Inflation in India highest amongst major developing nations!The Bengali Brahmin Finance Minister Should Celebrate Shining India!US considering legal tools to force India to open up farm market!
Foreign individuals may get direct access to equity markets!
Govt plans to divest stake in ONGC, IOC; may raise Rs 21K cr!Buoyed by success of EIL offer, govt lines up 3 more selloffs!
US Border Security Bill skews field for Indian IT cos: Nasscom
FinMin also looking into allegations of irregularity in CWG
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams, chapter 536
Palash Biswas
http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/
Govt plans to divest stake in ONGC, IOC; may raise Rs 21K cr!US considering legal tools to force India to open up farm market!
The US has said it is exploring all options, including legal tools, to force India to open up its agriculture market, especially the dairy sector.
"We are exceptionally frustrated. I will tell you it's generally not our practice to comment publicly as to whether we are going to take legal action, but I would tell you we are exploring every alternative and every enforcement tool available to us to get India to open up their markets on a number of agriculture issues," the US Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, told the US lawmakers yesterday.
Kirk, who has been to India twice and soon would be travelling to New Delhi, said that he has raised this issue of opening up of the agricultural market, in particular those of dairy products, at the highest level.
"We have raised ... I was in India twice. Last year I met with them directly about it. Ambassador (Demetrois) Marantis (Deputy US Trade Representative) just came back. Ambassador Islam Siddiqui, who is our chief agriculture negotiator ... we have used every tool of diplomacy we have, but we are going to be examining everything else in our toolbox to see if we can't get them to behave differently," Kirk said.
Kirk was responding to a question from Senator Debbie Stabenow in this regard.
"For far too long, India has not been playing by the rules with dairy. There are many ongoing issues where they are, frankly, ignoring science. One of the most troubling is a situation with dairy and an issue that a number of us wrote you about earlier this year," Stabenow said.
"For over six years now, India has issued dairy certificates to block legitimate US dairy exports and refused to negotiate in good faith to find a resolution. This certification requirement is not based on sound science."
India has exported an average of USD 77 million worth of dairy products to the US over the last three years, while the US dairy exports are being blocked, the Senator said.
"So my question is, given the lack of progress with India over many years, what is the USTR doing to examine legal alternatives?" he asked.
Kirk said he completely agrees with the Senators assessment on India.
Foreign individuals may get direct access to equity markets.Economic times reported today!
NEW DELHI: Individual foreign investors should be allowed to buy shares directly in Indian companies, a panel has recommended, opening the possibility of increased portfolio flows into India.The recommendation is contained in a report that has suggested a more liberal framework for foreign investment in India but strict disclosure rules for investors, two persons familiar with its contents said. The report of the working group headed by UTI AMC chairman U K Sinha was submitted recently to the finance ministry.
It also wants foreign portfolio investment not to be counted for the computation of sectoral foreign investment limits, putting it at odds with the consolidated FDI policy of the government. That policy says that overseas investment of any type — portfolio or direct — should count in the computation of sectoral foreign investment caps.
"The whole idea is to do away with the current norms that distinguish between the same type of capital coming under different garbs. The report suggests doing away with the distinction in private equity, foreign venture capital investors," one of them said.
A recommendation to keep portfolio investment out of the calculation for sectoral caps was also made by the Ashok Lahiri panel in 2004. Mr Sinha was a member of that panel.
"Extending the portfolio regime that includes repatriation benefit further would be a progressive step consistent with the liberalisation policy of the government," said Punit Shah, leader of the financial services tax practice at KPMG.
A 16-member working group with Mr Sinha as its head was set up in November 2009 to review the existing policy on foreign portfolio inflows and suggest measures to reduce policy hurdles while ensuring adequate disclosure from investors.
India is seen as a promising investment destination given its strong economic growth at a time when the developed world is struggling. Foreign institutional investors, or FIIs, have already pumped in over $ 11 billion into the Indian stock market since January.
Direct equity market access to foreign individual investors will create demand for domestic brokerages and banks to expand overseas, besides increasing the volumes on stock exchanges.
Vallabh Bhansali, chairman Enam Financials, said allowing individual foreign investors direct access will open up a big opportunity for Indian brokerages to develop relationships with foreign broking firms. But "Indian broking firms would take some time and it won't be easy," he cautioned.
Madhabi Puri Buch, MD & CEO of ICICI Securities, said the decision to offer services to overseas investors will have to be taken keeping in mind the regulatory framework "in both home and host countries."
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Analysis/Foreign-individuals-may-get-direct-access-to-equity-markets/articleshow/6263859.cms
Inflation in India highest amongst major developing nations!The Bengali Brahmin Finance Minister Should Celebrate Shining India!Celebration may have another good Reason as most Ensured is the Exit of the Marixst from Indian Politics as soon as they lose Bengal Irrespective of Kerala and Tripura of insignificant consequences. PCPA Declaration to Participate Elections next may justify Chidmabaram`s Dream to win Hearts and Minds and it definitely Consolidates Ms Mamata Prospective to capture the Writers in the Graveyard of Indigenous Aboriginal Humanscape which is best known as Bengal!Now the Bengali Muslims may cram some Shyama Sangeet to woo the Kolkata Kali!Just remeber, As the opposition's attempted to corner the government in the Rajya Sabha on the price rise, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee turned the tables on them by calling for a composite approach to deal with the issue!
Nevetheless,India has the highest rate of inflation among major developing economies, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.Well, it may create Swings in the India Incs Well Ness ndex and that related to the Co Opted Creamy Layers besides the Ruling Hegemony and LPG Mafia!
The government plans to sell 5 per cent of its stake in Oil and Natural Gas Corp and 10 per cent in Indian Oil Corp (IOC) to raise about Rs 21,000 crore this fiscal, Oil Secretary S Sundareshan said on Friday. "We have received a note from Department of Disinvestment that says they have approval of the Finance Ministry for divestment of government stake in ONGC and IOC," he told media here. The proposal, he said, is for sale of 5 per cent or 10.6 crore equity shares in ONGC through a follow-on public offer (FPO) which at today's trading price of Rs 1,233.25 would fetch the government Rs 13,189 crore. In IOC, DoD has proposed to sell 5 per cent of government equity through a FPO. "Simultaneously, IOC also proposes to sell 10 per cent of the expanded equity capital (through an FPO) to raise funds for its expansion plans," he said.
Post stake sale, the government's shareholding in ONGC will come down to 69.14 per cent from 74.14 per cent currently. In IOC, the twin divestment and stake sale would reduce the government holding from 78.92 per cent to 64.57 per cent. "We are not preparing any Cabinet note. It is the Department of Disinvestment which will do that. We only have to seek approval (for the stake sale) from the (oil) minister (Murli Deora)," Sundareshan said. According to the road map being prepared, IOC would be the first to be disinvested. It will first sell 10 per cent or 24.27 crore equity shares that at today's stock price of Rs 363.90 would fetch the company Rs 8,835 crore to help it part-finance its capital expenditure programme of Rs 75,000 crore. This would be followed sale of 10 per cent government holding amounting to 19 crore shares to raise Rs 7,000 crore. ONGC divestment will follow this. IOC has written to the oil ministry expressing its interest in raising money from the market for its capital investment requirement. The nation's largest oil firm wants to take advantage of the recent government decision to free fuel prices by tapping the capital markets. The government had in June decontrolled petrol price that resulted in a Rs 3.50 per litre hike in rates in Delhi. Also, diesel prices were hiked by Rs 2 per litre, domestic LPG by Rs 35 per cylinder and Rs 3 a litre on kerosene. Despite the June move, IOC currently loses Rs 2.76 a litre on diesel, Rs 170.57 per litre on LPG and Rs 15.41 a litre on kerosene and is estimated to lose Rs 31,770 crore in revenues this fiscal. | |||||
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Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday invoked memories of India mortgaging its gold in banks abroad to wriggle out of a balance of payment crisis in the 1990s while defending the hike in fuel prices.
During a debate in the Rajya Sabha on rising inflation, he said the country could not go on doling out populist measures and endangering its finances.
In 1991, the then government had to pawn 47 tonnes of gold to the Bank of England and another 20 tonnes to the Union Bank of Switzerland to raise $600 million.
"I cannot forget the days of 1990, when the country's gold was pledged with a foreign bank, just to borrow a few hundred million dollars, when the finance minister of this great country had to go and meet the finance minister of a rich country, but had to wait for some time to get an appointment," said Mukherjee.
"I don't want any finance minister of this country to face that type of humiliating situation again whether I am there or not there."
Mukherjee defended the fuel price hike and reiterated his government's efforts to curb high inflation.
The minister said states and the federal government needed to act collectively to tackle high food prices and his government alone could not be blamed if the states had not got their act together.
"The basic question is, can a country afford to have 6.6 per cent fiscal deficit. Shouldn't we come back to a deficit of 2-2.5 per cent," he asked.
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Friday August 6, 09:49 AM | Source: Hindustan Times |
Give gas for old units, says ADAG
New Delhi, Aug. 5 -- With the government yet to consider gas allocations for new power projects, the Anil Ambani group seems to have changed its strategy. It is now seeking gas for the expansion of its existing gas based power projects instead. The first such proposal entailing an investment of Rs 10,000 crore has been submitted by Anil Ambani's Reliance Power Ltd to the government to expand the capacity of its existing 220 megawatt gas-based power project at Samalkot in Andhra Pradesh to 2,400 mw."The power ministry has recommended an allocation of 8 million standard cubic metres of gas per day (mmscmd) for this project at the July 28 meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM)," said a petroleum ministry official.
Asked about the status, he said, "Wait for the minutes of the EGoM meeting to come."
A source close to the company said, "Requests for similar gas allocations may also be sought by the company for expanding its existing gas-based power projects at Kochi (165 mw) and Goa (48 mw)."
The company's spokesperson refused to comment but confirmed seeking gas supplies for expansion of Samalkot.
Gas allocations for Samalkot have been sought by Reliance Power out of its share of gas of 28 million standard cubic metres per day agreed to for the company's gas based power projects following the Supreme Court order in the Ambani's gas dispute case.
"We (Reliance Power) request you to immediately allocate 8 mmscmd of natural gas for our Samalkot project from our request of 28 mmscmd," Reliance Power said in a July 20-dated letter to power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.
In June, 2010, India's inflation based on the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) stood at 13.7 per cent, much higher than that of Indonesia, Brazil, China and Russia.
The corresponding figures for Indonesia, Brazil, China and Russia are 5.1 per cent, 4.8 per cent, 2.9 per cent and 5.8 per cent, respectively, Meena told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/opinionshome/897228639.cms
"In India, inflation based on CPI-IW remains in double digit since July, 2009. The reason behind double-digit inflation was high food inflation and industrial growth," he said.
Prices in India are rising more steeply than even neighbouring countries like Pakistan (12.7 per cent), Sri Lanka (4.8 per cent) and Bangladesh (8.5 per cent in April).
The CPI-IW came down to 13.7 per cent this June in the wake of measures taken by the government and a continuous decline in food inflation since January this year, Meena said.
Inflation of food articles declined to a 13-month low of 9.53 per cent for the week ended July 24 from the peak level of 21.05 per cent prevailing during the week ended November 28, 2009.
In another reply related to inflation, Meena said, "It is expected that measures initiated by the Reserve Bank of India will help moderate inflation by reining in demand pressures and inflationary expectations."
Earlier this week, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Parliament that India's high economic growth is leading to inflationary pressures in the country.
PCPA may contest Bengal polls
6 Aug 2010, 0702 hrs IST,Tamal Sengupta,ET Bureau
KOLKATA: The People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA), which is allegedly a Maoist frontal organisation, plans to contest the 2011 assembly elections in a few seats in West Bengal's West Midnapore district with the support of Trinamool Congress.
A recent intelligence report, which reached Writers' Buildings, suggested that some key PCPA activists are in talks with Trinamool Congress leaders in West and East Midnapore districts to reach an electoral pact with the principal opposition party, which is still organisationally weak in Maoist-infested Lalgarh and Jangalmahal. The PCPA has given a clear indication of its intention of contesting the next assembly polls with the support from Trinamool Congress. The organisation has announced it will join Mamata Banerjee's meeting in Lalgarh on August 9.
Interestingly, a few days ago, the PCPA had opposed Mamata's Lalgarh meeting and said it would not allow TMC activists to organise the meeting in Lalgarh. But on last Wednesday, the PCPA did a volte face to announce it would attend the meeting since it is being organised under a non-political banner — Santras Birodhi Mancha. The PCPA, which had earlier decided to organise blockades in Lalgarh and Jangalmahal for three days from August 7, has withdrawn their programme predictably to enable the TMC to hold its August 9 meeting without any trouble.
It is learnt the PCPA has a plan to field its candidates in Bandwan and Jhargram assembly segments under the Jhargram Lok Sabha seat in West Midnapore district, which is still a Maoist stronghold.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/PCPA-may-contest-Bengal-polls/articleshow/6264075.cms
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ImagesCalcutta Telegr...Calcutta Telegr... Samachar Today ... All related images » VideosTrinamool rally in LalgarhNewsX - Aug 4, 2010 Watch video <div class="video-thumb thumbnail"><a class="js-link thumbnail-toggle" href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="return false;"><img src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XZwVBeGsLGQ/default.jpg" alt="" class="thumbnail" width="120" height="90"> <div class="icon play-icon"></div></a></div> <div class="video-details"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZwVBeGsLGQ">Trinamool rally in Lalgarh</a> <span class="source">NewsX</span> - Aug 4, 2010 <div class="icon video-icon"></div> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZwVBeGsLGQ">Watch video</a></div>
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Buoyed by success of EIL offer, govt lines up 3 more selloffs
6 Aug 2010, 0432 hrs IST,ET BureauNEW DELHI: The disinvestment department is readying three more state-run firms for equity offers, confident that its formula of attractive pricing will ensure good investor response, as evident from the over 13 times subscription of the recently-concluded Engineers India offer.
The festive season sale of government stakes is likely to kick off with the year's largest public offer by Coal India (CIL) between October 18 and 21. This is likely to be followed by offers by Hindustan Copper and Power Grid.
"There is still a little uncertainty about the exact timing of the offers but the expectation is that the offers (of Hindustan Copper and Power Grid) would be launched around Diwali. We have been told to keep everything ready," an investment banker who is participating in one of the issues said.
Engineers India's offer, which sought bids in Rs 270-290 price band, well below the market price of about Rs 330 a share then, is priced at the top of the bidding band (Rs 290) for the institutional investors. With a 5% discount, it works out to Rs 275.5 a share for retail investor. Such pricing is sure to attract greater investor interest in stake sales by the government, allowing it to raise the budgeted Rs 40,000 crore.
"There is no reason the planned offers will not attract investors if the market conditions sustain. They are all very good stocks," said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, equity head, SMC Capitals, but cautioned that they would have to be priced reasonably.
Stake sales in Manganese Ore India and Steel Authority of India are likely early next calendar along with disinvestment in at least one more big company to reach the target of Rs 40,000 crore from sell-off proceeds. The department of disinvestment is in the process of appointing merchant bankers and seeking clearances for all the five issues. "We are trying to get all regulatory approvals in place so that Hindustan Copper's FPO (follow-on public offer) can be scheduled for late October or November," a mines ministry official said.
FinMin also looking into allegations of irregularity in CWG
The Finance Ministry on Friday said that it too is verifying the documents to check financial irregularities in award of works related to the Commonwealth Games."We are only at the background ... whatever is in the public domain we are verifying ... just as other agencies are looking, just like ED and others, we are also verifying the documents, the people and other factors," CBDT Chairman SSN Moorthy told reporters on the sidelines of a tax conference.
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had found serious discrepancies like award of works at higher rates to bidders, poor quality of construction and grant of work to ineligible agencies in different Games-related construction works. Political parties such as BJP and CPI (M) have demanded action against the guilty.
Yesterday, the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee suspended its embattled chairman Suresh Kalmadi's close aide T S Darbari and two other tainted high-ranked officers in a desperate bid to restore its credibility.
Opposition demands PM's answer on 'Rs 100,000 crore' CWG scam
The opposition Friday cornered the government over the Commonwealth Games scam, alleging that it was a Rs.100,000 crore "loot" of public money and demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speak in the house on the issue.Opposition MPs also sought a debate under an adjournment motion and a probe by a joint parliamentary committee into the allegations of corruption.
When Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy got up to intervene during zero hour, belligerent opposition MPs did not allow him to speak.
This led to heated exchanges between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress MPs, with the latter arguing that Reddy had a right to intervene during the debate on a matter related to his ministry.
BJP and Janata Dal-United MPs, alleging a whopping scam in the Games construction, demanded a reply from Manmohan Singh. They trooped to the well of the house forcing the speaker to adjourn the house till 2 pm.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal criticised the opposition for not allowing the minister to speak.
"It is unprecedented and against the spirit of parliamentary democracy," Bansal told reporters later.
Earlier, Samajwadi Party MPs, led by Mulayam Singh Yadav, staged a walkout over the "wrongdoings" in the Commonwealth Games.
Raising the matter during zero hour, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Gurudas Dasgupta alleged that "malpractices and irregularities" have taken place in the Commonwealth Games.
"A total disorder... It is a shame," Dasgupta said, referring to the Rs.661 crore spent only for renovation of the Indira Gandhi Stadium complex.
"This is sheer loot of public money. Who is accountable for it? What is the government doing to end the loot," he asked.
Samajwadi Party leader Revati Raman Singh repeated the allegations and demanded a detailed discussion.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Basudeb Acharia said a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) should be constituted to probe the scandal.
Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav alleged that it is a "Rs.1 lakh crore scam". "I will prove it. I have documentary evidence to prove it. It is being done in a very systematic manner," Yadav stated to loud protests from ruling party MPs.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav repeated the allegation that it was a Rs.100,000 crore scam.
"It has not only tarnished the image of the country, it is an anti-national activity too," said BJP's Yogi Adityanath.
Kirti Azad of the BJP said: "Let the prime minister reply to this."
Azad equated the government with Gandhari, the mother of the Kauravas in the Hindu epic Mahabharata who voluntarily blindfolded herself throughout her life.
"The government is just like Gandhari. We have personalities like Duryodhana and Shakuni too (two other characters from the epic)," he alleged.
