BISHMA/016/2013-14
DATE : 10-01-2013
Dear Members,
HOLIDAY INFORMATION This is to inform all members to keep their business establishments closed on Monday, 14th January, 2013 on account of MAKARA SANKRANTHI. BISHMA CALENDER 2013 Member's who wish to have additional calendar can get it from the office of BISHMA on receipt of Rs.30/- per calendar as limited calendar are available. NEW LIFEMEMBERS. We are pleased to induct the following members to the fold of BISHMA : HYPER STEEL MART ( LM .798 ) #79/1, New Bamboo Bazaar Bangalore – 560 002. Ph: 080 42106251 fax: 080 41324369 Email: hypersteelmart@yahoo.in Manager : Mansoor Ahmed 99863 66726 Asst.Manager : Mudassar Ahmed 97390 71787
M/s. NAMADEVA STEEL CENTER ( LM. 799 ) # 244/239/1-4, Singasandra village, Behind SBM, Hosur Main Road, Bangalore-560 068. Ph: 94480 62012, 080 41115133 Email: namadeva.nsc@gmail.com Anirudh Didwania 99866 47738 Nakul Didwania 99162 25677
EMPLOYEE LEFT : M/s. STEEL HOUSE have informed that their employee Mr. Vijay have left their organisation from 01-01-2013. Anybody dealing with him will be doing so at their own risk & responsibility.
OBITUARY : BISHMA regrets to inform the sad demise of C.R. SHANTHARAJU. Aged 82, proprietor of M/s. C.R.REVANNA GURUSIDAPPA on 29/12/2012.
Indian steel demand runs contrary to global subdued trend The World Steel Association's prediction in October that steel would again record low consumption growth in 2013 finds resonance in forecasts by many agencies and in polls conducted by industry officials and analysts Source : Business Standard
H
ow would steel, which is nursing much overcapacity, particularly in Europe and China, fare this year? The jury is out on the subject---steelmakers, who continue to be roiled by the fallout of the 2008-09 recession, would stumble along this year, when demand and prices are expected to improve, albeit at disappointing rates. The World Steel Association's prediction in October that steel would again record low consumption growth in 2013 finds resonance in forecasts by many agencies and in polls conducted by industry officials and analysts. The Financial Times, too, conducted a survey on this. Nothing underpins this year's prospects more appropriately than Citigroup expert Tom O'hara's observation. "We will see another year of weak earnings for steel producers in key regions, especially Europe, which suffers from chronic oversupply," he predicted. Chandra Shekhar Verma, chairman of Steel Authority of India Limited ( SAIL), says India being a "demand centre where steel growth would rise in multiples of 1.2 of gross domestic product ( GDP), we will be largely immune from the metal's secular trend of low consumption rise in most parts of the world." It is expected India's GDP would expand 5.7 to 5.9 per cent. For the 12th Plan, the growth target has been revised to eight per cent, though this, too, is challenging. Steel demand for in the coming years can be estimated by using the multiple stated by Verma Tata Steel Managing Director H M Nerurkar says the government's push on reforms, the promise of single-window
clearances for infrastructure projects and the manufacturing and consumer durables sectors benefiting from likely rate cuts by the Reserve Bank would have a positive impact on steel--- in 2013-14, demand is estimated to grow about seven per cent, against 5.5 per cent this year. Whatever the demand pattern, it is unlikely that in a globalised trade environment, the fortunes of our steel industry would remain totally insulated from global realities such as overcapacity, leading some producing countries to become aggressive in exports to the extent of dumping. In the first eight months of 2012-13, our steel imports rose 21.4 per cent to 5.10 million tonnes (mt), while exports surged 21.6 per cent to 3.3 mt. This year, India would remain a net steel importer. JSW Steel's Sajjan Jindal says India is likely to end the year with imports of eight mt, about 10 per cent of the demand. Verma takes comfort from the positive movements in steel prices in recent weeks. For Nerurkar, this year holds prospect of steel prices “firming up and staying stable”. However, a poll of industry officials and analysts led the Financial Times to say average steel prices in 2013 were likely to rise 2.3 per cent, in line with the “weak price rises since 2009”. Before the recession, the world had witnessed a secular trend of steel prices rising five per cent annually. In case the upside in steel prices is 2.3 per cent, our steelmakers, who enjoy a tariff wall of 7.5 per cent, can, at the most, hope for defrayal of the raw material cost rises.
