Do you think the 9 percent target of growth in 12th five year plan is achievable? October 16th, 2011

The target of 9 percent economic growth is very ambitious given the current state of the global economy but can be achieved if India is able to overcome problems of inadequate infrastructure and managed its resources better. India has been able to achieve around 8.2 percent growth rate in the 11th plan period, so a growth target of 9% is practical but bit difficult.

The Government is already planning for investment of $1 Trillion for infrastructure sector development. This would certainly pave the way for higher economic growth as Infrastructure is a must for overall economic development in the country. The growth target for the agriculture sector has been set at 4 percent for the 12th plan against an estimated growth of 3.3 percent in the current plan. This target could be met if scientific management of agriculture is done along with second green revolution.

On the Fiscal Management side, the FRBMA Targets are a must to be achieved. FRBMA target could be met only when non-planned expenditure could be controlled through implementation of recommendations of Thirteenth Finance Commission and reduction of subsidies.

How the riots or turmoil in Egypt can affect the pricing of food and oil..How can it push up the prices of commodities? September 24th, 2011 | Comment

Egypt is not a major oil producer or exporter when compared to the other countries of the region. It produces about 600000 barrels of oil a day but exports only 89000 barrels a day (A barrel of oil is defined as 42 US gallons which is almost 159 litres). Most of the produce is used up in domestic consumption. This export figure is extremely small when the per day global consumption is considered.Thus the impact of the turmoil in Egypt would not create much of a difference if only exports are concerned.

The real problem is the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal is controlled by Egypt. It is a link between Asia/Africa on one side and Europe on another by connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. This route has cut short the lenght of the previous sea route between the aforementioned two regions by several thousand miles. A huge amount of business is carried through the suez route everyday. Oil is mostly carried from one place to another via the sea route through Oil Tankers. These tankers use this route for transportation between the two regions. Now if the rebels in Egypt, in their process of regime breakdown, block the suez canal, the transportation in the region will come to a standby. This will in effect soar up the oil prices and which in turn will raise the food prices and other commodities in the countries which are major Importers of oil.

What is Most Favoured Nation? eptember 14th, 2011 | Comment

In international economic relations and international politics, most favoured nation (MFN) is a status or level of treatment accorded by one state to another in international trade. The term means the country which is the recipient of this treatment must, nominally, receive equal trade advantages as the "most favored nation" by the country granting such treatment. (Trade advantages include low tariffs or high import quotas.) In effect, a country that has been accorded MFN status may not be treated less

advantageously than any other country with MFN status by the promising country. There is a debate in legal circles whether MFN clauses in BIT's include only substantive rules or also procedural protections.The members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agree to accord MFN status to each other. Exceptions allow for preferential treatment of developing countries, regional free trade areas and customs unions.Together with the principle of national treatment, MFN is one of the cornerstones of WTO trade law. Most favoured nation relationships extend reciprocal bilateral relationships following both GATT and WTO norms of reciprocity and non-discrimination. In bilateral reciprocal relationships a particular privilege granted by one party only extends to other parties who reciprocate that privilege, while in a multilateral reciprocal relationship the same privilege would be extended to the group that negotiated a particular privilege. The non-discriminatory component of the GATT/WTO applies a reciprocally negotiated privilege to all members of the GATT/WTO without respect to their status in negotiating the privilege.In United States federal law, MFN is termed permanent normal trade relations.

Benefits

•Trade experts consider MFN clauses to have the following benefits:

•A country that grants MFN on imports will have its imports provided by the most efficient supplier. This may not be the case if tariffs differ by country.

•MFN allows smaller countries, in particular, to participate in the advantages that larger countries often grant to each other, whereas on their own, smaller countries would often not be powerful enough to negotiate such advantages by themselves.

•Granting MFN has domestic benefits: having one set of tariffs for all countries simplifies the rules and makes them more transparent. It also lessens the frustrating problem of having to establish rules of origin to determine which country a product (that may contain parts from all over the world) must be attributed to for customs purposes.

•MFN restrains domestic special interests from obtaining protectionist measures. For example, butter producers in country A may not be able to lobby for high tariffs on butter to prevent cheap imports from developing country B, because, as the higher tariffs would apply to every country, the interests of A's principal ally C might get impaired.

•As MFN clauses promote non-discrimination among countries, they also tend to promote the objective of free trade in general.

GATT members recognized in principle that the most favoured nation rule should be relaxed to accommodate the needs of developing countries, and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (established in 1964) has sought to extend preferential treatment to the exports of the developing countries.

Another challenge to the most favoured nation principle has been posed by regional trade blocs such as the European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which have lowered or eliminated tariffs among the members while maintaining tariff walls between member nations and the

rest of the world. Trade agreements usually allow for exceptions to allow for regional economic integration.

What is skewflation? July 26th, 2011 | Comment

Skeflation refers to inflation in some commodities , deflation in others. India's Economic survey 2010-11 says:

The year 2010-11 has been a year of more than one such skewflationary episode. At the beginning of the calendar year 2010 and even in the first months of the fiscal year 2010-11 inflation was high for food grains, sugar, and pulses. During the course of the year, inflation in these commodities stabilized, but by November there was another spike in prices of another set of commodities, led by onions, cabbage, milk, and a couple of other products.

What is impact of Savings Bank Interest Rate hike on CASA ratio? July 26th, 2011 | Comment

There was a recent hike in interest rates on Savings Banks from 3.5% to 4% after a period of 8 years. The first thing you must note that still in India, the interest rates on Savings Banks are NOT deregulated , though there are views on both pros and cons of deregulating the interest rates on Savings Bank Account.

In India, unlike the time deposits, the SB account interest rates are still regulated even as the central bank has put out a discussion paper for freeing the same. Interest rates on fixed deposit schemes were deregulated in 1997.

The hike from 3.5% to 4% on Savings Banks account would raise the cost of borrowing for the banks which leverage high on the 'Current Account, Savings Account'(CASA) funds. This is because, CASA deposits are much cheaper than the time deposits, where the going rate for six-months and above is about eight per cent.

What is difference between devaluation and depreciation of currency? July 26th, 2011 | Comment

Under a fixed exchange rate system, devaluation and revaluation are official changes in the value of a country's currency relative to other currencies. Under a floating exchange rate system, market forces generate changes in the value of the currency, known as currency depreciation or appreciation.

Does India allow FDI in Multi Brand Retailing? June 10th, 2011 | Comment

FDI in Multi-Brand retailing is prohibited in India. FDI in Single-Brand Retailing was, however, permitted in 2006, to the extent of 51%. Since then, a total of 94 proposals have been received till May, 2010. Of this, 57 proposals were approved. An FDI inflow of US $ 194.69 million (Rs. 901.64 crore) was received between April, 2006 and March, 2010, comprising 0.21% of the total FDI inflows during the period, under the category of single brand retailing. The proposals received and approved related to retail trading of sportswear, luxury goods, apparel, fashion clothing, jewellery, hand bags, life-style products etc., covering high-end items. Single brand retail outlets with FDI generally pertain to high-end products

and cater to the needs of a brand conscious segment of the population, mainly attracting a brand loyal clientele, which often has a pre-set positive disposition towards the specific brand. This segment of customers is distinctly different from one that is catered by the small retailers/ kirana shops.

What is Reverse Mortgage Loan? May 24th, 2011 | Comment

Reverse Mortgage Loan (RML) enables a Senior Citizen above 60 years age in India. The idea is to avail of periodical payments/ lump sum amount from a lender against the mortgage of his/her house. Such a loan allows the borrower to continue to occupy his house as long as he lives. Unlike other loans, reverse mortgage need not be repaid by the borrower. The maximum period of the loan (over which the payments can be made to the reverse mortgage borrower) is 20 years. The lender on the other hand has to value the property periodically at least once in five years and the quantum of loan may be revised based on such re-valuation of property at the discretion of the lender. On the borrower’s death or on the borrower leaving the house property permanently, the loan is repaid along with accumulated interest, through sale of the house property. The borrowers or their heirs also have the option of prepaying the loan at any time during the loan tenor or later, without any prepayment levy. In the usual mortgage, as the regular mortgage payments are made the outstanding loan decreases and the house equity increases. Reverse is the case in reverse mortgage, the loan amount increases with time and the home equity decreases with time.

What is Unit System in Banking? May 24th, 2011 | Comment

Unit Banking refers to a single bank which renders services and operates without any branches anywhere. Unit Banking System is not found in India but is very common in USA. In India, banks work in branches and not on Unit System.

Why RBI is known as Lender of Last Resort? May 24th, 2011

RBI is known as Lender of Last Resort because, banks are supposed to meet their shortfalls of cash from other sources and if the other sources don’t meet the demand, then they approach RBI.

Which major port of India does not possess a natural harbour? May 1st, 2011 | Comment

Chennai Port does not posses a natural harbor because it has neither a rugged sea cost nor any river makes a mouth here.

What is Hydrogen Corpus Fund? March 5th, 2011 | Comment

The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India has set up a Hydrogen Corpus Fund on the use of hydrogen as an auto fuel. The Indian Oil Industry has to work synergistically and in close coordination with reputed technological institutions to make headway in this frontier area. With this object in mind, the Ministry has set up a Hydrogen Corpus Fund of Rs. 100 crore with contribution from Oil PSUs/OIDB as follows

1.OIDB - Rs. 40 crore 2.ONGC, IOC, GAIL - Rs. 16 crore each 3.HPCL, BPCL - - Rs. 6 crore each.

Which refinery was set up as per the provisions of "Assam Acord"? March 5th, 2011 | Comment

Numaligarh Refinery was set-up as a grass-root refinery at Numaligarh in the District of Golaghat (Assam) in fulfillment of the commitment made by Government of India in the historic “Assam Accord”, signed on 15th August, 1985 for providing the required thrust towards industrial and economic development of Assam. It started operation in 2000.

What was the basic difference between the Economic Policy of Gandhi and Nehru? March 5th, 2011 The policy of the Congress Government led by Nehru was based upon the fact that there must be industrial development at all costs. Nehru wanted a country with Modern Large Scale Industries, a Large Army, a Strong Navy and Air Force and a socialist development in the country with "touch' of capitalism.

Gandhi, who was in favor of autonomous villages where Panchayats should perform the legislative, executive and Judicial functions, did not find any place in the government. The objection of Gandhi of developing large cities was rejected but Panchayati Raj with ‘modifications’ was accepted later.

A basic difference between Gandhi & Nehru's economic philosophies was that Gandhi wanted village as an independent unit, while Nehru wanted it a subordinate unit to a higher organization. Gandhi wanted a cottage based economy, Nehru dreamt of major Industries in India.

What is FDI limit in Agriculture ? January 8th, 2011 |

In India 100% FDI is permissible via automatic route in following sub sectors of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry:

Sub sectors:

Floriculture, Horticulture, Development of Seeds, Animal Husbandry, Pisciculture, Aquaculture and Cultivation of Vegetables & Mushrooms under controlled conditions and services related to agro and allied sectors.

•Apart from the above FDI is not allowed in any other agricultural sector/activity.

Companies dealing with Transgenic Seeds:

For companies dealing with development of transgenic seeds/vegetables, the following conditions apply:

1.When dealing with genetically modified seeds or planting material the company shall comply with safety requirements in accordance with laws enacted under the Environment (Protection) Act on the genetically modified organisms.

2.Any import of genetically modified materials if required shall be subject to the conditions laid down vide Notifications issued under Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992.

3.The company shall comply with any other Law, Regulation or Policy governing genetically modified material in force from time to time.

4.Undertaking of business activities involving the use of genetically engineered cells and material shall be subject to the receipt of approvals from Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) and Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation (RCGM).

5.Import of materials shall be in accordance with National Seeds Policy.

Meaning of Under controlled conditions

Floriculture, Horticulture, Cultivation of vegetables and Mushrooms

Cultivation under controlled conditions' for the categories of Floriculture, Horticulture, Cultivation of vegetables and Mushrooms is the practice of cultivation wherein rainfall, temperature, solar radiation, air humidity and culture medium are controlled artificially. Control in these parameters may be effected through protected cultivation under green houses, net houses, poly houses or any other improved infrastructure facilities where microclimatic conditions are regulated anthropogenically.

Development of Seeds

Development of seeds will be considered to be 'under controlled conditions' when seed farms/laboratories use tissue culture or any other micro-propagation techniques for development and multiplication of seeds/planting material. Seed development in the case of anthuriums, orchids and other ornamental crops in green houses/net houses/poly houses is also be included in this category.

Animal Husbandry

In case of Animal Husbandry, scope of the term 'under controlled conditions' includes –

Rearing of animals under intensive farming systems with stall-feeding. Intensive farming system will require climate systems (ventilation, temperature/humidity management), health care and nutrition, herd registering/pedigree recording, use of machinery, waste management systems.

Poultry:

Poultry breeding farms and hatcheries where microclimate is controlled through advanced technologies like incubators, ventilation systems etc.

Pisciculture & Aquaculture:

In the case of pisciculture and aquaculture, 'under controlled conditions' includes –

Aquariums

Hatcheries where eggs are artificially fertilized and fry are hatched and incubated in an enclosed environment with artificial climate control.

What is a Turnkey project?January 2nd, 2011 | Comment

A contract under which a firm agrees to fully design, construct and equip a manufacturing or business or facility and turn the project over to the purchaser when it is ready for operation for a remuneration. Mostly used in International business.

What is a Cash and Carry store? January 2nd, 2011 | Comment

They differ from the regular retail chains. the C & C stores target professional customers rather than end-consumers. The concept involves self-service and bulk buying and serves registered customers such as hotels, caterers, traders and other business professionals. They prevent the middlemen.

What is Code Sharing? January 1st, 2011 | Comment

The Code sharing is a common term in aviation industry which means that a seat is purchased on one airline (for example King Fisher) but is actually operated by a cooperating airline under a different flight number or code (for example British Airways). The term "code" here refers to the 2-character IATA airline designator code and flight number, which is used to identify the flights.

What are types of NBFCs? January 1st, 2011 | Comment

Previously there were 3 types of NBFC's classified by reserve bank of India:

1.Asset Finance Company (AFC)2.Investment Company (IC)3.Loan Company (LC)Which is 4th Category?

NBFCs engaged predominantly in the infrastructure financing represented to the RBI that there should be a separate category of infrastructure financing NBFCs in view of the critical role played by them in providing credit to the infrastructure sector. Accordingly the RBI declared in its Second Quarter Review of the Monetary Policy for the year 2009-10 as follows:

To introduce a fourth category of NBFCs as 'infrastructure NBFCs', defined as entities which hold minimum of 75 per cent of their total assets for financing infrastructure projects.

So, apart from the three categories viz., Asset Finance Companies, Loan companies and Investment Companies, a fourth category of NBFCs as "Infrastructure Finance Companies"(IFCs) has been introduced.

What is the major difference between an NBFC and a Bank? January 1st, 2011 | Comment

Unlike the Banks, they cannot accept demand deposits, they are not part of the payment and settlement system and they cannot issue cheques drawn on them. The facility of deposit insurance by Deposit insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is not available for NBFC's.

What is an NBFC?January 1st, 2011 | Comment

NBFC or Non Banking Financial Companies is a company in India, which is registered under the Companies Act, 1956, and which provides banking services without meeting the legal definition of a bank. A NBFC is incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 and desirous of commencing business of non-banking financial institution as defined under Section 45 I(a) of the RBI Act, 1934.

What are the Businesses NBFC do?

The NBFCs do the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares, stock, bonds, debentures, securities issued by Government. They also deal in other securities of like marketable nature, leasing, hire-purchase, insurance business, chit business. They are no in agriculture activity, industrial activity, sale/purchase/construction of immovable property.

All NBFCs are not entitled to accept public deposits. Only those NBFCs holding a valid Certificate of Registration with authorization to accept Public Deposits can accept/hold public deposits.

NBFCs authorized to accept/hold public deposits besides having minimum stipulated Net Owned Fund (NOF) should also comply with the Directions such as investing part of the funds in liquid assets, maintain reserves, rating etc. issued by the Bank.

What are Bull Market, Bear Market and Chicken Market ?December 28th, 2010 | Comment

The term 'Chicken market' in stock markets refers to one of the stock market trends. We mostly know about the bearish markets which represent the downward trend of the indices and Bullish markets where there is an upward trend in the index. In chicken market there is no significant movement of the stock market index. However, the investors who are not much risk loveres are also called "Chickens" in stock markets.

What is Corporate Hedging?December 27th, 2010 | Comment

•Hedging literally means reducing exposure to risk.

The word is used in share markets, commodity markets and currency markets where the prices are likely to fluctuate.

A contract to SELL a commodity or a currency over the period of time at a particular price leaves the seller in a open position and exposed to price fluctuations. However, this exposure is covered by the act of BUYING a Futures Contract.

•A perfect hedge is basically a no risk no gain precaution.

In Corporate hedging, the corporate treasury officials try to save a firm from the exposure to the foreign exchange risk, maximize forex income and minimize costs. The minimizing of "transactional risks" is the main centerpiece of a Corporate Hedging Policy.

The Reserve Bank of India had issued the first guidelines on Corporate Hedging in 2005. The market determined exchange rates in the country have made the rupee more volatile against the major currencies. The strategy is useful for exim traders, who have to face the unpredictability in the currency movement.

What are Small Cap, mid cap and large cap shares ?December 27th, 2010 | Comment

Cap refers to Capital. With the size of the Capital we can classify the companies and measure their size. Big/large caps are companies which have a market cap between 10-200 billion dollars. Mid caps range from 2 billion to 10 billion dollars. The small caps are young and new companies.

What is the difference in Green Field Projects and Brownfield Projects ?December 27th, 2010

The Greenfield project means that a work which is not following a prior work. In infrastructure the projects on the unused lands where there is no need to remodel or demolish an existing structure are called Green Field Projects. The projects which are modified or upgraded are called brownfield projects

What are Demand Liabilities and Time Liabilities?September 10th, 2010 | Comment

There are mainly two types of liabilities on any bank:

Demand Liabilities: The liabilities which bank have to pay on demand. Current deposits, demand liabilities portion of savings bank deposits, margins held against letters of credit/guarantees, balances in overdue fixed deposits, cash certificates and cumulative/recurring deposits, outstanding Telegraphic Transfers (TTs), Mail Transfer (MTs), Demand Drafts (DDs), unclaimed deposits, credit balances in the Cash Credit account and deposits held as security for advances which are payable on demand come under Demand Liabilities.

Time Liabilities: The liabilities which bank have to pay after specific time period. Fixed deposits, cash certificates, cumulative and recurring deposits, time liabilities portion of savings bank deposits, staff security deposits, margin held against letters of credit if not payable on demand, deposits held as securities for advances which are not payable on demand and Gold Deposits come under Time Liabilities.

