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Friday,
September 14,
2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Rupee dips
to record low of 47.57 Attacks on USA to hurt Asia: ADB ‘Crisis
to have limited impact on economy’ Oil price
nears pre-attack level Telecom
traffic to USA increases |
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Corporates
come to victims’ rescue Banks
role in stock scam limited: RBI VCs shy
away from funding simputers
L&T
to double export revenue
Nasdaq building
partially collapses
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Rupee dips to record low of 47.57 New Delhi, September 13 At the end of the day, the rupee traded at Rs 47.57 to a dollar. The further weakening of the rupee vis-a-vis the dollar could have strong adverse consequences on India’s trade front as a downward spiral of the domestic currency has the possibility of inflating the import bill manifold. On the capital markets front, the magnitude of the slide was not as high as yesterday when the Indian markets opened for the first time after the attacks in the USA. The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange closed the day at 2987.50 points — down by 1.49 per cent or 45.21 points as compared to the previous day’s closing. Marketmen said as per figures released by the market watchdog Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) yesterday offloaded funds to the tune of $18 million from Indian markets. Even today, there was significant offloading by FIIs, although the exact figures are not available as yet. Analysts said selling activities by FIIs were bound to increase if the retaliatory strikes by USA takes place in South Asia. Analysts further said a sharp fall in the rupee held out the danger of increasing India’s import requirements manifold, especially in the case of crude oil. India imports about 70 per cent of its crude oil requirements and a weakening of the domestic currency could have a strong multiplier effect on the debt servicing capabilities of the country. The USA has been India’s largest export destination over the years and the share of India’s exports to the USA has been way ahead of other countries. The USA accounts for more than one-fifth of India’s exports and its share in India’s exports in the past five years has shown a steady upward trend, growing from 17 per cent in 1995-96 to a little less than 23 per cent in 1999-2000. The USA is currently in the midst of a severe economic downtrend and the slowdown had already started affecting Indian exports. The World Economic Outlook ( May 2001) had revised the GDP growth rate in the USA has been revised downward by 1.7 percentage points to 1.5 per cent, the lowest level for a decade.
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Attacks on USA to hurt Asia: ADB
Singapore, September 13 Asian economies, already suffering from the slump in their biggest export market, will be hit harder as US consumers, shaken by Tuesday’s attack, curtail spending further, said V. N Gnanathurai, the bank’s assistant chief economist. “It will delay recovery by a couple of quarters and also lower gross domestic product growth rates in most of these countries, “Gnanathurai said. The US economy may shrink in the third quarter as a result of the terrorist attacks, the economists said. The US economy grew at an annual 0.2 per cent in the second quarter, the slowest pace in eight years. The Manila-based international bank will lower its growth forecast for Asian countries in a report to be issued on October 18. “We will seriously consider the impact of this incident on the Asian economy and try to consider the impact of this in the next month’s outlook,” said Myoung-Ho Shin, Vice-President of the bank. In May, the bank said average growth in the newly industrialised Asian Economies; Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan would fall by nearly half to 4.3 per cent this year from 8.4 per cent last year.
Bloomberg
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‘Crisis to have limited impact on economy’
Washington, September 13 “Our present assessment is that, despite the scale of the human tragedy, these terrible events will have only a limited impact on the international economy and global financial system,” IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler, expressing his condolences to the USA on behalf of the fund members, said in a statement here. “I have assured the membership of the IMF that the fund is closely monitoring the situation,” Hoerst added. Meanwhile, Washington police chief has urged the IMF and the World Bank to postpone their annual meeting on September 29 and 30.
PTI
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Oil price nears pre-attack level London, September 13 Markets also reacted to bearish inventory data from the USA, and fears of a deeper global economic slowdown after the massive assaults on New York and Washington. European benchmark Brent Blend crude oil for October delivery dropped 12 cents to $ 27.90 per barrel by 1000 GMT. The New York Mercantile Exchange, which trades U.S. Benchmark oil futures, remained closed today. Having spiked up more than $ 3 immediately following the strikes on New York and Washington, the oil prices are now just a few cents above their level before the attacks. “Brent is coming under further pressure as the premium gained in the aftermath of the attack on the U.S. is unwound,’’ said Lawrence Eagles of brokers GNI. “There remains a risk that supplies may be affected by the US Action in the future, but at present this risk will appear to be much smaller than it did when the attacks first happened,” he added. Senior U.S. Officials are pointing the finger of blame for the attack on Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, who lives in Afghanistan as a guest of the Taliban government. “The chances of an attack on an oil-producing nation seem much lower,” Eagles said.
Reuters |
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Telecom
traffic to USA increases New Delhi, September 13 VSNL said there had been a sudden spurt in international outgoing and incoming traffic to the USA. All international gateways of VSNL had registered a spurt in traffic following the attacks in the US on Tuesday. VSNL said the increased traffic had prompted it to employ additional transit route circuits, apart from the direct circuits, to meet the traffic rush. Currently all telecom facilities between India and the USA were working normal and the traffic was moving smoothly though with slightly degraded call completion rate compared to normal working days. At the Mumbai gateway of VSNL, the incoming traffic went up by three times and the outgoing by 10 times than in normal days. As a result of heavy incoming traffic from all over the world to the USA resulting in heavy congestion at international gateways, the outgoing call clearance rate from India came down, VSNL said. The incoming calls from the USA continued to be cleared in a normal way without any significant degradation. |
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BSE to buy out Delhi exchange
Mumbai, September 13 The nod comes after the BSE Board met and discussed the proposal, BSE said in a release here. Yesterday, BSE had said both bourses would appoint an independent valuer to determine networth of DSE and carry out due diligence. According to the proposal, BSE would buy 100 per cent equity of the national capital-based exchange. If both Boards vet the proposal, then they would sign a memorandum of understanding for consolidation of operations subject to regulatory approvals, it had said. Consequent to demutualisation of the BSE, the members of the DSE would be offered membership of Mumbai-based exchange at a concessional rate after surrendering their DSE membership. The value of concession would be arrived at after ascertaining the networth of DSE and apportioning it equally among the members of exchange, they said, adding that there may be a discount to the normal membership price that DSE would be charging for fresh trading membership. BSE would put in place a permitted securities segment to commence trading in instruments of companies which are listed on the DSE but not on the former.
PTI
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Corporates come to victims’ rescue Seattle, September 13 The cash will go to the September 11 Fund set up by the United Way of New York and The New York Community Trust, Microsoft President Rick Belluzzo told employees in a memo made available to Reuters. Microsoft, which makes the Windows computer operating system, also encouraged its 44,000 employees to make personal donations, for which the software giant will make matching donations of up to $ 12,000 per year, Belluzzo said. The Redmond, Washington-based company, was also working with the local blood banks to organise a campus blood drive soon, he said. Microsoft was assembling response teams to help customers in New York and at the Pentagon rebuild their computer networks, Belluzzo said. With a cash pile of about $31 billion, Microsoft is one of the richest corporations in the world. It donates tens of millions of dollars in cash, software and services each year to help charities and non-profit and relief organisations. NEW YORK: General Electric Co., Cisco Systems Inc. and Novartis Corp. pledged to millions of dollars of cash or products to aid victims of terrorist attacks in the USA. General Electric, the biggest company by market value, pledged $ 10 million for a fund for the families of New York city firefighters and police officers missing and presumed dead from the attacks on the Center, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said. New York city Fire Department has 350 firefighters missing or dead as a result of terrorist attack, the New York Times reported. Cisco, based in San Jose California, is giving a total of $ 6 million to aid agencies in New York and Washington, spokesman Steve Langdon said. Drug-maker Novartis said in a statement that it donated $ 3 million to the American Red Cross. The company is also donating supplies of Apligraf, a skin replacement used to treat burn victims.
Reuters,
Bloomberg |
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Banks role in stock scam limited: RBI New Delhi, September 13 This was stated by the RBI at the resumed hearing of the JPC, instituted to probe the recent stock scam, including the UTI muddle, here. Appearing before the JPC, RBI Governor Bimal Jalan and two Deputy Governors K. Muniappa and Y.B. Reddy, told the JPC that on the recommendations of the previous JPC, the central bank had initiated several corrective steps and this had yielded dividends. Dr Jalan said at the hearing yesterday that the RBI had carried out closing of gaps in the surveillance system. The RBI guidelines to the banks were quite competent and strong but there was some deficiency in its implementation, the JPC Chairman, Mr Prakash Mani Tripathi told newspersons here today. Dr Jalan admitted that timely punishment of banks violating RBI guidelines was its “weakest area”. Mr Tripathi said the JPC would look into this aspect. |
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VCs shy away from funding simputers Bangalore, September 13 Four researchers of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), who invented the simple device, more powerful than the palm top, along with three technologists of Encore Software, admit they have been struggling for funds. The biggest advantage of the device is that it could sell for as little as Rs. 9,000, or less than $200, giving the less affluent a chance to plug into the IT revolution. The question of VCs came up during a press conference PicoPeta Simputers — the company set up by the IISc and the inventors — called to announce the first simputer pilot project in Chhatisgarh state, in association with WorldSpace Radio and South Asia Foundation, a voluntary organisation. Why not VCs was the natural question. "The VCs do not seem interested. They are holding on tight to their funds," said Ramesh Hariharan, the youngest in the team of scientists. PicoPeta Simputers began with some "modest investment from IISc and the four of us," said Swami Manohar, scientist and the acting Chief Executive Officer. Two non-resident Indians (NRIs) living in Singapore came forward to offer some investment. "Anantha Nageswaran of Credit Suisse came in as a true angel, seeking PicoPeta founders out based on a news report. His timely investment enabled PicoPeta to get off the ground in May. The more recent second investment by Sandeep Malik, an equity partner in Marakon Associates, has enabled PicoPeta to stabilise," the fledgling company said. PicoPeta Simputers develops the technology and the tools for the simputer that is now being manufactured under contract by state-owned Bharat Electronics for the pilot education project in Chhatisgarh's Bastar region. "We are yet to decide when we will take the licensing fee of $25,000 from Bharat Electronics as per the rules of the Simputer Trust and the other charges for developing the tools," said Vishwanathan Vinay, acting Chief Technology Officer of PicoPeta Simputers.
IANS |
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