Indian Current Affairs: 06.02.2008

With Hillary Clinton garnering about 845 delegates as against 765 of Barak Obama, the Democratic presidential nomination still seems to be a close contest. But for the Republicans, a clear leader in John McCain has emerged with 613 delegates. His nearest rival Mitt Romney has only 269 delegates.

Pre-IPOs are deals that are placed by companies (5 to 10% stake), mostly with global investors, just before filing IPO prospectus.
It helps companies arrive at a valuation. Such deals also boost investor confidence ahead of the IPO.
SEBI has noticed that companies are structuring such deals as ‘IPO convertibles’. An IPO convertible is a hybrid instrument that is debt in the garb of equity. SEBI is concerned that the flow of debt under the disguise of equity influences investor sentiment ahead of the IPO issue. This misleads the public about the issue and lulls them into placing a higher belief in the issue than it would otherwise have deserved.
So, SEBI has reportedly asked unlisted companies going for IPOs to freeze their pre-IPO pricing and fix it independently.
SEBI’s worry seems to be not entirely misplaced in view of the fact that about $17 bn was raised by the corporates from private equity players during 2007. You know this is about Rs. 69,159 crores of money!!

Earlier it was the Indian Railways which was in the news for such a reason. Remember what we noted in our blogs earlier? Take a look about it here.
Now it is the turn of India Post to do the same. It is coming out with a Postal Development Corporation, a corporate entity to transform the loss-making department into a self-sustaining entity.
India Post’s losses stem from the fact that user charges cover only 78% of the cash costs. Its deficit is about Rs. 1,375 crores in 2003-04.

Today is the beginning of a new lunar year for the Chinese. Chinese fortune tellers are predicting financial and political rumblings, tsunamis and epidemics in the year ahead. The reason is that water and earth – two of the five elements Chinese mystics believe are at the root of all things – are in conflict in 2008.
Rat is the first of the 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac’s 12-year cycle and symbolises new beginnings.

The Indian guru known for popularizing Transcendental Meditation in the world for the last 50 years, has passed away.
It was only last month that he is reported to have handed over the day to day administration of his vast organisation to his disciples. He reportedly retired to silence, saying he was ‘closing his designed duty’ to his spiritual master.
He was 91. He passed away in the organization’s headquarters in Vlodrop, Netherlands.

Remember our noting about Gini coefficient? Look here.
This was devised by Italian statistician Corrado Gini in 1910’s and is a variability measure employed by policy makers, economists and academicians globally to calculate a nation’s consumption or income inequality. It takes a value from 0 to 1, with lower coefficient indicating more equal distribution of consumption or income. A 1 indicates higher inequalities.
India’s per capita income based Gini coefficient is up. Look at these figures for 1995-96 and 2004-05:

It is called next-generation HR. It says that HR has to be linked to business outcomes. It has to move from a vertical-oriented strategy – recruiting, learning and compensation & benefits – to end-to-end processes like talent supply, leadership & key talent capabilities and high performance that cut across verticals.
HR has to be made accountable to deliver business solutions. The difference in this approach is the move from process mentality to functional mentality.

Yields in government bond market have been on the rise in recent times. Coupled with the rising rupee and lower borrowing rates in overseas markets, this makes it lucrative for overseas investors to look at our gilt market.
Typically FIIs invest in government securities of a shorter tenure, when there is an uncertainty about where rates may head towards in the medium to longer run.
As of December 2007, the outstanding FII investment in government securities and treasury bills through the normal route was $326.64 mn. The outstanding debt in corporate debt was $480.83 mn.
Are we headed in the direction of making the next American treasury?

It is a leader in stone processing technology. It wants to set up an integrated stone-technology park on the lines of an IT park in India.

Often we remember him as the champion of the weaker sections. But in a flowing tribute to the late leader, MS Swaminathan, the much revered agriculture scientist highlights the contribution made by Jagjivan Ram for Indian agriculture. Worth a read. Look at it here.

Between December 2005 and December 2007, wheat prices in international markets have climbed from $165 to $381 a tonne. An upward trend is seen in maize, oil seeds, milk, and meat.
The FAO’s (Food and Agriculture Organization) food price index rose by 40% in 2007 on top of the already high 9% jump during the previous year. The food bill of the neediest countries has risen sharply to touch $107 mn in 2006.
It is in this context that the policy of giving hefty subsidies and encouragement to biofuel crops by developed and developing countries alike is coming into question.

You might remember that the Commission is headed by Justice AR Lakshmanan.
In its latest report, it has recommended that marriageable age for boys and girls should be fixed uniformly at 18 years. Earlier it was 21 for boys and 18 for girls.
Further it said that the age for sexual consent be raised from 15 years to 16 for girls. At present a male having sex with a minor ‘wife’ aged below 15 is punishable under Section 375 of the IPC.

Indian Current Affairs