Ruia Group to bid for south Korean SsangYong Motor

City-based Ruia Group Sunday said it will make a bid to buy out troubled South Korean SsangYong Motor Company.

'Ruia Group is indeed bidding for SsangYong. This has been decided in a meeting today (Sunday) presided by Pawan Kumar Ruia, chairman, Ruia Group,' the Group said in a statement.

The Ruia Group and Mahindra & Mahindra are the two Indian corporations among the six suitors shortlisted to bid for the bankrupt South Korean firm SsangYong Motor.

The last date for bid submission is August 10.

Mahindra & Mahindra Saturday said the board had approved the company's plan to submit a binding bid for a majority stake in Ssangyong.

The Ruia Group chairman Thursday had hinted at the possiblity of the group bidding for Ssangyong, saying it is 'evaluating' the car-maker, whose present market cap is $400 million.

Indian automotive makers are looking for a presence overseas, where car prices and profit margins are said to be higher.

Ssangyong, which has about two percent of the South Korean market, exports to Russia, Europe, China, Middle-East, Africa, North and South America and the Asia-Pacific.

The other firms are in the race are South Korea's private equity fund Seoul Invest, Daewoo Bus and Renault-Samsung.

In December 2009, the Seoul Central District Court had approved the debt-ridden SsangYong's restructuring plan.

Media reports say SsangYong has run up a debt of $1 billion. The majority shareholder Chinese carmaker Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) had lost management control when SsangYong filed for bankruptcy.

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‘I have 20 odd Pandey friends who I’ll send to Chunky for royalty’

Eid release Dabangg has a roll call of characters with quirky names, starting with Salman Khan who answers to the call of Chulbul Pandey. Apparently, actor Chunky Panday has demanded royalty because they have borrowed his initials. “I have 20 odd Pandey friends who I will send to Chunky for

royalty,” retorts writer-director Abhinav Kashyap.

“Pandey or Panday is a common surname in UP and I have a nephew whose nickname is Chulbul. I borrowed it because Salman’s character in the film has a chulbula (naughty) side to him. We’ve had enough of Rajs, Vijays and Vikrams. And the name has caught on.” Arbaaz’s character in the film goes by the name of Makhi, short for Makhanchand.

“I heard it somewhere and it stuck in my mind,” says Kashyap, adding that Sonu Sood’s name in the film is Cheedi Singh and the script puns on the word hole. Raise the question top most on many minds about what Dabangg means and he says with a laugh, “Fearless but now don’t go thinking it is Veer 2. Up North, it’s a common word that means someone who is not scared of anyone. And Salman is like that in real life too so he fit the role perfectly.”

No interference
Buzz is that this being Arbaaz Khan’s debut production, big brother Salman had a lot to say in all departments, from the script and the shooting to the editing. “What you see as interference, I look at as creative involvement. Salman has not directed the film but he did make a few pertinant suggestions. So did so many others. It was a democratic set-up,” Kashyap argues.

Kashyap adds that Dabangg is not Wanted 2 either, as is being presumed. “We’ve just taken off from where Wanted left and gone bigger,” he says. “People need a reference point for everything but the only similarity between the two films is that Dabangg is an action film too, featuring Salman Khan.”

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US Senator Charles Schumer calls Infosys 'chop shop'

Criticising companies outsourcing highly-paid American jobs, a US Senator has described Indian IT major Infosys as a "chop shop", a place where stolen cars are dismantled and parts sold separately.

The comments were made by Democrat Senator of New York Charles E Schumer during discussions on the Border Security Bill, a $600-million emergency package aimed at strengthening security along the porous Mexican border.

"The emergency border funds will be paid for by assessing fees on foreign companies known as chop shops that outsource good, high-paying American technology jobs to lower wage, temporary immigrant workers from other countries.

"These are companies such as Infosys," Schumer said on the Senate floor on Thursday.

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Indian credit terms 'good': Bangladesh

Bangladesh finance minister AMA Muhith on Sunday described as "good" the terms of the $1 billion credit India has offered as the two neighbours reviewed the growing economic and security cooperation during finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit here.

Muhith rejected opposition criticism that the Indian terms were higher than the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, saying in the past Bangladesh had paid as high as five per cent for foreign loans for 15 years.

The loan agreement between India's Exim Bank and Bangladesh's Economic Relations Division was signed on Saturday in the presence of Mukherjee.

Muhith said the interest rate is 1.75 per cent and commitment charge is 0.5 per cent and wondered how the opposition could make such an allegation. "This is utterly false," The Daily Star quoted him as saying.

The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party had said the government was getting the loan from India with an interest rate seven times higher than that from any multinational bank or donor agency.

The loan is the biggest ever credit package by India to any nation. It is also the single largest loan to Bangladesh from any nation, development bank or donor agency.

The credit will finance 14 development projects of Bangladesh. The projects mostly relate to development of railways and other communication infrastructure in Bangladesh, particularly to facilitate transshipment of Indian goods to its northeastern region through Bangladesh.

During Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi in January this year, Bangladesh had agreed to allow India using the Chittagong port, while Delhi had agreed on giving transit facilities to Bhutan and Nepal for increasing connectivity, trade and investment.

Mukherjee said India would earmark the non-tariff barriers and remove the obstruction for Bangladeshi products to access the Indian market.

