Satyananda Mishra is the new chairman of Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX)
Ex- Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Satyananda Mishra has been appointed as the chairman of Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) board.
The Forward Markets Commission (FMC) also approved the appointment of Satyananda Mishra as the independent Director of MCX’s board.
The position of the chairman was vacant since previous chairman, Venkat Chary, resigned in August 2013 on account of the new guidelines of Forward Markets Commission (FMC) which stated that the age limit of people on the board should not be more than 70 years.
The Forward Markets Commission (FMC) also approved the appointment of Satyananda Mishra as the independent Director of MCX’s board.
The position of the chairman was vacant since previous chairman, Venkat Chary, resigned in August 2013 on account of the new guidelines of Forward Markets Commission (FMC) which stated that the age limit of people on the board should not be more than 70 years.
About Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX)
The MCX is country’s first listed commodity futures exchange that facilitates online trading, and clearing and settlement of commodity futures transactions, thereby roviding a platform for risk management. It began functioning in November 2003 and operates within the regulatory framework of the Forward Contracts Regulation Act, 1952 (FCRA, 1952).Raheel Sharif becomes chief of Pakistan Army
Lt General Raheel Sharif promoted and appointed as the new chief of Pakistan army.As per official announcement, President Mamnoon Hussain on the advice of Prime Minister Mr. Nawaz Sharif named General Sharif as chief of army staff and General Rashad Mehmood as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee(CJCSC). The retiring chief of army staff General Ashfaque Parvez Kayani handed over the charge to the new chief on November 29, 2013.
Rory McIlroy clinches Emirates Australian Open Golf Tournament
Irish golfer Rory McIlroy defeated his contender Adam Scott at the Emirates Australian Open Golf Tournament , winning for the first time in 2013. He snatched the title from Scott who was trying to be only the second player after compatriot Robert Allenby in 2005 to win Australia’s triple crown by claiming the Australian Open, Masters and PGA titles in the same season.Suwannapura bags India Open golf tournament
Thailand’s Thidapa Suwannapura won the Women’s Indian Open golf tournament played at the Delhi
Golf Club. The win also made Suwannapura the second Thai to win the
title, after three-time winner and defending champion Phatlum Pornanong.
India’s Gauri Monga was tied fifth — the best show by an Indian in the tournament.
India’s Gauri Monga was tied fifth — the best show by an Indian in the tournament.
P.V. Sindhu clinches Macau Grand Prix
India’s rising badminton star P.V. Sindhu achieved another feat as she lifted the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold title by defeating Canada’s Michelle Li in the final clash, in Macau.
This is her second Grand Prix Gold title after the Malaysia Open in May 2013. Sindhu was recently conferred with the Arjuna award this year for her remarkable performances in badminton.
This is her second Grand Prix Gold title after the Malaysia Open in May 2013. Sindhu was recently conferred with the Arjuna award this year for her remarkable performances in badminton.
Breakthrough deal at Iran and P5+1 nuclear talks
A key breakthrough deal has
been clinched at Iran and P5+1 group of nations negotiations aimed to
curb Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for limited sanctions
relief. The Chief Negotiator for the P5+1 nations, Catherine Marie Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarief inked
the deal to this effect at UN Headquarters in Geneva. The interim
agreement for 6 months is intended to provide time and space to the international community to work out a comprehensive agreement.
What are the key features of the deal?
- Iran will stop enriching uranium beyond 5%, the level at which it can be used for weapons research, and cut its stockpile of uranium enriched beyond this point.
- Iran will provide greater access to inspectors including daily access at Natanz and Fordo nuclear sites.
- In return, there will be no new nuclear-related sanctions for 6 months.
- Sanctions relief worth about $7 billion on sectors including precious metals.
National Lok Adalat settles around 35 lakh cases in India: NALSA
The National Lok Adalat held all over the country effectively settled a record 35 lakh cases pending in various courts.
The National Lok Adalats were organised by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee. They were organized in the apex court, all 24 high courts and all the district and sub-district courts of the country. This was the first time that cases were taken up at the same time all over the country for settlement.
The National Lok Adalat, organized simultaneously in the Supreme Court and courts all over the country, resolved over 35 lakh cases related to accident claims, matrimonial disputes, dud cheques and traffic fines, among others, in a single day.
The gigantic exercise was held to settle 39 lakh pending cases relating to motor accident claims, matrimonial disputes, labour disputes, dud cheques, bank recovery cases, civil suits and traffic tickets.
As per Chief Justice P Sathasivam who inaugurated National Lok Adalat, the main object of the adalat was to expedite justice to litigants and make sure that there were no further appeals. He viewed the settlement of disputes through the Lok Adalat as cost-effective, and also providing easy access to justice.
The National Lok Adalats were organised by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee. They were organized in the apex court, all 24 high courts and all the district and sub-district courts of the country. This was the first time that cases were taken up at the same time all over the country for settlement.
The National Lok Adalat, organized simultaneously in the Supreme Court and courts all over the country, resolved over 35 lakh cases related to accident claims, matrimonial disputes, dud cheques and traffic fines, among others, in a single day.
The gigantic exercise was held to settle 39 lakh pending cases relating to motor accident claims, matrimonial disputes, labour disputes, dud cheques, bank recovery cases, civil suits and traffic tickets.
As per Chief Justice P Sathasivam who inaugurated National Lok Adalat, the main object of the adalat was to expedite justice to litigants and make sure that there were no further appeals. He viewed the settlement of disputes through the Lok Adalat as cost-effective, and also providing easy access to justice.
Serena Williams is WTA Player of the Year 2013
World No. 1 women’s tennis player Serena Williams (32) has been named WTA Player of the Year for 2013.
In 2013, she won 78 out of her 82 matches, clinching 11 titles including the U.S. Open and the French Open. Earlier, she had become the oldest world No.1 in the history of WTA. Williams has been named the WTA Player Of The Year four times in past. She achieved the feat in 2002, 2008, 2009 and 2012.
In 2013, she won 78 out of her 82 matches, clinching 11 titles including the U.S. Open and the French Open. Earlier, she had become the oldest world No.1 in the history of WTA. Williams has been named the WTA Player Of The Year four times in past. She achieved the feat in 2002, 2008, 2009 and 2012.
Prof CNR Rao becomes first Indian scientist elected to Chinese Academy of Science
Eminent Scientist and Bharat Ratna awardee Prof CNR Rao has become the first Indian scientist to be elected as honorary foreign member of Chinese Academy of Science (CAS).CAS consists of several Nobel laureates and eminent scientists of the world. Prof. Rao was recently awarded the Bharat Ratna. In 2012, CAS had conferred on him the prestigious Award for International Scientific Cooperation.
About C.N.R. Rao (Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao)
- An Indian scientist
- One of the world’s foremost chemists in the field of Solid State, Structural and Materials Chemistry.
- His work on transition metal oxides led to basic understanding of novel phenomena and the relationship between materials properties and the structural chemistry of metal oxides.
- Currently, he heads the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India.
- Authored around 1500 research papers.
- Authored and edited 45 books.
- First Indian scientist to reach the h-index of 100.
- One of the earliest to synthesize two-dimensional oxide materials such as La2CuO4.
- His findings have resulted into a systematic study of compositionally controlled metal-insulator transitions. Such findings have immensely helped in fields such as colossal magneto resistance and high temperature superconductivity. His oxide semiconductors have uncommon promise.
- Made significant contributions to nano materials, apart from his work on hybrid materials.
- Elected to almost all scientific academies of the world including The Royal Society -London, National Academy of Science – USA, Pontifical Academy of Science, Japan Academy and Royal Spanish Academy of Sciences, among others.
- Conferred 60 Honoris Causa (Honorary Doctorates) by various universities across the globe.
What is h-index (also called the Hirsch index or Hirsch number)?
- h-index (also called the Hirsch index or Hirsch number) is a tool that measures the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar.
- Based on the set of the scientist’s most cited papers and the number of citations that the individual has received in other publications.
- Physicist Jorge Hirsch was the first one to coin it in 2005.
- George Whitesides of Harvard University has an h-index of 169, which makes him the highest ranked living chemist.
Justice A.P.Shah appointed Chairman of Law Commission of India
Justice Ajit Prakash Shah has been appointed as the new Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India . He has taken charge of the position vacated by the resignation of Justice D K Jain, who was appointed as the head of National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The 20th Law Commission was constituted with effect from September 1, 2012 with a 3-year term, ending on August 31, 2015.
Some landmark judgments by Justice Shah:
- As Chief Justice of Delhi High Court before his retirement, he gave many crucial judgments including the Naz Foundation verdict (Section 377 of IPC).
- He chaired the full bench of Delhi High Court which made the landmark verdict which held that the office of Chief Justice of India will also come under the ambit of RTI Act.
Magnus Carlsen – New King of Chess
Norway’s
Magnus Carlsen ended 5 times title-holder Viswanathan Anand’s reign as
the world champion. Magnus Carlsen took the crown after a hard-fought
draw in the 10th game of the World Chess
Championship match. This was the first time in 8 world championship
matches starting from 1995 that Anand has was unable to win even a
single game. Carlsen made 6.5 points out of a possible 10 by winning 3
games and drawing 7 games. Anand had won the world championship title
five times – 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012 .Waheeda Rehman to receive First Centanary Award at 44th IFFI
Legendary actress Waheeda Rehman will be conferred with the first Centanary Award for the Indian Film Personality at the 44th International Film Festival of India (IFFI)
to be held in Goa. The award has been instituted this year (2013) which
consists of a trophy, a cash of Rs. 10 lakh and a citation. This award
to Waheeda Rehman acknowledges the creative contribution of an artist
who opted for roles which were much more than just the appealing shadow
of the male actors of the times.About Waheeda Rehman:
- Born in Chengalpattu near Chennai in 1936
- Started acting career with Tamil and Telugu movies. Her first film was Kaalam Maari Pochu along with Gemini Ganesan.
- Guru Dutt, her mentor, introduced her in Hindi movies as he offered her a role in film ‘C.I.D.’
- Waheeda Rehman & Guru Dutt served the audience with such marvels as ‘Pyasa’. ‘ Kaghaz Ke Phool’, ‘Saheb Bibi aur Ghulam’ and ‘ Chudhvin ka Chaand’.
- Preformed impressively with the other megastars like Dilip Kumar (Ram aur Shayam, Dil Diya Dard Liya), Raj Kapoor (Teesri Kasam) and Dev Anand (Guide).
- Gathered laurels for her roles in ‘Reshma aur Shera’, ‘Kabhie Kabhie’, ‘Khamoshi’, ‘Delhi-6’and ‘Rang De Basanti’.
- Became famous in media as the ‘Quintessential Beauty of Bollywood’
- Won the National Award for the Best Actor in 1971 for ‘Reshma Aur Shera’ and Filmfare Awards in 1966 for ‘Guide’ and in 1968 for ‘Neel Kamal’.
- Honoured with Padma Shri in 1972 and with Padma Bhushan in 2011.
Nobel laureate Doris Lessing passed away
Doris Lessing (94), one of the UK’s most-influential writer and a Nobel Literature laureate passed away.Doris Lessing:
Born: October 22, 1919, in Kermanshah, IranBritish novelist, poet, playwright, librettist, biographer and short story writer.
Authored more than 80 books, including poetry, two operas, short stories, plays and non-fiction.
She is best-known for ‘The Golden Notebook’.
Other illustrious works: The Grass is Singing (her first novel), the sequence of five novels collectively called Children of Violence, The Golden Notebook , The Good Terrorist , and five novels collectively known as Canopus in Argos.
Awards and Honors:
In 2001, Lessing was awarded the David Cohen Prize for a lifetime’s achievement in British literature. The Swedish Academy awarded her the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Abdulla Yameen becomes President of Maldives
Abdulla Yameen has been elected as the new President of the Maldives after a run-off poll. The event ended nearly two years of political tumult that blighted the incipient democracy and raised international concerns over the country’s future.
Yameen, the half-brother of former autocratic ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, was sworn in as the 6th president of the Maldives by Chief Justice Ahmad Faiz.
Yameen, 54, a candidate of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM),
bagged an unexpected win in the presidential run-off by securing
51.39% of the votes over opposition leader and former president Mohamed
Nasheed belonging to Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) who received
48.61% of the votes.
‘International Indian of the Decade’ award to Lord Swaraj Paul
Eminent NRI industrialist and educationist, Lord Swraj Paul was conferred with the ‘International Indian of the Decade’ award on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the publication of India
Link International, a monthly magazine published from London. He was
presented this award for his outstanding achievements in the fields of industry, education and philanthropy.Who is Lord Swaraj Paul?
- Swraj Paul (82) is an India-born, UK-based business baron, philanthropist, and Labour politician.
- Founded UK-based steel and engineering multinational company Caparo which employs around 10,000 people worldwide principally in the UK, USA and India.
- In 1996, became a life peer, a member of the House of Lords, as a Labour memberwith the title Baron Paul, of Marylebone in the City of Westminster.
- 1983: Awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India
- 1999: Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton
- 2000-2008: Member of the London Development Agency
- 2005-2008: Chaired the LDA Olympics Delivery Committee responsible for delivering the land and infrastructure for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
- 2006: Chancellor of the University of Westminster
- 2008: Became first Indian-born Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords
- 2009: Appointed to the Privy Council.
- Awarded with 15 honorary degrees by universities in the UK, India, USA and Switzerland including the Corporate Leadership Award from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Bharat Ratna for scientist Prof. C.N.R.Rao
P
rof. C.N.R. Rao, the man behind India’s maiden Mars mission, to be conferred with the prestigious Bharat Ratna Award, India’s highest civilian award.
rof. C.N.R. Rao, the man behind India’s maiden Mars mission, to be conferred with the prestigious Bharat Ratna Award, India’s highest civilian award.About C.N.R. Rao (Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao)
An Indian scientistWorked mainly in solid-state and structural chemistry.
One of the world’s foremost solid state and materials chemists.
Rao’s work on transition metal oxides led to basic understanding of novel phenomena and the relationship between materials properties and the structural chemistry of metal oxides.
At present, he is the Head of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India.
Author of around 1500 research papers.
Authored and edited 45 books.
First Indian scientist to reach the h-index of 100.
One of the earliest to synthesize two-dimensional oxide materials such as La2CuO4.
Rao’s findings have resulted into a systematic study of compositionally controlled metal-insulator transitions. Such findings have emmensely helpes in fields such as colossal magneto resistance and high temperature superconductivity. Oxide semiconductors have uncommon promise.
Made good contribution to nano materials, apart from his work on hybrid materials.
What is h-index (also called the Hirsch index or Hirsch number)?
- h-index (also called the Hirsch index or Hirsch number) is a tool that measures the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar.
- Based on the set of the scientist’s most cited papers and the number of citations that the individual has received in other publications.
- Physicist Jorge Hirsch was the first one to coin it in 2005.
- George Whitesides of Harvard University has an h-index of 169, which makes him the highest ranked living chemist.
Sachin Tendulkar chosen for the prestigious Bharat Ratna
Sachin Tendulkar chosen for the prestigious Bharat Ratna (India’s highest civilian award). Thus Tendulkar will be the first sportsperson ever to be honoured with Bharat Ratna.Tendulkar retired from all forms of cricket as the most successful batsman with 15,921 runs in 200 Tests and 18,426 runs in 463 matches in ODIs. He was the first batsman to get a double hundred in ODIs. His career of 24 years made him an inspiration for an entire nation.
The eligibility criteria of the Bharat Ratna award was revised in 2012 to accommodate sportspersons as well. This was done especially on continuous demands for Tendulkar to be conferred the honour for a long time. Tendulkar became a Rajya Sabha member in 2012.
This year, Bharat Ratna is being given to Tendulkar along with Professor C.N.R.Rao, the man behind India’s maiden Mars mission.
The Bharat Ratna is being conferred after a long gap with classical vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi being the last recipient in 2008.
Usha Ananthasubramanian becomes the first Chief of Bharatiya Mahila Bank – India’s first all women Bank
The Union Government appointed Usha Ananthasubramanian as the Chairperson and Managing Director (CMD) of public sector Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB), the first women bank of India.Prior to her appointment in BMB, she was an Executive Director with Punjab National Bank (PNB).
About Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB)
- Objective: Focus on the banking needs of the women and promote economic empowerment. It will also address the gender related issues and will be helpful in financial inclusion.
- India’s first all-women public sector bank; expected to be formally launched on November 19, 2013.
- First 6 branches at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Indore and Guwahati.
- Government approved Rs 1,000-crore seed capital for the bank in Budget 2013-14
- Headquarter of Bharatiya Mahila Bank: Delhi.
- CMD: Usha Ananthasubramanian
“404” most popular word of 2013; “Toxic Politics” the Top Phrase, and “Pope Francis” the Top Name of 2013
“404” most popular word of 2013
An annual survey by ‘Global Language Monitor’ for the English-speaking world’s “top words” has seen “404” as the most popular word of year 2013.What is “404”?
‘404’ or Not Found error message is the the near-universal numeric code for failure on the global Internet.An HTTP standard response code
Indicates that the client was able to communicate with the server, but the server could not find what was requested.
Web site hosting server will typically generate a “404 Not Found” web page when a user attempts to follow a broken or dead link
One of the most recognizable errors users can find on the web
Don’t confuse a 404 error with “server not found” or similar errors, in which a connection to the destination server could not be made at all.
What is the difference between a “404” error and a “Server not found” error?
A 404 error indicates that the requested resource may be available again in the future. But it doesn’t guarantee the same content.What was the Methodology adopted by the ‘Global Language Monitor’ (GLM)?
GLM employs NarrativeTracker technologies for global Internet and social media analysis. The NarrativeTracker is based on global discourse, providing a real-time, accurate picture about any topic, at any point in time. NarrativeTracker analyzes the Internet, blogosphere, the top 275,000 print and electronic global media, as well as new social media sources as they emerge.The Top Words of 2013
Rank / Word / Comments- 404 – The near-universal numeric code for failure on the global Internet.
- Fail — The single word fail, often used as a complete sentence (Fail!) to signify failure of an effort, project, or endeavor.
- Hashtag – The ‘number sign” and ‘pound sign’ reborn as the all-powerful Twitter hashtag.
- @Pontifex — The Hashage of the ever-more popular Pope Franciscus (Francis).
- The Optic — The ‘optic’ is threatening to overtake ‘the narrative’ as the Narrative overtook rational discourse. Does not bode well for an informed political discussion.
- Surveillance — The revelation of the unprecedented extent of spying by the NSA into lives of ordinary citizens to the leaders of the closest allies of the US.
- Drones – Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) that are piloted remotely or by on-board computers used for killing scores or even hundreds of those considered enemy combatants of the US.
- Deficit — Looks like deficit-spending will plague Western democracies for at least the next decade. Note to economists of all stripes: reducing the rate of increase of deficit spending still increases the deficit.
- Sequestration – Middle English sequestren, from Old French, from Latin sequestrare, to hide away or isolate or to give up for safekeeping.
- Emancipate — Grows in importance as worldwide more women and children are enslaved in various forms of involuntary servitude.
- Filibuster — Extended debate in a legislative body to delay or prevent a vote on the matter. Originally used to describe Caribbean pirates (freebooters) from the Spanish, filibustero, and French, flibustier.
- Nano — Nano-technology, nano-machines, nano-weapons, some too horrible to contemplate (see Bill Joy’s self-replicating nanobots resulting in a world of ’grey goo’.)
- Twerking – A dance mimicking various sexual postures and acts made famous by Miley Cyrus..
- Deadlock — A generation ago it was called Checks and Balances, to the founders it was a delicate balancing of powers.
- Franken- — Top trending prefix on the list. Expanded in meaning to include any human-instigated activity that inadvertently spins out of control (see nano-).
- Meme – Internet Memes can best be conceived as Internet thoughts or ideas that are propagated through all varieties of electronic communications.
- Stalemate — Failure of all sides to reach a settlement or agreement. Example: lack of a cease fire in the Syrian Civil War (100,000+ deaths and 1,000,000+ refugees).
- The Cloud — Where your data lands after you press <enter> (not to be mistaken for a play by Aristophanes).
- Phony — One of President Obama’s favorite criticisms of his opponents, synonymous with bogus, spurious, sham, and fake.
- Comet — A ’long-haired’ celestial object. The late ’13 comet was predicted as the brightest in a thousand years (Fail.)
The Top Phrases of 2013
Rank / Phrase / Comment- Toxic Politics — American-style scorch-and-burn political campaigns becoming the norm for democracies worldwide.
- Federal Shutdown — To the Founders it was a delicate balancing of powers. A generation ago it was called Checks and Balances, Today we call it Federal Shutdown.
- Global Warming/Climate Change – Add ‘anthropogenic’ warming to this fact: the existence of the Bering Land Bridge 20,000 years ago suggests that the Oceans were some 100 meters lower than today.
- Federal Deficit – The difference between what the government takes in and what it spends. Ten of the twelve largest global economies are running large deficits. The exceptions? China and Germany.
- Tread Lightly — The advice from Walter White of television’ s Breaking Bad, speaks volumes to many in the 21st century.
- Boston Strong — Signifying the resilience of Bostonians after the terror of the Marathon Bombing. Perhaps one day we will see Baghdad Strong.
- Marathon Bombing — Terrorist bombing at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon resulting in five deaths and 280 additional casualties.
- Chemical Weapons — Geneva Convention: any toxic chemical or its precursor that can cause death, injury, temporary incapacitation or sensory irritation through its chemical action.
- All Time High — Many see this all-too-prevalent description of many world markets as more of a warning that a cause for celebration.
- Rogue nukes — Sources state that Iran can now assemble a bomb in two weeks. This is going from hypothetical to reality. (If true, International Inspection Effort: Fail.)
- Near-Earth Asteroid — Admittedly more of a space rock than an asteroid but it did create significant property damage as well as injuries before crashing into a Russian lake.
- Arab Spring — A faint reminder … Still no successor term to the Arab Spring.
- Solar max — OK, so space scientists now say that 2014 (and not 2013) is the actual peak of the 11-year sunspot cycle.
- Big Data – No 1 on the 2013’s Tech List, ushering in a global transformation in how data is processed, analyzed, and transformed into solutions.
- Ethical/Sustainable Fashion– A global movement that includes designs from indigenous communities and emerging peoples.
The Top Names of 2013
Rank /Name / Comments- Pope Francis — The former Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the 266th Pope of the Catholic Church, born December 17, 1936 in Buenos Aires.
- ObamaCare – Five years after Obamamania, the president’s name is still in use though not always in a praiseworthy manner.
- NSA – The National Security Agency of the US collects intelligence through clandestine means of both foreign and (to the surprise of many) domestic sources.
- Ed Snowden – Edward Joseph Snowden, the former NSA contractor and CIA employee, who leaked classified United States, British and Israeli surveillance programs.
- Kate Middleton — Officially, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, the fashion and style icon, the future Queen of the Realm, wife of the Prince of Wales, and mother of Prince George of Cambridge. 5a. HRH Georgie — Nickname of Prince George of Cambridge, son of ‘Wills and Kate”.
- IRS — The Internal Revenue Service, the tax-collecting (or revenue enhancement) body of the US Government, that was in the spotlight for allegedly selectively auditing right-wing targets.
- Ted Cruz – Rafael Edward Cruz, the Tea Party supporter and Senator from Texas, who led a filibuster on the floor of the US Senate for 21 hours and nineteen minutes in opposition to the Affordable Care Act.
- Chris Christie – Governor of New Jersey who achieved national fame while touring the devastation wreaked on the Jersey Shore by Superstorm Sandy with President Obama.
- Tea Party – A Conservative political movement in the US, that takes its name from the Massachusetts protesters dumping tea into Boston Harbor in 1773 to highlight their call for ‘no taxation without representation’
- Marathon Bombers – Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the alleged perpetrators of the Terrorist bombing at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon resulting in five deaths and 280 additional casualties.
- Malala Yousafzai — The Pakistani girl shot by terrorists for promoting the right to education for girls.
- Xi Jinping — Replaces Hu Jintao, under whose administration China has seen a decade of extraordinary growth.
- President Obama – ‘Hope and Change’ retreats further into history as Obama seeks to find a better second term fates that his immediate predecessors.
- Hassan Rouhani — Newly elected president of Iran and successor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian presidency is a largely ceremonial post.
- Sochi Olympics — The XXII Olympic Winter Games to take place 7 to 23 February 2014, in Sochi, Russia.
PM not to attend CHOGM; Salman Khurshid to represent India
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has given up to the opposition’s pressure against his participation in the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Sri Lanka. He has decided not to attend the meeting. In the absence of PM, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will lead the Indian delegation at the meet.
Why there is opposition to PM participation in Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)?
There is opposition by parties in Tamil Nadu as well as a section in Congress who want PM to skip the CHOGM as a show of protest against the Sri Lankan government alleging it of inflicting atrocities on Tamils by the Sri Lankan military forces during the war against LTTE. They are also cynical about Sri Lankan government plans to devolve powers to the ethnic Tamils.Gariela Isler of Venezuela crowned Miss Universe
Gabriela Isler(25) of Venezuela has been crowned Miss Universe 2013 at a grand finale held in Moscow, Russia. Year 2012 winner Olivia Culpo of the United States placed a diamond crown on the head of Isler.This is the third win for Venezuela in the last six Miss Universe pageants. Dayana Mendoza and Stefania Fernandez won in 2008 and 2009 respectively.
The runner-up positions were bagged by Miss Spain, Patricia Rodrigues, Constanza Baez from Ecuador, Ariella Arida from the Philippines, and Jakelyne Oliveira from Brazil respectively.
Female participation in voting improved over last 50 years
As per an analysis of 50 years of Election Commission data for the Assembly elections held between 1962 and 2012 in 16 major States, there has been a significant improvement in the sex ratio
of the electorate as compared to early years. The analysis was done by
Mudit Kapoor and Shamika Ravi, Assistant Professors at the Indian School
of Business, Hyderabad.
The analysis points that:
The analysis points that:
- Between 1962 and 2012 in 16 major States the sex ratio of voters — the number of women voters for every 1,000 men voters — increased from 715 in the 1960s to 883 in the 2000s.
- Important to note that this improvement did not come about because more women registered to vote than men but because more women actively voted.
- The sex ratio of electors, all those on the roll, did not improve over time; in fact, it worsened in some States. But female voter turnouts enhanced faster than male, leading to an improvement in the overall sex ratio of voters.
- Kerala remains the State with the most equitable gender ratio among voters, throughout the last 50 years.
- The improvement has been noticed in backward ones also.
- Madhya Pradesh and Odisha are the most improved backward States, going from 558 and 572 women voters for every 1,000 male voters in the 1960s to 804 and 866 in the 2000s.
- Himachal Pradesh has jtaken a giant leap as it has gone transformed from being one of the States with the worst sex ratio to the second best.
- Uttar Pradesh has notoriously replaced Bihar to become the new worst state in 2000s.
- Bihar, with the most adverse voter sex ratio in the 1960s, is the second worst State in the 2000s.
World Chess Championship 2013
India is hosting one of the most coveted chess battles- the World Chess Championship for year 2013 in Chennai. A series of matches will be played between the defending world champion Viswanathan Anand (winner of the 2012 World Championship) and Magnus Carlsen (ranked No. 1 in the world), to determine the 2013 World Chess Champion.
Game schedule:
The matches will be held from November 9 to November 28, 2013 in the hotel Hyatt Regency Chennai, India, under the aegis of FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs)- the World Chess Federation. A total of 12 games are
scheduled, with one per day at 3 pm local time with rest days after
games 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 11. In the even the match is tied after the 12th game, tie-break games will be played on the November 28, 2013.
Time Limits: The time control for
the games will give each player 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60
minutes for moves 41–60 and 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with
an increment of 30 seconds per move starting after move 61.Tie-break
games, if played, will have increasingly limited time controls.
Magnus Carlsen
A Norwegian chess grandmaster an
In 2004, Carlsen became a grandmaster at
the age of 13 years, 148 days, making him at that time the second
youngest grandmaster in history, although he has since become the third
youngest.
In 2009, at the age of 18, he became the 5th player
to achieve a rating over 2800 when FIDE rating list, Carlsen had was
given an Elo rating of 2801 making him the youngest player to so.
On January 1, 2010, at the age of 19
years, 32 days, he became the youngest chess player in history to be
ranked world No. 1, breaking the record held by Vladimir Kramnik.
Based on several of his FIDE rankings, Carlsen qualified for the Candidates Tournament that was held in March–April 2013, which he won, thus earning the right to challenge World Champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2013.
Google doodle marks Hermann Rorschach’s 129th birthday
Celebrating the 129th birthday of Hermann Rorschach, Google dedicated a doodle on its homepage depicting inkblot testsdeveloped by the eminent psychoanalyst.Who was Hermann Rorschach?
Born on November 8, 1884 in Zurich, Switzerland, Hermann Rorschach was a Swiss Freudian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. In 1909, Rorschach graduated in medicine at Zurich. Rorschach was influenced by Eugen Bleuler, a prominent psychiatrist of his time.He found that different people often interpreted different things in same inkblots. This led him to pursue the test by showing inkblots and analyzing responses. He went on to develop the famous creative projective test, the Rorschach inkblot test. His test was appreciated and used by many psychiatrists. Rorschach passed away on April 1, 1922, at the age of 37.
What is Rorschach inkblot test?
Rorschach inkblot test, also termed as inkblot test, is used to examine a person’s emotional and personality characteristics. It
is primarily a psychological test considered especially with patients
who are reluctant to express their thoughts or thinking processes
candidly. In this test, subjects’ perceptions of inkblots are recorded
and then examined using complex algorithms and psychological
interpretation. In simple terms, Rorschach inkblot test helps in detecting thought disorder of a person. India’s first masterchef and food author Tarla Dalal passed away
India’s first renowned masterchef and food writer, Tarla Dalal (77) passed away at her residence in Mumbai.
Awards and Honors
She was awarded Women of the Year by Indian Merchants’ Chamber in 2005. In 2007, Government of India conferred on her the Padma Shri.
Tarla Dalal
Tarla Dalal was born and brought up in Pune. She contributed immensely to the culinary domain leaving behind a legacy of over 17,000 recipes created by her. She became a household name as she hosted cooking shows like “Tarla Dalal show” and “Cook It Up With Tarla Dalal” on TV. Specialized in Indian cuisine, particularly Gujarati cuisine, she authored over 100 cookery books which sold more than 3 million copies. Her first cook book, The Pleasures of Vegetarian Cooking, published in 1974, was instant success.Awards and Honors
She was awarded Women of the Year by Indian Merchants’ Chamber in 2005. In 2007, Government of India conferred on her the Padma Shri.
Indian born Pakistani folk singer Reshma passes away
Singer of hit songs like ‘Dama Dam Mast Kalandar’ and ‘Lambi Judai’, the legendary India born Pakistani folk singer Reshma passed away. Reshma was born in 1947 in Bikaner (Rajasthan, India) in a Banjara (Gypsy) family. Her tribe migrated to Pakistan soon after partition. She mesmerised music lovers beyond borders with her trademark rustic voice.Reshma was awarded several national awards including prestigious awards ‘Sitara-i-Imtiaz’ and ‘Legends Of Pakistan’ given by the President of Pakistan. Indian Filmmaker Subhash Ghai used her voice in his film ‘Hero’.
Shashi Kant Sharma, India’s CAG wins election to UN Board of Auditors
Shashi Kant Sharma, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India wonthe election to the UN Board of Auditors. Shashi Kant Sharma won 124 out of 186 votes at the UN General Assembly’s 5th Committee on Administrative and Budgetary questions. India won by 62 votes against its closest contender the Philippines. India had last sat on the board in 1993 for 6 years.The United Nations Board of Auditors (the ‘Board’) was established in 1946 by the General Assembly. The Auditors-Generals of UN member states are elected to the Board.
Tenure of Office:
Non-consecutive term of 6 years duration. Appointments are staggered in such a way that the term of office of one of the members expires every two years. The General Assembly therefore appoints a new Board member every two years.Function:
- Audit of the accounts of the UN organisation and its funds and programmes
- Report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly via the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ)
- The Board of Auditors is responsible for the audit of 24 United Nations organisations.
- The following is the distribution of the board’s assignments as of 1 July 2012:-
| Organization |
|
| 1. United Nations Headquarters |
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
|
| 2. United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO) | |
| 3. International Trade Centre (ITC) |
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
|
| 4. United Nations University (UNU) |
China
|
| 5. Capital Master Plan (CMP) |
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
|
| 6. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) |
United Republic of Tanzania
|
| 7. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) |
China
|
| 8. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) |
United Republic of Tanzania
|
| 9. United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) |
China
|
| 10. Voluntary Funds administered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) |
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
|
| 11. Fund of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), including Global Environmental Facility (UNEP-GEF) |
United Republic of Tanzania
|
| 12. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) |
United Republic of Tanzania
|
| 13. United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) |
United Republic of Tanzania
|
| 14. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) |
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
|
| 15. United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) |
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
|
| 16. International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) |
United Republic of Tanzania
|
| 17. International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) |
United Republic of Tanzania
|
| 18. United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF) |
China
|
| 19. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) |
China
|
| 20. United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP) |
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
|
| 21. United Nations Escrow (Iraq) Account |
China
|
| 22. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) |
China
|
| 23. United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) |
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
|
| 24. UN Women |
United Republic of Tanzania
|
Mr. G. K. Pillai appointed as the new Chairman and Thomas Mathew T. as the new Vice-Chairman of MCX-SX
Former Union Home Secretary Gopal Krishna
Pillai appointed as the Chairman of the troubled Financial
Technologies-promoted stock exchange, MCX-SX. Thomas Mathew, former LIC
chairman appointed as the as Vice Chairman of the Board of MCX Stock
Exchange Limited. SEBI has accorded its approval to Mr. Pillai’s
election as Chairman.
Earlier, Jignesh Shah, founder chairman, MD and CEO of Financial Technologies (India) Ltd (FTIL), resigned from the board of its lone listed subsidiary Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX).
Earlier, Jignesh Shah, founder chairman, MD and CEO of Financial Technologies (India) Ltd (FTIL), resigned from the board of its lone listed subsidiary Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX).
Why Jignesh Shah had to resign from MCX-SX ?
Jignesh Shah had to force resign as the MCX board members wanted to insulate the MCX-SX (the commodity futures exchange) from the ongoing settlement crisis at NSEL. The Forward Markets Commission (India) (the commodities market regulator of India) has pressed multiple charges against NSEL directors, including Jignesh Shah, for allegedly perpetrating the Rs.5,600 crore settlement fraud and conspiring to cheat investors intentionally.Father of IBM personal computer: William C Lowe dead
William C Lowe (72), who pioneered the conception and manufacturing of IBM’s first personal computer, passed away in Lake Forest, Illinois. William C Lowe:
Lowe joined IBM in 1962, when he finished college with a physics degree. In 1980, William C Lowe, who was a lab director at that time, proposed the idea that IBM should develop a personal computer that could be mass marketed. He persuaded his bosses that he could set up a team to build a personal computer in a year. Lowe and his team developed the IBM PC by adopting open architecture, using parts and software from outside vendors, including Microsoft. In 1981, the IBM 5150 personal computer was launched, several years after Apple had brought its first computer to market.Lowe went on to serve as an IBM vice president and president of its entry systems division, which oversaw the development and manufacturing of IBM’s personal computers and other businesses. He left the company in 1988 to work for Xerox, and later became president of Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.
Kirit Parikh committee suggests increase in prices of Diesel, Kerosene and LPG
Kirit Parikh committee on Pricing Methodology for Diesel, Domestic LPG and PDS Kerosene has recommended a price increase of Rs 5 / litre in diesel, Rs 4/ litre in kerosene, and Rs 250 in LPG cylinder with immediate effect.
What are the key recommendations of Kirit Parikh panel?
The Panel recommended:- Number of subsidised LPG cylinders should be decreased from the present 9 to 6 cylinders per annum to each household.
- Subsidy on diesel sales should be capped at Rs 6/litre.
- Do away with the subsidy on diesel within one year, which could save the exchequer Rs 72000 crore in fuel subsidy.
- Government should take measures to pass on the impact of rise in price of diesel to consumers, and move speedily towards making the price of diesel market-determined.
- Continuation of existing pricing principles for controlled petroleum products.
Kirit Parikh Committee
Kirit Parikh panel was set up by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in June 2013 assigning it with the task to advice on Pricing Methodology for Diesel, Domestic LPG and PDS Kerosene. The panel was chaired by Planning Commission member Dr. Kirit S. Parikh.Supreme Court directs Centre and State Governments to an pass order within 3 months to fix tenure of civil servants
In a ruling that would
affect the functioning of bureaucracy in the country, the apex court
held that bureaucrats must be given an assured minimum tenure in
posting. The SC bench observed that fixed tenure of bureaucrats would
promote professionalism, efficiency and good governance and that much of
the deterioration in the functioning of bureaucracy is due to political
interference. In this regard, the court directed the Centre and state
governments to pass an order within 3 months on giving fixed tenure to
civil servants.
The ruling also empowered top
bureaucrats to record in writing the oral instruction of political
bosses on files so as not to be troubled later on for a particular
decision.
As per apex court, such recording of
political instructions by bureaucrats will also help in promoting
transparency and will allow general public to access correct
information.
Why this verdict from the Supreme court?
The court passed the judgment on a PIL
filed by 83 retired bureaucrats including former cabinet secretary T S R
Subramanian seeking its directions for insulating bureaucracy from
political interference. The verdict has come in the backdrop of
controversies involving bureaucrats including Ashok Khemka, IAS
officer of Haryana
cadre over DLF-Robert Vadra land deal, and Durga Sakhti Nagpal, UP
cadre IAS officer, who was targeted by the state government for alleged
misconduct.
What was the PIL about?
The PIL had alleged that at present, the
system of transfers, postings, promotions, disciplinary action and
other personnel matters pertaining to the members of civil services are
ad-hoc and non-transparent. It said that transfers are often used as
instruments of reward and punishment, with officials being frequently
transferred on the whims and caprices as well as the personal needs of
local politicians and other vested interests. Officers, especially those
in the All India Services serving in state governments, have no stability or security of tenure.
It sought that the civil servants at all
levels should be given a minimum 3-year fixed tenure on each post to
foster functional freedom and independence. It said that there should be
an independent, high-powered and statutory ‘civil services board’ in
each state which should process proposals of postings and transfers.
Rohit Sharma becomes third player in ODI format of Cricket to hit a double-century
India’s Rohit Sharma scored 209 runs off 158 balls in final ODI (One Day International) against Australia held in Bangalore (India), thus becoming only the third player to score a double-century in ODI format cricket. Rohit Sharma hit 16 sixes in his innings breaking Shan Watson’s previous record of 15 sixes in an ODI innings.
Earlier, Virender Sehwag made 219 against the West Indies in 2011 and Sachin Tendulkar scored 200 not out against South Africa in 2010. Thus, at present all the 3 players to score a double hundred are from India.
Earlier, Virender Sehwag made 219 against the West Indies in 2011 and Sachin Tendulkar scored 200 not out against South Africa in 2010. Thus, at present all the 3 players to score a double hundred are from India.
Sushmita Sen conferred with Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice 2013
NGO the Harmony Foundation honored former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen with the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award 2013 for her efforts towards achieving social justice in Mumbai. Along with Sushmita Sen, seven individuals and an association, India
Rescue Mission, were also awarded the Mother Teresa Memorial
International Award for Social Justice 2013 for their contributions in
the field of human rights and community development.
List of Awardees of Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice 2013 :
- Sushmita Sen: Social Activist and Bollywood actress
- Dr Sudarshan Hanumappa: Tribal rights’ activist
- Diep Saeeda: Lahore-based human rights activist
- Cedric Prakash: Social Activist
- Sindhutai Sapkal: Mother of Orphans
- Arunachalam Muruganantham: Social Activist
- India Rescue Mission: An association for human rights
- Maulana Mehmood Madani: Social activist
- Sam Childers: Rescuer of young boys and girls from Sudan
Air Marshal Arup Raha to be next Chief of Indian Air Force
Air Marshal Arup Raha who is presently the Vice Chief of Air Staff will be the next Chief of the Air Staff of Indian Air Force. He will assume the position after the retirement of the present Chief of the Air Staff NAK Browne on December 31, 2013. Air Marshal Arup Raha is presently the Vice Chief of Air Staff.
Raha, during a career spanning over nearly 39 years, has held various command, staff and instructional appointments. He has served as Air Attache at the Embassy of India, Ukraine. He has done National Defence College, Staff College, Strategic Nuclear Orientation Course and Junior Commanders’ Course.
He also has the experience of commanding Central Air Command and Western Air Command.
Raha, during a career spanning over nearly 39 years, has held various command, staff and instructional appointments. He has served as Air Attache at the Embassy of India, Ukraine. He has done National Defence College, Staff College, Strategic Nuclear Orientation Course and Junior Commanders’ Course.
He also has the experience of commanding Central Air Command and Western Air Command.
Government of India appoints P.S. Raghavan as the next Russian Ambassador
Government of India appointed P.S. Raghvan as the next Ambassador of India to Russia.
Raghvan, who is an IFS officer of 1979 batch, is presently serving as the Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He will take the position of outgoing Ajai Malhotra, who will retire on November 30, 2013.
Raghvan, who is an IFS officer of 1979 batch, is presently serving as the Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). He will take the position of outgoing Ajai Malhotra, who will retire on November 30, 2013.
Sebastian Vettel bags Indian Grand Prix
The Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel won the Indian Grand Prix organized at the Buddh International Circuit in Noida, India.
Registering his third successive victory in the Indian Grand Prix he left behind four former world champions Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
With his 10th victory of the season and 36th of his career, Vettel joined the elite club of Formula One drivers — Michael Schumacher (six world titles), Juan Manuel Fangio (five) and Alain Prost (four) — who have won 4 or more world titles. He also became the third driver in history, after Fangio and Schumacher (he won five in succession), to win four world titles on the trot.
Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan has been appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for South Korea. He has been appointed as the public diplomat as well as an ambassador of India’s soft power.
As a Goodwill Ambassador he will visit South Korea before the maiden visit of South Korea President Park Geun-hye. It must be recalled that India and South Korea have already inked a civil nuclear pact but it is still not operational.
India’s star Squash player Dipika Pallikal clinched the Macau Open title held at Macau, China. Dipika vanquished former World No.1 Rachel Grinham of Australia.
Legendary vocalist Lata Mangeshkar was presented the first national
Yash Chopra Memorial Award by the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting as a mark of tribute to the legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra
on the eve of his first death anniversary.
The Yash Chopra Memorial Award:
Instituted by the TSR Foundation of T. Subbarami Reddy.
It carries a cheque of Rs 1 million and a citation.
It will be presented annually to people in recognition of their outstanding contribution in the field of art and culture.
ICICI Bank CEO and MD, Ms Chanda Kochhar has been ranked 4th in Fortune magazine’s global list of top-50 women business leaders. The list is topped by Brazilian energy giant Petrobras’ CEO, Maria Das Gracas Foster.
Other Indians making it to the list were:-
– National Stock Exchange chief Ms Chitra Ramkrishna (17th)
– Axis Bank’s CEO Ms Shikha Sharma (32nd)
– HSBC’s Country Head of India, Ms Naina Lal Kidwai (42nd)
New Zealand author Ms Eleanor Catton became the youngest winner of the Man Booker Prize for fiction. She claimed the award for her novel “The Luminaries”.
“The Luminaries” is the longest book ever to win the Booker Prize .
Ms Eleanor Catton is the youngest author ever to win the Booker Prize.
American Economist Eugene Fama won the Nobel prize for economics for developing new methods to study trends in asset markets. He is one of the three American Economists who won Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences. He shared Nobel for Economic Sciences jointly with Robert Shiller and Lars Peter Hansen.
Eugene Francis “Gene” Fama is known for his work on portfolio theory and asset pricing. Fama is regarded as the father of the “Efficient Market Hypothesis”. In 1970 issue of the Journal of Finance, entitled “Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory and Empirical Work,” Fama gave the concept of EMH (Efficient Market Hypothesis).
As per this hypothesis, stocks on a stock exchange always trade at fair market value, thus it is impossible for any investor to purchase an undervalued stocks or sell a stock for inflated prices. The only means by which an investor can obtain higher returns is via purchasing taking more risk.
Reading the market is impossible because the stocks are already accurately priced and reflect all available information. Therefore it is impossible to make profit with any trading strategy. Theoretically impossible to make profit from any trading strategy. Thus, there is no way to identify a bargain stock or use past stock price movements to predict future prices. The only way to earn higher returns than those of an index is by purchasing higher risk investments.
So if Ramesh wants to buy a share of Infosys at Rs 3,000 per share he will not be able to make any profit because as per the EMH the intrinsic value of a share of Infosys is Rs 3,000 per share, so Ramesh will not be able to profit from a potential under-valued or over-priced share of Infosys.
2) Semi-Strong Form Efficiency
3) Strong Form Efficiency
In weak-form efficiency, it is said that one can’t predict future prices by analyzing prices from past i.e. historical data. Thus, one cannot earn excess return for long time by his/her strategy based on historical share prices.
In semi-strong-form efficiency, it is said that a share’s price adjust itself to all publicly available new information, thus one cannot earn one cannot earn excess return for long time by his/her strategy based on publicly available information.
In strong-form efficiency, it is said that a share’s price reflects all information, public and private, and no one can earn excess returns for long time by his/her strategy based on all publicly available information and historical data.
There are several reasons why EMH may be incorrect:-
Karan Thapar, well-known television journalist, has been honored with the International Press Institute (IPI) India
Award for Excellence in Journalism. The jury for this award chose Mr.
Thapar ‘for his sharp interviews on the Devil’s Advocate programme on
CNN IBN’.
Registering his third successive victory in the Indian Grand Prix he left behind four former world champions Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
With his 10th victory of the season and 36th of his career, Vettel joined the elite club of Formula One drivers — Michael Schumacher (six world titles), Juan Manuel Fangio (five) and Alain Prost (four) — who have won 4 or more world titles. He also became the third driver in history, after Fangio and Schumacher (he won five in succession), to win four world titles on the trot.
Co-operatives against plan to convert Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) into banking correspondents
The members of co-operative societies are opposed to the ideo of converting Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) into business correspondents for District Credit Cooperative Banks as recommended by the Prakash Bakshi committee.
In one of its recommendations, the panel recommended that PACS should work only as Business Correspondents (BCs) on behalf of banks and should not themselves act as financial intermediaries. In addition, PACS should provide a range of other fee based financial and non-financial products. The immediate consequence of such a change would be that all depositors and borrowers in villages would become direct member clients of the Central Cooperative Banks (CCBs) or District Cooperative Banks (DCBs).
Those opposed to the move suggest that such a transition would kill the PACS rather than saving them.
Other problems like politicisation, across the three tiers are also prevalent. Then, PACS’ share in agricultural credit is slipping. It has declined from 50% in the mid nineties to 17% now – with the rest moving to commercial banks and RRBs.
As per Bakshi Committee report, this trend of marginalisation is going to continue. It cites the ongoing financial inclusion drive as one of the reasons behind this. With financial inclusion programmes all households will soon have savings bank accounts where deposits are protected by DICGC (Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarentee Corporation). On the contrary, there is no such deposit insurance for PACS.
What are Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) ?
The Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) are the bottom-tier of three- tier Cooperative credit structure operating in the country. These are Short Term Cooperative Credit Structure functioning at the grassroots (Gram Panchayat) level. These are Primary Societies owned by farmers, rural artisans etc. and intended to promote thrift and mutual help among the members; cater to their credit requirements and provide credit-linked services like input supply, storage and marketing of agricultural produce etc. These Cooperative Credit Institutions with their deep reach in the rural areas and accessibility to the small and marginal farmers and the other marginalized populations have been playing a vital role in dispensation of agricultural credit.What are the Objectives of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS)
- To cater to the credit need, mostly, farm credit and income generation activities of farmers, artisans and other members.
- To extend selected banking services to members.
- To implement Kissan Credit Card Scheme for providing timely and adequate farm credit to members.
- To take up marketing of agricultural produce of member farmers.
- To cater to the consumer needs, mostly, essential commodities of members.
- To create awareness among farmers to adopt improved farming practices.
- To reach upto the unprivileged section of the community through SHGs, JLGs and TFGs.
Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) and Recommendations of Prakash Bakshi Committee:
The RBI constituted an Expert Committee chaired by NABARD Chairman Prakash Bakshi to review the existing Short Term Cooperative Credit Structure (STCCS) focusing on structural constraints in rural credit delivery system and explore various ways to strengthen the rural cooperative credit architecture with appropriate institutions and instruments of credit to fulfill credit needs.In one of its recommendations, the panel recommended that PACS should work only as Business Correspondents (BCs) on behalf of banks and should not themselves act as financial intermediaries. In addition, PACS should provide a range of other fee based financial and non-financial products. The immediate consequence of such a change would be that all depositors and borrowers in villages would become direct member clients of the Central Cooperative Banks (CCBs) or District Cooperative Banks (DCBs).
Those opposed to the move suggest that such a transition would kill the PACS rather than saving them.
What is the current status of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS)?
PACS are important structures that have been provding credit facilities mainly to the farmers in vallges of India. It has the deepest penetration amongst all the other credit providing institutions. Currently, India has 93,000 PACS — one for every seven villages. In contrast, commercial and Regional Rural Bank (RRBs) have just 50,000 branches across rural and semi-urban India. During 2011-12, PACS lent to 3.09 crore farmers. The comparable numbers for commercial banks and RRBs are 2.55 crore and 82 lakh. During 2011-12, for instance, PACS financed 67 lakh new farmers compared to 21 lakh for commercial banks and 9 lakh by RRBs. Further, PACS have a reputation for lending to small and marginal farmers — as co-operatives, they are owned and run by farmers.Why Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) model is in trouble?
Despite all the above mentioned positive points, PACS are in trouble. The deposits of PACS are continuously falling and has already declined far behind their lending obligations. As per Bakshi Committee report, only about 10% of the agricultural loans issued by the PACS were supported through deposits mobilised by PACS and the rest 90% had to be provided by CCBs. As on 31 March, 2011, PACS in 25 states had mobilized deposits of Rs 37,238 crore. However, of this, Rs 28,210 crore came from PACS of just three states — Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Excluding these three states PACS in the rest of the country had mobilised only about Rs 7,000 crore as deposits whereas they had provided loans aggregating Rs 47,000 crore. It is also a low margin yielding business which yields around 0.25% net margin. Besides, the agrecultural risk add to the worries. Between the high agricultural risk (compounded by working in a small geography) and the low margin, PACS are not earning enough to hedge against the bad years.Other problems like politicisation, across the three tiers are also prevalent. Then, PACS’ share in agricultural credit is slipping. It has declined from 50% in the mid nineties to 17% now – with the rest moving to commercial banks and RRBs.
As per Bakshi Committee report, this trend of marginalisation is going to continue. It cites the ongoing financial inclusion drive as one of the reasons behind this. With financial inclusion programmes all households will soon have savings bank accounts where deposits are protected by DICGC (Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarentee Corporation). On the contrary, there is no such deposit insurance for PACS.
National Commission for STs presents Sixth Report on the working of safeguards for STs to the President of India
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes chaired by Dr. Rameshwar Oraon presented the Sixth Report on working of safeguard for Scheduled Tribes for 2010-11 to the President of India.
