Today's Hot Stories – February 19, 2014
10 Headlines for Today
(1) Protests in RS over Telangana, Kiran Reddy quits
(2) Jayalalithaa govt to free all seven Rajiv Gandhi's killers
(3) Fierce clashes leave over 20 dead in Ukraine
(4) Teva, Ranbaxy settle claims in US over collusion
(5) Buyouts funds eye NSR-backed Destimoney for a Rs.1200 crore buyout
(6) Nissan reduces vehicle prices
(7) Messi scores as Barcelona beat Man City 2-0
(8) Tennis: Serena struggles but triumphs in Dubai
(9) Hockey: Mumbai Magicians stun UP Wizards 3-2
(10) Dolphins 'suffering miscarriage, lung disease, after BP oil spill'
5 Stories for Today
(1) Andhra Pradesh bifurcation: Congress, BJP will find the going tough
(2) Pak president's China visit to focus on nuclear energy, economic corridor cooperation
(3) Government plans to form new company to manage CSR funds of PSUs
(4) China pips India in gold consumption
(5) FIIs high on India again, pump in $83 m in a month
(1) Andhra Pradesh bifurcation: Congress, BJP will find the going tough
All through the last fortnight, as the BJP set conditions for its support for the Bill that included a calm House, no suspensions of MPs, a special package for Seemandhra, and the Telugu Desam Party, the YSR Congress and the Congress’s own leaders opposed to the creation of Telangana kept the pressure up, the Congress did not once lose its nerve.
If the Congress’s success in pushing through the Bill has improved its prospects in Telangana, and increased the likelihood of its coming to an electoral arrangement with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the BJP’s unequivocal support for the legislation has adversely affected its chances of a tie-up with the TDP, which is on the comeback trail at least in Seemandhra.
While the Congress’s Telangana MPs appear to think that the TRS will now be compelled to have an electoral alliance, and that the two together can win at least 14 of the 17 Lok Sabha seats there, the party’s central leaders are not so sanguine. A senior party leader told The Hindu that the TRS would drive a hard bargain — there are at least six seats where the large number of settlers from Seemandhra could go against the two parties. The TRS on its part has asked for eight seats though it won just two in 2009, and the Congress 12. TRS chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao is likely to reveal his plans after the Bill is cleared in the Rajya Sabha.
In the Seemandhra region, of the Congress’ 21 MPs, the six who moved a no-confidence motion against the government have already been expelled; many of the remaining 15 are now looking for fresh pastures. The Congress’s prospects here are negligible, say party sources, and the TDP and the YSR Congress could win the bulk of the seats. If the YSR Congress had started with an advantage in Seemandhra, Jagan Mohan Reddy has paid for his silence on the Congress after he got bail last year shortly after the Congress Working Committee announced it was in favour of Telangana.
The TDP used this against him, saying it meant he had a secret understanding with the Congress. That is why the last few days have seen Mr. Reddy attacking Congress president Sonia Gandhi frontally, even referring to her Italian origins, and hinting he could even go with the BJP — something now ruled out after the latter voted for the Telangana bill. And if Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy quits the Congress on Wednesday as he has promised and forms a new party, he could pick up a few seats as well.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s support to Telangana has upset the TDP. TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu, who had flown on Sunday to Chandigarh to meet the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, looked crestfallen on Tuesday. Sitting in his parliamentary office here, he said, “I will go back to Hyderabad and discuss with my party, my people.”
Asked whether he still intended to tie-up with the BJP, he said, “This is not the time to speak of alliances.” But party sources said it would be difficult now for the TDP to explain an arrangement with the BJP in the Seemandhra region. Indeed, the TDP’s old ally, the CPI(M), was seen making overtures to it on Tuesday as its MPs, from West Bengal and Kerala, stood in the well all through the discussion and din with placards opposing the division of Andhra Pradesh.
Source: The Hindu
(2) Pak president's China visit to focus on nuclear energy, economic corridor cooperation
It will be Hussain’s first official visit abroad since taking over office late last year. And Beijing indicated that it was because of their special bilateral relation that the Pakistan President will be the first head of state to visit China after, well, the Spring Festival or in the beginning of the New Lunar Year.
The timing might well be auspicious for China, enmeshed as it is in the politics of symbolism and beliefs, but diplomatic niceties aside, Mamnoon’s three-day visit is expected to fast forward cooperation - or ensure China’s deeper participation - in nuclear energy and infrastructure collaboration between the two countries.
New Delhi would be closely following Mamnoon’s interaction with the top leadership of the country and the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.
Ahead of his visit, Hussain, who was born in Agra before the Partition, said he hoped that China will help Pakistan in overcoming severe power shortages in the country.
In January, it was revealed that Pakistan was in talks with China to acquire three nuclear power plants for about $13 million. The new plants will be addition to the two that China has already agreed to build in Karachi.
It also gives China the opportunity to sell its nuclear technology to Pakistan and use the opportunity to reach a wider market.
Nuclear proliferation aside, new nuclear plants in Pakistan will give India more to worry about.
Hussain, according to Pakistani media, also urged further implementation of the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor, a project that Premier Li Keqiang proposed to boost bilateral economic cooperation during his visit to Islamabad in May.
“The project is going to be a monument of the century. It will benefit not only Pakistan and China, but also the whole region with billions of people,” Hussain said.
