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	<title>Ahmedabad.com</title>
	<link>http://www.ahmedabad.com/blogs/index.php</link>
	<description>Welcome to Ahmedabad.com Blogs.</description>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[PHOTO PENDANT]]></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Looking for a truly unique and personalized gift?

You've found it! We'll permanently engrave any photo of your

choosing onto a pendant.

After your purchase,email us your photo and will ship out

your pendant within 7 business days.]]></description>
      <link>http://www.ahmedabad.com/blogs/post/index/1396/PHOTO-PENDANT</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[FIRST TIME IN INDIA   A GIFT FOR YOUR LOVE ONSE ]]></title>
      <description><![CDATA[FIRST TIME IN INDIA

GET YOUR LOVE ONCE PHOTO ON SOLID 18K GOLD

WITHOUT ANY COLOR

WITH B.I.S.HALLMARK

WITH GUARANTEE CERTIFICATE


http://cgi.ebay.in/Hallmarked-Personalised-Gold-photo-Pendent-For-Gifting_W0QQitemZ250245292538QQihZ015QQcategoryZ137031QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem]]></description>
      <link>http://www.ahmedabad.com/blogs/post/index/1395/FIRST-TIME-IN-INDIA---A-GIFT-FOR-YOUR-LOVE-ONSE</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Coca-Cola seeks more acquisitions]]></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Coca-Cola Co, the world's biggest drinks maker, is seeking more acquisition opportunities in the fast-growing soft drinks market to expand its revenue sources, the company's CEO-in-waiting said on Tuesday.

Sales of established soft drinks are declining in the United States as people opt for the likes of bottled water and tea, which they see as healthier.

&quot;You will see us grow organically as well as through targeted acquisitions,&quot; said Coca-Cola Chief Operating Officer Muhtar Kent, who is due to become chief executive officer on July 1.

Kent said at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan that such acquisitions would not be large, and the company was looking from country to country for opportunities, though he didn't specify where.

Coca-Cola, whose rivals include PepsiCo Inc and Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc, has benefited from its recent acquisition of FUZE teas and Glaceau vitaminwater, which have helped boost the company's sales.

The Atlanta-based company, which gets 78 percent of its sales abroad, also bought Russian juice maker Multon in 2005 for $500 million.

&quot;There is no better industry, truly we believe, to be in than the non-alcohol beverage business,&quot; said Kent.

He added that the soft drinks market was growing faster than most other categories of consumer products such as cosmetics, toiletries and beers.

&quot;We see huge opportunities in every category (of soft drinks),&quot; he said.

Kent also reiterated Coke's long-term targets of increasing annual sales volume by 3 to 4 percent, operating income by 6 to 8 percent and earnings-per-share by a high single-digit percentage rate.

On April 16, Coca-Cola reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as strong international growth offset the effects of a weak U.S. Economy and flat sales volume at home.

Coke's international business, especially in places like China, India, Brazil and Turkey, has grown more important to investors in recent years as growth slows in mature Markets like Nor ..]]></description>
      <link>http://www.ahmedabad.com/blogs/post/index/1394/CocaCola-seeks-more-acquisitions</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[‘Equity markets poised to handle inflation’]]></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Equity Markets in emerging and developed nations are well placed to shoulder the mounting pressure from rising levels of inflation as they are currently at attractive valuations, Citigroup says.

&quot;Equities seem well placed to weather further increases in inflation as long as these are not extreme, as they are cheap on a historical basis and dividends are growing faster than inflation,&quot; a latest report from Citigroup Global Markets said.

Global inflation has been rising for about a year and is now at its highest level since 1999, but the biggest increases have come from the emerging economies, including India.

Country's Wholesale Price Index inflation soared to 42-month high of 7.61 per cent for the week ended April 26 on the back of rising prices of tea, spices fruits and vegetables and some manufactured products.

&quot;Our economists have raised global inflation forecasts for 2008 to 4.3 per cent from 2.7 per cent since the middle of last year and the biggest revisions have occurred in the emerging world where the forecast for the year 2008 has increased to 7 per cent from 5 per cent,&quot; Citigroup added.

The report says there are a number of potential hedges such as -- equity, commercial property, infrastructure and commodities -- that generally compensate investors during times of inflation.

Global equities currently offer an attractive inflation hedge compared to the alternatives as historically equities have provided their best returns in periods when inflation was not too high and not too low.

Investors should, however, look for Companies operating in industries that are the cause of inflation, following which they can get exposure to areas with rising pricing power.

