7 ArcelorMittal raises stake in Acindar to 99.5%

World's largest steel maker ArcelorMittal said it has acquired an additional 35 per cent stake in its Argentina-based subsidiary Acindar for about 552 million dollars. The NRI steel baron Lakshmi Mittal-run company already holds 64.5 per cent stake in Acindar through its subsidiary ArcelorMittal Brasil SA and with the latest acquisition, its holding has increased to 99.5 per cent in the firm. ArcelorMittal said that its cash tender offer for 35.5 per cent of additional stake in Acindar received 98.6 per cent participation. As of expiration date, the offering has been accepted for shares representing 35 per cent stake in the company, it said in a statement. On February 14, the closing date for the offer, ArcelorMittal would pay to the shareholders of Acindar 552.

2nd February 2008, www.financialexpress.com

8 Microsoft offer: Yahoo! says it needs time

Yahoo Inc said it may take ‘quite a bit of time’ to weigh its strategic options, including keeping the company independent, following Microsoft Corp's $45 billion offer to buy the company. In a weekend posting on the company's Web site, Yahoo said it was undertaking a deliberate review of Microsoft's unsolicited offer to pay Yahoo shareholders either $31 in cash, or 0.9509 of a share of Microsoft common stock. The review will include evaluating all of the Company's strategic alternatives including maintaining Yahoo! as an independent company, the posting said. A review process like this is fluid, and it can take quite a bit of time. In response to a frequently asked question about whether Yahoo would seek proposals from other Companies, also posted on its Web site, the company said it was going to evaluate all options.

3rd February 2008, www.financialexpress.com

9 Microsoft may borrow money to finance Yahoo deal

Microsoft Corp said on Monday it may borrow money for the first time in its history to fund a portion of its $44.6 billion unsolicited offer for Yahoo Inc. Microsoft also said it expects Yahoo's board to agree to the deal quickly, but Yahoo said over the weekend that it expects to take quite a bit of time to weigh all of its strategic options including remaining independent. A source familiar with Yahoo's strategy said it is considering a business alliance with Google Inc to fend off Microsoft's offer. Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said the software company may issue some debt to finance the cash portion of its 50-50 stock and cash offer for Yahoo, instead of drawing down its entire $21 billion cash pile. It's likely we're actually going to borrow for the first time," said Liddell in an annual strategy meeting with analysts. "It's going to be a mixture of the cash we have on hand plus debt.

4th February 2008, www.financialexpress.com

10 Tata Sky slashes hardware price by half

Aiming to have a much wider consumer base, direct-to-home service provider Tata Sky on Tuesday reduced hardware price by half at Rs 1,499. The rapid subscriber ramp-up in a short span of 16 months has resulted in large cost savings for the company, which it has decided to pass on to its customers, Tata Sky chief marketing officer Vikram Mehra said. Mehra said the company expects ‘many many more’ subscribers to add to its base, which as on December-end stood at 1.5 million. We have set a target of having eight million consumer base by 2012 and hope this offer will be a huge trigger to achieve that aim, Mehra said.

5th February 2008, www.financialexpress.com

Global Outsourcing

11 Indian outsourcing sector hit by Internet disruption

India's vital outsourcing industry was grappling with major communications disruption Thursday after damage to undersea cables thousands of kilometres away in the Mediterranean. Internet connections may take days to return to normal, businesses said, adding that telecommunications in neighbouring Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were also affected. Information-technology companies, software companies and call centres that provide online services to the UK or the US East Coast are the worst affected, said Rajesh Chharia, president of the Internet Service Providers' Association of India. "Some of them are re-routing through the Pacific as a backup, but the voice quality and speed of traffic will be highly degraded, he said, adding this solution left operators with half their normal bandwidth. Egyptian officials said Wednesday that an undersea fibre optic communications cable had been cut, while in Kuwait the government said weather conditions and maritime traffic had damaged two cables, affecting most of the region. It was unclear when the connections between Europe and the Middle East -- and South Asia -- would be repaired, although the worst estimates predicted disruption for up to 15 days.

31st January 2008, www.tutorial-reports.com

12 Outsourcing to reduce manpower, restructure cost: Railway official

The Indian Railways plans to outsource some of its services has received approval from the Staff Railway Board. The outsourcing has only been initiated in non-core activities sector, which was approved after consulting all the employee unions, said S S Khurana, Member of the Railway Board at the 57th Foundation Day ceremony of the Railway Staff College (RSC) on Thursday. Backing the decision to outsource, Khurana, the chief guest at the ceremony, said outsourcing has been done to reduce manpower and boost cost restructuring. Members of the National Federation of Indian Railwaymen-affiliated Inion Western Railway Mazdoor Sangh, meanwhile, are on a week-long protest over the Railway Ministry's decision of privatisation and outsourcing. Food Corporation of India's (FCI) Chairman and MD, Alok Sinha, who was also present at the ceremony, said, "This year, we will build 20 more godowns, especially in Jharkhand, the North East and Himachal Pradesh." Of the 1,426 godowns, 931 have been computerised, he said.

1st February 2008, www.tutorial-reports.com

13 Genpact to Provide Business Process Outsourcing Services to Ceridian

Genpact  which manages business processes for companies around the world, announced it has been selected by Ceridian Corporation, a leader in payroll processing, human resources management and employee benefits and assistance programs, to provide selected business process outsourcing (BPO) services as part of a multi-year contract. Terms were not disclosed. Genpact will provide  Genpact will provide finance and accounting services, transactional business support activities, and information technology outsourcing to Ceridian, which provides payroll processing and human resource solutions to more than 110,000 organizations. Ceridian will have the benefit of operating within a Genpact Virtual Captive(TM) model, which will enable Ceridian to drive substantial business impact through its partnership approach with Genpact. The Genpact-Ceridian centers initially will be set up in Juarez, Mexico, and Jaipur and Kolkata, India. Other locations in Europe and the Philippines are being evaluated.

2nd February 2008, www.tutorial-reports.com

14 HP closes outsourcing deal with JG Summit Holdings

HP Philippines has closed an outsourcing deal with JG Summit Holdings Inc. (JGHSI), one of the country's largest conglomerates. The deal was closed on September 27, 2007, but was only announced recently to the media, according to Lei Acevedo, marketing manager of HP Philippines Technology Solutions Group, in an interview. Acevedo said there were no details given on how much the deal was worth. But she said the outsourcing deal will last for seven years. The implementation of the deal is ongoing, added the HP Philippines executive. Under the deal, HP Philippines will provide the information technology infrastructure management and solutions across the conglomerate's business portfolio.

2nd February 2008, www.tutorial-reports.com

15 Asia-Pacific outsourcing growth accelerates

Outsourcing growth in the Asia-Pacific region was double the global average in 2007, according to the latest TPI Index, compiled by consultancy firm TPI. Although the number of contracts signed in 2007 grew by just 4%, their total value increased 30% year over year from US$9.9 billion to US$12.8 billion (NZ$12.73 billion to $16.4 billion) and annualised revenues showed a 13% increase, nearly double that of the global average. The average value of outsourcing contracts in region increased by 25% from US$141 million to US$176 million. Outsourcing growth was largely driven by corporations in India and China, according to Arno Franz, partner and managing director of TPI Asia Pacific.

4th February 2008, www.ft.com

16 Spillover Effects as Reasons for Not Outsourcing

Potential benefits should be the primary reason why an organization should decide to outsource. Strategic outsourcing of certain processes should allow companies to focus on their core competencies and therefore make the entire organization more effective. Passing on the work to others should also ensure that it is done right. It is simply a glorified example of division of labor that allows people to work on what they are good at therefore making the whole system more efficient. Costs are probably the most common consideration when deciding on whether to outsource or not. Both insourcing and outsourcing have their own advantages and disadvantages. When costs become the only consideration, organizations simply have to compare agency costs (costs associated with insourcing) with potential transactions costs (costs associated with outsourcing). Because businesses are always after profit and lower costs mean higher profit margins, whichever will cost them less should win the decision. Spillover effects, especially in terms of knowledge, are among the most common reasons for not outsourcing. Many companies tend to be paranoid about leakage of private information that may be used against them. They worry that they may gain competitors by sharing knowledge or that information learned from them may make its way to their current competitors. However, it seems that this in not entirely a valid reason for not outsourcing especially in today’s knowledge-driven environment.

4th February 2008, www.tutorial-reports.com

17 Nagarro Named to 2008 “Global Services 100” List of Top Outsourcing Firms

Nagarro, Inc., a leading provider of specialized technology services for highly complex markets, today announced that it has been included in the 2008 Global Services 100 list. The Global Services 100 list, now in its fourth year, is designed to enable buyers of business and technology services to identify the leading providers in IT services and business process outsourcing (BPO). Nagarro is one of 29 companies with operations in India selected for this year’s list. Nagarro is honored to be recognized as one of the top IT services firms in the world, said Vikas Sehgal, CEO of Nagarro. We have developed scalable processes that ensure high-quality execution of some of the most technically challenging projects in our industry. Our high customer satisfaction ratings are a result of our commitment to providing cost-effective and innovative solutions to support their strategic business initiatives. Judges from Global Services magazine team up with experts at neoIT, an outsourcing advisory firm, to identify and evaluate the leading service providers located on four continents.

3rd February 2008, www.tutorial-reports.com

Global Economy

18 Tax GDP ratio to touch 11.2% this fiscal: FM

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday said that Central tax to GDP ratio is estimated to have increased to 11.8 per cent in 2007-08 as per budget estimates, providing additional resources to the Centre for social expenditure and achieve fiscal consolidation. Buoyant economic growth along with efforts to improve the tax administration system has yielded rich dividends. As a result, the Central tax to GDP ratio is estimated to have increased from 8.2 per cent in 2001-02 to 11.8 per cent in 2007-08 as per budget estimates, Chidambaram said. While speaking at this year’s first meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his ministry, he said this increase has provided the government with additional resources that are being shared with the states besides being utilised for meeting expenditure in the social and infrastructure sectors and for fiscal consolidation.

1st February 2008, www.financialexpress.com

19 Gold dips on weak global cues, fresh selling

Gold prices fell by Rs 200 to Rs 11,720 per 10 gram in the bullion market today on fresh selling by stockists, triggered by weak global cues. Market sentiment turned bearish on reports that the yellow metal dipped by 14.50 dollars to 913.50 dollars an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange last night. Later, it slipped to 912.50 dollars an ounce, down 15.30 dollars, on the Chicago Board of Trade. Marketmen said both gold and silver met with fresh resistance at higher level in line with weak global trend. Standard gold and ornaments plunged by Rs 200 each to Rs 11,720 and Rs 11,570 per 10 grams respectively. However, sovereign, ruled flat at Rs 9,400 per piece of eight gram in limited deals. A similar trend was noticed in silver section as silver ready dropped by Rs 120 to Rs 20,780 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 80 at Rs 21,500 per kg.

2nd February 2008, www.economictimes.com

20 India to grow 8.75% in '07/08, says IMF

Indian policy makers expect growth close to 9.0 per cent in the current fiscal year and the statistics office will release the first official estimate for gross domestic product growth for 2007/08 on Feb. 7. India's Economy has been resilient in the face of heightened global uncertainties, slowing US growth and high world oil prices, and is expected to expand by 8.75 per cent this fiscal year as a result of rising productivity and investment, the IMF said in a report summarising its annual consultation on India's economic policy. Officials in New Delhi maintain that Asia's third-largest Economy can sustain annual growth of 9.0-9.5 per cent but a global financial crisis could dent expansion.

4th February 2008, www.financialexpress.com

21 What really happens when US sneezes

With the United States widely believed to be moving into recession, if it has not already arrived, the key question for economists and citizens alike is how much of the rest of the world will it drag down with it. Believers in the “decoupling” theory -- that other regions can prosper during a US downturn -- are facing off against those who say the ups and downs of the world’s largest Economy must still be followed by similar movements around the globe. So is there still truth in the old adage, “When the US sneezes the rest of the world catches cold”? Decoupling theorists had drawn strength from the fact that until last summer the gradual slowdown in the United States had had little effect on growth in most other countries and that trade linkages with the United States had become less important.

4th February 2008, www.financialexpress.com

22 US slowdown to benefit India: Kamal Nath

Indian Economy will attract more global investments benefiting from the US slowdown but the country should not get ‘psyched’ by the bubble burst there, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said on Wednesday. However, on the cautious side a study has been initiated in his Ministry to assess the impact of US slowdown on the Indian Economy. It will take a fortnight to do an assessment of what it means to India, he said. Earlier, the US was the most attractive investment destination for funds from the Middle East and Russia. "All this is changing... India is becoming an important parking lot for investments," Nath said, adding gloomier the US outlook, better it was for India from an investment point of view.

