Shobhana Subramanian &Amp; Sidhartha In Mumbai

Stories by Shobhana Subramanian &Amp; Sidhartha In Mumbai

India against capital infusion in SBI

India against capital infusion in SBI

Rediff.com   8 Jun 2009

Sources close to the development said the finance ministry was yet to receive a formal proposal to this effect from the bank, though SBI chairman OP Bhatt had recently said the lender had sought government permission to raise Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 bn).

'Warrant'ing a change in rules

'Warrant'ing a change in rules

Rediff.com   5 Jun 2009

Why should promoters have an option to buy shares when other shareholders don't? Perhaps warrants can be done away with altogether since most promoters don't seem convinced about the value of their companies, says Shobhana Subramanian.

India: Too much too soon

India: Too much too soon

Rediff.com   4 Jun 2009

The Indian market must be re-rated but a further premium to emerging markets seems unjustified. The Indian market now trades way off its lows and at premium of around 50 per cent to emerging markets, compared with its long-term average of 8 per cent -- -in January 2008 it was trading at a premium of over 100 per cent. As Morgan Stanley says, broad market valuations as measured by market capitalisation to GDP, are now well past its historic average.

OECD working on global tax identification number

OECD working on global tax identification number

Rediff.com   28 May 2009

OECD has identified at least four tax jurisdictions -- Jamaica, Qatar, Botswana and Ghana - whose tax information system would be studied to find out if they are emerging as the new tax havens following the crackdown on the existing ones. A unique tax identification number would be akin to a global permanent account number for Indian taxpayers which could remain the same across jurisdictions.

NDTV Hindu: Local fare for Chennai

NDTV Hindu: Local fare for Chennai

Rediff.com   26 May 2009

Chennai has just got its own news and entertainment channel, courtesy a 50:50 joint venture between NDTV Ltd and The Hindu.

Quarter 4: Sales flat, profits sharply down

Quarter 4: Sales flat, profits sharply down

Rediff.com   15 May 2009

The numbers suggest the earnings performance of the broad market has been worse than that of the narrow market. For a sample of nearly 1,000 companies, excluding banks and financial services, net profits for the March 2009 quarter are down a very sharp 20 per cent year-on-year. That's not surprising because operating profit margins have come off by nearly 200 basis points, indicating that India Inc's problems have more to do with costs because the top line has held up well.

Bank staff may have to bear 25% pension cost

Bank staff may have to bear 25% pension cost

Rediff.com   13 May 2009

As part of wage settlement, new recruits will be asked to shift to the New Pension Scheme.

Reliance Capital to hire more employees

Reliance Capital to hire more employees

Rediff.com   12 May 2009

Though the overall environment seems to be improving, Reliance Capital CEO Sam Ghosh tells Business Standard that the company is opting to be cautious.

Retail biz: Need to develop strong value plan

Retail biz: Need to develop strong value plan

Rediff.com   8 May 2009

Here's how Westside scored over Shopper's Stop.

Government seeks common regulator for markets

Government seeks common regulator for markets

Rediff.com   8 May 2009

The government has reopened the case for convergence between the capital market and commodity futures regulator, a move that has attracted opposition from the Forward Markets Commission, which regulates the commodities futures business.

Loss-wary pension fund managers bet on fee hike

Loss-wary pension fund managers bet on fee hike

Rediff.com   1 May 2009

Fund managers queued up to grab a pie of the new pension scheme that opens for subscription on May 1. But even before the scheme is launched, they are complaining of it being a loss-making business with the investment management fee fixed at 0.009 per cent.

Meet the new ICICI boss Chanda Kochhar

Meet the new ICICI boss Chanda Kochhar

Rediff.com   30 Apr 2009

In an interview with Business Standard's Shyamal Majumdar and Sidhartha, Kochhar says she is going to focus on the immediate challenge of correcting the cost structure of the country's second largest bank.

Why Shikha Sharma should lead Axis Bank

Why Shikha Sharma should lead Axis Bank

Rediff.com   24 Apr 2009

Shikha Sharma's contentious appointment as CEO of Axis Bank doesn't detract from her sound reputation in the financial world.

Why Nayak opposed Shikha Sharma as Axis CEO

Why Nayak opposed Shikha Sharma as Axis CEO

Rediff.com   22 Apr 2009

Former Axis Bank chairman and CEO PJ Nayak said managements should look at appointing outsiders only when the organisation is weak.

Reliance Power achieves closure for Sasan, finally

Reliance Power achieves closure for Sasan, finally

Rediff.com   20 Apr 2009

The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group-promoted Sasan Power was Rs 2,500 crore short of the roughly Rs 15,000 crore it needed to borrow for the project. Now, India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd has agreed to lend around Rs 2,500 crore. A consortium of 12 domestic banks have already committed around Rs 12,500 crore, with State Bank of India and Power Finance Corporation leading the pack, with Rs 3,500 crore and Rs 1,800 crore respectively.

Infosys: The outlook is cautious

Infosys: The outlook is cautious

Rediff.com   16 Apr 2009

With a good 69 per cent of its existing customers having trimmed their IT budgets by about 10 per cent, volumes too could be weaker. In a difficult environment, business from new clients is understandably harder to come by and taking far longer than it did earlier. Which is why the tech major has announced a fairly conservative dollar revenue outlook: revenues for 2009-10 will be lower by 3-7 per cent over 2008-09 levels.

Satyam loss is L&T's blessing in disguise

Satyam loss is L&T's blessing in disguise

Rediff.com   14 Apr 2009

The L&T stock, which fell by over 5 per cent in intra-day trades on Monday bounced back towards the end of the session though it was still in the red. The stock has been badly de-rated since the engineering major made it clear that it was a contender for Satyam, picking up a 12 per cent stake in the tech firm. Had L&T won control at the winning bid of Rs 58 per share, the stock may have lost further ground. As it stands, not too much damage has been done.

Tech Mahindra: Satyam calling

Tech Mahindra: Satyam calling

Rediff.com   14 Apr 2009

The Satyam buyout gives the tech firm a chance to diversify away from telecom, something it badly needed to do. It shouldn't be too difficult for Satyam to be able to turn in an operating profit of close to Rs 1,000 crore in 2009-10, so that would translate into an EV/ebitda of 8.4 times for the company.

TCS, Infy, HCL vie for biometric PAN cards

TCS, Infy, HCL vie for biometric PAN cards

Rediff.com   13 Apr 2009

The development has elicited huge response from the country's top information technology companies. At least seven players, including Infosys, HCL, Tata Consultancy Services and its subsidiary CMC, are in the fray to develop a biometric card and the infrastructure that can handle 12 million new users annually.

NYSE probes Sataym's deals with 'terror states'

NYSE probes Sataym's deals with 'terror states'

Rediff.com   11 Apr 2009

Months before Satyam Computer Services founder B Ramalinga Raju made disclosures about committing fraud, authorities in the US had initiated an investigation into the company's dealings with Syria, Sudan, Cuba and Iran, identified by the US government as state sponsors of terrorism, and subject to US economic sanctions and export controls.