India's formal workforce is likely to have a tough road ahead post retirement following the revelation of a shortfall of Rs 54,000 crore in the funds parked under the Employees' Pension Scheme of 1995 where upto a third of workers' provident fund contributions are parked. Referring to this Central PF Commissioner Samirendra Chatterjee said at a meeting organised by the Asian Development Bank and Invest India Economic Foundation in the capital said, "The Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) actuarial valuation has revealed a deficit of Rs 54,000 crore," the funding gap has grown following the dip in returns and persisting design flaws.

The funding problems related to the scheme are likely to bolster the efforts of the UPA government to extend the coverage India's paltry social security coverage. Currently the coverage of EPFO extends upto a meager 5% of India's 400 million-odd work force as it is applicable to firms hiring over 20 workers. Addressing this issue the government is planning to expand the EPF coverage to firms hiring more than 10 workers with maximum job creating being done by the small and medium sized enterprises. The revision also includes mandatory ceiling of EPF coverage to Rs 15,000 a month from Rs 6500.

Pension funds define the contributions to be made into a worker's account through his or her career or the pension to be paid out at retirement. Contributions are kept flexible over time if the pension income is fixed so that the target income is achieved. However the actuaries consider this as unsustainable over time. Referring to this the PF commissioner said, "Defining both the benefits and the contributions can't work. We have to find ways to make it sustainable as well as easy to understand for workers."

Any expansion of the scheme's coverage is seen as detrimental in reducing the EPS deficits, by the finance ministry. To allay the concerns over the deficit the labor ministry changed the rules of the scheme in 2008. Premature withdrawal from the scheme by the workers will lead to disincentives and also it bars lump sum withdrawal of the fund in case of retirement. Liabilities amounting to as much as Rs 42,300 is likely to come down with the measures introduced which the government considers as sufficient to wipe out the deficit at the time.

At its inception, Rs 9,000 crore of surplus was inherited by the scheme from the Family Pension Scheme of 1971. This surmounted to Rs 22,000 crore deficit by 2004. Annual stimulus package by the government to meet the deficit was Rs 1100 crore that has Rs 130,000 crore of corpus at present.

The exports in the month of July 2010 surged by 13.2 per cent to $16.24 billion over the same period last fiscal, according to the official data released today. This was the nine straight month growth in a row.

Imports also posted a significant growth of 34.3 per cent to $29.17 billion in July as compared to the same month last fiscal. The imports of oil in July rose by 4.4 per cent to $7.6 billion, while the non-oil imports rose by 49.6 per cent to $21.5 billion.

Moreover, the exports during April-July this fiscal surged 30 per cent to $68.62 billion on year-on-year basis while the imports during this period rose by 33.3 per cent to $112.2 billion.

Along with this, the trade deficit of the country widened to $12.93 billion in July over the year-ago period.

Meanwhile, India's export in the month of May have surged by 35 % on a Year-on-Year basis to $16.1 bn. Besides, the country's import had jumped by 38.5 % to $27.4 bn, which was increased the country's trade deficit to $11.3 bn.

The exports had increased by 36.2 % to $16.88 bn in April 2010 as compared to $12.4 bn during the corresponding month a year-ago.

Supported by the strength in the new orders, the manufacturing sector of India in August expanded at a slower pace than in July. The HSBC Markit Purchasing Managers' Index fell from 57.6 in July 2010 to 57.25 in August, but remained well above the 50 mark that divides the growth from contraction. India's manufacturing sector expanded for the 17th successive month in August.

This index is based on surveys of 500 companies in Asia's third-largest economy.

The new orders index fell from 62.82 in July to 61.99 in August.

Commenting on this, Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian Economics Research at HSBC, said "India's economy shows no signs of cooling off. Output continues to expand at a brisk pace and new orders remain in solid expansionary territory, signalling further growth ahead".

The survey also showed that the output prices rose at their slowest rate in 10 months, while the input price index rose for the second consecutive month.

Moreover, the wholesale inflation slowed in July to just under 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, India witnessed a strongest growth of 8.8 per cent year-on-year in more than two years during the June 2010 quarter. India's economy achieved this strong performance on the back of robust manufacturing growth as well as better farm output.

The manufacturing production surged 12.4 per cent while the farm output rose 2.8 per cent. Moreover, the construction rose 7.5 percent and mining grew 8.9 percent.

India's economy had last witnessed a faster clip in the last quarter of 2007 when it expanded 9.7 percent.

Due to constant buying by the stockists and jewelers prior to the festive season, the gold prices surged by Rs 35 to trade at Rs 19,190 per ten gram at the bullion market.

The gold of 99.9 per cent and 99.5 per cent purity surged by Rs 35 to Rs 19,190 and Rs 19,090 per ten grams while the sovereigns remained steady at Rs 14,900 per kg in restricted buying.

On the other hand, the silver prices faces the heat due to the shortage of essential follow up support from industrial units and coin makers at existing higher level

The silver ready dropped by Rs 175 to Rs 30.425 per kg while due to the lack of speculator's support, the silver weekly-based delivery also declined by Rs 220 to Rs 30,280 per kg.

On the other hand, the silver coins lost Rs 100 to Rs 34,700 for buying while Rs 34,800 for selling of 100 pieces.

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history.

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal.

A statement released by the government on Tuesday has pointed out that India's fiscal deficit from April to July period was Rs 90,915 crore ($19.3 billion), or 23.8 per cent of the full-year target.

India's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at 8.8% in the April-June quarter of this fiscal-the fastest pace in nearly three years-on the back of a robust 12.4% growth in manufacturing and a comparable show by certain services industries like communications and hotels, despite a slowing of the growth in financial services and real estate. Commenting on the data released Tuesday, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said the economy was on track to grow at 8.5% in the current fiscal, while Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia expressed the hope that the growth "could be still better."

The growth in the previous quarter was 8.6%. The first-quarter GDP data was in line with what most economists predicted, but many of them warn that manufacturing growth could now moderate, and this could reflect in the July-September quarter data. "While the manufacturing growth is expected to moderate in the second quarter, services sector would broadly maintain the momentum. There will be a further pick-up in agricultural activity on account of good monsoon," said DK Joshi, principal economist at Crisil. Tuesday's data, when pitted against the persistent double digit inflation-9.97% last month-could prompt RBI to stick tenaciously to its policy of calibrated monetary tightening. The policy will come up for review on September 16. Yield on the benchmark 10-year government paper fell by two basis points to 7.95% after the release of data. According to agency reports, some bond dealers anticipate a 25-basis points rate rise at the next policy review. The central bank has raised interest rates four times since mid-March. Meanwhile the Tuesday statement further pointed out during the four month period ended July 31 the tax receipts were Rs 113,000 crore and total expenditure was Rs 333,000 crore. Meanwhile it is worth noting that the government had forecast a fiscal deficit of Rs 381,000 crore, or 5.5 per cent of gross domestic product, for the current financial year, In February 2010.

On account of capital inflows into equities by foreign funds, the rupee rose by 15 paise to Rs 46.91 a dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market in early trade.

The rupee was also influenced by the dollar's losses against other major currencies while the firming Asian currencies against the green back offered some support to the rupee.

In the meantime, the rupee had ended 15 paise lower at over five-week low of Rs 47.06/07 against the dollar in the previous session.

The BSE index Sensex rose by 119.90 points to 18,091.02 points, a jump of 0.66 per cent in the opening trade today.

Chennai Port Trust has been granted Rs 100 crore by the Union Shipping Ministry for procurement of nearly 125 acres of land from the Tamil Nadu government for setting up a dry port and multi-modal logistics hub in the vicinity of Sriperumbudur special economic zone. The land will be procured on a long-term lease basis.

Speaking on the matter to the reporters on the sidelines of 12th meeting of Maritime States Development Council, the Union Minister of Shipping Mr. GK Vasan pointed out that the land for the project will be procured by the Chennai port trust from the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd (Sipcot). Meanwhile it is worth noting that the government of Tamil Nadu has already announced the confirmation of land allotment a few days ago.

As part of the Plan, the project will be developed by a private operator on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis. Further the licence period for the project will be for 30 years. Meanwhile the land for the development of the hub near the Sriperumbudur SEZ will be provided by the state government at Mapeddu on lease for 99 years to the port trust. Further Sriperumbudur SEZ has been selected for developing the new dry port and logistics hub as the former is a major centre for automobile and mobile phone manufacturing.

Meanwhile as part of the plan the new dry port will have an inland container depot/off-dock container freight station and a container yard. The port will be connected by both rail and road to the national rail and road network. The facility will also include a trade centre apart from separate warehouses for containerized cargoes such as leather garments, textiles, automotive components and electronic hardware. Further an onsite customs clearance facility will also be developed at the new hub.

For the FY 2011, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) or Greater Bangalore City Corporation is planning to spend close Rs 8400 Crore to improve the infrastructure of India's IT city Bangalore. BBMP plans to spend this money on the construction of close to 7 multi level parking areas, closing/fencing of all the drains in the city and coating all the major raods in the city with cement.

In the current fiscal, BBMP will be able to raise close to Rs 1700 Crores through a number of sourcs. For instance, BBMP will raise close to Rs 107 crore via renewal of licences, close to Rs 750 crore by the regularization of a number of illegal construction. Other than this, Rs 120 crore will be charged as a development fees by the real estate firms and other Rs 701 crore will be raised through a number of other different sources throughout the year.

Under the rule of Bharatiya janta Party, BBMC's first budget did not levied any tax on the local Bangaloreans. In March 2010, BJP won the BBMC election for the first time. In the elections, BJP won 112 seats with other political parties like Congress winning 64 seats, and JDU winning only 15 seats. Also, this was the first budget presented by BBMC after the incorporation of a number of new areas with Bangalore. Before the incorporation of new areas into Bangalore, the name of the civic body was Bangalore City Corporation.

While presenting the budget in front of the 198 member body, Mr PN Sadashiva (Chairman BBMP) said that, "Among the populist measures is free distribution of 20,000 cycles to the poor self-employed and labourers." Moreover, as per new guidelines issued by the civic body, setting up of e-waste disposable facility will be mandatory for all the IT firms in the city. In addition to this, to give a green look to the city, BBMC plans to plant close to 50,000 new trees across the city.