Cashew, dry date prices up on better demand.....

Polymer prices remain steady..........

New Year blow to GSM players;DoT may take back excess spectrum.....

Year 2007: Lalu’s Resurgent Railways moves on fast track

Turmeric prices down on ample supply

NEW DELHI, Dec 31: Turmeric prices fell by Rs 100 per quintal in the wholesale kirana market today on fresh arrivals amid poor offtake by local parties and stockists.

Turmeric declined by Rs 100 to Rs 3,200-4,500 per quintal following fresh arrivals from Andhra Pradesh.

Traders said increased arrivals from producing centres, particularly from Andhra Pradesh against restricted buying by grinders mainly attributed to a fall in turmeric prices.

Following were today's quotations (in Rs per quintal):

Ajwain 5,800-9,000 Black pepper common 14,400-14,500 Betelnut (kg) 105-115, cardamom brown Jhundiwali)16,000-16,100 and cardamom brown (Kanchicut) 18,000-21,000.

Cardamom small (kg): Chitridar 420-490, cardamom (colour robin) 540-550, cardamom bold 560-570, cardamom extra (bold) 595-615 and cloves (kg) 280-300.

Chirounji (new) (kg) 165-200

Dry mango 4,500-20,000

Dhania 4,300-7,000

Dry ginger 7,400-10,000

Kalaunji 7,500-8,000

Mace-Red (kg) 460-480

Mace-Yellow (kg) 460-465

Methiseed 3,500-4,000

Makhana (per kg) 165-210

Nutmeg 265-280

Poppyseed (KG Turkey) 400

Poppseed (KG MP-RAJ) 410-450

Poppyseed (KG U.P.) 360-375

Red chillies 2,700-8,000

Soya bari pariwar (20 kg) 350-400

Saffron (kg) Irani 105000-107000

Saffron (kg) Kashmiri 124000-132000

Soanf 4,300-11,000

Turmeric 3,200-4,500

Tamarind 8,00-1,200

Tamarind without seed 2,000-3,500

Tea (kg) 65-120

Watermelon kernel 8,000-8,100

Jeera common 10,400-10,800

Jeera dollar 10,700-10,800. (PTI)

Cashew, dry date prices up on better demand.....

NEW DELHI, Dec 31: Cashew prices moved up by Rs 10 per kg and dry dates-red by Rs 100 per quintal in the wholesale dry fruits market today on restricted arrivals.

Traders said restricted arrivals against fresh demand from local consumers, mainly pushed up cashew and dry dates prices.

Cashew kernel (No 210 and 320) improved by Rs 10 each to conclude at Rs 387-398 and Rs 290-295 per kg.

Dry dates-red also improved by Rs 100 at Rs 2,500-5,600 per quintal on better demand.

Following were today's quotations in Rs per 40 kg bag: Almond (California) new 8,600 Almond (gurbandi) 5,200 Almond (girdhi) 3,100, Almond kernel (California) 303-304 Almond kernel (gurbandi) (kg) 300-360 and Abjosh Afghani 5,500-12,000.

Chilgoza raw-new (1 kg) 360

chilgoza (roasted) (1 kg) 700

cashew kernel 1 kg (no 180) 450-460

cashew kernel (no 210) 385-395

cashew kernel no.(240) 330-335

cashew kernel (no 320) 290-295

cashew kernel broken 2 pieces 255-260

cashew kernel broken 4 pieces 245-250

cashew kernel broken 8 pieces 150-220

copra (qtl) 4,250-4,450

coconut powder (25 kg) 1,000-1,800

dry dates red (qtl) 2,500-5,600

fig 3,500-12,000

kishmish kandhari local 5,300-6,000

kishmish kandhari special 11,000-14,000 kiahmish Indian yellow 3000-4000

kishmish Indian green 4,000-8,000

pistachio Irani 450-480

pistachio Hairati 470-510

pistachio Peshawari 500-530

pistachio dodi (roasted) 275-300

walnut new 110-190

walnut kernel new (1kg) 350-500.

(PTI)

Polymer prices remain steady..........

NEW DELHI, Dec 31: The wholesale plastic market remained flat here today as both low and high density polymers continued to be asked on previous closing levels on little bouts of buying and selling.

Marketmen said negligible enquiries by stockists and retailers amid restricted supply, largely held the prices around last levels.

Following were today's quotations in Rs per kg:

LD No 40 - 90.00, LD No 400 - 88.00 LLDP blowing 78.00, colour 73.00 HD Blowing 81.00, HD moulding (deshi) 77.00, HD moulding (colour) 80.00, PP No 100 79, PP Colour 104, ABS (Indian) 97, acrylic 130-140, colour 139-144, crystal (Indian) 80, colour 90, poly carbonate 180-190, Nylon No-6 160, Nylon No 66 -181-191, PVC resin deshi 56.00, PVC pest grade 85. (PTI)

New Year blow to GSM players;DoT may take back excess spectrum.....

NEW DELHI, Dec 31: In what could be another blow to existing GSM mobile operators, the Government may soon demand return of excess spectrum held by them beyond eligible limit.

