The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Goldman fraud hits global markets London, April 19 Worries about the impact of fraud charges against Goldman Sachs rattled stock markets on Monday, sending investors in search of less speculative currencies, which boosted government bonds. Wall Street also look set to open lower. The Goldman fears combined, in Europe, with concerns over the economic impact of disruption of commerce due to the cloud of Icelandic volcanic ash. It has already cost the airline industry hundreds of millions of dollars, left millions of passengers stranded, and hit importers and exporters. The travel disruption is also delaying talks on Greek debt, pressuring its sovereign debt and sending the spread against German bunds to a lifetime high. The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday charged Goldman with fraud over its handling of a debt product tied to subprime mortgages. The result was a wave of risk aversion across financial markets. Some analysts also have been suggesting that equities in particular are due for a pause after world stocks hit a new year high last week. "The sell-off is not entirely surprising considering the strong performance for risky assets in March and the first weeks of April," SEB said in a note. MSCI's all-country world index was down nearly 1 per cent, with its more volatile emerging market component off more than 2 per cent. In Europe, where the airline industry has ground to a halt as a result of the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was down 1 per cent. Earlier, in Japan, the Nikkei closed down 1.74 per cent. Yen rises The low-yielding yen rose broadly in a move that reflect concerns among investors. "People are buying yen on the back of increasing risk aversion. It's risk-off on the Goldman news and worries over this week's EU/IMF meeting on Greece. That's also hitting the euro," said Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC markets. The euro was trading down against both the dollar and the yen. Against the yen, it was down 0.9 per cent at 123.40 yen after shedding around 1.5 per cent on Friday after the Goldman news. Against the dollar, it was down half a per cent to $1.3425. — Reuters
	Sensex tanks 190 points Mumbai: Stock markets plummeted on Monday with the benchmark Sensex losing a sizeable 190 points to close at a one month-low amid fears of RBI signalling a rate hike in its annual monetary policy review on Tuesday. The sentiment was also greatly impacted by global markets nosediving on concerns that Goldman issue could see more skeletons of the financial crisis tumbling out of the Wall Street. After tanking over 314 points on aggressive selling by funds, the 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange recovered some of the losses to settle at a one-month low of 17,400.68 points, a sharp loss of 190 points from its last close. The 50-share Nifty Index of the National Stock Exchange declined by 1.19 per cent to 5,200 points. Among the Asian peers, China's Shanghai index closed 4.79 per cent lower with realty shares among the worst hit as rising property prices have led to fears of a rate hike. — PTI
	High inflation to dampen growth: RBI Pegs FY ’10 growth at 7.2 pc n Monetary Policy today Shiv Kumar Tribune News Service Mumbai, April 19 Ahead of the monetary policy statement for the year 2010-11 due to be released tomorrow, the RBI today warned that inflation could be a major threat to India's economic growth story. In its document, Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments in 2009-10, which serves as a background to the policy statement, RBI said economic stimulus packages were in the process of being withdrawn. "With the improving growth outlook, monetary and fiscal exit measures have started," RBI said. Sounding a note of warning on inflation, RBI said "the weight of policy balance may have to shift to containing inflation since high inflation itself will dampen recovery in growth." The apex bank, however, admitted that recovery in private demand needs to be stronger to reinforce growth momentum. The RBI also indicated that key rates would increase. "In the emerging macroeconomic scenario, monetary policy management in 2010-11 will be dominated by the challenge of moderating inflation and anchoring inflation expectations, while remaining supportive of growth impulses," RBI said. In its policy statement, RBI noted that recovery in the global economy picked up momentum in the fourth quarter of 2009. "The projections for global output for 2010 generally point to consolidating recovery, led by the Emerging Market Economies (EMEs). The WTO projects world trade to stage a strong recovery in 2010," RBI said. Sounding a cautious note, the apex bank said large public debt in the developed economies posed a risk to overall global macroeconomic environment. "With stronger recovery in EMEs driven largely by domestic demand, improving exports and return of capital flows, EMEs face the risks of inflation and asset price build up," RBI said. The Indian economy, the RBI said, exhibited clear momentum in recovery, and despite the impact of a deficient monsoon on agricultural production, GDP growth for 2009-10 has been estimated at 7.2 per cent, up from 6.7 per cent recorded in 2008-09. "Concerns about domestic output growth are now subdued as the recovery is getting more broad-based. This is the result of a rebound in industrial output, better prospects for the rabi crop and continuing resilience of the services sector," RBI said. The statement further noted that output growth in 2010-11 is expected to be higher than in 2009-10, assuming a normal monsoon. The financial regulator also expects the momentum in investment demand to continue even as a pick-up in private consumption demand could drive the recovery in growth. "Growth in corporates sales, after remaining significantly depressed over four consecutive quarters, staged a strong recovery in Q3 of 2009-10, indicating improving private demand conditions," RBI said.
	Philips outsources TV biz to Videocon New Delhi, April 19 Consumer electronics giant Philips today said it has outsourced its entire TV business, including manufacturing, distribution and selling, to Videocon Industries. "The brand licensing agreement under which Videocon assumes responsibility for the sourcing, distribution, marketing and sales of all Philips' consumer television activities in India is aimed at bringing the TV business back into profitability from 2010 onwards," Philips Electronics India managing director and CEO Murali Sivaraman said. He said the agreement is only limited to TV segment and is for five years. Few years ago, Philips had entered a similar arrangement with Japanese firm Funai for their TV business in the US, which proved to be very successful, and the company has decided to replicate the idea in India, Sivaraman said. "Videocon will ensure that consumers of Philips-branded TVs can continue to count on the same premium quality, design and innovation associated with the Philips brand," he said. The Netherlands-based company, which is operating in India for over 80 years, had earlier announced a strategic shift in focus on healthcare and lifestyle segment to promote its products in the country. — PTI
	Corporate Results TCS Q4 net up 50 pc Mumbai, April 19 The country's top software exporter, Tata Consultancy Services, today said its net profit rose by 50.1 per cent to Rs 2,001 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2010. As per the Indian accounting standards, its revenues from the operations for the reported period stood at Rs 7,738 crore, up nearly 8 per cent from the same period previous fiscal, TCS said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company has recommended a final dividend of Rs 4 and a special dividend of Rs 10 on equity share of Rs 1 each of the company for approval by the shareholders. "Our ability to react to growth opportunities and execute efficiently has helped TCS deliver a superior performance for the fourth successive quarter. Our volumes have grown and our margins are at near historic highs," TCS CEO and MD N Chandrasekaran said. For the year ended March 31, 2010, the company registered a consolidated net profit of 7,000.64 crore, up 33.18 per cent compared to last year. Its revenue for the period stood at Rs 30,028.92 crore, up nearly 8 per cent from the same period previous fiscal. Hero Honda On the back of robust growth in all segments, Hero Honda on Monday reported its highest-ever quarterly profit at Rs 598.8 crore for the three months ending March 31 and registered a jump of 48.9 per cent over the year-ago period. The company will be investing Rs 350 crore in 2010-11 on capex, which includes Rs 130 crore for increasing the company's production capacity at the Haridwar plant. The total turnover during the last quarter of 2009-10 also increased by 20.2 per cent to Rs 4,122.32 crore over the year-ago period. For the entire 2009-10 financial year, the net profit after tax of the company soared by 74.1 per cent to Rs 2,231.83 crore. The company also declared a final dividend of 1,500 per cent or Rs 30 per share on each share of Rs 2. During FY'10, the company's total sales increased by 23.6 per cent to 46,00,130 units. It had launched nine new models and variants across segments last fiscal. — PTI
	BSNL staff on strike from today Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 19 State-run BSNL telecom services can get seriously affected from tomorrow with about 3 lakh employees of the PSU to go on an indefinite strike to protest against the VRS and divestment proposals of the Sam Pitroda Committee. Employees are protesting Pitroda panel’s recommendations, which suggests voluntary retirement (VRS) to 1 lakh employees and 30 per cent disinvestment as part of improving the financial health of the PSU. The strike call has been given by a joint forum of unions that has both executives and non-executives as members. BSNL officials, meanwhile, said efforts were underway to ensure that services were not affected. Not only was the BSNL top brass working on a contingency plan, but there are about 10,000 senior employees, who are not participating in the strike, besides senior ITS cadre employees. A series of meetings were held with the striking unions but that did not solve the issue and the unions decided to go ahead with the strike. About 50,000 executives and 2.50 lakh non-executive employees would be participating in the strike. BSNL saw profits plummet to Rs 178 crore in 2009-2010 (up to December 2009) from over Rs 575 crore in 2008-09 as the PSU is rapidly losing market share to new entrants. The PSU has 91 million users, both mobile and landline.
	CK Prahalad: A tribute Dr CK Prahalad, a globally known influential management thinker, shook the corporate world in the US and elsewhere during the past two decades with his offbeat but radical strategies for managing corporations. The most notable among them was his “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid” through which he urged MNCs to evolve a business model that would cater to the huge market of world’s four billion poor. He firmly believed that such an approach would help eradicate the scourge of poverty. Dr Prahalad’s assertion was that the poorest people in the world numbering 4 billion could be worth up to $13.75 trillion when corporations understood how to tap their potential. For Dr Prahalad, the poor did not require doses of charity through the concept of corporate social responsibility. His approach was centred around the idea that "If we stop thinking of the poor as victims or as a burden and start recognising them as resilient and creative entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers, a whole new world of opportunity will open up." He stole the limelight with his best seller book “The Future of Competition”. He argued that companies must identify and focus on their competitive strengths. In other words, he stressed that it would not be worthwhile for the companies to foray into un-related diversifications. The book is widely acknowledged as one of the world's most significant forces in corporate thinking. Dr Prahalad cited a series of success stories in India, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, and Venezuela. The Indian success stories included the scheme of agricultural advances to the poor by the Chennai-based EID Parry Ltd, the Jaipur Foot venture, Annapurna salt, the Arivind Eye care project based at Madurai and the ITC e-Choupal project. CK Prahalad is also the author of numerous award-winning articles. Harvard Business Review awarded the McKinsey Prize to him three times. Dr. Prahalad has been among the top 10 management thinkers in every major survey for over 10 years. The Business Week said: "A brilliant teacher at the University of Michigan, he may well be the most influential thinker on business strategy today." He was a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission of the United Nations on private sector and development. He was the first recipient of the Lal Bahadur Shastri Award for contributions to management and public administration presented by the President of India in 2000. His knack for being able to change people's perceptions of the world around them had made him an incredibly influential corporate strategist. He had consultancy assignments with MNCs like Citibank, Philips, and Philip Morris and helped them to break out of ingrained mindsets and craft new business models. Dr Prahalad was a regular visitor to Ahmedabad for his annual lectures at the Ahmedabad Management Association. His address was eminently popular and drew people from all walks of life, including many in the faculty of the Indian Institute of Management, which incidentally was also his alma mater.
	Citi posts Q1 profit of $4.43 bn New York, April 19 Citigroup, which survived the financial meltdown with taxpayers money, today posted a nearly three-fold jump in profit at $4.43 billion for the first quarter of 2010, primarily bolstered by good business performance and lower expenses. The Vikram Pandit-led banking behemoth raked in the profit on revenues of $25.42 billion. The firm had a profit of $1.59 billion in the year-ago period, which was marked by the ravaging financial meltdown, Citi said in a statement. Indicating that the Wall Street major is on the recovery path, the robust first quarter showing comes after incurring a loss of $7.58 billion in the previous quarter. In the first quarter of 2010 provisions for credit losses and for benefits and claims dropped to $8.6 billion. — PTI
	No loss to exchequer in 2G spectrum allocation: Raja Girja Shankar Kaura Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 19 Within days of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) pointing out that there were losses to the exchequer to the tune of over Rs 26,000 crore while awarding the 2G telecom licences in 2008, the government today asserted that there was no such loss. The statement from the government came despite it facing fire from the country’s top audit organisation, political parties and even after registration of a case by the CBI against some unknown officials of the Department of Telecom (DoT) for conniving with private companies for manipulation of licence terms and conditions. Asserting that there was no loss to the exchequer, Telecom Minister A Raja informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply, “2G spectrum is only alloted to the Unified Access Services (UAS) licencees as per the service licensing conditions, subject to availability of spectrum.” Raja’s statement came in the back drop of CAG seeking explanation from the Department of Telecom (DoT) on various issues, including distribution of licences and allotment of spectrum. DoT has apparently sent a detailed reply to CAG sticking to the stand that there was no loss to the exchequer. CAG had earlier this month sent a note to DoT seeking clarification on whether the decision to advance the cut-off date to give licences to new companies was arbitrary and that has resulted in a loss of a whopping over Rs 26,000 crore to the government. Clarifying the allegations of irregularities, Raja said, “CBI had registered a case on October 21, last year and conducted a search on October 22 in some offices of DoT and taken custody of certain files relating to policy, issuance of UAS licences and spectrum.” Nine new companies, including Unitech, Shyam Sistema, Datacom, Swan Telecom, Loop Telecom were given licenses in 2008 at the prices of 2001, which were Rs 1,658 crore for pan-India operations bundled with start-up spectrum of 4.4 MHz, while Anil Ambani-led RCom and Tata Teleservices were allowed dual technology to offer mobile services. Some months later, Swan Telecom and Unitech, two of the winners, sold a large stake in their operations to overseas companies at stupendous valuations, leading to huge profits to the companies triggering a political furore and allegations of foul play in granting of licences. RCom and Tatas prior to this were offering CDMA-based mobile services and under the dual technology they were alloted GSM spectrum. Clarifying to CAG’s note, the DoT had given a detailed reply saying all decision were taken in compliance with the recommendations from the telecom regulator TRAI. The minister also said no upfront charges are levied for allotment of spectrum. “Only annual spectrum usage charges on percentage of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) are being levied,” he added.
	CII to set up skill development centres Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 19 With a view to creating skilled manpower to suit the needs of industry, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) today said it would set up two skill development centres at Parwanoo in Himachal Pradesh and Gurgaon in Haryana. Talking to mediapersons after assuming charge as the chairman of CII, Northern Region, RM Khanna, said the skill development centre at Parwanoo will be commissioned by August this year. “People will be imparted skills as electricians, machinists and lab assistants. They will be imparted technical training and soft skills, besides being placed as apprentices in the industry. Each training module will last for three months and will cost between Rs 3,000 and Rs 6,000. This centre will also impart on-job training for skill upliftment,” he said. He said talks were also on to set up a skill development centre at Gurgaon in association with the government of Singapore. “We are also going to set up a mini green business centre at Dehradun to promote green initiatives in industry,” said Khanna. It has also decided to commission skill-gap studies in Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi as part of its roadmap outlined for 2010-11.