Employment News Paper 12 July 2013

Employment News Paper 12 July 2013

Nokia Lumia 1020 with 41 megapixel camera launched

Nokia on Thursday launched new smartphone Lumia 1020 with 41 megapixel camera, saying it will strengthen the company's leadership in imaging. The Nokia Lumia 1020's 41 megapixel camera comes with Xenon flash for still images, LED flash for video. It has ZEISS optics' six physical lenses. It also has 1.2 MP front camera that can be used for making video calls.

Nokia Lumia 1020 can handle sound pressure levels six times louder than conventional smartphone microphones, the company said. The phone is built on Microsoft Windows 8 platform and has 1.5 GHz dual-core processor from Qualcomm.

It has 32 gigabyte internal memory, 2GB RAM, and 7GB of cloud storage that can be accessed by mobile Internet.

Nokia will start selling Lumia 1020 in the US exclusively with AT&T from around July 26, at a price of USD 298.99 (Rs 17,890) .

IMF cuts India’s growth forecast to 5.6 percent for FY 2014

International Monetary Fund (IMF) has marginally brought down India's growth rate projections to 5.6 per cent for this fiscal and 6.3 per cent for the next financial year.

This was slightly lower by 0.2 and 0.1 per cent, respectively than the previous forecast released by IMF in its report in April.

The IMF said global growth will recover from slightly above 3 per cent in 2013 to 3.75 per cent in 2014, some 0.25 per cent weaker for both years than the April 2013 projections. - See more at:

The Indian economy recorded a decade-low growth of 5 percent in the fiscal year 2012-13. Although the IMF has pegged India’s growth at 5.6 percent, the finance ministry expects India to exceed 6 percent growth in the current financial year.

It has also predicted that the economic growth rate would be slower in the emerging economies and the Middle East and North Africa or the MENA region

Sun Pharmaceutical gets USFDA approval for diabetes generic drug

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries said it has received final approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to launch the generic version of Novo Nordisk's Prandin diabetes drug.

Prandin, known chemically as repaglinide, and its combination with the commonly prescribed type 2 diabetes drug metformin, sold as PrandiMet, had sales of about $200 million in 2012 for Novo.

Indonesian bank starts operations in Mumbai

The Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) launched its operations in India on Wednesday by opening a branch in Mumbai.

Dato Khairussaleh Ramli, BII president, said the Mumbai branch would open up new business opportunities as India is considered one of the fastest growing economies in Asia and the world

The activation of BII Mumbai is in line with the Group's mission in humanizing financial services across Asia

BII is a subsidiary of the Maybank Group, one of the largest banks in Asian by total assets and market capitalisation with headquarters in Malaysia. BII Mumbai will enhance both BII and Maybank Group’s presence beyond the Asian region.

With trade flows between India and the Asean countries already at $79 billion and expected to reach $100 billion by 2015

Mumbai branch will provide a host of trade, foreign exchange and related banking products and services to Indian companies with business interests in the Asean region and vice versa.

Pravin Batra, CEO, BII India Operations, said the bank would emerge as a 'dominant intra-ASEAN Trade Finance Bank'

BII, one of the largest Indonesian banks, has 415 branches, including international presence in Mauritius and now Mumbai.

PNB's KR Kamath leads bank chiefs’ clamour for a cut in policy rate

Punjab National Bank ( PNB) chairman KR Kamath led chief executives' call for a reduction in cash reserve requirement if the central bank is serious about lowering borrowing costs in the system, but voices seeking interest rate cut were feeble.

Last week, a few banks like Bank of India, Union Bank of India and Canara Bank cut lending rates due to pressure from finance ministry.

During the meeting with RBI, banks indicated that a cut in CRR will result in a further reduction in lending rate.

In the past, SBI chief Pratip Chaudhuri has categorically said that the bank will be in a position to lower rate only if RBI cuts CRR. SBI has pegged its base rate — the floor rate at which it lends — stands at 9.70%.

Hazem El-Beblawi new Prime Minister of Egypt

Hazem El-Beblawi was named as the new Prime Minister of Egypt by the Interim President Adly Mansour.

The interim President Adly Mansour also named Mohammad ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate and former IAEA chief as the new Vice-President of the country. 

In a gesture of reconciliation, the new designated prime minister of Egypt declared that his government will offer cabinet posts to the leaders of Muslim Brotherhood of the ousted President Mohammed Morsi’s Government. 

