Employment News 29 August 2013

Employment News 29 August 2013 For Competetive Exams Of Indian Government

Malaysia to launch crackdown on illegals foreign workers

Malaysia will launch what local media on Wednesday called its "biggest ever" crackdown on an estimated half a million illegal foreign workers, as a crime wave focused the nation's attention on security.

Under the three-month operation to begin on Sunday, authorities would seek to deport some 500,000 foreigners, mostly from the country's vast and less-developed neighbour Indonesia, Immigration Department Director General Alias Ahmad said.

The violence has added to a widespread public perception of rising crime such as thefts, burglaries, and robberies, despite government data showing crime has dropped sharply.


Southeast Asia's third-largest economy is a magnet for migrant workers from poorer neighbours Indonesia, Bangladesh, Mynamar, Vietnam, Nepal and elsewhere, who fill low-paid construction, factory and plantation jobs.

First Russia-Pakistan strategic dialogue begins in Moscow

Pakistan and Russia are all set for the first ever Strategic Dialogue that is aimed at upgrading political, diplomatic, economic and defence relations.

The inaugural session of the Dialogue begins in Moscow today (Wednesday) with Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani leading the Pakistan side.

The dialogue could subsequently be upgraded to the level of foreign ministers, just like the Pakistan-US strategic dialogue.

At present the two-way trade between Pakistan and Russia stands at almost US $542 million with the balance tilting in favour of Russia. The numbers are considered far low and the potential of increased trade is estimated in vicinity of US $4 billion. 

Pakistan’s relations with Russia have been growing over the past decade with top-level political and diplomatic engagement.

Russia has been supportive of Pakistan becoming full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Moscow and Islamabad have been cooperating in the UN and on key international issues. Both share the view on the need for a multi-polar world and the centrality of the UN role in the world affairs.

(सोशल नेटवर्किंग वेबसाइट फेसबुक पर दिखाए गए विज्ञापनों में जिन 6,14,000 यूजर्स की निजी जानकारियों का इस्तेमाल किया गया था, उन सभी यूजर्स को कंपनी 15-15 डॉलर यानि करीब 900-900 रुपए का मुआवज़ा देगी।
साल 2011 में पांच यूजर्स की ओर से फेसबुक के खिलाफ़ दाखिल एक याचिका को लेकर हुए समझौते को सोमवार को एक अमेरिकी अदालत ने मंजूरी दे दी।अमेरिकी जिला अदालत के जज रिचर्ड सीबोर्ग ने यह स्वीकार किया कि 15 डॉलर का मुआवज़ा वैसे तो बहुत कम है लेकिन इस मामले में यह साबित नहीं हो रहा कि फेसबुक ने निर्विवाद रूप से नियमों की अनदेखी की है।
स्पॉन्सर्ड स्टोरीज में करीब 15 करोड़ यूजर्स के नामों और तस्वीरों का इस्तेमाल किया गया था, लेकिन इस साल के शुरू में इनमें से जिन लोगों ने इस वेबसाइट की तरफ से मिले एक ई-मेल का जवाब दिया, केवल उन्हें ही मुआवज़ा मिलेगा।)

RBI pitches for stringent entry norms for new banks

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has pitched for stringent entry norms for new banks while suggesting four- tier structure for the domestic banking industry. 

The Central bank said that this is important in order to improve the quality of the banking system and promote competition. The RBI yesterday released a discussion paper titled ‘Banking Structure in India - The Way Forward’.

In the proposed four-tier system, the Reserve Bank has proposed a top tier consisting of 3 to 4 large banks with presence both in the country and outside, along with foreign bank branches. 

The tier two will consist of mid-sized banks with economy wide reach and will be followed by a category devoted to old sector private banks, regional rural banks and multi-state cooperative banks. The final tier will consist of privately owned local banks and cooperative banks.

On consolidation, the RBI stressed the need to take a measured approach based on synergies and insisted on not making it compulsory.