Calling the corridor a strategic project for the next 10 to 20 years, Hu Shisheng, a South Asian studies researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told state-run English newspaper, China Daily, the two countries will have to establish a series of support facilities to stimulate the full functioning of the corridor.
"Through this channel, more Chinese investment will be brought in to Pakistan's energy sector, and to a certain degree it will alleviate the country's power shortage," adding: “China is also looking for a recovery in Pakistan's economy, to fully develop its strategic value.”
Source: Hindustan Times
(3) Government plans to form new company to manage CSR funds of PSUs
The ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises is working on a proposal to set up a company under Section 25 on the ground that an independent entity will have the scale and resources to plan and execute CSR and sustainability activities, a ministry official said. "It (the proposal) is still in the works. We have sought some clarity from the ministry of corporate affairs," the person said.
Under the new Companies Act, 2013, corporates must spend 2% of their profit on CSR from next fiscal year, provided they have a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore and more, or net worth of Rs 500 crore and more, or a net profit of Rs 5 crore and more.
The corporate affairs ministry expects that around Rs 15,000-20,000 crore would be spent in a year in various social projects such as environment, skill development, water and sanitation through CSR activities.
The public enterprises ministry has mooted a company under Section 25 to manage unspent CSR funds of all PSUs. "We want to set up an institutional structure in form of a company or even a trust. The nominees from Maharatna companies can manage this fund," the official quoted earlier said.
To go ahead with its proposal, the public enterprises ministry wants to make some amendments in the existing provisions and has approached the corporate affairs ministry.
"We have written to them. They can provide us the exemption or make amendments to their existing provisions. If they allow us we can start with a new firm," he said.
Under the new Companies Act, firms have to set up a CSR committee, including at least one independent director. There is no provision to carry forward the unspent CSR amount in a financial year. But, according to guidelines issued by the department of public enterprises (DPE), a nodal agency for central public sector enterprises, unutilised budget for CSR activities planned for a year will not lapse and will be carried forward to the next year.
"The unspent amount of the budget allocated for CSR and sustainability activities for a year will have to be spent within the next two financial years, failing which it would be transferred to a sustainability fund," the official said, adding that the new firm can manage this amount.
"Since the guidelines were issued in 2013, we will have to wait till 2016 for sustainability fund to take off. If we have provision for this firm, companies will have an added pressure to spend the amount allocated towards CSR," he said.
As per a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, 47 profit-making central PSEs failed to comply with the CSR norms prescribed by the government in 2011-12.
Some experts feel a fund in the lines of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), which gets its funding from the shortfall in lending by commercial banks to priority sector, will be good enough to manage CSR funds. "There is no need to set up a new company. That will be too bureaucratic. A better way out is to set up such a fund which can be managed by the DPE itself," chairman of a state-run firm said, requesting anonymity.
Source: The Economic Times
(4) China pips India in gold consumption
India's demand came down to 974.8 tonnes following wide-scale curbs imposed by the government to tame hunger for the precious metal, according to WGC's 'Gold Demand Trend 2013'.
Despite the massive increase in customs duty and many restrictions that the Centre put on jewellery imports, India consumed more gold than 2012, when it stood at 864 tonnes.
In China, the total demand stood at 806.8 tonnes in 2012. "While China has put in infrastructure that was in favour of gold, India has turned away from it. In 2014, we are not seeing any role reversal," WGC managing director, India, Somasundaram P R said.
He said, in 2014 the demand in China is estimated at 1,000-1,100 tonnes while in India it is estimated at 900-1,000 tonnes. The demand for the precious metal picked up throughout the fourth quarter as attention turned to the Chinese New Year, a traditional occasion for gift-giving, the report said.
Indications are that demand for consumer gold items has been healthy during the January Chinese New Year celebrations, it said.
Source: The Times of India
(5) FIIs high on India again, pump in $83 m in a month
Market players say FIIs are taking comfort from the fact that rupee has remained stable despite weakening in most other emerging market currencies.
Incidentally, among Asian emerging markets, India has seen the highest FII inflows at $625.5 million since the pace of US Fed’s monthly bond buying was slowed down.
“FII flows would remain positive towards India, which will continue to be the biggest attraction for FIIs looking at emerging markets,” said Vikas Khemani, CEO, Edelweiss Securities. While the 30-share Sensex is currently trading at p/e multiple of 16.37, prior to the beginning of tapering, the index was trading at p/e multiple of 17.68.
Analysts also say that FIIs have been value-buying in blue-chip stocks. “Markets have corrected recently, but FIIs are anticipating a pre-election rally,” said B Gopakumar, executive vice president, head (broking), Kotak Securities.
On Tuesday, Sensex ended 170.15 points or 0.83% higher at 20,634.21 points, while the NSE’s Nifty ended 53.80 points or 0.89% higher at 6,127.10 points. In the last three trading sessions, Sensex gained 440.86 points.
On Tuesday, FIIs added another $47.13 million, according to provisional data on the exchanges.
The Sensex, however, has shed 2.53% in year-to-date with FIIs selling $154.13 million worth of equities. Emerging equity funds have come under further selling pressure after the former US Fed chairman Ben Bernanke started the second round of tapering on January 29. As per the latest data from EPFR Global, emerging equity funds pulled almost $4.5 billion out of emerging bond and equity funds over the past week.
This is on the back of $12 billion worth of outflows in the previous two weeks.
Source: The Indian Express
Disclaimer: All news stories and content sourced from freely available material on the internet. All sources are acknowledged.
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