Shriram infuses Rs.10 Cr capital to AMC

Shriram Asset Management Company has ambitious plans to grow the mutual fund business and attain leadership in the next 5 – 7 years time. Shriram AMC has recently infused INR 10 Cr capital to the AMC and proposes to add additional 30 cr in the coming one year.

Mr. D Ramanathan, Head of Sales and Marketing, Shriram AMC, said, “Shriram Mutual Fund is positioning itself as one of the unique entities to today’s competitive space by introducing innovative products and widening the product suit to our growing number of customers”. “We are working on launching two new schemes--- pure equity scheme and a hybrid scheme with a high debt orientation--- during the financial year,” Mr. Ramanathan said.

The maiden offering of the company – Shriram Equity & Debt Opportunities Fund, an open ended equity oriented asset allocation fund has delivered 15.91% since inception outperforming its benchmark and sensex by a decent margin. In addition, the fund has declared two dividends in less than a year of launch translating to 13% ie Rs 1.30 per unit under dividend plan. In the recent sharp market correction, the scheme has managed the downside risk exceedingly well and demonstrated consistent performance. Among the peer group, the scheme enjoys the highest portfolio market capitalization of INR 80,000 Crore (source- Value Research). The fund is managed by Partha Ray who is an alumnus of IIT – Kharagpur & IIM – Bangalore with a rich experience of over 2 decades in the financial services domain.

The company has introduced a first of its kind feature – ANY DAY SIP effective August 2015, which allows the investor to choose his or her sip date any day from 1 to 30th of a month. This is a departure from the industry practice of choosing specified dates in a month targeting broader class of investors including small businessmen, entrepreneurs and traders in addition to salaried classes.

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Indifi Technologies launches SMB Financing Platform

New Delhi, Sep 30: Indifi Technologies Pvt, Ltd., an enabler for SME funding in India was launched today.The company streamlines credit assessment processes through automated data collection, processing and analysis. It aims to solve credit access issues for small business while providing a zero operating cost model for lenders.

The unique concept of Indifi has been initiated and implemented by three co-founders: Mr. Alok Mittal, Mr. Siddharth Mahanot and Mr. Sundeep Sahi, who come from diverse fields of finance, business and technology.

Commenting on the launch, Alok Mittal, Co-founder and CEO, Indifi Technologies said – “MSMEs contribute to nearly 38% of the country’s GDP, but at the same time, suffer from $380B formal debt financing gap.Proliferation of data in this space has created a unique opportunity to address this gap.

At Indifi, we collect demographic, business and financial data, and analyze it to assist these businesses in securing credit from banks and NBFCs. Backed by innovation and technology, we seek to improve access, reduce the overall credit operations cost by 50-60%, and enable disbursements within a mere 4 days from application.”

Indifi takes a segment specific approach, where in the product design and data models are designed with deep understanding of needs a segment. Lending products in any given segment are tightly integrated with the business cash flows and transnational linkages in that segment. Currently, Indifi is live in three business segments across travel, transportation and retail sectors.

The company’s business model revolves around a fee for services provided to lenders – from marketing, to data collection and analysis, and on-ground documentation and verification. Indifi also assists institutions in monitoring the possible risk of default on an ongoing basis by analyzing transactions undertaken by such borrowers over the life of the loan. In a short period since its inception, Indifi now already works with two financial institutions who lend through the Indifi platform. 

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Axis Bank Hackathon 2015 - Gamification Challenge

New Delhi, May 20, 2015: Axis Bank, India’s third largest private bank, has announced a virtual hackathon challenge on 30th and31st May, 2015 in partnership with NASSCOM. Rapidly changing digital space and improved technology penetration across various customer segments have transformed the digital banking landscape globally. The bank plans to build a strong Digital Banking capability by continually innovating to become an integral part of a customer’s life.

The bank is looking to engage with innovative companies to build customer focussed solutions which will reinvent consumers’ interaction with the bank’s mobile app. The bank is in search of developers and designers who can gamify the financial technology solutions, using the power of Axis Bank's digital platforms/APIs on the mobile channel. Anyone who has a great idea - whether working alone or in a small/large leading tech company can participate. The bank would allow individuals as well as teams to participate.

Gamification can be meaningfully used to motivate customers and nudge their personal financial behaviour such as goal-based savings and debt reduction on the bank’s mobile app. The Bank will take forward the winning ideas to design an engaging product/service mix and make financial transactions enjoyable for customers.

Mr Amit Sethi, CIO, Axis Bank, said “Mobile technology has transformed not only customers’ daily behaviour but their expectations of us as their financial partner. We are inviting creative minds to collaborate with us in this journey of building next generation customer centric mobile solutions. We want to be a part of customers every day digital lives.”

Mr. Rajesh Rao, Chair, NASSCOM Gaming Forum, said “The hackathon in collaboration with Axis Bank is a progressive step towards leveraging technology to revolutionize the digital banking landscape. NASSCOM is pleased to be a part of this initiative and are optimistic that this will be helpful in enhancing and creating a robust digital banking ecosystem in India.”

Axis Bank will reward the top 3 winners with an overall prize money of Rs. 15 Lakhs. Further, Axis Bank may get into service contracts with one or more of them. Intellectual Property would be retained by Axis Bank.

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Commodity Awareness Programme

Commodity Awareness Programme Organised by MCX and FMC to Promote Hedging

With an objective to create awareness, and educate the market participants about the benefits of hedging, Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX), Forward Markets Commission (FMC), and Bhadrak Jewellers Association, jointly organised an awareness programme at Bhadrak (Odisha) on January 22.

The programme served to explain in detail all the technicalities associated with the working of a commodity exchange. The experts elaborated on the topics such as the benefits of hedging, importance and need for risk management measures, role of commodity futures exchanges, and the regulatory perspective. They further explained to the market participants about the benefits and advantages—higher liquidity, transparent pricing, central clearing, robust risk management and surveillance system—of trading on a regulated commodity exchange platforms such as MCX. It was a platform to create a better understanding of the commodity futures market among the participants, thereby enabling them to hedge risks, in the face of volatile market conditions. Other topics included, economic benefits of commodity futures, historical perspective and growth of commodity markets in India, and diverse and innovative product basket offered by MCX among others.

Mr. Navanit Ray Parekh, President, Bhadrak Jewellers Association said, "Armed with the necessary knowledge shared by the experts today, we will now be able to better understand the functioning of the commodity markets, and hedge our bullion price risks by trading on the regulated commodity exchanges such as MCX."

"It was interesting to know about the different variants of both Gold and Silver contracts with different lot sizes —gold mini, gold petal, gold guinea, silver mini and silver micro— offered by MCX, to suit the requirements of the commodity value chain participants", he further added.

This informative seminar gave the participants a detailed insight into the world of futures trading and the plethora of benefits thereof to the stakeholders of the underlying commodities. Moreover, the speakers emphasised on the manner in which the participants can manage the risks arising from fluctuating prices by hedging such risks using commodity futures contracts.

The programme was attended by more than 100 market participants and the queries put forward by them were answered by the experts. They thanked FMC and MCX for organising this interactive session which helped them gain an insight into the commodity futures markets.

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Sun Life Financial partners with The Hockey Foundation

Sun Life Financial partners with The Hockey Foundation for an ice hockey tournament at the world’s highest rink at Karzoo between January 17-18

Goal is to cement ties between India and Canada, and educate people about benefits of playing hockey and staying healthy



Leh, India – (January 15, 2015 ) — When piercing cold winds blow through the surroundings and the mighty Himalayas are covered with thick snow, the town of Leh warms up to ice hockey, a niche sport being supported by Sun Life Financial – a leading international financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Canada.


Sun Life Financial has partnered with The Hockey Foundation to sponsor an ice hockey tournament at Karzoo (January 17-18) and help get more people in India strapping on the blades and playing Canada’s national game. Here’s the best part: this event will all take place on the highest ice rink in the world at 3,484 meters.


As part of its $20,000 CDN sponsorship, Sun Life is also supporting three qualified ice hockey coaches to put on instruction sessions in Leh, Mumbai and Delhi. In addition, Sun Life has provided jerseys and equipment to The Hockey Foundation so they can get more people involved in the game.



“Sun Life has a long history of doing business in India and as the only Canadian insurer in this country, this sponsorship was a natural fit for us,” says Paul Joliat, Assistant Vice-President of Philanthropy and Sponsorship. “We are always looking for opportunities to sponsor health-related activities in the communities and regions where we operate, and when we heard about the work to grow the game of hockey and get people involved in a healthy, fun activity, we were immediately attracted to the initiative.”



Sun Life has a business operations service centre in Gurgaon. It has also formed a strong partnership with the Aditya V. Birla Group (Birla Sun Life). Sun Life is committed to growing its business in Asia and considers India an important market. To support this growth, Sun Life looks for opportunities to give back and promote healthy lifestyles in the communities where our customers and employees live and work.



“Sun Life is very pleased to be working towards putting the Karzoo rink on the international map,” says Shiney Prasad, Managing Director, Sun Life Financial Asia Service Center. “The immediate vision is to bring the communities together; create positive growth opportunities for the youth of Ladakh, and promote Ladakhi culture, sports groups, local businesses and tourism. Moreover, the game of ice hockey resonates well with key values such as discipline, teamwork and commitment, and that aligns well with what our workforce of more than 1000, employed at the Asia Service Centre in Gurgaon, strives for.”



Started by a bunch of sport enthusiasts from Canada, ice hockey in the foothills of the Himalayas has grown to become an annual sporting pilgrimage, drawing interest of teams and players from throughout the world. The growing popularity of the sport in India has drawn its support from The Hockey Foundation.


Ice Hockey has led to a spike in Jammu and Kashmir’s tourist footfalls, with sport adventurists from across the globe thronging the place to play and watch the sport in the sparkling and breathtaking backdrop of the Himalayan range.

Ever since the game found its calling in Leh, hundreds of children have learned the game and all of the amazing life skills that come with playing it. A game, which is thriving here, could not have kept itself alive in the absence of support - both financial and in terms of training, something it has found from many quarters.

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InvestCare launches ‘A Tryst with Money’ by Samar Vijay

InvestCare launches ‘A Tryst with Money’ by Samar Vijay

• The book was launched by Dr Chandan Mitra, MP Rajya Sabha in a gala evening that saw a musical extravaganza by Indo-Norway Group
• Keeping the tech savvy readers in mind, the publisher has also launched digital version of the book, which is available at Amazon.in

New Delhi: An air of excitement was evident at Shri Sathya Sai International Centre where ‘A Tryst with Money’, much awaited book by acclaimed financial expert Mr Samar Vijay, was released amongst the renowned guests and respected dignitaries. The audience witnessed this book release by guest of honor Dr Chandan Mitra, who himself is a famous writer and honorable MP of Rajya Sabha and owner-editor of The Pioneer. The special guests that graced the occasion were Mr. Viresh Mathur, IRS (Retd), Ex-Director General of Income Tax, Mr Ajit Mishra, Managing Director, InvestCare, Mr. Ajit Sinha, InvestCare, along with other esteemed guests.

The book launch was followed a concert by Indo-Norway Group. This celebration of music mesmerized the audience with amalgamation of Indian raga based melodies with the energetic spirit of Nordic Jazz.

Dr. Chandan Mitra was all praised for Mr. Samar Vijay and he shared his views as sharing his excitement and experiences, Mr. Samar Vijay, shared, “It’s a moment of pride for me that I am launching my first book and that too by Dr Chandan Mitra, who I respect a lot as an author. Finance is a complicated word for a common man, who find it difficult to understand and when I was confronted with this issue, I knew what I wanted to write for. I enjoy writing about Finance and through my findings and experiences I wanted readers also to enjoy and feel equally excited about it. Like how money has moved from one era to another and changed the whole experience of this world, which are expressed in my book with examples inspired from common incidents of life. I am sure that readers will feel the same connect and find my story as their Tryst with Money alongwith learning more about Money. Anyone from any background can read, understand and benefit from my book. I am sure my book will change the outlook of finance / money from now."


This book is an educative endeavor demonstrated with factual and fictional events of our journey with money which, according to the author, is leading us to an unknown destination. Mr Samar Vijay tracks historical events instrumental in transforming our society into a power – centric one. While offering insights on how wealth is made, the author cautions against the fallacies of money and its creators whose aim is to exploit our collective innocence. Because general populace is unprepared and unaware of the tricks used by the enlightened few, this book aims at ushering a whole new world to those who still believe money is a key to a better life.The book is available at all the leading book stores. The price of the book is INR 345 for print edition and digital version available on Amazon is competitively priced at INR 210.

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DineDesk named “Hot100 Technology Company of 2014”

Ahmed Sharief, Dine Desk Director receiving the Hot100 Technology award

DineDesk named “Hot100 Technology Company of 2014”

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India DineDesk has been named a Hot100 technology company by CIO-Choice in their annual awards ceremony held in December.  The prestigious 2014 award is presented in association with KPMG, Microsoft Ventures, Amazon Ventures and Netmagic.

  “We are proud to win this honoured title of Hot100,” said Clyde Vassou, Marketing Manager of DineDesk. “It showcases our excellence in innovation in restaurant technology and it recognizes our hard work in building a scalable company.”

DineDesk offers an Online Reservations, Marketing, Guest and Table Management solution for restaurants. Using DineDesk, a restaurant can receive reservations from Facebook, its own Website, and partner websites. The built-in CRM, Table Management and Guest Management systems assist in seating guests, managing wait lists, and tracking guest preferences and other information, such as allergies.

“Our team has put a tremendous amount of work into creating the DineDesk suite of tools,” said Bob Lawson, CEO of Dine Desk. “It is an honour to have an outside authority validate the quality of this work.” 

DineDesk also offers restaurants online marketing tools that can be used to promote a restaurant, including special offers and seasonal menus. Marketing options include social media, email marketing and SMS marketing. Restaurants can use DineDesk on a tablet, mobile phone, laptop, desktop, or any other Internet enabled device. No special hardware or software is required to use the cloud-based system.

DineDesk received the award at an event that showcased leading technology companies developing solutions for the “Internet of things,” such as wearable technologies, and software as a service solutions that leverage cloud computing for various business verticals.

Anoop Mathur, President of CORE, said: “I congratulate DineDesk on winning the elite tag of being Hot100. We had 60 days of campaigning with 26 Jury members to select the winners, who truly deserve the badge of honour. Selection was made based on a company’s technological innovation, team strength, opportunity size, and product value proposition. The Hot100 Awards measures business achievement across the board, championing innovation, enterprise and the people behind the company.” 
 

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5 smart moves before availing a Home loan

5 smart moves before availing a Home loan

Investing in a home is the prime investment most people in the world care about. It is a lifetime dream for any individual. A home loan will be the biggest and most important loan an individual will ever go for in their entire life. This is the primary reason that there is a long list of banks and financial institutions which offer all types of home loans in India. People these days are choosing Home Loans for their different needs. Hence, it's important to make the right decisions when you approach a bank for a home loan to buy your dream house. Here are some important things to watch out for says Brijesh Parnami, CEO Destimoney Advisors

1. Do your own research

Home loans are marketed pretty aggressively by most financial institutions, luring investors with attractive interest rates and schemes. It however pays to take decisions wisely before taking the plunge. It is important to understand the terms and conditions of the loan agreement, penalties, charges etc. Do not hesitate to ask the sales person or the bank to explain or clarify even the slightest information.

2. Set your budget

The first step before embarking on a home-loan application is to decide on your budget. A standard home loan will cover upto 80% of your requirement (the overall cost of the property). You will need to raise a minimum of 20% and also separately, take into account stamp duty, registration charges, brokerage etc.

3. Know eligibility for a home loan

Loan eligibility is calculated based on your ability to pay and the cost of the house. There are a number of ways you can increase your loan eligibility. For instance you may choose longer loan tenure in return for higher eligibility. You may request the bank to club the incomes of close relatives like your spouse or parents.

4. Calculate Interest Rates and other Fees

These rates vary from institution to institution and through certain periods of time through the year when special promotional offers and discounts are in place. Beware of such banking terminology as ‘fixed rate’, ‘floating rate’ and ‘reducing balance’. Discuss these factors thoroughly before deciding on an option that suits you best.

5. Documents need to furnish

One should be aware of the requisite documents for a home loan procedure. Some of the basic documents include Photo Identity, Pan Card, Address proof, Bank Statement, Salary Slip, Form 16 etc. that one needs to submit for availing a home loan.

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Axis Bank Launches Smart Self-Service Terminal

Axis Bank Launches Smart Self-Service Terminal

A self-service terminal that facilitates customers to deposit as well as withdraw cash from the same machine

Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector bank, announced the launch of a smart self-service terminal that enables customers to deposit as well as withdraw cash from the same machine. Customers can initiate a deposit transaction through the smart self-service terminal even without using a debit card and will receive instant credit for the deposited amount.

There is no cap on the amount of cash deposited by the customer through these terminals, provided his/her PAN details are available with the bank.

The smart self-service terminal will reduce the frequency of loading cash in the machine as well as the cost of idle cash as it allows cash recycling operations by dispensing deposited cash for future withdrawal transactions, thereby improving efficiency of the bank's cash operations.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Rajiv Anand, Group Executive & Head- Retail Banking, Axis Bank said, “Axis Bank has been a pioneer in launching customer friendly technology initiatives in the banking space. The self-service terminal is another innovative product by the bank which will help customers carry out all financial and non-financial transactions in a convenient and hassle free manner.”

Axis Bank has focussed on introducing innovative products and services and has always promoted the convenient and hassle free self-service environment through ATMs, Cash Deposit Machines (CDM) and Cheque Deposit Kiosks. The smart self-service terminal is another step by the bank towards offering a one stop solution to its customers for carrying out all their financial and non-financial transactions. The bank will convert its existing CDMs to smart self-service terminals in a phase wise manner.

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State Bank of India Enhances Customer Experience with Datacard® Instant Issuance Debit Card Solution

State Bank of India Enhances Customer Experience with Datacard® Instant Issuance Debit Card Solution

First Integrated Kiosk Solution in South Asia that Offers Self-Service Capabilities for Instant Issuance of Debit Cards

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India and Minnetonka, United States

EntrustDatacard today announced that it has launched the first integrated instant issuance kiosk solution in South Asia with State Bank of India (SBI). This is also the first instant EMV chip card personalization application in Asia – which follows the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) regulation.

State Bank of India opened its first set of seven outlets immersed with digital capabilities in prime business districts and shopping malls in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad. The sbiINTOUCH outlets appeal to India’s burgeoning millennial population. The technology-savvy customers are attracted to the efficient, self-service nature of these outlets, in which they will manage the majority of their business on their own while SBI staff focuses on more value-added advisory transactions.

“India is in the midst of a major demographic transition and we recognize that our customers increasingly expect digital services to help them manage their financial needs,” said Arundhati Bhattacharya, the chairman of State Bank of India. “Today, more than half of India's population is under the age of 25. By 2020, India's average age will be just 29 years – this is a digital demographic: one that expects businesses to provide solutions immediately. At the same time, the mass affluent – no matter what their age have similar expectations. Indian banks need to provide a strong response to these new demands. These branches are a first step in the journey to offering full digital services across the nation.”

“INTOUCH is the start of SBI’s digital journey,” said S K Mishra, deputy managing director, State Bank of India. “This is our attempt to put our brand SBI in touch with the dreams of the aspirational customer. It is a deep rooted transformation that has three aspects: a transformation of the customer experience we deliver; introduction of device centric technology that is at the forefront of our global peers; and transformation of the behavioral model of our staff-base to be even more customer centric.”

From their compact size to their self-service orientation, SBI’s digital outlets are designed for efficiency. Using self-service kiosks, customers can open accounts and access online banking accounts. The customers can also make use of instant debit card issuance kiosks which enable a secure and real time issuance of a fully personalised debit card.

State Bank of India, the largest public sector bank in India is recognized for innovative banking technology. With the vision of “Next Generation Banking with a difference” SBI has decided to implement instant issuance of personalised debit cards in sbiINTOUCH outlets. Entrust Datacard is one of the partners in enabling this unique branch model for the customers to experience instant issuance of personalised debit cards.

“Banking models are evolving and transitioning to meet the needs and requirements of our younger generations,” said Rajiv Singh, managing director of Entrust Datacard, South Asia. “The Datacard® instant issuance kiosk solution will allow SBI to evolve with the market demands of the massive card growth in India, as well as differentiate themselves by providing a powerful new way to drive revenue and engage customers.”

Entrust Datacard currently has over 20,000 instant issuance branch installations worldwide, and millions of cards are issued on their solutions every year. In addition, the Datacard® portfolio has been combined with the Entrust® software authentication platforms that strengthen security in a wide range of identity and transaction ecosystems. Financial organizations can now rely on this bundled offering to include the physical issuance and personalization technology of card programs; and the logical and digital security features for cardholder data and transaction-based applications.

About Entrust Datacard

Consumers, citizens and employees increasingly expect anywhere-anytime experiences — whether they are making purchases, crossing borders, accessing e-gov services or logging onto corporate networks. Entrust Datacard offers the trusted identity and secure transaction technologies that make those experiences reliable and secure. Our solutions range from the physical world of financial cards, passports and ID cards to the digital realm of authentication, certificates and secure communications. More than 2,000 Entrust Datacard employees serve customers in 150 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.entrustdatacard.com.

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Western Union Launches New Initiative to Showcase Residents' Journeys in Their Host Countries

DUBAI, UAE, November 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

'My Yellow Brick Road' campaign invites residents to share their personal and professional stories in the GCC

The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a world-leading money transfer company, today announced the launch of the 'My Yellow Brick Road' campaign, inviting residents in the GCC many of whom are migrants, to talk about their lives and their journeys in their host countries.

The campaign's theme derives its title from the popular children's novel 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'. In the novel the heroine Dorothy is a young girl who leaves her farmhouse and embarks on a magical journey to emerald city travelling along the Yellow Brick Road.

Western Union's 'My Yellow Brick Road' campaign http://www.myyellowbrickroad.net calls on expatriates in the GCC to share glimpses of their personal and professional lives and asks them to share their proudest and happiest memories that illustrate their journey's meaning and accomplishments along their own yellow brick road. The online survey invites respondents to provide responses to multiple choice questions in order to generate interesting stories about their experiences living and working their host country that would move others and inspire them to think of their own successes.


About Western Union

The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. As of December 31, 2013, the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network of over 500,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories and over 100,000 ATMs. In 2013, The Western Union Company completed 242 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $82 billion of principal between consumers, and 459 million business payments. For more information, visit http://www.westernunion.com

SOURCE Western Union

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FM to Relaunch Kisan Vikas Patra

FM to Relaunch Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP); Available to the Investors in the Denomination of Rs. 1000, 5000, 10,000 and 50,000, with no Upper Ceiling on Investment; Investment made in the KVP will Double in 100 Months

The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley will re-launch the Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) here tomorrow in the presence of Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Communication and IT and Shri Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Finance among others. Increasing savings rate in the economy was one of the priorities of the new Government on assuming charge. In view of the popular demand and to revitalize Small Savings, the Finance Minister in para 27 of his Budget Speech announced that “Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) a very popular instrument among small savers will be reintroduced The instrument will encourage people, who may have banked and unbanked savings to invest”. Accordingly, it is decided to reintroduce Kisan Vikas Patras (KVPs). KYC norms regarding all National Savings Schemes (NSS) are now applicable in post offices and banks w.e.f. January, 2012.

The re-launched Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) will be available to the investors in the denomination of Rs. 1000, 5000, 10,000 and 50,000, with no upper ceiling on investment. The certificates can be issued in single or joint names and can be transferred from one person to any other person / persons, multiple times. The facility of transfer from one post office to another anywhere in India and of nomination will be available. The certificate can also be pledged as security to avail loans from the banks and in other case where security is required to be deposited. Initially the certificates will be sold through post offices, but the same will soon be made available to the investing public through designated branches of nationalised banks.

Kisan Vikas Patras have unique liquidity feature, where an investor can, if he so desires, encash his certificates after the lock-in period of 2 years and 6 months and thereafter in any block of six months on pre-determined maturity value. The investment made in the certificate will double in 100 months.

Reintroduction of Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) is a welcome step not only in the direction of providing safe and secure investment avenues to the small investors but will also help in augmenting the savings rate in the country. The scheme will also safeguard small investors from fraudulent schemes. With a maturity period of 8 years 4 months, the collections under the scheme will be available with the Govt. for a fairly long period to be utilized in financing developmental plans of the Centre and State Governments and will also help in enhancing domestic household financial savings in the country.

Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) – a certificate savings scheme was launched by the Government on 1st April, 1988. The scheme provided facility of unlimited investment by way of purchase of certificates from post offices in various denominations. The maturity period of the scheme when launched was 5 ½ years and the money invested doubled on maturity. The scheme was very popular among the investors and the percentage share of gross collections secured in KVP was in the range of 9 % to 29 % against the total collections received under all National Savings Schemes in the country. Gross collections under the scheme in the year 2010-11 were Rs. 21631.16 crores which was 9 % of the total gross collections during the year. In the year of its closure, the scheme secured gross collections of Rs. 7575.95 crores (April 2011 to November 2011).

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CA Technologies Reports Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2015 Results

CA Technologies Reports Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2015 Results

CA Technologies (NASDAQ:CA) today reported financial results for its second quarter fiscal 2015, ended September 30, 2014.

Mike Gregoire, CA Technologies Chief Executive Officer, made the following comments:

“We are starting to see traction in the market as a result of our efforts. Enterprise Solutions new sales were up for the second consecutive quarter.

We continued to see solid performance in connection with renewals and we maintained financial discipline across the business.

Although we are pleased with this progress, we remain focused on the work needed to drive sustained revenue growth.

“The Application Economy is transforming business, creating new opportunity and enormous complexity for our customers. CA Technologies provides the software solutions businesses need to accelerate innovation, secure applications and manage their rapidly growing IT portfolios across multiple platforms. We are uniquely positioned to help our customers build the new capabilities they need to grow and reduce the complexity they need to manage, and have focused our business on solving these problems.”

* Non-GAAP income and earnings per share are non-GAAP financial measures, as noted in the discussion of non-GAAP results below. A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to their comparable GAAP financial measures is included in the tables following this news release.
**CC: Constant Currency

**CC: Constant Currency
• Total revenue declined primarily as a result of a decrease in subscription and maintenance revenue, which was largely due to a decrease in Mainframe Solutions revenue and, to a lesser extent, a decrease in professional services revenue.

• Total bookings decreased primarily due to an expected year-over-year decrease in renewals from the timing of the renewal portfolio within subscription and maintenance bookings. This timing reflects the decrease in the value of contracts generally available for renewal compared with year-ago period. The decrease in subscription and maintenance bookings was partially offset by an increase in professional services bookings.

• The Company executed a total of 6 license agreements with incremental contract values in excess of $10 million each, for an aggregate contract value of $217 million. During the second quarter of fiscal 2014, the Company executed a total of 12 license agreements with incremental contract values in excess of $10 million each, for an aggregate contract value of $320 million.

• The weighted average duration of subscription and maintenance bookings for the quarter was 3.10 years, compared with 3.32 years for the same period in fiscal 2014.

*A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to their comparable GAAP financial measures is included in the tables following this news release. Year-over-year non-GAAP results exclude purchased software and other intangibles amortization, share-based compensation, capitalization (an add-back) and amortization of internal software costs, Board approved workforce rebalancing initiatives and certain other gains and losses. The results also include gains and losses on hedges that mature within the quarter, but exclude gains and losses on hedges that do not mature within the quarter.

**CC: Constant Currency

• GAAP and non-GAAP second quarter operating expenses were generally consistent compared with the year-ago period. GAAP operating expenses included an impairment of $13 million relating to capitalized software and other intangible assets within the Enterprise Solutions segment. The Company expects a year-over-year increase in the third quarter of fiscal 2015 for selling and marketing expenses as a result of incremental expenses associated with CA World ‘14.

• GAAP EPS in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 was positively affected by $0.05, from a decrease in the Company's GAAP effective tax rate. The Company recognized a net discrete tax benefit of $19 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2015. This net discrete tax benefit was primarily as a result of the resolution of uncertain tax positions relating to U.S. and non-U.S. jurisdictions.

• Non-GAAP EPS in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 was negatively affected by $0.15 from an increase in the Company's non-GAAP effective tax rate. The Company recognized a net discrete tax benefit of approximately $181 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014, which impacted the non-GAAP effective tax rate for the second quarter of fiscal 2014. This net discrete tax benefit was primarily as a result of the resolution of uncertain tax positions relating to U.S. and non-U.S. jurisdictions.

SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE QUARTER

• Customer traction for CA Technologies innovations continued in the quarter.

