Business

The Azim Premji Trust of Wipro founder chairman Azim Premji will sell 35 million shares valued at Rs.1,530 crore to fund educational activities of Azim Premji Foundation, which also runs a private university in this technology hub.

In a regulatory notification Monday, the trust said the amount raised through the sale of shares would be used to scale up the foundation’s activities to improve the quality and equity in school education.

The best thing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government has going for it ahead of Friday’s federal budget unveiling is low expectations.

The ruling party, battered in recent state polls and hamstrung by slowing economic growth and high global oil prices, is in no position to advance bold economic reforms that could unclog flagging growth in Asia’s third-largest economy.

Greece’s private creditors agreed Friday to take cents on the euro in the biggest debt writedown in history, paving the way for an enormous second bailout for the country to keep Europe’s economy from being dragged further into chaos.

Greece would have risked defaulting on its debt in two weeks without the agreement, sparking turmoil in the markets and sending shock waves through the other 16 countries that use the euro.

Bankers on Friday said RBI’s more-than expected 0.75-percentage point cut in cash reserve ratio (CRR) will ease the liquidity strain, but ruled out any immediate reduction in lending rates.

“We were expecting 50 basis points cut in the CRR and hence, are pleasantly surprised by the Reserve Bank’s move… banks will not cut lending rates immediately though,” SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told reporters.

Up to Rs 7,000 crore will get released for the bank as a result of the RBI’s move, he said, adding it will accrue into an annual benefit of Rs 550 crore for the bank.

The Cabinet is expected to meet on Saturday to discuss the Presidential reference on the Supreme Court’s order on 2G licences regarding auction of natural resources.

The Cabinet will meet in the evening and the Presidential reference could be taken up, sources said.

The government is seeking the Presidential reference as it wants clarity on the apex court’s February two verdict on natural resources in the 2G spectrum case.

The Cabinet is expected to meet on Saturday to discuss the Presidential reference on the Supreme Court’s order on 2G licences regarding auction of natural resources.

The Cabinet will meet in the evening and the Presidential reference could be taken up, sources said.

The government is seeking the Presidential reference as it wants clarity on the apex court’s February two verdict on natural resources in the 2G spectrum case.

To ease liquidity situation, the Reserve Bank on Friday slashed CRR — the portion of deposits banks are required to keep with the central bank — by 0.75 percentage points, a step that will infuse Rs 48,000 crore into the economy.

“This reduction (in CRR from 5.5 per cent to 4.75 percent) will inject around Rs 48,000 crore of primary liquidity into the banking system,” the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement.

Social networking website Facebook, which has over 46 million monthly active users in India, has secured credit deal worth a whopping USD 8 billion from a consortium of banks before its initial public offering.

In a filing to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday, Facebook said that it has terminated the credit facility agreement inked with Barclays Capital and others that granted the company the borrowing capacity of USD 2,500 million.

Exports grew by 4.3 percent year-on-year to USD 24.6 billion, while imports increased by 20.6 percent in February, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said on Friday.

Imports stood at USD 39.8 billion in February 2012, resulting in a trade deficit of USD 15.2 billion.

During April-February 2011-12, the country’s exports increased by 21.4 percent to USD 267.4 billion.

Imports grew by 29.4 percent to USD 434.2 billion during the 11 months period, taking the trade deficit to USD 166.8 billion.

Crisis-hit Kingfisher Airlines on Friday said it has made alternative arrangements for customers to book their travel on the carrier, in the wake of global airlines’ body IATA suspending it from its platforms for non-clearance of dues.

“The airline has made alternate arrangements to ensure that the customers can continue to book their travel on Kingfisher, via select leading travel agents and their network of partners,” a Kingfisher spokesperson said in a statement.

A group of ministers will be meeting on Friday at 5:00 pm to discuss the row over the ban on cotton exports.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked the Commerce Ministry’s decision to ban cotton exports to be reviewed.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had taken strong objection to the decision.

The Commerce Ministry had taken the decision to ban cotton exports earlier last week in a bid to increase the domestic supply.

–Agencies

The bilateral trade between India and Australia would double in the next five years, Australian High Commissioner in India Peter N Varghese said on Wednesday.

“The present volume of bilateral trade between the two countries is USD 21 billion. It will double in the next five years and this is quite a realistic target,” he said at an interactive session organised by MCC Chamber of Commerce here.

He said India is a big trading partner of Australia. “India will become the fifth largest trading partner of Australia,” he said.

Ending the crisis over non-payment of dues, oil firms on Thursday resumed supply to Kingfisher Airlines.

The hectic negotiations between the oil firms and the Kingfisher management late on Wednesday night bore results early this morning as the firms lifted the plug on supply of oil.

The oil companies resumed the supply of oil after the beleaguered airline agreed to pay for daily fuel off-take.

Reliance India chairman Mukesh Ambani with a net worth of $22.3 billion emerged as the world’s richest Indian in the Forbes list of billionaires featuring 48 Indians.

India’s top ten included Savitri Jindal & family (world rank 80), Sunil Mittal & family (113), Kumar Birla (116) Anil Ambani (118) Dilip Shanghvi (124) Shashi & Ravi Ruia (133) and Kushal Pal Singh (153).

Reliance India chairman Mukesh Ambani with a net worth of $22.3 billion emerged as the world’s richest Indian in the Forbes list of billionaires featuring 48 Indians.

India’s top ten included Savitri Jindal & family (world rank 80), Sunil Mittal & family (113), Kumar Birla (116) Anil Ambani (118) Dilip Shanghvi (124) Shashi & Ravi Ruia (133) and Kushal Pal Singh (153).

International Air Transport Authority (IATA) on Mar 7 suspended Kingfisher Airlines (book flight tickets). Vijay Mallya landed in a big trouble. IATA suspended the airlines as it failed to pay the dues with other airlines.

The IATA suspended Vijay Mallya’s airlines following the news that Income Tax department once again froze 19 more bank accounts of Kingfisher Airlines. The income tax department on Wednesday, Mar 7 blocked 19 more bank accounts of cash-strapped Kingfisher airlines for non-payment of TDS (tax deducted at source) pending dues.

The rupee declined by 38 paise to hit a seven-week low of Rs 50.74 against the American currency in early trade, Wednesday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on foreign fund outflows and strong dollar overseas.

Dealers said besides foreign fund outflows after a meltdown in equity market, dollar gains against other Asian currencies mainly pulled down the local currency to a level last seen on January 18.

Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex lost 117.83 points, or 0.69 percent, to 17,055.46 in early trade.

US Stocks suffered their biggest losses in three months Tuesday, the first hiccup in a strong and steady rally to start the year. Wall Street worried about the global economy and waited while Greece pressured the last investors to sign on for its bailout.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 200 points, giving up more than a quarter of its 745-point advance since Jan. 1, the best start to a year in the US market since 1998.

The debtors of Lehman Brothers, whose stunning collapse in 2008 sparked global financial panic, emerged from a record bankruptcy today in a step toward the final chapter for the once-powerful Wall Street investment bank.

The liquidators running Lehman Brothers Holdings said it had exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and would begin repaying creditors, whose claims total about USD 450 billion.

With electioneering in five states coming to an end, state-owned oil companies are pushing for raising petrol price by over Rs 5 per litre but the actual increase would depend on the government nod.

“We are losing Rs 5.10 per litre on petrol currently,” a senior oil company

official said. “With counting for Assembly elections in five states ending today, we would be approaching the government for appropriate directions on price revision.”

Snapping its three-day rising streak, gold declined by Rs 50 to Rs 28,290 per 10 grams in the bullion market here on Tuesday on sluggish demand amid a weak global trend, while silver shed Rs 700 to Rs 57,800 per kg on reduced offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

Traders said sluggish demand at prevailing higher levels as the current wedding season comes to a close, and a weakening global trend led to the fall in precious metals’ prices.

In London, gold lost $8.30 to $1,698.10 an ounce and silver 1.03 per cent to $33.65 an ounce.

With an increasing number of companies adopting cloud computing, over two million jobs are expected to be created in India by 2015, a study commissioned by software giant Microsoft said on Monday.

The cloud technology is also projected to generate nearly 14 million new jobs worldwide in the same time, the study conducted by research firm IDC for Microsoft said.

Cloud computing, which is Internet-based, facilitates sharing of technological resources, software and digital information. This emerging field functions on a pay-per-use model, helping technology companies to bring down cost.

Taking Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and textile industry by surprise, the Commerce Ministry Monday banned cotton exports apprehending shortfall in domestic market and hoarding in warehouses abroad.

The move has also come in for a sharp criticism from Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi who said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that he was “shocked” over the decision that would prove “disastrous” for farmers.

Two Indian companies Tata steel and ONGC have made it to a list of the world’s most admired companies, compiled by management consultancy giant Hay Group and global business magazine Fortune.

While the global rankings of the Indian companies were not known, the worldwide list has been topped by US-based technology giant Apple.

While Apple has topped the list for the fifth consecutive year, it is followed by internet major Google and online retailer Amazon are ranked second and third respectively in the latest list for the year 2012.

The rupee touched 50-level after a gap of nearly six weeks against the American currency in the late morning trade on persistent dollar demand from importers despite weakness of dollar in overseas.

Initially, the rupee was also under pressure from weak stock markets, amid election results for five states. The markets moved into the green zone in the late morning trade.