The verdict is finally in, and it is not too good: India's economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2010-11 (FY11), as measured by GDP (gross domestic product), was somewhat lower than hoped for, and definitely less than what official estimates pegged it at. Of course, government officials had started talking down expectations before the final numbers came out: 7.8 per cent over the fourth quarter of FY10, rather than over 8 per cent.It seems that finally, the slowdown is here, and the weak data shows it too. Industrial growth was lower because mining stalled, and on the expenditure side of the balance sheet, investment or gross capital formation was an extremely anaemic 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of FY11. Consumption also slowed, if one looks at the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) data.Though the overall numbers suggest some small buoyancy — the GDP growth for the year as a whole was 8.5 per cent, just a tad below the 8.6 per cent estimate, but a review of the performance over four quarters shows a definite slowdown in economic growth for the year.But that is not the scary part; it is the prospects for FY12 that look gloomy. Think of it this way. On the global level, most look at India's favourability as an investment destination as a risk on/risk off proposition, meaning when risk appetite is good, investment in India looks attractive to both domestic and foreign players. When investors become risk averse — as it is now — interest in the India story falters.Given the concerns over European economies' debt problems, and lower than expected growth in the US, there is a heightened chance of capital flowing out of the country. Even Indian companies may choose to look at foreign acquisitions rather than invest at home; anecdotal evidence appears to suggest that many are.A slew of corruption scandals, policy uncertainty and overzealous regulators have combined to lower capital investment; since investment played a large part in India's rapid growth in the past five years, any slowing down in investment has a ripple effect that lowers growth beyond the contribution of investment. Worse, restoring an increasing growth rate tends to be slower than its decline.Exports have played a big role in buffering the slowdown in other areas of the economy such as manufacturing; the data about the current global environment suggest that export growth is also likely to slow, taking away that buffer. Lower global activity has one positive: lower commodity prices, and by extension, a dampening effect on inflation, which many see as a welcome sign.But growth would put commodity prices back up, and mess up the inflation dynamic, leading the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to continue its hawkish position, and even perhaps tighten monetary policy further. As many analysts have noted, inflation has not been a monetary phenomenon, but a supply-driven one, where the dynamics are less manageable through monetary policy.Agriculture has been a positive surprise in FY11; thanks in part to a very good monsoon (though in some instances, excessive rainfall damaged a few crops), it grew at over 5 per cent. But both officialdom and private sector economists agreed that in FY12, agricultural growth would return to its historical trend of 2 per cent. That does not bode very well for food inflation in FY12.Besides, the monsoon, while important, is no longer the critical factor in agricultural performance it was, thanks to better irrigation and technology. Official forecasts of the monsoon both in spread and intensity have often been wrong; the forecast is currently neutral, but expect the El Nina and El Nino effects to play a part this year.So, what does it all mean? By themselves, all these factors may not have a great impact. Under current global conditions, they could exaggerate the downside more than they should. The troubled European economies may be more intransigent and could well drive Europe into a bigger recession. Sometimes, globalisation does not work for you.
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Research In Motion's PlayBook tablet computer hit North American shelves on Tuesday, joining a market dominated by two versions of Apple's iPad and filling quickly with other contenders, including a slew of devices running Google's Android software.Downbeat critics zoomed in on the PlayBook's reliance on an existing BlackBerry for full functionality.Below are some questions and answers about the PlayBook.How much does it cost?RIM has mimicked Apple's WiFi-only iPad pricing; $499 for 16GB of storage, $599 for 32GB and $699 for 64GB.Do I need a BlackBerry to make the most of PlayBook?In a word, yes. The first version does not have its own cellular connection, relying on WiFi to access the Internet.The PlayBook "bridges" with a BlackBerry through a secure Bluetooth connection to access corporate email, address book, calendar and other features including BlackBerry Messenger. When the link is broken, the data disappears.RIM set up this relationship to pitch PlayBook to security-conscious corporations and governments that will not need to verify the PlayBook's credentials. Avoiding a cellular connection also speeds deployment into the space.An upgrade some time after launch will add email, calendar and address book apps for those without a BlackBerry.Will it get its own cellular connection later?Yes. RIM will release radio-enabled versions later this year for high-speed WiMax, LTE and HSPA+ networks. These will connect to RIM's enterprise servers if a company desires.Worth buying a PlayBook if I do not own a BlackBerry?Difficult to say. The PlayBook's tech specs are impressive, but some have been matched by other devices in the market since its September unveiling. It should have 3,000 apps at launch, compared to the 65,000 designed for the iPad.What are the technical specifications? Why do I care?The PlayBook is powered by a 1 GHz dual-core processor from Texas Instruments and 1 GB RAM system memory. It has a 7-inch touchscreen, front and rear cameras and weighs in at 425g, or just under a pound.It runs an all-new BlackBerry Tablet OS, powered by the QNX Neutrino kernel, and multitasking has been heavily promoted.It supports Adobe's Flash, prevalent on today's Web, as well as HTML5, which will one day replace it. The iPad does not support Flash; Android's tablet software does. RIM will run emulators to allow Android and BlackBerry phone apps to be run on the tablet.Add all this together and the PlayBook offers powerful mobile computing with a snappy user interface.Anything else I should know?The borders of the screen are touch-sensitive. Swipe up from the bottom to minimize what you're doing, down to access in-app options, and from left or right to toggle between applications. A gesture from the bottom left corner brings up the virtual keyboard.It comes with a full suite of editable word processor, spreadsheet and presentation software, plus Electronic Arts' car-racing game Need For Speed: Undercover.(Reuters)
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There has been no sign yet of a joint candidate from the developing countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to head the International Monetary Fund, a government source told Reuters on Friday.The official, who declined to be named, said French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde will visit India on June 7, as part of a trip to China and Brazil also to drum support for her candidacy to head the IMF.India is talking with other emerging countries to build support behind a common candidate from the developing world, with Mexico's central bank chief a possibility, two government sources said last week.(Reuters)
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The Central Bureau of Investigation is looking into the role of the oil ministry after it was criticised by the CAG for allowing some exploring companies to overstate costs of field developments and explore beyond their contracted areas, a newspaper report said on Tuesday.The Economic Times said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was also investigating the upstream regulator for approving escalated costs for Reliance Industries' D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin from $2.4 billion in 2004 to $8.5 billion in 2006."We are at an advanced stage of investigation in our preliminary inquiry," the newspaper quoted an unnamed senior CBI official as saying."Whether (a complaint) will also name other officials of the petroleum ministry will be taken at the time of registering an FIR (formal police case)."The Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) report said energy major Reliance had inflated development costs on its D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin and cited a joint venture of Reliance with BG and ONGC for hiking development costs in the Panna-Mukta and Tapti gas fields.The CAG report also said Cairn India Ltd had been allowed to explore additional areas not stipulated in its contract for the RJ-ON-90/1 block.The CAG report is a draft which has been sent to the oil ministry for comments. The ministry has said it has two weeks to reply.(Reuters)
