Dt. 4.12.08

Deshmukh removed, Chavan likely to be new CM
Putting an end to all speculations, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was removed from his chair tonight. State Industry Minister Ashok Chavan is likely to become the next chief minister of the state.
Defence Minister AK Antony, who is in charge of the Congress party’s Maharashtra affairs, informed that Deshmukh has been asked to step down. Antony, along with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, will go to Mumbai tomorrow as observers to attend the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meeting, which will be held to elect the next chief minister.
Antony today held consultations with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in Delhi on the possible change of guard in Maharashtra. Pawar has already forced his party nominee RR Patil to resign from the deputy chief minister’s post after the three-day terror strikes on Mumbai last week exposed serious security lapses in the state.

Rice: US won't prefer another Indo-Pak war
As the Manmohan Singh government kept its options open to take “whatever necessary action required to protect the integrity and security of India”, visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice indicated that the US would not prefer to see another war between India and Pakistan.
When asked if the US would support India’s military strike on Pakistan to dismantle its terror logistics,
Rice replied, “any response needs to be judged by its effectiveness. It should not create other unintended problems”.

India, Russia to ink N-deal tomorrow
India and Russia are expected to sign a nuclear deal for the construction of four additional reactors at Kudankulam nuclear power plant and expansion of other sites during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s three-day visit to New Delhi beginning tomorrow, a top official has said.
“We plan to sign on Friday an inter-governmental agreement with India to build another four reactors for the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, and envisaging cooperation at new sites,” Russian Nuclear Energy Corporation (RosAtom) CEO Sergei Kiriyenko was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

LeT chief denies role in Mumbai attacks
The founder of terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, a fugitive wanted by India for his involvement in many terror attacks, has said he cannot be extradited since he has never been convicted either in India or Pakistan.
Saeed, whose name figures in the list of 20 fugitives wanted by India from Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks, has termed the demand for his head as a "crude attempt" to divert attention of the people from the failures of Indian intelligence and security agencies.
Saeed charged that India was not interested in properly investigating the Mumbai attacks. "They are only interested in blaming Pakistan, evident from the fact that they started naming Pakistan even while the operation was still under way."
Lashkar has been operating under the name of Jammat-Ul-Daawa as a religious organisation in Pakistan, since it was banned by former President Pervez Musharraf following the attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001.

India Tightens Visa Policy For Pakistanis
India on Thursday tightened its visa policy for Pakistani nationals due to additional security measures introduced in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, saying a minimum time of one month would be required to process visa applications.The Indian High Commission in Islamabad said the new rule would apply to all visa applicants except those travelling to India in connection with medical emergencies.India has blamed Pakistan-based elements, including the banned Lashker-e-Taiba group, for the attacks in Mumbai that killed over 180 people. It has asked Pakistan to take action against these elements

(source: NDTV.com, business-standard.com)

Compiled by

Radhika Shukla

ACM 22

Dt. 27.11.08

BSE, NSE remained closed today
There was no trading on the Bombay and National Stock Exchanges today in the wake of the terror attacks in the country's financial capital. A BSE spokesperson told PTI here that following the "abnormal situation" in the metropolis and the State Government's advice to the people to stay home, it has been decided to keep the BSE closed today. The Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) and the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) will remain closed today, following the terrorist attacks in the city.

Google to cut contract workers
Internet search giant Google said it is significantly reducing the number of contract workers uses because of acute phase of the economic crisis, but has no plans at this time to lay off employees, as per the “Wall street Journal” source.

Indian markets shut; Mumbai attack raises risk premium
The Reserve Bank closed the bond and foreign exchange markets today but said it would continue auctions to keep cash flowing through interbank lending markets, which seized up after the global financial crisis destroyed Wall Street banks in September.

German carmaker Daimler may cut some working hours
Daimler AG said Thursday it is considering cutting working hours at some of its car production plants in Germany as the economic gloom pushes down sales. The company said it may scale back hours at Mercedes-Benz car manufacturing facilities in Sindelfingen, Berlin, Bremen and Dusseldorf.

-Chinmayee Pradhan

ACM 22

Dt. 26.11.08

MUMBAI ROCKED BY TERROR ATTACKS, AT LEAST 2 DEAD ( Time : 23:45)
Terrorists struck at India's financial capital tonight as at least five near-simultaneous firings and explosions rocked areas in the vicinity.
of posh hotels in South Mumbai, leaving two persons dead and ten injured. Armed with AK-47 rifles and grenades, a couple of terrorists entered the passenger hall of crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal (CST) railway station and opened fire and threw a grenade killing two to three persons, Mumbai General Railway Police Commissioner A K Sharma said. He did not give details.
Two explosions also went off outside CST and eyewitnesses reported they heard gunshots outside the railway station building

AFTER CITI, IS BANK OF AMERICA NEXT IN BAILOUT QUEUE?
A government rescue plan has eased investors’ concerns about Citigroup Inc, but mines lurking in the balance sheets of rivals including
Bank of America Corp could still tempt short-sellers.
Bank of America, the No 3 US bank by assets, has loaded up on mortgages as the world’s largest economy wrestles with the worst housing market since the Great Depression.
If losses on mortgages and other debt securities mount significantly, the bank may see the ratio of equity to risk-weighted assets, known as Tier-1 capital, dwindle to alarmingly low levels.

GLOBAL DOWNTURN LIKELY TO CONTINUE FOR NEXT TWO YRS: EXPERTS

The global economic downturn is going to continue for next one and half to two years. Post the downturn, the economy will stabilise but at a much lower level (in relative GDP growth rate) compared to the booms that we saw in 2005-2007 era," said Mayank H Shah, Global capital markets and Derivatives expert and Associate Partner at IBM. Besides, a recent survey of global fund managers by Merrill Lynch revealed that four out of every five investors believe the world will continue to be gripped by recession in the coming years.

(Source: Ecnomic Times)

-Radhika Shukla

ACM 22

Banks May Get Free Access To Open Branches And ATMs
Banks operating in India-including foreign ones-may soon be able to open new branches and set up automated teller machine (ATM) without a license from the Reserve Bank of India as per the finance ministry source.

Piramal Fund Buys Rs 300cr Stake In Realty Co Neptune
AJAY Piramal promoted real estate fund Indiareit has acquired about 15% stake in Mumbai based developer Neptune group for around Rs 300cr which assumes significance as the fund has chosen to invest in the company rather than the usual practice of investing in individual projects.

Rs 76,000 Cr Projects Are On Hold
The slowdown in economy and weakening consumer demand are now starting to bite. According to a study by the Centre for monitoring industrial projects (CMIE), projects worth Rs 76,538 crore were shelved in the first two quarters of this financial year.


Sega May Land Deal For India Reentry With DLF
Global gaming and theme park leader Sega Corp, is in talks with DLF for a possible India entry. Talk focused on enveloping indoor gamings complexes. DLF will be providing land and Sega its gaming expertise.



Source: Economic Times

-Chinmayee Pradhan

ACM 22

Dt: 25.11.08

Investment Firms May Get FDI Push
To boost foreign investment, the government is likely to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) `investment companies’. The finance ministry and the reserve bank of India (RBI) feel the same.

Govt readies Rs 50k-cr war chest
The government is planning to set up a special dedicated fund to provide loans to infrastructure project-roads, airports power plants or ports – being developed by private companies as well as by government-private joint ventures.
The proposed fund -around Rs 50000 cr.
The proposed fund may be operated through either of two infrastructure funding agencies –IDFC or the Indian infrastructure finance company (IIFCL).

The future development:
Expressway 1000km
Roads/highways
Six-lane roads-6500 km in golden quadrilateral
Four lane roads-6736 km in north east, 12109 in the rest of country
Two lane roads-20,000 km in golden quadrilateral
Ports-485 mt new capacity in major ports, 345 mt new capacity in minor ports
Airports-new air ports: 3 in north east, 7 elsewhere
Modernization: 4 metro airports and 35 non metro
Power-78000 mw: Additional generation capacity
Electricity connection: to all rural households

Infra companies may get easier access to foreign loans

RBI has made it tougher for banks to ‘restructure’ loans, forcing the real estate sector to cut house prices.

Obama announces new team to tackle economic crisis
Introducing the five-member team at a press conference in Chicago, Obama said he sought leaders who share his fundamental belief that "we cannot have a thriving Wall Street without a thriving Main Street".

Malegaon Blast: Sadhvi Alleges Torture
Mumbai, Nov 24: In a setback to Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad in Malegaon blast case, a MCOCA court here on Monday rejected the agency's plea for granting it the custody of accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and Ajay Rahirkar after they alleged physical torture and threat to strip and kill them.

India Is Nowhere Near Recession

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday asserted that despite the global meltdown, India, unlike many other global economies, would continue to grow at 7.9 % this fiscal and would be the second fastest growth rate globally

India Now Aims For Manned Space Mission

Thiruvananthapuram (IANS): India is aiming to send a manned mission into the space after the success of its first unmanned mission to the moon, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said here on Sunday.
A mission to study the solar system from the earth's orbit is also part of the plan.

US Govt Agrees To Bail Out Beleaguered Citi

The US federal government agreed on Sunday night to rescue Citigroup Inc. by helping to absorb potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in losses on toxic assets on its balance sheet and injecting fresh capital into the troubled financial giant.
The agreement marks a new phase in government efforts to stabilize US banks and securities firms.
Citigroup is one of the world’s best-known banking brands, with at least 200 million customer accounts in 106 countries.

-Radhika Shukla

ACM 22