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Owing to the recent mess in the stock market, often our discussion in office revolves around falling stocks of Indian companies. Just a few days ago when we were involved in one such discussion, one friend guessed about what Warren Buffet must be doing these days. After all, this legendary investor, who became world’s richest man this year, has earned his fortune in share markets.

We could only make some wild guesses about him. After all, he has huge financial resources with him and  can easily withstand any crisis. However, we all were agree that this smartest investor on the planet must be exercising caution in buying share during these trouble times.

How wrong I was. Recently I came across an article on the current economic crisis written by Warren Buffet himself. This article is an eye opener for many of us who have become a victim of what many expert are describing as ‘irrational pessimism’. Read the rest of this entry »

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Just came across this excellent explanation of credit crunch in India . It is written by Mr Anshuman Tiwari for today’s Dainik Jagran (20th October). So full credit to him for writing this excellent article.

The article is in Hindi. I hope most of you will be able to grasp it.

 Gafalat Se Nikali Bazar ki Afat… Read the rest of this entry »

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These days the most talked about news is the current financial crisis that has engulfed the world economy. Every day the main headline of all newspapers is about our falling share markets, decreasing industrial growth and the overall negative mood of the economy.  For many people an economic depression has already arrived whereas for some it is just round the corner. In my opinion the depression has already arrived and it has started showing its effect on India.

So what has caused this major economic upheaval in the world? What is the cause of falling share markets the world over and bankruptcy of major banks? In this article, I shall try to explain the reasons for recent economic depression for all those who find it difficult to understand the complex economics lingo and are looking for a simple explanation.

It all started in US…

In order to understand what is now happening in the world economy, we need to go a little back in past and understand what was happening in the housing sector of America for past many years. In US, a boom in the housing sector was driving the economy to a new level.  A combination of low interest rates and large inflows of foreign funds helped to create easy credit conditions where it became quite easy for people to take home loans. As more and more people took home loans, the demands for property increased and fueled the home prices further. As there was enough money to lend to potential borrowers, the loan agencies started to widen their loan disbursement reach and relaxed the loan conditions. Read the rest of this entry »

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The 6th Pay commission, which was recently officially announced by Indian Government through a notification, has made all the Government employees very busy these days. No matter where you go in a Government setup,  the only discussion going on there will be the calculation of Salary structure and Arrears which Government employees are going to get from this month.

Though there are many calculators available online which will help you calculating your salary/arrears based on the recommendations of Sixth Pay Commission, not all of them are accurate and a majority of them are programmed for calculating the Pay/arrears of only those Government emplooyees who have not got any promotion between Jan 2006 and Aug 2008 or for those who have not get any change in Grade Pay during this period.

Therefore, all those Government employees, who have got either a promotion or a change in Grade Pay between Jan 2006 and Aug 2008 are finding it difficult to calculate their exact pay/arrears.

If you are a Government employee, let me tell you about one website which is having Pay calculators for all such people, who have got either a promotion or a change in Grade Pay between Jan 2006 and Aug 2008, and who are finding it difficult to calculate their exact pay/arrears. This website has been designed by the people of IIT Madras and you can be 100% sure of the accuracy of their Pay calculators.

The site is : http://gate.iitm.ac.in/6pc/

When you click on the above link, you’ll be taken to a calculator where you can calculate your new salary/arrears if your grade pay has not been revised between Jan 2006 and Aug 2008. Just below this calculator, you will find links for other calculators which are for :

• Pay Scale Revised Between Jan-2006 and Aug-2008
• Joined the Service After 01-01-2006
• Stagnation Reached or Maximum Pay Reached on 01-01-2006
• Pre-2006 Pensioners
• Post-2006 Pensioners
• Doctors

I hope the above calculators will help you to accurately calculate your salaries/arrears. Enjoy !

UPDATE : Dear friend please don’t ask your pay, arrears or pension related questions here. I am not an expert in calculating salary. The above suggested calculator was for your personal calculation only. It is not intended to replace the actual salary/pension that will be created by your Admin Section. Your actual salary/pension can only be calculated by the persons responsible for fixing pay in your office. If you still want to ask any question, please ask on the real site (http://gate.iitm.ac.in/6pc/). Not here. I am afraid I’ll not be able to answer your questions on this issue. - Eklavya

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Well, its been a long since I wrote my last post on Indian Economy. At that time the stock market was booming and I explained how the subprime crisis was proving to be a boom for India. At that time India was a darling of the investors worldwide and dollars were pouring in.

Not any more. The tide has reversed. Today the Sensex closed below 13,000. Its lowest this year. A state of gloom has engulfed the market.

What actually has happened ?

Well unlike the falls of the past, the current decline of stock market is related to many factors. The oil prices are touching new heights everyday. The costlier the oil, the costlier will be all those things that depends on it. Right from the Cooking Gas-the very basic item to the cost of airfare - everything has shot up. The transport costs of goods, the production costs in factory and everything in between - all has shot up. And this is the situation of almost every country in the world. Read the rest of this entry »

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Every dark cloud has a silver lining

A US depression is on anvil. Though not confirmed but in a hush hush way it is becoming the talk of the town. According to many experts the Depression in US Economy has already arrived. The mess of subprime mortgage has become somewhat unmanageable and is slowly taking the US towards an economic recession. The federal Bank of America is trying hard to keep this situation under control. The recent reduction in interest rates and announcement of relief package are some of the steps taken in this direction.

However, this US depression is affecting the world economy in a big way. US investors, in fear of a deep recession, want to liquefy their assets and, therefore, are making heavy selling of their stocks. This has affected the stock markets of entire Globe. The Indian stock market is no exception. During the last 10 days, it experienced it’s biggest one day loss and gain. The market is very uncertain and nobody knows exactly where it will head in the days to come. Owing to such fluctuations in the market, millions of small investors in India have lost their money and sleep.

No matter how bad the situation appears as of now, I want to tell something which is quite obvious yet very few people are talking about it: the positive effect of this US depression for India. Let us understand this in some more detail. Read the rest of this entry »

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In my last article I wrote about the reason behind booming stock market in India. When I wrote that article ( only a few days ago actually) the Indian stock market was booming with the huge inflow of money from FIIs. However, suddenly it crashed and lost more than 2000 points in the next few days. In the festive season on Navratra, the pall of gloom engulfedthe market and the mood of investors turned from jubilant a sober.

What actually happened ?

Nothing actually. Read the rest of this entry »

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Can you believe it ? People who have defaulted on their home loan in America are making Indian economy stronger. Can there be any relation between a guy who could not pay his loan on time in US and the booming stock markets of India?

Indeed it’s true no matter how incredible it seems. Read on.. Read the rest of this entry »

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The inflation has come down to below 5 % yet nobody seems to feel it in reality. For a common man in India, the prices are as high as they were a few months ago. Just how and why inflation has come down when nobody can experience it ? Read the rest of this entry »

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