The rupee weakened to 60 to a dollar on Monday, its lowest in more than a month, as strong demand for the greenback from oil marketing companies weighed after global crude prices surged to nine-month highs on Friday.At 9:34 a.m., the rupee was at 59.9850/9900 after hitting 60.00, a level last seen on May 12. The pair had closed at 59.76/77 on Friday.Traders expect the rupee to weaken further during the session as concerns persisted that an insurgency in Iraq could disrupt oil exports from the second-largest OPEC producer.(Reuters)
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A buyout offer from India's billionaire Ruia family for Essar Energy Plc "materially undervalued" the company and its prospects, an independent committee set up to examine the offer said for a third time. Essar Global Fund Ltd (EGFL), which owns about 78 per cent of the resources company, on Friday stuck to its offer of 70 pence per share made on March 14, which was immediately slammed by the committee at the time. Essar Energy shares were about 2 per cent at 66.65 pence at 1223 GMT on the London Stock Exchange on Friday. EGFL, in which brothers Shashi and Ravi Ruia are beneficiaries, said on Friday that Essar Energy's shareholders and bondholders had till May 9 to accept the offer. The offer would become unconditional if 90 per cent of shares outstanding are tendered in its favour. However, EGFL can change the acceptance level at its discretion. The independent committee on Friday urged shareholders to take no action in relation to the offer and said it would make its views clear by no later than April 25. Essar Energy owns a series of power and oil assets in India and also operates UK's second-biggest oil refinery, Stanlow, in northwest England. Since it listed in London nearly four years ago, the company has faced a string of problems, including slow growth in its Indian operations, delays in getting coal licences, a tough tax regime in India and a fall in margins at Stanlow. The problems have eroded Essar Energy stock's value significantly from its listing price of 420 pence in 2010. EGFL, which made the offer through its subsidiary Energy Bidco Holdings Ltd, had also proposed to acquire the Essar Energy-guaranteed 4.25 percent convertible bonds due 2016. Ravi Ruia also sits on Essar Energy's board along with his nephew Prashant Ruia. Brothers Shashi and Ravi, whose interests span energy, telecoms, steel and shipping, had a combined net worth of about $4.9 billion as of March, according to Forbes. Two of the London-listed company's minority shareholders, Standard Life and Henderson Global, have previously called EGFL's offer opportunistic. Essar Energy's independent committee is being advised by Greenhill and JPMorgan Cazenove. (Reuters)
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Retail inflation fell for the second consecutive month and eased to 24-month low of 8.79 per cent in January mainly due to a drop in food prices.Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December was 9.87 per cent down from 11.16 per cent in the previous month.Inflation in the food and beverages segment was 9.9 per cent in January compared to 12.16 per cent in the previous month, as per the official data released on Wednesday.It is lowest rate of inflation since 7.65 per cent in January 2012.Vegetable prices on annual basis rose 21.91 per cent in January, a slower pace than 38.76 per cent recorded in the previous month, it said.Fruit prices rose 15.6 per cent as compared to 14.64 per cent in December.Pulses were dearer by 2.59 per cent, cereals by 11.42 per cent and milk products by 9.82 per cent in January.Protein-rich items such as eggs, meat and fish became dearer by 11.69 per cent in January. The rate of inflation in this segment was slightly higher at 12.64 per cent in December.The retail inflation was in double digits in October and November.The data showed that the provisional inflation for rural and urban areas for January was 9.43 per cent and 8.09 per cent, respectively.Data on inflation based on the wholesale price index is scheduled for release on Friday.The Reserve Bank factors both, retail and wholesale price based, inflation data in its monetary policy.Recently, a RBI appointed committee has suggested the central bank should focus on CPI inflation and aim to bring it down to 8 per cent by January next year, and to 6 per cent by January 2016.Shifting its stance of monetary policy towards targeting retail inflation, the RBI in its monetary policy said inflation an "inequitable tax" and may exceed 8 per cent by March end.(Agencies)
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Three teams from India, two from Nigeria and one each from Ghana, Zambia and Senegal made their final presentations for the two INDIAFRICA WOXSEN Grand Prizes at Ghana Institute of Management & Public Administration, Accra on 10 June. Teams led by Prabhat Kumar of Young India Fellowship, Ashoka University, Delhi and Obanor Chukwuwezam of University of Lagos, Nigeria won Rs 750,000 in cash and trips to Davos during the WEF Annual Meeting in January 2015 and UK in April 2015 to attend the Skoll World Forum hosted by Said Business School, Oxford University. Hon'ble Mahama Ayariga, Ghana's Minister for Information and Media Relations and H. E. K Jeeva Sagar, India's High Commissioner to Ghana gave away the prizes at a well attended Awards Ceremony the same evening.The Chief Guest recounted anecdotes from his days in India as a student and underscored the importance of strengthening bonds between the young people of Africa and India This was the third edition of the INDIAFRICA Business Venture Competition organised by IdeaWorks Design & Strategy Pvt Ltd under the aegis of their INDIAFRICA: A Shared Future initiative which is supported by the MInistry of External Affairs, Government of India. Partners included ISB, Said Business School, Indian Angel Network, Villgro Innovations, GSF India, Accenture, GIMPA Accra and WOXSEN School of Business. Sharing more information about the event, Amit Shahi, CEO of IdeaWorks Design & Strategy said that the competition had grown with each successive edition, bothin terms of numbers and calibre of submissions. This year there were over 1800 registrations from 42 African countries and India, out of whom 324 from 29 African countries and India were finally selected for the three stage jury process.
