Business Line articles from April 2012

Business Line archives from April 2012

Pepper heads south on bearish activities.
April 30, 2012... Byline: G.K. Nair The pepper market last week witnessed a sharp fall on bearish reports coupled with some mild selling pressure. All the active contracts fell and the May delivery was ruling below the spot prices at the weekend. Small...

Business Confidence Index recovers, but remains subdued: CII.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau The CII Business Confidence Index (CII-BCI) recovered moderately in the first quarter of 2012-13 at 55.0, but remained below its level in the same quarter last year at 62.5. The 79th Business Outlook Survey, based on a...

IDBI Bank aims to be among top five in three years.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau To open 150 branches this year, says Executive Director IDBI Bank aims to climb up to the No. 5 slot in terms of business from the No. 7 position it holds among banks now, said its the Executive Director, Mr K.C. Jani....

Doctors, top execs dissect issue of falling priority to service in healthcare sector.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau The floor was abuzz with resounding voices from doctors, corporate honchos and people's representatives. Whether corporate hospitals care to follow medical ethics was the bone of contention during a debate session held by...

About 90% tea sold at Coonoor auctions.
April 30, 2012... Byline: P.S. Sundar Nearly 90 per cent of the four-week high offer of 10.56 lakh kg was sold at sale No: 17 of Coonoor Tea Trade Association auctions. Homedale Estate tea, auctioned by Global Tea Brokers, topped the CTC market at Rs 161 a...

aIndiaaPak relations will improve with greater apeople-to-people contact'.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau India a Pakistan relations will improve with greater apeople-to-people contact', Mr Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, former Foreign minister of Pakistan, said here on Sunday. According to Mr. Kasuri, people on both sides of the...

Exim Bank plans $500-m fund for small, medium enterprises.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau Export-Import Bank of India plans to set up a $500-million fund to assist export-oriented micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) with long-term foreign currency loans. The development financial institution (DFI) will...

Hubli's power supplier reduces transmission, distribution losses.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau The Hubli Electricity Supply Company Ltd (Hescom) is planning to introduce electronic clearing service (ECS) for bill payment. Interacting with members of the Karnatak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), Hubli, Mr...

Changing coaches, a sign of Yes Man culture in football clubs?
April 30, 2012... Byline: Saba Nayakan Much like the hot seat in the popular TV show, Kaun Banega Crorepati, the coaches' seat in the three famous football clubs of Kolkata, McDowell Mohun Bagan, Kingfisher East Bengal and EMTA Mohammedan Sporting, has turned...

Gold to test resistance, fall.
April 30, 2012... Comex gold futures ended higher on Friday as disappointing US growth and European debt jitters boosted investment demand for the precious metal. Gold futures started rising after a report showed US economic growth cooled in the first quarter as...

Indian construction companies exploring opportunities in Lanka.
April 30, 2012... Byline: R.K. Radhakrishnan Sri Lankan growth rate has slightly dipped, it also has a draconian Non Performing Assets Bill, but these have not stood in the way of many companies betting on the country. Construction is booming a not in the...

Bank of Maharashtra inks pact with M&M.
April 30, 2012... Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has signed a preferred financier agreement with Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M). Under this tie-up, M&M customers will be able to avail themselves of vehicle finance services from any of the 1,589 branches of...

Air force assured of hike in annual outlay during 12th Plan period.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau The country's air power will get a fiscal lift in the 12th Plan with 12-15 per cent growth in outlay each year, according to the IAF Chief. In recent years, the Air Force has been modernising at a very fast rate, arming...

Economic inequality is surging in liberalisation era: Aiyar.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, a former Minister of Panchayati Raj, suggested that all the development funds for the poor should be routed through the elected representatives. According to the Congress Rajya Sabha MP, the...

Chana futures: Volumes down, price up.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Rajalakshmi Sivam & BL Research Bureau Chana, a key pulse crop and also one of the top traded agricultural commodity on the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), is witnessing a drop in volume. Prices, however,...

Long possession does not confer ownership: Supreme Court.
April 30, 2012... Byline: S. Murlidharan Possession can be taken as indicative of ownership only in cases where there is no title deed or where the title to a property is ambiguous. It can never hold sway in the face of clear title of ownership produced by...

