1. UN Sanctions against Iran:
- prohibit Iran from purchasing heavy weaponry, of various types, including attack helicopter and missiles
- Banning licences of banks suspected of funding nuclear activities
- head of Iran's Esfahan Nuclear Centre, Javed Rashiqi, added to list of 40 Iranians subject ot asset freeze and travel ban
- Ban on dealing with 23 companies involved in nuclear ballistic missile activities - including Khatam al-Anblya COnstruciton - and 15 others linked to Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
- It recommends all countries to inspect cargo from Iran, suspected of containing banned items at their ports and airports
- restriction on arm sales to Iran to include eight new categories including tanls, figher planes and missile systems
Vienna Group - Russia, France and the United States
2. Global Peace Index Report (GPI) - an annual publication by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP):
India- 128th, Pakistan - 145, Afghanistan - 147th
Srilanka - 133rd, Nepal -82nd, Bhutan - 36th
New Zealand - the most peaceful nation globally
3. New developments in India-Srilanka ties:
- India has agreed to extend a credit of $1 billion for funding Sri Lanka's infrastructure projects, mainly in the former civil war zones in the north and east of the country
- Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters and Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Prisoners
- India agreed to assist in the reconstruction of the Palaly Airport and the Kankesanthurai Harbour and also help in the renovation of the Duraiappah Stadium and construction of a cultural centre in Jaffna.
4. A breakthrough in cancer research:
- A protein known as 'Delta-like ligand 4' (DLL4) has recently been identified as an important component in regulating the formation of new blood vessels in a cancer tumour
- A research group at Karolinska Institutet has developed a DNA-vaccine against DLL4 and the blood vessel tip cells. They have shown that vaccination against DLL4 causes an immunological antibody response to DLL4, and this hinders the growth of breast cancer in mice
5. Research on nanoparticles by NIST:
Nanoparticles designed for use in drug therapy or as contrast agents for medical imaging typically are coated with molecules to prevent the particles from clumping together, which would reduce their effectiveness. But the efficacy of the anti-clumping coating often depends on the pH of the environment.
So what is the breakthrough?
There are certain nano particles which turn acidic when exposed to light. Their results demonstrate that under certain conditions, the stability of the nanoparticles-their tendency to resist clumping-becomes very sensitive to pH
What is its usefulness: Studies such as these could provide a stronger foundation to design nanoparticles for applications such as targeting tumor cells that have levels of acidity markedly different from normal cells.
6. India's largest life insurance company, state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India, has tied up with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to share its data base of more than 21 crore customers
7. GE has developed the world's first two-stage turbocharged gas engine in response to growing global demand for high-efficiency power generation
8. Barbara Kingsolver - winner of Orange Prize for fiction, Britain's highly-regarded literary honour for women writers
9. Amendments to Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act and Section 28 of the Special Marriage Act: These two sections pertain to dissolution of marriage by mutual consent. The recent amendment is addition of another clause to the existing grounds for divorce that include adultery, cruelty, desertion, conversion to another religion, unsoundness of mind, virulent and incurable form of leprosy, venereal disease in a communicable form, renouncement of the world and not heard as being alive for a period of seven years.
The additional clause is :‘irretrievable breakdown of marriage'
What does this mean?
Irretrievable breakdown of marriage can be defined as such failure in the matrimonial relationship or such circumstances adverse to that relationship that no reasonable probability remains of the spouses remaining together as husband and wife for mutual comfort and supportIt is the situation that occurs in a marriage when one spouse refuses to live with the other and will not work towards reconciliation. When there is not an iota of hope that parties can be reconciled to continue their matrimonial life, the marriage can be considered as Irretrievable Breakdown of marriage
10. Minimum Support Price:
Minimum price for a product, established by a government and supported by payments to producers in the event that the market price falls below the specified minimum.
- To encourage cultivation of pulses, the Union government on Thursday increased the minimum support prices by up to 33 per cent, but did not extend the favour to other kharif crops.
11. State Bank of India Chairman O. P. Bhatt has been elected the new Chairman of the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) for 2010-11
HDFC Bank Managing Director Aditya Puri, Bank of Baroda Chairman and Managing Director M. D. Mallya and Canara Bank Chairman and Managing Director A. C. Mahajan were elected deputy chairmen
12. The former Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, Makani Narayana Rao, has assumed charged as Chairperson of the National Commission for Backward Classes
13. Garuda - Indo-French air combat exercise will take place at Isteres air base in France from June 14 to 25
- The Garuda series between India and France started in 2003 aiming to enhance military ties and allow their air forces to understand each other's capabilities
- For the first time the two air forces would be joined by the Singaporean Air Force with its American-origin Block 52 F-16s
14. Bengal flavour in FIFA World Cup South Africa -
100 tonne of lakshmanbhog variety of mangoes from Malda will be sold at the food court counters in the village setup to house the football stars and other guests.
Malda - One time capital of Bengal, the district maintains the tradition of the past in culture and education. It lies just east of the confluence of the Mahananda and Kalindri rivers. It is part of the English Bazar urban agglomeration. The town rose to prominence as the river port of the Hindu capital of Pandua. During the 18th century it was the seat of prosperous cotton and silk industries. It remains an important distributing centre for rice, jute, and wheat.
15.Objective of water mission,2010:
water conservation, minimising wastage and ensuring equitable distribution both across and within States through integrated resource development and management
Principles:
- comprehensive data base in public domain;
- public participation through promotion of citizen-State interaction;
- integrated basin-wide management;
- enactment of State-wide legislation through persuasion;
- review and adoption of a National Water Policy by March 2013
Goals:
expanding monitoring network; expeditious formulation of river-interlinking project; and implementing rainwater harvesting and augmentation of artificial recharge in all Blocks by 2017.
16. Abu Dhabi tower has been recognised as the “furthest-leaning man-made tower” in the world by Guinness World Records. The 160-metre Capital Gate tower, developed by the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company, leans at 18 degrees — over four times the angle of Italy's famous Leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Alarmed by the dwindling population of Olive Ridley Turtles in Orissa, the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India has set up a temporary study camp at Ganjam district of the state to monitor their nesting, breeding and migration.
There are three major nesting sites of Olive Ridley Turtle in Orissa -- the Nasi Islands in Gahirmatha, the Devi river mouth and the Rushikulya river mouth. From January to March, half a million turtles nest here. A single female adult lays around 100-140 eggs at a time.
