Wednesday 21 March 2012

ECONOMY CURRENT AFFAIRS MONTHLY 'FEBRUARY' 2012


General Awareness Updates – February 2012
Economy & Business

Yahoo! appointed a new chief executive, poaching Scott Thompson from PayPal to fill the position. Last September Yahoo! sacked Carol Bartz from the job after she failed to revive the internet firm’s sagging fortunes.

Moody’s, a leading global credit rating agency, has upgraded India’s short-term foreign currency rating from speculative to investment grade, a development which will help domestic companies to raise funds from overseas markets at better rates.
Moody’s has upgraded the short-term country ceiling on foreign currency bank deposit increasing from NP (not prime) to Prime (P-3), suggesting acceptable ability to repay short-term obligations. The ‘P-3’ ratings suggest acceptable ability to repay short-term obligations.
The latest upgrade comes just a few weeks after Moody’s had upgraded the credit rating of Indian government’s bonds from speculative to investment grade, a move that was expected to encourage FIIs to increase their exposure in gilts and help companies raise funds from abroad at competitive rates.
On December 20 last year, Moody’s had upgraded short term government bonds denominated in domestic currency from NP not prime to P-3. Moody’s had upgraded rating on long-term government bond denominated in domestic currency from Ba1 to Baa3 or from speculative to investment grade. Besides, the long-term country ceiling on the foreign currency bank deposit was also upgraded from Ba1 to Baa3.
Giving rationale for the upgrade in December, Moody’s had at that side said, "Diverse sources of Indian growth have enhanced its resilience to global shocks". It had added the present slowdown "could reverse sometime in 2012-13, as inflation cools from current 9 per cent levels". 

SAAB has filed for bankruptcy, bringing to an end a two-year effort to rescue the Swedish brand. The final desperate efforts to organise help in China were obstructed by General Motors (GM).
Saab CEO Victor Muller has struggled to put together a deal to save Saab, negotiating in recent months with two Chinese groups, carmaker Youngman and car distribution company Pang Da. But Saab’s former owner GM has repeatedly refused technology licence transfers to the Chinese firms, which spelled the death knell for Saab. The attempts to sell Saab to Chinese partners have been seen as the last chance of saving the Swedish carmaker, which was already on the brink of bankruptcy when GM sold it to Swedish Automobile – at the time called Spyker – in early 2010 for U.S. $400 million. It has been a rocky road since then. The carmaker was forced to halt production in April as suppliers stopped deliveries over mountains of unpaid bills.

Fulfilling a long-standing demand, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh announced a new pension and life insurance scheme for overseas Indian workers that would allow over five million workers, especially those working in the Gulf, to save money for the future.
Announcing the government’s decision to introduce and sponsor the Pension and Life Insurance Fund (PLIF) at the 10th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Dr Singh said the scheme will encourage the overseas workers to voluntarily save money for their resettlement and old age.
The scheme will also provide a low-cost life insurance cover against natural death. Under the scheme, the government will co-contribute '1,000 per annum for all subscribers who contribute between `1,000 and `12,000 per year. Women overseas workers will enjoy a special additional co- contribution of `1000 a year.

The draft Cabinet proposal to give 26 percent stake to Japan in the U.S.$90 billion Delhi—Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project has received an approval from the Ministry of External Affairs. The ambitious DMIC project being piloted by the Industry Ministry envisages establishment of several industrial cities across seven northern and western states.
Japan has evinced interest in picking up the equity stake which will be offloaded by the Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) at the instance of the government.
The two private players together hold 51 per cent stake in the DMIC Development Corporation (DMICDC), a special purpose vehicle for implementing the project. It involves building of industrial enclaves along the Delhi-Mumbai rail corridor, spanning Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
In September, the Union Cabinet had approved equity restructuring of DMICDC and an expenditure of `18,500 crore on development of infrastructure. The project is considered vital for the recently cleared National Manufacturing Policy.

