Stability, liquidity and depth. That's what the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) annual monetary policy that RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao presented on 3 May is expected to bring to the money markets. We aren't talking about the policy rate changes here, but the regulatory changes that are likely to influence the overnight money and short-term money markets.Unlike stockmarkets, the money markets in India haven't been as liquid or as broad and deep. Which is in contrast to developed markets where debt markets are many times the size of equity markets. The measures announced come in three little buckets: little, because the changes, in the tradition of caution practised by the central bank, are seen as some baby steps towards creating a vibrant money market. NEW NORMSMarginal Standing Facility (MSF) A new borrowing window for banks in times of extreme cash crunch. Its rate will be 100 basis points above repo.Credit Default Swaps (CDSs) These credit derivatives will help broaden the corporate bond market. Guidelines to be issued soon.# 3-month span for short selling in G Sec Market participants can now short (sell) their government securities from five days (earlier) to a maximum of three months First, the marginal standing facility (MSF) that allows banks to borrow up to 1 per cent of their deposits from the RBI, albeit at 1 per cent higher than the repo rate (at which banks borrow from the RBI). Call or overnight money markets — in which banks borrow from each other and from mutual funds and a few institutional investors — are mostly uncollateralised; the MSF changes a part of that into collateral-based lending.The collateral in this case will be the same as that used in repos with the RBI, government securities. "It should help reduce volatility of overnight rates over the long run," says Vivek Rajpal, interest rates strategist with Nomura India in Mumbai. Call money rates should now be close to the repo rate of 7.25 per cent, but can occasionally get very volatile; in recent weeks, it has gone up to 12 per cent. "The MSF will serve as a hurdle rate for overnight borrowing," says Rajat Monga, Yes Bank's head of financial markets.Second, and more interesting for many treasury dealers, is the announcement that guidelines for credit default swaps (CDS) in corporate bonds will be released soon. It was earlier announced in October 2009. But given that the CDS market was at the core of the meltdown of the mortgage market in the US, the central bank's caution is understandable.But the reaction was mixed. "CDS will enable lenders to diversify their credit portfolio beyond their own set of customers, leading ultimately to a lower risk," says Phani Shankar, head, financial markets, at ING Vysya Bank. "It will broaden the market bringing in a larger pool of investors increasing the liquidity and depth."But credit derivatives have not taken off as well as hoped. Take the introduction of interest rate futures (IRFs), where momentum has been largely absent. "This is still too early; early avatars of IRFs have not done too well," says Manish Sarraf, treasury head at Dhanlaxmi Bank. "And since CDS are on specific entities, liquidity may be a challenge."Third, the central bank extended the ability of banks to short-sell government securities (another way of taking a call on how interest rates will move) from five days to three months. This allows traders and dealers to take the longer view, but most like Monga and Sarraf believe it will be a while before this becomes a more widely used instrument.The changes add breadth to the menu of instruments, but depth is still a problem. So don't be surprised if they don't go diving in right away.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 23-05-2011).
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The much-talked about reshuffle of Union Council of Ministers will take place on Tuesday evening, sources said.This follows a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi this morning in which finishing touches were understood to have been given to the proposed changes.This was the fourth meeting of the two leaders in recent days.The reshuffle is expected to place at 5 PM, the sources said.About 10 to 12 ministers including new entrants from Trinamool Congress and Congress are likely to be involved in the reshuffle.Sources said that Trinamool Congress Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandhyopadhyay may get a berth and could be inducted as Minister of State.(PTI)
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If you are running a firm that is planning a merger or making an acquisition, hold the thought: the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on 11 May announced a new set of regulations that may change the way you go ahead. The final regulations come into effect from 1 June; earlier, the draft regulations had been circulated for public discussion and comment by law firms, companies and the public at large.But here's the first big concern: will the questions surrounding the interpretation of the regulation delay the completion of merger and acquisition (M&A) processes? "It's a new regulator, and may take time to find its feet," says the head of an investment banking firm. "People in corporate India are curious about who the other members of the CCI will be."The regulations come ahead of the new takeover code that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) will make public soon. "For acquisitions of listed companies which trigger mandatory open offers to public investors, how the CCI's regulation will interact with Sebi's takeover code will be a key consideration," says Somashekar Sundaresan, partner at J Sagar and Associates, a leading Mumbai-based corporate law firm.Here's one example: if the promoters of a firm want to increase their stake in the company from, say, 46 to 51 per cent by way of a creeping acquisition over a year, they do not have to make an open offer, so approval is almost automatic. But such an acquisition falls within the definition of ‘change of control'; will they have to seek the CCI's approval?Most mid-size companies that want to make acquisitions, even small ones, fall within the ambit of the CCI, based on the criteria laid out in the turnover, net worth and profitability criteria. Given India Inc.'s growth and the rising amount of M&A activity, does the CCI have the bandwidth to approve every transaction? Delays could be deal-killers."It should take four to six weeks for approvals, as in most other countries," says Ranu Vohra, managing director, Avendus Capital, whose firm has a flourishing M&A business. "There should be a way of fast-tracking some of these deals — a sort of tatkal window that companies can use to get approval earlier." In other words, growth through consolidation cannot be derailed; investment bankers worry that the CCI could become another layer of bureaucracy."Coordination between Sebi and the CCI becomes important," says Sundaresan. "Ideally, they should have discussed this prior to notification and announced a coordinated framework with simultaneous amendments." The problem of coordination become attenuated when the mergers involve banks or insurance companies — other regulators, like the Reserve Bank of India and the Insurance Regulation and Development Authority have their own sets of rules.There are different issues for listed and unlisted companies. For listed companies, market prices move widely on M&A news and activity; the level of price shifts can sometimes be phenomenal. If the CCI asks an acquirer to shed part of the acquired company or a division for competitive reasons, share prices could undergo a dramatic change, enough to render the deal uneconomical."For unlisted companies, control could shift from investors like private equity firms to the promoters," points out Vohra. "How will the CCI deal with that?" So far, unlisted companies have been out of the ambit of regulators especially when it comes to M&A. But that could change now. Promoters planning to buy out other shareholders, not necessarily strategic ones, may also have to go to the CCI for approval.It is early days yet, and it may be unfair to the CCI to ask questions about situations the competition regulator has yet to face. But most agree that a pragmatic view is crucial to its effectiveness. Most say that such an approach will likely prevail; others are keeping their fingers crossed.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 23-05-2011)
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Euro zone ministers failed on Tuesday to reach agreement on how private holders of Greek debt should share the costs of a new bailout, putting the onus on the leaders of Germany and France to forge a deal later this week.Nervous markets pushed the bond yields of Greece, Ireland and Portugal to their highest levels since the introduction of the euro in 1999 amid uncertainty over a second rescue for Athens and the contribution governments are likely to demand from the private sector.European paymaster Germany, backed by the Netherlands, wants the banks, pension funds and insurance firms that hold Greek debt to swap their bonds for new ones with maturities that are seven years longer.This would buy Greece more time to chip away at its massive 330 billion euro ($477 billion) debt mountain and limit the amount of taxpayer-funded aid Athens would receive. But ratings agencies have warned they would view this as coercive and label it a default.Fearful that Berlin's plan could unleash a new wave of contagion, the European Central Bank, European Commission and France are pushing for a softer solution in which bond owners would be encouraged, probably by incentives, to buy new Greek debt as their holdings matured."There has been no result," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters after talks in Brussels ended late on Tuesday.Schaeuble's counterpart from Luxembourg, Luc Frieden, said ministers had narrowed their differences and their goal remained to seal an agreement later this month."We have to be very careful that this is not considered to be a 'credit event', to be very careful that this does not lead to a rating downgrade. It's only under these strict limitations that we can move towards private sector involvement," he said.Discussions within the so-called Eurogroup were due to continue on Sunday evening in Luxembourg, ministers said.To avert financial disaster for Greece, the bloc must forge a compromise by a June 23-24 EU summit.But investors will be closely watching a meeting in Berlin on Friday between Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, where the outlines of a final deal could be sketched out.Deauville DealMerkel and Sarkozy have forged compromises on several contentious issues since the bloc's debt crisis erupted in late 2009, notably a controversial deal sealed last year on the beach in Deauville, France which spelled out for the first time that investors would be asked to shoulder the costs of future euro zone bailouts from mid-2013.Since then opposition to taxpayer-funded rescues has grown, especially in northern European countries like Germany, Finland and the Netherlands, forcing leaders to consider pursuing soft forms of debt restructuring even sooner, despite repeated warnings from the ECB."Somebody has to concede ground over the coming days or the region will experience a full-blown financial crisis," said David Mackie, an economist at J.P. Morgan."Given that the Germans and the French are on opposite sides in the restructuring debate, if the two leaders can reach a compromise then it will carry for the region as a whole."In a sign of just how far worries about the euro zone have spread, China's central bank used its annual financial stability report to sound one of its starkest warnings yet about Europe's debt mire, saying rescue measures had failed to tackle the root causes of the crisis."There is a possibility that the sovereign debt crisis will spread and deteriorate," the report said.The European Union and International Monetary Fund bailed out Athens to the tune of 110 billion euros ($160 billion) just over a year ago, and followed up with similar packages for Ireland and Portugal.A new rescue is now being thrashed out for Greece as it continues to sink under a debt pile that totals roughly 150 per cent of its annual output. [ID:nLDE75919U]Officials in Brussels say the new deal would keep Greece funded through 2014 and total about 120 billion euros, comprising 60 billion euros in new EU/IMF aid and an equal amount from a combination of privatisation receipts and private sector contributions.Vienna InitiativeMario Draghi, who is due to take over as president of the ECB later this year, reiterated at a European Parliament hearing that the central bank remained opposed to any private sector solutions that contained any element of compulsion.But he signalled the ECB could accept a debt rollover based loosely on the "Vienna Initiative" in which foreign banks agreed, at the height of the global financial crisis in 2009, voluntarily to maintain their exposure to central and eastern Europe."There are basically two initiatives that are under discussion. One is the Vienna Initiative, which to me looks entirely voluntary," Draghi said. "Another one is a debt exchange, which I haven't understood whether it is voluntary or it could end up being involuntary."Standard & Poor's downgraded Greece on Monday, making it the the lowest-rated sovereign borrower in the world.The Greek government is trying to push through new austerity measures worth some 6.5 billion euros for 2011 alone, almost double the belt-tightening already agreed for this year.But Prime Minister George Papandreou suffered a blow on Tuesday when two ruling party lawmakers said they would vote against the measures.Protesters have said they will cordon off parliament to prevent deputies from debating the plans on Wednesday and unions are vowing to bring the country to a standstill with a national strike.(Reuters)
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Weighed down by ever increasing population, China and India - the most populous nations - on Monday observed World Population Day together for the first time to step up campaign to stabilise global population.Addressing an India-China joint ministerial meeting on population at the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that as two countries together had over one third of global population, it was apt for both to observe it together to learn from their experiences.This is the first time ever ministers from the two most populous countries came together to observe the World Population Day and share common experiences, Azad said."On this momentous occasion, let us call upon the entire world to work jointly to achieve population stabilisation for the overall sustainable development of the entire planet," he said."China and India together have to provide global leadership in this area and I am glad that the increasing cooperation between our two countries, bilaterally and through multi-lateral fora, augurs well for the future," he said thanking Chinese Minister Li Bin for convening the meet."While we fully acknowledge that large populations are assets in terms of human resource and to a great extent stimulate economic growth, but rate at which the population of entire world is multiplying, poses several challenges on economic, environmental and development fronts".Encouraged by steady decline of fertility rates over the years, the family planning campaign in India is now being focussed on high fertility areas for population stabilisation, Azad said. As per the recent census, India's population stands at 1.21 billion. According to projections, it would touch 1.40 billion by 2026."A positive sign emerging from the census shows that the decadal growth rate has come down sharply to 17.64 (in 2011) from 21.54 (in 2001)," Azad said."With only 2.4 per cent of the entire world's landmass to support 17 per cent of the world population; India's need for population stabilization can hardly be overemphasised," he said.The steady decline in Total Fertility Rate over a period of time is encouraging and it is currently at 2.6 (in 2009), a 42 per cent decline from mid-1960s.To reduce Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Indian government has taken number of initiatives in last five years as a result of which institutional deliveries increased from 47 per cent to 72 per cent, he said.The national programme contributed to the further decline of the MMR from 254 in 2004-06 to 212 in 2007-09 and IMR from 58 in 2005 to 50 in 2009, he said."Fourteen States and Union Territories out of 35 have already achieved the replacement fertility level of 2.1. We are now focusing on the high fertility areas for population stabilisation," he said.India had repositioned its family planning programme to not only achieve population stabilisation but also to promote reproductive health and reduce maternal mortality, infant and child mortality and morbidity, he said.(PTI)
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It was to be a swap felt around the world -- a plan privately discussed by the world's largest oil exporter and the globe's biggest consumer to take the heat out of $120-plus oil prices.In the weeks leading up to the failed June OPEC meeting, US and Saudi officials met to discuss surprising the market with an unprecedented arrangement: exchanging urgently-needed high-quality crude oil stored in the U.S. emergency reserve for heavier, low-quality oil from Saudi Arabia, according to people familiar with the plan.The idea involved shipping some of the light low-sulphur, or "sweet", crude out of the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve to European refiners, who needed it after the war in Libya cut off shipments of its premium crude varieties coveted for making gasoline and diesel.In return Saudi Arabia would sell its heavier high-sulphur or "sour" crude at a discount back to the United States to top up the caverns that hold America's emergency stocks.It was a striking suggestion, one that would have demonstrated Washington's readiness to put the SPR to extraordinary use and Riyadh's willingness to work creatively with consumers to quell high prices.But it did not make it past the drawing board, four sources familiar with the talks confirmed. The sources disagree on which country proposed the plan. Two said it fell apart because Riyadh was not willing to subsidize European or US customers by discounting its crude prices below market value.Pain In The PollsThe swap idea illustrates a recently deepening engagement between Saudi Arabia and the United States on oil affairs under President Barack Obama, and shows how high the stakes were ahead of the meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on June 8 in Vienna.With gasoline prices topping $4 a gallon in many parts of the United States, Obama was seeing his support ebb in opinion polls, just as the White House was beginning to focus on the 2012 election.The Saudis were concerned about the health of the global economy with oil prices surging above $100 a barrel. Riyadh knew that high prices, while good for short-term income, would cut fuel demand over the longer term.Washington had pressed Saudi Arabia to boost oil production at least twice ahead of the OPEC meeting that ended in failure, sources told Reuters.After war broke out in Libya and its oil output fell, the Saudis complied with the initial request, but they weren't happy when European refiners didn't jump to buy their crude, even a "special brew" of lighter quality, an Arab official said."We need someone to take our crude. We don't just want to store it," the official said.Industry sources described a "difficult" Riyadh meeting that a US delegation held about a month ago with Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi."They were told, 'If you're going to find us extra refineries that are asking for demand, we'll supply that,'" the Arab official said.Deputies from the US Energy and Treasury departments also visited Riyadh to make the case for stepped-up oil production, a source close to the Saudi government said, although the timing of this meeting was unclear.One of the officials who attended that meeting was Jonathan Elkind, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs at the Energy Department, a source told Reuters.Within days, Elkind was flying to Paris for a regular meeting of the board of governors of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, which speaks for 28 industrialized oil consumer countries.After that meeting, the governing board released an unusually blunt statement urging OPEC to raise output and announcing that it would consider using "all the tools" at its disposal -- a clear reference to emergency reserves.The US State and Energy Departments would not comment on whether the meetings took place or offer other details, while the White House has acknowledged regular talks with producers without being specific about their content.Pressures BuildSet up in 1974 to protect oil consumers after the Arab oil embargo, the IEA has held an open and cordial dialogue with OPEC ever since the Gulf War in 1990-1991, one of only two times it has authorized a global release of strategic stocks.But the May 20 missive suggested a new cooling in the relationship between the world's big oil consumers and producers, and provoked a backlash from some in OPEC."Strategic reserves should be kept for their purpose and not used as a weapon against OPEC," OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri told the Reuters Global Energy and Climate Summit on Tuesday."We never interfere in the IEA and really we don't want them to interfere in our business. They should do it in a professional manner. We should not talk to each other through the media."Washington appears to have mostly heeded that comment, and kept quiet about its engagement, in contrast to previous administrations.In April, Obama -- who has several times blamed speculators for the run-up in prices -- made a rare public call for world oil producers to boost production."We are in a lot of conversations with major oil producers like Saudi Arabia," he said in a Detroit television interview.The tension within the cartel boiled over last week in Vienna, when seven members of the group balked at a Saudi-led plan to increase production. While ministers said the breakdown was caused by differing views over the market outlook in the second half of this year, Iran blamed unspecified "consumer countries" for influencing the debate."What happened shows OPEC is an independent organisation," OPEC governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi told Reuters. "If one wants to exert pressure to make the others give up -- no."The Kingdom declared it would go it alone. Sources say Saudi Arabia is raising production in July by nearly 1 million bpd to around 10 million bpd, although Brent crude oil prices have continued to press higher, reaching a five-week peak of more than $120 a barrel on Tuesday.(Reuters)
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It should have been a pleasant surprise; the index of industrial production (IIP) for March not only beat estimates, but beat them by a huge margin. Compared to expectation of growth of 3.5 per cent year-on-year, the number came in at 7.3 per cent, almost double. But the response was mixed, and in some quarters, the seemingly high growth numbers were simply shrugged off.The surprise was even greater when you consider that the base was quite high for March 2010; add to the slowdown in economic activity that prevailed over the past few months — and the low growth numbers for January and February 2011 — 3.5 per cent seemed a good number, even positive. So what changed?Output in capital goods was the big factor. After having declined in January and February — growth was a negative 18 per cent in February on top of January's decline over December 2010 — sequential growth in capital goods in March was over 70 per cent.In addition to year-on-year growth, analysts look at sequential growth (month-on-month, in other words) to ascertain if there are changes in underlying trends that go beyond seasonal changes. Part of the answer lay in commercial vehicles: output in February was 38,989 vehicles in February, which went up to 80,616 vehicles in March, a gigantic jump.Analysts say that another part of the higher- than-expected growth came from restocking inventories as manufacturers sought to hedge against rising raw material prices in a volatile commodity market. The latest Dun & Bradstreet survey says the companies plan to hold higher inventory levels in the coming months than they had in the past 13 quarters; but as commodity prices correct and fall, that could hurt firms, so that approach could change.But a slightly closer examination of the IIP data reveals other inconsistencies; sectorally, electricity output grew by 7.2 per cent, but coal production, which grows with electricity output since most power plants in India are coal- based, actually fell 1.2 per cent. For the flip side, consider use-based categorisation in the IIP; basic goods grew modestly by 5.4 per cent; manufacturing data shows that cement, steel and petroleum products grew well in March.For the year as a whole (2010-11 or FY11) the IIP was up 7.8 per cent, compared to 10.5 per cent in FY10, and lower than the expected 9 per cent. Analysts are already pencilling in a moderate growth scenario for FY12. First, government expenditure growth in the budget is pegged at just 3.4 per cent, suggesting that the private sector will have to provide the rest.Most firms are already rethinking expansion plans and capital investment, because interest rates are likely to remain high through most of the year. Second, volatility persists in raw material prices, making manufacturing firms a little more cautious about spending.For those concerned about the volatility in the IIP numbers, there is some good news. Next month, the Central Statistical Organisation will introduce a new IIP monthly series with 2004-05 as the base year. Products such as typewriters and alarm clocks will no longer introduce unnecessary noise into the IIP data. Soon, it will begin to add up right; hopefully, the number of unpleasant surprises will decline to a minimum.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 23-05-2011)
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The chairman of the US Federal Reserve warned on Tuesday that failure to lift the government's borrowing limit could risk a potentially disastrous loss of confidence, giving further impetus to the latest round of deficit-reduction talks by top lawmakers.Ben Bernanke said the United States could lose its coveted AAA credit rating and the dollar's special status as a reserve currency could be damaged if there was not a quick resolution to the battle over raising the $14.3 trillion debt limit.He spoke as Vice President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of six top lawmakers began the first of three straight days of negotiations to try to breach a stark divide between Republicans and Democrats over taxes and healthcare.The group is trying to find trillions of dollars in budget savings and in meetings on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday they are expected to take a close look at annual spending levels, budget process reforms and healthcare benefits.After six negotiation sessions with little progress, the Biden group is stepping up efforts to find a deal that would give Congress the political cover to raise the debt ceiling by an Aug. 2 deadline, when the United States could start defaulting on its obligations."We're making real progress, we're down to the tough stuff now and everybody's still in the room," Biden said after Tuesday's meeting. He did not give details about the talks.Democratic Senator Max Baucus said both sides wanted an agreement on raising the borrowing limit. Republican Senator Jon Kyl said they wanted to reach a big enough deal so they would not have to raise it again before the 2012 elections.Top U.S. officials and financial analysts have warned that a default could cause chaos on global financial markets."We could actually have a reprise of a financial crisis, if we play this too close to the line. So we're going be working hard over the next month," President Barack Obama said on Tuesday in an interview with NBC's "Today" show.Bernanke, who as head of the central bank is independent of the Obama administration, agreed."Even a short suspension of payments on principal or interest on the Treasury's debt obligations could cause severe disruptions in financial markets and the payments system," he said in remarks at an event sponsored by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget think tank.Many on Wall Street fear that even the briefest default by the United States could sink the dollar and spike interest rates sharply higher, tipping a fragile economic recovery back into recession.Independence Day Deal?The Biden talks, which began on May 5, have been moving slowly, with both sides refusing to budge on key issues. Republicans will not consider tax hikes while Democrats oppose proposals to privatize the government-run Medicare healthcare program for the elderly.Democrats could consider changes to Medicare but Republicans must show flexibility on taxes, a Democratic congressional aide said. Democratic leaders nevertheless challenged Republicans to take the proposed Medicare cuts off the negotiating table.Talks on Tuesday focused heavily on annual spending. Both Obama and Republicans have proposed freezing such "discretionary" spending, which funds everything from law enforcement to national parks, for five years. But the two sides need to agree where to set those levels."Obviously the baseline is an important part of it," said Democratic Representative Chris Van Hollen.Obama and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, want the group to complete its work by July 4, and markets have made it clear they want to see substantial progress by mid-July.Deficits are hovering at their highest levels relative to the economy since World War Two. For this fiscal year, the U.S. deficit is expected to reach $1.4 trillion.Congress faces the challenge of trying to cut the budget but also boost the sputtering economy in the short term.The White House is weighing a payroll tax cut for businesses and Republicans are touting a job-creation agenda of that consists of tax cuts and scaled-back regulation.Republicans have said that any debt-limit increase must include spending cuts of at least equal size, which would point to a package of at least $2 trillion to cover the country's borrowing needs through the November 2012 elections.(Reuters)
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Advance tax pay-up by India Inc presents a rosy picture, despite a massive fall in April IIP numbers and a likely fall in the remaining months of Q1; with the largest lender SBI leading the pack with Rs 1,100 crore against Rs 850 crore in the year-ago period.Income Tax Department sources said on Wednesday that oil and gas major RIL has paid Rs 900 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal, up nearly 50 per cent from Rs 650 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal.Companies from across the sectors paid up more in advance tax this quarter than the year-ago period, except cement companies which had a poor showing.The third in the list is the insurance giant LIC, which made an advance tax payment of Rs 580 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal, against Rs 530 crore last fiscal.Largest software exporter TCS saw its tax bill nearly doubling to Rs 240 crore in the reporting period from Rs 128 crore in the year-ago quarter.The fourth in the list is the state-run Deposit Insurance & Credit Guarantee Corporation which saw an outgo of Rs 475 crore against Rs 400 crore last time.Banks too, barring a few state-run ones, have paid up more. Leading foreign bank Citi saw its advance tax outgo jumping 50 per cent to Rs 150 crore from Rs 100 crore, state-run IDBI Bank saw the tax bill soaring over 125 per cent to Rs 180 crore against Rs 81 crore in Q1 last year.The second largest foreign bank, HSBC, too paid up more, with a tax outgo of Rs 250 crore against Rs 225 crore.State-run lenders like Bank of India paid Rs 165 crore (Rs 158 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs 250 crore versus Rs 225 crore), Dena Bank around Rs 55 crore against Rs 45 crore, while Central Bank of India saw its advance tax payout declining to Rs 145 crore against Rs 150 crore.All the private sector lenders have paid up more in taxes this time. While the largest private sector lender ICICI Bank paid Rs 390 crore (Rs 350 crore), the immediate competition HDFC Bank coughed up Rs 350 crore (Rs 315 crore). Kotak Mahindra Bank's advance tax outgo stood at Rs 60 crore (Rs 45 crore) and Yes Bank paid Rs 60 crore (Rs 50 crore).Pure-play mortgage lender HDFC saw its tax bill rising to Rs 250 crore from Rs 215 crore in the reporting period, and so did LIC Housing Finance which saw its tax bill rising to Rs 47 crore in the reporting quarter from Rs 38 crore.Among auto companies, barring the largest player Tata Motors, which saw its tax bill dipping a tad to Rs 62 crore (Rs 65 crore) all reported higher numbers. Bajaj Auto paid Rs 125 crore (Rs 110 crore), M&M paid nearly 50 per cent more at Rs 90 crore (Rs 63 crore).Steel major Tata Steel also saw its tax bill shrinking during the reporting quarter to Rs 280 crore from Rs 300 crore, so did another group company Tata Chemicals, which paid up only Rs 27 crore against Rs 29 crore.Aluminium major Hindalco's tax bill rose to Rs 80 crore against Rs 55 crore. So did the engineering behemoth L&T which coughed up Rs 175 crore in advance taxes, up from Rs 130 crore. Similarly, consumer goods leader HUL too saw its tax bill jumping to Rs 100 crore from Rs 75 crore.Oil companies presented a mixed picture with Bharat Petroleum paying a little more than half of what it had paid last time at Rs 77 crore, against Rs 126 crore; while both Hindustan Petroleum and MRPL paid up more at Rs 62 crore (Rs 61 crore) and Rs 100 crore (Rs 67 crore), respectively.Cement players saw their tax outgo shrinking. ACC saw its tax bill declining to Rs 45 crore from Rs 50 crore, Ambuja too paid up less at Rs 50 crore (Rs 65 crore), while UltraTech bucked the trend with a sharp spike in its tax bill at Rs 37 crore against Rs 22 crore.Pharma major Lupin paid Rs 18 crore (Rs 16 crore), AC major Voltas paid more at Rs 23 crore (Rs 18 crore) and the tobacco leader Godfray Philips saw its tax bill exactly doubling to Rs 12 crore from Rs 6 crore.(PTI)
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The age of the 'monster-phones' is here. Packed to the gills with large high-resolution displays and dual-core processors, the HTC Sensation and the Samsung Galaxy SII may not have been first off the blocks but they've certainly captured the public imagination the most I've seen in recent times. So much so that the question I've most heard from all of you is - which out of the two should I buy? There's only one way to find out - I pit them against each other in a battle to the finish! May the best dual-core monster-phone win! Touch-n-Feel: You're going to either love the SII or hate it. At 8.5mm and 116g, it is by far slimmer and lighter than the Sensation (11.3mm, 148g) but there is a tangible 'budget' feel to the flimsy plastic used in the SII. I personally prefer the heft and the plastic-aluminum unibody design of the Sensation, but this parameter, more than any other, is a matter of personal preference. Both come with Gorilla Glass for the front panel, so the touchscreens are built to take some wear and tear. User Interface: Both phones run Android 2.3.3 rather snappily, but each ships with a custom user interface layer, with the Sensation packing in the 3D Sense 3.0 overlay and the SII the TouchWiz 4.0 UI. To me, there is no doubt that Sense has been the UI of choice on Android phones, and this iteration makes it even better. No competition here. That said, the TouchWiz UI is marginally snappier on most occasions, but only to the most performance hungry folks out there. Display: While HTC may have packed in a qHD (960×540 pixel) resolution Super LCD display which allows for sharper display than the SII's Super AMOLED Plus (800x480 pixel) display, the SII's display blows you away with its color reproduction and brightness, even in the sunniest of conditions. The Super LCD isn't a pushover by any measure, but the SII's display is in a class of its own right now.Media Playback: Both phones pack in the usual complement of media playback features - FM radio, varied music and video file format playback options, with the SII handling DivX file playback in addition to the regular Xvid/MP4/WMV files that the Sensation supports. But if I had to call one winner, it would be the SII - the media management and playback capabilities of the SII are a shade better than the Sensation, with slightly better movie format support and a better built-in media player. Music sounds a tad better too on the SII. Not to mention that drool-worthy display… A Longer Life Wasn't the purpose of buying a netbook to cut the cord from the desk? Leave the adapter behind with the Samsung's Solar-Powered Netbook, the NC215S. This sweet little number features bog-standard netbook specs but with a lid with solar cells built-in, which Samsung claims, should get you an hour of battery life for every two hours of charging time. URL: http://bit.ly/lvtv1yPrice: $399 break-page-breakCamera: An even fight here - both the phones pack in 8MP shooters, although specs wise you could favor the Sensation with a dual, rather than single, LED flash. Looking at the images, the SII's camera displays a knack for capturing greater dynamic range and more natural colors. Both cameras also record video in full-HD 1080p resolution at 30 frames per second, so really, there's very little to call here. Storage: The Sensation features 768 MB RAM and a 1 GB internal phone storage with support for microSD cards up to 32GB (an 8 GB card is included in the box). Compare that with the 16 GB storage on board, 1 GB RAM and microSD expansion, and we have a clear winner in this category: the SII. Connectivity: Both phones are more than capably equipped on the connectivity front, with HDMI-output through the microUSB slot (no cable supplied though), Bluetooth 3.0 on board, and capability to stream media over the DLNA protocol to your HDTV. Where the SII nosed its way ahead was the inclusion of USB On The Go, where you can plug a USB stick into the phone using an adaptor (again, not supplied). (note: Some HTC Sensation units displayed a Wi-Fi reception issue if the top of the phone was covered by your hands. Caveat emptor.) Battery: Android phones are fast gaining notoriety as major battery guzzlers, and while both phones pack in capable batteries (a 1650 mAh battery in the SII vs the 1540mAh in the Sensation), they last just over a day of heavy email, Wi-Fi and some amount of media playback. I'd have to pick the SII for its higher battery rating, but when it comes down to it, both have to be charged at the end of a busy phone day. Pricing and Verdict: Priced more or less alike, there's little in this department to tell these two beauties apart. So which one will it be? While I personally prefer the user interface and the build on the HTC, one cannot deny that the SII edges ahead, if only by the slightest of margins, on account of the awesome display, storage and multimedia features. HTC SensationRating: 8/10Price: Rs 32700URL: http://bit.ly/iTdWZcSamsung Galaxy SIIRating: 8/10Price: Rs 30,999URL: http://bit.ly/l9G2Q1 Searching For Love? If you looked past the din of the Google+ launch, you'd find a nice little service that Google quietly rolled out. Called WDYL (for What Do You Love), it presents the results of searches across 20 different Google products on one page. Type in any keyword for yourself and see the results - videos, books, alerts, discussions, news - all on one page. URL: http://bit.ly/mEVb5bPrice: Free technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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