18. Vapi, Gujarat - one of the 10 most polluted towns in the world as per Time and Fobes
As per Forbes, Vapi’s groundwater is reported to be polluted 96 times higher than the World Health Organization’s health standards; in addition, local agricultural produce can contain up to 60 times more heavy metals
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
8th June - CA
1. India-Czech Republic relationship- A new begining
- President of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus committed his country's support for India's bid for United Nations Security Council
-Proposed collaboration in science and technology and IT
- Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore had visited Prague twice — in 1921 and 1926. Professor Vincenc Lesny of the Charles University was the first European to have translated Tagore's verses directly from Bengali to Czech
2. Hydra-headed crisis - representative of times we live in. We are living at a time of successive crises successive crises – the Haiti earthquake, famine in East Africa, the Taliban attack on Kabul, the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Boxing Day Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina…No sooner does one crisis disappear from the headlines, than another pops up in a different part of the world
3. UNESCO-Obiang prize for improve the quality of human life conroversy:
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea has been accused by rights groups and anti-corruption activists of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars from his tiny oil-rich West African state, while most of its people scrape by in dire poverty
According to the African Economic Outlook, 77 per cent of Equatorial Guinea's population fell below the poverty line in 2006. The country has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world and an average life expectancy of 62. It ranks among the bottom 13 countries on Transparency International's corruption index, and ninth on the Freedom House list of the world's most repressive countries.
3. Indo-Australian collaboration in the energy sector:
- India to jointly with Australia in energy, minerals and power generation sectors including tie-up for gas supply for new plants to be set up by both countries in India
- development of use of brown coal (lignite), energy efficiency, efficiency improvements of coal based power plants, hydro power development and power generation technology research and development of smart grids
- India now had the fifth largest electricity generation capacity in the world and the world's third largest transmission and distribution network.
4. Bharti acquires Zain:
India's largest telecom company Bharti Airtel has closed its $10.7-billion acquisition of Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co, also known as Zain, becoming the world's fifth largest mobile phone services company after China Mobile, Vodafone, Telefonica and America Movil Group.
The Zain acquisition will be an Indian company's second-largest overseas acquisition after Tata Steel's $12.11 billion acquisition of Anglo Dutch steel maker Corus in 2007, which catapulted it to the world's fifth-largest steel maker
The countries in which Bharti can operate through Zain's acquisition are - Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia
5. 17th century 'Archduke Joseph' diamond from Golkonda is up for saleThe diamond takes its name from Archduke Joseph August (1872-1962), a prince of the Hungarian line of the Hapsburg dynasty.
6.Limiting the use of Platinum in fuel cell because of copule of disadvantages of Pt It is expensive, and it breaks down over time in fuel-cell reactions.New technology discovered:five-nanometer palladium (Pd) core and encircled it with a shell consisting of iron and platinum (FePt).
Core of the technology:iron-platinum shell by decomposing iron pentacarbonyl [Fe(CO)5] and reducing platinum acetylacetonate [Pt(acac)2] => reductioon in usage of Platinum in fuel cells
7. Rdio - social music service created by Janus Friis with Niklas Zennström, who built Skype and Kazaa
- President of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus committed his country's support for India's bid for United Nations Security Council
-Proposed collaboration in science and technology and IT
- Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore had visited Prague twice — in 1921 and 1926. Professor Vincenc Lesny of the Charles University was the first European to have translated Tagore's verses directly from Bengali to Czech
2. Hydra-headed crisis - representative of times we live in. We are living at a time of successive crises successive crises – the Haiti earthquake, famine in East Africa, the Taliban attack on Kabul, the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Boxing Day Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina…No sooner does one crisis disappear from the headlines, than another pops up in a different part of the world
3. UNESCO-Obiang prize for improve the quality of human life conroversy:
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea has been accused by rights groups and anti-corruption activists of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars from his tiny oil-rich West African state, while most of its people scrape by in dire poverty
According to the African Economic Outlook, 77 per cent of Equatorial Guinea's population fell below the poverty line in 2006. The country has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world and an average life expectancy of 62. It ranks among the bottom 13 countries on Transparency International's corruption index, and ninth on the Freedom House list of the world's most repressive countries.
3. Indo-Australian collaboration in the energy sector:
- India to jointly with Australia in energy, minerals and power generation sectors including tie-up for gas supply for new plants to be set up by both countries in India
- development of use of brown coal (lignite), energy efficiency, efficiency improvements of coal based power plants, hydro power development and power generation technology research and development of smart grids
- India now had the fifth largest electricity generation capacity in the world and the world's third largest transmission and distribution network.
4. Bharti acquires Zain:
India's largest telecom company Bharti Airtel has closed its $10.7-billion acquisition of Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Co, also known as Zain, becoming the world's fifth largest mobile phone services company after China Mobile, Vodafone, Telefonica and America Movil Group.
The Zain acquisition will be an Indian company's second-largest overseas acquisition after Tata Steel's $12.11 billion acquisition of Anglo Dutch steel maker Corus in 2007, which catapulted it to the world's fifth-largest steel maker
The countries in which Bharti can operate through Zain's acquisition are - Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia
5. 17th century 'Archduke Joseph' diamond from Golkonda is up for saleThe diamond takes its name from Archduke Joseph August (1872-1962), a prince of the Hungarian line of the Hapsburg dynasty.
6.Limiting the use of Platinum in fuel cell because of copule of disadvantages of Pt It is expensive, and it breaks down over time in fuel-cell reactions.New technology discovered:five-nanometer palladium (Pd) core and encircled it with a shell consisting of iron and platinum (FePt).
Core of the technology:iron-platinum shell by decomposing iron pentacarbonyl [Fe(CO)5] and reducing platinum acetylacetonate [Pt(acac)2] => reductioon in usage of Platinum in fuel cells
7. Rdio - social music service created by Janus Friis with Niklas Zennström, who built Skype and Kazaa
Sunday, June 6, 2010
3rd,4th and 5th June - CA
1. Amendments to the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules:
i)Minimum floor limit for public investment has been raised 25 per cent.for all listed companies
ii)Existing listed companies with less than 25 per cent public holding have to reach the minimum 25 per cent level through an annual addition of at least 5 per cent public holding.
iii)For new listings, if the post issue capital of the company calculated at offer price is more than Rs4,000 crore, the company may be allowed to go public with 10 per cent public shareholding and comply with the 25 per cent public shareholding requirement by increasing its public shareholding by at least 5 per cent every year.
2. A new step in tele medicine:
Doctors in the country will now be able to view patient's electrocardiogram (ECG) reports on their Blackberry smartphone if it is connected by GSM mobile service operator Vodafone.
This service has come about with of three companies – Canada's Research In Motion (RIM), the maker of BlackBerry smartphones, Navi Mumbai-based Maestros Mediline Systems, a designer and manufacturer of diagnostic and patient monitoring devices and cellular operator Vodafone
3.Global Investors Meet in Bangalore:
State Government has signed 361 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with investors for a total investment of Rs. 4 lakh crore.
4. The Red Sari: When Life is the Price of Power - biography of Sonia Gandhi by Javier Moro. Senior figures in the Congress have objected to passages in the book, saying they are inaccurate
5. Toxic chromium and other pollutants in the soil and water around five Coca Cola and Pepsico plants in northern India Mehdiganj and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, Kaladera and Chopanki in Rajasthan, and Panipat in Haryana
6. Naoto Kan - elected as Japan's Prime Minister. He succeeds Yukio Hatoyama, who resigned citing his failure to stay in step with the people's wishes.
7.ICCPR : The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and in force from March 23, 1976. It commits its parties to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trial. As of October 2009, the Covenant had 72 signatories and 165 parties.
Denmark and Japan are First World democracies that have signed and ratified ICCPR. But these countries have come under a lot of criticism on whether they adhere to the principles laid out in the ICCPR in their letter and spirit. This is in the wake of how these two countries handled the Red Carpet Four and Tokyo Two
Red Carpet Four:
During the climate conference in Copenhagen in December 2009, for example, four Greenpeace activists were held for 20 days in preventive detention for gate-crashing a banquet held by the Danish Queen and unfurling banners
Tokyo Two:
anti-whaling activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki. They also were subjected to similar arbitrary detention
8. Meeting of G-20 finance ministers at Busan, South korea : India, Australia and Canada are opposed to the idea of levying tax on banks put forth by the EU. Rather, India is in favour of regulatory mechanism as being followed by Indian banks.
9. proposed agreements between India and South Afirca:
i)Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between India and South African Customs Union (SACU)
ii)Bilateral Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement (BIPPA)
SACU: The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is a customs union among five countries of Southern Africa : Republic of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia
The major items of exports to South Africa are: petroleum, drugs, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals, transport equipment, electronic goods and machinery.
The major items of imports from South Africa are: gold, coal, coke, inorganic chemicals, non-ferrous metals, pulp and waste paper
10. Elite Panel of ICC Umpires for 2010-11:Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Asoka de Silva, Billy Doctrove, Marais Erasmus, Ian Gould, Daryl Harper, Tony Hill, Asad Rauf, Simon Taufel, Rodney Tucker
11.COAPS model:developed by Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies, Florida uses numerical models to predict seasonal hurricane activity. A key component of the COAPS model is the use of predicted sea surface temperatures.
12. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint program by NASA and the German Aerospace Center, achieved a major milestone recently, with its first in-flight night observations
13.The South Asian University (SAU), Delhi:will have students from eight member States of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
The concept of a world-class university was initiated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the 13th SAARC summit at Dhaka in 2005 with a formal agreement for establishing the institute signed in April 2007 during the 14th summit in New Delhi.
14.The curious case of rare Earth Metals:
Rare earths are a select group of 17 elements that are crucial to many of the world's most advanced technologies starting from green technologies through hybrid cars and wind turbines to solar cells. They also happen to be found widely in China, which is estimated to account for more than 95 per cent of their global supply.
15. Agatha - eastern Pacific tropical storm which hit central America recently
16. Survey on preferred FDI destinations:
By ‘European attractiveness survey': 1. China 2. W. Europe 3. Central and Eastern Europe 4. India
By E & Y : 1. China 2. India 3. Central & Eastern Europe
17. Pollachi coir industry has developed into a major coir centre accounting for a close to Rs. 250 crore export of which Rs. 210 crore is from the coir pith and fibre exports alone. With this it has sought for obtaining the tag of Town of Export Excellence
18. Miss Ellie, a small, bug-eyed Chinese Crested Hairless dog whose pimples and lolling tongue helped her win Animal Planet's ‘World's Ugliest Dog' contest in 2009, has died at age 17 after a career in resort show business.
19.Vaxiflu-S - India's first indigenously manufactured anti-influenza vaccine that will protect people against the A(H1N1) flu, manufactured by Zydus-Cadila Healthcare
20.K.G. Balakrishnan - appointed as the sixth chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
21. Gershwin Prize, the highest American award for popular song - awarded to Sir Paul McCartney in 2010.Created in 2007 by the Library of Congress, the prize is named for brothers George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, whose contributions to popular music included songs such as "I Got Rhythm," "Embraceable You," and "Someone to Watch Over Me," the orchestral pieces Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris, and the opera Porgy and Bess. The first recipient of the award was Paul Simon
22.World'slargest IPO so far - China's biggest bank, the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, raising at least $19.1 billion in a dual listing on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges
The previous record was a $18.4-billion initial stock offer by Japanese mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo in 1998.
The proposed IPO by Agricultural Bank of China Limited (ABC) in China may overtake Industrial & Commercial Bank of China as the biggest IPO in the world
i)Minimum floor limit for public investment has been raised 25 per cent.for all listed companies
ii)Existing listed companies with less than 25 per cent public holding have to reach the minimum 25 per cent level through an annual addition of at least 5 per cent public holding.
iii)For new listings, if the post issue capital of the company calculated at offer price is more than Rs4,000 crore, the company may be allowed to go public with 10 per cent public shareholding and comply with the 25 per cent public shareholding requirement by increasing its public shareholding by at least 5 per cent every year.
2. A new step in tele medicine:
Doctors in the country will now be able to view patient's electrocardiogram (ECG) reports on their Blackberry smartphone if it is connected by GSM mobile service operator Vodafone.
This service has come about with of three companies – Canada's Research In Motion (RIM), the maker of BlackBerry smartphones, Navi Mumbai-based Maestros Mediline Systems, a designer and manufacturer of diagnostic and patient monitoring devices and cellular operator Vodafone
3.Global Investors Meet in Bangalore:
State Government has signed 361 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with investors for a total investment of Rs. 4 lakh crore.
4. The Red Sari: When Life is the Price of Power - biography of Sonia Gandhi by Javier Moro. Senior figures in the Congress have objected to passages in the book, saying they are inaccurate
5. Toxic chromium and other pollutants in the soil and water around five Coca Cola and Pepsico plants in northern India Mehdiganj and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, Kaladera and Chopanki in Rajasthan, and Panipat in Haryana
6. Naoto Kan - elected as Japan's Prime Minister. He succeeds Yukio Hatoyama, who resigned citing his failure to stay in step with the people's wishes.
7.ICCPR : The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and in force from March 23, 1976. It commits its parties to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trial. As of October 2009, the Covenant had 72 signatories and 165 parties.
Denmark and Japan are First World democracies that have signed and ratified ICCPR. But these countries have come under a lot of criticism on whether they adhere to the principles laid out in the ICCPR in their letter and spirit. This is in the wake of how these two countries handled the Red Carpet Four and Tokyo Two
Red Carpet Four:
During the climate conference in Copenhagen in December 2009, for example, four Greenpeace activists were held for 20 days in preventive detention for gate-crashing a banquet held by the Danish Queen and unfurling banners
Tokyo Two:
anti-whaling activists Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki. They also were subjected to similar arbitrary detention
8. Meeting of G-20 finance ministers at Busan, South korea : India, Australia and Canada are opposed to the idea of levying tax on banks put forth by the EU. Rather, India is in favour of regulatory mechanism as being followed by Indian banks.
9. proposed agreements between India and South Afirca:
i)Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between India and South African Customs Union (SACU)
ii)Bilateral Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement (BIPPA)
SACU: The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is a customs union among five countries of Southern Africa : Republic of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia
The major items of exports to South Africa are: petroleum, drugs, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals, transport equipment, electronic goods and machinery.