Maestro Zubin Mehta named for Tagore Award for cultural harmony 2013

Noted Maestro Zubin Mehta has been named for the Tagore Award For Cultural Harmony for the year 2013 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to cultural harmony.

The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh led High-level Jury has selected Mehta for this award. 

The annual award was instituted by the government during the commemoration of 150th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.

The first Tagore Award was conferred on Pt. Ravi Shankar, the Indian Sitar Maestro in 2012.

The award carries an amount of one crore rupees, a citation in a scroll, a plaque as well as an exquisite traditional handicraft or handloom item.

Ireland qualify for 2015 ICC World Cup

Ireland qualified for their third successive ICC World Cup after their World Cricket League Championship match against the Netherlands ended in a sensational tie in Amstelveen.

Ireland became the first Affiliate side to qualify for the World Cup after its sixth round ICC World Cricket League Championship match against Netherlands ended in a tie on Tuesday.

Ireland had won the first ODI on Sunday in Amstelveen by 88 runs.

With top two teams in the WCL Championship qualifying for the 2015 World Cup, the result of one win and one tie means that Ireland has reached an unassailable tally of 20 points to open up a five point lead over Netherlands and Scotland.

Ireland thus secured its qualification to the ICC's flagship 50-over event, regardless of how the seventh and final round matches of the competition pan out.

The World Cup 2015 will be Ireland's sixth global event, with the side having already competed in the 2007 and 2011 editions, as well as the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009, 2010 and 2012.

India and Albania signed an Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation

The Union Government of India and Government of Albania on 8 July 2013 signed an Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to the Taxes on Income and on Capital (DTAA).

It would also facilitate mutual economic cooperation between the two countries.

The signed agreement would also stimulate the flow of investment, technology and services between India and Albania.

The agreement incorporates provisions for effective exchange of information between tax authorities of the two countries, which also includes exchange of banking information and supply of information without recourse to domestic interest.

The Agreement provides for fixed place PE, building site, construction &installation PE, service PE and agency PE. 

Dividends, Interest and Royalties & Fees for Technical Services income will be taxed both in the country of residence and in the country of source.

The Agreement also has the provisions for effective exchange of information between tax authorities of the two counties in line with latest international standard. It includes exchange of banking information and supplying of information without recourse to domestic interest.

Flipkart raises $200 million in single-largest round of funding in Indian e-commerce space

Online retailer Flipkart has raised $200 million (Rs 1,200 crore) from existing investors, in a deal that marks the single-largest round of funding for an Indian e-commerce company and provides it with enough firepower to take on global leader Amazon.

South African Internet company Naspers, venture fund Accel Partners, and US investment firms Tiger Global and Iconiq Capital participated in the fifth round of funding for the Bangalore-based company. The deal values Flipkart at $1.5 billion, or over Rs 9,000 crore, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal. "There was a lot of scepticism about Flipkart and e-commerce in India. This funding refutes that," said Sachin Bansal, chief executive of Flipkart who co-founded the company with Binny Bansal in 2007.

LIC could shell out record Rs 90,000 cr benefits to policyholders this fiscal

LIC may have to pay Rs 90,000 crore in defined maturity benefits and survival benefits, up 20% from an approximate Rs 75,000 crore in FY13,

The state-run insurer's payout showcases its dominance over the industry a decade after private companies were permitted to set up insurance companies, resulting in the entry of ICICI, Aviva and HDFC into the sector. Despite this, LIC's settlements will nearly equal the total premium income of the entire private sector for last fiscal.

 The Life Insurance Corporation of India, or LIC, has an obligation to pay out the highest-ever benefits to policyholders this fiscal at a time earning sufficient returns from investment in equities and bonds has become uncertain because of the gyrations of the market.

X-47B drone: US Navy's first unmanned carrier landing

The X-47B will never be put into operational use, but it will help Navy officials develop future carrier-based drones. Those drones could begin operating by 2020, according to Winter. Four companies are expected to compete for a contract to design the future unmanned aircraft, which will be awarded in Fiscal Year 2014.

The US Navy successfully landed a drone the size of a fighter jet aboard an aircraft carrier for the first time on Wednesday, showcasing the military's capability to have a computer program perform one of the most difficult tasks a pilot is asked to do.

The landing of the X-47B experimental aircraft means the Navy can move forward with its plans to develop another unmanned aircraft that will join the fleet alongside traditional airplanes to provide around-the-clock surveillance while also possessing a strike capability.