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TCS to look for acquisitions if they offer strategic fit

Mumbai, July 18: Tata Consultancy Services, the biggest IT company from India is looking for acquisitions but only if they offer a strategic fit, a top official said Friday.

The company which declared its first quarter results Wednesday has USD 1 billion in cash and liquid investment.

Speaking to reporters N Chandrasekaran, executive director and chief operating officer of the company said, "We are comfortable with acquisitions of a few hundred million dollars."

However he pointed out that identifying a right candidate for acquisition is important. It has to add to the capability.

The acquisition has to have a strategic fit, he observed.

Referring to the outlook for the rest of the year, he said the company is expecting growth from manufacturing, retail and utilities.

He said the key message he would like to convey is that the company has seen real growth in the US, traditionally the biggest market for the company.

The revenues from the US grew by four per cent in dollar terms in the first quarter, which he indicated was very good given the current slowdown in that country.

PM moves confidence motion; Advani lashes out at Manmohan Singh

New Delhi, July 21: The two-day special session of Parliament for the trust vote began on Monday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh moving the trust vote invoking the couplets of Guru Gobind Singh sounding the victory bugle.

“I have no doubt that the people of India will consider what we have done and will reaffirm their trust in us. We will win the trust vote,” said a confident PM.

The PM started out with moving a one-line motion saying: “That this House expresses its confidence in the Council of Ministers.”

Taking the Left leaders along in his note of thanks, “Today our government completes four years. If we are here for four years the credit goes to all the leaders of the UPA including its chairperson of Sonia Gandhi, Jyoti Basu, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, and M Karunanidhi,” adding, “It’s their vision and their sagacity that we were able to function properly.”

Rebutting the opposition tirade about India acquiescing to the US, the PM said that I would like to assure that every decision, every initiative that we have taken is in the best interest of the country and people.

A pensive PM then, understanding the mood of the nation, cautiously added that the government understands that the session has been convened at a time when the government is tackling the inflation and is concerned about the common man.

Regarding the opposition faced by him over his decision to go ahead with the nuke deal, the PM said, “I had earlier said that I would come to Parliament and seek its approval after IAEA and NSG negotiations get over. This was my solemn assurance.”

“The vote has been sought as the Left withdrew support over the issue. The intimation came during my tour to Japan for the G8 meet. But as soon as I came to know of it I assured the President that I will seek the trust vote as soon as possible,” added the PM.

Keen to affirm his legacy the PM said, “The responsibility given to me as PM required that I take decisions in the best interest of the nation. I have no doubt that the people of India will consider what we have done and reaffirm their trust in us.”

On the allegations that the Congress has sold the country to the US, the PM said, “I have no doubt that the Congress is the most patriotic party. I assure the nation that we have been inspired by the legacy of the freedom struggle and the pledge of Rajiv Gandhi that we have to prepare the country for the 21st century.”

He then went on quote Guru Gobind Singh to the delight of the cheering treasury benches.

Deh Shiva Var Mohe, Shubh Karman Se Kabhoon Na Taroon Kabhoon Na Daroon, Jab Jaye Laroon, Nishchay Kar Apni Jeet Karoon Aru Sikh Ho Apne Hi Mun Ko Eh Lalach Ho Gun To Uchro Jab Aav Ki AudhNidan Baney Ati Hi Ran Main To Jujh Maro

(O Lord grant me this boon, that I may never avoid doing a good deed. Never shall I fear the enemy when I go into the battlefield and always ensure my victory . That I may teach myself this greed alone, to learn only Thy praises. And when the last days of my life come, I may die in the might of the battlefield.)

Top leaders of the Congress as also its supporting parties are expected to participate in the discussion; young Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is expected to be one of the key leaders today.

Advani launches personal attack on PM

Putting the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Prime Minister for the reduced numbers in Parliament, Leader of Opposition L K Advani hit out Dr Manmohan Singh, saying he was personally responsible for brining his government into minority.

Indian Bank records profit

Chennai, July 21: Leading nationalised bank Indian Bank has recorded a operating profit of Rs 436.63 crore for the quarter ended June 2008 as compared to Rs 329.73 crore for the corresponding period last year, registering a growth of 32.42 percent.

Highlighting the performance of the Bank to the mediapersons in Chennai on Monday, Indian Bank Chairman and Managing Director M S Sundara Rajan said the bank recorded a net profit of Rs 217.62 crore for the quarter ended June 2008 as compared to Rs 212.03 crore for the corresponding period, registering a growth of 2.64 percent.

He said the bank's interest income improved by 25.65 percent (Rs 306.58 crore) to Rs 1,501.78 crore from Rs 1,195.20 crore.

