According to RBI Governor D. Subbarao, domestic factors could have accounted for the economic slowdown in India. The varying severity of the global crisis meant that the central bank had limited options at its disposal to respond. Declining investments in the nation were also a worrying situation for the nation. (Economic Times)

Sun Pharmaceuticals – Co. has agreed to buy the remaining stake in Taro Pharma, a U.S based firm for USD 580 m. Sun Pharma already owns a 66 percent stake in the co. (Financial Times)

According to data by the National Housing Bank (NHB), home prices rose by an average of 10.5 percent in 16 cities in India for the 2Q12 period out of 20 countries covered. Pune saw the maximum price rise followed by Bangalore, Mumbai saw its prices rise by 3.7 percent as compared to others. (Economic Times)

Reliance Communications – Anil Ambani led RCom plans on investing a total of INR 1500 cr to expand its network and data services. (Economic Times)

Go Air – Budget airline firm has entered into a 10 year parts supply and maintenance programme with Lufthansa Technik. (Economic Times)

ONGC Ltd – Oil exploration firm would set up a urea manufacturing plant in Tripura, India in a joint-venture operation which is expected to have an outlay of INR 5000 cr.

INDIA EARNINGS

Tata Steel – Co. saw its 1Q12 profit decline almost 89 percent to INR 597.88 cr on a y/y basis vs estimates of INR 670 cr.  Sales rose 1.89 percent y/y to INR 33547 cr. The co. was affected by weak demand for steel and lower commodity prices in Europe. (Business Standard)

Coal India – Coal mining firm saw its 1Q12 profit rise 8 percent y/y to INR 4469 cr vs expectations of INR 4440 cr.  Sales rose 15.5 percent to INR 18572 cr on a y/y basis vs exp. of INR 16650 cr. The co. plans to hit a target of 470 m tonnes of coal supply in FY2012-13. The co. is also under pressure from the government of India to supply coal compulsorily to state-owned power generating firms. (Business Standard)

EUROPE

British Petroleum plc – Co. is to sell its stake completely in its oil refinery in California for USD 2.5 b. The co. acquiring the refinery is Tesoro Corp. BP is in the process of selling many of its oil refineries incl. the Carson and Texas city refinery. It plans to cut its downstream operations and focus on the more profitable segments. The co. is also under pressure to divest assets to raise cash to fund expenses from its Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (Financial Times)

Greece reported its 2Q12 GDP data which contracted 6.2 percent vs a fall of 6.5 percent in the prv quarter. The minor improvement still did not convince the markets that Greece would turnaround the corner. (Financial Times)

NORTH AMERICA

Google Inc – Co. plans to cut around 4000 jobs at its Motorola Mobility unit to focus more on production of high-end smartphones. The loss making division was acquired in 2011 for USD 12.5 b. (Financial Times)

Julius Baer – Co. is to purchase wealth management operations of Merrill Lynch outside the U.S for USD 840 m. (Financial Times)

Investor of the Year Awards are given to companies that have made big steps in their development through effective and sustainable investments, the agency said.

