Sri Lanka clinch consolation win against India

Sri Lanka clinched a consolation 68-run victory against India in the fifth and final one-day international on Sunday to avoid a series whitewash.

Sri Lanka piled up 320 for eight with opener Tillakaratne Dilshan top-scoring with 97, then bowled out India for 252. India won the series 4-1.

Sri Lanka's bowlers, led by Nuwan Kulasekara (two for 42) and Muttiah Muralitharan (two for 41), produced their best display of the series.

In-form Yuvraj Singh provided some resistance with a powerful 73 but the Indian innings eventually ran out of steam.

Thilina Thushara struck first as Virender Sehwag (six) mishit a straight drive.

Kulasekara then followed up with the wicket of Suresh Raina, who was brilliantly caught by wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara standing up to the stumps.

Sangakkara also caught Gautam Gambhir (13) off Kulasekara to leave India in early trouble on 52 for three.

Yuvraj still attacked and the run rate remained high, but he was unable to build partnerships. Muralitharan swung the game decisively Sri Lanka's way as Yuvraj top-edged a sweep to be caught and bowled.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni kept India's hopes alive for a while with his run-a-ball 53 and all rounder Ravindra Jadeja impressed with 60 not out on debut, but Sri Lanka's slow bowlers squeezed the run rate to maintain the upper-hand.

Earlier, Dilshan and Sangakkara (84) put on 143 for the second wicket for Sri Lanka.

BJP says govt "soft" on cross-border terror

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani accused the government on Sunday of going "soft" in its approach to what he described as cross-border terrorism from Pakistan.

L.K. Advani said the coalition government led by the Congress party had "neither the political will nor the clarity of policy".

"The government's soft and compromising approach to cross-border terrorism ... has endangered India's internal security like never before," Advani told about 8,000 party members.

On Sunday the party concluded a three-day meeting in Nagpur ahead of parliamentary elections in April and May.

A heated war of words between India and Pakistan since the attacks in Mumbai in November that killed 179 people has raised criticism the government was caught off-guard.

Reproaching the government for not making Islamabad "feel the heat", Advani said if elected to power, the BJP will follow a "zero-tolerance and zero-compromise approach" to terrorism.

The Mumbai attack, he said, was "not so much a case of intelligence failure as governance failure".

Internal squabbles and state poll losses have dented the BJP's momentum ahead of the upcoming general elections.

The Congress party has also lost a string of state elections, partly because of inflation and its perceived weak leadership, and has come under criticism for the terror attacks, which India says was planned from a camp in Pakistan.

The BJP, which rose to prominence in the early 1990s on the back of a Hindu revivalist movement, on Saturday reiterated its commitment to building a temple which has been a flashpoint of tension between Hindus and Muslims for years.

Hindu hardliners say a Ram temple in Ayodhya, the site of a 16th century mosque torn down by mobs in 1992, was destroyed by Muslim invaders centuries ago and a mosque built in its place.

About 3,000 people were killed after Hindu mobs destroyed the mosque in some of India's worst Hindu-Muslim riots.

In response, the Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, in a rally in New Delhi on Sunday, said a party that attempted to woo voters in the name of religion could not fight terror.

Satyam suitor backs away; new CEO takes charge

A potential bidder for fraud-tainted India's Satyam Computer Services backed away from a deal on Friday, a day after as the outsourcing company named a new chief executive and secured funding to help retain clients and employees.

U.S.-based iGate Corp now has no interest in buying Satyam due to lack of clarity on liabilities of the company -- snared in India's biggest corporate scandal -- Chief Executive Phaneesh Murthy told Reuters on Friday.

"I have very little interest or no interest left in this company right now," said Murthy, who was previously the global sales chief at rival Infosys Technologies and spearheaded strong sales growth in the key U.S. market.

Satyam has been battling for survival after founder and former chairman Ramalinga Raju disclosed last month profits had been overstated for years. Raju is now in jail pending trial.

