SubhajitChaudhuri

Wish Happy Holi to All of my Valuable Investors and Followers

2010-03-01T02:28:00.000-08:00

To All my valuable Investors and followers.

Wish you and your family a Happy, Healthy & Prosperous Holi.

On Holi we chant: Holi I, Holi I, Holi I…. However, let us not just chant this rhyme; rather, let us truly pray to God that on this day “I” may become holy.

Let us pray that “I” may become pious, pure and devoted as Prahlad. In that way our lives and our hearts and our souls will be forever protected, forever sheltered at His holy feet.

As we chant “Holi I, Holi I, Holi I….” let us also pray that our “eye” may become holy, that we may be granted the divine vision by which we behold Him in all whom we see.

Let us pray that through our holy eye, we never are led toward anger, greed, lust or jealousy.

Let this holi be a time when we change not only the color of our faces, but the color of our hearts.
Let us not only "play" holi, but let us become holy.

Let the only color that truly penetrates our beings, be the color of god.

Possible Causes for Market pain...Are we enough capable for sustainable growth

2010-02-04T02:09:00.000-08:00

Well, today we will discuss more about the possible causes and market pain.We will also conclude on our capability for sustainable growth.

Domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumers may soon have to pay Rs 100 more for every 14.2-kg cylinder if the report of the expert group on ‘A viable and sustainable system of pricing of petroleum products' headed by Mr Kirit S. Parikh is accepted.

The committee has also suggested a Rs 6/litre increase in price for kerosene sold under the public distribution system (PDS), implying a 66 per cent jump over the current price.

Deregulation

The committee has also pressed for complete deregulation of petrol and diesel prices. Currently, domestic LPG in Delhi is sold at Rs 281.20/cylinder, petrol Rs 44.72 a litre, and diesel Rs 32.92. The price of kerosene, which has not been revised since 2002, is at Rs 9.23 a litre.

At the current international crude prices, freeing petrol would result in an increase of Rs 3 a litre and diesel Rs 3-4. The Indian crude basket for the current fiscal till February 2 has averaged at $68.54 a barrel.

When asked whether these radical recommendations would receive the political nod, Mr Murli Deora, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, said, “We are very keen not just to discuss but see what best can be done both for the consumers as well as the Government.”

The Petroleum Ministry is hopeful of processing the report in a few days, and presenting it to the Government.

Bridging the gap

If the recommendations are accepted, it will bring the under-recoveries of public sector oil marketing companies on petrol and diesel down to nil.

To contain the under-recoveries on account of cooking fuels, the committee has suggested that the first step is to rationalise allocation of PDS kerosene across the States and increase prices of both kerosene and domestic LPG, according to the report.

The next remedy suggested in the report is to bridge the financial gap arising due to under recoveries on the two products.

This could be done by mopping up part of the incremental income of ONGC and Oil India Ltd from production from their nomination blocks (non-NELP) and cash subsidy from the Budget.

The formula has been suggested by ONGC, according to which, if international prices go up from $70 to $140 a barrel, the amount of subsidy from the Central Government on LPG and kerosene will remain stable at Rs 20,000 crore.

Speaking to newspersons after submitting the report, Mr Parikh said, “A viable long-term strategy for pricing major petroleum products is required.

“A viable policy has to be workable over a wide range of international oil prices and has to meet the various objectives of the Government. It should limit the fiscal burden on the Government and keep the domestic oil industry financially healthy and competitive.”

Inflation effect

On whether the suggestions made by the committee will have any impact on inflation, Mr Parikh said, “These measures have become essential because if we don't do it today, fiscal deficit will go up, credit ratings will be affected, the borrowing cost will go up. So, the economy will have to bear the burden one way or the other.” (Source: BL)

Are we capable to guide our economy in better way?
It's better you should think on this chapter.Isn't it? Solution is in the system itself.
It will take possibly another 6-8 month time frame to see market at new high (<20,000)
What parameters will drive market hence forth?
1. Inflation
2. Oil prices.
3. Company's result.
4. Govt policy for alternative energy and Act to make it happens.
5. Budget
6. Global cues
7. Stimulas packages for textiles, aviation.

My questions:

Are WE capable to control inflation? I am talking about our TOP BOSS/Our GOVT.
What is our base? Agriculture!!!! It's not far away that we will have to purchase food from foreiegn. It's shame Guys!!!
Are we enough educated? If yes, then why we don't we select a right candidate to drive our nation.

My Strength V/s My Achievement. Do I justify myself? Let's think on it for a minute.

2010-01-31T00:18:00.000-08:00

Do we still underestimate ourselves?

It becomes a big question in front of me.

Here is step by step analysis of our country’s economy in conjunction with US economy.

US Economy grows at 5.7 pct pace, fastest since 2003 - Wall Street
Economy grows for 2nd straight quarter at better-than-expected 5.7 pct rate, best since 2003

Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economics Writer, On Friday January 29, 2010, 1:29 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy’s faster-than-expected growth at the end of last year, fueled by companies boosting output to keep stockpiles up, is likely to weaken as consumers keep a lid on spending.
The 5.7 percent annual growth rate in the fourth quarter was the fastest pace since 2003. It marked two straight quarters of growth after four quarters of decline. Growth exceeded expectations mainly because business spending on equipment and software jumped much more than forecast.
Still, economists expect growth to slow this year as companies finish restocking inventories and as government stimulus efforts fade. Many estimate the nation’s gross domestic product will grow 2.5 percent to 3 percent in the current quarter and about 2.5 percent or less for the full year.
That won’t be fast enough to significantly reduce the unemployment rate, now 10 percent. Most analysts expect the rate to keep rising for several months and remain close to 10 percent through the end of the year.
High unemployment and stagnant wage growth will likely keep consumers cautious about spending. Wages and benefits paid to U.S. workers posted a scant gain in the fourth quarter. And for all of last year, workers’ compensation rose by the smallest amount on records going back more than a quarter-century.
The economic recovery could falter if consumers, who account for 70 percent of economic activity, lack the income to ramp up spending.
“That’s why there’s so much hand-wringing right now,” said Brian Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist for IHS Global Insight. “Can the economy really sustain this? That’s the big question mark sitting out there.”
With hiring still weak, President Barack Obama has stepped up his focus on job creation. On Friday, he urged Congress to embrace his call for tax incentives to create jobs.
Obama wants to give companies a $5,000 tax credit for each net new worker they hire in 2010. Also, businesses that increase wages or hours for existing workers in 2010 would be reimbursed for the extra Social Security payroll taxes they would pay.
“It’s time to put America back to work,” the president told workers at the Chesapeake Machine Company in Baltimore. But he acknowledged that “while these proposals will create jobs all across America, we’ve got a long way to go to make up for the millions of jobs that we lost in this recession.”
About 60 percent of the fourth quarter’s growth resulted from a sharp slowdown in the reduction of inventories as firms began to rebuild stockpiles depleted by the recession.
Changes to inventories added 3.4 percentage points to the fourth-quarter growth, the Commerce Department said in its report Friday. Excluding inventories, the economy would have grown at a 2.2 percent clip, the government said. That’s an improvement from 1.5 percent in the third quarter.
Consumer spending rose 2 percent, down from a 2.8 percent rise in the third quarter. It added 1.4 percentage points to GDP growth.
A steep increase in exports also helped boost growth last quarter. The shipment of goods overseas rose 18.1 percent, far outpacing a 10.5 percent rise in imports. Net exports added 0.5 percentage point to GDP.
Government spending was actually a slight drag on growth in the fourth quarter: A small increase in federal spending was outweighed by a drop in state and local spending.
Still, federal government spending is likely to pick up and add to growth in the first quarter, Bethune said.
Business spending will likely boost economic growth for several quarters, Bethune said, though not likely enough to make up for sluggish consumer spending. Many companies are upgrading computers, cell phones and machinery as their equipment needs to be replaced just to maintain current levels of production.
In addition, many businesses have healthy balance sheets and don’t need to pay off the large debts that households are struggling with, Bethune added.
For now, the growing economy is benefiting companies up and down the supply chain. Ford Motor Co. this week reported higher fourth-quarter sales and its first annual profit in four years, as it recovers from the devastating downturn the auto industry.
Ford’s “recent success has benefited us,” said Tom Schumann, general manager of EC Kitzel & Sons Inc., a small cutting tool fabricator based in Cleveland, Ohio.
The company, which has 30 employees, bought a new machine tool in December and hired a new worker to run it, the company’s first hire since last spring. Still, many of the company’s suppliers are struggling.
“I’m not totally convinced we’re out of the woods yet,” Schumann said, referring to the economy.
Friday’s report is the first of the government’s three estimates of gross domestic product and is likely to be revised. The government initially estimated third quarter growth was 3.5 percent, which was later revised down to 2.2 percent. The next estimate will be released Feb. 26.
The report provided an upbeat end to an otherwise dismal year: The nation’s economy declined 2.4 percent in 2009, the largest drop since 1946. That’s the first annual decline since 1991.
Source: Yahoo finance

Now let’s start to talk about my own country.

My countrymen are they positive enough to drive country’s economy in correct way?

Do we have potential to prove on paper we are going to become third largest economy worldwide?

Are you using proper guidelines to make our country strong?

Are we really adapting western culture in large extent? I am not an economist.

We Indian fundamentally and strategically quite correct hence I could expect to make it happen within 5 years.

We have enough resources which are cheap and best in quality.

We have good banking system.

Instead of all these reason our stock market still depends on European market.

We have lots of intellectual property on non-conventional energy sources.

Let’s go back to history to understand our strength, our civilization.

The first great Indian civilization

From the start of the fourth millennium BC, the individuality of early village cultures began to be replaced by a more homogeneous style of pottery at a large number of sites throughout the Indus Valley; by the middle of the third millennium, a uniform culture had developed at settlements spread across nearly 1,280,000 square kilometres, including parts of the Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Baluchistan, the Sind and the Makran coast. Two great cities on the Indus, Harappa in the north and Mohenjo Daro in the south, were supported by the agricultural surplus produced by such settlements. Recent archeological research has unearthed further sites, almost as large as the first two and designed on the same plan, at Kalibangan, on the border of India and Pakistan, at Kot Diji east of Mohenjo Daro, at Chanhu Daro further south on the Indus, and at Lothal in Gujarat.
The emergence of the first great Indian civilization, around 2500 BC, is almost as remarkable as its stability for nearly a thousand years. All the cities were built with baked bricks of the same size; the streets were laid out in a grid with an elaborate system of covered drains; and the houses, some with more than one storey, are large. Vast granaries and a citadel built on higher ground with a gigantic adjoining bath at Mohenjo Daro, together with the absence of royal palaces and the large numbers of religious figurines, suggest that it was a theocratic state of priests, merchants and farmers.
By now, farmers had domesticated various animals, including hump-backed (Brahmani) cattle, goats, water buffaloes and fowls. They cultivated wheat, barley, peas and sesamum, and were also probably the first to grow and make clothes from cotton. Excavations at Lothal have uncovered a harbour; merchants were certainly involved in extensive trading by both sea and land, for they imported metals, including gold, silver and copper, and semiprecious stones from the Indian peninsula, Persia, Afghanistan, central Asia and Mesopotamia. While the main export was probably cotton yarn or cloth, they may have exported surplus grain as well. Indus seals found at Ur confirm the continuity of trading links with Sumer between 2300 and 2000 BC.
The sheer quantity of seals discovered in the Indus cities suggests that each merchant or mercantile family had its own. They're usually square, and made of steatite (a kind of soapstone), engraved and then hardened by heating. All bear inscriptions, which remain undeciphered, although nearly 400 different characters have been identified. The emblems beneath the inscriptions - iconographic scenes and animals, such as the bull, buffalo, goat, tiger and elephant - are more enlightening. One of the most notable depicts a horned deity sitting cross-legged in an ithyphallic posture, surrounded by a tiger, an elephant, a rhinoceros, a water buffalo and two deer. He appears on two other seals, and it seems certain that he was a fertility god; indeed, he has been called a "proto-Shiva" because of the resemblance to Pashupati, the Lord of the Beasts, a major representation of the fully developed Hindu god, . Other seals provide evidence that certain trees, especially the peepal, were worshipped, and thus anticipate their sacred status in the Hindu and Buddhist religions.

No monumental sculpture survives, but large numbers of human figurines have been discovered, including a steatite bust of a man thought to be a priest, a striking bronze "dancing girl", brilliantly naturalistic models of animals, and countless terracotta statuettes of a Mother Goddess. This goddess is thought to have been worshipped in nearly every home of the common people, but the crude style of modelling suggests that she was not part of the cult of the priestly elite.
The sudden demise of the Indus civilization in the last quarter of the second millennium BC used to be explained by invasions of barbarian tribes from the northwest; but recent research has established that tectonic upheavals in about 1700 BC caused a series of floods, and these are now considered primarily to blame.

Guys we may find out some answer of my question from SWAMIJI’s thoughts which he had expressed and complied together in “The Future of India”

Did you follow SWAMIJI? Or We couldn’t even understand his thoughts, philosophy beyond of his each statement he commented more than 100 years back.

Did you find out solution for reason which he found out early age of India’s modern civilization?

Do we literate ourselves to understand our key strength and potential?

Lots of questions are still roaming inside my brain but no perfect solution yet.

1. The Future Of India
o Excerpts From Swami Vivekananda famous lecture “The Future Of India”
2. India
o This is the ancient land where wisdom made its home before it went into any other country…
o Here is the same India whose soil has been trodden by the feet of the greatest sages that ever lived.
o Here first sprang up inquiries into the nature of man and into the internal world.
o This is the land from whence, like the tidal waves, spirituality and philosophy have again and again rushed out and deluged the world..
o It is the same land which stands firmer than any rock in the world, with its undying vigor, indestructible life. Its life is of the same nature as the soul, without beginning and without end, immortal; and we are the children of such a country.
3. Problems before India
o The problems in India are more complicated, more momentous, than the problems in any other country.
o The elements which compose the nations of the world are indeed very few, taking race after race, compared to this country. Here have been the Aryan, the Dravidian, the Tartar, the Turk, the Mogul, the European — all the nations of the world, as it were, pouring their blood into this land.
o Of languages the most wonderful conglomeration is here; of manners and customs there is more difference between two Indian races than between the European and the Eastern races.
4. Our Common Ground
o The one common ground that we have is our sacred tradition, our religion. That is the only common ground, and upon that we shall have to build.
o The unity in religion, therefore, is absolutely necessary as the first condition of the future of India.
o We know that our religion has certain common grounds, common to all our sects …what we want is to bring out these lifegiving common principles of our religion, and let every man, woman, and child, throughout the length and breadth of this country, understand them, know them, and try to bring them out in their lives.
o This is the first step; and, therefore, it has to be taken.
5. Do not quarrel within !
o The first plank in the making of a future India, the first step that is to be hewn out of that rock of ages, is this unification of religion.
o All of us have to be taught that we Hindus — dualists, qualified monists, or monists, Shaivas, Vaishnavas, or Pâshupatas — to whatever denomination we may belong, have certain common ideas behind us, and that the time has come when for the well-being of ourselves, for the well-being of our race, we must give up all our little quarrels and differences.
o the more you go on fighting and quarrelling about all trivialities such as "Dravidian" and "Aryan", and the question of Brahmins and non-Brahmins and all that, the further you are off from that accumulation of energy and power which is going to make the future India.
o With the giving up of quarrels all other improvements will come.
6. Lift Up The Masses !
o My idea is first of all to bring out the gems of spirituality that are stored up in our books and in the possession of a few only, hidden, as it were, in monasteries and in forests — to bring them out; to bring the knowledge out of them..
o ..in one word, I want to make them popular. I want to bring out these ideas and let them be the common property of all, of every man in India, whether he knows the Sanskrit language or not.
o the ideas must be taught in the language of the people; at the same time, Sanskrit education must go on along with it,..
o Teach the masses in the vernaculars, give them ideas; they will get information, but something more is necessary; give them culture. Until you give them that, there can be no permanence in the raised condition of the masses.
7. Solution To Caste Problem
o Shame upon them that such wicked and diabolical customs are allowed; their own children are allowed to die of starvation, but as soon as they take up some other religion they are well fed.
o The solution is not by bringing down the higher, but by raising the lower up to the level of the higher.
o What is the plan? The ideal at one end is the Brahmin and the ideal at the other end is the Chandâla, and the whole work is to raise the Chandala up to the Brahmin. Slowly and slowly you find more and more privileges granted to them.
o It is the duty of the Brahmin, therefore, to work for the salvation of the rest of mankind in India. If he does that, and so long as he does that, he is a Brahmin, but he is no Brahmin when he goes about making money.
8. Organize !
o Why is it that organizations are so powerful? Do not say organization is material. Why is it, to take a case in point, that forty millions of Englishmen rule three hundred millions of people here? What is the psychological explanation?
o These forty millions put their wills together and that means infinite power, and you three hundred millions have a will each separate from the other.
o Therefore to make a great future India, the whole secret lies in organization, accumulation of power, co-ordination of wills.
9. Worship the mother !
o For the next fifty years this alone shall be our keynote — this, our great Mother India. Let all other vain gods disappear for the time from our minds. This is the only god that is awake, our own race — "everywhere his hands, everywhere his feet, everywhere his ears, he covers everything."
o The first of all worship is the worship of the Virat — of those all around us. Worship It.
o These we have to worship, instead of being jealous of each other and fighting each other.

One can understand and guess the reason why we are still lugging behind of our milestone.

Anyway we now come to a conclusion that India to be 3rd economy by 2020.

But my question is still kept unanswered. Why don’t we achieve by 2015, it’s not loot late.

(India to be 3rd largest economy by 2020: Pant)
India is poised to become the world's third-largest economy by 2020, three decades before the Goldman Sachs estimate, said K C Pant in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
In his keynote address at the Tenth Partnership Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Pant said a recent study by Goldman Sachs on the growth prospects of four leading developing and transition economies -- Brazil, Russia, India and China (collectively termed as BRICs) -- had predicted that India would be the third largest economy in the world by 2050, after China and the United States.
The study forecast that India would grow more or less steadily at 5.5 to 6 per cent per annum and would continue this trajectory even beyond 2050, when all the other major countries would have slowed down to a 3 per cent or less growth rate.
"Though our past performance and the prognoses for the future are a source of pride for us, we do not think that they should be a cause for complacency. India's Tenth Five-Year Plan, which spans 2002 to 2007, aims to make India the fastest-growing economy in the world by the end of this period," he said.
"We believe that the country has the potential to record an average growth rate of 8 per cent per annum during these five years, rising to above 9 per cent in the terminal year," he added.
"Our optimism appears to have been vindicated by the recent performance of the economy. In the second quarter of this year, our GDP (gross domestic product) has increased by 8.4 per cent, and it is expected to grow at over 9 per cent in the next two quarters," he said.
"The most heartening feature of this growth has been the performance of our brick and mortar sectors, which have demonstrated a high degree of vitality that gives us the confidence about the future," Pant said.
He said that India had been one of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world in the last two decades and the future may be even better than the past.
In the past, economic infrastructure, such as railways, ports, national roads and power were all provided exclusively by the public sector. "In the future, we see these areas being opened up to the private sector to the extent that the private sector displays its willingness, but this varies from sector to sector -- a fact that we need to keep in mind," he noted.
Referring to the financial sector, he said that foreign portfolio investors have recognised the strength and potential of the Indian capital markets and have poured in over $7 billion last year.
"Although India's presence has improved significantly in the international investors' radar screen in recent years, there is still a long way to go before it can be taken for granted. This is especially true for a number of sectors in which India's requirements may be at variance with international investor perceptions," he explained.
Pant said that the Planning Commission had set up a high-level Steering Group on Foreign Direct Investment and its report was presently under active consideration of the Union government.
An empowered committee, consisting of Union ministers and state chief ministers, was also set up to draw up a blueprint for creating an investor-friendly environment and to oversee its implementation.
"This is the first time that a major reforms programme will explicitly reflect the federal nature of our political system and will be guided at the highest political level," he pointed out.

Why did I take entry in Stock Market: My Philosophy and Guidelines

2010-01-30T14:33:00.000-08:00

I entered in the stock market in the year of 2003.I wanted to become a doctor as I was a good student once in my childhood.I never stood second in my class and I was so fascinated towards my career. My parents are very conservative, traditional and disciplined. I started to read Economic Times, Times of India, Statesman, and Ananda Bazar Patrika from my early age i.e. 14 yrs.
I was unable to understand the happenings in the industries’ thought stock market, a gambling station where people earn some money. The first stock I was interested US 64/Unit Trust mutual fund as my dad was holding that stock. Unfortunately he couldn't materialize profits from it. I was not happy from that incidence. Then suddenly I got busy in establishing my career in JEE/AIJEE etc and I took admission in engineering college. Why did I do so many degrees, PG degree, and certification? Is it to prove myself a good Engineer? I must say this is not true. Actually I wanted to develop some logic and my own philosophy in conjuction with some guidelines to establish myself at comfort zone.
Anyhow I got entry first time in the stock market in mid of 2003.I never wanted to be a broker, rather I wanted to be a business analyst. I could earn as I can by rolling my stuffs in large scale. But believe me guys I never wanted to earn money in wrong way. I wanted to judge my own philosophy and to execute my own innovation in correct way. I learnt so many things from the stock market which I can’t express in short duration. I saw ups and downs across the market." Earning money is not the only motto, judge yourself and confirm you earn money by virtue of your knowledge".
Still on today I don't expect single penny coming to my pocket without any efforts. I recommended lots of company which gave average 15 times return over the period of time.
My recommended almost 20 Multibagger Stocks as on today. Here is tow examples for the same.
Mukesh Babu....from Rs 2 to Rs 55
Core Projects & technologies: from Rs 0.75 to Rs 300.

My philosophy and fundamental suggest me to guide people and make them literate in market and establish my own guidelines for the same. I always prefer small cap and penny stocks rather than Large Cap. Why so?
I like to admire some one's capability and I always pay respect irrespective of their age and family background. I like innovative and hard work people. Street Cleaner is more respectable than a lazy architect. Isn't it guys? Like that way I respect true company irrespective of their CMP and market capital.
It's very simple to find out a true company as to find out a real life partner.
If anyone can find a real life partner he/she has the capacity to select a strong company for future. Following are the things that decide while you are choosing a company.
Company's fundamentals
Business Approach
Aggressiveness towards customer> Customer focus.
Mission and Vision.
Result oriented.
Management profile.
Past records.
Share holding pattern etc..........
There are following advantages on investing in small cap stock:
1. Higher Growth
2. Greater universe of opportunities
3. Inefficient market
4. In-Depth Research can make the difference

When looking at investment options, I find it most helpful to first determine what your objectives are. Dependent on your objectives, small cap stocks could be ideal, but they also could be counter to your goals. Diversification is paramount to protect yourself against potential market volatility, but I would suggest first figuring out what your goals are, what your comfort with risk is, the time-frame you're looking at as far as needing access to the investment and then figuring out what investment strategies match well with your set of parameters.

My story will be continued for next month....

Why do I like SMALL CAP & MID CAP rather than LARGE CAP: Investing in Small Cap Stocks for Growth and Return

2010-01-30T14:30:00.000-08:00

Investing in Small Cap Stocks for Growth and Return
Small cap (or small capitalization) is a reference to a company’s market size. Small cap stocks are stocks from companies that have market capitalization (the number of shares outstanding multiplied by the price per share) of under $1 billion. Investors may face more risk with small caps, but they also have the chance for greater gains.

Out of all the types of stocks, small cap stocks continue to exhibit the greatest amount of growth. In the same way that a tree planted last year will have more opportunity for growth than a mature 100-year-old redwood, small caps have greater growth potential than established large cap stocks.
Of course, a small cap will not exhibit spectacular growth just because it’s small. It will grow when it does the right things, such as increasing sales and earnings by producing goods and services that customers want. As you consider small caps, keep these things in mind:

•An IPO is not a sure thing.
An initial public offering (IPO) is the first offering to the public of a company’s stock. The IPO is also referred to as “going public.” Because a company that is going public is frequently an unproven enterprise, investing in an IPO can be risky.

•If it’s a small cap stock, make sure it’s making money.
When you evaluate a company for stock investing, make sure that the company is established (being in business for at least three years is a good minimum) and that it’s profitable.

•Investing in small cap stocks requires analysis.
You need to do more research on small cap stocks than on large caps. Plenty of information is available on large cap stocks because they’re widely followed. Small cap stocks don’t get as much press, and fewer analysts issue reports on them.

Another Multibagger from my desk in 2010

2010-01-30T14:12:00.000-08:00

SBIL Details
Saamya Biotech (India) Limited engages in the manufacture and marketing of various chemicals, pharmaceuticals, drugs, and intermediates in India. It manufactures low volume and high value active bio-pharmaceutical ingredients, including daunomycin and hyaluronic acid–pharma grade and cosmetic grade. Its daunomycin is used for remission induction of acute lymphocytic leukaemia in combination with other drugs. The company’s hyaluronic acid acts as the natural moisturizing factor and used in cosmetics and as indictable in ophthalmic surgery and osteoarthritis treatments. Saamya Biotech (India) Limited was incorporated in 2002 and is based in Hyderabad, India

Saamya Biotech has entered into a joint venture agreement with Perak Bio Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (PBC) to setup a bio-pharmaceutical manufacturing unit in Perak state for Saamya Biotech (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd, a subsidiary of the Indian company.

PBC is a company owned by state government of Perak in Malaysia. It has allotted 12.63 acres land to Saamya Biotech (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd, for the said project towards the equity participation of Perak state government.

Saamya Biotech India is a Hyderabad-based company that manufactures and markets biopharmaceuticals and recombinant protein products of medical and industrial importance, and also to discover and develop emerging biotech products of far reaching significance.

