NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 18:
Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, Steel Authority of India and ONGC are among 26 companies shortlisted for national awards for excellence in corporate governance by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).
However, before finalising the awards, the ICAI has sought the Central Provident Fund Commissioner’s help to “confirm the credentials” of these short-listed companies and ensure that there are no complaints or prosecutions pending against them.
In a letter to the CPFC, posted on EFO’s website, Sutanu Sinha, Officiating Secretary and & Chief Executive, ICAI, has sought the information before November 20, so that it could be placed before the jury, headed by Justice M N Venkatachaliah, former Chief Justice of India.
The other companies in the short-list include Canara Bank, Bharat Petroleum, Central Depository Services, Dabur India, GMR Infrastructure, M&M, Housing Development Finance Corp, Rashtriya Ispat
Success in my Habit
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
TUV Rheinland commissions testing facility near Chennai
CHENNAI, NOV 18:
Germany-based TUV Rheinland has commissioned its solar photovoltaic modules testing facility at Sriperumbudur near here.
TUV Rheinland is a service provider in the technical, inspection and certification industry.
The 5,000 sq. ft. facility established under the project ‘PV Klima’ has been undertaken by TUV Rheinland in collaboration with the German Government to study the climatic factors that have an impact on energy yield of solar photovoltaic modules, the company said in a statement.
TUV Rheinland has also proposed to set up such facilities in Italy, the United States and Saudi Arabia.
“Sriperumbudur will be the latest testing facility under PV Klima to take comparable measurements of energy yields and develop methodologies to forecast and increase the energy yields of solar photovoltaic modules,” TUV Rheinland India Vice-President, Business Stream Products, Kalyan Varma, said.
The features of various solar photovoltaic technologies would be analysed with regard to climate effects, seasonal effects, low-light behaviour and temperature behaviour, he added.
Germany-based TUV Rheinland has commissioned its solar photovoltaic modules testing facility at Sriperumbudur near here.
TUV Rheinland is a service provider in the technical, inspection and certification industry.
The 5,000 sq. ft. facility established under the project ‘PV Klima’ has been undertaken by TUV Rheinland in collaboration with the German Government to study the climatic factors that have an impact on energy yield of solar photovoltaic modules, the company said in a statement.
TUV Rheinland has also proposed to set up such facilities in Italy, the United States and Saudi Arabia.
“Sriperumbudur will be the latest testing facility under PV Klima to take comparable measurements of energy yields and develop methodologies to forecast and increase the energy yields of solar photovoltaic modules,” TUV Rheinland India Vice-President, Business Stream Products, Kalyan Varma, said.
The features of various solar photovoltaic technologies would be analysed with regard to climate effects, seasonal effects, low-light behaviour and temperature behaviour, he added.
Aurobindo Vice-Chairman attacked by miscreant; escapes unhurt
HYDERABAD, NOV 19:
Aurobindo Pharma Ltd' s Director and Vice-Chairman, K Nityananda Reddy, escaped unhurt in an attempt on his life on Wednesday morning.
A 30-year-old miscreant, armed with an AK-47 gun, confronted Reddy when he boarded his car after his morning walk at the KBR Park here.
Since Reddy was alert, he pushed him back after which he opened the fire. However, Reddy escaped and the miscreant ran away leaving the weapon.
The police is investigating into the incident and the motive of the attack and the identity of the attacker are yet to be established.
The KBR Park in the posh Jubilee Hills here is a favourite spot for morning walk for the city elite and industrialists.
When contacted, one of the directors of the company told BusinessLine that Reddy was completely safe.
In 2012, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had also included Reddy as one of the accused in its chargesheet in the illegal assets case of YSR Congress Party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.
Aurobindo Pharma scrip lost 1.03 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange and was trading at Rs. 1,130.50.
The company posted a 58 per cent increase in net profit at Rs. 372 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, 2014 on a 50 per cent growth in revenue at Rs. 2,881 crore compared to the year-ago period.
Aurobindo Pharma Ltd' s Director and Vice-Chairman, K Nityananda Reddy, escaped unhurt in an attempt on his life on Wednesday morning.
A 30-year-old miscreant, armed with an AK-47 gun, confronted Reddy when he boarded his car after his morning walk at the KBR Park here.
Since Reddy was alert, he pushed him back after which he opened the fire. However, Reddy escaped and the miscreant ran away leaving the weapon.
The police is investigating into the incident and the motive of the attack and the identity of the attacker are yet to be established.
The KBR Park in the posh Jubilee Hills here is a favourite spot for morning walk for the city elite and industrialists.
When contacted, one of the directors of the company told BusinessLine that Reddy was completely safe.
In 2012, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had also included Reddy as one of the accused in its chargesheet in the illegal assets case of YSR Congress Party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.
Aurobindo Pharma scrip lost 1.03 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange and was trading at Rs. 1,130.50.
The company posted a 58 per cent increase in net profit at Rs. 372 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, 2014 on a 50 per cent growth in revenue at Rs. 2,881 crore compared to the year-ago period.
Shale Oil: All you wanted to know about
November 10, 2014:
In an unexpected stroke of good luck for you, me and the country, the price of crude oil has fallen from $115 a barrel in June all the way down to $84. This has meant cheaper petrol and diesel, and a lower subsidy bill for the Government. One big factor responsible for this price fall is the unexpected increase in oil produced from shale in the US.
What is it?
Shale oil is essentially crude oil but an unconventional one at that. While the conventional fuel is usually found in porous rocks such as sandstone, shale oil is trapped in shale rock formations that are not easily permeable and hence is tougher to tap. So though its existence has been known for long, shale oil wasn’t being extracted in large quantities.
But technological advancements — horizontal drilling and fracturing (fracking) — introduced and honed since the early part of the century have enabled shale oil exploration and production on an industrial scale.
Most of the action in shale oil so far has been in the US where explorers have struck copious quantities of the black gold. It has not been smooth sailing though. Environmentalists and local communities have been up in arms against the pollution caused to land and water bodies by the chemicals used in the fracking process.
Nevertheless, shale oil produced in the country has grown by leaps and bounds over the years. So the dependence of the US — the largest oil consumer in the world — on imported crude oil has fallen sharply. And this has added to the weakness of global crude oil price in recent months.
Conventional crude oil producers such as Saudi Arabia have been cutting prices to maintain their market share and to drive some of the high cost shale oil producers out of action.
But whether this will have the desired effect remains to be seen — technological improvements are expected to push down the cost of shale oil production.
Also, while Saudi Arabia might have the financial muscle to sustain low prices for quite some time, other conventional producers such as Venezuela and Nigeria may likely find it difficult to hold out.
Why is it important?
Shale oil has the potential to be a massive game-changer in global energy supply and pricing — with enormous geopolitical implications. It’s not just the US; countries such as Russia, China and Argentina are also believed to have vast stores of shale oil. India too is taking baby steps to find and explore its shale assets potential.
Progress in other nations has been quite slow so far. But there’s no saying when the inflection point will be reached. If production continues to expand, countries such as the US could start exporting oil in a few years.
Why should I care?
For starters, more shale oil means lower petrol and diesel prices. So you spend less on travel.
Cheaper crude oil also reduces India’s current account deficit and subsidy bill and will also give a boost to the country’s GDP — that means more and better-paying jobs, and more profitable businesses. But shale oil production in India in the future could also mean more environmental challenges. So the right trade-off needs to be made.
In an unexpected stroke of good luck for you, me and the country, the price of crude oil has fallen from $115 a barrel in June all the way down to $84. This has meant cheaper petrol and diesel, and a lower subsidy bill for the Government. One big factor responsible for this price fall is the unexpected increase in oil produced from shale in the US.
What is it?
Shale oil is essentially crude oil but an unconventional one at that. While the conventional fuel is usually found in porous rocks such as sandstone, shale oil is trapped in shale rock formations that are not easily permeable and hence is tougher to tap. So though its existence has been known for long, shale oil wasn’t being extracted in large quantities.
But technological advancements — horizontal drilling and fracturing (fracking) — introduced and honed since the early part of the century have enabled shale oil exploration and production on an industrial scale.
Most of the action in shale oil so far has been in the US where explorers have struck copious quantities of the black gold. It has not been smooth sailing though. Environmentalists and local communities have been up in arms against the pollution caused to land and water bodies by the chemicals used in the fracking process.
Nevertheless, shale oil produced in the country has grown by leaps and bounds over the years. So the dependence of the US — the largest oil consumer in the world — on imported crude oil has fallen sharply. And this has added to the weakness of global crude oil price in recent months.
Conventional crude oil producers such as Saudi Arabia have been cutting prices to maintain their market share and to drive some of the high cost shale oil producers out of action.
But whether this will have the desired effect remains to be seen — technological improvements are expected to push down the cost of shale oil production.
Also, while Saudi Arabia might have the financial muscle to sustain low prices for quite some time, other conventional producers such as Venezuela and Nigeria may likely find it difficult to hold out.
Why is it important?
Shale oil has the potential to be a massive game-changer in global energy supply and pricing — with enormous geopolitical implications. It’s not just the US; countries such as Russia, China and Argentina are also believed to have vast stores of shale oil. India too is taking baby steps to find and explore its shale assets potential.
