RBI dose for rupee

In a bid to check rupee's free falling against the US dollar, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday hiked the limit of external commercial borrowing (ECB) to USD 10 billion. Moreover, the regulator also increased the limit of overseas investment in government bonds by USD 5 billion to USD 20 billion.

"It has been decided to allow Indian companies in manufacturing and infrastructure sector and having foreign exchange earnings to avail of external commercial borrowing (ECB) for repayment of outstanding rupee loans towards capital expenditure and/or fresh Rupee capital expenditure under the approval route. The overall ceiling for such ECBs would be USD 10 billion," RBI said in a press release after consulting the government of India.

Currently, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) can investment in Indian corporate bonds upto USD 20 billion. While  the cap in government bonds is at USD 15 billion, FIIs are barred to invest in infrastructure bonds upto USD 25 billion.

Along with the hike in investment limit, RBI also enlarged the basket of investors including sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), multilateral agencies, endowment funds, insurance funds, pension funds and foreign central banks; to invest in government bonds for entire limit of USD 20 billion.

Overseas investors so far have not shown enough interest in infra bonds while the demand for corporate bonds and government bonds are relatively higher.

Currently, FIIs can earn an interest rate in the range of 9.30-9.50% for a AAA rated instrument. For corporate bonds, it is slightly higher in the range of 9.70-9.75% for the similar kind of papers.

"Overall there are dissapointments but it (measures) has some positive takeaways," Moses Harding, head of ALCO & economic research, IndusIndus told Moneycontrol.com.

"The increase in G-sec limits will have immediate impact while other two measures would yield results in short to medium term. The demand for government bonds is still persisting among FIIs while it has been tepid for both corporate and infra bonds. Moreover, measures indicate that both RBI and government are equally concerned about exchange rate," he said.

Side by side, RBI made efforts to tap investments by qualified foreign investors (QFIs) to resist rupee's downfall against the greenback.

QFIs, according to the release, can now invest in mutual fund schemes that hold at least 25% of their assets (either in debt or equity or both) in infrastructure sector under the current USD 3 billion sub-limit for investment in mutual funds related to infrastructure.

"The terms and conditions for the scheme for FII investment in infrastructure debt and the scheme for non-resident investment in Infrastructure Development Funds (IDFs) have been further rationalised in terms of lock-in period and residual maturity," RBI added further.

Historical Dastgeer Sahib shrine in Srinagar gutted in blaze

Srinagar: A fire has broken out at the more than 100-year-old shrine of Dastgeer Sahib in the Khanyar area of Srinagar. Fire tenders have been rushed to the spot to bring the blaze under control at the shrine that is mostly made up of wood. However ancient relics of the saint, housed in the Shrine have been saved and retrieved. Officials say since they were kept in a fire-proof safe they remained unharmed.  

The fire started this morning around 6.30 am after prayers and eyewitnesses say that within a few minutes it had spread to the entire complex. 

Scores of locals gathered at the shrine weeping and wailing while they watched the blaze.


The shrine of the 11th century saint is highly revered across religions in Kashmir. While Muslims call the saint Ghaus-e-Azam, the Hindus revere the saint as Kahnoow.

फ़ैसले का सोमवार, वित्त मंत्री के रूप में प्रणब का आखिरी दिन

नई दिल्ली: प्रणब मुखर्जी के लिए आज का दिन वित्त मंत्री के तौर पर आखरी दिन होगा और वह कह चुके हैं कि सोमवार को कुछ अहम घोषणाएं की जाएंगी, लेकिन सवाल यह है कि महीनों से टल रहे नीतिगत फैसले और रुपये की बुरी हालत क्या एक दिन में पलट सकती है।

राष्ट्रपति चुनाव का पर्चा भरने से पहले प्रणब मंगलवार को अपने पद से इस्तीफा दे रहे हैं। सोमवार को प्रणब मुखर्जी ऐसा क्या कर सकते हैं जो भारत की अथर्व्यवस्था की बिगड़ती हालत को संभाल सके। कुछ ऐसा ही करने का दावा प्रणब ने कोलकाता जाकर किया।

दरअसल अपनी ज्यादातर दिक्कतों के लिए प्रणब किसी ना किसी बाहरी ताकत को दोष देते रहे हैं।

उनके कार्यकाल में डॉलर के मुकाबले रुपये की कीमत पिछले एक साल के दौरान 20 फ़ीसदी गिर चुकी है। कारखानों में विकास धीमा पड़ गया है। शेयर बाज़ार पिछले हफ्तों से कई गोते खा चुका है और महंगाई अब भी 10 फ़ीसदी से ऊपर है।

इसके लिए अधिकतर जानकार प्रधानमंत्री और वित्त मंत्री की जोड़ी को ज़िम्मेदार ठहरा रहे हैं।

...तो क्या आज कोई चमत्कार होगा... क्या एक दिन में सब कुछ ठीक हो जाएगा... बिल्कुल नहीं, लेकिन अगर सरकार ने कड़े कदम उठाने का फ़ैसला कर लिया है तो यह एक अच्छी ख़बर है।

What economy measures the FM is going to announce today

It is UPA Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee's last day in office as Finance Minister on Monday and he is expected to announce measures to boost the economy and shore up the falling rupee. Sources have told CNN-IBN that there could be a rise in the interest rates for NRI deposits and efforts will be made to cut down wasteful expenditure.

