Repo rate hike dampens market sentiment; Sensex nosedives 496 points

The Sensex and the Nifty were trading down by over 2.3 per cent in the pre-close session on Friday with all the broader indices in the red.

This followed RBI’s move to raise the repo rate by 25 bps to 7.5 per cent, which marketmen said came as a surprise.

The RBI monetary policy review sent the markets into a tizzy with the Sensex losing about 550 points and the Nifty losing about 150 points immediately after the announcement with banking and realty stocks becoming a major casualty.

At 2.57 p.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 496.23 points (2.4 per cent) at 20,150.41 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 140.20 points (2.29 per cent) at 5,975.35.

Realty, banking, capital goods and PSU stocks succumbed to heavy selling pressure and were down 6.73 per cent, 4.91 per cent, 3.61 per cent and 2.54 per cent, respectively. Only healthcare, consumer durables and IT stocks were up 0.24 per cent, 0.22 per cent and 0.17 per cent, respectively.

GAIL (2.74%), Sun Pharma (1.59%), Wipro (1.44%), NTPC (1.22%), BHEL (0.37%) and Dr Reddy's (0.13%) were the only Sensex gainers, while the top five losers were ICICI Bank (6.04%), L&T (4.8%), SBI (4.52%), HUL (4.33%) and ONGC (4.16%).

In his first credit policy since taking over earlier this month, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has hiked the key policy repo rate.

RBI has increased the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 7.25 per cent to 7.5 per cent with immediate effect.

It has also reduced the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate by 75 basis points from 10.25 per cent to 9.5 per cent with immediate effect; reduced the minimum daily maintenance of the cash reserve ratio (CRR) from 99 per cent of the requirement to 95 per cent effective from the fortnight beginning September 21, 2013, while keeping the CRR unchanged at 4.0 per cent.

Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 6.5 per cent and the Bank Rate stands reduced to 9.5 per cent with immediate effect. With these changes, the MSF rate and the Bank Rate are recalibrated to 200 basis points above the repo rate.

European benchmarks FTSE100, CAC 40 and DAX were marginally in the red.

Asian shares were mixed as investors started weighing down the Federal Reserve policy outlook, a day after the US central bank triggered a global rally by delaying the tapering of its bond-buying programme.

However, Fed tapering expectations were kept alive by the data showing US home resales surged in August to a 6-1/2-year high and factories grew busier in the Mid-Atlantic region this month.

IVRCL bags orders worth Rs 842 cr

IVRCL Ltd has bagged orders worth Rs 841.73 crore through its water and irrigation divisions to be executed within 24 to 36 months.

The Hyderabad-based construction and infrastructure company in a statement to the BSE has said the water division secured a Rs 393.89-crore contract for a cluster scheme of 2,005 villages of Asind Tehsil along with related works under the Chambal-Bhilwara water supply project Phase-II. This includes operation and maintenance for 10 years on a turnkey basis. It is to be completed within 36 months.

Another order relates to a Rs 143.50-crore order in Jodhpur to be completed within 24 months.

The irrigation division of the company has secured a Rs 447.84-crore order from Krishna Jalabhagya Nigam Ltd, a Karnataka Government undertaking. To be executed within 36 months on a turnkey basis, this entails operation and maintenance of the project for five years from the date of completion of the project.

A Madhya Pradesh Government undertaking has awarded a water project worth Rs 61.39 crore to be completed within 18 months, the company stated.

The company’s shares were trading at Rs 12.90 during the day, up 0.70 per cent.

MCX and its affairs with the official gazette

MCX operated without completing recognition process mandated by law for several years

On August 13, the minister of state for consumer affairs, food and public distribution KV Thomas told the Lok Sabha that “information is being collected” for a question asked by four parliamentarians from three different parties. Maheshwar Hazari of Janata Dal (U), Harsh Vardhan of the Congress and Usha Verma and Sushila Saroj of Samajwadi party wanted to know the certain details about the recognition of the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX), the country’s largest commodity futures exchange.

Even as the government collects the information, Business Standard tries to put together the formation and history of the Multi-commodity Exchange from publicly available documents such as IPO offer documents, exchange filings and government documents acquired through Right to information Act.

Ashok Jain, a Delhi-based chartered accountant, says, “The bureaucrats do not want to respond. They are all stuck in this.” Jain, who had a bitter experience while trading with the exchange in 2009, is convinced that the exchange has not complied with a basic condition enshrined in the law for it to operate as a commodities exchange.

Forward Contracts Regulation Act, 1952 (FCRA) is the umbrella legislation that governs the functioning of commodity futures trading and exchanges in India.  Section 6 (4) of the FCRA says that “Every grant of recognition under this section shall be published in the Gazette of India and also in the Gazette of the State in which the principal office of the recognised association is situated, and such recognition shall have effect as from the date of its publication in the Gazette of India.”

Jain says he has got several key government notifications and documents through the Right to Information (RTI) Act, which showed that the exchange has not complied with a mandatory requirement of the grant of recognition being published in the “gazette of the state in which the principal office of the recognized association is situated”.  Business Standard has reviewed these documents.

The central government notification for granting recognition to MCX was issued in September 2003.

Documents with Jain reviewed by Business Standard showed that a copy of this notification was marked to chief secretary of Maharashtra directing him to publish it in the state gazette. However, as late as 2012, the Maharashtra government had not published this.

An MCX spokesperson said the exchange discovered the non-publication only at the time of doing due-diligence in 2012 but claimed that Jain was misinterpreting the section. In an email response the spokesperson said “The aforesaid allegation is false. It is based on a concocted and wrong interpretation of statutory provisions; and is without any merit or substantiation.” According to the exchange, the crucial requirement under FCRA, is the grant of recognition to an association and the publication of the recognition in the Gazette of India, to legitimise its activities. It argued that publication of the notification of recognition in the state gazette was in the nature of general information to the public.

In response to a request for opinion, noted senior lawyer Hemant Sahai of HSA Advocates said, “The recognition of an exchange is conditional upon notification under both the national and state gazettes though the recognition takes effect from the date of the notification in the national gazette. Therefore, while there may not be any time frame for the notification in the state gazette, the exchange will not be a "recognised" exchange till such time the notification is made in both the state and national gazettes.”

Sahai added that, “Therefore, during the period between 2003 and 2012 when MCX had no notification in the state gazette, it was not a recognised exchange and any representation to that effect would be a misrepresentation.”

This was not the only lapse by MCX in its gazette publication process.  On October 14, 2003, the exchange was directed to frame its rules and by-laws and get these notified in the official gazette.

Jain, frustrated by the exchange’s decision not to redress his grievance against the broker, wanted to have an independent reading of the rules and by-laws. “I did not want to go by what was in the exchange’s website. That could be manipulated. Since the law mandated that these have to be published in the gazette, I went about looking for them. To my surprise, there was no copy available anywhere.”

RTI documents showed that the rules and by-laws were not printed at as required by the law for nearly three years. Jain found that the MCX by-laws were printed as part of the Gazette number 10 of 11-17 March 2006.  The date March 17, 2006 is significant as it was the day on which MCX filed the first of the three offer documents with Sebi for an initial public offering (IPO).

Even these prints, which were done in the advertisement section of the gazette were not widely circulated beating the objective of the legal provision.   A copy of the dispatch register of the Faridabad press also showed that only 35 copies of the pages relating to MCX were dispatched and none of these went to Kitab Mahal, New Delhi, or the publication department in civil lines, whereas several copies of all other gazettes and even pages 105 to 114 of the same gazette which contained advertisements of name change were sent to both Kitab Mahal and publication department.

Unless it is sent to these places, the gazette cannot be treated as published, say officials who know the gazette process.

MCX pointed out that the “by-laws and Rules of MCX were published on our website www.mcxindia.com  prior to commencement of our trading operations and notified in the Gazette of India dated 11th March 2006 – 17th March, 2006.” But, it did not explain why it took delivery of all the gazette copies. “We submit that the by-laws and rules made by the Exchange prior to its recognition did not require publication in the official gazette as contemplated under Section 9A and/or Section 11 of the FCRA. Since the by-laws, rules & MOA (memorandum of association) of the Exchange were submitted to the Central Government at the time of application made for recognition under section 5 of FCRA such by-laws, Rules & MOA are “Pre-Recognised” and need not be published in the official gazette. These were nevertheless uploaded on our website for public awareness. All members and clients using the Exchange undertake to comply with all requirements of rules and by-laws as applicable from time to time.”

Lawyers said that FCRA does not make any such exemptions.  Sahai of HSA added that “Once again, notification of the by- laws and rules in the gazette is a condition for the by- laws and rules to become effective. Till such notification is made, any rules or by- laws would be illegal and cannot be acted upon. Furthermore, any representation (implicit or explicit) by the exchange to the world at large that the rules and by- laws are legal and if the exchange acts on them, then that would be an illegal act.”

On February 9, 2012, the date of this RTI reply, the missing gazette notification was uploaded in the India gazette website. On the same date, Sebi approved the final red herring prospectus paving way for MCX IPO.

Credit policy dampens market sentiment; Sensex tanks 345 points

The RBI monetary policy announcement sent the markets into a tizzy with the Sensex losing about 350 points and the Nifty down by about 100 points with the realty and realty stocks becoming a major casualty.

At 12.47 p.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 345.28 points (1.67 per cent) at 20,301.36 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 101.35 points (1.66 per cent) at 6,014.20.

Realty, banking, capital goods and PSU stocks succumbed to heavy selling pressure and were down 5.67 per cent, 3.83 per cent, 3.25 per cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively. Only healthcare and IT stocks were up 0.53 per cent and 0.05 per cent, respectively.

Sun Pharma (2.27%), Wipro (1.26%), GAIL (1.06%), Dr Reddy's (0.62%) and BHEL (0.41%) were the only Sensex gainers, while the top five losers were L&T (5.00%), SBI (4.6%), ICICI Bank (4.21%), Maruti (4.11%) and ONGC (3.64%).

In his first credit policy since taking over earlier this month, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has hiked the key policy repo rate.

RBI has increased the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 7.25 per cent to 7.5 per cent with immediate effect.

It has also reduced the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate by 75 basis points from 10.25 per cent to 9.5 per cent with immediate effect; reduced the minimum daily maintenance of the cash reserve ratio (CRR) from 99 per cent of the requirement to 95 per cent effective from the fortnight beginning September 21, 2013, while keeping the CRR unchanged at 4.0 per cent.

Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 6.5 per cent and the Bank Rate stands reduced to 9.5 per cent with immediate effect. With these changes, the MSF rate and the Bank Rate are recalibrated to 200 basis points above the repo rate.

Asian shares were mixed as investors started weighing down the Federal Reserve policy outlook, a day after the US central bank triggered a global rally by delaying the tapering of its bond-buying programme.

However, Fed tapering expectations were kept alive by the data showing US home resales surged in August to a 6-1/2-year high and factories grew busier in the Mid-Atlantic region this month.

Banks' deposit up by 14.2 percent in January-March quarter, 2013

Indian banking industry's deposits increased by 14.2 percent to Rs 98.63 lakh crore in the January-March quarter, 2013. The nationalised banks accounted for the highest share of 52.4 per cent of the aggregate deposits in the total deposits during the period followed by the State Bank of India and its associates having 22 per cent share and new private sector banks represent 13.6 per cent share in deposits. Meanwhile, the share of old private sector banks, foreign banks, and regional rural banks in aggregate deposits was 5.1 percent, 4 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively. The Banking Industry had reported 13.8 percent deposits growth in the same period of previous year.

Meanwhile, the growth in credit slowed down to 15.1 per cent at Rs 55.42 lakh crore in the reported quarter from 17.3 per cent a year ago. In gross bank credit, nationalised banks accounted for the highest share at 51 percent followed by SBI and its associates having 22.7 percent share and new private sector banks consist 14 percent share. Meanwhile, old private sector banks, foreign banks and regional rural banks had relatively lower shares in the gross bank credit at 5 percent, 4.9 percent and 2.5 percent in January-March quarter respectively. Indian banking industry credit-to-deposit ratio stood at 78.1 percent in March 2013. The contraction in industry credit growth was mainly due to the prevailing economic slowdown, hurting domestic demand. Indian economic growth slowed down to decade low of 5 percent in the previous fiscal. Meanwhile, banks have also stayed away from aggressive lending due to concerns over asset quality and a rise in non-performing assets.

Silver futures slide 0.9% on global trend

Profit booking by speculators amid a weak trend in precious metals affected prices

Silver  futures prices fell 0.89%, to Rs 52,406 per kg today tracking a weak global trend and profit-booking by speculators.

At the Multi Commodity Exchange, silver prices for delivery in March plunged by Rs 470 or 0.89%, to Rs 52,406 per kg in business turnover of 7 lots.

Similarly, the white metal prices for delivery in December contracts lost Rs 439, or 0.85%, at Rs 51,311 per kg in 339 lots.

Market analysts said besides profit-booking by speculators a weak trend in the precious metals overseas as US economic data backed the case for reduced stimulus after the Federal Reserve this week maintained the pace of monthly bond purchases, put a pressure on silver futures here.

Further, the rising emerging market currencies, including the Indian rupee, making imports of dollar-quoted precious metals cheaper, also weighed on the white metal prices, they said.

Globally, silver for spot delivery fell 0.58% to $22.95 an ounce in Singapore today.

RBI Credit Policy.....

On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic  situation, it has been decided to:

• reduce the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate by 75 basis points from 10.25 per cent to 9.5 per cent with immediate effect;

• reduce the minimum daily maintenance of the cash reserve ratio (CRR) from 99 per cent of the requirement to 95 per cent effective from the fortnight  beginning September 21, 2013, while keeping the CRR unchanged at 4.0 per
cent; and

• increase the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 7.25 per cent to 7.5 per cent with immediate effect.

Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 6.5 per cent and the Bank Rate stands reduced to 9.5 per cent with immediate effect. With these changes, the MSF rate and the Bank Rate are recalibrated to 200 basis points above the repo rate. 

T V Narendran to take over as Tata Steel MD

At 48, Narendran will be the youngest managing director Tata Steel has ever had

 T V Narendran has emerged the surprise choice for the post of managing director (MD) of Tata Steel, after incumbent H M Nerurkar retires on October 31. Narendran, currently, vice-president (safety and flat products), will take over as MD, India and Southeast Asia, on November 1.

At 48, Narendran will be the youngest MD Tata Steel has ever had. Narendran, inducted as an additional director, was being groomed for the top job, according to officials close to the development.

New leadership structure
The appointment is part of a new leadership structure announced by Tata Steel, in which Group Chief Financial Officer Koushik Chatterjee will become group executive director (finance and corporate).

He will report directly to Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry, with Karl Koehler, managing director and chief executive, Tata Steel Europe, and Narendran.

“By elevating Narendran, Tata Steel has continued with its tradition of giving leadership roles to executives with operational experience,” said a management consultant who advises Tata Group companies. “In the steel business, importance of operations cannot be undermined. Besides, Narendran will bring his relations with supplier, customers and labour to the table, which is crucial for the company,” he added.

Narendran joined the company in 1988 after completing his MBA from IIM-Calcutta and worked in various capacities   in Dubai for a few years in the exports division; steered NatSteel (Tata Steel’s first foreign acquisition in 2004) as managing director; and then came back to work in Kolkata as head (marketing and sales) of the money-spinner flat products.

