Vienna Stock Exchange in steep fall after suspension ends
BUS28Business/EconomyVienna Stock Exchange in steep fall after suspension endsVienna, Oct 10 DPA Shares on the leading ATX index of the Vienna Stock Exchange fell by 10.91 percent Friday afternoon after the market had been suspended until midday due to high volatility. Vienna Stock Exchange spokeswoman Beatrix Exinger said the bourse had also needed time to implement new trading rules in response to the expected market fluctuations. According to these new guidelines by Austria's financial oversight authority, trading of a company's share can be stopped if its price moves by more than 10 percent. For eight out of the 20 companies on the ATX, trading was suspended Friday afternoon. The Vienna Insurance Group was among the affected shares, as it had lost 18.17 percent until its trading was halted. As in the past days, Erste Group Bank AG and Raiffeisen International Bank-Holding AG also suffered heavy losses as their shares plummeted by 13.88 percent and 21.72 percent respectively. Another factor for closing the market were the heavy losses over the past days, Exinger said. This week, shares on the blue-chip ATX index have lost 23 percent of their value by Thursday evening. As falling banking stocks account for around a quarter of the market capitalisation on the small bourse, the Vienna Stock Exchange has underperformed other European exchanges this week. Since the ATX was one of the smaller European indexes in terms of capitalisation, Raiffeisen analyst Johannes Mattner explained, investors withdrawing from the market had a bigger effect than in bigger bourses. "If someone backs out, these markets lose ground fast," he said. Another factor for the bad performance of companies listed in Vienna was their exposure to Central and Eastern European business, analysts said. Bauernfried said that previously, Vienna had outperformed other markets because of this factor, but now it had become "a big liability for some companies", such as the building group Strabag SE, whose trading was also suspended. The Bucharest Stock Exchange also halted regular trading Friday for the second time this week, while stock exchange authorities in Moscow announced that they were delaying the opening of trading. Since its record hight in July of last year, shares traded in Vienna have lost 61.5 percent of their value and stood at a total of 64.5 billion euros $88.2 billion as of Thursday evening.--DPAsnb/vt430 Words10102021
2008-10-10 11:02:12Metro Cash & Carry bags APMC licence in Bengal
NAT60National/BusinessMetro Cash & Carry bags APMC licence in BengalKolkata, Oct 10 IANS With ruling Left Front partner Forward Bloc relenting, Metro Cash & Carry India, the Indian arm of German wholesaler Metro AG, was Friday granted licence to sell farm commodities and other food items to hotels, restaurants, provision stores and other institutional buyers in West Bengal.A Memorandum of Understanding MoU outlining the conditions for Metro's operations was inked between the company officials and the state agriculture marketing board chief Naren Chatterjee at the state secretariat, Writers' Buildings here."We are delighted that we have received our APMC Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee licence as it is crucial to our business model," Frits van Peski, member of the Executive Board of Directors, Metro Cash & Carry India, said in a statement.Forward Bloc, which controls agriculture and agricultural marketing departments in the state and also heads the licensing authority State Agriculture Marketing Board, had earlier opposed renewal of the licence to Metro Cash & Carry India, but relented after pressure from front allies including major partner Communist Party of India-Marxist CPI-M. Peski thanked Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Agriculture, Consumer Affairs and Agri Marketing Departments Minister Naren De, and Chatterjee for facilitating the renewal. According to the MoU, Metro would have to pay one percent transaction fee on every purchase and sale executed by the company. It would not be allowed to do contract farming of any agriculture produce and livestock and every vendor of farm produce would have to be registered with the state marketing department."We are keen to start our operations to demonstrate the benefits of our unique business-to-business concept to our customers in Kolkata", said Martin Dlouhy, managing director of Metro Cash & Carry India. "We have approximately 350 trained local employees eager to serve our registered professional business customers. We should have the outlet fully up and running in six to eight weeks."This store will be Metro's fifth outlet in India. Of their other four, two are in Bangalore and one each in Hyderabad and Mumbai, where various small and medium businesses like kirana retail stores, hotels and restaurants have partnered the whole seller.The German company started the project of constructing this 100,000 sq ft outlet for an investment of $30 million in Eastern Metropolitan Bypass couple of years back. The entire project got delayed due to land disputes.After eight months of legal battle between the state government and the previous owner of the land, the company finally got permission to resume construction of its first store in the city and started work last November.The state government granted a licence to trade in APMC commodities in 2005, which was subsequently renewed twice in 2006 and 2007 and was to be valid till March 2008. However, in June 2007 the licence was unilaterally withdrawn by the APMC authorities. The company filed for issuance of fresh APMC licence in March 2008.--Indo-Asian News Serviceag/ssp/rn/dg516 Words*10101909
