"Till the second quarter of last fiscal, the industry was on track to achieve the $50 billion export target by 2008-09. The aspiration to reach $60 billion by fiscal 2010 is at risk since an unprecedented slowdown is expected in key markets overseas, especially the US and Europe, which account for about 80 percent of Indian software exports," Nasscom president Som Mittal said. Nasscom has now extended the target year for achieving $60 billion export revenue to 2011.
Most large American companies earn more than 50 per cent of their revenue from markets outside the US and will be affected by the proposed tax reforms. Business groups in the US had assailed the proposal, arguing it would subject them to far higher taxes than their foreign competitors must pay and ultimately endanger US jobs. Global companies that earn profits in India are subject to a tax rate of 33.9 per cent and the impact of the proposed reforms on them would be marginal.
For housing loans up to Rs 30 lakh, the floating interest rates for various tenures range from 8.75 per cent to 10.25 per cent. For Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, the floating interest rates range from 9.50 per cent to 10.75 per cent and for Rs 50 lakh and above, the floating rates range from 10 per cent to 11 per cent. The revised fixed interest rates are 11 per cent and 11.50 per cent depending upon the loan amount.
During the Second World War, Field Marshall William Slim, commander of the 14th Army in Burma, discovered that the anopheles mosquito was causing more casualties to his men than the Japanese. Ruthlessly practical, he decreed that catching malaria was a disciplinary offence, punishable by imprisonment in a military prison.
DRL, Tezpur is harnessing all this spice into military applications, such as high-effectiveness tear gas. Meanwhile, the World Wildlife Fund asked DRL to explore the possibility of using Naga chilli to keep wild elephants away from villages and fields.
Interestingly, the decision to develop an indigenous MCA comes alongside the overseas procurement of 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for an estimated Rs 50,000 crore.
Year 2008 results of India's largest drug maker, Ranbaxy Laboratories, and Wockhardt were also impacted by forex losses. Companies such as Aurobindo and Orchid are also expected to post forex losses, say analysts.
Bangalore and Hyderabad have seen the highest attrition rates in the country. During the past year, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai had higher attrition rates than other cities. In Bangalore, ITeS lead in employment growth and it was followed by the health sector. On the other hand, financial services sector saw a negative growth in the city.
The jury is still out on whether Tech Mahindra should retain the Satyam name. Srinivasan Swamy, CMD, R K Swamy BBDO, says. "Brand Satyam took a beating for only one reason -- accounting irregularities by its erstwhile chairman. The employees were not even aware of the fraud. The company's core values and foundation have not been impacted." The task for the new management, he believes, is to retain its clients and people and the brand image would get resurrected.
In the current fiscal (2009-10), the company expects that this may further go down to about 50 per cent. "In fiscal 2010, we expect the variable pay for the senior management to be less than 58 per cent," said Infosys head of HR, education and research T V Mohandas Pai. He is also a member on the Infosys' board. Variable component is as high as 50 per cent in the total pay packet of the senior executives whereas the fixed component constitutes the other half.
UNITES, the union that represents workers in the IT and ITeS sector in India, has requested the CEC to invoke the model code of conduct to stall the whole process citing the scandal-hit company's legal liabilities and other ambiguities as deterrents for any potential bidder to carry an effective due diligence process. Over 2,000 Satyam employees, claims UNITES, have registered with the union since the scandal was reported on January 7 this year.
The bank, which had announced a similar cut in January, will see its mortgage prime rate fall to 13.75 per cent from April 1. In a statement, the bank said that the benefit will be available to all its existing customers on floating rate loans. A bank spokesperson said that, depending on loan tenure and amount as well as the customer's relationship with the bank, he could get a loan at up to 50 basis points lower than the benchmark rate.
The Indian Navy's firepower is going to be significantly boosted with the addition of four heavy warships. The navy's design chief, Rear Admiral MK Badhwar, has confirmed for the first time, to Business Standard, that the Defence Acquisition Council --the top procurement body in the Ministry of Defence --has cleared Project 15-B, the construction of four 6800-tonne destroyers by Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai.
iGate had in a statement on Friday evening said that it had dropped its bid for Satyam on 'further analysis'. Clarfying his stand last week that iGate would be keen to bid for Satyam at an offer price of below 90 cents a share, Murthy said, "Had we decided to pursue the bid, the share price would have had no bearing on our offer price as we would have bid at a price we thought was a fair valuation."
The last couple of years of frenzied activity in the MRO space made many believe that time is not far when umpteen number of MROs will start servicing narrow and wide-bodied aircraft on the Indian soil like motor garages. While many of the projects announced over the last couple of years have not seen the light of the day, Aviation firm AirWorks which launched India's first MRO in airline segment at Hosur (Tamil Nadu) is yet to land their first anchor customer.
R N Rao, special director, sales and marketing, Ashok Leyland said the company is going ahead with its expansion of capacity despite a drop in sales during the current financial year owing to the economic slowdown in the country. The company is likely to close the current financial year ending March 2009 with a 30 per cent drop in its sales to around 60,000 units including exports compared to the last fiscal, he said.
Top Indian policymakers tell Business Standard that the Obama administration's goal is clear: rather than trying to win the war in Afghanistan, simply aim at bottling terrorism inside the Pakistan-Afghanistan area, and monitor the borders electronically to prevent any "leakage" of jihadis.
Former India cricket captain, Kapil Dev Nikanj,on Monday entered into a marketing agreement with South Africa-based Enviro-Light Technologies, promoted by former South African captain Clive Rice to launch eco-friendly street lights in India.
A research report by accounting and consulting firm Deloitte has stated that the research & development investment regime in India could be made more robust and attractive by providing more incentives.
Ahead of an RFP to be issued by the IAF before awarding the Jaguar re-engining contract sometime next year, Honeywell officials took pains to reiterate that the F125N was a clear winner against competitor Rolls Royce's Adour engine.
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