New Delhi: Indian Oil Corp, the country's biggest fuel retailer, said on Tuesday there was a need to raise petrol prices, a day after the federal budget failed to announce any measures to stem revenue losses of state oil firms.
"I hope the (global crude oil) prices will come down," IOC Finance Director S.V. Narasimhan said. He refused to say by when the company could raise petrol prices.
IOC's daily revenue loss on fuel sales now stood at 2.16 billion rupees ($47.72 million), he said.
Petrol prices in India are market-linked, but diesel, cooking gas and kerosene rates are set by the federal government, which partly compensates state oil firms for their losses when global crude oil prices increase.
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Japan quake rattle world stock markets
World markets went into a tailspin as tremors from the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan shook investors' sentiment already bogged down by political unrest in the oil-rich Middle East and North Africa region.
MBA campus placements on a high
CHENNAI: Business graduates are on a high with campus placements enjoying a peak. With companies recovering from the recession, candidates from management departments across different colleges in the city are looking forward to earning higher salaries than their seniors when they started out.
Sudents from the Department of Management Studies at the University of Madras are confident of 100% placement this year. "This is normally the case. But two years ago, we registered only 80% placement. We have two placement sessions; the first one ends by December and the second goes on from January to March. More companies have approached the campus this year. L&T ECC, Coffee Day-Beverages section and Software Paradigm International, Mysore were a few of the new companies which came this year," said placement coordinator Pushpa Bhagyam.
With companies slated to come in the first week of March as well, representatives from the department said they do not yet have a fix on the highest salary offered this year. "However, the minimum salary has gone up from Rs 2.5 lakh last year to Rs 3.5 lakh this year. The highest salary given out last year was Rs 6.5 lakh. About 15 students of the batch of 84 have also opted for higher studies," she said.
The Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) authorities said the quantity and the quality of profiles have gone up. "In addition to more companies visiting the campus, the quality of job profiles offered by them has also gone up. For instance, we are increasingly getting marketing profiles and more openings for the financial sector in areas like investment banking," said Jayaram K Iyer, professor of marketing, LIBA.
Attributing the increase in salaries to companies performing better, he said the highest salary on offer went up to Rs 15 lakh this year compared to Rs 11 lakh last year. The average salary had also risen from Rs 7.5 lakh to Rs 8.3 lakh in 2011, Iyer said.
Similar trends have been observed in the placement process of the Department of Management Studies at IIT-Madras where the average salary offered had increased from Rs 8.35 lakh in 2010 to Rs 9.23 lakh in 2011. The highest salary offered also rose from Rs 12 lakh to Rs 14 lakh this year.
According to the placement report of the department, 31% of the profiles offered last year were from the consulting sector with companies like Deloitte, KPMG and Avalon Consulting. This trend registered a change with firms from the supply chain management (SCM) domain and workforce management like Citibank, P&G, Daimler and SCOPE International, were the key recruiters this year, the report said.
Sudents from the Department of Management Studies at the University of Madras are confident of 100% placement this year. "This is normally the case. But two years ago, we registered only 80% placement. We have two placement sessions; the first one ends by December and the second goes on from January to March. More companies have approached the campus this year. L&T ECC, Coffee Day-Beverages section and Software Paradigm International, Mysore were a few of the new companies which came this year," said placement coordinator Pushpa Bhagyam.
With companies slated to come in the first week of March as well, representatives from the department said they do not yet have a fix on the highest salary offered this year. "However, the minimum salary has gone up from Rs 2.5 lakh last year to Rs 3.5 lakh this year. The highest salary given out last year was Rs 6.5 lakh. About 15 students of the batch of 84 have also opted for higher studies," she said.
The Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) authorities said the quantity and the quality of profiles have gone up. "In addition to more companies visiting the campus, the quality of job profiles offered by them has also gone up. For instance, we are increasingly getting marketing profiles and more openings for the financial sector in areas like investment banking," said Jayaram K Iyer, professor of marketing, LIBA.
Attributing the increase in salaries to companies performing better, he said the highest salary on offer went up to Rs 15 lakh this year compared to Rs 11 lakh last year. The average salary had also risen from Rs 7.5 lakh to Rs 8.3 lakh in 2011, Iyer said.
Similar trends have been observed in the placement process of the Department of Management Studies at IIT-Madras where the average salary offered had increased from Rs 8.35 lakh in 2010 to Rs 9.23 lakh in 2011. The highest salary offered also rose from Rs 12 lakh to Rs 14 lakh this year.
According to the placement report of the department, 31% of the profiles offered last year were from the consulting sector with companies like Deloitte, KPMG and Avalon Consulting. This trend registered a change with firms from the supply chain management (SCM) domain and workforce management like Citibank, P&G, Daimler and SCOPE International, were the key recruiters this year, the report said.
Dhoni slams batsmen for playing to gallery
NAGPUR: An infuriated Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blasted his batsmen for "playing to the gallery rather than for the country" after the home team slumped to a three-wicket defeat at the hands of South Africa in a thrilling World Cup Group B encounter.
India suffered a stunning batting collapse on Saturday as they lost nine wickets for only 29 runs to crumble to 296 all out in 48.4 overs after being 267/1 in the 40th over.
"When you try to hit those big shots, you tend to forget that you are playing for the country and not for the crowd. In the process of trying to get those 20 extra runs, you end up scoring 40 runs less," Dhoni told reporters at the post-match press conference.
"Some were playing to the gallery rather than for the country," he said curtly, when asked about the assessment of Saturday's performance.
"There are times you need to curb your instincts of trying to hit every ball out of sight. If you play normally and play for 50 overs, you end up getting 325-330. I tried to shuffle the batting order. It didn't work today," he added.
Dhoni termed the loss of Sachin Tendulkar, who hit a blistering 111, and Gautam Gambhir's (69) wickets during batting Powerplays as the turning point of the match.
He also defended Yusuf Pathan's promotion up the order at number four though he scored a two-ball duck.
"Well, that's how Yusuf plays. Either he would get out quickly or he will play a big innings. He is that sort of a player. If he can survive for two to three overs he can really play long," Dhoni said.
About the frustration of watching from the other end as his teammates made quick exits during India's batting, the skipper said, "I have come from a small state like Jharkhand where I have seen at times how one loses the initiative. This is something one has to live with."
Asked about the decision to give Ashish Nehra the last over, Dhoni said, "Ashish has been our most consistent bowler at the death. He has bowled a bulk of his overs during Powerplays. But the ploy didn't work today."
Even though India were all-out for 296, Dhoni said he felt it was a defendable total.
"I believe that this was a big ground which became a challenge for our fielders. They picked our fielders and ran their singles and twos well. Also they were brilliant on the field. It also made the difference," said Dhoni.
"Overall I think the performance was good. If we could have fielded a bit better it definitely would have made the score look slightly bigger but at the same time we're not a side which is known for fielding," he added.
While the decision to play three pacers was purely based on Jamtha strip being one with good bounce and carry, the team for the West Indies match in Chennai on March 20 would be different, Dhoni said.
"Well, we thought that this track was conducive for pacers with good bounce and carry. When we select the team for Chennai, it will be a different selection altogether keeping the turning track in mind."
India suffered a stunning batting collapse on Saturday as they lost nine wickets for only 29 runs to crumble to 296 all out in 48.4 overs after being 267/1 in the 40th over.
"When you try to hit those big shots, you tend to forget that you are playing for the country and not for the crowd. In the process of trying to get those 20 extra runs, you end up scoring 40 runs less," Dhoni told reporters at the post-match press conference.
"Some were playing to the gallery rather than for the country," he said curtly, when asked about the assessment of Saturday's performance.
"There are times you need to curb your instincts of trying to hit every ball out of sight. If you play normally and play for 50 overs, you end up getting 325-330. I tried to shuffle the batting order. It didn't work today," he added.
Dhoni termed the loss of Sachin Tendulkar, who hit a blistering 111, and Gautam Gambhir's (69) wickets during batting Powerplays as the turning point of the match.
He also defended Yusuf Pathan's promotion up the order at number four though he scored a two-ball duck.
