Times are changin'

“Seeking 25-40, Well Placed, Animal-Loving Vegetarian GROOM for my SON (36 5'11“) who works with an NGO. Caste No Bar (Though IYER preferred).“
Placed amid hundreds of other matrimonial ads in a Mumbai daily , the one above would not have stood out on an idle perusal. It's import, however, was not lost on the section's really intent readers, and the thousands of others who have posted and reposted it online since.
Thanks to the two words in capitals -GROOM and SON -this particular advertisement has made history as it is possibly the first gay matrimonial ad to have been published in a mainstream Indian newspaper.
The ad, which appeared in a tabloid earlier this week, was placed by the mother of prominent LGBT activist Harish Iyer. He has long called himself an `equal rights' activist, campaigning as vociferously for animal rights as he has for the LGBT community , a point his mother did not forget while writing up the matrimonial ad.
The ad was rejected by many publications, including The Times of India, for legal reasons, before it finally made it to Mid-Day . It is especially significant for India's LGBT movement as the country continues to criminalize homosexuality .
Iyer says his mom Padma placed the ad because, like all Indian mothers, she was worried that her son was still single at 36. The ad was the result of her desire to see him settle down.
In a Facebook post, she later clarified her reference to caste saying the “IYER PREF was meant to be a tease.Though I should admit that is typical that mothers wish their children should be married to families whose culture we know of “.

Amazon.in

Amazon Seller Services Pvt Ltd, an Amazon.Com company, today announced the launch of an online marketplace in India, www.amazon.in.
Starting with books, movies & TV shows video products, Amazon.In will introduce additional categories including mobile phones and cameras in coming weeks, the company said.
"We're excited to get started in India and we will relentlessly focus on raising the bar for customer experience in India," said Greg Greeley, Vice President of International Expansion at amazon.com.
"Our vision, at Amazon, is to be Earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover virtually anything they want to buy online, he added.
"With amazon.in, we endeavour to build that same destination in India by giving customers more of what they want – vast selection, low prices, fast and reliable delivery, and a trusted and convenient experience," Greeley said.
The company has also launched two new seller programmes – 'Selling on Amazon' and 'Fulfilment by Amazon', providing customers a "convenient and trustworthy" online shopping experience and Indian retailers of all sizes a "robust and scalable platform" to sell their products online with no listing fees and a pay-as-you-go fulfilment services, it said in a statement.
"Customers can confidently shop from sellers of all sizes on Amazon.In and benefit from a safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient electronic payments, Cash on Delivery, easy returns, Amazon's customer service with 24x7 support, and a globally recognised and comprehensive purchase protection provided by Amazon's A-to-Z guarantee, the statement said.
amazon.in is also accessible on mobile devices allowing customers to shop anywhere, it added.
In February 2012, the US online giant made its foray into the Indian market with the launch of junglee.com, enabling retailers in India to advertise their products for free to millions of Indian shoppers and drive targeted traffic to their stores.
To mark the launch, amazon.in has a limited period promotion wherein all customers will enjoy free delivery on orders fulfilled by Amazon, it added.
"Our vision is to become a trusted and meaningful sales channel for retailers of all sizes across India, enabling them to succeed and efficiently grow their business online," said Amit Agarwal, Vice President and Country Manager, Amazon India.
"With fulfilment by Amazon, we will do the heavy lifting for the sellers so that they can focus on core business functions like sourcing and pricing their products."

Of a handshake across the Himalayas....

Chinese premier Li Keqiang made a resounding case for greater partnership between India and China, and, for the first time for any major leader from across the Himalayas, obliquely referred to India’s burgeoning ties with the US, suggesting, without naming names, that it was a case of picking a distant relative over a neighbour.
“A country may choose its friends, but not its neighbours. As an ancient proverb says, a distant relative may not be as useful as a near neighbour. With a long border and extensive common interests, China and India should not seek cooperation from afar, while neglecting the partner close by,” Li said.
He was addressing a gathering of businessmen at an event organised by the Indian Council for World Affairs and the industry body, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. This was his first public event since arriving in India on Sunday.
He said his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were “candid, frank and fruitful”, adding that the two sides did not shy away from discussing the border question and had agreed to push forward negotiation. The two countries had the “wisdom” to find a solution to the border question, he said. “A few clouds in the sky cannot shut out brilliant sun rays of our friendship,” he said.
Li said he was confident that the persistent trade imbalance could be overcome and that a balanced trade relationship alone was sustainable. “I am confident that we have the ability to mitigate the trade imbalance between our two counties and China never has any intention to seek trade surplus.” He said he will work on improving market access for Indian firms and that negotiations on a regional free-trade agreement will be pursued.

Li struck the right opening note by saying ‘Namaste’, and then adding that he hadn’t had an opportunity to use the word in 27 years. He fondly recalled his visit to India as part of a youth delegation in 1986. “Twenty seven years ago I visited India and I was deeply impressed by India’s vast territory, time honoured civilisation as well as hardworking and talented people.”
His frankness and easy body language that Indian diplomats had found remarkable was on display for everyone. He said Indian songs, movies and yoga were popular in China the way Chinese food and Kung Fu were popular here. “The most important outcomes of these meetings we had were that we have expanded our strategic mutual trust and reached a number of new positive outcomes,” Li said. He illustrated the combined power of the two countries with an example: “If every one of our combined 2.5 billion population would buy a new mobile phone, it would blow up the order lists of IT manufacturers and operators in the world.”

Chinese Prime Minister Li Kequiang who met Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and his delegation of state officials told them he was interested in the ongoing multicrore Mumbai makeover.

An official press release from the chief minister’s office said Kequiang had noted that Mumbai had undergone a sea change in the last 27 years, when he had visited last.
Kequiang was keen on learning about the state and Centre’s efforts for the Mumbai makeover. He also showed interest in the state policy of incentivising industries in backwards regions to spur employment.
The state had recently unveiled the new industrial policy that focuses on micro, small and medium enterprises, besides sectors like IT, manufacturing, automobile etc.
The visit of the Chinese premier is being read as a feather in the cap for Chavan given the competition from several states, including neighbouring Gujarat, to woo investors. Kequiang discussed issues mostly related to infrastructure and industry for 45 minutes.
Chavan highlighted the city’s big-ticket transport infrastructure projects and the proposed Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor. He also offered to set up a special investment zone for Chinese companies interested in investing in the state.
Four major Chinese companies have already invested in Maharashtra. Chinese auto major Deigue Foton has recently set up a unit for production of utility vehicles at Chakan, an automobile hub near Pune.
Chavan said the Chinese premier’s visit, like that of British prime minister and the French president to Mumbai to explore investment opportunities, has been an endorsement of development in the state.
“The Chinese delegation was interested in investing in and around Pune and expressed special interest in automobile sector and setting up of an industrial township around the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor,” said a senior bureaucrat present in the meeting.

Of FDI in MBR....

Global retailers like Walmart and Tesco can set up warehouses, cold storages and source products from SMEs in states which have not permitted FDI in the multi-brand retail sector, a senior official said.
“Foreign players can set up warehouses and also source products from small and medium enterprises from those states which are against FDI in multi-brand retail. No state will stop any foreign player to procure goods or do business with SMEs,“ a top official in the DIPP said.
US-based Walmart and UK-based Tesco have sought clarifications from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on whether they could set up warehouses in states which are against the Centre's retail FDI policy.
The official also said there will also be no restriction on the foreign retailers from sourcing products from SMEs in those states.
The official also said 50 per cent of first tranche of the mandatory minimum USD 100 million FDI would only have to be invested in the back-end infrastructure and not in buying land, existing building or rent.
“USD 50 million should have to be invested in fresh back-end infrastructure,“ the official said adding after the first tranche the provision would not apply on subsequent investments.
Further, the official said that the DIPP would soon issue clarifications on issues raised by the retailers.
Issues, including the minimum investment on the back-end infrastructure and whether procuring farm produce directly from farmers would be included in the mandatory 30 per cent sourcing provision or not had raised questions in the minds of foreign retailers.
Recently, Tesco CEO Philip Clarke and Trent vice-chairman Noel Tata had met commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma and raised some of the concerns.
Tesco being mainly into retailing of food items, the company wanted to clarify if its buying of produce directly from farmers would be counted in meeting the sourcing norms requirement.
As per the FDI policy on multi-brand retail, a foreign retailer must source 30 per cent of the items that it sells in India from ‘small industries’, which have a total investment in plant and machinery not exceeding $1 million.
Although the government has permitted 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail about nine months back, no formal proposal has been received by the DIPP yet.

