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Bharti may raise bid offer for MTN: Report

New Delhi, May 12: The country`s largest cellular operator Bharti Airtel is planning to raise its offer to about USD 22.63 per share to acquire control of South African mobile player MTN, says a media report.

Quoting a person familiar with the situation, the Wall Street Journal on Monday said Bharti is considering raising the offer to about 175 South African Rand or USD 22.63 per share for control of MTN.

"There is no official bid yet, and MTN management insists that it be a minimum 200 South African Rand per share," WSJ reported quoting the person, in an article published in its online edition.

When contacted, a Bharti spokesperson declined to comment.

Last week, both Bharti and MTN announced that they are in "exploratory talks" which may or may not lead to a deal.

The person said the official bid could still be the original 160 Rand to 165 Rand, "depending on the terms of the agreement, how big of a stake MTN is willing to sell and other factors," WSJ reported.

Media reports said Bharti whose market capitalisation as on May 9 stood at Rs 1,59,841.77 crore could make an official bid for MTN this week for a 51 percent stake.

Earlier, media reports said that Bharti is looking at acquiring 51 percent stake in MTN for about USD 19 billion.

If the deal takes place, it will create world`s sixth largest mobile company with 130 million subscribers in more than 20 countries.

In afternoon trade, Bharti was trading at Rs 825.90, down 1.99 percent on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Industrial production sinks to 3%

New Delhi, May 12: Industry performed badly during the last month of 2007-08, with growth decelerating to 3 percent from 14.8 percent in the year-ago period, a development that could be a major cause for concern for the government that is now focussing on fighting high inflation.

Consequently, growth in industrial production during the year fell to 8.1 percent from 11.6 percent in 2006-07, mainly due to poor showing of the manufacturing sector that accounts for over two-third of the Index for Industrial Production (IIP).

Manufacturing sector managed a poor 2.9 percent growth as compared to a high of 16 percent in March 2007, followed by a 3.7 percent growth in electricity.

The slowdown in the industry could have a marginal effect on the overall growth of the economy, which is projected to grow by 8.7 percent. This coupled with a 7.61 percent inflation in the early part of current fiscal could impact the demand, analysts say.

During March, mining sector growth rate fell to 3.8 percent, down from 8 percent in the corresponding month in the previous fiscal.

Similarly, electricity sector`s output during the month slipped to 3.7 percent as compared to 7.9 percent in the corresponding month in 2006-07.

As per the USE-based classification, consumer goods` output during March declined by 0.1 percent compared to a robust growth of 15.8 percent in the same period previous fiscal.

Within the consumer goods category, the consumer durables sector showed a decline of 2.1 percent (as compared to 3.8 percent in March 2007), while the output of the consumer non-durables category registered a small growth of 0.6 percent, down from 20.2 percent in March 2007.

The deceleration was also witnessed in other categories like capital goods (8.6 percent as against 18.1 percent in March 2007), basic goods (3.1 percent as against 11.9 percent) and intermediate goods (3.5 percent as against 15.3 percent).

The IIP figures for 2006-07 reveal that industrial production slipped to 8.1 percent from 11.6 percent in the previous fiscal, mainly on account deceleration witnessed in manufacturing and electricity sectors.

The growth rate of the mining sector, however, slipped only marginally to 5 percent from 5.4 percent in the previous fiscal.

The growth rates of the manufacturing and electricity sectors during 2006-07 decelerated to 8.6 percent and 6.4 percent from 12.5 percent and 7.2 percent respectively as compared to the previous fiscal.

Upto 5,000 dead in China quake: State media

Beijing, May 12: A powerful earthquake struck central China on Monday and state media reported that as many as 5,000 people were killed in a single county while nearly 900 students were trapped after their school collapsed.

The official Xinhua News Agency said 3,000 to 5,000 people had died in Beichuan county in Sichuan province after the 7.8-magnitude quake. Another 10,000 people there were believed to be hurt.

The earthquake sent thousands of people rushing out of buildings and into the streets hundreds of miles away in Beijing and Shanghai. The temblor was felt as far away as Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand.

Four of the dead were ninth-grade students killed when their high school collapsed, Xinhua said. Photos showed heavy cranes trying to remove rubble from the ruined school. Xinhua did not say how many of the students were feared dead.

It said its reporters in Juyuan township, about 60 miles from the epicenter, saw buried teenagers struggling to break loose from underneath the rubble of the three-story building "while others were crying out for help."

Two girls were quoted by Xinhua as saying they escaped because they had "run faster than others."

