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Admin · Guru

Jewellers to shut shop for week to protest fresh tax

Aparna Ramalingam TNN

Chennai: Jewellery shops across Tamil Nadu will remain closed for a week from Wednesday as a consortium of jewellers has decided to go on a strike in protest against the Centres decision to double the import tax on gold bars.Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in his budget last month announced the increase of tax from 2% to 4%,with an excise duty of 0.3%on unbrandedjewellery.
Jewellers and allied traders in Mumbai andDelhihavebeen on an indefinitestrikesincethe announcement.In TamilN adu,around 60,000 shops will down their shutters for a week.Unlike in the northern and western states,the strike has been intermittent in Tamil Nadu.Gold retailers in the state went on a three-day strike immediately after the budget.This was followedby a two-daystrikelast week.Akshaya Tritiya,theHindu auspicious day for buying gold,ison April 24.
Rough estimates indicate the industry has lost almost Rs 4,000 crore in sales across the country in thelasttwoweeks.In TamilN adu,thefewdaysstrike is estimated to have cost Rs 600 crore business.The seven-day shutdown would add another Rs 700 crore to the losses in sales.
The customer stands to lose the maximum.The imposition of import tax on gold bars and excise duty on unbranded jewellery would resultin inputcost going up by Rs 1,150 for every 10 gram and the customer paying an additional Rs 1,500 per 10 gram at Tuesdays price of Rs 26,093 for 10 gram of gold in Chennai.
With the wedding and festiveseason coming up,jewellers are feeling the pinch.Marriage andengagement purchases involve payment of advance and delivery on assured dates.As the situation is still fluid,we have not taken many wedding orders,andhavelostsomebusiness on that account, said a senior staff atJoyalukkas,a Kerala-based gold retail chain.Sales at the chain have dropped 50% in thelastfortnight.
Jewellers also see the strike affecting gold sales on Akshaya Tritiya.Alotof goldsmiths are located in the northern and western states,and many of them are on strike.So there are no new products or designs in the offing, says Babu Emmanuel,chairman of OKJ.The chain sources products from 50 manufacturers,38 of whom are located in the northern states.OKJ,which has two stores in Chennai,has registered a 50% dip in salesin thelasttwodays.

Union finance minister in his budget announced an increase in import tax

Admin · Guru

Borrower defaults at 10-yr high as demand wanes

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Default rates among corporate borrowers have hit a 10-year high of 3.4% in 2011-12. Companies are finding it increasingly difficult to pay loans because of high interest rates, elevated commodity prices and lower demand following the Eurozone crisis.
    A review by Crisil of the companies that it rates has shown that the environment changed dramatically in the second half of 2011-12 after S&P downgraded the US government.
    The downgrade increased risk aversion among global financial institutions and created a shortage of dollar liquidity, which cut off financing from international markets.
    “The immediate implication of this would be that the cost of funds would increase for companies whose ratings have worsened,” said Anis Chakravarty, director and senior economist at Deloitte, Haskins and Sells.
    The rating agency has said that highly indebted industries like textiles, steel, construction and engineering account for a fourth of the defaults. According to Crisil, downgrades exceeded upgrades in the second half of 2011-12 with 266 debt issuers being upgraded as against 292 downgrades. This marked a reversal from the first half when 313 entities were upgraded and only 207 were downgraded.
    The report said that downgrades are expected to exceed upgrades in the current fiscal too as demand is expected to be hit because of slower growth and interest rates remaining high longer than expected.
10-yr yield hits 4-mth high, ends at 8.74%
Mumbai: The continuing shortage of funds in the banking system had its first casualty during the first sale of government securities (G-secs) in the new fiscal with bonds worth nearly Rs 1,200 crore (about 6.6%) of a planned Rs 18,000-crore auction devolving on primary dealers, indicating lack of investor interest. The news of the result pushed up the benchmark yield on 10-year G-secs to 8.79%, a four-month high, before closing at 8.74%, up from 8.20% less than month ago. Bond dealers also pointed out that the Rs 18,000-crore auction was the biggest single-week G-sec auction ever. With the government targeting to raise a record Rs 5.7 lakh crore through G-secs this year, bond market players expect benchmark yields to rise to 9% level. TNN

Admin · Guru

Brand India is saving grace in time of crisis

Country Moves On From Being Just A Statistic To Stamp Its Economic Power

Namrata Singh & Reeba Zachariah TNN

Mumbai: There’s more to India than just its over-emphasized status of being the most populous democracy in the world. Random economic facts like India being the largest producer of milk, the largest consumer of sugar and spices as also the largest consumer of gold till last year, crop up now and then. But there have been achievements in the last few years which have put India on the world map.
    Over the last couple of years, India has been seen stamping its presence in the league of global leaders by the strength of its economic power. Consider these facts: The Tata Group is the largest manufacturing employer in the UK; Ireland’s richest person — Pallonji Mistry — is an Indian; Coal India is the single largest coal producer in the world; India is the largest whisky manufacturer in the world and the Taj Group is the largest chain of hotels in Asia. Despite a generous trickle of negative news, the list of these positives is also getting bigger.
    Brand India today is not just about economics. A significant way in which India is asserting itself is through its soft power. According to Bhaskar Chakravorti, senior associate dean of international business & finance, The Fletcher School, Tufts University, this “soft” presence is India’s greatest asset in making sure it counts on the world stage. Household brand names such as Citigroup, Pepsi and Motorola are associated with an Indian CEO. Clearly, India has moved on from being a nation of snake charmers and appears to be on its way to become an economic power.
    Soft power aside, it’s also working its way through innovations. The list includes, Nano, the cheapest car in the world from Tata Motors; Aakash, the cheapest tablet PC in the world, priced at $46; and other cheap tablet PC initiatives by private companies.
    However, there are some missing pieces too. “India should surely move forward in the area of innovation where we can capture the value from our intelligent cheap resources from being just a provider of cheap labour. As of today, most companies (Apple, Microsoft, Google, Intel, etc) especially in IT that generate maximum value from innovation, rely on resources from India and we are clearly not getting the deserved share of the value created,’’ said Thomas Kuruvilla, MD, Arthur D Little, a consulting firm.
    Richard Rekhy, head of advisory practice at KPMG, a global consulting firm, however, believes India has some way to go. “But India, with 100 companies of over a billion dollar market cap, has established its position globally which is why GE set up its first R&D centre outside US in Bangalore. At the same time, Indian banks have only 2% bad loans versus 20% in China,” he said.
    In the mid-90s, on a representation made by Indian exporters, the government had removed the mandatory use of the ‘Made in India’ tag from goods exported. The law still exists on paper. Ostensibly, Indian exporters were embarrassed of using it then. But, today, no one is shying away from using the tag.
JUMBO STRIDES ON SOFT POWER
tIndia is largest whisky manufacturer in the world
tParachute is the world’s largest coconut oil brand
tCoal India is the largest coal miner in the world
tBangalore has more Grade-A offices than Singapore
tIndia is the largest diamond cutting and polishing centre in the world tIndia is the largest sugar consumer in the world
tIreland’s richest person is an Indian — Pallonji Mistry
tParle-G is the world’s largest selling biscuit brand
tKEC is global leader in tower production capacity
tTata Group is the largest manufacturing employer in the United Kingdom

Admin · Guru

Tafe to increase capacity in Madurai

Revenues For 2011-12 Cross 8,000-Crore Mark For The First Time

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: Tractors and Farm Equipments (TAFE), the country’s second largest tractor maker by volume, said its revenues for the fiscal ended March 2012 rose 30.4% to Rs 8,020 crore from Rs 6,149 crore last fiscal. Overall tractor sales increased by 26.6% at 1,48,112 units.
    “We are happy with these provisional numbers. Our sales growth of 26.6% is sharply higher than the 11.4% industry growth. We have increased our market share across product categories by 3%,” Mallika Srinivasan, chairman, TAFE said.
    The industry is expected to grow by 8% to 10% in the current fiscal, while TAFE, privately held by the Amalgamations group, hopes to grow much faster than industry rates. “We are confident to maintain the momentum of growth,” she said.
    Nearly 68% of sales came from products that were launched three years ago, she said, adding, “We invest close to 2% of our revenues on R&D. That has helped us.”
    To augment its presence, the company said it would increase its manufacturing capacity by an additional 60,000 units in Madurai, south Tamil Nadu. “It will be a new facility adjoining the existing plant. We will invest Rs 100 crore and the plant would be ready mid-next year,” Srinivasan said. Tafe acquired the tractor business of Eicher in May 2005. Cumulative capacity across two plants of Tafe and one of Eicher at present is 1.80 lakh units a year.
    On the export front, TAFE continues to be India's largest exporter of tractors with 20,396 completely built tractors exported to 73 countries, a growth of 28.2 % over the previous year. The company has a manufacturing plant in Turkey. “We sold 4,200 tractors in Turkey. We will double that this year,” R C Banka, president of Tafe, said. The plant there has a capacity to make 15000 tractor units a year.
    The company’s alliance with Rajkot-based Captain Tractors to design, develop and manufacture tractors for TAFE will move forward this year. The alliance would design, develop and manufacture application-focused compact tractors in the sub 20HP segment for TAFE, exclusively.
    “With Captain, Eicher and our own range, we are present across all categories of tractors. Our focus is to increase market shares across and focus more on the more than 50HP tractor segment,” Srinivasan said.

