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| SBI holds 3-day Loan Mela Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 30: Hari Market Jammu branch of State Bank of India organized a three day ...more' Houses for middle class remains a dream; builders make castles NEW DELHI, Dec 30: Property developers turned billionaires this year as they mopped up money from the bourses, but the middle class failed to find a decent place to live in cities after interest rates hardened amid firm real estate ....more Gold may continue to glitter in 2008 MUMBAI, Dec 30: Gold prices, which rallied to an all-time high of Rs 10,715 per 10 gm on the bullion market, are expected to continue their upward trend in the new year, a top industry official ........more Investors pull out $741 mn from India funds in 2007 NEW DELHI, Dec 30: Global investors pulled out 741 million dollars from India-focused funds in 2007, even as Indian bourses saw foreign inflow of close to 17 billion dollars during the year.Funds focused on India .......more |
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FICCI seeks duty-free import of
packaging machinery NEW DELHI, Dec 30: Government should allow import of packaging machinery at zero duty besides abolishing excise duty to help the 18.8-billion-dollar ......more New year eve- hotels, pubs may face music NEW DELHI, Dec 30: Planning to attend a new year eve bash? Make sure that the organisers have paid the mandatory license fee to play music - the show otherwise may not really take off.Recently acting on the appeal of The Phonographic Performance Ltd ........more Airtel launches upgrade to SMS services MUMBAI, Dec 30: Telecom major Bharti Airtel today said it has tied up with global mobile media company Affle to offer its 55 million users an uprgraded version of SMS service that would enable .....more GAIL plans Rs 12,00 cr Dabhol-Banglore pipeline SHIRDI, Dec 30: The country's flagship natural gas company GAIL India today said it has plans to lay a pipeline from Dabhol to Bangalore at an estimated cost of Rs 1,200 crore and covering a distance of about 780 kilometers, a top ......more |
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Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, Dec 30: Hari Market Jammu branch of State Bank of India organized a three day Loan Mela from December 29. In the Mela, the visiting persons were educated about various schemes of the bank like Housing Loan, Car Loan, Study/Education Loan, Personal Loan, Business Loan and other financial schemes including SBI Life, SBI Mutual Funds, Demat Accounts, fastest remittance facilities like transfer of funds through Western Union,, STEPS, RTGS etc. Staff present in Loan Mela was very enthusiastic and the visitors also showed keen interest in various schemes of the bank, as per S L Garg, Assistant General Manager of the branch. Houses for middle class remains a dream; builders make castles NEW DELHI, Dec 30: Property developers turned billionaires this year as they mopped up money from the bourses, but the middle class failed to find a decent place to live in cities after interest rates hardened amid firm real estate prices, causing a slowdown in housing market. However, the office and shopping mall rentals continued their upward trend. The pace was more vigorous in Delhi and Mumbai, which got reflected in a consultant’s report that put India’s financial capital at second place in the list of most expensive office markets in the world with Delhi at eighth. The real estate industry, pegged at USD 16 billion and estimated to reach USD 60 billion by 2010 with a growth rate of 30 per cent, entered the Dalal Street in a big way and floated 12 public issues in the year which helped it to emerge as a leading sector in terms of fund raising. Leading the pack was India’s biggest realty developer DLF, which launched the country’s largest IPO of over Rs 9,000 crore, followed by HDIL’s Rs 1,700 crore and Puravankara Projects’ Rs 850 crore. Bombay Stock Exchange launched "Realty Index" to recognise the growing importance of the sector. The sector’s strength is evident from the fact that there are seven real estate barons in a Forbes list of 54 Indian billionaires. DLF’s K P Singh, Unitech chairman Ramesh Chandra and Omaxe’s Rohtas Goel were among the richest Indians. "Kushal Pal Singh is fourth on the 2007 Indian rich list with a net worth of 35 billion dollars, making him the world’s richest real estate developer," Forbes said in November. Industry was able to attract significant interest from domestic and foreign investors keen to be a part of the real estate growth story that started from 2005 when the foreign direct investment norms was liberalised for the sector. Investors participation was not restricted to only public offers as many private equity deals were struck. For instance, DLF sold 49 per cent stake in its seven townships to Merrill Lynch and Brahma Investments to raise Rs 1,675 crore. The private equity deals also happened at entity level. Wachovia Corp, one of the largest financial institutions in the US, picked up 15 per cent stake in Vipul for Rs 234 crore. Raising funds from the public and private equity markets became more attractive for developers in the wake of several regulatory decisions that restricted debt options to industry. The Reserve Bank of India increased the risk weightage to discourage credit to realty sector. The Government curtailed access to overseas borrowings for integrated township. Despite monetary steps, realty demand did not dampen to the desired extent as the growth in income provided the cushion, Crisil Principal Economist D K Joshi said. Echoing similar views, global realty consultant Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj Chairman Anuj Puri said: "There was slackness in the housing demand. However, the overall demand still continue to outstrip supply as a result of which prices either remained firm or in select location went up." Puri noted that despite expectation of property prices cooling off in retail and office segments during 2007, rentals rose by average 20 per cent because of delay in supply. Demand-supply mismatch coupled with increased confidence from investors, notwithstanding the concerns expressed by the Government and its various agencies over realty sector being overheated, was more than enough to enthuse developers to go for expansions and also gear up for future by acquiring land. Among the big-ticket land deals, DLF acquired 38 acre at Rs 1,675 crore in the national capital. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority attracted bids over Rs 2,700 crore for three plots in Bandra Kurla Complex. (PTI) Gold may continue to glitter in 2008 MUMBAI, Dec 30: Gold prices, which rallied to an all-time high of Rs 10,715 per 10 gm on the bullion market, are expected to continue their upward trend in the new year, a top industry official said here. "The investor interest generated in gold is likely to continue and the bullish trend in the metal may gather momentum in January, 2008," BN Vaidya and Associates’ Chartered Accountant Bhargava Vaidya said. The standard gold (99.5 purity) prices in Mumbai market rose by Rs 105 per 10 gram to an all-time closing high of Rs 10,715 on Saturday. The metal had closed at a record high of Rs 10,695 on November 26, 2007. Pure gold (99.9 purity) shot up to Rs 10,765 on Saturday from Rs 10,660 previously. The sharp rise was owing to fresh buying by stockists on the back of a sharp rise in international markets, Analyst Amit Zaveri said. Gold also rose to a one-month high in London market, boosted by dollar weakness, stronger oil prices and worries over geo-political risks in Pakistan and northern Iraq. The yellow metal rose to a 28-year high above USD 845 in November, just shy of its historic high of USD 850 and has gained nearly 31 per cent in 2007. Gold’s role as a hedge against oil-led inflation was also highlighted as crude firmed up to USD 97 a barrel, within sight of its record high. The gold futures also ruled firm. MCX gold contracts registered a turnover of Rs 12,125.70 crore during the week ended December 28. Open interest of all gold contracts was 15,856 kgs and total volume 116,435 kgs. The February gold contract was up three per cent at Rs 10,539 per 10 gm on the previous week’s close. February gold settled at USD 842.70 an ounce, up USD 10.9 dollars on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Meanwhile, India’s gold output increased by 8.6 per cent to 8.72 tonnes during the first seven months period ended November 2007. According to data released by the ministry of mines, gold production in November alone stood at 718 kg, over three times the production target of 238 kg. Of the total gold output in November, Hutti Gold Mines Ltd produced 208 tonnes and Hindalco Industries 510 tonnes. Hindustan Copper did not produce any gold during the month. (PTI) |
Investors pull out $741 mn from India funds in 2007 NEW DELHI, Dec 30: Global investors pulled out 741 million dollars from India-focused funds in 2007, even as Indian bourses saw foreign inflow of close to 17 billion dollars during the year. Funds focused on India witnessed an outflow of 741 million dollars this year as against an inflow of Rs 1.6 billion dollars last year, according to data compiled by international fund tracking firm EPFR Global. The sell-off was much larger in China funds. The investors pulled out a whopping 2.86 billion dollars from China-focused funds in the year, while they had put in close to 6.3 billion dollars in 2006. However, high inflows to the Brazilian and Russian funds led to an overall net inflow into the BRIC funds during the year. The investors made net purchases in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) dedicated funds to the tune of 3.3 billion dollars, although lower than last year’s inflow of 4.3 billion dollars, the EPFR data shows. "Data at this time of year tends to be shaped by year-end book-keeping, window dressing and may be some initial asset allocation positioning for the coming year," EPFR Global Managing Director Brad Durham said. But the big picture for 2007 is unequivocal: a broad re-rating of emerging markets assets that has prompted a big rotation out of developed markets funds as investors seek to increase their exposure to places like Russia, Brazil and Korea," Durham added. Foreign institutional investors made a net purchase of shares worth about 16.95 billion dollars in 2007, but weakness in global markets is estimated to have caused the outflow from the international funds focussed on Indian equities. At the country level, Russia Country Funds extended their winning run to 16 straight weeks and Brazil Country Funds closed the books on a year that saw them post inflows that were nearly six times their 2006 total. Russia-dedicated funds witnessed an inflow of 1,184 million dollars, while Brazilian funds mopped up 4,402 million dollars in 2007. But investors continued booking the profits generated by China’s frothy equity markets, with China Country Funds again seeing outflows despite their 75 per cent collective portfolio gain for the year, it said. Interestingly, emerging markets funds saw modest inflows as the 1.02 billion dollars committed to GEM during the fourth week of December and EMEA Equity Funds more than offset the 643 million dollars pulled out of Asia ex-Japan and Latin America Funds. Among sectors, energy funds ended the year at the gallop, absorbing 972 million dollars for the week and halving their net outflows for a year that saw them post a 36.8 per cent gain on their collective portfolios. While, commodity sector funds posted a 33.3 per cent gain with net inflows of 5.3 billion dollars for the year, as investors bet the commodities cycle has yet to peak and looked for ways to offset the weakness of the US dollar. Pharma and financial sector funds would enter the new year with some momentum, the EPFR report said. (PTI) FICCI seeks duty-free import of packaging machinery NEW DELHI, Dec 30: Government should allow import of packaging machinery at zero duty besides abolishing excise duty to help the 18.8-billion-dollar domestic packaging industry achieve a faster growth, industry body FICCI has said. In a bid to boost the competitiveness of India’s food processing sector, FICCI has come out with a study comprising results of a survey of the packaging sector and recommended a nine-point fiscal incentive package. FICCI said import duty on finished packaging materials needs to be reduced which would help in developing newer and innovative packaging material for end users. "Incentives, wherever necessary, should be given to the input side like capital goods, infrastructure development, new technology for the domestic packaging industry," it said. The aggregate import duty on aseptic packaging machinery is 27.48 per cent, which includes counter-veiling duty of 16 per cent. "Since aseptic filling machines are not being manufactured in India, the Government should remove CVD on such machines," FICCI said. The industry chamber sought reduction in central excise duty on packaging and food processing equipments from 16 per cent to 8 per cent to promote innovation in the sector. It also asked the government to cut the customs duty to 5 per cent and excise duty to 8 per cent on corrugated boxes. FICCI demanded tax holiday for the packaging industry to boost research and development activities in this sector. Pointing out that 150 per cent weighted deduction in respect of in-house R&D expenditure is available only to biotechnology, drugs, pharmaceuticals, electronic equipments, computers, telecommunication equipments and chemicals, the chamber said there was a need to extend this benefit to all sectors. (PTI) |
New year eve- hotels, pubs may face music NEW DELHI, Dec 30: Planning to attend a new year eve bash? Make sure that the organisers have paid the mandatory license fee to play music - the show otherwise may not really take off. Recently acting on the appeal of The Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL), an apex-licensing arm of Indian Music Industry (IMI), Delhi and Kolkata High Court have served injunctions to many well known hotels and pubs of New Delhi, Kolkata, Patna and Bhubaneshwar. "Court order would help us in minimising the losses we are facing every year due to the non-payment of license fee by hotels, pubs in the country. Usually we don’t act as a spoil sport, but with the help of Police we can stop a party for playing music without paying a special event license fee," says Vipul Pradhan, CEO, PPL. PPL had issued a legal notice last week to all hotels and pubs that have not paid up the requisite license fee to play music at their year-end bashes. "Action will be taken against them if in case they fail to pay up even after court’s order. The list of hotels that have been issued injunctions in the Capital include some prominent names like Ministry of Sound, Piano Bar, Q’ba, Mocha, Yo China, RPM, Barcode, Waves lounge and bar, Splash among many others," says Pradhan. According to IMI reports, pubs and hotels rake in huge profits every year but are unwilling to pay the nominal tariff of Rs 40,000 onwards (which varies depending on the number of hours for which music is played) to PPL and thus flout the norms and eating into the royalties of performers and artists. "The main problem here is awareness. I am sure that most of the hotels and bars don’t know about these rules and regulations and just play music on the customer’s demand. Even I have not heard about IMI or PPL. But there should be some stringent laws that can restrict unfair use of music," says Rajesh Mishra, former President of Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI). Sanjeev Verma, General Manager, RPM bar, says he is unaware of the court order and have not heard about PPL before. "We only play T-series music in our bar and pay royalty to the company as mentioned in the copyright act. I don’t know about the notice issued by PPL, he says. For some hotels, these types of notices is nothing new and will not change what has been happening for decades. "Outlets might have received the court’s order but as far as we are concerned, there is no change in our plans for the big bash, says manager of a popular watering joint in the capital, on condition of anonymity. Amit Dutta, advocate of PPL in this case, says, under section 14 and 51 of the Copyright Act, playing of commercial music without paying the requisite license fee is an offense liable to contempt of court. "Musical nights and customised new year packages are some of the most prolific means of revenue for pubs and hotels. A New Year’s bash cannot be imagined without music. Yet when it comes to paying for the commercial use of music, the profit makers choose to evade the license fee," says Sowmya Chowdhury, National Sales Manager-Events, PPL. The pity is that end consumers, party goers do not realise the repercussions of the choices their favourite party place makes, that results in losses for artists and music companies, he adds. (PTI) |
Airtel launches upgrade to SMS services MUMBAI, Dec 30: Telecom major Bharti Airtel today said it has tied up with global mobile media company Affle to offer its 55 million users an uprgraded version of SMS service that would enable them send personalised messages and receive content such as news and cricket updates free of cost. The new version ‘SMS 2.0’ would converge messaging content and contextual advertising into one seamless application besides enabling users personalise their SMS window with text and background colours, Airtel said in a statement. It would also deliver content such as news, jokes, movie and cricket updates, and astrology among others in one application. The users would not be charged for downloading the upgraded version and for content delivery on this platform, SMS charges would remain unchanged and according to the existing mobile plan, the company added. "Trends indicate that youth and young professionals are more active users of messaging. SMS 2.0 represents a huge opportunity for Airtel to differentiate itself and further gain both mind-share and market-share in these segments. This service will open up an entirely new set of options that will enrich the messaging experience of our customers," Airtel Chief Marketing Officer (Mobile Services) Sanjay Gupta said. (PTI) |
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