New Delhi, June 10
World Bank expects India’s economic growth to moderate to 7 per cent in 2008 on account of the tightening of monetary policy and the resultant slowdown in demand for industrial goods.

“GDP growth in India eased to a still strong 8.7 per cent in 2007, from 9.7 per cent in 2006, and is projected to slow further to 7 per cent in 2008,” said the World Bank report on Global Development Finance released today.

World Bank attributed the moderation in GDP to “monetary tightening in 2007 (that) led to softening in domestic demand”.

Though the restrictive measures prevented the further fuelling of inflation, they proved detrimental to exporters by strengthening rupee, the report said.

There are growing signs of economy cooling down with deceleration in industrial production to 3 per cent in April 2008, it added.

However, the report said, despite the slowdown, the rate of consumption had not fallen mainly on account of the large remittance flows and healthy wage growth in the country.

The report also projects slowdown in global GDP from 3.7 per cent in 2007 to 2.7 per cent in 2008. — PTI

Washington, June 10
Accusing India of "working behind the scenes for Doha's demise", the US has said the WTO negotiations are not a "donor's conference" but require economic powers to shoulder responsibilities for reaching a global trade agreement.

"It is disappointing that India has been a roadblock to success in the Doha negotiations...the Doha Round negotiations are not a donor's conference — they require major economic powers like India to step up and take responsible leadership, rather than working behind the scenes for Doha's demise," US under secretary of commerce for international trade Christopher A Padilla said here yesterday.

"India has resisted virtually all liberalising proposals in Doha even those proffered by other developing countries," Padilla said adding the time is fast approaching when "India's stance on Doha may result in the failure of the Doha Round".

Sharp comments against India by a US official have come days before commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath is scheduled to meet US Trade Representative Susan Schwab and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson here.

Addressing a Heritage Foundation seminar on 'India Rising: Responsibility and Partnership in the 21st Century', Padilla said India continues to insist that "it and other developing countries be protected from any real market opening in industrial goods or agriculture or services", he said.

The US official also blamed India for disturbing the international food market by slapping export bans on foodgrains and edible oils.

"Indian government's decision to impose certain export bans on non-basmati rice and edible oils has rattled international markets," he said.

Padilla said while export ban address the issue of food security in the short-term, "these policies make the situation worse".

"They take food off the global market, drive prices higher and discourage farmers from responding to market forces and investing in future production," he said. — PTI

Mumbai, June 10
Leading automaker Tata Motors today said it is looking at further acquisition opportunities and strategic alliances in India and abroad and is seeking to raise $1 billion in debt or equity from overseas market. Tata Motors completed acquisition of UK luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover for $2.3 billion earlier this month.

Tata Motors is part of Ratan Tata-led domestic conglomerate that has been engaged in a number of high-profile overseas takeover deals such as that of Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus.

"The company has major growth plans for expanding its product range and presence in the domestic and global markets in commercial and passenger vehicles, including strategic alliances and acquisition opportunities," Tata Motors said in a notice sent to shareholders seeking their approval on various issues such as fund raising plans.

The company is seeking the shareholders' consent for raising up to $1 billion through issue of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds or equity shares in the international market, the circular said. — PTI

Of the sectoral indices, the BSE IT index was the biggest loser, closing at 4,283 levels or down 2.8 per cent.

Prominent losers included Tech Mahindra, Mphasis and TCS. The BSE Bankex also fell 2.4 per cent to close at 6,862 points.

New Delhi, June 10
After having announced a tie-up earlier for bringing iPhone, Bharti Airtel and Apple today said they were extending their partnership by bringing in the highly anticipated 3G version of iPhone in India later this year.

The company said the booking for the phone has already started. Soon, customers will be able to purchase iPhone 3G at Airtel Relationship Centers. Details of pricing and availability will be announced at a later date.

iPhone 3G combines all features of iPhone with 3G networking, which is said to be two times faster than the first generation iPhone. It has a built-in GPS for expanded location-based mobile services, a joint press release said.

It also has iPhone 2.0 software, which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK.

"We are delighted with the opportunity to bring the innovative iPhone 3G to India," said Bharti Airtel president and CEO Manoj Kohli.

"We are thrilled to be working with Bharti Airtel, India's leading integrated telecom company, to bring iPhone 3G to millions of mobile customers in India," said Apple's COO Tim Cook. "We can't wait to get this revolutionary product in the hands of even more people around the world."

