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UPA’s gift to ‘aam aadmi’: Rising inflation
A bank for farmers only
‘3G services by January’
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Spice to invest up to $300 m
ITC net up 13 pc at Rs 735.64 cr
Gold plunges by Rs 330
SBI’s software glitches trouble job applicants
No move to ration fuel supplies: Minister
New telcos get GSM spectrum in Andhra
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UPA’s gift to ‘aam aadmi’: Rising inflation
New Delhi, May 23 In the four-year term of the government, the inflation rate has been between 6-7 per cent. The prices of food items like wheat and rice have gone up from around Rs 10 per kg in 2004, to Rs 16-20 per kg in April-May 2008. Similarly, for edible oils like groundnut and mustard oil, the prices have shot up from Rs 65 per litre and Rs 60 per litre in 2004 to Rs 90 per litre, and Rs 75 per litre, respectively, in April-May 2008. And prices of pulses like gram, tur and others have nearly doubled in the four-year period. Inflation-curbing measures like monetary and fiscal policies have been taken, but these seem too little and too late. Knowing the government’s own mistakes, the common man is being preached to have patience time and again. Finance minister P Chidambaram said on Friday that the government was watching the price situation carefully and more steps could be taken to check inflation. "Please be patient, we are watching the situation carefully. More steps will be taken as and when needed," he told newsmen when asked about the inflationary situation. Adding to the birthday present of the ruling coalition, steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan has already started lobbying for the steel companies and has urged the government to roll back export duty on steel. Hardly 10-15 days ago, the centre had persuaded steel manufacturers to roll back price hikes as a measure to curb inflation. “Steel producers have demanded rollback of export duty and we have forwarded the request to the finance ministry,” said Paswan ,who sounded concerned about the steel companies more than the common man . When asked about inflation, PM's Economic Advisory Council chairman C Rangarajan said: “As it stands now, for another 3-4 months inflation will remain high even though it would show a tendency to decline at around 6 per cent. Inflation may reach even 5.5 per cent by end of this fiscal”. Adding to the woes of the government is the bubbling crude oil prices and the falling rupee. It is the 13th consecutive week that the inflation rate has been above 5.5 per cent, the RBI's target for inflation by the end of the fiscal year ending in March 2009. Rangarajan also said that industrial growth was expected to be a little over 8 per cent in the current fiscal year. The only sign of marginal relief to the common man is that prices of fruits, vegetables and pulses have marginally declined and the prices of steel and cement remained static. As against last week, fruit prices declined by 0.4 per cent, vegetables by 3.2 per cent and pulses by 0.7 per cent. |
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Rules at 7.82%
Inflation stayed over 7.8 per cent as of May 10 despite a decline in prices of fruits, vegetables and pulses.
The real rate of price rise, however, appears to be over 8 per cent going by the final inflation figures released by the government for the week ended March 15. The updated data puts it at 8.02 per cent against a provisional 6.68 per cent. Inflation for the week ended May 10 was 7.82 per cent, almost unchanged from the previous week's 7.83 per cent, due to a spike in industrial fuel prices, linked to global
prices. — PTI |
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A bank for farmers only
Dehra Dun, May 23 With seed money of Rs 5 lakh that he received as an award from Reliance group chairman Mukesh Ambani recently, Dr Joshi of Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO), a voluntary group, has started to organise small farmers in Dehra Dun district to be involved with their own bank. "After undertaking the cycle yatra from south to the north, it was clear that the farmers are the sufferers and their first and foremost problem was easy, accessible, un-exploitative loan. Most of the banks had turned their backs on farmers while others are also exploiting the farmers to sell tractors or other implements, acting more as agents of the manufacturing companies," Dr Anil Joshi told TNS. He further charged that the entry of private players in the agricultural sector has added to the woes of the farmers. "This is the time for the farming community to think and do something about its' own survival," he added. Asked about the idea of 'Kisan Bank', Joshi said he has been trying to set up a model in Dehra Dun from where others can replicate. "The bank will be single window input and output point for the member farmers. The farmers will not only get the loan but also knowledge and quality seeds. In return, the bank can buy the produce of the farmers and by eliminating middlemen, could sell it in the open market or private players and can get back its' interest and give better returns to the farmer", he said. The bank will help the farmers in obtaining crop insurance for small farmers and would be stakeholders with the farmers in the bank. Moreover, the bank will also help in the value addition of the crops that could fetch better return for the processed crop in the market. In case of crop failure, the bank would not force recoveries but explore other possibilities by giving a relief period and sharing earlier profits, he said. Dr Joshi has been touring Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and J&K in a bid to motivate small farmers to set up their own small banks by pooling their resources. "Dr Joshis' idea is to showcase the project that can be replicated," said Threesh Kapoor, chairman of the Uttaranchal Grameen Bank and a close associate of Dr Joshi. Already, his organisation has been successfully running a 'Women Bank' here for rural women. |
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‘3G services by January’
New Delhi, May 23 The assurance came from communication minister A Raja, who said the government has already drafted the 3G policy guidelines and would release them next month. The 3G spectrum will enable faster data connectivity besides providing other services. The comment from the minister comes just days before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is due to hold a meeting over the issue. The minister is due to meet the Prime Minister over the spectrum issue. Asked if foreign players would be allowed to participate in the 3G spectrum auction process, Raja said he would shortly meet the Prime Minister to take a decision on that, but either way foreign players can come in as there is 74 per cent FDI allowed in the telecom sector. The minister said the issue of working out modalities of 3G spectrum auction process has already been referred to the law ministry. The 3G rollout has been stuck as government wants foreign players to come in, while TRAI has recommended existing domestic players to participate in 3G spectrum auction. The standoff between TRAI and the DoT has been there as the latter feels that the involvement of more players and specially, the foreign ones, would fetch more revenue for the government. However, TRAI had rejected DoT's proposal to reconsider allowing foreign players to offer 3G telecom services. According to TRAI, the existing licensees are in a better position to deliver 3G services efficiently and at a faster pace given the available infrastructure. This would lead to low incremental cost in the Indian price sensitive market. TRAI felt that allowing foreign players would have an adverse effect on the Indian telecom industry at this particular junction when it is poised for a major growth. |
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New Delhi, May 23 In Punjab and Karnataka, we will invest $200-300 million," Dilip Modi, group president for global operations, told reporters here on the sidelines of an Assocham conference here. "As we get spectrum for the four circles we have licence for, we will invest more, but that also will depend on the active infrastructure sharing we will be having," he said. Spice has earlier applied for all India Unified Access Licence, but Department of Telecom (DoT) granted it only four circles — Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Maharashtra — rejecting its plea for 16 other circles GSM licence on the basis of low net worth. Later, Spice challenged the decision in TDSAT. Spice has already announced an investment of $1 billion for starting mobile services in four circles and expanding its current operations. — PTI
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ITC net up 13 pc at Rs 735.64 cr
Mumbai, May 23 ITC's total income stood at Rs 4,098.07 crore for the latest quarter as against Rs 3,474.14 crore in the same period a year ago. For the year ended March 31, 2008, the company reported a net profit of Rs 3,120.10 crore, an increase of 15.5 per cent over the previous fiscal. It had a net profit of Rs 2,699.97 crore in the year ended March 31, 2007. ITC has also announced a dividend of Rs 3.50 per share for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008. — PTI
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Gold plunges by Rs 330
New Delhi, May 23 Trading sentiment turned weak as the precious metal in the global markets fell after the US currency rebounded and crude oil fell, boosting demand for gold as a hedge against inflation, marketmen said. Silver followed suit and recorded notably losses. Silver ready, which had gained Rs 220 yesterday, fell by Rs 100 at Rs 24,800 per kg. Silver weekly-based delivery, which gained Rs 960 yesterday, dropped by Rs 850 at Rs 24,500 per kg as speculators refrained from buying. Silver coins, after gaining Rs 200 in previous day's trading, fell by Rs 200 at Rs 27,000 for buying and Rs 27,100 for selling of 100 pieces. Standard gold and ornaments tumbled by Rs 330 each at Rs 12,870 and Rs 12,720 per 10 gram respectively. Sovereign lost Rs 100 at Rs 10,000 per piece of eight gram.
— PTI |
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Home Loans
Chandigarh, May 23 Mallya said initially six banks have started control registry system, which includes Canara bank, Syndicate bank, Vijaya Bank, Corporaton Bank, SBI and Mysore Bank. He said under this system, the entire database related to housing loans applicants would be complied by banks and put on website, which would be shared through network system. He said since the ratio of defaulter cases in housing and personal loans was on the rise, the banks have evolved this system to check the fraud in housing loans. He said that even banks in Andhra Pradesh were also going to adopt this system to check the fake cases. Talking about the northern region, he said similar problems were prevailing here also but so far no bank has taken any initiative in this direction. Mallya stated that Vijaya Bank plans to open 100 branches all over India by the end of current financial year. The bank has decided to increase credit offtake under retail lending schemes and priority sector, particularly agriculture credit and small-scale enterprises. He said the bank has fixed a target to achieve Rs 100 crore business this year. He further said that the bank was planning to set up online trading portal to provide stock trading facility to its customers and its implementation was in advanced stage. |
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Mittal ‘buys world’s costliest home’ in UK
London, May 23 Britain's richest man Mittal has purchased the palatial home on Kensington Palace Gardens, a street dubbed Billionaires' Row in West London, fully furnished and with an art collection for his 32-year-old son Aditya, leading tabloid 'The Sun' reported today. However, according to the tabloid, Mittal — who moved into the half-mile, tree-lined private avenue four years back after paying £67 million for a 12-bedroom house — has denied buying the residence which works out at an astonishing £8,000 per square foot. Mittal had recently put his 11-bedroom Summer Palace — one of Britain's most expensive homes — on Bishops Avenue on sale after one of his neighbours, the Barratt family, got approval from the civic authorities to build luxury apartments next door. The 57-year-old world's largest steel maker, whose fortune is estimated at £51 billion, had earlier led an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the builder getting the permission from the local city council which outrightly rejected his appeal.
— PTI |
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SBI’s software glitches trouble job applicants
New Delhi, May 23 "Boys and girls intending to participate in the examination for recruitment for 20,000 clerks have been facing serious difficulty in accessing and submission of online application," CPI(M)'s chief whip in the Lok Sabha Rupchand Pal said in a letter to SBI chairman O P
Bhatt. Candidates are unable to enter "docket number" in respect of the necessary bank deposit even after repeated attempts, he said. Pal has also sent a copy of the letter to Finance Minister P Chidambaram, complaining that hundreds of job seekers are queuing up in the cyber cafes and spending lot of money and time owning to the low quality software. "It (software) is of a very low quality and absolutely unfit for the purpose," he said in the letter. Pal has sought intervention without any delay as the extended last date for submission of online application is May 31.
— PTI |
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No move to ration fuel supplies: Minister
Vadodara, May 23 "There is no need to panic as the government is taking remedial measures to meet the situation created on account of rising crude oil prices which are hovering at around $130 per barrel in the international market," he told PTI by phone. Patel clarified that the government has not issued any directive to the oil marketing companies to either curtail supplies or sell only a particular kind of fuel. The minister is on a visit to Nadiad town, about 60 km from here, in connection with a function related to the Sardar Smruti Bhavan. The rising oil price has created an alarming situation but efforts are being made to tackle the situation, he said.
— PTI |
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New telcos get GSM spectrum in Andhra
New Delhi, May 23 Earlier, the Department of Telecom had distributed the radio frequency in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Orissa. Various new players, including Videocon-promoted Datacom, realty major Unitech, Swan Telecom and Loop Telecom have been given start-up GSM spectrum of 4.4 MHz in the Andhra Pradesh circle, sources said. They said communication minister A Raja today signed the file giving green signal to allocate GSM radio frequency to new players.
— PTI |
Avnet acquisition LIC unit-linked endowment plan Era Infra bags Rs 83-cr orders 'Omez Insta' launched
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