16,268 candidates qualify in specialist officers exam.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) has announced the results of its common written exam for specialist officers in public sector banks.A A16,268 candidates have qualifiedAout of about 3 lakh candidates...

Kerala industry chamber moots aMalabar 2025' growth project.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau The Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Northern Region) is launching a aMalabar 2025' project aimed at the overall development of the region. The project encompasses a comprehensive research and analysis of...

Upmarket tourist resort to come up in New Digha.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Ayan Pramanik The Digha Sankarpur Development Authority (DSDA) on Friday allocated 24 acres of land in New Digha for setting up a high-end tourist resort. Aimed at attracting high-end travellers, the resort will conduct underwater...

Calm times ahead for commodity markets.
April 30, 2012... Byline: G. Chandrashekhar World commodity markets a energy products, base and precious metals as well as agriculture a have generally traded in a narrow range in recent weeks with no fresh trigger to provide a decisive direction. Last week...

come again.
April 30, 2012... Byline: R. DINAKARAN Warranty woes I have always been particular about buying gadgets with a manufacturer's warranty, that is, until I bought a mobile phone without warranty. Before I actually made the payment, I thought a lot about the...

SBT net slumps 36% in fourth quarter.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau Increased interest expenses and provisions dented State Bank of Travancore net 35.78 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2011-12 against the year-ago period. Interest expenditure went up by 38.79 per cent; provisions...

Awareness of export business low among SMEs, FAPCCI says.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are facing several problems in their export business, largely because they are not aware of the steps involved in doing business abroad. Mr Devendra Surana, Senior Vice-President of...

Will Otis ruling render buy-back otiose?
April 30, 2012... Byline: Geeta Ramrakhiani & Anita Nair The concept of buy-back has long been in vogue in the US, Canada, the UK and other places. In India, it was introduced in 1999 after the Companies Act 1956 permitted an Indian company to repurchase...

Prices inch up on low arrivals at Kochi tea sale.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau Arrivals plunged at the Kochi Tea Auction while prices moved up across most teas. The arrivals at the dust auction slipped to 10,34,000 kg while leaf auction arrivals fell to 2,01,500 kg. Good liquoring teas moved up at...

Pricing out spectrum.
April 30, 2012... Byline: THOMAS K THOMAS TRAI's recommendations for auctioning spectrum could have negative ramifications for the industry. A All hell's broken loose ever since the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India dished out its recommendations for...

Letters.(Letter to the editor)
April 30, 2012... Reverse the slide This is with reference to the editorial aAmber light on the economya ( Business Line, April 27). It is a balanced assessment of the S&P rating of the Indian economy. While the Finance Minister has stated that there...

aAnimal husbandry gets priority in Dakshina Kannada dist'.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat (DKZP) has given priority for the development of animal husbandry in the district. The Chief Executive Officer of DKZP, Dr K.N. Vijayaprakash, said this at the World Veterinary Day...

Scoring a six on your tax returns.
April 30, 2012... Samarth is a busy professional; between his official and family responsibilities, he has little time to prepare and file his income tax return. As a salaried individual, he mistakenly believes that he has discharged his obligation to the...

Thunderstorms seen persisting in north-west.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Vinson Kurian Dust storms or thunderstorms have been forecast for Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, north Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh for the next two days. This would once again put a cap on the heating trends for the landmass. ...

Condensing a new growth strategy.
April 30, 2012... Byline: VENKATESH GANESH Windows Azure is integrating Microsoft's enterprise products into a single solution on the cloud. Microsoft is readying its gameplan in India to tap into the enterprises segment. One of the key weapons in its...

Why airport user fees are illegal.
April 30, 2012... Byline: K N Balagopal The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) recently approved an increase of 346 per cent in airport charges. The decision was taken to please the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which has been lobbying...

MIT students to launch all-terrain vehicle.
April 30, 2012... Byline: a Our Bureau Students of Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) will launch an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) on April 30. A press release by Manipal University said here that this will be held as part of the founders' day (founders' day)...

Filing minus aSahaj' and aSugam'?
April 30, 2012... CBDT, the apex direct taxes administration body in India, through a recent press release, has obligated the following persons to file their tax returns electronically: Individual or Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) whose total income exceeds Rs...

