29.10.2006

Share of agriculture in Indian budget
Dwindled to 12%.

Cryogenic rocket – development and testing by ISRO
India became the 6th member of the exclusive club of countries to have developed a cryogenic stage in rocketry. The others which have this capability are: US, Russia, European Space Agency, China and Japan.

G. Madhavan Nair, ISRO Chairman

A cryogenic engine uses liquid hydrogen at minus 260 degress celcius and liquid oxygen at minus 183 degrees celcius. Liquid hydrogen is the fuel and liquid oxygen is the oxidizer.

IX schedule to the constitution of India
A law enacted and included in this schedule gets the protection under Article 31-B (validation of certain Acts and Regulations) and it is not subject to judicial review.

Thousand pillar temple at Warangal
The temple is an example of Kakatiya architecture and was built in 1163 AD by King Rudra Deva. Erected on a star shaped adishtana (platform for devotees to circumambulate the mantapam), the temple is dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Surya.

It is called Rudreswara Swamy temple.

It has 119 of the original 132 pillars.

It is currently being renovated.

Dylan award
Is a new worldwide literary award of 60,000 British pounds. It is the highest prize and is restricted to work by writers under 30 years.

The first prize was won by Rachel Trezise, 28 from the Rhondda valley in South Wales for her novel “Fresh Apples”.

Dylan Thomas award is richer than the other two British awards – the Man Booker prize and the Costa (formerly the Whitbread).

FSI for hotels
Is kept at 2.0. It is very low compared with other international destinations. It is supposed to be dampener for investments by international hotel chains in India.

SAP, the ERP software
Has about 40,000 customers worldwide and is planning to have around 100,000 by 2010.

Travel insurance
The travel insurance is currently estimated to be about Rs. 250 cr.
With about 6 mln Indians traveling abroad, this amount roughly covers about 20% of the travelers – 1.2 mln persons.

Only a fraction of the domestic 17 mln tourists buy travel insurance.

The business is growing at a rate of 15-20% per annum.

Globalization and FDI – inward and outward
Capital inflows last year (2005-06) were at $8.4 bn which included the reinvested capital. But if pure equity inflow is considered the figure is at $5.6 bn while the outward FDI by Indians abroad is at $4.5 bn.

There are about 37 companies in India which have a turnover of more than $1 bn.

Top overseas investing companies include: SBI, Dr. Reddy’s and Suzlon Energy.

The contribution of the developing countries to the world-wide investment outflow stands at 12% while that of the developed countries is at 87%. This is according to UNCTAD figures.

Worldwide e-learning industry
It is estimated to be about $10 bn in size.

NASA administrator
Michael Griffin

NASA is mulling repairing the Hubble telescope. A rehab mission is expected to keep the telescope in working condition till 2013.