Microsoft now plans to buy Yahoo! search business >>>

News emerged that the Microsoft proposal to Yahoo! would be to buy its search business and have the portal keep its content operations and sell its foreign investments.

Earlier this month, Microsoft walked away from the proposal to acquire Yahoo for $47.5 billion, or $33 per share,after Yahoo rejected the offer, saying it would only settle for $37 a share.

Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Friday that buying Yahoo was not a strategy in itself, and dropping the bid meant it now had $50 billion to spend on other acquisitions.

"Yahoo was never the strategy we were pursuing, it was a way to accelerate our online advertising business," he told a packed hall at a technology conference in Moscow.

"We will spend money on some acquisitions. You can do a whole lot of things with 50 billion dollars," he said.

Now Microsoft has made an alternative offer, proposing to buy Yahoo's search business and take a minority stake in the web firm.
As part of the deal, Yahoo would put its Asian assets, including significant minority stakes in yahoo Japan and china's Alibaba Group, up for sale , while Microsoft would buy a chunk of that which remains of the company.

The new deal, if completed would forge an alliance between the two companies that would represent an alternative means of competing with rival Google.

Finally Microsoft abort yahoo acquisition proposal

In the beginning of 2008, Microsoft had
made an unsolicited offer to buy Yahoo
for $44.6 billion. Transaction valued at approximately $31 per Share for Yahoo that means 62 percent premium to current trading price for Yahoo! shareholders. But Yahoo later rejected the offer saying Microsoft’s bid ‘substantially undervalued’ the company. Recently, Microsoft raised its bid by about $5 billion but now it appears that Yahoo wanted Microsoft to further raise its bid by another $5 billion or more, raising the acquisition size to about $55 billion.

“We have great respect for Yahoo!, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft. “We believe our combination will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders and better choice and innovation to our customers and industry partners.”

So it is clearly that with Yahoo acquisition Microsoft wanted to compete with search giant Google.

“We clearly indicated to Microsoft that we were open to a transaction but only if it were on terms that fully recognized the value of Yahoo and was in the best interests of our stockholders,” Jerry Yang, CEO, Yahoo, has said. “With Microsoft’s withdrawal, we will be better able to focus our energy on growing our industry leadership and maximizing value for stockholders.”

Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer, Microsoft, has said, “Despite our best efforts, including raising our bid by roughly $5 billion, Yahoo has not moved toward accepting our offer. We believe the economics demanded by Yahoo do not make sense for us, and it is in the best interests of Microsoft stockholders, employees and other stakeholders to withdraw our proposal.”

Lets watch Microsoft next move...........to conquer the online world.

Budget terminology:

In the budget statement you come across four types of deficits.

Revenue deficits: it is the excess of revenue expenditure over the income. That is if you are borrowing to pay your car loan or home rent, you are borrowing from someone else and spending but you not creating durable asset. That signifies that you need to repay your borrowing sometime in future. So here it’s only the investment that is taking place but no asset creation.

Budget deficits:: it is the excess of total expenditure over the total income, Which also include current revenue and net internal and external capital income of the government.

Fiscal deficits: it is the difference between total expenditure (revenue, capital, and loans net of repayment) and revenue receipts including all those capital receipts which are not in the form of borrowings but at the end accrue to the government.

Primary deficits: It is the difference between fiscal deficits and interest payments.

It points to government borrowing to pay for its expenses other then interest payments which also include how much government is accumulating to future burden on the basis of past and present policy.

Budget: did you know….

C.D Deshmukh was the first Indian governor of RBI who presented the interim budget for 1951-52.

In the year of 1991-92 the interim and final budget were presented by finance misters of two different political parties. Mr yashwant sinha presented the interim budget, the final was presented by dr. man Mohan Singh.

The first prime minister who held the finance portfolio in 1958-59 and also presented that year budget was none other then our great jawaher lal Nehru.


The only finance minister who also became the president of India was R. Venkataraman.

In 1990s three Interim budgets were presented. Two interim budgets were presented by yashawant sinha in 1991-92 and 1998-99 and one by dr manmohan singh in the year 1996-97.

Budget trivia

The budget is always submitted on the last day of February so that lock sabha has one month to review and adapt the budget proposals.

If by April one,(country’s fiscal year begin from aprail one) the parliamentary discussions gets completed then only the budget comes into effect.s

The one of the secrets about budget (finance minister speech and taxation proposal) is the time at which it gets printed. The budget is printed either on the midnight of 25^th fab or early 26^th feb morning. The printing press is located in the depths of the north block. It is fully air conditioned. When the data is in computer to which only finance secretary has access, is transferred to CDs first and then send for printing. Officers from Intelligence bureau (IB), CBDT and central board of excise and customs official stand in front of the computer and sign the list of each confidential document that is transferred to CDs.

India’s first budget was presented by Mr. R.K.Shanmukhan chetty, who served as the finance minister during Jawaharlal Nehru period from 1947 to 1949, which was tabled on November 26 1947.

FICCI-SEDF Corporate social responsibility awards (CSR) 2007-08

CSR: corporate social responsibility means the incorporation of social, economic and environmental concerns into business, while taking care of stake holders and creating shareholder’s value. In other words instead of working for only short term gains or profit driven business, the today’s corporate world should be driven by socially conscience and social responsibility.

The CSR awards of this year have gone to six companies and the FICCI-SEDF CSR 2007 corporate citizen 1 was bagged by sheetal Mehta chief-CSR (MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA), 2^nd by TATA TEA and corporate citizen 3^rd by NTPC. The jury’s special recommendation award went to APPOLO TYRES, while the certificates of recognition were given away to ONGC AND MSPL.

In his speech at FICCI.SEDF- the finance minister P.chidambaram appealed the industry to employ one lakh differently abled people.

He also said that inclusive growth can only be sustained if business is done to enhance the well being of society.

Sixth pay commission report

Though it is very large one but I have tried to make it as concise as possible.

The sixth pay commission was led by B.N. srikrishna has suggested an average 40% percent increase in the salary of more then 40 lakh central government employees. And this will be effective from January one 2006.

The other major recommendations from them are:

Enhancement of maternity leave to 6 month.

Flexible working hours for women-depending on requirement at home.

All women employees with a small child shall be allowed to take leave up to two years to better take care of the minor child.

If any one found guily under domestic violence act, disciplinary action must be taken against the guilty.

Concession for scientists and doctors in retirement age while retaining the normal retirement age of 60 only.

Pay commission

A pay commission is a group of honorary members belonging to diverse fields. It is selected by the union cabinet to examine aspects of government employees’ compensation package, their standard of living including pay and allowances, retirement benefits, conditions of service, and promotion policies.

The central pay commissions have been set up at a break of ten to 13 years. the first pay commission was instituted in 1946, second in 1957, third in 1970, fourth in 1983, fifth in 1994, while the sixth was set up in 2006.

Before they fix the salary of the government employees the pay commission analyses the rate of inflation, rate of the nation, growth rate of per capita income, changing trends in living standard, and the employees share in the respective field of working. Generally, the pay commission first fixes the lowest levels of salary and then highest, as it become easier for them to determine other salary levels.

In the first pay commission report the difference ratio was 1:55 times, 1996-1:16

And in this newly recommended report it is 1:12(that is minimum of 6600-maximum 80000Rs.)

Buisness terminology

market capitalization:
Market capitalization is the market value of the equity of the company. If I put it simply it is nothing but the number of outstanding shares multiplied by the market price of each share of the company.
Market capitalization fluctuates accordingly with the movement of share prices, as share prices always moves up and down.

Blue chip:
Blue chip is a large, well established and financially sound company with an impressive record of earnings and dividends. The price volatility of this kind of a company’s share is moderate.

Money Money!!!!!

Defining Money!!!!!!!!!……

“So you think that money is root of all evil? Have you ever asked what is the root of money ?
Money is a tool of exchange, which cannot exist until there are goods produced and men able to produce them.
In other words money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another, must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?”

:):)

First ATM machine

Jhon shephered barron created the world’s first AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINE (ATM).it was installed in branch of Barclays in Enfield, north London, on July 25,1967. one by product of inventing the first cash machine was the concept of pin number. And he came with an idea, when he realized that he was able to remember his six figure army number.
But he wanted to be sure whether other’s can also do the same…so he checked it with his wife.caroline..”And it seems over the kitchen table she said she could only remember four figures, so it’s because of her, four figures became world standard.”