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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Financial reforms not driven by Obama’s visit, says finance minister!Coal India to raise Rs 15,000 cr from largest ever Indian IPO

Financial reforms not driven by Obama's visit, says finance minister!Coal India to raise Rs 15,000 cr from largest ever Indian IPO


India Inc poised to raise record funds via issues in 2010


Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams- 563

Palash Biswas

http://palashbiswaslive.blogspot.com/


Financial reforms not driven by Obama's visit, says finance minister!

We should be convinced! Why the Brahamin Tantra Guru from brahaminical bengal has to clarify at all?This is the question unanswered.


Karnataka CM agrees to floor test again Oct 14

BS Yeddyurappa has agreed to take the trust vote again on Thursday as advised by Governor Bhardwaj. More
  • Take trust vote again, Bhardwaj tells Yeddyurappa


    India and the European Union will jointly host a brainstorming session of the Group of 23 countries on Wednesday to explore how the stalled Doha trade negotiations could be re-energized, sources said.

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said India has taken up with the US the issue of export control in high-technology trade, and pressed for a number of Indian units to be removed from its restricted Entity List.


The government will raise up to $3.5 billion from a price band of Rs 225 to Rs 245 for state-run Coal India's initial public offering, the largest in the country's corporate history. The government is selling 631.6 million shares, or 10 percent stake in the world's largest coal miner.


The share sale is part of the country's plan to divest its stakes in roughly 60 companies over the next few years. "I think the pricing is much better than what we were expecting. We were expecting it to be Rs 260 at the upper end," said Ambareesh Baliga, vice president of Karvy Stock Broking in Mumbai.


"The response from institutional investors is expected to be very good," he added. Priced at the top end of the band, the company would be valued at $35 billion, placing it among the top Indian firms by market value. It is the seventh-largest IPO in Asia this year.


Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the country's coal minister said the IPO would raise more than Rs 15,000.


Sources said the EGoM fixed the price band at Rs 225- Rs 245 a share to garner maximum from the four-day initial public offering (IPO), billed as the biggest ever to hit the Indian capital market on October 18.


The four-member EGoM includes Home Minister P Chidambaram, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal and Planning Commission Secretary Sudha Pillai.


Among other factors, EGoM considered the share prices of major global coal companies including China Shenhua Energy Company, the world's most valuable coal producer, to arrive at a figure, sources added.


CIL filed the prospectus (Red Herring Prospectus) for the issue with SEBI, after being cleared by the Registrar of Companies, in the last week of September. Its board cleared the revised papers incorporating 78 changes suggested by the market regulator.


With over 63 billion tonnes of coal reserves under its fold, CIL is targeting an output of 461.5 million tonnes in the current financial year.


The biggest IPO in India till date is that of Anil Ambani Group company Reliance Power . In January, 2008, it raised Rs 11,500 crore.


Coal India, based in Kolkata, holds a dominant position in the fast-growing Indian market. The state monopoly produced 431 million tonnes in 2009/10 and accounts for nearly 80 percent of coal output in Asia's third-largest economy.


Coal powers 75 percent of India's electricity output, and annual demand is expected to swell at 11 percent. The country, which faces a peak-hour power deficit of nearly 14 percent, plans to triple its generation capacity over the next decade. It reported earnings per share of Rs 15.60 for the fiscal ended March 2010. China's Shenhua Energy, the Indian miner's closest rival, trades at 16 times earnings, while smaller Indonesian peer Adaro Energy has a price-to-earnings ratio of 20 times.


U.S. miner Peabody Energy trades at 25 times earnings. The IPO opens on October 18 and closes on October 21. The listing on the Bombay Stock Exchange is expected by Nov 4. Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Enam Securities, Deutsche Bank, and Bank of America-Merrill Lynch are the managers for the offer.


Speaking to media persons at the conclusion of his three-day trip to Washington where he attended the bi-annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank , Mukherjee expressed satisfaction over the overall progress in Indo-US defence ties.


But, he pointed out, that the issue of export control was an area where more movement is needed. "... it is one area where we do feel that a number of Indian units which are in their entity list should be removed from the list, we are talking export control also, we are in the process of dialogue," Mukherjee said.