As per Article 338A, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes is mandated to present to the President annually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports on the working of the safeguards extended to the members of Scheduled Tribes and to make in such reports suggestions as to the measures that should be taken by the Union or any State for effective implementation of those safeguards and other measures for protection, welfare and socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes. The latest Sixth Report of the Commission for the year 2010-11 is in pursuance to these provisions.
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes:
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes came into existence w.e.f. February 19, 2004 following the amendment of Article 338 of the Constitution of India and introduction of a new Article 338A vide the Constitution ( 89thAmendment) Act, 2003 which, inter-alia, enjoins upon the Commission to oversee the implementation of various safeguards provided to Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution or under any other law for the time being in force or under any other order of the Government and to evaluate the working of such safeguards.As per Article 338A, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes is mandated to present to the President annually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports on the working of the safeguards extended to the members of Scheduled Tribes and to make in such reports suggestions as to the measures that should be taken by the Union or any State for effective implementation of those safeguards and other measures for protection, welfare and socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes. The latest Sixth Report of the Commission for the year 2010-11 is in pursuance to these provisions.
What is in the Sixth Report on working of safeguard for Scheduled Tribes for 2010-11?
Chapters and their Highlights:- Chapter 1: ‘Organizational Set-up and Functioning of the Commission’. It highlights some aspects of the Commission’s work and the steps taken for better performance, and recounts the constraints faced by the Commission in performing its tasks effectively.
- Chapter 2: ‘Service Safeguards’ . It talks about some significant aspects on reservation, dereservation of posts and safeguards available to the Members of the Scheduled Tribes for appointment in Government and Government controlled public institutions.
- Chapter 3: “Drinking Water in Tribal Areas” . It discusses the steps taken in the past and future proposals of the Government for providing tribal villages and habitations in the country with drinking water facilities.
- Chapter 4: “Critical Issues Concerning Scheduled Tribes”. It reviews issues relating to Revision of lists of Scheduled Tribes, Land acquisition, Land (Sub-Surface) Rights and Land Alienation; Education; access to Health facilities; Tribal Sub Plan (TSP); National Tribal Policy; and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
- Chapter 6: It presents representative cases pertaining to grievances and violation of safeguards of Scheduled Tribes as Case Studies.
- Chapter 6: “Consultation on Policy Related Issues”. It presents the adherence to Clause 9 of Article 338A of the Constitution which mandates the Union and every State Government to consult the Commission on all major policy matters affecting Scheduled Tribes.
- Chapter 7: Summary of Recommendations. In this all the recommendations made in each chapter of this Report are summarised.
France confers top civilian honor on Anjali Gopalan
France conferred its highest civilian award ‘Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur’ on social worker and founder of NGO Naz Foundation Anjali Gopalan for her work on transgenders and HIV positive patients.
She started her carrer as a social worker and worked on issues related to HIV/AIDS and marginalized communities in New York, United States.
The Naz Foundation was founded by her in 1994 which has since then brought positive changes the lives of transgenders, homosexuals and those with HIV positive.
Who is Anjali Gopalan?
Anjali Gopalan (56) is an Indian Human Rights and Animal Rights activist, founder and executive director of The Naz Foundation (India) Trust, an NGO dedicated to the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in India mainly focused on women and children.She started her carrer as a social worker and worked on issues related to HIV/AIDS and marginalized communities in New York, United States.
The Naz Foundation was founded by her in 1994 which has since then brought positive changes the lives of transgenders, homosexuals and those with HIV positive.
Shahrukh Khan is Goodwill Ambassador for South Korea
Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan has been appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for South Korea. He has been appointed as the public diplomat as well as an ambassador of India’s soft power.As a Goodwill Ambassador he will visit South Korea before the maiden visit of South Korea President Park Geun-hye. It must be recalled that India and South Korea have already inked a civil nuclear pact but it is still not operational.
What does a Goodwill Ambassador do?
Goodwill Ambassador is basically an honorary title for an Ambassador of Goodwill given to an individual by a country. The job of Goodwill Ambassadors is to deliver the goodwill or promote the ideals from one place or entity to another. The goodwill ambassador may be an individual from one nation who lives or travels to another nation for a diplomatic mission or for an international friendship mission. (S)he is an ambassador of a nation’s Soft Power.Mukesh Ambani remains wealthiest Indian
As per the the China-based Hurun India Rich List, Reliance Industries
Chairman Mukesh Ambani is India’s richest man with personal assets of
$18.9 billion. Mr. Ambani retained the top rank for the second
consecutive year even after a wealth decline of 2%.
According to the list, the top rich persons are:
According to the list, the top rich persons are:
- Mukesh Ambani : Chairman Reliance Industries
- L.N. Mittal: Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaking company based in London ($15.9 billion)
- Dilip Shanghvi : Founder of Sun Pharmaceuticals
- Azim Premji: Chairman Wipro ($12 billion)
- Shiv Nadar: HCL Technology’s ($8.6 billion)
- Kumar Mangalam Birla: Chairman Grasim Industries ($8.4 billion)
- Adi Godrej: Chairman Godrej Group’s ($8.1 billion)
- Pallonji Mistry: Chairman Shapoorji Pallonji & Co ($8 billion)
- Shashi & Ravi Ruia: Essar Energy ($7.6 billion)
- Sunil Mittal: Chaiman Bharti Airtel ($7.3 billion)
- Anil Ambani: Chairman Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group ($7.1 billion)
Finally Suu Kyi receives 1990 Sakharov prize
Myanmar’s
pro-democracy activist and parliamentarian Aung San Suu Kyi finally
collected the EU democracy prize that had been awarded 23 years ago
while she was under house arrest. The Sakharov Prize for freedom of
thought, named after Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, has been awarded
annually by the European Parliament since 1988.
Aung San Suu Kyi is a Burmese opposition politician and chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Burma.
In 1988, she got caught up in Myanmar’s pro-democracy protests when she
returned to care for her ailing mother after years of living and
studying abroad. In 1990, she contested general election as the leader
of the NLD and won 59% of the national votes and 81% (392 of 485) of the
seats in Parliament. She remained under house arrest in Burma for
almost 15 of the 21 years from 1989 until her most recent release in
November 2010, becoming one of the world’s most prominent political prisoners. Suu Kyi was awarded the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
Presently, Suu Kyi is a member of parliament after the 2010 elections brought to power pro-reforms President Thein Sein. She has expressed hopes of becoming Myanmar’s next president, although this would require constitutional changes ahead of the 2015 elections. She has urged the EU to push more strongly for amendments to the Myanmar constitution, which according to her is hindering a full democratization of the country.
New
York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has been selected for the
inaugural Genesis Prize – an award popularly dubbed the Jewish Nobel Prize given by the Government of Israel. Bloomberg has been chosen for the award in recognition to his long record of public service and philanthropy. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will present the prize to Bloomberg in May 2014 in Israel.
The award seeks to emphasize across the Jewish community and the world at large the significance of Jewish values to the fulfillment of human potential and to the betterment of the world. This way, it intends to strengthen the Jewish identity of young Jews across the world who are rapidly assimilating and losing connection to the Jewish people and their rich heritage.
Prabodh Chandra Dey ( a.k.a. “Manna Dey“) (94) passed away.
Manna Dey was a versatile Indian playback singer. Manna Dey sang mainly in Hindi and Bengali. He also recorded songs in several other Indian languages like Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Assameese, Oriya, Gujarathi, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam.
Debut as a playback singer in the film Tamanna (1942)
Career (years active) : 1942-2013
Recorded more than 4000 songs
Some key Awards:
About Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi is a Burmese opposition politician and chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Burma.
In 1988, she got caught up in Myanmar’s pro-democracy protests when she
returned to care for her ailing mother after years of living and
studying abroad. In 1990, she contested general election as the leader
of the NLD and won 59% of the national votes and 81% (392 of 485) of the
seats in Parliament. She remained under house arrest in Burma for
almost 15 of the 21 years from 1989 until her most recent release in
November 2010, becoming one of the world’s most prominent political prisoners. Suu Kyi was awarded the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.Presently, Suu Kyi is a member of parliament after the 2010 elections brought to power pro-reforms President Thein Sein. She has expressed hopes of becoming Myanmar’s next president, although this would require constitutional changes ahead of the 2015 elections. She has urged the EU to push more strongly for amendments to the Myanmar constitution, which according to her is hindering a full democratization of the country.
The Sakharov Prize
- The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament as a means to honour individuals or organisations who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedom of thought.
- The first prize was awarded jointly to South African Nelson Mandela and Russian Anatoly Marchenko.
- The Sakharov Prize is usually awarded annually on or around December 10, the day on which the United Nations General Assembly ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, also celebrated as Human Rights Day.
First Genesis Prize “Jewish Nobel Prize” to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
New
York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has been selected for the
inaugural Genesis Prize – an award popularly dubbed the Jewish Nobel Prize given by the Government of Israel. Bloomberg has been chosen for the award in recognition to his long record of public service and philanthropy. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will present the prize to Bloomberg in May 2014 in Israel.Genesis Prize – The Jewish Nobel Prize
The Genesis Prize is instituted by the Government of Israel, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Genesis Philanthropy Group. It is awarded to individuals who have achieved international recognition in their professional field, the worlds of science and the arts. The award carries $1 million and presented annually by the Prime Minister of Israel at a ceremony in Jerusalem.The award seeks to emphasize across the Jewish community and the world at large the significance of Jewish values to the fulfillment of human potential and to the betterment of the world. This way, it intends to strengthen the Jewish identity of young Jews across the world who are rapidly assimilating and losing connection to the Jewish people and their rich heritage.
“Exploring good practices in overcoming deprivation in India and UK” – includes case study on Super 30
“Exploring good practices in overcoming deprivation in India and UK” – A research project on by University of East London (UK) and TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences), Mumbai. Three case studies selected from India for the research.
Objective: Mapping social innovation strategies in overcoming multiple deprivations in select locations in India and UK.
Super 30 (Bihar) along with two other case studies (from Mumbai) one on slums and other on Hindu-Muslim unity have been taken up for research.
Objective: Mapping social innovation strategies in overcoming multiple deprivations in select locations in India and UK.
Super 30 (Bihar) along with two other case studies (from Mumbai) one on slums and other on Hindu-Muslim unity have been taken up for research.
Why Super 30 was selected for such a case study?
Super 30 was selected as case study for demonstrating how education could make a enduring difference to deprivation. Time magazine had earlier adjudged mathematician Anand Kumar’s school “Super 30″ in the list of Best of Asia 2010.Manna Dey, the Legendary singer passed away
Prabodh Chandra Dey ( a.k.a. “Manna Dey“) (94) passed away.Manna Dey was a versatile Indian playback singer. Manna Dey sang mainly in Hindi and Bengali. He also recorded songs in several other Indian languages like Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Assameese, Oriya, Gujarathi, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam.
Debut as a playback singer in the film Tamanna (1942)
Career (years active) : 1942-2013
Recorded more than 4000 songs
Some key Awards:
- Dadasaheb Phalke Award (2007)
- Padma Bhushan (2005)
- Padma Shri (1971)
Dipika Pallikal clinches Macau Open Squash title 2013
India’s star Squash player Dipika Pallikal clinched the Macau Open title held at Macau, China. Dipika vanquished former World No.1 Rachel Grinham of Australia. About Dipika Pallikal:
Dipika Pallikal is an Indian squash player known to become the first Indian woman to make to the top 10 WSA rankings. She is also first squash player to receive prestigious Arjuna Award.Prof. Ravi Chopra Expert panel to study the impact of Hydro-projects in Uttarakhand
A 17-member expert panel headed by Prof. Ravi Chopra has been constituted by the Union Ministry of Environment
and Forests (MoEF) to investigate whether the environmental degradation
caused by hydro-electric projects on Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers
led to Uttarakhand floods.
Tasks before the Prof. Ravi Chopra Expert Committee:
- To examine the extent to which the projects were responsible for the Uttarakhand floods.
- To examine the impact of the proposed 24 hydropower projects on the biodiversity of the region and investigate the degradation caused by functioning as well as on-going hydro-projects.
- Recommend necessary environmental protective measures to extenuate the adverse environmental impacts in respect of ongoing projects for which environment elearance have been given including tourism projects and also opine necessary changes in project parameters.
- To draft a Himalayan Policy for Uttarakhand keeping in view the unique ecological, social and cultural characteristics of the state and suggest environment friendly development activities.
First National Yash Chopra Memorial Award presented to Lata Mangeshkar
Legendary vocalist Lata Mangeshkar was presented the first national
Yash Chopra Memorial Award by the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting as a mark of tribute to the legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra
on the eve of his first death anniversary.The Yash Chopra Memorial Award:
Instituted by the TSR Foundation of T. Subbarami Reddy.
It carries a cheque of Rs 1 million and a citation.
It will be presented annually to people in recognition of their outstanding contribution in the field of art and culture.
G. B. Pradhan is the new Chairperson of the CERC
Union Government of India appointed Gireesh B. Pradhan, former Secretary of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, as the Chairperson of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).
What is CERC?
Central Electricity Regulatory
Commission (CERC) is a statutory body functioning under section 76 of
the Electricity Act 2003. Previously, it was constituted under the
Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act, 1998.