Spain ’s new conservative government, led by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, vowed to rescue the country from an economic crisis and strengthen its standing in Europe, as it took office. The 13 ministers swore loyalty to King Juan Carlos and then dispersed immediately to their new posts to get Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s austerity programme under way in the eurozone’s fourth largest economy.
Among them, a former executive of the ruined U.S. bank Lehman Brothers, Luis de Guindos, took up the key job of economy minister, tasked with helping get five million unemployed back to work and reassuring Spain’s investors. 
Analysts noted that Mr De Guindos and several other ministers have backgrounds in economic and European affairs, important for their mission to convince markets that Spain is not a weak link in the eurozone. 
With unemployment at 21.5 per cent and warnings of a fresh recession looming, Mr Rajoy has vowed to deepen the spending cuts that have already hit hospitals and schools and have brought thousands on to the streets in protest. The new leader also wants Spain to take a strong role alongside other countries in efforts to stabilise the eurozone, shaken in recent months by market fears over the debts of members such as Italy and Greece.

ECONOMY CURRENT AFFAIRS MONTHLY 'JANUARY' 2012

General Awareness Updates – January 2012


Economy & Business


Tata Sons, the holding company of over U.S.$80 billion conglomerate Tata Group, announced that Cyrus P. Mistry (right), the
43-year-old Managing Director of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, will succeed Ratan Tata.


The Board of Directors of Tata Sons at its meeting appointed Cyrus P. Mistry as the Deputy Chairman. He will work with Ratan N. Tata over the next year and take over from him when Tata retires in December 2012. Shapoorji Pallonji Group holds 18 per cent stake in Tata Sons.


Commenting on the appointment, Ratan N. Tata, Chairman of Tata Sons, said: "The appointment of Cyrus P. Mistry as Deputy Chairman of Tata Sons is a good and far-sighted choice. He has been on the Board of Tata Sons since August 2006 and I have been impressed with the quality and calibre of his participation, his astute observations and his humility. I will be committed to working with him over the next year to give him the exposure, the involvement and the operating experience to equip him to undertake the full responsibility of the Group on my retirement."


Mr Mistry has been a Director of Tata Sons since August 2006. A Graduate in Civil Engineering from Imperial College, London, he also holds a Master of Science in Management degree from the London Business School.


The Reserve Bank of India has notified new rules doing away with automatic approval for foreign direct investment (FDI) in existing pharmaceutical companies. Tightening the norms, the Government of India had in November this year done away with automatic approval of FDI in the existing pharmaceutical companies.


"FDI, up to 100 per cent, would be permitted for brownfield investment (i.e. investments in existing companies), in the pharmaceutical sector, under the Government approval route," the RBI said in a notification.


Under the new rules, for any merger or acquisition, the overseas investor will have to seek permission from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). After six months, it will be the monopoly watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) which will vet such deals. For the new investment, 100 per cent FDI will be allowed under the automatic route, under which investors only inform the Reserve Bank about the inflows and no specific government nod is required.


"FDI, up to 100 per cent, under the automatic route, would continue to be permitted for green field investments in the pharmaceuticals sector," the RBI said.


The decision follows directions from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who along with his senior Cabinet colleagues had deliberated in October over concerns arising out of several acquisitions of domestic pharmaceutical companies by overseas firms. The recent acquisitions include Ranbaxy Laboratories buy out by Daiichi Sankyo of Japan, Shanta Biotech by Sanofi Aventis of France, and Piramal Health Care by Abbott Laboratories of the U.S..


India and Nepal have signed a revised Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), which will facilitate exchange of information on banking between the two countries and help prevent tax evasion.


It will replace an earlier agreement signed between the two countries in 1987. The agreement is also likely to boost confidence of investors and help Nepal attract more investment from India. India is the biggest source of foreign investments in Nepal, as also its largest trading partner. However, Nepal accounts for only 0.44 per cent of India’s total trade.


The bilateral trade between the two nations has increased from U.S.$1.98 billion in 2009-10 to around U.S.$2.70 billion in 2010-11, registering an increase of 37 per cent. Indian firms are the biggest investors in Nepal accounting for about 47.5 per cent of total approved foreign direct investment.


Till date India has signed DTAA with 81 countries and Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) with five jurisdictions.


The U.S. economy grew by an annual rate of 2%, rather than the 2.5% that was released in an official first estimate. However, there was some positive news as data showed unemployment falling in 36 states in October, and rising in just five.


In the wake of the ongoing eurozone debt crisis, the unemployment rate in the euro zone reached another high, standing at 10.3% in October; however, it was lower for the wider European Union, at 9.8%. Also, in the eurozone area, the average youth unemployment rate, i.e. for those under 25, was 21.4%.


India’s leading research firm Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has scaled down its GDP forecast by a notch to 7.8 per cent for this fiscal from the earlier forecast of 7.9 per cent.


"A sharp downward revision in the forecast for the mining index from 4.4 per cent to 3.2 per cent, manufacturing sector from 7.5 per cent to 6.9 per cent and electricity from 9 to 8.7 per cent has led to a further decline in our GDP forecast for this fiscal from 7.9 earlier to 7.8 per cent," CMIE said.


"The data releases continue to bring in news of an economy that seems to be in trouble. The index of industrial production growth has slowed down to 2-4 per cent and the wholesale price index-based inflation growth has remained riveted to 9.5 per cent in spite of sustained efforts by the RBI to rein in inflation by raising interest rates," the agency cited as its reasons for the sharp downturn in the economic growth. "The persistent fall in the IIP and the high inflation rate almost seem to suggest that the economy is headed towards stagflation," it warned.


AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, filed for bankruptcy protection, an abrupt course change by one of the U.S.’s largest carriers that caps a decade of restructurings that are helping revive the long-troubled industry. Before this, AA was the only big American international airline not to seek bankruptcy protection. It racked up U.S.$10 billion in losses over the past decade and a massive debt of around U.S.$30 billion.

ECONOMY CURRENT AFFAIRS MONTHLY 'DECEMBER'



General Awareness Updates – December 2011

Economy & Business


The Central Government’s indirect tax collections have gone up by 18.5% to `2.21 lakh crore in the first seven months of 2011-12, prompting the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) to assert that it would meet the target of garnering `4 lakh crore this fiscal.
The excise, custom and service tax collections were `2,21,462 crore during April-October period this year, which constitutes 55.3% of the set target for 2011-12, as per the data released by the CBEC.
The indirect tax collection was `1.86 lakh crore in the corresponding period of 2010-11. The excise duty collection increased by 12% in April-October period to `82,680 crore against`73,805 crore in year-ago period, while realisation from the customs increased by about 16.8% to `87,973 crore. The service tax collection jumped by 34.4% to `50,809 crore from`37,799 crore during the first seven months of the fiscal.
The CBEC says that the excise and customs duties on petroleum products were not slashed, the indirect tax mop would have been ‘much more’. In June this year, the duties were slashed to provide a cushion against hike in petrol, LPG and kerosene prices that month. The move is estimated to cause an annual loss of `49,000 crore to the exchequer.

Continuing its dismal performance, industrial growth fell further to 1.9% in September, mainly due to poor output from the manufacturing sector.
Growth in factory output, as measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), stood at 6.1% in September last year. During the April-September period this fiscal, IIP growth stood at 5%, as against 8.2% in the same period last year. Meanwhile, the IIP growth figure for August this year has been revised downward to 3.59% from the provisional estimate of 4.1%.
Output of the manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75% of the index, grew by only 2.1% in September, compared to 6.9% expansion in the same month last year. Mining output declined by (–)5.6 per cent in September this year, as against a growth of 4.3% in the same month last year.
Capital goods production witnessed negative growth of (–)6.8% in September in comparison to a growth of 7.2% in the corresponding month of 2010. Growth in production of intermediate goods slowed to 1.5% during the month under review from 4.6% in September, 2010.
Consumer non-durables output declined by (–)1.3% during the month in comparison to a growth of 5.8% in the corresponding month of the previous year. However, electricity production improved, witnessing a growth of 9% in September this year, as against growth of a mere 1.8% in September 2010. Consumer durables output grew by 8.7% in September, compared to a growth of 14.2% in the corresponding month last year.
India ’s economy grew by 7.7% in the April-June period, the slowest in six quarters. India Inc had attributed the slowdown to rising interest rates, which have led to an increase in the cost ofborrowing, thus hindering fresh investment. The Reserve Bank has hiked interest rates 13 times since March, 2010, to tame inflation, which has been hovering around 9% since December last year.

