Employment News 8 October 2013

Employment News 8 October 2013

Trai lowers one-time charge for spectrum

Telecom department has lowered the proposed one-time charge for airwaves held by nine mobile phone companies whose permits were quashed by Supreme Court in February 2012, according to an internal telecom department document

Instead of the Rs 2,764.29 crore originally demanded earlier this year, the telecom department (DoT) now wants them to fork out Rs 1,989.18 crore as a one-time levy for airwaves held since their cancelled permits had remained valid till February 15, 2013.

Accordingly, in case of eight out of the nine operators whose permits were quashed, DoT has provisionally computed one-time airwave charges by pegging licence validity till February 15, 2013, since there is no information on these companies subsequently inking unified licences.

Last year the Cabinet had approved the recommendation of a panel of ministers to impose a one-time fee on operators - both prospectively and retrospectively - for the airwaves they currently hold. This charge came into effect from January 1, and all leading companies have challenged this fee in court.

The one-time charges have been calculated for spectrum allocated on a pro-rata basis based on the approved reserve price of airwaves in 1800 MHz and 800 MHz band auctioned last November.

The telecom department has made provisional demands to avoid litigation, since final advice of its legal advisor is awaited on the period of operation and quantum of spectrum to be charged.

World Bank lowers 2013 growth forecast for East Asian developing countries to 7.1%

The World Bank today lowered its 2013 growth forecast for East Asian developing countries to 7.1 per cent. It also warned that a prolonged US fiscal crisis could be damaging to the region.

The estimate for this year's gross domestic product or GDP growth is down from a forecast of 7.8 per cent in April, and lower than the 7.5 per cent growth recorded in 2012 and 8.3 per cent in 2011.

Regional GDP growth in 2014 and 2015 was forecast at 7.2 per cent for both years with middle-income economies like Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand also softening. Excluding China, the region is expected to grow 5.2 percent in 2013 and 5.3 per cent in 2014.

Bert Hofman, the World Bank's East Asia and Pacific chief economist, told journalists that for every percentage point growth lost in the United States, about half a percentage point growth will be lost in East Asia.

Rahul lays foundation of Mega Food Park in Amethi 

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday reached his constituency Amethi and laid the foundation stone of Mega Food Park in Jagdishpur.

The project is aimed to create 2,500 jobs and generate Rs 450 crore revenue. 

India test-fires N-capable Prithvi-II missile

India on Monday test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear-capable Prithvi-II missile with a strike range of 350 km from a test range at Chandipur, about 15 kms from Odisha.

The surface-to-surface missile was test fired from a mobile launcher in salvo mode from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range at about 9.14 AM.

The missile trajectory will be tracked by the DRDO radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations located along the coast of Odisha.

Inducted into India's Strategic Forces Command in 2003, the Prithvi II missile, the first missile to be developed by DRDO under India's prestigious IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development Program) is now a proven technology.

Actor Madhu to be presented Pravasi Doha Basheer award

Veteran Malayalam film actor Madhu, who essayed memorable roles in various films, including the National award winner 'Chemmeen', will be presented the Pravsi Doha Basheer award at a function in Kochi on Friday. 

The award, in memory of Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, Malayalam novelist and short story writer, will be presented by eminent novelist M T Vasudevan Nair. 

Widow of Basheer, Faby Basheer will present the cash prize of Rs 50,000 to the actor, a press release here said. 

Rasana Begum of Thiruvananthapuram would be presented a scholarship of Rs 15,000 by Pravasi Doha in memory of Prof M N Vijayan, writer, thinker and activist. 

Cambodia's Panh awarded Asian Filmmaker of the Year at Busan

Acclaimed Cambodian director Rithy Panh, whose family died in the Khmer Rouge genocide, received the Asian Filmmaker of the Year award at the Busan International Film Festival on Friday for his efforts to save his country's cinematic heritage.

The 49-year-old Panh has dedicated his life to seeking out and finding ways to save his country's film history, left mostly destroyed under the brutal 1975-1979 reign of the Khmer Rouge that claimed around two million lives. 

The award comes after his documentary "The Missing Picture", which focuses on the loss of his parents and siblings during the genocide, won the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival in May. 

Note: Cambodia King: Norodom Sihamoni

Cambodia PM: Hun Sen

Cambodia capital: Phnom Penh

Currency: Riel

World's highest civilian airport opens in China

The world's highest-altitude civilian airport has started operating in Sichuan provinve neighbouring Tibet, dramatically cutting travel time in the remote region in southwestern China.

Daocheng Yading Airport, located 4,411 meters above sea level in Daocheng county in Garzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province, began operations on Monday. 

The airport will reduce the traffic time between the county and provincial capital Chengdu from two days by bus to 65 minutes by plane, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

The aerodrome became the world's highest civilian airport, replacing Bangda Airport in Qamdo in the Tibet Autonomous Region, which is 4,334 meters above sea level.

Situated 159 km from the Yading Nature Reserve in the eastern part of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the airport came in two years time costing 1.58 billion yuan (USD 255 million) after it was approved in April 2011. 

Russian Embassy in Libya evacuated after attack

Russia evacuated all of its diplomats and their families from Libya, the day after a mob attack on the Russian Embassy, and issued a warning to its citizens against visiting the country. 

An armed mob broke into the embassy compound in the Libyan capital Tripoli, climbing over walls, breaking down a metal gate and shooting in the air. 

A Libyan official said on Wednesday's attackers took down the Russian flag that was hanging from the balcony of one of the buildings. 

Moscow decided to evacuate the embassy after Libya's Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdelaziz visited its grounds and told the Russian ambassador that Libya was unable to protect the personnel.

Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal for fourth China Open win

Novak Djokovic won his fourth China Open title in five years on Sunday, prevailing 6-3 6-4 in the final against Rafael Nadal who will replace him as the men's new world number one on Monday.

Google in talks with DTH cable providers to bring YouTube to TV screens

Google is making a big push to boost YouTube usage in India and is in talks with direct-to-home cable providers to bring the service to televisions screens, its global director of platform partnerships, Francisco Varela, said.

Varela, who is on his first trip to India, said the country was among the video service's fastest-growing markets and that talks were on with partners to boost usage further. Strategically, YouTube is an important part of Google's revenues, which crossed $50 billion (about Rs 3.1 lakh crore) in 2012.

About 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube and about 100 hours of video are uploaded to the service every minute.

The major DTH players are Dish TV, Tata Sky, AirtelBSE -1.71 % Digital TV, Videocon D2H, Reliance Digital TV and Sun Direct. YouTube already has partnerships with television makers like Samsung, LG, Sony for making the video sharing site available on their smart TVs. As of March, India had about 164 million users, with seven out of eight of them accessing the internet from their phones. But network speed still remains a barrier for YouTube in India.

RBI eases cash squeeze for festive season

Even as Navratri ushers in the festival season, Reserve Bank of India has eased more money into the system to help banks offer affordable lending options to retail customers.

RBI cut the interest rate on Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) by 50 basis points to 9 per cent. MSF is the rate at which banks borrow funds overnight from RBI against approved government securities. 

Also, banks can now borrow money from RBI for one-week and two-weeks. 

This new offer of extended period loans is also expected to further ease liquidity in the system. 

This will also boost the government’s efforts to pump-prime the economy by lending to consumers at a lower rate of interest. 

These measures come in the wake of a gradual stability in the rupee and point towards a seemingly combined effort by both the central bank and the government to pep up demand in the crucial festive season. 

The rupee volatility had prompted RBI to tighten liquidity by raising the MSF rate. 

Serena Williams beats Jelena Jankovic to win China Open

Serena Williams continued her excellent form in 2013 as she beat Jelena Jankovic 6-2 6-2 to win the China Open.

The eighth-seed then lost the next five games as 32-year-old American Williams captured her 10th title of the season.

Del Potro Defeated Raonic to Win Japan Open Tennis Championship 2013

Top seeded Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentine defeated third seeded Milos Raonic of Canada, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 to win the ATP Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo on 6 October 2013. 

This is the Del potro’s third ATP 500 Tournament of the year(2013). With this win Del Potro also received 312000 US Dollars prize money and earned 500 Emirates ATP Rankings points.

Del Potro was a late addition to the tournament after Andy Murray withdrew due to a back injury.

Mumbai Indians wins Champions League T20 title 

In Cricket, Mumbai Indians clinched the Champions League Twenty-20 title by defeating Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs in New Delhi.

Chasing the target of 203 runs set by Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals were all out at 169 runs in 18.5 overs. 

Harbhajan Singh was adjudged Man of the match as he bagged 4 wickets by giving 32 runs.

While Dwayne Smith was declared Champion of the series.

This was the last T-20 match of Sachin Tendulkar and Royals skipper Rahul Dravid as both players announced their retirement from T-20 format.

Iran wins 17th Asia Senior Men’s Volleyball C’ship

Iran has won the 17th Asia Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship.

 The defending champions beat a spirited South Korean team in three straight sets 25-19,25-22, 25-19 in Dubai yesterday.

China came third beating Japan while Australia came fifth in the ranking after defeating Chinese Taipei.

Indian spikers finished seventh in the overall ranking as they beat Lebanon in a gruelling five setter. India lost the first two sets in a close finish .

Pakistan won Under-19 Asian Rugby Championship 2013

Pakistan on 5 October 2013 defeated India in the final of the Under-19 Asian Rugby Championship 2013 in Lahore.

Pakistan won the final match with the margin of 13-11 points. 

At the end of the first half, both teams' scores were on par at 8- 8. 

However, in the second half, Pakistani team played more confidently and aggressively and won five more points for them while Indians could get only three more points.

Suraj Veer Sharma was the captain of Indian team while Daud Gull was the captain of Pakistan team.

Kalpana Devi won Bronze Medal at the Judo Tournament in Tashkent

Kalapana Devi on 5 October 2013 won bronze medal at the Judo tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

It was India’s first IJF Grand Prix medal. Competing in 52kg weight category, Kalpana defeated Zarifa Sultonova of Uzbekistan but lost to Gili Cohen of Israel.

However, Kalpana jumped back to medal contention through repechage round, where she got the better of Brazilian Raquel Silva.

Kalpana, who is with Indo-Tibetan Border Police, had also won a bronze medal in the Women's World Cup Judo Championships held in September 2010 in Uzbekistan.

Indian women team in final of World Team snooker

Vidya Pillai and Arantxa Sanchis played superbly as India-1 edged past England 2-1 to breeze into the final of the 2013 IBSF World Team (Women) Snooker Championship in Carlow, Ireland.

Arantxa began well for India as he beat Hannah Jones comfortably 62-25 but Vidya struggled in second frame where Maria Catalano exhibited some excellent shots to pull the frame 70-50 to level the match again.

SB Nayar named IIFCL chief despite Finance Minister P Chidambaram objections

Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has decided to appoint SB Nayar as the chairman and managing director of India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL).

The decision comes in spite of Union finance minister P Chidambaram backing Deepak Bagla, a partner with London-based private equity firm 3i, for the top job at the state-run financier.

In a letter to the PM this August, Chidambaram had said that the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet must "reconsider" Deepak Bagla for the IIFCL top boss post, saying the "conflict of interests" cited by the appointments committee to turn down Bagla did not exist. 

But the appointments committee has ignored his defence of Bagla and chose to go ahead with Nayar. 

The decision comes at a time when the authority of the Prime Minister is being questioned by the opposition parties after the recent standoff on the controversial ordinance concerning convicted MPs and MLAs.

World Bank to cut $400 million from budget in reorganization

World Bank plans to cut $400 million from its budget as part of a sweeping reorganization to make the global development lender more efficient and responsive, the bank's chief financial officer said on Monday. 

The savings, which have not yet been publicly disclosed, are part of the World Bank's first major strategic realignment in 17 years. 

The $400 million figure will be presented to the World Bank's member countries later this week during its annual meetings, along with a new strategy to focus the institution on its poverty-fighting goals. 

The $400 million in savings will be phased in over three years and mark an 8 percent cut from the bank's current $5 billion in annual expenses, Bertrand Badre, who is also the bank's managing director for finance, said in an interview.

In response, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has launched the first new strategy for the lender since 1996, aiming to make it more selective and better attuned to the needs of the governments it serves.

Former World Bank president Robert Zoellick rejoins Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs Group Inc said on Monday that former World Bank Group president Robert Zoellick will rejoin the investment bank as chairman of its international advisory board. 

The appointment marks Zoellick's second stint at Goldman Sachs. Before taking the helm at the World Bank in 2007, he served as vice chairman, international, at the bank.

President Barack Obama opted not to renominate Zoellick when his term expired in 2012, choosing instead to tap Dr. Jim Yong Kim, the former president of Dartmouth University.

At Goldman Sachs, Zoellick will oversee an advisory board that helps identify sources of international business or investment for the bank's clients. 

Other members of the international advisory board include Otmar Issing, a former member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, and Erik Asbrink, a former Swedish finance minister.