CA Study Reveals Enterprises in Asia Pacific and Japan are Most Impacted by the Application Economy

CA Study Reveals Enterprises in Asia Pacific and Japan are Most Impacted by the Application Economy

94% of Line of business executives face increased pressures to launch new applications faster

CA Technologies (NASDAQ:CA) today unveiled an Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) study which revealed that APJ enterprises are most affected by the Application Economy, compared to enterprises in the Americas and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

More than half of the APJ senior IT and business leaders surveyed (APJ:57%; Americas: 46%; EMEA: 45%) are seeing a significant impact of the application economy on their industry, and 53% (Americas: 45%; EMEA: 35%) are already experiencing the effects on their own organization.

While enterprises across APJ recognize the impact of the application economy, less than half of the respondents (49%) felt that they are very or highly effective in responding to it. Security concerns (41%) and budget constraints (36%) were cited as the biggest obstacles.

To better cope and meet the new demands of the application economy, enterprises in APJ are taking the following steps:

- Increasing investments by an average of 18% over the next five years

- Acquiring software companies to add development capabilities - 38% have made a software acquisition or plan to in the next year

- Delivering an average of six customer applications in the past year– 42% developed four or more customer applications

The Line of Business (LOB) executives in APJ are also feeling the pressure of the application economy. An overwhelming 94% of them are facing increased pressure to release applications more quickly due to customer demand (58%) and competitive pressures (65%).

Despite the rapid rate of application delivery (average of six customer applications and six internal applications delivered in the past year), only 15% of LOB executives are completely satisfied with IT's speed in delivering new applications or services. As a result, 82% of enterprises surveyed have adopted or are planning to adopt DevOps to increase application delivery.


“As it was at the advent of the Internet Age where websites became ubiquitous, today, applications have become fundamental to every business that wants to survive and thrive in the application economy,” said Kenneth Arredondo, president & general manager, Asia Pacific & Japan, CA Technologies. “In a hyper-connected region like APJ, applications are redefining customer interactions and spearheading business growth initiatives. This study has shown that IT decision makers in APJ are acting quickly to better respond to customer demands and rapid advances brought on by the application economy.”

The Application Divide in APJ

The study also identified a set of “Leaders” and “Laggards” in the application economy. By embracing the application economy, the “Leaders” in APJ are distinctly outperforming the “laggards” in all key business metrics, creating an application divide in APJ.

According to the study, “Leaders” are growing revenue more than four times and profit more than three times the rate of “Laggards”. “Leaders” are also experiencing more than double of the business coming from new products and services than their “Laggard” counterparts.

“Leaders” in APJ are deploying several technologies and processes in order to survive and thrive in the application economy. Here are some key findings:

- 43%of the “Leaders” have adopted DevOps methodologies and technologies to speed application delivery compared to only 4% of the “Laggards”.

- “Leaders” are spending more on security compared to “Laggards”. One-third of all IT spending is expected to be spent on security in three years by the leaders.

- "Leaders" manage IT as a business and report better overall IT performance. They are far more likely to frequently use software tools to manage IT as a business.

- More than two-thirds (69%) of the "Leaders" a readopting mobility as an enterprise-wide strategy versus 14% of the “Laggards”, with clear evidence of increased customer satisfaction and faster time-to-market.

Survey Methodology

650senior IT and business leaders from financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, retail telecommunications and media / entertainment in six markets in Asia Pacific and Japan, namely Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and Singapore, participated in the CA Technologies-sponsored study conducted by Vanson Bourne. This is part of a global survey involving nine other countries in the Americas, and EMEA. Click here to download the whitepaper and learn more about the research.

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Economic Reforms Including GST and Insurance Amendment Bill are on the Anvil: FM

Economic Reforms Including GST and Insurance Amendment Bill are on the Anvil: FM; Calls for Large Investment from Domestic and International Investors in Infrastructure Sector


The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that the Government has taken series of measures to tackle various challenges being faced by the infrastructure sector in the country. The Finance Minister said that many more such measures are in offing in near future. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that he is in discussion with the members of opposition parties to make necessary procedural changes in Land Acquisition Act in order to avoid delay in the implementation of the infrastructure projects. The Finance Minister was delivering the Key Note Address at the Citi’s Investor Summit: “India – Poised for Higher Growth” here today.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley further said that various sectors have been opened for foreign direct investment in the infrastructure sector by the present Government. In this regard he specifically mentioned about the defence and power sectors among others. The Finance Minister said that the Government through its Budget has laid down a direction in which the economy is likely to proceed to restore the investors’ confidence. He said that there will not be any movement of economy in contrary direction.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley also gave details of various economic reforms which are in the pipeline. In this regard, he specifically mentioned about the Goods and Service Tax (GST) and Insurance Amendment Bill among others. He said that he is expecting that Insurance Amendment Bill will be passed in the forthcoming Winter Session of Parliament. He said that he is in touch with the Parliament Select Committee in this regard and will try to persuade it to give its report at the earliest.

As regards GST, the Finance Minister said that he is in touch with the various State Governments and most of the contentious issues have already been resolved. He said there are two areas including liquor and petroleum products where the States want to have taxation authority. Two States want entry tax and octroi to be kept-out of the purview of the GST. The Finance Minster said that all these issues will be sorted-out soon. He will also apprise the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers’ about the draft Constitution Amendment Bill on GST before introducing the same in Parliament.

The Union Finance Minister said that the targets fixed for disinvestment in the current financial year are quite ambitious one but he hopes to achieve that or reach near the same. He said that road shows in this regard are being held in many parts of the world.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that inflation, especially food inflation has moderated in last few months and global fuel prices have also come down. Therefore, if RBI which is highly professional organization in its wisdom decides to bring down the cost of capital will give a good fillip to the Indian economy.

Along with the Finance Minister, Shri Dinesh Sharma, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Shri S.S. Mundra, Deputy Governor, RBI and Shri Parmit Zhaveri, CEO, Citi Bank were also present on this occasion. The aforesaid Summit was also attended among others by domestic and international investors.

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CA Technologies Named a Leader in API Management by Independent Research Firm

CA Technologies Named a Leader in API Management by Independent Research Firm

CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) today announced it is named a “Leader” in “The Forrester Wave™: API Management Solutions, Q3 2014.*”

The solutions evaluated for the report included CA API Gateway (formerly CA Layer 7 API Gateway), CA Mobile API Gateway (formerly CA Layer 7 Mobile Access Gateway) and CA API Developer Portal (formerly CA Layer 7 Portal).

“…CA’s solution has among the best API security, message transformation and integration features in our evaluation. Among the traditional gateway vendors, Layer 7** was an early mover into the API management space, which has given CA a head start to round out the features of its portal and tooling for API product managers. The gateway’s mobile app support is also among the best in our evaluation,” Forrester analysts stated.

Forrester analysts evaluated 11 API Management vendors against 40 criteria. CA scored the highest rating for the API transformation and integration, and product strategy criteria.

“APIs are a cornerstone for innovation and business growth in the application economy,” said Phil Walston, vice president, product management, CA Technologies.

“Our API management and security suite gives organizations the confidence to publicly open valuable data and application functionality as APIs and help developer teams and business leaders realize faster delivery of mobile apps and cloud services to drive business value and profitability.”

The CA API Management suite enables:

•  Seamless data integration across on-premise, cloud and platform-as-a-service offerings.
•  Accelerated and secure app development through developer onboarding, software development kits, interactive documentation and auto-generated code samples.
•  Mobile and IoT initiatives by connecting enterprise data with devices, including the cable box and automobile, keeping consumers engaged.
•  Secure and convenient interactions across multiple channels, giving customers the flexibility to use the method and device of their choice.

To receive a complimentary copy of the report, please visit “The Forrester Wave™: API Management Solutions, Q3 2014.” To learn more about CA Technologies API Management solutions, visit http://www.ca.com/us/products/api-management.aspx.

*Forrester Research, Inc., “The Forrester Wave™: API Management Solutions, Q3 2014,” September 29, 2014.

** CA Technologies acquired Layer 7 Technologies in June 2013.

About CA Technologies

CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA) creates software that fuels transformation for companies and enables them to seize the opportunities of the application economy. Software is at the heart of every business in every industry. From planning, to development, to management and security, CA is working with companies worldwide to change the way we live, transact, and communicate – across mobile, private and public cloud, distributed and mainframe environments. Learn more at www.ca.com.  

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Stock Market Business Good for You?

Stock market business has been luring new and old investors toward the share and scrips for many decades.

Stock market in India, has been consider as equal to betting, where people do fear about losing more than the quantity of gain.

In reality, stock market is same as we have negative impression about it.

Stock market is the one kind of business, that everybody should love to do.

The first logic is that, companies are the main aspect in stock market, where they sell their stock or scrip (may not necessarily directly).

The term company is closely associated with profit or profit making in general or business sense.

If a start up company could become one successful company after listing at stock market, then the stock or scrips of the same company would be gaining much.

Ultimately, the stock holder or investors would be getting high price for the exchange of stock and dividend as decided by the board of directors of the company.

In stock market, how a lay-man would gain money?

Well, for that they need to purchase stock and do need to monitor the price of the share or stock they have purchased.

Simply, if the share is traded on higher price simply sell it, else hold it to see if it would be traded more than the value, you fixed to sell.

And if the share is losing is value in the stock market, then sell it, get your money back.

Interesting thing about stock market is that, you can suffer loss, but you are going to get back the money, and that would be the same as if you lent money to any person.

Why not invest in banks rather putting into risky stock market?

Right, this assumption is right, seldom anybody would agree to take the risk in stock market. But the fact is that, those are ready to take the risk, they win and lose in stock market.

Another factor is that, one can get more interest return for their investment in stock market, but not always.

There share in stock market are just like products, you need to keep those and trade for a profit, and loss is inevitable in business.

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Agrochemicals: The tool to increasing India's food availability

By Mr Rajesh Aggarwal,

Despite rising foodgrain production, the per capita availability of food is falling in India. How do we intend to feed the burgeoning population that is expected to keep growing roughly for the next 50 years, asks Mr. Rajesh Aggarwal, Managing Director, Insecticides India Limited

India achieved a record foodgrain production of 259.29 million tonnes in the 2011-12 crop year. The output was an increase over the previous crop year’s production of 235.88 million tons which again was a record in itself. While in the year 2012-13, the output fell slightly to 255.36 million tonnes in 2012-13 due to drought in some parts of the country, this year again expectations indicate a record breaking production.

When we read and hear the ‘record’ numbers generated each year to announce India’s foodgrain production, little do we register that even though our total foodgrain production in absolute terms is increasing, the per capita availability of food is on a steady decline.

Data from the Economic Survey shows that in 1961, the time preceding the Green Revolution, the per capita foodgrain availability in India was 468.7 grams. The population at this point of time in India was around 439.2 million. As India entered the era of the Green Revolution, the foodgrain production increased manifold. At the same time India’s population too grew rapidly. In 1991 when India had doubled its population to 846.4 million, the per capita availability of foodgrains too had increased to 510.1 grams, thanks to modern techniques of agriculture.
However, thereafter the yields started plateauing and the per capita availability of foodgrain started falling as the Indian population continued to grow, crossing the 1 billion mark. In 2011, 438.6 grams of foodgrains were available to each Indian citizen.

With a population of 1.2 billion people and growing, India as a country has the most number of mouths to feed after China. But, unlike China whose population is expected to peak over the next 10 years, India’s population is likely to keep growing well till 2060. This drives home the point that Indian agriculture sector is in urgent need to overcome plateauing yields to meet the growing demand at home.

If the production does not match the rate of increase of our population, the per capita availability of foodgrain will further decline. It is interesting to note that total per capita foodgrain consumption in the US is over five times that of an average Indian.

Right up to the mid 1960s when India witnessed a major food crisis and famine, requiring massive food aid and shipments from abroad, Indian farmers battled erratic rainfall, crop failures and low yields. However, with the introduction of intensive farming to increase production per unit of land, the agricultural yields increased and food could be made available to the Indian plate. The results were revolutionary.

Yet, over four decades after the agriculture boom, Indian food production needs another revival. We are adding to our population every day but our land area is not increasing. The increasing population of India (already 16 per cent of the world lives in India which has 2 per cent of the total landmass of the world) is limiting the availability of per capital cultivable land. Need to expand residential spaces as well as building infrastructure projects has also put pressure on agricultural land. In such a scenario, how will we ensure that in the next 50 years, our food production remains sufficient to feed the increasing population of the country?

The answer again lies in increasing yield per unit of land through increased and judicious use of agro chemicals.

Indian farmers are among the leading producers of wheat, rice, fruit, sugarcane, groundnut and tobacco. They are also the world’s largest producers of pulses, jute, tea and cauliflower. However, there is still immense potential to increase the total production if they judiciously and intelligently use agro chemicals to augment their production.

Despite being the fourth largest producer of agrochemicals globally, after the United States, Japan and China, the usage of insecticides in India stands is actually very low, in fact, the one of the lowest in the world at just 0.58 kg per hectare against 4.5 kg per hectare in the US and 10.8 kg per hectare in Japan. The world’s average pesticide consumption is 3 kg/ha.

Some of the reasons for low consumption in India are low purchasing power of farmers, lack of awareness among farmers, limited reach and lower accessibility of products. Effort is required in this area so that we are able to increase our production per unit of land and ensure the per capita availability of food doesn’t fall.

The use of agro chemicals is an important element in agriculture. For farmers, it is very crucial to take care of the health of their crops and protect them against the menace of pest attacks. Akin to the need of medical intervention like vaccination and antibiotics in human beings, is the need for agro chemicals to protect crops.

The market size of Indian agro- chemicals industry is expected to more than double to USD 5 billion by 2017 on rising agri production and increasing awareness among farmers. This is a positive sign. In India, per capita pesticide consumption is less than 500 gm per hectare, which is far below the world average of about 3 kg per hectare. This needs to increase to keep up with our rising food requirements.

Technological advancements in the field of agrochemicals over the years have allowed farmers to increase crop yields, better protect their crops from pest and weed attacks and equip their crops to better fight against environmental factors. Food production has benefited from constant advancements in agricultural technologies. Tools such as herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides help reduce crop losses and increase yields.

Make no mistake, agriculture continues to be the backbone of Indian economy, it employs 58 % of the total workforce, and accounts for a major share of exports. With sufficient production, it plays a crucial role in ensuring that as a country we are self sufficient in feeding our people. And agrochemicals remain a key to the success of Indian agriculture.

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Inflation Indexed National Saving Securities- Cumulative (IINSS-C)

The Government of India, in consultation with Reserve Bank of India, has decided to launch Inflation Indexed National Savings Securities-Cumulative (IINSS-C) for retail investors in the second half of December 2013.

These securities are being launched in the backdrop of announcement made in the Union Budget 2013-14 to introduce instruments that will protect savings from inflation, especially the savings of the poor and middle classes.

The distribution/ sale of IINSS-C would be through banks. The eligible investors would include individuals, Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), Charitable Institutions registered under section 25 of the Indian Companies Act and Universities incorporated by Central, State or Provincial Act or declared to be a university under section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (3 of 1956).

Interest rate on these securities would be linked to final combined Consumer Price Index [CPI (Base: 2010=100)]. Interest rate would comprise two parts, i.e. fixed rate (1.5% per annum) and inflation rate based on CPI and the same will be compounded in the principal on half-yearly basis and paid at the time of maturity. Early redemptions will be allowed after one year from date of issue for senior citizens (i.e. above 65 years of age) and 3 years for all others, subject to penalty charges at the rate of 50% of the last coupon payable for early redemption. Early redemptions, however, can be made only on coupon dates.

Other details of the scheme would be announced by the Reserve Bank of India. The issuance of non-cumulative Inflation Indexed National Saving Securities for retail investors will be examined in due course.

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Zyfin Launches India's First Monthly GDP Growth Indicator (MGGI)

Mumbai: ZyFin, formerly known as BluFin, which has introduced monthly macroeconomic lead indicators that track consumer outlook and the business cycle in India, has today announced the launch of Monthly GDP Growth Indicator (GGI) - India's first and only lead indicator to estimate India's GDP numbers on a sequential month on month basis with seasonal adjustments.

The GDP Growth Indicator, which has been launched coincident with the release of the official quarterly GDP growth data, has estimated year-on year (YoY) growth at 4.3% for the quarter ended June 2013, which is well below the broad consensus estimates of 5%.

ZyFin's estimates suggest that YoY growth in the first two quarters of this calendar year would be the seventh worst on record since the introduction of GDP quarterly data in 1996 and the lowest since 2002.

The silver lining however is on the inflation front. ZyFin's GDP Growth Indicator, which tracks inflation on the basis of the GDP deflator, has witnessed a collapse in the sequential GDP deflator inflation from 6.7% in Q4 FY'13 (or Q1 CY'13) to a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) of 1.7% in Q1 FY'14 (or Q2 CY'13) with the monthly estimate for June at 0%. ZyFin estimates that inflation for the year would fall below 6% for the first time since the year 2007, excluding the crisis quarters of 2009.

Commenting on the launch of the indicator, Dr. Surjit S Bhalla, Senior Advisor, ZyFin said "ZyFin has developed a more advanced and immediate model for looking at the GDP by launching this monthly indicator and has thus enabled India to take a giant step away from its present state of data darkness."

Comparing the GDP Growth Indicator data with the official GDP estimates, Dr. Bhalla mentioned "The official quarterly year-on-year real and nominal estimates of GDP are helpful in deriving estimates for the implicit GDP deflator alone, but these figures don't meet the purpose of informing investors about the economy's present status. This is because three fourths of the figures have already been reported and contained in a year-on-year estimate." "Data reporting in developed economies such as the US is done only in sequential terms they are first adjusted for seasonality. This makes comparisons more realistic and computation of sequential annualized growth rates possible", he added.

There are four components of our GDP growth estimate. They are (with approximate weights in parentheses): Agriculture (19%), Manufacturing (15%), Construction (7%) and Services (59%). All sectors have contributed to this sequential low growth of 4.2% , with manufacturing being the biggest culprit. This sector registered negative growth of -0.6% SAAR in the second quarter. Construction was also a drag on growth, registering a SAAR of around 2.6 percent, less than half its long run average of 7 percent. Service sector growth slowed down as well to 6.3% SAAR, well below its long run and expected average of 9% SAAR.

Giving his insights into the Q1 estimates, Debopam Chaudhuri, VP Research, ZyFin observed, "The decline in manufacturing sector in June quarter was expected given the slowdown in intermediate sector observed since April 2013, with production of raw metals like copper, aluminum and pig iron shrinking compared to the previous year." Highlighting the negative trend, he went on to add "If one were to take the IIP data and the conventional annual year-on-year growth, one obtains a negative growth rate of -1.5 % SAAR for Q1 FY' 14 (or Q2 CY'13); the third most negative on record for the manufacturing sector. The latest numbers of ZyFin's Business Cycle Indicator have signaled caution, and the sequential GDP estimate for Q1 FY14 confirms the occurrence of a sharp deceleration from the near 8 % level witnessed in Q4 FY13."

The ZyFin GDP Growth indicator (GGI) would be released on the first working day post the 20th of every month and is aimed to aid in policy making and timely investment decision making.

About ZyFin

ZyFin is a market-defining Financial Information and Content company, providing timely and relevant information to retail and institutional investors on the Indian economy and financial markets. ZyFin is backed by Zodius Advisors (www.zodius.com) and Anthemis Group(www.anthemis.com). For more information, please visit zyfin.com.

About Zodius Advisors

Zodius Advisors builds businesses in the "new" Digital India. Operational since 2011, Zodius typically develops one company every six months and works intensively with its portfolio company teams to "speed up" and "shape up" for exceptional growth and profitability.

About Anthemis Group

Anthemis Group is a specialist holding company providing vision, strategy, leadership and capital to growth-stage companies with innovative business models at the intersection of financial services, markets and technology.

Source: Business Wire India

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RBI guidelines on ‘Control of Indian Companies’ in FDI policy

On Thursday, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released guidelines on total foreign investment in Indian companies, transfer of ownership or control of Indian companies. With the ongoing debate over control of Jet Airways after UAE’s Etihad bought stake, RBI’s new FDI guidelines will certainly solve the dispute.

The guidelines are regarding Indirect or Direct Foreign Investment (FDI), calculating the total foreign investment, transfer of ownership or control of Indian companies and also on downstream investment by Indian company. Here are a few from those -

Ownership or Control – An Indian company will be an Indian company if 50 or more percentage of capital benefits is owned by Indian residents or companies. And the Indian residents or companies should have the power to appoint majority of the company directors.

Non-resident entity/ies can have control over an Indian company, if more than 50% of the capital benefits are owned by non-resident entity/ies and they’ve the power to appoint majority of the directors.

As per the press notification - Indian companies with such investments between February 13, 2009 and the date of publication of FEMA notification, should intimate the same to RBI within 90 days of the publication of this circular. They should report it to the Regional RBI office under whose jurisdiction the Registered Office of the company is located.

Calculating total FDI would sum up all the non-resident investments made in Indian company. Total foreign investment will be the sum of total direct and indirect foreign investment made in a company.

For more details, you can read the press note released by RBI here

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Natural gas prices to near double from April 1, 2014

Indian government on Thursday approved the Rangarajan pricing formula of natural gas prices and as per the development; from April 1, 2014 natural gas prices will be near doubled to $8.4.

As the new prices come into effect from next year, power tariff, urea costs and CNG prices are sought to go high too. The proposal from the Indian oil ministry was at last approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), which is headed by the Prime Minister himself.

The Ragarajan formula, which comes from PM’s economic advisor C. Rangarajan, is a complex formula based on liquid gas imports contacts and international trading standards.

This is the first time in last 3 years, the natural gas prices got its first revision. As per the suggestion of Rangarajan panel, the gas prices were to be revisited every month from April 1 next year. But the oil ministry has expanded the revision to quarterly intervals.

As the new guidelines come into effect from next year, it is expected that the natural gas prices will be $10 by 2015. The revision of prices is hugely criticized by opposition parties of India and by Ministry of Power and Fertilizer as well.

The reason behind the revision of has prices was explained as a method to incentivize petroleum exploration and at the same time bringing revenue to the government.

While Indian people were already in trouble due to inflation, increasing petrol prices and electricity charges, these new guidelines will increase their burdens and the farmers will also have the same fate.

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Rupee touches new all-time low; at Rs. 60.51/dollar

Rupee is getting weaker as the demand of dollar is increasing with the month-end closing. Due to heavy demand of dollar from importers, Rupee has attained a new all time low at Rs 60.51 per dollar.