Mallika Srinivasan| CHAIRMAN, TAFE

Admin · Guru

TUMBLING BLOCKS

MFs lose 36k cr in assets in FY12

M Allirajan TNN

    The mutual fund (MF) industry, which has been battling a downturn, lost nearly Rs 36,000 crore in assets or 5.1% in the just concluded fiscal year. The average assets under management (AUM) of fund houses stood at Rs 6,68,824 crore in 2011-12, the lowest in three years.
    The average AUM has fallen for the second consecutive year. It dropped 6.2% year-onyear (y-o-y) to Rs 7,00,810 crore in 2010-11. The assets managed by the industry fell 2% on a sequential basis. The AUM of equity funds increased 13.5% during the first quarter of 2012, slightly better than the advance made by the sensex but still lower than the gains recorded by the Nifty.
    The fall in the average AUM is attributed to redemption (exits) made by corporates due to advance tax payments in March, which amounted to Rs 50,000-60,000 crore (Rs 30,000-40,000 crore at the end of previous quarter), according to ratings agency Crisil.
    The assets managed by equity funds shrunk 7.9% y-o-y in 2011-12 to Rs 1,93,529 crore, data with market regulator Sebi showed. This is lower than the decline posted by the benchmark indices for the period.
    HDFC, which overtook Reliance as the top fund house in the second quarter of last fiscal, retained its position. The average AUM of HDFC MF advanced 4.1% y-o-y to Rs 89879 crore, data with the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed. The assets managed by IDFC MF jumped 19.2% y-o-y to Rs 25450 crore.
    “We launched a new initiative – GameChangers – creating innovative sales tools that advisors can use to explain MFs to investors. This has helped grow assets across our range of funds,” said Naval Bir Kumar, president and CEO, IDFC MF.
    However, the average AUMs of most large fund houses showed a decline during the fiscal. While the assets managed by Reliance, the second largest fund house, plunged 23.1% y-o-y to Rs 78,112 crore, the AUM of ICICI Prudential MF declined 6.4% y-o-y to Rs 68,718 crore. Top Reliance officials have said they are focussing on building a retail investor base rather than shoring up AUMs with institutional investors.
    The total asset size of the industry has fallen 16.7% from the record high of Rs 8,03,590 crore hit in May 2010.

Admin · Guru

இந்திய கிரிக்கெட் ஒளிபரப்பு உரிமை: ஸ்டார் டிவி வென்றது-ஒரு போட்டிக்கு ரூ. 40 கோடி!!!

சென்னை: இந்திய கிரிக்கெட் ஒளிபரப்பு மற்றும் வீடுகளுக்கான டிஜிட்டல் உரிமை ஆகியவற்றை ரூபர்ட் முர்டோச்சுக்கு சொந்தமான ஸ்டார் தொலைக்காட்சி குழுமம் வென்றுள்ளது என்று பிசிசிஐ தலைவர் என்.ஸ்ரீனிவாசன் அறிவித்துள்ளார்.

இந்திய ஒளிபரப்பு உரிமைக்காக 4 நிறுவனங்கள் போட்டியிட்டன. இதில் ஸ்டார் குழுமம் 6 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு இந்த உரிமையை ரூ 3851 கோடி செலவில் பெற்றுள்ளது. 2012 ஜூலையில் இருந்து 2018 வரை இந்த உரிமம் ஸ்டார் குழுமத்துக்கு சொந்தமானது.

1 போட்டிக்கு ரூ 40 கோடி என்ற சராசரியில் 96 போட்டிகளுக்கான உரிமத்தை ஸ்டார் குழுமம் பெற்றுள்ளது.

இதன்மூலம் 2018ம் ஆண்டு வரை இந்தியாவில் நடக்கும் சர்வதேச கிரிக்கெட் போட்டிகளை ஸ்டார் டிவி ஒளிபரப்பலாம்.

இந்த உரிமையைப் பெற சோனி டிவியும் மோதியது. ஆனால், வெல்லவில்லை. ஐபிஎல் போட்டிகளை சோனி தான் ஒளிபரப்பவுள்ளது என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

Admin · Guru

Fin reforms go into deep freeze

Govt May Not Hike Insurance FDI Limit, To Retain Voting Cap In Pvt Banks

Sidhartha TNN

New Delhi: The government is set to drop plans for longpending financial sector reform proposals, including an increase in voting rights for foreign investors in private banks and a hike in the foreign investment ceiling for insurance, due to inadequate numbers in Parliament.
    As a result, the foreign direct investment ceiling in insurance is expected to be retained at 26%, instead of 49% proposed earlier, while voting right in private banks is likely to be capped at 26%, an increase from the existing 10% but short of the original plan to permit foreign investors to vote in line with their shareholding.
    Sources said that both provisions are in sync with the recommendations of the parliamentary standing committee headed by former finance minister Yashwant Sinha. The thinking within the government is that by toeing the panel’s line, which is not binding on it, UPA II will be able to at least reduce opposition from its key rival in Parliament.
    The change in stance would spell bad news for the country’s attractiveness to foreign investors, especially at a time when the government’s proposal to amend tax laws retrospectively is being cited as a reason for India losing its sheen overseas.
    Although it has not formally given up on the reforms plan, by diluting its position on all three (banking, insurance and pension) legislations, the government is actually sending a “shut for business” message to overseas investors.
    The government is, however, going to point to its plan to introduce nine financial sector legislations over the remaining few weeks. But it is unlikely that foreign investors will buy that argument.
    By maintaining the foreign investment cap for insurance at 26%, the government is also going to put pressure on some of the local players who were hoping to dilute their shareholding. To circumvent the problem, several companies are expected to get into new hybrid structures to stay within the sectoral ceiling and yet get more funds.
UNDER PRESSURE
FDI cap in insurance is expected to be retained at 26%, instead of 49% proposed earlier. The voting rights in private banks may be capped at 26%, an increase from existing 10% but short of original plan
The change in stance will spell bad news for the country’s attractiveness to foreign investors
“The political reality is that UPA does not have the numbers and the finance minister is unwilling to take any chances and push through crucial reforms,” said a source

Admin · Guru

Karaikal Port cargo volumes up 26.5%

Chennai: MARG Karaikal Port, posted a 26.5% increase in cargo volumes for the fiscal ended March 2012. The port handled 6.01 million tonnes compared to the 4.75 million tonnes handled in the previous fiscal. Marg said the increase was primarily driven by fertilizers, whose volumes nearly doubled over last year.
“We are confident of setting even higher standards of performance with the expected commissioning of mechanized dry bulk cargo handling facilities during the coming year, which is likely to increase the annual cargo handling capacity exponentially,” said MLN Acharyulu, executive director- Marine Infrastructure, Marg.
March saw the highest ever volume handled in a month at the port, with around 850,000 tonnes of cargo. The port has the capacity to handle up to 28 million tones per annum. Marg has plans to expand the port capacity by another 19 million tonnes by 2017. TNN

Admin · Guru

US court allows employees to sue TCS

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: A US court has allowed employees of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to proceed with a class-action lawsuit against the company over charges that TCS withheld some part of the salary of those sent to the US on work. The move pushed TCS’s share price down by over 1% to Rs 1,179 on a day when major stock indices rose.
    TCS acknowledged the order. In a statement, it said: “This is an order only on one procedural matter and does not address the merits of this case. TCS continues to believe that when this matter concludes, the court will find that the plaintiff ’s claims are without any merit.”
    The employees allowed to sue are non-US citizens employed by TCS in California from February 14, 2002, to June 30, 2005. The charge is that TCS and Tata Sons forced these employees to sign over their federal and state tax refunds to the company and deducted their Indian salaries from their compensation, in violation of their job contracts and California labour laws.
    In her order, the judge cited the employees as saying: “Many class members fear retaliation from defendants if they file individual suits. Many class members currently reside in India, which would pose substantial barriers to bringing individual actions.”
    Asked about his view on the matter, Sajai Singh, partner in law firm J Sagar Associates, said he had not read the entire judgment, but a cursory view suggested that the characteristics for a class-action suit must have been established so as to allow the staff group to claim together.