What is REER Model in Currency Markets?September 10th, 2010 | Comment

There is difference between the exchange rate of a currency and the real value of a currency. A Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) is weighted with the inverse of the asymptotic trade weights. A Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) adjusts NEER by appropriate foreign price level and deflates by the home country price level. Thus REER model is more useful in determining the real value of a currency.

What is Alpha Factor in Financial Markets?September 10th, 2010 | Comment

Alpha Factor is the concept which basically measures the inherent volatility of a particular share. For example, a share which has an Alpha Factor for example 1.5 is slated to rise in price by 50% in a year on its inherent strength such as growth in earnings per share , regardless of inherent strength such as growth in earning per share regardless of the market behavior.

What is FASAL in Agriculture?September 10th, 2010 | Comment

In 1988, Government of India started a project “Crop Acreage and Production Estimation (CAPE)” to collect the statistics of Agricultural Output. But to forecast of Crops at sowing stage requires weather data and information of economic factors. So "Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agro

meteorological and Land based observations (FASAL)" was designed. The main aim was to collect Monsoon data through remote sensing, economic data and monitoring of crops when growing.

The programme is sponsored by Ministry of Agriculture. A team of ISRO/Department of Space, State Remote Sensing Applications Centers, State Agricultural Universities and many other institutions are working on this project.

Which are Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs) located in Indian States?September 10th, 2010

These projects are based on the vision “Power for All” by the end of The Eleventh Five Year Plan. The UMPPs each with the capacity of 4000 MW or above are being developed.

The Ministry of Power with the Central Electricity Authority and Power Finance Corporation Ltd. initiated coal based UMPPs in India.

Till now these four UMPPs have been awarded.

1. Coastal Gujarat Power Limited in Mundra awarded to M/s Tata Power Limited

2. Sasan Power Limited in Sasan (MP) awarded to M/s Reliance Power Limited

3. Coastal Andhra Power Limited in Krishnapatnam awarded to M/s Reliance Power Limited

4. Jharkhand Integrated Power Limited in Tilaiya awarded to M/s Reliance Power Limited

Apart from this SPVs (Special Purpose Vehicles) have been incorporated for another eight UMPPs.

What are Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy and Macroeconomic Policy?September 4th, 2010 t fiscal Policy:

All the policies taken by the Government to control the economy of the country are called Fiscal Policies. The two main instrument of fiscal policy are government expenditure and taxation. How government decides taxes, collect them and spend them comes under the fiscal policy. In broad level all the action done by government to maintain the economy is collectively called fiscal policy.

Monetary Policy:

The actions taken by Reserve Bank of India, which is the monetary authority, to control the economy is collectively called Monetary Policy. Time to time RBI makes changes in the various rates like CRR, Repo Rate, Reverse Repo Rate, SLR etc. to maintain the supply of money that is liquidity in the system.

Microeconomic Policy

How the individual firms, markets, the households are using resources and making the country productive is being measured in Microeconomic policy. In these policies the centre of attraction is on very small level of the economy as it will collectively help the country to become more competitive.

What is Fringe Benefit Tax? September 4th, 2010 | Comment

This tax is imposed on the fringe benefits provided by the company to their employee. Here fringe benefit means non wage compensation which are given to employees by their company. This duty was initiated from 1 April 2005 under the Finance Act 1995.

What is difference between Excise Duty & Custom Duty? September 4th, 2010 | Comment

Excise Duty : According to Central Excise act 1944 and the Central Excise Tariff Act 1985, every manufacturer of the goods in the country has to pay Excise duty. Most of the products attract 16% excise duty But in case of some products it more than that.

Custom Duty: The custom duty in India is regulated by Customs Act of 1962. This duty is imposed on the imported and exported goods in the country. This duty is one of the most important duty because it hampers illegal import and export of goods

What is Service Tax?September 4th, 2010 | Comment

Service tax is tax paid on the services provided in the country. According to Finance Act 1994, all service provider of the country except in the Jammu and Kashmir have to pay service tax. This tax comes under Indirect Tax. Currently 10% tax is surcharged as service tax.

What is Security Transaction Tax?September 4th, 2010 | Comment

Security Transaction Tax (STT) is levied on all the transactions done on the stock exchange. This tax is levied on purchase of equity, sale of equity, derivatives, equity oriented funds and equity oriented Mutual Funds. Current rate of this tax is 0.075% on equity.

What are Corporate Tax & Capital Gain Tax? September 4th, 2010 | Comment

Corporate Tax:

This tax is imposed on the profits of companies or organizations. It is also depend on the profits shared to the shareholders. Currently 33.9 % corporate tax is levied on the companies. But in Direct Tax Code, which is proposed to be implemented from 1 April 2012, it is proposed to be at 30%.

Capital Gain Tax

This tax is levied on the sale of capital assets/equities. The “Gain” here means the difference of price of asset/share when purchased and when sold. The tax is levied on that gain. For the Capital Assets the time limit is minimum three years but in the context of equities it is minimum one year.

What is Direct Taxes & Indirect Taxes? September 4th, 2010 | Comment

Direct Taxes:

As the name suggests Direct tax means the tax which is directly paid to the government by individuals and the companies.

Ex: Corporate Tax, Personal Income Tax, Securities Transaction Tax, Banking Cash Transaction Tax, and the Fringe Benefit Tax

Indirect Taxes:

As the name suggests Indirect Taxes are those taxes which are paid indirectly to government by the individuals or the companies.

Ex: Sales Tax, Service Tax, Custom and Excise Duties, VAT and Anti-Dumping Duties

What is Green Revolution?September 3rd, 2010 | Comment

“Green Revolution” is the term first used by former USAID (United States Agency for International Development) director William Gaud. Green Revolution is series of reaserch, development and technology transfers by countries. This happened between 1943 and 1970. The father of Green Revolution was Late Mr. Norman Borlaug. But in India Mr. M S Swaminathan are called the father of Green Revolution because of his lot of contribution in the field of food security.

In Green Revolution high yielding varieties of grains, mass distribution of hybrid seeds, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides were given to farmers. And with this a lot was spent on creating irrigation infrastructure.

When was National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) set up? July 18th, 2010 | Comment

National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) was set up on 1st April, 1999. The objective of NSSF was to account all the monetary transactions under small savings schemes of the Central Government under one umbrella. NSSF was set up in the Public Account of India w.e.f. 1st April, 1999. The net accretions under the small savings schemes are invested in the special securities of various States/ Union Territories (with legislature)/Central Governments. States not only can borrow from this account but have the obligation to borrow. The minimum obligation of States to borrow from the National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) has been brought down from 100 per cent to 80 per cent of net collections w.e.f. 1st April, 2007. NSSF is a part of the Public Account of India. The State Governments can borrow money from the National Small Savings Fund.

What is difference between CECA and CEPA? June 9th, 2010 | Comment

CEPA stands for Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and CECA stands for Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. Recently India signed a CEPA with Japan and CECA with Malaysia. India had also signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with South Korea. With Singapore signed CECA. The terms that make difference are "Cooperation" and "partnership". Both these terms are synonymous with each other but the major “technical” difference between a CECA and CEPA is that CECA involves only "tariff reduction/elimination in a phased manner on listed / all items except the negative list and tariff rate quota (TRQ) items" , CEPA also covers the trade in services and investment, and other areas of economic partnership. So CEPA is a wider term that CECA and has the widest coverage.

Please note that usually CECA is signed first with a country and after that negotiations may start for a CEPA. For example, India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (CECA) was signed in December, 1998 and came into operation since March, 2000. India completed the tariff elimination programme in March 2003, Sri Lanka scheduled to reach zero duty by 2008. After that the two countries have since initiated negotiations in August 2004 on comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) which covers trade in services and investment.