ULIPs: Existing investors should stay invested

The no-load regime, which should have probably brought cheers among investors, however, turned out to be a nightmare for MF distributors as well as the manufacturers of MF products. In a country were financial literacy is still at a very nascent stage, convincing the investor to knowingly and willingly pay a commission for making such investments, was out of bounds for the distributors, resulting in a virtual boycott of sale of the MF products by the distributor community.

India's great escape from the socialist zoo

Critics pointed out that other developing countries like Korea and Taiwan had opted for export-oriented growth rather than self-sufficiency, and been rewarded with 10% GDP growth, thrice as fast as the Hindu rate of growth in India. The socialists smiled condescendingly and said that these countries were neo-colonial puppets falling into an imperialist trap, and had no future. In fact, the supposed puppets soon became richer in per capita income than their colonial master, Britain. India, alas, remained mired in poverty.

Time to rebalance America’s economy is set to shift away from consumption and debt and towards exports and saving. It will be its biggest transformation in decades, says Greg Ip

Instead, America’s economy will undergo one of its biggest transformations in decades. This macroeconomic shift from debt and consumption to saving and exports will bring microeconomic changes too: different lifestyles, and different jobs in different places. This special report will describe that transformation, and explain why it will be tricky.

Pakistan: No man's land A constitutional settlement—or a prelude to more trouble?

Mr Sharif, meanwhile, is likely to focus attention on the country’s economic woes, such as 25% inflation, acute energy shortages and strikes. A budget is due in June and will need to meet the conditions of an IMF loan approved in 2008. It could trigger mass agitation for a change of government.

Greece's deepening debt crisis:Worries about Greece’s ability to roll over its maturing debt are giving way to bigger fears

Optimists are still confident that the government can raise enough funds in the next six weeks to stave off default, though at a high cost. The government has more than €13 billion in cash, enough to refinance maturing debt and fund the budget deficit during April. It needs to raise another €10 billion-12 billion in May. The likely borrowing requirement for the remainder of the year, around €25 billion, is spread more evenly. “If we can get over the May borrowing hump, it’s a relatively smooth cruise for the rest of the year,” says one trader in Athens.

The gods strike back

ONE OF THE BEST ARTICLE ABOUT THE RECENT ECONOMIC PROBLEMS ENGULFING WORLD  thanks mik....
                                                              MUST READ

“THE revolutionary idea that defines the boundary between modern times and the past is the mastery of risk: the notion that the future is more than a whim of the gods and that men and women are not passive before nature.”

SEBI Order on ULIP

1. It has been noticed that the following entities have launched several Unit Linked
Insurance Products (ULIPs) :-
a. Aegon Religare Life Insurance Company Limited
b. Aviva Life Insurance Company India Limited
c. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited
d. Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Limited
e. Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited
f. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited
g. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited
h. ING Vyasa Life Insurance Company Limited
i. Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited
j. Max New York Life Insurance Co. Limited
k. Metlife India Insurance Company Limited
l. Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited
m. SBI Life Insurance Company Limited
n. TATA AIG Life Insurance Company Limited

In view of the above, I conclude that ULIPs offered by the said entities are a
combination of investment and insurance and, therefore, the investment components
are in the nature of mutual funds which can only be offered/launched after obtaining
registration from SEBI under section 12(1B) of the SEBI Act.
PRASHANT SARAN
PLACE: MUMBAI WHOLE TIME MEMBER
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE BOARD OF INDIA

Follow the wife? A good career move for a man

It is time society realized that modern families don’t really have a single breadwinner any more. And that a woman has as much right to ask her prospective husband to move down the career path she follows. Equally, it should not be considered “bad” if a man earns less than his wife - and does more housework than her.

Greek Bonds Plunge on Speculation EU-IMF Aid Plan May Falter

April 6 (Bloomberg) -- Greek bonds slumped, driving the yield premium investors demand to hold 10-year securities instead of German bunds to the most since 1998, on speculation the European Union’s aid plan for the nation may falter.

The yield on the two-year note surged a record 137 basis points after Market News International said Greece wants to bypass International Monetary Fund involvement in the agreement should it require aid because the terms would be too stringent. A Greek Finance Ministry official denied the report. An IMF delegation will start a two-week visit to Athens tomorrow to provide technical assistance at the request of Greek authorities, the fund said today in an e-mailed statement.

Japan's 'Lonely Deaths': A Business Opportunity

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In the 1990s, Taichi Yoshida, the owner of a small moving company in Osaka, Japan, began noticing that many of his jobs involved people who had just died. Families of the deceased were either too squeamish to pack up for their dead relatives, or there wasn't any family to call on. So Yoshida started a new business cleaning out the homes of the dead. Then he started noticing something else: thick, dark stains shaped like a human body, the residue of liquids excreted by a decomposing corpse.

Phonesourcing: Bringing Call Centers Back to the U.S.

Once upon a time, phoning it in signaled failure. Now it's a strategic move. As the U.S. economy slowly rebounds, companies are increasingly relying on a decentralized workforce of domestic, home-based call centers. The old mantra: route service calls overseas to cut costs in half. The new idea: bring call centers back home, but not to bulky, brick-and-mortar phone banks. Use hourly workers sitting in home offices, managed on someone else's payroll. Call it phonesourcing.

Microsoft’s Unsung Success Windows 7 is a smash hit.

Windows 7, the latest version of Microsoft's operating system, is the hottest-selling product in the company's 35-year history. In five months Microsoft has sold 90 million copies. That's twice the rate of Microsoft's last operating system, Windows Vista. "Windows 7 is on a tear right now," says Brad Brooks, vice president of Windows consumer marketing. "The consumer PC segment has exploded since Windows 7 shipped." The growth rate for the consumer PC segment is now 20 percent, versus 6 percent before Windows 7 shipped—likely because a lot of customers were sitting on the sidelines, waiting for Windows 7 before they bought a new PC.

Credit is Dead. Long Live Cash!

Why the return of a cash economy is good for consumers and businesses alike.
Cheap and plentiful credit has powered the U.S. economy for decades. But since the financial crisis of 2008, America has gone on a drastic debt diet. Just as families are paying down credit-card debt and building up cash reserves, businesses large and small are learning to operate in an environment where cash once again is king.

America and the yuan The truth hurts

Will the Treasury call China a currency manipulator?

TO MOST people, to say that China holds down the value of its currency to boost its exports is to state the obvious. Not, though, to America’s Treasury Department. By law it must report twice a year on which countries fiddle their exchange rates at the world’s expense. China was last fingered in 1994. Ever since then, the Treasury has concluded that the designation would do more harm than good. Speculation is growing that it may decide differently in its next report, due on April 15th.

India - Country Strategy Progress Report : for the period FY2005-2008

The India Country Strategy (CAS) for FY05-08 was prepared at an important juncture: a coalition of political parties led by Indian National Congress-which fought the election on the plank of "reforms with a human face"-was voted to power in May 2004, and the Indian economy emerged out of a slump to register an unprecedented growth rate of 8.4 percent in 2003/04. Given the fortuitous timing, the CAS anticipated the impending shift in the policy stance toward a more inclusive development agenda and the approaching economic boom-thereby internalizing them in its design and contents. As a result, nearly two and a half years since its Board approval, the core strategy of the 2004 CAS remains largely unchanged. This report reviews the progress made in implementing the CAS, and discusses how the strategy will be deployed for the remaining period. It begins with an overview of the country context, assessing political, economic, and social developments since the CAS discussions, then describes the experience to date, and finally suggests the way forward for the Bank Group, and presents the risks.

GLOBAL ANTIDUMPING DATABASE The World Bank

any1 interested

U.S. unveils new nuclear weapons strategy

The United States will swear off the development of new generations of nuclear weapons and will not use its existing arsenal to attack nonnuclear states that are in compliance with nonproliferation agreements, the Obama administration said Tuesday.

Debunking 10 Myths About Dieting

Misinformation about dieting is everywhere. How can you drop those unwanted pounds safely and successfully, without falling for bogus claims? Dr. Nancy Snyderman, the chief medical editor for NBC News, has written a smart, comprehensive new book debunking the myths that abound: Diet Myths That Keep Us Fat.

