Shelling exposes Pakistan's frustration: Omar Abdullah

Condemning the shelling on civilians in Arnia belt of Jammu that left five dead, J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Monday said that the targeting of civilian areas exposed the frustration of the Pakistani government after its failure to gain international attention on the Kashmir issue.

"They (the Pakistani leadership) have nothing else to speak, but only Kashmir. Whenever they go abroad, they try to raise only Kashmir issue, but every time they miserably fail to get international attention. The cross-border shelling is an indication of their frustration," he told reporters after meeting civilians injured in the shelling at the Government Medical College Hospital here.

Omar strongly condemned the firing and said, "Either we are unable to understand Pakistan's motive behind the increase in the incidents of ceasefire violations or the internal situation in Pakistan is so bad that by targeting Indian side they want to divert the attention of their own people from their internal turmoil."

The Chief Minister said that at a time when people of Jammu and Kashmir should be getting Eid greetings from the Pakistan side, the Pakistani army has gifted them with bombs.

"There was no reason to violate the ceasefire. It was a deliberate attempt from the Pakistani side to target the civilian areas. The death and injury to so many innocent civilians is a part of their nefarious designs," he said.

Omar said that so far he has not spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but if need arises he will brief him about the situation in the state following the frequent ceasefire violations.

Asked about the rehabilitation of the people affected by the cross-border firing, he said, "We have taken up the issue with the Centre. Our financial condition does not allow us to carry out the rehabilitation of our people. We want help from the Centre. The Centre must come forward to help the people of Kashmir."

Omar announced that the family members of the people who lost their lives will get ex-gratia payment and government jobs.

"The ex-gratia cheques have been signed and will be issued soon. The next of the kin of the deceased would also be given government jobs as per the rule applicable under death in harness cases," the Chief Minister said.

Earlier, after offering Eid prayers at Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar, Omar went to the state hospital in the city where he donated blood.

He later flew to Jammu, the winter capital of the state, to meet injured people who were undergoing treatment in various hospitals.

Meanwhile, BSF Director General D K Pathak has also left for Jammu from Delhi to take stock of the developing security situation in the area.

Five villagers were killed and 29 injured in heavy mortar shelling and firing by Pakistani troops targeting hamlets and outposts along the International Border in Jammu district in one of the worst ceasefire violations.

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Finserve's Pankaj Goel shares his entrepreneurial journey

Centrestage is a series where we travel across the country to meet successful Indian entrepreneurs who have followed their dreams and made every risk worth taking. We hear from these dream chasers about their entrepreneurial journeys from scratch and find out how passion and determination have helped them transform an idea into a successful business venture.  

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Hewlett-Packard plans to split into two companies - WSJ report

(Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co plans to break in two, separating its computer and printer businesses from its corporate hardware and services operations, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

The company plans to announce the move as early as Monday, the Journal said in a report on its web site that cited people familiar with the matter. The division would be made through a tax-free distribution of shares to stockholders next year, according to the report.

(Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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Rightist party seen winning Bulgaria's "last chance" election

By Tsvetelia Tsolova and Matthias Williams

SOFIA (Reuters) - The centre right GERB party looked set to win Bulgaria's "last chance" snap general election on Sunday but will fall short of a majority, a result that could mean another shaky coalition struggling to solve a bank crisis and revive growth.

GERB's leader, a former bodyguard and karate expert, warned it would be difficult to form a government in light of the exit poll results, but added his party would hold internal discussions on Monday on how to proceed.

The exit polls indicated GERB had won about 33 percent of the vote, twice as many as their main Socialist opponents. That will likely set the stage for days or weeks of haggling with smaller parties and the opposition to shore up support.

The new government will be the Balkan country's fifth in under two years, a period that has seen mass street protests topple a previous GERB administration and nearly fell its successor. More instability would be a turn-off for investors as well as voters, who have seen their country lurch from one crisis to the next. Foreign direct investment has fallen by more than a fifth this year.

Underscoring the high level of disillusionment with the political class, the exit polls suggested voter turnout was the lowest in the 25 years since Bulgaria emerged from communism.

They also pointed to a highly fractured result, with a record eight parties possibly entering parliament, as disappointment with the main parties strengthened the attractions of fringe players.

"Under this configuration, I do not see how a government can be formed," a sombre-sounding Borisov told reporters. Signalling he would likely try to form a coalition, Borisov also said he was prepared to take "all risks" to govern the country.

In a possible sign of trouble ahead, a senior official of the Reformist Bloc -- seen as GERB's most likely ally -- said he couldn't envisage Borisov as the next prime minister.

Socialist Party spokesman Atanas Merdzhanov called the result a "heavy defeat".

"With such a fragmented parliament, it's difficult to form a government and it also raises the question of how stable it will be," said Dimitar Bechev, a political analyst based at the London School of Economics (LSE).

PROBLEM BANK

A top priority for the new government will be to decide what to do with Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank), Bulgaria's fourth-biggest lender, which was closed after a run on deposits in June and whose fate has been in limbo ever since.

The bank's customers have been shut out of their accounts for more than three months and the main shareholder is charged with embezzlement. But efforts to sort out the mess were derailed by political squabbles and it is still not clear whether the authorities will rescue the bank, or how its depositors and bondholders might be treated.

The Corpbank crisis has fed the sense of frustration with Bulgaria's political class. Seven years after the nation of 7.3 million joined the EU with high hopes of prosperity, corruption remains endemic, while one in five Bulgarians lives below the poverty line. The average salary is just over 400 euros ($500) a month.

While casting his vote, Borisov had said Sunday's poll was a "last chance" to save Bulgaria and warned, if no government was formed and another election was called, "then there will be nothing left to fix in the country."

Bulgaria has been in the hands of a caretaker government since August, following the collapse of a Socialist-led administration whose year in power was overshadowed by mass protests, deadly floods and a row over Russian energy supplies.

"I decided to support some of the new faces. Why vote for those who have robbed us in the past years?" said shop assistant Lyubomira Besheva, in her 30s, at a polling station.

Officially no exit polls were allowed to be published until 1600 GMT, but that did not stop some media publishing voting patterns thinly disguised as weather reports or song contests.

NEED FOR REFORM

"We are all aware of the pile-up of serious problems that require urgent and heavy reforms," outgoing prime minister Georgi Bliznashki said while casting his vote.

Tucked into the EU's southeastern edge on the Black Sea, Bulgaria left communism behind a quarter of a century ago, but its loyalties are still divided between its old ally Moscow and Brussels.

Heavily dependent on Russian energy, Bulgaria is among the countries most vulnerable to a gas supply cut if the standoff between the West and Russia over Ukraine continues into winter.

Bulgaria's new government will have to walk a diplomatic tightrope over the proposed construction of the giant, Russian-led South Stream gas pipeline, which will bypass Ukraine. Under pressure from the EU and the United States, Sofia reluctantly halted work on the project in June.

The next administration will also have to persuade parliament to let the government raise new debt to fund a higher fiscal deficit and provide liquidity buffers for the banking system, and plug a large financial hole in the energy sector. To make matters worse, the EU has frozen hundreds of millions of dollars worth of development funds since last year, citing irregularities in the public procurement process.

"We all know that nothing will change, but the elections are another reason for us to analyse things as we know best -- with a salad and a brandy," said Kalin Vasilev in a Sofia pub.

"We know they (the politicians) will lie to us again," he said. "If you took things too seriously in Bulgaria, you'd have to shoot yourself."

(Writing by Matthias Williams; additional reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Dominic Evans)

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Coal Block De-allocation: Will Review Petitions Succeed?

Friday: 10.30 pm, Saturday: 11.30 am

Sunday: 9:30am & 11.00pm

Published on Sat, Oct 04,2014 | 17:56, Updated at Sat, Oct 04 at 17:56Source : CNBC-TV18 

On August 25tth the Supreme Court found all coal block allocations made between 1992- 2010 are arbitrary and illegal. On September 24th, in the second part of its decision – the court decided that the consequence of these illegalities is de-allocation or cancellation of all blocks involved. The cancellation is effective March 31st, 2015 – giving the government and government owned Coal India enough time to take over the operation of the blocks. The SC has also imposed a penalty of Rs 295/ mt on all coal extracted so far. Quite obviously, the order is a difficult one to swallow for all the affected companies, more so for the 46 entities who have operationalised the mines or are close to doing so. Some of them such as Nalco & Jayaswal Neco are keen to seek a review of the de-allocation. Others such as JSPL want the penalty amount reviewed. Will any of these review petitions find success? To answer those questions CNBC-TV18's Menaka Doshi speaks to well-known constitutional expert PP Rao & Supreme Court Senior Counsel Gopal Jain.

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FY15 GDP growth: Will weak credit growth play spoiler?

Fuelling growth, prospects, challenges and road ahead: that was the big theme at the CII 7th Banking Colloquium held in Kolkata in September this year. It even brought together some of the best minds in the banking industry.

It also saw the release of the CII Deloitte report on the role of banks in a new phase of growth. The report release was followed by a panel discussion which included the heads of banks and other financial institutions.

Even as the market is optimistic about green shoots being visible in the economic recovery, credit growth remains weak, having fallen to the lowest in five years in the fortnight ending September 5.

CNBC-TV18's Gopika Gopakumar moderated a session with a host of banker chiefs such as UCO Bank's Arun Kaul, Canara Bank's RK Dubey and IIFCL's SB Nayar to check with them if the banking system, with its current credit growth rate, can support 5.7 percent or 5.8 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth that is being expected this year.

Gopika: Bankers are hoping for 14-15percent credit growth for this year but looking at the numbers that we saw last week are you optimistic that bankers will be able to achieve a credit growth target of 13-14 percent?

Kaul: I agree, if you look at the growth, recent figures that have come out, it is below 10 percent. It is probably the lowest we have seen in many quarters in the last many years. However let's not forget two things, one this is a slack season for credit demand. Normally credit growth starts in the second half of the year. Since we still are very large agro-based economy, they start accumulating the raw material in the second half.

However, we do notice not many new projects coming up, not much investments taking place. The growth in the credit we see in the banking industry is primarily coming either from the push the banks are giving on the retail side retail, retail, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and agriculture or the demand comes from the corporate sector because of the enlarged working capital requirements.

Now, since the second half, growth is normally there; it is a busy season. We do expect that banks will come to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) expectation of 13-14 growth by end of the year.

If you look at the past many years the major growth in credit comes from the fourth quarter. So I hope this year also same trend would continue although the first two quarters or till now the growth is lower compared to previous years but I hope that the second half of the year we will see a good growth and probably we can reach 13-14 percent as projected by RBI.

Gopika: So therefore you are saying that GDP growth of 5-5.8 percent is certainly possible for this year?

Kaul: Should be possible; that is what RBI projections are. If we are able get 13-14 percent growth of credit, we should be able to get a GDP growth of 5 5.5-6 percent.

Q: Are you also sanguine about achieving your credit growth targets for this year?

Dubey: We are already on a way to achieve, we will surely achieve. We had been very aggressive on priority sector, micro, small & medium enterprises department (MSME) and retail portfolio where the growth had been priority sector about 30 percent plus, retail around 40 percent and MSME around 30 percent.

Corporate credit growth the wholesale business is around 10-12 percent; it is much lesser but we found some pickup in some sectors where our existing clients had been coming. Projects which were stuck up are coming on way. So, I hope even if 12-13 percent corporate growth is there we could definitely achieve our credit growth in Canara Bank.

Q: We have seen a spate of measures taken by the RBI. In order to stimulate growth clearly we need to step up funding for infrastructure. Do you think regulations or measures like the 5:25 rule which RBI has come out with to help infrastructure financing can really solve this problem at this point in time?

Nayar: I really don't think it can solve this problem in a very short period. The 5:25 scheme itself which took us two years to convince RBI now to carry it on board, basically it was to reduce the fear of lending to large projects in infrastructure because the risk of non-performing assets (NPAs) goes down, the recessing goes down.

However that will take some time, banks have to put through a credit policy and that has to be approved by the board it will take sometime to take off. However, the given scenario now, like Mr. Dubey said there are not many new projects coming up. If at all any credit growth will take place it must be through cross-over and funding, which almost every single project is coming up with. Not entirely to be blamed to the project promoters or the projects, it is due to factors outside their control.

However other then that we will have to wait for some more time. In fact we have been holding this investor relations meetings, I just came back from some meetings in London and Germany. They are all saying that we would like to invest in India, we are watching India keenly but then there is still a lot more things you need to do in addition to improving the segment. They say that you also need to make it a much easier place to do business with.

Investors are comparing India to other countries, they say India is still a very difficult place to deal with. So this needs to be changed also. Additionally even if the investment climate improves for large projects and infrastructure, I don't know what will be the capability of the banks to lend further because we are all aware of Basel III coming in, we are all aware of the capital requirements, we are all aware the constraints in capital funding and also the sectors caps and these last two years have also been a bitter lesson for the banks. I think they will approach these projects little more cautiously. So therefore we also need to look at outside the bank to fund these projects.

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U.S. stocks shoot up on robust U.S. jobs report; Dow rises 1.24%

Investing.com - Investing.com - U.S. stocks rallied on Friday after a better-than-expected September jobs report fueled hopes that a more robust economy will fuel more business for corporate America.

At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow 30 rose 1.24%, the S&P 500 index rose 1.12%, while the NASDAQ Composite index rose 1.03%.

The Volatility S&P 500 index, which measures the outlook for market volatility, was down 9.16% at 14.68.

The Department of Labor reported earlier that the U.S. economy added 248,000 jobs in September, far more than the expected 215,000 increase. The number of jobs created in August was revised to 180,000 from a previous estimate of 142,000.

In addition, the U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to 5.9% last month from 6.1% in August.

Analysts had expected the rate to remain unchanged, and the numbers sparked a rally in the stock market by fueling expectations that stronger corporate earnings will accompany a more robust U.S. economy.

Elsewhere, the Institute of Supply Management said its non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index slipped to 58.6 in September from a reading of 59.6 in August. Analysts had expected the index to fall to 58.5 last month, though investors shrugged off the data.

A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $40.10 billion in August from $40.30 billion in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of $40.60 billion.

Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to $40.90 billion in August.

Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), up 2.81%, J P Morgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), up 2.48%, and Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), up 1.91%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), down 0.02%, Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), which was up 0.47%, and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), up 0.53%.

European indices, meanwhile, ended the day higher.

After the close of European trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.87%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.92%, while German markets were closed on holiday. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 rose 1.26%.

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Forex - EUR/USD drops to 2-year lows on upbeat U.S. jobs report

Investing.com - Investing.com - The euro dropped to 2-year lows against a surging dollar on Friday after data revealed the U.S. added far more payrolls in September than markets were expecting.

In U.S. trading, EUR/USD was down 1.22% at 1.2515, up from a session low of 1.2501 and off a high of 1.2675.

The pair was likely to find support at 1.2500, the low from Sept. 5, 2012, and resistance at 1.2716, Monday's high.

The Department of Labor reported earlier that the U.S. economy added 248,000 jobs in September, far more than the expected 215,000 increase. The number of jobs created in August was revised to 180,000 from a previous estimate of 142,000.

In addition, the U.S. unemployment rate ticked down to 5.9% last month from 6.1% in August.

Analysts had expected the rate to remain unchanged, and the numbers boosted the dollar by cementing expectations for the Federal Reserve to close its monthly bond-buying program later this month and begin hiking interest rates sooner rather than later in 2015.

Elsewhere, the Institute of Supply Management said its non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index slipped to 58.6 in September from a reading of 59.6 in August. Analysts had expected the index to fall to 58.5 last month.

A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $40.10 billion in August from $40.30 billion in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of $40.60 billion.

Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to $40.90 billion in August.

The U.S. jobs report served as the pair's chief steering current, eclipsing otherwise cheery European data showing that euro zone retail sales rose 1.2% in August, beating expectations for an uptick of 0.1%, after 0.4% fall in July.

Year-on-year, retail sales increased by 1.9% in August, more than the expected 0.5% rise. July's figure was revised to a 0.5% gain from a previously estimated 0.8% rise.

Earlier Friday, Markit said the euro zone services PMI ticked down to 52.4 in September from 52.8 the previous month, confounding expectations for the index to remain unchanged.

Markit also reported that Germany's services PMI rose to 55.7 last month from a reading of 55.4 in August, while France's services PMI fell to 48.4 in September from 49.4 in August.

Elsewhere, the euro was down against the pound, with EUR/GBP down 0.10% at 0.7839, and down against the yen, with EUR/JPY down 0.05% at 137.30.

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NYMEX crude down in early Asia as investors look ahead to U.S. jobs data

Investing.com - Investing.com - Crude oil prices fell in early Asia on Friday as investors looked ahead to latest the U.S. jobs report which could bolster the dollar further.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil for delivery in November traded at $91.29 a barrel, down 0.15%, after hitting an overnight session low of $88.20 a barrel and a high of $91.00 a barrel.

Overnight, crude futures came off earlier lows after data revealed fewer in the U.S. sought first-time joblessness assistance last week, a sign the economy continues to recover and will demand more fuel and oil going forward.

Separately, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for November delivery fell Thursday to $93.42 a barrel, the lowest since June 2012.

The U.S. Labor Department reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Sept. 27 decreased by 8,000 to 287,000 from the previous week's revised total of 295,000.

Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 2,000 to 297,000 last week, and while the numbers brought oil up from earlier lows, the commodity remained in negative territory due to ongoing concerns that global supply far exceeds demand.

Investors were now looking ahead to Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, which was expected to show that the economy about 215,000 jobs in September.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 1.4 million barrels in the week ending Sept. 26, confounding expectations for a gain of 0.7 million barrels, though global supply concerns ending the buying sprees.

Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 356.6 million barrels as of last week.

The report also showed that total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 1.8 million barrels, compared to forecasts for a decline of 0.8 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles declined by 2.9 million barrels.

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Dollar mixed on upbeat U.S. data, ECB move, Ebola scare

Investing.com - Investing.com - The dollar traded mixed to lower against most major currencies on Thursday, buoyed by upbeat data out of the U.S. labor market, while pressured lower by an Ebola scare and a European Central Bank decision to hold off on fresh stimulus measures.

In U.S. trading on Thursday, EUR/USD was up 0.40% at 1.2670.

Despite its recent rate cuts and announced plans to buy assets, the European Central Bank concluded on Thursday it would take a wait-and-see approach to current stimulus tools before loosening policy further should the need arise.

ECB President Mario Draghi reiterated that the bank is unanimous in its commitment to using additional unconventional measures if necessary, but a decision to stick with policies in place gave the euro support, which came at the greenback's expense.

Recent data revealed that the euro area's inflation rate slumped to a five-year low of 0.3% in September.

Also on Thursday, Draghi outlined details of its asset-purchasing program announced last month, which will include the purchase of covered bonds beginning this month and asset-backed securities later in the fourth quarter.

The program is to run for two years and will substantially increase the ECB's balance sheet, he said, adding the program will also help get inflation back to the ECB's long term target of 2%.

The ECB held its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.05%, its marginal lending rate at 0.30% and left its deposit facility rate unchanged at -0.20%.

Meanwhile in the U.S., the Labor Department reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Sept. 27 decreased by 8,000 to 287,000 from the previous week's revised total of 295,000.

Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 2,000 to 297,000 last week, which gave the dollar some support.

The data came after payroll processor ADP on Wednesday said that the U.S. private sector added 213,000 jobs last month, slightly ahead of expectations for jobs growth of 210,000.

Investors were now looking ahead to Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, which was expected to show that the economy about 215,000 jobs in September.

Elsewhere, news a man traveling from Liberia infected with the Ebola virus arrived in the United States and came into contact with others softened the greenback by stoking market concerns that if general fears grow, traveling and shopping may slow, which could affect U.S. recovery.

The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.46% at 108.39, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.21% at 0.9540.

The greenback was up against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.25% at 1.6144.

The dollar was down against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.09% at 1.1155, AUD/USD up 0.80% at 0.8803 and NZD/USD up 1.47% at 0.7900.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.33% at 85.72.

On Friday, expect markets to track the U.S. jobs report.

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