Employment News 21 October 2013

Employment News 21 October 2013 Economics Euromoney International Banking

New Species of Dragon Tree Discovered in Thailand

An international team of scientists in the month of October 2013 discovered a new species of dragon tree (Dracaena Kaweesakii) in Thailand.

The newly discovered dragon tree species ”Dracaena kaweesakii” is characterised by its extensive branching and can reach 12 m in both height and crown diameter.

It has soft sword-shaped leaves with white edges and cream flowers with bright orange filaments, all highly distinctive features.Dracaena kaweesakii is a relative of the Canary Island dragon tree Dracaena draco.Dracaena kaweesakii is extracted from the wild for use in horticulture in Thailand and is one of the more popular species due to its extensive branching. 

It is an ecologically important species found only on limestone hills and mountains that are often associated with Buddhist temples in Thailand.

Malayalam Music Composer K. Raghavan Passed away

Noted Malayalam music composer K Raghavan died at Thalassery in Kannur district of Kerala on 19 October 2013. 

He was 99.

Raghavan infused the folk element into Malayalam film music and his rustic melodies replaced the then prevailing trend of imitations of popular Hindi tunes of the day.

K Raghavan was born to M. Krishnan and Narayani in 1913 at Thalassery, Kannur of Kerala.

The music mastero, who is credited with giving a new direction and identity to Malayalam film music, has scored music for over 60 films in a career spanning for about four decades.

Unnao's gold site

As Archaeological Survey of India team in Daundiya Kheda , the village in Unnao where excavation for gold is on, continued with their drill on Sunday, it was revealed that the place was a settlement much which before Raja Ram Baksh Singh ruled.

This fact has been documented in different places, including by Lord Alexander Cunningham, considered the father of Indian Archaeology.

 In 1862, Cunningham noted that Chinese pilgrim Huen Tsang, who visited the place in the 7th Century, described it as a place with five Buddhist monasteries and over a 1,000 members of the Sammatiya School, one of the four main Buddhist sects of that time.

As per Cunningham, Huen Tsang came to Hayamukha as a part of his travel to central India. He stated that if he was correct in identifying it, Hayamukha was Daundia Khera. 

It is most certain that Hayamukha must be the present-day Daundiya Khera on the northern bank of the Ganges," Cunningham noted. 

Though he maintained that Daundiya Khera was a small place (probably when he was writing the book), Cunningham was forced to agree with Huen Tsang's description of the place. 

Tsang noted that the circuit (read circumference) of the town was 20 li, the Chinese unit of measurement, equal to three miles.

The Largest Air Traffic Control Tower of India Inaugurated at Mumbai Airport

The largest Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower of India was inaugurated outside the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai on 18 October 2013. 

The tallest ATC tower stands at the length of 84 metres or around 30 storey building.

The ATC tower is spread over an area of 2800 square metre area and is also equipped with state-of-the-art technology such as electronic flight strips that can reduce the workload of controllers and enhance safety and capacity of the airport. 

It is important to note that India is the 9th largest aviation market of the world and has the traffic increasing at 10 percent annually. 

The designing of the ATC was done by Hong Kong-based architectural firm HOK as well as the international engineering designer ARUP. These were chosen after the global competition.

Telugu Writer Dr. Ravuri Bharadwaja Passed away

Eminent Telugu writer and Gyanpeeth award recipient, Dr. Ravuri Bharadwaja passed away in Hyderabad on 18 October 2013. 

He was 86. 

Ravuri Bharadwaja won Gyanpeeth award for the year 2012 for his well known Telugu novel, Paakudu Raallu, which reflected real life behind the silver screen of the film industry. 

SBI rewards top performers with overseas training

Banking major SBI hit upon an idea to reward its performers in a way that may become an example for other PSBs.

retired chairman of SBI, offered DFHL's performers a week's training at London School of Economics or Euromoney - at the bank's expense. 

The training helped the executives establish foreign links for the bank's bond house.

Also, the RBI has asked the bank to bring down the promoters' stake from 45% to 20% by March 2018. 

But the scope for diluting capital through fresh issuance is limited, considering that it has a capital adequacy of over 16%. And bank stocks - despite the recent improvement - are still not doing well.

Infosys to reward top performers with bonuses

Infosys will rewards its employees an unusual provision - of about Rs 130 crore - to pay bonus, a move that surprised some analysts.

