Bhatinda Srinagar Gas Pipeline Project to be completed by July 2014
The Jammu and Kashmir Government on 10 December 2012 informed that the 328-km-long Bhatinda-Jammu-Srinagar gas pipeline project is scheduled to be completed by July 2014 to draw gas from Gujarat to the State. The progress on the proposed project was reviewed by Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah at a meeting of high-level officers in Jammu and an early start of work was emphasized by him. He stressed upon the need for fast tracking the project to ensure its timely completion.The availability of gas in abundance has been a great challenge for the Government of Jammu so this step towards supply of gas to the consumers in the State through gas pipeline is going to be a revolutionary step as it will relieve the pressure on availability of domestic gas and will also help generate employment.The gas pipeline will consist of 328-km-long main gas trunk from Bhatinda to Srinagar passing through Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Udhampur, Ramban, Anantnag, Pulwama and Srinagar and there will be hundreds of sub-lines which will supply gas to the consumers at their houses. The proposed gas pipeline project was already approved by Omar Abdullah during a meeting of State officers and the team of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) led by its Chairman Lalit Mansingh at Srinagar. The Chief Minister had directed PNGRB to start laying pipeline from both Srinagar and Bhatinda simultaneously so that gas is supplied to both the cities of Jammu and Srinagar at the same time.The project possessed greater importance to the State in providing adequate domestic and commercial supply of gas to the consumers on cheaper rates besides creating huge employment for youth of the State. The revenue and law department had already been directed by the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to finalise the Draft Bill for Right of Use of land for laying of gas pipelines by the gas company in the State legislature for enactment as per the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir.
US based Food Producer Cargill India acquired Wipro's Sunflower Vanaspati brand
US-based food producer and marketer Cargill India on 10 December 2012 announced the acquisition of the Sunflower Vanaspati brand from Wipro.The deal is going to help Wipro in strengthening its leadership position in the market and is expected to shore up Cargill's consumer brand portfolio and expand its market reach. Cargill and Wipro did not disclose the deal value of the brand but as per the trade analysts the deal was pegged at 30-40 crore Rupees.Since 2007, Wipro had been trying to get out of its traditional edible oil business which was started by Azim Premji's father Mohammad Hussain Hasham Premji in 1949 at Amalner, in Jalgaon district of Maharashtra.Sunflower Vanaspati accounts for barely 1% of Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting's revenue. Wipro's Consumer Care and lighting business segment recorded revenues close to 2000 crore Rupees for the first half of the current fiscal 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013.Cargill India besides marketing its edible oil portfolio that includes brands such as Nature Fresh, Sweekar and Gemini, also locally produces and markets Vanaspati under its brands Rath, NatureFresh Purita and, Gemini.
Supreme Court asked judge of SC and HC to inform government of India about duration, purpose and fun
On 10 December 2012, the Supreme Court partially stayed the order of Delhi high court in which it had cancelled three paras of Centre's 2010 circular which made it compulsory for the judges to take foreign visits only with approval of chief justice of the high court concerned or Chief Justice of India (CJI).The judges of Supreme Court as well as high court needed to inform the Government of India about the foreign visits which include the purpose of their visit, duration as well as the funding source. Foreign visits could be taken after traveling details were submitted to the Government of India. The high court had called these conditions offending for autonomy of higher judiciary, which is why it cancelled them on 25 May 2012. The high court had cancelled the paragraph which mentioned that travel details need to be submitted, but it clarified that the judged still needed to give information regarding their duration of the trip as well as city in which they intended to stay. These details need to be submitted to the chief justice of the HC concerned or CJI. In argument to the challenge of government to HC order, the solicitor general R F Nariman clarified that this circular was important in order to provide security for judges while they were in the foreign land. He declared that the judges went abroad on diplomatic passports which are issued to the judges by the Central Government. Bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justices S S Nijjar and J Chelameswar however declared that they also knew judges which took foreign trips on personal passports instead of diplomatic ones. Getting the information about foreign visit was made necessary so that the concerned ministry could help these judges if they needed some.The Supreme Court on 10 December 2012 stayed the order of Delhi high court in which it had cancelled the paragraph 10 of Centre’s 2010 circular.
New Dinosaur with Gigantic Nose Discovered in Mexico
Scientists in northern Mexico discovered a new dinosaur with a large prominent nose which lived about 73 million years ago. The duck-billed dinosaur, which was named Latirhinus uitstlani lived during the Late Cretaceous period and its wide nasal cavity might have given it incredible smell-detecting ability.As per researchers the giant nose of Dinosaur supported and provided enhanced space for a soft tissue structure, sort of like an inflatable bladder, for display, recognition and communication purposes in general.The dinosaur also possessed sturdy hind limbs ending in three toes, and relatively smaller and thinner forelimbs ending in 4 digits — meaning this animal was thumb-less.These dinosaurs were herbivores with a few thousand teeth closely packed together to form a grinding surface to chew the vegetation they fed upon.
As per the report it was concluded that the environment that Latirhinus inhabited was likely warmer and more humid than it is today’s time, with lakes and bays nearby.
Indian Economy Would Dominate the Economy of the World by 2030: US Intelligence Community Report
US intelligence community in its report called Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds which was released on 10 December 2012 declared that India would straddle international commerce and will also dominate the economy of the whole world by 2030. This would happen with decelerating Chinese economy as well as declining West.
Key points of the report:
•India’s chance of powering would begin only after 2015 as China’s fortunes would start diminishing.
•By the year 2030, Asia (mainly India) would return back to its position of being the powerhouse of the world, like it was before 1500.
•Pakistan might not exist at all.
•India will rush forward after 2020 as China would begin decelerating, primarily on certain demographic trends.
•China is indeed ahead of India, but the gap between India and China would start zeroing in by 2030. The economic growth rate of India will surge while that of China will slow down.
•In 2030, India might be rising as the economic powerhouse just like China is today. The current economic growth rate of China, 8-10 percent would become just a memory for the country.
•Overall size of the working-age population in China would increase in 2016 and decrease from 994 million to 961 million in 2030. Contrarily, working age population of India would most probably rise until around 2050.
•The demographic opportunities of India will rise between 2015 to 2050. China’s opportunities’ window is from 1990 to 2025. Contrarily, US’s opportunity was best between 1970 to 2015.
•Median age of India which is at present 26 will increase to 32 by 2030, which would still be the least among top 10 economies of world.
•The report also mentioned that anytime after 2030, India instead of China would be having the largest middle-class consumption, which would be even larger than US and Europe combined. However, India might face trapping in the status of middle-income group in case the resources constraint, especially food, water and energy are not resolved. More investment would be required in science and technology sector in order to keep the pace of economy in the value chain.It was however made clear that the journey of economic development of both India as well as China will not be smooth. But if the difficulties were handled well, India as well as China would be dominating the world in 2030.
About Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds
The latest National Intelligence Council's (NIC) Global Trends Report was released on 10 December 2012 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. This report is called Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds. Global Trends project offers expertise beyond government on certain factors like demography, environment, globalisation. The documents are prepared by Global Trends to assist the makers of policies in long-term planning on major issues which hold worldwide importance. First Global Trends Report was released back in 1997. New global trends report is being published after every four years after the U.S. presidential elections. For the production of Global Trends 2030, a range of analytical tools, in-depth research as well as detailed modeling was employed.
Bharti Infratel Raised 652 Crore Rupees from 18 Anchor Investors before Public Offer
Bharti Infratel, the tower business unit of Bharti Airtel received 651.7 crore Rupees from 18 anchor investors. It is important to note that this investment came ahead of 4500 crore Rupees public offer which opens on 11 December 2012. The price of shares of the company for anchor investors is 230 rupees per piece and 2.83 shares were allocated to these anchor investors. These anchor investors include Wellington, Battery March, Columbia Wagner, AllianceBernstein, Clough Capital, Route One Capital, Sundaram MF, Morgan Stanley among many others.The company has plans to raise a total of 4533.60 crore, which is the biggest amount from the public issue in 2 years after Coal India’s offer in October 2010. The issue which includes 18.89 crore equity shares will be opened for retail investors on 11 December 2012, with the price of shares being 210-240 Rupees per share. This issue will be closed on 14 December 2012. It was finalised that in upper end, Bharti Infratel would be raising around 4533.60 crore and at lower end, it would be close to 3966.90 crore Rupees. The IPO includes fresh issue of around 14.62 crore equity shares. Additionally, there would be sales offer of more than 4.26 crore equity shares by a few shareholders. It was proposed that the equity shares would be listed on National Stock Exchange as well as Bombay Stock Exchange. Bharti Airtel owns around 86 percent in Bharti Infratel but it would not participate in the sale of shares.The company declared that proceeds from IPO would be used for expansion as well as future acquisitions. The lead managers of this issue are Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, Deutsche Equities India, HSBC Securities, Barclays Securities (India), Capital Markets (India) and Enam Securities. Co-book running lead managers of the issue are ICICI Securities, BNP Paribas, HDFC Bank and DBS Bank. It is important to note that Bharti Infratel is the first tower company that has come out with IPO. Other key tycoons of tower business include Reliance Infratel and Vim Networks.
Yahoo and NBC Sports came Together to Provide Sports Content
Yahoo! Inc and NBC Sports Group decided to promote each other’s sports content on the Internet as well as on television in a move that would help both the companies represent on their individual strengths across both mediums.The collaboration will increase NBC's digital presence as well as shore up its college and fantasy game coverage, while Yahoo will gain access NBC's video content, live sports coverage and big name television personalities.The execution plan is that two companies is going to maintain separate websites and independent newsrooms, but will be collaborating on big sports news stories as well as events coverage both online and on the air.Yahoo is already looking to increase its involvement with television content; it announced a major content sharing deal for financial news with CNBC in June 2012.Made-for-web video programs will be developed by the sports news provider which is going to appear on both Yahoo Sports and NBCSports.com.The alliance will include, Yahoo Sports, the Rivals Network, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Regional Networks, Golf Channel.com, Rotoworld.com and Allisports.com. NBCSports.com will continue to provide sports content for NBCNews.com.NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network and is part of NBC Universal Media, a unit of Comcast Corp.
AP HC stayed ED Order attaching 822cr Rupees deposit in Money Laundering Scam
Andhra Pradesh High Court on 11 December 2012 stayed a provisional order of Enforcement Directorate(ED) attaching 822 crore rupee deposit belonging to Mahindra Satyam in a money laundering case involving former Satyam Chairman B Ramalinga Raju and others.Justice P V Sanjay Kumar also stayed the notice issued by the adjudicating authority to Mahindra Satyam ,Satyam Computer Services Ltd, asking company officials to appear before it with regard to the case.The Enforcement Directorate had on 18 October 2012 issued a provisional attachment order of the company's fixed deposits of 822 crore rupee in the money laundering case related to the previous management.
First 100 Percent Ultrasound Toothbrush of the World Developed
British scientists claimed that they developed in the first week of December 2012, the first toothbrush of the world called Emmident toothbrush which makes use of the ultrasound waves for cleaning teeth, which means that there is no need of abrasive brushing. Even though the manual toothbrushes have been replaced long back with whizzyelectric versions of the brushes which have super-fast vibrations along with costly whitening heads, but the high-tech toothbrushes launched in UK in first week of December 2012 is the first 100 percent ultrasound toothbrush of the world. Ultrasound technology was also included in electric designs earlier but this time it is the first of its kind toothbrush which has independent ultrasound technology and it does not require movement of brush.
About the new Emmident toothbrush
Emmident toothbrush makes 86 million sound waves in a minute and these waves in turn are used for cleaning the teeth. The cost of this product is 79.95 pounds. Manufacturers of this product claimed that ultrasound waves which are emitted from this toothbrush create tiny bubbles from special 3.99 pounds toothpaste which should be used with this.These bubbles can get between teeth as well as the gums which in turn help in killing bacteria as well as dislodging tarter. The bacteria which are left on brush head are also killed. British Dental Association however admitted that proper tests should be done in order to prove efficiency of this toothbrush.
