IMF upgrades India growth to 9.4%

New Delhi: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised India’s economic growth forecast for 2010 to 9.4%, continuing to surprise the government and other economists with its optimism.

This is IMF’s third consecutive quarterly upward revision since October 2009. The growth projection for calendar year 2010 has been revised upwards by three percentage points since then. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.

“I notice that the IMF has recently challenged our prediction,” finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had said on 22 June, referring to the April 8.8% growth forecast. “For once, however, I am not going to argue with the IMF.”

The government’s own economic growth projection for the year to March 2011 is 8.5%.
According to IMF, India’s growth is likely to be driven by corporate investment on account of strong profitability and the easier availability of credit. The international body didn’t give further details on the reasons for its optimism in the report, part of the World Economic Outlook. IMF’s India economist could not be reached for comment.

The finance minister’s sentiments were echoed by another government official after the latest number was announced.

“It comes as a bit of surprise,” Pronab Sen, principal adviser to the Planning Commission, told Mint. “To me, it looks as a bit of overestimation,” added Sen, who was the government’s chief statistician till last month.

India’s Central Statistical Organisation had said in May said that growth in the January-March quarter was 8.6%.

According to Sen, the second and third quarters of calendar year 2010 will register higher growth partly on account of lacklustre performance in the corresponding periods of the previous year. Subsequently, the growth rate could decelerate as the advantage of a low base would disappear.

Another economist associated with the government, who did not want to be named, said a possible reason for IMF’s current optimism was because the agency had begun to “back-pedal” from an earlier assumption.

IMF had estimated previously that the credit squeeze in Western financial markets would have a far greater impact on the Indian industry, the economist said. Once it became apparent that the agency’s initial assumption was incorrect, there have been sharp upward revisions, he added.

Between April and July, IMF has raised its forecast for India’s economic growth by 60 basis points.

Along with India’s growth forecast, IMF has also revised China’s estimate upwards, helping nudge up the global estimate.

It has forecast that the global economy will expand at 4.6% in 2010, against the 4.2% estimated in April. While advanced economies are expected to register a growth rate of 2.6%, emerging and developing economies are projected to grow at 6.8%. China’s economy is expected to grow at 10.5%, an estimate that has been raised by 50 basis points since April.

IMF, which retained India’s 2011 growth forecast at 8.4%, has hedged its current estimates by pointing out that there remain sharp downside risks on account of weaknesses in developed economies.

It cautioned that further spikes in global risk aversion, especially in the euro zone, could precipitate capital outflows from the Asian region and weaken equity valuations. That could, in turn, undermine favourable financing conditions and domestic demand.

A delay in the European recovery may also impact Asia through both trade and financial channels, it said.

Still, the impact of euro zone volatility would be muted, IMF said.

“Asia has only limited direct financial linkages to the most vulnerable euro area economies, but a stall in the European recovery that spilled over to global growth would affect Asia through both trade and financial channels,” it said.

Source : Livemint.com

Getting Fitbit

Some people thrive on data, and like to measure, quantify, classify and graph. For obvious reasons, these people tend to gravitate toward fields like programming and engineering--fields that require a lot of sitting in front of a computer and not getting much exercise.

In other words, there's a lot of fat nerds out there. Fortunately, there's also the Fitbit.

Last fall, San Francisco-based startup Fitbit launched its namesake product, the Fitbit Tracker. It's a small plastic gizmo containing a 3-D motion sensor, something like what's inside a Nintendo ( NTDOY.PK - news - people ) Wii controller. Clip it onto your clothing, and it logs your movements throughout the day.

It may sound like just a fancy (and at $99, expensive) pedometer. But the high-tech Fitbit is much more. Because it follows your movements in three dimensions, it doesn't just count steps--it knows how much you've been exerting yourself, if you've been sitting, walking or running. It also knows when you did what, so it can tell the difference between someone who is constantly on his feet, vs. an otherwise sedentary person who takes one long walk at the end of the day.

Fitbit even wants to track you when you're not moving at all. Strap the gadget into the included wrist band and wear it while you sleep; the tracker can tell when you wake up, or toss and turn, providing insight into the quality of your rest.

Better yet, the Fitbit comes with a base station that plugs into your computer, and communicates wirelessly with the tracker. So all the information about your day's activities is automatically and seamlessly uploaded to Fitbit's secure servers, allowing you to log on to their Web site and view all kinds of graphs, data and details about your active habits. Fitbit also allows users to log their meals into the Fitbit Dashboard Web portal, so the result is a robust, one-stop control center to keep track of your diet, fitness and health.

The World’s Most Expensive Champagne

There is always something nice about the most expensive product. Usually, people look up to those who use products that are the most expensive in the world. With that in mind, you must try the 1928 Krug
, which is being touted as the most expensive bubbly in the world.

The next time you want to raise a toast and also make a show of it, get this champagne and raise a toast so that people can know how decadent and snobbish you are. The 75cl bottle costs $21,000 and each sip would be worth hundreds of dollars.

The champagne tastes of honey, and has a depth and aroma that makes it worthwhile. Certainly it must be one of the best champagnes ever bottled and it also must have had a great history behind it. However, $21,000 for a bottle of wine? Come on guys, give me a break!

Source : www.elitechoice.org
Photo : www.polishwineguide.com

Most Expensive Umbrella !

When Italian Formula One mogul Flavio Briatore and designer Angelo Galasso partnered up to create Billionaire Italian Couture, the “first international couture line exclusively for men” (according to their website), nobody could have foreseen this—the world’s most expensive umbrella.

Made of high quality and, shockingly, water resistant crocodile skin, this umbrella will certainly help you stand out in a crowd. Just to make the umbrella more exclusive, Briatore and Galasso have made sure that each one is full of individual details. Best of all, the crocodile skin most likely guarantees that the umbrella won’t turn inside out on a windy day.

The most expensive umbrella in the world is available at Billionaire Couture’s flagship store in London at a price of $50,000. For a price like that, it ought to come with a tracking device in case you leave it in the theatre.

Remember, ladies, the Billionaire Couture Umbrella is exclusively for men.

Source :most-expensive.net

Lets talk over a cup of Civet coffee!

Kopi Luwak or Civet Coffee is the most expensive coffee in the world, selling for between $120 and $600 USD per pound and is sold mainly in Japan, United States and increasingly throughout other countries.

It came from robusta or arabica coffee beans which have been eaten by and passed through the digestive tract of the Common Asian Palm Civet.

"Kopi" is the Indonesian word for coffee and "Luwak" is local name of this animal which eats the raw red coffee 'cherries' as part of its usual diet.

This animal eats a mixed diet of insects, small mammals and fruits along with the softer outer part of the coffee cherry but does not digest the inner beans, instead excreting them still covered in some inner layers of the cherry.

Locals then gather the beans -- which come through the 'animal stage' fairly intact -- and sell them on to dealers. It is believed that enzymes in the stomach of the civet add to the coffee's flavour through fermentation of some type.

Source: squidoo
photo :vainmag.com

iWaterproof Your iPod and iPhone

When Spot Cool Stuff travels with an iPod we always have it in a waterproof case, whether we plan to being near water or not. A case that protects an iPod from water also protects it from sand (which, we suspect, is a more common cause of iPod mortality than water is) and from everyday dust and grime. A good waterproof case will also protect an iPod from knocks and dings.

Not all waterproof iPod cases are created equal. In fact, most are inferior. Some are little more than glorified zip-lock bags—they’ll work okay at first, not so much after a few months. Other cases are prone to accidental opening, provide an obstructed view of the screen or make operating the iPod cumbersome.

Here’s our selection for the best waterproof iPod cases. Read on or click directly to the portion of the review that interests you.

Source :www.travel.spotcoolstuff.com