We all know the iPhone has had its fair share of battery issues. And even some death grip problems. But this is one for the record books: On November 25, a passenger on an Australian flight, traveling between the city of Lismore and the city of Sydney, looked down to find his iPhone 4 had exploded, and was currently emitting plumes of "dense smoke."
So say the folks at Regional Express, a major Australian airline. In a press release with the completely wonderful title of "Mobile Phone Self Combustion," Regional Express said the situation was quickly brought under control by a flight attendant.
"Regional Express flight ZL319 operating from Lismore to Sydney today had an occurrence after landing, when a passenger’s mobile phone started emitting a significant amount of dense smoke, accompanied by a red glow," the release read. "In accordance with company standard safety procedures, the flight attendant carried out recovery actions immediately and the red glow was extinguished successfully. All passengers and crew on board were unharmed."
As the team over at ABC News points out, this isn't the first time Apple has had trouble with exploding gadgets. In 2009, the European Union looked into allegations that various Apple mobile devices had caught fire. More recently, Apple recalled the original Nano music player, which were reportedly at risk of overheating.
No word yet from Apple on the Great Australian Airplane Apple iPhone Combustion of 2011.
American Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday to cut labor costs in the face of high fuel prices and dampened travel demand, capping a prolonged descent for what was once the largest U.S. carrier.
AMR Corp, the parent of American Airlines, also filed for bankruptcy and replaced its chief executive.
The company, which employs about 88,000, has been mired for years in fruitless union negotiations, complaining that it shoulders higher labor costs than rival domestic and foreign carriers that have already restructured in bankruptcy.
United Continental Holdings Inc's United Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc, both of which used Chapter 11 to cut costs and later found merger partners, are now the largest U.S. carriers. American ranks third.
"The world changed around us," incoming Chief Executive Tom Horton told reporters on a conference call. "It became increasingly clear that the cost gap between us and our competitors was untenable."
AMR named Horton as chairman and chief executive, replacing Gerard Arpey, who retired.
American plans to operate normally while in bankruptcy, but the Chapter 11 filing could punch a hole in the pensions of roughly 130,000 workers and retirees.
AMR pension plans are $10 billion short of what the carrier owes, and any default could be the largest in U.S. history, government pension insurers estimated.
Ray Neidl, aerospace analyst at Maxim Group, said a lack of progress in contract talks with pilots tipped the carrier into Chapter 11, though it has enough cash to operate. The carrier's passenger planes average 3,000 daily U.S. departures.
"They were proactive," Neidl said. "They should have adequate cash reserves to get through this."
PROBLEMS TO ADDRESS
Bankruptcy gives AMR a chance to pare less profitable operations, and could result in the sale of flight routes. The process also gives AMR more flexibility, according to Jack Williams, a professor of law at Georgia State University.
"There are considerable tax benefits that they will be able to use in a bankruptcy case, and they will be able to more aggressively manage their liabilities," Williams said.
But analysts question whether the bankruptcy will address operational shortcomings that have eroded revenue.
"Bankruptcy is not necessarily the be-all, end-all," said Helane Becker, an analyst with Dahlman Rose & Co. "They've got more problems to address in addition to the cost problem."
Shares of AMR closed Tuesday down $1.36, or 84 percent, at 26 cents, down from a 52-week high of $8.89 on January 7. Stock typically is wiped out in bankruptcy.
Shares of rival airlines rallied on expectations that reduced competition could boost fares. AMR had kept a lid on industrywide fares in its effort to keep its airplanes full.
United Continental shares closed up 6.3 percent at $17.63, Delta rose 5 percent to $7.80 and US Airways Group Inc climbed 4.4 percent to $4.46.
AMR shares were halted 28 times on the NYSE on Tuesday for triggering a circuit breaker rule, activated when a stock moves up or down at least 10 percent within five minutes.
SLIMMED-DOWN AMR
In its bankruptcy petition filed in Manhattan, AMR reported assets of $24.72 billion and liabilities of $29.55 billion. The company has $4.1 billion in cash.
