Indian shares rise 47 pct in 2006

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian shares slipped 0.4 percent on the day on Friday but still ended the year up nearly 47 percent, clocking their fifth straight year of gains on strong institutional inflows and robust economic growth.
Notable blue-chip winners in 2006 included cement maker ACC Ltd. and diversified Grasim Industries which rose more than 100 percent, while top private firm Reliance Industries Ltd. gained nearly 89 percent over the year.
Fund managers and analysts expect the benchmark index to rise further in 2007, with expected returns of 5-15 percent as corporate earnings growth continues.
"The call would remain bullish, but the expectations of returns should be toned down a bit," said Sandeepa Vig Arora, vice-president at brokerage firm Indiainfoline Ltd.
Foreign funds, which have played a crucial role in powering the market to record highs, bought nearly $7.9 billion worth of Indian equities in the year, following inflows of $10.7 billion in 2005.
"Money would chase earnings growth and will largely be in capital goods, IT and consumer goods," Ved Prakash Chaturvedi, managing director at Tata Mutual Fund said.
Concerns of rich valuations and tightening monetary policy to curb inflation pressures have led to short-term corrections and analysts said the benchmark BSE index lost steam as it neared its latest record of 14,035.30 points set on Dec. 6.
The 30-share index closed 59.43 points lower on the day at 13,786.91 points on Friday, while the 50-issue S&P CNX Nifty lost 0.1 percent to end at 3,966.40.
The market is closed on Monday for a national holiday.
Only nine blue-chips ended the day in positive territory amid low volumes but in the broader market gainers edged ahead of losers on volume of 201.6 million shares.
"There was lack of buying interest in the large-caps ahead of a long weekend. But some mid-caps have done well," said Gajendra Nagpal, director at Delhi-based Unicorn Investments.
Elsewhere in the region, Colombo's All-Share index slid 0.65 percent to 2,722.36 points. The index gained nearly 42 percent in 2006.
Karachi's 100-share index slipped 0.18 percent to close at 10,040.50 points. It has gained more than 5 percent in 2006.
STOCKS THAT MOVED
* Reliance Communications Ltd. fell 1.2 percent to 471.30 rupees a day after its chairman Anil Ambani said he was interested in smaller mobile phone operator Hutch Essar.
* Copper pipes and tubes maker Nissan Copper Ltd. closed at 128.80 rupees after making its debut at 42.80 rupees.
* Eicher Ltd. fell 4.7 percent to 176.95 rupees after parent Eicher Goodearth offered to buy 25.16 percent public shareholding in the company at a floor price of 150 rupees a share and delist the company.
* Speciality chemicals maker Clariant Chemicals (India) Ltd. rose 4 percent to 337.15 rupees on block share deals.
TOP THREE BY VOLUME
* Nissan Copper Ltd. on 61.1 million shares.
* LML Ltd. on 4.9 million shares.
* IFCI Ltd. on 4.6 million shares.

Source : Reuters

It is essentially a Christmas 'Made in India' that the western world is celebrating this year!
From the Santa to the crosses and pendants that the Christians across the world wear on Christmas, hangings, decoratives, Christmas tree, electric lighting sets, artificial flowers including plastic flowers, candles, and tapers are being made by artisans in cities of Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and exported to high-end stores in the US and Europe.
"Global retail giant Wal-Mart's recent announcement that its X'mas ring this year has been designed in India made big news. But the fact is that Indian products dominate the 'holiday decor' segment of high-end stores like Bottery Barn, Neiman Marcus and Anthropologie in America and Europe," says Aseem Bhatia of Aryan Worldwide, a Delhi-based exporter.
"Wal-Mart is a retail store for mass market. But Indian products, which are all hand-made are generally made for high-end stores. Because of the richness of design and colour forecast, that they offer, they command certain 'respect' and price index," says Bhatia.
Agrees Rakesh Kumar, executive director, Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts, "manufacturers from Delhi, Moradabad, Agra are producing various Christmas products, which are being supplied to the big stores like J C Penny, DSS, Blooming Dales and Wal-mart."
As per the market estimates, the world market of Christmas festive products is around $10 billion. China, Hong Kong, Germany, USA, Netherlands, Thailand, Taiwan, Poland, Canada & UK are the top ten exporters of the Christmas festive articles.
India as per export statistics does not fall under first 10 category but the exports of Christmas Festive articles from here are on the rise, notes Kumar.
"What we need to understand is that Indian products are not for the mass market like the Chinese, which are all machine made, wear a plastic look and are available in bulk. India on the other hand offers hand-made decorative items, especially those in zari with zardosi work. They have a very rich look, offer colour forecast and are for the niche market," says Bhatia.
"The designs, colours, trends, everything is finalised a year before, we are already working on the 2007 Christmas and the orders would be shipped by next July. The projections and trends were finalised in July-August this year," he says, noting, "besides big stores, we also work with big importers who supply to these stores."
As far as the mass market goes, India faces lot of competition from China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Philippines, notes Kumar.
Kalpana Patel, another exporter says the Indian products are priced slightly higher compared to Chinese. Since the retailers want to keep their margins intact, they preferChinese products. "Because of this our exports have gone down."

Source: NDTV

Vodafone eyes Hutchison India as Reliance circles

LONDON/MUMBAI (Reuters) - Mobile phone giant Vodafone Group Plc is considering buying a controlling interest in India's Hutchison Essar, raising the prospect of a $13-billion-plus bid battle with Reliance Communications for the operator.
UK-based Vodafone said on Friday the process was at an early stage, but its board believed the mobile market in India has great potential.
A move for Hutchison Essar would be consistent with its strategy of seeking selective acquisitions in developing markets, it said.
Confirmation of Vodafone's interest could draw out interest from Reliance, India's second-largest mobile services provider, which was considering moving on its smaller rival only after Vodafone revealed its strategy, The Economic Times reported.
Reliance, controlled by the Anil Ambani group, is looking at a possible bid in tandem with private equity group Blackstone, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Thursday.
Reliance could not be immediately reached for comment.
Vodafone underlined its ambitions to expand in emerging markets at an investor day earlier this month and analysts have long expected it to step up its presence in India, the world's fastest-growing mobile phone market.
"They've got to do it (expand in markets such as India), but ultimately it comes down to what they pay. We would certainly support them considering it," said Richard Marwood, fund manager at AXA, a shareholder in Vodafone.
FAST-GROWING MARKET
Foreign investors are limited to owning 74 percent of Indian mobile operators, so Vodafone would need a local partner.
Hutchison Essar, India's number four mobile services provider, is 67 percent-owned by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd. India's Essar group, which holds the remainder, has first right of refusal if Hutchison decides to exit.
Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile operator outside China, could seek to buy Hutchison Telecommunications' stake and keep Essar as its local partner, analysts said.
Hutchison Telecommunications said on Friday it has been approached by various parties regarding a possible sale of its interests in Hutchison Essar but no agreement has been entered into.
Vodafone currently has a 10 percent stake in India's number one player Bharti Airtel and there is a one-year non-compete clause if it sold that stake. But a source familiar with the situation said Vodafone was unlikely to be constrained by that agreement.
If it secures a deal for Hutchison Essar it would be the biggest acquisition since Indian-born Arun Sarin took over as chief executive in July 2003.
Axa's Marwood said Vodafone, which faced criticism a year ago for overpaying for Turkey's Telsim, would find greater support for this deal after it recently showed it was making progress in Turkey faster than expected.
He said the investor mood toward company had also improved in recent months, as evidenced by a rising share price.
Vodafone shares have risen by a quarter since August, but by 0955 GMT they were down 1 percent at 142-1/2 pence, one of the weakest UK blue-chips, valuing the company at 75 billion pounds.
Reliance shares rose 1.4 percent to 467.5 rupees.
Hutchison Essar's board met in Mumbai on Friday but its managing director told Reuters the meeting was a routine one unrelated to any potential bid for the company.
Indian newspapers have said Malaysia's Maxis Communications -- which last year bought 74 percent in India's Aircel -- and Egypt's Orascom Telecom were also potential suitors for Hutchison Essar.
India's GSM carriers reported a record 5 million new subscribers in November, including more than 1 million for Hutchison, taking total users in the country beyond 143 million.
Hutchison has a market share in India of about 16 percent, behind Bharti's 21.5 percent, Reliance's 20.4 percent and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam's 16.5 percent.

© Reuters 2006.

Time to say goodbye to passport delays

Acquiring of passports will be easier from Tuesday with the government revising guidelines, which includes doing away with the requirement of police verification in case of reissue of the document.
An applicant will now be required to furnish only three out of 14 documents as proof, including one with a photograph, as per the new guidelines aimed at reducing the delays in issuance of passports.
The eligibility criterion for Emigration Check Not Required stamping will hereafter be matriculation rather than graduation as present.
The government has also relaxed rules for obtaining certificate for waiver of police verification by extending the authorisation powers to Under Secretaries, Tehsildars and SHOs, official sources told PTI in New Delhi on Monday.
For re-issue of passports, no police verification would be necessary either before or after issuance unless there is any negative information concerning an applicant, they said.
The passports will be required to be re-issued within four days, the sources said.
Changes have also been effected with regard to Tatkal scheme, under which a passport will have to be issued within 14 days, rather than 20 days as per the existing rules. A
Tatkal passport may also be issued within seven days, if an applicant shells out Rs 500 extra.
Re-issue of passport under the Tatkal scheme will have to be done within three days. As per the changes, an applicant will not be required to cite reasons for applying for a Tatkal passport.
The MEA's intention of doing away with the requirement of address verification of a passport applicant and depending only on individual's identity has failed to take off because of opposition from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The MEA also intends to do away with the requirement of five-year address proof for people born in Jammu and Kashmir and residing outside the state. However, this proposal has also been shot down by the MHA.
While easing procedures for applying for passport, the government is also examining suitable amendments to the Passports Act to provide for stricter penalties for those obtaining passports by fraudulent means.
The scheme allows an applicant to submit three out of a list of 14 stipulated documents along with his application. The 14 stipulated documents include Electors Photo Identity Card, Service Identity cards, ration cards, driving licences and PAN cards.
The government is also working on the introduction of biometric passports, which will have a micro-processor based digital storage device embedded in them containing biometric features like fingerprints of the holder besides the general information concerning the document and the person concerned.The scheme, to be introduced next year as a pilot project, will be introduced in the categories of diplomatic and official passports initially. Others will be covered later, based on the experience of the pilot project.

