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Microbial Siege of Kolkata under Deep Depression with Cyclone Alert. Damp Diwali! Spineless Bull Wrshipped in Vain and PM, FM and Gang World Bank IMF fail to Assure FREE FALL Prone Periphery Economy! Asia Eyes Key Stake in New Global Financial System.Left to PM: Reconsider Policies if You Want Our Support.PM Returns the volley: No Industrialisation at the Expense of Farmers! |
| Published on October 26th, 2008 In Uncategorized | Views 243 | |
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Microbial Siege of Kolkata under Deep Depression with Cyclone Alert. Damp Diwali! Spineless Bull Wrshipped in Vain and PM, FM and Gang World Bank IMF fail to Assure FREE FALL Prone Periphery Economy! Asia Eyes Key Stake in New Global Financial System.Left to PM: Reconsider Policies if You Want Our Support.PM Returns the volley: No Industrialisation at the Expense of Farmers! Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 94
Palash Biswas Fresh News
Rediff
Sify Flash is the name of the game, happy diwali! The Great Indian Left parties known for betrayals and ideological hypocricy as best portrayed by the Marxist speaker in Person, on Sunday virtually rejected Washington Planted super slave Prime Minister Manmohan Singh"s desire to work with them in future and asked him to reverse his government"s economic policies. While West bengal is well inflicted by Chikungunya, dengue cases in Kolkata, surrounding areas! Privatisation and capturegame in mediacl sector alone reflect the Marxist reality of socialism! How may they persuade Same Side to a Governance Culture of corporate americanism? Is it possible any way? When financially shell-shocked American consumers postpone purchases of big-ticket durable goods — such as automobiles and kitchen appliances — steelmakers are sure to feel the pain. A loss of consumer confidence in recent weeks has caused steelmakers’ orders to soften, and the price of their products to slide. And the War Criminal turns a marxist poster Boy!Already, ArcelorMittal, the largest steelmaker on the planet and one of the more aggressive players in the industry, has announced plans to cut its total production by up to 15 percent. And what about the Marxist capitalist Highway of Development based on SEZ, Chemical Hubs, Nuclear Parks, Retail chain, Realty Boom, Privatised Services, disinvested and closed industries, retrenched and straving workers, displaced killed Peasants in Marxist ruled states in India? Farmers should be appropriately compensated when their land is acquired for setting up industries, Singh returned the Volley very well against the marxists, when asked to comment on the Nano controversy On Board PM"s Special Aircraft returning Home! India must industrialise to realise its destiny but such efforts should not come at the expense of the nation"s farmers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.Talking to reporters after his return from the 7th ASEM summit Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he had a fruitful meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. Dr Singh said “We discussed all issues having a bearing on our bilateral relations and I would say that there was a complete meeting of mind.” He added that, “Pakistan is in serious difficulties. India is ready to support Pakistan in getting help from IMF.” On being asked about his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao Dr Singh said, “India and China will remain in contact over the current financial turmoil and will work with like-minded countries to find practical and pragmatic solution.” Singh said India needs to be industrialised to find solutions facing the nation. “Let me say that India needs to industrialise, without industrialisation we cannot find solutions to our employment or development problems. “The real issue is what are the terms on which the land is acquired. It should not be acquired at prices which keep the farmers dissatisfied," Singh told reporters accompanying him to Japan and China. Singh said he felt ‘sad’ because a lot of efforts were already made by Tata in setting up the Nano plant in West Bengal. There should be an increasing attempt to reward the farmer appropriately," he said, suggesting that efforts should also be made to give them a stake in the enterprises which come into existence on the land that is acquired. The rehabilitation policy, the amendment to the Land Acquisition Act, the Bill is before Parliament. “I would like that this is not an issue which should create fiction and division among parties, because India must industrialise to realise its destiny," he said. “The only thing is industrialisation cannot be on the backs of the poor farmers. They should be given remunerative compensation wherever land is acquired," he added. It is raining in Kolkata and all over south Bengal since last evening continuously! A wet, not crackling, Diwali is the Met office forecast with a warning of heavy rain in Calcutta and the districts in the next 48 hours!A depression over the Bay of Bengal triggered widespread rains and squally winds in coastal Orissa on Saturday with weather officials forecasting downpour at some places in the next two days. The low pressure area, which developed yesterday over the west-central Bay of Bengal intensified into a depression and lay centred about 400 km south of Paradip, meteorological department sources here said. Heavy to very heavy rains were likely to occur at isolated places over the coastal areas in the next 48 hours and thundershowers at some places in interior Orissa, they said. KOLKATA, the City of Joy already sufferd a Damp Durgapuja despite PUJA Countdown of Fifty days with Feel America! Now it is MICROBIAL Siege within. A Camus of Plague could have painted the Human Scape so Gloomy and helpless! Nevertheless, Stock may be in freefall, but bullion is buoyant. A combination of the festive sentiment, a fall in the price of gold and the lack of other trustworthy options is bringing the middle-class Indian back to the jeweller. The glitter of the yellow metal has always held an appeal, but there is renewed interest with the price falling from a peak of Rs 14,500 per per 10 gm or per tola on October 8 to Rs 11,500 on October 24. The Meteorological Department here is all set to issue a cyclone warning for the coastal region of West Bengal as the depression, formed in the Bay of Bengal yesterday, intensified on Sunday, holding out the threat of a wet Diwali and Kali Puja. The weathermen have predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall, accompanied by squally winds reaching a speed of upto 55-66 kmph, in gangetic West Bengal and the coastal region for the next 48 hours as the ‘deep depression" lying 460 km south-west of the city showed no signs of weakening, the Regional Met Director Dr G C Debnath told PTI here on Sunday. “We are issuing a cyclone alert for the coastal region because the wind speed may reach 75 kmph in the later part of the day. Fishermen have been advised not to venture out into the sea," Debanth said. Kali Puja and Diwali seem to be DAMP in Kolkata. Idols were being shifted to the Pandals before two days ironically the Pandals remain still incomplete. My locality Gosthokanan in Sodepur is celebrating Golden Jubille of Kali Puja and the boys are doing their best to erect the panadal round the clock. The landscape and human scape remains the same everywhere in south Bengal, metro Kolkata and suburban areas around. Barasat and naihati boast of their special effects but the rain has spoilt everything. Any Fever may be Fatal! As the thirty years of Left Marxist rule in West Bengal has killed the Health Service. Health sector is an ingredient part of the Marxist Gestapo. you may suffer from anything but no doctor is capable to diagnoise!This season, vector-borne diseases have killed eleven people in the city, though the Kolkata Municipal Corporation puts the figure at eight After dengue, malignant malaria and Japanese Encephalitis panic, Kolkata is in the grip of a new killer disease — Meningoencephalitis.
