Indian panel approves Etihad purchase of Jet stake

NEW DELHI — India's foreign investment regulator conditionally approved on Monday a $379 million deal by Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways to buy a 24 percent stake in Jet Airways, the first foreign investment in an Indian airline since restrictions were eased on aviation deals last year.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board ruled that Jet Airways must obtain government approval for any changes in the shareholders' agreement with Etihad. It said any arbitration between the two carriers must be conducted under Indian law, the Press Trust of India news agency said.

The deal still needs to be approved by India's capital markets regulator and the Cabinet.

Etihad has reduced the number of directors it will have on the airline's board to two from three proposed earlier, leaving effective control in the hands of Jet Airways.

Mumbai-based Jet, founded in 1993, is one of India's largest domestic airlines and its second-largest international carrier behind state-owned Air India.

It has been aggressively expanding its routes and fleet and now flies to 42 domestic and 21 international destinations but has struggled for years to make a profit.

Jet will likely use Etihad's cash infusion to expand its fleet of 100 aircraft.

India has 1.2 billion people but airline passengers, both domestic and international, number only 160 million a year. The Sydney-based Center for Aviation predicts that number will nearly triple to 450 million by 2020.

It said in a recent report that Jet plans to increase its number of operational wide-body jets from 18 to about 30 over the next 12 to 18 months.

Last year, the Indian government decided to allow up to 49 percent foreign ownership of airlines as part of reforms to help revive a slowing economy.

Fast-growing Etihad was set up in the United Arab Emirates in 2003 and recently has been building partnerships and other alliances around the world as part of its fierce competition with Gulf rivals Qatar Airways and Dubai-based Emirates.

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Pending sales of US homes slip from 6-year high

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes dipped in June from a six-year high in May, a sign that sales could stabilize over the next few months.

The National Association of Realtors said Monday that its seasonally adjusted index for pending home sales ticked down 0.4 percent to 110.9 in June. The May reading was revised lower by a percentage point to 111.3, but it was still the highest since December 2006.

The slight decline suggests higher mortgage rates may be starting to slow sales. Still, signed contracts are 10.9 percent higher than they were a year ago. There is generally a one- to two-month lag between a signed contract and a completed sale.

Economists were relieved after seeing only a modest decline. They said that shows higher mortgage rates are having only a small impact on the home sales market.

"All told ... pending home sales held up fantastically well," Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG, an institutional brokerage, said in a note to clients.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage has jumped a full percentage point since early May and reached a two-year high of 4.51 percent in late June.

Rates surged after Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Federal Reserve could slow its bond-buying program later this year if the economy continues to improve. The Fed's bond purchases have kept long-term interest rates low, encouraging more borrowing and spending.

In recent weeks, Bernanke and other Fed members have stressed that any change in the bond-buying program will depend on the economy's health, not a set calendar date.

Since those comments, interest rates have declined. The average on the 30-year mortgage was 4.31 percent last week.

Even with higher mortgage rates, signed contracts increased in the West last month. They were unchanged in the Northeast and fell in the South and Midwest.

Home sales and prices have climbed since early last year, buoyed by solid hiring and historically low mortgage rates. Housing has been an important driver of economic growth this year as other parts of the economy have languished, such as manufacturing and business investment.

Sales of previously occupied homes slipped last month, after a big rise in May to the highest level in 3 ½ years.

But new-home sales jumped in June to the fastest pace in five years, boosting confidence that the housing recovery is strengthening.

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Fog delaying some flights at Denver Int'l Airport

DENVER — Fog is delaying flights by about an hour in Denver, and some smaller planes are being diverted to other airports because of the low visibility.

The fog is expected to lift by 9 a.m. Monday.

About 15 commuter flights headed to Denver International Airport have had to instead land in Colorado Springs, Durango and Eagle, as well as to Albuquerque, N.M., and Rapid City, S.D.

Fog is unusual in Denver, which boasts of having more than 300 sunny days a year.

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Justin Smith to serve as Bloomberg Media CEO

NEW YORK — Bloomberg LP says that Justin B. Smith will serve as CEO of its media group, which includes its TV, radio, magazine and digital businesses around the world.

The financial news and information company said Monday that Andrew Lack, who had served as CEO of Bloomberg Media Group since 2008, will become the group's chairman.

Smith will join Bloomberg on Sept. 16.

