The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has approved an enhanced pension scheme for ”outstanding sportspersons” and those living in indigent circumstances.The General Committee that manages the National Welfare Fund for Sportspersons which met under the Chairmanship of Dr. M.S. Gill, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, while taking the decision on Wednesday, noted that the last revision was done in 1994.The committee decided to raise the limit of income from all sources for being eligible for assistance from the fund from Rs. 3,000 per month to Rs. 2 lakh per year.

The committee also approved a new definition for ”outstanding sportsperson” as one who achieves a position within the top three in individual events or top two in team events in a recognized National championship or one who represents or has represented the country in an international competition at least twice.
The following decisions were taken: The existing limit of Rs. 1 lakh for a sportsperson’’s family in case of sustaining a fatal injury by the sportsperson during training or participation in an international competition has been raised to Rs. 5 lakh.
The limit of Rs. 40,000 for other injuries has been raised to Rs. 2 lakh with a proviso that it would not be less than Rs. 10,000 in any case.
Monthly pension for an ”outstanding sportsperson who is permanently incapacitated” has been raised from Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 10,000; monthly pension in other cases enhanced from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 8,000.

In both cases the period for which pension would be available (including life pension) would be determined by the committee. It was also decided that the period would in no case be less than five years. In the case of existing pensioners whose period is less than five years, it would be automatically raised to five years for the residual period and they would get the pension at the revised rates. Under the scheme for assistance to families of sportspersons in indigent circumstances, it was decided to raise the limit from Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 2 lakh. For medical treatment of ”outstanding sportspersons”, the limit of financial assistance has been revised from Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 2 lakh. Coaches, referees and umpires in indigent circumstances would be eligible for a lump sum financial assistance of Rs. 50,000. The revised scheme will come into effect on July 1.

Hester Pharmaceuticals Ltd has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on June 24, 2008, inter alia, has recommended a Dividend of Rs 2.50 per equity share of Rs 10 each (25%), subject to the approval of shareholders at the ensuing Annual General Meeting.

Galore Prints Industries Ltd has informed that the Register of Members & Share Transfer Books of the Company will remain closed from June 26, 2008 to June 28, 2008 (both days inclusive) for the purpose of 20th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Company to be held on June 30, 2008.

Thursday, the US stock market managed to close higher on the back of sharp decline the crude prices by $5 after the world’s second biggest fuel consumer after US decided to raise its gas and oil prices. The financial sector came into pressure after financial behemoth Citigroup stated it will continue to have substantial marks on subprime exposure this quarter and will likely to incur a adjustment on par with that of last quarter.

On the economic front, the Initial jobless claims for the week ending June 14 came in more than expected, to 381,000 and was down 5,000 from the prior week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) advanced by 34.03 points to close at 12,063.09. The S&P 500 (SPX) index increased by 5.02 points to close at 1,342.83 and the NASDAQ Composite (RIXF) grew 32.35 points to close at 2,462.06.

Among the Dow’s 30 components, 20 components ended in green mainly led by American Insurance Group up by 4.9% after Citigroup upgraded the insurance giant to buy. Among the Dow’s declines were Citigroup and General Motors down by 1.1% and 0.7% respectively.

A total of more than 0.9bn shares were traded on the NASDAQ, with advancing stocks outpaced the declining stocks by 4 to 3. On NYSE around 1.3bn shares traded for the day, with advancing stocks merely outpaced the declining stocks.

Crude oil futures for the month of July delivery closed lower by $4.75 at $131.93 per barrel on New York Mercantile Exchange. The crude prices closed significantly lower with a loss of nearly $5 per barrel due to concerns about a slowdown in the oil demand after China announced plans to raise gas and oil prices which have largely been subsidized.

The gold prices for the month of August delivery grew by $10.70 to settle at $904.20 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold prices have touched a high of $910.5 an ounce during the day. The gold prices grew sharply to close above the $900 mark mainly due to the report of a decline in South African gold production for the month of April, that fell by more than 10% as compared o a year earlier.

The market is trading downturn due to the hike in repo rate by RBI yesterday by 25 basis points to 8% and unfavorable cues from global markets also adds to the sentiments. Domestic market opened sharply lower and BSE Sensex slipped below 15000 mark and NSE Nifty also under 4500 mark as selling is going across the ground. All indices are trading in negative and during early trade Pharma index was able to gain favor from the market but was not able sustain the momentum. The market breadth is negative as 640 stocks are trading in green while 1,502 stocks are trading in red.