2008-10-10 10:00:00LUDHIANA
NAT61National/CrimeMumbai trader stabbed, looted of diamonds in Punjab townLudhiana, Oct 10 IANS Robbers looted diamonds worth Rs.15 million from a Mumbai-based diamond trader after throwing chilli powder into his eyes and stabbing him in a Punjab town, police said Friday.The incident took place near Phillaur town of Punjab Thursday night.Bhupesh Shah, and his associate were attacked by the robbers when their taxi driver stopped the car at a desolate spot on the Jalandhar-Ludhiana highway on the pretext of passing urine.The incident took place when the trader was returning from Jalandhar city, 60 km away, in a taxi.The police suspect the taxi driver to be involved in the crime, Superintendent of Police Paramvir Parmar said.The robbers took away a bag of the trader that contained diamonds, cash and credit cards. They drove off in the same taxi after dumping the trader and his associate on the road.Residents from Puccapur village gathered at the spot and helped the trader. They took both men to a hospital in Phillaur town.Shah told the police that he had reached Phillaur for business by Shatabdi express Wednesday and had hired the taxi from Phillaur.--Indo-Asian News Servicejs/rn/dg210 Words10101917
2008-10-10 10:00:00Obama offers plan to offer credit to small firms Reuters
Reuters - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Friday proposed a new loan program for small businesses, saying it would help stem job losses amid the deepening financial crisis....
2008-10-10 10:13:06Gene Logic and deSciner enter into a partnership to create 'Genomics Gateway'
Gaithersburg/Leicester, Oct 10 ANI/Business Wire India: Gene Logic has entered into a Strategic Alliance with deScinerT Business Network to create an interactive genomics information resource. Both organizations will work together to create a unique knowledge resource in genomics called 'Genomics Gateway'. The vision of this partnership is to present applications of genomics in pursuit of improved and affordable healthcare and therapeutics. The Gateway will feature leading scientists, developments and progress in this area through webinars, interactive interviews, and blogs amongst other vehicles.The Gateway will be featured as new sections on the OBBeCr Biotech portal powered by deScinerT and Gene Logic's thought leadership forum."We are extremely delighted to be working with Gene Logic to incorporate such rich knowledge resource into OBBeCr Portal," said Tim El-Sheikh, Managing Director and CEO of deScinerT Business Network. "We always strive to provide our worldwide readers with high quality and informative content from leading scientists and businesses from around the globe, discussing strategic issues and best practices in biotechnology, Bio-IT and healthcare sectors, all through a single online interface," addd Tim. Anu Acharya, CEO, Gene Logic said, "We have a very strong corporate social responsibility program through which we reach out to our community. Genomics over the years has been defined and re-defined and we are now seeing exciting applications of genomics in the biotech sector. As a leader in the genomics space, we are pleased to partner with deScinerT to present the latest in the genomics and discovery space through various programs we have planned."Ashwin Sivakumar, Ph.D, Director Marketing and Alliances, Gene Logic said, "State-of-the-art technologies like Genotyping, Differential Gene Expression, Genome Wide Association, SNPs et cetera have contributed immensely to global biomarker discovery programs as we all continue our pursuit for improved and affordable therapeutics. This alliance with deScinerT is a first of its kind partnership where we have broken traditional barriers to feature pioneering work of the genomics community and present news relating to advancements in this sector." ANI
2008-10-10 08:01:06Hawkers in Dal Lake witness decline in business
Srinagar, Oct 10 ANI: With continued agitation and protest in Jammu and Kashmir, hawkers, mainly selling their goods to tourists in houseboats, are witnessing a decline in their business.A 52-year-old hawker starts his day by rowing from houseboat to houseboat in Dal Lake in search of customers, but all he finds are few foreign tourists relaxing in their houseboats.Farooq Ahmed Pala deals with precious and semi-precious stones and sells his products to tourists staying in houseboats.For many years, hawkers have been in the business of providing shawls, jewels, dress materials, carpets and other handicraft items to the tourists staying in houseboats to save time from going to markets.But due to the recent protests in Srinagar, sparked by a decision to grant land for raising shelters for pilgrims to Amarnath shrine, tourism has been affected and in turn, the business of these hawkers.Some of the hawkers also set up mini-super market in Shikaras, a small boat, selling groceries and other essential products to the customers.Like Pala about 1000 other hawkers are also suffering huge losses."We had good business of Kashmir handicrafts like shawls, jewellery, wood carving and carpets. We were earning good livelihood, but the propaganda and shrine land issue made by the politicians and others have affected our business. It has come to five per cent from 100 per cent, said Pala.Tourists enjoy the picturesque beauty of Srinagar staying in houseboats and the hawkers offer them exquisite jewellery and other handicrafts items. ANI
