Satyam starts search for new CEO, CFO

The government appointed board of the crisis-ridden Satyam Computer has started looking for a suitable new CEO and a CFO to run the company.

“The board of directors has launched the search to identify candidates for the positions of chief executive officer and chief financial officer in order to fill the vacancies resulting from resignations of Rama Raju, former CEO, and Srinivas Vadlamani, former CFO,” a company statement said here. 

Satyam has plunged into a deep crisis following the founder chairman B Ramalinga Raju’s admission that he fudged the company accounts to the tune of Rs 7,800 crore. 

Rama Raju and Srinivas has since then quit the company and were arrested, and are in judicial custody now. 

Senior employee Ram Mynampati is the interim CEO now. After the startling revelation, the Satyam board was disbanded and the government appointed HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, IT expert Kiran Karnik and former presiding officer of SAT C Achutan as the new members of the board.

 

KPMG, Deloitte replace PwC as Satyam’s auditors

 

Fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services Ltd’s new board has appointed KPMG and Deloitte as the company’s new auditors, replacing PricewaterhouseCoopers.

“Yes, they have been appointed,” said Deepak Parekh, a senior Indian banker, who is one of the newly appointed member said.

Meanwhile, PricewaterhouseCoopers has said that its office in south India had not been raided and it was assisting agencies investigating the outsourcing firm.

“There is no raid at the Pricewaterhouse Hyderabad office. We are in discussion with different agencies for providing information requested by them,” a statement from the firm said.

“We are fully cooperating with the agencies and providing whatever information/documents/materials that have been asked for.”

The government dissolved Satyam’s board and installed a three-man board on Sunday as it rushed to contain a fallout from India’s biggest corporate scandal, after Satyam’s founder last week revealed massive accounting fraud and quit.

 

Top industrialists bat for Modi as the next PM

Two years ago, Ratan Tata had said that one would be stupid not to invest in Gujarat. And now with foreign investors and others in India Inc also heading there, Brand Gujarat is shining bright. 

“If one Narendrabhai can be so much for Gujarat, imagine what is the possibility of India by having Narendrabhai as the next leader of India?” said Anil Ambani, group chairman of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.

High praises have come from top industrialists for the Gujarat Chief Minister and with due reason, too. While an economic slowdown has hit global markets, Gujarat seems to have become immune.

In just two days of the Global Investors’ Summit, the state managed to get investment commitments worth Rs 12 lakh crore.

Not surprisingly, India’s top industrialists showered the Gujarat CM with abundant praise. 

Praising Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said, “Modi has a magnetic personality, which has attracted several companies to the state. I have had the opportunity to observe him closely during work and I must say that we run only companies and earn money but if there is one person who can run not only a company, a sector, but a whole nation as a CEO, it’s Narendra Modi.” 

Apart from large Indian corporates, more than one-third of the investment came from foreign players, whether it was the Japanese implementing a metro rail project or the Koreans aiming for a share in the telecom market. 

“I really noticed that this state provides very good environment for business and I can see the real success story of private partnership projects in Gujarat,” said Joon Yun Kim, project head at S K Telecom.

The state government is naturally pleased.

“Today Gujarat is the ideal destination for investments in India,” said Gujarat Industries Minister Saurabh Dalal.

On day two of the global investors’ summit, it is evident that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is desperate to make it a point that there is no recession in industries and investments as far as Gujarat is concerned.

 

Pak’s ISI inducting women into terrorism

In a startling revelation, security forces in Jammu & Kashmir have learnt that Pakistan’s ISI is reportedly inducting women into militancy.

The plans came to light during the interrogation of a woman named Asiya Malik who was arrested by the J&K police last week.

According to reports, the ISI is adopting a new strategy and recruiting women for carrying out terrorist attacks.

The woman, who is alleged to be an ISI agent, confessed that she was trained by the ISI in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir’s (PoK) Bhiber and Kotli.

Asiya also disclosed that nearly 100 girls belonging to different countries, including Saudi Arabia, are being trained in various terrorist camps in PoK and are financed by Pakistan’s notorious spy agency.

Giving a detailed account of the training, the woman militant revealed how Pakistani girls are being trained to handle of weapons, explosives, jungle warfare and sabotage activities.

“I’ve seen the Mujahideen training camps. Women are also being trained here. Right now, there are about 700 women receiving arms training in different militant camps run by the ISI. These women are also provided with terror literature and taught how to use small arms like guns and grenades,” she said in a recorded confession.

 

BSP extorted money for Maya’s birthday: SP

The BSP and the SP clashed on Sunday over a CD released by SP leader Amar Singh purportedly on collection of “huge sums” of money for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s birthday celebrations unleashing a vitriolic attack from her party.

Bringing out a compact disc of an alleged ‘sting operation’, Amar Singh demanded the derecognition of UP’s ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) as a national party for allegedly “extorting money for the birthday celebrations” of its party president.

In a letter to the Election Commission, Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh claimed that BSP workers and leaders were involved in extorting money.

He alleged the money collected was converted into demand drafts of small denominations issued in the name of Mayawati “to turn black money into white money.”

“I am releasing a CD which has the transcript of conversations of party leaders and functionaries which clearly shows that huge amounts collected are converted into demand drafts of smaller denominations issued in the name of Mayawati,” Singh told reporters in New Delhi in the presence of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Amar Singh also wrote letters to the President and the Prime Minister demanding a CBI enquiry under the Prevention of Corruption Act into the money collection drive by Mayawati.

In Lucknow, stung by the demand for BSP’s de-recognition, president of BSP’s UP unit president Swami Prasad Maurya called Amar Singh “a political joker” and wanted a CBI inquiry into donations reportedly made by him to the Clinton Foundation.

Maurya claimed that Amar Singh had lost “his mental balance and should be immediately admitted to mental asylum as it was his right place”.

Replying to allegations of taking donations on Mayawati’s birthday, Maurya said that every year January 15 (birthday of Mayawati) was celebrated as “Arthik Sahayog Diwas” by the party.

“We celebrate Arthik Sahayog Diwas since BSP founder Kanshiram was alive as our party (BSP) runs with the contribution of party workers and not industrialists like SP”, Maurya said reiterating Mayawati’s stand that she accept donations by partymen for running the party.
Source: –http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20090079650

 

Petrol pumps go dry as talks fail, Cabinet holds meet

 

The country headed for a severe oil crunch on Friday as the talks between the government and striking oil PSU executives failed late on Thursday night over the officers’ insistence on getting an immediate hike in their wages. The agitation entered the third day on Friday causing a major disruption in supply of petrol across the country.
Meanwhile, the Petroleum Minister Murli Deora today apprised the Union Cabinet of the situation arising out of the situation.

A large number of petrol pumps across the country went dry as the indefinite strike by oil PSU executives entered the third day today, with possibility of a major fuel supply crisis looming large.

About two-third of the 425 petrol pumps in Delhi did not open because of lack of stocks. Worryingly, the head of the Federation of All India Petroleum Traders today said that the petrol stock in the Capital will be over by Friday evening.

There are 413 petrol pumps in Delhi and of these 250 had run out of fuel by late Thursday night, according to Ashok Badhwar, president of the federation.

“Almost 60 to 70 percent stock of petrol in fuelling stations across the country has dried up. In Delhi the petrol stock will be over by Friday evening,” Badhwar said.

Similarly, while 60 percent outlets in Mumbai hung ‘No Stock’ signs boards, 30 percent of Kolkata’s 350 petrol pumps are out of stock and in Chandigarh 80 percent petrol pumps have dried up. However, officials said that Delhi had enough CNG and piped natural gas stocks to last 7 to 10 days.

“We have had some discussions but we are yet to reach a conclusion. We will continue to have discussions”, Indian Oil Corporation chairman Sarthak Behuria said after Petroleum Minister Murli Deora held a two-hour meeting with the striking officers that ended at Noida an hour after midnight.

While Hindustan Petroleum pumps across the country were operating normally, Bharat Petroleum senior management officials were ensuring that there were dispatches of petrol and diesel to the company’s outlets. However, Indian Oil, the nation’s largest retailer, had almost nil dispatches of products.

Officials said the striking executives pressed for an immediate hike in their wages as an interim step before a final settlement is arrived at.

President of Oil Sector Officers’ Association Amit Kumar said “the talks are inconclusive and our action is on”.

He said Deora “has assured us that he will take up the issues raised by us with the Prime Minister again” and the talks would continue.

OSOA kept harping on government conceding on its demand for higher increase in their wages than those approved in November but Deora said he did not have powers to approve anything that would also have ramifications on other PSUs.

Many leaders of the agitating workers went underground fearing arrests under the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA), which many state governments invoked to tackle the employees’ strike which the Delhi High Court has ruled illegal.

The oil sector officers’ association, an umbrella organisation of 45,000 employees in the public oil sector companies, called for an indefinite strike from Wednesday to force the government to give them wage hikes.

But consumers have already started feeling the impact. A large number of petrol vends ran out of stocks after they did not get replenishments of petroleum products.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already appointed a committee of ministers headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram to look into their demands within 30 days.