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Showing no signs of recovery, industrial production growth rate remained negative for the third month in a row, contracting 0.6 per cent in December 2013, mainly due to sluggishness in manufacturing sector.The manufacturing sector, which constitutes about 76 per cent of industrial production, contracted 1.6 per cent from a year earlier.During December 2012 as well, the factory output, as measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had contracted by 0.6 per cent.Meanwhile, contraction in IIP during November 2013 has been revised to 1.3 per cent, from the provisional estimate of 2.1 per cent dip.The decline in factory output, which began in October with IIP contracting by 1.6 per cent, continued in December, as per the government data released today.Industrial output for the April-December period of this fiscal, has thus contracted by 0.1 per cent, compared to growth of 0.7 per cent in the same period of 2012-13.The manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, declined by 1.6 per cent in December, as against a contraction of 0.8 per cent in the year-ago period.During April-December, the sector's output contracted 0.6 per cent compared to a growth of 0.6 per cent in same period in 2012.Overall, the consumer goods output declined by 5.3 per cent in December, compared to a contraction of 3.6 per cent in the same month in 2012.During April-December, 2013-14, the consumer goods output contracted by 3 per cent, compared to 2.7 per cent growth in the corresponding period in 2012-13.The consumer durables segment contracted by 16.2 per cent in December as against a decline of 8.1 per cent in the same month in 2012.For the April-December period, the segment declined by 12.9 per cent compared to a growth of 3.7 per cent in same period in 2012.Overall, 8 out of 22 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown negative growth in December. The growth in consumer non-durables sector was 1.6 per cent in December as against a contraction of 0.5 per cent in the same month in 2012.During the April-December period, the segment's growth was 5.7 per cent, compared to 1.8 per cent during the nine months of 2012-13 fiscal.The mining sector, with a weight of about 14 per cent in IIP, grew by 0.4 per cent in December as against a dip of 3.1 per cent in the same month in 2012.During April-December, the output shrank by 1.8 per cent as it did in the same period last year.Power generation posted a growth of 7.5 per cent in December last year, compared to 5.2 per cent in the same month of 2012. Expansion in power generation was 5.6 per cent in April-December, as compared to 4.6 per cent a year ago.Capital goods production, a barometer of demand, showed a decline in output by 3 per cent in December 2013 compared to a contraction of 1.1 per cent in the same month a year ago. The segment declined by 0.5 per cent in April-December as against a sharp contraction of 10.1 per cent in the comparable period.Intermediate goods segment expanded at a rate of 4.5 per cent in December, compared to a contraction of 0.2 per cent in same month in 2012. During April-December, the segment grew by 3 per cent compared to 1.6 per cent growth in the nine month period in 2012.The basic goods segment grew by 2.4 per cent in December, compared to 2.2 per cent growth in same month in 2012. During April-December, the segment grew by 1.3 per cent as against 2.6 per cent in the nine month period a year ago.(Agencies)
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Credit Suisse downgrades Coal India to "neutral" from "outperform" but raises its target price to Rs 380 from Rs 330.The investment bank says Coal India "is cheap no longer" while noting "it is difficult to see volumes improving within 3-4 years."Still, Credit Suisse says Coal India shares have uspide risk until the government's restructuring plans are unveiled.Prime Minister Modi is exploring breaking up Coal India and opening up the sector to foreign investment, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on May 21."Till government's plans for restructuring are known, CIL can become a concept stock with upside risk," Credit Suisse said in a note on Monday (2 June).Coal India shares are flat in trade as of 11:48 a.m.(Reuters)
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The rupee slips to 59.1650/1700 from its previous close of 59.10/11 as the dollar strengthens against Asian currencies but broader falls in the Indian unit are seen capped ahead of the RBI's monetary policy review on Tuesday.Almost all Asian currencies also trading weaker against the dollar.All but three of the 52 economists polled by Reuters expect the RBI to hold key policy rates steady in its monetary policy review on Tuesday.The rupee is seen trading in 59.10 to 59.30 range during the session.(Reuters)
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One of the pioneers behind the iPhone, software engineer Greg Christie, is leaving Apple, a spokesman has said. "Greg has been planning to retire later this year after nearly 20 years at Apple," an official said in an email yesterday, saying he had made vital contributions to Apple. Christie was part of the team that developed the iOS software for the first iPhone, which came out in 2007. Christie was until now leading a team working on a so-called human interface team developing more software for Apple. His role will be taken over by the current vice president for design, Jonathan Ive. Ive in recent years has been working on Apple products' external look. But industry publications say he has played a major role in developing the latest version of the iPhone operating system iOS 7. (AFP)
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Dismantling a legacy of UPA rule, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today abolished all the 30 GoMs and EGoMs and told ministries and departments to take decisions on pending matters.Announcing the decision to scrap nine Empowered Groups of Ministers and 21 Groups of Ministers, the PMO said this would expedite the process of decision-making and "usher in greater accountability in the system."The Ministries and Departments will now process the issues pending before EGoMs and GoMs and take appropriate decisions at the level of Ministries and Departments itself, said the statement.It said wherever the ministries face difficulties, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Prime Minister's Office will facilitate the decision-making process.The statement announcing the abolition of EGoMS and GoMs termed it as "major move" to empower the ministries and Departments.Former Defence Minister A K Antony was heading most of the EGoMs. The panels were formed to take decisions on issues like corruption, inter-state water disputes, administrative reforms and gas and telecom pricing.EGoMs had the power to take decisions on the line of the Union Cabinet. The recommendations of the GoMs were placed before the Cabinet for a final call.Government sources said the major policy step of abolishing the GoMs and EGoMs has been taken to speed up the decision-making and "restore the authority of respective ministries and the Cabinet".The step is aimed at reducing the levels of decision-making and streamline the system, they said.The Prime Minister's Office and Cabinet Secretary will do the "hand-holding" and intervene whenever necessary, they said.Any inter-ministerial dispute can be solved by the Committee of Secretaries, headed by Cabinet Secretary, which is already in place, the sources said.On the GoMs which existed during the 10 years of Manmohan Singh government, the sources said a number of them had hardly met and only a few had delivered decisions.The main drawback of the GoM system was that there was no timeline fixed for arriving at conclusions, as a result of which they dragged for years with diffusion of accountability.(PTI)
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Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc director Rajat Gupta will begin serving a two-year prison term on June 17 after a US federal appeals court rejected his bid to stay free while he appeals his insider trading conviction.In a brief order on Friday (30 May), the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York rejected a request by Gupta, a former global managing director of consulting firm McKinsey & Co, to delay his surrender and remain free on bail.Gupta, 65, was convicted in June 2012 of feeding tips from Goldman board meetings to longtime friend Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group hedge fund firm.Evidence included a September 2008 phone call, just before Goldman announced a $5 billion investment from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, in which Rajaratnam was heard telling a trader that he learned from a source, who prosecutors said was Gupta, that "something good might happen to Goldman."It also included an October 2008 conversation in which Rajaratnam told a colleague that a Goldman director had tipped him that the bank would post a quarterly loss.A three-judge 2nd Circuit panel rejected Gupta's appeal on March 25. Gupta sought to stay out of prison while the full 2nd Circuit Court, and perhaps the US Supreme Court, reviews his case.Rajaratnam is appealing his conviction to the Supreme Court. He is serving an 11-year prison term.Seth Waxman and Gary Naftalis, two of Gupta's lawyers, were not immediately available for comment on Friday.His lawyers have argued that Gupta's conviction was tainted by US District Judge Jed Rakoff's decision to admit wiretap evidence at trial, and the judge's refusal to tell jurors that Gupta's good character could raise a reasonable doubt of guilt. The lawyers also said Gupta is neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community.Gupta is the highest-ranking corporate official and Rajaratnam the highest-ranking portfolio manager convicted in a broad insider trading probe unveiled by federal prosecutors in October 2009. Roughly 80 people have been convicted or pleaded guilty.Rakoff has agreed to recommend that Gupta be assigned to a medium-security prison in Otisville, New York, about 70 miles (113 km) northwest of New York City.(Reuters)
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