He most recently served as president of Atlantic Media. Bloomberg says Smith helped transform The Atlantic from a "largely print-centric magazine" to a multi-platform media franchise. Before joining Atlantic Media, he launched the U.S. edition of The Week magazine and was head of corporate strategy at The Economist Group.

Bloomberg is a private company founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who isn't involved in day-to-day decision-making.

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Foreign airlines urged to use GPS at San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO — The Federal Aviation Administration is advising all foreign airlines to use a GPS system instead of visual approaches when landing at San Francisco International Airport in the wake of the deadly Asiana Airlines crash.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/17anAKZ ) the FAA issued a recommendation Sunday that the airlines use the GPS system when landing on main runways instead of relying on just their eyes and cockpit instruments.

Pilots on Asiana Airlines Flight 214 had been cleared to make a visual approach when the plane crash-landed on a runway at the San Francisco airport July 6. Three girls died, and 180 people were injured.

The FAA says that since then, pilots for Asiana and other foreign carriers have had more aborted landings than usual while trying to make visual approaches. The agency didn't provide exact numbers.

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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com

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Student entrepreneurs venture into business

Fresh-roasted coffee, artisan mango liqueur and glow-in-the-dark ultimate frisbee gear — those are some of the products ready to launch out of a Babson College summer crash course for young entrepreneurs.

The 10-week summer venture program featured 14 proposals from undergraduate and MBA students, hand-picked from more than 100 applications. The students presented their products last week to an auditorium packed with potential investors and mentors at the Wellesley school.

"It's a 10-week summer camp for our best and brightest young entrepreneurs," program director Steve Gold said.

Many of the companies were the result of years of planning and experience, but were jump-started by the program.

Hans Homberger, an MBA student from Costa Rica, unveiled a plan to sell the coffee beans his family has grown for four generations directly to consumers under the family name for the first time.

"I grew up looking at my grandpa and my dad going every week to the farms. It's not just the business, it's something I feel passionate about," Homberger said.

Homberger presented Fourth Wheel Coffee, his business that will ship Central American coffee directly to customers' front doors within 15 days of roasting instead of the months that commercial coffee can spend in a warehouse, 
he said.

"I've been working on this concept for over a year. In these past 10 weeks, I feel like I was really pushed to question everything I had learned already," said MBA student Emily Lagasse. "Because of that, I have a final product that I am 100 percent confident in and ready to move forward with."

Her gourmet dog food business, Fedwell, was inspired by the near-death experience of her dog. Lagasse said her high-end dog food is made without chemicals or preservatives and is more nutritious than conventional dog food.

Because of the presentations, many of the students made connections with key investors and industry insiders, Gold said.

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Radio, TV personality David 'Kidd' Kraddick dies

David "Kidd" Kraddick, the high-octane radio and TV host of the "Kidd Kraddick in the Morning" show heard on dozens of U.S. radio stations, has died at a charity golf event near New Orleans, a publicist said. Kraddick was 53.

The Texas-based radio and television personality, whose program is syndicated by YEA Networks, died at his Kidd's Kids charity function in the New Orleans suburb of Gretna on Saturday, said publicist Ladd Biro in releasing a network statement.

"He died doing what he loved," said Biro, of the public relations firm Champion Management, speaking with AP by phone early Sunday. He said he had no further details on the death.

The "Kidd Kraddick in the Morning" show is heard on more than 75 Top 40 and Hot AC radio stations and is a leader among most-listened-to contemporary morning programs, Biro said. The radio program also is transmitted globally on American Forces Radio Network while the show's cast is also seen weeknights on the nationally syndicated TV show "Dish Nation," he added.

"All of us with YEA Networks and the "Kidd Kraddick in the Morning" crew are heartbroken over the loss of our dear friend and leader," the network statement said. "Kidd devoted his life to making people smile every morning, and for 21 years his foundation has been dedicated to bringing joy to thousands of chronically and terminally ill children."

"He died doing what he loved, and his final day was spent selflessly focused on those special children that meant the world to him," it added.

The Dallas Morning News reported Kraddick had been a staple in the Dallas market since 1984, starting in a late-night debut. The newspaper said he moved into morning show work by the early 1990s in that market and his show began to gain wider acclaim and entered into syndication by 2001 as he gained a following in cities nationwide.

Kraddick would have turned 54 on Aug. 22, according to Biro.

The network statement said the cause of death would be released "at the appropriate time."

Many fans, celebrities included, tweeted condolences and talked about the death on social media sites. One Texas radio station where he was a mainstay ran photographs on its website of Kraddick at the microphone.

