Showing posts with label basic economics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label basic economics. Show all posts

preference shares in india


Share capital of a company is categorized into preference and equity shares. It forms part of net-worth. 


Important terms:
Convertible - owner has a right to convert preference shares into equity shares at a later date. Those which don't carry this option is non-convertible preference shares.

Retractable (also Term Preferred Share) – the owner of the preferred shares have a right, at some period of time, to force the company to buy back their preferred shares.

Cumulative preference shares are preference shares on which the unpaid dividend accumulates as arrears.

Non-cumulative preference shares - if a company does not pay annual dividends then the investor does not have the right to claim any forgone dividends in the future.

Redeemable / Callable – company have the right to force the preferred shares to be sold back to the company at a set price or for an equivalent amount of common shares.


   ->  all rights & limitation are applicable to Public company or a private company which is a subsidiary of a public company. A private company can issue any terms to preference share holders through its Articles of Association. But if the private company goes public then those Preference shares issued with higher rights have to be redeemed or restructured.


Preference shares of a public company carry a preferential right to: 

 i) dividend at a fixed rate or amount,

 ii) repayment of capital in case of winding-up of co. 


 Limitation/obligation 
iii) limited voting rights, only in such matters which affects them, (equity shareholder controls the co.). It may acquire voting rights in situations where dividend is not paid.

iv) they have to be redeemed within 20 yrs from their issue.



 Risks:

Insolvency Risk: It may be questionable whether any assets remain after all other creditors have been paid to go to the preferred shareholders.

Credit risk involves any change in the financial strength of the company as to its ability to pay dividends and repay principal on maturity.


Rate of dividend payable to a foreign company on preference shares issued by an Indian company cannot exceed 300 basis points over the prime lending rate of the State Bank of India prevailing as on the date of the board meeting on which issue of preference shares was recommended. (FEMA)


The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2005, proposes to permit banks to issue preference shares subject to the condition that preference shareholders will not acquire voting rights if the bank defaults in the payment of dividend.

MCQ on Indian economy on eve of Independence


MCQs made on 'Indian economy on the eve of Independence' Chapter 2 of Datt & Sundharam Eco book

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Let's start:
Take a paper & write ans first. Check your progress with answers given at the end. Good luck.

1) Throughout the colonial period there was a generation of a large export ________?
a) Deficit b) surplus c) no conclusive data available

2) Life expectancy during colonial period in India?
a) 30yrs b)50 yrs c) 60 yrs d) 63yrs

3) Muslin which had its origin in Bengal had enjoyed world wide market in Pre-Colonial period. Indian 'Daccai Muslin' had gained fame for its exquisite quality. What is muslin?
a) very fine quality jute ropes b) silk textile (c) a type of cotton textile (d) an exquisite gem stone e) none of these

4) Jute is 2nd most important vegetable fiber after cotton, in terms of usage & global production. Jute is also known as ______?
a) Brown Fiber b) Affordable fiber  c) Yellow fiber d) Golden Fiber e) none of these

5) What is meant by 'progressive ruralization' or 'deindustrialization of India' which characterized colonial rule?
a) There was no industries till colonial period to deindustrialize. b) rural areas were made more progressive to export more raw materials back to UK. c) the trend of growing proportion of the working force in agriculture. d) none of these.

6) The largest source of revenue for Britishers in India was from ______?
a) Textile & Jute industry b) Gems & stone industry. c) Temple tax d) Land revenue e) none of these.

7) In order to bring stability in Agriculture the Britishers introduced land settlement in 1773. Where was it first introduced?
a) fertile lands of Punjab province b) Bombay province c) all directly British ruled areas d) Bengal e) none of these.

8) To enhance land returns a type of 'permanent settlement' which raised the status of revenue collectors to that of Private landlords introduced in Bengal by Britishers is called _____ ?
a) Ryotwari settlement b) Zamindari system c) Bengal Land settlement system d) none of these.

9) Permanent settlement system was brain-child of ______?
a) Philip Francis, English MP in House of Commons. b) William Bentick. c) Warren Hastings. d) Lord Cornwallis. e) none of these

10) How is Ryotwari system introduced by Britishers in large parts of Bombay, Madras, north-eastern & north-western parts of India is different from Zamindari system?
a) Land revenues were excessive in former.
b) Just the name was different for easy understanding by locals otherwise both systems were same.
c) Under Ryotwari system revenues can be collected in both cash & kind.
d) Each peasant holding a plot of land was recognised as landlord & was directly responsible to state for annual land revenue payment.


11) With completion of Industrial revolution in UK during 1850-1947, raw matarials like cotton, jute, sugarcane etc. were in high demand by UK's industry. So much was the policy conditions & high market price that the farmers started production of crops for industrial sale rather than for family consumption, this was called _______?

a) Modernisation of Indian Agriculture b) Commercialisation of Indian Agriculture c) its nothing but 'normal sales of Marketable surplus'. d) Marketed surplus. e) none of these.


12) Which of the following(s) is/are cause(s) of slow growth of private enterprises in India's industrialization (1850-1957)?
a) Unimaginative private enterprise, short-sighted Indian industrialists.
b) complete absense of financial institutions to help transfer of savings to industrial investment.
c) Banking was not highly developed & was more concerned with commerce rather than industry.
d) Lack of support from British government e) all of these

13) The company agents who would sign bonds with local artisans to deliver cotton & silk fabrics much below market price are called
a) Gomastas b) Izaredars c) Thakurs d) Seths e) none of these.

14) What among the following(s) did not characterize "Imperial Preference" clause in the Policy of Discriminating protection adopted by Britishers in response to Indian National Movement?
a) Imports from UK has no/zero duties, while exports to UK are preferred.
b) to help Indian business to undertake investments in India.
c) to help British capital find safe & secure avenues of Investment in India.
d) to help maintain British trade monopoly in India & stop any other country to enter the Indian market. e) all of these.

15) RBI's first census of India's foreign Assets & Liability as on 30 June 1948 revealed total foreign business investments of Rs 302 cr, out of it what was the % of British investments in India?
a) 51% b) 60% c) 72% d) 91% e) 100%.

16) What is meant by Home charges, one of the ways of economic drain of India?
a) Charges for establishment of industries in India. b) Incentives for exporting raw material to UK. c) Remuneration paid to British officials for working in India. d) Payments on account of interest on foreign debts incurred by India, remittances of Salaries, Savings, Pension by Britishers etc. e) none of these.

17) First train on India soil was run on 1853 between?
a) Bombay to Thane. b) Thane to Bombay. c) Bombay to Surat. d) none of these.

18) Who among the following are some of the notable economists who estimated India’s per capita income during the colonial period.
a) Dadabhai Naoroji. b) William Digby. c) Findlay Shirras d) V.K.R.V. Rao.  e) R.C. Desai


ANSWERS

1. ANS: B
2. Ans: A
3. Ans: C.  Egyptian mummies dating back 2000 BC were wrapped in Indian Muslin. Greeks called it Gangetika.
4. Ans: D
5. C. The unemployed craftsmen & artisans shifted to agriculture also described as back-to-the-land movement. In mid nineteenth century 55%, in 1901 68%, in 1931 72% of population was dependent on Agri.
6. D.
7. D. First 'Izaredari system' was introduced by Warren Hastings. In it the right to collect revenue was given to the highest bidder (who may change). Izaredars then squeezed everybody to pay to the Company. This 'bidding' process was later changed to a more permanent system which was hereditary.
8. B. Under Zamindari system land revenue were fixed for perpetuity. Zamindars were reponsible for payment of land revenue to the state.
9. D.
10. D. Ryots=peasant cultivators/hired labor. Later Mahalwari system (Mahal= house, district) was introduced in UP, Punjab in which along with village communities, landlords were jointly responsible for revenue.
11. B.
12. E.
13. A
14. B.
15. C.
16. D.
17. A.
18. All of the these ;).



Indian economy on eve of independence notes

Britishers changed structure of Indian economy — India end up being net supplier of raw materials and consumer of finished industrial products from UK. India was feeder of UK's Industrial base.

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Agriculture: Mainly Agrarian economy. 85% of population lived in villages & derived livelihood directly or indirectly from agri. Stagnant growth, bad land/ revenue settlement system - zamindari system.

Industrial sector: declining handicraft industries in India resulted in high unemployment, and demand was meet by cheap UK goods. From 1850s cotton & jute textile mills come up in Maharashtra, Gujrat. Jute mills in Bengal. 1900s- Iron/steel, TISCO(Tata Iron & Steel Co 1907) were set up.

However no Capital goods industry. {Capital goods industry means industries which can produce machine tools which are, in turn, used for producing articles for current consumption.}

Another drawback of colonial rule was Public sector was confining its activities only to the railways, power generation, communications, ports and some other departmental undertakings.

Foreign Trade: more than 50% of foreign trade was with UK. India was basically exporting raw goods (raw silk, cotton, wool, sugar, indigo, jute etc.) and importing finished consumers goods (cotton, silk and woollen clothes and capital goods like light machinery).

Most Importantly throughout the colonial period there was a generation of a large export surplus. This means that several essential commodities - food grains, clothes, kerosene etc were scarcely available here. The surplus was used to pay off British Government's war efforts.

Demographic condition: 1st modern census of 1881. Before 1921, India was in the first stage of demographic transition. The second stage of transition began after 1921.

{Demographic Transition : It is a concept developed by demographer Frank Notestein in 1945 to describe the typical pattern of falling death and birth rates in response to better living conditions associated with economic development. Notestein identified three phases of demographic transition, pre-industrial, developing and modern industrialised societies. Later another phase, post-industrial was also included.}


Social Development indicators was not good. Overall literacy level - 16%, for women: 7%. Life expectancy just 32yrs.

Occupational Structure:


Infrastructure: Real motive behind development of infra was to sub-serve colonial interest. Social benefits of railways outweighed huge economic losses.

Read MCQs to complete your understanding of this part.

25 richest countries of the world

Top 25 countries of world in GDP per capita (nominal) terms.



Rank GDP per capita Country
1 $1,06,406  Luxembourg
2 $1,04,756  Qatar
3 $99,170  Norway
4 $78,881   Switzerland
5 $67,304  Australia
6 $56,426  Denmark
7 $54,815  Sweden
8 $52,300  Canada
9 $52,052  Singapore
10 $51,704  United States
11 $48,761  Kuwait
12 $46,707  Japan
13 $46,643  Austria
14 $46,011  Netherlands
15 $45,984  Ireland
16 $45,635  Finland
17 $43,774  United Arab Emirates
18 $43,615  Belgium
19 $42,725  Iceland
20 $42,402  Brunei
21 $41,866  Germany
22 $41,223  France
23 $39,161  United Kingdom
24 $38,255  New Zealand
25 $36,676  Hong Kong




India has a GDP per capita of $3,842. India finds place in lower portion of the list.

4 important concepts of Elasticity made simple

4 Elasticity Concepts in 5 Minutes


Elasticity is a very basic economics concept. It's used in many economics studies. When you complete this page, you'll be able to grasp it & use it in your answers in such a way that professors, interviewers would love to listen:


Elasticity is how flexible demand/supply is in response
to a change in price (or other variable).


1) Price Elasticity of Demand (PED): 


What does it means? It simply means if you change price of a product how'll demand for it will behave.

Suppose you are CEO of a company you would try to figure out how much change in price of your product will increase its demand or sales!

If you're CEO of some luxury stuffs co. then probably reducing price won't help you much. Because if it's not pricey then its not luxury. Isn't it?


Price In-elastic Demand: Apple iPhone 5C 


PED, price elasticity demand, economics, rbi grade b, sbi po, ibps,
iPhone 5C pic by flickr janitor

Apple launched both iPhone 5S (high end) & 5C (ridiculed as C for cheap) According to some reports iPhone 5C sales were not impressive. And some intellectuals are criticizing Apple for venturing into low-cost mobiles as their price & cult-culture is what separates it from others. May be that's why the legendary Steve Jobs never actually gave any thought of making "cheaper mobiles".

So we would say demand of iPhone 5C is price inelastic! Demand is not responding to change in pricing. Another way to see it: if price were reduced by 40%, demand increased by may be 2-3% - that's what we call price in-elasticity.


Price elastic Demand: Burgers


Take another case: What if you are CEO of McDonald? Reduce price or not. Well, here is some piece of news, reduce price & increase sales. So when you reduce prices by say 25% & demand increase by say 40% then we say Burger sales (demand) are price elastic!


Now lets see another easy concept.

2) Income Elasticity of Demand (YED):

(letter 'I' is for Investment, so Y for income).

What does it means? It simply means if you change real Income levels how'll Demand behave.

Normal Goods & Inferior Goods

With increase in real income demand for 'normal goods' increase. More money with people they'll spend it.

However there are some goods whose demand will decrease with increasing income for e.g. bus tickets because people will take taxis, cars etc. such goods are called 'Inferior goods'.


Luxury goods are more income elastic than necessities. Because people will buy luxuries with rise in income!


Consider this: When your income goes up, what would you do? Buy Apple iPhone - 5S of course, eat out with friends in expensive restaurants, go for holidays... and so on. You are creating more demand by spending more, because now your income is more.


What if your income goes down? Probably you'll eat at home, prefer low-cost types of mobiles, take public transport instead of taxis etc.


Here's a study to understand these concepts better - don't go into too much details just read Executive summary only. But before that read this Elasticity part 2. Here's excerpt:

"An average income elasticity of 1.65 is estimated for inbound tourism. A 1% increase in GDP (Income)... would lead to an increase in tourism expenditure in the UK of 1.65%."


That's roughly to say that if you raise income by 1%, Britishers tourism expenditure increase by 1.65%. So hotel-room demands are income elastic!

YED, income elasticity demand, economics, rbi grade b, sbi po, ibps,
Jumeriah Hotel by flickr adteasdale


3) Cross Elasticity of Demand (XED):

 is a measure which shows how much demand of a good will change in response to change in price of another good.


Coke & Pepsi are 2 subtitute goods. If coke reduce it's price, Pepsi sales will be affected.

Tea & Chai-Masala are 2 pretty strong compliments ;). Tea & Sugar can be said as good compliments.




4) Price Elasticity of Supply (PES):

What does it means? It simply means if you change prices of a good how'll (& how quickly) supply behave.


Now suppose you are an Onion supplier!

Should I tell you more? I don't think so if you are in India. When prices increase, you would rush to book max profit. You'll increase supply & sell more & more...


PES tells us how quickly suppliers are able to react to the price change. If suppliers are able to react quickly we say the supply is price elastic.


So Onion supply is price elastic.

Supply is said to be price inelastic when suppliers are not able to increase supply when price is high. Similarly they are not able to restrict supply when price goes down.


Suppose you're Onion farmer, what would you do when prices shoots up. Actually you can't do anything because onion corps are ready in 5 months. By the time your fields are ready prices would come down.

A very important concept in it is: Commodities like Agricultural produce, Mining are price inelastic.

But if seen over a longer period of time then even commodities are elastic. If Basmati rice fetch good price for farmers, then over a longer period of time, farmers will produce more of it!