 |
|
|
Govt approves Reliance gas pricing formula
RBI: RRBs’ recapitalisation needs 1,800 cr
Industrial growth dips to 7.1 pc
Tariff Hike: TRAI, TDSAT on warpath
Rangarajan for reducing govt stake in PSBs
COAI notice to DoT on spectrum delay
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Premji world’s richest Muslim tycoon
No unsolicited calls : HC to telcos
ArcelorMittal buyout
RIL allotment to IPCL shareholders by Oct 12
Wipro launches supercomputers in India
Return Of The Native
Angad Paul Entrepreneur of the Year
Finnish Co opens unit in TN
Tally’s ‘earn while you learn’ programme
|
|
Govt approves Reliance gas pricing formula
New Delhi, September 12 The Empowered Group of Minister (EgoM) headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee tweaked the price formula, leading to a price of $4.20 dollar per million mBtu against $4.33 per million mBtu as proposed by the company. The EGoM modified the formula, recommended by PM’s Economic Advisory council headed by C Rangarajan, by removing exchange rate component and lowering the ceiling of the price band from $65 to $60 a barrel. “This price basis / formula will be valid for five years from the date of commencement of first commercial production and supply. The price discovery process on arms-length basis will be adopted in the future NELP contracts only after the approval of the price basis / formula by the government. The price discovered through this process would be applicable to all sectors uniformly,” an official release said. The above decision of the EGoM will lead to a gas price of $ 4.20 per million mBtu at delivery point, which translates into a price of Rs172.20 per million mBtu at the prevailing Indian Rupee-US dollar exchange rate. The approved price is 8.32 per cent lower than the price proposed by the contractors, it said. The EGoM concluded that for all NELP-I to NELP-VI contracts, for natural gas price calculation, the constant would be pegged at $ 2.50/MMBTU. It observed that since ‘C’ was the only biddable component in the submitted formula, assigning a value of ‘0’ (zero) to this component would also address the transparency aspect of the bidding process. RIL had proposed the value of ‘C’ at Rs.4/MMBTU whereas the fertiliser units had bid a low of Rs 1/MMBTU for ‘C’. The EGoM, which met for the third time today, was of the view that upstream oil & gas companies should have the freedom in setting the price as well as in marketing. Sources said the EGoM left the final decision on Pranab Mukherjee, who will go on a five-day foreign visit tomorrow afternoon. The production-sharing contract (PSC) signed between the government and the contractor (RIL-Niko) under NELP provides marketing freedom to the contractor, and the Centre’s role is only confined to approving the pricing formula or process for valuation of its share. The petroleum ministry is in favour of honouring PSC. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries wants higher prices and more customers for the gas, off India’s east coast, a move opposed by his brother Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources and the state-run National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC).
|
|
RBI: RRBs’ recapitalisation needs 1,800 cr
Kolkata, September 12 "There are 96 RRBs in the country and only some require recapitalisation. Total estimated amount would be Rs 1,800 crore for recapitalisation," RBI deputy governor Usha Thorat said here at a state-level banking meet. "The RRB board should decide on capital infusion. Recapitalisation is needed though they are growing through normal profit," Thorat said. She, however, did not clarify whether RBI would make RRBs' recapitalisation mandatory. The Centre would need to infuse Rs 50 crore into the capital of these banks in order to support the process, Thorat said. The role of RRBs was significant in achieving financial inclusion and RBI was keen to spread financial literacy to help this process. Speaking on
UCBs, Thorat said the regulator might wind up banks which could not be revived or merged.
— PTI |
|
|
Industrial growth dips to 7.1 pc
New Delhi, September 12 According to the quick estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) released by the government today, growth in the manufacturing sector came down to 7.2 per cent during July 2007 as compared to 14.3 per cent in July 2006. Manufacturing sector has taken a hit due to the stringent monetary policy being adopted by the RBI as the spurt in interest rates has curbed consumer spending in automobile and consumer goods industry. The output of consumer durables such as refrigerators and television fell 3.2 per cent against a growth of 16.1 per cent in July 2006. Similarly, production of consumer non-durables decelerated to 8.4 per cent from 17.1 per cent a year ago. The growth of consumer goods sector in July slowed down to 5.3 per cent from 16.8 per cent last year. Mining and electricity sector also witnessed deceleration in output. During the month, mining production grew at a slower rate of 4.9 per cent from 5.1 per cent last year, while electricity generation was down to 7.5 per cent as against 8.9 per cent in the corresponding month last year. Poor performance in July also pushed down the cumulative growth in industrial production during April-July 2007 to 9.6 per cent as compared to 11.1 per cent in the corresponding period last fiscal. Meanwhile, Industry Chambers, blaming the tight monetary policies of the RBI for the deceleration in industrial growth, called for reduction in interest rates. Ficci president Habil Khorakiwala urged the authorities to reduce the interest rates and nudge the entire system to follow suit. “This would ensure that the manufacturing sector comes back on the high growth track,” said Khorakiwala. Expressing shock, Assocham president Venugopal N Dhoot said “possible reasons for this deceleration could be misappropriation on part of the government rather than due to stringent monetary policies of RBI.” “Therefore, the government and industry should sit across the table and objectively analyse consequences that led to fall in industrial production so that these are timely arrested to achieve the GDP growth of over 9 per cent for current fiscal,” he added.
|
|
Tariff Hike: TRAI, TDSAT on warpath
New Delhi, September 12 “TDSAT has no right to pass any direction because the dispute involved is not covered under Section 14 of the TRAI Act. TDSAT could only entertain against the TRAI order,” Additional Solicitor General Vikas Singh, appearing for the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). During a hearing in the tribunal, TRAI also said it was not the right time to step in as price hike was done only recently. Admitting the petition filed by Delhi-based NGO Telecom Watchdog against the tariff hike, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) issued notices to TRAI and Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar and Idea Cellular. Last week, TDSAT had pulled up TRAI for not intervening in the issue as the price hike had direct bearing on users. TRAI sought to justify the present prices, saying that due to intense competition call charges have come down from Rs 16 a minute a few years ago to Re 1 at present. TDSAT has directed TRAI and three operators to file their reply and posted the case for next hearing on November 13. — PTI
|
||
|
Rangarajan for reducing govt stake in PSBs
Mumbai, September 12
Other options before the government include bringing in additional capital in banks or include in the definition of government quasi-government entities such as Life Insurance Corporation, he said at a Ficci conference here. However, to do this, appropriate statutory amendments are necessary, the former RBI governor said. With the banking industry moving toward adoption of Basel II norms, it will require more capital. On consolidation in the industry, Rangarajan said it has so far primarily been confined to a few mergers in the private sector, "although some recent consolidation in the state-owned segment is evident as well". Rangarajan said as banks' bottomlines come under pressure and the options for organic growth exhaust themselves, banks in India would need to explore the inorganic expansion route. However, consolidation must emerge out of a felt need for merger rather than as an imposition from outside, he said, adding "the synergic benefits must be felt by the entities themselves". Rangarajan emphasised the point that consolidation did not mean that there was no future for small and medium-sized banks. On risk management, he said there was a need to have a different methodology in assessing credit risk in lending to service sectors as compared to manufacturing. Similarly, housing and consumer credit would need new approaches.
|
|
COAI notice to DoT on spectrum delay
New Delhi, September 12 “Several applications for allotment of spectrum had been cleared by all relevant competent authorities, making it clear that the spectrum was available for allotment,” COAI director general T V Ramachandran said. He contended that GSM operators had been facing a severe crunch on spectrum and have been waiting for months or even years in some cases to get spectrum. Sources said COAI’s move was prompted by TRAI’s recommendations, which suggested up to six times higher subscribers to become eligible for additional spectrum. Expressing concern over flood of new applications for licenses, Ramachandran said: “It would be desirable that DoT first address the applications that were already pending with it when it issued last licenses in December 2006.” — PTI
|
|
Premji world’s richest Muslim tycoon
New York, September 12 Financial daily ‘Wall Street Journal’ has written a front-page profile on chairman of India’s third largest IT exporter Wipro, saying Premji defies all conventional wisdom about Islamic tycoons-he does not hail from the Persian Gulf, did not make his money in petroleum, and does not wear his faith on his sleeve. “Azim Premji has tapped India’s abundant engineering talent to transform a family vegetable-oil firm, Wipro Ltd, into a technology and outsourcing giant. By serving Western manufacturers, airlines and utilities, the company has brought Premji a fortune of some $ 17 billion,” the report said. The daily quoted Premji in the report titled “How a Muslim Billionaire Thrives in Hindu India” as saying that such success shows globalisation is turning into “two-way traffic” that can bring tangible benefits to developing countries. “We have always seen ourselves as Indian. We’ve never seen ourselves as Hindus, or Muslims, or Christians or Buddhists,” Premji told WSJ in an interview. — PTI
|
|
No unsolicited calls : HC to telcos
New Delhi, September 12 A Bench said if any telemarketer continues with such activities it would be illegal and the consumers can move against telecom companies in the consumer court. The court passed the order on a contempt petition filed by Nivedita Sharma saying she had been getting unsolicited calls despite a consumer court order. 60 lakh register Nearly 60 lakh mobile subscribers have enrolled with the National-Do-Not-Call (NDNC) registry within just 10 days of its launch to avoid getting unsolicited sales calls from telemarketers.
— PTI |
|
|
Jerusalem, September 12 The transaction is subject to government's anti-trust authorities' approval and is expected to be completed by year-end 2007. "This acquisition is an important step for ArcelorMittal to meet the strong Turkish demand in all products", 'Turkish Daily News' quoted a press release from ArcelorMittal as saying. — PTI
|
|
|
RIL allotment to IPCL shareholders by Oct 12
Mumbai, September 12 In accordance with the scheme, RIL will issue and allot fully paid up equity shares of Rs 10 each to the shareholders of IPCL as on the record date in the ratio of 1 equity share of RIL for every 5 equity shares of IPCL, it said. Unitech to replace IPCL
Meanwhile, realty firm Unitech will replace IPCL on NSE’s benchmark index Nifty from October 5. Unitech will be included on the S&P CNX Nifty index as trading in shares of IPCL would be suspended pursuant to its amalgamation with Reliance Industries Ltd, an NSE statement said.
— PTI |
|
|
Wipro launches supercomputers in India
Bangalore, September 12 Wipro is building Supernova grounds up in India in exclusive partnership with Z RESEARCH, Inc., a California-based organisation specialised in commoditising supercomputers and superstorage. Supernova includes a complete range of supercomputers with an entry level configuration delivering one trillion mathematical calculations per second going up to hundred thousand trillions of calculations per second and superstorage scaling to multiple hundred petabytes, company officials said. Wipro officials said Supernova promises to meet faster data-crunching and storage needs of high-end scientific research labs in defence, geological surveys, biotechnology, animation and other high end design space.
— PTI |
|
|
Indian IT professionals homebound
Chennai, September 12 The survey, conducted by Indus Entrepreneurs, an association of Indian IT professionals settled in the US, found that around 60,000 professionals have returned to India in recent years, Michael M Bala, business head of recruitment portal clickjobs.com, said. Several couples in age group of 27 to 35 were looking forward to come back to India, he said, quoting the survey. “Most young Indian couples preferred to return to India to protect their kids from the western culture and to educate them in Indian atmosphere,” he said. Infrastructure development and job opportunities at the more or less same salary in India were cited as the factors behind the trend. Bala, who recently conducted a job fair in New Jersey to recruit personnel for multinational companies, said more and more Indians were coming forward to return to their motherland with the country becoming favoured destination of several MNCs, financial institutions and IT companies. “The growth of these institutions in India have thrown open the doors to talented people, who had so for thought that the West was their only resort,” he said. In the recently held job fair, over 3,000 people, mostly couples, had come forward to attend interviews for companies like Yahoo, Canon, IBM and HP, he said. Encouraged by this, the portal would be conducting another fair in the US within six months, he said. — PTI
|
|
Angad Paul Entrepreneur of the Year
London, September 12 Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown presented the award to Angad, younger son of NRI industrialist Lord Swaraj Paul, in a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in central London. Other award recipients included Malti Sitaram (Community Award), John Powell, (Metropolitan Police Community Award), Stephen Wiltshire (Achievement through Adversity), Rajini Vaidyanathan (Young Journalist of the Year), Bangladesh Football Association (Football in the Community Award), Abdul Basil, Community Cohesion Officer, Bolton (Beautiful Game Award).
— PTI |
|
Finnish Co opens unit in TN
Sriperumbudur,September 12 After Shenzen in China, this is the second largest manufacturing hub for mobile phone chargers in Asia. Speaking at the inaugural function, Finnish Ambassador Asko Numminen said currently there were 70 Finland companies who have invested in India. Arto Makela, Director of Salcomp Indian Operations said, “Salcomp's investment in India is to address, drive and support the growth of Indian mobile industry and serve its customers better. India is a strategically important location for Salcomp. "Hence it is important that we employ the best of the resources available. We scrutinise and identify the best available resources when it comes to recruiting. Salcomp will definitely benefit out of the vast experience and skills of its employees in Chennai," he added. |
|
Tally’s ‘earn while you learn’ programme
New Delhi, September 12 Students enrolling for Pragati not only get an opportunity to hone their skills as Tally-certified accounting professionals, but also to become self-reliant by availing of the earning opportunities. In addition to this, they would also get to experience real-life entrepreneurial skills depending on their career aspirations, a company release said. Addressing the growing need for trained accounting professionals across India, students, irrespective of their educational backgrounds, can enroll either in the Tally Financial Accounting Program (TFAP) or Tally Financial Accounting Certification (TFAC) or a bundled offer and get certified through a 1,000-plus TallyAcademy network spread across India . |
Alchemist buyout Awarded Mary Kay foray Lotus fund Purvankara Maruti school Cairn Energy |
|||||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
New
York, September 12
Video
