Redefine Finance !!!

New Delhi: State-run telecom operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) on Monday said it will offer new 3G prepaid connections for Rs 109 in its Mumbai circle. 

New subscribers can avail new '3G Tariff', with local voice and video call charges at 20 paise per minute on own local network and 50 paise per minute for other local networks across Mumbai telecom circle with lifetime validity, MTNL said in a statement. 

High Speed internet access and download of contents can be obtained through 3G technology

‘Jadoo’ is the brand name of the3G service offered by MTNL

The new connection comes loaded with 25 minutes of free video call, 25 MB of free data usage as well as talk time of Rs 25, it said.

STD voice and video calls would be charged at 75 paise, it added.

Nasscom expects at least 70,000-80,000 engineering grads who passed out in June 2009 and were offered jobs in their 5th and 6th semesters by TCS, Infosys and Accenture, among others, to get absorbed by March 2010. Not too long ago, there were apprehensions that the appointments of these tech grads could get deferred till 2011 in the aftermath of the global slowdown. That perception appears to have changed.

Speaking to ET, Nasscom vice-president Sangeeta Gupta said: “There’s some amount of pick-up in IT spending and clients have become active in the decision-making process. This augurs well for the IT industry and is likely to result in hiring by IT companies.

Companies like TCS, Infosys and Accenture, among others, are expected to start honouring the offers they made. As a result, at least 70k-80k engineering graduates, who were issued offer letters, are expected to get absorbed by March 2010.”

Incidentally, McKinsey in its report titled ‘Perspectives in the IT industry by 2020’, has noted that with the current pace of reforms and expected constraints in talent and infrastructure supply, the exports component of the Indian IT industry is slated to reach $175 billion in revenues by 2020. The domestic component will contribute $50 billion in revenues by 2020, which is larger than the total export revenues for India now.

ICICI Bank the second largest lender in India clocked a 2.6 per cent jump in its net profit in Q2 FY 10 and expects its loan growth to pick up and slippages to decline in the latter half of the fiscal.

It’s net profit in Q2 rose marginally from Rs 1014 crore to Rs 1040 crore.

The lender is continuing the process of reducing retail unsecured loans to 6-7 per cent of its total advances by end-fiscal in a bid to enhance its asset quality, its Managing Director & CEO, Chanda Kochhar, said.
In certain loan portfolios like Home Loan, car and project finance the bank sees double-digit growth, as there is a pick up in economic activities, Kochhar said.

However due to the sluggish growth in First half, the banks credit growth for the full year is likely to be in single digit

ICICI Bank, which was reducing its loan-book size, especially in the retail segment, has completed the first phase of its balance-sheet contraction, Kochhar said.

Asia’s richest man, took a 66 percent pay cut to “set a personal example of moderation” after India’s government called for austerity in salaries of executives.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Wednesday surged to a new 17-month high by adding over 204 points on buying support particularly in banking and metal stocks amid strong cues from Asian markets.

The Sensex, which had closed with a hefty gain in previous session on Monday, added 204.44 points at 17,231.11, a level last seen on May 20, 2008. The benchmark touched the day`s high of 17,274.59 led by stocks in metal, banks and drugmaker companies.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty shot up by 63.95 points at 5,118.20.

Investors were also upbeat after a top policy adviser said the central bank was likely to hold interest rates at a near decade-low when it reviews policy on Oct. 27, reinforcing expectations the government's priority was to boost growth.

The 30-share BSE index closed up 1.2 percent, or 204.44 points, at 17,231.11, with 25 of its components advancing. It rose to 17,274.59 during trade, its highest since May 21, 2008.

"We may rise another 500-600 points from here but we should correct after that, as we have risen too fast," said Amitabh Chakraborty, president of equities at Religare Capital.

He said profit-taking was imminent.

The market has gained almost 79 percent so far this year, and the benchmark has more than doubled from 8,047.17 points struck in early March.

Brokers said markets were catching up with gains across the region on Tuesday when the domestic market was close due to state elections in Maharashtra.

They added that Asian shares were mostly firmer and the market was also underpinned by rising foreign portfolio flows.

The traders said the Sensex had gained almost 79 per cent this year as foreign funds stepped up purchases on the back of a recovering economy.

The FIIs pumped in nearly USD 13 billion into Indian stocks this year, almost putting back what they had pulled out in 2008 when the index slumped to more than half.

The market also got partial boost after HDFC Ltd reported a higher-than-expected 24 per cent rise in its second quarter net profit. The state-run lender, State Bank of India rose 4.46 per cent to Rs 2,269.45.

Healthcare sector index was an important participant in today`s rally as drugmakers`s price estimates were raised at Goldman, Sachs. Ranbaxy Laboratories, a third-biggest drugmaker by market value, advanced 1.17 per cent after Goldman Sachs increased share-price estimate by 23 per cent.

The metal, capital goods, auto and banking stocks lended maximum support to the market recording handsome gains. Metal index rose the most by 5.27 per cent to 15,587.83 followed by capital goods index up by 2.38 per cent to 14,185.34.

Telecom companies bucked the trend and dropped after slower subscriber additions at leading GSM mobile operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar in September amid intense price competition.

Bharti dropped 3.25 percent to 339.40 rupees and Reliance Communications fell 6.5 percent to 231.60 rupees.

Around 507 million shares changed hands on the Bombay Stock Exchange, with advancing shares outnumbering declining ones in the ratio of 1.6:1.

The 50-share NSE index closed 1.3 percent higher at 5,118.20.

Creating a budget may not sound like the most exciting thing in the world to do, but it is vital in keeping your financial house in order. Before you begin to create your budget it is important to realize that in order to be successful you have to provide as much detailed information as possible. Ultimately, the end result will be able to show where your money is coming from, how much is there and where it is all going.

Financial confident people work with a budget. A good budget ensures you live within your means hence avoid unnecessary spending. It also helps you save part of your income. In order for your budget to work for you then it should meet some standards. But one of the most crucial elements of a good financial plan is that it should always be based on your financial goals.

Budgeting is not just about keeping track of your expenditure but it also includes helping you meet your personal financial targets in life. This is because, without financial goals in life you will never be in control of your money. To improve your financial status, start planning your finances carefully.

• Gather every financial statement you can. Includes bank statements, investment accounts, recent utility bills and any information regarding a source of income or expense. The key for this process is to create a monthly average.
• Create a list of monthly expenses. Write down a list of all the expected expenses you plan on incurring over the course of a month. Includes a mortgage payment, car payments, auto insurance, groceries, utilities, entertainment, dry cleaning, auto insurance, retirement or college savings and essentially everything you spend money on.
• Record all of your sources of income. No matter If you are self-employed or have any outside sources of income or If your income is in the form of a regular paycheck where taxes are automatically deducted. Record this total income as a monthly amount.
• Break expenses into two categories: fixed and variable. Fixed expenses are those that stay relatively the same each month and are required parts of your way of living. Variable expenses are the type that will change from month to month and this category will be important while making adjustments.
• Total your monthly income and monthly expenses. If your end result shows more income than expenses you are off to a good start. If you are showing a higher expense column than income it means some changes will have to be made.
• Make adjustments to expenses. If you have accurately identified and listed all of your expenses the ultimate goal would be to have your income and expense columns to be equal. This means all of your income is accounted for and budgeted for a specific expense. If you are in a situation where expenses are higher than income you should look at your variable expenses to find areas to cut.
• Review your budget monthly. It is important to review your budget on a regular basis to make sure you are staying on track. After the first month take a minute to sit down and compare the actual expenses versus what you had created in the budget.