23.10.2007

• What are sub-accounts of FIIs?
• With lot of heat being generated by the recent move of SEBI to restrict PNs, one concept that we need to be clear about is the definition of a sub-account. They are vehicles floated by FIIs in tax havens to manage the funds of overseas investors who cannot or do not want to be registered with SEBI.
• Proprietary sub-accounts are used by FIIs to manage their own funds.
• SEBI’s nervousness about PNs stems from the fact that there is no audit trail of funds coming through the PN route. There is no knowing either the quality of the money or the ultimate beneficial interest. This gives goosebumps to the regulator in the context of the fact that 75% of the floating stock in the markets is reportedly now in FII hands, with as much as 52% of the assets under custody of FIIs being in the form of PNs.
• To make matters worse, a view that is gaining currency is that most PN holders in India are hedge funds.
• So, SEBI after all seems to be just being cautious.
• Mona Lisa’s secrets revealed
• This famous 16^th century painting by Leonardo Da Vinci has beguiled art buffs on its origins and meaning.
• A question which remained unanswered even after lot of research was the fate of the enigmatic subject’s famously missing eyebrows and lashes.
• Now a Parisian engineer, Pascal Cotte claims that his ultra detailed digital scans have enabled him to burrow through the layers of paint to ‘see’ into the past. The original painting he says included both eyebrows and lashes but were obliterated by restoration efforts.
• Are funds from multilateral financing agencies classified as ECBs?
• No, according to a news report that appeared in today’s ET.
• Increasing train speeds
• The Indian Railways is thinking of doubling the speed of all express trains connecting major metros. At present passenger trains are having an average speed of 50 km/hr while the freight trains are seeing 30 km/hr.
• To sustain 100 km/hr of speed, fencing of the tracks would be sufficient. But to sustain high speeds of 250 km/hr, new tracks would have to be laid.
• Should the wealthy from foreign shores come and settle in India?
• India has no estate duty. It scrapped it in 1985. It was originally introduced in 1953.
• But many other big and rich countries do have it. UK (40%), Germany (35 to 40%), US (18 to 46%), France (5 to 40%) and Japan (10 to 50%).
• Even though the marginal personal income tax rate is 30% and for the corporates it is 33.99%, the effective rate is 17 to 19% due to various exemptions.
• Is this not making a case of the rich and famous to settle in India?
• More about Estate Duty in India.
  
• Language lessons:
• We have heard about astronauts and cosmonauts; but a taikonaut?
• I came across this word for the first time. It means the same, but do look at its verbose meaning: It means a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft. While generally reserved for professional space travelers, the term is sometimes applied to anyone who travels into space, including scientists, politicians, journalists, and tourists.
• Scientists discover genes responsible for ageing
• UK scientists have identified a gene that regulates lifespan in mammals, which could one day lead to treatments to hold off ageing and its related illnesses.
• The gene IRS-1 is involved in regulating the function of insulin – a harmone that controls the amount of sugar in blood.
• Experiments in mice confirmed that those without this gene lived 20% longer and had much healthier lives.
• A very quirky festival ritual
• In Andhra Pradesh, there is a place called Devaragattu in Kurnool district. A ritual by name “Bunny” is carried out every year on the eve of Dussehra. Devotees bring processional deities from their villages around midnight to the temple for Kalyanotsavam. When the deities are taken out of the temple, groups from other villages put up resistance to hijack them. The most ‘uncivilized’ part of the celebration is that they carry sticks and beat everybody and anybody in a kind of ‘free for all’.
• This has caused AP State Human Rights Commission to issue a directive to prevent bloodshed during the ritual. The police and excise officials have heaved a sigh of relief because there was only one death this year in the aftermath of this ritual.
• Perhaps the only country to have plebiscite as a constitutional mandate?
• Ireland.
• African leadership prize
• This prize is meant for an African leader for good governance and excellence in leadership. It was instituted by a Sudanese businessman Mo Ibrahim in 2006 to strengthen governance in African continent. It comprises of $5 mn for spread over 10 years and $200,000 annually for life thereafter. Another $200,000 will be given to pay for the winner’s public interest activities and good causes.
• It was announced to Joaquim Chissano, the ex-President of Mozambique.
• Formula One racing
• Beating the favourite Hamilton, it was Kimi Raikkonen of Finland (Ferrari team) who clinched the Brazilian Grand Prix and the Formula One championship title for the year with a top score of 110.
• Lewis Hamilton of McLaren team stood second with 109 points.