts believe that, there can be a cut in the petrol and diesel prices if the price of crude in the international market would come down to around $65/barrel. Of late, the price of crude has been reducing and soon it can be seen at the cost around $ 65/barrel. If the price will come down in the international market then this will be respite for the major oil companies in India. These companies have been suffering loss due to the huge subsidies provided by the government to the people. These companies will try to adjust their loss from the gained surplus from the fall in the oil prices in the international market.

This can be a favorable time for the UPA government to reduce the petrol and diesel prices. The fact can’t be denied that the slide in the oil prices in international marker is temporary and it may surge in future. The major oil companies in India will try to make the better use of the slide in the oil prices in the international market. Inflation and high prices of oil and diesel are the big concerns for the people and relaxation in any they will welcome it.

Monday, October 20, 2008

RBI cuts the Repo rate by 100 bps to 8 per cent

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut the Repo rate by 100 bps to 8% with immediate effect. This is the first Repo cut since 2003. This move is a bit of surprise for all but its another measure to check the impact of the global meltdown. On Monday the Sensex ended 247 points higher but came off the day’s highest gains of 563 points, even as the Reserve Bank of India cut Repo rate by 100 bps.

Repo rate is the rate at which the RBI provides funds to banks against the collateral of government bonds; this may be another open market operation by the apex bank to tackle the crisis. The bank would review their loan rate in correspondence to the change in the Repo rate. A fall in interest rate boosts stocks as it results in lower borrowing costs for corporates. The announcement by the RBI over the cutting down of Repo rate however triggered the Indian equities trend but failed to remain till the end of market session.

Sebi’s ban on short sales and Sensex up 238 points

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said it is keeping its options open on banning short sales, which a section of brokers believes are responsible for the collapsing stock market. The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex fell below 10,000 Friday, the first time since July 2006. Short selling or "shorting" refers to the practice of selling shares that the seller does not own at the time of the sale with the intent of buying it later at a lower price. Short-sellers attempt to profit from expected decline in share prices.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), under pressure in their home countries, have been selling consistently since September 15, when Lehman Brothers, one of the largest investment banks in the US, filed for bankruptcy. It is very important to protect the market sentiments during the time of collapse. The market has been trading low for last few weeks but today the Sensex ended in green at 10213 points with 238 points up. Nifty is also ended in green at 3123 with 49 points up. Source

RBI appoints Mohanty as head of policy, statistics dept

The Reserve Bank has appointed Deepak Mohanty as the head of its economic policy, statistics and information department. Mohanty has been given charge of Department of Economic Analysis and Policy (DEAP) and Department of Statistics and Information Management (DSIM). Mohanty's appointment will be effective from October 13, according to media reports.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Will Global Crisis hit Indian BPOs Sector?

BPOs sector of India is one of the worse hit sectors due to the global meltdown. The stock markets have been reported down points for last some days since the US big companies Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch filed for bankruptcy. Industry association National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) has asserted that there will be huge impact of the global crisis on India BPOs. It is very tough time for the BPOs to maintain the pace in the global crisis and US crisis. Moreover, the companies will now be looking for the cost cutting measures in order to safe guard themselves from the impact of global crisis and market meltdowns.

Recently, the one of the major airways of India, Jet had announced for a big lay-off but rolled back the decision. This is the clear indication from the companies that how badly the global crisis hit them. No sure, but the BPOs in India will be planning for the major cost cut measures, even they might feel the salary cut, lay-off, minimize the facilities are some of the favorite measures. It is difficult for the small companies in US having their outsource unit in India, do not feel its proper time to boost their outsource activities in India.

Everyday we come across the reports about the impact of the global crisis on Indian market and the BPO sector is not untouched from it. The BSE sensex recently closed below 10,000 points first ever since July 2006, the best example of the impact of the global cirsis on Indian companies. According to a media report, the impact of the crisis on Indian outsource will last for at least another three to four years as the financial services sector goes through a major restructuring. It is expected that world economy will stable once again and the Indian BPOs will cherish again.

