17.08.2008

• A case of missed opportunity again: India loses out to China for a top ADB post
• The president of ADB always hails from Japan. There are currently four vice-presidents, including one from China. The ADB rules normally don’t allow a borrowing country to nominate someone as Vice President. But now changed rules allow a major borrower country to nominate someone as V-P.
• India had a strong case to lobby for the post of Vice President (Operations) and could have successfully nominated the recently retired finance secretary Ashok Kumar Jha to occupy the post. But it fell short in the lobbying skills compared with China and has lost the race to Zhao Xiaoyu, currently the deputy governor (CFO) of the Export-Import Bank of China.
• Credit card business picture from RBI
• The credit card outstandings have shot up by a whopping 87% at Rs 26,596 crore, during the January-May 23 period this year, from Rs 12,375 in the year-ago period.
• What are the reasons for such huge outstandings?
• The eagerness to grow business at a fast pace without caring for the profitability. The profitability of the credit card business depends on the right ticket size and the average spends. Initially, the banks’ strategy was to increase volumes, rather than focus on ticket size. Thus, individuals of small ticket size were issued credit cards, and average spends resulting were smaller than expected.
• Inability to control transaction costs. There is a transaction cost involved with the whole retail experience. Monthly statements, collection costs, and other costs are high in case of credit cards.
• A sound mind in a sound body
• This is one of my oft spoken phrases for quite a bit of time – last three decades to be precise. And I am a strong advocate of regular exercise even for Civils aspirants. But never knew the original guy who uttered these words. I was surprised to learn today that it was the Roman satirist Juvenal who denounced the vice and folly of Roman society during the reign of the emperor Domitian (60-140), that uttered these words for the first time.
• But you know he uttered them in his language: Mens sane in corpore sano.
• Worries over the civil aviation front
• There has been a 20% drop in the weekly flight schedule — from 10,922 flights a week in March 2008 to 8,778 flights this week.
• Even the passenger growth witnessed a decline by 12% last month as compared to July 2007.
• Domestic airlines are facing an estimated loss of $2 billion in fiscal 2009, while international carriers may post a combined loss of $6.1 billion for the year.
• Globally, in the past couple of months alone, ATF has caused 24 carriers to go bankrupt.
• Over the past 60 years, the industry has made $11.5 trillion in revenues, but $32 billion in profits — a margin of just 0.3%.
• Some titbits about our defence schools
• The Indian Army’s School of Artillery is located at Deolali in Maharashtra. The School of Artillery is a prestigious institution with a great legacy, having been established in the pre-Independence era. It serves as the seat of learning for all aspects of artillery warfare.
• The Indian Navy’s gunnery and missile weapons training establishment, INS Dronacharya is based in Kochi. INS Dronacharya provides broad based and integrated training to gunnery officers and sailors of the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard. It achieves this through hands-on practical exposure on live equipment, simulators and emulators.
• Both of them have signed an affiliation charter here on Saturday. The close interaction serves to maximize the combat potential of the Indian armed forces at the time of reckoning. It also fosters camaraderie and a deep understanding of each others’ customs and traditions. It would also help sharing of new operational concepts, training methodology, infrastructure and faculty, an officer said.
• Some of our greatest moments in sport
• Take a look at this piece. It is a must read.
• What does LGBT stand for?
• Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgenders. Reportedly there was a parade of the LGBT community in Mumbai recently where they chanted “Ek do, Ek do, 377 ko phek do.”
• Section 377 in the Indian Penal Code criminalises homosexual activity and one of the main demands of the LGBT community is that it be repealed.
• Olympics
• Usain Bolt of Jamaica produced a stunning performance to win the men’s 100 metres Olympic title here on Saturday in a new world record time of 9.69 seconds.
• Michael Phelps shattered all world records and became the first man in the history of Olympics to clinch 8 gold medals in a single Olympic event. He has amassed an all time high of 14 individual and 16 overall Olympic golds.
• He shattered the 1972 record of Mark Spitz who won 7 golds in a single Olympic event.