At 11.30AM, BSE Sensex is trading lower by 360.56 points at 14,824.76 and NSE Nifty is trading down by 103.65 at 4,419.95. The BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap are trading low by 88.03 points and 89.83 points at 6,102.69 and 7,377.47.

Losers from the NSE Nifty are DLF down by (6.67%) to trade at Rs478 in line with HDFC (6.20%) at Rs2,050.00, Suzlon Energy by (5.55%) at Rs255.30, HDFC Bank by (4.42%) at Rs1,143.50, BHEL by (4.13%) at Rs1,420.65, Bharti Airtel by (3.83%) at Rs776.00 and ICICI Bank Ltd by (3.63%) at Rs714.30.

The Metal index is trading lower by 409.24 points at 14,991.56 as JSW SL is trading down by (7.10%) at Rs1000.00 followed by Gujarat Nre C by (3.15%) at Rs133.80, Steel Authority by (2.71%) at Rs159.65, Tata Steel by (2.63%) at Rs815.20, and Jindal Steel by (2.62%) at Rs2,012.00.

The Capital Goods is trading down by 305.67 points at 11,595.82. Pulling it are Suzlon Energy trading lower by (5.59%) at Rs254.59 along with BHEL by (3.81%) at Rs1,425.05, BEML Ltd by (3.35%) at Rs985.00, Punj Lloyd by (2.89%) at Rs247.00 and Alstom Proje by (2.76%) at Rs433.10.

HDFC is trading lower by 6.39%) at Rs473.00. It is planning to increase the interest rates on home loans by end of this month. The RBI had raised its key lending rate on Wednesday by 25 basis points to 8.0% and in turn it may affect home loan rates.

BHEL is trading down by (4.02%) at Rs1,398.00. Yesterday (Wednesday) BHEL placed its first commercial order after taking over BHPV last month. The order includes manufacture and supply of 680 MT of boiler components such as drums, headers, riser tubes, panels, coils and piping products.

High Energy Batteries India Ltd has informed that the Register of Members & Share Transfer Books of the Company will remain closed from July 18, 2008 to July 24, 2008 (both days inclusive) for the purpose of payment of dividend & 47th Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held on July 24, 2008.

Balrampur Chini Mills Ltd has informed that the Company has allotted 10850 equity shares of Re 1/- each at a price of Rs 74.60 per share (including a premium of Rs 73.60 per share) on June 10, 2008 to the eligible employees under the Employee Stock Option Scheme.

ICICI Bank has won an award from The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services programme for the bank’’s outstanding performance in its remittance business in 2007. The award was made by the Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services 2007 in conjunction with the region’’s most prestigious retail banking event, the Excellence in Retail Financial Services Convention which was held at The Westin Grande Sukhumvit hotel in Bangkok.

About 150 senior bankers from award-winning banks in 23 countries from Asia Pacific, and Gulf region were present at the award ceremony. The awards programme, administered by The Asian Banker and refereed by prominent bankers, consultants and academics from around the world, is the most prestigious award of its kind. The scorecard used to determine the winners and the position of the different retails banks in the region is attached. This is the second time ICICI Bank received this award.Leveraging customer willingness to pay for convenience and speed reliance on currency conversion revenue, ICICI Bank has introduced a slew of timely fee-based premium products and services in 2007.The bank’’s instant online remittance fee product has become the single largest channel in its key UK and Canadian markets and has exceeded contributions from its biggest branches three months after the launch. Significantly, ICICI Bank has also opened a new instant call-in remittance service, expanding fee and cross-selling opportunities.

ITI Ltd has informed that Shri. K K Khurana has been appointed as Director-HR of the Company by the Government of India vide Ministry of Communications and IT letter dated April 04, 2008. He has assumed office on April 04, 2008.

Axis Capital Markets India Ltd has informed that the Company has decided to consider the Audited Financial Results for the year ended March 31, 2008, on or before June 30, 2008, accordingly there will be no Board Meeting for consideration of quarterly unaudited results for the quarter ended March 31, 2008.