RTGS System

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RTGS stands for Real Time Gross Settlement. For an authoritative FAQ check HERE a RBI FAQ.
For Wikipedia article, which contains a wider perspective Check HERE.
The Wikipedia Article contains points which makes it an important topic for preparation. Check here Economic Times article of this year.

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Basel Accords

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Check the following two links in order to understand the concept of Basel Accords. They are related to Banking. In light of the world economic crisis, an understanding of Basel Accords and especially Basel III which comes into force from 2013 to 2018.
Wikipedia Article Further links within in the article can be explored for a wider perception especially Basel II and Basel III.
Hindu Article.

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Indo-China Trade $67 billion:6700 crore $

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Check the Outlook Story HERE.

It is a usual kind of a story on the news magazine. However, there are figures on Indo China Trade which are good for notes. Secondly, it has given a perspective on ground realities of Indo-China trade which can be useful for preparing answers for the interview.

Hints:
The hurdles for small and medium Indian Businessmen
The objections of the Chinese Businessmen against the Indian business scenario.
The local ground realities of Chinese Market.
The support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The credit problem for the Indian Businessmen
The future prospects
The Indian Exporters expectation from the Chinese Market

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Global Activities of India for next 1 Year

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Refer to the editorial of Times of India HERE

The write up is about the Indian foreign policy for the next 12 months. It has taken up multiple dimensions related to Indian economy and international relations. It is worth reading for 2011 interview as well next year Mains examination.

It tries to bring out the perspective about the aims and notions of different countries about India as a market, partner in world politics and investment destination. France, UK, Russia, USA and China look from different angles towards India. India is approaching them with her national interest in mind. The above article helps in writing a note from that perspective.

Make a note on the contents of the article.

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Shanghai Cooperation Organization

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Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)

Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an Eurasian intergovernmental organization which has mutual security one of the major agenda of their contract. Presently there are six members namely China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia, Tazikstan and Uzbekiztan. The official languages of this organization Chinese and Russian.

Last year, Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh had participated in its meeting as one of the observer. India is thinking seriously to join the organization. There are economic issues on the agenda of the organization apart from Military mutual security. India has embarked on a foreign policy of developing relations with regional economic groups in attempt to look away from Euro centric or western economic group. On the other hand, India is averse to any military organization. It had been a leader of NAM. However, SCO has one of the issue of mutual security on their agenda. But in changing geo-political scenario, the national interests are dictating to review the foreign policy. Hence, there is a move towards joining this organization.

This paradigm shift which is seen evident in the foreign policy of India is taking place at a very crucial juncture. India is an active player among BRIC, BIMSTEC and BASIC countries. Europe is the major buyer as well as the technical hub of the world. However, there are some not so good signs coming out of Euro currency based economy of Europe. Greece is facing the security bond payment crises. Similarly there are indications of financial crises coming from Spain as well as Portugal. The Germans have raised a voice to disassociate from Euro Based Economy and revert back to German Marks. The Germany Chancellor has resigned in such a scenario. Europe is a major market of Chinese goods. China is emerging a major producer in the world. In such a scenario, the developing vibes between SCO and India has become an important topic.

From that angle, SCO is an important issue to be covered.

There are two links suggested below which can be used for this topic:

Wikipedia Article

SCO : Official Website

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BRIC and IBSA

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BRIC: Brazil, Russia, India and China: The probable world leading economies by 2050: A Theory discussed elsewhere on this blog.

Similarly, IBSA: India, Brazil and South Africa another economic group expected to influence the world economy.

These two non-European Economic groups (different from regional group) are being watched and pursued with great expectations. No doubt, our present government is also giving lot of significance to these economic group relations. BRIC has been included on this blog even for 2009. BRIC and IBSA remain important probable questions for 2010 Prelims as well as in Mains and even in ongoing interviews. It should be prepared with preparing small notes on each economic group (Good material is already available on Wikipedia), the core description of the state heads, the governments, the capitals of the countries and main economic ratios of these countries should be included. (Again take help of Wikipedia and CIA fact books: A better way than what you can buy from market. Most of them are merely recycling of what is given there expect for one or two publications.)

The hitched report is included which does not give much peep into the topic but discusses different angles. It is intently chosen because it is on one hand required higher understanding of the international relation to which Siddarth Varadaranjan refers to and on the hand given a glimpse of opinions of tricky international relations. A person who does not have taste for international relations and is an aspirant for Civil Services examinations, it can be a provocative introduction.

Apart from that I have included a link to a list of similar reports. However, take help of Wikipedia for main search option namely BRIC (already available on this blog) and IBSA.

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Hitched Links:
The Hindu : Front Page : From IBSA to CHIBSA? BRIC to BRICS? Not yet
Dump of related news Items

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India and Asean sign trade deal (FTA)

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The following report needs a reading. India has signed a Free Trade Agreement with Asean Countries which is a bloc of 11 countries.

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Use the Reports:
BBC NEWS | Business | India and Asean sign trade deal
The Hindu Report

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Added on August 16, 2009:
For Additional Points on FTA with ASEAN use the report of The Hindu.

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Jose Manuel Barroso may continue as President European Commission of European Union

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European Union Executive may continue to have Jose Manuel Barroso (from Portugal)as President of European Commission for next five year.

The report has major points on European Economic policies.

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Source to be used:
EU leaders agree on tighter financial supervision | World | Reuters: "Jose Manuel Barroso"

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Photograph Source:
Wikipedia.

Zollverin of Bric

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This report is very good for viva preparation in 2010. The report contains possibilities of a talk shop. Hence, nothing much in it. However, it contains some issues which can be part of the a short note on Bric. Secondly the report of Hindu entails some related topics below the report which you can find at the end of the report.

Zollverin was an economic union formed under the proposal of Prussia before the unification of Germany.
Secondly, the change of currency from Pounds to Dollar took place in 1921.
Thirdly, there is similar suggestion to the one given in news interview with PM Manmohan Singh in case of European Union which desire to adopt Euro as the exchange standard.
Fourthly, it is late 1990s foreign policy move to seek economic cooperation and coordination with Asia Pacific and East Asian states. Now, with BRIC theory and SCO participation, the country is definitely going for pragmatic change in foreign policy. Hence such issues can be made the part of the notes for 2010 and 2011.

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Source to be used including the additional links on the suggested link

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The Hindu : Front Page : BRIC examining alternatives to dollar

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SCO Members

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The use the following links for making a note on SCO members which stands for
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. The members are China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

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Link to be used:
The Hindu News Update Service

Wikipedia Article

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export target of $200 billion for 2009-10

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The Export Target of India for the financial year 2009-10 is $200 billion.
In 2008-09, India's export stood at $168 billions.
In 2007-08, it was $163 billion.

The global meltdown in the economy and especially in the Western countries (Europe and United States of America), is causing worry to the government as it is apprehended that the target may not be achieved. There is decline in the Indian export from month to month basis and in May, it has fallen by 30%. On the other hand, the import has also decreased due to fall the petroleum prices as India fulfils 70% requirement of her petroleum through import.

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Link to be studied:

Exports at sea eight months on the trot- Foreign Trade-Economy-News-The Economic Times

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Highly IMPORTANT for October 2009 Mains.

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Issues at Yekaterinburg summit of BRIC

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The following link of The Hindu, contains a report in which the major issues which can be discussed by BRIC are outlined. Though it is a report and the summit is yet to take place, however, BRIC activities deserves to be watched as they may bring one or two questions in October 2009 or May 2010.
Kindly check the following link:

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Discussions of BRIC states

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BTW How will you pronounce Yekaterinburg

Probably like Ya Ka terrain burch.

Am I right???

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GDP for Financial Year 2008-09 is 6.7% in India

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Kindly use the link below for the detailed report.

Some relevant paragraphs from the report for the notes are as follows:

"The RBI in its monetary policy review earlier had projected GDP to grow at 6.5 %." (TOI as in the link given below.)

The per capita income has crossed Rs. 3000 per month.

"It also appears that the over Rs 3 lakh crore injected into the system through three stimulus packages has started showing results. The Rs 70,000 crore loan waiver for farmers, high salaries to government employees and increased expenditure on the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme after it was made nationwide have helped stemmed the downturn. )(TOI as in the link given below.)

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TOI Link:

Good news: At 6.7%, GDP grows more than expected - India Business - Business - The Times of India

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For Fundamental and concept clarity; Check wikipedia article on What is GDP at the following link:

What is GDP?

Brief Answer:
GDP stands for gross domestic product or gross domestic income.
It is measured and quantified as follows:
GDP = consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports - imports)
It is derived thus as follows:
GDP= C + I + Gs + (X-M)

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What is free fuel pricing or Deregulation of Oil Prices?

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What is deregulation of Oil Prices?

The answer to the following question can be read in the following links. The link takes to moneycontrol.com, part of CNBC-TV 18.

All you wanted to know about free fuel pricing

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In order to understand the concept of Deregulation as an economic term and a public administration term, one can use the following article at Wikipedia.

The article is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deregulation

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Edited on May 30, 2009:

Add the following news report also:
Government policy for Oil Exploration and pricing of oil The Hindu Link.

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BRIC

BRIC is an acronym that refers to fast growing developing economies of BRAZIL, RUSSIA, INDIA and CHINA. It refers to an economic theory that by 2050 the combined economies of the BRICs could eclipse the combined economies of the current richest countries of the world.

The above mentioned theory was given by Jim O'Neil of the bank holding company Goldman Sachs.

For more details refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRIC on Wikipedia.

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Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. Crisis

Lehman Brothers an Introduction:

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (Lehman Brothers) serves the financial needs of corporations, governments and municipalities, institutional clients and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. The Company provides an array of services in equity and fixed income sales, trading and research, investment banking, asset management, private investment management and private equity. The Company operates three business segments: Capital Markets, Investment Banking and Investment Management. Lehman Brothers generates client-flow revenues from institutional, corporate, government and high-net-worth clients by advising on and structuring transactions; serving as a market maker and/or intermediary in the global marketplace, including having securities and other financial instrument products; originating loans for distribution to clients in the securitization or principals market; providing investment management and advisory services, and acting as an underwriter to clients.

The Crisis:
Throughout the year 2008, the Lehman Brothers has reported losses. It has suffered from subprime lending rates. Gradually, its shares have started falling at world capital market. It has given rise to rumours that the management is trying to find buyers to help them come out this crisis. It is one of the major financial institution of America. If some things go wrong with it, it will push the capital market into crises and its repercussions will also appear in Indian Capital Market.

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Sources:
Google Finance

Wikipedia

Subprime Mortgage: Wikipedia

Grow For The Poor-Editorial-Opinion-The Times of India

Grow For The Poor-Editorial-Opinion-The Times of India

It is substantiating editorial to the report of World Bank reproduced on this blog here.