Soaring cost of living tops United Kingdom worry index

Britain is becoming a nation of worriers, according to a new survey, with the financial crisis giving people ever more reason to fret about their lives.

The average Briton now spends 2-1/4 hours of everyday worrying—six and half years of the average life span —a figure up 30 minutes a day from last year, according to the worry index compiled by reallyworried.com,asupportgroup.

Young adults—those aged between 16 and 24—worry the most, and women worry substantially more than men, according to the survey of 1,400 people nationwide. The top five concerns in 2008 were: the cost of living,energy prices, personal health, outgoings and income, and personal debt. Job security, which last year didn’t figure in the top 25 worries, shot up to number 7 in the rankings, one notch below recession and a bigger concern than crime.

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Satyam poised for management change, Rajus’ stake goes down

Satyam Computer Services is no won the block with promoters confirming to BSE that there has been a dilution of their 8.6% stake in the company and three more independent directors quitting its board. The company has appointed DSP Merrill Lynch to present an action plan for“ for increasing shareholders’ value” at the rescheduled board meeting on January 10.

The possible change in management was welcomed by the market, with the company’s shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange closing up 9.41% at Rs 148.25.

In its filing to BSE, Satyam said, “the company has received a communication from the promoters that all their shares in the company held by SRSR Holding Pvt Ltd were pledged with institutional lenders over a period of time since September 2006.

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Empty billboards signal slowdown

Bright colours and fancy pictures that once adorned the billboards now appear barren and run down. With peeling paint and bold phone numbers painted on them— in a bid to attract advertisers—the billboards are now sending out a clear message that recession has stepped in into the country.

“Billboard prices across Mumbai have fallen by 3040% at least. Mahim Casusway where rentals were once Rs 12-15 lakhs per month are now Rs 7-8 lakhs and in Peddar Road which was around 12 lakhs, is now Rs 5-6 lakhs per month,” says a shocked Ajaz Memon,director at Network Media Solutions.

Many in the industry admitted to the low moral and call of doom feeling, bracing themselves for a worse first quarter of 2009 and probably a long year ahead. Not very long back, most of the prime locations had waiting period of up to 60 days before one could rent them out.

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Ghajini poised to be bigger hit than Singh is Kinng

Aamir Khan starrer Ghajini, a remake of the Tamil film by the same name and inspired by Hollywood film Memento, is breaking all records at the box-office. The film, released with over 1,000 prints all over India, had a paid preview on December 24 of 650 shows pan-India, hosted by all the multiplexes and cineplexes. In comparison, the biggest revenue churner so far this year, Akshay Kumar starrer Singh is Kinng, got 220 paid previews and had more than 1,000 prints released.

The occupancy for the first three shows of the paid preview, where tickets were sold at a premium, was 100%. Film trade analyst Vinod Mirani said that this Rs 50-crore film will pull the crowds to the theatres because of the massive promotion and marketing tactics and the timing of the release on a festival day. Industry sources also claim the paid previews have already collected Rs 7 crore and in addition to that, the housefull weekend is expected to fetch Rs 35 crore as most of the multiplexes are showing at least 11-18 shows of the film. Mirani said in the coming week also, the film is expected to rake in at least Rs 12-15 crore.

Vishal Kapur, chief operating officer, Fun Cinemas, said, “The advance and bulk booking for the coming weekend for Ghajini is already 80% and throughout the coming week, we are expecting at least 80% footfalls for the film, even on weekdays.”

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Kasab not Pak national:minister

Turning a blind eye to all the evidence, Pakistan’s interior minister Rahman Malikhas said that no government record reveals the existence of a Pakistani national by name Ajmal Amir Iman, the lone terrorist captured during the Mumbai attacks, but promised to respond by Wednesday on his letter seeking legal assistance from it.

“As far as Ajmal Kasab is concerned, an examination of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) do not have any records of his,”he said after a meeting with visiting Interpol chief Ronald K Noble in Islamabad.

“Pakistan’s High Commission (in New Delhi) has received a letter said to be written by Kasab and we will get it examined by our experts. We will give a detailed response today or tomorrow,”Malik said.

In the letter, a copy of which was sent to Malik on Monday by the Pakistan High Commission, Ajmal had detailed the circumstances of his arrest and sought legal assistance from the Pakistan government.

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Free pizzas to clam down fears

As consumers continue to worry about the economy, banks and financial institutions are still running advertisements meant to allay those concerns. As Christmas approaches, many pitches are taking a less serious tack, replacing straightforward reassurances about safety and security with free pizzas and humorous advice.

“If we could make people smile, that would be great,” said Jonathan Schoenberg, a creative director at TDA Advertising and Design in Boulder, which created a campaign for FirstBank that offers the tongue-in-cheek gift suggestions, part of a campaign carrying the theme “We’re here to help you save.” Among the cheap gifts promoted on posters in malls are a phony “certificate of star adoption” and a jar of jam with a paste-on label that reads “Holiday preserves, from the kitchen of ...”

The “somewhat terrifying” state of the economy means that “even if your circumstances haven’t changed you still feel it," Schoenberg said, so the “friendliness” of the campaign ought to be appealing.

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Google has headroom for more growth here: Goel

Online search engine major Google formally launched its India operations in 2006, with a setup of two sales and marketing offices, meant primarily to man its advertising revenue. The company's focus in India has since then widened beyond advertising and search to offering regional and device-specific products for users in the sub- continent. India stood as the company's fifth largest market globally, and offers huge room for growth, with its user-base set to double in two years, according to Vinay Goel, head of products, Google. India could see a Google- Android mobile operating system-based phone around 2009, he said, while speaking to fe’s Reema Jose. Excerpts:

Your rivals like Yahoo! and Microsoft are clearly eyeing the Indian market in a big way. What is Google's roadmap for India?

At Google, when we think of India, we have three objectives. One, it is a great source of engineering talent for us. We have development operations in Bangalore and Hyderabad. At Hyderabad and Gurgaon, we have our online sales and operations teams, managing Google’s world wide advertising revenue.

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Kochhar set to succeed Kamath at ICICI Bank

The country’s second largest bank, ICICI Bank, is poised to see a change of guard after 12 years. The bank’s board is slated to meet on Friday to name the joint managing director & chief financial officer, Chanda Kochhar, as the successor to KV Kamath.

In turn, 62-year-old Kamath, who is now managing director & chief executive officer, will be appointed as the non-executive chairman of the bank.

The bank, which has been looking for a successor to Kamath for a year now has finally closed in on Kochhar, as Shikha Sharma, another contender for the top post and currently chief executive officer & managing director of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, has opted out of the race.

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Reserve Bank of India: new setup to check liquidity risk

Concerned over inflation and credit quality in the phase of economic growth moderation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to revamp the liquidity risk management framework for banks soon.

“We are examining the issue of banks establishing a more robust liquidity risk management framework that is well integrated into the bank-wide risk management process,’’ said RBI’s Report on Trend & Progress of Banking in India 2007-08,released on Wednesday.

Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) has published Priniciples for Sound Liquidity Risk Management and Supervision in September 2008, raising standards for sound liquidity risk management.It provides detailed guidance on the importance of establishing liquidity risk tolerance, maintenance of adequate level of liquidity through a cushion of liquid assets, identification and measurement of a full range of liquidity risks.

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Land acquisition for Rs 10,000-crore aerotropolis starts in December

Land acquisition process for the country’s first aerotropolis or airport city, the Rs 10,000-crore project in West Bengal, is set to begin this month after the state government comes out with the gazette notification this week.

The project, 10 km off Durgapur, will need 2,360 acres for the first phase of construction, including a runway of 3.2km. While the runway will be of 1,800 metre initially, enough for small planes like ATRs, length of the runway will be increased to 3,200 metres later, sufficient for A320s. It would also have night-landing facilities.

The government is likely to issue a gazette notification under section 4(1) of the Land Acquisition Act sometime this week. Meanwhile, the district administration has reportedly issued a land acquisition notification at the Andal and Bhadu mouzas in Bardhaman district.

The district land acquisition department will hand over the acquired land to the West Bengal Industrial Development Corp (WBIDC). Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd(BAPL),a special purpose company formed for the construction of it,will get the land from WBIDC on a lease of 99 years.

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Toyota keeps the faith with Indian market

Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan, the world’s largest automaker by sales, is viewing India as a major growth market for it in then ear term.The company, which has postponed investment plans in different parts of the world because of the current financial turmoil, said on Monday that it will go ahead with its Rs 3,200-crore India investment plans. While this is a significant vote of confidence by the Japanese leader in the Indian automobile market, the investment will as well help its subsidiary in India to debut in the compact car segment by December 2010.