With the value of Rs 59.73, market opened on Wednesday and it was expected that Rupee will grow a bit due to the intervention of Reserve Bank of India. Despite that that Rupee did fall and attained Rs 60.25 just in the mid-day.

This is the all-time low value of rupee. As the day progresses, Currency dealers expected that Rupee will be under Rs 60.5. But proving that wrong, Rupee has exceeded the mark and seems to fall more.

As to the experts, they expect that Rupee will fall even more and RBI can’t take any major steps to recover rupee. This is the straight sixth day that rupee is weakening due to huge dollar demand from importers.

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Marginal cut in Small Savings interest rates

In a panel discussion on Monday, at the annual national interest reset discussion, the new interest rates for small national savings schemes have been announced.

As per the recommendation of panel members, the interest rates on small saving schemes have been reduced by 10 basis points or .1% compared to previous years.

The RBI annual interest reset panel was headed by RBI deputy governor Shaymala Gopinath. The new interest rates will be effective form April 1, 2013.

The new interest rate values are –

1) Public Provident Fund (PPF) – interest rate lowered from 8.8% to 8.7%

2) National Savings Certificate (NSC) – interest rates lowered from 8.9% to 8.8%; both on twenty and five year maturity schemes

3) Senior Citizen Saving Schemes - interest rate lowered from 9.3% to 9.2%

There will be no change in interest rates on one year deposit schemes. As per the statements of Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the new rates will be more favorable to depositors in this inflation season.

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Budget Blues: Follow Canons of Taxation

As a student of economics, it is always fun to read about the canons of taxation in public finance.

Economists do always favor the changes of the fiscal policies and taxation in an economy to keep it fit and healthy.

India is going to witness the union budget for the fiscal year 2013-14 and the taxation is the prime concern for many in the country from individual tax payers to corporates.

There are many canons of taxation or principles of taxation in Indian economy too, alike other economies the world have.

It may be direct tax or indirect tax changes, it is sure to affect the budget of everyone in the country, and thanks to tough job to be done by the finance minister and administrative officers those always aim to minimize the burden of taxation.

When it comes to taxation in the country, the job becomes tougher for them. They need to strike a balance between the sentiments of the people using canons of taxation and fiscal consolidations.

Let’s have a look on the statistics, tax revenue as a percentage of GDP declined from 8.8 per cent in 2007-08 to 7.5 per cent in 2001-12.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been major concern for the economic planners while dealing with the debt consolidation, fiscal deficit and current account deficit.

Will there be rise in indirect tax in India? Will there changes in the income tax-slabs? How much I need to pay as tax? Will the EMI of home loan go up after the union budget?

There are basic questions one has in mind when the person thinks about the budget outcome. On Thursday, the budget session has been stared in Parliament with keynote address by the President of India.

Sine the economy growth rate is lowest in decade around 5 per cent and the fiscal deficit is high, it is obvious that the government would look for more adjustment in the taxes or disinvestments of PSUs.

Interestingly, the government needs to work on the framed rules or canons of taxation simultaneously working on fiscal deficit and adjusting taxation.

In the gloomy situation, there could be chances of higher taxes in India, but there might not be if the government prefers to present a popular budget as the general election will be held in 2014.

Best way to judge economy is to see the cannons on taxation used. 

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Economy to grow at 5.5% in 2012-2013: Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said that the Indian economy will grow at a rate of 5 to 5.5% in 2012-2013 fiscal year.

As per media reports, in an interview to PTI, Montek Singh Ahluwalia said "It (GDP growth rate) would be somewhere between 5 and 5.5 per cent. If everything worked perfectly, I would not rule out seven per cent next year (2013-14)."

As per his words economy would give signs of recovery if the strength of recovery continues. Couple of days back, India President Pranab Mukhaerjee at the inauguration ceremony of 20th International Engineering and Technology Fair (IETF), said "Though our economic growth has recently declined somewhat, I am confident that we will be able to bring the deceleration to a halt and revert to the eight per cent growth levels that we attained many times in the past."

Due to subdued interest from Investors and some global factors, in 2011-2012 fiscal year, economy has come down to 6.2 from 9.3 percent in 2010-2011.

While talking to Reuters in an interview Social activist and Leader of Aam Admi Party, Arvind Kejriwal said that the figures are just meant for few people in India as a common man is always living the miserable life whether GDP increases or decrease.

Prime Minster's Economic Advisory Council C. Rangarajan also predicted the economy to bounce back to 6.5-7 in current fiscal year and predicted of more recovery in subsequent years.

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Barack Obama’s Oath as President, emotional inaugural speech

After winning the second term Presidential election, Barack Obama took oath as president in the Oval Office of White House, Washington on Sunday. He is 44th President of United States of America. During an inaugural ceremony at Capitol, he again repeated the oath before thousands of audience.

Here is the Oath –

“I, Barrack Hussain Obama, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United State and will to the best of ability; preserve, protect and defend the constitution of United States. So help me God. Thank you.”

Here is a quick look video of the inaugural speech -

In his inaugural speech to the thousands of audience, Obama stressed upon the resilience of the people of United States of America and how they defended themselves against crisis, both financial and climatic. He also mentioned the end of a decade of war.

On his speech Obama mentioned the founding fathers, declaration of independence, freedom, crisis, economy and many other subjects. Talking about economic recovery he said “We do not believe that Freedom is reserved for lucky or happiness for the few.”

In a strong voice he mentioned that USA and its people will respond to any crisis in future to save the future of their next generations. He also stressed upon giving equal treatments to homosexual persons and will help them build their identity.

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Indian Economy: Threat of Downgrade Rating

The world economy is reeling under the economic slowdown so as the Indian economy. There are threats for it to get downgrades from various rating agencies in the days to come. The macroeconomic growth has been a big concern.

The global rating agency Standard & Poor has a rating of BBB (Minus) on India. And there are chances of downgrade if Indian economy will be in further dim growth prospects by next couple of years.

Following reasons could be major to avoid any downgrade further:

Fiscal Deficit:
Fiscal Deficit could be the first major reason for such speculations. According to media reports the fiscal deficit of Indian economy for 2012-13 could be 5.5-5.6 per cent of GDP. That is much higher from the 5.1 percent target. But it may be lower than last year’s figure are 5.8 per cent.

For the government it is very hard to keep the fiscal deficit low because of the subsidies on various sectors. In order to avoid and downgrade from rating agencies, the government would look for options to check the fiscal deficit either bringing more economic reforms or borrowing extra fund from the market.

The Union Budget 2013-14 will be present by the finance minister in March 2013. And the budget will give the clear picture of the growth of Indian economy.

High Inflation Rate and Internet rates:

The high inflation rate in India could be the second major concern for the UPA government to address. The annual rate of inflation (WPI) was at 7.45 per cent (provisional) in October 2012, while it was at 7.81 per cent (provisional) in October 2011.

The apex bank, Reserve Bank of India, will review its credit policy on this week, and it may try to adjust the interest rates to tame the high inflation rates keeping the interest of the investors in India.

There might be some changes in the interest rates to boost the liquidity in the market. The apex bank may infuse some more money in to economy to check the high inflation rates.

Economic Reforms & Obstacles:

The Foreign Direct Invest in retail has been through in Parliament last week by voting followed by two days long debate. It shows that the economic reforms could help the economy to stand and face the economic slowdown, but the path is not easy job for the government to act on.

Despite after the getting the nod of the Parliament over the FDI in retail, still the road for reforms not clear for the government which has been facing the opposition over the lobbying matter. The process of the economic reforms may see slow progress as only two years left for the General elections in India that is going to be held in 2014.

Political Scenario:

The current political scenario has been the major concern for the investors to keep their interest up on the stock markets. The coalition politics has been the recent trend in Indian political system for last decade. But for major improvement in the rating, there should be a stable government, which should be free from pressure of any ally to initiate any reforms.

It does not matter which party is going to form the government but the concern is how strong it would be to carry forward the Indian economy further towards growth.

The bottom-line is the growth rate of Indian economy is completely depending upon the government mechanism to check inflation, fiscal deficit, debt burden.

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Positive Effects of a Recession

Image Credit: Ecominoes

Fewer jobs, less money, and less, sense of security. These are all the ill effects, of recession, that majority of the people suffered across the world. But there is a good to learn even from bad things and bad experiences. So let us have a look at the positive effects of recession.

• Less Wastage:  When we have limited resources we learn to value them and to use them carefully. Because of recession, people have started focusing on the need aspect rather than want aspect. This results in less wastage and utilization of the resources to the best.

• Breaking gender barrier: Majority of men had to lose their jobs because of recession. So, the role play of the women from being limited to household duties, extend to earnings as well. And this resulted in increasing the confidence level and social status of the women.

• Benefits to the government: when people have enough money everyone prefers his own means of transport. But in the times of recession, preference has shifted from personal transport to public transport. This results in increase in the government revenue. And this in turn results in benefits to the public.

• Betterment of skills/change of profession: Necessity is the mother of all inventions. When people have no income source and are in bad need of money, they usually focus on sharpening their skills or focus on alternative and better sources of income.  

• Time to think: This is the right time to think about your life, and make necessary changes. You want to spend time with your loved ones or you want to give a new direction to your life change your goals and priorities. This is the time for all these changes.

So, when we learn good lessons even from bad times, we are on our way to progress and prosper.

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GDP slips to 5.3% in Jul-Sept from 6.7%

The economic growth rate (GDP - gross domestic product) has been declined to 5.3 per cent in July- September quarter.

In the last quarter, the GDP growth rate was 5.5 per cent and 6.7 per cent in the same quarter in 2011.

The manufacturing and agriculture sectors have registered a slow growth rate in this quarter at 0.8 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively.

However, the mining sector has witness some good growth rate of 1.9 per cent in the second quarter of this year.

The figures of GDP growth rate were disappointing and lower than the expected rate of growth.

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NPA is reflection of the slowdown in the economy – P. Chidambaram

Photo Credit - The Hindu Business Line

Today Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had a meeting with nationalized bank chiefs about making strategies to recover from the economic slowdown. The FM said to the fellow meeting members that Govt. will be working to make a strategy to help the industry segments which are affected by the economic slowdown.

After the meeting with Bank chiefs FM addressed to the press and said - “If the economy improves and growth improves, the sectors (which are not doing well) will recover. But in the meanwhile, we will have to do some handholding and try to help these sectors recover”. In the above address he also mentioned about the Non Performing Assets (NPAs) where he said: “NPA is reflection of the slowdown in the economy’’. He said Govt. is making strategies to look upon the rising NPAs and find other ways to help them perform better. If we go on to the statistics NPAs of Public Sector Banks (PSUs) has been increased by 0.98 percent in this fiscal year due to slow in industries like construction, telecom infrastructure, textiles, food processing and steel.

There are some positive points mentioned by FM where he included that housing and automobile sectors have been doing well in this subdued economy. FM also mentioned that Government will do some capital infusion of around Rs. 15,000 Crore to PSUs like Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra.

Earlier this week it is announced that FM will be meeting National bank chiefs to review the financial performance of some under-performing sectors in this subdued economy. Other than that the agenda also included to review the first half economic numbers, deteriorating assets and how to plan for healthy credit growth. The other attendees of this meeting were SBI Chairman, Pratip Chaudhuri, Punjab National Bank CMD, K.R. Kamath, and Indian Bank Association CEO, K. Ramakrishnan.

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Do Gadgets Support Economy?

When compared to previous years, there has been a lot of increase in the, peoples way of living and thinking. Unlike in the previous times, people are showing a lot of interest in the purchase of gadgets. In fact, gadgets have become a part and parcels of people’s professional and personal life. And, to state the fact, people got habituated to using gadgets in such a way, that they can hardly imagine life without these.

Today’s fast moving life one can hardly imagine life without these gadgets. It is no more a luxury item, gadgets are a part and parcel of life and have become need to exist in the current working conditions, and to cope up with the fast pace of life. The work environment has changes its face over time, and gadgets have taken a priority in the work place, as these things make the life and work of the people and easier to cope with.

If we look at things this way, then to meet these increasing needs, there will be a lot of increase in the production of gadgets, and so there will lot of employment for people directly and indirectly. For the production people are needed and to provide after sales services also people are required. So, there will be lot of people who get employed because of these gadgets.

Not only this, Govt. also gets revenue in the form of tax and licenses. So, definitely gadgets support the economy, directly and indirectly in a huge manner. And therefore indirectly also contribute to the development of the people, improve their life’s. They not only keep people technologically advanced, but also help lot many people indirectly. So, gadgets help the economic growth as well as, growth for the individuals and nation as a whole.

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Does a company’s high stock market value mean added value to economy?

Industries and companies are the major components of any economy. The contribution from the industrial sector is high in many countries. In the countries like India, agriculture as the primary sector in the past but the rapid growth of industries, companies, corporate are contributing more to Indian economy.

The high stock market value of company is mean added value to economy. The high market capitalization will help the economy to get tax in many forms which could give a boost to the economy. The stock markets play a vital role in an economy, and it helps to read the economy through the fund flow into the system.

The high stock market value of companies will attract huge foreign funds into the system. The investment into the stock market helps the companies to utilize the fund in their production, which could be used in domestic market.

The growth in the production and productivity of the companies will help to attract more funds in the equity market. However, exposure to equity and investments could also lead to risk factor in some aspects.

When a company enters into the stock listing through IPO, it will have the minimum value for its stock price. Once the company gets good deals and declares its quarterly profit and loss report, based on that the share price may go up or down. That will show the market capitalization of the company. And in a span of time, the shares will grow fast so as the market capitalization.

High value of shares means the high market capitalization of the company the shares belong to. Highest market capitalization of companies will always help economy to get more and more investment. So, high stock market value can be considered as value added to economy.

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