The surf's up at Gateway !!!

Rain has just hit Mumbai, and here's what it has done to the Gateway of India.

Sources: DNA

News in pics.

A revisit on what the sub prime lending fallout and real estate bubble burst has done to people in US and parts of Europe.

Housing drought hits sales of multi-million pound homes in London as consumer confidence hits four-year low. Almost half of all consumers surveyed believe the economy will worsen further in six months time, twice as many people showing pessimism than a year ago.

I believe this was due and expected and this event will have far reaching effects. One should not expect that we will be out of it very soon!

NEWS

News - Politics & Economics:

• Indian companies raised a record US$17.14 bn through private equity deals in 2007, according to data from Grant Thornton. (BS)
• Within a week of the Tamil Nadu goverment’s threat of nationalisation, private cement manufacturers have offered to make available 20 lakh bags of blended cement every month in all districts of Tamil Nadu at a subsidised price of Rs200 per 50 kg bag. (BS)
• BSP chief Mayawati has threatened to withdraw support to the central government while alleging that some Congress leaders are planning to kill her. (FE)
• Liquor might cost the same across country as the States have agreed on uniform duty structure. (ET)
• Supreme court has ruled that ESOPs cannot be considered taxable income and the company is not obliged to deduct tax at source on the same. (BS)
• Government has denied that it has any plans to sell the Dabhol power plant. (BS)
• Government has accorded low priority to natural gas utilization by new power plants. (FE)
• Beer consumption has grown just 14% in the first nine months of FY08 as against 28% in the last financial year. (ET)
• Cement sales for the December quarter were up 2.1% YTD. (BS)

NEWS

NEWS section would focus mainly on big news that would have some impact on Economy, Markets, etc.

• The Government is all set to remove the cap on the number of partners in partnership firms as well as in banking companies regulated under the Company Law. (ET)
• There would be no dilution in the minimum number of independent directors on the boards of listed PSUs. Sebi Chairman M Damodaran has ruled out any change in corporate governance norms for PSUs as regards independent directors on their Boards. (BL)
• Crude oil traded at $100 per barrel for the first time on Wednesday on concerns that violence in Nigeria may further cut output. (BS)
• Sebi has said it would allow institutional investors to start short selling, which was banned way back in 2001 in the aftermath of the Ketan Parekh scam, from February 1. (BS)
• With prices of cement in Tamil Nadu soaring, the state government has said that it may take over private cement factories in the state, if price hikes were not controlled. (BL)
• The Government is considering an increase of Rs.4 and Rs.2 per liter in the price of petrol and diesel, respectively. (ET)