A Raja arrives in Chennai; 2000 DMK workers at airport to welcome him

Chennai: After more than a year, former Telecom Minister A Raja has landed in his home state of Tamil Nadu. He is yet to emerge out of the Chennai airport, where drum beats, much celebration, about 2000 ecstatic DMK workers and a hero's welcome await him.  

Among the people waiting to catch a first glimpse, are many from Mr Raja's hometown Perambalur and his constituency, the Nilgiris. They have carried large posters that extol their leader as a "flame of self-respect." Mr Raja is a senior leader from the DMK; his alleged role as ringmaster of the telecom or 2G scam played a large role in his party's defeat in the Tamil Nadu election last year.

He spent a little over a year in jail; he is being tried in a Delhi court for breach of trust by a public servant, cheating and criminal conspiracy. He was granted bail last month, and received court permission to travel to Tamil Nadu and stay there till the end of this month.
His first stop in Chennai will be the DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam to meet his party chief M Karunanidhi.

Sources close to him say Mr Raja will stay at his Chennai residence on Friday and Saturday. He is likely to visit his constituency on Sunday, where a large reception has been planned.

On Wednesday, Mr Raja, who is known for his proximity to his party president, and remains the DMK's Propaganda Secretary, is likely to join Mr Karunanidhi at a public meeting in Tiruvarur as part of the DMK chief's birthday celebrations.

Soon after Mr Raja's arrest last year, and before the Tamil Nadu elections, the DMK had projected Mr Raja as a visionary who ensured that mobile phone services were made affordable to the common man. He was described as a martyr who was being punished for being a Dalit.

With the Lok Sabha elections due in two years, political observers are curious to see how the DMK will handle his profile during his visit to Tamil Nadu.

Gold sets new record of Rs 30,400

Gold today hit a fresh all-time high by adding Rs 100 to Rs 30,400 per 10 grams on brisk buying by traders triggered by a firming global trend.

The precious metal had hit an all-time high of Rs 30,300 on Saturday.

Silver followed suit and shot up by Rs 1,200 to Rs 55,500 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

Traders said the trading sentiment bolstered as gold rose to a four-week high in London on weaker dollar after officials from the world's leading economies said they will collaborate to respond to Europe's crisis, boosting demand for metal as an alternate investment.

In London, gold rose by 1.3 per cent to $1,637.40 an ounce, the highest since May 8 and silver by 2.7 per cent to 29.31 dollar an ounce, the highest since May 10.

Besides, traders buying ahead of the marriage season from June 16 further fuelled the uptrend.

On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity rose by Rs 100 each to set all-time high levels of Rs 30,400 and Rs 30,200 per 10 grams, respectively. Sovereigns rose by Rs 150 to Rs 24,250 per piece of eight grams.

Similarly, silver ready spurted by Rs 1,200 to Rs 55,500 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 1,090 to Rs 55,170 per kg. Silver coins also jumped up by Rs 3,000 to Rs 67,000 for buying and Rs 68,000 for selling of 100 pieces. 

Biggest rally in 2012

The BSE Sensex soared over 470 points and the Nifty index took out the 5,000 mark as Indian markets witnessed a dramatic rebound Wednesday. This was the biggest point gain for the Sensex since December 21, 2011.

Global cues supported sentiments. European stocks opened in the green and gained strength. Markets in France and Britain traded 1-2% higher. At 3.45 p.m., Spain's IBEX index traded 3% higher.

European stocks rose despite negative news flow around Spain, where the government said it is losing access to credit markets. The European Central Bank is likely hold interest rates unchanged at 1 per cent in a meeting today.

Asian markets rose for a second straight day. The rupee, too, held on to the gains, helping sentiments on the Street. It traded 22 paise higher against the dollar at 55.42.

The Sensex closed 433.66 points or 2.7% higher at 16,454, while the Nifty gained 134 points to 4,997. The Sensex made an intraday high of 16,494, while the Nifty hit the 5,010 mark.

Audi launches Q3 in India at Rs 26.71 lakh

German car maker Audi on Wednesday launched the Audi Q3 in India.

The smaller cousin to the Q5 and Q7, the Q3 comes in two variants—both 2.0 TDI engines—at an entry price Rs 26.71 lakh. The higher version will set you back by Rs 32.10 lakh.
The Q3’s primary competition will be the BMW X1, and it will also look to give the Toyota Fortuner, the Hyundai Santa Fe and the Chevrolet Captiva a run for their money.

"The launch of the Audi Q3 is in line with our top-down strategy for India. At present, only 500 Audi Q3s will be available for initial booking," Audi India head Michael Perschke said.

"We are confident that Audi Q3 will repeat the success of Audi Q5 and Audi Q7 and further consolidate our leadership position in the luxury SUV segment," he added.

The vehicle seems to have met with instant success, with most dealers saying they have already sold out their stock within few hours of the launch, pointing to pre-booking.

The five-door coupe crossover, Audi’s smallest SUV, was launched globally in 2011.

Audi India grew by 37 per cent during January to May of 2012, delivering 3,281 vehicles as compared to 2,394 vehicles delivered during the same period last year. It recorded sales of 450 cars in May 2012, a growth of 10 per cent over the same period last year.

The car maker is looking to expand its network to 25 dealerships by the end of 2012 from its existing 19 centres.

"In 2012, we will continue our strategic course of product expansion and launch attractive vehicles in the market for sustainable and profitable growth," Perschke had said last week.

Commenting on the outlook, he had said: "The overall market scenario is challenging. The rising fuel prices, depreciating rupee, changing registration taxes in various states as well as reduction in retail loans have severely impacted the automobile industry."

In spite of these challenges the company is confident of its growth in India, he added.

Pantaloon Retail up 4-5%

Future Capital Holdings and Pantaloon Retail rallied 4-5% on Tuesday and gained 5-7% yesterday after Kishore Biyani, CEO, Pantaloon said Future Group had decided to sell its stake of 54% in Future Capital Holdings.

The sale will be conducted in two tranches. In the first tranche 40% will be sold followed by an open offer of 26% by private equity investor Warburg Pincus at a price of Rs 162 a share. This will give Future Group an equity value of Rs 1,050 crore and helped to reduce debt burden.

At 10:32 hours IST, Future Capital Holdings was trading at Rs 151, up 5.19% and its market capitalisation currently stands at Rs 978.46 crore. 
 
Pantaloon Retail was trading at Rs 154.65, up 4.18% with market capitalisation of Rs 3,455.18 crore.