New Delhi, November 15
There is some good news for those who wish to invest in mutual funds but are in two minds for putting their hands in the product through fund managers.

The market regulator has now allowed mutual funds to be traded on stock exchanges so that more investors can access them and have a basket of various categories of securities to get assured of maximum returns.

"It is a positive development and an enabling decision by SEBI for an additional way of buying mutual fund schemes. It will facilitate the geographical reach for mutual funds," said Value Research Online CEO Dhirendra Kumar.

However, the effectiveness of this channel for scheme distribution remains to be seen in the days ahead, he added.

"The stock exchange mechanism would also extend the present convenience available to secondary market investors to mutual fund investors," Securities and Exchange Board of India has said.

The guidelines are already there for sellers of mutual fund products. They include the agents' qualifications, the investor redressal mechanism, stamping and also monitoring by SEBI for appointment of intermediaries for selling mutual fund products.

With all this, the stock brokers intending to extend the transaction in mutual funds through stock exchange mechanism need to comply with the requirements specified by SEBI for passing the Association of Mutual Fund Investors (AMFI) certification examination.

In the new system, investor grievance mechanism for stock exchanges shall provide for investor grievance handling mechanism to the extent they relate to disputes between brokers and their client in case of mutual funds.

The regulator has done this with an aim to use the infrastructure of stock exchanges that already exists for the secondary market transactions in over 1,500 towns and cities, through over 200,000 stock exchange terminals can be used for facilitating transactions in mutual fund schemes.— PTI

New Delhi, November 15
For the second time this month, state-owned oil firms today hiked jet fuel prices, this time by 2.4 per cent following a spurt in international oil rates.

Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices in Delhi will be increased by Rs 948 per kilolitre to Rs 40,423 per kl effective midnight tonight, an official of the Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation's largest oil firm, said.

This comes on back of over nine per cent hike in jet fuel prices on November 1.

ATF rates in Mumbai, the home to nation's busiest airport, will go up by Rs 988 to Rs 41,710 per kl.

IOC, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum had for three consecutive fortnights reduced ATF rates mostly because international oil prices had eased and rupee strengthened against the US dollar.

In three cuts, jet fuel prices in Delhi came down to Rs 36,188.27 per kl from Rs 39,188 at the beginning of September.

On November 1, rates in Delhi were raised by Rs 3,286 per kl to Rs 39,474 per kl, while in Mumbai it was priced at Rs 40,723 per kl, against Rs 37,299.50 per kl previously.

After two hikes, the ATF prices are now above the September levels, the official said.

The three oil firms revise jet fuel prices on the first and the 16th day of every month based on the average global oil price in the previous fortnight.— PTI

Jalandhar, November 15
To reach a wider population, the apex regulatory bank, RBI, which is celebrating its platinum jubliee year this fiscal, is planning to open regional offices in 100 villages across the country.

For this purpose, the bank has identified six villages in Fatehgarh Sahib district. These are Balhari Kalan, Manupur, Kotla Bajwara, Jallah, Harbanspur and Kanpur. The proposed branches would not be full- fledged ones but they will have deposit, credit card and exchange of spoiled notes facilities, besides a grievance redressal forum.

“Business correspondents” would be identified in each of these villages to carry out the job, said Shyamala Gopinath, Deputy Governor, RBI, here yesterday.

Replying to a query on the steps taken to counter the flow of counterfeit currency, she said the RBI and the Government of India were jointly working on this national issue. According to statistics, there are only 8 fake notes per million. She said over 70,000 banks across the country have been given instructions to install note-sorting machines. DGPs of all border states have also been given special instructions in this regard. She said policy changes to do away with action against customers reporting such inconsistencies were in the pipeline.

As part of the bank’s outreach programme, Gopinath delivered a keynote address on the “Foreign Exchange Management Framework- Business Facilitator” at a seminar for exporters and bankers. Around 200 bankers and exporters attended the seminar.

A “Student Forex Mela” was also organised by the RBI, British Council and the Exim Banks. It saw a participation of over 500 students. The objective of the mela, the first-of-its-kind in India, was to create awareness among students regarding liberalised foreign exchange regulations and facilities available to them from banks, including educational loans, foreign currency remittances abroad etc.

A “know your bank” quiz was also organised as a literacy initiative.

New York/New Delhi, November 15
Putting an end to the year-long battle for control over bankrupt copper miner Asarco, a district court in Texas has favoured Grupo Mexico's $2.4 billion bid over that of Sterlite Industries, media report says.

"A US district judge issued a ruling in favour of Mexican mining conglomerate Grupo Mexico SAB, ending the long battle over US copper giant Asarco LLC," the Wall Street Journal said.

When contacted, a Sterlite Industries spokesperson told PTI in New Delhi that "We are yet to receive a copy of the judgement and will come back to you accordingly".

The Wall Street Journal further said, "Judge Hanen retained final say over whether to approve Grupo Mexico's offer over Vedanta's $2.5 billion bid, which was backed by Asarco and its main union, the United Steelworkers."

The ruling by Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, Texas, ratified a decision by the US Bankruptcy court in August, wherein the Grupo Mexico's $2.4 billion offer to repay Asarco's creditors and take it out of bankruptcy was approved. — PTI

Ludhiana, November 15
Vardhman Group has tied up with Nisshinbo Textile Inc, Japan, for making world-class shirts. The foundation stone of Vardhman Texgarments, the joint venture project, was laid here by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal yesterday.

SP Oswal, chairman, Vardhman Group, said under this project, 1.8 million shirts will be produced per annum and exported to the USA, Japan and European markets. The project involves an investment of Rs 35 crore and falls in the mega projects category as per policy of Government of Punjab. It will give direct employment to about 600 persons with a dominant share of female workers and almost equal number of indirect employment will be generated. Hostel facilities will be provided to the women employees coming from far-off villages and other districts.

T Shimura, vice-president, Nisshinbo, said this joint venture in Punjab with Vardhman was being set up because they shared a mutual understanding and cultural affinity.

Badal said it was a good sign that many foreign companies had shown interest in investing in Punjab. He said to make the state more prosperous, industry had to grow. He said it was unfortunate that neighbouring states were given packages for industry but Punjab was left on its own. He said industry was on priority in the list of Punjab government.

"Direct interaction between the government and industrialists is needed. There should be least scope for the bureaucrats. Industrial boards have been constituted to tackle the problems of industry. If required, we will try to make necessary amendments in the Industrial Policy, announced by the state government recently", he assured the business community.

Manoranjan Kalia, Minister for Industry and Commerce, Fred Jackson, president American and Efird Inc, USA, VK Goel, CEO Vardhman Spinning and Sachit Jain were among those present on the occasion.

New Delhi, November 15
Indian Railways is looking at taking a share of the pie of the transportation of the automobiles from their manufacturing points to various cities and is willing to offer its land to the automobile manufacturers to establish hubs from where the automobiles could be moved through rail.

The project, although in initial stages, is turning out to be one of the pet projects of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. She is taking personal interest in the matter and has also seen a presentation made by an automobile association from Kolkata in this regard.

Officials said the representatives from the association had given a full presentation to the minister, suggesting the setting up of the hubs that would help the railways get the share of the massive automobile transportation business.

There are more than 20 lakh vehicles manufactured in the country every year and most of them are transported from the manufacturing plants to the cities across the nation through roads. Railways get just about two per cent of the share of this transportation of automobiles, which is quite dismal when we compare it to the rail network in the country, one of the largest in the world.

Officials point out that transportation through road is not only time-consuming but also has a higher risk factor as compared to its movement through railways.

Incidentally, Indian Railways carried 501.28 million tonnes of revenue earning freight traffic during April-October 2009. The freight carried showed an increase of 33.31 million tonnes over the freight traffic of 467.97 million tonnes actually carried during the corresponding period last year, registering an increase of 7.12 per cent.

The total approximate earnings of Indian Railways on originating basis during April to October were Rs 48,322.23 crore as compared to Rs 44,614.15 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 8.31 per cent.

At a recent meeting with mediapersons, Banerjee said the railways would be looking at establishing 10 such hubs across the country. At present, one site near Howrah in West Bengal has apparently been identified and a proposal is also being prepared for the implementation of the project.