01.02.2008

• In today's Discover It, I noted something about the basics relating to primary and secondary stock markets from an article written by an IIM Professor. The fundas are explained very well in it. Take a look.
  
• ‘Bracket creep’
• Ever heard of this? There is lot of expectation that the government should enhance exemption limit for various income tax payees. It is widely expected that with the revenues being very buoyant, the government will enhance the exemption limits for individuals, women and senior citizens.
• It is said that such raising of exemption limit after years of inflation simply corrects the ‘bracket creep’ without really reducing the tax burden in real terms. What this means is that if the exemption limits are adjusted for inflation (the rupee is devalued because of inflation every year), then even with the enhanced limits, what the various categories see is no real enhancement of the limit.
• Kanishka bomber to be freed
• Remember the 1985 bombing of the Air India flight? Inderjit Singh Reyat, the only person jailed in this case is about to be released on February 9. He completes his 5 year term that day for pleading guilty to manslaughter in the case.
• But there is another case of perjury pending against him. Whether or not he will be put behind bars on account of that is to be seen.
• An interesting price war going on in the healthcare market
• Why is watching the developments in the healthcare market important for us?
• About 67 mn Indians are expected to be above 67 years of age by 2011.
• This age group spends around 3 to 4 times more on drugs than the younger age groups.
• A company called Subhiksha sells drugs at 10% discount across its countrywide network. Reportedly it has started its operations in 1997 and currently has around 1100 outlets (and counting) across 90 cities in the country.
• This company has sent legal notices to drug wholesalers for withholding supplies. But the AIOCD (All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists), which has about 6 lakh chemists, is charging Subhiksha of unfair competition by selling drugs at a discount.
• Oh, since when has offering discounted prices become unfair competition? Are we all not expecting a fall in prices in every sphere of our life? Best wishes to Subhiksha.
• Who is a banking correspondent?
• We have heard about correspondents of colleges. But banking correspondents?
• A banking correspondent is a bank or financial institution that offers services to other banks or financial institutions that do not have direct access to the rural poor.
• Till 2006, MFIs (Micro-finance Institutions) and NBFCs (Non Banking Finance Companies) qualified as banking correspondents. Loans given by these entities formed part of the priority sector advances of banks that partnered with them. But such partnerships have ended after RBI banned them.
• Currently only not-for-profit companies, societies and trusts qualify as banking correspondents.
• So what are MFIs doing? Simply register as not-for-profit companies to qualify as banking correspondents.
• Global real estate sales figures
• During 2007 (Jan-Dec) commercial real estate sales worldwide have been placed at $759 bn.
• In 2006, they were reported to be about $700 bn.
• In 2008, it is expected that the sales will slow down.
• Have any idea of the size of these sales? They are approximately as large as our country’s GDP!!!
• When did big bang occur?
• At one time or the other I am sure you would have heard about the big bang theory.
• The big bang is believed to have occurred some 14 bn years ago.
• The universe is found to be expanding more quickly than in the past. It had long been assumed that the mutual attraction of the galaxies through gravity would slow the expansion of space. But recent research is supporting a different explanation.
• It is that the universe is filled with the so called dark energy, which counteracts the gravitational attraction that galaxies exert on each other.
• Dark energy is a substance that has been inferred but never seen. It cannot be detected with present technology as it neither emits nor reflects light or radiation.
• Mercury missions
• The last time a NASA craft went to Mercury was Mariner 10 in 1975.
• Now Messenger, the craft that was launched in 2004 has sent some pictures of the planet on its way to find its orbit around the planet sometime in 2011. The craft is on its 8 bn km mission and will fly by Mercury two more times, this October and September 2009 before it finds its orbit.
• Montessori movement
• You would have studied in or known a friend or two who has studied in a Montessori school. Ever wondered what is meant by Montessori in the school’s name? Take a look at the brief given by the movement itself in its web site:
• Montessori pedagogical principles are rooted in a social movement intended to champion the cause of all children, in all strata of society, of all races and ethnic backgrounds, within and beyond educational institutions.
• The Montessori movement is recognised to have begun on 6 January 1907 when Dr. Montessori opened the first Casa dei Bambini in San Lorenzo in Rome.
• In 1929 Dr. Montessori founded the Association Montessori Internationale. The objectives of the association are to uphold, propagate and further the pedagogical principles and practice formulated by Dr. Maria Montessori for the full development of the human being.
• Montessori is the single largest pedagogy in the world with over 22,000 schools in 110 countries on 6 continents.
• Montessorians serve as advocates for all children - championing the rights of the child in society.
• Want to know the contribution of Arabic science during history?
• You can’t get a better account than the one given in today’s centre page article in The Hindu. Worth a read. Do so here.
• Cricket
• Hmmm… Want to be told how India fared in today’s 20-20 match against Australia? I know. You all know the result. So why bother?
• Why should you care if honey bees are dying by the millions somewhere in France?
• When the bees (apiculture is substantial in France; it’s reported to be worth $150 mn market; sunflower is ubiquitous in the country) started dying mysteriously in 2005, the government banned two potent pesticides (Regent and Gaucho) used on sunflower and corn crops. That appeared to have stemmed the massive die offs then. But they have resumed of late.
• People are wondering and clueless about the cause of this massive die offs. Some plausible explanations being aired include:
• Reduced biodiversity stemming from monoculture farming
• Bacterial parasites such as Varroa destructor and Nosema cernae
• A deadly pathogen called Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV)
• We should worry about this is because it is reported that 35% of the world’s vegetable food resources depend on bees for pollination!!