Downturn in the world economies notwithstanding, India is witnessing increasing number of private equity deals with the total value touching $6.39 billion so far this year.
PE deals in the country have fared well since the beginning of this year despite global credit crunch, high oil prices, inflation among others.
"The total number of PE deals during the first five months of 2008 stands at 170, with an announced value of $6.39 bn as against 159 deals amounting to $4.97 bn during the corresponding period in 2007," global consulting major Grant Thornton said.
Meanwhile, another global deal tracking firm Zephyr said India is among the top 10 countries in terms of value of private equity deals across the world.
India Inc witnessed the announcement of $ 640 million worth of PE deals in May this year, a whopping increase of over 603 per cent over last month figure while 1,180 per cent jump from corresponding period last year, Zephyr said in its latest report.
In April 2008, $ 91 million worth of PE deals were announced, it added.
Meanwhile, as per data compiled by Grant Thornton, the total number of PE deals announced during May stood at 14 with an announced value of $1.45 billion as against 32 deals amounting to $0.56 billion in the month of April this year.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Ragging may become a thing of the past
First year students can hope to enter campuses without the fear of ragging if stringent measures suggested by an expert panel are implemented. With the new academic session set to begin soon, various regulatory bodies like University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have asked the institutions to take necessary measures to check any form of ragging on their campuses.
While the UGC has issued a circular to all universities to instruct the colleges to strictly follow the measures suggested by the Raghavan panel, the AICTE has issued advertisements in newspapers for the purpose. Besides warning the institutions that their approval would be scrapped if any case of ragging was reported, the AICTE has asked students, parents and the public to report to it instances of ragging in any form in institutions imparting technical education.
The Raghavan committee set up by the apex court to monitor the measures being taken to prevent ragging in higher educational institutions has suggested 'zero tolerance' towards ragging. The committee, headed by former CBI chief K Raghavan, asked the statutory regulatory bodies to direct educational institutions to incorporate in admission notices appropriate messages in this regard.
Noting that ragging lowered the standards of higher education, the committee felt that release of grants under various schemes of the UGC should be linked with the compliance of Supreme Court directives by the institutions
While the UGC has issued a circular to all universities to instruct the colleges to strictly follow the measures suggested by the Raghavan panel, the AICTE has issued advertisements in newspapers for the purpose. Besides warning the institutions that their approval would be scrapped if any case of ragging was reported, the AICTE has asked students, parents and the public to report to it instances of ragging in any form in institutions imparting technical education.
The Raghavan committee set up by the apex court to monitor the measures being taken to prevent ragging in higher educational institutions has suggested 'zero tolerance' towards ragging. The committee, headed by former CBI chief K Raghavan, asked the statutory regulatory bodies to direct educational institutions to incorporate in admission notices appropriate messages in this regard.
Noting that ragging lowered the standards of higher education, the committee felt that release of grants under various schemes of the UGC should be linked with the compliance of Supreme Court directives by the institutions
At Reuters Summit, McCain seen as best choice for economy
Republican presidential candidate John McCain's tax policies have given him an edge as the better man for the economy, various Wall Street experts said at this week's Reuters Investment Outlook Summit.
But, against a backdrop of job losses and deteriorating home values, Wall Street is backing McCain's Democratic rival, Barack Obama with cold, hard cash.
McCain plans to extend the Bush administration's tax cuts, eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, and slash corporate taxes. Obama, who has derided the Arizona senator's plans, has pledged to raise taxes on the wealthy and introduce a broad range of refundable tax credits.
"My personal opinion is I would argue that McCain is probably the better candidate for the economy and that is more or less because of his tax policies," James Caron, head of global rates research at investment bank Morgan Stanley in New York, said at the Reuters Summit this week.
"In this environment that we're in right now, the last thing you want to have is higher taxes and taking money out of the consumers' pockets," he added.
David Bianco, chief U.S. strategist at UBS Investment Research, told the summit that Wall Street would welcome McCain with open arms. "My view is that McCain is better for the market," Bianco said.
"The market will respond to McCain corporate tax cuts," said participant Alan Ruskin, chief international strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Wall Street may like McCain but it is betting on the Democratic senator from Illinois.
But, against a backdrop of job losses and deteriorating home values, Wall Street is backing McCain's Democratic rival, Barack Obama with cold, hard cash.
McCain plans to extend the Bush administration's tax cuts, eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, and slash corporate taxes. Obama, who has derided the Arizona senator's plans, has pledged to raise taxes on the wealthy and introduce a broad range of refundable tax credits.
"My personal opinion is I would argue that McCain is probably the better candidate for the economy and that is more or less because of his tax policies," James Caron, head of global rates research at investment bank Morgan Stanley in New York, said at the Reuters Summit this week.
"In this environment that we're in right now, the last thing you want to have is higher taxes and taking money out of the consumers' pockets," he added.
David Bianco, chief U.S. strategist at UBS Investment Research, told the summit that Wall Street would welcome McCain with open arms. "My view is that McCain is better for the market," Bianco said.
"The market will respond to McCain corporate tax cuts," said participant Alan Ruskin, chief international strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Wall Street may like McCain but it is betting on the Democratic senator from Illinois.
15 militants killed in search for Afghan prisoner escapees
Afghan and coalition forces killed more than 15 insurgents and captured five while searching for militants who escaped in a daring jail-break last week, the U.S. military said Sunday.
Militants used explosive-laden trucks to destroy the walls of the Afghan prison.
Officials have not yet confirmed whether the insurgents who were killed or captured in the Saturday raid in Kandahar province were part of the nearly 400 Taliban militants who escaped from a Kandahar prison on Friday.
A U.S. military statement said the insurgents, who were holed up in a farming compound west of Rawonay, fired at troops who then retaliated with an air strike.
Authorities continued to search for the escaped prisoners Sunday. Afghan security forces have said looking for them will be tough in some areas, if not impossible in others. The Taliban is entrenched in the region, which is replete with militants' hideouts. The militants may have gone to two regions of Kandahar province with a large Taliban presence -- Maiwand and Zherai districts.
The incident, President Hamid Karzai told reporters Sunday, "is indicative of the challenges we still have, indicative of the weakness that we still have.
"Therefore it's all the more reason for us to work harder and to keep building Afghan institutions and Afghan intelligence and be a lot more steadfast in our resolve in confronting terrorism."
The Taliban militants escaped from the prison Friday during a planned commando-style attack. Militants used suicide truck bombs loaded with about two tons of explosives to blast holes in the mud brick walls of the Soviet-era prison, a Taliban spokesman said. Watch how Afghan prisoners escaped from prison »
A gun and rocket battle between the militants and prison guards lasted several hours and ended with dozens of militants rushing inside on motorcycles to free all prisoners inside -- including the nearly 400 Taliban fighters, the Taliban spokesman said.
The prison, one of the most notorious in Afghanistan, held a number of arrested Taliban leaders. Several had recently embarked on a hunger strike.
Police sources say the strike freed a combination of suicide bombers and cell leaders who had been captured over the past six years in various combat operations targeting the Taliban.
There were 1,059 prisoners in the prison at the time of the attack and 167 of them remain in the prison, the second largest in the country and controlled by the Afghan government.
Analysts -- who say the effort amounts to a huge psychological victory for the Taliban in southern Afghanistan -- note that this was the latest of three commando-style attacks in the country in recent months. The attacks reflect the sophistication of the militants and efforts to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan citizenry.
They include the attempted assassination in April of Karzai at a military ceremony and the strike on the five-star Serena Hotel in Kabul. Both are suspected as al Qaeda jobs as well.
The al Qaeda terror network attacked the United States Sept. 11, 2001, while during the Taliban's rule over Afghanistan. A U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban government, but the militant group developed into a potent insurgency.
The incident comes during as violence rages in Afghanistan's southern provinces, a major front in the fight between NATO-led troops and the Taliban
Militants used explosive-laden trucks to destroy the walls of the Afghan prison.
Officials have not yet confirmed whether the insurgents who were killed or captured in the Saturday raid in Kandahar province were part of the nearly 400 Taliban militants who escaped from a Kandahar prison on Friday.
A U.S. military statement said the insurgents, who were holed up in a farming compound west of Rawonay, fired at troops who then retaliated with an air strike.
Authorities continued to search for the escaped prisoners Sunday. Afghan security forces have said looking for them will be tough in some areas, if not impossible in others. The Taliban is entrenched in the region, which is replete with militants' hideouts. The militants may have gone to two regions of Kandahar province with a large Taliban presence -- Maiwand and Zherai districts.
The incident, President Hamid Karzai told reporters Sunday, "is indicative of the challenges we still have, indicative of the weakness that we still have.
"Therefore it's all the more reason for us to work harder and to keep building Afghan institutions and Afghan intelligence and be a lot more steadfast in our resolve in confronting terrorism."
The Taliban militants escaped from the prison Friday during a planned commando-style attack. Militants used suicide truck bombs loaded with about two tons of explosives to blast holes in the mud brick walls of the Soviet-era prison, a Taliban spokesman said. Watch how Afghan prisoners escaped from prison »
A gun and rocket battle between the militants and prison guards lasted several hours and ended with dozens of militants rushing inside on motorcycles to free all prisoners inside -- including the nearly 400 Taliban fighters, the Taliban spokesman said.
The prison, one of the most notorious in Afghanistan, held a number of arrested Taliban leaders. Several had recently embarked on a hunger strike.
Police sources say the strike freed a combination of suicide bombers and cell leaders who had been captured over the past six years in various combat operations targeting the Taliban.
There were 1,059 prisoners in the prison at the time of the attack and 167 of them remain in the prison, the second largest in the country and controlled by the Afghan government.
Analysts -- who say the effort amounts to a huge psychological victory for the Taliban in southern Afghanistan -- note that this was the latest of three commando-style attacks in the country in recent months. The attacks reflect the sophistication of the militants and efforts to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan citizenry.
They include the attempted assassination in April of Karzai at a military ceremony and the strike on the five-star Serena Hotel in Kabul. Both are suspected as al Qaeda jobs as well.
The al Qaeda terror network attacked the United States Sept. 11, 2001, while during the Taliban's rule over Afghanistan. A U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban government, but the militant group developed into a potent insurgency.
The incident comes during as violence rages in Afghanistan's southern provinces, a major front in the fight between NATO-led troops and the Taliban
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Mukesh accused of sabotaging MTN deal
The war between the Ambani brothers erupted again tonight with younger Anil's group charging Mukesh-led Reliance Industries with attempting to “sabotage” its potential multi-billion dollar deal with South African telecom giant MTN.
Mukesh's group, however, declined to comment on allegations from Anil's group that RIL had communicated to MTN about its claim to right of first refusal to buy controlling stake in RCom and it was “legally and factually untenable, baseless and misconceived.”
An RIL spokesperson said “no comments” when asked about the issues raised by Anil Ambani group.
Asserting that the new combined entity would have operating profits of Rs 50,000 crore, much higher than the Mukesh Ambani group, an RCom official alleged that “RIL is seeking to disrupt the creation of one of the world's most valuable telecoms combinations.”
Claiming that RIL's communication to MTN was based on a 'unilateral' agreement of 12 January 2006 signed by RIL officials, ADAG said that the agreement for effecting the family settlement was held “unfair and unjust” by the Bombay High Court later that year.
RCom officials, however, exuded confidence that RIL's attempt would not delay the negotiations on the deal, that is believed to be in the region of over $70 billion where Mr Anil Ambani could be chairman of the combined entity with single largest shareholding.
He, however, did not take questions on the present status of the negotiations for which RCom had entered into exclusive negotiations with the MTN group on 26 May for a period of 45 days.
Meanwhile, reports from Johannesburg quoted an MTN spokesperson as saying “as far as we are concerned nothing has changed... we (RCom and MTN) are continuing talks.”
Mukesh's group, however, declined to comment on allegations from Anil's group that RIL had communicated to MTN about its claim to right of first refusal to buy controlling stake in RCom and it was “legally and factually untenable, baseless and misconceived.”
An RIL spokesperson said “no comments” when asked about the issues raised by Anil Ambani group.
Asserting that the new combined entity would have operating profits of Rs 50,000 crore, much higher than the Mukesh Ambani group, an RCom official alleged that “RIL is seeking to disrupt the creation of one of the world's most valuable telecoms combinations.”
Claiming that RIL's communication to MTN was based on a 'unilateral' agreement of 12 January 2006 signed by RIL officials, ADAG said that the agreement for effecting the family settlement was held “unfair and unjust” by the Bombay High Court later that year.
RCom officials, however, exuded confidence that RIL's attempt would not delay the negotiations on the deal, that is believed to be in the region of over $70 billion where Mr Anil Ambani could be chairman of the combined entity with single largest shareholding.
He, however, did not take questions on the present status of the negotiations for which RCom had entered into exclusive negotiations with the MTN group on 26 May for a period of 45 days.
Meanwhile, reports from Johannesburg quoted an MTN spokesperson as saying “as far as we are concerned nothing has changed... we (RCom and MTN) are continuing talks.”
Iowa's raging Cedar River forces 20,000 from homes
Days after it rose out of its banks on its way to record flooding in Cedar Rapids, the Cedar River has forced at least 20,000 people from their homes, officials said Saturday.
Officials guess it will be four days before the Cedar River drops enough for workers to even begin pumping out water that has submerged more than 400 blocks, threatened the city's drinking supply and forced the evacuation of a downtown hospital.
"We're estimating at least a couple of weeks before the flood levels get down right around flood stage and below," said Dustin Hinrichs of the Linn County emergency operations center.
The Cedar River crested Friday night at nearly 32 feet, 12 feet higher than the old record set in 1929.
County Supervisor Linda Langston estimated the number forced from their homes at 20,000 and said that figure could rise as officials got a better grasp of how many neighborhoods were flooded. Cedar Rapids has a population of about 120,000.
Residents have moved to shelters and hotels and many have moved in with friends and relatives. Driving in the area has been difficult for days but got even worse late Friday when the state patrol closed Interstate 380, which links Cedar Rapids to Iowa City. Earlier, officials also closed Interstate 80 at Iowa City, blocking a major east-west route through the state.
About 100 miles to the west, Des Moines was dealing with its first major flooding Saturday as water poured out of the Des Moines River and into a small neighborhood north of downtown.
Even as the river slowly recedes, officials in Cedar Rapids worried that the city's supply of fresh drinking water would run out. Only one of the city's half-dozen wells was working, and it was protected by sandbags and pumps powered by generators.
Preliminary damages estimates in Cedar Rapids reached $737 million, and officials foresee a long recovery.
"It's a bit overwhelming ... " said the city's mayor pro-tem, Brian Fagan. "This is an endurance competition. We have to be patient. We have to be cooperative."
In Des Moines, a levee ruptured early Saturday and allowed the Des Moines River to pour into an area near downtown, and a mandatory evacuation was ordered for 270 homes, authorities said. Many residents of the area already had left after a voluntary evacuation request was issued Friday.
Des Moines city crews and National Guard used dump trucks and front-end loaders to build a temporary berm in a bid to stop the water, but by midmorning they had been ordered to abandon the work because officials expected the berm to also fail. That would leave hundreds of homes unprotected from flooding that had already surrounded the city's North High School.
"Things happened really fast," said Toby Hunvemuller of the Army Corps of Engineers. "We tried to figure out how high the level would go. Not enough time. We lost ground. We didn't want to risk life or harm anyone, and the decision was made to stop."
