Sunday, March 28, 2010

“IPL running business, BCCI promoting it: Gill - Press Trust of India” plus 3 more

“IPL running business, BCCI promoting it: Gill - Press Trust of India” plus 3 more

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IPL running business, BCCI promoting it: Gill - Press Trust of India

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 11:22 PM PDT

STAFF WRITER 11:4 HRS IST

New Delhi, Mar 28 (PTI) Lashing out at Indian Premier League for using "cricket as an instrument of business", Sports Minister M S Gill has accused the BCCI of changing the rules of the game to allow the cash-awash Twenty20 league run a commercial venture.

Gill said the rules of cricket had been changed by the IPL, and acquiesced by the BCCI, by way of giving batsman advantage over bowlers to promote entertainment, allowing mongoose bat and shortening boundaries, all to earn profit.

"What the IPL is doing, the bowler is only the victim and the bat -- now you have a mongoose bat (and) I look forward to a cobra bat. The boundaries have been shortened ... the whole thing is to entertain the masses. And the bowler is just an instrument for this promotion. IPL is fundamentally business...

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Banks Could Lose Student Loan Business - Time

Posted: 24 Mar 2010 06:14 AM PDT

(WASHINGTON) — Banks and other private lenders are about to lose a $70 billion-a-year student loan business, part of a massive overhaul of college assistance programs that has received an unexpected boost from President Barack Obama's health care success.

Industry lobbyists have watched helplessly as Democrats and the Obama administration appear on the verge of shifting student lending from private banks to the federal government. See TIME's special report on paying for college.

Under the measure, private banks would no longer get fees from the government for acting as middlemen in loans to low- and middle-income students. With those savings, the government would increase Pell Grants to needy students and make it easier for workers burdened by student loans to pay them back.

The bill would mean the loss of billions of dollars in business to student lending giant Sallie Mae as well as large financial institutions such as Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.

In an unusual twist, the fate of the student loan overhaul went from certain death in the Senate to certain victory thanks to Republican Scott Brown's election in January in the race for the seat of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. See pictures of a diverse group of American teens.

Until then, the legislation was not moving in the Senate because it lacked 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. But after Brown's election, Democrats decided that their health care initiative could pass only if Congress approved a companion bill that resolved differences between the House and Senate. That expedited measure requires only a simple majority vote. The companion bill became a home to the student lending proposal and gave it a new lease on life.

The Senate began debating that bill Tuesday and is set to vote on it later this week.

Earlier this month, six Democratic senators — Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Mark Warner and Jim Webb of Virginia, Tom Carper of Delaware and Bill Nelson of Florida — wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid voicing concern over the president's lending overhaul plan.

But on Wednesday, only two of them — Ben Nelson and Lincoln — indicated they planned to vote against the Senate "fix it" bill. Nelson's home state is headquarters for Nelnet, another major lender and a big employer in the state. "I think there are efficiencies in the private sector that you don't have in the government, but it's not going to affect my vote on reconciliation," Webb said.

Private lenders have conducted an all-out lobbying effort against the bill, arguing it would cost thousands of jobs and unnecessarily put the program in the hands of the government. See pictures of college mascots.

"The industry plays a role in maintaining competition and choice," said Scott Talbott, the chief lobbyist for the Financial Services Roundtable, an industry group. "If the government is the only lender, there is no choice."

Under the college lending program, financial institutions provide college loans at low interest rates, and the government guarantees the loans in the event of default and subsidizes private lenders when necessary to keep rates low. "This is a case of corporate welfare, a giveaway to bankers and to Sallie Mae," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

Republicans portray the direct lending plan as part of a pattern of government takeovers. Citing the health care bill and the government's bailout of the financial and automobile industries, Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said the student loan bill "is the fourth major step forward in the push to drive this country down a road towards a European-style government."

See the 10 best college presidents.

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Business briefs - Staunton News Leader

Posted: 26 Mar 2010 11:23 PM PDT

Stocks give up early gains for second straight day

NEW YORK — Stocks closed mixed for a second day after investors grew pessimistic about the market's ability to keep its rally going.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 9 points to 10,850.36 Friday. It had been up as much as 68 after European leaders announced a plan to help Greece with its debts. A similar advance and retreat occurred Thursday. Analysts see that pattern as a sign of an overheated market. The Dow has climbed 16 of the last 21 days.

Major stock indexes still managed to rise for a fourth straight week.

Gov't unveils plan to shrink home loans

WASHINGTON — Under pressure to stem the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration launched a plan Friday to reduce the amount some troubled borrowers owe on their home loans and give jobless homeowners a temporary break.

Administration officials cautioned that the plan won't stop all foreclosures or help all troubled homeowners. Instead, officials said their goal is to meet their original target, announced last year, of helping 3 million to 4 million borrowers avoid foreclosure.

Administration officials played down any notion that the new plan would solve the foreclosure epidemic. About 6 million homeowners have missed at least two months of payments.

Unemployment rates stabilize as layoffs slow

WASHINGTON — State unemployment rates stabilized last month, reflecting a broader nationwide trend, according to a Labor Department report Friday. Sixteen states said their jobless rate was unchanged in February, seven reported declines and 27 reported increases.

That's an improvement from January, when 30 states saw their rates rise, and much better than December, when joblessness rose in 43 states.

AT&T to take $1B non-cash charge for health care

NEW YORK — AT&T Inc. will take a $1 billion non-cash accounting charge in the first quarter because of the health care overhaul and may cut benefits it offers to current and retired workers.

The charge is the largest disclosed so far. Earlier this week, AK Steel Corp., Caterpillar Inc., Deere & Co. and Valero Energy announced similar accounting charges, saying the health care law that President Barack Obama signed Tuesday will raise their expenses. On Friday, 3M Co. said it will also take a charge of $85 million to $90 million.

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Parent company of business that built ruined Cowboys' facility seeks creditor protection - Los Angeles Times

Posted: 26 Mar 2010 04:13 PM PDT

FILE - In this Saturday, May 2, 2009 picture, firefighters investigate the collapsed canopy that covered the Dallas Cowboys indoor football facility in Irving, Texas. In a statement issued Thursday, March 25, 2010, Saskatchewan-based Cover-All Building Systems Inc., the parent company of the firm that built the Dallas Cowboys' ruined practice facility, says it has filed for protection from its creditors under Canadian law governing bankruptcies. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) (Matt Slocum, AP / May 2, 2009)
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