Yahoo CEO’s comeback plan hones in on technology, not media

October 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Marissa Mayer, who earned a reputation for decisive action and intensity during her 13-year stint at Google Inc, has spent her first months as Yahoo Inc CEO quietly moving the Internet pioneer back to its roots in technology.

Long torn between

whether it should focus on media content or on tools and technologies, Yahoo under Mayer is being positioned firmly in the latter camp, according to sources inside and outside the company.

Her hires, acquisition musings, and other early moves hint at an ambitious, technology-driven comeback plan designed to revitalize aging but well-trafficked properties such as Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Sports.

Yahoo has been criticized for allowing these sites to stagnate – they look very much like they did five years ago, and do not have many bells and whistles to encourage users to spend more time on them.

Mayer, 37, wants to make Yahoo’s properties much more interactive, on PCs and on mobile devices, using social media tools to personalize the user experience and new technology to boost advertising sales. Her well-known focus on user design is expected to result in a simpler, less-cluttered email and home page, one source said.

Yahoo declined to comment for this article. Mayer, who gave birth to her first child weeks ago, will unveil details of her comeback plan when Yahoo reports quarterly results on Monday.

Mayer’s focus on technology in many ways reverses a course set by her predecessors, who had concentrated on media content deals, such as those that gave prime billing to Walt Disney Co’s ABC News or CNBC, or to bring an original program starring actor Tom Hanks to its website.

The new strategy is not without risks: it positions Yahoo squarely against Facebook Inc and Google. It also risks alienating a large, media-focused contingent that is already weakened by the departure of Ross Levinsohn, who had championed a media-centric approach when he was interim CEO before Mayer’s arrival in July.

Mayer has been meeting with Internet gurus including AOL Inc CEO Tim Armstrong, another ex-Googler; Silicon Valley lawyer Larry Sonsini; and Wall Street investment bankers, according to people familiar with the matter.

Bankers have pitched Mayer and her team on a slew of potential acquisitions, and they appeared to show interest in restaurant reservation site OpenTable Inc and advertising technology companies PubMatic, Turn and Millennial Media, one of the people said.

Caterva, a small start-up whose technology analyzes social media activity, has also been in low-level talks with Yahoo, said another source familiar with the situation.

OpenTable and PubMatic declined comment. Millennial Media and Caterva did not respond to requests for comment.

With more than $2 billion in cash and short-term securities, Yahoo has the money to acquire engineering talent or bolt-on services. Two types of deals are under consideration: companies that will increase user engagement, including on mobile, and those that will boost advertising returns, source said.

“What they’ve signaled so far is that the deals will be more niche in nature, smaller deals that maybe have a lot of promise,” said Ken Allen, a director at Blackstone Advisory Partners.

TALENT HUNT

Many industry insiders believe Mayer is Yahoo’s final hope for reversing a years-long decline from the pinnacle it once attained as the leading gateway to the Internet. Four of her predecessors have tried in vain to right the ship – Yahoo’s market value of $19 billion, is less than half its $44 billion value in 2005.

Mayer, who earned a masters degree in computer science from Stanford University specializing in artificial intelligence, has moved quickly on the personnel front, shelling out rich pay packages to attract ex-colleagues from Google and elsewhere.

She brought in ad technology systems guru Henrique de Castro as chief operating officer; a new finance chief in Ken Goldman, who also has tech chops, to replace Tim Morse; and Jacqueline Reese to assume the dual role of hiring and acquisitions, suggesting the start of a train of “acqui-hires” or buying small companies for their engineering talent.

“She’s spending almost all her time with the product folks. She’s spending it on technology. She’s talking about engineering hires,” a person close to Yahoo said about Mayer’s early days.

Yahoo’s advertising technology products, headed for the auction block before Mayer’s arrival, are back in favor. De Castro, her highest-profile hire, is known for a deep-understanding of the complex advertising landscape, where dozens of businesses and technology providers are interlinked.

Mayer has also shown an interest in the company’s ad tech platform, including Right Media, an automated exchange that allows marketers to blast ads across a network of websites.

The group has been a long-standing source of division among Yahoo’s management, including with Levinsohn, who was keen on divesting the unit, according to two sources close to the matter. But shortly after Mayer’s arrival, Yahoo told AdAge that it had no intention of selling Right Media.

Yahoo’s advertising salesforce, responsible for signing splashy home-page ad deals and premium marketing campaigns, has received scant attention from the new CEO, say people close to the company. Michael Barrett, Yahoo’s chief revenue officer hired by Levinsohn shortly before Mayer’s arrival, recently announced his resignation, according to a source familiar with the matter.

FOCUS ON MOBILE

Roughly 700 million users visit a Yahoo website every month – putting it in the top ranks globally. But the amount of activity people engage in on many sites is steadily declining, and its smartphone offerings are deemed lackluster.

“The largest change is to be deadly serious about mobile,” said a former Yahoo manager who remains in touch with people at the company.

Yahoo faces tough competition from Facebook and Google, two companies that have taken consumers’ time, engineering talent and market value from Yahoo. They are also trying to make the transition to mobile, but it has been difficult.

Some say the direction signaled by Mayer is not so different than strategies espoused by previous CEOs that Yahoo has consistently struggled to implement. A fragmented culture in which short-term finances usually trump product plans is to blame, according to those who know the company.

The recent departure of CFO Tim Morse could signal a change in approach, said several former Yahoo employees.

Morse was considered the force behind Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group and Yahoo’s $7.6 billion deal over the summer, which saw Yahoo sell about half of its 40 percent stake in Alibaba after years of wrangling over terms.

But now Yahoo’s Asian partners, including Yahoo Japan Corp, are not on the front burner for Mayer, one source familiar with the situation said.

Whether Wall Street has the patience for yet another Yahoo revival plan remains to be seen.

“Every CEO needs time to have their full vision articulated and understood,” said Dan Rosensweig, a former Yahoo chief operating officer, who now serves as CEO of online textbook rental company Chegg.com. “To count Yahoo out would be an enormous mistake, because the users have not counted Yahoo out,” he said. “It’s not like MySpace, where all the users went away.”

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Fed officials see soft recovery and more uncertainty

July 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Louisiana (Reuters) – Jitters that financial strains may derail the U.S. economic recovery mean the Federal Reserve will be in no rush to end its ultra-low interest rates, comments by officials of the U.S. central bank suggested on Wednesday.

One senior Fed official went as far as acknowledging that falling inflation could spur the central bank to further ease financial conditions, and another policy maker would not rule out additional measures to stimulate growth.

When asked whether lower inflation would prompt the Fed to try to push borrowing costs even lower, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart told a Rotary Club audience: “It’s appropriate to think about what we would do under a deflationary scenario. At this point, no specific planning in my view is occurring but discussion in all likelihood will be on the agenda.”

The president of the Chicago Fed, Charles Evans, said the central bank had “provided a tremendous amount of accommodation,” but he also would not rule out further action to stimulate the economy.

“I’m going to be looking at the circumstances, and if we need to adjust policy in either direction, I am going to be responding,” he told business news channel CNBC.

The Fed cut interest benchmark interest rates to near zero percent in December 2008. With no room left to cut rates further, it continued efforts to boost economic activity by flooding the financial system with hundreds of billions of dollars worth of credit.

Financial market strains stemming from the European debt crisis and weak reports about U.S. housing and employment in recent weeks have led some analysts to anticipate the Fed would need to spur the tepid recovery with additional actions to promote growth. If it decided to take further action, the Fed would likely buy additional Treasury or other securities.

Lockhart and Evans are generally considered to be in the mainstream of thinking at the U.S. central bank. Neither, however, is a voter on the Fed’s interest-rate setting panel this year.

But Comments by a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors, Elizabeth Duke, suggest some trepidation at the Washington-based board about the strength of the recovery. Duke typically focuses on banking issues at and rarely comments on the outlook for the economy or policy.

Duke said the job market recovery was likely to proceed only slowly due to sluggish economic expansion. U.S. gross domestic product rose at a modest 2.7 percent annual rate in the first quarter.

“At that speed of recovery, you are not going to create jobs very quickly,” she said, in response to questions at a banking conference in Columbus, Ohio. “It is going to be, I think, a long period for jobs to recover.

Unemployment has hovered near 10 percent for several months, and analysts expect a report on Friday to show a big drop in employment, although private hiring is seen moving higher.

