COMMENTARY
INTERVIEW
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES

NSE to resume on Thursday

The National Stock Exchange, whose operations were affected by the the INSAT-2D satellite's failure, will commence trading on Thursday, October 9.

The NSE, which was in the process of shifting over to INSAT-2D from INSAT-2A due to the latter's constant "wobbling", will now have to shift the 781 VSATs (Very Small Aperture Terminals) back to the former. These VSATs will be later shifted to INSAT-2C or INSAT-2B.

''Shifting immediately to 2C or 2D would have taken at least three-four weeks as that would involve re-alinging the members's VSATs,'' NSE's deputy managing director Ravi Narain told the media. ''Shifting back to 2A, however, would require a relatively smaller adjustment at the members's end, wasting much less time."

According to Narain, the shifting will be completed by Wednesday and normal trading will commence the next day.

He, however, said the members may have to face wobbling problems as the bourse has no contingency plan to counter this. "There is no back-up plan in case 2C or 2B become malfunctional,'' he added.

He said the Indian Space Research Organisation and the department of telecommunications are holding an emergency meeting on Tuesday to decide the future course of action.

Asked if the NSE had any plans to use private satellites, he said that this is a policy issue which has to be resolved by the government. Moreover, the bourse may encounter technical problems as the technology used by Indian satellites is different from that used abroad. "The extended 'C' band on which the VSATs were linked is unique to India," he said.

Describing INSAT-2D as the ''best sattelite'', Narain expressed disbelief that the satellite had become non-operational. "It was the best satellite. The quality of the signals received was good. The members were very happy, especially after the unpleasant 'wobbling' incidents on INSAT-2A. I can't believe that the satellite could fail. This is an unprecedented situation," he said.

The NSE, which commenced its operations in 1994, has in a short span of time overtaken the country's once premier bourse, the Bombay Stock Exchange both in terms of size and turnover.

Incidentally, the BSE is linked to the INSAT-2C satellite.

As for last week's incomplete trading cycle, Narain said the NSE has two options: either merge trades held on October 1 with the forthcoming settlement cycle or to cancel trades on the current settlement cycle.

Asked if differentials in scrip prices would result in losses to members as the exchange is closed for most days during the current trading cycle, he said, "Price differential becomes an issue when we allow members extra days to close out their positions."