Chief Financial Officer Rajiv Bansal said Infosys has to "pay employees better" if the company performs well. "We have to make sure that people who are performing well get high variable pay.

Co-founder NR Narayana Murthy returned to Infosys as chairman in June, recalled by the board amid investor angst about Infosys losing market share to rivals. 

Within days of returning, he announced an unexpected wage hike and set the tone for a merit-driven culture where top performers will be well rewarded and consistent underperformers told to seek opportunities elsewhere.

In the September quarter, Infosys paid $1.08 billion (Rs 6,800 crore) as wages, or more than two-thirds of revenue.

ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar moves up on women power list

ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar have made to Fortune magazine's global list of top-50 women business leaders, while PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi has been ranked second in a similar list for the US.

Kochhar has been ranked fourth, followed by National Stock Exchange chief Chitra Ramkrishna at 17th, Axis Bank's Shikha Sharma at 32nd and HSBC's Naina Lal Kidwai at 42 place among the Indians on the international list of most powerful women in business.

This list is topped by Brazilian energy giant Petrobras' CEO, Maria Das Gracas Foster, followed by Turkish conglomerate Sabanci Holding's Guler Sabanci at the second and Australian banking giant Westpac's CEO Gail Kelly at the third.

Shikha Sharma and Naina Lal Kidwai were ranked 37th and 40th, respectively, on Fortune's international list for most powerful business women. On Chitra Ramkrishna, a newcomer to the International Power 50 list, Fortune said she has made history as the first woman to head an exchange in India.

Banks cut rates on consumer loans to get funds from government

The finance ministry announced the 'funding for lending' scheme, many state-run banks have cut interest rates on consumer loans by as much as 5 percentage points.

Finance minister P Chidambaram will review the progress of banks on interest rate cuts in his meeting with bank heads on October 22. 

The finance ministry has already sought information on the rate cut announced by the state-run banks after it offered them capital for providing cheap consumer durable and two-wheeler loans.

The bank is offering a consumer loan up to Rs 5 lakh at a fixed interest rate of 10.50% for purchasing consumer durables and furnishing of existing house. "In case of borrowers who do not hold salary account with us, they will need to mortgage their property," the official statement, adding that this ensures that the account does not turn into a bad loan.

Punjab National Bank (PNB), the second-largest state-run bank, is giving a 5.75% off  concession on consumer loan, followed by Andhra Bank  which is offering 5.5%  to consumers.

Syndicate Bank enters league of large banks

While celebrating its 88th foundation day, state-run Syndicate Bank today said it is now in the league of large banks with a business of over Rs 3,46,000 crore as on September 30.

Syndicate Bank CMD S K Jain said- Syndicate Bank announced the launch of 5 new products focused on MSME sector, that include- SyndDoctor, SyndGranite, SyndTextiles, SyndCashew, SyndTransport.

Bank has been progressing on sound financials, and registered business level of Rs 3,46,000 crores with 33 million customers as on September 30. The bank is now in the league of large banks.

Bajaj Auto top 10 motorbike sellers in Africa

Motorbike manufacturer Bajaj Auto has been ranked sixth out of the ten top motorbike sellers in Africa selling  more than 600,000 units across Africa last year, creating a lot of appeal with its brand "Boxer.

Bajaj's Boxer brand "commands a market share of 90 per cent in Uganda, 40 per cent in Nigeria, 35 per cent in Angola and 30 per cent in Kenya.

Bajaj Auto also announced it has teamed up with SOMOCO, a locally-owned Indian company in Ghana and a subsidiary of the Mohinani conglomerate, to distribute its products in its global market.

Bajaj Auto said the company would initially target the utility and commuter segment through its immensely successful motorbike brand which comes in two variants - the 100cc,110cc version and the powerful 150cc version.

India rejects Sharif’s plea for U.S. intervention on Kashmir

India bristled at Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif seeking American intervention on resolving the Kashmir dispute and pointed out that this view went against its long-held position of resolving the territorial dispute through bilateral dialogue- External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said.

It is a waste of time for anybody no matter how eminent to be even trying to question it

Our position has been stated for a very long time. There is no scope of any change or accommodation at this. Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India. We value it and it is a part of the sense of our identity and our sense as the nation,” he said

Israel allows 899 Indian Jews to immigrate

899 Indian Jews from Manipur and Mizoram, all members of the “lost” Bnei Menashe tribe, to immigrate to Israel, with Tel Aviv giving the nod for their migration in multiple groups with the first batch expected by the end of the year. 

