20.4% Growth in Q2 - Singapore Economy

The Singapore economy grew 20.4 percent in the quarter to June.The Ministry of Trade and Industry said the rebound in the second quarter,which is measured on a seasonally adjusted annualised basis, was led by the key biomedical and electronics sectors. Singapore's export-led economy sank into a recession in the third quarter of last year after two successive quarters of economic contraction. They narrowed the growth outlook for 2009 to a contraction of 4.0-6.0 percent from 6.0-9.0 percent earlier. 

New Pension Scheme v/s Employees'Provident Fund

12.3 % Drop in the Indian Mutual funds' assets-June

Assets of Indian mutual funds fell 12.31 per cent to 5.8 trillion rupees in June on outflows from fixed income and money market funds,data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed on Thursday.Funds' assets had risen 11.95 percent to 6.6 trillion rupees in May.
No wonder the Fund managers are changing jobs as was the case with an Senior Level executive who shifted from ICICI (Fund Manger) to Birla life insurance.The reasons may be less of Stress when it comes to performance and consistency in flow of money from the customers over a longer period of time which can be played on with in the financial market.

Budget 2009-10: What's cheap, what's not

1) Custom duty up on gold bars 

Proposal: Basic customs duty on gold bars bearing manufacturer’s or refiner’s engraved serial numbers and weight (expressed in metric unit) and gold coins has been increased by Rs 100 per 10 grams. 

Impact:Imported gold bars and gold coins of 10 grams could be costlier by Rs 110 to Rs 125 per 10 grams

2) Custom duty up on gold ornaments

Proposal: Basic customs duty on gold ornaments (other than ornaments studded with stones and pearls) has been increased by Rs 250 per 10 grams. 

Impact: Imported gold ornaments of 10 grams could be costlier by Rs 280 to Rs 320.

3) Silver loses sheen

Proposal: Basic customs duty on silver (in any form ie bars, coins, jewelry) has been increased by Rs 500 per kg. 

Impact:Imported silver bars, coins and jewelry could be costlier by Rs 575 to Rs 625 per kg

4) Branded jewelry

Proposal: Branded jewelry (where brand name is embossed on the jewelry) has been exempted from basic excise duty 

Impact: A Gili pendent costing approximately Rs 15,000 is likely to be cheaper by Rs 300.

5) Music may come dearer

Proposal: Excise duty on MP3/ MP4 or MPEG 4 players with or without radio/ video reception 

Impact: A Sony Walkman 2GB mp3 player costing approximately Rs 3,990 is likely to be costlier by Rs 170. Further, an Apple i Pod touch 8GB with MPEG 4 player costing approximately Rs 12,000 could pinch your pocket by an extra Rs 500.

6) Car Care

Proposal: Excise duty on motor vehicles with engine capacity more than 1999cc has been reduced by Rs 5,000 per unit. 

Impact: A car with capacity higher than 1999cc could cost less by Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,500.

7) Clear Sight

Proposal: Excise duty on contact lenses has been increased from 4% to 8%. 

Impact: A Johnson & Johnson disposable contact lens available at approximately Rs 1,400 is now likely to be sold slightly at a slightly higher rate, say at Rs 1,450.

8) Light a fire

Proposal: Excise duty on LPG stoves has been increased from 4% to 8% 

Impact: A Jaipan double burner LPG stove worth around Rs 2,000 may be costlier by Rs 75 or so.

9) Sporty budget

Proposal: Basic customs duty is being fully exempted on snow skis and other snow-ski equipment, water-skis, surf-boards, sailboards and other watersports equipment. 

Impact: A inflatable water raft costing around Rs 2,00,000 is likely to be cheaper by Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000. Happy skiing.

10) Artificial heart to cost less

Proposal: Basic customs duty on artificial heart (left ventricular assist device) is being reduced from 7.5% to 5%. 

Impact: Artificial heart devices are likely to be retailed cheaper by 4% -5%

11) Service Tax on Plastic Surgery

Proposal: Service tax is levied on cosmetic surgery or plastic surgery service 

Impact: Any cosmetic or plastic surgery (other than surgery to restore, reconstruct for body affected due to congenital defects, developmental abnormalities, degenerative diseases, injury or trauma) could be costlier by 10.3%.

12) Life Saving Drugs

Proposal: Basic customs duty on certain life-saving drugs is reduced from 10% to 5%. They will also be totally exempt from excise duty and countervailing duty. 

Impact: Certain life-saving drugs used for the treatment of breast cancer, hepatitis-B, rheumatic arthritis etc could be cheaper by 7% to 15%.

Source : ERNST & YOUNG

World's top employer for MBA s

The Top 100 MBA employers' list, comprising of firms where B-school students most want to work, was compiled by Fortune based on an exclusive survey by research firm Universum.

Google has been ranked at the first place in the list of top 100 employers for B-school graduates, with over 20 per cent MBA graduates wishing to work at the firm for its stellar reputation and innovative work environment.

Here is the list of the world's top employer for MBA graduates....

1.Google

2.McKinsey & Company 

3.Bain & Co 

4.Goldman Sachs Group 

5.Apple Inc

 6.Boston Consulting Group 

7.Walt Disney 

8.Nike

9.JP Morgan

10.Johnson & Johnson 

Ban on MF load to take effect on Aug 1

Though there were protests from mutual fund distributors, capital markets all across the country the regulator Sebi has gone ahead and scrapped entry load and it is going to be implemented by August 1,the investors will have a chance to negotiate on the fee that they pay directly  for advisory services rendered while purchasing mutual funds. 

