THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS TALKS AGAINST CASTEIST HEGEMONY IN SOUTH ASIA

THE HIMALAYAN TALK: PALASH BISWAS TALKS AGAINST CASTEIST HEGEMONY IN SOUTH ASIA INDIA AGAINST ITS OWN INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

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Monday, July 5, 2010

Corporate War aginst Indian People Intensifid Despite Historical Bharat Bandh as India Incs Manages the Brhaminical Opposition United to Sustain the Manusmriti Rule of EXCLUSIVE Economy in Free Market Democaracy and Media Tackles to Save the Day for

Corporate War aginst Indian People Intensifid Despite Historical Bharat Bandh as India Incs Manages the Brhaminical Opposition United to Sustain the Manusmriti Rule of EXCLUSIVE Economy in Free Market Democaracy and Media Tackles to Save the Day for Zionist Dynasty!

Thus, the most SUCCESSFUL Bharat Bandh may Not go beyond the FARCE of Brahaminical RITUAL meant for SALVATION after DEATH, NOT to be ACHIEVED in Life.


Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams, chapter 513

Palash Biswas

http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/

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  1. Manusmá¹›ti - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

     - 3 visits - 24 Mar
    According to Hindu tradition, the Manusmriti records the words of Brahma. ... "I have described above in its entirety the eternal rules of action for the king. .... India, the ancient past: a history of the Indian subcontinent from c. ...
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    Advantage Change Wave Favouring Mamata Matua as Manusmriti Rule is ... Prabhash Joshi selected me from North India , quite unaware of my caste Identity ...
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  8. The Manu Smriti

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  9. Vishwa Hindu Parishad | Official Website | VHP's view of 'Manu ...

    In its view, the ideal law of social development is the rule of perfect ... The Vishva Hindu Parishad totally rejects the "Manu Smriti" as it has no place in a civilized & cultured society. ... New Delhi-110 022, Bharat (India) ...
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  10. Manusmriti to Madhusmriti

    25 Mar 2010 ... Thus Manusmriti came to influence Oriental studies in the West far more profoundly than ... both for those supporting as well as those opposing British rule. .... When an individual or a group in India seeks to defend a ...
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After Naxal attacks, CRPF desires to withdraw from Bastar

Hindustan Times - ‎37 minutes ago‎
PTI The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has expressed a desire to withdraw from all interior locations of the worst-hit Naxal area of Bastar in Chattisgarh, a move opposed by the state police. Official sources, who referred to this wish by CRPF, ...

No need to deploy army in Naxal-hit regions: Pillai

Press Trust of India - ‎1 hour ago‎
Raipur, July 5 (PTI) The government today said there was no immediate need to deploy army in Maoist-hit regions and it could take nearly seven years to get rid of the menace. Union Home Secretary GK Pillai, who is on a visit to review the situation in ...

Centre to sort out police-CRPF spat

Times of India - Supriya Sharma - ‎19 hours ago‎
RAIPUR: Union home secretary GK Pillai will arrive in Chhattisgarh on Monday on a two-day visit to finetune the anti-Naxal strategy to take on Red extremists and sort out "differences" between CRPF and state police which appear to be at loggerheads ...

Pillai reviews security situation in Chhattisgarh

Sify - ‎4 hours ago‎
Union Home Secretary GK Pillai is on a three-day visit to Chhattisgarh to asses the ground realities in the state following the spurt in Maoist attacks during the last three months. Pillai, who arrived here on Sunday night, is expected to visit the ...

Chhattisgarh Police to guard CRPF camps in Narayanpur

Press Trust of India - ‎3 hours ago‎
Raipur, July 5 (PTI) CRPF has approached Chhattisgarh Police to provide security to its camps at Narayanpur which recently witnessed killing of 27 security personnel at the hands of Naxalites. In another move, CRPF desired to withdraw from all interior ...

State vs Naxals: Common people cry for peace

NDTV.com - ‎Jul 3, 2010‎
Chhattisgarh: On Wednesday, the state of Chhattisgarh witnessed more violence as three young men who were labelled informers by the Maoists were brutally killed. With great trepidation, the more daring villagers in the neighbourhood came to look at ...

State Pulse: CG & Kashmir: Centre learns no lessons

Central Chronicle - ‎3 hours ago‎
Is the CRPF an "uncontrolled force" mindlessly firing at civilians, as alleged by the J&K Government in curfew-ridden Kashmir Valley? Or is its personnel mere 'sitting ducks' for the trigger-happy Maoists in the jungles of Bastar- Insaf Chhattisgarh ...

Pillai to visit Chhattisgarh Monday

Sify - ‎Jul 4, 2010‎
Union Home Secretary GK Pillai will visit Chhattisgarh Monday for a two-day trip to review the security situation in the state following the frequent Maoist attacks that have left nearly 150 people, mostly security personnel, dead in the last three ...

Maoists kill three in Chhattisgarh

Sify - ‎22 hours ago‎
Maoists hacked to death three civilians they termed 'police informers' in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district Sunday, a police officer said. The villagers were abducted by armed Maoists Saturday from a remote area of the district, Bhopalpattanam, ...

Chhattisgarh on alert over Red threat

Deccan Chronicle - ‎20 hours ago‎
Raipur, July 4: High alert has been sounded in restive Bastar region in Chhattisgarh following intelligence input that Maoists are planning major strikes to avenge the recent killing of top rebel leader Azad by the Andhra Pradesh police, ...


Corporate War aginst Indian People Intensifid Despite Historical Bharat Bandh as India Incs Manages the Brhaminical Opposition United to Sustain the Manusmriti Rule of EXCLUSIVE Economy in Free Market Democaracy and Media Tackles to Save the Day for Zionist Dynasty!Normal life was hit in West Bengal as road and rail services were disrupted and markets and offices were shut during a nationwide shutdown called by non-Congress parties against the hike in fuel prices.

A well-balanced board of directors, proactive shareholders and swift action against malpractices could restore market confidence.Government of India and Indian Political Parties have adopted this MOTTO wearing most Human face with the Killing Instinct of Snakes full of Poison!Mind control is the Game.

Bharat Bandh is most Successful but the Masses are not informed at all about Legeislation, Policy Making and Governance.Trade Unions are used to snactify the LPG Mafia and India Incs Governance. Opposition workers just set buses on fire and burnt tyres as a nationwide strike over higher fuel prices shut down parts of the country on Monday in a test of the government's so called efforts to cut subsidies and trim a budget deficit without changing Fiscal Policies and INCLUSION at any level!Many flights were cancelled and streets emptied in response to the strike called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the leftist bloc as the ruling Congress party attempts to push ahead with key reforms in Asia's third-largest economy.

More than 250 trains were cancelled or disrupted, 100 flights cancelled and millions of people inconvenienced as India was brought virtually to its knees on Monday with opposition parties calling for a shutdown against the rise in fuel prices.

The dawn to dusk all-India strike, the first such challenge for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government, called separately by the Left and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cost about Rs 10,000 crore, said the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham).

Indian Mainstream Media and Brahaminical Intelligentsia seem to be most Proactive in favour of the Corporate War and Pleading for more Venom and more killing Instinct in Military Option  with Zero Intolerance!The way, the Ruling Class Does defend the Corporate War is quite spectacular in LIVE Media Coverage and Edits. The Vernacular Press fed with FDI, is rather more Aggresive in defence of the Government of Indian Incs Government and Foreign Capital Inflow.

The Brahaminical Opposition just wants to upset the Apple Cart of the Ruling Party and is NEVER interested to change the Economy and Governance, Policy making and specifically the Manusmriti Rule Ensuring the Supremacy of the Market Dominating Brahamins! Thus, the Opposition stands UNITED Rock Solid with the Zionist Dynasty in the constant Process of EXCLUSION and Economic Ethnic Cleansing. Indian Politics, Civil Society, Intelligentsia and Media Behave as Good as the Foreign Funded NGOs. Only Making much ado about NOTHING!Who dares to Oppose the Washington Dictations and VEDIC Corporate Monopolistic Aggression against the NON BRAHMIN Indigenous Aborigibnal majority Masses selected for Mass Destruction!

Thus, the most SUCCESSFUL Bharat Bandh may Not go beyond the FARCE of Brahaminical RITUAL meant for SALVATION after DEATH, NOT to be ACHIEVED in Life.

Normal life was disrupted in several parts of the country during the ''Bharat Bandh'' called by a combined Opposition today in protest against fuel price hike with the greatest impact felt in NDA and Left-ruled states and Maharashtra. Sporadic incidents of violence in which buses and trains were targeted and clashes with police who baton charged the protestors were reported during the day-long nation-wide strike.

Several top NDA leaders including BJP president Nitin Gadkari and his colleagues Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley and JD(U) Chief Sharad Yadav courted arrest while leading protest rallies in Delhi and Lucknow. CPI-M leader Brinda Karat and CPI''s top brass--A B Bardhan and D Raja--also courted arrest during the bandh in a show of strength by the opposition trying to make common cause on the price rise issue to corner the Congress Security personnel were out in full strength to ensure there was no major law and order problem while hundreds of bandh suppoters were taken into preventive custody.

Activists of the state's ruling Left Front held rallies and put roadblocks early Monday morning in several areas here, preventing people from going to work.

'The shutdown in the state has been successful. People have supported this shutdown to protest against the government decision against the fuel price hike,' Biman Bose, chairman of the ruling Left Front, said.

'Currently the food prices are sky high and this increase in the price of fuels will further increase prices. The policies of the central government are taking heavy toll on common man,' Bose tld reporters.
Strike supporters also did not spare the city's IT hub. Hundreds of Left activists organised rallies and prevented IT professionals from going to offices.
But most of the IT companies made arrangements to bring their employees into offices before 6 a.m. by cars.

The showcase IT sector located in the satellite township of Salt Lake witnessed an attendance of around 50-55 percent.

No public and private buses plied in Kolkata and streets were deserted.

'There was no breach of peace. The shutdown was peaceful. No arrests were made,' Inspector General (Law and Order) Surajit Kar Purkayastha told IANS.
The Socialist Unity Center for India (SUCI), a prominent alliance partner of the Trinamool Congress, had also separately called a 12-hour nationwide shutdown Monday to protest against the fuel price hike.

Supporters of the BJP and the SUCI hit the streets in large numbers to enforce the shutdown. Many commuters alleged they had to return home because of the strong-arm tactics used by the protesters.

'I was going to my father's place in my own car. But I was threatened that the car would be damaged if I didn't go back,' complained Gargi Adhikaray, a housewife.

BJP supporters allegedly thrashed taxi drivers and forced commuters to alight from vehicles.

Attendance was negligible in government offices. Most ATMs in the city and districts were closed. Many schools, colleges and universities deferred their examinations.

Travellers at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International airport and passengers at the Sealdah and Howrah railway stations were the worst-hit.

A 14-member Indian archery team, who arrived at the airport after participating in the 3rd Asian Grand Prix Archery tournament Monday morning faced a difficult time due to the shutdown.

Later Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel came to their rescue and ferried them to Sports Authority of India (SAI) complex in Salt Lake in their vans.

'Train services were badly hit. Bandh supporters squatted on rail tracks, obstructing train movements. Several trains were stranded and some were cancelled,' an Eastern Railway spokesperson said.

Railway Minister and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee said: 'This shutdown was nothing more than holiday. We are against the fuel price hike. We are beside the common people. But this state government also charge taxes on the oil.'

Left supporters with flags and banners crowded in front of different Metro stations and forced the employees to shut the station gates. Later, the services resumed but there were very few commuters.
'We have taken steps to maintain the Metro services. But there are very few passengers. On a normal day there are more than seven lakh commuters,' Metro spokesperson R. Mahapatra said.

Ferry services on various rivers across the state were also disrupted. While some operators supported the shutdown, others feared damage by protesters.
'People of West Bengal are supporting the shutdown call wholeheartedly,' Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state secretariat member Shyamal Chakraborty said.

Some people doubted whether this form of protest could bring relief to the common man.

'We need to protest against the price hike of fuels. But I don't think that two shutdowns would serve any purpose,' said Saibal Roy, an engineer, referring to an earlier strike in the state on the same issue.

Despite the 12-hour shutdown, Durgapur subdivision in Burdwan district was out of the purview of bandh due by-election being held there.

The seat fell vacant after the death of state power minister and CPI-M leader Mrinal Banerjee in February.

On June 26, the CPI-M affiliated Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) had called for transport strike in the state to protest the fuel price hike.


Banking operations largely remained unaffected. Jaitley and CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat claimed the bandh was an "unprecedented success".

"This protest has been widely supported by the average common man because he is really the target of the government''s policies," Jaitley said. Scores of flights were grounded in commercial airline hubs such as Mumbai and Kolkata while protesters attacked buses and trains, blocked roads with burning tyres and organised sit-down protests on key road intersections and inter-city railway links.

Several trains were also forcibly stopped. Schools, colleges and business establishments remained closed as groups of protestors hit streets trying to enforce the 12-hour bandh in some cities.

Life was thrown out of gear in NDA-ruled Bihar, Gujarat, Orissa, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttrakhand and Himachal Pradesh while it was a shutdown in Left-ruled West Bengal and Kerala. There was also a disruption of road and rail traffic.

.
Signalling the government's resolve, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Sunday there was no question of rolling back the hike in fuel prices.
The government has the tacit support of its parliamentary allies. Some face state elections in coming months and have to be seen as publicly opposing the fuel price hike, which will add nearly one percentage point to headline inflation now at 10.16 percent.

But the allies will continue to support the government despite their vocal criticism of high inflation.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has struggled with other reforms such as opening up the insurance and banking sectors and a civilian nuclear liability deal due to strong opposition in parliament, including Congress party allies.

More disruption over bills may be seen in the next parliamentary session starting on July 26. But so far inflation is not translating into mass spontaneous protests that could destablise the government.

"Today's strike is not going to deter the government from pushing its reform agenda," political commentator Amulya Ganguli said.

"For the opposition it is more an exercise to boost the morale of its cadre and mobilise it to do something instead of sitting idly ... People today realise it's not possible to keep on subsidising."

The national truckers' union said more than 600,000 trucks would stay off the roads.

Airports in Mumbai and Delhi were open, but some flights were cancelled in response to low passenger loads, a spokesman said.

For Chandra Bai, a domestic helper in Mumbai, the strike was not quite the show of support for the common man that the opposition claimed it is:
"On one hand, all prices have sky rocketed. On the other hand, they call a strike and trouble us even more. Where is the relief for us?"


Several IT firms closed shop in Bangalore as a precautionary measure. Normal life was also hit in Congress-NCP ruled Maharashtra--mainly in Mumbai and Pune-- while the bandh had a lukewarm response in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Haryana where UPA is in power.

The bandh did not evoke much response in the national capital barring in some areas where BJP and Left activists blocked road and rail traffic and forcibly shut shops. Buses, autos and private vehicles were on the roads since morning while offices reported more than average attendance.

However, Metro commuters faced some hardships as BJP workers organised protests at some stations, including the busy Rajiv Chowk. Services at the Inter-State Bus Terminals at Anand Vihar and Kashmere Gate here were also affected during the morning hours with BJP workers blocking its entrances.

"Wrong economic policies and bad governance of the government are the basic reasons of price rise," Gadkari said addressing a rally at Chandni Chowk area in New Delhi. .


Buoyed by the strike's success, both the Left and BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) vowed that this was not the end.

Describing the nationwide shutdown as an "unprecedented success", the Left threatened to intensify its protests inside and outside parliament if the government did not roll back the hike.

"The unity achieved on the street is the real unity... The fight against the government will continue," said a triumphant Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav at press conference with his BJP counterpart Nitin Gadkari.

Commercial and economic activities in major parts of the country have come to a halt," industry body Assocham said, adding manufacturing activities have also been affected in several states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttrakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

"Attendance in commercial organisations is very thin," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.
A spokesperson of an export promotion council said that the strike affected normal business activities and also impeded movement of export cargo.

"Truck services are virtually suspended and movements of goods through roads is almost negligible as political activists are on roads to make Bharat bandh call a complete success," sources said.


With the exception of a few states, life was impacted in most parts of India with trucks and buses off the roads, educational establishments and businesses closed. Malls, shopping complexes and government and private offices also stayed shut.

The strike, sponsored by both ends of the political spectrum, the Left and the BJP, was peaceful in many places. But there was sporadic violence too, with 200 buses burnt in Maharashtra.

Opposition leaders, including BJP's Gadkari, Arun Jaitley, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Rajnath Singh, joined their workers in courting arrest in several places. Left leaders Brinda Karat and D Raja also did the same in New Delhi.

The shutdown was total in states ruled by the NDA parties and the Left.

In BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, for instance, life ground to a virtual halt as party workers tried to enforce the strike. Ditto with Bihar, ruled by the Janata Dal-United.

The situation was similar in West Bengal and Kerala, ruled by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), where normal life came to a virtual standstill.

The response was tepid in Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana.

In Congress-ruled Delhi, however, opposition workers forced the strike on buses and shops during the protests following the central government's move to end curbs on petroleum pricing and hike fuel costs in order to tame the huge fiscal deficit.

The decision increased the price of diesel by Rs 2 a litre, kerosene by Rs 3 a litre, petrol by Rs 3.50 a litre, and cooking gas by Rs 35 per cylinder.

Rail operations in the country, especially in the east, were severely affected with 73 trains cancelled and 192 disrupted.

For passengers who chose to fly to their destinations, it was not much easier with at least 96 flights being cancelled, in many cases because passengers just couldn't make it to the airport.

In Mumbai, the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), one of the busiest, wore a near-deserted look as taxis and autorickshaws remained off the roads.

If the country's financial capital was hit, so was the national capital, also ruled by the Congress where opposition leaders courted arrest at various places and activists forced shopkeepers to down shutters and deflated tyres of buses.

Huge traffic snarls, blockades and protests caused chaos even though most major markets were closed as were schools and colleges.

Said Kanika Sharma, a frustrated banker who had a tough time getting to work: "It was chaotic. I got an autorickshaw after a long wait and had to pay double the fare to convince the driver to drop me at my office."

Her frustration found echo in the southern city of Hyderabad.

"Bandhs will not help people. It only adds to the problems. The government is not going to roll back the hike, so why should opposition parties call for a strike and inconvenience people?" asked medical technician K Rama Rao.

CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat, however, felt that "the momentum of this strike" had to be carried forward.

Though Left leaders said their protest was separate from the NDA's, the sentiment was the same.

"We will keep fighting. It is the people's struggle and it is the people who ultimately triumph," agreed Gadkari.

The ruling Congress labelled the strike as against public interest.

"It is actually an anti-public interest step masquerading as public interest activity," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Sanghvi said, and he questioned the Left and BJP's strategy.

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05/07/2010

UID Authority ropes in SBI

New Delhi: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has roped in the country's largest bank — the State Bank of India (SBI) — to be its registrar.
As a registrar, SBI will collect both demographic and biometric information of the bank's 170 million account holders. It is the first bank to partner with the UID (renamed 'Aadhaar') authority that plans to issue unique numbers to each of India's one billion-plus citizens beginning this August. The bank will help the authority in enrolling people in the UID system by converting the information it has into the UID format.
The UID has set standards to cover the method of collection of demographics -- name, age, gender, address and the guardian's name -- and biometric attributes like the face, all 10 fingerprints and an iris scan. Since all the 13,000 branches of SBI can't simultaneously enroll people, the bank plans to inform its account holders on the day they can get enrolled in the system.
"Other than SBI, we are also in consultation with 10 public sector banks which will capture data and give it to us," confirmed a highly-placed official from the UIDAI. "The data with many banks is not in aclean position and this will give them the opportunity to do so. It for the SBI to decide whether the existing account holders will be converted to the UID format or linking the new customers with the UIDs," he said.
The official added the UID authority has also roped in 21 state governments on the project, with the exception of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and the North Eastern states. "We will sign MoUs with all states by July 15 and get them on board. The first set of Aadhaars will be issued between August this year and February 2011." On June 8 this year, India's largest life insurance firm, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), had signed an MoU with the UIDAI to become a registrar for the delivery of the unique 12digit identity number to the people of India.
With this, the UIDAI will also have access to a database of 200 million policyholders of LIC. LIC has details like name, gender, sex, father and mother name of policyholders. It only has to add the biometric details to it. LIC will start the proof-ofconcept with some of the training centres and will be ready by August.
UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani also has plans to involve other financial institutes for the project. For the past four to five months, his team has had talks with the Reserve Bank of India, Indian Banks' Association, National Payments Corporation of India, Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology and various banks on microATMs for financial inclusion, which is one of the biggest goal of Aadhar. MicroATMs will allow customers to perform basic financial transactions using only their UID number and their fingerprint as identity proof (along with a Bank Identification Number for inter-bank transactions).
The UIDAI is preparing for the first rollout of the UID or Aadhaar from August 2010. Banks and financial institutions could either look at their existing customer base or focus on acquiring new customers and share that database with the UIDAI which will provide aclient enrolment software to the registrars and de-duplication services too.
The authority has been allocated Rs 1,900 crore for the financial year ending March 31, 2011, of which Rs 1,300 crore will be used for enabling the registrars to enroll people in the system and the remaining Rs 600 crore will go towards the setting up of the IT infrastructure.
As a registrar, SBI will collect both demographic and biometric information of the bank's 170 million account holders
Source: Business Standard

Cabinet secretariat enters disinvestment scene, to speed up EGoM meets

1 Jul 2010, 0218 hrs IST,Surabhi,ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Secretariat has asked the disinvestment department to ensure that meetings of the empowered group of ministers (EgoM) take place on time, as it seeks to ensure that the government's sell off programme is speeded up.


