SP targets pvt oil फिर्म्स wants PM to take cognizance

hi, if you find this massage is interesting, share with your friends : Targeting Mukesh Ambani group, the Samajwadi Party has demanded windfall profit tax and withdrawal of concessions to private sector oil firms saying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should take cognizance of its wish list as seriously as its support for the nuclear deal. "If I take the Prime Minister's suggestion on nuclear deal seriously, I hope Prime Minister will take cognizance of what I raised," Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh said. Also targeting the Petroleum Minister, Singh said Murli Deora "continues to favour only one well-known private operator". He said no individual in private sector "should be allowed this kind of loot." While the country is reeling under the "spectre of unaffordable petrol, diesel and cooking gas prices," these oil companies were enjoying "double mazaa and indirect loot", he said. Singh said the petrol pumps started by the private firms have been converted into real estate and pointed out that "they (private refiners) are earning USD 15 per barrel margin and a profit of six billion dollars." Singh, however, debunked reports that he was working at the behest of his close friend and Reliance ADA Group Chairman Anil Ambani, who is at loggerheads with elder brother Mukesh. "Finance Minister is perceived to be close to Anil Ambani if Murli Deora is perceived to be close to Mukesh Ambani. Public perception is not good," the SP leader said. Suggesting a windfall profit tax of up to 50 per cent on both upstream and downstream operators, Singh said the levy will immediately cover the under-recoveries of the oil marketing companies by Rs 100,000 crore.

Subprime fallout could last two years: Singapore bank head

hi, if you find this massage is interesting, share with your friends SINGAPORE: The global fallout from the US subprime mortgage crisis could last another two years, the chairman of Singapore-based United Overseas Bank said in a newspaper report on Tuesday. "I hope I am wrong, but my view is that this crisis will take one to two years to stabilise," Wee Cho Yaw, a banker for almost 50 years, told a university commencement ceremony, reported. A bank spokeswoman confirmed the quotes when contacted by AFP. The default crisis in the US subprime -- or higher risk mortgage sector ballooned into a world credit squeeze as banks tightened lending criteria. The crisis has also battered financial markets. "What worries me is that no one seems to know the full amount of off-balance sheet securities circulating in the financial markets," Wee was quoted as saying. The subprime homeloans were repackaged into securities and sold to investors around the world. The wave of defaults led to billions of dollars in losses on those securities, damaging the balance sheets of major international banks. "And this is what frightens me most no one can tell me how much more will be written off...," The Straits Times quoted Wee as saying. Wee said regulators will need to ensure closer supervision of financial institutions and the "exotic trades" that have arisen over the past decade, the newspaper reported. UOB has a regional presence, including subsidiaries in Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Thailand.