The earthquake comes less than three months before the start of the Beijing Summer Olympics, when China hopes to use to showcase its rise in the world.

Shanghai`s main index inched up Monday, but the advance was capped by worries over inflation and potential damage from the earthquake. Analysts said that shares of companies located in the Sichuan region may fall in coming sessions due to the quake.

It struck in the middle of the afternoon when classes and office towers were full, about 60 miles northwest of Chengdu. There were several smaller aftershocks, the US Geological Survey said on its website.

Calls into the city did not go through as panicked residents quickly overloaded the telephone system. The quake affected telephone and power networks, and even state media appeared to have few details of the disaster.

"In Chengdu, mobile telecommunication convertors have experienced jams and thousands of servers were out of service," said Sha Yuejia, deputy chief executive officer of China Mobile.

Although it was difficult to telephone Chengdu, an Israeli student, Ronen Medzini, sent a text message to a news agency saying there were power and water outages there.

"Traffic jams, no running water, power outs, everyone sitting in the streets, patients evacuated from hospitals sitting outside and waiting," he said.

Xinhua said an underground water pipe ruptured near the city`s southern railway station, flooding a main thoroughfare. Reporters saw buildings with cracks in their walls but no collapses, Xinhua said.

The earthquake also rattled buildings in Beijing, some 930 miles to the north, less than three months before the Chinese capital was expected to be full of hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors for the Summer Olympics.

Many Beijing office towers were evacuated, including the building housing the media offices for the organizers of the Olympics, which start in August.

"I`ve lived in Taipei and California and I`ve been through quakes before. This is the most I`ve ever felt," said James McGregor, a business consultant who was inside the LG Towers in Beijing`s business district. "The floor was moving underneath me."

In Fuyang, 660 miles to the east, chandeliers in the lobby of the Buckingham Palace Hotel swayed. "We`ve never felt anything like this our whole lives," said a hotel employee surnamed Zhu.

Patients at the Fuyang People`s No 1 Hospital were evacuated. An hour after the quake, a half-dozen patients in blue-striped pajamas stood outside the hospital. One was laying on a hospital bed in the parking lot.

Skyscrapers in Shanghai swayed and most office occupants went rushing into the streets.

In the Taiwanese capital of Taipei, 100 miles off the southeastern Chinese coast, buildings swayed when the quake hit. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The quake was felt as far away as the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, where some people hurried out of swaying office buildings and into the streets downtown. A building in the Thai capital of Bangkok also was evacuated after the quake was felt there.

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake is considered a major event, capable of causing widespread damage and injuries in populated areas.

The last serious earthquake in China was in 2003, when a 6.8-magnitude quake killed 268 people in Bachu county in the west of Xinjiang.

China`s deadliest earthquake in modern history struck the northeastern city of Tangshan on July 28, 1976, killing 240,000 people.

Tata Comm, Sonus join hand to offer voice calls over Internet

New Delhi, May 12: Tata Communications on Monday said it has partnered with US-based Sonus to build network to offer phone calls over the Internet globally.

"The company has selected Sonus complete fixed trunking solution to provide its IP-voice services in nine cities across three continents," Tata Communications’ chief technology officer John Hayduk said.

Tata Communications` customer base includes more than 1,500 global carriers, 600 mobile operators, 10,000 enterprises, over 5,00,000 broadband and Internet subscribers and around 300 Wi-Fi public hotspots all of which demand the highest level of quality and reliability.

The communication service provider will work with Sonus services team to facilitate the migration from its legacy network onto the new IP-based network initial deployment cities include Newark, New Jersey, Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Ontario, Los Angeles, California, London, Madrid, Frankfurt and Singapore.

The expansion of Tata Communications’ global voice network represents further execution of the company`s move to expand its global reach and ability to deliver IP leveraged communications solutions to businesses and consumers worldwide, both companies said in a joint statement.

In addition, Tata Communications will deploy Sonus network border switch to interconnect its disparate voice networks and deliver seamless IP services across geographies, said Hayduk.

Stocks up as oil price drop eases inflation fears
Monday May 12, 5:53 pm
Investors snap up stocks as oil prices back off record highs and soothe inflation fears

NEW YORK -- Wall Street rallied Monday as oil prices fell back and alleviated some of investors' concerns about accelerating inflation. The Dow Jones industrials gained 130 points.
Oil's retreat helped soothe some of Wall Street's worries about inflation's impact on consumer spending. Crude briefly reached a new trading high of $126.40, but investors seemed shy, for the time being at least, to add to oil's huge gain of nearly $10 last week. Light, sweet crude oil fell $1.73 to settle at $124.23 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"This market does seem to be reacting positively to any sort of easing we see in the energy patch," said Craig Peckham, market strategist at Jefferies & Co.