The major items of imports from South Africa are: gold, coal, coke, inorganic chemicals, non-ferrous metals, pulp and waste paper
10. Elite Panel of ICC Umpires for 2010-11:Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Asoka de Silva, Billy Doctrove, Marais Erasmus, Ian Gould, Daryl Harper, Tony Hill, Asad Rauf, Simon Taufel, Rodney Tucker
11.COAPS model:developed by Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies, Florida uses numerical models to predict seasonal hurricane activity. A key component of the COAPS model is the use of predicted sea surface temperatures.
12. The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint program by NASA and the German Aerospace Center, achieved a major milestone recently, with its first in-flight night observations
13.The South Asian University (SAU), Delhi:will have students from eight member States of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
The concept of a world-class university was initiated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the 13th SAARC summit at Dhaka in 2005 with a formal agreement for establishing the institute signed in April 2007 during the 14th summit in New Delhi.
14.The curious case of rare Earth Metals:
Rare earths are a select group of 17 elements that are crucial to many of the world's most advanced technologies starting from green technologies through hybrid cars and wind turbines to solar cells. They also happen to be found widely in China, which is estimated to account for more than 95 per cent of their global supply.
15. Agatha - eastern Pacific tropical storm which hit central America recently
16. Survey on preferred FDI destinations:
By ‘European attractiveness survey': 1. China 2. W. Europe 3. Central and Eastern Europe 4. India
By E & Y : 1. China 2. India 3. Central & Eastern Europe
17. Pollachi coir industry has developed into a major coir centre accounting for a close to Rs. 250 crore export of which Rs. 210 crore is from the coir pith and fibre exports alone. With this it has sought for obtaining the tag of Town of Export Excellence
18. Miss Ellie, a small, bug-eyed Chinese Crested Hairless dog whose pimples and lolling tongue helped her win Animal Planet's ‘World's Ugliest Dog' contest in 2009, has died at age 17 after a career in resort show business.
19.Vaxiflu-S - India's first indigenously manufactured anti-influenza vaccine that will protect people against the A(H1N1) flu, manufactured by Zydus-Cadila Healthcare
20.K.G. Balakrishnan - appointed as the sixth chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
21. Gershwin Prize, the highest American award for popular song - awarded to Sir Paul McCartney in 2010.Created in 2007 by the Library of Congress, the prize is named for brothers George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, whose contributions to popular music included songs such as "I Got Rhythm," "Embraceable You," and "Someone to Watch Over Me," the orchestral pieces Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris, and the opera Porgy and Bess. The first recipient of the award was Paul Simon
22.World'slargest IPO so far - China's biggest bank, the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, raising at least $19.1 billion in a dual listing on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges
The previous record was a $18.4-billion initial stock offer by Japanese mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo in 1998.
The proposed IPO by Agricultural Bank of China Limited (ABC) in China may overtake Industrial & Commercial Bank of China as the biggest IPO in the world
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
2nd June - CA
1. The Naga Issue
Timelines:
1816 - Burma invaded naga inhabited areas and Assam
1826 - British East India Company took control of Assam in 1826, expanded its domain over
modern Nagaland
Till 1892 - all of modern Nagaland except the Tuensang area in the northeast was governed by
the British. It was politically amalgamated into Assam
1918 - Naga nationalist movement to form a state of their own
1947 - After independedence Naga inhabited areas remained a part of Assam which created
discontent among them. Naga National Council wreaked havoc in the state.
1955 - The Union government sent the Indian Army in 1955, to restore order
1957 - The Government began diplomatic talks with representatives of Naga tribes, and the
Naga Hills district of Assam and the Tuensang frontier were united in a single political entity that became a Union territory, directly administered by the Central government with a large degree of autonomy. This was not satisfactory to the tribes, however, and soon agitation and violence increased across the state—included attacks on Army and government institutions, as well as civil disobedience and non-payment of taxes
1963 - Statehood granted to Nagaland
1964 - A ‘Peace Mission’ was formed which resulted in the signing of an Agreement for Suspension of Operation (AGSOP) with the insurgents on 6th Spetember
Till 1967 - But violence continued and six rounds of talks between the Centre and insurgents
failed. The ‘Peace Mission’ broke in 1967.
1972 - The Government of India banned the NNC under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 and launched a massive counter-insurgency operation
1975 - the Shillong Accord was signed between NNC and the Government of India where the NNC cadres accepted “without condition, the Constitution of India”.
1980 - A section of the NNC rebelled against the accord and formed the National Socialist
Council of Nagaland (NSCN)
1981 - Split in NSCN into Isak-Muivah faction (NSCN-IM) and the Khaplang faction (NSCN-K).
Their objective : to establish Nagalim (greater Nagaland) comprising Naga inhabited areas of
Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and neighbouring Myanmar
1997 - Prime Minister Atal Bihari vajpayee announced that the Government after talks with Isak group of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) declared a cease-fire or cessation of operations
2001 - ceasefire agreement with NSCN-K
Despite the ceasefire the militancy has never stopped in nagaland.The militant groups have been continuously collecting ‘tax’ from the people and business establishments. This money is collected from all sources, including from Government departments and the extortion network spreads over not only the cities like Dimapur, Kohima and various District headquarters and townships but also over almost all the 1317 villages of the state. ‘Tax’ is also collected from commercial vehicles plying on National Highway 39, en route, to Manipur. Neither the Central nor the state Government is taking any action against this ‘tax collection’ by the militants
The recent problems:
Cause: The recent violence erupted when Mr. muviah's visit to his birthplace Somdal in Ukhrul district of Manipur was banned by Manipur government.
1st June 2010 - the first peace talk between the union government and NSCN(IM)
What does NSCN want? - To form Nagalim by integrating Naga-inhabited areas in Assam, Manipur.
Obstacles - Objections by Manipur and Assam to secede thsoe areas to the proposed Nagalim
Interlocutor for governemnt - R.S.Pandey
2. President's rule has been impopsed in Jharkhand for the 2nd time in a span of 2 years
3. “A Disappearing Number" - a highly acclaimed play created and produced by the British theatre company, Complicite, which takes as its starting point the story of the grand collaboration between the Indian mathematical genius, Srinivasa Ramanujan, and the Cambridge University's renowned mathematician, Godfrey Harold Hardy
4. The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU). The 2010 session is going ot take place in Hyderabad
5.The Man Who Knew Infinity - biography of Srinivasa Ramanujam by Robert Kanigel
6.Tamil Nadu celebrates 22 December (Ramanujan's birthday) as 'State IT Day'
7. The retail price of gold in India crossed the Rs19,000-mark for 10 gm for the first time ever on account of a surge in global spot and futures markets as well as a weaker rupee, but settled at Rs18,700 by market closing time.
8.Pipavav Shipyard Limited (PSL) - the first private sector port in India. it is controlled and operated by the AP Møller Group (Maersk) of Denmark, one of the largest maritime groups in the world
Location: The shipyard complex is located on the south western coast of Gujarat, about 130 km from Bhavnagar to its east and Diu, about 90 km to its west
9. Louis Vuitton has designed the case for holdign the World cup trophy.From the tournament's beginning in 1930, the World Cup trophy has always been transported in an armored metal case -- largely for reasons of security.
10. Kingfisher Airlines has been voted the best Indian carrier and Finnair the best in north Europe in a global survey by an independent research agency - often called the Oscars of airline industry.
11. Bangladesh has signed an accord to finalise transhipment deal with India to allow Indian goods to be transported to its northeastern Tripura State.
Ashuganj - to be the new port of call
Shilghat - an already existing port-of-call
Through this accord, heavy Indian consignments for the Palatana power Project in Tripura will be transported through Bangladesh
Timelines:
1816 - Burma invaded naga inhabited areas and Assam
1826 - British East India Company took control of Assam in 1826, expanded its domain over
modern Nagaland
Till 1892 - all of modern Nagaland except the Tuensang area in the northeast was governed by
the British. It was politically amalgamated into Assam
1918 - Naga nationalist movement to form a state of their own
1947 - After independedence Naga inhabited areas remained a part of Assam which created
discontent among them. Naga National Council wreaked havoc in the state.
1955 - The Union government sent the Indian Army in 1955, to restore order
1957 - The Government began diplomatic talks with representatives of Naga tribes, and the
Naga Hills district of Assam and the Tuensang frontier were united in a single political entity that became a Union territory, directly administered by the Central government with a large degree of autonomy. This was not satisfactory to the tribes, however, and soon agitation and violence increased across the state—included attacks on Army and government institutions, as well as civil disobedience and non-payment of taxes
1963 - Statehood granted to Nagaland
1964 - A ‘Peace Mission’ was formed which resulted in the signing of an Agreement for Suspension of Operation (AGSOP) with the insurgents on 6th Spetember
Till 1967 - But violence continued and six rounds of talks between the Centre and insurgents
failed. The ‘Peace Mission’ broke in 1967.
1972 - The Government of India banned the NNC under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 and launched a massive counter-insurgency operation
1975 - the Shillong Accord was signed between NNC and the Government of India where the NNC cadres accepted “without condition, the Constitution of India”.
1980 - A section of the NNC rebelled against the accord and formed the National Socialist
Council of Nagaland (NSCN)
1981 - Split in NSCN into Isak-Muivah faction (NSCN-IM) and the Khaplang faction (NSCN-K).
Their objective : to establish Nagalim (greater Nagaland) comprising Naga inhabited areas of
Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and neighbouring Myanmar
1997 - Prime Minister Atal Bihari vajpayee announced that the Government after talks with Isak group of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) declared a cease-fire or cessation of operations
2001 - ceasefire agreement with NSCN-K
Despite the ceasefire the militancy has never stopped in nagaland.The militant groups have been continuously collecting ‘tax’ from the people and business establishments. This money is collected from all sources, including from Government departments and the extortion network spreads over not only the cities like Dimapur, Kohima and various District headquarters and townships but also over almost all the 1317 villages of the state. ‘Tax’ is also collected from commercial vehicles plying on National Highway 39, en route, to Manipur. Neither the Central nor the state Government is taking any action against this ‘tax collection’ by the militants
The recent problems:
Cause: The recent violence erupted when Mr. muviah's visit to his birthplace Somdal in Ukhrul district of Manipur was banned by Manipur government.
1st June 2010 - the first peace talk between the union government and NSCN(IM)
What does NSCN want? - To form Nagalim by integrating Naga-inhabited areas in Assam, Manipur.
Obstacles - Objections by Manipur and Assam to secede thsoe areas to the proposed Nagalim
Interlocutor for governemnt - R.S.Pandey
2. President's rule has been impopsed in Jharkhand for the 2nd time in a span of 2 years
3. “A Disappearing Number" - a highly acclaimed play created and produced by the British theatre company, Complicite, which takes as its starting point the story of the grand collaboration between the Indian mathematical genius, Srinivasa Ramanujan, and the Cambridge University's renowned mathematician, Godfrey Harold Hardy
4. The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU). The 2010 session is going ot take place in Hyderabad
5.The Man Who Knew Infinity - biography of Srinivasa Ramanujam by Robert Kanigel
6.Tamil Nadu celebrates 22 December (Ramanujan's birthday) as 'State IT Day'
7. The retail price of gold in India crossed the Rs19,000-mark for 10 gm for the first time ever on account of a surge in global spot and futures markets as well as a weaker rupee, but settled at Rs18,700 by market closing time.
8.Pipavav Shipyard Limited (PSL) - the first private sector port in India. it is controlled and operated by the AP Møller Group (Maersk) of Denmark, one of the largest maritime groups in the world
Location: The shipyard complex is located on the south western coast of Gujarat, about 130 km from Bhavnagar to its east and Diu, about 90 km to its west
9. Louis Vuitton has designed the case for holdign the World cup trophy.From the tournament's beginning in 1930, the World Cup trophy has always been transported in an armored metal case -- largely for reasons of security.
10. Kingfisher Airlines has been voted the best Indian carrier and Finnair the best in north Europe in a global survey by an independent research agency - often called the Oscars of airline industry.
11. Bangladesh has signed an accord to finalise transhipment deal with India to allow Indian goods to be transported to its northeastern Tripura State.
Ashuganj - to be the new port of call
Shilghat - an already existing port-of-call
Through this accord, heavy Indian consignments for the Palatana power Project in Tripura will be transported through Bangladesh
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
1st June - CA
1. Updates from Indus Water Commissioner-level talks
- Pakistan withdraws its objection to the construction of Uri-II (On Jhelum river) and Chutak hydel power projects(on Suru river) in Jammu and Kashmir.
- Pakistan's objection Baghalier project on Chenab river came to an end only when World bank arbitrated the dispute in 2007.
- The Kishanganga project is still under dispute. Under the Indus Water Treaty, India has rights to the waters of the Ravi, Sutlej and Beas rivers while Pakistan has rights to the waters of the Indus, Chenab and Jhelum. All the rivers flow from India to Pakistan.
The Kishanganga project involves the diversion of water from one tributary of the Jhelum river to another, which according to India is permissable under the treaty. Pakistan says it is not.
2. S. Ramakrishnan, Director (Projects), Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, has been appointed Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He took charge as Director on Monday.
3.The LPSC has the responsibility of developing rocket stages powered by liquid propellants and cryogenic propellants for ISRO missions. While the LPSC centre at Valiamala, near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, develops the liquid stages, its centre at Mahendragiri, near Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, has massive facilities for testing rocket stages fuelled by liquid propellants and cryogenic propellants. The cryogenic stage is also developed at Mahendragiri. The LPSC centre at Bangalore develops satellite propulsion systems.
4. New UGC guidelines:
- As per the new UGC (Institutions Deemed-to-be Universities) Regulations 2010, notified on May 21, the chancellor of a deemed university, appointed by the sponsoring society or trust, will have to be an eminent educationalist or a distinguished public figure other than the president of the sponsoring society or his/her relative. The chancellor can be a member of neither the society nor the trust.