The Finance Minister said India and the US had come "much closer" both economically and politically as well as in the field of defence in the last few years.


"... some major instruments which have been signed during this period, take the case of defence, which we never contemplated of having any cooperation in the defence sector, but when I was defence minister, we signed defence framework co-operation, on the basis of which now on Government to government FMS route defence exchanges are taking place, we are talking...," he said.


The US Department of Commerce's Entity List contains a list of foreign end users which might have proliferation concerns. The list is aimed at assisting exporters in determining whether an entity poses proliferation concerns.


Several trade envoys met in small groups last week exchanging ideas on Doha agriculture, industrial goods, services, among other issues.

These meetings, however, failed to bring about any convergence on numerous gaps between the industrialised countries, particularly the United States , and key developing countries like China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Argentina.

"Though these meetings are useful, there is no progress in the market access pillar [that includes agriculture, industrial goods and services]," said one participant, who preferred to remain anonymous.

In an attempt to chalk out the way-forward in the Doha negotiating process, India and the EU are convening a meeting of trade envoys of the G-23 group that includes United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, China, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Indonesia, South Korea, Mexico, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Mauritius, Barbados, Turkey, Venezuela, Chile, Norway Malaysia, Colombia, and Pakistan.

The G-23 is a larger forum and it is important to decide the way-forward, said the participant, suggesting it is a "transparency" meeting.

After nine years of marathon negotiations, the Doha deal is nowhere in sight as there is no consensus on key agriculture and market access issue

President Barak Obama had said at the last G-20 meeting in Toronto that emerging countries will corner all the benefits from the Doha agreement while the US' concerns continue to remain unanswered.

The World Trade Organization's remaining 152 members who seem tired and exhausted with the Doha negotiations are ready to finalize a deal on the basis of what is on the table at this moment with some minor changes, sources said.

Part of the problem for the stalemate in the Doha negotiations is what is called the "payment" that would largely determine what ought to be the magnitude of trade concessions that a country would take in return for the market access it offers.                                                                                       With US President Barack Obama's visit due in the month of November this year, India stated that the reforms in their finance sector are not to appease the US president.
After the IMF World Bank annual meeting that was held in Washington, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee stated "We have not made the reforms in meeting with anybody. We felt that these reforms and changes were necessary for the betterment of our national economy and was undertaken by our own understanding. This has nothing to do in relation to anyone's visit."
The Monsoon session of parliament witnessed introduction of a bill that overhauled direct tax where as legislation of liberalization of pension and insurance is still in pending situation. It was explained by Pranab Mukherjee that the reform was held up as the UPA government didn't have the needed majority in the parliament.
"The fact that Congress does not enjoy a clear majority makes the reason why many of the legislations on financial sector reforms are getting held up. To implement legislation, only intention will not do. We need the required number too- we do not have the winning 272 votes." said Mukherjee. He also feels that lack of majority votes is also the main cause that is holding back the pension reforms and insurance bills.

India Inc poised to raise record funds via issues in 2010

In the current year so far, Indian cos have raised over Rs 50,000 crore through domestic issues. This is close to the record figure of Rs 52,900 crore raised in the whole of 2007.

With the Indian stock market near all-time peaks, the euphoria is also spreading to the primary markets and 2010 is likely to be remembered as the year in which India Inc raised record funds through IPOs and rights issues.

In the current year so far, Indian corporates have raised over 50,000 crore through domestic issues. This is close to the record figure of 52,900 crore raised by domestic firms through equity issues in the whole of 2007, a report by brokerage firm Motilal Oswal said.

"Given the pipeline of capital raising from both public and private sectors in the fourth quarter of CY10, we expect total capital rising this year to significantly surpass the previous high of 2007," the brokerage house said.

IPO subscription money is also an interesting indicator of the level of investor participation and the level of euphoria. For instance, in September alone, public offers were oversubscribed 11 times on average, with IPOs worth 3,400 crore attracting demand worth 37,000 crore from investors.

Last month, Eros International Media's 350-crore IPO was over-subscribed 27 times, while Tecpro Systems 268 crore offer saw 24 times more demand. Similarly, Career Point Infosystems' 115 crore IPO was oversubscribed 47 times, Va Tech Wabag's 125 crore offer 36 times, Ashoka Buildcon's 225 crore offer 16 times and Microsec Financial's 147.5 crore offer 12 times.

