Coffee exports shoot up by 42 pc in Jan-April 2010

STAFF WRITER 14:57 HRS IST

New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) Strong global demand and increasing domestic supply pushed up the country's coffee exports by 42 per cent to 1,00,574 tonnes in the first four months of 2010, according to the Coffee Board of India.

In terms of value, coffee exports surged to Rs 1,025 crore between January and April from Rs 763.38 crore in the same period last year, it said.

"Exports have increased due to a rise in demand for the robusta variety of coffee and a hike in the re-export of processed coffee," a Coffee Board official told PTI.

The country had shipped only 70,843 tonnes of coffee in the same period last year even as demand slumped due to the economic recession, he said.

India is Asia's third-largest producer of coffee.

ICICI Bank to hire up to 7,000 employees in 2010-11

STAFF WRITER 14:8 HRS IST

Mumbai, May 3 (PTI) ICICI Bank today said it plans to increase headcount by up to 7,000 this financial year.

"We plan to hire around 5,000-7,000 people this fiscal.

We have also declared bonus and increments for our employees," ICICI Bank Managing Director and CEO Chanda Kochhar told reporters after inaugurating the 2,000th branch of the largest private sector bank in Mumbai today.

ICICI Bank has become the first private sector bank to reach this milestone, giving it a wide distribution reach in the country, Kochhar said.

The bank plans to add more branches and ATMs in the current fiscal, she said.

"The inauguration of this 2,000th branch signifies our commitment to getting closer to our customers through an enhanced branch network. Our branches are well-equipped to address customer needs through a wide range of products and services. Our branches now have dedicated service area for privilege banking customers," she added.

Deer deaths: 3 forest department personnel suspended

STAFF WRITER 0:56 HRS IST

Rohtak, May 3 (PTI) Three forest department officials were today placed under suspension in connection with the death of ten deer at a Deer Park in Meham town near here.

Wild life Inspector Rajender Punia, guard Charan Singh, and night watchman Randhir Singh were suspended on the basis of preliminary inquiry conducted by DFO (Hisar Range) Shakti Singh, District Forest Officer (Rohtak Range) Jagdish Chander said.

Prima-facie, all the three were found "guilty" in the inquiry report, he added.

Ten deer were found dead and four others injured at the park on Saturday morning.

Night watchman Randhir Singh had found the deer dead when he went inside the park and saw dogs eating their carcass.

Local train services disrupted, 20 motormen dismissed

STAFF WRITER 9:16 HRS IST

Mumbai, May 5 (PTI) Suburban train services in Mumbai continued to be disrupted today on the second day of motormen's strike even as 20 motormen were dismissed for refusing to report for work.

"Ten motormen of Central and Western railway each have been dismissed as they refused to work," railway officials said here.

The western and eastern express highway also continued to be jammed with commuters opting for road transport to reach their destinations.

Railway authorities today said only 20 per cent suburban trains were operating as a result of the hunger strike by motormen demanding hike in pay scales and allowances.

Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil said the state government will take up the issue with the Centre, seeking its intervention to provide relief to Mumbai commuters.

The state government is also reviewing if provisions of Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) could be invoked in this case, he said.

Sensex recovers 79 pts in opening trade on funds buying

STAFF WRITER 9:28 HRS IST

Mumbai, May 4 (PTI) The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex recovered by nearly 79 points in opening trade today on fresh capital inflows by foreign funds.

The 30-share index, which had lost 172.63 points in the previous trading session, rose by 78.74 points, or 0.45 per cent to 17,464.82 points.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange's Nifty also moved up by 27.40 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 5,250.15 points.

Brokers said fresh buying by foreign funds on the back of overnight gains in the US market mainly buoyed the trading sentiment here.

Besides, steady inflow of encouraging quarter earnings by companies also generated buying activity, they added.

Among major gainers, Jaiprakash Associates was up 1.59 per cent to Rs 146.80, Infosys Technologies 0.13 per cent to Rs 2,698.05, Wipro 0.23 per cent to Rs 676.25, Tata Consultancy Services 0.47 per cent to Rs 770.60, Mahindra and Mahindra 0.

