Faced with angry protests from the Opposition over leak of the Liberhan Commission report, ‘indicting’ the Sangh Parivar for the demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, the government will release the panel’s findings on Tuesday.

A meeting of the Cabinet has been called to discuss the issue on Tuesday and approve the Action Taken Report that is required to be submitted along with the report submitted by Justice M S Liberhan on June 30 — 17 years and several extensions after he was put on the job.

Union home minister P Chidambaram denied the charge that the government was behind the leak. However, the Congress leadership was forced to review its options after the Opposition refused to relent. The decision to fast-track the disclosure was taken in the evening by party chief Sonia Gandhi, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and other leaders who felt withholding the report would mean continued turmoil in Parliament where the entire Opposition joined hands, leaving Congress isolated.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in the US, is said to have endorsed the idea of swift disclosure after a consultation with Mukherjee who will preside over the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Though the Hindi translations of the report and the Action Taken Report are not ready yet, the government plans to get around the problem by taking the Opposition into confidence.

The leak wrongfooted the Congress which had planned to release the findings towards the close of the winter session ending on December 22, calculating that release before the anniversary of Babri demolition on December 6 could lead to communal tension, particularly in UP. Post-leak, however, it seems to feel that continued unrest in Parliament over an issue which caused unprecedented communal polarisation may frustrate the objective of delaying the release to minimise fresh social discord.

New York, May 1 (ANI/Business Wire India): Monster Worldwide reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009.
 
Sal Iannuzzi, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Monster, said, “As anticipated, the challenging global economy continued to severely impact customer demand during the first quarter of 2009. We were able to leverage the power of our brand to drive awareness and higher levels of user engagement following our new product launch in early January. Our strict and disciplined approach to cost containment enabled us to preserve our liquidity position, maintain necessary investments and report a break-even quarter.”

Total revenue declined 31 per cent to 254 million dollars, compared with 366 million dollars in the comparable quarter of 2008. Monster generated 43 per cent of its revenue outside the United States and total revenue was negatively impacted by 27 million dollars from unfavorable foreign exchange rates.

Careers non-GAAP revenue decreased 34 per cent to dollars224 million as North America generated revenue of dollars119 million, compared with dollars184 million in the prior year period. International non-GAAP revenue was dollars105 million, a 32 per cent decline over the prior year period, or a 22 per cent decline excluding currency and the contribution from ChinaHR. Internet Advertising and Fees revenue increased 6 per cent to dollars32 million over last year’s first quarter.

Consolidated operating expenses were dollars269 million, and the loss from continuing operations was dollars10 million, or dollars0.09 per share, compared to income from continuing operations of dollars24 million, or dollars0.19 per diluted share, in the comparable 2008 period. Foreign exchange rates negatively impacted consolidated pre-tax operating income by approximately dollars2 million, or dollars0.01 per diluted share.

Operating expenses included approximately dollars27 million of incremental marketing costs that will not recur in any of the next three quarters of 2009.

Income from continuing operations for the three months ended March 31, 2009 includes the following pre-tax pro forma adjustments: dollars11.0 million of expenses associated with the Company’s restructuring plan; dollars3.0 million of legal fees, primarily related to the Company’s obligation to indemnify former officers for their defense in connection with the ongoing litigation related to historical stock option grant practices; and a dollars1.0 million reduction to total revenue due to the purchase accounting adjustment for ChinaHR.

As a result, the Company recorded total pre-tax pro forma adjustments of dollars15.0 million. These pro forma items are described in the “Notes Regarding the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and are reconciled to the GAAP measure in the accompanying tables.

On a non-GAAP basis, the Company generated revenue of dollars255 million and dollars255 million of operating expenses. In last year’s first quarter, revenue was dollars366 million and operating expenses were dollars323 million. Income from continuing operations was essentially break-even, compared to dollars30 million, or dollars0.25 per diluted share, in the prior year.

Monster ended the first quarter of 2009 with total available liquidity of dollars501 million and the Company had net cash and marketable securities of dollars247 million, compared with dollars259 million at the end of the 2008 fourth quarter.
During the quarter, the Company borrowed dollars199 million under its revolving credit facilities, and currently has dollars254 million classified as total debt on the consolidated balance sheet. Cash flow from operating activities was dollars14 million, compared to dollars78 million generated in the prior year period.

Capital expenditures were dollars15 million, a lower rate than previous quarters, representing the gradual decrease in certain investment project spending. Approximately dollars89 million of auction rate securities are classified as a long-term asset on the consolidated balance sheet, and are included in the cash and securities balance as of March 31, 2009.

Monster’s deferred revenue balance at March 31, 2009 was dollars345 million, reflecting global economic weakness, compared with last year’s first quarter balance of dollars522 million, and dollars414 million reported for the fourth quarter of 2008.

Iannuzzi added, “While the near-term environment continues to be challenging, we believe that Monster is uniquely qualified to serve its customers on a global basis and achieve market share gains. Our global industry leading position, powerful brand and deep financial resources are unparalleled in the online recruitment industry and provide the foundation for long-term future growth when the economy rebounds.”  (ANI)