OffTopic - The Fake IPL Player Names Database

Aaila = Tendulkar
Appam Chutiya = Sreesanth (no price for guessing this one!)
Babli = Preity Zinta
Badshah/ Vinnie /Dildo = SRK
Batliwala = Vijay Mallya
Original Bevdaa = Ryder
Bevdaas = Royal Challengers Bangalore
Bhookha naan = Buchanan
Big Brother = Raj Kundra
Big Mac = Mathew Hayden
Big sis = Shilpa Shetty
Boy George = Joy Bhattacharya
Bublee = Preity Zinta
Buddhiman Baba = Wriddhiman Saha
Bunty = Ness Wadia
Bubaan = Arindam Ghosh
Calypso = Chris Gayle
Castro = Fidel Edwards
Chikna Pussy = David Hussey
Chinnu Popli = S Goswami
Chirkut Teli = V.Kohli
Cool Dude =Dhoni
Dewar = Rahul Dravid
Durbaan of Patiala = Tom Moody
Ganji Hanger = Sanjay Bangar
Ghati Baba = Rohit Sharma
Kishan Kanhaiya = Ravi Shastri
Laal Chaddi Dada / Lordie = Sourav Gangly
Lady Jaya = Jayawardene
Little John = Ishant Sharma
Little sis = Shamita Shetty
Mangal Pandey = Laxmiratan Shukla
Meera Bhai = Bhaji
Paedophile priest = Gilchrist
Pamela Indersingh/ RVR Singh = VRV Singh
Prince of Patiala = Yuvraaj
RDB = Ranadeb Bose
Saala Slimeball = Lalit Modi
Sandy Maddy Babe = Mandira Bedi
Shakespeare = Akash Chopra
Sheikh/ Shaikh of Tweak = Shane Warne
Skipper = McCullum
Springbock = Morne Van Wyck
Sticky something = Ricky Ponting
Style bhai Spinner = Murali Karthik
Vakil Saab = Kumara Sangakkara
Very Very Special Ram = VVS Laxman

Berkshire Hathaway buying securities since end-March

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett said that the company has been buying securities since the end of the first quarter, and that it remains willing to make big acquisitions if they make sense. Berkshire has not made a large public acquisition lately, but the company has been buying securities since the end of the first quarter, Buffett said. "We are perfectly willing to make a deal for cash that makes sense to us," he added, noting that Berkshire would also sell securities to raise more cash to pay for acquisitions. Berkshire has less than US$20bn in cash, which is down from more than US$40bn just a few years ago. Buffett has said in the past that he won't let that get down to US$10bn. Buffett said on Sunday that Berkshire generates lots of cash every month and is willing to let cash levels fall below US$17bn or US$18bn. Berkshire has no outright currency positions currently, Buffett said later during a press conference, suggesting that the company has closed a trade on the Brazilian real which he first disclosed publicly in 2007. "There are so many things going on in the US right now that are interesting to us," Buffett said.

Crude oil climbs on global buoyancy

Oil prices climbed above US$57 per barrel for the first time this year after the results of the US government's stress tests showed large American banks' health is not as bad as earlier anticipated, raising optimism that the worldwide recession will end earlier than expected. Crude oil was headed for the biggest weekly gain since March before a report forecast to show that the US cut fewer jobs in April. Oil prices gained 8.5% this week after economic data indicated the worst of the global recession is over. Crude oil for June delivery rose as much as US$1.16, or 2.1%, to US$57.87 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at US$57.73 at 10:40 a.m. London time on Friday. Oil, poised for the largest gain since the week ended March 20, is up 29% this year.

Meanwhile, US refineries boosted their operating performance last week to their highest level since December, the Energy Department said , and crude stockpiles increased less than analysts had estimated. US refiners operated at 85.3% of capacity in the week ended May 1, up 2.7% from the week before. Crude inventories rose by 605,000 barrels last week, versus analysts’ forecasts for a gain of 2.5 million barrels. The increase in US crude supplies brought inventories to 375.3mn barrels last week, the highest since 1990.

Separately, Barclays Capital said that crude has broken through the US$55.02 to US$56.10 a barrel range that technical analysts said could trigger a move to US$62. Prices may now surge to US$71.55, according to a report by the bank. Crude oil is set to reach US$62.65 a barrel in the near future and rally to US$78 within six months as prices retrace the surge that started in 1998, according to technical analysis by PVM Oil Associates Ltd.

Eurozone economic forecast slashed

The eurozone economy will shrink at twice the pace predicted three months ago, and the end of Europe's severe recession will not materialise till the second half of next year, the European Commission said in its latest forecast. The region's Brussels-based executive arm said that job cuts in the next two years will almost wipe out employment gains since 2006 and the region's deficit will swell to more than double the EU limit. The economy of the 16 countries sharing the euro will shrink 4% in 2009 and 0.1% in 2010, the commission said today, revising a January estimate for a contraction of 1.9% this year and 0.4% growth in 2010. The commission's new forecasts are in line with numbers from the IMF and the OECD. The IMF said on April 22 that the euro-area economy may shrink 4.2% this year and 0.4% in 2010, while the OECD forecast a contraction of 4.1% this year and 0.3% in 2010.

"The European economy is in the midst of its deepest and most widespread recession in the post-war era," Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said. "The outlook is still gloomy, but for the first time since mid-2007 some positive signals have appeared in the last week," he told a news conference. The ambitious measures taken by governments and central banks in these exceptional circumstances are expected to put a floor under the fall in economic activity this year and enable a recovery next year, Almunia said. "We have the feeling the bottom is closer and closer, and thanks to fiscal stimulus and monetary stimulus we will avoid any new falls," he said.

Maruti Suzuki to launch Ritz on May 15

Maruti Suzuki India is set to launch India’s first BS-IV compliant passenger car, Ritz, on May 15. Ritz is a tallboy hatchback, positioned in the premium A2 market segment. The Maruti Suzuki Ritz, sold as Suzuki Splash in Europe, adopts a contemporary European design and is positioned at the growing premium-end of the compact car market. Ritz will be the first passenger car in India to be compliant with the BS-IV emission norms, in petrol as well as diesel variants. This is many months ahead of the BS-IV norms being applicable in India. With Ritz, Maruti Suzuki aims to consolidate its leadership in the highly competitive compact car segment. The company commands the largest market share of 58% in the A2 segment. Ritz is Maruti Suzuki's eighth new model within 48 months following the launch of Swift, Zen Estilo, SX4, Swift Diesel, Grand Vitara, Swift Dzire and A-star. In the A-2 segment, Ritz will be the 7th offering for the customers by Maruti Suzuki. The Ritz will be available with two different engine options: a brand new K-series 1.2 litre, four-cylinder, 85PS Petrol engine and the super-successful 1.3 litre, 16-valve DDiS, 75PS Diesel engine.

Bharati Shipyard acquires pledged stake in Great Offshore

Bharati Shipyard announced the acquisition of the pledged shares equivalent to 14.89% equity stake in Great Offshore Ltd. at a price of Rs315 per share. Natural Power Ventures Pvt. Ltd. and Dhanshree Properties Pvt. Ltd. - the two wholly owned subsidiaries of Bharati Shipyard will hold the 14.89% stake in Great Offshore. Earlier, the promoters of Great Offshore had pledged 14.89% stake with Advitiya Urja Pvt. Ltd. and Vishudh Urja Pvt. Ltd., two 100% subsidiaries of Bharati Shipyard. Shares of Bharti Shipyard rallied by over 11% to Rs106 after hitting an intra-day high of Rs113 and a low of Rs100. "We have decided to acquire the pledged shares and hold it as a strategic long term investment. We consider the investment in Great Offshore as a significant step towards the company’s aspiration to have foothold in all spheres of the offshore industry. The investment would generate long term benefits for the company and add strength to the company’s position in the international market," said P.C. Kapoor, Managing Director, Bharati Shipyard.

Tatas join low-cost housing bandwagon with Boisor project

Tata Housing Development Co. announced "Shubh Griha", the first of its kind Pan Indian brand that would offer smart value homes to people across India. Shubh Griha would launch its first property in the suburb of Boisar near Mumbai followed by a pan Indian presence across Tier I and II cities. Shubh Griha is a cost-efficient quality product that has been developed post-in-depth research and understanding of the consumer needs. Smart value homes from Shubh Griha will be priced between Rs3.9 lakhs to Rs6.7 lakhs. The company will hold a lottery to allot flats and will sell application forms at Rs200 each from SBI branches. The flats will be delivered in about two years. The apartment size will range between 283 sq ft to 465 sq ft each. "Tata Housing will invest up to Rs1bn in a 1,200-unit township at Boisar," said Brotin Banerjee, MD and CEO, Tata Housing. The company aims to build up to 15,000 budget homes over the next 3-4 years across several cities, including Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, he added. Banerjee said that costs are being kept low by reducing construction cost to about Rs700 a sq ft, and by sharing returns with the land owners. After the purchase of the application form booklet, bookings should be made in the next 20 days along with the initial booking amount of Rs10,000.

