LEGEND Lauda urges Mercedes to stay calm despite positive F1 tests

Formula One legend Niki Lauda says Mercedes should not get carried away with their success in testing before the 2014 Formula One season.

“There is no comparison (to actual racing). Everything is theory because you don’t know who has already played out how much of their resources,” he told the online edition of Auto, Moto and Sport magazine on Friday.

“Every time it comes down to the aerodynamics and the engine. The truth will be seen first in Australia,” added the three-time world champion.

The efforts of Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton have been particularly impressive so far when compared to current world champions Red Bull who have struggled with car and engine problems.

The third and final pre-season test continues at the Sakhir track in Bahrain Friday before the campaign opens in Melbourne on March 16.

Gold falls on profit-selling, global cues

Snapping a four-day rising streak, gold prices drifted by Rs 200 to Rs 31,300 per ten gram in New Delhi on Friday on profit-selling by stockists at existing higher levels against sluggish demand amid weak global trend.

Silver also halted a five-day rally, tumbling by Rs 1,740 to Rs 46,560 per kg on poor offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

Traders said stockists booking profits at prevailing higher levels following a rise of Rs 350 against sluggish demand mainly kept pressure on gold prices.

They said a weakening trend in overseas markets also influenced the trading sentiment.

Gold in London, which normally sets price trend on the domestic front, fell by 0.35 per cent to $ 1327.20 an ounce and silver by 0.42 per cent to $ 21.17 an ounce.

Investor shifting their funds from weakening bullion to rising equities for quick gains also reduced the precious metal demand, they added.

On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity fell by Rs 200 each to Rs 31,300 and Rs 31,100 per ten gram respectively, after gaining Rs 350 in last four sessions.

Sovereign, however, held steady at Rs 25,500 per piece of eight gram in limited deals.

In a similar fashion, silver ready suffered a loss of Rs 1,740 to Rs 46,560 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 480 to Rs 47,360 per kg. The white metal had gained Rs 800 in the previous five sessions.

Silver coins also plunged by Rs 1,000 to Rs 88,000 for buying and Rs 89,000 for selling of 100 pieces.

STOCK MARKET:Sensex ends above 21,000 level after 5 weeks

The benchmark Sensex on Friday jumped over 133 points to reclaim the 21,000 mark buoyed by gains in bluechips like TCS, Tata Motors and Hindalco, to log the best weekly rise since November 2013.

Brokers said sentiment was strong as foreign investors have remained net buyers of Indian stocks in the past ten days.

Firm global cues also helped after US Fed Chairperson Janet Yellen on Thursday reiterated the Fed is likely to continue tapering asset purchases at a “measured” pace.

After gaining 450 points in past four sessions, the BSE Sensex shot up by 133.13 points, or 0.63 per cent, to end at 21,120.12. The index last closed above the 21,000 level on January 24 when it concluded at 21,133.56.

The gauge had touched the day’s high of 21,140.51 intra-day on Friday. Experts said all eyes are on India’s October-December quarter GDP growth.

Hindalco led the 18 gainers in 30-share Sensex. TCS, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, ONGC and BHEL were among notable winners.

However, Maruti Suzuki led the 12 Sensex losers. Shares of the carmaker lost 4.54 per cent, amid investor concerns regarding its proposed Gujarat plant.

For the week, the Sensex gained 419.37 points - the biggest rise since the week ending November 29, 2013 when the barometer surged 574.54 points.

“Going ahead, the markets would continue to follow developments on the political scene and geopolitical developments in Ukraine,” said Sanjeev Zarbade, Vice President- Private Client Group Research, Kotak Securities.

The National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose 38.15 points, or 0.61 per cent, to end at 6,276.95, after climbing to 6,282.70 intra-day.

Sectorally, the BSE healthcare sector index gained the most by rising 2.27 per cent, followed by IT index (1.44 per cent), Auto index (1.37 per cent) and Capital Goods (1.18 per cent). Overall, nine of the 12 sectoral indices gained. Oil & gas, consumer durables and FMCG ended in the red.

Global markets, including those in Asia, were positive ahead of reports on American housing, consumer spending and economic growth.

RBI:Forex reserves dip by $ 383.7 mn to $ 293.4 bn

The foreign exchange reserves declined by $ 383.7 million to $ 293.405 billion for the week to February 21 on account of fall in foreign currency assets, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the reserves had jumped by a healthy $ 1.46 billion to $ 293.79 billion.

Foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major part of the overall reserves, fell by $ 378.7 million to $ 266.87 billion in the week under review, RBI said.

FCAs, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation/depreciation of the non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and yen, held in its reserves.

The gold reserves, during the week, were unchanged at $ 20.075 billion.

The special drawing rights also dipped by $ 3.5 million to $ 4.455 billion, while the nation’s reserve position with the IMF dipped by a tad $ 1.5 million to $ 2.005 billion, the RBI said.

Coal India officers serve three-day strike notice

State-owned Coal India (CIL) on Friday said a group of executives has served a three-day strike notice from March 13 for not finalising their demands for performance related pay and new pension scheme, among others.