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India's services sector expanded at its slowest pace in 20 months in May as soaring prices and interest rate hikes gnawed at new business growth and reduced the level of optimism, a survey showed on Friday.The seasonally adjusted HSBC Markit Business Activity Index, based on a survey of over 400 firms, slipped to 55.0 in May from 59.2 in April, marking its twenty-fifth successive month above the 50 level that divides growth from contraction.While the latest reading underlines a reasonably solid pace of growth in the services sector, its decline is an indication that continuous rate rises aimed at containing inflation are putting the brakes on India's rapid expansion."The easing momentum for business activity and new business is evidence that policy tightening and high inflation is filtering through to growth," said Leif Eskesen, chief economist for India & ASEAN at HSBC.All sub-indexes saw a fall when compared to April, with the exception of input costs and employment.New business received by service companies remained strong but the pace of expansion slowed with the sub-index falling to its lowest level since October last year.Among the sub-indexes, business expectations saw the steepest fall to 67.8 in May from 72.8 in April, as respondents, though confident of the sector's performance over the next 12 months, slightly tempered expectations as economic uncertainty loomed.Data released earlier this week showed Asia's third-largest economy grew at its slowest annual pace in five quarters in January to March as consecutive interest rate hikes, aimed at reigning in soaring inflation, began to take effect.Gross domestic product rose 7.8 percent from a year earlier, lower than 8.3 percent in the previous quarter and below the median 8.2 percent forecast in a Reuters poll.While weaker-than-expected growth might cause the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to raise rates in smaller increments, the survey showed price pressures will persist."The RBI has no choice but to continue its tightening cycle to bring about a slowdown in domestic demand, which is sufficient to lessen capacity constraints and ease inflation pressures," Eskesen said.Input costs increased markedly in May due to rising wage bills and raw material costs. Further inflation pressures are expected as the economy braces for an increase in government-controlled prices of diesel and cooking fuels.Prices charged also rose in May as service providers transferred rising costs to consumers, but the slightly weaker pace suggested a slight reduction in margins.Last month the RBI raised rates by half a percentage point, declaring some near-term growth would need to be sacrificed to tame inflation, which stood at 8.66 per cent for April.The service sector continued to add jobs with the index for employment signalling an increase in the pace of hiring.Data released earlier in the week showed Indian manufacturing PMI dipped and factory growth eased globally, with the most pronounced slowdown seen in the United States.(Reuters)
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Amid rising concerns over high inflation, the Prime Minister's economic advisory panel has said that the rate of price rise might slow down to around 6 per cent in the current fiscal on the back of good farm output."I think it (inflation) will be around 6 per cent... probably that is where it will settle down," Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C Rangarajan said in New Delhi on Monday.Wholesale price inflation (WPI) in March rose to 8.98 per cent, higher than the Reserve Bank's projection of 8 per cent and its comfort level of 5-6 per cent."I think the inflation will come down in April. What happened in March was quite unexpected... but the food inflation is coming down. The wheat production is very good.Therefore, I expect food prices to come down further in April and that should help in the overall headline inflation coming down," Rangarajan said.RBI Governor D Subbarao had described inflation as an area of major concern at a recent meeting of the IMF-World Bank in Washington."Headline inflation has remained firm despite some moderation in food inflation as generalised price pressures have emerged, with rising inputs costs feeding into manufactured products inflation.The hardening of global commodity prices,particularly oil prices have further accelerated inflation." the RBI Governor had said.Rangarajan when asked on the likely impact of rising crude oil prices on inflation, said domestic users have been shielded so far as retail prices for fuels, particularly diesel, have not been adjusted to international crude prices."For some more time, probably we might be able to shield the diesel prices from external influences. About 3-4 months from now when inflation rate falls to a much lower level, perhaps we will have to take a decision on what to do with the diesel prices," Rangarajan said.When asked if the Greece debt crisis could hit foreign capital flows into India, he said that may not have a direct bearing on the inflows."Total quantum of fund flowing into the emerging market may come down a little bit, but as far as India is concerned what will decide it (inflow) will be the perspective on India's growth and India's strength and I do not think it will be seriously affected," he said.Food inflation has moderated to 8.28 per cent for the week ending April 1, 2011 from 9.18 per cent in the previous reporting week.(PTI)