Of the total passenger car sales in India, compact cars account for 73%. Toyota’s entry into this segment would make it a volume player. The Toyota move comes amid a slowdown in the domestic market from high interest rates & unavailability of funds, and a steep decline in the company’s sales. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, while the overall sales of passenger vehicles went down by 23.7% in November at 99,983 units, sales of Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) declined by 48.55% at 2,087 units.

“Unlike the saturated markets of Japan, US and Europe, cars in India are still under-sold and the company wants to establish itself in a market which is yet to grow.

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Advantage for Bharti, Vodafone in 3G bids

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar are at the most advantageous position for the upcoming 3G spectrum auction in the most lucrative and competitive circles of Delhi and Mumbai.

As per the schedule announced by the department of telecommunications (DoT) on Friday, 3G auctions would be held on January 15.

The Delhi and Mumbai circles have emerged as the most competitive as these two metro circles would be able to notch up the maximum subscribers in the 3G services fold, which enables faster download of data and video streaming on mobile phones.

The two circles have also emerged as the toughest because of the paucity of 3G spectrum in the 2.1 Ghz band here. For instance, Delhi has only three blocks of 5 mhz spectrum, of which one is reserved and already allocated to the state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL).

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Stage is set for stimulus part-2

Growthinsixinfrastructure industries, which constitute over a quarter of the country's industrial output, slowed in Octoberto3.4%.Butthisisbetterthanexpected,basedonthe decline in several indicators like railway freight loading and commercial vehicle sales. The growth rate will, therefore, boost the index of industrialproduction,dueonFriday. The IIP could log a 2% growth instead of close to zero estimated by AxisBank.

Growth in the core sector-which includes crude oil, petroleum & refinery products, cement, electricity, coal and finished steel—began plummeting in August when it fell to 2.7%, but September showed signs of revival with a growthof4.8%.

October’s 3.4% growth is lowerthanthe4.6%registered a year earlier. Overall, growth inthesixindustriesslowedtoa meagre 3.9% from April to October 2008, compared with 6.6% in the same period of 2007 and the overall 5.6% recorded in 2007-08. The downward trend weighed downIIPgrowthtojust1.3%in August, though it recovered to 4.8%inSeptember. 

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SEZs get nod to prune area

Six major SEZs have clipped the size oftheirprojects,foregoingpotentialtax gainsforthem.Thedevelopershavegot thecommerceministrynodtode-notify partsoftheirtax-freeenclavesforbetter viability. The projects include Hyderabad Gems SEZ Ltd, Reliance Industries’NaviMumbaiITSEZ,L&TPhoenix Info Parks, Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation’s (MIDC) agro SEZ,VikasTelecomSEZandDahejSEZ.

The government has also allowed thede-notificationofDLF’sITSEZnear Delhi. The developers have realised thatinsteadofholdingontotheplotsto earn future tax breaks, it will be better to surrender them now to improve the projects’ financial viability. The realty sectorhasbeenoneofthehardesthitin the economic slowdown. The SEZ pro jects were the crown jewels of the real estatecompanies.

The government has, however, deferred the Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation’s request to de-notify 361 hectares from the 1,578acremulti-productSEZinMaharashtra.

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Centre mulls SEZ exit clause

The rules governing the UPA’s flagship investment magnet, special economic zones (SEZs), are in for some serioustweaking.Withover50 SEZ developers approaching the commerce ministry to buy time for project completion and, in some cases, abandon them altogether, the Centre is intheprocessofworkingoutan exitrouteforthem.

The SEZ Act and rules don’t allow scrapping an SEZ after it is notified as a tax-free enclave by the Centre, an issue that came to the fore last year when Goa wanted the Centre to denotify three SEZs for political expediency. With the liquidity crunch and the demand slow downthreateningtomakeseveral SEZs unviable, the Centre will come up with guidelines for partial or full denotificationofSEZs.

Of the formally approved 531 SEZs, 271 have been notified. While DLF and a few others have asked the Centre to denotify their IT SEZs, many others have sought an extension in the mandatory timelines. Developers get a year to convert in-principle approval (without the required land) to formal approval, as well as betweenformalapprovalandnotification. A notified SEZ project should be up and runninginthreeyears.


