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Edition #193

15 AUG 2014, FRIDAY

Powered by iStations The Information Team, Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies

Markets & Economy

July trade deficit widens to $12.23 billion

Petrol price to be cut by 1.89-2.38/litre from August 15

Indias exports in July rose 7.33% from a

Petrol prices are set to be cut by 1.89-2.38 per litre at the stroke of midnight on Independence Day,

year earlier, helped by a pick-up in

August 15. This was stated by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) Petroleum and Natural Gas,

external

data

Dharmendra Pradhan on his official Twitter page. The Minister tweeted that the price cut would be to

showed on Thursday. Exports in July

demand,

government

the tune of 2.38 per litre in Delhi. Prices of petrol are revised every fortnight by oil marketing

reached $27.73 billion, data released by

companies. On Tuesday, IndianOil Chairman, B Ashok also indicated a possible price cut. "Prices are

the ministry of commerce and industry

reviewed every fortnight. Right now all indications are positive towards a price cut," Ashok said on

showed. The trade deficit stood at

Tuesday.

Source : Business Line

$12.23 billion, higher than $11.76 billion

in June.

Source : Business Line

All eyes turn to ECB as eurozone recovery stalls

With data on Thursday showing that the eurozone's tentative economic recovery is already stalling,

Lanco Infra, Adani Power gain after

eyes are once again back on the European Central Bank to come to the region's rescue. Throughout

Udupi power plant deal

Europe's seemingly chronic crisis, the ECB has never hesitated to take on the role of firefighter, even

Infratech and Adani

though it has never let up in its insistence that governments must do their homework, too, get their

Power are trading higher on the bourses

finances in order and push through -- potentially unpopular -- economic reforms. Since November

after

bought

2011, the ECB has cut its key interest rates six times, lowering its key refinancing rate from 1.50 per

Lanco

cent to an all-time low of 0.15 per cent in June. It has also pumped unprecedented volumes of liquidity

Shares

of Lanco
Adani

Power

has

Hyderabad-based
Infratechs Udupi power

plant

at

an

into Europe's banking system and bought up the sovereign bonds of the most vulnerable countries.
Source : Economic Times

enterprise valuation of Rs 6,000 crore.

Lanco Infratech has locked in upper

Scanty rainfall sends spot power prices soaring

circuit of 5% at Rs 8.95 and Adani Power

Amid the deficit monsoon this year, spot power prices have exceeded the levels seen last year. And, it

gained 3% to Rs 53.60 on the National

is expected the prices will rise further. In July, the spot price, or market clearing price (MCP), of power

Stock Exchange (NSE). Adani will take

across the country was Rs 3.76 a unit, 64 per cent more compared to a year earlier. In June, the MCP

over the plants Rs 4,000 crore worth of

stood at Rs 3.89 a unit, against Rs 2.23 in the year-ago period. Power demand continues to be high,

debt, Lanco will receive Rs 2,000 crore in

as governments in states headed for Assembly elections are trying to ensure adequate power.

cash, which it plans to use for lowering its

Besides, power is being drawn for kharif crop-sowing in various regions. Madhya Pradesh, which

debt.

usually sells power during this season, isnt doing so this year due to the scarcity of water in

Source : Business Standard

reservoirs.

Source : Business Standard

Sahara executive proposes Rs 3,000-cr

Finance

'contribution scheme'
As Sahara India

chief Subrata

Roy continues negotiations with potential

investors to raise funds to secure his
release

from

jail,

senior

group

executive has proposed a 'contribution

scheme' to raise Rs 2,500-3,000 crore
from

two

parabanking

lakh

members

division.

The

of

its

scheme

India has enough forex buffer to tackle global volatility: Raghuram Rajan
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan on Thursday reiterated that India has enough
foreign exchange buffer to deal with any global volatility. Replying to a question from a student at St
Xaviers College in Mumbai, Rajan however warned that the buffer cannot protect against all
volatilities. We have to be careful because we are not a reserve currency like the dollar. But we have
built a buffer of reserves. You cannot protect against all volatility but we have to bring down fiscal and
current account deficits, Rajan said.

Source : Livemint

ED finds FEMA violation against Flipkart, penalty likely to be around Rs 1,000 crore

involves collection of Rs 1.25 lakh-1.50

After over two years of probe ED is ready to slap a showcause notice to Flipkart. Sources in the ED

lakh each from these two lakh persons,

said, Our investigation is over and our Bangalore team has found evidence of FEMA violation against

as per a letter sent by D K Srivastava, an

Flipkart." Adding that a showcause notice will be issued soon. The source who refused to be identified

Executive Director in the group.

explained that India's top e-commerce company had violated provisions of FEMA as WS Retail, the

Source Economic Times

holding company had investments from companies overseas. FDI norms in India do not allow FDI in ecommerce especially in business to consumer models.

