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| April 30, 2008 | | Indian researchers get helping hand
The Indian School of Business, in Hyderabad, is launching a two-year pre-doctoral programme free of charge for young Indian researchers who want to study for a doctoral degree at a top US or European business school.
Nomura sets sights on China and India
Nomura, Japan's largest brokerage, is considering mergers and acquisitions in order to build its presence in emerging markets such as China and India , where it needs operating licences. Kenichi Watanabe, new chief executive, said on Monday that "the market environment is difficult but [we] consider it a major opportunity" to expand in areas where the company lacks competitiveness.
Bharti eyes emerging markets
Bharti Airtelis looking to buy assets in emerging markets - the latest sign that India 's biggest mobile phone operator could broaden its base. One would see Bharti, which has a market value of $44bn, make a partial tender offer for a 51 per cent stake in MTN. This would allow MTN to retain its listing in Johannesburg and reduce the debt Bharti would need to take on to finance a deal.
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| April 16, 2008 | | Indian airlines face $1bn loss
India 's airline sector is expected to report losses of $1bn for the year ended last month - double that of a year earlier, according to the head of one of the country's biggest airlines. Naresh Goyal, founder and chairman of Jet Airways, said he expected high costs and fierce price wars to prompt more consolidation in the industry and Jet was ready to seize the opportunity to acquire rivals in India and overseas.
AstraZeneca reaches Ranbaxy settlement
Under the terms of the deal Ranbaxy will drop litigation it initiated in November 2005 and will sell Nexium from May 2014 - the expiry date of the first of a series of patents. Under US law Ranbaxy would be the exclusive generic distributor for the first six months.
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| April 10, 2008 | | IMF forecasts 'mild' US recession
The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday forecast that the US economy would slip into a 'mild recession' this year and warned that there was a chance that the global economy could follow suit. However, the IMF said emerging and developing economies would maintain robust growth rates, diverging from the rest of the global economy. IMF officials have publicly expressed growing alarm about how the credit crunch which began in the US.
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| April 09, 2008 | | There's no marketplace like home
Retailers and a growing number of companies, from banks to carmakers, have set their sights on "non-resident Indians". Indian telecom group Reliance Communications has sold 1.5m phone cards in the US, the UK and Australia, mainly to NRIs who want to call India.
Graduate visa scheme struggles with demand
The H-1B visa system was designed to allow top foreign graduates - including architects, engineers and computer programmers - to work in the US for up to three years but increasing demand and restricted capacity have left the system struggling to cope.
India follows China's path with Africa overture
India will unveil on Wednesday a "blueprint" for its intensifying engagement with Africa, a symbolic step that reflects New Delhi's anxiety over China's growing influence on the continent and its desire to mimic the close economic and commercial ties forged by Beijing in recent years.
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| April 08, 2008 | | HSBC loses 370,000 customer records
HSBC, the UK's biggest bank, has apologised to customers after losing the personal details of 370,000 people. The bank said a computer disk had gone missing after it was couriered from one of its offices in Southampton en-route to another office. The bank has informed the Financial Services Authority, the financial regulator, about the loss of the data.
Case study: India -- Franklin Templeton
Sukumar Rajah, chief investment officer of equity at Franklin Templeton Investments, India, has seen a shift from traditional investments such as bank deposits, property and gold, to mutual funds.
Engaging India: Public sector incentives
Engaging India is an online column analysing the issues, trends and forces behind the business and politics shaping India and its impact on the world. Engaging India appears on Thursday mornings exclusively on FT.com India, a dedicated online section on India, and is written by Jo Johnson, the Financial Times' South Asia bureau chief; Amy Yee, New Delhi correspondent; and .
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| April 01, 2008 | | BSE likely to list this year
The Bombay Stock Exchange could list on its own market this year either through an initial public offering or a direct listing, Rajnikant Patel, the group's chief executive, said. The move, part of efforts to reform India's second largest equities market after its demutualisation in 2005, comes as it seeks to raise its international profile.
India steels itself against inflation
India is expected to ask domestic iron ore producers to lower prices on Tuesday as part of a range of emergency measures aimed at stemming an alarming jump in inflation. The government is already considering reducing import duties and scrapping some export incentives for steel producers in response to rising inflation, which hit a 13-month high of 6.68 per cent in the week ending March 15.
Wanted: Indian chefs
Indian restaurants have become a prominent feature of the British culinary landscape over the past 50 years
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| March 26, 2008 | | Indian property sale flop could cause wider flap
One thing that has never been a hard sell in Mumbai over the past few years is property. But last week, for the first time in 13 years, Mumbai's metropolitan authorities failed to sell government land in an auction in India's financial capital.
US consumer confidence at 5-year low
US consumer confidence tumbled to a five-year low in March, disappointing economists and raising fears that the American economy could be heading into a deep recession. The Conference Board's confidence index fell from 76.4 in February 64.5 this month, compared with economists' expectations of a much lighter drop to about 74, as US consumers fretted over the deteriorating labour market and higher food and energy prices.
Maharashtra days of wine and roses
Staff at India's second largest winemaker are preparing for their 10th annual harvest party in mid-March at a new amphitheatre in the vineyard, which lies in the some of the richest agricultural lands of the western state of Maharashtra.
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| March 24, 2008 | | Starbucks in drive to improve 'experience'
New initiatives in the US stores will include the introduction of a new blend of coffee named after the company's first store at Pike Place, Seattle, and the rapid roll out of the new low-level Mastrena machines - which allowing greater eye-contact with customers. The new machines will be introduced into 30 percent of its more than 7,000 US stores by the end of the year, and into three-quarters of its stores by the end of 2010. The company also said it had acquired the Cof
Verizon to give China and India priority
Verizon Communications, the second-largest US telecommunications group, is to expand its global communications network to provide its multinational corporate customers in fast-growing markets like China and India with additional services. The decision comes as US telecommunications groups including AT&T increasingly look outside their domestic market for revenue growth from higher value added services.
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| March 20, 2008 | | Facebook throws down online chat challenge
Facebook plans to launch a new service that will enable the social network website's 60m users to chat with each other online. The service, which is expected to roll out sometime in the next few weeks, represents Facebook's latest challege to AOL, Microsoft and other makers of popular instant messaging programmes. It is likely to come as a blow to software developers who have been working on chat services designed to run on Facebook's popular application platform.
Boeing admits Dreamliner delay
Boeing admitted on Wednesday that it would have to redesign parts of its troubled 787 Dreamliner, raising the prospect of a third delay to delivery of the new aircraft would be delayed for the third time in recent months. The company's comments came in response to a warning from Steven Udvar-Hazy, chairman of International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), the 787's biggest customer.
Citigroup set to sell Australian unit
Citigroup may sell its Australian retail broking unit as it consolidates its wealth management business in Hong Kong and Singapore to compete for customers against bigger private bank rivals. The US financial group is understood to be in talks over the possible sale of Citi Smith Barney Australia to National Australia Bank. It also plans to close its CSB branch in Taiwan and merge others in Singapore and Hong Kong with Citi Private Bank.
First sovereign Islamic bond listed in London
The first government sukuk was listed on the London Stock Exchange as Britain reaffirmed its reputation as the main western centre for Islamic finance. Bahrain chose London to list its second Islamic bond as it sought to encourage more European and conventional investors to buy the paper. The Gulf kingdom listed its first sukuk in Luxembourg in 2004. Significantly, more than 50 per cent of the paper was bought by European investors.
For some at Bear, opportunity knocks
The shock and anger that had consumed Bear Stearns' 14,000 employees on Sunday afternoon had, by mid-week, yielded to a sense that the door of opportunity may have just opened.
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| March 19, 2008 | | Cairn India raises $625m
Cairn India, the oil company 69 per cent owned by FTSE 100 listed Cairn Energy, is raising $625m from a private placement of shares to two investors, one of them Petronas, Malaysia's national oil company. The money will be used to invest in Cairn India, including the development of its large Rajasthan oil fields, for which cost estimates have been rising.
Rice hits 34-year high
Rice prices surged to a fresh 34-year high on Tuesday as the Philippines awarded a tender for the staple at an average price of $708 a tonne, up almost 50 per cent from the price it paid in late January. The sharp rise reflects a market suffering from tightening supply after key producers India and Vietnam this month both imposed further restrictions on rice exports. Supplies from Thailand are also low, traders said.
Tata raises $3bn to finance Ford deal
Tata Motors has succeeded in securing a $3bn banking facility for its purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor, which should clear the way for the deal to close next week. Tata's ability to raise the money in spite of the turmoil on debt markets represents a vote of confidence in the Indian company and removes one of the last main obstacles to the deal.
Fed cuts rates by 75 basis points
The US Federal Reserve on Tuesday cut interests rates by 0.75 points from 3 per cent to 2.25 per cent. The cut initially disappointed markets which had risen sharply on hopes of a 1 percentage point cut. The decision was taken by eight votes to two. First quarter earnings at the two Wall Street firms fell less than analysts had expected, easing concerns about the state of the investment banking sector.
Yahoo ups the ante against Microsoft
Yahoo on Tuesday attempted to bolster its case for an improved offer from Microsoft, releasing stronger-than-expected financial projections to support its decision that the proposed deal had seriously undervalued it. Microsoft made a cash-and-shares offer that was worth $44.6bn, or $31 a share, when it was announced on February 1. The financial plan was first presented to Yahoo's board in December.
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| March 18, 2008 | | Business missing 2012 bonanza
The bank's report found that small and medium-sized companies were particularly unprepared, with eight out of 10 yet to take any action to evaluate opportunities, compared with 58 per cent of larger businesses. Even though there are more than four years to go to the 2012 opening ceremony, the bank's experts warned companies should already be taking steps to secure a slice of the economic windfall.
