The Reserve Bank of India is expected to raise interest rates by 50 basis points at its review on Tuesday in order to curb high inflation. India's economy is forecast to grow by at least 8.5% in 2010/11, the fastest among major economies after China. Meanwhile, former Australian Prime Minister John Howard said that China is aging rapidly due to its one-child policy, allowing younger India to become the dominant Asian nation by the end of the century.

1. Weekly news presentation 10

2. RBI to raise rates by 50 bps by end-March
 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to raise rates for the
sixth time this year at its review on Tuesday to batten down
stubbornly high inflation pressures in the fast-growing economy
 The RBI's key lending rate, or the repo rate , at the end of March
2011 is seen at 6.5 percent, while the reverse repo rate , or
borrowing rate, is seen at 5.5 percent.
 The RBI, which has raised policy rates by 125 basis points since
mid-March, is expected to pause the tightening cycle after the
current fiscal year ends
 India's economy, Asia's third-largest, is expected to expand by at
least 8.5 percent in 2010/11, the fastest pace among major
economies after China.

3. India to supersede 'ageing' China as Asia's dominant nation
 China is "rapidly ageing" because of its one-child policy and this
will allow India, a younger country, to supersede it as the
dominant nation in Asia before the end of the 21st century,
former Australian prime minister John Howard has said.
 The problem China has is that she will grow old before she grows
rich, she's got a terrible demographic problem because of the one-
child policy. China is a rapidly ageing country, whereas a country
like India is a younger country and I wouldn't be surprised if by
the end of the century India is a more powerful country

4. 7 of top-10 firms shed Rs 28k cr in m-cap in a week
 Market capitalization (m-cap) of seven of the country's top-10
firms eroded by Rs 28,193 crore last week, with oil and gas
major ONGC recording the biggest loss in valuation
 ONGC shares declined by nearly three per cent during the week
to close at Rs 1,303.25 on Friday at the Bombay Stock Exchange.
 India's largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services also
witnessed its valuation swell by Rs 2,289.93 crore to Rs
2,05,858.3 crore.
 Meanwhile, country's top public sector lender State Bank of
India saw its valuation decline by Rs 3,168.6 crore to Rs
2,00,098.05 crore.

5. FII money set to push markets higher
 The stock markets are anticipating another massive round of
quantitative easing by the US Fed next week.
 As the markets get closer to the D-day the markets seem to
indicate their confidence of the easing happening. In case the
quantum of easing is what the markets expect, India can expect
more foreign institutional investor (FII) inflows.
 FIIs are still bullish on Indian equity and expect the markets to
rally here. They do not think India is a risky bet given its GDP
growth and its earnings growth
 Asian central bankers on the other hand are of the view is that the
easing is an attempt to export the US's problems to Asia once
more. This time around, Asia is already reeling from the upward
pressures on their currencies.

6. JK Cement slips into red, reports Rs 21-cr loss
 J K Cement has slipped into the red with a Rs 21-crore loss in
the quarter ended September 30, due to a stiff rise in costs of raw
material, freight, and fuel.
 The company had reported Rs 65.38-crore net profit in the
corresponding quarter last fiscal, it said in a statement to the
Bombay Stock Exchange.
 Total income of the company also remained almost static at Rs
434.85 crore vis-a-vis 439.64 crore reported in the July-
September quarter of the last fiscal.
 Consumption of raw materials increased to Rs 60.58 crore in the
reporting quarter from Rs 44.16 crore in the same quarter last
fiscal. Expenditure on fuel also rose to Rs 110.5 crore from Rs
88.62 crore.

7. Nova to invest Rs 1,000 cr to set up 100 centres by 2014
 Nova Medical Centres, a specialised day care surgery centre
chain, plans to invest nearly Rs 1,000 crore for setting up 100
centers across the country by 2014.
 In the first phase, the company plans to open 25 day care centres
across the country at an investment of Rs 250 crore, in the next
two years.
 The company, which has tied up with Max Healthcare Institute in
the national capital region (NCR), plans to go solo in other parts
of the country. In July, the company had entered into an
agreement with Max Healthcare for day care centres in NCR.
 At present, Nova Medical has two day care centres in Bangalore
and has opened one in Delhi. The company also plans to open
two more in the capital by early next year.

8. ONGC may stall Cairn-Vedanta deal
 In a possible spoiler to Vedanta Resources' $ 9.6 billion
acquisition of Cairn India, Oil and Natural Gas Corp appears
keen to buy out partner Cairn's stake in the Rajasthan oil block --
the mainstay property of Cairn.
 ONGC on October 21 wrote to Cairn Energy, saying it had
preemption rights and asked for value of each of the 10 assets
held by the British firm's Indian unit so as to enable it to "decide
on the future course of action
 Cairn may not have put a separate value to each of the 10
properties and it, like in the past, is likely to dispute ONGC's
claim for preemption right on grounds that the deal with Vedanta
was more a corporate transaction.