http://www.pdicai.orgThe latest news and journals from all over the world.Copyright 2005 - 2006 Feedpedia.com. All rights reserved.Standard and Poor's on Friday reiterated its negative outlook on India's credit rating, citing the country's large fiscal deficit and national debt, even as it acknowledged that the country's position had improved over the past year.The global rating agency said that Asia's third-largest economy still has at least a one-in-three chance of having its ratings downgraded in the next 12 months -- a statement that New Delhi found disappointing, although not surprising. S&P affirmed its 'BBB-' long-term (the lowest investment grade or a notch above junk status) sovereign credit ratings for India, and said that while steps had been taken to rein in the current account deficit, infrastructure bottlenecks and a rigid regulatory structure remained a concern.http://www.financialexpress.com/news/s-p-maintains-negative-outlook-on-india-rating/111732918 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTIndia and China are expected to be the largest investors among developing countries by 2030, with the two Asian giants accounting for 38% of global gross investment, a World Bank report said on Friday."Among the developing countries, China and India are expected to be the largest investors, with the two countries together accounting for 38 per cent of the global gross investment in 2030. All this will change the landscape of the global economy, and GDH analyzes how," said Kaushik Basu,World Bank's senior vice president and chief edconomist.According to the latest edition of the World Bank's Global Development Horizons (GDH) report, by 2030 half the global stock of capital, totaling $158 trillion, will reside in the developing world, compared to less than one-third today, with countries in East Asia and Latin America accounting for the largest shares of this stock.Developing countries' share in global investment is projected to triple by 2030 to three-fifths, from one-fifth in 2000, says the report, titled 'Capital for the Future: Saving and Investment in an Interdependent World'.http://www.financialexpress.com/news/china-india-to-be-largest-investors-among-developing-nations-by-2030-world-bank/111733618 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTCentral banks in the US, UK, Japan, and euro area adopted a series of unconventional monetary policies (UMP). These policies largely succeeded at achieving their domestic goals, and were especially effective at the time of greatest financial turmoil. UMP had a mixed effect on the rest of the world. They may continue to be warranted if economic conditions do not improve or even worsen. The IMF report has outlined some of the unconventional measures which can be considered by the central banks and their implications. The report asks whether further unconventional measures can still be counted on to ease monetary conditions if the economy remains weak and presents some key issues that central banks engaged in unconventional mhttp://www.financialexpress.com/news/unconventional-policies-in-uncertain-times/111725618 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTCentral banks got it right when they saved the world economy, but their unprecedented actions risk disruptive cross-border spillovers and potentially heavy losses when the time comes to reverse course, the IMF said on Thursday.In its most detailed survey so far of the dramatic measures taken to counter the damage from the 2007-2009 financial crisis, International Monetary Fund staff repeated earlier assessments that the steps had worked but face diminishing returns.http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/16/imf-centralbanks-idUSL2N0DX14S2013051618 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTA trio of hawkish regional Federal Reserve officials are calling for the U.S. central bank to stop buying mortgage-backed bonds, citing the recent improvement in the housing market. Richard Fisher, President of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, was the latest to point to the recent pick-up in home values and housing construction as signs the central bank's purchases of mortgage-backed securities are no longer needed.http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/05/16/usa-fed-idINDEE94F0IF20130516?type=economicNews18 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTFinance Minister P Chidambaram has said India offered ?unlimited? opportunities for investment in infrastructure sector, as the country needed more roads, airports and seaports. ?What I am telling the investors here and the government here is that there is a huge opportunity in India, especially in infrastructure,? Chidambaram said in an interview to NDTV.There is no other country in the world which requires so many thousand kilometres of road, so many airports, so many seaports, so much more capacity of steel, mining, power. So, I think the opportunities are unlimited,? he said. Referring to rate of price rise, he said, ?inflation has come down sharply in the last two months and I think numbers for April is doing better. In fact, we are talking about core inflation having reached a zero level.?http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/india-offers-unlimited-infra-investment-opportunities-fm-113051700425_1.html18 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTThe Government is firmly committed to building a partnership with trade unions, industry and State Governments to strengthen the economy,Addressing the 45th session of the Indian Labour Conference, Singh appealed for co-operation from both industry and trade unions to steer the economy out of the ?difficult circumstances?.Trade unions? demandsReferring to the recent two-day strike by trade unions, the Prime Minister said his Government was ?willing to engage constructively? on various demands that were ?unexceptionable?, such as the need to contain inflation, generation of employment opportunities and strict implementation of labour laws.http://canindia.com/2013/05/govt-firmly-committed-to-partnering-with-unions-industry-for-growth-pm/18 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTIn a set back to talks for the long-pending India-European Union (EU) free-trade agreement (FTA), the chief negotiators' meet today failed to bridge "substantial gaps" on crucial issues, including insurance and data security status for the information technology (IT) sector, creating a bleak possibility of a ministerial meet next month.The two sides began negotiations to iron out differences on various vexed issues from May 13, spearheaded by their chief negotiators who joined them on May 15 to reach a final position on the proposed trade pact.http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/india-eu-trade-talks-fail-to-bridge-gaps-ministerial-meet-unlikely-113051800010_1.html18 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTIndia's 12 major ports which handled more than 90% of the cargo until a decade ago are facing stiff challenge from minor ports, led by Adani Ports, Gujarat Pipavav Port and Essar Ports, largely due to better infrastructure. Among the minor ports in the country, Adani group-controlled Adani Port and Special Economic Zone, Maersk grouppromoted APM terminal and Essar groupcontrolled Essar Ports seem to be giving the major ports in the country a run for their money as the three are seen to be controlling more than a half of the share of the minor ports in the country. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/shipping-/-transport/minor-ports-like-adani-ports-gujarat-pipavav-sail-ahead-on-better-infrastructure/articleshow/20098538.cms17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTUK's chancellor George Osborne came out with a solid vote of confidence for the India story despite a lack of business confidence in India's progress. Osborne, who on his last visit to India was grappling with issues like Vodafone's tax case, is now far more positive about India, and wants to encourage British SMEs to invest in India: "P Chidambaram has done a great job in showing the world and telling the world that India is open for business," the Chancellor said, on a day in which he's hosting finance minister P Chidambaram for a series of meetings at 11, Downing Street.http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/uk-chancellor-george-osborne-gives-a-thumbs-up-to-india-growth-story/articleshow/20098741.cms17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTThe country needs to boost its manufacturing sector to bridge the ballooning current account deficit (CAD) and trade imbalance, a top government official said today.?There is lot of talk about CAD and trade deficit. If you have to address the concerns of CAD and trade deficit, there is no option but to go for manufacturing,? Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Saurabh Chandra, said here at a FICCI function.He said that there are countries which have trade surpluses equal to India?s trade deficit.?The top five countries which have trade surpluses, three are manufacturing power houses ? Germany, China and Japan. The remaining two are oil-rich nations,? he said.http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/we-need-to-boost-manufacturing-to-bridge-cadtrade-gap-dipp/article4720726.ece17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTShinzo Abe's expansionary economic policies may be aimed at bolstering Japan's global manufacturing groups, but the country's biggest banks are suffering an Abenomics ordeal. The three biggest Japanese lenders ? Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui ? on Wednesday forecast lower profits for the financial year to next March, as the aggressive monetary easing promoted by the prime minister and his central bank governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, pushes them out of the relatively lucrative government bond (JGB) markethttp://www.cnbc.com/id/10074135017 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTInternational investors are the most bullish they?ve been on the U.S. and Japanese markets in more than 3-1/2 years as both countries? economies are seen as improving, according to the latest Bloomberg Global Poll.More than half of those contacted said the U.S. will be among the markets offering the best returns over the next year, a 15-point jump from the last poll in January and the highest rating for any country since the survey began asking that question in October 2009. Japan, which had been seen as a place to avoid in many of the previous polls, ranked second in the May 14 survey of investors, analysts and traders who are Bloomberg subscribers, with one in three picking it as a market to favor.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-16/investors-expecting-u-s-markets-with-best-return-in-poll.html17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTEven as India is pushing hard to obtain the coveted ?Data Adequacy? status from the European Union under the ongoing talks for a bilateral trade deal, the 27-nation bloc has clearly stated that it will not in any way negotiate the issue under trade negotiations come what may.It is extremely crucial that India gets this status, which is to some extent similar to the Safe Harbor agreement that it has with the US, in order to get more access to the EU market for India?s teeming professionals such as software engineers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, chefs and chartered accountants among others. http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/data-adequacy-grant-to-india-non-negotiable-eu-envoy-113051600695_1.html17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTPressure is mounting on India at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to pare subsidies and incentives given to its textiles sector. The European Union and Japan have joined hands with the US and Turkey to demand that India stop giving fresh subsidies and gradually phase out the existing ones as the textiles sector had already achieved export competitiveness.India, however, maintains that many of the subsidies identified by the US and others are not subsidies and merely a reimbursement of input duties. It said before the phasing out happens, there has to be a common understanding on what the subsidies are.http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/india-under-pressure-at-wto-to-phase-out-textile-export-sops/article4721385.ece17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTIndia?s economic confidence dropped further by 3 points to 65 per cent in the month of January, as compared to the previous month, making India the (joint) fifth most economically confident country along with Canada, according to the global economic report by Ipsos, a leading global market research company. Almost half of Indian citizens (47 per cent) believe their local economy which impacts their personal finance is good and 50 per cent people expect that the economy in their local area will be stronger in the next six months.http://www.exchange4media.com/45514_india-economic-confidence-dips-further-in-jan-ipsos.html16 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTThe government will directly transfer money directly to bank accounts of cooking gas customers in 10 districts from June 1 before launching it nation-wide to check diversion of highly subsidized fuel and eventually save about 10,000 crore annually. "We are ready to launch the direct benefit transfer scheme for (LPG) liquefied petroleum gas all over the country but we want to see the results of the roll-out in these 20 districts," Oil Minister Veerappa Moily told reporters.http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/direct-cash-transfer-of-lpg-subsidy-in-20-districts-from-june-20/articleshow/20071095.cms16 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT Home prices have appreciated by an average 66% in Mumbai, 52% in Gurgaon and 46% in Bangalore over the past four years, with some pockets growing nearly 100%, say property consultants, belying hopes of fall in property prices.A limited supply of clear land, demandsupply mismatch and rising cost of inputs like steel, cement and labour have contributed to the rise in prices in most locations. "On the demand side, affordability is getting better as salaries have increased by at least 10-12% per annum in this period helping home buyers take a decision," says Niranjan Hiranandani, co-founder & chairman of Mumbai-based Hiranandani Group.http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/realty-trends/home-prices-in-metros-rise-over-50-per-cent-in-4-years/articleshow/20077223.cms16 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTIn a bid to sell the India story to overseas investments, finance minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday embarked on a three-nation tour to the UK, France and Qatar. During the tour, Chidambaram will hold a meeting with his British counterpart George Osborne and address investor conferences.Takru meets bankers on DBT rollout week after setting June 30 deadline to bankers to set up on-site ATMs to widen the scope of direct cash transfer scheme coverage, banking secretary Rajiv Takru met bankers on Wednesday and discussed the way forward for the schehttp://www.indianexpress.com/news/briefly-business-fm-leaves-for-3-nation-tour-to-woo-investors/1116502/16 May 2013 00:00:00 GMTThe national pension system (NPS) regulated by the PFRDA has posted 12-14% return on most of its schemes except the equity-oriented scheme during 2012-13. The double-digit NPS return outperformed not just the close rival EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation) but also schemes offered by mutual funds, insurers and banks.The return on the scheme for central government employees were at 12.39% while it was 13% for state government and 13.4% for the Swavlamban scheme offered to workers of informal sector, according to the latest data collated by PFRDA.http://www.financialexpress.com/news/national-pension-system-posts-1214-return-in-fy13-outperforms-epfo/111641016 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT