Alberta Counts on Oil to Close Budget Gap Ahead of
By Jeremy van Loon
Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) — Alberta, Canada’s third-largest economy, is counting on rising oil prices to pay for more spending on education and health care as the government maintains its current tax rate ahead of a provincial election.
The western province Fake Watches, which is home to the world’s third- largest oil reserves, forecast a shortfall of C$886 million ($890 million) in the fiscal year ending March 31, returning to surplus the next year, Finance Minister Ron Liepert said yesterday. The economy is forecast to grow 3.8 percent in 2012.
“Considering the impact the global economic slowdown is having in other jurisdictions, Albertans are very fortunate to be experiencing such growth,” Liepert said in a speech to lawmakers. The government is planning no new taxes or increases to current tax rates, he said.
Alberta, which relies on royalties and taxation of its oil and natural gas industry for about one-third of its revenue, has one of the fastest-growing economies and populations in Canada. With Exxon Mobil Corp., Suncor Energy Inc. and rivals making investments of about C$20 billion annually in the oil sands, the government is struggling to keep up with maintaining and expanding hospitals, universities and roads.
“Government and politics today is all about allocation of resources and squabbling over those resources,” said Keith Brownsey, associate professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary. “They want to portray themselves as good managers and that they’re cautious with our money. But they need to have a steadier stream of revenue than what they have now with oil.”
Oil Prices
The finance ministry projects an average price of $99.25 a barrel for West Texas Intermediate crude in fiscal 2012-13, rising to $106.25 the following year. Crude for March delivery yesterday gained $1.13 to $99.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement in three weeks. Prices averaged $95.11 last year. Natural gas will average C$3 a gigajoule, the finance ministry estimates. Natural gas for March delivery rose 2.9 cents, or 1.2 percent Watches Replica, to settle at $2.477 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday.
Higher oil prices have helped boost profit for Alberta- based oil companies. Suncor on Jan. 31 said fourth-quarter net income rose 14 percent to C$1.43 billion. Canada’s daily oil- sands output is expected to more than double to 3.5 million barrels in 2025, from 1.4 million in 2010, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
Premier Alison Redford, who took over as provincial leader in October, holds 67 of the 83 seats in the provincial legislature. She must call an election by 2013 and will probably ask voters to go to the polls as early as this spring, Mount Royal University’s Brownsey said.
Boosting Spending
Alberta will spend C$16.5 billion in public infrastructure over the next three years, including boosting outlays on highways, schools and municipal public transportation. The operating budget for healthcare will increase 7.9 percent to C$15.9 billion in fiscal 2012-13.
The western province has C$14.3 billion in outstanding bonds, according to Bloomberg data. The provincial treasury is scheduled to pay back about C$2.1 billion this year. There will be no new borrowing this year, finance ministry spokeswoman Robyn Cochrane said as the province plans to cover the shortfall by drawing down reserves.
The government said it will review its dependence on energy revenue, a plan the Calgary Chamber of Commerce applauded. “The province relies too heavily on volatile royalty revenue,” said Ben Brunnen, the group’s chief economist, in a statement. “Alberta needs a new fiscal framework that caps the amount of resource revenue used, restructures the Sustainability Fund, and commits to real savings into the Heritage and Savings Trust Fund.”
–Editors: Paul Badertscher, John Simpson
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy van Loon in Calgary at jvanloon@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scanlan at or dscanlan@bloomberg.net
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PM’s address at World Sanskrit Conference
New Delhi: The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, addressed the World Sanskrit Conference in New Delhi today.
Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s address on the occasion:
“Sanskrit Bharat ki aatma hai. Iss liye mujhe aaj iss sammelan mein shaamil hote huey bahut khushi praapt ho rahi hai.
I compliment my colleague Shri Kapil Sibal, and the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the International Association of Sanskrit Studies (IASS) for organizing this truly unique event. I also extend my very warm greetings to all the scholars who are participating in this Conference and have come to Delhi from far corners of the world.
The IASS owes its origin to an International Sanskrit Conference that was held in Delhi way back in 1972 and was sponsored by the Government of India in collaboration with UNESCO. Since its inception, the IASS has been organizing the World Sanskrit Conference every three years, with three previous Conferences having been held in India. I learn that the IASS is not concerned with Sanskrit in the narrow sense but more broadly with research work based on solid knowledge of one or more Indian languages and on fundamental textual sources from South and South-East Asia. This is indeed a most worthy cause.
Sanskrit, which is recognized as one of the oldest living languages of the world, is often misunderstood as only a language of religious hymns and rituals. Such an understanding does injustice to the great genius of this language and betrays ignorance of the work of great writers, thinkers, sages and scientists like Kautilya, Charaka, Sushruta, Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Brahmagupta, Bhaskaracharya and many others. Indeed Replica Watches, Sanskrit, is much more than a language. It is a complete knowledge system that embodies the great learning traditions of ancient India. Jawaharlal Nehru, once described Sanskrit language and literature as the “the greatest treasure that India possesses”. He went on to say “this is a magnificent inheritance; so long as this endures and influences the life of our people, so long will the basic genius of India continue to flourish.”
Sanskrit has not only some of the greatest classics of world literature, but also a treasure of knowledge in Mathematics Fake Watches, Medicine, Botany, Chemistry, Arts and Humanities. If we provide the missing links and establish the required inter-disciplinary approaches, the wisdom of Sanskrit has the potential of enriching the present day knowledge systems and Indian languages immensely.
The Sanskrit language has also been the source of values and ideals that have sustained India through the ages. Like the great civilization of India, Sanskrit does not belong to any particular race, sect or religion. It represents a culture that is not narrow and sectarian but open, tolerant and all-embracing. The open-minded seers and thinkers who spelt out their vision and philosophy in the sacred Vedas and the Upanishads were able to balance the opposites in their life and in philosophy. It is this spirit of liberalism and tolerance imbedded in Sanskrit that we must inculcate in our present-day life. The message of the ancient sages of India, who gave us the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the world as one family, continues to be of great significance to the world even today.
The Government of India is committed to the promotion and development of Sanskrit. Three institutions established by the government – Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth and Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth – are actively engaged in this task. These institutions offer flexible and non-formal Sanskrit courses in order to popularize the language. They also facilitate the conduct of vocational courses for the students of traditional Sanskrit pathshalas, so that their employability is increased. The Maharishi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved Vidya Pratishthan is engaged in the task of preserving, developing and propagating the oral tradition of Vedic studies.
There are a number of other measures that are being taken to encourage the study of Sanskrit. These include financial assistance to modern schools offering Sanskrit as a subject and traditional Sanskrit schools offering modern subjects, and to voluntary organizations that are maintaining traditional Sanskrit institutions. In addition, Sanskrit departments of the universities are funded by the University Grants Commission under its various schemes. Financial assistance is also provided for the production of Sanskrit literature including newspapers and journals, and reprinting of rare books. Scholars who have excelled in the study of Sanskrit are honoured every year.
In the course of time, we will further strengthen our efforts for the promotion, development and enrichment of Sanskrit.
I understand that over the next six days the scholars participating in this Conference will deliberate on a diverse range of topics. They include poetry, drama and aesthetics; scientific literature; Buddhist studies, Jain studies, Sanskrit and regional languages and literatures, and Vedas. I am sure that the deliberations of this Conference will not only lead to a better understanding of the various areas of Sanskrit Studies, but will also result in a better appreciation of India’s culture, our values, our ideals and our world-view.
Many of the modern Indian languages depend upon Sanskrit for their vocabulary. The Commission for Technical and Scientific Terms established by the Government of India has also depended on Sanskrit sources for developing the technical terms in science and technology for Indian languages. I expect that this Conference will also contribute to better learning tools for Indian languages, and better translation software and other computer programs in Indian languages.
Let me end by wishing all of you very productive deliberations over the next few days. It is my sincere hope that each one of you will return from the Conference with a much deeper understanding of your particular area of interest. I also hope that this Conference will enrich Sanskrit Studies even more than what the preceding ones have done. May God bless your path.”
2G Balwa, Aggarwal move high court
New Delhi, Jan 5 (IANS) Corporate honchos Asif Balwa and Rajiv B. Agggarwal Watches Replica, accused in the 2G case, Thursday moved the Delhi High Court demanded that the CBI investigating officer should be barred from attending the trial.
The presence of the investigating officer, himself a witnesses in the case, could not remain present in court when the statement of other witnesses was recorded Fake Watches, said the two directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt. Ltd.
Their plea is likely to come up in the high court Friday.
