Employment News Of This Week July 2013

Employment News Of This Week July 2013

Engelbart, inventor of computer mouse, dies

Doug Engelbart, the inventor of the computer mouse and developer of early incarnations of email, word processing programmes and the Internet, has died at the age of 88.

In the 1950s and ‘60s, when mainframes took up entire rooms and were fed data on punch cards, Engelbart already was envisioning a world in which people used computers to share ideas about solving problems.

Engelbart’s invention was so early that he and his colleagues didn’t profit much from it. The mouse patent had a 17-year life span, and in 1987 the technology fell into the public domain — meaning Engelbart couldn’t collect royalties on the mouse when it was in its widest use. At least 1 billion have been sold since the mid-1980s.

Among Engelbart’s other key developments in computing, along with his colleagues at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and his own lab, the Augmentation Research Centre, was the use of multiple windows. Engelbart’s lab also helped develop ARPANet, the government research network that led to the Internet.

One of the biggest advances was the mouse, which he developed in the 1960s and patented in 1970. At the time, it was a wooden shell covering two metal wheels: An “X-Y position indicator for a display system.” 

Adli Mansour sworn in Egypt’s interim President

Egyptian chief justice Adli Mansour was sworn in Thursday as the country's interim president, hours after the army ousted incumbent Mohammed Morsi and put him under house arrest.

Mansour, who took oath as head of the Supreme Const

itutional Court (SCC) earlier in the day, said fresh elections were "the only way" forward.

Morsi, the country's first freely-elected leader, described the political developments as a military coup. The army, though, said Morsi had "failed to meet the demands of the people".

Protesters accused Morsi and his party, Muslim Brotherhood, of carrying out an Islamist agenda and failing to tackle Egypt's economic problems.

According to military decree the supreme justice of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, will serve as interim leader until a new President is elected.

About Adli Mansour

Born in 1945, Justice Mansour received a licence to practise law from the Cairo University in 1967 and joined the state council in 1970, rising in the ranks until he was appointed deputy president of the HCC in 1992.

He was appointed as its president in May 2013 and took up his post on July 1 following retirement of justice Maher El-Beheiry.

Justice Mansour was appointed in line with a new 2011 law, which stipulated that HCC heads should be appointed from within the court system.

Cairo-born Justice Mansour helped draft the supervision law for the presidential elections that brought Morsi to power in 2012, which included setting a legal timeframe for electoral campaigning.

Singapore to overtake Switzerland as top finance hub by 2015: Study

Singapore will dethrone Switzerland in the next two years as the world's top centre for managing international funds, a study said on Thursday, as a global tax crackdown and tighter regulation weaken the Alpine nation's appeal to investors.

Switzerland, still the world's biggest offshore financial centre with $2 trillion in assets, came ahead of rivals Singapore, London, Hong Kong and New York in the 2013 ranking, compiled by 

PricewaterhouseCoopers

as part of its Global Private Banking and Wealth Management Survey.

Respondents also named Shanghai and Dubai as fast-growing centres, closely followed by Brazil, Miami and Mexico City.

Not all applicants will get bank licences: Subbarao

The Reserve of Bank of India (RBI) today said that not all eligible applicants may necessarily get licence to start a Bank.

After attending RBI’s Board meeting in Chennai today, D Subbarao, governor, RBI said, “We (RBI) do not want to ourself locked with any specific numbers, in terms of giving license. 

Internally we will evaluate the applications in the next 3-4 months  then we will remit this to external committee to stream the applications and then will make decision. We have to see the quality”.

Interest rate for Cash Reserve Ratio

RBI today ruled out offering interest on Cash Reserve Ratio. Decision to raise or lower the CRR determined by monitory policy consideration, which in turn depends on liquidity.

Yoga now a secular American phenomenon, US court says

Yoga enthusiasts in the US got a big boost this week when a California judge ruled that the practice which originated in India is now a ''distinctly American cultural phenomenon,'' while dismissing complaints from some parents that teaching it to school children amounted to ''an unconstitutional promotion of Eastern religions.''

Weeks of testimony from yoga practitioners and opponents, including live demonstration in courtroom of poses taught to children, came to a convoluted finale on Monday when Judge John Mayer agreed that yoga ''at its roots is religious,'' but pronounced that the kind introduced by a school district near San Diego, which was the subject of the litigation, passed the test of secularism. "A reasonable student would not objectively perceive that Encinitas School District yoga does advance or promote religion," he said.

Parents of some children had sued to stop the school district from teaching yoga maintaining it is a religious practice that surreptitiously promoted Hinduism. 

Funded with $533,000 from the K.Pattabhi Jois Foundation, which is backed by Jois acolytes, hedge-fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones II and his wife Sonia, the school district introduced a three-year pilot yoga program in 2011, with twice a week classes in addition to regular physical education.

  

Vandana Gandhi honored with “Emirates Woman Award”

Vandana Gandhi became the first ever Indian woman to receive Dubai Government's coveted Emirates Woman Award for business excellence in June 2013.

She was awarded Emirates Woman Award in the Business Category for excelling and providing innovation in preschool education and was selected by the jury based on various criteria like leadership, strategy, community service and innovation. 

Vandana Gandhi is Founder & CEO of British Orchard Nursery - Middle East's only ISO-certified Nursery Chain.

About Emirates Woman Award

Emirates Woman Awards was started in 2003 and is basically an initiative by Dubai Quality Group (DQG) to encourage women, both UAE nationals and residents, to be actively involved in social and economic development initiatives in the country.

France eases visa norms for Indian students as UK mulls hefty visa cash bond

France announced a slew of India-specific measures easing visa norms for those wanting to pursue higher education, a move that is expected to increase the inflow of Indian students to that country.

"There is no competition between the UK and us. 

We have our own visa policy, they (the UK) have their own visa policy," French Ambassador to India Francois Richier said here.

The French envoy said that since France shares a genuine partnership with India, it has chosen to open its frontiers even wider to Indian students.

Asked if it was a general policy applicable to all foreign students, he said the new visa measures have been taken at the Embassy level and is applicable to only Indian students. 

Last year, almost 2,600 Indian students opted for higher education in France, a jump of 50 per cent over the past five years.

MGPSY : Pension scheme for blue-collar Indian workers in Gulf

Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Surakhsa Yojna, MGPSY ,a pension scheme for blue-collar Indian workers would be launched in the Gulf next month.

This was announced by the Secretary, ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs at a press conference in Riyadh yesterday.

The MGPSY is aimed at helping the workers to save money for their retirement, their return to India and resettlement and provides life insurance cover against natural death during the period of coverage.

Under the scheme, Government contributes Rs.1,000 per annum for men and Rs. 2000 for women subscribers of MGPSY who save between Rs.1,000 and Rs.12,000 per year in NPS-Lite.

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs provides additional government contribution of Rs.900 towards Return and Resettlement of the overseas Indian workers who save Rs.4,000 or more per annum.

The Pension and Life Insurance fund scheme, is applicable for the Overseas Indian workers having Emigration Check Required, ECR passports.

The gulf region accounts for a large chunk of blue collar Indian workers engaged in various sectors and the scheme would be of great help to them.

RAJASTHAN NEWS

प्रदेश में खुलेगा पेट्रोलियम विवि

मुख्यमंत्री अशोक गहलोत की अध्यक्षता में हुई बैठक में राज्य में नया पेट्रोलियम विश्वविद्यालय स्थापित करने को सैद्धांतिक सहमति दी गई। इसके साथ ही बीकानेर में तकनीकी विवि स्थापित करने संबंधी अध्यादेश- 2013 को मंजूरी दी गई है। यह तत्काल लागू होगा। इसे विधानसभा के अगले सत्र में पेश किया जाएगा।पेट्रोलियम विश्वविद्यालय को सरकारी और निजी सार्वजनिक भागीदारी (पीपीपी) में स्थापित करने के विकल्प खुले रहेंगे। हालांकि, इस विवि के लिए अभी जगह तय नहीं की गई है। इस फैसले से बाड़मेर में पेट्रोलियम रिफाइनरी एवं पेट्रो केमिकल्स कॉम्प्लेक्स के लिए तकनीकी योग्यता वाले प्रशिक्षित मानव संसाधन उपलब्ध हो सकेंगे।

Shriniwas Patil new Sikkim Gov.

Shriniwas Patil, former NCP MP and a close associate of party chief Sharad Pawar, has been appointed the new governor of Sikkim.

President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed 72-year-old Patil as the new governor of the northeastern state with effect from the date he assumes charge 

Patil has represented Maharashtra's Satara in the Lok Sabha as an MP. 

A former IAS officer, he will succeed incumbent B P Singh.

CSIR to launch its fastest supercomputer in Bangalore

CSIR is all set to launch its fastest supercomputer at India's first ever big data science institute in Bangalore later this month marking its entry into the new field of data intensive scientific discovery.

The supercomputer will have a speed of 360 tera flops, making it the fourth fastest machine in the country and will be housed in the CSIR Fourth Paradigm Institute (CSIR-4PI).

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has decided to re-position its Bangalore-based Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation (CMMACS) to deal with data intensive scientific discovery, which has emerged as the fourth paradigm of science.

CSIR Director General Samir Brahmachari

The supercomputer based in the Bangalore-based 4PI will form the backbone of the new venture which will connect CSIR laboratories located in Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Srinagar, Chennai, Chandigarh, and Nagpur.

Each of the laboratories will have computing facilities between 10 and 50 tera flop capacity will be linked to the supercomputer using the National Knowledge Network thus connecting 200 scientists and over 1,000 students in the identified domain areas.

Lisicki and Bartoli reach Wimbledon final

Sabine Lisicki advanced to her first Wimbledon final a couple of hours after Marion Bartoli reached her second.

Lisicki, a 2011 semifinalist at the All England Club, beat fourth—seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 6—4, 2—6, 9—7 ON Thursday on Centre Court, overpowering her opponent at the start and then hanging on at the end.

Bartoli did similar, taking control early but never letting up in a quick 6—1, 6—2 victory over Kirsten Flipkens.

Bartoli also reached the Wimbledon final in 2007, losing to Venus Williams in straight sets.

None of the four semifinalists at this year’s tournament has ever won a Grand Slam title.

Chris Martin announced Retirement

Chris Martin, the fast Bowler of New Zealand has announced his retirement on 3 July 2013 from all forms of cricket.

38 years old Chris Martin is New Zealand's third-highest Test wicket taker only after Richard Hadlee and Daniel Vettori. He had taken 233 Test wickets with an average of 33.81.

Chris Martin originally hails from Canterbury and played for the first class cricket team called the Canterbury Wizards before shifting to the Aces in 2005/06.