Despite President Barack Obama's recent election setbacks at home, his trip to India last week was met with a measured amount of success, according to both U.S. and Indian media. One of the biggest announcements that Obama made during his trip was his intention to support securing India a permanent seat in the U.N.'s Security Council. Although the chances of securing a seat are rather slim, Obama's endorsement is a big first step.

Most importantly, however, the U.S. president and Prime Minister set an agenda for improved trade between the two countries, signaling new opportunities for Indian and U.S. economic growth. Although many see the President's move to expand trade with India a politically risky one, considering how pervasive the misinformed notion of Indians taking jobs from Americans is, Obama addressed the issue straightforwardly.

A recent CNN article quoted Obama as saying:

"In 2010, trade between our countries is not just a one-way street of American jobs and companies moving to India. It is a dynamic, two-way relationship that is creating jobs, growth, and higher living standards in both our countries."

Obama unveiled a plan on Saturday November 6 to create over 50,000 jobs in the United States with $10 billion dollars in new contracts for the Indian government and private companies. Obama also urged India to loosen its trade and investment barriers in various different industries like retail and telecom, an appeal that went well with Indian officials.

After Obama's weekend visit, a New Delhi article published Tuesday November 9 reported that India asserted it was time to "seriously consider" making an agreement that would further open trade between the two countries. Although any new free trade agreements will likely take a long time to negotiate, Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma noted the importance of engaging "in negotiations for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement that encompasses trade, investment, and services."

The New Delhi article underscored the fact that while industry in India has long favored lowering barriers in trade and investment, for the first time the government is opening up to the idea. For both Indian and American investors, these talks could signal new global opportunities in a variety of industries.

By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Alvina Lopez, who writes on the topics of accredited online schools . She welcomes your comments at her email Id: alvina.lopez @gmail.com.

Forbes, the international biz magazine, has launched its Indian edition. Forbes launches in India in collaboration with Network18 group. Forbes' Editor-in-Chief Steve Forbes said he was excited to be in India, especially after the outcome of the General Elections.

The magazine has been showcasing entrepreneurship across the world for several years and decades. According to the Chief Editor , India has been in the forefront of technology and India has been in the forefront of areas where entrepreneurship is needed.

He thinks India as a whole, as far as reforms continue to be made, obstacles continue to be removed towards commerce. The country is going to be clearly one of the world leaders especially when we come out of this temporary slump.

That's fantastic news for India !

The current Election results will have a major impact on Indian Stock Markets. What has changed from the previous set-up? The Left is out of the Government and UPA is emerging as the majority coalition without the regional parties. These two points are major positives for the markets.

As always, it is sentiments which rules anything. The sentiments are buoyant to boost the moods all over. Also FIIs, assured now by the political stability at the Center, will be interested more in investing in India.

At this juncture markets having already run-up 4k points from 8k to 12K, what should a retail investor do now?

As UPA coming to power, we hope to see privatization taking off in a big way, the financial sector reforms, especially for the banking and insurance sectors. So these sectors and stocks in these sectors are a good place to invest into. Many stocks in the Stockwatch section belong to Banking sectors. Also major PSU stocks like HPCL, BPCL, IOC too can be looked into.

These positives doesn't mean, one should jump into markets on Monday and buy, because on Monday, markets are expected to open up in a big way. There is no point in investing when markets are up 700/800 points up. Also the Global negatives are still in place and nothing fundamentally has changed.

Traders can ride the momentum with strict stop loss in place. But as far as investors are concerned , any sharp correction in markets can be used to buy fundamentally good stocks. Again the old rule stays fit - Buy low, Sell high ! Identify yourselves whether you are investor or short term trader, before committing funds now.

Tatas, SBI, Infosys among World's Top Companies.

