Thursday 5 November 2009
Wipro buys part of Yardley retail business for $45 mn
Bangalore, Nov 5 (IANS) Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting,
the FMCG arm of the IT bellwether, Thursday announced the
acquisition of Yardley personal care business in Asia, Middle
East, Australasia and some African markets from the British
based Lornamead group for $45.5 million (Rs. 214 crore).
‘The acquisition of Yardley business is on run-rate
basis of $24 million for this fiscal (FY 2010),’ the
company said in a regulatory filing.
The transaction is expected to be completed by
mid-December.
Lornamead, which bought Yardley from Procter & Gamble
in 2005, will retain Yardley business in Europe and Americas.
The 239-year-old Yardley is a strong heritage global brand
in the personal care with fragrance products, bath and
shower products and skin care.
‘The brand has a strong equity globally in markets, including
Asia, Middle East, Australasia and Africa,’ the company said
in a statement later.
IMF says it got 'good price' for gold from India
|
WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund, which
sold 200 tonnes of gold for about $6.7 billion to the
Reserve Bank of India, on Wednesday said
it got a "good price," and wants to be similarly
"lucky" in the next phase sale of the precious metal.
The sale price of gold to the RBI is expected to be
under $1,045 per ounce, nearly $200 per ounce
higher than what it would have been anticipated
in mid-September, a senior IMF official told
reporters in a teleconference.
When the IMF Executive Board at its meeting on
September 18 announced to sell 403.3 tonnes of gold
-- one-eighth of the Fund's total holding --
the prevailing market price of the bullion at that
time was about $850 an ounce.
"Obviously, it's a good price relative to the original
assumptions," the IMF official said.
The IMF, in pursuance of the decisions taken at the
G-20 summit in London, had decided to sell about
403.3 tonnes of gold to shore up its finances so that
it can lend money to the poor countries at concessional rates.
"Of course, this is only half the sale that we
have completed, so we don't want to get ahead
of ourselves. We still have another half to go.
I hope we'll still be lucky," he said.
The official said the good price received for its
gold from India would certainly help the multilateral
lending agency to meet its target of stepping up
financing to poor countries.
WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund, which
sold 200 tonnes of gold for about $6.7 billion to the
Reserve Bank of India, on Wednesday said
it got a "good price," and wants to be similarly
"lucky" in the next phase sale of the precious metal.
The sale price of gold to the RBI is expected to be
under $1,045 per ounce, nearly $200 per ounce
higher than what it would have been anticipated
in mid-September, a senior IMF official told
reporters in a teleconference.
When the IMF Executive Board at its meeting on
September 18 announced to sell 403.3 tonnes of gold
-- one-eighth of the Fund's total holding --
the prevailing market price of the bullion at that
time was about $850 an ounce.
"Obviously, it's a good price relative to the original
assumptions," the IMF official said.
The IMF, in pursuance of the decisions taken at the
G-20 summit in London, had decided to sell about
403.3 tonnes of gold to shore up its finances so that
it can lend money to the poor countries at concessional rates.
"Of course, this is only half the sale that we
have completed, so we don't want to get ahead
of ourselves. We still have another half to go.
I hope we'll still be lucky," he said.
The official said the good price received for its
gold from India would certainly help the multilateral
lending agency to meet its target of stepping up
financing to poor countries.
RBI buys 200 mt gold from IMF to pump up reserves' value
MUMBAI: The purchase of 200 tonnes of gold from
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by the Reserve
Bank of India will not just diversify the
country’s foreign exchange reserves but also boost
of the value of the reserves.
On Tuesday, RBI announced that it had concluded
the purchase of 200 metric tonne of gold from the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), under the Fund’s
limited gold sales programme. The central bank said
that it was an official sector off-market transaction
and was executed over a two-week period during
October 19-30, 2009 at market-based prices.
Gold prices have been moving up faster than the majo
r global currencies — which is expected to boost the
value of the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
This is the first time that the Reserve Bank has bought
such a large amount of gold globally. Interestingly,
the market import of gold has dipped sharply this year
on account of high international prices and low demand.
Years ago, confiscated smuggled gold used to be assigned to RBI vaults.
However, with the opening up of the economy,
gold smuggling has virtually stopped. For many
year’s the central bank gold holdings remained
constant at about 11.5 million troy ounce accounting
for 4% its reserves worth $285 billion now.
The recent purchase of close to 6.5 million troy ounce
would raise the share of gold in India’s foreign exchange
reserves to about 6%. The gold is valued at the month end
closing price on the London bullion exchange.
With international gold prices touching a new high every
day, this part of the reserves has seen a sharp appreciation.
In the month of September, reserves rose $485 million only
on account of the rise in valuation of gold in reserves.
In its official release, IMF has said that the total sales
proceeds are equivalent to US$ 6.7 billion or SDR 4.2 billion.
MD Dominique Strauss-Kahn indicated that the proceeds from
the gold sale will help the Fund, step up much-needed
concessional lending to the poorest countries.
As for the central bank, there is no official communication
either being the intent of such a move or its plans for the
purchased gold. But experts say the move could help the
central bank diversify its reserves and would not have
a significant impact on the overall foreign exchange
reserves position, said a former top RBI official.
This is because these purchases are reckoned to be
carried out from the $4.8 billion worth SDR allocation
that the RBI had obtained from the Fund earlier this year.
The IMF had allocated $4.8 billion by way of general
allocation of special drawing rights (SDR) — the reserve
currency with the IMF — in August this year as part of its
SDR 161.2 billion package allocated to member countries.
The value of SDR is a weighted average of a basket of
currencies which includes the US dollar,
the Sterling pound, the yen and the euro.
The weightage to each currency which is revised
at regular intervals depends on their prevailing
relative importance in the global markets.
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by the Reserve
Bank of India will not just diversify the
country’s foreign exchange reserves but also boost
of the value of the reserves.
On Tuesday, RBI announced that it had concluded
the purchase of 200 metric tonne of gold from the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), under the Fund’s
limited gold sales programme. The central bank said
that it was an official sector off-market transaction
and was executed over a two-week period during
October 19-30, 2009 at market-based prices.
Gold prices have been moving up faster than the majo
r global currencies — which is expected to boost the
value of the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
This is the first time that the Reserve Bank has bought
such a large amount of gold globally. Interestingly,
the market import of gold has dipped sharply this year
on account of high international prices and low demand.
Years ago, confiscated smuggled gold used to be assigned to RBI vaults.
However, with the opening up of the economy,
gold smuggling has virtually stopped. For many
year’s the central bank gold holdings remained
constant at about 11.5 million troy ounce accounting
for 4% its reserves worth $285 billion now.
The recent purchase of close to 6.5 million troy ounce
would raise the share of gold in India’s foreign exchange
reserves to about 6%. The gold is valued at the month end
closing price on the London bullion exchange.
With international gold prices touching a new high every
day, this part of the reserves has seen a sharp appreciation.
In the month of September, reserves rose $485 million only
on account of the rise in valuation of gold in reserves.
In its official release, IMF has said that the total sales
proceeds are equivalent to US$ 6.7 billion or SDR 4.2 billion.
MD Dominique Strauss-Kahn indicated that the proceeds from
the gold sale will help the Fund, step up much-needed
concessional lending to the poorest countries.
As for the central bank, there is no official communication
either being the intent of such a move or its plans for the
purchased gold. But experts say the move could help the
central bank diversify its reserves and would not have
a significant impact on the overall foreign exchange
reserves position, said a former top RBI official.
This is because these purchases are reckoned to be
carried out from the $4.8 billion worth SDR allocation
that the RBI had obtained from the Fund earlier this year.
The IMF had allocated $4.8 billion by way of general
allocation of special drawing rights (SDR) — the reserve
currency with the IMF — in August this year as part of its
SDR 161.2 billion package allocated to member countries.
The value of SDR is a weighted average of a basket of
currencies which includes the US dollar,
the Sterling pound, the yen and the euro.
The weightage to each currency which is revised
at regular intervals depends on their prevailing
relative importance in the global markets.
Land disputes is costing India 100 Billion Dollars of Investment !
by Arun Prabhudesai
We very well know the story of Tata Nano Land Dispute.
What was West Bengal’s loss though was Gujarat’s profit.
Nano’s are now coming out of the state.
However, most of the projects are not as lucky as Nano
to get a Land replacement. Did you know that 70% of total
190 projects that were supposed to be implemented have
been stalled due to Land acquisition related disputes.
The ECO Pulse study by ASSOCHAM has revealed this
startling fact.
Most of these projects are basically International companies
needing to set their shop in India.
For e.g: 22 major steel projects in the country worth
USD 82 billion are being held up because of procedural
delays in obtaining environmental impact assessment
clearance and delays in land acquisition mainly due
to public protests. One such project – Arcelor Mittal
which nearly pulled out of building 2 steel plants that
would pump close to USD 20 billion.
The reason – They were unable to acquire land
in Jharkhand and Orissa.
The study also revealed that, there are currently
18 strangled projects of India Inc to the tune
of Rs.244,815.5 crore (Rs.2.45 trillion) remained
on papers, in the form of memorandum of
understanding (MoU) and agreements over
the past three-four years.
If at all these projects had been implemented,
it would have created Jobs for 164,000 people
directly and 270,000 people indirectly !
Although, I do understand that it is important for
farmers to safeguard their lands – But the
compensation offerings are very much in line
with Market & Real Estate conditions.
I am not pointing here that Farmers should get a
raw deal – Its their land, they have right to
decide what to do with their lands.
What I do not understand here is why is
government not intervening.
This is a win-win situation.
If Indian Government takes these
projects seriously, I am sure there
are plenty of solutions available
to overcome these Land disputes.
What is your take?
We very well know the story of Tata Nano Land Dispute.
What was West Bengal’s loss though was Gujarat’s profit.
Nano’s are now coming out of the state.
However, most of the projects are not as lucky as Nano
to get a Land replacement. Did you know that 70% of total
190 projects that were supposed to be implemented have
been stalled due to Land acquisition related disputes.
The ECO Pulse study by ASSOCHAM has revealed this
startling fact.
Most of these projects are basically International companies
needing to set their shop in India.
For e.g: 22 major steel projects in the country worth
USD 82 billion are being held up because of procedural
delays in obtaining environmental impact assessment
clearance and delays in land acquisition mainly due
to public protests. One such project – Arcelor Mittal
which nearly pulled out of building 2 steel plants that
would pump close to USD 20 billion.
The reason – They were unable to acquire land
in Jharkhand and Orissa.
The study also revealed that, there are currently
18 strangled projects of India Inc to the tune
of Rs.244,815.5 crore (Rs.2.45 trillion) remained
on papers, in the form of memorandum of
understanding (MoU) and agreements over
the past three-four years.
If at all these projects had been implemented,
it would have created Jobs for 164,000 people
directly and 270,000 people indirectly !
Although, I do understand that it is important for
farmers to safeguard their lands – But the
compensation offerings are very much in line
with Market & Real Estate conditions.
I am not pointing here that Farmers should get a
raw deal – Its their land, they have right to
decide what to do with their lands.
What I do not understand here is why is
government not intervening.
This is a win-win situation.
If Indian Government takes these
projects seriously, I am sure there
are plenty of solutions available
to overcome these Land disputes.
What is your take?
SPECIAL COURT FOR "SATYAM CASE TRAIL" G.O. NO. 100
By : PJANARDHANA REDDY
The Andhra Pradesh government on 3rd Nov ’09 issued G.O NO. 100 for
setting up a special court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate
to try the case of multi-crore rupee scam in Satyam Computer Service
The state Cabinet, at its meeting on October 29, approved
the setting up of a special court based on the request of the
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the recommendation
of the high court to ensure a speedy trial of the Satyam case.
Accordingly, state Legislative Affairs and Justice Department
secretary R Ramachandra Reddy issued an order today for
setting up the special court.
Required staff for the special court and expenditure would
be Rs.31.60 laks/year the order stated.
In January, Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju admitted to
cooking up the company's account books for several years,
revealing one of the biggest scams in the Indian corporate history.
The CBI, which took over the investigations into the Satyam
scandal in February, filed the chargesheet against Ramalinga
Raju and others in the 14th additional chief metropolitan
magistrate court. Besides CBI, SFIO and SEBI were also
investigating the Satyam fraud.
The CBI had written a letter to the AP government and the
AP High Court requesting that a special court be established
to try to the Satyam case.
Monday 2 November 2009
India Investigates Former CM Who Stashed Money In Malaysia
November 02, 2009 16:28 PM
By P. Vijian
NEW DELHI, -- A former chief minister is under probe by the Indian
Income Tax Department for siphoning money from the country and
stashing it in Malaysia and other foreign banks,
By P. Vijian
NEW DELHI, -- A former chief minister is under probe by the Indian
Income Tax Department for siphoning money from the country and
stashing it in Malaysia and other foreign banks,
through the
age-old Mumbai-based 'hawala' operators.
The 'hawala' system pertains to the transfer of money through
a network of brokers.
"We have seized documents relating to investments and money sent to Dubai,
Thailand, Malaysia and other foreign countries," Ujjwalkumar Chaudhary,
investigating officer with the tax office, the Pioneer newspaper reported
him as telling the media.
The 38-year-old suspect, who was a former chief minister of Jharkhand,
is under scrutiny for multi-million corruption while he was in power --
largely for stashing black money to the tune of US$100 million
(RM350 million) in overseas banks -- using the age-old hawala
system (transfer of money through a network of brokers).
Another charge slapped against the politician was the procurement
of mines in Liberia, under the name of his close associates, worth
nearly US$1.7 million (RM5 million), while he was the state's mines
and geology minister between 2003-2006, added the paper.
The former chief minister -- currently an independent member
of parliament in his native village -- is being investigated under
the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The suspect was a son of a labourer from a remote village in Jharkhand,
and had also worked as a labourer before embracing politics.
During the ongoing investigation last Saturday, tax officers raided
70 premises, mostly linked to the politician, in eight Indian cities.
There, sleuths unearthed voluminous documents relating to bank
transactions and seized computer peripherals.
According to preliminary investigations,
age-old Mumbai-based 'hawala' operators.
The 'hawala' system pertains to the transfer of money through
a network of brokers.
"We have seized documents relating to investments and money sent to Dubai,
Thailand, Malaysia and other foreign countries," Ujjwalkumar Chaudhary,
investigating officer with the tax office, the Pioneer newspaper reported
him as telling the media.
The 38-year-old suspect, who was a former chief minister of Jharkhand,
is under scrutiny for multi-million corruption while he was in power --
largely for stashing black money to the tune of US$100 million
(RM350 million) in overseas banks -- using the age-old hawala
system (transfer of money through a network of brokers).
Another charge slapped against the politician was the procurement
of mines in Liberia, under the name of his close associates, worth
nearly US$1.7 million (RM5 million), while he was the state's mines
and geology minister between 2003-2006, added the paper.
The former chief minister -- currently an independent member
of parliament in his native village -- is being investigated under
the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The suspect was a son of a labourer from a remote village in Jharkhand,
and had also worked as a labourer before embracing politics.
During the ongoing investigation last Saturday, tax officers raided
70 premises, mostly linked to the politician, in eight Indian cities.
There, sleuths unearthed voluminous documents relating to bank
transactions and seized computer peripherals.
According to preliminary investigations,
the politician had investments
worth nearly US$300 million (RM1 billion)
worth nearly US$300 million (RM1 billion)
in local companies, as well.
His corrupt activities were exposed after the state government began to
investigate the politician since last month, for amassing wealth,
which was disproportionate to his known source of income.
His corrupt activities were exposed after the state government began to
investigate the politician since last month, for amassing wealth,
which was disproportionate to his known source of income.
RBI asks Banks to Higher Provision For NPAs
28-10-09
New Delhi: The Reserve Bank’s decision to ask banks to keep
higher provisioning for non-performing assets means that banks
now have to make an additional
provisioning of Rs 13,000 crore
till September end next year, rating agency Crisil said.
“Crisil estimates that the proposed
minimum coverage for
NPAs will mean that banks now
have to make an additional
provisioning of Rs 130 billion
till end-September 2010,”
the rating agency said in a release.
Its estimate is based on the NPAs reported by banks
as on March 31, 2009.
The NPAs were at 2.3 per cent of
system advances, while the NPA coverage was
around 55 per cent as on that date.
Yesterday, in its quarterly policy review,
Reserve Bank has asked banks
to ensure that their provision coverage
ratio reaches 70 per cent
by September end 2010.
Provision coverage ratio
is the percentage of loan
that a bank would lose if it
has to write off that account.
Crisil said that the measure will
enhance the resilience
of the banking system to absorb loan losses.
However, it will also lead to a decline in the sectors
profitability over the near term.
The measure should also increase
the consistency in banks
provisioning for NPAs and facilitate
a more meaningful
comparison of their profits, the rating agency said.
New Delhi: The Reserve Bank’s decision to ask banks to keep
higher provisioning for non-performing assets means that banks
now have to make an additional
provisioning of Rs 13,000 crore
till September end next year, rating agency Crisil said.
“Crisil estimates that the proposed
minimum coverage for
NPAs will mean that banks now
have to make an additional
provisioning of Rs 130 billion
till end-September 2010,”
the rating agency said in a release.
Its estimate is based on the NPAs reported by banks
as on March 31, 2009.
The NPAs were at 2.3 per cent of
system advances, while the NPA coverage was
around 55 per cent as on that date.
Yesterday, in its quarterly policy review,
Reserve Bank has asked banks
to ensure that their provision coverage
ratio reaches 70 per cent
by September end 2010.
Provision coverage ratio
is the percentage of loan
that a bank would lose if it
has to write off that account.
Crisil said that the measure will
enhance the resilience
of the banking system to absorb loan losses.
However, it will also lead to a decline in the sectors
profitability over the near term.
The measure should also increase
the consistency in banks
provisioning for NPAs and facilitate
a more meaningful
comparison of their profits, the rating agency said.
Doing Business in India is even tougher than in Pakistan, SriLanka or Nepal
by Sriram Vadlamani
Now that does not sound very positive, is it?
India touted as the next world super power is
unfriendly to entrepreneurs who want to setup
shop in India, so much so that war ravaged,
terrorism prone, unsettled political economy
like Pakistan ranks much above India.
Doing business in India is tough…really tough !
World Bank has released the latest rankings
for 2009 for doing business in several countries
. India not surprisingly is languishing at a
ranking of 122. This is a slip of 2 ranks from 2007.
That should not come as a surprise because it has
been a while since India has gone through any major
reforms. Other intriguing facts are all our neighbors
(including Pakistan) of the sub-continent have done
remarkably well. Sri Lanka has led the way in the
sub-continent with some major reforms.
This report is extremely important because
, FDI’s and private equity groups follow it carefully
to park their investments.
The main reason for India slipping is because
most of the African nations have gone through
major reforms and thus broke through the rankings.
India did not focus on any reforms since the repor
t was published in 2008. Other factors for India’s
downslide are the number of tax payments required
by the companies and the inefficiency of court system
to resolve any legal matters.
impact on banks' profits over the short term
Mumbai: Tighter provisioning norms announced by the Reserve
Bank in its policy review last week could have a significant
impact on banks' profits over the short term, Moody's said
in a note on Monday.
Banks with a low provision cover ratio combined with
low core Tier 1 capital could face a downward
rating pressure, it added.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tightened banks' provisioning
requirements, increasing them to 1 percent from 0.4 percent for
loans related to commercial real-estate classified as standard.
The RBI also set up a minimum of 70 for the banks'
non-performing loans (NPL) provision cover ratios to
be met by September 2010.
Moody's said these measures suggest that the RBI is worried
about a potential increase in bad loans, particularly given the
significant build-up of restructured loans and in view of the large
increase in credit to the commercial real estate sector
over the last year.
While these measures will increase banks' buffer to absorb
eventual loan losses, higher credit costs could dent their
bottom lines, it said.
In some cases where this ratio is currently around or even less
than 50 percent, the short-term impact on profits could be
significant, as there is less than a year to comply with the
70 percent requirement, it added.
The Reserve Bank of India will soon issue guidelines on
meeting provisioning rules and some banks have sought
time to meet them,
its deputy governor Shyamala Gopinath said on Friday.
Moody's also said in the note that the Reserve Bank's
decision to keep its key rates unchanged at the policy
review and a hike in the proportion of deposits banks have
to invest in approved government securities will have no
short-term credit implications for banks.
Bank in its policy review last week could have a significant
impact on banks' profits over the short term, Moody's said
in a note on Monday.
Banks with a low provision cover ratio combined with
low core Tier 1 capital could face a downward
rating pressure, it added.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tightened banks' provisioning
requirements, increasing them to 1 percent from 0.4 percent for
loans related to commercial real-estate classified as standard.
