Gold coin, bar sales on hold for 6 months

July 11, 2013

Gold_coinNew Delhi, Jul 11:In an unprecedented move, top jewellery retailers and bullion traders across the country have decided to suspend sale of gold coins and bars for six months. The measure is aimed at helping the government curb imports and keep the current account deficit under check.

Several prominent chains, including TBZ, Gitanjali, Tanishq and Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jewels, will voluntarily stop sales. Coins and bars account for more than a third of gold sales in the country. India is the world's largest gold buyer, at 860 tonnes a year. Market estimates suggest that the demand for coins and bars surged 150% in the past four years.

The move by top jewellery retailers and bullion traders to suspend sale of gold coins and bars for six months comes at a time when the government and the Reserve Bank of India have asked banks to go slow on selling gold coins and bars and players such as Anil Ambani's Reliance Capital have pulled out of the business.

Although the government had taken several steps to tame sales, the impact has been slow and it was only in June that there were signs of demand cooling down. "We had a meeting with the government last month after the restrictions on gold imports were introduced. As an industry body, we realized we have to regulate ourselves. If the sale of coins and bars is stopped, it will restrict imports significantly," said Ashok Minawala, board member at the All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation which asked traders across the country to stop taking orders for bars and coins.

"Demand for gold jewellery in the last 10 years has remained more or less constant. But investment demand has increased manifold. We will not promote the sale of coins and bars till CAD issue is resolved," said Sanjeev Agarwal, CEO of Gitanjali. The jewellery brand has stopped purchase of coins and bars already and is currently only liquidating its stocks.

While consumers will find it tougher to get hold of gold coins, retailers will not be hit due to the low profit margins. Against a profit margin of 8-12 % on diamond and gold jewellery, the margin on coins and bars is as low as 1-2 %. "Jewellers stock coins and bars only because consumers ask for them on special occasions or for investment purpose. Most of it is converted into jewellery after couple of years," said Agarwal.

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News Network
July 2,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 2: The India Meteorological Department (IMD), Bengaluru Director CS Patil said that good rainfall is expected in few districts during next five days.

The districts likely to receive rainfall include Dakshina Kannada, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Kodagu. All these districts had received deficit rainfall till date from June 1.

"From June 1 to till date Dakshina Kannada, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Kodagu districts received deficit rainfall. However, there is an expectation of good rainfall in these districts in next 5 days," said CS Patil.

"Coastal districts are very likely to experience light to moderate to widespread rainfall activity during the next five days," he added.

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News Network
July 23,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 23: The Siddi community in Karnataka got its first lawmaker as Governor Vajubhai Vala nominated five persons, including Shantharama Budna Siddi, to the Karnataka Legislative Council on Wednesday.

Shantharama Siddi had been working as a social worker and was a post holder at the Vanavasi Kalyan Prakalpa, a tribal welfare initiative of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The Siddis, an ethnic group in India, are said to have descended from the people of the East African region. They are included in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) in Karnataka.

Apart from the Shantharama, the inclusion of CP Yogishwar, who had left Congress to join BJP in 2017 but failed to retain his seat in the 2018 Assembly polls, is also considered as a big decision.

Adagur H Vishwanath, another former JDS leader, who had quit his party and joined BJP but failed to retain his seat has also caught the attention of the people.

Further, Governor Vala has nominated Talwar Sabanna and Bharathi Shetty to the Upper House in the state.

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News Network
March 27,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 27: With the numbers of COVID-19 optimistic instances rising at an alarming price in Karnataka, the state is on the verge of coming into stage three of the coronavirus epidemic. Which means that the virus is spreading to individuals who haven’t any journey historical past to Covid-19 affected international locations or contact with a COVID-19 optimistic individual with such a historical past.
Consequently, authorities in Karnataka expect a surge in optimistic instances within the coming days. This surge is probably going to come from pockets throughout the state which have a lot of coronavirus suspects, primarily individuals who have returned from Covid-19 affected international locations.

Within the parlance of the corona epidemic fighters, these pockets are referred to as clusters. Bengaluru is one massive cluster with many suspects, a lot of whom are IT professionals who lately returned from Europe, USA and Australia, and many others. The coastal belt is one other cluster, with suspects who’ve lately travelled to Center East. There are different clusters in Karnataka, the place suspects are those that returned after a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Medical schooling minister Ok Sudhakar admitted that the speed of enhance of COVID-19 positives in Karnataka is alarming. For over a month, the state had restricted the variety of optimistic instances to single digits. Nevertheless, within the final 4 days, the quantity has gone up sixfold and Karnataka now has 55 instances, the third largest variety of COVID-19 optimistic instances within the nation.

Dr Sudhakar stated the federal government was changing each authorities hospital right into a quarantine centre to accommodate any variety of optimistic instances.

“Our goal just isn’t to get right into a scenario like Italy, the place the federal government has been lowered to expressing helplessness. In subsequent 20 days, now we have to keep away from moving into such a scenario. I visited Chinnaswamy and Kanteerava stadiums and we’re working out if the stadiums will be transformed into quarantine centres, if warranted,” Dr Sudhakar stated.

The state police are struggling to implement the lockdown due to non-cooperation from some folks. They plan to rope in celebrities to ship throughout the message on social distancing.

Whereas some with home-quarantine seals are discovered roaming within the streets, some nonetheless assume the lockdown is a vacation.

“We’re roping in film stars in addition to sports activities personalities to give out a critical message on COVID-19. If the message goes dwelling, it could assist us management folks to a big extent,” he added.

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