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Three-phase Karnataka polls from May 10: EC



New Delhi, April 02: The Election Commission on Wednesday announced that Karnataka Assembly elections will be held in three phases on May 10, 16 and 22. Counting of votes will take place on May 25.

Polling in the first phase will be held on May 10 and would cover 89 constituencies, while the second phase will cover the 66 constituencies with polling on 16 May, and the third phase will be held on May 22 and will cover 69 constituencies.

Divulging the details Chief Election Commissioner N Goplaswamy said that the President’s Rule in the state expires on May 19. Since the new government will not be in place by then, President’s Rule will be extended, he added.

With the declaration of the poll schedule, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force with immediate effect.

The issue of notification for the first phase of polls will be April 16 and the last date of filing of nominations will be April 23. Scrutiny will be done the next day and last date of withdrawal will be April 26.

For the second phase, nominations will begin on April 22 and the last date for the purpose will be April 29 followed by scrutiny the next day. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is May two.

Nominations in the final phase will begin on April 26 and the last date for nominations will be May three. Scrutiny will take place on May five and the last date for withdrawal is May seven.

Earlier on Saturday, the Chief Electoral Officer of the state had published the delimited electoral rolls of all the 224 Assembly constituencies, setting the stage for today’s announcement.

Karnataka came under President`s rule in November last after the collapse of the BJP-JDS coalition government.

India`s economy at 8% in FY ‘09’

New Delhi, April 02: As the government takes measures to rein in inflation ahead of the Lok Sabha polls slated for early next year and the RBI tightens monetary policy, Asian Development Bank Wednesday projected Indian economic growth to moderate 8 percent this fiscal from 8.7 percent in 2007-08.

However, the Indian economy will rebound to 8.5 percent growth rate during 2009-10 on the back of a pick-up in consumer spending and more accommodative monetary policy, the manila-based ADB said in its Asian Development Outlook, 2008.

Along with GDP growth rate, ADB expected inflation to slightly moderate to 4.4 percent this fiscal as the government and RBI take measures to curb it against 4.5 percent in 2007-08.

But inflation will again rise to 5 percent in 2009-10 as growth rebounds and monetary policy softens, said Narhari Rao, principal economist with ADB's India Resident Mission, describing the recent rise in prices as the "biggest worry" for India at the moment.

As per the Central Statistical Organisation's advance estimates, Indian economy is anyway likely to show a moderate economic growth rate of 8.7 percent in 2007-08 against 9.6 percent in the previous year and 9.4 percent in 2005-06.

"Following the slowdown that began in 2007-08, economic growth will likely moderate further to eight percent in 2008-09. Overall GDP growth in 2009-10 is predicted to return to around 8.5 percent, nudged along by a broad-based pick-up in spending," the Outlook said.

ADB's projection is lower than the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council's expectation of 8.5 percent for the next fiscal.

It is also lower than nine percent growth projected by the UN-Escap recently, but higher than 7.8 percent expected by the UK-based magazine Economist.

Even though growth has faltered the economy has built up considerable momentum in recent years and this sense of dynamism should help pull up the pace again, ADB said.

"Despite growth moderating, we still feel that Asia, including India, does have favourable policy conditions. We feel that productivity growth linked to economic modernisation and structural transformation will continue, which basically means that these economies will continue to invest and continue to grow," Narhari Rao said.

However, the growth outcomes in the economy over the next two years will depend partly on the timing and scope for relaxing the present tight monetary policy, ADB said.

"Exactly, when this will be feasible will be determined by success in containing inflation," the outlook said.

Curbing inflation depends on two uncontrollable factors: the out turn in domestic food production and the course of international commodity prices, it said.

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ADAG, Kotak eye commodity bourses

New Delhi, April 02: The Reliance Anil Ambani group is believed to have decided to enter the commodity trading business by setting up a large exchange in the country as part of its plans to capitalise on the vast opportunities in this market.

Besides R-ADAG, another corporate giant Kotak group is also mulling over setting up a commodity bourse by acquisition of some regional exchange to get the platform and other technical support, sources close to the development said.

While Kotak group officials were not available for comments, the Reliance group declined to comment on any specific plans for entering into this business.

When asked whether the group might look at entering this business, Reliance Capital's brokerage and financial products distribution arm Reliance Money's CEO Sudeep Bandyopadhyay said on the sidelines of a conference here, "we are always open to any opportunity that come our way."

However, he did not comment on any specific plans regarding this new business. The group is already present in the commodity brokerage business through Reliance Money.

Even as the group officials did not wish to comment, sources said the new business could have some existing bourses as well as a strategic associate as partners to gain technical, business and infrastructure support.

According to experts, this market could be in for a major overhaul with some large corporate houses waiting to start their own bourses.

Another emerging conglomerate Indiabulls group, which is present in businesses like brokerage, financial services, real estate, retail and power has already tied up with state-run trading firm MMTC to start a commodity exchange, for which it is awaiting necessary approvals.

These corporate houses are getting lured to huge growth potential in the Indian commodity market, which is already of the size of close to USD one trillion and could gain further scale given a continuing bull run across the world in this segment for over five years now, they added.

Kotak group has a strong presence in financial markets through its banking, brokerage and other businesses. ADAG is present across diversified businesses such as telecom, power, financial services, energy, infrastructure and media.

While it was not clear which existing exchange R-ADAG was looking at to gain the platform and infrastructure, sources said it may not be the bourses in Rajkot or Ahmedabad as rumoured.

According to experts, new players are being attracted to huge growth potential of commodity trading in India, which is among top five producers or consumers for most commodities.

The commodity market across the world has already seen an unprecedented bull run for about 5-7 years and this bullish trend is expected to continue for another 10 years.

Even as this bull run is being fuelled by actions in places like India and China, the country itself has not capitalised on this trend. Places like Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia have gained large economic traction from the commodity market boom.

The experts believe that entry of established corporate houses could bring in much more credibility to the commodity trading in India, which so far has remained mostly limited to large traders and has very insignificant retail participation.

Besides, domestic and foreign institutional investors are not allowed so far in this market.

The entry of big names like Anil Ambani, Kotak and Indiabulls could help create a better investment scenario in the commodity market, rather than the mostly traders-driven volumes currently.

Govt working to check inflation’

New Delhi, April 02: Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia Wednesday said the Indian government was making the right efforts to check price rise.

Speaking to reporters at the Planning Commission, Ahluwalia said inflation was a global phenomenon.

`It is not only India that is facing the problem of inflation. There is a global surge in inflation. The government is handling it in a right manner and will be able to contain it,` he said.

`Look at the level of inflation in China. It is even worse than in India. The inflation has reached 9.1 percent in China. Therefore, inflation needs to be looked at in a global perspective. It is a matter of continuous monitoring and the finance ministry has been doing it.`

Ahluwalia justified the government`s decision to cut import duty on edible oils and other commodities to check price rise, saying he was confident the move would yield positive results soon.

Commenting on the cabinet decision to cut import duty on edible oils and ban export of non-Basmati rice among other things, he had said: `It was the right thing to do and will have a positive impact on the situation`.

US STOCKS-Futures extend gains on ADP report
Wed Apr 2, 2008 8:23am EDT

NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures extended their gains on Wednesday after a report on private-sector employment showed an unexpected rise in new jobs last month.

S&P 500 futures SPc1 were up 5.1 points, above fair value, a mathematical formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract.

Dow Jones industrial average futures DJc1 rose 63 points, and Nasdaq 100 NDc1 futures rose 8.75 points. (Reporting by Jennifer Coogan; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Duty cuts can soften prices after 2-3 weeks: ADB

New Delhi, April 02: The recent duty cuts by India can have some impact on softening prices after a couple of weeks, Asian Development Bank said on Wednesday even as it expected inflationary pressure to persist for a few more months.

In its Asia Development Outlook, released today, ADB expected inflation to fall moderately to 4.4 per cent this fiscal from 4.5 per cent in 2007-08, but said it is likely to rise again to five per cent next fiscal.

"Inflation is the biggest worry for India at the moment. In next 1-2 months inflationary pressure will remain, it will come down as US slows down further, at least for some of the commodities like fuels, metals," Narhari Rao, Principal Economist with ADB's India Resident Mission, said.

He said the recent duty cuts announced by the Government could have some impact on containing inflation after 2-3 weeks unlike RBI's monetary policy, which has a lag effect.

Rao said increasing food inflation will limit the effect of monetary policy even though RBI is not expected to ease money supply so long as inflation is high.

However, the Government's ability to control prices is limited since India is not alone in the region where inflation is rising and global commodity prices are also on the upswing, Rao said.

The government has cut customs duties on edible oils and disallowed export of non-basmati rice, besides extending ban on pulses exports for another year to soften inflation, which has risen to over a year high of 6.68 per cent.

"However, the Government might have to increase subsidies in certain commodities like rice and wheat (through PDS) as their prices are rising globally and duties can't be reduced below zero," Rao said.

Reliance Entertainment's Big cinemas ready to open in US
2 Apr, 2008, 1359 hrs IST,

MUMBAI: Reliance Entertainment Pvt Ltd (REPL) is all set to start its cinema chain in the US under the brand name Big from next month. More than 200 theatres will screen Hindi as well as regional films from India.

Confirming the schedule, a company official said: "We are still renovating and refitting the cinemas we have acquired in some cities there. A formal announcement about their opening will be made later."

Over the last one year, Reliance Entertainment has acquired over 200 cinema halls in 28 North American cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit and Washington.

Taken on a long-term lease, these theatres will bear the company's entertainment brand name Big, and not Adlabs, as REPL's cinemas in India are called.

It is learnt that REPL has also bought over an American theatre management firm to oversee the operations of its Big cinema chain.
REPL may also distribute movies overseas. Since it is already into producing movies in Hindi and other Indian regional languages under the Big Pictures banner, its exhibition outlets abroad will help it firm up its distribution venture.

In order to expand its overseas exhibition network, the company is now scouting for more cinema halls in other countries as well.

The Big cinema chain in the US will not only screen Bollywood movies, but will also run Indian regional language movies, particularly the productions from the south, and movies from other Asian countries to cater to large expatriate populations.

These 200-odd cinema halls are located in cities where there are large concentrations of people from the Indian subcontinent and other parts of Asia.

The chain will be marketed as any other American cinema chain. Mainstream Hollywood movies, art house productions and movies made by the independent producers will also adorn the marques of the Big cinemas.

REPL's cinema operations in the US, spread across different cities, will go a long way in making the presence of the Bollywood movies, in particular, more prominent there and help them reap good harvest from the US box-office.

Already, some recent Bollywood movies have made it to the top of the US box-office chart. UTV-distributed Tip Films' "Race," for example, has secured 18th position in the US box-office in the first week of its release on 96 screens.

Russia moves to limit foreign investment

Moscow, April 02: Russia's lower house of Parliament has backed new restrictions on foreign investment, limiting access to key sectors such as oil and gas, aerospace and mass media.

The legislation is raising concern among foreign investors since it widens the powers of Russian security services in business transactions.

The State Duma passed the bill on Wednesday. It now goes to the Federation Council and the Kremlin for signing by the President.

The legislation stipulates that any private foreign company seeking to buy more than 50 percent of a company in one of 42 "strategic" sectors will need authorisation from a special commission.