"The total incomed also improved by 26.75 percent to Rs 1,744.99 crore from Rs 1,376.74 crore", he said.

Sundara Rajan highlighted that the overall business of the bank increased to Rs 1, 06,691 crore up from Rs 80,341 crore, recording a growth of Rs 26,350 crore (32.80 percent).

Total deposites rose by 24.90 percent to Rs 62,215 crore from Rs 49,812 crore. Gross advances increased by 45.68 percent to Rs 44,476 crore from 30,529 crore.

Priority sector advances of the bank increased by Rs 785 crore to reach Rs 15,914 crore as at June 30, 2008 and recored a year on year growth rate of 27.24 percent. It constituted 41.66 percent of adjusted net bank credit as against the norm of 40 percent.

Sundara Rajan said during the first quarter, the bank disbursed Rs 1,301 crore as agriculture advances benefiting 2.61 lakh farmers.

The bank has provided debt waiver amounting to Rs 457 crore benefiting 2.37 lakh small and marginal farmers under 'Agricultural debt waiver and debt relief scheme 2008'. Fresh loans were issued to the beneficiaries of the scheme from July 1, 2008 and so far Rs 11.74 crore has been provided to 4,452 farmers.

The bank disbursed Rs 165.26 crore as credit assistance to 13,656 self help groups during the quarter ended June 2008.

He said the bank's education loan portfolio stood at Rs 1,312.89 crore as on June 30, 2008. During the quarter ended June 2008, the bank disbursed a sum of Rs 139.14 crore as educational loans to 13,194 students.

High drama amidst trust vote debate, voting to happen as scheduled

New Delhi, July 22: Amidst animated debate over the trust vote, the scene in Parliament today turned theatrical when three Opposition MPs walked into the Well of the House with bags stashed with bundles of cash. Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has ordered an enquiry into the issue and summoned the Delhi Police Commissioner. He has also left today’s schedule untouched. The PM will address the House at 6 pm and the voting will follow at 630 pm.

The three BJP MPs alleged that the Samajwadi Party had offered them Rs 9 crores to abstain during the trust vote. Within minutes all the members in the House converged in the Well trading charges.

It seems the dramatic revelations had the sanction of the BJP leader L K Advani, who consented to the MPs making public the allegations. Advani revealed CDs had been recorded after the BJP MP asked a journalist of a well know channel to record the proceedings.

The BJP MPs who were being fished were Ashok Singh Arghal and Phagan Singh Kulaste from Madhya Pradesh and Mahavir Bhagoda from Rajasthan. They accused a SP leader of initially offering them Rs 1 crore with the promise that the remaining amount would be delivered post vote. Each MP was to be given a total of Rs 3 crore each.

The money was given to them in denominations of Rs1000 in bundles of 100 i.e. a lakh per bundle.

However no claim so far has been substantiated.

Party Reactions

BJP’s reaction

Rajnath Singh said that after the incident the PM had no right to continue in his post. He said the incident has shocked the BJP as much as the country. Rajnath demanded that the CD should be taken from the TV channel and shown to the leaders of all the parties. He however added that they would still be ready for the trust vote in case the Speaker so decided.

Sushma Swaraj added that since the Prime Minister had challenged to give proof of the huge payouts being made for horse trading, then this was proof enough.

CPM

Brinda Karat said the incident made a mockery of the temple of democracy. She termed the incident shameful and called for the immediate resignation of the Government.

“If we have to save the democracy and the trust vote has to be saved from becoming a mockery, then the Lok Sabha has to take a decision on how to tackle it,” added CPM general secretary Prakash Karat.

RJD

Lalu Yadav on his part hit out at Opposition for being frustrated and accused it for playing out a fraud. He demanded to know how so much cash reached the House and why the MPs chose not to go straight to the Speaker’s chamber and instead walked into the Well of the House.

He said that this is first time that something like this had happened in the history of Parliament and demanded narco tests be conducted on the MPs. He also called for their arrest in case they were actually a party to the misadventure.

Congress

Ashwini Kumar described the entire incident as extremely unfortunate. He said there was no doubt that the incident had been planted and even the tapes could be doctored. The bottom line he said was that everything so far was unsubstantiated.

BSP alleges CBI threat

Earlier, the BSP MPs had accused the government of putting the CBI hot on their heels. Making his point to the Speaker in the House BSP MP Brajesh Pathak claimed that while he was stepping out of the Parliament House after it was adjourned till 2:00 pm, an unknown lady approached him and gave a piece of paper.

It was written on the paper that the Bahujan Samaj Party should vote in favour of the UPA government or else its leader Mayawati will be sent to jail where CBI will take good care of her.

On hearing the charges, BSP termed it as a serious matter and demanded the setting up of a Parliamentary Committee to probe the threat. CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said that the House must take cognizance of the matter and probe it immediately.

Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, meanwhile, has asked the Home Minister to look into the matter.

BHEL Q1 net profit jumps 33% to Rs 384 cr

New Delhi, July 22: State-run power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals has reported a net profit of Rs 384.41 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2008, a rise of 33 per cent compared to the same period a year ago.

It had registered a net profit of Rs 288.91 crore for the year-ago period.

The company's income rose 31.77 per cent to Rs 4,703.55 crore from Rs 3,569.56 crore in the same period last year, a company statement has said.

The company consumed raw materials worth Rs 25,179 crore during the period, compared to Rs 19,008 crore in the same period last year.

BHEL at present has an order book of 95,000 crore that including many contracts from abroad.

It had recently bagged its first turnkey contract from Syria worth Rs 2,080 crore to develop 400 MW thermal power project in the country.

The order has been placed by Public Establishment of Electricity for Generation and Transmission (PEEGT), Ministry of Electricity, Syria.

BHEL also received a Rs 160 crore order for supply of two gas turbine generating units from United Arab Emirates. The company bagged an export contract for suppling two gas turbine generating units of 42 MW each from UAE based firm, International Energy Resources (IER).

The two units are planned to be used in different locations for the Mobile Power Plants.

The company has so far set up 14 power projects in the Middle East apart from sub-stations and supply of equipment for the power and oil & gas sectors.

IDBI Bank net at Rs 159.76 cr, interest income grows 35%

Mumbai, July 22: Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) on Tuesday announced the first quarter standalone net profit at Rs 159.76 crore, a 4.34 percent growth over the corresponding period a year-ago.

IDBI had a net profit of Rs 153.12 crore in the first quarter of FY'08, the public sector bank said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The total income rose to Rs 2,739.12 crore in the latest quarter, from Rs 2,193 crore in the year-ago period.

During the June quarter, the bank's interest income increased 34.85 percent to Rs 2,417.64 crore, from Rs 1,792.79 crore in the same period in FY'08.

Shares of IDBI Bank were trading at Rs 70.15, up 2.56 percent in the afternoon trade on the BSE.

SBI MF announces 20% dividend under Magnum COMMA Fund

Mumbai, July 22: State Bank of India Mutual Fund on Tuesday said it has declared a dividend of 20 percent under the dividend option of Magnum COMMA Fund, an open-ended growth scheme.

The record date has been fixed at July 25, 2008, a release issued here said.

After the payment of dividend, the Net Asset Value (NAV) of the scheme/option would fall to the extent of payout and statutory levy, if applicable.

Dividend distribution is subject to availability of distributable surplus and statutory levy (if any).

All Magnum/ Unit holders of the scheme, whose names appear in record of Registrar of SBI Mutual Fund on the aforesaid record date, will be entitled to receive dividend, the release said.

Oil tumbles about $4 with storm fears waning
Tuesday July 22, 10:58 am

Oil tumbles in repeat of last week's big drops, falling about $4 to $127 a barrel

NEW YORK -- Oil prices tumbled Tuesday, falling about $4 a barrel as concerns eased about possible supply disruptions from Tropical Storm Dolly.
The sell-off, which came with the existing futures contract set to expire, was a throwback to last week's sharp declines and dragged crude to its lowest trading level since early June.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell $3.80 at $127.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the contract dropped as low as $126.26.

The declines offered further evidence that investors who only a week and a half ago drove prices to a new record above $147 a barrel are now pulling money out of the market. There are also indications that the price of oil is killing demand, especially in the U.S., which consumes far more oil than any other country.

"This is more of the long exit from the market by the hedge funds," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates. "A lot of these investors who have been supporting prices are hitting the road"

Prices rose Monday as Tropical Storm Dolly bore down on oil and gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico, but that did little to dent the steep declines left over from last week's sell-off.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami say it is likely Dolly will become a hurricane, but they do not expect it to become a major hurricane.

By morning in the U.S., the storm's center was about 265 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas. It was moving west-northwest at around 13 mph and winds were expected to strengthen Tuesday to hurricane force, which would mean at least 74 mph.

"The market had a rally yesterday based on concerns about the storm," Ritterbusch said. "Most people I knew were looking for a stronger price rally. When we can't muster up much steam, a lot of these hedge funds are just dumping their long positions."

Other energy commodities were also down sharply. Natural gas is trading below $10 per 1,000 cubic feet for the first time since April.

Retail gas prices continue to fall away, with the cost for a gallon of gas falling more than a penny overnight to $4.055, according to AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.

It is the first time since January that gas has fallen for two consecutive weeks, according to analyst and trader Stephen Schork. Still, a gallon of gas still costs 30 percent more than it did last year, or more than 80 cents, he said.

In other Nymex trading, natural gas futures dropped 51.4 cents to $9.996 per 1,000 cubic feet. Heating oil sank 7.47 cents to $3.6732 per gallon, while gasoline futures tumbled 9.31 cents to $3.124 per gallon.

In London, September Brent fell $3.74 to $128.89 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

UPA nukes Oppn; PM calls the victory `convincing`

New Delhi, July 22: The government lead by Dr Manmohan Singh today won the Trust vote polling 275 in favour vis-a-vis 256 against in a House of 541 with 10 abstentions. The government won by a margin of 19. The voting was both automated and manual, to remove any chance of error. The Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi were immediately surrounded by a galaxy of members eager to extend their congratulations to them.

A jubilant Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said the government would now approach the IAEA and get this nuclear deal done.

Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh began his speech expressing “profound sadness” at the proceedings. He also promised that whoever was responsible in the bribery case would be dealt with, according to law of the land.

But refusing to let the Prime Minister make the concluding speech before moving the confidence motion, the Opposition members reached the Well of the House chanting slogans. They demanded that the Prime Minister step down immediately taking responsibility for unfair means adopted to garner votes.

The Prime Minister was then forced to submit his speech as a statement.

The Prime Minister was forced to seek a confidence vote when the Left withdrew support on July 08 on the issue of nuclear deal. The PM at that time was in Japan for the G 8 summit. Immediately after his return, he approached the President and sought the floor test.

The Prime Minister was determined to go ahead with the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement, while the Left are dead opposed to it.

PM assails LK

Though the PM was not able to give the concluding speech in the Parliament, drowned out by the opposition’s sloganeering, in his statement, he hit back at L K Advani for levelling charges of incompetence against him. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the BJP leader to do some "introspection" over his role when Gujarat was burning and during the Kandahar hijack crisis.

Replying to the debate on the trust vote in the Lok Sabha, he also asked "our friends" in the Left Front to ponder over the company they were forced to keep because of the "miscalculations" by "their general secretary", an apparent reference to CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat. He also said that the Left was trying to treat him as a bonded slave.

The Prime Minister tabled his speech after he started to speak amid uproarious scenes and slogan shouting by the Opposition who demanded his resignation over the bribery issue.

"Before levelling charges of incompetence on others, Advani should do some introspection. Can our nation forgive a Home Minister who slept when the terrorists were knocking at the doors of our Parliament?" he asked.

Singh also wanted to know whether the nation can forgive a person who "single handedly provided the inspiration for the destruction of the Babri Masjid with all the terrible consequences that followed".
Full Text of PM’s Speech »

Victory gives us impetus

Minutes after winning the Trust Vote in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, PM Manmohan Singh called the victory ‘convincing.’ He thanked all the Member of Parliaments who voted for him.

“Parliament of India has spoken today,” he said. He said the Government could go only forward from here. It was because of the single minded pursuit of a cause that we won, he added.

PM expressed sadness at the drama over bribery. "We have faith in the Speaker. He will do what is right."

In the first reaction to their winning the Vote of Confidence, Congress party spokesperson Manish Tiwari expressed happiness and gratitude to all their allies who helped them win.

“We had full confidence that we will win comfortably. Members across party are to be thanked for this feat,” Manish Tiwari said.

PM rings up Prez

Soon after the UPA government won the trust vote, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday informed President Pratibha Patil about the development.

The Prime Minister rang up the President and informed her about government's victory in the confidence vote in the Lok Sabha, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said.

Ranbaxy wins price-rigging case in UK

New Delhi, July 22: Homegrown pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd on Tuesday said it has got clean chit from English Crown Court in a case relating to allegation of price rigging in drug supplies to UK's National Health Services (NHS) between 1996-2000.

The English Crown Court has quashed the prosecution of Ranbaxy (UK) Ltd (RUKL) by UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Ranbaxy said in a statement.

"The court has also declined an application by the SFO for permission to appeal to the English Court of Appeal," it said.

The SFO, however, retains a right to appeal to the Court of Appeal directly, it added.

SFO had initiated prosecution against Ranbaxy in April 2006 for alleged price rigging of pencilin-based anti-biotics, including amoxicillin, ampicillin and flucloxacillin, that were supplied to the NHS between 1996-2000.

Welcoming the decision of the court, the company said: "Ranbaxy is a responsible company committed to providing high quality generic medicines at affordable prices to its customers and patients."