GPS system in indian Railways

Indian Railways may soon launch real-time tracking of trains on Google maps that can be accessed through mobile devices and PCs.

The Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), the technology arm of the Indian Railways, has developed a GPS-based solution with help of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), which can provide exact location of a train with an accuracy of 10 metres, and latency of 2 minutes, on a real-time basis.

The GPS devices, which will cost around Rs 70,000-1,00,000 per train, would be fitted in about 100 trains, which may help avert collisions and prevent loss of lives. In affect, trains in future may know each other's location, and start breaking, in case of danger ahead.

The breaking distance of passenger trains is about 1 km, while for freight trains it is about 1.4 kms. Around 22 people have died this year due to train accidents, and last year around 120 people died. According to reports, in the last four years, around 15% of rail accidents took place in India.

"The government's focus is to reduce the number of accidents and installation of real-time monitoring service on all trains by the end of 2013, which would contribute in improving the monitoring," V A Chopra MD CRIS said.

Passengers may also be available to see real-time locations, as CRIS has integrated the GPS app with Google maps. ISRO's INSAT-3C satellite will aid in location of moving trains. The GPS system can give an accuracy of about 10 metres, with a lag of about 2 minutes.

However, CRIS aims to shorten the distance to about 3 metres, the average distance between two gauge lines, a critical factor that can prevent accidents if a train on another line is derailing.

Success of the GPS-based system may help Railways in running trains at high speed. The GPS application will also aid in better planning of train schedules, especially in bad weather.

Currently, scheduling is done manually. Station masters call the divisional headquarters and inform them once a train has left a particular station. "In future, the controller will only plan the running and scheduling of trains instead of co-ordinating with various other stations to confirm the status of the trains," said Chopra.

Indian Railways has about 77 control offices at over 6,000 stations. A pilot project has already started between Chennai and Tambaram railway stations, where about 364 suburban train services have been scheduled successfully with the GPS devices. CRIS plans to allocate around Rs 70 crore to the project.

The facility to track train movements will soon be available on Indianrailways. gov.in.

Last year, Indian Railways had announced the project Satellite Imaging for Rail Navigation (SIMRAN) jointly with IIT-Kanpur for a similar tracking portal, which is currently in pilot stage with several trains including Rajdhani and Shatabdi.


By  RAZI ANWAR(PGDM 2nd sem) 

punjab national bank a market performer

Punjab National Bank a market performer: IIFL

IIFL is bullish on Punjab National Bank (PNB) and has recommended a market performer rating on the stock with a target of Rs 1016 in its March 26, 2012 research report.
"In our recent interaction, PNB reiterated to grow its advances marginally ahead of the system. As compared to 9%+ qoq expansion witnessed in the previous three years, the bank expects lower sequential loan growth in Q4 FY12 at 7-7.5%. The large corp. book is expected to grow at steady pace after having declined in Q3 FY12 due to deliberate shedding of short term loans. International loans and vehicle loan portfolio would continue to grow strongly. Bank intends to grow MSME book at healthy pace by focusing on quality and pricing risks adequately via higher yields. We estimate 20% loan CAGR for PNB over FY12-14. Increasing rate differential between savings deposits and retail TDs has driven sharp CASA correction. Recent initiatives towards mobilizing CASA balances are expected to contain the slide."

"Bank's NIM is set for contraction over Q4 FY12-Q2 FY13 driven by lowered CASA, higher rates of bulk deposits and quicker reprising of advances (60% floating) in a rate-cut cycle. Aided by relatively strong fee growth and modest increase in employee cost, C/I ratio is expected to remain stable. PNB expects pressure on credit book to persist in the near term with slippages to remain above Rs10bn/quarter. Restructuring remains lofty with Air India (~Rs20bn) and Rajasthan SEB (~Rs15bn) restructured in Q4 FY12 and exposures to UP SEB (~Rs15bn) and HCC to be restructured in Q1 FY13. Margin correction coupled with high provisioning would retain pressure on RoA. Capital infusion of ~Rs28.5bn by Government and LIC before March-end is estimated to shore-up Tier-1 capital by ~90bps. Near-term RoA concerns would preclude upside in stock.

ASHRAF HUSSAIN

PGDM-2^nd semester

TAXMAN'S GAAR SPOOKS MARKET:MAURITIOUS INVESTS UNDER THREAT

The tax department is all set to tighten the noose around foreign investors who have been investing through shell companies in tax havens. CNBC-TV18 learns that the I-T dept will ask FIIs and foreign investors to file tax residency certificates if they are situated in a country with which India has a DTAA.
Legal experts say all forms of investment from Mauritius will now come under the scanner. Tax lawyers add that the taxman may eventually start going beyond just the tax residence certificate.
Moreover, the confusion over general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR) spooked the markets.
Mukesh Butani, chairman at BMR Advisors believes to some extent the SC verdict in Azadi Bachao Andolan case, which was rendered on the back of a government circular of 2000, gets diluted. He says now that applies to all forms of investment that comes from Mauritius, be it an FII or FDI route.
"If the participatory note is in relation to an underlined asset i.e. part of the investments into an Indian company and that would be taxed, then that's a far-fetched argument," he says.
Corporate tax lawyer HP Ranina says the fear is that the tax authorities will not go only by the Tax Residency Certificates issued by Mauritius and therefore they will go into what they call the "Commercial Substance".
"The company will be deemed to be resident in Mauritius only if it has commercial substance in that country. And not if it has just set up office in a lawyer's outfit with no employees and no other business activity. So, in that case, they will not apply the treaty and therefore the exemption which currently they enjoy from capital gains will not be applicable," he told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.
Market experts warn that unless there is clarity on the exact details of the GAAR guidelines, the markets may see more pain.
"This has been made very clear by the government as a general principle that India will not allow the use of tax havens - where this is used as a tax saving route or tax evasion route. So definitely harassment by tax department cannot be ruled out. The clarification given just now by the government that tax residency will be sufficient for claiming the exemption, that should suffice," investment analyst SP Tulsian told the channel. 
However, Ambareesh Baliga, COO of Way2Wealth Brokers feels, if it is very clear that it is only prospective, then this may not be too much of an issue.  "The fear of it being retrospective, then invest climate will get visited, and downtrend nervousness will continue for a while longer," he explained

BY :MONICA DWIVEDI PGDM 2ND SEM 

KEEN TO SPEED UP POSCO PROJECT: PM TELLS KOREAN CEO'S

India today assured South Korea that it is keen to move forward the delayed Rs 52,000 crore POSCO project in Odisha with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking top Korean CEOs to "have faith" in the country.
"I recognise that sometimes our processes can be slow but there are effective mechanisms for resolution of problems and differences and a strong rule of law.
The government is keen to move forward with the POSCO project and there is some progress in this regard," Singh said while addressing CEOs of South Korean industry here.
Korean giant POSCO had planned to set up an integrated steel mill at Jagatsinghpur district in Odisha at an investment of Rs 52,000 crore but the project has been hanging fire for over six years due to hurdles in land acquisition and regulatory clearances.
Stressing that "India is a stable and profitable long term investment opportunity", he said: "We will take pro- active steps to address investor grievances and improve the business climate in the country...I urge Korean industry to have faith in India."
Before his departure for South Korea, the Prime Minister's Office had reviewed progress of the POSCO project with the Odisha government.
Citing examples of LG, Samsung and Hyundai that recognised strengths and competitive advantages of the Indian economy, Singh said Korean companies were among the early investors to look at India as an investment destination.
"Investment from Korea is a priority for India...Many States of our Union have been actively encouraging foreign investment and we will support these efforts," Singh said.
By: Jasleen Kaur
PGDM II SEM
 

Interest rates on small savings schemes may go up by 0.25%

 New Delhi: The government is likely to hike the interest rates on deposit schemes offered by post offices, like savings account, Monthly Income Scheme (MIS), Public Provident Fund (PPF), etc by about 0.25 per cent from April 1. A circular on revised interest rate on small savings scheme will be issued by March 28, official sources said, adding that there could be a 0.25 basis points hike in the rates.

"We are in the process of calculating the rates. The new rates will be applicable from April 1," they added.
The government had in December, 2011 hiked interest rates on post office savings accounts (POSA) to 4 per cent, from 3.5 per cent. Similarly, the interest rates on the MIS and PPF was fixed at 8.2 per cent and 8.6 per cent respectively.
The decision to hike interest rates in December was in line with the recommendations of the Shyamala Gopinath Committee which had suggested linking..


PRIYANKA KUMARI
PGDM 2nd Sem.

Budget 2012 has some positives for real estate sector

The Union Budget has some positives for the realty sector. The external commercial borrowing (ECB) for low cost housing, extension of the one percent interest subvention scheme for low cost housing and service tax exemption on low cost housing up to an area of 60 square metres are good for the sector. The Budget will give a boost to affordable housing

By- Nitesh Kumar Singh
PGDM 2nd sem

Budget Glimpse 2012

Union Budget 2012 - Highlights

Indo-Asian News Service, Updated: March 16, 2012 17:27 IST

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New Delhi:  Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the Union Budget for the year 2012-13, his seventh. At the very beginning of his speech Mr Mukherjee said that a "year of recovery interrupted" meant that it was time to take tough decisions. The idea ahead of the budget was that fiscal deficit needed to be controlled by cutting subsidies and raising taxes. The finance minister has raised taxes and promised cuts in subsidies. Here are the highlights of the Budget.

• Income tax exemption limit raised to Rs.2 lakh to provide relief of Rs.2,000 for all assessees; 20 per cent tax on income over Rs.10 lakh, up from Rs.8 lakh.

• Deduction of up to Rs.10,000 from interest from savings bank accounts.

• Defence to get Rs.1.93 lakh crore during 2012-13.

• Service tax rate raised from 10 per cent to 12 per cent to bring in Rs.18,660 crore.

• Number of proactive steps taken on black money (stashed away abroad); information has started flowing in, prosecution to be initiated; White Paper in current session.

• No change in corporate taxes but measures to enable them better access funds.

• Withholding tax on external commercial borrowings reduced from 20 per cent to five per cent for power, airlines, roads, bridges, affordable houses and fertiliser sectors.

• National Skill Development Fund allocated Rs.1,000 crore.

• Four thousand residential quarters to be constructed for paramilitary forces with an allocation of Rs.1,185 crore.

• National Population Register to be completed in two years.

• Excise duty raised from 10 to 12 per cent.

• Cinema industry exempted from service tax.

• Branded silver jewellery fully exempt from excise duty.

• Customs duty on warning systems/track upgrade equipment for railways reduced from 10 per cent to 7.5 per cent.

• Import duty on equipment for iron ore mining reduced from 7.5 to 2.5 per cent.

• Allocation of Rs.200 crore for research on climate change.

• Irrigation and water resource company to be operationalised.

• National mission on food processing to be started in cooperation with state governments.

• Integrated Child Development Scheme to be strengthened and restructured with allocation of Rs.15,850 crore.

• Allocation of Rs.14,000 crore for rural water supply and sanitation.

• Infusion of Rs.15,888 crore in public sector banks, regional rural banks and NABARD in 2012-13.

• Infrastructure will require Rs.50 lakh crore in 12th Plan, half of this from the private sector.

• Completion of highway projects 44 per cent higher than in previous fiscal.

• External commercial borrowing of up to $1 billion permitted for airline sector.

• External commercial borrowings permitted to low-cost housing sector.

• From 2012-13, full subsidies for providing food security; in other sectors to the extent the economy can bear this.

• Hope to raise Rs.30,000 crore from disinvestments.

• New equity savings scheme to provide for income tax deduction of 50 per cent for those who invest Rs.50,000 in equity and whose annual income is less than Rs.10 lakh.

• Corporate market reforms to be initiated.

• Bills on micro-finance institutions, national land bank and public debt management among those to be introduced in 2012-13.

• Addressing malnutrition, black money and corruption in public life among five priorities in year ahead.

• India's inflation structural, driven largely by agricultural constraints.

• Current account deficit 3.6 per cent in 2011-12; this put pressure on exchange rate.

• Growth in 2012-13 estimated at 7.6 per cent; expect inflation to be lower.

• Better monitoring of expenditure on government schemes.

• Fiscal 2011-12 year of recovery interrupted; reality turned out to be different.

• GDP growth in 2011-12 estimated at 6.9 per cent; had to battle double digit inflation for two years.

• Good news: agriculture and services continued to perform well; economy is now turning around; recovery in core sectors.

• Now at juncture where it is necessary to take hard decisions; have to accelerate pace of reforms.

Nitesh Kumar-PGDM-2