Langate gets JK
Bank ATM
Excelsior
Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Feb 27:
Expansion of ATM
network into far-flung areas is
part of J&K Bank's policy to
create infra-structure for
banking and financial operations.
Vice
President and Zonal Head (North)
J&K Bank, Nazir Ahmad Parimoo
while addressing a gathering of
customers, senior citizens and
local residents of Langate,
Handwara after inaugurating an
ATM on Saturday said that people
will be benefitted by it. ATM was
a long pending demand of the
people there.
The
number of ATMs in north Kashmir
has gone up to 32. He further
stated that it has been endeavor
of the Bank to provide its
clients all tools of convenient
banking like Core Banking
solution, Anywhere Banking, RTGS,
ATM services, etc. even to the
remotest areas of the state.
Union Budget
to decide the sentiment in equity
market
NEW DELHI,
Feb 27: When the
Union Budget 2011-12 is tabled in
Parliament tommorrow, it can be a
"game changer" for the
stock market, which is currently
grappling with macro-concerns,
including inflation and the
crisis situation in the Middle
East and North Africa, say
experts.
Steaming
crude oil prices spiked by
political tensions in Libya
pulled down the BSE benchmark
Sensex by 2.8 per cent or over
510 points to 17,700.91 level
last week. Further, the Sensex
witnessed a single day sell-off
of over 500 points on
Thursday---its biggest decline
since August 2009.
"There
is a very strong possibility that
the Union Budget could be a game
changer as far as the direction
of the stock market is concerned.
The market has a very strong
inertia (right now)... If there
is one event that can change
that, it would be the Union
Budget," said Motilal Oswal
Financial Services CMD Motilal
Oswal.
According
to market observers, the Economic
Survey and the Railway Budget
2011-2012 announced on Friday,
emerged as non-events for the
Dalal Street, which is now keenly
awaiting positive surprises from
the Union Budget.
"We
see amnesty scheme, agriculture
focus and easing of infra funding
issues as the key addressable
areas, which could enthuse the
equity market.
Besides,
a complete excise duty roll-back
by 2 per cent and higher fiscal
deficit target of 5.5 per cent,
if announced, would be major
negative surprises," said
IIFL Head of Research Amar
Ambani.
The
markets usually rally before the
budget in anticipation of big
measures but then get
disappointed when the government
cannot provide all that the
market wants in the finance bill.
Experts
tell that this time the
expectations are low and the
market may actually react
positively to any rational
measures in the finance bill.
They
add the stock market that has
plummeted by 13.69 per cent in
the year so far, can perk up
after the budget announcement on
indications of lowering of
hurdles on funding and,
implementation and execution of
projects in key sectors.
"Market
performance may be better
post-budget as the long-term
structural story of India remains
intact and investors could take
positives from any significant
investment plans and execution
methodology towards that
story," MAPE Securities Head
of Research Kislay Kanth said.
At
the same time, market observers
also point out that though the
Union Budget will be an important
event next week, external
developments, especially in the
Middle-East and North Africa,
will also be crucial in steering
the stock market. (PTI)
Only CSR
disclosure to be mandatory in Cos
Bill: MCA
NEW DELHI,
Feb 27: Amid sharp
differences over making CSR
mandatory, the government may ask
corporates to only disclose to
shareholders whether they have
made a contribution of 2 per cent
of net profit toward corporate
social responsibility activities.
The
Companies Bill, 2009, will retain
the original provision which asks
companies to earmark 2 per cent
of the average profit of the
preceding three years for
corporate social responsibility
(CSR) activities, amid strong
opposition from industry to the
clause.
However,
"Only disclosure will be
mandatory and not
implementation," said a
senior official of the Corporate
Affairs Ministry, adding,
"They will only have to
disclose to the shareholders what
their CSR policy has been and if
they have not been able to
fulfill the target, why have they
not done so."
Industry
has been of the view they should
be allowed to monitor
implementation of CSR themselves
without government intervention.
While
industry body FICCI said,
"If this reported stance is
of the Ministry of Corporate
Affairs, then we are in agreement
with this stance," another
body, CII, said, "The law
should not specify any amount to
be spent on CSR activities. It
should be left to the decision of
the board."
"We
will not direct them in any way
as to how to frame their policy
or in what areas they should
spend. We will not interfere at
all. Companies are only
answerable to their shareholders.
They will even not have to file
returns with the Registrar of
Companies (RoC) regarding their
CSR activities," the
official said.
The
suggestion for earmarking a part
of a company’s profit for
CSR was floated by the
Parliamentary Standing Committee
on Finance, which scrutinised the
Companies Bill, 2009.
Subsequently,
the MCA proposed that "every
company having (net worth of Rs
500 crore or more, or turnover of
Rs 1,000 crore or more) or (a net
profit of Rs 5 crore or more
during a year) shall be required
to formulate a CSR Policy ... As
may be approved and specified by
the company."
"In
case any such company does not
have adequate profits or is not
in a position to spend prescribed
amount on CSR activities, the
directors would be required to
give suitable disclosure/reasons
in their report to the
members," the Bill says.
While
PSUs whose net profit is less
than Rs 100 crore have to
contribute 3-5 per cent of their
bottomline for CSR, PSUs with
profits between Rs 100-500 crore
earmark 2-3 per cent.
In
case of public sector companies
earning a profit of Rs 500 crore
and above, CSR spending should be
between 0.5 to 2 per cent of the
net profit. (PTI)
FM likely to
raise IT exemption limit to Rs 2
lakh:tax experts
NEW DELHI,
Feb 27: Tax experts
are hopeful Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee will increase
the income tax exemption limit to
Rs 2 lakh per annum from Rs 1.6
lakh to bring the rates in line
with the Direct Taxes Code (DTC).
"To
align the exemption limits under
personal income tax with DTC, the
Centre is likely to raise the IT
exemption limit to 2 lakh,"
Balbir Singh Mastan, Partner, DSK
Legal said.
High
inflation, particularly in the
food items, also makes a strong
case for raising the tax
exemption limit, experts argue.
"Taking
into account rising inflation,
the Government could raise
personal I-T exemption
limit," tax consultant
Subhash Lakhotia said.
He
further said that in the wake of
the issues related to increasing
blackmoney, the government should
limit tax rates to upto 20 per
cent for individuals and 25 per
cent for corporates.
Tax
gurus also said the limit for
exemption through saving schemes
like investments in provident
fund and infrastructure bonds,
may also be raised from the
current Rs 1.2 lakh.
"The
Finance Minister is expected to
raise the deduction under 80 C of
IT (tax saving) to Rs 1.5
lakh," Tax consultant Rakesh
Gupta said.
In
the budget of 2010-11, deduction
of an additional amount of Rs
20,000 was allowed, over and
above Rs one lakh on tax savings,
for investment in long-term
infrastructure bonds.
Aseem
Chawla, Partner in Amarchand
& Mangaldas, however, does
not expect that Mukherjee would
make any changes in rates of
Corporate Tax and Minimum
Alternate Tax (MAT) but feels
excise duty could be raised.
"The
Corporate Tax and MAT will remain
unchanged. The excise duty will
be raised by 2 per cent,"
Chawla said.
The
government is also likely to
announce relief in the housing
loan segment. They also expect
Mukherjee to bring healthcare
segment into service tax net.
Meanwhile,
economists are expecting the
government to further liberalise
the foreign direct investment
(FDI) regime to contain the dip
in FDI inflows.
"Budget
may contain steps to improve the
FDI situation in the country, by
introducing some procedural
simplifications as well as
opening up the FDI for more
sectors," said Crisil’s
chief economist D K Joshi. (PTI)
Budget
likely to give boost to
infrastructure sector
NEW DELHI,
Feb 27: Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee is
likely to announce steps to boost
the infrastructure sector in his
Budget tomorrow with a view to
sustaining over 9 per cent growth
in the coming years.