In a recent circular, the Cabinet Secretariat has said that in the current socio-economic context, "The meetings of the EGoM would as far as possible, be scheduled on the same day on which Cabinet meetings are held unless absolutely unavoidable."


Ministerial panels or EGoMs usually meet to work out the nitty gritties of taking a state-owned company to the market and decide on issues such as appointment of merchant bankers and legal firms, the book building method to be used and price band for the issue and discounts, if any, for investors.


The circular has further said that the Cabinet Secretariat will be responsible for scheduling all EGoM meetings, except those, which determine the price band for a PSU issue.


The department of disinvestment will continue to coordinate on these meetings in order to maintain 'continuity.'

The circular has also said that ministries will have to list all issues to be considered by the EGoM at least 10 days prior to the meeting. The agenda for the meeting, along with the views of various ministries would be forwarded to the Cabinet Secretariat.


The government has managed to divest stake in just one company – Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd — in the first quarter of 2010-11, against the 10-odd companies it needs to in order to raise the Rs 40,000 crore from disinvestment proceeds.


It has formally approved stake sales in four PSUs including Engineers' India Ltd, Coal India Ltd, Steel Authority of India Ltd and Hindustan Copper Ltd, but these are expected to hit the market later this year.


The DoD is also working out plans for disinvestment in about five more PSUs such as Shipping Corporation of India and Indian Oil Corporation.


To streamline and fasten the sell off process, the Union Cabinet had recently also decided to clear the appointment of merchant bankers and other market intermediaries at the same time as it approves the case for disinvestment in PSUs.



'Creating competition the only solution for financial inclusion'

5 Jul 2010, 0328 hrs IST,M Rajshekhar,ET Bureau

Three decades after Independence, most poor Indians still lack institutionalised access to insurance, savings, remittances and loans. The outcomes are predictable. Migrant labour, carrying hard cash when they head back home, run the risk of being robbed. The poor rely excessively on loans to cope with a crisis — accidents, unpredictable weather, sick cattle — though insurance would be more appropriate.


KC Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India, is concerned over the state of affairs, and rightly so. He talks about regulation of the microfinance sector, under the scanner for its lending practices and corporate misgovernance and on universalising financial services in the next 10 years.


The Andhra Pradesh government recently put microfinance institutions (MFI) on notice, saying it would ask the RBI to derecognise some of them operating in the state. The state is home to many well-known MFIs. However, ad-hoc demands like these, or suggestions that the RBI clamp down on these institutions by extending its priority sector lending benefits only to non-profit MFIs, or by imposing interest rate caps have not found favour with him.


Some MFIs have done a good job, he says, let them continue. And "do not say MFIs should not lend to the poor. The women will have to borrow from moneylenders that will be much worse."


The larger question here is about financial inclusion, he says. We have to tackle this issue systemically. Many of these ills have prevailed because people lack alternatives. The only long-term solution is to create competition for the MFIs. If greater competition is the key, why aren't places with multiple MFIs seeing better customer service? Competition between multiple MFIs is fine, he says, but the cost remains the same.


According to him, competition has to be from someone who can provide a product or service of equal quality at a cheaper rate. And that can be done only by the mainstream financial institutions. "Our approach is that those who borrow today from MFIs must borrow from banks. And those who borrow from moneylenders must borrow from MFIs, and the reliance on moneylenders should go. That is when we say that financial inclusion is complete," he says.


"MFIs giving loans is not financial inclusion." Nor is it enough to open a no-frills account. At the very least, four banking products need to be provided: a savings-cum-overdraft account, a pure savings product (ideally, a recurring or variable recurring deposit), a remittance product and entrepreneurial credit like Kisan credit card.


How is the RBI planning to nudge banks into offering these services? By increasing competition in urban areas so that banks are forced to look at rural areas more closely. "My basic philosophy is that commerce with the poor is more viable, more profitable, provided you have the ability to do business with them. That is what we are asking the banks in the financial inclusion plans: develop the ability to do business with the poor. Not as a social obligation, but as pure banking."

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/comments--analysis/Creating-competition-the-only-solution-for-financial-inclusion/articleshow/6129286.cms

Right time to consider freeing sugar sector: Pawar

Business Standard - ‎6 minutes ago‎
PTI / New Delhi July 05, 2010, 20:42 IST With India's sugar output expected to rebound in the next crop year, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today said the time is now "proper" for the government to give a serious thought to decontrolling the sugar ...

Reduce my work load, Pawar tells PM

Hindustan Times - ‎1 hour ago‎
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Monday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reduce his ministerial work load. Pawar, who assumed charge as president of the International Cricket Council last week, met the prime minister and made the ...

Pawar requests Manmohan to reduce his ministerial burden

The Hindu - Gargi Parsai - ‎3 hours ago‎
The Hindu File photo of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. He met the Prime Minister on Monday and requested him to reduce his "(ministerial) burden." Union Agriculture, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Sharad Pawar has requested Prime Minister ...


"I honestly feel that the trend which I am observing, I hope this will continue. If the trend continues, this is the proper time to create a situation where nobody should come to the Food Ministry. This is a proper time to give a serious thought to withdraw various types of controls," Pawar said.
more by Sharad Pawar - 6 minutes ago - Business Standard (1 occurrences)


Pawar asks Manmohan Singh to reduce his burden

Oneindia - ‎22 minutes ago‎
New Delhi, July 5 (ANI): The newly-elected International Cricket Council (ICC) President and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar met Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Monday and requested him to 'reduce the burden' on him. ...

Decision on duty on sugar imports in Aug-Sep: Pawar

Economic Times - ‎2 hours ago‎
5 Jul 2010, 1844 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Monday said the government will decide on imposing duty on sugar imports before the beginning of the next crop year in October, after assessing cane availability and ...

Govt plans sugar import tax in 2010-11

Livemint - ‎2 hours ago‎
The government allowed tax-free imports of sugar last year to calm soaring prices and overcome a domestic shortfall as farmers had reduced cane planting and the crop was damaged by a severe drought. However, sugar prices have fallen and Indian millers ...

Reduce my burden: Sharad Pawar tells PM

IBNLive.com - ‎3 hours ago‎
PTI New Delhi: Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who was last week elected as president of the International Cricket Council, met the Prime Minister on Monday and requested him to "reduce the burden" on him. "I met the Prime Minister today and have ...

Congress downplays Pawar's request to PM

Press Trust of India - ‎1 hour ago‎
New Delhi, July 5 (PTI) Congress today downplayed the request of ICC President and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for reducing the burden on him and said his wish could be complied with. "Whatever is his wish. ...

"Reduce burden": Pawar to PM

Press Trust of India - ‎3 hours ago‎
"I met the Prime Minister today and have requested him to reduce my burden," he said when asked whether he sought more hands to help him in the Ministry. Asked what he meant by reducing the burden, 70-year-old Pawar, who has Agriculture, ...

Economic losses pegged at Rs 13,000 crore due to bandh

Bharat Bandh on Monday partially disrupted economic activities with commodity markets and the transport sector taking a hit in many parts of the country, and the industry pegged losses at up to Rs 13,000 crore.

While Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, and several industrialised states including Maharashtra, Gujarat, were affected, the impact was partial in many other states like Tamil Nadu and in the national capital Delhi.

The 12-hour strike was called by the Opposition parties to protest the fuel price hike and rising inflation.

"The bandh is estimated to have cost the nation close to Rs 13,000 crore in terms of GDP loss," industry chamber FICCI said in a statement. Another industry body Assocham put the losses at Rs 10,000 crore, while CII pegged it at Rs 3,000 crore.

Wholesale commodity markets remained shut in most of the cities, while several flights from key airports like Mumbai were cancelled. According to the All-India Motor Transport Congress, 6 lakh vehicles were off the road.

Though the screen-based stock market remained open, the trading volume at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was down 52 per cent to Rs 2,857 crore against a daily average of nearly Rs 6,000 crore.

According to reports by industry chambers like FICCI and Assocham, thin attendance was witnessed in commercial establishments in several states, while the economic activity came to a complete halt in states like West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala.

Ficci said most of the industrial activities remained shut in Bangalore and majority of MNCs and IT firms preferred to give a holiday to their employees. In Mumbai, transport services were "completely affected" and traders were mostly off the market.

The PHD Chamber catering mainly to the northern states, said the impact was felt in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and UP.

Banking services were completely paralysed in Left governed West Bengal and Kerala while some disruptions were noticed in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Mumbai.

The industry leaders including Rahul Bajaj and Adi Godrej have opposed the bandh and termed the protest as "odd and absurd".

The disrupted rail movement also contributed to the industry loss.

'No need of army in Naxal-hit areas'

RAIPUR: The government on Monday said there was no immediate need to deploy army in Maoist-hit regions and it could take nearly seven years to get rid of the menace.

Union Home Secretary G K Pillai, who is on a visit to review the situation in Chhattisgarh, said there was no need to deploy army personnel at present in the Maoist-hit regions. He, however, did not elaborate.

Speaking to reporters at the district headquarters at Kanker, Pillai said that it could take between three and seven years to get rid of the Naxal menace in the country.

Referring to the casualties suffered by paramilitary forces recently, he said the Naxals were taking advantage of situation whereby jawans enter into their territory to fight them.

Pillai denied that there was any difference between the state police and the CRPF, saying both the forces were coordinating and working together.

He said the government was speeding up development work in the Naxal-hit regions and the Planning Commission was preparing an integrated development plan for these areas.

Pillai reviewed the state's situation at a meeting with top officials.

Kamal Nath, Ahluwalia spar over roadblocks

NEW DELHI: Road Transport Minister Kamal Nath and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia Monday let off some pent up steam, each virtually blaming the other for the tardy progress in building the country's highway infrastructure.

"Planning Commission is an armchair advisor," Kamal Nath told a seminar on state highways here, adding he was cautioned at the outset that his target of building 20 km of highways a day will be frustrated by the plan panel.

"When I joined this ministry, everyone told me that the Planning Commission will never let you do it," said the minister, who had set the ambitious target, knowing well that the task will be Herculean.

"You collect something from here, something from there to produce a book," said the minister, adding: "But the book should not only be well-bound, but it should also have good content."

Ahluwalia, who was sharing the dais with Kamal Nath, maintained that the plan panel was not an implementing body and said the minister's remarks will be taken as "constructive criticism" and acted upon.

"We are are sorting them out," Ahluwalia said, admitting that there were issues as had been raised by the road transport minister, even though the fact was that the Planning Commission is mandated to produce reports.

Nath said the planning commission with all its experts may not be aware of the ground realities that vary from state to state, which he as a person in public life for 35 years was accustomed to.

"Building a road in Kerala is different from building a road in Madhya Pradesh. We must have a concept that is flexible. Public-private partnership for Kerala has to be different from Madhya Pradesh," he said.

Last year, Kamal Nath had set a target of building 20 km of highways every day as part of his plans to improve road infrastructure, crucial to the country's economic growth.

But two months ago, he lowered the target to 13-15 km a day, finding that the government had so far been able to build less than 10 km a day due to problems in acquiring land and awarding contracts among other impediments.

Reduce burden: Pawar to PM

NEW DELHI: With demands on his time growing, more so after taking over as ICC President last week, Sharad Pawar on Monday met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and requested him to "reduce the burden" on him.


"I met the Prime Minister today and have requested him to reduce my burden," he said when asked whether he sought more hands to help him in the Ministry.


Asked what he meant by reducing the burden, 70-year-old Pawar, who has Agriculture, Food and Consumer Affairs portfolios but only one Minister of State, said "That is upto him (Prime Minister). Its the prerogative of the Prime Minister".


To a question whether he would like induction of some more junior ministers in his Ministry, Pawar said, "This is for the Prime Minister to decide".


At present, K V Thomas is the only MoS in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Affairs.


"In fact, I have been after the Prime Minister for the last six months and telling him please relieve my burden," Pawar said.


He said "I want more time with my party and ICC and all those stuff. I have agriculture, food and consumer affairs department. For so many years, I have been in the government. This year, I will complete 44 years in Parliament (and Assembly) and I think 25-26 years in the government. Mujhe rahat milna chahiye (I need relief)," Pawar said.



TDSAT reserves order on spectrum fee hike
5 Jul 2010, 2103 hrs IST
The telecom tribunal TDSAT on Monday reserved its order on a plea by GSM operators against the recent hike in the spectrum usage charges by DoT.
Global service growth gears down, stokes double-dip fear
5 Jul 2010, 2040 hrs IST
Global services growth geared down a notch in June, data showed on Monday, supporting the view in financial markets that emerging and developed economies are set to cool off through the second half of the year.
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Bring down the 'level of arrogance': Jaitley to UPA

Lucknow Claiming that the opposition-sponsored Bharat Bandh against price rise had been an "unprecedented" success, BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Monday asked the government to bring down the "level of arrogance" and realise the "misery of the common man".
"When the inflation is already crossing double digit figure, when the food inflation is unprecedented in the last two years, there is no point adding fuel to the fire that the government is doing by hiking the oil prices," Jaitley said after his arrest here.
Jaitley along with BJP leaders Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Lalji Tandon and party supporters was arrested while taking out a procession here in support of the nation-wide bandh against fuel price hike.
Terming the bandh as an "unprecedented success", Jaitley said "Now this protest will go on the whole day. We have had initial information of a very successful Bharat Bandh. It is an unprecedented success... we are getting messages from all across the country."
"In fact, this protest has been widely supported by even the average common man because he is really the target of the UPA policies," he said.
Jaitley said protest against the government's policies will go on and "will be eventually reflected in what happens in Parliament."
When told that the common man is suffering due to the bandh, he said, "There are extraordinary situations where political parties lead the people....people silently sympathise with them.
"Today, a large number of people are also on the roads and actually sympathising and cooperating with us," he said.
Admitting that bandh is causing problems for the people, he said, "Yes, protests do cause inconvenience because of traffic jams. But then the average citizen in the country realises that he has the rest of the year for himself."
He said the common man has to spare one day to "save himself from the oppressive policies of UPA government", to ensure that "these oppressive steps are retracted". He asked asked the government to bring down the "level of arrogance and realise the misery of the common man".
Jaitley said prices were under control during NDA rule.
Blaming the UPA policy for skyrocketing prices, he said, "Prices are unprecedented. You can always neutralise increase in oil prices by bringing down the element of tax component
so that taxes remain revenue-neutral."
Asserting that the bandh had been a peaceful one, he said, "We want it to be a peaceful but massive protest. That is what we are doing. Nobody from the Opposition is going to indulge in any disruption which result in violence and damage the public property....we hope police do not take any oppressive action against protesters."

Finance Ministry initiates review of state accounts

2 Jul 2010, 0157 hrs IST,Surabhi,ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: The finance ministry has initiated a review of the way transactions between the Centre and states are classified to reflect a clearer picture of the public debt and cut the public debt to GDP ratio by nearly a third. Certain liabilities could move from the Centre's books to that of state governments.

Loans to state governments from the national small savings scheme (NSSF) and external loans that the Centre secures for state governments are two such items.

"There are some areas of double counting in government finances, which inflates the debt to GDP ratio of the Centre," said a senior finance ministry official. "We are trying to rectify this," he said, requesting anonymity. Reclassifying these transactions will bring down the combined debt to GDP ratio of the Centre and the states to 51.1% this year from the estimated 82% in 2009-10.

Debt to GDP ratio is a key metric used by economists and policymakers to gauge the fiscal health health of government. A lower public debt to GDP ratio for the Centre is one of the conditions laid down by the Thirteenth Finance Commission as part of the fiscal correction roadmap.

The finance commission has suggested reducing the consolidated debt of the Centre and states to 68% of the GDP by 2014-15. It has also recommended that the Centre should reduce its debt stock to 45% of GDP by 2014-15 and states to less than 25%.

Loans to states from the NSSF and external loans of the state governments are currently counted as the Centre's liabilities, but in actual practice are used for funding expenditure of the state governments. These are reflected in state budgets as well.

The finance ministry has also begun discussions with international credit rating agencies Fitch and S&P to get their comments on the matter.

The ministry plans to come out with a discussion paper by December and announce a roadmap for reducing the public debt to GDP ratio.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had, in the Union budget, highlighted the need to reduce the Centre's debt. The Centre's fiscal targets went out of whack when it was forced to increase public spending after the global financial crisis. It had to increase its market borrowings to meet higher spending.


05/07/2010

India, aam admi put on hold

New Delhi: Flights cancelled, trains disrupted, trucks and buses off the roads and shops and educational establishments closed -- life was on hold in many parts of India on Monday due to a daylong shutdown called by opposition parties against the hike in fuel prices.
A petrol pump worker takes rest during 'Bharat Bandh' called by various political parties in protest against the fuel price hike, in Bhubaneswar on Monday. PTI Photo
Though the response to the shutdown varied from state to state, the strike called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Left parties was mostly successful as schools, colleges, offices, malls, multiplexes and other establishments were closed in many cities across the country.
In many states, the strike was successful as governments belonging to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) parties and the Left ensured that offices and other establishments stayed shut.
At least 86 domestic flights - 46 outgoing and 40 incoming - were cancelled to and from the financial capital Mumbai due to poor response as passengers could not reach the domestic airport.
The usually bustling Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), one of the busiest in the country, wore a near-deserted look as taxis and autorickshaws remained off the roads.
Stray incidents of violence, road and rail blocks, stone-pelting of public and private vehicles forced large parts of the city and suburbs to close down.
Commuters stranded at the main bus stand during Bharat Bandh called by various political parties in protest against price hike, in Bangalore on Monday. PTI Photo
In the national capital, stray protests were organised by the BJP and Communist parites but public transport was largely unaffected.
Shutters were down on shops in major markets , with small groups of people roaming the streets to enforce the strike. Large number of security men were deployed to maintain law and order.
"More than 100 companies have been allotted to ensure smooth flow of traffic and peaceful demonstrations. Any violent protest will be dealt very strictly," said Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat.
The shutdown triggered violence in Maharashtra.
In Pune, at least 12 public buses were torched by unknown activists and two buses were damaged in Nashik, a police officer said.
A deserted view of a road outside the airport as taxis and rickshaws kept off roads during Bharat Bandh in protest against price rise, in Mumbai on Monday. PTI Photo
Normal life in West Bengal, ruled by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), was hit hard as road and rail services were almost paralyzed and government offices were closed.
Train services in other parts of the country like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa were derailed.
In Bihar, supporters and workers of the BJP, the ruling Janata Dal-United and Left parties stopped over a dozen long route trains at Patna, Gaya, Jehanabad, Bhagalpur and Muzaffarpur railway stations.
In BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, life ground to a virtual halt as party workers tried to enforce the strike.
A policeman keeps vigil at deserted airport during Bharat Bandh called by various political parties in protest against price rise, in Mumbai on Monday. PTI Photo
The response was tepid in Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana where life was mostly unaffected.
In the Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, BJP workers clashed with police as senior party leaders Arun Jaitley and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi courted arrest.
"The arrest is in protest against the wrong economic policies of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government... The policies are a burden on poor people," Jaitley told reporters in Lucknow.
His colleague in New Delhi, party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman, added: "The bandh has been successful... even reports from Congres-ruled states are saying that people have been downing their shutters."
Tourists walk by a deserted street during Bharat Bandh called by various political parties in protest against fuel price hike, in Kolkata on Monday. PTI Photo
Telugu Desam Party leader and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu courted arrested in Hyderabad.
The Left parties and the BJP-led NDA are protesting against the hike in fuel prices after the central government ended curbs on petroleum pricing and hiked the prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas.
The price of diesel went up by Rs.2 a litre, kerosene by Rs.3 a litre, petrol by Rs.3.50 a litre, and cooking gas by Rs.35 per cylinder. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Sunday ruled out a rollback.
Source: India Syndicate
04/07/2010

Sunday is big business for Anil Ambani

New Delhi: Forget weekends. It is business and days of big announcements on Sundays for industrialist Anil Ambani, contrary to golf and get-togethers for the rest of the corporate world.
While June 18, 2005 -- the day of separation for Anil from Mukesh Ambani with the division of the Reliance empire -- was a Saturday, it was a Sunday five years later on May 23, 2010, when he announced a patch-up with his elder brother, burying their contentious non-compete agreements.
Since then, there has hardly been a Sunday when he did not pull out his top lieutenants and officials from the comfort of their homes to do business and engage the media for a big exposure in Monday newspapers before the stock markets commence trading for the new week -- a trend that group officials feel is a legacy from the days of his father, Dhirubhai.
Even during the bitter fight with Mukesh, before and after the family settlement, invariably big news came out from ADAG on Sundays -- based on the belief that a lean business day could help get better space in the media.
Commenting on the trend, brokerage firm SMC Global Vice- President Rajesh Jain, said: "The group probably tries to play safe so that the announcement does not impact the stock prices with a sudden jerk.
"Announcements on a market holiday usually are considered safe, as traders get time to absorb the under-currents of the announcements and then react when the market opens on the next day," he added.
Today also, again a Sunday, boards of two Anil Ambani group companies, Reliance Power (R-Power) and Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL), met in Mumbai to decide on their merger.
On the previous Sunday -- June 27 -- the group announced a big-bang Rs 50,000 crore merger deal of Reliance Communications' (RCom) tower assets with GTL Infra to create the world's largest telecom tower firm.
Earlier on June 20, 2010, the Anil Ambani group announced a joint venture between Reliance Broadcast Network with US media giant CBS for capturing the television market in the country.
In the same month, RCom announced on June 6, again a Sunday, that the company was looking for buyers to purchase a 26 per cent stake in the company.
Exactly a week before, Anil had gone to Tirupati on May 30, staying en route at Mukesh's guest house, to seek the deity's blessings for the peace that was ushered in between the two brothers after their years-long bitter rivalry.
The decision for his group's only IPO, that of Reliance Power, was also taken on a Sunday -- September 30, 2007.
As part of the efforts to revive R-Power shares that tanked despite being India's biggest ever IPO at over Rs 11,500 crore, Anil Ambani again announced on a Sunday (February 25, 2008) the issue of free bonus shares.
It was again a Sunday (May 9, 2010) when Anil wrote a morale-boosting letter to his all group employees post the Supreme Court judgment that ruled against RNRL's petition to get gas from Reliance Industries (RIL) as per a family agreement.
In the midst of a years-long legal fight over gas, on yet another Sunday (October 11, 2009), Anil made a passionate appeal for peace with Mukesh, though the very same day, RIL said the litigation was not a family matter.
The group insiders and the regulatory filings by various companies under the fold show many board meetings and key decisions having taken place on eventful Sundays.
Source: PTI
By Sumit Vaid, 29/06/2010

Financial planning for all

We all love to celebrate certain milestones in life, be it wedding ceremony, promotion or birth of a child. But many of us oversee the financial implications of such watershed events and its impact on our financial health.
Even fewer people consider the potential impact of unanticipated traumas like divorce, loss of work, sudden widowhood. As a financial planner my task is to educate my clients about such life events and then assist them in creating a comprehensive financial road map that helps navigate through each stage of life and also safeguard against future obstacles and uncertainties.
One of the first steps in getting a grip of your finances is to familiarise yourself with events that are central to each phase of your life and also take into account the potentially life-transforming events that are liable to occur at any stage.
Planning for the seasons of life Starting a career. If a person is beginning his career, he should take immediate steps toward putting his finances in order. The joy of being financially independent often blinds people at this stage and leads to excessive credit-card spending. Spending within your limits can help you keep the debt trap at bay. Secondly, in case you have a student loan, it is advisable to begin repaying it at the earliest. The best way to stay financially healthy is to make a monthly budget and start a savings program. Ideally, one should save at least 25 per cent of the gross income. Also, start creating an emergency fund. This fund should have at least six months of living expenses. Such a contingency fund will help you cope with unforeseen emergencies. Keeping all your savings in a bank account might not be advisable as it generates just 3.5 per cent return in a year. Build a diversified portfolio and invest through mutual fund schemes. However, don't skimp on health insurance, and do consider purchasing (never invest in life insurance) life insurance, if necessary.
Purchasing a home. Buying a home is generally the biggest purchase in one's life. While you are deliberating on purchasing your dream home, compare home loan deals and spend time to know your neighborhoods. Along with a loan it would be worthwhile to consider homeowner's insurance that covers both, the dwelling and its contents, and an umbrella insurance that protects you against future liability claims.
Starting a family. If you are thinking about kids, then start off with comparing life insurance plans and purchasing one that suits you best. A wage earner's premature death can have a devastating financial impact on his family and insurance can reduce this impact.
Also cost of education is increasing at a faster rate than inflation. If you wish to give your kids the best in education, start planning to fund his or her college fees at the earliest. First, get an estimation of future tuition costs and time when funding is needed. Then establish a college savings program, even if you can't put away enough each year to cover the projected costs. Regular research is also required on this. Keep updating yourself (with help from your financial planner) on new possibilities for educational funding and financial-aid process. If your children are already nearing college age, reevaluate your current financial position to assess if your current resources need to be redirected to fund the current costs.
Prime earning years. If your kid has graduated from college, he is probably approaching his prime earning years. If he hasn't already done so, he needs to begin saving for retirement immediately, preferably through an automatic payroll deduction. Encourage him to maximise contributions to retirement plans and other types of deferred savings vehicles.
Pre-retirement. People often become too conservative just before retirement. Prepare a financial plan ensuring that you do not completely pull out of equities and move entirely into fixed income instruments. With higher life expectancies, the post retirement period can easily constitute close to one-third of your life span. In such cases the income that one earns from fixed-income instruments may not be sufficient to cover your expenses. Also, consider formulating an estate plan and review all your legal documents to ensure that they fit your goals.
Planning for life's uncertainties
Job loss. If a person unexpectedly loses his job, he'll need to determine how long he can stretch his unemployment income to cover his living expenses. To make this calculation, one needs to know the current expenses and how the budget can be revised. Assume that he will remain unemployed for six to nine months. To counter the immediate urge to sell off investments to foot the bills, develop a cash-flow analysis that provides a reasonable idea of how long existing funds will last. This will allow you to take financial decisions in a calm and orderly manner. Also, you should not forget the importance of continuing insurance coverage.
If an employed person suspects that a layoff is imminent, he should seek a severance package and secure good references. If the company offers a choice between a lump sum and a continuation of salary, check the facts. Lump-sum arrangements are generally better, but not always. Before one decides, see if salary continuation will prolong health-insurance and retirement-plan benefits. If so, salary continuation is almost always a better deal.
Divorce. Going through a divorce is a traumatic experience. Yet, one needs to begin dealing with the changes that it brings in. From a financial viewpoint, develop a new comprehensive financial plan to the changed circumstances. Income tax decisions may be a factor too. Dependency deductions often prove more beneficial to the spouse with the higher income. If necessary, revise insurance to remove the ex-spouse as the beneficiary.
Remarriage. If you remarry after a divorce, be sure to protect your kids of your first marriage. Look at each family's resources and demands. Inquire about when the money will be spent, taking a long-term view. Once you establish a new set of financial needs, invest with a wide view addressing all needs. To simplify estate planning set up a Private Family Trust which will give your spouse access to all income for life; after her death the assets will pass to the intended beneficiaries.
Assess the composition of assets, such as investment portfolios, as well as the capability of surviving family members to manage these investments. You may want to prioritize a stable income, but don't get too conservative with the remaining investments. Widowhood can last as long as 40 years. Ownership designations on invested assets and the disposition of closely held business interests must also be evaluated. You must make decisions about utilising the marital deduction, handling any unused unified credit, and disclaiming property. Retirement projections will have to be revised to account for the change in circumstances.
Regular monitoring & rebalancing
You need to keep a track on your financial health and its vitality. Conduct regular assessments and rebalance the impact of major events. As your life unfolds, you can easily stray from the track of financial wisdom. Be vigilant in your approach to help you tackle priorities in life with ease.
I always tell my clients that the more you plan your life and finances, the more you can enjoy it. I am sure no one wants to be bogged down by scampering for fund when you plan to buy your first house or plan your child's marriage. Plan today for a better tomorrow. As not planning at all can have hazardous effects on your life.
(The writer is founder and CEO of Ffreedom Financial Planners)
Source: Indian Express

Sensex ends flat; bandh, global cues weigh

5 Jul 2010, 1658 hrs IST,Mohammed Sabir,ET Bureau

Topics:
  • Wipro
  • Reliance Power
  • Sensex
  • Bharti Airtel
  • nifty
  • HDFC
    *

    Gainers & losers

    Costly stocks that are good

    Stock trading while at work



    MUMBAI: Equities ended choppy session on a flat note on Monday taking cues from subdued global markets. Lack of retail participation due to the "Bharat Bandh" to protest hike in fuel prices also hurt sentiments. It was a lacklustre session on Dalal Street as volumes shrunk as low as 40 per cent compared to average session.


    Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex ended at 17441.44, down 19.51 points or 0.11 per cent. The index touched a high of 17505.73 and low of 17423.74 in today's trade.


    National Stock Exchange's Nifty closed at 5235.90, down 1.2 points or 0.02 per cent. The broader index hit intraday high of 5252.75 and low of 5225.85.


    "The level of 5210-5200 is crucial on a closing basis, as closing above these levels may lead to a pull back. A decisive close above 5313 would indicate a broader range-bound corrective movement with a positive bias," said Birendra Kumar Singh, technical analyst, Religare Securities.


    BSE Midcap Index was up 0.29 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index moved 0.32 per cent higher.


    Amongst the sectoral indices BSE Healthcare Index gained 0.53 per cent and BSE IT Index moved 0.39 per cent higher. BSE Oil&gas Index declined 0.79 per cent lower and BSE Metal Index slipped 0.40 per cent.


    M&M (1.33%), Wipro (0.89%), Bharti Airtel (0.81%), HDFC (0.81%), and Infosys Technologies (0.51%) were the top Sensex gainers.


    Reliance Communications (-2.88%), Hindalco Industries (-1.73%), ONGC (-1.45%), BHEL (-1.27%), and Hindustan Unilever (-1.13%) were the major losers.


    In stock specific action, Reliance Natural Resources slumped after the company announced merger with Reliance Power. RNRL ended 27.44 per cent lower while Reliance Power closed 3.74 per cent higher on the NSE.


    Shares of banks ended in the positive terrain after the Reserve Bank of India announced a rate hike nearly a month earlier than expected citing inflation worries. The market has already factored in rate hike ever since the government announced hike in fuel prices last month.


    Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 1614 gainers against 1238 losers.

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    Aditya Puri, Sam Ghosh in Asian Captains of Finance 2010 list

    New York, July 5(PTI) HDFC Bank managing director Aditya Puri and Reliance Capital chief executive Sam Ghosh have made it to the list of captains of Asian Finance 2010, compiled by the American magazine Institutional Investor. The 59-year old Puri has been a key force behind making HDFC Bank the country''s third largest lender by market value, behind State Bank of India and ICICI Bank.
    Puri''s steady approach helped HDFC''s asset grow by 21.4 percent to Rs 2.2 trillion for the 12-month ended March 31, the magazine noted. The magazine has identified 14 best financial executives from banking and insurance among others, to compile the Asian Captains of Finance 2010 ranking.
    "All are making an impact on the industry and are likely to do so," the magazine said about the people who made in to the list. Ghosh, 50, has been working to build Reliance Capital one of the country''s biggest and most diversified financial groups.
    Among others in the list are Ma Weihua of the China Merchants Bank, Ra Eung Chang of South Korea''s Shinhan Financial Group, and Agus Martawardajo of Bank Mandiri, Indonesia. "There have been stunning changes in the fortunes of the financial industry in recent years.
    Increasingly, Asian firms are innovators and leaders in their own right, not merely adopters of Western practices and products," the magazine said.
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  • Mining companies told to pay tax to Madhya Pradesh

    New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday told several companies involved in mining operations in Madhya Pradesh to pay tax to the state government and declined to stay notices issued to them for payment of dues.
    The apex court bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice Swatanter Kumar told the petitioner companies that they will have to pay the tax and they could do so in instalments.
    The court said that instalments would be on the principal amount without counting the interest. It said that the petitioner companies would come before it with a proposal for the payment of tax in instalments and then it would draw a schedule for the same.
    The petitioner companies told that the court that three notices for the payment of tax under the M.P. Rural Infrastructure and Road Development Act, 2005 tantamount to going back on the assurance that the state government gave before this court that it would not resort to coercive measures for the recovery of taxes.
    The court was told that the standing counsel of the State of Madhya Pradesh B.S. Banthia in an undertaking on Nov 6, 2009 said that no coercive steps would be taken for the recovery of tax.
    The six petitioner companies said that the notices issued by the state government were
    'unjust, unreasonable and uncalled for' at this stage when their petition challenging the impugned high court order of Aug 18, 2006, upholding the levy of tax, was in the final hearing stage.
    The state government under the act levied 5 percent tax on the mineral bearing land.
    However, the mining companies contended that in the guise of tax on mineral bearing land it was in fact a tax on the mineral extracted from the land.

    Learnt lessons, prepared for monsoon: MCD

    New Delhi , July 5 (IANS) As the monsoon sets over the national capital, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) claims that it has learnt lessons from the past years and is fully equipped to address civic problems arising due to the rains, an official said Monday.
    'The MCD is geared up to tackle problems like waterlogging, trees uprooting and cleaning up of drains. The civic body has learnt lesson from the last monsoon and will try to over come those this year,' said Jagdish Mamgain, the chairman of works committee of the civic agency.
    The corporation has identified 139 vulnerable points prone to water logging.
    A permanent pumping station is being installed and portable diesel pump sets are deployed to drain off water, he said.
    To overcome the stagnation of water, the MCD will pump water into Yamuna from different areas.
    'Seventeen major drains will discharge rain water into the river Yamuna. If the water level in the river crosses danger mark, gates provided on the drains will be closed to stop the water flowing to the river,' Mamgain said.
    MCD's engineering department has claimed to have cleaned and desilted all 1,552 drains covering 1,557 km in length.
    Apart from this all bell mouths, vertical chambers, gully gratings carrying rain water discharge from streets, roads and drains are properly cleaned to avoid stagnation of rain water, the official added.

    India News

           

       

    Mining companies told to pay tax to Madhya Pradesh

    IANS - 08:35 PM
    New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) The Supreme Court Monday told several companies involved in mining operations in Madhya Pradesh to pay tax to the state government and declined to stay notices issued to them for payment of dues.
           
            View:         Headlines Only |         Include Summaries |         Include Photos        
                
           
    •             Learnt lessons, prepared for monsoon: MCD IANS - 08:32 PM
    • New Delhi , July 5 (IANS) As the monsoon sets over the national capital, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) claims that it has learnt lessons from the past years and is fully equipped to address civic problems arising due to the rains, an official said Monday.
    •        
    •             Poor response to shutdown in Maharashtra: Chavan IANS - 08:24 PM
    • Mumbai, July 5 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan Monday said that the opposition sponsored shutdown against rising fuel prices did not get the desired response in Mumbai and Maharashtra.
    •        
    •             Punjab to assess farmers' losses following canal breach IANS - 07:51 PM
    • Chandigarh, July 5 (IANS) The Punjab government Monday ordered 'girdawari' (loss assessment) of farmers in certain areas of Ludhiana district where a breach in an irrigation canal has led to flooding of thousands of acres of agricultural land in the last 24 hours.
    •        
    •             Lukewarm response to shutdown in Tamil Nadu IANS - 07:32 PM
    • Chennai, July 5 (IANS) Normal life remained largely unaffected in Tamil Nadu Monday during the dawn-to-dusk shutdown called by seven opposition parties to protest the hike in fuel prices.
    •        
    •             Magma Fincorp to give Rs.532 crore in loans in Punjab, Haryana IANS - 07:06 PM
    • Kolkata, July 5 (IANS) Asset financing company Magma Fincorp Monday said it would disburse Rs.532 crore in retail loans in Punjab and Haryana in the 2010-11 fiscal.
    •        
    •             Strike hits businesses, losses up to $2.8 billion IANS - 06:48 PM
    • New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) A day-long general strike disrupted normal business activities across India, affecting key sectors of the economy and causing losses anywhere between a conservative Rs.3,000 crore ($666 million) and a humoungous Rs.13,000 crore ($2.8 billion) to the country.
    •        
    •             Kamal Nath, Ahluwalia spar over roadblocks IANS - 06:48 PM
    • New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) Road Transport Minister Kamal Nath and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia Monday let off some pent up steam, each virtually blaming the other for the tardy progress in building the country's highway infrastructure.
    •        
    •             India shuts down against hike in fuel prices IANS - 06:32 PM
    • New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) More than 250 trains were cancelled or disrupted, 100 flights cancelled and millions of people inconvenienced as India was brought virtually to its knees Monday with opposition parties calling for a shutdown against the rise in fuel prices.
    •        
    •             Network18 considering stake sale in Indian Film Co Reuters - 06:11 PM
    • Network18 said on Monday it will consider selling its stake in London-listed Indian Film Company Ltd to Viacom 18, a joint venture between its unit IBN18 Broadcast and U.S.-based Viacom Inc.
    •        
    •             Domestic flights bear brunt of shutdown, 96 cancelled IANS - 06:10 PM
    • Mumbai, July 5 (IANS) Domestic air services to several parts of India bore the brunt of the shutdown called by the opposition Monday, leading to cancellations of 96 scheduled services. One international flight also had to be cancelled, airport officials said.
    •        
    •             Eicher JV June sales jump; ups vehicle prices Reuters - 06:08 PM
    • VE Commercial Vehicles, the joint venture between Eicher Motors and Sweden's Volvo, said it has raised vehicle prices marginally from July to offset rising input costs and inflation.
    •        
    •        
    •             Rupee little changed in thin trade; shrs weigh Reuters - 06:05 PM
    • The rupee swivelled in thin band during trade on Monday tracking a choppy local stock market, but forward premiums rose on expectations of another hike in key rates later this month by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), to top up its last Friday's rate move.
    •        
    •             Over 200 buses damaged in Maharashtra IANS - 06:01 PM
    • Mumbai, July 5 (IANS) More than 150 BEST buses in Mumbai and 70 state transport buses in Maharashtra were damaged by protesters Monday during the opposition's nationwide strike against hike in fuel prices.
    •        
    •             Madhya Pradesh sees clashes, arrests during shutdown IANS - 05:56 PM
    • Bhopal, July 5 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh saw a near total shutdown Monday as protesters clashed with the police and ransacked shops during the daylong strike called by opposition parties against the hike in fuel prices.
    •        
    •             Congress too worried over price rise: Dikshit IANS - 05:51 PM
    • New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Monday said that her government too was worried over rising prices.
    •        
    •             Shutdown hits life in West Bengal IANS - 05:26 PM
    • Kolkata, July 5 (IANS) Normal life was hit in West Bengal as road and rail services were disrupted and markets and offices were shut during a nationwide shutdown called by non-Congress parties against the hike in fuel prices.
    •        
    •             Hundreds court arrest, mining hit in Orissa IANS - 05:21 PM
    • Bhubaneswar, July 5 (IANS) Hundreds of activists of non-Congress parties courted arrest in Orissa Monday during the nationwide shutdown against rising fuel prices that also hit mining operations and public transport services in the state.
    •        
    •             Mumbai trains see few passengers IANS - 05:17 PM
    • Mumbai, July 5 (IANS) Local trains, the lifeline of Mumbai, plied normally Monday but saw few commuters travelling owing to the nationwide strike against the hike in fuel prices.
    •        
    •             Make villages progressive units, improve welfare delivery: Patil IANS - 05:16 PM
    • Hyderabad, July 5 (IANS) President Pratibha Patil Monday said India has a huge amount of social welfare schemes, but delivery systems needed to be more effective and non-corrupt for their benefits to reach all segments of society.
    •        

           
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    Business News

           

       

    What weekend? Sunday is big biz for Anil

    FE - Sun, Jul 4
    Forget weekends. It is business and days of big announcements on Sundays for industrialist Anil Ambani, contrary to golf and get-togethers for the rest of the corporate world.
           
            View:         Headlines Only |         Include Summaries |         Include Photos        
                
           
    •             Combined pay package of TCS directors up 25% FE - Sun, Jul 4
    • The Indian IT sector, which is reviving from the global financial crisis, might not have seen great salary hikes last fiscal, but the combined pay package of the directors at the country's top software firm TCS shot up by about 25 per cent during 2009-10. The total pay package of its top management personnels and Directors on Board increased by over Rs 2.24 crore during the said period.
    •        
    •             Century Enka to keep Rs 350 cr for growth FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • Century Enka, a BK Birla Group company, will invest Rs 350 crore to expand its nylon tyre cord fabric capacity by 7,500 tonne a year.
    •        
    •             BSNL to form IT, tower arms FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) plans to float a subsidiary for IT application management and development of value-added services (VAS).
    •        
    •             New electronic toll collection system by May 2012: Nath FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • A new electronic toll collection system that will do away with the need for human tax collectors, and help plug revenue leakages, will be put in place by May 2012. The system will be installed at all toll booths of the country to collect tax without the requirement of stopping the vehicle.
    •        
    •             RBI proposes to restructure salaries in pvt & foreign banks FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • In the aftermath of global financial crisis, when the high compensation structure of some of the chief executives of global banks faced scathing criticism, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed drastic changes in the way salary structure of chief executive officers and whole-time directors of private and foreign banks are fixed.
    •        
    •             Higher domestic output adds steam to coffee, exports up 43% FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • Coffee exports from India surged by a whopping 43% in the first nine months of the coffee year that started in October 2009. According to statistics available with the government-owned Coffee Board, the country exported 1.99 lakh tonne of coffee during this period, up from 1.40 lakh tonne recorded in the previous year.
    •        
    •             Quick View FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • Forex reserves rise to $276.98 billion India's foreign exchange reserves rose to $276.98 billion as on June 25, from $275.96 billion a week earlier, the Reserve Bank said in its weekly statistical supplement on Friday.
    •        
    •             Maoists admit losing 3 'commanders' in Chhattisgarh attack FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • The CPI (Maoist) has admitted that three of its senior activists were killed in the attack on CRPF personnel at Dhaudai in Narayanpur on June 29.
    •        
    •             Repo, reverse repo rates up by 25 bps FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • Clearly uncomfortable with inflation in double digits and chances of a further rise following the hike in fuel prices, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday signalled a calibrated exit from an accommodative monetary stance by increasing the key policy rates, the repo and the reverse repo rates by 25 basis points each, with immediate effect.
    •        
    •             Rel Power, RNRL boards to consider merger tomorrow FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • The boards of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power (Rel-Power) and Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) will meet on Sunday to consider merging with each other.
    •        
    •             HSBC to acquire part of RBS biz in India FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) announced on Friday that it has decided to acquire the retail and commercial banking businesses of Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) in India with a gross asset value of $1.8 billion as on 31 March 2010.
    •        
    •             IT, BPO firms make Punjab, Haryana the job hot spots FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • Punjab and Haryana are offering more job opportunities in information technology, call centres, telecom sector, manufacturing and real estate business now than ever before.
    •        
    •             Indian Bank raises Rs 500 cr; revises FCNR, NRE rates FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • Chennai-based public sector lender Indian Bank has raised Rs 500 crore through issue of bonds on a private placement basis as part of its plan to fund credit expansion.The board of directors of the bank had in May had accorded approval for raising tier II capital up to Rs 1000 crore in one or more tranches during the current year.
    •        
    •             Live feed on volatility index by month end FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • The National Stock Exchange (NSE) will start disseminating real time data on India VIX, the volatility index, by July.
    •        
    •             DP World, Lanco & L&T vie for Chennai Port terminal project FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • Nine international and domestic players are in the race to build the proposed Rs 3,686-crore mega container terminal for the Chennai Port Trust.
    •        
    •             Kinetic Group bets big on auto components biz FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • The Kinetic Group will shift focus to its auto components business - Kinetic Engineering Ltd - in five years.
    •        
    •             Sensex sheds 48 points FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • The country's equity indices ended marginally in the red on Friday as no clear directions were forthcoming from global markets.
    •        
    •             Mutual funds' assets witness highest slide FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • The mutual funds industry witnesses the worst ever fall in assets under management (AUM) in June 2010. As on June 30, average assets under management of 39 fund houses stood at over Rs 6.75 lakh crore, sliping 15.9% or Rs 1.27 lakh crore over the previous month.
    •        
    •             MoEF, coalmin spar over block demarcation FE - Sat, Jul 3
    • The coal ministry now wants the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to change its demarcation of 'go' and 'no-go' areas, since 40 of the 219 captive blocks allotted this year come under no-go areas.
    •        

           
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    Business News

           

       

    Low price, high impact

    HT - 03:00 PM
    When you are the 14th entrant in a fast growing but highly competitive product or service category, how do you stand out? Or when you are almost the last to introduce a new product or service that competition is already pushing hard, what can you do differently? When you are an established player in a competitive business, what do you do to create fresh growth? And when you are standing at the doo
           
            View:         Headlines Only |         Include Summaries |         Include Photos        
                
           
    •             Coffee chains to spread the brew's aroma HT - 03:00 PM
    • India?s per capita coffee consumption, at a nascent 75-80 gm stage, is set to see a push from coffee retail chains that are looking at rapid expansion in the face of 35-40 per cent annual growth.
    •        
    •             Strong Q1 seen for India Inc, but input costs may bite HT - 03:00 PM
    • Though the economic recovery in the US and Europe still hangs fire, India Inc seems to be weathering the climate well. Indian companies are expected to post strong revenue growth in the April-June quarter results for 2010-11.
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    •             UN panel recommendation may make India lose half carbon credits HT - 03:00 PM
    • A United Nations panel recommendation this week to change carbon credits calculating methodology for hydroflourocarbons (HFCs) can result in India losing half of its credits valid till 2012.
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    •             Pre-launch bookings usher in new mystique in car industry HT - 03:00 PM
    • In a departure from the norm of keeping new cars under wraps till their official launch, manufacturers now not only showcase upcoming cars aggressively but also accept bookings in advance.
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    •             Sensex down 172 points in opening trade HT - 04:00 AM
    • The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell over 172 points in opening trade today, as investors sold stocks to realise profits after yesterday's rally amid weak global cues.
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    •             RBI bites bullet, raises rates HT - Sat, Jul 3
    • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made a surprise pull on Friday with a sudden increase in two of its policy rates, apparently worried by the prospect of a rise in inflation in the backdrop of concerns over monsoon rains.
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    •             Mining law gets going HT - Sat, Jul 3
    • The government on Friday said that a high-level panel headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet on July 22 to sort out the inter-ministerial differences over the proposed mining legislation.
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    •             MF assets plunge by Rs 127,621 cr HT - Sat, Jul 3
    • The 3G auction may have been healthy for the government coffers, but it has eaten into the assets under management (AUM) of mutual fund houses.
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    •             Bankers not in a hurry to hike lending rates HT - Sat, Jul 3
    • Bankers said on Friday that they were not in a hurry to take the RBI?s cue and raise lending rates after the central bank hiked key policy rate to tame prices as macroeconomic managers grappled for options to contain inflation without upsetting broader growth. But business leaders fretted the signal of a credit squeeze might affect expansion plans.
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    • HSBC is set to take over the Indian retail and commercial banking operations of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which in turn is largely the acquired operations of ABN Amro Bank in the country.
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    •             RBI for coordinated exits from stimulus measures HT - Fri, Jul 2
    • Monetary and regulatory authorities across the world should coordinate amongst themselves before formulating their stimulus exit strategies as the movement of capital across continents could present major challenges to policymakers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in latest report.
    •        
    •             Hindustan Media prices IPO at Rs 162 to Rs 175 a share HT - Fri, Jul 2
    • The initial public offer of Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd (HMVL), which publishes the nation?s third largest Indian daily, Hindustan, to raise Rs 270 crore will be open for subscription from July 5 to July 7.
    •        
    •             B.K. Birla wants merger of timber, cement firms HT - Fri, Jul 2
    • Basant Kumar Birla, the patriarch of the Birla family, is keen to merge loss making Mangalam Timber Products with profit making Mangalam Cement in a restructuring within the group he controls.
    •        
    •             Fortis bids $3.1 bn to buy out Parkway HT - Fri, Jul 2
    • Fortis Healthcare and its promoters, the Singh brothers, on Thursday joined a takeover battle for Parkway Holdings with a $3.1 billion counter-bid to buy out all of the Singapore hospital operator?s shares, topping a rival offer by Malaysia?s state wealth fund Khazanah.
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    •             RCom buys Digicable, becomes top cable operator HT - Fri, Jul 2
    • Anil Ambani?s Reliance Communications (RCom) is set to become the country?s largest cable television service provider after the flagship company of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) on Thursday announced the acquisition industry leader Digicable.
    •        
    •             ADAG plans to hive off DTH business HT - Thu, Jul 1
    • Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group Firm Reliance Communications (RCom) is negotiating a cashless deal with cable television firm Digicable to set up a $600 million ( about Rs 2760 crore) entity.
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    •             Sundaram Fin to buy out BNP Paribas in MF companies HT - Thu, Jul 1
    • Non-banking finance company Sundaram Finance has decided to buy out BNP Paribas Asset Management?s entire holding in Sundaram BNP Paribas Asset Management Company and Sundaram BNP Paribas Trustee Company. After the acquisition of BNP Paribas? 49.9 per cent stakes, the two firms will become wholly-owned subsidiaries of Sundaram Finance.
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    •             US pains far from over: commodity guru Rogers HT - Thu, Jul 1
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    •        
    •             Sumitomo gets 4.5% in Kotak M HT - Thu, Jul 1
    • Entrepreneurial banker Uday Kotak has picked Japan?s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) as a key stakeholder, for a 4.5 per cent stake sale in Kotak Mahindra Bank at Rs 1,366 crore.
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    Price of petroleum

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Jump to: navigation, search
    Brent barrel petroleum spot prices, May 1987 – March 2009.
    Weekly reports on crude oil inventories or total stockpiles in storage facilities like these tanks have a strong bearing on oil prices

    The price of petroleum as quoted in news generally refers to the spot price per imaginary "barrel" (159 liters) of either WTI/light crude as traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) for delivery at Cushing, Oklahoma, or of Brent as traded on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE, into which the International Petroleum Exchange has been incorporated) for delivery at Sullom Voe. The price of a barrel of oil is highly dependent on both its grade, determined by factors such as its specific gravity or API and its sulphur content, and its location. The vast majority of oil is not traded on an exchange but on an over-the-counter basis.[citation needed] Other important benchmarks include Dubai, Tapis, and the OPEC basket. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) uses the imported refiner acquisition cost, the weighted average cost of all oil imported into the US, as its "world oil price".

    The demand for oil is highly dependent on global macroeconomic conditions. According to the International Energy Agency, high oil prices generally have a large negative impact on the global economic growth.[1] Others [who?] argue that the run-up in oil prices over the past few years actually led to an acceleration in global growth. The huge surpluses built up by oil exporting countries were recycled through sovereign wealth funds and the banking system and (through the money multiplier) greatly increased investments in emerging markets and helped hold down interest rates in the U.S.

    The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was formed to control the price of oil, and essentially worked as a cartel.[2]

    Oil price has undergone a significant decrease since the record peak of US$145 it reached in July 2008. On December 23, 2008, WTI crude oil spot price fell to US$30.28 a barrel, the lowest since the global financial crisis began, and traded at between US$35 a barrel and US$82 a barrel in 2009. [3]

    Contents

    [hide]

    [edit] History

    Long-term oil prices, 1861-2008 (orange line adjusted for inflation, blue not adjusted). The blue dot indicates the price as of 24 December 2008: 37.64 US$


    [edit] Recent price history

    New York Mercantile Exchange prices for West Texas Intermediate 1996 - 2009

    A recent low point was reached in January 1999 of $17 (all prices are in US$ per barrel), after increased oil production from Iraq coincided with the Asian Financial Crisis, which reduced demand. Prices then increased rapidly, more than doubling by September 2000 to $35, then fell until the end of 2001 before steadily increasing, reaching $40-50 by September 2004. [5] In October 2004, light crude futures contracts on the NYMEX for November delivery exceeded $53 and for December delivery exceeded $55. Crude oil prices surged to a record high above $60 in June 2005, sustaining a rally built on strong demand for gasoline and diesel and on concerns about refiners' ability to keep up. This trend continued into early August 2005, as NYMEX crude oil futures contracts surged past $65 as consumers kept up the demand for gasoline despite its high price. Crude oil futures peaked at a close of over $77 in July 2006, and in December 2006 at about $63. That is just about where they began the year 2006.[6] In September 2007, US crude (WTI) crossed $80. Multiple factors caused this high price. OPEC announced an output increase lower than expected.[7] US stocks fell lower than experts predicted[8], changes in federal oil policies [9], and six pipelines were attacked by a leftist group in Mexico. [10] In October 2007 US light crude rose above $90 for the first time, due to a combination of tensions in eastern Turkey and the reducing strength of the US dollar.[11]

    On January 2, 2008, a single trade was made at $100[12], but the price did not stay above $100 until late February.

    Oil prices for Brent in US$ and Euro

    Oil broke through $110 on March 12, 2008[13], $125 on May 9, 2008[14], $130 on May 21, 2008 [15], $135 on May 22, 2008, $140 on June 26, 2008 and $145 on July 3, 2008[16]. On July 11, 2008, oil prices rose to a new record of $147.27 following concern over recent Iranian missile tests.[17]

    However, oil prices declined by more than $20 over the next two weeks, settling around $125 a barrel on July 24, 2008.[18]A strong contributor to this price decline was the drop in demand for oil in the US. Miles driven there in a month were down in March-May 2008 compared to 2007, with the 4% decline in May being the largest drop in history. [19] Oil further dropped down to its lowest price in 3 months, at around $112 a barrel, on August 11, 2008[20], and on September 15, oil price fell below $100 for the first time in seven months.On October 11, oil fell as much as $8.89, or 10.17% to $77.70 per barrel as global equities slide .[21] Oil traded below $70 on October 16, 2008. On December 21, 2008, oil was trading at $33.87 a barrel, less than one fourth of the peak price reached four months earlier. Prices did not rebound once 2009 started. Instead, after initially climbing above $48, prices descended by mid-February to below $34, hurt by forecasts for further declines in world demand. Through March and April 2009, oil traded at about $40 per barrel. By August 2009, prices returned to $70 a barrel.[22]

    [edit] Reasons for trends

    The price of oil, like the price of all commodities, is subject to major swings over time, particularly tied to the overall business cycle. When demand for a commodity like oil exceeds production capacity, the price will rise quite sharply because both demand and supply are fairly inelastic in the short run. Users of oil might be shocked by much higher prices, but they have commitments and habits that determine their energy use, and these take time to adjust. On the supply side, especially at the outer edge of existing production capacity, adding new capacity is time-consuming and expensive. Moreover, the supply side is severely influenced by oligopolistic group of swing producers. Over time, however, both businesses and individuals figure out ways to cut back their oil consumption in response to high prices, and the high prices promote new investment in production and the arrival of new sources in the market, gradually restoring a supply-demand balance. The extraordinary spike in prices in mid-2008 represents to a large extent the consequences of a brief period where global oil demand outran supply. When supply exceeds demand, on the other hand, microeconomic theory says the price should collapse to the marginal cost of production of the most expensive source. As the price drops, the most expensive wells become uneconomical and are shut down, at least temporarily. Price equilibrium is reached somewhere near the production cost of the most expensive source needed to meet global demand. The swing from what the market will bear in the first days of shortage to the marginal cost of the last well in times of surplus can be huge. Most commodity prices (metals, grains, even manufactured commodities like NAND flash memory) are subject to similar large swings over time.

    As global oil production begins to decline (after "peak oil"), the medium-term volatility of oil prices is likely to be higher than before, because the range of production costs among all sources supplying the market will be much greater. Major oil fields exist where the cost of production is comfortably below US$10 per barrel, and these are adequate to supply all global demand for many years. A large portion of the world's supply still comes from such inexpensive sources. Future shortages and high prices, however, will spur the development of oil sources with production costs of $50, $70, even $100 per barrel, including deep water sites, tar sands, oil shale, and secondary recovery from depleted fields. But eventually, when the energy needed to produce oil from these sources exceeds the energy we get out of them, the extraction will decline. In the language of microeconomic theory, the supply curve will be much steeper than in past years. Shifts in demand (artificially created or otherwise), either up or down, will cause relatively larger swings in market price.

    [edit] Benchmark pricing

    After the collapse of the OPEC-administered pricing system in 1985, and a short lived experiment with netback pricing, oil-exporting countries adopted a market-linked pricing mechanism. [23] First adopted by PEMEX in 1986, market-linked pricing received wide acceptance and by 1988 became and still is the main method for pricing crude oil in international trade.[23] The current reference, or pricing markers, are Brent, WTI , and Dubai/Oman. [23]

    [edit] Market listings

    Oil is marketed among other products in commodities markets. See above for details. Widely traded oil futures, and related natural gas futures, include:[24]

  • Petroleum
    • Nymex Crude Future
    • Dated Brent Spot
    • WTI Cushing Spot
    • Nymex Heating Oil Future
    • Nymex RBOB Gasoline Future
  • Natural gas
    • Nymex Henry Hub Future
    • Henry Hub Spot
    • New York City Gate Spot

Most of the above oil futures have delivery dates in all 12 months of the year.[25]

[edit] Speculation

The surge in oil prices in the past several years has led some experts to argue that at least some of the rise is due to speculation in the futures markets.[26][27] This has led to an investigation, which reached an interim conclusion that speculation was largely not responsible for the rise. Economist James K. Galbraith believes that much of the rise is due to the "Enron loophole" drafted in a rider by former Texas senator Phil Gramm, which allowed energy futures to avoid Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversight. Galbraith cites Masters, a hedge fund manager, who observed that index speculation tied to commodities by pension funds and other investment vehicles rose from $13 billion in 2003 to $250 billion in 2008. Galbraith observed that with Goldman Sachs predicting a rise in the price to $200 and Gazprom $250, suppliers may react to the rise by restricting supply until they can sell their product at a higher price.[28] In 2009, Seismic Micro-Technology conducted a survey of geophysicists and geologists about the future of crude oil. Of the survey participants 80 percent predicted the price for a barrel of oil will rise to be somewhere between $50 and $100 per barrel by June of 2010.[29] Another 50 percent saying it will rise even further to $100 to $150 a barrel in the next five years.[29]

[edit] Futures investigation

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced "Multiple Energy Market Initiatives" on May 29, 2008. Part 1 is "Expanded International Surveillance Information for Crude Oil Trading." The CFTC announcement stated it has joined with the United Kingdom Financial Services Authority and ICE Futures Europe in order to expand surveillance and information sharing of various futures contracts.[30] This announcement has received wide coverage in the financial press, with speculation about oil futures price manipulation.[31] [32] [33]

The interim report by the Interagency Task Force, released in July, found that speculation had not caused significant changes in oil prices and that fundamental supply and demand factors provide the best explanation for the crude oil price increases. The report found that the primary reason for the price increases was that the world economy had expanded at its fastest pace in decades, resulting in substantial increases in the demand for oil, while the oil production grew sluggishly, compounded by production shortfalls in oil-exporting countries. The report stated that as a result of the imbalance and low price elasticity, very large price increases occurred as the market attempted to balance scarce supply against growing demand, particularly in the last three years. The report forecast that this imbalance would persist in the future, leading to continued upward pressure on oil prices, and that large or rapid movements in oil prices are likely to occur even in the absence of activity by speculators. The task force was continuing to analyze commodity markets and intended to issue further findings later in the year.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.iea.org/Textbase/Papers/2004/High_Oil_Prices.pdf
  2. ^ http://www.slate.com/id/2170040/nav/tap3/ , http://wps.aw.com/aw_carltonper_modernio_4/0,9313,1424964-content,00.html
  3. ^ http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/rwtcd.htm
  4. ^ http://ard.gedif.de/ard/index.htm?u=0&k=0 (in German)
  5. ^ Light Crude Oil (CL, NYMEX): Monthly Price Chart
  6. ^ Topic Galleries - baltimoresun.com
  7. ^ OPEC Press Release 11 September 2007 , OPEC
  8. ^ This Week In Petroleum, EIA
  9. ^ Andrews, Edmund L. (June 18, 2007). "Democrats Press Plan to Channel Billions in Oil Subsidies to Renewable Fuels". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/18/washington/18oil.html. Retrieved May 22, 2010. 
  10. ^ Mexican oil, gas pipelines hit again by explosions, Reuters
  11. ^ Oil prices touch above $90 level, BBC News
  12. ^ Oil price reaches $100 for 1st time: Experts wonder how high the cost of crude can go before putting a crimp in spending and the nation's economy
  13. ^ globeandmail.com: energy
  14. ^ Energy, Oil & Gas
  15. ^ AFP: Oil spikes above $133 on tighter US supplies
  16. ^ Oil prices reach new record high
  17. ^ Oil hits new high on Iran fears. BBC News 11 July 2008
  18. ^ Oil prices drop below $125 on weak demand_English_Xinhua
  19. ^ The law catches up to oil - MarketWatch
  20. ^ "Oil settles just above $119". CNN. August 5, 2008. http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/05/markets/oil/index.htm?cnn=yes. Retrieved May 22, 2010. 
  21. ^ http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20081010/tbs-oil-price-dives-to-77-as-global-equi-5268574.html
  22. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12400801/
  23. ^ a b c Mabro, Robert; Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (2006). Oil in the 21st century: issues, challenges and opportunities. Oxford Press. pp. 351. ISBN 0199207380, 9780199207381. 
  24. ^ "Bloomberg Energy Prices". Bloomberg.com. http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/energyprices.html. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 
  25. ^ List of Commodity Delivery Dates on Wikinvest
  26. ^ "Oil Prices Are All Speculation" by Ed Wallace in Business Week June 27, 2008
  27. ^ "'Perhaps 60% of today's oil price is pure speculation'" article by F. William Engdahl in Global Research May 2, 2008
  28. ^ Galbraith JK. (2008). How to Burn the Speculators. Mother Jones.
  29. ^ a b E&P Magazine, Geologists positive about future of oil and gas, June 10, 2009
  30. ^ "CFTC Announces Multiple Energy Market Initiatives". CFTC. Release: 5503-08. May 29, 2008. http://www.cftc.gov/newsroom/generalpressreleases/2008/pr5503-08.html. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 
  31. ^ "CFTC in talks to plug the 'London loophole'". The Financial Times. 2008-06-10. http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto061020081403134150&page=2. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 
  32. ^ Mufson, Steven (2008-05-30). "Probe of Crude Oil Trading Disclosed". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/29/AR2008052903627.html. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 
  33. ^ "Government investigates oil markets". CNN Money. 2008-05-30. http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/29/markets/oil_markets_investigation.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008052913. Retrieved 2008-06-11. 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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