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Now, WaMu files for bankruptcy
Counter Attack |
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Fertilisers’ Import
Aviation Notes
Investor Guidance
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Now, WaMu files for bankruptcy
Washington, September 27 Washington Mutual, which has an asset of over $300 billion, will be the second major financial entity after Lehman Brothers to file for bankruptcy protection. The fall of Washington Mutual, popularly known as WaMu, is being viewed as the biggest banking failure in the American history. "Washington Mutual Inc announced today that it has, together with its wholly owned subsidiary WMI Investment Corp, commenced voluntary cases under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code," a statement released by Business Wire said. WaMu, according to reports, was expected to lose around $19 billion on bad mortgages. Credit agency Standard and Poor's has already slashed its rating to eight level below investment grade. Earlier, the US administration had seized WaMu and sold its banking operation to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion. The American financial turmoil triggered by subprime mortgage crisis has taken a heavy toll on the global financial system, even as the US government is trying to work out a $700-bn bailout package.
Wachovia, too, looks for buyer
Financial turbulence in the US took yet another toll with America's sixth largest bank, Wachovia, starting preliminary talks with potential buyers, including Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Spain's Banco Santander, media reports say. The reports about Wachovia looking for a bailout buyer appeared in media a day after the collapse of Washington Mutual, the biggest bank failure of US history. According to reports, Wachovia has assimilated distressed assets worth $122 billion on account of its exposure in the housing mortgage. Wachovia, according to its website, has assets of over $800 billion and its brokerage operations manage $1.1 trillion of client assets. "Wachovia approached potential buyers, including Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Spain's Banco Santander, on Friday after a 27 per cent plunge in its shares deepened fears over future of the sixth-largest US bank," UK daily Financial Times reported.
— PTI
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Counter Attack
Bangalore, September 27 “Infosys notes the announcement made earlier by HCL Technologies. Infosys is considering its position and urges Axon shareholders to take no action at this time. A further announcement will be made in due course,” an Infosys statement on Axon counter bid said. HCL Technologies
yesterday made a bid of 650 pence a share compared to 600 pence offered by Infosys to
buy Axon, a UK-based consultancy firm. Under the HCL terms of offer, Axon shareholders will receive 650 pence in cash for each share valuing the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Axon at £441.1 million ($814.38 million). HCL’s offer is 8.3 per cent more than Infosys, which had valued the Axon Group at £407.1
million. Axon provides process consultancy services to large organisations, which have chosen SAP as their strategic enterprise platform. The company has a customer base across the UK, North America, and Asia. With an employee strength of 2,000, Axon had reported profit before tax of £29.5 million and revenue of £204.5 million for the year ended
December 2007. According to HCL CEO Vineet Nayar, Axon would provide HCL with a transformational opportunity. Nayar said this yesterday after announcing the counter-bid. |
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Fertilisers’ Import
Chandigarh, September 27 The offer was made to officials of both states when they met Atul Chaturvedi, secretary, fertilisers, Government of India. He said though urea is under partial control, there is no restriction on the movement of the other two fertilisers — DAP and MOP. He said though this year the government was making adequate provisions for Both states contended that they neither had the resources nor the technical know-how to import DAP (di-ammonium phosphate) and MOP (muriate of potash). A senior official in Punjab informed TNS that they made it clear to Chaturvedi that they did not have the core competency to buy the fertilisers on their own, so the government should continue to provide the same for the state. It may be noted that fertilisers are highly subsidised in India. As against the prevailing global price of fertilisers, in India they are made available at one-fifth its actual price. The subsidy bill of Government of India this year is a whopping Rs 1,19,772 crore. However, the government has made a budget estimate of just Rs 30,986 crore this year — which has already been exhausted. Even a cash-rich state like Haryana cannot afford to buy fertilisers on its own at the prevailing high price and foot the subsidy, said a senior official.
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Aviation Notes
Despite man-made hiccups, the work on Rs 8,900-crore terminal III project, captained by the GMR-led consortium, is progressing more than satisfactorily.
The 40 per cent work in the initial phase has been completed. It will be fully operational by March 2010, much before the Commonwealth Games begin in Delhi. If the terminal II, raised in 1980s, was built for "yesterday", this terminal will create "tomorrow today" and will retain its grandeur for half-a-century. The world-renowned analysts, designers and commanders of high reputation believe this will be the state-of-the-art terminal, comparable to any worldwide. The terminal buildings, built with bricks and cement, do not talk. The talking is done by the persons, who man them. The analysts, particularly foreigners, believe that work culture and pride of working at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) will have to be inculcated to achieve optimum results. This, according to aviation analysts, is possible only when the rule of "hire and The government officials enjoy laxity of security which should be done away with so that officials of immigration, customs and Airports Authority of India (AAI) work with devotion and dedication. Designed in consultation with Mott McDonald, a leading development consultancy, and HOK, world renowned airport architects, the work at terminal III is going on round-the-clock. It will have as many as 75 aero-bridges with nine of them compatible to handle operations of mammoth A-380 aircraft. It will have 20 parking bays for passengers. The terminal, connected with all types of transport systems, will have an advanced 5-level in-line baggage-handling device with explosive-detection technology for high-class efficiency and security. There will be 160 check-in counters so that clearance is fast. Similarly, the immigration counters have been increased. The terminal, as generally worldwide, will be of two tiers. The departure complex will be situated on the upper deck and arrival on the lower deck. The roof of the building will have stylised incisions to allow daylight, but it will be angled to protect the interior from direct sun-rays. The new third runway, wide enough to handle any type of aircraft, has been a pride and joy of all commanders, Indian and foreign. It is fitted with highly-sophisticated ILS (Instruments Landing System) on both sides. It has been tested and started functioning from Thursday, September 25. Called 11-29, it is 4,430-metre long, one of the longest in Asia. It is built to Code F standards, the highest. The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), for example, in collaboration with Similarly, there are adequate facilities for visitors as statistics show that there are three visitors for every departing passenger. |
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Investor Guidance
Q: I am having RNOR status now. Is there any exemption of tax, on the interest earned in India from a fixed deposit of Non-Resident Rupees Account to persons having RNOR status? Please advise. A: By fixed deposit of Non-Resident Rupees Account, I assume you mean an NRO account.
In this regard, please note that the RNOR status is a sub-category of the Resident status. And as a Resident, you cannot hold an NRO or NRE account. These accounts have to be redesingated as Resident accounts upon your arrival to India. In any case, the interest is fully taxable. If your total Indian income is below the tax threshold of Rs 1,50,000, you may file form 15G with the bank requesting non-deduction of TDS. Investing capital gains
Q: I am shifting house. Though I have found a house to buy, I do not yet have a buyer for the present flat that I am living in. If I take a loan for the new place, and pay it off when I sell my present flat, will the sale be still be long-term capital gain and can I offset the two against each other to save tax? What is the time limit for selling my flat if I buy one before? A: To save tax on long-term gains on sale of property, the amount of capital gain Secondly, the exemption is available upon investing the amount realised as capital gain. It need not be the capital gain amount itself. In other words, taking a loan to buy the new property will still qualify for tax exemption as long as the cost of the new property is equal to or more than the amount of capital gain. That you have used money from the loan to buy this new property is immaterial. The authors may be contacted at
wonderlandconsultants@yahoo.com. |
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Washington, September 27