Going forward, the issuance of fresh paper is likely to continue, given the nearly $10 billion disinvestment programme of the government and the private sector's requirement to raise equity to fund projects in sectors such as utilities, real estate and infrastructure. State-run Coal India is coming out with its IPO later this month, through which the government expects to garner up to 16,000 crore. Coal India's IPO is billed as the biggest ever public issue in the country till date. So far, Reliance Power's 11,500 crore IPO was the biggest one.

"Indian markets are in euphoric times. This is evident in the strong performance of benchmark indices, above average valuations, unprecedented FII flows, large IPO subscriptions, increased traded volumes and so on," the report said.

India is one of the best performing markets globally and is poised to be one of the earliest to scale its previous peak and create new highs. Last month, the NSE Nifty crossed the 6,000 points landmark, while the Sensex breached 20,000 points, levels last seen 32 months ago in January, 2008. In today's session, the Sensex was quoting at 20,475, about 730 points short of the record high of 21,206.77 achieved on January 10, 2008.

The key factor driving the rally in Indian markets has been inflows from FIIs (foreign institutional investors). So far in 2010, FII inflows stand at nearly $20 billion, the highest ever so far.

Indian warship INS Shakti launched in Italy

Indian warship INS Shakti launched in Italy

A new warship built for the Indian Navy has been launched at an Italian shipyard in a ceremony that included the recitation of Vedic hymns and the breaking of a coconut.

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri launched the INS Shakti tanker at the Sestri Ponente yard in Genoa Monday, an Indian Navy officer said.

This is the second of the two tankers built at the Italian shipyard.

INS Deepak was the first to be designed and built in Italy and is in an advanced stage of trials before being delivered to the Indian Navy by year-end.

Fincantieri had signed a 300 million euro contract in April 2008 to build the two vessels.

INS Shakti was launched by Homai Saha, the wife of India's Ambassador to Italy Debabrata Saha, with the "recitation of Vedic hymns and the breaking of a coconut", the official said.

The christening ceremony also included smashing a bottle of champagne against the ship's bow.

Vice Admiral N.N. Kumar, controller (Warship Production and Acquisition), and other senior officers of the Indian Navy and the defence ministry, as also senior Italian Navy officers were present at the launching ceremony.

INS Shakti is expected to be commissioned within two years. Trials will start in December.

Both the INS Shakti and the INS Deepak have been built with double hulls to provide greater safety and prevent oil spillage.
12 Oct, 2010, 03.42AM IST,ET Bureau

Collapse of Karnataka's BJP govt to hit economy

12 Oct, 2010, 03.42AM IST,ET Bureau

Collapse of Karnataka's BJP govt to hit economy

BANGALORE: The imminent collapse of Karnataka's BJP government is likely to further damage the state's economy , scare away corporate investors and dampen efforts to spur infrastructure spending, experts and industry leaders said on Monday.

Over the past decade, Karnataka has developed into a mega hub for IT and technology companies, but has lagged other states, especially its southern neighbours, in attracting manufacturing investments or in infrastructure spending. The BJP government had the power and the majority needed to do that. But teetering on the edge, just 28 months after being elected, is a pointer to a chronic problem affecting the state's polity.

If it falls, this will be the fourth government to do so without completing its full term in the past six years. T V Mohandas Pai, director, Infosys Technologies , sees a three-fold impact of this political instability: a) lack of confidence among corporates in the state towards expansion, b) delayed investments into the state and c) slower job creation

"After GIM, the confidence level was high with investment potential in tier-2 & 3 cities, but now, the corporates might look at other states," J Crasta, former president of FKCCI, an industry body, said.

GIM or the Global Investors Meet, held in June this year, was a showpiece of the BS Yeddyurappa government. It brought together investors from across the world, who promised to spend more than Rs 3 lakh crore on setting up steel mills and power plants.

The state was desperately seeking certain mega investments to provide that investor confidence and was pushing quite heavily for the six million tonne steel plant of ArcelorMittal with an estimated investment of Rs 30,000 crore. It wanted to make this a showpiece investment, but the BJP government's inability to take on the illegal mining lobby only hampered its efforts.

During GIM, the steel sector alone attracted investments over Rs 2 lakh crore and there was hope that some of the industries will come up in the often-neglected districts of north Karnataka. A senior bureaucrat with the state government agrees that the image of Karnataka as an investor-friendly destination has taken a hit and any new regime will have to take urgent steps to erase this perception.

A cross-section of industry bodies say that no political party was against new investments, but lacked a clear economic vision along with implementation bottlenecks. In fact, an industry body official said that during the early days of Mr Yeddyurappa's government, the chief minister did not show the inclination towards attracting investments but it was only later that he changed his stance.

However, the different measures undertaken by the government have only been bogged down by various corruption charges, with one of the ministers in the state cabinet being accused of receiving illegal land compensation from the government.

TODAY - 12 October, 2010

Sachin beyond mere mortals

Tendulkar has not lost his insatiable appetite for runs and at 37, his hunger for success and more goals has not diminished one bit. More

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Coal India to raise Rs 15,000 cr from largest ever Indian IPO

2 Hours ago
AGENCIES
Coal India IPO price band at Rs 225-245/share. IPO values firm at $35 bn at top end of band. IPO largest ever by Indian firm, No. 7 in Asia this year.
Longer stay in India to increase NRIs' tax liability. Check out2 Hours ago
Under DTC, if an NRI's stay in India exceeds 60 days during a year and 365 days for the past four tax years, then they may be considered as residents of India.
Are you dressed right for an appraisal?44 Minutes ago
An employee's adherence to the company dress code is also considered during appraisals.
Skoda relaunches Fabia priced at Rs 4.19 - 6.49 lakhs
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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Best Asian finance minister of the year honour for Pranab

Times of India - ‎17 hours ago‎
NEW DELHI: India's fast recovery -- when half of the world was still reeling under slowdown -- was duly acknowledged when finance minister Pranab Mukherjee ...

FM promises action on capital inflows when it is needed

Business Standard - Indira Kannan - ‎19 hours ago‎
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here on Monday that rising capital flows into India had not yet reached an alarming level, but appropriate action ...

Finance Minister of Asia award for Pranab

The Hindu - ‎20 hours ago‎
PTI Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has won this year's 'Finance Minister of the Year for Asia' award. ...

"This is an area where constant watch and evaluation of the situation (is being made) and thereafter appropriate steps will have to be done. My own assessment is that the annualised rate of inflation would be around six per cent," he said.
more by Pranab Mukherjee - Oct 11, 2010 - Economic Times (6 occurrences)



IMF legitimacy will be questioned if it does not change: Pranab

Hindustan Times - ‎22 hours ago‎
PTI Making a strong case for minimum 5 per cent rise in voting power in IMF for emerging economies, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said ...

Mukherjee seeks more financial sector reforms

Economic Times - ‎Oct 11, 2010‎
WASHINGTON: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee indicated here that the Government of India was wanting to implement more reforms in the financial sector, ...

Pranab on why Congress can't push through economic reforms

Rediff - Aziz Haniffa - ‎Oct 10, 2010‎
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has asserted there's been no pressure by the United States for India to enact financial sector reforms, particularly in ...

For Pranab, Puja back home more important than LA

Rediff - ‎Oct 10, 2010‎
Like his boss Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [ Images ], Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee [ Images ], the government's chief trouble-shooter, is deprived of ...

G-20 assuming importance over World Bank, IMF, says Pranab

The Hindu - Narayan Lakshman - ‎Oct 10, 2010‎
Washington: The Group of 20 major economies is assuming more importance than the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) "in matters of money ...

No solution yet for more voice to emerging markets: Pranab

Sify - ‎Oct 10, 2010‎
Washington, Oct 10 (IANS) No solution has yet been found on how to give a greater say to emerging markets in the global economic governance structure to ...

No link between Obama trip and passage of fin sector bills: FM

Times of India - ‎Oct 10, 2010‎
WASHINGTON: Asserting that financial sector reforms are necessary for the country's growth, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday categorically said ...
All 23 related articles »

12 Oct, 2010, 04.20AM IST, Kuldip Kumar,

Longer stay in India to increase NRIs' tax liability

Domestic households savings contribute significantly to India's overall domestic savings rate. The credit goes to the Indian tax laws to a certain extent, as they provide tax incentives to individuals to invest in some specified tax-saving instruments. Section 80C of the Income Tax Act (Act) provides for a deduction of `1 lakh in certain investments (tax saving instruments)/payments made during the year.