Vijay Aggarwal, counsel of Balwa and Aggarwal, said they had raised the issue of presence of the investigating officer in court during the cross-examination of prosecution witness.
Balwa and Aggarwal have been charge sheeted for routing Rs.200 crore bribe to Kalaignar TV in which DMK MP Kanimozhi, Sharad Kumar, both co-accused, and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu Ammal hold 20, 20 and 60 percent stakes, respectively.
Biathlon Garanichev sprints to World Cup win
OSLO: Russia’s Evgeny Garanichev claimed his first World Cup victory in the men’s 10-kilometre sprint on Thursday. Fake Watches
Garanichev Watches Replica, 23, had a perfect shooting round to clock 25 minutes 22.2 seconds and finish just ahead of Germany’s Arnd Peiffer with Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen at 11.8 seconds.
France’s Martin Fourcade holds the overall World Cup lead but just 10 points ahead of Svendsen after missing three targets to finish tenth.
- AFP/de
Demi Lovato – Demi Lovato Quits Twitter.Com
Picture: Demi Lovato 2012 People’s Choice Awards – Arrivals held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live Los Angeles Fake Watches, California ….
Demi Lovato Quits Twitter.Com
Singer/actress Demi Lovato has temporarily quit Twitter.com.
The 19-year-old star, who endured a rehab stint at the end of 2010 in a bid to conquer bulimia and other personal issues, reveals her daily tweets have landed her in “trouble”, so she has decided to take a break from social networking.
Lovato has failed to shed light on what the problems may be, but in a post on Saturday (21Jan12), she wrote, “Can’t please everyone.”
She then announced her plans to stay away from Twitter for the near future, writing, “Twitter break. It’s for the best actually. Who allows me to have this thing anyways?!!! I just get myself in trouble! Haha. Anyway… Bye!”
Lovato’s decision comes days after she reportedly split from her actor boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama and then posted her thoughts on love and loss via Twitter. Sienna Miller and her boyfriend Tom Sturridge are expecting a baby together, according to reports. Sienna Miller is pregnant. The 30-year-old actress and her boyfriend Tom Sturridge, 26, are expecting their first child together, Us Weekly has reported. The couple – who have been together for several months – are said to be thrilled with the happy news but although they expecting a child they “don’t have plans right away to marry”. Friends of Sienna have given actor Tom the seal of approval and are delighted for the couple and “not surprised by the news of the pregnancy”. A source said: “Her friends are really happy with her relationship with Tom. He’s younger, yes, but he’s mature and he’s a good guy . They’re really good together. They just spent the holidays in Paris together after they announced the news in London.” Sienna started dating Tom – who is friends with Robert Pattinson – just a few months after she split from fiance Jude Law for a second time in February 2011. They initially separated in 2006 after he was revealed to have cheated on the ‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra’ actress with his children’s nanny. By John Martens (Updates with closing share price in second paragraph.) Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) — Ageas, the majority owner of Belgium’s biggest life insurer, rose to a six-month high in Brussels trading after reaching an agreement with BNP Paribas SA to settle some remaining liabilities from its Fortis legacy. Ageas surged 16 cents, or 11 percent, to 1.61 euros at the 5:40 p.m. close of trading on Euronext Brussels, the highest close since July 22. The insurer expects net cash proceeds of at least 475 million euros ($625 million) and will see a reduction in its credit risk on Fortis Bank SA/NV of as much as 4 billion euros, the company, based in Brussels and Utrecht Fake Watches, said today in a statement. The settlement involves BNP Paribas making an offer, at a discount to face value, for 3 billion euros of floating-rate, undated notes that can be handed over for Ageas shares. These so-called CASHES were originally sold by Fortis Bank, which will also reimburse 1 billion euros of perpetual subordinated notes Fake Watches, most of which are held by Ageas, because these hybrid bonds will lose their equity status under Basel III bank capital rules. “The transaction is more relevant to Ageas than it is to BNP Paribas,” Albert Ploegh and Tom van Kempen, analysts at ING Groep NV in Amsterdam, wrote in an investor note. “This makes Ageas more investable.” If the offer is successful, it will make Ageas’s earnings less volatile because changes in the market value of both notes are currently reflected in the insurer’s quarterly accounts. Tender Offer Ageas, which was created out of the insurance remains of Fortis, pays quarterly interest to Fortis Bank to