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Volume 9. Edition 01. July 2010
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To be a world class training and educationorganisation shaping careers through innovativeproducts and services & the use of human
technologies.
Major news stories
Cover story
Current events
PT Panorama
Profiles
News in brief
Regulars
Spain on top of the world ...................................................... 05
Honour killing ........................................................................ 07
Fuel prices decontrolled........................................................ 38
Social responsibility of media .............................................. 10
India ........................................................................................ 16
...................................................................................... 22
Business and economy .......................................................... 30
Fish Philosophy...................................................................... 43
Saina Nehwal.......................................................................... 46
Julia Gillard ............................................................................ 47
India ........................................................................................ 66
...................................................................................... 68
Business and economy .......................................................... 70
Brand icon: Accenture........................................................... 40
Brand icon: PayPal.................................................................. 44
English grammar: Common mistakes in English............... 50
Business Trivia ...................................................................... 52
General knowledge ............................................................... 54
Book review: Better India: A better world ........................... 72
World
World
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Contents
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 03
Dear Readers,
As Spain celebrates its much prophesized victory over Netherlands,
courtesy ‘Octopus Baba’, I cannot restrain myself from expressing my thoughts
on the functioning of media in today’s times. Media is a mighty institution
wielding enormous power and responsibility to the society, which is expected to
be exercised for the protection and well-being of the people. The moral
responsibility of media is to foster liberty, justice, fraternity, peace and human
rights in our society. Our cover story takes a peek into the social responsibility
that media entails.
The media landscape has undergone a complete metamorphosis with the
viewers becoming more demanding and discerning. Therefore, sensationalism
has become its selling tool. Today it is known for making stories out of
‘everything and ‘anything’. There is a deluge of entertaining information, but
not necessarily the most important one. Major humanitarian issues are pushed
to the backburner and many voices remain unheard. Yellow journalism and
Page 3 sell like hot cakes. Known to be the mouthpiece of democracy, media has
taken a myopic stand, which is not apt in the larger interest of the nation.
Media has to be driven to benefit the public. It has to answer society’s need
for truth and tread the path of truth and courage. Let media become the
embodiment of meaningful actions and inspiration. It is hoped that the ‘fourth
pillar’ serves as an embankment preventing further erosion of democratic
ideals and values.
Manish Saraf
COO, PT education
“Honesty is the 1st chapter in the
book of wisdom”
- Thomas Jefferson
“If things do not turn out as we
wish, we shall wish for them to turn
out as they do”
- Aristotle
“An optimist sees an opportunity in
every calamity; a pessimist sees a
calamity in every opportunity”
- Winston Churchill
“Only those who dare to fail greatly
can ever achieve greatly”
- Robert F. Kennedy
“Have a heart that never hardens,
and a temper that never tires,and a
touch that never hurts”
- Charles Dickens
“Do not wait for leaders; do it
alone, person to person”
- Mother Teresa
“Whether you think you can or
whether you think you can't, you're
right”
- Henry Ford
“Instead of counting your days,
make your days count”
- Author Unknown
“Criticism, like rain, should be
gentle enough to nourish a man's
growth without destroying his
roots”
- Frank A. Clark
Take Quote
04 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
How to deliver and delightcustomers
Self -managed teams
The article was worth reading.
Sam Walton of the acclaimed Wal Mart
group had once remarked that
‘Customer is always the king’.
Delighting the customer means going
b e y o n d r e q u i r e m e n t s a n d
expectations and finding ways to offer
superb products and services that
makes the customer feel special. It is
true that delivering quality products
and services is the key to long term
customer loyalty. Apart from
satisfying their customer’s needs, the
organization should also see that each
transaction is a delightful experience
for the customer. It is obvious that if
companies want to flourish then they
must deliver on their customer’s
requirements and expectations, but in
today’s global economy, this is
necessary, but not sufficient. Today
the companies need to go the extra
mile to gain their customer’s loyalty
by finding new ways of delivering
superior products and delightful
services.
The article brought to the fore
some advantages of self managed
teams. Today every organization has
been under pressure to provide more
for less. These pressures have forced
managers to look for new ways of
doing things. One such innovation has
– Ramesh Kushwah, Indore
Letters to the editor
Ambani brothers break the ice
At the height of the family row
between India’s Ambani brothers,
many of those who knew the pair
predicted a reapproachment.’Blood is
thicker than water’ was the mantra.
The pair’s announcement of a peace
deal, ending their dispute of how to
divide the spoils from a gas field
discovered when their late father still
ran the family business, is in the
larger interest of the nation. This
patch up will create an overall
environment of harmony, co-
operation and collaboration between
the two groups, thereby further
enhancing overall shareholder value
for shareholders of both the groups.
– Kiran Ghodke, Pune
been re-organizing the work force into
groups, or teams, and thereby employees
are given the opportunity to participate in
management decisions. Team members
will take more responsibility for their
different roles as they move from a
developing team to a self-managed work
team. Teams grow best when they can
move from having a supervisor or
facilitator to managing themselves and
how their team accomplishes their work
and responsibility for their team roles.
Self –managed teams have the autonomy
to make important decisions concerning
their team processes. These teams
assume a dominant role or a collective
sense of leadership where the functions
of leadership are shared among the team
members.
– Rajiv Khare, Varanasi
FEEDBACK !Your comments and
views on PrepTalk
are needed to help
Us make it better.
Which articles did you like?
Which columns do you
like to read regularly?
Which are the best parts of
the magazine?
Which are not?
How to improve?
Send feedback to:
preptalk@PTeducation.com
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pain won the World Cup for the first
time when they beat Netherlands 1-0
thanks to a super strike by tireless
midfielder Andres Iniesta four minutes
from the end of extra time at Soccer City in
Johannesburg on July11, 2010
With penalties looming for the second
successive final Iniesta fired home the
winner when he was put through in the area
by Cesc Fabregas. Keeper Maarten
Stekelenburg dived to his right and got a
hand to the ball but could not keep it out.
The defeat was heartbreaking for the
Dutch, who were down to 10 men after John
Heitinga was sent off in extra time. It was
their third World Cup final loss after 1974
and 1978.
Spain, appearing in their first final, become the second team
after West Germany in 1974 to follow up winning the European
championship by lifting the biggest prize of all.
The Spaniards were also the first European team to win the
World Cup on a foreign continent as they became the eighth
name on the trophy first played for in 1930.
The victory sees Spain join Brazil (five times winners), Italy
(four), Germany (three), Uruguay (two), Argentina (two),
England and France as world champions.
"It was a very difficult match," said Spain coach, Vicente del
Bosque. "We have fantastic players. We could have scored
another goal or two but I think the result was deserved. It's a very
happy day for me. Naturally, I'm proud."
"It's unbelievable, incredible," added goalscorer Andres
Iniesta. "It cost a lot of energy. To win a World Cup is an
indescribable feeling. This was our work that we started a long
time ago, it was hard work, but we're savouring this now."
Nobody in Spain will care but it was a ragged final, marred by
a record 13 yellow cards and one red.
After the goal and again at the final whistle the furious Dutch
players surrounded English referee Howard Webb, claiming Iniesta
wasoffsideandalsoangrythatCaresPuyolhadescapedpunishment
whenhaulingdownArjenRobbenlateinnormaltime.
Despite the frenetic finish, there was little action in the first
90 minutes.
Stekelenburg was forced into a save after five minutes when
Sergio Ramos headed a Xavi cross goalwards while Spain
forward David Villa crashed a volley into the side netting with the
goal looming.
But a series of freekicks and bookings, including two strong
challenges by Dutch midfielders Nigel de Jong and Mark van
Bommel, shook Spain out of their rhythm and stopped them
from producing the swift-passing game that got them to the
final.
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 05
Spain on top of the world
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06 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
Villa had a shot blocked in front of the line, an unmarked
Ramos headed wildly over the bar from five metres out and Puyol
had his escape when Robben stayed on his feet as he was being
pulled – and was booked for complaining.
In extra time it was Stekelenburg's turn to save with his feet
when substitute Fabregas was sent clear by Iniesta.
Netherlands had to play with 10 men for the last 10 minutes
of extra time when Heitinga was sent off for hauling down
Iniesta on the edge of the box.
The little midfielder got back on his feet and soon after was
celebrating scoring the winner in the World Cup final after
smashing the ball past Stekelenburg from eight metres.
��� ���������
Netherlands offered little in
attack and the nearest they came to a
first-half goal was a bizarre incident
when Gregor y van der Wiel
attempted to give the ball back in an
act of sportsmanship.
The fullback's 60-metre punt
bounced up and over Spain Captain
Iker Casillas, forcing the startled
keeper to leap and tip it to safety.
Wesley Sneijder then split the Spanish defence with a
perfectly-weighted ball into the path of Robben after 62 minutes
only for Casillas to save brilliantly with his feet.
Paul the "psychic" octopus finished the 2010 FIFA World Cup with a flawless record as Spain's 1-0 win over the Netherlands in
final left him with eight perfect predictions.
The eight-legged oracle becmae a FIFA World Cup sensation by correctly
forecasting all seven Germany games in South Africa and he finished the
tournament in style by predicting a Spanish victory in the Soccer City sign-off.
As Paul foretold, Spain won their first world title after Andres Iniesta's 116th-
minute strike broke the Netherlands' hearts. The tentacled tipster had also
correctly predicted that Germany would beat Uruguay in third place play-off.
In the now familiar routine, two boxes were lowered into his tank, each
containing a mussel and the flags of the two opposing teams. Paul would head
straight to the correct box both times, wrench open the lid and gobble the tasty
morsel.
But the art of football predicting has become a dangerous job for the English-born clairvoyant. He fell offside with bitter German
fans who threatened to turn him into sushi after he predicted a semi-final defeat for the Mannschaft against Spain.
Paul's home, an aquarium in western Germany, has received death-threat emails saying "we want Paul for the pan," said
Entertainment Supervisor, Daniel Fey. No less an authority than Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero has called for
octopus bodyguards. Spanish Industry Minister, Miguel Sebastian has called for the creature to be given an "immediate" free transfer
to Spain to "ensure his protection."
Stung by Paul's "treachery" at picking Spain over Germany in semi-final, some sections of the 350,000-strong crowd watching the
game on giant screens in Berlin sang anti-octopus songs.
His prediction of a Spanish victory is expected to be the last for Paul, who in octopus terms is a pensioner, at the grand old age of
two-and-a-half. Octopuses generally live three years at the latest.
OCTOPUS PAUL ALLEN PREDICTIONS COME TRUEFOR FIFA WORLD CUP 2010
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 07
Love and marriage have always been subjected to societal
norms in most communities and this is especially true in India
with its myriad structures of caste, class and a historical rich-
poor divide.
The recent media glare on honour killings in northern India
put the spotlight on the traditional system of local “khap”
councils, who do not allow persons from the same sub-caste or
lineage to marry.
An honour killing is the murder of a (typically female) family
or clan member by one or more fellow (mostly male) family
members, in which the perpetrators (and potentially the wider
community) believe the victim to have brought dishonour upon
the family, clan, or community.
Honor crimes are acts of violence, usually murder,
committed by male family members against female family
Human Rights Watch defines "honor killings" as
follows:
HONOUR KILLINGS: DEFINITION
members, who are held to have brought dishonor upon the
family. A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her
family for a variety of reasons, including: refusing to enter into an
arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a
divorce – even from an abusive husband – or (allegedly)
committing adultery. The mere perception that a woman has
behaved in a way that "dishonors" her family is sufficient to
trigger an attack on her life.
In a landmark judgment, in March 2010, Karnal district
court ordered the execution of the five perpetrators in an honour
killing case, while giving a life sentence to the khap (local caste-
based council) head who ordered the killings of Manoj Banwala
(23) and Babli (19).
M a n o j a n d B a b l i ,
residents of Karora village in
Kaithal district, married on
May 18, 2007. Since they
belonged to the same gotra,
the khap panchayat declared
the marriage invalid. On June
15, 2007, they were kidnapped
and murdered.
There are several cases like Manoj and Babli in Haryana
which came to light, while many more have been hushed. Several
couples are being harassed by these caste (Khap) panchayats.
In Haryana, U.P, Punjab and Rajasthan these khap panchayats
are functioning from a very long time. There are certain codes
developed by these caste panchayats which need to be followed
while two persons are marrying. Caste endogamy, village
exogamy and gotra (sub caste) exogamy are some of the codes
made by these caste panchayats, which they want to implement
effectively.
Any married couple who breaks such codes while marrying
are punished by the order of khaps. These panchayats are based
on caste groupings and membership to these panchayats is
exclusively for male members of that particular caste. Decisions
taken by these caste panchayats are always patriarchal and
A CASE STUDY
Honour killing:A battle between tradition and modernity
Major news story
08 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
highest level of audacity by reiterating their demand to amend
the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA). They have threatened for more
violent actions if the Act is not amended. They are also going to
challenge the verdict in higher courts and have asked all Jat
families to contribute 10 rupees each to fight this case ahead.
This was not the first time when these khaps had demanded
amendments in the HMA. Just before the last Lok Sabha
elections, a similar all-khap meeting had demanded and
declared that they will vote for the party which amends the HMA.
It is clear that whatever the Home Minister of the Congress
party led UPA central government says inside the Parliament
against the practice of 'honour crimes', in Haryana their party
needs to rethink about their linkages with khaps.
In complete contrast to the main political parties, the
grassroots women’s movements have played an exemplary role
in the Manoj- Bubli case. In Haryana these practices are not new
and post 1990s we can see repetition of such cases of honour
killings. Many cases come to media and those are highlighted to
a certain extent. This is the first time that such a serious
punishment has come out and also a member of a caste
panchayat has been punished.
The Manoj and Babli murder case was fought by Manoj’s
mother and sister. When they decided that they wanted to fight
this case they were ostracized by the village leaders. Nobody
came in support of this family. In an interview given to media,
Manoj’s sister acknowledged the fact that at that time only the
All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) came
forward to support and help them. They started generating
public support for them and their case. AIDWA had organized a
huge protest demo to ensure that all the culprits were arrested.
One more thing that needs to be highlighted in the case of
Manoj and Babli honour killing is the role of media. During past
years we have seen the media playing a crucial role in dealing
with some sensitive issues and highlighting it in order to create
casteist in nature. These caste panchayats have a record of giving
very insensitive judgments and especially for the backward
castes and people belonging to lower economic strata.
Many argue that these khap panchayats were functioning in a
very positive manner in the past and judgments given by them
were for the betterment of the society. If one agrees to their
constructive approach of the past, a question naturally arises
that why the same caste panchayats are giving such regressive
judgments now? Inspite of being illegal bodies, these khap
panchayats are functioning openly and violating law and order of
the country. From where are they deriving so much power? Why
are they not afraid of police and law? These are some of the
questions that need to be answered.
Identity politics is now very well rooted in Indian democracy.
Many regional parties as well as national parties at regional level
are using identity politics as a source for vote banks. These khap
panchayats are nothing other than sources for votes and parties
depend heavily on diktats issued by them during elections.
That’s why none of the major political parties ever condemned
these honour killings.
Present Chief Minister, Bhupinder Hooda of Haryana, went
one step ahead and called such matters as family matters, where
government can't interfere. These are the politicians in Haryana
who at the time of elections go and take pagdis from their khap
panchayats which is considered to be a honour. These conducts
answers for the silence observed by many political parties in
Haryana following the verdict in the Manoj Babli case.
Such kind of support by political parties is making these
khap panchayats more powerful. At the time when they should
rethink about their decisions regarding 'honour crimes', they
had called for an all khap meeting in U.P where they reached the
pressure for justice. But these cases of honour killings never got
the much needed attention from the national media.
The Arushi murder case is one of the examples where the
media gave undue attention to the case which was creating
problems for inquir y and was
insensitive for the family which lost
their daughter. The media’s urban bias
is reflected from the fact that it does not
hesitate to broadcast and highlight the
so called candle light fight of urban
middle class, while ignoring many
pressing issues of rural India. The fight
for justice by Chandrapati (Manoj’s
mother) was never entertained by
national media till this verdict came.
Today every newspaper is trying to
show courage like Manoj’s mother, but
the time when she needed the support
of the larger community, none of the
media organs, except for some
honourable exceptions, came forward
to project her fight against these feudal
and patriarchal khap panchayats.
The media should not ignore any fight against injustice. Nor
should it be blind towards forms of injustice, and take it up only
when the issue reaches a culmination in the form of justice given
in the highest court. Every honourable fight for justice, fought in
villages deserves more than symbolic coverage, for they carry
important and transformative political messages against the
feudal order in most villages, and thus the nation. There is a
need for the media to be more vigilant even in this case; as the
sessions judge adjudicating this case has asked for her own
transfer following threats by the patriarchal khap panchayats.
The fight against such patriarchal and feudal khap
panchayats is necessary at this juncture when more and more
young couples want to exert their right
of choice. These couples should be
given proper protection and on a larger
level, an environment needs to be
created which is caste and gender just.
For this the role of government,
political parties and organizations
which are working at grass root level
becomes very important. AIDWA is one
of the women’s organizations which
due to their constant intervention in
Haryana where such cases are at a
maximum, had ensured that the Home
Minister had to give a statement that
‘Honour Killings’ should be treated as a
separate crime. The recent verdict by a
district court in Haryana in the Manoj-
Babli case is a step ahead for a gender
and caste just society.
There is a strong need for government intervention. The
government needs to enforce strict measures to stop honour
killings. There should be a ban on all decisions made by these
self appointed courts in the villages. They have proved fatal for
many innocent lives. India is world’s largest democracy and in a
country where people have the right to voice their opinions
freely, to be young and to marry the person of your choice
shouldn’t be fatal anymore.
Longest tennis match ends in 11 hrs
The world's longest tennis match finally ended at Wimbledon on June 24, 2010 when John Isner claimed the incredible fifth
set of a three-day epic against Nicolas Mahut 70-68 after 11 hours and five minutes on court.
The American 23rd seed ended the contest with a backhand passing shot after another hour of play on Court 18 after the
match had resumed at 59-59 in the deciding set after it was stopped by bad light on June 23.
“I am a little bit tired,” an elated Isner said in an on-court interview.
“When you play a match like this with an atmosphere like this you don't feel tired. This crowd was fantastic.”
“The guy (Mahut) is an absolute warrior. I want to share this day with him, it was an absolute honour. I wish him the best and
see him somewhere down the road and it won't go 70-68.”
Isner completed an eye-watering 6-4 3-6 6-7 7-6 70-68 first-round victory with every vantage point taken by a packed crowd on
Court 18.
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 09
10 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
What is Social Responsibility?
Social responsibility is an ethical or ideological theory that an entity whether it is a
government, corporation, organization or individual has a big responsibility to society at large.
This responsibility can be "negative", meaning there is exemption from blame or liability, or it can
be "positive," meaning there is a responsibility to act beneficently (proactive stance).
Social responsibility was practiced in the US in
the 20th century. Its purpose is to inform, entertain,
sell, but also to raise conflict to the plane of
discussion. The ownership is private.
The social responsibility theory is an outgrowth
of the libertarian theory. However, social
responsibility goes beyond "objective" reporting to
"interpretive" reporting. A truthful, complete
account of the news is not necessarily enough today,
notes the Commission on the Freedom of the Press:
"It is no longer enough to report the fact truthfully. It
is now necessary to report the truth about the fact."
Today's complex world often necessitates analysis,
explanation, and interpretation.
As the Commission stated in 1940: The emerging theory
does not deny the rationality of man, although it puts far less
confidence in it than the libertarian theory, but it does seem to
deny that man is innately motivated to search for truth and to
accept it as his guide. Under the social responsibility theory,
man is viewed not so much irrational as lethargic. He is capable
of using his reason but he is loath to do so. If man is to remain
free, he must live by reason instead of passively accepting what
he sees, hears, and feels.
Therefore, the more alert elements of the community must
goad him into the exercise of his reason. Without such goading
man is not likely to be moved to seek truth. The languor which
keeps him from using his gift of reason extends to all public
discussion. Man's aim is not to find truth but to satisfy his
immediate needs and desires. It is the press, therefore, that
must be the "more alert element" and keep the public informed,
for an informed populace is the cornerstone of democracy.
Social responsibility of media
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Today large media conglomerates, however, may notfunction naturally as a public forum, where all ideas are sharedand available. "The owners and managers of the press determinewhich persons, which facts, which versions of these facts, shallreach the public," writes the Commission.
...the power and near monopoly position of the media imposeon them an obligation to be socially responsible, to see that allsides are fairly presented and that the public has enoughinformation to decide; and that if the media do not take onthemselves such responsibility it may be necessary for someother agency of the public to enforce it. The Canons ofJournalism, adopted by the American Society of NewspaperEditors addresses these same obligations when it calls onnewspapers to practice responsibility to the general welfare,sincerity, truthfulness, impartiality, fair play, decency, andrespect for the individual's privacy.
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PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 11
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sharing best practices
engaging with stakeholders
running collaborative projects on key issues
The media should also be concerned with issues that have
unique implications to the sector. These include: diversity of
output, accessibility, security, privacy, freedom of expression,
creative independence, transparency of process, impartiality
and balance, and media literacy.
Media coverage can be defined as the way in which a
particular piece of information is presented by media either as
news, entertainment or as infotainment. Media coverage can
affect the extent of information dissemination as well as
inf luence the audience
opinion while giving out the
information. A bad media
c o v e r a g e c a n r u i n t h e
corporate image, it can mar
the positive publicity of a
political party or even defame a
celebrity. On the other hand a
positive media coverage can
help to create a better image
and positive public opinion.
Different types of media
coverage can be defined based
on two important elements –
the type of mass media used,
and the style of coverage. Here
is more information about the
different types of media
coverage:
Different Types of Media
Coverage – Based on Types of Mass Media
Television coverage refers to the presentation of news or
information or views on the television. The television news
channels are the primary source of media coverage.
Radio coverage involves broadcasting news, information or
entertainment via the Radio. Nowadays the popularity of this
medium has gone down.
Newspaper coverage refers to providing news, information
or infotainment using the newspapers.
Internet coverage means using the internet to provide
information, news, views or entertainment. This is one of the
most popular and widely used media today.
Types of Media
Freedom of expression under the social responsibility theory
is not an absolute right, as under pure libertarian theory....One's
right to free expression must be balanced against the private
rights of others and against vital social interests. For example, it
likely would not be socially responsible to report how the
terrorist, using some new method, evaded security measures
and smuggled a bomb onto a commercial airline.
Media empowerment is a sign of true democracy, a medium
to communicate with the youth and the entire world. Media
definitely has a responsibility on its shoulders, which is to guide
the people. People have blind faith in the media and they are
convinced that what they hear or what the media has declared is
correct. But have we ever deliberated over the fact that media can
also be selfish? The truth is
that in this competitive world –
the media is also a victim.
Media has a significant and
indispensable place in our
lives. It brings to us the true
face of today’s world – a face
which is usually hidden from
the common man. It makes us
realise that we are being ruled
by the wrong people –
politicians who are only
interested in their personal
gains and not the welfare of
their people. Media is known
f o r i t s i n c o m p a r a b l e
contribution… which will
definitely, benefit the nation
and its people in the long run.
As a developing nation, India is lagging behind in many
aspects like technology, research development, and social and
economic development and human resource development.
India should observe that how yellow race people contributed in
their country’s development and now nobody comments on
them in terms of technology, racism and culture.
The practice of social responsibility and sustainability for
media companies has many unique features that sets it apart
from traditional industry and other business sectors, some of
which could benefit from a collaborative approach. It includes:
developing an understanding of the implications of
social responsibilities for media organisations
identifying areas for prioritisation
Relationship between media and social responsibility
Role of Media in social responsibility
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12 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
Different Types of Media Coverage- Based on the Style of
Coverage
Biased media coverage refers to presentation of information
in a biased manner which means that the coverage is either
supporting a particular view or opposing a particular view.
Un-biased media coverage refers to unbiased presentations
of facts and figures in a matter-of-fact manner instead of taking
any particular stand on the issue.
Interactive media coverage refers to the presentation of
information and also including audience views in it, which
makes the coverage interactive.
The print media is considered to be one of the most
flourishing industries today. This medium is also particularly
very popular to reach the target audience for advertisers. The
different types of print media give a plethora of options for
people to reach a varied bracket of users. So, be it newspapers or
magazines, every medium has its particular advantages, a thing
which should be considered to be of utmost importance by all
advertisers and clients. However, print media also has its own
disadvantages. Here, we shall take a quick look at the advantages
and disadvantages of print media.
Different types of print media have a loyal readership.
This can be very useful for advertisers as compared to
advertising on the Internet.
Advantages of Print Media:
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If you are targeting a particular geographical area, you
can do so with ease through print media. For example, a
local newspaper would be a best medium to advertise
about a new shopping complex.
You can choose the size of the advertisement space.
This will help you to plan the budget of the expenses to
be incurred while advertising.
Certain forms of print media have a very loyal fan
following in terms of readers. This would guarantee
you added readership.
Magazines and newspapers are always in the eye
amongst public. Magazines are read for a period of a
month, which brings more attention to an
advertisement.
You can even advertise through brochures or leaflets
depending upon your target audience. If the
information is in detail, a brochure can prove to be an
apt option. A leaflet in that case, would be useful for a
brief message.
The cost incurred can sometimes be expensive
considering the medium you choose.
The shelf life of any particular print medium is limited.
Newspapers for example, are amongst the public eye
only for a day.
This medium may not always give you a wide reach.
Internet, on the other hand, can target a global
audience.
There is a limitation in terms of the kind of people who
may actually read your message. The particular
newspaper may not actually be accessible every time to
your target group, which means, your message may be
missed! The Internet on the other hand, can be
accessed from anywhere.
You may have to plan months in advance to advertise in
print media. It does not offer you flexibility when you
are faced with a tight deadline.
Advertisements may get lost in all the clutter of
editorial and ads by competitors.
Thus, we can see, there are certain pros and cons of print
media. With proper planning, you can opt for the right form to
gain maximum coverage and make the best of this medium!
We are living amidst the fallout of the most controversial
conflict of our times, where media plays a vital role with greater
responsibility and can affect the public discourse on
international politics, economy and society at large. When the
media’s relation to power is at the forefront of political
discussion and news reporting can lead to decisions on whether
or not to go for war. Everything can be affected by journalists
(media), as peace activists, and their mediation at the world.
Disadvantages of Print Media:
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 13
Media in this contemporary world is being used for political
marketing purpose during the times of conflict and tends to
focus considerably upon the visual instant media coverage to
garner public opinion. Media today have assumed tremendous
importance. Every bit of our activity is not only reflected but also
regulated and governed through press (media). Freedom of
press aims at the freedom of speech and expression, which are
the basic tenets of society.
Media is a mighty institution wielding enormous powers and
liability to the society, which are expected to be exercised for the
protection and well-being of the people and limited. The moral
responsibility of media is to foster liberty, justice, fraternity,
peace and human rights in our society. Still media has been
facing a perennial dilemma while discharging its rights, duties
and obligation to continue that degree of liberty without which
law is tyranny and with that degree of law without which liberty
becomes licence.
Media with its great responsibility as the watchdog of the
society can analyse the nature of armed conflict and internal
violence with its strategic forecast of racial, ethnic, political,
cultural, religion, and economic factors. With preventive
diplomacy and the first hand experience of war and its
consequences, destruction, loss of life, economy of the home
front and victim of genocide and the causes of conflict in the
wider context, media can help the victims by shedding light on
the emergence of radical Islam in a constructive way devoid of
provocative semantics by debating on the resolution of conflict,
the diplomacy and peace keeping and the role of superpowers.
Media could address the challenges of tomorrow, potential
conflict, promotion of negotiation and the formulation of
general norms of international behaviour and growing needs of
regional co-operation.
History is witness to the fact that media has been used by
Hitler and Gobbles to propagate doctrines of one race, one
nation and one leader. Communists have used media for
thought control evoking in George Orwell.
Media are free to criticise established institution. They
assist the process of self-examination, which is essential to self-
governance. They must not enslave and be more dependent on
big sponsored money to carry out the dictate of the states,
autocrats, military establishments, communal organisations
and imperial psychology.
Media with its intellectual vigour, analytical attitude and
firm fore-sightedness can address, safeguard and resolve
conflict between states, communities within the states in a
multi-cultural society with ethnic diverse people, being a
catalyst in the armed conflict and internal violence through
mediation, negotiation and mutual consent providing energetic
legislation against all form of discrimination and incitement to
racial hatred and xenophobia of any organisation, group, party,
institution or state that threatens multi-cultural democracy and
ethnic peace of just, rational and humane society.
Disasters like armed
conflict and internal
violence have often
emanated from the
unjust, irresponsible,
d e v i a t e d a n d
propagandist winds and
waves of media, be it
imperial hegemony,
secessionist warfare or
conversely, unexpected drift of regional civil violence based on
caste, creed and religion for liberty, justice, independence or
fanatical terrorism.
The blatantly biased reporting by media by and large has not
shown a high degree of social responsibility during the recent
international conflicts like Iraq Iran war, Kuwait crisis, 9/11, war
on terrorism, war on Afghanistan and Iraq and also our own
internal communal outbursts over the Babri-Masjid–Ram-
Janmabhumi controversy, Bombay blast and Gujarat riots etc.
Media is being used as a battle ground for political frustration,
imperialistic hegemony, human right violation, invasion of
sovereignty and privacy, regional and racial violence, smearing of
reputation and practising of deception and exploitation.
The role of visual and print media in covering the war events,
and the response of civil society organisation has been a matter
of great concern. In the light of scholarly discourse to the
examination of terrorism, American hegemony and traditional
geopolitical theories displaying visual representation of
sensitive issues for mass mobilisation in the electronic media
platforms beating the war drums against terrorism with
fabricated allegation and artificial intelligence etc. are some
instances for concern.
14 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
In a democratic world, credibility, utility and purpose of
media are to import justice to the people and safeguard the
rights and liberty of the people with integrity and steadfastness.
Media can do miracles by fostering global security,
addressing international arm trades, balance of power, nuclear
weapons and non-military threats: such as terrorism,
extremism, militia conspiracy and movements, strategic
relationship of states and their foreign policy, etc.
Media with its new
i n f o r m a t i o n a n d
communication technology,
can analyse the minds of
political parties, pressure
g r o u p s , n e w s o c i a l
movements, contemporary
problems of citizen and
states for public information
and opinion construction,
but often fails due to self-critical examination of the news,
opinions, articles and editorials on conflict and violence. Media
ignores the possible consequences of fabricated, biased or
sensitive information being portrayed among the people at large,
which leads to misunderstanding and preaching of hatred, fear
and communal feeling as a way out for arm conflict and internal
violence.
It is the moral responsibility of media to address the nature
and sources of interstate and internal conflicts as well as the
method to prevent this conflict and deal with its consequences,
and with its scholarly research it can contribute to reducing the
sources of conflict to produce a more just and peaceful world.
Importance of reporting accurate, fair and correct news is
now overpowered by the self-seeking commercial domination in
the press industry. Noble, virtuous and courteous journalists are
replaced by aggressive, interrogative and persistently fearless
journalists. Reports published on a particular issue are getting
judgmental and defamatory. Provocative compositions are
employed to sensationalize issues or to prompt the people to
think and behave in a certain way that may seem appropriate to
the agenda of the press. Social agendas that are incompetently
deliberated by the press have grievous consequences in the
society, and that has been going on for long. They have been
instigating repugnance between the people and some political
parties so that other political parties are benefited.
Questions in the poll conducted by press are so composed
that the result achieved is as per their desire. People’s opinions
are sought with biased questions that will derive answers that are
beneficial for the press.
Media in today’s time
Social media vs social responsibility
There is a new obligation
for us now that social media
has transferred ownership of
brands to consumers. We now
have a forum for our voices in
social media such that, if we
like something, we need to
speak up. We can't rely on
companies and brands to
exclusively represent themselves anymore, because collectively
we don't believe them right now.
The timing couldn't be better for this promotional
transition, since corporate reputations have been tarnished by
the recent exposure of their decision-making. They have lost the
consumer's faith by preying on them like hunters, rather than
selling to them as marketers. This tactic has rapidly changed.
Consumers can now express their opinions through a passive,
yet interactive, democratic device called social media.
While this general distrust is not permanent, we're in a
transition period, and companies must earn back our trust,
whether or not they were directly responsible for any of this.
They can earn back our trust by embracing the feedback
movement, listening and publicly responding to customers,
being transparent, and respecting employees whether or not
anyone is looking and being consistent.
The message is: If you love something, tell people about it. If
you want brands, products and companies to survive, beyond
supporting them by buying from them, you have to do more.
Become a raving fan using social media to disseminate your
message. Let people know who you are to provide context, what
you like and why you like it. Beyond the products you like, you can
cite excellent service you've experienced, or even management
you support.
The converse is also available. When you don't like
something or disagree, embrace the democracy of social media
and communicate your displeasure. Don't use social media,
however, in a vengeful way, as it will damage its long-term
viability just as some of the heavy-handed practices of
corporations damaged theirs. If you find that middle ground,
you'll find that the world becomes a lot smaller and supportive as
others agree and disagree publicly.
The social media movement can affect real transition in
marketing practices because many companies are finally
listening and have the intent to change. Give them the
information they need and, if they don't respond (not
necessarily directly), then they may go the way of the financial
behemoths.
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 15
feed the homeless through various campaigns. Corporations
such as Pepsi and Target are using social media to do good.
Target, for example, regularly uses their growing Facebook fan
base to contribute to and promote causes including education
and health. Pepsi not only plans to give away millions to charities
but is crowd sourcing ideas through its Refresh Everything
project.
Is it a coincidence that the rise of Corporate Social
Responsibility appears to mirror an increase in wider lower level
stakeholder action and almost exponential growth in access to
and distribution of information?
In a relatively short time period the explosion in mainstream
grassroots awareness of business responsibility has been hard
not to notice. It would be arrogant to consider this an effect of
management capability as it is at least as much about individual
enlightenment.
You cannot underestimate the impact of social media on this
level of awareness, and thus education. As someone says "we are
all now both consumers and producers of information" Thanks
to platforms such as blogging, Twitter, Facebook, mobile
telephones, etc. all individuals and groups can communicate in
both directions simultaneously to their entire audience.
Tomorrow's social media champions (and winning businesses)
will be those most effectively filtering and exploiting these
saturated information streams.