At home, I am feeling the panges of Mass suffering as Savita is unwell once again with various complaints. We are depending on Homeo medicines for the time being and never know where to go as Savita discovered her mouth pained this morning and it turned out to be a suspected Tumer! very small, still dangerous! The mosquito sting has claimed yet another victim. A 28-year-old Tollygunge resident died of meningoencephalitis — a mosquito-borne disease like malaria, dengue and Japanese encephalitis — at MR Bangur Hospital on Friday. Sailendra Kumar Chowdhury is the ninth victim of a vector-borne disease this season, going by the state health department’s records. Or seventh, if the civic body’s figures are to be believed. The student of computer programming had been suffering from high fever for the past four days. He was taken to SSKM Hospital on Thursday night when he complained of severe abdominal pain. A Dengue case was detected in West Bengal"s Bankura district on Friday, Health department sources said. Subodh Narsariya (42), a resident of Bankura town was suffering from fever for the last few days. His blood tests confirmed that he was suffering from Dengue, sources said. Narsariya has been admitted to a nursing home in Bankura town, where he is undergoing treatment, sources added. Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) seems to be fighting a losing battle against the spread of vector-borne diseases. Sujata Ghosh (33) of Behala’s Jaysree Park died of an unknown fever on Saturday morning. She had been suffering from high fever since Wednesday. Ghosh died within a couple of hours of being admitted to Vidyasagar Hospital on Saturday morning. According to South 24-Parganas chief medical officer of health, Sacchidananda Sarkar, she was being treated by a local physician and did not get her blood tested till she was hospitalised. Unlike Ghosh, Arun Mandal, a 32-year-old security guard, got admitted to NRS Medical College and Hospital after testing positive for malignant malaria three days ago. He succumbed to the dreaded disease on Saturday morning. In fact, Mandal’s death was the sixth from malignant malaria in the past two months. More than 1,500 people have been diagnosed with carrying the germs of this deadly disease, the KMC health department sources said. After Japanese Encephalitis, it is now the turn of meningoencephalitis. Sailendra Singh (18) of Tollygunge Road succumbed to the deadly According to hospital sources, Sailendra was admitted on Thursday night with symptoms of encephalitis. His condition deteriorated later. Though Singh’s family members alleged inaction on the part of hospital authorities, a doctor at M R Bangur said that when Sailendra had been brought to the hospital, the disease was at an advanced stage.
Wose is the Business as markets now may not resist FREE FALL despite assurances of PM, FM, FINMIN, RBI and the gangsters of world bank and IMF. more than Rs. One Lac corore have been pumped into the Market to feed the Greedy Money machine corporate and foreign. Indian Incs of the Periphery plunge in deep American love. Spineless BULL is worshipped in Vain! Diwali brings no HAPPINESS this time despite Happy Diwali Greetings from the Warmonger george BUSh! The economic slowdown has dampened the festive mood this season, with even business houses slashing their budget for corporate gifting by almost 25 per cent. According to an industry estimate, the festive gifting market, largely unorganised, is estimated at Rs 4,500 crore(nearly $ 1 billion). Asian leaders now will find the first global summit on the current financial turmoil a perfect venue to demand a key stake for the region in any new international financial system, experts say. As Europe and the United States clash over their leadership role in framing a new international financial architecture at the November 15 meeting in Washington, Asians feel they have much of a stake in the stability of the global system as the industrialized countries, the experts said. Five days after Chandrayaan-I shot off successfully into space from Sriharikota, the spacecraft is now a step closer to the moon. According to the command control at ISRO, Chandrayaan"s liquid engine was fired for 550 seconds on Sunday morning at approximately 7am. The firing was meant to put the satellite closer to its destination — that is the moon"s elliptical orbit. The spacecraft which is reportedly in good health has covered 1,64,600km since it was launched. In a historic feat, Chandrayaan-I was launched on October 22, 2008 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Why, we are a Hindu Zionist Superpower, Two in One, coupled with corporate Imperialist white Amrica! The Brahaminical hegemony is quite justified to celebrate the Risilience so! But the majority enslaved Black Untouchables indigenous communities and the Minorities have to heavy Price for this brahaminical resurgence unprecedented! But the Facts are Facts at last! Datas remain Datas! The xxxxx Sensex enjoying infinite copulation airconditioned have expsed lot of the Hegemony Dirty Skin as The meltdown at the bourse washed away a big chunk from the market valuation of corporate behemoth Reliance Industries even as others like IT major Infosys Technologies and diversified conglomerate ITC Ltd managed to swim against the tide. The bloodbath on the bourses has wiped off a whopping Rs 1.50 trillion from market valuations of country"s of 10 most valued firms in the past week, with Reliance Industries suffering the worst blow. Meanwhile, IT, Housing, Infrastructure, Banking, Insurance, Realty, Construction, Service, Tourism, Airlines, Auto, Durable Consumer goods,Steel,Oil, Chemicals, Capital goods tend to FREE FALL ! It is quite ironical that the Greatest Communist of Modern times turns to be the President of capitalist Imperialist America, the War Monger George Bush who replicates the Bran Buddha, the Marxist ways of capitalism ditto! Wonder of wonder is the fact that Indian Private sector, the Americanised Corporates and MNCs now demand more regulation and more nationalisation in a bid to break an escape Route out of the financial Tsunami! What the Hell brekas in the Periphery Indian economy! Eleven thousand Corores have been withdrawn by the FIIs! Common Masses lost faith in Mutual fund. The withdrwal amounts to more than Thirty thousand! Industry lobby recommends interest rate cut! Leading industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Sunday came up with a set of recommendations, including further cut in key i “It is necessary to further reduce repo rate by at least 50 basis points and in CRR (cash reserve ratio) by 150 bps to ensure adequate liquidity and reasonable cost of funding," the chamber said in a statement. According to CII director general Chandrajit Banerjee, Indian economy faces five major problems - inadequate liquidity, high cost of capital, non-availability of credit, instability in foreign exchange markets and low levels of confidence. “All these five are inter-linked. We are already seeing the impact of these on the manufacturing sector and soon we are likely to see its impact on other sectors too, particularly in the services sector," Banerjee added. “In addition, there is a requirement for provisioning of liquidity to mutual fund and NBFC (non-banking financial company) sectors, to enable orderly operation of financial markets," the statement said. The CII has also urged the government to guarantee all bank deposits for a two-year period to maintain depositor confidence in the banking sector. Expressing concern about the depreciating rupee, the CII made four specific suggestions - focused exchange rate management to prevent volatility without reducing rupee liquidity, relaxation of foreign investment norms, utilisation of foreign exchange reserves for meeting foreign currency needs, and removal of the cap on non-resident external and foreign currency non-resident deposits. The key problem that industry is facing is the drying up of credit in the system. The CII has suggested a special corpus fund for lending to small and medium enterprises and speedy release of government funds for various projects. How worse is the situation! With the market going for a free-fall last week, the country"s most valued firm Reliance Industries lost Rs 45,600 crore in its market value dipping below the crucial Rs 2,00,000-crore mark. RIL, which announced its second quarter results last week, registered its profit up by 7.4% at Rs 4,122 crore, while its revenue rose by 39.4% to Rs 44,938 crore. Shares of RIL plummeted for three days in row last week to settle at Rs 1,015.50 on BSE on Friday, wiping off as much as Rs 29,038 crore or about 16% of its market value in a single day. However, Infosys defied negative market trend and managed to add Rs 2,645 crore to its market cap of Rs 71,491 crore at the end of Friday"s trading last week. ITC gained Rs 245 crore to stand at Rs 60,019 crore. Notwithstanding the fall in valuation, however, Mukesh Ambani-led firm stood at the numero-uno position with Rs 1,59,818 crore of market cap on Friday, against Rs 2,05,419 crore in the week-ago period. Here you are! It may prove the best joke of the season Diwali! Gamble, dear gamble! They have made the Indian nation a royal casino! India would not see recession, even if the international situation remained uncertain, said RBI governor D Subbarao on Saturday. However, “First if there is a recession (outside India), our exports will be hurt. And the longer the recession, the deeper the hurt," Subbarao said. While ruling out a decoupling suggestion he, nevertheless, claimed that if at all any large economy could decouple from the advanced countries, it would be India with its deep domestic demand and consumption base. Pegging GDP growth for 2008-09 at 7.5-8%, he said, this was “our best growth estimate", even though there were other estimates ranging from 7.2-8.7%. India had grown at 9% in 2007-08. Justifying RBI"s cautious credit policy announced on Friday, Subbarao said that as a central bank, it had to balance growth and financial stability with price stability. Between October 6 and 20, the RBI injected Rs 1,85,000 crore liquidity into the system and “the one per cent repo rate cut was aimed at getting the financial markets going," he explained. If the situation warranted, RBI wouldn"t hesitate to infuse or withdraw liquidity from the system, he said. It happens quite a reveres against the FINMIN and RBI claims! Diwali may prove the best Mirror of the Indian Economy. Consumer Durable Goods and Capital goods have been the base of the Great indian Growth story! Sales of consumer durables this festive season will see a downward trend on account of a severe credit crunch and the stock market crash, “Liquidity will certainly increase due to the CRR (cash reserve ratio) reduction, but the PLR (prime lending rate) has still not changed, which will deter people from taking loans from banks unless it is unavoidable," Delhi University Professor of Economics Shri Ram Khanna told reporters. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Friday further cut CRR by 100 basis points, which means it will leave the banks with more money to lend in the market. CRR is the amount of funds banks have to keep with RBI against their deposits. If the central bank decides to increase this amount, funds available with the banks come down, while if it is reduced - as was the case Friday - banks are left with more disposable money. In India, sales of consumer durables such as refrigerators and air-conditioners increase during the festive season beginning end-September and early October. However, following a severe liquidity crunch this year in the aftermath of a global meltdown and stock market crash, sales of these goods are likely to be hit hard. Moreover, with the PLR remaining unchanged, people are not inclined to take loans from banks. PLR is the benchmark rate at which banks lend money. “People will not borrow from banks to buy refrigerators or AC when there is double digit interest on them," Khanna said. Increasing instances of terrorist activities is also deterring consumers from shopping, he added. Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of Confederation of All India Traders (Cait), echoed the sentiment, saying: “The international economic scenario is a dampener on the festive season sales."
“Traders are incurring huge losses as consumers are not only facing financial strain but also security concerns that are deterring them from going shopping," he added. According to D.K. Joshi, chief economist at credit rating agency Crisil, while the market is certain to be impacted, there are factors that could offset it also. “The Sixth Pay Commission has pumped in money, which will increase purchasing power and raise demand," Joshi said. However, the liquidity crunch is certainly a dampener on consumer durables sales especially when people make token purchases during Diwali, Joshi added. The government needs to take extra measures to ensure extra liquidity in the market and make available soft loans to the traders to meet their production costs, Cait"s Khandelwal said. He said the markets till last year had seen sales rising 30-40 percent during the festive season that lasts till January-end to early February. However, instead of witnessing any growth, trade is on a downswing with losses mounting, Khandelwal claimed. “Though the Sixth Pay Commission has given the salaried class more liquid cash, it is only on paper till now. Unless people get the money in hand, sales will remain sluggish and traders will suffer losses," he added. India"s benchmark securities index crashed Friday by nearly 1,000 points within minutes of opening but recovered substantially after the central bank announced a cut in the CRR to inject an estimated Rs.400 billion. In addition, RBI has reduced the CRR by 50 basis points Monday, which will likely inject about Rs.200 billion into the system. The meltdown at the bourses has left corporate India not even worth its revenue base with the collective market capitalisation of all the listed companies slipping below their cumulative latest fiscal revenues. After a 1,071-point Sensex plunge on Friday, the market value of all the listed companies plummetted to about Rs 27,75,000 crore — which is less than the total full-year revenue of close to Rs 30,00,000 crore reported by these companies in their latest financial years. Besides, two fiscal quarters have already passed for a majority of the companies — as most of the Indian companies follow April-March financial year — and the industry has witnessed a considerable revenue growth in this six-month period. Even a modest estimate of 10 per cent revenue growth for the current fiscal would take the total revenue to near Rs 33 trillion, while the market capitalisation are said to be under further pressure given no signs of recovery in global markets. In another interesting turn of events, the market value figure for a majority of the companies have slipped below their latest fiscal revenues, marking a reversal of the trend till early this year prior to the beginning of the downslide on the bourses. As on January 10, the day when the Sensex had scaled its all-time high of 21,206.77 points before embarking on its downhill path, close to 2,000 companies had a market capitalisation figure higher than their full-year revenues. In comparison, just about 1,000 companies" market values were below their full fiscal revenue figures. In comparison, there are only about 800 companies left today which have their market value higher than their latest fiscal revenues, against more than 2,000 firms having a market value lower than their full-year revenue. Reacting to Singh"s remarks on Saturday to accompanying journalists on his way back from China that he would like to work with Left parties for secularism and national unity, CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury said “if the concern for secularism is so sincere then all this should have been thought before rushing into surrender to the US" on the issue of civil nuclear deal. He asked the Prime Minister to reconsider his economic policies. CPI Secretary D Raja said unless the Prime Minister and the Congress-led UPA government reversed its politics and get out of the Indo-US nuclear deal, it would be difficult to work with them. He said the government should reverse its economic reforms and stop pursuing strategic ties with the US. Yechury said it was “our pressure that prevented the government from going in from a full capital account convertibility and enact laws to open up insurance and banking sectors. Had it happened we would have been ruined today". Raja said it was due to the Left opposition that the government could not proceed with full rupee convertibility or put in pension funds into the stock market. Both the leaders were asked to comment on Singh"s statement that he hoped to find ways and means to work with Left and secular parties even though he disagreed with them on economic issues. If it is the public Exposure grand by the Left, the RSS Ramp nevour lacks the Glamour!If averting a no-trust being tabled is animating the government"s efforts to adjourn the current session of Parliament till December, BJP might challenge this assumption as it feels that the July 22 confidence vote cannot be treated as a “no confidence" motion. Leader of Opposition L K Advani told TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Adjourning_session_wont_protect_govt_from_no-trust_vote_Advani/articleshow/3630772.cms) that “the trust motion in July was not initiated by the Opposition. Suppose the support to the government again changes within six months. Can it then be argued that the government has no cause to prove its majority on the floor of Lok Sabha?" While not stating whether BJP was planning a no-confidence motion, Advani said the notion that adjourning the current proceedings, which are a “continuation" of the July 22 special session, will not protect the government from its majority being tested. He pointed out that the six-month bar applied to a no-confidence motion being initiated by the Opposition. In the event the trust vote was sought by the government there could be no reason to prevent the Opposition seeking to press a no-confidence vote within six months, technically even in the same session. Going by indications the July 22 session was going to be spread out over more than four months and in such a situation the Opposition could hardly be prevented from moving a no-confidence motion. Thus, the Nuke Opera never ends and beats all Reality shows on indian televison! Menwhile, Heavy rain continued to batter Kerala for the third successive day on Saturday, flooding low-lying areas and forcing the government to open control rooms in all districts to mobilise relief operations.The rain was especially severe in north Kerala, with the gauge in several places in the districts of Kozhikode, Malappuram, Thrissur, Wayanad and Kannur touching levels ranging between 24 cm and 12 cm during the 24 hours that ended at 8.30 a.m. on Saturday.Weather models had predicted that the cyclonic circulation will move west to the Oman coast in the northwest Arabian Sea, relieving the Kerala coast. But the system has continued to stay put in the region off the Kozhikode-Mangalore coast. What’s more, another such system is likely to form near the Andaman and Nicobar islands on October 26 and head towards the eastern coast. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) today said the low pressure has been formed off the AP coast. The system may concentrate into a depression during the next 48 hours. This, the weather office said, will enhance rainfall activity along the east coast during the next three to four days. Diwali would be celebrated on Tuesday. The weather office said the low pressure will concentrate into depression by Sunday. It means rainfall activity will continue on Monday and Tuesday. ‘Going by the progress of the system, rainfall activity is likely during Monday as well as Tuesday. Diwali is likely to be affected,’ Director, IMD, Orissa, S.C. Sahu said.Interestingly, the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting sources said a second low pressure would form off the Andaman by Sunday. While the current system is expected to move parallel to Orissa coast before heading towards West Bengal-Bangladesh coast, the second system is likely to head towards North Orissa. Daylong drizzle coupled with cold winds disrupted life in the capital and elsewhere as a well-marked low over the Bay of Bengal grew into a depression yesterday. Met office in Dhaka predicted that the squally weather conditions may continue for a couple of days with the depression threatening to strengthen further. In a special bulletin, it said the low, formed over the west-central Bay and adjoining northwest Bay, has been moving north-westerly after becoming a depression. “Under the influence, heavy to very heavy rainfall may occur at places across Chittagong, Barisal, Khulna and Dhaka divisions during the next 24 hours,” read the Met office warning issued yesterday afternoon. Meanwhile, a launch carrying 40 passengers aboard overturned in Meghna in Hatia. However, no casualties were reported in the capsize. G.C. Debnath, the director of the weather section in the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore, said: “The depression now lies about 700km south-west of Calcutta. Under its influence, heavy rain is expected in coastal districts and some parts of Calcutta. The depression is likely to intensify further and Kali Puja may be affected.” Met officials said the inclement weather had led to a day temperature drop and a sense of chilliness. “Yesterday, the maxi- mum temperature was pegged at 29.3°C. Today, it dropped to 26.5°C, which is four degrees below normal,” a Met official said. The sea has also turned rough, the weather office added. “Gusty winds with a speed between 45kmph and 55 kmph are expected to lash the coast and fishermen have been advised not to venture into the high seas,” the official said. The depression, the Met office said, has shown signs of moving northward. “However, it is yet to be seen if it travels towards Bengal or moves towards Orissa or Bangladesh at the last moment,” the official added. “October-December is the cyclone season and low pressures and depression often develop in the Bay of Bengal at this time.” Today, the city woke up to cloudy skies. By 1pm, a drizzle had started, but heavy rain was not reported from anyw- here in the city or the dist-ricts. “This is because the depression is still far away from the coast,” the Met official said. The out-of-season rain could worsen the microbial siege of Calcutta, experts warned today as undiagnosed fever killed a woman and a double dengue-malaria strike left a child seriously ill. The outbreaks have highlighted several lapses by civic and state health officials: Spraying of repellents irregular in large city areas No surveillance of any type of fever Deaf ear to World Health Organisation warning of mosquito-borne diseases because of late onset of monsoon Hardly any awareness drive against water accumulation Dengue test-kit shortage in state-run hospitals A health official passed the buck: “The civic authorities should have acted faster.” Sujata Ghosh, 33, of Behala is probably the 10th Calcuttan killed by mosquito-borne infections in October (see chart). She had shown symptoms of dengue but test results on her blood sample, drawn this morning before her death, are awaited. The city is facing a simultaneous outbreak of malaria, dengue, encephalitis and chikungunya — although civic and state health officials could not provide incidence figures — and must brace for worse. “The rainfall will cause fresh water to accumulate, helping the breeding of mosquito larvae. This can lead to further spread of diseases,” said Amitabha Nandi, director, Centre for Tropical Medicine and Parasitology. Met officials forecast heavy rain till Monday and possibly on Tuesday too. ( ). “We have asked our vector-control teams to work overtime,” said Deb Dwaipayan Chattopadhyay, chief municipal health officer. The city reported three more patients today, with Isha Ghosh, 7, of Mominpur testing positive for dengue and malaria. Biswarup Dutta, in his 20s, of Behala has dengue and Biren Singh, 60, a shanty-dweller from near the FB block market, became Salt Lake’s first confirmed chikungunya patient. Sujata, employee of a finance company, had been down since Wednesday night with high fever, shivering, body- ache and rashes. She was declared dead on arrival at Behala’s Vidyasagar Hospital, which will do a post-mortem. Her family said Sujata suffered from kidney and thyroid diseases too and had high blood sugar. “The civic body hardly ever sprays mosquito repellents here,” said a neighbour in Behala. Consumer Goods Durable Goods Semi Durable Goods Non Durable Goods Manufactured Goods Advantage India Apart from these India provides a liberal, attractive, and investor friendly investment climate. India has the most liberal and transparent policies on foreign direct investment (FDI) among major economies of the world. India is among the top 10 FDI destinations.In addition to all this Government of India accords high priority to development of infrastructure in highways, ports, railways, airports, power, telecom.. Advantage India at a Glance General A stable Government with second stage reforms in place Well-established distribution network extending to rural areas Large domestic market $130 billion-plus investment in infrastructure by year 2010 India has the largest young population with over 890 million people below 45 years of age In India the Total Consumer Spend was Rs.20,00,000 crore ($445 billion) in the year 2005 51% FDI allowed in single brand retailing Rupee is freely convertible on current account
“The big question is how you can restructure the international economic regime in a way that makes countries such as India and China feel that they not only have a stake but also have real influence," said Eswar Prasad, former head of the China division at the International Monetary Fund. The Washinton-based IMF has often been criticized as increasingly unrepresentative of the global economy, with emerging economies, especially Asian ones, chronically underweighted in their voting shares. “The problem with the Bretton Woods institutions in the way they are currently structured is that these major economies feel that those institutions are still the fiefdoms of the US in particular and advanced economies in general," Prasad said. The IMF and the World Bank are institutions established under the Bretton Woods agreement, which has guided international finance since World War II but which mainly European leaders want rewritten after a massive US home mortgage meltdown sparked the world"s worst financial crisis since the Geat Depression. US President George W. Bush has called for a series of summits, beginning with the November 15 talks, to discuss the causes of the problems in the global financial system and begin developing reform for financial regulatory bodies and institutions. Leaders from China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea and Indonesia are the Asian regional invitees to the summit, that also include the United States, the European Union, Britain, France, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey. “For the architecture of the international financial system, I certainly think they should be raising the whole question of the over-representation, particularly of Europe and to some extent the United States, and the extreme under-representation of emerging markets, many of which are in Asia," said Nicholas Lardy of the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics. He said that without some really fundamental changes, for example, in the distribution of voting rights in the IMF, “it is hard to see how it is going to remain a relevant international organization". IMF member nations approved reforms earlier this year for developed countries to give up a small fraction of their voting rights — equivalent to 1.6 percentage points — to the benefit of emerging and developing countries. It was criticized by experts as inadequate. “They are really moving at a snail"s pace," Lardy said despite IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn"s pledge to restore what he called relevance and credibility to the heavily criticized multilateral institution. While there is some agreement on the need for a powerful and effective multilateral institution that would bring everyone to the table and actually have some leverage over the key players, it is not clear whether the Washington summit would seek a new international financial framework, experts said. “A big concern China and India have is that institutions, like the IMF, may not have leverage over the key advanced country players," said Prasad, now with the Washington-based Brookings Institution. “So, how you correct that imbalance or at least the perception of that imbalance is going to be very critical," he said. The current financial turmoil has inspired widespread speculation of a shifting balance of power away from the United States and other advanced economies of Europe toward the major emerging economies, said Sabina Dewan of the Washington-based Center for American Progress. “Whether this is indeed the case is yet to be seen, but that emerging economies such as China and India are becoming critical players in the global economic game is clear," she said. Celebrate Diwali in the virtual world Kolkata: Burst crackers without noise pollution or offer puja to the Goddess of Wealth, Lakshmi, in the virtual world on PCs or GPRS enabled mobile phones this Diwali. “The e-fireworks can continue for an unlimited period. An exciting range of fireworks can be burst by logging on to multilingual portal Webdunia.Com, which is offering it as part of its ‘Go Green"campaign, on its religion channel under virtual pooja and Online eCrackers," Webdunia sources told PTI. “The cyber world promises to fire your imagination this Diwali, with eco-friendly crackers in all shapes and sizes," the sources said. Computer users can burst e-crackers and offer puja to Lakshmi by logging on to www.Hindi.Webdunia.Com/religion/occasion/dipawali/. Those with GPRS enabled mobile phone users can log onto wap.Webdunia.Com, free of cost, the sources said. For a special divine experience mobile phone users can also check out the Lakshmi Poojan application on wap.Webdunia.Com. The application works on Java enabled mobile phones and can be downloaded free from http://wap.Webdunia.Com. Webdunia, is a multi-lingual portal, headquartered in Indore and has development centres in Chennai, Indore and Thiruvananthapuram. Retailers hoping customers will splurge before Diwali NEW DELHI: With just two days left for Diwali, organised retailers are hoping that more customers will come to their stores and lift sales, which hav Retail majors, including Reliance Retail, Koutons India, Vishal Retail and V-Mart have reported low to marginal rise in business but are hopeful that business will pick up in these days. Reliance Retail has witnessed sales and footfalls rising in the past 10 days after a period of slow business. “The month of October started in a slow way but over the last 10 days tempo has picked up across all our 840 stores located in various states. Diwali is the key selling season for any retailer and we expect to make the best out of it," Reliance Retail President and Chief Executive Officer (Lifestyle) Bijou Kurien said. He said the company is expecting a sales figure of “much higher than 15-20 per cent" over and above the normal rate during an average day. Asked about increase in footfalls, Kurien said: “Most of our outlets have been in business for less than one year and this would be their first Diwali. So, it is difficult to predict the footfall size." Apparel and accessories major Koutons India reported a decline in footfalls during the second half of September and first week of October. However, sales have picked up since then for the 1,465 store strong value chain. “Sales were a bit down in late September and early October. Since then it has moved upwards and we are having footfalls of around 10 per cent in excess of any normal day," Koutons India Chairman and Chief managing Director D P S Kohli said. India to support Pak efforts to overcome financial crisis: PM In what could be seen as a major confidence building measure, India has said it will support Pakistan government"s efforts to tide over a “I wish the new democratic government in Pakistan well. We would like them to succeed," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told reporters on board his special aircraft while returning home from a two-nation trip to Japan and China last evening. “Pakistan is in serious difficulties and is going to the IMF. We will support Pakistan getting help from the IMF," said Singh, who met his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Beijing on the margins of the ASEM Summit on Friday. Singh said he and Gilani discussed “all issues having a bearing on our bilateral relations and I would say that there was a near complete meeting of mind." The Prime Minister"s remarks came as Pakistan is facing a major economic crisis with plunging foreign exchange reserves and high inflation. The rating agency Standard and Poor"s downgraded the country"s sovereign debt to level of ‘CCC-plus", close to defaulting on its commitments of external loan repayment. Islamabad is seeking loans from international donor funds and member states of ‘Friends of Pakistan" group, which will convene a meeting next month in the UAE. The Prime Minister said he had extensive discussions with Gilani on trade. “We expressed happiness at the opening of the trade route in Jammu and Kashmir. We expressed our wish that trade should be expanded and discussed the problem of visa liberalisation and people-to-people contact," Singh said. He said Gilani briefed him about the discussions on terrorism in Pakistan"s Parliament. Singh noted that Pakistan"s Parliament had for the first time passed a strong resolution against terrorism that said Pakistani territories would not be allowed to be utilised for terrorist activities against neighbours. “It was a good meeting but we are yet to see how effectively it is implemented…," Singh said.
Meltdown takes spark out of Diwali NEW DELHI: Most of the Capital"s main market areas recorded 50% less footfalls on Saturday even with Diwali just two days away. In markets like The crowd at the city"s markets was the same as seen on any other weekend. Most shops were empty and only the decorations put up by traders" associations were a reminder of the fact that Diwali is round the corner. Said Sanjay Bharghav, owner of a ready-made garments shop at Chandni Chowk: “The festive season has been very dull. In fact, it doesn"t even feel like Diwali is approaching. The garment shops have been the worst hit. No one is buying gifts. Even the eateries in Chandni Chowk are hardly crowded.'" According to shopkeepers though, security which was lax on Friday had been stepped up by Saturday. Heavy police presence was seen in many of the local market areas. Said Rekha Sinha, who was shopping at Madhu Vihar on Saturday evening: “By evening, people had started venturing out of their homes to buy diyas and other decoration items and there was a lot of police in the markets. The police officers were even checking shopping bags.'" With most bomb blasts having taken place on a Saturday, market places which have witnessed blasts in the past saw even lesser footfalls as compared to others. Said a shopkeeper in Sarojini Nagar: “Business has been badly hit this festive season. As most of the blasts happened on a Saturday, very few people actually came out to shop, especially in market areas like Sarojini Nagar where blasts have taken place in the past.'" Said an employee of Classik electronics in Lajpat Nagar: “Hardly any electronic goods have been purchased even though Diwali is coming up. The crash in the share market has made people very cautious about splurging on luxury goods. Security is also one of the reasons for slow business.'" Agreed Gurjeet Singh: “The usual gift hampers are also not selling. We are now stocking less.'" Said a shopper at South Extension, Lucky Singh: “My wife and I were advised against stepping out of our houses by our families due to security concerns. But, this being our first Diwali, we decided to celebrate it like every year by shopping for new clothes and buying necessary items for the festive season.'" With Dhanteras on Sunday, shopkeepers still hope for their business to pick up slightly. Only jewellers seem to be smiling all the way. The sale of gold has been more or less the same this Diwali. Singh overture to ‘Left colleagues’ In a politically astute move, he made no mention of the nuclear deal which had led to the acrimonious break-up three months ago but focused on issues which had brought the Congress and Left together in the first place — and could bring them together again after the 2009 elections. Speaking to the media on his flight home from Beijing tonight, the Prime Minister’s pro-Left sentiments extended to Bengal too — breaking his silence on the Singur fiasco, he said the circumstances under which Ratan Tata had to pull out the Nano factory was “certainly sad.” Asked to comment on Tata’s decision to move out of Bengal to Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, the Prime Minister said that in a democracy, entrepreneurs were free to decide the location of their plants but the decision itself was sad. “It is sad because a lot of work had been done in Bengal and there was a date fixed for the Nano’s appearance in the market….”
