Morgan Stanley is set to launch wealth management services for the super-rich in India, Reuters reports.

It’s going to be India’s most exclusive super-rich club, with membership restricted to those with a minimum investible surplus of $1 billion.

Why India? India is the world’s second fastest growing economy and according it has the second largest number of billionaires in Asia after China.

A new report has revealed that Beijing has the maximum number of rich people in China.

The latest Hurun Report on China’s wealthiest people said that there are 143,000 (yuan-)multimillionaires and 8,800 billionaires in Beijing.

In Shanghai, there are 116,000 multimillionaires and 7,000 billionaires, reports the China Daily.

The Swedish billionaire Stefan Persson, who is the owner of H&M, is reportedly buying an entire English village and up to 2,000 acres of surrounding countryside for 25 million pounds.

Stefan Persson, who is thought to be the world’s 16th richest man with his wealth valued at £11.4billion, is said to be snapping up all of Linkenholt near Andover, Hampshire.

The price includes a neo-baroque castle, 1,500 acres of land and 425 acres of forest, a cricket field and 21 weekend houses for renting out.

For most of the decade, Russian billionaires spent hundreds of millions of dollars on boats, jets, expensive art and the occasional football team.

But, despite strained bank accounts and public outrage, the tycoons have been loath to part with their expensive trinkets, choosing instead to hunker down and wait for better days.

To be sure, these are not happy days for the country’s superrich.

In Forbes magazine‘s latest ranking of the world’s wealthiest people, Russia’s billionaires had an estimated collective loss of $369 billion last year, and two-thirds fell from the list altogether.

A German billionaire who has put his factory workers on short-time and cut their wages has bought himself a luxury megayacht according to DailyMail.

Screw manufacturer Reinhold Würth (#93 on the Forbes 2009 list) has ordered 1,250 of his 5,000 employees in Germany to reduce their working hours and cut their pay by 15 percent.

The rest of his workers are being forced to take a solidarity pay cut of five percent. At the same time, though, the convicted tax evader also celebrated the christening of his new super yacht, the Vibrant Curiosity.

Israel’s richest woman, billionaire Shari Arison, has put up her yacht, “My Shanti” up for sale. She is asking $100 million.

Merle Wood’s listing states that the My Shanti is 212 feet/64 meters long, and built by the Dutch shipyard Amels in 2007.

The My Shanti was assessed at $70-80 million a year ago, the price that Arison paid for it. The yacht has a banquet hall, cinema, staterooms, kitchen, and large mess room. It can reach a maximum speed of 40 knots.