August 23: The Lensman`s View

August 23: The Lensman`s View

A Cairn India employee works at a storage facility for crude oil at Mangala oil field at Barmer, Rajasthan

Cairn India said on Monday it had informed India's Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) of a discovery of oil and gas in an onshore block in the Krishna Godavari basin.

Cairn is the operator, and holds a 49 per cent participating interest in the block, KG-ONN-2003/1, with state-run explorer ONGC holding the balance 51 per cent.

On Aug 16, London-based Vedanta Resources said it would spend up to $9.6 billion to buy a majority stake in Cairn Energy's Indian unit.

The proposed acquisition may be scuppered by India's petroleum ministry, which wants ONGC a chance to buy the holding, a newspaper reported on Monday.

The deal may not go through. They will have to give a choice to ONGC, the paper quoted an unidentified petroleum ministry official.

We are trying to find out the real worth of the assets. I

A salesman displays gold plates in the form of the Indian rupee note at a jewellery showroom in Lucknow

India wholesale gold demand retreated on Monday afternoon as stockists awaited a fall in prices and eyed the rupee for direction, dealers said.

\"There are a few buyers at these levels, but demand has moved back from the previous two weeks,\" said a dealer with a state-run bank that deals in bullion.

Gold prices rose as investor interest in the precious metal gained fresh traction, but a generally firmer dollar is expected to cap prices.

International gold, which guides the domestic market, was at $1,228.55/1,229 an ounce, up from the previous close of $1,226.95/1,227.70.

\"There are orders starting from $1,210 and below,\" said another dealer with a private bank.

Traders are looking to re-stock the yellow metal for upcoming festivals, but a 6 per cent jump in prices has kept them on the sidelines.

A flower blooms in front of the view of the Indian parliament building in New Delhi

With India's main opposition party continuing to object to bills on tax reform and opening up the $150 billion nuclear power market, several reforms proposed by the coalition government may be delayed.

The Congress Party-led coalition government has a slim majority in the lower house of parliament, but not in the upper house. The coalition is also composed of several small and fickle parties who are often suspicious of reforms, making the passage of bills in parliament subject to torturous negotiations.

If not passed, the bills can be taken up in the winter session, around November, but pending state elections from the end of the year could narrow the political window to push any controversial policies.

Some of the proposals on the government's wish list and their status are:

* Nuclera Liability Bill,

* Goods and Services Tax

Pawan Kumar Goenka (L) talks with Anand G Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra's vice chairman and managing director, during a news conference in Seoul

Indian utility vehicles maker Mahindra & Mahindra said on Monday it had signed a memorandum of understanding to buy a majority stake in troubled South Korean automaker Ssangyong.

The agreement will be followed by a detailed due diligence process and finalisation of definitive agreements, it said in a statement.

Rothschild and Samsung Securities are advising Mahindra on this deal, it said.

On August 12 Ssangyong had named Mahindra as its preferred buyer.

An airplane flies above a BP fuel station in London

A $20 billion compensation fund for economic victims of the BP Gulf oil spill opens for business on Monday amid accusations that the rules established by its administrator are unfair.

Kenneth Feinberg who will run the fund said those who sustained financial loss because of the spill could claim for damages and he promised claimants more generous treatment than they would get if they sued the energy giant for damages.

The goal here is to try and explain to eligible claimants: 'It is not in your interest to tie up yourself and the courts in years of uncertain protracted litigation when ... there is a more efficient quick alternative', Feinberg told a news conference on Sunday.

The goal will be to pay any individual claim within 48 hours of the claim being finalized and seven days for any business claim, he said.

BP set up the fund in June under pressure from the White H

A man ascends an escalator behind a logo of HSBC at its headquarters in Hong Kong

HSBC is in talks to buy up to 70 per cent of South Africa's Nedbank, in a potential $6.8 billion deal that would give Europe's biggest lender a broader gateway to the fast-growing African continent.

HSBC and Anglo-South African insurer Old Mutual, which owns a controlling stake in Nedbank, said in separate statements on Monday they were in exclusive talks about the deal.

Old Mutual said HSBC could purchase up to 70 per cent of South Africa's fourth-largest bank, an acquisition that could be worth about 49.9 billion rand ($6.8 billion), given Nedbank's current market value.

It was not immediately clear whether HSBC would get the necessary clearance from South Africa's regulators to buy a stake in the bank. HSBC already has a presence in South Africa, offering commercial banking and offshore personal banking.

For HSBC, which has