Employment News 26 October 2013

Employment News 26 October 2013 Business News Economy News Political News Sports News

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International News

Shah Rukh Khan Appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador for South Korea

Shah Rukh Khan, the Bollywood actor, was on 23 October 2013 appointed as the goodwill ambassador for South Korea. He was appointed as the public diplomat as well as an ambassador of India’s soft power. 

Shah Rukh Khan will visit South Korea before the maiden visit to The President of South Korea- Park Geun-hye.

Shah Rukh Khan was also invited by the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on his first visit to India at the formal dinner with the prime minister.

 It is important to note that India and South Korea have signed a civil nuclear agreement already but it is still not operational. 

In the year 2008, Shah Rukh Khan was given the title of Datuk, which is equivalent to the British Knighthood. This title was given to him by the Governor of Malaysia’s southern Malacca state, Mohamad Khalil Yaacob

Norway rejects US request to destroy Syria weapons

Norway rejects  U.S. request to receive the bulk of Syria’s chemical weapons for destruction because it doesn’t have the capabilities to complete the task by the deadlines given, the Norwegian foreign minister said on Friday.

Boerge Brende said Norway hadn’t been able to identify a port that could receive the weapons and didn’t have the capacity to treat some of the waste products resulting from the destruction of the munitions.

Mr Brende said both the U.S. and Norway agreed there was no point in continuing “the evaluation of Norway as a place for this destruction, it was one of the nations that had been asked to take part in the destruction of 50 metric tons of mixed chemicals in the form of mustard gas and some 300-500 metric tons of materials needed to make nerve agents.

Russian new anti-terror bill

Russian parliament has approved a new legislation that toughens punishment for terrorism and requires terrorists’ relatives to pay for the damages caused in attacks.

The bill, unanimously passed Friday by the State Duma, is expected to see a similarly swift approval in the upper house and be signed by President Vladimir Putin to become law.

The document says that training for terrorist activities is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. 

It also introduces a punishment of up to six years for those participating in a militant group abroad.

Political News

SC-appointed probe panel invites information on Meiyappan

The committee probing the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing episode sought information from the public regarding allegations of betting against Gurunath Meiyappan and the other accused in the scandal

The Supreme Court appointed committee, headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and including Additional Solicitor General L. Nageshwar Rao and senior advocate Nilay Dutta, had its first meeting on Thursday after being appointed early this month.

The committee decided on the schedule of meetings after “perusal” of the Supreme Court order.

The committee is investigating charges of betting and spot-fixing in the IPL matches against Meiyappan, son-in-law of Board president N. Srinivasan and allegedly the team principal of Chennai Super Kings, the accused players and the team owner of Rajasthan Royals.

National News

Patliputra railway. station to be opened in Patna

Patna will have its fourth railway station from October 31. 

It has been named Patliputra Station after the capital of the Maurya Empire that flourished there.

Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge will inaugurate the station in the presence of Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Business News

GAIL  sells stake in China Gas Holdings

GAIL India announced that it had sold nearly a fourth of its 4.6 per cent stake in city gas distribution company China Gas Holdings for Rs. 385 crore.

GAIL India chairman and managing director B.C. Tripathi told -

The company had made an investment of Rs. 137 crore by acquiring 210 million shares of China Gas in 2005. It has now sold 60 million shares.

The company reported a 7 per cent drop in its September quarter profit after it made losses in the cooking gas (LPG) business. Net profit in July-September dropped to Rs. 915.67 crore as compared to Rs. 985.38 crore a year ago.

Major reason for decline in profit after tax is the Rs. 377 crore loss suffered on LPG.

He said GAIL imported 11 shiploads or cargos of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the first half of current fiscal and will import 19 cargos in during the remainder period of the 2013-14 fiscal. 

It will resume import of LNG at the Dabhol terminal in Maharashtra next month, he said, adding that shipments had stopped during monsoon period as the port does not have a breakwater to guard ships against rough sea.

Now, open an Axis Bank account using Aadhaar card

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is going ahead and launching new services even as the decision on whether the Aadhaar card is mandatory for getting government subsidies is pending before the Supreme Court.

In a new initiative, Axis Bank entered into a tie up with the UIDAI that will enable the bank to open accounts by using the 12-digit Aadhaar number of the customer.

The bank will fulfill the Reserve Bank of India’s norms on know-your-customer verification electronically (e-KYC) by using the biometric data of the customer.

The fingerprints, once scanned at the bank’s biometric device, will enable the bank to collect data such as name, address and telephone number of the customer electronically from the UIDAI.

Economy News

HSBC lowers India’s CAD forecast for FY’14 to 3.4%

Global financial services major HSBC today lowered India’s current account deficit (CAD) forecast for this financial year to 3.4 per cent of GDP from 4.1 per cent earlier.

HSBC said the country’s CAD is at an unsustainable level, and expected to gradually decline in the coming years and in 2014-15, it is likely to be at 3.2 per cent of GDP.

HSBC’s CAD projections factored the increase in imports during the festive season and rise in coal imports to help meet demand from power plants in the coming months.

In the next fiscal year, FY15, we expect the deficit to hold broadly steady in nominal terms and decline to 3.2 per cent of GDP.

CAD, the difference between inflow and outflow of foreign exchange, had declined to 3.6 per cent in the January-March quarter after touching a record high of 6.5 per cent in the October-December quarter.

Sports News

Oltmans to be named High Performance Director

The Government of India will appoint Hockey India’s Director High Performance Roelant Oltmans as Chief Coordinator and High Performance Director for Indian Hockey.

He is all set to be appointed till Rio Olympics 2016 keeping in view all the major events taking place in the next three years.

Oltmans was firstly hired by Hockey India (HI) as Director High Performance in January this year as part of its plan to further professionalise the sport of hockey.

The former Dutch coach, who worked with the Dutch Olympic Committee as its Performance Manager for Elite Sports, is also an International Hockey Federation (FIH) Master Coach. Oltmans is also the chief coach with the Uttar Pradesh Wizards for the Hero Hockey India League.

Simona Halep won Kremlin Tennis Cup 2013

Simona Halep of Romania defeated Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (1), 6-2 to win the Kremlin Cup on 20 October 2013 at Moscow, Russia.

It was the fifth WTA singles championship for Simona Halep.

Simona Halep of Romania defeated Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (1), 6-2 to win the Kremlin Cup on 20 October 2013 at Moscow, Russia. It was the fifth WTA singles championship for Simona Halep.

Simona Halep (born on 27 September 1991) is Romanian professional tennis player and the currently ranked no. 14 in the WTA singles Rankings.

In men’s singles, top-seeded Richard Gasquet of France defeated Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Kremlin Cup. It was the 10th WTA singles championship for Richard Gasquet.

Famous Personality

British Sculptor Sir Anthony Caro Passed Away at 89

British sculptor Sir Anthony Caro passed away on 23 October 2013. He was 89 years old. He died after a heart attack.

He was the renowned British sculptor of his generation and also worked as the assistant to Henry Moore in the 1950s.

He studied engineering at Christ's College Cambridge. Thereafter, she specialised in sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools in London until 1952.

In May 2000, he was given the Order of Merit which recognises great achievement in the fields of the arts, learning, literature and science. On 9 March 2004, he was elected as the Senior Member of the Royal Academy.

Ranbaxy`s Dinesh Thakur whistleblower of the year honoured

Former Ranbaxy executive Dinesh Thakur exposed wrongdoing at the company that led to its coughing up a $500-million fine in June 2013.

A major organisation advocating for whistleblower rights in Washington presented its “Whistleblower of the Year” award to Dinesh Thakur, the former Ranbaxy executive who exposed wrongdoing at the company that led to its coughing up a $500-million fine in June 2013.

Mr. Thakur, who joined Ranbaxy in 2003 and was compelled to resign in 2005 when he brought to Ranbaxy’s notice certain irregular practices with regard to drug testing data, said that it was initially the “perfect data” produced by the facilities that got his attention.

Mr. Thakur’s close cooperation with the FDA and U.S. Department of Justice, federal authorities here imposed several import alerts, warning letters and in 2012 a consent decree of permanent injunction against Ranbaxy. Further the FDA has increased the number of inspectors it has for India and China from four in 2009 to nearly 15 at present.

Taxpayers Against Fraud Educational Fund (TAF), a public interest group combating fraud against the U.S. government, recognised Mr. Thakur’s work over eight years in uncovering evidence showing that “certain lots of specific drugs produced at multiple Ranbaxy facilities in India were defective, in that their strength differed from, or their purity or quality fell below, that which they purported to possess”.

Mukesh Ambani remains richest Indian with assets of USD 18.9 billion

According to the China-based Hurun India Rich List, Ambani retained the top position for the second year even after a wealth decrease of 2 percent. Ambani is followed by London-based steel baron LN Mittal with assets of USD 15.9 billion.

Mittal's wealth declined 6 percent from in 2012.

Sun Pharmaceuticals' founder Dilip Shanghvi broke into the top three for the first time with a 66 percent surge in his wealth.

This rise in stock price was supported by the expected sales of the cancer drug Doxil, following Janssen Pharma Inc's admission of shortage of the drug supply," the report said.

Among others in the top 10 are: Wipro's Azim Premji (4th) with assets of USD 12 billion, HCL Technology's Shiv Nadar (5th, USD 8.6 billion), Grasim Industries' Kumar Mangalam Birla (6th, USD 8.4 billion), Godrej Group's Adi Godrej (7th, USD 8.1 billion).

Technology News

Samsung Electronics to take on Google Glass

Samsung Electronics Co is working on a device it calls sports glasses in a possible response to Google's Internet-connected eyewear. 

A design patent filing at the Korean Intellectual Property Office shows a Samsung design for smartphone-connected glasses that can display information from the handset.

It said the glasses can play music and receive phone calls through earphones built into the eyewear's frame. It also gives hands-free control over the smartphone.

Google Inc is testing an early version of Google Glass with 10,000 people in the US after giving the public a first look at its Internet-connected eyewear in June last year. The early version can take pictures, record videos, navigate maps and works without a smartphone.

Yahoo buys image-recognition LookFlow  for Flickr

Yahoo's latest acquisition will bring image-recognition technology to its Flickr service for sharing photos. 

The Internet company is getting the new tools and expertise through its purchase of a startup called LookFlow.

More than 20 deals that Yahoo has completed since hiring Marissa Mayer as its CEO 15 months ago.

Send email via Google in your own handwriting

Google new handwriting input tool to Gmail and Google Docs that allows users to send emails in their own handwriting, 50 languages for Gmail users, while Google Docs users can have options from 20 languages.

With a mousepad or cursor users can write out what they want and Google will do its best to create a typed version of their words and also give suggestions for similar words from where the user can choose from.

Users can simply go to the Gmail or Docs settings and, under the Languages setting in the General tab, click 'Show all language options' and then select the that says

Voice-controlled apps coming to Windows

Microsoft speech recognition technology in creating innovative apps is being included in the Bing developer toolkit so that new apps for Windows 8.1 and Windows RT from third parties will respond to the spoken word.

the company has been demonstrating its voice recognition credentials whether it's demanding a phone make a Bing internet search or filling in the fields in an Excel spreadsheet via dictation.

But now it's going to let Windows app developers loose with some of this technology.