Bhopal, All the 19 cheetahs at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP) will now be known by their new names as they have been given Indian names. The development came following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal from people to suggest new names for the cheetahs translocated from Namibia and South Africa. Male Namibian cheetah, who has already earned a tag of "ghumakkad" (wanderer) because of straying away from KNP enclosures twice within one week, has been renamed Pavan, while female Namibian cheetah, <keyword id="15193673" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="siyaya" source="Orion">Siyaya</keyword>, who gave birth four cubs recently, will now be called <keyword id="385918" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="jwala" source="Orion">Jwala</keyword>. Likewise, two other female cheetahs, Savannah and Tiblisi, have been renamed Nabha and Dharti respectively. Male cheetahs Elton and Freddy will now be known as Gaurav and <keyword id="13774" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="shaurya" source="Orion">Shaurya</keyword>. The name of only one cheetah wasn't changed completely, Asha has an extra 'a' added in her name. While 12 cheetahs (7 male and 5 female) translocated from South Africa in the second phase under reintroduction of 'Project Cheetahs' have also been given Indian names. They have been renamed Daksha, Nirva, Vayu, Agni, Gamini, Tejas, Veera, Suraj, Dheera, Uday, Prabhas and Pavak. As per the officials, following PM Modi's appeal during his programme '<keyword id="6364850" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="mann-ki-baat" source="Orion">Mann Ki Baat</keyword>' on September 22, last year (a week after PM Modi had released eight Namibian cheetahs on his 64th birthday on September 17), a competition was organised through mygov.in from October 26 to October 31, 2022. In response, a total of 11,565 entries were received suggesting new names for reintroduced cheetahs. Official said that the entries were scrutinised by a selection committee and based on the significance and relevance of the suggested names for their conservation and cultural value the new names were selected for Namibian and South African cheetahs. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change congratulated the winners of the competition who suggested new names for Namibian and South African cheetahs. Notably, a total 20 cheetahs were reintroduced in two phases from Namibia and South Africa under 'Project Cheetahs'. In first batch, eight Namibian cheetahs (3 male and 5 female) were released at KNP on September 17 last year, while in the second phase 12 South African cheetahs were shifted on February 18 this year. Out of 20, one female Namibian cheetah, Sasha, died of kidney related aliment on March 27. So, now 19 cheetahs and four newborn cubs are living at Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park. All 12 South African cheetahs have also been released into the larger hunting enclosures, official said. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/significant-increase-in-proportion-of-women-added-to-the-workforce-over-the-last-four-months-epfo-data/articleshow/99662551.cms">Proportion of women added to workforce up significantly over last four months: EPFO data</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/indias-major-ports-handled-highest-ever-cargo-at-795-million-tonne-in-fy23/articleshow/99662039.cms">India's major ports handled highest ever cargo at 795 million tonne in FY23</a>

Elton becomes Gaurav, Freddy turns Shaurya: Namibian cheetahs in Kuno get Indian names

Mumbai, The Committee of Creditors (<keyword id="230701" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="coc" source="Orion">COC</keyword>) of <keyword id="6360090" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="reliance-capital" source="Orion">Reliance Capital</keyword> has approved the extension of 90 days (from January 31 to April 30) to complete the <keyword id="6359987" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="resolution" source="Orion">Resolution</keyword> process. Due to Torrent's legal challenge, the Administrator will file an application for deadline extension in the NCLT Mumbai on Monday, January 16. NCLT Mumbai will resume hearing in the Reliance Capital resolution matter on Monday. In the hearing on Thursday, January 12, senior counsel <keyword id="30182" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="kapil-sibal" source="Orion">Kapil Sibal</keyword> appearing for RCAP's COC informed the court that the bid submitted by Torrent is non-compliant. Sibal said that COC found a discrepancy in the Resolution Plan of Torrent. The financial proposal submitted by the company in the draft resolution proposal does not match the highest bid amount submitted by them in the challenge mechanism. Sibal said that after the Administrator wrote to Torrent on January 4, and after that Torrent changed its entire bid on January 6. Sibal said that Torrent does not even meet the threshold of the third round of the Challenge Mechanism. Therefore, it is non-compliant in the third round itself, and could not have participated in the fourth round. Torrent's bid in the second round was only Rs 7,500 crore, which should be the final bid by the company, while IIHL's (Hinduja) all-cash bid of Rs 8,110 crore in the third round is higher than Torrent's offer of Rs 7,500 crore. In addition, Hinduja's IIHL is offering additional upfront cash of Rs 900 crore, over and above its bid of Rs 8,110 crore, to the lenders, and this higher realisation can not be denied to the lenders, including <keyword id="6367143" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="lic" source="Orion">LIC</keyword> and EPFO. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/charging-infra-improvement-can-reduce-range-anxiety-for-evs-tata-motors-md/articleshow/96961534.cms">Charging infra improvement can reduce range anxiety for EVs: Tata Motors MD</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/mfs-add-hdfc-reliance-industries-kfin-tech-sula-vineyards-in-december/articleshow/96963841.cms">MFs add HDFC, Reliance Industries, KFin Tech, Sula Vineyards in December</a>

Torrent stalls Rcap resolution, COC approves 90-days extension to complete resolution

<ul><li>Employee’s <keyword id="45028" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="provident-fund" source="Orion">provident fund</keyword> (<keyword id="45027" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="epf" source="Orion">EPF</keyword>) is a mandatory fund for the Indian workforce.</li><li>Both the employee and the employer contribute to the fund.</li><li>While the EPF can be withdrawn in full at retirement, employees can also withdraw prematurely in certain circumstances.</li></ul>If you are looking to withdraw money online from your employee’s provident fund (EPF) account, you can do it through the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) portal. Employees' Provident Fund is mandatory for all employed in the Indian workforce and it is deducted from an employee's salary as well as the employer contributes to it. The employee contributes 12% of his basic salary to EPF and a similar contribution is made from the employer to the EPF fund. The funds are saved in the EPF account of the employee and interest is also added to it. This helps the employee get savings, pension and insurance. While the entire amount of the EPF can be withdrawn at retirement, premature withdrawals are also possible online through the EPFO portal. Here’s how you can do it. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Withdrawal from EPF account" comment="subhead" text="Withdrawal from EPF account">Withdrawal from EPF account</cmsannotation> Before you begin to withdraw, you should note that the complete amount can be withdrawn when you have retired or have been unemployed for more than two months. While partial withdrawal is possible for conditions such as medical illness, marriage, calamity, and house renovation.To know more about the withdrawal criteria, read this <a href="http://www.epfindia.gov.in/site_docs/PDFs/MiscPDFs/OCS_FAQ_Eligibility_102017.pdf">FAQs document</a>. <ul><li>First visit the <a href="https://unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in/memberinterface/">UAN Member e-Sewa</a> portal.</li><li>Now, enter your <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-to-activate-your-uan-number/articleshow/69607180.cms">Universal Account Number </a>(UAN) and password.</li><li>Enter the CAPTCHA and then click “Sign In”.</li><li>Click the Online Services from the top menu and then select the CLAIM (FORM-31,19,10C&amp;10D) option.</li><li>You should now verify the details on the Online Claim form.</li><li>After you have verified the details, enter your bank account number and click “Verify”.</li><li>On the certificate of undertaking, click “Yes”.</li><li>Now, click on the “Proceed for Online” claim.</li><li>Next you will have to enter whether you are applying for the advanced <keyword id="60977" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pf" source="Orion">PF</keyword> withdrawal and from a drop-down menu 'Purpose for which advance is required', select from the available purposes for your withdrawal.</li><li>You should now enter the withdrawal amount in the text box and then enter your address in the Employee Address section.</li><li>Now, click on the certificate and submit the request.</li></ul>Once you have submitted the claim form, you may be asked to upload scanned documents relating to the purpose for your withdrawal. This may need approval from your employer. Post approval, it may take 15-20 days to reach your account. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/google-extends-play-store-billing-system-deadline-to-october-31-2022/articleshow/88202683.cms">Google extends the Play billing policy deadline for app developers in India for the second time</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/samsungs-upcoming-flagship-series-galaxy-s22-is-likely-to-be-unveiled-on-february-8-2022/articleshow/88249428.cms">Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra: Name change, model number, specifications and more</a>

Here’s how to withdraw money from your EPF account online

<keyword id="7723175" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="what-is-provident-fund" source="Orion">What is Provident fund</keyword>? PF or Provident Fund or as it is commonly known as, Employee Provident fund(EPF) is a government backed savings scheme which allows a salaried employee to invest a certain amount every month on which a fixed amount of interest is paid by the government. It is a retirement savings scheme and is amninistered by a statutory body, EPFO, Employee Provident Fund Organisation under the Ministry of Labor and Employment. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="You can check your PF balance in four different ways." comment="subhead" text="You can check your PF balance in four different ways.">You can check your PF balance in four different ways.</cmsannotation> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Check PF balance through EPFO Portal" comment="subhead" text="1. Check PF balance through EPFO Portal">1. Check PF balance through EPFO Portal</cmsannotation> To check your PF balance, the employer must have activated your Universal Account Number (UAN). This number is allotted by the EPF organization. Irrespective of the companies you change, this number will remain the same throughout your life. Step 1: Log on to the EPFO portal. Go to ‘Our Services’ and choose ‘for Employees’. Choose the option ‘Member Passbook’ under ‘Services’. Step 3: In the Login page, enter your UAN Number and Password after activating them. Now you can access your EPF account. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Check PF balance via SMS" comment="subhead" text="2. Check PF balance via SMS">2. Check PF balance via SMS</cmsannotation> If you have linked your UAN number with your KYC details like Aadhaar number or PAN number, you can access your PF balance via SMS. If this is done, you can send SMS message “EPFOHO UAN ENG” to the number 7738299899. This will send the details in English. Alternative SMS codes are available if you wish to know your PF balance in other languages like Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Bengali. 3. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Check PF balance via Missed call" comment="subhead" text="Check PF balance via Missed call">Check PF balance via Missed call</cmsannotation> If you have linked your Aadhaar card or PAN number with your PF account, you can use this method to know your PF balance. Give a missed call to 011-22901406 from your registered mobile number and you will instantly get a message stating your PF balance. 4. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Check PF balance using EPFO app" comment="subhead" text="Check PF balance using EPFO app">Check PF balance using EPFO app</cmsannotation> Download the “m-sewa app of EPFO” from Google Play Store. Open the app and click on ‘Member’ and go to ‘Balance/Passbook’. The page will ask for your UAN number and registered mobile number. If the details you give match with their records, your PF balance will be displayed. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="88278188" title="Here’s how you can create Universal Account Number (UAN) on the EPFO portal" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

How to check Pf (Provident Fund) balance in India

<ul><li>Employees can now withdraw 75% of the <keyword id="114854" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Employee-Provident-Fund">Employee Provident Fund</keyword> (<keyword id="45027" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="EPF">EPF</keyword>) if they’ve been unemployed for a month. </li><li>This also means that the EPF account won’t be shut. </li><li>The continuity of the EPF account is crucial for pension and taxation on withdrawals.</li></ul>There have been a number of changes made to the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) over the past couple of years, so many that it is sometimes hard to keep track of. Most recently, however, the big change has been that subscribers can <a href="https://www.newsx.com/business/epfo-allows-members-to-withdraw-funds-for-marriage-house-purchase">withdraw 75% of their EPF balance</a> provided that they’ve been unemployed for at least a month. And, you won’t have to close your account. This is important because according to earlier rules if someone’s been unemployed for more than two months, they could withdraw their entire balance. But, that also meant that they would have to discontinue their account. The account lives on The EPF is the <a href="https://www.bankbazaar.com/tax/all-about-epf.html">culmination</a> of your contribution, your employer’s contribution and interest accrued on that principal amount. So, this measure lets you liquidate your investment like an advance against the principal. Liquidity may be the short-run gain, but in the long-run, the survival of the EPF account is much more significant. As per the rules of the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), in order for a subscriber to be <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/epfo-pf-withdrawal-procedure-employer-employee-salary/story/279312.html">eligible</a> for pension, they have to maintain their EPF account for at least 10 years. In case the account shuts down before the stated time period, the process will have to be started all over again with a new account. So since your account won’t be discontinued if you’re withdrawing 75% of your EPF, it will remain eligible for pension. That being said, the continuity of your account is also important for <a href="https://www.bankbazaar.com/saving-schemes/pf-withdrawal-rules.html?ck=Y%2BziX71XnZjIM9ZwEflsyDYlRL7gaN4W0xhuJSr9Iq7aMYwRm2IPACTQB2XBBtGG&amp;rc=1">taxation</a> purposes. Any withdrawals that are made from the EPF account before five years are taxable. But should your account stay intact, the withdrawals are completely <keyword id="880043" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tax-free">tax-free</keyword> after the first five years. The withdrawal you make if you’ve been unemployed for a month is tax-free in either situation, but the interruption would affect withdrawals for marriage, education, home loans etc. And, it’s not just the interest that’s taxed. It’s the principal amount as well. Overall, the EPFO has taken progressive steps towards evolving the fund for today’s market even though the latest interest of 8.55% is the <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/money/epfo-alert-modi-government-to-notify-8-55-interest-on-provident-fund-this-week-check-details-here/1157155/">lowest</a> it has witnessed in 5 years. They’ve introduced equity traded funds (ETFs) instead of being limited to fixed income instruments. Reports say that the EPFO may even have plans of letting subscribers <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/personal-finance-news/epfo-members-to-get-option-to-hike-investments-in-etfs-by-this-fiscal/articleshow/63815546.cms">choose</a> the amount of money they would want to be put into equity instead of the blanket 15% implemented right now.

Here's why the new EPF rules make good sense in the long-run

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/44925321.cms" /> 
One of the most secure ways to put money away for your retirement is your Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) account. However, few people have been disciplined enough to invest in it with a long-term perspective, especially due to how easy it is to make withdrawals every time you switch jobs. Painful delays cause people that do not withdraw their corpus to postpone or forget any decision on their previous EPF accounts. But ever since the Prime Minister inaugurated provident fund portability through the Universal Account Number (UAN), things are all set to make a change. 
 
Why there was need for change 
Under this provident fund portability through UAN, employees will have a single account within which they can accumulate all their EPF money even when they switch jobs. Until now, investors had to change their EPF account every time they changed jobs and get the money transferred from the previous one to the new. 
 
Due to delays and a provision which allowed employees to withdraw their EPF in case of two months of unemployment, most chose to withdraw their money. There was no way for the authorities to track employees when they switched jobs since the EPF system recognizes them through their employer. But with the onset of the UAN, employees will be identified uniquely, and the intermediation of the employer will be redundant. 
 
Here is how to go about acquiring your UAN and how to use it. 
 
Who is eligible for UAN 
According to the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO), UAN has been allocated to all employees who have been in service as of 1 January 2014, namely to 41.7 million members. Employers will receive the UAN, which they will then communicate to their employees. To check if you have been allotted a UAN, you can visit the EPFO’s <a href="http://uanmembers.epfoservices.in/">website</a> and key in your EPF number. 
 
You could ask your employer for the number who might take your know-your-customer (KYC) details down, enter it into your UAN, and have it verified it through a digital signature. You could also upload your KYC details directly after having the same verified by your employer. 
 
How to activate your UAN 
This is the next step: activating your UAN. Visit the <a href="http://uanmembers.epfoservices.in/">website</a>, enter in your UAN, your member ID and your mobile phone number. You will receive a one -ime password (OTP) for security reasons. Once you enter that, you will see your EPF passbook updated as on date, and will even be able to add your previous accounts into this UAN. 
 
According to K.K. Jalan, Central Provident Fund Commissioner, employees will be able to bring their past account under one umbrella UAN, but will need to transfer money from their past accounts. To do this, they may use the online transfer claim portal facility (OTCP). 
 
How to transfer funds 
To transfer funds, employees have to visit <a href="http://www.epfindia.com">www.epfindia.com</a> and click on the OTCP link under the ‘for employees’ section. Eligible employees will need to register online first and then fill up the transfer claim form. Details to fill in include past and current employers, EPF account details and bank account details. Keep in mind that the form will have to be attested by any of the employers whose digital signature is registered with the EPFO. 
 
Employees will also be required to take a print out, sign and submit the form to the employer they chose for attestation. While this is not a compulsory step, the employer in question may require it for their records and might not verify your details until you have submitted the form. With OTCP, the EPFO is planning to settle claims in 10-12 days. 
 
Why is the UAN helpful? 
Account portability is one of the biggest advantages of UAN. However, for that to be able to work, employees must give their KYC details for the EPFO to be able to identify them, irrespective of their employer. The KYC details can either be uploaded or given to the employer. The Aadhaar Number or Permanent Account Number (PAN) and bank account details are mandatory. Once the same have been verified, the account will become portable. 
 
So the next time an employee changes their job, all they need to do is submit their UAN to the new employer, who will proceed to verify the KYC details and begin to contribute money into the same account. Employees will also be able to stay updated as they will receive an SMS on their registered mobile phones every time a transaction takes place. 
 
Older accounts not eligible for UAN yet 
While the UAN has been allotted to those employees who have an active EPF account from January 2014, older accounts still aren’t eligible for this facility just as yet. UAN for older accounts are said to be application-based, wherein an employee will be required to apply for UAN. According to Jalan, it the facility should be available in 10-15 days and an employee will be able to get UAN within 24 hours from application. 
EPF account numbers are said to continue for the moment, despite the allotment of the UAN. Jalan said that the idea was to focus on the employee and permit portability, which the UAN allows. In time, EPF account numbers will be done away with, but not immediately.

Your Guide To Making Your EPF Account Portable Is Here

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/57406140.cms" /><a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Narendra+Modi&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi </a>wants to move up on the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ease+of+doing+business&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">ease of doing business index</a> and is easing norms for the same. 
 
In the latest move, you will be able to start a business in India in just six days. At present, a new venture needs at least 26 days to start. In order to start a business as soon as possible, the government has also trimmed the number of procedures from 12 to only six. 
 
While you need to fulfill 12 procedures in Delhi, the number can go up to 14 in Mumbai. 
 
India still has a long way to go when compared to other countries. For instance, in New Zealand, you need just half a day to start a business, while in Singapore it takes about 2.5 days to start a company. In the US it takes about 5.6 days and in the United Kingdom it takes about 4.5 days. 
 
Out of the 190 countries in the list, India Ranks 130 overall in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=world+bank+ease+of+doing+business&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">World Bank Ease of Doing Business Report</a> and ranks 155 in terms of starting a business. New Zealand and Singapore top the list. 
 "As per <keyword id="6354424" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="World-Bank">World Bank</keyword> it takes 26 days to start a business in India. Our targis to bring it down to 6 days by the end of March. This is the kind of dramatic change we want to," Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Secretary, Ramesh Abhishek told EconomicTimes.com. 
 
So, if you want to give flight to your entrepreneurial dreams, you need to complete these 6 procedures: 
1. Incorporate a company using SPICe Form. 
2. Obtain PAN and TAN though a single integrated form. 
3. Register with EPFO and ESIC. 
4. Open a Bank account. 
5. Register with VAT and Profession Tax; online and real time. 
6. Register with Shops and Establishment Act.

You’ll be able to start a business in just 6 days. Here’s what you will need

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/55290912.cms" />In a market defining move last month, Chinese Central Bank allowed the use of financial products that can potentially safeguard investors’ interest in the event of default of an underlying asset. In other words, the <keyword id="126380" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="credit-default-swaps">Credit Default Swaps</keyword> (CDS) can now be legally traded on the Chinese bourses. This move comes amidst increased stress around the <keyword id="1413899" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chinese-banking-system">Chinese banking system</keyword>, owing to exponential rise of public and private sector debt. As this debt mounts, and defaults rise to an unprecedented U.S. $4bn, this move signals the increased willingness of the Chinese government to let market forces deal with underlying defaults. It is noteworthy that in the wake of the 2008 credit crisis, China had introduced a lesser cousin of the CDS called Credit Risk Mitigation Agreement (CRMA), but the market never took off, largely because the state kept bailing out insolvent companies instead of letting them default, in the interests of financial and social stability. 
 
India’s has had its share of frustrations with the growth of the corporate bond market – despite availability of instruments for investor risk hedging the debt market has failed to pick up. So really then, does the availability of hedging options like CDS drive an upswing in the investor sentiment by lowering riskiness of debt? If so, why hasn’t the debt market responded well in India, and why, despite having a robust corporate debt market, the CRMA market did not pick up in China? What is different this time around that China is expecting to achieve this time with CDS what it couldn’t with CRMA? It will be interesting to observe why such seemingly brilliant market moves have failed to gather mass in both India and China in the past. And what can India learn from this. 
 
