12.09.2009

Politics & the Nation

• Supreme Court directs UP government to stop construction of Kanshi Ram Memorial
• The Supreme Court on Friday set a sixhour deadline to the Mayawati-led UP government to stop all construction works for its pet statue project, for which thousands of crores of public money is being spent. The court warned the state government of dire consequences for “playing with fire” by flouting its order on the project, taking suo motu cognisance of the matter.
• A bench comprising Justices BN Agrawal and Aftab Alam directed the government to remove all machinery from seven construction sites in Lucknow within a time frame of six hours. Barring watch and wards staff, no person shall be allowed to be present in and around such sites after 7 pm, the court ordered.
• The bench passed the order, taking suo motu cognisance of media reports that the government was flouting its order and carrying on construction of Kanshi Ram memorial, Ambedkar memorial and others in Lucknow.

Quotable quote

“A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognised” -- Fred Allen

Finance & Economy

• Foreign universities making a beeline to enter India?
• If our HRD Minister is to be believed this is so. Take a look at this news report.
• Ever wondered about the number of our students going abroad to study? Look at this graphic. It is interesting.
• Vietnam to be recognized as a market economy?
• THE Centre is considering recognising Vietnam as a market economy before World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) 2018 deadline after Hanoi insisted on the trade status to be a signatory to the recent India-Asean free trade agreement (FTA).
• In a market economy, prices of goods and services are determined by the forces of demand and supply.
• As per WTO stipulations, India and others members needs to recognise Vietnam as a market economy only by 2018. Incidentally, India is yet to give the trade status to even China. All Asean members as well as New Zealand and Australia have recognised Vietnam as a market economy.
• By according market economy status, India will accept prices prevailing in Vietnam as the basis for determining anti-dumping investigations against imported goods. At present, dumping cases from China and Vietnam are investigated on the basis of prices prevailing in a third country.
• Countries deny marketing status to the economies on the suspicion that prices prevailing in that economy are controlled by the government. These prices are, therefore, not used for dumping margin calculations, which are then based on prices prevailing for similar products in comparable economies.
• What's the big deal about RBI allowing repo in corporate bonds?
• The current regulatory policies in India do not allow banks to guarantee corporate bonds.
• By allowing repo or ready forwards — a repurchase facility that allows banks, mutual funds and insurance companies to borrow against corporate bonds — there could be more incentive for corporates to tap the market for funds d i r e c t l y through the issue of bonds. It makes possible for investors in these bonds to trade in the secondary market, t h e r e - b y making these bonds liquid.
• The Reserve Bank of India is reportedly considering to put in public domain draft guidelines for repo in corporate bonds. The central bank is also set to have a policy framework in place for the introduction of credit derivatives, with adequate safeguards, factoring in the lessons from the global crisis.

Cinema

Take a look at the international acclaim/recognition received by Indian cinema over the years. Here.

Society

• Cars No 1 killer of youth globally
• Increased availability of motor vehicles and alcohol,along with youthful recklessness, has made road accidents the No 1 cause of death among young people around the world. Among those below 24 years of age, traffic mishaps account for 14% of male and 5% of female deaths.
• The first-ever global study of causes of death in the 10-24 age group has found that around 2.6 million young people die each year, mostly from preventable and treatable causes. Not surprisingly, a whopping 97% of these deaths take place in poorer countries. Almost two-thirds of these 1.67 million deaths were in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia alone.
• The study was conducted by researchers from the World Health Organisation, Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, and University College, London.
• The study found that there were more young people in the world today than ever before—1.8 billion or 30% of the world population.
• The study reveals some startling findings—two in five deaths worldwide were due to injuries and violence.
• Of the total adolescent deaths, 65% were in sub-Saharan Africa and south east Asia, with these regions accounting for 42% of 10-24 year olds. High-income countries had only 3% of the death with 11% of the population in this age range.

Sport

• Mallya to merge sport interests in one single company
• Vijay Mallya is at it again. He is one of a kind in brand building. No other business person in India, perhaps, can come close to Mr. Mallya in building brands.
• He is now reportedly considering merging all his sporting interests into a single entity and explore a possible listing on the bourses.
• Take a look at this report.