A company observer said: “From exports to market development to business planning and supply chain restructuring, he has done it all.” Narendran has also worked as principal executive officer under B Muthuraman, when Muthuraman was the managing director.

Koushik Chatterjee was elevated to the Tata Steel board in November 2012 and was believed to be in the fray for the managing director’s post. Chatterjee will report to the chairman and board of Tata Steel.

Observers said Chatterjee could go on to play a bigger role in the group. There has been speculation about Chatterjee succeeding Ishaat Hussain as director (finance), Tata Sons.

Chatterjee will also be responsible for Tata Steel group corporate functions, including legal and regulatory affairs, corporate communications, strategic procurement, information systems, group investments, global mining projects and assurance.

“The board has put in place appropriate governance process to ensure a smooth transition of leadership,” a company statement said.

Analysts tracking the company said challenging times were in store. Though Tata Steel posted a profit in the past quarter, its fortunes have see-sawed with steel prices, primarily because the European operations that accounted for 60 per cent of the revenue didn’t have raw material resources.

Moreover, the company is also expanding capacity in India. It is setting up a new project at Kalinganagar in Odisha.

Tata Power spurts on undertaking several innovative technological advancements

Tata Power Company is currently trading at Rs. 84.10, up by 1.10 points or 1.33% from its previous closing of Rs. 83.00 on the BSE.

The scrip opened at Rs. 84.70 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 85.00 and Rs. 83.30 respectively. So far 141839 shares were traded on the counter.

The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 113.20 on 05-Dec-2012 and a 52 week low of Rs. 68.25 on 06-Aug-2013.

Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 83.60 and Rs. 74.80 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 19898.21 crore.

The promoters holding in the company stood at 32.47% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 48.22% and 16.08% respectively.

Tata Power, the country’s largest integrated power company, has undertaken several innovative technological advancements to service its consumers and create customer delight in Mumbai.

The company has implemented a number of advanced technologies that has enabled it to set benchmarks in the field of distribution. Some of these technological interventions include monitoring of power quality, special conditioning monitoring techniques, GIS and advanced distribution network reliability systems.

Tata Power is India's largest integrated power company with a significant international presence. The Company has an installed generation capacity of 8521 MW in India and a presence in all the segments of the power sector viz. Generation (thermal, hydro, solar and wind), Transmission, Distribution and Trading.

IDBI Bank invites bidders to buy shares in 68 cos

Company intends to sell between 2 and 31 million shares

Public sector lender IDBI Bank today invited prospective buyers or investment bankers to purchase shares in a wide range of companies. The Mumbai-based lender has listed 68 companies, where it intends to sell between 2 and 31 million shares.

Some of these companies include Alexcon Foamcast, Dev Fasteners, Viral Syntex, Twenty First Century Battery and Western India Industries.

To be sure, most of these are small companies, some are listed on BSE but trading is either suspended or they have thin volumes.

In a notice, the lender said it would not accept bids for individual company but only consolidated offers for all the companies. IDBI Bank will accept bids till October 7, 2013.

"Each bidder may conduct its own independent investigation and analysis before submitting their bids. Bank makes no representation or warranty and shall incur no liability under any laws, statutes, rules or regulation and its liability will stand extinguished on receipt of payment from the successful bidders and handing over of the original share certificates along with signed transfer deed," IDBI Bank said.

The bank said most of the share certificates of these companies are in 'jumbo' form and it would deliver them in Mumbai.

Power Grid raises capital expenditure by Rs 10,000 crore for 12th Plan period

Power Grid Corporation of India has increased its capital expenditure by Rs 10,000 crore for 2012-17 period for additional projects undertaken by the firm. The additional projects have added total investment programme to over Rs 1,10,000 crore in the 12th Plan period (2012-17).

Earlier, the company had announced a capital expenditure plan of Rs 1 lakh crore for the said period of adding transmission capacity.