One bankruptcy rule is "don't wait too long," Harvey Miller, a partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges representing AMR, said at a court hearing. "Don't wait until the course is irreversible. That is what American Airlines is doing today."
AMR's bankruptcy filing showed few details about how the company would proceed, said Stephen Selbst, a bankruptcy attorney with Herrick Feinstein in New York.
"It's possible they are still in negotiations and don't want to put something on paper that might prejudice those negotiations," he said.
Experts believe AMR stands to save billions by restructuring its obligations in bankruptcy.
"AMR will no longer have its defined benefit pension plan, helping absorb nearly $7 billion in debt," Morningstar equity analyst Basili Alukos said.
"I imagine the company can save between $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion in labor costs, in addition to savings on repair and maintenance and better fuel burn," he said.
MERGER IN THE OFFING?
AMR said the bankruptcy has no direct legal impact on non-U.S. operations. It also said it was not considering debtor-in-possession financing.
But it could susceptible to unsolicited takeover bids from rival carriers. AMR has long said it could thrive on its own.
Robert Herbst, an analyst with AirlineFinancials.com and a former American pilot, said there was a "95 percent" chance American would join up with another carrier within two years.
"US Airways is probably toward the top of the list but it wouldn't be the only (potential merger partner)," he said.
A US Airways representative did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Most large U.S. carriers are the products of mergers.
United Continental combined the former United Airlines and Continental Airlines, while Delta bought the former Northwest Airlines. US Airways was formed from a 2005 merger with America West Airlines.
US Airways and United Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection in 2002, and Delta and Northwest in 2005. US Airways had tried to buy Delta out of bankruptcy.
Japan Airlines Co, one of American Airlines' alliance partners, filed for bankruptcy last year.
American Airlines said it would remain an active member of the oneworld global airline alliance.
LABOR PAIN
American struggled with labor costs despite massive concessions from unionized workers in 2003, which enabled it to avoid Chapter 11 at the time.
"That deal wasn't good enough," former American chief Robert Crandall told Reuters. "The other airlines that went bankrupt cut their costs much deeper than American.
"If you look at all of the elements of the problem, they all stem back to costs," he said. "It hasn't cut capacity effectively given the constraints" that labor placed.
Contract talks with pilots hit a wall in recent weeks over wages, benefits and work rules. Talks with unionized flight attendants have also flagged.
"While today's news was not entirely unexpected, it is nevertheless disappointing that we find ourselves working for an airline that has lost its way," David Bates, president of the Allied Pilots Association, said in a statement.
A wave of pilot retirements this year prompted speculation of a Chapter 11 filing, given that the retirements could preserve pensions that might be at risk of being terminated.
"The 18-month timeline allotted for restructuring will almost certainly involve significant changes to the airline's business plan and to our contract," Bates said.
CLSA
Sensex Likely To Drop Another 15 to 20 per cent
-The absence of the RBI from the FX market has resulted in a 20 per cent devaluation of the Rupee since August 2011. This is the biggest devaluation undertaken by the country since 1990-91.
-While the devaluation is the most aggressive amongst emerging markets it opens the country to sizeable imported inflation, making it unlikely that the country has seen the last of the interest rate hikes from the RBI.
-Higher interest rates are eating up nearly 60 per cent of the EBITDA of Sensex companies in the First Half of FY12.
-While CLSA has let out a FY12 revised earnings growth forecast of a mere 9 per cent, it still maintains a 18-19 per cent growth in earnings for FY13.
-However, the FY13 Earnings estimate are likely to contract sizeably leading to a review of the forecast earnings for FY13.
-If earnings decline continue, then a 15 per cent drop in Earnings and a 15XFY13 Earnings could result into a 20 per cent fall of the Sensex to 14000.
Fitch Ratings gave the United States until 2013 to come up with a "credible plan" to tackle its ballooning budget deficit or risk a downgrade of the country's coveted AAA rating.
The ratings agency on Monday revised to negative from stable the outlook on the U.S. credit rating after a special congressional committee failed last week to agree on at least $1.2 trillion in deficit-reduction measures.
The committee failure made it unlikely that any meaningful deficit plan will be adopted next year, increasing the fiscal burden on the next administration that will be elected in late 2012, Fitch said.