India & China

India and China appeared to have salvaged relations that came precariously close to faltering just weeks ago over a thorny border dispute as premier Li Keqiang struck a clear note about the need for “mutual strategic trust” and stronger bilateral ties, and the two sides agreed to expand trade and defence cooperation.
The border dispute featured prominently in talks but did not appear to have cast a shadow over wide-ranging discussions that the foreign office characterised as “significant, substantive and productive”. Premier Li’s “warm” and “outgoing” personality set the atmosphere for talks, a senior diplomat said.
The two sides signed a raft of agreements relating to trade, agriculture, meat exports, micro-irrigation and sharing of information relating to flood waters, among others. A joint statement laid out a detailed blueprint for cooperation in areas such as railways, civil nuclear energy and allowing greater market access. A proposed Border Defence Cooperation Agreement did not come up for discussion even though both sides have exchanged drafts.
“We also took stock of lessons learnt from the recent incident in the Western Sector, when existing mechanisms proved their worth. We tasked our Special Representatives to consider further measures that may be needed to maintain peace and tranquillity along the border,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said. The two sides will strive to take bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2015, even as China has for the first time agreed to take measures to address the sharp imbalance in trade. “I would say, in the last few years certainly this was the most positive and most practical response that we have got at the high level from the Chinese side,” India’s ambassador to Beijing, S Jaishankar, said. The two sides agreed that allowing greater investments across the border was part of the solution to the trade imbalance problem. The first meeting of the India-China CEOs forum also took place on Monday. The two sides also took forward a proposed free-trade agreement. Li painted an ambitious vision for stronger partnership with the two countries, saying world peace “cannot be a reality without strategic trust between India and China”. “The purpose of my current visit to India is three-fold — to increase mutual trust, to intensify cooperation and to face the future,” Li said, adding that on the basis of deeper mutual trust, the two countries can build a new type of relations between major countries. “That will be a true blessing for Asia and the world.” The two sides agreed to work on a more liberalised visa regime and to expand tourism and people-to-people contact. On India’s concern about the dams China was building on Brahmaputra, Jaishankar said we received a sympathetic response. “They pointed out that they were responsible, that they would not do something which would damage our interests.”
Singh has accepted Li’s invitation to visit China. Ahead of this visit, defence minister AK Antony will visit China soon, as will NSA Shivshankar Menon, who will meet his counterpart.


Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said India and China have the “wisdom” to find mutually acceptable solution to the boundary problem and the two countries have not shied away from addressing the vexed issue.
Mr. Li also said China will support its enterprises to increase investments in India and help Indian products have access to Chinese market as he supported a favourable trade balance in a bid to decrease mounting bilateral trade deficit.
A day after two rounds of talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mr. Li said China has the intention to “sincerely” resolving the pending issues, including that of cross-border rivers, and favoured increased bilateral relations between the two big neighbours.
Addressing the Indian industry at a function organised by FICCI in Delhi, the Chinese Premier said cooperation between the two big neighbours will lead to a “new paradigm” of cooperation.
He also quoted a Chinese proverb — a distant relative may not be useful as a near neighbour — to emphasise on the relations between the two neighbours.
Invoking ancient relations between the two, he said, “We will be able to take the bilateral relations to new heights. We have launched a new agenda...taking India-China relations to a new starting point for further growth,” he said.
“We are one-third of world’s total population and our interactions attract the world. Without doubt, China-India relations are most important global relations,” he said.
Stressing on the need for increased people-to-people interaction between India and China, Mr. Li declared 2014 as the year of exchanges between the two nations “so as to boost our understanding and friendship”.
Mr. Li favoured peace and stability in the South-East Asia region and hoped the “relevant issues” will be resolved soon.
“We have also discussed issues of regional security. We hope there is peace and stability in South Asia and a stable South-East Asia is consistent with China’s interests,” he said.
On India-China trade relations, Mr. Li said it is imperative for the two countries to maintain a “dynamic trade balance”.
While striving to realise the trade turnover target of USD 100 billion by 2015, the two countries agreed to take measures to address the issue of trade imbalance. These include cooperation on pharmaceutical supervision, including registration, stronger links between Chinese enterprises and Indian IT industry, the joint statement said.
Mr. Li said peaceful co-existence between India and China will be of global significance and they should seek cooperation from not afar but closely.
The cooperation between the two countries will induct a “new dynamism” in its relations, he said.
Noting that China is still a developing country, he said, “I want the voice of developing countries to be stronger. China and India are linked to each other through natural boundaries. Our friendly relations date back to ancient time.”

