http://www.pdicai.orgThe latest news and journals from all over the world.Copyright 2005 - 2006 Feedpedia.com. All rights reserved.Middle-Eastern carriers have upped the ante to snare overseas-bound Indian travellers with lower fares this season, with Etihad and Emirates being the first to stir the market with discounts, much to the dismay of India's national carrier Air India.On Sunday, Abu Dhabi carrier Etihad, which bought a stake in Jet Airways last month, quietly announced discounted fares for a limited period for travel to cities in the EU, US and Africa from various Indian cities. On Monday, arch-rival Emirates, the largest foreign carrier in India by market share, responded by offering network-wide savings of 8% to foreign destinations. Air India fears the discounts are part of Etihad's long-term strategy of pulling fares down in order to capture a large chunk of Indian traffic to overseas destinations.http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/gulf-airlines-engulfed-in-indian-fare-dogfight-etihad-emirates-offer-cheaper-outbound-tickets/articleshow/20161279.cms21 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh officiated over the first meeting between state-owned distribution companies and power producers last week to decide the quantum of compensation to be paid to producers for their losses incurred due to higher import cost of coal. At the May 11 meeting, of the five states involved, Maharashtra did not depute any official, while the Haryana official who attended the meeting conveyed that the state utility has challenged CERC's order in the Appellate Tribunal. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana buy power from Tata Power and Adani Power, and the latter have been demanding compensation for the higher cost of coal imported from Indonesia. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/tussle-between-power-producers-discoms-haryana-challenges-cerc-order-maharashtra-yet-to-decide/articleshow/20162427.cms21 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTCash-strapped Tata Teleservices is cutting back on the number of mobile sites, substituting it with leased networks from competitors, the latest in a series of austerity measures by the Tata Group's telecom arm. The move follows a slew of other steps, such as paring lossmaking customers, delaying launches of new services and even returning CDMA airwaves to the government. In Bihar, Rajasthan and West Bengal (with the exception of Kolkata), the company is ending tower leases and removing signal emitting devices in areas where mobile usage is low. A senior executive with the company said that sites that have low utilisation or areas where fewer customers use the network meant for a larger subscriber base, would be moved to areas of higher call traffic or outside these circles. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/cash-strapped-tata-teleservices-rings-in-austerity-measures/articleshow/20162775.cms21 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT Wipro introduced a tablet computer much before current market leaders, Samsung and Micromax, had trained their sights on the then nascent segment. But three years later, the tablet - Wipro E.Go Sense - launched in 2010 is not to be seen at any of the retailers, online or brick and mortar, raising fresh questions about the future of the consumer hardware business at the Bangalore-based technology outsourcer. Retailers and industry analysts said the tablet - a laptop with a screen that can be turned 360 degrees, originally priced at about 30,000 - has vanished without a trace, likely owing to the absence of innovation and marketing spend to gain visibility. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/hardware/wipros-early-bird-tablet-e-go-sense-vanishes-from-retail-marts/articleshow/20162839.cms21 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTReliance Infrastructure is in the process of pulling out of mega projects worth 20,000 crore due to inordinate delays by government agencies in fulfilling commitments relating to these projects.The Anil Ambani-led company hived off its new power projects into subsidiary Reliance Power so that it could evolve into an infrastructure developer. But the roadblocks faced by some of the trophy projects won by R-Infra have forced it to change gears and exit projects to cap potential losses."Four of our projects, Mumbai Metro line 2, Mumbai Sea Link extension project, and two ultra mega transmission projects, have been stuck without clearances. We will not start construction until we have all clearances and I don't see any clearances coming.http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/indl-goods/svs/construction/reliance-infrastructure-to-exit-rs-20k-cr-projects-on-government-delays/articleshow/20162952.cms21 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTThe government's plan to sell a 10% stake in state-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) may get delayed after a committee has been constituted to resolve dispute between the finance and oil ministries over computation of fuel subsidies. State oil firms have rejected the finance ministry's export-parity pricing methodology to calculate fuel subsidies and said the formula would hit their bottom lines by over 10,000-12,000 crore, government and industry officials said. At a recent meeting in the oil ministry, IOC, BPCL and HPCLrepresentatives have told the oil ministry that export-parity formula would adversely affect profitability of the three companies and it would not be prudent to launch IOC's public offer with depressed valuation, officials present in the meeting said.http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/fuel-subsidy-row-may-delay-indian-oil-corps10-stake-sale/articleshow/20162799.cms21 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTFaced with a decline in its cash balance and convinced that picking up stakes in power plants by way of investment and/or in exchange for equipment supplied would hardly help in the current situation, public sector Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has taken a strategic decision to exit its joint venture power projects and not enter into any such alliance in the immediate future.A source privy to the discussions at the PSU?s board confirmed this to FE, even as the company maintained that the lack of progress on these JVs were because of reasons beyond its control.BHEL has already exited the 1,600 MW Udangudi power plant, where it had formed a JV with the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board by picking up 26% equity.http://www.financialexpress.com/news/for-bhel-power-marriages-aren-t-made-in-heaven/111842321 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTTata's retail arm Trent is undertaking a series of steps to rationalise costs at a time when the retail sector is reeling under high costs and weak consumer demand. The company is in process of amalgamating smaller subsidiaries under its fold to streamline the group's structure, and also opting for stand-alone stores, not shopping malls, a senior executive said.?We are looking at how operations of the smaller subsidiaries could be integrated with Westside in terms of shifting back-end operations from a city-based model to a central operation, and processing operations like merchandising, buying, accounts. We are hoping to realise these costs benefits,? company's chief financial officer P Venkatesalu, said.http://www.financialexpress.com/news/tata-s-trent-seeks-to-rationalise-cost-amid-weak-demand/111838221 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTCoal India Ltd's (CIL's) standalone net profit for the fourth quarter in FY13 surged 89% year-on-year to R2,320.61 crore from R1,223.52 crore, although sales were down 21.14% y-o-y and the company registered an operational loss during the quarter. The increase in profit was largely on the account of a steep rise in other income, which comprises mainly bank interest. CIL's other income in the fourth quarter stood at R2,679.65 crore against R1,565.58 crore during the corresponding period last fiscal. Net stand alone sales during the quarter in FY 13 was down to R121.93 crore against R154.62 crore in the same period in FY 12.Standalone operational loss stood at R2.42 crore in the quarter against a standalone operational profit of R23.17 crore during the same period previous fiscal.http://www.indianexpress.com/news/cil-net-surges-89--on-other-income/1118386/21 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTCement major India Cements Limited (ICL) has reported a 60% drop in net profit for the quarter ended March 31 to touch R26.28 crore compared with R64.92 crore reported during the same quarter last fiscal. For the full year, net profit fell 44% to R163.55 crore compared with R292.97 crore reported in the last fiscal. Addressing a press conference on Monday, vice-chairman and managing director of ICL N Srinivasan said: ?The impact on bottomline has been due to 21% increase in the freight costs and 30% increase in power costs in Q3 and Q4 of the last financial year. Moreover, there was a sharp decline in cement price in Andhra Pradesh market ? from R270 to R195 a bag in the last two quarters along with frequent increase in diesel prices. Much of these impacts could not be passed onto the consumers due to stiff competition and sluggish market conditions.?http://www.financialexpress.com/news/india-cements-net-declines-60-on-tough-competition/111838421 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTVodafone Group Plc (VOD)?s investors have ideas for the $100 billion or more that the company stands to pocket for its stake in Verizon Wireless: first, a fat dividend -- then, deals.Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) has said it?s interested in buying out Vodafone?s 45 percent stake in their Verizon Wireless joint venture. The windfall would leave Newbury, England-based Vodafone with more cash than every other non-finance company after Apple Inc. (AAPL), according to data compiled by Bloomberg. With Vodafone set to report a drop in annual sales tomorrow amid heightened competition, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. said it could put some of that money toward acquisitions to help move into new markets and revive growth.http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-05-20/vodafone-100-billion-stirs-dividend-to-deal-dreams-real-m-and-a21 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTDomestic supermarket chains, which ran into stiff competition from 'kirana' shops at the very start of their operations, are changing tack to beat the mom-and-pop stores at their own game.The food and grocery retail arms of Future Group, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, Reliance Industries and Aditya Birla Group are fast adopting the kirana-store model ? offering customers more fresh products, a larger variety of ready-to-eat items, and grocery and personal-care products in smaller packs ? to add pop to sales.http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/retail/retailers-like-future-group-rp-sanjiv-goenka-group-reliance-adopting-kirana-store-model-to-push-sales/articleshow/20144221.cms20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT The one-man committee, set up by the government to probe whether the world's largest retailer Walmart bribed its way into the Indian retail market, submitted its report to the ministry of corporate affairs on Saturday. Confirming that the report had been submitted, a senior government official told ET: "The report will now be tabled in Parliament." According to some media reports that could not be substantiated, the panel headed by retired Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, Mukul Mudgal has said it could not find any evidence that Walmart bribed any Indian official. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/retail/committee-probing-walmart-case-submits-report-to-mca/articleshow/20144029.cms20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTYes Bank and RPG Life Sciences (of Harsh Goenka) are blaming each other for the Rs 2.4 crore the company lost due to the second reported hacking of a current account of a corporate. The bank says that it is the responsibility of the account holder to prevent misuse at its end and it (the bank) is responsible only for the back-end which it claims is safe.Executives from Yes and RPG Life will meet on Monday to settle the issue which has made the corporate world worried about the security of bank accounts."The onus of safe-guarding the customer's money lies with the bank,"http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/banking/cyber-attack-blame-game-is-on-but-yes-bank-rpg-to-sort-out-hacking-issue/articleshow/20143288.cms20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTWith the economy in slow mode and purchasing power falling across sectors, India Inc is barely growing. Makers of both consumption and capital goods are finding it hard to push through sales while infrastructure companies struggle for want of key inputs. While profits shrink, debt is piling up fast enough to make bankers edgy. Jaiprakash Associates? standalone net debt is R22,000 crore while its consolidated net debt is R57,000 crore; Adani Power, which posted the highest ever quarterly loss of R534 crore in the March quarter, has a consolidated net debt of R36,200 crore; Reliance Communications, which has now reported a flat Ebitda for 13 straight quarters, http://www.financialexpress.com/news/india-inc-s-profits-wilt-even-as-debt-keeps-piling-up/111791120 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTState-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Friday said it is considering selling stakes of some deep-water blocks to Shell Exploration Company BV as a part of its strategy to tie up with the global energy major. "We are considering selling stake of some of our deep water blocks to Shell," ONGC chairman and managing director Sudhir Vasudeva told reporters on the sidelines of a discussion forum on "Shale Gas: A Game Changer in Energy", organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry here.http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/ongc-mulling-sale-of-stakes-of-some-deep-water-blocks-to-shell-113051700851_1.html18 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTAiming to become one of India's top three handset vendors, Chinese telecom major ZTE announced a tie-up with city-based firm Calyx to launch its smartphones in the domestic market.ZTE, which supplies handsets to Indian handset-makers such as Micromax and Karbonn and telecom operators Reliance Communications and Idea Cellular, has set a target of selling one million smartphones in the first year.http://www.indianexpress.com/news/chinese-firm-zte-to-sell-mobile-handsets-directly-in-india/1117476/18 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTThe World Bank has approved a concessional loan of $ 100 million for the National Housing Bank (NHB) for the implementation of a low-income housing programme. The loan has been granted under the concessional International Development Association window on a long-term basis for 25 years.The programme will support NHB in refinancing mortgage loans for people in the lower income segments, who need long-term mortgages at affordable rates. This borrowing will be guaranteed by the government.http://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/world-bank-nod-for-100-million-loan-to-nhb-113051700448_1.html18 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTThe investigation into lobbying by Walmart, an issue that had rocked the winter session of Parliament last year, has been closed due to lack of any conclusive evidence of bribery in the India market, according to sources. The one-man committee of former chief justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal, probing the matter for the past few months, is likely to submit its report to the government early next week.Mudgal refused to comment.It is learnt that the report may not say the US-based retail giant did not bribe any Indian official or contravene Indian rules while trying to gain wider access to the market here. However, it is likely to state that there was no adequate evidence to suggest that Walmart was involved in any unlawful activity in India. Sources said the panel might also recommend that India frame rules to make lobbying by companies legal.http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/walmart-lobbying-case-closed-113051700875_1.html18 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT ITC Ltd has reported a standalone net profit of Rs 1,928 crore in the fourth quarter of FY2013 against Rs 1,614 crore in the comparable quarter of FY2012.Non-cigarette FMCG segment recorded its maiden profit of Rs 10 crore during Q4 2012-13, according to an ITC official. Non-cigarette FMCG segment registered a revenue growth of 26.4 per cent.The whole year?s net profit stood at Rs 7,418 crore (Rs 6,162 crore). The consolidated net profit also improved to Rs 7,608 crore (Rs 6,258 crore).The total income in the fourth quarter from the operations stood at Rs 8,257 crore (Rs 6,950 crore). The total annual income from operations was at Rs 29,901 crore (Rs 25,147 crore).The ITC Board recommended a dividend of Rs 5.25 a share (of Re 1 each).http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/itc-net-profit-up-19-at-rs-1928-cr/article4724052.ece18 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT