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Inflation to fall down by Sept: Ahluwalia
Thursday, 22 May, 2008
Inspite of concerns over the fuelling inflation levels, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman remained hopeful saying that the country would witness considerable fall down in the inflation levels by August-September.
"Given a certain amount of patience, inflation will come down in 3-4 months significantly," said Montek Singh Ahluwalia while addressing reporters during the sidelines of a function.
Even the government taking all fiscal measures to contain the spiralling price rises of commodities, infaltion stood at a 44-month high of 7.83 per cent for the week ended May 3.
--MP Labels: Business
London wants to be the most preferred destination for Indian companies: Ken Livingstone
Tuesday, 20 November, 2007
New Delhi, Nov.20 (ANI): "London wants to be the most preferred destination for Indian companies looking to expand businesses abroad," Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, said.
Making a case for London as a global city, Livingstone said London, with its multi-cultural labyrinth, matches the US in levels of productivity and competitiveness, is open to immigration and has an open pattern of investment.
"A dynamic place, London is the city to invest in," he said while addressing a senior-level business conference on "London and India - Partners in Globalization What does it take to succeed as a global business?," organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indo-British Partnership (IBP) India in association with Think London, the official foreign direct investment (FDI) agency for the UK capital, here on Tuesday.
On strengthening London's infrastructure for attracting foreign investment and businesses, Livingstone said London is working overtime to streamline the operations at the various terminals at Heathrow Airport to facilitate a hassle-free entry into the city. He said London is spending GBP10 billion on improving the city's transport system and is also looking at affordable housing for its population.
Stressing on the fact that investment is a two-way street, Livingstone said India accounts for just over 32 percent of all European investments from India. On the other hand the year 2006 saw two billion dollars investment from the UK into India, a jump of 15 percent over the previous year.
Livingstone also spoke about Touchdown London, a start-up service started recently, dedicated to Indian businesses wishing to establish themselves in London. The facility is managed by Think London.
On the increasing globalization of London, Livingstone said: "We have recognized that the process of globalization is not reversible. Any nation that promotes protectionism would be doing so at the cost of its economy, which will prove catastrophic in the long term."
In his address, Michael Charlton, Chief Executive, Think London, said "the Indian economy is on the fast track to globalization and London provides the right platform for Indian companies keen to capitalize on this globalization process."
He said the US and Indian businesses are the top two sources of new FDI projects into London. The US and Indian businesses feel that to be successful, they must embrace the global marketplace. As a potential overseas base for Indian and US companies that have expanded into Europe, London has performed better across the board than other cities, he pointed out. Businesses feel that London gives them the opportunity to grow faster, get a better return on investment and has the best environment to diversify and develop their business, Charlton said. (ANI)
--MP Labels: Business
Master woodwork artist seeks Jharkhand Govt's patronage
Sunday, 18 November, 2007
Chhipadohar (Jharkhand), Nov.18 (ANI): Perhaps not all master craftsmen or artists find their due place in life. Despite having a huge potential to astonish art lovers at national galleries, Jeetu Mistri of Jharkhand's Palamu District is living nobody's life.
Despite being an impressive woodwork artist of animals and idols that have won him countless accolades and a gold medal at the national level exhibition, the sexagenarian is leading a pitiable life at his Chhipadohar Village near Betla National Park.
A wood sculptor of extraordinary excellence, Jeetu has mastered the art of sculpting animals and idols. But for lacking the quintessential patronage for his artworks, the sculptor finding it hard to even survive with the dignity of an artist of his perfection.
Earlier, he used to do the work of patching and decorating the bones of snakes in the Nature's Museum of Betla National Park. This art of sculpting with bones motivated him to try the same on wood.
"I got this inspiration from Betla National Park where I, along with my father, used to join the snake bones for display in the museum. We always thought of making it from wood and we finally started this work," said Jeetu Mistri.
With wood, Jeetu has made several attractive sculptures of animals like snakes, buffaloes, deer and idols of God.
He claims to have been once invited to display his work abroad, but refused while contending that he didn't wish to barter country's art for money with foreigners. But little did this artist thought, that he was refusing a lifetime offer.
Today, Jeetu eagerly awaits support from the State government or District administration to survive his special art in woodwork.
"I make it with so much of labour but we don't earn even half of the amount we spend on its material. So we have slowed down the speed of our work because we have to educate children too. If the Government provides us some support, we can create a better work," he added.
Neighbours and friends are also disappointed to see such an artist of great potential living such a miserable life.
"He crafts the sculptures of wild animals like snakes, elephants but he doesn't get the enough money for his art. He is doing this work for many years just to save his art," said Kamta Prasad, a neighbour. (ANI)
--MP Labels: Business, International, Jharkhand, Manipur
Jharkhand Maoists holding public courts for local 'justice'
Chatra (Jharkhand), Nov.18 (ANI): In what is being seen as taking inspiration from "Lok Adalat" (or, the people's court) being run in various parts of the country, Maoist organisations in Jharkhand are adopting the move to promote a positive image among locals.
Tritiya Prastuti Committee, a Maoist organisation that holds People's Court at Chatra, is just one of them. It claims to put a check on crime in the areas under its influence through "Jan Adalat."
The Maoist organisation has conducted a series of people's courts at and around Chatra, Latehar and Ranchi districts of the State.
At one such "Jan Adalat" held recently, three persons were presented for allegedly trying to waylay some vendors of diesel and lubricants.
"We were searching for Communist Party of India (CPI) Maoists in their area. While preparing to get inside their vicinity, I noticed these three guys on motorbikes. On questioning, it was learnt that one of them, Santosh Oraon, was the brother of Roshan Oraon, a CPI Maoist's sub zone commander," said Bheekamjee, Area Commander of Tritiya Prastuti Committee.
"Later, one of them from Gonda village, Puri, started running. That's when I doubted that all of them belong to CPI Maoist group, and asked my cadre to fire them", he added.
It was claimed that the Tritya Prasuti Committee cadre workers recovered arms from the nabbed persons and this included two .315 guns, one mobile phone, and a dagger.
"We have been beaten up by them. They freed us, when we told them the truth. But next time, if we are caught, they will surely shoot us," said Santosh Oraon, one of the three persons tried by "Janata Adalat".
Though these public courts are claimed to be held for various reasons, but the purpose of creating a positive image among the locals cannot be denied.
Culprits found involved in crimes like dowry, theft and others are punished. At times, even police officials also fall prey to them.
Meanwhile, the overall Maoist movement in the region has also suffered due to splits and formation of umpteen factions.
In fact, CPI Maoists have suffered a major setback in Districts like Palmaon, Latehan, Gumla, Lohardaga and Chhtava, which at one time used to be the stronghold of their cadres.
It is said that in these districts, the organisation suffered a vertical split in the name of caste.
Also at same places, cadres revolted for the demand of "levy", which is basically extortion from the mine owners and transporters of minerals and other ores. It is said that the huge amount raised through extortion was usually cornered by the top brass among the Maoists.
Presently, besides Tritya Prasuti Committee, organisations like Jharkhand Prastuti Committee (JPC) and others are also holding Jan Adalats. They generally pick cases related to the rival cadre persons and punishing them on some criminal charge. (ANI)
--MP Labels: Business, International, Jharkhand, Manipur
Chinese businessmen benefit from improving Sino-Indian relations
Saturday, 17 November, 2007
New Delhi, Nov 16 (ANI): Chinese businessmen at the India International Trade Fair (IITF) attribute improving relations between India and China for a boost in their trade and business.
Miching, a Chinese businessman dealing in crystal ornaments said the business this year is better as compared to business in the 2006 trade fair.
"I think the price and the quality is okay, so they (Chinese goods) are popular in India. And the political relationships between India and China, if you compare with the last 40 years it is better," he said.
A tie up in the textile industries of India and China is also being promoted at the fair.
On display at the Chinese pavilion are various loom machines of which the
TAI FAN single jersey knitting machine, which can produce weave chromspun, single-side cloth, float design cloth, scale cloth, twill cloth and several others, is one of them.
Abhimanyu Kocchar, a promoter of the TAI FAN machine said: "The machines are of mass production, cheap and India is looking for the cheap alternative to the expensive European machines. Of course the spare parts and expenses are less because they have state of the art technology."
India and China have been pushing economic ties despite the lingering border dispute. A visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao to India in November last year focused on boosting the two-way trade, expected to double to 40 billion dollars by 2010. (ANI)
--MP Labels: Business
Centre raises share capital o NMDFC
Thursday, 8 November, 2007
New Delhi, Nov 8 (ANI): The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for enhancement of the authorised share capital of the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation from Rs. 650 crores to Rs. 750 crores. The main objective of the corporation is to promote the economic development of the 'backward sections' amongst the minorities. The target group comprises those persons among the minorities who are below double the poverty line, said a government release. The enhanced share capital to the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation will enable it to be more effective in helping the target groups.(ANI)-AJ Labels: Business
Arcelor Mittal acquires 28 pc stake in China Oriental for $647m
New Delhi, Nov 8 (ANI): World's largest steelmaker Arcelor Mittal has acquired 28 percent stake in steel products maker China Oriental Group by paying 647 million dollars.
Arcelor Mittal has bought the stake from the firm's vice chairwoman, Chen Ningning, and her Smart Triumph Corp, after the latter fell short in her buyout bid for China Oriental last month.
Arcelor Mittal has now become China Oriental's second-largest shareholder.
Shares in China Oriental, which have tripled over the past year amid the buyout talk, were suspended on Wednesday, the China Daily reported.
Arcelor Mittal is the only foreign firm to have a direct ownership in a Chinese steel maker, through a nearly one-third stake in Hunan Valin Steel Tube and Wire, China's tenth-largest producer.
The stake in China Oriental is expected to give Arcelor Mittal a platform in China's northern industrial province of Hebei, which is also rich in iron ore, to complement the Valin stake in the south.
China Oriental's net profit for last year was of 1.03 billion yuan (138 million dollars). It sold about 3.75 million tons of steel products and generated sales of 1.3 billion.
Its main operating subsidiaries are Jinxi Iron and Steel in Hebei, and Foshan Jinxi in the southern province of Guangdong.
The stake acquisition assumes significance as Chen had been advocating for China Oriental to buy mills and participate in the consolidation of China's steel industry, and had signalled her intention to sell her stake in the firm if her takeover effort fell short. (ANI)
- AY
Labels: Business
The Economist Special Report : India has much to offer to the world of technology
Wednesday, 7 November, 2007
New Delhi, Nov.7 (ANI-Business Wire India): India and China have made clever use of foreign technology - assembling it, copying it, servicing it and customising it - but, as Simon Cox explains in a special report in this week's Economist, their firms have yet to create too much to rival it.However, he adds, that while "techno-nationalists" may worry about this, economists would find much to applaud.The special report says that India does not need to focus on invention per se in order to flourish. Instead, if it gainfully absorbs, assimilates and uses the technology available in the country, India's economy could transform itself as China's has done."Indian and Chinese firms have a comparative advantage in finding new uses for existing technologies and combining them in novel ways," he says. "This kind of 'architectural innovation' may be scientifically modest but it can nonetheless be commercially significant. This was, after all how Japan's electronics firms came to dominate their market. The Economist special report asserts that while India and China cherish the idea of pushing back the limits of technology, invention is risky, costly and frustrating work. Imitation still has much to recommend it.The report argues that India and China have more to gain from the adoption and assimilation of technology than from invention. The most urgent task for the two countries is to make wider use of knowhow that already exists, the report says, citing India's generic drug makers as an example.The Economist special report maintains that India could resolve not to invent another thing and still prosper mightily. It does not even have to catch up with the world as it has so much to gain merely by catching up with itself by narrowing the gap between its best firms and the rest.
For China's part, its technological ambitions are perhaps too great. Its "techno-nationalists" want home-grown technologies that have the right pedigree, whether or not they are right for their consumers. They want to build national champions akin to Toyota or Samsung. But the report says that China's best firms take a different attitude: they care about winning customers more than winning scientific prizes. The report cites Huawei, China's leading maker of telecoms equipment, as a prime example.India, for its part, surveys the future with uncharacteristic optimism. Its technological confidence has grown immeasurably thanks to the success of its software and IT firms. The heirs to Aryabhata and Brahmagupta, India's digital ambassadors have won acclaim for their mastery of ones as well as zeroes.But even as India's technological powers make a splash in the world, they stir only the surface of its own vast society. India produces more engineering graduates than America. But it has only 24 personal computers for every 1,000 people, and fewer than three broadband connections. India's billion-strong population cuts both ways. Whenever an Indian demographic appears as a numerator, the resulting number looks big. But whenever its population is in the denominator, the number looks small. As of now, India matters more to technology than technology does to India.
The Economist special report concludes that ultimately it will be the countries that are willing to mix and match imported knowledge with ideas of their own that will thrive. (ANI) -AJ
Labels: Business
Chinese and Indian credit markets focus of Asia Hedge Funds
New York, Nov.7 (ANI-Business Wire India): The rapid growth of hedge funds in emerging Asia was underscored by their increased activity in the highly volatile and opportunistic credit markets of China and India, according to a study released by the financial services industry consultancy Oliver Wyman.Nearly 80 percent of the largest Asia-focused hedge funds are investing in China and India's credit markets, reflecting the growing importance of the Asia Pacific region to the 2.5 trillion dollar hedge fund industry worldwide.The study, which gauged the market and product preferences of Asia-focused hedge funds active in credit markets, revealed that trading in certain products is limited by low liquidity, but that fund managers expect a steady maturation of the credit market throughout the region. The investment preferences of 60 of the largest Asia-focused hedge funds were examined for the study.The study also shows that, in addition to trading a range of credit products, Asia-focused hedge funds are investing heavily in special situations and private placement deals, indicating growing confidence in the financial prospects of an array of the region's emerging corporations.
"A favorable environment for hedge funds continues to develop in Asia," said Bradley Ziff, director of the hedge funds advisory practice at Oliver Wyman. "Not only are there more than 600 funds domiciled in Asia, but hedge funds have become an important part of the capital equation that is central to the growth of Asian economies."Hedge funds see more reward than risk in developing credit markets.Five of the top 10 most-attractive Asian markets for credit-focused hedge funds are developing countries. After China and India, the most attractive emerging credit markets for hedge funds are Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. The growth prospects for infrastructure, utilities, and commodities companies are fueling hedge fund trading of credit products in these countries. (ANI) -AJ
Labels: Business
Penson Financial Services providing access to US markets for ICICI customers
Dallas, Nov.7 (ANI): Penson Financial Services, Inc., the U.S. broker-dealer and clearing services subsidiary of Penson Worldwide Inc., announced today that it has begun providing access to U.S. stock and stock options markets for customers of ICICIDirect.com, the stock broker affiliate of India's second largest bank, ICICI Bank, under a recently signed clearing services agreement."This non-exclusive agreement is Penson's first with an Indian stock brokerage," said Daniel P. Son, president of Penson Worldwide, Inc., "and follows regulatory changes in India that allow investors more access to offshore markets."Recently the Reserve Bank of India increased the annual individual ceiling for citizens of India to remit money overseas from 100,000 dollars to 200,000 dollars, offering opportunities to invest in stocks and other financial products.
ICICIDirect.com is one of India's largest brokerage firms with approximately 1.3 million customers. Through the agreement with Penson, ICICIDirect.com's customers now have access to trading stocks listed on the NYSE, Nasdaq and American Stock Exchange markets, as well as stock options and index options listed on US equity options exchanges."We are pleased to see ICICIDirect.com become the first online firm to offer citizens of India greater access to the US markets," said Mark Munoz, President of Penson Asia Limited, a Penson Worldwide subsidiary based in Hong Kong. "Our unique technology coupled with our US execution and clearing services allows India's brokerage firms more flexibility and options for their customers."
"As one of the leading clearing providers in the United States, Penson Financial Services is delighted to enter into this agreement with ICICIDirect.com, and we look forward to serving their customers," said Mr. Son. (ANI) -AJ
Labels: Business
ONGC eyes two Sudan oil exploration blocks
New Delhi, Nov 7 (ANI): The state-owned oil producer, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), is in talks to buy a 30 percent stake in Sudan's Block 8 from Malaysia's Petronas, as well as a second exploration block, officials said here on Tuesday.
Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and his Sudanese counterpart Awad Ahmed Al-Jaz met on the sidelines of the inauguration of two-day India-Africa hydrocarbon conference.
An official with ONGC, which is already a major producer in Sudan, later said the stake on offer was 30 percent of Petronas's total 85 percent holding.
Al-Jaz also said ONGC was seeking to buy a one-third share in Block B, in which European oil major Total has a stake, but could not give additional details. (ANI)
- AY Labels: Business
Railways, NTPC join hands to set up a power plant in Bihar
Nabinagar (Bihar), Nov 6 (ANI): The Railways and National Thermal Power Corporation today joined hands to set up a 1, 000 Mega Watt (MW) power plant in Nabinagar in Bihar. The joint venture company will be called Bharatiya Rail Bijlee Company. The Railways requires 2,200 MW for its entire network. Currently, it pays Rs 4.22 per unit (average all-India) for its traction needs. However, with the setting up of this captive power plant, it might get power at Rs 2.51 a unit, which is 40 per cent cheaper. The cost per unit may further go down to Rs 2.39 if the joint venture gets mega-project status. Speaking on the occasion, Rail Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav said that nearly 18,000 kilometres out of more than 63,000 route kilometres of Indian Railways network, has already been electrified. The Minister said that Railways are spending about Rs. 5700 crore per annum for consumption on more than 13000 million units of electricity towards electric energy for traction and non-traction purposes. Yadav said the Ministry of Railways in consultation with the Power Ministry has taken this decision to derive full benefits of the ongoing reforms in power sector The Rail Minister further observed that this is also the need of the hour especially in view of the demands of a globalising economy and mega projects of the Railways such as the planned Dedicated Freight Corridors across the country. The Nabinagar power plant will be built at a cost of Rs. 5352 crore. 10 per cent of power from this plant is earmarked to other users. The equity portions of NTPC and Indian Railways will be 74 per cent (Rs. 1188 crore) and 26 per cent (Rs. 417 crore) respectively. Indian Railways will utilize the electricity from this plant for running electric trains in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhatisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in the eastern and western regions of the country. (ANI) Labels: Bihar, Business
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