compensate its former banking unit for the decline in the value of Ageas shares the bank owns to reimburse the undated convertible bonds it sold in November 2007. Fortis Bank is now controlled by BNP Paribas, which bought a 75 percent stake from the Belgian state in May 2009. Under the terms of the agreement, BNP Paribas began a tender offer today for the undated convertible notes and will purchase the bonds for 45 percent to 47.5 percent of face value, on condition that holders of at least 50 percent of the outstanding notes tender their securities. BNP Paribas will then convert the notes it bought into Ageas shares, diluting the insurer’s per-share earnings by as much as 5 percent. The Paris-based bank agreed not to sell the shares for at least six months, and will receive a compensation payment from Ageas. The insurer expects to pay 200 million euros to 475 million euros and said it will make an annual payment should BNP Paribas fail to buy all of the outstanding notes. Ageas will receive 953 million euros from Fortis Bank as the Belgian banking unit of BNP Paribas reimburses the floating- rate perpetual subordinated notes it sold in 2001. Ageas bought 95 percent of the bonds in September after Fortis Bank decided not to redeem the notes on their first call date. The insurer spent 953 million euros in cash because it didn’t receive shareholder backing at its annual meetings to issue shares. The reimbursement will enable Ageas to reverse earlier writedowns on the notes, boosting first-quarter pretax earnings by 159 million euros. –Editors: Andrew Clapham, Edward Evans. To contact the reporter on this story: John Martens in Brussels at jmartens1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jerrold Colten at jcolten@bloomberg.net Business Exchange E-mail Print READER DISCUSSION By Jesse Riseborough and Antoine Lawson (Updates with BHP production in fourth paragraph.) Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) — Gabon is considering taking away China Machinery Engineering Corp.’s rights to the nation’s biggest iron ore deposit and is in talks with BHP Billiton Ltd. on the asset, according to two people familiar with the matter. Officials from the West African country will meet BHP executives in Cape Town at a conference next month for further discussions, one of the people said. BHP, which is developing a manganese mine in Gabon, has offered to deploy more than 10 exploration drilling rigs at the Belinga site, the people said, asking not to be identified as the negotiations are private. Gabon started a review of Belinga Fake Watches, which China Machinery has estimated would cost $3.5 billion and produce 30 million metric tons a year, in 2010 after a consultant to the government said progress developing the mine had been slow. For BHP, gaining an iron ore asset in West Africa would mark a move toward diversifying its production base for the raw material away from the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The world’s largest mining company today reported second- quarter production of iron ore rose 22 percent to a record. The stock climbed 0.2 percent to 2,124 pence at 10:10 a.m. in London trading. It earlier gained 0.8 percent in Sydney. The Melbourne-based company declined to comment. Zhang Qingchun, a spokeswoman for China Machinery, said she had no information regarding the project. Gabon Mines and Oil Minister Alexandre Barro Chambrier declined to discuss Belinga when contacted by Bloomberg News in the capital, Libreville. ‘Accelerated Discussions’ Barro Chambrier said Jan. 14 on Radio Television Gabonaise there were “accelerated discussions” on the exploitation of Belinga, in the northeast of the country. He declined to name the parties the government was in talks with. China Machinery said in 2009 that it had signed a 25-year contract to build and operate the mine, near Gabon’s border with the Republic of Congo. As part of the agreement, the Beijing- based company said it would build a 500-kilometer (310-mile) railway, a port and a hydropower station. China Machinery signed an initial accord on Belinga in September 2006, according to its website. Development has previously been opposed by environmentalists because Belinga lies within Gabon’s Ivindo National Park Fake Watches, a rainforest that is home to elephants, western lowland gorillas and chimpanzees. Gabriel Kamga, the general manager of BHP Billiton Gabon, discussed Belinga with Barro Chambrier in Libreville in December, one of the people said. Iron ore contributed more than a third of BHP’s $37.1 billion in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for the 2011 fiscal year. The benchmark price for Australian iron ore delivered to China will peak this year in the fourth quarter, averaging an estimated $172 a metric ton, Deutsche Bank AG analysts Rob Clifford, Grant Sporre and Gaetan De Buyer wrote in a Jan. 9 report. The so-called spot price