Nissan's Infiniti brand may debut in India

Mumbai: Affluent Indian automobile buyers may get another brand to choose from. Nissan, Japan’s third largest car maker, is looking at the possibility of launching Infiniti, a luxury brand owned by it, in India.Known for its luxurious features and power-packed driving characteristics, Infiniti is a premium brand which competes with benchmark ones globally such as Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Audi and Accura.
Kiminobu Tokuyama, managing director and CEO, Nissan Motor India, told Business Standard, "We have got a global Infiniti business unit, which is a separate unit from Nissan Motor Company. They have been studying all the opportunities and I am sure they will start studying the Indian market, as it is the best potential market in the world."
Nissan has been pushing for expansion of the Infiniti brand into newer markets across the globe -- Taiwan, South Korea, Russia, Ukraine, China and Western Europe over the years. The brand is popular in the very developed automotive markets of the US and Canada.

10 fight commandments for a healthy heart

"Lifestyle diseases like diabetes, hypertension and heart ailments are the most obvious by-products of busy schedules and sedentary lifestyles, akin to most of us today."

In such a scenario, even the tiniest positive change in lifestyle can give you a healthy and disease-free life.
Dr Tapan Ghosh, consultant cardiology, Fortis Hospital says, "Rather than treating the heart ailment once you have had an attack, our aim should be ‘prevention’. And preventing heart diseases is possible only when we target the ‘pre-hypertension’ and ‘pre-diabetes’ state.” So, this World heart Day, we bring you the 10 commandments to fight heart ailments: Monitor your blood pressure: Keep your BP close to 100.
Normal range: Systolic - <120,> 140, Diastolic > 90 (Need immediate treatment) By controlling your blood pressure in the ‘pre-hypertension stage’ one can prevent the coronary diseases.
Monitor your body weight: Obesity is directly linked with hypertension, diabetes and heart ailments. So, by keeping a tab on your weight, one can ward of the risk of all the three ailments. So to calculate your ideal body weight find your BMI, which should be less than 25.
The formula for calculating BMI: Weight in Kgs/Height in sq mts. Don’t smoke: Both active and passive smoking puts you at equal risk of a heart disease. So, quit smoking as it is the first step towards good health.
Exercise: Apple body configuration, where middle of the body is more heavy is common among Indians. To get rid of that fat together with keeping your heart in good shape, you need at least 45-60 minutes of exercise on a daily basis. Make sure most of your exercises are ‘isotonic', which include aerobics, swimming, jogging, etc., rather than focused on lifting weights. Check cholesterol: Get a regular check-up done. Good cholesterol level should be > 40, while bad cholesterol should be <100. Make sure that your diet contains just 1% of Trans fatty acids. An easy way to cut the Trans fatty acids is not using the ‘fried-oil’ (oil in which you have already fried something) repeatedly. Only Olive oil can be refried.
Check your diabetes: As said diabetes has a direct impact of your heart’s health. So, to keep your heart healthy, keep a check on your blood sugar.
Normal level of sugar in blood before your meal is between 70 and 110 mg/dl. After food, level will rise in between 100 to 125 mg/dl. Anything more than 100 and 125 before meals and post meals respectively is not diabetes, but ‘Impaired diabetes’, which shows that you are at an increased risk of diabetes. So, this is the time one should start taking precautions to avoid further effects. Veggie delight: Include green leafy vegetables and fruits in you diet. At least 450 gms-600 gms of fruits are a must in your everyday diet. Also, coloured fruits and vegetables are very good for the heart as they contain antioxidants, which prevent oxidation damage to the heart. So, the more coloured is a fruit/veggie, better it is for the heart.
No extra salt: make sure you avoid taking table salt or extra salt in the prepared food as it adds to the risk of BP.
Avoid stress : Stress of any kind is bad. It affects your cardiovascular system in several ways beginning from increasing your heart rate, followed by a speeding up of blood pressure. Also, the release of fatty acids into the bloodstream for energy increases cholesterol and triglyceride levels. So, try and keep the stress monitor at bay. It’s tough, but not impossible!
Be happy! This is the least that you can do to keep your heart healthy. Researches have confirmed that laughter is the best medicine for your heart. So, we may try to incorporate laughter into our daily activities, just as we do with other heart-healthy activities, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator. How about reading something humorous or watch a funny video and try to find ways to take ourselves less seriously?

