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Banks in Bangladesh have taken a cautious approach in transaction with a number of banks in Iran following a US warning, banking sector sources said.
   ‘The US has blacklisted a number of banks in Iran and sent us a list. They [US] have warned that the assets of local banks with US banks would be freezed if they engage in transaction with a number of Iranian banks including the largest bank Saderat and second largest Mellat,’ the managing director of a private bank told New Age on Thursday.
   A Bangladesh bank official said that they also reminded commercial banks of the US warning that their assets could be freezed in the US if they make any transactions with Iran.
   The central bank governor, Atiur Rahman, however, said that the central bank had not warned any banks. ‘The banks probably have received warnings from their partner banks in US,’ he told New Age.
   Bangladesh and Iran both are members of the eight-member Asian Clearing Union (ACU) and they settle exports and imports transactions through ACU payment system.
   After the US sanctions on Iran over its alleged nuclear facilities, the central bank cautioned the banks to warn their clients who have trade with Iran to be more careful as there are settlement problems, said a Bangladesh Bank official.
   He said payment system should be settled by a third-party international bank located in Europe as the US banks cannot do business with Iran, added Bdnews24.com.
   ‘But now the European banks have joined the sanction wagon and it's difficult to settle payments. We’ve recently notified the banks about the latest situation,’ the central bank official said preferring anonymity.
   The main purpose of the ACU payment system is to simplify international trade by letting central banks handle payments on behalf of their own nations' companies.
   The Indian central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), last week instructed its banks not to settle any transaction with Iran under the ACU payment system, the official said.
   Iran is India's second largest crude oil supplier and accounts for over 12 per cent of its oil requirements.
   A row between India and Iran has surfaced in last two days after Iran refused to take payments for oil outside of ACU system.
   Meanwhile, Standard Chartered Bank has launched a review about its business in the past with Iran, according to a report carried by UK-based The Telegraph newspaper.
   The company cut all ties with Iran in 2007 and did not disclose any discussions with the US authorities about its dealings with Iran until this year, it said.
   The ACU was originally set up by the United Nations in 1974 to help facilitate trade in South Asia, and it is headquartered in Tehran, the capital of Iran.
   Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Iran, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan and Bhutan are the ACU members.
   The volume of transactions booked at the Secretariat of the Asian Clearing Union amounted to $14,072.42 million in 2009, according to the ACU annual report.
   The US Senate and the House of Representatives passed the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (CISADA). President Obama signed the law on July 1, 2010.

Around 10,000 sharecroppers from 14 districts of the country at a reception in the city’s Army Stadium on Thursday tabled a number of their problems, including timely and adequate supply of fertiliser, quality seeds, and power in the forthcoming boro season.
   The Bangladesh Bank and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee jointly organised the reception for sharecroppers for their contribution in achieving food security in the country under the Sharecropper Development Project of BRAC.
   The sharecroppers, wearing yellow, green, blue, red, and pink caps, arrived at the stadium with musical bands and enjoyed a folk music concert, sitting on the ground.
   ‘We keep the wheel of agriculture active. We want adequate supply of fertiliser, quality seed and electricity in time during the boro season to ensure a good harvest,’ said Mosammat Morjina Begum, a sharecropper from Atgharia of Pabna, said at the function, seeking attention of the agriculture minister.
   Another sharecropper, Shahinur Akhter of Shripur in Gazipur district, said, although she worked in the fields, she was identified as a housewife in her national identity card. ‘Only the men are identified as farmers and only they get the chance of avail of the agricultural subsidies,’ she told the gathering.
   Sharecroppers used to suffer from cash crisis and had to borrow money from local lenders at high interest rates for cultivating crops, Md Mojammel Haque of village Baruipara under Melandah upazila in Jamalpur district told New Age.
   But, the situation has changed, he said. ‘I took from BRAC a six-month term loan of Tk 12,000 in the last boro season and another term loan of Tk 17,000 in the aman season at a 10 per cent interest that enabled me to cultivate the land without facing any financial problem.
   ‘As the loan is for six months only, we have to pay only 5 per cent interest on the principal amount, which is easier for us to pay as we have to refund only 30 per cent of the amount in monthly instalments in the three months preceding the harvest and the remaining 70 per cent in the quarter after it,’ said another sharecropper, Nazrul Islam of village Kutula under Sarishabari upazila in Jamalpur.
   ‘We also received technical assistance and flood-tolerant seeds from the BRAC for trial production,’ he added.
   The BRAC launched the Borga Chasi Unnayan Project funded by the central bank in 2009 and disbursed Tk 140 crore in loans to 80 per cent of the 1.4 lakh sharecroppers belonging to 7,500 village sharecroppers’ organisations in 158 upazilas of 36 districts. The project also provided technical support to a part of the beneficiaries.
   Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith admitted that most of the investment in the country’s agricultural sector was made by the private sector, although farmers contributed most to the national economy.
   Although the farmers are producing a huge quantity of produces, the government is yet to arrange an adequate number of warehouses to preserve them, he added.
   The finance minister emphasised agricultural research and invention to meet the climate-change challenges.
   Agriculture minister Begum Matia Chowdhury urged the farmers to cultivate more aus and aman and tend them properly to increase the production of the country’s staple food.
   BB governor Atiur Rahman, media professional Shykh Seraj, and BRAC executive director Mahabub Hossain also addressed the ceremony chaired by BRAC Governing Body member Taherunnesa Abdullah.
   Fifteen beneficiaries of the BRAC project were awarded certificates and television sets at the function in recognition of their outstanding performance.

Dhaka bourse finished a booming year on an upbeat mood with its benchmark general index and turnover gaining on Thursday.
   The general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange advanced by 75.36 points, or 0.92 per cent, to close at 8,290.41 points on the last trading day of 2010.
   The index has risen by 82.87 per cent, or 3,754 points, over the year from 4,535.53 points at the end of 2009.
   The average daily turnover in 2010 was Tk 1,643.40 crore, up by Tk 1,038.77 crore from Tk 604.63 crore in the previous year.
   ‘Apart from the last three weeks’ jitters in the market when the general index suffered the record single-day fall, the DSE has passed a booming year,’ said a stockbroker.
   He said most of the issues remained overpriced, despite some corrections that had taken place in the past three weeks.
   Both the index and turnover rose on Thursday as the margin loan rules for investing in mutual funds relaxed by the Securities and Exchange Commission encouraged investors to go for bulk buying after two days of lacklustre trading, said another stockbroker.
   The turnover on the
   day was Tk 1,783.10
   crore, up by Tk 303.11 crore from that of the previous day.
   ‘Investors injected fresh funds into the market to buy a massive number of shares because the Securities and Exchange Commission had relaxed the margin loan directives for the mutual funds,’ a stockbroker said.
   Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, a former DSE chief executive officer who had returned to his original occupation of a finance teacher at Dhaka University, said, ‘Most of the investors anticipated that the market would see a boost in the new year as they went for bulk buying on the closing day of the year.’
   He said investors’ participation in the capital market had increased day by day over the year turning it into a very important economic sector.
   The capital market authorities, however, have failed to ensure adequate supply on the market for investors as only 12 companies have gone public this year, he added
   The total market capitalisation in 2010 was Tk 3,50,800.58 crore, posting a 84.81 per cent rise from that in 2009.
   Prices of almost all the issues in major sectors like bank, insurance companies, fuel and energy, non-banking financial institute, textiles, and engineering, gained on the day.
   As many as 30 out of the 31 mutual funds gained and the remaining one declined on the last trading day of the year.
   Out of the total 244 issues traded on the day, 186 advanced, 58 declined, and two remained unchanged.
   Southeast Bank topped the turnover leaders with 14.02 lakh shares worth Tk 84.56 crore traded on the day.
   The rest of the turnover leaders were Prime Bank, NBL, United Airways, AB Bank, One Bank, Beximco, City Bank, Bay Leasing and Investment, and Islami Bank.
   Grameen One was the biggest gainer of the day, posting a 14.94 pre cent increase in its share price, while Sandhani Life Insurance was the worst loser.

Amid Asia’s post-crisis boom it was the tiddlers among the region’s stock markets that surged ahead in 2010, fuelled by a flood of easy money into emerging economies.
   Among the bigger bourses Hong Kong was the standout thanks to some of the world’s biggest listings.
   But the past 12 months belonged to previously overlooked markets such as Colombo, Bangkok and Manila, with Mumbai also sprinting ahead.
   Sri Lanka's stock index, enjoying in a post-civil war peace dividend, soared 96 percent, making it the second best performer in the world after hard-to-access Mongolia's national bourse, according to the Colombo exchange.
   Snapping at Sri Lanka's heels was Bangladesh (up 80 per cent for the year), Indonesia (46 per cent), the Philippines (up 38 per cent), Malaysia (19 per cent), Thailand (up more than 40 per cent) and South Korea (up nearly 22 per cent).
   In each case local factors played a role -- disturbances near Bangladesh‘s stock exchange in which bricks were hurled and furniture was set on fire demonstrated how local sentiment can affect that market.
   But a decisive factor was foreign cash flowing into the strengthening emerging markets as investors in the West, where interest rates are at record lows, sought out better returns for their money.
   The United States’ decision to effectively print more cash with its quantitative easing also helped, weakening the dollar and pushing investors into strengthening Asian currencies.
   All of which stoked fears about destabilising short-term inflows.

A payments dispute between India and Iran escalated after Tehran refused to sell oil to India under New Delhi’s prohibitive new rules, sources on both sides said on Wednesday.
   The Indian sources said officials from the central banks of the two countries will meet on Friday as Iran seeks to rescue trade worth around $12 billion a year, at risk from rising US pressure on countries trading with Iran to abandon all dealings.
   Last week, the Reserve Bank of India said deals with Iran must be settled outside the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) system, used by central banks of member nations to settle bilateral trades.
   Analysts predicted talks would be tough and that New Delhi may face a costly bill if it abandons Iranian oil imports.
   Iran is under global pressure over its nuclear program, and though United Nations sanctions do not forbid the purchase of Iranian oil, the United States has pressed hard for governments and companies to stop dealing with Tehran.
   India is the biggest buyer of Iranian crude among ACU members, with state-owned refiners and privately owned Essar Oil taking around 4,00,000 barrels per day.
   Two Indian industry sources said on Wednesday that National Iranian Oil Co had turned down Indian oil firms’ request for payments outside the ACU.
   ‘Indian firms had asked Iran to immediately nominate a bank in Europe through which payment can be made. But NIOC refused,’ said one of the sources.
   When asked if NIOC was willing to accept any mechanism outside the ACU, a NIOC source said: ‘It is not acceptable to NIOC as this exercise...[has been] in place for so many years.’
   Indian analysts said the oil dispute was the result of US pressure on the international community to stop dealing with Tehran to force it to abandon its nuclear program.
   The White House on Wednesday praised the Reserve Bank of India for reducing its dealings with Iran’s central bank.

Kadena Sportswear Limited, an UK-China joint venture company, will set up a knit and woven garments manufacturing units in the Comilla Export Processing Zone.
   This foreign owned company will invest $40.44 million in setting up their unit and will manufacture garments items.
   The company will also create employment opportunity for 8,030 persons including 30 foreign nationals.
   An agreement to this effect was signed between the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority and the Kadena Sportswear Limited at BEFZA Complex in the city.
   Moyjuddin Ahmed, member (investment promotion) of BEPZA, and Leonidas Loukaides, chairman of Kadena Sportswear Limited, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.
   BEPZA executive chairman Major General ATM Shahidul Islam, member (finance) AKM Mahbubur Rahman, general manager (investment promotion) AZM Azizur Rahman and other officials of BEPZA were present on the occasion.

Taiwan’s financial regulator said Thursday it will set up a task force to inspect banks’ use of foreign cash inflows to check for forex speculation as the local currency hit a 13-year high against the dollar.
   The move comes as emerging markets mostly in Asia see huge amounts of money pumped into their economies with investors looking for better returns on their cash as Western nations continue to struggle after the global downturn.
   The Financial Supervisory Commission said it had instructed banks to provide information on the ‘end beneficiaries’ of foreign funds as the Taiwan dollar has risen about five per cent against its US counterpart in the past two months.
   It also comes after the central bank said that it interviewed the chiefs of two banks regarding recent ‘irregular trading’ involving massive sales of foreign currencies at a particular time.
   ‘Over the past few days, a small number of authorised foreign exchange banks have targeted specific times of the day to sell off large quantities of foreign exchange,’ the central bank said Wednesday.
   The commission said it had set up a task force to carry out the checks.
   It said it ‘supports the Central Bank in stabilising the financial markets... the task force will inspect banks to check the usage of foreign funds,’ it said in a statement.
   Governments of emerging markets are wary of the flows of so-called ‘hot money’, which is criticised for causing economic instability due to fears it can pulled out of the country at any time.
   Taiwan has already taken steps to limit the massive inflows with the commission recently banning foreign funds from investing more than 30 per cent of their portfolios in government bonds with maturities of a year or less.
   And the central bank is suspected of intervening on forex markets to keep a cap on the local currency as a strong unit would be harmful to the export-reliant economy.
   Foreign speculative funds invested in Taiwan as traders bet on the appreciation of the local currency was estimated at around $9.86 billion last month, according to Central Bank governor Perng Fai-nan.

Manufacturing activity in China fell to a three-month low in December but soaring raw material costs continued to fan inflationary pressures in the economy, an independent survey said Thursday.
   The HSBC China Manufacturing PMI, or purchasing managers’ index, slipped to 54.4 in December from 55.3 in November as output and new business increased at the slowest pace in three months, the British banking giant said.
   But manufacturing activity in the fourth quarter, as a whole, was the strongest since the first three months of the year, it said.
   A reading above 50 indicates the sector is expanding, while a reading below indicates contraction.
   The data came as the yuan reached the strongest level against the dollar since Beijing vowed in June to loosen exchange rate controls, which a central bank official said Thursday helps cut import costs and curb inflation.
   The People’s Bank of China set the yuan central parity rate — the middle of the currency’s allowed trading band — at 6.6229 to the dollar, meaning it has appreciated about three per cent against the greenback since June 19.
   The gradual appreciation in the yuan has had only a small impact on employment and growth, Sheng Songcheng, director of the PBOC’s Statistics and Analysis Department, wrote in an article in the Financial News.
   At the same time, it benefits the world’s second-largest economy by reducing import costs, easing inflation pressures and prompting Chinese companies to become more competitive, Sheng wrote, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
   Despite the gains in the yuan, average input prices rose for the fifth straight month, albeit at the slowest pace in three months, driven mainly by soaring raw material, energy and fuel costs, the HSBC survey showed.
   Purchasing managers said their factories were passing on the higher costs to customers by hiking factory-gate prices for products, highlighting the need for further monetary tightening measures, HSBC chief economist Qu Hongbin said.