Nobel Peace Prize 2012 Awarded to European Union (EU)
The Nobel Peace Prize 2012 was awarded to the European Union (EU) leaders on 10 December 2012 at Oslo, Norway. The award was given to the European Union leaders for the efforts in promotion of peace as well as human rights. The award was given despite criticisms from some. Around 20 European government leaders which included French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as the Italian Premier Mario Monti, attended this ceremony in Oslo, the capital city of Norway. It is important to note that Norway, which is a country rich in oil, has rejected joining EU twice. Thorbjorn Jagland, the head of Nobel Committee hailed EU on the grounds that it brought peace after years of war. The Nobel diplomas as well as medals were handed over to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the EU Parliament Martin Schulz as well as EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy at a ceremony initially at the City Hall of Oslo. The ceremony was attended by international dignitaries, heads of state as well as royalty.The prize came this year despite protests. Protests are being organised because of the debt crisis being faced by countries which use Euro currency. This has triggered tensions in union, leading to soaring unemployment. EU institutions as well as the member countries were criticised for their slow reactions to this crisis which kept going for 3 years.
Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize is awarded on 10 December always in Oslo. 10 December is the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death which happened back in 1896. Ceremonies like these were also held in Swedish capital for Nobel laureates in literature, physics, chemistry and medicine.
Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) allowed 12 more Alternative Investment Funds
Indian Market regulator Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) allowed 12 entities to set up Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), a newly created class of pooled-in investment vehicles for real estate, private equity and hedge funds, in the last two months of October and November 2012.The 12 Alternative Investment Funds AIFs that were registered with SEBI since October 2010 included India Realty Fund, Dar Mentorcap Film Fund, Capaleph Indian Millennium Small & Medium Enterprises Fund and Capaleph Indian Millennium Private Equity Fund.SEBI in last few years had already allowed nine AIFs to set up shops in the country. As on 31 August 2012, a total of 20 applications were pending with SEBI for registration as AIFs.As per the new SEBI guidelines, AIFs can operate broadly in three categories. The SEBI rules is applicable to all AIFs which also includes those operating as private equity funds, real estate funds and hedge funds.
• The Category-I AIFs are those funds that get incentives from the government, SEBI or other regulators. It includes Social Venture Funds, Infrastructure Funds, Venture Capital Funds and SME Funds.
• The Category-II AIFs are those funds which can invest anywhere in any combination but are prohibited from raising debt, except for meeting their day-to-day operational requirements. These AIFs include PE funds, debt funds or fund of funds.
• The Category-III AIFs are those trading with a view to make short-term returns and include hedge funds, among others.
Car Sales Dipped by 8.25 Percent in November 2012
The passenger car sales dipped down by 8.25 percent in November 2012 as per the numbers which were released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), because of certain macro-economics factors such as uncertain climate in the economy, high rates of interest as well as rising fuel prices. The analysts as well as the executives of the car industry opined that the situation would be even tougher in the future.SIAM revealed that the sales of car were 1.58 lakh units in November 2012 against 1.72 lakh units in November 2011. Out of a total of 19 carmakers, 9 reported decrease in volume, which also included the heavyweight car makers such as Volkswagen, Ford, General Motors, Tata Motors, Toyota as well as Hyundai.The decline in the month of November is third time in 4 months time period, which has made the car industry nervous about the future as well. It is worth noticing that the number of sales has been there despite freebies as well as discounts. Analysts believed that the customers did not have a mood to buy the vehicles. It was also believed that in the month of December, the situation could be worse because historically, there have never been higher sales in December in comparison to October and November, which are considered to be festive seasons in India.
Union Government Introduced Bill to Amend Competition Act
The Union Government of India on 10 December 2012 introduced a bill in Parliament to amend the Competition Act which, among other things, will require the Competition Commission to decide on corporate mergers within 180 days.The bill is named Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2012 bill and was introduced by Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot in the Lok Sabha to amend the Competition Act 2002.The bill would also confer powers on fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) to vet all M&A deals and also authorise its Director General to carry out search and seizure activities. Presently, CCI's Director General, upon authorisation by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Delhi, has the powers to carry out search and seizure in any investigation. This is under Section 41(3) of the Competition Act, 2002.The Bill also seeks to amend the existing provision on abuse of dominant position to provide that no enterprise or group either jointly or singly shall abuse its dominant position.A new Section 5A is also going to be inserted into the Act. As per this section, notwithstanding anything in Section 5, the Central Government may, in consultation with the Commission, by notification, specify different values of assets and turnover for any class or classes of enterprise for the purpose of Section 5.
The Jammu and Kashmir Government on 10 December 2012 informed that the 328-km-long Bhatinda-Jammu-Srinagar gas pipeline project is scheduled to be completed by July 2014 to draw gas from Gujarat to the State. The progress on the proposed project was reviewed by Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah at a meeting of high-level officers in Jammu and an early start of work was emphasized by him. He stressed upon the need for fast tracking the project to ensure its timely completion.The availability of gas in abundance has been a great challenge for the Government of Jammu so this step towards supply of gas to the consumers in the State through gas pipeline is going to be a revolutionary step as it will relieve the pressure on availability of domestic gas and will also help generate employment.The gas pipeline will consist of 328-km-long main gas trunk from Bhatinda to Srinagar passing through Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Udhampur, Ramban, Anantnag, Pulwama and Srinagar and there will be hundreds of sub-lines which will supply gas to the consumers at their houses. The proposed gas pipeline project was already approved by Omar Abdullah during a meeting of State officers and the team of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) led by its Chairman Lalit Mansingh at Srinagar. The Chief Minister had directed PNGRB to start laying pipeline from both Srinagar and Bhatinda simultaneously so that gas is supplied to both the cities of Jammu and Srinagar at the same time.The project possessed greater importance to the State in providing adequate domestic and commercial supply of gas to the consumers on cheaper rates besides creating huge employment for youth of the State. The revenue and law department had already been directed by the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to finalise the Draft Bill for Right of Use of land for laying of gas pipelines by the gas company in the State legislature for enactment as per the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir.
US based Food Producer Cargill India acquired Wipro's Sunflower Vanaspati brand
US-based food producer and marketer Cargill India on 10 December 2012 announced the acquisition of the Sunflower Vanaspati brand from Wipro.The deal is going to help Wipro in strengthening its leadership position in the market and is expected to shore up Cargill's consumer brand portfolio and expand its market reach. Cargill and Wipro did not disclose the deal value of the brand but as per the trade analysts the deal was pegged at 30-40 crore Rupees.Since 2007, Wipro had been trying to get out of its traditional edible oil business which was started by Azim Premji's father Mohammad Hussain Hasham Premji in 1949 at Amalner, in Jalgaon district of Maharashtra.Sunflower Vanaspati accounts for barely 1% of Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting's revenue. Wipro's Consumer Care and lighting business segment recorded revenues close to 2000 crore Rupees for the first half of the current fiscal 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013.Cargill India besides marketing its edible oil portfolio that includes brands such as Nature Fresh, Sweekar and Gemini, also locally produces and markets Vanaspati under its brands Rath, NatureFresh Purita and, Gemini.
Supreme Court asked judge of SC and HC to inform government of India about duration, purpose and fun
On 10 December 2012, the Supreme Court partially stayed the order of Delhi high court in which it had cancelled three paras of Centre's 2010 circular which made it compulsory for the judges to take foreign visits only with approval of chief justice of the high court concerned or Chief Justice of India (CJI).The judges of Supreme Court as well as high court needed to inform the Government of India about the foreign visits which include the purpose of their visit, duration as well as the funding source. Foreign visits could be taken after traveling details were submitted to the Government of India. The high court had called these conditions offending for autonomy of higher judiciary, which is why it cancelled them on 25 May 2012. The high court had cancelled the paragraph which mentioned that travel details need to be submitted, but it clarified that the judged still needed to give information regarding their duration of the trip as well as city in which they intended to stay. These details need to be submitted to the chief justice of the HC concerned or CJI. In argument to the challenge of government to HC order, the solicitor general R F Nariman clarified that this circular was important in order to provide security for judges while they were in the foreign land. He declared that the judges went abroad on diplomatic passports which are issued to the judges by the Central Government. Bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justices S S Nijjar and J Chelameswar however declared that they also knew judges which took foreign trips on personal passports instead of diplomatic ones. Getting the information about foreign visit was made necessary so that the concerned ministry could help these judges if they needed some.The Supreme Court on 10 December 2012 stayed the order of Delhi high court in which it had cancelled the paragraph 10 of Centre’s 2010 circular.