Admin · Guru

ஏர் இந்தியாவின் நிதி சீரமைப்புத் திட்டத்துக்கு வங்கிகள் ஒப்புதல்

டெல்லி: ரூ67 ஆயிரம் கோடி கடனில் இருக்கும் ஏர் இந்தியா விமான நிறுவனத்தின் நிதி சீரமைப்புத் திட்டத்துக்கு வங்கிகள் ஒப்புதல் வழங்கியுள்ளன. இதன் மூலம் ஏர் இந்தியாவுக்கு பல கோடி ரூபாய் நிதியுதவி கிடைக்கும்.

ஆனால் ஏர் இந்தியாவில் கூடுதல் நிதியை முதலீடு செய்வதற்காக மத்திய அமைச்சரவை இன்னும் ஒப்புதல் வழங்கவில்லை. அமைச்சரவையின் ஒப்புதல் அடுத்த வாரம் கிடைக்கும் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கப்படுகிறது.

இது தொடர்பாக ஏர் இந்தியா அதிகாரிகள், டெல்லியில் செய்தியாளர்களிடம் கூறியதாவது:

நிதி சீரமைப்புத் திட்டத்தின் கீழ், பாரத ஸ்டேட் வங்கி தலைமையிலான வங்கிகளிடம் 4 ஒப்பந்தங்களில் கையெழுத்திட்டுள்ளது ஏர் இந்தியா. முதன்மை மறுசீரப்பு ஒப்பந்தம், நடைமுறை முதலீட்டு வசதி ஒப்பந்தம் உள்ளிட்டவை இதில் அடங்கும்.

இதனை நடைமுறைப்படுத்த மத்திய அமைச்சரவை விரைவில் ஒப்புதல் வழங்கும். அதன் பின்னர் ஏர் இந்தியாவுக்கு நிதி வரும். டெல்லியில் நடைபெற்ற வங்கிகளுடனான ஒப்பந்தம் கையெழுத்தாகும் நிகழ்ச்சியில், மொத்தம் 19 வங்கிகளின் பிரதிநிதிகள் கலந்து கொண்டனர்.

இதில் ரூ.10,500 கோடி நடைமுறை முதலீடாக அளிக்கப்படுவது மிக முக்கியமான அம்சம். நீண்ட காலக் கடனான இத்தொகைக்கு ஆண்டுக்கு 11 சதவீத வட்டி நிர்ணயிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இது தவிர மாற்றத்தக்க வகையில் அல்லாத அரசுக் கடன் பத்திரங்கள் மூலம் ரூ.7,400 கோடி நிதி திரட்டப்படவுள்ளது. இவை தவிர ரூ.3,500 கோடி ரொக்கக் கடன் ஒப்பந்தத்தின் மூலம் திரட்டப்படும்.

ரூ 67,520 கோடி கடன்

ஏர் இந்தியாவுக்கு செலுத்த வேண்டிய கடன், பல்வேறு பாக்கித் தொகை ரூ.67,520 கோடி. இதில் ரூ.22 ஆயிரம் கோடி நீண்ட காலக் கடன். கடந்த டிசம்பர் மாதம் வரையில் மொத்தம் ரூ.21,714 கோடி குறுகிய காலக் கடனாக உள்ளது. இதற்கான வட்டியாக ஆண்டுக்கு ரூ.2,600 கோடி செலுத்தப்பட்டு வருகிறது.

கடந்த 2010-ம் ஆண்டு மே மாதம் முதலே, நிதி சீரமைப்பு நடவடிக்கைகள் தொடங்கப்பட்டன. இதற்காக இந்திய ரிசர்வ் வங்கி நிதி ஆலோசகர்களை நியமித்தது. நஷ்டத்தில் உள்ள ஏர் இந்தியாவை மீண்டும் நல்ல நிலைக்கு எடுத்துச் செல்லும் வகையில் சீரமைப்புத் திட்டங்கள் வகுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன என்று ஏர் இந்தியா அதிகாரிகள் தெரிவித்தனர்.

Admin · Guru

Maruthi cars 05_04_2012_012_039

Admin · Guru

PLUGGING LEAKS
UK did an India in 2008 to levy retro tax

Dhananjay Mahapatra TNN

New Delhi: The UK has done what India proposes to do a retrospective amendment to the Income Tax Act to levy capital gains tax on offshore deals like Vodafone,despite the Supreme Court absolving the Londonbased telecom multinational of the Rs 11,000-crore tax liability.
Britains chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne,during a recent visit to India,had aired apprehension over the proposed retrospective amendment of the I-T Act to bring into the tax net deals signed abroad to control business empires in India,on the ground that it could be a retrograde step for foreign investments.
But Osborne appeared to be oblivious of the UK Finance Act 2008,Section 58 of which retrospectively changed the law to target tax avoidance schemes.Like Vodafones acquisition of Hutchison Telecommunication through a Cayman Island deal resulted in the Supreme Court ruling that the overseas deal was outside the I-T departments jurisdiction,the UK Court of Appeal had in 1989 upheld a decision of a lower court to quash a decision of the UK tax department to tax a UK residents earnings through an offshore partnership based in Jersey.
In the case Padmore vs IRC,the Court of Appeal was told that the UK-Jersey double taxation avoidance agreement exempted tax on a UK citizens earnings in Jersey.In March 2008,the UK government in its Budget Note 66 (BN66) introduced changes to Clause 55 of the UK Finance Bill 2008,specifically intending to remove the ability for beneficiaries of foreign trusts to exploit double taxation treaties,though terming it as a clarification.
On July 21,2008,the Finance Act was enacted and the changes introduced in Clause 55 of the bill became Section 58 of the UK Residents and Foreign Partnerships Act,amending earlier Acts of Parliament.
This retrospective amendment rendered illegal any use of tax avoidance schemes,such as those set up after the Padmore case,even though it was legal at that distant point of time.