Amidst the uproar, Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam attacked the opposition MPs for levelling "baseless allegations" against the government. However, the speaker expunged some of his remarks against the opposition MPs.
RBI says autonomy threatened
6 Aug 2010, 0238 hrs IST,ET BureauHYDERABAD: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Duvvuri Subbarao on Thursday said the autonomy of the monetary policy is under threat. Coming days after the government took Parliament's approval to spend the telecom auction proceeds and amid hints by the finance minister that interest rates should not rise too rapidly, Mr Subbarao's statement could stoke the brewing autonomy debate between the central bank and the government.
"The jury is still out on the issue of fiscal dominance of monetary policy. But it will be less than honest not to acknowledge that the autonomy of monetary policy from fiscal compulsions is once again under threat, and resolving that threat requires credible efforts by both governments and central banks," Mr Subbarao said while delivering the CD Deshmukh Memorial Lecture in Hyderabad on Thursday.
It is a widely-shared perception that New Delhi has played a role in holding back the central bank from raising interest rates too aggressively — a step some felt was necessary to curb inflationary expectations. Occasional statements by government functionaries on rates and inflation have only reinforced the belief.
For instance, during the Lok Sabha debate on government action on inflation, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said, "If interest rates are hiked abnormally, naturally there will no investment, there will be no growth, there will be no job creation."
Mr Subbarao's statement comes a day after RBI clipped the wings of deputy governor KC Chakrabarty who had reportedly said the recent rate action by RBI was not enough.
After the 2008 financial meltdown and massive fund infusion to bail out economies, central bank governors all over the world have voiced concerns over fiscal dominance. Indeed, Mr Subbarao had also said in mid-June that the "independence of central banks is coming under increasing assault post the global financial crisis."
However, his observation on Thursday lends itself to greater interpretation after RBI's objections to an ordinance which gave a committee headed by the finance minister overriding powers in the event of inter-regulatory disputes. While the FM has assured that RBI's autonomy would not be impacted, the controversy has refused to die down.
In his address on Thursday, the governor said like in most countries, fiscal stimulus was a part of the crisis response and monetary policy had to concur in elevated government borrowing. Going forward, the challenge for the government is to continue the fiscal consolidation that started with the year's budget and for Reserve Bank to regain the space to conduct monetary policy free of fiscal compulsions, he said.
India, Argentina ink pact for cooperation in agriculture
India and Argentina on Monday signed a joint agreement agreeing to develop technical and professional cooperation in the agricultural sector and foster the trade of plants and animal products between the two nations.Argentina's Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Minister Julian Andres Dominguez and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar signed a joint agreement recognising the benefits of cooperation in the field of agriculture and the allied sectors, including the agro-industrial sector, towards economic and social development of the two countries.
It was also decided in the meeting that in order to deepen the traditional bilateral cooperation in agriculture and allied sector, the two countries would sign the following Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the near future:
1. An Umbrella Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Argentine Republic for cooperation in the Field of Agriculture and Allied Sectors.
2. Memorandum of Understanding on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Issues for Bilateral Trade of Animal Products and Plant Products between the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Argentine Republic and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of India.
3. Memorandum of Understanding on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Issues for Bilateral Trade of Animal Products and Plant Products between the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Argentine Republic and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of India
Dominguez, who is on a two-day official visit to India, also invited Pawar to visit Argentina.
Monsoon 16 pc above normal in past week: Met office
India's vital monsoon rains were 16 percent above normal in the week to August 4, the second highest in the current season, the weather office said on Thursday.Rains were 38 per cent above normal in the week to July 28, the highest in this season.
India forecasts heavy rains over rice, cane areas
The weather office on Friday forecast heavy monsoon rains over top grain and cane areas, raising prospects of good rice and sugar output in the world's second-biggest producer of the two commodities. "Fairly widespread rain/thundershowers would occur over Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh," the India Meteorological Department said on its website www.imd.gov.in.The northern states of Punjab and Haryana are the country's grain bowl, while Uttar Pradesh is the biggest cane producer. The annual June-September monsoon rains provide 60 per cent of the irrigation for farms in India. Higher farm output will calm prices and help Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government stave off criticism over high inflation.
Analysts say good rice output will encourage the government to lift a ban on exports of non-basmati rice and rise in sugar output will prompt the country to tax imports of the sweetener. Monsoon rains, crucial for a rebound in farm output after last year's drought, were 38 percent above normal in the week to July 28, bouncing back from a 17-per cent deficit the previous week.
With good rains, water level in India's main reservoirs was at 27 percent of capacity in the week to July 29, up from 19 per cent in the previous week.
India to sell grains to Nepal, Bangladesh: Sharad Pawar
India will sell 300,000 tonnes of wheat and rice through diplomatic channels to Bangladesh and Nepal, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said on Wednesday, as revived monsoon rains have boosted crop prospects.India holds surplus stocks of wheat and rice, but it has severely curtailed grain exports in recent years to ensure steady domestic supplies.
A strong wheat harvest this year and growing expectations that rice output would be much higher than last year, when a severe drought damaged the crop, have encouraged the government to consider exports.
Pawar told reporters that a panel of ministers had approved exports of 100,000 tonnes of grain to Nepal and 200,000 tonnes to Bangladesh.
India's monsoon rains, which irrigate 60 percent of the country's farms, were 16 percent below average in June, but have improved in July.
18 Indians hid Rs 44cr in EU bank: Govt
Updated on Friday, August 06, 2010, 23:36
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Powered by Translate New Delhi: The Finance Ministry said it has uncovered around Rs 44 crore of untaxed money parked by 18 Indian nationals with LGT Bank in the European tax haven of Liechtenstein and have raised a tax demand of Rs 24 crore.
"Assessments have been made against total 18 individual cases involving total assessed income of Rs 43.83 crore and total demand of Rs 24.28 crore (has been raised)," Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
"Penalty proceedings for concealment of income have separately been initiated in all these cases," he said.
Palanimanickam said the German tax authorities have provided the Indian government with information regarding accounts held by Indian nationals in the LGT Bank in Liechtenstein, a tax haven in Europe.
The details have been provided by the German authorities under the provisions of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between India and Germany concerning exchange of information.
Though the demand for tax has been raised, retrieving the tax money will take time, as it is most likely that all the cases would go through judicial process, tax officials say.
After tasting initial success, the government has planned to speed up the process of entering into agreements with other countries for seeking information on black money.
India has information exchange agreements under DTAAs with some countries. However, not all of the 79 DTAAs which India has entered have the information exchange clause.
The government has written to as many as 65 countries for amending the DTAAs to insert information exchange clauses as per the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) norms to help curb tax evasion.
Article 26 in the OECD model tax convention refers to exchange of information related to taxation.
As of now, India has completed negotiations with Bermuda, Switzerland and the Bahamas on amending the bilateral taxation pacts to seek information about funds parked in those nations.
Black money, especially funds parked in tax havens, had become a poll issue in the run-up to the general elections last year, with BJP leader L K Advani declaring that if the NDA came to power, it would retrieve the untaxed money and use it for funding the country's development.
After returning to power for the second straight term, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had in July last year said the government has already initiated action for getting back black money belonging to Indians from Swiss banks.
PTI
NCP favours caste-based census: Pawar
Patna: Supporting the demand for caste-based census, NCP President Sharad Pawar today said it should be carried out for the development of the people."The NCP favours conduct of a caste-based census for development of the people," Pawar told a state-level conference of NCP workers here.
The enumeration of the number of castes should be carried out to ensure their development and not for pursuing caste-based politics, Pawar, the Union Agriculture Minister, said.
Indiabulls wins NTC plot for Rs 1505 cr
NDTV.com - 59 minutes agoPTI, August 6, 2010 (Mumbai) Realty firm Indiabulls Infraestate on Friday bagged National Textile Corporation's 8.3 acres of prime mill land in Mumbai for a whopping Rs 1505 crore, more than double the reserve price. This is the second NTC mill land ...
Indiabulls Real wins Mumbai plot for $326 mn
Economic Times - 3 hours agoNEW DELHI: Indiabulls Real Estate will pay more than double the asking price for a plot of land in central Mumbai, state-run National Textile Corp (NTC), which sold the land, said on Friday. (Watch) Indiabulls, which counts HSBC and Fidelity among ...
BOM:532832
National Textile Gets Double Reserve Price for Mumbai Mill Land
BusinessWeek - Pooja Thakur, Tushar Dhara - 2 hours agoAug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- India's National Textile Corp., a state-owned company that runs mills, received double the reserve price in an auction of land in central Mumbai. Indiabulls Infraestate Ltd., a unit of developer ...
Indiabulls outbids Lodha Group for NTC's Bharat Mill
India Infoline.com - 3 hours agoA unit of Indiabulls Infratech has bagged NTC's Bharat Textile Mills land for Rs15.05bn, according to a report. The reserve price for Bharat Textile Mills was set at Rs7.5bn. Others developers such as Peninsula Land, DB Realty, Lodha Group had ...
Indiabulls bags second NTC plot in a week in e-auction
NetIndian - 3 hours agoIndiabulls InfraEstate Ltd today won a prime 8.37 acre plot of land of a defunct National Textile Corporation (NTC) mill in Mumbai with the highest bid of Rs 1505 crore in a three-day e-auction that ended this evening. The land, in the Worli sea front ...
NTC gets Rs 1152-cr bid on Day 1 of land auction
Business Standard - Aug 4, 2010On the first day of the e-auction of its mill land, state-owned National Textile Corporation (NTC) got a bid of Rs 1152 crore for its 8.37-acre Bharat Mills plot in the Worli area of Mumbai. This highest bid was 35 per cent more than the reserve price ...
Bidding for NTC mill crosses Rs 1K crore
Times of India - Aug 4, 2010MUMBAI: Barely days after its Poddar Mill property fetched Rs 464 crore, the NTC is on its way of earning another windfall. On Wednesday, bidding for the 8.5-acre Bharat Textiles Mills touched Rs 1016 crore as against its reserve price of Rs 750 crore. ...
NTC looks at Bangalore, Indore for land auctions
Livemint - Madhurima Nandy - 22 hours agoHigh on the sweeping response to its land sale last week in Mumbai, National Textile Corp. Ltd (NTC) plans to put up three more defunct textile mill lands in Bangalore and Indore for auction. By end-September, NTC will put up for sale two sick cotton ...
NTC garners over Rs 1K cr bid for 8.3-acre Mumbai plot
Business Standard - Aug 4, 2010PTI / New Delhi August 04, 2010, 21:43 IST National Textile Corporation (NTC) has so far received bids as high as Rs 1016 crore for 8.3 acres of prime land up for sale in Mumbai against the reserve price of Rs 750 crore. Till 6.45 pm today, ...
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RBI can't be pure inflation targetter: Subbarao
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cannot be and should not be a pure inflation targetter and it needs to balance between growth, price stability and financial stability, said RBI Governor D Subbarao. Stating that inflation targeting is neither desirable nor practical in India, he felt that as drivers of inflation emanate from supply side, the monetary policy has limited role to play. "In an emerging economy like ours it is not practical for the central bank to focus exclusively on inflation oblivious of the larger development context. The Reserve Bank needs to balance between growth, price stability and financial stability," Subba Rao said. "More often than not, the drivers of inflation in India emanate from the supply side. Food items have a weight of 46 to 70 per cent in various CPIs (consumer price indexes) and are notoriously subject to the supply shocks which are normally beyond the pale of monetary policy." The RBI governor was delivering the 10th C D Deshmukh memorial lecture on "Financial crisis - some old questions and may be some new answers" at the Council for Social Development, southern regional centre, here Thursday. The central bank head pointed out that post crisis the dominant view around the world is shaped by the new environment hypothesis which says that flexible inflation targeting, rather than pure inflation targeting, is more efficient. According to this hypothesis, if inflation is way off target, a central bank's first call is to bring it within acceptable range, and if inflation is within the range, the central bank should focus on other objectives. Subbarao also said the autonomy of monetary policy from fiscal compulsions was once again under threat and called for credible efforts by both the government and central bank to resolve it. "The challenge for the government is to continue the fiscal consolidation that started with this year's budget and for the Reserve Bank to regain the space to conduct monetary policy free of fiscal compulsions.? "In the aftermath of the crisis, fears about the fiscal dominance of monetary policy have resurfaced. There are widely shared concerns about the extraordinary fiscal expansion necessitated by the crisis, and when and how long it will take to reverse that," he said. He pointed out that, like in most countries, in India too fiscal stimulus was part of the crisis response, and monetary policy had to acquiesce in elevated government borrowing. "We can make progress only if we are willing to accept new answers to old questions when circumstances change," he added. |
Govt drops idea of SWF, but says proposal is not dead
Government said it was considering creation of a sovereign wealth fund for financing company acquisitions abroad, but later dropped the proposal as it felt that Indian firms had enough money for foreign takeovers.
"...It was decided not to pursue this proposal (of setting up a sovereign wealth fund). It was felt at that time that a number of avenues for funding of acquisition abroad were available and that money was not a constraint for Indian companies to acquire assets/companies abroad," Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena told the Lok Sabha.
The sovereign wealth fund (SWF) was proposed to be set up with a corpus of $5 bn, he said in a written reply.
Meena, however, said that consideration for creation of such fund was an ongoing process that depended on different circumstances, including the evolving nature of the financial systems in India and in the world.
The SWF, which would have been the first of its kind in India, was meant to be a state-owned investment fund comprising of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, property, precious metals or other financial instruments.
The US Treasury defines SWFs as government investment funds, funded by foreign currency reserves but managed separately from official currency reserves. The funds are deployed overseas for higher returns.
At present, there are over 50 SWFs worldwide, managing about $3-trillion worth of assets.
No legislation to recover non-performing assets: Govt
Noting that public disclosure of names of bank loan defaulters could harm investors' interests, Government today ruled out a legislation to recover non-performing assets."Government's interest is to reduce NPAs and recover outstanding loans from big, medium and small defaulters," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in the Lok Sabha.
He was replying to supplementaries by Basudeb Acharia (CPM) and Lalu Prasad (RJD) during Question Hour.
Both Acharia and Prasad demanded tabling of the names of big defaulters and blamed big corporate houses and "industrial families" for dodging laws. Prasad demanded that assets of such defaulters be seized.
He said SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has names of 130 industrial houses who have defaulted on loans.
Pointing that banking confidentiality clause does not allow naming the defaulters, he said by disclosing the names as demanded by Acharia, a person would be declared insolvent even before a court does so.
"Depositors' money will be lost (by doing so)," Mukherjee added.
To a question on fixing responsibility of bank officials in recovering debt, Mukherjee said senior executives are made accountable and measures like denying promotion, reduction in rank and censure are resorted to as punishment.
In a written statement, Mukherjee ruled out brining a legislation to recover NPAs.
"...To improve the health of financial sector, to reduce the NPAs and to create a good recovery climate, RBI and the Government have already taken various steps over the years including prescribing prudential norms for provisioning and classification of non-performing assets, guidelines for prevention of slippages, corporate debt restructuring and one time settlement schemes...," he said.
On the issue of increasing NPAs, he said the increase, "in absolute terms, is broadly on account of the consolidated impact of business cyclicity, economic slowdown, delay in implementation of projects and consequent repeated restructuring of accounts by banks and credit growth across the banking industry during the last few years."
Not satisfied with the reply of the Finance Minister, Prasad walked out complaining that his queries have not been answered.
Subsidised wheat, rice to 1.5 cr more BPL families from Oct 2
The government is likely to provide subsidised wheat and rice to 1.5 crore additional BPL families from October 2, Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told the Rajya Sabha on Friday.Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour, he said the Planning Commission will give the revised number of people living below poverty line (BPL) in a month's time.
The revision is being done based on the parameter decided by the Tendulkar Committee for identifying the poor. The exercise has been undertaken in view of the proposed Food Security Act, which promises assured quantity of foodgrains to BPL families, he said.
The number of BPL people is likely to go up from 6.5 crore to 8.07 crore, he said adding, "It is the desire of the government, if possible, to introduce the scheme from October 2 (Gandhi Jayanti day)."
At present, the government is supplying every month about 35 kg of rice and wheat at subsidised rates to each poor family under BPL and AAY category. Rice is sold at Rs 5.65 a kg and wheat at Rs 4.15 a kg to BPL families, and at Rs 3 and Rs 2, respectively, for AAY families.
Pawar said it is government intended to give wheat and rice at Rs 3 per kg to people living below poverty line (BPL) but it has not yet been decided if the quantity would be 20 kg or 25 kg or 35 kg a month.
This will be possible only after passage of the National Food Security Bill, he added.
CAG completes RIL gas field cost audit; report to take time
Government auditor CAG said it has completed auditing the expenditure that Reliance Industries incurred in developing Krishna Godavari basin gas field D6, which was at the centre of an inflated billing controversy.
"The audit is complete at CAG end. We are currently in the final compilation stage after which the report will be sent to the Oil Ministry for comments," a CAG official said.
CAG, which went into the $ 8.8 bn cost incurred by Reliance in producing gas from the nation's largest field, had examined and received replies on its audit comments from the Mukesh Ambani-led firm.
"In another 30 days, we plan to send it (the report) to the Petroleum Ministry," the official said.
When asked if Reliance had fully cooperated with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in submiting records pertaining to KG-D6 fields, the official said: "They have given, if not 100 per cent, but mostly what we wanted."
The CAG plans to complete the entire audit process, which will include incorporating oil ministry's comments on its findings, by November.
"In 3-4 months time, we will be done with the special audit report. Based on the ministry's comment, CAG will decide the necessity of placing the report in Parliament," he said.
Since the audit of KG-D6 is not a statutory audit, as is being done in case of public sector firms, the premier auditor would decide based on ministry's comments on its findings if the report has to be placed in the Parliament.
"Our intention of the audit is to find out if there was any loss of revenue to the government because of any improper increase in capital expenditure in the KG-D6 fields," he said.
Government is to get between 10 to 90 per cent of the revenue generated from sale of gas over the life of the field after deducting expenses incurred by the operator (Reliance).
"While it took a while to persuade the ministry for the CAG audit, it then took the ministry some time to persuade the companies as this audit was the first of its kind. So the delay of over two years," he said.
