In Diplomacy at Home,Govt Set to Repair Ties with RBI

-The government is improving its relations with the central bank to stem the rupees slide.

-One measure is to appoint a senior official in the finance ministry to work closely with the regulators.

-Rupee closed at 60.24 on Friday and briefly crossed 61 on Wednesday.

-The key challenge the govt. and RBI is facing is the short term debt of 172 billion dollars due for payment next year.

-India’s total forex reserves 285 million dollars.

YES Bank may Sell Stake to PE Funds to Raise $300 Million

-May sell shares to two private equity investors to raise about $300 million, to raise its professional standards.

-Negotiating with potential investors to sell up to 4.99% stake.

-Promoting its top executives to the board to increase institutional standards.

-.Capital raising could be in the form of GDR/QIP and/or from private equity sources.

Saving Grace for Falling Rupee

-Direct funding of crude oil purchase by IndianOil.

-Floating NRI bonds.

-Reducing overnight exposure of banks.

-NDF rose to 61.35 on Friday afternoon.

-Curbing non trade payments over seas, order the money retained outside back in country.

Ambani and Mahindra Making an Epic on TV

-Ambani to back a new media venture that is due to go on air mid-August.

-Epic TV entertainment pay channel to showcase genre-specific content related to history,folklore and mythology.

-Mahindra and Ambani will together hold majority stake in the venture as each has a 25.8% share.

-Mahesh Samat former MD of Walt Disney currently has a 48.5% stake in the venture.

A Healthy Oil War for Consumers

- Rice bran oil gaining popularity as a healthy and affordable cooking oil,helped by increasing prices of olive oil and other imported options as well as aggressive marketing.

-Adani Wilmar,which launched rice bran oil under its Fortune brand early this year,has started a campaign that says its product is better than olive oil.

-The claims of Fortune on how rice bran is better than olive oil are deliberately designed to mislead the consumers said VN Dalmia,president of Indian Olive Association.

-The industry has also created an initial corpus of.50 lakh to promote rice bran oil by organising workshops.

-Ultimately,its good to have an alternative oil since it will reduce the dependence of India on edible oil imports.

-Rice bran oil is one of the cheapest oil commodity produced in India,while olive oil prices are poised to go up by 30%-40 % due to a falling rupee and increase in global prices.

-Clearly,this is one war that is healthy for the consumers body as well as her pocket.

Crunchy May be Munchy,But Its Not Kurkure!

-Kuch bhi crunchy milega toh khaoge kya (Will you eat anything that is crunchy).

-There are over 140 look-alikes of Kurkure.

- Over 2,500 local players in the snacks segment have not hit Kurkures popularity and that the snacks market share is intact.

-Unarguably,Kurkure is feeling the heat from local brands that are near look-alikes

- The latest campaign doesnt work.Instead of targeting some unknown brand in the commercial,the company should have continued with its focus on creating a family-driven context for connecting with Kurkure wherein the brand becomes the snacky content of choice.

-Kurkure snack and Lays potato chips,which dominate the.9,500-crore Indian snacks market,have been steadily losing market share to a slew of regional players such as Gujarat-based Balaji,Indores Yellow Diamond and DFM Foods Crax that have cracked the local market as well as matched global players on pricing and quality.

Special Editions Fail to Rev Up Auto Sales

-Aslew of special editions of every popular model of car has hit the market,but have not managed to give a boost to volumes,with car sales falling by as much as 12% in the first quarter of the fiscal.

-Companies are desperate to debut some excitement in form of special or limited editions to generate fresh sales and lure the customers.

-Automotive marketing experts say that these special editions come at a fraction of the cost of a new model and have been worked globally.

-A special edition also helps to compete with new launches from competing companies.

-Maruti has played this game across its portfolio launching the the DZire Regal special edition to save its leadership position from Hondas Amaze,while its Ertiga Feliz took the Chevrolet Enjoy heads on.

- The Swift is still Indias highest selling premium hatchback,its monthly average sales,even with the special editions,are down to around 16,000 units per month,from an earlier high of 18,000.

-Companies say that special cars help to fight product fatigue,and are helping to keep the already depressed market from even slower growth.

-Its a regular marketing attempt by carmakers to stem costs and maintain profitability at times of tremendous pressure with discounts and freebies running at their all-time highs but still customers are hard to catch at the dealerships.

Tour de France: Same Big Race,Much Smaller Sponsors

-The worlds biggest brands are still steering clear of the Tour de France after more than a decade of doping scandals and the wrenching fall of the sports most-celebrated star.

-Only sevenof the top 30 sponsors were big global companies such as Rabobank that offer products not specific to cycling.

-Fifteen years of major doping scandals have significantly damaged the sports image and public perception.