"The negative outlook reflects Fitch's declining confidence that timely fiscal measures necessary to place U.S. public finances on a sustainable path and secure the U.S. AAA sovereign rating will be forthcoming," the ratings agency said in a statement, adding that the chance of a downgrade is "slightly greater than 50 percent" now.
The news had little market impact, as a negative outlook from Fitch was widely expected.
"What it shows is that Fitch is putting the U.S. on warning that this cannot go on forever," said Michael Yoshikami, chief investment strategist at YCMNET Advisors in Walnut Creek, California.
"The markets already assumed this was going to happen. It would be different if it was a downgrade but a negative outlook is not the end of the world."
Like Moody's Investors Service, which also has a negative outlook on the U.S. Aaa rating, Fitch does not expect meaningful deficit-reduction measures in 2012, when presidential elections should exacerbate political divisions in Washington.
Rival agency Standard & Poor's cut the U.S. rating to AA-plus in an unprecedented decision on Aug. 5, citing concerns about the government's budget deficit and rising debt burden. It maintains a negative outlook on the credit.
KICKING THE CAN
The so-called "Super Committee" of six Democrats and six Republicans was seen by Fitch as the last chance of an agreement before elections.
Last week, however, its members announced they were unable to agree on a deficit reduction plan, setting in motion automatic cuts worth $1.2 trillion over 10 years. The cuts are designed to be split evenly between domestic and military programs.
Both S&P and Moody's said on Nov. 21 the committee's failure would have no immediate impact on their ratings.
However, Moody's on Nov. 23 warned the United States that its rating could be in jeopardy if lawmakers backtrack on the automatic cuts of $1.2 trillion due to take effect starting in 2013.
In a statement issued after Fitch's decision, the U.S. Treasury said "Fitch's action is a reminder of the need for Congress to reduce the country's long-term deficit in a balanced manner and to avoid efforts that would undo the $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts negotiated last summer."
Fitch is now willing to give the new government that will take office in January 2013 several months to come up with a "sound" deficit reduction plan, top credit analyst David Riley told Reuters in an interview.
"Once we move to the second half (of 2013) and it looks as if a deal can't be done, then the (negative) outlook would likely result in a downgrade," Riley said.
Until then, there is little change of a "material adverse shock" that would trigger an early downgrade of the U.S. rating, he said, playing down concerns about the economic impact of the euro-zone debt crisis.
"If we had a relatively short downturn because, for example, the crisis in Europe got much worse and there was a spillover effect to the U.S. but we thought that it ultimately would prove to be temporary for the U.S. ... then that wouldn't necessarily lead us to change the rating."
Global - Economy and Market
Euro split scenarios risk becoming self-fulfilling
Even as global markets rallied on Monday on talk that a grand plan to save the euro was finally taking shape, more and more researchers are squarely broaching the alternative outcome of the currency's disintegration.
Jean Pisani-Ferry, director of Bruegel, a respected Brussels think tank, noted that market participants and real businesses were increasingly pricing in such a break-up scenario. "It is still hard to think the unthinkable, let alone to work out the details of it, but any rational player has to consider the possibility of it. If disaster expectations build up and a growing number of players start positioning themselves to protect themselves from it, the consequences could become overwhelming," he said in a report.
Fund-raising push speeds European banks' retreat
Europe's banks stepped up efforts to raise funds and offload business in far-flung places on Monday as Bank of Ireland (BKIR.I) sold a parcel of project finance loans and Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) said it will quit South Africa.
European lenders are expected to ditch up to 3 trillion euros of loans to meet new capital rules, ease funding strains and become more profitable, and a flurry of deals showed efforts to "deleverage" are intensifying.
Fitch revises U.S. rating outlook to negative
Fitch Ratings on Monday revised to negative the outlook on the United States' AAA credit rating after a Congress committee failed last week to agree on at least $1.2 trillion in deficit-reduction measures.
