June 2012

Indian Rupee plunged to an all time low of 56.90 rupees against the US dollar on 22 June 2012 on global risk

aversion and demand for dollar. Indias slipping domestic growth, declining industrial output figure, RBIs stringent monetary policy stance, persistent high rate of inflation and credit rating downgrade by international rating agencies like Fitch and Standard and oors have

prompted the worsening of Indian rupee against the dollar. Rupee, given its current trading status, is proving to be !sia"s worst performing currency. #he currency has also been the poorest performer among the all$!sian currencies this week, on a %$day basis. So far, the Indian currency had tumbled &.' per cent in the year ()*(.

International credit rating agenc !itch re"ised the credit outloo# of India to negati"e on 1$ June 2012. #he

agency cited rampant corruption and stalled reform e+isting in the country as the reason behind the move to downgrade the country"s credit rating. #he rating agency maintained the India"s sovereign rating at "BBB$".,owever, #he -nion Finance .inistry re/ected the agencys rating and pointed out that foreign institutional investors 0FII1 have reposed their faith in the Indian economy and have already invested a net *(.2 billion dollar in the first five months of the calendar year ()*( compared to 3.2 billion dollar in the full calendar year of ()**.!nother credit rating agency Standard 4 oor"s had also revised the Indias credit outlook to negative in !pril ()*(. S4 s in its most recent report on Indias credit outlook released on *( 5une ()*( had warned that given its sluggish growth rate and stalled economic policy reforms, India could be the first among the BRI6 grouping nations to lose investment$grade rating.

#he 7orld Bank in its report named 8lobal 9conomic rospects released on *( 5une ()*(, pro/ected Indian economy to grow

by &.:; in the financial year ()*($*2. #he 7orld Bank report predicted Indias growth increasing to &.: per cent, '.( per cent and '.< per cent in fiscal years ()*($*2, ()*2$*< and ()*<$*%, respectively. It estimates monetary policy, long paused reforms, persistent inflation and widening fiscal deficit for the countrys poor growth in ()**.7orld Bank advised India to take some corrective measures to improve the sinking growth. Indian economy grew by &.% per cent in ()**$*(, the lowest in the past nine years.

#he economy had registered an impressive 3.< per cent growth in the previous two years. 7hile the Indian government had

pro/ected the economy to grow at '.& per cent in the fiscal year ()*($*2, but given the prevailing economic and political situations in the country, the pro/ected growth rate could be hard to achieve.

#he Union %o"ernment of India on 5 June 2012 announced a new trade polic aimed at achieving () per cent

increase in e+ports to 2&) billion dollar in the fiscal year ()*($*2. India"s e+ports grew by (* per cent and touched 2)2.' billion dollar in ()**$*. !s the part of the new trade policy, the -nion 6ommerce .inistry had added seven new markets to the focus market scheme 0F.S1 and an e=ual number of new markets to the special F.S. 6ountries like !lgeria, !ruba, !ustria, 6ambodia, .yanmar, the >etherland !ntilles and -kraine have been added to F.S? while countries including Beli@e, 6hile, 9l Salvador, 8uatemala, ,onduras, .orocco and -ruguay have been added to special F.S. #he F.S and SF.S scheme will help India to e+plore new markets and promote the product diversification. #he highlights of the new trade policy are as followsA*1 8overnment set the e+port target for ()*($*2 at () per cent. (1( per cent interest subsidy scheme e+tended till .arch ()*2. 21 8overnment to announce new guidelines to promote S9Bs <1 Incentives for e+ports from north$eastern states. %1 Foreign #rade olicy document to be more user friendly.&1 Single revolving bank guarantee for different e+port deals. '1 .arket linked focus product scheme e+tended till .arch"*2 for apparel e+port to -S! and 9-

!ccording to data released by .inistry of Statistics of India on * 5une ()*(, &ihar emerged as the state with highest

economic growth rate in the countr .#he state recorded an impressive *2.* per cent growth in ()**$*(. Bihar topped the list for second consecutive year. #he state was closely followed by Celhi and uducherry.

July 2012

'he Reser"e &an# of India (R&I)* on 2* 5uly, kept the key indicative policy rates unchanged while it cut the gross domestic

product (%+,) forecast for the current financial ear from -.. per cent to 6.5 per cent and raised the inflation forecast from 6.5 per cent to ' per cent. ,owever, the RBI cut the Statutory Di=uidity Ratio 0SDR1 by one percentage point from (< per cent to (2 per cent which is e+pected to provide li=uidity of around Rs.&),))) crore. #he RBI left interest rates unchanged for the second straight review. It kept the Repo rate unchanged at 3 per cent, and the 6ash Reserve Ratio 06RR1 at <.'% per cent. Repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow money from the central bank. 6RR is the portion of deposits banks have to keep with the central bank in cash. ,owever, in a move to

provide more li=uidity in the system, the central bank has reduced the Statutory Di=uidity Ratio 0SDR1 from (< per cent to (2 per cent with effect from !ugust **. SDR is the amount of li=uid assets or securities that commercial banks must maintain as reserves other than the cash.

!fter constituting the ,arthasarathi Shome committee in the first week of 5ulyto loo# into the contro"ersial %//R

(%eneral /nti0/"oidance Rules) pro"isions and address the thorny issues to the satisfaction of foreign investors and all other stakeholders, ,rime 1inister 1anmohan Singh* on .0 Jul * set up et another panel to 2ring a2out clarit on ta3ation matters pertaining to de"elopment centres and the I' sector. In this regard, the rime .inisters Effice 0 .E1 said that a four0 mem2er panel headed by former 6BC# 06entral Board of Cirect #a+es1 6hairman 4. Rangachar would hold consultations with stakeholders and government departments concerned to finalise the approach to ta+ation of FCevelopment 6entres and suggest appropriate measures.Incidentally, .r. Rangachary is also a member of the e+pert committee on 8!!R headed by Cr. Shome.

S5&I tightened 5ligi2ilit 6 53it 7riteria for Stoc#s in +eri"ati"es Segment8 #he market regulator, Securities and

9+change Board of India 0S9BI1 on (2 5uly ()*( tightened eligibility and e+it criteria for stocks in the derivatives segment by increasing the benchmark li=uidity level for any scrip to be eligible for trading in the derivatives segments. By doing away with illi=uid stocks, S9BI aims to check manipulation. !ccording to the circular issued by S9BI, scrips with a minimum trading volume value of Rs *) lakh and market wide position limit 0.7 D1 or market capitalisation of Rs 2)) crore cannot be eligible for entry into the Future and Eptions 0F4E1 segment. Ever (() scrips trade in the F4E segment on the >ational Stock 9+change 0>S91 at present. Ef these (() scrips only *)) scrips will possibly meet the new eligibility criteria set by the market regulator. #he minimum .edian Guarter Sigma Erder Si@e, which indicates li=uidityHorder si@e in scrip, a re=uirement for introduction in derivatives segment was revised to Rs *) lakh, from Rs % lakh at present. #he .7 D, indicating the si@e of the company was also raised to Rs 2)) crore, from Rs *)) crore. Scrips that fail to maintain a minimum .7 D re=uirement of Rs ()) crore would cease to be in the F4E segment. #he earlier limit was set at Rs &) crore. S9BI also tightened the minimum conditions for a stock to continue trading in the derivatives segment. !s per the circular, a stock"s .GSES over the last si+ months ought to be more than Rs % lakh against Rs ( lakh earlier for the stock to continue trading.

1aruti Su9u#i India :td announced closing8 0India;s leading four0wheeler manufacturer 1aruti Su9u#i India

:imited announced to close down its factor at 1anesar*located in <ar ana on (* 5uly ()*(. #he companys move came after a scuffle between the workers and senior management of the company broke out at the factory site on *3 5uly ()*(.#he scuffle, which left many of the companys e+ecutivesin/ured, broke out after the workers" demand of pay$parity was not accepted by the company.#he plant had witnessed % workers strike in year ()** itself. In Ectober ()** the company had witnessed a *<$day$long strike that ended on (* Ectober ()**, after the company gave in to the workers" demand to register a trade union.

1= foreign !+I proposals appro"ed8 #he finance ministry declared on (< 5uly ()*( that the government based on the

recommendation of the ForeignIn"estment ,romotion &oard appro"ed 1= foreign direct in"estment (!+I) proposals worth Rs 15$=.11 crore. #he FCI proposal which received government approval included ((%$crore investment in the Indian operations of !sian e=uity research firm 6DS!. .aharashtra based !bhi/eet owers proposal to invest Rs &'< crore for induction of foreign e=uity in an

investing company to make downstream investment also received approval. #he government also cleared the proposal of une$based Ba/a/ Finserv, which sought a nod for issue of e=uity shares to carry out >BF6 activities directly and through subsidiaries. It proposed to bring in FCI worth Rs *)) crore.

2%8

5%o1

recommends

lower

price

for

auction

#he empowered group of ministers 098o.1 on telecommunications, headed by union home minister

6hidambaram , recommended to

reduce the base price for (8 spectrum airwaves by <))) crore rupees. #he 98o. recommended the base price for (8 spectrum at *<)))$ *&))) crore rupees against *3))) crore rupees suggested by #elecom Regulatory !uthority of India 0#R!I1. #he 98o. announced a cut in spectrum usage charges 0which will be part of the operators revenues towards spectrum fee1 from 3$*) percent recommended by #rai to between 2 percent and & percent. #he 98o.s recommendations will now be sent to the -nion 6abinet for its approval. #he 98o. also approved the department of telecommunications 0Co#1 suggestion to defer the mode of payment for auction winners. 8iving in to demand of telecom operators the Co# had suggested the 98o. that the auction winners should be allowed to pay (%$2) percent of the spectrum fee upfront and rest amount divided in *) e=ual installments annually.

7a2inet

7ommittee

on

5conomic

/ffairs

appro"ed

10.$2

,er

7ent

+isin"estment

in

S/I:8

#he divestment will help the government to raise about <))) crore rupees. #he government holds 3%.3( per cent stake in S!ID. In its annual

budget ()*($*2 the govt. has set the disinvestment target at 2)))) crore rupees 02)) billion rupees1. En the issue of ownership, it made clear that at least %* per cent ownership and management control of 6entral ublic Sector 9nterprises would remain with the 8overnment.

17>0S>

is

now

full0fledged

Stoc#

53change

#he Securities and 9+change Board of India 0S9BI1 granted permission to .6I$SI to operate as a full$fledged stock e+change on *) /uly, a development that will bring in more competition in markets..6I Stock 9+change 0.6ISI1 was first granted recognition by S9BI in September ())3, but it was allowed to conduct trading only in the currency derivatives segment.7ith the approval, .6I$SI would be able to offer additional asset classes such as e=uity and e=uity F4E 0Futures and Eptions1, interest rate futures and wholesale debt segments.!t present, Sebi has granted permanent recognition to eight stock e+changes in the country, but only two of them BS9 and >S9 are operating as active nationallevel bourses across the segments..6I$SI and -S9 0-nited Stock 9+change1 are present in the currency derivatives trade only.7ith Sebi"s latest decision, .6I$SI is likely to become the third ma/or national$level fullfledged stock e+change.

5uro

finance

ministers

agree

on

Spain

2an#

2ailout

!s part of the agreement with Spain, finance ministers from all (' 9uropean -nion countries are e+pected to approve a one$year e+tension, until ()*<, of SpainJKLs deadline for achieving a budget deficit of 2 per cent. #here will be specific conditions for specific banks, and the supervision of the financial sector overall will be strengthened, .r. 5uncker said. ""7e are convinced that this conditionality will succeed in addressing the remaining weakness in the Spanish banking sector""he said. Cutch Finance .inister 5an Mees de 5ager said the agreement should be finalised soon. ""7e have a tentative deal on the bailout conditions for a bailout of Spanish banks,"" .r. de 5ager said. ""#he total will likely be JNO*)) billion. Some countries like the >etherlands, 8ermany and Finland need to get parliamentary approval. 7e hope this can be wrapped up within a week."" #he e+act amount of the bailout will likely not be known until September, when individual e+aminations of different Spanish banks have been completed. .r. de 5ager said .adrid"s partners agree that ""financial sector reforms in Spain must be ruthlessly implemented. #hese reforms include, notably, a cap on salaries of bank e+ecutives and a ban on bonuses."" ""#here are still differences over this,"" he said. ""#he details will be worked out by the end of the year."" !s part of the agreement with Spain, finance ministers from all (' 9uropean -nion countries are e+pected to approve a one$year e+tension, until ()*<, of SpainJKLs deadline for achieving a budget deficit of 2 per cent.

4o Ser"ice 'a3 on remittences from a2road8 Setting at rest concerns e+pressed in various =uarters, the 7entral &oard

of 53cise and 7ustoms (7&57)* on 10th Jul ** clarified that remittances from a2road would not attract ser"ice ta3. / new ser"ice ta3 regime* 2ased on a negati"e list of e3empted ser"ices* will come into effect all o"er the

countr on Ist Jul . 7ith this, all services $ e+cept the 23 activities put on the negative list $ will come under the ta+ at the increased rate of *( per cent, as announced in the -nion Budget. !s of now, service ta+ is being levied on **: services based on a positive list. #he switch$over to a negative list$based approach is aimed at aligning the indirect ta+ation system to the proposed 8oods and Services #a+ 08S#1 regime, which is sought to be introduced to unify the levies of the 6entre and the States into a composite system. 7ith the services sector now accounting for &) per cent of the gross domestic product, the Finance .inistry has set a target of Rs.*.(< lakh crore for service ta+ collection during ()*($*2. #his is significantly higher than the Rs.:',))) crore mopped up during the previous fiscal.!s per the negative list$based approach, services such as metered ta+is, auto$rickshaws, betting, gambling, lottery, entry to amusement parks, transport of goods or passengers and transmission and distribution of electricity by distribution companies will not come under the service ta+ net. Ether important services e+empted from the levy are solemn activities such as funeral, burial, mutate services and transport of deceased. In the education sector, school and university courses, as also approved vocational studies, have been e+empted. Dikewise, au+iliary educational services and renting of immovable property by educational institutions in respect of education will not be ta+ed. ,owever, coaching classes and training institutions will be ta+ed. !mong the other services included in the negative list are those provided to government, local authorities or a government authority for repair and maintenance of an aircraft. Dikewise, services provided by advocates to other advocates and business entities up to a turnover of Rs. *) lakh in the preceding financial year will be e+empt from the ta+. Services provided by way of public convenience, such as bathroom, washroom, urinals or toilets, are included in the negative list, /ust as services relating to work contracts for a scheme under the 5awaharlal >ehru >ational Rural -rban Renewal .ission or the Ra/iv !was Po/ana.

S&I wai"es minimum 2alance for sa"ings accounts8 State Bank of India 0SBI1, to attract new customers, has done away

with the minimum balance criteria for saving banks account. #he bank will not levy any charge for breaching the minimum balance criteria. #he facility is available to e+isting customers also, SBI said in an advertisement. For the normal SBI savings account with che=ue book facility, a customer had to maintain a minimum balance of Rs.*,))) in his or her account failing which it attracts penalty. #here are certain

saving account products of the bank where the minimum monthly balance is as low as Rs.%). Cepending on the features and facility, the minimum average monthly balance varies. #he waiver would help the bank in improving the customer base, an official said, adding that it would also help the bank in generating low cost deposits as the savings bank account earned interest rate of /ust < per cent.

!ccording to the 7orld Investment Report ()*( released by -nited >ations 6onference on #rade and Cevelopment 0->6#!C1

on % 5uly ()*(, India emerged as the third most preferred !oreign +irect In"estment (!+I) destination in the world. 'he first position was occupied 2 7hina followed 2 US. #he report noted that FCI inflows to India had increased by 22 percent in ()** to 2*.& billion dollar vis$Q $vis (<.( billion dollar in ()*). #he FCI, however, continue to be much less than that received by 6hina 0*(2.: billion dollar1. #he report further observed that foreign investment in India escalated for the first time in three years in ()**, as global business ma/ors reinstated their faith in IndiaJKLs resilient economy and rapidly e+panding middle$class. !fter receiving <2.< billion dollar FCI inflows in ())3, which was also the highest received by India in a year the FCI inflow slipped to 2%.% billion dollar in ()): and (<.( billion dollar in ()*). Indonesia, Bra@il, !ustralia, -M, 8ermany, Russia and #hailand were the other countries who made it to the list of top ten investment destinations in the world. #he report, was released by -nited >ations 9conomic and Social 6ommission for !sia and the acific 0->9S6! 1 chief economist >agesh Mumar. ->6#!C conducted a survey of *': top global business houses, where they were asked about their favourite destination for business investment.

Aug 2012

'he Supreme 7ourt on 2* !ugust, held that the economic offences committed by Saharas must be dealt with by an iron hand

and directed the Sahara India Real 5state 7orporation :td. (SIR57:) and the Sahara <ousing In"estment 7orporation :td. (S<I7:) to refund o"er Rs. 2=*=00 crore collected from 2.21 crore depositors through the optimall full con"erti2le de2entures (?!7+s) 2 wa of 2onds. ! Bench of 5ustices M.S. Radhakrishnan and 5.S. Mhehar said they should refund the amounts collected through Red ,erring rospectus 0R, s1 dated .arch *2, ())3 0Rs. *',<)) crore1 and Ectober *&, ()): 0over Rs. ',))) crore1, along with *% per cent interest to the Securities and 9+change Board of India 0S9BI1 from the date of receipt of the subscription amount till the date of repayment, within three months. #he sum should be deposited in a nationalised bank bearing the ma+imum rate of interest. In its common order, the Bench directed Saharas to furnish the S9BI, in *) days, with all documents in their custody, especially the application forms submitted by subscribers, the approval and allotment of bonds, to enable it to ascertain the genuineness of the subscribers as well as the amounts deposited. #he court appointed the retired Supreme 6ourt /udge, B.>. !grawal, Rto oversee whether directions issued by this court are properly and effectively complied with by the S9BI 07#.1 from the date of this order. .r. 5ustice B.>. !garwal would also oversee the entire steps adopted by the S9BI 07#.1 and other officials for the effective and proper implementation of the directions issued by this court.S

suppl

%/I: (India) and %+! SU5@ of !rance , on (' !ugust, announced that they had entered into a medium0term :4% agreement for suppl of 12 cargoes from 201. to 201=* representing a total of ).3 million tones. #his agreement will

contribute to supply the Indian gas market, which is e+pected to grow from %3 billion cubic meters in ()*( to (() cubic meters in ()(), representing a 6!8R of over *3 per cent. #he agreement was signed in aris. B.6. #ripathi, chairman and managing director, 8!ID said that, this agreement with 8CF S-9B is yet another step by 8!ID to bridge the demand$supply deficit of the Indian market in the medium$term. #his is in addition to other initiatives of 8!ID towards D>8 sourcing, creating D>8 re$gasification infrastructure and augmenting transmission capacity significantly during the ne+t two to three years.

#he 6onfederation of Indian Industry (7II) held the ele"enth 5nerg

5fficient Summit in <I77* 4o"otel

< dera2ad. #he summit was held between (( !ugust ()*( to (% !ugust ()*(. #he ob/ective of the summit was to facilitate the Indian industry to improve energy efficiency on a continuous basis and help them in achieving the target set as part of erform !chieve and #rade under the >ational .ission on 9nhanced 9nergy 9fficiency. #he other ob/ective was also to disseminate information on the latest trends and energy efficient technologies and facilitate sharing of best practices amongst the Industries. In addition, while the summit was going on, #he Swedish 9nergy !gency, 6II and the 6leantech Scandinavia entered into a memorandum of understanding 0.o-1 of understanding for cooperation in the energy sector.

'he go"ernment of India on 29 /ugust 2012 appro"ed a 1=000 crore rupees fund to spur the production of

h 2rid and electrical "ehicles in the countr . !ccording to a new policy approved, !utomobile companies and the government plan to put si+ million electric vehicles on road by ()(). #he government under the new policy will fund research and development, infrastructure and subsidies. 7ith an aim at reducing the burden on fossil fuels, the -nion government in national budget ()** had proposed a plan to develop electric and hybrid vehicles. Dater, the government set up a >ational 6ouncil for 9lectric .obility led by heavy industries minister raful atel, and a >ational Board for 9lectric .obility to ensure uniform rules in all the states. #he government has long been

contemplating a policy to reduce its dependence on oil which make up a substantial part of Indias huge import basket. #he hybrid and electric vehicles have emerged as a better alternative of traditional oil$based vehicles over the years.

Indias market regulator Security and 9+change Board of India (S5&I) on 2$ /ugust 2012 allowed partial fle3i2ilit in

the con"ersion of Indian +epositor Receipts (I+Rs) into eAuit shares 2 in"estors . #he S9BI move is aimed at retaining domestic li=uidity besides? it is also e+pected to attract foreign entities to enroll their ICRs on India stock e+changes. In another circular released by the RBI, the central bank put an overall cap of % billion dollar for raising of capital through ICRs by foreign companies in Indian markets. #he RBI measure will help Indian investors to convert their depository receipts into e=uity shares of the issuer company and vice versa.

Supreme 7ourt of India on 2- /ugust 2012 e3tended the deadline for 2% spectrum auction and instructed the

union go"ernment to carr out the auction 2 11 Januar 201.. #he court also allowed the mobile companies whose licenses are set to be annulled to operate until *3 5anuary ()*2. In its first, the union government is set to conduct an open auction of (8 mobile radio airwaves, after the ape+ court scrapped all (8 licenses awarded to mobile companies, citing massive irregularity in the license distribution as the reason. #he court had earlier ordered the government to carry out the radio wave auction by the end of !ugust ()*(and had ruled that the affected companies can operate on their e+isting licenses until ' September ()*(. #he government later urged the court to e+tend the deadline until *( >ovember ()*( to begin the auction and <) days from the completion of auction to allocate fre=uencies. #he government has said that it re=uires around two months to complete the entire auction process.

!inance 1inister ,. 7hidam2aram has 2een appointed as IndiaBs %o"ernor on the &oard of %o"ernors of the ranab .ukher/ee.Dikewise, Cepartment of 9conomic

/frican +e"elopment &an# and /frican +e"elopment !und in place of !ffairs Secretary !rvind .ayaram has been appointed as India"s alternate 8overnor.

S5&I has allowed se"en /lternati"e In"estment !unds (/I!) to set up shop in the countr

under a newl

formulated route, which allows pooling of funds for investments in areas such as real estate, private e=uity and hedge funds. #he approval has been given to all the seven !IFs by the Securities and 9+change Board of India in a period of less than one month, as per the information available with the market regulator. S9BI had notified its guidelines in .ay for !IFs, which are funds established or incorporated in India for the purpose of pooling in of capital from Indian and foreign investors for investing as per a pre$decided policy. !s per S9BI data, si+ !IFs registered with the regulator during !ugust ()*(, while one was granted registration on 5uly (2.

India on 26 /ugust* e3tended the 2an on mil# and mil# products from 7hina for another

ear till June

201.. #he Cirectorate 8eneral of Foreign #rade 0C8F#1 said in a notification that,

rohibition on import of milk and milk products

0including chocolates and chocolate products and candiesHconfectionaryH food preparations with milk or milk solids as an ingredient1 from 6hina is further e+tended till 5une ()*2, or until further orders. #he ban had ended on 5une (< this year. Imports of milk and milk products from 6hina have been prohibited since September (<, ())3. #hough the C8F# has not cited any reason for the ban, it is understood it was o"er fears of 7hinese mil# containing melamine* a deadl chemical.

'he !inance 1inistr has appro"ed foreign direct in"estment in insurance and pension sectors up to =9C. #he

Insurance and ension Bills will now need 6abinet approval before coming up before arliament. #hese Bills have already made one trip to the 6abinet, but at the time it was for (&; FCI. 7hen ranab .ukher/ee was the Finance .inister, they had gone to the 6abinet but they had deferred the decision. 7ith 6hidambaram now headed the finance portfolio, these bills were relooked and now the FCI limit stands at <:;.

7hether the bills will come up for 6abinet approval or not, or what decision the 6abinet takes will be a political decision. Both these bills have seen strong opposition from the .amata Baner/ee led #rinamool 6ongress. But if the 6abinet clears these two bills, they will be introduced in the winter session of arliament.

,arliamentBs ,u2lic /ccounts 7ommittee on 2. /ugust 2012 decided to 2ring the three latest 7/% reports on ear 2012. #he ublic !ccounts

coal allocations* %1R0run +elhi airport and Reliance ,ower* onto its agenda for the

6ommittee 0 !61 in its meeting on (2 !ugust ()*( called for deterrent penal pro"isions against units in Special 5conomic @ones which default dut pa ments to the e3cheAuer. !6 in a report adopted in the meeting recommended an oversight mechanism which would ensure no misuse of the S9B policy. #he !6 panel based its findings on a sample of (( S9B units. #he panel found that out of an overall e+port of Rs '*<:.(2 crore made by (( S9B units, the actual e+port content was only Rs *:::.(' crore 0(3;1 and the remaining Rs %*<:.:& crores 0'(;1 related to Comestic #ariff !rea earnings. #he committee recommended that all S9Bs undertake physical e+port of at least %*; of their product, and even import ta+ waivers raw material for goods falling under the Comestic #ariff !rea 0C#!1 is to be considered on the credit account of the S9B firms. It was noted that S9B units could sell their goods, including by products, and services in C#! on payment of applicable duty including at nil rate with no re=uirement to payback the duty foregone on inputs used in the clearance of products. #his policy will put S9B units at a distinctly advantageous position compared to similar units in the C#!.

#he 6omptroller and !uditor 8eneral 06!81 of India in its audit report noted that India;s e3cheAuer suffered a massi"e

loss of 1.$6 la#h crore due to the distri2ution of coal 2loc#s without bidding. #he 6!8 report was tabled in the parliament on *' !ugust ()*(.#he 6!8 in its report stated that %' coal blocks that were allocated to private companies during ())<$()):, e+tended them a windfall gain of *.3& lakh crore rupees. #he 6!8 report has also brought rime .inister .anmohan Singh under scrutiny as he was holding the charge of 6oal .inistry from ())& to ()):. Besides, the 6!8 report also raised serious allegations against the .E which delayed the fair bidding process for coal blocks despite the clearance from Daw and 5ustice .inistry. #ata 8roup, Reliance ower, 5indal ower and Steel, !bhi/it 8roup, Bhushan 8roup, 9lectro Steel, E 5indal 8roup were some of the ma/or beneficiaries of the coal blocks distribution. #he government has distributed about *%) coal blocks over the past eight years. Curing this period rime .inister .anmohan Singh, Shibu Soren and rakash 5aiswal have been charged the 6oal .inistry. #he *.3& lakh rupees scam is the biggest in the history of India as it

surpassed the *.' lakh crore (8 spectrum scam.

Indias leading car maker 1aruti Su9u#i India* on 16 august* announced termination of ser"ices of 500 regular

wor#ers and resumption of normal operations from !ugust (* at its violence$hit plant at .anesar, ,aryana. .aruti Su@uki India 0.SI1 6hairman R. 6. Bhargava told that, they had issued termination notices to %)) regular worker and they had plan to lift the lock$out from !ugust (* and resume operations at the facility in phases. #he company said termination notices had been issued to regular workers who were allegedly involved in the 5uly *3 violent incidents that led to the death of a senior .SI e+ecutive, !shwani Mumar, and left nearly *)) others in/ured. .aruti Su@uki India had declared a lockout at the .anesar plant on 5uly (*, stating the safety and well$being of its employees were paramount to the company.

#he -nited States administration has announced setting up of an institute for manufacturing inno"ations* which will resident Barack Ebama said in a statement that,this institute would help make sure that

help prevent /obs going to India and 6hina.

manufacturing /obs of tomorrow take root not in places such as 6hina or India, but right here in the -nited States of !merica. #he >ational !dditive .anufacturing Innovation Institute 0>!.II1, which will be based in Ehio, will be a public$private partnership initiative and has received T') million as initial financial assistance.En .arch :, .r. Ebama had announced plans to invest T* billion to cataly@e a network of up to *% manufacturing innovation institutes around the country that would serve as regional hubs of manufacturing e+cellence and help to make manufacturers more competitive and encourage investment in the -.S. !ccording to the 7hite ,ouse, the >!.II will provide the innovation infrastructure needed to support new additive manufacturing technology and products to become a global centre of e+cellence in this field. !dditive manufacturing, often referred to as 2C printing, is a new way of making products and components from a digital model, and will have implications in a wide range of industries, including defence, aerospace, automotive, and metals manufacturing.

In yet another indication of slowdown, the rime .inister"s 9conomic !dvisory 6ouncil (,15/7) on 1$ /ugust* re"ised

downwards its economic growth proDections for the current fiscal to 6.-C from an earlier '.%$3;. #he .9!6 also raised its inflation forecast to &.%$'; from an earlier estimate of %$&; for the current fiscal. .9!6 6hairman 6 Rangara/an said , Food inflation is e+pected to remain high in the coming months.

'he /ndhra ,radesh go"ernment has decided to e3tend eAuit

support up to Rs.=*000 crore to /,

%enco during the ne+t four years to facilitate early completion of its upcoming power pro/ects. #his government response followed consistent Epposition criticism that the 8enco is being neglected by it vis$U$vis private developers. #he undertaking which meets over <) per cent of the power demand in the State through its various thermal, hydel and other stations, has taken up new pro/ects with installed capacity of (*,))) .7 at a huge cost of over Rs.2&,))) crore. #he 6hief .inister of !. ,>. Miran Mumar Reddy cleared a slew of measures to improve the electricity availability to consumers in the State and ensure seven$hour supply to farmers. #hese included a decision to give boost

to renewable energy sources by facilitating establishmentHcompletion of new pro/ects based on wind and solar energy on fast track mode as they were e+pected to add *,))) .7 to the grid 0over () million units1.

Securities and 53change &oard of India (S5&I) inaugurated their local office in Jaipur on < !ugust. It was

inaugurated by Ra/eev Mumar !garwal, the member of S9BI. #he office will be responsible to look after all the regulatory aspects of investor protection, investor education and all the other responsibilities within Ra/asthan state.

!s per the latest global ranking compiled and published by the 7orld Federation of 9+changes 07F91 in !ugust ()*(, the

4ational Stoc# 53change of India (4S5) 2ecame the world;s largest 2ourse in terms of the num2er of trades in eAuit segment for the first si+ months of ()*(. ! total of '2%<'< trades took place in the e=uity segment of >S9 in the 5anuary$5une period of ()*(, making it the worlds largest e+change on this parameter. >S9 was followed by >PS9 9urone+t and >asda= E.I at the second and the third positions. >S9 is the second largest e+change globally after Morea 9+change for inde+ options. 9ure+ was the third largest e+change worldwide in terms of total number of inde+ options traded during the first si+ months of ()*(.BS9 recorded *3'3(< trades during this period in its e=uity segment. #he total number of listed companies is much larger in case of the BS9, the e+change however lags behind >S9 significantly in terms of volume and value of trades.

1ood Bs /nal tics cut IndiaBs growth forecast to 5.5 percent for the fiscal year ()*($*2. It blamed the government and

RBI of inaction despite slowing economy, as well as a poor monsoon. #he research unit of ratings agency .oody"s Investors Service becomes the latest to cut India"s growth forecasts this week. 9arlier 6DS! and 6itigroup had cut their growth outlooks for India to %.< percent and %.% percent, respectively for the fiscal year ending in .arch ()*2.

India ,ost on 9 /ugust has chosen Infos s as its technolog and consulting partner to integrate its delivery of

financial products across its network of *.% lakh post offices in the country. #he RtransformationalS pro/ect, part of the RIndia ost ()*(S initiative, would cost the postal service Rs.')) crore.

'he Reser"e &an# of India (R&I) permitted 2an#s to lend to telecom companies for the upcoming auction for

spectrum, sub/ect to conditions such as mortgaging the spectrum to the lenders. #he RBI had laid down a few pre$conditions for financing of telecom firms for the auction of airwaves to protect banks against potential defaults. #he -nion cabinet on 2 !ugust ()*( approved a proposal that allows telecom companies bidding for airwaves to mortgage spectrum to raise funds from banks. #he government set a reserve or base price of Rs *<))) crore for the auction.

#he Reser"e &an# of India , on * !ugust, constituted a committee to suggest wa s to strengthen the rural co0

operati"e credit structure. 'he panel* headed 2 4a2ard 7hairman ,ra#ash &a#shi* will review the e+isting short$term co$ operative credit structure 0S#66S1, focussing on structural constraints in the rural credit delivery system. It will also e+plore ways to strengthen the rural co$operative credit architecture. #he seven$member panel will make an in$depth analysis of the S#66S, and e+amine various alternatives with a view to reducing the cost of credit. It will also look at the feasibility of setting up of a two$tier S#66S as against the e+isting three$tier structure. #he S#66S targets the credit re=uirement of the small and marginal farmers in the country. #he panel will submit its report within three months from the date of its first meeting. It will mainly assess the role played by State and district cooperative banks in fulfilling the re=uirement of agriculture credit.

Indian 6ommerce .inister !nand Sharma said in 6olombo on 2 !ugust, India will help Sri :an#a esta2lish a special

economic 9one to manufacture auto components in 'rincomalee. #he S9B would promote e+ports to the production chains in India.! 5oint #ask Force on the S9B would be set up and submit its report within :) days. !nand Sharma also announced the setting up of a pharmaceutical manufacturing hub in Sri Danka.

Sep 2012

#he Reser"e &an# of India on 1- septem2er* cut the 7ash Reser"e Ratio* the portion of deposits that 2an#s

#eep with it* 2 0.25 percentage point to =.50 per cent* pumping in Rs.1-*000 crore into the 2an#ing s stem . It will be effective from September ((.#he RBI, however, kept other policy indicative rates at the same levels. #he move is likely to reduce the li=uidity pressure on banks, avoiding a rate hike, which means that as funds are released, banks may even compete to reduce rates on retail loans in the festive season.

1icrosoft co0founder &ill %ates has retained his position as the richest person in /merica for the 19th ear in

a row this ear, according to Forbes annual ranking of the nations <)) super rich people who have a combined net worth of T*.' trillion.7ith a net worth of T&& billion, 8ates not only remained the richest person in !merica but is also Rthe planets most generous personS.Five Indian$!mericans, including Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Mhosla and founder of I# ma/or Syntel, Bharat Cesai, have been named among the richest people in the -.S. by Forbes. .r. Cesai, with a net worth of T( billion as of September ()*(, has been ranked (2: in Forbes annual list.Founder and 6hairman of the Symphony #echnology 8roup Romesh 7adhwani is ranked (%) with a net worth T*.: billion.8oogle board member and shareholder Mavitark Ram Shriram occupies the (:3th rank with a net worth of T*.& billion..ano/ Bhargava, founder and 69E of the popular energy drink F%$hour energy, is ranked 2**, and has a T*.% billion net worth.

Russian government on *3 September ()*( declassified its diamond reserves formed after a ' kilometer wide asteroid stroked

the graphite rich area of Russia, about 2% million years ago. #he most valuable secret of Russian 6old 7ar was kept hidden from the rest of the world for more than five decades. #he reserve was discovered by the Russians during the mid *:&)s. 'he huge deposits of hard diamond* which can fulfill the demands of the world for ne3t .000 ears was disco"ered in the ,opigoi crater in 5ast Si2eria in an asteroid with diameter of *() kilometers. Russian scientists from the >ovosibirsk Institute of 8eology and .ineralogy claimed that the total =uantity of the available diamond in the crater is more than *) times of the total reserve of diamond that the world have.#hese diamonds are an ideal material for industrial use and are twice harder than that of the technical diamonds generally used for industrial purposes. Ceclassification of the hidden reserves cant be used as /ewellery item, so will not have any impact in the /ewel making industry of the world.

+ut

on

non0su2sidised

:,%

c linders

a2olished8

In marginal relief to consumers, the government on (* September, abolished import and e+cise duties on D 8 cylinders they buy beyond the & per annum =uota of subsidised cooking gas, and asked state governments to subsidise the re=uirements of households at their level. #he government had last week restricted supply of subsidised cooking gas to & per household in a year. !ny re=uirement beyond this was to be purchased at market price, which currently works out to Rs. 3:% per *<.( kg cylinder. !fter the abolition of % per cent customs duty and 3 per cent e+cise duty, the consumer price in Celhi would come to Rs. ':3. Subsidised cooking gas 0D 81 in Celhi is currently sold at Rs. 2:: a cylinder. RSince some D 8 cylinders will not be subsidised, we have amended the notification for the non$subsidised household D 8 cylinders... customs and e+cise 0on them1 will be @eroS, .r. 6hidambaram told reporters. >on$subsidised commercial D 8 cylinders, however, would continue to attract customs duty of % per cent and e+cise duty at 3 per cent. #aking a cue from the 6ongress ruled states which have increased the number of subsidised cylinders to nine per year, the .inister asked other states to follow suit.

Reliance

7ommunications

raises

call

rates

25C*

others

ma

follow

suit8

Reliance 6ommunications, India"s third$biggest mobile phone carrier, raised call prices by a =uarter in four service @ones and said it will e+tend the hike to all @ones in the ne+t 2) days, sending its shares to a two$month high. Reliance 6ommunications increased the base call price to *.% paisa a second from *.( paisa, the company said in a statement on (* September, citing rising costs and lower competition. ! court order to revoke permits of several smaller rivals will significantly reduce competition in the cut$throat Indian market, giving operators such as Bharti !irtel and Vodafone"s local unit room to raise call prices.W7e have seen on ground competition tapering off. ,ence we need to restore back the price,W 8urdeep Singh, chief e+ecutive of Reliance 6ommunications" mobile business, told Reuters.

!oreign

In"estment

cap

hi#ed

to

-=

percent

for

&roadcasting

Ser"ices8

#he 8overnment of India on () September ()*( hiked the foreign investment cap for the broadcasting service providers to '< percent. #he registered hike in foreign investment cap is for service providers of Cirect to ,ome 0C#,1, moderni@ed cable network and mobile television. #his move of the government will allow the global players in ac=uiring ma/or stakes in the broadcasting companies. Before his decision was passed, the eligibility of C#, and multi$system cable operators to make foreign investment was limited to <: percent only. In its decision last week, the 6abinet 6ommittee on 9conomic !ffairs cleared its stand on the companies of broadcast content that the #V news 6hannels and F. radio channels can have a foreign investment cap of (& percent. #his decision was made to make sure that ma/ority of control remains back in the hands of Indian artner.

7uts

ta3

on

53ternal

7ommercial

&orrowings

In yet another move to draw in international capital, the government on (* September, reduced ta+ on 9+ternal 6ommercial Borrowings 096B1 by domestic companies to five percent from ();, making it easier for local companies to raise funds abroad. Finance .inister said the reduced ta+ rate will be applicable to the funds borrowed between 5uly ()*( and 5une ()*%. Diability of the company to withhold ta+ on such

income would also be at the reduced rate of %;. W#his lower rate of ta+ation will apply to interest paid to a non$resident by an Indian company for money borrowed in foreign currency from a source outside India, either under a loan agreement or by way of long$term infra bonds,WF. said. #o lower the compliance burden and reduce the time lag which would arise on account of case$by$case approval, the government has decided to grant approval to all borrowings by way of loan agreement and long$term infras bonds that satisfy certain conditions.

/ consortium comprising ?il and 4atural %as 7orporation* Indian ?il 7orporation* and ?il India has Dointl

placed a E502illion 2id for 2u ing sta#e in 7onoco,hillips; si3 7anadian oil0sands assets in /l2erta. 9arly in ()*(, ,ouston$ based 6onoco hillips had announced that it was planning to sell as much as %) per cent of its oil$sands reserves in !lberta.9arly this month, E>86 Videsh 0EVD1 had bought -.S. energy firm ,ess 6orp"s stake in !@eri, 6hirag and 8uneshli 0!861 group of oil fields in !@erbai/an for T* billion. 6onoco hillips has hired Scotia 7aterous for selling stake in si+ !lberta properties that produce about (%,))) barrels of oil a day from an estimated 2) billion barrels of bitumen in place.

6iting RvolatileS global economic situation, the Standard and ,oor;s (S6,) has lowered the growth forecast for India

to 5.5 per cent for this fiscal* from 6.5 per cent proDected earlier. !ccording to S4 , !sia$ acific is feeling the pressure of ongoing global economic uncertainty, and it has lowered India growth forecast by one percentage point to %.% per cent for this fiscal from &.% per cent earlier. #he report says, lack of monsoon rains has affected India, for which agriculture still forms a substantial part of the economy and global investors have become more critical of Indias policy and infrastructure shortcomings which was recently highlighted by the power outage in early !ugust that affected () of Indias (3 States. S4 said !sia acific economies were witnessing cautious growth conditions and any worsening of the economic conditions in the euro @one would increase contagion risk for the region as these economies were RsensitiveS to capital flows and trade. S4 has lowered the base case forecasts of ()*( real 8C growth by about half a percentage point for some

countries, with 6hinas revised to '.% per cent 0from 3 per cent1? 5apan to ( per cent 0from (.% per cent1? Morea to (.% per cent 0from 2 per cent1? Singapore to (.* per cent 0from (.% per cent1? and #aiwan to *.: per cent 0from (.% per cent1.9arlier this month, .organ Stanley had also lowered Indias growth forecast to %.* per cent for the current fiscal from its earlier estimate of %.3 per cent? ,SB6 to %.' per cent from &.( per cent and Standard 6hartered to %.< per cent from &.( per cent pro/ected earlier.

/ glo2al stud * puts India ran#s "er low at 111th position in terms of economic freedom* behind countries like

6hina, >epal and Bangladesh, in a worldwide inde+ of *<< nations. #he annual ranking, titled B5conomic !reedom of the Forld8 2012B* is topped 2 <ong Gong, followed by Singapore, >ew Bealand, Swit@erland 03.(<1 and !ustralia in the top$five. #he inde+ has been prepared by 6anada$based public policy think$tank, Fraser Institute, in cooperation with independent institutes in :) nations and territories, and claims to measure the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries support economic freedom.

#he Securities and 53change &oard of India* on 2$ Septem2er* issued draft norms for mandator safet net

mechanism in I,?s * to protect the interests of retail in"estors. #he S9BI has sought comments from the public on the draft norms till Ectober 2*.!ccording to S9BI, the safety net mechanism would be available for all securities allotted to original resident retail individual allottees, who had made an application for up to Rs.%),))).S9BI also said the total obligation on safety net provider will be capped at % per cent of the issue si@e. #he proposal for such a mechanism, discussed at S9BIs board meeting held on !ugust *&, is aimed at protecting the interest of retail investors.

Ratings firm !itch in its %lo2al 5conomic ?utloo# report on 2$ Septem2er* lowered India;s growth proDection

for the current fiscal to 6 per cent for ()*($*2 from &.% per cent estimated earlier citing challenging economic outlook. Indias economic growth has slowed to a three$year low of %.2 per cent in the !pril$5une =uarter of the current fiscal. #he growth had fallen to &.% per cent in the ()**$*( fiscal. Fitch said the high fiscal deficit left little scope for government for fiscal easing and increasing spending. It said weak investments were affecting supply capacity and thereby pointing towards weaker growth outlook.

#he stud on the HImpact of Internet on the Indian 5conom I 2 1cGinse , which is still to be released, says that its

contribution to Indias 8C will e+plode to T*)) billion 0Rs. % lakh crore1 by ()*% from T2) billion 0Rs.*.% lakh crore1 at present. Revealing the highlights of the study, on (: September in the presence of -nion #elecom .inister Mapil Sibal at a curtain$raiser held to announce a two$day multi stakeholder conference on Internet governance to be held at FI66I in >ew Celhi on Ectober <$%, .cMinsey said the contribution of the Internet to global 8C is roughly three per cent or T*.' trillion and its performance in India will eventually mirror this trend. .r. Sibal said the government is also alive to the growing power of the Internet, including as a communications multiplier. #he world currently has ( billion Internet users, of whom %) per cent live outside the developed world. #he global Internet population is pro/ected to

climb to (.&$(.: billion by ()*%. By ()*%, based on e+isting pro/ections, India, which with *() million users has the third largest Internet user base in the world, is pro/ected to hit 2%) million, catapulting it to a global ranking of (, with the fastest rate of growth.

5yotiraditya .. Scindia, -nion .inister of State for 6ommerce and Industry, said in 6oonoor,that the Union %o"ernment to address the issues of small tea growers. Speaking to

has set up a directorate* as part of the 'ea &oard* e3clusi"el

presspersons after inaugurating the 119th conference of the United ,lanters; /ssociation of Southern India (U,/SI)* he said this was an important measure for the welfare of small growers. #he initiative was now only for the tea sector. #his could be e+tended to other plantation sectors, if needed. #he plantation sector was e+pected to see higher outlay in the III lan with focus on various areas such as research and development and small growers. .r. Scindhia said ,the domestic market for tea was seeing healthy growth. ,owever, India should also increase its tea e+ports, and, hence, the go"ernment had come out with the 'riple !i"e (555) scheme .-nder this, the focus would be on five markets with five ma/or measures for five years. For the first phase, the government had sanctioned Rs.&.% crore for this scheme. #ea production was :'& million kg last year and domestic consumption 3<) million kg. 9+ports were *:* million kg. 8. 5. !ncheril was elected as resident of the -nited lanters !ssociation of Southern India 0- !SI1 for ()*($*2.

Indian

I'

firms

among

10

worst

pa masters

in

world8

Indian companies are among the world"s *) lowest paying employers in the I# space, with their mid$to$senior level staff getting an average salary of -SC 23,'&' 0about Rs (*.% lakh1 per annum X less than one$fourth of the I# pay package at globally top$paying Swiss firms. Salaries in the I# sector of Swit@erland are the highest in the world at an average of -SC *&3,(** 0about Rs :2 lakh1 per annum as per a study titled "7orld wide I# Salary ()*(". #he study, conducted by global recruitment service provider .y,iring6lub.com, has ranked India at eighth spot among *) worst I# paymasters globally. En the other hand, Swit@erland stands at the top spot among the top$paying nations in the I# sector. #he study, which was conducted in !ugust this year, took into account the average salaries for people with four and more years of e+perience for the Indian and other companies. #he report compared the total annual cash compensation and total remuneration information for I# staff in more than &,))) companies across <) different countries and found that employers in western 9urope are the best paymasters. It also found that compensation in developed countries focus more on variable factors, such as bonus schemes, to attract staff. !t the same time, the emphasis remains on cash compensation in the lower$paying countries. W9+perienced I# managers are highly sought$after in India and there is strong competition to attract and retain skilled employees. .>6s rely heavily on Indian I# managers, so they need to ensure their pay is competitive.""W!lthough pay in !sia and 9astern 9urope tends to be much lower, it would be difficult for firms to outsource the I# manager role to these regions. Instead, we may see a migration of I# skills from lower paying nations to places in 7estern 9urope and >orth !merica,W .y,iring6lub.com 69E Ra/esh Mumar said. Interestingly, I# managers in India fare better than their counterparts in neighbouring 6hina, where the average annual compensation package were lower at -SC 23,&(<. In addition, I# employees in India, scored better than their peers in Bulgaria, Vietnam, Indonesia, the hilippines, #hailand and .alaysia, where the average annual salaries were even lower at -SC (2,'<%, -SC (:,32*, -SC 22,'&3, -SC 22,:&%, -SC 2<,*)' and -SC 2&,':) respectively. !mong the best I# salaries paying countries Belgium bagged the second position with an average salary of -SC *<<,:3), followed by Cenmark 0-SC *2&,%<(1, the -S 0-SC *(3,&2(1 and the -M 0-SC *(',3:)1.

Sales

percentage

of

car

declined

in

India8

#he sales of cars in India declined in the month of !ugust ()*( by an overall *: percent. It is counted among the biggest drop in one year timeline, resulting to which Society of Indian automobile .anufacturer 0SI!.1 asked the government to cut the e+cise duty. #he ne+t disappointing part is that the e+port of cars is also declined to a figure of (&.32 percent in the !ugust month which has affected overall production of companies in India. It is the highest decline in ** years of time. #he automobile industry has entered into a desperate situation. #he e+cise duty on automobiles, which was increased in this years Budget, needs to be reduced, particularly for the commercial vehicles segment to regain the sale in momentum. In contrary to that, 6hinese market saw a robust sale of car in the month of august.

Indian

e3ternal

de2ts

are

within

managea2le

limits

#he Cepartment of 9conomic !ffairs 0C9!1 published its annual publication$ Indias e+ternal debtA a status report ()**$*(. !s per the published report, Indias e+ternal debt in the end of .arch ()*( was T2<%.3 billion, which is *2; high than the previous years debt or T 2:.: billion from where India stood at the end of .arch ()**. #he publication points out about the upward movement of the stress that is put on the current account deficit 06!C1 of the nation because of the risks thrown on it, from the e+ternal sectors that comprises Fall in the reserve cover for imports and e+ternal debt, depreciation in the e+change rate of rupee, rise in the level of e+ternal debts and the increased share of the short term commercial borrowing in the complete e+ternal debt =uantum. #he finance ministry cleared on *) September ()*( that there

can be a rise in the global economic risks that may rise with a weakened recovery and a slow growth scopes that may lead into high debts and seek growth finances even in the advanced economies. #his clearance was based on Indian Vulnerability Inde+ indicators, which has been e+periencing the euro @one debt crisis and the global slowdown. ! detailed analysis of Indias position in e+ternal debt at the end of .arch, ()*( has been presented in the status report. It is also based on the data released by the Reserve Bank of India on (: 5une ()*(. #he report not only presents the analysis of e+ternal debts trend and composition on the country but it also presents a comparative picture of this debt in reference to other developing nations of the world with respect to the fluid global economic situations. #he best part of the report produced is that instead of all the facts presented and developments Indias debt is within manageable limits and can be indicated by the debt service ratio to & percent and e+ternal debt$to$8C ratio of () percent in ()**$()*(. #hus India continues to be within the less vulnerable countries when it comes to e+ternal debt indicators compared to that of the indebted countries. #he 8lobal Cevelopment Finance, ()*( from 7orld Bank, India stood at the fifth position for absolute debt stocks when compared with the () other developing debtor countries. But when taken care of the ration of e+ternal debt to that of the gross national income, India was at the fifth position from the lowest side.

%uidelines

on

o"erseas

loans

for

companies

eased8

#he Reserve Bank of India 0RBI1 on ** September, rela+ed guidelines for Indian companies to raise money overseas through e+ternal commercial borrowings 096B1. #he RBI allowed companies to raise more funds through 96Bs to repay rupee loans or for new capital e+penditure in rupees. It raised the ma+imum limit of 96B to '% per cent of the average foreign e+change earnings in the past three fiscal years, or %) per cent of the highest e+port earnings in any of the three years, or whichever is higher. 9arlier, a company could raise a ma+imum of %) per cent of its average e+port earnings in the past three fiscal years. #he RBI will also allow refinancing of bridge finance, or short$term credit taken by companies in the infrastructure sector for importing capital goods, with an 96B under the automatic route. 9arlier, companies had to seek approval from the RBI for replacing the bridge finance with a long$term 96B. #he central bank said companies in the infrastructure sector can seek trade credit for up to a ma+imum period of five years for importing capital goods, up from one$to$three years previously. #rade credit is a short$term loan.

7hidam2aram

pitched

for

,rime

1inister

led

4ational

In"estment

&oard8

Finance .inister

. 6hidambaram on *% September ()*( pitched for institutionali@ation of a >ational Investment Board under the

leadership of rime .inister. #he formation of the board will help in speeding the approval of the proposals, for the mega pro/ects and their implementation. Formation of the board will help the country in achieving the targeted growth for the twelfth five year of 3.( percent. !t the meeting of the full planning commission under the chairmanship of rime .inister .anmohan Singh, the finance minister e+pressed his concern on the delayed implementation of the mega pro/ects and stressed on the fact that the decision made by the >ational Investment board 0>IB1 to be taken as the final decision. 6hidambaram also insisted interference by any other authority on the approvals and decisions made by the >IB will be entertained. ,e also added to his statement that >IBs role will be limited to the pro/ects with investments of Rs *))) crore or more.

'he Supreme 7ourt* on 6 Septem2er* held that Indian courts ha"e no Durisdiction to pass interim orders in and a foreign compan under the pro"isions of the Indian

foreign ar2itration awards 2etween an Indian compan

/r2itration and 7onciliation /ct* 1996.Cisposing of a batch of appeals, a five$/udge 6onstitution Bench, comprising 6hief 5ustice S. ,. Mapadia and 5ustices C. M. 5ain, S. S. >i//ar, .s. Ran/ana Cesai and 5. S. Mhehar, said, Rif the arbitration agreement is found or held to provide for a seatHplace of arbitration outside India, then the provision that the !rbitration !ct, *::&, would govern the arbitration proceedings would not make art I 0relating to domestic arbitration1 of the !rbitration !ct, *::&, applicable or enable Indian courts to e+ercise supervisory /urisdiction over the arbitration or the award.S

'he go"ernment of India appro"ed a 1=000 crore rupees fund to spur the production of h 2rid and electrical

"ehicles in the countr . !ccording to a new policy approved, !utomobile companies and the government plan to put si+ million electric vehicles on road by ()(). #he government under the new policy will fund research and development, infrastructure and subsidies. 7ith an aim at reducing the burden on fossil fuels, the -nion government in national budget ()** had proposed a plan to develop electric and hybrid vehicles. Dater, the government set up a >ational 6ouncil for 9lectric .obility led by heavy industries minister raful atel, and a >ational Board for 9lectric .obility to ensure uniform rules in all the states. !ccording to an estimate about *2)))) electric vehicles were sold in India in ()**$*(. 9lectric scooters cost between (&))) rupees and <2))) rupees in Indian market, while countrys only indigenously built electric car Reva starts at 2.% lakh rupees. 5apan$based >issan .otor 6o. Dtds electric car, Deaf, is the largest$selling car in the world that runs on battery. It costs 22))) dollar 0around *3 lakh rupees1 in the -S and its battery cost is at least half the cars price.

8overnment on & September, approved a Rs '&3 crore proposal to hive off engineering and ground handling services of !ir

India into two wholly$owned subsidiaries as part of its turnaround plan. ! meeting of the Union 7a2inet* chaired 2 ,rime 1inister 1anmohan Singh* cleared the proposal to create the two su2sidiaries 00 /ir India 5ngineering Ser"ices :imited (/I5S:) and /ir India 'ransport Ser"ices :imited (/I'S:). 7ith this decision, !ir India would begin the process of transferring the assets and manpower to !I9SD and !I#SD, which would be treated as separate profit centres. !I9SD would carry out .aintenance, Repair and Everhaul 0.RE1 business, for not only !ir India but other airlines too and tap the potential of nearly T*.% billion .RE business in the !sia$ acific Region.

India claims the second 2iggest haul after 7hina in /siaBs !a2 50 with 11 Indian companies* up from seven last

year, figuring in Forbes ()*( list of %) best publicly traded companies in !sia$ acific. #he -S maga@ine"s ()*( list sees the return of the big Indian I# software services and consulting firms, ,6D and #ata 6onsultancy, while an Indian drug company, Sun harmaceutical, breaks into the elite ranks for the first time. Ence again, 6hina dominates the list with (2 mainland entries, the same as a year ago. .alaysia, 5apan, hilippines and Singapore each had one representative on this year"s list. South Morea could only muster four companies this year, down from eight last year.

'he Reser"e &an# of India directed all 2an#s to issue cheAues with uniform features conforming to the 6he=ue

#runcation System 06#S1 ()*) standard by the end of this month. #he homogeneity in security features act as deterrent against frauds, and the fi+ed field placement specifications facilitate straight$through$processing at drawee banks end through the use of optical or image character recognition technology, the RBI said in a notification. YY!dherence to 6#S$()*) standards has inherent advantages as the security features in che=ue forms help the presenting banks to identify the genuineness of the drawee banks instruments while handling them in the image based scenario, it said. s!ll banks are advised to arrange only Rmulti$city or payable at par 6#S$()*) standard che=ues, not later than September 2).

State &an# of India* India;s largest 2an#* on 5th Septem2er* announced a reduction in interest rates on fi3ed

deposits 2 0.5 per cent for most of the maturity periods, a move likely to be followed by other lenders. ,owever, for deposits between (<* days and one year, the downward revision is * per cent. #he new rate would be &.% per cent as against '.% per cent. Ef the total nine maturity periods for fi+ed deposits, the ).% per cent downward rate revision is for si+ categories. #he new rates would be effective from September ', the bank said in a statement. 7ith the revision, the interest rate on '$:) days fi+ed deposit would come down to &.%) per cent from ' per cent. Similarly, term deposits of :*$*': days would be down by ).% per cent, at &.%) per cent, and *3)$day fi+ed deposits would also attract &.%) per cent interest rate. Fi+ed deposits with maturity of *3*$(<) days would now provide interest rates of &.%) per cent, down from '.(% per cent. For maturity years of one year to less than two years, the new rate will be to 3.% per cent as against : per cent, down by ).% per cent. !t the same time, interest rates for fi+ed deposits with maturity period between ($2 years and 2$% years have been slashed by ).% per cent to 3.% per cent. ,owever, the bank has left interest rate unchanged at 3.% per cent for term deposit of %$*) years.

!i"e Indian companies including Darsen 4 #oubro, ,industan -nilever and Infosys are ranked on !or2es maga9ineBs

list of J'he ForldBs 1ost Inno"ati"e 7ompaniesJ topped by four -S companies. Darsen 4 #oubro with an annual sales growth of *: percent is ranked ninth in the world followed by ,industan -nilever 0*(1 with **.< percent. Infosys 0*:1 comes third with *(.' percent growth thanks to what the -S business maga@ine called a lower Winnovation premium.W #his measures the difference between the value of the company"s e+isting businesses and its e+pected future innovations. 6ompanies must also have T*) billion in market capitali@ation and spend at least one percent of their asset base on research and development. #ata 6onsultancy Services 0(:1 with *:.% percent was fourth among Indian companies with Sun harmaceutical Industries 0231 with a *<.& growth bringing up the rear. Four -S companies$ 6loud computing king Salesforce.com, drug ma/or !le+ion harmaceuticals, internet retail giant !ma@on.com and open source software leader Red ,at took the top four places. Forbes said its analyses show at least three key things that the innovative companies do to create and sustain an innovation premium. #hese wereA ,ow well companies leverage people, process, and philosophies, differentiates the best in class from the ne+t in class when it comes to keeping innovation alive and delivering an innovation premium year after year.

'he Reser"e &an# of India (R&I) will allow domestic entities to in"est in ,a#istan if they apply for approval, the

central bank said in a statement on ' September. Indian entities were earlier not allowed to invest in akistan. En * !ugust, the Indian government formally allowed foreign direct investment from neighbours. akistan in an attempt to build trust between the two nuclear$armed

akistani citi@ens and companies are now allowed to invest in all sectors apart from defence, space and atomic energy, a

government statement said. #he move to allow FCI from akistan had been announced by India"s trade minister earlier this year. India and

akistan have fought three wars since they broke from British colonial rule in *:<'. Both sides have implemented measures to improve trade and business ties, as they slowly rebuild relations that were shattered by the ())3 .umbai attacks.

India recei"ed o"er US+ 66.1. 2illion in remittances in the year ()**$*( as compared to -SC %%.&( billion in the

previous, a hike of *: per cent. W7e have received -SC &&.*2 billion in remittances in ()**$*(,W .inister for Everseas Indian !ffairs Vayalar Ravi said on Friday in a written reply to a =uestion in Dok Sabha. #he remittances to the country through private transfer of funds have been on the rise in the last few years.

In wide$ranging recommendations aimed at soothing the hackles of investors and revive the inflow of foreign capital, the

e3pert committee on %eneral /nti /"oidance Rules (%//R)* headed 2 ,arthasarathi Shome* on ( September, has advocated postponement of the controversial ta+ provision by three years till ()*&$*' along with abolition of capital gains ta+ on transfer of securities. In a further reassurance to foreign institutional investors 0FIIs1 operating through the .auritius route, the e+pert panel, in its draft report submitted to the government on !ugust 2* , has suggested that the 8!!R provisions should not be invoked to e+amine the genuineness of the foreign investor entities residency in the island nation. ,ighlighting that the ob/ective of 8!!R should be deterrence rather than revenue, the panel has recommended that the !pproving anel 0! 1 for purposes of invoking 8!!R provisions should consist of five members,

including 6hairman, who should be a retired /udge of the ,igh 6ourt. Besides, two members should be from outside government and persons of eminence drawn from the fields of accountancy, economics or business, with knowledge of matters of income$ ta+, and two members should be chief commissioners of income$ta+ or one 6hief 6ommissioner and one 6ommissioner. It also suggested that 8!!R can be invoked only with the approval of the 6ommissioner.

Oct 2012

'he R&I on .0 ?cto2er 2012 left interest rates unchanged 2ut had cut the cash reser"e ratio for 2an#s and

told that the inflation remained a primer concern .#he repo rate unchanged at 3.)) percent, which is at the same level for the past si+ months. #he reverse repo rate also remained at ' percent.#he new rates will be effective 2 >ovember ()*(. C. Subbarao mentioned in his =uarterly policy review that with the reduction in inflation, there is an opportunity for monetary policy to act in con/unction with fiscal and other measures to mitigate the growth risks and take the economy to a sustained higher growth tra/ectory.#he RBI, however, cut the 6ash Reserve Ratio 0the amount parked by banks with the RBI1 by (% basis points from <.% per cent to <.(% per cent. #his measure is e+pected to infuse Rs *',%)) crore li=uidity into the banking system. #he RBI cut its 8C growth forecast for !sia"s third$largest economy to %.3 per cent for the current fiscal year, from &.% per cent previously, and increased its pro/ection for headline inflation in .arch to '.% per cent, from ' per cent earlier.

.inistry of Information and Broadcasting has released data about achievement of Cigiti@ation in the < metro cities as on 2)th

Ectober ()*(. #he data shows that in Celhi the 6able #V digiti@ation has touched :(; and with C#, the percentage of digiti@ation has gone upto :%;. !or 1um2ai the percentage of digiti9ation is 100 ; whereas for Molkata 6able #V digiti@ation alone has crossed 3(;, along with C#, the percentage of digiti@ation goes upto 3%;. In 6hennai the 6able #V digiti@ation has reached &(; and with C#, it goes upto 3&;. #he overall percentage of achievement in < metro cities, therefore, is 3:; as far as the 6able #V is concerned and with C#,, the percentage goes upto :2;. Cigiti@ation would usher in a regime of addressability and transparency, bringing a host of e+citing benefits to the consumers. Cigiti@ation of the 6able #V >etwork would open up several opportunities for the consumers to get access to .ovies and 8ames on Cemand as well as internet.

7orried over high budget deficit derailing growth, Finance .inister ,. 7hidam2aram on 29 ?cto2er* un"eiled a fi"e0

ear road map for fiscal consolidation to promote in"estments , contain inflation and take India to high growth tra/ectory. #he government, the .inister said, will continue efforts to restrict fiscal deficit in the current financial year to %.2 per cent of the 8ross Comestic roduct 08C 1 and reduce it to 2 per cent by ()*&$*'. #he fiscal deficit was %.3 per cent in ()**$*(. R!s fiscal consolidation takes place and investors confidence increases, it is e+pected that the economy will return to the path of high investment, higher growth, lower inflation and long$term sustainabilityS, he said. 9conomic growth slipped to nine$year low of &.% per cent in ()**$*( and it is e+pected to fall further this fiscal. Referring to fiscal consolidation in ()*($*2, .r. 6hidambaram e+pressed the confidence that government would be able to raise Rs. 2),))) crore from disinvestment and Rs. <),))) crore from sale of spectrum. !s regards the revenue targets, he said, Revery effort will also

be made to realise the revenue budgeted under ta+ receipts. 8overnment also e+pects to be able to contain and economise on e+penditure, both on lan and non$ lan side. R7hile funds will be made available for essential e+penditure, especially capital e+penditure, every effort will be made to avoid parking or idling of funds,S he said.

i.

'he 7a2inet 7ommittee on 5conomic /ffairs on 25 ?cto2er* appro"ed the proposal for continuing the Special lan for Bihar in ()*($*2 with an allocation of Rs.*%)) crore, based on the enhanced level of

cost of Rs.::3%.%< crore of all e+isting pro/ects, revised cost of e+isting pro/ects, and the cost of new pro/ects, if any, that may be approved by the 9mpowered 6ommittee ii. continuing the Special allocation of Rs.(%) crore, and iii. continuing the special package for implementing drought mitigation strategies in Bundelkhand region of -ttar radesh and .adhya radesh in ()*($*2 with an !dditional 6entral !ssistance of Rs.*<)) crore. #he Backward Regions 8rant Fund 0BR8F1, which aims to cataly@e development in backward areas, was approved by the 669! in !ugust, ())&. In its present form, the BR8F has two components, namely, Cistrict 6omponent covering ('( backward districts in (' States 0including (( additional districts covered in ()*($*21 and State 6omponent which includes Special lan for Bihar, Special lan for the MBM districts of Edisha, Special lan for 7est Bengal lan for the Malahandi$Bolangir$Moraput 0MBM1 districts of Edisha in ()*($*2 with an

0covered in ()**$*(1, Integrated !ction lan 0I! 1 for Selected #ribal and Backward Cistricts 0covered in ()*)$**1 and Bundelkhand ackage 0covered in ()):$ iv. #he implementation of the programmes is being done by the State 8overnments. #he aim of the programme is to

accelerate socio$economic development in the States concerned.

,etronet :4% will set up a third :4% terminal* having initial capacity of five million tonne per annum, with an

investment of Rs <,%)) crore at %anga"aram ,ort in !ndhra radesh. #he oil and gas e+plorer had signed an agreement with 8angavaram ort towards setting up a /oint venture company and development of the terminal in .ay. #he detailed feasibility report for the pro/ect had been prepared by #ractebel 9ngineering Dimited. etronet currently caters to over () per cent of the natural gas re=uirement of the country from its first D>8 terminal at Cahe/ in 8u/arat, which is being e+panded further by another five million tonne. #he company will also commission a green$field D>8 terminal, having capacity of five million tonne, in Mochi by year end.

#he industr 2od

/SS?7</1 and Kes &an# claimed in a /oint report that India re=uires 9010 million tonnes of

additional cold storage capacit in order to prevent post$harvest losses. Inade=uacy of storage facilities causes heavy losses to farmers in terms of =uality degradation and wastage of farm produce. India produces appro+imately ()) million tonnes of fruits and vegetables annually out of which 2%$<); are wasted. #he total warehousing capacity in India is *)3.'% million tonnes and another 2% million tonnes capacity is re=uired in the *(th Five$Pear lan. #he report also said that following the rela+ation of FCI norms in retail, India is e+pected to see an investment of over Rs <),))) crore in multi$brand segment and the organised market is likely to grow to Rs <, 3),))) crore by ()*&$ *'. .a/or foreign players are now e+pected to create positive atmosphere for farmers, suppliers, consumers, economy and the enterprise itself.

#he 8overnment has planned 5nd0to0end 7omputeri9ation of 'argeted ,u2lic +istri2ution S stem (',+S) to make

its reach more effective and beneficiaries friendly with an outlay of Rs. 33<.)' crore . #his plan consists of Cigiti@ation of rations cardsHbeneficiary and other databases, 6omputeri@ation of Supply$6hain .anagement, setting up of #ransparency ortal and 8rievance

Redressal .echanisms. Cigitisation of beneficiary database and computeri@ation of supply$chain are e+pected to be implemented by .arch, ()*2 and Ectober, ()*2 respectively. 7ith computeri@ation of supply$chain, the movement of food grains upto F S level can be tracked and the problem of leakage and diversion can be addressed. Facilities of S.S, e$mails, toll free numbers will be used to inform the beneficiary about the availability of the # CS supplies in the Fair rice Shop, which will ensure timely and transparent distribution of foodgrains to beneficiaries as per their entitlement. Shares of 8overnment of India and State 8overnments in the cost are estimated at Rs. <3:.2' crore and Rs. 2:<.') crore respectively. #he pattern of cost sharing between 6entre and States would be on :)A*) for the >orth$eastern States, whereas for other StatesH-#s, cost is to be shared e=ually.

#he

rime .inister has constituted on (% Ectober, a coordination committee called the 4ational 7ommittee on

+irect 7ash 'ransfers* as a mechanism to coordinate action for the introduction of direct cash transfers to individuals under the various government schemes and programmes. #he >ational 6ommittee chaired by the rime .inister will have as its members eleven 6abinet .inisters, two .inisters of State with independent charge, the Ceputy 6hairman lanning 6ommission, the 6hairman -IC!I, the 6abinet Secretary with the rincipal Secretary to the . as the convenor. #he rime .inister may invite any other .inisterHEfficerH9+pert to any meeting of the 6ommittee.#he >ational 6ommittee on 6ash #ransfers will be assisted by an 53ecuti"e 7ommittee on +irect 7ash 'ransfers chaired by the rincipal Secretary to . and the Secretaries of the concerned .inistries and the C8 -IC!I. #he Secretary

lanning 6ommission will be the convenor.

'he 7a2inet 7ommittee on 5conomic /ffairs on 25 ?cto2er* appro"ed the disin"estment of 10 per cent paid

up eAuit capital of 41+7 out of the 8overnments shareholding of :) percent through FEffer for the Sale of Shares through Stock 9+change 0EFS1 method, as per S9BI Rules and Regulations. !s of .arch 2*, ()*(, the paid up e=uity capital of >.C6 is Rs.2:&.<' crore. #he 8overnment of India holds :) percent of the paid up capital in the 6ompany. >.C6 is a listed, >avratna 6 S9. !fter the disinvestment, the 8overnment of India shareholding in the 6ompany would come down to 3) percent. 'he 41+7 is a 7entral ,u2lic Sector 5nterprise (7,S5) under the administrative control of the .inistry of Steel. It is primarily engaged in the business of iron ore mining, but is also e+panding its activities towards production of steel and other value added products. It is IndiaBs largest producer of iron ore* operating two mining comple3es in 7hhattisgarh and one in Garnata#a.

'he Union 7a2inet on (% Ectober appro"ed the 4ational ,olic on 5lectronics 2012. #he draft >ational olicy on

9lectronics was released for public consultation and it has now been finali@ed based on comments from various stakeholders. India is one of the fastest growing markets of electronics in the world. #here is potential to develop the 5lectronic S stem and +esign and 1anufacturing (5S+1) sector to meet our domestic demand as well as to use the capabilities so created to successfully e+port 9SC. products from the country. 'he 4ational ,olic on 5lectronics aims to address the issue with the e3plicit goal of transforming India into a premier 5S+1 hu2. #he strategies include setting up of a >ational 9lectronics .ission with industry participation and renaming the Cepartment of Information #echnology as Cepartment of 9lectronics and Information #echnology 0Ceity1.

7ith a vision to create a 6entre of 9+cellence for capacity building in the areas of post harvest management of foodgrain by

providing training on latest developments to the aspirants internationally, a memorandum of understanding (1?U) has 2een signed 2etween +epartment of !ood 6 ,u2lic +istri2ution* 1inistr of 7onsumer /ffairs* !ood 6 ,+* %o"ernment of India and 7entral Farehousing 7orporation in >ew Celhi on (% Ectober. -nder the .E-, 676 will take over the management of training functions and related facilities of I8.RI, ,apur for developing it as a centre of e+cellence for the purpose of training in post harvest management of foodgrains and other agricultural commodities besides the training programme being presently conducted by 676 in different functional areas. #he .E- has been signed for a period of five years effective from (%th Ectober, ()*(. 'he 1?U en"isages that 7F7 will de"elop I%1RI* <apur as an institution of e3cellence to attract overseas participants from S!!R6 nations, neighbouring and other countries for training on post harvest management of foodgrain.

/pple opened its 2iggest /sian store in &eiDing to cash on the flourishing 6hinese market which has become the second

largest for the !merican tech giant after the -S. #he store, located in the city"s commercial street of 7angfu/ing, is !pple Inc"s third in Bei/ing and its si+th on the 6hinese mainland. !ccording to 5ohn Browett, !pple"s senior vice president of retail, the new store is the company"s largest store in !sia with an area of (,2)) s=uare meters and more than 2)) employees. ! full range of accessories for !pple products is available in the store, Browett told state$run Iinhua news agency. 6hina is the company"s largest market outside the -nited States in terms of sales. 6hina has the largest Internet population globally and is a significant market for mobile Internet devices such as tablet 6s and smart phones, according to !pple officials.

1u#esh /m2ani has retained his position as the world;s richest Indian for the fifth year in a row, although his net

worth declined by T*.& billion to T(* billion but remained well above that of the second$ranked Dakshmi .ittal Steel baron .r. .ittals net worth also fell by T2 billion at T*& billion, making him the second richest, as per global business maga@ine Forbes annual ranking of *)) wealthiest Indians, released #hursday. .r. !mbani, who heads energy$to$retail conglomerate Reliance Industries group, and .r. .ittal were followed by I# c@ar !@im rem/i 0T*(.( billion1, construction ma/or and #ata groups ma/or shareholder Shapoor/i allon/i group patriarch allon/i .istry 0T:.3 billion1 and drugmaker Sun harmas Cilip Shanghvi 0T:.( billion1 in the top five. .r. .ukeshs younger brother !nil !mbani, who heads telecom$to$infrastructure conglomerate Reliance 8roup, was ranked **th with a net worth of T& billion.

Ethers in top$*) ranking include !di 8odre/ at si+th position 0T: billion1, followed by Savitri 5indal 0T3.( billion1, Shashi 4

Ravi Ruia 0T3.* billion1, ,indu/a Brothers 0T3 billion1 and Mumar .angalam Birla 0T'.3 billion1. 9ven as the net worth of top$ranked persons like .r. !mbani and .r. .ittal fell, the collective wealth of Indias richest *)) rose by 2.' per cent 0T: billion1 to T(%) billion in the past one year, Forbes said.#he number of billionaires also rose to &*, from %' last year. Sun harma groups .r. Shanghvi entered the top five for the first time.

/ndhra ,radesh ran#s fourth in the countr in total outstanding pri"ate sector in"estment* both domestic and

foreign, as of 5une ()*(, ape+ industry body !ssocham said on (& Ectober. It accounts for an investment of 3.< per cent. 8u/arat 0*(.% per cent1, Edisha 0*).' per cent1 and .aharashtra 03.: per cent1 are the three States ahead of !ndhra radesh in this regard. ! press release issued by !ssocham said that of the total outstanding investments of Rs. *(.2 lakh crore in ! , private sector accounts for over Rs. &.: lakh crore thereby registering a share of over %& per cent in the overall investments. !t the national level, the private sector, with a share of over Rs. 3(.: lakh crore, accounts for over %: per cent of the total outstanding investments across India worth over Rs. *<) lakh crore as of 5une ()*(, the !ssocham said. rivate sector investments account for a whopping 3&.& per cent in the total outstanding investments worth over Rs. <.% lakh crore in ,aryana which has a share of about <.3 per cent in the total private sector investments made across India. RFlow of the private investments is decided by the attractiveness of investment opportunities as they are mostly driven by profitability considerations,S said Ravindra Sannareddy, chairperson of !ssocham Southern Region 6ouncil. RBureaucratic efficiency, infrastructure facilities, and ease of land ac=uisition influence the flow of private investments,S said .r. Sannareddy. R#a+ concessions, product market conditions and e+it policies are effective tools of private investment attraction.S

1icrosoft on 25 ?cto2er 2012 launched the latest "ersion of its most awaited operating s stem Findows $ in

India that is designed to work across 6s, tablets as well as for smart phones. #he new 7indow 3 operating system comes with a new start screen and adds more colours. 7indows 3 is available in two versions, 7indows 3 and 7indows 3 ro. -ser who are running 6s with 7indows I , 7indows Vista or 7indows ', can download 7indows 3 ro for an estimated retail price of Rs *,:::. #o keep its users

engaged, .icrosoft In India is offering a range of immersive,free and paid apps which can be downloaded using 7indow 3 and that includes Bharat .atrimony, Book.yShow, Burrp, 8oibibo, ,industan #imes, I6I6I Bank, i.obile, I6I6ICirect, 5ust9at, .ake.y#rip 9+plore, .ap my India, Pahoo 6ricket, and Bovi.

'he 7i"il /"iation 1inistr on 16 ?cto2er 2012 announced to a2olish the airport de"elopment fee on +elhi

and 1um2ai /irports, from * 5anuary ()*2. #he ministry directed the operators of the two airports to stop levying the charges for !irport Cevelopment Fee from the travellers from ne+t year and also asked the !irport !uthority of India to infuse e=uity in form of /oint venture firms that operates the two largest airports of the nation.

#he 6ivil !viation .inister !/it Singh asked the CI!D 0Cial International !irport Dtd1 and .I!D 0.umbai International !irport Dtd1 to submit proposals for stopping the !irport Cevelopment Fee to the !irports 9conomic Regulatory !uthority 0!9R!1. 6harges paid by domestic fliers in Celhi and .umbai are ()) rupees and *)) rupees and for international fliers it is *2)) rupees and &)) rupees respectively.

'he Union 7a2inet on 1$ ?cto2er* appro"ed setting up of a 4ational /utomoti"e &oard (4/&)* a body which

would act as a facilitator between the government and the industry and promote R4C activities in the sector. !ccording to sources, >!B will be a specialised body for promoting sustainable development of the Indian auto sector. Besides, it would also have a larger role in developing skills for the growing automobile sector.

+irector %eneral 7i"il /"iation (+%7/) has suspended the Scheduled ?perator;s ,ermit of Gingfisher

/irlines. #he permit has been suspended with effect from ()th Ectober, ()*( till such time the Mingfisher !irlines submits a concrete and reliable revival plan ensuring safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable Scheduled !ir #ransport Services to the satisfaction of C86!. C86! has observed that the Mingfisher !irlines have not addressed any of the issues raised by the C86! during the meeting held with the !irline on )(.*).()*( and the points raised in the show cause notice. #hey were asked to submit their operational preparedness plan for resumption of flight operations. Instead, they have sought more time to file a reply to the show cause notice not indicating any period for submitting the detailed response? therefore, the re=uest could not be acceded to by the C86!.

/ 1emorandum of Understanding (1oU) for forging partnership 2etween 4ational 7ulture !und (47!) and

<ousing and Ur2an +e"elopment 7orporation (<U+7?) for heritage initiati"es was signed in >ew Celhi on *3 Ectober , in the presence of the .inister of 6ulture and ,ousing 4 -rban overty !lleviation Mumari Sel/a. #hrough a series of meetings and deliberations

with >6F, ,-C6E has outlined % main areas of interest in developing the 6orporate Social Responsibility 06SR1 pro/ectsA #raining rogrammes and 6apacity Building, ,eritage and Cisaster .anagement, -p$gradation of .useums, 9nvironmental improvement and Visitor amenities and 6onservation and Restoration of ,eritage Buildings. >6F 9+ecutive 6ommittee has approved the signing of the .Ewith ,-C6E and the offer of heritage pro/ects that match their 6SR criteria mentioned above. Subse=uently a dedicated .emorandum of !greement will be signed per pro/ect between >6FH,-C6EHimplementer.

#he Union 7a2inet on 1$ ?cto2er* re"ised the norms and enhanced rates of pension for widows and persons

with disa2ilities. #his is in fulfillment of the announcement made by the Finance .inister while presenting the -nion Budget ()*($*2 in the arliament on *&th .arch ()*(. In view of the above decision, '& lakh Below overty Dine 0B D1 widows and ** lakh below poverty line persons with severe or multiple disability would get enhanced amount of central assistance Z Rs. 2)) p.m. #his would be in addition to the contribution by the States. Further, 2.%& lakh B D families will receive one time lump sum enhanced grant Z Rs. ())))H$ in the event of death of the primary breadwinner in the family.

'he following are the details80

*. #o increase the rate of pension under the ongoing Indira 8andhi >ational 7idow ension Scheme 0I8>7 S1 from Rs. ())H$ to Rs.2))H$ per month per beneficiary and to revise the eligibility criteria from <)$%: years to <)$': years. (. #o increase the rate of pension under Indira 8andhi >ational Cisability ension Scheme 0I8>C S1 from Rs. ())H$ to Rs. 2))H$ per month per beneficiary and to revise the eligibility criteria from *3$%: years to *3$': years. 2. #o increase the lump sum grant under >ational Family Benefit Scheme 0>FBS1 from Rs. *))))H$ to Rs. ())))H$and also to revise the eligibility criteria from *3$&< years to *3$%: years. <. #o continue implementation of the >S! during the *(lh Five Pear lan and to provide 2 per cent administrative charges on approved items.

India is e3pected to see a slower economic growth of 5.9 percent in the current fiscal even as there are reasons to

believe the Weconomy has turned the cornerW, an -nited >ations agency report said on *3 Ectober. #he -> 9conomic and Social 6ommission for !sia and the acific 09S6! 1 said India"s growth has been slowing down since ()**, mainly on account of WsevereW monetary tightening by the Reserve Bank of India. WIndia is pro/ected to grow at %.: percent in ()*($*2 compared with &.% percent in ()**$*(,W -> 9S6! said in the report titled "South and South$7est !sia Cevelopment Report ()*($*2". ro/ecting a 8C growth of &.3 percent for ()*2$*<, it said there are reasons to believe the economy has turned the corner.

'he 7a2inet on19 ?cto2er appro"ed the constitution of a 1=th !inance 6ommission to recommend on division of

ta+es between the 6entre and the states and related financial matters for the period ()*%$()(). !s reported earlier, former Reserve Bank governor P V Reddy is considered likely to be chosen as chairman of the 6ommission. #he finance ministers former advisor, arthasarathi Shome, and former finance secretary Sushma >ath are reported as likely to become members. !n Efficer on Special Cuty has been appointed to help finalise the terms of reference and decide on a venue for the 6ommissions secretariat, along with other administrative issues. #he *2th Finance 6ommission was headed by former finance secretary Vi/ay Melkar.

'he Forld Steel /ssociation gathered in 4ew +elhi from Ectober : ()*( through Ectober ** ()*( for its =6th

annual con"ention to renew its authorities and present an outlook of the industry status. #his meeting, was attended by top e+ecutives from almost ') steel companies. Curing the board meetings, the industry position towards industrial safety was discussed, and the Safety 9+cellence awards were delivered. #he association also presented an update of its steel consumption pro/ection for ()*( and ()*2. #he new forecast anticipates a (; global steel consumption growth, which clearly opposes the e+pansion of more than &.2; in ()**. #he debt crisis worsening in the 9uro@one and the slowdown in the growth of emerging countries such as 6hina, India and Bra@il account for such decrease. It is e+pected for the situation to gradually improve in ()*2 with a global steel consumption e+pansion rate of 2.*;.

'he +irectorate %eneral of 7i"il /"iation (+%7/) presented on 9 ?cto2er* the 2011 7ar2on !ootprint Report

for the Indian /"iation Industr , in line with Indias initiatives to address the climate change challenge. #he report was released at the

<:th 6onference of Cirectors 8eneral of 6ivil !viation 0C86!1, !sia acific Regions being held in >ew Celhi. 6ompiled for the first time in such a detailed format, the report was prepared in cooperation with the ma/or airlines and airports of the country and with the support of the 9uropean -nionHIndia 6ivil !viation 6ooperation ro/ect is another milestone for the Indian 6ivil !viation strategy of developing a

sustainable aviation framework. Some of the key points in the report are$ *. #he carbon footprint of Indian scheduled airlines for domestic and international operations was *(,')<,))) tonnes of 6E (? a &; increase in comparison to ()*). (. #he carbon footprint of foreign airlines serving international destinations from Indian airports, based on fuel uplift from India, reached 2,&(2,))) tonnes of 6E(.

3.

6E( emissions from Indian scheduled airline operations as well as from foreign airlines to international destinations represent

less than *; of the countrys total 6E( emissions. #his number is significantly lower than the global average contribution of airlines, which represent appro+imately (; of global anthropogenic emissions. Secretar %eneral of International 7i"il /"iation ?rganisation* 1r. R. &enDamin while unveiled the Report. 7hile, +%7/ /run 1ishra was participated in this occasion.

#he >ational Institute for 9ntrepreneurship and Small Business Cevelopment (4I5S&U+) an organi9ation of the

1inistr of 1icro* Small and 1edium 5nterprises (1S15)* %o"ernment of India , engaged in training, research and other interventions with the ob/ective of promotion of entrepreneurship and development of small and micro enterprises in the country, on 3 Ectober, has in#ed 1oU with the Sun ?nline :earning India ,"t. :td. for promoting the 50learning initiati"e developed by the 6ompany for career planning and career enhancement. ! .emorandum of -nderstanding (1oU) was signed toda 2etween /run Gumar Jha* +irector %eneral* 4I5S&U+ and Gris Sri##anth* the former 7aptain of the Indian 7ric#et 'eam and +irector of the 7ompan . #he digital learning package consists of two .odules A 9mployability Skills and 9ntrepreneurship Skills. #he understanding between the two organi@ations besides promoting the Initiative among the associates of the Institute is also e+pected to contribute towards promotion of entrepreneurial culture among different strata of the society through their holistic development.

'he %o"ernment decided to upgrade fi"e airports 00 'iruchirapalli* 7oim2atore* 1angalore* :uc#now and

Laranasi 00 to the international le"el. #he 6abinet 6ommittee on 9conomic !ffairs 066I1, at its meeting, approved a proposal for the upgradation of the five airports, which have the re=uired infrastructure in place like large terminal, immigration and customs facility to handle international operations. !n international airport is one that can accommodate international flights that re=uires separate layers for immigrations and customs including high$end facilities at the terminal like aerobridges and mandatory runway length to accommodate /ets. 6urrently, all of the five airports are servicing at least one international operation from airlines like !ir India 9+press, FlyCubai, !ir !sia, #hai !irways and .ihin Danka.

-nitech has agreed to sell its stake in the /oint venture, which operates under the W-ninorW brand, for Wa nominal amountW, it

said in a statement to Indian stock e+changes on ** Ectober. #he company declined to comment on terms and conditions. Unitech* the Indian partner of 4orwegian telecommunications group 'elenor /S/* has agreed to sell its share of their mo2ile phone Doint "enture..

#he Securities and 9+change Board of India 0S9BI1 has decided to introduce electronic I,?s from Januar 1* 201.. #he

facility to submit the application forms would be available in more than *))) locations which are part of the nationwide broker network of the stock e+changes and where there is a presence of the brokers terminals 0broker centre1. In the first phase, around <)) broker centres would be covered by 5anuary *, ()*2 and the remaining centres would be covered by .arch *, ()*2. !ccordingly, details of locations including name of the broker, contact details such as name of the contact person, postal address, telephone number and e$mail address of the broker, where the application forms shall be collected, will be disclosed by the stock e+changes on their websites at least *% days before the dates specified by S9BI for introduction of electronic I E. S9BI also asked stock e+changes to ensure that the details disclosed on their websites are regularly updated.

Forld 2an# and the %o"ernment of India on 5 ?cto2er 2012 signed a loan agreement of 500 1illion US +ollar 5ducation ,roDect named Rashtri a 1adh ami# Shi#sha /2hi an(R1S/). #he pro/ect is going to help in

for Secondar

achieving increased and good =uality secondary education as directed in the framework of Rashtriya .adhyamik Shiksha !bhiyan, the flagship government of India program for gradual -niversalisation of secondary education. #he agreeement was signed by rabodh Sa+ena, the /oint secretary, department of economic affairs and Enno Ruhl, the country director of 7orld Bank. Dike Sarva Shiksha !bhiyan 0SS!1, the Cepartment of School 9ducation and Diteracy of the .inistry of ,uman Resource Cevelopment 0.,RC1 under 8overnment of India is

launching Rastriya .adhyamic Shiksha !bhiyan 0R.S!1 with an aim to achieve -niversal !ccess and Guality Secondary 9ducation. -nder Rashtriya .adhyamik Siksha !bhiyan, the responsibility to develop Secondary$9ducation .anagement Information system 0S9$.IS1 is given to the Cepartment of 9ducational lanning, >ational -niversity of 9ducational lanning and !dministration 0>-9 !1, >ew Celhi.

'he International 1onetar !und (I1!) has slashed India;s growth forecast to =.9 per cent for 2012 due to low

business confidence and Rsluggish structural reforms.S #he I.F had in 5uly pro/ected a growth rate of &.* per cent for the current year. Curing the first =uarter ended 5une ()*(, Indian economy e+panded by %.% per cent. RIndias activity suffered from waning business confidence amid slow approvals for new pro/ects, sluggish structural reforms, policy rate hikes designed to rein in inflation, and flagging e+ternal demand,S I.F said in the 7orld 9conomic Eutlook 079E1 released in #okyo ahead of the I.F$7orld Bank ()*( !nnual .eetings. In India, the report said, Rgrowth weakened more than e+pected in the first half of ()*(, an outcome of stalled investment caused by governance issues and red tape, and a deterioration in business sentiment against the backdrop of a rising current account deficit and the recent rupee depreciation.S 6ompared with the regions growth performance in recent years, the nearX and mediumXterm outlooks are less buoyant, the report said. #he report has pro/ected & per cent growth for the ne+t year 0()*21, compared to an earlier &.% per cent pro/ection. For ()*(X*2 fiscal, the I.F said that growth is pro/ected to average %X& per cent in ()*(X*2, more than one percentage point lower than in the !pril ()*( 79E.

4um2er

of

millionaires

ma

rise

5.C

to

$=*000

in

India

201-8

report

!s many as 3<,))) Indians are e+pected to become millionaires by ()*', according to a global wealth report. WIndia is likely to see a substantial /ump of %2 per cent in the number of millionaires to 3<,))) by ()*',W 6redit Suisse Research Institute"s 8lobal 7ealth Report said. !ccording to the report, the number of millionaires in emerging economies is e+pected to /ump substantially in the ne+t few years. 6hina could see its number double by ()*' to almost ( million, it said. ,owever, the report warns that India still sees a significant amount of poverty. R7hile wealth has been rising strongly, and the ranks of the middle class and wealthy have been swelling, not everyone has shared this growth and there is still a great deal of poverty,W the report said. #he report states that :% per cent of Indias population has wealth below T*),))). In comparison, only a small proportion of the population 0/ust ).2 per cent1 has a net worth over T*)),))). !ccording to 6redit Suisse, India has (2',))) members of the top * per cent of global wealth holders. #here are *,%)) -ltra$,igh net$worth individuals 0-,>71 with wealth over T%) million and ')) members with more than T*)) million. Falling growth rate has seen India shedding T')) billion from its household wealth during mid$()** to mid$()*( period, the steepest in !sia, the report said, adding that this amounts to %) per cent of the total erosion that the continent has seen.W#here"s no =uestion that the economic uncertainties of the past year $ particularly those affecting the 9uro@one $ have cast a huge shadow over household wealth,W 6redit Suisse said. From mid$()** to mid$()*(, aggregate global household wealth fell by %.( per cent in current dollar terms to T((2 trillion due to the economic uncertainties, particularly those affecting the 9uro@one. Curing the period under consideration, 9uro@one members suffered the largest losses, led by France 0T(.( trillion1, Italy 0T(.* trillion1, 8ermany 0T*.: trillion1 and Spain 0T3') billion1. .oreover, there was also a significant rise in household debt, which rose in aggregate by 3* per cent from ()))$()*(. ,owever, despite the setbacks in ())' and the recent slowdown, household wealth has grown strongly over the past decade. #he global aggregate doubled from T**2 trillion, recorded at the start of the millennium, the report said. ! similar kind of uptrend was witnessed in the case of India as well, where aggregate wealth more than tripled during ())) to ()**.

#he report further states that household wealth is e+pected to rise by almost %) per cent in the ne+t five years from T((2 trillion

in ()*( to T22) trillion in ()*' and the number of millionaires worldwide would reach <& million in ()*' Sonim 'echnologies* holder of the %uinness Forld Record for the BForldBs 'oughest ,honeB on 2 october, gave

the team responsible for initiating such an incredible phenomena in the field of telecommunication.company said it was the hard work of a team of '' skillful engineers in Bangalore who worked with teams in 6hina and the -S!. #he team successfully designed the tough mobile which is intended to appeal more to construction workers, builders, site engineers and workmen.

#he government on < Ectober, decided to move ahead with its proposal to hike foreign investment ceiling in the insurance

sector to <: per cent from the present (& per cent. ! decision in this regard was taken by the -nion 6abinet headed by rime .inister .anmohan Singh. #he government also gave the green signal to foreign investment in pension funds and said the FCI limit could go up <: per cent in line with cap in the insurance sector. !llowing FCI forms a part of the amendments to ension Fund Regulatory and Cevelopment !uthority 0 FRC!1 Bill, which was approved by the -nion 6abinet. #heFinance .inister clarified that state$run insurance companies will remain in the public sector. 7ith the 6abinet approving the proposal, the Insurance Daws 0!mendment1 Bill is likely to be taken up by arliament for passage in the forthcoming 7inter Session. #he Bill introduced in Ra/ya Sabha in Cecember ())3 proposes to increase the

foreign direct investment 0FCI1 limit in the insurance sector to <: per cent. #he Insurance sector was opened up for private sector in ())) after the enactment of the Insurance Regulatory and Cevelopment !uthority !ct, *::: 0IRC! !ct, *:::1.

#he Supreme 6ourt on % Ectober, stayed until further orders all mining operations, including transportation of mined iron ore

and manganese in leases, in 8oa. #he Forest Bench comprising 5ustices !ftab !lam, M.S. Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Mumar granted the stay on a writ petition filed by the 8oa Foundation, an environmental action group, and asked the 6entral 9mpowered 6ommittee to give its response in four weeks. #he court made it clear that no mineral, whether lying at a mine head or stockyard, would be transported until further orders.#he Foundation pointed out that the 5ustice ..B. Shah commission, appointed in >ovember ()*), said illegal activities in mining had been going on in the State since ())). !ll :) mines were functioning without the mandatory permission from the >ational Board for 7ildlife and 22 of them were located within *.% km of wildlife sanctuaries.

'he International 1onetar !und has lowered its forecasts for glo2al economic growth to ... percent this

ear and ..6 percent in 201. from earlier forecasts of ..= percent and ..9 percent respecti"el . For India, growth forecast is seen at & percent versus a previous forecast of &.& percent for the year ()*2.#he I.F e+pects the euro @one economy to shrink by ).< percent this year and then grow ).( percent in ()*2.6hinese growth for ()*2 is seen at 3.( percent, versus a previous I.F estimate of 3.< percent and Bra@ilian growth at < percent versus <.' percent.

/+&

lowered

IndiaBs

growth

proDection

to

5.6

pc

from

-pc

proDected

earlier

citing falling global demand and impact of delayed monsoon on agricultural production. India, however, can reverse the trend of falling growth by promoting economic reforms and taking steps to improve investment climate, said the !CB"s !sian Cevelopment Eutlook ()*( -pdate.

India*

7hina

consumer

mar#et

to

touch

E10

trn8

&7%

6hina and India combined will add up to a T*) trillion consumer market by ()(), says "#he T*) #rillion ri@e", a book by Boston 6onsulting 8roup 0B681. #he book further says that consumer spending in 6hina and India will triple by the end of the decade. !ccording to Boston 6onsulting by ()(), 6hinese consumers will spend T&.( trillion annually on consumer goods while Indian consumers spend would be around T2.& trillion. #he book also finds that 6hina which had only one billionaire in ())* witnessed a tremendous growth and the number grew to **% by ()*(. Similarly, the number of billionaires in India grew to %% in India from < in the year ())*. #he book written by B68 consultants .ichael 5 Silverstein, !bheek Singhi, 6arol Diao, Cavid .ichael also said that 6hina already has three of the worlds top *) companies by market value. In ())), there were eight 6hinese companies and one Indian company in the Fortune %)). By ()*), there were <& 6hinese companies and eight Indian companies. Further, it said by ()*%, around one billion people in the country would have cell phones. !round to T2%) billion in payment and banking transactions will flow through those phones [ more than the total Indian credit$ and debit$card market today. !ccording to the B68 global consumer survey, 2&; of 6hinese and *:; of Indians e+pect to increase their discretionary spending over ne+t *( months

+eepa#

,are#h

panel

for

hi#ing

power

charges*

rail

fares8

Suggesting big$ticket reforms to attract investment in the infrastructure sector, a high$level committee, on 2 Ectober, recommended increasing electricity charges and rail fares. #he high$level committee on financing of infrastructure, which is headed by ,CF6 6hairman Ceepak arekh, also pitched for *)) per cent foreign direct investment 0FCI1 in the telecom sector. #he limit at present is '< per cent. #he panel also suggested raising prices of natural gas. #hese recommendations are aimed at attracting Rs.%*.<& lakh crore for funding the infrastructure sector during the III lan 0()*($*'1, according to the report, which was presented to rime .inister .anmohan Singh earlier. #he government, the report says, should draw Ra time$bound action plan...with a view to improving the enabling environment for private investment, which is e+pected to finance about <' per cent of the pro/ected investment during the III lan. #he share of private sector in infrastructure funding was 2'.%2 per cent during the II lan, the report says, adding that the contribution of public sector is estimated to decline to %2.2( per cent during the III lan from &(.<' per cent in the previous lan.

'otal

premium

collections

of

life

insurers

dip

..2

pc

at

Rs

.9*.5-.6

c8

#otal premium collections of life insurers dipped by 2.*3 per cent in !pril$ !ugust period this year at Rs 2:,2%'.& crore, according to Insurance Regulatory and Cevelopment !uthority 0IRC!1. Curing the first five months of current financial year the largest public life insurer Dife Insurance 6orporation of India"s 0DI61 premium collection also declined by 2.( per cent at Rs (:,3:2.(* crore, the insurance regulator"s data showed

,CF6 Bank on < Ectober ()*( tied up with Indian Eil 6orporation where rural etrol ump Eutlets of Indian Eil will act as ,CF6 Bank

Business 6orrespondent 0B6s1. It is uni=ue and first kind of tie$up, where an oil distribution company is coming up with the bank to make available modern banking services to the people of remote areas. #he Indian oil is going to make it possible through Misan Seva Mendra which is an retail outlet model pioneered by Indian Eil to cater to the needs of customers in the rural segment. ,CF6 Bank planned to cover *))) Misan Seva Mendras in a phased manner and each of these outlets will be able to serve around *,%)) customers. #he Misan Seva Mendra outlets will offer banking services such as preliminary processing of loan applications, disbursal and collection of small value deposits, sale of micro$insurance, mutual funds and other investment instruments. ,CF6 plan is to bring *) million families into its banking Fold.

%o"t

appro"es

draft

of

12th

!i"e

Kear

,lan8

#he -nion 6abinet on < Ectober ()*( approved the *(th five$year plan with its aim to renew Indian economy and use the funds from government in improving the facilities of education, sanitation and health. #his plan has seen a three$fold increase in the budget constraints when compared to that of the **th five$year plan. #he plan would infuse a huge fund of Rs <','),))) lakh crore and this will help to accomplish the economic growth to an average level of 3.( percent. *(th five$year plan is guided by the policy guidelines and principles to revive the following Indian economy, which registered a growth rate of meager %.% percent in the first =uarter of the financial year ()*($*2. #he plan aims towards the betterment of the infrastructural pro/ects of the nation avoiding all types of bottlenecks. #he document presented by the planning commission is aimed to attract private investments of up to -ST* trillion in the infrastructural growth in the *(th five$year plan, which will also ensure a reduction in subsidy burden of the government to *.% percent from ( percent of the 8C 0gross domestic product1. #he -IC 0-ni=ue Identification >umber1 will act as a platform for cash transfer of the subsidies in the plan. #he plan aims towards achieving a growth of < percent in agriculture and to reduce poverty by *) percentage points, by ()*'. #he formulated draft of the plan would be presented for final approval before the >ational Cevelopment 6ouncil 0>C61 that is headed by the rime .inister having the 6abinet .inisters and 6hief .inisters on board. >ational Cevelopment 6ouncil 0>C61 is the ape+ decision$ making body and authority to signal the five$year plan in the nation

Nov 2012

#he .inister of State for Finance, >amo >arain .eena in a written reply to a =uestion in the Ra/ya Sabha on (: >ovember

that ,the %o"ernment is considering to de"elop a ,roducer ,rice Inde3 (,,I) which will reflect price movement at the producers level as proposed by 8overnor, RBI. #he Effice of the 9conomic !dviser, Cepartment of Industrial olicy and romotion has already

constituted a 7orking 8roup under the 6hairmanship of Cr. Saumitra 6haudhury, .ember, lanning 6ommission on *:th .arch, ()*( to consider issues relating to the compilation of roducers rice Inde+ together with the revision of base of the current series of 7holesale rice Inde+.

1aldi"es

cancelled

its

&iggest

!oreign

In"estment

,roDect

with

%1R

%roup

.aldives cancelled its biggest foreign investment pro/ect with Indian firm 8.R 8roup to develop its international airport. #he total value of the pro/ect was %** million dollar. #he deal with the 8.R was signed during former resident .ohamed >asheed"s administration. rior to this, a competitive bidding process was conducted by the 7orld Bank"s International Finance 6orporation 0IF61. #he pro/ect was implemented through a /oint venture company comprising 8.R Infrastructure Dimited and .alaysia !irports ,olding Berhad. ,owever the contract was termed invalid by the new regime as it included a (% dollars airport development charge per outgoing passenger. #his was not authorised by the arliament of .aldives.

,SU

2an#s

report

Rs

6*=5-

crore

fraud

cases

in

2012

Fraud cases involving an amount of Rs &,<%' crore have been reported by public sector banks in ()*(, Finance .inister

6hidambaram said

in a written reply to the Ra/ya Sabha on (: >ovember. #his was much more than Rs 2,3%) crore reported in ()**, he said. 6hidambaram was replying to a =uestion about scams that took place in banks. Indian Everseas Bank reported fraud cases involving an amount Rs '%3 crore so far in ()*(, followed by un/ab >ational Bank which reported cases involving Rs '(3 crore. En measures taken to preventHfrauds, he said, WRBI is sensitising banks from time to time about common fraud prone areas through issuance of modus operandi circulars on various types of frauds.W

'he Reser"e &an# of India and the State &an# of Lietnam (S&L) concluded a 1emorandum of Understanding

(1oU) to promote greater co0operation and sharing of super"isor information 2etween the two super"isors. #he .o- was

signed at SBV ,ead=uarters, ,anoi, Vietnam, by 8. 5aganmohan Rao, 6hief 8eneral .anager$In$6harge, Cepartment of Banking Supervision, Reserve Bank of India and >guyen ,uu >ghia, 6hief Inspector, Banking Supervision !gency, SBV. #he occasion was graced by Cang #hanh Binh, Ceputy 8overnor, SBV and Shri Ran/it Rae, Indian !mbassador to ,anoi.

'he 7a2inet 7ommittee on 5conomic /ffairs on 22 4o"em2er* noted the acAuisition of 50C eAuit shares 2 Iron ?re :imited (:egac )* which is a listed entit in /ustralian Stoc#

41+7 :imited* a 4a"ratna ,SU* in :egac

53change at a total in"estment of Rs.99.6. crore under the delegated powers a"aila2le to the &oard of 41+7 :td. 'he acAuisition process has 2een completed and 41+7 has now a maDorit shareholder on the &oard of 1Ms :egac . 'he total in"estment of 41+7 in :egac towards acAuisition of its 50C share is Rs. 99.6. crore . >.C6 has sourced the above funds from its internal accruals. 'his is the first o"erseas acAuisition of iron ore resources 2 an Indian ,u2lic Sector 7ompan . #his initiative will encourage further ac=uisition of strategic raw materials overseas by other S-s for long term mineral security for domestic industry. Degacy Iron ore Dtd 0legacy1 is a erth$based !ustralian e+ploration company with focus on iron ore, gold, manganese and base metals. Incorporated in !pril, ())' Degacy was listed on the !ustralian stock e+change 0!SI1 in 5uly ())3. Degacy has si+ e+ploration stage pro/ects in 7estern !ustralia.

'he 7entral %o"ernment* on 2. 4o"em2er* cleared the 4ational ,harmaceutical ,ricing ,olic that will bring

2<3 essential drugs under price control, leading to reduction in prices.official sources said that the >ational harmaceutical ricing policy has been approved by the 6abinet with an ob/ective to put in place a regulatory framework for pricing of drugs to ensure their availability at reasonable prices. !t present, the government through the >ational harmaceutical ricing !uthority 0> !1 controls prices of '< bulk

drugs and their formulations.#he source said the government had also considered providing sufficient opportunity for innovation and competition to support the growth of the pharma industry.

!inance 1inister , 7hidam2aram disclosed that the /mendments to %//R* the contro"ersial law against ta3

a"oidance through foreign in"estments* ha"e 2een finali9ed. ,e says, RI have finalised the amendments to the 6hapter *)! of the Income #a+ !ct. >ow it will go to the .E and then we should be ready with the amendments and then the 8!!R rules will reflect the amended 6hapter *)!S. 6hapter *)! of the Income #a+ !ct deals with ta+ation of investments. %//R (%eneral /nti0/"oidance Rules)* which was proposed in 201201. 2udget with a "iew to pre"enting ta3 e"asion* evoked sharp reactions from foreign as well as domestic investors who feared that unbridled powers to ta+men would result in harassment of investors. 'he go"ernment later appointed a committee headed 2 ta3 e3pert ,arthasarthi Shome to loo# into their concerns.

'he 7a2inet 7ommittee on Infrastructure on 22 4o"em2er* appro"ed the ,roDect for +e"elopment of Single

,oint 1ooring (S,1) and allied facilities for the import of crude oil off Leera (outside Gandla cree#) in %ulf of Gutch at Gandla ,ort on Build, Eperate and #ransfer 0BE#1 basis for a period of 2) years at an estimated cost of Rs. &(*.%2 crore. Gandla ,ort is strategicall placed to function as the gatewa to Festern and 4orthern India particularl for import of crude oil . Several refineries in the >orth$7estern India re=uire support facilities like S .s. #he e+pansion of e+isting refineries in the >orthern and 7estern Regions are e+pected to create additional demand for S . facilities for ports on the 7est 6oast. Mandla ort proposes to capture this ort #rust to enhance its

incremental demand, and this pro/ect has been conceived accordingly. #he S . pro/ect will enable the Mandla

capacity by *( .# ! taking the total cargo handling capacity of the ort to *)< .# ! and this will also augment the energy security of the country.

'he 7a2inet 7ommittee on 5conomic /ffairs on 22 4o"em2er has appro"ed disin"estment of 9.50C eAuit of

4',7 :td.* out of its holding of $=.50C through an offer for sale of Shares through Stock 9+changes as per S9BI Rules and Regulations. !fter this disinvestment 8overnment of Indias shareholding in the company would come down to '%;. #he paid up e=uity capital of the company, as on 2*st .arch, ()*( is Rs. 3(<%.<& crore. #he resident of India holds 3<.%); of the paid up capital in ># 6 Dtd. 4',7 is a listed 1aharatna 7entral ,u2lic Sector 5nterprise. ># 6 Dtd. is a ublic Sector 9nterprise under the administrative control of the .inistry of ower. ># 6 is primarily engaged in business of power generation through coal based and gas based sources.

'he Reser"e &an# of India* in its notification released directed 2an#s not to pro"ide loans to its customers for

purchase of all t pes of gold , which includes primary gold, /ewellery, bullion, gold coins, units of 8old 9+change #raded Funds 09#F1 and units of gold mutual funds. #he order was directed for discouraging people from getting involved in speculative activities. #he notification from the Reserve Bank of India also directed the banks not to grant advances against gold bullion to traders or dealers, as such advances would be utilised with the purpose of offering finance for gold purchase at auctions and speculative holding of stocks and bullion. #his

notification allowed the banks to provide finances to the /ewelers for their general working capital re=uirements. #he decision of RBI came up in response to the suggestion of the working 8roup constituted after the announcement if the .onetary olicy Statement of !pril ()*(. #he working group suggested that the banks are not permitted to finance purchase of any type of gold other than the working capital. #his decision of RBI came up in response to the significant growth in the imports of the gold in past few years that has created pressure on the current account deficit. #he 8old imports of India in ()**$*( stood up at &) billion dollar.

! world0class 1edia 7it will come up in < dera2ad to promote animation and gaming, !ndhra radesh"s .inister for

Information #echnology onnala Dakshmaiah said on *% >ovember. #he state government has allotted 2) acres of land for the pro/ect, which is e+pected to provide an entertainment technology$based eco$system.W8aming and animation is a key sector which is coming up and to utili@e the opportunity, the chief minister has given a go$ahead for a world$class .edia 6ity in ,yderabad,W Dakshmaiah said while addressing eIndia ()*(, billed as India"s largest information and communication technology event. #he minister pointed out that ,yderabad is the largest film producing centre in the country. Dast year out of (3: films made in India, *3) were produced in ,yderabad, he said.#he .edia 6ity initiative is aimed at tapping the huge animation and gaming market, both domestic and international. #he I# minister had last month said the proposed .edia 6ity at Raidurg near ,itec 6ity would be on the lines of international media cities in .anchester, .ontreal, and Cubai. ! state delegation led by the minister visited Cubai, .anchester and Dondon from >ov % to ** to gain first$hand knowledge of media cities. In Cubai, the four$member delegation visited Cubai .edia 6ity, Cubai Studio 6ity and International .edia roduction Bone. #he global market si@e for animation and gaming is e+pected to be T3) billion and T<) billion respectively during the current year. #he market for animation and gaming development 0combined1 in India is estimated at T* billion. #he -S and the 9urope remain the biggest markets for outsourcing animation and gaming related activities. #alking about the I# and I#9S as a whole, Dakshmaiah pointed out that ,yderabad ranks third globally in terms of cost of operations after Ginding in 6hina and Subaya in .alaysia. W#here is no secret why over *3 million s= ft has been taken on lease by various companies operating in ,yderabad,W he said. #he minister said despite the apprehensions voiced in some =uarters over the growth of I# sector, *%) new units were registered during ()**$*(. #he city accounts for *( percent of the total office space in India. ,yderabad is home to *,()) I# companies including all top %)) global firms like .icrosoft, 8oogle, Facebook, !ma@on, Celoitte, !ccenture and IB.. #he state has about 2)),))) I# professionals and the sector is also providing *( lakh indirect /obs. !n Information #echnology Investment Region 0I#IR1 has also been approved in ,yderabad, which will create an employment for *% lakh people over the ne+t (% years. #he I#IR will be coming up with an investment of Rs.(,2)) crore in e+ternal infrastructure. It will have %),))) acres of I# and I#9S area. #hree hardware clusters are also proposed in !ndhra radesh and they would be the first under the new policy of the central government.

'he ,resident of India ,rana2 1u#herDee inaugurated the .2nd edition of the India International 'rade !air

on 1= 4o"em2er at ,ragati 1aidan*4ew +elhi. !ddressing the function, the resident said the fair has been an e+cellent platform for micro, small and micro enterprises 0.S.9s1 to showcase their products and penetrate both domestic and international markets at attractive prices. resident stressed that .S.9s are a source of rural empowerment, which is one of the key ob/ectives of 8overnments agenda of inclusive growth. #he theme of the II#F this year is RSkilling IndiaS. !t the 2(nd II#F, the focus state and country are !ndaman >icobar Islands and South !frica respectively. #he partner state and the country are -ttarakhand and the Republic of Belarus respectively.

I7I7I &an# 1+ and 75? 7handa Gochhar has 2een named as the most powerful woman in 2usiness in India

for the second consecuti"e ear 2 !ortune 1aga9ine . .allika Srinivasan of #!F9 and !runa 5ayanthi of 6apgemini India follow Mochhar in the second and third place, respectively.In the Fortune list of %) most powerful businesswomen, there are si+ new entrants. #he si+ new entrants this year includes rabha arameswaran, .C, 6olgate$ almolive India? !isha Ce Se=ueira, .C, .organ Stanley India

Investment Banking? Ceb/ani 8hosh, .C, Sales 4 .arketing 8roup, Intel South !sia? !banti Sankaranarayanan, 6ountry ,ead, Ciageo India? !n/ali Bansal, .anaging artner, Spencer Stuart and !sha 8upta, .C, #upperware India.

'he go"ernment on 15 4o"em2er said it would finalise the Rs 15*000 crore0capital infusion plans for pu2lic

sector 2an#s in the ne+t few weeks to help them enhance their capital base and increase lending capacity. #he top three banks which re=uire capital are Indian Everseas Bank, 6entral Bank of India and the Bank of .aharashtra. In ()*)$**, the government pumped in Rs (),*%' crore for infusion in public sector banks to maintain tier I capital at 3 per cent and increase the government e=uity in some banks to %3 per cent. In the following fiscal, public sector banks got Rs *(,))) crore for improving their capital ade=uacy ratio. #he implementation of the capital ade=uacy guidelines based on the Basel III capital regulations will begin from 5anuary *, ()*2. #he guideline envisages banks to maintain a minimum total capital 0.#61 of : per cent against 3 per cent prescribed by the Basel 6ommittee of total risk weighted assets.

'he go"ernment plans to put on auction the circles that went without 2ids in the Dust concluded sale of 2%

mo2ile phone spectrum* 2 1arch .1, #elecom .inister Mapil Sibal said *& >ovember. #he WintentW is to have the auction of spectrum in four circles, including Celhi and .umbai, before the end of the fiscal, Sibal told a news conference here. Finance .inister 6hidambaram

said the government Wwas not celebratingW the flopping of the auction and will continue to move forward. !n 9mpowered 8roup of .inisters 098o.1 Wwill be meeting soonW to decide on the ne+t course of action, he said. #he auction, which lasted /ust two days, got total bids worth Rs :,<)'.&< crore, /ust one$third of the minimum Rs (3,))) crore the government was e+pecting. #he auction was a far cry from the 2%$day bidding for the 28 spectrum in ()*) that got Rs &','*: crore. Sibal said besides Rs :,<)'.&< crore from the auction, the government will also get Rs ',:2& crore by way of one$time fee to be levied on e+isting telecom operators holding spectrum more than a prescribed limit. W#here will be substantial net gain,W 6hidambaram said.

Secretar

/ meeting of the 53ecuti"e 7ommittee on +irect 7ash 'ransfers was held on 9 4o"em2er 2 the ,rincipal to the ,rime 1inister along with the 7a2inet Secretar . #he purpose of the meeting was to move forward and

operationalise Cirect 6ash #ransfers for which many steps need to be taken. Based on the e+tensive discussions that took place and the issues raised by the participants, the following decisions were ta#en in the meeting. !. !ll departments engaged in transferring benefits to individual beneficiaries will =uickly move to an electronic Cirect

6ash #ransfer system, based on an !adhaar ayment BridgeH latform. B. smooth #hey will identify the schemes to move to this system and also prepare a roadmap with timelines so that the rollout is and fast.

'he roadmap for each scheme will 2roadl ha"e the following timelines8

a. b. c.
6. ()*( C.

51 districts 0 from 1 Januar 201. 1$ states 0 from 1 /pril 201. 16 states 0 from 1 /pril 201= or earlier. #he list of schemes, roadmaps, and timelines will be sent to the lanning 6ommission and .E by () >ovember

-IC!I will set up a dedicated cell of technical e+perts in -IC!I to facilitate !aadhaar enabled Cirect 6ash #ransfers

and help individual .inistries. 9. in Cepartment of Financial Services will go for universal Financial Inclusion through individual Bank !ccounts for all line with the roadmap.

#he rime .inister will be holding the first meeting of the >ational 6ommittee on Cirect 6ash #ransfers on (& >ovember ()*( where the roadmap and timelines will be presented.

'he UniAue Identification /uthorit of India (UI+/I) has launched its N,u2lic +ata ,ortal; (data.uidai.go".in)

for the /adhaar proDect in line with the 4ational +ata Sharing 6 /ccessi2ilit ,olic (4S+/,) 2012 . #he portal will enable the public to access several anonymised datasets generated in the -IC!I ecosystem. #he public data portal is in consonance with the larger vision of the 8overnment of India to make data available through data.gov.in. #he -IC!I has also been sharing information about the latest developments of the pro/ect in the public domain through its website www.uidai.gov.in

'he 7a2inet 7ommittee on 5conomic /ffairs has appro"ed to di"est 10 percent eAuit

in <industan

/eronautics :imited (</:) out of its holding of 100 percent through an Initial ,u2lic ?ffer (I,?) in the domestic mar#et as per the Securities and 9+change Board of India 0S9BI1 Rules and Regulations. Five percent discount on the issue price will be allowed for retail investors as well as to eligible employees of ,!D applying under the employees reservation portion. #he paid up e=uity capital of the company, as on 2*st .arch, ()*( is Rs.*().%) crore. 6urrently, the company is unlisted. !fter the divestment of *) percent, 8overnment of Indias shareholding in the company would come down to :) percent. </: is a Schedule N/;* 4a"ratna 7entral ,u2lic Sector 5nterprise under the administrati"e control of the 1inistr of +efence . It is engaged in the designing and development of Fi+ed 7ing !ircraft, Rotary 7ing !ircraft and their systemsHaccessoriesHavionics, manufacturing of !ircraft 0Fighter, #rainers and #ransport1, ,elicopter and associated aero engines, accessories and avionics for both military and civil applications.

.r. 5im Pong Mim,

resident of the 7orld Bank 8roup on 3 >ovember, has announced the appointment of an

independent panel of e3perts to conduct a re"iew of the Forld &an#;s +oing &usiness report. 1r. /run 1aira* 1em2er of 'he ,lanning 7ommission* %o"t. of India* has 2een appointed as one of the ten international e3perts to this panel. .r.

#revor .anuel,.inister in charge of the >ational lanning 6ommission of South !frica, would chair the panel.#he other members include e+perts from 6hina, Bra@il, 8ermany, -M, and Morea. Cr. .ontek Singh !hluwalia, Ceputy 6hairman of the lanning 6ommission, welcomed the appointment of .r. .aira to this anel to review this important report which has become a measure of a country"s ability to compete and attract investments. 'he+oing &usiness report* now in its tenth ear of pu2lication* measures and anal 9es regulations that appl to small and medium si9e local 2usinesses in 1$5 economies. India 0which ranks *2(nd out of *3% countries in the ()*2 edition of this report1 needs to improve its regulatory framework to create a favourable business environment.

#he -nion 8overnment of India on & >ovember ()*( decided to digitise 6able #V network in thirty eight cities, spread over *%

States, by 2* .arch ()*2 in the second phase of digitisation.9arlier, the digiti@ation was completed in Celhi, .umbai and Molkata on the 2*Ectober ()*(, while in 6hennai the deadline was e+tended till the : >ovember ()*( by the .adras ,igh 6ourt.

and

India Signs /greements with Forld &an# for USE .20 1illion /I+ for H/ssam State Roads ,roDectI. #he Doan ro/ect !greements for 7orld Bank 0IBRC1 assistance of -ST 2() million for !ssam State Roads ro/ect were signed between

8overnment of India and the 8overnment of !ssam respectively and the 7orld Bank in >ew Celhi on % >ovember. #he Eb/ective of the pro/ect is to enhance the road connectivity in !ssam by assisting the ublic 7orks Road Cepartment to improve and effectively manage its road network. #he pro/ect will have three componentsA *1 Road Improvement. (1 Road Sector .oderni@ation and erformance 21. Road Safety .anagement.#he pro/ect will be implemented over a period of si+ years.

'he %/I: %as :imited and the RaDasthan State ,etroleum 7orporation :imited (RS,7:) signed an agreement

of Joint Lenture on 5 4o"em2er 2012 to la down the natural gas suppl pipeline in the state . Both the bodies will together formulate a long$term plan on commercial, domestic as well as industrial consumption of the gas. #he agreement was signed by 8!ID 8as Dimited 6hief 9+ecutive Efficer 5. Vasan and !/itabh Sharma .anaging Cirector of RS 6D in presence of 6.M. .athew, State 6hief Secretary. #he /oint venture would help in supply of pollution free D 8, 6>8 and D>8 to consumers of different categories and would also be responsible for development of the 6>8 stations on the road sides of the state and national highways. #he pro/ect would also supply the gas re=uired by the industrial units that is coming up on the Celhi$.umbai industrial corridor.

'he Union %o"ernment 2od * 7a2inet 7ommittee on 5conomic /ffairs (775/) on 1 4o"em2er 2012 lifted the

e3port 2an on mil# products , especially on whole milk powder 07. 1, dairy whitener, infant milk foods and other milk products till .arch ()*2. In February ()** to meet the domestic supply of .ilk roducts the -nion government had imposed ban on e+port of all kinds of milk products that is skimmed milk powder 0S. 1, whole milk powder 07. 1, dairy whitener, infant milk foods, casein and casein products. ,owever the ban was withdrawn in for 6asein in !pril ()*( and for Skimmed .ilk owder 0S. 1 in 5une ()*(.

#he decision of withdrawing the e+port ban was taken in to consideration by 669! after acknowledging the flush season of milk

that started in Ectober which had improved the supply of milk within the country. !s per the 8overnment Statistics, there is a stock of *.*( lakh tonnes of milk powder in the country. !s much as 2)) lakh kilos of milk per day were procured in the country in September ()*( while sales were to the tune of only (&) lakh kilos per day.

?ut of the appro3imate 125 million internet user 2ase in India* the female population accounts for almost

=0C* according to a /oint study by ape+ industry body !SSE6,!. and 6omScore. #he study has observed that one out of every *) Indians is online thereby making it about *); online user penetration in India. !mong the BRI6 >ations, India has been the fastest growing market adding over *3 million internet users and growing at an annual rate of <*;. India is also among the top 2 fastest growing markets worldwide in the last *( months. 6hina added over *< million users to reach 22& million internet users by the end of 5uly ()*(. Russia and India show similar trends in online usage patterns along with similarities in e$6ommerce and payment types.

'he :oan and ,roDect /greements for Forld &an# (I&R+) assistance of USE .20 million for /ssam State

Roads ,roDect were signed 2etween %o"ernment of India and the %o"ernment of /ssam respecti"el and the Forld &an# in 4ew +elhi on % >ovember. #he Doan !greement was signed by rabodh Sa+ena 05oint Secretary, Cepartment of 9conomic !ffairs1 on behalf of 8overnment of India and .r. Enno Ruhl, 6ountry Cirector, 7orld Bank 0India1 on behalf of the 7orld Bank. #he !greement was signed by .ohan 6handra Boro, 6ommissioner 4 Special Secretary, ro/ect

ublic 7orks Road Cepartment on behalf of the ublic 7orks Road

8overnment of !ssam. #he Eb/ective of the pro/ect is to enhance the road connectivity in !ssam by assisting the

Cepartment to improve and effectively manage its road network. #he pro/ect will have three componentsA *. Road Improvement (. Road Sector .oderni@ation and erformance 2. Road Safety .anagement. #he pro/ect will be implemented over a period of si+ years.

Gapil Si2al* Union 1inister for I' 6 'elecom* called on ,resident Ilham /li e" of /9er2aiDan* in &a#u on <

>ovember. Mapil Sibal delivered greeting from the resident and rime .inister of India to the head of state of !@erbai/an. Si2al who is participating at the -th 1eeting of the Internet %o"ernance !orum than#ed ,resident Ilham /li e" for its organi9ation at the highest le"el in &a#u. Sibal said that there are big opportunities for the e+pansion of cooperation between the countries in the field of Information and 6ommunication #echnology. #he resident of !@erbai/an said he was interested in the e+pansion of cooperation between !@erbai/an and India in different fields, including Information and 6ommunication #echnology sector. resident Ilham !liyev stressed on the establishment of relations between the countries in many areas and also noted the importance of mutual visits for further development of these relations.

'he 7it of < dera2ad was named as Forld 'hird 2est cit to "isit in 201. by #ravel guide book Donely

lanet

published. ,yderabad the capital city of !ndhra radesh was described as Welegant and blossomingW by the Donely lanet. 'he top 10 cities according to :onel ,lanet to "isit in 201. are San !rancisco* /msterdam* < dera2ad* CerryHDondonderry, Bei/ing, uerto Igua@u.9arlier in ()**, >ew Pork #imes rated ,yderabad among the <* top

6hristchurch, ,obart, .ontreal, !ddis !baba and destinations to visit in the world.

,lanning 7ommission has gi"en in"estment clearance for the scheme HGhuga 1ultipurpose ,roDect (1edium

Re"ised) of 1anipurS. #he ro/ect is estimated to cost Rs. <22.:* 6rore 0()** rice Devel1. #he pro/ect shall be completed in the financial year ()*($*2 and lan accounts would be closed by 2*st .arch ()*2.

Dec 2012

'he go"ernment on 26 +ecem2er* announced Rs 65 per Auintal hi#e in the support price of wheat to Rs 1*.50

per Auintal and allowed additional e+ports of (.% million tonnes of wheat from its godowns to clear surplus stock and ease storage crunch. #he 6abinet 6ommittee on 9conomic !ffairs 0669!1 approved these two decisions in its meeting held in >ew Celhi. #he increase in wheat .S would enthuse farmers to cover more area under crop. #ill last week, farmers have sown wheat in (%.2 million hectare, marginally lower than (%.' million hectare in the same period last year. #he 669! also approved a proposal of the Food .inistry to allow e+port of an additional (.% million tonnes of wheat from the F6I godowns.

'he 7a2inet 7ommittee on 5conomic /ffairs on 26 +ecem2er appro"ed the disin"estment of 12.5 percent paid

up eAuit capital of the Rashtri a 7hemicals and !ertili9ers :td ., that is &,3:,&*,)*( shares each of face value of Rs. *)H$ each, out of 8overnment of Indias shareholding of :(.% percent, in the domestic market, as per S9BI Rules and Regulations. Rashtri a 7hemicals and !ertili9ers :td. is a Schedule B/B listed 1ini0Ratna 7entral ,u2lic Sector 5nterprise (7,S5) under the administrati"e control of the 1inistr of 7hemicals 6 !ertili9ers* +epartment of !ertili9ers . It is engaged in the business of manufacturing and marketing fertili@ers, industrial chemicals such as methanol, methylamines, ammonium bicarbonate, ammonium nitrate etc. from its two operating units at #rombay and #hal in .aharashtra and marketing of these products through its BonalH Regional .arketingH!rea offices located in different States of the country.

'he Union 1inister for 7ommerce* Industr and 'e3tiles /nand Sharma announced additional incenti"es to

2oost e3ports in >ew Celhi on (& Cecember. #hese incentives came in the backdrop of the !nnual Supplement of the Foreign #rade olicy announced on 5une %, ()*(. Sharma said that the (; Interest Subvention Scheme on rupee e+port credit which is available to certain specific sectors including handicrafts, carpets, handloom, readymade garments, processed agriculture products, sports goods and toys, has been given an e+tension up to .arch 2*, ()*<. !t present, the Scheme is scheduled to end on 2*st .arch ()*2. !long with this, Small and .edium 9nterprises 0S.9s1 for all sectors will now be able to avail the benefits of the Scheme. Sharma, while highlighting that the engineering sector has been a ma/or contributor for both /ob creation and value addition of Indian manufacturing, e+tended the benefits of (; interest subvention to certain specific sub$sectors of the engineering sector. ,e also announced the introduction of a Rpilot schemeS of (; Interest Subvention for ro/ect 9+ports through 9II. Bank for countries of S!!R6 region, !frica and .yanmar. !part from these, Sharma

announced that fi"e new countries ha"e 2een added under the !ocus 1ar#et Scheme while 5ritrea has 2een added under the Special !ocus 1ar#et Scheme . #he five countries being added under F.S are >ew Bealand, 6ayman Islands, Datvia, Dithuania and Bulgaria. -nder F.S Cuty 6redit of 2 per cent is given on the FoB value of e+ports while inder the Cuty 6redit is < per cent. Sharma further

announced that si+ty new products which include 9ngineering, Rubber, #e+tiles, Crugs 4 harmaceuticals products among others, and three countries 0#aiwan, #hailand and 6@ech Republic1 have been incorporated under the .arket Dinked Focus roduct Scheme. -nder the Focus roduct Scheme, Sharma said that more than *)) new products have been added from sectors including 9ngineering, #e+tiles, 6hemicals, Crugs, harmaceuticals, aper, Books, ublication and rinted .aterial. #he products will be benefitted by ( per cent Cuty 6redit.