India - Pakistan resume trade on LoC

Trade between India and Pakistan resumed over the de facto border in Kashmir yesterday after a 20-day halt sparked by deadly army clashes, with traders grumbling about their losses.
Six Pakistani trucks crossed into Indian-administered Kashmir, an official said, ending the halt in trade sparked by the killing of five soldiers earlier this month.
The convoy, carrying onions, dates and dried fruits, crossed the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the two parts of the disputed Himalayan territory, shortly before midday.
A similar number also crossed over from Poonch on the Indian side of the LoC to Rawalakot on the Pakistan side; with dozens more trucks waiting to make the same journey.
Cross-border trade has been encouraged in recent years as a means of improving relations between the nuclear-armed rivals, who have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.
Kishan Singh, an Indian member of a joint chamber of commerce formed by traders on both sides of the LoC, welcomed the resumption but said it was not enough to dispel the uncertainty.

GST update

The Centre and state governments have reached a broad understanding on the structure of the proposed goods and services tax (GST), raising hopes of an early rollout of the UPA government’s ambitious indirect tax reform.
The central government has agreed to drop the contentious dispute settlement body in the Constitutional Amendment Bill and also decided on a partial rollout of GST, giving states the flexibility to join or exit the framework.
The key BJP-ruled states, however, continue to have some issues.
“There is broad consensus on the design of GST...Certain issues require more discussion,” Sushil Modi, Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister and Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers said.
A day earlier, differences over the issue of compensation for reduction in central sales tax rates had been ironed out.
The GST proposes to replace the plethora of indirect taxes with one single levy, a system that will help all stakeholder governments, business and consumers by preventing leakage, cascading of taxes and lowering the incidence of tax.
On the second day of the meeting, the panel of state finance ministers approved the report of a sub-committee set up by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on GST design, and decided to set up panels to look into three aspects of the tax regime: revenue-neutral rate and place of supply rules, exempted list of items, threshold for the tax and issues regarding dual control for small traders, and integrated GST that would be levied on inter-state sales and imposition of value-added tax on imports.
The panel also decided to bring petroleum products within the ambit of GST while keeping alcohol out of the proposed regime.
On Monday, the panel had agreed on a new compensation formula for phasing out central sales tax.
“There is 90%-95% consensus on all key issues...the groups have been set up as everybody wants to know the mechanics of how the structure would actually work,” said a senior official who was present at the meeting.
However, some BJP-ruled states continue to have reservations.
“There is no consensus... Most states have concerns on all key issues,” said Raghavji, finance minister of Madhya Pradesh.
The Centre will now approach the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance for changes in the Constitutional Amendment Bill, including dropping the dispute settlement body and a new mechanism to describe consensus in the proposed GST council.
As per the agreed proposal, the Centre’s vote will carry one-third weightage while the strength required to pass a proposal would be three-fourth of the members in the council. States will also have the power to raise tax rates in times of calamity.
The Constitutional Amendment Bill, tabled in March 2011, will allow the Centre to tax goods at the retail level and states to tax services. At present, the Centre can tax goods at the factory gate and the latter cannot tax services.
The Bill has been opposed by some states as they see the dispute settlement body and GST Council as encroachment on their autonomy.


A day after resolving the contentious CST issue, state finance ministers formed three subcommittees to look into other matters like IT infrastructure for smooth rollout of the goods and service tax regime.
“The deadlock over GST issue is now over. It is historic as there was a general consensus for introduction of GST,” Sushil Kumar Modi, the chairman of empowered committee of finance ministers, told reporters.
Though there was broad consensus over many features of the GST Bill, the empowered committee decided to set up three subcommittees to resolve issues, which could not be agreed upon by the finance ministers of different states, he said at the conclusion of the two-day meeting of state finance ministers.
While one sub-committee will deal with integrated GST (IGST), another subcommittee to address issues relating to revenue neutral rates (RNR) and Place of Supply Rules (PSR). The second subcommittee will deliberate mostly on service tax rules, said Modi, who is also the finance minister of Bihar.
As state finance ministers sought complete withdrawal or reduction of dual control system to protect interest of small and medium traders, the empowered committee also decided to put the issue for verification of a sub-committee.
“The three sub-committees will give their reports within three months,” Modi said adding the sub-committee on dual control will have to deliberate on the issues relating to exempted items and threshold for imposition of GST. The empowered committee also resolved to suggest to the finance ministry to incorporate provision of allowing the states to opt out of the GST fold if they desired. “In the present GST Constitution Amendment Bill there is no such provision. We cannot force states to accept GST,” Modi said.
Modi said the states demanded the centre should not hold rights to impose tax on declared goods like coal and LPG.

RBI cuts rates at last

RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao met markets more than half way by lowering the benchmark interest rate and banks’ cash reserve ratio, but declined to say if the move heralded the beginning of a lower interest rate cycle. The reduction in two key variables could lead to lower borrowing costs, although bankers caution it may not be too much given the fight among banks for deposits that is raising their cost of funds. The lower rates may ease the pinch for corporates, but again not significantly enough for them to dust off their investment plans or build new factories.
Subbarao’s rate and reserve decisions were overshadowed by the red flags he raised on the record high current account deficit and stubbornly high food inflation, which could force him to reverse his stance in the coming months.
Subbarao cut the repo rate — the rate at which RBI lends to banks — by 25 basis points to 7.75% as expected. It threw in a bonus 25-basis point cut in cash reserve ratio to 4%, which left markets pleasantly surprised and will ease the pressure on the central bank from industry and the government for a supportive monetary policy to aid faltering growth.
The CRR cut will release Rs 18,000 crore into the banking system, and ultimately help the cause of lower interest rates.

Industry reactions to RBI’s moves were mildly positive, even though in the markets, which had penciled in a 25-basis-point rate cut, the initial enthusiasm did not last long. The benchmark BSE Sensex handed back early gains to end the day 0.6%, or 112 points, lower at 19,990. Ten-year government bond yields fell 4 basis points to 7.84% as Subbarao signalled CRR cuts and more bond purchases to improve liquidity. The rupee rose 14 paise to 53.77 per dollar.

RBI lowered its estimate for GDP growth for this fiscal year to 5.5% from 5.8% and that for wholesale price inflation to 6.8% from 7.5%. But the governor, throwing enough hints at the prospect of more troubles for an economy that has been living beyond its means, appeared to suggest that further rate cuts were not a given.
Even as inflation for December fell to a three-year low of 7.18%, with the price rise for manufactured products less than 5%, food prices are climbing. The increase in consumer prices for December got back into double digits, fuelling inflationary expectations. Furthermore, proposed periodic increases in diesel prices and those of items such as coal and power in the months ahead could stoke further price increases.
For RBI, which has long been concerned about high fiscal deficit and runaway inflation, there is now a new demon to slay — the current account deficit, which is the excess of spending overseas than earnings that hit a record high of 5.4% in September and, according to some experts, may have hit 6% in December.