Progress in other nations has been quite slow so far. But there’s no saying when the inflection point will be reached. If production continues to expand, countries such as the US could start exporting oil in a few years.
Why should I care?
For starters, more shale oil means lower petrol and diesel prices. So you spend less on travel.
Cheaper crude oil also reduces India’s current account deficit and subsidy bill and will also give a boost to the country’s GDP — that means more and better-paying jobs, and more profitable businesses. But shale oil production in India in the future could also mean more environmental challenges. So the right trade-off needs to be made.
No official notice yet on alignment change, says L&T Metro Hyderabad
HYDERABAD, NOVEMBER 18:
L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited has informed that they have not received any official communication with regard to change in alignment suggested by the Telangana Government.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event hosted on infrastructure at Fapcci, VB Gadgil, Chief Executive of L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited, said so far they have not received any letter from the State Government on the alignment change.
This statement is significant in the backdrop of an announcement made by the Telangana Government that L&T has agreed to alignment change. A statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office on Saturday after a meeting with AM Naik, Chairman, L&T, Shankar Raman, CFO, L&T and VBGadgil, with the State Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, mentioned the Government’s keenness to bring about changes in the alignment and also the Government’s resolve to increase the length of the metro project from the present proposed 72-km stretch across three corridors to 200 km.
Responding to queries, Gadgil said, “It is not impossible to make changes and everything would depend upon the technical feasibility. In any case, if there are changes that need to be taken up, the State would have to bear additional costs involved on the changes in alignment.”
According to sources, a meeting of the Prime Minister’s Monitoring Group, which closely tracks the progress of large projects, is slated for November 30.
L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited has informed that they have not received any official communication with regard to change in alignment suggested by the Telangana Government.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event hosted on infrastructure at Fapcci, VB Gadgil, Chief Executive of L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited, said so far they have not received any letter from the State Government on the alignment change.
This statement is significant in the backdrop of an announcement made by the Telangana Government that L&T has agreed to alignment change. A statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office on Saturday after a meeting with AM Naik, Chairman, L&T, Shankar Raman, CFO, L&T and VBGadgil, with the State Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, mentioned the Government’s keenness to bring about changes in the alignment and also the Government’s resolve to increase the length of the metro project from the present proposed 72-km stretch across three corridors to 200 km.
Responding to queries, Gadgil said, “It is not impossible to make changes and everything would depend upon the technical feasibility. In any case, if there are changes that need to be taken up, the State would have to bear additional costs involved on the changes in alignment.”
According to sources, a meeting of the Prime Minister’s Monitoring Group, which closely tracks the progress of large projects, is slated for November 30.
RBI chief Rajan wants focus on sustainable growth
PORT LOUIS: India will focus on sustainable economic growth and developed economies should do the same, Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan said on Tuesday.
The RBI is under corporate and government pressure to bring down interest rates and boost economic growth.
"We have to make sure that across the world we focus on sensible, sustainable sources of growth," Rajan told reporters in Mauritius on Tuesday.
The RBI is under corporate and government pressure to bring down interest rates and boost economic growth.
"We have to make sure that across the world we focus on sensible, sustainable sources of growth," Rajan told reporters in Mauritius on Tuesday.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Microsoft to set up 3 data centres in India by 2015
"When we think about the cloud opportunity in India itself, it is going to be a $2 trillion opportunity," chief executive Satya Nadella said in Delhi on Tuesday, adding that the move will help Indian companies, government and entrepreneurs. Without disclosing the investment involved in setting up the data centres, Nadella said they will have "sizeable" capacity.
The announcement is significant given that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has been vocal about bringing local data centres to India to maintain data sovereignty. Besides, a large number of Indian enterprises have increasingly voiced concerns about hosting their data on the public cloud because none of the major players such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft or Google have cloud data centres in India.
"I think in two or three years, when the servers come to India, the public cloud market will become more interesting because now there are some territorial issues in holding the data in the country," Jagdish Belwal, CIO at Tata Motors, which currently uses Amazon Web Services, told ET in a recent interview.
Competition in the cloud market is increasing, with players such as IBM spending millions of rupees advertising its Softlayer cloud and Oracle making a push in the Indian market with the announcement of several new cloud offerings for different industries. Microsoft's move to set up a local data centre will give the company "more muscle" to compete in the cloud services market and "Office 365 could see higher adoption", according to Vishal Tripathi, principal research analyst at Gartner.
Minda Corp. acquires majority stake in its Japanese subsidiary
It did not disclose the amount it paid to acquire the stake.
Noida-based Minda is a supplier of electronic and mechanical security systems for two-wheeler, three-wheeler and off road vehicles to original equipment manufacturer and exports about 20% of its products to the US, the UK, Europe, South East Asia and ASEAN countries.
Minda Corp. has 12 joint venture companies, of which Minda Furukawa Electric develops and produces the entire range of wiring harnesses for four-wheelers and components related to wiring harness.
Minda Corp. gained 1.9% to end at Rs.540, while the CNX Nifty rose 0.07% to close at 7,964.80 points.
Core sector growth at 5.8% in August
New Delhi: Driven by good expansion in steel, coal, cement and electricity generation, the output of eight crucial core sector industries rose 5.8 per cent in August from 2.7 per cent in July, official data showed on Tuesday.
The eight industries had risen 4.7 per cent in August, 2013-14.
For the first five months of 2014-15, the eight grew 4.4 per cent, marginally higher than the 4.2 per cent in the corresponding period of the earlier year.
This might boost industrial growth data for August, which had dipped to 0.5 per cent in July. The eight industries constitute 38 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
Earlier, there was apprehension over IIP growth in August after a mere 2.35 per cent rise in merchandise export for the month. The August core sector data had allayed this fear about industrial growth in the month, said ICRA senior economist Aditi Nayar.
However, there is no one-to-one correspondence between core sector data and the IIP numbers. For instance, core sector output rose 7.3 per cent in June from 2.3 per cent in May but the IIP rise declined to 3.9 per cent from the earlier five per cent.
Crude oil, natural gas and refinery products saw production contracting in August. In July, five industries had seen a decline. Steel, which saw production falling 3.4 per cent in July, rose 9.1 per cent in August. Electricity generation rose 12.6 per cent in August after doing so by 11.2 per cent in July. In the first five months of the current financial year, electricity generation has grown by double digits in four months. The exception was May, when it expanded 6.3 per cent.
Production of coal, a vital raw material for electricity generation, increased 13.4 per cent in August, more than double the 6.2 per cent in July and the highest growth in it during the first five months of 2014-15. However, the recent Supreme Court decision on coal block allotments, cancelling all but four of the 218 made since 1990, makes it unclear if this can be sustained, said Nayar.
Cement posted 10.3 per cent growth in August, though lower than the 16.5 per cent in May. The fact that August also showed a monsoon revival showed that construction activity, either for infrastructure or for personal dwellings, is on the upswing.
The economy rose at a two-year high of 5.7 per cent in the first quarter of this financial year (April-June), after two years of below-five per cent growth. The Reserve Bank of India has retained its earlier economic growth target of 5.5 per cent for 2014-15, projecting growth in the second and third quarter to be moderating, before rebounding in the fourth one.
The eight industries had risen 4.7 per cent in August, 2013-14.
For the first five months of 2014-15, the eight grew 4.4 per cent, marginally higher than the 4.2 per cent in the corresponding period of the earlier year.
This might boost industrial growth data for August, which had dipped to 0.5 per cent in July. The eight industries constitute 38 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
Earlier, there was apprehension over IIP growth in August after a mere 2.35 per cent rise in merchandise export for the month. The August core sector data had allayed this fear about industrial growth in the month, said ICRA senior economist Aditi Nayar.
However, there is no one-to-one correspondence between core sector data and the IIP numbers. For instance, core sector output rose 7.3 per cent in June from 2.3 per cent in May but the IIP rise declined to 3.9 per cent from the earlier five per cent.
Crude oil, natural gas and refinery products saw production contracting in August. In July, five industries had seen a decline. Steel, which saw production falling 3.4 per cent in July, rose 9.1 per cent in August. Electricity generation rose 12.6 per cent in August after doing so by 11.2 per cent in July. In the first five months of the current financial year, electricity generation has grown by double digits in four months. The exception was May, when it expanded 6.3 per cent.
Production of coal, a vital raw material for electricity generation, increased 13.4 per cent in August, more than double the 6.2 per cent in July and the highest growth in it during the first five months of 2014-15. However, the recent Supreme Court decision on coal block allotments, cancelling all but four of the 218 made since 1990, makes it unclear if this can be sustained, said Nayar.
Cement posted 10.3 per cent growth in August, though lower than the 16.5 per cent in May. The fact that August also showed a monsoon revival showed that construction activity, either for infrastructure or for personal dwellings, is on the upswing.
The economy rose at a two-year high of 5.7 per cent in the first quarter of this financial year (April-June), after two years of below-five per cent growth. The Reserve Bank of India has retained its earlier economic growth target of 5.5 per cent for 2014-15, projecting growth in the second and third quarter to be moderating, before rebounding in the fourth one.
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