2008-10-10 08:00:00Bollywood stays complascent despite liquidity crunch
BUS21Business/National/showbizBollywood stays complascent despite liquidity crunchBy Jivraj BurmanMumbai, Oct 10 IANS Could the current global market meltdown, directly or indirectly, affect Bollywood's finances and the production of its hugely mounted movies This is a question not many in the film industry are asking at present because they are confident the worldwide liquidity crunch will have no direct impact on them.So, it is business as usual in Bollywood and there is no sign of tension.Instead, the mood so far is complacent in entertainment corporate houses as well as in privately-run big production firms like Yash Raj Films and Karan Johar-headed Dharma Productions, which are gearing up for the release of "Roadside Romeo" and "Dostana" respectively."The big production houses already have sufficient cash reserves and corporate houses have collected enough money from the markets to worry about for any short-term crisis," said Manmohan Shetty, producer and former chairman and managing director of Adlabs.Supporting Shetty's view, chartered accountant Mehul Pakekh averred that never in the history of Indian film industry has any economic crisis slowed down film production."There's no cause for worry. But, yes, those who borrow money from the banks to make movies may face problems as the banks will not lend money easily as long as the current global financial instability continues," said Parekh, who is also one of the directors of the Infinity Film Completion Services.He said fresh equity sales of corporate houses engaged in entertainment content productions might slow down, but that would not affect them immediately.Parekh felt the liquidity crunch may be a boon for cinegoers."In order to keep their businesses going, multiplexes may have to think of cutting down admission rates ticket price so as not to lose clientele if the liquidity crunch worsens," he said.Both Shetty and Parekh feel that money is not an issue in Bollywood at present."The problem is the poor film content and the films are not recovering enough money at the box-office because of that," said Parekh. Echoing the same view, Shetty said if the mega budget movies continued to do poor business at the box-office as is the case now, producers would be forced to reduce the budgets of their future projects."Cost-cutting measures are long overdue. If so and so stars cannot justify their prices at the box-office, they cannot afford to continue to charge the same, or at least the producers cannot afford to pay them the same. This is only one aspect of cost-cutting," he said.According to the half-yearly report card, more than Rs.3 billion $70 million has gone into making films in Bollywood, but half of the amount sank beyond recovery. In the beginning of 2008, the audience rejected Rajkumar Santoshi's supposedly serious movie "Halla Bol".With equal disdain, the paying public passed over "Sunday", "My Name is Anthony Gonsalves", "One Two Three" and "Bombay to Bangkok".Even "Tashan", "Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic" and "Krazzy4" that had the honour of being produced by two of Bollywood's revered banners, Yash Raj Films and Filmkraft respectively, were rejected.Under the present circumstances, what should be the ideal budget of a big star-cast movie"I would say, it should not exceed Rs.600 million because this is the amount of money that is recoverable from all sources at present," Shetty said. Citing the example of the impact of the recession in Hollywood, both Shetty and Parekh said that during the economic slowdown in the US in 1974, movie ticket sales climbed rather than declining."Films are the cheapest form of entertainment and therefore thrives more in bad times," Parekh remarked.Shetty was a bit more matter-of-fact and added: "Under the present circumstances, there is more likelihood of fewer movies becoming blockbusters.Finally, will the present crisis in the international money market give a jolt to the Anil Abnani's Reliance BIG Entertainment RBE's deal with Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks SKG, because as per the $1.2 billion deal, RBE will have to invest $500 million and provide another $750 million in debt through JP Morgan Chase "In so far as debt is concerned, JP Morgan Chase has already committed it and it will not go back on its commitment," Parekh said. --Indo-Asian News Servicejb/ar/ank/vt755 Words*10101730
2008-10-10 08:03:08Stem cells from testicles an option to embryos - The Associated Press
ABC NewsStem cells from testicles an option to embryosThe Associated Press - 10 hours agoWASHINGTON AP - Cells taken from men's testicles seem as versatile as the stem cells derived fr...