Admin · Guru

EPF 20120406a_012101012

Admin · Guru

Bad loans spark bank downgrades

Ratings Of 6 PSU Banks Cut This Year

Higher Levies,Oil Prices Add To Woes

Mayur Shetty TNN

Mumbai: Distressed borrowers are taking a toll on the credit profiles of Indian banks with almost half a dozen lenders being downgraded by rating agencies in recent weeks.Given that most public sector banks have similar credit profiles,analysts tracking the banking sector are asking,Whos next
In the past fortnight,rating agency ICRA has downgraded Central Bank of India,Oriental Bank of Commerce and Union Bank of India,citing rising bad loans and the high value of restructured loans.Some time earlier in 2012,Moodys had lowered its credit opinion on Syndicate Bank,Union Bank and Bank of India,again citing rising bad loans.
In a report after the Budget,Mahrukh Adajania of Standard Chartered said that all public sector banks have asset quality issues in the form of huge restructuring pipelines,which are more or less in the same proportion.According to the report,Allahabad Bank,Bank of Baroda,Bank of India,Canara Bank,Punjab National Bank,State Bank of India and Union Bank have restructured loans ranging from 3.5% to 5.9%.
Although they are not classified as defaults,restructured loans are an indicator of the extent of borrowers who find it difficult to meet payment schedules.The report states that the recent Union Budget and higher crude prices makes the operating environment challenging for banks as these two factors have lowered the probability of a rate cut in the near future.
However,private equity firm Avendus Capital has taken a contrarian view.Even with an assumption of a 20% delinquency in restructured loans,along with the current forecasts for a rise in gross NPAs (non-performing assets ),the overall asset quality of public sector banks would stabilize within two years.It would also stay superior to the current status of European banks, a recent Avendus report said.
Explaining UCO Banks downgrade,ICRA said that the banks gross NPAs rose from 2.57% to 3.49% as of December,2011.It also cited the high level of restructured advances at around 6% of loans and relatively high exposure to weak sectors like state electricity boards,distribution companies and aviation sector.Similarly,in the case of Oriental Bank of Commerce,the level of gross NPAs had risen from 1.95% to 2.92% with restructured loans touching 4.84%.In the case of Central Bank,restructured loans were at a high of 7.4% of advances as of December,2011 with gross NPAs touching 3.69%.
In the private sector,Fitch Ratings has downgraded Dhanlaxmi Bank and also placed the bank under rating watch.The action follows a net loss of Rs 36.87 crore for Q3FY12,and there could be potential further losses, the rating agency said.

Admin · Guru

5 Apr 2012
Hindustan Times (Delhi)

Small investors set to sue CIL

MINORITY RIGHTS Say Presidential directive asking coal major to sigh fuel supply agreements with power firms violates their rights

Admin · Guru

5 Apr 2012
Hindustan Times (Delhi)
Letters@hindustantimes.com

Cr for lease of HUL bldg

MUMBAI: Hindustan Uniliver (HUL) the FMCG giant, on Wednesday announced that it has sub-leased Gulita—a oneacre property in Worli in Mumbai — to Piramal Realty for R452.5 crore.

Gautam Adani and Anil Ambani were also in race through their holding companies for the leasing of Gulita. HUL had invited bids for the building — which was formerly a training centre for the company — last year.

“HUL and Piramal Realty have signed an agreement for assignment of HUL’S leasehold rights of the land and building named ‘Gulita’ situated at Worli Sea Face, Mumbai, for a transaction value of R452.5 crore. The consideration includes both fixed and variable components,” HUL said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

The building, built in 1986, is on perpetual lease from the Brihanmumbai Corporation.

HUL sub-leased the building to Piramal Realty. Industry experts speculated that Piramal could either use the building for group companies as office or generate cash flows through leasing the office building.

The tenure of lease between HUL and Piramal Realty were not announced. An email questionnaire sent to HUL and Piramal Realty spokespersons regarding the lease remained unanswered.

Muncipal

Admin · Guru

6 Apr 2012
Hindustan Times (Delhi)
Mahua Venkatesh mahua.venkatesh@hindustantimes.com

PSU banks may require R1 lakh cr over next 5 years

NEW DELHI: State-run banks would require about R1 lakh crore in the next five years to be able to meet with the increased credit and comply with the stringent Basel III norms of risk assessment.

While the finance ministry has set up a committee to chalk out a roadmap looking into the issue of infusing capital into other banks and financial institutions, the World Bank has said that it would be open to providing more funds to the government if approached. The World Bank has already provided R20,000 crore for recapitalisation.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, while presenting the Budget for 2012-13 announced infusion of R15,888 crore into the public sector banks as part of a recapitalisation exercise for the current financial year. The amount will help banks, which have been hit by a liquidity crunch, push credit growth and strengthen their balance sheets.

“Capital requirement for public sector banks is fairly large and it would be helpful if we get World Bank funds but we must go through the terms and conditions with a fine toothcomb," Rohit Bammi, partner, advisory, KPMG told HT.

The level of bad assets in the banks is expected to swell further due to the recent Supreme Court judgment scrapping 122 telecom licences and the uncertainty in the civil aviation sector.

getimage.aspx?regionguid=47edd63a-2ea8-4272-abd8-7eac5aca8586&scale=114&file=10872012040600000000001001&regionKey=FWBeFpdj6IJDgocPg3VIew%3d%3d

In October, credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded its outlook for the State Bank of India while in November, the rating agency reduced its outlook for the Indian banking industry, which has witnessed a surge in the level of bad assets in 2011-12.

Admin · Guru

8 Apr 2012
Hindustan Times (Delhi)
Vivek.sinha@hindustantimes.com
Vivek Sinha

India still the world’s BPO hub

NEW DELHI: India has successfully fought off competition from new and emerging outsourcing regions such as the Philippines, South Africa, East Europe and Latin America to retain its position as the world’s BPO hub, shows data released by Nasscom.

While the emerging regions focus on voice-based work (essentially call centre jobs), India has graduated to data analytics, accountancy, finance and other domain-specific work. It continues to have a 36% market share in global off-shoring work.

Global BPO firms, such as Genpact, WNS and Exlservice, and others with delivery centres all across the world told HT they have engineers, management graduates, accountants, PHD scholars and lawyers from premier institutes working on highend outsourcing work in India.

“Globally, the term outsourcing is often associated only with call centre work. This is incorrect. Apart from voicebased work, outsourcing includes several higher end jobs that require specialised knowledge,” said Keshav Murugesh, group CEO of WNS.

Murugesh said around 75% of WNS’S hirings take place in India. Other players, such as Genpact, Exlservice and the BPO arms of Infosys, TCS and HCL Tech, say their India-hiring remains strong.

Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Exlservice, said some of his firm’s best domain experts are from prestigious institutions, such as the IIMS.

Admin · Guru

Motor tax hike could cause pvt bus fares to go up

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: Close on the heels of a rise in power tariff,milk price and bus charges,the Tamil Nadu government on Monday sought to hike road tax for certain categories of vehicles and permit fees for private luxury coaches.
The proposed hike is expected to help the government mop up additional revenue of a few hundred crores of rupees from vehicle registrations and road tax,but it could leave a hole in the pocket of those travelling in omni buses.To facilitate the hikes,a bill was introduced in the assembly to amend the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles Taxation Act,1974.Once passed,the new tax structure will have retrospective effect from April 1.
According to the new tax structure,we have to pay.18,000 more per quarter as tax for a 36-seater bus.As of now,we pay.1,26,000 per bus per quarter as tax.It will definitely affect the owners.We will have to increase.20 per ticket to nullify the additional expense, said R kumar,an omni bus owner in Chennai.However,passengers feel the effective hike in fares will be much more,taking into consideration the lack of regulations in the case of omni bus fares.

ROUGH RIDE

Lifetime tax for seven- & thirteenseater vehicles | 10% & 15% of their cost Permit fee for longdistance travel | 600 for 7-day permit,1,500 for 1-month permit and 3,500 for 3-month permit Construction equipment vehicles will have to pay an annual tax of 10,000

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Govt to levy lifetime tax on tourist maxi cabs

Introducing the bill,transport minister V Senthilbalaji reasoned that difficulties were experienced in collecting quarterly tax based on the number of seats in tourist maxi cabs because tourist maxi cabs of different makes have different floor areas and different seating capacity.Hence we have decided to levy lifetime tax on new vehicles, he said.
On thelogicbehindincreasing the entry tax for vehicles registeredin other statesentering Tamil Nadu,the minister said at present the tax for such vehicles was on a par with the tax collected on similar vehiclesin TamilN adu.Hejustified thehike noting that neighbouring stateswerelevying a higher tax when Tamil Nadu registered vehiclesenteredtheir territory.
The government,for the first time,also plans to levy life time tax on tourist cars and maxi cabs.Lifetime tax for vehiclescarrying up toseven peoplewillbe 10%of thecostof vehiclesif itisbelow.10lakh and 15%in casethecostof the vehicle exceeds.10 lakh.For old vehicles,the proposed tax is 8.5% and 14.5% respectively.Similarly,new maxi cabs with 13-seater capacity also will be levied 10% of the cost of vehicle aslifetimetax in casethecostof vehicleislessthan.10lakh and 15% in case it exceeds.10 lakh.As of now,such vehicles are levied annual or quarterly tax.
Tax will be increased for long route omni buses (private luxury buses) and sleeper coaches too.For a seven-day temporary permit,the fee will bedoubledfrom.300 to.600 per seat.For one month permit it will be revised from.1,000 to.1,500 per seat and for three months permit,the fees will be hiked from.3,000 per seat to.3,500 per seat.
Similarly,construction equipment vehicles like excavators,road scrappers and cranes,which arelevied a nominal tax based on their weight at present,will have to pay an annual tax of.10,000.

