- There is a controversy about capturing Dhaka during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Take a look at the notes I gave in Discover It blog here.
- 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:
- 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 Mexico
- A 10 year Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) was signed with Mexico in New Delhi.
- 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 London tourist attraction. What is a clipper? A clipper was a very fast multiple-masted sailing ship of the 19th century. Generally narrow for their length, limited in their bulk freight carrying capacities, and small by later 19th century standards, the clippers had a large relative sail area.
- 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 China to Europe. Built in 1869, it was put in dry dock in 1954.
- 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.
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