28.07.2007

• I found an interesting comment by Montek Singh Ahluwalia in today’s ET on our economic reform process. Take a look at it in today’s Discover It blog here.
• About VC funds
• Currently there are around 44 VC (Venture Capital) firms investing in India.
• In 2006, the total VC investment was around $506 mn.
• AIDS policy
• For a population of about a billion (1.12 bn to be precise) we have about 40.2 mn workers or about 40% of the population.
• Look at it in another way – 40% of our population supports the remaining 60%.
• For such an important contributing portion of our population, we need to have very subtle policies in handling HIV patients among them.
  
• Temasek Holdings
• We have noted about this company in our blog at one time or the other. It is an investment arm of the Singapore government. It has a corpus of abour $86 bn.
• Its investment goal is invest a third in Singapore, a third in Asia and the remaining in developed economies.
• Temasek is currently headed by Ms. Ho Ching. She is the wife of Singapore’s Prime Minister Mr. Lee Hsien Loong.
• How many copies of Windows Vista were sold by Microsoft?
• About 60 mn as the end of June.
• NTPC’s LNG deal with Nigeria
• We are all following the Natural gas pricing issue for quite some time. While it is still burning, NTPC reportedly has struck an agreement with Nigeria for supply of LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) at $2.97 per mmBtu.
• Something about the sugar industry
• Sugar companies are exporting sugar at a furious pace to stay profitable.
• Open market prices of sugar have plunged below the price of levy sugar!!
• The sugar mills get a hefty export subsidy from the Centre and the States (mostly Maharashtra and Karnataka) and the ISEC – Indian Sugar Exim Corporation.
• Ban on sugar exports was lifted in January 2007. The ban was originally imposed in 2006 to check rising domestic prices and soaring inflation.
• Tax to GDP ratios
• The tax to GDP ratio of central excise and services is 3.9%.
• The sales tax to GDP ration is 5.9%.
• Asian atheletics championships at Amman, Jordan
• Chitra Soman bagged the first gold for India in the 400 m run.
• Anju George won the silver in long jump
• Update: Thanks for the comments posted below this post. I made the necessary correction. Originally I noted that it was Gold. But alas, it was not. She won only a silver.