The Fed last week renewed its promise to hold interest rates exceptionally low for an extended period, saying the recovery is “proceeding.”

The economy has expanded for three quarters in a row, and most analysts had until recently been expecting the Fed’s next move to be a tightening of financial conditions through a combination of raising interest rates and sales of mortgage-related debt the Fed bought to stimulate lending.

The Chicago Fed’s Evans said the economic recovery is “definitely on,” with growth expected at 3.5 percent this year.

But he said he expects inflation may run below his guideline of 2 percent for the next three years or more and said unemployment would stay high for some time.

“It’s going to be a number of years before (unemployment) is going to get down to any type of rate that we might almost say is acceptable,” he said.

Taken together, low inflation and high unemployment mean that the Fed’s current accommodative monetary policy is still needed, he said.

(Additional reporting by Ann Saphir in Chicago and Jim Leckrone in Columbus, Ohio; Writing by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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Fed’s Evans: monetary accommodation still called for

July 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Reuters) – The U.S. recovery is underway, but inflation is so low and unemployment is so high that the Federal Reserve’s super easy monetary policy is still needed, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said on Wednesday.

“The recovery is definitely on,” Evans said in a rare live appearance on CNBC. But U.S. housing data has “fallen off a cliff” and jobs gains have slowed markedly, he said.

Inflation is underrunning his 2.0 percent guideline for the next three years or more, and the recovery, while not faltering, is slow enough that it will take a number of years before unemployment reaches an acceptable level, he said.

“We are underrunning our dual mandate,” he said, referring to the Fed’s twofold goal of maintaining price stability and full employment. “I think the policy accommodation is called for.”

The Fed cut its target for overnight lending between banks to near zero in December 2008, and on June 23 reiterated its vow to keep rates exceptionally low for “an extended period.”

Meanwhile Europe’s debt woes pose a risk to U.S. growth, and businesses in the U.S. are still are responding to “replacement demand” rather than the “expansionary demand” needed to boost economic growth. The U.S. economy will likely grow about 3.5 percent this year, he said.

Within the Fed, Evans said, some of the most contentious debates center around the outlook for inflation, with some worried about the prospect of prices rising too fast, and others worried about a slowdown in price increases known as disinflation.

Evans said he himself is concerned about inflation, but only in the long-term.

If there is a need to adjust monetary policy in either direction, he said, “I’ll be there.”

The Fed’s policy-making Federal Open Market Committee next meets in mid-August.

Evans defended the U.S. government’s giant fiscal stimulus package last year, saying it was effective in turning around both the economy and the psychology.

Providing more stimulus at this point in the recovery would be “pretty tough” he said.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir)

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India’s primary articles index up 17.0 pct y/y – TV

June 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 24 (Reuters) – India’s primary articles price index was up 17.0 percent in the year to June 12, television channel CNBC-TV 18 said citing unnamed sources. (Reporting by Abhijit Neogy and Matthias Williams; editing by Malini Menon)

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Reliance Ind buys majority stake in Infotel-CNBC

June 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 11 (Reuters) – India’s Reliance Industries (RELI.BO) has bought a majority stake in Infotel Broadband Services, CNBC TV 18 said on Friday, citing unnamed sources.

Energy | Telecommuncations Services

Unlisted Infotel Broadband Services is the only firm to win broadband spectrum in all 22 zones in India in an auction that ended on Friday. The firm is paying 128.48 billion rupees ($2.7 billion) for the spectrum, the government says. (Reporting by Pratish Narayanan)

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Hungary eyes budget cuts, market says signals mixed

June 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Hungary’s government vowed to cut spending on Monday as it strove to repair damage from comments last week about a possible Greece-style debt crisis, but a renewed pledge of tax cuts kept markets on edge.

Greece

Economy Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy said the country’s new center-right Fidesz government, which took office on May 29, would stick to the budget deficit target of 3.8 percent and would need to cut spending worth 1.0-1.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to do so.

But he later said the government could introduce a flat personal income tax for families, lower than current rates, which would be hard to square with commitments agreed under a 2008 bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

Moody’s credit rating agency said the government’s willingness to consider unorthodox measures was cause for concern, while other analysts said Fidesz was still sending mixed messages to international and domestic audiences, a practice which prompted the selloff that sent the forint to a one-year low last week.

“We’ll stick to our 3.8 percent budget deficit level for this year. It was agreed by the IMF and the EU and it was also agreed by the Hungarian government so there is no doubt about that, we’ll stick to that figure,” Matolcsy told CNBC.

He repeated that there were blunders in government communication last week, when officials suggested there was a slim chance Budapest would avoid a similar fate to Athens, but added “it is blatant that Hungary is not Greece.”

Economists say last week’s comments from officials appeared to be a case of the new government preparing to backtrack on promises made before it swept an April election.

But they said mixed messages, and previous statements that this year’s budget deficit could be as high as 7 percent of GDP, continued to sow confusion.

“One cannot help being puzzled when Hungarian officials talk about a much larger than planned budget deficit and at the same time rule out austerity measures and instead promise tax cuts,” said Danske Bank analyst Lars Christensen.

The government started a three-day meeting on Saturday and is expected to decide on an action plan on Monday.

UNORTHODOX METHODS

Most economists say Hungary is in a much stronger position than Greece. Its deficit and debt ratios to GDP are not nearly as high; public debt was about 80 percent last year, compared with 133 percent projected for Greece this year.

It also ran a current account surplus last year and had a budget gap of 4 percent after deep spending cuts.

But Moody’s said the government’s statements and its consideration of unorthodox measures to boost growth brought new attention to Hungary’s still high public and external debt.

“In our view, these uncertainties threaten to further impair Hungary’s creditworthiness,” Moody’s analyst Dietmar Hornung said, adding Hungary’s Baa1-rated government bonds were on negative outlook.

Citing unnamed sources, online news portal Index reported the government was considering levying a special tax on banks and channeling private pension funds to the state system as a way to boost revenues and hit its budget deficit goal.

Neither the government nor banking officials were available to comment, but the report sent shares tumbling 5 percent on the Budapest bourse, which briefly suspended trading in leading lender OTP Bank OTPB.BU after its shares fell 10 percent.

At 0950 GMT, OTP was down 1.2 percent.

Markets steadied, with the forint hovering just off a one-year low, keeping pressure on regional peers like the Polish zloty. Concern over Hungary also helped drag the euro to a four-year low against the dollar on Friday.

The yield that investors demand to hold Hungary’s 3-year government bonds rose by 15 basis points from Friday to 5-month highs at 7.25 percent, while 5- and 10-year yields stayed near 9-month highs.

“The market will return to normalcy once again,” one fixed income trader said. “(But) it will take much longer than the weakening took.”

Economy Minister Matolcsy said that by end-May the budget deficit had reached 87 percent of the full-year target but the government would keep it under control. While there was no need for an austerity package, having a fiscal stimulus package was not an option now.

He also told domestic viewers on TV2 television the government was examining a possible 15-20 percent flat tax for families.

“As we see now, and the government is preparing to make such a decision, that from January 1, 2011, a flat family tax could be introduced and finalized over a period of two years,” he said.

(Reporting by Krisztina Than and Marton Dunai; writing by Michael Winfrey; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

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Trader’s `b’ for `m’ error behind huge Dow Jones share plunge

May 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New York, May 7 (ANI): A trade error is believed to have been behind the Dow Jones Industries average and shares in Procter and Gamble and Accenture dropping overnight.

Rumours swirled around the market that a trader had reportedly entered a “b” for billion instead of an “m” for million in a trade involving Procter and Gamble, CNBC reported, citing several sources.

Management consulting powerhouse Accenture also traded at around 41.78 dollars a share when it suddenly plunged to a cent a share. In the next few minutes the share recovered to end the overnight session at 41.09 dollars.

This set off a chain of trades that led to the largest intra-day plunge in the history of the Dow Jones Industrials average.

Shares in Procter and Gamble fell from 61.56 dollars a share to 39.37 dollars a share and then quickly bounced back again.

Procter and Gamble later confirmed the sudden drop in its share price was an error, MarketWatch reports.

According to news.com.au, there was a trading error known as the “fat finger problem” that occurred at a major investment bank, and it was combined with fears over the Greek debt crisis to leave the US market reeling.

The crash began shortly before 2.25 p.m. local time, when in a white-knuckle 20 minutes America”s top 30 firms saw their share prices dive 998.5 points, almost 9 per cent, wiping out billions in market value.

The drop eclipsed even the crashes seen when markets reopened after September 11, 2001 and in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse.

By closing time the major US stock market indexes had lost about 3 per cent.

The effect of the drop was felt in Australia, with the local market opening about 3 per cent lower.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the US Securities and Exchange Commission said in a joint statement after trading closed that they were working closely with other financial regulators and exchanges “to review the unusual trading activity.”

The regulators said they would make the findings of their review public. (ANI)

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Polish zloty will not gain to 3.6/EUR-cbanker

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

WARSAW, April 9 (Reuters) – Poland’s central bank deputy governor Witold Kozinski said on Friday he did not expect the zloty to gain to 3.6 units per euro.

“I can’t imagine that the zloty would reach 3.60 (zlotys) per euro,” Kozinski told TVN CNBC.

At 0525 the euro traded at 3.8470 zlotys. (Reporting by Kuba Jaworowski; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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Turkey min: jobless rate to fall below 14 pct in 2010

April 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ISTANBUL, April 2 (Reuters) – Turkish Economy Minister Ali Babacan said he expected the unemployment rate to fall below 14 percent in 2010, speaking in an interview with broadcaster CNBC-e. Official data last month showed Turkey’s unemployment rate rose to 13.5 percent in the November-to-January period, compared with a rate of 13.1 percent from October to December.

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Turkey min: jobless rate to fall below 14 pct in 2010

April 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

ISTANBUL, April 2 (Reuters) – Turkish Economy Minister Ali Babacan said he expected the unemployment rate to fall below 14 percent in 2010, speaking in an interview with broadcaster CNBC-e. Official data last month showed Turkey’s unemployment rate rose to 13.5 percent in the November-to-January period, compared with a rate of 13.1 percent from October to December.

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Punj Lloyd gets ”Infrastructure Company of the year” award

March 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, March 24 (ANI): Punj Lloyd, the global engineering, procurement, construction conglomerate has been conferred the coveted ”Infrastructure Company of the year” award at the Essar Steel Infrastructure Excellence Awards 2010 in association with CNBC TV 18.

The awards aim to capture the spectacular performance of the company and individuals alike.

Speaking on the occasion, Chairman Atul Punj said, “We are delighted to receive the ”Infrastructure Company of the year” award. This is a collective achievement of our entire team. We will continue to build a better world while adopting international construction practices, high standards of safety, and bringing satisfaction to our clients worldwide.”
Punj Lloyd, which has seen robust growth over two decades to emerge as 2.6 billion dollars global conglomerate, has offices in 16 countries and a diversified business portfolio.

Owning a huge fleet of equipment which can be readily mobilized for its global projects, the company recently launched, Kuber, its new pipelay barge capable of laying pipelines in water depths of 150 m.

Kuber is the only Indian flag pipelay vessel, 100 per cent owned and operated by Punj Lloyd.

Maintaining high safety standards at all its project sites, Punj Lloyd was the only Indian company to have been awarded five star rating from British Safety Council for the BTC pipeline. It has received Gold Award for both Environment and Safety from Greentech Foundation, New Delhi. (ANI)

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Obama’s ‘jackass’ remark about Kanye West was off the record, says CNBC

September 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep.16 (ANI): President Barack Obama’s ‘jackass’ remark about Kanye West were off the record, claimed John Harwood, CNBC’s chief Washington correspondent.

“The custom in television, as I understand it, is that when you have an interview of this kind, the little chit-chat when you are getting ready to sit down to do the real interview is off the record,” Harwood told Politico.

“It’s one of those things that’s like an understanding, as people have understandings with sources,” he continued. “And if you have a relationship of trust with someone, as I feel I do with the White House and the president, specifically, I felt like I should honor it.”

However, the remarks quickly became public after ABC News reporter Terry Moran tweeted the comment.

Harwood said that he’s not sure exactly how many White House reporters may have been watching or listening to the live feed of the interview, which was embargoed for Monday at 6:30 P.M.

As whether Moran’s tweet violated any ethics guidelines in the age of Twitter, Harwood said he’s doesn’t’ “know what the rules are supposed to be.” (ANI)

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Australia plans to kill 650,000 camels

August 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Canberra (Australia), Aug.9 (ANI): Australian Government officials plan to wipe out 650,000 camels in the remote Outback area of the country.

