D. Subbarao

Duvvuri Subbarao was born on 11 August 1949 is an Indian economist, central banker, and civil servant. He is the 22nd and current Governor of Reserve Bank of India, serving under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Subbarao is a 1972 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre. On 5 September 2008, he was appointed the twenty-second Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI); his term was to end in September 2011. But breaking from tradition, the Prime Minister's Office extended his term by two years and put out a statement announcing that Subbarao, a former finance secretary would now retire on September 4, 2013.

Early life

Subbarao's hometown is Eluru in West Godavari district, a city near Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. He did his schooling from the Sainik School in Korukonda, Andhra Pradesh. He graduated in Physics B.Sc Hons. from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (class of 1969) where he was the recipient of Director's Gold Medal.

He received a M.Sc degree also in Physics from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Subbarao topped the Civil Services Examination in 1972 and was assigned the Andhra Pradesh cadre.

In 1978, he did a Masters degree in economics from Ohio State University, United States. After a few years, Subbarao joined the Humphrey Fellowship program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study Quantitative Economic Modelling. He became a Humphrey Fellow at MIT in 1982. He later received a Ph.D. in Economics from Andhra University. His doctoral thesis was titled "Fiscal reforms at the sub-national level" (1998).

Career

Dr.Subbarao worked as the joint secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India between 1988 and 1993. Subsequently he became the Finance Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh between 1993 and 1998. On completion of his term, he was deputed as lead economist in the World Bank from 1994 to 2004. On completion of his term, he was appointed to the Prime Ministers’ Economic Advisory Council from 2005 to 2007 before he was elevated as the Finance Secretary in 2007.On 5 September 2008, he was appointed the twenty-second Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI and Arun Ramanathan was appointed as Finance Secretary on September 21, 2008 in his vacancy. His term was extended for two more years in 2011.

Dr.Subbarao was involved in the initiation of fiscal reforms at the state level and had managed a flagship study on decentralisation across major countries of East Asia including China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and Cambodia.He is credited with financial turnaround of Andhra Pradesh in late nineties when the state had slipped into an unprecedented fiscal crisis

Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Montek Singh Ahluwalia (born 24 November 1945) is an Indian economist and civil servant. He is currently the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of the Republic of India. He was previously the first Director of the Independent Evaluation Office at the International Monetary Fund.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He studied at St. Patrick's High School, Secunderabad, Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, and Bishop Cotton School Shimla, then graduated with a B.A. (Hons) degree from St. Stephen's College, Delhi, University of Delhi. He received the BA (Hons) degree as a Rhodes scholar from the University of Oxford having studied at Magdalen College, Oxford. He also studied for a BPhil in Economics at Oxford University, which the university later reclassified as an MPhil. While at Oxford, he was the president of the prestigious Oxford Union. The 164-year-old Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, conferred him with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) at the 11th Convocation Ceremony of the institute held on 12 November 2011.

Ahuluwalia, after graduating from University of Oxford, joined the World Bank during the tenures of Hollis Chenery and Robert MacNamara. At the age of 28, he became the youngest "Division Chief" in the World Bank's bureaucracy.

Prior to taking up his position at the IMF, Ahluwalia was a Member of the Planning Commission in New Delhi as well as a Member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister.

In spite of not being a member of the Indian Civil Service, he held the following positions of civil servants in the central government:

• Secretary, Ministry of Finance
• Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs
• Secretary, Ministry of Commerce
• Special Secretary to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and
• Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Finance.

He has also been the member of the influential Washington-based financial advisory body, the Group of Thirty.

Awards and honours

Year of Award or Honor	Name of Award or Honor	Awarding Organization
2011	Honoris Causa Doctorate of Science	IIT Roorkee.
2011	Padma Vibhushan	President of India.
2008	Doctor of Civil Law	University of Oxford.

Bank of Baroda

Bank of Baroda is the third largest bank in India, after the State Bank of India and the Punjab National Bank and ahead of ICICI Bank. BoB has total assets in excess of Rs. 2.27 lakh crores, or Rs. 2,274 billion, a network of over 3,000 branches and offices, and about 1,100 ATMs. IT plans to open 400 new branches in the coming year. It offers a wide range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and through its specialised subsidiaries and affiliates in the areas of investment banking, credit cards and asset management. Its total business was Rs. 4,402 billion as of June 30.

