Bank of Baroda opened 1001 Ultra Small Branches Across India

Bank of Baroda, the public sector lender, on 22 March 2012 launched 1001 ultra small branches to provide banking services to the people of villages which don’t have access to banling services. The bank launched the ultra small branches under the financial inclusion initiative.

The virtual launch of 1001 ultra small branches was done by K. C. Chakraborty, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, in the presence of M. D. Mallya, Chairman and Managing Director, Bank of Baroda, at Varanasi.

On the same day, 551 ultra small branches were inaugurated across Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Bank of Baroda is set to open 1700 ultra small branches in various villages across the country.

Syndicate Bank appointed Madhukant Girdharlal Sanghvi as its New Chairman

Public sector lender Syndicate Bank on 29 February 2012 appointed Madhukant Girdharlal Sanghvi as its new Chairman and Managing Director. Sanghvi would take the charge on 1 March 2012 after the superannuation of incumbent chairman Basant Seth.

Sanghvi, before this appointment, was the Executive Director of Bank of Maharashtra. In his 31-year long career in banking he has been attached with various banking organisation in different capacities.
Sanghvi started his banking career in 1980 with Bank of Baroda. He later moved to Dena Bank and went on to become a General Manager of bank in 2003. Sanghvi was appointed the Executive Director of Bank of Maharashtra in 2008.

US Banking Major Citi Group sold Stake in HDFC for 1.9 Billion Dollars

US banking major Citi group on 25 February 2012 sold its 9.85 percent stake in HDFC, India’s biggest mortgage lender, for around 1.9 billion dollars.
Citi group, the third largest lender of US by assets, was in alliance with the HDFC for last seven years. The sale of stake has come as the part of company’s strategy to disinvest in order to raise the capital as Citigroup faces a potential multi-billion-dollar writedown of its minority stake in Morgan Stanley Smith Barney brokerage.
Citi group, by selling its stake in HDFC, has joined the league of European and American banks like HSBC and Goldman Sachs who have also sold their Asian assets as global rules for higher risk buffers force lenders to raise their capital

Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Panel projected 7.5 - 8 % Growth Rate for 2012-13 Fiscal

The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Panel (PMEAC) on 22 February 2012 projected 7.5 - 8 per cent growth rate for the fiscal 2012-13. India is also expected to achieve a higher economic expansion if the global environment turns favourable. Indian economy was growing at over nine per cent before the financial meltdown of 2008 pulled down the growth rate to 6.7 per cent in 2008-09.

The economy recorded a growth rate of 8.4 per cent in 2010-11, which according to the CSO estimates is expected to moderate to 6.7 per cent in the current fiscal 2011-12.

As per the Review of Economy (2011-12) released, the growth rate in 2011-12 is likely to be 7.1%, marginally higher than 6.9 per cent projected by the Central Statistical Organisaton (CSO).

Inflation was projected to moderate to 6.5% by March 2012 and 5-6 per cent in 2012-13. While the retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 7.65 per cent in January, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation was 6.55 per cent.

Moderation of subsidy is expected to have a positive impact on manufacturing. It is also likely to help in softening of monetary policy. A need to make adjustment on the sale of petrol, diesel, gas and kerosene to reduce the huge burden of subsidy was also felt.

The negative developments in the Eurozone outweighed the small improvements in evidence in the US economy. The PMEAC projected the US economy to grow by more than the 1.8 per cent projected by the International Monetary Fund in September 2011 and reiterated in January 2012.

Analjit Singh to be non-executive chairman of Vodafone India

The Vodafone Group Friday named Analjit Singh as the non-executive chairman of its India operations.
Singh, a leading industry figure in India, is the founder and chairman of Max India Ltd as well as its subsidiaries such as Max New York Life Insurance Company Ltd, Max Healthcare Institute Ltd and Max Bupa Health Insurance Company Ltd.
"Analjit has been a longstanding, reliable and trustworthy partner in India," Vittorio Colao, chief executive of the Vodafone Group.
The appointment is effective Feb 16, following approval from the board of Vodafone India.
"Analjit knows our business well, having been the founder and chairman of Max Telecom, the business which has grown to become Vodafone India with nearly 150 million customers," said Nick Read, CEO of Vodafone's Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific region.

74 dead in Egypt's worst soccer disaster

Seventy-four people were killed and at least 1,000 injured on Wednesday when Egyptian soccer fans staged a pitch invasion in the city of Port Said, the deadliest incident since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak from power.
Angry politicians decried a lack of security at the match between Port Said team al-Masry and Cairo's Al Ahli, Egypt's most successful club, and blamed the nation's leaders for allowing - or even causing - the tragedy.
"Down with military rule," thousands of Egyptians chanted at the main train station Cairo where they awaited the return of fans, quickly turning the biggest disaster in the nation's soccer history into a political demonstration against army rule.
"The people want the execution of the field marshal," they shouted, turning on the ruler of the military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who tried to assuage anger by vowing to find the culprits in a phone call to a TV channel.
The post-match pitch invasion provoked panic among the crowd as rival fans fought, with most of the deaths among people who were trampled in the crush of the panicking crowd or who fell or were thrown from terraces, witnesses and health workers said.

HCL to create 10,000 jobs in US, Europe over 5 years

In one of the biggest announcements related to job creation here at the World Economic Forum, Indian IT major HCL Technologies today said the company will create 10,000 local jobs in Europe and the US over the next five years.
Terming it a socially responsible business model for growth, HCL Tech Vice Chairman and CEO Vineet Nayar said the company would create these jobs for fresh engineers through partnerships with educational institutes, local governments, local communities, customers and others in these regions.
The announcement came a day after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said here at the WEF Annual Meeting 2012 that Europe would work toward becoming a benchmark investment destination on the global arena, but she would want foreign companies coming there to create jobs as well.