Today Current News 5 October 2013

Today Current News 5 October 2013
Bimal Jalan Panel to scrutinize New Bank licences

The Reserve Bank today set up a three-member committee under former Governor Bimal Jalan to scrutinise applications for new bank licences, which are expected to be awarded by by January.

We have set up the committee under Bimal Jalan for bank licences, Usha Thorat (former RBI Deputy Governor), C B Bhave (former Sebi chairman) and Nachiket Mor (financial sector expert)...We will try our best to do it by January 2014,” RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said at a press conference here after a board meeting.

The panel will make its recommendations to the Governor and Deputy Governors, who will make the final proposals to the committee of the RBI central board.

Rajan said the central bank would endeavour to do “as much as possible” before RBI Deputy Governor Anand Sinha, who looks after new bank licences, retires in January 2014.

The RBI had issued guidelines for licensing of new banks in the private sector on February 22 and came out with clarifications in the first week of June

There are 26 applicants from the public and private sector for bank licences, including Tata Sons, India’s biggest business group, and firms controlled by billionaires Anil Ambani and Kumar Mangalam Birla.

Among public sector units, India Post and IFCI have submitted applications. Micro finance institutions such as Bandhan Financial Services and Janalakshmi Financial, too, have expressed their intention to set up banks.

India is largest recipient of foreign remittances: World Bank report

India has once again emerged as the largest recipient of foreign remittances. Non-Resident Indians or NRIs sent a record 71 billion dollars home compared to 70 billion dollars last year. 

According to a Word Bank report on recent trends and outlook on Migration and Remittance Flows, NRIs are estimated to remit up to 85 billion dollars a year by 2015. 

The surge in remittances continues despite the recent decline in Rupees against the Dollar.

The gulf countries account for nearly 40 per cent of remittances in India while it was 48 percent to South Asian countries.

In the World Bank Report, India came as the top beneficiary with foreign remittances worth 712 billion dollars followed by China with 60 billion dollars and the Philippines which got 26 billion dollars.

 In the Middle East and North Africa region, Nigeria topped the list with 21 billion dollars while Egypt came second with foreign remittances worth 20 billion dollars being sent by expatriates.

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan approved by CCEA

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for reforming the state higher education system.

As per this, during the 12th Plan period, 80 new universities would be created by converting autonomous colleges or colleges in a cluster to State universities. 

100 new colleges, including professional and technical colleges would be set up and 54 existing colleges would be converted into model degree colleges.

Infrastructure grants would be given to 150 universities and 3500 colleges to upgrade and fill critical gaps in infrastructure especially libraries and laboratories. 

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan would also support 5000 faculty positions.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NARBARD) will provide finances up to Rs 1,000 crore for warehouse development in Rajsthan in next 3 years--
In Rajasthan, as per the present ground level position, a storage gap of 22.4 lakh tonnes (LT) of foodgrains for warehouse was estimated for meeting the requirement under Decentralised Procurement Plan, Jiji Mammen, Nabard's Chief General Manager told a press conference here today.

Wareshouse capacity was inadequate in the districts of Alwar, Baran, Bharatpur, Budi, Chittorgarh, Dausa, Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar, CGM said.

This gap of inadequacy would be mostly filled by the Rajasthan State Warehouse Corporation for which Nabard has already sanctioned Rs 225 crore for constructing 4.69 LT capacity during the current fiscal, he said.

Gen. Giap, Vietnam war hero, dies at 102

General Vo Nguyen Giap, a key figure in securing Vietnam’s independence and winning the Vietnam War, died on Friday at 102, senior military officials and a relative said.

He died of old age, not because of any illness,” said the official, who requested anonymity. 

The general had been in hospital for several years because of ill health.

Gen. Giap achieved his crowning moment as a commander in the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, which marked the end of the First Indochina War and France’s colonisation of Vietnam.

The victory over the French led to the partition of the country and the beginning of a fresh outbreak of hostilities, this time between the communist North and U.S.-backed South.

Gen. Giap was also known as the initiator of the final offensive against South Vietnam in 1975.

Afghanistan Qualified for ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

Afghanistan Cricket team on 4 October 2013 qualified for its maiden ICC World Cup after defeating Kenya by seven wickets at World Cricket League Championship in Sharjah. With this win Afghanistha also became the 20th team to gain entry into the tournament overall.

Deciding to field first after winning the toss, Afghanistan dismissed Kenya for 93 runs in 43.3 overs and then achieved the target in 20.5 overs with seven wickets to spare.

The victory meant Afghanistan finished on 19 points - five behind champion Ireland, which qualified for ICC world cup. The world cup will be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2015.