It said “differentiated licensing" for infrastructure financing, wholesale banking and retail banking is a desirable step and there is also a need to promote investment banking system.

RBI said the discussion paper has been necessitated given the changing needs of the increasingly globalising economy, providing specialised services and deepening financial inclusion.

Prasar Bharati to assist Afghanistan in starting news channel

Prasar Bharati will assist the Afghan government broadcaster - Radio and Television Afghanistan (RTA) to start a news channel in the war-ravaged country.

The Afghan government is planning to start in three months a news channel that will telecast news initially for 6 hours, and later will be transformed into a round-the-clock channel.

This would be the first news channel run by the Afghan government though some private channels are already there.

RTA Director General Zarin Anzor and A R Panjshiri, Afghanistan's head of International Relations met Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar  and also sought help in repair and maintenance of their existing transmission facilities such as uplink, short wave transmitter and TV network.

RTA has a network of 24 TV transmitter with downlink facilities, one 100 kw short wave transmitter with 7 antennae catering service to its neighbouring countries and one uplink station in Kabul providing connectivity.

Govt sets up task force for currency swap arrangement

Rattled by the continued decline in the value of rupee, the Commerce and Industry Ministry has constituted a task force comprising representatives from the Ministry, Department of Economic Affairs, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), SBI, industry bodies FICCI, CII and Federation of Indian Exporters Organisation (FIEO) to work out currency swap arrangements with key trading partners of India.

An official statement said that in view of the rising trade deficit and consequent CAD, a need has been felt to examine the role of currency swap arrangement/agreements in order to suggest a possible mechanism to address the issue. It has been decided to constitute a Task Force.

The task force will restrict itself to issues pertaining to the swap of national currency for trade purpose only. “The purpose of the task force is limited to examine swap of national currency for trade which is distinct from currency swap agreements of Central Banks,’’ the official statement said.

The Task Force will examine various types of such arrangements and their implication for India’s trade and financial system besides studying the pros and cons of such pacts.

It would also explore the possibility of currency swap agreement between India and identified countries and make recommendations accordingly. 

Currency swap has emerged as an important derivative tool after the global financial crisis of 2008 to hedge the exchange rate risks.

India has signed currency swap agreements with Japan ($15 billion) and Bhutan ($100 million).

China has shown active interest in entering into such an agreement with India, but it is yet to be signed.

Malala awarded 2013 Children's Peace Prize

Pakistani 16-year-old will receive the award from 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner and women's rights campaigner Tawakkol Karman at a glittering ceremony in The Hague on September 6, the Amsterdam-based organisation said.

  

Malala "risked her life in the fight for access to education for girls all over the world," KidsRights said in a statement.

  

"By awarding the 2013 International Children's Peace Prize... KidsRights shines the spotlight on a brave and talented child who has demonstrated special dedication to children's rights," it added.

  

The passionate advocate for girls education was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman while on a school bus near her home in Pakistan's Swat Valley last year.

  

She was given life-saving treatment in Britain where she now lives, but the attack galvanised her campaign for greater educational opportunities for girls.

  

Malala's brave fight back from her injuries and her speech at the United Nations in July have made her a leading contender for this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

  

But the response to her in Pakistan has been mixed, with many hailing her as a national heroine while others have criticised her for promoting a "Western" agenda.

  

The International Children's Peace Prize, an initiative of the Dutch-based KidsRights Foundation, was launched in 2005 by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, when he chaired the Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Rome.

  

It carries a cash value of 100,000 euros ($133,000) that is invested in projects relating to the winner's cause.

  

Last year's winner was 13-year-old Cris "Kesz" Valdez for his work with Filipino street children while he himself was destitute.

  

Cris received the prize from South African peace icon and Nobel Peace laureate Desmond Tutu, who is the award's patron.

SBI to merge one associate bank this fiscal: Pratip Chaudhuri (SBI Chairman)

State Bank of India on Tuesday said it may merge one of the five associate banks in the current fiscal.

