Academic Block - II

Pride Of Honor to our Principal JNTUHCEJ..

Principal Quarters 

Gold to reclaim record highs in 2012 - fund manager

By Francis Kan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold prices are expected to scale record highs next year as the asset's bullish fundamentals trump the current macroeconomic uncertainty that led to a recent selloff in the precious metal, says a commodities fund manager.

The slump in gold last month has resulted in a "wash-out" of speculators in favour of more stable long-term buyers like exchange-traded funds and central banks, said Diego Parilla, chief investment officer of new Singapore-based commodities hedge fund NARECO Advisors.

"There has been a transfer of length between short-term speculative buyers and long-term strategic holders, and we expect this trend to continue for years," Parillo said in an interview with Reuters.

"Central banks are looking to diversify from the once-upon-a-time risk-free government bonds, and gold is viewed as an attractive alternative. Not so much due to gold's own merits, but more by lack of a better choice."

Spot gold has risen by nearly 17 percent so far this year, having hit a record $1,920.20 an ounce in early September before diving by over $300. It has since rallied to trade at around $1,670.

Apart from central bank buying, gold prices are also supported by the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, a weak dollar and the Swiss franc's diminishing attractiveness as a safe haven after the government capped the currency's rise.

"Gold is experiencing a perfect storm. The bulls could not have asked for a more constructive chain of events. Whilst there is potentially more pain in the short term, we expect fundamentals to remain supportive and drive prices up over the medium to longer term," said Parilla.

Parilla founded NARECO Advisors in June to invest in commodity derivatives after spending two years as the Asian head of commodities at Bank of America Merrill Lynch .

He started his career at JP Morgan in London as a precious metals trader in 1998 and also spent four years at Goldman Sachs . He left BofA Merrill Lynch in March this year.

NARECO Advisors, which will launch its first fund later this month, is looking to raise $500 million in three years and will invest in a range of commodity derivatives, including energy, metals and agriculture.

AGS SUPER-CYCLE

Agricultural and food prices could also be at the early stages of a five-year bull run, similar to those experienced by oil and metals in recent years, fuelled by rising population and biofuel demand, Parilla said.

Food prices, which hit a record peak in February according to the United Nations ' Food and Agricultu

re Organisation (FAO), are a warning that more production is needed to meet demand, he added.

"High energy prices, which are also experiencing super-cyclical pressures, are creating additional pressures via biofuel demand," said Parilla.

Food prices have fallen back in the last few months, due to investor concerns about a global economic slowdown which may undercut demand.

The actively-managed NARECO Commodity Low Vol Alpha fund aims to generate a 15 percent risk-adjusted return with a 10 percent volatility target.

IIT students' satellite 'Jugnu' to be launched into space

A satellite built by students of IIT Kanpur, 'Jugnu', was launched with the latest version of India's indigenous Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday.

The satellite designed by a group of students and teachers from the institute in collaboration with scientists from the ISRO scientists is one of the smallest satellites built till date.

Students, felt that they were given a golden opportunity to work on a project and got a chance to look at India's space research programme closely.

It took the team three years to give the satellite 'Jugnu' its final shape.

"This was a good experience for everyone. All of us got to learn a lot of things in the last three years. We got to meet with the scientists of ISRO, the chairman and the director as well," said Shantanu, a student.

"Apart from being knowledgeable, it was also a fun experience for us as we all worked together as a team. All of us performed as a team," he added.

Team Jugnu was upbeat about the fact that such a small satellite has been made with some of the latest technologies available.

"This satellite is of about three kilograms in weight. This satellite functions in just three watts of power. There are two small computers implanted into the satellite," said Professor Vyas, project head of 'Jugnu'.

"There is also an infra-red camera, a GPS (Global Positioning System) unit, an inertia measurement unit and also other things which have been put into a satellite for the first time, that too in such a small satellite. It is a complex system and it is a good platform to test small and micro technologies," he added.

Apart from 'Jugnu', the PSLV carried two other smaller satellites for launching into the orbit. This was ISRO's third rocket launch from India in 2011.