ECONOMY AFFAIRS DECEMBER 2010

ECONOMY AFFAIRS DECEMBER 2010

• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) announced that there are 70.6 crore mobile phones are in use in India by the end of October 2010. With this India's tele density has reached to 62.51 and the mobile services provider Airtel accounts for the highest number of customers with 14.6 crore customers across the country. 
• UK Sinha appointed as the new Chairman of Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Sinha will replace CB Bhave on Feb. 17, 2011. Sinha is now the Chairman and Managing Director of UTI Asset Management Company. 
• India pulled ahead of China to take first place in the Forbes list of best countries for new jobs with 42 percent of net hiring outlook for the first quarter of 2011. The new hiring list of 2011 compiled by Forbes magazine gave second and seventh places to China and United State of America respectively.
• India's largest motorcycle manufacturer, Hero Honda Motors approved the termination of 25 years long joint venture agreement with Japan's Honda Motors. Honda owns 26 percent stake in Hero Honda and the joint venture started in 1984. 
• Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) imposes ban on former chairman of Pyramid Saimira Theatre from the markets for 10 years. PS Saminathan and his wife Uma Saminathan were banned for 10 and 5 years respectively for fudging the company's accounts, misleading investors and making false corporate announcements.
• President Pratibha Devisingh Patil inaugurated the centenary celebration of Central Bank of India founded on December 21, 1911. It was referred as 'swadeshi bank' during the freedom struggle. President Patil releases the commemorative stamp on this occasion.
• India occupied the first and second positions in global remittances and emigration numbers. According to the World Bank's latest release of Migration and Remittances Fact book 2011, India stood first with $55 billion in 2010 from $49.6 billion in the year 2009. In terms of emigration, India occupies second place with 11.4 million migrations in 2010 after Mexico. 
• Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) topped the list of top 500 Indian companies followed by Reliance Industries, State Bank of India and Bharat Petroleum Corporation with second, third and fourth places respectively. This is the first-ever Fortune list of Indian entities compiled by business magazine Fortune. 
• Andhra Pradesh has become the second biggest state to have the big budget for the state after Uttar Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh Information Technology Minister, Ponnala Laxmaiah said in a management seminar held in Hyderabad that A.P. is the second biggest in terms of per capita income state budgets.