“Coal Mines officers’ Association of India (CMOAI) has served strike notice for 3 days with effect from March 13, 2014 to March 15, 2014 against non-finalisation of PRP (Performance Related Pay), New Pension Scheme and other demands,” CIL said in a filing to BSE, adding that efforts are being made to reconcile the same.

The CMOAI had earlier said that it may resort a three-day strike if its demands were not met.

“Significantly, all the Maharatna PSUs except Coal India Ltd have already been given order for payment of Performance Related Pay (PRP) by their ministries concerned...We are constrained to communicate to you our strike notice w.e.f March 13, 2014 to meet our genuine and justified demands,” CMOAI had said in a letter to Coal India CMD.

The demands include finalisation and payment of PRP pending since 2007, immediate refund of recovered performance-linked pay advance from retired executives, immediate implementation of new pension scheme and removal of pay anomaly of different grades in general and in particular junior grades among others, it added.

Earlier, the Department of Public Enterprises had strongly objected to the Coal Ministry’s proposal on PRP for executives of CIL’s subsidiaries from its consolidated account, stating that this would have wider ramifications as other PSUs may seek similar dispensation.

As per the DPE guidelines, in the absence of sufficient profit before tax (PBT), loss-making CPSEs are not allowed to distribute performance related pay and there is no concept of providing PRP based on the consolidated account of holding company.

However, the Coal Ministry had sought permission for allowing CIL to determine the corpus of PRP due since 2007 on profit before tax based on its consolidated accounts and not from the individual accounts of the subsidiaries.

CIL will have to shell out about Rs 200 crore on account of PRP to loss-making subsidiaries, including Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), if the proposal is accepted.

The Coal Ministry in its proposal had said that CIL is the holding company which appointed executives and controlled the cadre, also transferring functionaries from one arm to another on promotion.

At present, as per the 2007 pay revision, PRP is directly linked to Profit Before Tax and the rating of a PSU besides performance of individual executives.

CIL produces over 80 per cent of domestic coal output. It has 8 subsidiaries: ECL (West Bengal), BCCL (Jharkhand), Central Coalfields (Jharkhand), South Eastern Coalfields (Chhattisgarh), Western Coalfields (Maharashtra), Northern Coalfields (Madhya Pradesh), Mahanadi Coalfields (Orissa) and Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (Ranchi).

CIL achieved an output of 366.57 Million Tonne (MT) between April-January, missing the 383.88 MT target for the period.

RIL shares hit 6-month low, close below Rs 800 level

Shares of Reliance Industries, the owner of the world’s largest refining complex, on Friday fell nearly 2 per cent on bourses, closing below the Rs 800 mark for the first time since August 2013.

RIL’s scrip ended 1.39 per cent lower at Rs 799.25 on the BSE. During the day, it had lost 2 per cent to touch Rs 794.

At the NSE, the stock settled at Rs 797.30, down 1.65 per cent from its previous close.

Meanwhile, renewing its attack on RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday alleged that some of his Reliance Group companies were involved in money laundering in connection with investments by a Singapore-based firm.

AAP leader and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan also alleged that the UPA government did not even bother to investigate the matter and “showered one benefit after another” on Mr. Mukesh Ambani.

Reliance Industries rejected Mr. Bhushan’s allegations that the FDI investments in some of its companies by the Singapore-based company Biometrix are “laundered monies” invested in this country.

In a statement, it said the allegations are highly “defamatory, false, irresponsible” and devoid of any merit or substance whatsoever.

These “false and baseless” allegations are being repeatedly made in the media and in judicial proceedings and have been already responded to, it said, adding an “orchestrated, politically motivated” campaign is being fuelled against Reliance Industries.

Vodafone for resolving the Rs. 20,000 crore tax

The government will take a decision on withdrawal of conciliation offer to Vodafone for resolving the Rs. 20,000 crore tax dispute after a transfer pricing case concerning the U.K. telecom giant is settled.

“The Cabinet has decided to instruct the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) to expeditiously solve the Vodafone transfer pricing case. Once that is done, the Cabinet will review the conciliation process,” a senior Finance Ministry official said after a meeting of the Union Cabinet on Friday.

Vodafone is locked in twin tax disputes with the government. One pertains to its 2007 acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa’s stake in Hutchison Essar and the other is the transfer pricing case involving Vodafone India Services.

“The cabinet has decided not to take any hasty decision regarding review of conciliation talks with Vodafone,” the official added.

The decision regarding the Vodafone conciliation offer may have to be taken by the next government as ITAT, which will hear the transfer pricing case from March 19, will take a few months to decide on the dispute.

The Cabinet had in June 2013 approved a Finance Ministry proposal to go in for conciliation with Vodafone to resolve the capital gains tax dispute related to its acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa’s stake in Hutchison Essar.

While the basic tax demand is Rs. 7,990 crore, the outstanding dues, including a penalty of a similar amount and accrued interest, run into Rs. 20,000 crore.

Earlier this month, the Finance Ministry circulated a draft Cabinet note seeking to withdraw the conciliation talks after Vodafone demanded that the Rs. 3,700 crore transfer pricing row be clubbed with the capital gains tax case.

It followed a notice under Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement by Vodafone International Holdings BV to the government over the tax dispute. It said the amendment to the IT Act will cause Vodafone International Holdings substantial financial loss.