NEW DELHI, Feb 3: Wood Barn, a pioneer company in the fabrication of wooden houses in the country, plans to expand its footprints with a target of delivering more than 200 world class projects to the Indian market in the near future.
The company till now has delivered 100 such projects since it cut teeth almost seven years ago.
Says Wood Barn Chief Executive Officer Anurag Khandelwal, “Having initiated the company’s operations in the year 2006, we have been able to have a major breakthrough in the wooden homes segment and eco-friendly wooden structures at various tourist resort and travel destinations. Having tried and tested in the Indian context and having contributed significantly to spread wood culture in India we are ready to penetrate the ready market.”
On the future plans, Mr Khandelwal says the company intends to remain the impeccable leader in this segment. “We want to explore and develop new markets of kiosks and temporary commercial wooden structures with our endeavour to spread the eco-friendly wood culture in India,” he said.
He says Wood Barn will also explore the opportunity of starting a manufacturing base for pre-fabricated wooden structures and houses in India.
Mr Khandelwal, an architect having a vast experience of 18 years, says,”The company wants to focus on consistent research and architectural innovation to make our designs and fabrication techniques world class and to impart best houses to our customers This industry as a whole has a potential to grow over Rs 800-1000 crore. And we expect at least 50 new players entering this market by the year 2015.”
He, however, oozes confidence that Wood Barn India will maintain its market share by being a leader and pioneer in this industry.
He says wooden houses and resorts will be one of the biggest things in the next decade and the only obstacle they are facing is the mindset of the people vis-à-vis these structures.
He informs that Wood Barn India has already delivered more than 100 projects so far.
“We are working on many projects starting from up North to down South and from far east to west of the country. Also we are doing a few projects for the Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra governments,” he says.
Regarding the strategy for growth, Mr Khandelwal says the company will focus on the present market and will develop new segments and market like kiosks,farmhouses and others.
He says the company will also lay emphasis on strengthening customer relationship with existing clients besides associating with leading architects and builders.
He says the company is in talks with leading banks for financing houses it builds and having dedicated tie-ups with insurance agencies.
Wood Barn is exploring the possibility of starting manufacturing kits in India using best technologies and joining hands with leading wood manufacturers to initiate a warehousing facility in India, he signs off. (UNI)
In expansion mode, Wood Barn plans to deliver 200 projects
Sheriff thanks suspect for ‘taking care’ of child Hostage
MIDLAND CITY, Ala, Feb 3: Efforts to free a 5-year-old boy from a gunman in an underground bunker, where the man took him after killing the boy’s school bus driver, were shrouded in secrecy as the standoff in rural Alabama dragged into a fifth straight day.
Police sources said yesterday the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team was leading negotiations aimed at securing the boy’s safe release.
But FBI officials have declined to comment, referring calls to local authorities who have been extremely tight-lipped, providing few official updates on the situation.
Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson, chief spokesman for local law enforcement officials in Midland City, told a brief news conference on Saturday that authorities had been in constant communication with the suspect, who was officially identified on Friday as 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes.
Police believe Dykes, a retired trucker and Vietnam War veteran, fatally shot bus driver Charles Albert Poland, 66, on Tuesday and then took one of Poland’s more than 20 child passengers hostage during their ride home from school.
The incident came against the backdrop of a debate about gun control that has galvanized the nation since the shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school in December.
Olson declined to disclose any specific demands made by Dykes, saying only that he had allowed authorities to provide coloring books, toys and medication for the kindergartner, who reportedly suffers from autism or Asperger’s syndrome.
Dykes also assured authorities he had blankets and electric heaters in the bunker to protect the boy from cold overnight temperatures, Olson said.
‘I want to thank him for taking care of our child. This is very important,’ Olson said.
He offered no further comment but one law enforcement source, explaining perhaps why so little information is being shared with reporters, told Reuters that Dykes has access to television news inside his bunker.
According to his neighbors, Dykes moved into the Midland City area about two years ago and often was seen patrolling his property at night with a gun and a flashlight.
He kept mostly to himself and had spent a lot of time building the subterranean bunker near the trailer where he lived, several neighbors have told reporters.
Ronda Wilbur, a neighbor who has described Dykes as a ‘mean man’ who beat one of her dogs to death with a lead pipe, said she thought he had been planning something for a long time.
‘I had always figured he was more or less a wacko survivalist but it’s obvious that this had been very well thought out and arranged,’ Wilbur told an ABC television news affiliate.
About 50 people gathered on Saturday near Midland City United Methodist Church to pray for the boy, his family and the Poland family.
Michelle Riley, a participant in the vigil, said the killing and hostage taking was the kind of tragedy residents never expected in their small town.
‘I mean this is the community where our kids ride up and down the street’ on bicycles, she said.
Dykes had been scheduled to appear for a bench trial on Wednesday after his arrest last month on a menacing charge involving one of his neighbors.
Poland’s funeral is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at the Ozark Civic Center, which is about 12 miles from Midland City.
A sign posted in Midland City on Saturday read, ‘RIP Mr. Poland. Once a warrior always a warrior.’
Pastor Ray Kelly said Poland is a hero.
‘But he’s also gone,’ he said. ‘And, people have a broken heart.’ (AGENCIES)
Closest asteroid in recorded history to fly past Earth
WASHINGTON, Feb 3: In a close shave, an asteroid about half the size of a football field will miss Earth by 27,680 kilometres on February 15, the closest asteroid in recorded history to buzz past our planet, NASA scientists say.
“This is a record-setting close approach,” said Don Yeomans of NASA’s Near Earth Object Program at Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“Since regular sky surveys began in the 1990s, we’ve never seen an object this big get so close to Earth,” Yeomans said.
The asteroid dubbed 2012 DA14 is a fairly typical near-Earth asteroid. It measures some 50 metres wide, neither very large nor very small, and is probably made of stone, as opposed to metal or ice.
Yeomans estimated that an asteroid like 2012 DA14 flies past Earth, on average, every 40 years, yet actually strikes our planet only every 1200 years or so.
The impact of a 50-metre asteroid is not cataclysmic unless you happen to be underneath it, Yeomans said.
He pointed out that a similar-sized object formed the mile wide Meteor Crater in Arizona when it struck about 50,000 years ago.
“That asteroid was made of iron which made it an especially potent impactor,” he said in a statement.
Also, in 1908, something about the size of 2012 DA14 exploded in the atmosphere above Siberia, levelling hundreds of square miles of forest.
“2012 DA14 will definitely not hit Earth. The orbit of the asteroid is known well enough to rule out an impact,” said Yeomans.
NASA radars will be monitoring the space rock as it approaches Earth closer than many man-made satellites.
Yeomans said the asteroid will thread the gap between low-Earth orbit, where the International Space Station (ISS) and many Earth observation satellites are located, and the higher belt of geosynchronous satellites, which provide weather data and telecommunications.
“The odds of an impact with a satellite are extremely remote,” he said.
“The asteroid will be racing across the sky, moving almost a full degree (or twice the width of a full Moon) every minute. That’s going to be hard to track,” Yeomans said. (PTI)
White House releases Obama skeet shooting photo
WASHINGTON, Feb 3: The White House has released a photo of President Barack Obama skeet shooting in an apparent bid to allay concerns by gun owners that he opposes firearms following a school massacre in December.
The photo was made public as Obama prepares to hit the road Monday to push his plan to curb gun violence as he presses Congress to enact sweeping gun restrictions.
The effort to ban assault rifles and high capacity magazines has become a centerpiece of the president’s second term agenda after a disturbed man gunned down 20 children and six adults on December 14 in the once quiet town of Newtown, Connecticut.
But his measures — both proposed legislation and executive orders — face stiff opposition from the firearms lobby, as well as from politicians, critics and gun enthusiasts who contend they will infringe upon the constitutional right to bear arms.
In recent days, Obama has made efforts to show that he is no stranger to sports shooting despite his efforts to stem rampant firearms violence.
The president said last week that he had picked up skeet shooting as a hobby, telling The New Republic that he shot at clay pigeons “all the time.”
But his newfound love for the shooting sport was met with skepticism from conservative skeptics. Obama had not previously mentioned his skeet shooting habit in public.
The newly released photo, taken on August 4 at the president’s Camp David retreat in Maryland and posted on the White House’s Flickr page on Friday, shows Obama firing at clay targets, according to the caption.
The president, in jeans and a black polo shirt and wearing protective glasses and ear muffs, is seen looking down the barrel of a shotgun locked on his left shoulder moments after pulling the trigger, with smoke spewing out the barrel.
There was no confirmation, however, of when Obama — an avid basketball player — took up the hobby and how regularly he practices.
“It was a surprise to a lot of people in the industry when we saw that and heard that,” National Skeet Shooting Association executive director Michael Hampton told The New York Times.
His group’s 35,000 members do not include the president.
The National Rifle Association made light of the photo.
“One picture does not erase a lifetime of supporting every gun ban and every gun control scheme imaginable,” National Rifle Association spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told CNN. (AFP) NKB
Policy action needed to fill demand-supply gap: RBI
MUMBAI, Feb 3: The Reserve Bank has said that policy interventions are necessary to bridge the demand-supply gap and bring down inflation on a sustained basis.
“In order to bring inflation down on an enduring basis and anchor inflation expectations there is a need for policy action on several fronts.
“…It is important to aim for nutritional security not only to harness the demographic dividend stemming from our sizable young population but also to contain food prices. This will require addressing the supply-demand imbalance in the agricultural sector and modernising the supply chain,” Reserve Bank Executive Director Deepak Mohanty said during an event recently.
Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation fell to 7.18 per cent in December from 7.74 per cent over the same period a year ago. However, it is much above the comfort level of RBI.
“The Reserve Bank’s technical assessment suggests that the threshold level of inflation for India is in the range of 4 to 6 per cent. If inflation persists beyond this level, it could lower economic growth over the medium-term,” he said.
He stressed to increase the depth of financial markets as well as calibrating monetary policy with growth-inflation dynamics.
“… While persevering with the steps to increase the depth of the financial market and addressing credit constraints, monetary policy needs to be calibrated to the evolving growth-inflation dynamics so that we move towards our potential growth in a non-inflationary manner,” Mohanty said.
On fiscal consolidation, he said it is important to maintain both domestic and external balance to avoid the risks of twin deficits.
Further he said India needs to have a reliable power supply as well as availability of industrial raw materials to ensure industrial capacity utilisation and productivity improvement.
“Besides moderating inflation, this will also reduce reliance on imports of products for which domestic capacity exists,” he added.
Among others, he said maintaining exchange rate stability to cushion transmission of international price pressures in commodities, particularly crude oil is also important.
“This will require management of the current account in our balance of payments with the rest of the world at sustainable levels,” he said. (PTI)
Align transfer pricing norms with global best practices: CII
NEW DELHI, Feb 3: Industry body CII today said domestic transfer pricing practices should be aligned with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines in the Budget to remove uncertainties and instill confidence among investors.
“There is a need to frame standard rules in the field of international as well as domestic transfer pricing, so as to rule out uncertainties and build confidence in the minds of investors,” Director General of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Chandrajit Banerjee said.
Further, CII has also recommended to the government to increase the limit for applicability of domestic transfer pricing provisions to cases where the aggregate value of transactions exceeds Rs 100 crore. This should be done in order to keep the focus on large taxpayers, CII said in its Pre-Budget memorandum submitted to Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
Implementing this step will also spare the small taxpayers from following the long list of compliances required in domestic transfer pricing provisions, Banerjee said.
Besides, the payments made towards remuneration of Directors should be excluded from purview of domestic transfer pricing, as there is no clarity as to how ‘comparables’ for services rendered by directors can be benchmarked.
Transfer pricing is a mechanism used by large companies regarding transaction prices between separate entities of the same group. Multinationals are often accused of misusing the system to transfer profits to subsidiaries in low tax nations.
The law requires that goods and services should be sold to subsidiaries by parent companies on an arm’s length basis, meaning the buyer and the seller act independently.
Taxing these units has become a complex area for the Revenue Department, with the government often disagreeing on the profits declared by a foreign company for its Indian unit. (PTI)
Swiss banks lure clients with gold accounts, cash vaults
GENEVA, Feb 3: Swiss banks are selling a new safe-haven idea to the rich and mighty from India and other countries — special accounts for holding gold bars and high- value Swiss franc notes in the safety of their cash vaults.
Amid a global crackdown against alleged illicit wealth in secret accounts of Swiss banks, these new products claim to offer safety from the snooping eyes of regulators and tax authorities from the home countries of the rich foreign clients of banks operating from Switzerland.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, several Swiss bankers present at the recently held World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos said these gold accounts and cash vaults are being lapped up by the rich clients from across the world, including those from India.
As a result, some of the large banks have already hiked the fees for these gold accounts and the safe deposit boxes, which are also being used to store valuables like gold, diamond, paintings and other art works, a top Swiss banker said.
The bankers claimed that these safe deposit vaults are being lapped up because of limited risk of catching the prying eyes of the foreign governments having signed banking information exchange treaties with Switzerland.
None of the banks were ready to offer official comments on this trend, despite repeated attempts, although their officials admitted that they have successfully approached with these products many of their rich clients, including during the WEF summit.
The bankers said they are telling their rich clients that Switzerland’s tax and information exchange treaties with India and other countries are mostly limited to funds in the customers’ savings, deposit and investment accounts, and do not apply to the safe deposit boxes.
As a result, the demand has soared to record high levels for the safe deposit boxes and the 1,000 Swiss franc banknotes in Switzerland, as rich of the world are rushing to get them.
As per the data available with Switzerland’s central bank SNB (Swiss National Bank), the thousand-franc notes now account for 61 per cent of total value of all Swiss banknotes in circulation, up from about 50 per cent in 2011.
Just one thousand-franc banknote is worth about Rs 60,000 in Indian currency, making it easier to store large amount of money in form of these notes.
The total value of thousand-franc notes currently in circulation is over Rs two trillion (35 billion Swiss francs).
Also, Switzerland is among the few major countries to have denomination of as high as 1,000, while the highest value banknotes in the UK and the US are only 50 pounds (about Rs 4,300) and 100 dollars (Rs 5,500), respectively. (PTI)
FIIs turn bullish on Tata group; up stake in 12 firms
NEW DELHI, Feb 3: Taking a bullish stance on shares of Tata group firms, overseas investors have raised their exposure in 12 companies of the salt-to-software conglomerate including giants like TCS, Tata Steel and Tata Motors.
The USD 100-billion Tata group derives over 58 per cent of its revenue from international operations and foreign investors have always been attracted towards shares of its about 30 listed companies.
However, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) seem to have turned more bullish on the group in the recent months and they raised their stake in 12 out of the 15 major Tata companies in the last quarter ended December 31, 2012, as per the latest shareholding data of these companies.
Among these, FIIs raised their stake in IT bellwether firm TCS from 14.83 per cent to 14.96 per cent during the October-December 2012 quarter. Besides, the FII holding in Tata Motors rose from 28.47 per cent to 29.01 per cent during this period, while the same in Tata Steel moved up from 14.71 per cent to 14.79 per cent.
The other Tata companies where FIIs have raised their stake include Tata Power, Trent, Tata Communications, Tata Elxsi, Tata Global Beverages and Indian Hotels.
The growing attraction among FIIs for Tata group stocks incidentally come at a time a change of guard has taken place at its Bombay House headquarters.
The 44-year-old Cyrus Mistry took over as head of Tata group following retirement of Ratan Tata on December 28, 2012. Tata, who has now assumed the role of Chairman Emeritus, has spent nearly 50 years with the group including 21 years as Chairman.
The companies where FII holding dipped during the last quarter were Rallis India, Voltas and Tata Teleservices.
FIIs reduced their shareholding in Rallis India to 10.8 per cent from 11.85 per cent in September quarter, while in Voltas it dipped to 21.65 per cent from 22.55 per cent.
Tata Teleservices also saw decline in foreign investors holding from 0.82 per cent to 0.65 per cent in Q3.
Tata group commands a market value of over USD 93 billion and an investor base of over 3.8 million.
According to Gajendra Nagpal, CEO of Unicon Financial Solutions, “Tata group has been the favourite of FIIs for a long time. Besides, the smooth transition of leadership from one generation to another has gone down very well with overseas investors.”
Among Tata group blue-chip companies, TCS has been showing remarkable performance quarter-on-quarter, he said.
TCS had last month posted better-than-expected 26.7 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 3,550 crore for October-December quarter. (PTI)
US Senator calls for stronger ties with India
WASHINGTON, Feb 3: Observing that US-India relations will be among the world’s most important in coming decades, a top American senator has said its vital for Washington to remain committed in strategic partnership with New Delhi.
“As (the US) President (Barack) Obama begins his second term, it is vital that the United States remain committed to deepening our strategic partnership with India. In the coming decades, United States-India relations will be among the world’s most important,” US Senator from South Dakota Tim Johnson said.
Speaking on the Senate floor Friday the Democratic Senator said it is clear that US-India cooperation on commercial and security initiatives over the past decade has resulted in greater opportunity for both nations.
“United States bilateral trade with India has increased 4 1/2 times in the last 10 years, and India is now one of the fastest growing export markets for the United States,” he said, adding that last year, India became the world’s third largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity.
“In 2005, the United States and India signed a 10-year defence framework agreement which has greatly expanded bilateral security cooperation between our nations. India now conducts more defence exercises and personnel exchanges with the United States than with any other country,” Johnson said.
“As the world’s largest democracy, India shares with the United States a strong commitment to representative government and the rule of law, but these are not the only values that bind us. It is my hope that the United States will continue to pursue a course with (India) that promotes collaboration on security, encourages civic engagement and open governance, and expands bilateral trade and investment. I look forward to a strong United States-India relationship for years to come,” Johnson said in his remarks. (PTI)
PML-N demands independent panel to probes Kargil conflict
LAHORE, Feb 3: Pakistan’s main opposition PML-N has stepped up its demand for creation of an independent judicial commission to probe the Kargil conflict of 1999 following revelations by retired army officers that former military ruler Pervez Musharraf had masterminded the operation.
“A judicial commission on Kargil should be established without any further delay to bring the facts before the people,” said Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, a senior leader of the PML-N.
Sharif, the younger brother of PML-N chief and former premier Nawaz Sharif, said Musharraf was blatantly lying about his role in the Kargil operation.
There has been a renewed focus on the Kargil conflict since Lt Gen (retired) Shahid Aziz, who headed the analysis wing of the Inter-Services Intelligence in 1999, claimed that Musharraf and three other generals planned and executed the operation while keeping other military commanders in the dark.
Col (retired) Ashfaq Hussain, another former aide to Musharraf, has said that the military ruler flew across the Line of Control in a helicopter and spent a night with Pakistani troops who had intruded into Indian territory weeks before hostilities began in the Kargil sector.
Shahbaz Sharif said Musharraf, currently living in self-exile in London and Dubai, must be held accountable.
“Musharraf is responsible for destroying Pakistan and history will never forgive him,” he said.
“Musharraf will be remembered with reference to the destruction of Pakistan. He pushed Pakistan into suicide attacks and terrorism,” Sharif said.
Sharif said Pakistan was left alone in the world community due to the Kargil conflict but Nawaz Sharif brought the army out of the operation in a safe manner.
“It was Nawaz Sharif who saved Pakistan from isolation after Musharrf’s misadventure,” he said.
Only an independent investigation would reveal the truth about the Kargil operation, he said. (PTI)