Infosys beats street predictions, posts 17% rise in Q1 net

Sensex bellwether Infosys Technologies beat street estimates to post a modest profit growth for the June quarter over a year ago, but a strengthening rupee prompted the company to pare its rupee forecast for the full year-ahead.

However, the company reported sequential earnings de-growth for the second successive quarter amidst persisting volume decline and pricing pressure while stating that the uncertainty in business environment would continue till an expected recovery in 2010.

Infosys registered a 17.3 per cent year-on-year growth in net profit at Rs 1,527 crore for June quarter, much lower than March quarter’s growth of 29.1 per cent. Revenues for the quarter grew 12.7 per cent to Rs 5,472 crore, almost half the rate at which it grew in March quarter. Sequentially, the June quarter net profits declined 5.3 per cent, while revenues fell 2.9 per cent over the March quarter.

“Given that the short-term environment is still challenging, we have to be cautious,” said Mr S. Gopalakrishnan, CEO, Infosys. “There is still volatility and uncertainty in the environment.”

The rupee which gained 5.5 per cent against the dollar in the June quarter prompted the company to reduce its full year forecast to Rs 21,416 crore from Rs 21,747 crore. In April, the company had projected its fiscal 2010 revenues to be between Rs 22,066 crore and Rs 22,898 crore.

However, Infosys increased the lower-end of its dollar term guidance on the back of the dollar gaining against the Euro, the Pound and Australian dollar. It now expects revenue of $4.45 billion to $4.52 billion, compared with its previous estimate of $4.35 billion to $4.52 billion.

“The better than expected volume growth and favourable cross currency movements helped us to beat the dollar-term guidance,” said Mr V. Balakrishnan, CFO, Infosys. The company posted dollar term revenue of $1,122 million, beating its estimate of $1,060 million and $1,080 million. In rupee terms, it beat the lower-end of its guidance of Rs 5,379 crore and Rs 5,480 crore.

For the September quarter, Infosys expects income in the range of Rs 5,318 crore and Rs 5,413 crore.

Volumes declined by 1.1 per cent, better than the company’s estimates of three to four per cent. Pricing decreased by about 5 per cent. “Most of the price negotiations are behind us, but that does not mean that such re-negotiations will not surface again,” said Mr S.D. Shibulal, COO.

The lower volumes have forced the company’s utilisation (excluding trainees) to a low of 70.9 per cent, compared with 74.5 per cent in the previous quarter and 72.2 per cent in the year-ago period. Infosys also saw revenue from its top client, British Telecom, drop below 5 per cent during the quarter. Though Infosys added 27 new clients during the quarter, one of the lowest in recent times, the repeat business accounted for 98.7 per cent of its revenues.

Infosys said though the pipeline looks good, the delay in decision making was worrisome. The pace of decision making comes down every time there is negative news in the macro environment. Decision making has not accelerated over the quarters.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/

Ganguly game for cricket's power politics?

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday indicated his willingness to begin a new innings as a cricket administrator, saying he wants to stay in touch with the game post-retirement.

Ganguly, who turned 37 on Wednesday, said he may have quit international cricket but wants to stay in touch with the game as an administrator.

"I have stopped playing cricket six months ago. I would be connected to cricket. Bengal has a lot of talent and I want to take care of it," the country's most successful captain told reportetrs here.

Already the opposition camp in Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) is planning to pit the former captain against CAB President Jagmohan Dalmiya and it could be the stepping stone before Ganguly goes on to head the BCCI, which, according to the rotation policy it follows, is scheduled to have its 2014 President from the East Zone.

To attain the BCCI top post, Ganguly, however, would require to attend at least two annual general body meetings of the board.

Ganguly, meanwhile, kept the cards close to his chest and said, "I want to be a part of cricket in Bengal. I will take one step at a time, don't know what lies ahead."

Dalmiya, on the other hand, played down the development and doubted the veracity of the reports.

