Thursday, May 16, 2013


No arrests for objectionable comments on social networking

16052013

 Supreme Court today said that no person should be arrested for posting objectionable comments on social networking sites without the permission of senior police officials. The court also directed all states and union territories to comply with the Centre’s advisory on arresting people for their comments on websites.
The court made these observations while hearing a plea that challenged the arrest of a human rights activist from Andhra Pradesh .He was apprehended last week for posting allegedly defamatory comments against a Congress leader on Facebook. Jaya Vindyala, a lawyer and president of the Andhra Pradesh unit of People’s Union for Civil Liberties , was arrested in Hyderabad on Sunday afternoon for her comments against A Krishnamohan, a Congress MLA from Chirala in Prakasam district.

Trade in creative products reached new peak: UNCTAD

16052013


Trade in creative products reached new peak: UNCTAD

(Hong Kong and India are the only developing countries, apart from China, holding the 4th and 6th position respectively)


World trade in creative goods and services comprising of arts and crafts, books, graphic and interior design works, fashion, films, music, new media, printed media, visual, as well as audiovisuals, totaled a record US$624 billion in 2011, up from US$559.5 billion in 2010 and US$536 billion in 2009, according to the UNCTAD Global Database on the Creative Economy.

This sector has now exceeded its pre-crisis peak of US$620.4 billion in exports in 2008. The minor decrease in the overall consumption of creative products after 2008 reflected the fragility of the post-crisis recovery in developed countries mainly due to the rise of public deficits, currency volatility, and high levels of unemployment, especially in the most advanced countries.

UNCTAD figures show that creative services exports jumped to US$172 billion in 2011, up from US$163.8 billion in 2010, and a near tripling in terms of value from the 2002 total of US$62 billion. Architecture and related services, cultural and recreational services, audiovisual services, advertising, and research and development services are the core activities comprising creative services.

The overall global trade in creative products has more than doubled from 2002 to 2011, with the average annual growth rate of 8.8%. Growth in developing country exports was stronger still, averaging 12.1% annually for the period. Such exports of creative goods and services reached US$227 billion in 2011, or 50% of the global total. China remains the leading exporter of creative goods. Its creative-products exports tripled from US$32 billion in 2002 to US$125 billion in 2011 at an annual growth rate of 14.7%. Overall, however, there are very few developing countries among the top 20 global players in the world market for creative goods, UNCTAD notes. Of the top ten exporters worldwide, Hong Kong and India are the only developing countries, apart from China , holding the 4th and 6th position respectively.

Top 10 exporters of creative goods
 Source: UNCTAD

Domestic demand for creative products has increased in recent years in the emerging economies of Asia, Latin America, and Africa, the statistics show, although the trend has not extended to North Africa and some countries in West Asia. Before the recession, the global market had been boosted by increases in “South-South” trade in creative products.

Creative goods, exports of south-south trade
Source: UNCTAD

Design is the largest contributor to trade in creative industries, and in 2011, it accounted for over 66% of total exports of creative goods. New media has been the faster growing creative sector in recent years, the statistics show. The level of exports has grown by 13.8% annually. Publishing and printed media is a sector facing challenges due to the explosion of electronic publishing and distribution, but trade flows nonetheless amounted to US$43 billion in 2011. The global market for visual arts is another multi-billion dollar business characterized by fierce competition and the potential for huge commercial gains. Attention also should be draw to the fact that the market for art crafts is significant. It increased from US$17.5 billion in 2002 to over US$34 billion in 2011.

Creative goods, exports by economic groups
Source: UNCTAD


Warm regards,

Dr. S P Sharma
Chief Economist
________________________________________________
PHD Research Bureau
PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry
August Kranti Marg, New Delhi – 110016
Tel 91 11 49545454, Fax 91 11 26855450,
E mail – research@phdcci.in

Inflation Indexed Bonds (IIBs) Scheme – 2013-14

16052013

 
 
Dear All,
 
 
Inflation Indexed Bonds (IIBs) Scheme – 2013-14
(The total issuance size of Inflation Indexed Bonds (IIBs) would be for about Rs. 12,000- 15,000 crore in 2013-14 and each tranche of IIBs will be for Rs. 1,000- 2000 crore)
 
 
With the view to protect savings of poor and middle classes from inflation and incentivise household sector to save in financial instruments rather than buy gold, the Reserve Bank of India in consultation with Government of India, has decided to launch Inflation Indexed Bonds (IIBs) as announced in the Union Budget for 2013-14.
 
For appropriate price discovery and market development, it is however, necessary to issue comparable instruments through auctions to the institutional investors such as Pension Funds, Insurance, and Mutual Funds etc. This will create demand for IIBs and help in making them tradable in the secondary market. It is therefore proposed to issue initial series for all categories of investors including institutional investors and, later, another series, exclusively for retail investors. First series of IIBs would be issued in first half of the current financial year. To target greater retail participation for this series also, it has been decided to enhance the non-competitive segment for retail and mid-segment investors to 20% from the present level of 5% applicable to auction of usual GoI securities.
 
Inflation Indexed Bonds (IIBs) will be having a fixed real coupon rate and a nominal principal value that is adjusted against inflation. The issuance of IIBs would target various points of the maturity curve in order to have benchmarks and to begin with, these bonds will be issued for tenor of 10 years. The total issuance size of Inflation Indexed Bonds (IIBs) would be for about Rs. 12,000-15,000 crore in 2013-14 and each tranche of IIBs will be for Rs. 1,000-2000 crore. First tranche will be issued on June 4th 2013 and the same would be issued regularly through auctions on the last Tuesday of each subsequent month during 2013-14.
 
Warm regards,
 
Dr. S P Sharma
Chief Economist
________________________________________________________
PHD Research Bureau
PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry
August Kranti Marg, New Delhi – 110016
Tel 91 11 49545454, Fax 91 11 26855450
E mail – research@phdcci.in

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