THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 17 November 2007 — Kerala has the potential to emerge as a major supplier of nuclear fuel for India’s atomic power plants, according to a top scientist. Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) Director S. Banerjee said the huge atomic mineral deposits in Kerala could be tapped to meet the energy needs of the country for several centuries. “We have one-third of the world’s total thorium deposits. The fast breeder reactors developed by India can convert non-fissile thorium to fissile uranium. Once this indigenous technology is implemented, our energy needs can be fulfilled for several centuries to come,” he told a conference at the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology.

Geojit Ties Up With Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait

Kerala-based Geojit Financial Services has tied up with Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait, one of the leading banks in the Middle East, to provide trained manpower and investment assistance in Indian stock market. Geojit will provide the required training in Indian stock market operations to persons deputed by BBK, besides providing the software required for trading in Indian stock market, research, trade and back office support.

Present in the Middle East for more than six years, Geojit is listed on the Indian bourses and has a network of over 400 offices, a client base of 250,000 customers and $1 billion in assets under custody.

It offers brokerage services for equities, derivatives and commodities, financial savings products like mutual funds, life insurance and programmed savings plans and portfolio management services.

“This is a logical extension of Geojit’s investment services in the Gulf region after the establishment of joint venture financial services companies in the UAE and Saudi Arabia,” Geojit’s Managing Director C.J. George said.

“Barjeel Geojit Securities LLC has offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah serving more than 30,000 NRI investors while the Saudi arm, Aloula Geojit Brokerage Co. intends to open 12 branches in the Kingdom soon,” he said. “The new agreement brings together two major players to help dealing in Indian capital market from Bahrain and Kuwait.”

BBK is engaged in providing banking services, including investment and brokerage services, to its customers. Currently, the bank’s NRI customers get services related to investments in Indian stocks through the NRI marketing teams in Bahrain and Kuwait with the support of NRI desks at BBK’s Hyderabad and Mumbai branches.

With the new arrangement, the NRI Banking Desk in Bahrain will be strengthened with additional staff trained by Geojit Financial Services.

“The partnership with Geojit adds a new dimension to BBK’s strategy of becoming a leading player in the brokerage market,” Abdul Karim Bucheery, Deputy General Manager, BBK, said.

“For our clients, being able to offer Geojit brokerage expertise is also significant. We are committed to giving our clients the very best choices and being able to offer such an established name in the Indian stock market is vital” he added.