Countrywide protests against fuel price hike

Political parties, including the Left and BJP, today came down heavily on the government for striking “another blow” on the common man by hiking the fuel price and staged demonstrations in many parts of the country demanding its immediate rollback.

Slamming the government for the hike, the Left parties asked all their units to immediately conduct hartals, demonstrations and other protest actions.

The CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc said it was “another cruel blow” to the common people as the increase in diesel price would raise transportation cost and affect farmers, while those in kerosene and LPG cylinders would burden the poor.

CPI National Secretary D. Raja accused the government of kneeling down before market forces and corporate houses and demanded immediate roll back of prices.

The Central government on Friday increased diesel price by Rs. 3 per litre, domestic LPG by Rs. 50 per cylinder and kerosene by Rs. 2 per litre.

In the national capital, BJP activists marched towards Parliament but were prevented by police who resorted to use of water canons to disperse the protesters.

The activists tried to jump the barricade and march towards Parliament but police deployed in large numbers prevented them. When the protesters did not stop, police resorted to use of water canons.

Chanting slogans against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA president Sonia Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, they alleged price rise have broken the back of common man.The activists also courted arrest.

The ruling SAD in Punjab and main opposition INLD in Haryana slammed the Centre for effecting “hefty and unwarranted” hike in fuel prices, terming the decision as "anti-people" and demanded a rollback..

Keywords: diesel price, fuel price hike

ICICI Bank to lend Air India R5.5k cr via NCD route

New Delhi: India’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has agreed to lend R5,500 crore to Air India to refinance the cash-strapped national carrier, according to media reports on Thursday citing unidentified sources.

ICICI Bank will subscribe to non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to be issued by Air India at 9.8% to help lessen the airline's burgeoning debt, the report said.
The state-run airline, which has been incurring losses since 2007 following a merger with erstwhile Indian Airlines, has a towering debt of R40,000 crore.
Air India, which has been servicing the loan taken for buying aircraft at over 12%, will pay interest every six months to the bank and has agreed to provide government guarantee to the lender.
The bond issue is expected to help the national carrier save around interest cost worth R180 crore, the sources said.
Earlier this month, Air India had announced that it has presented a turnaround plan to various banks.

Fears of margin pressure hammer low-cap stock

Investors continue to sell shares of several mid-cap and small-cap companies despite denials by promoters of any margin funding pressure. As the broader market continues to fall in the absence of positive triggers, lenders are asking promoters to be ready to meet margin calls while brokers are turning cautious in margin funding clients. 

Shares of GTL fell 7% to close at 108 on the BSE , after hitting intra-day low of 93. It has lost about three-fourth of its value so far this year. GTL Infra ended the day 1% up at 16, after touching an intra-day low of 13. GTL Infra has lost about 63% so far this year amid speculation of bank debt and margin funding issues and concern that lenders sold GTL and GTL Infra shares pledged to borrow money. The company has denied the rumours. However, it has not explained any possible reason for the fall in its stock price and has requested the regulator to investigate the matter. 

S Kumars Nationwide lost 4% to close at 49. It has lost 44% this year. Orchid Chemicals, which gained 4% to close at 253, has lost 20% this year on similar fears. Officials from both the companies have denied any such sale and termed it as speculation. 

"There are question marks on certain companies. Investors should refrain from investing in such companies. It is always possible to see situation of promoter losing his control in a falling market like this. While pledging is not bad, one needs to look at the reason why the funds were raised and even regulators should make that disclosure mandatory," said Rajen Shah, chief investment officer, Angel Broking . He said that some companies have been unnecessarily targeted by this scare. Investors fear that many promoters face the risk of losing their pledged shares for failing to meet margin calls. In the past, Orchid Chemicals' Raghavendra Rao and Vijay Sheth of Great Offshore lost hold on their companies due to margin funding pressure. 

"The fall in shares is a matter of concern as some fall 4-5% even on a sale of few thousand shares. Many promoters are getting margin calls. Lenders are also becoming flexible as they know that it is more of an aberration in some cases," said Prakash Diwan , head of institutional equities, Networth Stock Broking. 

Broking firms are advising clients to square off positions if there is any possibility that they would be unable to sustain mark-to-market margin pressure. 

IT sector upbeat despite visa misuse controversy

Amid controversy over US visa misuse by leading Indian IT firms, the apex body of software firms, Nasscom, has sought to play down the issue saying this is nothing new as there may be differences over interpretation of visas.

"The visa issue is not something new and is just the old story being repeated. There are interpretational issues. There is a need for comprehensive reforms (in visa norms), something which President (Barack) Obama has also highlighted," Nasscom President Som Mittal told PTI.

Nasscom is deeply engaged in discussions with authorities to sort out such issues, he added. Infosys, the country's second largest software exporter,
has been in news on allegations of visa misuse.

After a lawsuit by a former employee, two more Infosys managers are believed to have submitted internal whistle-blower reports pointing to Indians on business visitor visas (B1) who were performing longer-term work not authorised under those visas.

B-1 visas are granted to business visitors coming to the US for short stays to attend meetings, conferences or training sessions, or to install specialised equipment.

H-1B visa, on the other hand, is a non-immigrant visa, which allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in speciality occupations.

"There are issues at two levels -- policy and operational. We hope these get sorted out soon," Mittal said. Asked if these were impacting the reputation of the Indian IT industry, Mittal said, "This creates uncertainty and that impacts the industry."

Agrees N Chandrasekaran, Managing Director and CEO of TCS . "The visa issue is not something new; the rejection rate has been running high for almost all through the last several months so it's something that we are trying to grapple with,"Chandrasekaran told a news channel.

He added that Nasscom and individual companies have been in talks with the consulates.

"Nasscom and the individual companies or talking to the consulates to come to a common understanding and interpretation so that this can be put behind but having said that the overall environment looks good," Chandrasekaran said.

The pressure seems to be mounting for the Indian IT firms as a US senator has written to the US Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security, requesting that their respective departments review the B-1 business visa programme and investigate the manner in which it is being utilised by
companies, including Infosys.

Even analysts like CLSA have raised concerns saying visa worries can impact margins. Despite the uncertainty, the industry remains confident.
"The order pipeline looks good and so, we are not reviewing our projection of a 16-18% annual growth this year," Mittal said.