March Current Affairs - 2010

·        India's economic growth slipped to 6 per cent in the third quarter of this fiscal compared to 7.9 per cent in the previous quarter, mainly due to contraction in farm output and certain services.

·        P J Nayak, former chairman and CEO of Axis Bank, is the Business Standard Banker of the Year for 2009.

·        The ancient site of Bhima Devi Temple located in the Yadavindra Gardens in Pinjore near here has been chosen by the Union Ministry of Tourism for the Best Maintained Tourist Friendly Monument award.

·        Telecom giant BSNL has lost its place in the coveted list of top 10 profit-making central PSUs which is topped once again by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. Power producer NTPC moved up to the second place, pushing down steel counterpart SAIL to third slot, according to the Department of Public Enterprises Survey for 2008-09. Mineral major NMDC is fourth in the list, while Coal India is ranked 5th.

·        Microsoft has been voted the leading business-facing brand in the world, knocking competitor Google from the number one spot. Google has dropped to number five in the annual Business Superbrands Top 500 survey, compiled by The Centre for Brand Analysis (TCBA), with Rolls-Royce retaining its position in second place, while Sony and Virgin Atlantic have been voted into third and fourth place, respectively.

·        Chhattisgarh government has decided to install mobile phone jammers in seven jails in the state to ensure that the inmates do not communicate with their accomplices outside.

·        Sangh Parivar veteran and former Rajya Sabha member Nanaji Deshmukh passed away.

·        BSNL launched the country’s first mobile broadband fourth generation Internet access network - Mobile WiMAX in Kerala.

·        Noted Kannada poet and writer Jayant Kaikini will be awarded by the first Kusumagraj National Literary award.

·        Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard was nominated by Australia and New Zealand Cricket board to take over as ICC President.

·        Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to appoint former captain Waqar Younis as the new coach of the national team.

·        The International Monetary Fund has approved a USD 3.6 billion loan to Iraq to help the war-torn country meet pressing financial needs.

·        Obama has appointed eminent Indian American attorney, Amy K Singh, as President's Advisory Committee on the Arts for the prestigious John F Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

·        Dubai's government has ordered its departments to cut spending by 15 per cent to save 3.7 billion dirham’s (about Rs 4,602 crore), with the aim of reducing the emirate's deficit.

·        National Tourism Awards 2008-09: Rajasthan received the award for best tourism related programmes, Andhra Pradesh was chosen for best tourism infrastructure and Sikkim for best state from the North East for tourism related programmes.

·        Government has asked the United Nations to pay approximately USD 62.92 million as reimbursement in connection with India's participation in UN peacekeeping operations.

·        Olympian and famous national hockey player Syed Mushtaque Ali alias Farzan Chacha has passed away.

·        Afghanistan launches poppy eradication programme. Afghanistan, source of 90 per cent of the world's heroin, announced plans to wipe out opium poppies across most of the country.

FDI in India 2009

Foreign Direct Investment:

Foreign Direct Investment occurs with the purchase of the “physical assets or a significant amount of ownership (stock) of a company in another country in order to gain a measure of management control” (Or) A foreign company having a stake in other Country’s Company.

Advantages of FDI in India:

The Indian government made several reforms in the economic policy of the country in the early 1990s. This helped in the liberalization and deregulation of the Indian economy and also opened the country's markets to foreign direct investment. 

As a result of this, huge amounts of foreign direct investment came into India through non- resident Indians, international companies, and various other foreign investors. The growth of FDI in India boosted the economic growth of the country.

Major advantages of FDI in India have been in terms of -

§   Increased capital flow.

§   Improved technology.

§   Management expertise.

§   Access to international markets.

Here is the limit of FDI inflows in various sectors in India:

1.         Defence: 26%.

2.         Insurance: 49%.

3.         PSU: 49%

4.         Single brand Retail: 51%.

5.         Telecom: 74%.

6.         Private Banking: 74%.

7.         Civil Aviation: 74%.

8.         Power: 100%.

9.         Education: 100%.

10.     Hospitals: 100%

11.     Trading Companies: 100%.

12.     Housing & Real Estate: 100%.

13.     Drugs & Pharmaceuticals: 100%.

14.     Roads, Highways, Ports & Harbors: 100%.

15.     Pollution Control: 100%.

16.     Call Centers & BPOs: 100%.

17.     Small scale industries: 100%.

18.     Oil Exploration: 100%.

19.     Hotel & Tourism: 100%.

According to UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2009, India is among the world's 15 largest FDI recipient in 2008.

According to UNCTAD's World Investment Prospects Survey 2009-11, India has slipped by one notch to third position as the most preferred foreign direct investment (FDI) country. However, "These two largest emerging economies (China and India) ranked numbers one and three, respectively, as the most preferred FDI locations.

United States of America tops the list of FDI inflows in the world followed by United Kingdom.