Friday, October 17, 2008

SENSEX breaks 10000 for 1st time since July 2006

The fluctuation in the market is still there and the impact of global factors are high. The measures from the government seems to be falling short in controlling the crisis. The Sensex fell 669 points to 9,912 and the Nifty lost 194 points to 3,074, at 3:45 pm on Friday. This is another big crash of the market since July 2006.

This is probably one of the major slides in the market today. This quarter was full of market crash, as the FII were the biggest sellers in BSE-500. The impact of global crisis still prevails and will be a never ending tale for many. Investors might have been planning for the other measures to safe guard their money. However, Dow is green with 401 points up at 8979, till the report is filled.

Jet Airways rolls back decision of lay-off

It was just a win-win situation for the employees of Jet Airways, when the company rolled back the lay-off decision. Naresh Goyal has denied any political pressure and rolled back the decision of retrenchment of around 1900 employees. In the time of crisis, it is very difficult for the companies to maintain their pace and need to focus on the cost cut measures. On the other hand, the Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel made it clear that there would not be any lay-offs with in Air India, according to media reports. The hire and fire show in the aviation industry seems to be ended for a while but in future this may be another big-bang for many including employers and employees.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Jet Air lays off 850 flight attendants

Jet Aiways has reportedly served notice to 850 cabin crew members, mostly on probation. The airline company has reportedly couriered the letter on Tuesday night, according to media reports. The company has however cleared that it had not targeted any particular section of employees. This is the impact of the global crisis and the airline industry is among worse hit industries. It is just a panic situation for the employees of the company those are expected to receive the termination letter from the company. The global crisis made them to loose their job and company is approaching safer measures to avert the worse effect of the global crisis. The country's leading private airlines fight to survive the crisis, India's first ever international exhibition and conference on civil aviation -- "India Aviation 2008" -- is set to kick off in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Concerning the crisis, RBI will be taking further more steps to check the liquidity crisis and this will help to infuse more money into the system.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Indian banks have $1 bn exposure to five troubled institutions

Indian banks through their overseas branches and subsidiaries have a combined exposure of around $1 billion to five troubled institutions –Wachovia, Washington Mutual, AIG, Fortis and Lehman Brothers, according to media reports. This is one of the big concerns for the nation. The global crisis is the key factor for the markets crash and the affected the banking system, in order to check the crisis, the RBI has cut the CRR to 7.5 per cent to infuse 60,000 crore rupees into the system.

On the Monday, the stock trading was up, it was a bit of relaxation for the investors those have witnessed the consecutive crashes for few days. Today the Sensex closed at 11332.23 with around 804 point up and Nifty was also closed at around 210 points up. Almost stock markets of the world today had good time on Monday, as the trading was ended in good note except few markets. However, the market is uncertain and no speculation would work out for teh investors in days to come. The reports of the exposure to five troubled institution is a concern in India but today’s trading reflected of having little impact of global crisis on Indian banks. Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India has said its inspection of ICICI Bank and UK subsidiary has not revealed anything to cause alarm, media reports read.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Business News in Brief

Financial crisis hits India's funds-thirsty realty sectorIndia's funds-parched realty industry, already reeling under dropping sales, high interest rates and drying up of private equity sources, has to grapple now with credit squeeze wrought by an unexpected quarter: the global financial tsunami.

A bankruptcy every five minutes in Britain!
A British resident or business is declared insolvent every five minutes or so, according to an advocacy group.

Zee launches Tamil channel
The Subhash Chandra-owned entertainment media conglomerate Zee Group on Sunday launched its Tamil satellite channel "Zee Tamizh".

RFID innovation Xtenna for integrated RFID devices
Essen has launched the next-gen RFID device “Xtenna” that overcomes current RFID shortcomings, extends reach, improves and optimizes operations, and therefore extends functionality beyond existing applications.

Friday, October 10, 2008

RBI cuts CRR by 150 bps, inflation dips to 11.8 per cent

The RBI concerning over the global market meltdown, has cut the CRR by 150 bps to 7.5 per cent. The finance minister earlier had assured to infuse more money into the market to tackle the liquidity in the market. In the latest development, the inflation dips to 11.8 per cent from 11.99 per cent. This is just like win-win situation for RBI, as it infused more money to protect the banking system from the global credit crisis. While it was expected that more liquidity into the market would affect the inflation further, the inflation dips rather escalating further. But no it seem the economy has been recovering from the impact of world crisis and recession. However the growth of the economy would slower than expected, according to media reports.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Rupee dips to 48.57 against US dollar

India's rupee tumbled further versus the US dollar on Wednesday to touch its lowest level in more than six years. It seems that stock markets have not been recovering from the global crisis impact and no governments in the world prove effective in gaining market sentiments. Rupees dip further in the intra day level as low as 48.57. The rupee opened at 48.25/26 per dollar as against the previous close of 47.91/92. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have net sold Indian stocks worth over US$9bn this year so far after pouring record US$17.4bn last year. This has led to the 19% drop in the rupee against the dollar this year after last year's 12% gain. Source

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

BSE Sensex falls below 11,000

There is another stock market crash, this time the BSE even fell below 11000 mark for the first time since August 2006. While couple of days back the market fell below 12,000 in intra-day trading. The global factors are the prime cause for the stock crash. Foreign funds have pulled out a net $9.9 billion from Indian shares this year.

The global meltdown has affected the world stock market, as the major markets are being trading low. The US credit crisis is another great factor to determine the fate of investors’ world wide. In order to tackle the situation, RBI has adjusted the CRR rates to give some relaxation to Indian banking system. The finance minister assured to inject more cash into the market to tackle crisis and market crash. The government eased norms for foreign borrowings by companies, while the capital market regulator relaxed rules for indirect investments by foreign institutions in stocks. However the stock market seems to be on track after two years low, the BSE recovered to 11,286 till this report is filed.

Business News In Brief

Asian stocks plunge on fears of global recession
A meltdown in confidence strangled Asian stock markets Wednesday on accelerating fears that the widening financial crisis could spawn a global recession.
BSE Sensex falls below 11,000 first time since August 2006
The BSE Sensex fell below 11,000 mark for the first time since August 2006. The stocks crashed by 827 points in the first hour of trading on Wednesday.

Tata Consultancy Services to Acquire Citigroup Global Services for $505 million
The acquisition broadens TCS's portfolio of end-to-end IT and BPO services in the global Banking and Financial Services (BFS) sector.

India sees huge jump in FDI inflows despite global woes
Amidst global financial crisis, India's foreign direct investment saw an impressive jump of 124 per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal, while the FDI flows in August went up by huge 180 per cent.

Vodafone Launches The New Exclusive Blackberry® Storm
Vodafone Group today announces the launch of the BlackBerry Storm smartphone from Research In Motion.

Rupee hits 6-yr low
Rupee has hit a low of Rs 48.46 per dollar.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Business news in Brief

D-Link Board Approves Demerger Plan
The Board of Directors of D-Link (India) has approved the proposal of restructuring the business of the company by a 'Scheme of Arrangement' at its Board meeting held recently.

Convergys to hire 2,500 new agents in India
Convergys Corporation plans to add 2,500 contact center agents in India by the end of the year. The company has more than 13,000 employees in India.

Indian Bonds Advance After Central Bank Lowers Reserve Ratio
India's 10-year bonds advanced for a fourth day after the central bank unexpectedly moved to ease the supply of funds in the banking system.

Commodity broking to get foreign investment nod
After debating for four years, the Indian government has finally decided to allow foreign investment in commodity broking business.

India can weather the global financial storm: Chidambaram
The global financial crisis will affect India indirectly and require industry and the regulators to remain ever so vigilant to weather the storm, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has said.

Tatas to make Nano in Gujarat: reports

West Bengal's loss appears to have turned into a major gain for Gujarat as far as Tata Motors' Nano car plant is concerned. The Tata Group Chairman, Ratan Tata, and the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, will jointly announce the project in the State later in the day, according to media reports. Tatas have identified the site at Sanand, near Ahmedabad, where the State Government will give 1,000 acres from the Anand Agricultural University for housing the project. The new project site was finalised on Monday evening after yet another visit by the Tata Motors officials.

RBI cuts Cash Reserve Ratio to avert Global meltdown impact

The meltdown of global markets on Monday is the big factor for RBI to change the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR). This time the RBI has cut the CRR by 50 basis points. This will help the liquidity of the money in the market and the lending capacity of banks would be higher. It is very difficult to control impact of global markets meltdown on India market and economy.

RBI has cut the CRR this time but couple months back the same was raised to ease the inflation. Everyone is talking about the global market crisis and seems in India people are least bothered about the inflation. The cut in the CRR will help banks to recover from the crisis but it unpredictable how this will have impact on the inflation in India.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Tatas inspect site for Nano in Karnataka

A team led by Tata Motors' managing director G Ravikant and accompanied by Karnataka Industry Minister, Murugesh Nirani visited the Belur Industrial area, Mummiatti and another area around the airport near Hubli. According to media reports, the team also met the Chief Minister B S Yeddyuruppa and discussed latest developments of their visit and project.

Many states including Karnataka have welcomed the Small Car Project Nano after Tata’s pulling out the project from Singur, West Bengal. In a significant development, the officials of Tata Motors have inspected three places around the twin cities of Hubli and Dharwad in Karataka. Even before the exit of Tata’s project from Singur, there were speculations of setting up the project by Tatas in Dharwad, Karantaka.

Sensex drops below 12,000

The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share Sensex was at 11,985.72, down 540.60 points or 4.32 per cent from the previous day's close. The high at time of trade was 12,284.49 and low 11,954.09. National Stock Exchange's 50-stock Nifty was at 3649.80 down 168.50 points or 4.41 per cent. On the other hand, the impact of exit of Nano project from Singur can be seen on the share of Tata Motors which fell 52 low till the reports are filed. Source

Nokia touch-screen to miss Xmas markets

Nokia the world’s top mobile phone maker gears up with a touch screen gadget to grab the market. Its latest touch screen mobile will be sold in seven countries in Asia, the Middle East and Europe this year. The debut of the product may miss the Christmas shopping season in developed markets, according to media reports. However, the product would be reaching the markets of UAE, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Sapain, Russia, Indonesia and India by the ear end. The Nokia 5800 will cost around Rs 20, 000 in India.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Business News in Brief

France offers Engineering scholarships for 25 Indian students
A leading European research and advanced engineering group along with the French Embassy is offering scholarships of upto 30,000 Euro each to 25 meritorius engineering students from India for post-graduate studies in France.

Crisis offers acquisition opportunity for Indian cos
Meltdown in the world financial markets has thrown open new opportunities for Indian firms to buy out under-valued overseas assets that fit well into their game plan for achieving global ambitions, India Inc's top CEOs say.

TN Haokip urges for foreign exchange facilities in Manipur
One-day Special Summit on Banking, Industries and Credit Issues in the North Eastern Region with an emphasis on financial inclusion was held today at Vigyan Bhawan here under the aegis of the Union Ministry for the Development of North Eastern Region.

India slips on outsourcing graph
India may lose its pole position in the outsourcing industry to emerging competition from countries such as China and the Philippines, a new study suggests.

Air India adopts slew of measures to cut costs
As a part of its cost cutting steps, national carrier Air India has decided not to entertain requests for upgrading passengers to First Class or allow excess baggage for free.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Abhinav Bindra becomes Brand Ambassador of Samsung Consumer Electronics Business

Samsung India today, has appointed Olympic Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra as Brand Ambassador for its Consumer Electronics business in India. The Company plans to influence Abhinav in its brand advertising as well as product advertising for Consumer Electronics. In Sync with its thrust on introducing innovative, consumer oriented, breakthrough technology products, SAMSUNG will unveil its first product ad campaign with Abhinav Bindra for LCD TVs. Source

UK based Grass Roots Group acquires Mumbai-based Tajonline.com

UK-based Grass Roots Group has announced the acquisition of the Mumbai-based merchandise and corporate gift supplier Tajonline India Pvt Ltd. According to media reports, Grass Root has acquired 90 per cent of the shares in the company while the co-founder of Tajonline, Charoo Aggarwal to retain 10 per cent of the shares. The company has grown from a turnover of INR 12 million in FY2002 to INR 111.5 million in FY2008 entirely through reinvested profits. The company was created in 1998 to cater to the needs of Indians based overseas who wish to send gifts to family and friends in their home country. It was amongst the first India centric e-commerce companies providing a leading platform for delivery of high quality merchandise and services to the Nonresident Indian community (NRI).

Friday, October 3, 2008

Nano Car Project exits from Singur

Finally the Singur row ends as Tata decides to pull out its Nano small car project from West Bengal’s Singur. Credit goes to the protesters, it is the West Bengal government who will suffer the loss of Tata’s exit from Singur. The exit of Nano project from West Bengal is a big loss for the state and it will affect investments prospects in the state. The decision has come after many rounds of talks between the leaders of Tata officials, protesters and government of West Bengal. The protesters were demanding the return of 400 acres out of the total area 997.11 acres taken for the project.

Income ceiling of Rs 4.5 lakh for OBC creamy layer

The government today raised the income ceiling for creamy layer from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh annually in a move that will cover more OBCs under the reservation criteria, as the elections are round the corner. The Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunchi has intimated to media that the cabinet has approved the revising. The first ceiling for OBC reservation was fixed at Rs one lakh annually in 1993, which was increased to Rs 2.5 lakh in 2004. The proposal had been mooted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE) on the basis of recommendations of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). Source

Japanese Companies to acquire…….

Nomura Holdings is planning to acquire Lehman Brothers Holding's Indian back-office operations, including its IT operations, according to media reports. It is reported that Nomura, Japan's biggest securities firm, would pay several billion yen to acquire the Mumbai-based operations, which employs more than 2,000 employees. Nomura has already accepted about 3,000 workers from Lehman Brothers' Asia-Pacific units and some 2,500 employees from Europe and the Middle-East, the Nikkei newspaper said.

According to other reports, Daiichi Sankyo Co., Japan's third- largest drugmaker, obtained the Indian government's approval to buy Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. for as much as 198 billion rupees ($4.2 billion), Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said. It's time for the Japanese companies to acquire companies in India.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Biz Briefs

US Senate approves Indo-US nuclear deal
The US Congress today put its stamp of approval on the controversial Indo-US nuclear deal when the Senate overwhelmingly voted a Bill rejecting all the killer amendments, paving the way for the implementation of the historic initiative between the two countries.

Pak now has right to seek nuclear deal: PM Gilani
With the US Congress giving its nod to the civil nuclear deal with India, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani today indicated that the country may seek a similar arrangement with its close ally China.

UK SAP Consultancy Axon Recommends HCL's Offer
Axon Group, an SAP services provider in the UK, will support an acquisition bid it received last Friday from Indian outsourcer HCL Technologies, the company said Thursday.

Luxurious Logan starting from 5.03 lakh
The Logan, from Mahindra-Renault now comes with more spunk! At the company’s showroom at RP Road, Mahindra-Renault launched the New Collection Logan, a line up of eight snazzy cars starting from Rs 5.03 lakhs.

Delegations from Civil Aviation Ministries of 25 countries to participate in `India Aviation 2008’
Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Government of India and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) are jointly organising an International Exhibition and Conference on Civil Aviation called `India Aviation 2008’ at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad from the 15th-18th of this month.

Roads top issue of business lunch: 140 turn out for Macedonia mayor's 'roundtable'
Macedonia -- There was a packed conference room at Macedonia City Center Sept. 24 for a luncheon hosted by Mayor Don Kuchta.

Synchronica says in licence deal with Indian reseller
Synchronica Plc. said it has signed a license agreement for its Mobile Gateway offering with an Indian reseller who has contracted with a unnamed major mobile operator to provide a mass-market mobile email solution by the end of the year.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

2 October: The International Day of Non-Violence

Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, is a national holiday in India, Gandhi Jayanti. On 15 June 2007, it was announced that the "United Nations General Assembly" has "unanimously adopted" a resolution declaring 2 October as "the International Day of Non-Violence. The man who inspired the world and shown the way of living life with simplicity. On the birth anniversary of Gandhiji, the nation pays rich tributes to the Father of Nation. The name is itself so great that any description would not fit enough. His ideologies and policies will ever be remembered.

Biz Briefs

India has 9 per cent medium-term growth potential: Chief Economic Adviser
The global meltdown notwithstanding, the Indian economy, Asia's third largest after China and Japan, has a medium-term growth potential of 9 per cent, a top economic adviser to the government has said.

CNBC- TV18, along with MBAUniverse.com & TNS, launches India's most comprehensive B-school Ranking
India's leading business news channel CNBC-TV18, along with India's leading management portal MBAUniverse.com and global research agency TNS, has launched a nationwide survey to rank India's top B-schools.

Moser Baer to supply solar modules to European solar system integrators
The agreement with a cumulative value of more than US$500 mn, envisage supply of amorphous silicon Gen 8-5 thin film panels by PV Technologies India Ltd, Moser Baer`s photovalic subsidiary, up to the year 2012.

Research and Markets: This Essential Analysis of Yahoo! Inc. is Now Available
Yahoo! Inc. (Yahoo!) is a global Internet brand. The company's offerings to users fall into five categories: Front Doors; Search; Communications and Communities; Media, and Connected Life.

Hindujas begin work on $15 billion power plan in India
The London-based Hinduja conglomerate has begun work on the 15-billion dollar investment plan for India's power sector that will result in generating 10,000 MW for the national electricity grid.

SYSTIME wins North America Oracle Titan Award
SYSTIME, www.SYSTIME.net, announced that it has been awarded the North America Oracle Titan Award in the Mid Size Business Solution Category at the Oracle PartnerNetwork ceremony.

Sterlite Technologies Chosen to Supply India’s Highest Density Fiber Optic Cables
Sterlite Technologies Limited (“Sterlite”), a leading global provider of wire and cable solutions for the telecom and power industries, today announced that it has received a contract from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), India to supply fiber optic cables with the highest density ever to be deployed in the country.

Value of dollar in this decade

India Infoline reports ‘Rupee slips to new 5-year low’, The partially convertible local currency fell as low as 47.23 per dollar in early morning trades on 1st October, the lowest since May 2003. It was last trading at 47.07 after opening at 47.15. It had closed at 46.95/96 to the dollar on Monday. We come across such daily fluctuations in the market everyday, and those have huge impact on economy, household and trade. The value of dollar and price of international crude are co-related, any change in the dollar value, impact on crude can be seen. Ultimately, the impact on crude spreads to world trade market. There are many forces to make stock market uncertain, and the value of dollar is one of them.

The appreciation and depreciation of dollar against rupees will have huge impact on Indian economy. It will have direct impact on the export sector, as little appreciation would give huge income on the contrary a slide would count huge loss. We have considered figures of 11 years (1998-2008) in order to study the fluctuation of dollar against Indian rupees. The value of dollar was considered as on September 30 of every year and the figures were collected from one particular website. The figures indicated below may vary from others; this analysis is made just to study the value of dollar in those years. The rate of dollar against rupees in 1998 was 42.37, while the lowest was seen in the year 2007, as the price of dollar against rupee was 39.8. The maximum value of dollar during 1998- 2008 was 48.32 in the year 2002. While the average of dollar for eleven years is around 45. In 2007 only, the depreciation of dollar was witness to lowest level in these eleven years. However, there may be appreciation or depreciation of dollar i the year we have considered, as we have considered only rate of dollar as on September 30 of every year
Source: XE.com