The <keyword id="1114678" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-debt-market">Indian debt market</keyword> 
To predict the emergence of CDS market in China and possibly draw learnings for India, it is interesting to follow the journey of similar products in comparable emerging markets. In India, the second largest growth market in the world currently, CDS was launched in mid-2011 keeping in view a then Rs 10 lakh crore corporate bond market signaling a huge potential for the development of a market for CDS. India’s rapid population growth needed (and still needs) significant investments in infrastructure. These needs were, and still continue to be, sufficed by either FIIs or bank financing, with money market instruments such as commercial papers and CDS providing short term funds only. The system desperately needed an efficient and vibrant corporate bond market for facilitating the financing needs of infrastructure projects. A provision of hedging the credit risk of the investors in the infrastructure sector could give a much-needed boost to the FIIs as investors. While RBI introduced two new instruments – Repo and CDS – it was expected that the corporate bond market would start booming, auguring well for the long term funding especially for infrastructure development in the country. But five years hence, the CDS market has turned out to be a stillborn. The development of the debt market is constrained by highly conservative and slow moving financial markets reform. Despite repeated policy changes introduced by RBI to push their usage, the corporate bond market has grown just 6.43% points in the last 5 years; the corresponding CDS growth is at best puny. 
 
Learning from other <keyword id="116702" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="emerging-economies">emerging economies</keyword> Among other emerging nations, Brazil and Mexico have seen a robust growth in their bond markets after they focused efforts on improving their fiscal environment and macroeconomic factors. What is common across these economies is that the governments have put in place structured programs to rein inflation, open up the economies, provide stable fiscal program and set up a regulatory and governance framework. Closer home in Asia, South Korea and Malaysia have the strongest debt markets in Asia with Korea’s corporate bond market penetration of ~77% as compared to India’s ~16%. This, when Korea’s GDP is very similar to India’s. In stark contrast, Philippines have a much volatile <keyword id="34412" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="economy">economy</keyword> and the corporate bond market is still underdeveloped and heavily dependent on government support. 
 
So is CDS likely to succeed in China? 
In the past, why China’s earlier experiment with CRMA failed was that every time a corporate bond tended to default, the Chinese government interfered to restructure debt and orchestrate a bail out, making investors very nervous in the process, and reducing the government’s ability to continue such act over a sustainably long period of time. 
 
The corporate bond market in China has seen a surge in the last 2 years, largely due to easing of restrictions on bond issuance, corporate debt becoming cheaper, and government’s intervention in corporate debt restructuring. With this growth has come the risk of defaults, as not all issuers are now backed by a state guarantee. In the last two years, default rates have risen in line with overall growth in corporate debt. Many FIIs remain apprehensive of investing in the Chinese market, and the higher default rates have caused the bond market to become more expensive. At this point, the introduction of CDS can be a market defining move if the government lets market forces play out rather than repeating past mistakes of interference. 
 
The name is Bond! 
India’s need for investments in core sectors like infrastructure and education over the next two decades will far surpass the ability of equity markets to finance these needs. Eventually, corporate debt will need to play a larger role than it does today. Just having the right instruments like CDS will not provide the much needed impetus for growth of debt market in India; a look at rival China and other economies like Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico and Philippines teaches us many important lessons in what our next steps should be. 
 
A slew of measures have been taken in the last 2 years to allow the Indian debt market to open up further. The primary shift in investor sentiment has come from the central government being led by a party that could garner majority votes after nearly two decades of hung parliament and indecisive leadership. This government has been able to shift focus to growth, and drive some key reforms. Alongside, many fiscal and economic policy decisions by the RBI are pushing economic reform one step further. Large investors like EPFO being allowed to invest in corporate debt, issuers being permitted to consolidate and reissue corporate debt, and FPI investments being allowed in corporate debt are all moves in the right direction. The government has also done a good job at reining in inflation and putting growth back in focus. As a next step, the country needs to learn from global best practices and invest in providing better settlement and reporting platforms, focus on investor education to invite broad based retail participation, and continue down the path of fiscal reform and providing impetus to securitization market. In the absence of a strong debt market, it is unlikely that the Indian banking sector could come true to providing the much needed boost for infrastructure development in this growth hungry economy. 
 
(About the Author: This article has been contributed by Poornima Vasdev, Director, Program Management, Sapient Global Markets.)

You Searched For "EPFO changes" and got 8 results

Elton becomes Gaurav, Freddy turns Shaurya: Namibian cheetahs in Kuno get Indian names

IANS

Torrent stalls Rcap resolution, COC approves 90-days extension to complete resolution

IANS

Here’s how to withdraw money from your EPF account online

Shadab Rabbani

How to check Pf (Provident Fund) balance in India

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Here's why the new EPF rules make good sense in the long-run

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Your Guide To Making Your EPF Account Portable Is Here

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You’ll be able to start a business in just 6 days. Here’s what you will need

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What Indian debt market can learn from other emerging economies?

Guest Author