CAG started audit of Krishna Godavari basin D6 field on December 21 last year. It, however, faced some difficulty in accessing new documets it sought after completing the first round of scrutiny. But within a month, RIL complied and the premier auditor made good progress thereafter.
Petroleum Ministry asked CAG to audit the accounts of RIL, which faced allegations of gold-plating gas field costs that has increased four-fold to $8.8 bn.
RIL had on August 17 agreed to an audit by CAG but the nation's premier auditor could put its house in order for the audit only by December.
CAG's scope of audit of PSC in respect of the block KG-DWN-98/3 (KG-D6) awarded to RIL, for two financial years - 2006-07 and 2007-08, with access to records of previous years linked to transactions of these years.
RIL to buy 3rd shale gas asset for $392 mn
6 Aug 2010, 0242 hrs IST,ET BureauMUMBAI: Reliance Industries (RIL) has agreed to buy 60% stake in the Marcellus shale acreage in the US for $392 million, or around `1,810 crore, its third investment in four months in the promising new energy resource. RIL, India's biggest company by market value, will immediately pay $340 million for the acquisition of the shale gas acreage in central and north-east Pennsylvania that is equally owned by Carrizo and its partner ACP II Marcellus, an affiliate of private equity firm Avista Capital Partners. It will pay $52 million more to cover part of the drilling costs in two years, the company said in a media statement. Carrizo will hold 40% of the gas acreage after the transaction is over, which is likely to happen by mid-September. The acquisition will provide RIL access to 104,400 acres of underdeveloped land with estimated net resources of 3.4 trillion cubic feet of gas. Houston-based Carrizo will be the so-called development operator of the venture, which means it gets to extract the gas. But RIL has the option to act as a development operator in some regions over the lifetime of the agreement, the statement added. The RIL stock closed flat at `1,006.95 in a weak Mumbai market. "Reliance will pay $6,258 an acre for the Carrizo deal, which will, in turn, add value of `8.3 a share," said Deven Choksey, managing director of KR Choksey Securities. "The price paid by RIL for this deal is in line with the cost of other two (shale gas) acquisitions." This is the cheapest of the three assets RIL has bought so far. In April, it had acquired a 40% stake in Atlas Energy's Marcellus share acreage in the US, gaining access to approximately 343,000 acres of undeveloped land with estimated gross resources of over 13 trillion cubic feet of gas. It paid $1.7 billion for this. In June, RIL bought a 45% stake in Pioneer Natural Resources for $1.15 billion, gaining access to 210,000 acres of land."We will continue to pursue such joint development opportunities with the best operators as well as on our own to build a substantial upstream business in North America," RIL chairman and India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, had told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting in June. RIL, which owns the world's biggest refinery complex and India's largest gas field in the KG basin, has cash and cash equivalent of more than $6 billion. Its projected annual cash flow is pegged at $7-8 billion. Jefferies & Co was the financial advisor while BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank was the strategic advisor to RIL. Shale gas is extracted from a common rock formation found in most parts of the world. The emergence of new drilling technologies has made the extraction of gas viable and has led to sudden an increase in the production of shale gas in the US, forcing gas prices to drop in that country. Led by ExxonMobil, which bought shale gas specialist XTO for $41 billion in December last year, big energy companies such as BP and Total are entering the shale gas business. |
Loss doesn't matter, companies maintain dividend record
6 Aug 2010, 1119 hrs IST,Vijay Gurav,ET Bureau
Topics:
- swasti vinayaka synthetics
- shyam star gems
- moser baer india ltd.
- moser baer
- anagram capital
*
MUMBAI: Shareholders of around a dozen companies, led by computer hardware major Moser Baer, may have lost hopes of earning any assured returns on their investments through dividends. But their loyalty has paid off, with these companies announcing decent dividends, even after making losses for the year ended March 31, '10.
The dividend will be paid out of their reserves. Such payouts could be a good way to boost shareholder morale, but only if they don't undermine the financial health of these companies, analysts say. It makes sense for a loss-making company to pay dividend, only if it has huge reserves to its credit and is confident of returning to profitability in the subsequent years, add analysts. Some companies, however, opt for this, even though they don't have sufficient reserves.
In such cases, promoters could be major beneficiaries if they hold large stakes in their companies. There are, however, a few advantages of paying dividend despite losses. As share prices tend to correct after the announcement of losses by companies, it leads to the possibility of improvement in dividend yields with the announcement of payout. This may help attract prospective investors to companies, particularly those with a healthy balance sheet, good management and industry background, feel analysts.
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Ascribing the possible motives for dividend payment by a loss-making company, Fortune Financial Services joint managing director and Group CEO Devesh Kumar said, "It gives a signal to the market that a company wants to distribute cash among shareholders which it doesn't need immediately for any purpose." The move also shows the company is confident of generating surplus cash in the future and so doesn't see any risk in utilising part of its past profits for the benefit of shareholders in tough times, he added.
Generally, investors rate dividend-paying companies highly, said Anagram Capital CEO Mayank Shah. So, good companies will always try to maintain a track record of dividend payment, even though they are not able to make sufficient profit in a particular year, he added.
Apart from Moser Baer, the list includes medium- and small-sized companies like Auto Corp of Goa, Donear Inds, IVP, MRO-TEK, Munoth Capital, Shyam Star Gems, Solectron EMS, Sri Adhikari Bros and Swasti Vinayaka Synthetics, among others.
While these companies reported consolidated or standalone losses from `11 lakh to as large as `394 crore (Moser Baer), they, however, announced dividend of 5-25% for FY10. While their total losses amounted to `422 crore, they will distribute `19 crore out of their reserves. The dividend outgo accounts for a small part of the combined reserves of `480 crore for most of these companies, excluding those for which latest figures are not available.Corporate
Tatas announce 5-member panel to find new chairman
Duration: 03:59
Posted: 6 Aug, 2010, 2155 hrs IST
Indiabulls wins NTC land in Mumbai for $326 mn
Duration: 01:33
Posted: 6 Aug, 2010, 2125 hrs IST
Indian telecom operators back Research in Motion
Duration: 01:48
Posted: 6 Aug, 2010, 1435 hrs IST
Haseeb Drabu speaks about J&K Bank's growth
Duration: 07:07
Posted: 6 Aug, 2010, 1344 hrs IST
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Cos-maintain-dividend-record-despite-losses/articleshow/6263592.cms
Politicians start backing off from CWG mess
6 Aug 2010, 1440 hrs IST,Mohua Chatterjee,TNN
New Delhi: If Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit's son and Congress MP from the Capital Sandeep Dikshit quit from the Queen's Baton Relay committee set up for the Commomwealth Games about two-and-ahalf months ago, Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandopadhyay is considering the same now.
With too many improprieties coming to light in the functioning of CWG organising committee , members from dfifferent parties are keen to dissociate themselves from the various panels. It was during the budget session of Parliament that Dikshit resigned from the committee of which he was the vice-chairman.
"When I found that there was no real work for me in it, I quit," Dikshit told TOI, adding that he did not have the time.
"If I was not contributing in any way, what was the point in being there just to get some passes for the Games," he said when asked about his resignation . Dikshit had written to OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi that he was resigning from the baton committee and all other panels that he had been made part of.
With TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, who faces a crucial assembly election next year, unhappy with the scams that are coming to light about the CWG panels, she may well ask the party's chief whip to quit the Queen's Baton Relay committee.
Bandopadhyay said, "I feel members of the committee are apparently not at all important. There is no effort to broadbase the functioning of these panels . So I'm in a dilemma about whether to remain with it."US Border Security Bill skews field for Indian IT cos: Nasscom
NEW DELHI: IT-BPO industry body Nasscom today criticised the US's Border Security Bill, which will be funded by increasing the fees for H-1B and L-1 visas, saying the move will "unfairly reduce competitiveness of Indian firms", as they will have to pay an additional USD 250 million per year.
"While we understand the need for the US to protect its South-West borders, it seems that the funding proposed by this bill would be from the Indian IT sector," Nasscom said in a statement.
The US Senate has passed a USD 600 million Border Security Bill to increase security along the US-Mexico border. The enhanced security will be funded by increasing fees for H-1B and L-1 visa applications.
"This will have a negative impact on Indian firms investing in the US by employing local talent and we estimate the impact on Indian firms could be as high as USD 200-250 million per year," it added.
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"Indian companies only take a fraction (under 12 per cent) of the total H-1B visas and US companies, who also use these visas in large numbers, will remain unaffected by this bill, thus unfairly reducing the competitiveness of Indian firms," Nasscom said.
The representative body said it estimates the impact on Indian firms could be as high as USD 200-250 million per year.
The body said it is working with various agencies of the Indian government to take up the matter with the US administration.
"We hope that the US would take the necessary steps to enable a positive environment for international trade," it added. Technology
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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6266960.cms
China shaken by US move to sign nuclear deal with Vietnam
6 Aug 2010, 2245 hrs IST,Saibal Dasgupta,TNN
BEIJING: China, which has recently dominated the security situation in North Asia, appeared shaken by a surprise move by the US administration to begin negotiations for a civilian nuclear deal with Vietnam.
