The Hindu Business Line : BSNL plea on Rs 1,000-cr for MNP rejected

NEW DELHI: The Government has turned down BSNL’s plea for a compensation of Rs 1,000 crore to implement the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) regime that allows users to transfer their cell phone numbers from one operator to another.

And it is likely that the state-run operator would miss the deadline of December 31 set by the Government to launch the MNP system in the metros.

“With regard to the compensation to BSNL to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore which the PSU had sought, as per the extant instructions, all service providers have to implement MNP at their own cost and no compensation is to be provided to any operators”, said a senior Department of Telecom official.

BSNL along with MTNL have earlier informed the Government about their inability to implement the MNP system before April for a variety of reasons such as limited time to tweak the technology, tariff plans and billing among others.

The two telcos are in the process of purchasing MNP Gateways. MTNL has floated a limited tender for MNP.

In comparison, private service providers are at various stages of implementing the MNP. — PTI

Moth, moong prices down

NEW DELHI: Wholesale prices of moth and moong fell up to Rs 100 per quintal owing to slackness in demand at existing higher levels. Marketmen said adequate stock position against sluggish demand led to fall in moth and moong wholesale prices.

Moth fell by Rs 100 or 1.55 per cent to Rs 6,350—6,650 while moong dal chilka local traded lower by the same margin at Rs 7,500—7,800 or 1.31 per cent to Rs 7,500—7,800 per quintal.

Following are today’s quotations in Rs per quintal:

Urad 5,000—5,550, Urad chilka (local) 5,900—6,300, best 6,350—6,650, Dhoya 6,750—6,850, Moong Maharashtra 6,800—7,100, Dal moong chilka local 7,500—7,800, Moong Dhoya local 7,600— 7,800 and best quality 8,450—8,650.

Masoor small 4,550—4,750, bold 4,250—4,450, Dal Masoor local 5,000—5,100, best quality 5,200—5,500, Malka local 5,100 —5,250, best 5,250—5,350, Moth 6,350—6,650, Arhar 5,600—5,700, dal arhar dara 6,700—7,100.

Gram 2,425—2,450, gram dal (local) 2,925—2,950, best quality 3,200—3,305, besan (35 kg) Shakti bhog 1,170, Rajdhani 1,170, Rajmah chitra Pune 4,150—4,750, China 4,200—4,700, red 3,500—3,600, kabli gram small 3,400—5,200, dabra 2,700—2,800, imported 4,700 —5,100,lobia 2,150—2,550, peas white 1,650—1,750 and green 2,050—2,250. - PTI

Depressed persons’ brain cannot sustain happiness: Study

WASHINGTON: In an answer to why a depressed person fails to enjoy a good meal or does not get thrilled after winning a prize, a recent research has found that the portion of brain that responds to happiness cannot sustain the emotion for long in such per sons.

Earlier, scientists knew that a region of the brain involved in reward and motivation, called the nucleus accumbens (NACC), was associated with depression but it was unclear what went wrong with this region in the brains of people suffering from clinical depression.

The new research by American scientists from University of Wisconsin in Madison found that the problem is not merely a lack of activity in the nucleus accumbens.

“This region of depressed person’s brain became activated when they go through some positive or negative development but the reward center cannot sustain happiness in depressed people,” the authors wrote in journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The team led by Richard J Davidson examined the levels of activation in the brains of 27 depressed and 19 healthy individuals via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

They also explored other differences in the activity of an anterior part of the brain or the prefrontal cortex in depressed individuals and found that the activity of the region is connected with that of the nucleus accumbens in the control participants. In depressed individuals, however, this connection was lost. - PTI

Hormone that controls reproduction mechanism found in human

Washington, Dec 23 (PTI) In a discovery that may open doors to the development of a new class of contraceptive, American scientists have found a hormone which controls mechanism of human reproduction. Nearly 10 years after its discovery in birds, neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have established that humans also make the hormone, GnIH, that puts brake on reproduction, journal Plos One reported. “Identifying the inhibitory hormone —— gonadotropin inhibitory hormone (GnIH)—— in humans forces us to revise our understanding of the control mechanism of human reproduction,” said lead author Takayoshi Ubuka. “We hope this will stimulate clinical studies on people with precocious puberty or in the area of contraception.” The GnIH has the opposite effect from gonadotropin releasing hormone, a key reproductive hormone. While GnRH triggers a cascade of hormones that prime the body for sex and procreation, GnIH puts a brake on the cascade. Because reproductive hormones often promote the growth of cancer cells, GnIH might also work as an anti—cancer agent. “Frequently, treatment of hormone—responsive cancers involves GnRH antagonists or very, very high doses of GnRH, which cause side effects,” said George Bentley. “Maybe we can use something that inhibits reproduction at physiological levels, so that we can bypass some of these side effects.” (MORE) PTI

Essar Oil to become India’s third largest oil refining co

MUMBAI: Ruias-owned Essar Oil is set to emerge as India’s third largest oil refining company and one of the most complex refineries worldwide after it completes expansion of its Vadinar unit, according to an analyst report.

Essar is raising the Vadinar refinery capacity to 16 million tonnes from 10.5 million tonnes by December 2010 and further to 34 million tonnes in Phase-II expansion to be completed by December 2011, making it the country’s third largest refining company after Reliance Industries and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).

The report, issued yesterday by local brokerage HDFC Securities, said the expansions would help the firm earn about $3 more on processing of every barrel of crude oil.

“While refinery expansions will result in $3 per barrel premium over Singapore complex GRM (gross refining margin or earnings on processing of per barrel of crude), strategic focus on product evacuation will help maintain high capacity utilization,” it s aid.

After the expansion, Vadinar refinery in Gujarat would be able to process most of the dirty and difficult crude that are sold at substantial discounts to premium crude like Bonny Light or Brent.

Its complexity index (a measure of the refinery’s capability of process difficult crude) will rise from existing 6.1 to 11.8 in 2011-12 and to 12.8 in 2012-13. “EBITDA margins will rise from 3.1 per cent in FY09 to above 10 per cent from FY13E,” the repo rt said. - PTI

Toyota to produce 70,000 compact cars in first year

BANGALORE: Japanese car maker Toyota Motor Corporation, which is coming out with compact car by December 2010 in India, will produce 70,000 units in the first year, a top official of Toyota-Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd said.

“To begin with we will be manufacturing 70,000 units of the compact car and are looking at a 10 per cent market share within one year of its release”, Deputy Managing Director TKM, Sandeep Singh told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of new Prado diesel land cruiser here on Wednesday.

To a query, he said the compact car would be 70 per cent indigenous except for the engine which will be imported from Japan, “unlike the present cars which is only about 30 per cent indigenous.”

Mr Singh said both the hatchback and sedan version of the concept vehicle of the compact car will be showcased at the Auto Expo to be held in New Delhi from Jan5 to 11.

However, he declined to reveal the price of the compact car saying “I cannot reveal the price now. Once it is launched, you will come to know”. - PTI

Aluminium futures recover

NEW DELHI: Aluminium futures traded up to 0.10 per cent higher at the Multi Commodity Exchange on Wednesday as traders covered up their positions on the back of firming cues from Asian market after the metal’s stocks declined sharply at London Metal Exch ange.

At the MCX counter, aluminium for delivery in January traded higher by Rs 0.10, or 0.10 per cent, to Rs 104.60 per kg in an open interest of 410 lots, while delivery in December contract moved up by Rs 0.05 or 0.05 per cent to Rs 103.75 per kg with an op en interest of 1,459 lots.

Analysts said covering up of short positions by speculators, driven by firming trend in Asian trade after the aluminium stocks at the LME’s warehouses fell by 3,525 tonnes to 4.6 million tonnes influenced aluminium prices at futures market here.

Meanwhile, Shanghai’s aluminium traded 30 yuan, or 0.18 per cent higher at 16,305 yuan per tonne in the morning trade today. - PTI

Reliance Life’s new brand promise is ‘All is Well’

NEW DELHI: Reliance Life Insurance has entered into an association with the makers of ‘3 Idiots’, as per which the insurance firm will use the thought ‘All is Well’ - one of the mainstay theme of the film - to promote its products.

“’All is well’ is a brand promise. It is a way of saying that if someone has our policy, his financial needs in the various milestones of his life would be covered by our plans,” Reliance Capital Chief Marketing Officer Sanjay Jain said.

The makers of ‘3 Idiots’, Vidhu Vinod Chopra Films, and Reliance Life have entered into a tie up and would drive immense benefits from the synergy and will be jointly promoting the concept of ‘All is well’, the company said.

“It is a win-win situation for both of us. We are running a brand campaign and we are using the footage of the movie which in turn is promoting the film,” Mr Jain said.

This will be the first tie—up for Reliance Life Insurance in the entertainment space, as per which the company would reach out to masses with a simple and endearing proposition —— ’Jab hai saath Reliance Life Insurance. All Is Well’

“It will continue even after the movie,” Jain said, adding that “in future if we get a theme which would fit the brand image of any of our other group companies, we would like to enter into a tie-up and capitalise on it.”

The campaign is running over 50 TV channels and 37 radio channels covering more than 250 cities in India. It will also be supported by outdoor hoarding in over 500 towns. - PTI

Gold futures down on global cues

NEW DELHI: Gold futures prices declined by Rs 56 or 0.34 per cent today on selling by traders influenced by a weakening global trend.

At the MCX, gold for far-month June contract fell by Rs 56, or 0.34 per cent to Rs 16,610 per ten gram with an open interest of 77 lots.

The metal for April contract also declined by Rs 38, or 0.23 per cent to Rs 16,595 per ten gram with an open interest of 3,144 lots.

Market experts said selling by traders in line with a weakening global trend mainly pulled down gold prices at futures market.

Meanwhile, gold fell by $8.10 to $1083.20 an ounce in New York last evening. - PTI

Previous Opening Bar Silver Rs 27755.00 Rs 27560.00 Standard Gold Rs 16770.00 Rs 16625.00 Retail Silver Rs 29.70 Rs 29.50 Retail Ornament Gold (22 ct per gram) Rs 1560.00 Rs 1546.00 PTI TRK AMK 12231108

Rupee falls by 4 paise in opening trade *REV* MUMBAI: The rupee on Wednesday depreciated by 4 paise to 46.84 a dollar in opening trade on increased demand for the US currency from importers. Dealers said demand for dollar from importers weighed on the Indian rupee.

The dollar’s gains against other Asian currencies and fears of capital outflows from domestic stock markets also impacted negatively the sentiment, they added.

The rupee had ended 5 paise higher at 46.80/81 against the dollar in yesterday.

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