At the airports, absence of officers led to delay in refuelling of airplanes and some flight were delayed.

Chairman R S Sharma failed to convince his company officials to resume gas production from the country’s largest field in Western Offshore, affecting power generation and fertilizer production.

Crude oil production from Mumbai offshore was almost half at 1,80,000 barrels and four key refineries of Indian Oil operated at 25 to 30 per cent of their capacity.

 

Satyam boss Raju quits admitting fraud

Hyderabad, Jan 07: Satyam Computer plunged into a deep crisis on Wednesday after its chairman B Ramalinga Raju resigned after admitting to major financial wrong-doings and saying his last-ditch efforts to fill the “fictitious assets with real ones” through Maytas acquisition failed.
“It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten,” Ramalinga Raju said in a letter to Satyam’s board of directors, wherein he listed major financial wrong-doings over the years to inflate the profits.

Raju in a letter to the company’s board accepted that the balance sheets were manipulated to show fictious balance of Rs 5040 crore. Notably, no board member had any knowledge of the real situation of the books. Raju added that the attempts to eliminate manipulations have failed.

Following is the text of the letter Raju wrote to the Satyam board:

1) “It is with deep regret and tremendous burden that I am carrying on my conscience, that I would like to bring the following facts to your notice:

The Balance Sheet carries as of September 30, 2008, a) Inflated (non-existent) cash and bank balances of Rs 5,040 crore (as against Rs 5,361 crore reflected in the books);

b) An accrued interest of Rs 376 crore, which is non-existent

c) An understated liability of Rs 1,230 crore on account of funds arranged by me;

d) An overstated debtors’ position of Rs 490 crore (as against Rs 2,651 reflected in the books);

2. For the September quarter(Q2) we reported a revenue of Rs 2,700 crore and an operating margin of Rs 649 crore(24 per cent of revenue) as against the actual revenues of Rs 2,112 crore and an actual operating margin of Rs 61 crore (3 per cent of revenues). This has resulted in artificial cash and bank balances going up by Rs 588 crore in Q2 alone.

Legal experts say Raju could face up to 10 years imprisonment for the fraud. Listed at New York Stock Exchange, the company could face regulatory action in the US, analysts said.

Meanwhile, Ram Mynampati will act as an interim CEO

“Under the circumstances I am tendering my resignation as the chairman of Satyam and shall continue in this position only till such time the current board is expanded. My continuance is just to ensure enhancement of the board over the next several days or as early as possible”, B Ramalinga Raju said.

Noting that every attempt to eliminate gaps in balance sheet, purely on account of inflated profits over several years, failed, Raju said: “I am now prepared to subject myself to the laws of the land and face consequences thereof.”

Low percentage of promoter equity in the company, where four independent directors resigned in the last two weeks over the acquisition fiasco, could lead to a takeover and expose the gap, he said in the letter, also sent to regulator SEBI. The promoters’ share in Satyam has now dipped to just over 3 per cent that too is pledged with lenders.

Meanwhile, Satyam shares nosedive nearly 54 percent at Rs 83 after resignation of chairman, managing director.

While Raju recommended DSP Merrill Lynch be entrusted the task of “quickly exploring some merger opportunities,” the company has now informed the stock exchanges that the investment banker has terminated its engagement with Satyam.

Satyam, considered a ripe proposition for acquisition, was pushed into crisis after Raju was forced to abandon the acquisition of Maytas Infrastructure and Maytas Properties promoted by his son.

In a regulatory filing the company said Raju would continue to be the chairman till the board is expanded.

The resignations, ahead of January 10 board meeting pushed the company into crisis and paved the way for immediate restructuring of the board and the management.

 

Prime Minister Accuses Pak’s Involvement

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday accused Pakistan of using terrorism as an instrument of state policy, and asserted that the Mumbai attacks were carried out by Lashkar-e-Toiba with “sure” support from some official agencies in the neighbouring country. 

Addressing the Chief Ministers’ Conference on Internal Security at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, Dr Singh said that some Pakistani official agencies must have supported the terrorists who attacked Mumbai, given the sophistication and military precision of the Mumbai strikes. He added that terror in India was largely sponsored by outsiders, especially Pakistan.

On LeT’s involvement in the Mumbai attacks, the PM said that evidence has been gathered, including by outside agencies like the US’ FBI, to prove that.

The PM further accused Pakistan of being engaged in “whipping up war hysteria”. India remained steadfastly united even as “Pakistan engages in whipping up war hysteria”, Dr Singh said.

“The situation may appear challenging and it is challenging but it is by no means beyond our control,” he said. “A strong sense of nationhood” is needed to counter external and internal threats, he added.

“Unfortunately we cannot choose our neighbours,” the Prime Minister said. He added that Pakistan has encouraged and provided sanctuaries to terrorists in the past.

Admitting that there had been a security lapse in the November 26-29 terror attacks in Mumbai, he said the sea route was being exploited and explored by terrorists as an alternative to land routes.

“The terrorists who carried out the attack on Mumbai used the sea route and managed to evade our surveillance.”

Complex security situation

While inaugurating the conference, Dr Singh said that security situation in the country has become more complex since the last meet of the Chief Ministers.

The PM noted that most of the terrorists act in connivance with intelligence agencies in neighbouring countries.

While commenting on the challenges faced by India, the Prime Minister said that problems faced by our country are compounded by vulnerable security environment and fragile governments in the neighbouring countries.

The more fragile the government, the more dangerous it was, he said. Pakistan’s responses were an “obvious example”.

He further stressed on the need for a holistic approach to deal with the menace of terrorism.

Referring to insurgency in the country’s Northeast, the Prime Minister said that militants there were being sheltered by the neighbouring country, apparently referring to Bangladesh.

According to the PM, time has come to establish a permanent crisis management group to handle terrorist attack-like situations.

Dr Singh also stressed on the need to share information among intelligence agencies most important.

Underlining the need to review the current security set-up, the Prime Minister called for better co-ordination among various wings of intelligence. A review of the training and equipment for the security forces was also called for, he added.

The PM said infiltration was also taking place from Bangladesh and Nepal though it had not ceased from the Line of Control (LoC) — that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

The PM said that India must “implement a policy of zero tolerance” towards terrorism and few countries had suffered from terror attacks in the way that India had.

Stressing that terror should not be conceptualised solely in military terms, the PM stated, “We must ensure the concept of terrorism is delegitimised.”

Meet’s agenda

Terrorism, strengthening of intelligence network, security of coastline and key establishments, including atomic sites, are on top of agenda at the conference.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister AK Antony, and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee were also present at the inaugural ceremony.

Chidambaram, in his first such exercise after being shifted from the Finance Ministry, will seek views from all state governments on action to beef up the security machinery to check terrorism in the wake of Mumbai terror attack, official sources said.

The conclave will focus on beefing up intelligence network and strengthening coastal security, particularly considering the fact that the terrorists involved in Mumbai carnage used the sea route to sneak into the metropolis.

Security of key installations, including nuclear power plants, will also figure prominently at the meeting.

The issue of strengthening intelligence collection and sharing mechanism (Subsidiaries of Multi Agency Centre), modernisation of police forces, setting up of commando units in all states/Union territories police forces and discussion on the modalities of the working of the newly-formed National Investigation Agency are also on the agenda of the meeting.

 

Omar Abdullah to take oath as J&K Chief Minister today

The stage is set for National Conference leader Omar Abdullah to take oath as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday. And when he reached Jammu along with his family on Sunday, he got a huge reception.

Thousands of people came down on the streets to welcome Omar.

But the road ahead is not going to be easy for him as the biggest challenge for the young chief minster-designate would be to facilitate a dialogue with separatists.

“The separatists are not so much in need of separation from National Conference, Congress or from J&K. The separatists’ bone of contention is with the Government of India and therefore my government and my party will do whatever it can to facilitate a dialogue with New Delhi and the separatists. It has happened in the past and I see no reason why it can’t happen in the future,” he said.
But even before that, he faces the task of choosing a Cabinet. Sources say he has told the Congress central leadership that he wants to keep tainted politicians out. But many of the Congress MLAs, who are lobbying for ministerial berths, are alleged to be involved in the infamous sex scandal and cases of corruption.

It will be a balancing act that will be far from easy.

“I have made it very clear that I would be happy to have deputy chief minister from the Congress party whoever the Congress feels is fit for that post. Mrs Sonia Gandhi will approve whatever names are submitted to her and they will subsequently be inducted,” Omar said.
Omar Abdullah would like to see his Cabinet free of any tainted ministers to send across a message right at the start of his tenure. But whether he will be able to manage that is the big question.

 

Mobile helpline introduced by Indian Railways

Indian Railways have taken an initiative to introduce ‘Mobile Helpline’ for the convenience of railway users. Vigilance officials of Indian Railways are always available 24×7 on the Mobile Helpline No. 155210 on which railway passengers can lodge their complaints of bribery/corruption against railwaymen. Wherever possible, action is taken on real time basis for redressal of their grievances. From the feed-back received so far, the facility of Mobile Helpline can be considered to be a success.