CST issue resolved

The Centre and states have resolved the contentious issue of CST compensation with the states agreeing for a lower payment of Rs 34,000 crore for phasing out the Central Sales Tax, a precondition for rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
“The amount of compensation for three years— 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13—was about Rs 34,000 crore. The Centre has agreed to pay this compensation amount to states,” Bihar deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi.
According to the resolution at the meeting on CST issue, the Centre would bear 100% of the loss accrued to states in 2010-11 fiscal on account of lowering of CST. However, for 2011-12 and 2012-13 fiscal, the Centre would give 75% and 50% of the losses to the states. CST, a tax imposed on the interstate movement of goods, was reduced from 4% to 3% in 2007-08 and further to 2% in 2008-09 after the introduction of value-added tax (VAT). The centre had then promised the states that it would bear losses due to reduction of CST. “However, the promises were not kept,” Modi said, adding the Empowered Committee accepted a central proposal to reduce the rate of compensation for early payment. The committee set up by finance minister P Chidambaram to resolve the CST issue had suggested that the payment of Rs 34,000 crore be made to the states towards losses on account of phasing out of CST.
The CST was to be phased out totally after the introduction of GST, which was originally scheduled to be launched from April 2010. Chidambaram recently said that even as GST Bill is unlikely to be passed by April 2013, he hopes to introduce it in the Monsoon session.
The GST rollout has missed several deadlines on account of differences over contentious issue of CST compensation and design of the GST structure between the states and the Centre. Introduced in the Lok Sabha in March 2011, GST Constitution Amendment Bill is with the standing committee on finance. Modi said that the states desire that the GST should be rolled out in next fiscal, failing which they would revert to the CST levy of 4%.
Finance ministers of 13 states—Gujarat, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattishgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Delhi and Haryana attended the meeting while other states were represented by senior finance department officers. The Empowered Committee would deliberate on the GST issue on Tuesday, Modi said.
Chidambaram had earlier said he would outline amendments to the Constitution on GST in his Budget speech if there was consensus among states on the issue.

Of Mobile subscribers....

Of Private Sector Banks....

Green Revolution 2.0

A string of previously laggard states are poised to overtake Punjab and Haryana, India’s traditional grain bowl, as the new powerhouses of food production, driven largely by — surprise — state support.
While privatisation is often thought desirable for key sectors of the economy, second-generation “green revolutions” across several states demonstrate that government initiatives can still turn things around.
India had raised the annual funding for a "green revolution in eastern India" from Rs.400 crore to Rs.1,000 crore for 2012-13. The results are showing.
Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Bihar have posted over 10 million tonnes of food output for the first time, with Madhya Pradesh picking a top central award recently.
Each of these states were awarded Rs.2 crore for highest overall foodgrain output, while they were also given Rs.1 crore in the individual crop category.
With the gradual weakening of the 60s green revolution, which had transformed India into a nation that could feed itself, planners knew it was time to turn the foot-dragging eastern part into the next food bowl.
Rising consumption and flattening yields in the country's breadbasket (Punjab and Haryana) has necessitated a renewed “green revolution”, especially in newer states. Northeast, with its fertile soil and abundant rainfall, could be the country's next agricultural powerhouse, trends show.
Nagaland and Manipur achieved farm output of nearly 1 million tonne this year.
Under individual crop category for rice, Bihar outperformed even big states. In wheat, pulses and coarse cereals, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh have nearly matched Haryana’s production.
Roughly two years of work has paid off for Bihar, which has doubled its rice output from 3 million tonnes to about 6 million tonnes, while Jharkhand has trebled production from 1.1 million tonnes to 3.3 million tonnes.
Overall, the eastern states have produced 7 million more tonnes of rice, an official said.

DD makeover

IKEA gets FIPB nod

Bowing to pressure, the government reworked its earlier decision and allowed Swedish furniture maker IKEA to invest over Rs 10,000 crore in opening stores and cafeterias, setting the stage for the largest foreign investment in the retail space.
The decision by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), which will have to be endorsed by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), comes days before finance minister P Chidambaram and commerce & industry minister Anand Sharma court international investors. While Chidambaram is headed for road shows in Asia and Europe, Sharma will meet bosses of Walmart and Tesco and other foreign investors in Davos later this week.
Unlike IKEA, which will enter through the single-brand window, the two British and US retailer are looking at the multi-brand model, where 51% foreign direct investment was allowed recently. In case of single-brand retail, 100% FDI is allowed.
Earlier, the FIPB had allowed IKEA to set up shop but was against allowing it to open cafeterias inside its outlets known for selling ready-to-assemble furniture. But following repeated requests, the commerce & industry ministry pushed the Swedish retailer’s case, prompting a rethink in the government. The entire investment will, however, not flow in immediately and will trickle in over 15-20 years.
Opening up retail trading to foreign players, a politically sensitive move, is among the most crucial steps taken by the UPA government over the last four months as it tries to win back investor confidence and ensure that foreign flows keep flowing in and help fund the current account deficit, which was estimated at 5.4% of GDP in the last quarter, against the comfort level of 2.5-3%.

India's fascination for Gold

Sensex reclaims 20k

The Sensex breached the 20,000-mark for the first time in two years on Tuesday after the government postponed the implementation of the anti-tax avoidance rules until 2016, and declining inflation raised hopes of the Reserve Bank of India cutting interest rates when it meets this month-end to review its quarterly monetary policy.
The benchmark index hit an intra-day high of 20036.82  but closed marginally below the psychological mark at 19986.82, a 0.4% gain from the previous session amid low volumes. The Nifty also hit a two-year intra-day high of 6068.5 before closing lower at 6056.6. However, both the benchmark indices closed at their highest levels since January 6, 2011.
Half of the 30 Sensex constituents rose, with Bharti Airtel, ITC and ICICI Bank leading the charge. The worst performers were Coal India, Sterlite and Jindal Steel. TCS, which beat Street estimates with a 26% rise in its Q3 net profit, closed flat.
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Government fine-tunes Red policy

The Centre fine-tuned the scheme to create anti-Naxal special forces in four states — Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha. The plan is on the lines of Greyhounds of Andhra Pradesh to fight Maoists and pitched for a deadline to deploy commandos on ground to step up the operation.
Specialized forces fully trained in guerilla warfare and capable of hot pursuit across inter-state borders as well as the infrastructure will be set up within six months.
The department of expenditure under the finance ministry approved Rs 280 crore for setting up these forces. The Centre will spend 75% of the sum and the rest will be borne by the state concerned.
The home ministry, which has already decided to deploy 10,000 more paramilitary personnel in Maoist-affected areas over the months, also set guidelines for the specialized force and decided to fund infrastructure, weaponry and equipment needed to fill the critical gap.
The special forces will be set up in such a manner that it will be capable of staying and operating in interior and inhospitable terrain / jungles for at least a week at a stretch with a view to take on extremists in their strongholds.
Trained to reach inaccessible, remote forest areas throughout a state in the shortest possible time and conduct swift operations, the forces will have instructions to travel “mostly by road or on foot” to avoid landmines in the Red zones.
In order to ensure effectiveness of the scheme by adhering to set guidelines, the home ministry also put certain conditions before states such as Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Bihar, which already have their own special forces.
In its notes to the states, the ministry said, “The special force of the state concerned has to be upgraded as per the approved guidelines on the lines of Greyhounds.”

SpiceJet rakes it in

Budget carrier SpiceJet’s bet to stimulate demand through sale of cheap fares for a limited period for the upcoming lean season has paid rich dividends. The airline is said to have raked in over Rs. 160 crore through sale of discounted fares within a period of just three days, which is about 40% of its monthly revenue of . 400 crore through ticket sales.
On Friday, the airline surprised the market by its announcement to sell a million tickets across its network for Rs. 2,013 each.
The offer was for a limited period of three days. The sale of tickets was for travel between February 1 and April 30, a period when airlines struggle to get loads on domestic flights. SpiceJet was able to sell over seven lakh seats out of the total 10 lakh that were on offer.
SpiceJet’s chief executive officer Neil Mills said what SpiceJet implemented was a simple strategy that airlines follow across the globe to garner incremental revenues by offering discounted fares for a very short and limited period through ticket sales.
SpiceJet expects about Rs. 20-25 crore in incremental revenues for the period of three months. The total number of seats available during the period is about 50 lakh, out of which it has managed to sell 10 lakh seats.

