New Delhi, March 26
The stock markets and the rupee fell to 2 month lows today on concerns that the proposed General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) in the fiscal 2013 budget could affect FII investments through participatory notes (P-notes).

The BSE Sensex plunged by 2% or 309 points to close at 17052 while the NSE Nifty closed below the 5200 level. The sentiment has been negatively impact after reports that the GAAR could affect FII investments through P-notes which have been used in a major way by FIIs.

Analysts at Motilal Oswal Securities said the new GAAR is expected to effect from April 1. The new norms may become a major setback for FII inflows into the Indian market. The reason is India’s income tax department will have the power to deny individuals and entities the benefits of any tax avoidance treaty. FIIs are worried the government could raise tax demands as a result of these new provisions. Market experts warn fresh P-note issuance could be hit badly from April 1 until there is clarity from the government on the matter.

Analysts at Enam said the undercurrent was subdued as most Asian markets struggled for direction today. European benchmarks also declined in a choppy session as an encouraging report on German business confidence was offset by worries over the state of the Spanish economy.

In the currency market, the rupee erased early gains and fell to its lowest in more than two months of 51.35, pressured by oil payments and subdued shares. Market breadth was quite negative with 961 advances for 1890 declines of stocks.

Dipen Shah, head of fundamental research, Kotak Securities said the markets opened lower today morning and continued to grind lower throughout the day. There were concerns on taxability of the income of FIIs operating out of Mauritius and also of those operating through P-notes. However, there is no clarity as yet on the final implications of the new norms.

Stocks across sectors fell and the year-end considerations and the F&O expiry on Thursday also lent some degree of weakness to the markets, Shah said.

New Delhi, March 26
Come April and the country’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, will make an entry into unchartered territory with the rollout of its multiutility vehicle Ertiga.

Calling it a “life utility vehicle”, the company, with the global launch of the Ertiga by the middle of next month would not only be completing its portfolio of passenger cars, but would be looking at giving companies like Toyota, which has the Innova and Qualis, GM’s Chevrolet with the Tavera and the homegrown Tata and Mahindra that have various options in this segment, a strong competition.

A recent look at the vehicle brought to light the hard work and design engineering that Maruti Suzuki has put in to evolve the Ertiga, which could well be another winner from its stable. With the trademark Suzuki styling in the front, Ertiga brings with it the potent mixture of dynamic styling and versatile utility. The company has invested about Rs 400 crore to development the Ertiga, which would be the first car to be powered by the brand new K-series 1.4 litre petrol VVT and 1.3 litre DDiS superturbo VGT diesel engines. The model’s expected price is between Rs 7 and Rs 9 lakh.

"What we’re trying here is to create a new segment of compact MPVs, just as we did with the Swift in the hatchback segment”, Maruti Suzuki managing executive officer (marketing & sales) Mayank Pareek said.

Mumbai, March 26
The Reserve Bank of India on Monday asked banks not to insist on attestation of signatures of persons wanting to invest their funds in fixed deposits schemes or opening a bank locker.

The RBI, however, said that attestation by two witnesses would be needed in case the person uses thumb impression while opening fixed deposits or lockers.

"We further clarify that for various forms...only thumb impression(s) shall be attested by two witnesses. Signatures of the account holders need not be attested by witnesses," the RBI said in a notification.

The notification was being issued in view of the clarification sought by certain banks, RBI said, adding, "Banks are advised to ensure strict compliance of the instructions".

The central bank has issued the notification after consulting the Indian Banks' Association. — PTI

New Delhi, March 26
Facing the heat over a draft report of the CAG over allocation of coal blocks, the coal ministry said Monday it would soon come out with a Coal Regulatory Bill, 2012, that will improve transparency in the sector.

"I’ve already signed [the draft Coal Regulatory Bill] and it has been sent to the cabinet [for approval]," Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said. The bill seeks to provide a level playing field to all stakeholders, besides ensuring transparency in allocation of coal blocks to companies.

The coal sector regulator, as provided in the Bill, will attempt to expedite resolution of disputes relating to pricing of coal and put in place benchmarks for performance of companies in the sector.

The Comptroller & Auditor General’s draft report had pointed out the government lost Rs 10.67 lakh crore on account of allotment of coal blocks to 100 private and public sector companies during 2004 to 2009.— PTI

Tokyo, March 26
The Bellagio casino-hotel in Las Vegas hosted a shotgun wedding in January. The bride and groom had met just a couple hours earlier; she wore a skimpy dress, he was in powder blue coattails. The ceremony was actually a PR stunt. But the man who brokered it, incoming Sony Corp boss Kazuo Hirai, was dead serious.

The guests were mainly journalists assembled in Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show. The couple were a pair of actors hired from a local talent agency. They were supposed to represent the Internet and Sony's Bravia television sets — their match symbolizing the consummation of the company's years-long, frustrated quest to marry hardware with content.

A businessman rides an escalator in the financial district of Pudong in Shanghai in this Sept 2011 file photo. Many foreign investors in China have been hit by a steady rise in wages, which puts them in the same boat as many US businesses in China responding to a survey released on Monday by the American Chamber of Commerce. After decades of aggressive expansion in China, foreign employers like US lawnmower manufacturer Briggs & Stratton face a relative shortage of experienced, English-speaking engineers and managers, and find it increasingly expensive to recruit and retain good staff. — Reuters

His ability to make that union a reality, says Hirai, will define his tenure at the troubled Japanese brand.

When Hirai becomes Sony's president and CEO on April 1, he takes charge of a company facing a crisis unlike anything it has experienced in its nearly 70-year history.

It's been years since Sony has produced a new mega-hit device. Its TV business is an albatross that has accumulated losses of $10 billion. The company is on course for a fourth straight annual net loss for the year ending March 31. Efforts to connect its vast entertainment and games content with its huge menu of gadgets began way back in the 1990s — but are still a work in progress.

What has flourished at Sony, after a bumpy start, is its PlayStation business, which Hirai ran for five years. His plan is to apply the PlayStation model company wide: extend its network to the rest of the Sony gadget family to create a unified content-delivery platform. Even if not by intent, it is a model close to Apple Inc and its iTunes.

Interviews with former Sony bosses and executives, as well as current managers who will be working with Hirai, paint a picture of an executive who may have the managerial and personal skills to reach a prize that eluded his two predecessors. But they warn he faces a daunting task in marrying hardware and software in the Sony family, which remains hobbled by a schism that undid his predecessors: a rift between old-guard gadget engineers and a new guard of executives that see the future of Sony in online networks and the entertainment content they deliver.

If he succeeds, he could be the man who saved Japan's most famous company. Failure means presiding over the fall of an electronics empire that once held sway over the world's consumers. A stock slide from an already depressed price, analysts say, could make it an acquisition target or, more likely, lure in private-equity investors who could sell off packaged units of the company bit by bit. — Reuters

Mumbai, March 26
The Indian government’s decision to double gold import duty to four percent could cut gold imports by a third in 2012 to their lowest level in two years, allowing China to overtake it and become the world's biggest buyer of bullion, a Reuters poll revealed.

Shipments could drop to 655 tonnes in 2012 after imports were broadly flat at a record 969 tonnes in 2011, according to the median of a poll of ten respondents, which included importers, jewellers and brokerages.

"The initial reaction from the market is not good. Doubling of duty within three months is heavy for consumers to digest," said Pinakin Vyas, assistant vice-president with IndusInd Bank, a large gold importer.

Vyas expects a 30 per cent fall in imports in 2012. Imports were at 535.88 tonnes in 2009 due to high supplies of recycled gold as investors cashed in on a 22 percent rise in prices.

The government's budget last week doubled the import duty and imposed a levy on unbranded jewellery as measures to limit the current account deficit.

Jewellers in India, many of whom sell individual, tailor-made items in tiny market stalls, have shut shop for 10 days so far and plan to extend their strike over the duty. The finance minister has refused to change plans.

Gold demand in India had already faltered due to a rally in global gold prices. Gold spot prices touched their highest level for this year at the end of February at around $1,790 per ounce. — Reuters

Warburg sells stake in Kotak Mahindra

Mumbai, March 26
Private equity investor Warburg Pincus LLC on Monday sold its remaining 3.6 percent stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd to raise about Rs 14 billion, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The stake sale, the latest among a slew of such deals this year on the back of a surge in the Indian stock markets, marks the exit of Warburg Pincus from Kotak Mahindra Bank where it first invested in 2004.

The BSE Sensex is up 11% so far this year, mainly led by financial stocks, after having fallen nearly 25% in 2011 that forced many companies to shelve their share sale plans.

About 26.5 million shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank were traded at Rs 530 each in a block deal on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday, exchange data showed earlier. — Reuters