Mumbai, October 14
Mobile service providers have undertaken a massive subscriber re-verification exercise in different parts of the country to weed out cellular phone connections obtained using fake documentation.

Under the re-verification exercise, ordered by the home ministry, operators have asked subscribers to provide afresh documents like photographs, address proofs and identity proofs. Subscribers who fail to provide the documents by the deadline will have their mobile phones disconnected, a customer service representative of Vodafone said.

Letters have been sent out to subscribers asking them to produce relevant documentation at service centres before the stipulated deadline. However, the response in cities like Mumbai seems to be very poor. “We expect more people to show up with documents when the October 31 deadline nears,” says an official of a private mobile service provider.

Unlike in other parts of the country, mobile phone subscribers in Maharashtra don’t require verification by the police. However, what has caused concern to the Mumbai police is the fact that nearly 60 per cent of the mobile phone connections issued in Mumbai are based on fake documentation.

Mumbai police commissioner Sanjeev Dayal said here earlier this month that a survey conducted by the police on 15,000 cell phone connections revealed that nearly 10,000 of them were issued on the basis of fake documentation.

Cellular phone companies expect the deadline to be extended to avoid inconveniencing users. Deactivation of a large number of mobile phone connections will also affect the profitability of the companies. So far, 30 lakh mobile phone connections have been deactivated across the country for lack of proper documents, reports suggest.

Mumbai, October 14
Research In Motion (RIM) on Thursday launched BlackBerry Torch 9800 , the first BlackBerry smartphone with the new BlackBerry 6 operating system.

The 3G-ready device is priced at Rs 35,000 will be available across all Indian telecom operators offering BlackBerry services. Equipped with a broad range of advanced communications and multi-media features, BlackBerry Torch is ideal for socially connected consumers and those who do business on the move.

"With its new high-performance browser, powerful touch screen interface and easy-to-use BlackBerry keyboard, the highly anticipated BlackBerry Torch offers an exceptional mobile experience for both consumers and business users in India ," said Frenny Bawa, managing director (India), RIM. It offers support for high-speed 3G networks around the world, includes the latest generation in Wi-Fi connectivity and features built-in GPS for location-based applications and geo-tagging.

BlackBerry 6 integrates a new and rich WebKit-based browser on BlackBerry Torch that allows for a great browsing experience. — IANS

New Delhi, October 14
The Commonwealth Games end on Thursday with an opportunity lost to show off New Delhi to the world after a collapsing bridge, rogue snakes, health scares and heavy-handed security took the sheen off "Incredible India". But India's economic juggernaut has emerged unscathed despite dire predictions a chaotic Games could repel investors, a signal returns are too enticing for foreign firms hardened to realities of doing business in a booming trillion-dollar economy.

For many Indians who only two weeks ago labelled the event the ‘Shame Games’, it was an unprecedented success, with the country's best-ever gold medal tally.

"The Games has turned out to be better than worst feared," said V. Ravichandar, head of Feedback consulting in Bangalore, which advises multinationals. "The Games were really a metaphor for investment in India. It's not a smooth ride but things work out in the end."

After sparse crowds ruined the atmosphere in the first week of the two-week event, crowds soon swelled, with the medal results providing a respite for PM Manmohan Singh and the Congress party, which before the Games had been under pressure to save the country from international embarrassment.

When organisers called on luxury hotel chains to clean up the athletes' village, it underscored the fact that the private sector motor that drives India had been left out of a Games run by a state immersed in red tape, cronyism and graft.

It was a sign of the health of India’s business that the blue-chip Sensex stock index hit a near three year high during the Games. India has attracted a record $21.4 billion in foreign funds into stocks this year — one-third of that since September. State-run Coal India is poised to launch a $3.5 billion IPO, the country's largest, that is expected to see heavy investor demand.

"The image of India has become of the most typical of the stereotypes," said Robinder Sachdev, head of the New Delhi-based Imagindia Institute think-tank, which estimated the Games would cost India $90 billion in lost investor confidence.

"I think that while many senior managers understand India, the Games may have become an issue in the boardroom when a company, say, is making a decision to invest a car factory in India or Indonesia."

"In a sense, India stands out internationally," said Amit Tandon, MD, Fitch rating agency. "It may be difficult to come in, but once you are in you make money."

"I do hope at the end of the Games, someone in Congress or the prime minister will sit down and take stock of the situation," said Tandon. — Reuters

Ludhiana, October 14
Default rate in car finance has come down drastically in the region. Bankers are now again happily extending finance for car purchase. The improvement is the result of services provided by CIBIL (Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd). Before its introduction, the default rate between 5 per cent and 7 per cent, which was high.

Earlier, borrowers and the lending agency often quarreled. CIBIL was set up by the Indian government and the RBI to improve the functionality and stability of the Indian financial system by containing NPAs (non-performing assets). CIBIL provides a vital service which allows members to make informed, objective and faster credit decisions … claims CIBIL. It provides details pertaining to credit facilities availed by a borrower as well as his payment track record.

Banks and financial companies pay service charges to the CIBIL. Nischal Puri, RSM, HDFC bank, said that if the financial report of the borrower was not good, the application was rejected. The bank now has a default rate below 1 per cent, claims Puri. Earlier this used to be between 1per cent and 2 per cent. Rajiv Arora, RM, ICICI bank, they have started extending loan facilities at Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Bathida and Chandigarh. 

New Delhi, October 14
Air travel has entered a slower growth phase, suggests the latest assessment of premium and economy travel by International Air Transport Association (IATA). The survey added the recovery witnessed in air is now tapering.

According to an airline industry association, the number of passengers travelling on premium seats has stagnated.

“There are some of the leading indicators of business travel that are slipping, but we are still positive. We do not think the expansion is over yet but air travel has entered a slower growth phase,” it adds.

According to IATA’s assessment, the number of passengers travelling on business and premium seats were 9.1% higher in August than the same month last year, compared with 13.8% in July. Besides being an indicator of the health of the airline industry, business class travel is also a gauge of the business activity across the world.

The economy segment scenario looks a little more positive. Those traveling in economy were up 6.2%, compared with 8.8% in the previous month. Driven by leisure markets and consumer confidence, passenger numbers in this seat class are now above their pre-recession peak by some 5 %. From March, the economy travel has grown by just 0.6% this segment.

Around two-thirds of the fall in the year-on-year comparison is due to large monthly rise in August last year, following the post-recession rebound. Travel figure slipped between July and August by 1-15%.

Premium travel rose 17% above its 2009 low. Almost 99% of that rise had already happened by the first quarter of the year in March. In the following five months there was little further month-to-month growth and the number of passengers traveling on premium class leveled off and appears to have stopped improving.

“Whether this is a temporary pause remains to be seen. Business confidence is slipping but remains positive. Premium markets are still 11% smaller than their pre-crisis size in early 2008, although economy travel has risen 5% above its pre-crisis peak,” it says. 

Mumbai, October 14
Indian IT firm Mahindra Satyam's American Depository Receipts (ADR) were delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today after the company expressed its inability to comply with US securities rules. The ADRs will now only be available for trade in the over-the-counter (OTC) market, Mahindra Satyam (formerly known as Satyam Computer) said in a filing.

Last month, the company had announced plans to delist its ADRs traded on the New York Stock Exchange as it was unable to comply with market guidelines for filing restated US-GAAP financial statements for the period ended March 31, 2009, before October 15, the deadline given by US regulator SEC.

Last month, the company had announced plans to delist its ADRs from the New York Stock Exchange as it was unable to comply with US market guidelines.

ADR holders will retain the right to redeem their Mahindra Satyam ADRs and receive the underlying equity shares, which will continue to be listed on the India stock exchanges.

“Although we are moving our ADRs to the OTC market and the ticker symbol has changed, nothing will change with the ADRs themselves.” “If you own the ADRs now, you will continue to own them.

Your broker can execute trades of our ADRs in the OTC market where they will be classified in the Pink Sheets current information category, just like the ADRs of many other well- known international companies," Mahindra Satyam Chairman Vineet Nayyar said. The company is also in the process of restating its prior US GAAP financial statements. — PTI

Mumbai, October 14
Bharat Diamond Bourse, the Indian industry’s attempt to centralise business, will go on stream on October 17 with a Dasehra Pooja, President Anoop Mehta has said.

Located at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in suburban Mumbai, the exchange will be spread across eight nine-storey buildings located in a 20-acre property. It will house 2,500 offices, most of which have been allotted to diamond traders. Diamond traders from premises like Panchratna and Prasad Chambers in downtown Mumbai will move in to the new bourse, officials said.

Mehta added the BDB aims to become the world’s largest diamond trading hub. “Diamond traders from Israel and Belgium will start trading from the Bharat Diamond Bourse,” Mehta said. The BDB will see turnover grow 10-15 per cent annually from $ 28-billion expected this year, he added. Mehta hoped that diamond producers like De Beers will also sell their roughs at the exchange.

The bourse was first mooted more than two decades ago and was to go on stream in 1996. The matter was sorted a few years ago with the members of the bourse agreeing to pay higher fees for the allotment of land and constructing the premises. The cost has been pegged at Rs 1,000 crore.

Unlike in the past when the diamond trade was scattered across Mumbai, the BDB affords the traders more space and offers them better security for the precious stones. A customs clearing house and branches of banks and insurance companies are also part of the BDB.

BRIEFLY

RBI sells stake in Nabard to Govt
Mumbai: Amid the debate over whether RBI should hold stake in lending institutions or only be a regulator, the central bank has sold almost all its holding in the apex agriculture and rural development bank, Nabard, to the government . The RBI divested its stake amounting to Rs 1,430 crore in National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) on October 13. With this, the Reserve Bank's holding in Nabard has come down to one per cent of shareholding in NABARD. — PTI

DLF Pramerica’s new plans
Chandigarh: DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Co. has revamped its product portfolio and unveiled four new plans. These include two traditional non-linked products offering assured returns namely DLF Pramerica Assure Money+ (a Savings + Protection plan) and DLF Pramerica Tatkaal Suraksha Gold (a Savings + Protection plan with simplified underwriting) and two unit linked products namely DLF Pramerica Wealth+ Premier and DLF Pramerica Ezee Wealth+. — TNS

Prestige IPO oversubscribed
New Delhi: The Rs 1,200-crore initial public offer of Prestige Estates got oversubscribed 2.26 times on the final day of issue on Thursday, with maximum bids coming in from institutional buyers. The Bangalore-based real estate developer has entered the capital market with its public float priced in a range of Rs 172 to Rs 183 per share. — PTI

Currency options’ mock trading tomorrow
Mumbai: After getting the nod from SEBI to commence trading in currency options, United Stock Exchange of India (USE) on Thursday said it would conduct mock trading on October 16. The mock trading market would open at 10:30 am and continue till 12:30 pm. — TNS

R-Infra ties up funds for Metro
New Delhi: Reliance Infrastructure on Thursday said a consortium led by the company has tied up entire funding for the Rs 11,500-crore metro project in Mumbai. It is the largest financial closure for a project under PPP mode, it said. — PTI

DCW in pact with Rockwood
New Delhi: Chemicals maker DCW has entered into a technical licence agreement with Rockwood Italia for setting up a manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu for producing synthetic iron oxide. Rockwood has also entered into an offtake pact with DCM to buy up to 50 per cent of the output from the proposed plant. — PTI

Rolling settlement in 10 scrips
Mumbai: The SEBI on Thursday permitted stock exchanges to allow intra-day trading in scrips of 10 companies. The scrips which could now be shifted to rolling settlement are AKC Steel Industries, Conard Manufacturers & Traders, Suraj Products, Krishna Ferro Product, Keerthi Industries, INCAP Financial Services, Gazi Financial Services & Investments, Iykot Hitech Toolroom, Binny Ltd, Amulya Leasing & Finance. — PTI

BSNL scheme for landline customers
Sirsa: The BSNL has announced a new scheme for its landline customers, under which they can call on their landline phone from a BSNL mobile free of cost. Sushil Girdhar, JTO (CM Sales), Sirsa, informed that the nigam has been giving a SIM card free of cost to its landline customers for free calls to their landline connections. Besides this, the customers can call on any BSNL number for 1 paisa per second and on any other phone for 1.2 paisa per second. An initial recharge of Rs 31 will provide the customer with validity of 180 days and a talk value of Rs 15. — TNS

UTV net up five-fold
Mumbai: UTV Software Communications on Thursday said its consolidated net profit jumped nearly five-folds to Rs 40 crore for the quarter ended September 31, over the same period last year. Total revenues rose to Rs 239.89 crore in the July-September quarter, against Rs 237.67 crore in the same period previous fiscal. — PTI

Axis Bank net up 38 pc
Mumbai: Axis Bank on Thursday reported a growth of 38.28 per cent in its net profit at Rs 735.14 crore for the second quarter ended September 30. The bank reported a total income of Rs 4,657.49 crore for Q2, 2010-11, up 18.63 per cent from Rs 3,925.94 crore in the year-ago period. — PTI