- Reliance (RIL) comes out with top performance in corporate history of
- It became the first ever company in
- Its GRMs have shown about 50% improvement. These super GRMs are reportedly on account of a superior refinery configuration. RIL’s configuration has allowed flexibility to focus on the production of middle distillate products (gasoil and jet kerosene) where margins remained firm with strong global demand.
- About derivatives market in
- At present the duration of the derivatives products – both index and stocks – is three months. But SEBI is thinking of allowing long term derivative products in the country’s capital markets.
- This is mainly to capture a substantial portion of the derivatives transactions relating to Indian securities happening outside the country. Such a capture will benefit Indian players and will also improve tax revenues.
- Do you know that the premier derivatives market of the world is in US? It is the CME Group, which was formed with the merger of Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) with the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). It has a daily turnover of $4.4 trillion. In contrast the Indian derivatives market on NSE sees trades of about $220 bn a day, which is just about 5% of the CME Group’s trades!!
- CARs
- It stands for Civil Aviation Requirements. These are mandatory guidelines for airports to enhance safety procedures on runways. These are issued by DGCA.
- Mashelkar Report thrown in dust-bin?
- Remember the ill-fated Mashelkar Report? Despite the heat and dust having been settled about the plagiarism charges, one of its core recommendations now seems to be getting confined to dust bin.
- The report has said that detailed guidelines should be formulated for examining patent applications in the pharmaceutical sector. The report felt that such guidelines could help a patent examiner distinguish between incremental innovation and frivolous changes. But a view seems to gaining currency in the government circles that such guidelines may only confuse the issue further rather than help the examiners.
- The issue is one of interpreting Section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act, 2005. This section says that “mere discovery of a new form of a known substance which does not result in the enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance or the mere discovery of any new property or new use for a known substance or of the mere use of a known process, machine or apparatus unless such known process results in a new product or employs at least one new reactant” would not be considered for patent. The current view is that the law is clear as it wants innovation to enhance the known efficacy of a substance. The patent examiners should be left free to exercise their wisdom in granting or rejecting a patent.
- Petrochemical sector in
- It is one of the most diversified of all industrial sectors covering more than 75,000 commercial products. It employs about 3.4 lakh persons. Has a share of 13-14% in exports and 9% in imports. Contributes to about 3% of the GDP.
- Comprises of everything from synthetic fibres and polymers to synthetic detergents and performance plastics.
- Language lessons:
- “The Left … continues to hold tautological meetings with the UPA…” reads a sentence in today’s ET editorial. What are these tautological meetings?
- Should corporate boards have quota for women?
- Some arguments in favour of this question are:
- Diversity in composition of the board makes a tremendous difference.
- Without women on them, the corporates will lose a chance to use the intellectually imaginative and rationally perspicacious skills that women possess in full quantities.
- Women have a different way of thinking and working: tend to trust their intuitions, be more courageous in taking a stand and often consider alternative decisions with a wider perspective.
- Yeah, yeah agreed; I hear counter arguments on all of them. Point well taken. They are as good as men and men are as good as women. Period. It is not quotas which have taken an Indra Nooyi or a Kalpana Morparia to where they are today.
- Supreme Court’s guidelines on NBWs
- They should be resorted to:
- when summons or bailable warrants do not produce the desired result of bringing a person to court;
- in cases where the police are unable to trace someone in order to serve him or her with a summons; and
- when there are grounds for believing that a person could harm someone if not placed in immediate custody.
- The SC was coming down heavily on the issuance of NBWs even at the slightest provocation by lower courts. It set aside an Uttaranchal High Court’s order.
- The SC ruling that shaped the law on arrests was: DK Basu vs. State of
- There are about 20 lakh artisans directly employed in carpet making. It is concentrated in
- “Kaleen certificate” is given by the sellers to the buyers to confirm that child labour was not used in any way in the production of carpets.
- Today’s women
- All of you by now are familiar with my tilt towards women achievers, performers and leaders. We look at two public personalities today.
- Cecilia (Sarkozy): She divorced Nikolas Sarkozy, the French President. Their marriage has been on the rocks for some time. What surprised me is her attitude towards the ‘first lady’ title. She feels it is a very conventional idea to be a President’s wife!! Anyone amongst you thinking similarly?
- Benazir Bhutto: After an 8 year long self-imposed exile, she returned to
- Dalai Lama
- He was conferred the Congressional Gold Medal by the
19.10.2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Loading...
0 comments:
Post a Comment