Portugal's Luis Leao Pinto won Himalaya Bicycle Rally

Portuguese sensation Luis Leao Pinto emerged overall winners at the 9th MTB Himalaya 2013, which concluded in Shimla on 3 October 2013.

The World No. 9 won the winner's trophy in the Open Men's Solo category. 

He clocked 17:33:21 while Purna Bahadur Pradhan (21:27:17) and Surendra Singh (21:42:16) finished second and third respectively.

Two singers to represent India at Karaoke World Championships in Finland

karaoke singers in India will converge at Canvas in Mumbai on Sunday, October 6. Two winners of this competition, one male and one female, will represent the country at the Karaoke World Championships 2013 in Finland from November 21-24.

In addition to gift hampers and the McDowell's trophy, Sunday's champions will win a free return trip to Lappeenranta (Finland) where they compete for the title.

The world champions stand to win cash prizes and sponsorships in addition to an international recording deal.

The city trials and zonals were held across Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Guwahati, Lucknow, Jaipur, Nagpur and Chandigarh. 

The zonal shows saw some "electrifying contestants" who left the judges Meiyang Chang, Ishq Bector, Nandani Sirkar, Shilpa Rao, Shibani Kashyap, Shruti Pathak, Sonu Kakkar & VJ Bani spellbound. They were amazed not just by the amateurs' voices and performances but by the way they worked the crowd to advantage.

Apple to enter small Indian cities with iPhones, iPads

Apple to enter smaller Indian towns with iPhones, iPads Dhir joined Apple India three years ago from AOL Inc, where he was the global head for international business, and changed the way Apple was doing business in the country. 

He hired Kaul from BlackBerry India, expanded the team threefold to more than 150 executives, strengthened the Apple exclusive stores network, shortened the gap between the launch of new models overseas and in India and spearheaded the company's thrust on iPhones.

Apple may soon be slugging it out in the trenches with Samsung and other smartphone rivals as India country head Maneesh Dhir and telecom business chief Sanjay Kaul seek a rapid increase in the pace of growth in India, a market that it has neglected until recently.

While the iPhone has always been an object of desire, Apple wasn't able to make a big dent in India because of pricing issues peculiar to this country - handsets aren't subsidised by contracts as in other parts of the world. Until recently, this was taken to mean that Apple wasn't really interested in pushing sales in the world's largest mobile market after China, while companies such as Samsung have pitched their products hard in India.

Samsung leads the India smartphone market with a 36% volume share, according to research firm Canalys, while Apple's was 2% in the April-June quarter. Apple's value share is higher at 5%.

Indians get visa-free or visa-on-arrival access in 52 nations

British citizens enjoy the widest range of visa-free travel in the world, being able to visit 173 countries with just a passport, while Indians get visa-free or visa-on-arrival access in 52 countries.

UK citizens are at par with those from Finland and Sweden for visa-free access, according to Henley & Partners Visa Restriction Index.

Nine out of the top ten in the index are European Union countries, with the tenth being the United States.

India figures 74th on the list while Afghanistan comes at the bottom of the table, with only 28 countries available for entry without visa. 

Iraqi passport holders can go to 31 countries while Pakistan and Somalia are tied at the third from the bottom with 32.

Where visa-free access is permitted, such access is not necessarily a right, and admission may technically be at the discretion of border enforcement officers. Visitors engaging in activities other than tourism, including unpaid work, may require a visa or work permit.

Indian citizens do not need a visa to travel and work in Nepal or Bhutan. The country of residence is a factor in determining the visa requirements for Indian passport holders when visiting some countries.

Indian-origin researcher Arun Raj features among 10 most promising scientists in the world

Indian-origin University of Pennsylvania researcher Arun Raj has been featured in Popular Science magazine as one of the 10 most promising scientists in the world. 

The young scientist heads a 10-member team at Raj Labs on the University of Pennsylvania campus. 

Set up in 2010 and funded by the US National Institutes of Health and the Burroughs-Wellcome Fund, Raj's team works on how changes in gene organisation that often accompany cancer can cause changes in the intensity of the gene, potentially leading to more aggressive cancers.

Raj, born in Ithaca, New York, to Indian parents, explains, "Our work studies how the organisation of genes affects their function. It's like asking the effects of rearranging the recipes in a recipe book. We find that organisation of genes matters, often in unexpected ways."

Raj's team has invented a technique to track the inner working of the cells - after all how genes are expressed in a cell makes the difference between whether the cell will be healthy or sick or whether it will be a neuron or a cardiac muscle.

Popular Science is a largely circulated monthly US science magazine launched in 1872. Over the years, it has been translated into 30 languages and covers latest trends in science and technology. Time Warner owned the magazine for several years till it sold it to the Bonnier Magazine Group in 2007.