In reply to a question, he said, “India needs to industrialise; without industrialisation we cannot find solutions to our employment or development problems… (but) industrialisation cannot be on the backs of the poor farmers.” Pointing out that the real issue is the terms on which the land is acquired, the Prime Minister said, “There should be an increasing attempt to reward farmers appropriately, also perhaps giving them a stake in the enterprises which come into existence on the land that is acquired.” The bill to amend the Land Acquisition Act (which is expected to guarantee better compensation to farmers) is before Parliament, Singh said and hoped that it would not create any friction and division among parties “because India must industrialise to realise its destiny”. The Prime Minister took the same nuanced approach towards the Left as a whole — disagreeing with its economics but seeking its help in politics. On claims made by CPM leaders that India would have fared much worse in the current financial crisis if the Left had not blocked attempts to open out the banking, insurance and pension funds sectors, Singh said: “I am afraid I don’t agree. Strengthening India’s banking system, strengthening India’s insurance system has enabled us to deal with the crisis more effectively. I beg to differ (with them on this).” But he took the opportunity to express his unhappiness at parting with the Left parties. “In my view,” the Prime Minister said, “all parties which are committed to secularism and nationalism must work together to deal with the communal and regional divide which is being sought to be created by some anti-social elements. There are issues which require all political parties which think alike to sit together, and I very much hope we can find ways and means to work with our Left colleagues.” In contrast to his expansive comments on Left-related issues, the Prime Minister remained circumspect on other questions relating to politics. The next general election will be held “on schedule”, he said but sidestepped a query on whether he would contest a Lok Sabha seat with a non-committal “we shall see when the time comes”. Similarly, he refrained from guessing at the outcome of the Assembly elections round the corner. “All elections are in one way or the other a test of popularity. But that’s part of the democratic process one has to go through,” he said. Following up on his remarks at the ASEM summit in Beijing last evening in which he admitted that India’s economy was under strain because of the international financial crisis, Singh said: “It would be wrong to say that I am not worried. It is my duty as Prime Minister to worry when things don’t go as planned.” He also refused to spell out a time frame for the end of the crisis, saying that “it all depends on how long it takes the world community to restore confidence to the global financial markets.” On the proposed G20 summit in Washington next month, the Prime Minister confirmed that President Bush had called him in Tokyo to invite him to the summit but said a decision would be taken only after consultations in Delhi. The Prime Minister, who met Chinese President Hu Jintao earlier this evening, said they had discussed the financial crisis in detail and would take co-ordinated positions to tackle it. Singh, whose speech came in for much praise at the ASEM summit last evening, also confirmed that he had predicted the crisis well in advance. “I have been saying for the past 18 months that there are clouds on the horizon which, if not checked, would create trouble for the world economy,” he said. Mamata rally time after pujas “We have kept quiet for a pretty long time,” Mamata said at her Kalighat home today. “During the festival season, we had suspended protests against the ruling party for about a month. Now that Kali Puja and bhai phonta will be over by October 30, we will begin our agitation against the government from October 31.” Four days ago, she had said the Trinamul Congress would refrain from blocking rail and road traffic over trivial issues. Mamata’s first rally will be in Burdwan’s Ausgram where Trinamul men were allegedly being threatened and minorities attacked by CPM goons. “The CPM is now realising that its end is pretty near. It will get the answer in the Lok Sabha polls. This has to be told to the masses. That’s why, I will visit some districts.” A party leader said Mamata’s decision to re-launch the agitation against the government is aimed at winning support in the districts ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year and elections to the Howrah Municipal Corporation and the municipalities in Krishnagar, Behrampore and Jhargram on November 30. “Didi spoke to some of our district leaders who told her that the agitation against the ruling party has to be kept alive as Lok Sabha elections are near. She is expecting an announcement for the general elections in January-end or February next year,” the leader said. Mamata said she would go to Singur on November 2 to demand that 400 acres be returned to the unwilling farmers. “I will hold a meeting supporting the unwilling farmers. Their land was taken forcibly. Our meeting would again demand the return of 400 acres.” She added: “Industry is welcome on the remaining part of the acquired land and the government can float global tenders to set up units there.” On November 10, Mamata would be in Nandigram addressing a meeting denouncing the “armed recapture of land by CPM goons’’. “Don’t forget it was the CPM, with police as onlookers, which recaptured Nandigram on November 10 last year,” she said. Today, the Deolpota Seva Samity, the NGO invited for talks on land acquisition for the Geonkhali shipyard, said it would boycott Monday’s meeting with the East Midnapore district magistrate. Singur OC transfer The officer in charge of Singur police station, Priyabrata Bakshi, has been posted in Pandua. Bhadreshwar OC Ashok Mishra will take his place. How to restore faith in a failed economic system 26 Oct, 2008, 1419 hrs IST, IANS BRUSSELS: The trouble with telling nervous customers you have solved their problem is that you first have to admit there is one. That is the dilemma “We have shown the world that the United States of America will stabilise our financial markets and maintain a leading role in the global economy," US President George W. Bush proclaimed on Oct 3 after the US Congress passed a $700-billion bank rescue plan. His words spectacularly failed to restore global confidence, with stock markets nosediving in the days following the vote. Europe, meanwhile, has “taken too much time to look at confidence - we"ve ignored it too long", Hans Redecker of the BNP Paribas bank said in London. The word “confidence" has become a watchword for world leaders since the current financial crisis began in early September. Analysts around the world have highlighted the lack of trust as a key reason for the global slowdown, with banks unwilling to lend to one another, and customers of banks such as Britain"s Northern Rock desperate to take their money out before the institution collapsed. European leaders have backed up that analysis with action, offering trillions of dollars in guarantees of deposits and inter-bank loans in a bid to keep their populations from panic. Their moves “seem to have helped, but they seem to have almost reached the maximum (governments) could have done, barring full nationalisation", Karel Lannoo, head of the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, said. The psychological pressure has been particularly acute in Germany, where memories of the rocketing inflation and financial crashes of the 1920s and 1930s are burned deep in the national psyche. “I wondered what would happen if queues formed outside German credit institutions as they did for Northern Rock. The traumatic events of the twentieth century (have) imprinted themselves far more deeply in this country than in others," German Foreign Minister Peer Steinbrueck told the Die Zeit weekly Oct 16. But governments and banks alike have struggled to overcome a counter-current of market uncertainty which has read their guarantees as a sign that things are even more serious than had been feared. German banks, for example, reported a flood of anguished enquiries the day after Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a blanket state guarantee for retail bank deposits, as though the guarantee had confirmed the scale of the problem rather than solving it. That leaves governments needing to do nothing less than rebuild the financial system if they are to restore confidence, analysts say. “As mistrust in the financial system has spread to ordinary citizens, a broad institutional and regulatory plan needs to be put in place to convince them that policy-makers have learned the necessary lessons from this crisis," Lannoo wrote in a briefing paper Tuesday. But while governments have been quick to offer national bail-out plans and a European-level “tool box" for future interventions, analysts say they have not done nearly enough on the global scale. “What we see is a response with very little coordination. The international cooperation is still missing," Redecker said. World leaders have recently lined up behind a call from French President Nicolas Sarkozy for an emergency summit to “re-lay the foundations of responsible capitalism" on Nov 15. But such a response, negotiated between the world"s most powerful and self-assertive countries at a time of massive domestic stress, is likely to take a great deal of time. “It will take an extremely long-term effort: to restore a lost reputation takes a lot of time," Lannoo pointed out. And with Europe"s markets and citizens already spooked by talk of a looming recession, further bank bail-outs, slumping industrial profits and financial turbulence in key export countries such as the US and Russia, time is the commodity they can least of all afford. “Our view since March has been that the solution would be to stabilise the banking sector, but the measures which were introduced came very late. The question now is, was it too late?" Redecker said. Market mayhem: Realty stocks take a beating 25 Oct, 2008, 1345 hrs IST,Nimish Shukla, TNN AHMEDABAD: Real estate stocks fell like nine pins on Friday as investors panicked and jettisoned their stocks at whatever price the markets gave them. Amidst free fall in the markets, stock price of Unitech halved and settled at Rs 30.10 with a loss of 51.29%, unforeseen for a Nifty stock in a single day earlier. The stock lost around 91% of its value from its peak price of Rs 547 that was seen during January 2008. Among realty stocks, Puravankara Projects, DLF, Orbit Corporation, Parsvnath Developers and Phoenix Mills had taken larger beating and these stocks were down more than 20%. Even the BSE realty index fell by 24% in a day. The markets on Friday disappointed after the Reserve Bank of India kept its key rates unchanged in its credit policy. Selling pressure on realty stocks became intense following the concern that banks may not reduce interest rate following the RBI"s decision. 25 Oct, 2008, 0454 hrs IST,Gaurav Pai, ET Bureau MUMBAI: After pushing them for years, brokers are going slow on structured products — mostly capital protection schemes, which also promised to captu “We have been in a holding pattern on the structured products side, as we want to be more comfortable about the end use of the money that we take from investors,” says Maneesh Kumar, head of wealth management solutions at ASK Wealth Advisors, a Mumbai-based financial planning " wealth advisory firm. “We want to be careful and ensure that the use of monies on the debt component of the investment is not leveraged. The portion in derivatives also has to pass through our scrutiny,” he adds. The broking houses that structure these products usually invest nearly three-fourths of the money raised in ‘unsecured debentures’ issued by a non-banking finance company (NBFC). So, if an investor has invested Rs 100 with the broking house, Rs 75 is invested in debentures, which at a compounded rate of 10% over three years (usually the tenure of the structured product) grows to Rs 100, thus protecting the capital. The remaining 25% is usually invested in Nifty-linked derivatives — either options or futures — to capture the upside in the index. The structured product industry is estimated to house more than Rs 10,000 crore, with Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Kotak accounting for a sizeable chunk of the market. Akhilesh Singh, business head — wealth management and distribution services, Emkay, says although investors have been expressing concern about the credit quality of structured products, there have been no redemption. “But the appetite for any fresh investments in structured products has reduced greatly,” he says. Other officials at broking houses say there is no evidence of defaults in any of the existing structured products. But they point out that it is only when a large number of such products come up for redemption that investors know whether the apparent safety of their funds is for real. A host of wealthy Indians had put their money in structured products to protect the profits they had made from the bull run. Investors with less risk appetite also found such products attractive because these products were supposed to guarantee the capital. But with NBFCs —the counterparties in such transactions — taking hit in recent days, investors are finding that guarantee may have just been a mirage. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3638993.cms Inclusion and regulators" dilemma 25 Oct, 2008, 0053 hrs IST,Sanjay Sinha Supporting development and growth of the financial system at the same time as ensuring its smooth functioning is the role that all national financial regulators are required to play. The usually conflicting tensions between liberal rule-making and forbearance on the one hand and cautious restraint on the imprudent behaviour of mavericks on the other, is a dilemma that regulators must live with. By and large, regulators are a conservative lot and tend to favour caution over liberal growth. Thus, in India we have seen the facilitation by regulators of a high capital financial system while alternatives with lower capital requirements are either limited to government ownership, as in the case of the regional rural banks, or disallowed altogether in the insurance sector. The result is a financial system that is skewed towards the needs of the largely urban, organised economy while smaller and more informal enterprises do not enjoy the same access to the formal system. The net result is a far higher cost of doing business for small and informal enterprise than would occur in a more liberal regulatory regime. The dampening effect of regulatory conservatism on economic inclusion and ultimately on economic growth is a matter that can only be speculated upon. The excellent report of the Raghuram Rajan Committee on financial sector reforms estimates that a better functioning financial sector alone could release enough economic energy to add up to 2% to the rate of economic growth. This is not a release to be sneezed at. For this, the Raghuram Rajan Committee makes a number of important proposals. First, the committee favours the introduction of what it calls “small finance banks”; deposit-taking banks with far lower levels of capital than the Rs 300 crore of equity that conventional commercial banks are required to have. The risk associated with the limited geographical focus of such banks would be offset by higher capital adequacy norms and lower allowable concentration in loans to a single party. This is essentially a revival of the local area bank idea that was abandoned by the RBI amidst concerns about the honesty and viability of such banks. Yet, as the committee points out, recent experience in India and elsewhere shows there is no direct correlation between honesty and the size of banks. By being more selective in applying its “fit and proper” criteria to a larger number of applicants, the RBI can in fact ensure a better and more responsible management than is possible with the few applicants there are for large bank licences. Viability, the committee argues, can be improved by applying technological solutions that will also enhance transparency. Second, the committee recommends the liberalisation of the business correspondent regulation by allowing more diverse local agents to extend such services while using technology to reduce transaction cost and limit fraud. This would enable the tapping of various distribution networks such as cell phone kiosks and kirana shops for bridging the last mile between large banks and small, and sometimes geographically scattered, customers. Third, the recommendations of the Vaidyanathan Committee on cooperative reforms are reinforced to emphasise that better management would result if members of cooperative institutions had their funds at stake since this would lead them to exercise real control because there would be no prospect of government intervention or interference. This would enable unviable cooperatives to be closed while the best ones could even explore the possibility of conversion to small finance banks. Fourth, the committee argues for the liberalisation of the interest rate regime with appropriate safeguards such as full transparency on the effective interest rate and publication of annual average and maximum rates charged to the priority sector.
19 Oct, 2008, 1605 hrs IST,Rajiv Vij, Drawing from those experiences, it may be useful to look at ways of dealing with such crises in multiple dimensions. First, it is critical to maintain a healthy sense of optimism about the future — not because we want to psyche ourselves into positive thinking but because things do get better from points of high pessimism. Surveys of people faced with a personal crisis demonstrate that the same people generally feel much better about themselves and life in general just a year after the initial event. It is equally important to have a strong sense of self-belief — the belief that not only will things get better for me but that I will also have a meaningful role to play in it. As Graham Bell said, “When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the ones which open for us.” If the crisis involves some form of financial impact, it may be useful to also reflect on our needs and wants. In today’s consumerist society, we constantly want more — a bigger house, a flashier car, a new cellphone. Very often, unfulfilled wants may be the biggest source of disappointment and stress in our lives, and this is accentuated during adverse times. It may be pertinent to ask ourselves whether we need all these gadgets. In most cases, our needs are usually much simpler than our unending wants. Companies start competing for bailout money 26 Oct, 2008, 0034 hrs IST, AGENCIES WASHINGTON: The bailout is now the hottest lobbying game in town. Insurers, automakers and American subsidiaries of foreign banks all want the Treasury Department to cut them a piece of the largest government rescue in US history. The betting is that many with their hands out will be successful, especially with financial markets in a stomach-churning dive and predictions the economy is about to tumble into a deep recession. These groups argue that the credit squeeze is so severe and the risks to the economy so dire that their industries need financial support as well. The Treasury is considering requests from a variety of industries, but has not decided whether to expand the program, officials said Saturday. Lobbying efforts intensifying The Financial Services Roundtable wrote Treasury officials on Friday requesting that the initiative to buy $250 billion in bank stock grow to cover insurers, auto companies, securities dealers and US subsidiaries of foreign companies, including banks. The Treasury"s plan is intended to bolster banks" tattered balance sheets and get them to resume making loans. As the Treasury now interprets it, these additional groups would not participate in the bank stock program. They could receive help from a separate part of the $700 billion rescue that will buy bad assets from financial institutions. Steve Bartlett, the president of the Roundtable, urged the Treasury to broaden the definition of those eligible for the stock purchase program. “The institutions that are excluded play a vital role in the US economy by providing liquidity to the market," Bartlett wrote Neel Kashkari, the Treasury Department official running the bailout program. Referring to US subsidiaries of foreign companies, Bartlett said, “This is a global crisis and to not recognize the US firms controlled by foreign banks or companies would create further impediment to the market"s recovery." A financial industry official said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson met over the past week with various groups, including hedge fund managers, which were petitioning for assistance. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the Treasury has not made a decision. Some insurers technically would be eligible for stock purchases now if they own subsidiaries that are savings and loan institutions regulated by the Office of Thrift Supervision. Last month, American International Group, the country"s largest insurance company, received an $85 billion loan from the Federal Reserve. Since then, it has gotten further support in an effort to withstand the biggest upheavals on Wall Street since the Great Depression. Complicating the government"s decision-making is that the Bush administration will not be in charge after Jan. 20. Paulson, who has said he has no intention of staying on the job, has pledged to consult with both campaigns on his bailout actions. Democrat Barack Obama"s presidential campaign said Friday it supported the effort by the auto industry to get money from the $250 billion made available for stock purchases. That would be in addition to $25 billion recently approved by Congress for low-interest loans to help the struggling industry retool and build fuel efficient vehicles. The debate over expanding the bailout comes as the Treasury is rushing to get money out the door to the primary recipients: banks that sharply curtailed lending after suffering billions of dollars of losses on mortgage-related assets as home foreclosures soared in the housing slump. Lawmakers are pressuring the Treasury to do more in the foreclosure area, as well. Sheila Bair, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, told Congress about efforts to provide government-backed loan guarantees for mortgages that are reworked to help homeowners in danger of default. That would give banks an incentive to speed up refinancing efforts because the government would back part of the reworked loan. The Treasury also is moving ahead to get bank stock purchases approved. It announced on Oct 14 that it was spending $125 billion to buy stock in nine of the largest financial institutions. An announcement was expected Friday about a second round involving 20 to 22 other banks. But it was decided each bank would announce its own agreements with the Treasury, out of concern that excluded banks could suffer a stock sell-off from disappointed investors. PNC Financial Services Group Inc announced Friday it was acquiring National City Corp for $5.58 billion, in what was the first instance of a bank using fresh investments from the bailout program to make an acquisition. PNC said it had received $7.7 billion in cash through selling stock to the government under the programme. Global slowdown may impact China"s growth rate 26 Oct, 2008, 1515 hrs IST, BEIJING: Narrowing overseas demand in the wake of global economic slowdown could have a negative impact on the growth prospects of exports-dependent “Our economy is highly reliant on overseas demand. Slacking exports resulted from the global economic slowdown would have a negative impact on the economy," governor of the country"s central bank Zhou Xiaochuan told Chinese parliament, the National People"s Congress (NPC). He said the country needed to be cautious about adjusting policies because prices would possibly fluctuate frequently in the future. The central bank would strengthen the supervision system and have emergency measures in place to deal with possible negative impact on the country"s banking system. It would also work to ensure sufficient liquidity in the domestic market. He also said the central bank would keep a close look over the real estate sector and improve financial services in this market. The central bank would let the market “play a bigger role" in deciding interest rates and keep the exchange rates stable, he said, adding it would step up supervision over cross-border capital flows to prevent damage caused by massive flow of short-term speculative capital. The fifth session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People"s Congress (NPC) opened its second plenary meeting Sunday morning. Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC, attended the meeting. World Bank to double loans to poor countries - Nikkei 26 Oct, 2008, 1311 hrs IST, REUTERS TOKYO: The World Bank plans to increase loans to poor countries to make up for dwindling private fund flows to these economies, Japan"s business dai The move came as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), another Washington-based multinational lender, offered help to crisis-struck countries, such as Iceland and Ukraine. The World Bank loans will be targeted at around 10 poor countries in Asia and Africa, such as Ghana, Bangladesh and Cambodia, as the IMF focuses on emerging, middle-income economies, the Japanese daily said. The World Bank will offer long-term loans of 15 to 20 years at an interest rate roughly on a par with London Inter-bank Offered Rate, or LIBOR. The bank is also considering emergency loans to these countries, the paper added. Investors scared by selloff, look to c banks, data 26 Oct, 2008, 1257 hrs IST, REUTERS SINGAPORE: Investors unnerved by a selloff in shares and collapsing currencies are looking ahead to a week that may see a new round of coordinated c The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut rates sharply this week in the face of mounting turmoil that has hit the United States and the developed economies of Europe as well as emerging markets in Asia and Latin America. Advance third-quarter US economic growth data due on Thursday is expected to show a 0.5 per cent contraction in gross domestic product after 2.8 per cent growth in the previous quarter. “Increasingly, the signs point to a deep and synchronized global recession," JPMorgan economist Bruce Kasman said. “It is still too early to accurately gauge the depth of the downturn, as the outlook depends on how well policy actions contain the financial crisis." The likelihood of the Fed slashing interest rates by 50 basis point stood at 74 percent on Sunday and at 26 percent for a cut of 75 basis points to 0.75 percent. Asian and European leaders closed ranks over the weekend to bolster confidence among investors who fear that the worst financial crisis in 80 years has ushered in a deep and damaging world recession. FEND OFF RISKS “We must use every means to prevent the financial crisis impacting growth of the real economy," Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said at the end of a two-day summit of 43 Asian and European leaders in Beijing. China"s central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan was on Sunday quoted as saying that Asia"s second-largest economy is in good condition but needed to be on guard to fend off risks created by the turmoil. Officials in Russia said its central bank has the means to control sharp fluctuations in its currency, but does not yet see the need to limit capital movements or change the ruble"s trading corridor. “Just because the global financial crisis has hit our shores, does not mean that the ruble has to be significantly devalued," the bank"s first deputy chairman Alexei Ulyukaev said. Governments have pledged about $4 trillion to support banks and restart money markets to try to stem the crisis and are considering tougher financial rules to guard against any repeat. Foreign exchange analysts said extreme currency volatility, which has seen moves of a staggering 10 percent on some big rates on Friday alone, could see the Group of Seven or 20 top central banks intervening soon to stabilize world markets. EARNINGS GLOOM The US dollar surged to two-year peaks versus a basket of currencies as dismal European economic data reinforced investor fears of a global recession. The yen soared to multi-year highs versus the dollar and euro on the ensuing risk aversion, while at its low on Friday the British pound suffered its biggest one-day percentage drop against the U.S. curren | |
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