Railway Budget 2010-2011 Highlights

On 24th of Feb 2010 Mamata Banerjee had presented Railway Budget in the Indian Parliament House. These are the some highlits for railway Budget 2010.

·  Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee appeals to business houses to join hands for building partnership with Railways. Presenting Railway Budget for 2010-11, Banerjee says a special task force will be set up for early clearance of projects.

·  No fare hike for passengers.

· Railways not to be privatised; It will remain with the government, says Banerjee. While not privatising, Railways have to develop business models for improving earnings, says Banerjee.

·  Railways 2020 vision document will contain short, medium and long-term goals. Commitments fulfilled to the maximum. Out of 120 trains announced in last budget, only three remain to be flagged off because of lack of broad-gauge lines, says Banerjee.

·  Plans to launch a pilot project for fire detection.The government also plans to construct more underpasses for safety, the minister said while presenting the Railway Budget.

·  Railways to start six water bottling plants in places like Ambala, Thiruvananthapuram, Farakka, Amethi and Nasik to provide clean and cheap drinking water to passengers.

·Indian Railways aims to add 25,000 route kilometers by 2020. The railways currently has 64,015 route kilometers, she said.

· India's railways has set up a special task force to clear investment proposals in 100 days

· Indian Railways plans to keep rail freight rates unchanged, Bloomberg-UTV news channel reported, without saying where it got the information.

· Railways to set up mobile e-ticketing centres at hospitals, universities, courts, IITs, IIMs, district headquarters and village panchayats. All 13,000 unmanned level crossings to be manned in the next five years.

· Railway Protection Force to be strengthened through amendments in RPF Act; women's wing to be formed in RPF to ensure security of women. Ex-servicemen to be inducted in RPF. Railways will be the lead partner in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

· Railways to set up Rabindra Museum in Howrah and Geetanjali Museum in Bolpur -- both in West Bengal  to commemorate Rabindranath Tagore's 125th birth anniversary.

· Railways will provide houses to all its employees in the the next 10 years in collaboration with the Urban Development ministry.

·  Railways to enhance contribution to central staff benefit fund. Centre for Railway Research to be set up at IIT-Kharagpur. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works capacity to be augmented from 200 to 275 engines a year.

·  Work on Rae Bareli Coach Factory in Uttar Pradesh to start within a year. Wagon Repair Shop to be set up in Badnera near Amravati in Maharashtra.

· Integral Coach Factory in Chennai to be modernised and a new unit to be set up there. If land is available, Railways willing to set up a Diesel Multiple Unit factory in West Bengal.

· No forcible acquisition of land for freight corridor project. One member of each family of land losers to be given employment in the freight corridor as also in the new projects.

· High-speed dedicated passenger corridors to be constructed; National High Speed Rail Authority to be set up.

· Revenue from non-core business of Railways to go up from Rs 150 crore to Rs 1,000 crore. Indian Railways has set a target to transport 944 million tons of goods in the year beginning April 1.

· Railways expects to increase earnings from non core activities. The government aims to increase non core earnings to Rs10 billion rupees from Rs1.5 billion.

· Railways expects to increase earnings from non core activities. The government aims to increase non core earnings to Rs10 billion rupees from Rs1.5 billion.

· Despite slowdown, Railways to exceed freight loading target by eight million tonnes during 2009-10. Freight loading target for 2010-11 fixed at 944 million tonnes, 54 million tonnes more than the current year's revised target. Gross traffic receipt for 2010-11 pegged at Rs94,765 crore.

·  Allocation for construction of new lines increased from Rs2848 crore to Rs 4411 crore.

· Rs1,302 crore provided for passenger amenities in the 2010-11 railway budget against Rs 923 crore last year.

· Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC)will borrow 91.2 billion rupees ($1.97 billion) from the market in 2010-11.

·  Railways to have master plan for North Eastern region. Special train between India and Bangladesh to be started to commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.

· 101 additional services to start on Mumbai suburban railways. Survey will be conducted to connect Sealdah and Howrah stations in West Bengal. To commemorate Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary, 'Bharat Teertha' trains to connect several pilgrimage centres across the country.

·  Indian Railway Finance Corporation will borrow Rs91.2 billion ($1.97 billion) from the market in 2010-11.

Budget Expectation 2010

This Year Finance Minister of India Mr Pranab Mukharji will present the Union Budget in the parliament for the Financial Year 2010-2011 on 26th February 2010. Everyone (Including all types of citizen of India & NRIs) is as eager to know the India Budget 2010 expectations as the final budget itself. After recession or Economic slowdown this is the 1st Union Budget will be going to  Present in front of the House.This year Corporate house have more expectation from this budget as well as Common people too.

Corporate House:- Corporate house is waiting for Some stimulus package for the industry.Specially IT & Banking industry most affected from this economic slow down.

Common People:- Common People Expectation have a  to control Sky Rocketing of the food prices.

This time Government should more focus on

1. Control on High Inflation Rate

2. Sky Rocketing Food Prices

3. Education Sector

4. Control on Government Expenditure.

5. Tax Rebate for Corporate & Individuals

6. More Focus on Priority Sector (Agriculture & Service) & ETC.

Taxes:

The common men and the corporates are looking for decrease in taxes. The Finance Minister is likely to augment exemption limit of individual taxes to Rs 3 lakh from Rs1.60 lakh for salaried people. Exemption limit for women is expected to be increased from 1.80 lakh to 4 lakh and for senior citizen from Rs 2 lakh to 5 lakh.

However, taxes levied on the perks availed by income earners are expected to be restructured on higher level. This arrangement may satisfy junior employees and senior citizens. But, it may not go well with the people belonging to higher position.

Corporate Tax:

A reduction of 30% is expected in the corporate tax. The expectation is found in line with the introduction of Direct Tax Code (DTC) suggesting a 25% rate. The individual rate was lowered by 30% previous year also.

Capital Gains Tax:

As far as the 2010 India Budget expectation in the area of capital gain tax is concerned, finance minister is unlikely to bring any reform in this category of tax. It is predicted to be included under the Direct Tax Code, to be implemented from April 2011.

Re-fixing of Tax Slabs:

As mentioned earlier, the tax slab for women is expected to be revised to 4 lakh and senior citizens to Rs 5 lakh. However, second and third slabs of tax would see significant change.

The second tax slab is expected to be augmented from the existing Rs 3 lakh to Rs 1 million to be taxed at 20%. The third slab is likely to be increased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 25 lakh to be taxed at the rate of 30%.

These revisions would act in favor of the reputed advocates as well as the doctors.

Stimulus:

India Budget 2010 speculations suggest that it is not the right time for the government to roll back stimulus packages, despite the fact that GDP growth of the nation in the Q2 (July – September) of the current fiscal stood at 7.9%.

However, experts believe that government would withdraw few of the subsidies from the market. The oil companies were aided with the stimulus package to check loss. Government did not allow the Oil companies to raise product costs of kerosene and diesel, which would have forced the common men to pay more.

As high prices of diesel and petrol would bear adverse effect on the transport rates of food products, the stimulus packages are expected to continue in the oil industry. However, partial withdrawal of the stimulus aid can be expected in this sector to tackle the situation of increasing fiscal deficit.

Agriculture Sector:

According to India Budget 2010 expectations, the agriculture sector would be the highlight of the session. This sector is likely to receive enormous boost from the government. Finance minister's invitation to the farmers for the pre-budget meet is held to be the main reason behind such speculation.

Infrastructure and Social Sector:

Infrastructure industry is also expected to be the focus of the budget results of 2010. Many believe that development in this sector would account for massive growth in GDP. However, it is unlikely to ease monetary policy to better infrastructure. Interest rate cannot be reduced as well.

Other Sectors:

While taking into account the India Budget 2010 expectations of various sectors, it was found that the garment industry of India is looking for considerable cut in interest rates in its exports segment. The garment exporters also want the ministry to remove all the confusion faced in the case of excise as well as custom duties. The sector wants major commercial as well as fiscal relief. Similarly, the Indian tea industry is expecting to get an allocation of more than Rs 130 crore, which was granted in the fiscal year 2009-10.

List are many and expectations are more. In a very few days the government will open their magic box to lure the Indian Common people or they will only for the Corporate House.

Application Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA)

Application Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA) refers to an application mechanism for subscribing to initial public offers (IPO). The system, which ensures that the applicant’s money remains in his/her bank account till the shares are allotted, was introduced by SEBI for retail investors in 2008. Now it has been extended to corporate investors and HNIs as well (from January 1, 2010, onwards). The mechanism requires the applicant to give an authorization to block his/her application money in the bank account for subscribing to the IPO. His/her bank account is debited only after the basis of allotment is finalized, or the IPO is withdrawn or fails. In case of rights issue, the application money is debited after the receipt of instructions from the Registrars.

Can one subscribe to all IPOs through ASBA?

No. You can avail of ASBA only to subscribe to book-built public issues and a select few rights issues.

How does one avail of this facility?

Only certain designated banks — Self-Certified Syndicate Banks (SCSB) — can offer this facility to the applicants. A list of these banks and their branches can be accessed from the websites of Sebi, BSE as well as NSE . The applicant can submit the ASBA application to the SCSB with whom he/she is maintaining the account to be blocked (to the extent of the application money) for the purpose. The application can be submitted either by filling up the form or online, by using the Internet banking facility.

Is it compulsory to submit bids through this system?

No. You can choose to opt for the existing process of applying through cheques. However, remember that you cannot avail of both the modes to send in your applications. If you apply through a cheque as well as ASBA, it will be rejected on grounds that it constitutes multiple application.

How does an investor stand to benefit from ASBA?

Despite not being mandatory, it makes sense to opt for ASBA as it scores over the traditional mode of cheque payment in several areas. It enhances the transparency of the share allotment process. Only that amount that is required to make share allotment is debited to the account after the bid is selected for allotment after the basis of allotment is finalised. Therefore, the applicant need not worry about the refund in case he/she is not allotted any share. Moreover, since the money remains in the bank account, he/she does not lose out on the interest that can be earned during the period.

Is an applicant allowed to withdraw ASBA bids?

Yes. During the bidding period, one can approach SCSB, to which he/she had submitted the application and make a withdrawal request, post which, the bank will unblock the amount. After the bid closure period, applicants need to send their withdrawal requests to the Registrars in order to withdraw their bids. Subsequently, the Registrar will ask the SCSB concerned to unblock the application money in the bank account after the finalization of basis of allotment.

Six Ways To Cut Business Costs

In times of financial crisis, every business needs to focus on cutting costs, just to stay afloat. Here are the top six ways any business can make reductions in expenditure, without reducing the quality of product or service the business offers its customers.

1 – Reduce Employee Costs

Even if your business is not looking to reduce the number of staff, there are ways of reducing staffing costs during lean business times. Offering overtime to individual employees means you pay that employee up to twice their usual hourly rate.

Rather than pay overtime rates, try re-organising the work rosters and routines to prevent the need for overtime. Perhaps some staff members would prefer to start earlier in the day and others to work later in the afternoon, allowing coverage during all opening hours, without the overtime costs.

Another way of reducing labour costs is to offer staff incentives for reducing their personal days and sick leave taken. Each time a staff member is sick, you need to replace the employee, either by offering another employee overtime, or by working a shift down and reducing productivity. Either way, sick days and personal leave add costs to the company.

Some companies have successfully introduced a reward scheme for employees who do not take any sick days in a year or six-month period. The cost of the reward is minimal compared to the savings made by the company.