"I've got nothing to say on this. This has been done to create a controversy and I'm not getting into it," the former BCCI President said.

Ganguly quit international cricket last year, having accumulated 7212 runs from 113 Tests with an average of 42.17. In one-dayers, his record is even more impressive, amassing 11363 runs from 311 ODIs averaging 41.02.

Ganguly, however, remains part of the Kolkata Knight Riders, which he led in the first edition of the Indian Premier League before Brendon McCullum replaced him.

Source: http://cricket.ndtv.com

On Board PM's Special Aircraft, July 07: India will convey in no uncertain terms to Pakistan that it has to take demonstrable action to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Egypt next week.

While New Delhi
recognises that Islamabad has its own problems on the terror front it cannot accept these as an excuse for inaction against terrorism directed against India, according to sources in the delegation accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the G-8 summit in L 'Aquila in Italy.
The meeting between the two prime ministers slated for July 16 on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Summit(NAM)in Sharm-el-Sheikh will be preceded by a meeting between their Foreign Secretaries Shivshankar Menon and Salman Bashir on July 14.

The Singh-Gilani meeting will be a follow-up to the discussions he had with President Asif Ali Zardari in Yekaterinberg in Russia last month when he delivered a stern message to Zardari in the full glare of media that his mandate was to tell Pakistan that it has to take action against terrorism emanating from its soil against India.
The sources said Pakistan has told India that they have five people in their custody who were the masterminds of the Mumbai attacks and they have declared 22 people as proclaimed offenders they were looking for.

At their meetings in Egypt, the two Foreign Secretaries will review matters relating to what action Pakistan has taken on its assurances to India that it will contain terrorism against India and to dismantle the terror infrastructure on its soil.

"They will tell us what they have done and we will tell them what we expect from them," the sources said.

India is actually not interested in the judicial process in Pakistan because it doubts whether it is capable of delivering justice.
About PM's virtual snub to Zardari in Russia and his cancellation of the trip to Egypt, the sources said India has no say in who the leaders are in Pakistan and cannot decide who it will talk to there.

India has also never said it will not talk to Pakistan at all, the sources said, adding the only issue is that the process of resumption of the Composite Dialogue with that country is not possible right now.

The sources pointed out that it has been one year since the attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul and there has been no action by Pakistan against those responsible for it.
They wondered why there is no demonstrable action against those elements working against India.
The sources said Manmohan Singh told Zardari that Pakistan has taken some action against Taliban but when it comes to India there is no demonstrable evidence of action.

The sources said Jamat Ud Dawa (JuD), which is said to have been banned after the Mumbai attacks, is always there existing in some form or other.

New Delhi has also come to understand that Islamabad is doing some spoofing by which they use decoy phones on the borders to draw red herrings to mislead India.
The sources said India was not looking for any breakthrough in talks with Pakistan because dealing with terror is not a one-off incident that you can switch off or switch on at will.
On increased US assistance to Pakistan, officials feel there was no problem as long as it is meant for betterment of its economy and people but when equipments are given to Pakistan which is not absolutely not necessary it causes concern in India.

Source: http://www.zeenews.com/

Divestment when time is right: Pranab

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee cleared the air on PSU divestment in an exclusive interview to ET Now, saying that the "appropriate"
time for equity sale had to be carefully chosen and this wasn’t the right time when market sentiments were down.

The minister sought to instil confidence in a spooked market, which nosedived in the absence of the 'D' word in the Budget
speech, by asserting that the government's commitment to divestment has been spelt out in the Economic Survey.

itimes: Join discussion on the Budget

"There are things that should be done and things that can be done," he said, adding that he couldn't have possibly listed names of companies and how much of their stake would be sold in his budget speech. He added that the promoter holding in all listed companies would have to be reduced to a certain level in order to increase public participation, and PSUs came in that category of companies.

"My primary objective right now is to come back to high growth rate. My target is to touch 7% GDP growth this year and take it to 8% to 9% thereafter," Mukherjee said. "If we are supported by a good monsoon this is more than possible," he added.

"We will have to see how the manufacturing sector does." The minister was confident that the policy initiatives taken in the Budget would put the economy on a high growth trajectory.

"When external trade is in bad shape and revenues are going down, I'm providing stimulus (through extra spending) to pull up growth domestically," he said. He added that between interim Budget and now, the government has increased spending by Rs 60,000 crore - Rs 40,000 crore by the Centre and Rs 20,000 crore by the states.

The FM said, "It will be a domestic demand generated growth. Since the contribution of direct tax to GDP is high, once demand revives and industry is back on a high growth path, we can expect higher revenue." He added, "I have spoken to all states and the industry and sought their contribution. With the help of the states we will be able to roll out GST, a major reforms in indirect taxes on schedule," he said.


Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Lalu vs Didi: Railway Ministers, then and now

New Delhi: If the previous Railway Minister Lalu Prasad made Patliputra or Patna his focus of development, the current Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee may just have some sops ready for her home state of Bengal.

Lalu Prasad gave new projects to Bihar and Mamata Banerjee is likely to follow him in that aspect by looking farther eastwards.

But speaking to mediamen, Mamata Didi categorically denied having any plans to favour one state over the other.

She said, "I am taking charge from Bengal, it doesn't mean that the work will be limited to Bengal."

Instead, she may want to woo the aam aadmi or the common man. "We shall provide a monthly ticket at the cost of Rs 20 for the poor people whose monthly income is 500 rupees," said the Railway Minister as people wonder what's in her kitty regarding the Railway Budget to be presented on Friday.

Mamata Banerjee takes over the Indian Railways after its turnaround story under Lalu that got the world's top business schools to the Rail Bhawan for a lesson from its CEO.

The Railways had posted an impressive profit worth a whopping Rs 90,000 crore without having to hike passenger fares.

Lalu Prasad had even said in the Parliament in flowery verses after presenting the Rail Budget the year before that the Railways' engine will keep trundling on the path of progress even later.

Speaking on the Lalu versus Mamata comparison, senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta said, "He (Lalu) did not interfere in the working of professionals and technocrats. It had much to do with the fact that the economy had grown at a pace faster than ever before. Right now, the economy is in a phase of slowdown. To that extent, Mamata Banerjee will be far more constrained."

The new Railway Minister hasn't done much to favour her home state till date. If the kulhars (earthen cups for serving tea on trains) was Lalu's gift to the aam admi, < Mamata Didi's taste buds were tickled by the Bengali menu of macher jhol that she promptly transferred to the Railways' menu.

Her austerity drive has begun as she has put a stop to Railway officers' international tours and would take a less lavish passage on the Railways, unlike her predecessor.


Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/

Delhi High Court legalizes homosexuality

NEW DELHI: In a historic judgement, the Delhi High Court on Thursday decriminalized homosexuality by reading down section 377 of the Indian penal code.

The Section 377 of the IPC as far as it criminalizes gay sex among consenting adults is violation of fundamental rights, said the high court. However, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalizes homosexuality, will continue for non-consensual and non-vaginal sex.

Full text of Delhi HC judgment

Any kind of discrimination is anti-thesis of right to equality, said the court, while allowing plea of gay rights activists for decriminalization of homosexuality.

Our reporter Smriti Singh from the court sketched the rejoice of the LGBT community.

Soon after the judgement, the supporters of the LGBT rejoiced the moment of victory and called it as the "first step to a better future". “Great moment for us, we are hoping that the court will pass an order in our favor, we have kept our finger-across,” she further added.

It is amazing to see, how we have won the battle, said Shivangi Rai, counsel for the NAZ Foundation.

A bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S Muralidhar said that if not amended, section 377 of the IPC would violate Article 21 of the Indian constitution, which states that every citizen has equal opportunity of life and is equal before law.

