Next Week...Today for You

MONDAY

THE 2010 Global Hunger Index, published jointly by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welt hungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide, will be released ahead of World Food Day on 16 October, in New Delhi.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF the Bank of Sweden prize for economic sciences, famously known as the Nobel for economics.

UNITED INDIA Insurance Co. Ltd and LICHFL Financial Services Ltd will hold a press meet to announce their tie up at Hotel Trident in Mumbai.
TATA SONS Ltd chairman Ratan N. Tata will launch the Tata Aria in Mumbai.

TUESDAY

THE BHARATIYA Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka to prove its majority in the state assembly after an internal rebellion in which 19 MLAs--14 from the BJP and five independents --wrote to the governor withdrawing support to the 28monthold government.

THE CONFEDERATION of Indian Indus try and Aspen Institute India will hold an interactive session with Lionel Barber, editor, `Financial Times', on “The Internet and the Crisis Confronting News Media“ at the Trident in Mumbai.

THE RIGHT to Information Act (RTI) completes five years.
The law was passed by Parliament in June 2005 and came into force on 12 October 2005.
DATA ON August's industrial production will be released, amid questions raised by some economists on the robustness of industrial growth.

THURSDAY

THE CLOSING ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, 2010 will be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.

THE MONTHLY Wholesale Price Index based inflation for September is expec ted to be released by the department of industrial policy and promotion.
In August, the WPI inflation stood at 8.5%.

THURSDAY-FRIDAY

COMMERCE MINISTER Anand Sharma will attend the “Namaskar Africa India East Africa Business Forum and An India Exhibition“ in Nairobi, Kenya, being organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) along with ministry of commerce and industry.

Upcoming Result

IPO

Sea TV Network Ltd

Issue opens on 27 September and closes on 29 September Issue size: `50.20 crore Price band: `90100.

Bedmutha Industries Ltd

Issue opens on 28 September and closes on 1 October Issue size: `85.5091.80 crore Price band: `95102.

AGM

27 September: Glen mark Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Idea Cellular Ltd

28 September: DLF Ltd, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, Reliance Communications Ltd, Reliance Capital Ltd, Reliance Power Ltd

29 September: Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd, United Spirits Ltd

30 September: SAIL, India bulls Real Estate Ltd, India bulls Power Ltd, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, National Aluminum Co. Ltd, United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd

Next Week...Today for You

SUNDAY

UNION FINANCE minister Pranab Mukherjee to launch pension scheme for workers in the unorganized sector at Jangipur in West Bengal's Murshidabad district.

MONDAY

DEFENCE MINISTER A.K. Antony will go to Washington on a two day visit to the US on an invitation from his counterpart Robert Gates.
Security issues, both regional and global, are likely to come up prominently during the talks.
CONFEDERATION OF Indian Industry (CII) and Aspen Institute India are organizing an exclusive interactive session on “Does India have a Grand Strategy?“ Address by Robert Black will, former US ambassador to India, at NCPA Auditorium, Nariman Point, Mumbai.

TUESDAY

THE SUPREME Court to hear the plea for the deferment of the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court's judgement on the title suit on Ayodhya dispute.

WEDNESDAY

PRIME MINISTER Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to launch unique Identity number project Aadhaar in Maharashtra's Nandurbar district at a public function.
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS minister S.M. Krishna is likely to meet Pakistan's for deign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi during his stay in New York.
Krishna is at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) session till 29 September.
CHIEF INFORMATION commissioner Wajahat Habibullah demits office.

THURSDAY

THE DEPARTMENT of industrial policy and promotion will release the food inflation data for the week ended 18 September.

FRIDAY

THE COMMERCE ministry will release the trade data for August.
Provisional data released by commerce secretary Rahul Khullar earlier showed merchandise exports grew 22.5% in August, while imports increased by 32.2%.
A NATIONAL seminar on “Challenges in Transmission and Distribution and Role of Automation“ is being organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry in New Delhi.

Upcoming Result

AGM

16 August: Nirma Ltd, Voltas Ltd

18 August: Trent Ltd

19 August: Emami Ltd, Omaxe Ltd

20 August: Grasim Industries Ltd, United Breweries Ltd

21 August: Adani Enterprises Ltd, Adani Power Ltd

Next Week...Today for You

SUNDAY

PATRICIA ESPINOSA Cantellano, Mexico's secretary of foreign affairs, arrives in New Delhi on a two day visit.

The aim of the trip is to prepare the ground for the Cancun summit later this year, as well as to strengthen bilateral relations between India and Mexico.

THE GROUP of ministers on Common wealth Games is likely to meet to review preparedness for the event, especially in the backdrop of the corruption cases that have recently surfaced.

MONDAY

INFLATION DATA for July is scheduled to be released.

The number will be an important signal on the kind of monetary policy action one can expect in the near future.

A CONGRESS delegation from Karnataka is scheduled to meet President Pratibha Patel against the state's antic slaughter Bill.

THE SUPREME Court will hear a petition to transfer 10 cases that have been filed in various high courts across the country challenging the All India Bar Examination, which has been proposed by the Bar Council of India.

The exam is scheduled to be held in the first week of December.

Last week, the apex court dismissed a similar petition filed by a Delhi University law student.

TUESDAY

THE BOMBAY Stock Exchange and Harvard Business School will hold a panel discussion on “Emerging Market Multi nationals: Growing Indian Firms in India and Beyond“.

WEDNESDAY

THE PARLIAMENTARY standing committee on science and technology is expected to submit its report on the nuclear liability Bill.

Though the report was due last week, the panel examining the controversial legislation had sought a week's extension.

THURSDAY

THE PUBLIC interest litigation on media coverage of the Aarushi murder case will come up before the Supreme Court after last week's controversial order gagging the media from reporting matters that were under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

PHD CHAMBER of Commerce and Indus try organizes a seminar on “New Tech neologies for Construction Industry“.

THE NINE DAY International Congress of Mathematicians, an assembly of the world's leading mathematicians, begins in Hyderabad.

A salient feature will be the announcement of the Fields Medal, considered the mathematics equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
THE DEPARTMENT of industrial policy and promotion will release the food inflation data for the week ended 7 August. The index rose to 11.4% for the week ended 31 July.

Upcoming Result

QUARTERLY RESULTS:

9 August: Reliance Capital Ltd, Britannia Industries Ltd.

10 August: Tata Motors Ltd, Piramal Healthcare Ltd

11 August: Bharti Airtel Ltd, Bajaj Hindusthan Ltd, Bharati Shipyard Ltd, Parsvnath Developers Ltd

12 August: State Bank of India, Tata Steel Ltd, Tata Power Co. Ltd,

13 August: Cipla Ltd, Reliance Communications Ltd, Suzlon Energy Ltd, Wockhardt Ltd,
Koutons Retail India Ltd

14 August: Unitech Ltd, National Aluminium Co. Ltd

AGM:

9 August: Britannia Industries Ltd, Future Capital Holdings Ltd, Tata Chemicals Ltd, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd.