Past Key developments for SAAMYA BIOTECH INDIA LTD (SBIL)
Saamya Biotech To Approve Fund Raising Through Postal Ballot
12/30/2009
Saamya Biotech (India) Limited informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that the member of the Company will consider to approve the following resolution by way of Postal Ballot: To create issue, offer and allot (including with provisions for reservation on firm and/or competitive basis, of such part of issue and for such categories of persons including employees of the Company as may be permitted), Equity Shares and/or Equity Shares through depository receipts including American Depository Receipts (ADR), Global Depository Receipts (GDR) and/or Convertible Bonds (CB), Convertible Debentures (CD), fully or partly, and/or other securities convertible into Equity Shares at the option of the Company and/or the holder(s) of such securities, and/or securities linked to Equity Shares and/or securities with or without detachable/non-detachable warrants and/or warrants with a right exercisable by the warrant-holder to subscribe for Equity Shares and/or any instruments or securities representing either Equity Shares, secured premium notes, and/ or any other financial instruments which would be converted into/ exchanged with Equity Shares at a later date (Securities) as the Board at its sole discretion or in consultation with underwriters, merchant bankers, financial advisors or legal advisors may at any time decide, by way of one or more public, follow-on, preferential issues or private offerings in domestic and/or one or more international market(s), with or without a green shoe option, or private placement or issued /allotted through Qualified Institutions Placement in accordance with the Guidelines for Qualified Institutions Placement prescribed under Chapter XIII-A of the SEBI (Disclosure and Investor Protection) Guidelines, 2000, read with SEBI (Issue Of Capital And Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009 as amended, or by any one or more or a combination of the above model/methods or otherwise and at such time or times and in one or more tranches, whether rupee denominated or denominated in foreign currency, to any eligible Qualified Institutional Buyers including Foreign Institutional Investors, resident/ non-resident investors (whether institutions, incorporated bodies, mutual funds, individuals or otherwise), Venture Capital Funds (foreign or Indian), Indian and/or Multilateral Financial Institutions, Mutual Funds, Non-Resident Indians, stabilizing agents and/or any other categories of investors, whether they be holders of shares of the Company or not (collectively called the Investors) whether or not such Investors are members of the Company as may be deemed appropriate by the Board and permitted under applicable laws and regulations, resulting in the issue of an aggregate amount not exceeding $40 Millions or equivalent thereof and on such terms and conditions and timing of the issue(s)/offering(s) including the Investors to whom the Securities are to be issued, issue price, number of Securities to be issued, creation of mortgage/ charge in accordance with Section 293(1)[a) of the Companies Act, 1956 in respect of any Securities as may be required either on pari-passu basis or otherwise, the stock exchanges on which such Securities will be listed, finalization of allotment of the Securities on the basis of the subscriptions received, face value, rate of interest, redemption period, manner of redemption, amount of premium on redemption, the number of equity share to be allotted on redemption/conversion, the ratio, period of conversion, fixing of record date or book closure dates, and any other matter in connection with, or incidental to, the issue, in consultation with the merchant bankers or other advisors or otherwise, as the Board at its sole discretion may decide together with any amendments or modifications thereto, subject to necessary provisions & approvals.

Saamya Biotech Mulls Raising $40 Million
12/17/2009
Saamya Biotech (India) Limited informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that the company on its meeting on December 17, 2009 has decided to issue, offer and allot further shares in all or any one or in combination of Equity Shares, GDR, ADR, Convertible Bonds / Debentures and / or other securities to the extent of $40 millions subject to approval of the members of the Company, to issue equity shares / warrants on preferential basis and to conduct postal ballot to accord consent of the Members of the Company for the aforesaid business.

Saamya Biotech To Mull Funding Options
12/14/2009
Saamya Biotech (India) Ltd. will be meeting on December 17, 2009 to consider issue further shares under GDR mechanism/ Preferential Allotment / QIB, etc., subject to approval of the members of the Company.

Stock History:

Volume 26,345
Prev Close 10.04
Day's H/L (Rs) 10.49 - 9.54
52wk H/L (Rs) 14.10 - 3.57
Mkt Cap (Rs Cr) 24.23

Project Progress:
Kedah Govt. of Malaysia agreed to provide 10 acre land in the Biotechnology park. A joint venture agreement with the Kedah state Govt. has been entered by the main promoter and collaborator, M/s Saamya Biotech (India) limited, in respect of land and equity participation. Govt. incentives for tax exemptions, Research grants, personnel training grant and permission for expatriate posts have also been obtained. Funding approvals from Federal Govt. and financial institutions are awaited.
The company entered into Technology transfer agreement with Saamya Biotech (India) Ltd., the main promoter company.

The parent and main promoter company, Saamya Biotech (India) Ltd. has entered into marketing agreement with Arch Pharmalabs Ltd., Mumbai, India for 100% marketing of the products that are manufactured by Saamya Biotech (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.

Saamya Biotech (India) Ltd., the parent and main promoter company, has signed an agreement with M/s Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd., Mumbai, India for execution of the project (construction/ basic and detailed engineering etc) on turnkey basis.

NOC from Pollution Control Board for establishing the facility, being planned.

Necessary statutory permissions from Malaysian Govt. will be obtained.

Conclusion:

Saamya Biotech is looking very attractive at this level.Guys pls keep your eyes open for this stock.I am very confident and optimistic this is one the way to become a multibagger in comming days. If thing goes in proper direction then I want to see Saamya Biotech at Rs 50-60 level within a year.
Currently it is trading at Rs 10.00. Go for it guys and it will enrich your portfolio.It can gives you atleast 10-15 times return in 2-3 years.

Buy MSP Steel & Power: Multibagger

2010-01-13T22:35:00.000-08:00

PE ratio 6.18 12/01/10
EPS (Rs) 6.87 Mar, 09
Sales (Rs crore) 91.24 Sep, 09
Face Value (Rs) 10
Net profit margin (%) 12.84 Mar, 08
Return on average equity 36.08 Mar, 08

EPS can be expected in 2010-2011 as Rs 12.
PE ratio: 25-30

Price should be in between Rs 250 to 300 in 2 yrs time.

Whole Investment in Pipeline

MSP Steel & Power Ltd to invest Rs 382 Cr on enhancing production capacities
Written by Vijay
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Mumbai: MSP Steel & Power Ltd is enhancing production capacities at it's Chhattisgarh plant. The company is setting up a 350 MTPA Sponge Iron Plant, 18 MW Power Plant, 383625 MTPA Coal Washery and 186450 Sq Ft MSP Colony at a total project cost of Rs. 233 Crores.

Rs. 155 Crore of the total project cost has been syndicated by a consortium of four banks. The remaining amount of Rs. 78.00 Crore will be brought in by promoters through internal accruals.
State Bank of India, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Allahabad Bank & Indian Overseas Bank have syndicated funds to the extent of Rs. 60.00 Cr., 30.00 Cr, 30.00 Cr & 35.00 Cr respectively. The entire amount of loan has been fully sanctioned and the Company has started taking disbursement of the same to carry on the implementation of the projects.

MSP Steel & Power Ltd is also setting up a 30 MW Power Plant at an investment of Rs. 149.5 Cr. For this project Rs. 50 Cr will be brought in by the promoters & the remaining 99.5 Cr will be funded by the banks. The Company has received sanctions from three banks and details are being worked out.

Past events and happenings:
MSP Signs MOU With Madhya Pradesh Govt. on 16th Feb 2008

MSP Steel & Power Ltd. has signed Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) with M P Trade & Investment Facilitation Corp Ltd, Government of Madhya Pradesh, on February 16, 2008 for setting up two Iron Ore Beneficiation Plants, one in the District of Jabalpur & other in Katni, with the capacities of 5.0 MTPA each, with a proposed Investment of Rs 200.00 crores in each, with a proposed Investment of Rs 200.00 crores in each plant and a Pelletiastation and Steel Plant of appropriate capacities in the above districts provided that the beneficiated ore is suitable for pelletisation.
Government of Madhya Pradesh shall facilities required infrastructure facilities, incentives and will facilitate to obtain the necessary clearness and concessions for the project from single window.

MSP Signs MOU With Madhya Pradesh Govt. on 27th Oct 2007

MSP Steel & Power Ltd. Has signed MOU with Government of Madhya Pradesh on October 27, 2007 for setting up a 2 million tonne Clinker and Cement Plant, the Company has been, granted prospecting licence for captive limestone mines has been allotted over an area of 683.47 hectares, in the rich limestone belt of Katni, M.P.

The Company believes that the area granted contains sufficient deposits to meet its complete requirement of Limestone through Captive Mines for the proposed project.

MSP Signs MOU With Madhya Pradesh Govt.

MSP Steel & power Ltd. Has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with M P Trade & Investment Facilitation Corp., Government of Madhya Pradesh, on October 27, 2007 for setting up a 2 million tone, Clinker and Cement Unit in the State of M.P with a proposed Investment of Rs 1000.00 crores.

MSP Metallics started commercial production an has successfully started production of Pig Iron, Sponge Iron, and Billets during 1st Quarter of 2008

MSP is setting up 3,00,000 MTPA Pellet Plant in its Raigarh unit. Iron ore fines which is abundantly available will be used into pellet plant to manufacture pellete and pellets will be used in Sponge Iron Plant. Once the pellet plant will start production the group will save substantial amount in terms of Iron ore prices.

Coal mines has been allotted to Chaman Metallics Ltd. In the state of Maharashtra

Coal mines has been allotted to Howrah Gases Ltd.

MSP Signs MOU With Chhattisgarh Govt.

MSP Steel and Power Ltd. (MSPSPL) has signed the MOU for expansion of its plant with an investment of Rs. 850 crore with the Chhattisgarh Govt. The Managing Director of the company Mr. S K Agrawal signed the MOU.

MSP gets UNFCC approval for Carbon Credits

MSP Steel and Power Ltd. flagship company of the MSP Group, has been registered with UNFCCC. The Captive Power Plant is based on Waste Heat Recovery Module whereby flue gas released the Sponge Iron kiln is used to generate steam in the boiler thereby replacing fossil fuel for generating power. It will involve reduction of 59,000 Metric Tons of CO2 equivalent per annum which lead to substantial revenue inflow by selling CER credits (Certified Energy Reduction) which will accrue to the company for the period of 10 years.

MSP has also successfully commissioned all the facilities envisaged in the project in the 1st and 2nd phase which include Sponge Iron -2.00 lacs TPA. Steel Melting Shop - 1.50 lacs TPA. CPP - 24 MW, TMT Rolling Mill - 0.80 lacs TPA. Coal Washery - 3.00 lacs TPA. Railway Siding- 2.4 km. MSP is marketing its TMT bars under the brand name of MSP Gold Theremax TMT.

MSP has already been accorded Coal Block by the Ministry of Coal to meet its coal requirement for next 30 years and its application for iron ore mines in Chhattisgarh is in advanced stages of consideration.

The Railway Siding and Captive Power Plant has brought substantial savings for the company since their commissioning.

MSP Signs MOU With Madhya Pradesh Govt.

MSP Steel & Power Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with M.P Trade & Investment Facilitation Corp., Government of Madhya Pradesh, on 27.10.2007 for setting up a 2 million tons, Clinker and Cement Unit in the State of M.P with a proposed Investment of Rs. 1000.00 crores.

Government of Madhya Pradesh shall facilitate allocation of land and grant of captive limestone mines.

Further it shall facilitate in recommendations being sent by the Government of Madhya Pradesh to Government of India for allocation of coal linkage and allotment of captive coal block for the project.

Buy Gallant Metal with a price target of INR 65 in short term and INR 110 in longterm

2010-01-13T22:30:00.000-08:00

Gallantt Metal Ltd has announced the Financial Results for the quarter ended December 31, 2009.

The Net Sales was at Rs.118.81 crores for quarter ending on 31-Dec-2009 as compared to Rs.69.12 crores for quarter ending on 31-Dec-2008. The Net Profit / (Loss) was at Rs.9.98 crores for the quarter ending on 31-Dec-2009 as compared to Rs.0.46 crores for quarter ending on 31-Dec-2008. The EPS was at Rs 1.23 for the quarter ending on 31-Dec-2009 as compared to Rs 0.06 for the quarter ending on 31-Dec-2008.

The Net Sales was at Rs.321.27 crores for 9 months ending on 31-Dec-2009 as compared to Rs.355.40 crores for 9 months ending on 31-Dec-2008. The Net Profit / (Loss) was at Rs.19.58 crores for the 9 months ending on 31-Dec-2009 as compared to Rs.17.22 crores for 9 months ending on 31-Dec-2008. The EPS was at Rs 2.41 for 9 months ending on 31-Dec-2009 as compared to Rs 2.12 for 9 months ending on 31-Dec-2008.

What is considered a genius IQ score?

2009-08-22T01:35:00.000-07:00

When you talk about IQ tests you need to understand how they are measured. You need to understand a few words here.Mean = average.Bell curve = a line drawn on a graph that looks similar to a bell.Standard deviation = a distance that is measured away from the mean or average.Let me explain.The average score of an IQ test is usually 100. That is the mean.For many tests, the standard deviation is 15. Others have different standard deviations.This information now explains a few things.You move 1 standard deviation in each direction from 100. So you go 100-15=85 and you go 100+15=115.This gives you a range of 85 to 115. In a bell curve this means that 68% of all people score between 85 and 115 on the IQ. Half of that is 34%. So 100 to 115 is 34% of people.I am probably losing you a bit now.Basically you go 4 standard deviations in each direction.1 deviation is 68% of all scores. From 85 to 115.2 deviations are 95% of all scores. From 70 to 130.3 deviations are 99.7% of all scores. From 55 to 145.4 deviations are 99.99% of all scores. From 40 to 160.Most groups would consider that an IQ of 160 and above is at a genius level. That equates to 1 out of 10,000 people.There are different tests and different scores to reach but the majority of the information I have written here applies.By the way, an average IQ and a great work ethic and dedication to succeed will secure you success in life.

Indians earn 20 times less than developed world peers

2009-08-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

Indians might be known for their hard work but when it comes to their wages, they are paid nearly 20 times less than their counterparts in developed nations like the US and Switzerland. According to 'Prices and Earnings' study by Swiss banking major UBS, workers in New Delhi and Mumbai earn an average net salary of $1.6 and $1.2 per hour, respectively. In contrast, Swiss cities -- Zurich and Geneva -- have topped the charts with the highest average net incomes in the world of as much as $22.60 and $20.40 per hour. "Swiss workers earn the most. Zurich and Geneva top the rankings in our international comparison of wages. By contrast, the average employee in Delhi, Manila, Jakarta and Mumbai earns less than one-fifteenth of that amount," the report stated. Workers in the US also earn at the higher end of bracket with people in New York earning an average salary of $19 per hour, while those in Los Angeles get $13.90 per hour. Workers in London receive an average net wage of $13.90 per hour, it added. In terms of the gross hourly wages, workers in Western Europe and North America have the highest gross hourly wages averaging at $20.2 and $21.0 respectively, the survey said. While, in Asia and Eastern Europe, workers receive an average of $5.5 per hour before taxes and social security contributions are deducted from the salary.

Courtesy: ET

Remedies to avoid swine flu

2009-08-13T06:44:00.000-07:00

1.Have five duly washed leaves of Tulsi (known as Basil in English; medicinal name Ocimum sanctum) everyday in the morning. Tulsi has a large number of therapeutic properties. It keeps throat and lungs clear and helps in infections by way of strengthening your immunity.

2. Giloi (medicinal name Tinospora cordifolia) is a commonly available plant in many areas. Take a one-foot long branch of giloi, add five to six leaves of Tulsi and boil in water for 15-20 minutes or long enough to allow the water to extract its properties. Add black pepper and sendha (salt used during religious fasts), rock or black salt, or Misri (crystalised sugar like lumps to make it sweet) according to taste. Let it cool a bit and drink this kadha (concoction) while still warm. It will work wonders for your immunity. If giloi plant is not available, get processed giloi powder from Hamdard or others, and concoct a similar drink once a day.
3. A small piece of camphor (kapoor) approximately the size of a tablet should be taken once or twice a month. It can be swallowed with water by adults while children can take it along with mashed potatoes or banana because they will find it difficult to have it without any aides. Please remember camphor is not to be taken everyday, but only once each season, or once a month.

4. Those who can take garlic, must have two pods of raw garlic first thing in the morning. To be swallowed daily with lukewarm water. Garlic too strengthens immunity like the earlier measures mentioned.

5. Those not allergic to milk, must take a glass of hot or lukewarm milk every night with a small measure of haldi (turmeric).

6. Aloe vera (gwarpatha) too is a commonly available plant. Its thick and long, cactus-like leaves have an odourless gel. A teaspoon gel taken with water daily can work wonders for not only your skin and joint pains, but also boost immunity.

7. Take homeopathic medicines - Pyrogenium 200 and Inflenzium 200 in particular - five tablets three times a day, or two-three drops three times a day. While these are not specifically targeted at H1N1 either, these work well as preventive against common flu virus.

8. Do Pranayam daily (preferably under guidance if you are already not initiated into it) and go for morning jog/walk regularly to keep your throat and lungs in good condition and body in fine fettle. Even in small measures, it will work wonders for your body’s resistance against all such diseases which attack the nose, throat and lungs, besides keeping you fit.

9. Have citrus fruits, particularly Vitamin C rich Amla (Indian gooseberry) juice. Since fresh Amla is not yet available in the market (not for another three to four months), it is not a bad idea to buy packaged Amla juice which is commonly available nowadays. 10. Last but not the least, wash your hands frequently every day with soap and warm water for 15-20 seconds; especially before meals, or each time after touching a surface that you suspect could be contaminated with flu virus such as a door handle or a knob/handle, especially if you have returned from a public place or used public transport.Alcohol-based hand cleaners should be kept handy at all times and used until you can get soap and warm water.

SWINE FLU FACT

2009-08-13T06:40:00.000-07:00

What are the symptoms?
Swine flu symptoms are similar to the symptoms of regular flu and include fever of over 100.4°F, fatigue, lack of appetite, and cold. Some people with swine flu have also reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Nearly everyone with flu has at least two of these symptoms.So, how do you know if you have flu or just cold? There is one clue: when you have the flu, you feel flu symptoms sooner than you would cold symptoms, and they come on with much greater intensity. With the flu, you may feel very weak and fatigued for up to 2 or 3 weeks. You'll have muscle aches and periods of chills and sweats as fever comes and goes. You may also have a stuffy or runny nose, headache, and sore throat. Can I compare flu symptoms with cold symptoms? Yes. The following chart can help you compare flu symptoms with cold symptoms. Use it to lean the differences and similarities between flu and cold symptoms. Then, if you get flu symptoms, call your doctor and ask about an antiviral drug.
You cannot confirm if you have swine flu just based on your symptoms. Like seasonal flu, pandemic swine flu can cause neurologic symptoms in children. These events are rare, but, as cases associated with seasonal flu have shown, they can be very severe and often fatal.Doctors may offer a rapid flu test, but what you need to understand is a negative result doesn't necessarily mean you don't have the flu. Only lab tests can definitively show whether you've got swine flu. State health departments can do these tests.
What should you do immediately?
Those of you who have travelled from the affected countries in the past ten days and show symptoms swine flu like fever, cough, sore throat and difficulty in breathing should immediately contact the telephone number given below or visit the nearby Government Hospital.

What should you do immediately?
Those of you who have travelled from the affected countries in the past ten days and show symptoms swine flu like fever, cough, sore throat and difficulty in breathing should immediately contact the telephone number given below or visit the nearby Government Hospital.

google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);

Who is at risk?
Those who are more at risk from becoming seriously ill with swine flu are people with:
chronic (long-term) lung disease, including people who have had drug treatment for their asthma within the past three years,
chronic heart disease,
chronic kidney disease,
chronic liver disease,
chronic neurological disease (neurological disorders include motor neurone disease, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis),
suppressed immune systems (whether caused by disease or treatment),
diabetes,
pregnant women,
people aged 65 or older, and
young children under five.

What should you do immediately?
Those of you who have travelled from the affected countries in the past ten days and show symptoms swine flu like fever, cough, sore throat and difficulty in breathing should immediately contact the telephone number given below or visit the nearby Government Hospital.

google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);

Who is at risk?
Those who are more at risk from becoming seriously ill with swine flu are people with:
chronic (long-term) lung disease, including people who have had drug treatment for their asthma within the past three years,
chronic heart disease,
chronic kidney disease,
chronic liver disease,
chronic neurological disease (neurological disorders include motor neurone disease, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis),
suppressed immune systems (whether caused by disease or treatment),
diabetes,
pregnant women,
people aged 65 or older, and
young children under five.

How does it spread?
The new swine flu virus is highly contagious, that is it spreads from person to person. The virus is spread through the droplets that come out of the nose or mouth when someone coughs or sneezes. If someone coughs or sneezes and they do not cover it, those droplets can spread about one metre (3ft). If you are very nearby you might breathe them in.Or, if someone coughs or sneezes into their hand, those droplets and the virus within them are easily transferred to surfaces that the person touches, such as door handles, hand rails, telephones and keyboards. If you touch these surfaces and touch your face, the virus can enter your system, and you can become infected.

Can it be prevented?
Influenza antiviral drugs also can be used to prevent influenza when they are given to a person who is not ill, but who has been or may be near a person with swine influenza. When used to prevent the flu, antiviral drugs are about 70% to 90% effective. When used for prevention, the number of days that they should be used will vary depending on a person’s particular situation.Follow this general procedure to reduce the risk of catching or spreading the virus, you should:
Cover your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, using a tissue
Throw the tissue away quickly and carefully
Wash your hands regularly with soap and water
Clean hard surfaces (like door handles and remote controls) frequently with a normal cleaning product
Keep away from others as much as possible. This is to keep from making others sick. Do not go to work or school while ill
Stay home for at least 24 hours after fever is gone, except to seek medical care or for other necessities. (Fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.)
Drink clear fluids (such as water, broth, sports drinks, electrolyte beverages for infants) to keep from being dehydrated
Wear a facemask – if available and tolerable – when sharing common spaces with other household members to help prevent spreading the virus to others.

Will it help to wear a mask?
Information on the effectiveness of facemasks and respirators for decreasing the risk of influenza infection in community settings is extremely limited. So, it is difficult to assess their potential effectiveness in decreasing the risk of Swine Flu virus transmission in these settings. However, a well-fitted, FDA-approved mask together with other preventive measures MAY reduce the risk of contracting the flu. Those who are sick or caring for someone who is ill should consider using a mask or respirator if leaving the house becomes necessary.

What precautions should one take at home?
Two things - soap and water can reduce the chance of infection by 30 per cent. All you need to do is keep washing your hand with soap and water frequently. Wash hands frequently with soap and water or use alcohol-based hand cleaner when soap and water are not available. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouthEat healthy: Proteins are essential to help your body maintain and build strength. Lean meat, poultry, fish, legumes, dairy, eggs, and nuts and seeds are good sources of protein.The Food and Drug Administration recommends that adults eat 50 grams of protein per day. Pregnant and nursing women need more. By eating foods high in protein, we also get the benefit of other healing nutrients such as vitamins B6 and B12, both of which contribute to a healthy immune system.Vitamin B6 is widely available in foods, including protein foods such as turkey and beans as well as potatoes, spinach, and enriched cereal grains. Proteins such as meats, milk, and fish also contain vitamin B12, a powerful immune booster.Minerals such as selenium and zinc work to keep the immune system strong. These minerals are found in protein rich foods such as beans, nuts, meat, and poultry.Exercise: Regular exercise may help prevent the flu. According to recent findings, when moderate exercise is repeated on a near daily basis, there is a cumulative immune-enhancing effect. That is, your strong immune system can fight flu better. When you exercise, your white blood cells -- the blood cells that fight infections in the body -- travel through your body more quickly, fighting bacteria and viruses (such as flu) more efficiently. To maintain good health, experts recommend at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity such as walking, swimming, biking, or running each day.
What precautions should one take at schools?
Avoid close contact with people who are sick
People who are sick with an influenza-like illness should stay home and keep away from others as much as possible, including avoiding travel, for at least 24 hours after fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Fever should be gone without the use of fever-reducing medicine). Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing.
Wash your hands often.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
Is it safe to travel?
Avoid traveling unnecessarily. However, if you must travel, check how the country you're going to handles swine flu. Although, the WHO doesn't recommend travel restrictions, many countries have set up their own H1N1 policies, and some travelers have been screened or quarantined in other countries because of swine flu concerns.

My Guru -Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala: The Great Investment Philosopher in my life

2009-08-07T00:07:00.000-07:00

My principles of life and future path could be different if I couldn't come across Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.One memorable evening I was engaged in deep chatting with my dearest friend Nikhil and he told me about Mr. Jhunjhunwala.I was so impressed after listening the full story of Mr.Jhunjhunwala.I decided to join Praj Industries Ltd (my previous company) and one day I came across my philosopher. Everything in my life has been changed drastically. I never ever had a thought to go with investment thesis. First time I am feeling happy and proudly to elaborate some of thoughts of my "guru”. I had different mentality and wrong impression about stock exchange and investment policies. I started to do stock market analysis in the year of 2002 and I put my strong foot print on investment world in the year of 2005.
I would be happy if I define stock market investment in terms of "intelligent investment".

Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is a famous Indian trader who is often referred as “Indian Warren Buffett”. He believed in the “India story” made a good fortune from it. He is not only a trader but also a successful investor. He spotted opportunities in good companies like Praj Industries, Pantaloon Retail, Titan, CRISIL, Lupin and Punj Lloyd.etc when no one was interested in them.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala (RJ) stated investing career in 1983 and used to put in 15-16 working hours in his early days. His company name is “Rare Enterprises”. He was ranked at 1,062 in the Forbes Billionaire list. Like Warren Buffett, he was fond of stocks from his childhood days. He was nicknamed as “Young Tiger” in the early 90’s (Harshad Mehta days).
Profession: Chartered Accountant.
Passion: Stock Markets.

Biggest award: One of India's best five investors by Business India magazine in 1998.
His wealth: Around Rs 5,000 crore. He started his investing career with Rs 5,000.
His assets: Passion and confidence.

Success secrets:
1. He rarely invests in index stocks. He is an expert in picking value stocks when no one is noticed them. He invested in stocks like BEML and other PSU Stocks when everyone looked at technology stocks in early 2000.
2. Confine your portfolio to 15-20 stocks. Invest for long term to get good returns.
3. Stay away from cyclical stocks.
4. To get exceptional returns, you need to take risks.
5. He generally stays away from commodity stocks and index stocks. But he recently bought some steel stocks.
6. Like Jack Welch of GE, he believes in extensive reading and learning.

Famous quotes:

1. Markets are like women -- always commanding, mysterious, unpredictable and volatile.
2. Anticipate trend and benefit from it. Traders should go against human nature.
3. Don’t insult the great man (Warren Buffett) by comparing me to him.
4. Successful investors are opportunistic and optimistic ones.
5. Growth comes out of chaos.
6. Market is above individuals. The market is rational. An individual can never be smarter than the market
7. Maximize profits and minimize losses.
8. Invest in a business not a company.
9. Emotional investment is a sure way to make loss in stock markets.
10. I don’t advice anybody. I don’t manage anybody’s money.

15 Stock investment tips from Rakesh Jhunjhunwala:

1. Always go against tide. Buy when others are selling and sell when others are buying.
2. If you believe in the growth prospects of a company, invest in the stock and give it sufficient time.
3. Be an optimist. Pessimistic investors always lose money in stock markets.
4. Greedy investors will never make money in stock markets. Book profits after reaching your target price.
5. Never put your hard earned money without proper research. Never invest according to “Stock tips”.
6. You have to lose many a battle to win the war. This Winston Churchill quote is always quoted by Jhunjhunwala. Balance fear and greed.
7. Never react and change your investment decisions according to daily business news. Panic selling is a bad habit.
8. Hastily taken decisions always result in heavy losses. Take your own time before putting money in any stock.
9. Invest in companies which have strong management and competitive advantage. 10. Stock markets are always right. Never time the markets.
11. Opportunities will come and go. Are you prepared to grab them?
12. Never invest at unreasonable valuations. Never run for companies which are in limelight.
13. Passionate investors always make money in stock markets. You will never fail in any work if you do it with passion.
14. Means are important. Read and analyse the available information with an open mind and look for opportunities.
15. Prepare for losses. Losses are part and parcel of stock market investor life. Learn from mistakes. Learn to take a loss. Disciplined passionate investors like Rakesh Jhunjhunwala are always inspirational figures for young investors. One can make a good fortune in stock markets if you follow his investment ideas and principles.

QIP: Fundamentals

2009-08-05T04:13:00.000-07:00

What is QIP?
Qualified institutional placement (QIP) is a capital raising tool, whereby a listed company can issue equity shares, fully and partly convertible debentures, or any securities other than warrants, which are convertible into equity shares, to a qualified institutional buyer (QIB). Apart from preferential allotment, this is the only other speedy method of private placement for companies to raise money. It scores over other methods, as it does not involve many of the common procedural requirements, such as the submission of pre-issue filings to the market regulator.
Why was QIP introduced?
To enable listed companies raise money from domestic markets in a short span of time, market regulator Sebi introduced the concept of QIP in 2006. This was also done to prevent listed companies in India from developing an excessive dependence on foreign capital. Prior to introduction of QIPs, the complications associated with raising capital in the domestic markets had led many companies to look at tapping overseas markets via foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB) and global depository receipts (GDR). This has also helped issuing companies price their issues closer to the prevailing market price.
Who can participate in the issue?
The specified securities can be issued only to QIBs, who shall not be promoters or related to promoters of the issuer. The issue is managed by a Sebi-registered merchant banker. There is no pre-issue filing of the placement document with Sebi. The placement document is placed on the websites of the stock exchanges and the issuer, with appropriate disclaimer to the effect that the placement is meant only for QIBs on private placement basis and is not an offer to the public.

Why there is a sudden rush for QIPs?
Several companies, especially real estate, were starved of money in the recent slowdown and were finding it difficult to stay afloat. The revival in market sentiment came as a boon to these companies, which are rushing to raise money, mainly to retire expensive debt and restructure their balance sheets. In over a month, funds raised through QIPs by companies has already exceeded the total amount of roughly Rs 3,500 crore that was raised in 2008. A large number of such issues are expected to hit the market in the next few weeks.
Why there is a sudden rush for QIPs?
Several companies, especially real estate, were starved of money in the recent slowdown and were finding it difficult to stay afloat. The revival in market sentiment came as a boon to these companies, which are rushing to raise money, mainly to retire expensive debt and restructure their balance sheets. In over a month, funds raised through QIPs by companies has already exceeded the total amount of roughly Rs 3,500 crore that was raised in 2008. A large number of such issues are expected to hit the market in the next few weeks.

Stock Pick: Brushman (India) Ltd/ Multibagger Recommendation

2009-07-29T23:41:00.000-07:00

Company has received following Work orders worth Rs. 154.64 Crores:* Lower Wardha Mail Canal- Construction of Barrage @ Pulgaon on Wardha River with mecha.nical gate erection, survey design and all work oFRs. 92.58 Crores.* Construction of Flyover at Kapurwadi Junction on Thane Ghodbunder Road join venture with Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd. in that total cost of work is 131.37 Crores. J.Kurnar Infraprojects Ltd. share is 40% of 131.37 Crores i.e. 52.55 Crores of the total cost of work.* Work order of Dahegaon (Gargoti) M.I Tank Tq Ralegaon, Dist Yavatmal Construction of earthwork of Dam, Excavation of Approach and tail channel, Construction of Waste wier and falSs in tail channel & Head regulator of Rs.7.67 Crores.* Work order of piling work in various parts of Mumbai of Rs.1.84 Crores.As on today the work order position is Rs, 1278.74 Crores.(Livemint.com)

Interim Budget 2009-2010 - Summary

2009-07-06T02:28:00.000-07:00

Interim Budget 2009-2010 - Summary
The Interim Budget highlights the focus on aam aadmi in the development process. The year 2008-09 has seen substantial increase in outlays spanning across sectors.Continuing the trend, the budget for 2009-10 will have increased plan outlays for key sectors and adequate allocations for the flagship programmes which directly impact aam aadmi.The other major highlights of the passing financial year were a massive debt waiver for farmers and two stimulus packages to counter the negative fallout of the global economic slowdown. In the Interim Budget presented in the Lok Sabha today, the Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, indicated that 'additional plan expenditure of anything from 0.5% to 1.0% of the GDP' will need to be considered in the regular budget, to be presented by the government after the general elections.
The Growth Trend:
The Finance Minister also highlighted that the economy has grown at a healthy rate in the recent yeaRs The Gross Domestic Product has increased by 7.5%, 9.5%, 9.7% and 9% in the first four years from fiscal year 2004-05 to 2007-08 recording a sustained growth of over 9% for three consecutive years for the first time. With per capita income growing at 7.4 percent per annum, this represented the fastest ever improvement in living standards over a four-year period. The growth drivers for the period were agriculture, services, manufacturing along with trade and construction. The fiscal deficit has come down from 4.5% in 2003-04 to 2.7% in 2007-08 and revenue deficit from 3.6% to 1.1% in 2007-08. He further stated that the annual growth rate of agriculture rose to 3.7% during 2003-04 to 2007-08. Foodgrain production recorded an increase of 10 million tonnes each year during this period and touched an all time high of 230 million tonnes in 2007-08. The manufacturing sector recorded a growth of 9.5% per annum in the period 2004-05 to 2007-08, and exports grew at an annual average growth rate of 26.4% in US dollar terms during this period.Despite the global financial crisis, which began in 2007 impacting most emerging market economies, 7.1% rate of GDP growth in the current year makes India the second fastest growing economy in the world.
Flagship Programmes:
Adequate funds have been ensured for the flagship programmes. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme gets Rs 30,100 crore for the year 2009-10. This Scheme generated 138.76 crore person days of employment covering 3.51 crore households in 2008-09.An allocation of Rs 13,100 crore has been provided for b. This Scheme has made significant contribution in providing access to and infrastructure for elementary education.Allocation for the national programme of Mid-day Meals in schools has been kept at Rs 8,000 crore in 2009-10. This is the world's largest school feeding programme and has contributed to enhancement of school participation, reduction in class room hunger, and fostering of social and gender parity.The Integrated Child Development Scheme gets an allocation of Rs 6,705 crore. This Scheme was expanded twice in the last five years to cover the hitherto uncovered habitations across the country.Rs 11,842 crore have been proposed for the Jawaharlal Nehru National urban Renewal Mission. Under this Mission, 386 projects amounting to Rs 39,000 crore have been sanctioned at the end of 2008.Rajiv Gandhi Rural Drinking Water Mission is to receive Rs 7,400 crore for supplying safe drinking water to uncovered habitations and slipped back habitations.Rs 1,200 crore are being provided for the Total Rural Sanitation Programme. Rs 12,070 crore are being allocated to the National Rural Health Mission.Bharat Nirman, the time-bound plan for building rural infrastructure receives Rs 40,900 crore. This package has six components – rural roads, telephony, irrigation, drinking water supply, housing and electrification.
Agriculture:
The Finance Minister highlighted the focused attention given by the Government to the farming sector. The highlights include 300% rise in Plan allocation for agriculture in the last five years and launch of Rs 25,000 crore Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana to increase farm growth to four% per year during the XI Plan.Credit disbursement to the farm sector has gone up from Rs 87 thousand crore in 2003-04 to about Rs 2.5 lakh crore in 2007-08 marking a three fold increase. Shri Mukherjee announced that the Government will continue to provide interest subvention in 2009-10 to ensure that farmers get short term crop loans upto Rs 3 lakh at 7% per annum.The Government announced the Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme for farmers in the last budget and implemented it by June 30, 2008 as scheduled. The Scheme has been able to restore institutional credit to indebted farmeRs As per early reports, the total debt waiver and debt relief so far, amounts to Rs 65 thousand three hundred crore covering 3.6 crore farmers.Remunerative prices have been given to farmers for their crops. Since 2003-04, Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the common variety of paddy was increased from Rs 550 to Rs 900 per quintal for the crop year 2008-09. In case of wheat the increase was from Rs 630 in 2003-04 to Rs 1,080 per quintal for the year 2009.
Rural Development:
A number of programmes have been designed to help improve the living conditions of rural population. The corpus of the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund has increased from Rs 5,500 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 14 thousand crore for the year 2008-09 ensuring greater availability of funds for developing rural infrastructure.Under the Indira Awaas Yojana, 60.12 lakh houses have already been constructed by the end of 2008 as against the target of building 60 lakh houses by March 2009.The Government proposes to substantially expand the Panchayat Empowerment and Accountability Scheme. The Project Arrow, the postal scheme to provide new technology – enabled services to the common man, will also receive full Government support.
Education:
The Finance Minister has called 2008-09 as a 'momentous year for secondary education' as several major initiatives including a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme to universalize education at secondary stage were launched during the year.Outlay on higher education has been increased 900% in the XI Five Year Plan. An ordinance to open 15 Central Universities has been promulgated, 6 new IITs have started functioning, two more IITs are expected to commence their academic sessions in 2009-10, five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research have become functional, teaching is expected to commence in four out of six new IIMs and two new schools of Planning and Architecture have started functioning.Since 2004-05 nearly 500 ITIs have been upgraded into centres of excellence and a National Skill Development Corporation has been created to stimulate and coordinate private sector participation in skill development.
Social Sector:
Many Schemes have been initiated for women and weak and downtrodden people of the society. A new Ministry of Minority Affairs has been set up and a 15-point programme has been announced for the welfare of the minorities.The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act has helped in getting to Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers legal rights on forest lands.The authorized capital of the National Safai Karmachari Finance and Development Corporation has been increased. The Finance Minister announced that the authorized capital of the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh will also be strengthened.The Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana has provided death and disability cover to over 60 lakh rural landless. A Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana for BPL families has also been started. As on January 15 this year, 22 States and UTs have initiated the process to implement the Scheme.The Finance Minister announced that two new schemes, Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme and Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme are being launched in the current year to provide pension to widows and severely disabled persons, respectively. He also proposed to give priority to young widows in admissions to ITIs and to provide stipend and bear training cost.
Financial Sector and Tax Reforms:
The Finance Minister informed that the asset quality of Public Sector Banks has improved and non performing assets have declined considerably from 2004 to 2008. He also enumerated the steps taken to promote a safe, transparent and efficient share market and to protect market integrity. He further informed that the Companies Bill 2008 has been introduced in parliament to make the Companies Act a compact law adopted to internationally accepted best practices.The Government has rationalized income tax rates and steadily reduced customs duty rates. Rates of Union Excise Duties and Service Tax have also been rationalized. Tax administration is being modernized through extensive use of information technology. 109 marine vessels are being acquired form the Customs Department to prevent movement of contraband goods across the country's sea borders.
Budget Provisions:
The Budget for 2009-10 will have total expenditure of Rs 9,53,231 crore, comprising Rs 2,85,149 crore under Plan and Rs 6,68,082 crore under non-Plan. The Gross Budgetary Support for the Plan is 17.16% higher than that in 2008-09.To ensure continuity in financing of rural infrastructure projects, RIDF-XV is being proposed with a corpus of Rs 14,000 crore. The separate window for rural roads with a corpus of Rs 4,000 crore will continue.To counter the negative impact on exports due to the global financial crisis, the interest subvention of 2% on pre and post shipment credit for certain employment oriented sectors is proposed to be extended.It is proposed to recapitalise the public sector banks over next two years to enable them to maintain Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of 12% and to ensure that credit growth continues to sustain economic growth.The allocation for Defence is being increased to Rs 1,14,703 crore. This will include Rs 54,824 crore for capital expenditure.A provision of Rs 95,579 crore for major subsidies including food, fertilizer and petroleum has been made in the Budget.Gross Tax Revenue receipts at the existing rates of taxation are estimated at Rs 6,71293 crore and Centre's net tax revenue at Rs 5,00,096 crore. With revenue expenditure estimated at Rs 8,48,085 crore, the revenue deficit amounts to 4.0% of GDP. Fiscal Deficit is estimated at Rs 3,32,835 crore which is 5.5% of GDP. This would be lower than in 2008-09, but higher than would be appropriate under normal circumstances. The Minister explained: 'However, conditions in the year ahead are not likely to be normal and, therefore, the high fiscal deficit is inevitable. We will return to FRBM targets once the economy is restored to its recent trend growth path.'
Source: Equity bull

Leaving India was biggest challenge - Mittal

2009-06-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

"The biggest crisis or challenge I faced I believe is when I left India. I did not have any exposure to the global market, global situation and I landed up in a country (Indonesia) I never knew about," said Laxmi Mittal, Chairman and CEO, ArcelorMittal.
He admitted that ArcelorMittal did not anticipate a crisis of this magnitude, and said that the company has acknowledged the slowdown and was the first one to resort to cost-cutting measures. Mittal, 58, born in Sadulpur, Rajasthan, parted ways with his father and brother and took over the international affairs of the family business and left for Indonesia than three decades ago.He founded the Mittal Steel company in 1976. He expressed his disappointment over delays in securing regulatory approvals for his Rs. 1 lakh crore steel project in India. "We are disappointed with this. We are still awaiting some of the approvals, land approvals, environment approvals, and mining license; clearly this has delayed the progress by two years."

Aspiring engineers scared to opt for IT courses

2009-06-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

The students who are aspiring for engineering career are opting for mechanical and civil engineering courses instead of IT courses. According to Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), around 60-70 percent of almost 1.2 lakh students who appeared for common entrance test (CET) this year are expected to opt for non-IT courses. Also many courses like computer engineering, medical and biotechnology which were in demand last year do not have many takers this year.
The change in career can be linked with big IT companies like Wipro, Infosys and TCS deciding to cut down the number of recruitment due to recession. Big companies are also seeking to cut down on existing staff to adapt to economic slowdown. In such situation students are not that ready to take risk by entering the IT field. "In times of recession, nobody is daring to opt for IT. There are more job opportunities in mechanical. Lot of students that I know prefer to go into electronics and communication and mechanical engineering," an aspiring engineering student Bhavish Kuttapa told Economic Times.Many students are interested in opting for telecommunication engineering as there are more jobs available in that field. It is expected from students to opt for recession-proof careers. "Something very similar happened few years ago when IT was doing better than other sectors. With government spending big on infrastructure, energy and telecom, there are more jobs available for mechanical, civil and electronic engineers," said GC Jayaprakash, principal consultant at executive search firm Stanton Chase International to economic times. (siliconindia news bureau,Bangalore)

Multibagger Stock: Visu International

2009-06-29T06:13:00.000-07:00

Visu International Ltd. (Formerly Visu Consultants Ltd.), a pioneer in the field of 'GLOBAL EDUCATION', is the main arm of Visu Group of Companies. Its core activity lies in assisting students to make the right choice with regard to higher education overseas. Every country on the globe has Universities which are vying for students across the frontiers. In such a scenario, it becomes an impossible task for a student to decide on the program, University and Country most suited to their requirements. In steps an experienced consultant like Visu, offering end to end services to our clients. With our experience and expertise in 'study abroad' spanning over two decades, we could be the trusted hand for any student.
Visu International Ltd., was started in 1983, by Mr. C.C.Reddy, an NRI from USA, Founder and Chairman, built the huge organization, that it is today. From a humble beginning, today he succeeded in the uphill task of dispelling all the myths usually associated with ' study abroad' and have brought the concept of overseas education to the doorstep of every student, by making it affordable and devoid of cumbersome procedures.
Visu International Ltd. has more than 73 offices all over the world, placing more than 75000 students in Universities abroad. Our reach extends to five continents and Universities in most Countries like the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, France and Spain.
It offers the following services:
Councelling
Coaching for TOEFEL, GRE, GMAT, SAT in India .About 50000 students per year are getting coaching in various centres within India.
Application Processing for admission abroad
e- application status
Visa guidance
Post Visa services
Bank Loan guidance
Travel Assistance
This year is the Silver Anniversary Year of Visu International and Management is hopeful of surpassing Rs. 100 crore turnovers with a significant increase in the bottom line.
Future Prospects:
Project today reported that Conglome Industries Pvt Ltd, a group company of Visu International Ltd, is planning to expand it presence in Africa, Myanmar and Vietnam.As per report, the company will carry out its expansion plan in the phased manner. In the first phase, Conglome intends to invest INR 500 crore in the various sectors in Africa, Myanmar and Vietnam. As per report, they have identified 11 sectors in agriculture, education, mini hydro power generation and distribution, roads, housing, bore wells, manufacturing of ethanol and alcoholic & non alcoholic beverages to make the investment. The funds for the expansion will be raised from equity, banks and partners.Apart from this, Conglome is also in the process of acquiring 8 companies in Africa at the investment cost of INR 100 crore. Out of which INR 25 crore will be equity and the rest will be raised from foreign funding.
About the Management:
Mr.C.C.Reddy,ChairmanMr.C.C.Reddy started his practice as an Attorney in the year 1960. He was a Member of the Communist Party of India and a State Leader in the Trade Union Movement. Mr.Reddy was exposed to International Law and in late 60s, he represented India in various International Law Conferences held in Moscow, Berlin and Helsinki under the leadership of the Legendary Mr.V.K. Krishna Menon.
In 1973, he moved to the United States of America as an Immigrant and there he headed various International business corporations as Chief Executive. He had exclusive trade relations with both East and West European countries. During this period, he was a Member of the U.S. Technology Transfer society, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Australian Chamber of Commerce. He also was a Special Invitee to the African National Congress and he addressed the ANC in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In 1983 he established Visu Consultants Limited in India which is today known as Visu International Limited. Visu International Limited is the Flagship Company of the Visu Group of Companies with its offices in 20 countries and has 2000 employees across the Globe. Visu Group deals in Education, Software, Manufacturing in 8 countries in Africa, Trading from Hong Kong and China with Retail Operations in India and Africa.
Mr.Reddy is a Member of the Osmania University Academic Senate. While in U.S.A he has been a keen observer of the U.S. political system and believes that some of the electoral practices could apply to Indian political system.
In the recent elections, he has been named as the Vice Chairman of the A.P. Congress Committee Campaign Committee. Mr.Reddy conceived, designed and telecast the campaign material. The efficacy of the campaign materials resulted in a land-slide victory for the Congress Party. Mr.Reddy has been appointed as Advisor to the Government of A.P. on Foreign Investments and NRI affairs. In fulfilling this responsibility and in order to benefit the farming community of A.P. in particular, Mr.Reddy is in the process of finalizing a lucrative Agricultural Development Scheme in African Countries where the A.P.Farmers would be relocated for using their skills and making their personal fortunes as other expatriates have done for centuries in these countries. Mr.Reddy is also helping in sourcing foreign investments from foreign countries for developmental projects in A.P.
Mr.Reddy has also entered into production of Feature Films and TV serials. One Telugu feature film is ready for release and production for two more films is going to start very soon. Mr.Reddy has plans to regularly produce feature films under the banner of Visu Films International.
At present CMP of INR 5.55, the stock looks very attractive and it will give a 200-350% return in time duration of 1-2 years.
Positive Points for this stock for Up moving:

1) Company doing very good and available very cheep at INR 5.55/-
2) Book Value 25/-; Company Assets 79 Crores.
3) Company planning to invest 500 Crores various sectors.
4) Company Having Good Corporate house in Hyderabad Business center and good Land Bank.
5) Company releasing Telugu Movie Soon. So Mumbai operators are accumulating with a target of INR 50/-
6) Company Doing Education Business; expecting good news from company.
7) Company planning to declare more future plans.

How to analyse an IPO

2009-06-28T06:30:00.000-07:00

The year 2008 was one of drought as far as Initial Public Offers (IPO) goes. But with a revival of sorts in the markets, quite a few of these are lined up, with one — that of Mahindra Holiday and Resorts — already through. Investing in an IPO is a shade trickier than an existing company since not much information about it — financial or otherwise — will be publicly available. This is where, as a rule, the prospectus comes in as the best possible source of comprehensive information on the company.
Since the bulky document may appear a tad intimidating to the new investor, here are a few guidelines on how to pick relevant information, and what to base your investment decision on.
Any issue prospectus will be divided into seven sections — risk factors, an introduction to and detailed information about the company, financial information, details on the issue, legal and other regulatory information. Of these, the company background and business model, the industry it operates in, purpose of the issue, financial performance and risk factors are areas you should concentrate on.
The year 2008 was one of drought as far as Initial Public Offers (IPO) goes. But with a revival of sorts in the markets, quite a few of these are lined up, with one — that of Mahindra Holiday and Resorts — already through. Investing in an IPO is a shade trickier than an existing company since not much information about it — financial or otherwise — will be publicly available. This is where, as a rule, the prospectus comes in as the best possible source of comprehensive information on the company.
Since the bulky document may appear a tad intimidating to the new investor, here are a few guidelines on how to pick relevant information, and what to base your investment decision on.
Any issue prospectus will be divided into seven sections — risk factors, an introduction to and detailed information about the company, financial information, details on the issue, legal and other regulatory information. Of these, the company background and business model, the industry it operates in, purpose of the issue, financial performance and risk factors are areas you should concentrate on.
Business :
The section ‘About the Company’ gives a detailed description of the nature of the company and its business models; understand how and where the company accrues revenue, and if it is sustainable.
This includes going back to the history of the company, since it explains how the company has developed over the years, acquisitions made, milestones crossed, subsidiary activity, all of which are indicators of the consistency of performance and sustainability.
If possible, compare revenue models with those of existing peer companies to identify if, and where, the company has an advantage. If any competitor is already listed, use it as a comparison for performance, valuations, financials, and strategies.
Also included in the business section is an overview of the industry. Scrutinise it thoroughly to get a grip on the future of the industry and the company’s own prospects within it. As far as financials go, analyse these as you would for any other company.
Strengths:
The company will list its ‘strengths’ — what it considers as an edge over peers — again in the business section. Give these a once-over, paying attention to the details only if the said strength stands out — for example, Gitanjali Gems has a diamond sourcing agreement with Diamond Trading Corp, a key strength since the company is ensured of access to good quality rough diamonds which most peers do not enjoy. Sizeable market share (check source of data here), backward integration, and so on, are other factors favouring the company.
Take the strengths with a pinch of salt, since companies sometimes tend to paint a brighter picture than what they actually are. Conclude yourself if the point given in reality works in the company’s favour significantly.
Risks :
Risks detailed are wide-ranging, from an economic scenario to company-specific, which must be noted to understand potential downside to your investment. Risks are explained at the start of the prospectus.
Some risks given are general in nature and can be ignored, such as political instability, natural calamities, competition from peers and such, which are usually applicable to all companies, regardless of industry.
Legal issues that have a significant bearing on the functioning of the company, are also given here — for example, Mahindra Holidays has a resort in Munnar, where the land is under legal proceedings since it was said to be agricultural.
Now if the case goes against Mahindra, it will mean closure of a flagship resort and loss of revenue from it.
Understanding such material legal proceedings allows you to skip most of the section on legal issues that appears later in the prospectus. For example, legal issues regarding taxes, labour and such need not be combed through.
Objects:
The purpose of the issue is explained in depth, and companies are required to explain the utilisation of funds raised in subsequent annual reports.
Proceeds from the issue can go towards any number of purposes, from repayment of debt to working capital, from capacity expansion to company acquisitions besides covering issue expenses. Fund utilisation should, as far as possible, contribute to revenue generation and earnings expansion.
For example, companies may raise funds to either ramp up production capacity which may lead to increased sales, or to pay back high-cost debt resulting in lower interest costs and more leveraging capability; or for acquisitions that may add to revenues. However, the time taken to accomplish the stated objectives needs to be gauged.
Check the amount of funds set aside for issue expenses, which include advertising and promotion, printing of the prospectus and so on. Check also whether the proceeds of the IPO go entirely to the company; some IPOs involve a stake sale by the promoters in which case funds raised would not accrue to the company.
Other sections you can glance through are the regulations and policies the company is subject to, the management team and the relevant experience they hold and the instructions to bidders in the section detailing the issue — just to make sure you don’t inadvertently mess up your application.

SBI cuts car loan rates

2009-06-28T06:21:00.000-07:00

To increase its credit offtake and market share, State Bank of India on Saturday reduced the interest rate on car loans to 8 per cent for the first year. For the second and third years, the bank will charge 10 per cent, and from the fourth year it will charge the then prevailing rate.
SBI’s car loan scheme is available for new cars and also for balance transfers, that is, those who have borrowed from other banks can transfer their loans to SBI at lower rates. “We want to increase our auto loan portfolio and the penetration of auto loans. We have been able to find business logic, while others have not been able to,” said a senior bank official.
Starting from Monday, the bank’s card rates for car loans will range between 11 and 11.5 per cent, which is 25-75 basis points below the BPLR of 11.75 per cent. In February, the bank had launched a car loan scheme that offered funding at 10 per cent for a year. The scheme was on till May and was extended till September.

Under the car loan scheme, the bank’s disbursement touched around Rs 300 crore a month and with the further reduction in interest rates it may go up some more, said a senior official from the bank.
The bank’s auto loan portfolio is currently at over Rs 9,000 crore and it is now the largest financier of new cars.
Even under its special scheme of home loans at 8 per cent fixed for a year, the bank has been able to lure a significant number of customers away from other banks. Till mid-March, the bank had sanctioned Rs 1,350 crore under the special home loan scheme.
The bank cut its BPLR by 50 basis points, with effect from June 29

Indian stocks best performers across the world in 2009 so far

2009-06-28T02:42:00.000-07:00

Indian stocks have emerged as the best performers among those in the emerging and the developed markets across the globe so far this giving investors the highest return of nearly 60 per cent. According to an analysis of MSCI Barra indices, a measure of returns from various stock markets across the world for foreign investors, Indian stocks have outperformed their global peers, including in the US, the UK and China in 2009 so far. Indian stocks have provided a return of 59.30 per cent year-to-date, against 34.37 per cent gains provided by MSCI Barra's emerging market index, covering all developing nations. Indian stocks have even outperformed all the developed world markets covered by MSCI Barra, as the markets in the US and the UK gave returns of just 2.33 per cent and 10.17 per cent, respectively, so far this year. Among the emerging BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations, the Brazilian market was the closest competitor with gains of 56.89 per cent till June 26 this year. The Chinese and the Russian markets have given returns of 36.77 per cent and 41.61 per cent, respectively, in the year so far. The 30-share benchmark index of Indian stocks, Sensex, gained over 5,000 points in the year so far to settle at 14,764.64 points on June 26 compared to 9,600 levels on December 31, 2008.

