INDIA COUNTRY BRIEF110323

Basic Political Developments

A united opposition today mounted attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the cash-for- votes scam.

The turf war over 2G Scam inquiry has refused to die down with the Joint Parliamentary Committee planning to discuss tomorrow whether the PAC.

Unidentified persons threw a 'petrol-bomb' at the residence of a DMDK candidate for Trichengode in the April 13 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court today directed the Centre to make public the eighth chapter of the Sri Krishna Committee report on Telangana which deals with sensitive law and order issues.

Three Trinamool Congress MLAs were today suspended from the West Bengal Assembly till March 25.

The Telugu Desam Party forced adjournment of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly without transaction of any business today over the demand of a Joint Legislature Committee to probe the land allotments in the last six years.

National Economic Trends

India's Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Finance Bill 2011 after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) walked out of the House saying it did not want to create a constitutional crisis. The BJP-led NDA opposition members in the Lok Sabha walked out in protest against the speaker's decision to not allow a discussion regarding the PM's response to a Wiki Leak revelation on the cash-for-votes scam.

Bowing to demands from all around, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday exempted five per cent ‘misery’ tax on healthcare as Finance Bill 2011 was passed in the Lok Sabha in the absence of Opposition.

Morgan Stanley sees its India wealth management assets growing at a "sustainable pace" of 25 percent a year in the near future as the bank adds more advisers in the rapidly growing Asian economy, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

The Government today approved 14 proposals of foreign direct investment (FDI),including that of Mauritius based Ghir Investments, totalling Rs 1,289.85 crore.

Acropetal Technologies Ltd today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire LineBeyond Inc, USA, and Optech Consulting Inc, USA.

Faced with surging raw material costs, Indian car-makers now face three additional serious challenges, including a shortage of key components, which could impact their performance this year.While they could pass on the burden of increased input costs to customers, a shortage of components, compounded by the March 11 tsunami and quake in Japan and the Reserve Bank’s latest rate hike - which could affect car financing - have made them jittery over their prospects in the short-to-medium term.

U.K.-based business and technology service company Logica is keen on expanding its business in India.

The Reserve Bank of India will allow a promoter or a promoter group to establish new banks if they set up a holding company.

Saroj Poddar today announced a unified corporate brand 'Adventz' and said the group will invest $ 2 billion (around Rs 10,000 crore) for expansion in the next four years.

The Northern Railway has suffered losses of over Rs 200 crore ($44 million) due to disruption of rail traffic caused by the Jat community's job quota agitation.

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

Essar Energy Plc sees a significant near-term hit on its product sharing contracts with Indian state-run oil marketing companies.

Militant Activity/Terrorism (Particularly in Bangalore, Mumbai, Noida, Chennai, Coimbatore)

A wanted Hizbul Mujahideen militant Mudassir Nazir Lone was today arrested from the Batamaloo area of Srinagar.

As many as 100 National Security Guard (NSG) commandos reached the city on Tuesday as part of a security set up to prevent any terror attack during the cricket

match to be played on Thursday at the Motera Stadium between India and Australia.

Amid reports that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim is planning to target the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) headquarters here to "destroy" the documents related to the alleged 2G spectrum scam, the agency today denied that it has received any such "specific threat".

Labor/Social Unrest

As the Jat agitation continues to wreak havoc on the rail traffic in northern India, Railways today cancelled two important trains connecting the Union Territory with the national Capital.

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Basic Political Developments

Oppn mounts attack on PM in LS on cash-for-votes scam http://www.ptinews.com/news/1453057_Oppn-mounts-attack-on-PM-in-LS-on-cash-for-votes-scam-New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) A united opposition today mounted attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the cash-for- votes scam wondering as to how he could wash his hands of the matter as he had headed the government in 2008 and was the "biggest beneficiary" of the trust vote.

Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj made a stinging attack on Singh in the Lok Sabha telling him that as head of the government he should take responsibility instead of making others scapegoat for the omissions and commissions of his regime.

"It is the habit of the Prime Minister to blame others. If it is price rise then (Agriculture Minister) Sharad Pawar is responsible, if it is 2G then (former Telecom Minister) A Raja is responsible and if it is Commonwealth Games then (Suresh) Kalmadi is to blame," she said.

JPC to discuss PAC probe into 2G scamhttp://www.ptinews.com/news/1454106_JPC-to-discuss-PAC-probe-into-2G-scamNew Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) The turf war over 2G Scam inquiry has refused to die down with the Joint Parliamentary Committee planning to discuss tomorrow whether the PAC, chaired by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, has gone beyond its mandate.

After discussing the issue its first meeting tomorrow, the JPC plans to write to the Public Accounts Committee Chairman about the Committee confining itself to inquiring issues over which the CAG report has made its observations.

"We have no quarrel with them. Propriety demands that we will point out to them. Joshiji is a very senior member of parliament and he also knows propriety is very important," JPC Chairman P C Chacko said.

Bomb hurled at DMDK candidate's house http://www.ptinews.com/news/1452908_Bomb-hurled-at-DMDK-candidate-s-house-Namakkal (TN), Mar 23 (PTI) Unidentified persons threw a 'petrol-bomb' at the residence of a DMDK candidate for Trichengode in the April 13 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, police said today.

The front door, a two-wheeler and window panes were damaged when the bomb exploded, they said, adding no one was injured.

The candidate, Sampath Kumar and his family, who were inside the house at the time of the incident last night, have lodged a complaint with police.

Actor Vijayakant's Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) is contesting 41 seats as part of the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK combine.

Make eighth chapter of Telangana report public: HC http://www.ptinews.com/news/1452909_Make-eighth-chapter-of-Telangana-report-public--HC-Hyderabad, Mar 23 (PTI) The Andhra Pradesh High Court today directed the Centre to make public the eighth chapter of the Sri Krishna Committee report on Telangana which deals with sensitive law and order issues.

Justice L Narasimha Reddy of the High Court gave the order on a petition requesting the court to direct the Centre to disclose the eighth chapter of the report.

The court observed that the committee was constituted to gather larger public opinion on carving out a separate state for Telangana region and the pros and cons of taking a decision on the ticklish issue.

The committee also held an open hearing and interacted with various social groups and nothing was shown to be secret, it noted.

Three Trinamool Congress MLAs suspended http://www.ptinews.com/news/1453158_Three-Trinamool-Congress-MLAs-suspended-Kolkata, Mar 23 (PTI) Three Trinamool Congress MLAs were today suspended from the West Bengal Assembly till March 25 for indulging in unparliamentary behaviour and heckling Speaker Hasim Abdul Halim in July last year.

Firhad Hakim, Arup Biswas and Dibyendu Adhikari were suspended for three days from today, the Speaker said.

Incidentally, no Trinamool Congress member is attending the Budget session, the last session before the coming Assembly elections.

On July 29, 2010, the three Trinamool Congress members had brought a privilege notice against Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, which was rejected by the Speaker.

The three members then protested the rejection and this led to commotion inside the House and also in front of the Speaker's chamber.

On July 30, CPI(M) MLA Rabindranath Mondal and seven other MLAs of Left Front brought a privilege motion against the three TC MLAs alleging unparliamentary behaviour and heckling the Speaker.

Andhra Assembly stalled over JLC for 6th day http://www.ptinews.com/news/1453696_Andhra-Assembly-nbsp-stalled-over-JLC-for-nbsp-6th-day-Hyderabad, Mar 23 (PTI) The Telugu Desam Party forced adjournment of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly without transaction of any business today over the demand of a Joint Legislature Committee to probe the land allotments in the last six years.

This was the sixth day that the issue has rocked the Assembly. The government today said it would consider the demand for JLC only if Opposition allowed discussion on the issue in the House first.

The TDP, however, remained adamant, saying it wanted nothing but a JLC.

TDP MLAs stormed the Speaker's podium soon after proceedings began, and shouted slogans, which led to first adjournment for half an hour.

But order could not be restored after the House reassembled. Officiating Speaker, Nadendla Manohar, then adjourned the proceedings till noon.

National Economic Trends

Lok Sabha Passes Finance Bill

http://www.rttnews.com/Content/IndianNews.aspx?Id=1581474&SM=13/23/2011 1:27 AM ET (RTTNews) - India's Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Finance Bill 2011 after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) walked out of the House saying it did not want to create a constitutional crisis.

The BJP-led NDA opposition members in the Lok Sabha walked out in protest against the speaker's decision to not allow a discussion regarding the PM's response to a Wiki Leak revelation on the cash-for-votes scam.

Terming the walkout as rather unfortunate, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the Opposition parities have missed an opportunity to lend their voice and expertise to influence public policy in the larger national interest.

While moving the Finance Bill, Mukherjee announced a reduction in dividend distribution tax threshold for foreign companies to 26 percent from 50 percent and cut the basic customs duty on completely knocked down automobile kits, containing a pre-assembled engine, gear box or transmission assembly, to 30 percent from the proposed 60 percent.

Mukherjee also rolled back a proposed five percent tax on healthcare, which many called the misery tax, and provided some relief to ready-made garment manufacturers by enhancing the abatement available for levy of taxes on some branded garments and textile made-ups to 55 percent from 40 percent on the retail sale price.

The Finance Bill was later cleared by the Lok Sabha through a voice vote.

FM rollbacks ‘misery tax’ on healthcareENS Economic Bureauhttp://expressbuzz.com/finance/fm-rollbacks-%E2%80%98misery-tax%E2%80%99-on-healthcare/258910.htmlFirst Published : 23 Mar 2011 03:38:29 AM ISTNEWDELHI: Bowing to demands from all around, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday exempted five per cent ‘misery’ tax on healthcare as Finance Bill 2011 was passed in the Lok Sabha in the absence of Opposition.

“I have decided to exempt the new levy in its entirety, both in respect of services provided by hospitals as well as by way of diagnostic tests until goods and service tax (GST) comes into force,” said Pranab Mukherjee who was flooded with representations against what was described as “misery” tax in the form of five per cent service charge on air conditioned hospitals with 25 or more beds and diagnostic tests. “The proposed levy on healthcare has raised considerable anxiety in this House and outside. The purpose of the levy was not merely to mobilise revenue. It was to pave the way for the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax.He also went on to reduce custom duty on raw silk from 30 to five per cent and gave excise relief to small scale readymade garment firms.Wrapping up discussion on the Finance Bill, Mukherjee regretted the absence of Opposition in the House. The BJP had led an opposition walkout as it wanted discussion on WikiLeaks exposure on cash for vote scandal before the passage of Finance Bill. The Finance Minister said his budget had given priority to economic growth momentum and the government introduced amendment to bring Goods and Services Tax regime. Three more bills - the revised Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, the

Factoring and Assignment of Receivables Bill and the State Bank of India (subsidiary banks laws) Amendment Bill - are in the offing. Mukherjee stressed on fiscal consolidation and said that spending beyond means was unacceptable as he outlined the need to reduce deficit to 2.5 per cent and revenue deficit to zero.Some of the other changes made were reducing dividend distribution tax (DDT) limit for foreign companies to 26 per cent. The excise duty for completely knocked down (CKD) automobile kits has been reduced to 30 per cent from 60 per cent.

M. Stanley sees India wealth assets growth, to add staff

2011-03-23 17:50:00http://www.sify.com/finance/m-stanley-sees-india-wealth-assets-growth-to-add-staff-news-others-ldxrOhbdfdb.html

Morgan Stanley sees its India wealth management assets growing at a "sustainable pace" of 25 percent a year in the near future as the bank adds more advisers in the rapidly growing Asian economy, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The business in India, however, faces challenges due to the lack of a large pool of qualified people to manage assets of wealthy individuals, Leslie Menkes, a Singapore-based managing director for the Wall Street bank's private wealth management arm, told Reuters.

"We have a strategic plan to expand our footprint and continue to grow the business," he said. "I believe there are many successful wealthy individuals and families here in India that have never had a discussion with a world-class sophisticated wealth manager."

Asia, home to more than 3 million millionaires, has become a battleground for private banks as global and Asian players compete for market share in a region that is fast outpacing the United States and Europe in economic growth.

But the competition for wealth management talent in fast-growing Asian markets such as India is becoming cut-throat, with a slew of global banks vying with the local financial institutions for a bigger share of the market.

"I see talent as a capacity constraint for the industry," Menkes said. "That is a structural challenge that India is facing in wealth management with the fact that so many players are coming here and there are only a finite number of really good people."

Business, Energy or Environmental regulations or discussions

Govt clears 14 FDI proposals worth Rs 1,290 cr http://www.ptinews.com/news/1453399_Govt-clears-14-FDI-proposals-worth-Rs-1-290-cr-

New Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) The Government today approved 14 proposals of foreign direct investment (FDI),including that of Mauritius based Ghir Investments, totalling Rs 1,289.85 crore.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), however, deferred decisions on 27 proposals, including that of Essar Capital Holdings and Forbo Holding AG, Lindenstrasse, Switzerland.

"Based on the recommendations of FIPB...Government has approved 14 Proposals of FDI amounting to Rs 1289.855 crore," an official statement said.

The FIPB , which falls under the Finance Ministry, gave its nod to Kolkata based Dhunseri Investments FDI proposals worth Rs 715 crore. The company had proposed to issue and allot equity shares to the non-resident shareholders consequent upon demerger.

Ghir Investments got the approval of the Board for induction of foreign equity in an investing company. The Mauritius based company proposes to bring in FDI worth Rs 530 crore.

Acropetal acquires LineBeyond Inc, Optech Consulting Inchttp://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-174299.htmlBangalore, Mar 23: Acropetal Technologies Ltd today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire LineBeyond Inc, USA, and Optech Consulting Inc, USA. While LineBeyond was valued at USD five million, Optech is valued at USD seven million, according to a release here.

Acropetal Technologies Ltd acquires 100 per cent of LineBeyond and 70 per cent of Optech Consulting Inc at present. The cost of acquisition of these companies is USD 4.9 million each.

Announcing the acquisition, Mr Ravi Kumar, CMD Acropetal Technologies Ltd, said ''these acquisitions mark an important milestone in Acropetal’s long term goals of sustained growth in the healthcare segment. LineBeyond is a critical acquisition with its strong suite of products and market reach that will enhance our presence in US healthcare markets. Optech is perfectly placed for providing cutting edge solutions that cater to the needs of multiple industries.'' Bangalore-headquartered Acropetal Technologies Ltd, recently listed on NSE and BSE, was recognised as a global leader in Information Technology (IT) outsourcing services.

Car-makers face challenges from Japan crisis, rate hikeshttp://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/article1563904.eceFaced with surging raw material costs, Indian car-makers now face three additional serious challenges, including a shortage of key components, which could impact their performance this year.

While they could pass on the burden of increased input costs to customers, a shortage of components, compounded by the March 11 tsunami and quake in Japan and the Reserve Bank’s latest rate hike - which could affect car financing - have made them jittery over their prospects in the short-to-medium term.

“Yes, the industry is facing problems, but we are taking it as a big challenge. We think this is a passing phase - we see light at the end of tunnel,” General Motors India Vice-President P. Balendran told PTI here.

A shortage of critical components, many of them sourced from Japan where many automobile facilities, besides others, have been damaged by the powerful quake and tsunami has made the going tough for the industry, which is likely to find it difficult to meet its sales targets, he said.

“Frankly, it is difficult to meet earlier projected (sales) figure this time. A shortage of components, including tyres, casting and steel, has made things difficult,” he said.

The hike in key rates by the Reserve Bank, which is expected to push up interest rates on auto loans, could deter potential buyers, Mr. Balendran said.

The General Motors executive said, “It is difficult to predict a timeline for the problems to be resolved.”

Home-grown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra is confident of the long-term potential of the industry, but feels the sector is likely to be stymied by the Japan crisis and RBI rate hike in the short-term.

“Commodity prices have been increasing in the last few months and now the Japan calamity will affect supplies of auto components. The rate hikes by the RBI could add to the industry’s woes,” said Mahindra & Mahindra President (Automotive) Pawan Goenka.

The RBI recently hiked both the repo and reverse repo rates by 0.25 per cent each to 6.75 per cent and 5.75 per cent, respectively, for the eighth time since March, 2010.

This, in turn, is likely to push up cost of loans for customers.

Auto majors like Honda Siel Cars India and Tata Motors have already indicated that they would be upping their product prices from April 1 to offset rising input costs and more are expected to follow suit.

Vijay Kedia, the director of three-wheeler maker Atul Auto, said, “Imports of some automobile components from Japan will be affected in the short-term. The growing (auto) industry is sandwiched between surging input costs and meeting increasing demand.”

Following the rate hikes, he said, there could be a slackening in demand. “People will not be encouraged to buy more vehicles through financiers this time due to the recent rate hikes by the central bank. It may slow down demand in the coming weeks.”

Admitting that the present situation was “challenging”, Ford India President and Managing Director Michael Boneham exuded confidence that the tough times would be “short-lived”.

“The Indian auto industry, in general, is clocking an unprecedented growth in sales. Though the Japanese tsunami and the RBI rate hikes present challenges to the industry, it will be able to overcome them,” he said.

Logica keen to expand business http://www.thehindu.com/business/article1562163.eceU.K.-based business and technology service company Logica is keen on expanding its business in India as many European clients have set up operations in the country. At present, Logica has 12-15 clients in areas such as banking and finance, energy and utilities and telecom sectors. It offers assorted services such as payment, liquidity management solutions, smart metering and telecom services.

In addition, the company offers 24x7 support to over 80 customers across India. While Bangalore and Mumbai support the domestic market, Chennai represents global work.

In an interaction with this correspondent, Logica Chief Executive Officer Andy Green said there were over 4,200 employees in Bangalore and Chennai.

Last year, the headcount grew by 16 per cent. The total staff strength across the globe is 39,000. Out of which 6,000 were in offshore locations and the balance in onshore locations. Nearly 135 clients were supported from offshore. The European market accounted for a major chunk of all work. Nearly 60 per cent of the offshore work came from non-U.K. clients and 40 per cent from the U.K.clients. Though there was growth in every part of the world, faster growth was coming from non-English speaking countries, he said.

Mr. Green said nearly 60 per cent of the revenue was generated from non-U.K and non-U.S. clients (Scandinavia, France, Germany and the Netherlands). Logica was following a blended delivery model (German, Indian, Finnish, the Philippines and Morocco).

Regarding segregation of work, he said 60 per cent was non-English speaking countries (Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Portugal) and 10 to 15 per cent of offshore work happened in India, the Philippines and Morocco.

On the challenges in the European market, he said the company had to take a call between the blended delivery model and the offshore model. Generally clients' intimacy

would come with culture. As far as European culture was concerned, it wanted data privacy and protection.

Similarly there were cost related issues in the U.S. and Europe. Wage rates were higher in Norway and Germany than in the U.S. But the setback in the U.S. was that people were moving to Europe and a lot of top level American executives did not want to take up lower level jobs.

Similarly, the European market was three to four times more costly than the Indian market.

On the economic slowdown in Europe and its impact on the offshore market, he said the German and Swedish markets were doing well.

The company would enter the high growth market at the right time. There was good business in Brazil and the Middle East, he said.

RBI sets holding company rider for bank licencehttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/banking/rbi-sets-holding-company-rider-for-bank-licence/articleshow/7767474.cmsNEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India will allow a promoter or a promoter group to establish new banks if they set up a holding company, which will own the bank and all other financial services companies regulated by the central bank or other financial sector regulators.

The holding company structure is described in the draft guidelines that the central bank has sent to the finance ministry last week. The guidelines are not final but provide a clue to its thinking. The norms governing new banks will be made public once the finance ministry responds.

Such a structure is aimed to ring fence the regulated financial services activities of an industrial house, including the new bank, from other activities such as manufacturing and trading that are not regulated by financial sector regulators.

In his Budget speech, the finance minister had said the Reserve Bank of India would release a set of rules governing new banks before March 31. The rules will come into force only after a public discussion.

A number of conglomerates such as the Tatas, the Aditya Birla Group and Mahindra and Mahindra are keenly awaiting final guidelines, which are likely to be released by the end of this month, as many have shown interest in starting a bank in India. The draft guidelines refer to conglomerates as promoter groups.

The draft guidelines sent to the finance ministry stipulate that companies and promoters considered eligible for banking licence by RBI would have to set a wholly-owned non-

operative holding company (NOHC), which needs to be registered as a finance company with RBI, and will be governed by a separate set of prudential guidelines.

But the draft rules say groups that derive 10% of their 'income' from broking or real estate shall not be eligible. This may hit the plans of financial services companies with big brokerage units seeking to enter banking.

NOHC will not be permitted to borrow funds for investing in group companies or "undertake activities which banks are permitted to undertake departmentally". Simply put, it will just be a vehicle to hold investments in all regulated financial sector entities on behalf of the promoter/promoter group for regulatory and prudential comfort.

The central bank has also suggested that the proposed banks will have to maintain arm's length relationship with promoter group entities, their business associates and their suppliers and customers.

"The whole concept behind these draft guidelines is to ensure that systematically important financial institutions, which are granted banking licences, do not endanger the banking institution in the country," said a senior official involved in framing the guidelines.

To ensure this, it has suggested that the exposure of the bank to any entity in the promoter group shall not exceed 10% and the aggregate exposure to all the entities in the group shall not exceed 20% of the paid-up capital and reserves of the bank. All exposures to promoter group entities will have to be approved by the board.

Adventz Gr to invest $ 2bn in 4 yrs; eyes $ 5 bn turnoverhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/indl-goods-/-svs/engineering/adventz-gr-to-invest-2bn-in-4-yrs-eyes-5-bn-turnover/articleshow/7771424.cmsNEW DELHI: Saroj Poddar-led Group companies, including Zuari Industries, Texmaco and Paradep Phosphates , today announced a unified corporate brand 'Adventz' and said the group will invest $ 2 billion (around Rs 10,000 crore) for expansion in the next four yeaRs

"We have planned a capital outlay of $ 2 billion (around Rs 10,000 crore) in the next four years to expand our businesses across the twenty one companies in the Adventz Group," Zuari Industries Ltd Managing Director Suresh Krishnan told PTI.

He said the group was targeting a turnover of $ 5 billion in the next five yeaRs

"Currently, the Group's turnover is around $ 2.5 billion, which is likely to go up to $ 3 billion in the next fiscal. Over a period of five years, we are looking at a figure of $ 5 billion," he said.

Of the total investment planned, a majority of funds will be utilised for setting up of a new fertiliser plant in Karnataka and for acquiring assets in the fertiliser business.

The group's flagship firm, Zuari Industries, will be setting up a Rs 5,000 crore gas-based urea plant in Karnataka with an annual capacity of 1.3 million tonnes a year. It will be built near the Dabhol-Bangalore gas pipeline project, which is expected to complete by 2012-13.

Other focus areas of the group will be retail, real estate, besides the financial services and brokerage business.

"Over the next few years, we would look at consolidating out position in the diverse range of businesses that we are in," Krishnan said.

The group today announced re-positioning of its 21 firms, including joint ventures and subsidiaries, under one umbrella brand 'Adventz'.

"We are in the process of finalising the marketing and promotional plan for the new identity," he said.

All the products and services offered by the group companies will bear the new logo and brand name going ahead.

The Adventz group operates in areas such as fertilisers, heavy industry, engineering services, consumer durables, real estate and financial services.

The main companies in the group are Zuari Industries (fertilisers and agriculture services), Texmaco Rail and Engineering Ltd, Adventz Infra World Ltd , Style Spa Furniture among others.

'SBI-State Bank of Indore merger in public interest' http://www.ptinews.com/news/1453349_SBI-State-Bank-of-Indore-merger-in-public-interest--GovtNew Delhi, Mar 23 (PTI) The acquisition of State Bank of Indore by the State Bank of India (SBI) last year was made in public interest, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

The merger is in "overall public interest," Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said while replying to the debate on the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Amendment Bill, 2010 in Rajya Sabha.

"Now, they (State Bank of Indore customers) can deposit and withdraw money from all the branches of State Bank of India," he said.

The Upper House later passed the bill seeking to omit all references to the State Bank of Indore, which was acquired by the SBI in July last year.

Railways loses over Rs 200 crore due to Jat agitationhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/railways/railways-loses-over-rs-200-crore-due-to-jat-agitation/articleshow/7771216.cmsNEW DELHI: The Northern Railway has suffered losses of over Rs 200 crore ($44 million) due to disruption of rail traffic caused by the Jat community's job quota agitation, said an official here.

"The railways has suffered huge losses worth several crores of rupees per day due to the agitators blocking railway tracks and stopping the trains' movement," a senior Northern Railway official told IANS.

According to the official, the railways was still assessing the quantum of losses suffered during the agitation. The overall losses may be in the range of above Rs 200 crore, as the protests still continue in the states neighbouring the national capital.

Industry experts also concurred that the overall losses suffered by the railways during the Jat reservation agitation has been in the range of Rs 200 crore.

"We are still calculating the losses...if you see there are many kinds of losses not only operational, but also penalties on freight delays that we have to pay," the official said.

The official added that the freight traffic, in particular, has suffered and the transportation of perishables and on-time performance of the railways has been hit severely.

"It always happens, like in the Gujjar agitation (for reservation in Rajasthan). Even at that time, the essential commodities carried by trains got affected, thereby impacting their availability and prices," official added.

Commodities that routinely get affected by the train disruptions include vegetables, milk, coal and petroleum products, whose supply may be affected in the short term.

Industry experts feel that passenger and freight train disruptions in north India will impact local commodity prices with cost of certain perishable products going up. Electricity and fuel shortages may also be faced.

"The overall economic impact of this would be in the range of Rs 200 crore, while due to the disruptions, the commodity prices may go up locally," Vishwas Udgirkar, senior director, Deloitte in India, told IANS.

According to him, the railways has not only suffered quantitative but also qualitative loss with its image as a reliable means of transport being hit due to the increasing frequency of protests stopping train movements.

"Every time people want to protest, they will hit at the most sensitive part of today's life, which includes the railways. The frequencies of such incidents are going up and that is worrisome," he said.

According to officials, 66 trains were cancelled Wednesday, a day after Jat agitators blocked the movement of 71 more trains.

More trouble seems to be in store as the Jat agitators have threatened to block all rail links between the national capital and other cities, including Agra, Kanpur and Ambala, from March 28.

Train disruptions by the agitating Jat community have been frequent in Hisar, Jind and Bhiwani districts of Haryana.

The protests also spread to western parts of Uttar Pradesh, where train services were hit ever since the agitation started March 5. But the state government March 18 removed agitators blocking railway tracks following a court order.

Activity in the Oil and Gas sector (including regulatory)

Essar Energy supply contracts may take a hit in near termhttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/oil-gas/essar-energy-supply-contracts-may-take-a-hit-in-near-term/articleshow/7767874.cmsMUMBAI: Essar Energy Plc sees a significant near-term hit on its product sharing contracts with Indian state-run oil marketing companies, which are seen lowering their fuel buy from the London-listed firm once their new refineries become operational and the existing ones are upgraded.

"We supply close to 7 million tonne of refined fuel products to IOC, HPCL, and BPCL, but now we expect a 5-6% impact on these supply contracts in 2011-12," said a senior Essar Energy official.

The three state-run oil marketing companies - Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) - are building new refineries in Paradip, Bina, and Bhatinda, respectively. IOC is conducting upgradation at its existing refineries in Haldia and Panipat while HPCL is also sprucing up its Vishakhapatnam refinery.

"Once our new refinery in Bina comes online, we will definitely reduce the volume of petrol, diesel, and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) that we buy from Essar and others," said BPCL's director - finance SK Joshi. However, he said given the rising demand projections in the domestic market, BPCL will continue to source fuel from outside.

"Once the phase 1 of expansion at Vadinar (refinery in Gujarat) is complete, it will see a production of 18 mmtpa. Then BPCL's Bina and HPCL's Bhatinda are also slated to come online this year. So we could see a temporary fuel surplus in the near future," Essar Energy CEO Naresh Nayyar, said in a conference call from London, on Monday.

BPCL's Bina refinery will have an initial capacity of 6 million tonne per annum (mtpa), while HPCL's Bhatinda refinery will start with a production of 9 mtpa and the company is also planning to double output from Vishakapatnam refinery to 15 mtpa. IOC has already upgraded its Haldia and Panipat refineries to 7.5 mtpa and 15 mtpa, respectively, while its new refinery at Paradip will have a production capacity of 15 mtpa. On Essar's retail plans, the official said, "We will be going slow on our plans to expand our retail outlets given the uncertain regulatory environment."

He was echoing what Nayyar had said on Monday, that the sudden spike in global crude oil prices and the government's slow progress on deregulating diesel are major roadblocks to Essar's plans to open 1,700 outlets by March 2011. "We have no choice but to pull the brakes on our retail plans for now as competition with PSU firms is becoming completely unviable," Nayyar had said.

Discussing the impact of the fall in production at Japanese refineries due to the recent earthquake and tsunami, Nayyar had said, "As a result of the ongoing crisis in Japan, we in India saw a sudden spurt in refining margins and we see this trend continuing in the latter part of the year too."

Militant Activity/Terrorism (Particularly in Bangalore, Mumbai, Noida, Chennai, Coimbatore)

Wanted Hizbul Mujahideen militant arrested http://www.ptinews.com/news/1453126_Wanted-Hizbul-Mujahideen-militant-arrested-Srinagar, Mar 23 (PTI) A wanted Hizbul Mujahideen militant Mudassir Nazir Lone was today arrested from the Batamaloo area here, police said.

Lone, wanted in several cases, was arrested from Batamaloo bus stand by the sleuths of Special Operations Groups (SOG) of local police, they said.

The militant was also an accused in a contractor killing case.

Last week, police had arrested six militants of the HM outfit in connection with attempting to revive the group in north Kashmir's Baramulla district," officials said.

With these arrests, police claimed to have solved the killing of the contractor.

Contractor Nazir Ahmed Lone was murdered over business rivalry by the militants, who were paid money by Abdul Hamid.

100 NSG commandos in Ahmedabad for India-Australia match

Published: Wednesday, Mar 23, 2011, 15:10 IST http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_100-nsg-commandos-in-ahmedabad-for-india-australia-match_1523291

As many as 100 National Security Guard (NSG) commandos reached the city on Tuesday as part of a security set up to prevent any terror attack during the cricket match to be played on Thursday at the Motera Stadium between India and Australia.

The commandos have been sent by the Centre to help the local police in any untoward situation.

Of these 100 commandos, 15 are officers, while six are senior officers.

Police sources said that they are camping at a private hall in Sola police station jurisdiction. The NSG commandos will not be deployed but will be on a stand by to tackle any terror attack.

"The centre send the commandos as a precautionary step and to help in prompt action in case of any untoward incident," said police commissioner, Ahmedabad city, Amitabh Pathak. However, he also said that even though there are no specific intelligence inputs as far as terror alerts are concerned, the government did not want to take any chance.

A meeting was held till late evening at the commissioner's office to decide the action plan and optimum use of the NSG, in case of any untoward incident.

The commandos are deployed at a place from where they can act promptly in case of any untoward incident, sources said.

Meanwhile the city police have already geared up for the security during the match. Police deployment has already been done at and near Motera Stadium as well as near the hotel where the players are staying.

CBI denies receiving threat from Dawood gang

New Delhi, March 23, 2011 http://netindian.in/news/2011/03/23/00011969/cbi-denies-receiving-threat-dawood-gang

Amid reports that underworld don Dawood Ibrahim is planning to target the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) headquarters here to "destroy" the documents related to the alleged 2G spectrum scam, the agency today denied that it has received any such "specific threat".

"Non-specific threat perceptions are often received by the CBI owing to the nature of job of the agency," a CBI spokesperson said, adding that no "specific threat" from a person or group has been received.

The official said if there were any threat, the inputs were passed on to the appropriate agency (Home Ministry) for necessary confirmation or action.

The reports said Dawood Ibrahim's gang D-Company was planning to target the CBI headquarters in an attempt to destroy all documents relating to the ongoing probe into the 2G spectrum issue.

The reports added that Mumbai-based CBI officials have passed on this information to the investigators handling the case.

The spokesperson said that security was already tight on the CBI premises and has been further strengthened recently.

Labor/Social Unrest

Jat stir: Delhi-Chandigarh Shatabdi among cancelled trains http://www.ptinews.com/news/1453987_Jat-stir--nbsp-Delhi-Chandigarh-Shatabdi-among-cancelled-trains-Chandigarh, Mar 23 (PTI) As the Jat agitation continues to wreak havoc on the rail traffic in northern India, Railways today cancelled two important trains connecting the Union Territory with the national Capital.

The morning Shatabdi Express from Kalka/Chandigarh to New Delhi and the return service from the national capital in the evening have been cancelled till March 25, when the situation would be reviewed, a Northern Railway spokesman told PTI here today.

The Delhi Sarai Rohilla -Chandigarh/Kalka Himalayan Queen has also been cancelled till March 25. The train provides a connection to the tourists headed for Shimla in Himachal Pradesh as passengers arriving by this train board the narrow gauge train Himalayan Queen from Kalka to Shimla.