Functions of CERC:
Functions of CERC:
- Tariff regulation of electricity generating companies owned or controlled by the Central Government
- Regulation of the inter-State transmission of electricity
- Determine tariff for Inter-State transmission of electricity
- Issue licenses to persons to function as transmission licensee and electricity trader with respect to their inter-State operations
- Adjudicate upon disputes involving generating companies or transmission licensee
- Specify Grid Code having regard to Grid Standards
- Specify and enforce the standards with respect to quality, continuity and reliability of service by licensees
- Fix the trading margin in the inter-State trading of electricity, if considered, necessary
- Discharge such other functions as may be assigned under the Act.
First National Yash Chopra Memorial Award presented to Lata Mangeshkar
Legendary vocalist Lata Mangeshkar was presented the first national
Yash Chopra Memorial Award by the Ministry for Information and
Broadcasting as a mark of tribute to the legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra
on the eve of his first death anniversary.
The Yash Chopra Memorial Award:
- Instituted by the TSR Foundation of T. Subbarami Reddy.
- It carries a cheque of Rs 1 million and a citation.
- It will be presented annually to people in recognition of their outstanding contribution in the field of art and culture.
Chanda Kochhar ranked 4th in Fortune magazine’s global list of top-50 women business leaders
ICICI Bank CEO and MD, Ms Chanda Kochhar has been ranked 4th in Fortune magazine’s global list of top-50 women business leaders. The list is topped by Brazilian energy giant Petrobras’ CEO, Maria Das Gracas Foster.Other Indians making it to the list were:-
– National Stock Exchange chief Ms Chitra Ramkrishna (17th)
– Axis Bank’s CEO Ms Shikha Sharma (32nd)
– HSBC’s Country Head of India, Ms Naina Lal Kidwai (42nd)
New Zealand author Eleanor Catton wins 2013 Booker Prize
New Zealand author Ms Eleanor Catton became the youngest winner of the Man Booker Prize for fiction. She claimed the award for her novel “The Luminaries”.“The Luminaries” is the longest book ever to win the Booker Prize .
Ms Eleanor Catton is the youngest author ever to win the Booker Prize.
Eugene Fama wins Nobel in Economics for his Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH)
American Economist Eugene Fama won the Nobel prize for economics for developing new methods to study trends in asset markets. He is one of the three American Economists who won Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences. He shared Nobel for Economic Sciences jointly with Robert Shiller and Lars Peter Hansen.
Eugene Francis “Gene” Fama is known for his work on portfolio theory and asset pricing. Fama is regarded as the father of the “Efficient Market Hypothesis”. In 1970 issue of the Journal of Finance, entitled “Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory and Empirical Work,” Fama gave the concept of EMH (Efficient Market Hypothesis).
What is EMH (Efficient Market Hypothesis)?
It is a hypothesis, which says that no person can perform better than the Market itself without taking more risk than the market, because every information is built in the market itself. In simple words we can say: Financial markets are “informationally efficient” i.e. that price of an asset reflects all information about an asset. Thus, it is virtually impossible to regularly predict asset prices and “beat the market” i.e. generate returns that are higher than overall market on average without incurring more risk than the market.As per this hypothesis, stocks on a stock exchange always trade at fair market value, thus it is impossible for any investor to purchase an undervalued stocks or sell a stock for inflated prices. The only means by which an investor can obtain higher returns is via purchasing taking more risk.
Reading the market is impossible because the stocks are already accurately priced and reflect all available information. Therefore it is impossible to make profit with any trading strategy. Theoretically impossible to make profit from any trading strategy. Thus, there is no way to identify a bargain stock or use past stock price movements to predict future prices. The only way to earn higher returns than those of an index is by purchasing higher risk investments.
So if Ramesh wants to buy a share of Infosys at Rs 3,000 per share he will not be able to make any profit because as per the EMH the intrinsic value of a share of Infosys is Rs 3,000 per share, so Ramesh will not be able to profit from a potential under-valued or over-priced share of Infosys.
3 forms of Efficiencies as per EMH (Efficient Market Hypothesis):-
1) Weak Form Efficiency2) Semi-Strong Form Efficiency
3) Strong Form Efficiency
In weak-form efficiency, it is said that one can’t predict future prices by analyzing prices from past i.e. historical data. Thus, one cannot earn excess return for long time by his/her strategy based on historical share prices.
In semi-strong-form efficiency, it is said that a share’s price adjust itself to all publicly available new information, thus one cannot earn one cannot earn excess return for long time by his/her strategy based on publicly available information.
In strong-form efficiency, it is said that a share’s price reflects all information, public and private, and no one can earn excess returns for long time by his/her strategy based on all publicly available information and historical data.
What do the critics say about Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH)?
EMH is highly controversial and often disputed.There are several reasons why EMH may be incorrect:-
- All investors come to know of information differently and will thus have different valuations of the stock.
- Stocks take time to respond to new information, investors who receive or act on this information first can take advantage of it
- Stock prices can be affected by human error and emotional decision making.
- Investors like Warren Buffet have proven that they can profit from market consistently over long periods of time
- If EMH is true, then investors should place all their assets in index funds and thus they will earn same returns as overall market and focus on minimizing their risk.
More regulatory reforms for insurance sector to spur growth: IRDA chief
As per Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) Chairman T. S. Vijayan, the insurance industry will undergo another round of regulatory reforms, particularly focused on distribution channel, to instill growth.
As per him, IRDA is focusing on bank channels and sub-broker level distribution and citizen service centres (CSCs)
for better growth prospects. The insurance penetration is expected to
rise substantially in the years to come. The insurance industry was
going to witness major changes in the coming days. Several insurance
firms would be listed on stock exchanges and open up abundant
opportunities in the segment.
IRDA is concerned about the product design and miss-selling aims to make sure that products approved by IRDA should have least chances of miss-selling.
What is Misselling?
Misselling is an intentional and
ethically questionable practice of selling of products or services in
circumstances where the contract is either misrepresented, or the
product/service is unsuitable for the customer’s needs. For example,
selling life insurance to someone with no dependents is regarded as
misselling. In this case, the investor would arguably have little need
for whole life insurance and, therefore, an insurance salesperson
describing the product as something the investor urgently needed to
protect his or her assets in the event of death could be considered a
case of misselling.
Nobel Peace Prize 2013 goes to OPCW
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) won the Nobel Peace Prize 2013 for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons. The award was announced by Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland.
What is OPCW? What are its award-winning efforts?
- The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is an independent, international body established in 1997 to implement the Chemical Weapons Convention. It has a working relationship with the UN.
- The organization is currently working in destroying Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles which marks as the first time the OPCW is working in a war zone.
- It conducts inspections of destruction procedures, as well as evaluating members’ own declarations, in order to examine that the convention is being followed.
- Its headquarters are in The Hague, Netherland and it consists of 189 member nations, covering around 98% of the global population. These member states have agreed to work together to create a world free from chemical weapons.
- Current Director-General of the OPCW: Ahmet Uzumcu
Karan Thapar wins International Press Institute India award
Karan Thapar, well-known television journalist, has been honored with the International Press Institute (IPI) India
Award for Excellence in Journalism. The jury for this award chose Mr.
Thapar ‘for his sharp interviews on the Devil’s Advocate programme on
CNN IBN’.MS Swaminathan to be honored with Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for the Year 2012
Famous agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan has been selected for the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for the year 2012.
About MS Swaminathan
Ms Janet L. Yellen
as the new head of the Federal Reserve Board. She will replace Ben
Bernanke as Chair of the Federal Reserve Board. Prior to her nomination,
Yellen served as vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System. She would be the first woman to lead the Federal
Reserve Board and also the first Democrat to head the Board since 1979.
The Nobel Prize in physics has been announced to be given to physicists Francois Englert of Belgium and Peter Higgs of Britain for their theoretical discoveries on how subatomic particles acquire mass.
Arundhati Bhattacharya, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of State Bank of India,
has become its first woman Chairman. She succeeds Pratip Chaudhuri who
retired as Chairman on September 30, 2013. Bhattacharya, who joined SBI
as a probationary officer in 1977, will be at the apex position of the
bank until March 2016.
The External Affairs Ministry appointed former Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai as India’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Mr.
Mathai (61) is a 1974-batch IFS officer who retired as Foreign
Secretary this year. He will succeed Jaimini Bhagwati. Apart from
serving as India’s Ambassador to France, he also had postings in Israel and Qatar among other places.
The Vice President of India, Mr. Hamid Ansari released a commemorative postage stamp in the memory of Baba Jumdev.
Pakistani delegation of Indus Water Commission headed by Mirza Asif Baig visited India to participate in the 109th meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission held under Article VIII (5) of the Indus Water Treaty, 1960 in New Delhi.
The team visited India to discuss India’s proposed project on Chenab
River basin. India has planned to undertake 4 hydroelectric projects on
the river: Ratle (850 MW), Miyar (120 MW), Lower Kalnai (48 MW) and
Pakal Dul (1000 MW). Earlier, Pakistan had oppugned India’s design with regard to spillway, pondage and water intake.
Under Article VIII (5) of the Indus Water Treaty, 1960, the
Commissioners are required to meet regularly at least once a year,
alternately in India and Pakistan and also when requested by either
Commissioner.
As per the treaty, either side has to inform the other at least 6 months in advance, of any new projects to be undertaken. Owing to this, India has informed Pakistan about the four projects in the Chenab basin.
Malala Yousafzai, renowned teenager activist and proponent for girls’ education who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban, has been honored with 2013 Peter J Gomes humanitarian award given by the prestigious Harvard University.
Chief of the Odisha Cricket Association, Ranjib Biswal was appointment as the new Chairman of the IPL who succeeds Rajiv Shukla, who resigned at the end of his tenure.
Biswal has been with the Indian cricket team as a ‘permanent manager’ through some of its most memorable triumphs, including the 2011 50-over World Cup win at home. He was also a part of the contingent that triumphed in the Champions Trophy in England. The all-rounder has five first-class hundreds and 153 wickets in 41 matches and has also been the National Cricket Academy (NCA) chairman in the past.
Narayanaswamy Srinivasan has been re-elected as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for a third term.
However he will not take charge immediately because of a Supreme Court
directive who had restrained Srinivasan from taking charge if elected
in response to a petition by the Secretary of the Cricket Association of
Bihar (CAB), who sought to restrain Srinivasan from getting re-elected.
CAB, which is not recognised by the BCCI, had asked the court not to allow Srinivasan to contest for the president’s post on the ground that his son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, who was the team principal of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings, was charge-sheeted for betting in the 6th edition of the IPL Twenty20 tournament.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare named former Indian cricket team captain Rahul Dravid as the brand ambassador for its National Tobacco Control Campaign. The national anti-tobacco control campaign pursues the goal of World Health Assembly which 30% relative reduction in tobacco use by 2025.
Indian social activist Anna Hazare has been honored with the inaugural Allard Prize for International Integrity conferred by the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Law at a function held in Vancouver, Canada.
Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel won a third term by in German elections.
Her conservative Union bloc – the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and
Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) won 41.5% of vote, but just missed
an absolute majority.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan was awarded with the Deutsche Bank Prize for Financial Economics 2013.
The award has been given in recognition to his academic contributions
in macro economics research which influenced financial and
macro-economic policies around the globe.
Raghuram Rajan revealed that the relationship between the financial sector and the rest of the economy is so complex and it is not good enough to simply look at the size of the financial sector in relation to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as is done so often. Raghuram Rajan also had forecasted the financial crises of 2008 in 2005, three years ahead of global financial crises.
Miss Philippines Megan Young was crowned Miss World 2013 at a pageant held at Indonesia’s
resort island of Bali amid tight security due to threats of attack from
Muslim conservatives. The pageant witnessed participation of 127
contestants from various countries.
Miss France Marine Lorphelin and Miss Ghana, Carranzar Naa Okailey Shooter were positioned second and third respectively. Miss India World Navneet Kaur Dhillon failed to make it to the Top 10 but won the title of Miss Multimedia.
Pond’s Femina Miss India World 2013 Navneet Kaur Dhillon won the Multimedia Award at the Miss World 2013 held in Bali, Indonesia.
Bill
Gates, billionaire and co-founder of Microsoft, has admitted for the
first time that using the key combination of Control-Alt-Delete to log
into a PC was a mistake. The awkward combination which is also known as “three-finger salute” has been a characteristic of the Windows operating system since the earliest days of personal computers.
Randall
Oliphant, Executive Chairman of the Canadian gold producer New Gold
Inc., has been appointed as the Chairman of the World Gold Council (WGC)
. He took over the charge from Ian Tefler.
Sarah Outen (28), an adventurer from Britain who spent 150 days at sea to become the first woman to row solo from Japan
to Alaska. She started from Choshi, Japan and sailed 3,750 miles (6,034
km) to reach Aleutian Island in Alaska. It is part of her plan for a
global trek by an ocean rowing shell, kayak and bike.
A team of researchers led by Professor Ajit Lalvani from the National
Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London have discovered a
new way of combating viral flu infections. He has developed a roadmap to
develop universal flu vaccine.
About MS Swaminathan
- Indian geneticist and former member of Rajya Sabha.
- Contributed in revitalizing agricultural in the country and led the nation to achieve green revolution.
- Previously served as Director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.
- Also served as Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Agricultural Research and Education.
Malala Yousafzai wins EU’s Sakharov Prize 2013
Pakistani teen activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived bullet-injury inflicted by the Taliban for championing girls’ education has won the European Union’s (EU) Sakharov Human Rights Prize 2013. Past
winners of the Sakharov Prize include South African anti apartheid hero
Nelson Mandela and former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.
The Sakharov Prize
- The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament as a means to honour individuals or organisations who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedom of thought.
- The first prize was awarded jointly to South African Nelson Mandela and Russian Anatoly Marchenko.
-
The Sakharov Prize is usually awarded annually on or around December 10, the day on which the United Nations General Assembly ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948,also celebrated as Human Rights Day.
India may breach AMS commitments with the implementation of Food subsidy scheme: WTO
The newly-elected Director-General of WTO, Roberto Azevedo has asserted that India
would soon be breaching its Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS)
commitments to WTO (World Trade Organization) due to its new food security
programme and has sought a positive solution to the issue before the
Bali Ministerial to be held in December 2013 as some nations had
expressed concern over the procurement and distribution of highly
subsidized food-grains.
India has asked the WTO to work out a
solution to win legitimacy for its ambitious food security law that
promised highly subsidised food-grains to rural and urban poor. It wants
to carry on with the subsidy programme till a final solution is found. India is also ready so sign the Peace Clause in Article 13 of the Agreement On Agriculture
(AOA) as an interim mechanism till an acceptable final solution is
arrived at. India is also ready to commit that procured food-grains
would not be released for international trade and the management of public stocks would be done in a transparent manner.
It must be recalled that the current
India government is implementing the Food Security Act which entitles 82
crore people to 5 kg of food-grains per person in a month at the rate
of Rs.1-3 a kg. The country needs 62 million tonnes of food-grains in a
year to implement the law.
Obama nominates Janet Yellen as the next head of US Federal Reserve Board
Ms Janet L. Yellen
as the new head of the Federal Reserve Board. She will replace Ben
Bernanke as Chair of the Federal Reserve Board. Prior to her nomination,
Yellen served as vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System. She would be the first woman to lead the Federal
Reserve Board and also the first Democrat to head the Board since 1979.Chemistry Nobel 2013 to Levitt, Karplus and Warshel
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2013 will be shared by Michael Levitt, a British and US citizen, US-Austrian Martin Karplus and US-Israeli Arieh Warshel. As per Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences who announces the names for the awards, the Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 2013 have made it possible to map the mysterious ways of chemistry by using computers.
What are the Nobel winning contributions of Levitt, Karplus and Warshel?
The trio has been credited for the development of multi scale models for complex chemical systems.
They devised computer simulations to understand chemical processes. Their works laid the foundations for new kinds of pharmaceuticals and contributed to exploring multiple options in cyber space.
They devised computer simulations to understand chemical processes. Their works laid the foundations for new kinds of pharmaceuticals and contributed to exploring multiple options in cyber space.
Rothman, Schekman and Sudhof to share Nobel Prize 2013 for Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel committee has announced the winners of the 2013 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. The Prize has been awarded to three scientists, James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Sudhof, all based in the USA for working out how biological cells organize and transport the many molecules they need to function.
What were the discoveries of these scientists which won them medicine Nobel Prize?
- James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Sudhof have been awarded the Prize for the discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic.
What are vesicles and how they work?
- Vesicles are tiny, membrane-enclosed sacs that bud off from one membrane and fuse with another within the cell. The vesicles gather their cargo- membrane components and soluble molecules- from the donor compartment during the budding process. They deliver the cargo to the target compartment by fusing.
Importance:
- The cargo-carrying and delivery capacity of vesicles is important as molecules transported can’t pass through a membrane on their own.
- The principle of vesicle transport and fusion is the same in organisms as different as yeast and human.
Criticality:
- Vesicle transport is vital for a variety of physiological process – brain signaling to release hormones.
Implications:
- Defective vesicle transport occurs in a various diseases including a number of neurological and immunological disorders, as well as diabities
Nobel physics Prize 2013 goes to Englert and Higgs
The Nobel Prize in physics has been announced to be given to physicists Francois Englert of Belgium and Peter Higgs of Britain for their theoretical discoveries on how subatomic particles acquire mass.
What is the special contribution of Englert and Higgs to physics?
Both the scientists have been credited for their theoretical works on Higgs boson which
they theorized in 1960s. They proposed a mechanism to explain why the
most basic building blocks of the Universe have mass. Their theories
were confirmed last year by the discovery of the so-called Higgs
particle or ‘God-particle’, also known as the Higgs boson, at the famous CERN(European Organization for Nuclear Research) laboratory in Geneva. But it would still take decades for the scientists at CERN to confirm its existence.
Mudgal committee proposes new Cinematograph Bill on governing cinema
An empowered panel headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana has proposed a model Cinematograph Bill to replace the Cinematograph Act 1952 to provide for a new legal
framework for governing Indian cinema proposed a model Cinematograph
Bill, in a report submitted to the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting.
Why was the Mudgal Committee set up?
Earlier this year, the government set up
the Mudgal panel after the government felt the need to update the
Cinematograph Act, 1952 in the wake of the controversy over Tamil Nadu’s ban on Vishwaroopam.
Questions were raised over the decision of a particular State to invoke
the law and ban the release of a certain movie, notwithstanding that
the Supreme Court
in the Aarakshan case had held that once a film was certified for
viewing, the fig leaf of law and order could not be allowed to stand in
the way.
Arundhati Bhattacharya becomes first woman Chairman of SBI
Arundhati Bhattacharya, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of State Bank of India,
has become its first woman Chairman. She succeeds Pratip Chaudhuri who
retired as Chairman on September 30, 2013. Bhattacharya, who joined SBI
as a probationary officer in 1977, will be at the apex position of the
bank until March 2016.
The Govt. appointment Arundhati Bhattacharya as the new managing director of the State Bank of India (SBI). Previously, Bhattacharya was the managing director of SBI Capital, the merchantbanking arm of the bank.
Who is SBI’s first woman MD (Managing Director)?
Ms Arundhati Bhattacharya is State Bank of India’s first woman managing director.
Who was the first Woman MD (Managing Director) of a Public Sector bank in India?
The first woman MD of a Public sector bank in India was Ms Ranjana Kumar. The Government of India appointed Ms Ranjana Kumar as the Chairperson and managing Director of the Indian Bank, she became the first woman to become head of a public sector bank in India.
Some other ladies who are at present heading banks in India:
Public Sector Banks:
- United Bank of India: Ms. Archana Bhargav (Chairman & MD)
- Allahabad Bank: Ms Shubhalakshmi Panse (Chairman & MD)
Private Sector Banks:
- ICICI Bank: Ms.Chanda Kochhar (MD & CEO)
- Axis Bank: Ms Shikha Sharma (MD & CEO)
GoI appoints panel to define FDI and FII
Government of India set up a four member committee headed by Arvind Mayaram, Economic Affairs Secretary to clear the ambiguity between Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI) and Foreign Institutional Investment (FII). The panel will look
into the difference between them and it will also give definition of FDI
and FII.
Finance Minister of India in his Budget speech (2013-14) had proposed to follow the international practice with regard to definitions of FDI and FII. He had said that if anyone investing in a company 10% or less is considered as FII and above 10% is considered as FDI.
Finance Minister of India in his Budget speech (2013-14) had proposed to follow the international practice with regard to definitions of FDI and FII. He had said that if anyone investing in a company 10% or less is considered as FII and above 10% is considered as FDI.
US debt crisis could destabilize global economy: IMF
The International Monetary Fund has warned the US that its impending debt crisis could damage not only its domestic economy, but the entire global economy.
IMF called it “mission-critical” and called for it to be resolved soon. According to IMF Chief Christine Lagarde:
IMF called it “mission-critical” and called for it to be resolved soon. According to IMF Chief Christine Lagarde:
- US must take corrective measures that do not hurt the recovery. At the same time, the US needs to do more to make debt sustainable by containing the growth of entitlement spending and raising revenues.
- Japan also needs a credible plan to curtail its debt, which is approaching 250% of GDP and amounts to about USD90,000 for every man, woman, and child in Japan.
- The fiscal and financial efforts must be complemented by structural reforms – to make sure that policies to boost demand are supported by policies to boost supply.
- Increasing female participation in the labour force in Japan to match the G7 average would boost its per capita GDP by 4% by 2030.
- As G7 group of nations accounts for about 40% of world GDP, events in these regions has profound implications for the rest of the world. This calls for engagement at international level.
Government appoints Ranjan Mathai as new Indian High Commissioner to UK
The External Affairs Ministry appointed former Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai as India’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Mr.
Mathai (61) is a 1974-batch IFS officer who retired as Foreign
Secretary this year. He will succeed Jaimini Bhagwati. Apart from
serving as India’s Ambassador to France, he also had postings in Israel and Qatar among other places.Vice President releases postage stamp in memory of Baba Jumdev
The Vice President of India, Mr. Hamid Ansari released a commemorative postage stamp in the memory of Baba Jumdev. Who was Baba Jumdev?
Baba Jumdev was a prominent spiritual leader and revered social activist who considered service of humanity as the highest form of religion. For him, spiritualism meant cleansing the dogmatic and ritualistic faith by adding essential moral and human dimensions to it, so that religion remains a source of solace and betterment. He called upon his followers to be good human beings by adhering to compassion and forgiveness. He advised his followers to speak the truth, and behave with dignity and cordiality towards others. He was the founder of the ‘Parmatma Ek Sewak’ community.Pakistan’s Indus Water Commission visited India
Pakistani delegation of Indus Water Commission headed by Mirza Asif Baig visited India to participate in the 109th meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission held under Article VIII (5) of the Indus Water Treaty, 1960 in New Delhi.
The team visited India to discuss India’s proposed project on Chenab
River basin. India has planned to undertake 4 hydroelectric projects on
the river: Ratle (850 MW), Miyar (120 MW), Lower Kalnai (48 MW) and
Pakal Dul (1000 MW). Earlier, Pakistan had oppugned India’s design with regard to spillway, pondage and water intake.As per the treaty, either side has to inform the other at least 6 months in advance, of any new projects to be undertaken. Owing to this, India has informed Pakistan about the four projects in the Chenab basin.
What is Indus Waters Treaty?
Background:
After the partition of India-Pakistan,
the issue of sharing of water of rivers originating from Indus basin
surfaced. India had all the advantage of using the waters of the all six
main rivers originating from either the Himalayan or the Chinese Tibet
side. Pakistan was wary that since the sources of rivers of the Indus
basin were in India, it could potentially create droughts and famines in
Pakistan, especially at times of war.
During the first years of partition the
waters of the Indus were apportioned by the Inter-Dominion Accord of May
4, 1948. As per this accord, India was required to release sufficient
waters to the Pakistani regions of the basin in return for annual
payments from the government of Pakistan. The accord was meant to meet
immediate requirements and was followed by negotiations for a more
permanent solution. However, neither side was willing to compromise its
respective position thus the issue reached a deadlock.
The Treaty:
Finally, head of both countries (India’s then PM Jawaharlal Nehru and Pak’s then President Mohammed Ayub Khan) came to negotiation table to sign the Indus Waters Treaty brokered by the World Bank.
As per the treaty proposed by the World Bank, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej,
which constitute the eastern rivers, are allocated for exclusive use by
India before they enter Pakistan. However, a transition period of 10
years was permitted in which India was bound to supply water to Pakistan
from these rivers until Pakistan was able to build the canal system for
utilization of waters of Jhelum, Chenab and the Indus itself, allocated
to it under the treaty. Similarly, Pakistan has exclusive use of the
Western Rivers Jhelum, Chenab and Indus but with some stipulations for
development of projects on these rivers in India. Pakistan also received
one-time financial compensation for the loss of water from the Eastern
rivers. Now, as the moratorium is over, India has secured full rights
for use of the waters of the three rivers allocated to it. The treaty
resulted in partitioning of the rivers rather than sharing of their
waters.
India wins its first Sultan of Johor Cup title
India vanquished Malaysia to clinch Under-21 Sultan of Johor Cup hockey tournament. It was a maiden title victory for India. Below is the roll of honour for the tournament:
Top Scorer: Mohd Shahril Saabah (Malaysia) – 8 goals
Most Promising Player: Harpreet Singh (India)
Best Goalkeeper: Lee Se Young (Korea)
- Champions: India
- Runner Up: Malaysia
- Third: Argentina
Top Scorer: Mohd Shahril Saabah (Malaysia) – 8 goals
Most Promising Player: Harpreet Singh (India)
Best Goalkeeper: Lee Se Young (Korea)
Malala Yousafzai honored by Harvard University for humanitarian work
Malala Yousafzai, renowned teenager activist and proponent for girls’ education who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban, has been honored with 2013 Peter J Gomes humanitarian award given by the prestigious Harvard University.Indian Newspaper Society elects Ravindra Kumar as its President
Ravinder Kumar, Editor of ‘The Statesman’ newspaper has been elected as the president of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) for the year 2013-14.
About Indian Newspaper Society:
Founded in 1939 as Indian and Eastern Newspaper Society which was later renamed as the Indian Newspaper Society (INS), formerly Indian and Eastern Newspaper Society, plays the role of a central organization of the Press of India,
an independent body authenticating circulation figures of newspapers
and periodicals in India. INS has a significant role in safeguarding and
promoting the freedom of press in India. Its headquarters are at Rafi
Marg, New Delhi.
Who are the members of the INS?
INS membership comprises the owners,
proprietors and publishers of print media who discusses and suggest
various measures to the government regarding the problems related to the
newspaper industry.
It is a kind of pressure group which works to protect the interest of
newspaper industry in particular and print media in general.
Ranjib Biswal is the new IPL chairman
Chief of the Odisha Cricket Association, Ranjib Biswal was appointment as the new Chairman of the IPL who succeeds Rajiv Shukla, who resigned at the end of his tenure.Biswal has been with the Indian cricket team as a ‘permanent manager’ through some of its most memorable triumphs, including the 2011 50-over World Cup win at home. He was also a part of the contingent that triumphed in the Champions Trophy in England. The all-rounder has five first-class hundreds and 153 wickets in 41 matches and has also been the National Cricket Academy (NCA) chairman in the past.
N Srinivasan re-elected BCCI president
Narayanaswamy Srinivasan has been re-elected as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for a third term.CAB, which is not recognised by the BCCI, had asked the court not to allow Srinivasan to contest for the president’s post on the ground that his son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, who was the team principal of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings, was charge-sheeted for betting in the 6th edition of the IPL Twenty20 tournament.
Rahul Dravid is brand ambassador for National Tobacco Control Campaign
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare named former Indian cricket team captain Rahul Dravid as the brand ambassador for its National Tobacco Control Campaign. The national anti-tobacco control campaign pursues the goal of World Health Assembly which 30% relative reduction in tobacco use by 2025.Anna Hazare receives Allard Prize for International Integrity
Indian social activist Anna Hazare has been honored with the inaugural Allard Prize for International Integrity conferred by the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Law at a function held in Vancouver, Canada.
The Allard Prize is one of the world’s largest awards recognizing efforts to fight corruption and to promote human rights.
The Allard Prize is awarded to an
individual, movement or organization that has displayed extraordinary
courage and leadership in combating corruption, especially through
promoting transparency, accountability and the rule of law. The prize
money for the award is $100,000.
German polls: Angela Merkel victorious
Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel won a third term by in German elections.
Her conservative Union bloc – the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and
Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) won 41.5% of vote, but just missed
an absolute majority.Raghuram Rajan awarded with the Deutsche Bank Prize
Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan was awarded with the Deutsche Bank Prize for Financial Economics 2013.
The award has been given in recognition to his academic contributions
in macro economics research which influenced financial and
macro-economic policies around the globe.Raghuram Rajan revealed that the relationship between the financial sector and the rest of the economy is so complex and it is not good enough to simply look at the size of the financial sector in relation to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as is done so often. Raghuram Rajan also had forecasted the financial crises of 2008 in 2005, three years ahead of global financial crises.
Miss Philippines Megan Young is Miss World 2013
Miss Philippines Megan Young was crowned Miss World 2013 at a pageant held at Indonesia’s
resort island of Bali amid tight security due to threats of attack from
Muslim conservatives. The pageant witnessed participation of 127
contestants from various countries.Miss France Marine Lorphelin and Miss Ghana, Carranzar Naa Okailey Shooter were positioned second and third respectively. Miss India World Navneet Kaur Dhillon failed to make it to the Top 10 but won the title of Miss Multimedia.
Navneet Kaur Dhillon bags Multimedia Award at the Miss World 2013
Pond’s Femina Miss India World 2013 Navneet Kaur Dhillon won the Multimedia Award at the Miss World 2013 held in Bali, Indonesia.
The Multimedia Award is given on the
basis that how participants presented their web section of the Miss
World website and a Facebook page through which they interact with fans
through status updates, photos and videos.
Control-Alt-Delete was a mistake, admits Bill Gates
Bill
Gates, billionaire and co-founder of Microsoft, has admitted for the
first time that using the key combination of Control-Alt-Delete to log
into a PC was a mistake. The awkward combination which is also known as “three-finger salute” has been a characteristic of the Windows operating system since the earliest days of personal computers.What is the use of Control-Alt-Delete combination?
The function of the key combination Control-Alt-Delete differs depending on the context but it generally interrupts or facilitates interrupting a function. For instance, in pre-boot environment (before an operating system starts) or in DOS, Windows 3.0 and earlier version of Windows or OS/2, the key combination reboots the computer. Starting with Windows 3.1, the command invokes a task manager or security related component that facilitates ending a Windows session.Sri Srinivasan becomes Judge of US Court
Sri Srinivasan was sworn in
as judge of the US Courts of Appeal for the District of Columbia
Circuit. The court is the second most powerful court of the United States. Srinivasan
has become the first Indian-American to be on the bench of the US
Courts of Appeal for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was born in
Chandigarh. His parents migrated to the United States in 1970s.
Bill proposed to curb unethical practices in biomedical, health research
Government has proposed Biomedical and Health Research Regulation Bill, 2013
in order to regulate biomedical and health research involving human
participants, whether in conventional areas, or in new evolving
specialized fields. The Bill seeks to ensure ethical research in all
institution with proper care and a compensation policy for human
participants. With this Bill, all research on human participants will
come under the government scanner by way of the proposed Biomedical and Health Research Authority.
Some key points about Biomedical and Health Research Regulation Bill, 2013:
- The Bill seeks to provide ways to safeguard ethical values in accordance with both local cultural values and international benchmarks so as to generate, maintain and reinstate public trust in research.
- As per the Bill, a Biomedical and Health Research Authority will be set up and it will be mandatory to register all ethics committees in research institutions, colleges, universities and other organizations involved in research with the Authority.
- The Biomedical and Health Research Authority will register, monitor and evaluate the performance of ethics committee, develop performance appraisal systems and norms and mechanisms for implementing transparency and accountability; and assess the need for providing protection to vulnerable sections.
- The Bill will confer statutory powers on the Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on Human Subjects, drafted in 2000 by the ICMR’s Central Ethics Committee on Human Research, under the chairmanship of the former Chief Justice of India, Justice M. N. Venkatachaliah. The guidelines were revised in 2006.
- Human participants in a research will be entitled to “due remuneration, compensation or reimbursement for the time lost, besides reimbursement of travelling and other incidental expenses incurred in connection with his participation in research.’’
- The ethics committee will decide the amount and it will also ensure that the amount is not such which can be considered as inducement for participation in research.
- The investigator and the institution shall take necessary steps to protect the interest of special or vulnerable groups while the ethics panel shall ensure that research participants are selected by the investigator in such a way that the “burden and benefits’’ are equally distributed.
- Consent of the human participant will be mandatory for using human biological materials or data.
- Approval from the ethics committee will be mandatory for using human biological materials or data for the primary intended purpose. The ethics panel will separately examine any request for secondary use of the human biological material or data.
- Bio-banking of the human biological material will not be allowed without consent of the human participant which should be regulated by the specific principles of bio-banking.
- Researcher shall maintain strict confidentiality of all research data which might lead to identification of the individual participant to avoid any consequent stigmatization and discrimination unless he/she is under obligation to reveal the information to any official or the government department concerned under the provisions of any law.
- The investigator must obtain voluntary, documented, informed consent of individual participants after being fully informed of his involvement in the research and also to withdraw the consent given earlier.
- In case of an individual who is not capable of giving informed consent, for any reason, the consent of his legal guardian or legally authorized representative will have to be obtained.
- In case of investigation/study involving a group or community, legally acceptable representative or culturally appropriate authority of the group or community concerned may be contacted for permission.
- In no case shall a collective community agreement or the permission of a community leader or other authority be considered as a substitute for an individual consent.
- Clinical studies involving systematic study of new drugs, medical devices, vaccines and cosmetics on human subjects will be out of the purview of the Bill.
Background:
The decision to bring a new law for
regulation of biomedical and health research comes in the backdrop of
the report of the Parliamentary Committee on Health, pillorying the
government and the Indian Council of Medical Research for failing to
prevent deaths of adolescent tribal girls in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat
during post-marketing surveillance of anti-cervix cancer HPV vaccine.
The surveillance had been jointly conducted by a foreign
non-governmental organization, PATH, and the ICMR, and was suspended by
the Ministry following the deaths of the participants.
Currently, only clinical trials with new
drugs are regulated under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and this
law is not applicable to the tremendous quantum of biomedical research
being carried on in universities, medical colleges and hospitals on
subjects ranging from basic sciences and clinical research to applied,
operational or behavioural research.
Randall Oliphant becomes chairman of the World Gold Council
Randall
Oliphant, Executive Chairman of the Canadian gold producer New Gold
Inc., has been appointed as the Chairman of the World Gold Council (WGC)
. He took over the charge from Ian Tefler.What is World Gold Council (WGC)?
The World Gold Council is the market development organization for the gold industry. It is located in United Kingdom (UK) and operates in India, the Far East, Europe and the US. Its operation domain includes the investment, jewellery, technology sectors and engaging in government affairs. The WGC seeks to provide industry leadership, whilst stimulating and sustaining demand for gold. It provides insights into the international gold markets, helping people to better understand the wealth preservation qualities of gold and its role in meeting the social and environmental needs of society. The Council has 23 members who include the world’s leading and most forward thinking gold mining companies.Liu Shiwen of China clinched Women’s Table Tennis World Cup 2013
Chinese table tennis player Liu Shiwen clinched Women’s Table Tennis World Cup 2013 after beating teammate Wu Yang in the final play of the tournament held in Kobe, Japan. Liu had won the World Cup in Guangzhou in 2009 and in Huangshi one year back. It was her third world cup victory.
PM approves setting up of 7th Central Pay Commission
The Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh has approved the constitution of the Seventh Central Pay Commission (CPC).
If we go by the average time of 2 years taken by a Pay Commission to
submit its recommendations, it is expected that the recommendations of
this Pay Commission will be implemented with effect from January 1,
2016.
Key points on the Central Pay Commissions
- First CPC was constituted under the Chairmanship of Srinivasa Varadachariar in May 1946 and its report was submitted by 1947. The first Central Pay Commission was based on the basic idea of living wages to employees.
- The 6th Central Pay Commission under the Chairmanship of B.N.Srikrishna was approved in July 2006.
- The 7th CPC will recommend on the salaries, allowances and pensions of around 80 (50 lakh employees + 30 lakh pensioners) employees/pensioners of the Central Government, including Defence and Railways.
- The CPC is constituted by the Union Government of India after almost every 10 years in order to revise the pay scales of employees. The recommendations of Pay Commission are always followed by all the states in India after a few changes.
Rajan Committee’s new methodology to replace ‘special category’ status for devolution of funds to States
The panel set up by the
government under the chairmanship of the then Chief Economic Advisor
Raghuram Rajan (now RBI governor) has suggested ending the ‘special category’ criteria for providing additional assistance to poorer states.
Why did the government set up the Rajan Committee?
The Union Government set up Raghuram Rajan Committee amid demands for “special category” status by Bihar
and some other status to get additional financial assistance from the
Centre. The Committee was tasked to suggest methods for identifying
backwardness of states using a variety of criteria and also to recommend
how the criteria may be reflected in future planning and devolution of
funds from the central government to the states.
What are the key recommendations of the Rajan Committee?
The Rajan Committee has made two key recommendations for devolution of funds to states. They are:
a) A new methodology based on a ‘Multi Dimensional Index (MDI)’.
Depending on the scores of the 28 states on the MDI, they will be split into 3 categories:
- Least developed
- Less developed
- Relatively developed
b) Each state should
get a basic fixed allocation and an additional allocation depending on
its development needs and development performance.
As per the Committee, these two recommendations, along with the allocation methodology, will effectively subsume what is now “Special Category” status.
According to the MDI scores:
- Least Developed states: Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
- Less Developed states: Manipur, West Bengal, Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, Gujarat, Tripura, Karnataka, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh.
- Relatively Developed states: Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Maharashtra, Uttrakhand and Haryana.
The Department of Economic Affairs will soon examine the report and take necessary action.
Sarah Outen: First woman to row solo from Japan to Alaska
Sarah Outen (28), an adventurer from Britain who spent 150 days at sea to become the first woman to row solo from Japan
to Alaska. She started from Choshi, Japan and sailed 3,750 miles (6,034
km) to reach Aleutian Island in Alaska. It is part of her plan for a
global trek by an ocean rowing shell, kayak and bike.Indian-origin scientist discovers universal flu vaccine
A team of researchers led by Professor Ajit Lalvani from the National
Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London have discovered a
new way of combating viral flu infections. He has developed a roadmap to
develop universal flu vaccine.
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