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India’s foreign
currency
Parliamentary
panel opposes govt Money transfer
service by Yahoo! |
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Optra variant to
cost 7.3 lakh WTC design to be
unveiled on Friday
TV Today IPO on
Dec 18
Volvo plans
R&D centre in India
i-flex buys out US company
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India’s foreign currency outlook revised
New Delhi, December 16 However, the outlook on India’s “BB+” long-term local currency rating remains negative because of slow economic reforms and fiscal deficit. Both foreign and local currency short-term ratings on the sovereign were affirmed at “B”. “Rapidly increasing external liquidity, sustained by growing foreign exchange reserves and modest debt service payments sparked the revision in the foreign currency outlook,” S & P’s Credit Analyst Takahira Ogawa, Director in the Asia-Pacific Sovereign Ratings Group, said in a statement. India’s stable economic prospects is another factor supporting the sovereign ratings. India is expected to achieve 5-6 per cent GDP growth in the medium term, which should help cushion the impact of its high fiscal deficit. “The outlook on India’s local currency ratings can be revised to stable if the government manages to reverse its fiscal trajectory by reducing the deficit and accelerating structural reform. This will also improve prospects for the foreign currency rating,” Mr Ogawa said. The consolidated direct debt of India’s state and Central Government is expected to be 84 per cent of GDP in fiscal, 2003, which is high for the rating category. Moreover, this level is expected to rise steadily because of the high consolidated general government deficit, which, at more than 9 per cent, is one of the highest of all sovereigns rated by Standard & Poor’s. The government must also accelerate progress in structural reform. Resistance from vested interests, including bureaucrats and politicians, has hindered government efforts to reduce restrictions such as land ownership and labour markets, he added.
Re gains on rating revision
The rupee closed two-and-half paise stronger against the US Dollar at 45.53/54 today on improved dollar inflows after the fresh weakness in greenback in the global markets and the Standard & Poor’s revised India’s long-term foreign currency rating outlook to stable from negative.
— UNI
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Parliamentary panel opposes govt
New Delhi, December 16 The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Petroleum, in its report tabled in Parliament today, said the government ignored its unanimous view which called for sanction of Parliament before going in for disinvestment in HPCL and BPCL. “This amounts to dilution of the legislature which forced judiciary to step in and remind the executive of the authority of Parliament,” it said. The Supreme Court had asked the government to seek the Parliamentary approval before privatising the two oil refiners which were nationalised through an act of Parliament. Noting that the government has again moved the Supreme Court for a review of its judgement, the Committee reiterated its earlier stand that “sanction of Parliament is mandatory before a decision to disinvest HPCL and BPCL is taken.” The report said the Committee was also not convinced by the reply of the government that ownership of one PSU by another PSU did not serve the purpose of disinvestment. “If any PSU is allowed to bid for HPCL, it will fulfil the objective of facilitating vertical integration of business and also enhance the capacity of public sector oil companies to compete with the private companies and MNCs,” it said.
— PTI |
Money transfer service by
Yahoo! Washington, December 16 The service, called Yahoo PayDirect International, “revolutionises current Internet person-to-person payment methods,” Dickson Chu, General Manager of Yahoo PayDirect, said yesterday. “Foreign born nationals living and working in the United States that need to send money home can make their money go even farther, with rates well below many other money transfer methods.” The new venture puts Yahoo head-to-head with money transfer firms like the Western Union. The new service will allow users to obtain cash through some 8,00,000 ATMs around the world through the Cirrus network.
— AFP |
Optra variant to cost 7.3 lakh
New Delhi, December 16 GMI Vice-President (marketing) Amit Dutta said the new car is expected to help the company boost its market share in the overall mid-size segment to 30-35 per cent next year from the present 23 per cent in the upper-end mid-size segment. The 1.6-litre Optra, which has 104 brake horse power, will compete with cars like Honda City and Hyundai Accent Tornado in the segment which accounts for about 1,00,000 units annually. The 1.8-litre model is positioned against cars like Toyota Corolla and Skoda Octavia in the upper-end of the mid-size segment, which are about 16,000 units annually. Mr Dutta said GMI plans to introduce a new multi-utility vehicle Isuzu Panther, rechristened as Chevrolet Tavera, by September 2004, which it hopes would double its market share to 2.4 per cent next year in the total Indian automobile industry of over 1.5 million
vehicles. — UNI |
WTC design to be unveiled on Friday
New York, December 16 The Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which oversees the rebuilding, issued a statement yesterday saying the new design would be unveiled on Friday by Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. According to the statement, a centerpiece tower will rise 1,776 feet, culminating in a spire and evoking the Statue of Liberty, as Daniel Libeskind, the architect who won the design competition for the 16-acre site’s redevelopment, had proposed. The Freedom Tower also will incorporate windmill technology that will generate much of the tower’s electricity, a proposal put forth by David Childs, the Skidmore Owings and Merrill architect hired by leaseholder Larry Silverstein. The design includes 1,100 feet of commercial space topped with a sloping roof, a redevelopment official said. Childs’ energy-generating structure will extend 400 feet from the roof, and Libeskind’s spire will rise another 276 feet. The compromise seemed to put at least a temporary end to the disagreements between the architects, who have had a stormy relationship that libeskind has likened to a forced marriage.
— AP |
Stop using groundwater, HC to Coke
Kochi, December 16 The court also directed the Perumatty gram panchayat, under the jurisdiction of which the cola plant is located, and the state government to ensure that the plant does not extract groundwater after the specified time limit. Extraction of the groundwater, even up to the admitted limit by the company, was “illegal”, the court held. The company had no legal right to extract this much natural wealth and the Panchayat and the government were bound to prevent it.
— PTI |
Volvo plans R&D centre in India New Delhi, December 16 Volvo India Managing Director Ulf Nordqvist said India occupied an important position in the Swedish automaker’s overall operations. “This year we expect the sourcing to be in the region of £ 15 million and with quality manufacturing here on the increase, it is expected to grow exponentially,’’ the Volvo India chief said in an interview.
— UNI |
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Jet Air offers special fares Auto Summit ICICI Lombard Debt-swapping Hind Sanitary Fund for HP Oil unions strike Return rate cut |
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