Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Volkswagen launches all-new Jetta
PTI
Neeraj Garg (left), member of board and director, Volkswagen Group Sales India, with Lutz Kothe, Head of Marketing and
PR, Volkswagen Group Sales India during the unveiling of the new Jetta in Mumbai on Wednesday.
German auto major Volkswagen on Wednesday launched its upgraded version all-New Jetta 2 litre in diesel variant starting at Rs 14.12 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi).
The New Jetta will be available in four variants -- trend line, comfort line and highline manual and DSG gearbox.
It is equipped with four cylinder CRDi engine with a six speed gear box in both manual and automatic transmission.
“With the introduction of the New Jetta our entire carline from the Polo to the Passat now offers the latest and the best to our customers,” Member of Board and Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Group Sales India, Neeraj Garg told reporters in Mumbai.
The company had sold 32,000 units across all models in India last year and 45,000 units since last seven months.
“We have sold good number of Passat and Jetta in the last seven months. Despite economic slowdown we hope this New Jetta will help to increase our market share in coming days,” he said.
Hazare arrest: TDP protest continues
The HinduTelugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu along with party leaders participating in a protest march in Hyderabad, against the arrest of Anna Hazare in New Delhi. Mr. Naidu led the dharna for the second day on Wednesday. Photo: Nagara Gopal
For the second consecutive day, the Telugu Desam Party organised massive protests across Andhra Pradesh protesting the undemocratic arrest of social activist Anna Hazare and his supporters in New Delhi.
TDP president and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu led a dharna of his party workers at the Mahatma Gandhi statue on MG Road in Secunderabad.
“Carry on your fight (against corruption)...we will be with you,” the TDP rank and file promised Mr. Hazare and raised slogans against corruption.
Mr. Naidu once again lashed out at the Central government over the manner in which it dealt with Mr. Hazare’s protest.
“The entire is nation is up against corruption but the Government of India remains indifferent. We want a stronger Jan Lokpal and not a ‘toothless’ law to root out corruption,” Mr. Naidu asserted.
In Krishna district too TDP activists staged protests condemning the arrest of Mr. Hazare.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
India faces Rs 1.83 lakh crore exposure to U.S. debt
APThe Delhi Stock Exchange runs a news flash of "Wall Street sinks on rising economy worries," in New Delhi on Friday.
As one of the 15-largest foreign creditors to the U.S., India’s exposure to the United States’ ballooning debts is estimated at USD 41 billion — higher than the money America owes to countries like France and Australia.
The overall national debt of the U.S. is moving nearer to USD 15 trillion, out of which it owes over USD 4.5 trillion to foreign countries holding the U.S. government debt securities.
While China is the single-largest holder of the U.S. treasury securities with USD 1.15 trillion, India stands at 14th position with USD 41 billion (about Rs 1.83 lakh crore), as per the US Treasury Department.
The unprecedented debt downgrade of the U.S. from the top-notch ‘AAA’ level by Standard and Poor’s might also lead to an immediate action by Reserve Bank of India, which allows holding of government debt securities of countries with mostly a ‘Triple-A’ rating.
While a vast majority of the USD 41 billion portfolio is owned by RBI itself, some Indian banks also might have some exposure, sources said.
They said that the RBI was most likely to allow holding of the US securities even with a notch-lower rating, as it has been itself amassing the US treasury securities over the past one year despite a deepening debt crisis there.
The Indian holding has grown by about USD 10 billion in the past one year, the U.S. Treasury data shows.
The RBI holds the US treasury securities as part of its foreign exchange reserves and the dollar holdings account for about 10 per cent of its total portfolio.
Some experts pointed out that India has been increasing its exposure on the pretext that the US debt bonds were one of the most secure from default risks.
However, the U.S., which was on the brink of defaulting on its debt obligations last week, was saved by way of a last-minute deal reached by President Barack Obama to raise the country’s USD 14.3 trillion borrowing ceiling.
Rating agency S&P, which has based its downgrade of the country’s rating on the political opposition to the government plans to fight the debt problems, has termed the rescue plan as inadequate to tackle the U.S. debt situation.
While an exposure of USD 41 billion is a substantial figure from Indian context, this accounts for less than 0.3 per cent of the U.S.’ total debt and just about 1 per cent of its total foreign debts.
In fact, the Indian exposure is equivalent to an estimated USD 40 billion worth treasury bonds held by one single entity, Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway.
The overall foreign holding of the US government securities has grown by about USD 500 billion in past one year, while China has increased its exposure by about USD 300 billion during this period.
Among top foreign creditors, China is followed by Japan (USD 912 billion), the UK (USD 346 billion), Brazil (USD 211 billion), Taiwan (USD 153 billion), Hong Kong (122 billion), Russia (USD 115 billion), Switzerland (USD 108 billion), Canada (USD 91 billion), Luxembourg (USD 68 billion), Germany (USD 61 billion), Thailand (USD 60 billion), Singapore (USD 57 billion) and India (USD 51 billion).
Countries with lower exposure than India include Turkey, Ireland, South Korea, Belgium, Poland, Mexico, Italy, Netherlands, France, Philippines, Norway, Sweden, Colombia, Israel, Chile, Egypt, Malaysia and Australia in the respective order.
Src: thehindu.com
Monday, July 25, 2011
President makes her property details public
The Hindu ANOTHER FIRST: President Pratibha Patil has set a precedent by becoming the first President to voluntarily disclose her assets.
President Pratibha Patil on Monday made public her movable and immovable properties which total to Rs. 2.49 crore. The First Citizen of the country took the step following a request by the Central Information Commission to take a decision on the lines of the Prime Minister.
The President, now on a week-long official visit to South Korea and Mangolia, posted the details of the immovable properties worth Rs. 83.83 lakh and movable assets worth Rs. 1.66 crore on her website. The first woman President of India, Pratibha Patil also completed four years in office on Monday.
The President owns a residential house and a farmhouse in Amravati district of Maharashtra. She also owns two pieces of agricultural land in Jalgaon district and another one in Dhule which she inherited from her father.
While the house in Amravati is worth Rs. 39.60 lakh, the 3.82 hectares farm house has been valued at Rs. 9.82 lakh. She had purchased two agricultural plots of 1.19 hectares and 1.49 hectares in Jalgaon district in 1997-98 which are worth Rs. 3.64 lakh and Rs. 2.90 lakh respectively.
For movable assets, the President has relied on traditional modes of investment such as fixed deposits, Public Provident Fund (PPF), gold and bonds of infrastructure companies.
She has fixed deposits in various banks worth Rs. 68.80 lakh, investment worth Rs. 29 lakh in Rural Electrification Corporation Limited bonds, Rs. 4.71 lakh in Post Office Savings Scheme and Rs. 12.60 lakh in PPF of the State Bank of India, according to the statement as on March 31, 2011.
She has gold jewellery worth Rs. 31 lakh and silver articles worth Rs. 69,134 as well as Rs. 16.33 lakh in her savings bank accounts, besides Rs. 1.87 lakh cash in hand. As far as the share market is concerned, the President has invested only Rs. 21,775. She has also invested Rs. 66,640 in Sanjivini Savings and Investments Limited.
Rupee ends 5 paise down
The rupee on Monday declined by 5 paise to close at 44.40/41 against the U.S. dollar on month-end dollar demand.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the rupee opened weak at 44.40/41 a dollar from last weekend’s close of 44.35/36.
It settled the day at its opening level of 44.40/41.
Forex dealers said that the main reason behind the fall in the rupee value was month-end dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners, to meet their monthly requirements, he added.
However, firm equities amid a weak dollar overseas capped the rupee fall, they added.
The dollar index was quoting lower by 0.09 per cent against a basket of currencies while New York crude oil was trading below $99 a barrel in European market on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Monday rallied by 149 points to a two-week high of 18,871.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) pumped in $118.25 million last Friday as per SEBI data.
Source: thehindu.com
BlackBerry maker to cut 2,000 jobs
AP In this July 12, 2011 photo, shareholders walk past protest signs outside the Research in Motion annual meeting in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. RIM is cutting 2,000 jobs as part of a cost savings plan announced last month.
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is cutting 2,000 jobs as part of a cost savings plan announced last month and is shuffling some senior executives.
The job cuts amount to about 10 per cent of the company’s workforce. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company said on Monday it will notify affected employees this week.
It expects to give more information on the layoffs when it reports fiscal second-quarter results on September 15.
Also on Monday, RIM says it is naming two executives to take on different parts of the chief operating officer role. COO Don Morrison went on medical leave in June
Thorsten Heins is being named chief operating officer (product and sales). Jim Rowan will become COO (operations).
Friday, July 22, 2011
Explosion hits Norway govt. headquarters, 1 dead
APIn this TV grab, smoke is seen billowing from a damaged building as debris is strewn across the street after an explosion in Oslo on Friday. A loud explosion shattered windows at the Norway government’s headquarters, injuring several people.
A powerful blast tore open several Oslo buildings including the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday. One person was reportedly killed and several were injured, as the blast shattered windows and coated the street with documents.
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is safe, government spokeswoman Camilla Ryste told The Associated Press, although it was unclear whether that meant he was uninjured. Norway’s public broadcaster, NRK, said one person was confirmed killed.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the blast. NRK showed video of a blackened car lying on its side amid the debris.
Most of the windows in the 20-floor highrise were blown out, and the bottom floor appeared to be gutted. Nearby offices were also heavily damaged and evacuated, including those housing some of Norway’s leading newspapers and news agency NTB.
Witness Ole Tommy Pedersen was standing at a bus stop about 100m from the building at around 3.30 p.m. (7 p.m. IST) when he saw the blast shatter almost all windows of the 20-floor high-rise. He said a cloud of smoke is billowing from the bottom floors.
“I saw three or four injured people being carried out of the building a few minutes later,” Mr. Pedersen told The Associated Press.
Video shown by Norwegian broadcaster NRK showed most of the windows of the building had been blown out. The bottom floor appeared to be completely gutted. Shattered glass and debris littered a square in front of the building.
Nearby offices were evacuated including those housing some of Norway’s leading newspapers and news agency NTB. Some of them were also damaged.
An AP reporter who was in the NTB office said the building shook from the blast and all employees evacuated the building as the alarm went off. Down at the street he saw one person with a bleeding leg being led away from the area.
The government building houses the prime minister’s office and his administration. Several Ministries are in surrounding buildings.
People trapped at bomb site
A Norwegian government official says there are people trapped in the buildings.
State Secretary Kristian Amundsen told BBC that “there are still people in the buildings” at the blast site. He declined to elaborate, saying, “I can't go into details.”
He said this situation is the worst his country has seen.
Src: thehindu.com
Airtel pre-paid tariff goes up by 20%
PTIBharti Airtel, the country’s largest telecom company by subscribers, has announced an increase in pre-paid tariffs of its “Advantage” and “Freedom” packs.
Bharti Airtel, the country’s largest telecom company by subscribers, on Friday announced a 20 per cent increase in pre-paid tariffs of its “Advantage” and “Freedom” packs for calls and SMS sent within Airtel network.
Users of the “Advantage” pack, which is based on per minute billing, will now have to pay 60 paise instead of 50 paise per minute for local and STD calls and 90 paise for calls to landlines.
Further, Re. 1 and Rs. 1.5 will be charged for local and national SMS, respectively. Existing users will have to pay for new rates after the validity of their existing vouchers end.
Similarly, the users of per second billing-based “Freedom” pack will be charged 1.2 paise for local and STD calls on mobile.
The new tariff structure has been announced for Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh telecom circles.
However, Airtel has not changed tariffs of rack rates, which means customers not opting for the “Advantage” and “Freedom” packs will have to pay the old rates of Re. 1 for local and Rs. 1.5 for STD calls.
“Telecom is probably the only industry where despite increasing inflation, tariffs have been falling unabatedly. Continuously declining margins, high 3G and BWA auction prices, constrained spectrum and rural roll out aspirations leave us with little choice but to make some price corrections,” an Airtel spokesperson said.
As per a recent TRAI report, Airtel had in May 2011 over 16.7 crore mobile phone customers, which makes for 19.88 per cent share of the market.
The company shares today closed 3.99 per cent higher at Rs. 410.95 on the BSE.
Mumbai blasts: Sequence of events reconstructed
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad and city Crime Branch probing the Mumbai serial blasts said on Friday it has reconstructed the sequence of events at two of the three sites before the blasts with the help of CCTV footages.
“The sequence of events that led to the blasts at Zaveri Bazaar and Opera House on July 13 has been reconstructed with the help of CCTV footages. We now have got the actual idea as to what had happened on that fateful day,” said an IPS officer probing the blasts case.
The blast incident was not captured on the CCTV at Dadar, the official said, adding, “The investigators have possession of CCTV visuals of seven days prior to the blasts at the Opera house.”
When asked how many people were involved in placing the explosives before blasts, the official said, “at least six persons may have been involved in placing the explosives at three locations. But the actual number could be known only after the accused’s arrest.”
Asked about the reports of getting “good leads” from Pune and Parbhani cities of the state, “We have been questioning several people for the leads from within and outside the state. We do have good leads in the case.”
The ATS had taken the help of technical experts, who have worked on Hollywood movies, to get the clear picture of the grainy images in the CCTV footages and the agency got “excellent results” of the footages, the official said.
Source: thehindu.com
Dog bites shark and goes viral
SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - It's got a big yellow dog, sharks, a dead dugong, attracted millions of viewers on YouTube and you couldn't make it up.
Video footage of a dog attacking a shark under water on the Australian coast has "gone viral", becoming a top Internet hit.
The footage shows two dogs swimming in the ocean near the West Australian town of Broome, about 1,650 km (1,025 miles) northeast of Perth.
The dogs appear to be herding several sharks towards shore, when one suddenly ducks under the water and attacks a shark.
"The dog is biting the shark," said Russell Hood-Penn in the voice-over as he video-taped the incident. "That is unbelievable. I've seen it all now."
Hood-Penn placed the footage on video-sharing website YouTube where it has been viewed more than 27 million times.
Daring dog bites sharkCheck out these daring dogs as they battle for fish scraps with several man eaters.
When the camera pans out, a dead dugong (a large marine mammal similar to a manatee) can be seen beached on the shore and Hood-Penn speculates that is the reason the sharks are circling so close to shore.
At the end of the video the dog emerges from the ocean and shakes the water from its fur. There was no word on the fate of the shark.
(Edited by Paul Casciato)
Bomb blast rocks Oslo Norway
Debris is seen on the street after a powerful explosion rocked central Oslo
Smoke rises from buildings in Oslo, Norway, at the scene of a large explosion which tore apart several buildings Friday July 22, 2011. A loud explosion shattered windows Friday in several buildings including the government headquarters in Oslo which includes the prime minister's office, injuring several people. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is safe, government spokeswoman Camilla Ryste told The Associated Press. The cause of the blast is not
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