Sensex in green after two days, European cues help

The Indian markets have made a spectacular recovery, with the Sensex gaining over 500 points from the day's low, as investors bought stocks at bargain prices. The Sensex has jumped back into the green for the first time in over two days.

At 12:35 pm, the Sensex was trading nearly 50 points higher, trading at 17,040 and the Nifty rose 20 points to 5,138.

The strong upmove was on the back of a recovery in global sentiments. Asian markets have closed off the day's low and Dow Futures are trading in the green.

Asian shares extended their spiral descent in early trade, with banks taking a big hit following the massive sell-off in the US equity market yesterday, further undermining the already-fragile investor confidence.

The key benchmark indices in South Korea, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and Japan were down by between 1.15 per cent and 5.92 per cent.

US stocks tumbled yesterday, dragging the benchmark indices to their biggest loss since December, 2008. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked 5.55 per cent, or 634.76 points; the Nasdaq Composite fell by 6.9 per cent, or 174.72 points; and the Standard & Poor's 500 declined by 6.66 per cent, or 79.92 points.

Recommend this article by clicking on +1:

Read More

Dont press #90 or #09 on mobile - DOs and DON’Ts in Mobile Phone

Dont press #90 or #09 on mobile

Please take care IF SOME ONE ASKS YOU TO DIAL #09 or #90.

Please Do Not Dial This When Asked. Please circulate URGENTLY.

If you receive a phone call on your Mobile from any person saying that they are checking your mobile line, and you have to press #90 or #09 or any other number. End this call immediately without pressing any numbers. Team there is a fraud company using a device that once you press #90 or #09 they can access your SIM card and make calls at your expense.

It has been reported in the press that some unscrupulous elements may contact your mobile saying that they are from government agencies or Service Providers and request you to press #90 or #09. It is reported that doing so would transfer control of your SIM to the caller. SO DO NOT PRESS #90 or #09 when asked by unidentified persons.

This information has been confirmed by both Motorola and Nokia. There are over 3 million affected mobile phones.

Above information you can check at BSNL Website:
http://www.chennai.bsnl.co.in/News/MobileDosNDonts.htm


Please follow below DOs and DON’Ts in Mobile Phone

Don’ts

• Talking On Your Cell Phone While Driving May Be Hazardous to Your Close Relationships 
• Please do not click photographs with your mobile phones without permission from the people or authorities concerned. You may be invading the privacy and possibly indulging in an illegal act.
• Do not send obscene / pornographic text / images using SMS.
• Do not send obscene / pornographic text / images using MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) 
• Do not receive from or reply to SMS / MMS of strangers. 
• Do not transmit obscene/ pornographic material, as it is an offence under Information Technology Act –2000 which carries a punishment of 5 years of imprisonment and 1 lakh rupees fine. 
• Do not make calls to the unknown phone / mobile numbers you get while chatting or which are exhibited on various profiles on the Internet. If you do, you may be causing harassment to the other person. 
• Do not keep your Blue Tooth open at all times-you may receive obscene / pornographic text, images and viruses. 
• Do not give your mobile numbers while chatting on INTERNET to avoid “STALKING”. 
• DO not handover your mobile phone to unauthorised service centres, to avoid CLONING. 
• It has been reported in the press that some unscrupulous elements may contact your mobile saying that they are from government agencies or Service Providers and request you to press #90 or #09. It is reported that doing so would transfer control of your SIM to the caller. SO DO NOT PRESS #90 or #09 when asked by unidentified persons.

DOs

• Note down your IMEI number.
• Security pin code should be used to avoid misuse of your mobile phones.
• MMSs / SMSs received should be checked for their source before opening.
• Delete all obscene / pornographic text, images, SMS /MMS from your mobile phones which you might have received or stored. Otherwise this may land you in trouble and unwanted embarrassment.
• Anti-virus software should be loaded in the mobile phone.
• Mobile phone keypad should be locked after every use.
• Use your mobile phone only when necessary .

Recommend this article by clicking on +1:

Read More

US ratings downgrade: IT sector could face difficult times

The Indian IT sector could be in for difficult times as the US accounts for almost 60% of the sector's revenues, and Europe another 20%.

With the US and European economies looking fragile, the Indian IT sector could be in for difficult times. The US accounts for almost 60% of the sector's revenues, and Europe another 20%.

Though the present problem with the US economy is around sovereign debt concerns, the worry is that going ahead this will affect US private sector growth, and therefore their IT spends.

Siddharth Pai, MD of global sourcing advisory services firm TPI India, said that if the US government cuts public spending to control its deficit, then private sector growth could be impacted. This is because public spending cuts could lead to lower investments and job creation, thus slowing down overall private sector growth.

IT stocks have been amongst the worst hit since the US ratings downgrade. The BSE IT index on Monday fell 4.33% to 5,222 points. That was on top of the 5% decline on Friday. In the last one week, the index has dropped over 11%.

"IT companies are export oriented and are hugely dependent on the US markets. Therefore negative news emerging from that region can lead to fall in stock prices," said Srishti Anand, IT analyst at Angel Broking.

Analysts also say that emerging markets like India would not make up for the loss of revenues that would emerge in case of a situation where clients in the West were to cut IT spends. Apart from being a smaller sized market, the Indian market also offers lower margins.

In the 2007-09 global financial crisis, the Indian IT sector was severely impacted. While revenue growth rates for top tier companies like TCS and Infosys fell to single digits, gross hiring numbers were also hit. Mid-tier IT companies were impacted to a greater extent as clients preferred to work with larger and more trusted names.

Sameer Dhanrajani, country head, Fidelity National Financial, said that BPOs were the worst hit in the previous recession as unlike technology investments which require concerted efforts and are long term in nature, BPO processes can be sized down faster and more easily.

Hari Rajagopalachari, ED for consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers, expects shorter-term pains for the IT sector if decision making on IT spends slows down following economic turbulence. From a longer-term perspective, there could be more pain if US companies become more protectionist. Otherwise there could be positives, as clients would look to improve cost efficiencies and profit management through greater levels of offshoring.

Glen Serrao, manager, Zinnov Management Consulting, said that another immediate concern is that of currency appreciation. "The RBI has managed to keep the Indian rupee at Rs 44-45 to the dollar. But if this was to fall to Rs 39 as we saw in the previous recession the profitability of IT companies could be hit," he said.

IT companies say there have been no immediate calls from clients to re-negotiate contracts or any sign of IT budgets being cut. T K Kurien, CEO of Wipro's IT business, said that it is too early to make an assessment. But he said the industry is far more prepared for any change in the macroeconomic environment now than it was in 2008.

Industry body Nasscom also issued a statement saying that though the global economic environment is a cause for concern, "it is not likely to impact the Indian IT industry, in the near-term future."

Recommend this article by clicking on +1:

Read More

Karnataka cabinet expanded, Reddy brothers out

Dethroned former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa proved that he still calls the shots and can influence the BJP central leadership, when the deputy CM's post and inclusion of Reddy brothers--- a demand by the Jagadish Shettar camp--- was vetoed by the party's top brass in the first cabinet expansion of Sadananda Gowda ministry on Monday.

Gowda, who took oath as CM on August 4 inducted 21 ministers into his cabinet. Of these, 12 were from Yeddyurappa and 9 from Shettar camps. There are 12 more vacancies in the total 34-member ministry. It is virtually a comeback of all ministers in the Yeddyurappa cabinet with some exceptions. The CM said the ministers will continue with the same portfolios they held in the previous cabinet.

Governor H R Bhardwaj administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers in batches of five on the lawns of Raj Bhavan at 5.30 pm.

With both camps haggling for the last four days over portfolios sharing and Shettar demanding two deputy CM's posts, it appeared the stalemate would continue for some more days. Talks had been inconclusive on Sunday night after BJP Karnataka in-charge general secretary Dharmendra Pradhan flew into Bangalore, post discussions with party's national president Nitin Gadkari in Mumbai.

According to BJP sources, the Yeddyurappa camp is reported to have been blunt with the Shettar camp that it would go ahead with the cabinet expansion, if, he continued to be intransigient on his demands. There was also speculation that the prolonged talks and bargaining may not go down well with the governor.

By 2 pm, the uncertainty cleared. The party's central leadership was firm that there will no deputy CM or tainted ministers from the Yeddyurappa cabinet. Yeddyurappa ensured that the Bellary trio----G JanardhanReddy, G Karunakara Reddy, G Somashekar Reddy and confidante B Sriramulu--- who tormented him during his tenure were kept out with the Lokayukta report on illegal mining coming in handy. But the same yardstick of keeping former ministers indicted in the Lokyukta report was not applied to Yeddyurappa's staunch follower V Somanna, who made it to the cabinet.

Party sources said Gowda sought legal opinion before taking in Somanna. The opinion was the Lokayukta report has named Somanna's son being involved in illegal mining and not him directly.

Former minister Balachandra Jarkiholi, who had revolted against Yeddyurappa, resulting in his disqualification as MLA, which the Supreme court restored early this year, staged a flash dharna with five-six MLAs outside Shettar's house demanding his induction into the cabinet. He was placated by the CM, who stays next door to Shettar with a promise that in the second round of expansion, which Gowda said would be sometime next week their grievances would be redressed.

After the oath-taking, Gowda had the conventional cabinet meeting with his new colleagues. Speaking to the media the CM said: I got elephantine strength with ministers joining the cabinet.'' He is scheduled to go to New Delhi on Tuesday.

NEW MINISTERS:

YEDDYURAPPA CAMP:
V S Acharya, Murugesh R Nirani, Shobha Karandlaje, Basavaraj Bommai, Umesh V Katti, V Somanna, C M Udasi, M P Renukacharya, Laxman Savadi, C C Patil, J Krishna Palemar, and Revunaik Belmagi.

SHETTAR CAMP:
Jagadish Shettar, Govind M Karjol, R Ashoka, S Suresh Kumar, S A Ramdas, B N Bachche Gowda, Visveshwar Hegde Kageri, A Narayanaswamy and S A Ravindranath.

Recommend this article by clicking on +1:

Read More

Obama says US will always be AAA country

US President Barack Obama vowed on Monday that America would always be a "triple A country," fiercely defending US credit after a historic debt downgrade and saying the economy could be fixed with political will.

Speaking against a backdrop of tumbling global stock markets, Obama said he would present his own solutions for mending US debt woes in "coming weeks" but again called on Republicans to accept tax hikes on the richest Americans.

As he spoke jittery markets sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting to 4.5 per cent, sinking below the 11,000 points level. The broader S&P 500 lost 5.7 per cent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 5.6 per cent.

The president was making his first public comments on the historic decision by ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Friday to downgrade the AAA credit rating on US sovereign debt for the first time to AA+ with a negative outlook.

"No matter what some agency may say, we have always been and always will be a triple A country," Obama said, arguing global investors still saw the US economy as one of the safest investments in the world.

But he conceded that fiercely partisan combat in Washington was hampering efforts to fix the US economy, and called on all sides to unite on a balanced solution to ease the deficit tipped to hit 1.6 trillion dollars this year.

"Here's the good news. Our problems are imminently solvable. And we know what we have to do to solve them," Obama said at the White House.

The president said the solution to US deficit woes was a mixture of tax rises on the most affluent Americans and modest cuts to state-run health programs plagued by rising costs, like Medicare for the elderly.

"Making these reforms doesn't require any radical steps. What it does require is common sense and compromise," Obama said.

The formula was a failed part of an Obama push for a "grand bargain" during the fierce debate over raising the US government's borrowing authority which wrapped up last week.

Republicans refuse to countenance any kind of tax rises and Obama's Democratic allies have balked at any cuts to Medicare or other aspects of the American social safety net.

"It's not a lack of plans or policies that is the problem here. It's a lack of political will in Washington," Obama said.

"It's the insistence on drawing lines in the sand, a refusal to put what's best for the country ahead of self-interest or party of ideology. And that's what we need to change."

Read More

Amazing Guinness World Records

Children scoop marshmallows out of a mug holding nearly 500 gallons of hot chocolate, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2009 at Bryant Park in New York, during the American Dairy Association's attempt to set a new world record for the largest mug of hot chocolate.

Indian born British strongman Manjit Singh, 59, pulls a double decker bus using ropes attached to his hair in London, Englandon November 12, 2009. Singh broke the world record Thursday by pulling the bus a total of 21.2 metres.






Street performer Chayne Hultgren (a.k.a. 'The Space Cowboy'), re-enacts his 18-sword swallowing attempt for a Guinness World Record in front of the Sydney Opera House on February 8, 2010. The Australian beat his own world record when he simultaneously swallowed 18 swords, each blade measuring 50.8cm by 1.3cm, in the lead-up to International Sword Swallowing Day on February 28.

A base jumper leaps backwards off the Menara Kuala Lumpur Tower, Malaysia, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009. A group of base jumpers were attempting to set a Guinness World Record striving to have 24 people base jump every hour for 24 hours from the the 915 feet high communication tower

Filipino chefs and students stand beside dishes as they attempt to break a Guinness World Record for "The Most Number of Dishes On Display, In A Single Day" in suburban Quezon city, north of Manila, Philippines on Monday Dec. 14, 2009. The organizers hope to be considered for the record as they make more than 5,000 cheese-inspired dishes to beat the previous record of 4,668 set by India in 2007.