Asian markets mixed in morning trades

Asian markets are trading mixed this morning, in spite of cues from the US markets.

The Hang Seng has added 136 points to 20,947.

The Seoul Composite and the Taiwan Weighted are flat at 1,723 and 7,955, respectively.

However, the Straits Times has dropped 28 points (1%) to 2,916. The Shanghai Composite is down 15 points at 2,855

Markets open in green on US cues

Markets opened on a positive note this morning, taking cues from the US markets, even as Asian peers trade mixed.

The Sensex opened flat at 17,371. The index thereafter touched a high of 17,465 and is now up 45 poinst at 17,431.

The Nifty is up 17 points at 5,239.

US markets ended in green on Monday as hopes of a financial recovery strenghtened as Europe introduced a rescue package for Greece. The Dow added 143 points (1.3%) to 11,151. The Nasdaq jumped 38 points (1.5%) to 2,498. The S&P 500 advanced 16 points (1.3%) to 1,202.

Asian markets are trading mixed this morning, in spite of cues from the US markets. The Hang Seng has added 136 points to 20,947. However, the Straits Times has dropped 28 points (1%) to 2,916.

BSE healthcare and realty indices have added 0.6% to 5,376 and 3,473, respectively. Auto and metal have also advanced in trades today.

Most of the stocks in the Sensex are tading flat with a positive bias.

Jaiparaksh Asoociates has gained 1.5% at Rs 146.

ACC and Hindustan Unilever have added 0.8% each to Rs 911 and Rs 236, respectively.

HDFC, Reliance Communications, Maruti and ICICI Bank are marginally up.

However, Hindalco has dropped 0.4% to Rs 172.

Hindustan Motors to report to BIFR

NEW DELHI: Hindustan Motors, the CK Birla group-owned maker of the Ambassador , said on Monday that the company will shortly report to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction as its net worth has eroded by 50% from the peak in the preceding four years.

Hindustan Motors chairman CK Birla told ET that the financial performance of the company will not affect the production of the Ambassador.

“Our net worth has been eroded by 50% and we now have to report to BIFR. There is a significant difference between this and becoming a BIFR case,” Birla said. “We have no plans of phasing out the Ambassador . In fact, demand has been good and we have lined up a lot of plans for the company ,” he added. BIFR is a government agency that helps to expedite either the revival or the closure of sick industrial companies.

Accumulated losses at the end of 31 March 2010 has resulted in an erosion of more than 50% of the company’s net worth from the peak during the preceding four years, the company said in a communication to the National Stock Exchange. This makes it mandatory for the company to report to BIFR as such cases are considered to be “potentially sick” under the norms. The board has also accepted the resignation of managing director Ravi Santhanam .

Hindustan Motors has been losing marketshare in the last two decades, first to state-owned Maruti and then to a slew of foreign manufacturers that brought unprecedented diversity, choice and affordability to car owners following the economic reforms of the early 1990s.

Govt to introduce bill to regulate unique ID project

BANGALORE | NEW DELHI: India plans to introduce a law for regulating the ambitious programme of giving unique identity numbers to nearly 1.2 billion citizens, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Nandan Nilekani confirmed to ET last week. “It’s happening. The UIDAI would be proposing a UIDAI Act to provide for statutory powers and responsibilities to the authority. This Act would address the issues of privacy and data security of the UIDAI database,” Mr Nilekani said.

In fact, the authority was formed last year with a road map to be established by an act of Parliament. The proposed law will authorise the UID to collect identity information, such as name, gender, date of birth, parents’ name, address and finger prints, from people voluntarily seeking a unique identity number.

Mr Nilekani added that the draft proposed UIDAI Bill will be submitted to the ministry of law shortly. Preparations are already underway to prepare a draft legislation and submit it to the concerned as per extant procedures, another UID official added. Constitutional experts like Subhash C Kashyap, former secretary general of the lower house of the Indian Parliament, say a legal act will help the UID authority strengthen its case.