'he Union !inance 1inister ,. 7hidam2aram has e3pressed optimism that the Indian econom will continue rate e"en as the glo2al economies face recession . #his, he said, is because our economy has strong

to grow at a health

fundamentals and factors such as high savings rate, growing services sector, a large middle class which continues to create demand and technical and =ualified manpower and the youth. 'he !inance 1inister was spea#ing at the 4ational +e"elopment 7ouncil meeting in 4ew +elhi* on 2- +ecem2er. #he Finance .inister said that it was imperative to contain the fiscal deficit by augmenting resources and controlling e+penditure. ,e said that some measures may cause immediate pain but this was necessary to ensure that the fiscal deficit came down to 2 per cent in the ne+t three years. Steps were also being taken to contain the 6urrent !ccount Ceficit 06!C1. ,e said that there was need to control gold imports which contributed -S T &< billion to the 6!C. 6hidambaram lauded the States for containing the fiscal deficit to (.* per cent of the 8C and also for generating revenue surplus of ).'% per cent. ,e urged all States to adopt the Cirect Benefit #ransfer scheme as it provided a technology enabled platform to transfer benefits in an efficient manner directly to the people. ,e said that in the initial phase subsidies relating to petroleum, food and fertili@er would not be distributed through this scheme and only those schemes which are amenable will be taken up. #he Cirect Benefit #ransfer will be a game changer and it will be a transform the way in which subsidies are managed and will be past breaking for governance, said the .inister.

I'7Bs

+e"eshwar*

other

Indians

in

<ar"ard

&usiness

Re"iewBs

list

of

top

100

75?s

9ight Indian 69Es have made it to the list of *)) global chief e+ecutives, compiled by ,arvard Business Review 0,BR1, with I#6"s P 6 Ceveshwar and late Subir Raha of E>86 finding a place in the top (). .r. Ceveshwar was first among the Indian 69Es featured in this list, and cornered the seventh place overall. -nder his leadership, I#6 delivered industry$ad/usted shareholder returns of *,%'< per cent and saw its value increase by T<% billion. #he other Indians on the list include late Subir Raha of E>86, at *2th place, ahead of Reliance Industries" .ukesh !mbani who was ranked (3th. Darsen and #oubro"s ! . >aik was ranked 2(nd, followed by B,9D"s ! M uri 0231, Bharti !irtel"s Sunil Bharti .ittal 0&%1, 5indal Steel and ower"s >aveen 5indal 03'1 and Steel !uthority of India"s V S 5ain 03:1. .eanwhile, the best$ performing 69E over the past *' years globally was Steve 5obs of !pple. From *::' to ()**, !pple"s market value increased by T2%: billion, and its shareholder return e+perienced average compound annual growth of 2% per cent. W#hat remarkable accomplishment is likely to go unbeaten for a long time,W ,BR said. 5eff Be@os of !ma@on.com was at the second place. Ethers in the top *) include, Samsung 9lectronics" Pun 5ong$Pong 02rd1, followed by Vale"s Roger !gnelli 0<1, 8ilead Sciences" 5ohn 6 .artin 0%1, ,yundai .otor 6ompany"s 6hung .ong$Moo 0&1, I#6"s P 6 Ceveshwar 0'1, Simon roperty 8roup"s Cavid Simon 031, eBay"s .argaret 6 7hitman 0:1 and 6isco Systems 5ohn # 6hambers 0*)1. #he highest$ranked woman on the list is .eg 7hitman, currently the 69E of beleaguered , , whose performance as the 69E of eBay from *::3 to ())3 earned her the :th spot. Interestingly, overall, only *.: per cent of all the 69Es studied were women. #he ,BR *)) best performing 69Es in the world list, assessed the long$term performance of each 69E, from the first day on the /ob to the last and for 69Es still in office, until !ugust 2*, ()*(. #he list accessed how much total shareholder returns had changed over the tenure of the respective 69E, and the overall increase in market capitalisation.

Union

%o"ernment

e3empted

Ser"ice

'a3

for

Janashree

and

/am

/admi

&ima

KoDana

-nion 8overnment of India on (< Cecember granted service ta+ e+emption on the services of life insurance business provided under the !am !admi Bima Po/ana 0!!BP1 and 5anashree Bima Po/ana 05BP1. !am !admi Bima Po/ana 0!!BP1 was launched in !ugust ())'and it basically covers death and disability insurance for the benefit of rural landless households.

'he %o"ernment e3pects the econom to grow 2etween 5.-05.9 per cent in the current fiscal* which is much

lower than -.6 per cent proDected in the 5conomic Sur"e . 'his estimate has come out in the 1id0Kear 5conomic Re"iew ta2led in ,arliament on 1- decem2er . #he Finance .inistry also estimates inflation to moderate to &.3$' per cent by .arch ()*2. It also says that trade deficit would not be significantly higher than last year. #he economy, it added, would have to record a growth rate of & per cent in the second half of the current financial year to reach the desired growth rate. It grew %.< per cent during !pril$September ()*($*2. #he 9conomic Survey had pegged the growth rate at '.& per cent for this fiscal. #he economic growth rate during ()**$*( had slipped to a nine$year low of &.% per cent due to both domestic and global factors. 9arlier, the RBI had lowered the growth rate to %.3 per cent for ()*($ *2. Referring to inflation, it said, further moderation in price rise is likely to commence from the fourth =uarter of the fiscal. !s regards fiscal

deficit, the analysis said the 8overnment would endeavour to restrict it to %.2 per cent of 8C against %.* per cent envisaged in the budget. It said agriculture is e+pected to improve because of better prospects with rabi crops benefiting from greater moisture content in the soil and dominance of irrigated wheat and rice crops. #he document further said that most services, particularly the trade, transport, communication and financial services, will also have a better growth.

U4

Slashed

Forld

%rowth

!orecast

to

2.=

,ercent

for

ear

201.

-nited >ations on *3 Cecember ()*( slashed its global growth predictions to (.< percent for ()*2 and 2.( percent for the following year and warned of a lasting employment crisis for western countries. #he ->"s 7orld 9conomic Situation and rospects ()*2 report warned that the Cebt crises in 9urope and the -nited States and a slowdown in 6hina could all throw the world economy into recession. 9arlier in the t month of 5une ()*( -> had predicted a growth forecast (.' percent for ()*2 and 2.: percent for the year after. !s per the Report, 7ith e+isting policies and growth trends, it is going to take at least another five years for 9urope and the -nited States to make up for the /ob losses caused by the 8reat Recession of year ())3$()):. s#he report also predicted growth in South !sia averaging % percent in ()*2, up from <.< percent in ()*(, led by a moderate reco"er in India.

7entre

mulls

gold02ac#ed

schemes

to

cur2

imports

!ttributing the surge in gold imports to high current account deficit, the government on *' Cecember said it was considering schemes such as gold deposits, accumulation plans, gold$linked accounts and pension products to curb demand for the precious metal. In its mid$year economic analysis tabled in arliament on .onday, the government said gold$backed products would help investors en/oy benefits of

investment in the metal without investing in the physical commodity. R>ow gold backed financial instruments in the form of modified gold deposits and gold accumulation plans, besides gold$linked accounts and pension products linked with the precious metal are some measures being considered to reduce the attraction of a direct investment in bullion and /ewellery in the domestic market and check a substantial rise in imports,S the review said. ,owever, gold$linked investments would have to be monitored to see whether the overall demand for the metal actually falls, it added.

R&I

maintains

status

Auo

on

interest

ratesO

!1

s#ips

customar

statement

#he Reserve Bank of India 0RBI1 maintained status =uo on interest rates despite calls from the finance ministry for measures to support growth, but the prospects of cuts beginning 5anuary have increased because of easing price pressures and signs that the fiscal situation is on the mend. RBI 8overnor Cuvvuri Subbarao"s rigid anti$inflationary stance for more than a year appeared to be easing, even though he disappointed investors by not even reducing the cash reserve ratio 06RR1 to ease li=uidity pressures. Subbarao left the key repo rate $ the rate at which RBI lends to banks $ at 3;, and 6RR $ the proportion of deposits banks need to keep with the central bank $ at <.(%; as inflation remains elevated despite signs of moderation.

,arliament

passes

2an#ing

&ill

arliament on () Cecember paved the way for corporate houses to enter the banking sector by approving the banking bill, a key reform legislation pending for long. .inister arliament also passed the amendments to the debt recovery laws or Sarfesi law after a reply by Finance

6hidambaram on the combined discussion on the two bills in Ra/ya Sabha. #hese two Bills $$ Banking Daws 0!mendment1 Bill,

()*(, and 9nforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Cebts Daws 0!mendment1 Bill, ()*(, $$ he said, will strengthen the financial sector and help in establishing large$si@ed banks, besides promoting financial inclusion. R7e need ($2 world$si@ed banks. 6hina has three among the worlds top (). 7e have none. 7e need more banks,S he said. RBanks have opened &,<3: branches in ()**$*( alone, that is around *3$*: per day. 7e dont have the capacity to open more branch. 7e need banks,S he said. #he Dok Sabha had already passed these two Bills. .r. 6hidambaram said the amendment was not intended to give banking licences to big corporate houses alone, but also to allow eligible public sector entities to enter the sector. #he Banking Bill was approved by the Dower ,ouse earlier this week after the government dropped the controversial clause concerning allowing banks to trade in commodity futures. Referring to todays strike by bank unions against reforms, .r. 6hidambaram said he could only re=uest the bank employees to refrain from such activities.

Standard

and

,oorBs

e3pects

IndiaBs

economic

growth

at

6.5C

in

201.

8lobal rating agency Standard and oor"s 0S4 1 has said it e+pects India to grow by &.% per cent during ()*2, amidst the possibility of global economic recovery continuing during the year. For 6hina, S4 e+pects the growth rate to move back to eight per cent level in ()*2, after it slipped to '.< per cent in the third =uarter of ()*(. In a report on global credit outlook for ()*2, S4 said that Wthe ball is in the policymakers" courtW to sustain the recovery in global economy

US intelligence communit in its report called %lo2al 'rends 20.08 /lternati"e Forlds which was released on

10 +ecem2er 2012 declared that India would straddle international commerce and will also dominate the econom of the whole world 2 20.0. #his would happen with decelerating 6hinese economy as well as declining 7est. Indias chance of powering would begin only after ()*% as 6hinas fortunes would start diminishing. By the year ()2), !sia 0mainly India1 would return back to its position of being the powerhouse of the world, like it was before *%)). akistan might not e+ist at all.India will rush forward after ()() as 6hina would begin decelerating, primarily on certain demographic trends. It was however made clear that the /ourney of economic development of both India as well as 6hina will not be smooth. But if the difficulties were handled well, India as well as 6hina would be dominating the world in ()2).#he latest >ational Intelligence 6ouncil"s 0>I61 8lobal #rends Report was released on *) Cecember ()*( by the Effice of the Cirector of >ational Intelligence. #his report is called 8lobal #rends ()2)A !lternative 7orlds. First 8lobal #rends Report was released back in *::'. >ew global trends report is being published after every four years after the -.S. presidential elections. For the production of 8lobal #rends ()2), a range of analytical tools, in$depth research as well as detailed modeling was employed.

India and the United States on 12 decem2er ha"e started an initiati"e to de"elop solar energ through

photovoltaic 0 V1 pro/ects and concentrated solar power 06S 1, also known as solar thermal.#his comes four months after India e+perienced one of the worlds biggest blackouts, which affected more than &3) million people.#itled NS5RIIUS; (Solar 5nerg Research Initiati"e of India and the United States)* the E50 million proDect would be conducted by the Bangalore$based Indian Institute of Science and the 7ashington$based >ational Renewable 9nergy Daboratory.-nlike traditional solar panels, 6S pro/ects concentrate a large area of

sunlight onto a small area of contained li=uid. #he li=uid heats up, emits steam, and a generator converts the steam into electricity.

'he 7a2inet 7ommittee on 5conomic /ffairs (775/)* on 1. +ecem2er* appro"ed a urea in"estment polic ,

which is likely to incentivise fertili@er companies to set up new plants and e+pand e+isting capacity.India imports over 2) per cent of its urea re=uirement and the policy aims at reducing that. But it is unlikely to have any impact on e+isting prices.#he policy, which aims to attract fresh investment of about Rs.2%,))) crore to increase domestic production by eight million tonnes, has been cleared as the previous policy failed to attract the much needed funds.-nder the new policy, the government will give *($() per cent post$ta+ return on fresh capital infused by the manufacturers for setting up of new plants as well as for e+pansion and revamp of the e+isting ones.#o ensure this return, the government would cover the entire cost of natural gas, which is the main feedstock of urea, and accounts for 3) per cent of the cost. #he government controls the urea sector and has fi+ed the ma+imum retail price 0.R 1 at Rs.%,2&) a tonne.#he difference between the .R and the cost of production is given as subsidy to manufacturers.#he new investment policy was approved, by the 8roup of .inisters 08o.1 headed by the then Finance .inister ranab .ukher/ee, on February (<.,owever, sources said the .inistry made some changes in the draft policy after inter$ministerial consultation. It proposed covering entire cost of natural gas, while the 8o. had favoured providing subsidy on gas price within the range of T&.%$*< mmBtu.#he country produces (( million tonnes of urea, against the re=uirement of 2( million tonnes.

Indian ?il 7orporation (I?7) is the 2iggest compan in terms of re"enue* followed 2 Reliance Industries*

according to the !ortune 500 list of Indian companies for 2012 .#his years list of the countrys %)) largest corporations, compiled by the business maga@ine Fortunes Indian edition, features as many as %% new entities.IE6 is the biggest company with annual revenue of Rs.<,(),(3' crore, followed by .ukesh !mbani$led RID with a full$year revenue of Rs.2,&',%2: crore. Bharat etroleum 6orporation is at the third spot with a revenue of Rs.(,*<,3&& crore.#he three firms X IE6, RID and B 6D have retained their last years respective ranks.,industan etroleum 6orporation is ranked fourth with annual revenue of Rs.*,3',&:2 crore and State Bank of India is ranked fifth with Rs.*,'',)22 crore revenue.!mong others in the top *) are #ata .otors 0si+th1, E>86 0seventh1, #ata Steel 0eighth1, 6oal India 0ninth1 and ,indalco Industries 0*)th1.#he maga@ine said that total sales of Fortune %)) companies had grown at (2.'' per cent year$on$year.#he government continued to play a big role in business, with a total of 32 state$owned firms on this years list, Fortune India said.

/ndhra

,radesh

<7

orders

fresh

scrutin

of

Sat am*

'ech

1ahindra

merger

In a fresh blow to the proposed merger of Satyam 6omputer Services with #ech .ahindra, the !ndhra radesh ,igh 6ourt has ordered a fresh scrutiny of the scheme of amalgamation and accounts of Satyam through an independent auditor. ! ,igh 6ourt /udge V San/ay Mumar on & Cecember passed the orders when the Efficial Di=uidator e+pressed inability to offer views on the merger scheme, given the comple+ities around two suspense accounts in the balance sheet of Satyam involving about Rs (,2') crore. >early three years after Satyam"s founder Ramalinga Ra/u confessed to falsifying accounts at what was then India"s fourth$largest software e+porter and pushed it to the verge of total collapse, the company, now known as .ahindra Satyam is close to being merged with #ech .ahindra. Both Satyam and #ech .ahindraBS9 ).%2 ; have obtained the approvals of their respective shareholders, stock e+changes, .umbai ,igh 6ourt and also the

6ompetition 6ommission of India. #he only approval pending is from the ! ,igh 6ourt. #he ! ,igh 6ourt is currently hearing ob/ections from various parties, including certain minority shareholders on the merger swap ratios and unsecured creditors who are claiming that the company owes them Rs *,(2) crore. #he minority shareholders, including ID4FS, were opposing the swap ratio and timing of the merger. !ccording to the merger scheme approved by the ma/ority shareholders, the shareholders of Satyam will get two #ech .ahindra shares of Rs *) each for every *' shares of Rs ( each of Satyam. .oving the ! ,igh 6ourt, 2' entities belonging to the Ra/u family and ID4FS urged the court to re/ect the scheme of amalgamation in its current form and direct the company to obtain approvals from unsecured creditors for the proposed merger. !fter taking into account the submissions of the Efficial Di=uidator on the scheme, the 6ourt has directed for appointing an independent auditor to scrutinise the merger scheme and accounts and submit a report within four weeks. #he court"s orders would further delay the merger process, a Satyam spokesperson said.

R&I

moots

photos

on

de2it

cards

Cebit cards will soon contain photographs of the accountholder with the Reserve Bank of India asking banks to consider incorporating photos as a security feature. !lthough the re=uirement of a photograph is not a diktat yet, banks say that RBI recommendations usually end up being a re=uirement for in the banking industry. ,owever, by making this a recommendation banks are given enough time to migrate their systems to one where debit cards can be issued with photograph. !mong lenders, !+is Bank has been incorporating photographs in its debit cards.

'elecom

7ommission

appro"ed

1500

crore

Rupees

su2sid

for

&S4:

#he Inter .inisterial body #elecom 6ommission of India on *( Cecember ()*( gave its nod to a *%)) crore Rupees subsidy to state owned BS>D for supporting its landline operations in rural areas. #he approval came in line with the #R!I recommendation which had suggested that (')) crore rupees should be given to BS>D as operations in rural areas dont generate enough revenues. #R!I had suggested that subsidy be given in two installments$*%)) crore for ()**$*( and for ()*($*2 *(%) crore rupees. #he subsidy is going to be paid out of the -niversal Service Ebligation 0-SE1 Fund. BS>D had demanded (%3) crore rupees per from the government to support its rural operations. !s per the 6hairman and Secretary of #elecom R 6handrashekhar, commissions recommendations have been forwarded to Cepartment of #elecommunications 0Co#1. #he commission also had preliminary discussions on #elecom Security olicy but did not take any decision.

'he go"ernment* on 2 +ecem2er* decided that all foreign in"estments in e3isting domestic pharma firms

should 2e allowed onl after clearance 2 the !oreign In"estment ,romotion &oard (!I,&)* amid mounting concerns over availability of affordable essential drugs in the wake of multinationals ac=uiring local companies.!ccording to sources, the decision was taken at a high$level meeting chaired by rime .inister .anmohan Singh. #he meeting was attended by Finance .inister . 6hidambaram,

6ommerce and Industry .inister !nand Sharma and ,ealth .inister 8hulam >abi !@ad, among others.#he source further said that any foreign company ac=uiring an Indian firm, which had been producing essential medicines, would have to continue to do so till the time the 6ompetition 6ommission of India was empowered to vet such deals.

'he Supreme 7ourt on 5 decem2er* ga"e a sigh of relief to the Sahara group 2 directing it to deposit Rs.5*120

crore immediatel and pa its in"estors in two instalments* the first instalment of Rs.*),))) crore in the first week of 5anuary ()*2 and the balance amount, including interest, in the first week of February.! three$/udge Bench of 6hief 5ustice !ltamas Mabir and 5ustices S. S. >i//ar and 5. 6helameswar passed this order on a submission made by senior counsel 8opal Subramanimum, appearing for the Sahara group, re=uesting for more time to repay the amount to the investors Xmoney they had collected through optionally fully convertible debentures 0EF6C1.,e told the court that Sahara India Real 9state 6orporation and Sahara ,ousing Investment 6orporation, the appellant companies, were ready with demand draft for Rs.%,*() crore and he needed more time for repaying the balance amount.

'he /sian +e"elopment &an# (/+&)* on - +ecem2er* cut India;s growth forecast to 5.= per cent in 201201. ,

barely two months after it had made a pro/ection of %.& per cent growth for the !sias third largest economy. #he !CB says in its supplement to the F!sian Cevelopment Eutlook 0!CE1 ()*(that,Indias growth forecast is revised from %.& per cent to %.< per cent in fiscal year ()*( and from &.' per cent to &.% per cent in ()*($*2. #his is the fourth time that the Indias economy has slowed in the recent years on the back of domestic and global factors.

'hree0 ear

disclosure

must

for

promoter

share

transfer8

S5&I

romoters of a listed company need to have made their shareholding disclosures at least three years before any transfer of shares between themselves without triggering an open offer for public investors, S9BI has said. #he capital markets regulator has said disclosure as promoters in the shareholding pattern filing is a must for at least three years to get e+emption from open offer, even if the company has been

listed for a shorter period of time. If the shareholding of any entity hits the (% per cent threshold limit in a listed company, it is re=uired to make an open offer for an additional (& per cent shares from public shareholders of the company. ,owever, the open offer is not triggered if the threshold is hit because of transfer of shares between two promoters who have been listed as promoter entities in the companys shareholding pattern filings for at least three years, besides some other conditions, S9BI has said. #he observations have been made by S9BI in an Finterpretive letter sought by a company, 6ommercial 9ngineers and Body Builders 6ompany Dtd, which has been listed on the BS9 and the >S9 since Ectober *3, ()*).

'he /ndhra ,radesh /ssem2l

on 2 +ecem2er 2012 passed H/ndhra ,radesh S7* S' Su20,lans &ill 2012I

pro"iding statutor status for implementation of the su20plans for Scheduled 7astes and Scheduled 'ri2es . #he legislation will ensure fund allocation proportionate to the S6 and S# population and is e+pected to prevent diversion of sub$plan funds for other activities and not allowing them unspent. #here is also a mandatory provision for allocation of almost a fourth of the States annual plan of the budget for S6, S#. #he bill was introduced on the recommendations of the 6abinet Sub$6ommittee.#he demand for according legal status to the Sub$ lans was made on states for a long time by the lanning 6ommission of India and >ational Cevelopment 6ouncil 0>C61. Fith this* /ndhra ,radesh has 2ecome the first state in India to enact such legislation.

Jan 2013-04-29

'he go"ernment on 1 !e2ruar * granted 1aharatna status to &<5: and %/I: , a development which will provide

them greater financial and functional autonomy and also ensure better valuation for shares of the two S-s. / 1aharatna firm can ta#e in"estment decision of up to Rs 5*000 crore without going to the go"ernment. !or 4a"ratna firms* this limit is Rs 1*000 crore. #he ape+ committee, headed by 6abinet Secretary !/it Mumar Seth, has approved both the proposals for awarding the status to these two S-s as they meet the eligibility criteria to =ualify for the status. Both the companies meet the eligibility criteria in terms of net worth, turnover and net profit. ! company =ualifying for the .aharatna status should have an average annual turnover of more than Rs (%,))) crore in the last three years, according to the Cepartment of ublic 9nterprises guidelines. !mong others, the S- must have a net worth of over Rs *%,))) crore and net profit of more than Rs %,))) crore during the last three years. #he development will help the government get a better price for its e=uity in B,9D which will be offloaded as part of the disinvestment programme. #he government is proposing to sell the e=uity in the power e=uipment ma/or in the ne+t fiscal.

India;s o"erall food grain production in the 201201. crop mar#eting ear that would end in June 201. was

e3pected to 2e around 250 million tones* nine million tones less than last ear;s re"ised record output of almost 259 million tones 2ecause of low production during the #harif sowing season , !griculture Secretary !shish Bahuguna said on (: /anuary./ccording to the go"ernment;s first ad"anced estimate , food grain production during the ()*($*2 kharif season is e+pected to be almost :.3 per cent less than the kharif production of ()**$*( because of an uneven southwest monsoon in most parts of the country. ,owever, production of wheat during the ongoing rabi harvest season is e+pected to near ()**$*(s harvest of around :< million tones. !ccording to official data, the area sown under wheat has declined to (:.< million hectares so far in the current rabi season, from (:.% % million hectares in the year$ago period. Rabi 0winter crop1 sowing starts from Ectober onwards and harvesting begins from February$end. #he government has kept a conservative production target for wheat at 3& million tones for the current year. States like .aharashtra, !ndhra radesh and #amil >adu are likely to be affected as area under rabi crops is lower, while Marnataka, Ra/asthan and 8u/arat 0which suffered drought during the Mharif season1 are doing well. Sowing of crops like wheat, rice, mai@e and oilseeds like soybean is taken up well by farmers as the markets for these commodities are developed. ,owever, the same is not the case with minor oilseeds like sunflower and cereals like /owar and ba/ra.

%o"ernment on .1 Januar * re"ised the economic growth for fiscal 2011012 to 6.2C from the earlier estimate

of 6.5C.,owever, as per the first revised estimates of national income, consumption e+penditure, saving and capital formation, the 8C 08ross Comestic roduct1 for the fiscal ()*)$** has been revised upwards to :.2; from 3.<;.W8C at factor cost at constant 0())<$)%1

prices in ()**$*( is estimated at Rs %(, <2,%3( crore as against Rs <:, 2',))& crore in ()*)$**, registering a growth of &.(; during the year as against a growth of :.2; in the year ()*)$**,W the estimates showed. 'he estimates were released 2 the 7entral Statistics ?ffice (7S?)* 1inistr of Statistics and ,rogramme Implementation for 2011012 , along with second revised estimates for the year ()*)$

** and third revised estimates for ()):$*). !t current prices, 6SE said that 8C in ()**$*( is estimated at Rs 32, %2,<:% crore as against Rs '(, &&,:&' crore in ()*)$**, showing an increase of *%;, as against an increase of *:; in the previous fiscal. 'he 7S? said that the per capita income in real terms (at 200=005 prices) is estimated at Rs .$*0.- for 2011012 as against Rs .6*.=2 in 20100 11* registering an increase of <.'; during the year, as against an increase of '.(; during the previous year. #he per capita income at current prices is estimated at Rs &*,%&< in ()**$*( as against Rs %<,*%* for the previous year, depicting a growth of *2.';, as against an increase of *'.*; during the previous year. #he data further said that the growth in the 8C during ()**$*( has been achieved due to e+pansion in financing, insurance, real estate and business services 0**.';1, transport, storage and communication 03.<;1, electricity, gas and water supply 0&.%;1 and trade, hotels and restaurants 0&.(;1.

'he go"ernment on .1 Januar appro"ed the Rs 2000crore re"i"al pac#age of ailing :uc#now02ased pu2lic

sector underta#ing Scooters India :td (SI:) that includes debt waiver of nearly Rs **( crore. #he 6abinet also decided to hike salaries of employees of the two$wheeler maker. #heir retirement age has also been increased to &) years. !ccording to sources, the clearance for revival has come in view of implications relating to the fate of about *,))) employees of Scooter India, though the Finance .inistry had e+pressed reservations about providing such a package to the ailing unit. !ccording to an official statement, the revival package will result in improvement of SID"s productivity through enhanced capacity utili@ation and improvement in efficiency. #his would also lead to improved sales and employment generation in the area. Besides, it stated, the increase in production and sales will result in enhanced contribution to the e+che=uer. #he automobile company has been incurring losses since ())($)2. In .arch ()):, the company was declared sick. SID"s net loss stood at about Rs () crore during the ()**$*( fiscal. Incorporated in *:'(, SID initially manufactured scooters under the brand name Vi/ai Super for the domestic market and Dambretta for overseas markets.

'he 7a2inet 7ommittee on 5conomic /ffairs on .1 Januar * ga"e its appro"al to authori9e ?4%7 Lidesh <ess 7orporationBs wholl 0owned su2sidiaries in the

:imited (?L:) to acAuire ,articipating Interest (,I) owned 2

upstream and midstream oil and gas assets in /9er2aiDan comprising (.'(*2 percent I in the !@eri 6hirag 8uneshli 0!681 contract area and (.2& percent I in Baku$#bilisi$6eyhan 0B#61 pipeline for an investment of -ST *))* million, plus certain ad/ustments including working capital, interest from the economic date and other defined elements on cash sink basis, and also authori@ed EVD to incur e+penses so as to keep the total e+posure up to the approved amount i.e. -S T *))* million at all times. #he ac=uisition shall provide EVD, oil production of about * .illion #on per year for about a decade. In addition to oil revenue, the investment would enable EVD to enter into !@erbai/an, which is rapidly emerging into a strategically important country in the 6IS region. !c=uiring a stake in the strategic B#6 pipeline would provide EVD the opportunity to enhance its portfolio around the region and transport crude from future assets, which the company may ac=uire in the 6aspian Sea in the future.

SpiceJet* the low0cost carrier* will 2ecome the onl

pri"ate Indian airline to fl

to 7hina starting on $

!e2ruar * when it will launch four weekly flights from >ew Celhi to 8uang@hou. #he first flight by an Indian airline to the southern port city , home to one of the biggest Indian e+patriate communities in 6hina as well as the centre of the countrys manufacturing heartland , will leave >ew Celhi on February 3.7hile much of India"s trade with 6hina is driven by the southern manufacturing provinces, Shanghai is the only ma/or southern mainland city that is connected directly to India, through !ir India and !ir 6hina flights. #he 6hinese carrier operates *< weekly flights to >ew Celhi, .umbai and Bangalore, from Shanghai, 6hengdu and Bei/ing, while !ir India flies from Shanghai to >ew Celhi. #he lack of ade=uate direct air connectivity between India and 6hina has been seen by officials in both countries as an obstacle to boosting closer commercial engagement, even as trade has seen rapid growth this past decade. 7hina 2ecame India;s 2iggest trade partner in 2011* with trade reaching E-. 2illion. &ilateral trade fell to E66 2illion last ear on account of the downturn.Spice Jet is loo#ing to target the 2usiness communit and will focus its 7hina strateg on the southern part of the countr . #he airline is also looking into launching flights to .acau and Bhuhai, besides ,ong Mong. Jet /irwa s 2ecame the first Indian carrier to fl to 7hina when it launched a flight from 1um2ai to Shanghai and onward to San !rancisco in 200$ . #he flight was subse=uently discontinued amid lower than e+pected load factors and after the carrier began to rationalise its routes on account of financial troubles.

Reser"e

&an#

of

India

slashed

Repo

Rate

to

-.-5

,ercent

and

7RR

to

,ercent

#he Reserve Bank of India on (: 5anuary ()*2 slashed its key interest rates by ).(% per cent and released *3))) crore rupees additional li=uidity into the system to perk up growth through reduced cost of borrowing. RBI in its third =uarter monetary policy review surprised the market by cutting short$term lending rate called repo, by ).(% per cent to '.'% per cent and 6ash Reserve Ratio 06RR1 by similar margin to < per cent. #he repo rate cut will reduce the cost of borrowing for individuals and corporates, whereas the reduction in 6RR, which is the

portion of deposits that banks have to park with RBI, would improve the availability of funds. -nveiling the policy review in .umbai, RBI stated that the stance of monetary policy in this review is intended to provide an appropriate interest rate environment to support growth as inflation risks moderate. 6RR cut will have impact on long term interest rates. #he RBI, however, has reduced the growth pro/ections for the current financial year to %.% per cent from its earlier estimate of %.3 per cent.

En inflation, it moderated the rate to &.3 per cent for .arch$end from earlier pro/ection of '.% per cent. #he repo rate, which was cut last in !pril ()*(, stands revised at '.'% per cent with immediate effect, while the li=uidity infusing 6RR stands at < per cent effective February :th. Inflation has been the prime inhibiting factor that has prevented the RBI from cutting repo rate in the last nine months, which have seen a host of li=uidity infusing measures like a cut of *.'% per cent in 6RR, government bond buybacks and a one percentage point cut in SDR. RBI however, added the caveat stating that the stance will depend on how the government manages the risk from the twin deficits on the fiscal and current account side, and the evolving growth$inflation dynamics. Stating that the widening current account deficit, which represents the differential between the foreign e+change, earned and e+pended through trade and services, is a big concern, RBI said the number is e+pected to widen in third =uarter, beyond the %.< percent in the preceding =uarter.

Union 1inistr

for 7ommerce launched e&i9 ,ortal to ,ro"ide one Stop Shop for all In"estment

#he -nion .inister for 6ommerce on (3 5anuary ()*2 launched an eBi@ portal at the 6II artnership Summit in !gra . #he portal is Indias 8overnment$to$Business 08(B1 portal developed by Infosys in a ublic rivate artnership 0 1 .odel. #his .ission .ode ro/ect will

mark a paradigm shift in the 8overnments approach to providing 8overnment$to$Business 08(B1 services for Indias investor and business communities. In order to enable businesses and investors to save time and costs and in order to improve the business environment in the country, an online single window was conceptuali@ed in the form of the eBi@ .ission .ode ro/ect under the >ational e$8overnance lan. #he pro/ect aims to create a business and investor friendly ecosystem in India by making all business and investment related regulatory services across 6entral, State and local governments available on a single portal, thereby obviating the need for an investor or a business to visit multiple offices or a plethora of websites. #he core value of the transformational pro/ect lies in a shift in the 8overnments service delivery approach from being department$centric to customer$centric. 9$Bi@ will create a (<+' facility for information and services and will also offer /oined$up services where a single application submitted by a customer, for a number of permissions, clearances, approvals and registrations will be routed automatically across multiple governmental agencies in a logical manner. !n inbuilt payment gateway will also add value by allowing all payments to be collected at one point and then apportioned, split and routed to the respective heads of account of 6entral and State agencies along with generation of challans and .IS reports. #his payment gateway is the first of its kind designed in India and can become a universal payment gateway for all e$8overnance applications. #he eBi@ ro/ect is the first of its kind ever implemented in the country. It marks the highest level of maturity in web$based e8overnance applications as it strives to achieve hori@ontal integration across various verticals of 6entral government, State governments and ara$statal agencies. #he first phase of the pro/ect, which was being launched, provides an interactive tool that helps investors assess the Dicenses and ermits re=uirements while setting up and operating a business in India. #he Dicense 4 ermit Information wi@ard will provide authentic information (<I' to investors and businesses by

providing answers to =uestions in an interview style format.

+iesel

prices

to

2e

hi#ed

=0050

paise

e"er

month

Ciesel prices will be hiked by <)$%) paise per litre every month till losses on the nation"s most used fuel are completely wiped out, oil minister . Veerappa .oily said on ( February. W-ntil further orders, oil marketing companies can increase it 0diesel price1 by <)$%) paise 0per litre1 every month,W he told reporters here. #he government had on 5anuary *' decided to move towards deregulating or freeing diesel prices from state control and gave powers to state$owned oil firms to raise prices in small measures every month till all of their losses are wiped out.

Beverages giant 7oca07ola on 22 Danuar * announced E 100*000 fund for a F5! initiati"e aimed at helping

oung people ta#e action on issues the care a2out in more than 200 cities worldwide. 'he %lo2al Shapers 7ommunit * set up 2 the Forld 5conomic !orum in 2011 with the aim of engaging oung people as acti"e agents of change , is also supported by CS# 8lobal !dvisors and Reliance Industries. #he funding is offered in a competition aimed at more than *,')) entrepreneurs, social activists and Wpositive disruptorsW who make up the "8lobal Shapers 6ommunity", 79F said in a release. WIt will provide seed financing for Shapers" pro/ects that address some of the most pressing problems in their communities,W it said. 1uhtar Gent* 7hairman and 75? of 7oca07ola 7ompan said a challenge to spark and e+pand innovative ideas from the young leaders is what the world needs.

#he International .onetary Fund (I1!) on 2. Januar 201. proDected that the economic growth rate of India in

201. would 2e 5.9 percent . #he I.F also pro/ected an increased growth rate of &.< percent for ()*< looking forward towards the gradual strengthening of the global e+pansion in Indias conte+t. In its update at the 7orld 9conomic Forum , the I.F also forecasted that the global economic growth rate would be 2.% percent, little higher than the 2.( percent estimated earlier. !s per the report of I.F, uncertainty in policy making and supply bottlenecks were one of the most visible causes that hampered the growth aspects of the economies like India and Bra@il. It also stated that the scopes of easing the policy to any further e+tent have also gone down in these countries. #he International .onetary Fund 0I.F1 is an organi@ation of *33 countries that works for fostering the global monetary cooperation, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, facilitate international trade, secure financial stability and reduce poverty around the world.

!+I

Inflow

+ecreased

to

'wo0Kear

:ow

in

4o"em2er

2012

#he inflow of foreign direct investment 0FCI1 in India decreased to around ($year low at *.)% billion -S dollar in >ovember ()*( because of uncertainties of the global economies. Back in >ovember ()**, the FCI was worth (.%2 billion -S dollar. #he Cepartment of Industrial olicy and romotion 0CI 1 announced that from !pril$>ovember period ()*($*2, inflows of FCI decreased by around 2* percent to *%.3< billion

-S dollar from ((.32 billion -S dollar in ()**$*(. #he reason why inflow of FCI decreased was because of the issues arising in the global economic scenario. 9conomic slowdown as well as absence of political consensus on FCI$associated issues is the main causes of decline in FCI inflow. Curing ()*($()*2, the sectors which remained on the positive side of the FCI inflows included services, hotel and tourism, metallurgical, construction and automobile. In India, ma+imum FCI inflow came from .auritius 0-SC '.( billion1, 5apan 0-SC *.%& billion1, Singapore 0-SC *.% billion1 the >etherlands 0-SC *.): billion1 and the -M 0-SC &*% million1. #he FCI declined to a low level earlier in 5anuary ()** when the inflow was recorded to be *.)< billion dollar. Foreign direct investments play a very crucial role in Indias economy. India has a re=uirement of FCI inflow of around * trillion -S dollar in ne+t % years time so that it can refurbish infrastructure sectors like highways, airports and ports. Cecrease in the FCI inflow will pressuri@e the balance of payment of the country, while also impacting the Rupee.

I1!8

Forld

5conomic

%rowth

Rate

would

2e

..5

percent

in

201.

International .onetary Fund 0I.F1 in at update to 7orld 9conomic Eutlook 079E1 on (2 5anuary ()*2, pro/ected that the global economic growth rate would be 2.% percent in ()*2. #he update mentioned that the global economic growth would strengthen gradually as the limitations of the economic activities have seen a positive note with the start of the year.

Some of the maDor proDections of I1! are

o o o

8lobal growth would reach 2.% percent in ()*2, from 2.( percent in ()*( 6risis risks would narrow down but the downside risks will remain crucial .ain sources of growth would be the emerging markets, developing countries and the -nited States

%o"ernment

to

auction

-00

1h9

spectrum

for

=%

ser"ices

ne3t

ear

#he government on (* 5anuary said it will auction spectrum in ')) .h@ band, which is used for offering high$speed Internet services through fourth generation technologies, in ()*<. W7e are going to auction the ')) band in any case by ()*<,W #elecom .inister Mapil Sibal said during the commissioning of country"s first lab for measuring specific absorption rate 0S!R1 for mobile handsets. #he '))$.h@ spectrum band ranges from &:3 .h@ to 3)& .h@ and has been identified by the International #elecommunication -nion for telecom services. W7e have set up a lab in the country so that mobile phones can be tested here for electromagnetic radiations,W Sibal said. ,e added more such labs will be set up across the country starting with .umbai.

!iming at providing hygienic condition at rail premises, the Railwa s on 22 Januar * has decided to underta#e

cleanliness dri"e at a2out 100 important stations across the countr and eAuip ma3imum num2er of coaches with 2io0 toilets. Railway .inister awan Mumar Bansal has written to 8eneral .anagers of all @onal railways to ensure cleanliness at *)) stations with more than *) lakh population and with religious and tourists importance. #he stations have been identified for taking up cleanliness drive in the first phase, Railway .inister awan Mumar Bansal said at the 6onsultative 6ommittee meeting held in >ew Celhi on (( 5anuary. #he agenda of the meeting was "Railways ongoing pro/ects". Bansal said that more and more coaches will be provided with bio$toilets and the

washing aprons are being provided at the stations. 9mphasising on cleanliness, he also informed the committee that a team of officers of Railway Board will be formed who will go around the country to undertake inspections to ensure cleanliness. Referring to the catering services, the minister said that efforts are on to provide =uality catering services at station and in running trains. #he committee was informed that new tenders are being floated and base kitchens are being constructed to cook food in the most hygienic environment. 9+pressing concern over the accidents at unmanned level crossings, Bansal said that railways is constantly working to eliminate such crossings and cooperation of state governments is being sought in this regard.

State &an# of India (S&I) will open its second 2ranch in 7hina in the north0eastern port cit of 'ianDin in

February, to cater to the growing trade with India, particularly from the northern part of the country. 7hile 6hinas more prosperous southern provinces drive much of the annual T&& billion bilateral trade, SBI officials believe the increasing trade from northern 6hina and particularly through the fast$developing trade hub of #ian/in will provide a platform to grow the operations of the banks second 6hina branch. SBI is also considering opening a third office in the southern port city of 8uang@hou. S&I Shanghai* in 2010* 2ecame the first Indian 2an# to acAuire a licence from 7hinese authorities to do 2usiness in the local Renmin2i (R1&) currenc . Cinesh Sharma, 69E of the SBI Shanghai Branch, said the #ian/in branch would open towards the end of February. -nder 6hinese rules, banks have to go through a five$year waiting period before they can ac=uire an R.B licence. #he #ian/in branch will open with T<' million capital. SBI Shanghai operates with T'& million capital, including 2)) million R.B.

Union

%o"ernment

of

India

increased

Import

+ut

on

%old

and

,latinum

,ercent

#he -nion 8overnment of India on (* 5anuary ()*2 hiked the import duty on 8old and latinum from < percent to & percent. #he step of the 8overnment came in effect to control the import of the precious metals leading a widening gap in the 6urrent !ccount Ceficit of the country as the import of gold has shown tumbling effects on different economic fronts and has also played a ma/or role in distortion of the balance of trade. #he 8overnment has also linked the 8old 9#Fs 09+change #raded Funds1 along with the 8old Ceposit Schemes, so that the supply of the physical gold in the market can be increased. #hese regulations and increased in the import duty would also show changes on the customs duty as well as the e+cise duty of gold ores, refined gold, gold dore bars and more. 7ithin a year, the import duty on gold has been hiked for third time. Before this, the government increased the duty on import of gold from * percent to ( percent in 5anuary ()*( and it doubled the import duty on standard gold from ( percent to < percent in .arch ()*(.

#he !pparel #raining 4 Cesign 6entre (/'+7) under the 5ducation 6 'raining Initiati"es of /pparel 53port

,romotion 7ouncil (/5,7) is going to set up India;s first N'echnolog Inno"ation Research 7entre; at the /'+70'raining of 'rainers; /cadem * 8urgaon, in collaboration with 5-MI India vt. Dtd. #his 6entre will demonstrate leading edge technologies and undertaking applied research. #he !#C6$5-MI #96, Innovation 6entre is an important initiative to strengthen the !pparel Industry, especially the S.9s, to adopt new technologies for increasing productivity, efficiency and =uality for better price realisation and better global competitiveness. #he 6entre will be launched by #e+tiles Secretary Smt. Miran Chingra, I!S on *' 5anuary. #he !#C6$5-MI #96, Innovation 6entre will be a platform where industry and academia can focus on showcasing and demonstrating leading edge technology and carrying out applied FResearch which is a key word in S.!R# 0Skills for .anufacturing of !pparel through Research and #raining1. !pplied FResearch combined with technology training can become a potent force to catalyse advancement of apparel production techni=ues and pra+is, that would be relevant for Indias apparel manufacturing environment.

!midst a string of varying growth numbers being pro/ected by multilateral institutions, a report 2 the United 4ations has

estimated the Indian econom to grow 2 6.1 per cent in 201.* mar#ing a reco"er from the decade0old slowest pace of 5.5 per cent in 2012. 'he U4* in its report titled NForld economic situation and prospects 201.; (F5S,)* released in >ew Celhi on *& 5anuary, saidA R8C growth in India will accelerate to &.* per cent in ()*2 and &.% per cent in ()*< as a result of stronger growth of e+ports and capital investment... Investment demand is e+pected to respond to a more accommodative monetary policy stance and slightly improved business confidence. R#he 79S noted that Indias economy, representing almost three =uarters of the South !sian regions 8C 0gross domestic product1, slowed markedly in the past years with annual growth declining from more than : per cent in ()*) to %.% per cent in ()*(, the slowest pace in *) years. Releasing the report, -nited >ations 9S6! 09conomic and Social 6ommission for !sia and the

acific1 6hief 9conomist >agesh Mumar, however, viewed that India had a huge growth potential in the long term. RIndia and 6hina are playing a ma/or role in the growth of world economy,S he said. !s for the South !sian region as a whole, the report pointed out that economic growth during ()*( also fell to its lowest pace in a decade. !fter growing by %.3 per cent in ()** South !sias gross domestic product e+panded by only <.< per cent in ()*(.

'he

Implementation

of

%//R

deferred

Kears*

to

7ome

into

!orce

from

1/pril

2016

#he implementation of 8eneral !nti !voidance Rules 08!!R1 was deferred by two years by the government of India. It will now come into force from * !pril ()*&. 9arlier, the provisions of 8!!R were to be implemented from * !pril ()*<. 8!!R will not apply to those Foreign Institutions Investors, FIIs who are not taking any benefit under an agreement under the Income #a+ !ct. Besides, it will also not apply to non$resident investors in FIIs. #he arthasarathi Shome 6ommittee in its final report submitted to Finance ministry on 2) September ()*( had suggested that 8!!R should be deferred by three years. #he report was made public on *< 5anuary ()*2. -nion 8overnment accepted ma/or recommendations of the Shome 6ommittee with some modifications. Shome 6ommittee was set up by rime .inister .anmohan Singh in 5uly ()*( to address the issue of 8!!R.

&an

on

e3port

of

processed

food

products

lifted

6abinet committee on economic affairs, on*' 5anuary, lifted ban on e+ports of processed foods and value added agricultural products. #hese include wheat of muslin flour, cereal flours, grouts, meal pellets and grains, milk products including casein and its products, butter and other fat derivatives from milk and dairy spread, cheese and curd and value added products of onion and peanut butter. #he move will give a push to Indias sagging merchandise e+ports and is estimated to add T% billion to e+ports over the ne+t two year with 7est !sia identified as a key market for processed food from India. Besides, it will help Indian e+porters to move up the value chain as well as create additional employment in the country. !t present, Indias ma/or agricultural e+ports comprises of raw or primary produce and unprocessed or semi processed agriculture commodities, which are susceptible to restrictions owiOng to various reasons such as bad weather conditions, deficient or delayed rainfall and food security issues. R#he e+ports of processed and value added products constitute a very miniscule portion of the overall e+ports, and hence their continuation would not affect the availability in the domestic market owing to very marginal processing capacity in the country. !lways open policy of this sector will not only help reduce wastage of perishable products but also encourage value addition,S a statement from 669! said. For long, there has been no consistent policy on e+ports of agricultural products in India, as a result of which the overseas buyers were reluctant to import from India to meet their domestic re=uirement year$after$year. 9ven for the raw or primary agricultural proOducts, India has been adopting switch$on and switch$off approach citing issues of domestic food security. Industry e+perts feel that the decision will now bring clarity on Indias stand on e+ports of procOessed food and agricultural products and help generate additional e+ports in coming years.

Union

7a2inet

/ppro"ed

50

,ercent

Reduction

in

the

Reser"e

,rices

for

7+1/

Spectrum

#he -nion 8overnment on *' 5anuary ()*2 approved a %) per cent reduction in the reserve price of spectrum used by 6C.! mobile operators. Spectrum auction, for both 8S. and 6C.!, is supposed to be completed by 2* .arch ()*2 and thereafter the markets will decide how much revenue the government will get. 7ith the reduction of reserve price to %) percent pan$India %.,@ of 3)) .,@ spectrum 06C.! radio waves1 will now cost :*)) crore rupees. It was witnessed that auction of 6C.! spectrum that took place in >ovember ()*( did not attract bidders due to high reserve price. #he reserve price set was ** times higher than what operators paid in ())3. 9arlier 6C.! spectrum price fi+ed by government was priced at *.2 times more than the 8S. spectrum in *3)) .h@ band. #he 6abinet has already approved a 2) per cent cut in the reserve price of *,3)) .,@ band spectrum used for offering 8S. services. #he Supreme 6ourt has recently allowed the companies whose licences were cancelled to continue operations till < February ()*2 when the government is supposed to inform it of the final reserve or minimum price for the spectrum sale.

eAuit

'he 7a2inet 7ommittee on 5conomic /ffairs on 10 Januar * appro"ed the disin"estment of 10 percent paid up in 5ngineers India :td. (5I:) out of its e=uity capital holding of 3).<) percent through a prospectus based Further ublic

Effering 0F E1, in the domestic market as per S9BI Rules and Regulations. !fter this disinvestment, 8overnment of Indias shareholding in the company would come down to ').<) percent. #he paid up e=uity capital of the company, as on 2*st .arch, ()*( is Rs.*&3.<' crore. 5I: is a listed H1ini0RatnaI 7entral ,u2lic Sector 5nterprise under the administrative control of the .inistry of etroleum and >atural 8as. It is one of Indias largest companies to provide design, engineering and related pro/ect management and consultancy services for the hydrocarbon sector and the process plants industry in the country.

+r 1 Leerappa 1oil * 1inister of ,etroleum and 4atural %as* launched on11 Danuar * new I'Mwe2 ena2led and enhance transparenc . Speaking on the

initiati"es to ma#e distri2ution of domestic :,% more customer friendl

occasion, he said, currently, the three E.6s together home$deliver over 2) lakh cylinders everyday across the length and breadth of the country, including far$flung areas like Deh and the !ndaman 4 >icobar Islands, making it a mammoth and challenging marketing e+ercise. 'he %o"ernment of India has launched new initiati"es* ,roDect H:a#sh aI* in the D 8 business focusing on greater

customer empowerment, better subsidy administration, enhanced transparency in the distribution chain? along with a slew of I#$based customer service initiatives. 7ith the launch of R#ransparency portalS, the .inister said, customers have already been empowered to know their consumption and enabled civil society activists to look through and flag anomalies in the distribution of D 8 cylinders. #his effort has started bearing fruit.

'he Union 7a2inet on10 Januar 201. appro"ed a proposal of infusing 1251- crores rupees in pu2lic sector 6hidambaram

2an#s so that bank could enhance the lending activity and meet the capital ade=uacy norms. !s per the Finance .inister

about :$*) public sector banks are going to be benefitted from the capital infusion programme. !lso, the name of the banks, the amount for each bank and terms of the conditions will be decided in consultation with them at the time of infusion. #he government is supposed to rovide capital funds to SBs during the year ()*($*2 to the tune of *(%*' crore to maintain their #ier$l 6R!R 0capital to risk$weighted assets ratio1 at comfortable level. #he need for that is to make the S- remain obedient with the stricter capital ade=uacy norms under B!S9D$III as well as to support internationally active SBs for their national and international banking operations undertaken through their

subsidiaries and associates. In principle approval of the 6abinet is accorded for need based additional capital infusion in SBs from the year ()*2$*< to ()*3$*: for ensuring compliance to 6apital !de=uacy norms under Basel$ III.

5mpowered %roup of 1inisters decided to /uction four 'elecom 7ircles in 1$00 1<9 &and

#he 9mpowered 8roup of .inisters 098o.1 on ' 5anuary ()*2 decided to auction the four telecom circles in *3)) .,@ band, which failed to win bidders in the >ovember ()*( auction. #he 98o. also decided to reduce the reserve price fi+ed in >ovember by 2) percent. #he auction is planned in .arch ()*2. Ef the *3)) .,@ Band the =uantum of spectrum that would be put forward for auction in different states and cities are *% .,@ in .umbai and Celhi and *) .,@ in Ra/asthan and Marnataka. #here also are provisions of getting an e+tra topping of 2.'% .,@ as was in >ovember ()*(

S5&I

notifies

regulations

to

set

up

SR?

for

1!

distri2utors

In a move to regulate mutual fund distribution business, S9BI on : 5anuary said it has notified regulations to set up a Self Regulatory Erganisation 0SRE1 to monitor distributors of mutual fund and portfolio management products.R#he Securities and 9+change Board of India 0S9BI1 hereby appoints the date of this notification as the date on which the regulations shall come into force in relation to distributors engaged by asset management companies of mutual funds and distributors engaged by portfolio managers,S the regulator said in its notification dated 5anuary 3.In !ugust, last year, S9BI in its board meeting had approved the proposal made by its .utual Fund !dvisory 6ommittee 0.F!61, to set up an SRE to regulate the .utual Fund distribution business. #he decisions followed concerns about mutual fund distributors in India not being regulated and there having been various complaints against them for mis$selling of products to the investors. resently, the distributors need to register with !ssociation of .utual Funds in India 0!.FI1 and their registration can be cancelled by !.FI for violation of a prescribed 6ode of 6onduct or for any other malafide practice.

!itchBs

threat

of

IndiaBs

rating

downgrade

fails

to

ruffle

go"t

Fitch Ratings has warned that India still faced the risk of a sovereign credit rating downgrade despite the wave of reform measures announced in September last year, and has said that the upcoming budget will indicate the government"s commitment to fiscal consolidation. But the government brushed aside the warning, saying it was taking steps to address the concerns of rating agencies. Standard 4 oor"s also had last month reiterated the possibility of a downgrade and on 3 5anuary, Fitch warned that the twin deficits, on the fiscal and current account, were cause for concern. In 5une last year, Fitch had revised the outlook on India"s BBB$ rating to negative, /oining S4 that had in !pril said that India might become the first BRI6 nation to lose the coveted investment grade rating. !ny downgrade will send India"s sovereign debt into /unk grade, which could weaken capital flows and raise the cost of borrowing overseas for Indian companies.

,roposing a maDor o"erhaul of corporate go"ernance norms for listed companies* the Securities and

53change &oard of India (Se2i) has suggested an omni2us set of measures that align pay of top$level e+ecutives in companies with their performance and providing greater powers to minority shareholders. It also makes it necessary to e+pand the si@e of the boards by e+cluding nominee directors from the definition of independent directors. S9BI has also proposed a new concept of F6orporate 8overnance Rating by independent rating agencies to monitor the level of compliance by companies and regular inspection by the Sebi and stock e+changes. #he measures incorporate the !di 8odre/ committee report, the 6ompanies Bill ()*( and Sebis own corporate governance guidelines in one document. Sebi said institutional investors should show more involvement in the boards where they have nominee directors instead of /ust protecting their investments. Sebi has proposed to e+clude the nominee directors from the category of independent directors to align the provisions of 6lause <: with the bill.

%o"ernment

mulling

steps

to

reduce

gold

import8

!1

#he government is considering steps to reduce gold import by making it more e+pensive, Finance .inister

6hidambaram said on (

5anuary. WCemand for gold must be moderated...7e may be left with no choice but to make it more e+pensive to import gold. #he matter is under government consideration,W he told. 8old import is a ma/or constituent of India"s rising 6urrent !ccount Ceficit 06!C1. #he 6!C, which represents the difference between e+ports and imports after considering cash remittances and payment, widened to a record high of %.< percent of 8C , or -SC ((.2 billion, in the 5uly$September =uarter. In value terms, gold imports stood at -SC ().( billion in the !pril$ September period of the current fiscal, a decline of 2).2 percent over the corresponding period a year ago. For the entire ()**$*( fiscal, gold imports stood at -SC %&.( billion. #he decline was mainly on account of increase in customs duty on gold imports by government in 5anuary and .arch ()*(.

1u#esh

/m2ani

1$th

richest

man

in

world8

Report

Indian business magnate .ukesh !mbani is the *3th richest person in the world with a personal wealth of T(<.' billion in ()*(, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Inde+, a daily ranking of the world"s *)) wealthiest individuals. .e+ican telecommunications magnate 6arlos Slim remained the world"s richest person last year holding a personal fortune of more than T') billion, it said. !mbani, %%, chairman 4 .C of Reliance Industries, has also retained his position as the world"s richest Indian for the si+th year in a row and increased his ranking from *:th to *3th position and personal wealth from T(* billion to T(<.' billion in the world, the Inde+ showed. #he world"s top *)) billionaires got even richer in ()*(, with their total wealth rising by around *%; to T*.3* trillion, it said. .icrosoft founder Bill 8ates and the founder of fashion retailer Bara, !mancio Ertega, rounded out the top three spots, with wealth estimated /ust over and /ust under T&) billion, respectively. Renowned investor 7arren Buffett slipped to fourth place, but added around T% billion to his fortune over the year despite donating a substantial amount to charity last year. IM9! founder Ingvar Mamprad saw his net worth rising *&.&; to appro+imately T<) billion, putting him in fifth place on Bloomberg"s billionaire inde+.

pc

cut

in

defence

2udget

#he government has imposed around five per cent cut in the Rs *.:2lakh$crore defence budget this year in view of economic slowdown. #he .inistry of Finance recently conveyed to the Cefence .inistry that there would be a cut of around Rs *),))) crore in the Rs *.:2 lakh crore allocated for the defence sector, .inistry officials said here. !fter the cut in budget, several key ac=uisition plans of the three forces including the procurement of *(& combat aircraft for the I!F are e+pected to be pushed for the ne+t fiscal, they said. Cefence .inister ! M !ntony had given indications in this regard recently when he said that the .inistry would be struggling to get even the allocated amount.

Union

%o"ernment

+ou2led

12th

,lan

?utla

for

Science

and

'echnolog

1inistr

-nion Science and #echnology .inister S. 5aipal Reddy on < 5anuary ()*2 declared that the 6entres allocation for the science and technology and earth sciences ministry had been doubled for the *(th lan period. #he declaration came in the inauguration ceremony of 6hildren Science 6ongress as part of the *))th Indian Science 6ongress where 5aipal Reddy announced that in the *(th Five$Pear lan, the combined planned allocation for science and technology and earth sciences had been nearly doubled from 22))) crore rupees in the previous lan period to around &)))) crore rupees in the present *(th plan period.#he .inister S. 5aipal Reddy also stressed on the newly announced Science, #echnology and Innovation olicy, and recommended that the policy would emphasise on the importance of greater innovation and suggested that there is a need for integrating science, research and innovation to develop valuable technologies.

Feb 2013

#he .inister of State for 6ommerce 4 Industry Cr. S. 5agathrakshakan in written reply to a =uestion in Ra/ya Sabha on ('

February gives information that, as a part of %o"ernmentBs initiati"e to impro"e the 2usiness en"ironment and the ease of doing 2usiness in the countr * the +epartment of Industrial ,olic 6 ,romotion* 1inistr of 7ommerce 6 Industr

launched the e&i9 portal on 2$.01.201. comprising Dicenses and ermits Services component that will allow business users to obtain a customi@ed list of licenses, permits, and regulations that they re=uire or need to comply with across all levels of government. e&i9 will ser"e as a 2=>- online single0window s stem for pro"iding efficient and con"enient %o"ernment to &usiness (%2&) ser"ices to the 2usiness communit , by reducing the comple+ity in obtaining information and services related to starting businesses in India, and dealing with licenses and permits across the business life$cycle.

5conomic

Sur"e

201201.

Union !inance 1inister ,. 7hidam2aram on 2- !e2ruar presented the 5conomic Sur"e 201201. in the :o# Sa2ha of the ,arliament. IndiaBs 5conomic Sur"e for 201201. pegs the countr Bs growth at 6.106.- ; and inflation at &.($&.&; for the ne+t fiscal ()*2$*< and made a strong call for cutting subsidies. 5conomic Sur"e is presented e"er ear* Dust 2efore the Union

&udget. It is a flagship annual document of the 1inistr of !inance* %o"ernment of India. 'he economic sur"e 201201. was prepared 2 a team of economists led 2 7hief 5conomic /d"isor Raghuram RaDan* and pitches for speeding up economic reforms to activate a sluggish economy. It serves as an indicator of what is likely to be contained in the 8eneral Budget proposals. !ollowing are the maDor <ighlights of the 5conomic Sur"e 201201.

o o o o o o o o
re"enues

%+, growth seen at 6.106.- percent in 201.M1= 8overnment target for fiscal deficit is <.3 pct of 8C in ()*2H*< 8overnment target for fiscal deficit is 2 pct of 8C in ()*&H*' ,eadline 7 I inflation may decline to &.($&.& pct by .arch()*2 Focus on curbing imports, making oil prices more market determined to reign in current account deficit rioriti@ation of e+penditure seen as key ingredient of credible medium$term fiscal consolidation plan Raising ta+ to 8C ratio to more than ** percent seen as critical for sustaining fiscal consolidation India li#el to meet fiscal deficit target of 5.. pct of %+, in 2012M1.* despite significant shortfall in

o o o
production.

Recommends cur2ing gold imports to reign in current account deficit Industrial output seen growing around 2 pct in ()*(H*2 8ovt priority to fight inflation by reducing fiscal impetus to demand as well as by focusing on incentivi@ing food

o o o o o o

.ore /obs in low productivity construction sector Balance of ayments under pressure with net e+ports decline Service sector has shown more resilience despite global slowdown itches for hike in price of diesel and D 8 to cut subsidy burden Railway freight grows by %.* per cent in ()*($*2 !oreign 53change reser"es remains stead at US+ 295.6 &illion at +ecem2er 2012 end.

Union

&udget

201.01=

'he Union finance minister on 2$ !e2ruar presented the &udget for the ear 201.01=. Some of the #e points that were highlighted 2 7hidam2aram in the &udget are8

o o
people.

>o change in slabs and rate for personal income ta+. #a+ credit of Rs ())) to be provided to every person to having income of up to Rs % lakh, this will benefit *.3 crore

o o o o o o o o o o

% to *) per cent surcharge on domestic companies whose ta+able income e+ceeds Rs *) crore. 6ommodities transaction ta+ levied on non$agriculture commodities futures contracts at ).)* per cent. 1odified %//R norms to 2e introduced from /pril 1* 2016. >o change in peak rate of customs duty for non$agriculture products. +irect 'a3es 7ode (+'7) 2ill to 2e introduced in current ,arliament session. 4o change in 2asic customs dut rate of ten per cent and ser"ice ta3 rate of 12 per cent. Import duty on rice bran oilcake withdrawn. Series of concessions granted to .aintenance, Repair and Everhaul 0.RE1 business in the aviation sector. Import duty raised on set$top bo+es from % to *) per cent to safeguard interest of domestic producers. *) per cent customs duty to be levied on unprocessed illuminate.

o o o o o o o o o
waived.

Import duty rose from '% to *)) per cent on lu+ury vehicles. Cuty free limit on gold rose to Rs %),))) in case of male and Rs *)),))) in case of female. >o countervailing duty on ships and vessels. Specific e+cise duty on cigarettes and cigars raised by *3 per cent. 9+cise duty on S-Vs to be increased to 2) per cent from (' per cent, S-Vs registered as ta+is e+empted. Vocational courses offered by state$affiliated institutes to be e+empted from services ta+. Cuty on mobiles above Rs (,))) rose from one to si+ per cent, based on their ma+imum retail prices. Service ta+ to be levied on all aHc restaurants. Ene time voluntary compliance scheme for service ta+ defaulters to be introduced. Interest and penalties to be

o o o o o o o o o o
cent of %+,.

