A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Business takeover code re-written
The Takeover Regulations Advisory
Committee under the chairmanship of C. Achuthan, in its 139-page report to the
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has proposed sweeping changes on
critical issues, including the open offer trigger, offer size, indirect
acquisitions, exemptions from open offer obligations, calculating the offer
price and competing offers. This comes nearly 16 years after the guidelines were
formally notified for the first time and after 23 amendments to the last major
review in 1997.
The takeover panel, formed by SEBI in September 2009, has recommended an
increase in the open offer trigger from 15 per cent to 25 per cent. Further, the
open offer has to be made for all the shares of the target company, instead of
the current practice of an offer for acquiring an additional 20 per cent.
Analysts said the proposed rules would raise the financing required for taking
over a firm, but would encourage investors taking strategic stakes in companies.
The panel, which also had Tata Steel Ltd Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Koushik
Chatterjee and Larsen & Toubro Ltd CFO Y M. Deosthalee as members, concluded
that since a holding level of 25 per cent permits the exercise of de facto
control over a company, this could be fixed as the appropriate open offer
trigger threshold in the Indian context.
The committee has also noted that the 100 per cent open offer requirement could
result in an acquirer ending in holding beyond the maximum permissible
non-public shareholding, which may require the acquirer to either de-list or
bring down his holding to meet the continuous listing requirements. The panel
has recommended that the acquirer may state upfront his intention to de-list if
his holding in the target company were to cross the de-listing threshold,
pursuant to the open offer.
In the absence of any such disclosure or when the response to the open offer is
below the de-listing threshold, the acquirer would be required to either
proportionately reduce both his acquisitions under the agreement that triggered
the open offer and the acquisitions under the open offer or to bring down his
holding to comply with continuous listing requirements.
The committee has also recommended that a short public announcement should be
made by the acquirer on the date of entering in to an agreement followed by a
detailed public statement within five business days thereafter. The overall
time-line for an open offer has been brought down from 97 days to 57 business
days.
The committee, in its attempt to enable transparent consolidation by persons
already holding in excess of 25 per cent, has recommended voluntary offers of a
minimum size of at least 10 per cent and a maximum size of such number of shares
that would not result in any kind of breach of the maximum non-public
shareholding permitted under the listing agreement. Under the existing
regulations, an offer for a percentage lesser than minimum prescribed percentage
can only be by shareholders holding more than 55 per cent.
The panel has also recommended that creeping acquisition be permitted only for
acquirers who hold more than 25 per cent of the voting capital, subject to
aggregate post-acquisition shareholding not exceeding the maximum permissible
non-public shareholding. It has, however, left the annual creeping acquisition
limit unchanged at five per cent.
In another recommendation that is expected to enhance the corporate governance
norms, the committee has made it mandatory for the independent directors of the
target company to give their recommendation on the open offer. Also, no
appointment of representatives of the acquirer to the board of directors of the
target company would be permitted unless the acquirer places 100 per cent of the
consideration under the open offer in cash in an escrow account.
Major changes have also been proposed in the manner minimum price payable is
calculated. According to the committee, the offer price would be the highest of
(i) market price to be based on 12 weeks volume weighted average of market
prices as against higher of weekly averages of market prices for 26 weeks or 2
weeks; (ii) a qualitative improvement and expansion in the look back provision;
(iii) in the case of indirect acquisitions, ascription of value to the target
company under certain circumstances.
Also, any kind of non-compete fee or control premium paid to promoters will have
to be factored in while calculating the open offer price for the minority
shareholders.
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
PM�s
panel pegs exports at $216 billion
India's exports are projected to grow by about 22 per cent to $216 billion in
2010-11, on the back of recovery in global trade, according the Prime Minister's
Economic Advisory Council.
With contraction in global merchandise demand, India's exports declined by 4.7
per cent to $176.6 billion in 2009-10. However, in the first two months of
2010-11 exports grew by 35.7 per cent.
The International Monetary Fund has projected that exports, at constant price,
from emerging and developing economies would increase by 10.5 per cent in 2010.
Exports from the advanced economies are also expected to rise by 8.2 per cent.
India-Iran sign six pacts
In their first interaction after the UN imposed the fourth round of sanctions on
Tehran in June 2010 over its controversial nuclear programme, India and Iran, on
July 8, 2010, signed six pacts, including one on cooperation in new and
renewable energy and another on increasing the number of flights between the two
countries. The MOUs were signed at the end of the two-day meeting of the
India-Iran joint commission.
The other four accords were: agreement on transfer of sentenced prisoners; MOU
on cooperation in small-scale industry between the National Small Industries
Corporation (NSIC) and the Iranian Small Industries and Industrial Parks
Organisation (ISIPO); programme of cooperation on science and technology; and
MOU on cooperation between the Central Pulp and Paper Research Institute (CPPRI)
of India and the Gorgan University of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources
(GUASNR).
The signing of the agreements clearly reflected New Delhi�s intention that it
would pursue an independent policy on Iran, notwithstanding the American
pressure on it not to enlarge the area of its engagement with Tehran.
Although it is committed to abide by the UN sanctions on Tehran, New Delhi
maintains that the Iranian nuclear issue must be resolved through negotiations
since the sanctions would only hurt the common Iranian people. While recognising
Iran�s right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, it has also
advised Iran to strictly abide by the IAEA guidelines while pursuing its nuclear
programme.
The two sides also discussed the situation in Afghanistan at length with both of
them expressing their common stakes in the stability of the violence-torn
country. New Delhi is believed to have pressed for structured and regular
consultations with Tehran on defeating terrorists in Afghanistan and in the
Visit
of Myanmar�s military ruler
Ignoring worldwide concerns over human rights violations in Myanmar, New Delhi
rolled out a red carpet welcome for Myanmar military ruler General Than Shwe on
July 27, 2010. Top Indian leaders held wide-ranging talks with him on a plethora
of issues, including bilateral ties as well as international developments.
The increasing Chinese influence in the South East Asian nation is apparently
weighing heavily in the mind of the Indian leadership as it seeks to increase
its engagement with Myanmar, particularly in the vital energy sector and in
fighting Indian insurgents operating along the India-Myanmar border.
The two countries signed five accords after talks between Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and the 77-year-old leader of the military �junta�.
Simultaneously, the EXIM Bank of India extended a line of credit of $60 million
to the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank.
The treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters is expected to help
the two countries combat transnational organised crimes, terrorism, drug
trafficking, money laundering and smuggling of arms and explosives. The MoU on
Indian grant assistance for implementation of small development projects is
aimed at boosting Indian investments in energy, transport and infrastructure
sectors.
Strategic observers say the change in India�s policy towards Myanmar was
prompted by China wooing the military �junta� to make deep inroads into
virtually every sphere of Myanmar�s economic activity. Though China has its own
strategic interests in engaging the �junta� in Myanmar, the military rulers are
worried that their image outside the country is sullied because of its poor
record in protecting human rights.
The military ruler wants to correct this image by introducing some kind of
democracy. His visit to India was also aimed at gaining global respectability.
Visit
of British Prime Minister
British Prime Minister David Cameron came visiting India in July 2010. Talking
on terrorism affecting the region, he said that Pakistan could not be allowed to
harbour militants and promote terror against India, Afghanistan and the rest of
the world. On his first visit to India after becoming Prime Minister in May
2010, he laid out the basis for a new �enhanced relationship� with India. Apart
from Cameron�s own tough talk on terrorism, his business minister Vince Cable
announced the UK was prepared to export civil nuclear technology to India,
bringing Britain in line with the stance taken by the United States, Russia and
France.
Travelling to Bangalore and then to Delhi, Cameron signed a Rs 5,082 crore
agreement for the Indian Air Force and Navy to buy an additional 57 Hawk
Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft from British Aerospace Systems. India and the UK
also made announcements in the field of immigration, education and signed an
agreement on cultural cooperation.
Cameron welcomed India�s support to Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan, its
�intellectual leadership� at the G20, and said the time was ripe for India to
find a place in the UN Security Council.
Unified Command to battle Naxals
In what is a first step at forming a common strategy for States hit by Naxal
violence, the Centre announced, on July 13, 2010, setting up of a Unified
Command in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal. Realising that
development and action in Maoist areas should be together, the Centre also
announced that over Rs 1,750 crore would be spent on developmental projects in
the four States.
The Chief Secretary of each State will head the Unified Command, which will have
a retired Major-General as its member. The CRPF will depute an IG-level officer
for �operations� while an equal rank officer from the State police force will
coordinate the entire effort.
The Home Minister said that there was need for a Unified Command only in these
four states and Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar had been omitted for the
time being.
The Centre has also told the States that the Member-Secretary of the Planning
Commission will work to modify existing norms and guidelines to ensure rapid
development in the targeted 34 districts: Rs 800 crore will be spent on
strengthening police stations and another Rs 950 crore on road connectivity in
these districts. The government will fund the establishment and strengthening of
400 police stations in affected districts at the rate of Rs 2 crore a police
station on 80:20 basis over a period of two years.
The Planning Commission is also considering a special development plan for the
affected districts and States with emphasis on road connectivity, primary
education, primary healthcare and drinking water.
Already in force in militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir and Assam, the Unified
Command structure includes Army, paramilitary and State police, who work in
coordination. The Army would not be involved in anti-naxal operations for now.
However, IAF helicopters would be used for supplies and evacuation.
Noose tightening for Politicos in Sohrab case
Sohrab
case getting murkier with CBI stepping up pressure on top Gujarat IPS Officers
P.C.Pande, O.P.Mathur and Geeta Johri for their suspected involvement in
scuttling the probe at the behest of former Gujarat Minister of State for home
Amit Shah. Two Rajasthan BJP leaders Gulabchand Kataria and Om Mathur are also
facing the CBI heat.
Sohrabuddin Sheikh was killed in a fake encounter and his wife who was a witness
to her husband�s abduction was also later eliminated. The agency is
investigating the police-politico nexus behind the killings.
Chidambaram confident of overcoming maoist problem in three years
Addressing a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee for the
ministry of home affairs, P Chidambaram informed that in a meeting of chief
ministers of seven Naxal-affected states on July 14, a decision of unified
command was agreed to namely in� West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand
� for anti-Naxal operations. A two-pronged strategy of initiating development
and police action in the affected areas was designed to overcome Maoist problem
after consultations with the Naxal-affected states
Grooming for a succession?
Noel
Tata, chairman Ratan Tata�s brother has been installed as the chairman and CEO
of Tata Investment Corp and the MD in Tata International while relinquishing his
executive position in Trent Ltd within the last two months. There is speculation
that these moves are in line with the group�s succession plan for top job i.e.
the Chairmanship of Tata Sons in 2012 when Ratan Tata steps down.
Applaud or embarrassment?
According to top sources from Central Vigilance Commission, fake certificates
were being routinely issued to pass substandard work and material to the vendors
of Commonwealth Games 2010 leading to huge gains for the contractors and
vendors. All these certificates were issued without ground verification or
technical examination. The compromise, herein, in the quality of materials and
workmanship poses a serious threat to the sports personnel from countries all
over the world lending a shameful picture of India and hence jeopardizing our
ability to host such events in the future.
Valley stir
Following the imposition of curfew in wake of the protest by Syed Ali Geelani
demanding the release of dozens of arrested separatist leaders, violence was
triggered in the valley due to a spate of civilian killings by security
personnel leading to an indefinite curfew being clamped in Srinagar. Educational
institutions, shops, post offices, banks, public transport and other business
establishments were closed as a precautionary measure. The protests are part of
the separatists� �Quit Kashmir� programme.
Hike
in RBI rates
RBI hikes key
policy rates to tame
inflation
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The Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) hiked the short-term
indicative interest rates (repo and reverse repo
rates) on 2nd July, 2010, by 25 basis points to mitigate rising
inflation and inflationary pressures.
-
It has increased the
repo rate, the rate at which the banks borrow funds from the central bank by
25 basis points from 5.25 per cent to 5.50 per cent and the reverse repo
rate, the rate at which banks park their funds with the central bank, by 25
basis points from 3.75 per cent to 4 per cent with immediate effect.
HSBC acquires RBS� retail business in India
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RBS, which had in 2007
taken over ABN Amro Bank, has 31 branches, 11 lakh customers and 1800
employees in India.
Mutual fund assets
slump 16% in June
MRPL to export
products to Mauritius
Obama�s Income Vs.
Our President�s income
The income of America�s
first couple, President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, in 2009, is about $5.5
Million. Most of it came from Barack�s book sales. President Prathibha Patil, in
contrast, takes home about Rs.18 lakh (USD 40,500 approximately).
Air
Service Quality in Delhi improves
The Airport Economic
Regulatory Authority has been set up as a regulator for the airport sector for
monitoring issues like airport charges and service
standards. The Delhi airport has improved its rank sharply in terms of Air
Service Quality (ASQ) performance, from 101 in 2007 to 21 in 2010.
After the opening of
thenew terminal the airport will shortly rank within the first 10 airports of
the world.
India is 9th largest
Aviation market
India
has become the 9th largest aviation market in the world. We now have 10
scheduled airlines
operating in our country, compared to 2 in 1990. In the same period, the
scheduled aircraft deployed by the Indian carriers has gone up four times, from
100 to about 400.
It is estimated that
India�s aviation sector has the potential to absorb up to US$ 120 billion of
investment by the year 2020. Analysts predict that domestic traffic can reach
160 to 180 million and international traffic in excess of 50 million by the year
2020.
India also occupies an
important geographical place in the air route structure of the world. Many key
international air traffic services cross the air space in which India is
responsible for providing air traffic services.
Hub traffic out of Delhi and Mumbai will increase particularly in the coming
years.
Banks
may get time to move for the new base rate system
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The
Reserve Bank of India may soon announce a one-year sunset clause to
help banks move all their existing loan to the new base rate-linked lending
regime.
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The deadline will be
extended until June 30, 2011.
Bank
deposits growth slackens
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The
aggregate Indian Bank deposit
growth rate has slowed from 20.4 per cent in
December 2008 to 18 per cent in December 2009. During the same period, the
growth rate of gross bank credit increased significantly from 15.9 per cent
to 18.3 per cent.
-
In the last one year,
Gold
ETFs (Exchange-traded Fund) have
logged 11.4 per cent growth.
ISRO
has launched the PSLV successfully
-
On 12th July,2010, the
ISRO has put the Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15) into orbit.
-
The ISRO has put the
vehicle from Sriharikota with five
satellites � the 694 kg Indian
remote sensing satellite CARTOSAT � 2B, which is its main payload,
and the 116 kg ALSAT � 2A of Algeria, 6.5 kg NLS � 6.1 AISSAT � 1 of Canada,
NLS � 6.2 TISAT of Switzerland and
STUDSAT, a Pico satellite weighing less than 1 kg built by a consortium of
seven engineering colleges.
India
to surpass China in Population by 2050.
-
The projections made
by the Government show that while India�s
population grew by 1.4 per cent over the last five
years, China saw only a 0.6 per cent population growth for the
corresponding period.
-
India�s total
population in 2009 was 119.8 crore, China�s 134.5 crore and Pakistan�s 18
crore.
-
While India�s
population will increase to 161.38 crore by 2050, that of China will only
reach 141.7 crore.
Honour Killings in India � A social menace
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Even as the Cabinet
has referred the issue of enacting a special law to deal with �honour
killings� to a Group of Ministers, a report prepared by two legal experts
specialising in child custody, marriage and adoption
issues gives the shocking information that more
than 1,000 young people in India are being killed every year due to this
menace linked to forced marriages.
-
Forced marriages and
�honour killings� are often intertwined. Marriage can be forced to save
honour, and women can be murdered for rejecting a
forced marriage and marrying a partner of their own choice who is not
acceptable for the family of the girl. In traditional societies, �honour
killings� are basically �justified� as a sanction for �dishonourable�
behaviour.
Organic farming in India
in
India as against 42,000 ha
under certified organic
farming during 2003-04, initial estimates for 2009-10 indicate that
organic agriculture under
certification has grown to 10.5 ha, out of which nearly 7.5 lakh ha is
fully certified while remaining 3 lakh ha in under various stages of conversion.
Agriculture Ministry is promoting
organic farming in the country by implementing various
schemes such as National Project on Organic Farming, National Horticulture
Mission, Technology Mission for North East and Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.
Two new innovative
components-biological soil health assessment and introduction of PGS
certification system have been added in the National Project on Organic Farming
from the current year. ICAR has initiated an All India
Network Project on organic farming to ensure the development and promotion of
scientifically proven methodologies in organic farming,
Organic farming as an
ideal option for rainfed, marginal land and hilly areas, and promotion of
organic farming will not only ensure increased availability of organic and
biological source of nutrients but -2- will also provide technologies and
information which help other forms of agriculture in restoring soil health and
conservation of resources.
India
has come up with the new symbol of Indian Rupee!!
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The
Indian rupee will soon have a unique
symbol, a blend of the Devanagri �Ra� and Roman �R�.
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It is to join the
elite currencies like the
US dollar, euro, British pound and
Japanese yen inorder to have a distinct identity.
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India is to become the
fifth currency in the world to have a distinct identity.
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The Union Information
& Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni has shown the new
Indian Rupee symbol to the public through the media.
Inflation moves up again in June!!
-
Inflation based on the
wholesale price index (WPI) continued
to remain in dobule digits in June as it moved up to 10.55 per cent from
10.16 per cent.
-
The Primary articles
inflation in June rose 16.28 per cent, mostly due to an increase in prices
of food articles such as pulses, fruits and milk as well as non food
articles including fibres and minerals.
-
The
annual food inflation eased to 14.60
per cent in June from 16.49 per cent in the prior month.
-
The inflation was
raised mainly due to the increase in oil prices.
New Inflation Index is on the way!!
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A new system of
Inflation measurement, under which price changes of about 250 extra
items would be covered, is likely to be rolled out by the Government on
August 14, 2010.
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The present monthly
inflation measurement system, based on the
wholesale price index, reflects the price
variations of 435 items.
-
After the new index
introduction, the number of items would go up to 685 items, which include a
host of new products, including Consumer goods such as
Mobile phones, and LCD televisions,
etc.
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The base year of the
new index would also be changed from 1993-94 to 2004-05.
Sensex Shines again after nine months
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The
Sensex crossed the 18,000 mark on 12th
April, 2010 for the first time in three months and
the Nifty touched a 52 � week high as FIIs (Foreign Institutional
Investors) pumped money into Indian stocks.
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Industrial Production
registered a year � on � year growth of 11.5 per cent in May � the lowest in
seven months and below the 16.5 per cent for April.
Food
Inflation rises to 12.81%
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The annual
food inflation, based on the Wholesale Price Index, rose 12.81 per
cent for the week ended July 3, 2010, marginally above the previous week�s
year �on-year rise of 12.63 per cent.
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Transport disruptions due to monsoon
rains and high fuel cost pushed up the food inflation
rate.
Saina
Nehwal zooms to 2nd in Badminton world rankings!!
The
20-year-old Saina made a meteoric rise following
her back-to-back title triumphs at the India Open Grand Prix and the
Singapore Open Super Series, reaching the world number
three last month. And after the Indian defended her Indonesian Open Super Series
crown to complete her hat-trick of titles, make her to jump to the second place.
In the
men�s ranking, the Indian trio of Chetan Anand, P Kashyap and Arvind Bhatt were
at 15th, 25th and 27th spot respectively, while mixed doubles pair of Jwala
Gutta and V Diju was static at the seventh place.
Cropped Area of KHARIF has increased in 2010
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The cropped area of
KHARIF has increased substantially.
Cotton has shown a steep rise in the cropped area 82.78 lakh hectare in 15th
July, 2010, whereas 68.75 lakh hectare was in 15th July, 2009,
among the other products.
-
The other KHARIF
products which have shown raised are Rice 124.78 (122.4), Coarse Cereals
107.23 (95.19), Oilseeds 96.72
(94.15), Pulses 45.06 (38.23), Sugarcane 47.37 (41.79), Jute 7.59 (6.89),
over the same corresponding period.
India
ranks 7th in the Global Car Production
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India ranks 7th
in the Global Car Production with 2,166,238 units for the year of 2009.
Maruthi Suzuki leads with the installed capacity of 1,000,000 units in 2010,
in the Indian Car Industry.
-
China leads the Global
Car Production with the units of 10,383,831 with the following countries
Japan (6,862,161), Germany
(4,964,523), South Korea (3,158,417), Brazil (2,576,628), USA (2,246,470).
Young
Indian scientist bags NASA award
The Patna-born Saikat Guha
has been selected for NASA award for his
contribution to the National Space Programme and to
the mission of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, US.
Working as a scientist
with BBN Technolgies, USA, Saikat has been awarded the prestigious NASA Tech
Brief Award for his paper, �Phase-conjugate receiver for Gaussian-state quantum
illumination,� which was published in the NASA Tech Brief magazine recently.
A product of St Michael�s High School in Patna, Saikat completed his BTech in
electrical engineering from
IIT, Kanpur, and then a doctorate from MIT, USA. The letter issued by Dr
Christopher H Jaggers, Awards Liaison Officer, NASA
Space Act Awards, said that the Chairman, NASA Inventions and Contributions
Board had selected Saikat Guha for the honour.
SBI
has come up with 1 Re Savings Bank Account!!
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State Bank of India (SBI) has added a
new product portfolio of starting a Savings Bank
account with 1 Rupee, which targets the urban poor. This account can earn
interests and get access to all other services offered by the bank.
-
SBI is the first bank who formally
launched this facility in the country.
-
This facility will be
functioned in the Customer Service Points (CSPs)
of their respective branches. Initially 20 CSPs have launched and it will be
go up to 150 across the country before March 2011.
Sibal
bats for students� creative instincts
Sibal made the launch of
two secondary level courses�Mass Media Studies and Geo-spatial Technologies (GT)
� by the Central Board of Secondary Education
(CBSE) in collaboration with the industries concerned.
-
The GT vocational
course has been launched keeping in mind the growth expected in the Indian
geo-spatial market. A market report estimates
requirement of 30,000 professionals in the Indian geo-spatial industry by
2013. As part of the certification scheme,
CBSE students will have to
compulsorily pass two modules of GT in class XI and XII.
-
The Media Studies
course will be introduced in 10 schools in
Delhi, six in Mumbai and four in Pune while the Geo-Spatial course,
that will focus mainly on cartography and GIS-based mapping, will be
available in nine schools in Delhi, three in Kolkata and one in Mumbai.
Accenture crosses 50,000 staff mark in India!!
Accenture
has joined the elite group of multinationals such as International Business
Machine (IBM) and Cognizant Technology
Solutions (CTS) in employing over 50,000 in India.
The
$22-billion US-based management consulting technology
services and outsourcing company crossed the 50,000 mark in May, ahead of its
anticipated plan of reaching that number by 2010-end.
Government sanctions funds for unique identity numbers!
The
Cabinet Committee on
Unique Identification Authority of India,
at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh on Thursday, approved the commencement of Phase II of the scheme at
an estimated cost of Rs 3023.01 crore.
The
ambitious scheme will allocate unique identity numbers
to ten crore of the country�s population.
The
estimated cost includes project components for issue of 10 crore unique identity
(UID numbers by March 2011 and recurring
establishment costs for the entire project phase of
five years ending March 2014.
The
first set of 10 crore UID numbers are
expected to be issued between August 2010 and March 2011.
The
Phase I proposal was approved in November 2009.
The
UIDAI has since established its
Headquarters at New Delhi and six out of the eight Regional Offices.
India
to Introduce New Food Safety Norms!
The
government is all set to introduce newer, tougher laws to maintain standards and
quality of food and water, since 80% of all deaths in the country are believed
to be linked to unhealthy food and water.
According to the Food Safety and Standards
Authority of India (FSSAI) the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which
consolidates various acts and orders that have hitherto handled food related
issues in various union ministries and departments, would be enforced soon.
After
the enforcement of the new act, eight
regulations currently in operation will be repealed.
These would include various central acts like the Prevention of Food
Adulteration Act, 1954, the Fruit Products Order, 1955, the Meat Food Products
Order, 1973, the Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947, the Edible Oils
Packaging (Regulation) Order, 1998 and the Milk and
Milk Product Order, 1992.
Facebook crosses 12-million user mark in India!!
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Social
networking siteFacebook today said that it has
crossed the 12-million user base mark in India.
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Even as people continue to share their
lives on the social networking site, the company has surpassed the
12-million user mark inIndia, Facebook said in a
statement.
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While users in India upload more than 53
million photos in a month, mobile usage also increased nine-fold in the past
year, it added.
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Facebook
is growing rapidly across the world and catching up with Orkut in
India and Brazil, where the Google creation had dominated the social
networking scene for a long time.
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Globally, the networking site claims to
have 500 million active users every day
Indian firm in shortlist for US award!!
Human
capital firm Aspire has been shortlisted for the prestigious John McNulty
Award. It has become the first Indian
company to be among final contenders of the prize conferred by the Aspen
Institute of the US.
The
Gurgaon-based firm will compete with four other companies from across the world
for the USD 100,000 award to be announced in
November.
The John
McNulty award recognises young social entrepreneurs who have made lasting
contributions to their communities and towards addressing the social, economic
and political challenges confronting them.
Aspire
has partnered with educational institutions
across India to train students and address the job-talent disparity. The talent
development company then acts as a bridge between the students and companies
seeking talent.
Economic Outlook 2010-11 for India � Highlights
�Economic
Outlook 2010-11� Following are the highlights
of the document:
�
Economy to grow at 8.5 per cent in 2010-11 and 9.0 % in
2011-12
o
Agriculture grew at 0.2% in 2009-10.
Projected to grow at 4.5% in 2010-11 and 4.0% in 2011-12.
o
Industry grew at 9.3% in 2009-10.
Projected to grow at 9.7% in 2010-11 and 10.3 % in 2011-12.
o
Services grew at 8.5% in 2009-10.
Projected to grow at 8.9% in 2010-11 and 9.8% in 2011-12.
� Slow recovery in
global economic and financial situation
� Rising domestic
Savings and Investment chief engines of growth
o Investment rate is
expected to be 37% in 2010-11 and 38.4% in 2011-12.
o Domestic
savings rate is expected to be over 34% in 2010-11 and
close to 36% in 2011-12.
� Current Account
deficit estimated at 2.7% of GDP in 2010-11 and 2.9% of GDP in 2011-12
o Merchandise trade
deficit projected to be $ 137.8 billion or 9% of the GDP in 2010-11 and
$160 billion or 9.3% of GDP in 2011-12.
o Invisibles trade
surplus projected to be $ 96 billion or 6.3% of the GDP
in 2010-11 and $109.7 billion or 6.4% in 2011-12.
� Capital Flows
can be readily absorbed by financing needs of the high growth of the Indian
Economy.
o Against the level of
$53.6 billion in 2009-10, the capital inflows projected to be $ 73 billion for
2010-11 and $91 billion for 2011-12.
o Accretion to reserves
was $13.4 billion in 2009-10. Projected to be $30.9 billion in 2010-11 and $39.8
billion in 2011-12.
�
Inflation rate projected at 6.5 % by March 2011 due to
expected normal monsoon combined with the base effect.
o The provisional headline
inflation was above 10% in June 2010.
o Controlling high
inflation rate essential for sustainable growth in medium term.
o Available food stocks
must be released to have a dampening effect on prices.
�
Monetary Policy to complete the process of exit and operate
with bias toward tightening.
o Credit off take picked
up. Strong growth rate in the 1st quarter of 2010-11.
o Fund flow from capital
market to commercial sector quite strong. Bond issuance growth relatively higher
than issuance of equity.
o Liquidity conditions are
taut enough for monetary policy signals to be appropriately transmitted to the
financial sector. A bias toward tightening is necessary.
o Exchange rate variations
will remain within acceptable range.
� Exit from the
expansionary fiscal policy not only feasible but also necessary
o High buoyancy in direct
and indirect tax collections. Telecom auctions and decontrol of the petroleum
products prices to provide additional cushion.
o Fiscal deficit outturn
may be lower than the budgeted consolidated fiscal deficit of 8.4% of GDP for
2010-11.
o
Revenue Deficit as a ratio of GDP expected to decline from 6.3% in
2009-10 to 4.6% in 2010-11.
o Operationalization of
Goods and Services Tax (GST) should be a priority.
o Budgeted level of Fiscal
Deficit and Revenue Deficit still beyond comfort zone.
o Need to rationalize the
food and fertilizer subsidies.
� To sustain a
growth rate of 9.0 per cent, focus is required on:
o Containing inflation
o Improving farm
productivity
o Closing the large
physical infrastructure deficit, especially in the power sector.