Admin · Guru

India shelves 53k cr projects in Q4

High Interest Rates,Uncertain Outlook Force Companies To Delay Projects

Rajesh Chandramouli TNN

Chennai: High interest rates coupled with uncertain global outlook forced companies to shelve investments worth Rs 53,119 crore in January-March 2012 quarter.This is the third sorriest quarter after the September 2011 quarter when Rs 76,053 crore worth of investments were shelved,and March 2009 when Rs 70,930 crore worth of projects were dropped by India Inc,economic think-tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said.
Project investments revived during the January-March quarter was Rs 8,203 crore,a sharp fall from Rs 29,550 crore worth of projects revived in the corresponding quarter last year and Rs 40,350 crore of projects revived in December FY2012 quarter.
The sentiment is weak.However,there is a certain category of investments like auto components,automobiles and engineering goods which are not impacted by issues like land acquisition or environmental regulations, Abheek Barua,chief economist at HDFC Bank,said.He did not want to comment on CMIE numbers.
Corporate India and government announced completion of Rs 1.52 lakh crore worth of projects in March quarter,the highest ever.Project investments completed are outstanding investments projects which were fully implemented and had started commercial production during the quarter as per CMIEs Quarterly Survey on Investment Projects.
CMIEs analyst team expects projects worth Rs 7.3 lakh crore to get completed by FY2012-13.Over the last two years,only 50% to 60% of projects scheduled for completion at the beginning of the year actually get completed during the year.If the trend continues in 2012-13,the project completion during the year will be around Rs 4 lakh crore,which is in the same range as the preceding four years,CMIE said.
Kishor Ostwal,CMD of CNI Research,said that high interest rates and global uncertainty were hampering fresh investments.We see markets holding up because of stimulus from the EU or an expectation of an economic stimulus package for the US.China isnt doing any better.If this trend continues,the bear cycle will start sooner than later, he said.

ITS A PUT-OFF

Project investments revived during the March quarter was Rs 8,203 crore,down from Rs 29,550 crore projects revived in the corresponding quarter last year Corporate India and government announced the completion of Rs 1.52 lakh crore worth of projects in March quarter,the highest ever

Admin · Guru

10 Apr 2012
Hindustan Times (Delhi)
Indo-asian News Service letters@hindustantimes.com The fizz is getting stronger

Beverage makers eye $10-bn Indian summer

With the mercury rising and the fizz getting stronger, beverage makers are launching new products and campaigns with catchy taglines to grab a share of the $10-billion Indian marked, amid growing consumer base and fierce competition.

Pepsico, which has started the new year with some product-centric innovations and big brand campaigns, has launched two new flavours of its soft drink Mirinda — Orange Masala and Orange Mango.

““We have launched innovative and consumer-focussed initiatives to drive consumption. We have created a state of the art, segmented G2M strategy based on three filters — portfolio class, town class and outlet class,” Deepika Warrier, executive director, marketing, Pepsico Beverages, India.

The firm has also started a new campaign, Change the Game — from cricket to football after the Indian team's dismal show in England and Australia.

Other players have taken the health route to lure customers.

Cadbury India, part of USbased Kraft Foods, has launched Tang Mango focussing on the drink’s nutritional value.

The firm is also working on a range of flavours to suit local tastes. “The focus will also be on sampling for consumer awareness and trial generation,” said Narayan Sundararaman, director, powdered beverages, Gum and Candy, Kraft Foods.

Rival Coca-cola recently launched the range of Minute Maid 100% juices.

“From a consumer's perspective, our strategy continues to be that of offering a range of products in different packs at varying price points,” a CocaCola spokesperson said.

getimage.aspx?regionguid=59c51a95-c336-4de9-a00d-381091d2c94c&scale=134&file=10872012041000000000001001&regionKey=cU7lrHqOgwEnMF71LEA29A%3d%3d

Home grown Rasna is also up to setting up a subsidiary, Rasna Beverages, to make high margin ready-to-drink products like energy drinks and premium fruit juices in tie-up with global firms.

Admin · Guru

10 Apr 2012
Hindustan Times (Delhi)
Debobrat Ghose dghose@hindustantimes.com

Small firms to get quota in govt buys

HELPING HAND New public procurement policy to offer ensured market for the micro and small enterprises

For 28-year old engineering graduate Venkat Raju, his scheduled caste status won’t be a deterrent factor in setting up a manufacturing unit of his own in his home town Vizianagaram. That is what he thinks after the new public procurement policy for the micro and small enterprises (MSES) has come into force from April 1.

The policy ensures 20% reservation for the MSES in the purchases made by the central government, departments and public sector undertakings (PSUS).

The policy has a special provision that out of 20% annual procurement target, 4% of the 20% shall be procured from scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) entrepreneurs.

“SC & ST candidates instead of depending on government jobs can now take to entrepreneurship, as the policy is likely to provide an ensured market,” said Raju.

“Policy is good and its implementation needs to be equally effective. An institutional mechanism ought to be in place, to ensure compliance by different agencies, to redress grievances and to consider issues such as exemptions,” president, Federation of Indian Micro & Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME), VK Agarwal, said.

Prime Minister’s Taskforce estimated annual central government (& PSUS) procurement over R170,000 crore, out of which MSES’ share was found to be around 4-5% only.

A FISME study shows that 20% set-aside opens up an additional window of an annual market of R25,000 crore for the MSES.

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US CEO Pay 09_04_2012_013_042

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Infrastrutcure 50 Lakh crore 20120410a_011101007

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NPA Branches 20120410a_012101007

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IPO 13 FAIL 10_04_2012_012_030

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FII 09_04_2012_012_029

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Goa compnay 09_04_2012_007_028

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Restore the ancient Joint Family, Kulam traditions.

Beating the housing shortage: one home, three generations

More than 500,000 households now contain children, parents and grandparents – and the figure is set to soar

Kunal Dutta

Sunday, 8 April 2012

They are the generation that thought their children would grow up and fly the nest. Now they're doing up the spare room; extending the house and inviting their offspring into their retirement homes, as the trend towards multigenerational living takes hold in the UK.

Growing numbers of young families are forgoing the dream of climbing the property ladder and are returning to their parents to pool costs and responsibilities. The housing shortage, the rising cost of childcare and an ageing population are all contributing to the figures, which are at their highest in four decades.

More than 500,000 households now contain three generations. That figure is expected to reach 556,000 by 2019, according to the Intergenerational Foundation think tank. There has been a 30 per cent increase in the number of multigenerational households in the past decade, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Clare Gallagher, 25, a publicist, is one such statistic. She swapped her rented flat for her fiancé's grandparents' house in north London. "The main reason was financial," she said. "We are lucky that they have a big house... and the mortgage is already paid. It means we get to save money, our three-year-old son gets to spend much more time with his great-grandparents, while we help them with their bills."

In embracing a return to an extended family culture, Britain is moving closer to southern European countries, where the recession has driven it further and faster. Unlike Britain, where a social stigma is still pinned to those moving back in with their parents, in Spain and Italy there is no such shame.

The phenomenon is such that major brands are specifically targeting the extended family unit. Ikea, the Swedish furniture giant, recently ran television commercials in Spain with the slogan: "If two [generations] fit in, three will too." One ad featured a middle-aged man who tells his father he has been laid off and asks if he can move home with his wife and children. Instead of a hostile response, the three generations celebrate together as they plan how to renovate the house.

Daniel Plant, strategy director for Ikea at the media agency Vizeum, said: "In Britain, it is happening through the force of financial circumstances." He believes the fact that a lack of affordable housing, the rising cost of childcare and other factors are affecting everyone means that moving in with parents or in-laws is losing its stigma.

The move comes as a welcome solution to Britain's acute housing shortage and has benefited the beleaguered construction industry. Loft and basement conversions and home extensions are among the few areas that have witnessed a growth in spending.