Bill Stowe, Des Moines' public works director, said he expected extensive damage to about 200 homes in the Birdland neighborhood. "There's not anything else we can do," Stowe said.
Elsewhere, Illinois emergency authorities said a levee along the Mississippi River in far western Illinois burst Saturday morning and voluntary evacuations were under way in Keithsburg, a town of about 700 residents.
"The levee broke in two places," Keithsburg Alderman George Askew, 76, said of the town some 35 miles southwest of Moline. "We're getting under water."
Just south of Cedar Rapids, in Iowa City, Gov. Chet Culver warned that more dramatic flooding could be on the way as the Iowa River rises.
"A real wave of water is on the way as we speak," he said.
At least 438 city blocks were under water in Cedar Rapids, hospital patients in wheelchairs and stretchers were evacuated in the middle of the night, and officials said as many as 10,000 townspeople had been driven from their homes in this city of 120,000.
The flooding was blamed for at least two deaths in Iowa.
Since June 6, Iowa has gotten at least 8 inches of rain. That came after a wet spring that left the ground saturated. As of Friday, nine rivers were at or above historic flood levels. More thunderstorms are possible in the Cedar Rapids area over the weekend, but next week is expected to be sunny and dry.
Gov. Chet Culver declared 83 of the state's 99 counties disaster areas, a designation that helps speed aid and opens the way for loans and grants.
The drenching has also severely damaged the corn crop in America's No. 1 corn state and other parts of the Midwest at a time when corn prices are soaring. Dave Miller, a grain farmer and director of research for the Iowa Farm Bureau, estimated that up to 1.3 million acres of corn and 2 million acres of soy beans — about 20 percent of the state's overall grain crop — had been lost to flooding.
"Farmers have already put a lot of resources into a crop that is now underwater," Miller said.
At Cedar Rapids' Prairie High School, where 150 evacuees waited, people could be seen crying in the cafeteria while others watched flood coverage on TVs set up in the gym. Tables were lined with shampoo, toothpaste, contact lens solution and other items, and piles of clothes were separated by size.
At the school, Lisa Armstrong wept as she watched TV news footage of her own rescue. She saw herself climbing into a boat, and watched rescuers trying to coax her dog out of the house. They finally grabbed the animal and pulled it out.
"I didn't think it was going to be as bad as it was, and we should have got out when we were told to leave," she said. "I didn't think or imagine anything like that."
The city's newspaper, The Gazette, continued to cover the story with the help of emergency generators. But the flood was just outside the front door, and the place had no running water. Portable bathrooms were set up outside for the staff.
"We're putting the paper out through heroic, historic effort by the staff companywide," said Steve Buttry, who started as editor of the newspaper on Tuesday — just one day before the disaster struck.
Des Moines fire officials had no immediate estimate of the number of people urged to evacuate there.
Officials guess it will be four days before the Cedar River drops enough for workers to even begin pumping out water that has submerged more than 400 blocks, threatened the city's drinking supply and forced the evacuation of a downtown hospital.
"We're estimating at least a couple of weeks before the flood levels get down right around flood stage and below," said Dustin Hinrichs of the Linn County emergency operations center.
The Cedar River crested Friday night at nearly 32 feet, 12 feet higher than the old record set in 1929.
County Supervisor Linda Langston estimated the number forced from their homes at 20,000 and said that figure could rise as officials got a better grasp of how many neighborhoods were flooded. Cedar Rapids has a population of about 120,000.
Residents have moved to shelters and hotels and many have moved in with friends and relatives. Driving in the area has been difficult for days but got even worse late Friday when the state patrol closed Interstate 380, which links Cedar Rapids to Iowa City. Earlier, officials also closed Interstate 80 at Iowa City, blocking a major east-west route through the state.
About 100 miles to the west, Des Moines was dealing with its first major flooding Saturday as water poured out of the Des Moines River and into a small neighborhood north of downtown.
