March 2, 2013

Press Release No. 1

NSE launches financial literacy initiative 'Jagruti' in Vidisha, in partnership with India Post

India’s leading stock exchange, the National Stock exchange (NSE) has partnered with India Post of the Government of India, to start a financial literacy initiative ,at Fifty post offices in the country. In Madhya Pradesh, this initiative was started in the historically rich city of Vidisha on the 2^nd of March. Earlier, NSE has launched a similar initiative at Khandwa, Ratlam and Chhindwara, in Madhya Pradesh.

In partnership with India Post, NSE has set up a large sized screen at the Vidisha head post office on the thana road, to create awareness among the people of Vidisha, on the ideal products to invest in, on ways to grow their savings and the precautions they should take, while trading. The head post office is situated in a crowded area and has high footfalls, of more than 500 people a day.

The screen will keep flashing data on NSE’s benchmark index, Nifty 50, data on stocks and other indices, give advice on investing wisely as well as information on products of India Post. The screen was inaugurated by Mr. S Mustafa, Superintendent of Post offices, Vidisha, Mr. Devmuni Sharma, Post Master, Vidisha and senior NSE officials. Similar screens have been installed at the post offices in Khandwa, Ratlam and Chhindwara.

Vidisha has a very distinctive culture, because of the historic monuments, temples and stupas in its vicinity. Lakhs of tourists pour into Vidisha every year, to see the Udayagiri caves, famous for their rock-cut cave sanctuaries as well as the historical Sanchi stupa, a major World heritage site.

So while Vidisha remains a predominantly agrarian economy, where large quantities of wheat and soyabean are grown, tourism also contributes significantly to the city’s economy. NSE’s financial literacy drive through the Post office screen is targeted at helping the people of Vidisha to grow their savings.

Joint MD of NSE, Ms. Chitra Ramkrishna said, “India Post has a very large reach, through which we aim to increase financial literacy, in the tier two and tier three cities of India. We are confident that this awareness campaign will make people more aware of investing opportunities and both the residents and tourists to the city will benefit from this initiative.’’

The screen at the Vidisha post office will carry information on the do’s and don’ts of trading, for instance ‘don’t share your trading password with anyone’, it is not mandatory to give a power of attorney to your broker and so on. The screen will also convey information on products for retail investors like Gold exchange traded funds and Nifty exchange traded funds, cost effective and transparent options to invest in gold and NSE’s benchmark index, Nifty 50. An investor can invest just around 600 rupees to buy one unit of Nifty exchange traded fund and get the benefit of diversification, as investing in one unit gives exposure to fifty shares of the CNX Nifty 50 index.

The screen will also carry information on products of India Post, like Online money transfers, Electronic money orders, Speed post, Savings certificates, Postal life insurance and Logistics solutions for Corporates.

The alliance with India Post comes after a series of steps by NSE, to increase financial literacy in the country. NSE has a tie up with more than 90 colleges in different parts of the country, to conduct short duration courses on the capital markets called the NSE Certified Capital Market Professional or the NCCMP. In Madhya Pradesh, the exchange has tied up with the Mile Stone School of Stock Markets, Indore, Anushree Education Society and Cogent Business School at Jabalpur and the CH Institute of Management and Communication, Indore, to conduct these NCCMP courses.

About NSE:

National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSEL), India’s largest exchange in equity and Equity Derivatives segments was established in the mid 1990’s as a demutualised electronic exchange by leading Indian Financial Institutions. NSE offers trading, clearing and settlement services in a range of products covering various asset classes namely equity, debt, derivatives on equity, currencies and interest rates. NSE provides a modern, fully automated screen-based trading system. NSE’s trading platform is connected to two lakh trading terminals, spread across more than 2000 towns and cities giving it an extensive reach. NSE has played an important role in helping reform the Indian securities market and in bringing about transparency, efficiency and market integrity.

NSE has focused on financial inclusion for nearly two decades. Some of the initiatives include a partnership with 9 universities and colleges to run MBA and post graduate courses in financial markets. The exchange has also partnered with a large number of schools, through CBSE to run courses in financial markets, for senior school students.

NSE is ranked the world’s largest exchange in cash market trades, the world’s largest exchange in currency trading and the second largest in index options and the third largest in index and stock futures. NSE’s flagship index, the Nifty 50, is used extensively by investors and market participants in India and around the world, to take exposure to the Indian equities market. For more information about NSE, please visit: www.nseindia.com