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Dollar tumbles, global markets sink
11th Plan Govt approves mineral policy
Rural Network |
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Ease ‘arbitrary’ visa cap: Gates
Movies, TV shows on mobiles soon
Aussie wool growers keen on India
More Indian Cos eye Nasdaq listing
Max New York Life conducts workshop
US Energy Star award for ArcelorMittal
Lenovo unveils range of PCs, laptops
NTPC to invest Rs 13,000 cr
Paramount rules out merger
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Dollar tumbles, global markets sink
London, March 13 The dollar hit another record low against the euro and fell below 100 Japanese yen for the first time in 12 years, underlining concerns among monetary officials about extreme currency moves. Oil, meanwhile, was at a record high above $110 a barrel and gold was closing in on $1,000 an ounce. Wall Street looked set for a sharply lower opening while European shares were down around 2 per cent and Japanese equities lost more than 3 per cent. In the latest credit market fallout, an affiliate of US-based buyout firm Carlyle Group, Carlyle Capital Group defaulted on about $16.6 billion of debt. "This is going to be a nail-biting day," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in the US state of Vermont. "The dollar seems to be going into a free-fall." Investors shrugged off any remaining vestiges of the euphoria experienced earlier in the week from US Federal Reserve-led moves to provide liquidity to credit markets. The recent currency moves have aroused concerned comments from European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga. Trichet, in an interview with French magazine Le Point, said disorderly swings in currencies were undesirable. Nukaga said dollar/yen exchange rate moves were a reflection of dollar weakness rather than yen strength and noted that the Group of Seven industrial nations shared the view that excessive foreign exchange moves are undesirable for economic growth. The euro hit a new high of $1.5624 before edging back a bit to around $1.5592. The dollar was at 100.25 yen having earlier broken to 99.77 yen. High oil, low equities
The tumbling dollar, meanwhile, poses a dilemma for the hawkish ECB, which is holding off cutting interest rates because of concern about inflation pressures. A rising oil price is one of the reasons for the pressure, but the price is spurred on by a weak dollar as this makes oil cheaper in other currencies. Oil was trading at a record high above $110 as investors weighed the dollar's weakness against bloated US crude stocks. US crude for April delivery rose 66 cents to $110.58 a barrel, above the all-time peak of $110.20 hit on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 1.9 per cent having rallied for two days. Japan's Nikkei benchmark sank to a new 2-1/2 year closing low, down 3.3 per cent at 12,433.44. The broader TOPIX was down 3.1 percent at 1,215.87, also a 2-1/2 year
low. — Reuters |
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11th Plan
New Delhi, March 13 In a written reply in Lok Sabha, minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Dinsha Patel said Rs 150,932.49 crore would be spent on oil and gas exploration in India and abroad, Rs 62,582.10 crore on refining and marketing and Rs 15,321 crore on petrochemical business. ONGC will invest Rs 75,983.77 crore in domestic E&P while its subsidiary ONGC Videsh Ltd has budgeted Rs 45,332.87 crore in overseas oil and gas hunt. Oil India Ltd has earmarked Rs 13,439.02 crore and GAIL India Rs 10,326.83 crore, he said. Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has planned an investment of Rs 28,567.75 crore in refining and marketing in 2007-12, Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) Rs 11,344.80 crore and Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) Rs 8,714 crore. IOC also plans to invest an additional Rs 11,844.10 crore in petrochemical plans while GAIL has projected Rs 1,618 crore. To a separate question, Patel said IOC, BPCL and HPCL plan to set up 1,830 new petrol stations in 2008-09. Of these, IOC would set up 930, HPCL 498 and BPCL 380. To another query, he said oil retailers are at present operating 306 auto LPG dispensing stations in the country. They would add another 158 next year.
— PTI |
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Govt approves mineral policy New Delhi, March 13 Implementation of National Mineral Policy-2008 is likely to attract foreign direct investment to the tune of $250 million per annum in the mining sector by the end of five years, a government statement said. It added that under the policy, a tribunal would be set up for resolving disputes. The policy will lay legislation to amend the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act, 1957, and will be introduced in the current parliamentary session. The new mining policy will be operational within six months. The new policy will shorten the time it takes for new mining leases to be granted by the central and state governments from about six months to a year. Under the new guidelines, foreign and domestic firms should find it easier to invest in the exploration and mining of gold, diamonds and metals like copper and zinc and prospecting companies will automatically obtain a mining licence. Only 10 per cent of the country’s land mass has been explored for its mineral wealth and industry officials say this is largely due to the staggering amount of paper work involved. The proposal was put before the Cabinet last year, which referred the draft policy to a group of ministers (GoM). The GoM approved the policy with some changes and a new Cabinet note was finalised. However, this could not be considered by the Cabinet due to serious reservations on few issues expressed by mineral-rich sates like Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The states want more power to decide on the fate of mine-based projects and grant mineral leases. The states are also against the government continuing with iron ore exports. According to the ministry of mines, the national mineral policy will help the country attract domestic and foreign direct investments to the tune of Rs 1,00,000 crore in the mining sector. The nine-member Hooda Committee, headed by Anwarul Hooda, had submitted a report to the government in July 2006. The mines ministry had set up another expert panel to study and make relevant changes in the recommendations before submitting it to the empowered group of ministers. The new policy will provide seamless movement to companies undertaking initial exploratory process for a mining block to move from reconnaissance permit to prospecting licence to mining lease. The policy will also encourage states to undertake auctioning of mineral blocks rather than allocating leases on the basis of applications.
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Rural Network
New Delhi, March 13 The decision comes in the wake of removal of subsidy in terms of Access Deficit Charge (ADC), a levy paid by private players to BSNL to carry out rural operations, with effect from April. Communication and IT minister A Raja is understood to have directed the Telecom Commission to work out the details, while a decision with regard to revising the licence fee and spectrum charges as percentage of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) would be taken soon, a senior official told PTI. BSNL was getting the ADC to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore annually till about two years ago from private players to compensate the PSU to take services in rural areas, where private companies were reluctant to go. Telecom regulator TRAI had decided to do away with the ADC subsidy in a phased manner as demanded by the private service providers. BSNL is fulfilling various social obligations of the government and has to operate in loss-making rural areas, officials said adding the PSU received only Rs 4,650 crore from Universal Service Obligation (USO) fund during 2002 while it contributed Rs 8,031 crore towards it.
— PTI |
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Ease ‘arbitrary’ visa cap: Gates
Washington, March 13 Taking up cudgels for H-1B visa seekers, a good number of whom are from India, Gates argued that hiring an 'A'grade student from India creates spin-off employment for 'B' and 'C' American students. The current base cap of 65,000 H-1B visas is "arbitrarily set" and bears no relation to the US economy's demand for skilled professionals, Gates told a House of Representatives Panel on Science and Technology. Saying that US position as the "global innovator" is at risk, Gates said there is a deficit of Americans with computer science degrees. Federal quotas on H-1B visas have long been a sore spot for Microsoft and other US Technology companies. Appearing before the panel at a time when US lawmakers cutting across party lines are hammering away at the "abuses" in the H-1B visas and outsourcing in general, Gates took on Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of California who said there is "no excuse" for keeping out "'B' and 'C' American students" just because there was an "A student from India". Gates said when companies like Microsoft hire top foreign engineers, they create jobs for 'B and C American students' around them. The Microsoft founder told lawmakers that the immigration system would have to be revamped in such a fashion so as to allow more number of people to get into America on H-1B visas and it did not make sense for a bright foreign student to be educated using American tax-payers money and then sent home on some immigration requirement. "Today, knowledge and expertise are the essential raw materials that companies and countries need in order to be competitive. We live in an economy that depends on the ability of innovative companies to attract and retain the very best talent, regardless of nationality or citizenship. "Unfortunately, the US immigration system makes attracting and retaining high-skilled immigrants exceptionally challenging for US firms," Gates said.
— PTI |
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Movies, TV shows on mobiles soon
Chandigarh, March 13 Talking about the state-of-the-art service, Mukul Khanna, vice-president, marketing, Spice Telecom, informed TNS that they were now in the process of creating a portal through which the content could be downloaded and viewed. “Recently, we held a rock concert and on a trial basis, we have pasted clippings of the programme on the portal. Once the trial is successful, we will be putting in clippings from various films, television shows and even encourage private clippings to be pasted. However, we will be scanning the private clippings to ensure that no objectionable content is put on the portal,” he said. Three months ago, Spice Telecom had launched its mobile television service for its subscribers. “So far, over 50,000 programmes have been viewed by our subscribers in Punjab circle. The fact that we have invested heavily in high-speed EDGE-enabled network to provide television on mobiles, has led to its popularity. With more and more subscribers now opting for GPRS-enabled handsets, mobile television is the future of value-added service (VAS). As of now just over 25 per cent subscribers possess the GPRS handsets,” he added. It may be noted that the Indian market for mobile television is estimated to grow to $360 million by the end of this year. News is the most dominant content that is being watched by the subscribers. Khanna says that because of the limited screen size on the mobile handsets, entertainment content is still not very popular. The company has now tied up with BBC World and CNN for telecasting news content. “We will now also build our entertainment content with channels like Bindaas, Cartoon Network, NDTV Good Times, NDTV Imagine and Zoom,” he added. |
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Aussie wool growers keen on India
Ludhiana, March 13 While currently China holds a major 60 per cent share of Australia's high-end wool export, issues related to taxation and China's new labour laws have forced growers there to tap other significant markets like India. A step in the direction is the merger of India's Woolmark with the Australian Wool Innovation Limited. Post merger, the high- end marino wool would be aggressively promoted for niche segments in India and over $ (Australian) 70 million would be spent towards this promotion. "We conducted surveys for 10 major countries that include India and found that India has high potential when it comes to selling a high-end product like the superior marino wool. To increase our market share here, we have merged with Woolmark and would now focus on increasing our profitability. We are selling 60 per cent of our total export to China and even as we would retain it, we are keen on tapping other significant markets," said Jimmy Jackson, global product development manager, Australian Wool Innovation. China's focus on reducing costs and significantly higher taxes are acting as deterrents for Australian growers. "We fear that in a bid to reduce cost, they might compromise with quality. Our past experience with China has shown that it is good when it comes to mass production but if we want to maintain our quality there is no better market than India." |
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More Indian Cos eye Nasdaq listing
New Delhi, March 13 However, he did not reveal the exact number of foreign or Indian firms waiting to be listed on Nasdaq. Oxley is also the co-author of Sarbanes-Oxley Act which outlines regulation of financial practice and corporate governance for publicly-listed firms in the US. Meanwhile, Nasdaq managing director (Asia Pacific) Ghanshyam Dass said Indian companies across all sectors are looking for possible listing. According to him, the firms include those from information technology, pharmaceutical and retail sectors. "We are talking to some companies regarding the possible listing on Nasdaq but we cannot reveal the names," he added. Currently, the Indian firms listed on Nasdaq include IT bellweather Infosys Technologies and internet firms Rediff.com and Sify Technologies. While Infosys and Sify were listed on Nasdaq in 1999, Rediff got into the exchange in 2000. In 2006, Infosys became the first Indian firm to be included in the coveted Nasdaq-100 index. More than 3,100 companies are listed on the bourse and among them about 335 are non-US firms from 35 countries representing all industry sectors.
— PTI |
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Max New York Life conducts workshop
Shimla, March 13 P.V. Subramanium, training head, Iris India, said: "There is a need to educate people about the benefits of planning the future. Both, a life insurance and a medical insurance is necessary in today's life. The sooner we have plan, the better it is". Kenneth
Sannoo, senior vice-president (north and east), Max New York Life, spoke on the role of life insurance in planning for retirement.
R.P. Singh, head, rural business, laid stress on educating the rural population. He said, "In our country there are about 6,38,000 villages and our aim is to focus on each village. We have already started to educate the farmers in Punjab and soon would be moving to Haryana. At present, the rural population is contributing about 19 per cent of the total insurance coverage and this figure is expected to rise to 25 per cent in next three years". |
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US Energy Star award for ArcelorMittal
Washington, March 13 ArcelorMittal will be the first-ever steel company to get Energy Star award, while another Indian-run company PepsiCo, the global beverage giant led by Chennai-born Indra Nooyi, was conferred this honour in 2007. The past Energy Star award recipients also include auto giants Ford and Toyota, pharmaceuticals major Merck, fast food chain McDonald's, American retail major JC Penney and defense equipments maker Raytheon. ArcelorMittal will be presented the award by the US Environmental Protection Agency here on April 1.
— PTI |
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Lenovo unveils range of PCs, laptops
New Delhi, March 13 "India is an important market to us ... besides launching new products, we will also enhance our retail presence and after sales service to become the no. 1 PC maker in the country," Lenovo senior vice- president and president (consumer business group) Liu Jun said. The company today launched a consumer PC brand — Idea, which includes notebooks called IdeaPad and desktops called IdeaCentre. "We have more than 100 exclusive stores in the country and plan to open more stores to increase our retail presence and reach the consumers," he said. The IdeaPad range starts from Rs 42,000 and the IdeaCentre from Rs
23,050. — PTI |
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NTPC to invest Rs 13,000 cr
New Delhi, March 13 "Our spending plan is Rs 13,000 crore for FY'09. We will add 2,700 MW capacity," NTPC chairman and managing director T Sankaralingam told reporters on the sidelines of an energy summit here. On funding, he said it would be a mix of equity and debt in 30:70 ratio. "Our spending plan for FY'08 was Rs 11,000 crore," he added. As part of the 11th Five Year Plan, NTPC aims to become a 50,000-MW company by 2012.
— PTI |
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Paramount rules out merger
Chennai, March 13 "We are making profits. We are looking at acquisitions. Why should we merge with any other airline?" Paramount managing director M Thiagarajan told a press conference here. He said some low-cost airlines had approached Paramount for taking over their airlines. However, the airline had declined all such offers as its business model was not suitable for running such airlines, he said.
— PTI |
Gold at 13,100 CyberMedia buy H&B Stores’ plan S&P indices Essar Oil IOC-Maruti deal |
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