Power Grid Corporation of India is India’s principal electric power transmission company. It owns and operates most of India’s interstate and inter-regional electric power transmission systems with inter-regional power transfer capacity of about 20,800 MW and wheels nearly 45% of total power generated across India.

Sensex flat,Rupee marginally weak, cautious rules ahead of Rajan's maiden policy

9: 20 am Indian markets opened in the red today as the new Reserve Bank of India chief Raghuram Rajan makes his first monetary policy statement at 11 am today with expectations he may scale back some of the emergency measures that have helped the rupee bounce from a record low.

 While the BSE Sensex opened  0.40 percent lower at 20561,  Nifty opened down 0.34 percent at 6096. Market experts have advised investors to book profits and reshuffle their portfolio today after the RBI announcement. The rally on Thursday was one of the biggest in recent times and any cooling will only be healthy for the market. Even the rupee opened weak at 62.09 against the USD against Thursday’s close of 61.71. On Thursday, the rupee surged as much as 2.8%, hitting its highest in a month as Ben Bernanke’s surprise decision on Wednesday not to wind down its monetary stimulus has come as a shot in arm for  Rajan. However, the Fed’s decision also means that expectations from Rajan have risen manifold. “There is certainly the danger of a more relaxed stance from the policymakers till the next round of tapering concerns hit the markets. They should just see this as a 2-3 months reprieve,” said Robert Prior-Wandesforde, economist at Credit Suisse in Singapore. “The RBI should not use this to ease monetary conditions.

 The rupee has only retraced a month’s losses and is certainly not strong or stable. My sense is RBI will not touch the key rates but the tone will be somewhat more dovish,” Prior-Wandesforde was quoted as as saying by Reuters. The principal economic adviser at the Ministry of Finance, Dipak Dasgupta, said the Fed decision “was a huge surprise” and a “very positive decision.” He said it could add half a percentage point to India’s economic growth in the near term. Rupee opens weak at 62.09 as cautious market awaits Rajan’s maiden policy  9:00 am The US Fed move to keep liquidity taps on has driven financial markets across the world to new highs; and India is no exception. Indian equity markets surged to their highest level in nearly three years on Thursday, led by banks, after the US Federal Reserve stunned markets by delaying plans to cut asset-purchase programme. The rise was in tune with global markets.

 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth $574 million on Thursday. FIIs had bought equities worth $1 billion up to the FOMC’s meet. According to a report in the Business Standard, of the $4-billion selloff since May, Indian equities have already recouped $1.6 billion. However the markets today may open flat today as it waits in  anticipation for RBI’s Monetary Policy today as the new governor Raghuram Rajan makes his debut. The currency markets too seem cautious this morning as the rupee opened 32 paise weaker at 62.09 against the US dollar after closing at 61.78 on Thursday. Rajan is expected to hint at some rollback of measures imposed in defence of the rupee while key policy rates may be left unchanged. “There is a change of guard, so we don’t know what the flavour will be, but Rajan is likely to be hawkish and reiterate the importance of low and stable inflation for sustained economic recovery,” said Rajeev Malik, senior economist at CLSA in Singapore. Finance Ministry has expressed hope that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will focus on promoting growth. Meanwhile, US stocks retreated slightly on Thursday as investors paused after the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep its stimulus intact sparked a rally that lifted the Dow and S&P 500 to record highs.

JPMorgan to pay $920 million for trading loss

JPMorgan Chase & Co. will pay $920 million for trading losses that shook the financial world in 2012.

JPMorgan’s acknowledged failure of oversight in the $6 billion trading loss is a first for a major company since the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reversed its longstanding practice of allowing firms to pay fines without accepting fault.

The admission, made on Thursday as part of a broad settlement with US and UK regulators, could leave the bank vulnerable to millions of dollars in lawsuits.

“The floodgates are opening,” said Anthony Sabino, an attorney and business professor at St. John’s University in New York. “This is the kind of thing plaintiffs’ lawyers salivate over.”