5th February 2008, www.financialexpress.com

23 Per capita income likely to grow to Rs 33,131 cr in 2008

India’s per capita income is likely to grow by nearly 12 per cent to Rs 33,131, according to the advance estimates released by the government on Thursday. In simpler words, if the country’s wealth is distributed equally among its people, a citizen will have Rs 33,131 (at current prices in 2007-08. A per capital income of Rs 33,131 (at current prices) for the current financial year represents 11.8 per cent growth over Rs 29,642 in the last fiscal when it grew by 14.2 per cent. However after taking into account the price rise, a citizen on an average is likely to have Rs 24,256 this fiscal (at 1999-2000 prices), up 7.5 per cent over Rs 22,553 in 2006-07, when it grew by 8.1 per cent. Advance estimates further revealed that the per capita income growth rate is likely to beat the price rise figures. However, the growth rate in both nominal as well as real terms are projected to be less than last year’s expansion.

5th February 2008, www.businessstandard.com

Global Markets

24 Rupee down against US dollar

Reacting negatively to a sharp slide in stocks market, the rupee on Monday turned weak against the US currency and was quoted seven paise lower in morning trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market. In fairly active trade, the local currency resumed lower at 39.41/43 a dollar from previous close of 39.3650/3700 and later moved downwards to 39.43/44 in late morning deals. Weakness in Asian stocks Markets weighed on the rupee sentiment, forex dealers said. The Indian unit came under pressure due to sustained capital outflows despite a sharp rate cut by the US Federal Reserve last week, they added.

31st January 2008, www.ft.com

25 US, China look set for another showdown

The United States has told China to get serious about relaxing the restraints on financial information providers in a letter that could represent a final warning before the US asks the WTO to intervene in the matter, it is learnt. In the letter to Chinese trade officials, the office of the US Trade Representative signaled it has run out of patience with China's refusal to change rules introduced two years ago that appeared to boost the official Xinhua News Agency at the expense of financial information Companies such as Reuters Group PLC and Bloomberg LP. The World Trade Organization said it has yet to receive a formal complaint from the United States, which is pursuing China in separate trade cases over rampant Chinese product piracy and measures hindering sales of US-made auto parts, CDs, DVDs and books, in separate cases.

1st February 2008, www.financialexpress.com

26 Reliance Power to list on bourses on Feb 11

Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Power, which had raised Rs 11,560 crore in the largest IPO on the Indian capital market, will list on the bourses on February 11. The company, with about 42 lakh shareholders, would list its shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange on February 11, it said in a statement. Reliance Power has already credited its shares to the demat accounts of successful allotees in the IPO, it said.

The company had carried out the allotment and refund exercise within 10 working days after the closure of the IPO. Reliance Power IPO had attracted over five million bids from all categories of domestic and international investors with a demand of shares worth over Rs 7,50,000 crore, resulting in the offer being oversubscribed by about 70 times. The portion reserved for Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) was oversubscribed 82.5 times, while that for Non Institutional Investors received bids for over 159 times the shares marked for them. The part reserved for retail investors was oversubscribed 13.6 times.

3rd February 2008, www.economictimes.com

27 FIIs invest in shares Rs 2,487.02 cr

Foreign Institutional Investors were net investors in equities even as the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex ended flat. FIIs made gross sale of equities worth Rs 2,487.02 crore and gross purchase of Rs 2,798.80 crore, resulting in a net investment of Rs 311.78 crore. However, Domestic institutional investors were net sellers in shares worth Rs 135.16 crore, provisional data available on the BSE show. Among other categories, non-resident Indian entities sold shares worth Rs 1.47 crore and proprietors invested in shares worth Rs 37.94 crore. Brokers, however, sold shares worth Rs 93.64 crore for their clients or retail investors. The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index, Sensex, ended flat as some heavy-weight metal, realty and refinery stocks, which posted fresh gains, nullified the loses in bank, auto, IT and FMCG shares.

4th February 2008, www.financialexpress.com

28 Rel Power to trade in F&O segment

Bombay Stock Exchange said that Futures and Options (F&O) investors will be able to trade in Anil Ambani Group's Reliance Power from February 11. The Futures and Options contracts on the underlying scrip of Reliance Power would be available for trading from February 11, a BSE circular said. Three Futures and Options (monthly) series that is February, March and April would be introduced on the same day, it added. The market lot size (multiplier of the F&O contract) is 450. Besides, the shares of the company would be listed on the bourses on February 11. The company has mopped by Rs 11,560 crore through its IPO which closed recently.

5th February 2008, www.financialexpress.com

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