We have seen a classical V-shaped recovery in iron ore prices---from a low of $88.75 a tonne in early September to about $145 a tonne---primarily due to a demand recovery in China. Earlier, steelmakers in China were running down stocks, in line with the slowdown. Macquaire, London, says in the first quarter, the benchmark ore (with iron content of 62 per cent) would sell at an average of $140 a tonne. “Regrettably, mining restrictions in several states, which have severely impinged on exports, are not allowing us to benefit from the world ore price surge,” says H C Daga, president of the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries. Some relief for our steelmakers is the fact that unlike iron ore, coking coal, for which we are largely import-dependent, has been subdued. The world’s dominant coking coal exporter, BHP Billiton, has settled the first quarter contract for the fuel from Australia at $165 a tonne. This is at a discount of $15 a tonne, compared to domestic Chinese prices. “I am not suggesting the world steel environment, even while it is showing some signs of easing, would not remain difficult. But in India, the demand outlook is such that no steel group has put its capital expenditure programme on hold,” says Verma
Makara Sankranthi : Date and Significance
S
ankranti is the Sanskrit word in Hindu Astrology which refers to the transmigration of the Sun from one RÄ shi (sign of the zodiac) to another. Hence there are 12 such sankrantis in all. However, the Sankranti festival usually refers to Makara Sankaranti, or the transition of the Sun from Dhanu rashi (Sagittarius) to Makara rashi (Capricorn). For this purpose, the signs and houses of the zodiac are calculated using sidereal time, not tropical. As such it does not account for the Earth's precession. The festival therefore takes place around 21 days after the winter solstice (between December 20 and 23) that marks the starting of the phenomenon of 'northward apparent migration of the sun' or Uttarayana, literally meaning northward journey of Sun. Considering the winter solstice marks the beginning of the gradual increase of the duration of the day. Scientifically, the shortest day of the year is around December 21–22 after which the days begin to get longer, hence actual Winter Solstice begins on December 21 or December 22 when the tropical sun enters Makara rashi. Hence actual Uttarayana is December 21. This was the actual date of Makar Sakranti too. But because of the Earth's tilt of 23.45 degrees and sliding of equinoxes, Ayanamsa occurs. This has caused Makara Sankranti to slide further over the ages. A thousand years ago, Makar Sankranti was on December 31 and is now on January 14. Five thousand years later, it shall be by the end of February, while in 9,000 years it shall come in June.[citation needed] While the traditional Indian Calendar is based on lunar positions, Sankranti is a solar
event. So while dates of all Hindu festivals keep changing as per the Gregorian calendar, the date of Makar Sankranti remains constant over a long term, 14 January. Makar Sankranti is celebrated in the Hindu Calendar month of Magha. Makar Sankranti is a major harvest festival celebrated in various parts of India. According to the lunar calendar, when the sun moves from the Tropic of Capricorn to the Tropic of Cancer or from Dakshinayana
to Uttarayana, in the month of Pausha in mid-January, it commemorates the beginning of the harvest season and cessation of the northeast monsoon in South India. The movement of the Sun from one zodiac sign into another is called Sankranti and as the Sun moves into the Capricorn zodiac known as Makar in Hindi, this occasion is named as Makar Sankranti in the
Indian context. It is one of the few Hindu Indian festivals which are celebrated on a fixed date i.e. 14 January every year (or may be sometimes on 15 January (leap year). Makar Sankranti, apart from a harvest festival is also regarded as the beginning of an auspicious phase in Indian culture. It is said as the 'holy phase of transition'. It marks the end of an inauspicious phase which according to the Hindu calendar begins around mid-December. It is believed that any auspicious and sacred ritual can be sanctified in any Hindu family, this day onwards. Scientifically, this day marks the beginning of warmer and longer days compared to the nights. In other words, Sankranti marks the termination of winter season and beginning of a new harvest or spring season. All over the country, Makar Sankranti is observed with great fanfare. However, it is celebrated with distinct names and rituals in different parts of the country. In the states of northern and western India, the festival is celebrated as the Sankranti day with special zeal and fervor. The importance of this day has been signified in the ancient epics like Mahabharata also. So, apart from socio-geographical importance, this day also holds a historical and religious significance. As it is the festival of Sun God and he is regarded as the symbol divinity and wisdom, the festival also holds an eternal meaning to it.
LIST OF BISHMA HOLIDAY FOR 2013
1 . MAKARA SANKRANTHI
Monday, 14th January.
2. REPUBLIC DAY
Saturday, 26 January.
3. HOLI
Tuesday, 26 March.
4. CHANDRAMANA UGADI
Thursday, 11th April.
5. EID-UL-FITR (RAMZAN)
Friday, 9 August.
6. INDEPENDENCE DAY
Thursday, 15th August.
7. GANESH CHATURTHI
Monday, 9th September.
8. DASSERA
Monday, 14 October.
9. BAKRID
Wednesday,16th October.
10. KANNADA RAJYOSTAVA
Friday, 1 November.
11. DIWALI
Saturday, 2 November.
th
th
th
th
st
nd