Tata Nano attracts over 2.03 lakh bookings

The Tata Nano has drawn over 2.03 lakh fully paid bookings amounting to nearly Rs25bn, Tata Motors said in a statement on Monday. The Tata Nano web site recorded an unprecedented 30mn hits from the date of launch of the car to the closure of the booking period (April 25), nearly 1 million hits a day. About 14 lakh people walked in to Tata Motors’ Showrooms, Croma and Westside stores across the country to catch a glimpse of the car. A total of 6.10 lakh forms were purchased from the booking centres. Around 70% of the 2.03 lakh bookings received were financed, while 30% of the applicants booked in cash by paying fully. About 4,000 cash bookings were made online through www.tatanano.com. Among the three variants of the car, 20% bookings are for the Nano Standard, 30% for the Nano CX and the remaining 50% for the top-end Nano LX. As announced on March 23, the first 100,000 allottees from among the applicants will be chosen through a computerised random selection procedure, and the announcement will be made within 60 days of closure of the booking. Deliveries will start in July, and are expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2010. Tata Motors said it will also announce the allotment of those booking applicants who have expressed their interest in retaining their bookings with the company even if they do not form part of the first 1 lakh allottees. The retainees will earn an interest on their booking amount, effective from that date, the company said. The booking amounts of unsuccessful applicants who have not chosen to retain their booking amounts will be refunded at the same time.

Emerging markets equity and bond funds soak up more cash in early May: EPFR Global Fund

A pattern that started in late March, with cash coming off the sidelines and bypassing funds geared to developed markets in favor of emerging markets equity, High Yield Bond and some sector funds carried into the first week of May. EPFR Global-tracked Asia ex-Japan, Latin America, EMEA and the diversified Global Emerging Markets Equity Funds posted combined inflows of US$3.6bn and Emerging Markets Bond Funds recorded their best week since early 1Q08.

China remains a major driver of both sentiment and fund flows for the emerging markets asset class as its economy responds to aggressive lending by domestic banks. Through May 6 China Equity Funds had taken in fresh money eight of the past nine weeks and 29 of the past 30 trading days, including a y-t-d daily high of US$294 million on May 4.

During a week that also saw fears about the impact of swine flu and the results of the US banking system "stress tests" begin to ebb, EPFR Global-tracked equity funds recorded collective inflows of US$3.69bn. Excluding Money Market Funds, which recorded outflows of US$1.57bn for the week, fixed income funds absorbed another US$2.67bn.

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Market back in bearish groove

Sensex tanks 2.49% from its high of 12180 on widespread selling in banking, metal and power stocks.
The market was once again subject to strong volatile moves and swung nearly 415 points during intra-day trades. Throughout the session, the market
zigzagged between negative and positive zones, making investors edgy. After starting the day slightly higher at 12093, frenetic buying by mid-morning trades helped the index to touch an intra-day high of 12180. However, the market failed to sustain early optimism and drifted into the negative territory in noon trades, with the index crashing below the 11800 mark on hectic selling in reality, metal, information technology, teck and power stocks. The Sensex finally dropped 241 points or 1.98% to close at 11876 while Nifty shed 63 points at 3621.

The market breadth was firm. Of the 2,623 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,266 stocks advanced whereas 1,266 stocks declined. Ninety one stocks ended unchanged. With the exception of the BSE CD Index, all other sectoral indices were down by over 1-3% each. The BSE Bankex Index and the BSE Metal Index and the BSE IT Index lost over 2-3% each, while the BSE Teck Index, the BSE Power Index, the BSE Realty Index and the BSE HC Index declined by more than 0.50-1% each.

Selling was rampant in several index heavyweight stocks. Wipro at Rs355, ICICI Bank at Rs520.60 and Reliance Infrastructure at Rs769.15 slumped by over 5-6% each. Among other major laggards, Sterlite Industries shed 4.93% at Rs491.95, Mahindra & Mahindra plunged 4.28% at Rs494.25, Reliance Communications crumbled by 4.11% at Rs229.60, Tata Steel declined 4.03% at Rs282.50, ACC dropped 3.55% at Rs602.55, Bharat Heavy Electricals tumbled 3.44% at Rs1647.55 and State Bank of India fell by 3.06% at Rs1325.15. HDFC Bank, Hindalco Industries, Infosys, DLF, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki India and National Thermal Power Corporation shed around 1-2% each. Select counters however managed to buck the downtrend and ended in the green. JP Associates rose 2.53% at Rs142.10, Hindustan Unilever moved up by 0.98% at Rs232.90, Larsen & Toubro added 0.42% at Rs990.80 and Grasim Industries ended marginally higher at Rs1,775.20.

Over 6.62 crore shares of Cals Refineries changed hands on the BSE followed by Ispat Industries (3.07 crore shares), Reliance Natural Resources (1.43 crore shares), Suzlon Energy (1.36 crore shares) and HDFC Bank (1.36 crore shares).