The agreement was signed by Mr. P. B. Jayasundera, Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Planning, and Mr. Prabhakar Dalal, Executive Director of Export-Import Bank (EXIM) of India, in the presence of Mr. Ashok K. Kantha, the High Commissioner of India in Colombo.

Earlier, the Government of India, through the Export-Import Bank of India, had provided $100 mn Line of Credit under an agreement signed in July 2008.

The implementation of the first phase of the upgradation of the Southern Railway Line is now in process. The upgradation project includes – supply of materials for rail track rehabilitation from Colombo to Matara and execution of work for rail track rehabilitation from Kalutara to Matara, which is being implemented by IRCON (I) Ltd.

Moreover, the Line of Credit is being used for supply of 20 sets of Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs), 3 units of locomotives, spare parts for the existing M8 class locomotives, supply of plant and machinery for maintenance of existing DMUs and construction of maintenance sheds at Aluthgama, Galle and Colombo by RITES India Ltd. The upgradation project would allow the trains to travel on the Colombo-Matara sector at speeds up to 100 kmph.

It will also increase the average operating speed from 40 kmph to 80 kmph, allowing a passenger express train to cover the Colombo-Galle distance within 2 hours.

The supply of DMUs and locomotives would also increase the train capacity and the frequency of trains, improving the existing restrictions in this regard on the Colombo-Matara sector.

Besides China, through its funding arm the Exim Bank, has concluded with Sri Lanka a concessional funding arrangement to construct the island’s second airport in Mattala at a cost of $190 mn while also pledging concessional financing of $100 mn to augment the capacity of the Sri Lankan railway.

According to an official statement states that the 2 concessional loan agreements were signed during a 3 day visit by Mr. Jayasundera and a delegation from the External Resources Department and Attorney General’s Department to Beijing from 3 to 5 March.

Although his training schedule for the Commonwealth Championships leave him with little time for anything else, the world number one middle weight boxer has been following the hockey team’s campaign on television.

He said even though he don’t have time to go to the stadium, but been watching the matches on TV. He said we must support the team when it is going through a tough time. No athlete plays to lose and everyone should respect the effort they put in.

The Indian hockey team finished 4th in its group after winning 1, drawing 1 and losing 3 matches. The team will take on Argentina in a 7th-8th place play off tomorrow.

Magnum COMMA Fund is an open-ended growth scheme with an investment objective to generate opportunities for growth as well as possibility of consistent returns by investing predominantly in a portfolio of stocks of companies engaged in the commodity business within the following sectors – oil & gas, metals, materials & agriculture and in debt and money market instruments.

Under the Regular Plan – Quarterly Dividend Option: 2.023% (Rs. 0.2023) for Individuals & HUFs while 1.883% (Rs. 0.1883 per unit) for Others. Moreover, the NAV for the plan stood at Rs. 10.2307 per unit as on March 8, 2010.

Moreover, under the regular Plan-Annual Dividend Option: 0.140% (Rs. 0.0140 per unit) for Individuals & HUFs while 0.130% (Rs. 0.0130 per unit) for Others. The NAV for the plan as on March 8, 2010 stood at Rs. 10.0156 per unit.

While, under the institutional Plan – Quarterly Dividend Option: 0.254% (Rs. 0.0254 per unit) for Individuals & HUFs while 0.236% (Rs. 0.0236 per unit) for Others. The NAV for the plan as on March 8, 2010 stood at Rs. 10.0287 per unit.

Religare Active Income Fund is an open ended income scheme with an investment objective to generate optimal returns while maintaining the liquidity through active management of the portfolio by investing in debt as well as money market instruments.

The scheme’s investment objective is to generate income by investing in a portfolio of debt as well as money market instruments normally maturing in line with the time profile of the Scheme. The tenure of the Plan D is 24 months from the allotment date of units.

The plan D offers growth & dividend payout option. Meanwhile, the Plan D would allocate up to 100% of assets in debt instruments that includes money market instruments with low risk profile. However, the investment in securitized debt including pass through certificate (PTC) shall not more than 50% of the net assets of the plan. The plan will not invest in foreign securitized debt. Moreover, the investment in foreign debt securities (including units of overseas mutual fund investing in foreign debt securities/ money market instruments) shall not more than 50% of the net assets of the plan.

As per the details available on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) website, the FPO was subscribed only 0.17 times with bids received for 57.12 million shares.

The bids were at the lower end of the price band (Rs 300), suggesting that the investors prefers to stay away owing to concerns over high valuations.

The FPO includes 332.24 million shares in the price band of Rs 300 to Rs 350.

The entire issue is being made through the book-building route after the failing of the French auction system, which was used for REC and NTPC FPO in order to attract institutional investors.

The FPO opens yesterday and will close on March 12.

Meanwhile, the shares of NMDC, which remained on the sellers’ radar for the past few days rose marginally on Wednesday.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange, it closed at Rs 379.85, up 1.1 per cent. On NSE, it closed at Rs 380, up Rs 2.35. NMDC’s day one performance, however, was similar to that of other FPOs from state-owned companies.

On the other hand, NTPC’s FPO was subscribed 0.77 times on its opening day and only 1.2 times on the final day.

While Rural Electrification Corporation FPO was subscribed 0.2 times on the first day and finally subscribed 3.14 times.

In both cases, institutional investors like state-owned Life Insurance Corporation stepped in to take up the slack from retail investors.

Meanwhile, NMDC is currently trading at Rs.368.35, down by 3.02% at 9.58 AM.

The stock hit an intraday high of Rs.372 till now, as against the 52-week high of Rs.571.8.The stock hit a low of Rs.367.3 during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs.141 on March 16, 2009.

The stock opens at Rs.371 at BSE. The total traded volume of the scrip on BSE till now stood at 162854.

Meanwhile today, the BSE Sensex is trading down by -19.26 points, or -0.11% , at 17079.07 on 9:58 AM.

The NSE Nifty is trading down by -7.70 points, or -0.15% , at 5108.55.

NMDC has an equity capital of Rs 396.47 crore as of 2009 Dec. The face value per share is Rs 1. At the current price of Rs 368.35, the P/E multiple stood at 33.4596761030812 with book Value of 29.35 and P/BV at 12.55.

The total shareholding pattern of the company as on Dec 2009 stood at Promoters- 98.38%, Institutional Investors- 1.38%, General Public- 0.15% and other investors- 0.09%.

Considering the current price of Rs. 368.35 at 9:58:00 AM , the stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 11/03/2010 declined -24.93% as compared to the Sensex’s return of 6.46% and NSE Nifty’s 6.46 % returns.

Considering the current price of Rs. 368.35 at 9:58:00 AM , the stock had underperformed the market over the past one quarter till 11/03/2010 fell -11.99% as compared to the Sensex’s return of -0.11% and NSE Nifty’s -0.11 % returns.

Meanwhile, NMDC is eyeing to increase its production capacity to 50 mn tonnes (mt) by 2013-2014 from the current capacity of 30 mt. The company also plans to introduce a new pricing mechanism from 1st April 2010.

NMDC will also issue its Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) which would open tomorrow, offering 330.5 mn equity shares. Due to the growth in domestic and international demand, the company is expecting increase in prices

Moreover, the company is eyeing to establish 3 functional divisions in order to diversify into the energy, infrastructure and fertiliser sectors.

A government official said that the company plans to set up a conventional and non-conventional power projects, steel manufacturing facilities and fertiliser plants under different joint ventures with prospective partners.

He said that the company plans to form 3 separate divisions, each will be headed by expert CEOs. Respective divisions will create alliances with private and public sector companies specialising in respective fields.