The dollar fell in Asia on Thursday amid thin and choppy holiday trade, with investors leaving the US currency due to falling bond yields, dealers said.
   The greenback dropped to 81.45 yen in Tokyo afternoon trading, off an intraday low of 81.26, but down from 81.62 yen in New York late Wednesday.
   The euro rose to $1.3233 from $1.3224 in New York.
   Against the yen, the single European currency fell to 107.78 yen from 107.88 yen in New York.
   Amid thin holiday trade the yen has climbed back towards the 15-year high of 80.21 yen it marked in early November, prompting Tokyo officials to reiterate their readiness to intervene in the market.
   A strong yen makes Japan’s exports less competitive abroad and eats into companies’ repatriated profits. The currency’s latest gains helped drive down exporters’ shares on the Tokyo stock exchange Thursday.
   The forex market took a cue from falls in US long-term bond yields overnight, dealers said, with trading extremely light near the year-end.
   Lower US bond yields make the dollar less attractive for investors seeking higher returns.
   ‘US yields are seen to remain a driving factor behind moves in the Tokyo market, with fewer market participants for the rest of the day,’ said Yuichiro Harada, dealer at Mizuho Corporate Bank.

Oil rose in afternoon Asian trade Thursday on expectations that freezing temperatures in the northern hemisphere will stoke demand, analysts said.
   New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, rose 20 cents to $91.32 per barrel in the afternoon.
   Brent North Sea crude for February was up 16 cents at $94.30.
   ‘The prices are related to weather... as well as inventories,’ said Jason Feer, Asia-Pacific vice president and general manager for Argus Media energy market analysts in Singapore.
   The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has not made ‘much imminent concerted effort to bring down prices’, he added.
   OPEC produces 40 per cent of the world’s crude and its actions have a heavy influence on oil futures movements.
   Crude prices have been
   boosted by the extreme cold weather and blizzards across the northern hemisphere, with households seen using more heating oil.

Delta Brac Housing Finance Corp
   The company has informed that cash dividend along with sell proceeds of fraction shares for the year ended on June 30, 2010 will be distributed to the respective shareholders bank accounts having online system facilities. Dividend holders who are keeping account with banks having no facility of online system are requested to collect their dividend warrants by hand from January 2 to 5 from the head office situated at Landmark Building at Gulshan-2 in Dhaka during the office hours .
   
   City General Insurance
   SEC has accorded its consent to the proposed change in the denomination of share value (face value) of City General Insurance Company Ltd from Tk 100 to Tk 10 each as well as market lot from 50 to 100 shares.
   
   Prime Bank
   Trading of the shares of the bank will be allowed only in the spot market and block/odd lot transactions will also be settled as per spot settlement cycle from January 2 to 4. Trading of the shares of the bank will remain suspended on record date on January 5 for changing face value and market lot.
   
   Uttara Bank
   Trading of the shares of the bank will be allowed only in the spot market and block/odd lot transactions will also be settled as per spot settlement cycle from January 2 to 4. Trading of the shares of the bank will remain suspended on record date on January 5 for changing face value and market lot.
   
   Reliance Insurance
   Trading of the shares of the company will be allowed only in the spot market and block/odd lot transactions will also be settled as per spot settlement cycle from January 2 to 4. Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended on record date on January 5 for EGM.
   
   Takaful Islami Insurance
   The company has informed that the 3rd EGM of the company will be held on February 22 at 10:00am at Co-operative Book Society Hall at Motijheel in Dhaka to enhance authorised capital and change denomination of share value which had been intimated by the company earlier in its letter dated October 30. Record date for EGM will be January 20.
   
   Sandhani Life Insurance
   Following the change of the denomination of shares and market lot with effect from December 30 (record date), the new face value of the shares of the company will be Tk 10 instead of Tk 100 per share keeping the existing market lot of 50 shares and the new adjusted open price of shares will be Tk 415.20 per share.
   Source: DSE

