India, US agree to increase civil aviation cooperation

India and the United States have agreed to increase their level of cooperation in theaviation sector, including its modernization, and to meet the challenges in view of its rapid expansion.

The decision in this regard was taken following a series of meetings of visiting Indian delegation led by the Civil Aviation Secretary Madhavan Nambiar with members of the Obama

Administration.



During the meetings, the two sides discussed the future direction of the bilateral cooperation, said the Indian

Embassy in a statement.



The two countries agreed to work towards making Aviation Cooperation Program (ACP), signed in June 2007, more productive for India in its efforts to modernise the sector and meet challenges of rapid expansion in terms of safety, technology and communication support and air space management, the statement said.



It was agreed that the next Indo-US Aviation Summit would be held in the US in December 2009.



An agreement was also signed between the US Trade & Development Agency and Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India to fund projects under the US-India ACP, besides reviewing the progress of the Open Skies Agreement, 2005.



Over 2004-07, India imported more than USD 11 billion worth of aviation-related products from the US.

'India to work for developing nations in tackling recession'

President Pratibha Patil said that India will work towards ensuring representation of developing countries in global financial institutions while dealing with the economic crisis.

In an interaction with envoys from Maldives, Gambia and Sudan, Patil said on Friday while dealing with the current global financial crises, the long-pending issue of representation for developing countries in global financial institutions would be addressed.


Three High Commissioners Abdul Azeez Yoosuf (Maldives), Felix Badji (Gambia), and Khider Haroun Ahmed Abdulrazig (Sudan) presented their credentials to the President at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Friday.


This was the first Credentials Presentation Ceremony since the formation of the new government.


The President also talked about the recently held general elections in the country and massive mobilization of polling personnel for the conduct of the polls, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said.


Patil said India would continue to work for peace, stability and development in its region and the world.


She also told the envoys that India wants to improve its bilateral relations with their countries.


The ceremony was attended by senior members of the missions and officials of the External Affairs Ministry.

Japanese stocks on a rise

The Nikkei index of leading Japanese shares has closed above 10,000 points for the first time in eight months.

The Nikkei-225 stock average closed up 154.49 points at 10,135.82 points, as global recovery hopes grew.

Investors were encouraged by a revised 5.9% rise in industrial output in April, the biggest gain in half a century.

Better-than-expected US sales and jobs data on Thursday also spurred hopes of a recovery.

The April data was revised up from 5.2% and was the biggest monthly gain since 1953.

The Nikkei has risen 44% since it reached a low of 7,000 on March 10 and 3.8% in the past week.

Among the gainers on Friday were CSK Holdings, up 19.05% at 500 yen, Nippon Soda, up 11.48% at 476 yen and Yahoo Japan, up 8.29% at 30,550 yen.

Industry grows 1.4% in April; solid show power generation

Giving early signs of economic recovery, industrial production grew 1.4 per cent in April after contraction for months together since September when global financial crisis deepened.

However, certain crucial sectors like consumer non-durables, including processed food products and capital goods posted negative growth.



Processed food items declined by a whopping 34 per cent.



Also, 1.4 per cent growth in factory output is no match for the 6.2 per cent expansion it clocked in the same month last year.



Nonetheless, slowdown in industrial growth, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), appears to be bottoming out.



Provisional figures showed industrial contraction for almost every month since Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in mid-September last year which deepened the global financial meltdown.



"We have bottomed up and we are on a path of recovery," economic think-tank National Institute for Public Finance and Policy's Director Govinda Rao said.



However, the good news on industrial production failed to enthuse the stock markets with benchmark equity index Sensex shedding nearly 153 points at 15,355 points at mid-session.



The biggest surprise in IIP data was the electricity generation which grew by 7.1 per cent in April against 1.4 per

cent in the same month a year ago.

Oil above USD 72 as traders eye economic recovery

Oil prices hovered above USD 72 a barrel on Friday in Asia near an 8-month high as investors eyed signs that the global recession may be easing.

Benchmark crude for July delivery fell 31 cents to USD 72.37 a barrel by midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.



On Thursday, it rose USD 1.35 to settle at USD 72.68, the highest since October.



An improving crude demand outlook helped bolster prices. yesterday, the International Energy Agency in Paris said in its monthly survey that global oil demand would fall by 2.9 percent this year, better than its May forecast of a 3 percent annual fall.



It was the organisation's first upward estimate of demand in 10 months.



"Oil prices are discounting positive economic growth by around the end of the third quarter," said Christoffer Molke-Leth, head of sales trading for Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore. "If that doesn't happen, prices at this level are overbought."



Prices have more than doubled since March as investor optimism grew that the worst of a severe US recession was over.



The Labor Department on Thursday reported that the number of newly laid-off Americans filing for jobless benefits fell last week by 24,000 to 601,000 - better than economists had forecast.

Is it wise to spent 100 million euros on a player ?????

Real Madrid in a span of days spent 56 million pounds on Kaka and agreed a deal worth 80 million pounds for Christiano Ronaldo . Is it worth to pay such high amounts for a single player ? That too on time of recession when the number of unemployment is on rise and people are spending with strings tied around their wallet ..

Whatever be the reason that the Spanish outfit is paying such heavy sums on players is ridiculous and their shopping list is not complete yet . Some new players will find a place on their hit list and they will publicly go for the player like what happened to United


It is the time for Michael Platini to act rather than accusing English clubs . For the last one year Madrid was after Ronaldo and Platini was trying to regulate the transfer activities of English clubs . With the amount they are spending on a single player is more than the budget of many nations it is time for somebody to act

Pound hits 2009 high against euro

Sterling has reached its highest level against the euro since the start of the year after data suggested the UK recession may be over.

One pound was worth 1.1758 euros in early afternoon trading, having closed the previous day at 1.1672 euros.

On Wednesday the National Institute of Economic and Social Research estimated that the economy grew in April and May.

The pound was also boosted by data showing industrial output rose in April - the first monthly rise in 14 months.

In addition, the pound's rise was aided by a survey on attitudes to inflation by the Bank of England, which showed inflation expectations for the coming year rose to 2.4% in May from 2.1% in February, the first rise since August.

Sterling was also up against the dollar, rising one cent to $1.6429.

The pound had fallen against both the euro and the dollar last week and at the beginning of this week amid concerns about possible challenges to the leadership of Gordon Brown.

However, in the past couple of days the political situation appears to have stabilised.

Industry asks Govt to decontrol fuel price, restore tax holiday

Freeing petrol and diesel prices from official control, restoring tax breaks on natural gas production and tax holiday for private oil refiners should be part of the government's agenda in the first 100 days, industry wished.

The Petroleum Federation of India, the apex body of public and private oil firms has submitted to the Oil Ministry a 100-day agenda for the new Government.


On top of its list is decontrol of petrol and diesel prices. Currently, public sector retailers sell auto fuel at Government-dictated rates which the private sector competition is unable to match in times of high input cost (crude oil prices).


Petrofed has asked the Government to operationalise the 28th March 2002, resolution that freed petrol and diesel price from administrative control. State retailers fixed retail selling price every fortnight based on international rates till 2004 when the UPA came into power for the first time and brought back administrative controls.


The Federation also wanted the Government to gradually phase out subsidy on domestic LPG through provision of subsidy to families through coupons/smart cards.

Also, it wanted the Government to provide targeted direct subsidy administered through a smart card system for distribution of kerosene.


It wanted the tax holiday on natural gas to be restored and the same extended to private oil refiners.



The Finance Minister P Chidambaram had in 2008 denied natural gas production of seven year break from payment of income tax like the one enjoyed by producers of crude oil and Petrofed wanted this to be restored. The tax holiday should be enhanced to 10 years from 7 years currently.


"Provide flexibility to claim tax holiday for oil as well as gas production in any 10 years during the first 15 years after the commencement of commercial production under section 80IB(9) of Income Tax Act," its memorandum said.


Petrofed also wanted the seven-year income tax holiday on setting up of refineries to be extended to the private sector.


Currently, this is available only to public sector firms setting up units by March 2012. It also suggested granting 'declared goods' status to natural gas and raising price of gas sold under administered price regime.


Further, it asked the Government to unburden the exploration and production sector of sticking Service Tax since it cannot be set-off, include petroleum products under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, and waive fully the custom duty on import of materials used in transmission projects and removal of anomaly in Naphtha taxation.



Petrofed wanted the Finance Ministry to enlarge the list of goods that could be imported duty-free while also simplifying custom procedures for drilling tools and equipments imported under duty concessions.


"Provide single window clearance for the upstream companies to expedite the process of clearance related to exploration blocks and reduce time and cost overruns," it said.


It recommended developing Petroleum Economic Zone for developing a world-class global upstream services hub in India.

India's economy to grow by 7.2 per cent in 2009-10: Assocham

Indian economy may grow at 7.2 this fiscal on the back of improvement in consumer sentiment, policy reforms and projected growth in agriculture and industrial sector, Assocham survey said.

In a survey of 300 businessmen, about 42 per cent of the respondents said that policy reforms would cast large impact on the GDP growth.


"Indian economy is expected to register a GDP growth rate of 7.2 per cent in 2009-10 on account of improvement in consumer sentiment, rural India and policy reforms," the chamber said.


Majority of the respondents said that the government would be able to bring about significant reforms this year, and about 91 per cent believed that there are good chances of improvement in consumer sentiments in the following months.


About 40 per cent respondents felt that isolation of the rural India from the impact of recession has a huge impact on the GDP growth rate, it said.


"The agriculture sector is expected to record the growth rate of 3.5 per cent as good monsoons, better crop prices and upward revision of the crop forecast has ensured a healthy growth rate for the agriculture sector," it said.


The industry sector which was reeling under pressure due to high interest rates, reduced demand and global recession is expected to record the growth rate close to 4.6 per cent in the fiscal.



With the improvement in consumer sentiment, increased government spending and anticipated reforms, the services sector is estimated to chart 9.7 per cent growth in 2009-10, Assocham said.


About 75 per cent of the respondents believed that government would use further fiscal incentives to stimulate the economy, it said.


However, the factors which continue to inhibit the economic growth rate from pacing up include poor state of the world economy and money market conditions, it added.

Iceland near to Icesave debt deal

Iceland's Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir says a deal, with the UK and Netherlands, is near over savings accounts frozen when its banks failed.

She said agreement is being negotiated on the Icesave accounts of Landsbanki, which collapsed with other main Icelandic banks in October.

The deal would give Iceland seven years to reimburse the frozen savings.

The total debt owed on the accounts is estimated at about 640bn Icelandic crowns ($5.28bn: £3.2bn).

The money would be repaid at 5.5% interest, Ms Sigurdardottir said.

"This is a much more agreeable solution than we were looking at in the winter," she said.

"The interest rates are lower, we'll have longer time to pay out and last, but not least, it means the assets of Landsbanki in the UK will cover most of the debt."

Tech Mahindra makes changes in Satyam open offer

IT firm Tech Mahindra has extended the date for approaching the shareholders of Satyam Computer regarding its Rs 1,154-crore open offer for the purchase of a 20 per cent stake in the scam-hit firm, a move which comes days after market regulator SEBI cleared the open offer.

In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Satyam Computer said the last date by which letter of offer will be dispatched to the shareholders has been revised to 9th June, from the earlier scheduled date of 3rd June.



Further, the last date of withdrawal by shareholders has also been revised to 26th June, from the earlier 27th June.



"Dates for all other activities of the schedule remains unchanged," the filing added.



The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had received the open offer for its consideration on May 6, and issued its 'observations' on May 27.



Through Venturbay Consultant, its acquisition vehicle for the Satyam Computer purchase, Tech Mahindra had announced an open offer on April 22 for buying an additional 20 per cent

from the shareholders of the IT firm.



The open offer was made pursuant to Tech Mahindra buying a 31 per cent stake in Satyam for Rs 1,756 crore through the issue of preferential shares after an auction process conducted by the government-appointed board of Satyam.