Sanghvi Forging's Vadodara plant to go on stream in June.
April 30, 2012... Sanghvi Forging and Engineering plans to start trial production at its new plant at Vadodara, Gujarat, in June. The plant will have a capacity of 15,000 tonnes a year and produce single piece forging up to 40 tonnes. The BSE-listed company has...

aoeWe spend a lot of time being proactivea.
April 30, 2012... Byline: MAHANANDA BOHIDAR Dell has always had a firm foothold in the consumer segment in India. What is the company doing to make its presence stronger? Dell Inc. seems to have its hopes pinned on the Cloud revolution. But what's in store...

Minds that do not meet on travel.
April 30, 2012... Byline: D.SAMPATHKUMAR aoeHave we met before?a That is the question that trembles on our lips when despite our desperate attempts at scouring the dark recesses of our minds, we fail to come up with an answer. Let me explain. You run...

Employees becoming value differentiators.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau A mobile phone store wondering where all the customers have gone needs to look at one critical aspect: the employee selling the phones. A customer forms an opinion for the long haul at the first touch point, which is...

Amity from advance pricing.
April 30, 2012... Transfer-pricing audits in India are becoming more and more common, and multinational companies are forced to pay closer attention to their transfer-pricing policies and procedures. In the latest and seventh round of audits, it is estimated that...

Sony India plans to double its share in global revenues.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau Sony India aims to take the share of India's contribution to its total revenues to ten per cent in the next five years. The Indian market currently accounts for about five per cent of the company's global revenues. ...

cyber quest.
April 30, 2012... v.v.ramanan Questions: 1. Name the European associated with a pioneering OS chosen as one of the two recipients of the respected aMillennium Technology Prizea instituted by the Technology Academy of Finland. 2. In the context of domain...

High flying costs.
April 30, 2012... An increase of close to three-and-a half times in user charges at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) in New Delhi should come as no surprise. It is, after all, an inevitable outcome of an utterly perverse revenue-share system adopted...

Awards for farmers.
April 30, 2012... Byline: a Our Bureau Seed research firm Monsanto presented the Rythu Vijayam and Bharata Deshaniki Garvakaranam awards to Mr Vallabhaneni Sambasivarao and Mr Nelluri Venkateswara Rao, both farmers from Guntur district for their contributions...

Tata Steel testing clean coal tech.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Priyanka Pani In a bid to bring down its coal imports substantially, Tata Steel is testing a technology that will produce coal with low ash content. The plant, to be set up in Jamshedpur, aims to start commercial production for clean...

Darkness under the lamp.
April 30, 2012... Byline: B.S.Raghavan The shocking revelation in The Hindu of April 29, headlined aoeNiece, friend of Adviser to Manmohan got land largesse from BEML co-opa must have left every reader of the paper in a state of stunned disbelief. The tidal...

Agrimart opens retail outlet in Tiruchi.
April 30, 2012... Byline: a Our Correspondent Agrimart, the retail chain format of Ratnagri Impex Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore, opened recently its first outlet in Tiruchi district and the 3rd in the State. According to Mr S.A. Chandramohan, Marketing Director of...

Trade volumesAdip in commodity markets.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Rajalakshmi Sivam Steps to curb volatility make traders wary Turnover in agri commodity futures in both the key commodity exchanges has fallen sharply in the current month. The Forward Market Commission's initiatives to curb...

Shriram in talks with Marg to buy shopping mall.
April 30, 2012... Byline: M. Ramesh The Shriram group is in talks with the Marg group to buy the latter's shopping mall complex on Old Mahabalipuram Road, near Chennai. The deal is said to be of the order of Rs 350 crore. While confirming the talks to Business...

Pipavav Defence aBuy.
April 30, 2012... Investors with a medium-term perspective can consider buying the stock of Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company (Rs 82.7), a shipbuilding company. Following a steep nose-dive in November 2011, the stock found support at its long-term...

Poor preparation.(Conference notes)
April 30, 2012... Minutes before reporters entered the venue for Wipro's annual results conference, TV channels broke the news of S&P downgrading India. Reporters noted points that were turned into questions for the software major's top management. A top...

Nabard plans to train Banking Correspondents.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Correspondent The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has initiated the process of training the Banking Correspondents (BCs) in States across the country. As part of the process, in the first stage,...

Education stocks aren't toppers any more.
April 30, 2012... Byline: K.Venkatasubramanian & Srividhya Sivakumar Apart from corporate governance, promoter stake sale issues, loss of ascarcity' value may have led to valuations dipping A few years ago, education was the hot new sector that every...

Wendt India FY-12 net up 8%.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau Wendt India has posted 8 per cent growth in net profit for the year ended March 31, 2012 at Rs 17.29 crore from Rs 15.95 crore in 2010-11. The company, a joint venture between Wendt GmbH of Germany and Carborundum...

Europe enveloped in murky politics of austerity.
April 30, 2012... Byline: VIDYA RAM What to make of the recent developments in France where the xenophobic anti-immigration, anti-euro National Front party of Ms Marine Le Pen scored a whopping 18 per cent in the first round of the presidential elections on...

Undeterred by delays, Mittal says India continues to be a priority.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau Most know Mr Lakshmi N. Mittal, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ArcelorMittal, as the richest Asian in Britain. But few know what drives the man, given the social-political interferences in economic decision-making...

aWe will give a thrust to retail and SME loan growth'.
April 30, 2012... Byline: K. Ram Kumar Mr P.G. Jayakumar, MD & CEO in-charge, Dhanlaxmi Bank, is in the hot seat. He has been tasked with the responsibility of turning around the fortunes of the old generation private sector bank. Elevated to numero uno...

United Phosphorus: Watch out for results, appeal against CCI order.
April 30, 2012... The stock was recently hammered after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) slapped a penalty of Rs 252.44 crore on the company. It was alleged that the company indulged in cartelisation and collusive bidding in a tender of Food Corporation...

There's growth and risk in IT.
April 30, 2012... Business enterprises are increasingly relying on advances in information technology to tap opportunities for growth. IT offers key competitive advantage by providing capabilities to process huge data on a real-time basis, connect with and serve...

Reverse subsidy on cards to boost local manufacture of electronic goods.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Shishir Sinha Scheme proposes to allow companies taking lower capital subsidy to set up plants The Government may introduce a areverse subsidy' scheme for local manufacture of electronic goods. The scheme will be part of the...

Dhanlaxmi Bank taking aggressive steps to get back into black.
April 30, 2012... Byline: K. Ram Kumar & Priya Nair Many old-generation private sector banks seem to be gradually disappearing from the Indian banking landscape. In the last decade, seven such banks, three from Maharashtra, two from Kerala, and one each...

Await auto, cement monthly data.
April 30, 2012... This week, auto majors such as Bajaj Auto, Hero Motocorp, TVS Motors, Ashok Leyland, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors will announce their April month sales figures. It is interesting to note, after the Budget announcements whether auto majors were...

Wrong tone, wrong turn.
April 30, 2012... Is there any correlation between corporate failures and the atone' at the top? Respect, integrity, community, excellence a so said Enron; shareholders lost nearly $11 billion when Enron, which hit a high of $90 per share in mid-2000,...

Sony eying 45% market share for cyber shot cameras in Kerala.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau Sony India is eyeing a 45 per cent market share in Kerala in the cyber shot cameras in the current fiscal. The company registered 40 per cent share in the State in the previous fiscal. Mr Tadato Kimura, general manager...

Thunderstorms forecast for north-west.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Vinson Kurian Dust storms or thunderstorms have been forecast for Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, north Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh for the next two days. Rain or thundershowers has been forecast at many places over Jammu and Kashmir and...

Monte Carlo Fashions plans foray into casual, fashion wear.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau Monte Carlo Fashions Ltd a a company known primarily for its winter wear garments a now plans to focus on the casual wear and fashion wear segments. Winter wear accounts for almost 75 per cent of the company's total...

Benchmarks may slip marginally this week.
April 30, 2012... Byline: K. RAGHA-VENDRA RAO Last set of company results today expected to be a mixed bag This week will see the Nifty and the Sensex inching downwards. The best case scenario for both indices is an upside of just over one per cent,...

Outsourced, but not out of control.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Neeta Shah & Pooja Gupta Due to the economic downturn, organisations are focusing more on minimising operational costs without compromising the control environment. Globalisation has made this largely possible. Companies in the...

Renai Medicity hospital in Kochi.
April 30, 2012... Byline: a Our Bureau Polakulath Narayanan Renai Medicity has started operations at Kochi with the aim of providing quality healthcare of international standards. The OP wing of the 500-bed fully air-conditioned hospital has started receiving...

Weak rupee helps offset impact of sugar price fall.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Vishwanath Kulkarni Exporting sugar is still a sweet deal for Indian exporters despite the recent decline in global prices. The impact of such a decline is partially offset by the weakening rupee against dollar. Sugar prices have...

aEconomic recovery brings back rise in carbon emissions'.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau The global economy started recovering in 2010, but along with that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions saw an unprecedented rise. They rose by 5.8 per cent, says a new report by the Washington-based research organisation,...

aWhite label ATM is the final stage of maturity in any market'.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Parvatha Vardhini C. The Reserve Bank's green signal for white label ATMs (those set up by non-bank entities and which can be used by customers of all banks) provides a good opportunity for growth for payment service providers such as...

Volatile Re and the urge to hedge.
April 30, 2012... Volatility in rupee in the last few months has created a lot of uncertainty in cash flows and the budgeting process. Companies will look for hedging and may be tempted to go for complex derivative products; however, it will be worthwhile to...

Muthoot Capital net zooms 134%.
April 30, 2012... Byline: Vinson Kurian Muthoot Capital, a Muthoot Pappachan group company, has recorded 134 per cent growth in net profit during the fourth quarter of 2012-13 over year-ago period. Mr Thomas George Muthoot, Managing Director, attributed...

Post-Pfizer deal, Biocon to pursue multiple regional partner models.
April 29, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau Biotech major Biocon plans to pursue multiple regional partner models to market insulin and insulin analogs globally. Addressing reporters after announcing company's results, Biocon Chairman and Managing Director, Ms...

Give your funds time to work.
April 29, 2012... Byline: VIDYA BALA I am 37 years old.AAI am investing for long-term (15-20 years) goals. I have the following monthly SIPs running over the last two years: Rs 7,000 each in Quantum Long Term Equity and Fidelity Equity, Rs 5,000 in HDFC Top...

TCS sets up hospital management system for Cancer Institute.
April 29, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau Tata Consultancy Services has supported the Chennai-based Cancer Institute in setting up a cloud-based hospital management system. The system aims to provide a complete view of patient history through centralised storage...

TVS Motor in pact with Central Bank.
April 29, 2012... Byline: a Our Bureau TVS Motor Company has entered into a financing agreement with Central Bank of India to finance purchase of TVS King three-wheeler. The TVS Motor Vice-President Marketing,AMr K. Srinivasan, said that the MoU will provide...

Uncertainties take spark out of power sector.
April 29, 2012... Byline: M.V.S. SANTOSH Power stocks have seen a bounce-back from their lows. The gains have been powered by two factors. One, the government instructed Coal India to sign fuel supply agreements (FSA) with projects that had signed long-term...

An all-weather fund.
April 29, 2012... Byline: Suresh Parthasarathy Investors can buy units of DSP BR Top 100 Equity. It qualifies for the core of an equity portfolio on account of its steady performance across market cycles. Over three and five-year periods, the fund has...

The undying spirit of an unwanted gender.
April 29, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau There are stories about poor, unwanted Indian girls that one reads and hears almost every other day, and eventually forgets. But some stories stay with us, to inspire us and keep that little spark of hope aglow. Seven of...

V.V.S. Murthy is new CFO of Granules India.
April 29, 2012... Byline: a Our Bureau Mr V.V.S. Murthy has been appointed as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Granules India Ltd, a Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical manufacturing company. Mr Pranesh Raj Mathur, who had the dual role of President, Active...

Power stocks to bet on.
April 29, 2012... Byline: M.V.S.S.K Investors are better off paring their exposure to the stocks of private power generation companies due to limited upside (see main story above). Despite the additional capacity planned, revenue and profits might not...

Chequered record of performance.
April 29, 2012... Byline: Srividhya Sivakumar Unit holders can reduce their investments in DWS Alpha Equity Fund. Focussed primarily on large-cap stocks, the fund has underperformed both its benchmark and peer funds over different time periods. On a...

More Hyatt brands to dot India, Hyderabad.
April 29, 2012... Byline: Our Bureau The Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corporation has hinted at bringing in more brands to India and Hyderabad over the next two to three years. A Hyatt affiliate has entered into agreements with Piccadily Hotels for two hotels...