The government seeks to de-recognize old coins issued before January 1942 as legal tender, but it failed to trace the records to justify it on the ground that " all silver, nickel, copper and bronze coins have been recalled long back by the Reserve Bank of India." A Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha(BJP) pulled up the government for its explanation that " despite all out efforts, the relevant records could not be found either in the Department of Economic Affairs or in the RBI as this might have been done long ago." It stressed that such " tardiness in maintenance of records" be avoided.
The committee that submitted its report to Parliament on Tuesday on The Coinage Bill, 2009, seeking to merge four old laws on the Indian coins into a comprehensive bill was further surprised from the government'' s claim that provisions for accepting the old pre- 1942 coins as legal tender was put in the Bill " by oversight" as they have already been recalled.
When sought to explain that lapse, the government came out with a quick response that the proposed provisions in Clause 6 will be deleted not only because they have been recalled but also because their intrinsic metal value is much more than the face value to let anybody exchange those at face value as legal tender.
The committee said it expects that such oversights in formulating laws is avoided.
The Bill seeks to increase punishment for melting of the coins from five to seven years, but the committee has suggested that it should be 10 years at par with the punishment prescribed for counterfeiting the Indian coins.
As regards no more shortage of coins in the market as it used to happen until the last decade, the Finance Secretary told the committee that the shortages in the past were essentially due to the higher intrinsic metal value of the coins. As a rule of thumb, the government now tries to ensure that value of the metal is note more than 60 to 70 per cent of the face value of the coin as then there will be no commercial interest or great desire to counterfeit.
The Indian coins were imported last time in 1997- 98 when the Indian mints could produce only 1540 million pieces as against the RBI'' s indent of 6639 million pieces.
In contrast, the mints supplied 6285 million pieces of coins against the indent for 61-- million pieces. To eliminate shortage from all regions, mints are producing since last two years at their optimum capacity and will continue to do so for the next five years for which RBI has already placed firm indents.
The panel has also recommended that the government give an incentive to public to surrender small coins below 25 paise for certain minimum amount through bank branches or directly to RBI to remove them from the system.
Size of the coins of 50 paise, one rupee and two rupees may shrink further if the government accepts one of the recommendations in this regard by a panel headed by a Reserve Bank of India deputy governor. Better not get confused if you get a 50 paise coin that has size of 25 paise, Re 1 coin in the size of 50 paise and Rs 2 coin in the size of Re 1. The panel'' s recommendation is to counter the increase in the price of ferritic stainless steel (FSS) used for manufacturing these coins.
Showing posts with label Business News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Business News. Show all posts
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
RIL checks into hospitality with EIH
The East India Hotels ( EIH) management on Monday brought in Reliance Industries Limited ( RIL) as a key investor, selling out 14.12% for Rs. 1,021 crores in the company that runs the reputed Oberoi and Trident chain of hotels.
The deal brings in RIL as a strategic player and a financial powerhouse in EIH Limited, standing next to if not against the holding of 14.98% in EIH by the rival hospitality company, ITC Limited.
Both holdings are just shy of the 15% mark that would trigger an open offer for another 20% stake in the company under the current takeover guidelines of the Securities & Exchange Board of India.
RIL acquired the stock through its wholly owned subsidiary Reliance Industries Investment and Holding Private Limited from Oberoi Hotels Private Limited and " certain other promotes of EIH," RIL said in a statement.
" RIL's investment in EIH has been made as the Oberoi family had developed the ' Oberoi Hotels' brand into a premier international brand in the luxury hospitality sector and as a result EIH Limited has excellent future prospects," the RIL statement said. " RIL has full faith in and would support the management of EIH Limited and there is no change of management, operation or control of EIH Limited," the statement added.
The announcement of the sale comes barely a week after EIH Chairman and Chief Executive PRS Oberoi was quoted as having said that the promoters would continue to increase their stake in the group to ward off any possible takeover bids.
The promoters have been vulnerable with a holding of some 46.4% in the group and ITC sitting by the side with its key stake. ITC, however, has said its holding was purely an investment and not intended to launch a takeover of EIH. The investment takes RIL, India's largest private sector enterprise with annual revenues in excess of US$ 28 billion, into an entirely new sector.
A PTI report said the deal " also reflects RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani's wife Neeta's endeavour to expand and consolidate services sector operations like hospitality, wellness and lifestyle." The sudden announcement spurred EIH shares by 11.46 % to Rs 150.70 a share, while ITC fell by 1.24% to close the day at Rs 159.3 per share. RIL acquired the stake at a premium of about 20% to the market, according to one report.
The Oberoi Group operates 28 hotels and three cruisers in five countries under the luxury ' Oberoi' and five- star ' Trident' brands. The group is also engaged in flight catering, airport restaurants, travel and tour services, car rentals, project management and corporate air charters.
The Company had a difficult 2009- 2010, when total revenues fell to Rs. 907.27 crores as compared to Rs. 1,078.47 crores in the previous year. It reported profit after tax of Rs. 57.23 crores, down from Rs. 170.44 crores in the previous year.
The Oberoi family was earlier reported exploring the possibility of bringing in Analjit Singh, founder and chairman of conglomerate Max India Limited as a co- promoter in EIH. These plans were subsequently dropped.
The deal brings in RIL as a strategic player and a financial powerhouse in EIH Limited, standing next to if not against the holding of 14.98% in EIH by the rival hospitality firm, ITC Limited.
The deal brings in RIL as a strategic player and a financial powerhouse in EIH Limited, standing next to if not against the holding of 14.98% in EIH by the rival hospitality company, ITC Limited.
Both holdings are just shy of the 15% mark that would trigger an open offer for another 20% stake in the company under the current takeover guidelines of the Securities & Exchange Board of India.
RIL acquired the stock through its wholly owned subsidiary Reliance Industries Investment and Holding Private Limited from Oberoi Hotels Private Limited and " certain other promotes of EIH," RIL said in a statement.
" RIL's investment in EIH has been made as the Oberoi family had developed the ' Oberoi Hotels' brand into a premier international brand in the luxury hospitality sector and as a result EIH Limited has excellent future prospects," the RIL statement said. " RIL has full faith in and would support the management of EIH Limited and there is no change of management, operation or control of EIH Limited," the statement added.
The announcement of the sale comes barely a week after EIH Chairman and Chief Executive PRS Oberoi was quoted as having said that the promoters would continue to increase their stake in the group to ward off any possible takeover bids.
The promoters have been vulnerable with a holding of some 46.4% in the group and ITC sitting by the side with its key stake. ITC, however, has said its holding was purely an investment and not intended to launch a takeover of EIH. The investment takes RIL, India's largest private sector enterprise with annual revenues in excess of US$ 28 billion, into an entirely new sector.
A PTI report said the deal " also reflects RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani's wife Neeta's endeavour to expand and consolidate services sector operations like hospitality, wellness and lifestyle." The sudden announcement spurred EIH shares by 11.46 % to Rs 150.70 a share, while ITC fell by 1.24% to close the day at Rs 159.3 per share. RIL acquired the stake at a premium of about 20% to the market, according to one report.
The Oberoi Group operates 28 hotels and three cruisers in five countries under the luxury ' Oberoi' and five- star ' Trident' brands. The group is also engaged in flight catering, airport restaurants, travel and tour services, car rentals, project management and corporate air charters.
The Company had a difficult 2009- 2010, when total revenues fell to Rs. 907.27 crores as compared to Rs. 1,078.47 crores in the previous year. It reported profit after tax of Rs. 57.23 crores, down from Rs. 170.44 crores in the previous year.
The Oberoi family was earlier reported exploring the possibility of bringing in Analjit Singh, founder and chairman of conglomerate Max India Limited as a co- promoter in EIH. These plans were subsequently dropped.
The deal brings in RIL as a strategic player and a financial powerhouse in EIH Limited, standing next to if not against the holding of 14.98% in EIH by the rival hospitality firm, ITC Limited.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
SEBI Turns The Heat on Media Private Treaties
Media companies must disclose their share holdings in companies with which they have deals like “ private treaties,” the Securities & Exchange Board of India said on Friday.
The remarks came in a statement titled “ Mandatory disclosures by the media of its stake in corporate sector.” “ Private treaties” are thriving business areas in large media houses, which sign up chosen corporate sector clients for media exposure in return for shares in the companies and seek to cash in on these with share price appreciation over time.
SEBI has been uncomfortable with these arrangements which “ entail a company giving a stake ( shares, warrants, bonds etc.) in return for media coverage through advertisements, news reports, advertorials etc. in the print or electronic media.” SEBI said such arrangements are typically with companies which are listed or which propose to come out with public offerings.
“ It was felt that such agreements may give rise to conflict of interest and may, therefore, result in dilution of the independence of press. This may consequently compromise the nature, quality and content of the news/ editorials relating to such companies,” SEBI said.
“ Needless to say, biased and motivated dissemination of information, guided by commercial considerations can potentially mislead investors in the securities market. Such journalism would not be in the interest of securities market,” the regulator added.
The strong language against such deals first came in a reference to the Press Council of India, with suggestions that disclosures on these arrangements be made mandatory by the media houses.
The Press Council accepted the suggestions of SEBI at a meeting on February 22 but announced them five months later on August 2. Though the word “ mandatory” has been used by SEBI in its release of today, SEBI’s prescription draws on the power of the Press Council, which has called these “ guidelines” and ended them with the words: “ the above suggestions may be kept in mind by the media.” The three specific suggestions accepted by the Press Council are: media houses must disclose their stakes in companies when reporting or commenting on them; a disclosure of the percentage holding must be made on the web site of the media houses; and other agreements, which may be a potential conflict of interest, should mandatorily be disclosed.
The remarks came in a statement titled “ Mandatory disclosures by the media of its stake in corporate sector.” “ Private treaties” are thriving business areas in large media houses, which sign up chosen corporate sector clients for media exposure in return for shares in the companies and seek to cash in on these with share price appreciation over time.
SEBI has been uncomfortable with these arrangements which “ entail a company giving a stake ( shares, warrants, bonds etc.) in return for media coverage through advertisements, news reports, advertorials etc. in the print or electronic media.” SEBI said such arrangements are typically with companies which are listed or which propose to come out with public offerings.
“ It was felt that such agreements may give rise to conflict of interest and may, therefore, result in dilution of the independence of press. This may consequently compromise the nature, quality and content of the news/ editorials relating to such companies,” SEBI said.
“ Needless to say, biased and motivated dissemination of information, guided by commercial considerations can potentially mislead investors in the securities market. Such journalism would not be in the interest of securities market,” the regulator added.
The strong language against such deals first came in a reference to the Press Council of India, with suggestions that disclosures on these arrangements be made mandatory by the media houses.
The Press Council accepted the suggestions of SEBI at a meeting on February 22 but announced them five months later on August 2. Though the word “ mandatory” has been used by SEBI in its release of today, SEBI’s prescription draws on the power of the Press Council, which has called these “ guidelines” and ended them with the words: “ the above suggestions may be kept in mind by the media.” The three specific suggestions accepted by the Press Council are: media houses must disclose their stakes in companies when reporting or commenting on them; a disclosure of the percentage holding must be made on the web site of the media houses; and other agreements, which may be a potential conflict of interest, should mandatorily be disclosed.
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