The various investments which are eligible for deductions under Section 80C are equity-linked savings schemes (ELSS) offered by LIC and mutual funds, unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) for self and/or spouse, children, life insurance policies for self, and/or spouse, children, employees' contribution to recognised provident funds (PF), approved super-annuation fund, contribution to public provident fund (PPF); deposits in post office schemes such as National Savings Certificate (NSC), Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), if it applies and the post office five-year time deposits, term deposit with a scheduled bank for a period of at least five years, investments made in bonds issued by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) and debentures issued by specified companies.

In addition to the above investments, the following payments also qualify for deduction under Section 80C: payment of tuition fees for full-time education in any Indian university, college, school, educational institution (available for any two children), and repayment of the principal portion of a housing loan.

Besides Section 80C, one can also make an investment up to `20,000 in specified infrastructure bonds to save tax. Further, an individual gets a deduction of up to `15,000 (`20,000 where the individual is a senior citizen) for the health insurance of self and his family. There is an additional deduction of `15,000 where the health insurance is taken for the parents (`20,000 where any of the parents is a senior citizen).

However, the situation may undergo dramatic changes after the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) comes into play. DTC, 2010, proposes to restrict the deduction of `1 lakh only to some approved fund(s)— such as an approved provident fund, pension fund, super-annuation fund, PPF among others. However, an additional deduction of `50,000 has been proposed to cover payments such as life insurance premiums (premium not to exceed 5% of sum insured), health insurance premiums and the tuition fee. That means an individual won't get any tax incentives for existing tax-saving instruments other than those covered in the DTC.

Non-resident Indians (NRIs) visiting India, will need to be more vigilant, post the DTC regime. Under DTC, if their stay in India exceeds 60 days during a year and 365 days for the past four tax years, then they may be considered as residents of India. Currently, they become residents only when their stay exceeds 182 days. Once they become a resident, they may have to pay tax on their global income, if their stay in India for the past seven tax years exceeds 729 days and if they are residents in two out of the past 10 tax years. In a nutshell, NRIs run the risk of triggering worldwide taxation soon if they spend a significant time in India.

The DTC proposals relating to individual taxation have undergone significant change since the DTC was proposed in August 2009. One will really need to wait for the final bill, which will become operational from April 1, 2012.

By Kuldip Kumar, ED, Tax and Regulatory Services | PricewaterhouseCoopers
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/personal-finance/tax-savers/tax-news/Longer-stay-in-India-to-increase-NRIs-tax-liability/articleshow/6733168.cms

India competes with China, Europe for growing African market

With the help of the government, Indian industry is implementing a strategy to compete with China and European countries for capturing markets in growing African economies , particularly in East Africa.

As part of the game plan, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma will be leaving for Nairobi tonight, leading a business delegation of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Senior officials from 187 Indian companies would be participating in the 'Namaskar Africa' and 'India-East Africa Business Forum' events at Nairobi, opening on October 14.

FICCI President and Bharti Enterprises Vice Chairman Rajan Bharati Mittal, with a strong interest in the telecom business in Africa, is the leading member of the delegation.

Sharma will be addressing a meeting of the India-Kenya Joint Trade Committee, according to a Commerce Ministry statement here.

He is also scheduled to meet Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

While India has bilateral trade of USD 30 billion (2009- 10) with Africa, business with East African nations, mainly Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Ethiopia and Uganda, amounts to just USD 4 billion.

According to a FICCI study, "India has many commercial rivals in the region, particularly European countries like UK and China... The Chinese companies, which are government- owned, have far more capital for investment than the Indian private owned companies."

The European countries may exercise pressure on the African nations to counter China and India, it said, adding, "This is harmful to India's commercial and political relations with East African countries."

India, on its part, is trying to counter the commercial threat from China and European nations by offering lines of credit to African firms. "That will help source capital goods from India," FICCI Secretary General Amit Mitra said.

