Does RBI’s stance on key policy rates impacting India’s growth???

ImpThe Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday left its key policy rate unchanged in its second quarter (July-September) monetary policy. However, it cut cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 25 basis points to 4.25%. CRR is the portion of deposits banks are mandated to keep with the RBI.With the CRR cut, the central bank will infuse Rs 17,500 crore liquidity into the system. Repo, the policy rate at which banks borrow money from the regulator remains at 8% while reverse repo, used to lend money to RBI is at 7%.The reduction in the CRR is intended to pre-empt a prospective tightening of liquidity conditions, thereby keeping liquidity comfortable to support growth.The central bank also revised its growth outlook for 2012-13.

RBI estimated GDP growth at 5.8% as against 6.5% earlier.  At the same time, it upped the headline inflation projection to 7.5% compared with 7% indicated in July. RBI expects it to rise somewhat in October-December before beginning to ease in Jan-March.An appreciating rupee too is likely contain inflation by reducing the cost of imports especially of commodities.While prospects for agriculture appear resilient, the overall outlook for economic activity remains subdued. Looking ahead, the path of inflation will be shaped by two sets of counteracting forces. RBI observes that projected inflation which indicates a rise till December before it eases in the December quarter are bearing certain risk elements. With this, it apparently pinned hopes of any policy rate cut before the fourth quarter (Jan-March).In order to ensure availability of funds, RBI slashed CRR by 175 bps so far in 2012. In July-September quarter, banks net borrowings through RBI window (read Liquidity Adjustment Facility) were at Rs 48,600 crore. That was within the range of RBI’s comfort zone i.e. 1% of net demand and time liabilities.However, liquidity conditions tightened in October. According to RBI, it was mainly on account of the build-up in the government’s cash balances and the seasonal increase in currency demand. Consequently, the average LAF borrowings rose to Rs 87,100 crore during October 15-25 surpassing RBI’s 1% benchmark level.

 

Cheaper & Efficient LED lens from Fireflies

South Korean scientists have copied the structure of a firefly’s underbelly to create what they say is an improved and cheaper LED lens that they hope will one day be used in smartphones, televisions and other devices.In a paper published on Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, the scientists described how they were inspired by the firefly, a bright and efficient source of natural light.They made a new LED lens (copying) the nano structure of the firefly lantern.By copying the structure of the firefly’s three-layered lower abdomen, they managed to do away with an expensive component in existing LED (light-emitting diode) lamps.Fireflies produce light from the lower abdomen to attract mates and prey.By having this structure, it is comparable to the conventional anti-reflection coating of existing LED lights which is very expensive. This lens has a curvature, which is very similar to the anti-reflection coating, so price of lens would be low.

 

Skyfall collections Skyrocket!

Skyfall” set the record for the biggest UK weekend box office takings of any James Bond film, its producers announced.The 23rd official cinematic adventure of the suave, but brutal 007, earned 20.1 million pounds after opening last Friday at 587 cinemas across the United Kingdom and Ireland.An absolutely overwhelmed reaction to Skyfall this weekend”. It is particularly thrilling as the UK is home to James Bond and it being the 50th anniversary year.”The film, which had its royal world premiere in London last week and opens in the United States on Nov 9, brings together Daniel Craig on his third outing on Her Majesty’s secret service with British director Sam Mendes making his franchise debut.The plot also puts veteran actress Judi Dench, 77, at the heart of the action as Bond’s boss M, and introduces Spanish Oscar-winner Javier Bardem as a flamboyant villain complete with dyed blond hair.Marking 50 years after the first Bond film “Dr. No” premiered in London in 1962, Skyfall has been hailed by the critics as a triumphant return to form after 2008′s tepidly received “Quantum of Solace.”

 

Microsoft’s SURFACE, windows 8 tab!!!!

After the launch of the surface last week, Microsoft has now marked itself as a creator of tablets, and has released a video that shows some of the deliberation that went into the design of the Windows 8 tablet. One of the biggest selling points in the design of the tablet, as shown by the video, is the kick stand that pops out when you need it and goes back inside when you don’t. The kick stand is fully integrated into the design of the tablet. Another major point that Microsoft makes in the video is about the screen. The Touch Cover glass and the screen are said to be fused into one piece. Also shown in the video is how the camera of the tablet is said to match the tilt of the screen when it is using the kick stand.

Microsoft claims that the Surface is designed to be the ultimate stage for Windows RT as it is unique and represents value, providing an entertainment experience and a foundation for getting things done. With a starting price of US $499, Surface is available online in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. In China and Hong Kong, Surface is available online at Suning. A range of Surface accessories are also available for purchase and these include Touch Covers in five colours — black, white, magenta, cyan, and red, and are priced at US $119.99. Customers also have the option to purchase a Type Cover in black for US $129.99, which adds moving keys for a more traditional typing feel.First unveiled in June, Surface represents an extension of the Windows experience, letting customers work, play and connect with others. It has an ultra-light durable casing, integrated kickstand, Touch Cover, a USB port, a 16:9 widescreen, and a high-definition display with a 22-degree angle. Microsoft claims that Surface lets customers seamlessly make the transition between entertainment and creation.

There is no official word yet on the availability of the Surface in India. However, one can pre-order its 32GB version from eBay

 

US stock trading closed on Hurricane impact

US stock trading will be closed on Monday and possibly Tuesday in response to Hurricane Sandy, NYSE Euronext. NYSE Euronext, which runs the New York Stock Exchange, had previously said that electronic trading would remain open and that only the exchange’s trading floor would close.In a statement, the company said that “the dangerous conditions developing as a result of Hurricane Sandy will make it extremely difficult to ensure the safety of our people and communities, and safety must be our first priority.”

 

 

Presidential Debate provokes tensions on “Trade with China”

Beijing urged the US presidential candidates to refrain from inflaming tensions with China after President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney vowed to get tough with the Asian giant. Both men vowed to be firm on China at their final presidential debate.US politicians no matter from what party should view China’s development in an objective and rational light and should do more for China-US mutual trust and cooperation, The sound and steady development of China-US relations serve the fundamental interests of both countries and both peoples, it is also conducive to regional and world peace, stability and prosperity.”

During the debate, Romney repeated his vow that, if elected, he would declare China to be a currency manipulator on his first day in office, charging that Beijing has kept its yuan artificially low to flood the market with cheap exports.”They’re taking jobs. They’re stealing our intellectual property, our patents, our designs, our technology, hacking into our computers, counterfeiting our goods,” Romney said. But despite the tough talk, he discounted the possibility of provoking a trade war with Beijing should he win the November 6 vote.Obama pledged cooperation with the rising power despite numerous trade disagreements and a gaping US trade deficit with China — which stood at nearly $300 billion last year.”China’s an adversary and also a potential partner in the international community if it’s following the rules, Obama opined.China’s state press lashed out at the anti-China tone of the discussions. Willing or not, Democratic or Republican, the next US president shall have to tone down his get-tough-on-China rhetoric made along the campaign trail.It added: “Both US presidential candidates vowed at their third and last debate… that they would press Beijing to ‘play by the rules’ in shaping their bilateral ties.However, their definition of ‘rules of the road’ is primarily pro-American.

 

Death of Yash Chopra ends Romantic films era in B’wood.

Bollywood Film-maker Yash Chopra, known as India’s king of celluloid romance, died on Sunday just weeks after announcing he would not direct any more movies. He was 80. The film-maker had been admitted to a Mumbai hospital last week and was being treated for dengue fever.Born in 1932 in Lahore, now in Pakistan, Chopra was favored by leading Indian actors with his movies seen as a sure-fire way to become a hit with audiences.The film-maker proved his mettle with intensely emotional and tragic movies, many of which went on to become box-office blockbusters.

Chopra’s Bollywood career spanned five decades, and at an event marking his 80th birthday last month, Chopra narrated how he came to Mumbai with 200 rupees in his pocket, hoping to make it as a film director.Since then, Chopra made some of Indian cinema’s most memorable films — such as “Deewar”, “Kabhi Kabhie”, “Silsila” and “Chandni”. His flamboyant style of film-making, movies filmed in exotic locales and mellifluous music became a hallmark, endearing him to film goers.Chiffon sarees and the Swiss Alps are so synonymous with Chopra’s style of film-making that Switzerland Tourism even offered visitors a guided tour of the places where the director filmed some of his most famous songs and scenes.Riding on his success, Chopra established Yash Raj Films, one of Bollywood’s biggest production houses, churning out at least three movies a year. In November, the film studio announced its foray into Hollywood, signing on actors such as Nicole Kidman and Jason Bateman for its overseas productions.Chopra also produced Indian cinema’s longest-running blockbuster, “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (1995), which marked the debut of his son Aditya as director.”Jab Tak Hai Jaan”, with Chopra at the helm for the last time, opens in cinemas in November, eight years after his last project “Veer-Zaara”, a passionate tale of love across borders.

 

 

 

 

 

Presidential debate revealed out US’s unfaithful foreign policy!

America’s trust deficit with Pakistan was evident today as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney clashed on key foreign policy issues in the final presidential debate here during which the President savaged his Republican rival for his “wrong and reckless leadership”.In the last of the three high-stake 90-minute debates ahead of November 6 elections, President Obama was the aggressor from the start of the encounter which provided both the candidates a last chance to appeal to millions of voters in what appears to be a neck-and-neck race to the White House.

According to a CNN snap poll, Obama won the final presidential debate; and same was the case for other opinion polls including that of CBS news. While 48 per cent voted for Obama and 40 per cent supported Romney in the CNN poll. On the broader concept of the US foreign policy during the debate, both Obama and Romney agreed that the US should not allow Iran to go nuclear, would support Israel in case of attack, the 2014 withdrawal time line from Afghanistan, and the need to take stronger action against China. However, they exchanged jabs on the size of the US military, and the current situation in the Middle East - Libya and Syria in particular. To the surprise of many Benghazi where a terrorist attack on the US Consulate was not mentioned even a once during the debate; which appeared prominently in the previous debate. India, the relationship with which there is a bipartisan support in the US, did not figure even once during the prime-time foreign policy debate.For the first time probably the US President went public to explain why he did not seek Pakistan’s permission to send his commando to Abbottabad to kill Osama bin Laden. Had he taken such a call, bin laden would have never been killed, 51-year-old Obama said. On his part, 65-year-old Romney argued for conditional aid to Pakistan, but was against any move to cut off its relationship with an unstable country that has more than a 100 nuclear weapons which is home to terrorists as well.

 

All about Ybrant Digital

Ybrant digital, a company which is into digital marketing offers different kind of advertising solutions to their clients. Ybrant Digital supports their clients like online advertisers, online publishers and ad agencies world wide with advanced technological tools.Their work in this direction included many hardships and achievements as well.

To start with, Ybrant Digital is USAGreetings.com at first, when established in 1999 introducing first eMarketing product powered by USAGreetings engine. Then modernizing itself to the ever changing digital market, it was renamed as Ybrant Technologies Inc., in 2000. This updated name saw good reach into the market and slowly started establishing in this space. Starting then it has been modernizing itself continuously year-by-year with number of acquisitions and mergers. First acquisition took place in 2006, MediosOne, an SEM and Display company in USA to change the art of marketing and then in  2007 ybrant merged two US co’s called  VolvoMP and AdDynamix for using them to assist in software up gradation and Email marketing. Later, in 2008, acquired an European company named Oridian. In the same year Ybrant Technologies integrated all its acquired companies (Oridian, AdDynamix, MediosOne, and VoloMP) and formally changed its name to ‘Ybrant Digital’. The reorganization of the company with the name change resulted in the formation of three primary operating divisions; Display Ad Networks, Technology platforms and Strategic initiatives. In December 2009, Ybrant added location based advertising (LBA) to its services, entering into a partnership with LiveVana Innovations & Lepton Software.In 2010, Ybrant Digital launched its local search platform in India ‘Ybrant Reach‘ (YReach), starting in Hyderabad. Later in 2010, Ybrant Digital bought search-based internet company Lycos which is a top 25 Internet destination worldwide. Ybrant, in the year 2011 merged with Indain software company Lgs Global which helped Ybrant to list in BSE, India and there changing Ybrant Digital to Ybrant Digital Ltd., Growth is still continuing in Ybrant Digital Ltd.

 

Cow’s milk: New protection against HIV: Study

Cows’ milk can be potentially developed into affordable creams that can help protect humans against HIV, a study has claimed. Lead scientist from University of Melbourne found that when pregnant cows were vaccinated with an HIV protein, the first milk produced by the cow after giving birth, called colostrum, produced high antibodies to protect its newborn against disease.Researchers were now planning to test the effectiveness and safety of the milk before turning it into a cream which will hopefully allow women to protect themselves against contracting the virus during sex, without relying on men. However, the final result could be a decade off. The researchers were able to inhibit the virus from infecting cells when combing the virus cells with milk. The antibodies bind to the surface of the virus and blocks the protein which needs to be freed to get in contact with human cells – like a key and lock system. If the key’s not accessible or you change the key, you can’t open the door, It’s a very cheap and easy way to produce a lot of antibodies. A lot of women, especially in Africa or South America they don’t have the power to say you need to use a condom before we have sex. “This milk looks like it can be a cheap, easy new prevention tool, because if you use drugs it’s really expensive.