The court said that this judgement will hold till Parliament chooses to amend the law.

"In our view Indian Constitutional law does not permit the statutory criminal law to be held captive by the popular misconception of who the LGBTs (lesbian gay bisexual transgender) are.

"It cannot be forgotten that discrimination is antithesis of equality and that it is the recognition of equality which will foster dignity of every individual," the bench said in its 105-page judgement.

Section 377, a law from the British Raj era, says homosexuality and "unnatural sex" is a criminal act.

While the home ministry wanted the petition to be dismissed, the health ministry supported its contention that section 377 criminalized homosexuality per se, it was obstructing the AIDS/HIV prevention efforts among high-risk groups. Whatever the outcome, this is the second time the Delhi high court will be pronouncing on Naz Foundation’s petition against section 377. In 2004, it dismissed the petition at the preliminary stage stating that “an academic challenge to the constitutionality of a legislative provision could not be entertained.” It further said that when no personal injury was caused to the petitioner by this provision, the petition could not be examined.

The foundation then approached the Supreme Court, which disapproved the manner in which the high court had disposed of the matter. SC observed that when there was a debate on this issue the world over, “where is the question of the petition being academic? We are not able to accept the approach of the high court that it is an academic exercise and there is no personal injury.” Accordingly, in 2006, SC directed HC to reconsider the matter in detail. The judgment is coming close on the heels of statements from ministers on the possibility of a legislative intervention because of growing demands from the community of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT). If the judgment serves the purpose of decriminalizing homosexuality, the government will be spared the burden of amending a provision laden with religious and cultural sensitivities.

Interestingly, in the new team of law officers appointed by the government, at least two of them — attorney general Goolam Vahanvati and additional solicitor general Indira Jaising —- have publicly supported the demand for decriminalizing homosexuality.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Tech Mahindra's open offer for Satyam ends

BANGALORE, July 1 (Reuters) - Tech Mahindra's (TEML.BO) public offer to acquire an additional stake in Mahindra Satyam (SATY.BO) ended on Wednesday, and analysts said the offer would have received a poor response due to a spike in the share price of the fraud-hit Indian outsourcer.

Tech Mahindra, majority owned by Mahindra & Mahindra (MAHM.BO), will now go for a second round of preferential allotment of shares to gain a majority stake in Mahindra Satyam.

It bought a 31 percent stake of new equity in Mahindra Satyam in April, and on June 12 launched an open offer to buy up to 20 percent in the open market at 58 rupees a share to take its stake to 51 percent.

But shares in Mahindra Satyam, earlier known as Satyam Computer Services, rose 3.7 percent on Wednesday to 73.55 rupees and the stock hasn't dipped below 70 rupees since the launch of the open offer.

"The response to the offer would have been very, very poor as the market price of Satyam shares is sharply higher than the open offer price," said Tejas Doshi, head of research at Mumbai brokerage Sushil Finance.

"I would be surprised if they get even 5 percent of the shares that they were planning to buy."

Tech Mahindra, 31 percent-owned by Britain's BT Group (BT.L), said in a statement to the stock exchanges the final numbers of shares tendered and accepted in the public offer would be announced on July 8.

If the offer is not fully subscribed to Tech Mahindra can opt for a second preferential issue of shares by Satyam to raise its stake to not more than 51 percent of the expanded share capital.

"They would go ahead and do it," Doshi said. "That will mean the money will go back to Satyam and strengthen the company."

Tech Mahindra said in the statement the second preferential allotment of shares would also be at 58 rupees a share.

A spokesperson at Tech Mahindra, based in western Indian city of Pune, refused to provide details on the open offer.

Satyam's founder and chairman shocked investors in January by saying profits had been overstated for years, putting in doubt the survival of a company once ranked as India's fourth-largest software services exporter.

Tech Mahindra made a bid worth around $580 million in April's auction for a controlling stake


Source: http://www.reuters.com/