Life Time Fitness broke the Guinness World Record for the largest cycling class with 1,052 cyclists. The class was held at Target Center arena in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota.

An Israeli school boy plays in a large Jerusalem flag as it is unfurled at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009. The flag was stamped by the Guinness World Records as the world's largest flag on April 11, 2009 and measures 44,404 square meters.

Bryan Berg of the U.S. poses at his creation of the replica of The Venetian Macao-Resort- Hotel, as he breaks his own Guinness World Record for the largest house of Freestanding playing cards on Wednesday, March 10, 2010. Berg used 218,792 playing cards to build a replica of The Venetian Macao-Resort- Hotel during the 44 day project. The final composition is 35 feet long, 10 feet tall and weighs 272kg.

Chinese 104-year-old twins, Cao Daqiao (senior, right) and Cao Xiaoqiao talk at home in Weifang, east China's Shandong province on November 29, 2009. According to the Shanghai Guinness World Records, these twin sisters, who were born in 1905, are the oldest living twins in the world as they are also listed on the Guiness World of Records for the oldest twins.

Lebanese celebrate entering the Guinness Book of Records in Beirut October 24, 2009 after producing what they believe to be the biggest plate of hummus in the world. The dish, weighing 2,056 kg, was filled with 1,350 kg of the chickpea-based dish. The organisers claimed world records for both the size of the dish and the quantity of hummus produced.

Lebanese chefs prepare a giant tabbouleh to set a new world record in Beirut on October 25, 2009. Under the watch of a Guinness adjudicator, 250 sous-chefs and their 50 bosses from the state-run culinary school chopped and sliced over three and a half tons (7,000 lbs) of the salad, using 1,600 kg (3,520 lbs) of parsley, 1,500 kg (3,300 lbs) of ripe tomatoes and 420 kg (926 lbs) of onions.

Chef Matthew Mitnitsky cheers after his meatball weighed in, breaking the world record for the largest meatball, in Concord, N.H., Sunday, Nov. 1,2009.

Palestinians stand near a large embroidered dress as it is presented to the media at a stadium in the West Bank city of Hebron October 25, 2009. The dress, which took several months to sew, is expected to be officially measured next month in an attempt to be entered as a Guinness World Record.

The Burj Dubai tower is pictured during the opening ceremony of the Burj Dubai tower on January 4, 2010 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.The Burj Dubai, which in Arabic means Dubai Tower, is at 824.55 meters the world's tallest man-made structure.

Around 15,000 people participate in a tug-of-war during an annual event in Naha, in Japan's southern island of Okinawa, on October 11, 2009. The rope used in the event - 200 meters long, 156 cms in diameter, weighing 43 tons and made from harvested straw - was recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest rope.

Thousands of Mexicans take part in the "I do dance Thriller" event which attempted to break the Guinness World Record for the biggest mass "Thriller" dance, in Mexico City, on August 29, 2009. Up to 15,000 people were expected to take part in the mass performance of Michael Jackson's famed "Thriller" dance on the day he would have turned 51.

Norman Surplus from Larne, Northern Ireland, waves to the media from his autogyro at Duxford, England, Thursday, March, 11, 2010. Surplus is to attempt a circumnavigation of the globe in the autogyro, starting from Larne on March 18, depending on the weather. With its open cockpit it will be flying through 26 countries, 27,000 miles including 4,300 miles over water, in an expedition that will raise awareness and money for bowel cancer. The specially adapted machine will have collapsible fuel tanks that will give it a range of some 900 miles.

Egyptian Mohammed Ali Zinhom, 25, attempts a new Guinness World Record for doing push ups on the 2 fingers of his right hand only, in front of the historical site of the Giza Pyramids, Egypt, Monday, March 8, 2010. Zinhom recorded 46 push ups in 49 seconds.

Indonesians take part in an attempt to break a world record for the most sky lanterns flown simultaneously in Jakarta, Indonesia, late Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009. At least 10,000 lanterns were released into the sky to break the world record, organizer said.

The world's tallest horse, Luscombe Nodram, or 'Noddy', stands with his owner Jane Greenman before they depart on major tour which will include appearances at the Sydney Royal Easter Show and Brisbane, in Melbourne on March 19, 2010. TheShire horse is seven-years- old, stands at 20.2 hands high (2.05 meters) and at 1.5 tons weighs three times more than the average thoroughbred racehorse. The Shire horse is now endangered with approximately 2,000 left in the world with very few of them being gray.

Recommend this article by clicking on +1:

Read More