13.04.2007

• World’s second richest man
• Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu has slipped past Warren Buffet with a wealth of $53.1 bn to become the world’s second richest man.
• Bill Gates of Microsoft remains at the number 1 slot for the 13^th successive year with $56 bn.
• Agni III IRBM test fired successfully
• The Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) was tested at ITR (Interim Test Range) at the Wheeler’s Island in the Bay of Bengal off the Orissa coast.
• The surface to surface missile with a strike range of over 3000 km and capacity to carry a payload of 1.5 tonnes has the capability to reach even remote mainland cities of China. India thus joins a select list of countries having field missiles of inter-continental reach.
• Myanmar junta leader
• Sen. Gen. Than Shwe
• NASSCOM Chairman
• Lakshmi Narayanan Vice-Chairman of Cognizant Technologies has taken over as the Chairman of NASSCOM, the IT industry body.
• Ship companies face huge tax burden?
• Tonnage tax was introduced in 2004 with the aim of providing shipping companies a tax regime comparable with most maritime nations and to give them a globally competitive edge.
• Now the government proposes to treat the freight receipts of shipping companies on par with rental income. If that is done, these companies face tax deduction at source to the tune of 20% of their receipts. This will hit them hard.
• Reverse mortgage guidelines specified by NHB (National Housing Bank)
• We have covered about reverse mortgage on Discover It blog sometime back.
• Some of the salient features of the now announced guidelines are:
• Quantum of funds that can be raised by senior citizens depends on their age. Older person will get to raise more money. Slabs were prescribed for age brackets.
• Loan can be for a maximum of 15 year tenure.
• Commercial property will not be eligible for being pledged under the scheme.
• Mumbai University mulls IPO (Initial Public Officer)
• It has proposed to raise funds from the stock market. But the UGC has sought some clarifications on the move.
• It is interesting to note that in the Indian context, education, which is a not for profit activity, can be undertaken only by charitable trusts and societies. This is enshrined in the Companies Act. The Supreme Court, in the Unnikrishnan and TMA Pai case made clear that education is not a commercial activity.
• On making Mumbai an IFC (International Financial Centre)
• We have been reading a bit about the Percy Mistry committee report on this issue; haven’t we? A couple of more observations that need our attention in this regard include:
• BCD Nexus: This refers to connection between Bonds, Currency and Derivatives market. The Committee recommends that the artificial walls between them should be removed. For this, the RBI will have to first allow short sale of government bonds, plus a full range of derivatives for interest rates. Though RBI allowed interest rate futures, what is allowed has stunted the market at birth. Same is the case for liquid currency spot and derivatives market.
• Should BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket India) cap endorsements by players?
• I agree with the view that it should not impose such a cap. It should let the market forces play their part. Let’s see some meaningful views propounded by Anirban Das Blah in this regard.
• India’s cricketers reached the finals in the last world cup in spite of having more endorsements than what they had this time round. So the claim that endorsements affect athletes performance goes against the evidence, and is a misguided attempt to seek populist solutions while address the fundamental problems that plague Indian cricket.