25 October 2013

National:

Mukesh Ambani remains richest Indian with assets of $ 18.9 bn Energy tycoon and Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani is India's richest man with personal assets of USD 18.9 billion. According to the China-based Hurun India Rich List, Ambani retained the top position for the second year even after a wealth decrease of 2 per cent. Ambani is followed by London- based steel baron L N Mittal with assets of USD 15.9 billion. Mittal's wealth declined 6 per cent from 2012. Sun Pharmaceuticals' founder Dilip Shanghvi broke into the top three for the first time with a 66 per cent surge in his wealth. Among others in the top 10 are: Wipro's Azim Premji (4th) with assets of USD 12 billion, HCL Technology's Shiv Nadar (5th, USD 8.6 billion), Grasim Industries' Kumar Mangalam Birla (6th, USD 8.4 billion), Godrej Group's Adi Godrej (7th, USD 8.1 billion).

Indian-American Emily Shah crowned Miss USA 18-year-old Indian-American Emily Shah has won USA 2014 title, following in the footsteps of Nina Davuluri, who was crowned recently. Emily would now compete for the Miss America and Miss Universe titles. Davuluri had won the coveted beauty pageant in September. Emily was the youngest among more than 130 contestants for the New Jersey pageant.

International:

South Asia to be open defecation free region by 2023 South Asia, where 65 per cent of the world's population still defecate openly, will be declared open defecation free region by 2023. The fifth South Asia Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN) which saw participation by some 400 delegates from all eight South Asian nations, unanimously adopted a 10-point Kathmandu Declaration to progressively move towards sustainable environmental sanitation. The proportion of people who practice open defecation had dropped by 27 per cent over the period of 21 years (1990 and 2011), a faster rate of reduction than in most other regions, observed Bharatsinh Solanki, Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation, India.

Qatar’s Sheikha Mayassa tops art power list Her title is Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and though the 30 year old is a long way from being a household name, she is named the most powerful person in art. The sheikha, daughter of the former emir of Qatar and sister of the current one, has control of the biggest cash pile in the world when it comes to buying western modern and contemporary art, with her family estimated to spend more than GBP600m a year on works that will adorn the museums Qatar is creating from scratch in the desert. Sheikha Mayassa tops a list now in its 12th year: the ArtReview Power 100, an annual ranking of how the dealers, collectors, curators and, yes, artists too compare in their importance to the delicate ecosystem of contemporary art.

Zuckerberg’s billion-dollar annual record Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg (in picture) set a new record for corporate compensation in 2012 with a package worth about $2.3 billion, according to a survey by GMI Ratings for 2,259 North American publicly traded companies. It showed Mr. Zuckerberg’s salary of $503,000 and bonus of $266,000 were eclipsed by stock options worth some $2.27 billion. This was the first year the survey found any chief executive collected more than $1 billion. Another CEO, energy giant Kinder Morgan’s Richard Kinder, was given stock worth more than $1.1 billion.

25 October 2013

European Commission's €3 mn assistance for Phailin victims European Commission has announced a three million Euros assistance for the victims of tropical cyclone Phailin which hit Odisha and Andhra Pradesh on October 12. The funding will help the most affected and vulnerable to survive the aftermath and to improve their resilience to future disasters. The most affected districts by cyclone Phailin are Ganjam, Balasor, Puri and Mayurbhanj in Odisha.

Business & Economy:

RBI sets up advisory group for a national bill payment system The Reserve Bank has constituted an advisory group to implement a national bill payment system that will enable households to pay utility bills, school fees, remittances and other bills using their bank accounts. The RBI has announced the constitution of a GIRO Advisory Group (GAG) to implement a national GIRO- based Indian Bill Payment System such that households will be able to use bank accounts to pay school fees, utilities, medical bills and make remittances electronically. A GIRO is a payment instruction from one bank account to another bank account initiated by a payer. It facilitates payment through cash, cheque, credit/debit cards and prepaid payment instruments in transfer of funds to the bank account of a beneficiary. The nine member GAG, will have Umesh Bellur as its chairman, who is a Professor in the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

Tata Sikorsky delivers first indigenous S-92 copter cabin Tata Sikorsky, the joint venture firm of Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation of the U.S., has announced the production of India’s first 100 per cent indigenous S-92 helicopter cabin at its Hyderabad facility. Sikorsky and TASL had entered into a joint venture to produce S-92 cabins in 2009.

FIPB approves Tata-SIA airline joint venture Government has cleared the decks for Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines (SIA) to launch operations as a full-service air carrier in the country, as their proposal to start a joint aviation venture entailing an initial foreign investment of $49 million has been okayed by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). The FIPB, headed by Mayaram, is an inter-ministerial panel for approving Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) across sectors. This is the third attempt by Tatas and SIA to enter the Indian civil aviation sector. Tatas have a long history of association with civil aviation in India. JRD Tata had started Tata Airlines in 1932, which was later in 1946 renamed as Air India and was ubsequently nationalised in 1953.

SingTel to be first to own 100% stake in Indian telecom firm SingTel will become the first foreign company to entirely own an Indian telecom services firm with FIPB giving nod to buyout its local partners in SingTel India - which provides Internet bandwidth services. The SingTel's Global (India) Pvt Ltd's proposal has been cleared, said Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, who heads the FIPB. As per the proposal, the Singapore-based company is now entitled to buy stakes from its Indian partners including Bharti Enterprise which holds about 9.9 percent stake in SingTel's Global (India) Pvt Ltd.

25 October 2013

Sci. & Tech:

Most distant galaxy in universe discovered Scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have discovered the most distant galaxy ever, seen as it was 700 million years after the Big Bang, providing a snapshot of the early universe. The galaxy is seen as it was when the universe was only about five per cent of its current age of 13.8 billion years. The team’s observations showed that the new galaxy z8-GND-5296 is forming stars extremely rapidly, producing each year about 300 times the mass of our Sun. By comparison, the Milky Way forms only two to three stars per year.

Sport:

Manpreet misses gold Manpreet Singh missed the gold in the shoot-off against Zhang Tianshuai of China in the 25m rapid fire pistol for junior men in the sixth Asian air gun shooting championship in Tehran, Iran. The results: Men: Rapid fire pistol: 1. Li Yuehong (Chn) 30 (577); 2. Chen Kehan (Chn) 27 (588); 3. Mahendra Singh 18 (570). Junior men: 1. Zhang Tianshuai (Chn) 20(2) 580; 2. Manpreet Singh 20(1) 563; 3. an Junchen (Chn) 16 (572). Women: Air rifle: 1. Chang Jing (Chn) 207.8 (414.7); 2. Wu Liuxi (Chn) 206.8 (419.5); 3. Yi Siling (Chn) 186.2 (419.5). Junior women: 1. Qiu Yehan (Chn) 205.3 (416.9); 2. Dina Farzadkhah (Iri) 202.5 (414.2); 3. Shalini Chahar 181.8 (410.5).