World economy can withstand $100 oil price: Kuwait

Analysts have said oil producing countries are likely to raise output after crude rallied more than 30 percent from a low in May because they fear prices could damage economic growth in fuel importing countries.
European benchmark ICE Brent crude for February closed at $93.46 on Friday after hitting $94.74 a barrel, its highest level since October 2008.
Arab oil exporters meeting in Cairo this weekend said they saw no need to supply more crude as stocks were high and prices had been inflated temporarily by cold weather in Europe.
Asked by Reuters if the world economy could stand a $100 oil price, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdullah al-Sabah said: "Yes it can."

Airlines sell 1.84 lakh tickets in 15 hours

New Delhi: Airfares have soared this December but that has not stopped holiday travel. Domestic Airlines clocked a new record this Christmas, selling 1.84 lakh tickets on Friday.

This is a 20 per cent rise over last year.

Jet Airways sold the maximum, with over 36,000 tickets. Kingfisher followed with over 32,000 tickets. Low cost airlines also saw good sales. Even Go Air managed to sell over 10,000 tickets.

Airlines sell 1.84 lakh tickets in 15 hours

The global economy can withstand an oil price of $100 a barrel, Kuwait's oil minister said on Saturday, as other exporters indicated OPEC may decide against increasing output through 2011 as the market was well supplied

Experts say they expected sales to rise but the record number has surprised many, considering the negative publicity because of the high fares.

Airlines say those who had booked for holidays to Europe canceled out due to the snowstorms and chose a domestic holiday, which added to the numbers.

Airlines say that most of the sectors are completely booked. Tourist destinations in Rajasthan, Kerala and Goa are seeing the maximum bookings.

IT firms to pay compensation to 9/11 victims

India has written to the US on the visa fee hike issue. Commerce Minister Anand Sharma wrote to US Trade Representative Ronald Kirk on December 22 affirming India's stance that the matter has caused considerable apprehension and concern to the business community of the country.

Sharma had earlier raised the issue when the bill HR 6080 was passed by the Congress. Such provisions have resulted in considerable public outcry in India. Obama, during his recent visit to India, had agreed to cut trade barriers and reject protectionism.

IT firms to pay compensation to 9/11 victims

New Delhi: India has slammed the US move to impose a new tax that makes Indian IT companies like Infosys, TCS and wipro fund the compensation package for victims of 9/11.

The James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act, 2010 proposes higher visa fees and is under consideration in the US congress. The Act has 'pay for' provisions which propose higher visa fees for H1B and L1 visas. The Act also proposes imposition of a 2% fee on goods and services imported by the US government.

The bill will raise $ 4.2 billion and comes into effect next July. The firms say its a protectionist move, India calls it a 'retrograde step' in trade relations

Lahore Pakistan News:

Onion prices went down in Lahore markets due to import of the commodity from Sindh. In wholesale markets, onion was being sold at Rs 40 per kg.
According to market sources, price of the commodity has seen decline during last few days, and import from Sindh is told to be main cause of the decrease. Price of onion is recorded at Rs 50 per kg in retail markets. Onion is being exported to India at Rs 32 per kg while traders are preferring local market due to high price.

Seasons Greetings

Enjoy the Christmas story told through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Wikipedia, Google Maps, GMail, Foursquare, Amazon...

Have a great Christmas!

Dave Clarke

Family Business in India

This should be seen not as a matter of discredit but of pride. Corporate studies have shown that in India, unlike in the West, family-managed businesses do significantly better than those run by professionals. This could be because of our national ethos in which rules matter less than relationships, and family ties take precedence over impersonalised codes of conduct.



What works in business works in the business of politics. To score over rivals, the Congress used to boast of its TINA factor: there is no alternative. Today the TINA factor needs to be internalised. In the Congress, there is no alternative to the Family. True to the principle of truth in advertising, why not change its new name to the Gandhi Party?

Family Business in India

However, if one were to trace the genesis of the epidemic of corruption it could be argued that the disease could well have been spawned during Indira Gandhi's regime where the ruinously high rates of taxation - 97 per cent in the highest tax bracket- and the licence raj inevitably fostered both the generation of black money and the unholy nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and big  business. With its catchy slogan of 'Garibi hatao' and its populist gimmicks like bank nationalisation and the abolition of privy purses, Indira Gandhi's socialism was in fact the legitimising of a sarkari mafia.

Did the communalisation of the Indian polity similarly have its roots in Indira Gandhi's time? To split the growing Khalistan movement she is believed to have created the ultra-fanatic Bhindranwale, setting in motion a tragic escalation of conflict which was to culminate in her own assassination.  

 

Despite these charges, Indira Gandhi occupies pride of place in the Congress pantheon of deities which include her father, her son, and now her daughter-in-law and her grandson. What better tribute to the untarnishable brand equity associated with the Nehru-Gandhi name?

Family Business in India

When during the Congress party's plenary session Sonia Gandhi described Manmohan Singh as "an embodiment of sobriety, dignity and integrity", it sounded like a testimonial from the head of a feudal clan for an old family retainer. And in fact this is exactly what it was. Today the Congress is the personal fiefdom of Sonia and Rahul. And instead of trying to gloss over this reality which is obvious to all the Congress should flaunt it as its unique selling proposition. Because apart from the Gandhi brand name, the party doesn't have anything else to recommend it.

At the plenary session - the 126th of the Grand Old Party of Indian politics - both Sonia and Rahul focused on the two biggest evils confronting the country today: corruption and communalism. Describing corruption as a "symptom of a closed and opaque economic and political structure (which)... snatches away the common man's opportunity to progress", Rahul called for "severe" and swift punishment for all those found guilty of graft. As the Commonwealth Games, the Adarsh housing society, the auction of the 2G spectrum, the Karnataka land swindle and UP's foodgrain scandal have shown, scams have no political affiliations; they are common to all parties.