DRA International: An engineering company in complete "Mining Solution"

2009-06-27T00:42:00.000-07:00

The DRA Group is a multi-disciplinary, multi-national organisation that specialises in project management in mining, infrastructure and mineral process plant design and construction. One of the largest project management enterprises in Africa, DRA's South African-founded group of companies has constructed plants located on five continents.DRA offers expertise in Process Engineering, Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil and Structural Engineering, Infrastructure Engineering, Materials Handling, Winder Engineering, Mine Engineering, process plant operations and maintenance management. DRA also offer services in pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, procurement of equipment and supplies, fabrication and erection, commissioning and training.
DRA manage projects with a 'zero harm' focus evident in their excellent safety record. DRA utilise world class quality standards, systems and procedures which are based on ISO standards. Currently they are preparing for ISO Certification.
DRA has offices located in mining areas around the world. The company’s highly regarded complement of professional engineers (of all disciplines) in conjunction with draughting, support services and safety management teams, combine to project manage, design and construct mines for clients worldwide.

A key element of DRA's success and capability is Minopex, one of the group companies, which operates mineral processing plants on a medium term contract basis. Add to this the competence of DRA’s mine winder specialist division and DRA's mining division, and group has the expertise to offer the entire spectrum of mining services. Effectively DRA is a one-stop-shop to mineral rights owners who wish to convert their resource into wealth.

A list of Indian Mining Companies

2009-06-27T00:40:00.000-07:00

20 Microns Limited - Producer of industrial functional minerals
Ashapura Minechem - Industrial minerals exporter
Bird Group of Companies - Consortium of coal, limestone and mineral exploring companies
Bombay Mineral - Manufacturer minerals and refractories
Central Mine Planning & Design Institute - Exploration, mine planning & design
Export Linkers - Mica flakes and powder manufacturer
GR Group - Mining and processing of mica
Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys - Power generation and chrome ore mining
JM Exports - Mica exporters
Kariganur Mineral Mining Industry, Hospet - Iron ore producer
Kerala Minerals & Metals - Mineral producer & separator
Kudremukh Iron Ore - Iron ore concentrate & pellets
Mahavir Minerals - Manufacturer & exporter of feldspar, quartz, mica etc
Mitco - Supplier of industrial minerals
Neyveli Lignite Corporation - Open-cast mechanised lignite mining
Neyveli Lignite Corporation - Lignite mining & thermal power generation
Orissa Mining Corporation - Iron, chromite & manganese mining
Parasramka Mica Industries - Mica manufacturer
Resources International - Production & export of iron ore
Rockwell Engineering - Equipment for underground and surface mining
Rungta Mines - Mining of iron & manganese ore
Sahjanand Group - Manganese dioxide and ferro alloys manufacturer
Tamil Nadu Magnesite Limited - Exploration & preservation of magnesite mineral ore
Timblo Ltd - Involved in iron and manganese ore mining and export
Tungabhadra Minerals - Involved in iron ore mining
Unotherm - Refractories, insulations, refractory raw material and minerals supplier

Crisil sees house market recovery in 2010

2009-06-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

Mumbai, June 24 Demand in the Indian residential market is expected to turn positive in 2010 due to improvement in affordability, steady economic growth and greater liquidity, says a Crisil research report on the real estate sector.
However, the decline in the currently overpriced capital values of all three real estate segments of residential, commercial and retail will persist through 2009. Commercial and retail markets will continue to see erosion of lease rentals in the next two years, it says.
The report is an analysis of over 400 areas across 88 micro-markets in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai-MMR, National Capital Region and Pune.
Mr Sudhir Nair, Head, Crisil Research, said: “Accelerated growth of Indian economy, recovery of global economy, improved liquidity and expected fall in interest rates are key factors that will signal demand revival in the residential segment. This segment is likely to see a much faster revival due to a strong underlying demand for housing and supply coming at attractive price points.”
The demand in the commercial and retail segments is likely to remain under stress the next two years owing to excess supply and weak offtake, he added.
The report says capital values for residential sector and lease rentals for commercial and retail properties had substantially corrected till March due to a slowdown in both the domestic and global economies, and also due to real estate becoming unaffordable.
Kochi, Chandigarh and Pune, which have greater investor presence as against end-users, saw a greater fall in capital values compared to other cities. The situation is expected to continue through 2009 and 2010, particularly in the commercial and retail segments.
However, Crisil Research believes that demand for houses will improve in 2010, backed by lower home loan interest rates as well as better job security owing to higher growth in the economy.(Courtesy: Business Line,Thursday, Jun 25, 2009)

Brushman(India) Ltd: Multibagger in making

2009-06-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

The Company was incorporated in the name and style of BRUSHMAN (INDIA) PRIVATE LIMITED under the Companies Act, 1956 as a private limited Company on 25th January 1993 issued by the Registrar of Companies, Delhi & Haryana. The Company became a public limited company on 16th November 1994.
PRESENT BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
BIL is the largest manufacturer of paint brushes in India. BRUSHMAN brand of paint brushes are the only brushes available on a nation wide platform and is the largest selling singular brand of paint brush. Apart from paint brushes, BIL is also into manufacture of artist brushes, wire brushes, paint rollers & putty knives.
The Company is now putting up an integrated manufacturing plant in Pantnagar, Uttranchal to manufacture paint brushers, wire brushes, artist brushes, and hair brushes. It is noteworthy that Denman International Ltd., U.K., who are the World's largest manufacturer of hair brushes and who have also invested in the equity of BIL, are giving free technical know-how to manufacture hair brushes and around 34 qualities of hair brushes/combs which shall be manufactured by BIL at the Pantnagar plant shall be exported to Denman International Ltd. For their global markets.
The land for the new plant was acquired in October 2005 and construction work is in full swing. The company expects production to commence by December 2006.
It may be added that the Company shall enjoy all fiscal benefits granted by the Central Govt. for setting up the plant in Pantnagar, Uttranchal.
2. HAIR CARE PRODUCTS
Denman International Limited, UK
BIL made it first foray into cosmetic products in 1996 with a strategic distribution alliance with Denman International Ltd, UK, to market the renowned `Denman' range of hair brushes in India and the SAARC region.
Denman International Limited (DIL) is a subsidiary of Denroy Group, established in 1972. DIL is the UK's largest manufacturer and supplier of hairbrushes and hair accessories, which are exported to more than 72 countries worldwide. The company works in partnership with other companies from the hairdressing industry and has a reputation for developing innovative products. Most of the worldwide patents for hairbrushes are IPR of DIL.
DIL is now entering into a manufacturing agreement with Brushman, which gives BIL the manufacturing right to make select `Denman' products in India on a licence basis. 34 varieties of combs/brushes have been identified and original Denman tooling is in India for commencing exports to Denman. BIL plans to set up the manufacturing facility at Pantnagar (Uttaranchal)
Sales Network for Denman products in India is largely retail oriented. Some ranges of `Denman' hairbrushes are exclusively meant for the salons, which are routed through the Professional Salon network.
Keune, a family owned Dutch company, develops and manufactures exclusive hair cosmetics since 1922. It has an image of credibility based on more than 80 years of experience and possesses one of the best research laboratories in Europe. Keune has a wide range of products including Tinta Colors consisting of 78 Color Shades, Shampoos, Conditioners, Gels, Mousses, Hairsprays, treatment line of lotions for dandruff, falling hair, dry hair etc.
For Keune products the marketing network is primarily the Professional channel comprising of salons and beauty parlours.
Keune Hair Cosmetics, B.V. Holland has invested in 7,00,000 equity shares of Brushman India) Limited ,which were allotted on preferential basis U/S 81(1A) on 28.09.2005.

Brushman (India) Limited, one of the leading manufacturers of paintbrushes, is the only listed company in the country in its category. The company prides itself for being the manufacturer of the largest variety of branded paintbrushes in India. The company has the most sound distribution network, unmatched by any other product in the category. Today, a national network of 2200 distributors and 1000 sub-dealers market the Brushman product.
Brushman brushes are characterized by their superior quality, vast variety and reasonable price range that differentiate them from competing brands. As a matter of pride, the product was adjudged the best in terms of its quality when it was awarded the "INTERNATIONAL DIAMOND STAR OF QUALITY" in 1996, followed by the "EXCELLENCE AWARD" conferred by the Institute of Economic Studies (India) for maintaining the highest quality standards.
The company diversified its operations in 1996 and entered into a distribution agreement with Denman International Ltd., U.K., for distributing the Denman range of hair care products in India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. With a reputed consumer brand product now in hand, a strong salon/distribution network was established. Today, Brushman can proudly claim that their existing distributors are the Most Powerful people in the salon/ cosmetic business.
To further augment its product portfolio, Brushman entered into a strategic tie-up with Keune Hair cosmetics, a Dutch company, which has over 83 years of experience in hair care products. Keune hair products are exclusively developed for professional use, and are launched in the market only after they undergo a thorough research for best ingredients and compositions in the most advanced laboratories in Europe.
Brushman believes very strongly in maintaining its high quality and standardization and is forever committed towards bringing the latest, safest, most exciting and innovative life style products to its customers.

Recomendation: Retail investor can choose this stock for a target of 100-120 for a time span of 1-2 yrs.

Market Alert

2009-06-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

Ketan Parekh-linked scrips gain 76% in May; plunged after SEBI order
The stocks , in which Ketan Parekh appeared to be trading through his front entities, gained up to 76 per cent in May, but fell to their lower circuits after SEBI debarred 26 entities and individuals for manupulative trading in these scrips These five scrips -- Cals Refineries, Confidence Petroleum India Ltd, Bang Overseas Ltd, Shree Precoated Steels Ltd (now known as Ajmera Realty & Infra India Ltd) and Temptation Foods Ltd -- were trading mostly with gains during May. During the month, Confidence Petroleum India soared as much as 76 per cent on the BSE. The scrip which on May 4 was trading at Rs 6.75 ended May's trade at Rs 11.88 on BSE. Further, Cals Refineries stock surged 34 per cent on the BSE during last month from Rs 0.86 to Rs 0.91 per share. Shares of Temptation Foods jumped 16 per cent in May , while Shree Precoated Steels gained 6 per cent on the BSE. SEBI on Thursday debarred 26 entities from the securities market, after an investigation into possible manipulative trading by them in these five stocks. In the same order, SEBI also noted that debarred stock broker Ketan Parekh appeared to be trading in the stock market through at least five of these entities. Parekh and the entities related to him were banned by the market regulator from participating in securities market for masterminding the multi-crore stock scam during 1999-2001. SEBI has also said the entities being debarred made substantial losses on account of the dealings in the scrips of Cals Refineries, Shree Precoated Steels and Temptation Foods. Following the SEBI order, these stocks had hit their lowest permissible trade limit on Friday, while one Shree Precoated Steel's scrip is suspended from May 8. (Courtesy: Economic Times)

Market potential ,future prospects & multibagger stock advice

2009-06-07T07:10:00.000-07:00

I am feeling comfortable in writting my blog after couple of months.Indian stock mareket have enough potential to cross 20,000 landmark by Dec'2009.
Stock Exchange news:
A total of about 1.2 lakh new stock market investors opened their demat accounts, which is necessary to trade in equities, during the month of May, according to data available with the two depositories, National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) and Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL). This has increased the total number of demat accounts in the country to over 1.5 crore. The market experts believe that the inflow of a large number of new investors into the market could be attributed the sharp surge in the recent months as well as expectations for revival of the IPO market with some fundamentally-sound public issues by the government-run companies. The total investor wealth, measured in terms of cumulative market capitalisation of all the listed companies, has soared to about Rs 51,00,000 crore. This represents a gain of about Rs 23,00,000 crore from the level seen in later October last year, although it is still about Rs 20,00,000 crore below the peak seen in January 2008. With the benchmark Sensex hitting its record high of 21,206.77 points on January 10, 2008, the total investor wealth had risen to a high of about Rs 72,00,000 crore at that time. However, a sharp meltdown thereafter pulled the Sensex to below 8,000-mark in late October 2008. Since then, the Sensex has nearly doubled and has regained 15,000-point mark. Out of the total gain of about 7,500 points in the benchmark Sensex since its 52-week low of 7,697.39 points on October 27, 2008, nearly half the gain has materialised in the past one month alone (Courtesy: Economic Times). There are some stocks which are still undervalued and it can give retail investors a good return after a stipulated time frame.Here is the multibagger stock list for reference:
Pioneer Embroidaries
Krishna Lifestyle
Praj Industries
Vikash Metal & Power
Marg Ltd
Gitanjali Gem
Classic Diamond
Southern Online Biotech
Sanguine Media
Kohinoor Broadcasting
Tanla Solution
Genus Power Infrastructure
Suryachakra Power corporation
Surana telecom & power
Indiabulls retail.
Vijaya Bank
Austin Engineering
Deccan gold mines
These stock can give you 5-7 times return in a stipulated time frame of 1-2 years.

Spiritual Thought-What is Vedanta?

2009-03-03T11:09:00.000-08:00

The Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York bases its teachings on the system of Vedanta, especially as explained by Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) and his disciple Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) and demonstrated in their lives. Vedanta is the philosophy that has evolved from the teachings of the Vedas, which are a collection of ancient Indian scriptures -- the world's oldest religious writings.
According to the Vedas, ultimate reality is all-pervading, uncreated, self-luminous eternal spirit, the final cause of the universe, the power behind all tangible forces, the consciousness that animates all conscious beings. This is the central philosophy of the Vedantist, and his religion consists of meditation on this spirit and prayer for the guidance of his intellect along the path of virtue and righteousness.
From the philosophical standpoint, Vedanta is non-dualistic, and from the religious standpoint, monotheistic. The Vedanta philosophy asserts the essential non-duality of God, soul and universe, the apparent distinctions being created by names and forms which, from the standpoint of ultimate reality, do not exist. Vedanta accepts all religions as true and regards the various deities of the different faiths as diverse manifestations of the one God.
According to Vedanta, religion is experience and not mere acceptance of certain time-honored dogmas or creeds. To know God is to become like God. We may quote scripture, engage in rituals, perform social service, or pray with regularity, but unless we realize the Divine spirit in our hearts, we are still phenomenal beings, victims of the separative existence. One can experience God as tangibly 'as a fruit lying on the palm of one's hand,' which means that in this very life we can suppress our lower nature, manifest our higher nature, and become perfect. Through the experience of God, one's doubts disappear and the 'knots of the heart are cut asunder.' By ridding himself of the desires clinging to his heart, a mortal becomes immortal in this very body. That the attainment of immortality is not the prerogative of a chosen few but the birthright of all is the conviction of every follower of Vedanta.
Vedanta asserts that Truth is universal and all humankind and all existence are one. It teaches the unity of Godhead, or ultimate Reality, and accepts every faith as a valid means for its own followers to realize the Truth. The four cardinal principles of Vedanta may be summed up as follows: the non-duality of the Godhead, the divinity of the soul, the unity of existence and the harmony of religions. On these four principles the faith of the Vedantist is based.
The essential teachings of Vedanta, as stated by Swami Vivekananda is: "Each soul is potentially divine, the goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature: external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy -- by one, or more, or all these -- and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details."

Gmail - Crop your picture

2009-02-15T00:27:00.000-08:00

Gmail - Crop your picture

West Bengal's development scenario bright for investment

2009-02-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

West Bengal's government recently announced infrastructure development programmes worth US$25.2 billion - worth only a little less than total foreign direct investment (FDI) to China in the first half of 2007. Such figures illustrate the scale of dynamic, rival agendas set in either country to lever development potential in the race for greater prosperity.

Hong Kong infrastructure and real estate companies, particularly those run by Indian expatriates with direct connections with West Bengal, can find a considerable list of upcoming opportunities, including in the fields of logistics, infrastructure development and tourism.
Large-scale works ahead.
The new pro-industry approach of the socialist-leaning West Bengal government has resulted in project announcements and implementations on a grand scale. The state is already attracting investments in many different sectors, including ship building, development of special economic zones, light product manufacturing, power generation, iron and steel, IT, retail, agriculture and tourism.
Industry friendly policies, easy procurement of land, the availability of skilled, professionally-trained labour, various central government and state financial assistance schemes are among the advantages in which companies investing in the state have become involved.
Call for investors to India's professionally-trained environment.
West Bengal is particularly well-endowed with minerals, making it among the best destinations for iron and steel plants. Also, with the state being among the top agri-producing states, there's potential for agri-based industries to set up shop.
The huge, western subcontinental state is working towards becoming the leading power generator in the country. West Bengal's government is following the SEZ and industrial parks strategy to industrialisation, which means that units in these regions can avail themselves of some key tax benefits and labour-friendly policies.Beeline for West Bengal by investors and workers.
All this has worked in favour of domestic Bengali companies, many of which are expanding facilities. Furthermore, almost every big company in every industrial sector in the country is making a beeline for West Bengal.
To attract foreign companies to the state, the government is regularly sending business delegations to various trading centres.Most recently, delegations have gone to Russia, Singapore and Taiwan. The government is also working towards strengthening cross-border trade with Bangladesh, by developing the road network while also working on facilitating various tariff and non-tariff areas.Forging a new future in steel and engineering.The iron and steel sector is growing at a rate of around 10% and almost all major players throughout the country have set up base and are expanding. Important players include SAIL, Bhushan Ltd, Gonterman Piepers, Electrosteel Casting and Vesuvius India.Among the new ventures, Bhushan Steel has recently announced plans to set up a two million tonne per annum steel plant.Headlining the projected development JSW Bengal Steel is planning a US$ 8.7 billion steel venture in Salboni, with a capacity of around 10 million tonnes per annum. The first phase of the project is expected to become operational by 2011.
Consumer durables company Videocon has recently submitted a US$ 3.7 billion investment proposal to the Bengali government for setting up a 3 million tonne steel plant in the state, among other projects.
For its part, the Bengali government has put in place industry-friendly policies to boost the sector, including technology upgrades, research and development grants, government procurement and selection for joining given construction projects.
Engineering projects are taking a leading part in development too. US giant GE Equipment Services (GEES) has picked up a 15% equity (US$37.5 million) in railway wagon maker Titagarh Wagons Ltd (TWL), to tap the vast logistics business through West Bengal.
In fact, GE plans to invest US$8 billion over the next three years in the country as a whole, with a substantial amount earmarked for West Bengal. These investments would be targeted at developing infrastructure facilities such as a deep sea port, a railway freight corridor, a transport hub and associated housing and healthcare projects.
Shipbuilding company APJ Bharti Shipyard is planning to set up a shipyard in the state, with an investment of US$ 500 million while McNally Bharat Engineering Company Ltd, a part of the giant Indian tea conglomerate Williamson Magor group, has announced a US$ 5 million investment plan to set up a plant, to help in executing turnkey projects for the steel players in the state.
Boost for automotive development.Automotive developments are also underway. Tata Motor has its huge Singur project, from which an automotive components sector has received a major boost, with a number of players setting up shop in West Bengal. The government has also received proposals for several component manufacturing parks.Caparo Engineering India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Euros 2 billion Caparo Group of the UK, is setting up a sheet metal and stamping facility at Singur to supply Tata Motors.Other auto component makers making a beeline for Singur include Rasandik Engineering, Rucha Engineering, Lumax and JBM Auto.
Green and IT options part of the growth cycle.The West Bengal government has some ambitious plans in the energy sector, among which it's promoting renewable energy projects. These would be implemented through a Green Energy Development Corporation (GEDC).
The state government expects investments to the tune of US$2.7 billion in renewable power projects during its 11th Five-Year Plan set between 2007 and 2012.
Suzlon Energy has already submitted a US$1.5 billion investment proposal to the state government, for a wind energy project, in coastal Digha in West Bengal.
Bhaskar Group, a well-known name in the field of solar wafer cells, has also drawn up a US$ 1 billion investment proposal along with a US company, which is expected in Haldia.
The private sector is investing in captive power plants, as newer manufacturing facilities arise. Bhushan Steel and Strips, which has announced a steel manufacturing facility in the state, is also setting up a 1000 MW thermal power project, at an investment of around US$1 billion.
IT sector on huge growth cycle.The IT sector in West Bengal is growing at a rate of almost 70% annually, even though average growth in the sector nationwide is only between 35% and 37%.
The growth has been fuelled through SEZ and IT parks. "We have set a target of contributing about 15% to the country's total revenue earnings from IT exports and be among the country's top three states in terms of generating revenues from IT-related activities in the next five years," said a spokesman for the government's IT secretariat.Major players such as IBM, Tata Consultancy Services, Cognizant, PwC, Skytech, NIIT, HCL, Genpact and Wipro are operating in West Bengal. Other companies which have charted out their expansion plans in the state include Convergys, HCL Infotech and Patni.US-based Accenture is in talks with the government for setting up its centre in the state's capital, Kolkata. Accenture's Kolkata centre would be its largest across Asia.
Leading software exporter Satyam Computer Services Limited is planning to expand operations in West Bengal, and is keen on acquiring more land. The company currently has an IT and BPO centre in the Salt Lake Electronics Complex.
As many as 13 IT Parks are being planned in the state, to create an additional 13.3 million sq feet of built-up space.
The state government is planning two new IT-specific special economic zones (SEZs) to accommodate IT giants - Infosys, Wipro and TCS. The two SEZs would be owned by the state and located in Rajarhat (323 acres) and Kalyani (200 acres).
To attract more foreign IT companies to the SEZs, the government plans to send official delegations to Taiwan and Singapore, among others.
Besides these parks, towns such as Durgapur, Siliguri, Haldia are emerging as suitable IT destinations, as they have developed software technology parks.
The West Bengal government has also put in place an IT policy with e-governance as the most important feature, aimed at connecting the state's 3,600 local self-governments and municipalities. The policy also focuses on promoting IT education to create skilled professionals in the field.
Infrastructure on the upgrade.Investment for infrastructure in the offing.West Bengal is investing in infrastructure development, by way of upgrading road, rail and air network, and setting up industrial infrastructure by way of SEZs, industrial parks and clusters.
The government is upgrading the infrastructure of the Durgapur-Asansol industrial region. The upgrade includes a greenfield airport, housing, markets, and other infrastructure. The project will take off from January 2008, and will be completed by June 2010.Port infrastructure is another focus area for the government, which is in the process of sprucing up the facilities at the existing ports, while looking at proposals for new port facilities.One such is the Kulpi port, jointly promoted by DP World, Keventers Agro and West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC). The port will come up adjacent to a SEZ, close to Diamond Harbour.

Push for tourism.

The huge potential of tourism has brought forth a policy framework to attract more tourists as well as investors.
In 2004, less than one million foreign tourists and 12.3 million domestic tourists visited the state. The government has allocated around US$650,000 in the state budget to boost tourism.
The state's tourism ministry has also commissioned a study to international consulting firm, Ernst and Young, to target the most appropriate areas of tourism development in the state, and to chalk out a strategy for boosting the sector.
The state government is planning to make investments to the tune of US$75 million with assistance from the Asian Development Bank, to promote beach tourism. For this, the UN Development Programme has been asked to study the entire east coast.
from special correspondent Reena Mital, Mumbai

Courtesy: Special correspondent Reena Mital, Mumbai for International Market News

Real Estate Market can be turned around after six successful quarters.

2009-01-29T23:41:00.001-08:00

Real Estate Market can be turned around after six successful quarters.

I have mentioned my analysis and investment policy in my blog and I mentioned repeatedly that population is on the rise and our country’s population itself will double over the coming few decades. With our country going global it’s of one’s easy assumption that people would opt for their own flats and residents. Majority of the population being youth gives a strong conviction of the upcoming developments. Fine enough, recession may always come and hurt once in a century but that would only be an opportunity to capitalizes go for the Real estate company which has ambitious plans, a lot of proven land bank and belief that it would spark a robust turnaround once the sentiment changes for good.
Real Estate Market will be turned around after six successful quarters. Market seems to be corrected by 10-15% from October'2008 low. May-Sept'2009 phase to be proved brightest time for investment. Indian Market to be proved the best platform for Energy, Education, Media & Entertainment & "Alternative Energy Sources".

Bio-Diesel & Its Future Prospect

2008-11-19T02:40:00.001-08:00

The importance of Bio-fuel (bio-diesel & ethanol) is increasing rapidly with growing anxiety over crude oil supply and fast climatic changes. Bio-diesel is an environment friendly fuel prepared from edible and non-edible vegetable oils. Blending of Bio-diesel with petro-diesel has tremendous positive social, ecological and economic impact on the society. If India wants to become a Developed Nation by 2020, as envisaged by former President, Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, we need to become self sufficient in the energy sector.Global Energy Scenario: - Petroleum products constitute a major source of energy needs of the world. Energy is one of the major inputs for the economic development of any country. According to conventional wisdom, the world is likely to run out of petroleum in the near future. Besides, current patterns of energy production and use have negative impact on the environment. At the same time, there is a need, especially in developing countries, for higher levels of energy supply and use for economic development. This has generated renewed interest in bio-fuels.
Rudolph Diesel (1858-1913) had famously said, “The use of vegetable oils for engine fuel may seem insignificant today. But such oils may become in course of time as important as petroleum and coal tar products of the present time” -.Needless to say, his words have come true.Indian Prospects: -Oil constitutes over 35% of the primary energy consumption in India. It is expected that this would rise both in terms of absolute amount and proportion. The International Energy Outlook (IEO) has projected that India will consume over 5 million barrels of oil a day by 2030; more than double its current consumption. In the light of the above, Government of India is expected to announce its National Bio-fuel policy soon. The policy is expected to lay special emphasis on bio-diesel as diesel constitutes a major portion of our petroleum consumption.
Bio-diesel can be manufactured from both edible & non-edible oilseeds through trans-esterification. However the demand for edible oil exceeds supply, therefore Government has decided to use non-edible oilseeds as bio-diesel feedstock. Jatropha and Karanj have been found to be most suitable crops in the Indian conditions. India plans to replace around 5% of its current 40 million tonnes of annual diesel consumption with bio-diesel within five years. This has opened an era of opportunity for entrepreneurs and corporates. The Planning Commission has suggested that, corporates should be given tax cuts to adopt contract farming of Jatropha and Karanj in private wastelands. It has further recommended that Jatropha and Karanj cultivation should be covered under NREGA.
Thus we can safely presume Bio-diesel sector has a bright future.

Market Opportunity for Solar Power

2008-11-19T02:38:00.001-08:00

Globally, energy is fast emerging as a critical issue, especially as existing power generation options have limitations in terms of growth potential and long-term sustenance. With the Sun supplying 10,000 times the amount of energy needed every year by Earth, and with technological breakthroughs fast lowering harnessing and distribution costs, solar power is fast emerging as the most viable and eco-friendly power generation option for tomorrow—with no moving parts, no noise and zero emissions.
Solar Market grew by 30% over in the last 18 years. In Year 2006, the global market for PV energy was 2 GW, grew by 41% compared to the previous year. Market is projected to grow from $15.6 Billion in 2006 to $69.3 Billion by 2015. Further California Solar Initiative should add another incremental $13.2 Billion cumulatively.
The PV space is expected to grow five-fold to a global market size of Rs 300,000 crore ($70 billion) by Year 2015 as per Clean Edge Energy research. As the group is one of the early entrants in this space, and having exposure to domestic and international markets since 1994, Saptashva is well-positioned to leverage this explosive growth curve.
UBS’s global demand estimate is for solar electricity to grow from 5GW in 2008 to 22GW by 2012 (a 46% CAGR). It expects Spain, Italy, and France to increase to 35% by 2012 (up from 27% in 2007) of the global market and drive solar growth in the near term. Its estimate for global solar demand in 2010 is 10GW, which is the base case scenario. The aggressive case assumes faster adoption of solar PV in key growth markets of Spain and the US, with the approval of higher feed-in tariffs in Spain and passage of an energy bill in the US, which includes the extension of Solar Investment Tax Credits with removal of the residential cap and utility exemption.
Given the uncertainty of solar in the US market in 2009 and 2010, UBS believes it is more prudent to assume the conservative scenario. However, if the US Energy Bill passes with the solar investment tax credits included, UBS believes the more likely scenario would be closer to its aggressive case of 13GW by 2010. The conservative scenario assumes a five-year CAGR of 30%, resulting in 5.5GW by 2010, and the aggressive scenario assumes a five-year CAGR of 55%, resulting in 13GW in 2010. The conservative scenario is based on sustaining the 2002-07 solar CAGR of 30%. Global solar demand reached 2GW in 2006, and UBS believes demand could grow by 70% in 2007 to reach 3.4GW lead by demand growth in Spain and Germany. It estimates that global demand will grow at a steady rate above 40% year over year until 2011, as solar PV generated electricity cost approaches grid electricity in regions with high retail electricity rates and high solar irradiance.

XL Telecom- Multi-Multi bagger stock

2008-11-19T02:18:00.001-08:00

XL Telecom & Energy has transformed itself from a low margin Telecom company by diversifying substantially into the high margin business of Solar Photo Voltaic Modules (SPV). It has a order book of around 2.2 billion in Solar Photo Voltaic divisions and has secured orders for the supply of Fuel Ethanol from the oil companies.Buy XL Telecom & Energy at Current Market Price of Rs 60for a 24 month target of Rs 1800.This company has transformed itself from a low margin Telecom company by diversifying substantially into the high margin business of Solar Photo Voltaic Modules (SPV). It has a order book of around 2.2 billion in Solar Photo Voltaic divisions and has secured orders for the supply of Fuel Ethanol from the oil companies. For the period 2007-2008 barring unforseen circumstances the company should post a PAT of approximately Rs 45 crores on an equity of Rs 14.5 crores. For 2008-2009 barring unforseen circumstances the company should close with a turnover of Rs 1292 crores and PAT of Rs 155 crores. By then the equity would be Rs 26 crores. Thus the expected EPS would be Rs 60 approximately. It is expected for 2009-2010 that turnover would be approximately Rs 1645 crores yielding a PAT of Rs 222 crores which will result an EPS of 85.This Share therefore has the potential to touch Rs 1800 within the next 24 months.Technical View: Stock has very strong support around 60region and minor resistance at INR 55.00

Praj Industries- Giant in making in Bio-Diesel segment

2008-11-19T02:14:00.000-08:00

Praj Industries is the world's single largest supplier of molasses based distillery technology, plant and equipment.

Demand: The need for alternative energy sources like bio-fuels, ethanol etc., other than oil, considering the huge volatility in the crude oil prices. World ethanol demand is slated to double in the next four years from 40 billion to 80 billion litres. Praj, which gets 50 per cent of its revenues from global markets, is seen as an emerging player. The government’s decision to blend ethanol with fuel has given a major boost to Praj’s business.

First-mover advantage & Barriers to Entry: Praj has "finger-printed" almost 2,500 varieties of molasses from around the world at its research laboratory. Bio-processes are not easy to master. It requires thorough knowledge of raw materials and the ability to offer flexible solutions for commercial acceptance. New players can't easily get in.

Investors: The Company has caught the attention of global and Indian investors. Vinod Khosla, the Silicon Valley-based billionaire who has recently climbed onto the ethanol bandwagon, has bought a 10 per cent stake for Rs 117.1 crore. Khosla’s interest in Praj is primarily because of its R&D in different feedstock. That was also one of the reasons why Virginia- based Delta-T tried unsuccessfully in 2002 to acquire a stake in Praj. Top broker-investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala owns 7 per cent. His logic: “Ethanol is hot globally and this company has the potential to become a global leader.”

Competitors: The main competitor of Praj in Fuel Ethanol plants would be Alfa Laval. Praj officials expect other players to enter the field because of the huge opportunity available.

Some more facts:Built more than 50 plants worldwide in the past four years.Has customers in over 30 countries, and continues to invest heavily in R&D.Captured a 6 per cent global market share despite stiff competition from bigger rivals. Praj aims to double its market share in a few years.The company did not neglect the domestic market and has established a 60 per cent market share within India.Debt-free.

Risks: Global technology developments could easily undermine Praj’s traditional strength — its research.

Conclusion: A good Long term investment. Tatget INR 350 by Dec'2009
Short term target INR 100 by Jan'2009

As per Sep 08 share holding pattern of the company, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is holding 11,477,642 shares and Rekha Jhunjhunwala is holding 4,048,000 shares of Praj Industries

Why Lehman and Merrill fell

2008-11-16T09:53:00.001-08:00

If you lost your money in the market crash of January 2008, here's the route to your loss, in chronological order.
2001-2005: House prices in the US begin to rise rapidly. Banks lend aggressively and create a sub prime industry.
Sub-prime lending refers to lending (at slightly higher interest rates) to people who may not be eligible for a loan under normal circumstances. Maybe they don’t have a regular job or income, or have defaulted in the past. Banks traditionally did not lend to such people due to high risk of default. But since these loans were mortgaged against property and property prices were rising continuously, banks started doing so. If customers defaulted, they could sell the mortgaged property.
2005: The booming housing market halted abruptly in many parts of the US.
2006: Prices are flat, home sales fall.
February 2007: Sub-prime industry collapses in the US; more than 25 sub-prime lenders declare bankruptcy, announce significant losses, or put themselves up for sale.While they were lending, banks did not factor in the possibility of a fall in property prices. When the Federal Bank (the US equivalent of RBI) started increasing interest rates, the sub-prime borrowers started defaulting and banks started selling off the mortgaged properties. As more and more properties came into the market for selling, the property prices fell.
August 2007: Many leading mortgage lenders in the US filed for bankruptcy
March 2008: Bear Sterns falls.
September 2008: Lehman Brothers file for bankruptcy. Merrill Lynch sells off to Bank of America. Between 2001 and 2006, the US financial markets had developed a new product – a bond securitised against the mortgages.
In simple terms it means that the mortgage banks borrowed money against the mortgages on the condition that they would repay to lenders as soon as they recovered their mortgages. The lenders in this case were financial institutions (like Bear Sterns, Lehman and Merril Lynch) who in turn sold retail bonds to individuals. Sadly, the repayment never happened. And institutions like Bear Sterns, Lehman, Merrill Lynch and AIG were the casualties. Since the mortgages were not honoured, the banks could not repay these financial institutions who in turn could not repay retail investors.

@ My City-City of Joy"Kolkata"

2008-11-13T05:28:00.000-08:00

SPECIALITY OF “CITY OF JOY (KOLKATA)”
Authors, scholars, and social reformers:
Kolkata was home to the Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore, the Hindu social
reformers: Raja Ram Mohun Roy (founder of the Brahmo Samaj), Keshab Chandra Sen,
Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, David Hare (of Calcutta), Alexander Duff, Pandit Ishwar
Chandra Vidyasagar, William Carey and Moti Lal Seal.
It has produced some great social critics, commentators on culture, religion, philosophy
and scholars and writers (see Bengali language) like: Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, S.Wajid Ali, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Kali Prassanna Singha, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, Amritalal Basu, Shishir Kumar Maitra, Dinabandhu Mitra, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Dhan Gopal Mukerji, Syed Mujtaba Ali, Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay,Pramath Chowdhury, Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Swami Vivekananda, linguist: Suniti Kumar Chattopadhyay, historians: Jadunath Sircar and Romesh Chunder Majumdar, philosophers, presidents and religious leaders: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, political scientist: Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri, Souvik, more popularly known as Doodhoo, novelists: Samaresh Majumdar, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, Bimal Mitra, Dibyendu Palit, Mani ShankarMukhopadhyay (Popularly known as Shankar), Purnendu Pattrea, Tarashankar
Bandopadhyay, Rajashekhar Basu (popularly known as Parasuram), Premendra Mitra,
Syed Mustafa Siraj, Mahasweta Devi, Anita Desai, Sanjeev Chattopadhyay, Bimal Kar,
Samaresh Majumdar, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Amitav Ghosh, Amit Chaudhuri, Ashapoorna
Devi, and poets: Buddhadev Bose, Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Jibanananda Das, Bishnu
Dey, Nirendranath Chakraborty,Satyajit Ray, Annada Shankar Ray, Joseph Emin and
Leela Majumdar.
Calcutta was the birth place of the great English novelist William Makepeace Thackeray
and noted littérateurs such as Benjamin Walker, Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, Bharati
Mukherjee, Raj Kamal Jha, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Jayabroto Chatterjee, P. Lal, Chitra
Banerjee Divakaruni, Lali Chatterjee, Suketu Mehta, Nalinaksha Bhattacharyya, Sasthi
Brata. It was also for some time, the home of German Nobel laureate Günter Grass. The
renowned genetic scientist and Marxist commentator on society, culture and biology
J.B.S. Haldane, spent his last days in his adopted homeland, in Kolkata.
Nobel laureates
Five Nobel Prize winners have been associated with Kolkata at some point of time. They are:
1. Sir Ronald Ross (1902 Medicine)
2. Rabindranath Tagore (1913 Literature, the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize)
3. C. V. Raman (1930 Physics, the first Asian scientist to win the Nobel Prize)
4. Mother Teresa (1979 Peace)
5. Amartya Sen (1998 Economics)
Business tycoons:
Many Marwari and Gujarati business tycoons hail from the city. They have contributed to
the growth of business in the city and people respect them for providing employment.
Some of the notables among them are: -
1. Basan Kumar Birla
2. Krishan Kant Birla
3. H.M. Bangur
4. K.K. Bangur
5. S.K. Bangur
6. Hira Lal Somani
7. Ashok Neotia
8. Late Aditya Vikram Biral father of Kumar Mangalam Birla
9. Poddar
10. Bitthal Das Mundhra
11. Rama Prasad Goenka (RPG Group)
12. R.K. Agarwal (Emami Group)
13. Chandra Prakash Birla
14. Lakshmi Mittal
15. Paul family
16. Kankaria Family
17. Shah Family
18. Ramesh Chandra Parekh Family
19. Chandravardhan Desai family
Freedom fighters
Khudiram Bose Subhas Chandra Bose, Rash Behari Bose, Badal Gupta, Benoy Basu,
Bipin Chandra Pal, Sri Aurobindo, Chittaranjan Das, Jatindra Nath Das, Dinesh Gupta,
Dinesh Majumdar, Jogesh Chandra Chattopadhyay, B. C. Roy, Syama Prasad Mookerjee
(FOUNDER OF BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY), Kripanath Datta, Nirmal Sen, Ashoke
Kumar Sen etc.
Ramon Magsaysay Award winners (incomplete list)
1. Satyajit Ray
2. Mahasweta Devi
3. Samaresh Majumdar
4. Shambhu Mitra
5. Gourkishore Ghosh
6. Amitabha Chowdhury
7. Mother Teresa …………….
Literary Movements
There has been only one literary movement which shook Kolkata during the 1960s. It was launched by Shakti Chattopadhyay, Malay Roy Choudhury, Samir Roychoudhury and Debi Ray. About 40 participants joined later.
Cinema, theatre and other performing arts
Cinema
The late film director Satyajit Ray, who won the Special Oscar for Lifetime Achievement
or the Academy Honorary Award in 1992 lived in Kolkata and was defined by his
capturing of the Bengali ethos on cinema. Considered by many film makers, Western and
Eastern alike, to be among the four greatest directors of film history, he was lauded by
greats like Akira Kurosawa. Indeed, the Japanese legend of film said that to have not seen
Ray's films was to have never seen the light of the moon and the sun.
In fact the tradition of non-commercial, artistic, impressionistic cinema is vogue in the
cinema of Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Buddhadev Dasgupta, Gautam Ghose, Aparna
Sen,Rituparno Ghosh, Nabyendu Chatterjee among others.
In the domain of commercial or mainstream cinema, actors and thespian turned actors
like Dhirendranath Ganguly, Devika Rani Roerich, Utpal Dutt, Pramathesh Barua, Pahari
Sanyal, Robi Ghosh, Kali Bandyopadyay, Kanan Devi, Ruma Guha Thakurta, Suchitra
Sen, Uttam Kumar, Victor Banerjee, Dhritiman Chaterji, and Soumitra Chatterjee have
won international acclaim. Uttam Kumar commands a special place in the hearts of all
Kolkatans. He was the recipeint of two National awards for acting. Even more than two
decades after his premature death in 1980, he is loved by young and old Kolkatans alike.
The Bollywood cinema superstar Amitabh Bachchan started his career as a clerk for an
insurance company in Kolkata. Bollywood action hero Mithun Chakraborty started his
career in a non-commercial Bengali film directed by Mrinal Sen.
Theatre
Despite its decline from the pre-eminent position of the cultural capital of India in recent
times, it still retains a strong tradition in cinema and theatre. Renowned thespians include
Bijan Bhattacharyya, Utpal Dutt, Sambhu Mitra, Badal Sircar, Tripti Mitra, Kumar Ray,
Saoli Mitra, Manoj Mitra, theatre directors Rudraprasad Sengupta, Shymanand Jalan,
Sohag Sen, Usha Ganguli, Ashok Mukhopadhyay and Vinay Sharma, actors Rudraprasad
Sengupta, Shymanand Jalan, Sohag Sen, Usha Ganguli, Ashok Mukhopadhyay,Vinay
Sharma,Kunal Padhi,Subrat Chowdhary,Shakil Khan and Sanchayita Bhattcharya among
others. Kolkata is the capital of the Hindi theatre stage in India and was home or is
currently home to the nationally renowned theatre groups IPTA, PLT, Padatik,
Rangakarmee, Nandipaat Ajantrik and Nandikar.Kolkata is host to several acclaimed
mime theatre groups and mime artists, like Jogesh Dutt who pioneered mime in India and
build up a mime academy with 5 years degree course(www.jogeshmimeacademy.org)
and The Young Indian Mime Legend Suman Mukherjee among others. The Kolkata stage
has time and again been inspired and enriched by the translated and transcreated oeuvres
of William Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Guy de Maupassant, T. S. Eliot, Leo Tolstoy,
Thomas Mann, Alexander Pushkin, Luigi Pirandello, Maxim Gorky, Maurice
Maeterlinck, Jean Paul Sartre, Sean O'Casey, J.M. Synge, Henrik Ibsen, George Bernard
Shaw, Eugène Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Arthur Miller, Harold Pinter, Ernest
Hemingway, Lorraine Hansberry, Girish Karnad and Chinua Achebe.
Music
Kolkata has produced talented vocal artists like Gaharjaan, Angurbala Dasi, Supriyo
Dutta, Indubala Dasi, Dwijendra Lal Roy, Acharya K. C. Dey (also known as Kana
Kesto), Kazi Nazrul Islam, Pankaj Mullick, Kanan Devi, Feroza Begum, Kanika
Bandyopadhyay, Suchitra Mitra, Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay, Manna Dey, Kishore
Kumar, Geetashree Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, Debabrata Biswas, Shyama Chattopadhyay,
Krishna Chattopadhyay, Sarbani Sen, Robin Bandyopadhyay, Ramkumar Chattopadhyay
and son Shreekumar, Arati Mukhopadhyay, Anjali Mukhopadhyay, Begum Akhtar, Ajoy
Chakraborty, Usha Uthup, Ruma Guha Thakurta, Anirban Ghosh, Indrani Sen, Haimanti
Shukla, Shreekanta Acharya, Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta, Suman Chatterjee, Salil
Chowdhury, Rahul Deb Burman, Nirmalendu Chowdhury, Sachin Dev Burman, Purna
Das Baul, Pramita Mallick, Anjan Dutta, Nachiketa, Choir Groups Calcutta Youth Choir,
IPTA and Kolkata Peoples Choir, Bengali bands Mohiner Ghoraguli, Chandrabindoo,
Fossils, Cactus, Crosswindz, Insomnia and Bhoomi. The Bombay-based (or Bollywood)
film musicians Geeta Dutt, Bappi Lahiri, Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet, Babul Supriyo,
Shantanu Moitra,Chandan,Pritam started their careers in Kolkata.
Globally acclaimed instrumental virtuosos in Hindustani classical music like Jnan
Gossain, Dhruv Tara Joshi, Ali Akbar Khan, Ravi Shankar,Radhika Mohon Maitra,
Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Ananda Shankar, Enayet Khan and son Vilayat Khan, Imdaad
Khan, Imraat Khan, Wahid Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Nasir
Aminuddin Dagar, Asifuddin Dagar, Rashid Khan, Nikhil Banerjee, Amjad Ali Khan, V.
G. Jog, Bahadur Khan, Budhaditya Mukhopadhyay, Shahid Pervez, Anjan
Chattopadhyay, Keramatullah Khan, V.Balsara, Shankar Ghosh, Anindo Chatterjee,
Swapan Choudhuri, Subhankar Banerjee, Bikram Ghosh, Tanmoy Bose, and Louis
Banks, among others, hail from Kolkata. The Dover Lane Music Conference held every
January celebrates the tradition of Indian classical music. It is also said that Kolkata has
the finest connoisseurs of Western classical music in India.
Among the styles and traditions of vocal music in vogue in Kolkata are Nidhu Babur
Toppa, Mujraah, Kheyaal, Kavi Gaan, Jatra Gaan, Rabindra Sangeet, Carnatic,
Hindustani, Atulprasadi, Shyama Sangeet, Adhunik, Nazrul Geeti, Lok Geeti, Ghazals,
Bhakti Geeti, Jibanmukhi, Pop, IndiPop, Rock and Roll, Santhal Lok Sangeet and Hindi
film music.
Dance
Some of the most beautiful dance themes are based on the eternal songs, and song and
dance based plays of Tagore like Chandalika, The Country of Cards (Tasher Desh), Red
Oleanders (Rakta Karabi) among others. Prominent dancers and dance troupes of the city
include late Uday Shankar and Amala Shankar, Indrani Rahaman, Manjushree Chaki
Sircar, Ranjabati Sircar, Ananda Shankar, Tanushree Shankar and group, Mamata
Shankar Ballet Troupe, Calcutta Youth Choir, Madhuboni Chattopadhyay, Italian born
Ileana Citaristi, American born Leela Samson, Sushmita Bandopadhyay, Gaudiya Nritya,
Odissi Kala Kendra, Mallhar, Anurekha Ghosh and Company, The Nupur Dance
Academy, Padatik Dance Centre, Durga Prasdee Sangeet Vidyalaya, Pandit Chitresh Das
among others.
The different dance schools prevalent in Kolkata are Rabindra Nritya Natya, Adhunik,
Bharatnatyam, Manipuri, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Santhal Folk Dance, among others.
More recently few Calcuttans started practicing danceforms originating from other
cultures and countries and contributed a great deal in enriching those genres. Of them
perhaps the most accomplished and talented dancer is Bhaskar Dutta, originally from
Sashtri Road, Naihati, but now popular all over the world for his great talent and
contributions in Salsa.
Another famous talented Dancer is dance guru Suman Mukherjee who dances Ballroom
& Latin American Dance in Kolkata. He is also popular for Salsa. Now he teaches in
CALCUTTA SCHOOL OF MUSIC.
Magic and astrology
Kolkata is the magic capital of India and has produced internationally famous magicians
and performers including P. C. Sorcar, P. C. Sorcar, Jr., Manick Sorcar, and P. C. Sorcar
Young. K Lal, Prince Seal and numerous nationally and internationally acclaimed
astrologers. Kolkata hosts the headquarters of the All India Magic Circle.Here also there
are magician like Magician Shamal Kumar.He is the secetary of The Society of Amateur
Magician.
Artists
Artists, painters and sculptors like those of the Tagore family (Gaganendranath,
Abanindranath, Samarendranath, Sunayani Devi, Rabindranath, Rathindranath), Nandalal
Bose, Jamini Roy, Ganesh Pyne, Bikash Bhattacharya, Paritosh Sen,Rabin Mondal,
Paresh Maity, Thankappan Kutty, Chittravanu Majumdar, Chintamoni Kar, Anil Kumar
Dutta, Rathin Mitra, Jogen Chowdhury and M.F. Husain have at some time in their
careers, been associated with Kolkata.
Among the major styles of Art that Bengal is credited for includes the Art of Bengal
School[1], and Kalighat Patachitra.
Scientists
Scientific greats of Kolkata include Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, Sir Prafulla Chandra
Roy, Sir C. V. Raman, Sir K. S. Krishnan, Dr. Megh Nad Saha, Professor Satyendra Nath
Bose, Dr. Sisir Kumar Mitra, Sir Jnan Chandra Ghosh, and Prasanta Chandra
Mahalanobis. The first in-vitro fertilization (to produce test tube baby "Durga") in India
(and second in the world) was performed by city doctor Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay on
October 3, 1978. Prof. Dr. Chhanda Samanta
(http://www.saha.ac.in/cs/chhanda.samanta/), a recipient of the Yamada Science
Foundation Award from Japan, is an experimental nuclear physicist who became the first
Center-Of-Excellence-Professor of the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP),
Osaka University, Japan. Her mass formula for strange and non-strange nuclei is known
as the "Samanta Formula" in literature.
Sports and Miscellaneous records
Summer Olympic medallists
· Norman Pritchard (Athletics - 1900)
· Richard James Allen (Not the same person as the Australian writer, filmmaker,
choreographer and performer of the same name.)
· Leslie Claudius (Field Hockey - 1924, 1928, 1936)
· Gurbux Singh
· Dr. Vece Paes (Field Hockey - 1980)
· Leander Adrian Paes (Olympic Bronze medallist at singles tennis in 1996
Olympics; also Wimbledon and French Open Men's Doubles champion, with
Mahesh Bhupathi; and Mixed Doubles Champion 1999 and Wimbledon Mixed
Doubles Champion 2003, with ace Martina Navratilova). He is also India's
present Davis Cup captain.
International sportspersons
· Sourav Ganguly
· Pankaj Roy
· Gobor Goho (World Amateur Wrestling Championship USA 1900-2)
· Manotosh Roy (former Mr Universe - 1950s)
· Manohar Aich (former Mr. World - 1950s)
· Chandra Hirjee (1958 winner of the inaugural World Amateur Snooker
Championship held at Kolkata. Also Indian Open Billiards Championship winner
in 1946, 47, 56 and 58, runner-up in 1952, 54, 55, 57 and Indian Snooker
Championship runner-up in 1952, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
· Mihir Sen (Guinness Record holder of being the first person to swim across the
English Channel in 1958 and the seven straits across all major continents)
· Jyotirmoyee Sikdar (1998 Asian Games Gold medallist in four events in racing)
· Arjun Atwal
· Dibyendu Barua and Surya Sekhar Ganguly (current FIDE Chess Grandmasters)
· Trans-continental wizards Mohammed Salahuddin Choudhury and his wife
Neena, have the acknowledgement of the Guinness Book of World Records for
the first and fastest circum-navigation of the world by car – under the rules
applicable in 1989 (in a "Contessa Classic" 1989 car) and 1991 (in a Nissan jeep),
and thereby embracing more than an equator's length of driving (40,750 km or
24,901 road miles) in 69 days, 19 hours and 5 minutes in 1989 and in 39 days and
20 hours in 1991 respectively.
· Kolkata has also produced most of the successful footballers of India. Many of the
members of the India Teams which won Gold Medal in Asian Games (1951 and
1962), hailed from Kolkata.
· Bula Chowdhury
· Manoj Tiwary
Sports administrators
· Pankaj Gupta
· Jagmohan Dalmiya

IKF plans Rs 400-cr GDR for biofuel biz

2008-11-08T02:55:00.001-08:00

IKF plans Rs 400-cr GDR for biofuel biz
Sushmi Dey NEW DELHI IKF Technologies is raising Rs 400 crore through global depository receipts (GDRs) to fund its biofuel business besides setting up biodiesel refineries in Gujarat and Meghalaya. The BSE-listed firm is planning to invest Rs 1,200 crore in the bio-fuel business by 2013. “We have received a clearance from Sebi to raise the money through issue of global depository receipts,” IKF Green Fuel president Vishal Rawat said. The company is having interests in information technology, telecom and alternative energy sectors. IKF Green Fuel, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IKF Technologies, is also in the process of acquiring a company in Rajasthan which has more than 10,000 hectares of land under Jatropha plantation, he said. Biodiesel is a variant of the regular petroleumbased diesel where the fuel is doped with a vegetable oil like oil extracted from jathropa. The government is likely to introduce a biodiesel policy soon. For plantation of the biodiesel crop, IKF Green Fuel has adopted three business models—-plantation on government-leased land, company owned land and contract farming. “We plan to cover close to 5 lakh hectares of wasteland under Jatropha cultivation by 2013 and expect to generate atleast Rs 3,000 crore annually from it. The area will be covered under all the three business models,” Mr Rawat said. While the company has already set up a biodiesel refinery with a capacity of 3,000 litre per day at Udaipur in Rajasthan, it has recently signed pre-agreement deals with government of Gujarat and Meghalaya to install commercial refineries.

A DEFINITE MULTIBAGGER FOR 2012

2008-11-08T02:38:00.000-08:00

IKF TECHNOLOGIES

A group of individuals bought a listed company in 2004 and turned it around. The software company they bought, has now expanded into telecom and even into the emerging bio-fuels business. IKF Technologies is today a Rs 180-crore company and growing. In 2004-05, when the company was taken over by Pradeep Dutta and Sunil Kumar Goel, it had a share capital base of Rs 10 crore. Over the last two years, the company has invested in putting together infrastructure and technology, which has paid off. It grew its web development, software and BPO businesses internationally, to Australia and the UK. In 2006, it set up a 31-seat BPO for Tata Teleservices. “The initial couple of years went into restructuring and settling down in the core business,” says Pankaj Garg, director at IKF Technologies, which counts domestic telcos and banks among its clients. Though the promoters realise that they are late entrants in BPO outsourcing, they are looking at new markets. IKF has now set up offices in Germany, Brazil, Dubai and Russia, and is hoping to see growth from these markets over the next two years. The idea of getting into telecom was there since 2006 but “since it was difficult to get a licence at that point in time, it never materialised”, says Garg. But it finally got a Category ‘A’ licence for Internet Service Provider (ISP) by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in January. Since then, it has been busy setting up its network. “We have already spent Rs 4-5 crore, and another Rs 8-9 crore will be spent in the future on developing the network,” informs Garg. As an initial foray in telecom, the company decided to get into VoIP services, a segment, which is not too crowded. That’s how IKF Tel came into being. The company is almost on the verge of launching its VoIP services for the retail market, having already launched the same for enterprise customers. IKF has earmarked $2-3 million for its telecom business, of which, says Garg, $1 million has already been spent over the last one year. IKF expects revenues of Rs 100 crore from its telecom business in the next three years, growing both organically and inorganically. Taking its quest for emerging technologies forward, IKF is into bio-fuels too. “The chairman of the company, Dr RP Singh, who is a former scientist at the Indian Agriculture Research Institute, led us into this field,” says Vishal Rawat, president bio-diesel at IKF Green Fuel. IKF Green Fuel is also planning to get into ethanol, solar and wind energy in the near future. For bio-diesel, though, it has signed an MoU with the government of Madhya Pradesh through which it is seeking 200 hectares of wasteland for jatropha cultivation and will also be setting up an oil extraction plant with an investment of Rs 30 crore. It also engages in contract farming on private wasteland. “We have one refinery already at Udaipur, which can produce 3,000 litres a day but at the moment, it is being used for trial runs. We expect commercial production to start by 2010-11,” says Rawat. Commercial bio-diesel production would need a steady flow of jatropha seeds. To this effect, IKF has 10,000 hectares of jatropha under cultivation, both on leased and owned land. “By 2008-end, we hope to reach the 30,000-40,000 hectares mark,” says Rawat. Meanwhile, research is on for better seeds with agricultural universities and other institutions. The company has been granted permission by the government of India for a GDR issue to raise Rs 500 crore. About Rs 200 crore are already been allocated for IKF Green Fuel, indicating the company’s commitment to the growing sector. It is also exploring JVs in Brazil and South Africa for plantation and extraction there. “We want to be the leader in the bio-fuels market by 2015,” says Rawat.

IKF Tech plans to grow jatropha in Africa-------
IKF Technologies, the country's first corporate jatropha refiner, has formally approached African Governments — Swaziland, Mozambique and South Africa — for permission to cultivate the plant. Armed with detailed project reports, the company has also applied for an area of 50,000 acres of wasteland in each of these countries for organised jatropha farming. Mr Mukesh Kumar Goel, a director of the company, told Business Line that official responses, however, were awaited. According to the company's estimates, the cost of acquiring the land (total 1.5 lakh acres), nursing the plants till the first fruition after 18 months, and setting up crushing facilities would be Rs 3,000 crore. In a phased manner If permissions were obtained, the purchases or acquisition of land through lease and taking up the plantation projects would be done in a phased manner over a long period of time. IKF has sought to own the land in Africa, and prefers not go in for contract farming, Mr Goel explained.
In India, it has opted for the contract-farming model in Rajasthan, where its existing refinery is located, in an area of 5,000 hectares. In Meghalaya, however, IKF cultivates on its own land.
Its refinery was commissioned in March this year. Currently, it is procuring jatropha seeds from the open market since it began farming the plants in Meghalaya roughly 12 months ago.
Though the first flush of seeds takes 18 months, jatropha harvests are available twice a year in the period after maturing. One hectare can accommodate roughly 2,500 plants.
The yield per tree in one harvest, according to thumb rule, is around 3.5 kg and from one kg of seeds, a little over 300 ml of bio-diesel can be had.The company has a one-year renewable technology agreement with Indian Oil Technologies Ltd, a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation, for perfecting mixing grade bio-diesel.
Refinery in Gujarat :
It has proposed to set up another refinery in Gujarat with a capacity of 1 lakh tonnes per annum at a cost of Rs 50 crore.
It has also sought permission for contract farming of jatropha in Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.
In Rajasthan, it has a refinery running with a capacity to produce 3,000 litres a day.
As a Market Analyst,I am strictly recommending this stock.CMP: INR 3.78.It's future prospect is bright.Stock price will definately touch arround INR 200+ in 2012

Multibagger Tips for 2008

2008-02-28T06:15:00.000-08:00

Buy Titagarh Industries.
BackGround:

Titagarh Industries (www.titagarh.biz) located in kolkata, they have spread their business in the following sectors:
Wagon Manufacture,Special Projects ,Heavy Earth Moving & Mining Equipment ,Foundry Division ,Rail Coach ,Special Projects,Heavy Earth Moving & Mining Equipment,Foundry Division ,Rail Coach

Market News:
GE Equipment Services, part of GE India, Monday announced a strategic tie-up with Indian wagon-maker Titagarh Wagons Ltd. (TWL) to develop and upgrade India's railway infrastructure.
GE Equipment Services, which picked up 15 percent equity in Kolkata-based TWL, would also become its preferred provider of vendor financing.
'This partnership would be a major step towards our efforts in increasing our footprint in India. We are going to make many such strategic partnerships and investments that would advance India's infrastructure,' Dhananjay Nalawade, president of GE Equipment Services, told reporters here.
Reiterating the company's vision to become a $8 billion entity by 2010, Nalawade said a major portion of the revenue would be contributed by the Equipment Services business.
'Our alliance with GE is to offer innovative value added proposition to the ultimate customers,' said Umesh Chowdhary, managing director, TWL.
'We would also explore other business opportunities through this tie-up like exporting wagons to other countries where GE already has wagon fleets operating,' Chowdhary added.
Plzz Visit website: http://www.indiaprwire.com/businessnews/20070723/23579.htm

CMP: Rs 37 Target Rs 100 by April'2008
Long term target Rs 300 by End'2008

An article:BUTANOL PRODUCTION FROM AGRICULTURAL BIOMASS -

2008-02-25T03:40:00.000-08:00

Publication Date: October 1, 2005 Abstract only
-->Citation: Qureshi, N., Blaschek, H.P. 2006. Butanol production from agricultural biomass. In: Shetty, K., Paliyath, G., Pometto, A., Levin, R.E., editors. Food Biotechnology. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis. p. 525-549.
Technical Abstract: This is a summary of an invited chapter (Butanol production from agricultural biomass) to be published in "Food Biotechnology." Butanol is an excellent fuel which can be produced from various agricultural products, byproducts, and waste products. These include corn, corn fiber, potato and potato waste, whey permeate, molasses, fruit industry waste, wheat straw, rice husk, corn stalk, etc. The chapter details suitable substrates that can be used effectively using various butanol producing cultures (including Clostribium acetobutylicum, C. beijerinskii, etc.). It also details various upstream processing steps that are necessary prior to butanol fermentation. In addition, technologies that may make butanol fermentation economically viable have been discussed. Other aspects such as recovery of butanol using economically viable techniques, process integration, genetics of C. beijerinskii, and sugar transport in butanol producing culture(s) have also been discussed.

B100 – B100 is another name for pure biodiesel.

2008-02-25T03:35:00.000-08:00

Biodiesel – Biodiesel is a biofuel produced from various feedstocks including vegetable oils (such as oilseed, rapeseed and soya bean), animal fats or algae. Biodiesel can be blended with diesel for use in diesel engine vehicles.

Bio Diesel Terminology:

2008-02-25T03:31:00.000-08:00

Here I posted some terminologies used in bio-diesel Process:

Algae – Algae are primitive plants, usually aquatic, capable of synthesising their own food by photosynthesis. Algae is currently being investigated as a possible feedstock for producing biodiesel

Biobutanol – Biobutanol is an advantaged biofuel that offers a number of benefits over conventional biofuels. For example, biobutanol has an energy content closer to that of petroleum so consumers face less of a compromise on fuel economy. It can easily be added to conventional petrol due to low vapour pressure and can be blended at higher concentrations than bioethanol for use in standard vehicle engines. DuPont and BP are working together on a major project to produce biobutanol
Biodiesel – Biodiesel is a biofuel produced from various feedstocks including vegetable oils (such as oilseed, rapeseed and soya bean), animal fats or algae. Biodiesel can be blended with diesel for use in diesel engine vehicles.
Biofuel – The term biofuel applies to any solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel produced from organic (once-living) matter. The word biofuel covers a wide range of products, some of which are commercially available today, and some of which are still in research and development.
Biomass – Biomass is biological material, including corn, switchgrass, and oilseed crops, that can be converted into fuel
Bioreactor – A bioreactor is a vessel in which a chemical process occurs. This usually involves organisms or biochemically active substances derived from such organisms
BTL – BTL, or biomass-to-liquid,is a multi-step process which converts biomass into liquid biofuels. BTL is also referred to as second generation biodiesel production. There are many different methods of BTL, but many processes include Fischer-Tropsch, hydrogenation or pyrolysis.
By-product – A by-product is a substance, other than the principal product, generated as a consequence of creating a biofuel. For example, a by-product of biodiesel production is glycerine and a by-product of bioethanol production is DDGS
Catalyst – A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction, without being consumed or produced by the reaction. Enzymes are catalysts for many biochemical reactions.
Cetane number – The cetane number is a measure of biodiesel’s combustion quality
Conventional biofuels - Conventional biofuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel are typically made from corn, sugarcane and beet, wheat or oilseed crops such as soy and rape.

DDGS – DDGS, or dried distillers grain with solubles is a by-product of dry mill ethanol production that is fed to livestock.
Emissions: Emissions are classed as any waste substances released into the air or water.
Enzyme: An enzyme is a protein or protein-based molecule that speeds up chemical reactions occurring in living things. Enzymes act as catalysts for a single reaction, converting a specific set of reactants into specific products.
FAME – FAME, or fatty acid methyl ester can be created by a catalysed reaction between fatty acids and methanol. The molecules in biodiesel are primarily FAMEs, usually obtained from vegetable oils by transesterification.
Fatty acid: A fatty acid is a carboxylic acid (an acid with a -COOH group) with long hydrocarbon side chains. Feedstocks are first converted to fatty acids and then to biodiesel
Feedstock – A feedstock is any biomass resource destined for conversion to energy or biofuel. For example, corn is a feedstock for ethanol production, soybean oil may be a feedstock for biodiesel and cellulosic biomass has the potential to be a significant feedstock source for biofuels.
Fischer-Tropsch – Fischer-Tropsch is one method of producing biodiesel, from natural gas or syngas from gasified coal or biomass
Fuel - A fuel is described as any material with one type of energy that can be converted to another usable energy.

Glycerine- Glycerine is a liquid by-product of biodiesel production. Glycerine is used in the manufacture of dynamite, cosmetics, liquid soaps, inks, and lubricants.
GTL – GTL, or gas to liquid, is a refinery process which converts natural gas into longer-chain hydrocarbons. Gas can be converted to liquid fuels via a direct conversion or using a process such as Fischer-Tropsch.
Iodine value – An iodine value is a measure of the number of unsaturated carbon-carbon double bonds in a vegetable oil molecule. In liquid biofuel applications this gives a lower cold filter plugging point (CFPP) or cloud point. While this makes it good for use in cooler temperatures, double bonds can allow polymerisation, leading to the formation of lacquers and possibly blockage and damage to engine or fuel train components

Jatropha - Jatropha is a non-edible evergreen shrub found in Asia, Africa and the West Indies. Its seeds contain a high proportion of oil which can be used for making biodiesel.

Methanol – Methanol is an alcohol containing one carbon atom per molecule, generally made from natural gas, with about half the energy density of petroleum. Methanol is used as a component in the transesterification of triglycerides to give a form of biodiesel.
MTBE – MTBE, or methyl tertiary-butyl ether, is created from methanol and can increase octane and decrease the volatility of petroleum. It is often used as a petroleum additive because it raises the oxygen content of the fuel.
Nitrogen Oxides – Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) are a product of photochemical reactions of nitric oxide in ambient air, and are one type of emission produces from fuels.
Octane number - The octane rating of a fuel is indicated on the pump. The higher the number, the slower the fuel burns. Bioethanol typically adds two to three octane numbers when blended with ordinary petroleum – making it a cost-effective octane-enhancer.

Palm oil – Palm oil is a form of vegetable oil obtained from the fruit of the oil palm tree. It is a widely used feedstock The palm oil and palm kernel oil are composed of fatty acids, esterified with glycerol just like any ordinary fat. Palm oil is a widely used feedstock for traditional biodiesel production.
Petroleum - Petroleum refers to any petroleum-based substance comprising of a complex blend of hydrocarbons derived from crude oil through the process of separation, conversion, upgrading, and finishing, including motor fuel, jet oil, lubricants, petroleum solvents, and used oil.
Pyrolysis – Pyrolysis is one method of converting biomass into biodiesel, using heat.
Pyrolysis oil – Pyrolysis oil is a bio-oil produced by fast pyrolysis of biomass. It is a dark brown, mobile liquid containing much of the energy content of the original biomass, with a heating value about half that of conventional fuel oil. Conversion of raw biomass to pyrolysis oil represents a considerable increase in energy density and it can thus represent a more efficient form in which to transport it.
Rapeseed - Rapeseed (Brassica napus), also known as rape, oilseed rape or (one particular artificial variety) canola, is a bright yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family). Rapeseed is a tradition feedstock used for biodiesel production.
RTFO – RTFO, or the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation, is a UK policy that places an obligation on fuel suppliers to ensure that a certain percentage of their aggregate sales is made up of biofuels. The effect of this will be to require 5% of all UK fuel sold on UK forecourts to come from a renewable source by 2010.

Second generation biofuels – Although definitions vary, second generation biofuels are usually considered to be biofuels produced from biomass or non-edible feedstocks.
Syngas – Syngas is a mixture of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2) which is the product of high temperature gasification of organic material such as biomass. Following clean-up to remove any impurities such as tars, synthesis gas (syngas) can be used to synthesise organic molecules such as synthetic natural gas (SNG - methane (CH4)) or liquid biofuels such as synthetic diesel (via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis).
Switchgrass – Switchgrass is native to the US and known for its hardiness and rapid growth. It is often cited as a potentially abundant second generation feedstock for ethanol
Tallow – Tallow is another name for animal fat, which can be used as a feedstock for biodiesel production.
Transesterification – The name biodiesel has been given to transesterified vegetable oil to describe its use as a diesel fuel. The transesterification process involves mixing at room temperature methanol (50% excess) with NaOH (100% excess), then mixing vigorously with vegetable oil and letting the glycerol settle (about 15% of the biodiesel mix). The supernatant is biodiesel and contains a mixture of methylated fatty acids and methanol.

VOC –VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, are air pollutants found in engine exhaust. Bioethanol helps reduce VOC emissions.

Yeast – Yeast is any of various single-cell fungi capable of fermenting carbohydrates. Bioethanol is produced by fermenting sugars with yeast.

BioDiesel Events details

2008-02-25T03:29:00.000-08:00

FEBRUARY
18-19
Bioenergy Europe
London, UK

21-22
Biofuels India 2008
New Delhi, India

25-27
13th Annual National Ethanol Conference
Florida, US

26-27
StocExpo Russia and the Baltic
Helsinki, Finland

28-29
China Biodiesel 2008: Feedstock & Markets
Beijing, China

MARCH
4-6
Washington International Renewable Energy Conference
Washington, US

10-13
3rd Annual African Biofuels
South Africa

11-12
The European Fuels Conference
Paris, France

12-14
World Biofuels Markets Congress and Exhibition
Brussels, Belgium

13-14
Biofuel - A New Market Niche
Riga, Latvia

27-28
Biofuels Asia 2008
Bangkok, Thailand

31-4
ERTC Biofuels and Conference
Brussels, Belgium

APRIL
1-3
StocExpo Europe
Rotterdam, the Netherlands

2-4
Biofuels Ukraine
Kyiv, Ukraine

7-8
Platts Ethanol in Europe
Berlin, Germany

8-10
Biofuel Summit & Expo
St Petersburg, Russia

22-24
Biofuel Summit & Expo Espana
Madrid, Spain

24-26
RENEXPO Central and South-East Europe 2008
Budapest, Hungary

27-29
2008 Asia International New Energy Technology & Equipment Exhibition
Beijing, China

27-30
5th Annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing
Chicago, US

28-30
Bioenergy 2008
Bangkok, Thailand

MAY
11-14
Alternative Fuels & Vehicles National Conference & Expo
Las Vegas, US

19-21
Renewable Energy Finance and Investment Summit
Arizona, US

27-29
World Bioenergy 2008: Conference & Exhibition
Jonkoping, Sweden

JUNE
2-6
16th European Biomass Conference & Exhibition
Valencia, Spain

3-5
BioEnergy Conference and Exhibition 2008
British Columbia, Canada

4-5
Biofuels International Expo & Conference
The Ahoy, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

10-11
World Biofuels Forum 2008
Prague, Czech Republic

10-11
Clean Fuels 2008
Warsaw, Poland

16-19
Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo
Tennessee, US

JULY
9-11
BioFuels World 2008 Conference & Expo
Yokohama, Japan

AUGUST
21-23
Renewable Energy India 2008 Expo
New Delhi, India

SEPTEMBER
15-17
Alternative Energy Sources & Technologies
Boston, Massachusetts, US

27-30
World Congress on Oils & Fats
Australia

OCTOBER
1-4
4th International expo: biofuel industry & technology
Rome, Italy

15-16
StocExpo Asia
Singapore

21-23
Biofuels Summit & Expo
Buenos Aires, Argentina

NOVEMBER
5-8
Biofuels Summit & Expo
Rimini, Italy

DECEMBER
2-3
StocExpo South America
Sao Paulo, Brazil

Renewable energy in India: status and future prospects

2008-02-25T03:22:00.000-08:00

Introduction
India is a developing and fast-growing large economy and faces a great challenge to meet its energy needs in a responsible and sustainable manner. India's task is to provide energy to over 600,000 human settlements, spread over 300,000 square km of territory, with a population of over one billion which is still growing, but expected to stabilise at around 1.6 billion during the next 40 years. The total primary energy supply in India has grown at a compound rate of around 3.4 per cent since independence to reach 537.7Mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalent) in the year 2005 (IEA 2007). While commercial primary energy grew at 5.3 per cent over the period, non-commercial energy grew at only 1.6 per cent, which is a reflection of industrialisation. As a result, the share of commercial energy grew from 28 per cent in 1950 to around 70 per cent in 2004 with an associated decline of non-commercial energy.
In 2005, India accounted for 4.7 per cent of the world's primary energy supply. Per capita energy consumption was just 27 per cent of the world average at slightly over 500kg oil equivalent.
Electric power
India accounted for 3.1 per cent of the world's electricity consumption in 2005 with an installed capacity of 135,780 MW as of September 2007. Of this, 87,200 MW is accounted for by thermal power plants, 34,200 MW by large hydro plants, 4,100 MW by nuclear, and the balance from renewable sources. The consumption of electricity in India rose from 4,157 GWh in 1950 to 38,6134 GWh in 2004/05. The per capita consumption was 612 kWh in 2004/05 as against 329 kWh in 1990 (CEA). Despite the significant growth in electricity generation, shortage of power continues to exist primarily due to the growth in power demand outstripping the growth in generation and generating capacity addition. In May 2007, the country experienced an estimated eight per cent energy shortage and 12.3 per cent shortage of peaking power. Even so, the 2001 census recorded 12 .5 per cent of urban households and 56.5 per cent of rural households as still unelectrified.
Modern energy provision
One of India's major challenges is to provide a large proportion of the country's population with access to modern energy sources. Around 86 per cent of rural households and more than 20 per cent of urban households still rely primarily on traditional fuels, such as firewood, wood chips or dung cakes, to meet their cooking needs. The use of traditional fuels can cause health problems arising from indoor air pollution. Only five per cent and 2.7 per cent of rural households use LPG and kerosene respectively as a primary cooking fuel whereas 44 per cent and 22 per cent of urban households uses LPG and kerosene respectively. With low standards of living, ie below the per-person-a-day International Poverty Line of US$2, at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) rates of about 75 per cent population, the task of providing modern energy services becomes severely compounded. This has resulted in low levels of per capita energy and electricity consumption on account of low levels of purchasing power.
Projections made by the Integrated Energy Policy Committee of the Planning Commission have estimated that in order to meet the projected GDP growth of eight per cent per annum by 2031-2032, the demand for primary energy will increase to 1,836Mtoe representing almost a four fold increase since 2003-04. Commercial energy requirements would also be around 1,651Mtoe, which is an approximate five fold increase since the year 2003-04.
Renewable energy
India intends to provide a reliable energy supply through a diverse and sustainable fuel mix that addresses major national drivers. These include security concerns, commercial exploitation of renewable power potential, eradication of energy poverty, ensuring availability and affordability of energy supply and preparing the nation for imminent energy transition.
The country has an estimated renewable energy potential of around 85,000 MW from commercially exploitable sources: Wind, 45,000 MW; small hydro, 15,000 MW and biomass/bioenergy, 25,000 MW. In addition, India has the potential to generate 35 MW per square km using solar photovoltaic and solar thermal energy.
Grid-interactive renewable power
By March 2007, renewable electricity, excluding hydro above 25 MW installed capacity, has contributed 10,243 MW representing 7.7 per cent of total electricity installed capacity. There has been phenomenal progress in wind power and, with an installed capacity of over 7,100 MW, India occupies the fourth position globally.
Decentralised and stand alone renewable electricity systems
Over 3,000 remote and inaccessible villages and hamlets have been provided with basic electricity services through distributed renewable power systems. In addition, over 75 MW biomass based gasification systems in the capacity range of 10-100 kW are in use for small scale industrial applications and electrification purposes. Finally, over 1.3 million solar home lighting systems, including lanterns and street lights have been set up in different parts of the country.
Heat energy for cooking purposes
Since the 1970s, around 3.9 million family-type biogas plants have been set up to provide clean cooking energy options in rural areas. Biogas based cooking in rural areas has made cooking a pleasure with associated social and environmental benefits including zero indoor pollution.
Process heat for domestic, industrial and commerical purposes
Use of solar thermal systems has started gaining momentum, with a solar collector area of 1.9 million sq metres already installed to meet these needs.
Liquid biofuels for transport applications
The large scale development of biofuels, including straight vegetable oil (SVO), biodiesel and bioethanol is still in its infancy. In 2004 around 0.1Mtoe ethanol was used for blending with petrol. Biodiesel use is still negligible. However, a policy framework for blending five per cent ethanol with petrol and the development of a biodiesel programme, based on non-edible oil, has been developed.
Renewable outlook
The Integrated Energy Policy Report of the Planning Commission of India has observed that the contribution of modern renewables to India's energy mix by 2031-32, excluding large hydro, would be around five-six per cent. However, our estimates indicate that by 2032, renewable power capacity, excluding large hydro could contribute up to 10 per cent of the total electricity generation in the country. About 25,000 remote villages could be provided with basic electricity services through renewable and seven per cent of the rural population would meet its cooking energy needs through biogas and other modern renewable energy systems. With focused biofuel programme, around seven to 10 per cent of oil needs could be met through biofuels. While this figure appears small, the distributed nature of renewables can provide many socioeconomic benefits. Further, its impact in abating greenhouse gas emissions would be significant. Widespread deployment of renewable systems would also create significant employment potential for unskilled and semi-skilled workers.
Regulatory framework
India has been pursuing a three-fold strategy for the promotion of renewables:
Providing budgetary support for research, development and demonstration of technologies.
Facilitating institutional finance from various financial institutions.
Promoting private investment through fiscal incentives, tax holidays, depreciation allowance and remunerative returns for power fed into the grid.
India's renewable energy programme is primarily private sector driven and offers significant investment and business opportunities. A large domestic manufacturing base has been established in the country for renewable energy systems and products. The annual turnover of the renewable energy industry, including the power generating technologies for wind and other sources, has reached a level of over US$10 billion. Companies investing in these technologies are eligible for fiscal incentives, tax holidays, depreciation allowance and remunerative returns for power fed into the grid. Further, the Government is encouraging foreign investors to set up renewable power projects on a ‘build, own and operate' basis with 100 per cent foreign direct investment.
The most important legislative development which has stimulated the recent growth in renewable power is the Electricity Act of 2003. The Act recognises the role of renewable energy technologies for supplying power to the utility grid as well as in stand alone systems. The Act also has several provisions favourable for renewable power, including rural electrification. Its most important feature, however, is its empowerment of the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) to promote renewable energy and to specify a percentage of the total consumption of electricity in the area of a distribution licence that will be purchased from renewable energy sources. This is considered a major boost for renewable energy promotion in India.
Renewable energy and climate change
India's first National Communication (2004) reveals that the energy sector accounts for around 61 per cent of total national emissions. For fossil fuels, coal combustion had a dominant share of emissions, amounting to around 64 per cent of all energy emissions. With regard to India's emissions trajectory, the Integrated Energy Policy Report of the Planning Commission has observed that "Since GHG emissions are directly linked to economic activity, India's economic growth will necessarily involve increases in GHG emissions from the current extremely low levels. Any constraints on the emissions of GHG by India, whether direct, by way of emissions targets, or indirect, will reduce growth rates, and impair pollution abatement efforts."
Due to its vast market potential for renewable energy projects, and a relatively well developed industrial, financing and business infrastructure, India is perceived as an excellent country for developing Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. As such, India has emerged as one of the most favoured destinations for CDM projects globally, with renewable energy projects having the major share. National renewable energy plans offer ample opportunity for CDM projects and technological innovations, such as biogas for transport application, offer new areas for project development.
Technology concerns
The feasibility of a larger application of renewable energy, to that of the present assessments, would depend on how rapidly costs decline and efficiencies increase. As a result, research and technology development have been accorded high priority in the national renewable energy programme and mission mode research has been planned for developing solar, bioenergy and hydrogen technologies. India encourages international cooperation in renewable energy R&D, through well defined projects with proper division of labour and responsibilities for specific tasks with equitable financial burden and credit sharing arrangements. Bilateral, as well as multilateral, scientific and technological cooperation agreements could provide a framework for such R&D activities.
Technology plays a central role in addressing climate change issues. In this context there is a need to treat renewable energy technologies as a ‘global common' in the medium term. To begin with these technologies could be placed in the public domain and joint research and development projects could be taken up between the institutions of developed and developing countries. Technology transfer costs could be fixed at no-profit level and the expenditure to be incurred in these acquisitions could be made from a global funds under climate change mechanisms.
Conclusion
Indian efforts for promoting renewable energy are in harmony with global concerns. India's strategies focus on:
Working towards lowering the relative price of new and renewable power technologies through a continuous and focused research and development effort.
Improving access to reliable, affordable, economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound energy services and resources.
The approach in India matches the global aim of ushering in a carbon free economy; an economy based on a fuel mix mainly provided by the green or renewable energy technologies.
For India, new and renewable energy development and deployment is of great importance from the point of view of long term energy supply security, decentralisation of energy supply particularly for the benefit of the rural population, environmental benefits and sustainability. In this context, the Indian renewable energy programme is a goal-oriented effort to meet the country's energy requirement in an environmentally sound way.
Author
Presently, Secretary to the Government of India since February 2006, Shri Subramanian was a commerce graduate of the University of Madras and a qualified banker who started his career as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate at Kalna and Barrackpore in the State of West Bengal. He moved to the Government of India in 1983 as Deputy Secretary, Department of Expenditure and was a Director in the Department of Economic Affairs during 1985-89. In 1990 he went on a Commonwealth assignment as Adviser on Loan and Grant Management to the Government of Mozambique. On his return to West Bengal, he was Power Secretary and Labour Secretary in the State Government.
Organisation
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is the nodal Ministry of the Government of India at the Federal level for all matters relating to new and renewable energy. The Ministry has been facilitating the implementation of broad spectrum programmes including harnessing renewable power, renewable energy to rural areas for lighting, cooking and motive power, use of renewable energy in urban, industrial and commercial applications and development of alternate fuels and applications. In addition, it supports research, design and development of new and renewable energy technologies, products and services.
Enquiries
Ministry of New and Renewable EnergyBlock-14, CGO ComplexLodhi Road, New Delhi-110 003India

HOPE IN JATROPHA

2008-02-25T03:11:00.000-08:00

Editor's Note: Critics of biofuel point out the energy and water necessary to produce the feedstock often can exceed the energy value of the fuel produced. But these studies usually ignore the value of the plant mass as animal feed or fertilizer, once the fuel has been extracted. Another valid concern is the tradeoff between using land to grow food and using land to grow fuel. But what if a plant used to extract biofuel grew on marginal land, that was unable to support crops? What if this plant required minimal water and fertilizer inputs?
Jatropha, also known as the Physic Nut, is a plant which may hold such promise. Able to tolerate arid climates, rapidly growing, useful for a variety of products, Jatropha can yield up to two tons of biodiesel fuel per year per hectare. Put another way, Jatropha can yield about 1,000 barrels of oil per year per square mile. In such quantities, Jatropha, like biofuels in general, cannot become a replacement for oil. But Jatropha requires minimal inputs, stablizes or even reverses desertification, and has use for a variety of products after the biofuel is extracted. Moreover, diesel fuel with biodiesel additives causes far less pollution.
Biofuel is not the ultimate solution to the energy challenges facing India or the world. But it is part of the solution, especially when it not only stretches finite supplies of conventional fuel, but restores the land it grows on, does not displace more viable agricultural land, and requires minimal water inputs.
As energy demand increases,
the global supply of fossil fuels decreases, causing inflation, instability and war; the emissions from fossil fuels cause immediate harm to human health and contribute to the greenhouse effect, and, deforestation and the destruction of agricultural lands threaten to turn this Earth into a desert, bit by bit. There is no doubt that the end of the fossil fuel age is not far off.
Then what? How can we combat desertification, reduce the need for oil, and help heal the present wounds in the environment, all in one stroke?

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul KalamPresident of India
A visionary scientist among politicians, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the president of India, sees an answer in biofuel. In a recent Presidential address he recognized biofuel, and specifically the plant jatropha, as worthy of mention. Discussing the national problems of water scarcity and drought, he stated that "India needs to grow jatropha to tackle dry land and generate bio-diesel."
India is particularly well-suited for the honor of heralding in a green alternative fuel because of its:
(1) Estimated 50 to 130 million hectares of wastelands-- saline lands (from mining), degraded forests, and other land unavailable for agricultural use due to overfarming;
(2) Resulting shifting sand dunes and continuing process of desertification;
(3) Fastest growing population rate in the world -- increasing the need for food, energy, and employment;
(4) Rural/agricultural population of over 70%: biofuel screw presses are simple to make, and can be produced and maintained by a village blacksmith
(5) Huge national crude oil bill-- second only to defense spending;
(6) Constant battle with drought and shortages of water and electricity;
(7) Warm climate, agreeable both to growing biofuels and running engines that use them.

Indian Council of ForestryResearch & Education
R. P. S. Katwal, Director General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, said that the Union government had drawn up a blueprint to plant Jatropha trees on 50,000 hectares at a cost of Rs 1,430,000. "Biofuels are gaining importance in the light of increasing energy demand, especially fossil fuels which are non-renewable. Biofuels are renewable, biodegradable, non-hazardous and safer for air, water and soil and its use reduces the emission of greenhouse gases."
Other projects are funded from abroad, like the proposed $2.5 million pilot project in Hyderabad, Rajasthan, which will produce 10 tons of biodiesel per day. Raw oils from Pongamia, Jatropha, and other trees will be sourced from local farmers who are expected to be the major beneficiaries. The German Development Corporation (GTZ) is currently working with the promoters, Southern Biofuels Pvt. Ltd., to prepare a detailed project proposal for possible funding by German companies and the German government.

German Development Corporation
Daimler Chrysler and Hohenheim University (also German) are conducting a research project in two different climatic zones of India. Each plantation will consist of 20 hectares of jatropha trees planted on wastelands-- one caused by industrialization and the other by natural soil erosion. Other aspects include test vehicles and research laboratories. After the five-year research period, it is hoped that the plantations will become self-sustaining, profitable enterprises.
The current rate of Indian development of biofuels, particularly biodiesel, is just a drop in the bucket when compared to its potential. If 10 million hectares (100,000 square kilometers or 38,000 square miles) of India's vast and sometimes destructive wastelands were used for biodiesel production, with a modest estimate of 1.5 tons of seeds per hectare, 4 million tons of biodiesel would be produced-- one tenth of the country's annual oil requirement. If one person was employed per hectare, that would mean 10 million new jobs. And, for use or sale, 11 million tons of organic seedcake fertilizer or livestock feed and 0.4 million tons of technical grade glycerol would be produced.
Ethanol is the most widely used biofuel in the world; technological advances have lowered the cost of its production and processing. Brazil boasts one of the largest green fuel programs in existence: petrol-only engines have been banned and replaced by engines that use pure ethanol or a 78-22 petrol-ethanol blend. The shift has greatly benefit Brazil environmentally and economically, creating employment and reducing the need for foreign oil. Its hot, wet climate is well-suited to the production of sugarcane (from which ethanol is made), and farmers especially have profited.
India is also one of the biggest worldwide producers of sugarcane, but its constant struggle with water shortages in many areas makes growing this crop problematic. However, due to overproduction, sugar prices crashed, and there are actually stockpiles of sugar and spoilt food grain which have no use. These can be used to make ethanol.
Since January 2003, a minimum 5% ethanol blend in petrol has been mandatory in India in nine states and four Union territories. By 2005, the ethanol content should reach 10%. Undoubtedly, ethanol is an important biofuel for petrol engines, but its potential is limited in India due to the high amounts of water required for its production.
Jatropha trees grow on land too poor and arid to support food crops
Jatropha curcas, also known as physic nut, is unique among biofuels. Although oil can be extracted from over 80 known plant species, jatropha is currently the first choice for biodiesel. Per hectare, yields vary from 0.5 to 12 tons/year depending on soil and rainfall conditions (Makkar and Becker, 1999). An average of about 5 tons of seeds per hectare can be produced under optimum conditions. The oil content of the seed is 55-60%, which can be converted into biodiesel by transesterification. An annual yield of 0.75 to 2 tons of biodiesel could be expected per hectare from the fifth year onwards (Fiodl and Eder, 1997).
What makes Jatropha especially attractive to India is that it is a drought-resistant and can grow in saline, marginal and even otherwise infertile soil, requiring little water and maintenance. It is hearty and easy to propagate-- a cutting taken from a plant and simply pushed into the ground will take root. It grows 5 to 10 feet high, and is capable of stabilizing sand dunes, acting as a windbreak and combating desertification. It has been most successful in the drier regions of the tropics with annual rainfall of 300-1000 mm. It grows naturally at lower altitudes (0-500 m) in areas with average annual temperatures well above 200C, but can grow at higher altitudes and tolerate slight frost.
Jatropha naturally repels both animals and insects-- it can be planted along the circumference of farms to protect other crops. Jatropha seedcakes, produced as a by-product of pressing the oil, make an excellent organic fertilizer or protein-rich livestock feed, and another by-product is glycerine. The plant lives, producing seeds, for over 50 years.
Jatropha cuttings quickly take root
Other parts of the plant are also useful: dark blue dye and wax can be produced from the bark, the stem can be used as a poor quality wood, and the roots help in making yellow dye. The flowers of Jatropha curcas and the Jatropha stem have well-known medicinal properties, and the leaves can be used for dressing wounds. All these things can be used, or sold.
Alternate uses of the oil include varnishes, illuminants, soap, organic insecticide, and medicine for skin diseases, cancer, piles, snakebite, paralysis, dropsy and more.
The Indian Supreme Court has recently banned the use of undiluted petrodiesel for commercial vehicles in Delhi due to its adverse effects on health, and other cities are reported to have followed suit.
As compared to petrodiesel, biodiesel almost completely eliminates lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions. It reduces emission of particulate matter by 40-65%, unburned hydrocarbons by 68%, carbon monoxide by 44-50%, sulphates by 100%, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by 80%, and the carcinogenic nitrated PAHs by 90% on an average. The biodiesel molecules are simple hydrocarbon chains free of the aromatic substances and sulfur associated with fossil fuels.
Although biodiesel does produce more NOx emissions than petrodiesel, these emissions can be reduced through the use of catalytic converters. In petrodiesel vehicles, catalytic converters have generally not been included because the sulfur in the fuel destroys them, but biodiesel does not contain sulfur.
According to most sources, biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine or burner without adaptation. It has a higher cetane number of biodiesel compared to petrodiesel, indicating potential for higher engine performance and causing less knocking. Tests have shown that biodiesel has similar or better fuel consumption, horsepower, and torque and haulage rates than conventional diesel; the use of biodiesel complements the working of the catalysator and can help a current EURO-1 motor attain the EURO-111 standards.
Jatropha planted around farms can repel animals, incects & wind
It is true that, because of the solvent power of biodiesel, especially older engines or machines can get clogged, but this is because the biodiesel is actually cleaning it, dissolving the residues left by petrodiesel. Rubber gaskets and hoses in vehicles made prior to 1992 may also be degraded, and need to be replaced. Engine efficiency is also increased by its superior lubricating properties, and the more complete combustion of hydrocarbons due to its higher oxygen content (up to 10%). Finally, biofuel is safer to store because of its higher flash point.
One noteworthy drawback of especially undiluted biodiesel (BD100) is its cold-clogging point of 0 degrees Celsius. This is one of the reasons it is usually mixed with conventional diesel, especially in cold countries. This is not a problem, however, in most of India, except in winter in the higher altitudes of the Himalayas.
The argument that biofuels are not energy efficient, due to the oil used to irrigate, fertilize and plow the land is irrelevant in the case of jatropha-- both irrigation and fertilization are generally unnecessary, or its own seedcakes can be used as fertilizer. The energy efficiency of the current agricultural and industrial production process is reported (in Nicaragua) to be between 1:3.75 and 1:5.
Another common objection to biomass energy production is that it could divert agricultural production away from food crops in a hungry world. Using wastelands, however, instead of farmlands, solves the "food or fuel" dilemma-- these lands are unsuitable for growing other crops. Also, if a biofuel like jatropha is grown, drought and water shortages which would ruin food crops can be survived; if grown in addition to food crops, as mentioned above, it can literally protect them from animals, insects and desertification, and its seedcakes can be used as fertilizer.
Once fuel is extracted from Jatropha, the remaining plant mass is useful as fertilizer and animal feed
The most difficult problem is, as always, cost. In remote areas, where fossil fuels are not readily available, biodiesel is already a feasible alternative, especially considering wasteland reclamation, rural employment and income generation from jatropha biodiesel and its by-products. This is important to consider in India, where electricity is always in short supply-- biodiesel can power generators, lights and farm equipment as well as cars. On the current global market, however, biodiesel generally cannot directly compete with petrodiesel, at least not yet.
The main reason for this is that biodiesel is not being produced on a large scale. The industry is a fragmented network of small companies whose costs and prices are high. Two British biodiesel companies, however, found a solution by listing their company names on the stock market in order to fund large, efficient production facilities, and passing the savings on to consumers. In other parts of the world as well, as production increases, the cost differential of biofuels is decreasing steadily.
Ironically, the first diesel engine ever made, in 1893, was powered by peanut oil-- a biofuel. By the 1920's the petroleum industry had all but eliminated the biofuel infrastructure and usurped the market with petrodiesel because it was cheaper to produce. Even then, the engine's inventor, Rudolf Diesel, maintained that "the use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today, but such oils may become, in the course of time, as important as petroleum and the coal-tar products of the present time."
Now, almost a century later, the world has no choice but to listen or perish in pollution and war. As time goes by and global reserves of fossil fuels shrink, the biofuel industries have to grow up fast, and India is in a good position to step up to the opportunity. The government should give tax concessions or other financial incentives to biofuels companies and consumers to speed up the progress, and urge other nations to do the same. With biofuels, we can help heal and preserve the air, the land, our own physical health and peace.
Brook and Gaurav Bhagat are writers and independent filmmakers based in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.

Strategies and institutional mechanisms for large scale cultivation of Jatropha curcas under agroforestry in the context of the proposed biofuel polic

2008-02-25T02:52:00.000-08:00

Strategies and institutional mechanisms for large scale cultivation of Jatropha curcas under agroforestry in the context of the proposed biofuel policy of India. by
Prodyut Bhattacharya and Bharati Joshi,\
Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, India.

Abstract :This paper analyses strategies and institutional mechanisms for taking up large scale Jatropha cultivation under various agro forestry combinations. It stresses the fact that such an initiative besides being in tune with the country's proposed biofuel policy, would also generate additional sources of income and employment for the country's rural populace. This would add to the ecological benefits derived in form of soil and water conservation and improved microclimate for crop production in areas where Jatropha would be planted.Published in ENVIS bulletin on Grassland Ecosystems and Agroforestry 1(2): pages 58-72

Background : India is the second most populous country of the world and meeting its energy requirements in a sustainable manner continues to be a major challenge. India produces only about 30% of its annual crude oil requirement of 105 MT, relying on imports to the tune of Rs. 90,000 crores for meeting the remaining requirement.Needless to say, the oil import bill has serious consequences for the Indian economy. In this scenario, giving biofuels a serious consideration as potential energy sources of the future is the most logical step. Already, in the developed countries of the world, such as the US, Australia, Germany and France, biodiesel is being extracted from plants like saffola, sunflower, soyabean, etc, which are essentially edible in India. Our country also provides favourable climatic conditions to harbour a vast resource of non-edible or wild-seed crops like Jatropha curcas (Ratanjot), Pongamia pinnata (Karanj) and Madhuca indica (Mahua). From the seeds of these species oil can be derived and developed as biodiesel depending on site-specific requirements. But commercial cultivation of these plants specifically for this use is yet to begin.The backdrop for brain storming on the agenda of biofuels has rightly been provided by the 10th Five-year Plan Document of the Government of India that views biofuels from the multi dimensional perspective of depleting fossil fuel resources, environmental health, National energy security and rural employment avenues.The document proposes to cultivate Jatropha on 5 million hecters of degraded waste lands of the country. Over 200 districts in 19 potential States of the country have been identified on the basis of waste lands availability, rural poverty ratio and agro climatic conditions for taking up Jatropha cultivation.A consultation workshop held at the Indian Institute of Science (IIS), Bangalore on 30 November 2002 set the ball rolling by initiating brain storming over the potential of biofuels among multiple stake holders. The deliberations of this consultation fed into the Draft National Biofuel Policy (SUTRA 2003) prepared for the All India Seminar on National Policy for Non-Edible Oils as Biofuels, held at the IIS during 1-2 February 2003. The draft policy rightly identifies the following key issues to justify the need to promote biofuels and to have a National Policy in this regard:
There is a long-standing need to increase India's self-sufficiency in oil for both fuel security and for reducing the country's oil import bill that cost us Rs. 96,000 crore in the year 2000.
It is high time to harness the potential offered by biofuels extracted from non edible oilseeds, such as Jatropha curcas and Pongamia pinnata.
Biofuel development venture can be decentralised and small industries can be located even in the rural areas, thus, increasing opportunities for rural income generation and employment.
With over 65% of the country's agriculture-dependent population residing in villages, there is vast potential for utilising the non edible oilseeds. cake (left after oil extraction) as organic manure cum insecticide.
Biofuels are free from the environmental concerns haunting fossil fuel combustion as they do not pollute the air. Rather, the biofuel producing plants sequester carbon from the atmosphere. That biofuel is an instrument of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and will add a feather to India's cap, the country being a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol.
Focusing on one of the potential biodiesel yielding plants, i.e., Jatropha curcas here, it is a wild growing hardy plant well adapted to harsh conditions of soil and climate. It is adapted to a wide range of climates and soils and can grow on almost any type of soil, even on the poorest stony soils and rock crevices. Its water requirement is extremely low and it can withstand long periods of drought by shedding most of its leaves to reduce transpiration losses. It is easily propagated by seeds or cuttings and grows rapidly. It may be cut or lopped at any desired height and is suited as a hedge plant. In India, J. curcas is found in almost all the states and is generally grown as a live fence for protection of agricultural fields. The beans of Jatropha contain viscous, non-edible oil, which can be used for the production of high quality soap, as a raw material for cosmetic products, as fuel for cooking and lighting and as a substitute for diesel fuel. The soap manufacturing units in the country have been looking for an alternative to edible oil for the manufacture of soap, for the last 7-8 years. J. curcas seeds possess about 35% non-edible oil; they thus potentially provide the answer to overcome the scarcity of raw material needed for the cosmetics manufacturing units.The Government now proposes to take up the biofuel development program mainly in degraded areas of the country that almost invariably coincide with areas of abject poverty. As a result of this programme, it is estimated that around 50% of the wages in cash (i.e., Rs. 46,650 million) and rest in the form of food grains would trickle down to the poor.Land Options for Jatropha Cultivation : India has approximately 329 million hecters of land area of which the estimated land available and suitable for tree growing and where trees do not exist is estimated to be around 84 million hecters (Chambers et al. 1989) (Table 1).Cultivated lands, farm bunds and boundaries considered in the Table 1 above, that are almost entirely privately owned, are probably the ones least accessible for Jatropha cultivation. Much of this land is owned by large farmers who have the resources to intensively cultivate their farmlands. As such, unless they perceive significant economic gains in planting Jatropha, it would be practically impossible for them to alter the land use pattern. Studies indicate that such a diversion of land use tends to displace labour and substitute male for female employment (ILO 1988, Malmer 1987, FAO 1988). This leaves the farm bunds and boundaries of both categories of farmers to be targeted for planting Jatropha as that would supplement the existing livelihood strategy of the farmers.The degraded forest lands provide potential sites for promoting Jatropha cultivation by dovetailing the Biofuel promotion initiative with the existing JFM program. Of the 5 million hecters of degraded waste lands that the National Mission on Jatropha plans to cover during the 10th plan period, 2 million hecters would be degraded forest land to be revegetated by involving Joint Forest Management Committees and Social Forestry Programs (Economic Times 2002).Also, the currently available non-forest lands to the tune of 48 million hecters (Table 1) can be targeted for Jatropha cultivation. The planting area available on farm bunds and along railway tracks, canals and rivers would require lesser investments in terms of inputs for increasing productivity as they generally have good moisture and are more productive than revenue waste lands.Even if we target about 10% of the 84 million hecters area (Table 1) available for tree planting in the country for Jatropha plantation (as discrete trees, tree rows, block plantations, fencing and boundaries, etc.) we can look forward to cover around 8.4 million hecters area, as shown in Table 2.Plausible Crop Combinations and Systems for Jatropha Cultivation : According to the topography, soil profile and prevailing agro climatic conditions in an area, Jatropha can be combined with other suitable species comprising the agricultural, horticultural, pastoral and/or silvicultural components to result in an ecologically viable, economically profitable and socially acceptable agro forestry system. By evolving, promoting and adopting Jatropha based agro forestry systems it is possible to improve the socioeconomic conditions in rural areas and to transform the National energy scenario and the ecological landscape. Some of the plausible crop combinations for both waste lands and cultivable lands are discussed below.Wastelands : Jatropha can be grown successfully in most categories of culturable waste lands except water logged lands and marshes and deserts, and the potential crop combinations for these areas are as discussed below.Unutilised / Partially Utilised / Mismanaged Wastelands : Such waste lands include ravines and undulating uplands.
Ravines: Around 4 million hecters of waste lands in the country are categorised as gullies and ravines. In the ravine areas, Jatropha can be intercropped with medicinal plants like Asparagus racemosus (Shatawar) and Commiphora mukul (Gugul) at 2ft X 2ft spacing to serve the additional twin causes of ex situ conservation of medicinal plants and ravine area reclamation (Bhattacharya and Bhagat 2002). Also, the medicinal plants so produced can be used to meet the traditional health care needs of the local community. Another potential crop for such areas is Evolvulus alsinoides (Shankhpushpi) that is abundant in waste lands. Allelopathic studies have revealed that extracts and leachates of the whole herb of Shankhpushpi are effective in promoting the growth of Jatropha curcas and also hasten germination and initial seedling vigour (Oudhia 2001).
Undulating uplands : For slope stabilisation and improving soil productivity on undulating uplands, Jatropha can be combined with various grass and tree species resulting in the following models:Model (i) Contour Hedgerows of Jatropha with Glyricidia and Subabul : The contour hedgerow farming technology is based on a modification of the agro forestry system in which Nitrogen-fixing hedgerow species are planted along the contours with desired food crops and other useful species in the alleys. In the middle and lower slopes, Glyricidia and Leucaena leucocephala (for fodder) can be planted along the contours with Jatropha in the alleys.Model (ii) Jatropha intercropped with grasses, tubers and vegetables : On the denuded hill slopes, Jatropha can also be combined with grasses and legumes like Andropogon, Stylosanthes hamata, Guinea, Hybrid Napier, Brachiara humidicola, Congo signal (that help consolidate the soil), tuber crops like Manihot esculenta (Cassava) and Tapioca; and vegetables like Pumpkin and Moringa (5m X 5m) plantation.Various conservation structures like field trench-bunds, broad-based trenches and loose boulder plugs can also be combined with the models given above for effective soil erosion control and for improving soil productivity.
Wastelands based on Ecological Limitations : These can be categorised as shifting cultivation areas, degraded pastures / grazing lands, mining spoils and degraded forestlands.
Shifting Cultivation Areas In India : It is estimated that around 11 million hecters area is under shifting cultivation and this system is still an important source of livelihood for around 2 million tribals in the high rainfall regions. Paddy is the predominant crop in these lands; oilseeds are cultivated in the first year and paddy and millets in the second year in medium rainfall areas. In the low rainfall regions, paddy is never preferred; instead, varieties of millets are sown side by side with vegetable pulses. Depending on the local requirements for agricultural crops, fodder and fruits, the following Jatropha-based agro forestry combinations can be adopted, especially in the mid- and foot hills:Model (i) Jatropha mixed with fruit trees : Common edible fruit yielding trees having local preference and market demand, like mango, Aonla, cashew-nut, guava, sapota and pineapple can be planted at 4m X 4m spacing and interplanted at different storeys with Jatropha at 1m X 1m.Model (ii) Jatropha in mixed plantation with Teak / Neem / Karanj / Subabul : Teak (Tectona grandis), Neem (Azadirachta indica), Karanj (Pongamia pinnata) and Jatropha can be planted as a mixed plantation at the spacement of 4m X 4m, in alternate rows. Within the interspace, subabul (Leucaena leucocephala) can be planted at 1m X 1m. Subabul trees would yield fodder and fuel wood and also fix nitrogen; Neem and Karanj yield non-edible but commercially important oil. Thus, the overall plantation mixture is capable of combining soil improvement and erosion control benefits with long-term economic gains.Model (iii) Jatropha mixed with fodder trees and grasses : In order to ensure regular fodder supply for cattle from indigenous species and for erecting vegetative barriers to conserve soil, various species of grasses and fodder trees can be planted at 4m X 4m spacing and interplanted with Jatropha at the spacement of 1m X 1m. The potential grass species are Andropogon, Dinanath, Guinea, Hybrid Napier, Congo signal, Stylosanthes hamata and Vetiveria zizanioides.
Degraded Pastures / Grazing Lands : For rehabilitation of degraded pastures, a suitable silvipastoral system would consist of various species of grasses and fodder trees (like Leucaena leucocephala and Khejri) can be planted at 4m X 4m spacing and interplanted with Jatropha at the spacement of 1m X 1m. The potential grass species are Andropogon, Guinea, Hybrid Napier, Congo signal, Stylosanthes hamata and Vetiveria zizanioides. Alternatively, Jatropha can be planted only on the bunds / bund-cum-trench combination with other non-browsable plants like Agave sp., Prosopis juliflora, etc. acting as effective biofences.
Mined out Areas and Overburden Dumps : In India, it is estimated that around 6,83,671 hecters is under mining leases in 19 States, specially in Rajasthan, Bihar and Orissa. Jatropha presents itself as a potential crop for such mined area reclamation efforts. It can also be planted as part of watershed management programs, owing to its soil binding properties and capacity to gain a foothold even in a thin soil cover. In the mined out areas and over burdens, Jatropha can be cultivated with other hardy species known to grow successfully in such sites like - Pongamia pinnata (Karanj), Acacia auriculiformis, Prosopis juliflora, Gravillea robusta (Silver Oak) and Cassia siamea.
Degraded Forestlands : In highly degraded forest lands and other plain areas, Jatropha can be grown as a pure block plantation or with Nyctanthes arbortristis (Harsingar), Azadirachta indica (Neem) and Vitex negundo (Nirgudi). Earlier it was believed that Jatropha could be grown in closer spacing of 2m X 2m, but this resulted in mutual shading and consequent reduction in yield when the plants matured. Therefore, a wider spacing of 3m X 3m is suggested (BAIF 2003, ICFRE, undated).
Farm lands : While targeting private farmlands and bunds for plantation of Jatropha or any other nationally relevant species, it must be kept in mind that people's choice of species for planting is paramount. The plausible Jatropha based agroforestry combinations in these areas have been discussed below.On irrigated farmlands : In plain areas with good soil depth, receiving optimum rainfall and with facilities of irrigation, Jatropha can be planted as a block plantation at a spacement of 2.5m X 2.5m, mixed with one or more of the following species, grown at the spacing indicated against each species:
Gmelina arborea (Gamhar) 8mX8m
Dalbergia sissoo (Sheesham) 5m X 4m
Azadirachta indica (Neem) 7m X 5m
Tectona grandis (Teak) 4m X 4m
Emblica officinalis (Aonla) 5m X 3m
Eucalyptus camaldulensis 3.5m X 2m
Moringa oleifera (Munga) 3m X 3m
This would be a purely commercial model, aimed at yielding economic returns higher than the previous land-use.On drier farm lands : On primarily rain fed farm lands with poorer soil depth and productivity and located in areas receiving less than 200 mm annual rainfall, interplanting of Jatropha can be done with Mulberry (Morus alba) at 2m X 2m spacing in alternate rows. The foliage of mulberry trees can be used for rearing silkworms, providing an additional source of income to the farmers.Another alternative for such areas is interplanting of Jatropha with Ber (Zizyphus sp.) at 2m X 2m spacing in alternate rows. Ber trees are hardy, yield fruits which are locally consumed and marketed and are also popular hosts for Lac cultivation. Combined with the petroplant Jatropha, Ber and Lac constitute a profitable planting model.Other Potential Areas : There is great potential for promoting Jatropha plantation along railway tracks and canal-banks, on roadsides, and also on farm bunds. The potential crop combinations for these areas have been discussed below.Jatropha for Boundary and Roadside Plantations : Often the Jatropha plant is used to demarcate boundaries, because the plant is not browsed by animals and has a long life. In combination with other useful, oil yielding trees like Madhuca indica (Mahua), Pongamia pinnata (Karanj) and Azadirachta indica (Neem), Jatropha can be planted along railway lines, on roadsides and canal banks, at 5 m spacing. It is also possible to plant double rows of these plants with 1.5 m inter-row spacing, in the fashion of wind breaks or shelter-belts, specially in areas experiencing high velocity winds, to protect agricultural crops and the fertile top soil from wind inflicted damage and erosion, respectively.Because of its drought tolerance and its lateral roots near the surface the Jatropha plant is often used for anti erosion measures. This may be either in the form of plantation together with other species, or in the form of hedges to reduce wind speed and protect small earth dams or stone walls against runoff water. Together with Vetiver and Lemon grass, the Jatropha hedges can build up an effective filtering system that reduces the erosion of surface soil by runoff water. After only a short time terraces are formed.Jatropha for Biofencing : Jatropha is popular among farmers in the States of Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh as a live fence for protecting homesteads, orchards and farms, as it is non-browseable and has a long life. Biofences of Jatropha can supply seeds and provide other economic and ecological benefits to the farmers. When planted in the trench-cum-bund combinations, Jatropha can prove to be an effective defence against cattle and other trespassers, specially in case of < 5-year-old plantations. Jatropha can be planted in combination with the following species suitable for biofencing and capable of yielding other direct and indirect benefits to the farmers:
Agave sisalana (for rope fiber + protection)
Euphorbia sp. (for protection)
Erythrina indica (for plant-based dye + protection)
Ipomoea sp. (for boundary)
Prosopis juliflora (for protection + fuelwood + charcoal)
Glyricidia (for boundary + Glyricidia as a Nitrogen fixing fodder species)
Institutional Options for Jatropha Promotion : There is ample scope and even necessity for involving diverse institutions in various stages of Jatropha production, promotion and rural livelihoods development. The list below helps us to identify the main kinds of institutions that can be involved in Jatropha production, promotion and rural livelihoods, development:
Community-level Institutions
Non Governmental Rural Development Organisations (NGOs)
Technical Institutes, Academic Institutions and Universities
Government Organisations/Departments
Banks and other Micro-finance Institutions
Planners and Policy-makers.
The potential roles and responsibilities of these different types of organisations have been discussed below.Community-Level Institutions : Unlike the traditional oil sector that involves huge investments and complicated institutional arrangements, development of biofuel from non-edible oilseeds of plants can be completely decentralised, with raw material (i.e. seed) production and processing done entirely by community based small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs). The existing institutions can be involved after adequate capacity enhancement and within the framework of a well-developed strategy, to establish Jatropha plantations, to extract and process its oil and form biodiesel and to market it.The community level institutions that can be plausible and worthy candidates to perform these tasks include Community Forestry Groups, Self Help Groups, Panchayats and Minor Forest Produce Societies, to name a few. The strengths of these groups and their suitability for taking up the biodiesel production challenge have been discussed below.Community Forestry Groups : These groups can be State-promoted or self-initiated. In the former category, presently there are more than 65,000 Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) in over 40,000 villages of the country, protecting over 15 million hecters of Government owned forests (Bhattacharya and Prasad 2001). Apart from these, there are several instances of self-initiated forest protection groups (SIFPGs) and conservation efforts by local communities in different parts of the country, viz. Orissa, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and from the Northeast. The JFMCs as well as the SIFPGs represent the right institutions to be supported, trained and promoted for taking up the following activities related to Jatropha-based biodiesel development:
Development of Jatropha planting stock in decentralised nurseries
Plantation of Jatropha on private and common lands
Scientific harvest of Jatropha seeds
Local processing of Jatropha.
Self Help Groups : Starting in the 1980s due to the path breaking efforts of a few NGOs, State Governments and banks, including National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the Self Help Group (SHG) movement has taken firm roots in many parts of the country.Though a detailed analysis of the strengths of an SHG-based rural development approach is beyond the mandate of this paper, it can be safely said that SHGs can be recognised as a socially viable unit for implementation of Jatropha based biodesel development programme. The potential roles that the SHGs can perform in such a program are as follows:
Development of Jatropha planting stock in individual / group nurseries
Providing microcredit services to interested members for establishing Jatropha-based SME
Establishing small processing units for Jatropha seed-oil extraction
Constructing and renting out Jatropha seed storage facilities
Local marketing of Jatropha oil and seed-cake through Federations.
Panchayats : Today, Panchayat as a rural local government institution in India forms a permanent part of the structure of governance of the country. The potential role of Panchayats in establishment of successful Jatropha production and utilisation systems is as follows:
Provide funds and logistics for establishment of decentralised Jatropha nurseries
Devote common lands under their control to Jatropha cultivation
Ensure equitable benefit sharing from Jatropha-based SMEs
Invest in establishment and maintenance of Jatropha processing units at Block and District levels
Facilitate marketing and distribution of Jatropha-based biodiesel.
Minor Forest Produce Societies : The NTFP collection and marketing chain of formally recognised institutions like State Minor Forest Produce Federation along with their district level and village level units can provide a ready-made community organisation and marketing channel for Jatropha seeds as well as oil. Moving a step further, this arrangement can also bring more benefits to the Jatropha entrepreneurs if the example of Madhya Pradesh (MP), the first State of the country to decide upon the transfer of NTFP ownership to the Gram Sabhas, the local level PRIs, is emulated.Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) can also play an important role in procurement and sale of Jatropha seeds and oil with a view to pay remunerative prices to the tribal cultivators, on the basis of correct weighment and premium on quality.The co-operative federation model can be replicated for promoting Jatropha-based SME development in rural areas especially in the forested zones of the country. It has to be kept in mind that local processing of Jatropha seeds for oil extraction would be a necessary complement to local farming, if we want the communities to take advantage of the emerging biodiesel market and put more money in their pockets. Thus, decentralising the production of Jatropha seeds as well as oil is strongly suggested.Development of local processing capacity will invariably reduce Jatropha seed storage and transportation costs and allows better and profitable conversion. Also, there would be more effective utilisation of by-products like the Jatropha seed-cake and this internal circulation will also retain margins within the community. The formation of the following institutions can be envisaged.
Jatropha primary societies at the village or cluster levels. This would grow and collect Jatropha seeds and market the seed-cakes
Jatropha District Unions at the District level, that would process the seeds to extract oil, modify it to form biodiesel and supply back the seed-cakes to primary societies for marketing
Jatropha Federations at the State level, for packaging and marketing of Jatropha-based biodiesel at the National and International level
A National Mission on Jatropha to facilitate research, technology development and transfer, production, promotion and export of Jatropha-based biodiesel.
Non Governmental Rural Development Organisations : The non-governmental rural development organisations or NGOs are increasingly playing an important role in the delivery of various developmental services in different parts of the world, and India is no exception. It is envisaged that the rural development organisations can be entrusted with the following roles in the Jatropha-based diesel promotion programme in the country :
Community organisation into SHGs and other village level organisations, and strengthening of existing institutions.
Mass mobilisation of communities for taking up Jatropha cultivation.
Linking the community institutions with Jatropha-related developmental programmes of other agencies.
Providing hand-holding support to Jatropha nursery growers (e.g., women groups) and cultivators.
Creating awareness of the importance of microcredit within the Jatropha growers and local processing groups.
Functioning as a financial intermediary to make low-cost and risk loans available to Jatropha-entrepreneurs through leveraged bank-NGO-client credit lines.
Providing micro enterprise development support to the community for Jatropha based SME development in rural areas.
Making marketing information accessible to Jatropha growers and rural biodiesel manufacturers.
Technical Institutes, Academic Institutions and Universities : There is tremendous scope for involving technical and academic institutions of the country for meeting the software requirements with regard to Jatropha cultivation, management, processing, packaging and marketing. The specific areas where interventions from these organisations would be most needed include:
Research and technology development for Jatropha cultivation and its management as an agroforestry crop.
Mass mobilisation and extension / dissemination of cultivation packages among rural communities.
Research for development of other innovative products from Jatropha.
Development of alternative and appropriate technology for maximising Jatropha oil yield / expression.
Developing basic financial management and entrepreneurial skills and demand orientation among Jatropha SME owners in rural areas.
Imparting skills to the rural youth in networking for accessing market information and increasing their ability to identify opportunities for product diversification.
Increasing the rural entrepreneurs that ability to understand and address quality requirements in the oil industry.
In the above context, the agriculture and forestry departments of various Indian Universities, the Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun and Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) Bhopal can play a key role for strengthening the biological production process of Jatropha-based biodiesel. Technical institutes like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Technical Institutes (ITIs) can help in various stages of machinery and technology development. They can also support establishment of decentralised workshops for maintenance and repair of oil extraction machinery and equipment. Management development institutions like the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) in Ahmedabad, Indian Institute of Quality Management (IIQM), Jaipur and the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development in Madhya Pradesh (CEDMAP) can play a crucial role in various aspects human resource development in rural areas.Government Organisations / Departments : The role of the Government in promoting Jatropha fuelled rural development cannot be over emphasised. The departments envisioned to perform key roles in this respect include those looking after Agriculture and Watershed Development, Forest, Revenue, Panchayats and Rural Development, Women and Child Development, Employment and Training and Small Scale Industries. The ubiquitous presence, network expanse, fund availability, philanthropic outlook and ability to work at a larger scale are the unique properties with which the Government Departments and Agencies are bestowed.The intrinsic strengths of Government institutions can be put to use effectively and meticulously for promoting Jatropha cultivation, processing and marketing, as mentioned below:
Revenue and Forest Departments can estimate and allocate vacant and waste lands under their ownership for Jatropha cultivation.
The Departments related to Panchayat, Tribal Welfare, Rural Development and Women and Child Development can promote the involvement of the poor and the socio economically marginalised sections of the society in Jatropha based income generation ventures by planning for priority establishment of such SMEs in needy areas. These Departments should also take up the responsibility of ensuring equitable distribution of benefits from Jatropha based SMEs in rural areas.
The Departments concerned with Rural Employment and Training should focus on building capacities of the rural youth to take advantage of the Jatropha promotion wave, establish Jatropha based SMEs and earn profits in a sustainable manner. Sincere efforts should be made for linking the rural entrepreneurs, individuals as well as groups with knowledge networks and management and technical institutions.
Several resource-specific marketing and trade agencies like the State MFP Federations, TRIFED, State Forest Development Agencies and Large Area Multi-purpose Societies (LAMPs) have already been established in different parts of the country. Functioning in a well-co-ordinated manner, these agencies can assist the rural people to produce and market the Jatropha seeds and oil produced by them in National markets at remunerative prices. They can organise State and National level Jatropha (seed and oil)- buyer-seller meets and regularly publish a Directory of these buyers and sellers.
Banks and Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFIs) : The informal financial sources generally include funds available from family sources or local moneylenders. The prohibitive cost of loans disbursed by the local money lenders and increasing incidences of misappropriation of funds by Chit Funds and Bishis diminish the suitability of these credit options for any organised Jatropha cultivation and processing venture. Lately, few of the NGOs have also initiated savings and credit programs for their target groups, under the community based financial systems (CBFS) approach.The formal sources of finance can be further categorised as Banks and the Non Banking Financial Institutions (NBFIs). Traditionally, the formal sector Banking Institutions in India have been serving only the needs of the commercial sector and providing loans for middle and upper income groups. The Government has taken several initiatives to strengthen the institutional rural credit system. Apart from commercial banks, the other front runner banks engaged in disbursing credit in rural areas include NABARD, Rural Development Banks (RDBs), Land Development Banks and Co-operative Banks (CBs).Today, there are around 250-300 Indian NGOs engaged in micro-finance, each with 50-100 Self Help Groups (SHG) and around 20-30 NGOs have started forming SHG Federations. The Jatropha entrepreneurs can target microfinance wholesalers like NABARD, Rashtriya Mahila Kosh-New Delhi and the Friends of Women's World Banking in Ahmedabad. They should benefit from loans offered under various schemes by public sector banks as well as NBFIs as in spite of a change in the legislation and attitude of banks, they still cannot sufficiently meet the demand for rural credit to start micro-enterprise.Planners and Policy-Makers : Capitalising on the mandate provided by the 10th Plan document regarding Jatropha based promotion, as also the insights provided by the draft Biofuel policy would not be possible unless the field level interventions are well planned and are supported by an enabling policy environment. Favourable programme framework and policy environment would be required not only with reference to energy, but also in case of policies affecting land (forest, revenue and the commons), microcredit and microfinance, training and education of rural entrepreneurs. The overall thrust should be on:
Making Jatropha cultivation a low-risk venture with attractive returns.
Providing Jatropha-cultivators and SME owners with a lobbying power to influence legislation and services provided by identified institutions.
Promoting and recognising endeavours to build technical capacities of rural entrepreneurs.
Evolving a pricing and promotional strategy that would make biodiesel an attractive choice for the energy consumers.
On the basis of the above discussion, we can identify the following types of materials / resources (or the hardware), technical knowledge plus skills (or the software) and other support that would be required for achieving the National goals as mentioned in the draft Bio-fuel Policy:
(i) Ensured availability of hardware, i.e.,
High quality planting material of Jatropha and other cultivation inputs.
Affordable and alternative technology for harvest and post-harvest storage.
Processing and packaging technology for both seeds and oil.
(ii) Adequate provision of finance, i.e.,
Microfinance for villagers to take up Jatropha cultivation (includes funds for nursery development).
Low-cost loans for oil extraction in small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs).
Fund availability for packaging, marketing and promotion of Jatrophabased products.
Funds for research and technology development in Jatropha
(iii) Continued guidance and support for accessing software, i.e.,
Technical knowledge and skills in Jatropha cultivation and scientific harvest of seeds.
Technical knowledge of operating and maintaining oil extraction machinery.
Entrepreneurial skills and demand orientation for SME owners.
Ability to understand and address quality standards required by the oil industry.
Confidence and attitude to approach buyers for Jatropha oil and other byproducts.
Basic knowledge of marketing concepts.
Skills to network for accessing market information and ability to identify opportunities for product diversification.
(iv) Facilitating policy environment, i.e.,
Co-ordination and co-operation between various Government institutions, non profit organisations and private players under the umbrella of an All India Co-ordinated Project on Jatropha.
Jatropha-specific lending schemes for supporting investment in its cultivation by communities.
Tax relaxation, low-cost loan provision and other financial incentives for promoting Jatropha-based SME development.
Providing subsidy for popularisation of Jatropha-derived biodiesel and for making it a cheaper alternative to normal diesel.
Conclusion : Jatropha curcas holds immense untapped opportunities for farmers and rural entrepreneurs to make money and for the populace to replace diesel with home grown, environmental friendly biodiesel. The biodiesel revolution would go a long way in reducing the oil import bill of the country as more and more people substitute the fossil fuels with non-edible oil from plants like Jatropha to meet their household and commercial energy needs. Sufficient land is available for cultivating Jatropha to meet the 5 million hecters target as set in the 10th plan document, the challenge would be to suitably allocate and efficiently utilise this land.Studies are required that would focus as much on yield as on performance of biodiesel, and need to be properly documented. The main challenge of Jatropha promotion in rural areas would come from the communities for whom the scope of petro crop adoption would need to be attractively and profitably packaged along with a demystified plantation and processing technology. Site specific cultivation packages and agro forestry models for Jatropha would need to be developed and mass mobilisation / awareness campaigns designed and implemented to institutionalise the process and to achieve the desired scale of Jatropha plantation in the country.Appropriate strategies and policies would be needed to strengthen Jatropha-based rural livelihoods as they are in tune with the countrywide trend towards diversification of rural economy. Jatropha-based SMEs may consist of non-traditional activities, but unlike many traditional village industries that constituted only secondary and supplementary occupations, these activities can also be promoted and supported as main occupations to meet the country's energy and employment needs.Sincere and result-oriented efforts involving all stake holders in various stages of the planning process as well as implementation would be necessary to achieve the results listed above.References :
BAIF, 2003. Jatropha Revisited, www.baif.com/MptsMar2003_JR.htm.
Bhattacharya P and Bhagat N K B, 2002. Interim Report of the Project on Science & Technology Application for Enhancement of Rural Livelihood: Community based Chambal Ravine Reclamation through Sustainable Management and Cultivation of Asparagus, sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (Government of India), IIFM, Bhopal (unpublished).
Bhattacharya P and Ram Prasad, 2001. Integrated Options for Forest Management in India, In: Victor M. and A. Barash (2001),
Overview of an International Seminar on Cultivating Forests : Alternative Forest Management Practices and Techniques for Community Forestry, held during 23-25 September 1998, RECOFTC Report No. 17, Bangkok, Thailand.
Chambers R, Saxena N C and Shah T, 1989. To the Hands of the Poor - Water and Trees, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
Economic Times, 2002. Government Plans Rs. 17,500 Crores Investment in Biodiesel, Economic Times, Tuesday, December 10, 2002 (online edition).
FAO, 1988. Case studies of Farm Forestry and Wasteland Development in Gujarat, FAO, Bangkok (mimeo).
ICFRE, (undated) Jatropha curcas, FRI, Dehradun.
ILO, 1988. Employment and Income Generation through Social Forestry in India: Review of Issues and Evidence, ILO, Asian Employment Programme (ARTEP), New Delhi.
Malmer P, 1987. Socioeconomic Change in Social Forestry, A Case study of Kovilur village, Tamil Nadu, India, The Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Department of Economics & Statistics, Uppsala.
Oudhia P, 2001. Shankhpushpi - Medicinal Herbs of Chhattisgarh, India, Having Unknown Traditional Uses XXVII on website www.botanical.com/site/column_poudhia/193_evolvulus.html.
SUTRA, 2003. Draft National Bio-Fuel Policy, prepared for the All India Seminar on National Policy on Non-Edible Oils as Biofuels, held during 1-2 February 2003, at IISC, Bangalore.

Good News for Grassroute Innovator

2008-02-25T02:35:00.000-08:00

Plzz visit the website:
www.innovationsofindia.com

INNOVATION

2008-02-25T02:24:00.000-08:00

Invention is the mother of necessity. - Thorstein Veblen

Innovation:
An invention is useful only to the inventor unless it is offered to the public, however niche that public may be. If the invention improves some product, process or service for the public, then that invention transforms into an innovation.
An innovation can be big or small. Brand-new or just a bit different, it doesn’t matter. An innovation can be clearly complex or seemingly simple. Innovations are often thought of in terms of technical achievement, but can also be a design. The type, industry and style of innovation are irrelevant; an innovation’s impact determines its qualification.
The presence of a genius can help with innovation – it may speed up the end result by having a person who can see and make the future happen. However, innovation is more than the work of any one “Einstein.” Innovation involves the taking of the work of an individual (or team) of inventors and taking it to a broader audience.
The future of many businesses depends upon their ability to innovate. Competition is fierce. Knowledge spreads quickly. The ability of a company to not only keep up with its current business practices, but to exceed its own – and its competition’s – expectations are critical to survival.
Theorem of Innovation:

There are many different theories of innovation: breakthrough, incremental, open source to name but a few. There are arguments stating innovations have to be disruptive to qualify; others argue that any change—as long as it is measurable—qualifies as innovation. Some people want innovations to be open and available to all as a means of challenging even more growth and ingenuity; others believe that new discoveries and paths need to be developed privately and secretly.
Measure of Innovation:
There are no definitive metrics for innovation. Measures of innovative success vary by company and industry. And, as with any type of statistic, the numbers must be looked at closely in order to withstand analysis. The most common metrics are patent creation and R&D.
• Patent creation – Some companies create patent after patent and boast of their innovative capabilities. While this may be well and true for a few, if the numbers of patented products, processes, and services are now making it to the marketplace, then their relevance diminishes.• R&D – This metric assumes that the amount of money spent on research and development directly correlates to the amount of innovative products, processes and services that get to the public.

unleash your creative potential for Innovation at Grassroute level

2008-01-27T04:22:00.000-08:00

Innovations
Mobile shoes
Innovator: Subhajit Chaudhuri
Examples:

These shoes are designed for people with partial handicap or with muscle pains. It facilitates walking. The technology is such that there are three wheels attached to a frame. It is powered by a D.C. Servometer, which drives the rear wheels. The motor gets its power from the rechargeable batteries housed in the shoe itself. The designis such that it imparts control and is compatible with the mechanism of natural walking.

Perticipate for NIF Activities:
Put your day to day Innovation to make India Innovative:http://www.nif.org.in/

Submit Your Idea Here.

Useful links to get more knowledge

GIAN

Honey Bee Network
SRISTI

Multibagger tips for Year 2008

2008-01-27T04:12:00.000-08:00

Multibagger tips:
Laffan Petrochemicals
Laffans Petrochemicals Limited (an ISO 9001 - 2000 Company) set up in 1994 to manufacture ethylene oxide derivatives such as Ethoxylates, Glycol Ethers, Acetates, Triethonal-amine, and Brake fluids is located in Ankleshwar, Gujarat.Subsquently it entered into technical collaboration with AKZO Nobel for textiles spin finishes. Laffans is the single largest buyer of Ethylene Oxide in India. Its revenues are in excess of USD 50 million.

CMP: Rs 20, Target Rs 200 by 2009

Clutch Auto
Clutch Auto Limited A Profile
Founded IN 1971
India's largest clutch manufacturer & Exporter
TS 16949 accredited by TUV
3 Decades of undisputed Leadership
OE Supplier to Maruti, Mahindra, Tata-Mercedes, Ashok Leyland-IVECO, PTL, Escorts, New Holland, Eicher, TAFE-Messey Ferguson, Sonalika-International Tractors, JCBL, Bajaj Auto, Greaves & BEML
India's largest exporter of clutches, exports to 40 countries, 85% to Americas
Largest after market distribution network in India.
Major supplier to Indian Defence Establishments
State-of-the-art testing facility for Clutches
Govt. of India recognized R & D
Recipient of prestigious National Awards

CMP : Rs 100, Target : Rs 500 by 2010

Datamatics Technologies Ltd.(DTL )
Founded in 1975 by Dr. Lalit Kanodia, who is widely acknowledged as the founder of the Indian IT industry, Datamatics Technologies Ltd. is regarded as one of India's leading Information Technology and BPO services organizations.
Headquartered in Mumbai (f/k/a Bombay), India but having offices across the world, the Company delivers reliable services to a host of international clients, including four of the top 25 Fortune 500 companies. We have obtained ISO 9001-2000 and ISO27001 quality and security certifications, and our Consulting Services practice is CMM Level 5 certified by the Software Engineering Institute.
Datamatics is one of the few publicly listed BPO companies, with shares traded on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.

CMP: Rs 30, Target Rs 200 by 2010

Harig Crankshaft:
CMP Rs 3, Target Rs 20 by Dec'2008

Krishna Lifestyle Technologies:
Krishna Lifestyle Technologies (KLTL), a dealer in 100 percent cotton yarns, open-end yarns, ring spun yarns, carded and combed for weaving and knitting, is now venturing into the luxury retail.The Tayal Family Enterprise has tied up with international fashion and lifestyle brands like Calvin Klein, Tom Ford, Roberto Cavalli, Fendi, Kenneth Cole, Nike Vision and Tommy Hilfiger for this retail project.Though Company plans to initiate this venture through a recently-set-up 20,000 square feet store in Mumbai, it has revealed plans to launch atleast 50 outlets in India within next three years.The target venues will not only be the metros but also growing big cities like Pune, Nagpur, Baroda, Amritsar, Kolhapur and Ludhiana.

CMP Rs 3, Target Rs 75 by Dec'2009