RIL, NTPC sign gas supply deals for three units

The deal is for supply of 0.61 mmscmd of gas

RIL today said it had signed a natural gas sales pact with the country's largest power producer, NTPC Ltd. to supply 0.61 million cubic meters a day of gas.
RIL executed gas sale and purchase agreements (GSPAs) with NTPCfor supply of gas from the KG-D6 block to the power plants of NTPC in Anta, Dadri and faridabad , a company spokerperson said. supply of gas to NTPC is expected to commence within a week, he added.
The volume of gas under these GSPAs is 0.61 mmscmd, which will be initially supplied only to the power plant in Anta in UP, due to capacity constraint in GAIL's pipeline, he said.The quantities and price of $4.2 per milion British thermal units under the GSPAs signed for five years are as approved by the govt.
In april the govt had allocated 2.67mmscmd of D6 gas at $4.2 per mBtu for NTPC's plants in faridabad, dadri anta, kawas and gandhar.however, NTPC had convyed to RIL that it will not discuss the ,GSPA's for kawas and gandhar plants in gujarat, as it is involved in litigation with RIL for gas supplies to the proposed expansion projects of two stations.

Q&A: 'India needs to develop offshore wind farms'

Steve Sawyer , secretary general, Global Wind Energy Council, was in Delhi recently to release a report on the Indian Wind Energy Outlook

for 2009. He tells Narayani Ganesh that at least one quarter of India's energy requirements could be met with wind power by 2030: Is it realistic to say that by 2030, 25 per cent of India's energy requirements would be met by wind power? That's the projection the Indian Wind Energy Outlook 2009 report makes in its presentation of an advanced scenario, on the premise that by then, there would be opportunities to tap the country's full potential for wind generated electricity. This does not include future potential of similar power generated from offshore wind farms, something that holds great promise considering that India has a 7,000 km coastline. India has the technology; in fact it is among the leaders and the technology is still evolving. All of the major manufacturers of wind equipment have operations in India. In order to reach full potential it would be necessary to develop offshore technology since along the coast winds are steady and in some places concentration of resources is close to load centres in metros. India ranks fifth in total installed capacity with 9,645 MW of wind power installed at the end of 2008. Won't high capital costs hike per unit cost to consumer? With wind, it's a one-time capital cost and almost all costs are capital costs whereas with conventional power plants, it is ongoing. Once a wind farm is set up, there are no further capital costs like buying fuel as in other power plants that have to source coal, gas etc whose costs too vary from one time to the next. In due course it is hoped that wind farm capital costs too will get reduced but first, private financiers have to get convinced. Around five billion tonnes of CO2 emissions would be reduced cumulatively from now to 2030 that is, amounting to 500-plus million tonnes per year. This is not to do with current emissions; only the projected ones. In climate change negotiations it is important to show that there is huge mitigation potential in India and China but the question is, who will pay for that? What more policy initiatives are required? Right now solar energy is four times costlier than wind energy. But certainly it is a good investment, since it generates power as well as employment opportunities. Earlier, Germany's wind energy industry was driven by environmental concerns; now it is driven by the business of creating a large number of jobs. In India, presently 15,000 people are employed directly in the wind industry and 75,000 indirectly. The key is not to look at technology in isolation but to see it in the light of energy security, and its potential for employment, export, emissions reduction potential and saving water. Thermal power stations consume hundreds of millions of gallons of water per day. Wind energy consumes no water.

Why Maharashtra is going back into the 18th century

No state, barring Uttar Pradesh elects more MPs to the Lok Sabha than does Maharashtra. It is part of the industrial heartland of India, and Mumbai is undoubtedly the country's financial and commercial headquarters. Yet there is little or no excitement in the air though the last date for filing nominations to the Vidhan Sabha is Friday, September 25.This is more than a little weird. Despite its size, population, and resources, Maharashtra is not particularly well governed. The state has the unhappy distinction of having the largest number of farmer suicides, leaving Andhra Pradesh in its dust. Food production has been falling steadily for two years -- and we don't yet have the figures for the current drought year.So much for rural Maharashtra, what of the cities? The grim fact is that in the past two years twenty lakh (two million) workers have lost their jobs -- and those are just the statistics that the state government itself has disclosed. Yet desperate Indians from elsewhere in the country continue to pour into the state. How is Maharashtra going to cope with all those hungry mouths?Yet nobody -- in any party -- seems interested in debating such questions. But why should they? Apathy reigns supreme in a majority that lives from day to day, and educated professionals appear happier to withdraw just a bit farther from politics each day. The middle class came out in numbers to wave candles and play guitars at the Gateway of India immediately after the November 26 attacks, yet fewer than half of them came to vote in the general election six months later.The controversy over the proposed statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji in the sea off Mumbai is a classic instance of how the middle class proposes to handle things. It wants to sign petitions, perhaps even appeal to the courts, but nobody wants to take on the politicians in the political arena.With the poor apathetic and the middle class unconcerned, the political class is free to do pretty much what it wants. And what it desires, judging by the evidence, is to take Maharashtra back into the eighteenth century. That, as you may remember, was when feuding chieftains rated their petty dynastic concerns higher than those of the state, leave alone the nation.The Bharatiya Janata Party is quick enough to mock the ruling coalition for 'dynastic' politics. That is true enough of course. The sitting chief minister, Ashok Chavan , is the son of a former Congress chief minister. And the current Congress candidate for the Amravati assembly seat, Rajendra Shekhawat, is the son of the President of India.As for its coalition partner, the Nationalist Congress Party, Maharashtra's Water Resources Minister, Ajit Pawar, is the nephew of NCP boss Sharad Pawar . The family patriarch's daughter, Supriya Sule, already sits in the Lok Sabha. This list could go on, but you get the general picture.But is the BJP any better? One joke doing the rounds in Maharashtra has it that the 'BJP' stands for 'Bachha Janata Party'. That is thanks to the manner in which Gopinath Munde has been distributing tickets to the children in the family.The BJP is contesting 119 seats. (The Shiv Sena -- which has its own dynastic problems -- is fighting the other 169.) Three -- possibly four -- of the BJP candidates are related to the senior BJP leader.Pankaja Munde Palave, Gopinath Munde's daughter, is the party candidate from Parli.Pankaja's cousin, Poonam Mahajan Rao, has the party ticket for Ghatkopar (West). Poonam's father was the late BJP leader, Pramod Mahajan ; Gopinath Munde's wife, Pradnya, was Pramod Mahajan's younger sister.Madhusudan Kendre, son-in-law of Gopinath Munde's older brother, Pandit Anna Munde, is the BJP candidate from Gangakhed.That adds up to three tickets for a single, closely-knit family -- possibly four if the rumours are true that the ticket for Renapur shall fall to Gopinath Munde's nephew, Dhananjay.This by the way is not the first time that the last named man has made the news. In 2002 media reports revealed that petrol pump allotments had been made thanks to political wire-pulling; Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee ordered these cancelled. One of the beneficiaries was Dhananjay Munde, who was given a petrol pump in Shirur, in Beed district.The BJP can talk as much as it likes about the 'dynastic politics' practised by the Congress; in Maharashtra at any rate it has lost the moral high ground. (Actually, it might be more accurate to say that it has jumped off the high ground!)What happens if a voter doesn't want to cast a ballot for either the Congress-NCP or the BJP-Shiv Sena? Technically, there is something called the 'Republican Left Democratic Front' but it seems to be a non-starter. It consists of the CPI-M , the CPI, the Peasants & Workers Party, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas Paswan ), the Samajwadi Party, and no fewer than fifteen factions of the Republican Party.(Keralites who think the Kerala Congress is riven by factionalism should just take a look at the Republican Party of India! The only faction that has refused to join the grand reunion of the Republican Party is the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangha -- led by Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of the late great Dr B R Ambedkar.)I am not quite sure how many parties there are in this coalition given all the factions and sub-factions. But does it matter? The parties announced their decision to form a coalition in the last days of August; they started squabbling in the second week of September, just one day after releasing their joint manifesto.Family and faction proved the bane of the great Maratha confederacy in the eighteenth century. Given its size and wealth in human resources, the state should be setting the pace for twenty-first century India; instead it is falling behind every day -- and its leaders apparently could not care less.I have no idea which coalition -- if any -- shall form the next ministry in Mumbai come October. But does it make a difference? They all seem equally unconcerned with governance.

our gas price is fair, our costs are competitive

"I am sure minister of petroleum and natural gas murli deora is known to both the brothers equally. A friendly minister does not mean that he is going to favour us. If that is the perception,I would wish that there was a different minister, because..... things would have moved faster"

PMS PRASAD
RIL Director

Recession: Signs of recovery

Around the world, signs of bust turning to boomA year after Lehman Brothers filed for the largest bankruptcy in US corporate history, Richard Pattinson visits key business centres to find how they’re coping with the fallout.
Signs of recovery: US data gives world markets hopeStock markets across the globe moved up on Wednesday, in most cases to their highest levels in 2009, a sure sign that people are willing to bet real money on the green shoots of economic recovery.
Mid-size IT companies to ring in pay hikesAfter Wipro lifted freeze on promotions and hikes, mid-sized technology firms like MphasiS-EDS, Sonata Software and Symphony Services are also planning to increase salaries and give bonus.
US recession 'very likely over': Federal Reserve chairmanBen Bernanke said on Tuesday the worst recession since the 1930s is probably over, although he cautioned that pain - especially for the nearly 15 million unemployed Americans - will persist.
World wealth down 11.7%, fewer millionaires: ReportThe 2008 global recession caused the first worldwide contraction in assets under management in nearly a decade, according to a study that found wealth dropped 11.7% to $92.4 trillion.

aspire to retire

sujit ganguli, senior vice president and head (marketing), ICICI Prudential life, says;"Instead of continuing to talk only about how people should plan for retirement, we wanted to make them feel excited about the planning process."

Amer jaleel, executive director of Lowe India, the agency which came up with the ad, thinks the campaign will bust the cliche of reminding people to plan for retirement."The idea of relaxation has changed.They would rather see themselves in some occupation or the other.Retirement is being regarded as a second carrer,"he says.
The insurer and the agency tested their idea among focus groups and claim it resonated overwhelmingly across all sections of the audience.

proposed education body gets PM's support

The commission would create an envionment in academic institutions that would encourage young people to take up academia as a career.

‘Rekha was ego trip for Amitabh’

Susmita Dasgupta finds Amitabh Bachchan an interesting subject to study. Here, she decodes the superstar, the subject of her PhD and a book


Amitabh Bachchan More Pics
Is there an Amitabh ‘before’ and ‘after’ ABCL? There is definitely a before and after ABCL Amitabh. The ABCL tragedy, like all stupendous failures have split Amitabh into a before and after image. The trauma of having failed appears to have drastically changed the person whose image was that of the invincible. What is Amitabh, the husband, like? As I could observe, and at that point of time I was nearly 20 years younger, that Amitabh and Jaya were ideologically apart. For Jaya, there was a distress about why Amitabh did the films that he did. Jaya would have loved it were Amitabh to remain in the Hrishikesh Mukherjee camp and graduated later to Satyajit Ray (Manik Kaku for her; Jaya is exceptionally well-connected). But Amitabh went into rather "cheap stuff" with which she was not comfortable. To the best of my mind, this was the basic reason for a kind of stand-off. Jaya and Amitabh were dutifully husband and wife but I felt that the romance in the marriage was lacking. Also Jaya is a ‘Bong’ woman, the oldest among three sisters, and most probably the brightest, daughter to a doting father and that too an important one. She is Bhaduri, an upper caste Barendri Brahmin, who are very proud people. But slowly as Amitabh got involved in his career, he himself became the centre of all attention which was very difficult for Jaya to swallow. After all, at the time of their marriage she was the star and he the also-ran. The change in the power position within the marriage as Amitabh became successful also changed the soft, intense and emotional romance which Jaya and Amitabh had. How is the superstar with his kids? Is his rapport different with Abhishek and Shweta? With his children, Amitabh is doting, pampering, blind with affection and only pretending to be firm, but very interested to be a part of their lives and eager to go to any lengths for their well-being. The daughter is interesting, I am not so sure that she feels the same way towards her parents as they feel towards her. I get this strange feeling that Shweta is seeking to move out of her parents’ very doting shadow and that marriage helped her have some independence that her extra protective parents robbed her of. Abhishek loves and would love to continue to be under the parents’ protection. What about the Rekha episode? Is there reason to believe the affair happened, despite Amitabh’s denials? Yes, it is a matter of great speculation for me as well. I always sided with Amitabh when he denied all on Rekha. But, only recently, I saw this television footage in which Amitabh suddenly got up and moved away as Rekha came near where he was seated. This makes me believe that yes, they did have an affair. The sudden getting up and moving away was a giveaway. It was almost a pose of fleeing from Rekha... why would a man want to do that if he is not guilty of something? I believe Amitabh knew from day one that he wasn’t serious about Rekha. Also, he’s very, very class conscious... Rekha was perhaps an ego trip. How do you think Abhishek fares, being Amitabh and Jaya's son, and now Aishwarya’s husband? Abhishek reminds me of Prince Salim and he has the Prince Salim syndrome. In today’s world, Abhishek’s appeal lies in a certain sense of being chaperoned, someone who seeks and has security and, on the basis of an assured lifestyle, can afford to be nice to one and all. Just as Amitabh’s image crashed with failure, Abhishek's image can crash if the shadows of persons chaperoning him are taken away. The image contains the shadows of the biggies that he nests among. Was he behind Abhishek joining films? Yes, he was totally behind Abhishek's joining films and if I were to have my opinion, then to push him to cinema. That’s why I say that Abhishek is prince Salim, the reluctant heir of Akbar when his heart was away in Venice, Rome and even Spain. Amitabh is projected today as the loyal friend... what drives his friendships with the Anil Ambani and Amar Singh? I feel that Amitabh has never been a loyal friend. Loyalty has never been his characteristic trait. Anwar Ali and Amjad Khan are at least two who Amitabh never even acknowledged. I have seen him rather stand-offish with Javed, Salim, Prakash Mehra, the persons who made him. Amitabh never attended Hrishida’s funeral. He refuses to acknowledge Desh Mukherjee or Tinnu Anand. So, he looks for friends as far as he has something to gain from them. The Amar Singh episode is strange. He must be really gaining something out of Anil Ambani and Amar Singh and that “gain” has some connection with the “loss” in terms of money. Why do you think he is still working? Is it insecurity, to consolidate a space for Abhishek or love of acting? Amitabh is still working, yes, what you suggest to consolidate Abhishek’s career, but to the best of my understanding, Amitabh is Bhishma, he wishes to prove that he is immortal as a star. I think that Amitabh is seeking immortality by constantly reinventing his image to suit each new age that he lives in.

Excise duty mop-up soars 22.5% in August

NEW DELHI: In the clearest indication so far that the much-talked-about green shoots aren’t an optical illusion, excise tax collections in August

were up 22.5% over the previous month, though still a touch lower than the figure for August 2008. Given the fact that excise duties reflect what’s happening to all kinds of manufactured goods, this is arguably a more broad-based indicator of industry recovering than the index of industrial production (IIP). Sources told TOI that central excise duty collections in August were Rs 8,979 crore, about 8.8% below the Rs 9,846 crore collected in the same month last year. What makes that good news is the fact that July collections of Rs 7,332 crore this year were 28.5% lower than last July’s mop up of Rs 10,255 crore. With the much improved showing in August, the government is now hopeful of meeting the target of Rs 2.7 lakh crore set for indirect taxes in the Budget for 2009-10. There is some bad news for industry though. A senior official from the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said if the upward trend continues for another couple of months, the government may reconsider the tax concessions it had extended in the second half of the last fiscal. The government has been keen on reverting to the path of fiscal consolidation at the earliest, but has so far been cautious of the fact that this should not hamper industrial recovery. Last week, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had said on the sidelines of a meeting of the chief commissioners and director generals of CBEC that the huge shortfall in July as compared to the previous year had been due to the overall slowdown of the economy and the effect of stimulus measures through reduction of excise duty rates. The finance minister had nevertheless expressed optimism that the indirect tax target was very much within reach as the trends were indicative of a rebound by the third quarter. The tax base of indirect taxes has grown steadily and as a share of GDP has gone up from 9.2% in 2003-04 to 12.6% in 2007-08.

She’s 107, wants to marry 23rd time

KUALA LUMPUR: Mek Wok Kundor, a 107-year- old Malaysian is in search for her 23rd husband after feeling insecure with her current one , a local daily reported here on Monday. The Star said Mek, better known as Tok Wook, was afraid that her husband might leave her to marry a younger woman.
She married Mohd Noor Che Musa, 37, in 2005. The marriage drew massive public attention owing to the large age gap. Mohd Noor, a drug addict, is currently undergoing a drug rehabilitation programme here, leaving her alone at Kuala Berang in the state of Terengganu.
She Tok Wook was quoted as saying that she would visit him if her neighbours were willing to drive her over .
She said although she was feeling insecure, she said she would wait for him without thinking of another marriage if he reciprocated. She also said she was not searching for a handsome man but for someone who could be her companion in her remaining years. — Xinhua

Annadurai’s historic rise to fame

The fourth general elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies in 1967 caused a political earthquake in the country. The Congress, the ruling party at the Centre and in States, came in for a rude shock. Though it managed to retain control of the Lok Sabha, its majority was very thin. In eight States including Tamil Nadu, the Congress’ monopoly of power was broken. In Tamil Nadu, since that election, the Congress has not been able to capture power again. The man who was chiefly responsible for this historic event was C.N. Annadurai (1909-1969), founder of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and one of the beloved leaders of the State.
One can attribute a number of factors — rice shortage caused by the back-to-back drought spells of 1965 and 1966, arithmetic factor of political alliance, attempt on one of DMK’s popular icons M.G. Ramachandran and the anti-Hindi agitation — to the dramatic victory of the DMK. But Anna, as Annadurai was and is still called by his political followers, was the central figure in this triumph. He had remained focussed in achieving his political goal ever since he launched the DMK in 1949. And, his emergence as a principal leader in the State laid the foundation for the growth of regional parties in the State.
Born in a simple weaver family, CNA, as Annadurai is also known, had endured several deprivations in his early years. Much later, when he became a playwright, a writer and a political and social commentator, his speeches and writings had one common thread – problems of the underprivileged. It was perhaps this factor that forced him to make an electoral promise in 1967 – three measures (approximately 4.5 kg) of rice at Re. 1. Though dubbed by his political opponents as unrealistic even then, the idea caught the imagination of the people. It is no wonder that the DMK, led by M. Karunanidhi, CNA’s prominent follower, returned to power in 2006, making rice at Re. 2 a kg as one of its important electoral commitments. The DMK regime not only fulfilled its promise but also went one step further – providing rice at Re.1 a kg from September 2008 in connection with the inauguration of CNA’s centenary celebration.
After completing his studies in 1934, Annadurai was drawn to E.V. Ramasamy (EVR) or Periyar (1879-1973), who was, by then, an important leader of the Justice Party and also carrying on the anti-caste, anti-religion Self Respect Movement. In no time, he had become Periyar’s chief lieutenant. He came to be noticed during the anti-Hindi agitation held in 1938. Six years later, CNA was instrumental in the creation of the Dravidar Kazhagam, breaking ranks from the Justice Party. Soon, the differences between CNA and his “political guru” EVR came to the fore on a host of issues. In 1947, when the country attained Independence, EVR called it a black day but Annadurai described the Independence Day as a day of deliverance from the British Raj. The democratisation of leadership within the DK was another issue. When the 70-year-old EVR married Maniyammai, who was about 40 years younger to him, in July 1949, CNA left the DK and formed the DMK two months later.
In political ideology, the DMK did not differ much from the DK. The establishment of independent Dravida Nadu, which implied secession of four southern States from the rest of the country, was at the core of the DMK’s objectives, even as the party declared its commitment to democracy and socialism. But, after the India-China conflict in 1962 and the anti-secession legislation was mooted, the party gave up its demand for separation as, CNA said, the supreme task of all was to mobilise the country’s efforts “for the successful prosecution of the war against the Chinese aggression.” From then onwards, the party has been demanding for a federal set-up in the country, greater autonomy for States and less powers for the Central government. The social reform for the elimination of caste has been its ideal.

India, Hong Kong ink crime probe pact

NEW DELHI: India signed the Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement on criminal matters with Hong Kong on Monday to improve the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies of both sides in investigation and prosecution of crimes. It was signed here by Minister of State for Home Mullappally Ramachandran and Ambrose Lee, secretary for security, on behalf of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the People’s Republic of China. The agreement will come into force a month after both sides notify each other that their requirements have been complied with. — PTI

Pakistan asks India to share “actionable” intelligence

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, once again, reminded India on Monday of the agreement at Sharm-el-Sheikh to share “actionable” intelligence to prevent future terrorist attacks, and urged re-activation of the joint anti-terror mechanism and composite dialogue for “pragmatic co-operation” in dealing with terrorism.
The reminder came after remarks by Home Minister P. Chidambaram about the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed planning possible terror strikes against India.
“We have repeatedly requested the Indian government to share with us, whatever information it has in this regard,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said.
“Sharing of real time, credible and actionable information on any future terrorist threats was deemed essential by the Prime Ministers of Pakistan and India at the Sharm-el-Sheikh summit.”
Pakistan also flagged that, at the summit, the Prime Ministers had agreed that terrorism threatened both countries.., and “affirmed their resolve to fight terrorism and cooperate with each other to this end.”

Analysts' corner

State Bank of IndiaReco Price: Rs 1,813Current market price: Rs 1,918Target price: Rs 2,109Upside: 10%Brokerage: Daiwa SecuritiesThe broking house believes that one of State Bank of India’s (SBI) biggest advantages is the high interest spread on its bond portfolio. The incremental cost of funds for SBI has fallen by almost 210 bps over the past nine months, whereas the incremental yield on its government-bond portfolio has remained more or less the same. Currently, if SBI buys a 10-year government bond, then it is making an incremental interest spread of 200-250 bps, compared with a negative interest spread six months ago and a positive spread of around 10 bps nine months back.

SBI moved almost Rs 35,000 crore of short-term cash to statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) securities in 1Q FY10, and this is likely to have a positive impact and reflect in the NIM in the latter half of FY10. The re-pricing of high-cost deposits in November-December 2009 would also give the NIM a further boost. SBI has underperformed both the broader and Nifty banking indices over the past six months, but this trend will reverse over the next six months. The six-month target price is revised to Rs 2,109 from Rs 1,043, based on a target PBR of 1.5x on FY10 consolidated BVPS forecast and adding Rs160 per share for the life-insurance venture.

Amtek AutoReco Price: Rs 183Current market price: Rs 183.85Target price: Rs 254Upside: 38%Brokerage: Anand Rathi

The research house expects Amtek Auto to benefit from the relatively strong growth in automobile demand at home and the nascent recovery globally. Its amalgamation with five group companies would lead to integrated operations and greater efficiencies. Domestic auto demand has rebounded, and overseas markets, too, are showing signs of improvement. Amtek has a significant presence in the overseas markets through subsidiaries, which would boost revenue from its subsidiaries as well its joint ventures with leading global suppliers such as Magna and ARI. Given the secular growth in demand ahead, Amtek (ex-merger impact) to register a robust 50 per cent CAGR in earnings over FY09-12.

Amtek is amalgamating five group companies with itself, bringing all the forgings and castings units under the ‘Amtek Auto’ umbrella. This is expected to lead to better integration of operations, clearer efficiencies in sourcing and negotiations, and greater transparency in operations. Amtek Auto is valued at 15x FY11e earnings, which is a 25 per cent discount to the target PE multiple for Bharat Forge. The target price is Rs 254 (without considering the impact of its amalgamation with four other group entities).

Hindustan UnileverReco Price: Rs 273Current market price: Rs 255.95Target price: Rs 304Upside: 18.7%Brokerage: IIFL

Hindustan Unilever’s (HUL) top management is pursuing volume growth and this is now visible in every brand in its portfolio. HUL is re-launching earlier de-focussed soap brands Liril, Hamam, Rexona and Breeze to regain share from regional players in specific geographies. The company has reintroduced key price points of Rs 10 and Rs 5 toothpastes and soap brand Lifebuoy.

With competition (GPCL, Wipro and Ghari) not reacting to price cuts in HUL’s discount brands, prospects of a recovery have improved. Channel checks suggest that the new re-launches/price points/price cuts have been well received in trade, though it is too early to judge consumer offtake at this stage. HUL has lost the maximum ground over the past 15 months in soaps, with its market share dropping by over 650 bps from 53 per cent to just over 46 per cent. Its old brands are being re-focussed after 2-3 years to take on competitors such as Godrej No 1 and Santoor, which have specific regions of strength.

Lanco InfratechReco Price: Rs 420Current market price: Rs 422Target price: NABrokerage: Edelweiss Securities

Lanco Infratech (LITL) currently has over 7,195 MW of new generation capacity under various stages of execution. Over half of this is already under construction and the balance has secured offtake agreements and fuel linkages and is likely to attain financial closure over the next 12 months. Post-commercialisation of RIL’s KG gas basin, Lanco has been receiving 1.6-1.65 mmscmd of gas, enabling its 368 MW Kondapalli power plant stage 1 to operate at 94 per cent PLF. The 366 MW second stage of the plant is expected to be operational in September/October.

The company has indicated that it will finalise plans to expand the capacity by about 750 MW (phase III & IV) at the same location. It also said that the proximity to Krishna river and anticipated higher KG basin output will alleviate water and gas issues. The research house has assumed earnings of Rs 71.7 crore from this plant in its FY10 estimates assuming merchant tariff and sale of about 610 million units. If LITL is able to operationalise the plant, sourcefuel, and execute merchant sales for the entire capacity, then there could be upside risks to earnings forecasts. At recommended price of Rs 420, the stock is trading at 2.8x FY10E and 2.2x FY11E book value.

Tata SteelReco Price: Rs 441Current market price: Rs 469Target price: Rs 540Upside: 15%Brokerage: Deutsche Bank

The stock has been upgraded to buy based on three factors. The first is the view that the worst is over for Corus and that each quarter at Corus should be incrementally better, following the record negative EBITDA of $387 million in June quarter FY10. The second is a 132 per cent CAGR in consolidated EPS over FY10-12E, and finally an attractive valuation – the stock currently trades at a FY11E EV/EBITDA of 4.9x, an 18 per cent discount to the average valuation of its global peers. Worries over long-drawn earnings uncertainty at Corus have been a key stock overhang since late last year.

Nascent recovery in steel consumption in Europe, a rising capacity utilisation rate and a decline in coking coal prices should drive an EBITDA turnaround at Corus. We forecast Corus EBITDA to rise at a CAGR of 260 per cent over FY10-12. Tata Steel’s India operations (among the most competitive in the world) look set to benefit impressively from aggressive organic growth. EBITDA at Indian operations is likely to rise at 21 per cent CAGR over our forecast period. Increasing production in India should result in Indian operations constituting an overwhelming 67 per cent of consolidated EBITDA by FY12 from 46 per cent in FY08 when Corus was acquired.

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Jet Airways to sell shares to institutions


Indian carrier Jet Airways said on Sunday it plans to raise capital through the sale of shares to institutions within the next 2-3 months.



Jet offers 50% discount for 3 days



et Airways, just out of a pilots’ strike, today sprung a surprise by announcing a 50 per cent discount this week on its Economy Class fares on all domestic flights. The announcement,made just a few hours after the airline resumed its services, will be applicable for its all-economy, no-frills service, Jet Airways Konnect, too.

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Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) today said Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries (RIL) is charging an illegal and unauthorised marketing margin of 13.5 cents (Rs 6.6) per mBtu on the sale of gas from its KG basin D-6 fields.
RIL declined to comment on this or related allegations, saying the entire issue was in court. Seeking government’s intervention in the matter, J P Chalasani, Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Power, said, “RIL’s charge of unauthorized marketing margin accounts for over 3 per cent of the price at which the KG gas is being sold and the marketing margin levied till date should either be refunded immediately or adjusted against future sale of gas.”

“RIL’s decision to levy the marketing margin does not have approval of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) and has not been subjected to any official scrutiny. On the contrary, the petroleum ministry has categorically denied giving permission to RIL to charge any such marketing margin. This strengthens the apprehensions about the biased and partisan approach of the petroleum ministry,” Chalasani added.

In Delhi, senior ministry officials sharply denied the charges, stating that government approval is only for landfall price of the gas and its utilisation. “It is between the two contracting parties to decide on the marketing margins. In case of a dispute, a buyer can always go to the Competition Commission, (the sector) regulator or the administrative machinery with its complaint,” said an official, reacting to the charges.

The power and fertiliser sectors, RNRL said, will have to bear an additional burden of over Rs 10,000 crore towards this illegitimate and unjustified charge claimed by RIL. The major burden will be borne by Government of India in the form of fertiliser subsidies and by the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat in the form of power subsidies.

“RIL is selling the gas produced by itself, and there is no intermediate marketing agency involved. Above all, the gas is being supplied to customers identified by the government, and there is no element of marketing involved – there can be no question of the levy of a marketing margin,” Chalasani said.

Drawing comparisons with state-run GAIL, Chalasani said the latter is not permitted to charge any marketing margin on the supply to government’s identified customers under the administered price mechanism (APM), whereas RIL is doing so. Officials, however, said the comparison with APM gas was not fair. Besides, GAIL charges a Rs 8.40 marketing margin on all non-APM gas. This includes gas produced from privately-operated Panna-Mukta-Tapti and also D6 gas, whenever the government-owwned company gets to market the gas.

GAIL said it charges around 12 cents for its gas from the Panna-Mukta-Tapti fields, which is sells at around $5.7 per mBtu. It charges 17 cents for its gas from the Dahej terminal. The price of the gas in August stood at around $6.3 per mBtu, approximately.

entry load ban to benefit MFs in long run, say fund managers

"new norms will hit the mutual fund industry initially. but it will be a short-term phenomenon. once the reality dawns on all the participants that this is the way business is to be done, the industry will pick up"


AP Kurian
chairman, Amfi

Jet Airways Pilots Continue Their Strike

The deadlock between the agitating pilots and the management of the Jet airways continues for the fifth day, after the talks held on Friday in Delhi to resolve the issue remained indecisive.
According to the reports available from the television channels, another set of discussion will be held in Mumbai today.
The pilots and the management of the Jet Airways had met in New Delhi before the Chief Labour Commissioner for resolving the issue, which had posed severe inconveniences to more than 30,000 passengers in the past four days.
Besides Chief Labour Commissioner S K Upadhyay, the other persons who were part of the discussion, which happened on Friday in New Delhi included Jet’s executive director Saroj Dutta, CEO Hafiz Ali and head of operation Captain Mohan.
 

PAKISTAN REJECTS INDIAS PROTEST

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan summoned an official from the Indian High Commission on Friday and told him New Delhi had no “locus standi” to protest against either its recently announced package of measures for Gilgit-Baltistan or against the construction of a dam on its side of Kashmir.

Pakistan’s protest came a few hours after India made its own two protests: the first, over the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order 2009 as a “cosmetic exercise intended to camouflage Pakistan’s illegal occupation” of parts of the Jammu and Kashmir State; and the second, against the construction of the Bunji dam in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

A statement from the Foreign Ministry said the Deputy High Commissioner of India, Rahul Kulshreshth, was called in “to emphasise that Pakistan rejects the Indian protest, as the Government of India has no locus standi in the matter. The Government of Pakistan also rejects the Indian claim that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan’s position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is based on relevant UN resolutions.”

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RIL Wants higher gas allocation:-
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has asked the govt. to make additional gas
allocations from its D6 block to new customers , like captive power plants, in order to help it ramp up production , which is currently constrained by lower offtake.

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FDI rises 56% in july-
india is back on the radar of global investors with 56% year-on-year rise in inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) in july this year.

MTN shareholders wants more from bharti deal:-
                         bharti on may 25 offered 86 rand in cash plus half a bharti stock for each MTN share for a 49% stake, while MTN and its shareholders would acquire 36% of new delhi based operator. bharti said at the time value of the deal may exceed $23 billion.

early warning system to detect corporate frauds

According to SALMAN KHURSHID (CORPORATE AFFAIRS MINISTER) we are already running a pilot project with 50 companies we can now say with confidence that EWS is already in operation .