With a decade of growth at the rate of 5.4 per cent, the economic outlook for Africa is improving.

"For the first time in over three decades, a large number of African countries have begun to show sustained economic growth at the rates that are similar to the rest of the developing world and exceed that of most of the developed countries," FICCI said.

Healthcare and pharmaceuticals, power, construction, information technology, roads and railways and minerals are the areas of opportunity for Indian companies, the study said.

12 Oct, 2010, 04.42PM IST,ET Now

Retail investor should go with known business models: Rajesh Jain, Market Strategist

Rajesh Jain, Market Strategist, in a chat with ET Now gives his views on IPOs.

Are there any IPOs that you have tracked fairly closely?

Let me confess that I am not a regular fan of the IPOs. I believe that a retail investor should be going with known managements and known business models. IPO is a time for window dressing and it is very difficult even for a seasoned investment banking professional to tell you whether the pricing is right. Certainly the retail textile segment is in a sector which is still trying to come back into a roaring business and if an investor has stuck in it, it is because he has made a bad choice. He should bail himself out immediately.
11 Oct, 2010, 04.44PM IST,ET Now

Pricing will do the trick for Coal India IPO: Avinash Gorakshekar, Anagram Capital Ltd

Avinash Gorakshekar, Head of Research, Anagram Capital Ltd , in a chat with ET Now talks about Coal India IPO .

What's the call on Coal India? How bullish are you?

From a business point of view, definitely it is one of those premier frontline IPOs which an investor should not miss out. But the key issue would be that what is the kind of pricing the government does because one would not like to see a fiasco like an NMDC.

If the government wants to get a very large retail base, which it has clearly indicated, they should offer a reasonable amount of profit upside for the new incoming investors as this will be the first IPO from a PSU which is a Navratna in that sense If they give a reasonable opportunity for the retail investors to actually make profits at this point of time where the markets are really at peak levels, then definitely going forward the perception towards the management because as of now, building a perception in the minds of the retail investor is very important.

So finally pricing will do the trick and if they do price it at a reasonable price, you will probably see a big kind of qeue even post listing, once the stock gets listed.
9 Oct, 2010, 06.40AM IST,ET Bureau

IPOs feel the Oct heat, slip on debut

MUMBAI: Investors lost money in two of the three initial public offers that listed on Friday, and had meagre gains in the third, possibly making it tough for future issues if bankers and companies seek high valuation. Orient Green Power , a clean-energy company, and Ramky Infrastructure, a builder of roads and bridges, fell as much as 14% from their sale prices. Electrosteel Steels, which sold shares at Rs 11, gained 2.2% to Rs 11.25.

"There is always a risk of an IPO not fetching good premium, if it is priced aggressively in the bullish market," said Devesh

Kumar, joint managing director and Group CEO, Fortune Financial Services . The market has been in correction mode for past two days, and this affected sentiment towards the new listings on Friday.

In a related development, BS Transcomm, a provider of telecom and power infrastructure, has lowered its IPO price band to Rs 248-257 from Rs 257-266 and also extended the issue by three working days. The move could have been prompted by tepid investor response to the offer that had received only 60% subscription till Friday evening. The offer will now close on October 13. At the upper end of the revised price band, the company is expected to raise around Rs 200 crore.

Companies and investment bankers have been exploiting the dream run in the secondary market by pricing IPOs at a steep valuation, inviting a rare criticism from the market regulator. While some believe that it is investor greed that is leading to disproportionate demand, others say some losses would make it difficult for even good issues to go through. Many companies such as Jindal Power, Reliance Infratel, Sterlite Energy and Lodha Developers may raise funds in initial share sale amounting to more than Rs 30,000 crore, analysts estimate. Apart from these companies, state-owned Coal India plans a listing that may make it the biggest ever in the country, with the IPO size estimated at Rs 12,000-13,000 crore.

Although some issues have led to erosion of investor wealth, demand at this point of time remains strong. Oberoi Realty's Rs 840-crore IPO ended with over 12 times subscription on Friday. Career Point, a company that trains students for engineering and medical entrance tests, doubled on listing.

"The latest is not an indication of the easing of euphoria for IPOs in the secondary market, as there is enough liquidity," says Mr Kumar.

