Mumbai, april 20
The Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group Saturday said a consortium of Samena Capital was in last stages of due diligence to buy into its global communications arm Reliance Gobalcom.

Once the deal is concluded, it is expected to value Reliance Gobalcom at US$1-1.2 billion, sources close to the developments told IANS here. The company is a division of Reliance Communications.

"The intended time line for completion is end of May 2013. At this point, there can be no certainty that this will lead to a transaction. A further announcement will be made in due course, if and when appropriate," the group said in a filing.

"Reliance Communications and Samena Capital are no longer in discussions with Batelco for the purposes of the above transaction," the letter to exchanges added.

The move comes close to the $220-million pact under which Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm has agreed to utilize the optic fibre network of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications to offer forth generation (4G) telecom services. These apart, the Reliance Group is also said to be on a lookout for hiving off stake in its towers subsidiary, Reliance Infratel.

"The modalities of the manner in which the consortium of Samena Capital will pick up a stake in Reliance Globalcom is still being worked out. But that said, whichever way the deal is structured, money will flow into to the Reliance Group," a source said.

"These deals will not only go a long way in lightening the debt-heavy balance sheet but also unlock value for shareholders — this has been the group's stated strategy for the past few years for its family of 12-million-plus shareholders," the source added. — IANS

Washington, D.C., April 20
US regulators approved on Friday a revamped battery system for Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliner, a crucial step in returning the high-tech jet to service after it was grounded in January because its lithium-ion batteries overheated.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval of design changes allows Boeing to immediately begin making repairs to the fleet of 50 planes owned by airlines around the world.

The FAA action all but ends a grounding that has cost Boeing an estimated $600 million, halted deliveries and forced some airlines to lease alternative aircraft. Several airlines have said they will seek compensation from Boeing, potentially adding to the plane maker's losses.

The agency also said the jet retained permission to fly up to 180 minutes over remote areas and oceans once US regulators allowed the Dreamliner to return to the skies. There had been talk of scaling back the approved range, which would have limited the use of the jet.

Boeing chief executive Jim McNerney said the 787's promised benefits "remain fully intact" and reaction in the industry was joyous.

FLYING AGAIN IN DAYS? "We're back in business, baby!" tweeted the Washington Aerospace Partnership, a group of business, labor and local government leaders supportive of Boeing.

AI DREAMLINERS MAY FLY SOON: Air India's Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, grounded since January after incidents of battery fire, may take to the sky in the next two weeks, officials said on Saturday.

"A team of engineers from Boeing is being flown into India and they are likely to start work to reset the new batteries on the six Dreamliners of Air India," DGCA chief Arun Mishra told PTI.

He said engineers of the DGCA and Air India will be working with the Boeing team. They are expected to hand over all the six Boeing 787 by the first week of next month. After checks and tests, if these are found successful, DGCA will have to withdraw the order for grounding these planes, Mishra said. — Reuters/PTI

Which is the best pension plan for a 15-year period for someone who is 38 years old?

— Benaifer Photographer

Most of the pension plans available offered by various institutions entail a systematic investment plan with a long lock-in period. Needless to say, we don’t like such plans. The best plan for anyone is a plan constructed by the person for himself, which is geared to his age, current investments, risk profile, liquidity requirements, family income levels and several other parameters. These are to be carefully evaluated in great depth and detail before deciding upon the long-term investment strategy. Keep on investing in this plan whenever you have investible funds. Desist from any withdrawals unless there is a crisis. Review the plan periodically and reconstruct it, if necessary. Constructing a pension plan is an important matter and therefore take a professional guidance to be able to start on a strong footing. There is no such thing as a ‘one size fits all’ solution. Each person's situation is different and investment and tax saving strategies have to be tailored suitably.

I invested in the Reliance Income Fund after taking a loan in February and the company later came out with a bonus issue. I now intend to sell both the original and bonus units. The idea behind investing in the fund was to set off short-term capital loss against long-term capital gains (which I was anticipating this year). Can I add the interest paid on borrowings against these units to the cost of their acquisition and thereby enhance my short-term capital loss?

— Madhusudan

You can add the interest paid on the loan taken for purchase of these units to their cost of acquisition. You may take recourse to: (i) CIT v Sri Hariram Hotels (P) Ltd (2010) 188 Taxman 170 (Kar) —Interest on moneys borrowed to purchase an asset is part of actual cost of asset; (ii) S. Balan alias Shanmugam Balkrishnan Chettiar v DCIT (ITA 1859/PN/2005) — the assessee is entitled to the interest liability towards cost of the capital asset for computing capital gains.

BRIEFLY

mumbai/NEW DELHI
Gold regains lustre, up by `500 to `27,000 per 10 gm
Gold prices rallied to regain Rs 27,000 per 10 gm level in the national capital today on brisk buying by retail customers after recent steep fall amid shortcovering by speculators on firming global trends. Gold, which had suffered its biggest-ever losses following a meltdown in global bullion prices, recovered by Rs 500 to Rs 27,100 per 10 gm. It had gained Rs 250 in the previous session. Traders said the recovery in gold prices was backed by emergence of retailers buying at attractive low levels, as the metal suffered the biggest loss of Rs 3,250 in four sessions earlier this week. — PTI

chandigarh
Industry for waiver of octroi, electricity duty in Punjab
Apex Chambers of Commerce and Industry president P.D.Sharma has urged Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal to waive electricity duty and octroi on power consumed by industrial units in the state. He said that would give a big relief to industry. “If octroi is waived most industrial units may come to Punjab because of cheaper power”, he said, adding a delegation of industrialists would soon call on Badal in this regard. — TNS