Russia: The central bank left all policy rates unchanged at its meeting on Friday, in line with market
Wall Street ends 7-day slide
Stocks rebounded from seven days of losses on Monday as investors used the latest effort from European leaders to resolve the region's debt crisis as an opportunity to cover short positions.
Japan's Nikkei average rose almost 1 percent on Tuesday, climbing for a second straight session on hopes for more drastic steps to deal with the euro zone debt crisis and a robust start to the U.S. holiday shopping season.
India - Economy and Market
FDI in retail: Government U-turns, says foreign retailers must shop locally
The government on Monday said foreign retailers wanting to set up shop in India must source 30% of their inputs from domestic micro and small enterprises, backtracking from "anywhere in the world" announced last week under political pressure.
Icra lowers GDP forecast to 7.5%; sees Q2 growth at 7%
Rating agency Icra today joined rest of the forecasters to peg down economic growth to 7.3-7.5% from 7.5-7.7% projected earlier, besides pegging Q2 GDP numbers at 7%, following the overall contraction in growth indicators. This is the lowest projections so far from leading agencies as the forecasts from the Government, RBI, Crisil and CMIE are all above or at 7.6%.Icra has also warned that Government will not be able to meet fiscal deficit target of 4.6% and said it will shoot up to 5.5%.
An ET survey shows - economy will grow at an average 7% in the three months to September, according to a poll of 11 leading economists. The economy grew at 7.7% in the April-June quarter. The government is due to announce the GDP growth rate for the second quarter on Wednesday. Economists said the rising costs of funds and policy paralysis in government are weighing heavy on growth. These and the escalating debt crisis in Europe are likely to push growth below the trend, they said, adding that the coming months will be crucial in determining the growth trajectory.
Petrol prices may be cut by about one rupee: Source
The state refiners could cut petrol prices by about one rupee a litre or 1.5% as softening Singapore spot gasoline prices have offset the impact of a declining rupee, an industry source said on Monday
India wants more market access in China to bridge trade gap
The government said it is pursuing market access issues with China for Indian products, a move which will help in bridging the rising trade deficit.
In 2010-11, India's exports to China stood at $19.61 billion, while imports were $43.47 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $23.86 billion.
Indian shares to start lower, Reliance watched
MUMBAI, Nov 29 - Indian shares are set to open lower on Tuesday, weighed down mounting opposition to reforms and as investors await definite moves by European policymakers to address the euro zone debt
Technology News –
Facebook plans IPO between April and June - report
REUTERS - Facebook Inc is looking to go public between April and June 2012 with a valuation of over $100 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Twitter acquires mobile security start-up company
REUTERS - Twitter has acquired a start-up company that makes software to improve security and privacy for smartphones and other mobile devices.
Apple beats Android in Britain in Oct-researcher
The long-awaited iPhone 4S launch helped Apple Inc take top spot in the British smartphone market in October, overtaking phones using Google Inc's Android platform, data from research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech showed on Monday.
Akaash tablets fuels global interests in the low-cost machine
Panama has approached the Indian Embassy there to buy one lakh units of Akaash. Even Philadelphia has shown interest.
Philippines overtakes India as hub of call centers
MANILA, Philippines: Americans calling the customer service lines of their airlines, phone companies and banks are now more likely to speak to agents named Mark in Manila than people named Bharat in Bangalore.
More Filipinos - about 400,000 - than Indians now spend their nights talking to mostly U.S. consumers, according to industry officials, as companies like AT&T, JPMorgan Chase and Expedia have hired call centers here, or even built their own.
India, where offshore call centers first took off in a big way, fields as many as 350,000 call center agents, according to some industry estimates. The Philippines, which has a population one-tenth as big as India's, overtook India this year, according to Jojo Uligan, executive director of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines.
Facebook, the world's largest Internet social network, is preparing for a initial public stock offering next year, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Facebook is exploring raising $10 billion, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday. It hopes the offering will value the company at more than $100 billion, according to WSJ, which first reported the story.
Facebook's Chief Financial Officer, David Ebersman, had discussed a public float with Silicon Valley bankers but founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg had not decided on any terms and his plans could change, the Journal said.