Corporate Social Responsibility is an element of leadership
development at the executive and board level has continued to
improve at a steady pace, it is the surge at the bottom of the
pyramid fuelled by such access to information that will be the
key in the next evolutionary stage of the agenda's coming of age.
Corporate Social Responsibility has survived well, a little
battered maybe like everything else, but appearing to be
enjoying much more productive media coverage than negative.
As one corporate dinosaur steps off the top perch they are
replaced by the conveyor belt that constantly produces younger if
not always wiser business women and men of the future. One
question is will this type of incremental change at the top be fast
enough to adequately deal with our impending challenges such
as climate change. The US Chamber of Commerce's stance on
climate change is possibly saying not.
Combination of social responsibility and media
“Social Responsibility is itself still learning and the
number of engaged participants is growing every day.
Education is at the core of making change happen, with
social media providing an efficient vehicle for
transporting the required information. Knowledge is only
power when it is used.”
The Social Responsibility System for News Reporting
Exploring social responsibility through social media
In the social responsibility theory of the press, the media is
driven to benefit the public. It expects journalists to answer
society's need for truth, requires an open and diverse debate on
public issues, and honest updates of current events. In this
model, media ethics is automatic because the press is free to
serve its purpose for the public, as opposed to special interest
groups or advertisers. Another condition of the social
responsibility model, is that news reporting cannot be
dependent on groups that may encourage bias and unethical
practices in exchange for financial support. As forms of
communication evolve, avenues of news reporting increase, and
the scope of media influence expands, media ethics becomes an
increasingly important issue in modern society. People are
exposed to television news, radio broadcasting, newspaper
articles, and now digital media as well. The mass media is an
intrinsic part of everyday lives. What exactly drives the powerful
Western media – government mandates, social responsibility
and the quest for truth, or is it the financial goals of large media
corporations?
Corporations and organizations are increasingly turning to
social media sites to promote causes, but such sites are also a
great vehicle for individuals to make a positive contribution to
society both locally and globally. The social media response to
the Chilean earthquake disaster for instance shows that people
value a comfortable outlet to stay connected in the times of
crisis. An earthquake in Haiti in Jan 2010 sparked multiple
online fund raising campaigns.
Charitable organizations such as SM4SC (Social Media for
Social Change) have used social sites such as Twitter to raise
funds in the U.S. for City Harvest, an NYC nonprofit that helps
16 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
SHARAD PAWAR IS NEW ICC PRESIDENT
Union Agriculture Minister,
Sharad Pawar took over the reins of the
International Cricket Council (ICC),
becoming the second Indian after
Jagmohan Dalmiya to head the world
cricket body.
Dalmiya was the first Indian to be
elected for the top post in 1997. Pawar,
69, is the seventh ICC President,
succeeding Englishman David
Morgan, who concluded a two-year term.
Pawar thanked Morgan for his "impressive innings" as ICC
President during the last two years. Morgan wished Pawar, who
has served as his ICC Vice President since 2008, the best of luck.
Pawar, a political heavyweight, has taken over the top post at a
crucial time with India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh scheduled to
host the 2011 cricket World Cup.
Pawar and Morgan had agreed to take over the ICC
President's post by turn after both garnered an equal number of
votes from 10 ICC full members for the top job in 2006.
The ICC referred the matter to its governance committee,
which recommended that the world body restore the rotation
system for the top post and suggested India and England be
given the option of the first two terms.
According to the consensus reached in 2007, Morgan, the
former Chairman of England and Wales Cricket Board, took over
as ICC president when the English board hosted the Twenty20
World Championship in 2009.
Maratha strongman Pawar began his career in cricket
administration when in 2001 he defeated Ajit Wadekar, the
former India Test captain, in a fractious election to take over the
reins of the Mumbai Cricket Association. He soon drew up plans
for the expansion of Mumbai cricket that made him popular in
the cricketing circles.
But his big innings began when he was pitched against
former BCCI chief Dalmiya. In 2004, Dalmiya's candidate
Ranbir Singh Mahendra beat Pawar by one vote. The next year,
though, Pawar beat Dalmiya by a whopping margin, marking the
beginning of his rise in the BCCI.
Before that, Pawar's only connection to cricket was through
his father-in-law, Sadu Shinde, a Test legspinner, who toured
England in 1946.
The overwhelming support that Pawar enjoyed in BCCI
waned a bit when he backed Lalit Modi during the Indian
Premier League controversy. Modi had got a free hand to
implement his ambitious plans for Indian cricket during the
Pawar-era.
Pawar and Morgan also openly backed former Australian
Prime Minister John Howard's nomination as ICC Vice
President which was rejected by the ICC board as the strong
Asian block opposed the move.
������
Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who
will be conferred the honorary rank of
Group Captain of the Indian Air Force, is
delighted to be part of the Armed Forces
family.
Sachin said, "It is indeed a great
honour that I have been considered for
the honorary rank of Group Captain in the
Indian Air Force. As an Indian, I am very
proud to be associated with this dynamic
force and I shall do my very best to be a brand ambassador for the
IAF."
Expressing his eagerness to interact with the air warriors, he
said, "I am looking forward to familiarizing myself with the
Indian Air Force. I once again salute the Indian Air Force for this
great honour bestowed on me."
SACHIN PROUD TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH INDIAN AIR FORCE
India
Current events
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 17
COUNTRY'S FIRST ELECTRICITY MUSEUM OPENS INGUJARAT
EXPELLED BJP LEADER JASWANT SINGH TO REJOINPARTY
A first of its kind electricity museum that displays evolution
of power from the vedic days to the nuclear power generation age
through interactive models was inaugurated in Gujarat.
The museum 'CLP Electrodrome', which exhibits a wide
range of computer-based interactive models of electricity
generation, transmission and distribution, was thrown open for
public by Chief Minister Narendra Modi at the science city in
Ahmedabad.
"Such museums can cater to the child's need in quest for
knowledge with entertainment and can help instill scientific
temper in them," Modi said, while addressing the gathering.
"This is one of its kind museum in the country that displays
evolution of power right from the vedic days to today's nuclear
power generation age, explaining science of electricity through
various interactive models," he said.
Expelled BJP leader, Jaswant
Singh rejoined the party nine
months after he was summarily
thrown out for wri t ing a
controversial book on Pakistan
founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
At a function organised to
announce his re-induction into
the party fold, 72-year-old Singh
profusely thanked senior BJP
leader, L K Advani for taking the
initiative to bring him back to the
BJP of which he was a founder member.
"It is good to be back in familiar surroundings... I wish to
unreservedly express my gratitude to Advaniji who took the
initiative," Singh said. Among others present were party
President, Nitin Gadkari and Leader of the Opposition in Lok
Sabha, Sushma Swaraj.
Recalling his expulsion from the party at its 'Chintan
Baithak' in Shimla in August last year, the MP from Darjeeling
said, "I was hurt and humiliated by what I had encountered."
������
"Under the provision of grant of honorary rank by the Armed
Forces to eminent personalities acknowledging their
contribution towards the nation, President Pratibha Devisingh
Patil is pleased to confer Sachin with the honorary rank of Group
Captain," said an IAF statement.
In recognition of Sachin's glorious achievements as a
cricketer and sports icon par excellence, the Air Force had
mooted a proposal to confer the rank of Group Captain.
Besides the recognition, his association with the IAF will
motivate the younger generation to join the Air Force to serve the
country.
Till date 21 persons have been granted the honorary ranks
from Flight Lieutenant to Air Marshal.
The last person to be conferred the honorary rank of Air
Commodore was Vijaypat Singhania on October 8, 1990.
India successfully test-fired its
indigenously developed, nuclear-
capable, ballistic missile Prithvi-II
from the Integrated Test Range (ITR)
at Chandipur, about 15 km from
Balasore off the Orissa coast.
The missile mounted on a mobile
launcher was blasted off from the
launch complex-3 in the ITR at
defence sources said.
"The trial of Prithvi-II, conducted
by the Army, has gone through nicely,"
ITR Director S P Dash said.
With a maximum striking range of 350 km, Prithvi-II is
capable of carrying a pay-load of 500 kg.
The test firing of the surface-to-surface missile, which has
already been inducted into Indian armed forces, was a users trial
by the Army's specialised group "strategic force command"
(SFC), the sources said.
Prithvi, the first ballistic missile developed under the
country's prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development
Programme (IGMDP), is propelled by liquid propulsion twin
engine.
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PRITHVI-II SUCCESSFULLY TEST-FIRED OFF ORISSACOAST
18 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
Advani said he was "very happy" that Jaswant Singh, whom he
had met as an RSS pracharak in Rajasthan, has rejoined the
party.
Gadkari said the "past is past" and hoped that Singh will work
to make the party's future bright.
He said this was a day of "great happiness" for him and the
party workers.
Singh was expelled from the BJP in August 2009 for praising
the Pakistan founder in his book "Jinnah - India, Partition,
Independence".
While holding Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel
responsible for partition, Singh maintained that Jinnah was
secular, a position that was unacceptable to the Sangh Parivar.
Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi had banned Singh's
book in his state.
After his expulsion, BJP also asked Singh to step down from
the Chairmanship of Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee
but he refused. He gave up the post in December last year.
Warning that the South
Asian region is faced with a
"serious" security situation,
India has sought fullest
cooperation among SAARC
countr ies in shar ing
information on potential
terrorists and planned acts
of terrorism to create a
more secure environment.
"The increasing threat
of terrorism poses a major challenge to the maintenance of
peace and security and adversely affects economic development
in our region," Home Minister P Chidambaram said while
addressing the SAARC Home Ministers' Conference in
Islamabad.
"We can all undoubtedly agree that the South Asian region is
faced with a serious security situation," he told the meeting
being attended by the ministers from Sri Lanka, Nepal,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Maldives, besides India and
Pakistan.
������
INDIA SEEKS COOP AMONG SAARC NATIONS ONTACKLING TERRORISM
Chidambaram made it clear that it was only with the "fullest
cooperation among our countries that we will be in a position to
effectively tackle the grave threat of terrorism in our region."
He also made a strong pitch for examining whether the
existing conventions have been effective or not.
"We also need to cooperate with each other in sharing
information on potential terrorists and planned acts of
terrorism, and all other forms of criminal activities in order to
create more secure environment," he said.
"It is incumbent upon us to ensure that the instruments and
the resources at our disposal are put to the best possible use in
our fight against terrorism," he added.
Chidambaram commended his Pakistani counterpart
Rehman Malik for his opening remarks in which the latter
highlighted the threat of terrorism and especially the fallout of
9/11 attacks in New York and the 26/11 strikes in Mumbai.
Both Chidambaram and Malik had meetings which was
dominated by the issue of terrorism and action against the
perpetrators of Mumbai terror attacks.
Army Chief General, V K Singh
has said people asking for
withdrawal or dilution of the Armed
Forces Special Powers Act in Jammu
and Kashmir is doing it for "narrow
political gains".
"AFSPA is a misunderstood act
and all who ask for its dilution or
withdrawal, probably do so for
narrow political gains," he said in an
interview to a defence magazine.
The Army Chief was asked if the withdrawal of AFSPA would
"seriously jeopardise" the safety and credibility of the force in
Jammu and Kashmir.
Pointing out that soldiers operating in "hostile environment"
need legal protection to perform their tasks efficiently, Singh
said, "Any dilution or withdrawal of AFSPA will lead to
constraining our operations."
������
PEOPLE WANT AFSPA WITHDRAWAL FOR POLITICALGAINS: ARMY CHIEF
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 19
“BHARAT BANDH” DISRUPTS NORMAL LIFE ACROSSTHE COUNTRY
Normal life was hit in NDA
and Left-ruled states on July 5,
2010 as rail, air and bus services
were disrupted during a bandh
called against fuel price hike
while stray incidents of violence
occurred in Maharashtra and
Karnataka where BJP workers
pelted stones at buses.
