FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT Dear readers, off late, lot of questions in bank exams are coming from banking

awareness section. Here we present you a brief overview on FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT. FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT Foreign Direct Investment is a direct investment into production or business in a country by an individual or company of another country, either by buying a company in the target country or by expanding operations of an existing business in that country. A foreign direct investor (someone who makes a foreign direct investment) can be a government body, a company, or an individual. China has much foreign direct investment in it from other countries. RETAIL TRADE: BACKBONE OF THE ECONOMY Retail is the sale of something. It is the sale of goods and services from individuals or businesses to the end user. Retailers are part of an integrated system called the supply chain. A retailer purchases goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers directly or through a wholesale, and then sells smaller quantities to the consumer for a profit. Retailing can be done in either fixed locations like stores or markets, door-to-door or by delivery. Retailing includes subordinated services, such as delivery. The term "retailer" is also applied where a service provider services the needs of a large number of individuals, such as for the public. CRITERIA OF FDI IN INDIA: In 1991, then Finance Minister and ongoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh referred to the certain criteria for allowing FDI in India. These were1. Establishment of basic industries requiring huge capital and advanced sophisticated technology. 2. Infrastructure projects like electricity generation road building etc. 3. Projects which would generate employment. FDI IN INDIA: A foreign company planning to set up business operations in India may: Incorporate a company under the Companies Act, 1956, as a Joint Venture or a Wholly Owned Subsidiary. Set up a Representative Office or a Project Office or a Branch Office of the foreign company which can undertake activities permitted under the Foreign Exchange Management (Establishment in India of Branch Office or Other Place of Business) Regulations, 2000. PROCEDURE TO RECEIVE FDI IN INDIA: Automatic Route: FDI is allowed under the automatic route without prior approval either of the Government or the Reserve Bank of India in all activities/sectors as specified in the consolidated FDI Policy, issued by the Government of India from time to time. Government Route: FDI in activities not covered under the automatic route requires prior approval of the Government which is considered by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. PROHIBITED SECTORS FOR FDI: i)Atomic Energy ii) Lottery Business iii) Gambling and Betting iv) Business of Chit Fund v) Nidhi Company vi) Agricultural vii) Housing and Real Estate business viii) Trading in Transferable Development Rights (TDRs). ix) Tobacco FDI LIMITS ON VARIOUS SECTORS: i. Civil Aviation 49% ii. Defense 26% iii. FM Radio 26% iv. Insurance 49% v. Multi Brand 51% vi. Pension 49% vii. Print Media 26% viii. Public Sector Banks 49% ix. Private Sector Banks 74% x. Telecommunication 100% xi. Pharmaceuticals 100% xii. Single Brand 100% xiii. Tourism 100% xiv. Asset reconstruction companies 100% MUTUAL FUNDS: Mutual funds are investment avenues that pool the money of several investors to invest in financial instruments such as stocks, debentures etc. The profits earned on the investments is distributed among the investors on the basis of the units held by each of them. Due to a large pool of investors, the individual risk is spread. So individually you take on low risk. The mutual funds in India are governed by Association of Mutual Funds in India, the umbrella body for mutual funds, which is in turn governed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. A diagrammatic representation to understand the Cycle:

Various Entities of Mutual Funds: 1. SPONSER: Sponsor is the person who establishes the mutual fund. It can be a group of people or a single person. 2. TRUST: The Mutual Fund is constituted as a trust in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 by the Sponsor. The trust deed is registered under the Indian Registration Act, 1908. 3. TRUSTEE: Trustee is usually a company or a Board of Trustees. The main responsibility of the Trustee is to safeguard the interest of the unit holders and to ensure the interest of investors in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996. 4. ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANY (AMC): The Trustee as the Investment Manager of the Mutual Fund appoints the AMC. The AMC is required to be approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to act as an asset management company of the Mutual Fund. 5. REGISTAR AND TRANSFER AGENT: The AMC if so authorized by the Trust Deed appoints the Registrar and Transfer Agent to the Mutual Fund. 6. NAV: NAV or Net Asset Value is the market value of the assets per unit after deducting the liabilities. 7. LOCK-IN PERIOD: If investment is in equity linked saving schemes (ELSS) the lock in period is three years. Which means your money will remain locked in with the mutual fund company for a period of three years. 8. SIP: SIP or Systematic Investment Plan enables you to invest an amount on a regular basis and bring about a disciplined approach to investing. Various Types of Mutual Funds: 1. By structure: Open Ended: These are funds that you can buy and sell any time throughout the year. Close Ended: These are funds that are open only for a specific period after which you'd have to buy them from the secondary market; Interval schemes: These schemes combine the features of open ended and close ended schemes and are available for purchase or sale during a select period. 2. By investment objective: Growth: These are highly aggressive schemes and invest mainly in equities. Income: Income funds invest in medium to long-term debt instruments. These are low risk and aim at a fixed current income . Balanced: Also called Hybrid funds, these are a combination of growth, debt and money market funds. Money market schemes: These schemes invest in short term debt instruments and are highly liquid. Tax saving: These are equity linked saving schemes that offer tax benefits under Section 80 C and have a compulsory lock in period of three years. Special schemes: These are select funds that aim at replicating the performance of an index. Also there are funds that invest in specific sectors that fall under this category.