A Sky News report has said that marksmen are being roped in to shoot down thousands of came from helicopters.

It is being said that the meat of these dead animals will be turned into burgers in a bid to halt these thirsty dromedaries from barging into people’s homes and ripping up their bathrooms looking for water.

Camels were first introduced to Australia in the 1840s to help explorers travel through the Australian desert. There are now about one million camels roaming the country. They compete with sheep and cattle for food, trample vegetation and invade remote settlements in search of water.

But some remain opposed to a mass slaughter.

Camel exporter Paddy McHugh, who runs camel catching operations throughout Australia, said a cull would be ineffective.

“What happens in 15 years when the numbers come back again? Do we waste another 9.5 million pounds,” McHugh said.

But Tony Peacock, CEO of the University of Canberra’s Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Center, said: “To be shot from a helicopter is actually quite humane, even though that sounds brutal. If I was a camel, I’d prefer to just get it in the head.”

Glenn Edwards, who is working on drafting the government’s camel reduction program, said the camel population needs to be slashed by two-thirds to reduce catastrophic damage.

Last week, Erin Burnett, an anchor on American financial news channel CNBC, labeled Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd a serial killer on US TV, after his government announced plans to spend 19 million dollars to cull feral camels in the outback.

A stern-faced Burnett said during a segment on CNBC, “There is a serial killer in Australia and we are going to put a picture up so we can see who it is.”

A large photo of Rudd was then shown.

“That would be the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd,” Burnett said. “OK, well, do you know what he is doing? He has launched air strikes – air strikes – against camels in the outback,” she said.

Burnett, with a stuffed toy camel in front of her, broke away from her usual analysis of stock movements on Wall St to vent about the camel cull.

She raised the issue during a segment with CNBC’s colourful financial guru Jim Cramer.

Burnett said there were a million camels living in the wild in Australia.

“They are slaughtering them?” Cramer, looking shocked, asked Burnett. “They are slaughtering them,” Burnett replied.

She also complained the meat and milk from the camels would be wasted.

“Apparently, there is a billion dollars of meat out there,” Burnett said.

“Are they going to do anything with it?” Cramer asked. “No. They’re just slaughtering them,” she said.

“That’s genocide. Camelcide,” Cramer commented.

Burnett then told Cramer she hoped Australians would see her segment.

Camels, which now number more than one million, are destroying fragile ecosystems and trampling all over indigenous sacred sites.

They foul ancient water holes and chomp through the boughs of endangered native trees.

Traveling in large, aggressive packs, they prevent Aboriginal women from venturing into the countryside, for fear of being attacked or trampled.

The situation is expected to get worse, with the camel population predicted to double every eight to 10 years unless action is taken.

The problem has grown so large that the Australian government recently pledged 10 million pounds towards developing a camel control plan. (ANI)

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Infosys Technologies – Infosys Results – infosys news – Infosys Technologies Q1 2010 Results – Infosys Q1 Results – Infosys Technologies Q1 Results

July 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Infosys Technologies – Infosys Results – infosys news – Infosys Technologies Q1 2010 Results – Infosys Q1 Results – Infosys Technologies Q1 Results

Infosys Technologies has announced its first quarter numbers of FY10 that were better-than-street-expectations. Its Q1 profit after tax (PAT) went down by 5% at Rs 1527 crore as against Rs 1613 crore, on quarter-on-quarter basis but that was better than the CNBC-TV18′s estimate of Rs 1399.2 crore.

Its revenues declined 3% to Rs 5,472 crore as against Rs 5,635 crore (QoQ), which was above the expectations of Rs 5,344.1 crore.

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Obama killing fly – PETA upset with Obama killing fly during TV interview

June 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Obama killing fly – PETA upset with Obama killing fly during TV interview

Barack Obama Melbourne, June 18 U.S. President Barack Obama has apparently left People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) unhappy by killing a fly during a televised interview, for the animal rights organisation is now sending him a device that allows users to trap a house fly and then release it outside.

“We support compassion even for the most curious, smallest and least sympathetic animals,” the Daily Telegraph quoted PETA spokesman Bruce Friedrich as saying.

“We believe that people, where they can be compassionate, should be, for all animals,” he added.

It was during an interview for CNBC at the White House on Tuesday that Obama killed a fly, which had intruded on his conversation with correspondent John Harwood.

Friedrich said that PETA was pleased with Obama’s voting record in the Senate on behalf of animal rights, and with the fact that he has been outspoken against animal abuses.

“(Still) swatting a fly on TV indicates he’s not perfect, and we’re happy to say that we wish he hadn’t,” Friedrich added.

Deputy press secretary Josh Earnest said the White House had no comment on the matter.

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US President Obama – Obama kills a fly – Obama swats fly – Obama fly – Obama and the fly – Obama fly swat

June 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

US President Obama – Obama kills a fly – Obama swats fly – Obama fly – Obama and the fly – Obama fly swat

US President Obama, got irritated by a fly buzzing , disturbing and interrupting his TV interview at the Executive Mansion took some executive action, but not without warning. The president first spoke to the fly in question, uttering a stern, “Get out of here,” but the pesky insect, obviously a republican, refused to give away.

As soon as the fly landed, Obama killed him with his bare hands and then continued his interview with CNBC correspondent John Harwood. The president seemed proud of the victory:

“That was pretty impressive, wasn’t it?” he said. “I got the sucker.”

See this video of Obma killing the fly.

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Canadian prostitutes getting trained for 2010 Olympics

May 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 28 (ANI): Sex workers in Canada are getting trained for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

They are not practicing to contest in the sports events, but are just refining their media-savvy skills.

According to media reports, a Canadian agency that provides support for Vancouver’s sex workers is working up a brochure to train them on how to handle requests for photographs and interviews.

“We just want our members to feel safe. Media attention to the area can be a little less than compassionate and we don’t want them to feel like animals in a zoo,” The CNBC quoted Kerry Porth, a spokeswoman for the Prostitution Alternatives Counselling and Education Society (PACE), as telling the Canadian Press.

Tracy Quan, a former call girl and author of ‘Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl’, said that sex workers should really think twice about doing a media interview.

She has claimed that women working in the industry need to know what they want from the interview, and be ready to bail if it’s not going the way they want it to.

“I’m not even sure why someone working in the sex industry would want to talk to the press. What would be their incentive?” asked Quan.

It’s not like they’re selling cars or running a bank, where they need the press.

The PACE brochure will inform the Canadian sex workers of their rights, such as where they can be photographed, and provide them with some tips on how to deal with aggressive media types, including letting them know that it’s OK to refuse an interview.

However, a group of prostitute activists is trying to get that changed so they can open a brothel in time for the Olympics, which could offer these women a safe place to conduct business during the games. (ANI)

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Prepping Yourself For TV: CEO Edition

April 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Scott Baxter was booked on CNBC in January to discuss the economic stimulus package’s effects on small business, but when he got there he found his interview was actually a live debate with Reps. Maxine Waters and J. Gresham Barrett.

Baxter, chief executive officer of the high-end manufacturing outfit SA Baxter, says he survived because he had come prepared with “fun facts.” He had rounded up some simple, poignant nuggets of information from sources like the Census Bureau and the Small Business Administration. As a result, he was able to stand up to the representatives without having ever seen the debate coming.

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That was far different from his first time on TV. Back then he wasn’t nearly as prepared, and the interviewer “ate me alive,” he says. It’s hard to stay cool on live TV, Baxter admits, particularly when every little blip in your company’s stock price shows in the corner of the screen while you talk. “But knowledge is king,” he adds. Anecdotes aren’t bad, but you look your best when you can rattle off impressive facts.

Bill Delaney is the senior vice president of communications training at Ketchum, the public relations outfit. He spent 25 years as a journalist in TV, print and radio before he took his present job. Now he spends most of his time preparing clients for television.

Delaney offers a list of the simple rules: Wear solid, preferably dark colors, because dots and stripes can create weird patterns on camera and light bounces off lighter colors more. Speak in straightforward, declarative sentences. Stick to three key ideas in order to remain clear. And no matter how busy you are, take 15 minutes ahead of the interview to arrange your thoughts.

Delaney doesn’t think an executive should prepare for TV much differently from anyone else. The rules are essentially the same. But he does bring up two things that seem more pertinent to executives than to other interviewees.

First, avoid getting into debates with journalists. Delaney says a lot of clients fall into this trap. It rarely works out for the best. Your interviewer will usually have an agenda and will want to steer the conversation. If you know your own stance and story, you can construct the narrative together with the interviewer, rather than fight over it. “Use questions as an opportunity to tell your story,” Delaney advises.

Second, don’t go in with too much information crammed into your head. This can be a problem unless you really organize and focus ahead of the interview. Coming up with three key ideas is more important. It will help you avoid getting garbled or bogged down. Looking smart isn’t as important as sounding clear.

Be flexible. West Shell III, the CEO of the online medical search outfit Healthline Networks, used to memorize the questions producers sent him ahead of interviews. But when the time came, the interviewer might not ask a single question on the list. Shell now focuses more on simply getting his point across.

In any event, be ready to admit when you don’t know something, you’re wrong or you’ve made a mistake. CEOs are not required to be infallible, Delaney says.

And above all, use your preparation to stay calm. That gets easier with experience. After all, you can’t avoid knowing that hundreds of thousands of eyes may be watching your every move.

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PTC India amends earlier decision regarding shareholders raising of funds

April 7, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The 59th PTC India Ltd Board Meeting on Monday, April 5, was marked by the amendment of the decision taken by the company’s board at the 57th meeting. The previous decision went thus: “subject to the approval of shareholders raising of funds up to Rs. 12 billion through the Qualified Institutional Placement – NCDs upto Rs. 4 billion; plus warrants of upto Rs. 8 billion.”

As per the new recommendation, the company’s Board of Directors suggested the shareholders raising of funds up to Rs. 5 billion in one or more tranches, through issuance of equity shares, with the appropriate time and stipulations to be determined by the Board of Directors at an apt period.

With the CNBC-TV18 reporting the company Board’s approval of raising up to Rs. 5 billion by way of equity, shares of PTC India – being traded in volumes of 148,768 shares – soared to an intraday high of Rs. 80.90, with the intraday low being Rs. 75.

The shares – which closed up by Rs. 0.85 or 1.19 percent at Rs. 72.35 on Thursday – showed an increase of 4.22 percent or Rs. 3.05, to reach Rs. 75.40 at 11 a. m. trading on Monday.

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Satyam sale expected by mid-April – source

April 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Financial bids for Satyam Computer will be submitted by next week, three banking sources involved in the deal said on Thursday, and the sale of the fraud-hit Indian outsourcer is likely to be completed by mid-April, another source with knowledge of the proceedings said.

“By April 9 we have to put in the final and financial bids,” one banker directly involved in the deal told Reuters.

The company’s government-appointed board had said last month it hoped to finalise a buyer by April 30.

“It is expected to be completed much earlier than that,” said another source, who is not allowed to speak to the media about the bidding process. “It should be completed in the next couple of weeks.”

A Satyam spokeswoman said the outsourcer would not make any comment on the bidding process.

She said the board of Satyam, headquartered in the southern city of Hyderabad, was expected to meet in Mumbai on Friday, but declined to comment on the agenda.

Satyam, whose market value has slid to about $530 million from $7 billion last May, is keen to find a new buyer to restore the confidence of its about 50,000-strong staff and more than 600 clients.

The company plunged into a crisis in January after its founder and chairman Ramalinga Raju quit after revealing profits had been overstated for years and assets falsified. Raju is being held in jail.

Indian engineering conglomerate Larsen and Toubro and mid-sized outsourcer Tech Mahindra are among the suitors, and local media have said U.S. private equity WL Ross and Co was also in the race.

Ross called Satyam “interesting” on CNBC TV on Wednesday, but declined further comment due to India’s confidentiality rules. Ross has invested $120 million in two Indian firms, including $82 million in low-cost airline SpiceJet.

Analysts have said Satyam looks attractive because of its long list of marquee clients, including General Electric and Qantas Airways, and due to the plunge in its market value.

However, bidders face a tough job in valuing the company, due to uncertainty about its accounts and legal liabilities arising from the lawsuits filed in the United States by its shareholders.

Last week, India’s diversified Spice Group, a potential suitor for Satyam, said it would not proceed with its bid for now as it has not got the desired level of transparency.

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