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// Weak Monsoon Forecast Raises Fresh Concerns For India’s Rs 3 Lakh Crore Microfinance Sector
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Gandalf’s eagles, and other flights of fancy
Frankly, my dear, it could have ended differently. Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in 'Gone with the Wind' Photo: ALAMY This week it was revealed that the original script for Gone with the Wind – the classic romance starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable – had a different ending to the one seen in cinemas. At the climax of the completed film, Scarlett O’Hara is portrayed as a [...]STAKE DILUTION IN GOVT BANKS TO START IN NOVEMBER: SANDHU
New Delhi: The government is likely to start selling its stake in public sector banks (PSBs) in November. It is also expected State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest lender, will tap the markets this year. Financial Services Secretary G S Sandhu on Thursday said the government would seek a Cabinet nod for stake dilution in PSBs, adding the sale would be in tranches, based on banks’ requirement of funds. “It will be a combination of follow-on public offer (FPO) and, in some cases, it will be through qualified institutional placement. It may start around Diwali, most likely November,” he told reporters after a meeting with the heads of PSBs and other financial institutions. Asked whether large banks such as SBI and Punjab National Bank (PNB) would op
UAE experts call for more quality Arabic content on the internet
ABU DHABI // The internet needs more quality content in Arabic for the 141 million users who speak the language.Forty per cent of people in the Middle East have internet access, 87 per cent of them at home, and Arabic is the eighth most used language, according to Google figures.Half the population is under 25, the prime age group for internet use on phones and tablets, but only [...]BoA ordered to pay $1.27b for fraud
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Bank of America Corp to pay $1.27 billion of damages after a federal jury found the second-largest U.S. bank liable for fraud over defective mortgages sold by its Countrywide unit. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan ruled nine months after jurors found Bank of America and former Countrywide executive Rebecca Mairone liable for defrauding government-controlled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and [...]BRAND INDIA SET TO CHANGE, IN 90 DAYS
NEW DELHI: Under fire for sitting on foreign investment proposals for singlebrand retailing, the department of industrial policy and promotion has set a maximum time frame of 90 days to process all applications pending with it.
As many as 13 applications from foreign retailers, including Forever 21, Furla and Swarovski, to open single-brand company-owned stores in the country have been pending with the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) for several months.
“We will ensure zero pendency of applications at DIPP and strict compliance to the timeline from now on,” a department official said. DIPP, under the ministry of commerce and industry, is mandated with first-stage vetting
HPCL TO GO SOLO ON ITS RS 700-CR LPG FACILITY
Mumbai: State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited may go solo on its plans to build its second underground liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) storage facility in Mangalore.
The company which was planning to rope in Total SA of France, to build the cavern jointly, said Total is not interested at present and may join the company at a later stage.
“We see merit in the project and have decided to go ahead. We will commission the detailed feasibility report shortly and then call for tenders in the next four-six months,” said a senior HPCL official.
The cavern, will cost HPCL Rs 700 crore and will store 60,000 tonnes of LPG. HPCL and Total, through their equal joint venture, South Asi
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UAE and Qatar compete as Saudi Arabia looks on
The Gulf states have become the most stable and influential force in the Arab world, with the decline of the Egyptian role, the spread of turmoil and chaos in Syria and Iraq and Algeria's retreat on itself after the "black decade" of the 1990s. Because of political stability and increasing oil revenues, the Gulf states have accumulated financial wealth that has strengthened their political, economic and media influence in [...]Justice Dept. Moves to Shield Anti-Iran Group’s Files
By MATT APUZZO July 27, 2014 WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has gone to court to protect the files of an influential anti-Iran advocacy group, saying they likely contain information the government does not want disclosed. The highly unusual move by the Justice Department raises questions about the connections between the American government and the group, United Against Nuclear Iran, a hard-line voice seeking to prevent Iran from obtaining [...]FM MAY BRIEF RBI BOARD ON STEPS TAKEN TO CUT DEFICIT, NEED TO LOWER RATES ON AUGUST 9
New Delhi: Finance minister Arun Jaitley will address the board of the Reserve Bank on August 9 amid expectations that the central bank will complement government actions by reducing rates to boost growth. “The meeting has been scheduled for August 9 where he would be addressing the board members and talk about announcements made in the Budget to perk up growth,” a source said. Jaitley is likely to inform the RBI board about the steps taken to contain the fiscal deficit and may underline the need to reduce interest rates to promote growth. It has been a custom that the finance minister addresses RBI board, consisting of RBI governor and existing three deputy governors, after the Budget. The meeting comes in the backdrop of the persistent high food
GAIL TO BUY 1/3 OF LNG SHIPS FROM INDIAN BUILDERS
New Delhi: GAIL (India), under a petroleum ministry directive, has decided to buy a third of the LNG ships it plans to acquire to ferry the fuel from the US to India, from Indian shipbuilders. Considering that the PSU, whose massive LNG imports from the US would start in 2017, has lined up investments to the tune of $7.6 billion for hiring the required specialised vessels, the move would give a big boost to the Indian shipbuilding industry.
Domestic players such as L&T and Pipavav are among the obvious beneficiaries of the decision, which is in line with the Modi government’s thrust on the domestic manufacturing sector. Although some analysts are doubtful about the feasibility of Indian ship makers meeting such huge demand g
DEBT MF TAX WILL BE MADE PROSPECTIVE, FINMIN WON’T APPEAL RETRO TAX VERDICTS
NEW DELHI: Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Friday iterated the Modi government’s promise to keep tax rates low and ruled out any new retrospective taxes when he replied to the debate on the Finance Bill, 2014, in the Lok Sabha, which passed it later.
Stating that the government will not interfere with the judicial proceedings regarding tax notices issued with respect to indirect transfer of Indian assets under the 2012 retrospective changes to the Income Tax Act, Jaitley removed an irritant by making the higher long-term capital gains tax rate on debt mutual funds proposed in his Budget strictly prospective.
The minister had in his maiden Budget announced a new committee under the Central Board of Dir
HPCL MAY AGREE TO RAJASTHAN’S STAKE HIKE DEMAND IN REFINERY
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), a major stakeholder in the proposed refinery cum petrochemical complex at Pachpadra, may give in to the Rajasthan government’s demand to increase the state’s share from 26% in HPCL-Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL).
Chief minister Vasundhara Raje vowed to renegotiate the terms under which the previous Congress government persuaded HPCL to set up the refinery. In her budget speech, Raje had targeted the conditions in the agreement and termed it as unique and against the interest of the state. She pointed out that despite giving land, interest free loan of Rs 3,736 crore each year (for 15 years) and oil wells, the state controls only 26% while HPCL has stake of 76%.
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CABINET CLEARS 49% FOREIGN INVESTMENT CAP FOR INSURANCE
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday cleared a Bill to raise the foreign investment ceiling in private insurance companies from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, but inserted a provision that the management and control of these companies must be with Indians. This cap will be composite — both foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign portfolio investment. Experts said this meant voting rights of foreign investors would not be capped at 26 per cent but they cannot have contractual agreements for control of insurance companies. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs this morning gave its approval to changes in the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, which will now be taken up in the current session of Parliament. “The Cabinet has cleared raising the for
POWER PRODUCERS NOT IMPORTING COAL EVEN AT DECADE-LOW PRICES
NEW DELHI: Power plants in India are not importing coal despite global prices of the fuel slumping to decade-low levels. Power generating companies are rather operating at lower capacity on domestic coal that is short in supply, as distribution companies (discoms) are not willing to pay for costly power fuelled by imports.
A Mumbai-based trader, who did not wish to be identified, said global prices had fallen to a 10-year low due to weak demand from China that is reducing dependence on imports by encouraging production from own mines.
He said prices of 4,200 kcal/kg thermal coal in international markets were hovering around $36.50 per million tonne as against $52 per million tonne two years ago.
MONTHLY LIMIT OF ONE SUBSIDIZED CYLINDER PER HOUSEHOLD MAY GO
New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government plans to do away with the limit of one subsidized cooking gas cylinder per household.
The move comes before assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Jharkhand slated to happen later this year.
The issue is expected to be taken up soon by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA).
To reduce its subsidy bill and cut the fiscal deficit, the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had restricted the number of subsidized domestic cylinders per household to six every year in September 2012, revising it to nine the following January. The cap was revised in January 2014 to 12 cylinders pe
DEFT PLANNING FRUCTIFIED DEFENCE PROJECTS
BANGALORE: Indigenous military projects such as missiles have shown consistently shorter development cycles over the years thanks to deft planning and handling of the projects, the former DRDO Director-General V.K. Saraswat said on Thursday.
Citing the bouquet of missiles that came out of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme through 2008, Dr. Saraswat said the later Agni III and V missiles had taken three to five years to develop compared to the earlier ones such as Prithvi that needed around a decade.
The former top military scientist was addressing members of the defence and aerospace industry at a conference organised by the SAE India and Project Management Institute.
INDIAN OIL, BPCL, HPCL TO REVIVE PREMIUM PETROL BRANDS ON EXCISE CUT
MUMBAI: The state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) plan to revive branded petrol such as IndianOil’s XtraPremium and Bharat Petroleum’s Speed, backed by aggressive marketing, to make the most of a significant excise duty cut announced in the budget.
Sales of branded petrol, which contain additives that enhance automobile’s performance, had plummeted in recent years as they became Rs 7-10 per litre more expensive than the regular fuel, forcing companies such as Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) to pull out such products from most outlets. But with finance minister Arun Jaitley announcing a cut in central excise duty on branded petrol to Rs