2 – Increase Safety

Safety is one area where an increase in initial spending can cut overheads dramatically. Think about all the costs, direct and indirect, involved in an injury in your workplace. These costs include:

* Medical costs;
* Increased insurance costs;
* Loss of productivity while the injured worker is taken care of;
* Resources and time to investigate cause of injury;
* Shift coverage and loss time for injured worker;
* Decrease in employee morale;
* Loss of company’s reputation and public relations costs; and
* In some cases, fines and court costs from government authorities.


Therefore, increasing safety measures and preventing injuries in the first place will cut costs for the business.

3 – Review Procedures and Ensure Efficiency

This is a good time to review all your procedures and work processes to trim the fat. Is your team double handling a particular task? Can you reduce the amount of photocopying and therefore save paper and toner costs? Can you encourage employees to reduce printing by saving electronic files rather than hard copy files? Are there other processes that have become redundant but employees are still spending time completing them? Is there a more efficient method of completing the task?

Look at where you can save someone’s time or resources that the company pays for. Consider saving energy by turning off office lights at night and only having the office cleaned every two days instead of daily. Working more efficiently saves valuable resources.

4 – Reduce Damage to Equipment

Damage to equipment affects business expenditure in two ways. Firstly, damage reduces productivity while the repairs take place. Depending on the importance of the piece of damaged equipment to the overall process, this could put a whole factory floor out of production for some time. Secondly, damage to equipment costs to repair in labour, time and parts.

Ensuring that employees follow processes to prevent damage to equipment can add up to huge cost savings for the company in the long term. Regular checks and maintenance of equipment can replace worn parts before more serious and costly damage occurs.

5 – Shop Around for Suppliers

Make sure you are getting the best deal for essential supplies for your business. You may need to invest some time to shopping around but the cost savings can be enormous.

For example, if you can buy the same quality of paper for the office cheaper by just 50 cents per ream, how much could your business save over a year? If your business purchases just 100 reams of paper in a month, you would save $600 a year. If you made this kind of saving on every product you purchase by switching suppliers, you could add up substantial cost savings over a year.

Obviously, this kind of saving does operate on economies of scale and the larger business will achieve greater savings, but any business can save by switching suppliers to cheaper options.

6 – Staff Incentives for Cost Cutting

Some companies are offering employees a share in the cost savings made over a specific period. This encourages and motivates staff to work more efficiently, reduce injuries, damage and to participate in reducing costs themselves, rather than leaving it all up to the managers.

For example, if your employees can reduce costs by $10,000 a month for six months, your company will save $60,000. If you give even 50 per cent of that back to the employees in staff incentives and bonuses, your business will still save $30,000 in six months. Offering staff a share of 25 or 10 per cent of the cost savings would give your company even more benefits, while still encouraging the staff to reduce expenditure on behalf of the business.

There are many other ways of reducing expenditure by the business. Every cost saving you can make, gives the company more profit and reduces the impact of the global financial crisis. Cutting costs now can ensure the business survives the tough times and is still viable when the economy improves.
Link for this article:- http://www.yourstory.in/resources/finance/1333-six-ways-to-cut-business-costs-

8 key ratios to spot the right stocks

It's a very common dilemma for first time stock buyers. You want to invest in 'safe' stocks yet have no idea about the process involved. Should you trust your broker? Or should you trust the markets analysts. And at the end of the day you are left confused by the myriad of opinions and advices that are thrown at you.
Instead, why not understand the parameters yourself so that you can make the best choice? To help you understand the intricate art of choosing the best stocks to invest in, here are eight key ratios. Read on, understand and happy investing!
Ploughback/reserves: Every year, a company divides its net profit (profit left after subtracting various expenses including taxes) in two portions: plough back and dividends. While dividends are handed out to the shareholders, plough back is kept by the company for its future use and is included in its reserves.
Plough back is essential because besides boosting the company's reserves, it is a source of funds for the company's expansion plans. Hence if you are looking for a company with good growth prospects, check its plough back figures.
Reserves are also known as shareholders' funds, since they belong to the shareholders. If a company's reserves are twice its equity capital it can then reward its shareholders with a generous bonus. Also any increase in reserves will push the share price of your share.
Book value per share: This ratio shows the worth of each share of a company as per the company's accounting books. It is calculated as:
Book Value per share = Shareholders' funds / Total quantity of equity shares issued
Shareholders' funds can be computed by subtracting the total liabilities (money owed to creditors) of the company from its total assets. It can also be calculated by adding the equity capital to the company's reserves.
Book value is an old record that uses the original purchase prices of the assets. However it doesn't show the present market price of the company's assets. As a result, this ratio has a restricted use when it comes to estimating the market price of the shares, but can give you an estimate of the minimum price of the company's shares. It will also help you judge if the share price is overpriced or under-priced.
Earnings per share (EPS): One of the most popular investment ratios, it can be computed as:
Earnings Per Share (EPS) = Profit Post Tax / Total quantity of equity shares issued
This ratio computes the company's earnings on a per share basis. E.g. you own 100 shares of ABC Co., each having a face value of Rs 10.
Assume the earnings per share is Rs 10 and the dividend declared is 30 per cent, or Rs 3 per share. This implies that on every share of ABC Co, you earn Rs. 6 each year, but you actually get Rs 3 via dividend. The balance of Rs 4 per share goes into the plough back (retained earnings). Had you purchased these shares at par, it implies a return of 60 per cent.
This example shows that instead of looking at the dividends received from to company as the base of investment returns, always look at earnings per share, as it is the actual indicator of the returns earned by your shares.
Price earnings ratio (P/E): This ratio highlights the connection between the market price of a share and its EPS.
Price/Earnings Ratio (P/E) = Price of the share / Earnings per share
It shows the degree to which earnings of a share are protected by its price. E.g. if the P/E is 40, it means the share price is 40 times its earnings. So if the company's EPS is constant, it will need about 40 years to make up for the purchase price of the share, after taking into account the dividends and the capital appreciation. Hence low P/E means you will recover your money quickly.
P/E ratio shows what the market thinks about the earnings potential and future business forecast of a company. Companies with high P/E ratios are the darlings of the investors and thus enjoy a higher market rating.
In order to use the P/E ratio properly, take into account the future earnings and growth projections of the company. If the current P/E ratio is low, as against the future prospects of a company, then the shares make an attractive investment option.
But if the company is saddled with losses and falling sales, stay away from it, despite the low P/E ratio.
Dividend & yield: Dividend is the portion of the profit that is distributed amongst shareholders. Companies offering high dividends normally don't have much of growth to talk about.
This is because the plough back required to finance future development is insufficient. Similarly, those companies in high growth sector don't give any dividend. Instead here they give sharp capital appreciation, which ultimately will lead to higher dividends.
So it makes much more sense to invest for capital appreciation instead of dividends. Rather it makes more sense to invest for yield, which is nothing but the association between the dividends and the market price of the shares. Yield (dividend yield) can be calculated as:
Yield = (Dividend per share / market price of a share) x 100
Yield shows the returns in percentage that you can expect via dividends earned by your investment at the current market price. It is more useful than simply focusing on the dividends.
Return on capital employed (ROCE): ROCE is the ratio that is calculated as:
ROCE: Operating profit / capital employed (net value + debt)
To get operating profit, add old taxes paid, depreciation, special one-off expenses, and special one-off income and miscellaneous income to get the net profit. The operating profit is a far better indicator of the profits earned by the company instead of the net profit.
Hence this ratio is the better indicator of the general performance of the company and the company's operational efficiency. It is one of the most useful ratio that lets you compare amongst the companies.
Return on net worth (RONW): RONW is calculated as
RONW = Net Profit / Net Worth
This ratio gives you an idea of the returns generated by investing in the company. While ROCE is an effective measure to get a general overview of the profitability of the company's business operations, RONW lets you gauge the returns you can earn on your investment.
When used along with ROCE, you get an overview of the company's competence, financial standing and its capacity to generate returns on shareholders' finances and capital employed.
PEG ratio: PEG is an essential and extensively used ratio for calculating the inbuilt worth of a share. It helps you decide whether the share is under-priced, totally priced or overpriced.
To derive the ratio, you have to associate the P/E ratio with the expected growth rate of the company. It assumes that higher the growth rate of the company, higher the P/E ratio of the company's shares. Vice versa also holds true.
PEG = P/E / expected growth rate of the EPS of the company
In general, a PEG lesser than 0.5 is a lucrative investment opportunity. However if the PEG exceeds 1.5, it is time to sell.
These are some of the most critical ratios that must be considered when purchasing a share. Extensive reading of the financial performance of the company in newspapers and magazines will help you get all the relevant information to get the correct decision.

Investment Myth

Few myths about investing

What do you do when your entire stock market investment suddenly halves in value - as it has for many people since January last year? Curse fate? Rail against market manipulators? Abuse the government for failing to protect your wealth?

You can do all that, but none of it will bring your money back. The best thing you can do is to look back and learn from it all. The world's best investors have done just that and made tons of money in the process. They then proceeded to write books on their successes, and made even more moolah.

Good for them, but not for you. Peter Lynch's bestseller, One-Up On Wall Street, earned him good money, but don't assume you will achieve the same success by following his methods. Success can never be copied.

The best way to start is by exploding a few myths and questioning the half-truths that pass for timeless wisdom. Let's start by examining them one by one.

Myth 1: Stock market investments will always outperform bonds and fixed-return avenues in the long run.

It's been true so far only if you stretch the definition of long run. Is five years long run enough, or 10 or 15? If you had invested in stocks in 1992, you wouldn't have beaten a bank fixed deposit in terms of returns for 10-12 years. In other words, the best definition of long run is almost forever. If you invest at market peaks, and the times are bad — as they seem now — you may have to wait 10-15 years to beat ordinary bank deposits. You may be lucky, and the markets may revive immediately, but if you aren't, stocks will outperform fixed avenues only over very long stretches. So, be prepared to wait.

Myth 2: Look at stock fundamentals, and you can never go wrong.

Again, this is partly untrue. The value of your stock — any stock — can rise only if others keep buying it. Even an Infosys can rise only if lots of people think its price will rise. This could be influenced by its profitability and other "fundamental" factors, but what gives you returns is liquidity — the willingness of other people to keep buying your stock in large numbers.

Myth 3: The amount you must invest in equity is 100 minus your age.

This is not bad advice, but the real point is your ability to shoulder risk. The assumption behind this formula is that when you are 20, you don't have dependents, and thus can afford to invest 80% of your spare cash in equity. I would restate this proposition by saying that the amount you invest in equity should depend on how much you are willing to lose forever. Equity should get as much money as you are willing to write off from your wealth. At 60, with my children married and a decent pension, I might want to risk 80% of my wealth in equity. It's fine, as long as I am prepared to lose it all.

Myth 4: Time in the market is more important that timing the market.

This is the same as myth 1, which says that the longer you stay invested, the more chances of you making money. Again, only partly true. Good investors know that timing is all. While no one can call market peaks or troughs correctly all the time, we all can figure out whether the market is in a bearish phase or bullish. You must time the market by investing more in bearish phases and less at other times.

Myth 5: Government bonds and debt investments are risk-free.

This is completely wrong. All listed instruments carry risks — including government bonds. At the very least, they carry interest-rate risk. When interest rates rise, the value of your bond falls — and you lose money. The only way to not lose money is to hold bonds to maturity, which is not a bad option for pensioners and others who want the income.

Myth 6: Buy land, for they ain't making any more of it no more.

This has been true for so long that people actually believe in it. However, the proposition depends on two premises — a growing population and economy, and fixed supplies of land. In stable economies with stable populations, real estate gives you returns similar to other avenues. In populous countries like India, realty prices do keep rising, but largely in urban centers and largely because the market structure is weak.

10 Biggest Fall of Indian Stock Market

In India there are mainly 2 stock exchange where the stocks are traded namely BSE(Bombay Stock Exchange)and NSE(National Stock Exchange)Apart from these 2 exchange there are 23 other exchange,they are on regional levels.In NSE there are around 5000 stocks are traded and in BSE 3000 stocks are traded.But the NIFTY index is 50 and SENSEX is 30 stocks are representing.in these index the top performing companies and sector stocks are present.
Indian investors had seen the Up's and Down's of the market.
10 biggest falls in the Indian stock market history:
Jan 21, 2008: The Sensex saw its highest ever loss of 1,408 points at the end of the session on Monday. The Sensex recovered to close at 17,605.40 after it tumbled to the day's low of 16,963.96, on high volatility as investors panicked following weak global cues amid fears of the US recession.
Jan 22, 2008: The Sensex saw its biggest intra-day fall on Tuesday when it hit a low of 15,332, down 2,273 points. However, it recovered losses and closed at a loss of 875 points at 16,730. The Nifty closed at 4,899 at a loss of 310 points. Trading was suspended for one hour at the Bombay Stock Exchange after the benchmark Sensex crashed to a low of 15,576.30 within minutes of opening, crossing the circuit limit of 10 per cent.
May 18, 2006: The Sensex registered a fall of 826 points (6.76 per cent) to close at 11,391, following heavy selling by FIIs, retail investors and a weakness in global markets. The Nifty crashed by 496.50 points (8.70%) points to close at 5,208.80 points.
December 17, 2007: A heavy bout of selling in the late noon deals saw the index plunge to a low of 19,177 - down 856 points from the day's open. The Sensex finally ended with a huge loss of 769 points (3.8%) at 19,261. The NSE Nifty ended at 5,777, down 271 points.
October 18, 2007: Profit-taking in noon trades saw the index pare gains and slip into negative zone. The intensity of selling increased towards the closing bell, and the index tumbled all the way to a low of 17,771 - down 1,428 points from the day's high. The Sensex finally ended with a hefty loss of 717 points (3.8%) at 17,998. The Nifty lost 208 points to close at 5,351.
January 18, 2008: Unabated selling in the last one hour of trade saw the index tumble to a low of 18,930 - down 786 points from the day's high. The Sensex finally ended with a hefty loss of 687 points (3.5%) at 19,014. The index thus shed 8.7% (1,813 points) during the week. The NSE Nifty plunged 3.5% (208 points) to 5,705.
November 21, 2007: Mirroring weakness in other Asian markets, the Sensex saw relentless selling. The index tumbled to a low of 18,515 - down 766 points from the previous close. The Sensex finally ended with a loss of 678 points at 18,603. The Nifty lost 220 points to close at 5,561.
August 16, 2007: The Sensex, after languishing over 500 points lower for most of the trading session, slipped again towards the close to a low of 14,345. The index finally ended with a hefty loss of 643 points at 14,358.
April 02, 2007: The Sensex opened with a huge negative gap of 260 points at 12,812 following the Reserve Bank of India decision to hike the cash reserve ratio and repo rate. Unabated selling, mainly in auto and banking stocks, saw the index drift to lower levels as the day progressed. The index tumbled to a low of 12,426 before finally settling with a hefty loss of 617 points (4.7%) at 12,455.
August 01, 2007: The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 207 points at 15,344 amid weak trends in the global market and slipped deeper into the red. Unabated selling across-the-board saw the index tumble to a low of 14,911. The Sensex finally ended with a hefty loss of 615 points at 14,936. The NSE Nifty ended at 4,346, down 183 points. This is the third biggest loss in absolute terms for the index.

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