Cargo plane crashes into Pakistan, 8 killed

ARACHI, PAKISTAN: A cargo plane crashed into a housing complex in Karachi soon after takeoff on Sunday, setting off a huge blaze and killing all eight Russian crew on board, Pakistan's civil aviation authority said.

At least one person on the ground was injured, but the Russian-made plane missed several densely populated apartment blocks by a few hundred yards (meters). About 20 houses were damaged or destroyed though most were under construction and believed to be unoccupied, locals said.

The Sudan-bound plane crashed around 1:50 a.m., when many people in the upscale neighborhood of Pakistan's largest city were asleep. One of the plane's engines was on fire when it flew overhead, several witnesses said. ``I saw one of its wings was burning and there was a blast and the fire engulfed the aircraft very quickly,'' said Riaz Ahmed.

The plane exploded into flames, sending fire and smoke into the night sky and setting off loud explosions. Fire trucks sprayed foam onto the crash site and after two hours the blaze was extinguished, allowing rescuers to search through the destroyed buildings for bodies or survivors.

Hundreds of people came to see the spectacle and film it with their cell phones, hampering access for emergency workers. Aviation authority spokesman Pervais George said the plane came down two minutes after take off from the city's international airport. He said the eight crew, all Russians, were dead.

Many people initially thought the blast was from a bomb, a regular event in militant-torn Pakistan. "I was sleeping and the huge blast awoke me. I thought some suicide attack might have occurred and I run outside,'' said Rehan Hashmi.

Local doctor Abdul Razak said one person was being treated at a hospital with severe burns. Most of the buildings damaged and razed in the upscale neighborhood of Karachi were under construction and either empty or occupied by the laborers building them, they said. The housing complex was reserved mostly for Naval officers and their families.

George said the plane was an Il-89, a multipurpose cargo plane that is often used for ferrying humanitarian aid to developing countries, as well as other large items. The crash was the third in less than five months in Pakistan. Earlier this month in Karachi, 21 people were killed when a small passenger plane crashed soon after take off.

In July, a passenger jet operated by Pakistan carrier Airblue crashed into hills overlooking the capital, Islamabad, during stormy weather, killing all 152 onboard.

Loan scam: Realty shares tumble, Jaiprakash Power gets CBI notice

MUMBAI: Shares in Indian construction and property developers fell sharply on Friday as fears mounted the government would widen a probe into a corporate loan bribery scandal.

The main real estate sector index tumbled nearly 15 percent on worries the multi-million dollar scam would hit loans to the sector over the near term and dent demand.

"The sentiment is definitely hit for now and market is reacting to that," said Mehul Dedhia, assistant vice-president of sales at brokerage Sharekhan.

A source in the Central Bureau of Investigation said it was not yet looking to widen the probe. Media reports said the CBI case involved more than 20 companies.

The main stock index was down 0.5 percent, setting it on course for its third straight weekly fall, two days after the Central Bureau of Intelligence (CBI) said it arrested eight top officials at banks and financial firms for taking bribes.

The shares of the financial firms and companies alleged to be involved in the scandal fell sharply.

Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd has received a notice from CBI and is complying with the probe, Chairman Manoj Gaur said. A panic among investors was leading to the company's share fall, he said.

Infrastructure company Jaiprakash Associates tumbled 13.9 percent to Rs 99, its lowest in more than 16 months, after media reports named it in the bribery scandal.

Shares of property developer Unitech were down 10 percent in mid-day trade after falling more than 26 percent in the morning. The company has not been named in any media reports so far but traders said the market was reacting to the possibility of more companies coming under fire from the CBI.

By 12:29 p.m. (0659 GMT), the 30-share BSE Index was trading down 0.22 percent at 19,275.03.

Dedhia said the slide would not affect the long-term outlook for the market.

"This does not mean the medium-term and long-term story is hit. One should start buying selectively," he said.

Other companies alleged to be involved in the scandal by media such as Suzlon Energy , DB Realty, Hindustan Construction Co dropped between 5.7 percent and 10 percent.

Money Matters fell 10 percent. The CBI had said on Wednesday it arrested eight officials from state-run listed companies, including the chief executive of LIC Housing Finance , for taking hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to facilitate large corporate loans.

Senior executives at state-run Punjab National Bank , Bank of India and Central Bank of India were also taken into police custody late on Wednesday.

LIC Housing, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India and Central Bank of India were down between 2.9 percent and 9 percent.