Word of Kraddick's passing spread quickly via social media.

"RIP Kidd Kraddick. You were an amazing man and a friend. You are already missed," Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban tweeted.

"Oh Man, I just heard Kidd Kraddick died! He's my childhood dj. What a sad day. His poor family. He was always nice 2 me from the beginning," singer Kelly Clarkson tweeted.

Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers, only recently announced as the headline act of a planned first-ever Kidd's Kids charity concert in Dallas next month, wrote: "The sad sad news about Kidd Kraddick is shocking. He will be missed greatly."

Richie Tomblin, described as the head golf professional at the Timberlane Country Club in Gretna on its website, told AP that Kraddick wasn't looking well when he saw him getting ready for Saturday's charity event.

"He came out and he borrowed my golf clubs and went out to the driving range," Tomblin told AP when contacted by phone. "It's kind of a freaky situation. He came out. He practiced a little bit. He hit the ball at the first tee and wasn't feeling good and after that I didn't see him."

Tomblin said the hundreds of amateur golfers taking part went ahead with the event Saturday. He added he only found out afterward that Kraddick had died and he was still shaken about it.

"I'm still trying to figure it out. I really don't know what happened. Everyone keeps texting me asking, 'What's going on?' I really don't know," said Tomblin.

He added he was reluctant to even touch the set of clubs Kraddick had borrowed Saturday for his practice swings.

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Co-founder of Russia's biggest search engine dies

MOSCOW — Ilya Segalovich, the co-founder of Russia's largest search engine, Yandex, has died, the company said Sunday. He was 48.

Segalovich died Saturday at a London hospital, Yandex director general and fellow founder Arkady Volozh said.

Volozh said in the company's blog that Segalovich was diagnosed with stomach cancer last year. He responded positively to chemical therapy, but then developed a brain cancer that caused his death.

On Thursday, Yandex announced Segalovich had died but then corrected itself within hours, saying he was on life support with no brain function. Volozh said doctors removed the life support after it became clear Segalovich couldn't be saved.

"The only hope we had was a diagnosis error," Volozh said. "We couldn't make a miracle. We only could offer a chance for it to happen."

Segalovich's body will be brought home Wednesday, Volozh said. Funeral plans have yet to be announced.

Segalovich founded Yandex in 1997 with Volozh, his school friend. The company has been a Russian success story, with a share of 62 percent of the search engine market in Russia compared with Google's 25.6 percent.

Segalovich invented the engine's name, derived from Yet Another Index, and served as its chief technological officer.

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Russian cargo ship docks with space station

MOSCOW — Russia's space agency says that its cargo ship has docked successfully with the International Space Station.

Roscosmos says the unmanned Progress M-20M spacecraft moored at the station Sunday about six hours after its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The docking was performed in automatic mode.

The agency says the ship has delivered about 2.4 metric tons of supplies to the space outpost, including fuel, food, water and scientific equipment.

The 2011 retirement of the U.S. shuttle fleet has left Russia's Soyuz spacecraft as the sole means to ferry crews to and from the space outpost. The unmanned cargo version of the Soyuz, the Progress, delivers the bulk of station supplies.

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Treasury's Lew: Congress needs to pass debt limit

WASHINGTON — Congress needs to raise the debt limit and take away the "cloud of uncertainty" about the nation's ability to pay its bills, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

"The fight over the debt limit in 2011 hurt the economy, even though, in the end, we saw an extension of the debt limit. We saw confidence fall, and it hurt the economy. Congress needs to do its job. It needs to finish its work on appropriation bills. It needs to pass a debt limit," Lew said on NBC's Meet The Press.

Senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill are trying to come up with must-do legislation to keep federal agencies running after Sept. 30 and prevent the possibility of a government shutdown. At issue is what is normally routine: a plug-the-gap measure to fund the government for a few weeks or months until a deal can be worked out on appropriations bills giving agencies their operating budgets for the full 2014 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

However, some Democratic liberals don't want to vote to continue to fund the government at new, lower levels mandated by the automatic, across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration. And some conservatives are making a last stand against President Barack Obama's new health care law. In addition, Senate Democrats are resistant to a $20 billion spending cut wanted by many Republicans.

Lew maintained that the president won't negotiate over the debt limit but stopped short, however, of saying that Obama would shut down the government.

"Drawing this to brinksmanship is a mistake. It's bad for the economy for it to be brinksmanship," Lew said.

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