JAKARTA (AFP) – Suspected Islamist suicide bombers detonated high-explosive devices in two luxury Jakarta hotels popular with foreigners on Friday, killing at least nine people, officials said.
Witnesses described grim scenes with bloodied survivors fleeing in panic from the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels, as terrorism returned to the world's most populous Muslim nation after four years without a major attack.
The broad streets of Jakarta's financial district were littered with glass and debris and smeared with blood after the breakfast-time bombings, which sent a huge plume of smoke over the city.
A sombre-looking President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose crackdown on the extremist Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) appeared to have quelled the extremist threat, said the bombings undermined the security of the entire nation.
He said the attackers "have no humanity and they don't care about the damage done to our country with this act of terrorism, which will have wide effects on our economy, trade, tourism and image in the eyes of the world".
Officials said more than 40 other people were injured when two blasts shook the upmarket hotels, and pinned suspicion on a JI splinter group led by Malaysian-born bomb-maker Noordin Mohammed Top.
"Based on the evidence at the scene, we found that there were two suicide bombers," national police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri told reporters.
Grainy security camera footage at the Ritz-Carlton showed a man wearing a backpack on his chest and carrying a suitcase entering the hotel restaurant moments before a bomb exploded.
The flickering footage aired on the TV One station showed the large open doorway to the restaurant erupting with glass, debris and smoke as the bomb was detonated inside.
People in the doorway were engulfed by the blast, while others dived for cover behind furniture and walls. Witnesses described a scene of carnage.
"I was walking outside and I saw three injured people taken to the ambulance," shop assistant Syarif, 32, said.
"They were all foreigners, their faces and bodies all covered in blood. The skin near the eye of one of them was peeling off," he said.
At least one foreigner, a New Zealand businessman, was confirmed dead and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he had "grave concerns" for three missing Australians including an embassy official.
Rudd condemned the "barbaric" attacks, saying they made him "sick to the stomach".
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, condemning the "senseless" attacks as she headed to Asia for a trip starting in India, said the State Department was working to help an unspecified number of Americans hurt in the blasts.
"The attacks reflect the viciousness of violent extremists, and remind us that the threat of terrorism remains very real," she said.
Manchester United were due to stay at the Ritz-Carlton next week as part of an Asian tour but they cancelled the trip, denying a sell-out crowd of 100,000 the chance to see the English football giants play an Indonesia XI on Monday.
The Marriott was hit in 2003 by a blast that killed 12 people, and Friday's violence bore the hallmark of past attacks blamed on the Al-Qaeda-linked JI both in Jakarta and the tourism hotspot of Bali.
National police spokesman Nanan Soekarna confirmed at least nine people were killed and 41 were injured, including 14 foreigners, when the blasts struck around 8:00 am (0100 GMT).
Despite security measures in place at Jakarta's top hotels, including vehicle searches and metal detectors, police said one blast hit the basement of the Marriott and a second struck the restaurant of the Ritz-Carlton.
An unexploded bomb was later found and defused by police in room 1808 of the Marriott, presidential adviser Djali Yusuf said.
The room was a "control centre" for the attacks, he said, with police discovering explosive chemicals and bomb-making materials in a potential treasure trove of evidence as investigators piece together the attacks.
Officials said seven people were killed at the Marriott and two others at the Ritz-Carlton.
A South Korean man and a Japanese national were also listed among the foreigners who were injured.
Condemnation poured in from Indonesia's neighbours in Southeast Asia, where JI is accused of plotting to create a pan-Islamic state.
JI's most notorious attack was the bombing of several nightclubs on the island of Bali in 2002 which left more than 200 people dead, mostly foreign tourists.
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Friday, July 17, 2009
Online payment sys for excise duty to go live in 6 mnths
Indirect tax collection system is not perfect and there is a need for toning it up with modernisation and automation, Chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs P C Jha has said.
As part of modernisation, a fully automatic system would
be put in place within six months to enable payment of excise duty anywhere online, he said, adding that such a system is already in vogue for customs purposes.
"We expect that in six months the system will be
automated for payment of excise duty also. We are working
towards it," Jha told PTI. "We will not be satisfied till the system is perfect which at present it is not, he said giving details of the progress made in the system, including the successful use of third-party information system for excise collection.
Asked how much improvement in revenue collection could
be expected if the system was modernised and the leakages were plugged, he said the government very consciously believes in a very modern system wherein every taxpayer is considered honest and law abiding unless proved otherwise.
So, it would be difficult to quantify the improvement,
he said, adding, the government would continue to believe the assesses were giving correct declaration.
As part of modernisation, a fully automatic system would
be put in place within six months to enable payment of excise duty anywhere online, he said, adding that such a system is already in vogue for customs purposes.
"We expect that in six months the system will be
automated for payment of excise duty also. We are working
towards it," Jha told PTI. "We will not be satisfied till the system is perfect which at present it is not, he said giving details of the progress made in the system, including the successful use of third-party information system for excise collection.
Asked how much improvement in revenue collection could
be expected if the system was modernised and the leakages were plugged, he said the government very consciously believes in a very modern system wherein every taxpayer is considered honest and law abiding unless proved otherwise.
So, it would be difficult to quantify the improvement,
he said, adding, the government would continue to believe the assesses were giving correct declaration.
GAIL to lay 600 km gas pipeline in MP
Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) will lay down a 600-km long gas pipeline from Jhabua to Kailaras in Madhya Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 3,000 crore, a top company official said today.
"The proposed gas pipeline from Jhabua to Kailaras
covering a distance of nearly 600 km will be laid at an
estimated cost of Rs 3,000 crore," GAIL Chairman U D Choubey told reporters at the company's Vijaypur plant.
"It will have a visible impact in the area in the next
two-three years," he said.
The cost of the pipleline between the two points (Jhabua
and Kailaras) will be Rs 2,500 crore while another Rs 500
crore will be spent on installing two compressors, the
Chairman said.
GAIL has already laid down 6000 km long gas pipeline in
India and has plans to lay down a pipeline of equivalent
length across the country, he said.
The company also plans to supply piped gas in a radius of
50 km in the cities situated along the route of the pipeline and nearly 230 cities and towns including Guna, Indore, Gwalior and Malanpur have been shortlisted for the purpose,Chobey said
"The proposed gas pipeline from Jhabua to Kailaras
covering a distance of nearly 600 km will be laid at an
estimated cost of Rs 3,000 crore," GAIL Chairman U D Choubey told reporters at the company's Vijaypur plant.
"It will have a visible impact in the area in the next
two-three years," he said.
The cost of the pipleline between the two points (Jhabua
and Kailaras) will be Rs 2,500 crore while another Rs 500
crore will be spent on installing two compressors, the
Chairman said.
GAIL has already laid down 6000 km long gas pipeline in
India and has plans to lay down a pipeline of equivalent
length across the country, he said.
The company also plans to supply piped gas in a radius of
50 km in the cities situated along the route of the pipeline and nearly 230 cities and towns including Guna, Indore, Gwalior and Malanpur have been shortlisted for the purpose,Chobey said
Clinton to meet India Inc honchos tomorrow
India Inc honchos Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani and others are likely to explore measures to boost bilateral business ties during their brainstorming session over breakfast with US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton tomorrow.
Clinton is scheduled to arrive in the city tonight on an official visit to India during which high-level discussions are likely to promote bilateral co-operation in the $30 billion Indian civil nuclear power programme and the the $43 billion bilateral trade.
She will be flying-in from the Czech Republic capital, Prague.
India's top businessmen are expected to meet her at the iconic Taj Hotel. The sea-facing hotel bore the brunt of a terror attack in November last year.
Clinton is expected to meet Ratan Tata who leads India's premier conglomerate, the Tata group, along with other top industrialists like Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries and Godrej group Chairman Adi Godrej.
A few top Tata group officials are also expected to attend the meet.
Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy's wife Sudha Murthy, who is deeply involved with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities and Chanda Kochhar, who heads India's largest private sector bank, ICICI, are also expected to interact with the US Secretary of State.
Gita Piramal is also understood to be one of the invitees from India Inc.
This is Hillary Clinton's first visit to India after assuming charge as the US Secretary of State in the Obama administration early this year.
The global economic meltdown has particularly affected the United States. The measures taken by its government to beat the recession are likely to be discussed in the meet.
India's relatively strong growth of 6 per cent and its resilient economy has emerged as a strong focus area for the US in recent years and Clinton's visit is expected to give a further boost to the burgeoning trade-ties between the two countries.
Clinton will be staying at the Ratan Tata-owned Taj Hotel's new wing. Usually, foreign dignitaries are put up in the hotel's heritage wing which is under renovation following the November 26 terror strike. She will, therefore, be staying in the tower section of the hotel.
Clinton is scheduled to arrive in the city tonight on an official visit to India during which high-level discussions are likely to promote bilateral co-operation in the $30 billion Indian civil nuclear power programme and the the $43 billion bilateral trade.
She will be flying-in from the Czech Republic capital, Prague.
India's top businessmen are expected to meet her at the iconic Taj Hotel. The sea-facing hotel bore the brunt of a terror attack in November last year.
Clinton is expected to meet Ratan Tata who leads India's premier conglomerate, the Tata group, along with other top industrialists like Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries and Godrej group Chairman Adi Godrej.
A few top Tata group officials are also expected to attend the meet.
Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy's wife Sudha Murthy, who is deeply involved with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities and Chanda Kochhar, who heads India's largest private sector bank, ICICI, are also expected to interact with the US Secretary of State.
Gita Piramal is also understood to be one of the invitees from India Inc.
This is Hillary Clinton's first visit to India after assuming charge as the US Secretary of State in the Obama administration early this year.
The global economic meltdown has particularly affected the United States. The measures taken by its government to beat the recession are likely to be discussed in the meet.
India's relatively strong growth of 6 per cent and its resilient economy has emerged as a strong focus area for the US in recent years and Clinton's visit is expected to give a further boost to the burgeoning trade-ties between the two countries.
Clinton will be staying at the Ratan Tata-owned Taj Hotel's new wing. Usually, foreign dignitaries are put up in the hotel's heritage wing which is under renovation following the November 26 terror strike. She will, therefore, be staying in the tower section of the hotel.
GE Second-Quarter Profit Falls on Finance, Health (Update3)
July 17 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. reported a 47 percent decline in second-quarter profit as a global recession hurt the finance, health care and NBC Universal divisions, contributing to a bigger drop in sales than analysts predicted.
Revenue dropped 17 percent to $39.1 billion, trailing the average estimate of $41.9 billion in a Bloomberg survey, and GE fell in early trading. Profit from continuing operations declined to $2.87 billion, or 26 cents a share, from $5.39 billion, or 54 cents, a year earlier, the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company said in a statement today. The average estimate was for profit of 24 cents a share.
“While revenue looks light to us, the company’s solid execution, notably in energy and aviation, supported earnings and cash flows,” said Joel Levington, an analyst at Hyperion Brookfield Asset Management in New York.
Investors wary of potential finance losses have cut GE’s market value by more than half in a year, adding urgency to Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt’s plan to shrink GE Capital. He’s counting on equipment and service orders for products from jet engines to power-plant turbines to support earnings. The order backlog stood at $169 billion at the end of the quarter compared with about $170 billion in May.
GE declined 58 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $11.92 at 8:20 a.m. before the regular open of New York Stock Exchange composite trading, up from an intraday price of $5.73 on March 4, the lowest since December 1991. The stock closed as high as $14.53 in the quarter.
Four Businesses
For GE’s four main businesses, earnings fell in all but Energy Infrastructure, where profit rose 13 percent. Technology Infrastructure earnings declined 11 percent, hurt by pricing pressures in health care and transportation, GE said. Profit dropped 41 percent at NBC Universal.
GE Capital had $590 million in profit, down from $2.9 billion a year earlier, the company said. The division had $149 million in profit before taxes, important to some investors because of tax credits that often help bolster profit.
“In a difficult environment, we are ahead of schedule on our plan to create a more focused financial services company,” Immelt said in the statement.
Cash generated from operating activities was $7.1 billion for the first six months of the year, ahead of GE’s own plan and below last year’s $9.3 billion, as job cuts, office consolidations and plant efficiency improvements accelerated profit. Another $2 billion in cost reductions are under consideration for this year, Immelt said in the statement.
Services Backlog
The service contract backlog reached a record $122 billion, up about $2 billion from figures Immelt gave investors in May. Service contracts are more profitable than equipment sales alone.
GE is targeting more than 400 stimulus projects worth $200 billion worldwide, Immelt said. While little has been realized so far this year, he said GE expects more in the second half.
GE is seeing “few green shoots” in businesses that include medical-imaging machines and jet engines, John Rice, the vice chairman overseeing those units, said in June. GE Aviation secured more than $8 billion in equipment and service orders at the Paris Air Show last month.
Gains of 2 cents a share in the quarter were more than offset by 3 cents to pay for restructuring and another 4 cents a share for marks and impairments in the finance businesses.
