More transparency in real estate buying
The credit ratings agency CRISIL recently launched real estate ratings in India, which would help common buyers make informed purchases and is expected to bring in more transparency in real estate buying the system will work on a project-specific cialis how it works basis and rate it on a on a scale of one to seven stars after comparing with other alternatives available in the same city….. Read More.
Explaining the mechanism CRISIL’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Roopa Kudva said: “A developer commissions the agency and gives us access to various details needed for assessment. We take into account our parameters and rate the project. Once the developer accepts the rating, we go public with the rating and project analysis which will be given to common buyers for free.” The parameters include the past record of the developer, the infrastructure he is erecting, finishing, timely completion, cost overruns, after-sales service, legal issues like title and project innovations such as green buildings. The rating will be given mid-way through the project and will be under surveillance till project completion, during which it can be revised. In fact many rating agencies are coming up with real estate rating systems. On the international level Fitch has been rating real estate projects for quite some years. Speaking about the need for such ratings and their viability, Samujjwal Ghosh, Senior General Manager, Marketing, Lodha Developers says, “I believe that an all-round assessment of real estate projects will help buyers benchmark and identify quality projects within a city. Such ratings should ideally provide a comprehensive evaluation of all project specific risks which could impact the quality of the project. Such ratings, if done with thoroughness, definitely discount cialis bring greater transparency in the system enabling the consumer to take a more informed decision. It also works in favour of the developers who focus on quality and gives them an opportunity to be seen in a differentiated light. At an independent level, consumers face paucity of adequate information when acquiring property and such objective ratings does definitely make life easier for the consumer.”
Ashok Kumar, MD and Principal Partner, Cresa Partners, an international property consultant company also thinks it is a very good idea and a positive move towards bringing professionalism in real estate.“ In fact I remember CRISIL starting this almost ten years back. But it was not as successful then as I guess the industry was not mature enough to actually aspire for professionalism and global recognition. Now things are different and developers are going abroad and picking up projects elsewhere in the world too. In that case they would actually welcome it,” he says, adding, “All over the world we do have a third party rating system and many years back Citi Bank had developed an elaborate rating system, which was very comprehensive. The government too is to come up with a regulatory body and all these would be good for the health of the industry.” However, Kaizad Hateria, GM-Sales and Customer Relations, Rustomjee, is a little doubtful about the viability of such a product. He asks, “Do they have the expertise in real estate? How scientifically evolved are their systems, what kind of research are they doing? It needs a whole department of experts, are they employing them? How authentic are their methods? How are they going to assess the risk factors? How are they going to keep track of the projects? How will they foresee the shortage of cement, steel and other material?” Gulam Zia, National Director, Research & Advisory Services, Knight Frank India, also expresses his doubt as he feels that rating a product in a white goods category like a car or financial instruments, is easier, as there are some standard parameters and the expectations are more or less uniform. However in the case of real estate, every project is unique and no two products can fall into a single category. This would colour the objectivity aspect.” Playing a devil’s advocate, one would wonder if these ratings could be fudged using muscle power. ”In another case a developer may go for it in case he has too many foreign investors who want the project rated. Since most rating agencies are now global agencies, there must be reasons for the investors to insist on ratings done by them. Most agree that this may a good starting point in the effort to bring in transparency.
Source: Economic Times
India Aims to Triple Port Capacity
India, Asia’s third-biggest economy, plans to triple port capacity within a decade, as it tackles infrastructure deficiencies that threaten to slow growth. The country needs “urgent action” to ensure that it has sufficient seaport capacity, Secretary of Shipping K. Mohandas said. “Ports are very important to India’s economic growth.”….. Read More.
The government intends to open new harbors and sell stakes in ports to help annual capacity reach 3.2 billion tons under a 10-year plan that will be released next month, Mohandas said. The nation is also building highways, railways and airports to ease transport bottlenecks that could cost 1.1 percentage points of growth in fiscal 2017, according to McKinsey & Co. Indian ports will likely handle more than 2.5 billion tons of cargo a year by 2020, Mohandas said. Throughput in the year ended cialis online no prescription March rose 14 percent to 844.9 million tons. Nationwide capacity is about 996 million tons, said Rakesh Srivastava, joint secretary for ports at the shipping ministry.
The government also intends to award concessions for two new terminals at Mumbai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port this fiscal year, including one for a facility able to cialis generic vs brand handle more shipments than the harbor’s three existing terminals, Mohandas said. The state-controlled operator of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s busiest container harbor, will likely be turned into a corporation by the end of March, paving the way for an eventual share sale, Mohandas said.“Jawaharlal Nehru Port is the first possible candidate for corporatization,” he said. “A final decision has not been taken but hopefully it will happen this year.”Mohandas declined to comment on what size stake the government may sell in the port operator and on when a sale could happen. Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Dubai-based DP World Ltd., and an AP Moeller-Maersk A/S-Container Corp. of India Ltd. venture currently run terminals at the port.
Source: Bloom Berg
SBI plans merger of associate banks
Speaking to newspersons in Mumbai, bank chairman OP Bhatt said: “I will discuss with the government whether we should go ahead with (a merger of) some more banks and if the answer is yes, we will talk to the remaining five associate banks.” He added that SBI would prioritise cialis in usa the mergers, based on which will be relatively fast and easy. …. Read More.
The State Bank of India has said following the merger of State Bank of Indore, the bank will now look at integrating the remaining associate banks. SBI has also agreed to pick up any unsubscribed shares in the upcoming Rs 583-crore rights issue of State Bank of Mysore, where it holds 92.3%. State Bank of Indore’s branches will cease to exist and SBI will become a large bank, Mr Bhatt said. SBI had earlier intended to merge all its associates and began the process with State Bank of Saurashtra, which was to be followed by the merger of State Bank of Indore. The amalgamation was delayed due to union protests and has been completed only now. Following the latest merger, SBI will be left with five associates: State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Hyderabad.
Three of these associates — SBM, SBBJ and SBT — are online cialis listed on the stock exchange and had shot up on Tuesday on speculation that they would merge with SBI. Mr Bhatt said: “It doesn’t matter whether the associate is listed or not. What matters is how smoothly we can do it.” Meanwhile, State Bank of Mysore (SBM) intends to raise Rs 583.2 crore through a rights issue. The bank, in a release sent to the stock exchanges, said it would offer three new shares for every 10 already held. Each right share is being priced at Rs 540 per share (including a premium of Rs 530 per share). The board has also fixed September 4, 2010, as the record date to determine the shareholders who would be eligible to participate in the proposed rights issue. In all, the bank intends to issue 10.8 million shares. At the current market price of Rs 1,301.6, SBM, with a market capitalisation of Rs 4,685 crore, ranks second among the listed SBI associates in terms of market capitalisation. State Bank of Travancore ranks first at Rs 4,797 crore while the market capitalisation of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur is placed at Rs 3,869 crore.
Source: Economic Times
Subbarao hints at slower pace of hikes
The Reserve Bank of India governor D Subbarao cialis generic brand has hinted that it may ease the pace of raising key rates with the moderation in food prices and keeping in mind the need to strike a balance between taming inflation and ensuring that the growth momentum is not choked off. ….. Read More.
The RBI, which has said it prefers baby steps in raising rates, has made it clear that its top priority would be to contain food inflation. Mr Subbarao said given the uncertainty in the world and the lags in monetary transmission, it is not possible to offer more precise guidance. “All I can say is that our guide post is festina lente — as the Romans used to say — make haste slowly.” The central bank chief said in terms of growth and inflation, India is quite distinct not just from the rest of the world but also from other emerging markets. He also said: “China needs to be more like us currently (focussing on the domestic economy) and we should be more like them. China’s economy grew by 11.4% during the first quarter of the current calendar and grew by 10.3% in the second. It has been growing at over 10% for the last 15 years. I am not too sure of a bubble (of excessive growth of the Chinese economy) and hope there’s none.”
“Classical economic theory suggests a migration from agriculture to industry to services, but India leapfrogged the industry segment. Today, services accounts for 65% of our GDP. If as we assume agriculture productivity rises, it would throw up close to 100-150 million persons who would have to be provided with jobs. Industry has to be prepared for this challenge. Technology-based manufacturing/industry holds the key,” he said. India needs to creat more jobs through growth in manufacturing sector. The RBI governor, who was in Bangalore to deliver the MM Chidambaram Chettiar Memorial Lecture at the Indian Institute of Science said the central bank had calibrated its monetary policy not just to counter the slowdown in 2008-09 but also from last year when generic cialis review it suggested steps for a gradual withdrawal of the economic stimuli. In the first instance, it reduced the cash reserve ratio, repo rate and reverse repo by 400 bps, or 4%, 425 bps and 275 bps, respectively. Similarly since last year, it had hiked the CRR, repo rate and reverse repo by 1% each.
Source: Economic Times
Sebi allows trading using Mobiles
The Securities and Exchange Board of India has allowed registered brokers who provide internet-based trading to facilitate securities trading using wireless technology, including mobile phones and laptops with data cards….. Read More.
Sebi allows trading in shares using the cellphones ushering a major change. Investors can buy and sell shares through mobile phones now. In a circular issued today, SEBI said the stock exchange should ensure the broker complies with requirements of secure access, encryption, security of communication for internet-based trading and securities trading using wireless technology. cialis dosage 40 mg “DOT policy and regulation will govern the level of encryption,” SEBI said. The step has the potential to increase stock market trading activity manifold because of the extent of mobile penetration in India.?One in two citizens, or 650 million people, use mobile phones. That’s a penetration of 50% compared with just 10% in the case of internet.
Vinesh Menon, Deputy CEO, Online Investments & Stock Broking, Bajaj Capital said: “This is a welcome move that reiterates the regulator’s cialis prices commitment to enable a wider network of retail investors participate in stock markets.The fact that the Indian telecom industry is the fastest growing in the world, and the fact that 630 million Indians use the mobile from a mere 5 million in 2001, reflects the huge opportunity that exists in this space. Clearly, trading through mobile phones will outpace trading through internet in less than two years, and will truly enable on-the-move trading facility.” “It’s a revolutionary step considering the fact that mobile has overtaken the PC hardware, said B Gopakumar, executive vice-president, Kotak Securities. Mobile trading can take on any basic handset provided it is Java enabled and GPRS compliant. Even the CDMA handsets having Internet access can be used by investors to access the mobile trading platform.
Source: Indian Express , DNA India
Reliance’s fuel retail operations to bleed
Despite decontrol of petrol cialis 2.5 prices, Reliance Industries’ retail fuel business continues to make losses and is likely to do so until diesel prices are also deregulated, a top official of the company said…… Read More.
“Our (fuel) retail operations will not breakeven till diesel is deregulated,” he said. The company’s seven year-old fuel retail operations continue to make losses even on petrol sold at its domestic retail outlets, despite price decontrol, the official said. “Petrol prices are still not market-driven,” the official said. In the last week of June, government announced decontrol of petrol prices following which Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum raised prices by Rs 3.50 per litre and are currently selling petrol at Rs 55.88 in Mumbai. Reliance Industries continues to make losses of Re 0.50-1 per litre on petrol and up to Rs 3 per litre on diesel, depending upon location of the retail outlets from the refinery, he said. Sales volume of fuel products sold by Reliance Industries through its retail outlets could not be verified.
Oil marketing companies (OMCs) are cross-subsidising petrol prices with other petroleum products. Prior to decontrol of petrol prices, OMCs were selling the fuel at lower prices and were compensated by the government. This compelled private sector refiners to shut their retail outlets. According to the official, overall volume sold at retail outlets is insignificant considering overall sales volume of the company. In April-June, the company said its export volumes of fuel products were 9.5 million tonne and accounted for revenue of $6.3 billion while domestic sales volume including captive consumption accounted for 42%.Of the 1,400 retail fuel outlets set up, only over 660 outlets are currently cialis sale in operation. However, going forward, as refinery capacity is seen in excess of demand, the company considers it prudent to develop its presence in the domestic market. By 2020, India is likely to have 40-50 million tonne of surplus refining capacity.
Source: Financial Express
This Cloud rains opportunities
The success of companies in some of the hottest sectors right now could hinge on their ability to use technology wisely. There is so much competition out in the marketplace that they need to exploit as many differentiators that they can to build a competitive advantage. One thing common in all technology sectors is massive amounts of data…… Read More.
Enter ‘cloud computing,’ a new world that fixes all ills associated with a business. If a company can shore up its existing business in such a way that they can identify critical processes, understand the underlying data to a certain degree, and get a handle on legacy systems, then utilizing cloud computing can be the differentiator that they can hang their hat on. With the vast amounts of data that needs to be shared across these channels, companies need to find solutions that provide flexibility and portability across many platforms. Because one thing that is cialis over the counter is certain is that success in most of these sectors is dependent upon quality information available on demand wherever one is so that decisions can be made on the spot. With the ability to host apps and data in the cloud using utilities like IaaS, SaaS Storage-aaS, etc, that data is there when you need it.
There are many rules and laws that businesses must abide by specific to regions they operate in. Some require ensuring privacy or secrecy. There are several areas of IT security that apply here, with Firewalls, Intrusion Detection cialis usa and Identity & Access Management being some of the most critical. All of these security tools can be found in the cloud as well as in a hosted environment. In the cloud, your systems and data are hosted on servers. It’s actually a much more secure environment for the bulk of companies. Cloud computing which provides the ability to scale rapidly based on your needs reduces investment based on future growth potential and companies can scale up or down depending on market scenarios thus cutting costs. This is the key benefit of cloud computing: the ability to have your platforms grow with your company and with the market. If used appropriately though, the cloud can absolutely be a differentiator for your company.
Source: Advice CIO
e-commerce to be $1bn biz in India by 2013: eBay
In an interview with CNBC-TV18′s President & Editorial Director of TV18 Business Media, Senthil Chengalvarayan, eBay’s President & CEO John Donahoe spoke about the company’s India plans to change the popular perception of being just an e-auction site and make the most of the fast-developing Indian e-commerce market….Read More.
He cialis shelf life said, “eBay is about connecting buyers and sellers. eBay, market place was the first way we connect buyers and sellers and ten years ago that was the only way to connect buyers and sellers online. Payments are the way to connect buyers and sellers. We actually we have sold 70% of our stake in Skype simply because I didn’t see synergy in that business. So, today we have got two core businesses; eBay, our core e-commerce site and PayPal, our core payment site. …. What we want to do is offer consumers choice to buy in a format they want from the seller they want. We want to offer sellers choice to sell in the format they want to the consumers they want.” In India, he felt Internet connectivity and speed were main problems for eBay to grow, though much progress is being made and their business here is growing by about 60% every year.
Senthil stressed,” What our research says both in India and outside of India is consumers want safe, convenient ways to pay and cash has always been a safe and convenient way to pay. However, online what is happening is our products like PayPal are now proving to be the safest way to pay online because an Indian buyer can cialis professional generic buy from a seller anywhere in the world, can buy from a seller in China, a seller in Sao Paulo, Brazil or a seller in Chicago and pay money by never sharing any other financial information online, not sharing the bank account, not sharing the credit card by using PayPal….. Over the time, we would like to be able to also offer PayPal in domestic Indian transactions. We are working with the Indian regulatory authorities to do everything we can to make that happen as soon as possible.”
Source: Money Control