Carpenter Oak, based in Devon, is one of the construction firms that has seen orders for house extensions rise by nearly 10 per cent between 2007 and 2010. "We have noticed a growing number of families combining funds to purchase a site and then cohabiting," said its managing director, Jamie Wilson. "This trend is likely to continue as house and land prices rise."

Marc Vlessing, co-founder of the affordable-housing scheme Pocket, said: "The phenomenon of 'doubling up' is a welcome solution for a Government grappling with the problem of under-occupied housing. It won't be long before you see politicians trying to give people fiscal reasons for relinquishing their family home."

But Jack Dromey, the shadow housing minister, said: "This is just another example of how – under current housing policy – families are being forced to abandon the dream of ever buying a home of their own."

The Warrens: The all-inclusive retirement home

Janet Warren lives with her husband, John in Sandbach, Cheshire. Their daughter, Helen, 37, has moved back with her husband, Mark, 41, and their two children, Daisy, 10, and Jack, 12

"Helen was 18 when she left home. The last thing that I expected is that she would return 20 years later.

"Yet this new arrangement works for everyone. Helen and her husband were looking for a new house at the same time we were looking to build a retirement home. So we started planning it together. Our house is constructed so both families can have their privacy.

"As long as you are prepared to compromise, the benefits are fantastic. The children have permanent babysitters and our dogs are always looked after.

"Helen has rented out their old house, and it feels like we have found our own solution to the housing problem."

The Dhinsas: The shared house

Kam Dhinsa, 33, lives in Oadby, Leicestershire, with her husband Kulbir, 35, and their two children, Akaal, five, and Rajveer, three. Also living in the same three-bedroom house are her husband's parents, Harmesh, 65, and Gian, 61

"Some of our friends think that it is weird being married for nine years and still living with your family, but for us, especially in an Asian culture, it works well. Your parents supported you while you were growing up, so why shouldn't we offer them that support in older age as well?

"Before we had children, we used to go on holiday twice a year, so we have had a lot of time to ourselves. Now that has changed and we need a lot more space. This year we are knocking down parts of the house and redesigning them so that it can accommodate everyone.

"The financial expenses are shared. It's been a lot easier than living in our own house.

"The only thing I would say about living together – you don't really get a lot of time as a couple, most of it becomes centred around the family anyway. But when you have kids a lot of your time is dedicated to them.

"As our kids get older, they're going to want their own space, and their privacy from us, so we are now extending the house so that everyone's needs are met."

The Marsdens: The granny flat

Rachael Marsden, 47, lives in South Hinksey, Oxfordshire, with her husband, Bob, 53, their children Johanna, 21, Pieteke, 18, and Ari, 15, and her mother, Barbara, 85

"We had never thought that we would end up living together like this. But one summer I jokingly suggested it to my mother and the idea just stuck. I didn't want my mother living in a nursing home. So we have worked hard to define the correct living arrangement – she has her own front door in an adjoining annexe.

"When you have three generations under one roof you suddenly become a magnet to the rest of the family... [and] living together in a carefully considered housing arrangement makes you realise that it's possible to live in harmony while enriching each other's lives."

The Stangroomes: The bungalow extension

Jon Stangroome, 59, lives in Wiston, Pembrokeshire, with his wife, Lindsay, 50, and their 10-year-old daughter, Grace, as well Lindsay's parents, Myra and Tom, who are both in their 70s

"We were looking to downsize and move to the countryside a few years ago but realised that Lindsay's parents and late grandmother would need looking after. Eventually we all moved to a new house on a big plot of land and built a bungalow extension for Myra and Tom.

"The arrangement works particularly well because both parts of the house have their own kitchens and living space. Both families, if they wanted to, could live an entirely separate existence. Instead we found ourselves wanting to spend time together. Myra cooks on Monday and Tuesday, while I cook Wednesday and Thursday. Over the weekend [we] have separate arrangements.

"We have a constant stream of visitors; in the summer it often feels like a continuous party. Plus for us, the availability of childcare has been crucial.

"Lindsay and I were beneficiaries of the baby-boomer generation. It allowed us to move up the property ladder while accumulating our own wealth. For our daughter it might be very different. If things carry on the way they are she may be living with us for a long time."

Additional research by Koos Couvée

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/beating-the-housing-shortage-one-home-three-generations-7626973.html?printService=print

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ovt may allow 49% FDI by foreign airlines this week

Cabinet Could Take Decision On Thursday

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: After 16 years,the government is set to again allow foreign airlines to take stakes in Indian carriers later this week.The move is expected to help ailing Indian operators like Kingfisher raise funds.More importantly,it could pave the way for start-up joint ventures.
The commerce & industry ministry on Tuesday circulated a Cabinet note seeking comments from other ministries to permit 49% FDI.It is hoping the proposal will go through in its present form as the finance and civil aviation ministries had agreed to it earlier.
But there is great urgency with the industry ministry rushing through the second round of consultations.It is planning to send the final note to the Cabinet secretariat by Wednesday,a senior government official told TOI.
The hurry is due to the deep distress of some airlines,which are unable to pay salaries,statutory dues and taxes.As a result,the industry ministry gave other government agencies only a few hours to comment on its note before sending to the Cabinet secretariat.A decision is imminent, the official said adding that the issue could be decided as early as Thursday when the Cabinet is scheduled to meet.
But not all Indian carriers may benefit.Because of their large foreign ownership,Jet and IndiGo are unlikely to be eligible for FDI from foreign airlines.Others such as Kingfisher,GoAir and SpiceJet can expect fresh funding, said Kapil Kaul,India head of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.
According to Jet Airways stock exchange filing,at the end of December 2011,foreign corporate bodies held almost 80% in the airline.In case of Indi-Go too,the foreign stake is close to 49%,Kaul said.

WILL FUNDS FLY IN

LIKELY GAINERS:

Kingfisher,SpiceJet and GoAir

MAY NOT BENEFIT:

Jet and IndiGo,which already have substantial foreign ownership

POSSIBLE GAINER:

Air India (if govt ever goes for strategic sale)
May also enable new players to set up new airlines
In all,Indian carriers face accumulated debt of over 80,000 crore on top of cumulative losses of over 43,000 crore

$30bn to develop airports: Govt

B uoyed by the success of the implementation of the PPP model in airport development,the government plans to invest $30 billion in the next 10 years,opening up more existing airports for modernization.Civil aviation secretary S N A Zaidi said th e number of passengers in the country was likely to go up to 260 million and cargo by five million tonnes by 2020.

Admin · Guru

AI could get foreign investor

The move to ease FDI norms would also give the government the option of getting a foreign investor for Air India if at some point a decision is taken to disinvest from it,said Kapil Kaul,India head of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.
Ironically,FDI was disallowed in 1996,apparently to block a move by a Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture to acquire Air India.At that point,Naresh Goyal-owned Jet Airways had to buy back its 40% stake held equally by Gulf Air and Kuwait Airlines.
In the past five years,several attempts were made to allow foreign airlines to invest in Indian carriers as the latter were making huge losses and drowning in debt.Now,Indian carriers face an accumulated debt of $16 billion (over Rs 80,000 crore) on top of cumulative losses of $8.5 billion (over Rs 43,000 crore).But security concerns over Gulf and Chinese airlines investing in this sensitive area meant that the policy remained on hold.
In this holding period,only the proposed FDI cap kept changing.The civil aviation ministry was originally in favour of allowing only 24% FDI,but later agreed to 26% when the commerce ministry moved the note first.
After Ajit Singh took over as the civil aviation minister,the ministry changed its stance and batted for 49% ceiling.TNN

Admin · Guru

GROWTH INTERRUPTED
Car sales growth in FY12 slowest in 2 yrs

New Delhi: Car sales in India grew by just 2.19% in 2011-12,the slowest in two years but industry body Siam said it expects growth to be around 10-12 % in the ongoing fiscal on better macroeconomic prospects.
Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam),which had cautioned in January that car sales growth in India could be negative,said a late surge of sales,especially in March,had helped it to stay positive in FY12.
According to the latest figures issued by Siam,the total car sales in India in 2011-12 stood at 20,16,115 units as against 19,72,845 units in the previous fiscal,up 2.19%.
This was the first time the car sales in the country crossed the two-million-units mark.A late surge of sales in the last quarter of the fiscal,especially in March,as buyers advanced purchases ahead of the Budget helped, Siam president S Sandilya said.
In March,car sales rose 19.66% to 2,29,866 units from 1,92,105 units in the same month last year.
When the global financial crisis hit in 2008-09,car sales in India grew by just 1.4%.Sales jumped to 25% in 2009-10 and 29% in 2010-11.
With indications from RBI that interest rates may come down and overall GDP expected to be around 7.5% to 8%,the prospects of the auto industry is good for the ongoing fiscal, he said.
Siam said it expects the car sales growth to be around 10-12 % in 2012-13,while that of two-wheelers has been pegged at 11-13 %.For the overall auto industry,Siam has projected a growth on 10-12 % for FY13 as against 12.24% achieved in 2011-12.
Commenting on car sales,Sandilya said that in the last fiscal,the industry suffered due to high interest rates,inflation and rising fuel prices.Moreover,strikes at the countrys largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki Indias Manesar plant had also affected availability.
In FY12,Maruti Suzuki had posted sales of 8,55,730 units as against 9,66,447 units in the previous year in the domestic market,down 11.46%.
Hyundai Motor India posted sales of 3,87,168 units as against 3,58,904 units in the previous year,up 7.88%.Tata Motors posted a marginal rise to 2,57,966 units from 2,55,704 units in 2010-11.
Sandilya said India maintained its position as the fifth largest car making nation in the world in FY12.
Motorcycle sales in the country stood at 1,00,96,062 units in 2011-12 as against 90,13,888 units in the previous fiscal,up 12.01%.PTI

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Re near 3-mth low as FII flow slows down

Ends At 51.48 To $ After Hitting Low Of 51.50

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Fears about selling by foreign funds due to the weakening fundamentals in the stock market and demand for dollar from oil importers,pulled the rupee to trade near its three-month level low on Tuesday.With a host of foreign and local brokerages taking a weak stance on the rupee,it ended at 51.48 after touching an intra-day low at 51.50 to a dollar,but still weaker by 33 paise from its Monday close.
In the forward market,the one-month contract for rupee traded at 51.93.
On Monday,the RBI was also rumoured to have intervened to support the rupee,but the same was not the case on Tuesday,market players said.The latest government data showed that Indias balance of payment entered the negative zone for the first time in three years while the current account deficit rose to $19.6 billion during the quarter ended December from $9.7 billion during the same period of 2010.
A weak rupee helps exporters since it makes products and services cheaper in dollar terms,but importers are hit because a weak rupee makes imports costlier.In India,while a weak rupee helps software and textiles exporters,at the same time a number of capital goods companies and oil importers face higher costs due to dearer imports.
Several foreign brokerages have flagged off further weakness for the Indian currency due to a host of factors,which include domestic fundamentals like the burgeoning current account deficit,a weak stock market and low level of dollar inflows.Market players are also nervous about the rising crude oil prices,and the sticky rate of inflation.
Market players are also keeping a close watch on the ratings review meeting between the analysts with global ratings major S&P and officials at the ministry of finance this week.
The trajectory of the rupee is likely to remain under the influence of inter-temporal mismatches in flows into and out of India during the coming months,said Siddhartha Sanyal,chief India economist,Barclays.

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11 Apr 2012
Hindustan Times (Delhi)
Gaurav Choudhury gaurav.choudhury@hindustantimes.com

PSU shareholders, awake!

COAL-A-WORRY A recent government decision asking public sector behemoth Coal India Ltd (CIL) to commit long-term fuel supplies to power companies has triggered a volley of protests from minority shareholders. HT explains the nuances of shareholders’ right

From page 1 Several independent directors on the CIL’S board and at least one minority shareholder were against the company’s decision to commit assured coal supply to fuel-starved power companies through long-term fuel supply agreements (FSA). The President of India can exercise her executive powers under Article 53 of the Constitution, but the directive should not violate the Right to Equality as enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution. Presidential directives are not uncommon. The government enjoys overarching authority in the functioning of public sector undertakings (PSUS). In PSUS, which are created by statutes or Acts of Parliament, as in the case of CIL, the powers to exercise Presidential directives are factored in the Act or the statute itself. In February, financial institutions (FIS) reportedly opposed the proposal of a multinational paint company for the amalgamation of three of its arms with itself. FIS raised questions about the valuation, merger ratio, royalty payment and the proposed increase of the parent company’s stake. Under current norms, a person who holds shares worth R1 lakh or less in a company is categorised as a small investor. The Companies Bill, which is likely to be voted into law this year, is aimed at overhauling corporate governance norms and granting shareholders with greater powers to defend their rights, marking an end to nearly three years of debate and discussions to legislate a framework of checks and balances, transparency and accountability.

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The Bill is armed with a stringent set of rules and norms that would arm even small investors to fight for their rights collectively through “class action suits.”

The proposed legislation, will make the S erious Fraud Investigation Office ( SFIO), an agency mandated to investigate corporate scam, a statutory institution, with the authority to even arrest the guilty in corporate crimes.

It will make it compulsory for companies to rotate auditors and impose a ceiling on the tenure for which a particular person can serve as an independent director on a company’s board.

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11 Apr 2012
Hindustan Times (Delhi)
Indo-asian News Service letters@hindustantimes.com

Facebook acquires photo-sharing firm Instagram for $1 bn

Facebook is purchasing Instagram, the very popular photo sharing company, for $1 billion in a combination of cash and stock, the social networking giant’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Monday.

“For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. “Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.”

While Facebook is expected to integrate Instagram more closely with its web and app offerings, Zuckerberg also said that it will build and grow the Instagram app independently.

“Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people,” he said.

Founded in 2010 by Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom, Instagram lets users add distinctive filters and visual flair to photos they’ve snapped on their smartphones.

The long-awaited Android version, released last week, racked up more than 1 million downloads in just 12 hours.

The launch also met a backlash from iphone users, who enjoyed having an exclusive hold on the stylish service.

It is Facebook’s biggest acquisition ever, in both price and reach. With around 30 million active users, Instagram has the largest audience of any start-up Facebook has purchased, but Zuckerberg said these types of deals won’t be frequent.

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“We don’t plan on doing many more of these, if any at all,” Zuckerberg wrote. “But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.”

Admin · Guru

11 Apr 2012
Hindustan Times (Delhi)
Himani Chandna Gurtoo himani.chandna@hindustantimes.com

Lukewarm to IPL, firms go local, think small

HOWZZAT! Advertisers look to cash in on local popularity of teams, rather than the big event

Go local, go small. Taking a leaf out of the value for money (VFM) brand-building strategy, advertisers are seeking to cash in on the local popularity of individual Indian Premier League (IPL) teams this season, rather than invest in the central event itself.

The reason: teams have strong local brand recall value, city-specific loyalty and it is cheaper.

Unlike the previous season, the five-year old popular league has attracted significantly higher local ad content focussed clearly on local brands.

Consider this: Bikaji Namkeen, Rambandhu Spices and Sanskar School are among the sponsors of Rahul Dravidled Rajasthan Royals. Likewise, punjabnewsline, a local portal is the sponsor of Kings XI Punjab.

Experts said the snazzier version of the game can offer a strong platform for local brands.

“The price of a central sponsorship (approximately R35 crore), restricts the number of advertisers,” said a media buyer. “But to advertise through separate teams, one can invest from as low as R10 lakh to R8 crore.”

Team managements echoed similar opinion.

“The traction of local advertisers is way better than the last season,” said Arvinder Singh, chief operating office, Kings XI Punjab, through which a mix of more than 15 global and local brands is advertising.

The central event has also received queries from regional brands keen on building brands.

“The queries have been varied and across a wide section of advertisers,” Sundar Raman, CEO, IPL. “But individual teams will take care of local advertisers.”

“It is a pocket-friendly way to create awareness and excitement around your brand,” said Dhiraj Malu, of Rajasthan-based Rambandhu Spices. “Some advertisers are sceptical about the worth the association could bring to a regional company.”

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“As an advertiser, we would definitely be interested,” said Aman Ahluwalia, managing director, punjabnewsline.com. “The brand can be tied in interestingly with the event and the local connect can be leveraged.”

Admin · Guru

11 Apr 2012
Hindustan Times (Delhi)
HT Correspondent letters@hindustantimes.com

IGL faces R1,000- cr hit due to excess tariff charged

City gas distribution company Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) could take a hit of anywhere between R1000 crore and 1500 crore if has to abide by the April 9 order by the downstream petroleum regulator — the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board — directing the company to refund extra tariff charged by it from consumers since April 2008.

The regulator’s order has also directed IGL to pass on the benefits of tariff reduction in the sale price of piped gas for kitchens and CNG for automobiles.

IGL on Tuesday moved the Delhi High Court against this order asking the company to undertake a substantial cut in its network tariff as also compression charges that it bills to consumers on the sale of piped gas and CNG.

Following this, the company’s share price took a major hit and fell down by 33.7%, (down by R16.60) to close at R230 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

With the regulator’s order likely to set a trend for other city gas distribution companies, the scrip of Gujarat Gas Ltd also fell 15% to R342 on the BSE.

“We have moved to the Delhi high court and have challenged the constitutional and legal powers of the PNGRB to fix the tariff,” M Ravindran, managing director, IGL, told HT.

However, PNGRB sources said that if IGL was not sure of the regulator’s powers to fix these charges, “Why did IGL kept on sharing the data asked by us and not question our legal and constitutional validity then?”

The regulator has asked IGL to fix the pipeline network tariff at R38.6 per unit against the company’s proposal of R104.5. Also, the regulator’s order has fixed the compression charge as R2.8 per kg for CNG compared to R6.7 proposed by IGL.

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Moreover, the regulator has asked IGL to refund the difference in these two levies to consumers on retrospective basis from April 1, 2008 onwards till date.

Admin · Guru

11 Apr 2012
Hindustan Times (Delhi)
Agency France-presse letters@hindustantimes.com

Outsourcing blues: India takes US visa fee hike to WTO

NEW DELHI: India is challenging the United States at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over increased visa fees for skilled workers that have hit the country’s flagship outsourcing firms, an official said Tuesday.

“We are pursuing this at the consultation level,” a senior commerce ministry official said on the condition of anonymity. “It is our hope we reach an amicable conclusion.”

India has sought consultations with Washington, which is the first step in the WTO’S complaints process, he said.

Commmerce Minister Anand Sharma discussed the visa issue with his US counterpart John Bryson when he visited New Delhi last month, the official added.

More than half of the world’s top 500 companies outsource work to India.

But the Indian industry, which expects to earn $78 billion in export revenues this year, also flies thousands of employees each year to the US to work at their clients’ locations as onsite technicians and engineers.

US sponsors of the legislation said the law would hike fees for certain outsourcing firms, including Wipro, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, which they accused of seeking to “exploit” visas to “import foreign workers.”

The companies denied the allegations and India has called the legislation discriminatory.

Under the 2010 law, US visa fees for skilled workers nearly doubled to $4,500 from $2,500 for firms with more than a 50% non-american workforce.

The visa case comes after the US last month launched a similar action against India at the WTO, charging that New Delhi’s ban on poultry and egg imports violated global trade rules.

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IT Online returns 20120411a_011101018

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Govt strips new tax pacts of confidentiality clauses

TIMESNEWSNETWORK

New Delhi: The veil is lifting over names of black money account holders as new tax agreements are being signed by the government with foreign countries,including tax havens,will have limited secrecy clauses while several existing treaties are also being renegotiated.
Under intense pressure from MPs,parliamentary committees and court petitions demanding names of persons who have stashed illegal wealth abroad be disclosed,the government has decided to seek a relaxation of confidentiality norms that prevent information from being placed in public.
All new agreements being signed have this limited confidentiality clause as the information received may be used for such purposes under the laws of states and as the competent authority of the supplying state authorizes such use, the finance ministry said to the parliamentary standing committee.
A ministry official said the move will help the government simultaneously probe,if there are violations apart from tax cases.So far,the government had argued that black money lists have been obtained from countries like Switzerland and France only on the condition that information will be used for tax evasion cases and will not be revealed unless as part of judicial decisions.This meant the information has not even been shared with agencies like the Enforcement Directorate that can probe cases like money laundering.
But the ministry has told the parliamentary standing committee on finance that it has spotted a loophole in the OECD model tax convention that says that if the contracting states agree,they can agree on provisions for purposes other than tax cases under their respective laws.
India has received a list of 700 black money accounts in the HSBC Bank in Geneva and Indian names from Liechtenstein as well.

Admin · Guru

Can media use in biz rivalry be curbed

If Media Abridges Presumption Of Innocence,Cant Courts Step In,Asks SC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday raised the issue of misuse of media by business entities to harass rivals and asked whether there were guidelines to guard against publication of news stories to destroy reputation of others.
A bench of Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia and Justices D K Jain,S S Nijjar,R P Desai and J S Khehar also asked,If presumption of innocence is the basis of rule of law and if in a given case the court finds that media has abridged the presumption of innocence,can the courts not take preventive steps
Today if a competitor in business misuses media to harass a rival,what is the preventive mechanism to deal with such a situation Are we not here to protect the right to life of an accused guaranteeing him dignity and fair trial the bench asked senior advocate Anil Divan,who on behalf of the daily The Hindu,was arguing against any curtailment of right to free speech guaranteed under Article 19(1)( a) of the Constitution.
The bench asked Divan Can you sit with the editors and tell us what the mechanism to deal with this problem is The counsel said a guideline to deal with aberrations on a case-to-case basis was fine,but not a general guideline if it were coercive or punitive.
Divan said that the right to free speech was not absolute and the Constitution itself had abridged it by providing certain restrictions under Article 19(2).The court could do whatever under its power to protect the right of the accused for a fair trial and prevent prejudice caused to him,but not at the cost of right to free speech which involves an overriding public interest element, he said.
The counsel agreed that there had been a lot of undesirable things within the media like paid news and packaging of news,but said: We cannot remove all evils all over the world.We must examine how far we can go.Should it be through a judicial process or is there any other approach
But Divan was firm that to promote or enhance Article 21 (right to life),the courts could not abridge Article 19 (1)( a).It is a well settled law that the State has no power to impose restrictions except those permissible under Article 19(2), he said.The arguments would continue on Thursday.

Admin · Guru

12 Apr 2012
Hindustan Times (Delhi)
Press Trust of India htreporters@hindustantimes.com

SBI officials, 10 others to be charged for cheating bank

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has ordered the framing of charges against a senior official of the State Bank of India (SBI) and 10 others for allegedly using forged documents to cheat the bank’s Industrial Finance Branch to the tune of R30.5 crore in the matter of credit facilities.

Terming the loss caused to the bank as “mammoth”, special CBI judge Manoj Jain said that charges of cheating, forgery, using forged documents, criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and abuse of official position under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) were made out against the 11 accused.

“I am of the considered opinion that there existed a criminal conspiracy amongst all accused, the object of which was to cheat the bank. Forged bills and invoices were prepared. Bogus companies were floated. Pecuniary advantage was showered on A9 (AGM of SBI) and A10 (manager/credit officer of SBI) and they abused their official position to assist their coaccused. The loss to the bank is mammoth,” the judge said.

Mani Kant Tula (AGM, SBI), Parveen Kumar Gupta (Manager, SBI), Hindustan Polychm Pvt Ltd (HPPL), its alleged directors Sangeeta Shah, Padamakar Kumar Srivastava, Padma Gill, along with its other employees Hemant Kumar Senapati, Anil Kumar Sukumara Panicker, Musafir Prasad, were among the 11 accused who were charge sheeted by the CBI in the case.

The other co-accused included one Prem Shankar Jha and Arvind Rai C Shah (ex-employee of Union Bank of India).

As per the CBI, HPPL, which was engaged in export and import had obtained credit facilities from Industrial Finance branch of SBI and then diverted the same to 20 bogus companies floated by it and its directors, which existed only on paper, by opening letters of credit (LOC) in favour of these entities.

On the role played by the SBI officials in the case, the CBI had said that both of them abused their official position.