ROAD MAP FOR DIVESTMENT PLAN UNVEILED

 The Centre on unveiled a road map for the ‘big bang’ disinvestment programme in major Central pubic sector undertakings (CPSUs), indicating that talks were already on with nearly 60 CPSUs, including SAIL, BSNL, Coal India, for selling government stake.  The government also announced that NTPC and Rural Electrification Corporation will make their follow-on public offer (FPO) within this fiscal along with Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, which is expected to come out with an initial public offer (IPO) to offload 10 per cent stake. FIRST AEROSPACE SEZ IN INDIA LAUNCHED 


According to the Federation of Indian Export Organisations FIEO, cotton accounts for more than 60 per cent of the raw material for the $60-billion textile industry, which is the second largest employer after agriculture.

NMDC, SAIL SIGN MOU FOR LIMESTONE MINING IN HIMACHAL ARKI MINE  National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to form a joint venture for the development of limestone mines in the sensitive hill region of Arki in Himachal Pradesh.  The MoU for the 50:50 joint venture was signed in the presence of Union Minister for Steel Virbhadra Singh, Union Minister of State for Steel A. Sai Prathap, Steel Secretary Atul Chaturvedi, SAIL Chairman S. K. Roongta and NMDC Chairman-cum-Managing Director Rana Som. The Arki mine has deposits of about 100 million tonnes of quality limestone. The SAIL-NMDC joint venture will develop the mine to produce three million tonnes of limestone annually. The cement industry has a huge demand for limestone fines. MITTAL PULLS OUT OF OVL’S KAZAKH PROJECT  Steel magnate L. N. Mittal’s Mittal Investment Sarl has pulled out of a project to develop an oil field in Kazakhstan in partnership with ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL).  Mittal Investment Sarl, the holding company of the Mittal family, had used the Kazakhstan Government’s influence to find its way into the Satpayev oilfield in the Caspian Sea where OVL was shortlisted for a stake. However, just on the eve of signing an agreement for the field, Mittal Investment decided to pull the plug. SEBI WANTS LISTING WITHIN 7 DAYS OF IPO  The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said it aimed to reduce the time between closing of an issue to listing of the public offer by about one-third to seven days to lend efficiency to primary markets. 

COTTON SEED RE-INCLUDED IN ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES ACT (ECA) 1955 ACT

 The Cabinet gave its approval for the re-inclusion of cotton seed as an essential commodity for six months under the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) 1955, by amending the Schedule to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, or till the Seed Bill was passed by the Parliament, whichever move comes earlier.  With this, the Government would be empowered to regulate the production, quality, distribution, etc., of cotton seed and to curb the sale and spread of spurious cotton seed.  Quality, production and distribution would be subject to regulation under the Seed Control Order, 1983, thereby ensuring the quality of seed, particularly private hybrids of cotton/Bt.cotton seeds, and increasing productivity and production.  Cotton seed was deleted from the list of essential commodities when the ECA was amended in 2007. As and when the Seeds Bill is passed by Parliament, cotton seed would be regulated under the new regulation. Thereafter, the notification of cotton seed under the ECA would be withdrawn. MUKESH AMBANI IS RICHEST INDIAN  With a fortune of $32 billion, Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani has topped the U.S. business magazine Forbes’ annual list of richest Indians. His brother, Anil Ambani, figures at number three. Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who lives in London but holds an Indian passport, is sandwiched between the Ambani brothers with a net worth of $30 billion. The magazine put Anil Ambani’s net worth at $17.5 billion.  The list of India’s richest 100 people included 52 billionaires, nearly double from 27 a year ago and just short of 54 in November 2007. However, there were only six women in the list.  The collective wealth of these 100 is $276 billion (nearly Rs. 13 lakh crore), which is almost one- fourth of the country’s GDP.  India’s 100 richest command a total fortune of $276 billion, which is $100 billion more than the total net worth of their Chinese counterparts, despite the fact that China has a higher number of billionaires at 79.The top 10 richest Indians have a fortune of $155 billion, almost four times that of China’s top 10, Forbes said. SIX WOMEN IN FORBES INDIA RICH LIST  Savitri Jindal has retained the tag of being the richest woman in India with a net worth of $12 billion, according to the annual India rich list compiled by the business magazine.She is ranked seventh in the list, which is topped by Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani with a fortune of $32 billion.Ms. Jindal, who has been the chairperson of the Jindal Group since her husband Om Prakash’s death in 2005, saw her wealth grow by $9 billion since November 2008, when Forbes had last published its annual India rich list. 

 Referring to Ms. Shaw as a "pharma tycoon," Forbes called her "India’s richest self-made woman, whose Biocon is developing the world’s first oral insulin." SIDDHARTH TIWARI IS NEW IMF SECRETARY  Indian economist Mr Siddharth Tiwari has been named as the IMF Secretary by its Managing Director Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn.  Mr Tiwari, currently Director of the Office of Budget and Planning, is set to assume the position, which was held by Mr Shailendra Anjaria before his retirement from the IMF earlier this year. RIL BIDS FOR WORLD’S THIRD LARGEST CHEMICAL FIRM  Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has confirmed its interest in bidding for the U.S.-based company LyondellBasell, the third largest independent chemical company in the world. If it succeeds, this will be the largest ever global acquisition by an Indian firm.  The biggest-ever global deal involving an Indian company so far is the Tata Steel’s acquisition of European Corus for $12 billion. BASEL-II NORMS Basel II is the second of the Basel Accords, which are recommendations on banking laws and regulations issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The purpose of Basel II, which was initially published in June 2004, is to create an international standard that banking regulators can use when creating regulations about how much capital banks need to put aside to guard against the types of financial and operational risks banks face. Advocates of Basel II believe that such an international standard can help protect the international financial system from the types of problems that might arise should a major bank or a series of banks collapse. In practice, Basel II attempts to accomplish this by setting up rigorous risk and capital management requirements designed to ensure that a bank holds capital reserves appropriate to the risk the bank exposes itself to through its lending and investment practices. WORKING GROUP TO STUDY FOREIGN INFLOWS  The Union Finance Ministry has constituted a working group to recommend changes in the existing policies on FII (foreign institutional investor) inflows and participatory notes (PNs), with a view to attracting more foreign portfolio investments.  The move comes despite the rising apprehensions in some quarters over the surge in foreign capital flows and even calls to tax/control the same, as it is leading to steeper appreciation of the rupee.The rupee has appreciated over five per cent against the dollar in the last six months, hitting badly the export sector.  The 16-member group on portfolio investments, to be headed by UTI MF Chairman and Managing Director U. K. Sinha, will also review the policies on other foreign portfolio investment by non-resident Indians (NRIs) and venture capital funds. 
The committee has been given four months to submit the report. The group has been asked to review the existing policy on foreign portfolio inflows and suggest rationalisation with a view to encouraging foreign investment and reduce policy hurdles. The group is also expected to identify challenges in meeting the financing needs of the economy through foreign investment. The panel would also examine the rationale of securities transaction tax and stamp duty. She is followed by Bennett, Coleman & Co’s Chairperson Indu Jain, who is ranked 19th with a net worth of $2.4 billion. Ms. Jain continued to witness a spurt in her fortune with her wealth rising by $600 million since November 2008. "The listing time should come down from 20 days to seven days... primary market is somewhat inefficient compared to the secondary market,"- SEBI Chairman C. B. Bhave. The country’s first Special Economic Zone dedicated to the aerospace industry inaugurated at Hattargi, 37 km from Belgaum. The SEZ is promoted by Quest Global, an aerospace engineering and manufacturing company.