"Well, that's how Yusuf plays. Either he would get out quickly or he will play a big innings. He is that sort of a player. If he can survive for two to three overs he can really play long," Dhoni said.
About the frustration of watching from the other end as his teammates made quick exits during India's batting, the skipper said, "I have come from a small state like Jharkhand where I have seen at times how one loses the initiative. This is something one has to live with."
Asked about the decision to give Ashish Nehra the last over, Dhoni said, "Ashish has been our most consistent bowler at the death. He has bowled a bulk of his overs during Powerplays. But the ploy didn't work today."
Even though India were all-out for 296, Dhoni said he felt it was a defendable total.
"I believe that this was a big ground which became a challenge for our fielders. They picked our fielders and ran their singles and twos well. Also they were brilliant on the field. It also made the difference," said Dhoni.
"Overall I think the performance was good. If we could have fielded a bit better it definitely would have made the score look slightly bigger but at the same time we're not a side which is known for fielding," he added.
While the decision to play three pacers was purely based on Jamtha strip being one with good bounce and carry, the team for the West Indies match in Chennai on March 20 would be different, Dhoni said.
"Well, we thought that this track was conducive for pacers with good bounce and carry. When we select the team for Chennai, it will be a different selection altogether keeping the turning track in mind."
Oil prices slide after tsunami
NEW DELHI: Shock waves from the quake and the subsequent tsunami that hit Japan on Friday brought down global oil prices. Crude shed nearly 2% of its weight in both London and New York commodity markets as reports of damage to several Japanese refineries stoked fears of reduced demand from the world's third-largest oil consumer.
Several refineries, aggregating a capacity of 824,000 bpd (barrels per day), on the eastern parts were shut down after the quake that preceded the tsunami. An extended outage of Japanese refining capacity is expected to keep oil prices down. This would provide a breather to economies such as India that are heavily dependent on imported oil.
According to US Energy Information Administration, Japan consumed 4.4 million barrels per day of oil in 2009, behind only the United States and China. This is nearly three times more than Libya's production of 1.6 million barrels a day before the unrest began. Futures in Brent crude fell $2.60 per barrel to $112. The benchmark WTI contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange too dropped $1.8 a barrel to pull prices below $100 for the first time in a week. But the benefit could be wiped out by higher prices of refined products and gas in ships, or LNG (liquefied natural gas).
Higher products prices will keep up the pressure on India's state-run refiner-marketers. Both prices of crude and refined products in Dubai and Singapore trading hubs have a bearing in determining market price of fuels but they have to sell at artificially low prices under government diktat.
Already, agencies reported a spike in the price of gasoline in night trading on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.
Several refineries, aggregating a capacity of 824,000 bpd (barrels per day), on the eastern parts were shut down after the quake that preceded the tsunami. An extended outage of Japanese refining capacity is expected to keep oil prices down. This would provide a breather to economies such as India that are heavily dependent on imported oil.
According to US Energy Information Administration, Japan consumed 4.4 million barrels per day of oil in 2009, behind only the United States and China. This is nearly three times more than Libya's production of 1.6 million barrels a day before the unrest began. Futures in Brent crude fell $2.60 per barrel to $112. The benchmark WTI contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange too dropped $1.8 a barrel to pull prices below $100 for the first time in a week. But the benefit could be wiped out by higher prices of refined products and gas in ships, or LNG (liquefied natural gas).
Higher products prices will keep up the pressure on India's state-run refiner-marketers. Both prices of crude and refined products in Dubai and Singapore trading hubs have a bearing in determining market price of fuels but they have to sell at artificially low prices under government diktat.
Already, agencies reported a spike in the price of gasoline in night trading on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.
Inflation for Feb likely to be below 8pc: Experts
NEW DELHI: Inflation for February is likely to fall below 8 per cent as the rate of price rise in the food segment has declined to single digit, according to experts.
The government will release the headline inflation numbers for February on Monday. In January, inflation was at 8.23 per cent.
"We expect February headline inflation to soften to sub-8 per cent levels, we see the main relief coming from sharp fall in food prices," Barclays Capital said in a research note.
The overall inflation has remained above 8 per cent since February 2010. The government expects it to fall to 7 per cent by March end.
Barclays said the core (non-food manufacturing) inflation would be around 5 per cent in February.
IIFL Economist Ashutosh Datar said, "We expect inflation (for February) to moderate from over 8 per cent now, but do not foresee it falling to sub 7 per cent in the next couple of months, given the strong underlying inflationary pressures in the economy," he said.
Crisil chief economist D K Joshi, however, sees headline inflation coming down to 7 per cent range in the coming months. "Food inflation is falling, so, I think the overall inflation too should be in the range of 7 per cent by the fiscal end."
Experts said that despite likely moderation in inflation, RBI would continue its monetary tightening measures in its March 17 mid-quarterly review.
Barclays said the elevated headline and sticky core inflation prints, amid continued weakness in industrial production, would complicate RBI's policy moves.
The Reserve Bank has hiked policy rates seven times since March 2010 to tame inflation, which has remained over its comfort level of 5-6 per cent.
"At the moment, the RBI's bias appears to prioritise inflation management over growth. We expect the RBI to hike the key policy rates (repo and reverse repo) by 25 bp each," Barclays said.
Datar too expect the RBI to tighten rates by another 75 bps in 2011.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had last week said that though the food inflation has come down, it was still at "unacceptable" high level.
According to latest figures, it has, however, dipped to 9.52 per cent for the week ended February 26.
The government has taken various steps in the Budget like special initiative for agriculture, supply chain management, promotion of coal chains among others, Mukherjee said.
The government will release the headline inflation numbers for February on Monday. In January, inflation was at 8.23 per cent.
"We expect February headline inflation to soften to sub-8 per cent levels, we see the main relief coming from sharp fall in food prices," Barclays Capital said in a research note.
The overall inflation has remained above 8 per cent since February 2010. The government expects it to fall to 7 per cent by March end.
Barclays said the core (non-food manufacturing) inflation would be around 5 per cent in February.
IIFL Economist Ashutosh Datar said, "We expect inflation (for February) to moderate from over 8 per cent now, but do not foresee it falling to sub 7 per cent in the next couple of months, given the strong underlying inflationary pressures in the economy," he said.
Crisil chief economist D K Joshi, however, sees headline inflation coming down to 7 per cent range in the coming months. "Food inflation is falling, so, I think the overall inflation too should be in the range of 7 per cent by the fiscal end."
Experts said that despite likely moderation in inflation, RBI would continue its monetary tightening measures in its March 17 mid-quarterly review.
Barclays said the elevated headline and sticky core inflation prints, amid continued weakness in industrial production, would complicate RBI's policy moves.
The Reserve Bank has hiked policy rates seven times since March 2010 to tame inflation, which has remained over its comfort level of 5-6 per cent.
"At the moment, the RBI's bias appears to prioritise inflation management over growth. We expect the RBI to hike the key policy rates (repo and reverse repo) by 25 bp each," Barclays said.
Datar too expect the RBI to tighten rates by another 75 bps in 2011.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had last week said that though the food inflation has come down, it was still at "unacceptable" high level.
According to latest figures, it has, however, dipped to 9.52 per cent for the week ended February 26.
The government has taken various steps in the Budget like special initiative for agriculture, supply chain management, promotion of coal chains among others, Mukherjee said.
170,000 evacuated near Japan nuclear plant: IAEA
TOKYO: The UN nuclear watchdog says Japan is evacuating 170,000 people from the area near a nuclear power plant damaged in the devastating earthquake and tsunami.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, based in Vienna, says the people were ordered out of a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius surrounding the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant.
The plant exploded Saturday, destroying the building housing the reactor but not the reactor itself, and complicating relief and rescue efforts by authorities after Friday's twin disasters.
The IAEA says another 30,000 people were moved away from the area around a second nuclear plant.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, based in Vienna, says the people were ordered out of a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius surrounding the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant.
The plant exploded Saturday, destroying the building housing the reactor but not the reactor itself, and complicating relief and rescue efforts by authorities after Friday's twin disasters.
The IAEA says another 30,000 people were moved away from the area around a second nuclear plant.
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