BRICS

BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.The grouping was originally known as "BRIC" before the inclusion of South Africa in 2010. The BRICS members are all developing or newly industrialised countries, but they are distinguished by their large, fast-growing economies and significant influence on regional and global affairs; all five are G-20 members. As of 2013, the five BRICS countries represent almost 3 billion people, with a combined nominal GDP of US$16.039 trillion, and an estimated US$4 trillion in combined foreign reserves.Presently, South Africa holds the chair of the BRICS group. The BRICS have received both praise and criticism from numerous quarters.


BRICS Development Bank
The BRICS Development Bank is a proposed development bank of the BRICS nations. Its establishment was agreed to by BRICS leaders at the 2013 BRICS summit held in Durban, South Africa on 27 March 2013. Among its goals is to provide funding for infrastructure projects, and create a "Contingent Reserve Arrangement" worth $100 billion which will help member countries counteract future financial shocks.

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an organisation of South Asian nations, which was established on 8 December 1985 when the government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka formally adopted its charter providing for the promotion of economic and social progress, cultural development within the South Asia region and also for friendship and co-operation with other developing countries. It is dedicated to economic, technological, social, and cultural development emphasising collective self-reliance. Its seven founding members are Sri Lanka, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Afghanistan joined the organisation in 2007.Meetings of heads of state are usually scheduled annually; meetings of foreign secretaries, twice annually. It is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Regional Centres
The SAARC Secretariat is supported by following Regional Centres established in Member States to promote regional co-operation. These Centres are managed by Governing Boards comprising representatives from all the Member States, SAARC Secretary-General and the Ministry of Foreign/External Affairs of the Host Government. The Director of the Centre acts as Member Secretary to the Governing Board which reports to the Programming Committee.
SAARC Agricultural Centre (SAC), Dhaka
SAARC Meteorological Research Centre (SMRC), Dhaka
SAARC Tuberculosis Centre (STC), Kathmandu
SAARC Documentation Centre (SDC), New Delhi
SAARC Human Resources Development Centre (SHRDC), Islamabad
SAARC Coastal Zone Management Centre (SCZMC), Maldives
SAARC Information Centre (SIC), Nepal
SAARC Energy Centre (SEC), Pakistan
SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC), India
SAARC Development Fund (SDF), Bhutan
SAARC Forestry Centre (SFC), Bhutan
SAARC Cultural Centre (SCC), Sri Lanka

TYPES OF TAXES IN INDIA

TYPES OF TAXES IN INDIA

I. DIRECT TAXES :-
These types of taxes are directly imposed & paid to Government of India. There has been a steady rise in the net Direct Tax collections in India over the years, which is healthy signal. Direct taxes, which are imposed by the Government of India, are:
 (1) Income Tax :-
Income tax, this tax is mostly known to everyone. Every individual whose total income exceeds taxable limit has to pay income tax based on prevailing rates applicable time to time.
 (2) Capital Gains Tax :-
Capital Gain tax as name suggests it is tax on gain in capital. If you sale property, shares, bonds & precious material etc. and earn profit on it within predefined time frame you are supposed to pay capital gain tax. The capital gain is the difference between the money received from selling the asset and the price paid for it.
 (3) Securities Transaction Tax :-
A lot of people do not declare their profit and avoid paying capital gain tax, as government can only tax those profits, which have been declared by people. To fight with this situation Government has introduced STT (Securities Transaction Tax ) which is applicable on every transaction done at stock exchange. That means if you buy or sell equity shares, derivative instruments, equity oriented Mutual Funds this tax is applicable.
 (4) Perquisite Tax :-
Earlier to Perquisite Tax we had tax called FBT (Fringe Benefit Tax) which was abolished in 2009, this tax is on benefit given by employer to employee. E.g If your company provides you non-monetary benefits like car with driver, club membership, ESOP etc. All this benefit is taxable under perquisite Tax.
 (5) Corporate Tax :-
Corporate Taxes are annual taxes payable on the income of a corporate operating in India. For the purpose of taxation companies in India are broadly classified into domestic companies and foreign companies.

II. INDIRECT TAXES :-
 (6) Sales Tax :-
Sales tax charged on the sales of movable goods. Sale tax on Inter State sale is charged by Union Government, while sales tax on intra-State sale (sale within State) (now termed as VAT) is charged by State Government.
 (7) Service Tax :-
Most of the paid services you take you have to pay service tax on those services. This tax is called service tax. Over the past few years, service tax been expanded to cover new services.
 (8) Value Added Tax :-
The Sales Tax is the most important source of revenue of the state governments; every state has their respective Sales Tax Act. The tax rates are also different for respective states.
 (9) Custom duty & Octroi (On Goods) :-
Custom Duty is a type of indirect tax charged on goods imported into India. One has to pay this duty , on goods that are imported from a foreign country into India. This duty is often payable at the port of entry (like the airport). This duty rate varies based on nature of items.
 (10) Excise Duty :-
An excise or excise duty is a type of tax charged on goods produced within the country. This is opposite to custom duty which is charged on bringing goods from outside of country. Another name of this tax is CENVAT (Central Value Added Tax).
 (11) Anti Dumping Duty :-
Dumping is said to occur when the goods are exported by a country to another country at a price lower than its normal value. This is an unfair trade practice which can have a distortive effect on international trade. In order to rectify this situation Central Govt. imposes an anti dumping duty not exceeding the margin of dumping in relation to such goods.
 III. OTHER TAXES :-
 (12) Professional Tax :-
If you are earning professional you need to pay professional tax. Professional tax is imposed by respective Municipal Corporations. Most of the States in India charge this tax.
 (13) Dividend distribution Tax :-
Dividend distribution tax is the tax imposed by the Indian Government on companies according to the dividend paid to a company’s investors. Dividend amount to investor is tax free. At present dividend distribution tax is 15%.
 (14) Municipal Tax :-
Municipal Corporation in every city imposed tax in terms of property tax. Owner of every property has to pay this tax. This tax rate varies in every city.
 (15) Entertainment Tax :-
Tax is also applicable on Entertainment; this tax is imposed by state government on every financial transaction that is related to entertainment such as movie tickets, major commercial shows exhibition, broadcasting service, DTH service and cable service.
 (16) Stamp Duty, Registration Fees, Transfer Tax :- If you decide to purchase property than in addition to cost paid to seller. You must consider additional cost to transfer that property on your name.
 (17) Education Cess , Surcharge :-
Education cess is deducted and used for Education of poor people in INDIA. All taxes in India are subject to an education cess, which is 3% of the total tax payable. The education cess is mainly applicable on Income tax, excise duty and service tax.
 (18) Gift Tax :-
If you receive gift from someone it is clubbed with your income and you need to pay tax on it. This tax is called as gift tax.
 (19) Wealth Tax :-
Wealth tax is a direct tax, which is charged on the net wealth of the assessee. Wealth tax is chargeable in respect of Net wealth corresponding to Valuation date.Net wealth means all assets less loans taken to acquire those assets. Wealth tax is 1% on net wealth exceeding 30 Lakhs (Rs 3,000,000). So if you have more money, assets you are liable to pay tax.
 (20) Toll Tax :-
At some of places you need to pay tax in order to use infrastructure (road, bridge etc.) build from your money given to government as Tax. This tax is called as toll tax. This tax amount is very small amount but, to be paid for maintenance work and good up keeping.

List of Private sector banks in India and their headquarters

List of Private sector banks in India and their headquarters

1	Axis Bank Ltd.	Mumbai
2	Bank of Rajasthan Ltd	Jaipur
3	The Catholic Syrian Bank	Thrissur
4	The Dhanalakshmi Bank Ltd	Thrissur
5	Federal Bank	Kerala
6	ING Vysya Bank Ltd	Bengaluru
7	The Karnataka Bank Ltd.	Mangalore
8	The Karur Vysya Bank Ltd.	Karur
9	The Nainital Bank Ltd.	Nainital
10	The South Indian Bank Ltd.	Thrissur
11	Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd	Tuticorin