New Income Tax Rates for the FY 2011-12

New tax slabs: for Male individual taxpayer

Slabs (Rs)	Rate
1,80,000	Nil
1,80,000-5,00,000	10
5,00,000-8,00,000	20
8,00,001	30

New tax slabs: for female individual taxpayer

Slabs (Rs)	Rate
upto 1,90,000	0
1,90,000-500000	10
500001-800000	20
800001 and above	30

HDFC launches Debt Fund for Cancer Cure

HDFC has launched a close ended fund , HDFC Debt Fund for Cancer Cure (HDFCC).  This will be a capital protection oriented scheme.  This scheme will enable unit holders to contribute the dividend declared to Indian Cancer Society. This donation will be eligible for deduction under section 80G of Income Tax Act.   Investors may opt to donate either 50 per cent or 100 per cent of such dividend declared. The amount would be automatically contributed to the ICS. The dividends, as is the case with all mutual funds would be tax-free in the hand of the investor. The fund is suitable only for those investors whose primary objective is philanthropy than generating high returns.


The NFO will close on 4th March 2011.
For details visit http://www.hdfcfund.com/

What are Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)?

Exchange Traded Funds are essentially Index Funds that are listed and traded on exchanges like stocks. Until the development of ETFs, this was not possible before. Globally, ETFs have opened a whole new panorama of investment opportunities to Retail as well as Institutional Money Managers. They enable investors to gain broad exposure to entire stock markets in different Countries and specific sectors with relative ease, on a real-time basis and at a lower cost than many other forms of investing.

An ETF is a basket of stocks that reflects the composition of an Index, like S&P CNX Nifty or BSE Sensex. The ETFs trading value is based on the net asset value of the underlying stocks that it represents. Think of it as a Mutual Fund that you can buy and sell in real-time at a price that change throughout the day.

                                                 PERFORMANCE OF EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS

Schemes	Latest Price		% Change	Asset Size	NAV	Returns in % (as on Feb 21, 2011)
				(Rs. cr.)	(Rs./Unit)	1wk	1mth	3mth	6mth	1yr	2yr	3yr
Kotak PSU Bank ETF	449.87		0.36	65.73	446.55	1.9	5.9	-11.1	-2.6	42.9	67.9	12.9
PSU Bank BeES	438.00		1.50	9.20	432.29	1.9	5.9	-11.1	-2.6	42.7	65.1	11.7
Bank BeES	1,108.49		-0.00	46.60	1,099.72	1.4	3.1	-9.3	-1.7	29.5	65.5	6.2
Reliance Banking ETF	1,050.00		-0.28	14.55	1,119.86	1.3	3.0	-9.3	-1.7	29.3	65.2	--
Reliance Gold ETF	1,939.35		0.33	340.61	1,932.93	1.4	0.4	1.7	8.6	20.8	12.9	18.1
Gold BeES	1,999.20		0.18	1,633.87	1,987.78	1.4	0.3	1.6	8.6	20.8	13.0	18.8
SBI Gold Exchange Traded Fund	2,028.75		0.43	175.93	2,024.27	1.4	0.3	1.6	8.4	20.8	--	--
Quantum Gold Fund	994.00		0.60	26.63	988.41	1.4	0.3	1.6	8.6	20.8	12.9	17.1
Kotak Gold ETF	1,998.80		0.43	229.93	1,986.46	1.4	0.3	1.6	8.5	20.8	12.9	18.7
UTI Gold Exchange Traded Fund	2,004.05		0.38	449.40	1,987.11	1.4	0.3	1.6	8.5	20.8	13.0	18.7
ICICI Pru SPIcE Plan	186.00		0.00	1.12	190.71	--	-4.0	-6.5	-0.7	13.5	41.4	1.0
Nifty BeES	559.70		1.01	570.04	551.51	0.1	-4.0	-7.3	-1.3	13.5	39.8	1.1
Kotak Nifty ETF	555.77		0.50	13.46	549.79	--	-4.1	-7.3	-1.4	13.5	--	--
Kotak Sensex ETF	185.00		-0.34	17.15	185.11	--	-4.0	-7.0	-1.2	13.3	42.8	--
Junior BeES	109.02		0.51	127.44	108.00	0.1	-4.5	-14.8	-11.0	8.0	61.4	2.2
Shariah BeES	123.50		0.49	0.95	122.18	-0.3	-5.5	-6.0	-0.9	6.8	--	--
Hang Seng BeES	1,377.28		-1.26	62.47	1,395.39	1.5	-4.0	-0.8	8.6	--	--	--
ICICI Pru Gold ETF	2,050.70		0.36	87.35	2,048.46	1.4	0.3	1.5	6.9	--	--	--
HDFC Gold Exchange Traded Fund	2,034.00		0.15	300.66	2,031.48	1.4	0.3	1.6	8.5	--	--	--
Liquid BeES	999.99		0.00	477.15	1,000.00	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Religare Gold ETF	2,070.00		0.00	38.96	2,042.65	1.4	0.3	1.6	8.6	--	--	--
* Returns over 1 year are annualised.

SOURCE: www.moneycontrol.com