The RBI also set up a minimum of 70 for the banks'
non-performing loans (NPL) provision cover ratios to
be met by September 2010.
Moody's said these measures suggest that the RBI is worried
about a potential increase in bad loans, particularly given the
significant build-up of restructured loans and in view of the large
increase in credit to the commercial real estate sector
over the last year.
While these measures will increase banks' buffer to absorb
eventual loan losses, higher credit costs could dent their
bottom lines, it said.
In some cases where this ratio is currently around or even less
than 50 percent, the short-term impact on profits could be
significant, as there is less than a year to comply with the
70 percent requirement, it added.
The Reserve Bank of India will soon issue guidelines on
meeting provisioning rules and some banks have sought
time to meet them,
its deputy governor Shyamala Gopinath said on Friday.
Moody's also said in the note that the Reserve Bank's
decision to keep its key rates unchanged at the policy
review and a hike in the proportion of deposits banks have
to invest in approved government securities will have no
short-term credit implications for banks.
Sunday 1 November 2009
India sees Pakistani hand in fake note flood
NEW DELHI — When India's central bank
admitted discovering 400,000 fake notes
in its currency reserves,
many here woke up to the scale of the
country's counterfeit money problems.
Worse still, the embarrassing admission related
to a survey from the last financial year to March 2009
and authorities say the problem has since got worse.
Police and the central bank have observed a tripling
in the value of notes detected or seized in raids in recent
years and authorities are convinced the source of the
deluge is a familiar foe across the border: Pakistan.
"We have had some success in
tracking the routes and will
continue to counter it, but behind
this racket is an organised
effort in Pakistan and PoK
(Pakistan-administered Kashmir),"
Home Minister P. Chidamabaram said recently.
"It's not just a cottage industry."
Hardly a day passes without news of arrests
of currency smugglers, but police say they are
only catching the small-fry racketeers while the
big fish printers act with impunity over the border.
Many locals here complain of withdrawing fake notes
from bank machines and ever-vigilant shopkeepers
routinely check the water marks that are meant
to protect the larger denomination 500 and 1,000-rupee notes.
A report this year by
the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI),
a state body that tracks money flows,
said counterfeit currency was brought in
by militants from abroad and then moved
through criminal networks.
The DRI said that 130 million high-quality
counterfeit notes were being smuggled
into India every year and only a fraction were detected.
The security establishment is now clamouring
for more scrutiny of India's banking system
and the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI),
has instructed nationalised banks
to install sorting machines to weed out fakes.
"If the circulation of counterfeit notes was
not checked then the economy could be
running with over 25 percent fake notes
making the rounds across the country,"
analyst Ajai Sahni, executive director
of the Institute for Conflict Managment.
The RBI is also running awareness campaigns,
even educating schoolchildren to detect fake notes,
and plans to introduce a billion special plastic-coated
notes that are tougher to counterfeit.
Federal police say intelligence gleaned from
arrested suspects suggests the existence of
sophisticated printing presses in Pakistan under
the control of the Inter Services Intelligence agency.
"The ISI prints them in Pakistan, supplies them to
agents in Nepal and Bangladesh, who identify
Indians willing to take the risk of circulating
fake notes," said Sahni.
The quality of the fakes varies from
amateurish to extremely sophisticated.
"You cannot expect a local bank clerk to detect
sophisticated fakes," an intelligence officer told AFP,
asking not to be named.
Police and other agencies seized six million
dollars in fake notes in 2008, nearly triple
the amount seized in 2007 and a majority
of the counterfeit notes were the
500-rupee bill (10 dollars), police figures show.
The RBI said in its last report that the value
of counterfeit notes detected in the banking
channels was over three million dollars in 2008-09,
triple the amount detected in 2007-08.
Some fear that if fake currency continues to increase
at this rate, it will damage the economy.
Economists suggest consumers' trust in
the rupee could be undermined, while
at the central bank complain that fake currency
complicates their deliberations about interest rates.
"The rising trend of fake notes in the market poses
a threat to the economy. Policies, inflation are based
on monetary calculations -- all of which can go wrong
due to fakes," said a policymaker
at the RBI who declined to be named.
K.P. Singh, a police officer in the central
state of Madhya Pradesh who netted
a huge haul in September of 4,000
high-denomination notes was pessimistic
about the possibility of stemming the flow.
"We are arresting the dealers and petty
smugglers operating in India but the
kingpins are based in Pakistan," he told AFP.
"It is in Pakistan the problem
begins and can only be ended there."
Madras varsity funds used as lien to help pvt trust get loan
D Suresh Kumar, TNN 1 November 2009,
CHENNAI: A controversy is raging in the corridors of the
University of Madras over an alleged financial irregularity
in managing funds to the
tune of Rs 5 crore during the previous vice-chancellor
S Ramachandran’s tenure. The matter has now come
under the CBI scanner.
The money, part of a Rs 12-crore deposit
made by the university
in the State Bank of India’s Valasaravakkam branch,
was allegedly put up as lien —
without the knowledge of
university officials —
to help a Bangalore-based private
trust obtain a loan.
When the trust, reportedly managed
by acquaintances of a former DMK Union minister,
defaulted on loan repayment, the bank allegedly
refused to release the deposit (held as lien) on maturity.
While the Madras University Teachers Association has
demanded a probe to ascertain why such a large sum
was transferred from the SBI’s service branch on the
Chepauk campus to the far-off Valasaravakkam branch,
not many past and present senior university officials are
willing to discuss the subject.
However, Ramachandran insisted that the CBI had
given the university a clean chit, and the varsity
had not suffered any loss.
Nonetheless, it is reliably learnt that internal
investigations within the university were stonewalled.
India more prosperous than China !
Posted: 31 Oct 2009 12:42 Most of you must be aware that China’s per capita income (average income of an individual per year) is more than double of India – India’s is close to $3000 whereas, China’s is close to $6000 (after accounting for purchasing power parity). In short, average Chinese citizen makes double the money than average Indian citizen. However, India is more prosperous that China – and that is a fact. In reality, prosperity does not mean only having more money, but there is much more to it including the well-being and freedom of an Individual. Hence, rightly so, India ranks well ahead of China according to the latest Legatum Prosperity Index – Unlike other studies that rank countries by actual levels of wealth, life satisfaction or development, the Prosperity Index produces rankings based upon the very foundations of prosperity – those factors that help drive economic growth and produce happy citizens over the long term. The prosperity Index is derived based on following 9 Factors:
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RBI CIRCULAR ON INOPERATIVE SAVINGS AND CURRENT A/Cs
OCT 31, 2009 RBI
Inoperative Accounts
Please refer to Paragraph 24.2 (iv) of our Master circular
DBOD. No.Leg. BC. 9 / 09.07.006 / 2009-10 dated July 1, 2009
on
‘Customer Service’ in terms of which a
savings as well
‘Customer Service’ in terms of which a
savings as well
as current account should be treated
as inoperative / dormant
as inoperative / dormant
if there are no transactions in the
account for a period over two years.
account for a period over two years.
Further, in terms of Paragraph 24.2 (vi),
for the purpose of classifying
for the purpose of classifying
an account as inoperative, both the types of transactions
i.e., debit as well as credit transactions
induced at the instance
induced at the instance
of customers as well as third party
should be considered.
should be considered.
2. There may be instances where the
customer has given a
customer has given a
mandate for crediting the interest
on Fixed Deposit account
on Fixed Deposit account
to the Savings Bank account
and there are no other operations
and there are no other operations
in the Savings Bank account.
Some doubts have arisen whether
Some doubts have arisen whether
such an account is to be treated as
inoperative account after two years.
inoperative account after two years.
3. In this connection, we clarify that
since the interest on
since the interest on
Fixed Deposit account is credited
to the Savings Bank
to the Savings Bank
accounts as per the mandate
of the customer, the same
of the customer, the same
should be treated as a customer
induced transaction.
induced transaction.
As such, the account should be
treated as operative
treated as operative
account as long as the interest on
Fixed Deposit account is credited to the
Savings Bank account.
Fixed Deposit account is credited to the
Savings Bank account.
The Savings Bank account
can be treated as inoperative
can be treated as inoperative
account only after two years
from the date of the last credit
from the date of the last credit
entry of the interest on Fixed Deposit account.
Yours faithfully,
(B. Mahapatra)
Chief General Manager
Circular Details:-
RBI/2009-10/ 202 DBOD.Leg. No.BC. 55 /09.07.005 /2009-10 Dated: October 30, 2009
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