horoscope

By

-

March 23, 2015

Monday Mar 23-2015

Aries : Today nostalgia tinges your mood, and this reflects in your dealings at work, where others see your softer side. You even spend carefully, seeming to be wiser regarding your savings. Ganesha sees profits for cashiers and money lenders.

Taurus : You may face conflicts on the personal front and find your thoughts leaning towards aggression today, says Ganesha. There is a possibility of suffering losses due to loved ones. Exercise restraint in arguments with relatives and siblings, advises Ganesha.

Gemini : Today, it’s time to meet those who are close to you, and maybe even those who were close to you at some point of time. Also, it’s time to revive old friendships, old memories and sink into nostalgia. You may want to buy a valuable historic artefact, says Ganesha.

Cancer : It is about time that you cultivated healthy eating habits. Today, you will be prone to doing everything in excess. You may overeat or get swept away by emotions. You must keep a check on your emotions, or it may lead to unwanted complications. Eat vegetables or salad for a healthy lifestyle, suggests Ganesha.

Leo : Some people have the world at their feet. And today, you are one of them, says Ganesha. With your gorgeous appearance and gregarious attitude, it is easy for you to open all doors with just a touch. So, you have the luxury to choose — either you entertain yourself through multiple avenues such as movies, theatre and music, or you be the entertainer with your superior performing skills. But irrespective of what you decide to do, you shall excel in both, confirms Ganesha.

Virgo : Money matters will hit a major snag today, says Ganesha. Let your mind overrule your heart. Take extreme care of personal belongings, legal responsibilities and new ventures with long-term effects in mind.

Libra : It’s a day of reaching new heights when it comes to finances. The cosmos favours moneylenders and stock marketeers. Call it the special touch that you give to all transactions monetary, but today you have the uncanny knack of raking in the moolah from all sources. Sit back and see your tenacity multiply your fortunes, says Ganesha.

Scorpio : It’s the same old rut today, says Ganesha. Nothing new, nothing exciting. People from the opposite sex, however, may bring you out of the routine and try to enliven your spirits, predicts Ganesha.

Sagittarius : Expect yourself to be hit with religious fervour. You may find yourself in the spotlight for an event or inauguration. Ganesha indicates travelling, so pack your bags for a long-distance business trip.

Capricorn : The journey from defeat to success is driven by optimism. You will be very optimistic today — about your work, future and everything that can lead you to success, says Ganesha. You will also be very careful while dealing with day-to-day work, and will capitalise on every opportunity that can get you a step closer to your goals. Determination and good luck is all you need to realise your dreams; you will have both today.

Aquarius : You will tackle complicated issues with infinite ease! But you will also find people passing the buck onto you. It irks you no end, having to take the blame for others’ mistakes. But here’s a chance, says Ganesha, to turn a weakness into a strength.

Pisces : While you like cooperating with your colleagues, there is nothing like a little competition to spice things up. You will nonchalantly take on the challenges coming your way, and thrive on the sweet smell of success today. Luck is in your favour as well. Make the most of it, says Ganesha.

India’s exposure to US Government securities surges to $91 bn

By

Daily Excelsior

-

March 23, 2015

WASHINGTON, Mar 22: Hiking its holding by USD 8 billion in just a month, India’s exposure to US government securities rose to USD 91.2 billion at the end of January this year.
This is also the highest level in more than one year.
Latest data from the Treasury Department show that India held securities worth USD 91.2 billion in January compared to USD 83 billion in December last year.
The steep rise in holding also comes at a time when the world’s largest economy is seeing relatively better recovery.
China remains the largest holder of these securities with exposure to the tune of USD 1.24 trillion in January.
Among the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) grouping, India has the third highest holding after China and Brazil (USD 256.5 billion).
In January, Russia’s exposure stood at USD 82.2 billion.
Since October 2014, India has been hiking its exposure when it stood at USD 77.5 billion. The next month the same was raised to USD 80.5 billion.
According to the Treasury Department, the sum total in January of all net foreign acquisitions of long-term securities, short-term securities and banking flows touched USD 88.3 billion.
Out of the total, net foreign private inflows were USD 60.7 billion, and net foreign official inflows were USD 27.6 billion.
“Foreign residents decreased their holdings of US Treasury bills by USD 10.8 billion. Foreign resident holdings of all dollar-denominated short-term US securities and other custody liabilities decreased by USD 8.1 billion,” it said in a recent statement.
Meanwhile, the US economy expanded 2.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014. The country’s real GDP is the value of production of goods and services adjusted for price changes. (PTI)

Myntra to focus on private labels; to launch new brands

By

Daily Excelsior

-

March 23, 2015

NEW DELHI, Mar 22: Online retailer Myntra will introduce 5-6 new brands of apparels and accessories over the next six months as it looks to increase revenue share from the higher-margin, in-house labels.
The company, which retails over 1,000 brands, also sells 10 of its own brands including Roadster, Dressberry, Anouk (ethnic range for women), Mast & Harbour, Kook N Keech, Yellow Kites (for kids), Invictus and HRX (by Hrithik Roshan).
“We have seen a huge growth in our private labels business. Roadster, in fact, is our No 1 casual wear brand and is among the top three in the site… We are looking at launching five to six new brands in the next six months,” Myntra Senior Vice President Abhishek Verma told PTI.
The company gets about 20 per cent of its revenues from the private labels, he said but declined to give a projection on the revenue contribution from the private label business.
“There is still a lot of white space in the fashion landscape. There is potential in areas like women’s wear, accessories, footwear, inner wear… We would look at these areas,” Verma said.
Private brands are often seen to help boost margins as pricing of third-party brands are more or less similar on competing platforms.
The company, which was acquired by domestic eCommerce major Flipkart last year, is also planning to introduce its ‘Roadster’ range to other eCommerce platforms.
“We are exploring whether the Roadster range can be made available on other eCommerce platforms. We expect this to happen in the next three to six months,” Verma said.
Roadster has seen phenomenal growth in the last two years, he added.
“Roadster fulfils the demand of fast-fashion customers and makes available the latest collection to customers. Add to that our brand ambassador, Ranveer Singh, which has helped increase brand awareness and heighten the fashion quotient,” he said. (PTI)

CCI clears HCo, Hankook’s stake buy in Halla Visteon Climate

By

Daily Excelsior

-

March 23, 2015

NEW DELHI, Mar 22: Fair trade watchdog CCI has given its approval to Hahn & Co Auto Holdings Co and Hankook to buy jointly nearly 70 per cent stake in Halla Visteon Climate Control Corp (HVCC), which has presence in India.
Saying that the deal would not have any appreciable impact on competition, the regulator said there are no horizontal overlaps between the acquirers and the target company in India.
“There is also no vertical arrangement between the acquirers and the target in India,” the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said.
The combination relates HCo acquiring 50.5 per cent stake in Halla Visteon Climate Control Corp (HVCC).
In the latter, Hankook would buy 19.49 per cent stake from VIHI, LLC – a wholly owned subsidiary of Visteon Corp.
Hahn & Co Auto Holdings Co (HCo), a special purpose vehicle set up in South Korea, is meant for investment by Hahn & Company I Private Equity Fund. The latter is controlled by private equity firm Hahn & Company.
Listed in South Korea, Hankook is into manufacture and sale of tyres, tubes and alloy wheels. The company, which is a subsidiary of Hankook Tire Worldwide Co, only has a liaison office in India for management of its distribution network.
HVCC, a South Korean firm, is into automobile climate control systems and fluid transport products, among others.
In India, HVCC has two subsidiaries – Visteon Automotive Systems India Pvt Ltd (VASI) and Halla Visteon Climate Systems India Pvt Ltd (HVCSI).
While VASI is engaged in the business of automotive electronics and climate control systems, HVCSI is into automotive climate control systems.
In its order dated March 5, the watchdog said neither HCo nor any of Hahn & Company’s portfolio firms are engaged in the business of automotive climate control systems in India.
“There is no overlap between the products and services of HCo, Hahn & Company and HVCC in India,” it noted.
For the deal, a share purchase agreement was entered into between HCo and Hankook, Visteon and VIHI last December. (PTI)

Ease of doing biz:MF investors can transact via WhatsApp, apps

By

Daily Excelsior

-

March 23, 2015

NEW DELHI, Mar 22: To attract retail investors, mutual fund houses are tapping social media platforms like WhatsApp and a host of other calling and messaging apps to facilitate transactions in MF products.
These new facilities will help investors in buying or selling mutual fund (MF) products in a simpler and faster manner, experts said.
Mutual fund houses that have adopted digital modes such as Internet and mobiles for increasing distribution of MF products include Axis MF, Reliance MF, UTI MF, L&T MF, Quantum MF and ICICI Prudential MF.
Besides, several fund houses are allowing customers to invest, redeem and switch funds using their mobile phones and a host of mutual funds are gearing up to adopt digital technology to tap investors.
Quantum MF is offering WhatsApp facility to either transact or see mutual fund portfolios. L&T MF has introduced a new service–Goinvest–where customers can track their investments on Facebook.
Besides, Axis MF’s Easy Services that includes EasyCall, EasySms, EasyApp provide customers an option to invest in MF schemes through an SMS, using a dedicated application or by calling up on a designated mobile number.
“Digitalisation adds a lot of convenience and comfort for investors in today’s world. With the increase in the Internet reach and number of smartphones, digitalisation will always be preferred by investors,” Quantum AMC Head-Customer Delight Harshad Chetanwala said.
“MF houses have been focusing on the online platform for the investors to transact. The idea is to keep it as simple as possible for the investor to invest with the AMCs,” he added.
At present, many fund houses are offering facility for online investment, but industry insiders say that there is a need to promote and make it more user friendly for investors by improving the infrastructure and efficiencies.
Further, Sebi had also set up an expert panel to suggest measures for increasing distribution of MF products through digital modes.
According to an estimate, number of Internet-enabled mobile phones in the country is expected to increase from 10-15 million in 2010 to 300-400 million in 2015.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is of the view that a greater use of Internet as a distribution channel can help increase the penetration of mutual funds, especially among young investors.
As per the regulator, the online phenomenon is growing rapidly as more and more people, especially the younger generation, prefer to carry out most of transactions online such as Internet banking, shopping and ticketing.
Nearly 45 fund houses together manage assets worth over Rs 12 lakh crore in India, but fund mobilisation has been a tough task for them in the past few years. One of the biggest reasons behind this low fund mobilisation is the lack of healthy participation from a large part of the country.
A Sebi-conducted study had said that MF presence in the country is heavily skewed in favour of top 60 districts.
Out of 60 districts, a lion’s share of MF presence originates from Mumbai as the city houses the headquarters of most of the large companies, thereby getting a bulk of investments through the non-retail or institutional routes. (PTI)

PM to inaugurate Urja Sangam on March 27

By

Daily Excelsior

-

March 23, 2015

NEW DELHI, Mar 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday will inaugurate a mega energy conclave, Urja Sangam, to mark Golden Jubilee of India’s flagship overseas oil firm ONGC Videsh Ltd that has amassed assets worth USD 45 billion since its inception.
Started as Hydrocarbons India Pvt Ltd on March 5, 1965 to carry out exploration and development of the Rostam and Raksh oil fields in Iran and undertaking a service contract in Iraq, OVL today has 36 projects in 17 countries.
Rechristened as ONGC Videsh Limited on June 15, 1989 with the objective of marketing the expertise of its parent Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) abroad, it owns reserves in excess of 600 million tonnes of oil and oil equivalent gas.
“To celebrate 50 years of success, Urja Sangam 2015 conference with the theme ‘Shaping India’s Energy Security’ is being held on March 27,” an official said.
While Modi will inaugurate the conference, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will address the valedictory session.
Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal and Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman besides hosts of CEOs, industry leaders, academia, technology innovators, policy makers and leaders will deliberate contemporary challenges and opportunities of shaping India’s energy security.
Besides OVL, the conclave will also celebrate 50 years of Engineers India Ltd and Indian Oil Corp’s (IOC) Barauni refinery in Bihar.
The official said OVL acquired its first big oilfield abroad when it won Block 6.01 in Vietnam in 1988 but forex constraints forced it to sell a part of the stake to UK’s BP and Statoil of Norway.
Its big breakthrough came when it snapped a 20 per cent stake in Russia’s giant Sakhalin-1 oil and gas field for USD 1.7 billion in 2001. Since then there has been no looking back with its portfolio spreading Columbia to New Zealand.
“Today OVL produces 14.5 per cent of India’s oil production and 11.4 per cent of gas output,” he said, adding that the company has till date invested USD 23.6 billion in acquisition of oil and gas properties abroad.
It produced 8.36 million tonnes of oil and oil equivalent gas in 2013-14.
“To support and accomplish the objective of the energy security of the country, OVL has adopted a long-term target to increase its production by more than two and half times to 20 million tonnes oil equivalent by 2018 and by more than seven times to 60 million tonnes by 2030,” the official added. (PTI)

Western powers pledge unity in Iran nuclear talks

By

Daily Excelsior

-

March 23, 2015

LONDON, Mar 22: Western powers have played down reports of discord in their ranks and affirmed their “unity of purpose” in the Iran nuclear talks, urging the Islamic Republic to take “difficult decisions”.
The British, French, German and US foreign ministers noted “substantial progress” in the discussions with Tehran, which are due to resume next week, but said there was still no agreement on some “important issues”.
“We will all continue to work together with unity of purpose,” read a joint statement following the talks in London, adding: “Now is the time for Iran, in particular, to take difficult decisions”.
Iran and six world powers are in negotiations to clinch a landmark deal that would have the country scale back its controversial nuclear programme in return for relief from sanctions.
In Tehran, President Hassan Rouhani struck an upbeat tone saying that “an agreement is possible”.
“There is nothing that cannot be resolved,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
The foreign ministers’ gathering in London comes a day after the latest talks between Iran and the so-called P5+1 group — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany — ended without a breakthrough.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, Britain’s Philip Hammond, France’s Laurent Fabius, Germany’s Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the EU’s Federica Mogherini said they were “equally committed”.
“Any solution must be comprehensive, durable and verifiable. None of our countries can subscribe to a deal that does not meet these terms,” they said. (AGENCIES)

Thousands gather for anti-austerity rally in Spain

By

Daily Excelsior

-

March 23, 2015

MADRID, Mar 22: Thousands of demonstrators from across Spain gathered at one of Madrid’s main squares to protest against the way the government has tackled the financial crisis by implementing harsh austerity measures.
Organisers had hoped to attract 20,000 protesters to the event, labelled Marches for Dignity, and yesterday evening much of Colon Square and part of Paseo de Recoletos boulevard were packed with people carrying republican flags and banners calling for a general strike.
Hairdresser Dolores Cerezo, 32, who had arrived from southern Sevilla, said the government had cut back “savagely” on public services such as education and the national health service, “but we are seeing many of them now appearing in court suspected of fraud and corruption, of stealing money.”
Scuffles broke out after the main rally ended. Riot police clashed with about 200 protesters who had attacked a bank and a police car. (AGENCIES)

Tunisia Prez admits security ‘failings’ ahead of museum attack

By

Daily Excelsior

-

March 23, 2015

PARIS, Mar 22: Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said security “failures” had helped facilitate the deadly attack on the country’s national museum, according to an interview with French media.
“There were failures” which meant that “the police and intelligence were not systematic enough to ensure the safety of the museum”, Essebsi told the weekly Paris Match yesterday.
Twenty-one people, all but one of them foreign tourists, were killed when two gunmen stormed the National Bardo Museum in the capital Tunis on Wednesday, in an attack claimed by Islamic State jihadists.
Essebsi however stressed that the country’s security forces “responded very effectively to quickly put an end to the attack at the Bardo, certainly preventing dozens more deaths if the terrorists had been able to set off their suicide belts”, he was quoted as saying on the Paris Match website.
A senior Tunisian politician on Friday said the guards supposed to be protecting the museum and the nearby parliament were having coffee at the time of the assault.
“I found out there were only four policemen on security duty around the parliament (compound), two of whom were at the cafe. The third was having a snack and the fourth hadn’t turned up,” deputy speaker Abdelfattah Mourou told AFP. (AGENCIES)
^^^^

Frauds worth Rs 11,022 crore detected in PSU banks in Apr-Dec

By

Daily Excelsior

-

March 23, 2015

NEW DELHI, Mar 22: PSU banks have reported over 2,100 fraud cases involving a sum of Rs 11,022 crore in the first nine months of the ongoing fiscal, with PNB reporting the maximum number of such instances.
An analysis of the data available with the Reserve Bank shows fraud cases, involving amount of Rs 1 lakh and above, in 26 state-owned banks during April-December 2014 has already surpassed the 2013-14 figure.
In 2013-14 fiscal, there were 2,593 such cases involving an amount of Rs 7,542 crore. The figure has shot up to Rs 11,022 crore from 2,166 cases in the nine-month period ending December 2014.
Delhi-based Punjab National Bank (PNB) had 123 cases of fraud totalling Rs 2,036 crore, followed by Central Bank of India with 147 cases involving an amount of Rs 1,783 crore.
Although the number of such fraud cases is the highest in country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) at 474, the total amount involved was less at Rs 1,327 crore.
Syndicate Bank reported 114 cases of frauds with total amount of Rs 749 crore involved, followed by Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) at 86 cases involving Rs 719 crore.
PSU banks report fraud cases of Rs one lakh and above to banking regulator RBI.
As per the data, Bank of Baroda (BoB) reported fraud worth Rs 597 crore, followed by IDBI Bank (Rs 507 crore), UCO Bank (Rs 424 crore) and United Bank of India (Rs 376 crore). (PTI)