LONDON, Feb 10:  ‘Night at the Museum’ star Ben Stiller always makes sure he see his two children every weekend, even if he is away from home working on a movie
The 47-year-old actor, who has children Ella Olivia, 10, and Quinlin, seven, with wife Christine Taylor, thinks it is important to be with his family as much as possible, reported Femalefirst online.
However, the Hollywood star won’t take his children out of school so they can accompany him to his film sets.
“When I am away, I try to come home every weekend. I don’t want to pull the kids out of school to come to the set. I try to be home as much as possible. We know as a family that we need to be together as much as we possibly can,” he said.
Stiller said that he has learned to find a “balance” between his career and family.
“I figured out how to manage it better. I try to find a balance in life, see what works for me and what doesn’t.” (PTI)

LONDON, Feb 10:  ‘The Hangover’ star Bradley Cooper’s mother does not want him to reconcile with ex-girlfriend Zoe Saldana.
The 38-year-old actor ended his on-off relationship with the ‘Avatar’ beauty for the second time in December and although Saldana is desperate to win him back, Cooper’s mother Gloria doesn’t think it is a good idea, reported Showbizspy.
“Gloria tried to get to know Zoe when they rekindled their romance, but she still didn’t think she was a good fit for him,” a source said.
“So, when Zoe and Bradley started talking to one another again, she told Bradley that their relationship failed twice already, what is the point of going through all of that again?
“Like all moms, Gloria is very protective of her son, and gets to know his girlfriends’ well. She approved of his ex Renee Zellweger and they are still friends to this day,” the source added.
“But she just didn’t click with Zoe, found her a little difficult to get to know and it seemed like Zoe was perhaps a little intimidated by her.” (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Feb 10:  Emerging as the most-preferred share sale route for listed firms, the OFS (Offer For Sale) mechanism has been used by as many as 22 companies to raise a collective amount of about Rs 39,000 crore since its launch about a year ago.
The companies having tapped the OFS route this year to help their promoters raise funds through sale of shares include public sector giants like NTPC and Oil India, both of which managed to elicit impressive investor interest.
Among the total 22 companies that have used this mechanism to sell shares in the last 11 months, the largest has been the Rs 12,666-crore issue by state-run energy major ONGC in March, 2012.
The OFS method allows the companies to sell shares in a simplified process in the stock market through a one-day auction process.
It was introduced by market regulator Sebi early last year to help the companies meet minimum public shareholding limits (25 per cent for private sector firms by June 2013 and 10 per cent for PSUs by August this year).
Three firms, NTPC, Oil India and Adani Enterprises, have used the OFS route this year and all of them were fully subscribed.
The blockbuster NTPC stake sale fetched the government Rs 11,500 crore and was over-subscribed 1.7 times. Prior to that, the government garnered Rs 3,100 crore from sale of 10 per cent stake in Oil India in another fully-subscribed issue.
The firms that tapped OFS last year include Wipro, Adani Power, Jaiprakash Power Ventures, DB Corp, Muthoot Cap, Sical Logistics, Reliance Power, NMDC, Hindustan Copper, Pioneer Distilleries and Eros International. Among these, all issues were fully-subscribed, except Wipro and Pioneer Distilleries.
Both DB Corp and Adani Enterprises have twice used this mechanism to sell stake.
In February last year, Sebi had created two new routes for share sale by promoters to meet minimum public holding norms, Institutional Placement Programme (IPP) and OFS.
These two are fast-track stake sale programmes available for share sale through auction method, as against long-drawn traditional processes like Follow-on Public Offers (FPOs).
So far, only two companies have opted for IPPs.
“Promoters need to bring down their stake to 75 per cent as per Sebi guidelines. In last few months, markets have been good, riding high on reforms measures. Any issue that is priced right, investors flock that counter. Companies are coming up with OFS because there is appetite in the market for the same,” Ashika Brokers’ Research Head Paras Bothra said.
“OFS route can become more popular if stock market continues with its uptrend in short-term,” he added.
Experts believe that attractive pricing and buoyant market conditions have also helped in the success of recent OFS issues. The BSE benchmark Sensex has gained nearly 11 per cent since March 2012 till date. (PTI)

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 10:  The UN secretary-general and the US government condemned a deadly attack on an Iranian dissident camp in the Iraqi capital early yesterday and urged Iraqi authorities to carry out a full investigation.
“(Ban Ki-moon) strongly condemns the mortar attack today  on Camp Liberty, the temporary transit facility near Baghdad for former residents of Camp Ashraf,” the secretary-general’s press office said in a statement.
At least five people were killed and more than 25 wounded in the rocket attack, police sources said.
“The Secretary-General calls on the Government of Iraq, which is responsible for the safety and security of residents of both Camp Liberty and Camp Ashraf, to promptly and fully investigate the incident and bring perpetrators to justice,” it said.
The US State Department condemned “in the strongest terms the vicious and senseless terrorist attack.”
“We understand the Government of Iraq has undertaken to promptly investigate the attack,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement. “We call on it to earnestly and fully carry out that investigation and to take all appropriate measures to enhance the security of the camp consistent with its commitment and obligation to the safety and security of the camp’s residents.
“The terrorists responsible for this attack must be  brought to justice,” the US statement added.
The Iranian dissident group Mujahadin-e-Khalq, or MEK,  said six people including a woman died after its camp was hit by mortars and missiles, while the UN mission in Iraq said it was aware of a number of deaths.
The MEK calls for the overthrow of Iran’s clerical  leaders and fought alongside the forces of former Iraqi Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
It is now seeking to recast itself as an Iranian  opposition force but is no longer welcome in Iraq under the Shi’ite Muslim-led government that came to power after U.S.-led forces invaded and toppled Saddam in 2003.
The MEK has long criticized Ban’s envoy in Iraq, Martin Kobler, accusing him of playing down problems with the group’s facilities at its new temporary location at Camp Liberty. The United Nations has dismissed the criticism.
The statement said Ban “reiterates the United Nations’ strong commitment to continue its longstanding efforts to facilitate a peaceful and durable solution for the residents of both Camp Liberty and Camp Ashraf.”
In April 2011, 34 people were killed at Camp Ashraf,  located in Diyala province, after Iraqi security forces moved against them, according to a UN investigation.

NEW DELHI, Feb 10:  A DoT panel has recommended a new unified licence for telecom and broadcasting offerings that would enable end users to get a host of services such as mobile, landline, DTH, cable TV from a single company without the entity necessarily owning the full infrastructure.
A Department of Telecommunications (DoT) committee in its report on Unified Licencing regime under National Telecom Policy 2012 has proposed a new kind of licence — Unified Licence (Service Delivery) — that can be used by its holder to use infrastructure of other companies to deliver all kind of communication services to its subscribers.
This new service operator may not be required to own complete infrastructure for delivering the services as required at present.
According to sources, the report of the panel has recommended that “UL (Services delivery) licensee need not create its own full infrastructure and at the same time delivers the services to the end users on a single platform.”
The panel in its report has proposed another licence which will be Network Services that will own the network infrastructure that can be used by Services Delivery licence holders.
The panel report, according to sources, said the end user would be able to “interact with only one operator for all his needs such as fixed telephone, mobile phone and broadband access through fixed line, wireless broadband access, cable television, satellite television, IPTV for residential users… Further a single billing would be feasible”.
The report further said the new service delivery licences would also support business models like MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) and reseller options where any company in agreement with network services will be able to provide services to end consumers.
The panel has proposed to allow UL (Network Services) holder to also provide telecom services.
For present infrastructure companies (IP-1), commonly known as telecom tower firms, the panel has recommended bringing them under licencing regime but allowing them to function with 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment as against the current permissible limit of 74 per cent in the telecom sector.
According to sources, the panel report said: “The IP-1 players may be brought under Unified Licencing regime. However, exemption in respect of FDI may be sought from the DIPP (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion). IP-1 Players should be allowed to continue as at present.”
Inter-ministerial body, the Telecom Commission is expected to meet on February 18 to discuss these recommendations of the panel for new licences. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Feb 10:  Serious differences have cropped up between NTPC and Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) over setting up of a 500-MW power plant in Sri Lanka, which is expected to further delay implementation of the project.
Operation and maintenance (O&M) costs and return on investment are among the major issues over which the two companies continue to have differences, sources said.
A source in the know said that CEB wants to change certain terms that have already been agreed upon by the two companies.
“Issues (related to the project) are yet to be resolved,” the source said.
According to sources, CEB has sought changes regarding return on investment and O&M costs, besides the heat rate of the coal-fired project.
Considering the slow progress in development of the project, NTPC is believed to be even looking to bring back its senior executives stationed in Sri Lanka for the plant, sources said.
The project is seen as a milestone in the bilateral economic cooperation between India and Sri Lanka.
The 500-MW project at Trincomalee is to be implemented by an equal joint venture company of NTPC and CEB. The agreement for the joint venture was inked in late 2011.
However, persisting differences are likely to delay the project, which is expected to go on stream by 2016.
In a communication to the CEB on January 15, NTPC said that “in our mutual interest, we should not reopen any of the settled issues”.
“NTPC and CEB should now sign the PPA and other agreements to proceed for project development without further delay,” the communication said.
The draft Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) was finalised with CEB in 2011 after prolonged discussions on all issues, it said.
Among others, CEB recently has sought to reduce the return on equity investment to 12 per cent from 18 per cent as per the PPA initialled in February, 2011.
Electricity generated from the proposed 2×250 MW plant would be supplied to CEB. Coal for the project would be imported and supplied by Lanka Coal Company (LCC), while land would be given by the Sri Lankan government on a long term lease.
NTPC, which is India’s largest power producer, has an installed generation capacity of 39,674 MW. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Feb 10:  Dividend payments of at least Rs 530 crore are lying unclaimed by with the country’s top-50 blue-chip companies, including the likes of Reliance Industries, ITC and HUL and Tata Steel.
The dividend payments announced by the companies for their investors are required to be paid within 30 days of their declaration and any unpaid or unclaimed amount needs to be transferred to an ‘unclaimed dividend account’ within the next seven days.
Any dividend amount lying unclaimed in this account for a period of seven years subsequently gets transferred to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF).
An analysis of the annual reports of the country’s 50 top blue-chip companies shows that the cumulative amount of unclaimed dividend payments in such accounts of 35 companies itself was about Rs 530 crore at the end of last fiscal. The remaining 15 companies did not specifically mention the exact quantum of such unclaimed dividends.
Individually, RIL had total unclaimed/unpaid dividends worth Rs 129 crore as on March 31, 2012, which other companies with a substantial amount in such accounts included ITC (Rs 80.76 crore), HUL (Rs 53.07 crore), Tata Steel (Rs 45.81 crore) and Hero MotoCorp (Rs 43.09 crore) at the end of their respective last financial years.
Companies like L&T (Rs 19.52 crore), Ambuja Cement (Rs 17.98 crore), Tata Motors (Rs 15.83 crore), Cipla (Rs 13.59 crore), NTPC (Rs 11.48 crore), SAIL (Rs 11.29 crore), Nestle (Rs 10.2 crore) and HDFC (around Rs 10 crore) also had sizeable money lying with them in form unclaimed dividends.
The companies declare their annual dividends at their AGMs (Annual General Meetings) and are required to pay the same to the investors within 30 days thereafter.
Other companies with uncashed dividends included IT giant TCS, IOC, Power Grid, Asian Paints, Sterlite Industries, Sun Pharma, GAIL, DLF, NHPC, BPCL, HCL Technologies, Dr Reddy’s, Wipro, BHEL Infosys and Bharti Airtel.
Irrespective of the reason for not dividends remaining unclaimed, any money transferred to the unpaid dividend account of a company and remaining unpaid or unclaimed for a period of 7 years is transferred to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF).
Subsequently, no such claims are entertained against the company or the IEPF for any money transferred to the fund in accordance with the relevant provisions.
The companies on their behalf regularly send reminders to the concerned shareholders requesting them to claim their dividend before it is due for transfer to the IEPF.
In order to reduce the quantum of unclaimed dividends, companies like HDFC had contacted shareholders whose aggregate unclaimed dividend amounted to Rs 50,000 or more through its branches. It also provides direct credit of unclaimed dividend to the shareholders having a bank account with HDFC Bank. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Feb 10:  Export of agri-seeds from the country may more than double to Rs 1,000 crore in the next 2-3 years as 38 varieties from India have been registered in the OECD list, industry body NSAI said today.
The listing of Indian seeds with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a group of 34 countries, guarantees the quality of seeds that can be imported by countries participating in the OECD Seed Schemes. About 57 nations are registered in such seed schemes.
“Seed export is expected to rise to Rs 1,000 crore in the next 2-3 years as for the first time 38 Indian private seed varieties have been registered in the OECD list,” National Seed Association Executive Director Raju Kapoor said.
Currently, India exports Rs 400-450 crore worth of seeds. The shipment of agri-seeds is likely to increase as non-member countries of OECD also go by this list, he said.
Kapoor said the registration of 38 varieties takes the total number of Indian seeds in the OECD list to 95. The recently registered varieties are hybrid and mostly cotton, millets, maize and vegetables.
Another 118 Indian varieties are in the pipeline for registration with OECD in the coming months, he added.
At present, the size of the domestic seed market is Rs 13,000 crore, while India’s share in the world seed market is one per cent. However, the proposed National Seed Mission aims to increase the trade to 10 per cent of global trade by 2020, Kapoor said. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, 10:  Multiplex chain operator PVR plans to invest Rs 150 crore to open another 75 screens over the next one year in the country.
“In the next 9-12 months, we will be adding some 75 odd screens all over the country. Our capex plan for the next one year is Rs 150 crore to fund this roll out,” PVR Ltd Chief Financial Officer Nitin Sood told.
The national capital-based firm, which acquired rival Cinemax recently, has 213 screens operational in the country.
“We currently have 213 screens plus 138 screens of Cinemax, taking the total number to 351 in the country. We will be adding another 75 to this tally,” Sood said.
When asked where the company plans to come up with the new screens, Sood said: “It will be fairly spread out in Tier-I and Tier-II cities.”
He added that the new screens would come up at various places, including Kochi and Chandigarh.
In January this year, PVR completed the acquisition of 69.27 per cent stake in Cinemax India Ltd from its erstwhile promoters.
In compliance with SEBI Takeover Code, the company has announced an open offer to shareholders of Cinemax India for an additional 26 per cent stake, and the tendering period shall commence on February 4, 2013.
Consequent to the said acquisition, Cinemax India Ltd has now become a subsidiary of PVR Ltd. (PTI)