Investors can hedge against inflation by looking for developed market Companies that are selling into emerging Markets (such as those in capital goods) or by buying emerging market Companies directly, the report said.

Meanwhile, emerging Markets would also get benefited, because  ..]]></description>
      <link>http://www.ahmedabad.com/blogs/post/index/1393/Equity-markets-poised-to-handle-inflation</link>
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      <title><![CDATA[More steps on cards to ease inflation: Govt]]></title>
      <description><![CDATA[A day after banning futures trade in four food commodities and persuading steel producers to slash prices, the government on Thursday said more measures were in the offing to curb inflation, which should ease in 8 weeks.

&quot;Government is not helpless and has means to ensure prices are brought down. More measures - both administrative and fiscal - are in the offing to control inflation,&quot; Minister of State for Industry Ashwani Kumar said.

He said iron ore, steel and cement would continue to remain under the government scanner.

He said a series of calibrated measures would ensure that inflation is brought down by at least one percentage point in the next two months.

Prices of wheat, rice and edible oils have already come down between March 1 and May 6, Kumar said. Wheat prices have declined by 1.6 per cent, wheat by 9.1 per cent and edible oil by over 18 per cent, he said.

The government on Wednesday suspended futures trading in gram, refined soya, potato and rubber for four months - a move aimed at arresting speculation-driven price rise to cool inflation that is over 7.5 per cent now.

Besides, steel producers announced cut in prices by up to Rs 4,000 a ton after a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday.
	
Courtesy : FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM]]></description>
      <link>http://www.ahmedabad.com/blogs/post/index/1392/More-steps-on-cards-to-ease-inflation-Govt</link>
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      <title><![CDATA[Citi mulls up to $400 billion asset sales: Source]]></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Citigroup Inc will present as much as $400 billion of &quot;non-core&quot; assets that can be sold by the bank when it meets investors and analysts on Friday, a person familiar with the situation said.

Newly-installed Chief Executive Vikram Pandit, scrambling to slash costs and assets hard hit by the credit crunch, also intends to reaffirm his promise to cut annual expenses by around a fifth, the source said on Thursday.

Citigroup declined to comment.

Since taking over in December from Charles Prince, who resigned under pressure after years of disappointing results, Pandit has presided over a bank reporting $15 billion of losses, one that raised more than $40 billion of new capital and cut its dividend by 41 percent.

Pandit has faced demands from investors to slash costs, shed poorly performing businesses and even split up the largest US bank.

Yet in a four-hour presentation to analysts and investors on Friday, Pandit and other top executives are expected to fend off calls for a break-up, instead touting Citi's combination of consumer and institutional businesses.

Citi's balance sheet currently weighs in at more than $2.2 trillion, though much of that comprises businesses and trading positions outside its key businesses: commercial, consumer and investment banking.

Actual asset and business sales will take place over a period of years, according to the Financial Times which first reported the asset sales scope on its website on Thursday.

Pandit already has sold the bank's stake in CitiStreet benefits servicing venture, commercial leasing business CitiCapital and the Diners Club charge card business.

The Wall Street Journal this week reported Citi may sell Primerica, a consumer sales network for life insurance and investments.

Another highlight of the meeting will be plans to slash as much as $15 billion off operating expenses. Last Year, Citi's costs totalled more than $61 billion.

The bank has announced 13,200 job cuts in 2008, though analyst ..]]></description>
      <link>http://www.ahmedabad.com/blogs/post/index/1391/Citi-mulls-up-to-400-billion-asset-sales-Source</link>
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      <title><![CDATA[UBI Q4 net jumps two fold to Rs 521 cr]]></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Union Bank of India on Wednesday announced a net profit of Rs 521.13 crore for the quarter ended March 31, an over two fold increase from the corresponding period last year.

The bank had reported a net profit of Rs 228.58 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2007, the bank said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Total income of the bank increased to Rs 2,913.10 crore for the fourth quarter this fiscal from Rs 2,336.72 crore a year ago.

For the year ended March 31, the bank reported a net profit of Rs 1,387.03 crore as against Rs 845.39 crore in the last fiscal and its total income grew to Rs 10,534.27 crore to the same period against Rs 8,068.72 crore last year.

Shares of the bank were trading at Rs 175.80, up 2.06 per cent on BSE in the afternoon trade.
	