New Dinosaur with Gigantic Nose Discovered in Mexico
Scientists in northern Mexico discovered a new dinosaur with a large prominent nose which lived about 73 million years ago. The duck-billed dinosaur, which was named Latirhinus uitstlani lived during the Late Cretaceous period and its wide nasal cavity might have given it incredible smell-detecting ability.As per researchers the giant nose of Dinosaur supported and provided enhanced space for a soft tissue structure, sort of like an inflatable bladder, for display, recognition and communication purposes in general.The dinosaur also possessed sturdy hind limbs ending in three toes, and relatively smaller and thinner forelimbs ending in 4 digits — meaning this animal was thumb-less.These dinosaurs were herbivores with a few thousand teeth closely packed together to form a grinding surface to chew the vegetation they fed upon.
As per the report it was concluded that the environment that Latirhinus inhabited was likely warmer and more humid than it is today’s time, with lakes and bays nearby.
Indian Economy Would Dominate the Economy of the World by 2030: US Intelligence Community Report
US intelligence community in its report called Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds which was released on 10 December 2012 declared that India would straddle international commerce and will also dominate the economy of the whole world by 2030. This would happen with decelerating Chinese economy as well as declining West.
Key points of the report:
•India’s chance of powering would begin only after 2015 as China’s fortunes would start diminishing.
•By the year 2030, Asia (mainly India) would return back to its position of being the powerhouse of the world, like it was before 1500.
•Pakistan might not exist at all.
•India will rush forward after 2020 as China would begin decelerating, primarily on certain demographic trends.
•China is indeed ahead of India, but the gap between India and China would start zeroing in by 2030. The economic growth rate of India will surge while that of China will slow down.
•In 2030, India might be rising as the economic powerhouse just like China is today. The current economic growth rate of China, 8-10 percent would become just a memory for the country.
•Overall size of the working-age population in China would increase in 2016 and decrease from 994 million to 961 million in 2030. Contrarily, working age population of India would most probably rise until around 2050.
•The demographic opportunities of India will rise between 2015 to 2050. China’s opportunities’ window is from 1990 to 2025. Contrarily, US’s opportunity was best between 1970 to 2015.
•Median age of India which is at present 26 will increase to 32 by 2030, which would still be the least among top 10 economies of world.
•The report also mentioned that anytime after 2030, India instead of China would be having the largest middle-class consumption, which would be even larger than US and Europe combined. However, India might face trapping in the status of middle-income group in case the resources constraint, especially food, water and energy are not resolved. More investment would be required in science and technology sector in order to keep the pace of economy in the value chain.It was however made clear that the journey of economic development of both India as well as China will not be smooth. But if the difficulties were handled well, India as well as China would be dominating the world in 2030.
About Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds
The latest National Intelligence Council's (NIC) Global Trends Report was released on 10 December 2012 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. This report is called Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds. Global Trends project offers expertise beyond government on certain factors like demography, environment, globalisation. The documents are prepared by Global Trends to assist the makers of policies in long-term planning on major issues which hold worldwide importance. First Global Trends Report was released back in 1997. New global trends report is being published after every four years after the U.S. presidential elections. For the production of Global Trends 2030, a range of analytical tools, in-depth research as well as detailed modeling was employed.
Bharti Infratel Raised 652 Crore Rupees from 18 Anchor Investors before Public Offer
Bharti Infratel, the tower business unit of Bharti Airtel received 651.7 crore Rupees from 18 anchor investors. It is important to note that this investment came ahead of 4500 crore Rupees public offer which opens on 11 December 2012. The price of shares of the company for anchor investors is 230 rupees per piece and 2.83 shares were allocated to these anchor investors. These anchor investors include Wellington, Battery March, Columbia Wagner, AllianceBernstein, Clough Capital, Route One Capital, Sundaram MF, Morgan Stanley among many others.The company has plans to raise a total of 4533.60 crore, which is the biggest amount from the public issue in 2 years after Coal India’s offer in October 2010. The issue which includes 18.89 crore equity shares will be opened for retail investors on 11 December 2012, with the price of shares being 210-240 Rupees per share. This issue will be closed on 14 December 2012. It was finalised that in upper end, Bharti Infratel would be raising around 4533.60 crore and at lower end, it would be close to 3966.90 crore Rupees. The IPO includes fresh issue of around 14.62 crore equity shares. Additionally, there would be sales offer of more than 4.26 crore equity shares by a few shareholders. It was proposed that the equity shares would be listed on National Stock Exchange as well as Bombay Stock Exchange. Bharti Airtel owns around 86 percent in Bharti Infratel but it would not participate in the sale of shares.The company declared that proceeds from IPO would be used for expansion as well as future acquisitions. The lead managers of this issue are Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, Deutsche Equities India, HSBC Securities, Barclays Securities (India), Capital Markets (India) and Enam Securities. Co-book running lead managers of the issue are ICICI Securities, BNP Paribas, HDFC Bank and DBS Bank. It is important to note that Bharti Infratel is the first tower company that has come out with IPO. Other key tycoons of tower business include Reliance Infratel and Vim Networks.