-The one-time hero of the sport boosted US TV ratings for the Tour de France by 80 percent in the seven years he spun his way to repeated championships.

Govt Releases Checklist on Executive Pay for Listed Cos

-To ensure proper disclosures and regulatory compliance by listed companies with regard to their top executive salaries and appointments,the government has come out with an exhaustive checklist for documents required to be filed in such cases.

-The release of this 10-page checklist by the corporate affairs ministry comes at a time when there is a growing public and regulatory scrutiny of pay packages doled out by the companies to their CEOs and other top executives.

Vedanta Sells Stake in Hudbay Minerals for $152 m

- Vedanta Resources has exited from Hudbay Minerals by selling its 9.5% stake in the Canadian mining firm for $151.8 million.

-Vedanta had acquired 14.5 million shares or 9.5% stake in Hudbay Minerals,through a privately-held Netherlands-based subsidiary Lakomasko for an undisclosed sum.

-It was speculated that Vedanta may use the company as its gateway to North America and may even go for acquiring the company.

-However,in its annual report for the last fiscal,Vedanta said that during the year ended March 31 2013,the group disposed its investment in Hudbay Minerals for a consideration of $151.8 million,but did not give any reason for the exit.

Telenors Bid to Transfer Assets from Unitech Hits Legal Hurdle

-Telecom minister Kapil Sibals go-ahead to Telenor for transferring its existing assets

from Unitech Wireless to Telewings.

-An internal note of the law ministrys legal advisor for telecommunications,a copy of which was reviewed by ET,has argued that the Supreme Court order issued in February this year explicitly asked all operators whose permits were quashed to discontinue services if they had not bought spectrum in any of the two rounds of auctions mandated by it.

-Last year the DoT,while filing its affidavit over the status of participation in the auctions,had stated that Unitechs business is in the process of transfer to Telewings,which has the same majority shareholder as Unitech.

-Telenor has a 67% stake in Unitech Wireless,it held 49% stake in Telewings at the time it bought spectrum.

-Interestingly,the DoT had granted nod to the proposed transfer subject to both subsidiaries submitting separate bonds indemnifying the government from any claims or dispute by any third-party.

Avoid Direct Investment in Midcaps,Go via ETFs

-The National Stock Exchange benchmark Nifty turned from 5580 and saw a sharp 250-point rally and found resistance at 5900.

-Domestic growth sectors like state-run banks,infrastructure,power continue to remain under pressure.

-It is critical that strong government action and project clearances pick up to improve investment climate and stabilise the rupee.

-It is really poor domestic economic management which has led to high twin deficits.

-For the short term trader, money should be deployed in stocks like ITC, Bata, TCS,HCL Tech, Lupin, Sun Pharma.

-For the long-term investor,blue chips in the economy and banking sectors look attractive.

Govt may Now Cap LICs Exposure to a Co at 25%

-The government may cap LICs investment exposure in a listed company to 25% of its equity after the insurance regulator raised concerns that the proposed 30% limit would increase the risk for policy holders besides triggering the takeover code.

-Currently,insurance companies can invest up to 12-15 % in a company,depending upon their asset size.If the government makes an upward revision to 25%,it would facilitate easy fundraising by state-run companies.

-Life Insurance Corporation of India,or LIC,which manages assets over.13 lakh crore,had told the government that the current investment limit restrains it from investing in good companies.

-Its current policy allows it to invest in sectors and companies with the highest rating.

Add a Dash of Rain-friendly Stocks to Prop Up Your Portfolio this

Season

-With a good start to monsoon,investors should realign their portfolio for maximum gains

-IMD had earlier forecast a normal monsoon at 98% of LPA.

-Naturally,savvy investors are aligning their portfolios to benefit from the bounties of a normal monsoon.

-A good monsoon is positive for the Indian economy in two ways it boosts agriculture production and it also keeps food inflation low,which in turn offers some room for the Reserve Bank of India to pursue easy money policy.

-Businesses such as FMCG,tractors,two wheelers and rural housing cement sheet roofing,are beneficiaries of a good monsoon.

Mauritius Ready to Plug Loopholes in Tax Treaty

-Mauritius is willing to plug loopholes to allay Indias concerns over the misuse of the double taxation avoidance agreement.

-The minister had discussed the issue with Indian authorities including commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma,who was in the country to attend Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation conference,and joint working group meeting is expected.

-The article 13 of the tax treaty between the two countries provides that capital gains arising in India from investments into India from Mauritius can only be taxed in Mauritius.

-A limitation of benefit clause in the India-Singapore tax treaty mandates that investors coming into India through Singapore have to incur minimum expenditure of $200,000 in Singapore and have a track record of two years to avail treaty benefits.

-Mauritius has concerns over replicating the Singapore provision since its a smaller economy than Singapore.