LOS CABOS, June 18: India’s economic woes have not gone out of hand in the wake of the slip in the GDP growth—the lowest in nearly 9 years—but there could be trouble if the Eurozone crisis is not quickly contained and financial stability in Europe restored, a top Indian official said today.
Ahead of the G-20 Summit of developed and developing countries being attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh among other world leaders, Deputy Chairman in the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said India will be “lucky” this year if it can achieve around seven per cent growth rate this fiscal.
The country’s economic growth rate slipped to 5.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011-12, lowest in nearly 9 years due to poor performance of the manufacturing and farm sectors.
Ways to fix the Eurozone crisis to prevent a contagion effect that could hurt emerging economies like India and China is on the top of the agenda of the G-20 leaders who will be meeting in this Mexican coastal resort over the next two days.
Ahluwalia said the general assessment at the ongoing deliberations is that the global economy is “extremely weak” and it could sow the seeds for a second financial crisis in four years if the Eurozone crisis is not handled effectively.
“We have not reached a situation where there is a sudden outflow of funds. We don’t need any support from IMF. We are not looking for anything like that,” he said.
“We will be lucky to have six-and-a-half per cent to seven per cent growth which is lower than the long-term target,” Ahluwalia, who is the sherpa assisting Prime Minister Singh at the summit, said. The G-20 accounts for 80 per cent of the global GDP. (PTI)
Eurozone contagion a major worry for India: Montek
Bank, realty stocks tank as RBI keeps interest rates unchanged
MUMBAI, June 18: Paring initial gains, rate- sensitive banking and realty stocks today fell by around 3 per cent on RBI’s decision to keep all key interest rates unchanged.
Financial stocks were the worst hit, with SBI trading lower by 3.30 per cent at Rs 2,110.70, followed by HDFC Bank which lost 2.71 per cent to Rs 533 on the BSE.
ICICI Bank plunged 2.60 per cent, while PNB was down 2.32 per cent, Bank of India slipped 2.94 per cent and Axis Bank fell by 2.7 per cent.
Following the losses in these stocks, the BSE Bankex index was trading 2.55 per cent down at 11,291.39 and was the biggest loser among the 13 sectoral indices.
Among the realty stocks, DLF tanked 3.33 per cent, Unitech was down 3.49 per cent and Sobha Developers lost 2.03 per cent.
Led by losses in these stocks, the BSE realty index shed 2.10 per cent to quote at 1,588.73.
The Reserve Bank today kept policy rates unchanged in view of rising inflation and global economic uncertainty.
Besides, the central bank also kept cash reserve ratio (CRR) or the percentage of deposits that banks have to keep with RBI unchanged at 4.75 per cent.
After the RBI policy announcement, the BSE 30-scrip index, Sensex, fell by over 200 points to below 17,000-mark it had crossed in the morning trade.
Marketmen were expecting the RBI to cut the lending rate (repo) by at least 0.25 per cent and were also looking forward to further cut in CRR to infuse more liquidity in the financial system. (PTI)
Bank, realty stocks tank as RBI keeps interest rates unchanged
MUMBAI, June 18: Paring initial gains, rate- sensitive banking and realty stocks today fell by around 3 per cent on RBI’s decision to keep all key interest rates unchanged.
Financial stocks were the worst hit, with SBI trading lower by 3.30 per cent at Rs 2,110.70, followed by HDFC Bank which lost 2.71 per cent to Rs 533 on the BSE.
ICICI Bank plunged 2.60 per cent, while PNB was down 2.32 per cent, Bank of India slipped 2.94 per cent and Axis Bank fell by 2.7 per cent.
Following the losses in these stocks, the BSE Bankex index was trading 2.55 per cent down at 11,291.39 and was the biggest loser among the 13 sectoral indices.
Among the realty stocks, DLF tanked 3.33 per cent, Unitech was down 3.49 per cent and Sobha Developers lost 2.03 per cent.
Led by losses in these stocks, the BSE realty index shed 2.10 per cent to quote at 1,588.73.
The Reserve Bank today kept policy rates unchanged in view of rising inflation and global economic uncertainty.
Besides, the central bank also kept cash reserve ratio (CRR) or the percentage of deposits that banks have to keep with RBI unchanged at 4.75 per cent.
After the RBI policy announcement, the BSE 30-scrip index, Sensex, fell by over 200 points to below 17,000-mark it had crossed in the morning trade.
Marketmen were expecting the RBI to cut the lending rate (repo) by at least 0.25 per cent and were also looking forward to further cut in CRR to infuse more liquidity in the financial system. (PTI)
RBI jeeos Key rates unchanged
MUMBAI, June 18: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today kept the
key rates unchanged with the Repo rate aand Reverse Reop ratw maintained at 8 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.
The Cash Reserve Ratio for banks was also unchanged at 4.75 per
cent by the RBI, in its mid-Quarterly Monrtary policy review.
Further reduction in the policy interest rate at this juncture,
rather than supporting growth, could exacerbate inflationary pressures, Dr D Subbarao, RBI Governor said.
India’s economic growth slipped to 5.3 per cent in the March quarter, weakest in nine years, but May headline inflation rose to
7.55 per cent, as per data released last week.
Since the Reserve Bank’s Annual Policy statement in April, global
macroeconomic and financial conditions have deteriorated.
At the same time, the domestic macroeconomic situation too raises
several deepening concerns.
(UNI)
Ozzy Osbourne son diagnosed with multiple sclerosis: report
LOS ANGELES, June 18: Reality television star Jack Osbourne, son of rocker Ozzy Osbourne and “America’s Got Talent” judge Sharon Osbourne, has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, celebrity magazine People reported on Sunday. Osbourne, 26, who welcomed daughter Pearl with his fiancIA Lisa Stelly in April, was given the news of his diagnosis two weeks after his daughter’s birth. (agencies)
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“Madagascar 3” romps over Cruise, Sandler films
LOS ANGELES, JUNE 18: The animals of “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” held the top spot on U.S. And Canadian box office charts for a second straight weekend with $35.5 million, beating new films from Tom Cruise and Adam Sandler, according to studio estimates yesterday. The third “Madagascar” movie about the misadventures of escaped zoo animals lifted the animated family film above new release “Rock of Ages,” a 1980s-era musical starring Cruise that was No. 3, and comedy “That’s My Boy,” which landed with a thud at No. 5 in what box office watchers said was the worst opening for a live-action Sandler movie since 1996’s “Happy Gilmore.” (AGENCIES)
Party official acknowledges scandal’s damage to China
BEIJING, June 18: The Communist Party chief of the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing acknowledged today that a scandal that toppled his predecessor had done serious harm to the party’s image, just months before a key congress and change of leadership.
Zhang Dejiang, who replaced Bo Xilai in March following a scandal which also entangled his wife and a former police chief, said too much attention had been given to the uproar, the People’s Daily website said.
The telegenic Bo had been a contender for a top leadership post, but his prospects suffered a blow after Vice Mayor Wang Lijun, previously his longtime police chief, went to ground in the US consulate in nearby Chengdu until he was coaxed out and placed under investigation.
Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, has been accused of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood. Neither she nor Bo has appeared in public since March, and they have not had a chance to publicly answer the allegations about Heywood, a long-time family friend.
Zhang, in a meeting with party officials, praised Chongqing’s development, but said it was being overshadowed by the clouds swirling around Bo.
“Chongqing’s development and work of the city’s party committee have some problems and deficiencies,” the People’s Daily website quoted Zhang as saying.
“Especially the Wang Lijun incident, death of Neil Heywood and serious discipline problems of comrade Bo Xilai, which have gravely damaged the party and nation’s image, and seriously affected Chongqing’s reforms and development,
“Everyone believes that … We must strictly separate Chongqing’s achievements over the last five years and hard work of the majority of officials and people from the Wang Lijun incident, death of Neil Heywood and serious discipline problems of comrade Bo Xilai.”
Chinese state media has largely stayed away from discussing these cases in the past few weeks, as the government tries to put on a unified and harmonious face ahead of a crucial party congress later in the year which will usher in new top leaders.
In April, Bo was suspended from the elite Central Committee and its Politburo, effectively ending his career. Until the scandal, Bo had widely been seen as pressing for a top leadership post.
(AGENCIES)
AMD releases next-gen FirePro W600 digital wall graphics card
HOUSTON, June 18: Global chip-maker AMD announced the launch of a new graphics card in the FirePro professional range designed specifically for powering digital walls.
The FirePro W600 professional graphics is AMD’s first professional graphics card to make use of the company’s 28-nanometer architecture and Graphics Core Next – technology previously found on the Radeon HD 7000 series graphics products.
While launching the card at its Fusion Developer Summit, AMD’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Mark Papermaster described the FirePro W600 as “the ideal solution for powering display walls designed to attract, inform and engage audiences or foster collaborative interaction and decision making”.
The FirePro W600 is capable of powering up to six screens or displays thanks to mini DisplayPort connectors, and supports a maximum resolution of 4096 x 2304 per screen or projector. Two FirePro W600 graphics cards can be combined to drive up to 12 displays.
“Whether we are checking flight times at the airport or watching the latest ads on massive screens in city squares, digital signage has quickly become an important and ubiquitous part of our lives,” said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD Graphics.
“To enable these displays, the digital signage industry demands technology that can be regularly refreshed with new, feature-rich content. With the launch of the AMD FirePro W600 professional graphics card, AMD is helping advance the digital display wall industry by providing suppliers and developers with impressive display density, performance and exceptional value”.
FirePro W9000 is powered by a Tahiti graphics processing unit. Additionally, the adapter will possess 6 GB of GDDR5 memory. Professional graphics adapters are often used in video and 3D graphics design, so a large VRAM capacity is a must.
There is also the presence of six DirplayPorts to consider. It takes more than the average amount of virtual memory to display high-resolution images across so many screens, not to mention to ensure that visuals are rendered smoothly.
The card includes 2GB of RAM and can decode two simultaneous HD video streams. However, despite this power, the card only takes up a single slot in a PC and has a maximum power consumption set at a very modest 75W. (PTI)
Oil rises after on Greek election result
SINGAPORE, June 18: Oil prices advanced in Asian trade today, mirroring gains in broader asset markets after Greece’s pro-austerity parties won a tight general election, analysts said.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for July delivery advanced 90 cents to USD 84.93 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for August delivery surged USD 1.48 to USD 99.09 in morning trade.
Greece’s two main parties narrowly clinched enough votes yesterday to form a government, giving relief to dealers who had feared a victory for anti-bailout radicals would have led to the country being forced out of the eurozone.
The crucial election was the second in six weeks in Greece after May 6 polls failed to produce a government, stirring fears that the political stalemate would paralyse efforts to bring Greece back from the brink.
Global financial markets have been monitoring the election closely because of its potential domino effect on other economies in the currency bloc and globally.
Greece has been forced to seek bailouts twice, first for 110 billion euros (USD 139 billion) in 2010 and then for 130 billion euros this year plus a 107 billion euro private debt write-off.
“Overall, the Greek election result, while welcome, does not imply that the Greek people are embracing the tough reforms tied to the bailout package,” analysts from Singapore’s DBS Bank said in a commentary.
“It merely meant that fear overruled anger. Put simply, the Greek people understood that if they voted to stay out of the euro, it would lead to sharply more pain in the immediate term.
“Consensus still believes that Greece will eventually leave the eurozone, and that the election has merely bought time for this eventuality.” (AGENCIES)
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