The Tatas, India's premier bank - State Bank of India (SBI) and top IT Giant - Infosys Technologies are among 17 Indian firms that figure among the top 50 in a list of the world's 200 most reputable companies. With a score of 81 on a scale of 0-100, the US-based Reputation Institute ranked the Tata Group 11th above global corporate giants like Google, Microsoft, General electric, Toyota, Coca-Cola, Intel and Unilever. SBI is ranked 29th with a score of 78.11 and Infosys is at 39th, with a pulse score of 77.45.

Italy-based chocolate producer Ferrero was ranked as the most reputable company. Johnson & Johnson, which placed first in the US for reputation, lands third globally.

The Reputation Institute's global pulse of 600 companies is a measure of corporate reputation calculated by averaging perceptions of four indicators, trust, esteem, admiration and good feeling, obtained from a representative sample of at least 100 respondents in the companies' home countries.

"However it is the people of India who love their companies the best," noted US business magazine Forbes. "Of India's 27 corporations ranked by the institute, 24 placed them above the average. Seventeen of them landed in the top third of the list."

There is no doubt that Indian corporates are doing their best to make India a super power.

The much publicized movie, "Slumdog Millionaire" has swept the 81st Annual Academy Awards, most popularly known as the Oscars, by winning eight awards. Slumdog Millionaire had been nominated in 10 categories at the Oscars.The film has been chosen as the Best picture and Danny Boyle has bagged the award for Best Direction.

The first award for the film was for Simon Beaufoy for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Anthony Dod Mantle won the award the Best Cinematography category.
Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty for Best Sound mixing.
Chris Dickens for Best Film editing.
A.R. Rahman for Best Music Score.
A.R. Rahman; Lyric by Gulzar for Best Song.


Rahman had also been named best composer at the Golden Globes last month.
Known for his musical versatility -- from romantic compositions to foot-tapping numbers, Rahman has innovated with different instruments and sounds to create some of India's best-known musical hits since the last decade.

Vibrant Gujarat event marks the transformation of Gujarat as the next big thing to hit India Inc. The event has been a thumping success, not just for Gujarat but also for the entire country. In just two days, Gujarat signed record investments of a record Rs 12,00,000 crore(Yes ! 12 Lakh Crore !) of investments to the state. Vibrant Gujarat closed yesterday and it was announced that a total of 8,500 MoUs had been signed and the investment amount was somewhere above Rs 7,50,000 crore.

Heavy-weights from the industry like Tata’s, Birla, L&T, HCC, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance, Anil Ambani of ADAG,Sunil Mittal of Bharti Enterprises, Gautam Adani of Adani Group, Pankaj Patel of Zydus and Sudhir Mehta of Torrent were among some of the industrialists present at the concluding ceremony of the event which saw the participation of more than 600 delegates from 45 countries.

It also shows how a State can actually drive the economy, without depending on stimulus packages from the Central Government. What corporate India needs is an able leader and the CEO leader has been found in Narendra Modi. Little surprise then that India Inc is now rooting for Modi as the Prime Minister of the nation.

Major MoUs signed include:

Adani group: Rs.27,000 crores, to develop SEZs, power plant, power transmission network and education.
Cellular Operators Association of India: Rs 20,000 crore to be invested by the cellular industry.
Welspun:Rs 4,500 crore for expansion of the current facilities.
Gujarat NRE Coke: Investment to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore..
HCC: Rs 40,000 crore in tourism and hospitality.
Suzlon: Rs 9,000 crore hi-tech SEZ for solar power.
SBI: Rs 30,000 crore private equity fund for SMEs and setting up 45 branches in the state.
Birla: Rs 20,000 crore for fibre and telephony in the next three years.
Sterling Biotech: Rs 6,000 crore in SEZ, power, university and an airport.

Shares of Satyam Computer Services crashed 80%, after the founder and chairman of India's fourth-largest software company resigned, saying the company had inflated its cash and bank balances on the balance sheet by more than Rs.5000 crores.

Chairman B. Ramalinga Raju said the balance sheet as of Sept. 30 had inflated non-existing cash and bank balances.

The Balance Sheet carries as of Sept 30, 2008,

* Non existent cash and bank balances of Rs 5,040 cr.
* An accrued interest of Rs 376 cr which is non-existent.
* An understated liability of Rs 1,230 cr on account of funds arranged by him.
* An overstated Debtor's position of Rs 490 cr as against Rs 2,651 cr reflected in the books.

PriceWaterhouse Coopers - PwC India is the Auditor of Satyam Computers which let the $1 bn scam happen under its nose.

This announcement sparked a rout in its shares and rocking confidence in the broader Indian markets.The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-stock benchmark Sensitive Index, or Sensex, closed down 7.3% at 9,586.88, having fallen as far as 9,510.

Zimbabwe’s country’s annual inflation rate is 231000000%, according to official statistics.Hyperinflation. A loaf of bread cost Z$200,000 in February. Today it costs Z$,600,000,000,000.The mind boggles.

Zimbabwe was once a major food supplier to Africa but the economy has come apart since attempted reforms destroyed the agriculture industry.Zimbabwe has introduced a $250 million note recently as the country tries to ease the effects of hyperinflation.

The main cause of such hyperinflation is a massive and rapid increase in the amount of money (estimated at 17,000%), which is not supported by growth in the output of goods and services.This results in an imbalance between the supply and demand for the money (including currency and bank deposits),accompanied by a complete loss of confidence in the money, similar to a bank run.

The inflation is also exacerbated by a shortage of supply. Because basic goods are in short supply it is easy for market prices to be increased causing a spiral effect of upwardly rising prices.

Greater Good You can do a good deed each day with just one simple click!

It's indeed that simple! There are six sites, each dedicated to a specific humanitarian need, which you can visit daily and with just a click you will help making a difference in this world.

I found these sites on greatergood working on the same principles - click to make a good deed!

When you click, they display advertisements from site sponsors. 100% of the money from these advertisers goes to charity partners, who fund programs to provide food to the hungry, health care and literacy to children, to save the rain forest and to provide food to rescued animals.

These sites offer the public a unique opportunity to support causes they care about at no cost to them.

Think about how much you can do just by taking little time to give few clicks!

Thank you!

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has cut the repo rate and reverse repo rate by 100 basis points (bps), each to 6.5% and 5% respectively. (100 bps = 1%)

The CRR, or cash reserve ratio and SLR, or statutory liquidity ratio have been left unchanged. The RBI Governor, D Subbarao, said reverse repo and repo rate cut will signal banks' lending rates cut.

Subbarao said, India’s Gross Domestic Product or GDP growth has moderated in first-half of 2009, and assured that liquidity situation more than comfortable. However, decline in inflation is sharper than expected and fuel price cut should further ease inflationary pressure.

The Governor said first time in seven years exports have declined in absolute terms, adding that emerging economies will be affected only marginally.

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the prestigious private research institute that is regarded as the arbiter of US recessions, declared on Monday, that the U.S.economy has slipped into recession.

The current recession , which many economists expect to persist through the middle of next year, is already the third-longest since the Great Depression, behind only the 16-month slumps of the mid-1970s and early 1980s.

The NBER does not define a recession as two consecutive quarters of decline in real gross domestic product, as is the rule of thumb in many countries. Instead, it looks for a decline in economic activity, spread across the economy and lasting more than a few months.

NBER said in a statement. "All evidence other than the ambiguous movements of the quarterly product-side measure of domestic production confirmed that conclusion."
The White House acknowledged the NBER's declaration, but said that did not change its course on coping with the financial crisis that has raged since August 2007.

Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani has overtaken NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal as the richest Indian in the world, with a net worth of $20.8 billion, Forbes said in its annual rich list for the country.Mittal, who has moved to second position with a net worth of $20.5 billion, is followed by Mukesh's younger brother Anil Ambani, whose wealth stood at $12.5 billion.Bharti's Sunil Mittal and realtor K P Singh are ranked fourth and fifth with net worth of $7.9 billion and $7.8 billion, respectively.
The magazine said that the combined net worth of India's 40 richest has declined by 60 per cent due to weak stock markets amid depreciating rupee against the greenback.
Their total wealth is now $139 billion, down from $351 billion just a year ago, according to Forbes India Rich List.

