Month: April 2018

Bahrain discovers the largest oil field in its history

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Bahrain said it discovered the largest oil and gas field in the history of the small kingdom, which unlike its Gulf neighbours, is not energy-rich.

Authorities estimate the newfound reserves at “many times” the volume of Bahrain’s only other known oil field, the state-run BNA news agency said.

BNA did not give details on the size of the new light shale oil and gas find or on the expected date of the start of production.

Manama is the smallest producer of hydrocarbons in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which also groups Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Bahrain currently has only one oilfield with several hundred million barrels of crude reserves.

The field was the first to be discovered in the Gulf and the first to start production. It currently pumps around 50,000 barrels per day (bpd), in addition to over one billion cubic feet (28 million cubic metres) of natural gas daily.

The kingdom, which earns about 80 percent of its revenues from oil, receives another 150,000 bpd from the Abu Safa oilfield, which it shares with Saudi Arabia.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Opening Bell: Nifty, Sensex open in green; Nifty Bank slips to 24,200 levels

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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As the new financial year began today, the markets were showing green signals on account of the new norms including e-way bill kicking in. Benchmark indices opened in the green today with the NSE Nifty standing at 10,150 levels and the BSE Sensex at 33,000 levels. With the March auto sales indicating a boost, the auto firms are likely to pull up the market today.

The Nifty Bank, however, opened in the red today by falling over half a percent to 24,200 levels. The fall in the index comes as a result of the ICICI-Videocon loan case which has already led the ICICI bank stock to slip by more than 3%. Axis Bank is also down by 1.4%, pulling the index down further

Titan, Bajaj Finserv and Grasim will now be a part of the NSE 50-share Nifty, replacing Ambuja Cements, Aurobindo and Bosch from Monday.

In global markets, the Singaporean index, the SGX Nifty, is trading at 10,230 levels as against Nifty March Future’s close on Wednesday, when the index stood at 10,115.

The F&O expiration on Wednesday, the March series close, also lent a hand in pulling down the benchmark indices before the long weekend. The BSE Sensex lost 2.3% and the NSE 50-share Nifty lost 2.4%.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Amul Dairy MD resigns amidst allegations of corruption

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The managing-director of Anand-based Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited, popularly called Amul Dairy, has resigned, the milk co-operative’s chairman Ramsinh Parmar said.

While K Rathnam’s resignation comes amidst allegations of a Rs 450-crore corruption in allocation of tenders and recruitment at the dairy, Parmar refuted the charges, and also said he stepped down not over these allegations, but because of family reasons.

A statement issued by the Amul Dairy said Jayen Mehta, senior general manager (planning and marketing), has been appointed as in-charge MD of Kaira Milk Union.

The KDCMPUL is one of the 18 District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Unions federated to the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Limited, Anand, which markets milk and milk products under the “Amul” and “Sagar” brand.

Rathnam (55) told reporters that he resigned as he wanted to spend time with family living in Tamil Nadu and the United States. “I have been thinking of resigning for sometime now.”

“I have worked for Amul for 22 years, and want to do something for myself in the next 10-15 years. I want to spend time with family members residing in the US and Tamil Nadu,” he said.

Parmar said that Ratnam served as the MD for four years and had been speaking about wanting to spend time with his wife and daughter who live in the US.

“Considering all this, I told him I have no objection if he wants to quit,” said Parmar.  The Amul Dairy statement also said Parmar refuted allegations of corruption as “perpetuated by rumour-mongers.”

“Parmar has informed that this (reports in a section of the media that Rathnam resigned as he has been found guilty of fraud) is far from truth and has been perpetuated by rumour-mongers,” the statement said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Dalit organisations call for Bandh on today; Bus, mobile internet services suspended in Punjab

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Several Dalit organisations have called for a ‘bandh’ on Monday expressing concerns over the alleged “dilution” of SCs/STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act following which the Punjab government has ordered the suspension of bus services and mobile internet services.

In view of the Bharat Bandh call on April 2, the Punjab government has decided to suspend the services of public transport across the state tomorrow, an official spokesperson said.

The PRTC, Punjab Roadways and ‘PunBus’ buses would not ply on roads and the services would remain suspended, he said.

The state government also ordered suspension of services on mobile internet (2G/3G,4G/DCMA), besides all SMS services and dongle services provided on mobile networks.

The order to suspend mobile internet services has been taken to prevent spread of misinformation, rumours, through social media platforms and to prevent any disturbance of peace and public order in Punjab, Rahul Tiwari, Secretary (Home) said.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh appealed to the people of the state, especially the members of the scheduled castes community, to maintain restraint and maintain law and order in the larger public interest.

“The government respects the sentiments of all people and their rights to express their views in a legitimate and peaceful manner, nothing should be done to endanger the hard earned atmosphere of peace and communal harmony in the state,” Singh said in a statement here earlier.

The chief minister said the Punjab government was already committed for the welfare of Scheduled Castes, “which was evident from the fact that the Punjab Vidhan Sabha unanimously adopted a resolution to express solidarity with our SC brethren during its recently concluded budget session seeking the NDA Government’s intervention to legally pursue the case in which a Supreme Court verdict had diluted provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act”.

Singh urged the SC Community and different associations to maintain peace, harmony and amity during the ‘bandh’.

The Supreme Court on March 20 diluted the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, in a bid to protect honest public servants discharging bona fide duties from being blackmailed with false cases under the Act.

The apex court said government servants should not be arrested without prior sanction and private citizens too should be arrested only after an inquiry under the law.

But Dalit organisations, including the Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch, and some political parties fear the dilution of the provisions might lead to increase in violence against Dalits.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Mixed signals for markets today as new norms kick in & global cues show recovery

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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With the new financial year beginning today, the new norms and positive global cues indicate mixed signals for markets today.

In global markets, the Singaporean index, the SGX Nifty, is trading at 10,230 levels as against Nifty March Future’s close on Wednesday, where the index stood at 10,115. This indicates that there might be a gap-up opening on Dalal Street today.

Weak global cues pulled down the markets on Wednesday, with the markets going back in correction mode.

The F&O expiration on Wednesday, the March series close, also lent a hand in pulling down the benchmark indices before the long weekend.

The BSE Sensex lost 2.3% and the NSE 50-share Nifty lost 2.4%. The fear of global trade wars and the global markets correction mode pulled down the Indian market’s performance this month.

As per the trend, if the March series closed in the red, then the April one will too.  The April series is important as we saw 69% of the rollovers being picked up last month. The series is starting slightly heavier than the last series as the FIIs are short and the exposure stands at 18%.

The economy is set to enforce its new norms today as discussed in the Budget 2018. The Long Terms Capital Gains Tax (LTCG) and the e-way bill are two major moves that can have a negative impact on the markets.

When the LTCG was announced, the markets witnessed a bloodbath for a week with the indices losing over 1,000 points.

On Wednesday, the BSE Sensex closed below 33,000 levels at 32,968 points and the NSE Nifty held on to its 10,100 levels closing at 10,121 points.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow