Japan keeps interest rates on hold

Japan's central bank has kept interest rates on hold as it continues its efforts to boost the country's economic recovery. As widely expected, the bank's rate-setting committee voted unanimously to keep rates at 0.1%. It said keeping rates low was essential in the country's fight against falling prices, which are undermining the economy's recovery.

Japan enjoyed economic growth of 0.9% in the last three months of 2009. Such modest growth means that booming China is now vying with Japan to become the world's second largest economy. Japan's economy faces the critical challenge of overcoming deflation and returning to a sustainable growth path with price stability, the bank said.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Former P&G chairman named as advisor to Chirayu Amin

Former Proctor & Gamble chairman Bharat Patel will join the Indian Premier League as an advisor to interim chairman Chirayu Amin, the Cricket Board said today. Bharat Patel, former Chairman of Proctor and Gamble is being appointed as the Honorary Advisor to the Interim Chairman of IPL, Chirayu Amin," BCCI secretary N Srinivasan said in a statement.

Incidentally, Patel was associated in setting up of the IPL in 2008 in an advisory capacity to the then chairman Lalit Modi, who has been suspended from the post on charges of financial irregularities. This new appointment will have to be ratified in next month's IPL Governing Council meeting and it is learnt that Amin proposed Patel's name for the job.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Cognizant buys project management consultant PIPC

IT services company, Cognizant, has acquired global program management consultancy, PIPC Group, to expand its project management skills base. PIPC has some 200 professionals worldwide, mainly in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Cognizant president and CEO, Francisco D’Souza, said PIPC’s program management experts will be a welcome addition to Cognizant.

PIPC’s strategic program management offerings will strengthen our ability to manage increasingly complex global projects while expanding our geographic footprint, particularly in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, D’Souza said. Formed as the technology arm of the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation in 1994, Cognizant offers outsourcing to India and other geographies. The company has more than 50 global delivery centres and about 85,500 employees.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

SAP to buy Sybase in $5.8bn deal

SAP, the world’s largest enterprise software maker, has agreed to buy US rival Sybase in a deal worth $5.8bn, its biggest acquisition in almost three years. The German software group will pay $65 per share in cash for Sybase, SAP said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

That represents a 44 per cent premium to the three-month average stock price of the fourth-largest provider of database software. The move extends the rivalry between SAP and US rival Oracle, where Oracle has been the leading database company but is number two to SAP in business management software. Bill McDermott, SAP’s co-chief executive, said the company would benefit hugely from Sybase’s database and mobile application technology.

We see a great potential in combining the leader in enterprise software with the leader in mobility, Mr McDermott said. The deal marks a fast foray into dealmaking by Mr McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe, SAP’s co-chief executives.

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).

Barclays' first quarter profit fails to impress

Shares in High Street banking giant Barclays have fallen 6.4% despite a big rise in pre-tax profits for the first three months of 2010. Barclays' profit for the first quarter was £1.82bn, up 47% on a year earlier, with most of it coming from investment banking arm Barclays Capital. However, analysts said that the amount of money made by that division was less than expected.

Barclays was the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 index, down 23p to 338.25p. The bank's strengthened investment banking division reported profit before tax of £1.47bn during the first three months of the year, up 47% on the same period a year ago. It is not a bad quarter, it's just not the blow-out numbers shown by some of the other banks, said Colin Morton, fund manager at Rensburg Fund Management. It has gone into the numbers with very high expectations, and BarCap has come in a bit light in terms of income, he said.
2nd May 2010, www.bbc.co.uk

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The above article was extracted from Skyline updates of Skyline College. Skyline College is amongst the top MBA and BBA institutes in Delhi, Gurgaon (NCR).