18.07.2008

• On scrapping Press Note 1
• Remember anything about Press Note 1? Look at why the government is thinking of scrapping it. It is here.
• Supreme Court to charge more from corporates as court fees?
• At present, the Supreme Court earns slightly over Rs. 1 crore as court fees. Reportedly there are over 18,000 corporate cases pending before it.
• A parliamentary standing committee is understood have proposed a multiple rise in court fees for corporates. The government seems to be happy with the proposal. The panel’s recommendations have further stressed setting up a separate bench in the apex court that would exclusively look after corporate matters. The panel’s recommendations require the dual sanction of the government as well as the highest judiciary, and subsequent amendments to the Supreme Court rules.
• If this were to be gone ahead with the apex court could generate anywhere between Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 10,000 crore as revenue.
• Have any take on this proposal? Express your opinion in the shout box.
• Illegal immigrant network in Britain
• “A network of people which allegedly provides illegal immigrants of Indian origin, mostly Punjabis, forged or stolen identity papers and helps them secure a job in Britain has been exposed in an undercover BBC investigation”, so starts a report in today’s ET.
• The prescribed minimum wage in Britain is £5.5 per hour. In London it is £7.45 per hour. But the illegal immigrants work for as little as £2 per hour.
• They are all illegal alright. But aren’t the people who employ them also culpable?
• India slowly becoming a hub for small cars?
• Car makers in markets like Latin America and Europe have reportedly ramped up sourcing orders of small cars from Indian companies, as surging fuel costs and recessionary trends take a toll on existing makes.
• Nissan plans to buy 50,000 A-Star compact cars from its rival Maruti Suzuki and export to markets in Europe. It is also learnt that Tata Motors is talking to dealers to launch its Nano, the ultra low-cost car, in the western markets. Car makers prefer sourcing cars from India since operations are wholly owned compared to China, enabling low-cost production of components.
• Korean car maker Hyundai exports 40% of its small car production, primarily i10 and Santro, which sells as Atos in 97 countries across the world.
• Television penetration figures
• The DTH (Direct to Home) market has currently about 6 million households as customers across the country. The cable & satellite households’ universe in contrast is of the order of 80 million.
• See the potential?
• E F Schumacher
• He attacked nuclear power and the use of chemicals in agriculture while calling for an intermediate technology appropriate to the needs of end-users, in his book “Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered.” It was published in 1973.
• Now do you know who coined the phrase appropriate technology?
• Colonel Drake
• He established the first commercial oil well in Oil City, Pennsylvania in 1860s.
• Why are crude prices headed north?
• The stable oil prices for nearly two decades (1984-2003) led to sharp reduction in oil exploration and rapid increase in demand due to complete disregard for energy conservation initiatives as evidenced by the gas guzzling SUVs on American roads and high imports of Russian gas in Europe.
• The subsidised low oil prices in most of the developing world including China, India, Indonesia, etc., resulted in inefficient use of energy.
• The geopolitical factors like the Iraq war, tensions with Iran and more assertive attitude of Russia have also added to the risk and oil price increase in the last few years.
• Though many pundits bite the dust while predicting future levels of stock markets, commodity prices etc., I dare to venture out and predict; because I am no pundit. My take is that the oil prices will head south soon – in the next 6 months to one year time frame. My prediction is based on the conviction that commodity prices are cyclical in nature. Much more than the demand pressures, the current oil price boom is driven by speculation. Once the money involved in speculation in commodity markets starts chasing stocks or other financial investments, once the impact of the subprime crisis blows over fully, it is a matter of time before the commodity markets – including that of oil – head south.
• A look at the costs of oil production
• On the low side the cost of production of oil in Saudi Arabia is around $4 per barrel and on the high side it is around $40 per barrel in smaller, depleted oil wells.
• At $70 per barrel large additional supplies of oil from Tar Sands, Shale Oil and secondary recovery of oil become possible.
• Inflation – responsibility of the government
• Writing about inflation Madan Sabnavis, the Chief Economist at NCDEX explains very well as to how the government is responsible for more than 50% of the inflation. Here he was referring to government in general; not any particular party or the present or previous governments. The article is worth a read. Do so here.
• Who is the head of China’s central bank?
• Zhoi Xiaochuan is the Governor of The People’s Bank of China.
• Fashion capitals of the world
• The Big Five are - New York, Rome, Paris, Milan, and London. Bombay slipped from 18^th position to 22^nd and New Delhi made it to the top 25 with an entry at 24^th place.
• The ranking was based upon GLM’s (Global Language Monitor) predictive quantities index — an algorithm that tracks words and phrases in print and electronic media, on the internet and throughout the blogosphere.