MUMBAI -- Gold has long had a special attraction for Indians. Loaded with cultural and religious significance, it is considered an auspicious metal and a visible sign of wealth and prosperity.
But trading in the sought-after commodity is now changing, as one company looks to secure a better deal for the millions of ordinary Indians who buy and sell the precious yellow metal for weddings and annual festivals.
National Spot Exchange Ltd, controlled by markets firm Financial Technologies India Ltd, has set up a new electronic system that looks to guarantee gold bullion prices and quality.
“What we're trying to do is to create a market so that Indians can sell gold by way of converting into gold bars or gold coins and sell it on,” said National Spot Exchange's managing director and chief executive Anjani Sinha.
“At a spot exchange we can fix their price, quote the price and it's guaranteed by supply and demand. They can quote their buying price and their selling price,” he told AFP at the company's offices in suburban north Mumbai.
India is the world's biggest consumer of gold, importing between 700 and 800 tonnes of the metal every year or 20 percent of global demand.
The country's gold imports have slowed in recent months due to the world economic downturn, which has pushed up prices as investors seek a safe haven from the financial uncertainty.
In January, the peak of the lavish wedding and gift-giving season, India imported only 1.8 tonnes of gold, down from 14 tonnes in the first month of 2008.
In April, the Bombay Bullion Association said that — for the first time in more than a decade — there were no imports at all in February and March.
Even so, Indian households are still believed to have a massive 20,000 to 25,000 tonnes of gold stashed away.
But while a market exists for imported bullion, there is no mechanism for the resale of gold jewelry and its conversion back into bars once it enters the domestic market.
As a result, ordinary Indians are forced to use merchants who commonly charge a hefty commission to melt down their gold jewelry and sell it on at a premium.
Introducing a more standardized, transparent market will cut out the middleman and be beneficial for both the consumer and the Indian economy as a whole, said Sinha.
“This market has been created basically for dealing in quality, certified standard gold,” he said.
“The consumer is more in control and not dependent on somebody else when he goes to a jewelry merchant where you can't quote your own selling price.”
Daily prices are linked to those at the London Bullion Market. On its first day on May 30, the spot exchange in India's financial capital traded about 50 kilograms of gold.
Selling prices were in the region of 14,450 rupees (US$302) per 10 grams on Friday.
To guarantee quality, the exchange, in conjunction with the Indian Bullion Markets Association, is auditing refineries that melt down jewelry into international standard “995” purity, meaning it is 995/1,000 parts pure gold.
Four refineries — two in Mumbai and two in Ahmedabad, in nearby Gujarat state — have already been approved. It is hoped to have 15 approved refineries by the end of the year.
Sinha's aim, like that for other commodities traded in similar ways at the company, such as cotton, is to create a common domestic market, accessible across India to get a better price for the fabled Indian “common man”.
“Our pitch has been if you want this market to grow further, with integrity and credibility, you have to bring transparency into the system,” he explained.
Source: chinapost
Hi-tech filmmaking finds a new address in Gujarat
A late entrant in the IT sector compared to states in southern India, Gujarat is now fast emerging as a hub of visual effect studios. In less than six months, at least four studios dealing in special effects and animation have sprung up along with training academies.
A couple of new visual effects training centres are also being planned in Ahmedabad and Vadodara. These will also double up as training centres. The state-of-the-art studios are equipped with Python and Mel (both interactive programming languages), high definition cameras for cinematography, as well as blue and green rooms for shooting.
Jitendra Vaghani of Tekhnix said: “Several Indian as well as foreign parties have started coming to Gujarat with their movies, TV serials and ad films. The trend of ad film making is changing and we expect growth here.”
These studios-cum-training centres are also teaching animation, filmmaking, game programming and game design. Vaghani added: “The demand is high and we are training them to work with us. We trained almost 70 people for the movie, Blood-A Butcher’s Tale, for seven months. To make a movie like that, it would have cost the producers a fortune in the US or the UK. We did it here for only Rs 10 crore, although it took us a year and a half to complete it.”
The economic meltdown has further helped these studios get good business from the US and elsewhere. Qatar has also outsourced visual effects for a TV serial to Krazy Motion, a visual FX studio in Ahmedabad. Prashant Agrawal, Marketing Manager, Krazy Motion, said, “Inquiries from the US and the UK have gone up.”
Source: indianexpress
A couple of new visual effects training centres are also being planned in Ahmedabad and Vadodara. These will also double up as training centres. The state-of-the-art studios are equipped with Python and Mel (both interactive programming languages), high definition cameras for cinematography, as well as blue and green rooms for shooting.
Jitendra Vaghani of Tekhnix said: “Several Indian as well as foreign parties have started coming to Gujarat with their movies, TV serials and ad films. The trend of ad film making is changing and we expect growth here.”
These studios-cum-training centres are also teaching animation, filmmaking, game programming and game design. Vaghani added: “The demand is high and we are training them to work with us. We trained almost 70 people for the movie, Blood-A Butcher’s Tale, for seven months. To make a movie like that, it would have cost the producers a fortune in the US or the UK. We did it here for only Rs 10 crore, although it took us a year and a half to complete it.”
The economic meltdown has further helped these studios get good business from the US and elsewhere. Qatar has also outsourced visual effects for a TV serial to Krazy Motion, a visual FX studio in Ahmedabad. Prashant Agrawal, Marketing Manager, Krazy Motion, said, “Inquiries from the US and the UK have gone up.”
Source: indianexpress
Delhi HC orders Gujarat govt to pay compensation for boy’s illegal detention
In a significant judgment, the Delhi High Court has ordered the Gujarat Police to compensate a woman and her 13-year-old son whom officials of the Ahmedabad City Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) had “abducted” from Delhi and kept in their custody last year.
The court asked the police to pay a compensation of Rs 2.70 lakh while acting on a petition filed by the mother of the boy. The petitioner, identified as Tasleema, had filed the ‘habeas corpus’ writ in the High Court and sought compensation for the violation of her son’s personal liberty. The family belongs to Bangladesh.
As per the details of the case, the boy was picked up by a team of DCB, led by Sub-Inspector J M Bharwad, on May 25, 2008, when he was alone at his father’s scrap shop in Seelampur area of Delhi. They were looking for his father, Mohammed Azad, in connection with a criminal case registered with the Ellisbridge police station in Ahmedabad.
When Tasleema came to the shop, she was told about the incident by eyewitnesses. She lodged a complaint of abduction with the Seelampur police station against officials of the Gujarat Police. Subsequently, she filed the writ petition through her counsel, Nitya Ramakrishnan. The court ordered to produce the boy before it on June 2, 2008 and handed over his custody to his parents the same day.
Recently, the division bench of Justice B D Ahmed and Ajit Bharihoke hearing the plea, ordered the Gujarat government to pay compensation to the petitioner and her son. It also stated that the government is open to “fix the responsibilities for this infraction of constitutional rights and recover the same (compensation money) from those found delinquent”.
Source: indianexpress
The court asked the police to pay a compensation of Rs 2.70 lakh while acting on a petition filed by the mother of the boy. The petitioner, identified as Tasleema, had filed the ‘habeas corpus’ writ in the High Court and sought compensation for the violation of her son’s personal liberty. The family belongs to Bangladesh.
As per the details of the case, the boy was picked up by a team of DCB, led by Sub-Inspector J M Bharwad, on May 25, 2008, when he was alone at his father’s scrap shop in Seelampur area of Delhi. They were looking for his father, Mohammed Azad, in connection with a criminal case registered with the Ellisbridge police station in Ahmedabad.
When Tasleema came to the shop, she was told about the incident by eyewitnesses. She lodged a complaint of abduction with the Seelampur police station against officials of the Gujarat Police. Subsequently, she filed the writ petition through her counsel, Nitya Ramakrishnan. The court ordered to produce the boy before it on June 2, 2008 and handed over his custody to his parents the same day.
Recently, the division bench of Justice B D Ahmed and Ajit Bharihoke hearing the plea, ordered the Gujarat government to pay compensation to the petitioner and her son. It also stated that the government is open to “fix the responsibilities for this infraction of constitutional rights and recover the same (compensation money) from those found delinquent”.
Source: indianexpress
When walkers took over C G Road
Ahmedabad : Six-year-old Rashmi walked up to the podium, set up close to CG Road, and broke into an impromptu jig. As a singer belted out Bollywood number Hum to aise hai bhaiya', the girl danced, with a huge audience cheering her on.
CG Road was more like carnival road on Sunday. The car-free day, organised by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and Ahmedabad traffic police, saw a heady mix of activity and fun as Amdavadis came out in large numbers to have fun on the emptied out road. After tasting success last year, this is the second attempt at transforming CG Road into a zone where cars are banned for a few hours.
A huge queue for getting a tattoo was a testimony to success. Children skated with gay abandon. Others rode their cycles and then there were some who chose to dance and express their glee.
At 7 am the event kick-started with the run for a cause' with people jogging to create awareness on making Ahmedabad greener, followed by a cycle rally. Then youngsters took centre-stage. Students of St Kabir School highlighted traffic problems and solutions. A special stage was set-up for children to showcase their talents. Pooja Shah, 23, says, "It was great fun seeing tiny tots come up on stage to sing and dance. I couldn't help but join the crowd in cheering them. It was heart-warming to see elders join them on stage".
To add to the excitement there were look-alikes of Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Nana Patekar and Naresh Kanodia parading on the road with a huge group of children trailing behind.
Vijath Mehta, who got his nephew for a day out suggested, "Days like this must be organised more often. It feels good that our very own C G road that is generally crowded is free from the hustle-bustle of the traffic and pollution".
Dhruv Pandya, 7, said, "This is first time I visited a mela' on CG Road. I enjoyed a lot with my brother and want to come here tomorrow as well". The revelry continued till 10 pm with a packed crowd leaving citizens asking for more days like these.
CG Road was more like carnival road on Sunday. The car-free day, organised by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and Ahmedabad traffic police, saw a heady mix of activity and fun as Amdavadis came out in large numbers to have fun on the emptied out road. After tasting success last year, this is the second attempt at transforming CG Road into a zone where cars are banned for a few hours.
A huge queue for getting a tattoo was a testimony to success. Children skated with gay abandon. Others rode their cycles and then there were some who chose to dance and express their glee.
At 7 am the event kick-started with the run for a cause' with people jogging to create awareness on making Ahmedabad greener, followed by a cycle rally. Then youngsters took centre-stage. Students of St Kabir School highlighted traffic problems and solutions. A special stage was set-up for children to showcase their talents. Pooja Shah, 23, says, "It was great fun seeing tiny tots come up on stage to sing and dance. I couldn't help but join the crowd in cheering them. It was heart-warming to see elders join them on stage".
To add to the excitement there were look-alikes of Amitabh Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Nana Patekar and Naresh Kanodia parading on the road with a huge group of children trailing behind.
Vijath Mehta, who got his nephew for a day out suggested, "Days like this must be organised more often. It feels good that our very own C G road that is generally crowded is free from the hustle-bustle of the traffic and pollution".
Dhruv Pandya, 7, said, "This is first time I visited a mela' on CG Road. I enjoyed a lot with my brother and want to come here tomorrow as well". The revelry continued till 10 pm with a packed crowd leaving citizens asking for more days like these.
Hindu priests offer special prayers and fire ritual for rain in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad, July 5 (ANI): Seeking an end to the continuing dry spell, Hindu priests on Sunday offered special prayers and fire ritual to appease the rain God in Ahmedabad.
Hindu seers performed ‘Parjanya Yagya,’ a special fire ritual for rain, as Gujarat faces an acute water shortage due to an uncertain monsoon.
“The smoke which erupted from this fire ritual goes up into the atmosphere and touches the clouds which cause rain and the rainfall in turn benefits humans and other species on the earth at large,” said Sameer Shastri, a priest.
Earlier on Friday, the meteorological department had said that the southwest monsoon, crucial for sowing of crops like paddy, oilseeds, sugarcane, cotton and pulses, had covered all parts of the country.
Rainfall during June 1 to July 1 was 92.2 mm, 46 percent below normal. The weather office has said that total rainfall for the crucial June-September monsoon would be only 93 percent of the long-term average, coming in below normal for the first time in four years. (ANI)
Source: thaindian
Hindu seers performed ‘Parjanya Yagya,’ a special fire ritual for rain, as Gujarat faces an acute water shortage due to an uncertain monsoon.
“The smoke which erupted from this fire ritual goes up into the atmosphere and touches the clouds which cause rain and the rainfall in turn benefits humans and other species on the earth at large,” said Sameer Shastri, a priest.
Earlier on Friday, the meteorological department had said that the southwest monsoon, crucial for sowing of crops like paddy, oilseeds, sugarcane, cotton and pulses, had covered all parts of the country.
Rainfall during June 1 to July 1 was 92.2 mm, 46 percent below normal. The weather office has said that total rainfall for the crucial June-September monsoon would be only 93 percent of the long-term average, coming in below normal for the first time in four years. (ANI)
Source: thaindian
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