P Chidambaram, Raghuram Rajan order banks to cut interest rates on loans

FM P Chidambaram and RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan have laid the foundation for a grand Diwali dhamaka that is likely to lead to banks cutting interest rates on loans for the festive season. Government today decided to enhance capital infusion into the PSU banks over and above what was provided in the Budget to enable them to extend more credit to auto and consumer durables sectors to stimulate demand and combat slowdown.

At a meeting between Finance Minister P Chidambaram, RBI GovernorRaghuram Rajan and Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram a decision was taken to increase the quantum of capital infusion into PSU banks.

Related: RBI bans zero per cent interest rate scheme for buying goods

"This amount (Rs 14,000 crore provided for capital infusion in Budget) will be enhanced sufficiently. The additional amount of capital will be provided to banks to enable them to lend to borrowers in selected sectors such as two-wheeler, consumer durables, etc at lower interest rates in order to stimulate demand," a finance ministry statement said.

It further said the additional fund infusion would help in combating slowdown and boost output.

Related: The story behind zero per cent interest EMI schemes

"While this will bring relief to consumers, especially the middle class, it is also expected to give a boost to capacity addition, employment and production," it added.

As per the latest industrial output data, the output of the consumer durables sector declined by 9.3 per cent in July, from a growth of 0.8 per cent in the same month last year. The segment saw a 12 per cent decline in output in April-July compared with growth of 6.1 per cent.

Consumer durables, a reflection of demand for manufactured products, include TV, fridge, washing machine.

The two-wheeler sales recorded a flat growth of 0.72 per cent in April-August period current fiscal, as against a growth of 6.8 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

The meeting, which lasted for over an hour, discussed credit growth in different sectors.

The quantum of additional capital infusion, however, was not disclosed by the government.

The Economic Express

NASA finds plastic ingredient on Saturn’s moon

In a first, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has detected propylene, a chemical essential for creation of plastic, on Saturn’s moon Titan.

This is the first definitive detection of the chemical — used to make food-storage containers, car bumpers and other consumer products — on any moon or planet, other than Earth.

A small amount of propylene was identified in Titan’s lower atmosphere by Cassini’s Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS), which measures the infrared light, or heat radiation, emitted from Saturn and its moons.

Propylene is the first molecule to be discovered on Titan using CIRS. By isolating the same signal at various altitudes within the lower atmosphere, researchers identified the chemical with a high degree of confidence.

“This chemical is all around us in everyday life, strung together in long chains to form a plastic called polypropylene,” said Conor Nixon, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, and lead author of the paper in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The detection of the chemical fills in a mysterious gap in Titan observations that dates back to NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft and the first-ever close flyby of this moon in 1980.

Voyager identified many of the gases in Titan’s hazy brownish atmosphere as hydrocarbons, the chemicals that primarily make up petroleum and other fossil fuels on Earth.

On Titan, hydrocarbons form after sunlight breaks apart methane, the second-most plentiful gas in that atmosphere. The newly freed fragments can link up to form chains with two, three or more carbons.

The family of chemicals with two carbons includes the flammable gas ethane. Propane, a common fuel for portable stoves, belongs to the three-carbon family.

Voyager detected all members of the one— and two-carbon families in Titan’s atmosphere. From the three-carbon family, the spacecraft found propane, the heaviest member, and propyne, one of the lightest members. But the middle chemicals, one of which is propylene, were missing.

As researchers continued to discover more chemicals in Titan’s atmosphere using ground— and space-based instruments, propylene was one that remained elusive. It was finally found as a result of more detailed analysis of the CIRS data.

“This measurement was very difficult to make because propylene’s weak signature is crowded by related chemicals with much stronger signals,” said Michael Flasar, Goddard scientist and principal investigator for CIRS.

“This success boosts our confidence that we will find still more chemicals long hidden in Titan’s atmosphere,” he said.

The Hindu

.End of master blaster? BCCI to ask Sachin Tendulkar to quit after 200th Test

while the debate over the venue for Sachin Tendulkar's milestone Test has sent the cricket frenzy nation in a tizzy, the BCCI seems to have assessed that India's greatest cricketer has outlived his usefulness in the new-look team - comprised of Gen Next cricketers.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) - currently embroiled in the Srinivasan saga - will ask the country's prized possession to throw in the towel after playing his 200th Test in November.

According to Mumbai Mirror, the top officials in the Board have confirmed that Tendulkar will be asked to step down and make way for the young guns. While axing the country's legendary sports icon is no joke, BCCI has already narrowed down on the individual who will convey the message to Tendulkar.

The BCCI, during their recent Annual General Meeting(AGM), have established that the master blaster's recent failures against Australia and England are indications of his end of days.

The reports also suggest that the BCCI have arranged the two-Test series against the West Indies next month in lieu to Tendulkar's milestone. Though the BCCI is yet to announce the formal decision, but Tendulkar's 200th Test is likely to take place in Mumbai - in front of his home crowd.

But, the biggest problem for the BCCI is the fact that as long as Tendulkar keeps himself available for selection, no selection committee dare drop him. However, the Board cannot ignore his batting failures either.

Neither a senior administrator nor any of the selectors will approach the Indian batsman as far as convincing him for the retirement is concerned. Simply because, neither of them can match the stature of the Indian batting maestro - who has over18,000 ODI runs and just under 16,000 Test runs to his name.

Indiatoday

India negotiates with Iran on payments for crude oil import

Following the decision of Tehran not to accept rupee payments beyond 45 per cent margin for the purchase of crude oil, India has opened negotiations with the new government in Iran to explore and work out other mechanisms including payment in other currencies that could include rouble or yen.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary, Vivek Rae said following the US and EU sanctions against Iran, payment routes were blocked for India. India has managed to get Tehran to accept 100 per cent rupee payment mechanism but the change in government has changed this equation and Iran had raised a few invoices for oil it sold to India in rupees but stopped doing so soon after. Now Iran is seeking payments in rouble, yen or yuan and that is what is being worked out with them. “Initially, we thought they Iran will be taking all payments in rupee but there is some reluctance on their side particularly after change of government there,” Mr. Rae added.

It is likely that a team from India consisting of officials from the Finance Ministry, Ministry of External Affairs, Petroleum Ministry and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are likely to Tehran to very soon to engage with their counterparts in Tehran and resolve the impasse.

Mr. Rae said India was targeting 13 million tonne of oil import from Iran in 2013-14 fiscal. It had already imported around 2 MT till now and wanted to import another 11 MT in the rest of the fiscal. Petroleum Minister, Veerappa Moily proposed that India could save $8.47 billion in forex by importing 11 MT of oil in the rest of fiscal from Iran.

Mr. Rae said Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) and Essar Oil Ltd (OIL) plan to import 4 million tonne each from Iran, as against about 5 million tonne each they imported in 2012-13. State-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), which imported 1.566 million tonne oil from Iran in 2012-13, has entered into a term contract for importing 1.2 million tonne crude oil from Iran this fiscal. Since July 2011, India had paid in euros to clear 55 per cent of its purchases of Iranian oil through Ankara-based Halkbank. The remaining 45 per cent due amount was remitted in rupee form in accounts of Iranian National Oil Company in Kolkata-based UCO Bank. Payments in euro through Turkey ceased from February 6 this year but the rupee payments for 45 per cent of the purchases continued through UCO Bank. Iran later agreed to take all of the payments in rupees.

There is also pressure to put in place a mechanism for utilisation of the accumulated rupee balances in the Iranian accounts with UCO Bank, which are of the order of Rs. 20,000 crore at present. This could be in the form of increasing exports to Iran, given that the bilateral trade between the two nations is overwhelmingly weighted in favour of the Gulf country, or having the Iranian Government invest in infrastructure projects in India.

The Hindu

Rahul Gandhi likely to meet PM Manmohan Singh tomorrow

Congress Vice PresidentRahul Gandhi, who made strong comments against the ordinance on convicted lawmakers, is likely to meet Prime MinisterManmohan Singh tomorrow to discuss the issue. 

Sources said Rahul will meet Singh in the morning at his residence. The controversial ordinance is on the agenda and the two leaders are expected to discuss the way ahead on the issue. 

This will be followed by a meeting of the Congress Core Group in which the Prime Minister and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, among others, are likely to discuss the matter. 

Rahul had earlier this week said at a press conference that the ordinance is "nonsense" and should be "torn up and thrown away". Many saw this as an embarrassment for the Prime Minister and the Opposition vociferously demanded that Singh, who was on a visit to the US at the time, should step down after his return. 

However, today when he was asked by the media accompanying him before he reached Delhi whether he would resign, Singh ruled out any such possibility. 

The sources said the government is mulling whether to withdraw the ordinance- which was sent to President Pranab Mukherjee after the Cabinet had cleared it- or ask the President to exercise his pocket veto and sit over it. 

The Cabinet is likely to take a final call on the matter tomorrow.

The Economic times

Srinivasan re-elected BCCI president

Defying intense criticism, N Srinivasan was elected unopposed as BCCI President for a third year during the Board’s AGM here on Sunday even though he will not take charge till further orders from the Supreme Court.

Mr. Srinivasan was the lone Presidential candidate put forward by the South Zone, from where he got the proposer and the seconder.

But he can resume his duties only after the Supreme Court gives its final verdict on the case filed against his candidature by the Cricket Association of Bihar secretary Aditya Verma.

Mr. Srinivasan’s election was on expected lines despite the fact that he is facing intense criticism on the issue of propriety after his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan was charge-sheeted in the IPL betting and spot-fixing scandal.

Mr. Srinivasan’s company India Cements owns Chennai Super Kings.

During the first half of the AGM, other top office-bearers were also elected unopposed.

After Sudhir Dabir, vice President from the central zone and his west zone colleague Niranjan Shah were removed from their positions, Ravi Savant (west) and Rajiv Shukla (central) were brought in.

Another political heavyweight, Arun Jaitley, relinquished the vice-President’s position due to his political commitments and was replaced by his Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) colleague Sneh Bansal.

While Mr. Dabir is considered close to former BCCI chief and Mr. Srinivasan’s adversary Shashank Manohar, Mr. Shah is perceived to be a confidante of another former Board head Sharad Pawar, someone who harboured the ambition to upset Mr. Srinivasan’s applecart.

Haryana Cricket Association chief Anirudh Chaudhary was elected as Treasurer, a post which was to become vacant after Savant was formally made vice-president.

Earlier, a defiant N Srinivasan, who braved scathing criticism on issues of propriety, arrived to attend the Board’s annual general meeting here on Sunday.

The Tamil Nadu strongman, who is vying for his third term as the President of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, was accompanied by his loyalists when he arrived at the hotel where the meeting took place.

Mr. Srinivasan, who was forced to step aside in the wake of the IPL spot-fixing scandal, avoided speaking to the waiting media-persons and walked into the hotel lobby.

Mr. Srinivasan was the lone presidential candidate put forward by the South Zone, from where he got the proposed and seconded.

Despite the Supreme Court making some serious observations like how he had continued being the president despite his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan being charge-sheeted by Mumbai Police in the IPL betting scandal, Mr. Srinivasan and his confidants have gone ahead with their plan of retaining power.

The Hindu

Manmohan slams Pakistan-based terror

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday displayed a willingness to bat on the front foot on cross-border terrorism when he said, in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly here, that progress in resolving the Kashmir issue would require that Pakistan prevent its territory and areas under its control from being used to facilitate terrorism aimed at India.

Striking a strong note before the world body on the eve of his much-vaunted meeting here with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Dr. Singh said that even if Pakistan-based “terrorist machinery” were “shut down,” there must be a clear understanding that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India, and in this context there could “never, ever, be a compromise” on India’s territorial integrity.

Epicentre of terror

Though Dr. Singh reiterated that India was “committed sincerely” to addressing this territorial question through bilateral dialogue on the basis of the Shimla Agreement, he underscored India’s persisting concerns at “state-sponsored cross-border terrorism,” particularly owing to the fact that the “epicentre of terrorism in our region is located in our neighbourhood in Pakistan.”

Underscoring some of the wider issues relating to terrorism and the nuclear threat, Dr. Singh said that 25 years after the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, put forward a comprehensive Action Plan for a Nuclear Weapon-free and Non-violent World Order, “We must strengthen efforts against nuclear proliferation and pursue time-bound, universal, non-discriminatory, phased and verifiable nuclear disarmament,” and guard against “terrorists and non-state actors gaining access to sensitive materials and technologies.”

A dominant theme in Dr. Singh’s speech was India’s firm belief in multilateralism as the vehicle to tackle a variety of global policy challenges, from universal concerns such as growth and poverty in a post-recession world to specific strategic questions relating to recent developments in Syria, Palestine and Afghanistan.

In the context of multilateralism, Dr. Singh not only flagged India’s successful partnerships with other developing nations in Africa, for example, but also exhorted delegates to press ahead with long overdue reform of the United Nations, including the Security Council.

Dr. Singh said the U.N.’s 70th anniversary in 2015 would be the moment to ensure that “the U.N. is ready for this century by completing the much-needed reforms of the United Nations and its Security Council.”

Along with other BRICS nations, Dr. Singh’s efforts in this mission have gathered some momentum after U.S. President Barack Obama backed India’s bid to become a permanent member of the Security Council during his 2010 visit to India.

However, at the U.N. General Assembly this weekend, Dr. Singh cautioned: “Never has scepticism about the U.N.’s capacity… been higher, or the external environment less propitious for multilateralism.” The U.N. enjoyed the most success when it based its decisions on “the widest possible consent and balancing equitably the needs and responsibilities of nations at different stages… of development,” he said.

The Hindu