“The awards recognise companies that have achieved significant progress in 2011, which contributed to the development of Bulgarian economy, created new jobs and stimulated faster economic growth, adhering to high standards of corporate social responsibility,” InvestBulgaria Agency said.
Lufthansa Technik was given the prize in the asset investment category for large companies.
In 2011, Lufthansa Technik invested a total of 25.5 million leva in its repair facility in Sofia serving aircraft from all over Europe.
The asset investment category for small and medium-sized enterprises has been topped by Finnish investor Amer Sports, one of the largest global producers of sports gear.
In 2011, Amer Sports Bulgaria invested 7.7 million leva in its ski production factory in the mountain town of Chepelare.
Hewlett-Packard is Bulgaria’s No. 1 investor in the category for creating high-added value jobs.
In 2011, HP Bulgaria created a total of 1150 jobs as part of the expansion of its HP Global Delivery Center Bulgaria -HP GDC in Sofia, originally announced in 2010.
The average monthly salary at HP GDC is more than 2400 leva, and the average insurance income is 1942 leva – well above Bulgaria’s average figures, the agency said.
Asarel Medet Jsc, a copper mining and processing company based in the town of Panagyurishte, won the Investor of the Year award in the “Green Investment” category for investing 140 million leva in two innovative projects for copper processing.
Power utility EVN Bulgaria was given the prize in the category for innovations by investing 69.8 million leva in the new co-generation plant of the Plovdiv-North thermal power plant, inputting technologies that are novel not only for Bulgaria but for the entire Balkan region.
“There was a great variety of investment projects in almost all sectors. This comes to demonstrate that even in a hard year such as 2011 firms haven’t given up at all on investing in Bulgaria,” InvestBulgaria Agency chief executive Borislav Stefanov said.
A total of 30 companies took part in the race for Bulgaria’s 2011 investment awards. Their projects were evaluated by a seven-member jury.

The guests stayed late to mingle and drink, while Joanna Dong, Jase Sng, Alvin Ang & Mei Sheum brought the guests some live jazz.

That’s according to Machinists Union District Lodge 751 representatives who took part in Gov. Chris Gregoire’s trade mission to Europe.

“This is the kind of good that happens when business, labor and government work together for the benefit of all,” said Jesse Cotte, a District 751 staffer who is AJAC’s chairman. “These deals will provide Washington residents – including potentially some of our members – with new opportunities for good-paying aerospace careers.”

Both of the deals signed Friday involved German companies and AJAC, the state-funded apprenticeship committee that is strongly supported by District 751.

The first deal was with AJAC and Capable Technologies, a Hamburg-based aerospace consulting firm.

Under terms of the deal, Capable Technologies will help Washington state’s second- and third-tier aerospace suppliers land more work with Airbus, by teaching them about Airbus business practices and production requirements.

In return, AJAC will help Capable Technologies’ European clients to better compete for Boeing supplier contracts.

The goal is two-fold, said Laura Hopkins, who is AJAC’s executive director and a former District 751 Machinist.

For starters, “we’re helping suppliers in Washington access European markets,” Hopkins said. Many companies – like Triumph Composites in Spokane, where workers are part of Machinists Union Local 86 – already are doing work for Airbus. With the new agreement, they should be able to land more work with both Airbus and its top-tier suppliers, she said.

The second potential benefit is that European suppliers who land contracts to do Boeing work are more likely to either set up secondary operations in Washington, in order to be closer to final assembly lines – or even move to the state entirely.

Either one would create more work for Washington residents, Hopkins said.

Friday’s second trade deal involved AJAC and Lufthansa Technical Training, which trains workers for Lufthansa Technik, which is the largest commercial-jet maintenance and repair company in Europe.

Under the terms of that deal, Lufthansa Technical Training will help AJAC set up one-of-a-kind program in North America to train jet maintenance and repair mechanics to meet standards laid out by EASA – the European Aviation Safety Agency.

EASA is one of two global airline safety agencies – the other being the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States – and generally, its training standards for mechanics are considered to be higher than those imposed by the FAA. As a result, most airlines outside the United States comply with EASA standards.

Once Washington has a school training jet maintenance mechanics to meet the EASA standards, companies here will be able to bid on contracts to do repairs and overhauls on planes operated by overseas airlines, Hopkins said.

The deal also brings Washington one step closer to its goal of being the world leader in aerospace training and education, she said.

Gov.  Gregoire praised the two deals, saying that it’s not enough for Washington to be just the largest aerospace cluster in the world, it also has to remain a step ahead of the rest of the world in terms of quality.

During a visit to Airbus’ Hamburg plant, where it assembles A320 jets and installs interiors for A380s, Gregoire reminded Airbus executives that Washingon state is home to the second-largest group of Airbus suppliers in the United States.

“We are very proud of our workforce,” the governor said. “We are very proud of our suppliers. We very much want to keep doing business with you and your team.”

Originally formed in 1935 to represent hourly workers at the Boeing Co., District Lodge 751 of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers now represents some 28,000 working men and women at 44 employers across the states of Washington, Oregon and California. They are among the more than 35,000 Machinists Union members working for airlines and aerospace manufacturers in Washington state.

In 2010, District 751 workers ratified contracts with 22 employers without a single workday lost to strikes.

Follow our latest tweets at http://twitter.com/IAM751

Lufthansa Boeing 737-330 D-ABXL (msn 23531) ZRH (Rolf Wallner) (will upgrade interiors), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Unite Here represents workers throughout the U.S. and Canada who work in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, and airport industries. The union has issued the following press release which is critical of Southwest Airlines using the Lufthansa Technik maintenance program for its Boeing 737s:

“In 2005, Lufthansa Technik helped Southwest Airlines migrate their Boeing 737 maintenance program to a new model that promised to be good for business. In a press release, Lufthansa wrote, “The significant reduction in the number of maintenance tasks results in savings of up to 30 percent on maintenance costs, with less time in the hangar corresponding to extra revenue-earning flying hours.”

After a hole ripped through the cabin of a Southwest Boeing 737-300 flying over Arizona last week, such proclamations ought to cause pause.

While the FAA has ordered a review of the agency’s older plane inspections, the union Unite Here today (April 7) called on the FAA to also review how cost-reduction programs such as those pushed by Lufthansa pose risks to proper execution of existing FAA standards.

Last Friday’s incident is not the first cause for concern from Southwest since the airline instituted the revamped maintenance program with Lufthansa Technik. In 2008, the FAA sought civil penalties against Southwest for “flying planes that were not inspected for cracks.” Nicholas A. Sabatini, the agency’s associate administrator for aviation safety at the time, said in the Washington Post, “The FAA is taking action against Southwest Airlines for a failing to follow rules that are designed to protect passengers and crew.”

Lufthansa Technik had a long relationship with Southwest, dating at least back to a 2001 project to revamp Southwest’s maintenance management. Lufthansa Technik still listed Southwest as a client as late as 2009.

While Southwest voluntarily grounded 15 percent of its Boeing 737 fleet after the incident, Lufthansa airline said on Monday that it had no plans to ground its own Boeing 737 aircraft. After Friday’s incident, Lufthansa only inspected 3 of its 33 737-300 planes for the metal fatigue that impacted Southwest, on the grounds that these are the only three from the same “series” as the Southwest jet. Lufthansa has the second largest Boeing 737-300 fleet in the world.

Lufthansa Technik is the aviation company’s maintenance subsidiary. In 2010, it accounted for 24 percent of Lufthansa’s total group operating profit.”

Copyright Photo: Rolf Wallner. Please click on the photo for additional information.

Airline SAS posts surprise Q3 pretax profit

EasyJet October traffic up 6.6 pct

Air Berlin PLC / Air Berlin: Good capacity utilization for October

Air Berlin to prioritise profit margins over market share

Ryanair keeps marketing costs in check

Bmibaby cuts jobs at Manchester Airport

Lufthansa Technik Opens Milan Maintenance Center

American Airlines October Traffic Down 2.6%

Ryanair routes take in Poland

Spanish airline Vueling to offer PayPal payment option

Also angefangen mit meiner Ankunft back in Germany am 30.07.08.:

Ich kam rechtzeitig in HH an und wurde von meinen lieben mit riesem Plakat und allem drum und dran empfangen. Danach ging ab zu Mum & Dad in Garten nen kühles Alster trinken. Irgendwann haben sich dann alle verabschiedet und dann saßen Mum, Dad, Dani und ich allein im Garten bis Dani sagte, dass Dennis die Grillkohle angeschmissen hat und wir doch bitte kommen sollen. Essen wäre fertig. Tja gesagt getan… Essen war fertig aber nicht nur Dennis hat uns erwartet, NEIN ALLE WAREN SIE DA!!! Und ich dacht ich könnt schön schlafen gehen! Nix da, war ne sehr schöne Überraschungs-”party”. Nach über 40 Stunden wach sein, bin ich dann aber auch gegen 23 Uhr ins Bett gegangen.

Vorstellungsgespräch 31.07.08:

Am Donnerstag hatte ich dann gleich das Vorstellungsgespräch bei der Lufthansa Technik. Sehr netten Eindruck habe ich gewonnen. Und wohl auch hinterlassen, denn am Di. Morgen beim Frühstück habe ich einen Anruf bekommen von meiner Zeitarbeitsfirma, mit der frohen Botschaft, dass die Lufthansa Technik mich einstellen möchte. Man, meine Gefühle in dem Moment kann ich gar net beschreiben. Es war unglaublich!!! Kurzerhand habe ich dann das Vorstellungsgespräch abgesagt, dass ich eigentlich am gleichen Tag noch gehabt hätte.  Mittwoch den 06.08.08 bin ich dann gleich zur Zeitarbeitsfirma, um den Vertrag zu unterschreiben. Und ab dem 11.08.08 arbeite ich nun schon! Also ne Menge passiert in den ersten Tagen hier in Deutschland.

Am 14.08.08:

haben meine Mum und ich bissl geschnackt wg. nach HH ziehen oder nicht und dann hab ich gemerkt, dass ich nicht wirklich nach HH ziehen will, sonden es nur so praktisch wäre wg. kurzem Arbeitsweg, aber mein Herz und Freunde und Family liegen halt in Buxtehude. Kurzerhand haben wir in die Zeitung geschaut und gleich ne passende Wohnungsanzeige gefunden. Gleich angerufen und noch nen Termin am gleichen Tag vereinbart. Suuuper süße Wohnung 5 Min. vom Bahnhof entfernt. Und gerade eben wurde mir die Wohnung zugesagt!

Jaa soweit klappt alles super! Und ich hoffe dass es auch so bleibt! Werd berichten!!!

Ich hab was hoffentlich ziemlich erfreuliches mitzuteilen… Ich habe am Donnerstag ein Vorstellungsgespraech bei der Lufthansa Technik als Sachbearbeiterin fuer die internationalen VIP- und Businessaviation Kunden. :-O Ja hoert sich ja schon mal nicht schlecht an…

Wie es dazu gekommen ist… Ich habe mich bei verschiedenen Zeitarbeitsfirmen beworben, am 22.07. habe ich dann eine Mail bekommen, dass die Lufthansas Technik o. g. Job besetzen moechte und ich eine von 2 Bewerberinnen bin, bei denen die Kenntnisse & Faehingkeiten passen. Kleiner Nachteil sagte sie, den ich schon nicht mehr als Nachteil ansehe… Der Job waere Schichtarbeit. Ist ja klar, die Menschen in der Welt schlafen nicht alle zur gleichen Zeit!

Also luden sie mich zum Vorstellungsgespraech ein. Eigendlich ist der Bewerbungsablauf schon vorbei, allerdings wollen sie mich noch hineinnehmen. Da ich aber erst am 30.07. in Detschland bin wurde der Termin dann gleich auf den 31.07. gelegt, da Jobbeginn schon am 04.08. waere…

Soooo, Jetlag hin oder her… ich will diesen Job!!! Keine Zeit um ueberhaupt runter und anzukommen, aber immerhin nen verdammt coolen Job…

Des Weiteren hab ich in der 1. Augustwoche noch 4 Vorstellungsgespraeche aber irgendwie beschaeftigen die mich im Mom. so gar net… WILL DIESEN JOB!!!

Ich werd auf jeden Fall berichten!

Till then… have a great weekend!!!