Cirect ta+ proposals to yield Rs *2,2)) crore, indirect ta+ proposal to give Rs <,')) crore. 5ducation cess to continue at . per cent. 6ontributions made to central and state government health scheme eligible to ta+ benefit. 9ligibility conditions for life insurance policies of persons suffering disabilities to be liberali@ed. Investor rotection Fund set up by depositories will be e+empt from ta+. #ransactions on immovable properties usually undervalued. #CS of one per cent on value of properties above Rs %) lakh. !griculture land e+empted. Securities #ransaction #a+ 0S##1 reduced on e=uity future, mutual fund. !iscal deficit will 2e 5.2 per cent in current ear and =.$ per cent in the ne3t fiscal. Fill redeem our pledge to reduce fiscal deficit to . per cent 2 201601- and re"enue deficit to 1.5 per

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

'a3 /dministration Reform 7ommission to 2e set up to regularl re"iew ta3 law applications. In 2011012* ta30%+, ratio was 5.5 per cent for direct ta3es and =.6 per cent for indirect ta3es. Surcharge of 10 per cent for indi"iduals whose ta3a2le income is o"er Rs 1 crore. ,lan e3penditure pegged at Rs 555*.22 crore. 4on plan e3penditure pegged at Rs 11*09*9-5 crore for 201.01=. Dow interest rate funds to be provided from 6lean 9nergy Fund for green pro/ects for a period of five years. 8eneration$based incentives to wind energy pro/ects reintroduced, Rs 3)) crore provided for the purpose to

.inistry of >ew 4 Renewable 9nergy. 6onstraints will not come in the way for providing additional funds for security of the nation. Rs 2* 0.*6-2 crore* including Rs $6*-=1 crore capital e3penditure to +efence in 201.01=. 8rant of Rs *)) crore each to !.- 0!ligarh1, B,- 0Varanasi1 and #ISS 08uwahati1 and I>#!6,. 4ational Institute for Sports to train coaches to 2e set up at ,atiala at a cost of Rs 250 crore. Rs %2( crore to make post offices part of core banking. Rs 5* $-*0$2 crore to 2e transferred to states under share of ta3es and non plan grants in 201.01=. 6omprehensive social security package being evolved by convergence of several schemes run by various ministries. Investor with stake of *) per cent or less will be treated as FII? any stake more than *) per cent will be treated as FCI. FIIs will be allowed to participate in e+change traded currency derivatives. Small and medium companies to be allowed to listed on .S.9 e+change without making a public offer. 6oncessional si+ per cent interest on loans to weavers. !inancial Sector :egislati"e Reforms 7ommission (!S:R7) to su2mit its report ne3t month. 8ovt to construct power transmission system from Srinagar to Deh at the cost of Rs *,3<) crore, Rs ((& crore

provided in current Budget. lan e+penditure in *(th Five Pear lan revised to Rs *<, 2),3(% crore or :& per cent of budgeted e+penditure. &udget e3penditure is Rs 16* 65*29- crore and ,lan e3penditure Rs 5*55* .22 crore

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
1%4R5%/

#he revised e+penditure target is Rs *<, 2),3(% crore or :& per cent of Budget estimate for this fiscal. In ()*2$*<, the

budget estimate is Rs &, &%,(:' crore. Ene overarching goal to provide education and skills to youth for securing /obs in the ()*2$*<. F. allocates Rs <*,%&* crore for S6 sub$plan? Rs (<,%:3 crore for tribal sub plan. !dditional sum of Rs ()) crore to 7omen and 6hild 7elfare .inistry to address issues of vulnerable women. Rs 2%** crore allocated to .inority !ffairs .inistry which is &) per cent of the revised estimates. 6F. allocates Rs <*,%&* crore for S6 sub$plan? Rs (<,%:3 crore for tribal sub plan. Rs 2%** crore allocated to .inority !ffairs .inistry which is &) per cent of the revised estimates. Rs **) crore to be allocated to the department of disability affairs. Rs 2',22) crore allocated for .inistry of ,ealth 4 Family 7elfare. Rs *)&: crore allocated to Cepartment of !yush. In the Budget Rs &%,3&' crore allocated to .inistry of ,RC in ()*2$*<. 1edical colleges in si3 more /II1S0li#e institutions to start functioning this earO Rs 1650 crore

allocated for the purpose. Rs %,(3< crore to various .inistries for scholarships for S6HS#, EB6 and minority students. Rs *2,(*% crore to be provided for mid$day meal scheme. Rs *',')) crore provided for Integrated 6hild Cevelopment Scheme. Rs *%,(&) crore to be allocated to .inistry of Crinking 7ater and Sanitation. Rs *',')) crore to be allocated for Integrated 6hild Cevelopment Scheme 0I6CS1. Rs $0*19= crore allocation for 1inistr of Rural +e"elopment in 201.01=. /2out Rs ..*000 crore for

o o o o o
grains was produced.

Rs 3),*:< crore allocated for rural development schemes. States which ha"e completed ,radhan 1antri %ramin Sada# KoDana will 2e eligi2le for ,1%SK0II*

others will continue with ,1%SK0I. Rs *<,3'2 crore for 5>>-R. for urban transportation in ()*2$*< against Rs ',33) crore in the current fiscal. !ood grain production in 201201. will 2e o"er 250 million tons. !verage annual growth rate of agriculture and allied services estimated at 2.& per cent in ()*($*2 when (%) .# food

o o o o o o o o
market.

Rs (',)<: crore allocation to the !griculture .inistry in ()*2$*<. Rs ' lakh crore targets fi+ed for agriculture credit for ()*2$*< compared to Rs %.'% lakh crore in the current year. 9astern Indian states to get Rs *,))) crore allocation for improving agricultural production. %reen re"olution in east India significant. Rice output increased in /ssam* ?disha* Jhar#hand and

Fest &engalO Rs 1*000 crore allocated for eastern states. Indian Institute of &iotechnolog will 2e set up at Ranchi. Rs *),))) crore set aside for incremental cost for >ational Food Security Bill over and above food subsidy. Four Infrastructure debt fund have been registered. #a+ free bonds issue to be allowed up to Rs %),))) crore in ()*2$*< strictly on capacity to raise funds from the

o o o o
201.01=.

Rs %,))) crore will be made available to >!B!RC to finance construction of godowns and warehouses. %o"ernment has decided to constitute a regulator authorit for the road sector. Ra/iv 8andhi 9=uity Scheme will be liberalised to allow first time investor to invest in .utal Fund and e=uity. !irst housing loan up to Rs 25 la#h would get additional deduction of interest of up to Rs 1 la#h in

%o"t to construct power transmission s stem from Srinagar to :eh at the cost of Rs 1*$=0 crore* Rs

226 crore pro"ided in current &udget.

o
in e+ports.

6urrent account deficit continues to be high due to e+cessive dependence on oil, coal and gold imports and slowdown

o o o o o o
*'.

+I,, and JapanBs JI7/ preparing plan for 7hennai0&engaluru Industrial corridor. 'wo new maDor ports to 2e set up in Fest &engal and /ndhra ,radesh . Eil and gas e+ploration policy will be reviewed and moved from profit sharing to revenue sharing. olicy on e+ploration of shale gas on the anvil? natural gas pricing policy will be reviewed and uncertainty removed. %o"t to set up IndiaBs first womenBs 2an# as a pu2lic sector 2an# 2 ?cto2er . 6oal imports during !pr$Cec ()*( crossed *)) million tonnes and e+pected to go up to *3% million tonnes in ()*&$

o o o
activities.

% million tons Cabhol D>8 import terminal to be operate at full capacity in ()*2$*< SICBI"s re$financing facility to .S.9s to be doubled to Rs *),))) crore. Incubators set up by companies in academic institutions will =ualify for 6orporate Social Responsibility 06SR1

o o o o o o o o o o o o o
2e treated as !+I.

Rs %)) crore would be allocated for addressing environmental issues faced by te+tile industry. Financial Sector Degislative Reforms 6ommission 0FSDR61 to submit its report ne+t month. Standing 6ouncil of 9+perts in .inistry of Finance to e+amine transaction cost of doing business in India. Rs 1=*000 crore capital infusion into pu2lic sector 2an#s in 201.01=. ,SU 2an#s to ha"e /'1s at all their 2ranches 2 1arch .1* 201=. Rs &,))) crore to be allocated for rural housing fund in ()*2$*<. !ll Regional Rural Banks and cooperative banks to be e$linked by this year$end. Insurance companies will 2e empowered to open 2ranches in 'ier0II cities with appro"al of IR+/. 4ational <ousing &an# (4<&) to set up ur2an housing 2an# fund and Rs 2*000 crore will 2e

allocated in this regard. ublic sector general insurance companies to set up adalts to clear disputes related to claims. Rashtri a Swasth a &ima KoDana 2enefit will 2e e3tended to ric#shaw pullers* auto and ta3i dri"ers

and sanitation wor#ers. 6omprehensive social security package being evolved by convergence of several schemes run by various ministries. In"estor with sta#e of 10 per cent or less will 2e treated as !IIO an sta#e more than 10 per cent will

o o

FIIs will be allowed to participate in e+change traded currency derivatives. Small and medium companies to be allowed to listed on .S.9 e+change without making a public offer.

Retirement fund 2od

5,!? on 25 !e2ruar

decided to pa

$.5 per cent interest rate to its over five crore

subscribers on their F deposits for ()*($*2, higher than 3.(% per cent provided in the previous fiscal. #he decision was taken at the meeting of the 6entral Board of #rustees 06B#1, the highest decision making body of the 9mployees" rovident Fund Erganisation 09 FE1. #he

meeting was chaired by Dabour .inister. W! decision has been taken to pay 3.% per cent interest on F deposits ... but we have e+pressed our reservations as we wanted higher interest rate,W said CD Sachdev, secretary !ll India #rade -nion 6ongress 0!I#-61 after the 6B# meeting. 9arlier, a note prepared by 9 FE for consideration of the February *% meeting of the Finance and Investment 6ommittee 0FI61 had said, W... 3.% per cent rate of interest for the year ()*($*2 is feasible.W !ccording to the 9 FE"s estimates, payment of 3.& per cent interest rate would result in a deficit of Rs (<).<: crore whereas 3.% per cent interest rate on F deposits for current fiscal would leave a surplus of Rs <.*2 crore. In FI6 meeting held on February *%, union leaders refused to discuss the issue regarding payment of interest in the current fiscal because the agenda note for the issue was not provided well in advance to them, sources said adding the note was tabled during the meeting.

/nand Sharma, -nion .inister of 6ommerce, Industry and #e+tiles on *( February, accepted and un"eiled a 'as# %roup

report to ma#e India an International 'rading hu2 for rough diamonds. 'he tas# group on diamonds was constituted 2

the 1inister of 7ommerce* Industries and 'e3tiles under the 7hairmanship of +irector %eneral of !oreign 'rade* +r. /nup G. ,uDari keeping in view the slump in e+ports of diamonds from India through the last few =uarters. Some of the recommendations in report include setting up of a Special >otified Bone for import and trading of rough diamonds, permission to import cut and polished diamonds duty free up to the e+tent of *%; of the average of previous 2 years e+ports and reducing the rate of computation of profit under Benign !ssessment rocedure 0B! 1 from &; to (.%;, amongst others. India is the largest diamond cutting and polishing center in the world*committed to continuing as a responsible and active member of the Mimberley rocess 6ertification System by implementing all its regulations. #his report is of great importance to the 8overnment as India currently en/oys the status of the foremost hub for manufacturing of diamonds in the world. Ciamond 9+ports is also a ma/or contributor to the merchandise e+ports of the country. It also employs a large number of people from the underprivileged section of the society in India. Sharma appreciated the suggestions of the #ask 8roup to help India retain its primacy as a trading hub, committed to take up the recommendations, which have been put forward with the concerned departments of the 8ovt. in a time bound manner so as to decrease the transaction cost of e+ports, simplify the compliance of the trade with ta+ation authorities and benefit the trade with the natural resources that is emanating out of India.

Indian 2usiness a"iation firm /"iator on 1= !e2ruar * signed an order for suppl of se"en 571.5 helicopters medical ser"ices. #he firm order for an initial batch of seven

from chopper maDor 5urocopter to 2e used for emergenc

9urocopter 96*2%s for helicopter emergency medical services 0,9.S1 operations was signed by the two companies in the presence of French resident Francois ,ollande. ! second order is e+pected to be carried out later this year and rapid growth is anticipated in the ,9.S market [ as many as %) helicopters are e+pected to be deployed throughout the country in the coming years, 9urocopter said in a statement. #his is one of the first chopper orders placed by an Indian company for ,9.S purposes. #he 96*2% is operated worldwide for a broad range of missions, including ,9.S, law enforcement, rescue operations and business aviation. 5urocopter is part of the !ranco0%erman0 Spanish 5urocopter %roup and a di"ision of the glo2al aerospace and defence conglomerate 5/+S . #here are currently over **,'3) 9urocopter civil and military helicopters in service in *<3 countries.

Securities 9+change Board of India (S5&I) the stoc# mar#et regulator of India on 1. !e2ruar

201. ordered

free9ing of 2an# accounts and attachment of properties of two Sahara group firms Sahara India Real 5state 7orporation :td.* and Sahara <ousing In"estment 7orporation :td. and its 6hairman Subrata Roy as well as top e+ecutives Vandana Bhargava, Ravi Shanker Cubey and !shok Roy 6houdhary after it failed to refund more than (<,))) crore rupees to investors. #he decision from the market regulator came after the Supreme 6ourt of India granted it the freedom to free@e the accounts of the two companies and attach the properties of the defaulting groups. #he market regulator gave (* days time to Sahara Firms to submit the details of the investments done and not listed in an order. S9BIs orders restricts the Sahara India 9state 6orporation from operating its demat accounts and redeeming the mutual fund units held by it as well as from transferring the shares controlled by it to any other body or company.

eAuit

#he .6I$SI benchmark inde+ SI<) went live with its e=uity$trading platform on both e=uities and e=uity derivatives on **

February, Reliance Industries, Su@lon shares got spotlighted on .6I Stock 9+change launch. 17>0S> 2ecame the third full0fledged 2ourse after &S5 and 4S5 in the countr . 'he 2ourse was formall launched 2 !inance 1inister ,

7hidam2aram on : February. S>=0 is a free0float 2ased inde3 of large0cap and liAuid stoc#s* representing di"erse sectors. 'he 2ase "alue will 2e 10*000 with a 2ase date of 1arch .1* 2010* the e+change had said. #he constituents of SI<) include !66, E>86, RID, #ata .otors, #6S, 6oal India, among others. #he benchmark includes companies that have a minimum free float of *) per cent and is within the top *)) li=uid companies.

,arle0% in !e2ruar 201. 2ecame the first Indian !17% 2rand that crossed 5000 crore Rupees mark in terms of

retail sales in one year. arle roducts were launched in *:2: when the British ruled India. Factually, arle roducts in ()*( sold %)*) crore rupees worth glucose biscuits at the retail price, surpassing the domestic sales of 8odre/ products and Cabur, while at the same time also selling thrice more products than .aggi. #his means that arle roducts sold over *)) crore packets of the glucose biscuits every month, or *<&)) crore biscuits in ()*(. arle$8 that has less than * billion dollar sales in a year, but even then it has good lead over its rivals such as ,industan -nilever"s 7heel and 8hari Cetergent. arle $8s share increased from &' percent in ())( to ': percent in ()*(. 6omparatively, shares of Britannia"s #iger and I#6"s Sun feast brand fell down

'he e3ports of India increased 2

0.$ percent in the month of Januar

201. to (%.%3 billion -S dollars.

6omparatively, e+ports in 5anuary ()*( were (%.2' billion -S dollars. Imports on the other hand, increased by &.*( percent to <%.% billion -S dollars. Curing !pril to 5anuary ()*( $()*2, the overseas shipments of India dropped by <.3& percent to (2:.& billion -S dollars. #he main

concern for the country is however to widen the trade deficit. !s a cumulative result, the e+ports depicted an arrest in decreasing e+ports. >ow, the result is $<.: percent. Import of crude oil was growing at a faster pace. Eil imports in 5anuary ()*2 increased by &.:* percent to *%.3: billion -S dollars in comparison to *<.3' billion -S dollars in 5anuary ()*(.

/merican /irlines and US /irwa s ha"e agreed to merge in an E11 2illion deal to create the worldBs 2iggest

airline. #he combined carrier will be called !merican !irlines but run by -S !irways 69E Coug arker. #he boards of the two airlines unanimously approved the *2February, and the companies announced the agreement on *< February. #he merger would reduce the number of ma/or -.S. airlines to fourA the new !merican, -nited, Celta and Southwest. #he deal is a coup for smaller -S !irways 8roup Inc., which pushed for a merger almost as soon as !merican parent !.R 6orp. filed for bankruptcy protection in >ovember ()**. 7hile arker runs the company, !.R 69E #om ,orton will serve as chairman until its first shareholder meeting, likely in mid$()*<. !.R interests including creditors will own '( percent of the new company and -S !irways shareholders (3 percent. #he companies said merging would create savings of more than T* billion a year. #he merger will be part of !.R"s plan for e+iting bankruptcy protection. #he airlines said they e+pect T* billion in combined savings. #he new !merican would have more than :)) planes, 2,()) daily flights and about :%,))) employees, not counting regional affiliates. It will be slightly bigger than -nited !irlines by passenger traffic, not counting regional affiliate airlines.

'he inflation rate of India dropped down to the three0 ear low in the chart to 6.62 percent in Januar 201.

from the -.1$ percent, measured in Cecember ()*(. #he inflation was measured based upon monthly 7holesale rice Inde+. #he official 7holesale rice Inde+ for !ll 6ommodities 0BaseA ())<$)% \ *))1 in 5anuary, ()*2 rose by ).< percent to *&:.( 0 rovisional1 from *&3.& 0 rovisional1 for the previous month. Slowing e+ports and decline in investments and low demand in the domestic market have been a ma/or factor in slipping down the growth rate of India. #he two factors have affected the manufacturing as well as service sectors of India. #he growth forecast for the running fiscal year that would end on 2* .arch ()*2 was lowered by the Indias Statistical Effice to % percent. #he Reserve Bank of India also changed its forecast from %.3 percent to %.% percent. #o revive a fresh air in the slowing down economic conditions of India, the Reserve Bank took a ma/or step of lowering the key interest rate from 3 percent to '.'% percent? this was the first step in nine months. #he olicy makers have also taken afresh steps to revive the slowing economic conditions of the nation.

'he 7entral Statistics ?ffice (7S?)* 1inistr of Statistics and ,rogramme Implementation on - !e2ruar * has

released the ad"ance estimates of national income at constant (200=005) and current prices* for the financial ear 20120 1..#hese advance estimates are based on anticipated level of agricultural and industrial production, analysis of budget estimates of government e+penditure and performance of key sectors like, railways, transport other than railways, communication, banking and insurance, available so far. #he advance estimates at current prices are derived by estimating the implicit price deflators 0I Cs1 at sectoral level from the relevant price indices. #he salient features of these estimates are detailed belowA

5stimates %ross

/+L/475 at

5S'I1/'5S

?! 7onstant +omestic

4/'I?4/:

I47?15* (200=005)

201201. ,rices ,roduct

8ross Comestic roduct 08C 1 at factor cost at constant 0())<$)%1 prices in the year ()*($*2 is likely to attain a level of Rs.%%,)2,<'& crore, as against the First Revised 9stimate of 8C for the year ()**$*( of Rs. %(,<2,%3( crore, released on 2*st 5anuary ()*2. 'he growth in %+, during 201201. is estimated at 5.0 per cent as compared to the growth rate of 6.2 per cent in 2011012.

/griculture 'he Nagriculture* forestr and fishing; sector is li#el to show a growth of 1.$ per cent in its %+, during 201201.* as against the pre"ious ear;s growth rate of ..6 per cent . !ccording to the information furnished by the Cepartment of !griculture and

6ooperation 0C!61, which has been used in compiling the estimate of 8C from agriculture in ()*($*2, production of food grains is e+pected to decline by (.3 per cent as compared to growth of %.( per cent in the previous agriculture year. #he production of cotton and sugarcane is also e+pected to decline by <.) per cent and &.% per cent, respectively, in ()*($*2. !mong the horticultural crops, production of fruits and vegetables is e+pected to increase by 2.% per cent during the year ()*($*2 as against %.* percent in the previous year. Industry #he manufacturing sector is likely to show a growth of *.: per cent in 8C during ()*($*2. !ccording to the latest estimates available on the Inde+ of Industrial roduction 0II 1, the inde+ of manufacturing and electricity registered growth rates of *.) per cent and <.< per cent, respectively during !pril$>ovember, ()*($*2, as compared to the growth rates of <.( per cent and :.% per cent in these sectors during !pril$ >ovember, ()**$*(. #he mining sector is likely to show a growth of ).< per cent in ()*($*2 as against negative growth of ).& per cent during

()**$*(. #he construction sector is likely to show a growth rate of %.: per cent during ()*($*2 as against growth of %.& per cent in the previous year. #he key indicators of construction sector, namely, cement production and steel consumption have registered growth rates of &.* per cent and 2.: per cent, respectively during !pril$Cecember, ()*($*2.

Ser"ices #he estimated growth in 8C for the trade, hotels, transport and communication sectors during ()*($*2 is placed at %.( per cent as against growth of '.) percent in the previous year. #his is mainly on account of decline of 2.< per cent and <.3 per cent respectively in passengers and cargo handled in civil aviation and decline of 2.* per cent in cargo handled at ma/or sea ports during !pril$>ovember, ()*($*2. #here has been an increase of <.2 per cent in stock of telephone connections as on >ovember ()*(. #he growth rate of "community, social and personal services" during ()*($*2 is estimated to be &.3 per cent.

4ational

Income

#he net national income 0>>I1 at factor cost, also known as national income, at ())<$)% prices is likely to be Rs.<',&<,3*: crore during ()*($*2, as against the previous year"s First Revised 9stimate of Rs. <%,'(,)'% crore. In terms of growth rates, the national income registered a growth rate of <.( per cent in ()*($*2 as against the previous years growth rate of &.* per cent.

,er

7apita

Income

#he per capita income in real terms 0at ())<$)% prices1 during ()*($*2 is likely to attain a level of Rs.2:,*<2 as compared to the First Revised 9stimate for the year ()**$*( of Rs. 23,)2'. #he growth rate in per capita income is estimated at (.: per cent during ()*($*2, as against the previous year"s estimate of <.' per cent.

5stimates %ross

at +omestic

7urrent

,rices ,roduct

8C at factor cost at current prices in the year ()*($*2 is likely to attain a level of Rs. :<,&*,:': crore, showing a growth rate of *2.2 per cent over the First Revised 9stimate of 8C for the year ()**$*( of Rs. 32,%2,<:% crore.

4ational

Income

#he >>I at factor cost at current prices is anticipated to be Rs. 32,&3,%'* crore during ()*($*2, as compared to Rs. '2,::,:2< crore during ()**$*(, showing a rise of *2.* per cent.

,er

7apita

Income

#he per capita income at current prices during ()*($*2 is estimated to be Rs. &3,'<' as compared to Rs. &*,%&< during ()**$*(, showing a rise of **.' per cent.

and

'he Union 7a2inet on - !e2ruar ga"e its appro"al to the amendments to the 4ational &an# for /griculture Rural +e"elopment (4/&/R+) /ct 19$1

'he following amendments to the 4/&/R+ /ct 19$1 are proposed0

1. 2. 3.
8overnment.

Raising the authori@ed capital of >!B!RC to Rs. (),))) crore from Rs. %,))) crore. #he meaning of cooperative society is proposed to be enlarged to include multistate cooperative societies registered under any

6entral law or any other 6entral or State law relating to cooperative societies. 6hange of ownership to facilitate the transfer of the remaining share capital of >!B!RC from the Reserve Bank to the 6entral

4.

Increasing the scope of operations of >!B!RC under short term funding purposes and other changes.

'he following 2enefits are proDected 2 this amendment0

5. 6.

By increasing the authori@ed capital of >!B!RC to Rs (),))) crore from Rs %,))) crore, the ability of >!B!RC to mobili@e

resources from the market will be enhanced thereby new credit products, new credit linkages and new clients will be developed. #he amendments allow >!B!RC to lend to new institutions, mainly Societies covered under multistate cooperative societies

act and other central laws, producer organi@ations or such class of financial institutions which are approved by the 6entral 8overnment. #his is likely to benefit a larger segment of the financially e+cluded farmers in the country.

7. 8.
by RBI.

#he amendments allow combination of credit, creation of short term operations fund and swapping of debt of farmers. #he decision of the 8overnment to transfer the balance one percent shares to the 8ovt. of India from Reserve Bank of India

0RBI1 in >!B!RC shall be carried out, which will provide for increased public accountability, as the 8overnment will ac=uire the e=uity held

9.

4/&/R+ will com2ine the post of 7hairman and the post of 1anaging +irector* into one* therefore 7hairman

and 1anaging +irector* under the pro"isions of the 4/&/R+ /ct relating to these two posts. 'his shall ensure a distinct line of command.

4/&/R+ was esta2lished on 12 Jul 19$2 to pro"ide sharp focus to agriculture credit and rural de"elopment . >!B!RC adopted, as its mission, the promotion of sustainable and e=uitable development of agriculture and rural prosperity through effective credit support, related services, institution development and other innovative initiatives.

6ivil aviation minister, !/it Singh on 3 February, released Shu2h Katra* an e3clusi"e monthl 2i0lingual (<indi 6 5nglish) in flight maga9ine of /ir IndiaO it covers travel, lifestyle, culture and entertainment in all colour and spice. #his is the new name of the in flight maga@ine.

India is li#el to produce 250.1= million tones of food grains during 201201. 0includes kharif ()*( and rabi crops in

the field at present1. #his, despite a drop of ' million tones in production during kharif, owing to erratic monsoons. !s per the second advance estimates of crop production released on 3 February, by the !griculture .inistry, production of ma/or crops e+cept pulses is likely to be less than last year, which happened to be the year of record food grain production helped by a favourable monsoon. In the present crop year 0()*($*21, despite deficient and late rainfall in many parts of the country in the monsoon season, the estimated production is higher than the food grain production achieved any time before last year, showing the growing resilience of Indian agriculture. ! number of initiatives have been taken in recent years to increase production of pulses, including raising .S of main pulses crops significantly and special schemes to encourage farmers to adopt modern agronomic practices in pulses production. #he assessment of production of different crops is based on the feedback received from States and validated with information available from other sources.

'he successful 4',7 sta#e sale* on - !e2ruar * fetched the go"ernment Rs.11*500 crore , the second S- share

sale in a week that was over$subscribed, helping to move closer to the Rs.2),)))$crore disinvestment target. #he share sale of the countrys largest power producer, ># 6, was over$subscribed *.' times as an offer price lower than the scrips trading rate on stock e+changes received tremendous interest from foreign investors. 6oming within a week of the share sale of Eil India, the ># 6 issue was also lapped up by foreign investors in a big way, making the government say there is still a huge demand for S- shares in the market. #he total demand received for the offer was *2(.3< crore shares, which is *.' times over the '3.2( crore shares or :.% per cent stake on the block. #he government had fi+ed the floor price or the minimum offer price at Rs.*<% a share. #he indicative price, which is the weighted average price of all valid bids, came in at Rs.*<%.:* at the close of the auction.

'he am2itious rural road scheme recei"ed a 2oost on - !e2ruar * with the go"ernment clearing proDects

worth an estimated Rs .$*500 crore to connect left out ha2itations including those in $2 4a3al0affected districts and areas of /runachal ,radesh 2ordering 7hina . #he -nion 6abinet, chaired by rime .inister .anmohan Sigh, gave Win principleW approval for connecting all habitations with a population of *)) tribals and above in 3( >a+al$hit districts with all$weather roads under the 6entre"s flagship programme .8SP.In case of multi$connectivity at the block level, identified by the -nion ,ome .inistry, it is not

compulsory that tar$paved roads should be constructed in such areas where .aoists target metalled roads used by security forces. !t present, the radhan .antri 8ram Sadak Po/ana 0 .8SP1, envisages connecting all habitations with a population of (%) persons and above in tribal

areas in >a+al$affected districts. #he 6abinet also gave nod to connect unconnected small villages with population below (%) in strategically important districts of !runachal radesh bordering 6hina with all$ weather roads. !n amount of Rs *()) crore is e+pected to be cost for providing new connectivity to the habitations in the border districts of !runachal radesh. Eut of the state"s *' districts, *) districts are bordering 6hina and .yanmar and the small habitations in these districts will be ma/or beneficiaries.

Researchers ha"e identified the worldBs largest prime num2er et* 2eating the pre"ious record 2 o"er four

million digits. #he number has now shot up to ( multiplied by itself %',33%,*&* times minus *, breaking a four$year dry spell in the search for new, ever$larger primes. 7urtis 7ooper from the Uni"ersit of 7entral 1issouri in Farrens2urg made the finding as part of the %reat Internet 1ersenne ,rime Search (%I1,S)* a distributed computing pro/ect designed to hunt for a particular kind of prime number first identified in the *'th century, the ">ew Scientist" reported. !ll prime numbers can only be divided by themselves and *. #he rare .ersenne primes all have the form ( multiplied by itself p times minus *, where p is itself a prime number. #he new prime, which has over *' million digits, is only the <3th .ersenne prime ever found and the *<th discovered by 8I. S. #he previous record holder, ( multiplied by itself <2,**(,&): times minus *, which was also found by 8I. S in ())3, has /ust under *2 million digits. !ll the top *) largest known primes are .ersenne primes discovered by 8I. S. 8I. S software runs on around a thousand university computers, one of which spent 2: days straight proving that the number was prime, which was then independently verified by other researchers

4',7

signs

loan

pact

worth

E250

million

with

S&I

State$run ># 6 on & February said it has signed a loan agreement worth -SC (%) million with State Bank of India and 5apan$based .i@uho 6orporate Bank for financing its e+pansion plans. W># 6 has signed a term$loan agreement for -SC (%) million 0appro+imately Rs *,2(' crore1 with the >ew Pork branch of State Bank of India and Singapore branch of .i@uho 6orporate Bank as lead arrangers and lenders,W the company informed the stock e+changes today

Mar 2013-04-29

/uro2indo ,harma* the leading pharmaceutical research company in India, announced on (3 .arch ()*2 that the US

!ood and +rug /dministration (US!+/) lifted import alert on the < dera2ad02ased anti2iotics facilit . #his would enable !urobindo harma to e+port nine products in all from its ,yderabad$based facility to -S market. #he -SFC! lifted import alert from the non$sterile products that are manufactured at the -nit$VI cephalosporin facility in ,yderabad. It is worth noticing that before this import alert, the ,yderabad$based antibiotics unit had annual sales of 22 million -S dollar in !merica. -SFC! had issued import alerts on the products of !urobindo harmas ,yderabad$based cephalosporin facility in ()** because of which its e+ports had suffered. In Cecember ()*), the -SFC! audited the cephalosporin facility, -nit VI of !urobindo harma Dtd at 6hitkul Village, ,yderabad. !fter the audit, -SFC! had imposed import alert on !urobindo harma. 6ephalosporins are actually the class of antibiotics which are used for treatment of those infections that are caused by bacteria.

India;s international financial lia2ilities increased 2 10.5 2illion +ollars to -2..9 2illion +ollars as at end0 of

+ecem2er 2012 as per the India;s International In"estment ,osition (II,) Report ,u2lished 2 R&I in 1arch 201.. In the Ectober$Cecember ()*( period, international financial assets of Indian citi@ens remained unchanged at <<*.: billion Collars. >et claims of non$residents on India 0as reflected by the >et II , i.e. International financial assets abroad less International financial liabilities1 increased by *).< billion -S dollars over the previous =uarter to (3(.) billion -S Collar as at end$Cecember ()*(, mainly on account of *).% billion -S Collar increase in liabilities. #he changes in II also reflect the valuation changes emanating from e+change rate movements. Cue to rupee depreciation during end$September ()*( to end$Cecember ()*( e=uity liabilities in -S Collars term revised downwards by -S Collars *2.( billion 03.< billion -S Collars in direct investment and <.3 billion -S Collars in portfolio investment1. #he ratio of Indias international financial assets to international financial liabilities decreased to &*.) per cent in Cecember ()*( 0&*.: per cent in September ()*(1.

'he Securities and 53change &oard of India (S5&I) has summoned the promoters of Sahara group Hto appear

in personI 2efore it on /pril 10 to ascertain the details of their assets and to facilitate settling of terms of proclamation of the sale of their immovable properties attached as per Supreme 6ourt order. #he order was issued to !shok Roy 6houdhary, Ravi Shankar Cubey, Vandana Bhargava and Subrata Roy Sahara who are the directors H promoters of Sahara India Real 9state 6orporation Dtd. 0SIR96D1 and Sahara ,ousing Investment 6orporation Dtd. 0S,I6D1. #his order was issued in compliance with the direction of the Supreme 6ourt orders

of !ugust 2*, ()*( and Cecember %, ()*(. S9BI has also directed these individuals to produce in original, all title deeds of their assets which were attached by S9BI. #he Sahara group has been making an all$out effort to circumvent the orders of the courts and the capital market regulator, in an attempt not to reveal details of investors who deposited funds in the optionally fully convertible debentures 0EF6C1 issued by the group companies of SIR96D and S,I6D.

'he proposed &an# announced 2 the &RI7S leaders at their summit in +ur2an will focus on infrastructure

de"elopment due to insufficient long0term financing and foreign direct in"estment* especiall in"estment in capital stoc# . #hese are all areas of acute interest to India, said government sources as well as Indian industrialists attending the !ifth &RI7S summit* which ended in +ur2an on 2- 1arch . But the specifics of the scale, location and structure of the Bank will be worked out over the coming months, and some finality is likely to be achieved by September when the five leaders are likely to meet on the sidelines of the ne+t 8 () summit in St. etersburg. Side 2 side with the &an#* the &RI7S summit also saw action on another front P creation of a 7ontingent Reser"e /rrangement (7R/) amongst &RI7S countries . #his too has its genesis last year when, meeting on the sidelines of the 8$() summit in Dos 6abos 0.e+ico1, the BRI6S leaders asked their finance ministers and central bank governors to e+plore the construction of a financial safety net. #he summit felt that the establishment of a self$managed 6ontingent Reserve !rrangement would have a positive precautionary effect, help BRI6S countries forestall short$term li=uidity pressures, provide mutual support and further strengthen financial stability. It would also help to strengthen the global financial safety net and complement e+isting international arrangements as an additional line of defence.

'he 7a2inet 7ommittee on In"estment (77I) on 21 1arch 201. cleared Reliance IndustriesB (RI:) G%0+6 and

457025 2loc#s for oil and gas e3ploration along with three other areas. #he work on these blocks, which has an investment close to *).' billion has dollars, was having difficulties because of inter$ministerial differences, particularly relating to Cefence issues. 9ight blocks, including RID"s Mrishna 8odavari basin M8$C& block and gas discovery area of >96$(% in the >orth 9ast 6oast 0>961 region, were declared >o$8o @ones for reasons relating to defence issues raised by the Indian >avy, and the Indian !ir Force. !n approval for eight blocks, was Sought by the etroleum and >atural 8as .inistry of which one was already renounced by the contractor, Reliance Industries Dtd. Eut of the remaining seven, conditional clearance for four blocks [ two of Reliance Industries, one each of E>86 consortium and 6airn India [ were sought. #he .inistry had also sought 66I approval to declare three blocks as Fno go areas. #wo blocks belonged to the E>86$led consortium and one to the Eil India Dtd$led consortium.

#he 66I, headed by rime .inister .anmohan Singh, was set up to fast$track clearances to infrastructure pro/ects involving investments of over *))) crore rupees.

'he Reser"e &an# of India (R&I) on 19 1arch 201. cut the repo rate 2 25 2asis points to -.5 per cent from

-.-5 percent in its mid0Auarter re"iew of the monetar polic . #he change of the Repo rate is aimed to prompt growth and revive investment. 6onse=uently, the re"erse repo rate under the :/! stands adDusted to 6.5 per cent from the earlier 6.-5 per cent and the marginal standing facilit (1S!) rate and the &an# Rate to $.5 per cent with immediate effect. 'he 7ash Reser"e Ratio (7RR) has 2een retained at = per cent. It is for the second time since the start of the year RBI has cut down the repo rate in a bid to help revive flagging growth in !sia"s third$largest economy. RBI has also warned that its scope for further policy easing is limited. #he RBI will continue to actively manage li=uidity through various instruments, including open market operations, to ensure ade=uate flow of credit to productive sectors of the economy. Fith the change in Repo rate* the Reser"e &an# of India also announced infusion of 10000 crore rupees into the financial s stem 2 purchasing go"ernment securities as part of its liAuidit inDection

measure. #he Indian economy e+panded at a (%$=uarter low of <.%; in Ectober$Cecember ()*( =uarter, and the (.<; rise in industrial production in 5anuary ()*2 after two months of contraction suggests the recovery is still weak. #he current account deficit hit a record$high %.< per cent in the September =uarter and is e+pected to end the ()*(H*2 fiscal year at its highest level ever.

7ommercial production of /ishwar a ?il !ield at &armer in RaDasthan has started on 2. 1arch 201.. #he

commercial production of natural gas will take place from the Rageshwari 7ell of Barmer region. It is e+pected that every day production of the oil field shall be (%))) barrels of 6rude Eil and %)))) lakh cubic feet of natural gas. 'he gas field was dedicated to the nation 2 ,etroleum 1inister Leerappa 1oil and 7hief 1inister of RaDasthan /sho# %ehlot. !fter the operations of the Barmer Eil field will reduce the import bills of the country for petroleum that is about &.% lakh crore rupees at present. 6reation of a national gas grid is in plans of the government for better distribution of natural gas.

!inancial Sector :egislati"e Reforms 7ommission (!S:R7) headed byJustice &4 Sri#rishna in its final report

submitted to the -nion 8overnment of India on (( .arch ()*2 recommended constitution of unified financial sector regulator 2 deri"ing powers from Indian !inancial 7ode including 7ommodit +eri"ati"es 1ar#et. #he ()) page long report in its #e recommendations ha"e directed the %o"ernment of India for unification of the Securities and 53change &oard of India (Se2i)* ,ension !und Regulator and +e"elopment /uthorit (,!R+/)* Insurance Regulator and +e"elopment

/uthorit (IR+/) and !orward 1ar#ets 7ommission (!17) under a single regulator . It also recommended that the Reserve Bank of India should stay as the monetary !uthority Regulating Bank. !s per the report of the commission, the regulatory structure shall be governed by the Financial Regulatory !rchitecture !ct that to create a uniform legal process for the financial regulators. Before changing the legislative structure the .inistry of Finance shall unify the regulatory structure.

#he proposed regulatory structure will be governed by the Financial Regulatory !rchitecture !ct that will ensure a uniform legal process for the financial regulators. #he Resolution notifying the FSDR6 was issued by the 8overnment on (< .arch ()**. #he FSDR6 is re=uired to submit its findings within a period of (< months. FSDR6 was set up two years ago for reviewing and harmoni@ing the financial sector legislations, rules and regulations that have gone obsolete or outdated in about a centurys time since when it was written.

/ndhra ,radesh on 1$ 1arch presented a ta30free* re"enue0surplus 2udget for 201.01= with an o"erall

e3penditure of o"er Rs 1.61 la#h crore 0nearly -SC 2) billion1. Finance .inister !nam Ramanarayana Reddy told the assembly during his budget speech that the overall e+penditure during ()*2$*< would be Rs *,&*,2<3 crore, comprising Rs *,)*,:(& crore under non$plan and Rs %:,<(( crore under plan heads.

resenting his third budget, Ramanarayana Reddy said he estimated the revenue surplus would be Rs *),)(2 crore and fiscal

deficit Rs (<,<3' crore, at (.3% percent of 8ross State Comestic roduct 08SC 1. WI am confident that the budget ()*2$*< will infuse new energy to the strategy of inclusive growth of the state,W he said. ,e described the budget as momentous, as allocations enshrine the priority agenda of inclusiveness. It is the first budget after the state enacted a historic legislation in Cecember last year to give statutory status to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribe sub$plan. -nder this legislation, the first in the country, funds have been allocated separately to S6 sub$ plan and S# sub$plan in proportion to the population of these sections. #he total allocation for S6 sub$plan in ()*2$*< budget is Rs 3,%3% crore and for the tribal sub$plan Rs 2,&&& crore, which is *&.(* and &.:( percent of the annual plan si@e respectively. #he finance minister said another path$breaking feature of this year"s budget is the presentation of the first$ever e+clusive agriculture action plan, which is e+pected to help in comprehensive development of the agriculture sector. !nother change brought in the budget presentation this year is the constitution of departmentally related standing committees of the state legislature for considering the demands for grants.

!arm

sector

in

/,

gets

whopping

Rs

25*000

crore8

4ew

/gricultural

/ction

,lan

n a first for the 6ongress 8overnment in !ndhra

radesh, the !griculture .inister Manna Dakshminarayana on *3 .arch presented

immediately after the regular budget for ()*2$*< a new agricultural action plan for the farm sector which proposes to allocate a sum of Rs. (%,:&(.)( crore for the year ()*2$*<.

#he .inister said this agriculture budget will show a way in ushering in a new era for the farmers and suggest solutions for the problems engulfing the sector. #he budget includes plan component of Rs. *',&:<.&* crore and non$plan component of Rs. 3,(&'.<* crores.

Supplementary to these proposed budgetary allocations, an amount of Rs. '(,<%) crore is planned under agricultural credit plan. #his makes the total investment for the farm sector as Rs. :3,:<).%< crores as against Rs. ':,:(<.'3 crores, an increase of about (< per cent over last year.

In tune with the basic theme of *(th Five Pear lan, Rfaster, more inclusive and sustainable growthS and in order to achieve the growth target of & per cent under the farm sector, the State has set an ambitious target of increasing food grain production to 2)) lakh tonnes by ()*&$*'.

#he .inister said key strategies identified for the farm sector to grow rapidly areA establishment of agriculture technology mission for convergence among concerned departments, strategies to optimise and harness potential of horticulture, animal husbandry and fishery as farm sector growth engines.

,ighlighting the farm sector initiatives, the .inister said for the year ()*2$*<, the 8overnment proposes to continue implementation of supply of =uality seeds, olam Badi 0Farmers Field School1, e+tension services, RMVP, >ational !gricultural Insurance Scheme, >ational Food Security .ission, avala Vaddi and interest free crop loans to farmers, farm mechanisation and input subsidies.

!ndhra

Japanese automoti"e maDor Isu9u 1otors on 15 1arch* announced setting up a manufacturing plant in India Lehicles (SULs). #he plant, coming up in >ellore district of

to ma#e :ight 7ommercial Lehicles (:7Ls) and Sports Utilit

radesh with an investment of Rs.*,%)) crore, will manufacture one lakh units a year. Isu9u 1otors India signed a

1emorandum of Understanding (1oU) with the /ndhra ,radesh go"ernment to set up the plant at Sri 7it in 4ellore district. Efficials of Isu@u and the state government signed the .o- in ,yderabad, in the presence of 6hief .inister Miran Mumar Reddy, 5apan"s !mbassador to India #akesai Pagi and Isu@u .otors Dimited"s e+ecutive vice president and general manager, sales, Ryo@o #sukioka. !n agreement was also signed between Isu@u .otor India and Sri 6ity, a special economic @one. Shigeru 7akabayashi, deputy managing director, Isu@u .otors India, later told reporters that the plant would manufacture pick$up truck 0C$.!I1 and S-V 0.-$'1 from late ()*% or early ()*&.#he company unveiled on the occasion both C$.!I and .-$', which it started selling this month by importing built up vehicles. It is currently selling it only in !ndhra radesh and #amil >adu. #he plant in !ndhra will also act as support foothold for Isu@u"s main D6V operation in #hailand. #he company manufactures three lakh D6Vs and S-Vs in #hailand every year. #he oldest 5apanese automobile firm is scouting for a local partner to assemble its vehicles in India till its plant commences production. It is keen to start the assembly of its products as soon as possible to avoid rising import duties. #he 5apanese envoy said India account for seven percent of the global production of 5apanese automotive companies. ,e hoped that India would overtake #hailand and 6hina, which account for nine and *) percent of their production respectively.

<industan ,etroleum 7orporation :imited (<,7:) and the %o"ernment of RaDasthan on 1= 1arch 201.

signed a 1emorandum of Understanding (1?U) at Jaipur for setting up a refiner 0cum0petrochemical comple3 in &armer* RaDasthan. #he pro/ect will be a /oint venture between , 6D and Ra/asthan State Refinery Dimited, apart from other e=uity partners. #he .o- was signed by Subhash ant, Secretary .ines and etroleum, 8overnment of Ra/asthan and M..urli, Cirector

0Refineries1 of , 6D. #he refinery$cum$petrochemical comple+ in Barmer will be set up at an estimated capital investment of 2'(2) crore Rupees. #he pro/ect will be completed in < years time duration. #he purpose of the refinery will be to process the locally available crude apart from other crudes. 'he proposed comple3 will 2e the first of its #ind to 2e specificall designed to produce petrochemicals from the indigenous crude oil.

Infos s on 15 1arch has colla2orated India ,ost for de"eloping a ser"ice deli"er platform that will allow

more than 1..0 la#h rural post offices to offer online ser"ices . #he platform will also connect and manage more than *.2) lakh handheld devices used by rural postal workers for distribution of social benefits under the >ational Rural 9mployment 8uarantee !ct and process 9lectronic .oney Erders, Infosys said in a statement. 7ith this agreement, Infosys will facilitate India osts Rural Systems

Integration programme, which will increase adoption of the departments services and enhance the reach of postal services to the countrys rural population.

'he 7entral %o"ernment on 15 1arch* ra#ed in o"er Rs.620 crore through sale of its 6 per cent sta#e in an

aluminium producer 4alco* ta#ing it closer to its disin"estment target for the fiscal. >alco share sale, whose si@e was pruned to *(.33 crore shares or % per cent plus an option to retain an e=ual number in case of over$subscription, managed to get bids for *%.&: crore or & per cent of government shareholding. #he government, which priced the issue at a discount of Rs.<) a share, decided to retain all of additional bids for over (.3* crore shares that came in. #he auction had received bids for over *%.&: crore shares, against an offer of over *(.33 crore shares, according to stock e+changes data. #he 9mpowered 8roup of .inisters 098o.1 on disinvestment, headed by Finance .inister route. 6hidambaram, on *2 .arch, cleared stake sale of (%.'' crore shares, or up to *) per cent, in >alco through the offer for sale 0EFS1

'he Forld &an# on 11 1arch 201. forecasted that the Indian econom is estimated to grow o"er 6 per cent

during 201.01=. 7orld Bank 6hief 5im Poung Mim, who is on a three$day visit to India asserted that India is estimated to have grown % percent in the current fiscal and the growth rate is likely to improve to &.*$&.' percent in ()*2$*<. #he Indian economy, like any other economy, is sub/ect to global slowdown. It has effect here and at the same time, the e+port market has started doing better. En the positive node, it also had be seen that share of India in global economy almost doubled in five years between ())% and ()*). Mim is on his first visit to India after taking over as resident of 7orld Bank 8roup in 5uly ()*(.

India;s 7urrent /ccount +eficit (7/+) as a percentage of gross domestic product (%+,) rose to an all0time

high of 5.= per cent in the second Auarter of 201201. on account of widening of trade deficit and slower growth in in"isi2les, the Reserve Bank of India 0RBI1 said in its monthly bulletin for .arch released on ** .arch. #he rise in 6!C to 8C ratio was partly due to slower growth in 8C and rupee depreciation, the RBI report said adding that a steeper decline in e+ports growth 0*(.( per cent year$on$year1 compared with imports growth 0<.3 per cent year$on$year1 led to widening of trade deficit. #he trade deficit widened to T<3.2 billion during the =uarter under review from T<<.% billion during the corresponding =uarter of the previous year. 7hile the net services receipts registered reasonable increase, net invisibles earnings could finance only a lower proportion of trade deficit as net Fprimary and secondary income flows were relatively smaller. !s per this report, during the first$half of ()*($*2, Indias Balance of ayments deteriorated as trade deficit widened and invisibles remained sluggish. En the other hand, capital flows remained lower than that in the preceding year and were /ust sufficient to meet the gap of current account leading to small accretion to foreign e+change reserves, it said.

!inancial sector regulators of India* on $ 1arch* signed an agreement to monitor conglomerates 0 large 2an#s

and other #e pla ers $ in view of their rising importance to the real economy, apart from approving a national strategy for financial education. #he Reserve Bank said in a statement that the decisions were taken at a sub$committee meeting of the !inancial Sta2ilit and +e"elopment 7ouncil (!S+7) held in >ew Celhi. 'he four financial sector regulators are the Reser"e &an# of India* Securities and 53change &oard of India* Insurance Regulator and +e"elopment /uthorit and ,ension !und Regulator and +e"elopment /uthorit . 'he 1oU is aimed at 2etter cooperation in the field of Doint super"ision and monitoring of the large groups identified as financial conglomerates . #he FSC6 meeting, chaired by RBI 8overnor C Subbarao, also approved formulating a national strategy for financial education by incorporating the feedback received from public consultations and from a global peer review. /ll the four R&I +eput %o"ernors 0 G 7 7ha#ra2art * /nand Sinha* < R Ghan and UrDit ,atel 0 and R&I

53ecuti"e +irector % %opala#rishna was also present.

/ %roup of 1inisters (%o1) headed 2 /griculture 1inister Sharad ,awar cleared e3port of 5 million tone

wheat from go"ernment warehouses through pri"ate traders on ' .arch. #he proposal is targeted to clear the huge wheat stock in the country ahead of the new harvest season. 9arlier, the government had allowed e+port of <.% million tone through public$sector trading agencies out of which about ( million tone has already been shipped in a price range of T(:%$T22) per tone.

'he 4ational /ssociation of Software and Ser"ices 7ompanies (4asscom)* the ape3 2od

of the Indian

2usiness process outsourcing and software ser"ices industr * announced on =1arch* that it is targeting re"enues of E.00 2illion 2 2020, *'' per cent more than that earned in ()*(. 4. R. 4ara ana 1urth * Infos s 7hairman 5meritus* who headed an e3pert committee that deli2erated on the wa s and means of achie"ing the target* said revenues had traditionally come from four Rfocus areasS X I# services, Indian operatives of .>6s, Business rocess .anagement 0B .1 and 9ngineering and R4C services.

,owever, the industry needed to focus on areas such as mobile and Internet and the domestic market if it was to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of *% per cent, which is the asking rate if the industry plans to reach its target by ()(). Re"enues from the domestic mar#et* a new focus area , are pro/ected to increase from T(2 billion to T'% billion. #he biggest chunk of revenues is pro/ected to come from the Internet and mobile space, one of the seven Rfocus verticalsS identified by the committee. #his segment is likely to account for one$ third of all revenues earned by ()().#he 6hairman of >asscom, >. 6handrasekaran, said the focus on the domestic market reflected its large and growing si@e as well as the talent that was available to tap the potential.

'he +efence 1inistr * in response to a direction 2 the 7a2inet 7ommittee on In"estment (77I)* has gi"en a

partial consent to two oil and gas 2loc#s in areas near defence installations e"en while fi"e others continued to remain in the Nno0go; ser"ice 9one . 7hile five blocks, bagged by Eil and >atural gas 6orporation 0E>861, B8 8roup of the -.M. and 6airn India, will continue to be in the Fno$go areas, Reliance Industries :imited (RI:) recei"ed relief for its G% +6 gas 2loc# and disco"er 2loc# of 457025 in the &a of &engal. >early 2) per cent of the M8$C& block overlapped with one of the >avy"s firing and e+ercise areas. #he .inistry was of the view that any e+ploration and production activities near its naval base would hamper surveillance and detection operations. Following this, RID agreed to relin=uish <:% s=. km of area, =ualifying it for receiving a formal nod from defence authorities.E>86"s two M8 basin blocks, M8$ES>$())%H* and M8$ES>$())%H(, have not been cleared as they fall directly within the boundary of a proposed naval base. !lso, the firm"s M8$ES>$()):H< block fell within the range of the CRCE"s .achhlipatnam launch site. B8s block M8$C7>$()):H* fell right at the entry of the proposed naval base, while 6airn"s M8$ES>$()):H2 block was in the pro+imity of the Suryalanka 87FR. #he .inistry has also imposed stringent conditions for the e+ploration of the other 2( blocks.

7onsidering the serious nature of the o2ser"ations made 2 the 7omptroller and /uditor %eneral (7/%) on

the gross misuse of the agricultural de2t wai"er and de2t relief schemes* the Reser"e &an# of India on 6 1arch* has as#ed all scheduled commercial 2an#s and local area 2an#s to underta#e a complete "erification of the list of 2eneficiaries with priorit 2eing gi"en to areas where inde2tedness was high. #he RBI has told them to fi+ the accountability on those officials

involved in the administrativeHaccounting lapses. Banks have been asked not to spare the internal auditors and statutory auditors who were responsible for verification, certification, or for passing the claims. #hey must be identified, and full responsibility fi+ed at the earliest with no e+ceptions, the bank said. #he ape+ bank said debt waiverHdebt relief certificates must be issued in all eligible cases immediately, and full records of such issuance must be kept ready for inspection. For effective monitoring of the action being taken, the RBI has asked banks to report it on a monthly basis, latest 'th of every month so that the government would be informed accordingly. 'he 7/% in a report has pointed out that se"eral ineligi2le farmers had a"ailed themsel"es of the 2enefits under the go"ernment;s much0 pu2lished Rs.52* 000 crore farm loan wa"er scheme.

1u#esh /m2ani retained his title as the richest person of India for the si3th consecuti"e ear with the net

worth of 21.5 2illion US +ollars, according to the annual rankings pu2lished 2 !or2es on = 1arch 201.. 'he richest man in the world for fourth time in a row was 1e3ican 2usiness t coon 7arlos Slim with the net worth of -. 2illion US +ollars. In the overall list of the billionaires of the world, .ukesh !mbani was ranked at number ((. Dakshmi .ittal, on the other hand was ranked at <*st position with the net worth of *&.% billion -S Collars. 'he first in the list was 7arlos Slim* followed 2 &ill %ates with the net worth of &' billion -S Collars, Spain"s !mancio Ertega with net worth of %' billion -S Collars, 7arren Buffett with the net worth of %2.% billion -S Collars and Darry 9llison with the net worth of <2 billion -S Collars. ! total of %% billionaires from India appeared on the list of *<(& people from the world who have a minimum net worth of * billion -S Collars. !mong Indians, .ukesh !mbani as well as Dakshmi .ittal was followed by !@im rem/i, Cilip Shanghvi, Shashi 4 Ravi Ruia, Mumar .angalam Birla, Savitri 5indal, Sunil .ittal, Shiv >adar, M Singh and !nil !mbani.

!ailure to pa e3cise dut and ser"ice ta3 could lead to arrest of defaulters , as per the provisions proposed in the 6hidambaram in the Dok Sabha on < .arch. !s per the provisions, offences relating to

Finance Bill ()*2 introduced by finance minister

e+cise and customs duty evasion of over Rs %) lakh would be made cogni@able and non$bailable. Similarly in case of service ta+, the failure to deposit the ta+ amount e+ceeding Rs %) lakh with the government would result in imprisonment up to seven years.

1ore than Rs .1*900 crore was recei"ed 2 o"er 6$*000 4%?s operating in different parts of the countr

during 200$011* Ra/ya Sabha was informed on & .arch. .inister of State for ,ome .ullappally Ramachandra also said that registration of <,*23 >8Es was cancelled under Foreign 6ontribution 0Regulation1 !ct, ()*) for violating e+isting guidelines, while (< cases were referred to 6BI for investigation.

! 6hennai Bengaluru Industrial 6orridor Being lanned #he Finance .inister,

6hidambaram in his Budget speech in Dok

Sabha on (3 February, said that the +elhi 1um2ai Industrial 7orridor (+1I7) proDect has made rapid progress . lans for seven new cities have been finali@ed and work on two new smart industrial cities at Cholera, 8u/arat and Shendra Bidkin, .aharashtra will start during ()*2$*<. 7e acknowledge the support of the 8overnment of 5apan. In order to dispel any doubt about funding, #he 8overnment will provide, if re=uired, additional funds during ()*2$*< within the share of the 8overnment of India in the overall outlay for the pro/ect. 'he +epartment of Industrial ,olic and ,romotion (+I,,) and the Japan International 7ooperation /genc (JI7/) are

currentl preparing a comprehensi"e plan for the 7hennai &engaluru Industrial 7orridor. 'he corridor will 2e de"eloped in colla2oration with the %o"ernments of 'amil 4adu* /ndhra ,radesh and Garnata#a. 'he ne+t corridor will be the Bengaluru .umbai Industrial 6orridor on which preparatory work has stared.

'he Securities and 53change &oard of India (S5&I) on 1 1arch issued detailed guidelines allowing receipts into eAuit shares of the Issuer 7ompan and "ice0"ersa. ICRs are

shareholders to con"ert their depositor

generally instruments denominated in rupees and allow overseas companies to raise funds from the Indian market. It stipulated that ICRs would be redeemable into underlying e=uity shares after completion of one year period from the date of listing them and the issuer will provide two$way fungibility of ICRs. 'his mo"e is e3pected to attract more foreign companies to 2e listed on Indian 2ourses. So far only the -M$based banking ma/or Standard 6hartered D6 was listed as an ICR.

Apr 2013-04-29

,resident ,rana21u#herDee on $ /pril* has conferred the status of B1iniratna 0 7ategor

1B on the 4orth

5astern 5lectric ,ower 7orporation (4eepco). 7ith this elevation to .iniratna $ 6ategory * status, >eepco will now be able to take certain investment decisions on its own without going through the -nion power ministry. 4eepco was earlier a schedule B/B corporation.>eepco officials said the new status will facilitate e+peditious e+ecution of pro/ects, including /oint venture with public and private sector utilities in and outside the northeast. 4eepco has 2een pla ing a pi"otal role in the power sector of the region and has 2een contri2uting to almost 50 per cent of the power reAuirement of the northeast. Efficials said >eepco is planning to add (,2)) .7 of power in the ne+t five years through hydro and thermal pro/ects in order to meet the rising demand. resently >eepco is e+ecuting five pro/ects in the region with a total installed capacity of :*' .7, including the &)) .7 Gameng < dro 5lectric ,roDects in /runachal ,radesh* which is e+pected to be on the national grid by ()*&$*'. #he remaining four pro/ects are e+ected to be commissioned by ()*&.

'he /sian +e"elopment &an# (/+&)* on 9 /pril* maintained that the Indian econom

could grow at an

impro"ed rate of 6 per cent during the current fiscal , provided reforms are put in place at a faster pace to sort out the structural bottlenecks and stem the deteriorating investment situation and a strong e+ternal demand is able to facilitate a turnaround in the worsening current account deficit 06!C1.In its report F!sian Cevelopment Eutlook ()*2 released in >ew Celhi, the .anila$based multilateral lending agency, however, cautioned that its India pro/ections on improvement in the economy were sub/ect to a number of downside risks such as another bad monsoon, a slow pace of reforms and fiscal consolidation and a continued sluggishness in the global economic environment. !ccording to /+& 7ountr +irector 4arhari Rao , supply and policy obstacles have seen Indias economic growth decelerate and

investment and industrial output slump, with the statistics compounded by weak global demand.

'ata 7onsultanc Ser"ices ('7S)* on 9 /pril* announced that it had signed definiti"e agreements to acAuire

100 per cent eAuit in /lti S/* an I' ser"ices compan in !rance. #he deal, valued at '% million euro 0around Rs.%2) crore1, is an all$cash transaction, #6S said in a statement. #he deal is sub/ect to customary closing conditions. !lti S! has strong e+pertise in I# Services, including enterprise solutions, assurance and 6R. solutions. It is privately held, and owned by its management and two private e=uity funds, 6.$6I6 DBE artners and ICI. It reported revenues of *(& million euro in ()*(, and its customers include top French corporations in the banking, financial services, lu+ury, manufacturing and utilities sectors. !lti has *,()) employees based in France, Belgium and Swit@erland. #he France I# services market is estimated at 2) billion euro. #6S has been operating there since *::(. It has over %) clients in France and has significantly strengthened its position there.

'he !ood 7orporation of India (!7I) raised 5000 crore Rupees 2

issuing ta3a2le 2onds 2ac#ed 2

%o"ernment of India %uarantee in order to meet the additional wor#ing capital reAuirement. #he issue of bonds was opened on (* .arch ()*2 and closed on (( .arch ()*2. #hese bonds are of two tenures$ *) years 02)) crore Rupees1 and *% years 0<')) crore Rupees1. #he coupon rate for *) years was 3.&( percent per annum and 3.3) percent per annum for *% years. Food 6orporation of India 0F6I1 has the 6ash 6redit Dimit with 6onsortium of &( banks. !t present, the 6ash 6redit Dimit is %<<:% crore Rupees which is secured by mortgaging entire stock of F6I and guaranteed by 8overnment of India. !t present, the interest rate on 6ash 6redit Dimit is *).': percent monthly which eventually translates into **.2< on annual basis. !nnual interest saving through issue of this bond will be *('.%< crore Rupees.

'he Forld 'rade ?rgani9ation (F'?) on 10 /pril* slashed its forecast for trade growth in 201.* sa ing it

feared protectionism was on the increase. It cut its forecast for glo2al trade growth in 201. to ... per cent from =.5 per cent and said trade grew onl 2 per cent in 2012 .#hat was the smallest annual rise since records began in *:3* and the second weakest figure on record after ()):, when trade shrank. F'? +irector %eneral ,ascal :am warned that ()*2 could turn out even weaker than e+pected, especially because of risks from the euro crisis, and countries might try to restrict trade further in a desperate attempt to shore up domestic growth.

'he 7a2inet 7ommittee on 5conomic /ffairs (775/) on = /pril 201. decided to de0control sugar and did awa

the le" on sugar mills and regulated release mechanism. 'his de0control will raise the su2sid 2urden to 5.00 crore rupees from pre"ious 2-00 crore rupees. Ce$control on sugar will not have an impact on the sugar made available in the ublic

Cistribution System. #he de$control of sugar will abolish the rule for sugar mills that makes it mandatory for sugar millers to sell sugar to the 8overnment at a discounted price as well as the limitation on the amount they choose to sell in the open market .

/ 1emorandum of Understanding (1?U) was signed on = /pril* in 'hiru"ananthapuram* Gerala 2etween of India :imited (S/I:)* and %o"ernment of Gerala ,S5s* Gerala State Industrial +e"elopment

Steel /uthorit

7orporation (GSI+7) and Gerala 1inerals and 1etals :td (G11:)* for setting up a 'itanium ,roDect in Joint Lenture in Gerala. 'he 1?U was signed in the presence of the 7hief 1inister of Gerala* ?ommen 7hand and the 1inister for

Industries 6 I'* Gerala* M Munhalikutty and Special Secretary 4 Financial !dvisor of .inistry of Steel, 9.M. Bharat Bhushan, and S/I: 7hairman* 7.S. Lerma. #hrough this .E-, possibilities of setting up of the #itanium ro/ect in 5oint Venture in Merala will be e+plored by S!ID and MSIC64 M..D, in a phased manner. #o begin with in hase *, setting up of a #itanium Sponge and .etal lant based on supply of #itanium #etrachloride by M..D will be considered. In subse=uent phases, backward and forward integration will be e+plored for ensuring long term viability of the pro/ect. 'his will 2e the another maDor titanium proDect in the state of Gerala* after the 4ation;s first titanium sponge plant was put up at G11:;s 7ha"ara comple3 in Gerala 2etween G11:* Li#ram Sara2hai Space 7entre (LSS7) and the +efence 1etallurgical Research :a2orator in the ear 2011.

Union 'ourism 1inister G 7hiranDee"i on . /pril launched a we2 2ased ,u2lic Ser"ice +eli"er S stem for in granting appro"als for hotel proDects and

<otel appro"al and classification with a "iew to 2ring in transparenc

classification status to functioning hotels. Speaking on the occasion the .inister said that with the help of this system, all applicants seeking hotel pro/ect approvals, hotel classification and approvals for other related services will be able to track the progress of their cases online on a real time basis. ,e said RBy putting this system in place, there will be a pressure on the officers of the .inistry to deliver on time and an increased accountability on their part. >ow onwards, all applications will have to be e+amined within *% working days from receipt for completeness. #hereafter, all hotel inspections will be scheduled within ne+t *% working days. #he recommendations of ,otel and Restaurants !pproval 4 6lassification 6ommittee will be communicated on the spot to the applicant and these recommendations will also be put on web with final decision within *) days of the inspectionS. #he .inister stated that in due course, the #ourism .inistry would move towards an e$regime and accept e$applications and proposals. #he .inistry of #ourism will now erect such systems in other spheres of functioning also. 6hiran/eevi urged his officers in the .inistry and industry to work in Fone vision one mission framework >akul !nand, resident, ,otel !ssociation of India? Vivek >air, resident, Federation of ,otels 4 Restaurants !ssociation of India and Rakesh .athur, 9+ecutive 6ommittee .ember, ,eritage ,otels !ssociation of India also spoke on the occasion and lauded the efforts of the .inistry and stated that this is a path breaking initiative taken by the .inistry of #ourism to bring transparency in its functioning. #his measure will bring in more transparency, make officials more accountable in working and enable the applicants to access information and check status of their applications sitting at their own places.

'he 7a2inet 7ommittee on 5conomic /ffairs(775/) on 2 /pril 201. appro"ed the proposal of the 1inistr of

<ome /ffairs for continuation of the Scheme for Special Infrastructure (SIS) in :eft Fing 53tremism (:F5) affected states during the 12th ,lan period. #he proposal includes an added ob/ective of up gradation and critical gap filling of training infrastructure, residential infrastructure, weaponry, vehicles and any other related items pertaining to Special Forces of D79 affected states. #he total cost would be 2'2 crore rupees comprising (3) crore rupees as central government share and :2 crore rupees as state government share on a '% 0central1A (% 0state1 funding pattern. #he scheme will enhance the security in the region which would provide an enabling environment for development. #he scheme was being implemented from the year ())3$): with the broad ob/ective to ade=uately provide for critical infrastructure re=uirements that are critical to the policing and security needs in the field, but are not ade=uately or otherwise provided for in any other scheme. Curing the **th lan period *)) percent funding was provided by the 6entral 8overnment to the : D79 affected states for implementing various pro/ects under the scheme. #he total funds were released under the scheme by the central government to the : D79 affected states during the **th lan period is <<%.3( crore rupees.