While all 40 tycoons listed last year were billionaires, only 27 have 10-figure net worths now. A net worth of 760 million dollar was needed to make to the list this year, 840 million dollar less than last year.
Vijay Mallya, who heads United Breweries and Kingfisher Airlines, dropped off the rich list this year, as did Avantha Group chairman Gautam Thapar, who runs the country’s largest paper maker BILT.
Other notable absentees from this year’s list, based on stock prices and exchange rates of November 3, were realty firm HDIL founder Rakesh Wadhawan, Oberoi Constructions MD Vikas Oberoi, former Thermax chairperson Anu Aga and Lanco Infratech chairman L Madhusudhan Rao.

Diwali or Deepaawali means an Array of Lamps i.e .Rows of diyas (Deep = Lamp, Vali =Array)Of all the festivals celebrated in India, Diwali is by far the most glamorous and important. Enthusiastically enjoyed by people of every religion, its magical and radiant touch creates an atmosphere of joy and festivity.

A very happy and prosperous Diwali to all our friends and readers. Lets pray for the well being and prosperity of all those who support us in our lives! May all of us create great wealth in our lives in the coming year.

It is a festival of lights symbolizing the victory of righteousness and the lifting of spiritual darkness. It celebrates the victory of good over evil - and the glory of light. This festival commemorates Lord Rama's return to his kingdom Ayodhya after completing his 14-year exile.

Homes are decorated, sweets are distributed by everyone and thousands of lamps lit to create a world of fantasy.Diwali is a time for fun and revelry. Diwali is also a time for pooja and tradition.

Dussehra can also be interpreted as "Dasa-Hara", which means the cutting of the ten heads of Ravana. On the day of Dussehra, Ram, killed the great demon Ravan, who had abducted Ram's wife Sita to his kingdom of Lanka. Ram, along with his brother Lakshman and devoted follower Hanuman, and an army of monkeys fought a great battle to rescue his lovely wife Sita. The war against Ravan lasted for ten days. Sita had been returned to her husband Ram and they now make their way to Ayodhya in triumph and glory.

Dussera is the tenth day after Navratri. It marks the end of the nine days of Navratri. Vijayadashami as Dussehra is also known, celebrates the homecoming of Lord Rama the hero of the epic Ramayana, after he rescued his wife Sita from Ravana, the king of Lanka.

Legends of Dussehra

Dussehra is the day, when Rama killed Ravana and won back his wife (Hence also called Vijayadashmi) who had managed to save her honor from the dirty hands of Ravana and was waiting anxiously to meet her husband.

Dussehra is also reminiscent of the end of the exile and banishment of the Pandava princes in the epic Mahabharata and their return with their weapons to reclaim their kingdom.

Vijayadashami is also celebrated as the day of victory to rejoice about Durga's triumph over the demons led by Mahishasura. It is essentially a festival in honor of Durga. The Divine Mother fought with him for nine nights, and killed him on the evening of the tenth day, known as the Vijaya Dasami.

Vijayadashami is also the day of the Saraswati or the deity of knowledge and learning.

Importance of Dusshera


Songs are sung in praise of Rama and people in thousands witness this traditional theatre with its exaggerated costumes, jewelry, makeup and drama. Effigies of Ravana are set ablaze, signifying the victory of good over evil. In modern times it calls for efforts to destroy the demon of our ego, and radiate peace and love wherever we go.

Signifies the victory of good over evil. On this day you pray to Mother Durga to destroy all your impurities, your vices, your defects. She is to fight with and annihilate the baser animal qualities in the spiritual aspirant, the lower, diabolical nature in you. Once you have accomplished your task on the negative side, that of breaking down the impure propensities and old vicious habits, the next step is to build up a sublime spiritual personality, to acquire positive qualities in place of the eliminated demoniacal qualities.

People worship the implements/tools of their professions and distribute the leaves of the Shami tree, which is considered as valuable as gold, but only for a day to express their goodwill.

The festival of Navratri (nav = nine and ratri = nights) lasts for 9 days with three days each devoted to worship of Maa Durga, the Goddess of Valor, Ma Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Maa Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge. During the nine days of Navratri, feasting and fasting take precedence over all normal daily activities amongst the Hindus. Evenings give rise to the religious dances in order to worhip Goddess Durga Maa.

The 9 nights festival of Navratri begins on the first day of Ashwina of the bright fortnight. Seeds are sown, sprouting is watched, the planets are consecrated, and on the 8th and 9th days, Goddess Durga, Vijayashtami and Mahanavami are worshipped. The Devi Mahatmya and other texts invoking the Goddess who vanquished demons are cited.
Significance of 9 Nights
1st - 3rd day of Navratri
On the first day of the Navaratras, a small bed of mud is prepared in the puja room and barley seeds are sown on it. These initial days are dedicated to Durga Maa, the Goddess of power and energy.
4th - 6th day of Navratri
During these days, Lakshmi Maa, the Goddess of peace and prosperity is worshipped.
7th - 8th day of Navratri
These final days belong to Saraswati Maa who is worshipped to acquire the spiritual knowledge. This in turn will free us from all earthly bondage. But on the 8th day of this colourful festival, yagna (holy fire) is performed.
Mahanavami
The festival of Navratri culminates in Mahanavami. On this day Kanya Puja is performed. Nine young girls representing the nine forms of Goddess Durga are worshiped.
Happy Navratri

Indian Stock Markets are bearish and that is very much reflected in the number of DMAT Accounts.A look at the number of depository accounts opened with the two depositories of India - National Securities Depository (NSDL), promoted by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the BSE promoted Central Depository Services(CDSL) indicates a clear down turn. And what is all the more a clear sign is that around 50% of the accounts in these depositories have zero share accounts in them. This means that there are neither any shares to sell nor any shares that have been bought in around 50% of the total depositories.
NSDL today is stated to have a total of 96 lakh accounts while CDSL has around 53 lakh demat accounts. Of these, around 50% accounts have a nil balance. At CDSL, 17 lakh accounts are stated to have a nil balance. In NSDL around 30 lakh accounts are estimated to have nil balance.
There are two reasonts for this. Firstly, this could mean that given the current bearish trend of the market, has led to people selling off all their holdings and would now resume buying only when the market shows some solid signs of an upturn. This, today-up-and-tomorrow-down scene has kept 50% of the total demat account holders at bay, they prefer to have zero costs when it comes to even maintaining accounts.
The second reason could be that some accounts of these 505, were opened with a specific purpose and once that was served, they just kept a zero balance. When the markets were up and there was kind of frenzy, like the one seen in January 2008, especially prior to Reliance Power IPO opening, there were people from all walks of life scurrying to open demat accounts. Now that the issue is over and done with and we all know what happened after it got listed, maybe all multiple accounts, which had been opened, within the permitted legal purview, have now exited from the market? Remember how scores of housewives, students and retired people; all had opened a demat account for applying for the Reliance Power IPO?
According to the data from National NSDL, the number of, new demat accounts added between June 2007 and January 2008, when the market was nearing its peak at 21,000 levels, was 12.78 lakh. But after the market crashed, since then, from February to June 2008, only 2 lakh new accounts were added. At the CDSL, almost 10 lakh fresh accounts were registered from June 2007 to January 2008. But only 4 lakh accounts have been opened in February-June 2008.
The lack of quality issues in the primary market, the lackluster secondary market, the bad taste left by the IPO of Reliance Power, all together have today affected the investor sentiments and this has been very much reflected in the growing nil demat account balances.
There is no direct remedial measure for this. As they say, there is no cure for moods, sentiments. The accounts will automatically pick up activity once the market improves. Yes, the arrival of a good IPO in market can repose some of the faith back into the system.

Warm wishes on the occation of Ganesha chaturthi… HAPPY GANESHA CHATURTHI.

Ganesh Chaturthi festival is celebrated among Indians all over the world as the birthday of “the Lord Ganesha”. According to Hindu Mythology, on this day Lord Ganesh ascended on earth for his followers. Ganesha Chaturthi is celebrated with much deity and joy among the devotees of Ganesha. This festival lasts for 10-11 days and the celebrations are marked by large religious processions, social gatherings, preparations of delicious sweets & dishes and organizing Ganesha poojas in Ganesh Temples.

The festivity of Ganesh Chaturathi equally spreads all over India but Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh becomes the centre of attraction for grand celebrations.

Lord Ganesha is known in 108 different names like ‘Ganpati’, ‘Dayawant’, ‘Lambodar’ and Vighnahartaa, the Lord of destroyer of obstacles. Being most significant among the Gods of Hindus, Lord Ganesh is worshipped widely as the God of wisdom, fine arts and good fortune.

Significance of Ganesh Chaturthi
"Vakratunda Mahakaya Suryakoti Samaprabha, Nirvighnam Kuru Me Deva Sarvakaryeshhu Sarvada"

"O Ganesha - Ganapati, One with a curved trunk, a large body, and a brilliance equal to a crore suns! O God, please make all my undertakings free from obstacles always."

Ganesha, the lord with elephant head riding on a mouse, is mostly loved God of Hindus worshipped for success (Sidhi) in undertakings, and intelligence (budhi). Ganpati is praised before any venture is started and known as the God of education, knowledge and wisdom, literature, and the fine arts.

Ganesh Chaturthi holds utmost significance among the followers of Lord Ganesha. Lots of preparations are made to celebrate this auspicious occasion : large public processions, pooja ceremonies, social get together, erection of giant size mandpas and special religious ceremonies are organized. Apart from a big occasion, Ganesh Chaturthi has also become a very important financial activity. Thousands of artists & small and medium industries eagrly waits for this mega occasion.

Recently various Financial Institutions and Govt Organizations have come out with
India's Real GDP growth projections for FY 2009 . [Figures in Percentage]


* ASSOCHAM 7.9
* Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) 8.0 -8.5
* Citigroup 7.7 to 8.3
* Merrill Lynch 7.9 to 8.2
* JP Morgan 7.0 to 7.5
* Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) 9.5 to 9.1
* NCAER 8.5 to 8.8
* Standard & Poor's, CRISIL 7.8 to 8.1
* Asian Development Bank 8.0 to 8.5
* International Monetary Fund 8.0
* United Nations Organisation 8.2
* Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister 8.5
* Reserve Bank of India 8.0 to 8.5

Interestingly no one has projected the growth below 7%.Hopefully we will maintain at least 7.5% to 8% with rising interest rates and global financial turmoil.

India is the 10th largest oil importing nation in the world (oil imports are close to 70% of its crude oil requirements). If the average price of crude oil for FY09 is $105 / bbl, then, it will result in the FY09 trade deficit coming in at US$115bn.

According to Citi,US$1/bbl increase in oil prices results in the trade deficit widening by US$700mn. Therefore, assuming a US$15/bbl increase in the Indian basket to US$120/bbl, the import bill would rise by an additional US$10.5bn, taking the CAD to US$47.3bn or 3.6% of GDP.

To be in-line with international trends, auto fuels need to rise 18% for petrol and 43% for diesel.However given political compulsions, this is unlikely to take place. As far as the fisc is concerned, to compensate the oil marketing companies for the under-recoveries, the government is likely to issue oil bonds to the tune of Rs630bn in FY09.

How much LPG, Kerosene, Diesel and Petrol Contribute to Inflation ? See Chart below.

Overall, if the above fuel prices are changed to be in-line with international prices, they will contribute 4.70% to Inflation and the Government can never do this but burn deep hole in its own pocket. Additionally, the Indian Rupee is expected to become weaker on account of higher deficits.