Succession in corporate India has its share of problems, but the same in government-owned companies is strange. Take Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), India's largest insurance firm by many a mile. In the past few days, the government announced that Rakesh Singh, an IAS official, would be interim chairman for three months. (He also has additional charge of National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development, or Nabard). The man he is replacing, T.S. Vijayan, has about two years of service left, but is being demoted to managing director.What is odd is that usually the government has a reservoir of talent it can draw upon. Yet it has been unable to find one that fits the bill for LIC. True, there has been a recent reshuffle of the senior-most bureaucrats in some ministries; also true, the Congress is fighting elections in no less than five states, and is under the microscope for scandals in the conduct of the Commonwealth Games and 2G spectrum allocations, so it may be occupied elsewhere.But LIC is the biggest financial institution in India that collects and invests nearly Rs 60,000 crore each year in insurance premiums. Its investments can move markets, and managing a portfolio of about Rs 12 lakh crore is a gargantuan task. This is more than adequate reason for the government to ensure that a successor to Vijayan is found quickly.What makes this even more complicated is that Vijayan still has two years left before he retires; he joined LIC in 1977 in the marketing division. No rationale for this decision has been provided, though there is considerable speculation about the losses — this is unconfirmed — that some of his decisions may have caused. Exits, like successions, should be graceful.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 16-05-2011)
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US donations to charity rose to $291 billion last year, a study found on Monday, but it was still more than 6 percent below a 2007 record as the nation struggles to recover from its worst recession in decades.Americans gave nearly 4 percent more in 2010 compared to 2009, the Giving USA Foundation and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University said, perking up after the recession sparked the biggest giving slump in four decades.Revised estimates by the study, which started in 1956, showed that during the financial crisis giving fell more than $10 billion in 2008 to $299.8 billion and then dropped more than 6 percent in 2009 to $280.3 billion.Patrick Rooney, executive director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, said that giving in 2010 grew by 2.1 per cent after adjusting for inflation."But the sobering reality is that many nonprofits are still hurting, and if giving continues to grow at that rate, it will take five to six more years just to return to the level of giving we saw before the Great Recession," he said.The study estimates the giving by about 75 million US households, up to 1.5 million corporations, an estimated 120,000 estates and about 77,000 foundations. That money goes to more than 1.2 million registered charities and some 350,000 American religious congregations.Individual giving rose by 2.7 per cent in 2010 to $211.7 billion, charitable bequests soared nearly 19 percent to $22.8 billion, foundation giving remained unchanged at $41 billion and corporate giving rose more than 10 percent to $15 billion.Edith Falk, chairwoman of the Giving USA Foundation, a philanthropic research group, said that while giving had started to rebound, the gains "suggest philanthropy is likely in for slow growth over the next several years" and changes in donor behavior during the recession are likely here to stay."More corporations are focusing their philanthropy on organizations and causes that closely align with their missions and values. And foundations have been reluctant to take on new programs or fund new organizations," she said.More than a third of US donations go to religious groups, while education accounts for 14 percent, giving to foundations makes up 11 percent, human services receives 9 percent, health picks up 8 percent and public society groups 8 percent.Arts and culture groups got 5 per cent of the total, along with international affairs, which includes relief, development and public policy initiatives. Environmental and animal groups picked up 2 percent, and another 2 percent went to individuals, most often in the form of medications.Donations that cannot be attributed to any one particular sector make up the last 1 percent.The figures in the report are based on tax data, government estimates for economic indicators, and information from other research institutions.(Reuters)
