Congress set to form PCCs for Telangana, Seemandhra
Two days after Parliament approved the division of Andhra Pradesh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi set in motion internal consultations on the creation of separate party units for Telangana and Seemandhra.On Saturday, Ms. Gandhi kicked off the process by meeting State Ministers Kanna Lakshminarayana, who is from Andhra, and Uttam Kumar Reddy, who belongs to Telangana.Congress sources indicated that it looked as though the State was headed for President’s rule, as elections — both to the Lok Sabha and the still undivided Andhra Pradesh Assembly (pending the formal creation of the two States) — will be announced in another two weeks or so.After Kiran Kumar Reddy resigned as Chief Minister, the Congress discussed the option of forming a government with a Chief Minister from the Seemandhra region, but at the time of writing, it looked unlikely. The party leadership feels it would be more profitable right now to focus on creating two new Pradesh Congress Committees in anticipation of the formal division of the State so that preparations for the forthcoming elections can begin.
2)Youngest Italy PM sworn in
Italy’s youngest-ever Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his fresh-faced Cabinet were sworn in on Saturday, amid widespread scepticism about the new government’s political maturity to tackle the country's formidable challenges. The former mayor of Florence was accompanied by his wife and three children — dressed in the colours of the Italian flag — to the formal ceremony in Italy’s presidential palace, and smiled widely as he watched his new team sworn in by President Giorgio Napolitano.The centre-left leader takes over the reins of the eurozone’s third largest economy in a period of increasing frustration among ordinary Italians hard hit by a deep recession and weary of broken political promises. In his 16-strong cabinet, half of the new ministers are women and — with an average age of 47.8 years — it is the youngest government in Italy’s history.
3)Rs.2,685 cr reserve price set for CDMA spectrum
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), on Saturday, announced reserve prices for CDMA (800 MHz band) spectrum, putting the minimum cost of pan-India per MHz of radiowaves at Rs.2,685 crore, almost 50 per cent jump over the last auction’s base price. Of the 22 telecom circles, the top five service areas in terms of their reserve price per MHz are: Delhi Rs.450 crore , Mumbai Rs.352 crore, Maharashtra Rs.282 crore, Tamil Nadu Rs.247 crore and Gujarat Rs.212 crore.
4)Tata Power, Adani get relief for Mundra UMPP
Tata Power said it has got relief from the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) that has asked electricity procurers to pay Rs.329.45 crore as compensatory tariff for its Mundra ultra mega power project (UMPP) to partly offset escalation in the price of imported coal. CERC has asked Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra electricity boards to pay this extra amount for the period April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013.Besides, a compensatory tariff of Rs.0.524 per kWh has been granted for the project from April 1, 2013, as per the CERC order released on Saturday.
5)UBI board mulls options to trim NPAs
The beleaguered United Bank of India (UBI), which is now steeped in losses after provisioning for its surging non-performing assets, held a meeting of its board of directors to explore ways to recover its loans.This meeting came a day after the Union Finance Ministry accepted the resignation of Archana Bhargava less than a year after taking over as Chairman and Managing Director. Two executive directors are now running the bank.The board reportedly discussed three options for bringing down its Rs.8,545 crore NPA (against Rs.2,901 crore a year ago). These included going in for corporate debt restructuring, selling bad assets to asset reconstruction companies, and going in for recoveries. The bank had earlier said that it would launch a drive to recover/upgrade Rs.2,000 crore of its bad assets within this quarter. UBI had reported a Rs.1,238.1 crore loss in the third quarter.It had fresh slippages of Rs.3,172 crore in the third quarter compared to Rs.680 crore a year ago. SMEs and large industries accounted for the larger chunk of the NPA although agricultural loans also had a sizable share of Rs.1,155.6 crore in the quarter ended December 2013 against only Rs.315.2 crore a year ago.
6)CIO Sukumar Rajagopal quits Cognizant
Cognizant Chief Information Officer Sukumar Rajagopal has put in his papers, and plans on leaving the IT firm by the end of next month, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.Mr. Sukumar, who was associated with Cognizant for the last 19 years, was also known informally as the “face and head of innovation” at the company.“It’s really quite shocking… Mr. Sukumar played a huge role in outreach programmes and mentoring younger employees,” said an employee, who did not wish to be named.Mr. Sukumar’s exit comes less than three months after the IT firm reshuffled its top management as part of a move to set the stage for the next CEO. In the reshuffle, Rajeev Mehta, who was part of the senior management, and R. Chandrasekaran, who was earlier Group Chief Executive (technology and operations), assumed bigger roles.When contacted, a Cognizant spokesperson confirmed the development. “Yes, Sukumar Rajagopal has decided to move on to pursue his interests. He has made a solid contribution to the growth and development of Cognizant. We wish him the very best,” the spokesperson said.
7)Chavan lays foundation for Infosys’ campus at Mihan
The third campus of Infosys in Maharashtra will be set up on 142 acres in the Multi Modal International Cargo Hub and Airport in Nagpur, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said after laying the foundation for the project.
8)England sends India crashing
Defending champion India crashed out of the Under-19 World Cup cricket tournament after a three-wicket defeat to England in the quarterfinals here on Saturday.In the other quarterfinal, Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 121 runs.Batting first, India managed 221 for eight, and then saw England chase down the target with five balls to spare.Deepak Hooda (68) and Sarfaraz Khan (52, 46b) helped India post a decent total. But England rode on Ben Duckett’s 64-ball 61 and Joe Clarke’s 42 off 45 balls.Needing four off the last over, Rob Sayer slashed left-arm seamer Chama Milind over covers to finish the job. However, it was the penultimate over from off-spinner Hooda, which cost India dear as he conceded 11 runs to bring the equation down to a gettable four off six balls.A 51-run seventh-wicket stand between Clarke and Rob Jones proved crucial.Disastrous startEarlier, opting to bat, India was off to a disastrous start losing four wickets for just 24 runs, including last match’s top-scorer Sanju Vishwanadh.Hooda tried to stabilise the innings and played carefully along with skipper Vijay Zol.Zol found the fence thrice before falling to off-spinner Robert Sayer in the 33rd over.Hooda carried on for a while before Jonathan Tattersall ran him out at the end of 40th over (147 for six). India needed to accelerate at this stage, and Sarfaraz obliged.Fisher shinesSeamer Matthew Fisher was the best bowler for England, picking up three for 55.The scores (q uarterfinals): India 221 for eight in 50 overs (Deepak Hooda 68, Sarfaraz Khan 52, Vijay Zol 48, Matt Fisher three for 55) lost to England u-19 222 for seven in 49.1 overs (Ben Duckett 61, Joe Clarke 42, Kuldeep Yadav three for 46).Pakistan 279 for nine in 50 overs (Sami Aslam 95, Imam-ul-Haq 82, Kamran Ghulam 52, Binura Fernando four for 56) bt Sri Lanka u-19 158 in 42.3 overs (S. Samarawickrama 51, Priyamal Perera 68).
9)BCCI in talks with CSA over IPL-VII
The BCCI has asked Cricket South Africa (CSA) to give the in-stadia facilities in South Africa without any encumbrance as it looks to shift the Pepsi IPL-VII to the Rainbow nation in April-May.BCCI officials who are in dialogue with CSA said that South African provinces may have pouring rights arrangement with different beverage companies and hence it would directly clash with the commercial interest of Pepsi which began its five-year title sponsorship of the IPL last year.The IPL-Pepsi agreement is worth Rs. 396 crore, almost double the sum that DLF paid for the first five years. Presently CSA has an agreement with Coca Cola.When general elections in 2009 compelled the BCCI to move the IPL, a designated domestic tournament, to South Africa, the eight-team league and knock-out matches were played at Johannesburg, Centurion, Durban, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, Kimberley, East London and Cape Town.“The IPL did not have a pouring partner in 2009 and hence there was no clash of interest. Now we have Pepsi as the title sponsor and this matter needs to be resolved first,’’ said the BCCI official.South Africa is the clear choice of the team owners, not only because the excellent facilities that the many venues there offer to the stakeholders, but also because of a potentially high response from fans there that can maximise gate receipts.The BCCI and IPL officials are very hopeful of settling the pouring rights matter with CSA and are also keen on negotiating costs with them.It is understood that CSA is likely to make a presentation to the BCCI and IPL by end of this month. The International Management Group (IMG) that virtually runs the IPL, has already done a recce of South Africa, venues at the United Arab Emirates (Dubai, Abu Dabhi and Sharjah), Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.It is possible that another country, keen to stage the IPL-VII may also make a presentation.
Pouring rights at South African venues may clash with IPL title sponsorThe IPL-Pepsi agreement is worth Rs. 396 crore. Presently CSA has an agreement with Coca Cola
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