US tech groups cut back on research
Some of the biggest US technology companies have put a lid on their research and development spending even as the industry enjoys its strongest period of growth this decade, according to the latest financial filings. The data, analysed by the Financial Times, point to the pressure that companies in some parts of the tech industry - particularly hardware makers and semiconductor companies - have been under to raise profit margins even in good times.
Sari seems to be the hardest word
A week before a good friend's wedding in Jodhpur, I am starting to panic. What is the difference between a casual shalwar kameez and a dressy shalwar kameez? Should I go sari-shopping in Southall or Mumbai? I flick through old issues of Hello! magazine, looking at Liz Hurley dressed up as an Indian princess for her wedding, courtesy of her famous designer friends: Versace, Valentino and Cavalli. My panic mounts.
Lufthansa to launch executive fleet
Several other European airlines have considered entering the corporate jet market, including KLM, the Dutch subsidiary of Air France-KLM, which has recently investigated the fledgling market for air taxi jet operations with four-seat very light jets. KLM has shelved the project, however, and to date only Lufthansa is pressing ahead with the development of its own fleet.
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| March 14, 2008 | | Investors nervous amid US recession fears
Trading across global markets remained volatile on Thursday, and the nerves of investors were tested by dollar weakness and continued worries about the deteriorating health of the financial system.
Pain for India's lenders as small loans sour
Low earners, who only months ago were being courted aggressively by private banks and finance companies, have begun returning to him for small loans. The problem of rural debt in India was highlighted last month when the government used the budget to grant a $15bn waiver to indebted farmers. But bankers say the debt troubles in agricultural areas are being matched by rising defaults among urban lower earners.
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| March 13, 2008 | | India faces wave of defaults
India is beginning to experience its own version of the subprime crisis as banks tighten lending procedures to curb rising delinquencies, particularly in small unsecured personal loans. India's financial system has so far been spared much of the pain of the global subprime crisis because of the relatively small size of its banks and their conservative investment focus overseas.
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| March 12, 2008 | | Employers cut back on hiring
Employers in many of the world's largest economies are "taking a step back in hiring", reflecting concerns that the crisis in financial markets could spill over into other sectors, according to a survey of more than 55,000 employers. The study, conducted in 32 countries by Manpower, one of the world's largest recruitment companies, reported that the jobs outlook in the US, one of the main engines of the global economy, was the weakest for four years.
Court delays India Vodafone hearing
A landmark court challenge by Vodafone against Indian tax authorities, which want it to pay an estimated $2bn in taxes on its acquisition of Hutchison Essar, has been adjourned for three months. The Bombay high court delayed the hearing until June 23. It is a case that has potential implications for mergers and acquisitions of Indian assets by foreign companies. The court said it wanted to allow time for changes to tax laws to come into force.
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| March 11, 2008 | | Ferrari takes lead over poor imitations
Under the slogan "Fakes cost more", the European Union is to throw its weight behind a global campaign against counterfeiting. A rare Ferrari and kung-fu-kicking monks will help launch the drive in Brussels on Monday. Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, is to open a counterfeiting summit attended by businesses, charities and campaign groups
India may have solved cheap energy question
Unlike biofuels made from crops such as soybeans and maize, jatropha is inedible, grows on non-arable land and needs little water or care.
Apple unveils iPhone grand plan
Steve Jobs and two of his top lieutenants spent just over an hour last week outlining their plans to allow software makers to create programs custom-built to run on the iPhone, Apple's innovative mobile handset. The move could mark the beginning of a new phase in the development of mobile software, as programmers build programs that are not limited by the physical constraints - such as fixed buttons and small screens - that plague many other mobile handsets.
Indian companies shrug off subprime gloom
Takeover deals involving Indian companies were valued at a total of $8.3bn and numbered 153 in the first 10 weeks of this year, second only in non-Japan Asia to China, with $11.5bn deals numbering 372, according to figures from Thomson Financial. Even as the global credit crunch has damped the appetite among US groups for deals, cash-rich Indian groups have been able to continue their hunt.
Vodafone in Mumbai showdown
In the case, which will begin on Tuesday and last for five days, Indian tax authorities will argue that Vodafone, the UK-based mobile phone group headed by Arun Sarin, is liable for an estimated $2bn in taxes on its $11bn acquisition of local operator, Hutchison Essar, last year.
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| March 08, 2008 | | Tata seeks $3bn in loans for takeover
India's second largest carmaker has assigned Citigroup and JPMorgan, its financial advisers on the acquisition, to arrange the financing with a range of other international and domestic banks taking part in the talks. The loan, which is expected to be mostly short-term bridge financing, is bigger than the anticipated purchase price of the deal, estimated at about $2bn.
India's biggest stars bowling for the brand builders
In India, it is par for the course. A visitor cannot set foot in the country without seeing on every television channel or city billboard the monarchs of the country's movie industry, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, backing almost any product willing to pay their fees. That trend is extending ever more strongly to the country's other national passion, cricket. The launch of a new competition based on a popular short form of the game.
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