Even as the river slowly recedes, officials in Cedar Rapids worried that the city's supply of fresh drinking water would run out. Only one of the city's half-dozen wells was working, and it was protected by sandbags and pumps powered by generators.
Preliminary damages estimates in Cedar Rapids reached $737 million, and officials foresee a long recovery.
"It's a bit overwhelming ... " said the city's mayor pro-tem, Brian Fagan. "This is an endurance competition. We have to be patient. We have to be cooperative."
In Des Moines, a levee ruptured early Saturday and allowed the Des Moines River to pour into an area near downtown, and a mandatory evacuation was ordered for 270 homes, authorities said. Many residents of the area already had left after a voluntary evacuation request was issued Friday.
Des Moines city crews and National Guard used dump trucks and front-end loaders to build a temporary berm in a bid to stop the water, but by midmorning they had been ordered to abandon the work because officials expected the berm to also fail. That would leave hundreds of homes unprotected from flooding that had already surrounded the city's North High School.
"Things happened really fast," said Toby Hunvemuller of the Army Corps of Engineers. "We tried to figure out how high the level would go. Not enough time. We lost ground. We didn't want to risk life or harm anyone, and the decision was made to stop."
Bill Stowe, Des Moines' public works director, said he expected extensive damage to about 200 homes in the Birdland neighborhood. "There's not anything else we can do," Stowe said.
Elsewhere, Illinois emergency authorities said a levee along the Mississippi River in far western Illinois burst Saturday morning and voluntary evacuations were under way in Keithsburg, a town of about 700 residents.
"The levee broke in two places," Keithsburg Alderman George Askew, 76, said of the town some 35 miles southwest of Moline. "We're getting under water."
Just south of Cedar Rapids, in Iowa City, Gov. Chet Culver warned that more dramatic flooding could be on the way as the Iowa River rises.
"A real wave of water is on the way as we speak," he said.
At least 438 city blocks were under water in Cedar Rapids, hospital patients in wheelchairs and stretchers were evacuated in the middle of the night, and officials said as many as 10,000 townspeople had been driven from their homes in this city of 120,000.
The flooding was blamed for at least two deaths in Iowa.
Since June 6, Iowa has gotten at least 8 inches of rain. That came after a wet spring that left the ground saturated. As of Friday, nine rivers were at or above historic flood levels. More thunderstorms are possible in the Cedar Rapids area over the weekend, but next week is expected to be sunny and dry.
Gov. Chet Culver declared 83 of the state's 99 counties disaster areas, a designation that helps speed aid and opens the way for loans and grants.
The drenching has also severely damaged the corn crop in America's No. 1 corn state and other parts of the Midwest at a time when corn prices are soaring. Dave Miller, a grain farmer and director of research for the Iowa Farm Bureau, estimated that up to 1.3 million acres of corn and 2 million acres of soy beans — about 20 percent of the state's overall grain crop — had been lost to flooding.
"Farmers have already put a lot of resources into a crop that is now underwater," Miller said.
At Cedar Rapids' Prairie High School, where 150 evacuees waited, people could be seen crying in the cafeteria while others watched flood coverage on TVs set up in the gym. Tables were lined with shampoo, toothpaste, contact lens solution and other items, and piles of clothes were separated by size.
At the school, Lisa Armstrong wept as she watched TV news footage of her own rescue. She saw herself climbing into a boat, and watched rescuers trying to coax her dog out of the house. They finally grabbed the animal and pulled it out.
"I didn't think it was going to be as bad as it was, and we should have got out when we were told to leave," she said. "I didn't think or imagine anything like that."
The city's newspaper, The Gazette, continued to cover the story with the help of emergency generators. But the flood was just outside the front door, and the place had no running water. Portable bathrooms were set up outside for the staff.
"We're putting the paper out through heroic, historic effort by the staff companywide," said Steve Buttry, who started as editor of the newspaper on Tuesday — just one day before the disaster struck.
Des Moines fire officials had no immediate estimate of the number of people urged to evacuate there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)