GE Capital
The finance arm is tracking toward a March forecast for profit this year of $2 billion to $2.5 billion under the Federal Reserve’s so-called base case for the economy, Michael Neal, the vice chairman who oversees the segment, said in a June 15 interview.
Immelt already aims to shrink the GE Capital balance sheet to $400 billion to $450 billion from about $637 billion last year, and to have the unit provide no more than about 30 percent of total profit, down from about half last year. GE plans a detailed review of the finance division in a July 28 meeting.
GE has already issued about $12 billion, or about a third, of the $35 billion to $40 billion it plans to refinance in 2010. The company has “prefunded” all of the $45 billion it planned to refinance this year.
Federal Programs
The company, which didn’t take money from the Federal Reserve’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, can take advantage of two government programs. One allows GE Capital to issue long- term debt insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and the other gives it the ability to sell into the Commercial Paper Funding Facility set up by the Fed, which it tapped once.
GE has reduced its commercial paper balances to $50 billion from about $74 billion at the beginning of the year, the company said today.
When the FDIC program expires, GE should be able to fund its smaller balance sheet, Neal said.
Revenue dropped 17 percent to $39.1 billion, trailing the average estimate of $41.9 billion in a Bloomberg survey, and GE fell in early trading. Profit from continuing operations declined to $2.87 billion, or 26 cents a share, from $5.39 billion, or 54 cents, a year earlier, the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company said in a statement today. The average estimate was for profit of 24 cents a share.
“While revenue looks light to us, the company’s solid execution, notably in energy and aviation, supported earnings and cash flows,” said Joel Levington, an analyst at Hyperion Brookfield Asset Management in New York.
Investors wary of potential finance losses have cut GE’s market value by more than half in a year, adding urgency to Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt’s plan to shrink GE Capital. He’s counting on equipment and service orders for products from jet engines to power-plant turbines to support earnings. The order backlog stood at $169 billion at the end of the quarter compared with about $170 billion in May.
GE declined 58 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $11.92 at 8:20 a.m. before the regular open of New York Stock Exchange composite trading, up from an intraday price of $5.73 on March 4, the lowest since December 1991. The stock closed as high as $14.53 in the quarter.
Four Businesses
For GE’s four main businesses, earnings fell in all but Energy Infrastructure, where profit rose 13 percent. Technology Infrastructure earnings declined 11 percent, hurt by pricing pressures in health care and transportation, GE said. Profit dropped 41 percent at NBC Universal.
GE Capital had $590 million in profit, down from $2.9 billion a year earlier, the company said. The division had $149 million in profit before taxes, important to some investors because of tax credits that often help bolster profit.
“In a difficult environment, we are ahead of schedule on our plan to create a more focused financial services company,” Immelt said in the statement.
Cash generated from operating activities was $7.1 billion for the first six months of the year, ahead of GE’s own plan and below last year’s $9.3 billion, as job cuts, office consolidations and plant efficiency improvements accelerated profit. Another $2 billion in cost reductions are under consideration for this year, Immelt said in the statement.
Services Backlog
The service contract backlog reached a record $122 billion, up about $2 billion from figures Immelt gave investors in May. Service contracts are more profitable than equipment sales alone.
GE is targeting more than 400 stimulus projects worth $200 billion worldwide, Immelt said. While little has been realized so far this year, he said GE expects more in the second half.
GE is seeing “few green shoots” in businesses that include medical-imaging machines and jet engines, John Rice, the vice chairman overseeing those units, said in June. GE Aviation secured more than $8 billion in equipment and service orders at the Paris Air Show last month.
Gains of 2 cents a share in the quarter were more than offset by 3 cents to pay for restructuring and another 4 cents a share for marks and impairments in the finance businesses.
GE Capital
The finance arm is tracking toward a March forecast for profit this year of $2 billion to $2.5 billion under the Federal Reserve’s so-called base case for the economy, Michael Neal, the vice chairman who oversees the segment, said in a June 15 interview.
Immelt already aims to shrink the GE Capital balance sheet to $400 billion to $450 billion from about $637 billion last year, and to have the unit provide no more than about 30 percent of total profit, down from about half last year. GE plans a detailed review of the finance division in a July 28 meeting.
GE has already issued about $12 billion, or about a third, of the $35 billion to $40 billion it plans to refinance in 2010. The company has “prefunded” all of the $45 billion it planned to refinance this year.
Federal Programs
The company, which didn’t take money from the Federal Reserve’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, can take advantage of two government programs. One allows GE Capital to issue long- term debt insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and the other gives it the ability to sell into the Commercial Paper Funding Facility set up by the Fed, which it tapped once.
GE has reduced its commercial paper balances to $50 billion from about $74 billion at the beginning of the year, the company said today.
When the FDIC program expires, GE should be able to fund its smaller balance sheet, Neal said.
Call for 17th july
RESEARCH-Nifty(FUT) R-4280/4335/4430 S-4235/4180/4135;Sensex(CASH)
R-14435/14625/14950 S-14305/14115/13980;MARKET OUTLOOK:VOLATILE
9:46 AM 7/17 RESEARCH: MARKET OUTLOOKn the F&O front, The NIFTY futures trading at a discount of 6.55 points against spot market suggesting weak sign. The NIFTY July futures open interest has declined by 1.83 percent with negative cost of carry. This indicates squaring-off of old positions and lack of any new positions might result in a sideways or weak trend in the market. The NIFTY Put Call Ratio is suggesting range bound market. Considering above said factors, NIFTY seems to have limited upside from current levels. If NIFTY breaks above 4305 on daily closing basis, investors are advisedto go long on NIFTY as fresh long positions can be expected to build up in the July futures contract; until then trade cautiously as NIFTY would remain volatile. Above 4305 levels, it can move towards 4362 and 4382
9:48 AM 7/17 RESEARCH-Global Market (in %): DOW JONES (+1.11%), S&P 500 (+0.86%), NASDAQ (+1.19%), FTSE (+0.35%), DAX (+0.58%), NIKKEI (+0.53%), HANG SENG (+1.34%) & SGX NIFTY (+28 POINTS)
11:23 AM 7/17 RESEARCH: INTRADAY CALL (FUTURES): NIFTY BROKEN OUR FIRST TGT 4330
RESEARCH: OPTIONS STRATEGY: LONG STRANGLE ON ITC: BUY 230 CALL @ 3.75 BUY 210 PUT @ 1.95. UPPER BEP = 235.70, LOWER BEP = 204.30. MAXIMUM PROFIT = UNLIMITED, MAXIMUM LOSS = RS. 6412.50. HOLD IT FOR ONE WEEK.
(7/17/2009 12:40:37 PM): RESEARCH: EUROPEAN MARKET UPDATE : FTSE(+0.6%), DAX (+0.9%), CAC (+0.7%)
R-14435/14625/14950 S-14305/14115/13980;MARKET OUTLOOK:VOLATILE
9:46 AM 7/17 RESEARCH: MARKET OUTLOOKn the F&O front, The NIFTY futures trading at a discount of 6.55 points against spot market suggesting weak sign. The NIFTY July futures open interest has declined by 1.83 percent with negative cost of carry. This indicates squaring-off of old positions and lack of any new positions might result in a sideways or weak trend in the market. The NIFTY Put Call Ratio is suggesting range bound market. Considering above said factors, NIFTY seems to have limited upside from current levels. If NIFTY breaks above 4305 on daily closing basis, investors are advisedto go long on NIFTY as fresh long positions can be expected to build up in the July futures contract; until then trade cautiously as NIFTY would remain volatile. Above 4305 levels, it can move towards 4362 and 4382
9:48 AM 7/17 RESEARCH-Global Market (in %): DOW JONES (+1.11%), S&P 500 (+0.86%), NASDAQ (+1.19%), FTSE (+0.35%), DAX (+0.58%), NIKKEI (+0.53%), HANG SENG (+1.34%) & SGX NIFTY (+28 POINTS)
11:23 AM 7/17 RESEARCH: INTRADAY CALL (FUTURES): NIFTY BROKEN OUR FIRST TGT 4330
RESEARCH: OPTIONS STRATEGY: LONG STRANGLE ON ITC: BUY 230 CALL @ 3.75 BUY 210 PUT @ 1.95. UPPER BEP = 235.70, LOWER BEP = 204.30. MAXIMUM PROFIT = UNLIMITED, MAXIMUM LOSS = RS. 6412.50. HOLD IT FOR ONE WEEK.
(7/17/2009 12:40:37 PM): RESEARCH: EUROPEAN MARKET UPDATE : FTSE(+0.6%), DAX (+0.9%), CAC (+0.7%)