The Central Government has hiked the support price of wheat by `115 per quintal to `1,285 per quintal for the 2012-13 procurement season. The minimum support price (MSP) for wheat was `1,170 per quintal (including the Centre’s bonus of `50 a quintal) in the 2011-12 procurement season (April-June). The support price of other rabi crops such as barley, gram, masur, mustard seed and safflower has also been hiked by up to `700 per quintal.
The government raised the MSP of rabi crops in a bid to offset the impact of higher input cost, like the hike in labour wages and increase in fertiliser and electricity prices. The government increased wheat MSP, notwithstanding opposition from ministries of food and finance which had said the hike could lead to a rise in retail prices.

India ’s exports grew year-on-year by 10.8% to U.S.$19.9 billion in October while imports expanded at a sharper rate, leaving a big trade deficit of U.S.$19.6 billion. Imports increased by 21.7% to U.S.$39.5 billion in October, according to data released by Commerce Ministry.
For the cumulative April-October period, exports aggregated to U.S.$179.8 billion, showing a handsome growth of 46%, thanks to sterling trend witnessed in the previous months of the current fiscal.
Imports for the seven-month period stood at U.S.$273.5 billion growing by 31%, while leaving the trade gap of U.S.$93.7 billion. However, the balance of trade is worrying the Commerce Ministry because at this rate it will most likely breach the U.S.$150 billion mark for the fiscal 2011-12.

ECONOMY CURRENT AFFAIRS MONTHLY 'NOVEMBER'


General Awareness Updates – November 2011
Economy & Business

Meg Whitman is the new CEO of Hewlett-Packard. She succeeds Leo Apotheker.

Thein Sein, the President of Myanmar  has decided to suspend all work on the U.S.$3.6 billion Myitsone dam that Chinese firms have been building. His announcement came as a shock, not least to the China Power Investment Company, which suggested it might sue. The dam had been denounced by environmental groups and by the Kachin people who live near the site, on the Irrawaddy river. The greatest surprise was the president’s rationale for halting the project: the government acted, he said, “according to the desire of the people”.

Raj Rajaratnam, a former billionaire and Galleon Group founder who was the primary target of what prosecutors called the biggest hedge fund insider trading case in U.S. history was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
He was also fined U.S.$10 million. The court concluded that Mr Rajaratnam made well over U.S.$50 million in profits from his illegal trades.

Oswald GrĂ¼bel has stepped down as the boss of UBS. The decision follows allegations that a rogue trader at the Swiss bank recorded a loss of about U.S.$2.3 billion. He was succeeded by Simon Ermotti.

The Union Cabinet has approved a new policy for acquisition of raw material assets abroad by Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) with a three-year record of profit, vesting more powers with Maharatna and Navratna companies for such buy-outs.Availability of raw material is a prerequisite not only for the growth of the manufacturing sector alone, but for the economy as a whole.
The new policy will pave the way for Navratna firms to invest up to `3,000 crore in such assets without government approval, as against the present limit of `1,000 crore. For Maharatna firms, the limit is `5,000 crore. The policy, which will facilitate the acquisition of coal, iron ore and other assets abroad, will be applicable to CPSEs in the agriculture, mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors having a three-year record of net profits.
A Coordinating Committee of Secretaries (CCoS) headed by the Cabinet Secretary will be formed. The CCoS will examine proposals involving investment beyond the prescribed limits for such acquisitions by CPSEs. The CCoS will facilitate quick and coordinated decision-making, coordinate the grant of concessional credit to foreign enterprises, recommend government funding and decide about the nature of such funding on a case-to-case basis.

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, unveiled the company’s much-anticipated rival to the iPad. The Kindle Fire will sport a seven-inch display, making it about two-thirds the size of Apple’s popular tablet computer. At U.S.$199 it will cost about half as much.

Industrial output remained subdued for the second consecutive month in August, registering growth of just 4.1 per cent, but the Reserve Bank may not pause with its interest rate hike strategy, with inflation ruling much above comfort levels.
The August figure is a tad better than the 3.8 per cent growth recorded in July (revised upward from 3.3 per cent) and 4.5 per cent in the corresponding period last year. Factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), however, stood at 5.6 per cent in the April- August period, as against 8.7 per cent in the same period last year.In August, the manufacturing sector – which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index – grew by 4.5 per cent, as against 4.7 per cent in the same month last year.
However, it is unlikely that the RBI will pause with its rate hike strategy on account of the slowdown in industrial output growth. The RBI has already hiked rates 12 times since March, 2010, to control inflation, which stood at 9.8 per cent in August.
The economic slowdown has impacted countries globally, especially Western nations. But India is still somewhat better off, with the country growing by 7.7 per cent in the April-June period. The government expects economic growth to be around 8.5 per cent in the current fiscal.
Even though there has been a demand slowdown in the U.S. and Europe, India ’s exports maintained their growth momentum during April-September, increasing by 52.1 per cent to U.S.$160 billion.

