The International Monetary Fund said on Monday it sold 200 tonnes of gold to the Reserve Bank of India for $6.8 billion, quietly executing half of a long-planned bullion sale that had threatened to slow gold’s rally.
While the IMF’s plan to sell some of its gold holdings had been flagged for a year before it was formally approved in September, the speed of the deal and the buyer were a surprise for traders, who had expected China — not India — to be the leading contender as Beijing diversifies its vast reserves.
The sale, which an IMF official said was concluded at an average price of about $1,045 an ounce over a two-week period in the latter half of October, will relieve the market of some of uncertainty over how and when the fund would execute its plan to sell 403.3 tonnes of gold, about one-eighth of its total stock.
“This transaction is an important step toward achieving the objectives of the IMF’s limited gold sales program, which are to help put the fund’s finances on a sound long-term footing and enable us to step up much-needed concessional lending to the poorest countries,” the IMF’s managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said in a statement.
While the threat of IMF and central bank sales did not stop gold prices from soaring to a record high $1,070.40 last month, aided by a falling U.S. dollar, traders said the IMF news could add to the market’s upward momentum.
Full article here
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Our fake ‘Iron Man’ and the eternal Prime Minister in waiting, LK Advani has fallen for a simple internet hoax. Ya, the same kind of hoax mails that propagate that 30% of all Indians populate NASA, that 25% of all Microsoft employees are Indians etc..
Read Manish’s post as he busts the hoax that is popularly going round on the internet mentioning that almost US$ 5.7 trillion of Indian cash is being hoarded in Swiss banks and that he will bring them back to India.
Self-appointed Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani apparently is too excited about the Internet. He suddenly is receiving chain mails like all of us – and has decided the government policy should be decided based on these email forwards.
Mr.Advani now wants all black money stashed away in Swiss banks by Indians brought back. And he promises to do that if he comes to power. Well, how a man who couldn’t negotiate a few hijackers – will arm-twist Swiss bankers is beyond me.
Read the rest of the post here.
We have such morons staking claims for the next PM’s gaddi. I have always believed that leaving the Prime Minister’s reigns in the hands of a communal Advani (the one responsible for all the communal blood letting in India with his rath yatras) is foolhardy. And now, with these comments, the belief that he is not only communal, but also a nutcase is only confirmed.
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Reliance Industries Ltd’s new refinery in western Gujarat state began processing crude this week, nearly doubling company output and creating the world’s biggest refining complex just as global demand retreats.
After reaching full capacity of 580,000 barrels per day (bpd), the $6 billion project, one of the most sophisticated in the world, will make the oil complex in Jamnagar the single-biggest supplier of fuels to the global market. It will pump out 1.24 million bpd of ultra-clean fuels to meet demand in Europe, Africa and the United States.
The refiner’s process configuration is being designed to maximise gasoline, alkylate, jet fuel and diesel output, as well as premium products such as 0.1 percent sulphur gasoline and diesel, while the production of residual fuel will be limited.
RPL refinery at a glance
- It is one of the world’s most complex refineries with a Nelson Complexity index of 14.0. This will enable the refinery to process heavy-crude varieties and produce superior quality products that meet stringent specifications, even beyond the forthcoming Euro IV norms.
- The high complexity will also present a significant competitive advantage in the current industry landscape of increasingly heavy and sour new crude discoveries. In addition, the widening light-heavy differentials in recent years will add to its competitiveness.
- RPL refinery is located adjacent to RIL’s existing refinery and petrochemicals complex, which is among the largest and most efficient complexes in the world. Through sharing of best practices and leveraging the existing infrastructure, RPL will stand to gain in the areas of operational efficiency, logistics, crude sourcing, product placement and risk management
- Close proximity to the Middle East. The result: lower ship turnaround time and reduced crude freight costs.
Above news source: Reuters UK & Indian Express
Pictures source: Reliance Petroleum website
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In February, Marc Faber in an interview with CNBC-TV18 predicted that the Indian market (BSE) was on a bubble and that it would fall to 14000 – 12000 (the market was around 18000 then). What a fall it has been since. We have already touched 8000, though the markets have slowly inched upto 9500, we are still not out of the woods. With the US and other major economies into a recession, we are indeed looking at some tough months ahead.
I had made light of Marc Faber’s predictions then. Now i have ended up with my foot in the mouth 
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I want to finish the following exams, if possible, in the next 2 years
IBM Lotus 8 Systems Administration Certifcation – 4 papers
IBM Lotus Notes Domino 8 System Administration Operating Fundamentals
IBM Lotus Notes Domino 8 Building the Infrastructure
IBM Lotus Notes Domino 8 Managing Servers and Users
IBM Lotus Notes Domino 8 Configuring Domino Web Servers
Microsoft Windows 2008 Server Certification – 4 papers
Windows 2008 Active Directory Configuration
Windows 2008 Network Infrastructure Configuration
Windows 2008 Configuring Applications Infrastructure
Windows 2008 Windows Server Administration
Windows 2008 Enterprise Administrator
NCFM exams – 4 papers
Capital Markets
Mutual Funds
Commodities Market
Derivatives Market
Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
Wonder where will i find the motivation, money and time to finish all the exams ?
Above picture courtesy: Gailsussmanmiller
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