ED to disclose black money stashed in banks abroad: CIC
In a major development towards bringing transparency in the probe into black money stashed in Swiss banks, the Central Information Commission has directed the Enforcement Directorate to make public an estimate of the total amount of such money involved in its investigations. Rejecting the contention of the Directorate that it has been exempted from making disclosures under the RTI Act, the Commission has held all such matters now investigated by the Enforcement Directorate come within the definition of allegations of corruption and, hence, should be disclosed.
"The Enforcement Directorate can let the country know as to how much is the total sum of such money they are dealing with in their current investigations. This figure can be arrived at through the simple contrivance of aggregating the sums of money in all such investigations currently underway," the Commission held in a recent order.
The Bench headed by the then Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah comprising of present CIC A N Tiwari and Information Commissioners Shailesh Gandhi and M L Sharma, however, exempted the Directorate from disclosing the nature of such investigations and names of parties involved. "While the Enforcement Directorate may take the position that they have no way of assessing the total volume of illegally held money by Indians in foreign banks, they can surely provide an estimate of the total volume of such money involved in the investigations they are presently conducting," the transparency panel said in its order.
In response to an RTI application filed by V Chandran, the Directorate has taken a position that it could not confirm or deny media reports about the likely volume of black money stashed away in foreign banks by Indian nationals. "This position is, doubtless, defensible, it leaves unanswered the perennial question as to what resources the country has lost to the evil of money laundering.
We would like this matter to be taken beyond technicalities and to address the larger issue related to transparency in this vital field, about which the citizens of our country are keen for answers," the Commission said.
Musharraf 'gives full marks' to 'sincere' Manmohan for peace efforts

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh deserves 'full marks' for his 'sincere' efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue and have peace with Pakistan, but is held back from taking a bold step over fears of domestic political backlash, former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said.
In a TV interview, Musharraf disclosed that it was Manmohan, and not his predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who deserved the credit for a breakthrough in Indo-Pak relations, the 'Dawn' reported.
"It was with Manmohan Singh that we moved forward towards an agreement, not with Mr Vajpayee," he said.
"I give full marks to Manmohan Singh," he said, but added that the Indian premier lacked 'courage' in giving any concession on Kashmir, fearing domestic pressures.
"In any agreement, there is give and take... and it is the 'give' part that creates problems," the APML founder noted.
Manmohan had a "very good sense" about Indo-Pak relations, he acknowledged, adding, "I respect him very much."
Musharraf said that India and Pakistan were very close to an agreement before he lost power. "We were as close as drafting a final agreement."
"The draft was being formulated, that is the good thing, and it was being formulated in good spirit," he added.
But the former general insisted that there was "nothing in the Lahore Declaration" signed by the then Indian Premier, Vajpayee, and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in February 1999, which could form the basis for a settlement of the Kashmir dispute.
Musharraf revealed that he was surprised to see "no mention" of Kashmir in the declaration's draft, adding that a few sentences were drafted when he told Nawaz that it otherwise made no sense.
"But he (Nawaz) removed them from the final declaration. In a way, he bluffed me," he rued.
When asked about the 'Agra Agreement' of 2001, the former president claimed that there was no agreement, adding that it was only when the Congress returned to power in 2004 with Manmohan as the Indian prime minister that the two countries "moved forward towards an agreement".
Musharraf, however, said that he had "no regrets" over Kargil, describing it as a result of the history of "confrontation" between the two countries.

Spotlight : Common Wealth Games 2010

The 2010 Common wealth Games will be the nineteenth Commonwealth Games, and the ninth to be held under that name. The Games are scheduled to be held in New Delhi, India between 3 October and 14 October 2010. The games will be the largest multi-sport event conducted to date in Delhi and India, which has previously hosted the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982. The opening ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main stadium, in Delhi. It will also be the first time the Commonwealth Games is held in India and the second time the event has been held in Asia (after 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).

New Zealand win Rugby Sevens gold, India finish in bottom four

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Sabi Hussain New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) Egged on by a capacity crowd at the Delhi University stadium, the 'All Black' New Zealand produced a come-from-behind performance against Australia to win their fourth Commonwealth Games Rugby Sevens gold medal here today. More »

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