Yahoo and NBC Sports came Together to Provide Sports Content
Yahoo! Inc and NBC Sports Group decided to promote each other’s sports content on the Internet as well as on television in a move that would help both the companies represent on their individual strengths across both mediums.The collaboration will increase NBC's digital presence as well as shore up its college and fantasy game coverage, while Yahoo will gain access NBC's video content, live sports coverage and big name television personalities.The execution plan is that two companies is going to maintain separate websites and independent newsrooms, but will be collaborating on big sports news stories as well as events coverage both online and on the air.Yahoo is already looking to increase its involvement with television content; it announced a major content sharing deal for financial news with CNBC in June 2012.Made-for-web video programs will be developed by the sports news provider which is going to appear on both Yahoo Sports and NBCSports.com.The alliance will include, Yahoo Sports, the Rivals Network, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Regional Networks, Golf Channel.com, Rotoworld.com and Allisports.com. NBCSports.com will continue to provide sports content for NBCNews.com.NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network and is part of NBC Universal Media, a unit of Comcast Corp.
AP HC stayed ED Order attaching 822cr Rupees deposit in Money Laundering Scam
Andhra Pradesh High Court on 11 December 2012 stayed a provisional order of Enforcement Directorate(ED) attaching 822 crore rupee deposit belonging to Mahindra Satyam in a money laundering case involving former Satyam Chairman B Ramalinga Raju and others.Justice P V Sanjay Kumar also stayed the notice issued by the adjudicating authority to Mahindra Satyam ,Satyam Computer Services Ltd, asking company officials to appear before it with regard to the case.The Enforcement Directorate had on 18 October 2012 issued a provisional attachment order of the company's fixed deposits of 822 crore rupee in the money laundering case related to the previous management.
First 100 Percent Ultrasound Toothbrush of the World Developed
British scientists claimed that they developed in the first week of December 2012, the first toothbrush of the world called Emmident toothbrush which makes use of the ultrasound waves for cleaning teeth, which means that there is no need of abrasive brushing. Even though the manual toothbrushes have been replaced long back with whizzyelectric versions of the brushes which have super-fast vibrations along with costly whitening heads, but the high-tech toothbrushes launched in UK in first week of December 2012 is the first 100 percent ultrasound toothbrush of the world. Ultrasound technology was also included in electric designs earlier but this time it is the first of its kind toothbrush which has independent ultrasound technology and it does not require movement of brush.
About the new Emmident toothbrush
Emmident toothbrush makes 86 million sound waves in a minute and these waves in turn are used for cleaning the teeth. The cost of this product is 79.95 pounds. Manufacturers of this product claimed that ultrasound waves which are emitted from this toothbrush create tiny bubbles from special 3.99 pounds toothpaste which should be used with this.These bubbles can get between teeth as well as the gums which in turn help in killing bacteria as well as dislodging tarter. The bacteria which are left on brush head are also killed. British Dental Association however admitted that proper tests should be done in order to prove efficiency of this toothbrush.
Nobel Peace Prize 2012 Awarded to European Union (EU)
The Nobel Peace Prize 2012 was awarded to the European Union (EU) leaders on 10 December 2012 at Oslo, Norway. The award was given to the European Union leaders for the efforts in promotion of peace as well as human rights. The award was given despite criticisms from some. Around 20 European government leaders which included French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as the Italian Premier Mario Monti, attended this ceremony in Oslo, the capital city of Norway. It is important to note that Norway, which is a country rich in oil, has rejected joining EU twice. Thorbjorn Jagland, the head of Nobel Committee hailed EU on the grounds that it brought peace after years of war. The Nobel diplomas as well as medals were handed over to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the EU Parliament Martin Schulz as well as EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy at a ceremony initially at the City Hall of Oslo. The ceremony was attended by international dignitaries, heads of state as well as royalty.The prize came this year despite protests. Protests are being organised because of the debt crisis being faced by countries which use Euro currency. This has triggered tensions in union, leading to soaring unemployment. EU institutions as well as the member countries were criticised for their slow reactions to this crisis which kept going for 3 years.
Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize is awarded on 10 December always in Oslo. 10 December is the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death which happened back in 1896. Ceremonies like these were also held in Swedish capital for Nobel laureates in literature, physics, chemistry and medicine.
Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) allowed 12 more Alternative Investment Funds
Indian Market regulator Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) allowed 12 entities to set up Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), a newly created class of pooled-in investment vehicles for real estate, private equity and hedge funds, in the last two months of October and November 2012.The 12 Alternative Investment Funds AIFs that were registered with SEBI since October 2010 included India Realty Fund, Dar Mentorcap Film Fund, Capaleph Indian Millennium Small & Medium Enterprises Fund and Capaleph Indian Millennium Private Equity Fund.SEBI in last few years had already allowed nine AIFs to set up shops in the country. As on 31 August 2012, a total of 20 applications were pending with SEBI for registration as AIFs.As per the new SEBI guidelines, AIFs can operate broadly in three categories. The SEBI rules is applicable to all AIFs which also includes those operating as private equity funds, real estate funds and hedge funds.
• The Category-I AIFs are those funds that get incentives from the government, SEBI or other regulators. It includes Social Venture Funds, Infrastructure Funds, Venture Capital Funds and SME Funds.
• The Category-II AIFs are those funds which can invest anywhere in any combination but are prohibited from raising debt, except for meeting their day-to-day operational requirements. These AIFs include PE funds, debt funds or fund of funds.
• The Category-III AIFs are those trading with a view to make short-term returns and include hedge funds, among others.
Car Sales Dipped by 8.25 Percent in November 2012
The passenger car sales dipped down by 8.25 percent in November 2012 as per the numbers which were released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), because of certain macro-economics factors such as uncertain climate in the economy, high rates of interest as well as rising fuel prices. The analysts as well as the executives of the car industry opined that the situation would be even tougher in the future.SIAM revealed that the sales of car were 1.58 lakh units in November 2012 against 1.72 lakh units in November 2011. Out of a total of 19 carmakers, 9 reported decrease in volume, which also included the heavyweight car makers such as Volkswagen, Ford, General Motors, Tata Motors, Toyota as well as Hyundai.The decline in the month of November is third time in 4 months time period, which has made the car industry nervous about the future as well. It is worth noticing that the number of sales has been there despite freebies as well as discounts. Analysts believed that the customers did not have a mood to buy the vehicles. It was also believed that in the month of December, the situation could be worse because historically, there have never been higher sales in December in comparison to October and November, which are considered to be festive seasons in India.
Union Government Introduced Bill to Amend Competition Act
The Union Government of India on 10 December 2012 introduced a bill in Parliament to amend the Competition Act which, among other things, will require the Competition Commission to decide on corporate mergers within 180 days.The bill is named Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2012 bill and was introduced by Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot in the Lok Sabha to amend the Competition Act 2002.The bill would also confer powers on fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) to vet all M&A deals and also authorise its Director General to carry out search and seizure activities. Presently, CCI's Director General, upon authorisation by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Delhi, has the powers to carry out search and seizure in any investigation. This is under Section 41(3) of the Competition Act, 2002.The Bill also seeks to amend the existing provision on abuse of dominant position to provide that no enterprise or group either jointly or singly shall abuse its dominant position.A new Section 5A is also going to be inserted into the Act. As per this section, notwithstanding anything in Section 5, the Central Government may, in consultation with the Commission, by notification, specify different values of assets and turnover for any class or classes of enterprise for the purpose of Section 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment