E-PrepTalk July 2010

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Volume 9. Edition 01. July 2010

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To be a world class training and educationorganisation shaping careers through innovativeproducts and services & the use of human

technologies.

Major news stories

Cover story

Current events

PT Panorama

Profiles

News in brief

Regulars

Spain on top of the world ...................................................... 05

Honour killing ........................................................................ 07

Fuel prices decontrolled........................................................ 38

Social responsibility of media .............................................. 10

India ........................................................................................ 16

...................................................................................... 22

Business and economy .......................................................... 30

Fish Philosophy...................................................................... 43

Saina Nehwal.......................................................................... 46

Julia Gillard ............................................................................ 47

India ........................................................................................ 66

...................................................................................... 68

Business and economy .......................................................... 70

Brand icon: Accenture........................................................... 40

Brand icon: PayPal.................................................................. 44

English grammar: Common mistakes in English............... 50

Business Trivia ...................................................................... 52

General knowledge ............................................................... 54

Book review: Better India: A better world ........................... 72

World

World

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Contents

PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 03

Dear Readers,

As Spain celebrates its much prophesized victory over Netherlands,

courtesy ‘Octopus Baba’, I cannot restrain myself from expressing my thoughts

on the functioning of media in today’s times. Media is a mighty institution

wielding enormous power and responsibility to the society, which is expected to

be exercised for the protection and well-being of the people. The moral

responsibility of media is to foster liberty, justice, fraternity, peace and human

rights in our society. Our cover story takes a peek into the social responsibility

that media entails.

The media landscape has undergone a complete metamorphosis with the

viewers becoming more demanding and discerning. Therefore, sensationalism

has become its selling tool. Today it is known for making stories out of

‘everything and ‘anything’. There is a deluge of entertaining information, but

not necessarily the most important one. Major humanitarian issues are pushed

to the backburner and many voices remain unheard. Yellow journalism and

Page 3 sell like hot cakes. Known to be the mouthpiece of democracy, media has

taken a myopic stand, which is not apt in the larger interest of the nation.

Media has to be driven to benefit the public. It has to answer society’s need

for truth and tread the path of truth and courage. Let media become the

embodiment of meaningful actions and inspiration. It is hoped that the ‘fourth

pillar’ serves as an embankment preventing further erosion of democratic

ideals and values.

Manish Saraf

COO, PT education

“Honesty is the 1st chapter in the

book of wisdom”

- Thomas Jefferson

“If things do not turn out as we

wish, we shall wish for them to turn

out as they do”

- Aristotle

“An optimist sees an opportunity in

every calamity; a pessimist sees a

calamity in every opportunity”

- Winston Churchill

“Only those who dare to fail greatly

can ever achieve greatly”

- Robert F. Kennedy

“Have a heart that never hardens,

and a temper that never tires,and a

touch that never hurts”

- Charles Dickens

“Do not wait for leaders; do it

alone, person to person”

- Mother Teresa

“Whether you think you can or

whether you think you can't, you're

right”

- Henry Ford

“Instead of counting your days,

make your days count”

- Author Unknown

“Criticism, like rain, should be

gentle enough to nourish a man's

growth without destroying his

roots”

- Frank A. Clark

Take Quote

04 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010

How to deliver and delightcustomers

Self -managed teams

The article was worth reading.

Sam Walton of the acclaimed Wal Mart

group had once remarked that

‘Customer is always the king’.

Delighting the customer means going

b e y o n d r e q u i r e m e n t s a n d

expectations and finding ways to offer

superb products and services that

makes the customer feel special. It is

true that delivering quality products

and services is the key to long term

customer loyalty. Apart from

satisfying their customer’s needs, the

organization should also see that each

transaction is a delightful experience

for the customer. It is obvious that if

companies want to flourish then they

must deliver on their customer’s

requirements and expectations, but in

today’s global economy, this is

necessary, but not sufficient. Today

the companies need to go the extra

mile to gain their customer’s loyalty

by finding new ways of delivering

superior products and delightful

services.

The article brought to the fore

some advantages of self managed

teams. Today every organization has

been under pressure to provide more

for less. These pressures have forced

managers to look for new ways of

doing things. One such innovation has

– Ramesh Kushwah, Indore

Letters to the editor

Ambani brothers break the ice

At the height of the family row

between India’s Ambani brothers,

many of those who knew the pair

predicted a reapproachment.’Blood is

thicker than water’ was the mantra.

The pair’s announcement of a peace

deal, ending their dispute of how to

divide the spoils from a gas field

discovered when their late father still

ran the family business, is in the

larger interest of the nation. This

patch up will create an overall

environment of harmony, co-

operation and collaboration between

the two groups, thereby further

enhancing overall shareholder value

for shareholders of both the groups.

– Kiran Ghodke, Pune

been re-organizing the work force into

groups, or teams, and thereby employees

are given the opportunity to participate in

management decisions. Team members

will take more responsibility for their

different roles as they move from a

developing team to a self-managed work

team. Teams grow best when they can

move from having a supervisor or

facilitator to managing themselves and

how their team accomplishes their work

and responsibility for their team roles.

Self –managed teams have the autonomy

to make important decisions concerning

their team processes. These teams

assume a dominant role or a collective

sense of leadership where the functions

of leadership are shared among the team

members.

– Rajiv Khare, Varanasi

FEEDBACK !Your comments and

views on PrepTalk

are needed to help

Us make it better.

Which articles did you like?

Which columns do you

like to read regularly?

Which are the best parts of

the magazine?

Which are not?

How to improve?

Send feedback to:

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S

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pain won the World Cup for the first

time when they beat Netherlands 1-0

thanks to a super strike by tireless

midfielder Andres Iniesta four minutes

from the end of extra time at Soccer City in

Johannesburg on July11, 2010

With penalties looming for the second

successive final Iniesta fired home the

winner when he was put through in the area

by Cesc Fabregas. Keeper Maarten

Stekelenburg dived to his right and got a

hand to the ball but could not keep it out.

The defeat was heartbreaking for the

Dutch, who were down to 10 men after John

Heitinga was sent off in extra time. It was

their third World Cup final loss after 1974

and 1978.

Spain, appearing in their first final, become the second team

after West Germany in 1974 to follow up winning the European

championship by lifting the biggest prize of all.

The Spaniards were also the first European team to win the

World Cup on a foreign continent as they became the eighth

name on the trophy first played for in 1930.

The victory sees Spain join Brazil (five times winners), Italy

(four), Germany (three), Uruguay (two), Argentina (two),

England and France as world champions.

"It was a very difficult match," said Spain coach, Vicente del

Bosque. "We have fantastic players. We could have scored

another goal or two but I think the result was deserved. It's a very

happy day for me. Naturally, I'm proud."

"It's unbelievable, incredible," added goalscorer Andres

Iniesta. "It cost a lot of energy. To win a World Cup is an

indescribable feeling. This was our work that we started a long

time ago, it was hard work, but we're savouring this now."

Nobody in Spain will care but it was a ragged final, marred by

a record 13 yellow cards and one red.

After the goal and again at the final whistle the furious Dutch

players surrounded English referee Howard Webb, claiming Iniesta

wasoffsideandalsoangrythatCaresPuyolhadescapedpunishment

whenhaulingdownArjenRobbenlateinnormaltime.

Despite the frenetic finish, there was little action in the first

90 minutes.

Stekelenburg was forced into a save after five minutes when

Sergio Ramos headed a Xavi cross goalwards while Spain

forward David Villa crashed a volley into the side netting with the

goal looming.

But a series of freekicks and bookings, including two strong

challenges by Dutch midfielders Nigel de Jong and Mark van

Bommel, shook Spain out of their rhythm and stopped them

from producing the swift-passing game that got them to the

final.


Spain on top of the world

��


Villa had a shot blocked in front of the line, an unmarked

Ramos headed wildly over the bar from five metres out and Puyol

had his escape when Robben stayed on his feet as he was being

pulled – and was booked for complaining.

In extra time it was Stekelenburg's turn to save with his feet

when substitute Fabregas was sent clear by Iniesta.

Netherlands had to play with 10 men for the last 10 minutes

of extra time when Heitinga was sent off for hauling down

Iniesta on the edge of the box.

The little midfielder got back on his feet and soon after was

celebrating scoring the winner in the World Cup final after

smashing the ball past Stekelenburg from eight metres.

��

Netherlands offered little in

attack and the nearest they came to a

first-half goal was a bizarre incident

when Gregor y van der Wiel

attempted to give the ball back in an

act of sportsmanship.

The fullback's 60-metre punt

bounced up and over Spain Captain

Iker Casillas, forcing the startled

keeper to leap and tip it to safety.

Wesley Sneijder then split the Spanish defence with a

perfectly-weighted ball into the path of Robben after 62 minutes

only for Casillas to save brilliantly with his feet.

Paul the "psychic" octopus finished the 2010 FIFA World Cup with a flawless record as Spain's 1-0 win over the Netherlands in

final left him with eight perfect predictions.

The eight-legged oracle becmae a FIFA World Cup sensation by correctly

forecasting all seven Germany games in South Africa and he finished the

tournament in style by predicting a Spanish victory in the Soccer City sign-off.

As Paul foretold, Spain won their first world title after Andres Iniesta's 116th-

minute strike broke the Netherlands' hearts. The tentacled tipster had also

correctly predicted that Germany would beat Uruguay in third place play-off.

In the now familiar routine, two boxes were lowered into his tank, each

containing a mussel and the flags of the two opposing teams. Paul would head

straight to the correct box both times, wrench open the lid and gobble the tasty

morsel.

But the art of football predicting has become a dangerous job for the English-born clairvoyant. He fell offside with bitter German

fans who threatened to turn him into sushi after he predicted a semi-final defeat for the Mannschaft against Spain.

Paul's home, an aquarium in western Germany, has received death-threat emails saying "we want Paul for the pan," said

Entertainment Supervisor, Daniel Fey. No less an authority than Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero has called for

octopus bodyguards. Spanish Industry Minister, Miguel Sebastian has called for the creature to be given an "immediate" free transfer

to Spain to "ensure his protection."

Stung by Paul's "treachery" at picking Spain over Germany in semi-final, some sections of the 350,000-strong crowd watching the

game on giant screens in Berlin sang anti-octopus songs.

His prediction of a Spanish victory is expected to be the last for Paul, who in octopus terms is a pensioner, at the grand old age of

two-and-a-half. Octopuses generally live three years at the latest.

OCTOPUS PAUL ALLEN PREDICTIONS COME TRUEFOR FIFA WORLD CUP 2010


Love and marriage have always been subjected to societal

norms in most communities and this is especially true in India

with its myriad structures of caste, class and a historical rich-

poor divide.

The recent media glare on honour killings in northern India

put the spotlight on the traditional system of local “khap”

councils, who do not allow persons from the same sub-caste or

lineage to marry.

An honour killing is the murder of a (typically female) family

or clan member by one or more fellow (mostly male) family

members, in which the perpetrators (and potentially the wider

community) believe the victim to have brought dishonour upon

the family, clan, or community.

Honor crimes are acts of violence, usually murder,

committed by male family members against female family

Human Rights Watch defines "honor killings" as

follows:

HONOUR KILLINGS: DEFINITION

members, who are held to have brought dishonor upon the

family. A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her

family for a variety of reasons, including: refusing to enter into an

arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a

divorce – even from an abusive husband – or (allegedly)

committing adultery. The mere perception that a woman has

behaved in a way that "dishonors" her family is sufficient to

trigger an attack on her life.

In a landmark judgment, in March 2010, Karnal district

court ordered the execution of the five perpetrators in an honour

killing case, while giving a life sentence to the khap (local caste-

based council) head who ordered the killings of Manoj Banwala

(23) and Babli (19).

M a n o j a n d B a b l i ,

residents of Karora village in

Kaithal district, married on

May 18, 2007. Since they

belonged to the same gotra,

the khap panchayat declared

the marriage invalid. On June

15, 2007, they were kidnapped

and murdered.

There are several cases like Manoj and Babli in Haryana

which came to light, while many more have been hushed. Several

couples are being harassed by these caste (Khap) panchayats.

In Haryana, U.P, Punjab and Rajasthan these khap panchayats

are functioning from a very long time. There are certain codes

developed by these caste panchayats which need to be followed

while two persons are marrying. Caste endogamy, village

exogamy and gotra (sub caste) exogamy are some of the codes

made by these caste panchayats, which they want to implement

effectively.

Any married couple who breaks such codes while marrying

are punished by the order of khaps. These panchayats are based

on caste groupings and membership to these panchayats is

exclusively for male members of that particular caste. Decisions

taken by these caste panchayats are always patriarchal and

A CASE STUDY

Honour killing:A battle between tradition and modernity

Major news story


highest level of audacity by reiterating their demand to amend

the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA). They have threatened for more

violent actions if the Act is not amended. They are also going to

challenge the verdict in higher courts and have asked all Jat

families to contribute 10 rupees each to fight this case ahead.

This was not the first time when these khaps had demanded

amendments in the HMA. Just before the last Lok Sabha

elections, a similar all-khap meeting had demanded and

declared that they will vote for the party which amends the HMA.

It is clear that whatever the Home Minister of the Congress

party led UPA central government says inside the Parliament

against the practice of 'honour crimes', in Haryana their party

needs to rethink about their linkages with khaps.

In complete contrast to the main political parties, the

grassroots women’s movements have played an exemplary role

in the Manoj- Bubli case. In Haryana these practices are not new

and post 1990s we can see repetition of such cases of honour

killings. Many cases come to media and those are highlighted to

a certain extent. This is the first time that such a serious

punishment has come out and also a member of a caste

panchayat has been punished.

The Manoj and Babli murder case was fought by Manoj’s

mother and sister. When they decided that they wanted to fight

this case they were ostracized by the village leaders. Nobody

came in support of this family. In an interview given to media,

Manoj’s sister acknowledged the fact that at that time only the

All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) came

forward to support and help them. They started generating

public support for them and their case. AIDWA had organized a

huge protest demo to ensure that all the culprits were arrested.

One more thing that needs to be highlighted in the case of

Manoj and Babli honour killing is the role of media. During past

years we have seen the media playing a crucial role in dealing

with some sensitive issues and highlighting it in order to create

casteist in nature. These caste panchayats have a record of giving

very insensitive judgments and especially for the backward

castes and people belonging to lower economic strata.

Many argue that these khap panchayats were functioning in a

very positive manner in the past and judgments given by them

were for the betterment of the society. If one agrees to their

constructive approach of the past, a question naturally arises

that why the same caste panchayats are giving such regressive

judgments now? Inspite of being illegal bodies, these khap

panchayats are functioning openly and violating law and order of

the country. From where are they deriving so much power? Why

are they not afraid of police and law? These are some of the

questions that need to be answered.

Identity politics is now very well rooted in Indian democracy.

Many regional parties as well as national parties at regional level

are using identity politics as a source for vote banks. These khap

panchayats are nothing other than sources for votes and parties

depend heavily on diktats issued by them during elections.

That’s why none of the major political parties ever condemned

these honour killings.

Present Chief Minister, Bhupinder Hooda of Haryana, went

one step ahead and called such matters as family matters, where

government can't interfere. These are the politicians in Haryana

who at the time of elections go and take pagdis from their khap

panchayats which is considered to be a honour. These conducts

answers for the silence observed by many political parties in

Haryana following the verdict in the Manoj Babli case.

Such kind of support by political parties is making these

khap panchayats more powerful. At the time when they should

rethink about their decisions regarding 'honour crimes', they

had called for an all khap meeting in U.P where they reached the

pressure for justice. But these cases of honour killings never got

the much needed attention from the national media.

The Arushi murder case is one of the examples where the

media gave undue attention to the case which was creating

problems for inquir y and was

insensitive for the family which lost

their daughter. The media’s urban bias

is reflected from the fact that it does not

hesitate to broadcast and highlight the

so called candle light fight of urban

middle class, while ignoring many

pressing issues of rural India. The fight

for justice by Chandrapati (Manoj’s

mother) was never entertained by

national media till this verdict came.

Today every newspaper is trying to

show courage like Manoj’s mother, but

the time when she needed the support

of the larger community, none of the

media organs, except for some

honourable exceptions, came forward

to project her fight against these feudal

and patriarchal khap panchayats.

The media should not ignore any fight against injustice. Nor

should it be blind towards forms of injustice, and take it up only

when the issue reaches a culmination in the form of justice given

in the highest court. Every honourable fight for justice, fought in

villages deserves more than symbolic coverage, for they carry

important and transformative political messages against the

feudal order in most villages, and thus the nation. There is a

need for the media to be more vigilant even in this case; as the

sessions judge adjudicating this case has asked for her own

transfer following threats by the patriarchal khap panchayats.

The fight against such patriarchal and feudal khap

panchayats is necessary at this juncture when more and more

young couples want to exert their right

of choice. These couples should be

given proper protection and on a larger

level, an environment needs to be

created which is caste and gender just.

For this the role of government,

political parties and organizations

which are working at grass root level

becomes very important. AIDWA is one

of the women’s organizations which

due to their constant intervention in

Haryana where such cases are at a

maximum, had ensured that the Home

Minister had to give a statement that

‘Honour Killings’ should be treated as a

separate crime. The recent verdict by a

district court in Haryana in the Manoj-

Babli case is a step ahead for a gender

and caste just society.

There is a strong need for government intervention. The

government needs to enforce strict measures to stop honour

killings. There should be a ban on all decisions made by these

self appointed courts in the villages. They have proved fatal for

many innocent lives. India is world’s largest democracy and in a

country where people have the right to voice their opinions

freely, to be young and to marry the person of your choice

shouldn’t be fatal anymore.

Longest tennis match ends in 11 hrs

The world's longest tennis match finally ended at Wimbledon on June 24, 2010 when John Isner claimed the incredible fifth

set of a three-day epic against Nicolas Mahut 70-68 after 11 hours and five minutes on court.

The American 23rd seed ended the contest with a backhand passing shot after another hour of play on Court 18 after the

match had resumed at 59-59 in the deciding set after it was stopped by bad light on June 23.

“I am a little bit tired,” an elated Isner said in an on-court interview.

“When you play a match like this with an atmosphere like this you don't feel tired. This crowd was fantastic.”

“The guy (Mahut) is an absolute warrior. I want to share this day with him, it was an absolute honour. I wish him the best and

see him somewhere down the road and it won't go 70-68.”

Isner completed an eye-watering 6-4 3-6 6-7 7-6 70-68 first-round victory with every vantage point taken by a packed crowd on

Court 18.



What is Social Responsibility?

Social responsibility is an ethical or ideological theory that an entity whether it is a

government, corporation, organization or individual has a big responsibility to society at large.

This responsibility can be "negative", meaning there is exemption from blame or liability, or it can

be "positive," meaning there is a responsibility to act beneficently (proactive stance).

Social responsibility was practiced in the US in

the 20th century. Its purpose is to inform, entertain,

sell, but also to raise conflict to the plane of

discussion. The ownership is private.

The social responsibility theory is an outgrowth

of the libertarian theory. However, social

responsibility goes beyond "objective" reporting to

"interpretive" reporting. A truthful, complete

account of the news is not necessarily enough today,

notes the Commission on the Freedom of the Press:

"It is no longer enough to report the fact truthfully. It

is now necessary to report the truth about the fact."

Today's complex world often necessitates analysis,

explanation, and interpretation.

As the Commission stated in 1940: The emerging theory

does not deny the rationality of man, although it puts far less

confidence in it than the libertarian theory, but it does seem to

deny that man is innately motivated to search for truth and to

accept it as his guide. Under the social responsibility theory,

man is viewed not so much irrational as lethargic. He is capable

of using his reason but he is loath to do so. If man is to remain

free, he must live by reason instead of passively accepting what

he sees, hears, and feels.

Therefore, the more alert elements of the community must

goad him into the exercise of his reason. Without such goading

man is not likely to be moved to seek truth. The languor which

keeps him from using his gift of reason extends to all public

discussion. Man's aim is not to find truth but to satisfy his

immediate needs and desires. It is the press, therefore, that

must be the "more alert element" and keep the public informed,

for an informed populace is the cornerstone of democracy.

Social responsibility of media

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Today large media conglomerates, however, may notfunction naturally as a public forum, where all ideas are sharedand available. "The owners and managers of the press determinewhich persons, which facts, which versions of these facts, shallreach the public," writes the Commission.

...the power and near monopoly position of the media imposeon them an obligation to be socially responsible, to see that allsides are fairly presented and that the public has enoughinformation to decide; and that if the media do not take onthemselves such responsibility it may be necessary for someother agency of the public to enforce it. The Canons ofJournalism, adopted by the American Society of NewspaperEditors addresses these same obligations when it calls onnewspapers to practice responsibility to the general welfare,sincerity, truthfulness, impartiality, fair play, decency, andrespect for the individual's privacy.

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sharing best practices

engaging with stakeholders

running collaborative projects on key issues

The media should also be concerned with issues that have

unique implications to the sector. These include: diversity of

output, accessibility, security, privacy, freedom of expression,

creative independence, transparency of process, impartiality

and balance, and media literacy.

Media coverage can be defined as the way in which a

particular piece of information is presented by media either as

news, entertainment or as infotainment. Media coverage can

affect the extent of information dissemination as well as

inf luence the audience

opinion while giving out the

information. A bad media

c o v e r a g e c a n r u i n t h e

corporate image, it can mar

the positive publicity of a

political party or even defame a

celebrity. On the other hand a

positive media coverage can

help to create a better image

and positive public opinion.

Different types of media

coverage can be defined based

on two important elements –

the type of mass media used,

and the style of coverage. Here

is more information about the

different types of media

coverage:

Different Types of Media

Coverage – Based on Types of Mass Media

Television coverage refers to the presentation of news or

information or views on the television. The television news

channels are the primary source of media coverage.

Radio coverage involves broadcasting news, information or

entertainment via the Radio. Nowadays the popularity of this

medium has gone down.

Newspaper coverage refers to providing news, information

or infotainment using the newspapers.

Internet coverage means using the internet to provide

information, news, views or entertainment. This is one of the

most popular and widely used media today.

Types of Media

Freedom of expression under the social responsibility theory

is not an absolute right, as under pure libertarian theory....One's

right to free expression must be balanced against the private

rights of others and against vital social interests. For example, it

likely would not be socially responsible to report how the

terrorist, using some new method, evaded security measures

and smuggled a bomb onto a commercial airline.

Media empowerment is a sign of true democracy, a medium

to communicate with the youth and the entire world. Media

definitely has a responsibility on its shoulders, which is to guide

the people. People have blind faith in the media and they are

convinced that what they hear or what the media has declared is

correct. But have we ever deliberated over the fact that media can

also be selfish? The truth is

that in this competitive world –

the media is also a victim.

Media has a significant and

indispensable place in our

lives. It brings to us the true

face of today’s world – a face

which is usually hidden from

the common man. It makes us

realise that we are being ruled

by the wrong people –

politicians who are only

interested in their personal

gains and not the welfare of

their people. Media is known

f o r i t s i n c o m p a r a b l e

contribution… which will

definitely, benefit the nation

and its people in the long run.

As a developing nation, India is lagging behind in many

aspects like technology, research development, and social and

economic development and human resource development.

India should observe that how yellow race people contributed in

their country’s development and now nobody comments on

them in terms of technology, racism and culture.

The practice of social responsibility and sustainability for

media companies has many unique features that sets it apart

from traditional industry and other business sectors, some of

which could benefit from a collaborative approach. It includes:

developing an understanding of the implications of

social responsibilities for media organisations

identifying areas for prioritisation

Relationship between media and social responsibility

Role of Media in social responsibility

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Different Types of Media Coverage- Based on the Style of

Coverage

Biased media coverage refers to presentation of information

in a biased manner which means that the coverage is either

supporting a particular view or opposing a particular view.

Un-biased media coverage refers to unbiased presentations

of facts and figures in a matter-of-fact manner instead of taking

any particular stand on the issue.

Interactive media coverage refers to the presentation of

information and also including audience views in it, which

makes the coverage interactive.

The print media is considered to be one of the most

flourishing industries today. This medium is also particularly

very popular to reach the target audience for advertisers. The

different types of print media give a plethora of options for

people to reach a varied bracket of users. So, be it newspapers or

magazines, every medium has its particular advantages, a thing

which should be considered to be of utmost importance by all

advertisers and clients. However, print media also has its own

disadvantages. Here, we shall take a quick look at the advantages

and disadvantages of print media.

Different types of print media have a loyal readership.

This can be very useful for advertisers as compared to

advertising on the Internet.

Advantages of Print Media:

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If you are targeting a particular geographical area, you

can do so with ease through print media. For example, a

local newspaper would be a best medium to advertise

about a new shopping complex.

You can choose the size of the advertisement space.

This will help you to plan the budget of the expenses to

be incurred while advertising.

Certain forms of print media have a very loyal fan

following in terms of readers. This would guarantee

you added readership.

Magazines and newspapers are always in the eye

amongst public. Magazines are read for a period of a

month, which brings more attention to an

advertisement.

You can even advertise through brochures or leaflets

depending upon your target audience. If the

information is in detail, a brochure can prove to be an

apt option. A leaflet in that case, would be useful for a

brief message.

The cost incurred can sometimes be expensive

considering the medium you choose.

The shelf life of any particular print medium is limited.

Newspapers for example, are amongst the public eye

only for a day.

This medium may not always give you a wide reach.

Internet, on the other hand, can target a global

audience.

There is a limitation in terms of the kind of people who

may actually read your message. The particular

newspaper may not actually be accessible every time to

your target group, which means, your message may be

missed! The Internet on the other hand, can be

accessed from anywhere.

You may have to plan months in advance to advertise in

print media. It does not offer you flexibility when you

are faced with a tight deadline.

Advertisements may get lost in all the clutter of

editorial and ads by competitors.

Thus, we can see, there are certain pros and cons of print

media. With proper planning, you can opt for the right form to

gain maximum coverage and make the best of this medium!

We are living amidst the fallout of the most controversial

conflict of our times, where media plays a vital role with greater

responsibility and can affect the public discourse on

international politics, economy and society at large. When the

media’s relation to power is at the forefront of political

discussion and news reporting can lead to decisions on whether

or not to go for war. Everything can be affected by journalists

(media), as peace activists, and their mediation at the world.

Disadvantages of Print Media:


Media in this contemporary world is being used for political

marketing purpose during the times of conflict and tends to

focus considerably upon the visual instant media coverage to

garner public opinion. Media today have assumed tremendous

importance. Every bit of our activity is not only reflected but also

regulated and governed through press (media). Freedom of

press aims at the freedom of speech and expression, which are

the basic tenets of society.

Media is a mighty institution wielding enormous powers and

liability to the society, which are expected to be exercised for the

protection and well-being of the people and limited. The moral

responsibility of media is to foster liberty, justice, fraternity,

peace and human rights in our society. Still media has been

facing a perennial dilemma while discharging its rights, duties

and obligation to continue that degree of liberty without which

law is tyranny and with that degree of law without which liberty

becomes licence.

Media with its great responsibility as the watchdog of the

society can analyse the nature of armed conflict and internal

violence with its strategic forecast of racial, ethnic, political,

cultural, religion, and economic factors. With preventive

diplomacy and the first hand experience of war and its

consequences, destruction, loss of life, economy of the home

front and victim of genocide and the causes of conflict in the

wider context, media can help the victims by shedding light on

the emergence of radical Islam in a constructive way devoid of

provocative semantics by debating on the resolution of conflict,

the diplomacy and peace keeping and the role of superpowers.

Media could address the challenges of tomorrow, potential

conflict, promotion of negotiation and the formulation of

general norms of international behaviour and growing needs of

regional co-operation.

History is witness to the fact that media has been used by

Hitler and Gobbles to propagate doctrines of one race, one

nation and one leader. Communists have used media for

thought control evoking in George Orwell.

Media are free to criticise established institution. They

assist the process of self-examination, which is essential to self-

governance. They must not enslave and be more dependent on

big sponsored money to carry out the dictate of the states,

autocrats, military establishments, communal organisations

and imperial psychology.

Media with its intellectual vigour, analytical attitude and

firm fore-sightedness can address, safeguard and resolve

conflict between states, communities within the states in a

multi-cultural society with ethnic diverse people, being a

catalyst in the armed conflict and internal violence through

mediation, negotiation and mutual consent providing energetic

legislation against all form of discrimination and incitement to

racial hatred and xenophobia of any organisation, group, party,

institution or state that threatens multi-cultural democracy and

ethnic peace of just, rational and humane society.

Disasters like armed

conflict and internal

violence have often

emanated from the

unjust, irresponsible,

d e v i a t e d a n d

propagandist winds and

waves of media, be it

imperial hegemony,

secessionist warfare or

conversely, unexpected drift of regional civil violence based on

caste, creed and religion for liberty, justice, independence or

fanatical terrorism.

The blatantly biased reporting by media by and large has not

shown a high degree of social responsibility during the recent

international conflicts like Iraq Iran war, Kuwait crisis, 9/11, war

on terrorism, war on Afghanistan and Iraq and also our own

internal communal outbursts over the Babri-Masjid–Ram-

Janmabhumi controversy, Bombay blast and Gujarat riots etc.

Media is being used as a battle ground for political frustration,

imperialistic hegemony, human right violation, invasion of

sovereignty and privacy, regional and racial violence, smearing of

reputation and practising of deception and exploitation.

The role of visual and print media in covering the war events,

and the response of civil society organisation has been a matter

of great concern. In the light of scholarly discourse to the

examination of terrorism, American hegemony and traditional

geopolitical theories displaying visual representation of

sensitive issues for mass mobilisation in the electronic media

platforms beating the war drums against terrorism with

fabricated allegation and artificial intelligence etc. are some

instances for concern.


In a democratic world, credibility, utility and purpose of

media are to import justice to the people and safeguard the

rights and liberty of the people with integrity and steadfastness.

Media can do miracles by fostering global security,

addressing international arm trades, balance of power, nuclear

weapons and non-military threats: such as terrorism,

extremism, militia conspiracy and movements, strategic

relationship of states and their foreign policy, etc.

Media with its new

i n f o r m a t i o n a n d

communication technology,

can analyse the minds of

political parties, pressure

g r o u p s , n e w s o c i a l

movements, contemporary

problems of citizen and

states for public information

and opinion construction,

but often fails due to self-critical examination of the news,

opinions, articles and editorials on conflict and violence. Media

ignores the possible consequences of fabricated, biased or

sensitive information being portrayed among the people at large,

which leads to misunderstanding and preaching of hatred, fear

and communal feeling as a way out for arm conflict and internal

violence.

It is the moral responsibility of media to address the nature

and sources of interstate and internal conflicts as well as the

method to prevent this conflict and deal with its consequences,

and with its scholarly research it can contribute to reducing the

sources of conflict to produce a more just and peaceful world.

Importance of reporting accurate, fair and correct news is

now overpowered by the self-seeking commercial domination in

the press industry. Noble, virtuous and courteous journalists are

replaced by aggressive, interrogative and persistently fearless

journalists. Reports published on a particular issue are getting

judgmental and defamatory. Provocative compositions are

employed to sensationalize issues or to prompt the people to

think and behave in a certain way that may seem appropriate to

the agenda of the press. Social agendas that are incompetently

deliberated by the press have grievous consequences in the

society, and that has been going on for long. They have been

instigating repugnance between the people and some political

parties so that other political parties are benefited.

Questions in the poll conducted by press are so composed

that the result achieved is as per their desire. People’s opinions

are sought with biased questions that will derive answers that are

beneficial for the press.

Media in today’s time

Social media vs social responsibility

There is a new obligation

for us now that social media

has transferred ownership of

brands to consumers. We now

have a forum for our voices in

social media such that, if we

like something, we need to

speak up. We can't rely on

companies and brands to

exclusively represent themselves anymore, because collectively

we don't believe them right now.

The timing couldn't be better for this promotional

transition, since corporate reputations have been tarnished by

the recent exposure of their decision-making. They have lost the

consumer's faith by preying on them like hunters, rather than

selling to them as marketers. This tactic has rapidly changed.

Consumers can now express their opinions through a passive,

yet interactive, democratic device called social media.

While this general distrust is not permanent, we're in a

transition period, and companies must earn back our trust,

whether or not they were directly responsible for any of this.

They can earn back our trust by embracing the feedback

movement, listening and publicly responding to customers,

being transparent, and respecting employees whether or not

anyone is looking and being consistent.

The message is: If you love something, tell people about it. If

you want brands, products and companies to survive, beyond

supporting them by buying from them, you have to do more.

Become a raving fan using social media to disseminate your

message. Let people know who you are to provide context, what

you like and why you like it. Beyond the products you like, you can

cite excellent service you've experienced, or even management

you support.

The converse is also available. When you don't like

something or disagree, embrace the democracy of social media

and communicate your displeasure. Don't use social media,

however, in a vengeful way, as it will damage its long-term

viability just as some of the heavy-handed practices of

corporations damaged theirs. If you find that middle ground,

you'll find that the world becomes a lot smaller and supportive as

others agree and disagree publicly.

The social media movement can affect real transition in

marketing practices because many companies are finally

listening and have the intent to change. Give them the

information they need and, if they don't respond (not

necessarily directly), then they may go the way of the financial

behemoths.


feed the homeless through various campaigns. Corporations

such as Pepsi and Target are using social media to do good.

Target, for example, regularly uses their growing Facebook fan

base to contribute to and promote causes including education

and health. Pepsi not only plans to give away millions to charities

but is crowd sourcing ideas through its Refresh Everything

project.

Is it a coincidence that the rise of Corporate Social

Responsibility appears to mirror an increase in wider lower level

stakeholder action and almost exponential growth in access to

and distribution of information?

In a relatively short time period the explosion in mainstream

grassroots awareness of business responsibility has been hard

not to notice. It would be arrogant to consider this an effect of

management capability as it is at least as much about individual

enlightenment.

You cannot underestimate the impact of social media on this

level of awareness, and thus education. As someone says "we are

all now both consumers and producers of information" Thanks

to platforms such as blogging, Twitter, Facebook, mobile

telephones, etc. all individuals and groups can communicate in

both directions simultaneously to their entire audience.

Tomorrow's social media champions (and winning businesses)

will be those most effectively filtering and exploiting these

saturated information streams.

Corporate Social Responsibility is an element of leadership

development at the executive and board level has continued to

improve at a steady pace, it is the surge at the bottom of the

pyramid fuelled by such access to information that will be the

key in the next evolutionary stage of the agenda's coming of age.

Corporate Social Responsibility has survived well, a little

battered maybe like everything else, but appearing to be

enjoying much more productive media coverage than negative.

As one corporate dinosaur steps off the top perch they are

replaced by the conveyor belt that constantly produces younger if

not always wiser business women and men of the future. One

question is will this type of incremental change at the top be fast

enough to adequately deal with our impending challenges such

as climate change. The US Chamber of Commerce's stance on

climate change is possibly saying not.

Combination of social responsibility and media

“Social Responsibility is itself still learning and the

number of engaged participants is growing every day.

Education is at the core of making change happen, with

social media providing an efficient vehicle for

transporting the required information. Knowledge is only

power when it is used.”

The Social Responsibility System for News Reporting

Exploring social responsibility through social media

In the social responsibility theory of the press, the media is

driven to benefit the public. It expects journalists to answer

society's need for truth, requires an open and diverse debate on

public issues, and honest updates of current events. In this

model, media ethics is automatic because the press is free to

serve its purpose for the public, as opposed to special interest

groups or advertisers. Another condition of the social

responsibility model, is that news reporting cannot be

dependent on groups that may encourage bias and unethical

practices in exchange for financial support. As forms of

communication evolve, avenues of news reporting increase, and

the scope of media influence expands, media ethics becomes an

increasingly important issue in modern society. People are

exposed to television news, radio broadcasting, newspaper

articles, and now digital media as well. The mass media is an

intrinsic part of everyday lives. What exactly drives the powerful

Western media – government mandates, social responsibility

and the quest for truth, or is it the financial goals of large media

corporations?

Corporations and organizations are increasingly turning to

social media sites to promote causes, but such sites are also a

great vehicle for individuals to make a positive contribution to

society both locally and globally. The social media response to

the Chilean earthquake disaster for instance shows that people

value a comfortable outlet to stay connected in the times of

crisis. An earthquake in Haiti in Jan 2010 sparked multiple

online fund raising campaigns.

Charitable organizations such as SM4SC (Social Media for

Social Change) have used social sites such as Twitter to raise

funds in the U.S. for City Harvest, an NYC nonprofit that helps


SHARAD PAWAR IS NEW ICC PRESIDENT

Union Agriculture Minister,

Sharad Pawar took over the reins of the

International Cricket Council (ICC),

becoming the second Indian after

Jagmohan Dalmiya to head the world

cricket body.

Dalmiya was the first Indian to be

elected for the top post in 1997. Pawar,

69, is the seventh ICC President,

succeeding Englishman David

Morgan, who concluded a two-year term.

Pawar thanked Morgan for his "impressive innings" as ICC

President during the last two years. Morgan wished Pawar, who

has served as his ICC Vice President since 2008, the best of luck.

Pawar, a political heavyweight, has taken over the top post at a

crucial time with India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh scheduled to

host the 2011 cricket World Cup.

Pawar and Morgan had agreed to take over the ICC

President's post by turn after both garnered an equal number of

votes from 10 ICC full members for the top job in 2006.

The ICC referred the matter to its governance committee,

which recommended that the world body restore the rotation

system for the top post and suggested India and England be

given the option of the first two terms.

According to the consensus reached in 2007, Morgan, the

former Chairman of England and Wales Cricket Board, took over

as ICC president when the English board hosted the Twenty20

World Championship in 2009.

Maratha strongman Pawar began his career in cricket

administration when in 2001 he defeated Ajit Wadekar, the

former India Test captain, in a fractious election to take over the

reins of the Mumbai Cricket Association. He soon drew up plans

for the expansion of Mumbai cricket that made him popular in

the cricketing circles.

But his big innings began when he was pitched against

former BCCI chief Dalmiya. In 2004, Dalmiya's candidate

Ranbir Singh Mahendra beat Pawar by one vote. The next year,

though, Pawar beat Dalmiya by a whopping margin, marking the

beginning of his rise in the BCCI.

Before that, Pawar's only connection to cricket was through

his father-in-law, Sadu Shinde, a Test legspinner, who toured

England in 1946.

The overwhelming support that Pawar enjoyed in BCCI

waned a bit when he backed Lalit Modi during the Indian

Premier League controversy. Modi had got a free hand to

implement his ambitious plans for Indian cricket during the

Pawar-era.

Pawar and Morgan also openly backed former Australian

Prime Minister John Howard's nomination as ICC Vice

President which was rejected by the ICC board as the strong

Asian block opposed the move.

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Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who

will be conferred the honorary rank of

Group Captain of the Indian Air Force, is

delighted to be part of the Armed Forces

family.

Sachin said, "It is indeed a great

honour that I have been considered for

the honorary rank of Group Captain in the

Indian Air Force. As an Indian, I am very

proud to be associated with this dynamic

force and I shall do my very best to be a brand ambassador for the

IAF."

Expressing his eagerness to interact with the air warriors, he

said, "I am looking forward to familiarizing myself with the

Indian Air Force. I once again salute the Indian Air Force for this

great honour bestowed on me."

SACHIN PROUD TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH INDIAN AIR FORCE

India

Current events


COUNTRY'S FIRST ELECTRICITY MUSEUM OPENS INGUJARAT

EXPELLED BJP LEADER JASWANT SINGH TO REJOINPARTY

A first of its kind electricity museum that displays evolution

of power from the vedic days to the nuclear power generation age

through interactive models was inaugurated in Gujarat.

The museum 'CLP Electrodrome', which exhibits a wide

range of computer-based interactive models of electricity

generation, transmission and distribution, was thrown open for

public by Chief Minister Narendra Modi at the science city in

Ahmedabad.

"Such museums can cater to the child's need in quest for

knowledge with entertainment and can help instill scientific

temper in them," Modi said, while addressing the gathering.

"This is one of its kind museum in the country that displays

evolution of power right from the vedic days to today's nuclear

power generation age, explaining science of electricity through

various interactive models," he said.

Expelled BJP leader, Jaswant

Singh rejoined the party nine

months after he was summarily

thrown out for wri t ing a

controversial book on Pakistan

founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

At a function organised to

announce his re-induction into

the party fold, 72-year-old Singh

profusely thanked senior BJP

leader, L K Advani for taking the

initiative to bring him back to the

BJP of which he was a founder member.

"It is good to be back in familiar surroundings... I wish to

unreservedly express my gratitude to Advaniji who took the

initiative," Singh said. Among others present were party

President, Nitin Gadkari and Leader of the Opposition in Lok

Sabha, Sushma Swaraj.

Recalling his expulsion from the party at its 'Chintan

Baithak' in Shimla in August last year, the MP from Darjeeling

said, "I was hurt and humiliated by what I had encountered."

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"Under the provision of grant of honorary rank by the Armed

Forces to eminent personalities acknowledging their

contribution towards the nation, President Pratibha Devisingh

Patil is pleased to confer Sachin with the honorary rank of Group

Captain," said an IAF statement.

In recognition of Sachin's glorious achievements as a

cricketer and sports icon par excellence, the Air Force had

mooted a proposal to confer the rank of Group Captain.

Besides the recognition, his association with the IAF will

motivate the younger generation to join the Air Force to serve the

country.

Till date 21 persons have been granted the honorary ranks

from Flight Lieutenant to Air Marshal.

The last person to be conferred the honorary rank of Air

Commodore was Vijaypat Singhania on October 8, 1990.

India successfully test-fired its

indigenously developed, nuclear-

capable, ballistic missile Prithvi-II

from the Integrated Test Range (ITR)

at Chandipur, about 15 km from

Balasore off the Orissa coast.

The missile mounted on a mobile

launcher was blasted off from the

launch complex-3 in the ITR at

defence sources said.

"The trial of Prithvi-II, conducted

by the Army, has gone through nicely,"

ITR Director S P Dash said.

With a maximum striking range of 350 km, Prithvi-II is

capable of carrying a pay-load of 500 kg.

The test firing of the surface-to-surface missile, which has

already been inducted into Indian armed forces, was a users trial

by the Army's specialised group "strategic force command"

(SFC), the sources said.

Prithvi, the first ballistic missile developed under the

country's prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development

Programme (IGMDP), is propelled by liquid propulsion twin

engine.

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PRITHVI-II SUCCESSFULLY TEST-FIRED OFF ORISSACOAST


Advani said he was "very happy" that Jaswant Singh, whom he

had met as an RSS pracharak in Rajasthan, has rejoined the

party.

Gadkari said the "past is past" and hoped that Singh will work

to make the party's future bright.

He said this was a day of "great happiness" for him and the

party workers.

Singh was expelled from the BJP in August 2009 for praising

the Pakistan founder in his book "Jinnah - India, Partition,

Independence".

While holding Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel

responsible for partition, Singh maintained that Jinnah was

secular, a position that was unacceptable to the Sangh Parivar.

Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi had banned Singh's

book in his state.

After his expulsion, BJP also asked Singh to step down from

the Chairmanship of Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee

but he refused. He gave up the post in December last year.

Warning that the South

Asian region is faced with a

"serious" security situation,

India has sought fullest

cooperation among SAARC

countr ies in shar ing

information on potential

terrorists and planned acts

of terrorism to create a

more secure environment.

"The increasing threat

of terrorism poses a major challenge to the maintenance of

peace and security and adversely affects economic development

in our region," Home Minister P Chidambaram said while

addressing the SAARC Home Ministers' Conference in

Islamabad.

"We can all undoubtedly agree that the South Asian region is

faced with a serious security situation," he told the meeting

being attended by the ministers from Sri Lanka, Nepal,

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Maldives, besides India and

Pakistan.

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INDIA SEEKS COOP AMONG SAARC NATIONS ONTACKLING TERRORISM

Chidambaram made it clear that it was only with the "fullest

cooperation among our countries that we will be in a position to

effectively tackle the grave threat of terrorism in our region."

He also made a strong pitch for examining whether the

existing conventions have been effective or not.

"We also need to cooperate with each other in sharing

information on potential terrorists and planned acts of

terrorism, and all other forms of criminal activities in order to

create more secure environment," he said.

"It is incumbent upon us to ensure that the instruments and

the resources at our disposal are put to the best possible use in

our fight against terrorism," he added.

Chidambaram commended his Pakistani counterpart

Rehman Malik for his opening remarks in which the latter

highlighted the threat of terrorism and especially the fallout of

9/11 attacks in New York and the 26/11 strikes in Mumbai.

Both Chidambaram and Malik had meetings which was

dominated by the issue of terrorism and action against the

perpetrators of Mumbai terror attacks.

Army Chief General, V K Singh

has said people asking for

withdrawal or dilution of the Armed

Forces Special Powers Act in Jammu

and Kashmir is doing it for "narrow

political gains".

"AFSPA is a misunderstood act

and all who ask for its dilution or

withdrawal, probably do so for

narrow political gains," he said in an

interview to a defence magazine.

The Army Chief was asked if the withdrawal of AFSPA would

"seriously jeopardise" the safety and credibility of the force in

Jammu and Kashmir.

Pointing out that soldiers operating in "hostile environment"

need legal protection to perform their tasks efficiently, Singh

said, "Any dilution or withdrawal of AFSPA will lead to

constraining our operations."

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PEOPLE WANT AFSPA WITHDRAWAL FOR POLITICALGAINS: ARMY CHIEF


“BHARAT BANDH” DISRUPTS NORMAL LIFE ACROSSTHE COUNTRY

Normal life was hit in NDA

and Left-ruled states on July 5,

2010 as rail, air and bus services

were disrupted during a bandh

called against fuel price hike

while stray incidents of violence

occurred in Maharashtra and

Karnataka where BJP workers

pelted stones at buses.

Senior BJP leaders, Arun Jaitley and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

were arrested in Lucknow while trying to lead a procession

towards the main Hazratganj crossing.

BJP workers claimed that a number of party activists and

leaders were injured when police baton-charged the protestors.

In NDA–ruled Bihar, Punjab and Karnataka, life was thrown

out of gear with agitators stopping trains and buses.

Schools, colleges and business establishments remained

closed as groups of protestors hit streets trying to enforce the

12–hour bandh.

In West Bengal and Kerala, air, rail and road services were

disrupted. Only Air India flights operated out of NSC Bose

International Airport in Kolkata as streets wore a deserted look

in the eastern metropolis where CITU gave the strike call.

In Maharashtra, police cracked down on trouble makers and

detained nearly 10,000 people, official sources said.

In Delhi, the bandh evoked a lukewarm response though BJP

workers blocked road, rail and Metro services in some areas.

Besides the BJP, those participating in the bandh were Shiv

Sena, Samajwadi Party, JD-U, CPI-M, CPI, Forward Block, RSP,

AIADMK, MDMK TDP, BJD, JD(S), AGP, Akali Dal and INLD

to protest against the increase in fuel prices.

The BJP leader said protest against the policies of the Centre

will be reflected in Parliament.

In Bihar, train and road services came to a virtual halt and

shops and business establishments downed their shutters.

Reports reaching the centre from various states said that

bandh evoked a good response with markets remaining closed.

The issue of amending the AFSPA has been regularly raised

by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah with

several senior Central leaders including the Prime Minister and

Home Minister, P Chidambaram.

The government is also planning to make the Act more

humane.

North-eastern states have also been demanding the removal

of AFSPA citing the misuse of the law by the armed forces.

Singh said adequate measures have been taken at all levels to

ensure that the powers entrusted through the Act are not

misused.

AFSPA is in force in Jammu and Kashmir and some

militancy- affected states in the Northeast.

At least 26 CRPF personnel

were gunned down in a deadly Naxal

ambush in Narayanpur district of

Chhattisgarh.

The Maoists opened fire from a

hilltop when the paramilitary men

were returning from road opening

duty on foot, CRPF Chief Vikram

Srivastava said in New Delhi.

Four special police officers (SPOs) of Chhattisgarh Police

along with some CRPF personnel were also injured in the attack.

The condition of one of the SPOs is stated to be serious, officials

said.

The troops were from the 39th battalion of the force and

were a part of its 'E' and 'F' companies.

The troops were ambushed near Daurai Road area in the

remote district, about 300 kms from Raipur.

This is the third major Naxal attack on the CRPF since the

Maoist strike on a force contingent on April 6, in Dantewada

killing 75 of its personnel and a Chattisgarh policeman.

On May 8, eight men of the paramilitary force were killed

when naxals blew up a mine-proof vehicle also in Narayanpur

district.

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26 CRPF PERSONNEL KILLED IN NAXAL AMBUSH INCHHATTISGARH


Some BJP leaders, including State Cooperative Minister

Giriraj Singh and Harendra Pratap Singh faced the brunt of the

bandh supporters, who blocked movement of trains services at

Bihta Railway station.

Two-wheeler makers will now

have to sell a helmet along with

their bikes and scooters after the

Supreme Court dismissed a plea by

the Society of Indian Automobile

Manufacturers against such a step.

A bench comprising Justice G S

Singhvi and Justice A K Ganguly dismissed the petition filed by

the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM)

challenging an earlier order of the Delhi High Court.

The apex court said the manufacturers would have to give

BSI certified helmets as "original equipment".

On 30th July, 2009, the High Court made it mandatory for

dealers to sell helmets along with new two-wheelers and said

that the vehicle would not be registered by the authorities

without it.

SIAM contended that the High Court order would restrict

the people's choice to buy their own helmet. Moreover, it would

also force a person to buy a helmet again when he buys a new

two-wheeler.

However, the Apex Court was not convinced with the

argument and said, "Let there be more helmets. When you are

buying a second scooter of Rs 40,000, then you can buy a helmet

also, which is of Rs 300 only."

In its petition, SIAM had contended that by the orders of the

High Court, the choice of customers was curtailed, as they were

forced to buy from the dealers of automobile companies and not

from the open market.

It also raised questions over the High Court's direction to

provide only those helmets conforming to the Bureau of Indian

Standards.

"The High Court made a serious error in directing that all

purchasers of two-wheelers have to purchase helmet only from

the dealer.

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MANDATORY TO SELL HELMETS WITH TWO-WHEELERS:SUPREME COURT

"This direction curtails the freedom of the purchaser to

purchase helmet from the open market and third parties. It is

also possible that in a particular case the purchaser may be

buying a second vehicle and therefore may already have an

existing helmet," said SIAM in its petition filed by counsels Vipin

Nair and P B Suresh.

��

With the India-Australia cricket series clashing with the

Commonwealth Games in October, CWG Organising

Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi has sought Sports

Minister MS Gill`s help to convince the BCCI to reschedule the

two-Test rubber.

In a letter to the Sports

Minister, Kalmadi requested

Gill to talk to the BCCI

officials and convince them to

re-adjust the dates of the Test

matches, which coincide with

the October 3-14 Games.

As per the itinerary

released by the BCCI, Ricky

Ponting`s men will play two

Tests and three one-day

internationals in India between October 2 and 24, which clashes

with the Commonwealth Games.

Kalmadi also said that a year ago, he had requested the then

BCCI President, Sharad Pawar not to schedule any cricket series

on Indian soil during the Games.

"I need not stress the importance of not having any

international cricket series in India during the Commonwealth

Games," he said.

"I had written to Mr Sharad Pawar as early as on July 1, 2009,

seeking due consideration by BCCI to ensure that it does not

schedule any major cricket matches during the Commonwealth

Games," Kalmadi added.

Australia will begin the month-long tour with a three-day

practice match in Mohali from September 27-29.

The two Tests between India and Australia are scheduled to

be hosted by Mohali (Oct 2-6) and Bangalore (Oct 10-14), while

the three one-dayers will be held in Kochi (Oct 19), Goa (Oct 22)

and Visakhapatnam (Oct 24).

KALMADI WANTS NO CRICKET DURING CWG


The US Citizenship and

Immigration Services (USCIS)

has received some 10,400

appl ica t ions aga inst the

Congressional cap of 20,000 for

individuals with advanced

degrees.

After the first five days of having started to accept

applications, UCSIC had received just 13,500 H-1B petitions in

the general category and 5,600 in the advanced degree category.

Until 14th May, the USCIS had received 19,000 petitions in

the general category and 8,100 in the advanced degree category.

US businesses use the H-1B programme to employ foreign

workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or

technical expertise in fields, such as scientists, engineers, or

computer programmers.

In the fiscal 2009, the Department of Homeland Security

said, as many as 123,002 Indians were issued H-1B visas out of a

total of 339,243.

Thus, India accounted for 36.3 per cent of the total H-1B

visas issued in 2009. However, in actual terms, the number of

Indians issued H-1B visas in 2009 dropped by more than one

fifth since 2007.

Coinciding with the general economic recession in the US,

there has been a sharp drop in the number of Indian

professionals receiving the most coveted H-1B work visas

between the years 2007 and 2009, latest official figures have

revealed.

Despite the drop of over 34,000 H-1B visas in two years, India

continues to be the leading country to get the maximum number

of this category of work visas for professionals and is a way ahead

of other nations of the world, an analysis of the latest figures

released by the Department of Homeland Security reveal.

In the fiscal 2007, as many as 157,613 Indians were issued the

H-1B visas, while in 2008, the number dropped to 154,725. This

sharp drop has also resulted in decrease in short-term resident

non-immigrants. In 2009, 364,757 Indians were in the US in this

category, as against 425,826 the previous year in 2008.

DANDI TO BE DECLARED ECO-SENSITIVE ZONE

INDIANS GRAB MAXIMUM NUMBER OF H-1B VISAS

Dandi, the site of historic

salt satyagrah by Mahatma

Gandhi in 1930, will soon be

declared as an eco-sensitive

zone, Union Minister for

Environment and Forests,

Jairam Ramesh said.

"I am happy to inform that the Central government has

decided to declare Dandi and three surrounding villages as an

eco-sensitive zone under the Environment Protection Act,

1986," Ramesh said.

"We had received a proposal from the Gujarat government

that the Gulf of Kutch and Dandi be declared as eco-sensitive

zones looking at their unique ecology and historical

importance," he said.

The move would mean that an industrial unit or any other

project coming up in the area would need prior approval of the

local people.

Ramesh was speaking after launching a project, Green

Action for National Dandi Heritage Initiative (GANDHI), in

Navsari.

Dandi, in Navsari district, is a small village on the western

coast of Gujarat.

A local monitoring committee, comprising panchayat

members and villagers, would be constituted.

The committee will be responsible for preserving the

ecology of the area.

The proposal with regard to Gulf of Kutch was under

consideration by the Environment Ministry, he added.

Indian professionals grabbed one-third of the H-1B visas in

2009, even as there was a slump for the most coveted US work

visas in the past two years.

For the second year in running, there appears to be a low key

response to the US HS-1B visas with only 24,200 applications

being received until 2nd July.

��

Cyclone Laila,

Pakistan

which developed in the Indian Ocean off the

Andhra Pradesh coast creating much havoc in the state, was

named by .


OBAMA RANKED 15TH BEST US PRESIDENT;ROOSEVELT 1ST

Barack Obama has been

ranked as the 15th best US

President, just below Bill

Clinton but ahead of Ronald

Reagan, in a new poll of leading

Presidential scholars.

The Siena College poll,

w h i c h s u r v e y e d 2 3 8

presidential scholars at US

colleges and universities, rated

Obama two places below

Clinton, who was the 13th best,

and three better than Reagan,

who is ranked as the 18th best.

Franklin D Roosevelt again earned the top spot, as he has

every time since the poll was first conducted in 1982. He and the

Mount Rushmore Presidents - Teddy Roosevelt, Abraham

Lincoln, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson - have

consistently been the top five Presidents in the poll's findings.

Obama's 15th ranking is slightly higher than other

Presidents who have taken office since the poll started nearly 30

years ago. Most start out at about number 20, said Siena

Statistics Professor and Poll Director, Douglas Lonnstrom.

"Obama's doing a little better, but he's generally in the same

ballpark," he said.

While he ranked high on traits like imagination (6th),

communication ability (7th) and intelligence (8th), Obama

rated poorly ratings on background (32nd), which was

composed of traits like family, education and experience.

Obama's predecessor, George W Bush, was ranked at

number 23 in 2002 - the last time Siena's presidential expert poll

was conducted - but has since dropped to number 39, qualifying

him as one of the five worst Presidents.

Bush came in at number 42 - second to last - on issues such

as handling the US economy, foreign policy accomplishments

and intelligence. Warren G Harding was rated the least

intelligent President.

Bush joins Harding, Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan and

Franklin Pierce, all of whom have been consistently ranked as the

worst Presidents since the poll started, in the bottom five.

Several other Presidents also saw movement in their ratings

this year.

A Pakistani court has reportedly

ordered a ban on nine leading websites,

including Google and Hotmail, for

allegedly posting blasphemous material

though officials said they had not received

any instruction to block the sites.

Media reports said the Bahawalpur bench of the Lahore

High Court directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority

to immediately block nine websites, including Google, Yahoo,

MSN, Hotmail, YouTube, Bing and Amazon, for publishing and

promoting sacrilegious and blasphemous material.

Justice Mazher Iqbal Sidhu issued the order while hearing a

petition filed by a man named Muhammad Sidiq who claimed

these websites were publishing sacrilegious material.

The judge also ordered the PTA Chairman to appear in court

on June 28 with relevant materials.

Sidiq, inhispetition,soughtabanonthewebsites forpublishing

blasphemousmaterialsandtwistingfactsabouttheQuran.

Aslam Dhakkar, head of a local bar association, was quoted as

saying that the court had given a historic decision.

��

PAK COURT ORDERS BAN ON GOOGLE, YAHOO,HOTMAIL, 6 OTHER WEBSITES

World

Current events


"But, if it spreads, then it may have. Therefore, it is necessary

that it should be confined to those countries. And it is expectedly

package which has been worked out to resolve the crisis is about

750 million Euro that will take care of it," Mukherjee added.

Iran's Atomic Chief, Ali

Akbar Salehi said that Tehran

has produced more than 17

kilogrammes of 20 per cent

enriched uranium, a sensitive

atomic work that world powers

want abandoned.

World powers led by

Washington want Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment

activity which they suspect is masking a weapons drive.

Tehran says its atomic programme is geared entirely for

peaceful purposes.

Enriched uranium can be used as fuel to power nuclear

reactors as well as to make the fissile core of an atom bomb.

Iran started producing 20 per cent enriched uranium from

February following an order from hardline President Mahmoud

Ahmadinejad.

Salehi said Iran was "not in a hurry" to produce 20 per cent

enriched uranium even if it can process five kilogrammes of the

material every month.

"We will adjust the production in a way that the workshop for

making the fuel plates is equipped," he said, referring to fuel

made from the 20 per cent enriched uranium and used to power

a Tehran research reactor.

World powers claim that Iran does not possess the

technology required to convert the 20 per cent enriched

uranium into actual fuel plates for powering the reactor.

Salehi said on 16th June that Iran has acquired the required

technical expertise and by September next year the first batch of

fuel plates will be ready.

Ahmadinejad had ordered the refining of uranium to 20 per

cent after a nuclear fuel swap deal aimed at powering the Tehran

reactor and drafted by UN atomic body last October hit a

deadlock.

��

IRAN SAYS IT HAS PRODUCED 17 KG OF 20 PCENRICHED URANIUM

He said the legal fraternity in Bahawalpur would observe a

strike to protest the publication of blasphemous material by the

websites.

However, officials of the PTA said that they had received no

instructions to block the websites.

They said they had only seen media reports about the court's

order.

Wahaj-us-Siraj, a spokesman for the Internet Service

Providers Association of Pakistan, said his organisation had not

received any directions from the PTA to block websites.

Pakistani authorities had blocked popular social networking

website Facebook in May over the holding of a competition on

blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Mohammed.

The access to the website was later restored on the orders of

the court.

Indian economy is likely to clock

double digit growth by 2012 and is

expected to grow over 8.5 per cent in

the current fiscal, Finance Minister

Pranab Mukherjee has said.

"That it (double digit growth)

would perhaps be by 2012," Mukherjee

told reporters in Washington.

IMF has projected 8.8 per cent, he

said, adding, "in our economic survey

we have projected, for the year 2010-11, eight and half per cent.

As per our present indication is, we are going to achieve that."

During 2009-10, Indian economy grew at better than

expected rate of 7.4 per cent. The GDP expanded over 8.6 per

cent in the last quarter of the said fiscal. The GDP growth was

despite agriculture output remained flat.

Allaying fears of European crisis having impact on the Indian

economy, Mukherjee said, it will not have much impact as the

exports to region is limited.

"Not much (impact), because our export is about four per

cent of our total export. Therefore, it could not have that much

adverse impact," he said.

��

INDIA TO CLOCK DOUBLE DIGIT GROWTH BY 2012:MUKHERJEE


That deal envisaged Iran sending its 1,200 kilogrammes of

low-enriched uranium, five per cent purity, to Russia and France

for further refining to 20 per cent and later to be converted into

fuel plates for the Tehran reactor.

The deal hit a stalemate as both sides insisted on conditions

unacceptable to each other.

Brazil and Turkey brokered a counter proposal in Tehran on

17th May under which Iran would send its LEU to Turkey in

return for the Tehran research reactor fuel to be supplied at a

later date.

The world powers have cold-shouldered that proposal and

backed a resolution in the UN Security Council to impose the

fourth set of sanctions on Iran for refusing to abandon the overall

enrichment programme.

On 9th June, the Security Council imposed the new financial

and military punitive measures against Iran.

��

Julia Gillard has been announced as Australia's first woman

Prime Minister after Kevin Rudd stepped

down in tears as the ruling Labour Party's

leader at a ballot meeting.

Gillard, who said that she was

"honoured" to head the country, will now

decide when to lead the party into the next

election.

She was sworn in as Prime Minister by Governor- General

Quentin Bryce.

The new leader for the Labour Party was elected unopposed.

A visibly upset Rudd, who could barely speak, stood aside to

avoid a humiliating defeat.

According to reports, Rudd was reduced to tears as he

addressed his colleagues and announced his decision to stand

aside as the leader.

Rudd ignored questions from reporters as he left the caucus

room.

Gillard was believed to have had the numbers before going

into this morning's ballot, which was not held. The 49-year-old

leader also had the backing of the powerful Australian Workers

Union.

GILLARD BECOMES AUSTRALIA'S FIRST FEMALE PM

NASA SUCCESSFULLY TESTS THE 'ORION' ABORTSYSTEM

G20 SUMMIT CONCLUDES WITH FISCAL TARGETS

US space agency NA SA has

successfully tested an emergency abort

system for the space shuttle's successor,

Orion, at a remote test site in the New

Mexico desert.

The emergency system used

powerful rocket motors to blast the crew

module off the launch site, shooting it 1.9 kilometres into the air

in six seconds at high rates of speed, then wafting it back to

Earth on a parachute.

"This system is much more advanced in capability and

technology than any abort system designed in the past," said

Doug Cooke, a NASA associate administrator for the

Exploration Systems Mission Directorate based in Washington.

The space agency said the test lasted 135 seconds from

launch to touchdown 1.

The fourth Group

of 20 (G20) summit

concluded in Toronto

after leaders of major

economies agreed on a

set of targets of fiscal

conso l ida t ion and

measures to ensure a

strong, sustainable and

balanced growth.

Addressing the media at the closing of the summit,

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that "firm

targets" have been established in a bid to advance economic

recovery that is "uneven and fragile."

"Advanced economies have committed to fiscal plans that

will at least halve deficits by 2013 and stabilize or reduce

government debt-to-GDP ratios by 2016," said the G20 Toronto

Summit Declaration.

G20 recognized Japan's situation and welcomed its own

fiscal consolidation plan announced recently, and urged those

countries with serious fiscal challenges to accelerate the pace of

consolidation, according to the declaration.

��


NKOREA SAYS IT SUFFERED USD64.96 TRILLION INDAMAGE FROM US

North Korea claims to have suffered

USD64.96 trillion in human and

material damage from the United States

over the 60-year period from September

1945.

Of the total, USD26.17 trillion

relates to at least 5,060,770 civilians

North Korea says were killed, wounded,

or abducted by United States, and USD13.73 trillion stemmed

from economic sanctions, Korean Central News Agency said in a

report.

Another USD1.17 trillion in damage was incurred by the

stoppage in construction of light water reactors and suspension

of the provision of heavy oil to North Korea as agreed in the US-

North Korea Agreed Framework in 1994, the report said.

The deal required Pyongyang to freeze and eventually

dismantle its weapons-grade nuclear facilities in exchange for

being provided with two light-water reactors for power

generation.

The calculation was made by the Committee for

Investigation into Damage Done by the US to the Northern Half

of Korea, taking into account damage North Korea suffered from

the 1950-1953 Korean War, economic sanctions and other

"crimes" it alleges to have committed by the United States.

"The total amount will be incalculable" if political and moral

damages caused by slandering the sovereignty and dignity of

North Korea and infliction of moral pressure on the Koreans by

the US moves for a new war and threats of preemptive nuclear

attack are included, according to the report.

KCNA released the report a day before the 60th anniversary

of the start of the Korean War, which ended in an armistice, not

with a peace treaty.

"The US imperialists, chieftain of evils, committed the most

barbarous and hideous crimes against the Korean people ever in

the world history of wars during the last Korean War," the report

said.

Successive US administrations have applied "systematic and

overall economic sanctions and blockade against all sectors

including trade, finance, investment, real estate, insurance,

transport, post and telecommunications and visits of people for

more than a half century to isolate and suffocate the Democratic

People's Republic of Korea," it said.

The declaration said advanced deficit countries should

boost national savings while surplus economies will undertake

reforms to reduce their reliance on external demand.

The G20 members, including the world's major

industrialized and developing countries, account for 90 percent

of global output, 80 percent of world trade and two-thirds of the

world's population. The Toronto summit, under the theme of

"Recovery and New Beginnings," is the first in its new capacity as

the world's premier forum for international economic

cooperation, as determined at the previous summit in

Pittsburgh, the United States last September.

Regarding the financial sector reform, the Toronto summit

welcomes the full implementation of the European Stabilization

Mechanism and Facility, the EU decision to publicly release the

results of ongoing tests on European banks, and the recent US

financial reform bill.

During the Toronto summit, world leaders have agreed that

more work is needed to further strengthen the global financial

system. And the amount of capital will be significantly higher

and the quality of capital will be significantly improved when the

new reforms are fully implemented.

Meanwhile, regulatory oversight of financial operations like

hedge funds, credit rating agencies and over-the-counter

derivatives, which are under much criticism, will be more

transparent in an internationally consistent and non-

discriminatory way.

The G20 summit declaration again recognized the

importance of reforming international financial institutions like

the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Notably, the group has built "earlier commitment to open,

transparent and merit-based selection processes for the heads

and senior leadership of all those institutions," which suggest

possibility of non-European or non-US executives in the future.

The Toronto summit reiterated the importance of anti-

protectionism and free trade. The G20 leaders decided to renew

for a further three years, until the end of 2013, the commitment

to " refrain from raising barriers or imposing new barriers to

investment or trade in goods and services, imposing new export

restrictions or implementing World Trade Organization (WTO)

- inconsistent measures to stimulate exports."

The G20 members commit to rectify above measures as they

arise, the declaration said. The summit stressed again the

support for bringing the WTO Doha Development Round to a

balanced and ambitious conclusion as soon as possible,

consistent with its mandate and based on the progress already

made.


WORLD'S LARGEST GOLD COIN AUCTIONED FOR USD4.03 MILLION

INDIA, CANADA SIGN CIVIL NUCLEAR DEAL

The world's largest

gold coin 'Maple Leaf

2007' was sold at an

auction for USD 4.03

million.

Spanish precious

metals trading company

Oro Direct bought the

100-kilogram Canadian

coin which has a face

value of CAD 1 million.

Measuring 53 centimetres in diameter and with a purity of

99.999 per cent, it is listed in the current edition of the Guinness

Book of Records as the world's biggest gold coin.

The front side of the coin displays Queen Elisabeth II and

the reverse shows three maple leaves, the national symbol for

Canada.

There are five Maple Leaf 2007 coins worldwide. One is

owned by Queen Elisabeth II, two belong to unidentified

investors in Dubai and the whereabouts of the fifth is unknown.

The former owner, the Austrian investment group AvW

Invest, which filed for insolvency earlier this year, ordered the

auction in the Vienna-based Dorotheum, which is central

Europe's largest auction house.

India and Canada signed a landmark civil nuclear deal with

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assuring that imported

uranium and atomic technology will not be used for "any

unintended purpose."

Dr. Singh said the nuclear cooperation pact "breaks new

grounds" in the history of Indo-Canadian cooperation in the atomic

sector while his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper called it a

goodagreementbecause"wecannotliveinthepastof1970s".

The agreement will enable India to import Canadian atomic

equipment and technology and secure uranium by providing the

Canadian nuclear industry access to the expanding multi-

billion dollar Indian nuclear market. The possibility of having

joint ventures will also be explored.

��

The agreement which was

signed in the presence of Dr.

Singh and Harper came 36 years

after Canada slapped sanctions

on India for testing an atomic

bomb in 1974.

Canada is the eighth nation

to reach a civil nuclear deal with India since the Nuclear

Suppliers' Group, a cartel which trades in nuclear fuel,

equipment and technology, lifted a 34-year ban on India in 2008.

US, France and Russia are among the countries with which India

has civil nuclear pacts.

"We have complete civilian control and there is no scope

whatsoever for any nuclear material or equipment being

supplied going for any unintended purpose," Dr. Singh told a

joint press conference with Harper after the agreement was

signed by Srikumar Banerjee, Secretary, Department of Atomic

Energy and host Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon.

"Nuclear material supplied to India will be fully safeguarded

in terms of agreement signed with IAEA. We have fool-proof

system of export controls," Dr. Singh said responding to a

question whether there were enough safeguards to prevent

nuclear material coming to India under such agreements being

used for any weapons programme.

Dr. Singh the first Indian Head of the Government to visit

Canada after I K Gujral's trip in Toronto 16 years ago said the

agreement "breaks new grounds" in the history of bilateral

cooperation in the sector.

In an apparent reference to sanctions imposed by Canada on

India after the Pokhran-I and Pokhran-II atomic tests in 1974

and 1998, Harper said his country cannot live in the past.

A joint statement issued at the end of the Singh-Harper

meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit said the two Prime

Ministers committed themselves to the ratification of the

nuclear agreement and completion of all remaining steps

necessary to ensure its early implementation.

The two leaders also strongly condemned terrorism in all its

forms and manifestations and agreed to direct their respective

governments toward greater cooperation in counter-terrorism

and security related matters.

Dr. Singh also made it clear to Canada and the Sikh

community that the Canadian soil should not be allowed to be

used for promoting extremism against India and hoped the

government in Toronto was "alive to what is happening".


FRANCE TO HOST NEXT G-8 SUMMIT AT RESORT CITYOF NICE

42 KILLED IN 3 SUICIDE BLASTS IN PAK SUFI SHRINE

France will host the next

G-8 summit in 2011 in its sea

side resort city of Nice,

a n n o u n c e d Pr e s i d e n t

Nicholas Sarkozy. "Leaders

welcomed the offer of France

to host the next Summit in

France in 2011," said the Muskoka Declaration issued upon the

conclusion of the G8 summit.

France will take over the rotating G8 presidency from

Canada next year. "The next G-8 Summit, which it will be an

honour to host, will be held in Nice probably some time in

spring at a date which we will work out with our partners,"

Sarkozy said.

Canada, which is also hosting the Fourth Summit of the

Group of G-20 in its largest city Toronto just hours after the end

of the G8 summit, has become the first country to host the two

important international forums back to back. It remained

unknown when and where exactly the next G8 summit in France

will take place, or whether it will once again go side by side with

the G20 summit.

��

Three suicide bombers struck in

quick succession at a famous Sufi shrine

in Lahore, killing at least 42 people and

injuring more than 100 others.

One attacker blew himself up at the

crowded entrance to the shrine and the

second in the basement, where people

perform ablutions before entering the complex.

The third bomber detonated his explosive vest in a part of

the shrine adjoining a busy market.

District Administration Chief Sajjad Bhutta said all three

blasts were carried out by suicide bombers.

The shrine attracts large crowds every Thursday night with

people visiting the complex to offer special prayers.

The blast in the basement caused the most damage as the

shock waves were intensified by the confined space.

CHINA, TAIWAN SIGN TRADE PACT

Taiwan and China signed a historic

trade pact. The Economic Cooperation

Framework Agreement (ECFA), hailed by

both sides as a milestone and a commercial

imperative in an era of strong regional

cooperation, was signed by senior

delegates in the southwest Chinese city of Chongqing.

The agreement marks the culmination of a Beijing-friendly

policy introduced by Taiwan President, Ma Ying-jeou after

assuming power in 2008.

In Taipei, Mr. Ma said the pact meant peace and prosperity

between China and Taiwan were no longer a distant dream but a

reality “within our reach”, with implications for the region as a

whole.

The agreement – a “win-win” formula according to Chiang's

Chinese opposite number, Chen Yunlin – is just about trade,

according to the governments in Beijing and Taipei.

China is Taiwan's largest trading partner, its largest

investment destination, and now also home to a growing number

of Taiwanese.

It is estimated that about one million people from the island

live in China, especially in the Shanghai area.

They, and thousands of short-term travellers, now have

access to 370 direct flights a week, whereas only a few years back

all air travel had to come via Hong Kong.

The trade pact looks set to push interaction between the two

sides to a new level.

The deal will confer preferential tariffs, and in some cases

zero tariffs, on 539 Taiwanese products from petrochemicals

and auto parts to machinery – representing 16 per cent of the

island's total export value to China.

At the same time, only about 267 Chinese items, or 10.5

percent of China's export value to Taiwan, will be placed on the

“early harvest” list enjoying zero or falling tariffs.

Mr. Ma's administration has said the pact will create 260,000

jobs on the island and boost growth by up to 1.7 percentage

points.

The two sides also signed an agreement on protection of

intellectual property rights.


The explosion completely smashed the ceiling and ripped

through a large number of people who were performing

ablutions in the basement.

Police found the heads and body parts of two bombers and

sent them for forensic tests. Officials said the suicide vests were

packed with over 10 kg of explosives and ball bearings.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the

Taliban have opposed the practice of people visiting the shrines

of Sufi saints.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza

Gilani strongly condemned the blasts at the Data Darbar shrine.

Targeting the sacred shrine which has sentimental value for

Muslims all over the country clearly reflects that terrorists have

no consideration for any religion, faith or belief.

Gilani said his government is committed to eradicate

terrorism at all costs.

Data Darbar is the shrine of Syed Abul Hassan bin Usman

bin Ali al-Hajweri, who is considered the patron saint of Lahore.

In a development that could have far reaching political

impact in the region, Kyrgyzstan is all set to become Central

Asia's first parliamentary democracy with an overwhelming

90.55 per cent of voters backing a new constitution which strips

the President's of its wide ranging powers.

After publishing the official results of the 27th June

referendum, the Kyrgyz Central Election Commission (CEC)

declared Roza Otunbayeva as the transitional President of the

Central Asian republic till 31st December, 2011.

I t formal ly dissolved the

presidential parliament, which was

in jeopardy in the wake of violent

ouster of President Kurmanbek

Bakiyev's regime in April.

The new constitution dilutes the

presidency's wide-ranging powers, has come into effect after the

referendum. In line with the new constitution, the 120-strong

Kyrgyz Parliament after October elections will appoint the

Prime Minister and the government.

��

KYRGYZSTAN TO BECOME CENTRAL ASIA'S 1STPARLIAMNTRY DEMOCRACY

The official results of the referendum on a new Kyrgyz

constitution were published on July 2, in government newspaper

Erkin-Too, RIA Novosti reported from Bishkek.

Backed by 90.55 per cent of Kyrgyz voters the new

constitution paves the path of transition to a parliamentary

democracy in the former Soviet republic divided in the rival

clans and last month's inter-ethnic violence, in which at least

2,000 people, mostly of Uzbek minority were feared killed, ten

times more than the official figure of 280.

Otunbayeva's predecessor, Bakiyev fled the country after

violent opposition protests in capital Bishkek on 7th April and

since then has taken refuge in Belarus.

Both Russia and the US already have air bases near the

Kyrgyz capital Bishkek and the new military base in the south of

the country was part of the Kremlin's plans to offset the growing

US military presence in Central Asia.

The referendum, was the first step towards legitimacy of the

present regime, took place in the midst of inter-ethnic violence

in the southern regions of Osh and Jalalabad and exodus of

hundreds of thousand refugees to neighbouring Uzbekistan.

Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe

(OSCE) had sent a police assessment mission to Kyrgyzstan to

help stabilise the situation in the country.

Kyrgyzstan has a population of over 5.3 million people

divided among three main groups - the indigenous Kyrgyz, the

Russians who stayed back after the end of the Soviet Union, and

a large and concentrated Uzbek population.

President Dmitry Medvedev had cautioned that Kyrgyzstan

risks disintegration and split like Afghanistan if the political

stability is not restored through democratic means.

Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muraitharan, the world's

leading wicket taker and one of the finest exponents of spin

bowling, announced his retirement from International Test

cricket, bringing an end to a glittering career spanning 18 years.

The first Test against India in Galle, beginning 18th July, will

be the last game for the 38-years-old Muralitharan, who has

taken an amazing tally of 792 wickets in 132 Tests and 515

wickets in 337 ODIs.

��

MURALITHARAN TO RETIRE INT TEST CRICKET AFTERGALLE MATCH


While India, for the first time,

held such an engagement known as

'2+2 dialogue', Japan has been

involved in such consultation with

mutual allies – the US and Australia.

The fact that Japan has extended

such deliberations with a country

other than its mutual allies shows the significance the ties are

assuming.

The Indian side was led by Foreign Secretary, Nirupama Rao

and Defence Secretary, Pradeep Kumar, while Deputy Foreign

Minister Kenichiro Sasae and Vice Defense Minister Kimito

Nakae represented Japan.

The Prime Ministers of the two countries had agreed to

these '2+2 consultations' at senior officials' level in the Action

Plan to advance Security Cooperation of December 2009, during

the visit of then Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to

India.

"Each side provided the other with an exposition of its

defence and security policies in the framework of their

respective security environments," the Indian external affairs

ministry said in a statement.

Against this background, the two sides reviewed the India-

Japan Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation and the Action

Plan to advance such cooperation, according to an official release

from External Affairs Ministry.

Besides discussing non-traditional threats to security, the

two sides decided to hold the next meeting of the India-Japan

Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism at an early date with

an aim to strengthen cooperation in this field.

Ways to strengthen cooperation in anti-piracy operations in

the Gulf of Aden and holding of joint naval exercises were also

part of the discussion.

The next round of the India-Japan '2+2 dialogue' will be held

in Tokyo in 2011.

The prospects a bilateral civil nuclear pact, following the

first round of nuclear negotiations a week ago in Tokyo, were also

discussed by the two sides.

The engagement, which takes place days after the two

countries initiated talks on June 28-29 on the civil nuclear

cooperation, a move which was widely hailed as a breakthrough

as it marked a major shift in the position of Japan – the only

country which has been opposing any atomic dealing with a non-

NPT signatory country.

Although Murali will no

longer play after the first

match of the three-Test

series, he has kept open the

option of playing the 2011

ODI World Cup, to be co-

hosted by Sri Lanka along

with India and Bangladesh.

The off-spinner, who was

called for throwing by a few

u m p i r e s d u r i n g h i s

illustrious career, has been

one of the most talked about players in contemporary cricket.

Muralitharan is one of the most successful bowlers in the

history of the game but controversies were an integral part of his

successful career.

The cricketer, who made his debut in 1992 against Australia,

had the world cricket debating about his unorthodox and weird

bowling action.

He was an enthralling battle for supremacy with Australian

leg-spinner Shane Warne as both kept re-writing the highest

wicket record.

Warne retired with 708 scalps and Murali overtook him in

December 2007 against England at his home ground in Kandy.

He achieved the grand double of being the highest wicket-

taker in ODIs as well when he went past Wasim Akram's record

of 502 wickets in 2009.

He could not do much in 2007 World Cup and it remains to

be seen if he decides to play in the 2011 edition and help his side

win their second World title.

He has said that it is difficult to bowl long spell for him and is

expected to play T20 cricket.

He plays for reigning IPL champions Chennai Super Kings,

who are due to play in the Champions T20 league in September

in South Africa.

India and Japan held the first senior-level dialogue on

foreign affairs and security, during which both sides discussed

the regional and global security situation and took a

"comprehensive review" of bilateral ties.

��

JAPAN EXTENDS '2+2 DIALOGUE' TO INDIA


RIL TO ACQUIRE 45 PC STAKE IN US FIRM PNR'S SHALEGAS ASSETS

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance

Industries said it will acquire 45 per

cent stake in US-based Pioneer

Natural Resources' shale gas assets in

the US for 1.15 billion dollars (around

Rs 5,300 crore).

RIL signed agreement to take 45

per cent interest in highly prospective

Eagle Ford Shale play, the Mumbai-

based firm and Pioneer said in separate but almost identical

statements.

Pioneer currently produces about 28 million cubic feet per

day from five wells in the 212,000 acres Eagle Ford Shale

property.

After the agreement, RIL will own 95,300 acres of this

property.

RIL will pay USD 266 million in cash to Pioneer at closing

and an additional USD 879 million to carry Pioneer's share of

future drilling costs.

Additionally, RIL and Pioneer have executed agreement to

form a midstream joint venture that will service to sell the gas

produced from the Eagle Ford property.

Reliance Eagleford Midstream will pay USD 46 million to

acquire a 49.9 per cent interest in the joint venture.

RIL Executive Director, PMS Prasad said “Reliance is very

pleased to establish a long-term partnership with Pioneer in the

Eagle Ford shale.This transaction represents another

significant milestone in Reliance's efforts to grow its North

American shale gas operations.”

The deal would be RIL's second purchase of a US shale gas

interest in as many months.

The company had made its first breakthrough in the US in

April when it had acquired 40 per cent stake in Atlas Energy Inc's

3,00,000 acres shale gas property for USD 1.7 billion.

India expressed confidence to

achieve trade target of 30 billion

dollars with Republic of Korea

(ROK) by 2014.

Addressing the India -

Republic of Korea (ROK) Joint

Commission, External Affairs

Minister S M Krishna stressed

that economic cooperation is the

bedrock of India - ROK bilateral relations.

"Bilateral trade has jumped by a robust 70 percent in the first

four months of the year. This trend is expected to continue over

the coming months, providing confidence that the trade target

of US 30 billion dollars by 2014 can be achieved," Krishna said.

In this context, Krishna pointed out the need for expanded,

but balanced trade growth and made a strong case for greater

access to the Korean market for Indian pharmaceuticals, IT

enabled services and agro-products.

Krishna who is on a three-day official visit to South Korea

chaired the joint commission meeting along with his

counterpart Yu Myung-hwan.

Both Krishna and Yu Myung-hwan reviewed the

implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership

Agreement (CEPA) and discussed ways to enhance bilateral

defence and security cooperation.

Krishna and Yu Myung-hwan also discussed navy-to-navy

cooperation in anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean.

��

INDIA TARGETS 30 BILLION DOLLARS TRADE WITHSOUTH KOREA BY 2014

Business and economy

Current events


The deal comes a fortnight after R-Com had announced it is

restructuring its tower arm to raise money. The deal will help the

company cut down debt significantly – Rs 18,000 crore according

to some reports. R-Com had a total debt of Rs 19,889 crore at the

end of FY10. The company had raised debt to pay Rs 8,585 crore

for the spectrum it had won in the 3G auction. Lower debt will

make it easier for the company to fund its expenditure for 3G

services rollout.

The purchase will help GTL strengthen its position as an

independent telecom tower firm. This is the second major

purchase by GTL in the past six months.

It had purchased 17,500 towers from Aircel at a total

valuation of Rs 8,400 crore earlier in January this year. GTL will

have a network of 80,000+ towers and will be the largest

independent tower operator in India by a very wide margin.

Based on recent transactions in the telecom space, tower

deals have been finalised at Rs 50-60 lakh/tower. Reliance

Infratel, which has 50,000 towers, would have an enterprise

value (market capitalisation + debt) of Rs 30,000 crore by this

metric. However, Infratel may get a premium because it has, on

an average, 1.75 tenants for each of its towers. This is higher

than the industry average.

Media reports suggest that Mr Anil Ambani will hold a stake

of 25 per cent in GTL post the transaction while the promoters

of GTL will have a 33 per cent stake.

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and Anil’s Reliance

Natural Resources Limited took yet another conciliatory step by

signing the revised Gas Supply Master Agreement. This

followed the direction of the Supreme Court on May 7, 2010.

In a statement, RIL said, “The gas

supply master agreement (GSMA) is

compliant with the gas utilisation

policy and the empowered group of

ministers’ decisions.”

The Supreme Court had asked both the brothers to rework

their earlier family agreement.

RNRL in a disclosure to the stock exchanges said it “will now

take appropriate steps to request the government of India for

expeditious allocation of natural gas to facilitate implementation

of the same.”

��

MUKESH, ANIL SIGN KG GAS PACT

Krishna stressed the potential for expanded cooperation in

defence production including through transfer of technology,

joint ventures and co-production.

Noting that both India and South Korea had exchanged

drafts of an Inter Governmental Agreement on Peaceful Uses of

Nuclear Energy, Krishna and Yu Myung-hwan agreed to launch

negotiations between the two countries, at an early date, for the

conclusion of such an agreement.

Krishna proposed that the establishment of the dedicated

Joint Science and Technology Fund of US ten million dollars to

promote joint research between scientists and technologists of

the two countries be expedited.

The Joint Commission discussed details of the "Year of

India" in Korea and the "Year of Korea" in India in 2011,

including cooperation in showcasing Indian culture and arts in

Korea.

Krishna suggested the installation of a bust of Indian poet

Rabindranath Tagore at a prominent location in Seoul in 2011,

the 150th birth anniversary of the poet.

Both India and South Korea agreed that an open and

inclusive Asian regional architecture based on the principles of

mutual benefit and shared opportunity is in the interest of both

countries.

They agreed to work closely towards this goal within the East

Asia Summit framework.

Reliance Communications is selling

Reliance Infratel, its telecom tower arm,

to GTL Infrastructure, a standalone

telecom tower operator. The enterprise

value of GTL Infra after the merger will

be Rs 50,000 crore. Post transaction, GTL

will have over 80,000 towers and will be

the largest independent telecom tower

operator in the world.

The management control of the

merged entity will be with GTL

promoters. GTL will pay for Infratel in a combination of cash

and stock, details for which will be given out later. R-Com will

get some cash for its stake in Infratel. In addition, its

shareholders will get shares of GTL Infra.

��

R-COM, GTL INFRA INK RS 50K CR DEAL


The GSMA had three main components, namely pricing,

quantity and tenure. The pricing has been fixed by the

government at $4.34 per unit, and the government will also

decide how much gas will be given and for how long.

RIL is already supplying gas to the ADAG’s power plant in

Andhra Pradesh at $4.2 per unit and it has one plant in Goa.

To qualify for the gas, ADAG firm will have to expand the

plant’s capacity there. In the earlier agreement, the ADAG firm

was to get gas at $2.42 per unit for 17 years.

Mukesh-led RIL later said that the government would

decide the pricing and the quantity. The Supreme Court upheld

this saying that gas as a natural resource belonged to the

government which could decide pricing, etc.

In a contradiction of

sorts, car dealers are

offering Nano off the

shelf, even as Tata

Motors claims that it is

delivering only against

the original one lakh

bookings for the world’s

cheapest car.

A Ta t a M o t o r s

spokesperson said the

company was selling Nanos to those who already have bookings

as per schedule and at the same price as was committed during

the bookings.

The spokesperson kept repeating the same answer when

asked about the dealers’ claim that Nano, the Rs 1 lakh car, was

now available off the shelf, despite an order backlog of over

60,000 units.

The dealers’ claim comes amid reports that Tatas are hiking

the price of the car by up to Rs 15,000, an issue on which the

company spokesperson said, “Tata Motors has not made any

decision on any price increase on the Tata Nano.”

While the company had recently stated that open market

sales of Nano are likely to begin by August with its Sanand plant

going into production mode, dealers said the base model can

now be purchased within a period of two days, while the topend

version would need 15 days.

��

DEALERS, TATA DIFFER ON NANO DELIVERY

RETIREMENT BENEFITS OFF TAX NET

AGRICULTURE LOANS EXCEED TARGET BY 13 PC INFY'10

Giving relief to the working class, the government has

decided not to tax withdrawals from provident funds, pension

schemes and life insurance schemes in the revised draft Direct

Taxes Code (DTC) released.

The government intends to introduce the DTC in the

monsoon session of the Parliament to replace the current

Income-Tax Act.

In the earlier draft of the DTC released last August the

finance ministry had proposed to tax all the tax saving

instruments at the time of withdrawal. However, the limit of tax

saving was increased to Rs 3 lakh in a financial year. The proposal

to tax all tax saving instruments was opposed by various bodies.

“It is proposed to provide the Exempt-Exempt-Exempt

(EEE) method of taxation for government provident fund

(GPF), public provident fund (PPF) and recognised provident

funds (RPFs) and the pension scheme administered by Pension

Fund Regulatory and Development Authority,” said the revised

DTC. It said that the approved pure life insurance products and

annuity schemes will also not be taxed during withdrawal.

The representations to the finance ministry argued that

countries where tax savings instruments were taxed had a social

security system for all their citizens.

“It has been represented that in India, in the absence of a

universal social security system, the proposed EET (Exempt-

Exempt-Taxation) method of taxation of permitted savings

would be harsh. Tax payers require some flexibility in making

withdrawals in lump sum without being subjected to tax,” said

the ministry.

Agricultural credit flow by

cooperative and public sector banks

exceeded the target by 13 per cent in

2009-10 financial year. "The flow of

credit to the agriculture sector

increased significantly and banks

have surpassed the target by

extending Rs 3,67,000 crore worth of

loan to farmers," an Agriculture

Ministry official informed.

��


"We should be able to toll 30,000 km of National Highways in

five years," Nath said.

Electronic collection system (ETC) would allow cashless

payment of highway tolls of vehicles passing through a toll plaza.

Under the new system every vehicle will be fitted with an

RFID (radio frequency identification) tag, which will cost Rs 100

per unit.

Nath said the government will hold talks with the Society of

Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) to have inbuilt chips

in vehicles.

"We will consult SIAM to have this chip on every vehicle

produced," Nath said.

As per the current SIAM data, over 1.2 crore vehicles were

produced in the country on 31st March, 2010. Based on this

estimate, the tags for ETC would cost about Rs 120 crore.

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Chairman

Nilekani said that the chip, which would be installed on the

windscreens of the vehicles, is rechargeable.

At present toll is collected manually at the toll plazas which

results in increase in travel time for users.

Ushering an era of new interest rate

regime, several PSU banks announced new

benchmark base rates of up to 8%, with SBI

being lowest at 7.5%, for giving loans

including housing and commercial at or above

it, a move that could make credit cheaper.

Other lenders, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India

and Central Bank of India fixed the benchmark rate (minimum

lending rate) at 8 % as part of the shift to new regime from July 1,

replacing their prime lending rates that ranged between 11 and

14 %.

Bank of Rajasthan, a small private bank being acquired by

ICICI Bank, also came out with 8 per cent base rate.

Under the present system, the banks would peg a prudent

PLR but would lend below it if the credit rating of the borrower

is very good. The new system would not allow banks to lend

below the base rate.

��

PSU BANKS ANNOUNCE BASE INTEREST RATES, SBI'SLOWEST AT 7.5%

The banks including public sector, cooperative and regional

rural banks (RRBs), were set a target to lend Rs 3,25,000 crore of

credit to farmers last fiscal. The farm credit was extended to as

many as 4.82 crore farmers last year and banks gave crop loan to

91 lakh new farmers.

According to official data, public sector banks lent Rs

2,75,000 crore of farm credit, while co-operative and RRBs

loaned Rs 58,000 crore and Rs 34,000 crore respectively in 2009-

10. The total farm credit flow in 2009-10 fiscal was higher than

the previous year's Rs 3,02,000 crore, the official said.

Usually, farmers are given credit at an interest rate of seven

per cent per annum. However, in a move to reward those farmers

who make their loan payment on time, the Central Government

reduced their loan interest rate to 6 percent last year and 5 per

cent this year.

The government said that a new

electronic toll collection system that

will do away with the need for

human tax collectors, and help plug

revenue leakages will be put in place

by May 2012.

A committee on electronic toll

collection headed by UIDAI

Chairman Nandan Nilekani, which

is developing the equipment, has

recommended using Radio Frequency Identification technology

for the system, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal

Nath told reporters in New Delhi.

Radio Frequency transmits the identity (in the form of a

unique serial number) of an object or person wirelessly, using

radio waves.

The committee's report has been accepted by the

government, Nath said, adding, "It would be implemented in the

next 18-20 months and with the new systems the government

would be able to check revenue leakages in toll collection."

"The revenue leakage at present is 15 per cent of the toll

collection, which comes to about Rs 300 crore," he said.

Out of the 71,000 km of National Highways in the country,

only 8,500 km is under toll and the government is planning to

increase it to 30,000 km in the next five years.

��

NEW ELECTRONIC TOLL COLLECTION SYSTEM BYMAY 2012: NATH


As per the RBI, the new regime is aimed at improving

transparency and prevent creation of non-productive assets.

Under the base rate lending mechanism, borrowers will be

charged interest rates over the base rate depending on their

credit profile.

The system, however, will not apply to concessional loans for

agriculture, export and other specified sectors.

Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications (RCom)

announced acquisition of Digicable, the

country's largest cable TV service provider, in

an all-stock deal.

The board of RCom approved the proposal for the

acquisition in a meeting held, the company said in a statement,

but did not disclose the value of the deal.

The new entity named “Reliance DigiCom” will integrate

RCom's DTH, IPTV and Retail broadband operations, with

Digicable. The deal would create Asia's largest and the world's

fifth largest entity offering full-suite of Digital TV, ultra high-

speed broadband and voice services.

Commenting on the acquisition, RCom Chairman Anil

Ambani said the Digital TV and broadband space was poised for

similar explosive growth in the years ahead.

“With this game changing move, we hope to lead the next

revolution in digital home entertainment in India, by offering a

world-class TV experience and ultra high speed broadband

capability to a billion people.”

Established in August 2007, Digicable is one of the largest

Cable TV service providers in the country. The company is

promoted by Jagjit Singh Kohli along with Yogesh Shah.

Exports rose by 35.1 per cent in May to $16.1 billion year-on-

year, but the trouble brewing in some European economies may

weigh on future demand.

The seventh straight month of rise was registered on a low

export base of $11.95 billion in May 2009, when shipments had

plunged by over 29% from the previous fiscal under the impact of

the recession in the U.S. and several other advanced economies.

��

��

RCOM ACQUIRES DIGICABLE

EXPORTS JUMP 35% TO $16 BILLION IN MAY

In the first two months of 2010-11,

exports grew 35.7 per cent to $33 billion

against the year-ago period, according to

official data released.

Federation of Indian Export

Organisations President A. Sakthivel

said the crisis in some European

countries was a cause for concern.

“We hope the growth trend will continue but the only

worrying aspect is the crisis in the eruo zone, which is likely to

affect India's exports in that area,” he said.

Of the $176.50 billion exports last fiscal, Europe accounted

for 23 per cent.

Ministry officials said that labour-intensive sectors like

engineering, gems and jewellery, leather and man-made fibres

have registered healthy growth rates in May.

Imports also surged by 38.5 per cent in May to $27.4 per cent,

indicating a rapid pace of domestic economic activity and

leading to a trade gap of $11.29 billion during the month under

review.

Imports during the first two months of this fiscal grew 40.9

per cent to $54.7 billion against $38.85 billion in the same period

last year.

Oil imports in May were valued at $8.8 billion while the non-

oil import bill was about $18.6 billion.

��

The World Bank is committed to

support India's development agenda as

evident from the record annual

lending of $ 9.3 billion for the current

financial year. Roberto Zagha, World

Bank Country Director for India said

this while speaking to the media

persons at New Delhi.

According to the World Bank website, the total expected

lending this year includes $2.6 billion as interest-free credits

from the International Development Association (IDA) and $6.7

billion in the form of long term, low interest loans from

International Bank of Reconstruction and Development

(IBRD).

WORLD BANK LENDS RECORD 9.3 BILLION TO INDIA INFY 10


David Sohn, a lawyer for the Center for Democracy and

Technology, said, "Without this decision, user-generated

content would dry up and the internet would cease to be a

participatory medium.

However, Laura Martin, an analyst at Needham, said the

battle was not over.

"These issues are really important for content creators to

protect their intellectual property against the usage by online

aggregators. It is really important for content creator to get paid,"

she said.

"This is the beginning, not the end. Sumner (Redstone,

Viacom's Chairman) won't roll over and die on this.”

Leading beverages companies

in India, including Pepsico, Coca-

Cola and Dabur, have come

together to form an industrial

body to address common

concerns faced by the sector.

"Leading Indian companies

with direct and allied interests in

the non-alcoholic beverage industry have come together to form

the Indian Beverage Association (IBA)," a press release issued in

New Delhi said.

Companies that have subscribed to the association include

Dabur India, Red Bull India, Jain Irrigation Systems, Tetra Pak

India, Pearl Drinks, Bengal Beverages, Coca-Cola India and

PepsiCo India Holdings.

The Indian Soft Drinks Manufacturers Association is also a

member of the IBA, the statement said.

"IBA aims to be the national voice for the non-alcoholic

beverage industry and to effectively represent the members'

interests," Indian Beverage Association Secretary General

Arvind Varma said.

The Association will serve as an inter-face between the

industry, the government and the public, besides providing a

unified and focused viewpoint in respect of legislative and

regulatory matters, he added.

��

SOFT DRINK FIRMS FORM COUNTRY'S FIRST BEVERAGEBODY

GOOGLE'S YOUTUBE WINS VIACOM COPYRIGHT CASE

Google has won a landmark ruling as a

judge threw out a $1bn lawsuit brought by

Viacom accusing the internet giant of

allowing copyrighted material on its

YouTube service without permission.

Viacom had accused Google of "massive

intentional copyright infringement".

But the Manhattan judge said Google and YouTube could

not be held liable merely for having a "general awareness" that

videos might be posted illegally.

Media conglomerate Viacom said it planned to appeal

against the decision.

Google called the ruling "an important victory".

Viacom had claimed that "tens of thousands of videos" based

on its copyrighted works had been posted on YouTube, and that

both YouTube and its owner Google had known about it but had

done nothing about it.

South Park Viacom said many shows, including South Park,

had been uploaded illegally

But District Judge Louis Stanton said in his ruling: "Mere

knowledge of prevalence of such activity in general is not

enough. The provider need not monitor or seek out facts

indicating such activity."

Google and YouTube had argued that they were entitled to

"safe harbour" protection under digital copyright law because

they had insufficient notice of particular alleged offences.

Judge Stanton agreed, saying that when "YouTube was given

notices, it removed the material... it is thus protected from

liability" under a provision in the Digital Millennium Copyright

Act.

Viacom called the ruling "fundamentally flawed" and said it

reflected neither Congress's intent behind copyright laws nor

recent Supreme Court decisions.

Google welcomed the ruling. "This is an important victory

not just for us, but also for the billions of people around the

world who use the web to communicate and share experiences

with each other," Google's Kent Walker said on the company's

blog.


IBA, which will be headquartered at the PHDCCI House in

city, said it will address common concerns pertaining to the

Central and State Governments, various regulatory agencies,

trade associations and other stakeholders and parties.

"It will help facilitate the framing, development and

dissemination of best practices related to environment, quality,

manufacturing, and other relevant areas," it said.

��

Buoyed by the recovery

in the global housing

market, India ranked 13th

across the globe in terms of

price rise in the residential

sector for the year ending

March, said property

consultancy firm Knight

Frank.

The list was topped by neighbouring China, it added. Of the

47 countries surveyed, more than half (53 percent) had

witnessed price increases in the residential property segment.

"Growth has been driven by a confluence of factors: low

interest rates, first-time buyer concessions, strong population

growth and a lagging supply response. However, with interest

rates now rising, the government withdrawing stimulus and the

supply response picking up, we expect house price growth to

slow over the next six to nine months," Knight Frank Head of

Residential Research Liam Bailey said.

India, in the 13th position, recorded a growth of 8.4 percent

in the year ended March 2010 over the year-ago period while

China bagged the first position with a growth of 68 percent.

"A recovery in the global housing market is undoubtedly

underway. In Q1 2009, 33 percent of the countries recorded

positive annual growth. In Q1 2010, this figure was closer to 53

percent but still some way off the figure of 90 percent was

recorded in Q1 2006," Bailey added.

China is followed by Hong Kong (30.6 percent), Singapore

(24.3 percent), Australia (20 percent) and Israel (15.9 percent)

on the list.

The report said that the Asia-Pacific region saw the

strongest growth, with prices increasing by 17.8 percent on an

average.

INDIA RANKS 13TH IN HOUSING PRICE RISE LIST;CHINA TOPS

The top four countries in the list were from the Asia- Pacific

region, with China, Hong Kong and Singapore recording an

annual growth in excess of 24 percent.

The countries that occupied the bottom rungs, with the

annual price falling by more than 30 per cent, were Lithuania

Ukraine and Estonia.

��

��

President Jacob Zuma said the

billions South Africa had spent on the

World Cup had paid off with

improvements to the country's

infrastructure as well as 'priceless'

social benefits.

"Economically, the tournament

has been a success. We can safely say

that we have good returns on our

investment, which includes 33 billion

rand (4.2 billion dollars, 3.4 billion

e u r o s ) s p e n t o n t r a n s p o r t

infrastructure, telecommunications and stadiums," Zuma said.

"The investment in stadiums created an estimated 66,000

new construction jobs. The 1.3 billion rand spent on safety and

security includes a permanent addition of 40,000 new policemen

and women," he told in an investment conference in Cape Town.

Zuma also praised the sense of national unity fostered by the

tournament, which has brought fans of all races to the stadiums,

16 years after the first all-race elections ended white-minority

rule.

"The social benefits are priceless. We have seen remarkable

unity, patriotism and solidarity being displayed by South

Africans, which has never been witnessed before," Zuma said.

"This augurs well for the consolidation of reconciliation and

friendship for this young nation. We intend to build on this

achievement.”

With India's sugar output expected to rebound in the next

crop year, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the

time is now proper for the government to give a serious thought

to decontrolling the sugar industry.

ZUMA SAYS WORLD CUP INVESTMENT PAID OFF

PAWAR ROOTS FOR FREEING SUGAR SECTOR


Satyam had pleaded that as the CBI probe into the Rs10,000-

crore accounting scam was not yet over, company had only

limited access to vital documents for preparing financial reports.

Since the scam came to light early in January 2009, the CBI and

SFIO had seized all the documents of the company, it said.

Satyam further submitted that CBI is granting only limited

access to the documents, and expressed inability to furnish the

annual financial report till June 30.

Earlier, on October 15, 2009 CLB had given an extension to

Satyam till June 30 to file all the documents, including financial

statements for financial years 2008 and 2009 and quarterly

financial reports-as required under the listing agreements with

the bourses.

Satyam, which was renamed as Mahindra Satyam after its

takeover by Tech Mahindra in April 2009, came under scanner

when its founder Chairman, B Ramalinga Raju, confessed to

indulging in fraud on January 6, 2009.

The scam, biggest in the country's corporate history, is

estimated at over Rs10,000 crore.

China has become the world's third largest stock market, the

country's securities regulator said.

According to the China Securities

Regulatory Commission, the total market

value of the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets

hit 3.07 trillion dollars as of the end of May.

The total market value so far was up 393.76 percent

compared to the 2003 level, Xinhua news agency reports.

The United States has two of the top three exchanges based

on market value.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the largest

exchange by far with a market value of 9.57 trillion dollars, while

NASDAQ exchange has a market value of 2.77 trillion dollars.

Japan's Tokyo Stock Exchange is the second largest stock

market with a market value of 3.1 trillion dollars.

In Europe, Euronext is the largest with a market value of 2.26

trillion dollars, followed closely by the London Stock Exchange

with a market value of 2.2 trillion dollars.

��

CHINA BECOMES WORLD’S THIRD LARGEST STOCKMARKET

The government controls the sugar sector right from fixing

the support price of cane to the quantity of sweetener to be sold

in the open market every month.

"I honestly feel that the trend which I am observing, I hope

this will continue. If the trend continues, this is the proper time

to create a situation where nobody should come to the food

ministry.

This is a proper time to give a serious thought to withdraw

various types of controls," Pawar said.

The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), the apex body

for private sugar mills, has been demanding the decontrol of the

sector for some years now.

Pawar also said the government plans to impose a tax on

white sugar imports in the new season that starts in October, but

it will wait until it gets a clear picture of the cane crop in the next

two months.

The government allowed taxfree imports of sugar last year to

calm soaring prices and overcome a domestic shortfall as

farmers had reduced cane planting and the crop was damaged by

a severe drought.

The government said that the

scam-hit Satyam can be given more

time to file its financial reports.

Tech Mahindra, which took over

Satyam Computers in April 2009

after its founder Chairman B

Ramalinga Raju confessed to fraud,

is currently fighting the case in the

Company Law Board (CLB).

The company is seeking time till September 30 to file its

financial reports and other regulatory filings.

Satyam has to submit various documents, besides data on

annual returns, required by the statutory authorities.

Earlier, on June 15 CLB had directed the Corporate Affairs

Ministry to give its reply to the plea of Satyam seeking time

within 15 days.

Satyam had moved the CLB in first week of June, seeking

time till September 30 to file its financial statements.

��

SATYAM CAN BE GIVEN MORE TIME: GOVT


India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world. At

the same time, the country is also home to almost one fifth

of the total world population. With such a huge chunk of the

world population and growth rate of the economy hovering

around 8 to 9 per cent per annum for last five years, the demand

for petroleum products is expectedly high. Keeping the social

and economic ramifications in mind, the government has always

remained involved with the pricing and supply of these products.

The UPA government finally bit the bullet and moved to

decontrol the administered prices of key oil products at an

EGoM on June 25, 2010.

Household budget faced a fresh squeeze as the UPA

government, raised the prices of petrol by nearly Rs 4 per litre,

diesel by over Rs 2, kerosene by Rs 3 and cooking gas by Rs 35 per

cylinder.

The price of petrol may go up further from time to time as

the government announced to do away with the administered

price mechanism (APM). Now on, the oil marketing companies

(OMCs) are free to fix the retail price on a day-to-day basis,

aligning it with global crude oil rates.

The price may go up or come down, depending on the

movement of international crude price. In the foreseeable

future, consumers can expect the price to actually move up as

the crude price has been going up significantly in recent

months.

The government also announced its intentions to free diesel

pricing from APM in the near future, though it announced a

regulated increase of Rs 2 (Delhi price). The decontrol of diesel

price would be worked out by the OMCs in consultations with

the government. When this happens, the price of diesel may go

up further as, according to the government, there is still a

significant subsidy element in the price even after the Rs 2 per

litre increase. However, kerosene and LPG prices would still be

decided by the government, not by market forces alone, from

time to time.

The government move followed a decision by an Empowered

Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister

Pranab Mukherjee, which was mandated to take a final call on

the Kirit Parekh Committee report. The report by the

government-appointed panel had recommended decontrolling

fuel prices to reduce fiscal deficit on account of a huge fuel

subsidy burden.

The decision was expected for some time as the government

was repeatedly deferring a final call on the issue due to

differences among UPA's coalition partners. Apparently, all

coalition partners of the Congress were onboard on June 25.

“The price hike is minimum...we didn't have a choice,”

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, who has been advocating the

changes for some time, told newsmen following the EGoM

decision.

The Parekh panel had recommended decontrolling auto fuel

prices and hiking the cost of kerosene by Rs 6 per litre and that of

an LPG cylinder by Rs 100 to save the OMCs.

As per the decision, though the OMCs would have full

freedom to determine the petrol pricing to start with on a day-to-

day basis, the price revision would be done periodically, like once

in a fortnight, Petroleum Secretary S Sundareshan said.

However, the government reserved for itself the right to

intervene when required. On the eve of the 2004 parliamentary

Fuel prices decontrolled

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Industry experts said the government move is also a "game

changer" in the oil sector as it is expected to help private

companies like Reliance Industries and Essar, who had shut

down their oil retailing outlets given the price difference

between their selling price and that of state-run oil marketing

companies.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, said that the

deregulation of petrol prices was a much needed reform, and

suggested that a similar exercise could be considered for the

prices of kerosene and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) with

adjustment.

"This was all necessary, considering the very high amount of

subsidy that is implicit in the pricing structure of kerosene and

LPG. We have taken due care to ensure that the poorer sections

are affected to the least possible extent, and that is why, the

attempt to keep under regulation the prices of kerosene and

LPG," Singh said.

The most immediate beneficiaries of

the move will be the state-run oil-marketing

companies, which can finally break out of

the vicious cycle of under-recoveries. That

is good for the companies' bottom line and

for their minority shareholders, who bore

the brunt of the long period of losses these

companies had to face. It is also good news

for private sector companies that wish to

enter the retail business in petroleum

products – it was not possible for them to

exist in a market where firms could only survive on the back of

government subsidies.

The government will, of course, be relieved of a huge subsidy

burden that has been an unnecessary strain on the fiscal deficit.

In the end, fiscal concerns may have forced the government's

hand on decontrol. Now, the government can justly claim credit

for radical reform of both the fertiliser and oil subsidy regimes.

It has sent out a strong signal on its commitment to fiscal

restraint.

Of course, middle-class consumers are unlikely to be

pleased at the sudden upward revision in prices but their

consumption choices will now be more rationally guided by

market prices rather than artificially subsidised prices. That will

be a great boon for India's climate change mitigation efforts as

well.

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elections, the then NDA government undid its decontrol regime

to give itself a chance to win that election.

Sundareshan said that in the event the global crude oil prices

going up to a “abnormally high level”, the government could

intervene. But, “no price band has been fixed for government

intervention,” he added.

EGoM decision was timed appropriately to take advantage of

the relatively low global crude price, now hovering around $77 a

barrel. The OMCs and oil exploring firms are likely to benefit

from the price hike, though it might shoot up prices of essential

commodities like vegetables and food grain.

According to Sundareshan, despite the rise, the OMCs

would still incur a revenue loss of Rs 53,000 crore in the current

fiscal, presuming the average global crude oil price remained at

$75 per barrel.

“The modalities for compensating the OMCs will be worked

out by the Petroleum Ministr y in

consultation with the Finance Ministry,” he

said

The government's decision to decontrol

petrol price and hike that of other fuels has

evoked mixed reaction from the industry,

which although sees sound economic

reason behind the move, feels it will not

spare the already crippled economy unless

some adequate policy measures are taken.

T h e A s s o c i a t e d C h a m b e r s o f

Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM), reacting to the move,

said that the government had no option but to increase the prices

of petroleum products in view of rising crude oil prices which

have already put margins of oil companies in the downstream

sector in the red.

ASSOCHAM President, Swati Piramal, added said that the

increase in prices of petroleum products will further fuel the

inflation, especially the food inflation as prices of all essential

commodities including food grains will further go up.

Reacting to the oil price hike, Federation of Indian

Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) termed it as a

positive move as it would help the government to minimize, at

least in the short run, any impact of a spike in global crude

prices. More such measures should be taken in the interest of

the ultimate consumers

��


Accenture is a global technology services, outsourcing,

and management consulting company. Almost 80

percent of Fortune 100’s companies work with

Accenture. Accenture is one of the Big Four firms with its

presence felt in fifty countries. Among its multiple strengths

Accenture is committed to offer broad and evolving services.

Business transformation outsourcing is another asset of this

prestigious Big 4 firm.

Initially called Andersen Consulting, Accenture was formally

established in 1989 when a group of partners from the

Consulting division of the various Arthur Andersen firms

around the world formed a new organization focused on

consulting and technology services related to managing large-

scale systems integration and enhancing business processes.

During its first 10 years, Accenture evolved from a systems

integrator to a global management consulting and technology

services company, providing the full range of consulting,

outsourcing and related technology services.

In 1991, Accenture began work on one of its first major

outsourcing arrangements when the company started managing

British Petroleum Exploration’s accounting, finance and

support functions from a special center that it established in

Aberdeen, Scotland. In 1994, the company established the

Accenture Technology Labs–then known as Centers for

Strategic Technology–in Palo Alto, California, and Sophia

Antipolis, France. As the technology R&D organization within

Accenture, the Accenture Technology Labs create a vision of

how technology will shape the future and invent the next wave of

cutting-edge business solutions.

By 2000, Accenture had achieved more than a decade of

tremendous growth, with net revenues exceeding US$9.5 billion

and more than 75,000 professionals in 47 countries delivering to

clients a broad range of consulting, technology and outsourcing

services and solutions.

On Jan.1, 2001, the company changed its name to Accenture

(from Andersen Consulting) as the result of an arbitrator’s

decision in August 2000 that severed the contractual ties

between Accenture and Andersen Worldwide Société

Coopérative (AWSC). Accenture then launched one of the

largest and most successful re-branding campaigns in corporate

history. The new name reinforced Accenture’s new positioning

and reflected the organization’s further growth and broadened

set of capabilities.

By 2001, it became apparent to Accenture’s partners that

maintaining the organization’s existing structure – since its

inception in 1989, Accenture had operated as a group of locally

owned independent partnerships or other entities in more than

40 countries – would limit the company’s ability to continue its

growth. Therefore, the partners decided to transition to

corporate form, enabling Accenture to build and acquire the

necessary capital to remain competitive and fuel its growth.

In April 2001, Accenture’s partners voted overwhelmingly to

pursue an initial public offering, and Accenture became a public

company on July 19, 2001, when it listed on the New York Stock

Exchange under the symbol ACN.

Today Accenture is a global management consulting,

technology services and outsourcing company, identifying new

business and technology trends and developing solutions to help

clients around the world enter new markets, increase revenues

in existing markets, improve operational performance, and

deliver their products and services more effectively and

efficiently. The six core values of Accenture are Client Value

Creation, Best People, Respect for the Individual, Integrity, One

Global Network and Stewardship.

Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates

with its clients to help them become high-performance

businesses and governments. With deep industry and business

process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track

record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills, and

technologies to help clients improve their performance.

Accenture

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models. Client engagement teams typically consist of industry

experts, capability specialists and professionals with local

market knowledge. The client teams are complemented by

professionals in the delivery centers, who capture replicable

components of methodologies and technologies to create client

solutions quickly, predictably and cost-effectively.

Research and innovation have been major factors in its

success, as approximately $250 million each year are spent on

research and development. The investment in research is used

to help create, commercialize and disseminate innovative

business strategies and technology to develop market-ready

solutions for the clients. Accenture’s research and innovation

program is designed to generate early insights into how

knowledge can be harnessed to create innovative business

solutions for its clients and to develop business strategies with

significant value.

Accenture’s business is structured around five operating

groups, which together comprise 18 industry groups serving

clients in every major industry. Its industry focus gives it an

understanding of industry evolution, business issues and

applicable technologies, enabling it to deliver innovative

solutions tailored to each client or, as appropriate, more-

standardized capabilities that are offered to multiple clients.

Accenture’s two capability groups, Business Consulting and

Technology & Outsourcing, develop a full spectrum of services

and solutions that address business opportunities and

challenges common across industries. The subject matter

experts within the capability groups support the industry

experts working within the operating groups. The business

process outsourcing (BPO) businesses provide function-

specific and/or industry-specific business services to multiple

clients on an outsourced basis through standard operating

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Wimbledon 2010 Winners


FISH! is a philosophy that people around the world are

implementing in workplaces and educational

institutions to help foster fun and teamwork in their

business. This philosophy is interesting and has been

successful. It was conceived one happy day when on a visit to

Seattle, a man by the name of John Christensen observed how

positive and enthusiastic the employees of a run down fish

market were. Here the fishmongers spent stinky, grueling 12

hour shifts stocking, packing and selling fish, in an environment

that would have made even the most tolerant of us squirm.

Yet in an unlikely

manner, these workers

carried out orders by

flinging fish at each other

and to the customers - which

kept the employees on their

toes and the customers

e n t e r t a i n e d . T h e

fishmongers gave their full

attention to each customer

and made sure that they were

involved and walked away from the shop feeling positive about

the experience. Christensen, as a new witness to this unique

workplace, realised that not only were the workers making their

own day fly by, but they were also selling a great deal of fish!! This

philosophy has lead to improved morale and productivity in work

places across the world.

It has been studied that remarkable results can occur when

workers accept the invitation to:

First,

be there for co-workers. The biggest way to do this is by smiling

and acknowledging people while walking by them. Say hello,

converse with co-workers, be friendly and help co-workers

laugh. Take the time to listen to people around the workplace.

When seeing a co-worker not happy, go up to them and give them

a pat on the back and a compliment. Make an effort and try to get

to know everyone. Show up for work to help the team. A team is

not a team with people missing. These are all some of the things

we can do to be there for co-workers. These strategies are used

worldwide and seem to help,

1. Be there for their co-workers and customers:

2. Play:

3. Make someone’s day:

4. Choose their attitude about how they show up for

work:

The second strategy is to play at work. Playing helps

energize the workplace. Some examples of play are telling jokes

to co-workers, maybe even pass around appropriate jokes (no

personal jokes), saying things throughout the day to help people

laugh. Have theme days where everybody dresses up differently.

Having office parties helps unite play and team because

everyone gets together. Create bulletin boards and decorate the

office with fun stuff ensuring everyone’s involvement. Making

work fun helps work done and makes people want to participate

in a team.

This is easy to do and makes the

team run smoother. Several ways to make someone’s day are as

easy as saying hello, complimenting their looks, bringing baked

goods to work, having a candy bowl out for others to enjoy,

thanking people for the small and often overlooked things they

do for us, acknowledging others’ accomplishments, being nice,

and by simply volunteering our time. When working as a team it

is very important to remember team means “we” not “I”, that is

why it is so important to help the team work easier.

Attitude plays an important role in teamwork as well. The

good thing about attitude is you can choose a new one. Some

ways to keep a positive attitude and help support the team are:

start each day with a personal positive thought, go to work with a

positive attitude, put on a smile, start the day with a laugh or by

being helpful, think positive. If you feel yourself getting a bad

attitude change it so it does not affect others, be pleasant even if

your day is not going well, speak to co-workers and wish them a

good day.

Today the Fish! Philosophy has flourished among corporate

and educational markets throughout the world. Successful

teams all over the world are using these strategies and making

them work. Some of these teams are Ford Motor Company, Wells

Fargo, Sprint, the U.S. Army, the May O Clinic, Harley-Davison,

the National Weather Service and Verizon Wireless.

These are just some of the many successful companies

using the Fish! Principles and this philosophy continues to

grow. Teamwork is a vital part of life and we apply it everyday. We

use it all over the place, why not have fun while doing it.!

FISH PHILOSOPHY

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PayPal is an online payments and money transfer service

that allows you to send money via email, phone, text

message or Skype. They offer products to both

individuals and businesses alike, including online vendors,

auction sites and corporate users. PayPal connects effortlessly to

bank accounts and credit cards. PayPal Mobile is one of PayPal’s

newest products. It allows you to send payments by text message

or by using PayPal’s mobile browser.

The current incarnation of PayPal is the result of a March

2000 merger between Confinity and X.com. Confinity was

founded in December 1998 by Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, and

Luke Nosek, initially as a Palm Pilot payments and cryptography

company. X.com was founded by Elon Musk in March 1999,

initially as an Internet financial services company. Both

Confinity and X.com launched their websites in late 1999. Both

companies were located on University Avenue in Palo Alto.

Confinity’s website was initially focused on reconciling beamed

payments from Palm Pilots with email payments as a feature and

X.com’s website initially included financial services with email

payments as a feature.

To block potentially fraudulent access by automated

systems, PayPal devised a system (see CAPTCHA) of making

the user enter numbers from a blurry picture, which they coined

the Gausebeck-Levchin test. According to Eric M. Jackson,

author of the book The PayPal Wars, PayPal invented this system

now in common use; however, there is evidence AltaVista used a

CAPTCHA as early as 1997, before PayPal existed. The

neutrality of The PayPal Wars, which was self-published by Eric

Jackson through his company World Ahead Publishing, funded

in part by Peter Thiel, is disputed. In either case, the PayPal

CAPTCHA has been proven insecure.

When eBay acquired PayPal in October 2002, eBay already

had an online payment system of choice called Billpoint.

Billpoint was quickly phased out due to PayPal’s popularity,

branding and technology. PayPal’s main competitor is Google

Checkout. PayPal Mobile competitors include obopay,

TextPayMe and KushCash.

PayPal enables any business or consumer with an email

address to securely, conveniently, and cost-effectively send and

receive payments online. Paypal's network builds on the existing

financial infrastructure of bank accounts and credit cards to

create a global, real-time payment solution. Paypal delivers a

product ideally suited for small businesses, online merchants,

individuals and others currently underserved by traditional

payment mechanisms.

Currently, PayPal operates in 190 markets; it manages over 15

million registered users, including more than 2.2 million

business accounts. PayPal allows customers to send, receive, and

hold funds in 19 currencies worldwide. These currencies are the

U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, Euro, Pound

sterling, Japanese yen, Chinese renminbi, Czech Koruna,

Danish krone, Hong Kong dollar, Hungarian forint, Israeli new

sheqel, Mexican pesos, New Zealand dollar, Norwegian krone,

Polish zloty, Singapore dollar, Swedish krona, and Swiss franc.

PayPal operates locally in 13 countries. Paypal's account base is

growing by an average of 18,000 accounts per day, with virtually

no traditional sales or marketing.

The size of Paypal's network and widening acceptance of

Paypal's product has helped Paypal become the leading payment

network for online auction websites, including eBay. PayPal is

also being increasingly used at other e-commerce sites, for the

sale of goods such as electronics and household items, the sale of

services such as web design and travel, and the sale of digital

content. Offline businesses, including lawyers, contractors and

physicians, have increasingly begun to receive payments online

through PayPal. PayPal's service, which lets users send payments

for free, can be used from PCs or Web-enabled mobile phones.

Although PayPal’s corporate headquarters are located in San

Jose, PayPal’s operations center is located near Omaha,

Nebraska, where the company employs more than 2,000 people

as of 2007. PayPal’s international headquarters is located in

Dublin, Ireland. The company also recently opened a technology

center in Scottsdale, Arizona. PayPal was a Webby Award

nominee in both 2000 and 2001, and was named a Forbes

Favorite Website in the magazine’s May 2001 "Best of the Web"

issue.

PayPal

Brand icon

Safer way to send money


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All the moons of the are named after

and mythology, except the moons of Uranus,

which are named after Shakespearean characters.

In 1959, the Soviet space probe became the

first manmade object to reach the moon as it crashed onto

the lunar surface.

In 1968, the first manned Apollo mission,

was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton

Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard.

Jupiter's moon is the largest moon in the Solar

System, and is larger than the planets Mercury and Pluto.

on Mars is the largest volcano in our solar

system.

On a clear night in the Northern Hemisphere the naked eye

can discern some .

On February 7, 1969 a weighing over 1 ton fell in

Chihuahua, Mexico.

a scientist and holder of 214 patents

fired the first rocket using liquid propellant in 1926.

July 20, 1969, was the first man

to walk on the moon, Edwin Aldrin was the second. They

were members of Apollo 11, and landed in the Sea of

Tranquility. The Lunar Excursion Module was named the

Michael Collins stayed onboard the mother ship,

The plaque left on the Moon says, "Here men

from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July

1969, A.D. / WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL

MANKIND.”

The first American satellite in orbit, , was

launched on February 1, 1958.

The first man-made object to circle the earth was

launched in 1957.

Solar System Greek

Roman

"Luna Two"

"Apollo Seven,"

Ganymede

Olympus Mons

5000 stars

meteorite

Robert Goddard

Sunday, Neil Armstrong

"Eagle."

"Columbia.”

Apollo 11

Explorer I

Sputnik

I,

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The weighs about 500 tons

and is the same size as a football field.

The three most recently discovered planets were

in 1781, in 1846, and in 1930.

is the only planet that on its side.

What we call the sky is merely the limit of our vision into the

atmosphere. , like the horizon, is always as far away

as one can see.

The planet does not tilt as it goes around the Sun, so

consequently, it has no seasons.

The planet is named after the Roman Goddess of

The pressure at the center of the is 27,000 tons per

square inch.

The pressure at the center of the is about 700 million

tons per square inch. Enough to smash atoms, expose the

inner nuclei, and allow them to smash into each other,

interact, and produce the radiation that gives off light and

warmth.

The is on the Moon. It's not a real sea,

but a maria, one of the regions on the Moon that appear

dark when looking at it.

The seventh planet from the is tipped on its

side so that at any moment one pole is pointed at the Sun.

The polar regions are warmer than the equator. At the

poles, a day lasts for , followed by an equally

long night.

A is the amount of time it takes the Sun to

revolve around the center of the , about 225

million years.

A day on the planet is twice as long as its year.

rotates very slowly but revolves around the Sun in

slightly less than 88 days.

International Space Station

Uranus

Neptune Pluto

Uranus rotates

The sky

Venus

Venus

love.

Earth

Sun

Sea of Tranquility

Sun, Uranus,

42 Earth years

cosmic year

Milky Way

Mercury

Mercury

Trivia about space &the universe


Saina Nehwal, the poster girl of Indian badminton, dazzled

at the Djarum Indonesia Open Super Series, retained the

crown on 27th June, 2010 and landed her third title in the

last 19 days.

Saina Nehwal is one of the best known Indian Badminton

players, and arguably the most promising female Indian

Badminton player at the moment. Apart from upsetting some of

the top seeded players in World Badminton, Saina has to her

credit the achievement of being the first Indian woman to have

entered the Quarter Final round of Badminton event at the

Olympic Games.

She was born on the 17th of March 1990 at Hisar, Haryana.

Both her father, Dr. Harvir Singh and mother Usha Rani were

former State Badminton Champions in Haryana, so she got the

game of Badminton in her genes. Dr. Harvir Singh, a scientist at

the Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad encouraged

her to pick up the game of Badminton, and took her to Nani

Prasad, the Badminton Coach at the Lal Bahadur Stadium in

Hyderabad in the year 1998.

Dr. Harvir Singh and Saina Nehwal who was 8 yrs old at the

time, would wake up at 6 every morning and head to the stadium

which was 20 km away. After two hours of practice, Singh would

drop Saina to school on his way to work. Saina Nehwal would

often fall asleep on these journeys which prompted her mother

to accompany them for the next three months. Traveling nearly

50 km a day in order to accommodate the training schedule,

Singh eventually decided to move closer to the stadium in 1999.

This however didn't end the traveling ordeal as Saina Nehwal

was asked to attend evening training sessions as well. With the

extra training sessions, traveling expenditure rose

phenomenally. Added to the cost of equipment including

shuttles, rackets, shoes, gutting and expenses rose to over Rs.

12,000 per month. In order to keep up with the rising cost of her

training, Saina Nehwal's father withdrew money from his

savings and provident fund. The tight-rope walk continued until

2002, when sports brand Yonex offered to sponsor Saina's kit. As

her status and rankings improved, the sponsorships increased.

In 2004, BPCL signed the rising star onto their payroll, and in

2005 she was spotted by the Mittal Champions Trust.

Nehwal became the National

Junior Champion in the year 2004,

and won the title again in the year

2005. She was a runner up in the

National Senior Championship

2005, and won the title in the year

2006, repeating the victory in the

year 2007 again. Apart from these,

she has won the All India Jr. Ranking Tournaments of the year

2005 held at Chennai, Cochin, Bangalore and Pune. She further

won the All India Senior Ranking Tournament 2005 held at

Mumbai, and also emerged as the winner at the National Games

held at Guwahati.

Saina made her International Debut in the year 2003 at the

India Satellite tournament where she reached the top-16 round.

The same year, she won the Junior Czech Open tournament.

Further, she reached the Quarter Final at the Cheers Asian

Satellite tournament 2004 held at Singapore. She got her first

International success at the India Satellite tournament 2005

where she emerged as the winner of the tournament. After this,

she also claimed the Bingo Bonanza Philippines Open title in

the year 2006, and the India Satellite tournament 2006. She

played at the All England Open 2007, and reached the Pre-

Quarter Final round where she lost to World No. 3 player from

China. She also reached the Quarter Final rounds at the Macau

Open tournament 2007 and the Dutch Open tournament 2007.

In the year 2008, Saina won the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix

Gold tournament, and reached the Semi Final round of the LI

NING China Masters Super Series tournament also. The same

year, she created a history of the sorts when she became the First

Indian Woman ever to reach the Quarter Final round of the

Badminton event at the Olympic Games. At the Beijing Olympic

Games 2008, Saina faced the 4th seeded player and the World

No. 6 Wang Chen from Hong Kong in the Pre-Quarter-Final

match. Although in the Quarter Final match, she lost to Maria

Kristin Yulianti of Indonesia by 28-26, 14-21, 15-21.

Throughout her Badminton career so far, Saina has been

able to topple some of the top Badminton players of the world in

her tournaments. These players include Huaiwen XU, Julia Xian

Pei of Malaysia, and the World No. 6 Wang Chen of Hong Kong.

Saina Nehwal

Profile


For the first time in history, Australia now has its first

female Prime Minister after a surprise leadership vote in

which Julia Gillard was voted in to replace Prime

Minister Kevin Rudd. The new Prime Minister, Julia Gillard,

was the former Deputy Prime Minister and has promised to

forge ahead and pull the Labor Party out of the difficulties it has

recently found itself in: "I came to the view that a good

government was losing its way. “I too believe that have a

responsibility to make sure that at the next election Labor is

there at its strongest.”

The leadership ballot took place after the Labor Party

suffered a massive drop in the public opinion according to polls.

Kevin Rudd took over from Liberal Prime Minister, John

Howard in November 2007 in a landslide victory and everything

seemed to go well for a while. Then in April this year, the voters

began to lose confidence in him following policy failures.

Gillard, admired for her plain-speaking, was the obvious choice

to take over and, following the ballot in which Kevin Rudd did not

take part, she was revealed to be unopposed. Her Deputy will be

former Finance Minister, Wayne Swan.

Julia Gillard was born on 29 September 1961 in Barry Island

in Wales, UK, before she immigrated to Australia with the rest of

her family at the age of four. As a baby she contracted a severe

lung infection and spent weeks in a oxygen tent in hospital,

prompting her parents, Moira and John, to look for warmer

climes.

They decided to join the thousands of other “Ten Pound

Poms” moving to Australia, and arrived in Adelaide in 1966. Her

father worked as a nurse and her mother cooked at a refuge for

women. At high school, Gillard was a high achiever and was not

afraid to stand up to men in authority - at one point she

lambasted her Physics teacher for favouring male students.

Her family was poor, but through hard work, her father

managed to buy a house and Gillard eventually went to

University of Adelaide to study law and arts and became a

prominent figure in campus politics and was appointed

President of the Australian Union of Students in 1983.

She became a partner in a law

firm that specialises in class actions

and personal injury cases before

working as a political adviser. In 1998,

she was elected to Parliament for the

first time and quickly began to rise up

the ranks of the Labor Party,

becoming Shadow Health Minister

and then Deputy Prime Minister, in

return for backing Kevin Rudd as

Prime Minister. One conservative

lawmaker claimed she would be unfit

to govern because she was unmarried and had no children,

although he later apologised for the comment.

Moving into politics, she became the Chief of Staff to

Victoria state opposition leader, John Brumby, and then won a

seat in parliament in 1998. Mr Rudd entered parliament at the

same time as Ms Gillard and they formed an alliance in 2006.

While in the Rudd government, she held several portfolios,

including minister for employment and workplace relations,

minister for education, and minister for social inclusion - as well

as her Deputy Prime Minister post. The 48-year-old remained

loyal to Mr Rudd, even in recent months as he began to lose

support. Her popularity fared better than his and her supporters

highlighted her association with education reform and fair pay

for workers.

She has been described as a good negotiator and a consensus

politician - a sharp contrast with Mr Rudd, who was criticised by

some for his top-down style of leadership.

Referred to as 'an old-school Labor leader', Ms Gillard is

considered to be an excellent negotiator - just as well as global

miners are threatening to pull a huge sum of investment in

Australia unless the 40% mine-profits tax. Gillard has already

refused to drop the level of the tax, but she is prepared to

negotiate: "Today, I am throwing open the government's door to

the mining industry and in return I ask the mining industry to

open its mind." She also has a huge fight on her hands to ensure

that the reputation of the Labor Party doesn't drop any further.

Julia Gillard

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My dear wife had accompanied me for one of my

lectures. I believe it was on ‘Six Thinking Hats’. I (as

usual) thought that the session had gone of well

enough but (just to fish for a compliment) asked her feedback

while driving back. Shouldn’t have! For there she smashed my

pride!! “Well, you worked hard but it was rather cheap with all

those examples from Bollywood and, of course, your passion,

Cricket!”

I was crashed!! If she could not find a complimentary word,

she should not have been negative, at least! She could even have

been right but did she have to speak up then and there? I should

have been allowed the elation for some time and, later, she could

have introduced me to the reality.

Now that I have had the courage of sharing my

embarrassment, here is the background as to why do I use these

examples.

I feel honestly that the best teaching is the one which links

the subject to reality, when the student can visualize in his/her

mind’s eye the concept, the issue, the difficulty, whatever. This

linking could be with a person, object, event, or anything. I

believe that the best way to drive home a point is a story, anecdote

or a simile but then you don’t find a story or anecdote for every

point you present. So, examples around us, even if from Cricket

or Bollywood, should do the trick.

Hence, I spend a lot of time and effort in finding suitable

examples of persons, events etc. connecting the issues. Here

comes the hitch. The events/persons/characters must be

known/seen by majority of the audience. One example here how

the lack of (assumed) knowledge could backfire.

I was conducting an extempore in a management institution.

Subjects were written on chits and the individuals were to pick

up one from the lot. One student who got the subject, “Whether

NCC is helping the youth?”, went up the stage, just mumbled a

couple of words and returned! I was unpleasantly surprised as he

did not have any difficulty in communication and was confident

enough. When enquired, he blurted that he had never heard of

NCC (National Cadet Corps)! I could never imagine that any

student would be blank about it.

As I speak mostly to the young students, I must take into

account what are they exposed to today! Which pages of the

newspapers would they look up everyday? Sports? Fashion?

Films?

Even in films, one has to be cautious. Listen to my other

‘flop-show’. I was deliberating on being proactive and gave the

example of the character played by Amjad Khan in the movie

‘Mukkaddar Ka Sikandar’, one who takes pride through this

dialogue “Pulis ne hamen kabhi nahin pakada, ham he har bar

gunah ke bad pulis ke pas khud gaya!” I expected chuckles

around from youth but what I got was expressionless faces! I

realized then that none of them had seen Amitabh’s this block

buster of my time!

Any other example of business, businessmen, politics,

politician (barring Laluji) could also fall flat, as the youth may

not be reading these subjects (to be honest, I also do not read it

in details and, thus, Bollywood and Cricket suits me!).

I assume that you have agreed to the principle of ‘relating to

life’ while imparting knowledge. Now the question. How can I

make them ‘see’ it without these ‘cheap’ examples?

Suppose I am taking a class on personality, teaching about

submissive, assertive and aggressive personalities. The

examples of respective Indian Cricket team captains, Rahul

Dravid, Kumble and Kapil Dev respectiveley, could be given

(apologies to them). Can I afford to give examples of my uncles,

aunts, etc. ? How would the students relate to them?

Dear Third Umpire.....

I have been a teacher for some time now. Fairly good one. Well, as far as I grade myself. And, surely, not a bad one

(I hope!) if the students grade me. Here I would like to share an incident which punctured my ‘king-sized’ ego,

then would give you the reasons for my ‘estyle’ and finally would ask you to sit on the judge’s chair, be the third

umpire and decide whether I or my wife is right. Here I go.

Lt. Col P. Deogirikar (Retd.)

Guestroom


I also know that the fight is always between the equals. In the

private sector, most of the discussions on the issues disliked by

the employees are concluded with a dialogue (accompanied by a

deep sigh) “Are, malik ka malik kaun!” But ‘malik ki malkin ho

sakti hai!’ Hence, I would always be the poor second when it is,

between me and HER but I would still like to know the judge’s

verdict.

Judgement, your honour?

And I am not ‘inventing’ anything. There has been a ‘Lagaan’

professor from IIM. IIM has also been working on 3 Idiots. Even

foreign universities prescribe movies in their syllabuses. Of

course, they may not be doing it for Cricket as many countries do

not play this game.

I have put forward the reasons for my being ‘cheap’, as

observed by my wife.

With over 110 years of success under its belt, Wm.

Wrigley Jr. Company operates as the largest chewing

gum manufacturer in the world, supplying nearly half

of all chewing gum sold in the United States. The firm is a

market leader in Europe as well, securing almost 50 percent of

the continent's gum profits. Wrigley dominates the gum

industry with well known brands, including Juicy Fruit,

Doublemint, Big Red, and Wrigley's Spearmint gum.

Other brands sold worldwide include Airwaves, Alpine,

Eclipse, Extra, Freedent, Hubba Bubba, Orbit, P.K., and

Winterfresh. Subsidiary Amurol Confections Company also

manufacturers chewing gum and confectionary products for

adults and youths under such names as Big League Chew,

Bubble Tape, Hubba Bubba Sweet Roll, Squeeze Pop, and

Velamints. Fourth generation William Wrigley Jr. heads up the

company as the President and CEO.

William Wrigley Jr. came to Chicago from Philadelphia in the

spring of 1891. He was 29 years old, had $32 in his pocket and

unlimited enthusiasm and energy. He also had great talent as a

salesman.

His father was a soap manufacturer and, at the start of his

new business from Chicago, Mr. Wrigley sold Wrigley's Scouring

Soap. As an extra incentive to merchants, Mr. Wrigley offered

premiums. He knew his customers would be more likely to carry

Wrigley's soap if they received a little "something for nothing".

One of these premiums was baking powder. When baking

powder proved to be more popular than soap, he switched over to

the baking powder business.

Then one day from 1892, Mr. Wrigley got the idea of offering

two packages of chewing gum using each can of baking powder.

The offer was a big success. Once again the premium - chewing

gum this time - seemed more promising than the product it was

supposed to promote.

At that time, there were at least a dozen chewing gum

companies from the United States, but the industry was

relatively undeveloped. Mr. Wrigley decided that chewing gum

was the product using the potential he had been looking for, so

he began marketing it under his own name. As soon as 1893,

William Wrigley Jr. had developed the classic chewing gum

brand Juicy Fruit, which would soon become the most popular

variety of chewing gum from North America. Wrigley's

Spearmint gum would follow from the same year, and from 1914,

Doublemint - both of which have also developed into genuine

classics that are enjoyed all over the world.

Getting a foothold from the chewing gum business was not

easy. Several times the young company was on the verge of going

under, but hard work overcame the difficulties, and the business

forged ahead.

In the very early days, William Wrigley Jr. personally did

much of the selling to the trade. He had a gift for seeing his

customers' point of view and accommodating himself to their

needs. As the company grew, Mr. Wrigley showed an unusual

knack for inspiring enthusiasm from the people who worked

using him.

Mr. Wrigley was also one of the pioneers from the use of

advertising to promote the sale of branded merchandise. He saw

that consumer acceptance of Wrigley's gum could be built faster

by telling people about the benefits of the product through

newspaper and magazine ads, outdoor posters and other forms

of advertising. Then, as more and more consumers began to ask

for and buy Wrigley's chewing gum from the stores, the

storekeeper would naturally want to keep enough stock of

Wrigley brands on hand.

As the company continued to grow, it steadfastly applied this

basic principle: Even from a little thing like a stick of gum,

quality is important.

William Wrigley Jr.Business legand


S“EVERY” AND “EACH”

“BETWEEN EACH”

ince English is not our mother tongue, most of us make

mistakes while speaking and writing the language. This

article identifies the most common mistakes people make

and shows you how to avoid them. It will help you speak and write

better – permanently. Some of them are listed below.

The main thing to remember is that these are singular

words, and it is a very common mistake to treat them as plurals.

“I was most impressed by the reasonable prices and

agreeable designs of everything on sale.”

“Everything on sale” is singular, meaning each object, and

each object had its own price and own design. The sentence

should thus be:

“I was most impressed by the reasonable prices and

agreeable design of everything on sale.”

“There are carpets in every room.” This type of sentence is

often heard. Each room may have more than one carpet , but the

writer probably means that there is no room without a carpet.

There are two correct ways of expressing the meaning:

“There is a carpet in every room.”

“There are carpets in all the rooms.”

Each is similarly maltreated and the following are examples

of common mistakes:

The hotel issues free guide books to each guest. (Wrong)

The hotel issues a free guide book to each guest. (Right) OR

The hotel issues free guide books to all guests. (Right)

It is indeed strange – in fact it is incomprehensible – that one

of the commonest mistake is also one of the most obvious. Too

often we read this kind of thing:

“Sow the plants in rows, with at least two feet between each

row.”

“The buttonholes should next be cut, with six inches

between each.”

It should be clear to anyone that the preposition between

cannot exist with one singular word, and “between each” is

incorrect. Correct versions of the foregoing sentences would be:

Consider this example:

“Sow the plants in rows, with at least two feet between

adjacent rows,” or …….. with at least two feet between each pair

of rows,” or “Sow the plants in rows, the rows being at least two

feet apart.”

“The buttonholes should next be cut, six inches apart.”

This common error seems to be on the increase among

writers and public speakers. You must never say “those kind” of

anything. You can say “those kinds “, “these kinds”, “this kind”

or “that kind”. But to say “those kind” is to apply a plural

adjective to a singular noun.

“I shall expect you about five o’ clock.”

“I shall expect you at about five o’ clock.”

Which of these is correct?

Strictly at applies to a definite time; about applies to an

approximate time. Therefore, at about is a confusion of two

unlikes , and should be avoided.

“He used to live in Delhi” means “He formerly lived in

Delhi” or “He once lived in Delhi.”

That is understood. But neither the past tense nor the

negative is generally understood, and we hear constructions like

these:

“THOSE KIND”

“AT ABOUT”

“USED TO”

COMMON MISTAKES IN ENGLISH

English grammar

Common mistakes

eng


THE USE OF ADJECTIVES AS ADVERBS

“PARALLEL WITH”

“DIFFERENT FROM’’

“Do it quick” is wrong. Quick is an adjective, and the verb do

demands an adverb. The correct version is Do it quickly.

Similarly, Drive slow should be Drive slowly.

While it is colloquial to say “Walk quicker “and “Drive

slower”, the correct forms are “Walk more quickly” and “Drive

more slowly.”

Fast, on the other hand, is both an adjective and adverb.

Another curious inconsistency concerns wrong and right. We

say, “He did his sums wrongly” but “He did his sums right.” Yet

if both terms are used together we say “Rightly or wrongly.”

We speak of a tradition or convention as ‘dying hard,’

meaning that the tradition or convention finds it hard to die. It

would seem strange to say “die hardly,”as hardly means scarcely

or nearly.

Well is the adverb corresponding with the adjective good.

Thus, we say “She is a good singer” or “She sings well. “Some

people think it sounds polite to use well when they mean good,

and frequently we hear. “It looks well on her, doesn’t it?”

This construction is wrong. The word well is not associated

with the word looks but with the pronoun it, so that the adjective

good should be used. The correct form of the sentence, in the

sense meant by the polite speaker is:” It looks good on her.

Doesn’t it?” The same speaker would have no doubts at all about

saying, correctly, “It looks splendid “or “It looks horrible or “It

looks old-fashioned.”Literally, “It looks well” means that it

performs the act of looking well. Well is also an adjective

meaning healthy, and although “He looks well” usually means

that he looks healthy, it could also mean that he is a good

performer in the act of looking.

Two lines can be parallel with one another or each other, not

parallel to one another. The preposition ‘to’ signifies approach,

and the moment the lines start approaching each other they

cease to be parallel.

In spite of various feeble attempts at defence, “different to’ is

wrong simply because it is illogical. Nobody would dream of

saying “similar from’. It is most unfortunate that ‘different to’

has penetrated such respectable quarters such as Parliament,

literature and the Press, for in matters of English many people

accept the guidance of these mentors. They are even guilty of

using “different than”, which is meaningless rather than

illogical.

“He didn’t use to live in Delhi.”

‘Did he use to live in Delhi?’

“Used to” is itself a peculiar idiom, but there is no point in

making its variations even more peculiar. The correct versions of

the two examples are:

“He used not to live in Delhi.”

“Used he to live in Delhi?’

Who is subjective, whom is objective.

“Who shall I give it to”? is wrong because the question is

another form of “ I shall give it to whom?” or “ To whom shall I

give it ?” The subject is I, and a preposition- in this case ‘to’ –is

followed by the objective.

‘Whom shall I take with me?” is right. ‘Who shall I take with

me?” is wrong. I am taking someone with me, so that I is the

subject, the someone is the object, and the someone in the

question is the unknown whom.

Who, as the subject, is correct in such questions as the

following:

“Who goes home?”

“Who is coming with me?”

“Who did it?’

When who is used as a simple relative pronoun it is

immaterial whether its governing noun or pronoun is the

subject or the object, and both the following sentences are

correct:

‘The lady who dealt with the enquiry is away.” (“The lady” is

the subject)

“I saw the man who did it.”(“The man” is the object)

We could also say, correctly: “The lady who is loved by all is

away.”

Yet who would be changed to whom in the following kinds of

construction:

“The lady whom nothing could upset is away.”

Either is generally correctly used, neither is often abused.

Here is an example:

“One can expect an immediate reaction from the Anti- Noise

League, but neither the Clerk to the Magistrates nor the

transport association’s solicitor know of any regulations

forbidding such cacophony.

As Clerk is singular, and solicitor is singular, know should be

knows. Know would have been correct if both had been plural, as

in :

Neither the Clerks nor the solicitors know.

“WHO” AND “WHOM”

“EITHER” AND “NEITHER”


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Maruti 800 Alto SS80

is the brand name of a chain of hamburger

restaurants based in the UK. The brand was created by

of Chicago in the 1930s. The name Wimpy was

inspired by the character of from the

Popeye cartoons created by Elzie Crisler Segar.

is the racing team division of the Ferrari

automobile company. The team currently only races in

but has competed in numerous classes of

motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar

racing.

entered the consumer electronics business with the

Linksys (wireless and Ethernet networking) acquisition in

2003, Sipura Technology (maker of Net phone products)

and Kiss Technology (maker of network-based DVD and

DVR players) in 2005, and Scientific-Atlanta (a cable set-

top box maker) in 2006. In India, Cisco has made strategic

investments in gaming companies such as TerraPlay,

IndiaGames, Exent and Emergent & has acquired Mobile

WiMAX Company Navini Networks. Cisco has introduced

its TelePresence technology for holding virtual meetings

around the world.

The Company coined the name Zipper in

1923 for the line of rubber overshoes that it made using the

fastener. The name slowly came to be associated with the

fastener itself, and eventually acquired generic status.

who heads Magazine, is one

of the forces behind the Miss India beauty pageant.

US agrochemicals giant helped manufacturers of

flexible foam for the furniture industry with a bio-based

alternative to polyurethane materials. It invented a new

alternative ingredient for polyurethane foams made from

soybean oil. Cargill helped develop the ,

which leave a smaller environmental footprint and save

nearly 2,200 barrels of crude oil for every million pounds of

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'Every Business is

a Growth Business'

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John H Patterson

“the Cash”.

Thomson Corporation

“three

minutes”

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Association

is the act of commandeering a brand from

marketing professionals and driving its evolution. The term

comes from the book of the same title written by

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, the founder of the Rs 3,000-crore

, had no formal education. He worked as a domestic

helper with a Pune money lender when he was 17;

subsequently he peddled electrical supplies door to door

and, along with his brother, set up his first unit in a cowshed

in the early 1950s for a defence contract.

Senator who was the Republican Party

candidate for the US Presidency wrote the foreword for the

book by Jerry Porras, Stewart

Emery and Mark Thompson.

is the world-famous consultant and

management guru who started his career with Usha Sewing

Machines. His best seller on the topic,

, is still considered a bible by many

CEOs.

brand portfolio in India includes

white rum, , Bacardi Breezer RTD, Grey

Goose vodka, Bombay Sapphire gin, 42 Below vodka and

Dewar's 12 year-old scotch.

(The National Cash Register) company, founded in

1884 by , started its business in the mid-

1880s, was often called

, a leading global provider of

integrated information-based solutions to business and

professional customers, deploys an approach called

. It combines observation with detailed

interviews to learn what end users are doing three minutes

before they use a product and three minutes after.

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companies as members.

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Wired' The Industry Standard'

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FLOSS

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Cache'

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MiCoach'

Wii Fit'

Nintendo

‘Morph’

Flickr.com

Neverending’

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language used primarily in the electronic and desktop

publishing areas, was developed by in 1985.

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way with the that was replaced by a miniature

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is a journalist who has authored 'The Search'

about Google and was a co-founder of the magazines

' and ' .

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Wii video game console where many of its popular

characters are pitted against each other in frenetic free-for-

all action.

in IT parlance stands for Free Libre Open Source

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is a nanotechnology concept developed jointly by

Nokia Research Centre and the University of Cambridge.

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originally created for Ludicorp's Game ‘ .

Beacon was 'controversial' ads system that

collected and published activities of its users from external

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drinking water to African countries for every litre of Volvic

bought. The brand used the slogan

accompanied by a logo of

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Indian Premier League

Galla Amara Raja Group

'Yeh hain

Hindustan meri jaan'

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FedEx

“Silicon Bluff ”

“Look Behind The

Label”

Jon Wilkins Naked

Communications

Email bankruptcy

'Menlow'

-led People Group's dating and social

networking site fropper.com shares half of its ad revenues

with bloggers who click on the ads on its web pages.

Channel is famous for toys like and

(supported by a programme on Pogo called

Blazing Teens) and has launched toys called Bucchki that

also features in B.R. Chopra's film .

Titan Industries' has three

models – Iris, Andromeda and Serendipity – price range Rs

6 lakh–Rs 12 lakh.

is Mody's

authorised biography by Partha Mukherjee and Jyoti

Sabharwal.

was roped in by the Board of Control for

Cricket in India (BCCI) as the Chief Operating Officer of

.

Foods is a part of the .

Sprite, a Coca-Cola brand, launched its

advertising campaign to counter

Pepsi's

US courier giant has think tank labs that are known

as the for its cliff top location in Memphis,

USA.

UK's Marks & Spencer launched

campaign, which focuses on the company's ethical

sourcing and production practices.

is the founding partner of

– which gives communication

consultancy to Coca-Cola, Nestle and Nokia.

is the term used for the decision to

close an e-mail account due to excess garbage messages as

compared to legitimate ones.

is the codename for Intel's first low-power

processor and chipset platform designed for mobile

Internet devices.

�

�

Dynabook Equium Libretto

Magnavox Odyssey'

, and are laptop brands from

Toshiba.

, released in 1972, is the world's first

video game console.


1. The Tata Group's Nano car project is located in

(1) Nandigram

(2) Sanand

(3) Ahmedabad

(4) Delhi

2. Which one of the following is not a drug/pharma company?

(1) Chevron

(2) Nicholas Piramal

(3) Pfizer

(4) Zydus Cadila

3. What is RuBisCO?

(1) A Sugar

(2) An Enzyme

(3) A Fat

(4) A Carbohydrate

4. The Red color of Red wine is mainly because of .?

(1) Chemicals in Wine

(2) Pigments

(3) Color blended

(4) Ageing

5. The story of Alibaba & 40 thieves is related to which of the

following Caliphate era?

(1) Fatimid Caliphate

(2) Umayyad Caliphate

(3) Abbasid Caliphate

(4) Rashidun Caliphate

6. In the Indian mythology, who sung Shiva Tandava Stotra?

(1) Ravana

(2) Rama

(3) Kuber

(4) Indra

7. San Cristobel oil field is in

(1) Argentina

(2) Venezuela

(3) Brazil

(4) Chile

8. Which among the following is not a Euro zone country?

(1) Netherlands

(2) Estonia

(3) Austria

(4) Portugal

9. Which among the following is a Public Sector Travel and

Tours Company?

(1) Travel Corporation of India Ltd

(2) Cox & Kings

(3) Balmer & Lawrie Company Ltd

(4) Thomas Cook India Ltd

10. Khasi and Garo languages are mostly spoken in which of

the following states of India?

(1) Madhya Pradesh

(2) Nagaland

(3) Meghalaya

(4) Tripura

11. In which year, Dakshin Gangotri, India's first settlement in

Antarctica got buried in Ice?

(1) 1986 (2) 1989

(3) 1990 (4) 1991

12. In which year, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was

awarded Nobel Prize for Raman effect?

(1) 1926 (2) 1927

(3) 1928 (4) 1930

13. The nationwide ban on smoking in public places comes

into force on

(1) Jan 2008

(2) Jan 2008

(3) 14th Nov 2008

(4) 2nd October 2008

14. Daiichi Sankyo is the famous drug company of

(1) U.S.

(2) U.K.

(3) Japan

(4) Russia

1st

30th

General knowledge


23. Where are the Saline Lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys

situated?

(1) Africa

(2) North America

(3) Europe

(4) Antarctica

24. To integrate cultural leaders into its meetings, which one of

the following gives Crystal Award?

(1) Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation

(2) International Bank for Reconstruction and

Development

(3) World Health Organization

(4) World Economic Forum

25. Consider the following statements:

1. MMTC Limited is India's largest international

trading organisation.

2. Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited has been set up by

MMTC jointly with the Government of Orissa.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(1) 1 only

(2) 2 only

(3) Both 1 and 2

(4) Neither 1 nor 2

26. Where is the famous Virupaksha temple located?

(1) Bhadrachalam

(2) Chidambaram

(3) Hampi

(4) Srikalahasti

27. Other than Venezuela, which one among the following from

South America is a member of OPEC?

(1) Argentina

(2) Brazil

(3) Ecuador

(4) Bolivia

28. Under the administration of which one of the following is

the Department of Atomic Energy?

(1) Prime Minister's Office

(2) Cabinet Secretariat

(3) Ministry of Power

(4) Ministry of Science and Technology

29. Consider the following pairs

1. ABN AmroBank : USA

2. Barclays Bank : UK

3. Kookmin Bank : Japan

Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

(1) 1 only (2) 2 only

(3) 1 and 2 (4) 2 and 3

Bank Country of origin

15. Which of the following U.S. President was involved in the

Watergate scandal ?

(1) Bill Clinton

(2) Richard Nixon

(3) George Washington

(4) John F. Kennedy

16. Who is the author of Identity and Violence: The Illusion of

Destiny ?

(1) Robert Solow

(2) Amartya Sen

(3) Robert Mundell

(4) Gary Becker

17. On which date, World Forestry Day is observed?

(1) March 20

(2) March 21

(3) March 22

(4) March 23

18. In which year the Central Industrial Security Force was

made an armed force of the Union of India?

(1) 1969

(2) 1972

(3) 1982

(4) 1983

19. Which among the following is the first private company of

India to get protection from the Central Industrial Security

Force (CISF)?

(1) Tata Motors

(2) Reliance Industries

(3) Infosys Technologies

(4) Wipro

20. Fatehpur Sikri was founded during the period of

(1) Akbar

(2) Shahjahan

(3) Iltutmish

(4) Razia Begum

21. Which of the following organ in human body produces

albumin, one of the major components of blood serum?

(1) Bone Marrow

(2) Liver

(3) Pancreas

(4) Spleen

22. Which among the following is the main constituent of

vegetable oil and animal fats?

(1) Glycogen

(2) Triglyceride

(3) Galactose

(4) Diglyceride


30. Mundar river is in

(1) Andhra Pradesh

(2) Arunachal Pradesh

(3) Kerela

(4) Karnataka

31. Elephant Pass is mentioned in the context of the affairs of

which one of the following?

(1) Bangladesh

(2) India

(3) Nepal

(4) Sri Lanka

32. Consider the following countries:

1. Brunei Darussalam S

2. East Timor

3. Laos

Which of the above is/are member/s of ASEAN?

(1) 1 only

(2) 2 and 3 only

(3) 1 and 3 only

(4) 1, 2 and 3

33. Rudrasagar Lake is in

(1) Uttar Pradesh

(2) Madhya Pradesh

(3) Himachal Pradesh

(4) Andhra Pradesh

34. Consider the following countries

(1) Australia

(2) Namibia

(3) Brazil

(4) Chile

Through which of the above does the Tropic of Capricorn

pass?

(1) 1 only

(2) 2, 3 and 4

(3) 1, 2 and 3

(4) 1, 2, 3 and 4

35. In the structure of planet earth, below the mantle, the core

is mainly made of which one of the following?

(1) Aluminium

(2) Chromium

(3) Iron

(4) Silicon

36. Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched?

(1) Berlin Rhine

(2) London Thames

(3) New York Hudson

(4) Vienna Danube

City River

37. Shackleton crater is in the

(1) Earth (2) Mars

(3) Moon (4) Venus

38. First Indian built space craft to leave Earth s gravity is

(1) CARTOSAT - 2

(2) CARTOSAT - 2A

(3) Chandrayana - I

(4) ANURAG

39. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer

using the code given below the lists:

A. Great Victoria Desert i. Australia

B. Grand Canyon ii. Canada

C. Lake Winnipeg iii. New Zealand

D. Southern Alps iv. USA

A B C D

(1) i ii iv iii

(2) i iv ii iii

(3) iii ii iv i

(4) iii iv ii i


using the code given below the lists:

A. Vidyashankara temple i. Andhra Pradesh

B. Rajarani temple ii. Karnataka

C. Kandariya Mahadeo temple iii. Madhya Pradesh

D. Bhimesvara temple iv. Orissa

A B C D

(1) ii iv iii i

(2) ii iii iv i

(3) i i v iii ii

(4) i iii iv ii

41. Which one of the following rivers does not originate in

India?

(1) Beas (2) Chenab

(3) Ravi (4) Sutlej

42. Cape Canaveral, the site from which space shuttles are

launched is located on the coast of

(1) Florida

(2) Virginia

(3) North Carolina

(4) South Carolina

43. Parabati Valley project is in


(2) Andhra Pradesh

(3) Himachal Pradesh

(4) Uttar Pradesh

Country

Famous Temple State

Geographic feature


51. Who among the following Prime Ministers sent Cripps

Mission to India?

(1) James Ramsay MacDonald

(2) Stanley Baldwin

(3) Neville Chamberlain

(4) Winston Churchill

53. Who among the following is the author of a collection of

poems called "Golden Threshold ?

(1) Aruna Asaf Ali

(2) Annie Besant

(3) Sarojini Naidu

(4) Vijayalakshmi Pandit

54. During the Indian Freedom Struggle, why did Rowlatt Act

arouse popular indignation?

(1) It curtailed the freedom of religion

(2) It suppressed the Indian traditional education

(3) It authorized the government to imprison people

without trial

(4) It curbed the trade union activities

55. Which one of the following began with the Dandi March?

(1) Home Rule Movement

(2) Non-Cooperation Movement

(3) Civil Disobedience Movement

(4) Quit India Movement

56. Anekantavada is a core theory and philosophy of which one

of the following?

(1) Buddhism

(2) Jainism

(3) Sikhism

(4) Vaishnavism

57. With which one of the following movements is the slogan

"Do or die" associated?

(1) Swadeshi Movement




58. Who among the following founded the Ahmedabad Textile

Labour Association ?

(1) Mahatma Gandhi

(2) Sardar Vallabhhhai Patel

(3) N.M. Joshi

(4) J.B. Kripalani

52. Kol Dam project is undertaken by

(1) Cairn

(2) Enron

(3) Reliance Energy Ltd

(4) SHELL

44. Who of the following scientists proved that the stars with

mass less than 1-44 times the mass of the Sun end up as

White Dwarfs when they die?

(1) Edwin Hubble

(2) S. Chandrasekhar

(3) Stephen Hawking

(4) Steven Weinberg

45. Which one of the following brings out the publication

called "Energy Statistics" from time to time?

(1) Central Power Research Institute

(2) Planning Commission

(3) Power Finance Corporation Ltd.

(4) Central Statistical Organization

46. Consider the, following statements:

1. India does not have any deposits of Thorium.

2. Kerala's monazite sands contain Uranium.


(1) 1 only

(2) 2 only

(3) Both 1 and 2

(4) Neither 1 nor 2

47. Which one among the following South Asian countries has

the highest population density?

(1) India

(2) Nepal

(3) Pakistan

(4) Sri Lanka

48. Consider the following:

1. Fringe Benefit Tax

2. Interest Tax

3. Securities Transaction Tax

Which of the above is/are Direct Tax/Taxes?

(1) 1 only

(2) 1 and 3 only

(3) 2 and 3 only

(4) 1, 2 and 3

49. In India, who is the Chairman of the National Water

Resources Council?

(1) Prime Minister

(2) Minister of Water Resources

(3) Minister of Environment and Forests

(4) Minister of Science and Technology

50. In collaboration with David Hare and Alexander Duff, who

of the following established Hindu College at Calcutta?

(1) Henry Louis Vivian Derozio

(2) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

(3) Keshab Chandra Sen

(4) Raja Rammohan Roy


59. In the context of the Indian freedom struggle, 16th October

1905 is well known for which one of the following reasons?

(1) The formal proclamation of Swadeshi Movement was

made in Calcutta town hall

(2) Partition of Bengal took effect

(3) Dadabhai Naoroji declared that the goal of Indian

National Congress was Swaraj

(4) Lokmanya Tilak started Swadeshi Movement in

Poona

60. In the 'Individual Satyagraha', Vinoba Bhave was chosen as

the first Satyagrahi. Who was the second?

(1) Dr. Rajendra Prasad

(2) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

(3) C. Rajagopalachari

(4) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

61. During the freedom struggle, Aruna Asaf Ali was a major

woman organizer of underground activity in




(4) Swadeshi Movement

62. With whose permission did the English set up their first

factory in Surat?

(1) Akbar

(2) Jahangir

(3) Shahjahan

(4) Aurangzeb

63. In a dry cell (battery), which of the following are used as

electrolytes?

(1) Ammonium chloride and Zinc chloride

(2) Sodium chloride and Calcium chloride

(3) Magnesium chloride and Zinc chloride

(4) Ammonium chloride and Calcium chloride

64. Which one of the following planets has the largest number

of natural satellites or moons?

(1) Jupiter

(2) Mars

(3) Saturn

(4) Venus

65. Six persons A, B, C, D, E and F are standing in a row. C and

D are standing close to each other alongside E. B is

standing beside A only. A is fourth from F. Who are standing

on the extremes?

(1) A and F

(2) B and D

(3) B and F

(4) None of the above

66. Which one of the following types of waves are used in a

night vision apparatus?

(1) Radio waves

(2) Microwaves

(3) Infra-red waves

(4) Nona of the above

67. Which one of the following is used as an explosive?

(1) Phosphorus trichloridc

(2) Mercuric oxide

(3) Graphite

(4) Nitroglycerine

68. Consider the following :

1. Camphor

2. Chicory

3. Vanilla

Which of the above is/are plant product(s)?

(1) 1 and 2 only

(2) 3 only

(3) 1 and 3 only

(4) 1, 2 and 3

69. In the context of Indian wild life, the flying fox is a

(1) Bat

(2) Kite

(3) Stork

(4) Vulture

70. During which five Year Plan was the Emergency clamped,

new elections took place and the Janata Party was elected?

(1) Third

(2) Fourth

(3) Fifth

(4) Sixth

71. If a Panchayat is dissolved, elections are to be held within

(1) 1 month

(2) 3 months

(3) 6 months

(4) 1 year

72. Consider the following pairs:

1. Asian Development Bank Tokyo

2. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Singapore

3. Association of South East Asian Nations Bangkok

Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

(1) 1 and 2 only

(2) 2 only

(3) 2 and 3 only

(4) 3 only

Organization Headquarters



1. The first telegraph line in India was laid between

Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and Diamond Harbour.

2. The first Export Processing Zone in India was set up

in Kandla.


(1) 1 only

(2) 2 only

(3) Both 1 and 2

(4) Neither 1 nor 2

80. Where is the headquarters of Animal Welfare Board of India

located?

(1) Ahmedabad

(2) Chennai

(3) Hyderabad

(4) Kolkata


1. The National School of Drama was set up by Sangeet

Natak Akademi in 1959.

2. The highest honour conferred by the Sahitya

Akademi on a writer is by electing him its Fellow.


(1) 1 only

(2) 2 only

(3) Both 1 and 2

(4) Neither 1 nor 2

82. How many numbers lie between 300 and 500 in which 4

comes only once?

(1) 99

(2) 100

(3) 110

(4) 120

83. How many times are an hour hand and a minute hand of a

clock at right angles during their motion from 1.00 p.m. to

10.00 p.m.?

(1) 9

(2) 10

(3) 18

(4) 20

84. Consider the following pairs:

1. Ashok Leyland : Hinduja Group

2. Hindalco : A.V. Birla Group Industries

3. Suzlon Energy : Punj Lloyd Group

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

(1) 1 and 2 only

(2) 2 only

(3) 1 and 3 only.

(4) 1, 2 and 3

73. With reference to the United Nations, consider the

following statements

1. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of

UN consists of 24 member States.

2. It is elected by a 2/3rd majority of the General

Assembly for a 3-year term.


(1) 1 only

(2) 2 only

(3) Both I and 2

(4) Neither 1 nor 2

74. In which one of the following places is the Shompen tribe

found?

(1) Nilgiri Hills

(2) Nicobar Islands

(3) Spiti Valley

(4) Lakshadweep Islands

75. In India, the first Municipal Corporation was set up in

which one among the following?

(1) Calcutta

(2) Madras

(3) Bombay

(4) Delhi

76. With reference to Lok Adalat, consider the following

statements:

1. An award made by a Lok Adalat is deemed to be a

decree of a civil court and no appeal lies against

thereto before any court.

2. Matrimonial/Family disputes are not covered under

Lok Adalat.


(1) 1 only

(2) 2 only

(3) Both I and 2

(4) Neither 1 nor 2

77. Which one of the following Constitutional Amendments

states that the total number of Ministers, including the

Prime Minister, in the Council of Ministers shall not

exceed fifteen percent of the total number of members of

the House of the People?

(1) 90th

(2) 91st

(3) 92nd

(4) 93rd

78. How many letters of the English alphabet (capitals) appear

same when looked at in a mirror?

(1) 9 (2) 10

(3) 11 (4) 12


85. Who among the following is the founder of World

Economic Forum?

(1) Klaus Schwab

(2) John Kenneth Galbraith

(3) Robert Zoellick

(4) Paul Krugman

86. The Security Council of' UN consists of 5 permanent

members, and the remaining 10 members are elected by

the General Assembly for a term of

(1) 1 year

(2) 2 years

(3) 3 years

(4) 5 years

87. From which one of the following did Kosovo declare its

independence?

(1) Bulgaria

(2) Croatia

(3) Macedonia

(4) Serbia

88. Which one of the following pairs of countries fought wars

over a region called Ogaden?

(1) Eritrea and Sudan

(2) Ethiopia and Somalia

(3) Kenya and Somalia

(4) Ethiopia and Sudan

89. In the middle of the year 2008, the Parliament of which one

of the following countries became the first in the world to

enact a Climate Act by passing "The Climate Change

Accountability Bill ?

(1) Australia

(2) Canada

(3) Germany

(4) Japan

90. Which one among the following has the highest energy?

(1) Blue light (2) Green light

(3) Red light (4) Yellow light

92. In the context of independent India's economy, which one

of the following was the earliest event to take place?

(1) Nationalisation of Insurance companies

(2) Nationalisation of State Bank of India

(3) Enactment of Banking Regulation Act

(4) Introduction of First Five-Year Plan

91. Among the following, which one is not a football club?

(1) Arsenal

(2) Aston Villa

(3) Chelsea

(4) Monte Carlo

93. Consider the following pairs :

1. BMW AG USA

2. Daimler AG Sweden

3. Renault S.A. Franco

4. Volkswagen AG Germany


(1) 1, 2 and 3

(2) 3 and 4

(3) 4 only

(4) 1, 2 and 4

94. Who of the following is the author of the book "The

Audacity of Hope ?

(1) Al Gore

(2) Barack Obama

(3) Bill Clinton

(4) Hillary Clinton

95. A present group of nations known as -G-8 started first as

G-7. Which one among the following was not one of them?

(1) Canada

(2) Italy

(3) Japan

(4) Russia


1. The Baglihar Power Project had been constructed

within the parameters of the Indus Water Treaty.

2. The project was completely built by the Union

Government with loans from Japan and the World

Bank.


(1) 1 only

(2) 2 only

(3) Both 1 and 2

(4) Neither 1 nor 2

97. What is MCX-SX?

(1) A kind of supercomputer

(2) Title of Moon Impact Probe

(3) Stock exchange

(4) Nuclear-powered submarine

98. Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched?

(1) Barbora Spotakova Javelin throw

(2) Pamela Jelimo Weightlifting

(3) Sanya Richards Sprint

(4) Yelena Isinbayeva Pole Vault

99. Who of the following is a football player?

(1) Fernando Alonso

(2) Kimi Raikkonen

(3) Lewis Hamilton

(4) Nicolas Anelka

Manufacturer Headquarters


107. In the context of alternative sources of energy, ethanol as a

viable bio-fuel can be obtained from

(1) Potato

(2) Rice

(3) Sugarcane

(4) Wheat


using the code given below the lists :

Persons in news Countries they belong to

A. Luisa Dias Diogo 1. Kenya

B. Mwai Kibaki 2. Mozambique

C. Rupiah Banda 3. Zambia

4. Zimbabwe

A B C

(1) 1 2 3

(2) 2 1 3

(3) 2 1 4

(4) 1 2 4

109. Consider the following regions

1. Eastern Himalayas

2. Eastern Mediterranean region

3. North-western Australia

Which of the above is/are Biodiversity Hotspot(s) ?

(1) 1 only

(2) 1 and 2 only

(3) 2 and 3 only

(4) 1, 2 and 3

110. With reference to the evolution of living organisms, which

one of the following sequences is correct?

(1) Octopus Dolphin Shark

(2) Pangolin Tortoise Hawk

(3) Salamander Python Kangaroo

(4) Frog Crab Prawn

111. The Panda belongs to the same family as that of

(1) Bear

(2) Cat

(3) Dog

(4) Rabbit

112. Find out the correct statement

1. Aditya is an ISRO satellite to study sun

2. It will be launched in the year 2012

3. The launch of Aditya will coincide with a solar

Maxima

4. It carries the Payload solar coronagraph

(1) 1,2,3

(2) 1,3,4

(3) 1,2,3,4

(4) None

100. Consider the following pairs

Famous place Country

1. Cannes France

2. Davos Denmark

3. Roland Garros Netherlands


(1) 1 only

(2) 1 and 2 only

(3) 2 and 3 only

(4) 1, 2 and 3

101. The Dul Hasti Power Station is based on which one of the

following rivers?

(1) Beas

(2) Chenab

(3) Ravi

(4) Sutlej

102. Which one of the following is the country's administrative

capital/new federal administrative centre of Malaysia?

(1) Kota Bharu

(2) Kuala Terengganu

(3) Putrajaya

(4) Taiping

103. In the context of Indian defence, consider the following

statements:

1. The Shourya missile flies with a speed of more than 8

Mach.

2. The range of Shourya missile is more than 1900 km.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

(1) 1 only

(2) 2 only

(3) Both 1 and 2

(4) Neither 1 nor 2

104. WiMAX is related to which one of the following?

(1) Biotechnology

(2) Space technology

(3) Missile technology

(4) Communication technology

105. For outstanding contribution to which one of the following

fields is Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize given?

(1) Literature

(2) Performing Arts

(3) Science

(4) Social Service

106. In making the saffron spice, which one of the following

parts of the plant is used?

(1) Leaf (2) Petal

(3) Sepal (4) Stigma


113. The Indian Maritime University is inaugurated in

(1) Vishakapatnam

(2) Cochin

(3) Chennai

(4) Mumbai

114. Mahendragiri is in

(1) Kerala (2) Tamil Nadu

(3) Andhra Pradesh (4) Karnataka

115. Unlawful Activities prevention Act was passed is

(1) 1966 (2) 1967

(3) 1968 (4) 1969

116. Operation Tornodo is the Anti terror operation of Indian

government during

(1) Kargil intrusion

(2) Parliament attack

(3) Mumbai Taj hotel attack

(4) Akshardam Temple Issue

117. Nowgam railway station is in

(1) Sikkim

(2) Jammu & Kashmir


(4) Nagaland

118. Find out the wrong statement

(1) Teesta Barrage Assam

(2) Sahapur Kandi Project Punjab

(3) Bursar Project Jammu & Kashmir

(4) UJH Project Jammu & Kashmir

119. Which of the following freedom fighters was called by

Gandhi as 'Abhay Sadhak' (fearless seeker of truth)?

(1) Rajaji

(2) Nehru

(3) Bose

(4) Muralidhar Devidas Amte

120. Who among the following got Jawaharlal Nehru award for

International Understanding for 2008?

(1) Wangeri Mathai

(2) Hosni Mubarak

(3) Maha Chikri Srindhom

(4) Desmand Tutu

121. Golden Jubilee rail line will connect Hashimara (West

Bengal) with

(1) Bhutan

(2) Nepal

(3) China

(4) Bangladesh

122. The best known of the compilation of the compositions of

Kabir are known as ?

(1) Shatapadi

(2) Dohavali,

(3) Bijak

(4) Kavitavali

123. Which of the following variety of Marble is found in India?

(1) Makrana

(2) Bhainslana

(3) Phrygia

(4) Carrara

124. Where is Nirmal Hridaya ?

(1) Bangalore

(2) New Delhi

(3) Kolkata

(4) Varanasi

125. How many members of the United Nations can exercise

the Veto Power?

(1) 5

(2) 8

(3) 10

(4) 11

126. What is the reason of Venus being the hottest planet of the

Solar system?

(1) Proximity to Sun

(2) Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

(3) High speed of Rotation

(4) Presence of powerful magnetic field

127. What name was given to the first assault launched in the

world's highest battlefield, Siachen Glacier by the Indian

Armed Forces in 1984?

(1) Operation Vijay

(2) Operation Meghdoot

(3) Operation Black Sky

(4) Operation Storm

128. Which of the following celebration is observed by

worshipping tools?

(1) Mahatma Jyotoiba Phule Jayanati

(2) Vishwakarma Jayanti

(3) Parashurama Jayanti

(4) Prajapati Jayanti

129. Damodar - Sone river valley and Rajmahal hills in the

eastern India are depository of the .?

(1) Cuddappa System Rocks

(2) Dharwar System Rocks

(3) Gondwana System Rocks

(4) Vindhyan System Rocks

located


137. A person travels 12 km due North, then 15 km due East,

after that 15 km due West and then 18 km due South. How

far is he from the starting point?

(1) 6 km (2) 12 km

(3) 33 km (4) 60 km

138. In the context of global economy, which one of the following

pairs is not correctly matched?

(1) JP Morgan Chase: Financial Services

(2) Roche Holding: Financial Services

(3) WL Ross & Company: Private Equity Firm

(4) Warburg Pincus: Private Equity Firm

139. The concept of carbon credit originated from which one of

the following?

(1) Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro

(2) Kyoto Protocol

(3) Montreal Protocol

(4) G-8 Summit, Heiligendamm

140. Which among the following is not correctly matched?

(Location of some countries)

(1) Benin - Western Africa

(2) Botswana -Southern Africa

(3) Uganda - Eastern Africa

(4) Togo -Central Africa

141. Who among the following is the only Finance Minister of

India who is known to have tabled the Union budget twice

on his birthday?

(1) T. T. Krishnamachari

(2) Morarji Desai

(3) Yashwantrao Chavan

(4) P Chidambaram

142. Which of the following Gurudwara in India is the site where

the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded on

the orders of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1675 A.D?

(1) Gurdwara Moti Bagh Sahib

(2) Gurdwara Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib

(3) Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib

(4) Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib

143. What is Carbamide?

(1) A Pesticide

(2) A Fertilizer

(3) A Textile Dye

(4) An Explosive

144. Bring out the incorrect usage:

(1) Heavy water - Moderator

(2) DDT - Insecticide

(3) Methyl Alcohol Beverage

(4) Liquid Ammonia - Refrigerant

130. Which is the most urbanized country from the given

options?

(1) India (2) Pakistan

(3) Burma (4) Nepal

131. Which of the following African Country is also known

sometimes as Ngwane?

(1) Mozambique

(2) Swaziland

(3) Nigeria

(4) Niger

132. Which among the following Island countries is the only

country in the world to be a member of African Union,

Francophonie, Organization of the Islamic Conference,

Arab League and Indian Ocean Commission ?

(1) Comoros

(2) Mauritius

(3) Bahrain

(4) Indonesia

133. Which of the following part of the body stores Vitamin A,

Vitamin D as well as Vitamin B12?

(1) Brain

(2) Liver

(3) Pancreas

(4) Red Blood Cells

134. World renowned Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, is

famous for being the

(1) Founder of the Human Development Report

(2) Nobel Prize winner

(3) Former Chairman of World Bank

(4) Former Chairman of United Nations Commission on

Human Rights

135. Which of the following countries was annexed into Greater

Germany by Nazi regime through Anschluss?

(1) Austria

(2) Poland

(3) Italy

(4) Liechtenstein

136. In the context of genetic disorders, consider the following:

A woman suffers from colour blindness while her husband

does not suffer from it. They have a son and a daughter. In

this context, which one of the following statements is most

probably correct?

(1) Both children suffer from colour blindness.

(2) Daughter suffers from colour blindness while son

does not suffer from it.

(3) Both children do not suffer from colour blindness.

(4) Son suffers from colour blindness while daughter

does not suffer from it.


145. Where is the Central Institute of Psychiatry, India's premier

Central Govt. Institute of mental health located?

(1) Mumbai

(2) Pune

(3) Ranchi

(4) New Delhi

146. Where is the Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical

Education(LNIPE)located?

(1) Jhansi

(2) Gwalior

(3) Datia

(4) Indore

147. Great Purge, a series of campaigns of political repression

and persecution is related to which of the following

countries?

(1) China

(2) Russia

(3) Germany

(4) France

148. Which among the following is a geology award given

annually by Indian Geophysical Union?

(1) Dr. B. C. Roy Award

(2) Siva Prasad Barooah National Award

(3) M. S. Krishanan Award

(4) Karmaveer Puraskaar

149. By what popular name do we better know the international

criminal police commission?

(1) Cia

(2) Interpol

(3) KGB

(4) Mi6

150. Karsanbhai Patel is the promoter and Chairman of a well-

known company, Name the company.

(1) Cavin Kare

(2) Paras Pharma

(3) Nicolas Piramal

(4) Nirma

Answers to General knowledge

101. Ans.(2)

102. Ans.(3)

103. Ans.(4)

104. Ans.(4)

105. Ans.(3)

106. Ans.(4)

107. Ans.(3)

108. Ans.(2)

109. Ans.(2)

110. Ans.(3)

111. Ans.(1)

112. Ans.(3)

113. Ans.(3)

114. Ans.(2)

115. Ans.(2)

116. Ans.(3)

117. Ans.(2)

118. Ans.(1)

119. Ans.(4)

120. Ans.(2)

121. Ans.(1)

122. Ans.(3)

123. Ans.(1)

124. Ans.(3)

125. Ans.(1)

1. Ans.(2)

2. Ans.(1)

3. Ans.(2)

4. Ans.(2)

5. Ans.(3)

6. Ans.(1)

7. Ans.(2)

8. Ans.(2)

9. Ans.(3)

10. Ans.(3)

11. Ans.(2)

12. Ans.(4)

13. Ans.(4)

14. Ans.(3)

15. Ans.(2)

16. Ans.(2)

17. Ans.(2)

18. Ans.(4)

19. Ans.(3)

20. Ans.(1)

21. Ans.(2)

22. Ans.(2)

23. Ans.(4)

24. Ans.(4)

25. Ans.(3)

26. Ans.(3)

27. Ans.(3)

28. Ans.(1)

29. Ans.(2)

30. Ans.(3)

31. Ans.(4)

32. Ans.(3)

33. Ans.(2)

34. Ans.(4)

35. Ans.(3)

36. Ans.(1)

37. Ans.(3)

38. Ans.(3)

39. Ans.(2)

40. Ans.(1)

41. Ans.(4)

42. Ans.(1)

43. Ans.(3)

44. Ans.(2)

45. Ans.(4)

46. Ans.(2)

47. Ans.(1)

48. Ans.(4)

49. Ans.(1)

50. Ans.(4)

51. Ans.(4)

52. Ans.(3)

53. Ans.(3)

54. Ans.(3)

55. Ans.(3)

56. Ans.(2)

57. Ans.(4)

58. Ans.(1)

59. Ans.(2)

60. Ans.(2)

61. Ans.(3)

62. Ans.(2)

63. Ans.(1)

64. Ans.(1)

65. Ans.(3)

66. Ans.(3)

67. Ans.(4)

68. Ans.(4)

69. Ans.(1)

70. Ans.(3)

71. Ans.(3)

72. Ans.(2)

73. Ans.(2)

74. Ans.(2)

75. Ans.(2)

76. Ans.(1)

77. Ans.(2)

78. Ans.(3)

79. Ans.(3)

80. Ans.(2)

81. Ans.(3)

82. Ans.(1)

83. Ans.(3)

84. Ans.(1)

85. Ans.(1)

86. Ans.(2)

87. Ans.(4)

88. Ans.(2)

89. Ans.(2)

90. Ans.(1)

91. Ans.(4)

92. Ans.(3)

93. Ans.(2)

94. Ans.(2)

95. Ans.(4)

96. Ans.(1)

97. Ans.(3)

98. Ans.(2)

99. Ans.(4)

100. Ans.(1)

126. Ans.(2)

127. Ans.(2)

128. Ans.(2)

129. Ans.(3)

130. Ans.(2)

131. Ans.(2)

132. Ans.(1)

133. Ans.(2)

134. Ans.(1)

135. Ans.(1)

136. Ans.(4)

137. Ans.(2)

138. Ans.(2)

139. Ans.(2)

140. Ans.(4)

141. Ans.(2)

142. Ans.(3)

143. Ans.(2)

144. Ans.(3)

145. Ans.(3)

146. Ans.(2)

147. Ans.(2)

148. Ans.(3)

149. Ans.(2)

150. Ans.(4)


The Mercedes-Benz was formed by the merger of two car

companies – DMG (Daimler-Motored-Gesellschaft, founded

by Gottlieb Daimler) and Benz & Cie, founded by Karl Benz.

Both the companies were similar in their work and were situated

in close proximity.

It was after the World War I, when the German economy was

shattered, that both these companies decided to form a

syndicate in 1924, and then finally merge in 1926, called

Diamler-Benz.

After Daimler's death, his

partner, Wilhelm Maybach, took over

the company and sold many Daimler

cars with the help of Emile Jellinek.

Following the success of Daimler cars

a m o n g J e l l i n e k ' s w e a l t h y

acquaintances, Jellinek suggested

Maybach to create light, lower and

more powerful cars which he named

after his elder daughter, Mercedes.

That's how the Mercedes logo got its

name.

After the merger with Benz &

Cie., the Mercedes logo was

introduced with an addition of the

Benz laurel wreath in 1926 to signify

the union of the two firms.

In 1902, the logo for Mercedes

was nothing more than the simple

company name. However, it was

changed to a 3 pointed star in 1909.

The origin of this star came from a

postcard by Diamler, where he had

drawn a 3 pointed star which

represented 'making vehicles in land

water and sky'.

After 1926, a new symbol for

Mercedes-Benz came into picture,

where the original logo of both the

companies was merged into one. It

combined the 3 pointed stars of

Mercedes and the laurel wreath of

Benz.

The Mercedes Benz logo was

originally created by Gottlieb Daimler

and was featured in 1909. The

Mercedes Benz logo consists of a

simple depiction of a three-pointed

star that represents 'its domination of

the land, the sea, and the air'.

Since then, the Mercedes Benz

logo has been the brands corporate

identity and can widely be seen all over

the world. The Mercedes Benz logo

has become synonymous with high

class and speedy automobiles.

Over the years, the symbol has

been improved vastly in design and

simplicity. It has been recognized as a

symbol representing luxury and top

tier cars.

The Mercedes Benz logo has now

become one of the world's most

recognized brands that symbolizes

class, style and personality.

Mercedes-Benz Logo

Dabur India Ltd., India’s leading home and personal

care company, has announced the launch of its all new Odonil

electric air freshener (pluggy). The new pluggy will be

available in four natural fragrances – Exotic Rose, Fresh

Lavender, Mystic Jasmine and Floral Fusion.

The device just uses 5.3 Watt of electricity, hence is very

economical in usage. Odonil Pluggy is far superior as it gives

consistent fragrance for longer periods and beautifies your

surroundings. The product would last well over 60 days

giving a consistent bouquet of scents for more than 8 hours

per day”.


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The Union Cabinet accepted all 22 recommendations by

the on the

These include enhanced compensation of Rs 1,265.56

crores, extradition of former Union Carbide CEO,

and filling a curative petition in the Supreme

Court.

and agreed to narrow their differences and

take more confidence-building measures on issues ranging

from terrorism, humanitarian matters and Jammu and

Kashmir in an effort to bridge the

Karnataka Lokayukta

resigned from his post complaining that

he did not have adequate powers to take

to their logical conclusion cases pursued

by his agency.

Ahead of the

Games this October, the Relay crossed

over from Pakistan into India amidst the tightest security

arrangements ever witnessed at the Attari-Wagah Border –

the only official road crossing along the 553km border

separating the two Punjabs since the Partition of 1947.

Focusing on providing skills to the unemployed rural youth,

the government is all set to bury the unproductive

(SGSY),

replacing it with the

(NRLM). The Cabinet Committee on Economic

Affairs (CCEA) is likely to approve the revamped NRLM.

On the 25th anniversary of the , Prime

Minister Dr Manmohan Singh termed the incident as a

“ . The Prime Minister stated that

terrorism must be fought and eliminated with

determination and joint action.

Railway Minister and Trinamul Congress President,

appears to have landed in major trouble

over an advertisement in which she is shown for

a particular brand of (hawai chappals).

Group of Ministers Bhopal gas tragedy.

Warren

Anderson

India Pakistan

“trust deficit”.

Santosh Hegde

19th Commonwealth

Queen's Baton

Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana

National Rural Livelihoods

Mission

Kanishka bombing

most barbarous act”

Mamata Banerjee

modelling

rubber slippers

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Hitting out at Bihar Chief Minister

for his move to return

the aid for Kosi floods victim given by

-led Gujarat

government, RJD supremo

said the move is just a

“stunt” and has damaged the image

of Bihar.

The oldest submarine in service with the Indian Navy –

–decommissioned after a whopping 37 years of service

on June 25 at Vizag. The INS Vela is a

submarine and was commissioned in 1973. It is a “foxtrot

class submarine”.

The , the official residence of the

President of India, may get an certification soon

as the team of international auditors from Bureau Veritas

(BVQI) start audit.

The has reportedly

received total 175 complaints from different medical

colleges in the country, from which former Chairman of the

Medical Council of India (MCI), and his

team members allegedly demanded bribe for granting

permission to continue the courses.

In the age of and advanced technology,

the Supreme Court in an important judgment has adopted a

cautious approach on the admissibility of

dying declaration of a murder victim to prevent its misuse

and put the onus entirely on prosecution to prove its

authenticity independently.

After making changes in the law to re-enforce strength in

the , the government has launched a scheme

for its state boards, which can stop rampant encroachment

of across the country.

industrialist, philanthropist and patron of

the arts, passed away in after a prolonged illness.

He was 85, and is survived by two sons and three daughters.

Nitish Kumar

Narendra Modi

Lalu

Prasad Yadav

INS

Vela

Russian-origin

Rashtrapati Bhavan

ISO: 14001

Central Bureau of Investigation

Ketan Desai

“sting operations”

“extra judicial”

Waqf Act 1995

Waqf properties

P. Obul Reddy,

Chennai

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India

News in brief


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In a bid to resolve the Unit Linked Insurance policy (Ulip)

row between Insurance Regulatory and Development

Authority and the Security and Exchange Board of

India over jurisdictional issues, the government is

set to bring an ordinance and constitute a

to be headed by Finance Minister to look into

the matter.

The , probing the ,

has been given a further extension and has now been asked

to submit its report by . This is the

14th extension that the commission has sought.

The issued notice to

Rural Development Minister,

and Election Commission on an

appeal by BJP MLA from Rajasthan on

the issue of 'tender” votes ordered to

be counted by the state high court on

Mr Joshi's election petition on his one-

vote defeat in the 2008 Assembly polls.

The government came on the backfoot

and issued orders to remove as member of

grievance redressal authority (Madhya Pradesh Narmada

projects) after the media questioned his post retirement

appointment pointing out that he was the Bhopal

superintendent of police and had driven former Union

Carbide Chief to the airport in an

official car and made good his escape in the state

government aircraft in December 1984.

Government employees earning Rs 10,000 a month, people

with electricity and water connections, bank accounts and

LIC policies and those paying income-tax will be

automatically excluded from the list of

under new methodology for the .

The government has offered to release water

from for crops and other purposes in

Andhra Pradesh “in time”, that is after the kharif season

begins, if Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra allow it to

increase the dam height to 524 metres.

The government banned Short

Message Service ( ) in the Kashmir Valley as tempers

are running high over the killing of eight persons in little

over two weeks, allegedly at the hands of the police and the

CRPF.

The (CCEA)

cleared a proposal to set up 107 new

(Central schools) in the remaining part of the 11th Plan

period.

(IRDA)

(SEBI)

permanent joint

mechanism

Nanavati Commission Gujarat riots

December 31, 2010

Supreme Court

C.P.

Joshi

Madhya Pradesh

Swaraj Puri

Warren Anderson

poor persons

2010 BPL census

Karnataka

Alamatti dam

Jammu and Kashmir

SMS

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs

Kendriya Vidyalayas

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An official of the

(DGCA) has criticised the state-run

(AAI) for not informing the DGCA in time of

equipment that is being installed at airports in the country.

The DGCA's Director of Operations, A.K. Bharadwaj has

written a letter taking the AAI to task on this issue.

The is working on plans to

acquire 17 Advanced Jet Trainers

(AJTs) of British company

which will be manufactured under

licence by the state-owned

. (HAL), even as the

Army is likely to acquire DRDO-

developed Akash surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) to shore

up its air defence wing.

After making its presence felt in urban areas, the

is returning to the to

consolidate its vote base amongst its traditional voters.

According to party sources, the BSP leadership is

concerned about the erosion in its dalit vote base and wants

to assuage their feelings before the next Assembly elections

in the state.

In a major step towards furthering the education reforms

agenda of the the Centre's proposal to set up

, an overarching body in higher education,

received support of state governments at the Central

Advisory Board of Education (CABE) meeting.

Dozens of pro-independence

(JKLF) activists, led by its Chairman

Muhammad , courted arrest to protest against

what it alleged, increasing human rights violations by

Indian security forces.

Eminent lawyer, ,

87, managed to get elected to the Rajya

Sabha from Rajasthan easily with 41

first preference votes despite a lot of

speculation that he could face trouble

from BJP MLAs said to be opposed to

his candidature. Industrialist,

has also made it to the

Rajya Sabha along with

and of the Bharatiya Janata

Party and of the Congress party.

The 7th Battalion of the

(ITBP), which claimed to have rediscovered a lost trekking

stretch connected to the pilgrimage

route, released a book which includes all the information of

the ancient pilgrimage stretch.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation

Airports Authority of

India

Indian Navy

Hawk

BAE systems

Hindustan

Aeronautics Ltd

Bahujan

Samaj Party rural interiors

UPA–II,

NCHER

Jammu Kashmiri

Liberation Front

Yasin Malik

Ram Jethmalani

Dr

Vijay Mallya

M. Venkaiah

Naidu Aayanur Manjunath

Oscar Fernandes

Indo-Tibetan-Border-Police

Kailash Mansarovar


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Pablo Picasso's Angel

Fernandez de Soto

A.R. Rahman

“Jai Ho Concert: The Journey

Home World Tour”

Michael Jackson's Blue

Eye

“King of Pop”.

Arno Bani

Invincible

Kanishka tragedy

Stephen Harper

institutional failings

nuclear reactors

totally consistent

Sri Lanka

country's civil war

Portrait of

, a work from the

painter's Blue Period, has sold for

nearly £35 million at a London

auction. The winning bid of

£34,761,250, from an anonymous

bidder at an auction at Christie's was

in the middle of the estimated sale

price of £30 millions to £40 millions,

the auctioneer said.

Music maestro has cancelled the North

American leg of his

after a lighting rig collapsed in

Detroit before the show.

A rare 1999 photograph, entitled

, is set to go under the hammer later in 2010 along with

11 other pictures of the The never-before-

seen picture was shot by French photographer

in 1999 as one of the options for the cover shot of Jackson's

tenth and final studio album released in 2001.

Twenty-five years after the that claimed

329 lives, Canadian Premier, apologised

for the “ ” that led to the Air India

bombing and took the first step towards providing

compensation to the victims' families.

China said its proposed two new for

Pakistan are “ ” with its international

obligations and safeguards of the IAEA, but remained mum

on whether it would formally inform the NSG about its

decision.

In a defiant stance, said it

will not allow a UN panel to enter the

country to investigate alleged human

rights abuses during the last stages of

the , which

could put the countr y in a

confrontation course with the world

body.

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Russian Pres ident

perched briefly at

headquarters as he began

courting the micro-blogging

sensation and other US Internet

stars for a Moscow version of

Silicon Valley. Twitter employees

packed into a sixth-floor cafeteria

where co-founders Ev Williams and

Biz Stone gave Mr Medvedev a

crash course in the service, which lets people share

messages of 140 characters and Web links.

returned to for the first

time in 33 years with bookmakers offering odds of 12-1 that

she would be confronted by a streaker on Centre Court.

has enriched 17 kg of to 20 per cent purity, a

top official said, underscoring Tehran's determination to

push ahead with its nuclear programme despite new

international sanctions. Iran's enrichment activities are at

the heart of its standoff with the West which fears it is

seeking nuclear weapons capability.

A group of introduced a legislation in the

Senate to brand the Pakistani Taliban, linked to the botched

Times Square bombing attempt, as a foreign terrorist

organisation. (TTP) is so

far not listed as a terror group by the US state department.

Just three places below has been

ranked the most failed state in the 2010 Failed

released by the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine.

The list is topped by Somalia, followed by Zimbabwe,

Sudan, and Chad.

Dmitr y

Medvedev

Twitter

Queen Elizabeth Wimbledon

Iran uranium

US senators

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan

Afghanistan, Pakistan

10th State

Index

� Austrian

Egyptian city Avaris

Hyksos

archaeologists have located an underground

which they believe to be , the capital

used by the who ruled 3,600 years ago, the culture

ministry said. The Austrian mission carried out a

geophysical survey of the area allowing them to identify

parts of Avaris in the Nile Delta near the modern town of Tal

al-Dabaa, northeast of Cairo.

World

News in brief


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Pakistan President, – who is also the Co-

Chairman of the ruling Pakistan People's party (PPP) – has

collected resignations from all the PPP parliamentarians in

the centre and the provinces as a sign of '

', political source said.

Nobel literature prize winner,

, who left his native

after arguing with his countr y 's

government, has died at the age of 87.

A life-size statue of

was inaugurated in the Canadian Museum

of Human Rights in Winnipeg.( the capital of Manitoba

province). The local Indian-origin cardiologist Naranjan

Dhalla of Friends of the Canadian Museum of Human

Rights had requested the Indian government to donate the

statue to the museum in 2004.

President of (BSO-

NA), met US Vice-President Joe Biden

to draw his attention to the ongoing military operation and

enforced involuntary disappearances in Pakistani and

Iranian occupied Balochistan.

While briefing about U.S. President Barack

Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh's bilateral meeting on the sidelines of

the G20 summit in Toronto, Foreign

Secretary, informed that

India and the United States want Islamabad

to take the information emerging from the

interrogation of David Headley seriously.

Faced with losing its licence to operate in , Internet

giant appeared to soften its stand in its censorship

row with the government, stopping its practice of

redirecting internet users to its uncensored Hong Kong-

based website.

More than 90 per cent of voters backed radical

changes from a presidential to a parliamentary form of

government even as Russia warned the reform could trigger

the country's collapse. In a referendum, 91 per cent of

voters approved the new Constitution of Kyrgyzstan, the

country's election commission said after counting votes

from 90 per cent of the polling stations.

experienced the first anti-government

countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal enforced by the main

opposition BNP partially affecting major cities including

Dhaka. The former Premier, Khaleda Zia, called the

shutdown to protest against the government's failure to

resolve gas, electricity and water crises.

Asif Ali Zardari

loyalty

certificate

Jose

Saramago Portugal

Mahatma Gandhi

Baloch Society of North America

Dr. Wahid Baloch

Nirupama Rao

China

Google

Kyrgyz

Bangladesh

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Spanish Dictator,

had reportedly ordered his

provincial governors to compile a list of

Jews, which could have sent thousands to

their deaths in the extermination camps

run by

US special representative for and

Richard said

that Pakistan should not rush into any gas project with Iran.

“Pakistan is a sovereign country. It can take its own

decisions but the anticipated US sanctions on Iran could hit

the Pakistani companies if they continue with the (gas)

project with Iran,” Mr Holbrooke told reporters.

Afghan President, earns just

, has less than $20,000 in the bank and owns no land

or property, according to a declaration of his assets by an

anti-graft body.

Influential Indian-origin Labour

has raised concerns over the David

Cameron government making it mandatory

for Indian and other non-EU spouses to have

sufficient

before coming to the UK.

A has been fatally shot, allegedly by his

uncle. The Kuwaiti ruler's court has said the country was

“mourning the demise of Sheikh Basel Salem Sabah Al

Salem Al Sabah, who passed away at the age of 52,” without

giving details of what caused his death.

The retention of an essential capability is a

for Pakistan because of the growing

imbalance created by India's massive military build-up and

“assertive posturing”, a top Pakistani military commander

has said. General Tariq Majid, the Chairman of the Joint

Chiefs of Staff Committee, made the remarks while

addressing a convocation ceremony at the National Defence

University.

General Francisco

Franco

Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.

Pakistan

Afghanistan, Holbrooke

Hamid Karzai $525 a

month

MP Keith

Vaz

English language requirements

Kuwaiti prince

nuclear

“compulsion”

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Britain's austerity

Budget

Jamaat-e-Islami

Khaleda Zia

coalition government presented its

in Parliament by increasing value-added tax and

slashing welfare and benefits to cut public spending by £17

billion.

Top leaders, including its Chief Motiur

Rahman, Nizami and Secretary-General Ali Ahsan

Mohammad Mojaheed, were arrested in Dhaka. Both

Nizami and Mojaheed were senior Ministers in the

previous government's Cabinet (2001-2006)

and key leaders of the opposition BNP-led four-party

alliance.


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Anshu Jain

Kalanithi Maran

SpiceJet

Tata Steel Corus

Mr Kirby Adams

Hindustan Copper Limited

Chile Namibia

G M R

Male International

Airport Maldives

Shriram Group,

Food inflation June 12

, 47-year-old Jaipur-born

financier and cricket buff who till recently

owned 10 per cent of the Mumbai Indians

IPL team, is being tipped to become the

bank's (Deutsche Bank) high-profile

CEO after having been appointed head of

its most powerful and profitable

corporate and investment banking

division.

Media magnate entered into an

agreement to acquire 37 per cent stake in low cost carrier

, sources representing the airline have confirmed.

-owned , which was forced to partially-

mothball Teesside plant at Redcar in northern England this

February, will have a new leader from October this year as

the Chief Executive, , has decided to

resign and return to Australia.

(HCL) is in talks to acquire

mining assets in and , its Chairman and

MD, Mr Shakeel Ahmed, said. “We have had preliminary

discussions in Chile, Namibia and we will keep any such

opportunity in any country abroad on our radar to acquire

copper deposits,” he said.

I n f r a s t r u c t u re - l e d

consortium won a bid to build,

operate, modernise and expand

the

(MIA) in the .

The contract will be for 25 years.

Chennai-based which has a presence in

vehicle finance, engineering and insurance, could apply for

a banking license in July. The Reserve Bank of India is

expected to come out with eligibility norms for new banking

licenses by that time.

shot-up to 16.90 per cent as of on

higher prices of pulses, vegetables and milk, but any

immediate tightening of money supply by the RBI to arrest

the rate or price rise appears unlikely.

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Piramal Healthcare,

Abbott Labs

Satyam Maytas Mr

Ramalinga Raju,

Ketan

Parekh

Dr C. Rangarajan,

Nissan

Micra

Saudi BinLadin group IL&FS

which recently sold its domestic

formulations business to for about Rs 18,000

crore, has announced a bonus payment of up to six months'

salary to its employees.

and , the two companies promoted by

may have caused losses to thousands of

investors, but have still proven lucky for a few. IL&FS

Infrastructure, the largest shareholder in Maytas, is sitting

on a notional profit of Rs 250 crore on the 2.2 crore shares of

Maytas that it owns. Larsen & Toubro, which had been one

of the contenders for Satyam, and still owns a substantial

chunk, has also managed to make some money from its

investment.

The government has received reports

that tainted stock broker

, who was barred from the

capital markets till 2017 over a

securities scam, is still active and has

taken positions in oil PSUs like ONGC

and HPCL.

The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council

Chairman, said that inflation level has

reached an uncomfortable level and the RBI need to step in

to prevent it from further rising.

Japanese car major said it will launch its much-

awaited small car in India in July, and the base model

could cost less than Rs four lakh.

The along with has made

an open offer for 1.54 crore shares of Maytas Infrastructure

at a price of Rs 195.72. These shares will account for 20 per

cent of the voting capital of Maytas. Mumbai based

Edelweiss is the manager to the offer. Total value of the offer

works out to Rs 301.8 crore. The offer opens on August 12

and closes on August 31.

� Punjab National Bank

Mr K.R. Kamath

(PNB) is looking beyond the

Indian borders for growth opportunities. It is targeting 100

per cent growth in overseas revenues in the next three years,

Chairman and Managing Director, said.

Business and economy

News in brief


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Private lender, said that

has been appointed as

its Executive Director. The decision was

taken after the resignation of ICICI Bank

Executive Director, Sonjoy Chatterjee.

Sabharwal was heading the retail banking

operations.

Central transmission utility would invest

Rs 58,000 crore for setting up network to facilitate evacuation

of electricity from power surplus states to others. The

company would execute nine high-capacity transmission

corridors, which would transfer power from the hydro power

projects in the North-east and thermal power projects in the

Northern region to power deficient states.

said it has appointed

as an additional Director on its

board of directors.

global car production zoomed 27 percent in May

as Japanese automakers benefit from improving demand in

Asia and the U.S. Toyota Motor Corp., the world's No. 1

automaker, which makes the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury

model, said it produced 637,675 vehicles worldwide in May.

The first phase of Dubai World Central-

(DWC), which is touted to become the

world's largest airport, opened for cargo flights. Inaugural

flights operated by Rus Aviation, Skyline and Aerospace

Consortium landed at the airport, airport management

company Dubai Airports said in a statement.

State-owned

approved the allotment of industrial plots for

25 new units being set up by firms like Jaguar & Co, Nippon

Paint and Shakti Bhog foods, which have committed to

invest Rs 3,500 crore in the state.

For attracting investors to ,

units in these areas should be given investment-linked tax

benefits in the Direct Taxes Code, which is expected to

replace the Income Tax Act from the next fiscal. "SEZ is

specifically mentioned in the Twelfth Schedule of the Draft

Direct Taxes Code for the purpose of investment-linked

deduction.

The (TRAI)

recommended that the foreign investment limit for

broadcast carriage services such as DTH, IPTV, Mobile TV,

HITS, Teleport and MSOs, which are upgrading to digital

and addressable environment, may be raised to 74 %. The

existing limit for most of these services is 49 %.

ICICI Bank

Rajiv Sabharwal

PowerGrid Corp

Neyveli Lignite Corporation

Sanjay Govind Dhande

Toyota's

Al Maktoum

International

Haryana Industrial and Investment

Corporation

Special Economic Zones

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India�

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India may yet again miss power capacity addition target for a

Plan period as the country is likely to add around

of generation capacity against the targeted 62,000 MW

in the (2007-12). This is mainly due

to cancellation of some coal blocks for power projects on

environmental grounds and delay in equipment supply.

The insurance regulator is planning to come out with

new norms for unit-linked insurance products (Ulips) after

the government decided that the Insurance Regulatory and

Development Authority (IRDA) would have jurisdiction

over Ulips.

Chennai-based

says it has put its

electric vehicles production

plans on hold due to lukewarm

response from the market. The

company has shelved plans to

launch electric three-wheelers and stopped production of

battery powered Scooty

has launched its fourth and Land

dealership in the country in Hyderabad in

association with Inline4 Motor. There are two outlets in

Mumbai and one in New Delhi. India's luxury car market is

still small with annual sales of 12,000, but growing at a fast

pace.

The 27-nation European Union has banned imports of

, alleging that consignments of the natural

nectar from the country are contaminated with lead. The

commerce secretary, Mr Rahul Khullar, said the

government was looking at ways to resolve the issue of

import ban.

Two Indian women – and –

have been listed among Forbes magazine's list of “a breed of

heiresses who choose to live a lower-key life ... and working

to make a difference behind the scenes.”

The said the 12th Plan is likely to

retain the farm growth target at 4 per cent, as the previous

two Plans failed to achieve it. “The 4-per cent agriculture

growth is a good target for the 12th Plan (2012-17), which

could not be achieved so far, as envisaged in the 11th Plan

(2007-12),” the planning commission Deputy Chairman,

Dr , said.

After telecom, Mr Mukesh Ambani-led

(RIL) is looking to enter the

sector and may bid for the ultra mega

power projects in Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

55,000

MW

11th Five-Year Plan

IRDA

TVS Motor

Company

Teenz scooter.

Tata Motors Jaguar

Rover

Indian honey

Roshni Nadar Nisa Godrej

Planning Commission

Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Reliance

Industries Ltd thermal

power projects


With one of the highest GDP growth rates in the world

and an array of recent achievements in technology,

industry and entrepreneurship, India strides

confidently towards the future. But, in the world’s largest

democracy, not everyone is equally fortunate. More than 300

million Indians are still prey to hunger, illiteracy and disease,

and 51 per cent of India’s children are still undernourished.

What will it take for India to bridge this great divide? When will

the fruits of development reach the poorest of the poor, and wipe

the tears from the eyes of every man, woman and child, as

Mahatma Gandhi had dreamt? And how should this, our

greatest challenge ever, be negotiated? In this extraordinarily

inspiring and visionary book, N.R. Narayana Murthy, who

pioneered, designed and executed the Global Delivery Model

that has become the cornerstone of India’s success in

information technology services outsourcing, shows us that a

society working for the greatest welfare of the greatest number

,must focus on two simple things: values and good leadership.

Drawing on the remarkable Infosys story and the lessons learnt

from the two decades of post-reform India, Narayana Murthy

lays down the ground rules that must be followed if future

generations are to inherit a truly progressive nation. Built on

Narayana Murthy’s lectures delivered around the world, A

Better India: A Better World is a manifesto for the youth, the

architects of the future, and a compelling argument for why a

better India holds the key to a better world.

This book is a collection of lectures delivered by the author

on special occasions, in India and abroad.

These cover various topics. Introduction points out the

rapid progress of India, in spite of several tragedies and

problems. There have been achievements in many fields e.g. IT,

telecom, technology, space, sports, music etc. but the fruits of

such achievements have not reached the masses. Narrating the

background of his initial days, around the time of starting of

Infosys, the author shares his views and experience. Technology

has to play a big role in improvement. Full literacy is necessary.

Challenges faced by us have to be met, and success can be

achieved with hard work, commitment, focus and confidence of

everybody, with faith in the youth of the country. A company can

survive for a long time, when it lives in harmony with society.

Globalization is helpful to improve the lives of the people.

Culling out experiences from

his life, the book is a journey not

only of Infosys, but also a personal

narrative of how this country could

and should surge ahead. Key

questions, such as why India does

not boast of any product of

international class and recognition

are addressed.

The book is dedicated to

several special persons and

organizations. Acknowledgements

cover a wide spectrum of persons

from family life, work life, others

and publications. Generally the speeches are simple in ideas and

expression. These suggest some solutions for the problems.

These speeches serve to motivate the young to find solutions,

work hard and make the world a better place.

This book from an iconic entrepreneur, Mr. N.R. Narayana

Murthy (NRN), is simple and straightforward. It is lucid,

powerful, stimulating and full of candid wisdom. There is

honesty in his understandable anxiety to convey his ideas to

young minds with a firm zeal that they will create a better India

and so a better world. The complexity called India is well

articulated in the book, when he says “our politicians,

bureaucrats, and the elite have to straddle multiple worlds –

urban and the rural, the rich and the poor, the educated and the

not-so-well-educated”. He goes on to write “They have to

juxtapose the two realities of India to understand and appreciate

the complexities and challenges of their task, and create

appropriate policies that enhance the hope and confidence of

these multiple worlds that make up India”.

Again sample this – “ It is very important to remember that a

few million English-speaking Indians do not make up India”.

Such impressions cannot be conveyed so convincingly without

firsthand experience of what the real India is all about.

The thought provoking articles in the book exhort student

audience to execute ideas rather just articulate them.

��

Better India: A better world��

E-PrepTalk July 2010

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Transcript of E-PrepTalk July 2010