Carol Bartz replaces Jerry Yang as Yahoo chief

14 January 2009 9:24 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Yahoo has revealed who its new chief executive is, naming "Silicon Valley veteran" Carol Bartz. 

Described as a "well-respected industry figure", Bartz replaces Jerry Yang who stepped down late last year amid criticism from investors who saw Yahoo's share price drop substantially under his leadership. 

Bartz was chief exec of software firm Autodesk until 2006, and has previously worked at Cisco and Sun Microsystems. 

Bartz has been named in Fortune magazine's list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and featured on Barron's list of the World's 30 Most Respected CEOs.  source

Citigroup, Morgan Stanley talk about merging units

Associated Press
New York, January 10, 2009



Officials at the embattled banks Citigroup and Morgan Stanley will negotiate over the weekend about possibly combining their wealth management businesses, a deal mostly aimed at bolstering Citi with much-needed cash. The deal to merge Citi's Smith Barney with Morgan Stanley's comparable division was confirmed on Saturday by a person familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the matter. The negotiations come as investors digested news that Robert Rubin, a senior adviser to Citi who has drawn heavy criticism, would resign from the bank. The person said it was Rubin's decision to leave Citigroup and that "there was no inside pressure," or government pressure.

Citi's shares sank nearly 6 per cent yesterday. Even before the economy started tanking, many shareholders had complained that Citigroup was too huge, and lagging its peers. Calls for a breakup have been going on for years, and have grown louder since the federal government has had to pump billions into the ailing company. The New York-based bank late last year signed an agreement with the federal government to receive an additional $20 billion on top of the initial $25 billion it received. more

Singur enters Beijing class

by ASHIS CHAKRABARTI

 Martin Mulligan of theFinancial Times uses Singur as paradigm for problems of industrialization

The Nano didn’t roll out of Singur. But the controversy over the stillborn project seems to be rolling far and wide. Just last month, Mulligan used the same model in another workshop for journalists he conducted in Sofia, Bulgaria. The contrasts between the responses of his students in Beijing and Sofia could surprise both Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Mamata Banerjee.

In communist Beijing, the journalist-students had more sympathy for Mamata. The consensus in Mulligan’s class was that higher compensation to landlosers in Singur at an earlier stage could have saved the project. In other words, the communist scribes didn’t think the Marxist government in Bengal had done enough to carry the farmers on its side.

In Sofia, the response was “more sophisticated”, Mulligan tells me over cups of green tea at the lounge of a Beijing hotel. The Bulgarians were more sympathetic to the Bengal chief minister and blamed Mamata’s “cynical politics” to exploit Singur in order to regain lost political ground.

But why did he choose the Nano story for his workshops? Mulligan says he had two broad reasons. One: the international focus on Nano, slated to be history’s cheapest car. “Here is a car that’s on offer for just the price of the stereo system of a Mercedes. That’s simply fantastic.”

The other reason is the widely varying kinds of reporting of the story in the international media. In his class in Beijing — he’s at Xinhua on a Thomson Foundation assignment — Mulligan gave the examples of three British papers — The Guardian (“sympathetic” to Singur farmers), Evening Standard (“absolutely Right-wing, pro-business”) andFinancial Times (“more balanced”).  more

Rs. 30,000-crore sops for Nano project

Rs. 30,000-crore sops for Nano project: document

Special Correspondent

Modi orders probe into leak of details

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A sellout: Congress

Challenges Modi to debate on project

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AHMEDABAD: The Narendra Modi government is reported to have offered over Rs. 30,000 crore in sops to Tata Motors to bring its Nano car project to Gujarat.

The government has agreed to not only provide a soft loan of Rs. 9,570 crore at a negligible interest of 0.1 per cent for setting up the project but also defer repayment for 20 years, besides initially meeting all the cost of infrastructure development, cut in power tariff rates and an expenditure of Rs. 700 crore on shifting machinery and equipment from Singur in West Bengal to Sanand.

While the Chief Minister’s office refused to give details of the October 7 agreement signed between the government and Tata Motors, an official document submitted to the Cabinet for approval was leaked to the media, bringing to light the concessions offered to the company to bring the “prestigious” project to Gujarat.

Mr. Modi has reportedly ordered an inquiry into the leakage of the document.  more

Economics and Development: Neel Kashkari to oversee $700bn bailout

Citigroup Says Judge Suspends Wachovia Deal

By ERIC DASH and JONATHAN D. GLATER
Published: October 5, 2008

Citigroup announced late Saturday that it had persuaded a New York judge to temporarily block Wells Fargo from acquiring Wachovia, firing the first shot in what could be a prolonged legal battle.


Text of Judge’s Order (pdf)

Citigroup has accused Wells Fargo of wrecking its plan to acquire Wachovia’s banking operations for $2.2 billion, or $1 a share, in a deal arranged by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Four days after that deal was struck, it fell apart when Wachovia agreed to Wells Fargo’s offer to pay seven times as much for the entire company.

The underlying battle is over which company will emerge from the economic crisis in a stronger position among a smaller number of financial giants. Citigroup contends that the deal with Wells Fargo violates an agreement that prohibited Wachovia from having any sale or merger discussions with anyone other than Citigroup until Oct. 6.

The order issued by a judge on Saturday extends the term of that agreement until further court action, Citigroup said. A person briefed on the situation said that Citigroup was seeking $60 billion in damages from Wells Fargo for interfering with the initial transaction.

more

Nuclear Suppliers Group Statement on Civil Nuclear Cooperation with India

The Frontline, Volume 25 - Issue 20 :: Sep. 27-Oct. 10, 2008

Statement on Civil Nuclear Cooperation with India

1. At the ... Plenary meeting on ... the Participating Governments of the Nuclear Suppliers Group decided that they:

a. Desire to contribute to the effectiveness and integrity of the global nonproliferation regime, and to the widest possible implementation of the provisions and objectives of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons;

b. Seek to avert the further spread of nuclear weapons;

c. Wish to pursue mechanisms to affect positively the nonproliferation commitments and actions of all states;

d. Seek to promote fundamental principles of safeguards and export controls for nuclear transfers for peaceful purposes; and

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e. Note the energy needs of India.

2. Participating Governments have taken note of steps that India has voluntarily taken with respect to the following commitments and actions:

a. Deciding to separate civilian nuclear facilities in a phased manner and to file a declaration regarding its civilian nuclear facilities with the IAEA, in accordance with its Separation Plan (circulated as INFCIRC/731);