People in the know in the airline say the strategy was well thought of and has been in the works for about a month.
The negative industry growth that dipped too low in months of December and January were the reasons why the airline wanted to secure some seats per flight across its network in the lean month of March.
The airline through this sale wanted to first stir the market up as the sentiment currently for travel is very negative and second they wanted to see if the hits are on the website of the airline or the loads will go to the travel agents.
Equity analysts said the move by SpiceJet seems to have paid off as a good strategy because the airline does not have idle capacity for the coming quarter and will have loads of more than 80% and will also have revenues to be realised for these months that has been taken in advance.

SC on Telecom tangle

The Supreme Court extended the January 18 deadline for shutting down mobile networks by an additional two weeks. A two-judge bench, comprising Justices GS Singhvi and KS Radhakrishnan, said these companies can continue operations till February 4, the next date of the hearing.
Last week, the department of telecommunication (DoT) had asked the apex court to extend the January 18 deadline by three months as the government was making a last-ditch effort to offer a lifeline to the Indian operations of Russia’s Sistema and Norway’s Telenor.
According to the court’s earlier directive, all mobile phone companies whose permits were quashed in February last year were mandated to shut down their networks by January 18, unless they had obtained airwaves and new licences in the recently concluded spectrum auctions.
The two-member bench also hinted that it may not extend the permits of mobile phone companies if they did not bid for licences in the upcoming airwaves sale.
The court also asked the government to inform it on the base price for airwaves in the spectrum sale scheduled to begin on March 11.
The panel of ministers on spectrum has already cut the base price for airwaves in the upcoming auctions. The bench sought this information to ascertain if companies with quashed permits were likely to participate in the upcoming sale and indicated that mobile phone firms interested in bagging licences in the next auction would be allowed to continue operations in the interim period.
The bench also took the opportunity to caution the government that any revision of prices may lead to litigation. “Have you taken a decision to reduce the (reserve) price? It will cause more litigation,” Justice Singhvi said. “You charge a different price in October and a different price in March 2013, and 2014, for the remaining areas/licences. There will be more litigation inter-se parties,” Justice Singhvi cautioned, adding fresh litigation on this issue would not be its concern.
Last week, EGoM on spectrum had recommended a 30-50% reduction in the base price for airwaves in the 800 MHz band.

Telecom operator Uninor said it may decide to participate in the upcoming auction to get spectrum for the Mumbai circle and will continue its services in the financial capital following the Supreme Court granting an extension to operators whose licences were cancelled

DMIC snippets

The UP government is all set to sign a state support agreement (SSA) with the Centre for the multi-crore Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project during the three-day international industry summit in Agra beginning January 27.
The agreement was likely to be inked on January 28 when UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav would chair a session projecting UP as an ‘industry destination' during the summit. UP's infrastructure and industrial development commissioner Anil Kumar Gupta confirmed that a draft of the agreement would soon be readied to be signed between the state government and the Union ministry of the commerce and industry. He said that the state government would subsequently sign a shareholding agreement with the Centre to take the project forward.
The project envisages setting up of seven investment and 13 industrial regions between Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai and Dadri in Greater Noida, will pass through two investment regions in UP – Greater Noida and Meerut-Muzzaffarnagar.
This is apart from a dedicated freight corridor of 150 to 200 km on both sides of the investment region. The project becomes crucial for UP because the proposed east-west corridor merges at Khurja which lies in Uttar Pradesh. The corridor will help the farmers, especially of the east UP, to ship their produce to places as far as Mumbai.
The project also proposes the development of Bodaki railway station, Dadri-Vallabhgarh railway station, and Greater Noida-Faridabad expressway, besides a logistic park/township and an automart. The authority has also identified setting up of a power plant in the region as an important feature.
The GNDA and UPSIDC had been asked to identify a site for setting up a hi-tech integrated industrial township in the region.
Gupta said that the state government has already earmarked around 2,500 acres of land for the project. Of that, 500 acres will be allotted in Greater Noida alone.
According to the project blueprint, the Centre will invest around Rs.3000 crore in the region lying in UP. This will include setting up of industries, including Food, IT, electronics and auto industries. In all, the project is expected to create 12 lakh jobs.