Washington has confirmed it in negotiation a deal with Vietnam similar to the one it has signed with India. The move has implications for India, which faced Chinese resistance to its nuclear deal with the US. Indiais also wary about what it regards as China's non-transparent move to sell two more nuclear reactors to Pakistan.
The US move came a day after Vietnam accused China of violating its sovereignty by conducting seismic exploration near disputed islands in the South China Sea. But Vietnam has assured the world it was not interested in enriching uranium or doing anythingwith a military objective.
"The US is used to employing double standards when dealing with different countries ... as a global power that haspromoted denuclearization, it has challenged its own reputation and disturbedthe preset international order," said Teng Jianqun, Deputy Director of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, said in a statement.
China, which signed an agreement with the Vietnamese government after negotiations with the Vietnam Atomic Energy Committee in Julylast year, was hoping to be chosen for nuclear imports until the US deliveredthe surprise.
China also has a strong economic reason to be upset. Asection of foreign investment is moving to Vietnam from south China because of increasing labor and other costs. US assistance for Vietnam's plans togenerate 16,000 mw of nuclear power is bound to hasten theprocess.
The Chinese foreign ministry has not yet reacted to themove. But the state-run China Daily said the move would hamper global nuclearnon-proliferation efforts. It pointed out that the US has also signed a dealwith India, which is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-ProliferationTreaty.
Indian foreign ministry sources said the move will not impact India-US nuclear deal because it has been accepted by the Nuclear SuppliersGroup. The US entering into a transparent deal with Vietnam would only helpfurther the cause of peaceful use of nuclear energy, which is different from the non-transparent deals between Beijing and Pakistan.
The question iswhether it will give China further justification to establish two more nuclear reactors in Pakistan.
On its part, Vietnam has indicated it does not intend to enrich uranium or take any measures other than use nuclear technologyfor purposes other than civilian. "Vietnam doesn't want to make itsinternational relations complicated," Vuong Huu Tan, president of the government-affiliated Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute was quoted by a newspaperas saying. Market
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CAG rebukes ONGC for 'unfruitful' expenditure
6 Aug 2010, 0700 hrs IST,ET Bureau
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NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has said that state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has incurred "unfruitful expenditure" of `2,136.45 crore in 37 exploration blocks and that despite spending over `1,460 crore, it failed to discover oil and gas in 16 blocks won though competitive bidding after analysing their prospectivity.
Analysing ONGC's performance in its 37 shallow water blocks between 2004 and 2008, the government's statutory auditor said compliance deficiencies, delays in carrying out acquisition, processing and interpretation (API) of seismic data and mismatch in planning of exploration activities led to the cost overrun.
The audit was spread over 21 blocks that had been given to ONGC on nomination basis and 16 blocks it had bagged under the Nelp. "There was no reserve accretion in any of the 16 Nelp blocks as all the wells drilled were found to be dry. The company had surrendered/ proposed to surrender 10 of the 16 Nelp blocks after incurring substantial expenditure of `1,461.36 crore over the period 2004-08, though the company had bid for the blocks after analysing them," the CAG report said.
It said ONGC, in deviation from its policy of valuing condensate at gas price, valued condensate produced from the Tapti gas field at crude oil price, resulting in a loss of `853 crore. The Tapti gas field is a joint venture of ONGC, Reliance Industries (RIL) and British Gas Exploration and Production India (BGEPIL).
Replying to an ET query on this issue, ONGC said the valuation was part of a "package settlement" that benefited ONGC by $412.84 million (`1,906 crore) over the contract period up to 2019. "The settlement agreement (between JV partners) was approved by the board... which has representation from the administrative ministry of petroleum and natural gas," an ONGC official said.
The CAG also pulled up public sector insurance companies for their lackadaisical attitude in adopting standard rate for medical services, leading to huge losses on group mediclaim policies. CAG said in the absence of a uniform rate, claims in case of group insurance policies are higher than the premium received.
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"The PSU insurers did not attempt to reduce their losses by reducing the cost of medical services through standardisation of rates and codes for various clinical procedures despite introduction of TPA regulations nine years ago," the CAG said in its report.
The report said that against `11.74 crore premium collected from IT firm TCS, claims paid only for domiciliary hospitalisation were `71.64 crore. "Despite its own group company being in the health insurance business, TCS, Tata Motors and Tata Power went for group policies with PSU insurers," it said.
The insures should have increased the premium of the policies when they come up for renewal every year, but "the four insurance companies did not do this in respect of group policies resulting in a loss of premium of `329.68 crore for three years ended March 31, 2009," it said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/CAG-rebukes-ONGC-for-unfruitful-expenditure/articleshow/6263844.cms
Blackberry Torch Teardown Shows Slider Guts, Antenna
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BlackBerry's new torchbearer
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Indiabulls wins NTC plot for Rs 1505 cr
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18 Indians stashed Rs 44 crore untaxed money in LGT Bank
Economic Times - 31 minutes ago
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LIC to invest Rs 2 L cr in FY11, net up 11%
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Hike in US visa fee to impact Indian IT firms
Economic Times - 31 minutes ago
BANGALORE: The proposed sharp increase in the US visa fee to raise funds for its border security needs would significantly impact the Indian IT sector, National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) said Friday.
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Dasgupta meets FM on constitutional amendment bill on GST
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Tatas gear up for New Age
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RediffTRAI to meet telcos for stopping unsolicited calls
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RediffGems, jewels exports fail to rise despite Rs 68K-cr sops: CAG
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Nifty closes flat ITC Tata Motors HDFC up TCS SBI dip
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Rupee gains 4 paise to 46.15/16 against US dollar
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Noida Park: UP to follow SC advice
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Hyundai to raise capacity despite shrinking exports
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Commonwealth Games: Civic agencies also responsible for mess
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BGR Energy forms two joint ventures with Hitachi
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Nokia betas Craigslist for the third world
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Nokia has started testing Nokia Listings in India - a service much like Craigslist, only without the internet. Instead of expecting users to have computers, or even smartphones, Nokia Listings uses GPRS and runs ...
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Techtree.com
Tata Photon Launches Wi-Fi Pocket Router
Techtree.com - 7 hours ago
Tata Teleservices has announced the launch of its latest product, the Tata Photon Wi-Fi Pocket Router, in select cities of India. The pocket router is a device that enables multiple users and devices to share wireless Internet access whilst on the move ...
New Tata Photon WiFi pocket router Telecom Yatra
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India BlackBerry ban looms large
NDTV.com - Arijit Banerjee - 3 hours ago
Unmoved by the Research In Motion co-CEO Michael Lazaridis' tirade against Indian government, the home ministry has made it clear that BlackBerry smartphones face a ban in India if the company is not able to provide a decryption solution to the ...
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Moneycontrol.com
Google Confirms Slide Acquisition
PC World - Nancy Gohring - 35 minutes ago
Google on Friday confirmed that it has acquired Slide, an online entertainment company focused on virtual communities. The acquisition may help Google boost its social networking aspirations and fuels speculation that it is ...
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Google buys social networking application maker Slide Sydney Morning Herald
PC Magazine - Reuters Canada - USA Today - Reuters UK
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CBC.caMicrosoft's Kinect Hands-on
Techtree.com - Aug 5, 2010
Finally! After watching countless videos and reading about the Kinect online, we had a chance to experience it in person for the very first time today, thanks to Microsoft.
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CBC.ca - ITProPortal - Grab Geek Points (blog) - ConceivablyTech (blog)
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Telegraph.co.uk
What's next for FCC on net neutrality?
Washington Post - Cecilia Kang - 2 hours ago
What's next for net neutrality and the Federal Communications Commission? Industry insiders and analysts say FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will go back to square one, where the FCC is faced with a controversial push to re-regulate ...
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Telegraph.co.uk - BBC News - msnbc.com - Wall Street Journal
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India's $35 laptop scheme needs help
Inquirer - Lawrence Latif - 4 hours ago
AS THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT proudly displayed a tablet computer which it claimed would cost just $35, questions were being asked as to whether the device would ever see the light of day.
One Laptop Per Child Foundation Offers Olive Branch to Indian Government Laptops.co.uk
OLPC offers help to launch laptop @ Rs 1500 Oneindia
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Artistdirect.com
LORDI Unveil WTF 'Babez' Cover Art & iPhone Game
FEARnet.com - Gregory Burkart - 2 hours ago
I knew the album art for LORDI's forthcoming release Babez for Breakfast was coming soon, and I knew their approach to this album was going to be a bit different, but didn't know it would be quite this... uh.
Lordi iPhone Game Coming Next Week antiMUSIC.com
Lordi To Release iPhone App Game Based On Frontman Mr.Lordi Metal Underground
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Poor planning led to CWG missed deadlines: CPWD
IBNLive.com - 32 minutes ago
New Delhi: Central Public Works Department (CPWD), the agency responsible for building 10 of the 17 stadia, says designs were changed constantly and many decisions taken at the last minute after the agency came under fire for shoddy work at the Shyama ...
CBI probe into Tagore Nobel medal theft closed
Economic Times - 11 hours ago
6 Aug 2010, 0004 hrs IST, PTI BOLPUR (WB): The five-year-old probe by the CBI into the theft of Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel medal and other memorabilia from Rabindra Bhavan museum in Santiniketan, has been officially closed.
`Close inquiry on Nobel medallion robbery' Central Chronicle
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Chicago Tribune
Google's Wave Decision
BusinessWeek - Karim R. Lakhani - 2 hours ago
Some tech pundits were surprised that Google decided to shut down Wave yesterday just a year after its launch and chastised the company for its decision.
Google Wave Slayed by Facebook and Twitter PC World
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Friday August 6, 08:30 PM *
Q+A: India's proposed goods and services tax
* Click to enlarge photo
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Plans by India to introduce a nationwide goods and services tax (GST) from next April may be delayed if any state governments fail to back the government's proposed rollout timetable.
A nationwide GST is intended to usher in a uniform market for goods and services, cut business costs and boost government revenue. But differences between states and the central government, largely over questions of fiscal autonomy, persist.
Here are some key questions regarding the GST:
HOW WILL THE GST WORK?
The GST is an indirect tax that would replace existing levies such as excise duty, service tax and value-added tax (VAT).
The states and the central government will impose the tax on almost all goods and services produced in India or imported. Exports will not attract GST.
Producers will receive credits for tax paid earlier, which will eliminate multiple taxation on the same product or service.
Direct taxes, such as income tax, corporate tax and capital gains tax will not be affected.
WHAT'S THE RATIONALE?
Eliminating a multiplicity of existing indirect taxes will simplify the tax structure, broaden the tax base, and create a common market across states and centrally administered districts.
At the same time, GST will lower the average tax burden for companies that now pay "cascading" taxes on top of taxes through the production process. Reducing production costs will make exporters more competitive.
WHAT ARE THE PROPOSED RATES?
In the first year, the government proposes two rates -- 12 percent for essential items and 20 percent for others. In the second year, the higher rate would be lowered to 18 percent, with the goal that both rates converge at 16 percent, split equally between the central government and the states.
ARE ANY EXEMPTIONS PROPOSED?
Yes. The government will review various lists of exempted goods to align them at centre and state levels.
Asim Dasgupta, chairman of the panel of state finance ministers, said alcohol, petroleum and electricity would not come under GST. All three are revenue spinners for most states.
WILL THE STATES LOSE OUT?
New Delhi will compensate states for potential lost revenue and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has assured states that if needed, he would sweeten a 500-billion rupee ($10.8 billion) fund that a government panel has proposed as an incentive for the states to buy into GST.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The legislation to make constitutional amendments needs to be finalised and the administrative mechanism must be created. The amendment is a prerequisite, as GST will give both the central and state governments additional powers of taxation.
WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THE AMENDMENT?
The draft amendment has been circulated by the central government but has met with objections from some states fearing loss of fiscal autonomy.
Those states are opposed to a clause in the amendment giving effective veto power to the federal finance minister even on taxation matters that relate to state governments.
Some states, including Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, also oppose the basic structure of the taxation system. Instead of the fixed structure proposed by the central government, these states want a floor rate of GST to be prescribed, beyond which the states should be free to charge their own rates.
WILL THE ROLLOUT BE DELAYED?
GST has already been delayed once from a targeted April 2010 launch.
The latest objections could result in another delay, though New Delhi maintains the new April 1, 2011 deadline can be met.
If the constitutional amendment bill cannot be introduced in the current legislative session, then it can be placed before parliament only in the winter session later this year. It must also be ratified by at least 15 state legislatures -- a potentially lengthy process that could result in a delay.
WHAT IS THE REVENUE IMPACT?
The GST was initially intended to be revenue-neutral but is now expected to increase the tax take thanks to more efficient collection and increased compliance.
WHAT ABOUT THE ECONOMIC IMPACT?
Implementation of a comprehensive GST would lift India's economy of over $1 trillion by between 0.9 percent and 1.7 percent, on top of whatever growth would otherwise be achieved, according to a report by the New Delhi-based economic think-tank the National Council of Applied Economic Research.
(Reporting by Abhijit Neogy, editing by Malini Menon, John Stonestreet)
(For more business news on Reuters India click http://in.reuters.com)
Friday August 6, 02:35 AM Source: Indian Express Finance
Direct tax mop-up jumps 15.75% to Rs 85,647 crore in April-July
By fe Bureaus
Signaling recovery in overall income levels in the country, the direct tax collection during the first four months of the current financial year has gone up by 15.75% to Rs 85,647 crore as compared to Rs 73,990 crore in the same period last fiscal.
The corporate tax kitty grew by 21% to Rs 51,627 crore in the April-July, the personal income tax segment saw a jump of 8.51% to Rs 33,940 crore, up from Rs 31,279 crore during the period last year, the data released by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Thursday said.
Personal income tax collections include securities transaction tax, residual fringe benefit tax and banking cash transaction tax. The direct tax collections corporate and income tax during July were Rs 16,972 crore.
The securities transaction tax (STT), however, continued to fall with the STT collections during the four month period declining 26.25% to Rs 1,652 crore as compared to Rs 2,240 crore in the year-ago period. Something that cannot be missed is the growth in personal income tax collections in the Patna region (Bihar and Jharkhand).
The region has showed the highest growth in personal income tax at 93% as against India's composite figure at 8.5%. In terms of corporate income tax growth the Bhopal region (MP and Chhattisgarh) clocked the highest growth at 219.2% as compared with the country's average of 21%.riday August 6, 05:20 PM *
Bharti Airtel, RComm profits seen bottoming out in Q1
* Click to enlarge photo
By Devidutta Tripathy
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Results for the last quarter could show profits bottoming out for India's top mobile firm Bharti Airtel (BHARTIARTL.BO : 322.3 -2.35RCOM.NS : 172.8 -0.35
Firms including Bharti, Reliance Comm, Vodafone, Tata Teleservices, Idea Cellular and Reliance Industries (RELIANCE.NS : 1000.1 -6.95
Voice services account for nearly 90 percent of Indian telecoms firms' revenue, but metrics such as average revenue per user are declining as a majority of the new users come from rural areas, who spend less than their urban counterparts.
"I am cautiously optimistic," said K.K. Mital, head of portfolio management services at Globe Capital in New Delhi on the outlook for telecoms firms.
"The worst seems to be over in terms of price falls and the minutes of usage is on the rise," Mital said.
Some analysts said debt levels would be an overhang on the industry until the next-generation services take off and start making money for the firms.
For StarMine comparitive data, click http://r.reuters.com/jus63n
After call prices tumbled to as low as 0.4 U.S. cents a minute -- with the brunt of the price cuts taking place in the second half of 2009 -- in a vicious war in the 15-operator market, there were no significant price falls in April-June.
Bharti, which dominates India's mobile market with its about 137 million users, or more than 21 percent of the market of 635 million, is set to report quarterly profit fell by about a quarter, according to a Reuters poll of 10 analysts.
"Going forward, one has to see what kind of response 3G services get. That will be key for Bharti," Mital said.
Reliance Comm, which had been more aggressive in cutting call prices, could see its profit slump about 60 percent. Reliance Comm is selling its telecoms towers to help reduce its high debt and has also plans for selling up to 26 percent stake in itself.
The key for Bharti would be integrating its $9 billion acquisition of telecoms operations in 15 African countries that made it the world's fifth-biggest mobile operator.
Indian telecom firms will be allotted 3G radio airwaves only in September and are expected to launch services around end-2010 or early next year.
Bharti and Reliance shares are flat so far this year after being the worst performing stocks in the Mumbai benchmark index in 2009.
(Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan; Editing by Anshuman Daga)
(For more business news on Reuters India click http://in.reuters.com)
Friday August 6, 11:10 PM *
Gulf oil well seal holding, BP looks to final kill
* Click to enlarge photo
By Chris Baltimore
HOUSTON (Reuters) - BP said the cement seal on its crippled Gulf of Mexico oil well was holding on Friday, as the company readied a final push to permanently shut down the deepwater source of the world's worst offshore spill.
More than 100 days after the start of the catastrophic spill that ravaged ecologically sensitive wetlands and lucrative coastal economies in the U.S. Gulf, BP said no oil was leaking from the undersea Macondo well and no "recoverable oil" was left on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
BP finished pumping cement into the ruptured well on Thursday after injections of heavy drilling mud earlier this week subdued the upward pressure of oil and gas. The wellhead was provisionally capped in mid-July.
(For Slideshow: Gulf Oil Spill, click http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=USRTR2GSXX)
The so-called "static kill" at the top of the well is due to be finished off with a "bottom kill" later in August with more mud and cement injected through a relief bore that will be drilled into the ruptured well shaft. This relief well is regarded as the final solution to plug the reservoir 13,000 feet (4,000 metres) beneath the seabed.
BP's chief operating officer for exploration and production, Doug Suttles, told reporters at a briefing in New Orleans the cement job "appears to be performing as expected," though tests were continuing on Friday. "All of the indications so far look very encouraging," he said.
He added the critical relief well was expected to intercept the Macondo well shaft "right at the middle of the month."
The well's sealing was a relief for both the British energy giant, whose shares and image have taken a beating from the spill, and for President Barack Obama's administration, which has pledged to help the pollution-struck Gulf Coast recover.
However, big questions remained about just how much environmental and economic damage the spilled oil had caused and could still cause, and about the final costs and liabilities to be faced by BP.
"We're far from finished," Suttles said.