Courtesy : FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM]]></description>
      <link>http://www.ahmedabad.com/blogs/post/index/1390/UBI-Q4-net-jumps-two-fold-to-Rs-521-cr</link>
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      <title><![CDATA[India's debt at 41.7% of GDP in FY08]]></title>
      <description><![CDATA[ India's total debt was estimated at 19.57 trillion rupees or 41.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the fiscal year ended March, a junior finance minister said on Tuesday.

In a written reply to parliament, Pawan Kumar Bansal said the internal debt of the federal government was estimated at 18.44 trillion rupees while external debt was at 1.13 trillion rupees at the end of 2007/08.

&quot;While the internal and external debt of government has been increasing in absolute terms, as a percentage of GDP, it has gone down from 43.1 percent in 2003/04 to 41.7 percent in 2007/08,&quot; he said.

India's GDP, which is estimated to have grown by 8.7 percent in 2007/08, has crossed the $1 trillion mark.

Bansal said external debt rose to 2.4 percent of GDP in 2007/08 from 1.7 percent in 2003/04, while internal debt declined to 39.3 percent from 41.4 percent during the same period.

The federal government has to borrow large amount from domestic and overseas sources to fund its budget deficits as its spending continues to outpace revenue receipts.

&quot;The government has been following a comprehensive strategy to moderate growth in public debt through a policy of fiscal rectitude, recourse to sources of lower cost of borrowings, debt restructuring measures, pursuing appropriate tax policies that result in higher tax-GDP ratio, in order to facilitate the process of fiscal consolidation,&quot; Bansal said. 

Courtesy : FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM]]></description>
      <link>http://www.ahmedabad.com/blogs/post/index/1389/Indias-debt-at-417-of-GDP-in-FY08</link>
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      <title><![CDATA[L&amp;T bags Rs 344-cr order from PGCIL]]></title>
      <description><![CDATA[Engineering firm Larsen and Toubro Ltd has bagged orders worth Rs 344 crore from Power Grid Corporation of India for construction related works.

L&amp;T secured the order for construction of 755 km of transmission lines associated with Western Region System Strengthening Scheme-II expected to be completed in 30 months, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The project would be executed by L&amp;T's engineering construction and contracts division and would involve survey fabrication and supply of towers and erection of 400 kv direct current transmission lines from Bhadrawati - Umarkhand – Parli &amp; Raipur - Sakoli - Wardha in Maharashtra.

Shares of the company were trading at Rs 3,239, up 3.12 per cent on the BSE in morning trade.
	
Courtesy : FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM]]></description>
      <link>http://www.ahmedabad.com/blogs/post/index/1388/LT-bags-Rs-344cr-order-from-PGCIL</link>
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      <title><![CDATA[India close to clinching ASEAN free trade deal]]></title>
      <description><![CDATA[India is close to clinching a free trade deal with Southeast Asian nations, spurred on by a bleak global economic outlook and rising food prices, Trade Minister Kamal Neth said on Saturday.

&quot;We are on the last mile and in the final stage of conclusion,&quot; Kamal Nath said after meeting his counterparts from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the the resort island of Bali.

&quot;We hope it could be concluded in the next three months -- there is no major obstacle,&quot; he said, adding that a dispute with Indonesia over palm oil would be resolved.

Indonesia, the world's top palm oil producer, has been insisting on having wider access to India's palm oil market as a condition of removing its opposition to a free trade agreement with India, according to media reports.

&quot;We are going to resolve that, because with the world food situation and the global economic outlook in the United States and Europe which is bleak, it's therefore even more important for regional integration,&quot; Nath said.

The issue of rocketing rice prices and food security has overshadowed the meeting of ASEAN economic ministers, which aims to deepen regional economic integration and spur long-delayed world trade talks.

Nath said India's bumper rice harvest this year would boost supply and he sought to defend the country's move to curb rice exports, which has been blamed for contributing to soaring global rice prices.

&quot;We have a very large domestic population -- we have banned exports of the certain type of rice but we have allowed exports of other types,&quot; he said.

&quot;The region's rice-growing countries must look at increasing productivity and having better storage and less wastage.&quot;

Turning to the domestic Economy, he conceded it would be a tough battle to tame inflation as food and energy costs soar.

&quot;We hope that we will be able to contain inflation, but inflation is a major challenge,&quot; he said, adding that the authorities have to curb money supply while trea ..]]></description>
      <link>http://www.ahmedabad.com/blogs/post/index/1387/India-close-to-clinching-ASEAN-free-trade-deal</link>
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