Mumbai, July 5
The RBI today expressed concern over the sharply varying macroeconomic data, including those on growth and inflation, which it said on some instances led to off-the-mark estimates on the economy.

"In the RBI, we are handicapped by the reliability of some of the basic data that we need to use in policy calculations.

"In particular, the data we get on unemployment and wages do not inspire confidence as regards quality making us second-guess how the provisional numbers may be revised upwards," Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said today.

"Sharp volatility in IIP data is a problem. We need to understand what is leading to data volatility as it may lead to policy miscalculations," the Governor told the 5th RBI Statistics Day celebrations at the RBI headquarters here.

"When we were making the policy, the IIP numbers available to us in February 2010 was 6.8 per cent, whereas the economy was actually growing much faster. The provisional numbers, which are off the mark by significant margin, can mislead policy calculation," he warned. — PTI 

Sharp volatility in IIP data is a problem. We need to understand what is leading to data volatility as it may lead to policy miscalculations.

— D Subbarao,  RBI Governor 

Chandigarh, July 5
Commercial banks in the region have slowed down advances to the agriculture sector for buying tractors. However, this has been a huge business opportunity for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) in Punjab and Haryana, who are now riding on a high growth because of their increase in exposure to tractor finance.

Easy availability of finance for buying tractors and very little documentation (vis-a-vis banks) by these companies has ensured that they are a hit amongst the “tractor-crazy” farmers of this region.

Sanjiv Jha, zonal sales manager (North India) of Magma Fincorp Ltd, said the tractor finance business for the company has grown 124 per cent in the last fiscal. “We have introduced a scheme called Tatkal, where loans are financed for buying tractors without much documentation. This has propelled growth in our tractor finance and SME sector loans,” he said.

Jha added that the company was financing an average of 600 tractors a month in Punjab.

“Tractor finance will continue to drive growth. We are targeting 50% growth in our business this year, and hope that our Assets Under Management in North India would reach Rs 750 crore this year,” he said.

New Delhi, July 5
Against the backdrop of Supreme Court’s observation on Swiss Bank UBS’s retail banking licence in the country, the Bank said it is for the Indian government to defend its views at the SC.

The Supreme Court during a hearing on black money on Monday questioned the government’s decision to grant licence for retail banking to UBS. “UBS welcomes the Indian government’s go-ahead to commence retail banking in India. It is for the government to defend its views and reason vis-a-vis the Indian Supreme Court,” Hong Kong-based UBS spokesperson Mark Panday said.

The banking major’s credentials have come under scrutiny in India, amid allegations that many Indians including stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan has stashed away black money in the bank in Switzerland.

"UBS is doing everything within its powers to facilitate investigations by the regulators including the Enforcement Directorate," Panday said.

A bench of justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar on Monday said the government has failed to explain why UBS, whose licence was withheld on the grounds of bank's suspect credentials, was allowed to operate in 
the country.— PTI

Washington, July 5
The AntiSec hackers group has launched an ambitious attack on one of the best-protected websites in the world of technology - Apple's - and said they stole 26 usernames and passwords, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The hackers announced the attack on pastebin, a file-sharing website, where they also posted a link to a server used by Apple to process survey data, together with username and password information for the server's 26 administrative personnel.

The accuracy of this data has not been confirmed, and Apple, which has gone eight years without a successful hacker attack, declined to make any immediate comment on the matter.

AntiSec, made up of hackers from the well-known group Anonymous and from the now defunct Lulz Security, seeks to attack governments and large corporations in defence of "freedom and progress", members said.

"Apple could be target, too. But don't worry, we are busy elsewhere," a posting said. In the last two months AntiSec has attacked other companies, such as the electronics company Sony and telecom giant AT&T, along with federal agencies including the US Senate, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Arizona Department of Public Safety. — IANS

Ludhiana, July 5
Punjab’s policy of taxing entry of ingredients for poultry feed is leading to an exodus of poultry farms from the state to Haryana, where no such tax is levied. The tax was imposed around 18 months ago and has hit the business very hard.

Around 30 per cent of poultry farmers mostly from the Barnala belt, Fatehgarh Sahib, Rajpura and the adjoining areas are shifting to Haryana due to reducing profits.

There is 5 per cent entry tax imposed on the sunflower, groundnut and mustard de-oiled cakes - the main ingredients of the feed of the poultry birds.

“We are being charged 5 per cent entry tax on poultry feed including freight charges. This is the only reason why poultry farming is becoming unattractive and shifting base to neighbouring states where no entry tax is levied on the feed and is available at cheaper prices,” said Sanjeev Bassi, patron, Punjab Poultry Farmers Association.

Jagjeevan Singh, another poultry farm from Haryana, said most marginal and commercial poultry farms had either shut down or shifted base. Those who ventured into this business have quit either by selling their farms to someone else or by giving them on lease.

“Nearly 90 per cent of Barnala’s poultry farms have shifted to Haryana,” he added.

Santosh Kumar, another farmer, said: “There was a time when this farming was a lucrative option, but today only few progressive poultry farmers are in the business and that too by selling produce in Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, UP and Jammu and Kashmir.”

New Delhi, July 5
In the first ever round-table conference with consumers, Telecom Minister Kapil Sabil today heard their grievances, including mobile number portability, activation of value-added services and its charges and assured the users of resolving these as soon as possible.

“This is the first time the Ministry is holding a round-table conference with consumers. I urge service providers to ensure consumers get a fair treatment, value for money and speedy settlement of issues,” Sibal said.

Telecom Users Group of India, a non-profit consumer organisation, suggested that a single tariff plan for all pre-paid mobile consumers should be put in place.

It also wants SMS charges to be on a par with voice call charges (1 paisa per second).

They also suggested that all value-added services (VAS) like SMSes, MMSes and data must be brought under the ambit of regulation and asked TRAI to discontinue the practice of forbearance, besides examining the logic behind tariffs .

On mobile number portability issue, the consumer forum suggested creation of a monitoring cell to check online grievances of consumers and take punitive action against errant operators violating regulations.

On the VAS issue, they urged Sibal to allow such services only on the consent of the consumers. The consumer forum asked the ministry to bring in one-tariff plan for pre-paid consumers, which represent 96% of mobile users. — PTI

New Delhi, July 5
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold a meeting with coal, power and environment ministries tomorrow to assess their performance and sort out inter- ministerial differences that have been delaying many infrastructure project.

“The PM will chair a meeting tomorrow of key infrastructure ministries, including coal and power to assess the progress made during the first four years of the 11th 5-Year Plan (2007-12) and resolve inter-ministerial differences impeding development,” a Coal Ministry official said.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia will attend the meet.— PTI

Hyderabad, July 5
State-run ONGC is all set to start production of natural gas and oil from its offshore blocks, G1 and GS15, in the KG basin by month-end and is awaiting a nod from the PMO for formal inauguration, sources said.

As this is the first offshore block of the PSU in the Krishna-Godavari basin being put into production, it is apt for Prime Minister to inaugurate the facility, a senior official. "We want the present PM Manmohan Singh to inaugurate the East Coast offshore field," the official said. — PTI

Paradip (Orissa), July 5
Work at the proposed site for Posco's controversial Rs 52,000-crore steel project in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district resumed today after remaining stalled since June 26.

"Work in Gadakujanga and Nuagaon areas is going on today," Jagatsinghpur district collector NC Jena said.

Felling of trees and clearing of forest area and acquired betel-vine farms were continuing in Gadakujanga and Nuagaon areas, official sources said, adding steps were also taken for ground levelling. In Polanga-Noliasahi area of Nuagaon panchayat, sand filling and other civil works were in progress, Jena said. — PTI

BRIEFLY

APEDA director 1st Indian chairman of Codex
New Delhi: Sanjay Dave, Director APEDA, has become the first Indian to be elected as the Chairman of Codex Alimentarius Commission — a UN body for food safety standards. The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is the government's export promotion agency for farm products. "I have been elected unopposed as Codex Chairman and I'm the first Indian to be elected as chairman of it since Codex was set up," Dave said. — PTI

AI to recover Rs 1,222 cr for VVIP flights
New Delhi: Cash-strapped Air India has approached the government to recover Rs 1,222 crore dues towards operating VVIP and special flights over the last five years and the state-owned airline may get Rs 800 crore. In the last five years, the ailing airline operated 47 VVIP flights for which the Boeing 747-400s were withdrawn from commercial services for a total of 313 days, sources said today. The Government response is understood to have come up for discussion at a meeting here of a Committee of Secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary A K Seth. — PTI

Whitbread to invest Rs 535 cr in India
New Delhi: UK-based hospitality firm Whitbread on Tuesday said it will invest over Rs 535 crore in India by 2020 to fund its hotels business in the country. The company, which currently owns and runs two 'Premier Inn' hotels in India, has plans to operate over 80 properties here in the next 10 years. — PTI

Vodafone launches Webbox
Sonepat: Vodafone Essar on Tuesday announced the launch of Vodafone Webbox. The device brings Internet to a customer’s TV through a simple plug-in keyboard. Priced at Rs 5,799, it also includes 12GB of data valid for 6 months. — OC