Global Recession

General Electric (GE) chief executive Jeffrey R. Immelt Monday sounded optimistic about the world economy weathering the present crisis and averting another global recession.

'At a time of global volatility, we see robust demand for our infrastructure products. We still feel quite good about the prospects on a global basis for the industry we are in,' Immelt told reporters here.
Allaying fears over the global economy heading for a double-dip recession, Immelt said there were no such signs, as underlying business was better than the prevailing mood.
'I travel a lot around the world and people are concerned about the economy slowing. I don't have to feel that bad about it honestly. Underlying business is better than the current mood. When I come to India, I feel businesses are still robust here compared to my last trip in March,' he asserted.
Clarifying that most businesses, like him, do not see a double-dip recession coming, Immelt said though the economy was slower in the developed world despite reasonable activity, it was quite strong in the emerging world.
'Emerging markets are critical for us, just as it is for Siemens, United Technologies or Rolls-Royce or any other industrial company,' he pointed out.
Emerging markets are projected to contribute $35 billion in 2011 for the $150-billion US-based global conglomerate.
'Yet, the US is a very big market for us and others. We have lot of jobs in the US. We are the second largest exporter after Boeing. We need to service the market and we are dedicated to creating good jobs in the US as in India and we don't see those two in conflict,' Immelt observed.
Reiterating that the growth of infrastructure sector would continue to be robust, the top executive said sectors such as aviation, energy and transportation were quite healthy in the US market.
Admitting that the unemployment rate in the US remained high at 9.1 percent, Immelt said that job creation during the recovery was not as strong as anyone would like and it was below previous recoveries.
'Our focus is on a non-partisan, kind of programmatic approach to job creation. We will focus on training people for about two million currently open jobs, rebuilding the nation's infrastructure and focusing on small, fast-growing businesses,' Immelt, who is chairman of President Barack Obama's Jobs and Competitiveness Council, added.

Reliance Capital mulling bonus

Reliance Capital could consider a bonus issue and make an entry into the banking sector even as it hopes to conclude soon a 26-percent stake sale in its life insurance arm to Japan's Nippon Life Insurance, chairman Anil Ambani said Tuesday.

'Banking is a new growth opportunity. We will evaluate opportunities to enter this high growth sector and are keeping track of all regulatory developments on this front,' the group chairman told the annual general meeting of Reliance Capital here.
'Significant under-penetration of financial products and services in India will continue to create immense opportunity for our growth. We will expand our asset management group in emerging markets and grow our wealth management and private equity business.'
The financial power will be named Reliance Bank.
Relying to a question from the floor, he also said that the request of shareholders for a bonus issue will be sent to the company's board, which can decide accordingly.
Ambani said in its first value-unlocking transaction, Reliance Capital had signed a definitive agreement with Nippon Life Insurance to sell 26 percent stake in Reliance Life Insurance earlier this year, subject to regulatory approvals.
The money from the proceeds -- an estimated Rs.3,000 crore -- will help in restructuring the company's debt, the chairman added.
The company has also signed a pact with Nippon Life for collaboration opportunities and strategic partnerships in all Reliance Capital-promoted financial businesses earlier this month, he said.
According to him, Reliance Capital was now India's top non-banking finance company with net worth of nearly Rs.8,000 crore, having over 20 million customers, 8,000-plus offices and a pool of over 18,000 men and women as its human capital.
'We are also pleased that the growth has been achieved in an entirely organic fashion. Our strategy is now to unlock value from all our major businesses for the benefit of our 1.3 million shareholders.'

Facebook tracks

An Australian technologist has claimed that Facebook can track the web pages you visit, even when you are logged out of the social networking giant.

According to Wollongong-based Nik Cubrilovic, when the user is logged out of Facebook, rather than deleting its tracking cookies, the site merely modifies them, maintaining account information and other unique tokens that can be used to identify its users.
This simply means that any time you visit a web page with a Facebook button or widget, your browser is still sending personally identifiable information back to Facebook.
"Even if you are logged out, Facebook still knows and can track every page you visit," Cubrilovic wrote in a blog post.
"The only solution is to delete every Facebook cookie in your browser, or to use a separate browser for Facebook interactions," he added.
Cubrilovic said he tried to contact Facebook to inform it of his discovery but did not get a reply, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
He said there were significant risks to the privacy of users, particularly those using public terminals to access Facebook.
"Facebook are front-and-centre in the new privacy debate just as Microsoft were with security issues a decade ago," Cubrilovic said.
"The question is what it will take for Facebook to address privacy issues and to give their users the tools required to manage their privacy and to implement clear policies - not pages and pages of confusing legal documentation, and 'logout' not really meaning 'logout'," he added.

Hrithik Is Personal With Preity

The very vivacious Preity Zinta welcomes all as she gets chatty with Duggu a.k.a Hrithik Roshan.
The actor who is most famous for his signature moves and dancing capabilities had lot more than just a conversation with Preity. Both the fellow actors go a long way as Hrithik confides into the Preity little lesser known facts about himself and his journey so far.
Hrithik spoke about various facets of his life; including his debut film, his kids, his wife and numerous people he's thankful to in the industry and otherwise. Speaking on his films he confessed that his first film was as a kid and on the sets he actually fought with the iconic Rajnikanth. He also mentioned that his most embarrassing moment in his life was once when he was at a film set, wrapped in a towel yelling Anil Kapoor's dialogues and at that very moment Madhuri Dixit caught him in the act.
Setting the tempo right, Preity got Hrithik to show off his acting skills as he was made to move to the commands of Preity's remote control. They also got together to pose for a make believe film poster titled 'Zara Hatke' where Hrithik was dressed as a cowboy and Preity was dressed as a cowgirl holding a gun in her hand.