New Delhi, November 5
Finance Minister P Chidambaram today exuded confidence that India's current account deficit (CAD) will be contained below $60 billion this financial year as against an earlier estimate of $70 billion.

"We think we can peg it (CAD) at $60 billion or below. I am confident that we can do even slightly better than $60 billion," he told a news channel.

The CAD, the difference between the inflow and outflow of foreign exchange, had touched an all-time high of $88.2 billion, or 4.8% of the GDP, in the last fiscal.

The deficit for April-June was at $21.8 billion or 4.9% of the GDP.

High gold import was one of the main reasons that pushed CAD to a record high in the previous financial year.

However, various curbs put in by both RBI and the Centre had helped in containing gold imports this fiscal.

On impact of the US Federal Reserve's gradual stimulus withdrawal, Chidambaram said the tapering will happen, but both the markets as well as the government are prepared to deal with it.

"We now know it (tapering) will happen...it will happen perhaps in January or February, today they say it will happen in March...Market and government are now prepared for this, in the sense we know it will happen...

"Therefore, we need to strengthen the fundamentals of the economy, what the (RBI) Governor said bullet proof balance sheet, which means we will contain CAD, we will contain fiscal deficit, improve the revenues, contain expenditure, take steps to prevent excessive speculations on the currency...," he said.

The Finance Minister further said a number of measures are being taken so that when tapering happens, "Markets won't be taken by surprise, we won't be taken by surprise and whatever impact it will be a minimal impact".

Chidambaram said capital inflows are helping the economy.

In the past 7-8 weeks, India added $9 billion to its foreign exchange reserves.

On the rupee, he said the domestic currency has traded between 61 and 62 to a dollar for several weeks now.

"We think with more money coming in, the rupee should even go below 61...between 60 and 61 - that is a good sign," the Finance Minister said.

The rupee ended at 61.62 against the dollar today, up 12 paise or 0.19%. It touched an all-time low of 68.85 on August 28.

Terming inflation as a "problem," Chidambaram said food items are driving price rises.

"What is driving inflation, some part is driven by grains, mostly by fruits and vegetables, milk, eggs. Food items are driving inflation. Onion on the top of list, over 300% inflation," he said.

He said there was very little that the Central Government could do to deal with vegetables, fruits, traders, wholesalers and retailers.

"State governments can do more. If I were the Chief Minister of a state, I know exactly how to use the Essential Commodities Act and deal firmly with those who hoarded onions," he added.

Referring to gold, the minister said the steps taken to curb imports are correct and in the future, "people looking back will say this is one of the best decisions that we took in order to contain the CAD." He said the government will contain the fiscal deficit below the budgeted level of 4.8% of the GDP. — PTI

Mumbai, November 5
The benchmark Sensex today slipped 265 points from a record close, the most in more than a month, amid profit booking and mixed global cues.

The S&P BSE Sensex, which ended at 21,239.36 during the special Diwali 'Muhurat' trading on Sunday, snapped five days of gains and fell 264.57 points, or 1.25%, to close at 20,974.79. Today's fall was the worst since September 30, when it lost 347.50 points.

ITC, ICICI Bank and TCS were the biggest drag as 22 of the 30 index stocks declined. FMCG, healthcare and IT sector stocks fell. The Sensex had gained 669.08 points in the previous five trading days.

The 50-share CNX on the National Stock Exchange declined 64.20 points, or 1.02%, to 6,253.15. The SX40 index on the MCX Stock Exchange closed at 12,494.1, down 105.43 points.

India's services sector contracted for the fourth successive month amid economic uncertainty. The HSBC/Markit purchasing managers index for the services industry was at 47.1 in October from 44.6 in September. An index value of below 50 indicates contraction.

Asian stocks ended mixed amid speculation that a meeting of China's top party officials this weekend may struggle to meet market expectations for economic reforms in the world's second-biggest economy.

Key indices in China, Japan and Singapore moved up, while they fell in Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. — PTI

Ludhiana, November 5
India has imposed anti-dumping duty of $787 per tonne on the import of paracetamol, a widely used medicine, from China for five years to protect the interest of domestic players from cheap shipments.

"The anti-dumping duty will be effective for a period of five years," read the notification issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).

The duty has been slapped on the recommendation of Directorate General of Anti-dumping Duty (DGAD), which carried out a review of the impact of the levy on its import from China.

The anti-dumping duty, a WTO compatible levy to discourage imports, was first imposed on the bulk drug in 2001 and extended through different stages till September 2013.

The DGAD after a 'Sunset Review' had concluded that despite the anti-dumping measures, dumping of paracetamol originating in or exported from China, has been continuing unabated affecting the domestic industry.

Paracetamol is a bulk pharmaceutical active ingredient, displaying analgesic and antipyretic properties. It is used in a number of over-the-counter (OTC) drug formulations in the form of powder, granules, injectibles and tablets.

New Delhi, November 5
Country’s largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel today said it has entered into a definitive agreement with Warid Group to acquire its Congo operations, making it one of the largest telecom operators in Africa.

The agreement is subject to regulatory and statutory approvals.

This is the second of the Warid’s operations which have been taken over by Airtel, the financial details of which were not disclosed by the company. Earlier this year, Bharti Airtel had acquired Warid’s Uganda operations as well.

The acquisition will also make Airtel the largest mobile operator in the Republic of Congo with around 2.6 million customers, Bharti Airtel said.

At present, Airtel is the second largest operator in Congo with over 1.6 million customers, and Warid third largest with around one million customers.

MTN, which is the largest telecom operator in Congo, had 1.8 million subscribers at the end of September quarter 2013.

“This acquisition is in line with our stated strategy of strengthening our market position through in-country acquisitions, as and when suitable opportunities come along,” Bharti Airtel MD and CEO (International) Manoj Kohli said.

New Delhi, November 5
Iconic US cult bike maker Harley-Davidson will start full-scale 'building' of motorcycles in India from where it will also start exporting to Europe and South East Asian market.

The company which unveiled the new Harley-Davidson Street 750 and Street 500 motorcycles - its first all-new platform in 14 years at Milan - said it will start building the two new models in India in the first quarter of next year.

"We are excited about the potential of the Indian market and around the world, particularly with regard to the response we have had from young adults.... We are going to utilise our plant in India to build the 'Street' models not only to cater to the market there but also export to Europe and South East Asia," Harley-Davidson Motor Co president and COO Matthew Levatich said. — PTI

New Delhi, November 5
Some of the crucial issues such as spectrum price for the third round of auction and M&A guidelines are likely to come up for discussion at a meeting of the country’s highest decision-making body of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Telecom Commission, scheduled for tomorrow.

Officials at the DoT said these two important issues, besides some other sector related issues, were likely to be discussed at the meeting.

The decision taken by the TC on the spectrum price issue would be sent to the Union Cabinet for final decision, officials said.

In its clarifications to DoT earlier last week, the telecom regulator TRAI had stuck to its earlier recommendations for a huge cut in the spectrum base price for the upcoming auction, which may take place in December or January next.

The regulator had recommended up to 62% reduction in reserve price for 900MHz spectrum in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata circles, and a 37% cut in reserve price of 1,800 MHz spectrum band, which had been opposed by the DoT and the recommendations sent back for reconsideration.

New Delhi, November 5
In the wake of a probe into Walmart's US lobbying efforts to enter Indian retail market remaining inconclusive, the government is now considering a possible framework to define 'lobbying' to differentiate between legitimate and illegitimate activities.

The government had constituted a one-man probe panel to look into Walmart's lobbying activities, after a political furore over the issue late last year. The panel submitted its report to the Corporate Affairs Ministry in May this year, pursuant to which the Ministry sought comments from External Affairs Ministry and Finance Ministry, among others.

An Action Taken Report (ATR), prepared after taking into account suggestions from Corporate Affairs and External Affairs Ministries, among others, on the probe findings is pending before the Cabinet, which may take it up for consideration soon, sources said.

As the probe findings remained inconclusive on whether the American retail giant violated Indian laws in carrying out lobbying with US lawmakers to enter the country's lucrative retail market, the government is now looking into whether a legal framework needs to be put in place to define lobbying. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Passport Seva mobile app
New Delhi: Encouraged by public response to its Passport Sewa mobile app for Android phones, the Ministry of External Affairs has launched the application for Windows and Apple iOS platforms. It provides passport-related information on the smartphones. This is an extended service of the Passport Seva Project, executed in Public-Private-Partnership mode with TCS. — PTI

NSEL defaults for 12th time
New Delhi: NSEL defaulted for the 12th straight time on Tuesday as it could pay only Rs 11 crore to investors against a scheduled payment amount of Rs 174.72 crore. With today's payout, NSEL settled about Rs 220 crore against Rs 5,600 crore dues to 13,000 investors.— PTI

Cognizant profit up 15.4%
Mumbai: Cognizant Technology on Tuesday reported a 15.4% rise in net profit at $319.6 million in the quarter to September driven by a strong ramp up in demand for outsourcing services, up from $276.9 million a year ago. Its revenue rose 6.7% to $2.31 billion on a sequential basis and 21.9% ($1.89 billion) on a y-o-y basis. — PTI

TCS wins order from US firm
New Delhi: Tata Consultancy Services said on Tuesday the US-based financial services firm Zions Bancorporation has chosen its core banking software TCS BaNCS. Zions Bancorporation consists of a collection of banks in select Western US markets with combined total assets exceeding $50 billion. — PTI

Gold trades near 2-week low
London: Gold on Tuesday traded at nearly two-week low as a strengthened dollar curbed demand for an alternative investment and on speculation physical buying slowed. Gold lost 0.2% to $1,312.36 an ounce. — Bloomberg