Incidentally, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled new software for its popular iPhone yesterday that lets business users send and receive Microsoft Exchange email, in a direct shot at rival BlackBerry.

Chandigarh, June 10
Spice Telecom will initiate a unique advertising campaign by hiring ‘bhaands’ and through ‘muniyadis’ to spread awareness of its ‘people phone’, that was launched here today.

The GSM phone, S-300, is a handset with lifetime pre-paid connection at Rs 599, targeting the rural markets where the company sees a huge potential for expansion.

The phone does not have a display screen, and also lacks the SMS function but has an audio interface in Punjabi (for Punjab) and Kannada (for Karnataka). It will read out the number to which the call is made and received.

Announcing the launch here today, Subodh Srivastava, COO, Spice Telecom, and Mukul Khanna, vice-president, said they have planned a unique advertising campaign for the launch of this phone.

The company will also be organising chabeels at the village common places to spread awareness about the product.

They said the handset will be sold only in Punjab and Karnataka initially, after which it will be available elsewhere at a "higher cost".

This offers talk time of three hours, and a 15-day battery backup, reducing the need for frequent recharging.

This phone will have a three-year warranty, can make outgoing calls to any local number at Re 1 per minute with lifetime validity.

The 'hot key' for value-added services can be used to get useful information in Punjabi on mandi rates for vegetables, pulses, beverages, cereals, dry fruits, flowers, fruits, oil seeds, and entertainment services like mobile radio, jokes and devotional songs.

"Since the next level of mobile revolution will come from rural areas, we have decided to strengthen our rural base. As of now, our rural penetration is 20 per cent, and we are targeting an increase of 50 per cent through this launch,” he said.

New Delhi, June 10
Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications (RCom) may opt for a secondary listing in London of the new entity after the planned takeover of the South African telecom firm MTN to increase liquidity of shares in the global market.

At present, Reliance is in exclusive talks with MTN with respect to a potential combination of their businesses. The exclusivity talks period of 45 days started on May 26. The due diligence is currently in the final stages and is likely to be concluded anytime.

Industry sources said the MTN top brass, including Azmi Mikati, the chief executive of the investment unit that is MTN's second-largest shareholder and Phuthuma Nhelko, the chief executive of MTN are positively inclined to have LSE listing of the merged entity.

However, the combined entity would continue to be listed in Johannesburg through MTN and in Mumbai through Reliance.

Sources said currently both companies are working out the swap ratio and it is understood that Ambani wants to exchange his 66 per cent stake in RCom under a mechanism yet to be agreed for a 34.9 per cent stake in MTN.

The broad contours of the final agreement between them regarding share swap, modalities are likely to be finalised in the next 10 days, said industry sources.

MTN's talks with RCom started after Bharti Airtel pulled out of negotiations with MTN. — PTI

"We are not looking for acquisitions [except] where we can add value," the newspaper said quoting Agarwal in an article published in its online edition. — PTI

Mumbai, June 10
Yahoo India today announced the launch of its new local information destination, Yahoo! India Local (beta), available at local.yahoo.in.

This new offering provided a compelling user experience with relevant local information that impacts users' daily needs.

Yahoo! India Local was available across Delhi/NCR, Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore. It provided rich local information such as business listings, maps and directions, local events, and current movies.

Users could get listings from a wide range of categories such as restaurants, pubs, shopping malls, hospitals, schools, tailors, banks, health and fitness, and 24-hour pharmacies. — UNI

New Delhi, June 10
The leather industry in India, especially in the footwear segment, is eyeing the huge market in America with the traditional Chinese industry seeing a major increase in input costs after hitting the saturation point.

Representative of Indian Footwear Components Manufacturers’ Association (IFCOMA), while talking at the launch of the Footwear Machinery and Technology (fMM&T) exhibition said, with China reaching the saturation point, the American buyers were now turning to India.

They said India was set for a major increase in leather export, especially the footwear segment. Although India is the second largest producer of footwear in the world, it lags far behind China in the export segment.

In comparision to China’s 900 million pairs, India exports just 100 million pairs at $1,210 million, but is looking at doubling the capacity in the next five years.

Incidentally, compared to the 70 per cent share which India enjoys in the European market, it has a mere 15 per cent share in the American market.

The total export of leather goods stands at $2,982 million today in comparision to a meager $290 million in 1956-57.

IFCOMA, in collaboration with Asia Pacific Leather Fair Ltd (APLF) would be hosting the fMM&T in May 2009, which is expected to give a major fillip to the Indian leather industry with as many as over 100 participants expected from America, Europe, Japan, South America, Japan, China and Taiwan alone.

Michael Duck, senior vice-president, APLF, said, “Today India accounts for 2.65 per cent of the world trade in leather and leather goods. But with the Indian government having set an export target of $7 billion for the year 2010-11, the country is set to emerge as a major player in the world”.

This is the first time that APLF would be coming to India after hosting major fairs in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia and the world.

Chandigarh, June 10
The retail arm of Paramount Surgimed, that retails global lifestyle and fashion brands like OSIM, Saboori Collezione and Axara, is in expansion mode and is hoping to clog a turnover of Rs 100 crore in this financial year.

The group, which is presently retailing its products in the metros, is now eyeing the tier-II towns for the expansion of its retail operations.

“We are looking to open 20 new outlets in these towns by the end of this year, with eight stores each of Axara and Saboori Collezione,” said Shaily Grover, managing director, Paramount Surgimed.

He added that they were looking at opening stores of their fashion brand Axara in Ludhiana, Amritsar and Chandigarh, and for Saboori Collezione in Chandigarh.

Talking to TNS here today, Grover said the growth story of India had led to a huge demand of global lifestyle goods. The group has added Axara (a hi-end French fashion brand), and Saboori Collezione (hi-end bathing solutions like sauna, massage tubs, Jacuzzis et al) in the past six months.

“We are now trying to expand our portfolio and are in talks to add other fashion brands to our retail business,” he said.

“We had entered into the retail business after taking the master franchisee of OSIM International (a multi-million conglomerate in lifestyle healthy products) in 2004. Today, we have 22 exclusive stores and 45 points of sale, and will be adding 10 new exclusive stores, including one in Chandigarh, this year,” he said.

He said the retail arm of Paramount Surgimed was now contributing 50 per cent of the group’s turnover. Of the Rs 100 crore turnover of Paramount Surgimed, the turnover from the retail arm is around Rs 50 crore,” he said.

BRIEFLY

Rupee nears 43 level
Mumbai: The Indian rupee is fast approaching the crucial 43 level as the local unit lost nine paise at 42.96/97 against the greenback on Tuesday with demand from oil companies for dollar continuing amid inadequate supply of the US currency and sluggish equity markets. — PTI

HDFC net up 56 pc
Mumbai: Leading home loan provider Housing Development Finance Corporation on Tuesday announced a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,713 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2008, a 55.74 per cent growth over the year-ago period. For FY'08, the total income rose to Rs 8,819.42 crore from Rs 6,393.19 crore in the year-ago period. — PTI

Gold drops by Rs 210
New Delhi: A four-day long rising spree was snapped as gold dropped by Rs 210 to Rs 12,475 per 10 gram on the bullion market here on Tuesday on stockists selling influenced by a weakening global trend. In London, gold fell $7.85 to $885.05 an ounce. — PTI

Birla Sun Life Insurance plan
Mumbai: Birla Sun Life Insurance on Tuesday said it has launched a new product called Birla Sun Life Insurance Platinum Plus aimed at reducing investment risk and optimising returns. The Insurance Platinum Plus is a short pay, medium-term unit-linked insurance plan which offers guaranteed maturity unit price, the first in the Indian insurance industry, a press release issued here stated. — PTI

Lotus Eye Care IPO
New Delhi: Lotus Eye Care Hospital on Tuesday said it would raise around Rs 42 crore through its initial public offer for funding its expansion plan. Coimbatore-based company would be issuing one crore equity shares of Rs 10 each in the price band of Rs 38-42 and the issue would constitute 48.09 per cent of the fully diluted post-issue paid-up equity share capital of the company. — PTI

Tata Comm in South Africa
Mumbai: Telecom and Internet service provider, Tata Communications on Tuesday announced its network expansion in South Africa, through an arrangement with the country's converged communication network operator Neotel. The company will also launch new multi service point of presence (POP), which will offer MPLS, Ethernet, IP and International Private Leased Circuit (IPLC) services in the region, the release added. — UNI