The
initiatives could include raising
the limit for investment in tax
saving infrastructure bonds and
providing special thrust to plan
expenditure for sectors like
road, energy, ports, airports
etc.
Currently,
investments up to Rs 20,000 per
annum in infrastructure bonds
enjoy tax exemption.
Mukherjee
may also announce setting up an
Infra Debt Fund (IDF), as was
suggested by an expert panel
headed by HDFC chief Deepak
Parekh in June, 2010 to resolve
financing issues of the sector.
The
Parekh Committee had recommended
setting up IDF with an initial
corpus of Rs 50,000 crore for
financing projects in this
crucial sector and was to be
managed and regulated by market
regulator SEBI.
The
fund, aimed at providing
longer-term capital to
infrastructure, could provide a
boost to the public-private
partnership (PPP) projects,
thereby pushing investments in
key areas like roads, ports and
power, among others.
According
to the Economic Survey for
2010-11, 293 projects or over 52
per cent of the ongoing 559
infrastructure projects are
running behind schedule as on
October, 2010 and steps are
required to accelerate the pace
of infrastructure development
further.
Simultaneously,
the Survey also said that
investment in the key
infrastructure sectors like
power, roads, ports, airports
among others, is expected to
increase to 8.37 per cent of the
GDP or over Rs 4 lakh crore in
2011-12.
Moreover,
the government proposes to raise
investment in infrastructure
sector to USD 1 trillion in the
Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17)
from USD 500 billion in the
current plan.
A
bigger budgetary support is
likely to be provided to
implement Rajiv Gandhi Gramin
Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) and
Re-structured Accelerated Power
Development Reforms Programme
(R-APDRP), which is meant for
reducing transmission and
distribution losses in the power
sector. (PTI)
Bank
deposits score over gold; imports
may dip 55% in Feb
MUMBAI, Feb
27: Higher
returns from bank deposits seem
to have robbed the sheen of the
yellow metal with a massive
decline of above 55 per cent
expected in gold imports in
February.
India’s
gold import is likely to dip by
55 per cent to 20-25 tonne in
February as compared to 45 tonne
in the same month in 2010
following increase in bank
deposit rates to nearly 10 per
cent, Bombay Bullion Association
President Prithivraj Khotari told
here.
"Higher
food inflation and liquidity
problem in the market have
further affected the
demand," he said.
Khotari
said record gold prices during
February, which almost touched Rs
21,000 per 10 grams, is also
likely to have negative impact on
imports. India is the
world’s largest consumer of
gold.
Gold
price on Multi-Commodity Exchange
on Saturday ruled at Rs 20,961
per 10 grams, while the
international price was at USD
1,410.20 an ounce (28.34 grams).
However,
the World Gold Council had
recently given a positive outlook
for the precious metal in 2011
despite the ruling high price.
"Last
year was great year for gold
globally, specially, for India
and China. India emerged as the
strongest market with total
demand rising by 66 per cent at
963 tonne amid strong economic
growth. The outlook for this year
is also robust," WGC
Managing Director (Middle-East
and India) Ajay Mitra had
recently said. (PTI)
DoT yet to
finalise landline numbering for
Telemarketers
NEW DELHI,
Feb 27: Telemarketers
will have to conduct business
using mobile phones from Tuesday
as DoT has not yet finalised the
new numbering series for their
landlines, and telecom regulator
Trai is sticking to its deadline
for implementing new rules to
check pesky calls.
A
senior official indicated that
DoT will not be able to come out
with uniform series for landline
connections for telemarketing
companies for use from March 1.
He
blamed unclear communication from
Trai as main reason for the
delay. Besides, he added that
security implications, billing
and technical issues need to be
resolved before new numbering
series can take effect.
Trai
has asked telecom service
providers to withdraw all
existing telecom resources
(including mobiles and landlines)
of telemarketers by February 28,
and issue connections to them
based on new numbering plan.
DoT
has allocated ‘140’ as
prefix to telemarketers for
mobile phone connections, but has
not finalised the new numbering
plan for landlines.
India
has over 750 million cellular
subscribers, as against only 35
million landlines of which about
80 per cent are provided by
state-owned BSNL and MTNL.
The
Telecom Regulatory Authority of
India (Trai), meanwhile, is
sticking to its deadline for the
implementation of new rules to
check pesky calls and SMSes.
The
purpose of using separate series
for telemarketers is to help
consumers identify their calls
easily.
"Consumers
want this regulation to be
implemented on time. Other
stakeholders, mainly telecom
service providers, telemarketers
and advertisers are making
attempts to delay it,"
alleged a senior Trai official.
After
facing delays in the past,
Trai’s Telecom Commercial
Communications Customer
Preference Regulations, 2010, to
check pesky calls and messages,
is to be finally implemented from
March 1.
The
Trai official said, "The
regulation will be implemented
from March 1, without any delay.
I don’t see any reason for
telemarketing companies business
getting disrupted. They can use
mobile services."
However,
BSNL and MTNL are not ready to
implement the rules on the
grounds that tendering process
for procuring equipment required
for the job is taking time.
BSNL
had even approached Telecom
Disputes Settlement and Appellate
Tribunal (TDSAT) against Trai but
later on withdrew the case.
The
DoT official said a uniform
numbering series for landline
connections means changing STD
codes. This will have security
implications as security agencies
will find it difficult to trace
numbers.
Besides,
he added that telcos will face
billing problems as it will be
difficult for them to identify
telecom network from which calls
are coming.
Also
a three digit prefix like
‘140’ series will take
total number of digits, including
STD code, in a landline number to
13 and only few telephone
exchanges will be able to
transmit these long numbers.
Till
the time these issues are
resolved, telemarketers will be
unable to use landline phones for
making calls to telephone
subscribers. (PTI)
ST
Microelectronics targets 25 pc
growth in Indian market
NEW DELHI,
Feb 27: Electronic
chip maker ST Microelectronics
today said its business is
expected to grow by 25 per cent,
driven by direct-to-home (DTH)
and security segments, in the
Indian market this year.
"Though
the industry is not expected to
grow at the same pace as
2010’s and is assessing
itself at a more traditional 5 to
8 per cent growth, ST expects to
grow faster and outperform for
the markets we serve,"
company CEO and President Carlo
Bozzotti told.
"In
Indian market we have been
growing at a higher than industry
average. Since last few years we
have seen year-on-year growth of
around 25 per cent and we expect
to maintain it,"
company’s Regional Vice
President (Greater China and
South Asia Operations) Vivek
Sharma said.
Bozotti
said India has emerged as a major
growth market for the company and
direct-to-home and security
segments are key areas for
pushing up growth of company
here.
"We
see DTH and security segment to
be key driver for our growth in
this year," Bozotti said.
Sharma
said that company is looking to
play on its solutions for
set-top-boxes (STB) which
includes high definition STBs,
personal video recorder,3D TV
capable solutions and 3D graphics
for gaming to name a few.
ST
claims to have patent portfolio
in excess of 20,000 patents
worldwide. Its India design
centers have contributed more
than 370 patent filings out of
which more than 170 are granted.
Talking
about existing opportunity in
India, Sharma said "As per
our estimates, India accounts for
around six per cent of worldwide
TV consumption. Still it is
largely analog TVs leaving high
scope for digital TV."
On
strategy for security segment
Sharma cited number of ongoing
developments in India which are
going to be growth driver for
company’s business.
"India
is already witnessing huge growth
for the security products fuelled
by National ID, ePassport,
eDriving License, health
insurance and other eGoverance,
data security and others. These
are driving the needs of products
and solution that we offer,"
Sharma said.
In
security segment, the company
offers solutions for smartcards
used for identity and secure
banking, flash drive based
security tokens for data
security, solution for internet
protocol and closed circuit TV
surveillance camera’s. (PTI)
Exporters to
lose Rs 500 cr due to ban on milk
powder exports
MUMBAI, Feb
27: The
government decision to ban export
of milk powder and its derivative
casein to rein in rising prices
in the domestic market will
result in a loss of around Rs 500
crore to exporters of milk
products, an apex industry body
has said.
"India
is the largest producer of milk.
However, we export only a small
percentage of the total
production of milk products. The
government ban on exports of
skimmed milk powder (SMP) and
casein will hit the exporters
badly," Indian Dairy
Association Chairman (West Zone)
Arun Patil told PTI here.
Total
production of milk powder and
casein in India is around 3-lakh
metric tonnes. Of this, only
40,000 metric tonnes (mainly
casein) is exported.
Last
year, India exported milk powder
and casein worth Rs 500 crore,
Patil said.
"The
government’s decision is
highly impractical. The ban will
not only affect the exporters,
but also harm the reputation of
India in the international
market."
Instead
of imposing a sudden ban, the
government needs to form a policy
to ensure that the production of
milk is enhanced and the prices
do not go up suddenly, he said.
"The
Government needs to come out with
a dynamic policy that will
encourage milk producers to
increase production.
Also,
rearing milch animals and fodder
production on non-fertile land
should be encouraged through the
National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (NREGA). This will
boost milk production in the
country," Patil said.
The
milk suppliers have already
increased milk prices by Rs 2-3
per litre this month. (PTI)
RBNL plans
to launch TV channels in
neighbouring countries
NEW DELHI,
Feb 27: Reliance
Broadcast Network Ltd, a part of
Anil Ambani-led ADA Group, is in
the process of launching
television channels in
neighbouring countries such as
Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan,
Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives.
The
company has already launched a
general entertainment TV
channel—Big CBS
Prime—in partnership with
CBS Studios International in
India and two new
channels—Love and
Spark—are slated for launch
next month.
"We
have already started the process
to launch the CBS channels in our
portfolio in neighbouring
countries and applied for
permissions for down-linking
through our agents in the
respective countries," Big
Broadcasting, COO Ashutosh told.
Big Broadcasting manages the
broadcast business of RBNL.
He,
however, did not specify the
time-line for launching the
channels as it would depend on
official approvals from
respective countries, but said
the company was hopeful of doing
so within this calendar year.
Ashutosh
said in terms of revenues, the
company expects to do better in
the neighbouring countries
immediately as in most of the
locations RBNL will not have to
pay carriage fee to air its
channels, unlike in India.
Besides,
expanding internationally, RBNL
is also enhancing its
distribution within India.
"We
are currently reaching about 30
million homes in India and the
viewership is growing fast. We
are also getting very good
response from advertisers,"
he said.
The
channels are currently available
in India through DTH service
providers such as Videocon, Sun
and cable operators.
"We
have signed up with Airtel
digital and are looking at Tata
Sky and Dish TV. Even a lot of
corporate enquiries are coming
such as from hotels and
offices," he added.
The
company is also working on a plan
to increase the number of
channels in its bouquet.
"Going
ahead there would be many more
English programming, music and
regional TV channels," he
said.
Besides,
the three CBS channels, RBNL is
also set to re- launch Imagine
Showbiz that it recently
acquired.
In
the radio business, the company
has recently struck a marketing
and sales alliance with the
leading High FM of Bhutan to
enter Siliguri and Bhutan.
The
government has recently approved
foreign investment proposal of Rs
45.47 crore in RBNL for up to 20
per cent of the total paid up
capital of the company. (PTI)
Poor states
to benefit from India’s
rising workforce: IMF
NEW DELHI,
Feb 27: India’s
swelling working age population
is expected to increase the
income of poor states as well as
boost the overall growth,
according to an IMF working
paper.
Working
population is generally defined
as those between the age group of
15 to 64 years.
"...
Going forward, it is the poorest
Indian states that stand to gain
the most from the forthcoming
demographic transition, since
they are the ones that have so
far lagged behind in both
transition and in income
growth," the recently
released paper by Shekhar Aiyar
and Ashoka Mody said.
One
of the most-populated countries
in the world, India has well over
1.1 billion people.
As
per estimates, the world
population is to grow by 2.4
billion people. About a quarter
of the projected increase in the
global population aged 15–64
years between 2010 and 2040 is
expected to be in India.
The
trend of increasing number of
working age population, also
termed as "demographic
dividend", is mainly due to
declining infant mortality rates
as well as falling fertility
rates.
"The
working-age ratio in the country
is set to rise from about 64 per
cent currently to 69 per cent in
2040, reflecting the addition of
just over 300 million working-age
adults.
"This
would make India—by an order
of magnitude—the largest
single positive contributor to
the global workforce over the
next three decades," the
paper noted.
According
to the paper, whose views need
not necessarily represent that of
IMF, the demographic dividend
factor would bolster India’s
per capita income in the coming
decades.
"The
demographic dividend is projected
to peak over the next two
decades—adding about two
percentage points to the annual
per capita income growth over the
period," it noted.
One
percentage point is 100 basis
points.
"...
The bulk of the remaining
demographic transition will be
concentrated in lagging states,
thus raising the prospect of
substantial income convergence
among rich and poor states,"
the paper said. (PTI)
Pepper falls
on subdued demand
NEW DELHI,
Feb 27: Black
pepper prices fell by Rs 100 per
quintal in the national capital
today due to subdued demand from
retailers and stockists at the
existing higher levels.
Black pepper
shed Rs 100 to settle at Rs
23,700-23,900 per quintal.
Market
analysts said subdued demand from
retailers and stockists at
prevailing higher levels mainly
pulled down the pepper prices on
the wholesale kirana market here.
Following are
today’s quotations in Rs
per quintal:
Ajwain
16,000-21,000, black pepper
common 23,700-23,900, betelnut
(kg) 120-145, cardamom
brown-Jhundiwali (kg) 1,040 -
1,050, and cardamom
brown-Kanchicut (kg) 1,150-1,300.
Cardamom
small (kg): Chitridar
1,030-1,050, cardamom (colour
robin) 1,000-1,100, cardamom bold
1,020-1,070, cardamom extra
(bold) 1,160-1,250 and cloves
(kg) 350-440.
Chirounji
(new) (kg) Rs 430-460
Dry
mango( raipur) Rs 7,000-9,500
Dhania
Rs 5,200-10,000
Dry
ginger Rs 20,000-21,500
Kalaunji
Rs 11,000-12,000
Mace-Red
(kg) Rs 1,700-1,850
Mace-Yellow
(kg) Rs 1,600-1,750
Methiseed
Rs 3,200-4,200
Makhana
( kg) Rs 250-360
Nutmeg
Rs 680-700
Poppyseed
(KG Turkey) Rs 190
Poppyseed
(KG MP-RAJ) Rs 190-240
Poppyseed
(KG Kashmiri) Rs 175
Red
chillies Rs 7,500-13,000
Saffron
(kg) Irani Rs 80,000-90,000
Saffron
(kg) Kashmiri Rs
1,20,000-1,40,000 Soanf-bold Rs
10,000-16,000
Turmeric
Rs 13,500-16,800
Tamarind
Rs 2,300-2,900
Tamarind
without seed Rs 4,000-7,000
Tea
(kg) Rs 60-210
Watermelon
kernel (Kg) Rs 160
Jeera
common Rs 16,000-16,200
Jeera
best Rs 17,500-18,500.
(PTI)
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