The move comes after the Government last week decided to allot additional spectrum based on telecom regulator TRAI’s subscriber linked criteria and GSM lobby Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) accepted the decision.

Going by TRAI norms, which suggested up to six times more subscribers to become eligible for additional spectrum, the operators may end up holding excess airwaves. These surplus airwaves can accommodate 4-5 new players, sources said.

DoT has already conducted a detailed study of all GSM players with regard to their subscriber base and equivalent spectrum they hold. Most existing GSM players have 10 MHz of spectrum in major cities like Delhi and Mumbai, sources said. Since new spectrum quantity would be decided as per TRAI formula the operators would have to return excess airwaves in many circles, they added.

However, no decision has been taken on whether DoT would enforce the rule that spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz would not be allocated, the sources said.

At the same time, DoT has begun the process of revising spectrum usage charges to maximise the revenues to the government. The Telecom Commission has been given 15 days to complete the exercise to rework the charges.

Sources also denied that the report of Telecom Engineering Centre has been completely rejected while accepting TRAI’s recommendations. TEC, which is the technical wing of Department of Telecom, had suggested up to 15 times more subscriber base for spectrum allocation.

In fact, the Government is planning to appoint another panel for a detailed study to discover spectrum allocation formula based on scientific analysis. This may take about six months and TRAI norms would be implemented as an interim solution till then.

While GSM operators deny having surplus spectrum, their main rival Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications has accused the top three GSM operators-Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular-have more than 55 MHz spectrum in excess and it should be taken back from them.

Ambani had also written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this regard that excess spectrum should be taken back to distribute among new players. (PTI)

Year 2007: Lalu’s Resurgent Railways moves on fast track

NEW DELHI, Dec 31: Basking in his iconic image of a ‘management guru’, Lalu Prasad continued to fuel the triumphal journey of a resurgent Indian Railways with his out of box initiatives, as the transport behemoth bettered its milestones in revenue generation and created benchmarks in passenger amenities through IT application in the year-gone-by.

Awash with a cash surplus of over Rs 21,000 crore, the minister even assured that the coming railway budget would be better than all his earlier budgets, sustaining the passengers’ faith that they would be spared a hike in ticket fare for the fifth year on the trot.

But 2007 was not only a year of achievements for the Railways, it was also a year of rhetoric, of populism, of promises of better safety and quality catering gone awry while a number of projects floundered on the paper.

With modernisation and passenger amenities becoming the buzzwords of the Railways, people can look forward to booking tickets through SMS and availing ATM facility on some super fast trains in 2008. And if a pilot project for onboard entertainment becomes a success, they can also hope to watch TV while travelling in premium trains.

The earnings of the Railways zoomed phenomenally, and the ‘turnaround story’ ignited interest in the leading management institutes within the country and outside while Pakistan, Bangladesh and some other African countries evinced keen interest in it.

However, the Railways’ grandiose plan to observe 2007 as the ‘Year of Cleanliness’ remained mostly a pompous proclamation. Shoddy catering, dirty bedrolls, stinking toilets and rodents and cockroaches moving freely in coaches and pantry cars continued to greet passengers in most of the mail and express trains.

In the name of cleanliness, Eureka Forbes and some other big companies were given the job of keeping spick and span at important stations like Delhi, Asansol, Howrah and Chennai, but it came at a price: the regular sanitary staff were removed.

However, the impact of the Rs 17,000 crore Railway Safety Fund, an initiative of former Railway Minister Nitish Kumar for modernising the signalling system and tracks, has started showing results.

Last year, the Railways recorded about 195 accidents. In 2007, the number of accidents came down to about 150. Barring the terror blast in the Attari Special going from Delhi to Pakistan, there were no major accidents that could shake the passengers to the core.

Mr Prasad may not have hiked the passenger fare in his last four budgets, but this year would be remembered for the passengers being made to lighten their wallets on the sly.

‘Tatkal’ ticket facility, which had been launched to facilitate travelling in emergency situations with a ten per cent reservation in certain trains, was extended to all mail and express trains. Not only that, some 30 per cent seats were put in this category as the Railways turned the Tatkal scheme into a source of revenue.

Further, a surcharge was slapped on the return tickets while dozens of express trains were put into super fast category to extract ‘super fast surcharge’ from the passengers.

Despite all these shortcomings, the year 2007 has been significant for the Railways with regard to the revenue generation, which was pegged at Rs 44472.14 crore during April-November as compared to Rs 39669.25 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 12.11 per cent.

Besides making optimal use of conventional sources of revenues, the Railways also earned money through newer sources like ads on reservation tickets, using train compartments as mobile hoarding and even branding some trains after commercial products, like ‘Kurkure Express’.

Mr Prasad, who got a first hand account of the railway systems in European countries, got his General Managers and Divisional Mangers trained abroad. Not only that, the foundation stone was laid for the International Railway Strategic Management Institute (IRSMI) to be set up in New Delhi.

Slated to be operationalised by 2010 with the help from the Paris-based International Union of Railways (UIC), it is likely to make India a global hub for International Railway Managers.

In line with the Government’s "Look East Policy’ that requires strengthening of rail linkages in the region, especially with South East Asian neighbours, India signed the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Trans-Asian Railway at the UN headquarters in New York.

Under fire from the Delhi High Court and the travelling public, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a PSU of the Railway Ministry, initiated the process of modernising the departmental base kitchens at New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. It is proposed to have state-of-the-art equipment and professional manpower for the base kitchens.

In a bid to position Indian Railways as the world’s leading railway network, the government approved the proposal to develop New Delhi Railway Station as a world class station before the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

The ministry also decided to constitute a Core Group for monitoring of Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects related to development of 22 world class stations across the country, including the New Delhi station.

In an endeavour to provide modern and improved facilities to the passengers, the Railways introduced the Integrated Train Enquiry System (ITES) ‘Rail Sampark’ call centre with common telephone number 139.

Under this system, the MTNL and BSNL subscribers in the covered area may make a local call at telephone No 139 (without requiring STD facility) to get basic inquiries like arrival/departure of train, status of availability of seats and train fare.

More importantly, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) presented the final study report on the Rs 28,000 crore Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), touted as the flagship project of the Railways.

Railways have proposed a 2700-km-long railway line project (Eastern Corridor - 1279 km) and Western corridor (1483 km) for augmenting the capacity of its network to handle the large increase in volume of traffic expected over the coming years.

For improving the disbursal of railway tickets, a large number of ATMs are being installed at various stations. Last year, the Railways had entered into an agreement with the SBI for installation of ATMs at 682 stations. Six more banks were allowed to install ATMs at 711 locations by March next year.

In the field of IT, Railways created a record. IRCTC sold 146,76,887 tickets on the Internet, earning for Railways a tidy amount of around Rs 1331 crore. On an average, 40,500 tickets were sold daily which went up to 60,000 during the last three months. November 13, in fact, proved to be historic as 83,000 tickets were sold on the net, better than any airline.

Another landmark achievement of the Railways was to expand the reach of reserved tickets nearer to the doorsteps of passengers even in remote areas by allowing selling of such tickets through post offices.

In the field of technological upgradation, RailTel is to set up cyber cafes at 82 stations. Till November, cyber cafes at 24 stations were commissioned.

RailTel also decided to install Wi-Fi systems at 50 stations, which will enable passengers to avail broadband internet facility using their laptops and other Wi-Fi enabled services. Twenty stations are expected to be made operational by March 2008.

Faced with stiff competition from budget airlines, Railways embarked on a project to provide onboard entertainment in some premium Shatabdi and Rajdhani Express trains. A pilot project is under way for installing TV screen behind every seat in a Shatabdi train.

Railways announced plans to set up a coach factory in Rai Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, an electric engine factory in Bihar’s Madhepura district and a diesel engine factory at Madhaura, also in Bihar. The foundation stones were laid for these factories, but work failed to start. In fact, no decision has so far been taken on the choice of private sector companies which are to be involved in these projects.

Similarly, the Kashmir Valley failed get its first train despite most of the arrangements being put in place. In the like manner, a company was formed to execute the Dedicated Freight Corridor project, but it largely remained on the paper. Even the Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA), set up for the commercial exploitation of Railways’ vacant land, was a non-starter.

With regard to accidents, it was a rather inauspicious start for the Railways. In the intervening night of February 18 and 19, there was a terror blast in Attari Express near Deewana station in Haryana, killing 68 people.

Accidents also took place because of negligence of railway employees. A stampede broke out at Mughalsarai station when a large number of devout assembled there for going to Varanasi. More than 15 women pilgrims were killed.

But the most shocking instance of the negligence of railway employees was a collision between a school bus and Satluj Express at a level crossing in Punjab’s Moga in December. Eighteen lives were snuffed out in that accident.

During the same month, extremists triggered explosion in a Rajdhani Express near Dimapur in Assam, killing five passengers.

Railways are under the process of installing CCTV and x-ray machines on railway stations initially at identified 185 sensitive locations across the country for a more effective handling of crime, pilferage and terrorist threats.

In an example of PPP, Railways, SAIL, National Minerals Development Corporation (NMDC) and the Chhattisgarh Government came together to construct a 235-km broad gauge railway line from Dalli Rajhara to Jagdalpur in the eastern state.

The project is to bring about socio-economic development of the backward areas of Bastar region in Chhattisgarh and further the industrial progress and mining activities in the region.

Railways added another milestone by signing a joint venture agreement with NTPC to set up a 1000 MW power plant-Bharatiya Rail Bijlee Company Limited-at Nabinagar in Bihar. The electricity from this plant will power electric trains in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhatisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

A proposal to include Kalka Shimla Railway (KSR) as world heritage site is to be considered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Canada in July 2008.

Three exhibition trains --- Azadi Express, Science Express and Red Ribbon Express --- were launched while a special train for Buddhist pilgrims --- Mahaparinirvan Express ---covering some major Buddhist sites in an eight-day package, was flagged off during the year.

(UNI)