10 Truths About Weight Loss

1. You Can Eat After 8 P.M.
2. There Are No Negative-Calorie Foods
3. Liquid Calories Count
4. Dessert Can Be Dinner
5. Moderately Overweight Kids Shouldn't Be Put on Restrictive Diets
6. Calorie-Free Soft Drinks May Make You Fat
7. You Can Lose More in Cold Weather
8. Yo-Yo Dieting Won't Wreck Your Metabolism
9. There's No Need to Shun Red Meat on a Low-Fat Diet
10. Diets Do Work

Top 10 Bad Beverage Ideas

1. Vio
2. Coors Rocky Mountain Sparkling Water
3. Thanksgiving Dinner Soda
4. Life Savers Soda
5. Tru Blood
6. New Coke
7. OK Soda
8. Maxwell Ready-to-Drink Coffee
9. Cocaine
10. Orbitz

Top 10 Worst Fast-Food Meals

1. Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries
2. Taco Bell Chicken Ranch Fully Loaded Taco Salad
3. Five Guys Large French Fries
4. McDonald's Chocolate Triple Thick Shake (32 oz.)
5. Dunkin' Donuts Sausage, Supreme Omelet and Cheese on Bagel
6. Starbucks Hazelnut Signature Hot Chocolate
7. Applebee's Quesadilla Burger
8. Burger King Oreo Sundae Shake (22 oz)
9. Chop't Cobb Salad Wrap
10. KFC Chicken Bowl

To Pressure Iran, the U.S. Leans on Dubai

The Obama Administration is hard at work courting Russian and Chinese support for toughening up the U.N. sanctions regime against Iran. But winning the cooperation of Dubai might be equally important in the effort to squeeze Tehran. The Emirate may have no vote on the Security Council, but Iran's tiny neighbor is widely regarded as the easiest route for smuggling illicit goods into the Islamic Republic.

Goldman Sachs: Don't Blame Us

The defense mounted by Goldman lacks critical details, a consequence, the firm argues, of its overriding need to protect the confidentiality of its clients. But the overall message was emphatic and unified: Goldman did nothing for which it owes anybody an apology—and it doesn't owe anybody any money, either. Its brilliance has been wildly overestimated. Goldman managers were smart, but not that smart. Above all, Goldman insists it played by the same rules as everyone else.

MUST READ ARTICLE,,, SOME HIDDEN TRUTH UNREVEALED........

Japan’s $15 Trillion Not Enough to Make It a Buy: William Pesek

The rise of China, India and South Korea means the world won’t wait for Japan to rethink its rickety model. Japan needs to be 100 percent focused on raising its competitiveness, strengthening its safety social net, increasing productivity, preparing for an aging population, boosting the birthrate and allowing more immigration.

China's State Grid in $1.5 bln India power plant deal

hamare L&T and BHEL mar gaye he ke.....now we have to have Chinese company to build Power plant which is thermal in nature.... we are not talking abt nuclear power plant.......any way.......

Good News for GAYs,,,,,, Ricky is Gay................hahahahahahaha

Latin singer Ricky Martin says he is gay
"I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man," Martin wrote in a blog posting at www.rickymartinmusic.com.

Sorry Girls.............. Pls do not cry

Auction of 3G and BWA Spectrum

Anybody interested in knowing the process of 3G auction laid down by the government of India....... giving link for official document released by Govt.

America’s season of rage and fear

Freedom in America will soon be a fading memory. American exceptionalism died on March 23, 2010. On that day, the United States started becoming just like any other country. Worse still, like a West European country. Socialism in the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Nigeria Beats BRICs as Mobius Expects Frontier Rally

The MSCI Frontier Markets Index rose 11 percent this year, outpacing the MSCI Emerging Markets Index by 9 percentage points, the widest gap since the second quarter of 2005. The gauge of shares from Ukraine to Kenya and Vietnam trades for 1.5 times net assets, a 29 percent discount to the MSCI emerging index, which is dominated by Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Frontier markets are outperforming even as analysts cut “buy” ratings this year in 10 of 14 countries tracked by Bloomberg and forecast earnings will trail those in the so- called BRIC nations. The estimates ignore the boost to profits from rising commodities and consumer demand in the smaller markets, making them among the best “contrarian” bets, said Mobius, who oversees about $34 billion in developing nations.

India top money recipient, remits $55 bn in 2009

At a time when the global economy has been staring at across-the-board job and salary cuts, inward remittances by Indian expats have continued to surge. This reflects a flight to safety by the Diaspora on the back of the economy’s resilience amid the global crisis.

The provisional balance of payments data released by RBI on Wednesday shows that overseas Indians remitted $55.06 billion in 2009, around 17% higher than what the World Bank had projected for the year.

According to the World Bank, India continues to be the top remittance receiving country in the world, having attracted significantly higher inflows of $ 51.6 billion in 2008 (followed by China with inflows worth $48 billion and Mexico with $26 billion) compared with $37.2 billion in 2007.

Martin Feldstein: Is the euro overvalued?

It will strengthen, because global economic conditions require the eurozone to run trade deficits