7 things to know about Microsofts New CEO - Satya Nadella Microsoft finally announced its new chief executive as Satya Nadella after a six-month-long flood of speculations and rumours. Although Ballmer and Gates are well-known within the tech community, much less is known about Nadella.Nadella, relatively unknown outside of the company, has been with Microsoft for 22 years, and comes in as founder Bill Gatess moves on from his role as chairman to technology adviser.As Nadella steps into the national spotlight, heres 7 things to know about Microsofts new CEO: 1. He grew up in India. Nadella was born in 1967 in Hyderabad, India, attended public schools there and received a bachelors degree in electrical engineering from Manipal University. His father, B.N. Yugandhar, still lives in Hyderabad. According to Reuters, the senior Nadella was a member of the elite Indian Administrative Service and a member of the Planning Commission during 2004-2009 under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

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Nadella is known for his work with cloud computing at Microsoft and his deep technical knowledge . The company's cloud platform which Nadella came to oversee in 2013 is the infrastructure beneath Microsoft services such as Bing, Xbox Live, Office 365 and Windows Azure. Nadella has helped Microsoft's cloud platform, Azure, become a more serious competitor to Amazon's cloud. Before becoming head of cloud and enterprise engineering, Nadella led Microsoft's server and tools division. He reads poetry. Nadella says he kicks back by reading poetry, which he says is like code. Youre trying to take something that can be described in many, many sentences and pages of prose, but you can convert it into a couple lines of poetry and you still get the essence, so its that compression. The best code is poetry. Nadella joins the growing list of Indian-born executives heading major global corporations. Nadella's appointment would make him one of the America's most powerful Indian-origin executives, alongside MasterCard's Ajay Banga and PepsiCo's Indra Nooyi. Hes a multi-tasker. When he joined Microsoft in 1992, he was on track to get his masters degree. Rather than choose between the two, he did both, flying out from Redmond on Friday nights for classes at the University of Chicago. He finished a masters in business administration in just two and a half years. Nadella would be only the third CEO of 38-year-old Microsoft after Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. Nadella has three university qualifications a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Mangalore University, a master's degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin and another masters degree in business administration from the University of Chicag SSC QUIZ :: National Movement of India: 1920 to 1940 Chauri Chaura Incident (1922) (i)A mob of people at Chauri Chaura (near Gorakhpur) clashed with police and burnt 22 policemen on Feb5, 1922. (ii) This compelled Gandhiji to withdraw the Non Cooperation movement on Feb. 12, 1922. Simon Commission (1927) (i)Constituted under John Simon, to review the political situation in India and to introduce further reforms and extension of parliamentary democracy. Indian leaders opposed the commission, as there were no Indians in it. (ii)The Government used brutal repression and police attacks to break the popular opposition. At Lahore, Lala Lajpat Rai was severely beaten in a lathi-charge. He succumbed to his injuries on Oct. 30, 1928. Lahore Session (1929) (i)On Dec. 19, 1929 under the President ship of J. L. Nehru, the INC, at its Lahore Session, declared Poorna Swaraj (Complete independence) as its ultimate goal. (ii)On Dec. 31, 1929, the newly adopted tri-colour flag was unfurled and an. 26, 1930 was fixed as the First Independence Day, was to be celebrated every year. Revolutionary Activities (i)The first political murder of a European was committed in 1897 at Poona by the Chapekar brothers, Damodar and Balkishan. Their target was Mr. Rand, President of Plague Commission, but Lt. Ayerst was accidentally shot. (ii)In 1907, Madam Bhikaiji Cama, a Parsi revolutionary unfurled the flag of India at Stuttgart Congress (of Second international). (iii)In 1908, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla chaki threw a bomb on the carriage of kingford, the unpopular judge of Muzaffapur. Khudiram, Kanhaiyalal Dutt and Satyendranath Bose were hanged (Alipur Case). (iv)In 1909, M L Dhingra shot dead Col. William Curzon Whyllie, the political advisor of India Office in London. (v)In 1912, Rasbihari Bose and Sachindra Nath Sanyal threw a bomb and Lord Hardinge at Delhi (Delhi Conspiracy Case). (vi)In Oct, 1924, a meeting of revolutionaries from all parts of India was called at Kanpur. They setup Hindustan Socialist Republic Association/Army (HSRA). (vii)They carried out a dacoity on the Kakori bound train on the Saharanpur-Lucknow railway line on Aug. 9, 1925. (viii)Bhagat Singh, with his colleagues, shot dead Saunders (Asst. S. P. Of Lahore, who ordered lathi charge on Lala Lajpat Rai) on Dec. 17, 1928. Then Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw a bomb in the Central Assembly on Apr 8, 1929. Thus, he, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged on March. 23, 1931 at Lahore Jall (Lahore Conspiracy Case) and their bodies cremated at Hussainiwala near Ferozepur. In 1931, Chandrashekhar Azad shot himself at Alfred Park in Allahabad.

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Dandi March (1930) (i)Also called the Salt Satyagraha. (ii)Along with 78 followers, Gandhiji started his march from Sabarmati Ashram on March 12, 1930 for the small village Dandhi to break the salt law. (iii)He reached the seashore on Apr. 6, 1930. (iv) He picked a handful of salt and inaugurated the Civil Disobedience Movement. First Round Table conference (1930) (i)It was the first conference arranged between the British and Indians as equals. It was held on Nov. 12, 1930 in London to discuss Simon commission. (ii)Boycotted by INC, Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha, Liberals and some others were there. Gandhi Irwin Pact (1931) (i)Moderate Statesman, Sapru, Jaikar and Srinivas Shastri initiated efforts to break the ice between Gandhiji and the government. (ii)The two (government represented by Irwin and INC by Gandhiji) signed a pact on March 5, 1931. (iii)In this the INC called off the civil disobedience movement and agreed to join the second round table conference. (iv)The government on its part released the political prisoners and conceded the right to make salt for consumption for villages along the coast. Second Round Table Conference (1931) (i)Gandhiji represented the INC and went to London to meet British P. M. Ramsay Macdonald. (ii)However, the session was soon deadlocked on the minorities issue and this time separate electorates was demanded not only by Muslims but also by Depressed Classes, Indian Christians and Anglo Indians. The Communal Award (Aug 16, 1932) (i)Announced by Ramsay McDonald. It showed divide and rule policy of the British. (ii)Envisaged representation of Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo Indians, women and even Backward classes. (iii)Gandhiji, who was in Yeravada jail at that time, started a fast unto death against it. Poona Pact (September 25, 1932) (i)After the announcement of communal award and subsequent fast of Gandhiji, mass meeting took place almost everywhere. (ii)Political leaders like Madan Mohan Malviya, B. R. Ambedkar and M. C. Rajah became active. (iii)Eventually Poona pact was reached and Gandhiji broke his fact on the sixth day (Sept 25, 1932). (iv)In this, the idea of separate electorate for the depressed classes was abandoned, but seats reserved to them in the provincial legislature were increased. Third Round Table Conference (1932) (i) Proved fruitless as most of the national leaders were in prison. The discussions led to the passing of the Government of India Act, 1935. Demand For Pakistan (i)In 1930, Iqbal suggested that the Frontier Province, Baluchistan, Sindh and Kashmir be made the Muslim State within the federation. (ii)Chaudhary Rehmat Ali gave the term Pakistan in 1923. (iii)Mohd. Ali Jinnah of Bombay gave it practicality. (iv)Muslim League first passed the proposal of separate Pakistan in its Lahore session in 1940.