10 August: Great Offshore Ltd, Hotel Leela Venture Ltd, Nagarjuna Construction Co. Ltd.

11 August: City Union Bank Ltd, Pidilite Industries Ltd.

12 August: Icra Ltd, UTV Software Communications Ltd.

13 August: Suzlon Energy Ltd, Tata Steel Ltd, BEML Ltd.

14 August: JK Tyre and Industries Ltd, Shree Cement Ltd

Next Week...Today for You

TUESDAY

THE FOURDAY extended central committee meet of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to end in Vijayawada.

The party is expected to finalize its current tactical and political line.

AUTOMOTIVE COMPONENT Manufacturers' Association of India will celebrate its golden jubilee.

The ceremony in Delhi will see former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as the chief guest and Vilasrao Deshmukh, minister for heavy industries and public enterprises as the guest of honor.

PHD CHAMBER of Commerce and Indus try will organize a seminar on “Rejuvenating Urban Infrastructure: Challenges and Opportunities for Public Private Partnerships“ in New Delhi.

Saugata Roy, minister of state for urban development, will inaugurate the seminar.

THURSDAY

THE DEPARTMENT of industrial policy and promotion to release the food inflation data for the week ended 31 July.

Food inflation came down to 9.53%.

THE PARLIAMENTARY standing committee for science and technology is expected to submit its report on the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill.

The Bill, which affixes the liability in case of a nuclear accident, is essential for operation alizing the India US civil nuclear deal, but faces sharp criticism from opposition parties.

THE 95TH international training programme on “Audit of Public Sector Enterprises“, conducted by International Centre for Information Systems and Audit, will be inaugurated on by deputy comptroller and auditor general of India A.K. Banerjee.

THE CENTRAL Statistical Organisation will release the Index of Industrial Production for June on 12 August.

Industrial production grew at 11.5% in May.

Upcoming Result

AGM


2 August: HT Media Ltd, India Cements Ltd, Punj Lloyd Ltd.

4 August: New Delhi Television Ltd, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd.

5 August: Indian Hotels Co. Ltd, NMDC Ltd, Sun TV Network Ltd.

6 August: Aditya Birla Novo Ltd, Tata Communications Ltd.


Quarterly results


2 August: GAIL (India) Ltd, India Cements Ltd, Nestle India Ltd, NMDC Ltd.

3 August: Hindalco Industries Ltd, New Delhi Television Ltd, Punj Lloyd Ltd.

4 August: Infrastructure Development Finance Co. Ltd, Adani Power Ltd, Future Capital Holdings Ltd,

6 August: Fortis Healthcare Ltd, National Aluminium Co. Ltd, Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd.


IPO


Bajaj Corp Ltd

Issue opens on 2 August and closes on 5 August.

Issue size: Rs283.5297 crore,

Price band: Rs630660.

Prakash Steelage Ltd

Issue opens on 5 August and closes on 9 August.

Issue size: Rs62.568.75 crore,

Price band: Rs100110.

Next Week...Today for You

MONDAY

THE COMMERCE ministry will release the trade data for June.

India's exports rose 35.1% in May.

THE RESERVE Bank of India to organize an interactive seminar on the “Report on Currency and Finance, 200809“ on the theme “The Global Financial Crisis and the Indian Economy“.

The report was released by RBI on 1 July 2010.

WEDNESDAY

STATE FINANCE ministers are set to meet in New Delhi to discuss constitutional amendments to roll out the goods and services tax (GST).

The meeting is critical as the concurrence of states on amendments are necessary for ushering in GST.

THE ANDHRA Pradesh government will play host to one of the country's biggest information and communication technology event--India 2010--from 4 August, 2010 to 6 August, 2010 in Hyderabad.

THURSDAY

THE FIFTH seminar in the IcrierKAS monthly seminar series will be held on 5 August.

The seminar will be delivered by Russell Green, financial attaché to India, US treasury on “Resolving Failing Financial Institutions: The Regulator as Action Hero“.

THE DEPARTMENT of industrial policy and promotion will release the food inflation data for the week ended 24 July on 5 August.
In the previous week, food inflation rate dropped to below double digits at 9.67%.

SATURDAY

THE FOURDAY extended central committee meet of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) begins in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.

Upcoming Result

QUARTERLY RESULTS

26 July: NTPC Ltd, Dabber India Ltd, Tech Mahindra Ltd.
27 July: Reliance Industries Ltd, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Spice Jet Ltd.
28 July: Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
29 July: Hero Honda Motors Ltd, UltraTech Cement Ltd.
30 July: Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, ABB Ltd, NMDC Ltd.
31 July: ICICI Bank Ltd, Grasim Industries Ltd, Bank of India.

IPO & FPO

SKS Microfinance Ltd: Issue opens on 28 July, closes on 2 August
Engineers India Ltd: FPO issue opens on 27 July and closes 30 July

AGMs

26 July: Bharat Forge Ltd.
27 July: Ashok Leyland Ltd, Hindustan Unilever Ltd.
28 July: Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.
29 July: UltraTech Cement Ltd.
30 July: India Infoline Ltd.

Next Week...Today for You

SUNDAY

GOVERNMENT TO release guidelines for project developers interested in grid connected solar power projects.

Investments worth Rs20,000 crore are expected by 2013 for solar powered electricity and proponents are expected to bid based on these guidelines.

MYANMAR LEADER Than She arrives in India for a five day state visit. India is hosting the leader for the second time in six years. His last visit was in 2004.

MONDAY

THE MONSOON session of Parliament begins with the Opposition parties ready to attack the Conges sled United Progressive Alliance government on the issues of price rise and hike in prices of petroleum products.

Other issues that may be raised in the month long session include the verdict on the Bhopal gas tragedy, talks with Pakistan, Nasal violence and the recent train accidents.

TUESDAY

RESERVE BANK of India (RBI) governor D. Subbarao will unveil the central bank's quarterly review of monetary policy.

Analysts expect a hike in policy rates to rein in double digit inflation. RBI is also expected to raise its growth projection for the economy.

BRITISH PRIME Minister David Cameron arrives in India on a three day visit.

He will be accompanied by a high level delegation, including foreign secretary William Hague, Chancellor George Osborne, business secretary Vince Cable and other business representatives.

This is Cameron's first trip to India after his 6 May election win.

WEDNESDAY

THE CONFEDERATION of Indian Industry (CII), supported by the Bureau of Police Research and Development, will organize the 4th International Conference and Exhibition on Homeland Security.

