Business & Industry Updates

3. May 1, 2009
Indian gas companies may soon boast their first gas swap arrangement that could slash transportation costs by more than 50 per cent. Petronet LNG , which operates a recently expanded ten-million-tonne gas regassification plant in Dahej on the west coast, is exploring a swap option with the gas from the Krishna-Godavari field (K-G D6) on the east coast owned by Reliance Industries Ltd. This would enable Petronet to supply gas to some of RIL’s consumers (mainly fertiliser companies) on the west coast. In lieu, K-G D6 block will supply gas to Petronet’s consumers on the east coast.

4. May 5, 2009
As part of its focus on developing startups across the world, Goldman Sachs is looking at training and development of around 29 select women entrepreneurs in India. The effort is part of Goldman Sachs ‘10,000 Women’ initiative, founded on the basis of a research conducted by the World Bank, Goldman Sachs, and others, which found that educating women is one of the most effective ways to increase economic growth and improve living standards in developing economies. According to Goldman Sachs, studies conclude that, on average, a one percentage point increase in female education raises annual GDP growth rates by 0.2 percentage point. Under the initiative, Goldman Sachs is selecting specific women entrepreneurs around the world including developing countries like India and Latin American countries.

5. May 11, 2009
Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel has now become India’s biggest music company (In terms of revenue) , overtaking the industry leader Saregama, on the back of its music-related value-added mobile services. Music Bharti provides music services like hello tunes, call-back tunes and music on demand. Bharti Airtel, flagship company of Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Group, recently entered into an exclusive multi-million dollar deal with Machester United, under which it would offer its mobile subscribers access to the mobile content related to the British soccer club.

6.May 11 , 2009
India now is ahead of only Sub-Saharan Africa among developing countries in terms of the percentage of population below the poverty line, though it fared better than China on this count in 1990, according to the World Bank. World Bank , in its recently released report ‘Global Economic Prospects for 2009’, said a 25% of India’s population will be living in extreme poverty, on less than $1.25 a day, in 2015. The corresponding figures for China is 6.1 per cent and for Sub-Saharan Africa 37.1 per cent. These are based on purchasing power parity exchange rates derived from the 2005 price surveys, meaning that the calculations have been made assuming a dollar’s purchasing power to be the same in the years under consideration as in 2005.

According to the World Bank’s poverty forecast, China had 60.2 per cent of its population living on less than $1.25 a day in 1990, compared to India’s 51.3 per cent. However, 15 years later in 2005, China had 15.9 per cent of its population living in extreme poverty as compared to India’s 41.6 per cent living on less than $1.25 a day, the international poverty line.

7. May 12, 2009
Industrial production declined 2.3 per cent in March as compared to a rise of 5.5 per cent during the corresponding month in 2008, mainly on account of poor performance by the manufacturing sector.For 2008-09, growth in industrial output was a meagre 2.4 per cent, down from a high of 8.5 per cent during the previous financial year, according to the Index of Industrial Production figures released by the government on Tuesday.The decline has been mainly on account of a fall in manufacturing, the output of which contracted by 3.3 per cent during March. The sector, which accounts for almost 80 per cent of the index, registered an increase of 5.7 per cent during the same month in 2008.
The mining sector too recorded dismal growth of 0.4 per cent during March as compared to an increase of 4.9 per cent. Power generation, however, rose by 6.3 per cent during the month compared to 3.7 per cent during the corresponding period in 2008.
As regards 2008-09, manufacturing sector growth decelerated to 2.3 per cent from 9 per cent in the previous fiscal.
Mining output and power generation during the year slid to 2.3 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively, from 5.1 per cent and 6.4 per cent, respectively, in the previous fiscal.

8. May 12, 2009
Rakesh Mohan, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India has asaid that it was only after the central bank took a slew of steps that the decline in the economy was arrested and that inflation is not a concern anymore.The Indian financial system has ample liquidity, Mohan said, while addressing the annual general meeting of the Indian Merchants’ Chambers in Mumbai.RBI has been absorbing over Rs 1,00,000 crore (Rs 1 trillion) from banks through the reverse repo window under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF). Banks are saddled with a huge amount of resources as the credit growth has moderated since late 2008.

9. May 13, 2009
More than 200 listed companies in the country have been found to have discrepancies in their annual audited financial results over the past five years, a latest study said.According to a study carried out by leading financial portal myiris.com on the financials of more than 1,400 listed companies over the past five years, 200 firms have discrepancies in their annual audited financial results. The study has said that errors were serious and included in the balance sheet of a company , errors in the balance sheet, cash flow statements & profit & loss statements.

10. May 13, 2009
The finance ministry has backed the capital market regulator’s request to give it more powers to access transcripts of telephone conversations and related information. This is aimed at strengthening the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s powers to investigate market-related offences.The ministry has requested the Department of Telecommunications to allow Sebi to join 10 other agencies that look into telecom companies’ operations and books. These include the local police, Central Bureau of Investigations, Enforcement Directorate, Special Frauds Investigation Cell, Economic offences Wing, Intelligence Bureau, Income-Tax (Enforcement), Ministry of Defence, and Research & Analysis Wing.

11. May 13, 2009
Quick estimates available with the commerce ministry reveal that the country’s exports dipped by 33 per cent to $10.7 billion. Similarly, imports too contracted by 35 per cent to $16 billion in April 2009, as against $16.07 billion in the year-ago period. Continued economic recession in key export markets like US and Europe, which account for over 40 per cent of India’s exports, and high base effect are cited as reasons for this sharp dip. With imports declining at a faster rate than exports, the trade deficit the difference between the two narrowed to $5.3 billion in April 2009 as compared to $8.75 billion in the corresponding month a year ago.

12. Doha Round
The Doha Development Round is the current trade-negotiation round of the World Trade Organization which commenced in November 2001. Its objective is to lower trade barriers around the world, which allows countries to increase trade globally. As of 2008, talks have stalled over a divide on major issues, such as agriculture, industrial tariffs and non-tariff barriers, services, and trade remedies. The most significant differences are between developed nations led by the European Union (EU), the United States (USA) and Japan and the major developing countries led and represented mainly by India, Brazil, China and South Africa. There is also considerable contention against and between the EU and the U.S. over their maintenance of agricultural subsidies—seen to operate effectively as trade barriers. The Doha Round began with a ministerial-level meeting in Doha, Qatar in 2001. source wikipedia

13. May 14, 2009
The country’s priceless assets will carry a negligible price in the first of its kind valuation attempt, even as the government rejigs its accounting system and plans to put a value on all the assets it holds. After much discussion, it was decided that the Taj Mahal, the timeless masterpiece built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, along with other heritage sites like the Qutab Minar, will be valued in government books at just Re 1.

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