Source : Rediff

HPCL to develop malls, multiplexes at unused depots

New Delhi, December 21 : Refinery major Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has hit upon space selling as a new business to utilise its idle or unused marketing locations or depots, and set up petrol pumps there as well.

“HPCL proposes to develop retail formats like malls, multiplexes, food courts, hotels, office/commercial complexes, convention centres, residential apartments at marketing locations that are idle or not viable for present marketing activities,” says the proposal.
In all there are six such depots which are now in disuse but HPCL plans to try out a pilot project either at Kochi or at Jaipur before deciding to foray into this business.
For starters, it has assessed that a retail-cum-eatery at Kochi could yield Rs 30-40 crore annually providing an internal rate of return of 28 per cent. These mall or leisure parks would also house retail outlets to tap petrol and diesel sales in the six towns.
The HPCL board of directors gave an in principle approval in November to form a joint venture where the HPCL-owned land would be the public sector undertaking’s share of equity and offers would be invited from real estate venture capitalist which would construct, market and manage the property.
The advantage, said the proposal, would be that the venture capitalist would be indifferent to any group or brand and would be “more interested in the return on investment”.
HPCL expects to prepare a roadmap within three months that would provide a timeframe for implementing the selected project. The proposal would be brought to the Board again after inputs from consultants who would also develop a comprehensive bid document that would form the basis for evaluation of the offers received from different parties.

Source : Indian express

Satyam unit signs $25 million order

BANGALORE (Reuters) - India's number four software services exporter Satyam Computer Services Ltd. said on Thursday its back office unit Nipuna Services Ltd. had signed an animation order worth $25 million.
Nipuna will partner 4K Animation Ltd. of the United Kingdom to execute the 18-month project, a company statement said.
"The partnership reflects a growing trend toward corporatisation in the animation industry, which is leading to increasingly significant opportunities," Venkatesh Roddam, Nipuna's chief executive officer, said in the statement.
Producers of films, commercials and television shows outsource animation work to low-cost locations such as India.
Production of a 30-minute animated programme costs about twice as much in South Korea and Taiwan as it does in India, and four to six times more in the United States, according to a recent industry survey.

Source : Reuters

Arcelor Mittal signs deal for $9 bln India plant

By Julien Ponthus
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Arcelor Mittal, the world's largest steelmaker, said on Thursday it had signed an agreement to build a $9 billion plant in India to achieve its first foothold on the subcontinent.
The plant will have an annual production capacity of 12 million tonnes.
The company said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Orissa on setting up a steel-making operation in the Keonijhar district.
"We have always said that we want to have an operational presence in India. The Indian economy is demonstrating excellent growth and steel consumption is set to increase considerably in the future," said Chief Executive Lakshmi Mittal, an Indian-born billionaire who owns a majority stake in the company.
Arcelor Mittal said it would carry out a detailed project report based on the needs of the steel plant, looking into captive mining facilities, power and water supplies and the setting up of townships for employees.
Mittal Steel shares were down 0.4 percent at 31.81 euros while the DJ Stoxx European basic resources index was down 0.5 percent at 1530 GMT.
"It's been known about for two years so it's nothing very new," said Michael Shillaker, analyst at Credit Suisse.
The company said the greenfield steel plant project would be developed in two phases of 6 million tonnes each, with an investment of about 400 billion rupees ($9 billion).
"It is expected that the first phase would be completed within 48 months from the date of the submission of the DPR (detailed project report) and the second phase within a further 54 months after the completion of phase 1," the company said in a statement.
Arcelor shareholders earlier this year accepted a takeover offer from Mittal Steel, then led by Lakshmi Mittal, after an acrimonious fight between the two companies.
After the takeover is finalised around next April or May, Arcelor Mittal will be a global giant three times larger than its nearest rival.

Source : Reuters

Next Bill Gates come from India

A mere 13 per cent of those residing in the United States think the next Bill Gates could come from India, while an equally small percentage believe he could emerge from America, according to a latest survey on Internet attitudes.
About 27 per cent of respondents believe that the next Gates could come from China, 22 per cent opining that the person could be from Japan and 13 per cent pitching for India.
Only 21 per cent of those living in the US believe he could come from America.
The polling was done by Zogby International and the public relations firm 463 Communications, both based in Washington DC.
"The findings are not surprising," said Tom Galvin, a partner in 463 Communications. "It doesn't mean that the US is slipping, it's that other countries are catching up. Americans have a very firm and sophisticated understanding of the competitiveness we're dealing with.
"I don't think they resent it but they want to know what we're going to do about it," he said adding that it was a bit curious that only 13 per cent of the respondents chose India as the place where the next Bill Gates would come from. An overwhelming majority -- 83 per cent -- believes that a typical 12-year-old knows more about the Internet than their member of Congress. Republicans (85 per cent) and Democrats (86 per cent) agreed with each other.
An interesting finding is that nearly one-third of Americans believe that the Internet is a greater invention; and 65 per cent said Johannes Gutenberg's printing press that merely nabbed him the title 'Man of the Millenium' by Time magazine is a greater invention.
Whites favoured the printing press over the Internet by 69 to 27 per cent; but only 57 per cent of African-Americans favoured the printing press and 41 per cent chose the Internet.
Moreover, Hispanic Americans actually favoured the Internet 51 to 47 per cent and Asian Americans surveyed also chose the Internet by 85 to 12 per cent.
But in all that buzz about the Internet, it is still not seen as a critical element of the workplace -- when asked 'What would make it harder for you to work (your car not starting, or losing Internet and email access?') 78 per cent gave the nod to the car, while only 10 per cent said the Internet.
Of those surveyed making more than $100,000 a year, 31 per cent chose the loss of Internet access, while only 6 per cent of those making less than $35,000 did.

Source : rediff

India arrives at the party

The seam position as Sreesanth releases the ball is one of the best I have seen, writes Barry Richards
Hats off to India for posting a wonderful victory that has forced sceptics, including yours truly, to eat humble pie. However, and though I have said enough on this issue, I would like to hand out a warning amidst the euphoria, and ask the team not to let a single victory paper over the cracks that need mending.
For now, it is time for Rahul Dravid and his men (not to forget Greg Chappell) to bask in the afterglow of India's first ever Test victory on South African soil. It was a moment to savour and as the Indian players jubilantly hugged each other, all of us joined in the celebrations.
The turnaround
What produced the turnaround? Answer: the presence of "newcomers" Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, who as a trio had a huge bearing on the outcome.
All of them, in their way, produced enough to win a session or two at vital times. That was what ultimately swung the match away from South Africa, whose experienced players were not able (or allowed) to do.
India's real hero, however, was Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, who produced his best-ever effort in any form of cricket. He bowled superbly with good pace and troubled even the best of the South African batsmen.
The seam position as he releases the ball is one of the best I have seen and in slow motion replays the ball is perfect on its way to the batsman. I have no doubt that even senior Indian players would have been surprised at how quickly Sreesanth adapted to South African conditions and particularly to the Wanderers' length.
As a result, the youngster and his senior colleague Zaheer Khan completely overshadowed South Africa's much vaunted pace attack (Shaun Pollock apart) and showed them how to bowl when there's some help from the wicket.
Talking of Zaheer, let us not forget that it was he who made the initial breakthroughs and who on this tour has gone from strength to strength.
And so it is now South Africa which is under pressure. Another poor performance in the second Test could see the axe descend on some household names in South African cricket. The captain himself is under extreme pressure and with Ashwell Prince getting 97, there's a readymade captain in the wings.
"Aaya India" went the chant in the Indian dressing room, and it could probably be heard all the way to Kolkata. Rahul and his men have indeed, and finally, arrived at the party.

Source : Hindu

India, China to fuel European capital mkts in 2007

By Louise Heavens
LONDON (Reuters) - Global mergers and acquisitions by fast-growing companies in India, China and Russia will fuel another bumper year for capital markets in Europe, bankers say, as they seek finance for their growth plans.
Former Soviet republics such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are also hotspots for equity and debt capital market bankers as they seek the newest emerging markets.
Russia's $11 billion Rosneft initial public offering was one of the biggest new issues of 2006 as European IPOs reached an all-time high of $98 billion, according to preliminary figures from finance industry data provider Thomson Financial published on Wednesday.
Bankers expect follow-on business from expanding, listed companies from these regions.
"If you take India, its aspirations are getting global," said Viswas Raghavan, JP Morgan's head of equity and debt capital markets outside the Americas.
"As its ambitions are realised they will have to be financed in the capital markets," he added, highlighting the links between India and former colonial ruler Britain.
Tata Steel's daring move to buy Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus highlights the growing ambition of cash-rich Indian firms starting to look beyond their home turf.
Including the proposed Corus deal, Indian companies have announced overseas acquisitions worth $19.5 billion this calendar year to the end of October, up from $4.5 billion in 2005, data from research firm Dealogic showed.
China produced the two biggest global IPOs in 2006 -- ICBC, which raised $22 billion and Bank of China, which raised $11 billion.
GLOBAL GIANTS
Follow-on business from these regions will play a growing part in Europe's capital markets.
"China, India activity will create global giants, but ones not headquartered in the U.S. or Europe ... the landscape is shifting," said JP Morgan's Raghavan.
JP Morgan was ranked second in the European equity capital market rankings for 2006, up from fifth in 2005.
Eastern Europe will continue to play a large role, but after a slew of oil company listings from the likes of Russia and Kazakhstan, metals and mining companies are likely to dominate the IPO landscape.
"The other area you are likely see lots of activity is the bank space," said Jeroen Berns, head of Europe at ABN AMRO Rothschild. "Further down you may also see more retailers tapping the market."
Berns said the IPO market was likely to remain buoyant as private equity houses seek to exit their investment through flotations rather than by sale to corporate or financial buyers.
"A lot of deals have gone down the trade sale route. If the M&A market gets a little bit less active then they may have to rely more on the public market to exit," said Berns.
"A huge volume of publicly listed stock has been taken off the market for cash so on balance there remains very strong appetite for new equity."
Convertibles also picked up, with 48 in 2006 against 34 in 2005.
But bankers said the instrument was unlikely to reach the same peak seen in 2002 and 2003, when equity valuations and interest rates were low, but volatility was high.