Losers were more than 8 times the number of gainers while 359 million shares changed hands on the BSE.

The 50-share NSE index was down 0.3 percent at 5,782.84.

"There is no default and pay-in and pay-out are happening on time. There are no margin pressures. Settlements are happening in time," Divya Mallick, spokeswoman for the National Stock Exchange, said.

STOCKS THAT MOVED: MphasiS fell 5.2 percent to 555 rupees as investors were disappointed with an analysts meet on Thursday where the software provider said margins would be under pressure during FY11, two dealers said.

Core Projects & Technologies and Orchid Chemicals plunged 35 percent and 7.3 percent respectively. The National Stock Exchange said fresh derivative contracts cannot be built in the two companies as positions had crossed market limits and dealers said investors were unwinding positions.

Indian bourses make lower profits than most major global peers

NEW DELHI: A regulatory panel may have voiced concerns over high profits being made by stock exchanges here, but Indian bourses figure among the least profitable entities when compared to their major global peers.

In a move that could make it difficult for corporate entities to set up stock exchanges, a Sebi committee last week recommended that bourses should be stopped from making huge profits and Sebi should put a cap on their profitability.

Industry sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the recommendations were good, given the regulatory role that bourses need to undertake, but go against the business philosophy of the entities running or willing to set up stock exchanges.

At the same time, an analysis of financials of leading stock exchanges across the world shows that the profits of Indian bourses are among the lowest. Industry experts said the recommendation to only allow Indian bourses to make reasonable profits looks odd, as their profits are low when compared to their global peers.

The country's largest bourse, the National Stock Exchange , reported a profit after tax of Rs 614 crore for the fiscal ended March, 2010, while its main rival, the BSE, posted a net profit of Rs 232 crore.

In comparison, at least eight major exchanges from across the world reported higher net profits for the financial year than either of the two Indian bourses.

These include the Singapore Exchange (SGX), Spanish bourse BME, Australia's ASX, Nasdaq and NYSE of the US, London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Hong Kong Exchange (HKeX).

Furthermore, the Bursa Malaysia, Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and Japan's Osaka Securities Exchange also reported higher profits than the BSE, but less than that of NSE.

While SGX's profits stood at Rs 1,100 crore, those of Nasdaq and NYSE Euronext stood at Rs 1,235 crore and Rs 2,435 crore, respectively. LSE earned a profit of Rs 653 crore during the year, while HKeX was among the most profitable at Rs 2,745 crore.

Among the others, Bursa Malaysia earned Rs 260 crore, BME raked in Rs 900 crore, ASX Rs 1,455 crore, JSE Rs 238 crore and Osaka Securities Exchange made a profit of Rs 343 crore.

The profits could not be ascertained for two leading Chinese exchanges, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

In its recommendations for ownership and governance of stock exchanges in India , the Sebi committee said the bourses should endeavor to generate reasonable profits in order to be self-sustaining.

It recommended that Sebi fix a cap on the maximum return that could be earned by the bourses on their net worth and any return or profits above such maximum attributable amount should be used for investor protection purposes.

Economy

Indian shares steady; realty falls on tighter norms

BANGALORE: Indian shares were little changed after the central bank raised short-term interest rates by an expected quarter-point on Tuesday and indicated a pause in the near term.

Property stocks fell with DLF and Unitech shedding more than 3 percent each after the central bank raised the risk provisioning to rein in a jump in asset prices.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised its lending and borrowing rates for the sixth time this year and said it would remain vigilant about inflation that remains above its comfort level..

The bank also said the likelihood of further rate actions in the immediate future was relatively low.

"They have done a good job and it gives the market comfort that liquidity will not be affected. There may be some knee-jerk reaction, probably in banking and real estate sector stocks, but I expect the market to stabilise after that," said Deven Choksey , managing director, KR Choksey Shares & Securities.

The 30-share BSE index closed down 0.05 percent, or 9.94 points, at 20,345.69, with 17 of its components losing ground.

State Bank of India was up 0.2 percent, while ICICI Bank was barely changed.

Neeraj Dewan, director of Quantum Securities in New Delhi, said a two-day U.S. Federal Reserve meeting that ends on Wednesday would set the trend for the stock market.

The Fed is widely expected to ease monetary policy and trigger more fund flows to emerging markets such as India.

"The industrial output is picking up. Earnings for most large cap companies have been very good. As long as there is no negative from the U.S. Fed meet, we have a case for a short-term rally," Dewan said.

India's manufacturing sector expanded in October at a much faster pace than in September, supported by strong output and a sharp rise in new business, a purchasing managers' index (PMI) showed on Monday.

Record foreign fund inflows of $24.8 billion this year have lifted the benchmark BSE index 16.5 percent year-to-date.

Leading automobile makers -- Maruti Suzuki , Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors -- dropped 0.8 percent to 1.4 percent on concerns costlier loans may dampen consumer spending.

ACC gained 4.2 percent to 1,056.95 rupees, after India's No. 2 cement producer said on Monday shipments in October rose 13.6 percent from a year earlier to 1.92 million tonnes..

Hero Honda, 26-percent-owned by Japan's Honda Motor , rose 0.7 percent to 1,852.25 rupees, after the country's top motorcycle maker reported a 42.7 percent rise in October two-wheeler sales.

In the broader market, laggards led the gainers in the ratio of 1.6 to 1 on relatively lower volume of 382.5 million shares.

The broader 50-share NSE index ended up 0.02 percent at 6,119 points.

STOCKS THAT MOVED

* PVR Ltd rose 3.1 percent to 174.10 rupees a day after the cinema hall operator posted a 39 percent rise in quarterly profit.

* Personal care products maker Emami Ltd ended up 5.4 percent at 490.95 rupees on the company's plan to hike prices by 3-5 percent across most product categories by mid-November.

MAIN TOP 3 BY VOLUME

* Shree Ashtavinayak on 12.2 million shares

* BS Transcomm on 11.4 million shares

Check out Germany's new ID card

A test ID card is shown on the first day on which as people can apply for the new German ID card at the Schoeneberg city hall in Berlin. The new credit card-sized ID card, available from today is valid for ten years, and includes a host of new features. The chip contains a photo, two fingerprints – on request only – and an 'eID' function that enables the card holder's details to be transmitted online via a digital reader that can be plugged into a home computer. (AFP)

Realty stocks tank as RBI tightens loan rules

MUMBAI: Shares of Indian real estate firms slumped by as much as 5 percent on Tuesday, after the central bank tightened provisions on mortgages, raising fears that already tepid demand would slow further.

Largest listed developer DLF , Unitech , Mumbai-basedIndiabulls Real Estate and newly-listed Prestige Estates fell more than 3 percent each, dragging down the sector index.

Shares of smaller firms fell by as much as 5 percent. The index closed down 2.6 percent, compared with a 0.1 percent fall in the main stock index. The real estate index, the worst performer among sector indices, had slumped 3.7 percent at one point.

Earlier on Tuesday, India's central bank raised interest rates for the sixth time this year, with lending and borrowing rates going up by 25 basis points each.

It also told mortgage firms to limit loans to 80 percent of the asset value, and asked lenders to raise provisions for home loans over 7.5 million rupees to 125 percent of the loan value, from 100 percent now.

"It is a very important signal from the central bank that there is worry over real estate prices going up. The central bank is warning all participants," said Gagan Banga, chief executive at lender Indiabulls Financial Services .

Property prices in major Indian cities like Mumbai and Delhi have more than doubled over the past 18 months, spurred by rising incomes and a stock market rally.

While volumes are already down a third compared to the March quarter, developers have been undeterred because of continuing sales at high prices. With a rise in mortgage rates, the number of transactions is expected to gradually come down.

"I think floating (interest) rates are going to move up now," said Sarang Wadhawan, managing director at Mumbai-focused Housing Development & Infrastructure . "But it really does not impact the demand scenario, especially in a city like Mumbai."

Other developers preferred to look at the positive impact that the tightening norms would have, particularly if it led to softening in real estate prices.

"The overall economy is doing well, salaries are going up. I don't think it should have a significant impact immediately," Venkat K. Narayana, chief financial officer at Prestige Estates told Reuters.

"There is lot of liquidity in the industry, and CRR (cash reserve ratio) being unchanged is a good thing."

Analysts said the central bank's move would cloud the outlook on real estate stocks and also impact demand for the festive season that peaks around November, on which developers had been relying.

"There will be an impact, mainly on volumes, and if festive season does not provide a necessary tempo to companies by helping them reduce inventories, stocks would tumble further," said Surajit Pal, sector analyst at brokerage Elara Capital.

He said he expects mortgage firms to raise rates by 25 to 50 basis points.

Dell to acquire cloud computing company, to release tablet PCs in 2011

ONG KONG: Dell Inc, the world's No.2 PC maker, will announce an acquisition related to cloud computing on Tuesday, its chief executive said, while ramping up its tablet PC line to compete with rivals such as Apple.

Speaking at an event in Hong Kong, Michael Dell also said that he had received feedback from developers that it was easier to develop smartphone software using Microsoft's Windows operating system than Google's popular free Android system.

"We're going to have a significant number of new tablets in the next year," Dell said. "There're lots of debate about the size of the market, who's buying these devices, and those questions always emerge when there's a new form factor."

Dell did not give any further details of the acquisition, but the company was recently involved in a bidding battle with rival Hewlett-Packard to acquire high-end storage maker 3PAR.

Cloud computing is an industry term that refers to providing software and computing power over the Internet such as web-based email, and has been touted by many tech companies as the next big trend in the PC sector.

Microsoft launched its new operating system for mobile devices earlier this month, in a move that is seen by analysts to be its last chance to catch up with Apple and Google's Android smartphones after having squandered its early lead.

"What's interesting about the smartphone space is how it's changing into a more open-modular system," Dell said. "It's staggering that Android has now surpassed Apple in terms of originations and this is happening at a much, much faster rate than what folks had envisioned."

PC companies have increasingly begun looking to mobile devices and other corporate solutions to diversify away from the heavily commoditised personal computer, where net margins can fall to the low single digits for companies such as Acer.

Dell unveiled a 7-inch tablet PC it calls the Streak in September following a 5-inch model earlier that month, joining rivals such as Samsung Electronics in competing with Apple in the emerging tablet PC space.

Gujarat takes the lead among states in solar power

When his design didn’t find takers nationally, Narendra Modi went local. A few years ago, the Gujarat chief minister was at an international summit. When a session on energy crisis cast light on solar power , Modi thought of the Rann of Kutch in his home state, where the land was endless and the sun’s heat relentless. He wondered: could countries blessed with sunlight form a solar alliance, led by India, to mainstream this promising source of power?

He wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, with a broad concept of such an entity. He called it ‘Sun-Son’ — offspring of the sun. The Prime Minister’s Office acknowledged the proposal, but left it at that. So, Modi turned inwards. He asked his trusted lieutenants, energy minister Saurabh Patel and principal secretary S Jagdeesan, for a plan to turn the state into a hub in solar power.

The maiden expression of that vision came in January 2009, when Gujarat became the first Indian state to launch a solar-power policy. Several states followed suit. Like Gujarat, they also showed a long list of companies interested in generating solar power. But, unlike them, Gujarat is following through with an unmatched sense of purpose.

This June, it signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) — an operational and financial commitment from both the state and the developers — with 21 companies to generate 365 MW of solar power. At an estimated capital cost of Rs 15 crore per MW of solar capacity, that’s a likely investment of about Rs 5,500 crore. And supply is expected to begin by December 2011.

By all markers, Gujarat is the clear leader in solar power. Other states, notably Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, have installations or commitments of a capacity in double digits. At an all-India level, the National Solar Mission, launched by the Centre in November 2009, has set a target of 1,000 MW target for 2013. In other words, Gujarat is on its way to rolling out one-third, probably more, of what the Centre is targeting for all of India in the next three years.

“Gujarat has the most aggressive plans,” says Ratul Puri, executive director, Moser Baer India , a sister company of which is setting up three solar plants of 15 MW each in the state. The plans also have a big idea: integrate solar into Gujarat’s power ecosystem by simultaneously smoothening both the demand and the supply sides.

On the supply side, Gujarat is incentivising developers by announcing solar tariffs for 25 years. The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC), the state distribution arm, has fixed tariffs for the two kinds of solar technologies. And, many say, the rates are generous to developers.

The first technology is photovoltaic (PV) cells. Here large, solar panels made of silicon are erected on land in such a way that sunlight falls directly on them, and gets converted into power. Solar producers in Gujarat using the PV technology will get Rs 15 per unit for the first 12 years and Rs 5 per unit from year 13 to year 25. By comparison, thermal and hydro cost Rs 4-6 per unit.

RBI rate hike may impact economic growth: Industry

NEW DELHI: India Inc today expressed apprehensions that the RBI's decision to hike short-term lending and borrowing rates could lead to higher interest rates and impact the growth momentum of the economy.

Industry chambers Ficci, CII and Assocham asked the Reserve Bank to strike a good balance between maintaining the country's growth and managing inflation.

"The move could have an impact on interest rates and the cost of borrowing, which in turn could affect areas which are still to pick up and come full stream," Ficci Secretary General Amit Mitra said.

Echoing Mitra, Assocham President Swati Piramal said that the policy rate hikes are likely to increase lending as well as deposit rates of banks immediately.

However, CII was of the opinion that the banks would not immediately raise the lending rates.

"We are reassured by the RBI's statement that it is unlikely to increase rates again in the near future," CII Director General Chandrajeet Banerjee said.

In the RBI's mid-year policy review, it announced an increase of 25 basis points in key short-term lending and borrowing rates to 6.25 per cent and 5.25 per cent respectively, to tame high inflation.

Headline inflation stood at 8.6 per cent for August, while the food inflation at an elevated 13.75 per cent for the week ended October 16.

The RBI retains GDP growth forecast at 8.5 per cent for 2010-11. In the first quarter of 2010-11, the economy grew at 8.8 per cent.

Ficci said the policymakers' focus be on extending growth which would lead to greater employment.

Motorola launches Android handset Flipout at Rs 15,990

NEW DELHI: Mobile phone maker Motorola Mobility India today launched its new Android-based handset 'Flipout' in the Indian market, priced at Rs 15,990.

"We further enhance our smartphone portfolio in India with a unique and trendy form factor for the young at heart with the Motorola Flipout . It merges Motorola's design heritage with Android capabilities to deliver a unique smartphone form factor," Motorola Mobility India Country Head Faisal Siddiqui said.

The Android-powered handset has a QWERTY keypad and is equipped with 2.8-inch screen, 3 mega pixel camera and expandable memory up to 32 GB.

Android is a mobile operating system, which was initially developed by Google and later by the Open Handset Alliance (OHA), a consortium of 50 hardware, software and telecom companies.

It allows developers to design applications independent of the handset type and users can download over 70,000 applications like games, music, music players and location-based services.

Kamath qualified to step into my shoes: Murthy

fosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, who is set to retire from the company in August next year, saysICICI Bank chairman KV Kamath is qualified enough to take on his role as Infosys’ non-executive chairman, but the decision of the nominations committee will be final. He says IT expertise is not required to be a non-executive chairman of the software company. In an interview with ET NOW, Mr Narayana Murthy also talks about the SKS Microfinance controversy and his thoughts as an investor. Excerpts:

As Infosys founders retire, how challenging is the transition to the next crop of leaders?

The key challenge will be to ensure that one of the founders should be present when the CEO position goes to a non-founder to ensure value systems remain intact. That responsibility will rest on the shoulders of one of the founders. In any case, the CEO will be an internal candidate and there is a lot of management bandwidth.

Will you be more comfortable with an insider being selected for the chairman’s post?

My being comfortable does not matter. What is important is the executive management must be comfortable with the leader and vice versa. I am sure the nominations committee will select such a person who the management is comfortable with.

KV Kamath has been on the board of Infosys as well. Do you see him as someone who could step into your shoes?

KV Kamath is an extraordinary person. I have seen him transform ICICI from a development financing institution to a universal bank. He is clearly one of the most dynamic business leaders of the country. But again, it is for the nominations committee to decide on who the next chairman should be, I shouldn’t be pre-empting its choice. Therefore, though I have unqualified respect and admiration for KV Kamath, the final decision should be left to the nominations committee.

But you do feel he has the requisite qualifications and pedigree for this job?

There is absolutely no doubt about it.

Will the IT expertise of the person selected as chairman matter?

The position of chairman is to ensure the board performs effectively unless it’s an executive chairman who will be involved with day-to-day functioning. Therefore, I am not too sure if we require an IT expert to be a non-executive chairman.

Will the name selected by the nominations committee be binding?

Yes. I think so. The nominations committee is responsible for selecting the next chairman and, therefore, its suggestion will be binding.

On another note, a US senator referred to Indian IT companies as chop shops. Did the remark dismay you?

If somebody who knew what we were doing or had an industry view or were a respected analyst, we would be worried. But somebody who has no idea what this industry is all about and the kind of infrastructure we have built here and in 70 other countries, makes such a statement, we should be charitable to such a person. All of us, when we get older, tend to do things that are not the best. Once in a while our logic lapses, our memory lapses, we tend to say things we don’t mean. So I’d say let’s look at it in that spirit.

At the height of the SKS Microfinance controversy your office clarified you had a chat with Vikram Akula and advised the company to be fair and transparent. As a champion of corporate governance are you disappointed by the standards of corporate governance in that company, given that you have made an investment in SKS?

I am the chairman of the advisory board which is yet to be formed. Now, advisory board is a council that meets once or twice a year. It is a council that will provide advice when asked for, it’s not a council that goes and performs line duties unlike the statutory board which is responsible for the governance of the company. Because I am not on the statutory board, I do not know the details of what has happened. All that I told Vikram, like I tell my colleagues at Infosys, was to be open, honest and fair in all transactions dealing with everyone of the stakeholders.

Gold may get costlier by 24% on Dhanteras over last year

EW DELHI: Gold is likely to be expensive by 24 per cent to over Rs 20,000 per 10 gram in the national capital on Dhanteras, a day considered auspicious for buying the precious metal, as compared to year-ago period, according to the Delhi Bullion Market.

Gold prices were ruling at Rs 16,200 per 10 gram and Rs 12,070 per 10 gram on the Dhanteras day in 2009 and 2008, respectively, the trade data showed.

Presently, gold prices are ruling firm at Rs 19,925 per 10 gram, almost close to the record level of Rs 20,120 set on October 15.

"Prices of the precious metal have been on the rise in the last couple of months and on the Dhanteras day, too, gold may further firm up to over Rs 20,000 per 10 gram," Delhi Bullion Market President Surender Jain told PTI.

The rally in gold prices is more due to global cues than the domestic demand, which is expected to be normal on November 3 -- the Dhanteras day, when jewellers register the highest gold sales in a year, he said.

"High prices may deter buyer's spirit to buy gold in big volumes, but demand would definitely be there for gold coins in smaller denomination," Chandni Chowk Jewellers Association Secretary Bishan Seth said.

However, gold rates are unlikely to decline below Rs 19,500 per 10 gram in the short-term considering uncertainty in the currency market and performance of other assets in the global market, he observed.

India, the world's largest consumer of gold, imported 34.8 tonnes of precious metal in September, up by 30 per cent from 26.8 tonnes in the previous month, according to the Bombay Bullion Association.

It said the demand in October would be higher due to the festive season.

The World Gold Council , which represents leading gold mining firms across the globe, said in its latest report that it would expect gold demand to pick up further in the fourth quarter of this year on the back of the main festive season.

Gold prices in India are rising in rupee terms due to its appreciation against the US dollar, it said.

While bullion experts said gold sales during Diwali is likely to improve in anticipation of further jump in rates. Prices of the precious metal have risen currently by more than four folds from Rs 4,500 10 ten gram on the Dhanteras day in 2000.

Vijay Mallya offers $4 mn apartments in Bangalore

MUMBAI: Billionaire Vijay Mallya , owner of the world’s second-largest liquor company, is razing his ancestral home in Bangalore to build $4 million apartments as the number of people rich enough to afford them grows.

United Breweries Holdings , which owns controlling stakes in Mallya’s liquor, beer and airline units, and Prestige Estates Projects are jointly developing the 4.5 acre (1.8 hectare) plot in the technology hub, home to Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Infosys Technologies Ltd. Construction will start in December, Irfan Razack, chairman of Prestige, said on Wednesday after the developer’s shares debuted.

Demand for luxury apartments in India is rising as the biggest rally in stocks in 18 years in 2009 boosted the ranks of the affluent in the thirdfastest growing major economy.

Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest individual , will move into a 27-storey skyscraper in south Mumbai that cost $2 billion to build and is the world’s most expensive home, according to Forbes Magazine. “There is now considerable demand for high-end apartments in Bangalore, and it is led by the senior management class, corporate houses, non-resident Indian businessmen and high-networth individuals,” said Anuj Puri, Mumbai-based chairman of Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, the local unit of the world’s second-largest commercial property broker .

The combined net worth of the nation’s 100 wealthiest people climbed to an all-time high of $300 billion this year, equivalent to a quarter of the country’s gross domestic product, according to Forbes. India’s wealthy may almost double their assets to $6.4 trillion over the next five years as economic growth swells their ranks, Credit Suisse Group AG said in its global wealth report.

Suit to soup: Indian MBAs serve as waiters in UK

LONDON: A young Indian immigrant, Sultana from Hyderabad — she has a masters in business administration from a British university — is working as a waitress. ''Unfortunately, I'm not getting the chance I was expecting.

That's why I'm here in a fast food restaurant,'' she said in a radio programme on Sunday. She added, ''Most of my friends work in fast food restaurants because they're not getting (what) they deserve for what they studied.'' Others are employed as night-time security staff.

With UK barely out of a crippling recession and with unemployment nearing 2.5 million, good jobs are hard to come by.

A tough-talking home office minister, Damian Green, said, ''Those coming into the UK under the highly skilled migrant route should only be able to do highly skilled jobs. It should not be used as a means to enter the low skilled jobs market.'' He went on, ''While it's important that low-skilled jobs are filled, there are hundreds of thousands of British people who could be doing them instead of a migrant.''

Such workers are categorized as Tier-1 immigrants under a points-based system started in 2008 by the previous Labour party government. This was tailored to attract ''the brightest and best''. Indians who graduate or complete post-graduate studies in a British university also fall into the Tier-1 classification and are permitted to remain in the UK for up to two years to acquire professional experience.

But there is a hint that the system introduced by Labour could be altered. It will also form the foundation of an immigration cap to be imposed by the present Conservative party and Liberal Democrat coalition administration effective from April 2011; and which is expected to be announced soon.

There are wider concerns among UK authorities that the Tier-1 post study work route is being exploited by some migrants who provide bogus qualifications to obtain visas .

However, the Left-oriented Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said,''Damian Green is on shaky ground in implying that highly skilled migrants coming to the UK under Tier-1 are entering the low skilled job market in significant numbers over a sustained time period.''

It further said, ''It looks very much like an attempt to justify a drastic reduction in Tier-1 visa numbers under the proposed cap.'' It could undermine Britain's economic recovery, it warned.

Suit to soup: Indian MBAs serve as waiters in UK

LONDON: A young Indian immigrant, Sultana from Hyderabad — she has a masters in business administration from a British university — is working as a waitress. ''Unfortunately, I'm not getting the chance I was expecting.

That's why I'm here in a fast food restaurant,'' she said in a radio programme on Sunday. She added, ''Most of my friends work in fast food restaurants because they're not getting (what) they deserve for what they studied.'' Others are employed as night-time security staff.

With UK barely out of a crippling recession and with unemployment nearing 2.5 million, good jobs are hard to come by.

A tough-talking home office minister, Damian Green, said, ''Those coming into the UK under the highly skilled migrant route should only be able to do highly skilled jobs. It should not be used as a means to enter the low skilled jobs market.'' He went on, ''While it's important that low-skilled jobs are filled, there are hundreds of thousands of British people who could be doing them instead of a migrant.''

Such workers are categorized as Tier-1 immigrants under a points-based system started in 2008 by the previous Labour party government. This was tailored to attract ''the brightest and best''. Indians who graduate or complete post-graduate studies in a British university also fall into the Tier-1 classification and are permitted to remain in the UK for up to two years to acquire professional experience.

But there is a hint that the system introduced by Labour could be altered. It will also form the foundation of an immigration cap to be imposed by the present Conservative party and Liberal Democrat coalition administration effective from April 2011; and which is expected to be announced soon.

There are wider concerns among UK authorities that the Tier-1 post study work route is being exploited by some migrants who provide bogus qualifications to obtain visas .

However, the Left-oriented Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said,''Damian Green is on shaky ground in implying that highly skilled migrants coming to the UK under Tier-1 are entering the low skilled job market in significant numbers over a sustained time period.''

It further said, ''It looks very much like an attempt to justify a drastic reduction in Tier-1 visa numbers under the proposed cap.'' It could undermine Britain's economic recovery, it warned.

Gold will outlive dollar

The world’s monetary system is in the process of melting down. We have entered the endgame for the dollar as the dominant reserve currency, but most investors and policy makers are unaware of the implications.

The only questions are how long the denouement of the dollar reserve system will last, and how much more damage will be inflicted by new rounds of quantitative easing or more radical monetary measures to prop up the system.

Whether prolonged or sudden, the transition to a stable monetary system will become possible only when the shortcomings of the status quo become unbearable.

Such a transition is, by definition, nonlinear. So central-bank soothsaying based on the extrapolation of historical data and the repetition of conventional wisdom offer no guidance on what lies ahead.

It’s amazing that there is no intelligent discourse among policy leaders on the subject of monetary rot and its implications for the future economic and political landscape. Until there is fundamental monetary reform on an international scale, most economic forecasts aren’t worth the paper on which they are written. Telltale signs of future trouble aren’t hard to spot.

Only a few months ago, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and a chorus of other high-ranking Fed officials were talking about exit strategies from the US central bank’s bloated balance sheet and the financial system’s unprecedented excess liquidity. Now, those same officials are talking about pumping more money into the system to stimulate growth.

And they’re not alone: Six months ago, the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, Olivier Blanchard, suggested that raising inflation targets to 4 per cent from 2 per cent wouldn’t be too risky. This sort of talk must grate on the nerves of our trading partners, China, India, Russia and others, who have accumulated pyramids of non-yielding treasury debt.

No haven there. Return-free risk may be a better way to put it. And bickering among central bankers over currency manipulation and rising trade tensions doesn’t exactly reinforce one’s confidence in a scenario of sustained economic growth and a return to prosperity. The prospects for an orderly unwinding of the extreme posture of global monetary policy are zero.

Bernanke, Jean- Claude Trichet and Mervyn King, his counterparts in Europe and the UK respectively, are huddling en masse upon the most precarious perch in the history of monetary affairs. These alleged guardians of monetary stability, in their attempts to shore up the system, have simply created the incinerator for paper money. We are past the point of no return. Quantitative easing may well become a way of life. The consensus investment view seems to be that the credit crisis of 2008 was a freak occurrence, unlikely to repeat. That is wishful thinking. Monetary policy has painted itself into a corner.

Based on our present course, there will be more bubbles and more meltdowns. Financial markets and institutions sense trouble, as reflected in the flight to supposedly safe assets such as treasuries and corporate-debt instruments with paltry yields, as well as the reluctance to lend by commercial banks. We are stuck in an epic liquidity trap. The irony is, if global central banks succeed in creating inflation, the value of these safe assets will be destroyed. It is a slaughter waiting to happen.

As inflation accelerates, consumers will spend to get rid of their dollars of diminishing value and spur the economy. Once consumers start spending, it will be time to raise interest rates because a solid foundation for prosperity will have been established, they say. But whatever the playbook promises, the capacity of financial markets to overshoot can’t be overestimated. The belief among policy makers and financial markets in the possibility of this sort of fine-tuning is preposterous, but it is the slender thread on which remaining investment and business confidence rests.

The breakdown of the monetary system will be chaotic. When inflation commences, it will be highly disruptive. The damage to fixed-income assets will seem instantaneous. Foreign-exchange markets will become dysfunctional. The economy will become even more fragile and unpredictable. Gold is an imperfect, but comparatively reliable, market gauge for the extent of current and future monetary destruction.

The recent acceleration in the dollar price of the metal to $1,381, a record high in nominal terms, coincided with talk of a new round of quantitative easing and highly visible discord among major nations on trade and currency-valuation issues. Naysayers point to gold’s price and see a bubble, without understanding that the only acceleration that is taking place is in the rate of decline of paper currency.

The Fed is organising an attack on the dollar’s value, believing that this is the most expedient way to defuse deflationary market forces. The man in the street is unaware, a perfect setup. Inflation can only be successful when the public doesn’t see it coming.

World stocks up modestly ahead of US vote, Fed

LONDON: World stocks mostly rose Tuesday as investors awaited the outcome of the US midterm elections and the Federal Reserve's decision on how much it will pump into the US economy to shore up the recovery.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 43.86 points, or 0.8 percent, at 5,738.48, while Germany's DAX rose 19.77 points, or 0.3 percent, to 6,624.63. The CAC-40 in France was 5.93 points, or 0.2 percent, higher at 3,847.04.

Wall Street was poised for modest gains later _ Dow futures were up 22 points, or 0.2 percent, at 11,112 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures rose 4.1 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,187.20.

Stocks have been fairly buoyant so far this week, especially after strong manufacturing surveys in the world's two biggest economies _ the US and China _ boosted hopes about the pace of the global recovery.

However, the forecast-busting report from the Institute for Supply Management has not altered expectations that the Fed will ease monetary policy further on Wednesday given subdued US inflation and high unemployment.

Though figures last week showed the US economy grew at a slightly faster than anticipated annualized rate of 2 percent in the third quarter, that is still not enough to bring down unemployment, which is hovering near 10 percent to the frustration of the Obama administration .

The consensus in the markets is that the central bank will announce monthly asset purchases of around $100 billion a month over the next six months at the conclusion of its two-day meeting on Wednesday.

Before the Fed statement, the markets will have the results of the Congressional elections in the US to digest.

If opinion polls are correct, President Barack Obama will have to work with a Republican-dominated House of Representatives at the very least. Many think that's a recipe for policy inaction over the coming two years before the next presidential elections, meaning the Fed will have to play an even more crucial role in sustaining the US economy.