It will be a three day event.

THURSDAY

ALL MEMBERS of Parliament of leading opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as well as other party leaders, will go to President Pratibha Patel with a signature campaign on price rise.

RESEARCH AND Information System for Developing Countries is organizing a roundtable on “Regional economic and trade outlook“.

Srinivasa Madhur, senior director in Asian Development Bank's office of regional economic integration, will be presenting the economic prospects for the region.

FRIDAY

ELECTION COMMISSIONER S.Y. Quraishi will take charge as the chief election commissioner of India (CEC) when current incumbent Navin Chawla retires.

SATURDAY

HOME MINISTER P. Chidambaram to hold press conference to present his ministry's monthly report card.

AGM Next Week

5 July: Bank of Baroda

9 July: Piramal Healthcare, United Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Vijaya Bank

10 July: Corporation Bank

IPO

5 July: Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd

issue opens; will close on 7 July Issue size: Rs270 crore

Price band: Rs162-175

Next Week...Today for You

SUNDAY

NATIONAL SECURITY adviser Shiv Shankar Menon will be on a four day visit to China.

The visit, which begins on Saturday, comes ahead of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's trip to Beijing that is expected to see China finalizing the sale of two nuclear power reactors to Islamabad.

External affairs minister S.M. Krishna will be on a four day visit to Mauritius and Mozambique, beginning Saturday, to shore up ties with African nations.

MONDAY

A NATIONAL seminar of speakers of state assemblies as well as the chairpersons of financial committees is being organized in New Delhi by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar will inaugurate the seminar, which will focus on promoting effectiveness of the legisl tures in ensuring good governance.

THE PLANNING Commission is organizing a conference on public private partnership in state highways in New Delhi.

The conference will be inaugurated by minister of road transport and highways Kamal Nath and addressed by Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

TUESDAY

COMMERCE AND industry minister Anand Sharma will begin a threeday visit to Malaysia and Singapore.

He will hold bilateral talks with his counterparts.

WEDNESDAY

THE CONFEDERATION of Indian Indus try (CII) and ministry of defence will organizing a seminar on future antitank guided missiles at Dr D.S. Kothari Auditorium in the DRDO Bhawan.

Minister of state for defence M.M. Pallam Raju will be the chief guest.

THURSDAY

MINES MINISTER B.K. Handique will leave for Canada on a six day visit to invite leading mining companies to India.

He will hold talks with his Canadian counterpart and mining industry leaders interested in the Indian market.

CII AND ministry of food processing industry will organize a two day food safety and quality summit on “India--the Food Factory of the World--Food Safety Challenges and Opportunities“ at The Lalit.

Minister of food processing industries Subodh Kant Sahai will address the session on Friday.

FRIDAY

CII WILL organize an event “CII-India@75: Creating an inclusive India by 2022“ at The Maurya Hotel in New Delhi.

Planning Commission member Arun Maira will be the chief guest on the occasion.

AGM Next week

28 June: ICICI Bank Ltd, Infra structure Development Finance Co. Ltd, IndusInd Bank Ltd.

29 June: Birla Corp. Ltd, CMC Ltd, JSW Steel Ltd, Purvankara Projects Ltd.

30 June: BF Utilities Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, Hindustan Copper Ltd.

1 July: ING Vysya Bank Ltd

2 July: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Union Bank of India, Yes Bank Ltd.


IPO

29 June: Technofab Engineering Ltd's issue opens.

It will close on 2 July.

Issue Size: Rs71.76 crore. Price band: Rs230-240.

Next Week...Today for You

MONDAY

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will again lay the foundation stone of the Manali Ladakh tunnel project. Defence minister A.K. Antony will accompany her.

In 2002, then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had first laid the foundation stone for the project. The 9km horse shoe shaped tunnel would enable civilians and the Armed Forces access to the border areas of Ladakh.

TUESDAY

VICEPRESIDENT Mohammad Hamid Ansari will confer National Statistical Awards on the occasion of the Statistics Day at Vigyan Bhavan. Minister for coal, statistics and programme implementation Sriprakash Jaiswal and chairman of National Statistical Commission R. Radhakrishna will also be present.

WEDNESDAY

HOME MINISTER P. Chidambaram will hold his monthly press conference.

THURSDAY

THE SECOND meet of the newly constituted second National Advisory Council, which is expected to set the social agenda for the Congress led United Progressive Alliance, will take place.

In this meeting, the council is likely to take up the draft of food security Bill.

THE COMMERCE ministry will formally release the trade data for May.

Provisional data released by the commerce secretary Rahul Khullar earlier this month showed exports grew 35% in the same month.

FRIDAY

CONFEDERATION OF Indian Industry will organize a national seminar on water resource management and mining sector in India.

The chief guests for the seminar include secretary (mines), ministry of coal and mines Santha Sheela Nair and chairman of Central Ground Water Board B.M. Jha, among others.

AGM Next week

22 June: KEC International Ltd, Prism Cement Ltd.

23 June: Birla Corp. Ltd, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Patni Computer Systems Ltd,

Rallis India Ltd, Tata Investment Corp. Ltd.

24 June: Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd, Petronet LNG Ltd.

25 June: Assam Co. (India) Ltd, Bharat Bijlee Ltd, Binani Cement Ltd, Syndicate

Bank Ltd.

Next Week...Today for You

MONDAY

BANK OF Rajasthan Ltd extraordinary general meeting (EGM) will be held.

The EGM has been called to seek shareholder approval for the bank's merger with ICICI Bank Ltd, the country's largest private sector bank.

TUESDAY

PLANNING COMMISSION deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and commerce minister Anand Sharma will be attending the US India CEO forum on Tuesday.

The forum aims to develop a road map for increased partnership and cooperation between the two countries.

WEDNESDAY

MINISTER FOR health and family welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad will be on a three day visit to Washington and Atlanta for the US India health dialogue.

The US is hosting a high level delegation of Indian ministers for a series of meetings at the end of this month.

THURSDAY

HOME SECRETARY G.K. Pillai will be leaving for Pakistan on Thursday for secretary level talks.

Foreign secretaries of both countries will be meeting in Islamabad to prepare the ground for next month's meeting between foreign ministers S.M. Krishna of India and Shah Mahmood Qureshi of Pakistan.

FRIDAY

HOME MINISTER P. Chidambaram will leave for Pakistan to attend the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Summit.

He will also hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart on the sidelines of the summit.

THE QUEEN'S Baton Relay 2010 Delhi, which commenced its 70nation journey from Buckingham Palace, London, on 29 October 2009, will be reaching India from Lahore, Pakistan, 100 days before the start of the 19th Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi.

On its 100day national tour, the relay will travel to the capital of each of India's 28 states and 7 Union territories.

THE GOVERNING council of the Board of Control for Cricket in India will be meeting at the Cricket Centre in Mumbai.

This meeting will come soon after the first official interaction between Indian Premier League (IPL) interim chairman Chirayu Amin and all 10 IPL franchisees.

INDIA METEOROLOGICAL Department is likely to update its monsoon forecast for 2010.

This update is crucial as it predicts rainfall in July, the most important sowing month, and also indicates how the monsoon will pan across the country.

SATURDAY

PRIME MINISTER Manmohan Singh will be in Toronto for the Group of Twenty summit.

The two day summit will see leaders discuss global economic challenges.

Next Week...Today for You

SUNDAY

ACCORDING TO the meteorological department, monsoon is likely to hit the Kerala coast this

week. This year, the monsoon is especially important on the back of last year's drought

which cut crop output and contributed to a steep food price inflation. Predicted date is 30

May.

MONDAY

INFRA VISION 2020, a two day conference on implementation bottlenecks in India's

infrastructure plans will be held in New Delhi. Invitees include road trans port minister

Kamal Nath, minister of state for railways E. Ahamed and Planning Commission member B. K.

Chaturvedi among others.

INDUS WATER commissioners of India and Pakistan will meet, with the latter expected to take

up with India the issue of two more hydel power units being constructed in Jammu and

Kashmir.

JHARKHAND CHIEF minister Shibu Soren will take a trust vote at a special assembly session.

The session is being convened after Soren urged the governor to give him a week's time

following the Bharatiya Janata Party's withdrawal of support on 24 May, reducing his

government to a minority.

DATA FOR India's gross domestic product in the fourth quarter will be released.

The last quarter data would give a clear signal of strength of economic recovery.

INDIAN CRICKET board's marketing committee will meet in Mumbai to wrap up the much delayed

team sponsorship details for which the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) issued a

tender notice inviting bids on Thursday. BCCI's deal with Sahara for team sponsorship is

coming to an end next month end. The board has fixed Rs2.25 crore as the base price per

match for the bids for all three formats for the men's team.

NEXT SESSION of the United Nations climate change talks begin on 31 May in Bonn. Talks will

be on till 11 June. This will be the first meeting of all parties since Copenhagen.

HOME MINISTER P. Chidambaram will present his ministry's monthly report highlighting

progress made on various projects as well as the security situation across the country.

The Last date for third-generation (3G) spectrum auction winners to deposit money.

The government is expected to get Rs67,718.95 crore, including payment from state run

operators Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.

TUESDAY

THE COMMERCE ministry will release trade data for April. In March, merchandise exports grew

54.1%, valued at $19.9 billion (Rs92,535 crore).

GUSTAV BALDAUF to take over as the chief operating officer of national carrier Air India.

South African President Jacob Zuma will visit India on a five day trip, accompanied by seven

cabinet ministers. A South African business contingent from various sectors such as energy,

financial services, chemicals, mining, auto and infrastructure, will also accompany him. The

visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries.

THURSDAY

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS minister S.M. Krishna will visit the US for the first ever Indo US

strategic talks. He will be accompanied by officials from the minis try of home affairs and

the ministry of external affairs. Krishna will hold talks with his counterpart Hillary

Clinton.

SATURDAY

WORLD ENVIRONMENT Day will be observed on 5 June. The day is observed every year in

different cities by the United Nations Environment Programme.

This year, the event will be observed in Rwanda around the theme “Many species. One planet.

One future“.

RESULTS

24 May: Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd, Tata Power Co. Ltd.

25 May: Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd.

26 May: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Tata Steel Ltd. 27 May: Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd, Cairn India Ltd, Tata Motors Ltd.

28 May: Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd, Steel Authority of India Ltd, Unitech Ltd.

29 May: Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.

Next Week...Today for You

SUNDAY

THE BOARDS of India's largest private sector bank ICICI Bank Ltd and Bank of Rajasthan Ltd (BoR) will meet to finalize the acquisition of BoR by ICICI Bank. Last week, ICICI Bank announced it would take over BoR for around Rs3,000 crore.

MONDAY

PRIME MINISTER Manmohan Singh will addresses a press conference on the occasion of the first anniversary of UPAII.

AUCTION FOR BWA spectrum in the 2.3MHz band needed to offer mobile broadband will start. The auction has 11 operators vying for two slots of 20MHz of spectrum across the country at a reserve price of Rs1,750 crore.

TUESDAY

STATE-RUN NHPC Ltd will hold its annual results press conference in New Delhi.

CABINET SECRETARY K.M.

Chandrasekhar will hold a meeting regarding the Planning Commission's recommendations for charting a level playing field for domestic power generation equipment manufacturers.

UK-BASED global bank Standard Chartered Plc will come out with the first ever Indian depository receipts (IDR) issue.

The price band will be announced on 24 May and the IDRs will be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.

NATIONAL WORKSHOP on environmental regulation reforms will be organized to discuss environmental governance in India. The workshop will be chaired by minister of state for environment and forest Jairam Ramesh.

WEDNESDAY

PRESIDENT PRATIBHA Patil will start a five-day official visit to China to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

During her visit, Patil is expected to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. The two sides will discuss bilateral, regional and global issues.

Oil India Ltd will hold its annual results press conference in New Delhi.

FRIDAY

INDIA'S LARGEST oil refiner Indian Oil Corp. Ltd will hold its annual financial results press conference in New Delhi.

Next Week...Today for You

Tuesday
A round table discussion will be organized CUTS international CUTS Institute for Regulation and Competition (CIRC) and the Planning Commission of India in New Delhi. The Topic of discussion would be. “ Regulatory Reforms in India; Focus on Draft Regulatory Reform Bill”.
DEPARTMENT OF rural development will be organizing a workshop to discuss the draft vision document and annual work plan for 201011 to enable more effective implementation of the Mahat ma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Rural development min ister C.P. Joshi will chair the workshop, which would focus on addressing con straints such as low awareness, delayed wage payments, limited capabilities of `panchayats', etc.
WORLD AIDS vaccine day to be observed. It aims at creating AIDS awareness and stresses on the need for an AIDS vaccine. It also aims to get more people to partner for the research.
THURSDAY
THE DEPARTMENT of industrial poli cy and promotion will release the weekly inflation data for the week to 8 May.
THE AUSTRALIAN Trade Commission and the Australian trade and investment development agency will be organizing a seminar on “Winning Business and Investment with Australia“ in New Delhi.
The seminar will showcase the potential business and investment opportunities for businesses based in Delhi with Australia.
FRIDAY
THE EMPOWERED committee of state finance ministers is scheduled to meet in New Delhi to resume discus sions on the proposed goods and servic es tax (GST). The talks will now enter a crucial phase as stakeholders try to finalize the system's architecture.