- It is mandatory for an institution to be in existence for at least 15 years before seeking deemed university status, against the earlier 10 years, except under the category of ‘De-novo Institutions' or Innovative Universities
- The proposed deemed-to-be university will have to be registered either as a non-profit society under the Societies Registration Act or as a non-profit trust under the Public Trust Act
4. Societies Registration Act
- Societies Registration Act is a Central Act. However, ‘unincorporated literary, scientific, religious and other societies and associations’ is a State Subject (Entry 32 of List II of Seventh Schedule to Constitution, i.e. State List). Thus, normally, there should have been only State Laws on this subject. However, Societies Registration Act was passed in 1860, i.e. much before bifurcation of power between State and Centre was specified. Though the Act is still in force, it has been specifically repealed in many States and those States have their own Acts. Thus, practically, the Central Act is mainly of academic interest.
- Societies Registration Act is administered by the Corporate Affairs Ministry
- BCCI is a society, registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act.
The government is considering legislative action to bring all-India organisations such as the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) within the purview of the Societies Registration Act to make them more accountable.
5. Coastal regulation zone
Coastal regulation zone is the boundary from the high tide line upto 500m in the land -ward side. Area between the low tide line and high tide line. In the case of rivers, creeks and backwaters, the distance from the high tide level shall apply to both sides and this distance shall not be less than 100 meters or the width of the creek, river or backwater whichever is less.( Ministry of Environment and Forests Notification,Feb 1994).There are four type of category in coastal regulation zone .
Category - I (CRZ I)
Areas that are ecologically sensitive and important such as national parks , marine parks , sanctuaries , reserve forests , wildlife habitats , mangroves, corals/coral reefs , areas close to breeding and spawning grounds of fish and other marine life, areas of outstanding natural beauty. historically important and heritage areas, area rich in genetic diversity, areas likely to be inundated due to rise in sea level consequent upon global warming and such other areas as notified by government from time to time .
Category - II (CRZ I I)
Area that have already been developed up to or close to the shoreline. For this purpose ,developed area is referred to as area within the municipal limits or other legally designated urban areas which is already substantially build up ad which has been provided with drainage and approach roads and other infrastructure facilities such as water supply and sewerage lines.
Category - III (CRZ III)
Area that are relatively undisturbed ad those which do not belong to either I or II . These will include coastal zoe in the rural areas developed or undeveloped and also areas within municipal limits or in other legally designated urban areas which are not substantially built up.
Category - IV (CRZ IV)
Coastal stretches in the Andaman & Nicobar islands , Lakshadeep and other small islands except those designated as category I, II and III .
6. The Adidas Jabulani is the official match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.Jabulani means "rejoice" in Zulu, and was developed at Loughborough University, UK.
- A gold version of the Jabulani ball, the Jo'bulani, was announced as the ball for the World Cup Final. The name of the ball inspired by the city of Johannesburg, which is often nicknamed Jo'burg and will be the site of the 2010 Final
Economic terms demystified
Have made an attempt to explain some common terms that we come across in newspapers like Repo , CRR, SLR in layman's language. Hope you'd find it useful. Your suggestions are always welcome.
1. What is a Repo?
Repo stands for repurchase agreement. It is an agreement between a borrower and a lender wherein the lender lends cash to the borrower which deposits a financial security as collateral. The borrower also promises to repurchase the security by paying a fixed price to the lender at a future date. So it boils down to a scenario where the borrower sells a security to the lender and repurchases it when the contract comes to an end.
Let's say bank A is in urgent need of funds for 7 days. So it approaches bank B (which is dealer in Repos). Bank B says I can lend you funds but with two conditions:
i. You need to keep the financial security as collateral
ii. You have to repurchase the security after 7 days at a fixed price
So this translates to an agreement where Bank B is the lender and Bank A is the borrower. Bank A borrows cash by selling the security to B and B in turn sells it back to A at a higher price.
Let's give some numbers to this transaction. Bank A needs INR 1000 for 7 days. So Bank B lends INR 1000 to A today with the promise that it'd sell the security back to A after 7 days at a price higher than 1000. So it is as simple as a transaction where somebody gives you a short term loan today and collects the principal and interest after 7 days from you.
The difference between the loan amount taken today and the repurchase price of the borrower after 7 days is the interest paid by the borrower to the lender.
For the party selling the security (and agreeing to repurchase it in the future) it is a repo; for the party on the other end of the transaction, (buying the security and agreeing to sell in the future) it is a reverse repurchase agreement.
2. What is a repo rate?
In Indian banking scenario, repo rate is the rate at which our banks borrow rupees from RBI. Try to draw a parallel with the repo agreement that we discussed above. Here the Commercial Banks (CBs) are in a repo agreement with RBI. Whenever commercial banks have any shortage of funds then they can borrow from RBI at the prevailing repo rate.A reduction in the repo rate will help banks to get money at a cheaper rate. When the repo rate increases borrowing from RBI becomes more expensive. What does this imply for people like you and me? When RBI decreases repo rate it becomes easier for CBs to borrow short term funds from RBI. In this way RBI injects liquidity into the system.
3. What is a reverse repo rate?
It is the rate at which banks park their short-term excess liquidity with the RBI. The RBI uses this tool when it feels there is too much money floating in the banking system. An increase in the reverse repo rate means that the RBI will borrow money from the banks at a higher rate of interest. As a result, banks would prefer to keep their money with the RBI Just try to draw a parallel between the role of RBI here and the role of bank B in the 1st example.
4. What is CRR?
It stands for Cash Reserve Ratio.
The primary business model for commercial banks is that they accept deposits and disburse loans. Deposits are liabilities for banks since they owe principal and interest to the depositors. loans are assets for the bank since the borrowers owe money to the bank and hence banks see an income generating ability in loans. The difference between the deposit rate and the lending rate is their profit. Hence lending rate is always greater than the deposit rate. However since banks deal with money of others they can't function as per their whims and fancies. They need to be regulated. Here comes RBI into the picture.
Banks in India are required to hold a certain proportion of the deposits in the form of cash. However, actually Banks don’t hold these as cash with themselves, but deposit such cash with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) / currency chests, which is considered as equivalent to holding cash with themselves.. This minimum ratio (that is the part of the total deposits to be held as cash) is stipulated by the RBI and is known as the CRR or Cash Reserve Ratio. Thus, When a bank’s deposits increase by Rs100, and if the cash reserve ratio is 10%, the banks will have to hold additional Rs 10 with RBI and Bank will be able to use only Rs 90 for investments and lending / credit purpose. Therefore, higher the ratio (i.e. CRR), the lower is the amount that banks will be able to use for lending and investment.
This power of RBI to reduce the amount that can be lent by increasing the CRR, makes it an instrument in the hands of a central bank through which it can control the amount that banks lend. Thus, it is a tool used by RBI to control liquidity in the banking system.
5. What is SLR?
It stands for Statutory Liquidity Ratio. This term is used by bankers and indicates the minimum percentage of deposits that the bank has to maintain in form of gold, cash or other approved securities. Thus, we can say that it is ratio of cash and some other approved to liabilities (deposits) It regulates the credit growth in India.
6. What is Bank Rate ?
This is the rate at which central bank (RBI) lends money to other banks or financial institutions. If the bank rate goes up, long-term interest rates also tend to move up, and vice-versa. Thus, it can said that in case bank rate is hiked, in all likelihood banks will hike their own lending rates to ensure and they continue to make a profit
7. What is the difference between Bank rate and repo rate?
Bank rate indicates the long term outlook of RBI on interest rates while repo rate increase or decrease is used as a tool for short term liquidity injection into/out of the system.
8. What is Prime Lending Rate?
Interest rate charged by banks to their largest, most secure, and creditworthy customers on short-term loans. This rate is used as a guide for computing interest rates for other borrowers.
RBI changes prime lending rate system to base rate
Reason:In the existing system, banks are free to fix their PLRs. Most of the variable rate loans, like home loan and some of the term loans are pegged against PLR. This means, if the PLR is not changed, the loan rates remain the same. Banks have taken advantage of existing PLR system at the cost of their borrowers. When interest rates increase, banks hike their PLRs immediately, leading to rise in the home loan rates. But, when interest rates fall, they don't reduce PLRs. Because of this, the existing customers are not benefited by the lowering of the interest rates.
Moreover, there is no transparency in the way banks treated top corporate clients and common borrowers. Banks normally lend at much lower rates, as low as 5-6 per cent, to woo corporate borrowers while common borrowers pay a much higher rate.
What is new in base rate? :
Home loans and other variable loans will be pegged against a base rate. As the new base rate is fixed on the basis of cost of funds, any change in the interest rate will reflect in the base rate. And therefore, it will be automatically passed on to the existing customers also. Banks are unlikely to be given any exemption on short-term loans (allowing them to lend below the base rate to corporate clients) in the base rate model three categories of loans are exempt from from the base rate's ambit. they are -- staff loans, loans against fixed deposits and loans under the differential rate of interest scheme
When is it going to be effective from?
This was earlier slated to be effective from April 1st. But due to demand from banks to postpone, this has been postponed to July 1st.
1. What is a Repo?
Repo stands for repurchase agreement. It is an agreement between a borrower and a lender wherein the lender lends cash to the borrower which deposits a financial security as collateral. The borrower also promises to repurchase the security by paying a fixed price to the lender at a future date. So it boils down to a scenario where the borrower sells a security to the lender and repurchases it when the contract comes to an end.
Let's say bank A is in urgent need of funds for 7 days. So it approaches bank B (which is dealer in Repos). Bank B says I can lend you funds but with two conditions:
i. You need to keep the financial security as collateral
ii. You have to repurchase the security after 7 days at a fixed price
So this translates to an agreement where Bank B is the lender and Bank A is the borrower. Bank A borrows cash by selling the security to B and B in turn sells it back to A at a higher price.
Let's give some numbers to this transaction. Bank A needs INR 1000 for 7 days. So Bank B lends INR 1000 to A today with the promise that it'd sell the security back to A after 7 days at a price higher than 1000. So it is as simple as a transaction where somebody gives you a short term loan today and collects the principal and interest after 7 days from you.
The difference between the loan amount taken today and the repurchase price of the borrower after 7 days is the interest paid by the borrower to the lender.
For the party selling the security (and agreeing to repurchase it in the future) it is a repo; for the party on the other end of the transaction, (buying the security and agreeing to sell in the future) it is a reverse repurchase agreement.
2. What is a repo rate?
In Indian banking scenario, repo rate is the rate at which our banks borrow rupees from RBI. Try to draw a parallel with the repo agreement that we discussed above. Here the Commercial Banks (CBs) are in a repo agreement with RBI. Whenever commercial banks have any shortage of funds then they can borrow from RBI at the prevailing repo rate.A reduction in the repo rate will help banks to get money at a cheaper rate. When the repo rate increases borrowing from RBI becomes more expensive. What does this imply for people like you and me? When RBI decreases repo rate it becomes easier for CBs to borrow short term funds from RBI. In this way RBI injects liquidity into the system.
3. What is a reverse repo rate?
It is the rate at which banks park their short-term excess liquidity with the RBI. The RBI uses this tool when it feels there is too much money floating in the banking system. An increase in the reverse repo rate means that the RBI will borrow money from the banks at a higher rate of interest. As a result, banks would prefer to keep their money with the RBI Just try to draw a parallel between the role of RBI here and the role of bank B in the 1st example.
4. What is CRR?
It stands for Cash Reserve Ratio.
The primary business model for commercial banks is that they accept deposits and disburse loans. Deposits are liabilities for banks since they owe principal and interest to the depositors. loans are assets for the bank since the borrowers owe money to the bank and hence banks see an income generating ability in loans. The difference between the deposit rate and the lending rate is their profit. Hence lending rate is always greater than the deposit rate. However since banks deal with money of others they can't function as per their whims and fancies. They need to be regulated. Here comes RBI into the picture.
Banks in India are required to hold a certain proportion of the deposits in the form of cash. However, actually Banks don’t hold these as cash with themselves, but deposit such cash with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) / currency chests, which is considered as equivalent to holding cash with themselves.. This minimum ratio (that is the part of the total deposits to be held as cash) is stipulated by the RBI and is known as the CRR or Cash Reserve Ratio. Thus, When a bank’s deposits increase by Rs100, and if the cash reserve ratio is 10%, the banks will have to hold additional Rs 10 with RBI and Bank will be able to use only Rs 90 for investments and lending / credit purpose. Therefore, higher the ratio (i.e. CRR), the lower is the amount that banks will be able to use for lending and investment.
This power of RBI to reduce the amount that can be lent by increasing the CRR, makes it an instrument in the hands of a central bank through which it can control the amount that banks lend. Thus, it is a tool used by RBI to control liquidity in the banking system.
5. What is SLR?
It stands for Statutory Liquidity Ratio. This term is used by bankers and indicates the minimum percentage of deposits that the bank has to maintain in form of gold, cash or other approved securities. Thus, we can say that it is ratio of cash and some other approved to liabilities (deposits) It regulates the credit growth in India.
6. What is Bank Rate ?
This is the rate at which central bank (RBI) lends money to other banks or financial institutions. If the bank rate goes up, long-term interest rates also tend to move up, and vice-versa. Thus, it can said that in case bank rate is hiked, in all likelihood banks will hike their own lending rates to ensure and they continue to make a profit
7. What is the difference between Bank rate and repo rate?
Bank rate indicates the long term outlook of RBI on interest rates while repo rate increase or decrease is used as a tool for short term liquidity injection into/out of the system.
8. What is Prime Lending Rate?
Interest rate charged by banks to their largest, most secure, and creditworthy customers on short-term loans. This rate is used as a guide for computing interest rates for other borrowers.
RBI changes prime lending rate system to base rate
Reason:In the existing system, banks are free to fix their PLRs. Most of the variable rate loans, like home loan and some of the term loans are pegged against PLR. This means, if the PLR is not changed, the loan rates remain the same. Banks have taken advantage of existing PLR system at the cost of their borrowers. When interest rates increase, banks hike their PLRs immediately, leading to rise in the home loan rates. But, when interest rates fall, they don't reduce PLRs. Because of this, the existing customers are not benefited by the lowering of the interest rates.
Moreover, there is no transparency in the way banks treated top corporate clients and common borrowers. Banks normally lend at much lower rates, as low as 5-6 per cent, to woo corporate borrowers while common borrowers pay a much higher rate.
What is new in base rate? :
Home loans and other variable loans will be pegged against a base rate. As the new base rate is fixed on the basis of cost of funds, any change in the interest rate will reflect in the base rate. And therefore, it will be automatically passed on to the existing customers also. Banks are unlikely to be given any exemption on short-term loans (allowing them to lend below the base rate to corporate clients) in the base rate model three categories of loans are exempt from from the base rate's ambit. they are -- staff loans, loans against fixed deposits and loans under the differential rate of interest scheme
When is it going to be effective from?
This was earlier slated to be effective from April 1st. But due to demand from banks to postpone, this has been postponed to July 1st.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Current Affairs 31st May
1. The National Advisory Council of India is an advisory body set up to monitor the implementation of the UPA government's manifesto, the Common Minimum Programme(CMP). It was set up on 4 June 2004 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Number of members:11
The members are:
economist-activist Jean Dreze,
Right to Information campaigner Aruna Roy,
Retired bureaucrat N.C. Saxena and
Economist A.K. Shiva Kumar
women's rights and minority rights activist Farah Naqvi,
businesswoman and philanthropist Anu Agha,
agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan,
Planning Commission member, the former Reserve Bank of India economist and noted Dalit writer Narendra Jadhav,
social worker Deep Joshi,
ecologist Madhav Gadgil and
former bureaucrat-turned-rights activist Harsh Mander.
2. NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION AND
RESEARCH BILL, 2010:
AN ACT to provide for the determination, co-ordination, maintenance of standards in,
and promotion of, higher education and research, including university education,
technical and professional education other than agricultural [and medical] education,
and for that purpose, to establish the National Commission for Higher Education and
Research.
Recently proposed amendments to the bill:
(a) Constituttion of a general council for giving wider representation to the States and educational and research institutions across different areas.
(b) Every decision of the proposed commission will have to be placed before the general council for approval.
3. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has granted $5 million to the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) to strengthen the National Tobacco Control Programme in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, over a three-year period (2009-2012).
Project name: Strengthening of Tobacco Control Efforts Through Innovative Partnerships and Strategies (STEPS)
4. New species of bird discovered in the western Andean montane cloud forests of Colombia:
Name: The Fenwick's Antpitta - Named after American Bird Conservancy President George Fenwick
Area inhabited:a highly restricted area of montane cloud forest in Colombia which is rich in gold, copper. Hence it is perennially under danger from human interference. It is also one of the biodiversity hot spots in the world.
Features: “medium-sized, cinnamon and gray colored, thrush-like bird”
5. Perestroika - is the Russian term (now used in English) for the political and economic reforms introduced in June 1987 by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Its literal meaning is "restructuring", referring to the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system
Perestroika is often argued to be one reason for the fall of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and for the end of the Cold War.
6. Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) measurement of GDP: India's economic growth measured in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) accelerated to 8.6 per cent during the last quarter of the 2009-10 fiscal helped by increased spending despite a spike in inflation
7. Bangladesh has blocked access to Facebook as the website featured satirical images of prophet Muhammad and the country's leaders
8. World's smallest transistor with just 7 atoms:Scientists have literally taken a leap into a new era of computing power by making the world's smallest precision-built transistor - a "quantum dot" of just seven atoms in a single silicon crystal. Despite its incredibly tiny size - a mere four billionths of a metre long - the quantum dot is a functioning electronic device, the world's first created deliberately by placing individual atoms.
9. While India struggles to provide every citizen with an identity card, its erstwhile colonist and political tutor the United Kingdom is doing away with the system of personal IDs altogether
Number of members:11
The members are:
economist-activist Jean Dreze,
Right to Information campaigner Aruna Roy,
Retired bureaucrat N.C. Saxena and
Economist A.K. Shiva Kumar
women's rights and minority rights activist Farah Naqvi,
businesswoman and philanthropist Anu Agha,
agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan,
Planning Commission member, the former Reserve Bank of India economist and noted Dalit writer Narendra Jadhav,
social worker Deep Joshi,
ecologist Madhav Gadgil and
former bureaucrat-turned-rights activist Harsh Mander.
2. NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION AND
RESEARCH BILL, 2010:
AN ACT to provide for the determination, co-ordination, maintenance of standards in,
and promotion of, higher education and research, including university education,
technical and professional education other than agricultural [and medical] education,
and for that purpose, to establish the National Commission for Higher Education and
Research.
Recently proposed amendments to the bill:
(a) Constituttion of a general council for giving wider representation to the States and educational and research institutions across different areas.
(b) Every decision of the proposed commission will have to be placed before the general council for approval.
3. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has granted $5 million to the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) to strengthen the National Tobacco Control Programme in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, over a three-year period (2009-2012).
Project name: Strengthening of Tobacco Control Efforts Through Innovative Partnerships and Strategies (STEPS)
4. New species of bird discovered in the western Andean montane cloud forests of Colombia:
Name: The Fenwick's Antpitta - Named after American Bird Conservancy President George Fenwick
Area inhabited:a highly restricted area of montane cloud forest in Colombia which is rich in gold, copper. Hence it is perennially under danger from human interference. It is also one of the biodiversity hot spots in the world.
Features: “medium-sized, cinnamon and gray colored, thrush-like bird”
5. Perestroika - is the Russian term (now used in English) for the political and economic reforms introduced in June 1987 by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Its literal meaning is "restructuring", referring to the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system
Perestroika is often argued to be one reason for the fall of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and for the end of the Cold War.
6. Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) measurement of GDP: India's economic growth measured in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) accelerated to 8.6 per cent during the last quarter of the 2009-10 fiscal helped by increased spending despite a spike in inflation
7. Bangladesh has blocked access to Facebook as the website featured satirical images of prophet Muhammad and the country's leaders
8. World's smallest transistor with just 7 atoms:Scientists have literally taken a leap into a new era of computing power by making the world's smallest precision-built transistor - a "quantum dot" of just seven atoms in a single silicon crystal. Despite its incredibly tiny size - a mere four billionths of a metre long - the quantum dot is a functioning electronic device, the world's first created deliberately by placing individual atoms.
9. While India struggles to provide every citizen with an identity card, its erstwhile colonist and political tutor the United Kingdom is doing away with the system of personal IDs altogether
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