As of August 2010, the bank has 78 branches abroad and by the end of FY11 this number should climb to 90. In 2010, BOB opened a branch in Auckland, New Zealand, and its tenth branch in the United Kingdom. The bank also plans to open five branches in Africa. Besides branches, BoB plans to open three outlets in the Persian Gulf region that will consist of ATMs with a couple of people.

The Maharajah of Baroda, Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad III, founded the bank on 20 July 1908 in the princely state of Baroda, in Gujarat. The bank, along with 13 other major commercial banks of India, was nationalised on 19 July 1969, by the government of India.

Indian Bank

Indian Bank, established in 1907, is a major Indian Commercial Bank headquartered in Chennai, India. It has 22,000 employees, 1,657 branches and is one of the big public sector banks of India. It has overseas branches in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and 229 correspondent banks in 69 countries. The Government of India nationalized the bank, along with 13 other major commercial banks, on 19 July 1969.

History

Indian bank was founded by Annamalai and Ramaswami Chettiar in 1907. This was in response to the financial crash faced by two leading trading companies in Madras, Arbuthnot's and Binny's.

• 1907: Established on 15 August
• 1932: Indian Bank opened a branch in Colombo.

Automated Teller Machine (ATM)

An Automated Teller Machine (ATM), commonly called a cashpoint in UK English after the trademark of the same name, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public space without the need for a cashier, human clerk or bank teller. ATMs are known by various other names including automatic banking machine, cash machine, and various regional variants derived from trademarks on ATM systems held by particular banks.

On most modern ATMs, the customer is identified by inserting a plastic ATM card with a magnetic stripe or a plastic smart card with a chip, that contains a unique card number and some security information such as an expiration date or CVVC (CVV). Authentication is provided by the customer entering a personal identification number (PIN).

Using an ATM, customers can access their bank accounts in order to make cash withdrawals, credit card cash advances, and check their account balances as well as purchase prepaid cellphone credit. If the currency being withdrawn from the ATM is different from that which the bank account is denominated in (e.g.: Withdrawing Japanese Yen from a bank account containing US Dollars), the money will be converted at a wholesale exchange rate. Thus, ATMs often provide the best possible exchange rate for foreign travelers and are heavily used for this purpose as well.

Banknote

A banknote (more commonly known as a bill) is a kind of negotiable instrument, a promissory note made by a bank payable to the bearer on demand, used as money, and under many jurisdictions is used as legal tender. Along with coins, banknotes make up the cash forms of all modern money. With the exception of non-circulating high-value or precious metal commemorative issues, coins are generally used for lower valued monetary units, while banknotes are used for higher values.

Originally, the value of money was determined by the intrinsic value of the material the money was made of, such as silver or gold. However, carrying around a lot of precious metal was cumbersome and often dangerous. As an alternative, banknotes would be issued. In financial terms, a note is a promise to pay someone money. Banknotes were originally a promise to pay the bearer an amount of precious metal stored in a vault somewhere. In this way the stored value (usually in gold or silver coins) backing the banknote could transfer ownership in exchange for goods or services.

Insurance in India

Insurance is a federal subject in India. The insurance sector has gone through a number of phases and changes. Since 1999, when the government opened up the insurance sector by allowing private companies to solicit insurance and also allowing foreign direct investment of up to 26%, the insurance sector has been a booming market. However, the largest life-insurance company in India is still owned by the government.

History

In India, insurance has a deep-rooted history. Insurance in various forms has been mentioned in the writings of Manu (Manusmrithi), Yagnavalkya (Dharmashastra) and Kautilya (Arthashastra). The fundamental basis of the historical reference to insurance in these ancient Indian texts is the same i.e. pooling of resources that could be re-distributed in times of calamities such as fire, floods, epidemics and famine. The early references to Insurance in these texts has reference to marine trade loans and carriers' contracts.

Insurance in its current form has its history dating back until 1818, when Oriental Life Insurance Company was started by Anita Bhavsar in Kolkata to cater to the needs of European community. The pre-independence era in India saw discrimination between the lives of foreigners (English) and Indians with higher premiums being charged for the latter. In 1870, Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society became the first Indian insurer.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, many insurance companies were founded. In the year 1912, the Life Insurance Companies Act and the Provident Fund Act were passed to regulate the insurance business. The Life Insurance Companies Act, 1912 made it necessary that the premium-rate tables and periodical valuations of companies should be certified by an actuary. However, the disparity still existed as discrimination between Indian and foreign companies. The oldest existing insurance company in India is the National Insurance Company Ltd., which was founded in 1906. It is in business.

The Government of India issued an Ordinance on 19th January, 1956 nationalising the Life Insurance sector and Life Insurance Corporation came into existence in the same year. The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) absorbed 154 Indian, 16 non-Indian insurers as also 75 provident societies—245 Indian and foreign insurers in all. In 1972 with the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act was passed by the Indian Parliament, and consequently, General Insurance business was nationalized with effect from 1st January, 1973. 107 insurers were amalgamated and grouped into four companies, namely National Insurance Company Ltd., the New India Assurance Company Ltd., the Oriental Insurance Company Ltd and the United India Insurance Company Ltd. The General Insurance Corporation of India was incorporated as a company in 1971 and it commence business on January 1sst 1973.

The LIC had monopoly till the late 90s when the Insurance sector was reopened to the private sector. Before that, the industry consisted of only two state insurers: Life Insurers (Life Insurance Corporation of India, LIC) and General Insurers (General Insurance Corporation of India, GIC). GIC had four subsidiary companies.

With effect from December 2000, these subsidiaries have been de-linked from the parent company and were set up as independent insurance companies: Oriental Insurance Company Limited, New India Assurance Company Limited, National Insurance Company Limited and United India Insurance Company Limited.

Industry structure

Currently, a US$41 billion industry, India is the world's fifth largest life insurance market and growing at a rapid pace of 32-34% annually as per Life Insurance Council studies.

Currently, in India only two million people (0.2 % of the total population of 1 billion) are covered under Mediclaim, whereas in developed nations like USA about 75 % of the total population are covered under some insurance scheme. With more and more private companies in the sector, the situation may change soon.

Specialisation

ECGC, ESIC and AIC provide insurance services for niche markets. So, their scope is limited by legislation but enjoy special powers.

Acts

The insurance sector went through a full circle of phases from being unregulated to completely regulated and then currently being partly deregulated. It is governed by a number of acts.

The Insurance Act of 1938 was the first legislation governing all forms of insurance to provide strict state control over insurance business.

Life insurance in India was completely nationalized on January 19, 1956, through the Life Insurance Corporation Act. All 245 insurance companies operating then in the country were merged into one entity, the Life Insurance Corporation of India.

The General Insurance Business Act of 1972 was enacted to nationalise the about 100 general insurance companies then and subsequently merging them into four companies. All the companies were amalgamated into National Insurance, New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance, which were headquartered in each of the four metropolitan cities.

Until 1999, there were not any private insurance companies in India. The government then introduced the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act in 1999, thereby de-regulating the insurance sector and allowing private companies. Furthermore, foreign investment was also allowed and capped at 26% holding in the Indian insurance companies.

In 2006, the Actuaries Act was passed by parliament to give the profession statutory status on par with Chartered Accountants, Notaries, Cost & Works Accountants, Advocates, Architects and Company Secretaries.

A minimum capital of US$20 million(Rs.100 Crore) is required by legislation to set up an insurance business.

Authorities

The industry recognises examinations conducted by IAI (for actuaries), III (for agents, brokers and third-party administrators) and IIISLA (for surveyors and loss assessors). TAC is the sole data repository for the non-life industry.

IBAI gives voice for brokers while GI Council and LI Council are platforms for insurers.

AIGIEA, AIIEA, AIIEF, AILICEF, AILIEA, FLICOA, GIEAIA, GIEU and NFIFWI cater to the employees of the insurers.

In addition, there are a dozen Ombudsman offices to address client grievances.

Indian Rupee Symbol

The Indian Rupee Sign () is the currency sign used for the Indian rupee, the official currency of India. The Indian rupee sign was selected through a open competition among Indian residents. The design was presented to the public by the Government of India on 15 July 2010. The design of the Indian rupee sign is an amalgam of the Devanagari letter "र" (ra) and the Latin capital letter "R". The Indian Rupee sign is placed at U+20B9 in the Unicode character set.

Origin

Indian Rupee Symbol

On 5 March 2009 the Indian government announced a contest to create a sign for the Indian rupee. During the Union Budget 2010, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee mentioned that the proposed sign would reflect and capture the Indian ethos and culture. Five signs created by Nondita Correa-Mehrotra, Hitesh Padmashali, Shibin KK, Shahrukh J Irani, and D Udaya Kumar had been short listed from around 3331 responses received and one of them was to be finalized at the Union Council of Ministers of India meeting held on 24 June 2010. The decision was deferred by a request of the Finance Minister, and it was decided when they met again on 15 July 2010, and selected the symbol created by Udaya Kumar.

The selection process was challenged under the Right to Information Act in the Delhi High Court. The petitioner, Rakesh Kumar, who was a participant in the competition, described the process as "full of discrepancies" and "flawed", and named the Finance Ministry and the chairman of Indian Rupee Symbol Selection Committee as respondents. On 26 November 2010 the Delhi High Court dismissed the write petition since there was no justifiable ground for the stated allegations.

Design

The new sign is a amalgam of the Devanagari letter "र" (ra) and the Latin capital letter "R" without its vertical bar (similar to the R rotunda). The parallel lines at the top (with white space between them) are said to make an allusion to the tricolor Indian flag. and also depict an equality sign which symbolizes the nation's desire to reduce economic disparity.

Usage

The Indian rupee sign is currently used in all leading newspapers and can be seen in any price tag for products. Also various articles in papers where currency is to be used, this new sign is adopted instead of previous sign (Rs). Various new solutions for the usage of the Rupee Symbol have been also developed like Web Rupee provides an API which facilitates the usage of the Rupee symbol over the web. Additionally, the Ubuntu operating system is the first computer program to support the Rupee symbol out of the box. The old sign will still be used by other countries that use a Rupee, such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal.The Indian government will try to adopt the sign within six months in the country and globally within 18 to 24 months.

Currency Exchange Rate

In finance, the exchange rates (also known as the foreign-exchange rate, forex rate or FX rate) between two currencies specify how much one currency is worth in terms of the other. It is the value of a foreign nation’s currency in terms of the home nation’s currency. For example an exchange rate of 91 Japanese yen (JPY, ¥) to the United States dollar (USD, $) means that JPY 91 is worth the same as USD 1. The foreign exchange market is one of the largest markets in the world. By some estimates, about 3.2 trillion USD worth of currency changes hands every day.

The spot exchange rate refers to the current exchange rate. The forward exchange rate refers to an exchange rate that is quoted and traded today but for delivery and payment on a specific future date.

State Bank of India

State Bank of India is the largest bank in India. The bank traces its ancestry to British India, through the Imperial Bank of India, to the founding in 1806 of the Bank of Calcutta, making it the oldest commercial bank in the Indian Subcontinent. The Government of India nationalized the Imperial Bank of India in 1955, with the Reserve Bank of India taking a 60% stake, and renamed it the State Bank of India. In 2008, the Government took over the stake held by the Reserve Bank of India.

SBI provides a range of banking products through its vast network in India and overseas, including products aimed at NRIs. The State Bank Group, with over 16000 branches, has the largest branch network in India. With an asset base of $250 billion and $195 billion in deposits, it is a regional banking behemoth. It has a market share among Indian commercial banks of about 20% in deposits and advances, and SBI accounts for almost one-fifth of the nation’s loans.

SBI has tried to reduce over-staffing by computerizing operations and Golden handshake schemes that led to a flight of its best and brightest managers. These managers took the retirement allowances and then went on to become senior managers in new private sector banks.

The State bank of India is the 29th most reputed company in the world according to Forbes.

The Subsidiaries of SBI are:

1. State Bank of Indore

2. State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur

3. State Bank of Hyderabad

4. State Bank of Mysore

5. State Bank of Patiala

6. State Bank of Travancore

Punjab National Bank

Punjab National Bank (PNB), was registered on May 19, 1894 under the Indian Companies Act with its office in Anarkali Bazaar Lahore. The Bank is the second largest government-owned commercial bank in India with about 4,500 branches across 764 cities. It serves over 37 million customers. The bank has been ranked 248th biggest bank in the world by Bankers Almanac, London. The bank's total assets for financial year 2007 were about US$60 billion. PNB has a banking subsidiary in the UK, as well as branches in Hong Kong and Kabul, and representative offices in Almaty, Shanghai, and Dubai.