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There has been a change of guard at one of the most coveted bureaucratic posts. S. Sundareshan was replaced as petroleum secretary by Girish Chandra Chaturvedi. For the first time in 13 years, a petroleum secretary has been transferred; the last was T.S. Vijayaraghavan in 1998. Since then all officers at this post have retired rather than moving to another ministry.The move comes at a time when the petroleum ministry, and more particularly Sundareshan, was dealing with several critical issues: the $9.6-billion Cairn-Vedanta deal is awaiting clearance, as is BP's acquisition of 30 per cent stake in Reliance Industries' (RIL) 23 oil and gas blocks. Then there is the impasse between the oil and gas regulator and RIL over production at the Krishna-Godavari basin's D6 well. Sundareshan, some officials believe, was one of the biggest hurdles in the clearance of the Cairn-Vedanta deal.Sundareshan's transfer was talked of since S. Jaipal Reddy replaced Murli Deora as the petroleum minister. The 1976-batch Kerala cadre officer had joined the ministry in 2007 as an additional secretary, and became secretary in January last year. He now moves to the heavy industries ministry.Chaturvedi, a 1977 batch officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, was special secretary at the finance ministry and took charge as special director-general of the Commonwealth Games in July last year when the preparations were threatening to fall apart. The new posting is being seen as a reward.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 16-05-2011)
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Oil and Natural Gas Corp said it was in talks with Russia's Bashneft and RussNeft to merge its Russian assets, but no approval had been received from the Indian government.The Economic Times had reported on Monday the cabinet had approved the merger proposal that would give state-run ONGC 25 per cent stake in the combined entity and access to one of the biggest discovered oilfields in Russia."We are in discussion but nothing has been finalised. No such proposal was put up for cabinet," ONGC Chairman A.K. Hazarika told Reuters. "This news is incorrect."ONGC has long eyed a deal with Bashneft, a unit of telecoms-to-oil group Sistema as well as involvement in the Arctic fields of Trebs and Titov, as it seeks to broaden its oil and gas base in Russia, the world's top energy exporter.But a merger of Bashneft and RussNeft is a long way off.Last week, Sistema President Mikhail Shamolin said the company may consider merging Bashneft and RussNeft once the latter's debt falls below $4 billion, but given current oil prices it may be a few years before that debt falls to the required level, the Interfax agency reported.ONGC already has a stake in Russia's Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project in the Pacific, and in 2008 it acquired the Imperial Energy oil company in western Siberia.Last December, Sistema and ONGC signed a non-binding agreement to consider asset swaps and joint tapping of Russia's energy deposits.At 10:55 a.m. (0525 GMT), shares in ONGC were trading 2.1 per cent lower at 260.30 rupees in a Mumbai market down 1.8 percent.(Reuters)
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Hundreds of millions of Indians living in the country's overcrowded cities must get used to paying more for better public services as the government pushes a huge infrastructure privatisation programme, urban development minister Kamal Nath said.The Indian economy is one of the fastest growing in the world, but city councils are struggling to pay for the rocketing demands for electricity, clean water and good roads in some of the most populous cities and biggest slums on the globe.Instead, the Indian government must foster the growth of domestic and foreign companies to lift the lid on privatisation in public utilities, passing the costs on to consumers, Kamal Nath said at the Reuters Global Real Estate and Infrastructure Summit."Everything has happened for free in the municipalities," Nath said in an interview at his office in the capital."This has to change, and it requires a huge mindset change."The government has pushed privatisation in the form of public-private partnerships (PPPs) to plug huge infrastructure gaps that put the brakes on faster economic growth.The government aims to invest $1 trillion in the sector between 2012 and 2017, half of which will come from private money.A drive towards such a development model means private construction companies are, for example, building slick roads across the country and charging drivers toll fares.That's a world away from the free but shoddy services that plagued India's state-planned economy before liberalisation in 1991.Nath, a charismatic stalwart in the ruling Congress party, who in his previous post as road transport minister energetically courted foreign investors for highway projects, wants to push such a transformation in city utilities."We've got to develop the right PPP models," he said. "We are now having discussions, we are engaging with financial institutions, on what is the right PPP model."I think that in our water waste disposal, we should target at least 50 per cent (of funds from the private sector), and for this we need to be having proper PPP models," he added.A push for private partnerships could open more doors for infrastructure firms such as GMR Infrastructure Reliance Infrastructure Ltd and SPML Infra.GMR operates India's biggest airport, while Reliance is building the Mumbai metro. SPML runs water utilities for municipalities.Inviting private companies will improve services as well as the finances of municipal corporations, opening the door for India to deepen its municipal bond market in the government's next five-year economic plan, which runs to 2017, he said."Our bond market is very weak, and that is one of our challenges," Nath said.Stake SaleIndia plans to sell a 10 per cent stake in the National Buildings Construction Corp (NBCC), the country's largest state-run construction company in three months, Nath said.An influx of poor, rural migrants has fed a population explosion that may see 590 million people -- nearly double the population of the United States -- live in Indian cities by 2030, an estimate by the McKinsey Global Institute showed.Indian drivers face an average peak morning commute of more than one-and-half hours to two hours, while its cities treat only 30 per cent of sewage generated and its sewers reach less than two-thirds of the population, the McKinsey report showed."The carrying capacity of our existing urban areas is already way exceeded," Nath said."Because of this, there is so much stress in every urban infrastructure activity of ours."(Reuters)
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It has been in the eye of the storm almost ever since it was conceived. Last week, the government gave the go-ahead to the 9,900 MW nuclear power plant at Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. Once completed, it would be the single-largest power plant in India. Jaitapur got the clearance despite opposition from the residents of the region. Apart from dislocating villagers from the mango bowl of Maharashtra, the plant is located on the coast in a seismic zone — though a significantly lower one than Fukushima, Japan. Situated 10 metres above mean sea level, the threat of a tsunami affecting operations is also relatively lower.While most countries are reviewing their nuclear power strategy, India has decided to go ahead with the Jaitapur plant. The question is why.By this decision, the government has indicated that India's nuclear power programme will continue despite Fukushima. As things stand, nuclear power could be critical in meeting the growing power demand in the country. At present, India has 20 nuclear reactors at six locations that generate 4,780 MW of power, which accounts for just 2.2 per cent of India's total power generating capacity. The government expects nuclear power plants to generate 20,000 MW by 2020 and 63,000 MW by 2032.With GDP growing at over 8 per cent per annum, India would need power generation capacity to grow at close to 10 per cent per annum. It also fits in with the government's plans to add 100,000 MW of power generating capacity during the 12th Plan (2012-17).India has been looking to expand nuclear power capacity in a big way ever since the 2008 nuclear deal with the US. It has signed preliminary agreements with the US, France and Russia for acquisition of new reactors. It is in this context that Jaitapur has got the green signal.The 9,900-MW Jaitapur nuclear power plant will have six nuclear reactors of 1,650 MW each to be set up in three phases. The first phase will have two European pressurised reactors (EPR) supplied by France's Areva. That is likely to be commissioned in 2018. The capacity at Jaitapur alone will be more than double the current nuclear power capacity of 4780 MW.While there have been concerns on the EPR, government officials point out that these are commercial reactors and not experimental reactors. They are upgraded versions of French N4 and German Konvoi reactors that have been in use for several years in these countries. French EPRs are currently under construction in Finland, France and China.The action on the nuclear front is not just limited to adding power-generation capacity. The government is expected to introduce a Bill in the next session of Parliament for the formation of an independent and autonomous nuclear regulatory authority.While that is a step in the right direction, the big issue at stake now with Jaitapur is the environmental impact of the project and long-term safety. If the government manages to address these issues directly, it could well assuage the anti-nuclear groups in the country and open the doors to setting up more nuclear power plants.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 16-05-2011)
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Renault is tight-lipped about its new D-segment car Fluence's prices, but it is almost certain that once launched, the French auto major will take on Toyota Corolla Altis, Skoda Laura, Honda Civic and Chevrolet Cruze. Given the sad experience of its first car in India — Logan — the company is making an all-out effort to make sure that nothing goes wrong this time. Renault made the Fluence available to BW for a long drive along the sea coast from Chennai to Puducherry and back. Here are our first impressions.The Fluence has several pluses. Its long wheelbase translates into generous legroom up front and at the back, making long journeys tireless. The petrol variant comes with special features such as sun blinds and air-conditioning vents for rear passengers, which take it a step ahead of rivals. Fluence can claim to be somewhat more comfortable and spacious than its peers in this segment.Rear seat comfort, key for cars above Rs 10 lakh (which we assume Fluence will be), is enhanced by voluminous head and shoulder room, height-adjustable head rests, large glass areas allowing plenty of light when sun blinds are tucked away, centre armrest housing cola can holders, and door-mounted speakers. In the second round of variants, Renault is interested in exploring more premium options. For chauffeur-driven customers, LCD screens embedded on the headrests, a remote control for the audio system and bigger map pockets on the seat backs can be considered for the upgraded model. Even without these accessories, the rear seat comfort of the petrol model is the best in its segment. TOP GEAR: Those looking forward to Renault's announcement of the Fluence's prices will have to wait till 23 May The 1.5-litre four-cylinder diesel mill is a tried-and-tested machine. Generating 106PS power and 240Nm torque, Fluence benefits from its excellent fuel efficiency and drivability. Delivering almost 22 kmpl (according to ARAI data), it puts Fluence at the top of the fuel efficiency table. The stiff suspension setup enables the car to remain fairly stable around bends even at three-digit speeds. In terms of handling, though, it has some way to go to beat the Skoda Laura.The car's 530-litre boot can shift homes. Storage volume inside the cabin, barring the glovebox, is ample. It offers 23 litres of storage space through cup holders, cubby holes, map pockets and other tiny compartments.In terms of safety, ABS, ESP and ASR come standard along with driver and passenger airbags, while side chest-level airbags are also present on the petrol variant but not available on most rival cars.Now for the cons. The Fluence comes in only two variants — one petrol and one diesel. Those looking for a petrol engine with manual transmission will have to settle for automatic transmission or opt for the diesel variant.However, compared to the petrol model, the diesel-powered Fluence is plain and basic. It lacks two airbags, rear air-conditioning vents, automatic climate control, Bluetooth connectivity and upmarket interiors. Noise levels in the cabin were consistently elevated throughout the drive, making the cabin noisier than other cars in its class. The engine is tuned for fuel economy and, as a result, takes away driving pleasure. There is a noticeable lag while accelerating from low speeds. The petrol engine is mated to a 6-speed CVT (automatic transmission), killing the enthusiasm of the 137-PS 2.0-litre motor. The transmission limits access to the spirited engine and learning the art of overtaking takes time. The CVT needs improvements as it fails to understand the intention of the driver, especially in the Automatic Drive mode.Overall, in the Fluence, despite the two-way adjustable steering and height-adjustable seat, tall drivers have to work hard to find the right driving position. Rear seat experience, though, is greatly enhanced with a couple of special features discussed above, but the absence of a flat floor means this strictly is a four-seater.Then, there's competition. The Corolla Altis, with its 1.4-litre diesel engine, is aimed clearly at the chauffeured customer, while Skoda Laura's high-displacement turbocharged petrol and diesel engines, and Chevrolet Cruze's 150-bhp diesel engine are meant for driving enthusiasts. The Fluence will try and deliver a combination of both with a longer wheelbase and a sizeable two-litre 137-PS petrol engine. By pairing it to a manual transmission, Renault can get closer to striking the right balance.Despite its shortcomings, the Fluence is a good (re)launch pad for the company. Renault will have to quickly gauge customer preferences and supplement suitable variants both above and below the initial offerings. As for you, wait for the price announcement on 23 May before thinking about buying the car.The author is managing editor of IndianAutosBlog(dot)com(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 23-05-2011)
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US regulators could file civil fraud charges against some credit-rating agencies for their role in developing mortgage-bond deals that helped bring about the financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.The Journal said the Securities and Exchange Commission was reviewing the conduct of companies including McGraw Hill's Standard and Poor's and Moody's Investors Service owned by Moody's Corp on at least two mortgage-bond deals.The paper said a Standard & Poor's spokeswoman declined to comment, and it quoted Michael Adler, a spokesman for Moody's, as saying: "Although Moody's is uncertain as to what The Wall Street Journal is referring, we would certainly cooperate with any requests we receive from the SEC."Reuters could not reach Standard and Poor's, the SEC or Moody's for comment.The SEC is considering whether the credit-ratings firms failed to do enough research to be able to rate adequately the pools of subprime mortgages and other loans that underpinned the mortgage-bond deals, the paper said.In May, the SEC sought public comment on proposals that the credit-rating agencies needed to reveal more about how they judge financial products and how those ratings perform over time.(Reuters)
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If there was ever a sign of rudderless leadership and misplaced priorities over economic policy, it was Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's trip to Delhi airport this month to meet a yoga guru protesting against the government's inaction on graft.The highly criticised trip, which initially emboldened the guru and then backfired when police tear-gassed his rally three day later, underscored a sense of distracted leaders fruitlessly trying to put out fires.Critics would have preferred Mukherjee focus more on dealing with a confluence of worrying economic trends -- accelerating inflation, declining foreign investment and slower growth and domestic investment -- that policy inertia will only make worse.Asia's third-largest economy is still set to grow around 8 per cent this fiscal year, faster than any major economy except China.However, there are ominous signs, from weaker car sales to a dip in steel imports, that have coincided with global worries that emerging markets could soon hit a financial bump.Investment was essentially flat in the March quarter and industrial output rose 6.3 per cent in April, its slowest in three months. Inflation accelerated faster than expected in May, to 9.06 percent, with price pressures spreading from food to the manufacturing sector, while the RBI may have run out of tools to contain it after ten rate rises."India may grow around 7 per cent without reforms," said Sanjay Mathur, a Singapore-based economist at Royal Bank of Scotland, one of several economists who have warned India's economic growth could fall below 8 per cent."In the India context, that's not enough."Got A Problem? Form A CommitteeHalfway through his second term, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's reformist image been hit by corruption scandals, weak leadership, infighting and a sense of complacency by many politicians focused more on enjoying the fruits of power.It is a running joke in Delhi that Singh will delay policies by forming committees to probe thorny issues. There is even a "GOM" (Group of Ministers) committee on briefing the media."The government is losing control of the agenda. What makes it more serious is that this has coincided with a slowdown in the economy and a dip in investor confidence," said Delhi University professor Mahesh Rangarajan."It's on a slippery slope." Many politicians and industrialists believe that a policy limbo is of no real consequence -- that the $1.6 trillion economic juggernaut will simply hum along in spite of the government, and so it has proved for most of Singh's seven years in power.But a series of scams, topped by allegations of kickbacks in the granting of telecom licenses that may have cost the government up to $39 billion, have more than paralysed parliament. They have led to a spiralling lack of confidence.Foreign direct investment fell 28.5 per cent in 2010-11, while the BSE Sensex has fallen nearly 12 per cent since mid-November, when the corruption scandals began to unravel. That compares with emerging markets equities firming around 2 percent in the same period.After the Thai baht, the Indian rupee is the weakest currency this year against the dollar among the currencies monitored daily in Asia by Reuters.The pessimistic scenario is one of lower growth, higher inflation and pressures on India's fiscal deficit."The pace of investments ... is a key determining factor for overall growth, and once it loses momentum, it is difficult to bring it back," Udayan Bose, a senior member of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, wrote in a letter to Mukherjee this week.The investor wish-list is long: speeding up environmental approvals for industry and making the process more transparent, raising fuel prices to help narrow the fiscal gap, giving foreign investment a boost with stake-sales in state-owned firms and reforms to open up sectors such as retail.Other economists call for the government to increase its spending on infrastructure and push through a bill making it easier and clearer for companies to acquire land for industry.Companies complain about murky regulations, especially with land acquisition and environmental policy. South Korea's POSCO faces land protests over a planned $12 billion steel plant even though environmental clearance was given in January.All in all, investors want a confidence booster, and this was underlined recently when a group of top bankers and industrialists visited Singh's top economic advisor."The major concern was the slowdown in the economy, slowdown in the investment climate, also the number of projects getting aborted mid-way," said one participant at the closed-door meeting, who asked not to be named."The feeling was the government should announce some big project to lift the psychology ... some policy clarity had to be there."Policy In Cold StorageThere appears little sign of an end to the paralysis. Indeed, many see the Congress party-led government burying its head further into the sand.The harsh treatment of anti-corruption campaigners -- including a pre-dawn raid on thousands of followers of yoga guru Swami Ramdev -- suggests it is more concerned about dealing with its enemies than coming up with policy strategies."It's ominous when Congress gives out aggressive signals -- as it did with the anti-corruption campaigns," said political analyst Swapan Dasgupta. "It means policy will be put in cold storage and there will be more populism."Singh, 78, appears to have settled in as a lame-duck prime minister, his reputation hit by corruption scams. Like many prime ministers, he may now put his focus on foreign policy and relations with Pakistan as one, lasting legacy.Mukherjee, his chief troubleshooter and a wily and long-serving Congress stalwart, spent hours this month chairing a bickering committee drafting a decades-old anti-graft bill.A promised cabinet reshuffle after state elections in May to bring in fresh faces has not yet materialised, even though a Congress party ally was thrown out of power in Tamil Nadu on the back of a corruption scandal."There is no action," a senior Congress party official told Reuters, adding that the chance of a reshuffle this month was low.Diesel price rises -- needed to help rein in a fiscal deficit bloated by subsidies - have been put on hold for fear of an unpopular step that would only drive inflation higher.The government is pushing a bill in the next parliamentary session to make land acquisition easier, but there are signs that polarisation between Congress and the Hindu nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may hamper its progress.Mahesh Rangarajan argues that part of the problem is the current political set-up - with the real power sitting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi rather than the prime minister she appointed, creating a dual but unequal leadership.Congress has been far more concerned with policies aimed at staying in power -- like a popular but expensive scheme to provide jobs for the rural poor -- while Singh and some of his ministers and officials are seen as more reform oriented.And the party may be far more focused on its election campaign in Uttar Pradesh next year -- a vote that will set the stage for a 2014 general election that could usher family scion Rahul Gandhi into the national race -- rather than reforms."The party and government are now out of synch," said Rangarajan.Tellingly, Sonia Gandhi reportedly did not know of the finance minister's visit to the yoga guru, a sign of a lack of political coordination.Local media said Pranab Mukherjee told lawmakers some key political decisions would be put on hold while Sonia Gandhi was out of the India this month, something confirmed by one Congress official.By ignoring the economy, Congress may shoot itself in the foot. Dasgupta pointed out a food security bill aimed at giving cheap grain to the poor could be put on hold due to its expense."The trouble is that a slowing economy will mean Congress has less leeway to introduce populist measures."(Reuters)
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Admitting that the Reserve Bank's anti-inflation monetary measures may impact growth, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said the major challenge right now is to contain price rise."The monetary policy has been gradually tightened...Monetary measures may end up moderating the growth if they have to be persisted for an extended period of time," Mukherjee said at an Assocham meet here.However, he said in the short-term, moderating aggregate demand is critical to check inflation, which is "our major challenge".The RBI on Thursday hiked key policy rates for the tenth time since March, 2010, in a bid to tame inflation, which crossed the 9 per cent mark in May.Inflationary pressures persist both from higher global commodity prices and domestic structural demand-supply imbalances in several commodities.Mukherjee said while inflation has implications with respect to sustaining the growth momentum, the drivers of economic expansion remain intact."... The growth drivers of the economy remain broadly intact," he said, adding, "I am so far hopeful that we should be able to repeat the growth performance of 2010-11 in 2011-12 as well," he said.In 2010-11, the country's GDP is estimated to have grown at the rate of 8.5 per cent. Mukherjee said as the government gears itself up for the task of preparing the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17), "We need to aim at a GDP growth of 9 to 9.5 per cent for the Plan period."For this much expansion in GDP, the country's economy must grow at an average rate at least one percentage point higher than the 8.2 per cent rate likely to be realised in the XII Plan.On the financial inclusion required to promote the agenda of inclusive growth, Mukherjee said it is a major challenge before the banking sector and financial system at large."Newer perspective and strategies toward financial inclusion are needed to reach the un-banked and the under-banked sections of our country," he said.While applauding the banking sector on their performance with respect to growth in deposits and net profits, Mukherjee expressed concerns on their "asset quality".During 2010-11, non-performing assets (both gross and net) increased from the levels witnessed in the previous year."It is important for the banks to constantly monitor and bring down the NPA to the previous level," he said.He also asked the banks to go for more innovation and come up with value-added offerings to meet the growing needs of customers.He further said the government was in the process of deepening policy reforms in the financial sector and addressing gaps in overall economic regulatory architecture.A Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission has been set up to re-write financial sector laws.He also sought the support of all political parties for passage of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) and Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act, considered to be the most important tax reforms in the country, in Parliament.(PTI)
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