98 billion rupees inOctoberDecember from 8

Parekh saidthe company was ready to pledge some of its expected receivablesas collateral in order to secure a loan or other funding. Satyam's new auditors are scrambling to determine how muchmoney it really has, while executives are trying to assurenervous clients that the company is still a going concern. Raju and his brother, who was Satyam's former managingdirector, and the company's former chief financial officer weremoved to police custody for questioning in Hyderabad on Sundayfor four days, having already spent a week in jail. Parekh said on Wednesday evidence of fraud had appearedduring investigations. "Some of the papers we have seen, it isobvious, you can make out documents were forged," he said.

Raju and other full-time directors of the company, includingthe former chief financial officer and company secretary havebeen directed by India's Company Law Board to give details oftheir bank accounts and other assets by Feb 20, Gupta said. Also, they cannot sell or mortgage any of their shares,securities and fixed deposits without the permission of thequasi-judiciary body. CANCELLED CONTRACT U.S.-based insurer State Farm Insurance has terminated itscontract with Satyam and some others are believed to bereviewing their service contracts. Satyam's clients include Nestle (NESN.VX) and GeneralElectric (GE.N). India's largest-ever corporate scandal has cast a shadowover the country's outsourcing sector, already struggling withslowing growth due to global financial turmoil. The United States, which accounts for more than half ofIndia's $52 billion IT and back-office services revenue, isfacing its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

India's No.3 outsourcer Wipro Ltd (WIPR.BO) met analystsexpectations on Wednesday with an 8.7 percent rise in quarterlyprofit, but gave a downbeat outlook as its Western clientsclamoured for lower prices, sending its shares down more than 3percent. ID:nBOM360891 Wipro, which counts ailing Citigroup C.N among itsclients, said net profit rose to 8.98 billion rupees inOctober-December, from 8.26 billion a year ago. Suresh Vaswani, Wipro's co-chief executive officer, said thecompany was not hunting for Satyam's clients nor would there beany pressure on Wipro's business because of the scandal. "If customers are talking to us as a matter of routine, as amatter of consolidation ... then we are having a dialogue." Satyam's shares have fallen more than 80 percent in the lastmonth, but closed up more than 3 percent on Wednesday on hopesit would be able to avoid a near-term cash crisis.

NEW YORK, Jan 21 (Reuters) - A leading indicator of U.S.nonresidential construction activity rose slightly last monthbut remains near historic lows amid scarce credit, anarchitects' trade group said on Wednesday. Stocks The Architecture Billings Index rose to 36.4 in December,from 34.7 in November, according to the American Institute ofArchitects Any reading below 50 indicates a decline inbillings. All the industry sectors tracked by the group remainedbelow 50, as did all four of the geographic regions. A measureof inquiries for new projects fell to 37.7, a historic low. It is considered aforward-looking measure of activity about nine to 12 months inthe future. Earlier this month, the AIA predicted nonresidentialconstruction activity would fall 11 percent this year andanother 5 percent in 2010. It cited falling company profits andthe lack of credit to finance projects.