The social network, which now claims more than 800 million members after seven years of explosive growth, has not selected bankers to manage what would be a very closely watched IPO. But it had drafted an internal prospectus and was ready at any moment to pull the IPO trigger, the Journal cited people familiar with the matter as saying.
At $100 billion valuation, the company started by Zuckerberg in a Harvard dorm room would have double the valuation of Hewlett-Packard, the Journal said.
A formal S-1 filing could come before the end of the year, though nothing was decided, the newspaper added.
A Facebook representative declined to comment.
Silicon Valley start-ups have this year begun to test investor appetite for a new wave of dotcoms. If it does debut in 2012, Facebook's IPO would dwarf that of any other dotcom waiting to go public.
"Farmville" creator Zynga has filed for an IPO of up to $1 billion. In November, daily deals service Groupon debuted with much fanfare, only to plunge below its IPO price within weeks.
LinkedIn and Pandora are now also trading significantly below the levels their stocks reached during their public debuts earlier this year.
Facebook has become one of the world's most popular Web destinations, challenging established companies such as Google and Yahoo for consumers' online time and for advertising dollars.
Facebook does not disclose its financial results, but a source familiar with the situation told Reuters earlier this year that the company's revenue in the first six months of 2011 doubled year-on-year to $1.6 billion.
Eric Feng, a former partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers who now runs social-networking site Erly.com, said that the cash Facebook will get in an IPO would allow them to make more acquisitions and refine or work on new projects, such as a rumored-Facebook phone or a netbook.
Having tradable stock will also allow Facebook to attract more engineering talent who might have been more attracted to the company in earlier days when it was growing faster but now perhaps might be attracted to other companies. "It'll be a powerful bullet for them," said Feng.
Investors have been increasingly eager to buy shares of Facebook and other fast-growing but privately-held Internet social networking companies on special, secondary-market exchanges.
Facebook said in January that it will exceed 500 shareholders this year, and that in accordance with SEC regulations, it will file public financial reports no later than April 30, 2012.
Europe continues to take the centre stage in terms of determining the outlook for global financial markets and economies – and it is therefore critical to try and keep abreast of the constantly evolving events in the Eurozone and incorporate them into your decision making framework. Germany continues to insist on harsh fiscal austerity in the periphery, without a "lender-of-last-resort" role for the ECB and issuance of jointly guaranteed Eurobonds. The horrors of the Weimar hyperinflation of the early 1920s remain firmly entrenched in the national psyche and influence its deep aversion to "monetary financing" (i.e. monetizing government deficits via the printing press). However, Germany should perhaps be even more concerned about the horrors which could be unleashed by a prolonged and deep recession which was actually the real cause for the rise of Hitler in the 1930s as detailed by Dylan Grice of Societe Generale in a fascinating note. To summarise:
-In the aftermath of the collapse of the gold standard in the early 1930s , most countries selected the easier option of devaluation of currencies to inflate themselves out of a painful recession with the main exception being Germany which chose to cling to the gold standard (and resulting deflation), haunted by the horrors of the 1923 hyperinflation (see attached chart).
-The US clung onto the gold standard longer than countries like the UK and Japan and therefore suffered a deeper depression, while Germany experienced an even more devastating depression than the US as it suffered a comparable loss in industrial output but significantly worse (and more prolonged) unemployment levels (33% at its peak - see attached chart).
-It is generally believed that the rise of the third Reich was caused by the 1923 hyperinflation, and while it is true that Hitler made his first attempt to grab power in 1923 with the "Beerhall Putsch", by the late 20s the Nazis were just another large fringe group.
-The depression in Germany which began in the late 1920s (associated with rising unemployment levels) was tightly correlated with the rising share of the Nazis electoral vote (from less than 5% in the mid 20s to late 20s to 45% by 1933-see attached chart).
-What would the course of history have been if Germany had inflated like the UK, which left the gold standard in 1931 and experienced a significant drop in unemployment and a recovery in output. With unemployment levels of 17% rather than 33% would the Nazis have won the March 1933 elections?
-By insisting on imposing harsh fiscal austerity on the periphery, Germany runs the risk of ever-more misery in the affected countries, and a severe political backlash blaming Germany for their misery.
-It is time for Germany to make-up its mind –the Euro or its hard money principles. It is likely that Germany will eventually make the decision in favour of the Euro, and allow the ECB to act as a lender of last resort. A continued economic slowdown in Germany would make this choice even more probable.
-This could be implemented by giving the EFSF a banking license, allowing it to borrow from the ECB and act like a euro IMF – bailing out countries in return for certain conditions to be met (e.g. labour market, welfare and tax reforms). There would be no breach of existing treaties. The treaties could also be changed (in due course) allowing countries to opt out of the Euro.
Absolutely fascinating and yet another example of how easily misconceptions get imbedded in the popular psyche and lead to erroneous actions and unnecessary and widespread misery! Anyway, I agree that Germany will eventually have to make a choice between the Euro and allowing the ECB to act as a lender-of-last-resort – the question is when? Germany is adamant in following a step-by-step process of eventually more European political and fiscal integration via change of treaties (which will take several years to effect), coupled with some level of support for government bond markets via limited purchases by the ECB in the secondary markets, and support from a leveraged EFSF (and possibly a Euro Redemption fund as recently suggested by the German Council of Economic Advisers). This approach may well work but would the markets be patient enough and not force Merkel's hand prematurely? Time will tell, but meanwhile expect continued volatility in markets – though not a meltdown or a significant upward trend until this issue is resolved.
On Asian Credit Growth:
The above note also has relevance to Asia, as it drives home the point that eventually (when push comes to shove), governments when faced a choice between growth and inflation will choose growth as the social consequences of no growth are more severe – yes, inflation is not a pleasant experience as you lose the real value of your income – but the alternative of having no income at all is far worse!. The attached graph highlights this choice by depicting credit growth in Asia over the past decade and highlights China's very timely response to the 2008 financial crisis by embarking on an unprecedented credit growth rate of 35% per year! With the global economy in a slowdown mode yet again, expect China (and the rest of Asia) to embark on another credit growth cycle leading to buoyant stock (but perhaps not property which was the main beneficiary of the credit spurge) markets.
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Global - Economy and Market
Italy's Monti in austerity race as IMF role eyed
ROME - Prime Minister Mario Monti faces a testing week seeking to shore up Italy's strained public finances, with an IMF mission expected in Rome and market pressure building to a point where outside help may be needed to stem a full-scale debt emergency.
China factory unrest flares as global economy slows
DONGGUAN, China - In factory towns across China's export powerhouse in the Pearl River Delta, a vicious cycle of slowing orders from the West and increasing wage pressures has led to a series of major strikes that could reverberate through the economy.
Europe's banks plan accounting tricks to look stronger
European banks are planning to change how they calculate risk-weighted assets to make it look like they have improved their financial conditions. Such a change could allow banks to avoid selling assets or new shares to meet new capital requirements.
China kicks off yuan trading vs Aussie, Canadian dollar
SHANGHAI - China's yuan started trading against the Australian dollar and Canadian dollar in the country's onshore forex market on Monday, the latest currency pairs to be introduced as part of Beijing's efforts to promote the use of its currency.
8:33am IST
China on track to be world's biggest online market by 2015
China will replace the U.S. as the world's biggest online market by 2015, a Boston Consulting Group report says. China will have more than $314 billion in online sales by that year, the report says. China Daily (Beijing) (23 Nov.)
Hungary: Moody's downgraded Hungary's government bond rating by one notch to Ba1, below investment grade, and the kept its outlook negative yesterday
Asian shares jump, euro firms amid Italy aid
TOKYO - Asian shares jumped and the euro firmed on Monday on hopes Europe will come up with some concrete steps this week toward activating a crucial euro zone bail-out fund and reports that the International Monetary Fund is considering helping Italy.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 1.6 percent, after slumping to its lowest level since early October on Friday to mark a fourth consecutive week of declines.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 gained 1.9 percent after hitting its lowest in two and a half years on Friday.
India - Economy and Market
RBI: opening up retail to help growth, curb inflation
CHANDIGARH - India's growth story is still "credible" and the move to open up the economy to global supermarket chains will help growth and control inflation, RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao said on Friday.
Rules stipulating that foreign supermarkets will have to source 30 percent of produce from smaller industries cannot be restricted to the Indian market, as this would violate World Trade Organisation guidelines, a senior official said.
India opens retail sector to foreign investment
The specific conditions linked to the approval are yet to be announced.However, citing an unnamed government official, Bloomberg has reported that these will
likely include two conditions: 1) large overseas retailers would be required to invest a minimum of USD100mn million in India; and 2) the stores would be allowed only in cities with at least 1 million inhabitants. The government will apparently also allow 100% foreign ownership of single brand retail operations, up from 51% earlier.
This is a major and welcome change that could have important implications for inflation going forward.
We think the liberalization measures could spur investment in food storage and transportation facilities that would reduce wastage and therefore frequent supply shortages that drive food price volatility. It is believed that
about 40% of India's fruit and vegetables rot before they are sold, for example. This has been a structural driver of food inflation that has partly kept WPI inflation elevated.
Therefore, if the move successfully results in improved storage facilities, this should provide some relief for the RBI in the future.
FX reserves at $308.624 bln as on Nov 18
MUMBAI - India's foreign exchange reserves fell to $308.624 billion on Nov. 18, from $314.339 billion in the previous week, the RBI said in its weekly statistical supplement on Friday.
Cabinet note on PSU cross-holdings soon
The finance ministry will move a cabinet proposal to allow government companies to acquire equity in other public sector units.
Foodgrain productivity up 8% at 1,921 kg/hectare in 2010-11
Foodgrain productivity rose by 8 per cent to 1,921 kg per hectare in 2010-11 crop year, Parliament was informed today.
The average growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of agriculture and allied sectors suffered a setback due to severe drought in many parts of the country during 2009-10 and drought/deficient rainfall in some states namely Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand and East Uttar Pradesh in 2010-11
However, the GDP growth for agriculture sector touched 6.6 per cent in 2010-11 -- the highest growth rate achieved in last six years -- on account of the corrective actions taken by the government
Indian shares to open up; retailers, Reliance eyed
MUMBAI, Nov 28 - Indian shares are expected to start higher on Monday, supported by firmer Asian markets and hopes the government will push more reforms after liberalising foreign investment in the retail sector.
Technology News –
Mid-sized IT cos go for buyouts
Mumbai-based software products and services provider Infrasoft Technologies has mandated three investment banks including Avendus Capital to look for acquisitions in the US in the range on $10-15 million. This comes on the heels of Infrasoft's acquisition of the financial services business of KPIT Cummins in October this year.
Cloud technology for instance has been a focus of many acquisitions in recent times with companies like Aditi Technologies and Vembu Technologies making acquisitions in the space.
Internet startup Flipkart and BPOs like EXL and Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) have also bought companies over the last few months. HGS in August acquired Canada-based customer relationship management company Online Support (OLS) for $78 million.
Dion Global Solutions, a software solutions provider for financial markets, today said it has acquired UK-based wealth management and stock broking software provider Investmaster Group for an undisclosed amount.
TK Kurien cleans up Wipro with elbow grease, puts it back on growth path
Its operational metrics show that vitality is returning, helped in no small part by TK Kurien, the man who took over as chief executive of the Bangalore based company nine months ago.
Volumes - a measure of the number of hours billed by software engineers - have jumped 6% in the three months to September compared with the well under 2% quarterly growth when Kurien took over. That was marginally behind larger rival TCS (6.3%) and ahead of Infosys (4.6%).
HTC CFO says plans to launch competitive phones in Feb
TAIPEI - Taiwanese smartphone company HTC Corp said it has confidence that new products to be launched at the Barcelona Mobile Conference next February would be more competititive and achieve better sales.
AT&T to offer bigger asset sale to save T-Mobile deal - Bloomberg
REUTERS - AT&T Inc is considering an offer to divest a significantly larger portion of assets than it had initially expected, in order to salvage its $39 billion deal to buy T-Mobile USA, Bloomberg reported citing a person familiar with the plan.
