bilateral meeting with international leaders Indian Super League football tournament

bilateral meeting with international leaders
Rajnath Singh was appointed the HM and Sushma Swaraj External Affairs Minister while Arun Jaitley was given Finance with defence as additional charge and after that Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan called on new Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and discussed the economic situation as well as the issues related to the rise in prices.

In his first bilateral meeting with international leaders after assuming charge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.

Sushma Swaraj became the first woman External Affairs Minister, in yet another first for the 62-year-old BJP leader.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised issues of terror and the trial in Mumbai attack case in his first bilateral meeting with Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.

Author Rana Dasgupta is among 70 global personalities who are expected to shape tomorrow's world according to French newspaper Le Monde.

The Kochi team for the Indian Super League (ISL) football tournament, co-owned by cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, has been named 'Kerala Blasters'.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged loans and other economic aid worth USD 5.9 billion to Bangladesh over the next five years.

Current affairs 5 november 2012

National:

Ruchir Sharma wins Tata Literature First Book Award

Banker and New York based- author Ruchir Sharma was awarded the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award for his 'Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles' at the Mumbai Litfest. Mr. Sharma, was presented the prestigious honour along with a cash prize of 1 lakh on day four of the festival by R. Gopalakrishnan, Director, Tata Sons. The authors shortlisted included Nilanjana Roy (The Wildings), Sudha Shah (The King in Exile), Sudheendra Kulkarni (Music of the Spinning Wheel), Naresh Fernandes (Mahal Foxtrot), Ruchir Sharma (Breakout Nations) and Aman Sethi (A Free Man) whose books were all introduced by journalist and jury member Dileep Padgaonkar. Tata Literature Live! First Book Award is an initiative to recognise and reward writers via just embarking on literary career.

International:

Now, get an SMS and spot NASA’s ISS

You can now spot the International Space Station (ISS) commanded by Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams without a telescope as it passes your house, thanks to NASA’s new SMS service. “Spot the Station” will send you a text message as the ISS passes over your house, to help you see the object. The International Space Station is the third brightest object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon, however, most people still cannot tell where the orbiting laboratory is. NASA will send an email or text message to those who sign up for the service a few hours before they will be able to see the space station. The service was launched to celebrate the 12th anniversary of crews living and working aboard the station presently commanded by Williams.

Israel tests new missile system

The Israeli air force has successfully tested an upgraded version of its “Iron Dome” missile defence system. Iron Dome is designed to intercept medium-range missiles. The first Iron Dome battery was installed in March 2011 near Beersheva in the Negev desert region, 40 km (25 miles) from the Gaza Strip, and has intercepted more than 100 rockets since then. Each battery has radar detection and tracking system, a firing control system and three launchers for 20 interception missiles. They have a range of four to 70 km (2.5 to 44 miles). The Iron Dome system is developed by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, a public arms company based in the northern town of Haifa, and part-funded by the US.

Business & Economy:

Damodaran panel on biz climate

Faced with sluggish economic conditions and wobbling investor sentiment, the government in August had set up the panel under the chairmanship of former Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) chief M Damodaran to suggest ways to improve the country’s business climate. Established by the Corporate Affairs Ministry, the committee has about 25 members now, including representatives from government, regulatory authorities and private sector. The committee, with the mandate to suggest ways for reforming regulatory environment for doing business in India, is expected to submit its final report to the government by March 2013.

No case for lowering India’s credit rating: Rangarajan

Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C Rangarajan told that there is no case for lowering India’s credit rating and the global agencies need to look at the international scenario before taking any rating action. Even the Reserve Bank has cut its growth outlook for the current fiscal to 5.8 per cent, from the earlier projection of 6.5 per cent in view of worsening global economy and poor investment and subdued demand. The S&P agency in its report had said that there was one-in-three likelihood of rating downgrade for India if “the country’s economic growth prospects dim, its external position deteriorates, its potential climate worsens, or fiscal reforms slow”

Postal Life Insurance can now cover more groups of employees

The Government has allowed the country’s oldest life insurer, the Postal Life Insurance, to cover more groups of people. The Department of Posts can now offer Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) to employees engaged/ appointed on contract basis by Central/State Governments, where the contract is extendable. Employees of joint ventures in which Central/State Government, public sector undertakings and public sector banks have a minimum 10 per cent shareholding and employees of all scheduled commercial banks can be offered life insurance cover by the Department. Rural Postal Life Insurance was introduced in 1993, to provide cover to the rural population, especially those in the weaker sections and to women workers.

Shahid Kapoor to endorse 'Aramusk’

Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting (WCCL), said that it has roped in Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor as its brand ambassador for the Aramusk male grooming products. The company had earlier signed Juhi Chawla for its Safe Wash, Katrina Kaif and Amy Jackson for Yardley and Saif Ali Khan for Santoor.

Accor to open 2 hotels in Bangladesh

French hotel firm Accor has announced its entry in Bangladesh with the expansion of its brand Novotel in Dhaka and Chittagong. The two hotels will have 350 rooms.

Sport:

Bhupathi & Bopanna win Paris Masters

Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna clinched the Paris Masters title- their second triumph of the year- after scoring a 7-6(6), 6-3 win over Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer in Paris. In the singles final, David Ferrer beat Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 6-3. It was Ferrer’s seventh title of the season -his first ever Masters win in his fourth appearance in a final. Bhupathi and Bopanna had won the Dubai tournament and were runners-up at Cincinnati and Shanghai.

Czechs retain Fed Cup

The Czech Republic won a second straight Fed Cup inafter Lucie Safarova gave it an unbeatable 3-1 lead over Serbia by thrashing Jelena Jankovic 6-1, 6-1.

Vernon Philander named South African Sportsman of the Year

Cricketer Vernon Philander was named South Africa's 'Sportsman of the Year' after losing the top title of 'Sports Star of the Year' to Olympic gold-medallist swimmer Chad Le Clos. Le Clos won gold in the men's 200m butterfly at the London Olympic Games when he pipped legendary American Michael Phelps, and also notched up a silver in the men's 100m butterfly. He bagged a million rands and a luxury BMW car by securing the most votes from the South African public. Semenya was named the 'Sportswoman of the Year' after her silver medal in the 800m in London. Pistorius got the 'Sportsman of the Year with a Disability' after becoming the first amputee runner to compete at the Olympics, with Du Toit was named Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability.