14.06.2008

• Duty imposed on cars to slow their growth
• The government has slapped an additional specific duty of up to Rs 20,000 per car, over and above the regular excise duty of 24% on all large cars, in a bid to dampen growth of gas-guzzling vehicles.
• The specific duty would be Rs 20,000 for cars having engine capacity of 2000 cc and above, while cars with engine capacity ranging from 1500 cc to 1999 cc would attract the additional specific duty of Rs 15,000.
• Normally, mid-size sedans have engine capacity in the range of 1500-1999 cc, while SUVs and luxury cars have an engine capacity of 2000 cc and above.
• Inflation at 7 year high
• Inflation rose to a seven year high of 8.75% in the last week of May, as compared to 8.24% in the previous week. This is the fastest rise in inflation since February 2001.
• However, the worst is yet to come. The latest figure does not reflect the recent increase in auto fuel prices announced on June 4. Economists apprehend that another increase in the rate at which banks borrow from the central bank may be in the offing even as inflation may surge past the double digit mark in about a weeks’ time.
• Ranbaxy Daiichi deal
• You might have noticed the sell off of Ranbaxy by its promoters to Daiichi Sankyo of Japan. The promoters signed an agreement to sell their entire 35% stake for Rs 9,578 crore on Wednesday. This deal has an interesting tax implication.
• A stock exchange transaction will result in the promoters saving more than Rs 1,000 crore which they would have to pay if this was an off-market transaction. Unlike an off-market transaction which attracts a 10% long term capital gains tax, stock exchange transactions do not attract capital gains tax.
• A clause in the agreement says that the promoters will sell their stake through a stock exchange transaction. But this can only happen if the Ranbaxy share price touches a minimum of Rs 729 (Rs 566 on Friday) to sell the promoters’ stake at Rs 737 per share to Daiichi Sankyo. This is because Indian laws allow bulk deal transactions only at a price which is 1% more or below the market price or previous day’s closing price.
• Who is a sommelier?
• A sommelier, or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, commonly working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all facets of wine service. The role is more specialised and informed than that of a wine waiter.
• World’s largest animation film festival
• It happens every year in France.
• This year is special. Because it marks the centenary of the first animated film in the world.
• Fantasmagorie, a two-minute hand-drawn film by Emile Cohl, was screened in a Paris theatre in August 1908.
• US housing crisis worsens
• What is happening is a number of homeowners, unable to pay their loan instalments are foreclosing their loan accounts and handing over the homes to the lenders.
• Such foreclosure filings have gone up nearly 50% compared with a year earlier.
• Across the US, 2,61,255 homes received at least one foreclosure-related filing in May, up 48% from 1,76,137 in the same month last year and up 7% from April. One in every 483 US households received a foreclosure filing in May.
• Nearly 74,000 properties were repossessed by lenders nationwide in May, while more than 58,000 received default notices.
• The combination of weak housing sales, falling home values, tighter mortgage lending criteria and a slowing US economy has left financially strapped homeowners with few options to avoid foreclosure. Many can’t find buyers or owe more than their home is worth and can’t get refinanced into an affordable loan. Making matters worse, mortgage rates have been rising, reflecting increased concerns about what the Federal Reserve might do to battle inflation.
• Efforts by government and the mortgage industry to stem the tide of foreclosures aren’t keeping up with the rising number of troubled homeowners, and critics say a Bush administration-backed mortgage industry coalition, dubbed Hope Now, is falling far short.
• Experts say that more foreclosures will be seen in the months ahead.