Script for Tribal language: 19 yrs of hardwork
Prasanna Sree, senior
professor in the Department
of English in Andhra University, has designed script
for tribal languages. The professor has been
working on the project for 19 years.
There are about 35 tribal
groups spread over different regions in Andhra Pradesh.
Out of them, 16 to 19 groups inhabit the hill regions of the Eastern Ghats.
Professor Sree picked 10 major tribes such as the Bagathas, the Gadhabas, the
Jathapus, the Valmikis, the Kolams, the Porjas, the Koyas, the Konda-Doras, the
Kotias and the Gonds, and designed distinctive and individual scripts for them.
A
combination
Professor Sree has
combined elements and influences of religion, culture and lifestyle of the
respective tribes, and oriented them to the sound structures of each spoken
language.
One of the main
characteristics of folk speech is that it is more restricted to oral
circulation, commonly known as oral literature, which is also called �verbal
art� or �expressive� literature.
At times, she faced
hostility, both from members of the primitive tribal groups (PTGs) and Maoists.
�The major task lies ahead
� introducing the script to the natives. Nearly 132 tribal volunteers,
supervised by 10 motivators, are now shouldering the responsibility of teaching
these alphabets in the primary schools, to women of self-help groups and at
adult education centres in 167 villages.�
Global
acclaim
Globally, her work has
been widely acknowledged and appreciated by Tim Brookes, creator and director of
endangered alphabets project, Champlain College, Vermont, and Simon Ager,
director of Omniglot, a United Kingdom-based researcher in writing systems and
languages of the world.
India
ranked 124th in economic freedom index!!
Despite
being one of the fastest growing economies
in the world, India is languishing down in the �Index of Economic Freedom 2010′.
India is ranked 124th among 183 countries in the index prepared by The
Heritage Foundation along with the Wall
Street Journal.
The 10
components of economic freedom include freedom in business,
trade, investment, fiscal and monetary actions,
government spending, property rights, freedom from corruption and labour
rigidities.
India�s
economic freedom score is 53.8 classifying the country as a mostly �unfree�
economy. Its score is 0.6 point lower than last year due to a decline in freedom
in areas such as business and monetary actions and higher level of corruption.
Its ranking is also dropped by one notch as compared to last year.
ISO
certification for Rashtrapati Bhavan
Special honour:
As President Pratibha Patil looks on, Bureau Veritas India director R.K. Sharma
(second from left) presents ISO certificate for President�s Estate to Secretary
Christy Fernandez in New Delhi.
India�s first urban habitat with excellent eco-management systems
President Pratibha Patil completed three years in office, Rashtrapati Bhavan was
presented with an International Organisation for
Standardisation (ISO) 14001:2004 Certificate for having emerged as the
country�s first urban habitat with excellent environmental management systems.
Ms.
Patil initiated a project, �Roshni Programme,� which
was aimed at making the President�s Estate a plastic-free zone and pushed for
introduction of energy-efficient practices.
The ISO
certificate from the Bureau Veritas India (BVI) that was presented to the
President�s Secretary, Christy Fernandez, is in recognition of the practices
adopted by the President�s office and the residents of the estate in switching
over to energy-efficient and best practices including
water harvesting, solar energy and solid waste management.
Indian-origin entrepreneur honoured
Indian-origin entrepreneur Vijay Patel, who arrived in
Britain from Kenya 40 years ago with just �5 in his pocket and went on to find
riches in the pharmaceuticals industry, has been honoured by his old university.
Dr.
Patel, 60, is today one of the richest men in Britain and ranks 141st in the
Sunday Times Rich List. He was awarded an honorary degree in
business administration by the De Montfort University, Leicester.
Now a
pharmaceuticals tycoon, Dr. Patel studied pharmacy at the university and
graduated in 1973. He heads the globally successful
company, Waymade Healthcare.
Rajasthan bans plastic carry-bags
In a
major step for environment protection, the Rajasthan
government announced a complete ban on the use of plastic carry-bags all over
the State from August 1. A notification declared the entire State a �plastic
carry-bag-free zone.�
The ban
will also apply to manufacture, storage, import, sale and
transport of plastic carry-bags.
Violation
of the order will attract prosecution under Section 15
of the Environment Protection Act, which
prescribes jail for five years or a fine of up to Rs.1 lakh or both. Recurrence
of the offence may lead to penalty of Rs.5,000 a day.
India
successfully test-fires interceptor missile
India on Monday
successfully
test-fired advance air defence (AAD)
interceptor
missile, whose primary function is to
destroy an incoming enemy ballistic missile.
Defence Research and Development Organisation-run
premier missile testing centres located in the two north Orissa coastal
districts of Balasore and Bhadrakh were involved in this important exercise
popularly known as �missile versus missile� test.
Highly
placed sources in both districts said a surface-to-surface �Prithvi� missile
which was modified into a hostile or �enemy� missile was first test-fired into
the air from a mobile launcher parked on the launch pad number three of Interim
Test Range (ITR) located in Chandipur in Balasore district at 10:05 am.
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium inaugurated for Commonwealth Games
The
remodelled, 60,000 capacity Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium,
showpiece venue for October�s Commonwealth Games,
was finally inaugurated on 27th July 2010 after several missed
deadlines.
The venue, originally built for the 1982 Asian
Games, was inaugurated by sports minister MS Gill in the
presence of Delhi chief minister Shiela Diskhit and
Commonwealth Games organizing committee chief Suresh Kalmadi.
The
stadium has been refurbished at a cost of a whopping Rs 9.6 billion
(approximately $200 million) with international consultants from six countries �
Germany, Switzerland, UK, US, Mexico and
Australia � putting their heads together to construct the state-of-art facility.
Cheetah will run again in India.
The
cheetah, eradicated in India by hunting nearly a
century ago, will run again in the country, as three sites are earmarked for its
reintroduction.
The
government has approved wildlife groups� recommendations of two sanctuaries in
Madhya Pradesh and an area in
Rajasthan as potential homes.
The
government will spend 30m rupees ($0.6m; �0.4m) to restore these sites before
the animals are imported.
The plan
is to import the cats from Africa, Iran
and the Middle East.
Kuno
Palpur and Nauradehi wildlife sanctuaries in the central Indian state of Madhya
Pradesh and Shahgarh area in Jaisalmer, in the northern state of Rajasthan, have
been selected as the sites to house the animals.
Environment and Forests Minister Jairam
Ramesh said the reintroduction of the world�s fastest land animal would �restore
the grasslands� of India.
The vast
majority of the 10,000 cheetahs left in the world are in
Africa.
British Prime Minister Gordon arrives India
British
Prime Minister David Cameron has attended his first public event in
India, on the Infosys Technologies� campus on 28th
July, 2010. He deeply concerned about the Pakistan�s terrorist activities
against India.
Later, Mr. Cameron witnessed the signing of
an agreement at Hindustan Aeronautics
Ltd�s facility here for the supply 57 Hawk Advanced Jet
Trainer aircraft to the
Indian Air Force and the
Navy. While the IAF will acquire 40
aircraft, the Navy, for the first time, will obtain 17
Hawk AJT aircraft at a total cost of Rs. 5,100 crore.
In 2004, India signed a deal for the
acquisition of 66 Hawks for the IAF.
In 2004, India signed a deal for the
acquisition of 66 Hawks for the IAF
Apple
is world�s most valuable brand: Forbes
A white version
of the new Apple iPhone 4. Global
technology major Apple tops the Forbes list of the �World�s Most Valuable
Brands�, ahead of giants Microsoft and Coca Cola.
Global
technology major Apple tops the Forbes list of the �World�s Most Valuable
Brands�, ahead of giants Microsoft and Coca Cola.
The
Forbes Top 50 list of the world�s most valuable brands,
compiled by the magazine, is dominated by 32 U.S. firms.
Tech
major Apple, which topped the list, �is a company that has faced setbacks
before and bounced back to become the world�s most
valuable brand worth $57.4 billion,� Forbes noted.
Tech
major Apple, which topped the list, is followed by software major Microsoft,
with a brand value of $56.6 billion.
Beverage
firm Coca Cola was third, with a brand value of $55.4 billion, followed by
technology giant IBM, now worth $43 billion and search titan Google, which came
fifth in the ranking with a brand value of $39.7 billion.
Other
companies featuring in the top 10 include U.S.-based McDonald�s, General
Electric, Marlboro and Intel and Finnish handset maker
Nokia at the tenth spot.
Among the
other top 50 brands are Toyota (11), Vodafone
(13), Pepsi (24),
Nescafe (29), Frito-Lay (38), ESPN (48) and Gucci (50).
Spoken Web Technology.
India, Nepal agreement on wildlife conservation
India and Nepal have agreed to strengthen
their respective National Action Plans under the
Global Tiger Forum for tiger conservation in a time-bound implementation.
The
resolution is the outcome of the Fourth Nepal-India Consultative meeting on
Trans-Boundary Biodiversity Conservation held earlier this month.
As per
the resolution, the two countries will strengthen the capacity building of the
personnel involved in tiger and wildlife conservation and protection under the
Forum. The implementation of projects for rhinos, elephants and other endangered
species will also be strengthened.
Khel
Ratna for Saina Nehwal
A
JEWEL:Saina Nehwal, who climbed to No. 2
in world rankings recently following three
major title wins in Chennai,
Singapore
and Indonesia, was the popular choice for the Khel Ratna Award.
Khel Ratna for badminton star Saina
Nehwal and recognition for football after eight years were the
highlights of the recommendations for the Rajiv Gandhi
Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards made by two specially-constituted panels here.
Saina won
in the last three years were the Indonesian Open (2009),
She
climbed to No. 2 in world rankings recently following three major titles in a
row in Chennai, Singapore and Indonesia.
She also
became the first Indian woman to reach the semifinals of the All England and
Asian championships.