Economy Current Affairs April 2013

ECONOMY
India Joins The Madrid Protocol System
On 8 April India joined the International Registration of Marks at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) by depositing the instrument of accession to the Madrid Protocol.India is the 90th member to join the international trademark system.India is the 90th member to join the international trademark system and the treaty will enter into force with respect to India on 8 July 2013.The Madrid Protocol system provides for the international registration of trade marks by way of one application that can cover more than one country. The opportunity of having a single registration to cover a wide range of countries gives advantages, both in terms of portfolio management and cost savings, as opposed to a portfolio of independent national registrations.
Yamaha to Develop Cheapest Bike of the World in India
Yamaha, the Japanese two-wheeler company on 9 April 2013 announced that it will soon roll out the cheapest motorcycle of the world in India. The price of this bike would be around 500 US dollar or 27000 Rupees approximately.
WTO cuts 2013 global trade growth forecast to 3.3%
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) on 10 April 2013 cut its forecast for global trade growth in 2013 to 3.3 percent, from the previous prediction of 4.5 percent.
Gujarat Tops in Attracting Private Investment
According to the “”Composition of Outstanding Private Investments Across States “” report released by Assocham ,Gujarat has ranked on top for attracting investment across the country — cornering about 14 per cent of total outstanding private sector investment worth over Rs 75 lakh crore as of December 2012.Odisha ranks second with private investment commitments worth over Rs 8 lakh crore.With a share of about 9.4 per cent and 9.3 per cent, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra both have attracted private investments worth over Rs 7 lakh crore respectively.The private sector accounts for over 62 per cent of total outstanding investments worth about Rs 122 lakh crore attracted by India as of December 2012.Of the total investments from private sources worth over Rs 75 lakh crore, the domestic private sector accounts for a majority share of about 58 per cent.Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Assam account for a share of less than even one per cent in the total private investment commitments attracted by India.
IMF slashed Economic Growth Rate of India to 5.7 percent from 5.9 percent for 2013
IMF(International Monetary Fund) in its latest release on 16 April 2013 of the World Economic Outlook (WEO) slashed the growth projection of India from its earlier prediction of 5.9 percent to 5.7 percent for the calendar year 2013.
Ambani Brothers 20th Richest in World
Mukesh and Anil Ambani, India’s leading industrialist brothers, have been together listed as 20th richest in the world in the Sunday Times Rich List 2013.The Walton family of the US, who own Supermarkets (Walmart), are the richest in the world with a 90 billion pounds fortune in 2013 as against 51 billion pounds last year.The Hinduja brothers, Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja, Chairman and Co-Chairman respectively of the Hinduja Group, are 47th richest in the world with a fortune worth 11 billion pounds in 2013 as against 9 billion pounds last year.
Spain Unemployment Rate Hits New Record
On 24 April According to the National Statistics Institute data ,Spain’s unemployment rate soared to a new record of 27.2% of the workforce in the first quarter of 2013.The total number of unemployed people in Spain has now passed the six million figure, although the rate of the increase has slowed.The jobless rate, which stood at 7.9% in mid-2007, has risen relentlessly since the collapse in 2008 of a Spain’s labour-intensive property boom.
India became the world’s eighth most powerful nation
According to Delhi-based Foundation for National Security Research (FSNR),  the world’s 10 most powerful countries, India had been ranked 8th. India is ranked eighth in 27 countries. Professor Satish Kumar says that we study about the selection of powerful countries on several grounds. Some of these countries had to fulfill the necessary criteria. For instance, were the countries, whose population was more than 5 million. The level of GDP was over U.S. $ 500 billion. India is one of such countries.Study states that the United States is the world’s most powerful country and China stood in 2nd position.
India’s GDP likely to improve to 5.7% in 2013: IMF
According to International Monetary Fund’s(IMF) ‘Regional Economic Outlook: Asia and Pacific’ report ,the GDP of India in 2013 is 5.7% and in 2014 it is 6.2%.