Muhith said border markets will start functioning soon.

Mukherjee's visit was the first visit by a key Indian leader since Sheikh Hasina's trip to New Delhi. He met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and discussed a wide of range of bilateral issues.

These included a quick implementation of the joint declaration of the two countries on Dahagram and Angarpota enclaves, food procurement, and increasing regional connectivity involving Nepal and Bhutan, The Daily Star quoted Abul Kalam Azad, the premier's press secretary, as saying.

Mukherjee also held talks with foreign minister Dipu Moni and reviewed the implementation of the agreements reached between the two countries.

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China landslides: around 96 die, 2,000 missing

Massive landslides triggered by rains hit northwest China's Gansu province, killing at least 96 people while 2,000 were missing, authorities said on Sunday.

While 96 people were confirmed dead in Zhouqu county in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous prefecture, over 680 people were rescued after the Bailong river overflowed and a large body of water inundated Chengguan township.

"Torrential rains began at around 10 pm on Saturday, then there were landslides," Xinhua quoted Diemujiangteng, head of the county, as saying.

"Many people were trapped. Now the sludge has become the biggest problem. It's too thick to walk or drive through," he said.

At least 50,000 residents were believed to be affected as floods had submerged half of the county and many houses were buried by landslides.

Li Tiankui, a resident who lived near the Bailong River, said: "People are looking for their family members and friends."

Yueyuan village was buried in the disaster. Over 120 homes in Chengguan township and Jiangpan village were extensively damaged. Some 300 residents were still trapped, said the provincial committee of the Communist Party of China.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has left Beijing to visit the landslide-hit Zhouqu county. The county covers 3,010 square km and has a population of 134,700, about 33 percent of which are Tibetans.

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High security in Lalgarh for Mamata's rally Monday

Adequate security cover will be in place for Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's "apolitical" rally on Monday in Maoist-affected Lalgarh of West Bengal's West Midnapore district that will also be attended by a pro-Maoist tribal group, police said on Sunday.

"CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel will assist the state police in maintaining law and order in the area," West Bengal Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Surajit Kar Purakayastha said.

"There will be strong police security at the rally. Thorough checking will be conducted at the venue and along the routes," he added, but did not disclose the number of paramilitarypersonnel to be deployed.

"CRPF personnel have been deployed in anti-Maoist operations in Jungle Mahal (forested areas of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura districts)," Purakayastha said.

"The state government sought permission from the central government to use the troopers in assisting the state police in maintaining law and order during the rally. It has given the permission," he said.

In a bid to rope in intellectuals as well as the agitating tribals, Banerjee had announced that the rally in Lalgarh would be held under the banner of an apolitical forum - Santras Birodhi Mancha (Anti-Atrocities Platform), and not the Trinamool Congress.

She had said that Democracy Day would be observed in trouble-torn Lalgarh on August 9.

Pro-Maoist tribal group Peoples' Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) has decided to participate in the rally. Social activists like Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar will also participate under the banner of the Forum for Peace, Justice and Democracy.

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Pilots deserting Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines

Vijay Mallya`s Kingfisher Airlines is facing trouble as more than 150 of its pilots have bid adieu to Kingfisher in the past one and half years, citing various reasons.

Even though some new have joined, the current shortage in the airlines is estimated to be 35, forcing the airline to ground some of its aircrafts. Amid all the turbulence, a huge shuffle and reshuffle has been noticed. The troubledairlines cancel leaves of flight commanders, and put senior executives from the operations department on flying duty.

In the same period, Kingfisher`s rival, Jet Airways, lost 35 pilots.

In response to an e-mail query, a Kingfisher spokesman wrote: "We are not in the business of answering speculative questions. The assumptions and consequent questions do not merit reply. All our flights are operating on schedule."

Kingfisher, part of the UB Group -- the world`s second largest spirits maker by volume, has 618 pilots. Kingfisher`s Airbus A320 fleet, which constitutes about a third of its 66-plane fleet, has been the worst hit by the pilot shortage.

"The airline is facing a shortage of at least 35 pilots in the Airbus A320 fleet," a Kingfisher executive said on the condition of anonymity. Another said the airline had told the pilots they should go on leave only if absolutely necessary. It has put at least 12 senior executives from the operations department on the flying roster to bridge the gap in the cockpit.

In other airlines, senior executives from the operations department are required to fly only once a month to retain their flying licence.

Another Kingfisher executive said the airline had been forced to ground some of its aircraft owing to the pilot shortage. "About 12 of our aircraft are grounded at the moment. Some due to spare parts shortage, but a few because they do not have pilots to operate them," the executive said.

Kingfisher was under a debt of Rs7,413 crore as of December 2009. The merchant banking arm of State Bank of India (SBI) is preparing a debt-recast plan for the airline. SBI had earlier rejected a proposal to recastKingfisher`s Rs2,099-crore short-term debt.

Kingfisher, which operates more than 375 flights a day to 71 destinations in India and abroad, had reported net loss of Rs1,647.2 crore in the financial year ended March 2009. It reported a net loss of Rs187 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year.

The airline has hired Seabury Aviation & Aerospace, a US-based company, to advise on sustaining its long-term profitability by strengthening the operational and financial performance

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