RURAL DEMAND TEPID

Rural demand will continue to remain subdued for some time due to the deceleration in farm income, says a report.
According to an estimate by the American brokerage Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) the coming summer harvest will have farm income decelerating to 10.3 per cent in FY15, from 16.5 per cent last year.
"We continue to remain bearish on rural demand. We had turned negative on rural demand in April 2012 after being bullish for three years," BofA-ML report said. According to the report, the jump in rural incomes was largely due to a spike in commodity prices driven by the expansionary monetary policy or quantitative easing by central banks.
"The ensuing supply response has weakened pricing power for farmers," the report said.
"Wheat farmers will see earnings growth slow to 10.2 per cent from 17.3 per cent last year, factoring in some crop damages due to the hailstorms in late February and early March," the BofAML report said.
Pulses and oilseeds growers will also see incomes slowing.
"We will reassess our call in early July after we get clarity on the Southwest monsoons," the report said. It said change in formulating minimum support prices after the ongoing polls will also be closely looked at. The report also said horticulture growers and dairy farmers are beginning to lose pricing power with supply catching up with demand. Past five years' average production growth of vegetables (5.5 per cent), fruits (4.3 per cent) and milk (4.2 per cent) is outstripping population growth of 1.3 per cent and cooling excess demand, it added.

HIRING SENTIMENT

Now connect to right talent faster with 'Sourcing Technology'
 
Workforce solutions provider ManpowerGroup today said it has developed a strategic technology that gives its users an advantage in identifying hard-to-find candidates to meet their talent needs.
Talent is the key driver of business success in today's world, where continued economic uncertainty makes it difficult for businesses to anticipate their talent needs, and threatens their ability to compete in the marketplace, it said.
Jim McCoy, Vice President ManpowerGroup Solutions and RPO Practice Lead said said that this framework enables the company to quickly "cut through the clutter and implement the most effective tools for our clients' needs."
Additionally, it gives recruiters the freedom to experiment with the latest technologies, sharpening their skills and expanding their candidate network, he said.
The market is saturated with candidate sourcing platforms and that is why it is critical for employers to use the right sourcing technology that can provide them with in-depth insights into talent trends and help them deliver on business objectives, he said in a company release.
According to ManpowerGroup India Group Managing Director A G Rao, three key actions to identify the right sourcing technology are: planning for current and desired state of the sourcing; hiring the right sourcing talent and budgeting appropriately and evaluating the technology by constantly measuring and refining it.

FII INFLOWS HIT $10 BILLION IN 2014

Amid hopes of a stable and reform oriented government after general elections, net investments by foreign institutional investors into India so far this year has reached USD 10-billion level, while their cumulative total inflows into the country is nearing USD 200-billion mark. According to the latest data compiled by capital markets regulator Sebi, the net investments by FIIs into Indian equity markets since the beginning of 2014 have crossed USD 5 billion over Rs 30,000 crore), while the same for debt markets also stands near USD 5 billion (about Rs 29,000 crore)-- taking the total to close to Rs 60,000 crore.
This includes net investments of about Rs 1,500 crore so far in April. This is despite a net outflow of about Rs 7,000 crore from debt markets, as equity markets have seen a net inflow of over Rs 8,500 crore this month till April 25, the latest trading session.
According to market analysts, FIIs are bullish on India and they are expecting a stable government emerging post-elections. FIIs, the main driver of the equity market, have helped pushed up the benchmark BSE Sensex by over 7 per cent so far in 2014 and is now being seen as moving closer to 23,000 mark. They invested Rs 20,077 crore in Indian stocks in March, compared with Rs 1,404 crore in February and Rs 714 crore in January. There were over 1,700 registered FIIs in the country, along with close to 6,400 sub-accounts.
The strong inflows in the recent months have taken the cumulative net investments of FIIs into India to close to USD 197 billion, while their investments in rupee terms is a bit away from Rs 10 lakh crore level.
This is based on the data since November 1992 when the FIIs began investing into Indian markets and includes about USD 167 billion investments into equities and further about USD 30 billion in debt markets.

MUTUAL FUNDS DECLARE INVESTMENTS

In a first of its kind disclosure in the Indian MF space, all fund houses have begun disclosing investments of group companies in their AUMs (assets under management) and Birla Sun Life MF tops the list with Rs 6,585 crore from its related entities. While Reliance MF became the first fund house to make such disclosures voluntarily earlier this year, it was followed by Religare MF. However, regulator Sebi has now made it mandatory for fund houses to make such disclosures with effect from AUM for the month of March.
According to disclosures made by various fund houses, Birla Sun Life MF tops the list for investments by group companies in absolute terms, followed by SBI MF (Rs 5,218 crore), ICICI Prudential MF (Rs 4,971 crore), HDFC MF (Rs 4,032 crore and Reliance MF (Rs 3,650 crore).
In terms of highest AUM contribution from group distributors, SBI MF tops the list with Rs 10,136 crore, followed by HDFC MF (Rs 7,766 crore), Axis MF (Rs 6,116 crore), ICICI Prudential (Rs 5,802 crore) and Birla Sun Life (Rs 5,012 crore).
Reliance MF, which is the country's third largest fund house after HDFC MF and ICICI Pru, has AUM contribution of only Rs 547 crore (0.5 per cent) from its group distributors.
These disclosures are for the month of March, during which the AUM of mutual fund industry normally shrinks by about 20 per cent in the last 15 days due to redemption by corporate and bank investors.
Such disclosures would be now made every month by all 44 fund houses operating in the country.
The fund houses have disclosed the exact amount of investments by their group companies in their respective schemes following a Sebi's direction.
As per Sebi's direction, MFs are required to make monthly disclosure of AUM from different categories of schemes, AUM from places beyond top-15 cities, contribution of sponsor and its associates in AUM and contribution from different types of investors (retail, corporate etc).
The fund houses also need to make disclosures about state-wise contribution and AUM from sponsor group or non-sponsor group distributors on their websites and share the same with AMFI within seven working days from end of the month. These rules came into effect from this month.
The norms were recently framed by the market regulator as part of its first-ever long term policy for the mutual fund industry. 
There is no change in rankings within the top-20 fund houses even after excluding group AUM. However, after excluding Group average AUM, the gap between ICICI MF and Reliance MF has come down from Rs 2,638 crore to Rs 1,317 crore, while the gap between Reliance and Birla Sunlife MFs has increased further.
Currently, HDFC MF is the largest with overall average AUM of Rs 1.13 lakh crore, followed by ICICI Prudential MF (Rs 1.06 lakh crore), Reliance MF (Rs 1.03 lakh crore), Birla Sunlife (Rs 86,000 crore) and UTI MF (Rs 73,000 crore) in the top-five.
After excluding group investments, HDFC MF still tops the charts with Rs 1.09 lakh crore, followed by ICICI Pru at Rs 1.01 lakh crore, Reliance MF at Rs 99,700 crore, Birla Sunlife at Rs 79,500 crore and UTI MF at Rs 70,500 crore.
For March, Baroda Pioneer MF recorded the highest exposure of group investments in percentage terms at 9.79 per cent, although the absolute figure was very low at Rs 752 crore. LIC MF has the lowest exposure of only 0.11 per cent or investment to the tune of Rs 12 crore by group companies.
According to data, average investment of group companies in 20 mutual fund houses stood at Rs 37,454 crore, accounting for 4.43 per cent of the fund houses' total AUM.
At least seven mutual fund players --Birla Sun Life MF, SBI MF, DSP Black Rock MF, Tata MF, L&T MF, Baroda Pioneer MF and HSBC MF-- have witnessed more than five per cent exposure by group companies.
Among these, DSP Blackrock had 7.9 per cent group investments, followed by SBI MF (7.7 per cent) and Birla Sunlife (7.6 per cent). Among other large players, group investments stands at 4.7 per cent for ICICI Prudential MF, 3.55 per cent for HDFC MF and 3.53 per cent for Reliance MF. 

NIFTY OUTLOOK & REVIEW

GENERALLY BETTER

Inputs by

Dr.Bhuvanagiri Amaranatha Sastry

Astro Technical Analyst

Saketha Consultants, Hyderabad

sastry.saaketa@gmail.com

09848014561

http://www.saaketa.com/AstroTechnicals.aspx

Nifty for the Third day in succession. Short term trend continues to remain negative and close above 6800 would make it neutral. However, there is strong support too around 6650 for Nifty. While Global cues, Quarterly results   and  Funds flow  are expected to broadly guide the market movement, based on the present market position , market can be expected to be generally better for most part of the day. However, Low level of first 30 minutes / Low level of Tuesday may be kept as reference for any intraday long positions.

Nifty                               6715  -46

Review for Tuesday :: All round Bearishness…  !!!

Market opened lower and fell sharply in the opening session and recovered thereafter partially to give up most of the gains to close with a loss of more than 0.60%. All sectoral indices closed in the red  led by Metal, PSU Bank, Media, Auto and FMCG. 35 of Nifty stocks closed in the red   and broader market  too was quite negative  with Advance Decline ratio at about 1:1.8. Hind Unilever, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI  dragged down by more than 20 points..

Ambuja Cement, Grasim, BPCL, ACC, Tech Mahindra      gained  among Nifty stocks while Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, Hind Unilever, Tata Power, Hindalco   remained major losers.

 

Jain Irrigation, IRB, Petronet, Rel Infra, Ambuja Cement   remained major  gainers  among F&O stocks while Hexaware, Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Voltas  declined among F&O stocks.

EUREKA FORBES LAUNCHES ACQA GUARD ON THE GO

Home appliances maker Eureka Forbes has launched mobile water purifier 'Aquaguard-on-the -Go', priced at Rs 595. Aquaguard-on-the-Go is in shape of a sipper loaded with miniaturised water purification technology and would be available across retail outlets and general stores, Eureka Forbes said in a statement. It would be available in four variants - black mystery, pink beauty, pearl white and racy blue, Eureka Forbes, a part of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, said. Commenting on the development, Marzin R Shroff, Eureka Forbes CEO - Direct Sales and Senior VP, Marketing, said the miniaturised water purification technology was rolled out after seven years of research. "Aquaguard-on-the-Go is perhaps the only water purifier in India which can enable affordability, adaptability and availability of safe drinking water for Indians. It is an important milestone in the history of brand Aquaguard which will take our market leadership in India to the next level," he added. The company said, the water purifier is powered by space nano technology, which has 100 crore plus optimally charged active sites that attract and can remove 99.9 per cent harmful bacteria and virus. Water filled in sipper passes through a maze of nano sized positive charged media that traps negatively charged pathogens and other impurities to decontaminate drinking water, the company said. It would attract the travellers, school/college students, sports and fitness enthusiasts. Eureka Forbes, which had a turnover of Rs 1,776 crore last year, has a customer base of 15 million with presence in 450 cities and towns in India and a globally across 35 countries.

GOLD ETF TRENDS

OIL PRICES MIXED

Oil prices fell in London but edged higher in New York today as fresh Western sanctions on Moscow were milder than feared and Libya stook more steps to increase exports. New York's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in June gained 24 cents at USD 100.84 a barrel. In London, Brent North Sea crude for June lost $1.46 to close at USD 108.12 a barrel. The London benchmark felt selling pressure after Libya's state oil company declared the end of a force majeure on its Zueitina oil depot, opening the way for a resumption of exports from the terminal. Analysts meanwhile said the sanctions by Washington and Western Europe, targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin's close business circle for Moscow's failure to stop soaring tensions in Ukraine, came in lighter than expected. "The sharp turnaround in Brent oil prices is probably due to the fact the sanctions against Russia were not as tough as had been priced in," said Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada. "The Brent contract is likely to remain supported by geopolitical tensions for the foreseeable future, while the excess oil supply in the US will probably weigh down WTI." Crude futures had rebounded in earlier trade, boosted by renewed strains between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine, a major conduit for Russian natural gas exports to Western Europe, is monitored closely by investors who are concerned that a full-scale armed conflict will disrupt supplies and send energy prices soaring. Washington placed seven Russian officials and 17 companies on its sanctions list, and the European Union added 15 people to its own blacklist, in hopes of persuading Moscow to back off from Ukraine. The measures fall short of the full-scale economic sanctions previously pressed by Washington. "As the situation in Ukraine continues to remain tentative, we expect volatile trading conditions in the short term, until there is a clear resolution to the Ukrainian crisis," said analyst Myrto Sokou at the Sucden brokerage in London.

SAME DAY DELIVERY IN 10 CITIES

Flipkart today launched its "Same Day Guarantee Delivery" in 10 cities,
Customers can place their orders by 12 noon on a business day to have their orders delivered to them by 9 pm on the same day, Flipkart said.
The service is available in Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Manesar, Navi Mumbai and Thane and will be scaled up to other cities soon, it said in a release here.
Flipkart’s Same Day Guarantee Delivery service is available for additional shipping fees of Rs. 200 with an introductory shipping fee of Rs 140, it said.

US-based Amazon and homegrown online marketplace Snapdeal already offer this service in the Indian market.
"With this, Flipkart becomes the only e-commerce player to offer this service at scale in India. Customers can place their orders by 12 noon on a business day to have their orders delivered to them by 9 pm on the same day," Flipkart said in a statement.
"Innovation is part of the Flipkart DNA and over the past six years we have been constantly adding and refining technology that enhances and improves the online experiences for all our customers," Flipkart co-founder and CEO Sachin Bansal said.
The seven-year old firm, which crossed the USD 1 billion annual sales mark (over Rs 6,000 crore) in March this year, has also introduced deliveries on Sundays. Most other online sites do not deliver on Sundays.
"Over the past few years, we have led the supply-chain innovation in the country and all of that has dramatically changed the way Indians shopped online. This launch is the next step in a series of innovations," he said.

NIFTY OUTLOOK FOR 29th & REVIEW

CLOSING HOUR CRUCIAL

Inputs by

Dr.Bhuvanagiri Amaranatha Sastry

Astro Technical Analyst

Saketha Consultants, Hyderabad

sastry.saaketa@gmail.com

09848014561

http://www.saaketa.com/AstroTechnicals.aspx

Nifty for the Second day in succession. While short term trend for Nifty turns negative, close below 6750 would reinforce bearishness. While Global cues, Quarterly results   and  Funds flow  are expected to broadly guide the market movement, based on the present market position , market can be expected to be generally better in forenoon and closing hour is crucial for the day.

Nifty                               6761  -22

Review for Monday :: Bearish Bias…  !!!

Market traded in a narrow range with bearish bias . 31 of Nifty stocks closed in the red   and broader market  too was negative  with Advance Decline ratio at about 1:1.2. PSU Bank,  Pharma, Realty  indices gained while Auto, Infra, Metal, FMCG, Energy and Infra indices declined. Sun Pharma, SBI, Cipla  contributed more than 7 points to Nifty’s gain while HDFC, L&T, Tata Motors dragged down by more than 13 points..

Cipla, Sun Pharma, Wipro, Dr Reddy       stood out as major gainers among Nifty stocks while Ambuja Cement, Asian Paints, BHEL, GAIL   remained major losers.

 

UPL, Jain Irrigation, IFCI, JP Power, Tata Chem   remained major  gainers  among F&O stocks while Ambuja Cement, Just Dial, Shriram Transport, Adani Ports  declined among F&O stocks.

Rs.1000/- PENSION AFTER ELECTION

The process for allotment of unique identification numbers to Provident Fund members would begin soon, additional PF commissioner V Vijayakumar said here today.
The KYC arrangement, which would follow, would enable members to get settlement of dues done directly with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) office, Vijayakumar said on the sidelines of a programme here.
Vijaykumar also said that the hike of pension to Rs 1,000 a month was likely to be implemented once the elections were over. It is likely to be given with a retrospective effect from April, 2014.
He said that the EPFO is also drawing a strategy to expedite the recovery of around Rs 550 crore dues from the eastern region.
"The total dues in my zone is Rs 550 crore, but of which around Rs 450 crore is blocked in litigations," he said adding he would hold a meeting with legal professionals by the end of this month.
Vijaykumar recently took over as the head the EPFO office in the east that controls, West Bengal, Northeast, Sikkim, Jharkhand and Andaman & Nicobar islands.
He said that he would try to increase the number of PF members to over 1 crore from around 80 lakh now by launching an engagement drive.
"A parliamentary committee has found that some 32,000 workers are not covered in the jute sector and in Murshidabad the number is over 60,000," Vijaykumar said.
Speaking about performance, he said that last year total settlement was to the tune of Rs 2400 crore in PF and Rs 197 crore in pension.
He said that EPFO had issued penalty notices to over 500 establishments for delayed payment of PF dues.

17 BIZ GROUPS ATTAIN 1 TRILLION RUPEE MARK

As the stock market benchmark Sensex races towards its 23,000-points milestone, at least 17 business houses have attained a market cap of Rs 1 trillion or more, led by Tatas with a massive group valuation of over Rs 7 lakh crore.
These 17 business houses together command a cumulative valuation of close to Rs 35 lakh crore -- almost half of overall investor wealth of nearly Rs 75 lakh crore in the Indian markets, shows an analysis of latest valuation of all listed companies in the country.
Interestingly, Tata group commands a valuation that is greater than the combined market cap of its two nearest rivals -- HDFC group and Mukesh Ambani-led RIL group on the valuation charts. Tata group has more than 30 listed companies, while its most valued firm TCS also happens to be the country's most valued firm with a market value of over Rs 4.3 lakh crore.
The markets' 30-share benchmark index, Sensex, is currently trading near 22,700 points and has gained more than 10 per cent or over 2,500 points in the past three months, which traders largely attribute to expectations for a reforms- friendly and a stable government after the ongoing general elections.
The election results will be announced on May 16 and there are widespread expectations about Sensex achieving 23,000-point level by that time.
The ongoing rally has seen at least 17 business houses attaining a market value of Rs 1 lakh crore and more. On this list, Tatas are followed by HDFC Group (Rs 3.2 lakh crore), RIL group (Rs 3.07 lakh crore), ITC (Rs 2.7 lakh crore) and Infosys (Rs 1.8 lakh crore).
Others include Vedanta, Bharti, Aditya Birla, Sun Pharma, ICICI, L&T, Mahindra, Wipro, HUL, Adani, HCL and Bajaj groups.
Among these, Adani group has witnessed a sharp rally in the past three months and the shares of its three listed companies (Adani Enterprises, Adani Power and Adani Ports) have soared ahead by 40-101 per cent. Their collective market value has grown by more than Rs 40,000 crore in this period to close to Rs 1.03 lakh crore now.
There are a few groups which have got just one listed company, while others have multiple listed companies. The PSU companies have not been included into the study, as they do not belong to any particular business group and have got government as their main promoters.
RIL group has got two listed companies, while HDFC has got three (HDFC, HDFC Bank and Gruh Finance). Those with multiple listed companies also include Vedanta, Bharti, Aditya Birla, Sun Pharma, L&T, Mahindra, Adani, HCL and Bajaj groups.
At the individual company level also, there are 17 companies with a market capitalisation of Rs one lakh and more, but these include three PSUs (ONGC, Coal India and SBI).
Among private sector companies, Tata group has got two companies (TCS and Tata Motors) in this list.

MARKETS PREPARING FOR POLL D-DAY

With Indian stock markets reaching dizzying heights on hopes of a strong and stable government after polls, investors have started adding 'defensive' stocks to shock-proof their portfolios ahead of election results on May 16. At the same time, regulator Sebi, stock exchanges and market intermediaries are also working to ring-fence the systems and infrastructure from any sudden volatility on the results day, or around that date. Officials said 'mock stress tests' have been conducted at exchanges under supervision of Sebi to ensure that the markets are ready to withstand any shocks that may arise out of sudden increase in volumes. The preparations are being done while keeping in mind the experience of May 18, 2009 -the day when results of last Lok Sabha polls were announced and the markets gained so much that trading had to be halted. That date is still known as 'Magic Monday' in stock market as the benchmark index Sensex posted its biggest ever gain of over 2,100 points in just one-minute trade after investors were enthused by a decisive verdict in the then concluded general elections. However, the gains were limited to a few investors on that date as trading could not continue for the day. The experience was another extreme on May 17, 2004, soon after the announcement of 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the markets witnessed the worst-ever bloodbath on concerns of uncertainty over the economic reforms as the then NDA government was voted out of power. That time also, the exchanges were forced to suspend trading twice to contain volatility, while Rs 1,24,000 crore worth investor wealth got wiped out despite all efforts to contain the losses. The officials said all necessary groundwork has been done to prepare for any eventuality on the results day this time, while there have also been requests from some quarters to extend the trading beyond the stipulated 3.30 pm on May 16, which is a Friday. Besides, there are also demands to conduct trading on the next day, although markets are normally closed on Saturdays and Sundays. A final decision is yet to be taken on additional trading hours, a senior official said, adding that so far Sebi has not been inclined to do so as there have been no precedents and such a move may be construed as interfering in the normal market making activities.
The Sensex has already galloped over 7 per cent in this calendar year to 22,688.07, with capital goods, banking, consumer durables and automobile firms' shares clocking double-digit gains. However, there is also a possibility of a hard-landing on May 16 if the outcome differs from expectations of a result favourable to the coming of a stable government. In past one month or so, index for a defensive sector like healthcare has surged 3.5 per cent dwarfing Sensex's 2.8 per cent gain -indicating that smart money in markets is ring-fencing itself. 
Unpredictability of election outcomes in India, given fragmented polity and dynamic voter base, coupled with the fact that opinion polls went wrong in the last two national elections (2004, 2009) remains an overhang. "...In the run up to the outcome of general elections on May 16, the next few trading sessions are likely to be very volatile," according to research conducted by Aditya Birla Money, which has advised clients a mix of cyclical and defensive stocks. Listing out a possible scenario, foreign financial major Morgan Stanley in the second week of this month said if the elections produce a fragmented coalition government, the equity market could revert to quality stocks, and "technology and pharmaceuticals could be the major outperformers" and the INR could lose more than 10 per cent. "Volatility around elections is almost guaranteed. With the markets turning more optimistic about the election outcomes and the importance of elections to future growth and macro stability, investors may seek to adjust their portfolios for likely election outcomes," it added. Morgan Stanley's model portfolio has a combined 30 per cent weightage for healthcare and IT stocks. The scope for escape is little in mid-cap and small-cap shares that have risen faster than blue-chip stocks that typically comprise Sensex and Nifty indices, experts say.
The index-based market-wide circuit breaker system applies at 3 stages of the index movement, either way viz. at 10%, 15% and 20%. These circuit breakers when triggered bring about a coordinated trading halt in all equity and equity derivative markets nationwide. The market-wide circuit breakers are triggered by movement of either the BSE Sensex or the NSE CNX Nifty, whichever is breached earlier. "Markets have run up to great heights in the past two months. We expect the bullishness to continue. There are certain sectors which have participated in the rally and those which have not. For the bullishness to continue further, we expect a sector-wise rotation to happen. Hence, we are generating a sell call on certain over-heated stocks in the sectors, which have run up the most,"said Asit C Mehta of Investment Intermediates. It has advised its clients to book profits in a minimum 20 per cent and a maximum 40 per cent from holdings in a list containing Apollo Tyres, Adani Enterprises, HPCL and Crompton Greaves. Prabhudas Lilladher's R Sreesankar, who heads institutional equities, says the equity market behaviour leaves very little margin of error as the market seems to have zeroed in on one person heading the new government. "In the event of a decisive government failing to materialise, there is scope for huge disappointment and this could lead to the market correcting and the Nifty could come down to a lower range of 5700-6200 levels," he added in a report. 

R INFRA TUSSLE OVER MUMBAI METRO FARES

Even as the final clearance from the Commissioner of Railway Safety is expected shortly, the much-delayed Mumbai Metro is set to be postponed further as the state administration has turned down the operator Reliance Infrastructure's demand for a steep hike in fares. RInfra's arm Mumbai MetroOne has sought almost a two-fold increase in fares compared to the fare already notified by the state government. As per the notification, the minimum fare would be Rs 9 and maximum Rs 13 in the initial year of operations. Then after every four year, the fare will increase by 11 per cent and at the end of the concession period-- that is by 2044-45-- the minimum fare would be Rs 24 and maximum Rs 37. However, according to sources, RInfra has sought a steep revision in the fares with minimum Rs 22 and maximum Rs 33, citing a near-doubling of its cost. "The company has sought higher fare citing huge cost escalation. But the government has already notified the fares so there is no question of any revision," Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority additional commissioner Sanjay Sethi told PTI. The minimum fare was already revised upwards from the original proposed Rs 6 to Rs 9 in the initial period. RInfra had argued that due to cost escalation as well as inflation, it would be difficult for them to sustain at the government notified rates. The cost of the project, which was earlier estimated at Rs Rs 2,356 crore, jumped 82 per cent to Rs 4,291 crore, largely due to delays in securing right-of-way from the Railways and civil authorities, as well as various other approvals from the Railways. The company approached the Research, Design and Standards Organisation of the Railways this February and got the approval on April 2. The project is now awaiting the go-ahead from the Commissioner of Railway Safety, currently carrying out safety checks. When contacted, an Mumbai MetroOne spokesperson said, "We are ready to start operations subject to final safety approval from CMRS." The company is opposing the fares fixed by the government and wants it to be revised as per the provisions of the Central Metro Act, as is done for other metros in the country including Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai. "The fare shall be fixed as per the provisions of the Central Metro Act, which are applicable to the project," the spokesperson said. 
The Mumbai Metro fares are envisaged to be 1.5 times of the BEST fares, which currently is Rs 6 for a minimum distance of 3 km. The Delhi Metro, however, considers AC bus fare as the benchmark for deciding its fares. Mumbai MetroOne is a joint venture between Reliance Infrastructure, French firm Veolia Transport and MMRDA and with the parties respectively holding 69, 26 and 5 percent. Meanwhile, Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) PS Baghel told PTI that the inspections are going on and the issuance of a final certificate may get delayed by a few days. "We are still in the process of inspecting various parameters and we will then come out with our observations. We will then co-relate our inspection report with our observations and thereafter a final report will be prepared. A final certificate to the metro may then be issued by May 1 or it may also get delayed by a few days," Baghel said. Since April 17, Baghel has been rigorously inspecting various parameters of running the metro in the city. He first visited D N Nagar car shed in Mumbai and then took a review of the entire metro system, which includes rolling stocks, workshop, depot, corridor, stations, track, etc. CRS safety check is the last statutory certification requirement before the 11.4 km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar line is opened for public. After being satisfied with results of detailed tests and trials, the CRS would authorise Mumbai Metro One Private Ltd (MMOPL) to commence passenger operations on the line. However, social activist Anil Galgali said as per his information, the authorities want to start operations on the line only once the code of conduct gets over so that it makes a good impact for the people of Mumbai. Galgali, in a letter to CRS, has demanded that the metro be opened for Mumbaikars without delay and that this may not be made a political issue. "We demand an immediate opening of the project once the final certificate is issued for the convenience of the citizens of Mumbai. The project should not be used to score political brownie points," Galgali said. With opening of the line, the journey will be reduced to about 20 minutes on Ghatkopar-Andheri-Versova corridor, which at present takes almost two hours through various other modes of transport. 

ASHIANA HOUSING EXPAND Sr.CITIZEN's LIVING PROJECT

Riding high on the growing demand of housing for senior citizens, realty player Ashiana Housing plans to expand its retirement housing segment in three more cities in next three years, a senior company official said.
The New Delhi-based firm already has three senior citizen living projects in its portfolio in three cities including Jaipur, Bhiwadi (Delhi NCR) and Lavasa in Pune. It now plans to set up one more in Bhiwadi and one each in Kolkata and Chennai, its joint managing director Ankur Gupta told PTI. "The concept of retirement homes is evolving in India, but not at a similar pace as it is in other countries. But as the demand is growing here, we plan to expand our presence in this space," he said. The company expects to have a significant share of sales in terms of area from this segment, he said. "This year we plan to sell around 25 lakh sqft of area. Over the next three years, by when these projects are expected to come on stream, we expect to sell nearly 30-35 per cent of the total area in this segment," Gupta said. According to property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle, the number of elderly population is expected to grow to 173 million by 2025, which is now being looked at as a potential real estate market. "Given the scope of growing number of senior citizens who wish to spend a luxurious retirement life, this segment itself is lucrative business opportunity," Gupta said. "We try to cater to the special requirements of senior citizens, including wheelchair-friendly campus, social, medical and spiritual needs, recreation etc. They are also provided with facilities like restaurant, convenience store, library, TV hall, Internet cafe, auditorium, rooms to play cards and table tennis and follow hobbies," he said. The BSE-listed firm will be launching the Chennai and Kolkata projects next year and later in Bhiwadi. "We have a land bank in Bhiwadi where we already have one senior citizen living project and the new project will come in the same vicinity. In case of Kolkata and Chennai, we plan to do it on joint development basis," he said. The company, which is also present in the middle income segment, has so far delivered 118 lakh sqft and nearly 97.3 lakh sqft is under development.

PRIVATE BANKS ARE AWAY FROM ARC's

Even as the public sector banks have made a beeline to dispose of their bad loans to the asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) in the March quarter, private banks are not only unenthused in adopting this route, but have virtually shunned this.
State-run banks, which are sitting on a mountain of bad loans, have sold as much as over Rs 10,000 crore to ARCs in the March quarter, led by State Bank's close to Rs 4,000 crore asset sale, a first for the nation's largest lender in its over 200-year history. In the December quarter, SBI had reported a gross NPA of 5.3 per cent or Rs 67,800 crore.
As against this, its largest private sector counterpart ICICI Bank had a gross NPA ratio of 3.03 per cent in the three months to March, but sold not a single penny to ARCs, its managing director and chief executive Chanda Kochhar said.
HDFC Bank deputy managing director Paresh Sukthankar said the bank's sale to ARCs was around Rs 6 crore, which is "nothing meaningful", while Yes Bank sold Rs 12 crore. For Axis Bank, the third largest private sector lender, the sale to ARCs during the March period, which generally witnesses such sales, was minimal, according to its management. In stark contrast, the state-run lenders have reportedly sold over Rs 10,000 crore of assets to the ARCs in March alone, due to a variety of reasons, including a push by their majority owners.
This may be partly due to the higher proportion of non-performing loans which the state-run banks carry. According to rating agency Icra, the gross NPAs ratio for the country's 40 listed banks stood at 4.1 per cent as of December 2013.
As per RBI estimates, the same for the entire system as a whole had stood at 4.2 per cent as of September 2013 and it expected the same to go up to 4.6 per cent by September 2014 and then improve a bit to 4.4 per cent by March 2015. Within that, the RBI said the state-run banks will be the worst affected. The public sector banks' NPAs will be at 4.9 per cent by March 2015 while the same for the private sector is projected at 2.7 per cent. Meanwhile, some experts also question if the quality of the securities which the banks carry against a loan have a role to play in this trend. Generally it is assumed that private banks are much more diligent while granting a loan and insist on better quality collaterals before disbursing, which a public sector lender may lack.

MAURITIUS SLIPS INTO 2nd PLACE

Once known as the biggest gateway for flow of funds into India, Mauritius has slipped to the second place after the US in terms of quantum of money being brought in by overseas investors into Indian markets.
According to the latest data available with the capital markets regulator Sebi, the US accounted for the largest chunk of 'assets under custody' of foreign institutional investors investing in the Indian equity and debt markets at the end of 2013 with over Rs 4.37 lakh crore worth funds.
The US was followed by Mauritius with over Rs 3.31 lakh crore worth 'assets under custody (AUC)' of FIIs and their sub-accounts as on December 31, 2013.
Mauritius was on the top with AUC of over Rs 3.51 lakh crore at the end of 2012, while the US came second with Rs 3.42 lakh crore.
During 2013, the assets brought in by the FIIs into the Indian markets from the US increased significantly, while the fund-flow from Mauritius declined amid concerns about suspected money-laundering though the Indian Ocean island nation, which has been consistently denying these allegations.
Among the top-ten countries in terms of AUC of FIIs and their sub-accounts registered in India, the US and Mauritius are now followed by Singapore, Luxembourg, the UK, the UAE, Norway, Netherlands, Canada and Australia.
Among these, Singapore, Luxembourg, the UK and the UAE retained their respective places during 2013, while Norway moved up to the seventh place and Cananda slipped to ninth spot.
The total AUC managed by all foreign investors for the Indian markets stood at close to Rs 14.65 lakh crore at the end of 2013, up from about Rs 13.35 lakh crore a year ago.
Out of this, equity markets account for Rs 5.13 lakh crore investments by FIIs and Rs 8.25 lakh crore by their sub accounts. In the debt markets, the FIIs have poured in assets worth Rs 78,000 crore and sub-accounts have close to Rs 48,000 crore as on December 31, 2013.
According to the government data, the Foreign Direct Investment inflows from Mauritius have also fallen sharply on fears of possible re-negotiation of the tax avoidance treaty between the two countries.
The FDI from Mauritius almost halved during April-January period of last fiscal, 2013-14, to close to USD 4 billion, from over USD 8 billion in the same period of 2012-13. Foreign investors are also said to be apprehensive that a re-negotiated DTAA would eliminate the tax advantage which the Mauritius investors enjoy, while there are also fears that they may lose tax benefit after introduction of GAAR (General Anti Avoidance Rules) provisions, which seek to check tax avoidance by investors routing their funds through tax havens, will come into effect from April 1, 2016 in India. Mauritius has been one of the biggest sources of FDI into India, which attracted inflows of USD 77.77 billion FDI from that country between April 2000 and January 2014.

MODI SUGGEST 5F FORMULA TO COTTON FARMERS

Narendra Modi today suggested a "five F" formula to the farmers of country's cotton growing areas which he claimed will ensure remunerative prices for cotton growers and give fillip to apparel export. "Cotton sector in country should follow 'five F' formula. Farm to fibre to fabric to fashion to foreign," he said, while addressing a rally in favour of SAD candidates for Lok Sabha polls here. Bathinda is one of the major cotton growing areas in Punjab. Modi said that he had invented 'five F' formula after cotton growers in Gujarat had to suffer financial loss of Rs 7,000 crore when export of cotton was halted by the Centre. "They (Congress led UPA) caused a loss of Rs 7,000 crore to Gujarat farmers when export of cotton was stopped without any reason," he claimed. Punjab's cotton growers have also been complaining of getting less prices for their crop. Punjab grows cotton at an area over five lakh hectares per annum.

POOR RAINS WASHOUT GDP HOPES

A below-normal monsoon can bring down India's GDP growth by 0.50-0.75 per cent this financial year, forcing the Reserve Bank to delay rate cuts to 2015, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) said today. "If the rains are normal, growth should climb to 5.4 per cent from 4.7 per cent last year. We estimate that poor rains will hurt growth by 50-75 bps," the US financial major said in a research report. "With a normal monsoon, CPI inflation will likely soften to 7 per cent by March 2015, opening the possibility for RBI to cut rates by December. But an El Nino incident can push this to 8-10 per cent, delaying the rate cuts to 2015." The Met Department yesterday said the monsoon is expected to be below normal in 2014 because of the El Nino effect, arising from the warmer-than-average sea surface temperature in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. The condition occurs every 4-12 years and had last impacted India's monsoon in 2009. However, Deutsche Bank does not see much impact of a deficient monsoon, saying the agriculture sector matters less for overall growth, given that its relative share in the economy has reduced appreciably. Currently, the share of agriculture in India's GDP is 14 per cent, though the sector is still the largest employer. Deutsche Bank noted that poor monsoons and associated production shortfall can be countered by policy action. Advising investors to watch the July rains, the report said the July-August rains are critical to kharif crops and added an industrial recovery would be pushed back further if the RBI delays rate cuts due to rising inflation. BofA-ML said it continues to be bearish on rural demand. "We continue to be bearish on rural demand. We estimate that the coming summer rabi harvest will see farm income growth drop to 10.3 per cent from 16.5 per cent last year," it said.

OIL PRICE FELL TO $ 101.45

Oil prices retreated today as traders booked profits in reaction to increased worries over Russia's faltering economy in response to its crisis situation with Ukraine, analysts said. US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate for June delivery, fell 49 cents to USD 101.45 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for June dropped 43 cents to stand at USD 109.90 a barrel in London midday deals. "It seems that Russia's downgrade from the credit rating S&P has dominated the equity and commodity markets today, prompting investors to lock in recent gains in the oil market," said Myrto Sokou, senior research analyst at Sucden brokers. Standard and Poor's today downgraded its rating of Russia's ability to repay debt as alarm grew over the effects of the Ukraine crisis on the economy amid increased capital flight and slumping growth. Russia's central bank also hiked interest rates by half a percentage point in a move aimed at curbing inflation which could also help limit capital flight and pressures on the ruble. Kiev meanwhile today accused Moscow of seeking to trigger a "third world war" as military tensions soared in east Ukraine and US President Barack Obama led a diplomatic charge against Russia. Ukraine, a major conduit for Russian natural gas exports to Western Europe, is monitored closely by investors who are concerned also that a full-scale armed conflict will disrupt supplies and in turn risking a spike in energy prices. "Renewed tensions over Ukraine between Russia and the West have triggered fresh worries about possible oil supplies issues in the region," Sokou added. The Soufan Group, a US-based consultancy that provides strategic security intelligence services to governments and multinational firms, said Russia accounts for 34 per cent of natural gas supplies to the European Union. Washington and its European allies supporting Ukraine's Western-friendly government have accused Russia of fomenting unrest in the country's east, but Moscow has denied the allegations.

NIFTY OUTLOOK FOR 28th & REVIEW

SECOND HALF SUBDUED

May Derivative series started off on a negative with a fall of about 1%.  With this fall, Nifty turns negative and One more negative close would take away the short term bullishness. While Global cues, Quarterly results   and  Funds flow  are expected to broadly guide the market movement, based on the present market position , market can be expected to be generally better in forenoon and could witness selling pressure in Second half of the day.

Nifty                               6783  -58

Review for Friday

Inputs by

Dr.Bhuvanagiri Amaranatha Sastry

Astro Technical Analyst

Saketha Consultants, Hyderabad

sastry.saaketa@gmail.com

09848014561

http://www.saaketa.com/AstroTechnicals.aspx

::  Selling at Higher Levelss…  !!!

Market witnessed huge selling pressure from midsession and could not recover meaningfully  thereafter. 33 of Nifty stocks closed in the red   and broader market  too was negative  with Advance Decline ratio at about 1:1.8. PSU Bank, Media, Pharma  indices gained while Bank Nifty, FMCG, Energy and Infra indices declined. HDFC, M&M  contributed more than 12 points to Nifty’s gain while ITC, ICICI Bank and Reliance  dragged down by more than 35 points..

M&M, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy, Axis Bank,       stood out as major gainers among Nifty stocks while Cairn, Ambuja Cement, BPCL, Ultratech Cement   remained major losers.

 

UPL, IB Realestate, KTK Bank, Yes Bank   remained major  gainers  among F&O stocks while MRF, Cairn, Crompton Greaves, Ambuja Cement, Exide Industries  declined among F&O stocks.

INTEX LAUNCH ACQA QWERTY SMART PHONE

Homegrown handset maker Intex Technologies today launched its new touch and type smartphone -- Aqua QWERTY -- for Rs 4,990.
The handset combines a touch-sensitive screen and a user-friendly typing QWERT interface, aimed at offering users more choices in the way they use their smartphones, Intex said in a statement.
The dual SIM device features a 3.5-inch display touchscreen, 1.2 GHz dual core processor, 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS, 1500 mAh battery, 512MB RAM and internal memory of 4GB (expandable upto 32 GB).
It also has a 5MP rear camera and a VGA front camera.
"Aqua Qwerty is a product which offers the convenience of both touch and type features for users who are QWERTY lovers but wish to explore the touch experience at the same time," Intex Business Head (Mobile) Sanjay Kumar Kalirona said.
Intex has stepped into the QWERTY keypad smartphone segment after a lot of market research and believes that the Aqua Qwerty will be a vehicle of smartphone adoption in the highly untapped segment of women smartphone users in India, he added.

MY VIEWS ARE VINDICATED

Outgoing RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty, who earned a reputation for being too candid during his 5-year stint at the central bank, today said many of his views have been vindicated from time to time. He defended his being outspoken on important regulatory issues, saying that his views on inflation and monetary policy among others have been vindicated repeatedly. Chakrabarty told PTI in an interview. The commercial banker-turned central banker had last month called its quits almost 45 days ahead of the end of his second term. His last working day is tomorrow.

"Being open and transparent is the hallmark of democracy. As a supervisor, my job is to communicate and shout, create the awareness. (Sooner) you do that, you will get a better result and more you delay, to that extent will be the damage. That is why I am happy about my stint in RBI,"

He asserted that he never spoke against his higher-ups, but only gave his views on certain topics when they were sought. Chakrabarty also spoke candidly about an episode in 2011 when the then Governor D Subbarao was forced to strip all the key departments from him after critical comments surfaced in the media on the ineffectiveness of the monetary tightening, attributed to an unnamed RBI official. "So far as that episode is concerned, nowhere can anybody prove that I said that. Anyhow that was my view, and the entire world today knows that my view was correct," he said. This incident also led him being asked not to speak extempore, something he was very fond of, and his speeches were uploaded on the Reserve Bank of India website. 

"Our job is to give the advice. You may not agree with my views... I will give you logic and ultimately time will say who is right and who is wrong," 

Chakrabarty, understood to be considering an offer from a global consultancy firm post-retirement in London, refused to confirm or deny this saying that nothing is on his hands as of now. Meanwhile, he pointed to his flagging concerns over the public's obsession over gold buying which needed to be addressed. "I had said gold buying was bad, and lots of people abused me. Ultimately it has been proved that what I had said was correct," Chakrabarty said.

 "Difference of opinion and dissent should be the hallmark of a democratic society and absolutely this is what is the greatness of this institution, that you can express your views. I have so many times said so many things against the ministry and nobody has said anything against me... The hallmark of the democratic system is that,"

Chakrabarty expressed satisfaction over the results of his zealous approach in pointing out the flaws on the corporate governance and asset quality at banks. "I think I have sensitised the system. Everybody is talking of corporate governance and asset quality now. The media is concerned about asset quality, bank chairmen are concerned about asset quality, the finance ministry is concerned about asset quality, and so is Parliament. I think I've been successful in my job," he said. Seated in his 19th floor office on the Mint Road, Chakrabarty also spoke about the duel between him and the then SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri over the former's call for abolishing the cash reserve ratio (CRR), even though the comments were largely a reiteration of his earlier stance. "In a regulated environment, you have to learn to do business as per what the regulator says. If you don't agree with the regulator, you have to stop doing business... The regulated entities cannot dictate the terms to the regulator, if they do that there will be regulatory capture," he said. The CRR and the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) have been brought down to the current levels as part of the RBI's reform agenda to gradually bring down those ratios he said, pointing out that while CRR was 16 per cent in the 1990s, SLR was at an atrocious 40 per cent. On the foreign banks' opposition to the priority sector lending requirement, Chakrabarty said it is time they learnt to do business the way the regulator wants them to and that the RBI will give them a say in the matters but cautioned against "regulatory capture". "All these foreign banks, which we are giving agricultural target, they have been working in this country for the last 125 years or more than 100 years... Now I am giving them the target and asking them to learn it, and then also they are unhappy, what can I do? "I am sorry, (but) what the regulator will do, the regulator will decide. You cannot say market players will dictate what regulator should do. Then it is regulatory capture," he added. 

Much remains to be done

There are certain things which still remain unaccomplished, especially on the financial inclusion front, the commercial banker-turn-central banker, said.

He has been credited with doing a lot in the field of financial inclusion by pushing banks to lend to the economically weaker sections and opening more branches in unbanked areas. Some of his initiatives include stopping banks from charging prepayment penalties on mortgage loans, forcing lenders to end discriminatory pricing, interest rate deregulation on the savings accounts, and ending penalties for not maintaining minimum balance, among others. " A lot of ground has to be covered. We have a long way to go. Financial exclusion is very high in our society," Chakrabarty told. He said though a lot has been accomplished by the apex bank, there are still many areas where work remains to be done. "Yes, so far as the area of financial inclusion is concerned, the number of transactions has not gone up and credit products have also not picked up which could have made these accounts commercially viable," the statistician-turned- academic-turned banker said. Chakrabarty, who joined RBI in 2009, was in charge of banking supervision, currency management, financial stability, customer service, rural credit, HR management, Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corp, Rajbhasha department and Right to Information, among others. He is also the RBI nominee on the Financial Stability Board, an international body. He said the apex bank has been successful in creating more touch points, thereby giving a number of people access to credit and bringing them into formal financial system. "We have created access by creating over 3.5 lakh touch points. So far as opening the basic savings accounts is concerned, over 200 million savings bank accounts have been opened, which is an achievement," he added.

"So, while I have not been able to achieve many things, let me say that it is not because we have made any less efforts. Efforts were not lacking, but we did not get the results to the desired extent," Chakrabarty said. Declining to take credit for the initiatives and changes that happened during his tenure, he said it was because of the support from former Governor D Subbarao and the present chief Raghuram Rajan that he was able to do his job. "Ours is a very feudal system. I have no agenda. We (Deputy Governors) propose certain things and they become the Governor's agenda." However, he was quick to add that both the Governors he worked with accepted his ideas and allowed him to do his job smoothly. Asked about the problems at United Bank of India, which is having high level of bad loans, Chakrabarty said there will be some exceptions and the Kolkata-based lender is one of them. "Not a single bank has collapsed in the past five years, which was one of the most critical periods (for the Indian banking system). Yes, something has happened at United Bank, and corrective measures have been initiated. "This bank is even today adequately capitalised and if there is any shortfall, the Government has said it will provide that. Absolutely there is no problem in the bank," Chakrabarty added.

RAINS WILL BE BELOW NORMAL

INDIAN METEOROLOGICAL  DEPARTMENT SOUNDS ALERT

After four years of normal and above normal monsoon, India is expected to have below normal Monsoon this year with rainfall projected to be 95 per cent, a news which is disappointing for the farming community. Officials in the weather department said the monsoon is expected to be below normal because of the El-Nino effect, which is generally associated with the warming of ocean water. "The monsoon seasonal rainfall is likely to be 95 per cent of the Long Period average with an error of plus or minus 5 percent," the Meterological Department said in a statement here.

El Nino refers to the warmer-than-average sea surface temperature in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. This condition occurs every 4-12 years and had last impacted India's monsoon in 2009, leading to the worst drought in almost four decades. The rainfall between 90-96 percent is catergorised as below normal and rainfall between 96-104 per cent is termed as normal rainfall.

The forecast for 2014 comes after the country witnessed four straight years of normal monsoon and bumper harvest. Last year, the Met department had forecast 98 per cent rainfall but it exceeded and the country received over 106 per cent rainfall. Monsoon is crucial for agriculture, particularly the kharif crops such as rice, soyabean, cotton and maize because almost 60 per cent of the farm land in the country is rainfed. "Latest forecast from a majority of the models also indicate warming trend in the sea surface temperature over the equatorial Pacific reaching to El-Nino level during the South-west monsoon with a probablity of around 60 per cent," the IMD said. With the Model Code of Conduct in place, the MET department did not hold the customary press conference, but instead posted the monsoon-related information on its website.

AMAZON ENTERS INTO APPARELS

E-commerce major Amazon today made its entry into apparels with the launch of ethnic and Indo-western wear for women on its platform.
It also announced the launch of a dedicated sunglasses store with the selection of more than 2,800 styles catering to men, women and kids, across all ages, occasions and price ranges.
With over 12,000 contemporary and traditional styles from over 90 apparel brands offered by private labels and national and regional retailers, there's a lot in store for the quintessential Indian women of today, Amazon in a release said.
With a vast selection of fashion jewellery, watches, beauty products, handbags, clutches, shoes and now ethnic wear and sunglasses, Amazon.in offers a compelling fashion and lifestyle shopping destination for women, the release added.
"With the launch of women's ethnic apparel and sunglasses, we now offer our women customers, the season's hottest fashion picks on their fingertips," Amazon India Category Leader- Fashion Vikas Purohit said.

TWITTER....A KEY SOURCE IN CRISIS

At a time when Twitter is playing a big role in campaigning process of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, here is a book from it co-founder that talks about what drives the micro-blogging site’s success across the world and in India. “There was a series of terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India (November 26, 2008). People in the middle of the crisis used Twitter to report what was happening in real time, and in some cases Twitter served as a lifeline,” writes Biz Stone in his book “Things a Little Bird Told Me: Confessions of the Creative Mind”. He also talks about how even a farmer in India can depend on Twitter. “A farmer in India with a crappy phone posts a Tweet asking what a certain grain is trading for at the market 50 miles from his home. The answer is double what he was planning to charge. This changes his life and the life of his family for a year,” Stone says. According to Stone, once named one of Time’s most influential people in the world, “People everywhere were finding the reasons Twitter was relevant in their lives - from reading movie reviews to helping the homeless to spontaneously raising money for world causes. While we were buckled down, focusing on performance, the rest of the world was figuring out what Twitter was for.” The book, published by Pan Macmillan India, discusses Stone’s innovation, creativity and the secrets of being a successful entrepreneur, through stories from his life and career. Talking about the role of Twitter in the 2008 US Presidential elections, he writes, “The week of the election was a big week for Twitter, not to mention for the United States, and the world. I sent the team a rallying email with the header: ‘Adding a New Feature to Democratization of Information’. 
The mail read: ‘Folks, Birds in flight have an amazing ability to move as one - immediate feedback and simple rules create something gracefully fluid and seemingly choreographed. “In the spring of 2007, we caught a glimpse of people harnessing a similar power for a new kind communication. South by Southwest 2007 introduced us to the incredible relevance of Twitter during a shared event. “Now the world is watching as one of the most massively shared events in US history unfolds before us. Twitter is positioned to support this election process like nothing else before - 37 members of Congress are Twittering, both candidates have active accounts, millions of citizens are reacting to issues in real time, and political activists are organising protests - all using Twitter, all moving as one.” He says when he wrote that note to the Twitter team, he wanted them to realise how important their work was. “What happened next was amazing. Twitter exceeded and sustained normal capacity by 500 per cent - without breaking a sweat. The servers stayed up. And we had our first African American president!” he writes. In his book, Stone also addresses failure, the value of vulnerability, ambition, and corporate culture. He says he is particularly prone to fantasising about Twitter user stories. “Information could be spread within minutes through retweets. Within one minute, millions of people could be made aware of something important. The more I imagined the possibilities, the more I saw that the whole value of Twitter was in the way people used it. “As a company, instead of talking about how great our technology was (which was tricky to defend, what with the Fail Whale and all), we simply started celebrating the amazing things people were doing with it. It was an odd reversal,” he says.

LETTER WRITTEN IN TITANIC FOR AUCTION

A letter written on board the Titanic hours before the ship sank is set to go under the hammer and is expected to fetch a whopping 100,000 pounds at an auction.
The letter was written on Titanic stationery on Sunday, April 14, 1912, the day the liner collided with an iceberg, resulting in the loss of over 1500 lives.
"The letter is probably the most important Titanic letter known today as it is the only letter written on April 14, 1912, to have survived," Andrew Aldridge of Auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son told PTI.
"It is important because it was written on the day the Titanic collided with the iceberg and another reason is that it was written by a second class passenger and very few things belonging to second class passengers have survived," he said.
Henry Aldridge and Son, one of the world's leading auctioneers of Titanic memorabilia, will hold the auction of Titanic collectibles in Wiltshire to commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the loss of the ship on April 26.
"Estimated at 80,000-100,000 pounds, this unique piece, complete with its envelope embossed with the White Star Burgee, was written by Second Class passenger Esther Hart, the mother of the famous survivor Eva Hart, and it is featured in Eva Hart's biography 'Shadow of the Titanic'," the Auctioneers said in a statement.
Asked if the letter could fetch more than 100,000 pounds, Andrew said, "It is conceivable. If two people want it and go for the letter, it can fetch more."
Hart, whose mother Esther had written the letter, was travelling with her parents to Canada to start a new life.
"After our very satisfying lunch, the three of us went to the library for a rest for a short time before mother left us to go to bed. She took the opportunity to write a letter to her own mother back in Chadwell Heath. It was intended that the letter would stay with the ship to be delivered on its return journey," Eva says in her biography.
"It was never mailed and survived the disaster with the two of us," she says in her book.
"The sailors say we have had a wonderful passage up to now. There has been no tempest, but God knows what it must be when there is one. This mighty expanse of water, no land in sight and the ship rolling from side to side is being wonderful," the letter says.
The letter Esther wrote was found it in the pocket of her husband's sheepskin lined coat after they had been rescued. "The importance of this legendary item cannot be overstated, being the only known surviving example of its type to have been written on that fateful day, surviving the sinking, and having belonged to such a well known survivor," the auctioneers said.
Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early hours of April 15, 1912 after colliding with an iceberg on April 14.

HELIPAD WEDDING @ BURJ AL ARAB

Dubai's iconic Burj Al Arab hotel is offering to organise weddings on its helipad, at 212-metre above the sea level - at a price. Each ceremony will be specially designed by a wedding architect who will be responsible for every detail. The experience has a starting price of USD 55,000 approximately. Each wedding is individually priced depending on the requirements of the bride and groom. The 60-storied hotel is one of the most photographed structures in the world. The dream wedding package includes arrival at Burj Al Arab by air in an Italian twin engine Augusta 109 or by road in a Rolls Royce Phantom. It will also include accommodation in one of Burj Al Arab's 202 suites and private tasting sessions with Burj Al Arab's Executive Chef MaximeLuvara and consultations on wedding cake design, structure, flavour and composition with Executive Pastry Chef Johannes Bonin. The Burj Al Arab helipad has a history of hosting unique activities. In 2004 Tiger Woods teed off the helipad and the following year Roger Federer and Andre Agassi challenged each other to a game of tennis here.

NIFTY OUTLOOK FOR 24 th & REVIEW

CLOSING SESSION BETTER

Inputs by

Dr.Bhuvanagiri Amaranatha Sastry

Astro Technical Analyst

Saketha Consultants, Hyderabad

sastry.saaketa@gmail.com

09848014561

http://www.saaketa.com/AstroTechnicals.aspx

Nifty closed at highest point for the April Derivative series and the series netted a gain of more than 3%. Stop loss for Nifty long positions may be raised to 6775. With all important May Derivative series set to commence on a bullish note, further rise can be expected before the outcome of election results.   While Global cues, Quarterly results   and  Funds flow  are expected to broadly guide the market movement, based on the present market position , market can be expected to witness zigzag movements with better opening and closing session and subdued midsession.

Nifty                               6841  +26

Review for Wednesday ::  Bullish Bias…  !!!

Market traded in a narrow range with bullish bias and closed with a gain of about 0.40% for the day and April Derivative series closed with a gain of more than 3%. 26 of Nifty stocks closed in the green  and broader market  too was steady with Advance Decline ratio at about 1:1. PSU Bank, Media, Infra, Metal  indices gained while Realty, Energy and IT indices declined. HDFC Bank, ITc, L&T,  contributed more than 15 points to Nifty’s gain while Cairn, Tata Motors and TCS  dragged down by more than 5 points..

Bank of Baroda, Kotak Bank, L&T, PNB, Ambuja Cement      stood out as major gainers among Nifty stocks while Cairn, DLF, IDFC, BPCL, Ultra tech   remained  losers.

 

Shriram Transport, Bata India, Bank of Baroda, Dish TV   remained major  gainers  among F&O stocks while Biocon, India Cement, Divis Lab, Cairn, IRB, IDEA  declined among F&O stocks.

 Market is closed on Thrusday on account of polling in Mumbai. 

ANOTHER PEAK

The BSE benchmark index Sensex today rose by 118 points to record closing high of 22,876.54 points on buying by funds mainly in capital goods and banking stocks amid monthly expiry in derivatives.
Similarly, the broader Nifty of the National Stock Exchange too gained 25.45 points, or 0.37 per cent to settle at record 6,840.80 after touching all time intra-day high of 6,861.60 points.
Buying activity further gathered momentum as investors covered their pending short postions on monthly settlement in the derivatives segment, brokers said.
Market remained in a record setting spree on sustained capital inflows, they added.
The 30-share Sensex touched record intra-day high of 22,912.52 points on rise in Larsen & Toubro, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.
Later, it pared some of the gains to settle at 22,876.54, up by 118.17 points, or 0.52 per cent.
"Nifty is showing continued strength on the upsides and is able to hold well above 6800 level for last three trading sessions. Technically, markets are showing optimism and buying is likely to continue in coming sessions," Nidhi Saraswat, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd, said.
In 30-BSE index components, 18 stocks gained and 10 declined, while Hindalco and Bajaj Auto held unchanged.
Larsen & Toubro was the biggest gainer among Sensex scrips rising by 2.48 per cent after positive recommendations by brokerages.
HDFC Bank, which posted strong Q4 results, ICICI Bank, ITC and GAIL rose up to 1.48 per cent. BHEL, Axis Bank, Tata Steel and Mahindra & Mahindra were also among major gainers.
On the other hand, IT major Wipro fell for the third session posting losses of 1.19 per cent on lower than expected revenue guidance. NTPC and Tata Motors too fell up to 1.49 per cent.
The capital goods sector index gained the most by rising 1.49 per cent to 12,761.14 followed by banking index by 1.12 per cent to 15,012.05. Healthcare index rose by 0.44 per cent to 10,571.61 and FMCG index by 0.41 per cent to 6,978.05.