2008-10-10 08:00:07Very few goats sacrificed during Durga Puja in flood-hit Bihar
NAT26National/Religion/RightsVery few goats sacrificed during Durga Puja in flood-hit BiharPatna, Oct 10 IANS The devastating floods in Bihar this year have come as a blessing for thousands of goats. They have escaped being killed during Durga Puja and Dussehra when Hindus sacrifice animals as part of a ritual to appease the goddess.Animal rights activists are also a relieved lot. The floods have rendered millions of people homeless, making it impossible for them to celebrate Durga Puja and Dussehra in the traditional way.Unlike last year when thousands of goats were sacrificed to mark the festival, fewer animals were sacrificed during Durga Puja, that concluded Thursday.The floods caused by the Kosi river breaching its banks affected the districts of Saharsa, Madhepura, Supaul, Araria and Purnea.The flood-affected districts witnessed low key festivities this year."A few people did offer the customary animal sacrifice this year to show sympathy for the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the floods," Ranjeev, an animal rights activist in Saharsa, said.Animal sacrifice is an age-old practice during the festival in Bihar. Satyanarain Madan, who has been working in the flood-affected districts, said in Madhepura and nearby places hardly 10 percent animals were sacrificed at temples to appease Hindu goddess Durga. Some flood victims living in relief camps told IANS over telephone Friday that they celebrated the festival without any animal sacrifice. ”It was not at all possible, we are fighting for survival,“ Manoj Paswan, a small time businessman in Supaul, said. Paswan's shop was badly damaged in the flood.Duhna Sahni, a flood victim at a relief camp in Saharsa, said he has been sacrificing a goat each year for the past two decades, but this year he was unable to. “I am eagerly waiting to return to my village. I will sacrifice an animal next year if everything returns to normal,” he said.Sanjay Singh, an agent dealing with animals in the cattle market, said business was dull due to low demand of animals for sacrifice. ”The numbers of animals sold in most of the markets was disappointing,” Singh said.It has been over one-and-a-half months since the Kosi breached its embankment in upstream Nepal, flooding hundreds of villages in Bihar.More than three million people were rendered homeless and over one million cattle were affected by floods. The calamity has claimed over 191 lives, according to official estimates. Officials said 993,992 people have been evacuated to safer places till date. About 370,000 people have taken shelter in over 300 relief camps in the flood-affected areas.--Indo-Asian News Service ik/rn/dg 471 Words10101456
2008-10-10 05:00:00Moscow, Oct 10 RIA Novosti Russian bourses Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange MICEX and Russian Trading System RTS were partially closed Friday on instructions from the financial markets' regulator.
BUS11BusinessMICEX, RTS partially closed FridayMoscow, Oct 10 RIA Novosti Russian bourses Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange MICEX and Russian Trading System RTS were partially closed Friday on instructions from the financial markets' regulator.Prior to their usual 10.30 a.m. Moscow time 0630 GMT opening, both exchanges said they would remain closed and were awaiting further instructions, although an RTS spokesman said it would allow trading in repo contracts and bond repurchases. There was no immediate official word on when the two bourses will resume trading."Trading is expected to resume after the State Duma adopts a package of anti-crisis measures," said Alexei Serov, acting chief analyst at the Financial Bridge asset management company.The Dow Jones index plummeted Thursday below 9,000 points for the first time since 2003, and the Standard and Poors S and P index dropped 7.6 percent to 909.92 points despite the move by central banks around the globe to cut interest rates. European stock exchange indexes fell 1.2-2.5 percent Thursday and the Asian stock markets have been sinking Friday on the back of the US falls. US President George W. Bush is expected to address the nation later Friday. According to the White House press secretary, Dana Perino, Bush plans to assure Americans that his administration will do its best to overcome the crisis. The British FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX index plunged by more than 10 percent Friday and the French CAC index lost 9.77 percent. --RIA Novostipb/dkg/dg274 Words10101405
2008-10-10 05:05:08
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