UPA WINS VOTE ON FDI IN RETAIL IN LOK SABHA; Big Relief To Sahara, Gets Time Till February To Refund Rs 24,000 Cr; Nifty Crosses 5900 Pts

Wednesday, Dec 05, 2012 FDI IN RETAIL: UPA WINS VOTE IN LOK SABHA   After two days of intense debate, the ruling coalition UPA on Wednesday won a non-binding vote in the Lok Sabha on allowing foreign investment in multi-brand retail. 253 votes were in favour of FDI, 218 votes against. What turned the vote in favour of UPA was the walk-out of Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party members from Lok Sabha during the debate on FDI in retail. SP and BSP support the UPA from outside and has 22 and 21 members respectively. Interestingly, Congress ally NCP voted against it. The UPA now needs to win the FDI in Retail vote in the Rajya Sabha to claim victory. The govt also won the FEMA vote with 254 votes in favour and 224 against FEMA. The highlight of the two-days debate was that out of 18 national parties, 14 opposed FDI in multi-brand retail and only 4 parties including Congress spoke in its favour. Yet, during voting hour Congress managed to swing the votes in its favour. read more   LEAD STORIES SC GIVES SAHARA TIME TILL FEBRUARY TO REFUND RS 24,000 CR   SC directed the Sahara Grp to pay back Rs 24,000 cr with 15% interest to the investors of its two firms in instalments in nine weeks. read more NIFTY CROSSES 5,900; ALL EYES ON FDI VOTE IN PARLIAMENT   Markets rose on buying support on optimism that govt would get Parliament approval to allow FDI retail. Sensex up 43.74 pts at 19,391.86. read more TOP STORIES • GMR group dares Maldivian govt, says it wont exit   • Services PMI falls to 13-month low in November   • Grey mkt for IPOs revives as equity outlook brightens   • BJP accuses UPA of stalling proceedings in RS   • SBI says govt considering Rs.4,000 cr rights issue   • Shriram EPC bags $230 mn order in Iraq   • Etihad likely to raise capital to fund Jet Air buy   • IT shares hit on Cognizant SEC filing   • Indian Telcos will continue to bleed in 2013: Fitch   • M&A deal till Nov touches $41 bn: Grant Thornton   • RIL divests Yemen-9 Block To Medco, Indonesia   • Effies 2012: Ogilvy tops 4th time in a row   • Firstsource redeems FCCBs worth $237 mn   • 137,000 numbers disconnected for making pesky calls   • How Wal-Mart got a foot in the door of the retail mkt   • Kolkata Test: India 273/7 at stumps vs England   • EU slaps $1.92 bn cartel fine on Philips, LG, Samsung   • Insider trading: Rajat Gupta to stay free on bail   • Samsung stock hits new high after Lee's son promoted   • Facebook opens up Messenger to non-Facebook users   more stories TOP VIDEOS Domestic Investors May Return To Market In 2013: Arvind Sanger, Geosphere Capital Management   We Expect The Broader Market To Outperform; Nifty Might Move Toward 6100-6150 In The Near-Term: Gautam Shah, Chartered Market Technician & VP (Financial Services) JM Financial   Continue To Be Bullish On India; Expect 10% Growth: Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP   AT A GLANCE BSE 19391.86 +43.74 NSE 5900.5 +11.25 TURNOVER Rs. 153,716 cr BSE CASH Rs. 2,833 cr NSE CASH Rs. 13,060 cr NSE F&O Rs. 106,492 cr BULLION GOLD 30822 -136 SILVER 60371 -300 CRUDE NYMEX 88.22 -0.28 BRENT 110.14 +0.3 FOREX $ / Re 54.54 -0.13 £ / Re 87.572 -0.52 € / Re 71.115 -0.54 EVENTS TO WATCH 6 December 7th Public Procurement Summit, Towards Enhancing Transparency, Efficiency & Accoutability, Le Meridien, New Delhi 7 December International Conference On Rail @ 2020 Organised By ASSOCHAM, Hotel Taj Mahal, New Delhi EGoM On Telecom To Discuss The Roadmap For Spectrum, New Delhi 18 December RBI Credit Policy The Penguin Annual Lecture 2012 - Beyond 2020, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

EXPERT VIEWS

"Retail sector united in saying it needs capital. Opening up of market place important to create job opportunities and opening up the retail market will bring in investments. Our objective is to run our business, create employment and modernisation helps everyone in the value chain." Rakesh Biyani Joint MD, Pantaloon Retail "We expect and appeal to the Maldives Government to honour international law. Any termination is unlawful and against the due process of law. Any force will be seen impacting Indian interests. We have been assured by the country's Defence Minister, who is also the acting Transport Minister, that force will not be used to remove us from Maldives airport." Sidharath Kapur CFO, GMR Airports "The economic situation, the high cost of undertaking manufacturing, the supply chain - which is dying out as manufacturing undergoes hardship - make the UK not the first place you would look at to make a manufacturing investment." Ratan Tata Chairman, Tata Group