Michael Freund, founder and chairman of Shavei Israel organisation, said he wished to see the entire community to come to Israel soon. Our goal is to bring all remaining members of the community here to Israel as quickly as possible,” he was quoted as saying by The Jerusalem Post ton Sunday. 

He said the Cabinet’s decision would allow 200 Bnei Menashe people to be brought to Israel by this year-end, 400 in 2014 and another the rest in 2015. 

All immigrants would be housed in a private absorption centre run by Shavei Israel and then settled around the country. 

Their immigration to Israel was facilitated by the ruling of the former chief Sephardic Rabbi in 2005. 

He declared them descendants of Israel amid intense debate over their Jewish ancestry. 

Punjabi University Patiala has launched a one-year diploma course in Gatka from the ongoing academic year to promote the traditional Sikh martial art. 

President Gatka Federation of India (GFI), affiliated with WGF, Harcharn Singh Bhullar said on Sunday that 25 seats have been assigned for the course. 

The students would be imparted education in various Gatka forms, fighting techniques, scientific and therapeutic aspects including soft skills, professional ethics and event management tactics.

अमेरिका में बैंकिंग क्षेत्र की दिग्गज कंपनी जेपी मॉर्गन पर रिकॉर्ड स्तर पर लगभग 80 हज़ार करोड़ रुपए (13 अरब डॉलर) का जुर्माना लगा है। 

Of the $13 billion, $9 billion is fines or penalties and $4 billion will go to consumer relief for struggling homeowners, the person said. 

JPMorgan agreed to pay $920 million and admit that it failed to oversee trading that led to a $6 billion loss last year in its London operation.

अमेरिकी मीडिया में आई ख़बरों के मुताबिक़ गिरवी के आधार वाली प्रतिभूतियों के मामले की जांच के बाद जेपी मॉर्गन पर जुर्माना लगाया गया है। 

अमेरिकी न्याय विभाग के वरिष्ठ अधिकारियों के बीच हुई बातचीत के बाद इस पर सहमति बनी। कंपनी पर ज्यादा मूल्य वाली गिरवी आधारित प्रतिभूतियों की बिक्री का आरोप लगा था जिसके चलते ऐसा माना जाता है कि वर्ष 2007 में बैंकिंग तंत्र पूरी तरह से ध्वस्त होने की कगार पर पहुंच गया।

Lahiri, Pynchon named finalists for US Book Awards

Thomas Pynchon, Jhumpa Lahiri and George Saunders were among the finalists for the US National Book Awards. 

A month after releasing long-lists of 10 in each of the four competitive categories, the National Book Foundation announced the five remaining writers for fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people's literature.

Winners receive $10,000 and will be announced at a dinner ceremony in Manhattan on November 20.

All five fiction nominees are well established, from Pynchon, whose "Bleeding Edge" is set in Manhattan around the time of the September 11 terrorist attacks; to Lahiri, whose "The Lowland" was a Booker finalist; to Saunders, whose "Tenth of December" was the rare short-story collection to make-best seller lists. 

G.B. Pradhan Appointed as new CERC chief

Gireesh B. Pradhan, former Secretary of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy , has been appointed as the Chairperson of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) on 17 October.Gireesh B. Pradhan , a Maharashtra Cadre IAS officer of the 1977 batch.

He also served as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Power.

Anand Mahindra Elected as new Chairperson of PHFI

Mahindra group Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra on 16 October has been elected as The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) Chairperson for a term of three years.

Mahindra succeeds NR Narayana Murthy, Infosys founder, Executive Chairman, who has held the position since July 2011.

Union Government of India Decided to Bring All Post Offices Under Core Banking System

The Union Government of India on 15 October decided to bring all the post offices across India under the core banking solution system to cover more people of rural areas with AADHAAR seeded accounts. 

The Adviser to the Planning Commission, Nidhi Khare explained that this will help the people to avail the benefits of various schemes including old age pension and MGNREGA through direct benefits transfer. 

Deputy Director General of UIDAI, Ashok Pal Singh, in context with the legality of AADHAR card explained that AADHAAR card can be used as an identity as well as a residential proof for opening bank accounts of any individual.