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World's rich lose $194bn in 1st week of '16

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 04:42:00 +0000

The world's 400 richest people lost almost $194 billion last week as world stock markets began the year with a shudder on poor economic data in China and falling oil prices.

Forty-seven billionaires lost $1 billion or more during the worst week for US stocks since 2011, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The combined drop was almost seven times the $29 billion lost in the first five trading days of 2015. The 400 people on the index had a combined $3.7 trillion at the end of the week, compared with more than $4 trillion a year ago.

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, the best-performing billionaire in 2015, lost the most, his fortune dropping $5.9 billion this week as shares of the world's largest online retailer fell more than 10%. Bezos is the world's fourth-richest person with $53.7 billion.

There were 11 billionaires among the 400 whose fortunes rose this week.

Akbar Badruddin Jiwani
Mobile: 09323500008 Email: abjiwani@gmail.com Website: bhanudevelopers.blogspot.com

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill

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Govt prepares plan to boost farm, infra

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 04:39:00 +0000

Will Focus On Banks To Revive Overall Growth, Remove Unease In Rural Eco

The government is readying a strategy to focus on infrastructure, agriculture and restoring the health of the banking system as well as specific measures to ease stress in the rural economy when it unveils the 2016-17 budget in Februaryend. According to the preliminary blueprint that has emerged during the budget discussions, the government wants to focus on these crucial areas to accelerate growth and tackle growing unease in the farm economy .

"There will be more attention to irrigation and agriculture. We are working out the numbers. We will have to address the problems in the rural economy which has borne the brunt of two consecutive droughts," said a senior official, who did not wish to be identified. "This is a very crucial budget for the government," said the official, highlighting the need to take effective measures to revive vital sectors and overall growth.

He also said the infrastructure sector will see greater attention as the government is keen to step up investment despite a challenging fiscal situation. The government has allocated Rs 5,300 crore to support microirrigation, watershed development and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana and had urged the states to chip in substantially in this vital sector. Sources say this effort will be stepped up in the current budget.

The rural economy , which is a key driver of demand and a support for the broader economy , has taken a knock from the two back to back season of patchy monsoon rains. The segment drives demand for everything from motorcycles to tractors, televisions and refrigerators.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley has already signalled the government's support by backing calls for raising investment in the crucial farm sector and leveraging technology to accelerate growth. "There have been demands that micro irrigation be given infrastructure lending status. We are looking at several options to step up irrigation," said the official, adding that reviving the farm sector was a top priority for the government. The farm sector growth slowed to 2.2% in the September quarter compared to 2.1% expansion in the same year-ago period.

The next focus area would be infrastructure where investment in 2015-16 was estimated to have gone up by Rs 70,000 crore in the year, including funds from the centre and state-run undertakings.Highways and roads have proved to be a success area and in the absence of private investment, indications are the sector will receive special attention, including unveiling of some innovative financing schemes.

The health of the banking sector has been a sources of worry . The government has taken several measures, including measures to pump in Rs 70,000 crore to recapitalize state run banks. Sources said there is a view within the government that more needs to be done to secure the health of the crucial sectors. Jaitley's budget team is also working on the big numbers, keeping in view the government's commitment to meet the fiscal deficit target of 3.9% of gross domestic product for the current fiscal year.

Akbar Badruddin Jiwani
Mobile: 09323500008 Email: abjiwani@gmail.com Website: bhanudevelopers.blogspot.com

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill

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SEBI issues list of 91 Companies in which investors are advised to not to invest

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 05:14:00 +0000

PR No. 194/2015- SEBI cautions investors not to invest in schemes offered by entities barred by SEBI from raising money or entities not registered with SEBI

Certain Collective Investment Scheme(s) (CIS) have come to the notice of SEBI, which are offered by entities which are not registered with SEBI nor offer document of such schemes have been filed with SEBI. Appropriate actions have been taken against such entities and its Directors and since January 01, 2011, SEBI has passed orders against 91 entities and its Directors, carrying on unregistered CIS. As part of interim directions, SEBI inter-alia directs the entities and its Directors to stop collecting further money under existing / new schemes, not to launch any new scheme or float any new companies/firm to raise fresh money, not to divert or alienate any assets or money collected. As part of final directions, SEBI directs winding up of unregistered schemes of the entities, repayments to investors and inter-alia also debars the entity and its Directors from accessing the Capital markets.

A list of the Companies against whom orders have been passed by SEBI since 2011 till June 2015 is given below with this press release. The orders are available on the SEBI website at www.sebi.gov.in

Investors and general public are hereby cautioned that other than "GIFT Collective Investment Management Company Limited" no other entity is registered with SEBI under the CIS Regulations. Further, investors are advised to bear the following cautionary checks before investing in a collective investment scheme:

Whether the entity is registered with SEBI
Whether the scheme (CIS) has filed an offer document with SEBI
Subscription to CIS units is permitted only though a banking channel, no cash transactions are permitted
No guaranteed or assured returns are permitted (at most, an indicative return may be stated in offer document)

If any of the following unregistered entity/ies are found to be collecting / mobilizing money, investors are advised not to subscribe to such schemes and to report the same to SEBI and State authorities including Police authorities immediately, along with appropriate details / documents.

S.No.	Case Name	Date of SEBI Order
1	Sun-plant Agro Ltd	03/05/2011
2	NGHI Developers India Limited	06/11/2012
3	MPS Greenery Developers Limited	06/12/2012
4	Nicer Green Forest Ltd	12/03/2013
5	Maitreya Services Pvt. Ltd	25/03/2013
6	Osian's Connoissurers of Art Ltd	15/04/2013
7	Saradha Realty India Ltd	23/04/2013
8	Alchemist Infra Realty Ltd	21/06/2013
9	Sumangal Industries Ltd	09/07/2013
10	Rose Valley Hotels & Entertainment Ltd	10/07/2013
11	HBN Dairies & Allied Ltd	12/07/2013
12	Maitreya Plotters & Structures Pvt. Ltd	30/08/2013
13	Samruddha Jeevan Foods India Ltd	31/10/2013
14	Servehit Housing & Infrastructure India Ltd.	31/10/2013
15	Orient Resorts (India) Pvt. Ltd	26/11/2013
16	Green Ray International Limited	03/02/2014
17	Royal Twinkle Star Club Ltd.	07/03/2014
18	Peers Allied Corportaion Ltd	23/04/2014
19	Green Buds Agro Farm I Ltd	16/05/2014
20	M/s. KBCL India Ltd	26/05/2014
21	Adel Landmarks Ltd (Era Landmarks Ltd)	05/06/2014
22	JSR Dairies Ltd	05/06/2014
23	Nikhara Bharath Construction Company Ltd.	12/06/2014
24	Haldhar Realty and Enterprises Ltd	17/06/2014
25	Rose Valley Real Estate & Constructions Ltd.	18/06/2014
26	Beetal Livestocks & Farms (Pvt) Ltd	25/06/2014
27	Ramel Industries Ltd	11/07/2014
28	Remac Realty India Ltd	15/07/2014
29	Sunshine Agro Global Ltd (Sunshine Forestry Pvt. Ltd)	15/07/2014
30	Ally Multi-Trade India Pvt. Ltd.	22/07/2014
31	Sai Prasad Corporation Ltd.	22/07/2014
32	Nicer Green Housing and Infrastructure Developers Limited	28/07/2014
33	Dhanolty Developers Ltd	30/07/2014
34	JSV Developers India Ltd.	31/07/2014
35	HNC Infrastructures and Shares India Ltd	05/08/2014
36	Shubham Kroti Foods Pvt. Ltd	08/08/2014
37	IHI Developers India Ltd	11/08/2014
38	PACL	22/08/2014
39	Step Up Marketing Pvt. Ltd.	22/08/2014
40	SPNJ Land Projects and Developers India Ltd	17/09/2014
41	G N Dairies Limited	31/10/2014
42	Sheen Agro and Plantation Ltd	14/11/2014
43	Garima Real Estate and Allied Ltd.	24/11/2014
44	Raghav Capital & Infrastructure Ltd.	24/11/2014
45	Shree Sai Space Creation Ltd	24/11/2014
46	Arise Bhoomi Developers Ltd	02/12/2014
47	Vee Realties India Limited	02/12/2014
48	Sai Multi Services	02/12/2014
49	Kim Infrastructure & Developers Ltd	08/12/2014
50	KMJ Land Developers India Ltd	12/09/2014
51	Wisdom Agro Tech India Ltd	12/10/2014
52	Kalbut Real Estate Ltd	10/12/2014
53	Skylark Land Develpers Ltd	15/12/2014
54	Blessing Agro Farm India Ltd	15/12/2014
55	Ken Infratech Ltd	17/12/2014
56	MVL Limited	19/12/2014
57	Ecogreen Realestate (India) Limited	26/12/2014
58	Sai Prakash Properties Development Ltd	26/12/2014
59	GCA Marketing Pvt Ltd	30/12/2014
60	Karmabhumi Real Estate Ltd	30/12/2014
61	Sai Prakash Organic Foods Ltd	06/01/2015
62	Sai Prasad Foods Ltd.	14/01/2015
63	Sai Prasad Properties Ltd	14/01/2015
64	NICL India Ltd	14/01/2015
65	Utkarsh Plotters & Multi Agro Solutions India lTd	14/01/2015
66	Arohan Trustee Company Private Limited	21/04/2015
67	Garima Homes & Farm Houses Ltd	03/02/2015
68	Agri Gold Farms & Estates Ltd	05/02/2015
69	Suvidha Farming & Allied Ltd	12/02/2015
70	RBN Infrastructure India Ltd	25/02/2015
71	Anmol India Agro Herbal Farming and Dairies Care Co. Ltd	09/03/2015
72	Future Gold Infrabuild India Limited	13/03/2015
73	Shri Ram Real Estate and Business Solution Limited	17/03/2015
74	Mark Builders & Land Developers Limited	17/03/2015
75	Networth Marketing Limited	19/03/2015
76	Parivar Dairies and Allied Limited	30/03/2015
77	Swar Agrotech India Ltd	30/03/2015
78	Swar Agroteak and Housing India Private Limited (SAHIPL)	30/03/2015
79	Prosperity Agro India Limited	31/03/2015
80	Rich Infra Developers India Ltd	31/03/2015
81	BNP India Developers And Infrastructure Ltd	31/03/2015
82	Viswas Real Estates and Infrastructure India Ltd	27/04/2015
83	USK India Ltd.	07/05/2015
84	Insure Life Infrastructure India Limited	08/05/2015
85	Susk India Ltd.	29/05/2015
86	Citrus Check inns	03/06/2015
87	Capacious Farming Ltd	16/06/2015
88	IPN Land Developers And Allied Ltd and its Directors	22/06/2015
89	V3 Infrastructure & Estates Private Ltd and its Directors/Promoters	23/06/2015
90	Emerging India Infra Limited	26/06/2015
91	Bhoomi Devcon and Agritech Ltd	29/06/2015

- See more at: http://taxguru.in/sebi/sebi-issues-list-91-companies-investors-advised-invest.html#sthash.leIyY4xN.dpuf

Akbar Badruddin Jiwani
Mobile: 09323500008 Email: abjiwani@gmail.com Website: bhanudevelopers.blogspot.com

"The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a less...

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Journey of Sensex

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 03:32:00 +0000

I am sure that this would definitely help you to restore your "Confident" about long term equity investments.......

Journey of Life and Indian Stock market

1981 - I was born. SenSex = 173

1983 - Indian cricket team winning world cup. SenSex = 212.

1984 - Indira Gandhi shot dead & Bhopal Gas tragedy. SenSex = 245

1989 - hung parliament with Congress outside support. SenSex = 714.

1991 - Rajiv Gandhi assassination. SenSex = 1168

1992 - Indian economy opening up. Dream budget by MMS.

Harshad Mehta Scam. SenSex = 4285.

1993 - Bombing in mumbai. Also at BSE bldg. Riots all over.

SenSex = 2281.

1996 - Indian stock mkt goes digital with NSE's new trading platform. SenSex = 3367.

1999 - NDA coming to power with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as PM.

SenSex = 3740.

2000 - Technology boom. Sensex = 5001.

2001 - Gujarat earthquake. SenSex = 3640.

2003 - Big bull run start in Dalalb Street. SenSex = 3049.

2004 - UPA coming to power with Left party support. SenSex = 5591.

2006 - Sensex conquering 10000.

2007 - Sensex conquering 20000.

2008 - Sensex falling after touching high of 21200. Crude oil rising upto $ 147.

2009 - Sub-prime crisis in USA bring financial instability world wide.

Sensex = 9568.

2010 - Satyam scam, Common wealth scam, Telecom scam. Sensex = 17590.

2013 - Young RaghuRam Rajan appointed RBI governer. SenSex = 18835.

2014 - BJP alone cinquring 283 seats in Loksabha and NDA coming to power with 330 seats. SenSex = 25000.

2015 - Sensex = 30000.

- - -- - - - - - - - - - -

From 1981 till date it is clear that in all adversity & prosperity I & SenSex have grown. But during this period I have grown 33 times & at the same time SenSex have grown 173 times.

Surely there have been downside also. But sooner or Later that downside have always been overcomed.

Moral :- Be a systematic & disciplined investor. Coz as age grows investment are also sure to grow.

( SenSex figure are as on 31-mar of that particular year)

Save Wisely, Invest Smartly. !!

SIP – Your family’s Earning Member

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 08:26:00 +0000

My Dear Valuable Clients, Friends and Prospects As a student of Economics (particularly my focus is on Applied Economics & Consumer Behaviour) and being a Professional Financial Planner (also consider me as an Investment Advisor), my major focuses are on two things................ 1. Financial Literacy 2. Investment Behaviour After spending more than 15 years in the field of Personal Finance, a one particular thing which I have been noticed very seriously so far is that.............Why majority of Retail Investors are not becoming Wealthy over the period of time? People are doing their commercial activities mainly like, retail businesses, pursuing different professions, self – employed and nowadays most of the young people are salaried. When we are earnings then we are also savings certain amt. with consideration to meet our certain medium to long term financial goals and then accordingly we do invest our money in different investments products. But what I have observed that most of the (more than 90 %) investors are not cleared about the concept of........... "Investments should be aligned with our Financial Goals" and that's why they are confused about where to invest their hard earned money and eventually they become victims of "Agents" who are misguiding them by offering (most of the time forcefully pushing) such Financial / Investments products with immediate objective to protect their commercial interest first. Mostly people taking their investments decisions based on "Perception" (that's nothing but their investments decisions are influenced by what majority of the people around them are doing that same thing they also prefer to do). Second thing, in our country most of the investors are not realized the importance of "Professional Advice" and that's why they are deprived from Financial Literacy or in other words their investments "Agents" are not giving them proper information about such financial products and then they simply investing based on those Agents "Words of Mouth". Now I will show you what happened when you don't consider these four things..... 1. Lack of Visibility - When you are not clear with your investments objective or in other words "why am I investing"?, then probably your investments will never generate best returns because there was no alignment between investments products and time horizon. 2. Professional Advice - it is always advisable to approach only those investments professionals who are Independent (they should not to represent any particular Financial / Investments Institutions or they should not be employees of any such institutions) who can give you unbiased advice. 3. Opportunistic Approach: - It is a human nature which has the temptation of getting "the highest Returns". I have seen that most of the time people allowing their money to invest in that asset class which has given superior returns in immediate past and that's why they are jumping here and there.........couple of years back in Bond /FD then in MF then direct in Equity then Gold then move to Real Estate. These kinds of opportunistic approach will never generate "Compounding" effect on your Investments. 4. Inflation --- The Real Devil in the journey of Wealth Creation. So far we have seen that majority of the retail Investors preferred to invest in Debt (Fixed Income) products but they have not considered the future impact of Inflation on their investments returns. In fact, their Investments "Agents" have never taken such responsibility to educate their clients about Inflation impact and how much Real Rate of Returns they will earn from their investments in a long run. Impact of Inflation (All figures are in Lakh Rupees) Financial Goals Present cost After 5 Yrs. After 10 Yrs. After 15 Yrs. After 20 Yrs. Buying a Family Car 6 8.81 12.95 19.03 27.96 International Holiday 3 4.41 6.47 9.51 13.98 Buying a Housing Flat 40 58.77 86.35 126.88 186.43 Child Higher Education 18 26.45 38.86 57.09 83.90 Child Marriage 5 7.35 10.79 15.86 23.30 Retirement Corpus 50 73.46 107.95 158.60 233.04 Considered 8 % Inflation Rate Now a million dollar question is that How to win the battle against this invisible devil (Inflation)????? Answer is very simple.............Be organized with your Financial Resources and maintain the Strict Investments Discipline to achieve your Financial Goals. But this is not just enough to reach to Mt. Everest. The first and foremost thing is that you have to change your perception and you have to have a strong conviction that Equity has the capacity to generate far superior returns in a long run as compared to Debt (Fixed Income) Investment products. Now see these below mentioned performance records will show you that which one is better option to generate "Inflation-beaten returns" and to "Create the Wealth" in a long run. Those who had invested Rs. 10,000 every month between Nov., 1999 to Oct., 2014 in Diversified Equity Funds and Bank/Postal RDs. Investment Products Monthly Investments Total No. of months Total Amt. Invested Value as on 30th Sept., 2014 CAGR % (compounded annualized growth rate) Diversified Equity Funds MF - SIP 10,000 180 18,00,000 1,20,95,364* 22.39 % Bank / Postal Recurring Deposits 10,000 180 18,00,000 43,40,298 10.50 % *An average returns of 25 equity funds. See the difference between what Equity and Debt products have given returns in a long run. Same time period, same monthly investments amt. and same economy but due to lack of conviction and in the absence of professional investment advice, traditional debt product investors have lost the game against equity investors in a long run. Not only that.............the most important thing is that according to prevailing rule of CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) & MoF (Ministry of Finance), the Long Term Capital Gain (more than 12 months of investments) Tax on Equity investments are absolutely ZERO, whereas what returns you have earned (interest on your Bank and Postal RD) are Taxable. It is not that everybody should be rich enough to create the wealth. Nowadays most of young professionals, salaried, small & medium retail businessmen, entrepreneurs, etc. could easily invest monthly between Rs. 10,000 to 25,000 in well performed diversified equity funds through SIP (Systematic Investments Plan) mode and believe me this is the right way to participate into our country's macro economic growth on continuing basis. Diversified Equity Funds are giving enough diversification on your investments because Fund Managers are investing our hard earned money in so many different sectors and companies which are major contributors of our nation's economic growth and this kind of investments approach (diversified investment portfolios) to reduce the investments risk by large extent. So let's be committed with long term investments philosophy to achieve your above mentioned financial goals and to create the wealth for 2nd and 3 rd generation children of your family too. Now are you believed that MF – SIP could become your family's earning member??? Thanking you! Regards, Salim Momin, CEO CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERCM Disclaimers: 1. MF investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully. 2. Past performance of Mutual Fund schemes may or may not generate same returns in future also. _________________________________________________________________________________ INTEGROWTH INVESTMENT SERVICES Financial Planning & Wealth Management / Cash Management / Portfolio Restructuring Retirement Planning & Tax Planning / Investments for NRIs / Fixed Income & Pension Risk Management / Consumer Finance / Estate Planning 99304 33753 / 022 – 2678 3221 / integrowth@gmail.com / www.integrowth.co.in

Akbar Badruddin Jiwani
Mobile: 09323500008 Email: abjiwani@gmail.com Website: bhanudevelopers.blogspot.com

"This is what you shall do: love the earth and sun, and animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, ...

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ELSS: Combine tax savings with sound returns

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 May 2015 03:27:00 +0000

If you wish to combine tax savings with wealth creation, start an SIP in an ELSS fund early in the financial year

Atul Kumar, 44, a government offi cial, has taken to heart ET Wealth's advice to get down to tax saving investing right from the beginning of the financial year.One instrument he is keen to invest in is equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS), also known as tax-saver funds. Before he takes the plunge, Kumar is keen to learn more.

Why invest in ELSS funds

When investors put their money in a taxsaving product, they are usually concerned with the amount of tax they will save. They should also pay attention to the returns that these tax-saving investments will yield. ELSS funds score highly on this count. "ELSS is one of the instruments under Section 80C that takes 100% exposure to equities. Hence, along with tax saving, it also offers the benefit of wealth creation," says Renu Pothen, Research Head, Fundsupermart.com. The ELSS category has given an average return of 43.48% over the past one year and 22.99% over three years. Fixed-income schemes like PPF, EPF and NSC pay an interest rate of 8-9% while Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme pays 9.2%. The returns from NPS are lower than from ELSS funds as the former allows a maximum of only 50% investment in equities, and that too only in Nifty stocks. Traditional insurance plans give a return of 5-6%.And while Ulips do invest in equities, a part of the premium goes into offering insurance cover. The higher returns in ELSS funds will, of course, come with higher volatility .

Conservative investors should, however, remember that the risk in equities declines as your investment horizon increases. If you are going to have your money locked up for three years, you may as well invest at least a part of your tax-saving portfolio in an equity-based instrument like ELSS. The returns will be higher, and the interim volatility won't matter due to the lock-in. Pothen suggests that investors keen on wealth creation should leave their money invested in an ELSS fund even after the three-year lock-in so as to earn optimal returns from it. The risk of making a loss in equities becomes very small if you stay invested for 5-7 years.

The lock-in allows fund managers do a better job. According to Jinesh Gopani, Fund Manager, Axis Long Term Equity Fund, "To deliver steady returns, a fund manager needs a steady and predictable inflow of AUM. The lock-in period in ELSS funds gives fund managers the leeway to thoroughly analyse companies and invest with a longer time horizon because they know the money is going to stay with them for at least three years."

Choose the right fund

Before investing in an ELSS fund, check its track record. Compare its returns over the short (six-month and one-year), medium (three-year) and long-term (five-year) horizons vis-a-vis its benchmark and the category average. Ensure that the fund has been ahead over all or most of these time horizons.

Besides high returns, look for consistency . Not only should the fund have beaten its benchmark in rising markets, it should also have fallen less than its benchmark in declining markets. Gopani suggests that investors should pay heed to a fund's risk-adjusted return rather than just the return. The fund's expense ratio, level of churn, and level of risk should also be lower than the category average. Look up the websites of rating agencies like Morningstar and Value Research for these data.

There should also be consistency at the helm. The fund manager who was responsible for creating the fund's fine track record should still be managing it.

What should you avoid?

Avoid making a lump sum investment in ELSS funds. If the market is at a high level and it falls right after you invest--the sort of conditions that prevail today--you will see massive erosion in your portfolio value.Instead, use the SIP approach and take advantage of rupee-cost averaging to garner good returns from these funds.

When selecting an ELSS fund, take into consideration your own risk appetite. "Conservative investors should avoid ELSS funds that take large exposure to midand smallcap stocks. They should stick to funds that invest primarily in large-cap stocks," says Vidya Bala, head of research, Fundsindia.com. Aggressive investors may opt for funds with a higher midand small-cap exposure.

Finally, since in all likelihood your purpose is to build up a corpus to meet various financial goals, avoid the dividend option and go for growth.

A HIMALAYAN TRAGEDY

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 12:31:00 +0000

7.9-Intensity Quake Nepal's Worst in 81 Years Heritage Structures Flattened IAF Evacuates Over 300

Cross-Border Trauma Kills Over 1,500

A powerful 7.9magnitude earthquake epicentred near Kathmandu ripped through the upper part of the South Asian peninsula on Saturday , rattling the landscape from Myanmar to Punjab, leaving more than 1,500 dead and thousands injured in Nepal alone and flattening cities and towns. As rescue operations, mostly aided by Indian armed forces, were mounted in the Himalayan foothills, the toll in In dia crossed 50.

Nepalese police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam said the quake, with its epicentre around 80km from the resort town of Pokhra and 200km west of Kathmandu, was Nepal's worst since 1934. It was close to the earth's surface, making it deadlier than those which convulse the earth deeper down.

The temblor began rumbling across the densely populated Kathmandu Valley around noon before spreading toward the Himalayas, Tibet, northern and eastern India, Bangladesh and eastern Pakistan. While two deaths were reported from Bangladesh, agencies said at least 12 people were killed in Tibet.No casualties were reported from Myanmar or Bhutan. "The Himalayan tectonics underneath are really writhing, so many shocks one after another. Aftershocks is a misnomer,'' tweeted Nepalese writer Kanak Mani Dixit.

Himalayan Times editorial adviser Joseph Nathan said tremors were on at 9pm but were getting milder. "Fear has gripped Kathmandu and people are all out in the streets and open areas for fear of another round of major tremors.It is dark and chilly , with no power, rather total blackout, no piped gas supply and no water supply,'' he said.

"The biggest worry in the city now is about the sanitation problem that is going to hit by tomorrow (Sunday) morning. Even the big hotels which have piped gas supply are without it.'' PM Narendra Modi, in remarks made at the Jnanpith Award ceremony , said India's 1.2 billion people shared Nepal's grief and were with them in this hour of need. The first IAF rescue aircraft landed at Palam around 10.40pm on Saturday with 55 on board, including four infants. BJP's M J Akbar, who was among the evacuees, said the situation in Nepal was "scary". Two more IAF planes with over 250 Indians were expected later in the night.

As the convulsions subsided and the dust cleared, what emerged was a battered Kathmandu. The city's biggest tourist draw, Durbar Square, was a pile of bricks with a few temples standing.

Nathan said surprisingly the new buildings survived better than the old constructions. "...200 to 300 year old temples have been reduced to the ground." The 1832-built Dharahara tower, built as a viewing post for Nepal's queen, was reduced to a 10m stump. TV visuals showed clouds of dust swirling as panicked residents ran out of homes and buildings while walls tumbled, trees swayed and power lines came crashing down. Around 200 people, who had climbed the 60-metre Dharahara to get a bird's eye view of the Valley, were buried under the debris. Several bodies were extracted from the rubble of the landmark.

The casualties among tourists were not clear as the dead had not been counted or identified. But the numbers could be high given around 300,000 foreign tourists are estimated to be in Nepal for the trekking and climbing as the season opened.

The quake left large cracks on streets, craters pock-marking the ground, collapsed walls, broken windows and fallen poles along with streets filled with harried survivors. The first aftershock — magnitude 6.6 — hit about an hour after the big quake.

Reports said isolated mountainous areas in Nepal were badly hit. But the extent of the damage was unclear due to inaccessibility and breakdown of communications that hampered relief efforts as well. Many remote villages were feared to have been almost wiped out as houses there were either buried by landslide or damaged by shaking near the epicenter.

"Over large parts of rural Nepal, houses built with mud mortar are down. Glad it's not winter & not yet monsoon,'' tweeted author Kanak Mani Dixit. "Don't know enough about Bhaktapur. From the Valley rim my brother saw a pall of dust rise over Bhaktapur.

I think it has been badly hit.'' Rain and thunderstorms were forecasted for Saturday night and Sunday adding to rescue concerns and the woes of homeless survivors. A news agency quoted an Indian tourist saying she was having coffee with her friends in Kathmandu when "suddenly the tables started trembling and paintings on the wall fell on the ground''.

She added they screamed and rushed outside and were collecting bodies and rushing the injured to hospitals. "We are being forced to pile several bodies one above the other to fit them in." The tourist said she saw three bodies of monks trapped in debris of a collapsed building near a monastery. "We are trying to pull the bodies out and look for anyone who is trapped."

"Saddest was to stand on the mound of what used to be the Dharahara landmark tower, and see the citizens, police and army pull the bodies out,'' tweeted Dixit. Hospitals in Kathmandu were teeming with wounded with mostly broken limbs. Volunteers formed human chains to clear the way for ambulances

Akbar Badruddin Jiwani
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Metro fare panel set up, govt to ask HC to stay hiked rates

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 06:39:00 +0000

State Wants Revision By Committee

Approval for the fare fixation committee (FFC) that will determine Metro tariff on the VersovaAndheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) corridor was pushed through on Saturday . The state government now plans to approach the Bombay high court to seek a stay on Friday's fare increase and to ask it to let the committee decide the tariff.

Retired Justice E Padmanabhan is chairman of the committee, and the two other members are former chief secretary Jayant Kumar Banthia and former law secretary T K Vishwanathan.

Chief Minister M Devendra Fadnavis, who was in New Delhi, tweeted: "Met Hon UD Minster Venkiahji.Today he constituted a committee under Retired Justice Padmanabh for fare fixation for Mumbai Metro."

Next he tweeted: "State government will bring this to the notice of Hon High Court and will request to stay their order and let the committee decide on tariff issue."

Despite the government acting with speed, there may not be an immediate decision on a rollback of the new, higher fares -Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 30 and Rs 40 introduced by Metro operator MMOPL after a favourable high court order -as the FFC will take some time to begin its work.

The Metro Act allows the MMOPL to fix and charge the initial fares, which is what it did on Friday after a few months of what was called promotional fares.

The earlier, promotional fares were Rs 9 to Rs 13, as favoured by the government.

Sources said that under the Metro Act, the committee will have to decide on fare fixation within three months of submission of an application for fare revision.

"The act is silent on who should make an application before the commission," an MMRDA official said.

The MMRDA, a government agency with 26% stake in MMOPL, is opposed to the new fares and instead wants slabs of Rs 9, Rs 12 and Rs 13. It argues that these rates were accepted by the consortium in the concession agreement.

"There are chances that both MMOPL and MMRDA, on behalf of the state government, may file a separate application," a source said. "It will then be left to the FFC to decide on the fare."

On Thursday , the high court directed the Centre to appoint the FFC before January 31 to discuss tariff for different stops on the corridor.

Alarm in K'taka, TN as Naidu 2.0 goes on biz hunt

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 05:23:00 +0000

Uses New State's Tax Breaks To Woo Tech, Mfg Investment

For many years after he lost office in 2004, Chandrababu Naidu would flinch when complimented on his industry-friendly approach as chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh. He seemed wary of owning up to his past, attributing his electoral loss to the pursuit of liberal economic policies that were seen to be focused around Hyderabad and ignored the rest of the state, particularly rural AP.

Back in the saddle this June, Naidu 2.0 is closer to his old avatar. His pincer raids on Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have raised hackles in both Bengaluru and Chennai, with Karnataka chief minister Siddara maiah complaining to PM Narendra Modi about the unfair tax breaks AP gets because of its `new state' status. No surprises for guessing that J Jayalalithaa had also shot off a similar missive to the PM.

That the CM of a state that's synonymous with IT and accounts for almost 40% of India's technology industry is worried about Naidu's charm offensive is a good indicator of how serious Karnataka is taking Naidu's threat.

Naidu wants to attract $2 billion in IT investments over the next 5 years to AP . He also wants to create 50 lakh tech jobs, take broadband connectivity (1,000 mbps or gigabit) to every village and make at least one person e-literate in every household. With AP chief minister Chandrababu Naidu going all out to attract investments to his state, the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments are panicking. Not only does Naidu want to attract $2billion in IT investments in five years, to boost entrepreneurship he plans to create one-million sq ft of incubation space by 2019.

In early November, Naidu was in Bengaluru for the nth time, meeting industry captains and entrepreneurs. He made a pit stop at Cisco's campus where he addressed employees at an all-hands meeting, perhaps the first townhall hosted to welcome the head of a local state. He shared his vision on how technology would be the backbone of his state. He also met senior executives from firms like Flipkart, First American Corporation, ITC Infotech and ABB. Besides, Naidu inaugurated the Bengaluru facility of Nutanix, one of Silicon Valley's hottest start-ups, before sitting through a session on e-governance and financial inclusion at the start-up incubator founded by American-Indian billionaire Vinod Khosla.

He visited Khosla Labs and was keen to explore the possibility of using Aadhaar at MeeSeva (at your service in Telugu), a single portal for government-tocustomer and government-tobusiness services. "He had a lot of questions on how GIS could help solve civic problems. Our whole pitch was about governing using data, about running cities using a single dashboard, and he was very impressed," Srikanth Nadhamuni, CEO of Khosla Labs, told TOI.

"He's a very forward thinking leader, an entrepreneur at heart, someone very keen on public service," said Dheeraj Pandey , foun der of Nutanix, the five-year-old, California-based company. Naidu got to know of Nutanix thanks to B V Jagadeesh, an AmericanIndian entrepreneur who grew up in Bengaluru and is an investor in a range of start-ups, including Nutanix.

Naidu's forays to Bengaluru have a specific purpose: To lure investments into the backward Rayalaseema region of AP. Naidu, in his state, is being accused of being partial to the region around Vijayawada, leaving the drylands of Rayalaseema—where his rival Jagan Reddy is strong — out of his development agenda. In TN, Naidu's focus is to get manufacturing investment to move across the border to Sri City, a special economic zone located in Tada, which is 55 km from Chennai.

Naidu is pushing Tada so that major investments that can leverage proximity to Chennai can be located here. Japanese auto giant Isuzu first zeroed in on Chennai for its India plant before opting for Sri City. Lack of industrial land and power in TN combined with access to a high-quality port at Krishnapatnam in Nellore is moving industrial projects across the border. This is naturally causing jitters in Chennai.

In fact, much to Karnataka's chagrin, Naidu got Hero MotorCorp to set up its first factory in in AP . Siddaramaiah had then said, "We offered maximum concessions to the company (tax holidays, excise duty exemption, concessions in entry tax, interest-free loan of central sales tax). But AP offered them free land. We cannot do that because other companies will also ask for it. We cannot compete with AP on this.'' Power is another plus for Naidu. With his government is promising uninterrupted power to factories, the AP-TN border area is turning attractive for industry . "Power is the elixir for industrialization. While AP is surplus, Telangana appears to be struggling on the power front, but for the recent power purchase agreement between Telangana and Chhattisgarh," TS Raghupathy , advisor to India Cements, said.

In fact, what Naidu is doing to TN is exactly what that state did to Karnataka a couple of decades ago. Between 1978 and 1985, a flurry of investments meant for Bangalore stopped just inside the Tamil Nadu border.TVS Motor, Ashok Leyland, Ti tan and several others pumped in hundreds of crores into Hosur, 40km from Bangalore.

Manufacturing investments, obviously , are big on Naidu's mind. End November will see Naidu in Japan where he will pitch for Japanese companies to set up shop in Tada, even while seeking investments for his new capital. This is reminiscent of what he did earlier. In December 1999, Naidu had flown to Bangalore and pleaded with members of the Confederation of Indian Industry to consider AP . He pitched proximity to the interstate border and assured investors of royal treatment.

"More than what he said it was his audacity to call for investments from another state that appealed to businessmen.He was the first CM to woo investors from other states. Previously, CMs only went to Delhi to showcase their states," said T Ramappa, then secretary of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Babu--as Naidu is referred to in AP--did not restrict himself to Bangalore. In the manner of a salesman, he travelled to the US and sat outside the office of Bill Gates for a few hours to meet him. The result: Micro soft set up a development centre in Hyderabad and kickstarted an IT enclave in the Nizam's city.

Many other tech firms followed although by the time they actually came up Naidu had lost polls. They included Infosys, Wipro, Facebook and Google.

Naidu also offered free land to the ISB and got it located in Hyderabad though its first choice was Maharashtra. Impressed by the upcoming Hyderabad, even US President Bill Clinton decided to drop by (as did his successor George Bush).

This time around Naidu's mission is different. Although he claims that creation of a modern IT industry in AP is also his mission, insiders know that with a large coastline, export-oriented manufacturing near the ports offers a greater opportunity.

Moreover, strapped for cash, Naidu requires a lot of investment for the new capital that he wants to build on the river Krishna across the city of Vijayawada.

"I wanted to develop Visakhapatnam after Hyderabad, but by the time the turn came I had lost elections," he says candidly.

Now Visakhapatnam — a port city with a Navy base, two ports and a significant cosmopolitan crowd — is sought to be promoted as the Mumbai of the East.

This is a trifle ambitious considering the city is still reeling from a major cyclone and being on the east coast is vulnerable to more such storms in future.

According to latest reports, Singapore is weighing Naidu's plea to help prepare a blue print for AP's capital. S M Krishna, when he was chief minister of Karnataka, went head-tohead with Naidu to attract IT investments and turn Bangalore into a Singapore. If Naidu has his way, perhaps it will be Vijayawada that will become India's Singapore.

(With inputs from N D Shivakumar in Bangalore)

CM moots new cluster policy, 20L city homes

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 05:20:00 +0000

A new cluster dev elopment policy for Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolit an Region (MMR) in the next three months has been prop osed by chief minister Deve ndra Fadnavis in a vision do cument he has prepared for the city and Maharashtra, reports Clara Lewis.

The Dharavi redevelopm ent scheme is to be reinitiat ed, and execution will begin within six months. The CM also considers housing a top priority and wants to create 20 lakh new homes in MMR over five years and decentral ize financial activities from ll Mumbai to the MMR. CM Devendra Fadnavis outlined plans to revive the Mithi river on the lines of the Sabarmati Katha in his vision document for the city and state. He has appointed a special officer, who is not from the bureaucracy , to strategize and implement this vision. The officer is part of the chief minister's office.

Sources said work has begun on addressing the issue of police housing in the city. "Of the 27,000 houses for cops, 7,000 are habitable while 20,000 are in a dilapidated state. Further, there is a need to provide housing for the rest of the police force that lives in terrible conditions in the city or in the distant suburbs.We are in talks with the police force on their needs," sources said.

Apart from decentralizing financial activities from the city to the MMR, the CM plans to address the issue of intra-state migration to Mumbai by developing cities and towns in other regions of the state.

He wants a Mumbai-MMR development master plan with focus on housing, education, marketplace, health, transport, security , solid waste management, environment and open spaces development. Along with the coastal road and the transharbour link, the CM is keen to develop east-west corridors such as the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road. He wants to cut daily travel time by an hour and integrate all transport systems, leading to single ticket access across MMR, states the vision document.

While the Democratic Front government had appointed Mhada to redevelop Sector 5 of Dharavi for which the master plan has already been prepared, sources said the BJP government may opt for public-private partnership.

Governor brings ACB back under RTI Act on last day of Prez rule

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 03:33:00 +0000

Every bit of information related to inquiries and investigations made by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), even in high-profile cases involving top officials and political leaders, will remain in public domain.

Governor C Vidyasagar Rao directed the government to withdraw the notification exempting the ACB from provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act on Thursday , the last day of President's rule in the state. An official attached to the Raj Bhavan said a notification withdrawing President's rule will be issued on Friday , coinciding with Devendra Fadnavis taking over as the state's first BJP chief minister. The decision to exclude the ACB from the RTI Act was taken by the Con gress-NCP government led by Prithviraj Chavan on September 6, 2014.

"The governor has taken the decision to withdraw the notification after considering representations from various RTI activists and after taking cognizance of newspaper reports which reflected the view that the notification was in violation of the RTI Act," said a press release issued by the Raj Bhavan. Interestingly , organisations such as the Intelligence Bureau (IB), CBI, and CID do not come under the purview of RTI. Several RTI activists had written to the governor, calling the order illegal. After Thursday's order, Rao received gushing praise. "My salute to the governor! I think he and his advisors have shown extraordinary wisdom," said former central information commissioner and RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi.

Activists Jitendra Ghadge, Ketan Tirodkar and Chetan Kothari were also happy with the order. Activist Anil Galgali pointed out that the earlier government's order was perhaps intended to keep under wraps information on the many corruption cases filed against Congress and NCP leaders.

Swiss jolt: Reminds govt of terms for sharing bank info

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 03:32:00 +0000

`Tax Treaty Bars Giving Secret Data To Courts'

In a fresh threat to the flow of information about Indians holding accounts in foreign banks, Switzerland on Thursday said that information exchanged with India under its tax treaty can't be disclosed "in principle" to a court or any other body outside the proceedings of a "specific and relevant" case.

This Swiss clarification came after the Centre was ordered by the Supreme Court to hand over all 627 names of Indian account holders in HSBC Bank, Geneva, forcing India to opt out of signing a treaty on exchange of financial information.

"The double tax agreement between India and Switzerland is in line with international standards and provides for exchange of information on request," a Swiss finance ministry official told PTI on Thursday ."Information exchanged und er terms of the DTA can be provided to a court in situations where it is dealing with a specific case related to tax matters." Conversely , information cannot be disclosed in principle to a court or another body outside of such proceedings," the Swiss finance ministry official added.

Explaining the treaty provisions about disclosure of `secret' information, a Swiss finance ministry spokesperson told PTI from Berne that authorities from the two countries have "regular contacts on bilateral tax matters" but refused to comment on particular cases.

The exchange of information on tax matters between India and Switzerland is based on the double taxation agreement and protocol that was signed in 2010 between the two countries.It has been in force since October 2011.

India's last minute withdrawal from the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement -which provides for automatic information exchange, starting 2017 -is bound to choke the flow of vital data to tax authorities and hinder attempts to act against unaccounted funds parked in overseas accounts.

India can still sign the pact.Currently , it is awaiting clarity from the SC. The source pointed out that India also has to sign the Inter-Governmental Agreement with the US for automatic exchange of information.

The treaty with the US again comes with a confidentiality clause. Officials said in case of a delay beyond December 31, all remittances from the US will face a 30% withholding tax. "For signing the agreement, the government has to give a commitment that it will follow international standards for the information received.But we could not give an assurance due to Supreme Court's interpretation of confidentiality , which is critical for all governments to exchange information," said a government offi cial. Swiss authorities, too, are worried about sharing information and their comments come at a time when a SC-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) is probing alleged stashing of black money by Indians aboard.

There has been a heated debate here on whether the disclosure of names, without prosecution, could violate tax treaties under which these names and other details are shared by foreign countries.

Replying to queries in this regard, the Swiss Federal department of finance spokesper son said the protocol to SwissIndian Double Taxation Agreement states that any information received "by a contracting state shall be treated as `secret' in the same manner as information obtained under the domestic laws of that state..."

The treaty further provides that any such information "shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned with the assessment or collection of (information), the enforcement or prosecution in respect of, or the determination of appeals in relation to the taxes ... or the oversight of the above."

For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com

No offenders will be spared: Shah

New Delhi: Justice M B Shah, heading the SC-appointed Special Investigation Team supervising black money probe, said on Thursday that there are names other than the 627 submitted by the government to the apex court which he is trying to gather and those will be investigated as well. In an interview to a TV channel, Justice Shah said no offenders -big or small -will be spared and SIT will submit its report by the first week of December. TNN

Soon, register a business in India in just one day

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 04:24:00 +0000

The Narendra Modi government, in a bid to make India a better place to do business, is working to cut down the time taken to register a business from 27 days to just one. Towards this end, it has readied a raft of measures, such as single registration for all labour laws, overhaul of tax systems, reduction in the number of permits required, easing up property registration and quick electricity connection, which are expected to make the country a friendlier investment destination.

Currently, India has the reputation of being a notoriously difficult place to do business. According to World Bank's "Ease of Doing Business" index, India ranks 134 out of 189 countries, behind China (No. 96) and neighbours Pakistan (No. 110) and Bangladesh (No. 130).

During the launch of the Make in India campaign, the prime minister had announced that his government would take steps to bring the country's ranking among the top 50. The government has made the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) the nodal agency to push procedural reforms to make India a better place to do business.In turn, DIPP has set a time frame of 3-6 months for implementing the changes. It has asked all ministries to come on board and work to reform the regulatory structure and overhaul the investment climate. States are also being encouraged to join the Centre's efforts to improve the regulatory structure and cut down delays.

Among the focus areas is reforming the tax system. It has been suggested that the number of taxes be reduced and online payment of taxes allowed. Education and higher education cess, dividend and withholding taxes can be incorporated under corporation tax to simplify the process, officials said.The Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) for developers of special economic zones (SEZs) and units in SEZs is proposed to be abolished.There is emphasis to expeditiously implement the Direct Tax Code and goods and service tax (GST).

"To achieve all this, the government, along with the states, will need to carry out radical measures on a war footing," said an official, who did not wish to be named.

The DIPP has set timelines for various reforms for ministries and departments. For example, it has been suggested that there should be no inspection for low-risk business and com puter-based selection for high-risk ones. There is also a proposal for a uniform policy and procedure for all states so as to enable the single-window clearance system, along with a combined application form with an institutional mechanism to provide various approvals.

The DIPP has cited examples from various countries such as Malaysia, New Zealand, Canada, Rwanda, Turkey and the UAE to ease up the processes and reduce delays. It has also been suggested that the requirement of minimum paid-up capital for starting a business should be done away with, as 90 countries have no such requirement. To remove hurdles in getting electricity for businesses, several measures have been identified which include removing the requirement of pollution control certificates for providing a connection.State electricity boards and the power ministry have been asked to simplify procedures to get an electricity connection.

Uddhav blinks, heads for Delhi to meet BJP top brass

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 04:23:00 +0000

Has Already Sent 2 Sena Leaders To Meet Rajnath`Matoshree Must Adapt To Changing Political Climate'

Shiv Sena seems to have blinked first in the impasse with BJP over government formation in the state. While it despatched two senior functionaries, Subhash Desai and Anil Desai, to Delhi on Tuesday to hold talks with home minister Rajnath Singh and BJP leader J P Nadda on the issue of support to a BJP-led government, Sena president Uddhav Thackeray himself is likely to go to the capital on Wednesday or Thursday . BJP sources confirmed Uddhav has been trying to get through to PM Modi. NCP's unconditional support to BJP has compelled Sena to give up its strident note, said Sena watchers.

However, it was not clear if Sena leaders will submit a formal proposal from Uddhav to Singh and Nadda, outlining the party's demand in return for support. BJP leader O P Mathur said his party and its allies, who have 123 seats, have garnered 15 seats more.

"We now have 137, even 138 seats," he told mediapersons.

BJP wants Sena to support the government from inside without any conditionalities.

Sena turned restive as it became clear that Singh and Nadda had put off their Mumbai visit again on Tuesday. That Sena has gone on the back foot is an indication that BJP played its cards well after the poll results were out on Sunday , political analysts said. "We had decided that under no circumstances will we go to Sena on bended knees to seek support. We want Sena to be with us in the new regime. However, Matoshree should stop acting pricey and adapt itself to the changing political climate in the state," said a key state BJP leader.

Meanwhile, nearly 35 of the 44 BJP MLAs from Vidarbha on Tuesday came out openly with their demand that Union minister Nitin Gadkari should be anointed as the state's chief minister.

The MLAs gathered at Gadkari's Nagpur residence in a veritable show of strength. Earlier, Gadkari was given a rousing reception by his supporters at the Nagpur airport.The Union minister arrived from New Delhi by a morning flight.

Talking to mediapersons, Gadkari reiterated that he didn't see himself in the race for the top post."I have stated several times that I am not keen on coming to Maharashtra as CM", he said.

Some in the state BJP think that Gadkari, with his blunt, no-nonsense style, would be a better choice as CM than the soft-spoken Devendra Fadnavis if the Sena is set to join the government. Gadkari has in the past given several rebuffs to Matoshree, and vice versa. However, the central BJP leadership is all set to anoint Fadnavis after Diwali.

BJP leader from Vidarbha Sud hir Mungantiwar has made it clear that he favours Gadkari as chief minister. "The final decision will, of course, be taken by the party's parliamentary board. However, Gadkari's decision to stay put in New Delhi is improper. He should come to Maharashtra as chief minister," said Mungantiwar, a Gadkari loyalist.

No threat to Rajnath Singh in city:

The Mumbai police on Tuesday T denied rumours that there was a threat to Union home minister Rajnath Singh in the city. Singh was expected to visit Mumbai on Monday to meet the newly elected BJP MLAs and decide on the leadership issue and government formation, but the trip was deferred to after Diwali.Following the announcement, rumours began circulating that the Union home ministry had received an input about a threat to Singh in Mumbai. The city police rubbished the claim. "There is no such input.Also, we have not received his itinerary," said an officer.

Exit Polls Give BJP The Thumbs-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 02:20:00 +0000

Set To Form Govt In M'rashtra & Haryana, But Not All Projections Give It Clear Majority Sena May Finish 2nd, Cong 3rd, MNS To Fare Worse Than In 2009

BJP will form the next government in both Maharashtra and Haryana, exit polls predicted on Wednesday . The only thing they did not agree on was whether the party would win a clear majority on its own. If the polls are proved right, it will validate BJP's bold gamble in going it alone in both states, as well as its focus on a Narendra Modi-centred campaign that dwelt more on governance issues than on the communal rhetoric often associated with the saffron party .

Of the four exit polls that made projections for Maharashtra, one--by Today's Chanakya--gave BJP 151 seats or a clear majority in the 288member assembly . Another, done by AC Nielsen for ABP News, predicted that the par ty would just hit the half-way mark of 144. The CVoter poll conducted for Times Now gave BJP 138 seats and the Cicero poll for the India Today group gave it 124. According to the latter two, while BJP would need some support from others, it should hardly find that a problem.

Interestingly , Shiv Sena too is not seen as a major loser, at least in terms of seats, from the break-up of the 25-yearold alliance with BJP . All the polls agreed that it would finish second and improve significantly on its 2009 tally of 44 seats, though the numbers varied from 59 to 77. Three of the four polls put Congress in third spot, just a little ahead of NCP , while one had it the other way round. MNS would get fewer than the 13 seats it won in 2009, all polls said.

In Haryana, which recorded an all-time high turnout of 73%, only three polls made predictions. Two of them gave BJP a clear majority, while the third had it hitting the half-way mark. The ABP News poll suggested BJP will win 54 seats in the 90-member House, Chanakya 52 and CVoter 45. If any of these comes true, BJP will comfortably form the government in the state.

Modi's popularity still a vote-catcher?

PM Narendra Modi's dominance looks set to be entrenched with exit polls indicating that BJP chief Amit Shah's gamble of going it alone in Maharashtra and Haryana may have paid off.The gains indicated suggest continuing popularity of Modi and his message of development and probity. P 14

Infy beats estimates as Q2 net up 6% at $511m

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 03:18:00 +0000

Declares 1:1 Bonus In Auspicious Start For Sikka

Vishal Sikka has had an auspicious start at Infosys. His first quarterly results as CEO of the company came in better than expected and, combined with a 1:1 bonus issue and a Rs 30 per share interim dividend, sent the share price up by 6.5% on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday -a day when the broader sensex fell.

In a bonus issue, there is no addition of wealth for any shareholder. But since it makes the shares more affordable and accessible to retail investors, it could increase demand, which in turn could exert an upward pressure on the share price.

Infosys' revenue in the quarter ended September was up 3.1% at $2.2 billion, compared to the preceding one, and was up 6.5% compared to the same period last year. That was mostly in line with analysts' expectations, but is still below the 7-9% guidance that Infosys has provided for the full year, and means that growth rates in the next two quarters have to be higher to meet the guidance.

The firm's net profit, however, was much higher than expected. It rose 6% to $511 mil lion in the quarter, compared to the first quarter, and 33.4% compared to the year-ago period. The operating margin improved by 100 basis points to 26%. It was 21.9% a year ago.

Sikka, who took over as the first non-founder CEO of Infosys on August 1, said he was overhauling existing services and creating new ones based on a host of new technologies that have emerged in areas such as automation, artificial intelligence, cloud, mobility , analytics and sensors. "Infosys has to amplify the abilities of clients, not just augment them," he said.

Digital transformation, he said, was reshaping the business of every one of Infosys' clients. "We see this as a great opportunity to help them renew the core of their business as well as to expand into new frontiers and are seeing early positive results," he said. He said it may take two-three years for the strategy to make visible a meaningful impact. Today, when the headlines are about twenty-something digital millionaires who raise billions for their fledgling web enterprises which are yet to make any money, it is easy to forget that their success has been built on the foundation laid by companies like Infosys which, in a sense, started it all in Bangalore. The technology revolution of India has many fathers but the one that caught the public imagination and grabbed global headlines and positioned India as a tech power was Infosys.With all the founders having exited the company, TOI brings you pictures from their long, illustrious journey

Vodafone wins Rs 3,200cr tax case

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 03:17:00 +0000

No Levy On Transfer Of Shares To Mauritius-Based Parent, Rules HC

Vodafone got a shot in the arm on Friday after the Bombay high court ruled in its favour in the transfer pricing case relating to undervaluation of share capital issued by Vodafone India Services Private Limited (Vodafone India) to its Mauritius parent.

The tax department sought to bring the transaction of issue of share capital within the transfer pricing ambit. It held that the differential between the price at which shares were issued by Vodafone India and the valuation done by the tax department to be in the nature of a loan to the Mauritius-based parent company . In other words, equity was recharacterized as a loan. The tax department raised a demand of around Rs 3,200 crore.

However, the high court held that issue of shares does not give rise to any income and there can be no question of any transfer pricing adjustment. A bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha ruled, "Issue of shares at a premium by the petitioner to its non-resident holding company does not give rise to any income from an admitted international transaction." For the purpose of application of transfer pricing provisions, one of the prerequisites is that there must be an international transaction between associated enterprises (Vodafone India and the Mauritius company in this case). However, in the absence of income, no international transaction can arise.

"There is no charge express or implied, in letter or in spirit to tax issue of shares at a premium as income. In this case, the revenue seems to be confusing the measure to a charge and calling the measure a notional income. We find that there is absence of any charge in the Act to subject issue of shares at a premium to tax," ob served the high court.

Vodafone said in a statement on Friday that the company "has maintained consistently throughout the legal proceedings that this transaction was not taxable. We welcome the decision today in the Bombay high court".

On August 21, 2008, Vodafone India had issued 2,89,224 equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 8,500 per share.

However, the transfer pricing officer revalued the shares at Rs 53,775 per share. Based on arm's length pricing adjustment, the tax department held a total shortfall of Rs 1,308.91 crore to be a deemed loan given by Vodafone India to its holding company. Periodical interest income was also held chargeable to tax in the hands of Vodafone India.

Sanjay Tolia, leader, transfer pricing at PwC India, said, "It is a welcome judgment as the transaction of issue of shares by Vodafone was nothing but a capital account transaction, and consequently the share premium, if any, ought to be capital receipt. The transfer pricing provisions permit the transaction to be re-quantified but not to be re-characterized. Hence, there was no question of the transaction resulting in 'income' taxable in India. The judgment will not only serve as a precedent in the legal arena but will also lend the much needed boost to foreign investors." Pranav Sayta, tax partner, EY India, said, "The verdict not only spells victory for Vodafone but also holds hope for other companies which are facing a similar dispute. One has to wait and see whether the tax department accepts this order or decides to appeal before the Supreme Court." Shell and two Essar Group companies are among several other MNCs contesting similar transfer pricing cases.

ORDERS REVIEW - Sebi pulls up NSE for failed circuit filter

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 03:15:00 +0000

Market regulator Sebi on Friday censured the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for its failure to halt trading in its equity and equity derivatives markets through a circuit filter system even though the nifty index on the bourse had breached the 10% lower circuit and then the 15% level, as stipulated by law.

Sebi also directed NSE "to be careful and cautious in its dealings in the securities market and comply with all the legal requirements that govern its functions as a stock exchange".

On October 5, 2012, a dealer at Emkay Global Finance had erroneously put in an order to sell a nifty basket consisting each of the 50 index constituents worth Rs 950 crore. Within a few seconds of the order being put into the system, nifty had crashed 16% before trading was stopped by the exchange.

Sebi rules, however, stipulate that in case the index moves 10% on either side, both NSE and BSE should stop trading for an hour in both equity and derivatives segments of the market.In case of a 15% crash, there should be a cooling off period of two hours. However, Sebi found that NSE had failed to bring a coordinated trading halt. Sebi also directed NSE to carry out a comprehensive review, by an independent consultant.

Consumer goods makers log off Flipkart

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 03:10:00 +0000

Top Electronics Cos Like Samsung, LG, Sony Miffed With E-Tailer's Rock-Bottom Prices

It may have sent the cash registers ringing, but the bumper 'Big Billion Day Sale' online splash by Flipkart has pitched the country's largest e-tailer head-on against top consumer goods players such as Samsung, Sony and LG, some of whom have suspended fresh sales to the online retailer and are even considering legal action for what they term as "predatory pricing".

Further, a senior executive said his company, which deals in white goods, may not be able to provide warranty on some of the products that are sold through e-tailing platforms. "These goods are being sold through unauthorized channel partners, which is like buying from the grey market. How can we provide a service cover?" Irked at the "market-distorting" discounts that the eretailers offered on Monday, which severely impacted the business of brick-and-mortar retailers, some companies have decided to suspend supplies to Flipkart till the time they get an undertaking that prices will not be slashed to "unrealistic" levels. "This is a clear case of predatory pricing just to shoot up traffic at their website, and build up valuations unrealistically . This is not acceptable and we will ensure that this does not happen again," a top functionary at one of the big companies said.

LG, the consumer appliances major, has decided to not deal with the e-retailers at all. "We do not deal with them directly, and they are not our authorized trade partners," Sanjeev Agarwal, VP (sales) at LG Electronics India, told TOI here.

Sony India was also miffed at the huge discounts being offered online when compared to prices at the bricks-andmortar showrooms, which still account for over 90% of overall sales. "The hygiene has to be maintained in terms of pricing. We will hold discussions with the online retailers to look at the way forward and ensure that the pricing is realistic," Sunil Nayyar, head of sales at Sony India, said.

A top company decided to pull the plug on Flipkart after what it termed as the "Monday Fiasco". "They are not playing fair. They are damaging our brand and killing the organized retail, which provides livelihood to lakhs of people," said a senior official with an electronics major.

Some of the companies are considering legal action.

"We will definitely seek legal opinion. They are damaging our brand. We want to know what the modus operandi is and how are they able to sell below the cost price."

Rachna Nath, who tracks retail and consumer sectors at PwC India, said online retail is here to stay, though its current share is less than 5% of the overall market. "It is still not a threat to traditional retailers. But, it is a shift that is happening. Thus, companies will need to build their strategies while taking this into consideration."

Companies are under se vere pressure from their traditional retail partners, who are up in arms against the online retailers. Heavy discounting by the e-tailers in the middle of the big-volume festive season has impacted their business badly .

RIL, Punj Lloyd bag defence deals

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 03:08:00 +0000

A small change in foreign investment rules—by doing away with minimum 51% holding by a single Indian entity in a defence venture—has helped Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Aerospace and Punj Lloyd bag licences that they had been waiting for.

While increasing the foreign direct investment (FDI) cap for defence to 49%, the government did away with the clause that had been in the policy for years, as part of a strategy to attract investment in local manufacturing units. In special cases, 100% FDI has been allowed. The earlier rule did not allow Reliance Aerospace to get the licences to manufacture weapon launchers for combat aircraft as the promoters hold 45.3% in Reliance Industries. Similarly, the promoters of Punj Lloyd together have a 37% stake, which restricted a wholly owned subsidiary's ability to bag licences to manufacture torpedoes, rocket launchers and combat vehicle, sources familiar with the development told TOI.

While the government did not disclose any details, an official statement said that a committee had cleared 19 proposals from several large Indian corporate houses — including the Tatas, Mahindra and Bharat Forge — to bag licences for defence manufacturing.

In at least 14 other cases, the government has informed companies that licences are no longer required. These included Tata Advanced System's proposal to manufacture aircraft and spacecraft components, Mahindra Aerostructure, which wants to make parts of aircraft and Reliance Aerospace's flight control system manufacturing plans.

Even before FDI rules were changed, the department of industrial policy and promotion had reduced the number of items in the defence sector that need licences and freed dualuse items, such as radars and aircraft components that have civilian use too, from licensing requirement.

For years, the defence ministry has frowned upon the entry of the private sector into the arena even as it had relied on imports, often involving middlemen. In fact, during UPA's term in office, the commerce and industry ministry's plea to increase the FDI cap for the sector was repeatedly blocked by A K Antony , the then defence minister. In recent months, however, the mood has changed as the department of defence production has backed private and foreign capital in local ventures.

Now, the government is working on further easing the rules, including doing away with annual capacity ceiling in industrial licences and also permit of sale of licensed items to other entities under the control of the home ministry , state governments, PSUs and other valid defence licensed companies without approval.

NAMORICA - Modi pledges a stable tax policy to woo US business

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 03:14:00 +0000

`Will Use Coal Scam Order To Clean Up Past'

Prime Miniser Narendra Modi made a powerful pitch on Monday to top honchos of American business and industry , with the promise of a stable tax policy and an assertion that he wants to convert the Supreme Court ruling on coal block allocation into an opportunity to move forward and "clean up the past".

"It is my conviction that tax stability is essential for confidence building," Modi told the chiefs of top US companies over a breakfast meet, among them Google chairman Eric Schmidt, Citigroup chief Michael Corbat, Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga, Pepsico's Indra Nooyi, Cargill's David W MacLennan, Caterpillar's Douglas Oberhelman, Merck's Kenneth Frazier, Carlyle Group's David Rubenstein, and Warburg Pincus' Charles Kaye. He also met CEOs of six other companies, including Boeing, IBM, and GE, in oneon-one meetings.

Modi's comment on a stable tax regime comes amidst severe criticism of the UPA's policies, including retrospective amendments to the law to claim taxes from Vodafone after it acquired Hutch's telecom assets in India. Modi and his team have not shied away from referring to the policies as "tax terrorism".

Asking the CEOs to be part of India's growth story, Modi pledged to smoothen the path for them. "Infrastructu re development is a big opportunity; it creates jobs & enhances the quality of life of our citizens," Modi said.

"India is open-minded. We want change that is not one-sided. Am discussing with citizens, industrialists & investors," the MEA spokesman quoted Modi as saying in a tweet. PM Narendra Modi, during a breakfast meet with industry leaders in the US on Monday, promised a stable tax policy. In the past, tax administration and frequent changes in government policies have been cited as major hurdles to investing in India. In recent years, even Indian business houses have often shunned investing in the country, preferring to go overseas.

The Modi government is keen to revive the investment cycle and is wooing investors, especially in the manufacturing sector, although the PM made it clear last week that the government does not believe in doles and concessions to attract flows into the country. Describing the meeting as "excellent and very good", business leaders said the PM heard their concerns and listed out the government's priority areas. "He answers questions brilliantly and is very focused on improving India. So, we are thrilled to be working with him," Nooyi said.

Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga said Modi can execute plans like he did in Gujarat.

"I have every belief he can do that. I believe then you can have a very good decade or ahead of growth in India and that would make every American investor happy to put their capital, technology and their people into India." Banga said Modi was focused on generating jobs for which there was a need to improve manufacturing, tourism and infrastructure. "His view is that he will get those with clear policies as well as about willingness to execute and he made the point many times over and I think from his perspective of his focus and his energy around Asia," he said.

While Boeing CEO James McNerney, who met Modi separately, promised to "accelerate engagement with India", GE's Immelt said his company is looking to scale up investments. "We discussed India. We are enthusiastic about the changes and the reforms in India and we are anxious to do our part in making India a better place," Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein said.

Jaya gets 4-yr jail term in corruption case, barred from being CM or MLA for 10 yrs

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 04:58:00 +0000

Former Foster Son, Friend Sasikalaa, Her Niece Also Found Guilty After 18-Year-Long Trial

TN CM Fined Rs 100Cr In Rs 66.65-Cr Case

BangaloreChennai: Four years in jail. Rs 100 crore as fine. Confiscation of all seized properties. Immediate imprisonment, and no private medical treatment. This is the crux of special judge John Michael D'Cunha's verdict in the Rs 66.65-crore disproportionate assets case against Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayala lithaa. The immediate consequence of Saturday's shocker is that Jayalalithaa ceases to be both MLA and CM.

The conviction may push Jayalalithaa's party into a tighter embrace with the central government as AIADMK will now have to fight off rival DMK which, no doubt, will be enthused by the court's order. AIADMK has 37 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 11 in the Rajya Sabha. For BJP, such a development would be helpful, especially after its split with Shiv Sena, which has 18 MPs in the Lower House and three in the Upper House.

This is the first time anyone has been convicted while being a CM. However, this is the third time Jayalalithaa, 66, has been convicted in a corruption case, and the second time she has been forced to step down as CM. Her two earlier convictions-on February 2, 2000 and October 9, 2000-came when she was not in power. Both those convictions were overturned. The case she is now convicted in deals with offences such as abuse of office and amassing of wealth during her first term as CM. It has dragged on for nearly 18 years.

Three of Jayalalithaa's aides and co-accused--N Sasikalaa, V N Sudhakaran, J Elavarasi--were also awarded four years in jail. They were fined Rs 10 crore each.

As details of the ruling trickled out, violence broke out across TN with AIADMK cadres forcing businesses to down their shutters, torching buses and blocking roads.

First CM in office to be convicted

Several former and serving chief ministers have been imprisoned for political reasons and a handful of former CMs for corruption, but J Jayalalithaa is the first CM in office to go to jail for amassing illegal wealth.Former CMs who have been jailed for graft are Lalu Prasad, Madhu Koda, B S Yeddyurappa, O P Chautala and Jagannath Mishra. A member of AIADMK's legal team told TOI that they would appeal against the order in the disproportionate assets case against J Jayalalithaa as soon as Karnataka high court reopens after Dussehra on October 6.

"Since the sentence is more than three years, it was not automatically suspended by the trial court. The only option available to the convicted persons now is to file an appeal in the high court and seek bail.Whatever be the speed, a few weeks of imprisonment cannot be avoided," he said.

The prosecution scored a perfect 10 of sorts as it got all the four convicted on all the three charges against them. While Jayalalithaa was convicted under provisions of Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (criminal misconduct by public servants), the other three were guilty of Sections 109 (abetment) and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) of IPC, special public prosecutor Bhavani Singh told TOI.

Singh and his assistant M S Maradi said the prosecution had proved its case and law had taken its course. Maradi said, "Since the sentence is four years, she has to move the high court by way of a criminal appeal for getting bail". As sporadic violence broke out across Tamil Nadu, officials briefed governor K Rosaiah, who expressed concern over the situation.

"Technically , the Tamil Nadu cabinet does not exist now as the head has been disqualified," said former HC judge K Chandru. Under the Constitution, the governor is in charge in the absence of the council of ministers. While the governor can hold official meetings and issue instructions, he cannot issue any ordinance or convene the assembly . Sources said AIADMK MLAs would meet in a day or two to elect their new leader. "We hope the same ministry will take oath again," a senior partyleader said.

For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com

Banks tell cos to raise funds abroad

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 04:39:00 +0000

Say Rates Will Go Up In 2015 After US Fed Tightens Monetary Stance

Banks are telling clients that this is the best time for corporates to raise funds abroad as globally rates will go up in 2015 when the US begins tightening its monetary policy .Cost of raising funds overseas has come down for Indian companies and is likely to dip further in the coming days in wake of S&P's upgrade of India's sovereign rating outlook to `stable'.

"Credit spreads on Indian dollar-denominated bonds are around 5 bps (basis points) tighter on the back of the announcement of the change in outlook. We could see a fur ther 10 bps of tightening as the market digests this news, as it was not expected. We see better value in high-grade (HG) Indian corporates over financial institutions given still-significant fundamental headwinds, especially for weaker public sector banks," said Anubhuti Sahay , economist, Standard Chartered Bank.

Bank stocks, which were hammered on Wednesday following the Supreme Court verdict on coal allocation, staged a smart recovery with the S&P BSE Bankex rising by nearly 2%.

Canara Bank gained 5.3% to Rs 360, Yes Bank rose 5.2% to Rs 574 and Punjab National Bank rose 3% to Rs 896. The rupee also ended its losing streak against the dollar and firmed up to 61.16 as against 61.35 on Thursday .

For debt issuers in the international market, the present pricing might be as good as it gets. Even if growth were to pick up, S&P rarely issues a `double promotion' by going from a `stable' outlook to an upgrade. The best issuers can hope for is a revision in outlook to `positive' after next year's Budget. However, by that time the US is expected to start tightening interest rates.

"Of the three main global rating agencies, S&P was the only one with a negative outlook on India (Moody's never changed India's outlook, while Fitch upgraded it to `stable' in 2013). Hence, the outlook change by S&P is a belated move, although it should have some positive impact on sentiment. We reiterate our view that India is entering a `Goldilocks' phase of rising growth and falling inflation," said Sonal Varma, economist with Nomura. A sudden change in sentiment on the back of global ratings major S&P revising India's ratings outlook to stable led to a nearly 350 points rally in the sensex in the closing hour of Friday, although foreign investors continued to sell. S&P said the Lok Sabha poll mandate and improved political setting offered a positive environment for reforms in India.

It also said that India's external debt position and improving current account balance also influenced its decision to revise upwards India's ratings outlook to stable from negative.

After dipping to a low of 26,354 just before the S&P decision news, the index rallied to an intra-day high at 26,712 and closed at 26,626, up 158 points on the day. The rally was totally driven by sentiment backed by buying by local investors, as end of the session data on the bourses showed a net FII selling of Rs 1,134 crore, dealers pointed out.

The close of session on Friday also saw the end of a volatile week with the sensex down a little over 450 points on a weekly basis. However, outside of the sensex, trading during these five sessions also saw mid-cap and small-cap stocks crashing.

Going forward, the market players are looking at positives from the has a truncated trading Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit although given the truncated 3-day trading week beginning Monday, they expect volatility . "We had a hectic and volatile expiry week which clearly points to the market losing some momentum. Expectation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit is extremely high. Although there would be good news, currently everything is factored into prices," said Arun Kejriwal, director, KRIS, an investment advisory firm.

Flipkart taunts Bezos with welcome ad

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 04:20:00 +0000

Puts Up Billboards Along Route Amazon Founder Will Take During His B'lore Visit

The e-commerce war is playing out hot and heavy between Amazon and Flipkart ahead of the muchstoried US e-tailer's founder Jeff Bezos' visit to Bangalore on Sunday .

Sources told TOI that Flipkart is executing what it calls the `Welcome Mr Bezos' campaign. The company has put up huge billboards at the airport, highways and close to Amazon's headquarters places where the communication is sure to hit Bezos' eyes for its festive season sale campaign called Big Billion Day .The communication will follow Bezos to Delhi where he is scheduled to go next, sources privy to the matter said.

Flipkart, which is fighting an all-out battle with Amazon, is looking to send out a message to its arch-rival that it's the number one e-tailer in the country . Sources said Flipkart is also running a `Project Victory' campaign within the organization, a celebration of what it calls a win in the first round of war with Amazon.

When asked about Flipkart's response to Bezos' visit, Sachin Bansal, co-founder of Flipkart said, "It's a panic reaction to the fact that Amazon is not able to make any inroads in India. Our market share has increased in the last six months."

Flipkart, founded by two ex-Amazon employees Sachin and Binny Bansal, is moving rapidly towards touching $2 billion in annual sales (known as gross merchandize value in e-commerce industry) while Amazon is moving close to the billion-dollar figure. Delhibased Snapdeal, the other big player, is also at about $1 billion in annual sales. For the Seattle-based $75billion Amazon, India is an extremely crucial market, which was signalled by Bezos' announcement of a $2 billion investment two months back.That statement came just a day after rival Flipkart raised $1 billion in a new financing round, valuing it at $7 billion.

Having started its marketplace in June last year, the online retail juggernaut has been doubling down on competitors with top dollar being put in to advertising, heavy discounting and bringing on new merchants and sellers on to its platform. It bought the sponsorship for the Indian Premier League cricket tournament and unleashed a price war, taking the challenge right up to Flipkart. Over the past few months, though, Flipkart went on an overdrive with exclusive tie-ups with mobile phone makers like Motorola and Xiaomi even as the Myntra acquisition gave it a leg up in the fast-growing apparel and fashion space.

Known as a ruthless competitor, Amazon has always focused on giving the best prices to its customers and undercutting other players to the extent that Bezos once said, "There are two kinds of retailers, those folks who work to figure to charge more, and there are companies that work to figure how to charge less, and we are going to be the second, fullstop." The war between the two players has only just begun and Bezos' visit will simply help fuel the e-commerce fire.

In a boost to govt, S&P revises India outlook to `stable'

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 03:59:00 +0000

First Such Rating Since Modi Took Over

After years of pessimism on the economy , there were finally signs of positive perception on Friday as Standard & Poor's revised India's rating outlook from `negative' to `stable'. This indicates that there are fewer chances of government and other public sector bonds being treated as junk papers.

The revision is the first measure undertaken by any rating agency since the Modi government took office about four months ago, "Our outlook revision reflects our view that India's improved political setting offers a conducive environment for reforms, which could boost growth prospects and improve fiscal management," S&P said in a statement, which coincided with PM Narendra Modi's US visit, where he will court international investors.

Although India still retains the lowest investment grade rating of BBB+, the news made the rupee gain the most in six weeks and closed 61.15 to a dollar, compared to 61.35 on Thursday . Bond prices too strengthened on expectation that a better outlook may result in higher investment and more dollar flows into the economy .

Besides, it raised hopes of a rating upgrade in the coming months. Finance secretary Arvind Mayaram said the agency is expected to upgrade India's rating in the future."The country is well on a path of faster than anticipated fiscal consolidation and it could be a positive surprise going forward," SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya said. But S&P—the only major agency that threatened a downgrade of India's rating in the wake of rising current account and fiscal deficit in April 2012—said it will wait for the economy to grow faster and the fiscal, external or inflation parameters to improve before it decides on an upgrade. It cited at least two constraints—India's weak public finances that may stay weak for some time and low per capita income, which results in a low tax base and gives the government less flexibility in taking dramatic measures during times of economic stress.

The change in S&P's outlook was, however, driven by several factors, which included an improvement in the current account situation on the back on curbs on gold imports as well as India's credit strength, from low level of foreign debt and improved cash availability overseas. The country's "well entrenched democratic political system" and the strong electoral mandate were cited as the third key reason by the agency. "Although the paralyzing effect of legislative gridlock can blunt government effectiveness, our outlook revision indicates that we believe the current government's strong mandate will enable it to implement many of its administrative, fiscal, and economic reforms."

The ratings company said it expected the government to adhere to the fiscal consolidation plan and estimated an improvement in the fiscal performance due to the possible rollout of goods and services tax (GST)--something that the BJP government has identified as a key thrust area.