Obama to unveil plans for financial sector overhaul

President Barack Obama will unveil on Wednesday his plans for reshaping US financial regulation, with proposals to close one bank regulator and create new overseers for big-picture economic risk and consumer financial product safety.

In a package of reforms that takes on many tough jobs while avoiding at least one, the administration will call for tighter oversight aimed at preventing a repeat of the severe banking and capital markets crisis that has shaken economies around the world.

Months of debate in the US Congress lie ahead. Committees of both the Senate and the House of Representatives have scheduled more than a dozen hearings on regulatory reform between now and mid-July. Conservative House Republicans have already offered their own rival plan.

Obama will present his proposals at 12:50 pm EDT on Wednesday, the White House said. Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner, members of Congress, regulators and representatives from the financial industry

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Consensus on reserve price, 3G auction soo

Finally, the long-awaited auctions of 3G spectrum, the airwaves that enable faster data download and video streaming on mobile phones, is poised to take place within two months.

The way for the auctions has been cleared on Tuesday after the finance ministry and the department of telecommunications (DoT) have buried their differences over what should be the minimum reserve price for the auctions. The two have agreed on a reserve price of Rs 3,510 crore, which is higher than Rs 2,020 crore proposed by DoT earlier and lower than Rs 4,040 crore suggested by the finance ministry.

Another significant development is that a 2% administrative charge, proposed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), on the successful bidders annually has been dropped.

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High Court asks Ambanis to frame new gas pact

The Bombay High Court on Monday ordered Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Ltd, India’s largest company, to sell natural gas to brother Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources Ltd at a price that is 44% lower than the price proposed by the government earlier.

The order could significantly impact the contours of the natural gas economy in the country. RIL has been asked to supply natural gas to RNRL for 17 years at $2.34 per million British thermal units. RNRL, however, cannot trade the gas but can use it as raw material in its power projects. Natural gas accounts for about 18% of the total energy-mix of the Indian economy.

An RIL spokesperson said: “The full text of the judgment of the honourable High Court has been received by us and is being reviewed by us.

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China venture capitalists most-favoured, India in 2nd spot

Even as recent industrial output numbers signal that the Indian economy is gradually heading towards the recovery path, it is China that catches the fancy of venture capitalists (VCs).

“Apparently, among venture capitalists, there’s China and there’s everyone else,” says a recent global survey by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (Deloitte) on VC sentiment in the times of recession.

The survey reveals that 50% of global and non-India based Asian investors who plan to increase their investments over the next three years look at China as the favourite location.

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Tata Tea scouts global buys

Tata Tea, the world’s second-largest tea company after FMCG giant Unilever with FY09 revenues of Rs 4,874 crore, on Thursday said it wants to acquire global brands in Russia, South America, Asia Pacific and Africa. These proposed acquisitions are part of Tata Tea’s new thrust on attaining global leadership in beverages.

Tata Tea is planning to operationally integrate five areas of its business—products & categories, brands, distribution, people, and processes—under an overarching management team of six people: Tetley CEO Peter Unsworth, Tata Tea MD Percy Siganporia, Tata Tea CFO L Krishnakumar, Tata Coffee MD Hamid Ashraff, Tata Tea HR head Nalin Miglani, and Tetley head of brands and marketing John Nicholas.

Branded tea contributes around 86% to Tata Tea’s consolidated worldwide turnover, with the remaining coming from bulk tea, coffee, and investment income. Two-thirds of Tata Tea’s revenues accrue from international markets.

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Honda Jazz-es up compact car segment

After over a decade-long presence in India with bigger cars like Honda City, Civic, Accord and Honda CR-V, Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) on Wednesday forayed into the mass volume compact car segment with Honda Jazz. The car, which is available in three variants, is priced between Rs 6.98 lakh and Rs 7.33 lakh (ex showroom Delhi) and is so far the most expensive super-mini car available in the country.

“Around 75-80% of the total passenger car industry in India is compact cars, and with Jazz we have entered into this segment,” says Masahiro Takedagawa, president and CEO, HSCI, adding that the segment should contribute to expanding the company's business in India and eventually take up its market share to double digit as against 4-5% now.

According to Takedagawa, the company is looking at selling close to 2,000 to 2,500 units of Jazz a month, which would be half the number of Honda City. HSCI, on an average, sells 3,500 to 4,000 units of Honda City a month.

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Satyam unveils results

Barely days before Tech Mahindra’s open offer for an additional 20% stake, Satyam Computer Services made public the unaudited financial details that it had shared with bidders earlier. In a filing with exchanges, Satyam said soon after founder B Ramalinga Raju confessed to perpetrating a Rs 7,000-crore fraud in early January, the company lost about $183 million in contracts from 56 clients up to March 26.

However, Satyam says it received new business orders from 215 mostly existing customers with contract values totalling $380 million during the same period. The company had a bank balance of Rs 373 crore at the end of March 2009, but outstanding bank loans worth Rs 469 crore.

In the quarter ended December 31, 2008, the company had a PAT of Rs 181 crore on revenues of Rs 2,206 crore. Figures for the same period the previous year were not available for comparison. In January, Satyam had a PAT of Rs 4 crore on revenues of Rs 647 crore, and for February, it had a PAT of Rs 52 crore on revenues of Rs 637 crore.

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