SAB Miller, one of the world’s biggest brewers, has succeeded in its three-month pursuit ofFoster’s, after the Australian beermaker recommended that shareholders accept a higher takeover offer of U.S.$10.1 billion.


ECONOMY CURRENT AFFAIRS MONTHLY 'OCTOBER'


General Awareness Updates – October 2011
Economy & Business

Steve Jobs, the ailing tech visionary who founded Apple Inc., has stepped down as the CEO of the technology giant and handed the reins to Chief Operating Officer (COO) Tim Cook.
Mr Jobs was diagnosed with cancer in 2003 and also went for a liver transplant in 2009, when he had taken a break from the company.He was the main force behind iconic brands like Macintosh computers, iPod music players, iPad tablets, and iPhone mobile phones.
Mr Cook, 50, widely considered as the leading candidate to succeed Mr Jobs, is a 13-year Apple veteran, who joined the company shortly after Mr Jobs took over for the second time in 1997. He has been running the day-to-day operations during this period as he has done during two prior medical leaves of absence by Mr Jobs in the last seven years.
The exit of Mr Jobs marks the end of one of the most extraordinary careers in U.S. corporate history. He is seen as the one who played a central role in reshaping the music, movie, animation, and mobile-phone businesses. While as the CEO, he took home an annual salary of only U.S.$1, he has Apple shares worth about U.S.$2.1 billion, and is the single largest Walt Disney shareholder, with stock worth about U.S.$4.4 billion.

Veerendra Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director of the Mathrubhumi group of newspapers, is the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of Press Trust of India. A former Union Minister and former President of the Indian Newspaper Society, he is also the author of 18 books in Malayalam, one of which won the Kendriya Sahitya Academy Award in 2010.

Abhishek Singhvi was reappointed Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances and Law and Justice, paving the way for early consultations over the Lokpal Bill. The 31– member Committee is among the several Parliamentary Committees reconstituted by Speaker Meira Kumar in consultation with Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari.

Rohit Nandanis the new Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of Air India . He belongs to the Uttar Pradesh cadre 1982 IAS batch. He replaces senior IAS officer Arvind Jadhav. Mr Jadhav’s three year term was to end in May 2012, but his failure on all parameters and his lacklustre performance only hurried his exit from the airline. Mr Nandan is the third CMD of the airline in as many years.
As of today, Air India ’s debt stands at 42,570 crore while the losses are at '22,000 crore. It needs equity support of nearly '43,000 crore till 2021, with an immediate equity infusion of `6,600 crore. Over the past year, the government had injected an equity of `3,200 crore. The airline was finding it difficult to pay salaries to its employees and also to pay its dues to the oil companies for aviation fuel.

The Central Government has approved the Approach Paper for the 12th Plan (2012-17) which seeks to raise annual economic growth rate to 9 per cent during the five-year period, up from 8.2 per cent estimated in the current Plan. The Approach Paper provides a broad framework of the government policy to be pursued in the five-year plan period to achieve the desired growth rate. 
The Approach Paper would be placed before the National Development Council (NDC) for final approval on October 15-16. The NDC, the highest policy-making body of the country, is headed by the Prime Minister and its members include Union Ministers, members of Planning Commission, and Chief Ministers of all states.In a bid to strengthen its mobile business, Google has acquired Motorola Mobility Holdings, the cell phone business that was split from Motorola, for U.S.$12.5 billion.

Android has become an increasingly important platform for Google, as global smart phone adoption accelerates. Google launched the Android platform in 2007; it is now used in more than 150 million devices, with 39 manufacturers.
The acquisition would turn Google, which makes the Android mobile operating system, into a full-fledged cell phone manufacturer in direct competition with Apple. The deal answers a big question about Google’s next strategic step in wireless. Google has been battling with the Apple and Microsoft over patents.
Recently, Apple and Microsoft led a consortium of technology companies in a U.S. $.4.5 billion purchase of roughly 6,000 patents from Nortel Networks, the Canadian telecommunications maker that filed for bankruptcy in 2008.
Google paid U.S.$4.5 billion for more than 1,000 patents from IBM. Motorola holds more than 17,000 patents.