Regulators said JPMorgan’s weak oversight allowed traders in its London office to assign inflated values to transactions and cover up huge losses as they ballooned. Two of the traders are facing criminal charges of falsifying records to hide the losses.

Combined, the bank will pay one of the largest fines ever levied against a financial institution - $200 million to the SEC, $200 million to the US Federal Reserve, $300 million to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and $220 million to the UK Financial Conduct Authority.

As part of the SEC settlement, JPMorgan acknowledged that it violated securities laws in failing to keep watch over traders.

The US Justice Department is still investigating the bank for possible criminal violations. And there could be more action to come from the SEC.

George Canellos, co-director of the SEC’s enforcement division, said the agency continues to investigate individuals at the firm.

“JPMorgan’s senior management broke a cardinal rule of corporate governance - inform your board of directors of matters that call into question the truth of what the company is disclosing to investors,” said Mr. Canellos.

“We have accepted responsibility and acknowledged our mistakes from the start, and we have learned from them and worked to fix them,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in a statement.

Raymond invests additional Rs 5 crore in the equity share capital of RZL

Raymond, India’s leading manufacturer and retailer of fabrics and garments, has further invested Rs 5 crore in the equity share capital of Raymond Zambaiti (RZL), a jointly controlled entity of Raymond. With this investment, the total equity contribution of Raymond has increased to 52.87% in RZL’s equity share capital, thereby making Raymond Zambaiti a subsidiary of Raymond with effect from September 18, 2013.

Raymond is one of India’s largest branded fabric and fashion retailers. It is one of the leading, integrated producers of suiting fabric in the world, with a capacity of producing 31 million meters of wool & wool-blended fabrics.

All eyes on Raghuram Rajan as he presents his maiden credit policy today

Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) new governor Raghuram Rajan will be under intense scrutiny when he chairs his first policy review on Friday faced with the "impossible trinity" of a weak rupee, rising inflation and slowing growth.

Most analysts bet "The Guv", as Raghuram Rajan has been nicknamed, will debut on a cautious note and focus on inflation, which hit an unexpected six-month high of 6.1% this week, and resist business pleas to ease interest rates to try to revive growth.

The inflation rise underscores "the challenges faced by the new governor when the economy is obviously struggling", said Daniel Martin, economist at Capital Economics. "We think he will keep policy rates on hold and keep them there for a while."

Analysts say Rajan cannot loosen monetary policy for fear of pushing inflation higher and the rupee lower.

The central bank's benchmark policy lending rate stands at 7.25%, and it hiked short-term rates in July to try to stabilise the rupee as it hit a string of lows.

"Anything suggesting wanting to remove these measures would risk undermining the rupee once again," said Credit Suisse India economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor has been lionised by India's media, with one top columnist calling him the "Poster Boy of Banking" whose "chiselled features are as sharp as his brain".

But analysts say that Rajan, a former International Monetary Fund chief economist famed for forecasting the 2008 global financial meltdown, faces a Herculean task at the RBI's helm as he seeks to tackle what economists call a trilemma, or an "impossible trinity" of problems.

With expectations of his abilities so high, "some are bound to be disappointed," HSBC economist Leif Eskesen said.

India's economy has gone dramatically downhill since the "Indian Summer" of the last decade, when annual growth regularly topped 8 and 9%.

The economy grew by 5% last year, its slowest pace in a decade, and some private economists forecast expansion this year at under 4%.

Meanwhile, the Congress-led government has become mired in graft scandals and policy paralysis that have sunk its popularity and sent foreign investors fleeing.

India's public finances are also in trouble with the current account deficit - the broadest measure of trade - hitting a record high last year.

Rajan is seen as hesitant to go for growth at the risk of higher inflation - something he emphasised at his first news conference this month as governor, when he said the bank's role was to ensure "low and stable expectations of inflation".

His comments suggest he is likely to be "hawkish", CLSA economist Rajeev Malik said.