Investors also got some encouraging news about the credit crisis from London-based HSBC Holdings PLC, which said its first-quarter profits were up from a year ago although the global banking company took a $3.2 billion write-down on subprime mortgage assets in the United States. The company did echo other assessments that the U.S. was likely to fall into recession this year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon said at a conference Monday he estimates the credit market crisis is 75 percent over, but that the recession is just beginning.

Monday's gains showed investors are still willing to lay some bets, although some market watchers said Wall Street will still likely see stocks fluctuate as investors try to determine the economy's direction. Monday's advance follows a week in which the major indexes all fell as worries about the impact of inflation weighed on investors.

Peckham said some of the buying was a natural move higher after last week's decline, in which the Dow lost 2.4 percent and the S&P 500 declined 1.81 percent.

"This market, after having had a pretty rough last week, is prone to drawing in some more value-seekers," he said.

The Dow rose 130.43, or 1.02 percent, to 12,876.31.

Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 15.30, or 1.10 percent, to 1,403.58, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 42.97, or 1.76 percent, to 2,488.49.

Bond prices dipped. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.80 percent from 3.78 percent late Friday. After an early strong start, the dollar ended mixed against most other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

The flow of first-quarter earnings reports is beginning to dwindle, so Wall Street will likely require some big news on the economy -- such as a sharp reversal in commodities prices -- to dislodge the markets from their current position, said Ted Oberhaus, director of equity trading at Lord, Abbett & Co.

"We're the majority of the way through the earnings season and it has been relatively productive. With that as a backdrop, I would expect a range-driven appreciation over the next few months," Oberhaus said.

Hewlett Packard Co. fell $2.49, or 5.1 percent, to $46.64 after the technology company confirmed it is in talks with Electronic Data Systems Corp. about a possible acquisition. Shares of EDS spiked $5.27, or 28 percent, to $24.13.

MBIA Inc. posted a $2.41 billion first-quarter loss, as the struggling bond insurer took heavy charges to write down the value of liabilities amid continued deterioration in the credit markets. The stock rose 47 cents, or 5 percent, to $9.90 following comments from the company on the strength of its balance sheet.

Research In Motion Ltd. rose $8.93, or 6.7 percent, to $141.70 as the handheld electronics maker introduced its first major new BlackBerry model in more than a year.

Investors will be looking to other readings on consumers this week to determine the toll rising energy costs might be having. Government figures are due on retail sales in April. And retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Macy's Inc., JCPenney Co. and Kohls Corp. are due to report first-quarter results.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by more than 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume fell to 3.27 billion shares from 3.40 billion late Friday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 13.18, or 1.83 percent, to 733.23.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.64 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.26 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.47 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.32 percent.

Bajaj, Renault-Nissan join hands for Rs 1 lakh car

New Delhi, May 12: Bajaj Auto Ltd, the country`s second largest two-wheeler maker, on Monday announced a joint venture with Renault-Nissan to produce a USD 2,500 car by 2011 that will compete with Nano, the world`s cheapest car from Tata Motors.

The JV for manufacturing the small car, code-named ULC, would be owned 50 per cent by Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) and 25 per cent each by French car maker Renault and Japan`s Nissan, a BAL statement said here.

The car, which would be rolled out from a brand new plant in Maharashtra available in Indian market in 2011, would also be positioned for exports to other markets.

The statement said, "Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj and Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO of Renault and President and CEO of Nissan, today announced they will form a joint-venture company to develop, produce and market the car, code-named ULC, with wholesale (dealership) price range starting from USD 2,500."

Tata Motors` had unveiled Nano, also starting from Rs one lakh (USD 2,500), in January this year and roll out is due in the second half of this year.

When contacted, Bajaj Auto Vice President (business development) S Ravikumar said, "we have already acquired 250 acres of land for the plant, which would have an initial production capacity of four lakh units per year."

Besides catering to the domestic market after its launch in 2011, the JV would also explore possibilities for export of the small car in other emerging markets.

"Our first priority is India. Like India, there are many markets around the world and we will explore them also when appropriate time comes. This will be a good opportunity for all the concerned parties," Ravikumar said.

The company further said that the feasibility has already extended into joint product development and the project is "on line to meet targeted performance and cost".

Renault has a joint venture with Mahindra & Mahindra, which manufactures `Logan` in India, and Nissan has signed three JVs with Hinduja flagship company Ashok Leyland.

China inflation rises to 8.5% in April: Govt

Beijing, May 12: China`s inflation rate rose to 8.5 percent in April, bouncing back to hover near 12-year highs, bringing more pressure on government to tame rising prices, identified by it as the "biggest concern".

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), main gauge of inflation, rose 8.5 percent from 8.3 percent in March and remained close to a nearly 12-year monthly high of 8.7 percent recorded in February, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Food prices accounting for more than a third of the CPI calculation have been the main driver of inflation. Government has been stepping up supplies of grain, pork, staple meat in China, and other food items and imposed price controls.

NBS said food prices climbed 22.1 percent in April, 0.7 percentage points higher than in March.

The price of meat shot up by 47.9 percent with that of pork soaring 68.3 percent. Prices of cooking oil price rose 46.6 percent, vegetables 13.6 percent, aquatic products 16.1 percent and grains 7.4 percent, official Xinhua news agency said quoting NBS.

The first four months saw CPI rise by 8.2 percent from the same period last year. It was 7.8 percent rise for urban areas and 8.8 percent for the countryside.

"Government needs to closely follow future price fluctuation and give more priority to curbing price hikes and preventing inflation," NBS said.

Government has vowed to maintain the CPI at 4.8 percent this year, the same level as last year, and said it would tighten monetary policy among a slew of measures to battle inflation.

China`s Central Bank had recently raised to a record high of 16 percent the proportion of funds banks must hold in reserve with it in the latest effort to check excess liquidity and curb inflation.

Tendulkar all set to make IPL debut against Chennai
Mumbai, May 12

Mumbai Indians` hopes got a big shot in the arm when their icon player and captain Sachin Tendulkar today declared himself fully fit to play his first Indian Premier League match against Chennai Super Kings at Wankhede stadium here on May 14.


"Yes I will be playing the match on May 14. I feel very comfortable. It has been tough and disappointing to have missed the two tests against South Africa and the first seven IPL ties," Tendulkar told reporters after a strenuous practice sessions under lights.

"It has been hard work and with help from the physio and masseuse," Tendulkar, who has not played a competitive match since March-end due to a groin injury, said.

Tendulkar said though ace South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock had done a commendable job as captain, resurrecting the team`s fortunes after a string of defeats in the first four matches, he would take over the reins now that he is fit.

"Shaun Pollock was the makeshift captain and has done a terrific job but I will be captaining the side," Tendulkar said.



He will open the innings with Sri Lankan ace Sanath Jayasuriya for the Mumbai Indians against Chennai, Tendulkar said.

The batsman however refused to be drawn into comments over off-spinner Harbhajan Singh who has been banned from the IPL for slapping S Sreesanth after the Mumbai Indians match against Punjab Kings XI at Mohali.

"It is a past chapter. Let`s put it behind and look ahead," Tendulkar said.

India`s largest coal-based power plant

New Delhi, May 13: State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals on Monday said it would set up Integrated Coal Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant at Vijaywada with Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGenco).

"Bhel has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with APGenco to set up country's biggest 125 MW IGCC power plant at Vijaywada," a company release said.

"Bhel has earmarked on several initiatives to meet the growing demands of the country's power sector," Bhel chairman and managing director K Ravi Kumar said. The state-run company has also formally taken over Visakhapatnam-based Bharat Heavy Plate and Vessels (BHPV). "We are confident of meeting the capacity addition targets for the Eleventh Plan period, with BHPV complimenting our business," Kumar said.

BHPV's turnover is expected to cross Rs 1,000 crore in five years and the capital expenditure of the company for three years is Rs 236 crore.

The Andhra Pradesh government has extended various concessions for the revival of the BHPV. The concessions include the transfer of title of land measuring 386.73 acres in possession of the BHPV as gift title deed in favour of BHPV and also waiver of registration and stamp duties. Waiver of Sales Tax arrears of Rs 42.16 crore and waiver of Nala Tax of Rs 43 lakh.

"Today, we are crossing a milestone in power generation technology with the signing of MoU between APGenco and Bhel for setting up a 125 MW IGCC plant at Vijaywada," Union minister for heavy industries and public enterprises Santosh Mohan Dev said.

Bhel plans to increase its power equipment manufacturing capacity from 10,000 MW to 15,000 MW per annum by 2009.