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Ashok Chavan appointed Maharashtra Chief Minister, Rane revolts

The Congress party on Friday appointed 50-year-old Ashok Chavan, son of former chief minister and Union home minister Shankarrao B Chavan, as the next chief minister of Maharashtra. External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee made the announcement in New Delhi, minutes after Narayan Rane, a strong aspirant for the job, staged a rebellion, slamming the party for its delay in naming a man for the job.

In Chavan, the Congress party has clearly chosen a moderate and uncontroversial loyalist to lead the state government in alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party, ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly polls. Chavan’s nomination received support from the NCP after Congress president Sonia Gandhi personally spoke with the alliance partner’s chief, Sharad Pawar.

“This is a challenge. This is a great responsibility. Maharashtra needs a tough administration so these things do not happen again,” Chavan told reporters, referring to last week’s terror attacks on Mumbai.

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Government has proof of ISI hand: Pakistan vows to act

Even as sources on Thursday said the government has proof that Pakistan’s ISI was involved in planning last week’s terror attacks in Mumbai, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said Islamabad would “take strong action against any Pakistani elements found involved in the attack”.

“Pakistan is determined to ensure that its territory is not used for any act of terrorism,” Zardari said in a statement following his meeting with US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice in Islamabad on Thursday. Zardari told Rice he had asked India to see this as a chance to work together rather than be at odds, saying: “I intend to do everything in my power.”

New Delhi did not immediately respond to Zardari’s statement. However, sources in the Capital said that the names of trainers and places where meticulous training took place of the terrorists that killed 183 people during a 60-hour siege of the country’s financial capital are known to the government.

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Reliance Retail to lay off 900 in select departments

Around 900 workers employed directly and indirectly with Reliance Retail are to get pink slips. To be laid off are employees working in its land acquisition and statutory clearance teams across the country. The layoffs are the latest in a series of setbacks faced by the organised retail sector as the global meltdown affects the Indian economy. Reliance Retail is a subsidiary of the country’s largest private sector company, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd.

According to informed sources, around half the employees slated to lose their jobs are on the company rolls while the balance are with outsourced agencies providing support services. The disbanding of the teams appears to indicate that the company does not plan any major land acquisitions in the near future.

Members of the larger land acquisition team stationed in several states are tasked with identifying and acquiring land for retail stores and SEZs.

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Pranab rules out military action: Rice arrives Wednesday

India has said it was not contemplating military action against Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai terror attack. “Nobody is talking of military action,” external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters. Mukherjee’s statement comes on the eve of the arrival of US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Rice has expressed confidence that there will not be any conflict between the two neighbours. But she told reporters a day earlier that the US government wants Pakistan to ensure total transparency in sharing any details on the 26/11 attacks with India. Pakistan has now offered India a joint team to probe the Mumbai attacks and underlined that it would “frame a response” to New Delhi’s demand for handing over 20 of India’s most wanted men.

“The international community is behind us, including the newly-elected US president, Barack Obama,” Mukherjee said. In response to a query on US President-elect Barack Obama’s remarks that every country had the sovereign right to “protect” its citizens from such terror attacks, Mukherjee said, “What will be done, time will show.”

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Brits booze without beer, mix drinks at home

Robert Munro buys his booze at London liquor stores these days. As his expenses rise and Britain teeters on the edge of recession, the house painter is cutting back on nights out and pouring drinks at home.

“It’s gotten more and more expensive to just head down to the pub for a drink,” said Munro, 55, who is self-employed.

“You’re paying silly prices for a pint—you can drink at home for half the price.” Five British pubs are closing their doors every day, according to the British Beer & Pub Association, as pound-pinching drinkers embrace staying in as the new going out. That may hurt beer companies like Heineken NV and Carlsberg A/S more than distillers, such as Diageo Plc, because the brewers generate the majority of their UK sales at bars, where profitability can be double the level in retail outlets.

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The world of steel: opportunities in the worst of times

There is a panic around steel and mostly to do with the prevailing pricing conditions. There are worries about the immediate demand situation. There are questions on the long-term growth potential of the industry.

Steel prices will not get back to the levels they reached sometime ago. This, however, does not mean that the industry has no future. Many times in the past, steel has been written off as a sunset industry with no future for it. Each time these pronouncements gained ground, the industry has hit back with strong growth and sublime profits.

The problem with the industry is that while panic grips it very quickly, the optimism and ambitions run faster at the first sign of a recovery. As the industry moves into the higher profitability zone and the coffers of the producers rise to respectable levels, the banks feel more comfortable to lend.

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