“Planning Commission is in itself not a constitutional body. Getting a sanction of the law for such a body like UID will strengthen its case. To exercise abundant caution in their functions, such bodies often seek legislative approval,” he said. The government has already allotted Rs 1,900 crore to the authority this year. And the finance commission plans to spend another Rs 3,000 crore to give Rs 100 as an incentive to every ‘below-poverty-line’ citizen as a motivation to get enrolled.

Over the past few weeks, several civil right activists and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) have been protesting against the identity project for lack of proper legislation and concerns of privacy. “Passing a law won’t be easy for the government. We are definitely going to oppose it,” said Sanjay Parikh, advocate for human rights at the Supreme Court. Others like People’s Union for Civil Liberties say mammoth citizen data residing in a single database is what worries them. “The authority will have lots of data regarding a citizen that can be misused by vested interests,” said Pushkar Raj, general secretary of the organisation.

Meanwhile, activists also want the government to take a sympathetic view towards thousands of refugees from neighbouring countries, such as Bangladesh, while running the identity programme. “The government should take a sympathetic view towards them and consider them as citizens. They should be allotted UID numbers,” said Rajinder Sachar, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court and a human rights activist. Mr Sachar is the author of controversial report on the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in India.

ET

Sensex in positive; auto, healthcare stocks up

MUMBAI: The Indian stock markets opened in the positive Tuesday, tracking a rebound in other Asian markets.

The Sensex opened at 17,371.75 against the previous close of 17,386.08. The BSE sensitive index traded at 17,444.69, up 58.61 points or 0.34 per cent. The 30-share index touched a high of 17,464.82.

Nifty was ruling at 5233.15, gaining 10.4 points or 0.20 per cent. The NSE benchmark opened the session at 5223.90 against Monday’s close of 5222.75. In the early minutes of trade, the 50-share moved between 5250.15 and 5221.65.

Auto and healthcare stocks took the lead among the sectors while consumer goods, which were much in demand in the earlier session, slowed down.

“In line with mixed global markets today, our market may see flat opening and may move in a range bound mode. Nifty has strong support around 5180 levels. If it sustains below these levels, then we may see selling pressure till 5150-5120 levels. On the upside, if Nifty sustains above 5250 levels, only then can we see an upmove till 5280-5300 levels,” brokerage Anand Rathi said in its daily report.
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The brokerage added that reversal of the short term positive trend can be seen below 5150-5100 levels. If Nifty closes below 5150 levels, then selling could intensify and liquidating leverage and excessive positions would be advised.

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ET

Tata Housing to launch 10 new residential projects

NEW DELHI: Tata Housing today said it is planning to launch about 10 new residential projects in both affordable and luxury segments in 2010-11, with an investment of about Rs 1,200 crore along with its partners.

"We will acquire about 10 million sq ft of land in this fiscal, in which we will launch the new projects. While some projects will be developed with our joint venture partners, some will be standalone projects," Tata Housing Development Company Managing Director and CEO Brotin Banerjee told PTI.

The company will roll out the projects in different cities, like Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Bangalore, he added.

Tata Housing develops residential properties of four different economic categories - ultra luxury (Rs 3-7 crore), premium (Rs 80 lakh-Rs 2.5 crore), affordable (Rs 15-50 lakh) and value homes (sub Rs 10 lakh).

"We usually tie up with some small local partners, who have the land. The investment is also shared accordingly. To develop these 10 million sq ft, we will require about Rs 1,200 crore," Banarjee said.

When asked about the source of funding, he said it will be a mix of internal accruals, debt and sales revenue.

At present, the company is building about 10,000 housing units comprising 18-20 million sq ft across the country.

Banerjee said most of the projects are being developed in partnership and about Rs 2,000 crore is being invested for completion of the projects by 2011.

Last week, the company had announced to develop a super luxury hosing project 'Prive' at Lonavala, near Mumbai, offering apartments in a price range of Rs 3-7 crore.

On the other hand, in 2009, the company had launched a 1,300-unit low-cost housing project, which offered a room and a kitchen, at Rs 3.9 lakh under 'Shubh Griha' brand at Boisar around 100 km from Mumbai. It plans to take this brand across the country.

ET