Rising oil prices present a new inflationary headache for Asia and further complicate the task of policymakers grappling with broader price pressures, an uneven growth outlook and surging dollar inflows.
   Central bankers in Asia are reluctant to stifle growth by raising rates and are wary of exacerbating yield differentials with western economies and Japan that would further attract potentially destabilising capital flows.
   At the same time, rising prices are politically fraught in countries such as India and Indonesia, which must decide between taking the fiscal hit of offsetting fuel price increases through subsidies or pass costs onto inflation-wary consumers.
   Inflation is also a big worry for global economic powerhouse China, whose leadership perceives rising costs of living as a threat to social peace and stability.
   Beijing’s Christmas day rate rise -- its second in two months -- underscored how its focus has shifted from nurturing growth to getting prices under control and India is expected to follow, resuming a tightening cycle that has brought six rate increases since March.
   Asia’s No 1 and 3 economies can find comfort in signs that growth had sufficient momentum to withstand further policy tightening, but others -- particularly those relying heavily on exports -- seem less certain about next year’s prospects. Yet South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines are all also expected to tighten monetary conditions in 2011.
   While raising rates can do little to cap cost-driven or imported inflation, it can help cool overall demand and contain inflationary expectations stoked by a broad rally in commodity markets.
   ‘It is difficult for individual countries such as South Korea to deal with inflationary pressure coming from these external cost factors,’ said Lee Sung-kwon, chief economist at Shinhan Investment Corp in Seoul.
   Lee said lowering tariffs on raw material imports, for example, will have a small impact on easing prices in South Korea, and expects the central bank to raise rates once each in the first and second quarters, to 3 per cent from 2.5 per cent now.
   ‘Global prices of oil and raw materials will stabilise if China raises interest rates and the impact of the hikes materialise in that economy,’ Lee said.
   Oil prices have risen steadily this quarter. Benchmark US crude hit a 26-month high on Monday near $92 per barrel and is forecast by some analysts to be headed to $100, driven by quantitative easing in the United States and as robust growth in China and India drive demand.
   A weak dollar and OPEC’s evident reluctance to increase output add to the case for costlier oil in 2011.
   ‘We see broad price rises in soft commodities, hard commodities and black commodities [oil and coal], which have translated into imported inflation and imported cost increases,’ said Chen Xingdong, chief China economist at BNP Paribas.
   Demand for oil products in China, the world’s No 2 consumer, rose 13.9 per cent annually in November, as millions more Chinese bought cars and industrial and petrochemical demand boomed, despite a two-year old fuel pricing system designed to ensure rising crude oil costs were passed on to consumers.
   In India, New Delhi this week deferred a decision on whether to lift the state-set price of diesel and cooking fuels, which would add to inflation, annoy the embattled ruling Congress party’s rural base and further embolden the political opposition.
   Headline inflation in India was 7.48 per cent in November, and the central bank’s 5.5 per cent inflation target for the end of the fiscal year in March appears increasingly out of reach as food and fuel price rises accelerate.
   The rise in global crude prices comes on top of high food prices and surging growth in many Asian economies.
   Chen estimated that while fuels contributed 10 per cent to China’s 5.1 per cent November inflation, a 28-month high, food accounted for 74 per cent.
   Food prices, which like energy tend to be beyond the scope of monetary policy, jumped 11.7 per cent in China in the year to November, while India’s food price index rose 14.44 per cent on the year as of December 18.
   ‘Rising oil prices will not be the only problem for inflation. Higher food prices and wages, which are seen across Asia, will also push up inflation from the demand side,’ said Nuchjarin Panarode, economist at Capital Nomura in Bangkok.

China has pledged to restrict internet phone services -- a move that could affect thousands of businesses and individuals making cheap calls via web-based communications companies such as Skype.
   ‘We are carrying out with relevant authorities a campaign to crack down on illegal Voice over Internet Protocol phone services’, the ministry of industry and information technology said in a circular posted online earlier this month.
   In the brief notice, which did not offer details on the crackdown or a timetable for shutting down ‘illegal’ services, the ministry listed a telephone hotline for citizens to report any violations.
   The ministry declined immediate comment when asked for clarification of the policy by AFP on Thursday.
   The Beijing Morning Post on Thursday however quoted vice-minister Xi Guohua as saying only state-owned major Chinese telecommunications operators were licensed to provide internet phone services linking telephones and computers.
   Xi said communications between computers (PC-to-PC) remain open to all service providers in China, which has the world’s biggest internet population at 450 million.
   That means some PC-to-phone services provided by firms including Skype, which are popular in China due to their low rates as compared with those of the country’s major telecoms firms, could be banned under the ministry’s new rules.
   For example, Skype users pay just 0.19 yuan (three cents) per minute to call a landline number in the United States, while the same call on China Unicom would cost at least 2.4 yuan per minute.
   UUCall, a homegrown Skype-like service which calls itself ‘the first Chinese internet phone brand’, was shut down in October 2009 on suspicion of operating illegal web phone services, the report said.
   It resumed business in February after moving its domain name to Hong Kong, it added.
   Xi said China Telecom and China Unicom had licences to provide PC-to-phone services in four cities on a trial basis. He added the government was considering an expansion of the programme.
   Critics said the government move was meant to protect state-owned telecom operators, who are reluctant to promote the cheap service because it will marginalise their existing -- lucrative -- international call services.
   ‘Overall this is to take further strong measures to protect the interests of state-owned monopolies,’ Kan Kaili, a professor at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, told AFP.

Brazil’s state-run Petrobras confirmed on Wednesday that oil fields recently discovered offshore contained 8.3 billion barrels of recoverable crude and gas -- and said the biggest field was being renamed ‘Lula.’
   That nomenclature happens to be the nickname of president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who steps down on Saturday after overseeing eight years of prosperity in Brazil capped by the oil discoveries.
   Petrobras explained, though, that the decision to change the name of the field from Tupi to Lula came from its tradition of naming such deepwater zones after marine animals.
   Lula in Portuguese means squid. The president formally added the nickname to his full name, and he is universally known as Lula in the country.
   ‘It’s not my name – it’s the name of a crustacean,’ Lula protested when asked whether the move was to honour him, after he bolstered Petrobras’s control over the oil.
   Brazil hopes the fields will propel it into the top league of oil exporting nations, securing its drive to become the world’s fifth-biggest economy in a few years’ time.
   Petrobras said the Lula field was Brazil’s biggest, a ‘supergiant’ field with an estimated 6.5 billion barrels of recoverable oil and gas.
   The other field, which contained 1.8 billion barrels, was having its name changed from Iracema to Cernambi, Portuguese for mollusk.
   They add to 14 billion barrels of reserves already recognised.

A huge charity gift by a high-tech tycoon has shone a harsh light on the philanthropic track record of India’s established and emerging billionaires.
   Azim Premji, who transformed a family-owned cooking oil firm into the software giant Wipro, announced earlier this month that he was giving two billion dollars to fund rural education.
   The 100 wealthiest Indians have a net worth equal to 25 per cent of India’s GDP and Premji’s donation -- by far the largest ever made by an individual -- was seen as a challenge to others in the ultra-rich club.
   While charitable giving by the wealthy is widespread in countries like the United States, it is far less established in developing nations such as India and China.
   Arpan Sheth, author of an overview of philanthropy in India by global consultancy Bain, says the charitable potential of the world’s second-fastest-growing major economy is huge.
   ‘Should individuals [in India], particularly the well off, be giving more? And can they afford to make more and larger donations? The answer to both questions is, ‘Absolutely yes’,’ Sheth said.
   India’s booming economy -- expected to grow 8.5 per cent this year -- minted 17 new billionaires in 2010, driving the national total to a record 69, according to Forbes magazine.
   Two Indians, Lakshmi Mittal and Mukesh Ambani, currently figure in the top five on the Forbes list of the world’s wealthiest individuals.
   But philanthropic activity has failed to keep pace, partly, Sheth believes, because the rapid accumulation of individual wealth is a still a relatively new phenomenon.
   Ambani’s father was a rags-to-riches tycoon, who started off as a small-time textiles trader and went on to found and build Reliance Industries -- now India’s largest private sector firm.
   Open displays of wealth are often more admired than criticised in India, where the rich commonly spend hundreds of thousands of dollars -- sometimes millions -- on lavish weddings.