"Clearly we feel like its moving to a new phase because we've been three weeks without new oil flowing into the sea, and we don't have oil out on the open water anymore. But we still have a lot of work around the shoreline," he said.
BP shares, which have recovered strongly since hitting a 14-year low on June 25, appeared once again to be buoyed by the news of the progress on plugging the well. They rose more than 2 percent in early London trading before falling back to a 0.46 percent gain later in the day. BP shares were up 0.64 percent in mid-day trading in New York.
The company has lost over a third of its market value since the April 20 blast that killed 11 workers, sank the Deepwater Horizon rig and triggered the spill,
(Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Eric Beech)
(For more news on Reuters India, click http://in.reuters.com)
Friday August 6, 09:20 PM *
Wall St drops after dismal July payrolls report
* Click to enlarge photo
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Friday as data showed the economy shed more jobs than expected last month, increasing worries that the path to economic recovery will be slow.
Employment in July fell for a second straight month as more temporary government census jobs ended. But private employment, considered a better indicator of the health of the labor market, rose, though less than expected.
"We're seeing an economy that's moving ahead slowly but not creating net, on balance, a lot of new jobs," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at The Davidson Cos in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
"It points to continued expectations the economic slowdown we've seen will probably extend another two to three months, if not longer."
Consumer stocks were among the biggest losers as the jobs report added to worries about consumer spending, while a drop in oil prices weighed on the energy sector. The S&P consumer discretionary index fell 1.5 percent and energy shares lost 1.6.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 116.25 points, or 1.09 percent, to 10,558.73. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 14.05 points, or 1.25 percent, to 1,111.76. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 30.86 points, or 1.35 percent, to 2,262.20.
The S&P fell to test its 200-day moving average around 1,115. Earlier in the session the level had provided support, but the index was struggling to maintain its grip there in late morning trading.
Kraft Foods Inc was a bright spot, gaining 2.3 percent to $30.33 after it reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit and raised its target for cost savings from the acquisition of Cadbury.
On the Nasdaq, Activision Blizzard Inc shed 5.5 percent to $11.09 after it forecast its current-quarter profit and revenue to come in below Wall Street's targets.
(Additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)
(For more news on Reuters India, click http://in.reuters.com)
Economy News
Economy- Inflation can't be RBI's only focus, says guv Subbarao
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- Reserve Bank of India governor D Subbarao has said that in an emerging economy like India, it is not practical for the central bank to focus exclusively on inflation oblivious of the larger development context. The RBI needs to balance between...
- Farmers plan to invest in Zambia - govt
- - Reuters - Thu 05 Aug, 08:20 PM
- LUSAKA (Reuters) - Indian commercial farmers plan to invest in a new model farm in Zambia, according to the government, which seeks to diversify the economy by promoting agriculture as an alternative to copper and cobalt...
- Pranab says economy under inflationary pressure
- - Reuters - Thu 05 Aug, 04:50 PM
- NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Indian economy is under inflationary pressure, the finance minister told parliament on...
- Airlines eye buoyant December-quarter
- - Reuters - Thu 05 Aug, 02:00 PM
- NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's air carriers, who were battered by shrinking traffic and high fuel costs in the past two years, are now looking forward to an upswing in business, helped by the rebounding economy and events later this year,...
- India's factory output up on strong order book
- - Indian Express - Tue 03 Aug, 05:20 PM
- Making a strong case for the central bank to continue with the accelerated pace in the normalisation of key policy rates, the purchasing manager s index (PMI) for the month of July showed a reading of 57.6, higher than 57.3 in the month before. A...
- China slows to cruising speed, India perks up
- - Reuters - Mon 02 Aug, 08:10 PM
- LONDON/BEIJING (Reuters) - Manufacturing in China shrank in July for the first time since March 2009 while India, Asia's third-largest economy, marked its 16th month of expansion, according to surveys that underscored the uneveness of the global...
EARLIER HEADLINES
- Indian economy moving towards $2 trillion mark
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- - Indian Express - Sat 31 Jul, 05:42 PM
» More Archived News
Energy Sector News
Energy* - Gulf oil well seal holding, BP looks to final kill
- - Reuters - Fri 06 Aug, 11:10 PM
- HOUSTON (Reuters) - BP said the cement seal on its crippled Gulf of Mexico oil well was holding on Friday, as the company readied a final push to permanently shut down the deepwater source of the world's worst offshore...
- BGR Energy says in JV with Japan's Hitachi
- - Reuters - Fri 06 Aug, 09:40 PM
- MUMBAI (Reuters) - BGR Energy Systems said it would set up two joint ventures with Japan's Hitachi Ltd to make power equipment in India, with investment totalling about 44 billion rupees ($956...
- Baghdad returns to map of global airlines
- - Reuters - Fri 06 Aug, 06:10 PM
- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Baghdad is getting back on the map of international airlines after 20 years of violence as the prospect of multi-billion oil deals lures business...
- BSE Sensex sheds 0.2 pct; Tata Motors at 3-½ year high
- - Reuters - Fri 06 Aug, 05:10 PM
- MUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex logged its fourth weekly rise in five gaining 1.5 percent this week, but shed 0.2 percent on Friday led by losses in energy major Reliance Industries and export-focused software...
- Coal India's $3 bln IPO filing next week - sources
- - Reuters - Fri 06 Aug, 03:30 PM
- MUMBAI (Reuters) - State-run Coal India, the world's largest coal miner, will file a draft prospectus for an initial public offering to raise as much as $3 billion early next week, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters...
- 'Coal India IPO filing early next week'
- - Indian Express - Fri 06 Aug, 02:49 PM
- State-run Coal India, the world s largest coal miner is likely to file documents with the stock market regulator by Monday or Tuesday next week for its initial public offering, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on...
EARLIER HEADLINES
- BGR Energy in JV with Japan's Hitachi
- - Indian Express - Fri 06 Aug, 02:45 PM
- Retail regulator to watch zoning, prices
- - Indian Express - Fri 06 Aug, 02:28 PM
- BGR Energy, Japan's Hitachi to announce JVs - source
- - Reuters - Fri 06 Aug, 01:00 PM
- Oil steady near $82 ahead of U.S. payrolls report
- - Reuters - Fri 06 Aug, 11:10 AM
- RIL buys 60% in US shale gas acreage for Rs 1,800 cr
- - Indian Express - Fri 06 Aug, 02:49 AM
» More Archived News
Market News
Markets*
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EARLIER HEADLINES
- RBI has done enough on inflation: Gokarn
- - Reuters - Fri 06 Aug, 05:10 PM
- BSE Sensex sheds 0.2 pct; Tata Motors at 3-½ year high
- - Reuters - Fri 06 Aug, 05:10 PM
- BSE Sensex provisionally closes down 0.2 pct
- - Reuters - Fri 06 Aug, 03:50 PM
- Coal India's $3 bln IPO filing next week - sources
- - Reuters - Fri 06 Aug, 03:30 PM
- 'Coal India IPO filing early next week'
- - Indian Express - Fri 06 Aug, 02:49 PM
» More Archived News
Infrastructure News
Infrastructure
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EARLIER HEADLINES
- Ambani stock plunges to year's low
- - Indian Express - Tue 03 Aug, 05:37 PM
- Haryana threatens to scrap Sabeer Bhatia's Nano City
- - Indian Express - Tue 03 Aug, 05:34 PM
- Saudi BinLadin buys 20% in Maytas Infra
- - Indian Express - Tue 03 Aug, 05:25 PM
- Mastek unit in deal with Canadian life insurance firm
- - Reuters - Tue 03 Aug, 05:20 PM
- Sebi showcause to Anil, ADAG execs
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Hindustan Times News
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- Maruti's hopes ride on new Alto
- - HT - Thu 05 Aug, 05:42 PM
- From today, get compensation for delayed flights
- - HT - Thu 05 Aug, 04:42 PM
- India Inc hiring to rise 30% this year
- - HT - Thu 05 Aug, 04:15 PM
- AETN, Network18 tie up for channels
- - HT - Thu 05 Aug, 04:14 PM
- Dell to avoid low-end PC market in India
- - HT - Thu 05 Aug, 04:13 PM
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Indian Express News
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- Inflation will ease by December: Anant
- - Indian Express - Fri 06 Aug, 02:40 PM
- Oracle Q1 net up 4 pct at Rs 193 cr
- - Indian Express - Fri 06 Aug, 02:39 PM
- Cable stocks up 20% on digitisation move
- - Indian Express - Fri 06 Aug, 02:37 PM
- BAF targets Rs 100-cr financing for Yamaha
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- 'New models to help Maruti retain No 1 place'
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- Tata Realty eyes Rs 30,000 cr projects
- - Financial Express - Thu 05 Aug, 05:08 PM
- Crisil launches real estate ratings
- - Financial Express - Thu 05 Aug, 05:08 PM
- SFIO probing books of Subhiksha: Khurshid
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Reuters News
Reuters News*
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EARLIER HEADLINES
- Indiabulls Real Estate wins Mumbai plot for $326 mln
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- Q+A: India's proposed goods and services tax
- - Reuters - Fri 06 Aug, 08:30 PM
- GLOBAL MARKETS WEEKAHEAD - Low returns for longer?
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- Blackberry manufacturer says won't allow access to security-related codes
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