SATURDAY
THE CONGRESSled United Progres sive Alliance government completes the first year of its second stint at the Cen tre. The government is expected to release a report card of its performance in the last one year.



RESULTS & IPOS
Results

17 May: Larsen and Toubro Ltd, NTPC Ltd, GAIL (India) Ltd, Karnataka Bank Ltd.
18 May: Icra Ltd.

19 May : Rural Electrification Corp. Ltd.

20 May : Grasim Industries Ltd, Jet Airways Ltd, Wockhardt Ltd.
21 May : ITC Ltd, Edelweiss Capital Ltd, Inox Leisure Ltd.

22 May: Bharat Forge Ltd, Divis Laboratories Ltd, NMDC Ltd.


IPO

18 May : Tarapur Transformers Ltd.

Upcoming Dividend earnings for you....

Scrip Code	Scrip Name	Ex-Date	Purpose	Rs.
590059	Bihar Tubes	5/7/10	Interim Dividend	1
532379	Firstobject Tech	5/7/10	Interim Dividend	0.1
500179	HCL Infosystems	5/7/10	3rd Interim Dividend	2
532735	R Systems	5/7/10	Dividend	2.4
522074	Elgi Equipments	5/10/10	Interim Dividend	1.3
506109	Genesys Intl	5/10/10	Interim Dividend	1
500325	RIL	5/10/10	Dividend	7
532765	Usher Agro	5/10/10	Interim Dividend	1
505255	GMM Pfaudler	5/11/10	Interim Dividend	0.7
524735	Hikal	5/11/10	Interim Dividend	4
532749	Allcargo Glob	5/12/10	Dividend	0.5
500165	Kansai Nerolac	5/12/10	Dividend	15
532480	Allahabad Bank	5/13/10	Dividend	5.5
500530	Bosch	5/13/10	Dividend	30
533181	Intrasoft Tech	5/13/10	Interim Dividend	0.8
507180	Kesar Enter	5/13/10	Scheme of Arrangement	-
531539	Rishabh Digha	5/13/10	Dividend	1
506146	Visagar Poly	5/13/10	Interim Dividend	0.1
523457	BOC India	5/14/10	Dividend	1.5
500150	Foseco India	5/14/10	Interim Dividend	1
590084	KANCO ENTER	5/14/10	Scheme of Arrangement	-
524109	Kabra Extr	5/17/10	Stock Split from Rs. 10/- to Rs. 5/-	-
505890	Kennametal	5/17/10	Interim Dividend	13
532215	Axis Bank	5/20/10	Dividend	12
500089	DIC India	5/20/10	Dividend	4
505893	Hindustan Hardy	5/20/10	Dividend	1
500313	Oil Country Tub	5/20/10	Dividend	2
526725	Sandesh	5/20/10	Dividend	3
513097	Shivalik Bimet	5/20/10	Interim Dividend	0.2
503657	Veer Energy	5/20/10	Dividend	0.1

Merger & Acquisitions

TATA TEA PEPSI STRIKE DEAL FOR BEVERAGES JV: Tata Tea and World No 2 cola maker Pepsico on April 9 said they had signed a preliminary agreement to form a joint venture for non-carbonated beverages focused on health and wellness.

AIR INDIA-SATS JV: National air carrier Air India and Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) have signed an agreement to form a single 50:50 joint venture company to house their three existing ground-and-cargo-handling JVs in Banglore and Hyderabad.

INDIA INC’S M&Ms TOUCH %19BN IN 2010: Driven by Bharti Airtel’s %10.7 billion takeover deal for the African assets of kuwait’s Zain Telecom, the total value of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the country in the first quarter of 2010 has nearly quadrupled to $19 billion.

VODAFONE TOUCHES 100MN CONSUMER BASE: Vodafone, which acquired a majority stake in Hutchison-Essar for a massive %11.1 billion, has now a consumer base of 100 million as compared to 28 million in 2007.

NALCO LISTS RECORD METAL PRODUCTION: National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco), a Navratna unit, has achieved the highest-ever metal production of 4.31 lakh tones in 2009-10, in 2008-09, with 19.4 percent increase.

SANY GROUP OPENS FIRST PLANT IN INDIA: China-based Sany Group, a global major in the construction machinery industry, on April 12 inaugurated its first manufacturing facility in India at Chakan near Pune. This plant, with an investment of %70 million, is the group’s second manufacturing facility in Asia after China.

TATAS RENEW SINGUR LEASE:Tata Motors has paid the lease rent of Rs 1 crore till March next year for its land to Singur, where the company’s small car Nano was initially scheduled to roll out from.

RELIANCE INFRA COMMISSION 600MW UNIT: Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Infrastructure on April 4 said it has commissioned a 600 MW power unit at the Rajiv Gandhi Khedar Thermal Power Plant in Haryana that after completion will provide 15,000 jobs.

GEMS AND JEWELLERY EXPORTS UP:India’s gems and jewellery export continued to shine for the fourth consecutive month with consignments growing by an impressive annual 55 percent of $2.2 billion in February , 2010.

UNITED SPIRITS BECOMES WORLD NO 2: United Spirits (USL), the flagship company of the Vijay Mallya-promoted UB Group, said on April 7 that it had crossed sales volume of 100 million cases in 2009-10, making it the world’s No 2 spirits company in volume terms and is certain to be the number one by next fiscal.

RESULTS & IPO

RESULTS

10 May: HT Media Ltd

11 May: Hindalco Industries Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, Ran baxy Laboratories Ltd, Bajaj Hindustan Ltd.


12 May: Bajaj Auto Ltd, Bajaj Holdings and Investment Ltd.

13 May: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, Koutons Retail India Ltd.

14 May: DLF Ltd, Reliance Infra structure Ltd, State Bank of India, National Aluminium Co. Ltd, Reliance Natural Resources Ltd, Reliance Power Ltd, Federal Bank Ltd.

IPO LISTING

10 May: Talwalkars Better Value Fitness Ltd

Next Week...Today for You

TUESDAY

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS minister S.M.Krishna is expected to visit Kazakhstan for three days to draw a road map to implement the agreements and initiatives that were agreed between two countries when Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited New Delhi in January 2009.

WEDNESDAY

THE MARCH 2010 Index of Industrial Production will be announced . The data will provide a clearer picture of the economic recovery underway.

A GROUP of companies that includes ONGC Videsh Ltd, Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, Oil India Ltd, Spain's Repsol YPF and Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd is likely to sign contracts with the Venezuelan government for developing the multi-billion integrated oil project in the Carabobo 1 Norte and Carabobo 1 Centro blocks in the Orinoco region. The contract signing in Venezuela is expected to be witnessed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and India oil minister Murli Deora.

NATIONAL CONFERENCE and annual session 2010 on the theme “Implementing Inclusive Growth and Development“ organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry to be held in New Delhi. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate the conference and home minister P.
Chidambaram will give the valedictory address.

ECONOMIC THINK tank Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations is jointly organizing with the International Monetary Fund a discussion to debate the contents of the fund's study “Asia Pacific Regional Out look, Spring 2010“. Indian finance ministry's chief economic adviser Kaushik Basu will participate in the debate.

THURSDAY

INDUSTRY BODY Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry is organizing a panel discussion on “India's Evolving Role in the Global Economy“. International Monetary Fund's managing director Dominique Strauss Kahn will participate in the panel discussion.

FRIDAY

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS minister S.M.Krishna leaves for Iran for a two day visit. His visit to Iran on crucial regional issues was postponed twice. Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki had invited Krishna to take part in Navroz celebrations on 28 and 29 March, which were deferred to 30 and 31 March.

THE DEPARTMENT of industrial policy and promotion will release the monthly Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation data for April. In March, WPI g inflation rate stood at 9.9%.

RESULTS & IPO

Results

3 May: Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd, Idea Cellular Ltd, JSW Steel Ltd, United Bank of India.

4 May: Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, Syndicate Bank.

5 May: Lupin Ltd, United Breweries Ltd.

6 May: Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India.

7 May: Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd, Bank of India, Cipla Ltd.

IPO closing

3 May: SJVN Ltd

4 May: Jaypee Infratech Ltd

Next Week...Today for You

MONDAY:

FINLAND FOREIGN minister Alexander Stubb will be in India for a two day visit.
He is expected to hold discussions with external affairs minister S.M. Krishna on Finnish-Indian relations.

TRADE DATA for March will be announced. Exports are expected to post higher growth after almost a year of decline.

AXIS BANK Ltd and Max New York Life Insurance will announce their ban cassurance partnership.


THE FOURTH seminar in the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations-Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung monthly seminar series will be organized. The seminar will be delivered by Rajesh Chakrabarti, assistant professor, Indian School of Business on “Independent Directors and Firm Value: Evidence from a Natural Experiment“.

A Confederation of Indian Industry session on “Strengthening India Australia Trade Relations “ will be organized. Minister for commerce and industry Anand Sharma and Australia's trade minister Simon Crean will be chief guests at the session.

WEDNESDAY

A THREE-day meet of the core com mittee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)--its apex decision-making body--will begin. The party leadership is likely to decide on the dates, location and participants for its “plenum“, a rare meeting of its senior leaders to prepare for next year's assembly elections in its bastion states of West Bengal and Kerala.

OVERSEAS PRIVATE Investment Corporation's (Opic) three-day global investment conference on renewable energy and clean technology will begin in New Delhi. Opic is a US government agency responsible for facilitating American private sector investment in emerging markets.

THURSDAY

A TWO-day Confederation of Indian Industry international conference on “Intelligent Urbanization--Smart Solutions for Inclusive and Sustainable Communities“ will be held. Planning Commision member Arun Maira, ministry of urban development secretary M. Ram achandran and lieutenant-governor of Delhi Tejendra Khanna will be chief guests at the session.

FRIDAY

PARLIAMENT'S BUDGET session is expected to conclude. The nearly three month long session, with a one-month recess in between, saw the passage of the Finance Bill and the Union Budget 201011 amid stormy protests from the the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Left and other parties demanding measures to combat rising prices.

Next Week...Today for You

MONDAY
THE FEDERATION of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Ernst and Young will launch their latest report titled `Indian Infrastructure--Paving the way for India's growth'. Union minister of road transport and highways Kamal Nath will deliver the inaugural address.

AFGHANISTAN PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai will arrive in India for a two day visit with the aim of carrying forward the sequence of high level interaction between the two countries to strength en bilateral strategic relations.

JAMSHYD GODREJ, chairman and man aging director of Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd, and Bala V. Balachandran, honorary dean of Great Lakes Institute of Management will launch the company's global executive MBA programme in energy management at ITC Grand Central, Mumbai.

THE GOVERNING council meeting for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is scheduled to take place at the Cricket Center, Churchgate, Mumbai.

THE CONFEDERATION of Indian Indus try and department of industrial policy and promotion to hold the annual intellectual property awards 2010 on World Intellectual Property Day in New Delhi. Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma will be the chief guest.

A DAY long seminar on developing an ecosystem for UID, or unique ID, implementation, sponsored by the National Institute for Smart Government will be held in Delhi.

THE Supreme Court on 26 April will hear the issue of limestone mining by Lafarge Umiam Mining Pvt. Ltd in Meghalaya. The apex court on 5 February,
While hearing a petition by 21 local tribal and the Shella Action Committee, a nongovernmental organization, had stayed the mining operations.
TUESDAY
INDIAN INSTITUTE of Public Administration, in collaboration with the World Bank, will organize a three day regional (South Asia) workshop in Delhi on the theme--“Towards more open and trans parent governance in South Asia“. Right to Information leaders from across the region--Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan and India--will participate in the workshop.
THE LEFT party to sponsor a nationwide bandh against inflation and the economic policies of the Congress led United Progressive Alliance government. The agitation will comprise 13 parties other than Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party. Leaders of these 13 parties have also said they will move a cut motion to seek roll back in the hike in prices of petrol, diesel and fertilizer on the same day.

VOTING ON the cut motion moved by Left parties is expected to take place on Tuesday, apart from voting on the demand for grants.
WEDNESDAY
A TWO-day summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation begins in Thimpu, Bhutan. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will travel to Bhutan for a meeting of this eight nation bloc. The regional grouping comprises India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Afghanistan.
THURSDAY
Fifteen political parties are expected to submit their responses to a show cause notice by the Election Commission of India for not furnishing their expense statements for the Lok Sabha election 2009. The parties--which include the main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (Secular), All India Forward Bloc among others --were issued notices on Friday.

Next Week...Today for You

MONDAY
THE FEDERATION of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Ernst and Young will launch their latest report titled `Indian Infrastructure--Paving the way for India's growth'. Union minister of road transport and highways Kamal Nath will deliver the inaugural address.

AFGHANISTAN PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai will arrive in India for a two day visit with the aim of carrying forward the sequence of high level interaction between the two countries to strength en bilateral strategic relations.

JAMSHYD GODREJ, chairman and man aging director of Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd, and Bala V. Balachandran, honorary dean of Great Lakes Institute of Management will launch the company's global executive MBA programme in energy management at ITC Grand Central, Mumbai.