On Thursday, Satyam's government-appointed board named A.S. Murty, a company veteran of 15 years, as its new chief executive.

"My interest has progressively been coming down with every passing day. And my concern is that the restatement of financial statements will take anywhere from three to six months," iGate's Murthy told Reuters from Fremont, California.

iGate said last month it was keen to acquire Satyam, helped by private equity funds, joining other potential bidders including Larsen and Toubro, attracted by Satyam's global clients.

Analysts say it is unlikely an outline for a bidding process could be framed until there is clarity on changes to India's takeover rules and a restatement of Satyam's accounts.

"The key is how fast the company gets the things sorted out, because as time passes the interest of potential buyers will keep coming down," said Tejas Doshi, head of research at Sushil Finance.

Shares in Satyam, whose market value has plunged to about $670 million from $7 billion in May 2008, were up 5 percent.

Satyam's board has named Goldman Sachs and India's Avendus to find a strategic bidder for the company.

"We are not getting any comfort that the government will actually pick up liabilities and I think the government stand publicly is that they will not pick up any liability," iGate's Murthy said, referring to Satyam's legal and other liabilities.

India's Spice Group and the diversified Hinduja Group are among those who have shown interest to acquire Satyam, attracted by its 600-plus clients such as General Electric, Cisco and Coca Cola.

National Australia Bank, Australia's largest lender, said on Thursday it would suspend new contracts awarded to Satyam

Data points to tough times for Indian economy

Indian manufacturing activity contracted at the start of 2009 and its exports shrank at the end of 2008, pointing to more pain for Asia's third-largest economy as the sharp global slowdown bites.

Exports fell an annual 1.1 percent in December to $12.7 billion, a third straight fall, data showed on Monday, while a survey showed a third successive month of contraction in the manufacturing sector in January.

With growth forecast to hit a six-year low of 7 percent or less in the 2008/09 fiscal year ending March 31, three years of growth at or above 9 percent and ambitions of reaching double-digit rates are a fading memory.

"It'll take time for the economy to bottom out. Right now, the momentum is downwards," said Sonal Varma, an economist at Nomura. She expects the economy to hit a trough in the April-June quarter.

December's fall in exports was not as sharp as annual falls of 9.9 percent in November and 12.1 percent in October.

Imports rose 8.8 percent from a year earlier to $20.3 billion in December, although oil imports fell 30.9 percent to $4.7 billion.

That helped the trade deficit narrow to $7.6 billion in December compared with $10.1 billion in November.

"Overall, the outlook for exports remain subdued," said Shubhada Rao, chief economist at Yes Bank in Mumbai.

"With subdued exports and capital flows waning, the rupee would remain weak compared with last year."

The ABN AMRO Bank purchasing managers'index (PMI) , based on a survey of 500 companies, rose to a seasonally adjusted 46.7 in January from November's 44.4, but still showed manufacturing activity was contracting.

A reading above 50 signals economic expansion while a figure below 50 suggests contraction.

"The details of the PMI survey suggest that the outlook for the sector remains worrisome," said Gaurav Kapur, a senior economist at ABN Amro Bank.

The acting finance minister said the government, facing national elections by mid-May, would look to boost demand in rural areas and industries that were highly labour intensive to counter the global slowdown.

"We have to concentrate on domestic demand creation. We must support the development of those sections which immediately boost growth and throw up employment opportunities," Pranab Mukherjee told reporters after meeting with the heads of state-run banks.

At a policy review last week, the Reserve Bank cut its growth forecast to 7.0 percent with a downward bias from 7.5-8.0 percent, bringing it more in line with private sector forecasts.

It left key interest rates steady, saying banks still had to pass on the benefits of previous cuts, but analysts expect another reduction in coming months to shore up the slowing economy.

On Monday, the head of leading lender State Bank of India said it may cut its prime lending rate further as liquidity is comfortable, although its bad loans may rise.

"We can deal with it, but we need to be vigilant about it," Chairman O.P. Bhatt told reporters.