Right now we are in a position to merge one of the subsidiaries.... We may merge one associate bank this year,” SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told PTI in New Delhi.

SBI first merged its associate State Bank of Saurashtra with itself in 2008. Two years later in 2010, State Bank of Indore was merged with SBI.

The country’s largest lender has five associate banks — State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Hyderabad.

Among these, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Travancore are listed entities.

SBI raised the money through a preferential allotment of shares to the government, through which the state holding in the bank increased to 62.3 per cent from the earlier 61.6 per cent.

The government has already announced that the public sector banks will get Rs. 14,000 crore additional capital from government during the current fiscal.

The government had infused about Rs. 20,117 crore in public sector banks during 2010—11, and Rs 12,000 crore in 2011-12.

China joins G20-led global crackdown on tax evasion

China signing a key convention to share tax records under the aegis of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) China became the 56th signatory to the agreement by signing the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

With this all the G20 nations, including India, have become official partners to combat the menace of tax crimes and evasion across international borders.

The OECD, world's top economic body based in the French capital, said with China joining the ranks today "G20 countries have now fulfilled the commitment they made at the Cannes G20 Summit to sign the convention and move towards automatic exchange of information as the new, global standard.

OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria called China's inclusion as an "important" and "timely" development.

 2-day summit of South East Asian Defence Ministers begins today

A two-day summit of the South East Asian Defence Ministers begins in Brunei today.

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea are expected to top the agenda at the meeting. Senior defense officials from the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and other regional powers are also attending the two-day ASEAN summit.

Ahead of the meetings, some ASEAN foreign ministers agreed to present a unified front in encouraging China to negotiate a binding code of conduct to help prevent conflict in the territorial disputes.

IIIT-Bhubaneswar to become unitary university

The International Institute of Information and Technology (IIIT), Bhubaneswar will soon be accorded unitary university status with the passing of IIIT-Bhubaneswar Bill-2013 in the Odisha Assembly.

The Bill, passed last night, has provisions saying that the university will work closely with the government, industry and other users of technology to develop and deliver technological solutions to enhance their service delivery.

The university will be committed to the entire value chain of knowledge creation, diffusion and preservation to meet the challenges of the century.

It will create a community of students, faculty and scholars with passion for learning, creativity, innovation in all aspects of academic pursuit, the bill stated.

ADB to provide $18.4 mn for post harvest facility in Gujarat

In its first ever loan to private agri-business in India, Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $ 18.4 million to Champion Agro to set up cold storage facilities for fruits and vegetables focusing on Gujarat.

Up to 6,000 farmers in Gujarat could attain higher revenues from their crops with the construction of cold storage facilities for fruits and vegetables by Champion Agro using $ 18.4 million in funding from Asian Development Bank,” ADB said in a release.

The project will include five collection centres, a controlled-atmosphere cold storage facility, and an individually quick frozen facility in Gujarat, as well as five distribution centres located in large cities in different states of northern India.

The ADB project is expected to improve the processing and distribution of quality fruits and vegetables sourced from local farmers as well as help them increase their yields through irrigation facilities.

The loan funding will support distribution to food wholesalers and processors in India as well as abroad

Champion Agro provides agri-business services such as irrigation system, agricultural inputs to retail malls and farming with about 17,000 hectares under lease and contract farming.

MV Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller is the world's largest container ship

The Danish oil and shipping group, A.P. Moller-Maersk is the parent company of the world's largest container, MV Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, named after the son of the company's founder.

The vessel, that was built by the South Korean Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering shipyard, has a cargo capacity of 18,270 containers, the largest of any ship yet constructed.

The 55,000 tonne ship, has a length of 400 meters.

The ship carries the first Triple-E Standard (Economy of Scale, Energy Efficiency, Environmentally-improved) and is the most efficient and energy saving container ship in the world. The ship is capable of delivering more goods than ever, while using less fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions.