Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/166255090?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Friday, 25 November 2011
Finance ministry against 'undue' forex mkt intervention - source (Reuters)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) ? The finance ministry is not in favour of any "undue" intervention by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the forex market to prop up the rupee, a senior finance ministry source told Reuters on Wednesday, a day after the local currency hit a record low against the U.S. dollar.
Economic growth in second quarter could be slightly less than 7 percent, the source said, adding that growth could pick up in the third and fourth quarter and end the fiscal year at around 7.75 percent.
The government will release official figures of GDP for the second quarter ending September next week.
The rupee on Tuesday slid to an all-time low of 52.73 against the U.S. dollar as foreign investors continued to pare their exposure to Asia's third-largest economy on lingering global uncertainty and mounting worries over the domestic economy.
The rupee has lost 14 percent of its value in 2011 to be the worst performing currency in Asia.
"We are not in favour of undue interventions by the Reserve Bank except to check volatility, because of macro-economic implications for the next year," the source, who declined to be named, said.
"The rupee is depreciating mainly because of external reasons which are outside our control."
The partially convertible currency, however, bounced back more than 1 percent on Wednesday after suspected central bank intervention.
The comments endorse the stand taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which has always maintained that it does not protect any particular level of the rupee and would only intervene to iron out excessive volatility.
The Reserve Bank of India operates independently on monetary issues but often consults the government on important policy moves.
"We expect the rupee to remain around 50 for next three months," the source said.
"It should firm up to around 45 over a period of 5-6 months...if the situation in the euro zone does not deteriorate."
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday also blamed the fall in the rupee on the international market and said that central bank intervention would have a limited effect.
Subir Gokarn, a deputy governor at the central bank, had said last week the RBI would be careful about using foreign exchange reserves aggressively to protect the rupee's depreciation.
At 11:30 a.m. (0600 GMT), the rupee was trading at 52.02/03, 0.5 percent stronger than 52.2950/3050 at close on Tuesday.
Foreign funds have sold more than $500 million worth of shares over five trading sessions till Monday, reducing the net inflows in 2011 to under $300 million, sharply below record investments of more than $29 billion seen in 2010.
The official said New Delhi is taking measures to revive business sentiments and attract capital inflows.
The government has already raised ownership limits on government and corporate bonds and is considering allowing international retail investors direct access to Indian stocks, which have slumped about 22 percent so far this year.
It is also considering allowing foreign direct investment in the country's struggling domestic airlines.
(Reporting by Manoj Kumar; editing by Malini Menon)
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Thursday, 24 November 2011
iPad Could Make Apple Tops in Computer Sales Globally (NewsFactor)
Tablet computers have shaken up the PC industry so much that Apple may overtake Hewlett-Packard as the world's biggest computer distributor by the second half of next year.
That's the claim of market analysis firm Canalys, which says Apple's industry-building iPad has already made the Cupertino, Calif.,-based giant No. 2 in the world during the third quarter of this year.
The Tab Is Fab
Soaring sales of last year's iPad and this year's iPad 2 will help drive total 2011 global PC shipments to 415 million, up 15 percent year-on-year, Canalys says, while tablet shipments will reach a whopping 55 million units by year's end. Heavy volume during the holiday season may drive fourth-quarter figures to 22 million, with the iPad dominating the market. Amazon's Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet will also be competitive, the firm said.
But is lumping tablets together with laptops and desktops as personal computers, well, mixing apples and oranges?
No, says Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group.
"Actually tablets historically were PCs, and as we move into next year the new ones, which started out more like big smartphones without the phone part, will be getting four- and five-core processors and begin to run Windows," Enderle said.
Finnish handset giant Nokia has recently signaled that its debut next year in the tablet market will be a Windows 8 device.
Noting that they are competitively priced, Enderle has been suggesting for some time that tablets should be included in PC market share numbers as consumers increasingly choose between the two.
"I've seen a number of reports that actually don't put Apple on the chart in order to make the PC vendors look better and I think that is a huge mistake, because it creates a false sense of confidence," Enderle said.
"The risk for Apple is much of their historic value has been their exclusivity. As the No. 1 vendor in the segment they won't be exclusive anymore, and premium providers typically can't maintain premium status if they become the status quo. "
All Is Not Peachy for Apple
Canalys also believes that Apple has some challenges ahead.
"Apple has seen its PC market share expand from 9 percent to 15 percent in just four quarters, though iPad shipments in its core market -- the United States -- are likely to come under pressure in Q4 due to the launch of the Fire and Nook at extremely competitive price points," said Canalys Analyst Tim Coulling. "HP and Apple will fight for top position in Q4, but Apple may have to wait for the release of iPad 3 before it passes HP."
Earlier this year, Morgan Stanley Analyst Katy Huberty cited cannibalization of the traditional PC market by tablets in reducing her forecast for PC shipments in 2011 from 7 percent to 2 percent.
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Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Remains of the Day: Google's Wednesday Event for Music and Android [For What It's Worth]
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Monday, 14 November 2011
Rep. Giffords says she feels 'pretty good'
PHOENIX, Ariz.?? Speaking on camera for the first time since she was shot in the head in January, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said she feels "pretty good."
The 41-year-old congresswoman was seated with her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, as she talked with ABC's Diane Sawyer for an interview that will air Monday. A preview was broadcast Thursday on "World News."
Giffords was wearing a yellow top with gold buttons and dark eyeglasses. Her brown hair has grown out since it was shaved in May for surgery to repair her skull.
When Sawyer asked how she felt, Giffords said, "Pretty good." She also said her recovery was "difficult."
Giffords is recovering from a brain injury she suffered Jan. 8 when a gunman opened fire outside a Tucson, Ariz., supermarket. Six people were killed and 13 were wounded, including Giffords.
Giffords has been in rehabilitation in Houston and had made few public appearances in the 10 months since she was wounded.
At a ceremony in Washington last month, Giffords awarded her husband two medals to honor his 25 years of service with the Navy and NASA.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45259818/ns/us_news-life/
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Sunday, 13 November 2011
Monti vows to quickly form next Italian govt (AP)
ROME ? Italy's new premier-designate economist Mario Monti says he will get to work quickly to try to form a new government, assuring the nation that it can heal its disastrous finances.
Monti told reporters Sunday night he will carry out the task "with a great sense of responsibility and service toward this nation." He added that Italy must "heal its finances" and resume growth because today's leaders owe it to future generations.
The former European Union competition commissioner received the formal mandate from President Giorgio Napolitano. Monti must now draw up a Cabinet, lay out his priorities and see if he has enough support in Parliament to govern effectively.
Hours earlier, Silvio Berlusconi's party gave its crucial approval for Monti to assemble a government, but insisted that it last only long enough to implement urgently need economic reforms.
Berlusconi resigned reluctantly as premier late Saturday, bowing out after world markets pummeled his country's borrowing ability, reflecting their loss of faith in his economic program. Berlusconi quit shortly after the Italian parliament approved new reform measures demanded by the European Union and central bank officials.
Angelino Alfano, head of Berlusconi's conservative Freedom People party, said he told Napolitano that Monti has his party's "consensus" to try to form a government.
"We have given our willingness to Professor Monti," Alfano said.
But whether Berlusconi's forces will give Monti crucial support in Parliament depends on who Monti choses for his Cabinet and what his government's priorities will be. Alfano stressed that no opposition members should be in the Cabinet.
"Our preference is for technocrats to join" the Cabinet, Alfano told reporters.
He also added another condition: A Monti government "cannot last longer" than the time needed to implement the economic reforms. Berlusconi and his supporters have made clear they want elections soon, not at their scheduled time of spring 2013.
As Alfano spoke, a crowd of Berlusconi supporters cheered and applauded the outgoing premier as he got into a car at his private residence in Rome. That was in sharp contrast to Saturday night, when hundreds of Romans heckled and jeered Berlusconi and popped open bottles of sparking wine to toast his departure.
Monti faces a monumental task: preventing an Italian default that could tear apart the coalition of 17 countries that use the euro and send Europe and the U.S. into new recessions.
Italy's economy is hampered by high wage costs, low productivity, fat government payrolls, excessive taxes, choking bureaucracy, and an educational system that produces one of the lowest levels of college graduates among rich countries.
In addition, as the third-largest economy in the eurozone, Italy is considered too big for Europe to bail out like it did Greece, Portugal and Ireland.
The next Italian government needs to push through even more painful reforms and austerity measures to deal with euro1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion) in debt ? about 120 percent of the country's economic output. And many of those debts are coming due soon ? Italy has to roll over more than euro300 billion ($410 billion) of its debts next year alone.
Berlusconi spoke Sunday evening to the nation in a televised message, his first public comment since stepping down after 3 1/2 years in office.
"I resigned out of a sense of responsibility and of state, to ward off more speculative financial attacks on Italy," he said.
Looking somber, Berlusconi said he was "sad" that his "generous gesture" of resignation was greeted by "hoots and insults" from crowds outside Parliament. He vowed to keep up his efforts to "renew Italy" through his continued presence as a lawmaker.
Most centrists and center-left parties in the opposition pledged their support Sunday for a Monti government, saying the former European Union competition commissioner has the moral authority and economic know-how to get Italy to pass long-delayed structural economic reforms.
"Italian parties are at fork in the road. Either they speculate on the situation, hoping that they can get some campaign capital from it, or they take up their responsibilities to save the country," said centrist opposition leader Pier Ferdinanco Casini, expressing hope that a new government could last until elections are scheduled for spring 2013.
But Umberto Bossi said his Northern League party won't back any Monti-led government "for now." Bossi said he told Napolitano that his party, whose support kept Berlusconi's conservative coalition in power for years, will be a "vigilant" opposition to any Monti government until the economist spells out his plans.
"For now, we said, 'no.' Then we'll see the program and decide, time by time" whether to support specific legislation, Bossi said. "In any case, we won't give him any blank check."
Bossi's party has been demanding early elections instead. He also has opposed one key remedy, a pension reform that raises the retirement age for women.
But many financial experts say even the new austerity measures passed Saturday are not enough to revive the dormant Italian economy. They raised the retirement age to 67, but not until 2026. They also called for the sale of state property and privatizing some services but contained no painful labor reforms.
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