- As told in my email update yesterday, I covered something about Sikhism in today’s Discover It blog. Take a look at it here. Hopefully, it would give you a good backgrounder on the Sikh politics.
- And don’t forget to take today’s quiz here. It would be very difficult for me to keep giving you the quiz database again and again. So take the daily quiz without fail and reinforce your current affairs knowledge.
- ECB cap breached!!
- Remember we have been noting that there is an internal cap of $22 bn for mobilizing funds through ECBs (External Commercial Borrowings)? That limit has been breached for the financial year ended March 2007. That is now confirmed.
- The total amount of money raised through the ECB route is now reported to be $23.35 bn. Of this the Reliance brothers alone have mobilized about $6.5 bn.
- Are we seeing cleansing days in politics?
- Mayawati has ordered her own party MP, Uma Kant Yadav to be put behind bars for his alleged attempts at land grabbing.
- The unbelievable thing about this episode is that the police were informed about the whereabouts of the MP by the Chief Minister herself.
- Is it time for
- An interesting story about the Meenas of Rajasthan getting the Scheduled Tribe status
- Meenas are a rich land-owning community inhabiting the western districts of Rajasthan. Originally they were a ruling caste in Rajasthan, but their slow downfall began with the rise of Rajputs and was completed when the British government declared them a “Criminal Tribe”. This was reportedly done to bolster the British alliance with the Rajputs, as the Meenas were warring with the Rajputs also. But basically these are considered to be kshatriyas.
- There is another community called Bhil Meenas inhabiting the south-eastern parts of Rajasthan. It appears that it is these Bhil Meenas who actually deserve the ST status.
- The National SC/ST Commission, was constituted in 1954 with a mandate to rework the list of SCs/STs in view of the changing socio-economic profile of various communities.
- It appears that the report sent by the Prime Minister of Mewar, Manik Lal Verma contained the phrase “Bhil Meenas.” But the ultimate published report of the Commission had a comma inserted between these two words of the phrase. No one knew how the comma came about.
- The result is that a rich land-owning community came to be tagged as STs and are garnering a major slice of the jobs meant for the Bhil Meenas.
- Quality audits for private educational institutions
- These are about to be introduced for the private institutions, especially those associated with foreign education providers, to help parents and students make an informed choice when it comes to admissions.
- The present system of accreditation by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation council) may be made mandatory to all such institutions.
- The government projections are showing that the natural gas availability is likely to increase substantially in the coming years and that from 2009-10 onwards, the country should be seeing a surplus position in natural gas.
- Green tax
- It is proposed to levy a cess of 1.44 to 6.33% on coal sales based on the ash content. The more ash content in a coal, the more polluting it becomes.
- An eco tax of 3% to 5% is also proposed to be levied on passenger cars, jeeps and two wheelers.
- Some noteworthy comments on our reservation system
- Our reservation policy, thanks to the preponderance of competitive identity politics, has been made to stand on its head with every social group trying to outmanoeuvre the other in its quest for ever more ‘backwardness’.
- 10th Plan irrigiation statistic
- We have spent about Rs. 10,000 crores to bring under irrigation only about 8 mn hectares under irrigation. This is 50% of what the Plan originally targeted.
- IIPCAG – Interpol Intellectual Property Crime Action Group
- It estimates the global piracy and counterfeiting to be in the region of 7% of all world trade.
- Virtual world and “Second Life”
- I have mentioned at least briefly about the computer game “Second Life” on a couple of occasions earlier. Do have a look at it for at least some time, to understand the emerging trends in technology.
- Some expert comments that I came across about this:
- The virtual worlds will enable new kinds of interactive commerce, collaboration and entertainment. With increased realism and immersive technologies, the possibilities are endless for other fields: science, engineering, healthcare, business, education and government.
31.05.2007
30.05.2007
- I gave a small backgrounder on the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, which is currently in the eye of a storm. Take a look at it here.
- And don’t forget to take your daily dose of the quiz at our quiz page.
- Gujjar clashes
- Rajasthan based Gujjars, also spelled Gurjars sometimes, are demanding that they be included in the Scheduled tribe category.
- 13 people were killed in agitation that they were staging on the Delhi-Jaipur highway.
- Andaman’s native tribes
- Andamanese and Onges are the two native tribes.
- Onges live in Little Andaman islands and are still basically hunter gatherers.
- NDC meeting’s decisions on agriculture
- The 53rd meeting of the National Development Council, which is meeting at
- Establishment of a National Food Security Mission to enhance production of wheat, rice and pulses.
- More funds for AIBP (Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme) and farm research.
- Restructuring of fertilizer subsidy and the pattern of RIDF (Rural Inftrastructure Development Fund) and skill development.
- Implementation of the Vaidyanathan committee recommendations on cooperative credit structure
- Amendment to and Notifying rules under the APMC Act – Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee Act. The amendment is for removing the mandate of conducting all transactions through the designated markets.
- G8 summit is shadowed by differences over tackling climate change
- The summit, being hosted next week in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm, the G8 leaders have failed to reach an agreement on tackling climate change.
- All the leaders except the
- G8 comprises of
- Nigerian Presidential elections
- Umaru Yar’Adua was sworn in as the new President following his election.
- Miss Universe 2007
- Riyo Mori, Miss Japan 2007, is crowned the 56th Miss Universe 2007 at the competition held in
- Ningning Zhang of
- Anna Theresa Licaros of
- Miss Universe 2006 is Zuleyka Rivera.
- Do you know the perks enjoyed by a Miss Universe?
- Use of an apartment in
- Undisclosed salary.
- Complete wardrobe including a luxury watch; and
- A scholarship for two years of film study in
- Fatwa against the Indian Army
- The Army has been lending support through Operation Sadbhavana for reconstruction and renovation of mosques and shrines in the valley.
- Tobacco deaths
- WHO says that smoking accounts for 10% of adult fatalities, about 5.4 mn.
- Karimnagar silver filigree gets GI tag
- Silver filigree is a delicate handicraft item made by curling, twisting and plating of fine wires of silver or gold into different works of art.
- Acquiring the GI (Geographical Indication) status means that any other similar product produced outside Karimnagar cannot be called by that name. It also provides a legal identity and enhances the brand image in national and international markets.
- Climate change and
- For an understanding of carbon trading mechanism and issues relating to
- CEO of IFCI – Industrial Finance Corporation of
- Atul Kumar Rai.
29.05.2007
- Today I clarified something about capital account convertibility and current account convertibility. Take a look at it in our Discover It blog here.
- And don’t forget to take today’s quiz. I am really encouraged by the kind of response I am getting for this daily dose of 5 questions.
- Remember Nar Bahadur Bhandari?
- He was
- He is in adverse news because he is convicted in a case of disproportionate assets to known sources of income.
- He is sentenced to 1 month jail and a fine of Rs. 5000/-. It is a 13 year old case.
- 18th Law Commission Chief
- Justice AR Lakshmanan, retired judge of the Supreme Court has taken over as Chairman of the Law Commission yesterday.
- One important change that is worth noting about the Law Commission is that hitherto, its reports were treated as confidential. From this Commission onwards, the Centre has done away with the confidentiality clause relating to its reports. This will facilitate the Commission to publish its reports on various topics.
- International Cricket Council
- Its President Percy Sonn died recently of health problems.
- Indian power sector issues
- Open access: it is industry jargon for a system in which multiple suppliers can supply power to the same consumer using the self-same network of power lines. This is enshrined in the Electricity Act, but efforts to make it a reality are being stymied by the Electricity Boards and/or their successor PSU utilities.
- A standing group of power ministers to look into the issues affecting the power sector, is set up. With over Rs. 6 lakh crores investment needed during the 11th Plan, there is a lot that the PM is looking at from this group, in taking the reforms in the power sector forward.
- Iron ore
- The country produced about 160 mn tonnes of iron ore during 2006-07. Over 95 mt of this was exported mostly to spot markets in
- The mining industry says that as the exports constitute mostly of fines, which are not used by the domestic industry, there should be no restriction on the export of iron ore.
- Vanilla farming
- At one time, Vanilla was more costly than Gold. I am talking of Vanilla, that is used in ice-creams. In 2003, a kg of vanilla was going for $500, due to vanilla crop devastation in
- Vanilla flavour can also be given artificially to ice-creams and other food stuffs. Though the synthetic vanillin made out of coal tar or lignin (a waste product of paper industry) sells for around Rs. 800 a kg, compared to Rs. 1350 a kg of natural vanilla, the quantity of artificial vanilla required to bring about the flavour is very high. The ratio is about 7:1. That is the flavour given by 1 kg natural vanilla can be given only by 7 kgs of artificial vanilla.
- Bharat Nirman
- Under this program an amount of Rs. 48,000 crores is allocated only for laying an all-weather road network in rural areas.
- How strong is the impact of oil price on our balance of payments?
- Every $1 increase in price of crude oil entails an outflow of $700 mn foreign exchange.
- Some interesting arguments made on Muslim backwardness
- The primitive nature of their belief system and values immanent in Islam, through its prescriptive emphasis on religious education has purportedly rendered Muslims indifferent to modern education.
- Their largely backward occupational status also has led to their antipathy towards modern education.
28.05.2007
- ANNOUNCEMENT: Now that the Prelims are over, I presume there is no need for the whole database of quiz questions to be available for now. So, starting today, I have reverted back to asking you 5 questions per day in our “Today’s Quiz” link. Take a look at it everyday. It is accessible from both the blogs. Look for the link on the side bar.
- An interesting debate about investing our burgeoning forex reserves in foreign equities appeared in today’s ET. I wrote a piece on this issue in today’s Discover It blog. Take a look at here.
- I often wondered as to who said famously about death and taxes being certain. Today I came to know that it was Benjamin Franklin.
- Biggest grosser – Hollywood Movie
- Spiderman 3 broke all records for a Hollywood movie in
- CEO of Coca Cola
- Neville Isdell
- Carbon trading
- Just yesterday or so I wrote a piece on carbon trading in Discover It blog. Today I came across a good article in ET on the same subject. Couldn’t find the web link for it. Read it in hard copy. It is titled “Be Greener To Get The Greenback.”
- The burning issue of iron ore export caps
- The mines ministry feels that the cap on ore exports would be unjustified as core reserves have shot up by nearly 2 bn tonnes from the current 23 bn tonnes and fines and low grade lumps have no market in the country.
- The steel ministry wants the cap on export of iron ore, besides seeking a tariff barrier on export of ore lumps with iron content of 62% and above.
- ECBC –
- The government has launched this for the construction sector with the aim to increase the energy efficiency of new buildings.
- This was launched in pursuance of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 which empowers the Centre to prescribe ECBC for commercial buildings and building complexes.
- Route dispersal in airline business
- The government is considering an overhaul of the route dispersal guidelines (RDG) that mandate airlines to fly unviable routes connecting cities in the north-eastern region, J&K, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and
- The basic guidelines were framed sometime in 1994 and have been tweaked every 2 to 3 years by adding more stations or routes to the list.
- The RDG makes it mandatory for airlines to operate certain number of flights in a particular region. For instance, airlines must operate at least 10% of their deployment of capacity on trunk routes – which includes six top metros – in category II routes which are meant to connect the remote regions.
- Problems with Open Access in electricity sector
- While there is no dearth of buyers in power-deficit India, and while the policy laid down by the Electricity Act 2003 allows for Open Access (which enables customers to source power from wherever they want, in addition to or substituting the entrenched State utilities) the state owned networks often are dragging their feet to wheel the power to intended customers, often citing flimsy technical grounds.
- Of the 72 bn units generated by captive power plants, only a small portion of 4.2 bn units had been fed to the grid.
- On corporate salaries
- In the context of the sermonizing made by our Prime Minister about corporate salaries being vulgar, some facts and figures worth noting are:
- Currently Directors’ salaries are capped at 5% of the net profit and the salaries of all the Directors cannot go beyond 10% of the net profit of the company. If any company wants to pay over above this, it has to seek government’s permission for doing so.
- In an interesting and related article Rama Bijapurkar argues that the poor do not have the mind space to be concerned with how much the ‘haves’ have, or how they spend it, but are concerned with their own quality of life and whether or not amenities are improving. More than demanding social justice, they are seeking economic opportunity. And to say to them that we will not give it to you but we will remove temptation from your way so that you don’t know what is possible is insulting.
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Though it is covering six major categories of News, Entertainment, Sports, Technology, GoodLife and Enterpreneur, for our purpose, the News, Technology and Sports categories are more than adequate.
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27.05.2007
- I was asked to explain something about the Carbon Trading Mechanism. I tried to do it in today’s Discover It blog. Take a look at it here.
- What are Gamma scanners?
- Ever noticed the big machines that are seen at the airports, which keep scanning our luggage? These are x-ray scanners. But when huge containers are imported into the country containing tonnes and tonnes of goods, how does one check whether or not they contain hidden arms or drugs?
- They use gamma scanners for this purpose. The CBEC (Central Board Excise and Customs) is importing gamma scanners which have a penetration capacity of 150 mm steel. The IB (Intelligence Bureau) contends that our machines provide low detection capabilities. Even countries like
- Today’s weekend getaway
- Naldehra in Himachal Pradesh. It is about 22 km from Shimla.
- It is famous for being the home of the oldest golf course in the country.
- Soft drink trends
- The
- In times to come, we may perhaps see a shift happening from carbonated to non-carbonated soft drinks all over the world.
- If you want to get a feel of how leaders think – just recollect how Indra Nooyi (Pepsico CEO) has spotted and perhaps led the trend?
- “The Case of the Bonsai Manager”
- Is a book written by R. Gopalakrishnan, Tata Sons Executive Director.
- This book argues that Manager’s growth can be stunted by their own acts of omission and commission. They should branch out in new directions and draw on their innate genius.
- Ever heard of FIU?
- It stands for Financial Intelligence Unit. It is the nodal agency responsible for receiving and analyzing information relating to suspect financial transactions in
- The PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act), 2002 has come into effect from July 1, 2005. According to this, every bank, financial institution and intermediary is required to verify the identity of clients, maintain records and furnish reports to FIU.
- What are Opportunity Funds?
- We have heard of equity mutual funds. Opportunity Funds are those that take aggressive positions compared to normal equity funds.
- They take risk in two ways – one by having a concentrated portfolio and the other by having higher cash levels.
- In case of concentrated portfolio, the managers invest in fewer securities and stocks. They also try to time the market (a thing which normally no conservative fund manager would do). Market timing is the strategy of making buy or sell decisions of stocks by attempting to predict future market price movements. For this they hold on to higher cash positions, in contrast to conventional fund managers who prefer to hold lower cash positions.
- It happened in
- Kinny Lal is
- Coffee keeps gout at bay
- Gout is a painful disorder caused by a build-up of uric acid in the blood.
- Researchers found that people who drank more coffee everyday had lower levels of uric acid in the blood.
- Ancient rock art dating to 1500 BC found in Tamil Nadu
- These caves are located in Mavadaippu tribal village, about 7 km from the Kadamparai hydel power station in
- The paintings have been done on a rock surface that is 40 feet long and 20 feet tall.
- The paintings have been drawn using lime, white kaolin and even ash.
- Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Award
- Presented to Malayala Manorama for 2004, for its ‘Pala Thulli’ (meaning many a drop) campaign.
- The award carries a silver trophy and a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakhs.
- Cricket
- At last some good performance from the Indian team.
- Four batsmen of the team Dinesh Karthik, Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar scored centuries against
- Some compelling tidbits I found in today’s Time of India. Click on the links and read them. They are good.
- What is the estimated age of the Earth?
- It is believed that the Earth is 4-5 billion years old.
- Which country has the world's largest Navy?
- The United States Navy is the world's largest.
- Who is the youngest Nobel prize recipient?
- The youngest person to receive a Nobel prize was Sir William Lawrence Bragg (Physics, 1915).
- Why does the planet Venus rotate from east to west, and not the other way round like other planets?
- Experiments conducted on rotating semi-plastic spheres in viscous fluids show that they have a tendency to form a broad ring.
- When did white river rafting become a sport?
- Rafting or whitewater rafting is a recreational activity utilising a raft to navigate a river or other water bodies.
26.05.2007
- I am often asked through mail and also in the shout-box as to how should the preparation for Civils be started. Having answered it a number of times individually, I thought it is time that I share my ‘gyan’ (juss kidding) with all of you. Look at the piece I posted on the Discover It blog today on this topic here. Do let me know your reactions by way comments on the blog. It would do a lot of good to all the other aspirants.
- It is time again for us to learn some language. What is meant by ‘parrying’ questions?
- When you read something like “parrying questions on the Taj Corridor case...” what do you understand by ‘parrying’?
- It means being evasive or defensive in answering.
- Deepak Rao, the guy who can read your mind!!!
- The only feeble connection that I can think of for this person on our blogs is that, some of the things that he is able to perform on stage made me wonder whether or not it is time for some of you living in Mumbai to really test the skills he is imparting for helping in your preparation for the Civils.
- For those of you who have the inclination to contact him check out his web site at http://www.mastermind-india.com/
- 72nd Conference of the Presiding Officers of Legislative Bodies in
- It was held in Tiruvananthapuram.
- This is where our Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjea has expressed his view that the right to recall legislators should be there for any misbehaviour in the Hosue or for failure to serve their electroates.
- Economic blockade in Manipur
- The ATSUM (All Tribal Students’
- The talks with the Okram Ibobi government of Manipur had ended in a stalemate.
- What are the pitfalls in blindly promoting biofuel?
- In an interesting editorial, The Hindu gave out a three solid reasons/cautions on promoting biofuel as the manna from heaven. Take a look at them:
- The burgeoning biofuel industry ultimately may result in farmers shifting from producing food to producing biofuel.
- In the long term, the diversion of productive farm land for biofuel crops cannot be ruled out, and such diversion can only be at the cost of food and fuel wood.
- The rush to switch to energy derived from plants can drive deforestation, push small farmers off their land, and heighten poverty.
- Among the crop options is Jatropha curas, a shrub that can sustain itself under difficult climatic and soil conditions.
- A book that is making waves in
- “The Islamist” by Ed Husain is a very revealing book. It gives an insider’s account of how a hardcore Islamist is made out of normal people. It is getting rave reviews there.
- He explains how the
- National Identity Card scheme launched
- MNIC – Multipurpose National Identity Card scheme is a Rs. 45 crore project spearheaded by the Registrar General of
- Devender Kumar is the Registrar General of
- Bertie Ahern.
- He is winning the elections for the third time to continue as PM.
- Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention extended
- The Myanmarese pro-democracy leader who is under detention for the last four years, will continue to be under detention for one more year. The Military junta ruling the country has served orders to this effect.
- Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She has spent 11 of the past 17 years in detention.
- Cricket
- Australian bowler Bill Johnston passes away
- He was part of the Don Bradman’s “Invincibles”.
- Bradman’s invincibles are regarded as one of the finest cricket teams every to play the game.
- Bradman died in 2001 at the age of 92. Only 5 of his invincibles team are surviving now.
- What is augmented reality?
- A HP (Hewelett Packard) initiative, this technology turns the mobile phones as virtual tour guides.
- The technology uses built-in sensors in mobile phones that can detect position, light and motion to help people find their way with the help of software.
- 3G open only for domestic players says TRAI
- What are para IV filings?
- These are patent challenges made by generic drug manufacturers against patent holding companies in the
- IRMA, Anand Director
- Vivek Bhandari
- More than 60% of the country’s population is dependent on agriculture for livelihood. Agriculture accounts for a little less than 20% of the GDP.
- Only about 40% of arable land is under assured irrigation.
- It is not the quantum but also the spatial distribution and timing of the monsoon that are important. Even an ‘overall adequate’ precipitation forecast by the met department can leave the farmers in doldrums.
- Over the years, public investment in irrigation has steadily declined.
- Irrigation is one of the six components for development of rural infrastructure under Bharat Nirman and an additional 1 crore hectare is to be brought under assured irrigation by 2009.
- Virus killing water
- Scientists in US developed a form of water which they claim could kill vast quantities of bacteria, viruses and fungi, including many that are unaffected by bleach.
- The water called Dermacyn, is recommended for external use only and should not be drunk.
25.05.2007
- Sridhar was asking me as to why loans advanced by IMF to a country are not called loans. I gave my response in the Discover It blog today. Take a look at it here.
- European Parliament
- We all know that EU’s Parliament is located in
- Emma Nicholson report on
- The EU passed this report with an overwhelming majority. IT criticized
- Palestinian leaders
- President: Mahmoud Abbas
- Prime Minister: Ismail Haniya
- UN Peace keeping missions
- There are 18 peace keeping missions in the world today in which almost 90,000 soldiers, military observers, civilian police, and international civilian staff serve.
- These missions are in adverse light lately for their misconduct. They are accused of human rights violations – especially of sexually abusing the people they are supposed to protect.
- In
- Some beneficial unintended consequences of international peace-keeping forces include:
- Indian Ocean tsunami brought peace in
- Soldiers from
- Soldiers from South American countries with a history of military rule are socialized into the precept and practice of civilian supremacy.
- Why is
- It has about 18 different Muslim and Christian religious sects, labyrinthine politics and powerful and ruthless neighbours. It is now 60% Muslim and 40% Christian.
- How is a Public Service Commission Member removed?
- Under Article 317 of the Constitution, the President makes a reference to the Supreme Court.
- Sayalee Sanjeev Joshi, member of the Maharashtra PSC was removed from service for misconduct and misbehaviour. She was arrested on a complaint of exam malpractices. She did not inform the PSC of her daughter applying for 2002 exam.
- Scent profiling of protesters
- It is using scent-tracking methods to keep a check on selected protesters planning to demonstrate at next month’s G8 summit.
- Sniffer dogs can track possible violent protesters via police database of human scents collected in advance from selected targets.
- While there are people expressing shock at using the erstwhile East German secret police’s (Stasi) methods, some are dismissing it as nothing more than collecting finger prints.
- European football
- AC Milan beat
- Around the world in a helicopter
- Two pilots became the first to fly around the Earth by way of the north and south poles in one helicopter in a single trip.
- Jennifer Murray (US) and Colin Bodill (UK) did this in a Red Bell 407 helicopter.
- What is sea cage culture?
- It is a huge (15 meter diameter) circular fishing net made of HDPE pipes and two nets – an outer one and an inner one. The cage is anchored well and can withstand rough sea conditions. Inside it fish are cultured.
- The first such cage culture is launched in
- CMFRI – Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute is overseeing this project.
- UN on species extinctions
- It says that three animal or plant species are getting wiped out every hour and that the world must do more to slow the worst spate of extinctions.
- Coal India Limited reforms
- An expert committee headed by T.L. Shankar in its second report has suggested urgent need to restructure the management structure of CIL. Its proposal gave the Chairman of CIL overall power of management over the Coal PSUs. The post of CMD in all its eight subsidiaries will be abolished and the functional directors in the units will be liable for transfer among the subsidiaries, if needed.
- On real estate bubble
- The government has tightened external fund flows into the sector with a view to curb the real estate bubble.
- But these measures are short term and will hit sectors other than real estate in the process. The only long-term solution is to increase supply. This includes making it easier to change land use from agriculture to industry, increasing the floor-area ratio and releasing land which is under-utilised by the government.
- Some historical Chinese achievements
- Building of the 6,400 km Great Wall in the 3rd Century BC
- Building of 1800 km
- Invention of paper, gunpowder and printing.
- The top three innovator companies of the world
- Apple
- RBI’s ceilings on government’s overdraft facility – WMA Ways and Means Advances
- Remember we noted something about this recently in Discover It blog?
- The RBI has imposed a limit of Rs. 20,000 crores for the first half and Rs. 6,000 crore for the second half. The government cannot exceed these limits to meet its temporary revenue mismatches. Interest on WMA will be the prevailing repo rate. If the government borrows anything above this limit, the interest rate will be 2% above the repo rate.
24.05.2007
- I wrote a piece on “Office of Profit” issue in Discover It blog today, in response to some of your queries. Take a look at it here.
- This latest claim (articulated by its Ambassador to
- Some lackluster American Presidents
- With George Bush increasingly being identified as a bad President, his approval ratings also have fallen to historical lows of about 30%.
- There are other Presidents who equally vie for the title of ‘non-performing’ President. Let’s take a look at some as identified by The Hindu in its editorial today.
- James Buchanan did little to stop the country’s slide into Civil War in 1860; Andrew Johnson undermined Reconstruction; Warren Harding presided over a famously corrupt administration; Herbert Hoover did little to stop the onset of Depression and though efficient Richard Nixon’s was known as a crooked administration.
- Tennis: Is Roger Federer going to be the greatest of all Tennis players?
- If he succeeds the way he has succeeded against Nadal in Hamburg Masters, in the French Open perhaps he will join or surpass the ranks of Don Budge and Rod Laver.
- These two greats have held the four major titles – Australian Open, US Open, French Open and
- It was only Rod Laver who ever held a calendar year Grand Slam. He achieved it in 1969.
- Tennis players are assessed by their accomplishments on varied surfaces. With its slow high bounce, clay is a merciless surface. It favours those who top spin the ball, play the percentages and have great reserves of strength and patience.
- Why do we need to note the previous point? It’s not just facts and figures alone that you need to master. On becoming an officer and a gentleman, you will come across many situations in real life which expect you to be reasonably well informed just about anything – be it sport or business. That’s why you need to know a bit about the game, even if you don’t play it.
- National Communal Harmony Awards and Kabir Puraskar presented
- For the year 2006 were presented by our President.
- Social activist from UP, Rambabu Singh Chauhan was conferred the Kabir Puraskar for his outstanding contribution to promoting communal harmony.
- Social activist from Assam Rabindra Nath Upadhyay and
- Srilamanthula Chandramohan
- He is the artist student from Andhra Pradesh currently pursuing his arts course in MS University,
- Ms. Nilofar Bakhtiar
- Is the tourism minister of
- Her resignation is not yet accepted.
- Rare asexual reproduction noticed in sharks
- Genetic tests by scientists have confirmed that female sharks can reproduce without having sex. Parthenogenesis – growth of an egg cell into an embryo without addition of any genetic material from a male sperm cell has occurred in a hammerhead shark at Henry Doorly Zoo in
- Pests for mango
- Leaf hopper is an important pest for mango crop.
- Three varieties are known:
- Idioscopus clypealis
- Amritodus atkinsoni
- Idioscopus niveosparsus
- Rare frog species found
- In
- It is a type of mountain frog – Odorrana aureola. It can change its colour in response to its surroundings.
- Two important cases against Mayawati, the UP Chief Minister
- The Taj Corridor case
- CBI has discovered that she had sanctioned the release of funds for the project in October 2002 without the required approvals. Investigations also revealed that funds were released without techno-feasibility studies and a detailed project report.
- Disproportionate assets case
- CBI is yet to file a charge sheet in this case, though investigations were completed over a year ago.
- As the Supreme Court is monitoring the progress in both the cases, there is little that the Centre can do, even if it wants to bail her out following the latter’s willingness to play ball in the selection of the President.
- WTO talks – the
- The ongoing round which began in November 2001 at
- The
- Where
- Chinese politicians and policy makers genuinely believe that water is an economic resource and are ‘willing to charge’ for piped water supply.
- Chinese politicians are not required to seek a direct, popular vote and it is therefore, easier to take ‘unpopular’ decisions like charging for water in rural areas.
- Unlike countries like
- MIBOR
- We have heard about LIBOR in our blog in the recent past. Let’s take a look at MIBOR today.
- It stands for Mumbai Inter Bank Offer Rate and is a benchmark rate linked to the overnight call rates. It was introduced for the first time in the Indian money market in June 1998 mainly to develop the structured derivative products such as interest rate swaps and floating rate bonds.
- MIBOR is collated by NSE (National Stock Exchange) on a daily basis, based on the polled rates taken from about 30 select participants comprising banks, primary dealers and institutions in the call money market at around 9.30 AM. It is announced at about 9.40 AM on all working days.
- Who is a Primary Dealer?
- I am often asked this question. It is a designation given by the RBI to commercial banks or broker/dealers who meet specific criteria. Among the criteria are capital requirements and meaningful participation in the Treasury auctions.
23.05.2007
- Take a look at Manmohan Sing’s take on the causes for the inflation:
- In the last year, the growth processes we unleashed have put some pressure on prices. We have been faced with galloping demand for many products. This has resulted in inflation becoming a cause for concern, particularly in the case of essential commodities. This has been compounded by a shortfall in production of these commodities.
- Government he says, has recognized that high national income growth alone did not address the challenge of employment promotion, poverty reduction and balanced regional development or improving human development.
- Inflation and foreign exchange inflows
- We have been looking at this topic for the last couple of days. Some more comments made in this regard by the Hindu editorial are worth our attention. Take a look:
- The RBI has had to moderate its interventionist approach that involved, in the first instance, purchase of dollars by following it up with an operation to mop up the rupees released into the system. The costs involved in this two-way operation have no doubt mattered but the consequences of its earlier inaction are being felt across the macro-economy.
- One of the signs of the consequences for the macro-economy is a strengthening of the rupee against the dollar. This adversely affects the exporters.
- Abel Prize awarded
- To Prof. SRS Varadan, a mathematician of Indian origin working in the
- He was awarded the prize by
- The Abel Prize was created by the Norwegian government in 2002 to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the great Norwegian mathematician, Niels Henrik Abel. It carries an award of $988,000.
- 7 more services under tax net from June 1
- Renting of property for use in commerce or business
- Works contracts
- Telecom related services: telephone connection, pager, leased circuit, telex, telegraph and fax communication
- Small service providers with a turnover of less than Rs. 8 lakh are however, exempted from this levy.
- Cricket – our favourite whipping boy
- Not at all enthused with the draw by
- IIMs’ financial freedom being clipped!!
- The Union HRD ministry is about to table a bill in Parliament making the IIMs accountable to Parliament.
- At present the IIMs are being allowed to retain all their earnings from fees, consultancy, donations and grants. They were allowed to do this through a Cabinet decision of the early 1990’s.
- If the bill is passed, any investments by IIMs will have to be approved by the central government.
- A new twist to the J&K imbroglio
- Sajjad Gani Lone has come out with a demand that
- I think this is the first ever time that such a demand has emanated from the State.
- What is PFDF?
- It stands for Pooled Finance Development Fund
- It is established by the central government to enable smaller urban local bodies to raise funds from the market for financing urban infrastructure projects.
22.05.2007
- There is a controversy about capturing
- Take a look at the answers to the shout-box queries that I posted in the Discover It blog. Click on each of the following topics to see my answers for you:
- An explanation of “More curbs on forex inflows to reign in inflation”
- More about Government bonds, interest rates on them and MSS
- WMA (Ways and Means) position of States
- Wage board for journalists
- The government has appointed K. Narayana Kurup, a retired judge of the Kerala High Court as chairperson of the two wage boards for working and non-working journalists.
- MRPS leader on hunger strike
- Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti chief Mr. Krishna Madiga who is on a fast unto death demanding classification of SCs into A,B,C,D categories. His point is that the more advanced among the SCs viz., the Malas are cornering more benefits of reservation and hence the Madigas are losing out on reservations meant for SCs. But reportedly there is a Supreme Court judgment which prohibits such sub-classification.
- The Government of AP intervened with the Centre and got appointed a Commission headed by Justice Usha Mehra to study the issue and submit its report within three months.
- But the MRPS is unconvinced and wants that the Commission should be mandated to submit its report within a month and that a bill on categorization should be introduced in the monsoon session of the Parliament starting on July 21.
- Literary awards for Sanskrit and Arabic scholars presented
- 30 scholars were awarded for the year 2006.
- The ‘Certificate of Honour’ is announced on the Independence Day every year. It is given to scholars of eminence over 60 years of age in Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and Pali in recognition of their teaching experience, published works and their efforts at keeping the tradition of these languages alive. It carries an annual grant of Rs. 50,000 for life, apart from a citation and a shawl.
- Young scholars of these languages in the age group of 30 to 40 are honoured through the Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman every year. It carries a one time cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh along with a citation and a shawl.
- BIPPA with
- A 10 year Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) was signed with
- Under this, both the countries would accord equal treatment to investors from other country as given to domestic investors and those from any other country.
- As per the agreement, both countries will grant the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to each other and offer protection to investors, which would include safeguarding their intellectual property rights.
- What is ‘Cutty Sark’?
- It is world’s last remaining tea clipper and a major
- It is in the news because it was damaged by fire yesterday. But restorers are hoping that it can be salvaged.
- It used to carry tea from
- Do you know how much it costs to hire an oil rig?
- I think I noted sometime earlier also about this. But just to get a recap.
- RIL (Reliance Industries Limited) has hired a rig called “Deepwater Frontier” in 2006 at a cost of $320,000 per day. It is still using it.
- Oil rigs are usually very costly. They cannot be built easily and the order books of oil rig builders are full. Hence the lease rentals for these rigs are going through the roof.
- Rigs account for 30% of the total cost. Because of this, the oil drilling companies are changing their strategy from leasing to owining rigs.
- “Shrek the Third” tops box office collections
- This animated movie from Dreamworks has grossed $122 mn over a three day period, a new record for an animated film
- Climate panel formed
- An expert group on climate change headed by the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government Mr. R. Chidambaram has been formed to address the anthropogenic factors causing climate change and will identify measures to tackle it.
- It also has IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Chairman R.K. Pachauri as a member.
- A reasonable line of thinking in the wake of attacks on Reliance Fresh stores
- Studies indicate that in the case of vegetables there is a 60 to 75% mark up in prices between the farmer and the consumer, combined with enormous wastage. By cutting out layers of middlemen through the use of modern logistics, the likes of Reliance and Bharti will be able to offer higher prices to farmers and lower prices to consumers. States have amended their agriculture produce and marketing Acts allowing corporate buyers to procure directly from farmers but many are yet to notify the changes. But if Indian agriculture is to break out of its low growth trap, state governments will have to let go of their control over marketing and withdraw numerous ‘control’ orders under the essential commodities Act. As for the intermediaries, many will find jobs in new supply chains while a fast growing economy is the best solution to temporary unemployment.
- What is front-running?
- It is the unethical practice of a stock broker taking an equity position on his own books before executing orders for the customer. It is an illegal practice and is tantamount to insider trading.
- This happens in a number ways:
- Knowing the content of another broker’s order and executing the trade before the other trader.
- A broker acting, based on information from the analyst department before his or her clients have been given the information.
21.05.2007
- Prince Harry will now be deployed in
- Some earlier we noted in our blog that Prince Harry will be doing military duty in
- One interesting aspect of this deployment is that there is a way in which the British Government can censor news about his deployment anywhere. They have a thing known as d-notice, through which the British Government can request the paper editors not to publish items on certain subjects on grounds of national security.
- Commonwealth Secretary General election
- The post is coming up for election in November this year, when the present incumbent Don McKinnon of
- As per the convention, now is
- Names that are being heard as having entered the fray include:
- Foreign Minister of
- From
- Mani Shankar Aiyar
- Kamlesh Sharma, High Commissioner of
- Mohan Kaul, an NRI settled in
- Social security net to be extended to the self-employed
- Aam Admi Smajik Surakhsa Yojana is the name given to it.
- It envisages giving self employed professionals like doctors, designers, small shop-owners and freelance journalists old-age pension, life and disability insurance cover and health benefits like any other government or corporate sector employee.
- Warehouse receipts and negotiable instruments
- There is a big deal about recognizing warehouse receipts as negotiable instruments.
- As a negotiable instrument, it can protect a lender’s (banker’s) interest. Under normal circumstances a banker is not liable to the drawer, if he were to accept a negotiable instrument in good faith despite the title of such an instrument being defective.
- A bit about MSS – Market Stabilization Scheme of the RBI
- MSS is a program of issuing interest bearing bonds, with the sole purpose of impounding surplus liquidity.
- Until a couple of years ago, RBI would mop up liquidity by selling government bonds that it had subscribed to. After RBI ran out of its stock of government bonds, it had to look for a new instrument. It, therefore, came out with MSS, which involves issue of bonds with a tenor ranging from three months to one year.
- Deepening corporate bond market
- Do you remember the notes we have been making about this? The RH Patil Committee recommendations on this?
- Now the government was able to implement one of the recommendations of the Committee. It has made the state governments agree to a single rate of stamp duty at 0.25%.
- Habib Miyan of Jaipur.
- Naxalbari revolt
- Now it is 40 years since the Naxalbari movement happened. So, on this occasion, some recap about that movement.
- Naxalbari is a village in
- The Communist movement originated from this incident. Charu Mazumdar and Kanu Sanyal were the lead organizers. Jangal Santhal mobilized the adivasis. By 1969, this group split up from CPI(M) and formed the CPI( ML).
- The result of this movement was that in
- Nadal beaten by Federer on clay!!!
- Roger Federer beat Rafael Nadal in the final of the ATP Masters Series tournament in
- This is one of those rare occasions when the master of clay, Nadal was beaten by anybody (Federer included) on clay court.
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