THE GOVERNING council meeting for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is scheduled to take place at the Cricket Center, Churchgate, Mumbai.

THE CONFEDERATION of Indian Indus try and department of industrial policy and promotion to hold the annual intellectual property awards 2010 on World Intellectual Property Day in New Delhi. Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma will be the chief guest.

A DAY long seminar on developing an ecosystem for UID, or unique ID, implementation, sponsored by the National Institute for Smart Government will be held in Delhi.

THE Supreme Court on 26 April will hear the issue of limestone mining by Lafarge Umiam Mining Pvt. Ltd in Meghalaya. The apex court on 5 February,
While hearing a petition by 21 local tribal and the Shella Action Committee, a nongovernmental organization, had stayed the mining operations.
TUESDAY
INDIAN INSTITUTE of Public Administration, in collaboration with the World Bank, will organize a three day regional (South Asia) workshop in Delhi on the theme--“Towards more open and trans parent governance in South Asia“. Right to Information leaders from across the region--Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan and India--will participate in the workshop.
THE LEFT party to sponsor a nationwide bandh against inflation and the economic policies of the Congress led United Progressive Alliance government. The agitation will comprise 13 parties other than Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party. Leaders of these 13 parties have also said they will move a cut motion to seek roll back in the hike in prices of petrol, diesel and fertilizer on the same day.

VOTING ON the cut motion moved by Left parties is expected to take place on Tuesday, apart from voting on the demand for grants.
WEDNESDAY
A TWO-day summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation begins in Thimpu, Bhutan. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will travel to Bhutan for a meeting of this eight nation bloc. The regional grouping comprises India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Afghanistan.
THURSDAY
Fifteen political parties are expected to submit their responses to a show cause notice by the Election Commission of India for not furnishing their expense statements for the Lok Sabha election 2009. The parties--which include the main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (Secular), All India Forward Bloc among others --were issued notices on Friday.

RESULTS NEXT WEEK

26 April: Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.
27 April: Yes Bank Ltd.
28 April: Bharti Airtel Ltd, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank.
29 April: Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, Siemens Ltd, United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd, Ashok Leyland.
30 April: ABB Ltd, Tech Mahindra Ltd.

Next Week...Today for You

MONDAY
THE FEDERATION of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Ernst and Young will launch their latest report titled `Indian Infrastructure--Paving the way for India's growth'. Union minister of road transport and highways Kamal Nath will deliver the inaugural address.

AFGHANISTAN PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai will arrive in India for a two day visit with the aim of carrying forward the sequence of high level interaction between the two countries to strength en bilateral strategic relations.

JAMSHYD GODREJ, chairman and man aging director of Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd, and Bala V. Balachandran, honorary dean of Great Lakes Institute of Management will launch the company's global executive MBA programme in energy management at ITC Grand Central, Mumbai.

THE GOVERNING council meeting for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is scheduled to take place at the Cricket Center, Churchgate, Mumbai.

THE CONFEDERATION of Indian Indus try and department of industrial policy and promotion to hold the annual intellectual property awards 2010 on World Intellectual Property Day in New Delhi. Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma will be the chief guest.

A DAY long seminar on developing an ecosystem for UID, or unique ID, implementation, sponsored by the National Institute for Smart Government will be held in Delhi.

THE Supreme Court on 26 April will hear the issue of limestone mining by Lafarge Umiam Mining Pvt. Ltd in Meghalaya. The apex court on 5 February,
While hearing a petition by 21 local tribal and the Shella Action Committee, a nongovernmental organization, had stayed the mining operations.
TUESDAY
INDIAN INSTITUTE of Public Administration,
in collaboration with the World Bank, will organize a three day regional (South Asia) workshop in Delhi on the theme--“Towards more open and trans parent governance in South Asia“.
Right to Information leaders from across the region--Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives,
Afghanistan and India--will participate in the workshop.
THE left party to sponsor a nationwide bandh against inflation and the economic policies of the Congress led United Progressive Alliance government.
The agitation will comprise 13 parties other than Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party.
Leaders of these 13 parties have also said they will move a cut motion to seek roll back in the hike in prices of petrol,
diesel and fertilizer on the same day.
VOTING ON the cut motion moved by Left parties is expected to take place on Tuesday,
apart from voting on the demand for grants.
WEDNESDAY
A TWOday summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation begins in Thimpu,
Bhutan. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will travel to Bhutan for a meeting of this eight nation bloc. The regional grouping comprises India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal,
Sri Lanka, Maldives and Afghanistan.
THURSDAY
Fifteen political parties are expected to submit their responses to a show cause notice by the Election Commission of India for not furnishing their expense statements for the Lok Sabha election 2009.
The parties--which include the main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party,
the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (Secular),
All India Forward Bloc among others --were issued notices on Friday.

Next Week...Today for You

MONDAY
THE FEDERATION of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Ernst and Young will launch their latest report titled `Indian Infrastructure--Paving the way for India's growth'. Union minister of road transport and highways Kamal Nath will deliver the inaugural address.

AFGHANISTAN PRESIDENT Hamid Kar zai will arrive in India for a two day visit with the aim of carrying forward the sequence of high level interaction between the two countries to strength en bilateral strategic relations.

JAMSHYD GODREJ, chairman and man aging director of Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Co. Ltd, and Bala V. Balachandran, honorary dean of Great Lakes Institute of Management will launch the company's global executive MBA programme in energy management at ITC Grand Central, Mumbai.

THE GOVERNING council meeting for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is scheduled to take place at the Cricket Center, Churchgate, Mumbai.

THE CONFEDERATION of Indian Indus try and department of industrial policy and promotion to hold the annual intellectual property awards 2010 on World Intellectual Property Day in New Delhi. Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma will be the chief guest.

A DAY long seminar on developing an ecosystem for UID, or unique ID, implementation, sponsored by the National Institute for Smart Government will be held in Delhi.
THE SUPREME Court on 26 April will hear the issue of limestone mining by Lafarge Umiam Mining Pvt. Ltd in Meghalaya. The apex court on 5 February, while hearing a petition by 21 local tribal and the Shella Action Committee, a nongovernmental organization, had stayed the mining operations.
TUESDAY
INDIAN INSTITUTE of Public Administration, in collaboration with the World Bank, will organize a threeday regional (South Asia) workshop in Delhi on the theme--“Towards more open and trans parent governance in South Asia“. Right to Information leaders from across the region--Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhu tan, Maldives, Afghanistan and India--will participate in the workshop.

THE LEFT party to sponsor a nationwide bandh against inflation and the economic policies of the Congressled United Progressive Alliance government. The agitation will comprise 13 parties other than Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party. Leaders of these 13 parties have also said they will move a cut motion to seek roll back in the hike in prices of petrol, diesel and fertilizer on the same day.
VOTING ON the cut motion moved by Left parties is expected to take place on Tuesday, apart from voting on the demand for grants.
WEDNESDAY
A TWOday summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation begins in Thimpu, Bhutan. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will travel to Bhutan for a meeting of this eight nation bloc. The regional grouping comprises India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Afghan istan.
THURSDAY
Fifteen political parties are expected to submit their responses to a show cause notice by the Election Commission of India for not furnishing their expense statements for the Lok Sabha election 2009. The parties--which include the main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (Secular), All India Forward Bloc among others --were issued notices on Friday.

Most Important Business News Coming This Week

MONDAY
THE RESERVE Bank of India (RBI) will release its macroeconomic review.

TUESDAY
THE INDIA meteorological department will officially forecast monsoon for 2010.
This year's forecast assumes extra significance, in light of last year's drought--the worst in nearly four decades--which contributed to a lower gross domestic product and decreased rural spending.
US DEPUTY secretary of state James Steinberg arrives in India for a three day visit, during which he is also expected to travel to Bangladesh. Steinberg, who is on his first visit to the two countries after becoming the deputy secretary, is expected to meet officials and political leaders in New Delhi, Kolkata and Dhaka and discuss a range of bilateral and multilateral issues.
THE SECURITIES and Exchange Board of India chairman C.B. Bhave will inaugurate the 7th Ficci (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) Capital Market Summit, themed “Capital Markets 2020: Going for 3X“ in Mumbai.

WEDNESDAY
NASSCOM FOUNDATION in collaboration with Wayne Visser, founder and CEO of CSR International, is hosting a value enhancing workshop on corporate social responsibility (CSR), marketing and communications at Hotel Conclave Boutique, near Lady Shri Ram College for Women, New Delhi. The workshop is part of a 30country “CSR Quest“ World Tour by Visser to help share best practices in corporate sustainability and responsibility.
THE INDIAN Council for Research on International Economic Relations is organizing a World Trade Organization (WTO) seminar in New Delhi. A draft report on “Addressing new service sec tors in WTO/FTA (free trade agreement): Express delivery and India“will be presented on the occasion.

FRIDAY
THE CENTRE for Development Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research and CSO Partners will organize a seminar on “New Directions in CSR“ headed by Wayne Visor, founder and chief executive officer of CSR International, at IFMR Campus, Nungam bakkam, Chennai.
Visser will discuss how the current dynamics of CSR have failed globally.

Economy set to accelerate to 8.2%: ADB

India's economic growth is set to accelerate in 2010-11 to an estimated 8.2%, although inflationary pressures pose a challenge to policymakers as the nation emerges from the slowdown caused by the global financial crisis, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said.
The government expects the economy to grow 8.5% in 2010-11 and 9% by 2011-12.
The economy is estimated to have grown 7.2% in the year ended 31 March after expand- ing 6.7% in the previous year.
Manila-based ADB said its forecasts for the two years are based on six key assumptions: monetary and fiscal stimuli will be withdrawn gradually;
Although inflationary pressures are expected to ease in early FY11 after the winter harvest, any increase in domestic fuel prices in line with the recommendations of the Kirit Parikh panel may fuel inflation.
ADB has forecast headline inflation at 5% in FY11 and 5.5% in FY12 as international prices of oil and non-oil commodities edge up.
Inflation based on wholesale prices rose to a 16-month high of 9.89% in February, exceed- ing the 8.5% estimate of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for March-end.
With an expected turn- around in global demand, India's exports are projected to gain 16% in FY11 and 12% in FY12. This would bring exports in FY11 to near FY09 levels and in FY12 to just over the $200 billion target set in the government's foreign trade policy, ADB said.
Imports are projected to grow 20% in FY11 and 18% in FY12 as gross domestic product (GDP) growth accelerates and global oil prices harden.
The widening trade deficit is expected to be partly offset by an increase in transfers from non-resident Indians. Overall, the current account deficit is expected to widen marginally to 2% of GDP by FY12.
ADB maintained that while a shift in monetary policy is un- likely to affect food prices, timely policy adjustments in the months ahead can help underpin a return to India's past high growth rates while maintaining relative price stability.

The Farm Ville Jadoo

Facebook’s Popularity as a gaming platform caught the big studios completely unawares
Something strange happened to video games in 2009. A low-budget Facebook title involving the care and upkeep of farm animals became one of the industry's hot- test properties. Now, gaming's big studios have finally taken notice.
There are more players in Zynga Game Network Inc.'s Farm Ville (82.4 million, or 1% of the world's population) than there are Twitter accounts. The collective bafflement of game companies the world over was best illustrated at one of the industry's major annual conventions in March, the DICE summit in Las Vegas, where Facebook was called “strange, big and terrifying“. “Face- book kind of knocked us all on our collective backsides, don't you think?“ said academic and game designer Jesse Schell in a keynote lecture.
Farm Ville was launched in June, and it's taken names such as Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) and publishing giant Electronic Arts nearly a year to brave the wilds that is the Facebook game market. In March, SOE launched Pox Nora, a combination of a turn- based strategy and collectable card game set in a fantasy world of creatures, relics and spells. The object is to accumulate Nora or magical energy which helps collect decks of cards called “runes“. The runes allow you to battle creatures your friends control.
Digital Chocolate, a popular mobile phone game maker, considers social net- working games integral to the “Facebook experience“. After their Facebook debut with Tower Bloxx in 2008, they've increased their presence with a number of new launches.
Safari Kingdom, brings with it 20 wild animal species, 100 different characters and around 80 types of decorations to personalize it. All animals, (genus and species notwithstanding) begin their existence as eggs. Players can also visit their friends' kingdoms and help take care of their pets while they're away. The developer hopes the game will give players a positive vibe about protecting the environment.
Facebook games make money through “micro-transactions“, or sales of virtual goods. While all the games are free to play, certain “premium“ items require real-world money. Players spend real money to buy virtual credit in a game's currency. A mystifying side effect of the popularity of this model has been the rise of a virtual finance industry--advertisements in Facebook now offer “virtual credit cards“ that generate in-game money the more you play a certain game.
Indian game companies are not far behind the Facebook trend. Zapak Digital Entertainment currently has two games on Facebook.
Mahindra Great Escape, started in February, and Crazy Idiots Test (C.I.T.), started in December. Mahindra Great Escape allows players a 4x4 experience of a sports utility vehicle (SUV).
So should dormant gamers become part of the craze? Barnhart feels social gaming is here to stay. “Facebook makes it that much easier to play games with people you already know,“ he says. “They also extend your Face- book network as you find new friends who share the same interests as you.“
Now also ibibo is promoting the same around the world