Could Carl Icahn have actually been placated by Yahoo's picking Google over his favoured candidate, Microsoft? The proxy marshall told Reuters, in what the newswire said were his first comments since the purply one opted for a Google ( NSDQ: GOOG) ad-deal rather than a Microsoft ( NSDQ: MSFT) buy-out: " While the Google deal is not the same as an offer of $34.375 per share for Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), I am continuing to study it, and it might have some merit."
"I continue to be extremely disappointed with the Yahoo management, but the Google deal might have some merit and seems to be better then the alternative deal proposed by Microsoft." Better only than the scaled-back Microsoft option, of course.
"Disappointing" Icahn would hardly rank amongst the biggest regrets for Yang & Co., though the billionaire financier declined to say whether his proxy battle to replace the board would continue. With these more positive noises, and Google deal's " change in control" provisions, however, appear to have assuaged the threat for now?
Reuters: "Icahn hinted that the change of control provision might be sufficient reason to pull back on his campaign to replace the Yahoo board. Alternatively, Icahn could accept minority board representation which may not prompt Google to walk away." If Icahn were to seek a bigger stake, it could prompt Google to walk away, leaving him to renew Microsoft talks.
Related
Yahoo Call: Flexibility Is Key; Voluntary 3.5 Month Delay For DOJ; May Partner On Google Display Ads
Yahoo-Google: Defining A Change In Control; Google?s Revenue Guarantee
Yahoo And Google In Non-Exclusive Search Ad Deal; $250-$450 Million Extra Op Cash Flow
Yahoo: Severance Plan Not ?Nuts?; Not Easily Revoked; And It Wouldn?t Cost Microsoft $2.4 Billion
Monday, June 16, 2008
Pakistani May Have Delivered
The Bush administration and Western governments are voicing renewed fears that advanced nuclear-weapon designs may have been provided to Iran and North Korea through the smuggling network run by Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.
These fears have been stoked by evidence obtained by Swiss authorities who are prosecuting three European members of Mr. Khan's network in Bern, Western diplomats said.
Swiss President Pascal Couchepin announced last month that his government had destroyed computer files and other data seized from these men because they posed a national-security risk. The Swiss leader noted that the files contained "detailed construction plans for nuclear weapons, for ultracentrifuges to enrich weapons-grade uranium as well as for guided missile-delivery systems."
In 2003, the U.S. and allied governments broke up Mr. Khan's smuggling network, which had delivered centrifuge equipment for uranium-enrichment work to Tehran and Pyongyang and Chinese-based nuclear-weapons designs to Libya.
As a result of the intervention, Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi agreed to dismantle his nuclear program and share intelligence with the U.S., United Kingdom and International Atomic Energy Agency.
Western diplomats said the documents destroyed recently by the Swiss detailed more-advanced nuclear-weapons designs obtained by the Khan network than those found in Libya. Such designs could be used to develop compact nuclear warheads that could be affixed to North Korean and Iranian long-range missile systems.
The fact that the designs were contained on computer files also means they could be shared more easily with potential buyers, whether from governments or terrorist networks, these officials said.
U.S. counterproliferation officials said the intelligence highlighted why additional efforts needed to be made to interview Mr. Khan in Islamabad to get a greater understanding of his network's activities. Mr. Khan is under house arrest, but Pakistan's newly elected civilian government has suggested that the scientist could be released.
"We don't know for certain if Khan gave the designs to Iran or North Korea," said a U.S. counterproliferation official who worked extensively on the Libya case. "But why would you give them to the Libyans and not the North Koreans?"
The Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington think tank focused on proliferation threats, is expected to release a report this week detailing the Khan syndicate's possession of the advanced nuclear-weapons designs. The Washington Post and New York Times reported Sunday on the concerns raised by the Swiss intelligence.
Iran's possible possession of the Khan network's weapons designs particularly worries U.S. and Western counterproliferation experts. A U.S. intelligence study released in November found that in 2003 Tehran ceased developing a nuclear-weapon capability, even as it accelerated its attempts to master the nuclear fuel cycle.
But counterproliferation experts in Washington and Europe have voiced skepticism about the U.S. intelligence community's report and note that developing nuclear weapons is relatively easy once the fuel cycle has been developed.
International efforts to pressure Iran to halt its nuclear program, meanwhile, have gained little momentum in recent months. Last week, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany, offered Tehran new economic incentives in exchange for its freezing its uranium-enrichment work.
Tehran gave few signs over the weekend that it would agree to the offer, which included assistance in developing a civilian nuclear program.
"If the package includes suspension it is not debatable at all," government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham told reporters Saturday in Tehran.
U.S. diplomats said Iran's rejection of the deal would force Washington to develop a new round of sanctions against Tehran, both unilaterally and through the United Nations. Among the measures being discussed, according to Western diplomats, is a clampdown on the shipments of oil and other refined petroleum projects into Iran, as well as a greater sanctioning of Iran's financial sector
These fears have been stoked by evidence obtained by Swiss authorities who are prosecuting three European members of Mr. Khan's network in Bern, Western diplomats said.
Swiss President Pascal Couchepin announced last month that his government had destroyed computer files and other data seized from these men because they posed a national-security risk. The Swiss leader noted that the files contained "detailed construction plans for nuclear weapons, for ultracentrifuges to enrich weapons-grade uranium as well as for guided missile-delivery systems."
In 2003, the U.S. and allied governments broke up Mr. Khan's smuggling network, which had delivered centrifuge equipment for uranium-enrichment work to Tehran and Pyongyang and Chinese-based nuclear-weapons designs to Libya.
As a result of the intervention, Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi agreed to dismantle his nuclear program and share intelligence with the U.S., United Kingdom and International Atomic Energy Agency.
Western diplomats said the documents destroyed recently by the Swiss detailed more-advanced nuclear-weapons designs obtained by the Khan network than those found in Libya. Such designs could be used to develop compact nuclear warheads that could be affixed to North Korean and Iranian long-range missile systems.
The fact that the designs were contained on computer files also means they could be shared more easily with potential buyers, whether from governments or terrorist networks, these officials said.
U.S. counterproliferation officials said the intelligence highlighted why additional efforts needed to be made to interview Mr. Khan in Islamabad to get a greater understanding of his network's activities. Mr. Khan is under house arrest, but Pakistan's newly elected civilian government has suggested that the scientist could be released.
"We don't know for certain if Khan gave the designs to Iran or North Korea," said a U.S. counterproliferation official who worked extensively on the Libya case. "But why would you give them to the Libyans and not the North Koreans?"
The Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington think tank focused on proliferation threats, is expected to release a report this week detailing the Khan syndicate's possession of the advanced nuclear-weapons designs. The Washington Post and New York Times reported Sunday on the concerns raised by the Swiss intelligence.
Iran's possible possession of the Khan network's weapons designs particularly worries U.S. and Western counterproliferation experts. A U.S. intelligence study released in November found that in 2003 Tehran ceased developing a nuclear-weapon capability, even as it accelerated its attempts to master the nuclear fuel cycle.
But counterproliferation experts in Washington and Europe have voiced skepticism about the U.S. intelligence community's report and note that developing nuclear weapons is relatively easy once the fuel cycle has been developed.
International efforts to pressure Iran to halt its nuclear program, meanwhile, have gained little momentum in recent months. Last week, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany, offered Tehran new economic incentives in exchange for its freezing its uranium-enrichment work.
Tehran gave few signs over the weekend that it would agree to the offer, which included assistance in developing a civilian nuclear program.
"If the package includes suspension it is not debatable at all," government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham told reporters Saturday in Tehran.
U.S. diplomats said Iran's rejection of the deal would force Washington to develop a new round of sanctions against Tehran, both unilaterally and through the United Nations. Among the measures being discussed, according to Western diplomats, is a clampdown on the shipments of oil and other refined petroleum projects into Iran, as well as a greater sanctioning of Iran's financial sector
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Inflation threatening Asia poverty fight - ADB
Price pressures remain the biggest worry for Asia, where high inflation is threatening to spoil the gains against poverty achieved over the last two decades, the Asian Development Bank said on Sunday.
"We are concerned that the the rising food and fuel prices will make dent in the fight against poverty," Rajat M. Nag, managing director general of the ADB, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on East Asia meeting in Malaysia's capital.
The ADB has forecast Asian inflation at 5.1 percent for 2008, but Nag said it would probably be higher.
"Our forecast for 2008 is 5.1 percent and that will be the highest in a decade. This was done in April and we are updating, and I am sure the numbers will be probably higher," he said.
Asian currencies are weakening and asset markets are being strained on worries that rising inflation will soon hurt growth, investment and corporate earnings, and destabilise governments.
Asian policymakers are facing their toughest test since the 1997 financial crisis. Across the region, central banks are under pressure to tighten monetary policy to prevent $130-plus oil and soaring commodity prices from seeping into wages and other costs.
But governments fear politically-unpopular interest rate hikes could also curb growth, which is already under pressure as the U.S. economy sputters.
The ADB forecast 7.6 percent growth for the region in 2008, down from 8.7 percent last year, which was the highest in two decades.
"Growth this year will be lower than last year but still fairly attractive, with a slight uptick in 2009," said Nag.
But he repeated that inflation remained the region's biggest challenge.
"All of this could be endangered if the inflation issue is not handled. Inflation is the greatest worry."
He said Asian countries will have to think not only of food and fuel prices, but overall inflation levels.
"Basically you have got to look at headline inflation, and there it is important that both monetary and fiscal policies come down very very hard on inflation," said Nag.
But he refused to say whether he thought Asian governments and central banks have been too slow to tackle price pressures.
"Asia is certainly recognising the seriousness of the situation," he said, referring to recent steps by a number of central banks including a rate hike last week by the Reserve Bank of India.
"I think that stance has to be maintained and aggressively pursued."
James W. Adams, the World Bank's vice president for East Asia and Pacific, agreed that inflation was the biggest worry.
"It complicates policy making. When you have price stability you actually have more flexibility in terms of what instruments you can use and how aggressively you have to use them," Adams told reporters.
"The other concern is that inflation is a tax on the poor," he said. "The risk is because they are so heavily dependent particularly on the food budget, that this will reduce the prosperity and wealth of a significant percentage of the population."
FISCAL MEASURES
ADB's Nag stressed the need for monetary policy to be supported by fiscal measures to dampen inflationary expectations, calling for a more organised way of helping the poor cope with rising prices.
"Governments have to look at providing directed cash or income support to the most vulnerable rather than broad general subsidies," Nag said.
He said such subsides could be counter productive in the long- run, and urged governments not to impose price controls or export bans on commodities.
Almost a billion people in the region are acutely vulnerable to rising food prices, including 600 million who are living on less than a dollar a day, he said.
"Our concern is that the gains against poverty that Asia has made can start to unravel. And the focus has to be therefore on the price story, and it cannot be done by imposing administrative controls," he said.
"The era of cheap food is over but that does not necessarily means that Asia's success against poverty is over. It means that we really have to focus on these critical constraints."
"We are concerned that the the rising food and fuel prices will make dent in the fight against poverty," Rajat M. Nag, managing director general of the ADB, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on East Asia meeting in Malaysia's capital.
The ADB has forecast Asian inflation at 5.1 percent for 2008, but Nag said it would probably be higher.
"Our forecast for 2008 is 5.1 percent and that will be the highest in a decade. This was done in April and we are updating, and I am sure the numbers will be probably higher," he said.
Asian currencies are weakening and asset markets are being strained on worries that rising inflation will soon hurt growth, investment and corporate earnings, and destabilise governments.
Asian policymakers are facing their toughest test since the 1997 financial crisis. Across the region, central banks are under pressure to tighten monetary policy to prevent $130-plus oil and soaring commodity prices from seeping into wages and other costs.
But governments fear politically-unpopular interest rate hikes could also curb growth, which is already under pressure as the U.S. economy sputters.
The ADB forecast 7.6 percent growth for the region in 2008, down from 8.7 percent last year, which was the highest in two decades.
"Growth this year will be lower than last year but still fairly attractive, with a slight uptick in 2009," said Nag.
But he repeated that inflation remained the region's biggest challenge.
"All of this could be endangered if the inflation issue is not handled. Inflation is the greatest worry."
He said Asian countries will have to think not only of food and fuel prices, but overall inflation levels.
"Basically you have got to look at headline inflation, and there it is important that both monetary and fiscal policies come down very very hard on inflation," said Nag.
But he refused to say whether he thought Asian governments and central banks have been too slow to tackle price pressures.
"Asia is certainly recognising the seriousness of the situation," he said, referring to recent steps by a number of central banks including a rate hike last week by the Reserve Bank of India.
"I think that stance has to be maintained and aggressively pursued."
James W. Adams, the World Bank's vice president for East Asia and Pacific, agreed that inflation was the biggest worry.
"It complicates policy making. When you have price stability you actually have more flexibility in terms of what instruments you can use and how aggressively you have to use them," Adams told reporters.
"The other concern is that inflation is a tax on the poor," he said. "The risk is because they are so heavily dependent particularly on the food budget, that this will reduce the prosperity and wealth of a significant percentage of the population."
FISCAL MEASURES
ADB's Nag stressed the need for monetary policy to be supported by fiscal measures to dampen inflationary expectations, calling for a more organised way of helping the poor cope with rising prices.
"Governments have to look at providing directed cash or income support to the most vulnerable rather than broad general subsidies," Nag said.
He said such subsides could be counter productive in the long- run, and urged governments not to impose price controls or export bans on commodities.
Almost a billion people in the region are acutely vulnerable to rising food prices, including 600 million who are living on less than a dollar a day, he said.
"Our concern is that the gains against poverty that Asia has made can start to unravel. And the focus has to be therefore on the price story, and it cannot be done by imposing administrative controls," he said.
"The era of cheap food is over but that does not necessarily means that Asia's success against poverty is over. It means that we really have to focus on these critical constraints."
Life in smaller cities gets dearer too
Metros are not the only expensive places to live in as consumers have seen the retail prices of most essential food items having soared by up to 80% in the last four years.
The price rise in five non-metro cities in different regions of the country -- Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar and Shimla -- are either more or at least in line with that of four metropolis.
The trend seen in the retail prices, based on an analysis of data available with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, come amid the wholesale price-based inflation figure having surged to its highest level in seven years at 8.75 per cent.
Besides, the economists expect the inflation figure to soon touch double-digit mark at 10 per cent, because of recent hike in fuel prices, which could further push up the retail prices.
Between May 24, 2004 and June 12, 2008, rice prices have gone up by over 73 per cent in Ahmedabad at Rs 15.25 per kg, while those in Shimla rose by about 63 per cent, Lucknow by 53 per cent, Bangalore by 50 per cent, Bhubaneswar by 44 per cent and Hyderabad by 30 per cent.
In the four metros, rice prices rose by 25-52 per cent.
Wheat prices have spiralled by over 57 per cent to Rs 11 a kg in Lucknow, by 25 per cent in Bangalore, 30 per cent in Hyderabad and 21 per cent in Ahmedabad.
In four metros, wheat prices have gone up in the range of 42-48 per cent. Mumbai witnessed the highest rise of Rs 5 a kg to Rs 15.5.
Comment Email Article Print Article
The price rise in five non-metro cities in different regions of the country -- Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar and Shimla -- are either more or at least in line with that of four metropolis.
The trend seen in the retail prices, based on an analysis of data available with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, come amid the wholesale price-based inflation figure having surged to its highest level in seven years at 8.75 per cent.
Besides, the economists expect the inflation figure to soon touch double-digit mark at 10 per cent, because of recent hike in fuel prices, which could further push up the retail prices.
Between May 24, 2004 and June 12, 2008, rice prices have gone up by over 73 per cent in Ahmedabad at Rs 15.25 per kg, while those in Shimla rose by about 63 per cent, Lucknow by 53 per cent, Bangalore by 50 per cent, Bhubaneswar by 44 per cent and Hyderabad by 30 per cent.
In the four metros, rice prices rose by 25-52 per cent.
Wheat prices have spiralled by over 57 per cent to Rs 11 a kg in Lucknow, by 25 per cent in Bangalore, 30 per cent in Hyderabad and 21 per cent in Ahmedabad.
In four metros, wheat prices have gone up in the range of 42-48 per cent. Mumbai witnessed the highest rise of Rs 5 a kg to Rs 15.5.
Comment Email Article Print Article
Life in smaller cities gets dearer too
Metros are not the only expensive places to live in as consumers have seen the retail prices of most essential food items having soared by up to 80% in the last four years.
The price rise in five non-metro cities in different regions of the country -- Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar and Shimla -- are either more or at least in line with that of four metropolis.
The trend seen in the retail prices, based on an analysis of data available with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, come amid the wholesale price-based inflation figure having surged to its highest level in seven years at 8.75 per cent.
Besides, the economists expect the inflation figure to soon touch double-digit mark at 10 per cent, because of recent hike in fuel prices, which could further push up the retail prices.
Between May 24, 2004 and June 12, 2008, rice prices have gone up by over 73 per cent in Ahmedabad at Rs 15.25 per kg, while those in Shimla rose by about 63 per cent, Lucknow by 53 per cent, Bangalore by 50 per cent, Bhubaneswar by 44 per cent and Hyderabad by 30 per cent.
In the four metros, rice prices rose by 25-52 per cent.
Wheat prices have spiralled by over 57 per cent to Rs 11 a kg in Lucknow, by 25 per cent in Bangalore, 30 per cent in Hyderabad and 21 per cent in Ahmedabad.
In four metros, wheat prices have gone up in the range of 42-48 per cent. Mumbai witnessed the highest rise of Rs 5 a kg to Rs 15.5.
Comment Email Article Print Article
The price rise in five non-metro cities in different regions of the country -- Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar and Shimla -- are either more or at least in line with that of four metropolis.
The trend seen in the retail prices, based on an analysis of data available with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, come amid the wholesale price-based inflation figure having surged to its highest level in seven years at 8.75 per cent.
Besides, the economists expect the inflation figure to soon touch double-digit mark at 10 per cent, because of recent hike in fuel prices, which could further push up the retail prices.
Between May 24, 2004 and June 12, 2008, rice prices have gone up by over 73 per cent in Ahmedabad at Rs 15.25 per kg, while those in Shimla rose by about 63 per cent, Lucknow by 53 per cent, Bangalore by 50 per cent, Bhubaneswar by 44 per cent and Hyderabad by 30 per cent.
In the four metros, rice prices rose by 25-52 per cent.
Wheat prices have spiralled by over 57 per cent to Rs 11 a kg in Lucknow, by 25 per cent in Bangalore, 30 per cent in Hyderabad and 21 per cent in Ahmedabad.
In four metros, wheat prices have gone up in the range of 42-48 per cent. Mumbai witnessed the highest rise of Rs 5 a kg to Rs 15.5.
Comment Email Article Print Article
PE deals touch $6.39bn in so far this yr
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.
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.
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
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