28.01.2007

• EPFO investment pattern
• EPFO invests 25% of its funds in central government securities, another 25% in PSUs and 15% in state government bonds.
• European Central Bank
• President is: Jean-Claude Trichet
• VI Winter Asian Games
• They will be held in Changchun, in Jilin Province of Chinese northeast from January 28^th to February 4^th 2007.
• The mascot for the games is a sika (a kind of famous deer found in China) named ‘Lulu’.
• Emblem is ‘soaring Changchun’.
• To know more about the games follow this link.
• II Asian Indoor games
• They will be held in Macao from 26^th October to 3^rd November, 2007.
• Emblem is ‘sun shining above a covered gymnasium’.
• Mascot is Mei Mei, the wild migratory black faced spoonbill.
• To know more these games follow this link.
• Belgium
• Prime Minister is Guy Verhofstadt
• Indian animation industry
• Estimated to be about $354 mn in 2006.
• Expected to touch $869 mn by 2010.
• VFX stands for visual effects.
• An Indian animation company, which gets to do just the production part of an animation TV series, would typically earn about 2% of the revenues that the company with the rights for the film would make. Hence the industry is actively looking at registering the IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) for the works turned out by them, as a way of securing more future revenue source.
• Diamond industry
• De Beers, the South Africa based company is well known for its slogan – “A Diamond is Forever”.
• The company has invested in diamond exploration in India and has a joint venture with the government – Hindustan Diamond Company.
• PCOS
• It stands for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, an hormonal disorder affecting women in reproductive age, affecting fertility and pregnancy. Today, some 2 in 10 women suffer from this syndrome in India.
• A little about cement industry
• Typically, housing construction requires 40 to 45 bags of cement per 100 sq ft.
• The construction industry provides employment to over 3.2 crore people in India, the largest employer after agriculture. It contributes about 5.1% of the GDP.
• The total turnover of the cement industry is about Rs. 2,47,000 crores.
• Amitabh Bachchan conferred France’s highest civilian award
• Legion d’Honneur was conferred on the star, at its embassy in India last evening.
• OP Vaish Committee
• Has looked into the issues relating to defunct companies.
• Institute of Corporate Affairs
• It is being set up in Manesar, near Delhi.
• It will impart training, capacity building and aims to develop synergy with international bodies.
• About SEZs
• The land required for SEZ development in India is about 0.1% of the total agrarian landmass.
• Already 318 SEZ proposals hang in balance, which include 237 formally approved ones pending final notification and 81 fresh proposals awaiting approval.
• Estimates put it that in the next two years an investment of Rs. 60,000 crores will be made, generating an employment of about 9 lakh.
• The SEZ policy was introduced for the first time on March 31, 2000.
• We can say that the first ever SEZ type investment was made in Kandla Free Trade Zone in 1965 – 14 years before China established its first SEZ in Shenzhen.
• Worldwide about 300 SEZs are functioning, employing about 50 mn people, with 30 mn of them in China alone.
• Countries had varying necessities for coming up with SEZs:
• Job creation – Mauritius and Bangladesh
• Move away its people from manufacturing units to services – South Korea
• Bring in equality by facilitating SEZs in relatively poor urban areas – USA
• Experiment with economic reforms – Japan
• Reassure big ticket investors that mere change of government would not immediately change the rules – India
• Rugby in India
• The earliest trace of rugby in India dates back to a scratch match played between Calcutta and Madras during the visit of HMS Galatea in 1871.
• The first recorded match was played in 1872 at Calcutta Football Club.