India,Sri Lanka Ink Civil Nuke Deal

In a historic deal, India and Sri Lanka have signed a civil nuclear deal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the bilateral agreement on civil nuclear cooperation will unlock the vast potential of our economic cooperation.

Modi held talks with visiting Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

He said India is pleased to be Sri Lanka's largest trading partner. "We have expressed support for more balanced growth in both directions," he said.

India has decided to go ahead with civil nuclear cooperation with Sri Lanka following its own "breakthrough understanding" over the same during US President Barack Obama's recent visit.

The two countries in the past have held negotiations for a civil nuclear agreement but these lost steam last year under Sirisena's predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa.

India WPI Dips to -0.39% in January

On the basis of sharp decline in oil, fuel and power prices, India’s wholesale price index (WPI) dipped into negative at -0.39 per cent as against 0.11 per cent last month.

According to official government data, WPI decelerated from a high of 5.11 per cent in the corresponding period of last fiscal.

The reading for November WPI inflation was revised to -0.17 per cent from 0 per cent earlier. The rate of inflation based on WPI was nil for November from a rise of 1.77 per cent in the corresponding period of last fiscal.

Food article inflation is at 8 per cent versus 5.2 per cent last month and 8.85 per cent recorded in the corresponding month of 2014 while non food article index is down by 0.7 per cent.

Fuel and power inflation declined by 10.69 per cent in January as compared to an increase of 9.82 per cent in the corresponding period of last year.

India to Protect, Encourage Renewable Energy Investments

Indian government will protect and encourage investments in renewable energy sector, said Piyush Goyal, Minister for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy.

Addressing the global investor meet for renewable energy, Re-Invest 2015, he assured investors that though it is pro-poor, the government understands the problems of investors and will act as a facilitator.

“For a new investment destination, the pre-requisite is an atmosphere which provides investors with an ease of doing business, consistency in policies and bankable contracts,” the Minister said.

The Government has received investment commitments of around $200 billion from 213 companies for setting up 266 GW of power in the next five years.

Goyal said that even if 50 per cent of the commitments are fructified, the Government will meet its target. “I am quite sure that the initial target we had for $100-billion investments in the sector will certainly be exceeded,” he added.

Micheal Bloomberg, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change urged investors to continue developing and investing in clean energy.

“Prime Minister Modi is showing that confronting climate change goes hand-in-hand with smart economic growth,” Michael Bloomberg. “From my experience, he is absolutely correct to make cities a central focus of his work. The more India invests in sustainable cities, the stronger its economy will grow,” he added.

Vistara Starts Advance Bookings, Cut Fares

Only one and a half month into operations, Vistara has opened advance bookings for the year ahead and cut fares to take on rivals in the full-fare and budget airline markets.

The Tata group Vistara has cut its fares on immediate bookings by up to 30% and advance bookings by up to 45%, according to online travel portals. The move follows the fourth SpiceJet flash sale in a month and a Jet Airways offer of more air miles on sectors flown by Vistara.

The airline had launched Delhi-Mumbai flights at approximately Rs.6,500, Rs.9,200 and Rs.25,000, for economy, premium economy and business classes, respectively. These prices were offered for one-way flights in the coming month. Now, Vistara has dropped these fares to Rs.4,558, Rs.8,217 and Rs.21,777 respectively.

The fares for June are 45% cheaper for economy class: just Rs.3,533. Premium economy tickets are available for Rs.6,405.

When the airline was launched on 9 January, the winter schedule of flights was about to end, and hence, Vistara was not allowed to launch advance bookings. Now, it has been allowed to do so. Vistara, which is positioning itself as a premium airline with free food, more seating space and better service quality, is in no mood to let budget airlines lure away fliers.

Last week, SpiceJet also cut fares by more than 75% through a flash sale, its fourth in less than a month, offering a “cheaper-than-train-fares” sale with fares starting at Rs.599. Budget airlines IndiGo and Spicejet are offering June fares of Rs.2,957 and Rs.3,002, respectively, while full service airlines Air India and Jet Airways are offering Rs.3,006 and Rs.3,152 fares.

Vistara is following the new Singapore Airlines model focusing on premium economy. Singapore Airlines owns 49% in Vistara. 

RBI to Reintroduce Re 1 Note

India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India will again put in circulation rupee one notes soon, ending a twenty year moratorium.

In a release, RBI said “These currency notes are legal tender as provided in the Coinage Act 2011. The existing currency notes in this denomination in circulation will also continue to be a legal tender,”

The new currency note will be predominantly pink green on obverse and reverse in combination with other colours, the RBI said.

“The RBI will soon put in circulation currency notes in one rupee denomination. The notes will be printed by the Government of India,” the Reserve Bank said.

At present, one rupee coins are minted. One rupee note or coin is issued by the Government of India.

Unlike other currency notes which the bear signature of RBI Governor, the one rupee note will have signature of the Finance Secretary.

In November 1994, printing of one rupee note was stopped mainly due to higher cost and for freeing capacity to print currency notes of higher denomination.

Printing of two and five rupee notes too were discontinued in 1995. Since then, only coins have been issued for these denominations. Older notes are still in circulation and remain legal tender.

Other paper currency notes currently being printed are Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.

Infosys Announces $200 Million Panaya Acquisition

In a filing to BSE, Infosys said it has entered into an agreement to fully acquire Panaya Inc, a leading provider of automation technology for large-scale software management.

The all cash-deal has an enterprise value of $200 million and the transaction is expected to close before March 31, 2015, subject to customary closing conditions.

The acquisition is in keeping with Infosys' execution of its ‘Renew and New’ strategy to enhance the competitiveness and productivity of current service lines by leveraging automation, innovation and artificial intelligence.

“The acquisition of Panaya is a key step in renewing and differentiating our service lines. This will free us from the drudgery of many repetitive tasks so we may focus on the important, strategic challenges faced by our clients,” Vishal Sikka, CEO and MD, Infosys, said.

Panaya’s technology helps dramatically simplify costs and complexities faced by businesses in managing their enterprise application landscapes he added.

This acquisition follows close on the heels of the company’s $15-million investment in an animation technology spin-off of California headquartered movie animation company, DreamWorks. While the $15 million was invested from Infosys’ $500-million innovation investment fund which was announced last year and increased five-fold last month, it is not clear whether the Panaya acquisition is a part of this innovation fund.

Arnie Hails Modi for Sustainable Development

Hollywood action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would be a “terminator” for climate change and asked state governments to follow Narendra Modi’s “actions” as Gujarat Chief Minister to achieve sustainable development goals.

The film star, who is also the chair of R20 Regions of Climate Action – a non-profit organization – was addressing the 15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) organized by the Energy Resource Institute (TERI).

The former California governor, who has earned a reputation as a climate change activist, thanked and lauded Prime Minister Modi for his work, including as Chief Minister of Gujarat, to push for sustainable development and clean energy.

He said “Gujarat is California of India” and Modi had certainly created “good action”.

Appreciating the progress made by Gujarat on climate change front, he said this showed that the state governments have tremendous power with them and they need not wait for the Central government for any action.

 “This is a challenge of our time and that is why I am on a crusade for a sustainable future and terminate climate change once and for all,” Schwarzenegger said.

The film-star turned American politician expressed hope that India, under Modi’s leadership, would play a key role in the UN climate negotiations in Paris in December this year.

“I know that India would be a big player in negotiations and I trust that the Prime Minister would do everything that he can,” he said.

The United Nations is pushing for an international climate agreement in Paris later this year that will limit global warming to two degrees Celsius over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.

Schwarzenegger also praised India’s recent objective of achieving 100 GW solar energy target in five years.