was little changed at $140.20 a ton yesterday, according to The Steel Index. –Editors: Alex Devine, Tony Barrett To contact the reporters on this story: Jesse Riseborough in London at jriseborough@bloomberg.net; Antoine Lawson in Libreville at ankolo@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Viljoen at jviljoen@bloomberg.net Business Exchange E-mail Print READER DISCUSSION NEW YORK– Yet another Filipino performer in the trouble-plagued Broadway musical "Spider-man Turn Off the Dark" has been sidelined by an injury suffered on stage, a spokesman for the show said on Tuesday. Actress T.V. Carpio, who replaced Natalie Mendoza in the role of Arachne when Mendoza was felled by a concussion Replica watches, was injured on Wednesday last week during an onstage battle scene Fake Watches, Rick Miramontez said in a statement. "On doctor’s orders, she will be out of the show for the next two weeks. America Olivo will be performing the role of ‘Arachne’ during this time," he said. Born Teresa Victoria Carpio in Oklahoma City, Carpio is the daughter of Hong Kong Chinese-Filipina singer Teresa Carpio, with whom she has performed on stage as a backup singer. Carpio is the second Filipino actress to be injured in the Broadway musicale. The first was Natalie Mendoza, daughter of Filipino jazz pianist Noel Mendoza. The female Mendoza suffered a concussion during the first Spider-Man preview performance on November 28, 2010, when she was struck in the head by equipment in the wings. She left the production last December and was replaced by Carpio. Both actresses played the role of Arachne in the troubled musical. The much-delayed musical, the most expensive in Broadway history, was hit last month by the US Department of Labor with three serious violations of workplace safety rules for a string of cast member injuries late last year. Its most recent opening date of March 15 was again put off until June, after director Julie Taymor was relieved of day-to-day duties and a new team was brought in to help with restaging the show, whose troubled history has already achieved legendary status. Critics went ahead and reviewed it in early February, citing one of the producers’ previous scheduled debut dates, and were scathing in their assessments of the production. With Reuters MANILA Replica Watch, Philippines – International superstar Lady Gaga expressed how elated and grateful she is to have finally met Filipino-Canadian YouTube senstation Maria Aragon. In Lady Gaga’s tweet, she said: “Myself +10 year Old Lady Maria of Winnipeg. She signed my t-shirt, she ate my heart, just like you.” Lady Gaga tweeted a photo of her and Aragon where they were wearing shirts with each other’s faces printed on it. She then posted a video link of their production number the day after. She said Aragon reminds her of the reason why she wrote the song. “Maria and I singing Born This Way together. She(You) is why I wrote the song. Thanks for making it #1 for a 3rd week,” her post said. Lady Gaga and Maria Aragon played piano and sang “Born This Way” together Thursday night (Friday morning in Manila) during the Monster Ball Tour concert of the famous singer in Toronto. Their duet was one of the most awaited after Lady Gaga personally invited Aragon whose YouTube video of her cover of "Born This Way" moved the international singer to tears. Aragon’s YouTube video brought her instant fame in the past 2 weeks. Lady Gaga tweeted about Aragon and added a link to the 10-year-old’s video. It currently has over 18 million hits. During an interview with Aragon on Canada’s Hot 103 radio station, Lady Gaga called in and personally affirmed Aragon. They had a duet. The invite to the Toronto concert was made. Following that were Aragon’s appearances on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and “Good Morning America.” Amid all these, Aragon remains grounded. In an interview with ABS-CBN North America News Bureau, she revealed that they, as a family, are taking everything slowly and don’t want hasten things up. “We’re still making a decision as a family… I don’t want to be so quick and do everything at once. I still want to finish my education,” she said. She also added that she is proud to represent the Philippines. “I’m just proud to represent the Philippines. I try to keep up with tradition..I’m not disconnected with the Filipinos..I watch TFC too,” she said. Meanwhile Fake Watches, she stressed that all that is happening will definitely be an unforgettable experience for her. – With a report from Marieton Pacheco, ABS-CBN North America News BureauSienna Miller – Sienna Miller Pregnant With First
Sienna Miller Pregnant With First Child
Ageas Climbs as BNP Offer for CASHES Cuts Risks, V
BHP Said in Talks for Gabon Iron Ore Deposit Held
2nd Pinay in Spider-man musicale suffers injury
Lady Gaga talks about duet with Lady Maria
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