19.10.2006

Financial inclusion in India
Nearly 50% of the country’s population is out of any institutional and non-institutional finance.

Hence there is a call for consolidation in PSU banking.

On a hypothetical basis if all 27 PSU banks are merged, their capital base would be just $3 bn, which stands nowhere against the capital base of $20 bn of a single entity in China – the
Industrial Commercial Bank of China.

Indian fire works market
India is estimated to spend about Rs. 900 cr on fireworks every year, most of it during Diwali season.

Sivakasi caters to 90% of this market.

Kerala tourism heads windward with uru cruises
Uru is a classical sailing vessel fashioned out of timber that has for centuries plied the Indo-Persian routes on the Bekal-Kochi sector.

It is the India equivalent of the Arabian dhow.

Global legal services
The cost of legal services globally is expected to cross $250 bn.

To generate 1 MW of power, an investment of Rs. 8 cr is needed for generation, transmission and distribution.

Currently bilateral power trading accounts for no more than 2% of generation.

Global coffee festival can help growers
Karnataka grows 2/3rd of India’s coffee.

India’s domestic consumption is about 80,000 tonnes now.

Currently there are about 1000 cafes and the number is growing rapidly.

Blogging
Technorati, the blog search service tracks about 5.73 cr blogs internationally.

About 1.75 lakh blogs are being created everyday.

The blogging space is about 100 times bigger than what it was 3 years ago.

Enron scandal
Kenneth Lay, the founder of Enron who died in July is freed of charges by a federal judge.

Lay was convicted on ten counts of fraud, conspiracy and lying to banks.

Enron’s collapse in 2001 wiped out thousands of jobs, more than $60 bn in market value and more than $2 bn in pension plans.

See more details here.

Railway reservation system
The Indian railway reservation system issued daily 7.5 lk tickets.

Currency in circulation
India’s currency in circulation is 11.8% of the GDP, which is a reflection of the fact that more than half of India’s economic output is produced by small scale agriculture and 44 mln household business.

Online payment system
India could save about $6.3 bn by fully moving into electronic payment system annually, according to a study conducted by McKinsey.