Source Economic Times

Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies

July exports slows down to 7.3% at $27.7 bn

Tata Steel plans Rs 14,000-crore capex during this fiscal

Exports in July slowed down to 7.33% at $27.72 billion from a

Steel major Tata Steel Ltd has chalked out a Rs 12,000 crore to Rs 14,000

growth rate of 10.22% in June but rose compared to $25.83 billion

crore capital expenditure plan to fund expansion of its Kalinganagar plant

in the same month last year. The growth rate slowed down mainly

during the current financial year. One of the key pillars of the company's

on account of fall in shipments of electronic goods, gems and

strategy is to continue to build capacity in India which is globally

jewellery and textiles. Imports, on the other hand, rose by 4.25% at

competitive. In Jamshedpur, as part of the 2.9 million tonnes per annum

$39.95 billion compared to $38.32 billion in July last year, according

expansion, the company achieved almost a million tonnes of additional

to the initial estimates released by the ministry of commerce and

production and sales during the financial tear 2013-14, Mistry said.

industry.

Source :Economic Times

Source :Business Standard

Operations
Adani buys Lanco's Udupi power plant for Rs 6,000 cr

Adani gets nod for $2 bn rail project in Australia

Adani Power has bought Hyderabad-based Lanco Infratechs Udupi

It has been raining good news for Indian billionaire Gautam Adani promoted

power plant at an enterprise valuation of Rs 6,000 crore. While

Adani Group as the Queensland state government in Australia has cleared

Adani will take over the plants Rs 4,000 crore worth of debt, Lanco

the $2 bn North Galilee Basin Rail line project to be executed by the

will receive Rs 2,000 crore in cash, which it plans to use for

Groups subsidiary Adani Mining Pty Ltd. This development follows

lowering its debt.This is the largest acquisition in the thermal power

Australian Federal Governments recent decision to give environmental

space. According to bankers, Adani Power pipped JSW Energy in

approval to Adani Minings $15.5 billion Carmichael Coal Mine project in the

the negotiations and announced the transaction within two weeks

Queensland state.

of starting talks.

Source :Business Standard

Source :Business Standard

IT distributors join hands for e-retailing ops to compete with Flipkart

ONGC: Higher dry well write-offs hits Q1 profit

Facing the heat from e-commerce protals, several distributors of

Higher depreciation and amortisation on account of write-off of dry wells to

technology products have decided to set up an online marketplace,

the tune of Rs 3,830 crore, along with lower other income, impacted Oil and

which will compete with the likes of Flipkart. The offtake of

Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)'s net profit in the June quarter. This more

electronic items through e-commerce portals is growing at a fast

than eclipsed a 17 per cent year-on-year increase in net realisation to $47.2

pace leading to increased competition for brick and mortar

per barrel. For the quarter, revenues at Rs 21,851 crore (up 13.2 per cent

shops.The first-of-its kind portal will be owned by some 80 channel

year-on-year) were largely in-line with Bloomberg consensus estimate of

partners, all members of Progressive Channels Association of

Rs 21,841 crore. However, net profit at Rs 4,782 crore (up 19.1 per cent)

Information Technology. The industry body, which met in New Delhi

missed the estimate of Rs 5,821 crore by 17.9 per cent. Edelweiss analysts

said the portal will offer product-based services across the country

say dry well write-offs tend to be lumpy and hence the sharp rise is not

using the strong channel network.

necessarily a trend.

Source :Business Standard

Source :Business Standard

Human Resources
Pre-placement offers score high at top B-schools with a revival in job market
Strong indications of a turnaround in the economy coupled with a revival in the job economy have fired up pre-placement offers (PPOs) at the
country's

top

business

schools.

Companies

such

as

McKinsey

&

Co,

The

Boston

Consulting

Group,

PepsiCo,

AT

Kearney, Wipro, HUL,Vodafone and Philips India have rolled out pre-placement offers, not just at the IIMs, but also at campuses such as XLRI, XIM
Bhubaneswar; MDI Gurgaon, and NMIMS, all of which are witnessing a surge in numbers by 20-100% compared with the year earlier period.XLRI
has already received 25 PPOs and 15 PPIs this year, a 38% increase over the same period last year.
Source :Economic Times

Source :Economic Times

Skills CIOs need to possess to emerge as business leaders

Gone are the days CIOs needed to just know just about technology. Vijay Sethi, CIO and vice president IS & HR, Hero MotoCorp says that today
CIOs need to possess sharp business acumen and a strong base in business knowledge, financial analysis, presentation skills, team building and
relationship management. CIOs need to be business savvy: With the realisation that technology has the potential to give a strong competitive edge
to businesses; organisations are expecting CIOs to step up, closely align with various business functions and find ways to bring more ROI using
technology. To step up to such a challenging role of a strategic business leader CIOs need to up skill themselves to become business savvy and
build a strong base in business knowledge, financial analysis, presentation skills, team building and relationship management .
Source :Economic Times

Big salaries make a comeback for engineering grads; Google, Microsoft offer crore-plus pay packets
Placements at the non-IIT campuses are a precursor to campus hiring at IITs, which kick off in December. Early indications at these institutes
suggest that happy days are here again for the job market.Epic Systems with a $1,08,300 (Rs 66.4 lakh) offer and Schlumberger with $1,05,000
(Rs 64.4 lakh) are the other top paymasters soon to arrive on campus during the placement season. According to campus sources, Goldman Sachs
paid Rs 13 lakh this year for roles in the technological division compared with Rs 11 lakh last year.

Source :Economic Times