India

AlertPay announced that now its customers can send online payments for free in India. Users may receive unlimited funds in their AlertPay e-wallet and keep it there for indefinite time.

AlertPay account holders are free to send it to family and friends, make online purchases for goods and services or withdraw it by check or bank wire. Either with Personal or Business account users can send money for free by e-wallet or credit card to anyone with or without an AlertPay account.
 

A global money transfer company MoneyGram International launched a unique music album, “CRICKET FOR PEACE.” The “CRICKET FOR PEACE” album, launched by Kunal Ganjawala, a popular Indian film music singer. The album is the culmination of a three-month-long program from February - April 2011 during the ICC World Cup 2011.

MoneyGram conducted a multi-country, multi-lingual initiative in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka and attracted compositions from more than 100 bands.

ICICI Bank has entered into a partnership with a telecom company Vodafone Essar to create a joint venture that will offer mobile financial services to a huge base of unbanked consumers in India.

The companies will be providing savings accounts, pre-paid instruments and credit products through a mobile phone based platform, tapping Vodafone's 1.5 million retail points throughout the country to acquire and service customers.

Global payments company MasterCard Worldwide announced a payment platform for ‘Aadhaar’. The solution will enable Aadhaar holders to perform payment transactions using UID numbers with biometric authentication.

The new system builds on the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) platform and MasterCard’s payment network and family of brands. The service enables ‘Aadhaar’ account holders to move away from cash and towards electronic transactions.

India will be developing its own operating system on considerations of the national security, as reported by the government spokesperson. The new system will be designed by the national Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO), Ravi Kumar Gupta, a spokesman for the DRDO, said.

Tuesday in Singapore, the precious metal lost some ground after hitting a lifetime high at $1,300 an ounce in the previous session as a rebound in the US dollar prompted speculators to lock-in gains.

Spot gold lost $3.65 an ounce to $1,292.40 an ounce by 4:43 GMT, having struck a record on concerns over the global economic recovery and a weaker dollar. Gold has gained as much as 18.5% this year.

Friday in Singapore, bullion prices remained steady as disappointing data from the US and Europe resumed worries over the economic recovery, keeping market sentiment supported.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,293.7 an ounce by 6:27 GMT, below the record high of $1,296.1 hit on Wednesday. Gold is headed for a weekly gain of 1.5%, marking the second consecutive week of gains.

Gold has added 18% so far this year.

Thursday in Singapore, bullion recovered from previous lows as bargain hunters resurfaced after prices struggled to revisit a lifetime high set in June, although stronger stocks were likely to cap gains.

Spot gold added 35 cents to $1,254.85 an ounce by 11:30 pm EDT after hitting a low of $1,252.80 an ounce in thin trade. Bullion had risen as high as high as $1,262.25 on Wednesday, not far from a lifetime high around $1,264 hit in June.

Tuesday in Singapore, bullion slid as early buying subsided and the euro slipped against the greenback, but volatile stock markets could encourage some investors to shift to the precious metal.

Spot gold lost $1.00 to $1,248.55 an ounce by 3:21 GMT, having hit an intraday high of $1,251 on light physical buying.

Gold could challenge its lifetime high of around $1,264 an ounce touched in June as the outlook for the global economy remained murky and demand from jewelers steady during the festive season in main consumer India.

Tuesday in Tokyo, bullion prices steadied as investors considered US economic data due this week for clues to the strength of the world's largest economy while looking at equities to gauge investor risk appetite.

Spot gold was trading at $1,235.25 an ounce as of 5:29 GMT, compared to $1,236.66 an ounce late in New York on Monday. On Monday, gold rose, starting its fifth straight week in positive territory.

Friday in Shanghai, bullion remained steady as investors waited for a key speech from Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke later in the day and expected the US to revise downward its second-quarter economic growth figure.

Spot gold added about $1.06 to stand at $1,236 an ounce by 3:35 GMT, as a weekly rise of 0.7 percent carried it towards its fourth straight week of gains. It hit $1,244.00 on Thursday, its highest since June 30.

Tuesday in Singapore, bullion edged down to its lowest level in nearly a week on as weaker stocks pushed speculators to sell the precious metal to cover losses, but an expected drop in US existing homes sales could spur a rebound.

Spot gold lost $2.90 an ounce slipping to $1,220.50 by 0239 GMT after hitting a low of $1,219.30, its weakest since August 18. It jumped to a 1-month high at $1,237.15 last week after a trail of poor US data knocked confidence in the economic recovery.

Tuesday in Singapore, bullion spiked to near a 1-week high as a weak US dollar prompted buying from investors, while jewelers were also anticipated to snap up the metal ahead of the festive season.

Spot gold added $2.00 to $1,183.25 by 3:05 GMT, after rising to a 1-week high of around $1,190 on Monday, partly driven by physical buying in Asia. The precious metal was well below a lifetime high of $1,264.90 struck in June.

PayPal has unveiled its intention to deprive its Indian customers of the ability to withdraw funds from accounts electronically.

Earlier this year, the e-payments company had to suspend temporarily personal payment transactions from and to India, when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) concluded that PayPal was not in compliance with all relevant regulatory requirements.

India has started developing the world's cheapest "laptop" priced at only $35. 

The new device was developed by research teams at India's premier technological institutes, the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science.