Bank of America has sold its U.S.$8.6 billion credit card portfolio in Canada to TD Bank Group and would exit its credit card businesses in Britain andIreland . Bank of America is the biggest U.S. bank by assets.

India ’s services exports in Julywere worth U.S.$10.4 billion, a fall of 5.8 per cent compared to June. The country’s total receipts from services exported were U.S.$11.04 billion in June, 2011, according to data released by the RBI.
Imports of services also fell 18.2 percent in July to U.S.$5.89 billion, compared to U.S.$7.20 billion in June.
Overall, the services sector contributes over 50 per cent to India ’s GDP.  During the April-July period this fiscal, the country’s cumulative exports of services amounted to U.S.$44.74 billion. Imports of services, meanwhile, stood at U.S.$27.07 billion during the first four months of 2011-12.
RBI has recently started releasing provisional aggregate monthly data on India ’s international trade in services, with a lag of 45 days. For the first time, the data for April, 2011 was released on June 15. This provisional data will undergo a revision once the Balance of Payments (BoP) data is compiled on a quarterly basis, which will be released with a lag of a quarter, the apex bank said.

ECONOMY CURRENT AFFAIRS MONTHLY 'SEPTEMBER'


General Awareness Updates – September 2011

Economy / Business:

Top 5 countries for FDI inflow into India
                                                                                                                                                                Amount in crore (U.S.$ in million)
Rank
Country
2010-11
(April-March)
Cumulative
Inflows      (April’00
- April’11)
%age of total Inflows
(April’00 - April’11)
(in terms of U.S.$)
1
Mauritius
31,855 (6,987)
247,092 (55,203)
42%
2
Singapore
7,730 (1,705)
58,090 (13,070)
10%
3
U.S.
5,353 (1,170)
42,898 (9,529)
7%
4
UK
3,434 (755)
29,451 (6,643)
5%
5
Netherlands
5,501 (1,213)
25,799 (5,739)
4%
                                                  

Sectors Attracting Highest FDI Equity Inflow
   Amount in crore (U.S.$ in million)
Rank
Sector
Cumulative Inflow (April’00 - April’11)
%age to total inflows (in terms ofU.S.$)
1
Services Sector (financial & non-financial)
123,706 (27,668)
21%
2
Computer Software & Hardware
48,135 (10,821)
8%
3
Telecommunications (radio paging, cellumar mobile, basic telephone services)
48,313 (10,611)
8%
4
Housing & Real Estate
43,288 (9,655)
7%
5
Construction Activities (including roads & highways)
42,160 (9,491)
7%

Foreign Direct Investment
FDI is prohibited in
(a)  Retail Trading (except single brand product retailing);
(b)  Lottery Business including Government / private lottery, online lotteries;
(c)  Gambling and Betting including casinos;
(d)  Business of chit fund;
(e)  Nidhi company;
(f)  Trading in Transferable Development Rights (TDRs);
(g)  Real Estate Business or Construction of Farm Houses;
(h)  Manufacturing of Cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes, of tobacco or of tobacco substitutes; and
(i)   Activities / sectors not opened to private sector investment including Atomic Energy and Railway Transport (other than Mass Rapid Transport Systems).

                       
Sector
% of FDI Cap / Equity
Agriculture & Animal Husbandry
Floriculture, Pisciculture,
Aquaculture, Tea Plantation


100
Mining
100
Defence
26
Airports (Greenfield & Existing)
100
Banking – Private Sector
               
                 Public Sector
49 through automatic route
74 via Govt. approval
20 (both FDI & FII)
Broadcasting
- Terrestrial FM
- Cable Network
- Direct-to-Home

20
49 (incl FDI, FII, & NRI)
49 (incl FDI, FII, & NRI)
Commodity Exchange
49 (includes 23% for FII)
Real Estate (Townships, Housing)
100
Credit Information Companies
49 (both FDI & FII)
Industrial Parks
100
Insurance
26
Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFC)
100
Petroleum & Gas Sector (exploring & refining)
- by private sector companies         
- by public sector companies

100
49
Print Media
- Current Affairs & News
- Scientific & Technical journals
- Facsimile edition of foreign newspapers

26
100
100
Satellites -  Establishment & operation
74
Telecommunication –
Telecom Services
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
49 through automatic route
74 via Govt. approval
49 through automatic route
74 via Govt. approval
Trading
- Wholesale cash & carry
- Single Brand Retail                      

100
51
Top Ten Global M&A deals in Jan-Aug ’11
  Rank  Acquirer                             Target                            Deal Value (in U.S.$ bn)
    1       J&J....................................... Synthes............................................. 21.3
    2       Sanofi................................... Genzyme........................................... 20.1
    3       Takeda................................. Nycomed......................................... 13.68
    4       Teya..................................... Cephalon............................................. 6.8
    5       Danaher................................ Beckman Coulter.................................. 6.8
    6       Dupont.................................. Danisco............................................... 6.3
    7       Kinetic.................................. Various............................................... 6.3
    8       Thermo Fisher....................... Phadia................................................ 3.5
    9       Ashland................................ ISP..................................................... 3.2
   10      Endo                             American Medical                                         2.9

Deutsche Bank has appointed Anshu Jain (right) as the co-CEO to succeed Chairman Josef Ackermann, who leaves office in May next year.
Mr Jain, 48, the head of Deutsche Bank’s highly successful investment banking division based in London, will take over the leadership of Germany’s largest bank together with his management board colleague, Juergen Fitschen.

                                                                                                                          
The Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi has been elected chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST (Goods and Service Tax). He is also the finance minister of Bihar. Incidentally the roll-out of the GST regime has been delayed mainly due to opposition by BJP-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

M. C. Joshi is the new Chairman of the Central Board of Direct taxes (CBDT), succeeding Prakash Chandra.

Ending months of suspense, the Central Government gave a two-year extension to RBI Governor 
D. Subbarao
 beyond September. The 61-year-old IAS officer and veteran Finance Ministry official was appointed the 22nd Governor of the RBI in September, 2008, for a three-year term.
The continuity of Mr Subbarao at the helm of the RBI assumes significance as it comes at a time when the government and the central bank are gearing up to meet the challenge posed by downgrade of the U.S. sovereign rating and the economic crisis in several eurozone nations. He has successfully steered the country through the 2008 economic crisis.

Telecom ItaliaItaly’s biggest telecom operator, will buy Brazilian fibre optic grid company AES Atinus for U.S.$1 billion.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India may cross U.S.$35 billion in 2011-12 as against U.S.$19.4 billion in the last fiscal, on account of major deals like RIL-BP and Posco.
Foreign investors are confident of India’s economic growth as even during the peak of the global economic crisis, the country’s GDP registered a healthy growth rate. In 2008-09 and 2009-10, India’s GDP grew by 6.8 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively. During these periods, most of the western economies had registered a dismal growth.The Central government has cleared the British Petroleum’s (BP) buying 30 per cent stake in most of Reliance Industries oil and gas blocks, including the showpiece KG-D6 gas fields, for U.S.$7.2 billion, one of the biggest foreign direct investments in India.
In May, the Environment Ministry had given conditional approval to South Korean steel giant Posco’s U.S.$12 billion steel plant in Orissa, the country’s biggest single FDI project. The company is negotiating terms and conditions with the Orissa government.
In May and June, foreign direct investment in the country jumped 111 per cent and 310 per cent, respectively, to U.S.$4.66 billion and U.S.$5.65 billion, respectively. In the April-June period of the current fiscal, FDI went up by a massive 133 per cent to U.S.$13.44 billion from U.S.$5.77 billion in the corresponding period last year. However, in 2010-11, FDI into Indiadeclined to U.S.$19.43 billion from U.S.$25.6 billion in 2009-10. In 2008-09, FDI stood at U.S.$27.3 billion.
FDI into India saw a whopping 310 per cent increase in June to U.S.$5.65 billion, the highest monthly inflow in the last 11 financial years, indicating the revival of investor confidence in the Indian economy. In June, 2010, FDI inflows into the country amounted to U.S.$1.38 billion.