Also, short term bonds may be issued to NRIs for increase in capital inflows. Sources say there may also be further relaxation in external commercial borrowings. Apart from this, there is also speculation that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may go for a rate cut.

Pranab will resign from the Congress Working Committee on Monday, a day before he steps down as the Finance Minister before filing nomination papers for the July 19 Presidential election. A special meet will be convened on Monday to give him a farewell and also to discuss the Presidential poll in the light of key UPA ally Mamata Banerjee not making her stand public.

He became a member of the CWC in 1978 and has been a key player in the top decision making body of the party.

Known for his razor sharp intellect, Pranab, a quintessential Congressman, is variously described as a walking encyclopedia, chronicler of Congress history, expert in matters of Constitution and governance and a stickler for rules in Parliament.

Pranab, who was elected to Rajya Sabha in 1969, was for a long time member of the Upper House before his first direct election to Lok Sabha in 2004 from Jangipur in West Bengal. He repeated his victory in 2009.

In the Congress Party, Pranab became AICC treasurer in 1978. Pranab also had a brief stint as Chairman of the Economic Advisory Cell of AICC between 1987 and 1989.

In 1984-1991, 1996 and 1998, Pranab was Chairman of the AICC Campaign Committee for Parliament polls besides being a member in the CWC and Congress Election Committee.

In the Government, Pranab held key portfolios like Defence, External Affairs and Finance.

However, there is still no indication on who will take over as the Finance Minister. For now though, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured better growth and efforts to stabilise the rupee.

"We are on a market based exchange rate. We will intervene only when there is violent fluctuation. I believe that if we follow the measures outlined, the rupee will return to a more stable path very soon," the Prime Minister said.

Mahi dies in borewell: The 85-hour-long ordeal

Khaow village, Gurgaon: In the end, the village of Khaow near Gurgaon's Manesar area had nothing to cheer about. 

After an Army jawan lifted the body of five-year-old Mahi Upadhyay out of a 70 feet deep borewell that the little girl fell into on Wednesday night, there were few in the crowd of onlookers who felt the girl might be alive.

30 minutes later, doctors at the nearest government hospital pronounced Mahi dead on arrival. Sources at the hospital said the girl probably died just hours after falling into the borewell outside her house, when she was playing with her friends after her birthday celebrations. Mahi had turned five on Wednesday, and her parents had thrown a party at this village, mostly populated by migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar - all of whom work at various construction sites across Gurgaon. 


The operation to get Mahi out of the borewell was a complicated one. After the child fell into the borewell on Wednesday night, her parents first alerted the Gurgaon police, who arrived at the spot only to realise that they weren't equipped at all to deal with the situation. Mahi had fallen into a very narrow pit, with no space for anyone else to get in and help the child. 

On Thursday, about 200 troops from an Indian Army unit stationed in Gurgaon were called in to help. A highly specialised digger was also called in. The Army took over the entire operations, and started working on two fronts simultaneously. First, a CCTV camera was lowered into the borewell using a rope. Footage from the camera showed a motionless hand stretched out to one side. Doctors thought the child may have fallen unconscious. At this stage, oxygen pipes were also lowered in to the pit to help the child get the required supply of oxygen. 

Another team also started digging a new pit, just parallel to the one in which the child had fallen. The idea was to get to the required depth and then to dig horizontally till a passage was created between the two tunnels. Sources in the Army told NDTV that a local person who specialised in digging borewells in the area was also called in to help as he had the best idea about the area and its soil.

By Saturday, the Army came up against a roadblock. Though a pit adjacent to Mahi's pit was dug, Army officers realised that huge rocks were in between the two pits, and a passage could only be created by manually removing the rocks. A team of highly specialised experts were called in from the Delhi Metro, to help with the exact location of the child, so the Army jawans could dig the parallel passage between the two pits in the right direction. 

Getting to the child took till Sunday afternoon. By that time Mahi had died. For all the days since Wednesday, the child could not be given any food, or a single drop of water. When Mahi's body was brought out from the pit, an Army jawan was holding her - she was covered in a white sheet. The body was placed in an awaiting ambulance and rushed to the nearest government hospital where doctors declared her dead on arrival.