Source : Reuters

Jeev Milkha Singh on song in 2006

Jeev Milkha Singh, who won four major titles in 2006, will become the first Indian to take part in the Augusta Masters in April next year.The 35-year-old golfer from Chandigarh will, in fact, feature in three majors on the US PGA Tour.Not only is he the first Indian to be part of the top 50 golfers in the world but also the first Indian to win four international titles in one season. Apart from that he has finished in the top ten 18 times that includes the European, Asian and Japanese tours. His fantastic run has seen him jump 329 places to a world ranking of 47 from 376. He has also won over 13 crore rupees in 2006 alone, most of which came when he won the Volvo masters in Spain."The Volvo Masters is probably outside the next biggest thing after the majors. He has beaten the best players in the world at the highest level. When Rathore won the silver, it was a big achievement for India. I think this is as big, if not bigger than that," said golfer and Jeev's friend Shiva Kapur."If you compare it to cricket, which is like religion in India, it is like almost winning the World Cup or finishing second in the world cup," he added.But all that didn't come on a platter for Jeev. The Chandigarh golfer, in fact, had a very lean period failing to win a title for seven years. He broke that jinx in April this year at the Volvo China Open. That title seemed to turn things around for him as he went on to beat players like Sergio Garcia and Padrig Harrington. "It is just that he is now comfortable with the pressure and dealing with stuff like that and that is right there for everybody to follow," said Amritinder Singh, Jeev's Friend and Coach.Jeev has been a pioneer for Indian golf. He was the first Indian to play on the European and Japanese tours. Apart from that, this season has also seen him finish 16th in Europe, third in Japan and first in Asia.

Source : NDTV

Idea to invest Rs 6,000 crore; to go public in February

New Delhi, Dec 18. (PTI): Aditya Birla Group company Idea Cellular, which is hitting the market with an Initial Public Offer in February, is likely to invest up to Rs 6,000 crore over the next two-three years to become a pan-India mobile service provider.
Idea, currently operating in 11 circles, including Delhi, has obtained Letters of Intent for the Mumbai and Bihar circles, which would give the company access to approximately 70 per cent of the cellular market. The company has also applied for new licenses for another nine circles.
When asked about the investment plans to become an all-India player, Idea Cellular Managing Director Sanjeev Aga said, "We have only got two LoIs Mumbai and Bihar. And I do not want to make any futuristic statement."
Aga said, the company will hit the capital market in February next year to raise Rs 2,500 crore. The proceeds from the IPO would be used for expansion of services in the existing circles, roll out of new network in Mumbai, start National Long Distance (NLD) operations and redemption of preferential shares.
Idea Cellular has seen bitter battles in the past and from a situation of multi owners it is now owned by a sole promoter Aditya Birla Group which has interests in diverse sectors like aluminium, cement and textiles among others.
Asked what makes the group confident of growing in a sector which already has intense competition with four to five operators, Aga said, "Telecom and Idea cellular is very central and the core business of the AB Group and the Group has demonstrated ability to grow in diverse businesses."
"Arithmetically we are the number five cellular operator after Bharti, Reliance, BSNL and Hutch-Essar, but we are the leading operator in six of the 11 circles we have operations," he said.
Asked if Idea would be positioned in the market in accordance with the Group's philosophy of being only in businesses where it could be among the top three players, he said, "When we enter a new market it is with the aim of robust business and compete effectively."
"We are currently one of the fastest growing mobile operators and, in the period between April-September 2006, have consistently grown at a rate greater than that of the industry as a whole in the established circles with a market share of net adds at approximately 21 per cent," the draft prospectus said.
The company is bullish to roll out network in Mumbai circle saying, "It is attractive to us because Mumbai is the Commercial Capital of India and also because of the community of telephony interests including the benefit of traffic flows with other circles, particularly Maharashtra, Delhi and Gujarat circles."
The company is also considering a pre-IPO placement of up to 15 per cent of the IPO size to certain investors, the prospectus said adding that if the pre-IPO placement was completed, the net issue would be reduced to that extent.

Source : Hindu

India's exports to exceed $ 125 bn in current fiscal

New Delhi, Dec. 18 (Xinhua): India's exports are likely to cross $ 125 billion in the current fiscal year that ends in March, 2007, according to an export survey issued on Monday by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
The survey said that in the coming few months, India will see good export growth in the markets of South Asia, South East Asia, the United States, the Middle East and the European Union.
The survey was conducted and responses analysed in October- November this year among 270 companies, which represent a wide range of sectors including automobiles, consumer durables, food processing, consumer goods, textiles, handicrafts, metal and metal products, heavy engineering, pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
It showed that a few concerns were raised about the prevailing policy and regulatory conditions for exports in India, some 48 per cent of the respondents reported that the current overall export conditions are moderately to substantially better as compared to the last six months.
Some 54 per cent of the respondents said they expect the overall export conditions to improve in the coming six months while 58 per cent of the firms feel that industry-level export conditions would improve further.
Regarding the export performance at the firm level, 68 percent of the respondents feel that the next six months should see their export levels improving further.

Source : Hindu

Mastek to open offshore development centre

Chennai, Dec. 18 (PTI): Mumbai-based software solution company Mastek is all set to open a huge facility here to serve its customers abroad.
The Offshore Development Centre would come up at the Mahendra Industrial park on Chennai suburbs, company's Head of India Business Division K Nagarajan told reporters at Mastek's headquarters in Mumbai.
The company proposed to invest Rs 200 to Rs 250 crore in the next five years at the Centre, its Chief Financial Officer Jamshed said.
Nagarajan said the Centre would be Mastek's largest facility employing about 5000 people. The facilities at Mumbai and Pune together employs over 3,200 people, he said.
The Centre would be totally dedicated to the company's government and insurance clients, who formed the core of its business.
The company would go ahead with setting up the Centre at a rented building initially in the city, with about 100 people, he said.
With Tamil Nadu opting for VAT from January 2007, Mastek had very good prospects as it was offering a software to several state governments to manage the VAT regime, he said.

Source : Hindu

Bush signs bill for nuclear cooperation with India

President George W Bush has signed into law a historic agreement allowing the United States to export civilian nuclear fuel to India.
The deal was finally approved by Congress earlier this month.
Mr Bush and Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh agreed on the deal in principle in July, 2005.
Critics say it will harm efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons as India has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Even with Mr Bush signing the legislation, it still has three more hurdles to overcome.
'Client state'
Mr Bush has insisted that the deal "will strengthen the strategic relationship between America and India and deliver valuable benefits to both nations".
Under the deal, energy-hungry India will get access to US civil nuclear technology and fuel, in return for opening its civilian nuclear facilities to inspection.
But its nuclear weapons sites will remain off-limits.
Opposition leader LK Advani denounced the deal in a debate in the Indian parliament on Monday, saying it would make India "a client state of the United States".
"The primary objective is to cap, roll back and ultimately eliminate [India's] nuclear weapons capability," he told legislators.
The government's communist allies are also opposed to the agreement.
The deal does not have to be ratified by the Indian parliament. However, the opposition could try to force a full debate followed by a vote to reject the agreement.
Next steps
There are three more stages before the agreement actually starts working.
India and the US have to agree terms for the lucrative trade deal by which the US sells India nuclear technology and fuel - the US Congress has to ratify the deal
The International Atomic Energy Agency has to approve a separate nuclear inspection programme
The Nuclear Suppliers Group, an assembly of nations that exports nuclear material, has to give its approval.
Once on opposite sides of the Cold War fence, India and the US have become allies with close economic, political and even defence ties.

Correspondents say that India sees the deal as a tacit acceptance of its emergence as a global nuclear power.
But some say that by making an exception for India, the US will find it difficult to rein in the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran.
The proposed agreement reverses US policy to restrict nuclear co-operation with Delhi because of its refusal to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its testing of nuclear weapons in 1974 and 1998.
Mr Bush and Mr Singh finalised the agreement in India in March.
Some critics of the deal say it could boost India's nuclear arsenal. They say it sends the wrong message to countries like Iran, whose nuclear ambitions Washington opposes.
India has made clear that the final agreement must not bind it to supporting the US policy on Iran and does not prevent it from developing its own fissile material.

Source : Hindu

India celebrate historic first test win in South Africa

By Telford Vice
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - India celebrated an historic first test win against South Africa on Monday with exuberant dressing room celebrations.
"There are some guys out there who have lost control in the dressing room, everyone's gone a bit berserk," captain Rahul Dravid, whose playing shirt was soaked in beer, told a news conference.
"It's a special moment for this team to come to South Africa and win a test and we're celebrating appropriately.
"It's good to get together and celebrate, but the boys need to learn how to drink the drink -- not only to spray it around."
India won by 123 runs after dismissing South Africa for 278 shortly before lunch on the fourth day.
The victory was India's first in the 10 test matches they have played in South Africa, the only test-playing country in which they had yet to achieve any success.
The result marked a dramatic departure from the pattern established in the one-day series between the teams, which South Africa won 4-0.
"It's not about proving things to people," Dravid said. "I knew people were going to write us off, but I knew there was quality and resilience and some very good players in this group.
"The team was pretty hurt about our performances in the one-dayers.
"We got together as a group and said we need to put in a better performance, and to fight better."
The match was Dravid's first since he injured his finger in the third one-day international in Cape Town on Nov. 26 but he said he had been confident of recovering in time to lead his team in the test series
"I was determined to play this game," Dravid said. "At no time did the thought cross my mind that I would not play.
"In fact, on the day I got injured I told the doctor I would play in the first test."
Dravid said hard work lay ahead for his men despite their triumph.
"South Africa will be disappointed with this loss, and we're going to have to soak up a lot of pressure in the next game," Dravid said.
"We should take a lot of confidence from what we did in this test match, but then we've got to get ourselves ready.
"We'll celebrate for a day or two and really start focusing on the next test, because there's a lot of cricket to be played and I think we could play a lot better."
The second test starts in Durban on Dec. 26.

Source : reuters

Audi to start India production from Autumn 2007

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG's premium unit Audi AG said on Monday it would start production in India of its A6 model from autumn 2007.
Production will be based at a plant in Aurangabad and will involve the assembly of parts manufactured in Germany for Audi A6 cars destined for the Indian market, Audi said in a statement.
"This engagement gives us a better chance to tap the market. Through the delivery of the car parts, our domestic sites will also benefit," Audi board member Jochem Heizmann said.
Audi said it also planned to set up a distribution company based in Mumbai at the start of 2007 and would expand its Indian dealer network to at least eight exclusive Audi dealers in coming years. At present it has three dealers in the country.
Volkswagen has said in the past it sees growing markets such as India and Russia as vital for its long-term future and aims to produce up to 110,000 vehicles a year in India from 2009.

Source : reuters

Rahman's Oscar Khalbali

With three of his songs making it to the Oscars'shortlist, AR Rahman will turn a year older on a good note. Although the Oscars eluded Lagaan's music director in 2001, this year AR Rahman has enough and more reasons to celebrate. To begin with, three of his songs have made it to the Oscars short list of 56 songs. Rahman says, "They've short-listed 56 songs, of which three, 'Khalbali'and 'Lukka chuppi'from Rang De Basanti and 'Chan-chan'from Water, are mine. I was expecting a list of 500-600 songs, I'm quite surprised. I think the way they look at our films and music abroad has completely changed now. There's a lot more respect for what we do. They don't think of us as dancing around trees anymore."
Rahman chose the three songs for the Oscars on his own. He says, "I chose 'Luka chuppi'because of Lataji. She's the pride of the nation. I don't know what the outcome would be. I think it's a big honour to be there. But to get to the last 56 songs is quite an honour. My agent in LA was sweet enough to take care of all the nitty-gritties." Come January 6, and the Mozart of Madras, Rahman will turn 41. Rahman agrees that he's entering the most important decade of his life. "So far, I've just been busy living life. From my childhood I was surrounded by grown-ups, I never got a chance to enjoy being a child.It took me a while to realise how young I was. By the time I realised that I was missing out on youthful activities I was no longer young. Now I'm re-living my childhood with three children. If I'm able to give them everything that I couldn't afford, they too are giving me back something vital,"he says. The composer shares his birthday with his son. "My son is going to turn four on the same day. Yeah, he and I share the same birthday. ...I don't know how that happened,"he smiles. And what sense has he made of the 40 years of his life? "My life has always been a journey. When I was in my 20s I went through the most turbulent time of my life. Now I spend as much time as possible with my children Khatija (11), Rahima (8) and Amin (4). My studio in Chennai is bang opposite my house, so they spend a lot of time with me. All they've to do is cross the road and they're with me,"he says.

Source : Times of India

India eyes first US military aircraft

By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - India has sought information on buying what would be its first U.S. military aircraft, six Lockheed Martin C-130J "Super Hercules" cargo planes, U.S. Air Force officials and others said Friday.
A request for details of a possible purchase from the Indian defense ministry was delivered to the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, which forwarded it to the Air Force's office of international affairs, said Dewey Mitchell, an Air Force spokesman.
"Consideration begins upon receipt of the request," he said in a written reply to queries from Reuters.
Two other people familiar with the matter said India had asked about buying six C-130Js in a letter received by U.S. officials Thursday.
The four-engine turboprop C-130, built by Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp., is the U.S. Air Force's workhorse cargo and personnel transport aircraft. The "J" is its latest model.
Lockheed Martin referred queries about the matter to U.S. officials. The State Department had no immediate comment.
The Indian request for information about a C-130J sale came days after a trade mission to India by the Aerospace Industries Association, which represents top U.S. defense contractors among others.
The C-130J, used by the U.S. Air Force in Iraq, is capable of short takeoffs and landings from unprepared runways. The price per aircraft may top $70 million, depending on configuration.
The possible sale is subject to U.S. congressional approval.
It would be the first Indian purchase of U.S. military aircraft. U.S. President George W. Bush has sought to develop closer operational ties with India's armed forces, partly as a hedge against China.
The Bush administration already has offered India a choice of two U.S. fighter aircraft -- Lockheed's F-16 and Boeing Co.'s F-18 SuperHornet -- as entrants in a multi-role fighter aircraft competition New Delhi is organizing.

© Reuters 2006

India to overtake China in 2007: Study

New Delhi, December 15:

India is set to surpass China as the fastest-growing economy in Asia next year on the back of increasing consumer demand and public investment in infrastructure, global research firm Credit Suisse has said.
In its December forecast, the firm upgraded India's economic growth rate to 9.5 per cent in 2006 from 8.5 per cent projected in September this year.
The economy would grow by 10 per cent in 2007 and 10.5 per cent rate in 2008, it added"Our most significant growth upgrade for 2007 is in India from 8.5 per cent to 10 per cent, surpassing China to become the top growth performer in the region," Credit Suisse research analyst Dong Tao said in the report.
Besides, external liquidity in India remained a concern and interest rates could go up. The report also singled out India on external liquidity concerns and said most countries in the region maintained robust current account surpluses.
The agency also increased the projected growth rate for China in 2007 to 9.9 per cent from 9.5 per cent forecast in September. Chinese economy is likely to grow at 10.4 per cent in 2006, it said.
"The overall Asian outlook for growth will weaken a little in 2007 compared to 2006, but strong domestic demand and some form of disconnect to the US demand should mean that Asia's growth stays relatively healthy," the report said.
It raised Asia's growth forecast to 7.9 per cent for 2007 from 7.4 per cent projected earlier, compared to a revised 8.2 per cent for 2006. In 2008, regional growth is pegged at 8.3 per cent, the report said.

Source : Indian express

India dominate asian chess tournament

Krishnan Sasikiran's winning streak was halted when he was held to a draw by Ehsan Ghaem Maghami but that did not stop India's winning run in the Asian Games team chess tournament.India beat Iran 2.5-0.5 for their seventh successive win and carried their total to 18.5 points, and kept their 4.5-point lead intact.Pentala Harikrishna and Koneru Humpy capitalised on their rivals' errors to win their respective games and ensured India stayed on road to victory.India leads with 18.5 points and they are followed by China at 14. Indonesia and Kazakhstan had 13 each, while Iran, Uzbekistan, Qatar and Indonesia have 12 each.Barring a dramatic reversal in form over the last three rounds, the team gold medal as well be packed and delivered to the Indian team.Iran coached by former World title challenger Nigel Short, who recently played the Commonwealth championships in India, had good chances but inexperience on their part as well as India's ability to seize their chances saw the match end ina one-sided manner.Ehsan did a fine job holding Saskiran, who had won his previous six matches in the team event. On the second board, Ehsan Moradiabadi did well in a Torre attack, but then lost his way and ended up losing a game, he could have drawn.Humpy was also up against a fairly well-played game from Atousa Pourkashiyan, but the latter went hopelessly wrong. She was winning at one stage, but then messed up the whole game and ended losing. As Iranian team's English coach, Short, said, "I am very disappointed. Atousa played white and initially she played very well. In fact she was completely winning if you ask me. But then she hopelessly wrong. At one stage I still hoped shemight salvage a draw. But no, she lost on time in the end, but that was a mere formality."Harikrishna on his win, added, "It went quite smoothly. We played the Torre opening and my opponent just did not know what to do. It is not that he made any blunders, he just messed about, I won quickly."India now has two more round and it is unthinkable that a 4.5 points lead can be squandered.India has already won the women's individual gold through Humpy, for whom it will be a second gold if India wins the team title as expected. (PTI)

Source : Ndtv

Role reversal Brits head to India

There are at least 32,000 Britons now living in India, according to new research - and it is the economy that is sucking them in, a twist of migration history between the two countries.
About a year ago, Dalbir Bains quit as a buying director for British Home Stores in London - and moved to India's financial capital Mumbai to open her own lingerie store.
Swapping a great underwear retailing institution for launching her own shop did not go down very well with her parents - not least because she was reversing the journey they themselves had made. In the 1960s they had left India for England to lead a better life - and to provide more opportunities to their children.
"They were really shocked and I'd say probably slightly disappointed as well," says Dalbir. "For their generation England was the land of opportunity.
"What they don't really understand is that England no longer holds great opportunities. Even though it is a great place to live in, the real land of opportunity, is India, is China. They are the progressive countries where you can really make a difference."
Dalbir believes her timing could not have been better as India's economy is booming.
Boom time for India
And it's probably the key reason why so many Britons, many of them from Asian families, are looking for opportunities.

Fresh research by the IPPR think tank, published in detail by the BBC, suggests there are at least 32,000 Britons living in India today. Property consultant Ajit Vyas is among those, having traded his life in London for one in Pune, a city three hours from Mumbai.
"I came here early 2005 when India opened its real estate to foreign direct investment," he says. "It seemed like the next best emerging market where all foreign institutions were trying to head and start placing their money."
Like Dabir, Ajit, received his share of 'are-you-sure-of-what-you-are-doing?' queries.
"It's the same old stories they keep hearing. Difficulties in setting up your own business because Indian bureaucracy moves slowly, red tape, infrastructure problems such as power cuts. But those who were in the know and had visited India in recent times told me it was the right decision."
Emerging giant, Asian tiger, global economic power. These are just some of the names now used to describe India. The economy beat all expectations and grew at 9.2% from July to September this year.
Writer Relocations, a company that helps people move to India, says it has seen inquiries from British Asians rise by a quarter in a year.
Family on the move
Yusuf Hatia is one such Brit who has decided to move to Mumbai after the public relations firm he works for, Fleishman-Hillard, decided to open in India. After testing the waters, he says he is preparing to take his young family out there.

"My major concerns were around the general poverty, the fear of malaria that all British seem to have - and the standard of living," he says.
"The poverty is not as bad as I thought it would have been and there is a sense of the affluence trickling down slowly to different groups of people."
But he says that amid India's economic boom, Mumbai life is surprisingly easy.
"I've found Indian people are very helpful with people like me, fascinated that more of 'us' are coming back and proud of that as well.
"Without exception, everything I am used to [in Britain] I can get in India - such is the way with global outlets and brands."
Dalbir Bains, however, misses her London life and everything English that was part of it.
"I miss my family, my friends, the dialogue, the contact, simple things like finishing work and going to a pub for a glass of wine," she says.
"You can't do that here. I miss English food and I really miss going to Sainsbury's and buying your whole weekly shop in one go. There is nothing really that compares here.
"On Wednesday I had a parcel from England and my friend had sent me a box of eight Fondant Fantasies - it was as if someone had sent me gold or something."
Seeing the dream
Asad Shan is a model-actor who moved to Mumbai earlier in 2006. Born and brought up in London, he worked as an investment banker for three years. He went to New York to train as an actor for a year and then, came to Mumbai to try his luck in the Bollywood film industry. And he is loving it.

I grew up on Bollywood and really wanted to pursue a career in acting," he says.
"The money I earn here is better. I get paid more here in a modelling job than I would get paid in England, especially since there you do a lot of free shows. Here the market is very competitive and at least it does justice to your talent."
Asad also says he has blended in quite well - but is sometimes surprised to find India more progressive in some respects.
"I think our upbringing in England tends to be more traditional and parents expect certain values from you, such as you can't be seen with someone or you can't go to certain places.
"Here everything is so open, you are like, wow, I wouldn't do this [in England] but here it's all happening," he said.
But some British Asians in India suffer something of an identity crisis after making the move.
"It is a strange feeling," says Yusuf Hatia. "In the UK I've always described myself and been defined as British Asian.
"Every form one fills there asks an ethnic origin question. In India, when asked what I am, I find myself saying British, but I always follow it up with the qualifier of 'I was born in India'."
And Dalbir Bains said she never bargained for feeling like a foreigner.
"I had just always thought that my safety net was India. I am an Indian and I am going to be fine. But what you realise is that you're not going back to the Punjab where Mum and Dad were born. You're going back to Mumbai.
"I never really felt like an outsider in England as a brown girl. I think people look at me more here and I stand out here even more as a brown girl than I did at home."
Not at home - yet it is home. That is India for most British Asians while the good times roll.

Source : bbc

Leander-Sania win gold

Leander Paes set the Asian Games tennis arena ablaze by grabbing two gold medals as he claimed the men's doubles title.He then paired up with Sania Mirza to bag the mixed doubles crown with a hard-fought victory over their Japanese rivals.Barely hours after teaming up with Mahesh Bhupathi to fetch India a gold medal in the doubles event, the lion-hearted Paes showed no signs of fatigue as the Indian duo scripted a 7-5 5-7 6-2 victory over Satoshi Iwabuchi and Akiko Morigami in a summit showdown lasting two hours 20 minutes.With the addition of one more gold medal, the Indians completed their tennis engagements in the Asian Games with two gold and two silver medals.Sania had won a silver in the women's singles and India had finished second behind Chinese Taipei in the women's team event.It was a tremendous show of stamina and grit as both Paes and Sania had played grueling matches before taking the court for the mixed doubles event under floodlights at a nearly-packed Khalifa stadium.Paes took the bulk of the load and displayed some acrobatic shots as the Indian pair wrapped up the first set in 55 minutes much to the delight of the crowd.But the Japanese pair came back strongly to claim the second set in 47 minutes to force a decider.The top seeded Indians, however, found the going relatively easier in the third set as their Japanese opponents wilted under pressure to lose 6-2, triggering off scenes of celebrations in the stands. (PTI)

Source : NDTV

L&T arm buys U.S. electronic design services co

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd., the software and services arm of Indian construction major Larsen & Toubro Ltd., said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy U.S.-based GDA Technologies Inc. for an undisclosed sum.
"This acquisition of GDA Technologies will help us deliver a broad set of chip design and product realisation services to our global customers," Vijay Magapu, Chief Executive of L&T Infotech, said in a statement.
L&T Infotech said it would acquire all of GDA's design centres in the United States and India.
Privately-held GDA is based in California. It provides electronic design services and silicon intellectual property solutions for embedded networking and consumer electronics.
It has over 350 employees in the United States and India and over 100 customers in the United States, Japan and India.
At 0514 GMT Larsen and Toubro shares were trading down 0.43 percent at 1,388 rupees in a Mumbai market that was down 0.4 percent.

© Reuters 2006.

Dramatic win for Bhupathi-Paes duo

DOHA: They fight better on court, than off it! Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi showed why they are two of the finest sportspersons the country has ever produced as they fought off seven matchpoints to defend the doubles gold medal against the Thai twins, Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana, in a titanic thriller at the Khalifa Tennis Stadium here on Wednesday.
The men's doubles gold looked to be eluding the grasp as Bhupathi faced six matchpoints on his serve in the 12th game of the second set. But the Indian duo prevailed 5-7, 7-6(7), 6-3.
Paes came up with some of the best volleys, the drops in particular, that one had ever seen him play and Bhupathi came up with the big first serves in time to wriggle out of the tight corner. This was the two at their fighting best.
However, the tension for the packed gathering that was literally praying for an Indian victory without much conviction, was not over as yet, for the former world No.1 duo faced a seventh matchpoint at 6-7 in the tie-break. Paes pulled out another one of his drop volleys. Thereafter, it was time to soar.
Fired up
Paes was fully charged up for the fight by now and Bhupathi was also finding his range — he was struggling for the most part.
The Thais, who played brilliantly till then, started feeling the pressure once Paes set up a second setpoint for the Indian pair with an overhead. In an anti-climax to a spectacular fight, the Ratiwatanas doublefaulted to let the match drift into the decider and played right into the hands of the Indian pair, who rose to the occasion to cruise to a smooth finish despite Bhupathi dropping serve in the third game.
The delay due to a brief spell of rain after the first point in the decider did not check the momentum of the Indian pair who raced to a 4-1 lead. Paes eventually served out the match from 15-40 down, and the stadium stood as one man to roar its appreciation.
"I must congratulate the Thais. They threw everything at us, including the kitchen sink. We fought hard and won by the skin of our teeth. We have worked hard all week," said Paes.
Sania finishes second
Earlier, Sania Mirza found herself unable to cope with the superb game of the second seeded Zheng Jie, who moved with great speed and hit with remarkable punch to push the 20-year-old Hyderabad lass on the backfoot.
It was a credit to Sania's fighting qualities that she was able to take a set off her opponent, who had won two WTA Tour singles titles this season.
Into the decider, the difference between the two players was distinct and Sania wound up rather tamely with two doublefaults.
That, however, will not take away her courageous performance in clinching the silver medal in both the individual and team events.
"She played better than me. I didn't play my best tennis today and I didn't convert my chances," admitted the 66th ranked Sania.
"Hats off to her. She was outstanding today. Had she capitalised on the early openings it could have been a different story, as Sania is a good front-runner," said coach Enrico Piperno.
Back on court
There was more unfinished work for the evening, as Leander and Sania stepped back on the centre-court to regale the capacity crowd under the floodlight, in capturing another gold medal.
The top-seeded Indian pair, which had already improved upon its bronze medal won in the same event four years ago, combined very well to subdue the Japanese, Satoshi Iwabuchi and Akiko Morigami 7-5, 5-7, 6-2.
Of course, Leander had to do a lot of work, and he was ready for the challenge despite the energy sapping and emotionally draining experience earlier in the doubles.
Sania was equal to the task and showed her skills at the net and hit her groundstrokes as sharp as ever. Never mind the errors at the net, as she was bound to be overshadowed, playing with the quickest player at the net with the best hands in the world.
Discordant note
The only discordant note on Leander's part was when he caught Morigami square on her back with a volley even as she was taking evasive action, while converting a breakpoint in the ninth game of the second set. Leander himself was aghast at his misdemeanour and was apologetic as he stood at the net with his hands on head.
That affected his concentration and Leander could not serve out the match in the next game. It was only an aberration to his impeccable behaviour on court, but it possibly let things drift.
But, not for long, as the Indian pair asserted itself in the third set, much to the jubilation of the delirious crowd. Leander thumped a backhand volley winner, and hugged his partner in congratulation.

Source : Hindu

Spicejet to raise $80 mn

MUMBAI, DECEMBER 12: Low-Cost carrier Spicejet today said it will raise about $80 million from a clutch of investors, including the Tata group, which may pick up 7.5 per cent stake for $17.2 million.

We have proposals worth $118 million from investors, including the Tatas, Texas Pacific Group Ventures, Istithmar PJSC and Goldman Sachs,” SpiceJet director Ajay Singh said.
He said the company proposed to raise $80 million through preferential allotment to fund its expansion programmes. The equity to be offered would be about 20 per cent of the company’s share capital.
Singh said Tata Investment Corporation has proposed $1.2 million, while Ewart Investments — an investment company of Tata group — offered $16 million.
He added that the Tatas have not put any pre-conditions for the investment. Besides Tatas, private equity firm Texas Pacific group came up with $ 30 million, Istithmar PJSC with $ 25 million and Goldman Sachs has offered $ 5 million.
The board has approved the proposals and recommended these be placed for shareholders’ approval at a meeting proposed to be held on January 11, 2007.
Said SpiceJet director Bhulo Kansagra, “Texas Pacific is one of the best known investment funds with a tremendous experience in aviation. Istithmar and Goldman Sachs have been associated with SpiceJet and have re-iterated their support through their offer of fresh investment.”

Source : Indian express

India ........Stronget Tennis Nation in Asia .........

India were assured of a triple from the tennis courts.Sania Mirza, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi storming their way into the finals of the women's singles, the men's doubles and the mixed-doubles at the Asian games on Tuesday.Twenty-year-old Sania scripted a sensational upset win over top seed Li Na of China 6-2, 6-2 and set up a title clash with another Chinese, Jie Zheng, at the Khalifa International stadium.Paes and Bhupathi then steamrolled their way into the doubles final with a facile 6-2, 6-4 victory over the Filippino pair of Cecil Mamiit and Frederick Taino.Later, Sania combined with Paes to knockout China's Xinyuan Yu and Tiantian Sun 6-3 2-6 6-1 and book their berth in the mixed-doubles final again Satoshi Iwabuchi and Aiko Morigami of Japan.Beating Na, who became the first Chinese woman to reach Wimbledon quarterfinals this year, has a lot of significance for Sania.On the only occasion the two had met before, in the final of the Asian Tennis Championships in Tashkent in 2004, Na had conquered the Hyderabadi lass to confirm a wild card entry into the Australian Open main draw the following January. (PTI)

Source : NDTV

Indian women win 4x400 gold

India won its first gold medal in track and field at the Asian Games through its women's 4x400 metres relay team on Tuesday.
The quartet of Sati Geetha, Pinki Paramanik, K Chitra and Manjeet Kaur, in lane 5, overcame a strong field to win the race in 3:32.95 seconds.
Kazakhstan was second in 3:33.86 seconds while China took the bronze in 3:33.92 seconds. Japan and Sri Lanka were fourth and fifth respectively.
A little earlier, Sinimole Paulose ran a brave race in a very strong 1500 metres field to finish with a bronze medal.
Sinimole, the 23-year-old Kerala runner, placed third, with a time of 4:15.09 seconds.
The race was won by favourite Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain (4:08.63). Japan's Yuriko Kobayashi took silver in 4:14.96 seconds.
Sinimole had finished fifth in 800 metres, clocking a personal best of 2:03.76 seconds. This evening though she could not match her 1500m best of 4:14.7 second, which she had timed at Colombo earlier this year.
The other Indian in the fray -- O P Jaisha -- did not finish the race.
Sinimole ran a technical race. She paced herself well and in the last lap got herself among the medal winners, managing to pip Vietnam's Thanh Hang Troung for the bronze.
Troung clocked a personal best of 4:17.66 seconds for fourth place.
However, India's medal hopes in women's 4x100m relay were shattered when the quartet of Jyothi Manjunath, Deepthi Jose, Nidhi and Poonam Tomar clocked a season's best of 46.29 seconds only to finish fifth.
The Indians lost the medal because of their technical fault. They had a false start and were warned. That affected their next start which was bit late.China took the gold with a season's best timing of 44.33, followed by Japan (44.87) and Chinese Taipei (45.86).

Source : Rediff

Wipro to hire 200 people in Finland's Saraware

IT major Wipro will hire additional 200 employees in Finland-based Saraware Oy, a design and engineering services provider which it acquired this year for Euro 25 million.

"The company will be branching out to other Nordic countries from Finland in the near future," a Wipro case study submitted to Finland embassy said in New Delhi.

During the first nine months of the current financial year, Indian companies invested $100 million in Finland and announced a record 112 foreign acquisitions, with a combined deal value of 7.

Source : HT

Cognizant to invest on Hyderabad infrastructure

Hyderabad, Dec. 9 (PTI): Leading IT services provider, Cognizant on Friday announced plans to expand its infrastructure here with an investment of over Rs 140 crore.

Cognizant plans to invest in land acquisition, construction and furnishing, adding 5,00,000 sq feet and over 5,000 employees. The campus will be built in a Special Economic Zone.

The company will continue to lease new facilities to meet its headcount growth requirements, company President and Chief Executive Officer Lakshmi Narayana told reporters.

"Cognizant has grown faster than its competition over the last several years, and our strong pipeline reinforces our confidence in our future growth plans," Narayanan said here.

"As we plan for the next phase of growth, we are focused on building-up the scale to address the needs of our businesses around the world," he said.

Narayana said he expected the new construction to enable Cognizant meet growing customer demand in North America, Europe, South America and Asia.

Shankar Srinivasan, Vice President and Hyderabad operations head, said, "From about 200 professionals in 2002, Cognizant has scaled up to approximately 2,000.

"The Hyderabad centre's focus on three key segments - financial services, healthcare, information, media and entertainment - and high quality execution have enabled us to build stronger customer businesses."

The Hyderabad investment is a part of Cognizant's larger program to spend over 200 million dollar by end-2008 on fully-owned complexes in Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune with over three million square feet housing over 30,000 new employees.

Source : NDTV

Indian Nuke bill: US Congress prepares to vote

Friday, December 8, 2006 (Washington/New Delhi):

The landmark India nuclear bill in the US Congress is expected to be voted later on Friday, in what will be a historic day for Indo-US ties.The text of the crucial final legislation is also public now and many of India's main concerns have been addressed."This is a historic agreement. A brilliant day," said Nicholas Burns, US Under Secretary of State. Government sources have told NDTV that India is generally happy with the final bill though there are some irritants.There have been substantial changes in language.
The House of Representatives Bill had made it binding on the US to stop other countries from supplying fuel if it couldn't. Now the US will not be legally forced to stop fuel supplies to India by other countries, should it stop its own supplies.
The original Senate Bill had asked that first the IAEA and India reach agreement on safeguards first. The new Bill says that both have already got legal parameters in place and that is not necessary before signing of an agreement.
The earlier Bills had called for annual certification by the US President on India's non-proliferation commitments. Now the new Bill has replaced certification with the general term assessment.Yet, there are certain provisions that could cause some heartburn. The final Bill calls on the President to report to Congress on whether India is actively backing international efforts to contain Iran's nuclear weapons capability. It was in the binding part of the senate bill has now been made non-binding, which is good news.Ambiguous clausesGovernment officials say they are generally happy with the bill but there are still concerns like the language on Iran, which could have a political fallout and other clauses which remain ambiguous. Sources say these issues will be sorted out later as the two sides get down to the nitty gritty of negotiating the actual bilateral agreement.The main areas of concern that Indian negotiators will still need to hammer home include:
Much of the language in the non binding portions, especially the reporting requirements by the President, has been described by one official as objectionable. For instance, how much uranium India is mining for its weapons programme
There is no mention of reprocessing of spent fuel by India, a big concern for scientists
While the language on the export of technology for uranium enrichment has become more positive it still does not give India access to this technology. This too will be negotiated later
There is still ambiguity on a clause which says fuel supplies will depend on operating requirements of reactors
And many of the contentious clauses remain on end use monitoring, that is, how India is using the fuel exportedOn the face of it, the final Bill seems to have taken into account many of India's concerns by either tweaking the language or shifting portions from one section to another, making them non-binding.Left objectionsBut the Left parties have been unhappy with this. The President will have to inform the Congress on how he plans to get India to declare when it will stop production of fissile material for nuclear weapons. Delhi maintains this can only be done through a Fissile Material Cut off Treaty, which even the US has problems with. The President is also required to report how much uranium India is mining or enriching for its weapons programme. The opposition, like the BJP has already called this an infringement on India's strategic objectives.Burns' assurancesInterestingly enough, US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns spent the morning meeting with senior political leaders from the Congress and the BJP. Speaking to NDTV, Burns said the Bush administration was a hundred percent happy with the new Bill. He was also at pains to clarify that the clause on Iran was non binding and the United States had no intention to infringe on India's foreign policy.The vote on the Bill is expected to go through on Friday in Washington, which is the last working day of the Congress.President George W Bush will likely hold a signing ceremony at the White House on Monday, putting into effect a major paradigm shift in global geostrategic relations.

Source : NDTV

India routs Hong Kong

DOHA: India recorded a 7-0 win over Hong Kong in the women's hockey competition, in spite of frittering away a plethora of chances especially in the first half. This was India's third win in four matches. The tally now is nine.
Hong Kong's goalkeeper Ho Yi Shan brought off some splendid saves to deny the Indians more goals. The Indians forced 11 penalty corners with eight of them in the first half.
It was not until Surinder Kaur converted a penalty stroke after about 20 minutes did the Indians settle to a scoring rhythm. The star was Surinder Kaur, who scored four goals.
The attack lacked the fizz to demolish the fragile opposition. There were instances of over elaboration compounded by inaccuracy causing frustration. True, the attack held all the aces but left one wondering why the conversion rate was inadequate compared to China and Korea.
Gallant role
A tribute is due to skipper Jyothi Kullu, who sustained a head injury against Malaysia. She played a gallant role with her head swathed in bandage. She scored a brilliant goal, a charming deflection off a push from Suman Bala in a penalty corner. Late in the match, she struck another. The fifth goal of the match from Jasjit Handa was a beauty, a withering shot from the top of the circle crashing into the boards.
Coach Kaushik was candid enough to admit the fact "the girls did not play well at all. There were too many missed chances. We cannot afford to miss that many easy goals " he said.
A podium finish is within the realm of possibility if the team puts up a decent show against Korea and Japan in the next few days.
Severe blow
China's image as the defending champion suffered a severe blow when Japan slammed in three goals in the first half to take full points. The outcome only reasserted the growing stature of Japan, which finished fifth in the last World Cup at Madrid two months ago.
Commendable was the consistency and coordination in Japan's frontline workouts led by Kaori Chiba. That all the three were field goals went to show the fluency of the attack orchestrated well by Tomimo Komori. Along with Chiba and Morimoto, the quick moving Komori played havoc with the Chinese defence.
The strategy of rendering the dangerous Chinese striker Fo Barong innocuous in the defence zone succeeded. Japan is the only unbeaten team that leads the table with 10 points.
In a fierce contest, in which the key element was speed, the defending champion South Korea, showed why it is the Asian powerhouse by defeating China 3-0 in a Pool `B' men's hockey competition.
Korea called the shots from the push off, setting up a torrid pace which the Chinese struggled to match. The goal was under fire more than once but eventually it fell when Yeo Woon Kon capped a fine move. Served commendably from the mid-field by Yong Bae, the Korean attack was led by Hyo Sik, weaving patterns around the tiring Chinese defence. Close on half-time, Jang Hyun pumped in a penalty corner to widen the lead that was enlarged further in the second half by Jong Ho.
Korea has nine points with a match remaining against India while China has finished its programme with the same number of points.
The results:
Women: India 7 (Surinder Kaur 4, Jyothi Kullu 2, Jasjeet Handa) bt Kong Kong 0; Japan 3 (Rika Komazowa, Saeke Morimoto, Tomomi Komori) bt China 0; Malaysia 2 (Nadia, Nor Amarina) bt Chinese Taipei 0.
Men: Pool B: South Korea 3 (Yeo Woon Koon, Jang Hyun, Jong Ho) bt China 0.
Saturday's matches: Men: Pool `A': Japan v Hong Kong (11.30 a.m.); Pakistan v Chinese Taipei (1.30 p.m.); Women: Chiese Taipei v China (4.30 p.m.); Japan v India (6.30 p.m.); Korea v Malaysia (8.30 p.m.).

Source : Hindu

India GSM phone base tops 100 mln in November

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -

Indian GSM carriers signed up a record 5 million users in November, boosting their base to beyond 100 million and making the country the third-biggest market for such services globally, a telecoms industry body said on Friday.
Call rates of as low as 2-3 U.S. cents a minute are luring customers in the world's fastest-growing wireless services market, where mobile phone ownership is still less than 14 percent in the billion-plus population.
The Cellular Operators' Association, which represents 9 carriers offering wireless services based on the widely prevalent Global System for Mobile communication, said 5.044 million users signed up in November, an increase from 4.727 million in October.
The GSM base rose to 100.7 million, behind Russia which has 152.2 million such users and China, which tops the list, with 401.7 million, the industry body said.
Overall, India's mobile user base, which also consists of CDMA customers, rose to 142.3 million. Carriers offering mobile services on the CDMA platform are yet to report numbers.
The mobile user base of Bharti Airtel Ltd., India's top provider of such services, rose to 30.26 million after it added 1.65 million customers.
Second-ranked GSM firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. lured 921,147 customers, boosting its user base to 22.97 million.
Hutchison Essar Ltd. added a shade over a million customers, lifting its user base to 22.27 million.© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

More foreign money to flow in as 70% investors make profit: Survey

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 3: A FICCI survey indicates that around 70 per cent of foreign investors are making profits from their India operations and 83 per cent are considering expansion of business. The survey has revealed that about 71 per cent view India as a high growth market and express confidence that the 8 per cent GDP growth would be surpassed in 2006-07 as well.

The survey research sample includes 76 current foreign direct investors, across various industries and verticals, from all around the globe operating in India, with company turnover ranging between Rs 1 crore to Rs 100 crore and those with turnover above Rs 100 crore.
The Survey reveals that a vast majority of current foreign investors are succeeding in terms of profits and realising the profitability targets set for their Indian operations. Almost 7 in 10 foreign investors have reported that they are making profits in their Indian operations. 91 per cent of the companies making profits say that they have been successful in meeting their profitability targets in India.
An overwhelming 87 per cent of the respondents said that there are opportunities for more FDI in India. The fact that foreign investors are looking at India as an important market for the future is reinforced by the fact that nearly 83 per cent of the respondents are considering expansion of their Indian operations.
The Ficci FDI Survey notes that the perception about India as a manufacturing base has reasonably improved over the last two years.
In the last survey about 32 per cent of the participating companies rated India as an attractive manufacturing base. In the present survey this proportion has increased to 48 per cent. The proportion of respondents citing ‘intense competition’ as a characteristic feature of the Indian market has gone up from 59 per cent in Ficci FDI Survey 2005 to 67 per cent in Ficci FDI Survey 2006.

Source : Indian express

Singapore eyes share in the Indian SEZ pie

Special economic zone: Singapore has shown interest to set up 3 SEZs, it has earlier invested in China, Vietnam
NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 7 : India's ongoing tryst with Special Economic Zones (SEZs) is fast acquiring a global hue. In what could trigger a further strengthening of trade ties between India and Singapore, the latter has evinced interest in setting up three SEZs in the country.

The idea for investing in SEZs in India was suggested by a Confederation of Indian Industry CEO core group to the Singapore prime minister Lee HSien Loong in January this year. The 9 member core group which consists of CII president R. Seshasayee, vice president Sunil Mittal and Max India chairman Analjit Singh is leaving on a two day visit to Singapore on Friday where the modalities for setting up the SEZs would be discussed.
“This is an iconic project on the lines of a global SEZ where Singapore’s international experience in China and Japan will be used. The idea is to attract investments into the SEZ from all over the world especially Japan,” said CII mentor Tarun Das.
While Singapore has invested in SEZs in other countries in the past, this is the first instance of a foreign country collaborating with India for managing a SEZ. While the locations and other procedures for the project is still to be discussed, in effect it has been conceptualised as a tri-lateral partnership between India, Singapore and Japan.
During the two day visit, the core group would meet senior Singapore government officials including president S.R. Nathan, prime minister Loong, minister for trade and industry Lim Hng Kiang and minsiter mentor Lee Kuan Yew. The core group will also highlight sectors for future bilateral collaboration like finance and banking, infrastructure, retail and agriculture among others.
Already ties between the two countries are on a high after the comprehensive economic cooperation agreement was signed in August last year. Bilateral trade in 2005 grew by 58 per cent. The growth trend continues in 2006 at 31.98 per cent and the impact of CECA is such that India is Singapore’s fastest growing trade partner amongst major economies, outstripping even China. The total bilateral trade today stands at approximately $10 billion now.
Investments from Singapore into India recorded a 300 per cent increase from January-December 2005. Foreign direct investments from Singapore during Aug 1991 to Jan 2006 were at $1 billion.
Similarly Singapore was the eleventh most important destination for outward FDI from India in 2004. Total Indian investment in Singapore till 2004 added up to $ 203.261 million.

Source: Indian express

Rana clinches gold

Chennai: Jaspal Rana captured the 25-metre standard pistol gold in the 15th Asian Games in Doha on Thursday. Though sick, he put up an inspired show to shoot 574 at the Lusail Shooting Range. After starting well with rounds of 96 in the 150-second series, Jaspal Rana finished with a 98 in the difficult 10-second series to beat Byung Taek Park of Korea by three points. Since the 1994 Hiroshima edition, where Rana won gold in the centrefield pistol event, no Indian had won a shooting gold at the Asian Games.
The country's tally now includes four golds: the others came from chess, billiards and kabbadi.
In other events, rower Bajranglal Takhar clinched silver in the single sculls event, 1.39 seconds behind Korean Eun Chul Shin. Dharmesh Sangwan, Jenil Krishnan, Sukhjeet Singh and Satish Joshi picked up another silver in the men's four rowing event. Geet Sethi and Ashok Shandilya won bronze in the billiards men's doubles.

Asian Games: India clinch kabaddi gold against Pak

Wednesday, December 6, 2006 (Doha):India maintained their monopoly in the Asian Games kabaddi competition by clinching their fifth consecutive gold medal in the event with a comfortable victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the final on Wednesday.The Indians scripted a 35-23 victory in a highly surcharged summit showdown watched by a capacity crowd at the Aspire Hall.The defending champions, who have maintained their supremacy in the game ever since its introduction in Beijing in 1990, opened up a lead of 21-14 at half-time and did not allow their rivals to come back into the game.The venue was packed to capacity, mainly by Indian and Pakistan supporters, well before the start of the match, and the security personnel had a trying time to keep off hundreds of other spectators who could not enter the venue.The Indians were superior in their raiding skills and Rakesh Kumar, captain Dinesh Kumar and Pankaj Shirsat were particularly impressive for the titleholders.Unlike the previous league match between the two teams, there was no heated exchange of words and players of both the teams did not get into needless arguments over the referee's rulings.In the bronze medal match, Bangladesh edged past Iran 30-26 to claim third position in a keenly contested encounter. (PTI)

Source : NDTV

India's Sensex hits record high

India's main stock index, the Sensex, has touched a record high on the back of a growing economy.
Bombay's benchmark Sensex index jumped to 14,028.47 points when trading began on Tuesday, topping a previous peak set in November.
India's economy has beaten expectations by growing at an annualised rate of 9.2% during July to September.
The Sensex's recovery marks a change in fortunes for the exchange, which plunged in value earlier this year.
In later trading, however, the Sensex dropped below the 14,000 mark again, closing 63.32 points, or 0.5%, higher at 13,937.65.
Market analyst Rahul Rege said the rising stock index was the result of strong economic fundamentals and more players investing their money in the market.
"Lot of money has flowed in from foreign investors in the last three months..the investor base has widened tremendously, economic growth numbers are positive and corporates have registered good results," he said.
This year, foreign institutional investors pumped nearly $9bn into India.
Asia's fourth-largest economy has grown at an average of 8% in the last three years. But critics say the benefits have not reached the poor fast enough.

Source : BBC

India wins men's double trap silver

DOHA: The best of Indian shooters have not been able to breakthrough to the gold, and Olympic silver medallist Lt. Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was no exception, though he shot exceptionally well in the closing stages, at the Lusail Complex here on Tuesday.
In living up to his stature as one of the best doubletrap marksmen in the world, Rathore shot a perfect 50 in the third round to ensure his place in the final and also to aid his team to win the silver medal.
Classy show
In the final, Rathore emphasised his class yet again, and did not miss a bird in the first 20, but two Chinese ahead of him had enjoyed a good lead and hung on to that like dear life to walk away with the gold and silver. It was only a bronze for Rathore but he was easily the best in the second half of the competition when he shot a 97 out of 100.
He had conceded a five-point lead to Wang and a four-point lead to Hu. It was tough to catch up though the Chinese were shaky in the end. India took its tally to four silver and three bronze medals in shooting.
Rathore shot the best in the final, a 47 out of 50, but was one point behind the silver medallist Hu Binyuan. Wang Nan, the world championship silver medallist last year, managed to pip his compatriot by two points after having started the final with a solitary point lead.
It was a brilliant performance by Binyuan who had won the gold in 1998, and the silver in the last edition at Busan. He had finished fourth behind Rathore at the Olympics, but had won the world championship silver behind Vitaly Fokeev of Russia at Zagreb.
Rathore had rounds of 46, 43 and 50 in the preliminary phase. Ronjan Sodhi had a string of 45, 47 and 44 for a 136 and missed the final by one point. Vikram started with a 47 but slipped to 43 and 44 later. The best part was that the two shot well to carry the team along in the first two rounds when Rathore was not at his best.
The Indian team took the silver with 409 points, seven points better than the fare at the World Championship this year when the team had finished fourth, missing a medal by one point.
In 50-metre free pistol, Samaresh Jung could not conjure up any magic and finished 14th with a 550, following a series of 89, 90, 92, 93, 93 and 93. It was off his mark of 565 at Melbourne earlier this season, which incidentally is the national record. In fact, the gold went at 565 here and the Chinese proved once again their supremacy.
In women's sport pistol, India fielded Shweta Chaudhary and Sonia Rai though they had been primarily been selected for air pistol. In the event, Shweta was 21st with a 569 while Sonia was 29th with a 562. Sushma Sing holds the national record at 582, but the sports pistol team was not chosen as none met the selection criteria.
The results: Double Trap: 1. Wang Nan (Chn) 189 (144); 2. Hu Binyuan (Chn) 187 (143); 3. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore 186 (139); 7. Ronjan Sodhi 136; 10. Vikram Bhatnagar 134. Team: 1. China 424; 2. India 409; 3. Chinese Taipei 397.
Free pistol: 1. Xu Kun (Chn) 663.8 (565); 2. Rashid Yunusmetov (Kaz) 660.5 (564); 3. Jong Su Kim (PRK) 658.7 (562); 14. Samaresh Jung 550; 19. Bapu Vanjare 545; 24. Zakir Khan 541. Team: 1. China 1,682; 2. DPR Korea 1,659; 3. Korea 1,657; 7. India 1,636.

Source : Hindu

2 Indians receive Technovators Awards

Houston: Indian entrepreneurs Vikram Akula, founder of SKS Microfinance, and Sameer Sawarkar of Neurosynaptic Comm are among the ten South Asian origin persons awarded the 2006 Global Indus Technovators Awards by the Indian Business Club at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Akula and Sawarkar are the winners n the Grassroots category.
Akula, founder of SKS Microfinance – one of the fastest growing microfinance organisations in the world, has been felicitated for having provided over $33 million in loans and helping over 300,000 people in becoming economically self-reliant.
Sawarkar, founder Neurosynaptic Communications Pvt, Ltd, works in the areas of remote medical diagnostics and telemedicine, and has developed ReMeDiV solution for rural telemedicine.
The winners in Biotechnology/Medicine/Healthcare are Anita Goel (Nanobiosym Inc), Krishna Kumar (Tufts University) and Shiladitya Sengupta (MIT).
Goel is the President of Nanobiosym Labs and Nanobiosym Diagnostics Inc, which focus on developing next-generation diagnostic capabilities.
Kumar, Chairman of the Department of Chemistry at Tufts University, is an expert on peptide therapies and has authored patents with an immense potential to impact cancer management.
Sengupta, co-founder of ANGENIX Ltd., also the winner of the TR35 Innovator Award in 2005 for one of his biggest innovations, the nano cell.
Sengupta's research focuses on understanding the basic relationships at the cellular level that define a pathological state, and using this knowledge to develop novel strategies or medicines for treating disease.
The innovators, all under the age of 40, were recognised for their commendable contributions in four broad categories – Grassroots Technology, Biotechnology, Medicine, Healthcare, Materials and Devices and Information Technology.
Materials and Devices category winners are Aref Chowdhury (Bell Labs), Rajeev V Ram (MIT) and Adam Rasheed (GE).
In the Information Technology arena, the award recipients are Anuj Batra (TI) and Rajit Manohar (Achronix Semiconductor).
Batra, who currently works on high-speed digital communication technology at Texas Instruments (TI), is highly acknowledged for his developmental efforts of ultra wideband (UWB) technology.
Rajit Manohar, cofounder of Achronix Semiconductor, was one of the young TR35 innovators in 2005.
The awardees were selected from a pool of over 100 nominations.
"The nominees were rigorously screened and judged by an eminent panel of judges, including Dr Arun Netravali (Former President, Bell Labs), Mr S Ramadorai (CEO, Tata Consultancy Services), Dr Kiran Mazumdar (Managing Director, Biocon Group of Companies)," IBC spokesperson said.
The Global Indus Technovators Awards, instituted in 2003, recognise and felicitate distinguished young innovators of South Asian origin working at the confluence of technology-based research and entrepreneurship.

Source : IBN

India beat Pak in Kabaddi encounter

Monday, December 4, 2006 (Doha):

Titleholders India survived some anxious moments before suppressing arch rivals Pakistan 31-20 in a highly surcharged Asian Games Kabaddi encounter at the Aspire Sports Complex on Monday.Pakistan went into half time with a slender 11-9 lead but the defending champions got their act together in the second half to eventually carve out a hard-fought victory and guarantee a medal in the competition.The match was marked by frayed tempers as the two bitter foes often exchanges heated words and at times roughed up each other, leaving the referee to interfere on a number of occasions.The first half was particularly volatile and at times it looked like tempers could go out of control as vociferous supporters of both teams kept cheering the players right through the contest.The first half setbacks spurred the Indians to raise their game by a few notches in the second session and that paid dividends as the Pakistanis suddenly lost their rhythm.While the Indians managed three bonus points, their traditional rivals picked up four bonus points.India will now take on Iran in their next league match. (PTI)

Source: NDTV

Koneru Humpy brings smiles on Indians' faces

Doha: Nineteen-year old Koneru Humpy of Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) did India proud by winning the individual women's rapid chess championship, which concluded here on Monday night. Humpy gave India its first gold medal in the 15th Asian Games.
In the men's section Grandmaster Murtas Kazhgaleyev of Kazakhstan became the champion. In the last round he subdued a revitalised Sasikiran who enjoyed a big advantage for quite a while and could have easily salvaged a draw. The Indian needed a win to have a chance at the bronze medal but did not plan his attack well and was eventually beaten.
Sasikiran had beaten Grandmasters Utut Adianto of Indonesia in the morning and Wang Yue of China in the afternoon. Sasikiran finished 13th.
Harikrishna 11th
Harikrishna ended the tournament with a victory over Iranian Grandmaster Ghaem Maghami, but he was out of the race earlier when he had lost the penultimate round game to Vietnam's Dao Thien Hai who clinched the silver medal. Harikrishna finished 11th.
Humpy had a very good tournament beating all her opponents confidently except China's Zhao Xue. The Chinese finished second, just half a point behind the Indian. The media mobbed Humpy as soon as she came out of the playing arena. Humpy's mother Koneru Latha has been with her throughout the tournament.
Zhu Chen, former World women's champion playing for Qatar won the bronze medal with 6 points. She was 1.5 points behind Zhao Xue.
The medal winners:
Men: 1. M. Kazhgaleyev (Kaz) 7.5; 2-3. Dao Thien Hai (Vie), Bu Xiangzhi (Chn) 7 each.
Women: 1. Koneru Humpy (Ind) 8; 2. Zhao Xue (Chn) 7.5; 3. Zhu Chen (Qat) 6.

Source: Hindu

Ranbaxy seeks buys, upbeat on Romania

By Himangshu Watts
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. is eager to expand aggressively and expects business in Romania, where it bought a firm this year, to be a key driver of profit growth in 2007, its top official said on Friday.
"We are a very growth-hungry company and we always endeavour to grow more and more, organically and inorganically," Chief Executive Malvinder Singh told Reuters in a telephone interview after announcing the $70-million acquisition of South Africa's Be-Tabs Pharmaceuticals.
Singh said Be-Tabs, South Africa's fifth-largest company valued at 2.2 times of sales and 7.7 times EBITDA, would give Ranbaxy a strategic advantage in a large and growing market, which he said had high entry barriers.
The acquisition, which would be completed by March, would double its revenue in South Africa and help it expand in the continent as a whole, he said.
"From a strategic perspective, it is very good."
Ranbaxy, which aims to be one of the top five generic players with $5 billion in annual sales by 2012, has acquired several firms in Europe, including Romania's Terapia in March, for $324 million.
He said the company had doubled its sales force, expanded capacity and modernised its facilities in Romania.
"I see Romania as a very strong growth driver in the profits for 2007. Romania is a very good story for us."
"It is going to be our third-biggest business. It's a strong high-margin market for us.
The company's July-September profit increased by more than six times to 1.40 billion rupees ($31.33 million) although price erosion in the U.S. market restrained growth.
Singh said the company's business in the key U.S. market would continue to grow despite tough competition.
"Competition (is) going to remain intense in the U.S. market. Our business is growing and it will continue to grow."
Europe was going through some "market changes" which would impact its business but he expected a recovery in western Europe next year.