Sebi has allowed mutual funds to set aside a maximum of 1% of redemption proceeds (also known as exit load) in a separate account which can be used by the fund house to pay commissions to distributors and take care of other marketing and selling expenses. Any balance will be credited to the scheme immediately

The regulatory body has also mandated distributors to disclose all commission,trail or other benefits received by them. 

India's external debt up at $230 bn

India's external debt rose 2.4 per cent or $5.3 billion to $229.9 billion for the fiscal ended March 31, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said. India, which has an external debt equivalent to 22 per cent of its gross domestic product, was already the fifth most indebted country in the world in 2007, the central bank said in a statement. 

The current account - which includes components like external trade deficit and remittances from overseas - had a deficit of $29.82 billion for last fiscal, compared to a deficit of $17.03 billion in the previous period. The capital account - which comprises items like foreign investment, external loans and foreign assistance - had a surplus of $9.15 billion for 2008-09 compared to a surplus of $107.94 billion in the year-ago period. 

HSBC reports net profit of Rs 1291cr in FY09 in India

HSBC has reported a net profit of Rs 1291cr from its Indian operations in FY09 -- an increase of 8% from Rs 1192 cr in the corresponding period last year.
Interest income during the year rose 27% to Rs 6326.9 cr while other income rose 27.5% to Rs 2699 cr. Interest expenses however grew at a much faster pace at 32% to Rs 2661 cr while operating expenses were flat at Rs 2194.6 cr.
Provisions and contingencies saw a 65.24% rise to Rs 2879.39 cr. Provisions towards NPAs rose by 1.5 times to Rs 1654.21 cr from Rs 651.50 cr. Net NPAs of the bank rose to 1.42% from 0.58% while gross NPAs of the bank were at 5.56%. On a segmental basis the retail bank has made losses of Rs 511 cr as against a losses of Rs 165.9 cr the previous fiscal.
"Our medium to long term plan in India is to keep growing our retail customer base and also our product base. Our preference will be to do more cross selling and have deeper relationships with our customers," said Stuart A Davis, CEO, HSBC, India
Total assets of the bank saw a 25% rise to Rs 94,620 cr. Even as deposits rose 17% to Rs 49,970 cr, advances were down by 8% to Rs 29,944 cr. The capital adequacy ratio of the bank was at 15.31% as against 10.59% the previous fiscal.

DDA to construct 65,000 houses in 4 yrs

In a bid to address the acute housing shortage in the national capital, its development authority will build 65,000 houses in the next four years,as per the announcement made by the Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy.

f these 65,000 houses, 40,000 will be for the urban poor and low income group, and 10,000 will be for the middle income group," Reddy told reporters while releasing the 100-day agenda of his ministry. The houses would be built by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), he said.

The target is to add 10,000 houses for the low income group every year. Apart from that, 15,000 houses will be available between 2009 to 2011.
The government will also provide another 47,500 dwelling units under the slum rehabilitation programme by March 2013.

Referring to the slump in the realty sector,he said: "We cannot help companies but we can give incentives to buyers. Market forces will decide the rest." He said the finance ministry has been asked to cut interest rates on home loans to 7.5 percent for housing units costing up to Rs.30 lakh.
They expect a Real Estate Regulatory bill in 2009 to improve the performance of the sector for a better cause.

What's the unique ID card?

Ambitious - Rs 150,000 cr Unique Identification Card (UIC) project will catalogue personal details of every Indian citizen on smart cards 

Detailed - To include name, sex, address, marital status, photo, identification mark and finger biometrics 

Hi-tech - Will be based on a sophisticated application called SCOSTA, a secured electronic device that’s used for keeping data & other info in a way that only authorized persons can view it 

Versatile - Can be used for many purposes, ranging from use as voter I-card to proof for opening bank account. Can help deter illegal immigration & curb terrorism 

Urgent - Scheme was launched in Nov 2003 and has so far been given to just 31 lakh citizens. Miffed by the delay, SC in Jan pulled up the govt and asked it to implement the scheme countrywide speedily 

JPMorgan is the world's strongest bank: Report

JPMorgan tops a list of the world's strongest banks, while Royal Bank of Scotland suffered the biggest loss of any lender last year,according to new industry rankings on Wednesday. 

RBS's $59.3 billion loss last year eclipsed all rivals, including Citigroup's $53 billion loss and Wells Fargo's $47.8 billion loss, according to The Banker magazine. Global bank profits slumped 85 percent last year to $115 billion, down from $781 billion, and return on equity plunged to 2.69 percent from 20 percent, the magazine estimated. 

JPMorgan topped The Banker's annual list of the strongest 1,000 global banks, moving up from fourth place a year earlier. The rankings, which have run since the 1970s, are based on capital strength, or the amount of Tier 1 capital held. 

Bank of America ranked second, Citigroup was third and RBS was fourth, despite the problems for all three last year. JPMorgan was helped by its takeover of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual and Bank of America was boosted by its acquisition of Merrill Lynch. 

HSBC fell to fifth spot from first, but it was the only one of the top five not to receive any government support, and would rank third if government support was stripped out, The Banker said. Mitsubishi UFJ was the highest ranked Asian bank in seventh, a place ahead of China's ICBC. 

ICBC was the most profitable bank last year with earnings of $21.3 billion, the Banker estimated. The five most profitable banks were all from China or Spain. China Construction Bank ranked second with a $17.5 billion profit, followed by Santander ($15.8 billion), Bank of China ($12.6 billion) and BBVA (9.6 billion). They were followed by Britain's HSBC ($9.3 billion) and Barclays ($8.9 billion).