Five-day conclave for small business units

The state micro and small scale enterprises and textiles (MSSET) department is in the process of forging a partnership with IIM Calcutta and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE) to kick-start an entrepreneurship movement in the state through a five-day Bengal business conclave.

 With 43,000 registered and 20.8 lakh unregistered micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that provide employment to 58.5 lakh people, the state ranks second in the country in terms of the number of units. "To clear the roadblocks faced by the units, we are setting up MSME clinics at the conclave," said the state's MSSET secretary Rajiv Sinha

Bengal cabinet okays schemes to protect farmers, MSME sector

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said her government has decided to set up mega markets for farmers in all 18 districts of the state at a cost of Rs. 150 crore for the benefit of farmers

The state cabinet also took a decision to set up “Brand Bengal Marketing Corporation” to promote marketing of different products by various enterprises under MSME sector

“With the launch of this corporation, marketing of all the companies under MSME sector will be brought under one roof for a better market linkage benefitting the artisans and workers in the sector,”

New Companies Bill & SEBI Ordinance: Hope,Hype & Horror

The new Companies Bill and the Ordinance to amend the SEBI Act will create a monumental combined impact. 

Some 50 years after independent India enacted the Companies Act, a new Bill is ready to deliver a new and modern statute. Separately, exactly 25 years after India got its first securities regulation, major changes have been brought about in the Securities & Exchange Board of India Act (SEBI), through a Ordinance, empowering it with enormous additional powers.

Obama-Promises-G20-US-Will-Wind-Down-QE3-Gradually

US President Barack Obama reportedly promised delegates at the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg Thursday that quantitative easing in the United States would be wound down gradually, in an apparent attempt to allay emerging markets fears about any sudden shifts in US monetary policy

The United States’ latest round of quantitative easing (QE3), designed to boost the US economy, was launched last year and the Federal Reserve is widely expected to begin winding down the $85 billion monthly bond buying program at its upcoming meeting later in September

Emerging markets, including Russia, are wary that adjustments to QE3 could have serious consequences for their economies, causing significant outflows of investment and depreciating their currencies

The Indian rupee, the Brazilian real and, to a lesser extent, the Russian ruble, have all fallen against the dollar this year as expectations about an end to QE3 have grown

“The majority of countries with developing economies take the position that it is essential to take careful action when winding down this policy”

BRICS to commit $100B to FX fund

The BRICS group of emerging economies will contribute $100 billion to a fighting fund to steady currency markets destabilised by an expected pullback of U.S. monetary stimulus

China, holder of the world's largest foreign exchange reserves, will contribute the bulk of the currency pool. But it will be much smaller than the $240 billion originally envisaged and officials said it would not be functional for some time yet

Cheap dollars that fueled a boom in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa over the past decade have turned tail since Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, warned in May of a 'taper' in the U.S. bond-buying scheme

Gold-rich temples refuse to unlock idle assets to help govt bring down gold import

Some of India's richest temples such as Tirumala Tirupati, Sree Padmanabhaswamy, Shree Krishna temple of Guruvayur, Shree Siddhivinayak and Vaishnodevi are in no mood to part with their treasure to ease the supply crunch and control the outflow of dollars. 

The gold trade is keen to get a slice of a possible 20,000 tonne of gold stashed away in peoples' homes and temples, which at the current gold price it worth around $980 -$1000 billion. 

China calls for regional cooperation over Fed quantitative easing tapering

China and its Asian neighbors should strengthen financial ties to head off risks stemming from any U.S. tapering of its stimulus programme

U.S. #Federal Reserve may start tapering its stimulus program as early as this month. The next Fed policy meeting is set for September 17-18.

"Expectations that developed economies may start to exit quantitative easing policies have stirred financial markets in emerging countries, which requires our join efforts to handle,"

NSEL defaults on third consecutive payout

National Spot Exchange (NSEL) has defaulted on its payment obligations, thereby putting further pressure on the regulators to act expeditiously against the bourse

The exchange has managed to pay only R15.37 crore against R174.72 crore as laid down in the settlement schedule. The first pay-out day on August 20 saw the exchange disburse only R92.13 crore, which was followed by R12.60 crore on August 27. In other words, the exchange, till date, has disbursed only R120 crore against R524.16 crore.

NSEL, however, last week made a separate payment to small investors totalling R177.23 crore by taking a bridge loan from Financial Technologies-India (FTIL)

RBI Sells Dollars Directly To Oil Importers

India's central bank, the RBI, is trying new measures to stabilize the rupee. One of the key sources of pressure on the currency is the nation's need to import fuel. Oil companies have to buy dollars (sell rupees) in order to purchase crude oil in the international markets (including from Iran) to meet the nation's massive energy needs

The Reserve Bank of India will provide dollars directly to state oil companies in its latest attempt to shore up a currency that has slumped to a record low, reflecting the stiff economic challenges facing the country in an uncertain global environment.

The Reserve Bank of India announced late on Wednesday a special window "with immediate effect" to sell dollars through a designated bank to Indian Oil Corp Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, and Bharat Petroleum Corp "until further notice".

NSEL defaulters used dummy accounts: I-T dept

The income tax (I-T) department has found that at least one of the big defaulters on National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) was using dummy bank accounts, suggesting the matter may be more than just a simple payments default. The I-T department is investigating whether the amounts invested were declared in the annual returns of the concerned parties.

NSEL officials, when asked whether they were aware of such diversion of funds, told FE they could not comment on the business transactions of its members, and that relevant authorities would take the necessary action in case anything wrong had been done.

Libya Oil Output Decline Threatens Public Sector Pay

Libya’s government may stop paying civil servants by the end of the year as protests at petroleum facilities curtail the nation’s oil output to one-tenth of its capacity, a lawmaker warned today

The North African state is now producing 150,000 barrels a day, after losing 50,000 barrels in daily production yesterday because of strikes by workers and security guards

The loss of Libyan oil production should be the “real price driver,” in crude markets, Vienna-based JBC Energy said in a research note last week. U.S. threats to attack Syria compounded the impact of Libya’s supply disruption in pushing Brent crude to a six-month high of $117.19 a barrel on Aug. 28. Libya holds Africa’s largest proven oil reserves, according to BP Plc’s Statistical Review of World Energy

Jiangxi Copper warns of deepening price pressures

Jiangxi Copper, China's largest copper smelter, warns copper faces more downside price pressure as it posted 52% YoY fall in interim profit due to lower prices of the metal.

Company said that with a new round of release of copper mining capacity globally and China's economic restructuring and slowdown, the copper market faces a change in demand and supply relationship."

Amid expectation that the United States will cut or end its bond buying program and continued economic weakness in Europe and Japan, copper price would be further pressured

Bargain-hunting seen to hold sway over stock market this week

Buying momentum may spill over to this week, but investors are bracing for a tough September ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting this month

Volatility has gripped global financial markets since Fed chairman Ben Bernanke signalled in mid-May that the US central bank may begin winding down its stimulus program if the economy improves. The Fed's $85-billion bond-buying program – the third tranche of what has come to be called “quantitative easing” (QE3) – has been a key driver of equities rallies in the past several months.