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Reliance Industries will work with BP to address issues in ramping up production at its KG-D6 basin in India, its chairman said on Friday, referring to slowing gas production that has dampened the energy giant's growth outlook.The conglomerate also plans to invest aggressively in its retail business and will launch cash-and-carry, or wholesale outlets, Mukesh Ambani said at the company's annual shareholder meeting.Reliance, the largest listed firm in India, is controlled by Mukesh Ambani, the world's ninth richest man with a net worth estimated at $27 billion, according to Forbes.The company is looking to expand in sectors such as telecom, retail, power, financial services and hospitality."Reliance is endowed with a strong balance sheet and depth of talent," Ambani said, adding that the company was "uniquely placed to pursue multiple growth opportunities."Last year, Reliance made a dramatic return to the telecom business with the $1 billion acquisition of Infotel Broadband, the only company to win a nationwide licence for broadband wireless spectrum in a government auction."Broadband - and broadband enabled digital services - is the next big leap forward in the digital transformation of our knowledge economy," Ambani said to shareholders.He said the company plans to build broadband infrastructure spanning industries such as education, healthcare and financial services.But energy is still the company's mainstay.Its D6 block in the Krishna Godavari basin off India's east coast is its biggest gas producer, but output has slipped due to technical problems to about 52 million cubic metres a day (mcmd) from 60 mcmd in 2010 and short of a target of 80 mcmd.In February, Reliance agreed to sell a stake in 23 of its oil and gas blocks, including some in the KG basin, to BP in a $7.2 billion deal, and is expected to benefit from BP's deepwater exploration expertise."After the government approvals for BP-Reliance partnership, KG-D6 reservoir will be jointly assessed to address technical issues in ramping up production," Ambani said."Meanwhile, vigorous efforts are underway to accelerate development process of other discoveries," he said, referring to the company's Mahanadi block off the country's east coast and the Cambay block in the western Indian state of Gujarat.Ambani also said the company would be free of net debt by the end of fiscal year 2012. As of March 31, its long-term debt stood at $12.4 billion, and its cash and cash equivalents were $9.5 billion.Shares in Reliance, valued at $68.8 billion, turned negative after rising as much as 1.7 percent before the meeting, as the lack of any major announcement by Ambani disappointed investors."People were expecting him (Mukesh Ambani) to make major comments on future plans," said Arun Kejriwal, director at research firm KRIS. "Nothing significant has been spoken."Shares were down 0.5 percent at 946.70 rupees by 12:29 p.m. (0659 GMT) in a Mumbai market that was little changed.They have fallen more than 10 percent so far in 2011, contributing significantly to the comparative 9.8 percent fall in the main index, in which the stock has the heaviest weight. (Reuters)
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Samsung Wave 2With Android based smartphones literally coming out of the woodwork these days, one would think a ‘hatke' OS with a fresh perspective would be more than welcome. But does the Wave II, a refresh of Samsung's original Wave smartphone based on the Bada platform, do enough? It's clear that Samsung is hedging its bets with Bada, with its Galaxy S and Nexus S Android handsets doing pretty well for themselves. Make no mistake though, there's a lot going on in terms of specs for the Wave II. A 1 GHz processor, the usual bevy of connectivity features and a 5-megapixel camera with 720p video recording – the Wave II isn't lacking per se, but doesn't up the specs ante significantly like its predecessor did. It retains the aluminum chassis, but is a lot easier to handle with its bigger form factor. No radical design changes here – the Wave II has similar layout of controls as the original Wave, and at 123 x 59.8 x 11.8 mm, the Wave II is still pretty compact and pocket-friendly while retaining the semi-premium heft to it.What's disappointing (but not surprising given global shortages) is that Samsung chose to kit the Wave II with a 3.7 inch 480x800 pixel Super Clear LCD screen, instead of the Super AMOLED variety that the original Wave had. Sure, the new Wave's sunlight legibility is still pretty good, but with the Galaxy S, we've seen just how good the color reproduction and contrast levels can get with the Super AMOLED, so it will be missed on the Wave II. Blame it on Samsung supplying ever diminishing Super AMOLED screens to their Android lineup.How then does the latest Bada version 1.2 fare as a smartphone OS? It checks all the boxes of a modern mobile OS – you get excellent social network integration with the address book, a home screen with widgets capabilities and excellent multimedia playback capabilities. The TouchWiz interface is now standard across their Bada and Android lines, so there is an element of familiarity in the interface. Look closely, and you'll see certain OS elements borrowing from Android as well, which isn't a bad thing in itself. Native apps are nice, but as a smartphone contender, it's really third party apps that can swing the decision for me. The Bada OS offers a native application repository, called Samsung Apps, which is very similar to the Android market in organisation. Third party apps are available but significantly fewer in number and variety than the competing platforms, plus only the base Samsung apps can multitask (this issue should be sorted out in Bada 2.0, due this summer). Without the bundle of apps that one is used to on other platforms, the Wave II comes across as a pricey feature phone on steroids, rather than a complete smartphone. If you demand even a little bit more from your smartphone, look the Android way, for now at least. It's good to see Samsung persist with Bada though, and if it becomes the platform for their mid-level touch phones in the future and gets some developer support along the way, its purpose would have been met. Rating: 7/10Price: Rs 20,319URL: http://bit.ly/i0sGD5Dell Venue SmartphonesDell's foray into smartphones just took a serious leap into the category of contenders with the launch of the Venue Android smartphone. Don't confuse this with their Venue Pro handset though, which is a Windows Phone 7 device. To begin with, the phone feels really pleasant in the hand, and the small styling touches in terms of the chrome sides and curved edges give this phone oodles of class. This is out and out one of the most premium ‘feeling' phones in the Android segment, it's that good in the hand. The front of the device is dominated by the subtly curved 4.1-inch 480x800 pixel AMOLED capacitive screen with the tough Gorilla Glass display. Clarity on this screen is excellent, but I couldn't help but feel the brightness was a little sub-par, more so under direct sunlight. There's a slight curve to the screen, which makes it easier (for some folks I spoke to) to swipe across the screen. That said, the touchscreen is responsive, and the phone offers both Swype and Android virtual keyboards.With the Venue packing Android 2.2 with a custom Dell ‘Stage' overlay, the UI looks good and adds in a number of customisations such as the inclusion of large widgets – to show you your favourite contacts, twitter feeds etc - that can be placed on one of the seven homescreens. If you've seen the Dell Streak, the UI is consistent with that device. It's fairly easy to use as an interface, but lacks the intuitiveness in some places that I've seen on some of other Android phones. Give me the stock Android experience any day, personally. Using the device, there is an ever-so-occasional but very noticeable lag when you're swiping through the user interface, and that's a little strange considering this phone runs a 1 Ghz Snapdragon processor. For multimedia, the Dell Venue sports an 8MP autofocus camera complemented by an LED flash and can also record 720p videos. Picture quality was average, though. Keep in mind, like many large screened Android handsets, this too struggles to keep up at the end of a long day, and a battery charger or a second battery is advised for heavy users. I'd like to see this move up to the current Android 2.3 Gingerbread version soon to better my recommendation – 2.2 is so 2010, really. Rating: 8/10Price: Rs 29,990URL: http://dell.to/elsrZZbreak-page-breakKingston's HyperX Max 3.0Portable drives that use flash memory storage aren't moving large volumes yet, what with the rather princely premium they command over their hard drive based counterparts. Kingston's HyperX Max 3.0 external USB 3.0 doesn't really fix the pricing issue, but gets other aspects spot on. It's smart looking, encased in a sleek blue aluminum housing and about the size of an iPod. The supplied cable works with the newer fast USB 3.0 ports as well as the older 2.0 ports, and an activity light indicates as much.But it's really in everyday use that you see the value of this device. If you've ever transferred a large amount of data to or from an external USB drive, you'll know how painfully sluggish the USB 2.0 standard really is. With 3.0, you get roughly eight to ten times the data transfer, and newer laptops and motherboards are finally waking up to the standard. You can even pick up USB 3.0 add-on cards available to upgrade older machines.So when you plug the HyperX Max 3.0 into a USB 2.0 port, the drive is comparable to fast external hard drives, but it really sings when connected to a machine with a USB 3.0 port. It is exceedingly fast, transferring multi-gigabyte files in around a minute and snappier still in daily use. Sample this - advertised transfer speeds claim 195MBytes/sec read speed and 160MBytes/sec write, and averaging from my tests, I saw sequential read and write speeds topping out at 180-190MBytes/s and 170MBytes/sec, so you're getting what you're paying for. Plus, it's quiet and resistant to knocks and bangs, but, as we all know, comes with a massive downside - the price. At this moment, this is not for the average buyer, more for the pro video or photo guys, who need a lot of fast portable storage. Rating: 8/10Price: 64GB: Rs 7,500, 128GB: Rs 12,500, 256GB: Rs 27,999URL: http://bit.ly/hLyd8o Speeding Ahead No, this is not a router-cum-windmill that you will need a strong breeze to power! The Logitec new LAN-WH450N/GR wireless router actually sports a tri-antenna design which the manufacturer claims lets the router achieve speeds of up to 450Mbps when using compatible devices. For those with wired networks, this baby supports high speed Gigabit Ethernet and all the standard security mechanisms. Plus, have you seen how futuristic it looks? URL: http://bit.ly/fhaGYvPrice: $230 technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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Welcoming India's decision to buy 10 Boeing C-17 heavy-lift aircraft for its Air Force, US-India business body said on Tuesday it is a testament to New Delhi's confidence in having the US as its long-term defence partner."This is testament to India's appreciation of US technology and confidence in the US as a long-term defence sales partner. This largest-ever Indian purchase of US defence technology, we hope, will be just the beginning of much more to come," said Ron Somers, president of US India Business Council (USIBC) after Indian government took decision in this regard.Marking the biggest defence deal between India and the US, India on Monday gave green signal to procurement of 10 C-17 heavy-lift military aircraft at a cost of $4.1 billion, weeks after America lost out in the bid for 126 fighter deal.Once delivered, Indian Air Force will be the owner and operator of the largest C-17 fleet outside the US.Headquartered in Chicago, Boeing is the manufacturer of the C-17 aircraft. The C-17 is a large transport aircraft used for rapid strategic and tactical airlift of tanks, supplies and troops, as well as perform medical evacuations.It can land on short and rough runways.According to Boeing, each plane supports 650 suppliers across 44 states in the US, and the order would support its C-17 production facility in Long Beach in California for an entire year. Boeing is the largest employer in the city."Without the order by the Indian government, the last of the plant's current orders would be delivered in December 2012. The order has a $5.8 billion annual economic impact and the jobs of about 25,000 workers in 44 states depend on the C-17 planes," a Boeing spokesperson said.The $4.1 billion transaction, all of which is US export content, would support an estimated 22,160 jobs, the USIBC said.The deal comes with an offset requirement valued at $1.2 billion. This offset is to facilitate India's domestic capability to expand its own defence manufacturing prowess.India's Cabinet Committee on Security has also approved the future purchase of four additional C-17s, the body said."US defence sales to India began only a decade ago, at a value of less than $200 million for radar equipment. We have come a long way since then. US-India defense sales today have now crossed the $9 billion mark and continue to grow," Somers said."US industry wishes to provide India with a host of cutting-edge products and solutions to meet its emerging defense, ecurity, and counterterrorism needs. Overall, we see the US and India, the world's largest free-market democracies, forging a deep and lasting strategic partnership, shaping the destiny of the 21st Century," he said. (PTI)
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Protests led by opposition politicians shut down a town close to the site of the 9,900 megawatt (MW) plant that has seen long running anger against land acquisition intensify in the wake of the nuclear crisis in Japan.Protesters have blocked the road to the site of the proposed plant which is surrounded by several small fishing hamlets. The site is around nine hours drive south of Mumbai.Last week, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh restated the government's intentions to proceed with the construction of six reactors at the site, at a cost of $10 billion in what will be the world's largest nuclear power complex."We will not stop these protests or take custody of the dead body or allow his post-mortem till (state chief minister) Prithviraj Chauhan brings the Jaitapur project to a halt," CNN-IBN quoted a right-wing Shiv Sena party leader as saying.The conflict is one of many battles across the country between villagers and industrial projects that have sharpened the debate on how Asia's third largest economy sustains its economic boom.A wing of a hospital in the nearby Ratnagiri town was damaged by protesters, local media quoted local officials as saying.A 30-year-old protester was killed by police shooting on Monday.Village posters in Jaitapur depict scenes of last month's devastation at Japan's Fukushima plant and warn of what could be in store for this region in the Western Ghats north of Goa.India suffers from a peak-hour power deficit of about 12 per cent that acts as a brake on an economy growing at nearly 9 per cent and causes blackouts in much of the country. About 40 per cent of Indians, or 500 million people, lack electricity.India operates 20 mostly small nuclear reactors at six sites with a capacity of 4,780 MW, or 3 per cent of its total power capacity. It hopes to lift its nuclear capacity to 7,280 MW by next year, more than 20,000 MW by 2020 and 63,000 MW by 2032 by adding nearly 30 reactors.(Reuters)
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