◦ One of the world’s leading consumer entertainment companies chose CA APM solutions to monitor end-to-end performance of their on-line gaming platform.

◦ A French airline is now working with CA Service Virtualization to increase the speed and stability of application updates for their new mobile booking system.

◦ A large UK-based financial services integrator signed a multi-million dollar transaction to leverage CA's API Management solution to build a cloud based mobile platform that allows third party financial service offerings, such as mortgage and insurance products, to be provided to social consumers.

• Solutions leadership:

◦ CA Technologies has been placed in the leaders quadrant for its Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) solution by Gartner in their “Magic Quadrant for Data Center Infrastructure Management Tools” report issued in September. (1)

◦ CA API solutions were named a “leader” by analyst firm Forrester in their report “The Forrester Wave™: API Management Solutions, Q3 2014” in a report issued in September. (2)

**CC: Constant Currency
• Mainframe Solutions revenue decreased compared with the year-ago period primarily due to insufficient revenue from prior period new sales to offset the decline in revenue contribution from renewals. Operating margin was generally consistent compared with the year-ago period.

• Enterprise Solutions revenue decreased compared with the year-ago period primarily due to a decrease in revenue that is recognized on an up-front basis in the current period. This decline was primarily due to an increase in the percentage of our Enterprise Solutions new sales sold in connection with renewals compared with the year-ago period. In addition, within Enterprise Solutions, there was an unfavorable effect from the decrease in revenue from certain mature product lines, partially offset by an increase in revenue from recently acquired products and sales of newly developed technologies. Enterprise Solutions operating margin was generally consistent compared with the year-ago period.

• Services revenue decreased compared with the year-ago period primarily as a result of a decrease in the size and number of services engagements during the first quarter of fiscal 2015. Operating margin for our Services segment decreased compared with the year-ago period as a result of a number of factors, including the decrease in revenue and lower utilization rates for services personnel due to the decrease in the number of services engagements.

CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS

• Cash flow from operations for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 was $66 million, versus $73 million in the year ago period. Prior year cash flows included a tax refund of $70 million that positively affected cash flows from operations in the year-ago period. In the second quarter of fiscal 2015, there was an increase in cash collections, primarily attributable to higher single installment collections of $76 million.

CAPITAL STRUCTURE

• Cash, cash equivalents and investments at September 30, 2014 were $3.193 billion.

• With $1.763 billion in total debt outstanding and $139 million in notional pooling, the Company’s net cash, cash equivalents and investments position was $1.291 billion.

• The Company is currently authorized to purchase $950 million of its common stock under its current stock repurchase program.

• The Company distributed $111 million in dividends to shareholders.

• The Company’s outstanding share count at September 30, 2014 was 440 million.

OUTLOOK FOR FISCAL YEAR 2015

The Company updated its fiscal year 2015 outlook, which represents "forward-looking statements" (as defined below).

The Company expects the following:

• Total revenue to decrease in a range of minus 2 percent to minus 1 percent in constant currency, unchanged from previous guidance. At September 30, 2014 exchange rates, this translates to reported revenue of $4.27 billion to $4.33 billion.

• GAAP diluted earnings per share from continuing operations to decrease in a range of minus 12 percent to minus 8 percent in constant currency, unchanged from previous guidance. At September 30, 2014 exchange rates, this translates to reported GAAP diluted earnings per share of $1.73 to $1.80.

• Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share from continuing operations to decrease in a range of minus 20 percent to minus 18 percent in constant currency. Previous guidance was minus 21 to minus 19 percent in constant currency. At September 30, 2014 exchange rates, this translates to reported non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $2.40 to $2.47.

• Cash flow from continuing operations to increase in a range of 5 percent to 12 percent in constant currency, unchanged from previous guidance. At September 30, 2014 exchange rates, this translates to reported cash flow from continuing operations of $1.01 billion to $1.08 billion.

This outlook assumes no material acquisitions and a partial currency hedge of operating income. The Company expects a full-year GAAP operating margin of 27 percent, a decrease of one point from previous guidance, and non-GAAP operating margin of 37 percent, unchanged from previous guidance. The Company also expects to return to a normalized full-year GAAP and non-GAAP effective tax rate of approximately 30 percent, which would have a negative impact on GAAP and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of approximately $0.43 and $0.59, respectively.

The Company anticipates approximately 436 million shares outstanding at fiscal 2015 year-end and weighted average diluted shares outstanding of approximately 440 million for the fiscal year.

Webcast

This news release and the accompanying tables should be read in conjunction with additional content that is available on the Company’s website, including a supplemental financial package, as well as a conference call and webcast that the Company will host at 5:00 p.m. ET today to discuss its unaudited second quarter results. The webcast will be archived on the website. Individuals can access the webcast, as well as the press release and supplemental financial information at http://ca.com/invest or can listen to the call at 1-877-561-2748. The international participant number is 1-720-545-0044.

(1) Gartner, Inc., “Magic Quadrant for Data Center Infrastructure Management Tools” by Jay E. Pultz, David J. Cappuccio, April Adams, Federico De Silva, Naveen Mishra, Henrique Cecci, Rakesh Kumar, September 22, 2014.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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

The Forrester Wave is copyrighted by Forrester Research, Inc. Forrester and Forrester Wave are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. The Forrester Wave is a graphical representation of Forrester's call on a market and is plotted using a detailed spreadsheet with exposed scores, weightings, and comments. Forrester does not endorse any vendor, product, or service depicted in the Forrester Wave. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change.

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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Money Attitude: Right or Wrong?

If there is one thing of concern to everyone in today’s time it is money, money and more money. Right from an ordinary wage earner/ an employee dependent on the pay cheque, or entrepreneur or corrupt politicians and system. Every one’s only main problem is life is how to secure more and more money and how to lead life comfortably.

Money in itself is not bad. It is our attitude towards money that is making us corrupt and forgets morals. If we go back to the history of money, it was invented to make the life a human easy. But on the contrary now it has made our life difficult to live. The main reason behind this is the ever increasing prices and corrupt system that is responsible for concentration of money only with a particular organization or a person.

If any country needs to prosper there should be a flow of money, like water when flows, it quenches the thirst, gives rise to crops, increases life. But when it gets stagnated it becomes polluted and useless. So, individuals who wish to prosper and want to see the nation and world prosper should, earn only that much that is required for a descent living of their family. If one’s income levels are very high than required, it should be distributed in the needy.

In India, in our scriptures it is written as to how to spend the money. It is said earning money is not wrong especially if he is a house holder; it is his responsibility to earn money and to look after the needs of the family members. In the income a part of the money should be kept aside for future needs such as, education, marriage, health concerns, retirement etc., some portion for any unforeseen emergencies, and some portion for the society, for charitable cause. And some money for spiritual concerns.

This is how we need to budget the wages or income that we earn honestly and morally. Money earned in this way and spent in the above mentioned way, always leads to the betterment of the individual and the society at large. But only if we follow this, the other main attitude that we need to have if we want to prosper financially is to always think, hear and do good with money. When you spend money, feel happy that by God’s grace you are able to pay bills and buy things. When you receive money in any form feel happy that by his grace you have earned or received it.

When receiving money, or when receiving wage or income or a gift, let it be a rupee even, don’t feel that it is only small money what will I do with this. Feel happy and be grateful to God that he has blessed you with that. If you continue to exhibit this attitude towards money at all the times and in all circumstances, you will see that circumstances will change for betterment and you will prosper in finances.

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Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary IT, Govt. of Maharashtra Top Global CIO

Secretary IT Rajesh Aggarwal

Mumbai: Government of Maharashtra has scaled new heights in e-Governance with Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary IT being recognized as one of the leading CIOs in the world after being selected by IDG's Computerworld as a 2014 Premier 100 IT Leader honoree. The Premier 100 spotlights technology leaders for their exceptional leadership and innovative approaches to solving complex business challenges with the use of technology. Considered as one of the most coveted technology awards, Shri Aggarwal is the only IT leader selected from India this year.

The Premier 100 awards program, now in its 15th year, shines a well-deserved spotlight on a group of talented, creative and hard-working men and women. These IT executives are driving technology innovation in business, education and government across the country and around the world. The selection of Shri Rajesh Aggarwal as one of the IT Leaders of 2014 is a recognition of the fascinating work undertaken in IT and e-Governance in the State in the last couple of years. The State Government has also won 100+ awards at various national and international forums for e-Governance which highlights the exemplary work done during this period. The State Government has excelled in implementation of UID program, Implementation of Govt. Cloud, Implementation of IPV6, Launch of Mobile Applications, Localization and Accessibility, Implementation of Paperless Office, e-Tendering, Implementation of Citizen services through CSCs etc. under the leadership of Shri Aggarwal, which has now been recognized at the global level. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Aggarwal said "This award is a recognition of the exemplary work done by the State Government in the last couple of years. We have worked on various unique initiatives, which have led to significant improvement in service delivery to citizens. This motivates us to continue this growth path and be a game changer". Further details regarding the award is available at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/computerworlds-2014-premier-100-awards-140000735.html .

Earlier, Shri Aggarwal was also selected for the prestigious Dataquest Editors Choice CIO Excellence Award. This award recognizes the work of leading CIOs in the country for bringing about significant changes in the manner in which government, citizens, and businesses interact with each other for effective delivery of services and information. The award will be conferred on him on 11th December 2013 at a function in Mumbai.

Source: Business Wire India

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e-BRC project wins 2013 eASIA Award

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade’s electronic Bank Realization Certificate (e-BRC) project has won the 2013 eASIA Award under Trade Facilitation category as announced by Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on November 29, 2013.

The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Anand Sharma expressed his happiness and congratulated officers and staff on winning 2013 eASIA Award. This award is administered by AFACT. Shri Sharma said that it has been our consistent endeavour to increase transparency in governance structures, reducing the human interface and improving the ease of doing business in India. This project is a significant step in this direction and will contribute considerably in reducing the transaction cost of our exporters.

e-BRC project launched on June 5, 2012 created an integrated platform for receipt, processing and subsequent use of all Bank Realization related information by exporters, banks, central and state government departments. It was made mandatory with effect from August 17, 2012.

Bank Realization Certificate is required for discharge of export obligation and to claim incentives under Foreign Trade Policy. Earlier this certificate was issued by banks manually. BRC is also used by state government departments for refund of VAT.

e-BRC project enables banks to upload Foreign Exchange realisation information relating to merchandise goods exports on to the DGFT server under a secured protocol. So far 89 banks operating in India, including foreign banks and cooperative banks have uploaded more than 64 lakh e-BRCs on to the DGFT server. This initiative has reduced the cost of transaction for exporters by eliminating their interface with bank (for issuance of BRC purposes) and enhanced the productivity of banks and DGFT. At the state level, Commercial Tax Departments of Maharashtra, Delhi, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have signed MoU with DGFT for receiving e-BRC data for VAT refund purposes. Many other states are in the process of signing MOUs. e-BRC project is a success story involving multiple stake holders, each with a different technology platform. This project is a live example of power of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) to improve service delivery.

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Auction for Sale (Re-Issue) of Government Stocks

Government of India have announced the Sale (re-issue) of (i)“ 7.28 percent Government Stock 2019” for a notified amount of Rs. 4,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction, (ii) “7.16 percent Government Stock 2023” for a notified amount of Rs.7,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction , (iii) “8.32 percent Government Stock 2032” for a notified amount of Rs. 2,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction, and (iv) “8.30 percent Government Stock 2042” for a notified amount of Rs. 2,000 crore (nominal) through price based auction. The auctions will be conducted using uniform price method. The auctions will be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India, Mumbai Office, Fort, Mumbai on November 8, 2013 (Friday).

Up to 5% of the notified amount of the sale of the stocks will be allotted to eligible individuals and Institutions as per the Scheme for Non-Competitive Bidding Facility in the Auction of Government Securities.

Both competitive and non-competitive bids for the auction should be submitted in electronic format on the Reserve Bank of India Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber) system on
November 8, 2013. The non-competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and
11.30 a.m. and the competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 a.m. and 12.00 noon.

The result of the auctions will be announced on November 8, 2013 and payment by successful bidders will be on November 11, 2013 (Monday).

The Stocks will be eligible for “When Issued” trading in accordance with the guidelines on ‘When Issued transactions in Central Government Securities’ issued by the Reserve Bank of India vide circular No. RBI/2006-07/178 dated November 16, 2006 as amended from time to time.

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Gruh Finance - Half Yearly Results

GRUH FINANCE LTD.

FINANCIAL RESULTS FOR THE HALF YEAR ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2013


The Board of Directors of GRUH Finance Ltd. (GRUH) – a subsidiary of HDFC Ltd. – has approved the accounts for the half year ended September 30, 2013 at their meeting held in Mumbai on October 11, 2013.


FINANCIAL RESULTS

Profit after tax for the period amounted to Rs. 68.12 crores as compared to Rs. 53.93 crores for the previous year - an increase of 26%.



Housing Loan Portfolio

The loan portfolio as at September 30, 2013 amounted to Rs. 6142.90 crores as against Rs. 4661.31 crores in the previous year – an increase of 32%.



LENDING OPERATIONS



Loan Disbursements

Loan disbursements during the period were Rs. 1197.15 crores as against Rs. 959.96 crores in the previous year indicating a growth of 25%.



Cumulative loan disbursements as of September 30, 2013 were Rs. 10713.93 crores.



Non-Performing Loans

The gross NPA as at September 30, 2013 stands at Rs 24.93 crores or 0.41% (total loan outstanding portfolio of Rs. 6142.90 crores).



GRUH is required to carry a provision of Rs. 8.34 crore in the Balance Sheet as at September 30, 2013 on its NPA portfolio as per the guidelines of NHB. GRUH has also made provision for standard loan assets aggregating Rs. 26.90 crore in line with NHB guidelines. Additionally, GRUH carries a provision for contingencies of Rs. 17.04 crore.



As a result, Net NPA as at September 30, 2013 stands at Rs. NIL indicating Net NPA to loans of NIL.
DEPOSITS

GRUH’s deposit portfolio has increased to Rs. 834.11 crores, up from Rs. 579.01 crores as at September 30, 2012 indicating a growth of 44%. GRUH’s Fixed Deposit programme is rated “AAA” by CRISIL and ICRA. The rating of “AAA” indicates that the degree of safety of repayment and principal is Very Strong.



GRUH’s Short Term borrowings including Commercial Paper (CP) and short term NCD’s is rated “A1(+)” by CRISIL and ICRA and Long Term Debt and Sub Ordinate Debt programmes are rated “AA+” by CRISIL and ICRA.



RETAIL NETWORK

GRUH has a network of 136 retail offices across 7 states of the country. GRUH has 40 offices in Gujarat, 41 offices in Maharashtra, 14 offices in Karnataka, 19 offices in Madhya Pradesh, 10 offices in Rajasthan, 7 offices in Chhatisgarh and 5 offices in Tamil Nadu.

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Muthoot Finance to open White Label ATMs

International finance company Muthoot Finance has got the in-principle approval of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to open White-Label ATMs in India. On Tuesday, RBI has granted the authorization to Muthoot Finance.

White Label ATM (WLA)s are the concept from Canada, where a non-banking entity opens up ATMs. From these ATMs, customers of any bank in the country can withdraw money and for the same the card-holders have to pay a fee.

Muthoot Finance has planned to set up 1000 ATMs in the first year of operation and 8000 in the following year. As per the reports, they’re already in talk with some of the leading Indian banks and also taken the approval of share holders.

Want to know the General criteria for opening up WLAs, the follow this link on the website of RBI.

Last month RBI has permitted non-banking financial institutions to open more WLAs in regards to encourage personal banking. As per the reports, the new WLAs will be set up in non-traditional places, semi-urban and rural areas.

This move will certainly help the rural people to get access to banks easily. Last month, RBI has allowed Tata Communications Payment Solutions, a subsidiary of Tata Communications to set up WLAs around the country and soon many other such institutions will be participating in this initiative.

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How to stay financially fit during crunch?

Uncertainty is the beauty of life; the personal finance is full of uncertainty as well. Having fixed income has been the best and secure way to lead a descent life, and that is what everybody tries to achieve in their life.

During the financial crunch, which may strike at any time, one should always be prepared for that. Managing personal fiancé involves discipline lifestyle and few management approaches those to be implemented.

Obviously, no one anticipate that it could strike so early, he or she is being already trapped in financial crisis. Hardly do there any time left for the person to undo his or her past actions.

While managing personal finance for a tough situation one should aim for sustainability alongwith meeting the current requirements. For that, the current savings could be allocated in portfolio to get proper return.

The big question is how much fund does one require to maintain the current income sources intact? The answer is very simple, but just more than impossible to implement. The answer to that query is, one does need around 130 times of his current monthly income, to get the equal amount of monthly income from the funds.

That sounds nonsense for many but true indeed, if you want to have your income regularly from sources without having single effort. In order to manage personal finance, one need to focus on the expenditure site, whether any waste expenditure is being incurred, which immediately need to be cut off from the expenses list?

The basic law is that one should maintain surplus in income to avoid any financially disturbed life. The best mantra is to strike a balance; it should be towards surplus side of income and deficit side of the expenditure.

Do not worry during the financial crunch time, rather you can sit down and plan everything beforehand it drown you completely into crisis.

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