Senior BJP leaders, Arun Jaitley and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
were arrested in Lucknow while trying to lead a procession
towards the main Hazratganj crossing.
BJP workers claimed that a number of party activists and
leaders were injured when police baton-charged the protestors.
In NDA–ruled Bihar, Punjab and Karnataka, life was thrown
out of gear with agitators stopping trains and buses.
Schools, colleges and business establishments remained
closed as groups of protestors hit streets trying to enforce the
12–hour bandh.
In West Bengal and Kerala, air, rail and road services were
disrupted. Only Air India flights operated out of NSC Bose
International Airport in Kolkata as streets wore a deserted look
in the eastern metropolis where CITU gave the strike call.
In Maharashtra, police cracked down on trouble makers and
detained nearly 10,000 people, official sources said.
In Delhi, the bandh evoked a lukewarm response though BJP
workers blocked road, rail and Metro services in some areas.
Besides the BJP, those participating in the bandh were Shiv
Sena, Samajwadi Party, JD-U, CPI-M, CPI, Forward Block, RSP,
AIADMK, MDMK TDP, BJD, JD(S), AGP, Akali Dal and INLD
to protest against the increase in fuel prices.
The BJP leader said protest against the policies of the Centre
will be reflected in Parliament.
In Bihar, train and road services came to a virtual halt and
shops and business establishments downed their shutters.
Reports reaching the centre from various states said that
bandh evoked a good response with markets remaining closed.
The issue of amending the AFSPA has been regularly raised
by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah with
several senior Central leaders including the Prime Minister and
Home Minister, P Chidambaram.
The government is also planning to make the Act more
humane.
North-eastern states have also been demanding the removal
of AFSPA citing the misuse of the law by the armed forces.
Singh said adequate measures have been taken at all levels to
ensure that the powers entrusted through the Act are not
misused.
AFSPA is in force in Jammu and Kashmir and some
militancy- affected states in the Northeast.
At least 26 CRPF personnel
were gunned down in a deadly Naxal
ambush in Narayanpur district of
Chhattisgarh.
The Maoists opened fire from a
hilltop when the paramilitary men
were returning from road opening
duty on foot, CRPF Chief Vikram
Srivastava said in New Delhi.
Four special police officers (SPOs) of Chhattisgarh Police
along with some CRPF personnel were also injured in the attack.
The condition of one of the SPOs is stated to be serious, officials
said.
The troops were from the 39th battalion of the force and
were a part of its 'E' and 'F' companies.
The troops were ambushed near Daurai Road area in the
remote district, about 300 kms from Raipur.
This is the third major Naxal attack on the CRPF since the
Maoist strike on a force contingent on April 6, in Dantewada
killing 75 of its personnel and a Chattisgarh policeman.
On May 8, eight men of the paramilitary force were killed
when naxals blew up a mine-proof vehicle also in Narayanpur
district.
������
26 CRPF PERSONNEL KILLED IN NAXAL AMBUSH INCHHATTISGARH
20 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
Some BJP leaders, including State Cooperative Minister
Giriraj Singh and Harendra Pratap Singh faced the brunt of the
bandh supporters, who blocked movement of trains services at
Bihta Railway station.
Two-wheeler makers will now
have to sell a helmet along with
their bikes and scooters after the
Supreme Court dismissed a plea by
the Society of Indian Automobile
Manufacturers against such a step.
A bench comprising Justice G S
Singhvi and Justice A K Ganguly dismissed the petition filed by
the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM)
challenging an earlier order of the Delhi High Court.
The apex court said the manufacturers would have to give
BSI certified helmets as "original equipment".
On 30th July, 2009, the High Court made it mandatory for
dealers to sell helmets along with new two-wheelers and said
that the vehicle would not be registered by the authorities
without it.
SIAM contended that the High Court order would restrict
the people's choice to buy their own helmet. Moreover, it would
also force a person to buy a helmet again when he buys a new
two-wheeler.
However, the Apex Court was not convinced with the
argument and said, "Let there be more helmets. When you are
buying a second scooter of Rs 40,000, then you can buy a helmet
also, which is of Rs 300 only."
In its petition, SIAM had contended that by the orders of the
High Court, the choice of customers was curtailed, as they were
forced to buy from the dealers of automobile companies and not
from the open market.
It also raised questions over the High Court's direction to
provide only those helmets conforming to the Bureau of Indian
Standards.
"The High Court made a serious error in directing that all
purchasers of two-wheelers have to purchase helmet only from
the dealer.
������
MANDATORY TO SELL HELMETS WITH TWO-WHEELERS:SUPREME COURT
"This direction curtails the freedom of the purchaser to
purchase helmet from the open market and third parties. It is
also possible that in a particular case the purchaser may be
buying a second vehicle and therefore may already have an
existing helmet," said SIAM in its petition filed by counsels Vipin
Nair and P B Suresh.
������
With the India-Australia cricket series clashing with the
Commonwealth Games in October, CWG Organising
Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi has sought Sports
Minister MS Gill`s help to convince the BCCI to reschedule the
two-Test rubber.
In a letter to the Sports
Minister, Kalmadi requested
Gill to talk to the BCCI
officials and convince them to
re-adjust the dates of the Test
matches, which coincide with
the October 3-14 Games.
As per the itinerary
released by the BCCI, Ricky
Ponting`s men will play two
Tests and three one-day
internationals in India between October 2 and 24, which clashes
with the Commonwealth Games.
Kalmadi also said that a year ago, he had requested the then
BCCI President, Sharad Pawar not to schedule any cricket series
on Indian soil during the Games.
"I need not stress the importance of not having any
international cricket series in India during the Commonwealth
Games," he said.
"I had written to Mr Sharad Pawar as early as on July 1, 2009,
seeking due consideration by BCCI to ensure that it does not
schedule any major cricket matches during the Commonwealth
Games," Kalmadi added.
Australia will begin the month-long tour with a three-day
practice match in Mohali from September 27-29.
The two Tests between India and Australia are scheduled to
be hosted by Mohali (Oct 2-6) and Bangalore (Oct 10-14), while
the three one-dayers will be held in Kochi (Oct 19), Goa (Oct 22)
and Visakhapatnam (Oct 24).
KALMADI WANTS NO CRICKET DURING CWG
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 21
The US Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS)
has received some 10,400
appl ica t ions aga inst the
Congressional cap of 20,000 for
individuals with advanced
degrees.
After the first five days of having started to accept
applications, UCSIC had received just 13,500 H-1B petitions in
the general category and 5,600 in the advanced degree category.
Until 14th May, the USCIS had received 19,000 petitions in
the general category and 8,100 in the advanced degree category.
US businesses use the H-1B programme to employ foreign
workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or
technical expertise in fields, such as scientists, engineers, or
computer programmers.
In the fiscal 2009, the Department of Homeland Security
said, as many as 123,002 Indians were issued H-1B visas out of a
total of 339,243.
Thus, India accounted for 36.3 per cent of the total H-1B
visas issued in 2009. However, in actual terms, the number of
Indians issued H-1B visas in 2009 dropped by more than one
fifth since 2007.
Coinciding with the general economic recession in the US,
there has been a sharp drop in the number of Indian
professionals receiving the most coveted H-1B work visas
between the years 2007 and 2009, latest official figures have
revealed.
Despite the drop of over 34,000 H-1B visas in two years, India
continues to be the leading country to get the maximum number
of this category of work visas for professionals and is a way ahead
of other nations of the world, an analysis of the latest figures
released by the Department of Homeland Security reveal.
In the fiscal 2007, as many as 157,613 Indians were issued the
H-1B visas, while in 2008, the number dropped to 154,725. This
sharp drop has also resulted in decrease in short-term resident
non-immigrants. In 2009, 364,757 Indians were in the US in this
category, as against 425,826 the previous year in 2008.
DANDI TO BE DECLARED ECO-SENSITIVE ZONE
INDIANS GRAB MAXIMUM NUMBER OF H-1B VISAS
Dandi, the site of historic
salt satyagrah by Mahatma
Gandhi in 1930, will soon be
declared as an eco-sensitive
zone, Union Minister for
Environment and Forests,
Jairam Ramesh said.
"I am happy to inform that the Central government has
decided to declare Dandi and three surrounding villages as an
eco-sensitive zone under the Environment Protection Act,
1986," Ramesh said.
"We had received a proposal from the Gujarat government
that the Gulf of Kutch and Dandi be declared as eco-sensitive
zones looking at their unique ecology and historical
importance," he said.
The move would mean that an industrial unit or any other
project coming up in the area would need prior approval of the
local people.
Ramesh was speaking after launching a project, Green
Action for National Dandi Heritage Initiative (GANDHI), in
Navsari.
Dandi, in Navsari district, is a small village on the western
coast of Gujarat.
A local monitoring committee, comprising panchayat
members and villagers, would be constituted.
The committee will be responsible for preserving the
ecology of the area.
The proposal with regard to Gulf of Kutch was under
consideration by the Environment Ministry, he added.
Indian professionals grabbed one-third of the H-1B visas in
2009, even as there was a slump for the most coveted US work
visas in the past two years.
For the second year in running, there appears to be a low key
response to the US HS-1B visas with only 24,200 applications
being received until 2nd July.
������
Cyclone Laila,
Pakistan
which developed in the Indian Ocean off the
Andhra Pradesh coast creating much havoc in the state, was
named by .
22 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
OBAMA RANKED 15TH BEST US PRESIDENT;ROOSEVELT 1ST
Barack Obama has been
ranked as the 15th best US
President, just below Bill
Clinton but ahead of Ronald
Reagan, in a new poll of leading
Presidential scholars.
The Siena College poll,
w h i c h s u r v e y e d 2 3 8
presidential scholars at US
colleges and universities, rated
Obama two places below
Clinton, who was the 13th best,
and three better than Reagan,
who is ranked as the 18th best.
Franklin D Roosevelt again earned the top spot, as he has
every time since the poll was first conducted in 1982. He and the
Mount Rushmore Presidents - Teddy Roosevelt, Abraham
Lincoln, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson - have
consistently been the top five Presidents in the poll's findings.
Obama's 15th ranking is slightly higher than other
Presidents who have taken office since the poll started nearly 30
years ago. Most start out at about number 20, said Siena
Statistics Professor and Poll Director, Douglas Lonnstrom.
"Obama's doing a little better, but he's generally in the same
ballpark," he said.
While he ranked high on traits like imagination (6th),
communication ability (7th) and intelligence (8th), Obama
rated poorly ratings on background (32nd), which was
composed of traits like family, education and experience.
Obama's predecessor, George W Bush, was ranked at
number 23 in 2002 - the last time Siena's presidential expert poll
was conducted - but has since dropped to number 39, qualifying
him as one of the five worst Presidents.
Bush came in at number 42 - second to last - on issues such
as handling the US economy, foreign policy accomplishments
and intelligence. Warren G Harding was rated the least
intelligent President.
Bush joins Harding, Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan and
Franklin Pierce, all of whom have been consistently ranked as the
worst Presidents since the poll started, in the bottom five.
Several other Presidents also saw movement in their ratings
this year.
A Pakistani court has reportedly
ordered a ban on nine leading websites,
including Google and Hotmail, for
allegedly posting blasphemous material
though officials said they had not received
any instruction to block the sites.
Media reports said the Bahawalpur bench of the Lahore
High Court directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority
to immediately block nine websites, including Google, Yahoo,
MSN, Hotmail, YouTube, Bing and Amazon, for publishing and
promoting sacrilegious and blasphemous material.
Justice Mazher Iqbal Sidhu issued the order while hearing a
petition filed by a man named Muhammad Sidiq who claimed
these websites were publishing sacrilegious material.
The judge also ordered the PTA Chairman to appear in court
on June 28 with relevant materials.
Sidiq, inhispetition,soughtabanonthewebsites forpublishing
blasphemousmaterialsandtwistingfactsabouttheQuran.
Aslam Dhakkar, head of a local bar association, was quoted as
saying that the court had given a historic decision.
������
PAK COURT ORDERS BAN ON GOOGLE, YAHOO,HOTMAIL, 6 OTHER WEBSITES
World
Current events
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 23
"But, if it spreads, then it may have. Therefore, it is necessary
that it should be confined to those countries. And it is expectedly
package which has been worked out to resolve the crisis is about
750 million Euro that will take care of it," Mukherjee added.
Iran's Atomic Chief, Ali
Akbar Salehi said that Tehran
has produced more than 17
kilogrammes of 20 per cent
enriched uranium, a sensitive
atomic work that world powers
want abandoned.
World powers led by
Washington want Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment
activity which they suspect is masking a weapons drive.
Tehran says its atomic programme is geared entirely for
peaceful purposes.
Enriched uranium can be used as fuel to power nuclear
reactors as well as to make the fissile core of an atom bomb.
Iran started producing 20 per cent enriched uranium from
February following an order from hardline President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad.
Salehi said Iran was "not in a hurry" to produce 20 per cent
enriched uranium even if it can process five kilogrammes of the
material every month.
"We will adjust the production in a way that the workshop for
making the fuel plates is equipped," he said, referring to fuel
made from the 20 per cent enriched uranium and used to power
a Tehran research reactor.
World powers claim that Iran does not possess the
technology required to convert the 20 per cent enriched
uranium into actual fuel plates for powering the reactor.
Salehi said on 16th June that Iran has acquired the required
technical expertise and by September next year the first batch of
fuel plates will be ready.
Ahmadinejad had ordered the refining of uranium to 20 per
cent after a nuclear fuel swap deal aimed at powering the Tehran
reactor and drafted by UN atomic body last October hit a
deadlock.
������
IRAN SAYS IT HAS PRODUCED 17 KG OF 20 PCENRICHED URANIUM
He said the legal fraternity in Bahawalpur would observe a
strike to protest the publication of blasphemous material by the
websites.
However, officials of the PTA said that they had received no
instructions to block the websites.
They said they had only seen media reports about the court's
order.
Wahaj-us-Siraj, a spokesman for the Internet Service
Providers Association of Pakistan, said his organisation had not
received any directions from the PTA to block websites.
Pakistani authorities had blocked popular social networking
website Facebook in May over the holding of a competition on
blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Mohammed.
The access to the website was later restored on the orders of
the court.
Indian economy is likely to clock
double digit growth by 2012 and is
expected to grow over 8.5 per cent in
the current fiscal, Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee has said.
"That it (double digit growth)
would perhaps be by 2012," Mukherjee
told reporters in Washington.
IMF has projected 8.8 per cent, he
said, adding, "in our economic survey
we have projected, for the year 2010-11, eight and half per cent.
As per our present indication is, we are going to achieve that."
During 2009-10, Indian economy grew at better than
expected rate of 7.4 per cent. The GDP expanded over 8.6 per
cent in the last quarter of the said fiscal. The GDP growth was
despite agriculture output remained flat.
Allaying fears of European crisis having impact on the Indian
economy, Mukherjee said, it will not have much impact as the
exports to region is limited.
"Not much (impact), because our export is about four per
cent of our total export. Therefore, it could not have that much
adverse impact," he said.
������
INDIA TO CLOCK DOUBLE DIGIT GROWTH BY 2012:MUKHERJEE
24 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
That deal envisaged Iran sending its 1,200 kilogrammes of
low-enriched uranium, five per cent purity, to Russia and France
for further refining to 20 per cent and later to be converted into
fuel plates for the Tehran reactor.
The deal hit a stalemate as both sides insisted on conditions
unacceptable to each other.
Brazil and Turkey brokered a counter proposal in Tehran on
17th May under which Iran would send its LEU to Turkey in
return for the Tehran research reactor fuel to be supplied at a
later date.
The world powers have cold-shouldered that proposal and
backed a resolution in the UN Security Council to impose the
fourth set of sanctions on Iran for refusing to abandon the overall
enrichment programme.
On 9th June, the Security Council imposed the new financial
and military punitive measures against Iran.
������
Julia Gillard has been announced as Australia's first woman
Prime Minister after Kevin Rudd stepped
down in tears as the ruling Labour Party's
leader at a ballot meeting.
Gillard, who said that she was
"honoured" to head the country, will now
decide when to lead the party into the next
election.
She was sworn in as Prime Minister by Governor- General
Quentin Bryce.
The new leader for the Labour Party was elected unopposed.
A visibly upset Rudd, who could barely speak, stood aside to
avoid a humiliating defeat.
According to reports, Rudd was reduced to tears as he
addressed his colleagues and announced his decision to stand
aside as the leader.
Rudd ignored questions from reporters as he left the caucus
room.
Gillard was believed to have had the numbers before going
into this morning's ballot, which was not held. The 49-year-old
leader also had the backing of the powerful Australian Workers
Union.
GILLARD BECOMES AUSTRALIA'S FIRST FEMALE PM
NASA SUCCESSFULLY TESTS THE 'ORION' ABORTSYSTEM
G20 SUMMIT CONCLUDES WITH FISCAL TARGETS
US space agency NA SA has
successfully tested an emergency abort
system for the space shuttle's successor,
Orion, at a remote test site in the New
Mexico desert.
The emergency system used
powerful rocket motors to blast the crew
module off the launch site, shooting it 1.9 kilometres into the air
in six seconds at high rates of speed, then wafting it back to
Earth on a parachute.
"This system is much more advanced in capability and
technology than any abort system designed in the past," said
Doug Cooke, a NASA associate administrator for the
Exploration Systems Mission Directorate based in Washington.
The space agency said the test lasted 135 seconds from
launch to touchdown 1.
The fourth Group
of 20 (G20) summit
concluded in Toronto
after leaders of major
economies agreed on a
set of targets of fiscal
conso l ida t ion and
measures to ensure a
strong, sustainable and
balanced growth.
Addressing the media at the closing of the summit,
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that "firm
targets" have been established in a bid to advance economic
recovery that is "uneven and fragile."
"Advanced economies have committed to fiscal plans that
will at least halve deficits by 2013 and stabilize or reduce
government debt-to-GDP ratios by 2016," said the G20 Toronto
Summit Declaration.
G20 recognized Japan's situation and welcomed its own
fiscal consolidation plan announced recently, and urged those
countries with serious fiscal challenges to accelerate the pace of
consolidation, according to the declaration.
������
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 25
NKOREA SAYS IT SUFFERED USD64.96 TRILLION INDAMAGE FROM US
North Korea claims to have suffered
USD64.96 trillion in human and
material damage from the United States
over the 60-year period from September
1945.
Of the total, USD26.17 trillion
relates to at least 5,060,770 civilians
North Korea says were killed, wounded,
or abducted by United States, and USD13.73 trillion stemmed
from economic sanctions, Korean Central News Agency said in a
report.
Another USD1.17 trillion in damage was incurred by the
stoppage in construction of light water reactors and suspension
of the provision of heavy oil to North Korea as agreed in the US-
North Korea Agreed Framework in 1994, the report said.
The deal required Pyongyang to freeze and eventually
dismantle its weapons-grade nuclear facilities in exchange for
being provided with two light-water reactors for power
generation.
The calculation was made by the Committee for
Investigation into Damage Done by the US to the Northern Half
of Korea, taking into account damage North Korea suffered from
the 1950-1953 Korean War, economic sanctions and other
"crimes" it alleges to have committed by the United States.
"The total amount will be incalculable" if political and moral
damages caused by slandering the sovereignty and dignity of
North Korea and infliction of moral pressure on the Koreans by
the US moves for a new war and threats of preemptive nuclear
attack are included, according to the report.
KCNA released the report a day before the 60th anniversary
of the start of the Korean War, which ended in an armistice, not
with a peace treaty.
"The US imperialists, chieftain of evils, committed the most
barbarous and hideous crimes against the Korean people ever in
the world history of wars during the last Korean War," the report
said.
Successive US administrations have applied "systematic and
overall economic sanctions and blockade against all sectors
including trade, finance, investment, real estate, insurance,
transport, post and telecommunications and visits of people for
more than a half century to isolate and suffocate the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea," it said.
The declaration said advanced deficit countries should
boost national savings while surplus economies will undertake
reforms to reduce their reliance on external demand.
The G20 members, including the world's major
industrialized and developing countries, account for 90 percent
of global output, 80 percent of world trade and two-thirds of the
world's population. The Toronto summit, under the theme of
"Recovery and New Beginnings," is the first in its new capacity as
the world's premier forum for international economic
cooperation, as determined at the previous summit in
Pittsburgh, the United States last September.
Regarding the financial sector reform, the Toronto summit
welcomes the full implementation of the European Stabilization
Mechanism and Facility, the EU decision to publicly release the
results of ongoing tests on European banks, and the recent US
financial reform bill.
During the Toronto summit, world leaders have agreed that
more work is needed to further strengthen the global financial
system. And the amount of capital will be significantly higher
and the quality of capital will be significantly improved when the
new reforms are fully implemented.
Meanwhile, regulatory oversight of financial operations like
hedge funds, credit rating agencies and over-the-counter
derivatives, which are under much criticism, will be more
transparent in an internationally consistent and non-
discriminatory way.
The G20 summit declaration again recognized the
importance of reforming international financial institutions like
the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Notably, the group has built "earlier commitment to open,
transparent and merit-based selection processes for the heads
and senior leadership of all those institutions," which suggest
possibility of non-European or non-US executives in the future.
The Toronto summit reiterated the importance of anti-
protectionism and free trade. The G20 leaders decided to renew
for a further three years, until the end of 2013, the commitment
to " refrain from raising barriers or imposing new barriers to
investment or trade in goods and services, imposing new export
restrictions or implementing World Trade Organization (WTO)
- inconsistent measures to stimulate exports."
The G20 members commit to rectify above measures as they
arise, the declaration said. The summit stressed again the
support for bringing the WTO Doha Development Round to a
balanced and ambitious conclusion as soon as possible,
consistent with its mandate and based on the progress already
made.
26 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
WORLD'S LARGEST GOLD COIN AUCTIONED FOR USD4.03 MILLION
INDIA, CANADA SIGN CIVIL NUCLEAR DEAL
The world's largest
gold coin 'Maple Leaf
2007' was sold at an
auction for USD 4.03
million.
Spanish precious
metals trading company
Oro Direct bought the
100-kilogram Canadian
coin which has a face
value of CAD 1 million.
Measuring 53 centimetres in diameter and with a purity of
99.999 per cent, it is listed in the current edition of the Guinness
Book of Records as the world's biggest gold coin.
The front side of the coin displays Queen Elisabeth II and
the reverse shows three maple leaves, the national symbol for
Canada.
There are five Maple Leaf 2007 coins worldwide. One is
owned by Queen Elisabeth II, two belong to unidentified
investors in Dubai and the whereabouts of the fifth is unknown.
The former owner, the Austrian investment group AvW
Invest, which filed for insolvency earlier this year, ordered the
auction in the Vienna-based Dorotheum, which is central
Europe's largest auction house.
India and Canada signed a landmark civil nuclear deal with
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assuring that imported
uranium and atomic technology will not be used for "any
unintended purpose."
Dr. Singh said the nuclear cooperation pact "breaks new
grounds" in the history of Indo-Canadian cooperation in the atomic
sector while his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper called it a
goodagreementbecause"wecannotliveinthepastof1970s".
The agreement will enable India to import Canadian atomic
equipment and technology and secure uranium by providing the
Canadian nuclear industry access to the expanding multi-
billion dollar Indian nuclear market. The possibility of having
joint ventures will also be explored.
������
The agreement which was
signed in the presence of Dr.
Singh and Harper came 36 years
after Canada slapped sanctions
on India for testing an atomic
bomb in 1974.
Canada is the eighth nation
to reach a civil nuclear deal with India since the Nuclear
Suppliers' Group, a cartel which trades in nuclear fuel,
equipment and technology, lifted a 34-year ban on India in 2008.
US, France and Russia are among the countries with which India
has civil nuclear pacts.
"We have complete civilian control and there is no scope
whatsoever for any nuclear material or equipment being
supplied going for any unintended purpose," Dr. Singh told a
joint press conference with Harper after the agreement was
signed by Srikumar Banerjee, Secretary, Department of Atomic
Energy and host Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon.
"Nuclear material supplied to India will be fully safeguarded
in terms of agreement signed with IAEA. We have fool-proof
system of export controls," Dr. Singh said responding to a
question whether there were enough safeguards to prevent
nuclear material coming to India under such agreements being
used for any weapons programme.
Dr. Singh the first Indian Head of the Government to visit
Canada after I K Gujral's trip in Toronto 16 years ago said the
agreement "breaks new grounds" in the history of bilateral
cooperation in the sector.
In an apparent reference to sanctions imposed by Canada on
India after the Pokhran-I and Pokhran-II atomic tests in 1974
and 1998, Harper said his country cannot live in the past.
A joint statement issued at the end of the Singh-Harper
meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit said the two Prime
Ministers committed themselves to the ratification of the
nuclear agreement and completion of all remaining steps
necessary to ensure its early implementation.
The two leaders also strongly condemned terrorism in all its
forms and manifestations and agreed to direct their respective
governments toward greater cooperation in counter-terrorism
and security related matters.
Dr. Singh also made it clear to Canada and the Sikh
community that the Canadian soil should not be allowed to be
used for promoting extremism against India and hoped the
government in Toronto was "alive to what is happening".
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 27
FRANCE TO HOST NEXT G-8 SUMMIT AT RESORT CITYOF NICE
42 KILLED IN 3 SUICIDE BLASTS IN PAK SUFI SHRINE
France will host the next
G-8 summit in 2011 in its sea
side resort city of Nice,
a n n o u n c e d Pr e s i d e n t
Nicholas Sarkozy. "Leaders
welcomed the offer of France
to host the next Summit in
France in 2011," said the Muskoka Declaration issued upon the
conclusion of the G8 summit.
France will take over the rotating G8 presidency from
Canada next year. "The next G-8 Summit, which it will be an
honour to host, will be held in Nice probably some time in
spring at a date which we will work out with our partners,"
Sarkozy said.
Canada, which is also hosting the Fourth Summit of the
Group of G-20 in its largest city Toronto just hours after the end
of the G8 summit, has become the first country to host the two
important international forums back to back. It remained
unknown when and where exactly the next G8 summit in France
will take place, or whether it will once again go side by side with
the G20 summit.
������
Three suicide bombers struck in
quick succession at a famous Sufi shrine
in Lahore, killing at least 42 people and
injuring more than 100 others.
One attacker blew himself up at the
crowded entrance to the shrine and the
second in the basement, where people
perform ablutions before entering the complex.
The third bomber detonated his explosive vest in a part of
the shrine adjoining a busy market.
District Administration Chief Sajjad Bhutta said all three
blasts were carried out by suicide bombers.
The shrine attracts large crowds every Thursday night with
people visiting the complex to offer special prayers.
The blast in the basement caused the most damage as the
shock waves were intensified by the confined space.
CHINA, TAIWAN SIGN TRADE PACT
Taiwan and China signed a historic
trade pact. The Economic Cooperation
Framework Agreement (ECFA), hailed by
both sides as a milestone and a commercial
imperative in an era of strong regional
cooperation, was signed by senior
delegates in the southwest Chinese city of Chongqing.
The agreement marks the culmination of a Beijing-friendly
policy introduced by Taiwan President, Ma Ying-jeou after
assuming power in 2008.
In Taipei, Mr. Ma said the pact meant peace and prosperity
between China and Taiwan were no longer a distant dream but a
reality “within our reach”, with implications for the region as a
whole.
The agreement – a “win-win” formula according to Chiang's
Chinese opposite number, Chen Yunlin – is just about trade,
according to the governments in Beijing and Taipei.
China is Taiwan's largest trading partner, its largest
investment destination, and now also home to a growing number
of Taiwanese.
It is estimated that about one million people from the island
live in China, especially in the Shanghai area.
They, and thousands of short-term travellers, now have
access to 370 direct flights a week, whereas only a few years back
all air travel had to come via Hong Kong.
The trade pact looks set to push interaction between the two
sides to a new level.
The deal will confer preferential tariffs, and in some cases
zero tariffs, on 539 Taiwanese products from petrochemicals
and auto parts to machinery – representing 16 per cent of the
island's total export value to China.
At the same time, only about 267 Chinese items, or 10.5
percent of China's export value to Taiwan, will be placed on the
“early harvest” list enjoying zero or falling tariffs.
Mr. Ma's administration has said the pact will create 260,000
jobs on the island and boost growth by up to 1.7 percentage
points.
The two sides also signed an agreement on protection of
intellectual property rights.
28 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
The explosion completely smashed the ceiling and ripped
through a large number of people who were performing
ablutions in the basement.
Police found the heads and body parts of two bombers and
sent them for forensic tests. Officials said the suicide vests were
packed with over 10 kg of explosives and ball bearings.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the
Taliban have opposed the practice of people visiting the shrines
of Sufi saints.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza
Gilani strongly condemned the blasts at the Data Darbar shrine.
Targeting the sacred shrine which has sentimental value for
Muslims all over the country clearly reflects that terrorists have
no consideration for any religion, faith or belief.
Gilani said his government is committed to eradicate
terrorism at all costs.
Data Darbar is the shrine of Syed Abul Hassan bin Usman
bin Ali al-Hajweri, who is considered the patron saint of Lahore.
In a development that could have far reaching political
impact in the region, Kyrgyzstan is all set to become Central
Asia's first parliamentary democracy with an overwhelming
90.55 per cent of voters backing a new constitution which strips
the President's of its wide ranging powers.
After publishing the official results of the 27th June
referendum, the Kyrgyz Central Election Commission (CEC)
declared Roza Otunbayeva as the transitional President of the
Central Asian republic till 31st December, 2011.
I t formal ly dissolved the
presidential parliament, which was
in jeopardy in the wake of violent
ouster of President Kurmanbek
Bakiyev's regime in April.
The new constitution dilutes the
presidency's wide-ranging powers, has come into effect after the
referendum. In line with the new constitution, the 120-strong
Kyrgyz Parliament after October elections will appoint the
Prime Minister and the government.
������
KYRGYZSTAN TO BECOME CENTRAL ASIA'S 1STPARLIAMNTRY DEMOCRACY
The official results of the referendum on a new Kyrgyz
constitution were published on July 2, in government newspaper
Erkin-Too, RIA Novosti reported from Bishkek.
Backed by 90.55 per cent of Kyrgyz voters the new
constitution paves the path of transition to a parliamentary
democracy in the former Soviet republic divided in the rival
clans and last month's inter-ethnic violence, in which at least
2,000 people, mostly of Uzbek minority were feared killed, ten
times more than the official figure of 280.
Otunbayeva's predecessor, Bakiyev fled the country after
violent opposition protests in capital Bishkek on 7th April and
since then has taken refuge in Belarus.
Both Russia and the US already have air bases near the
Kyrgyz capital Bishkek and the new military base in the south of
the country was part of the Kremlin's plans to offset the growing
US military presence in Central Asia.
The referendum, was the first step towards legitimacy of the
present regime, took place in the midst of inter-ethnic violence
in the southern regions of Osh and Jalalabad and exodus of
hundreds of thousand refugees to neighbouring Uzbekistan.
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) had sent a police assessment mission to Kyrgyzstan to
help stabilise the situation in the country.
Kyrgyzstan has a population of over 5.3 million people
divided among three main groups - the indigenous Kyrgyz, the
Russians who stayed back after the end of the Soviet Union, and
a large and concentrated Uzbek population.
President Dmitry Medvedev had cautioned that Kyrgyzstan
risks disintegration and split like Afghanistan if the political
stability is not restored through democratic means.
Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muraitharan, the world's
leading wicket taker and one of the finest exponents of spin
bowling, announced his retirement from International Test
cricket, bringing an end to a glittering career spanning 18 years.
The first Test against India in Galle, beginning 18th July, will
be the last game for the 38-years-old Muralitharan, who has
taken an amazing tally of 792 wickets in 132 Tests and 515
wickets in 337 ODIs.
������
MURALITHARAN TO RETIRE INT TEST CRICKET AFTERGALLE MATCH
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 29
While India, for the first time,
held such an engagement known as
'2+2 dialogue', Japan has been
involved in such consultation with
mutual allies – the US and Australia.
The fact that Japan has extended
such deliberations with a country
other than its mutual allies shows the significance the ties are
assuming.
The Indian side was led by Foreign Secretary, Nirupama Rao
and Defence Secretary, Pradeep Kumar, while Deputy Foreign
Minister Kenichiro Sasae and Vice Defense Minister Kimito
Nakae represented Japan.
The Prime Ministers of the two countries had agreed to
these '2+2 consultations' at senior officials' level in the Action
Plan to advance Security Cooperation of December 2009, during
the visit of then Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to
India.
"Each side provided the other with an exposition of its
defence and security policies in the framework of their
respective security environments," the Indian external affairs
ministry said in a statement.
Against this background, the two sides reviewed the India-
Japan Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation and the Action
Plan to advance such cooperation, according to an official release
from External Affairs Ministry.
Besides discussing non-traditional threats to security, the
two sides decided to hold the next meeting of the India-Japan
Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism at an early date with
an aim to strengthen cooperation in this field.
Ways to strengthen cooperation in anti-piracy operations in
the Gulf of Aden and holding of joint naval exercises were also
part of the discussion.
The next round of the India-Japan '2+2 dialogue' will be held
in Tokyo in 2011.
The prospects a bilateral civil nuclear pact, following the
first round of nuclear negotiations a week ago in Tokyo, were also
discussed by the two sides.
The engagement, which takes place days after the two
countries initiated talks on June 28-29 on the civil nuclear
cooperation, a move which was widely hailed as a breakthrough
as it marked a major shift in the position of Japan – the only
country which has been opposing any atomic dealing with a non-
NPT signatory country.
Although Murali will no
longer play after the first
match of the three-Test
series, he has kept open the
option of playing the 2011
ODI World Cup, to be co-
hosted by Sri Lanka along
with India and Bangladesh.
The off-spinner, who was
called for throwing by a few
u m p i r e s d u r i n g h i s
illustrious career, has been
one of the most talked about players in contemporary cricket.
Muralitharan is one of the most successful bowlers in the
history of the game but controversies were an integral part of his
successful career.
The cricketer, who made his debut in 1992 against Australia,
had the world cricket debating about his unorthodox and weird
bowling action.
He was an enthralling battle for supremacy with Australian
leg-spinner Shane Warne as both kept re-writing the highest
wicket record.
Warne retired with 708 scalps and Murali overtook him in
December 2007 against England at his home ground in Kandy.
He achieved the grand double of being the highest wicket-
taker in ODIs as well when he went past Wasim Akram's record
of 502 wickets in 2009.
He could not do much in 2007 World Cup and it remains to
be seen if he decides to play in the 2011 edition and help his side
win their second World title.
He has said that it is difficult to bowl long spell for him and is
expected to play T20 cricket.
He plays for reigning IPL champions Chennai Super Kings,
who are due to play in the Champions T20 league in September
in South Africa.
India and Japan held the first senior-level dialogue on
foreign affairs and security, during which both sides discussed
the regional and global security situation and took a
"comprehensive review" of bilateral ties.
������
JAPAN EXTENDS '2+2 DIALOGUE' TO INDIA
30 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
RIL TO ACQUIRE 45 PC STAKE IN US FIRM PNR'S SHALEGAS ASSETS
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance
Industries said it will acquire 45 per
cent stake in US-based Pioneer
Natural Resources' shale gas assets in
the US for 1.15 billion dollars (around
Rs 5,300 crore).
RIL signed agreement to take 45
per cent interest in highly prospective
Eagle Ford Shale play, the Mumbai-
based firm and Pioneer said in separate but almost identical
statements.
Pioneer currently produces about 28 million cubic feet per
day from five wells in the 212,000 acres Eagle Ford Shale
property.
After the agreement, RIL will own 95,300 acres of this
property.
RIL will pay USD 266 million in cash to Pioneer at closing
and an additional USD 879 million to carry Pioneer's share of
future drilling costs.
Additionally, RIL and Pioneer have executed agreement to
form a midstream joint venture that will service to sell the gas
produced from the Eagle Ford property.
Reliance Eagleford Midstream will pay USD 46 million to
acquire a 49.9 per cent interest in the joint venture.
RIL Executive Director, PMS Prasad said “Reliance is very
pleased to establish a long-term partnership with Pioneer in the
Eagle Ford shale.This transaction represents another
significant milestone in Reliance's efforts to grow its North
American shale gas operations.”
The deal would be RIL's second purchase of a US shale gas
interest in as many months.
The company had made its first breakthrough in the US in
April when it had acquired 40 per cent stake in Atlas Energy Inc's
3,00,000 acres shale gas property for USD 1.7 billion.
India expressed confidence to
achieve trade target of 30 billion
dollars with Republic of Korea
(ROK) by 2014.
Addressing the India -
Republic of Korea (ROK) Joint
Commission, External Affairs
Minister S M Krishna stressed
that economic cooperation is the
bedrock of India - ROK bilateral relations.
"Bilateral trade has jumped by a robust 70 percent in the first
four months of the year. This trend is expected to continue over
the coming months, providing confidence that the trade target
of US 30 billion dollars by 2014 can be achieved," Krishna said.
In this context, Krishna pointed out the need for expanded,
but balanced trade growth and made a strong case for greater
access to the Korean market for Indian pharmaceuticals, IT
enabled services and agro-products.
Krishna who is on a three-day official visit to South Korea
chaired the joint commission meeting along with his
counterpart Yu Myung-hwan.
Both Krishna and Yu Myung-hwan reviewed the
implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership
Agreement (CEPA) and discussed ways to enhance bilateral
defence and security cooperation.
Krishna and Yu Myung-hwan also discussed navy-to-navy
cooperation in anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean.
������
INDIA TARGETS 30 BILLION DOLLARS TRADE WITHSOUTH KOREA BY 2014
Business and economy
Current events
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 31
The deal comes a fortnight after R-Com had announced it is
restructuring its tower arm to raise money. The deal will help the
company cut down debt significantly – Rs 18,000 crore according
to some reports. R-Com had a total debt of Rs 19,889 crore at the
end of FY10. The company had raised debt to pay Rs 8,585 crore
for the spectrum it had won in the 3G auction. Lower debt will
make it easier for the company to fund its expenditure for 3G
services rollout.
The purchase will help GTL strengthen its position as an
independent telecom tower firm. This is the second major
purchase by GTL in the past six months.
It had purchased 17,500 towers from Aircel at a total
valuation of Rs 8,400 crore earlier in January this year. GTL will
have a network of 80,000+ towers and will be the largest
independent tower operator in India by a very wide margin.
Based on recent transactions in the telecom space, tower
deals have been finalised at Rs 50-60 lakh/tower. Reliance
Infratel, which has 50,000 towers, would have an enterprise
value (market capitalisation + debt) of Rs 30,000 crore by this
metric. However, Infratel may get a premium because it has, on
an average, 1.75 tenants for each of its towers. This is higher
than the industry average.
Media reports suggest that Mr Anil Ambani will hold a stake
of 25 per cent in GTL post the transaction while the promoters
of GTL will have a 33 per cent stake.
Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and Anil’s Reliance
Natural Resources Limited took yet another conciliatory step by
signing the revised Gas Supply Master Agreement. This
followed the direction of the Supreme Court on May 7, 2010.
In a statement, RIL said, “The gas
supply master agreement (GSMA) is
compliant with the gas utilisation
policy and the empowered group of
ministers’ decisions.”
The Supreme Court had asked both the brothers to rework
their earlier family agreement.
RNRL in a disclosure to the stock exchanges said it “will now
take appropriate steps to request the government of India for
expeditious allocation of natural gas to facilitate implementation
of the same.”
������
MUKESH, ANIL SIGN KG GAS PACT
Krishna stressed the potential for expanded cooperation in
defence production including through transfer of technology,
joint ventures and co-production.
Noting that both India and South Korea had exchanged
drafts of an Inter Governmental Agreement on Peaceful Uses of
Nuclear Energy, Krishna and Yu Myung-hwan agreed to launch
negotiations between the two countries, at an early date, for the
conclusion of such an agreement.
Krishna proposed that the establishment of the dedicated
Joint Science and Technology Fund of US ten million dollars to
promote joint research between scientists and technologists of
the two countries be expedited.
The Joint Commission discussed details of the "Year of
India" in Korea and the "Year of Korea" in India in 2011,
including cooperation in showcasing Indian culture and arts in
Korea.
Krishna suggested the installation of a bust of Indian poet
Rabindranath Tagore at a prominent location in Seoul in 2011,
the 150th birth anniversary of the poet.
Both India and South Korea agreed that an open and
inclusive Asian regional architecture based on the principles of
mutual benefit and shared opportunity is in the interest of both
countries.
They agreed to work closely towards this goal within the East
Asia Summit framework.
Reliance Communications is selling
Reliance Infratel, its telecom tower arm,
to GTL Infrastructure, a standalone
telecom tower operator. The enterprise
value of GTL Infra after the merger will
be Rs 50,000 crore. Post transaction, GTL
will have over 80,000 towers and will be
the largest independent telecom tower
operator in the world.
The management control of the
merged entity will be with GTL
promoters. GTL will pay for Infratel in a combination of cash
and stock, details for which will be given out later. R-Com will
get some cash for its stake in Infratel. In addition, its
shareholders will get shares of GTL Infra.
������
R-COM, GTL INFRA INK RS 50K CR DEAL
32 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
The GSMA had three main components, namely pricing,
quantity and tenure. The pricing has been fixed by the
government at $4.34 per unit, and the government will also
decide how much gas will be given and for how long.
RIL is already supplying gas to the ADAG’s power plant in
Andhra Pradesh at $4.2 per unit and it has one plant in Goa.
To qualify for the gas, ADAG firm will have to expand the
plant’s capacity there. In the earlier agreement, the ADAG firm
was to get gas at $2.42 per unit for 17 years.
Mukesh-led RIL later said that the government would
decide the pricing and the quantity. The Supreme Court upheld
this saying that gas as a natural resource belonged to the
government which could decide pricing, etc.
In a contradiction of
sorts, car dealers are
offering Nano off the
shelf, even as Tata
Motors claims that it is
delivering only against
the original one lakh
bookings for the world’s
cheapest car.
A Ta t a M o t o r s
spokesperson said the
company was selling Nanos to those who already have bookings
as per schedule and at the same price as was committed during
the bookings.
The spokesperson kept repeating the same answer when
asked about the dealers’ claim that Nano, the Rs 1 lakh car, was
now available off the shelf, despite an order backlog of over
60,000 units.
The dealers’ claim comes amid reports that Tatas are hiking
the price of the car by up to Rs 15,000, an issue on which the
company spokesperson said, “Tata Motors has not made any
decision on any price increase on the Tata Nano.”
While the company had recently stated that open market
sales of Nano are likely to begin by August with its Sanand plant
going into production mode, dealers said the base model can
now be purchased within a period of two days, while the topend
version would need 15 days.
������
DEALERS, TATA DIFFER ON NANO DELIVERY
RETIREMENT BENEFITS OFF TAX NET
AGRICULTURE LOANS EXCEED TARGET BY 13 PC INFY'10
Giving relief to the working class, the government has
decided not to tax withdrawals from provident funds, pension
schemes and life insurance schemes in the revised draft Direct
Taxes Code (DTC) released.
The government intends to introduce the DTC in the
monsoon session of the Parliament to replace the current
Income-Tax Act.
In the earlier draft of the DTC released last August the
finance ministry had proposed to tax all the tax saving
instruments at the time of withdrawal. However, the limit of tax
saving was increased to Rs 3 lakh in a financial year. The proposal
to tax all tax saving instruments was opposed by various bodies.
“It is proposed to provide the Exempt-Exempt-Exempt
(EEE) method of taxation for government provident fund
(GPF), public provident fund (PPF) and recognised provident
funds (RPFs) and the pension scheme administered by Pension
Fund Regulatory and Development Authority,” said the revised
DTC. It said that the approved pure life insurance products and
annuity schemes will also not be taxed during withdrawal.
The representations to the finance ministry argued that
countries where tax savings instruments were taxed had a social
security system for all their citizens.
“It has been represented that in India, in the absence of a
universal social security system, the proposed EET (Exempt-
Exempt-Taxation) method of taxation of permitted savings
would be harsh. Tax payers require some flexibility in making
withdrawals in lump sum without being subjected to tax,” said
the ministry.
Agricultural credit flow by
cooperative and public sector banks
exceeded the target by 13 per cent in
2009-10 financial year. "The flow of
credit to the agriculture sector
increased significantly and banks
have surpassed the target by
extending Rs 3,67,000 crore worth of
loan to farmers," an Agriculture
Ministry official informed.
������
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 33
"We should be able to toll 30,000 km of National Highways in
five years," Nath said.
Electronic collection system (ETC) would allow cashless
payment of highway tolls of vehicles passing through a toll plaza.
Under the new system every vehicle will be fitted with an
RFID (radio frequency identification) tag, which will cost Rs 100
per unit.
Nath said the government will hold talks with the Society of
Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) to have inbuilt chips
in vehicles.
"We will consult SIAM to have this chip on every vehicle
produced," Nath said.
As per the current SIAM data, over 1.2 crore vehicles were
produced in the country on 31st March, 2010. Based on this
estimate, the tags for ETC would cost about Rs 120 crore.
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Chairman
Nilekani said that the chip, which would be installed on the
windscreens of the vehicles, is rechargeable.
At present toll is collected manually at the toll plazas which
results in increase in travel time for users.
Ushering an era of new interest rate
regime, several PSU banks announced new
benchmark base rates of up to 8%, with SBI
being lowest at 7.5%, for giving loans
including housing and commercial at or above
it, a move that could make credit cheaper.
Other lenders, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India
and Central Bank of India fixed the benchmark rate (minimum
lending rate) at 8 % as part of the shift to new regime from July 1,
replacing their prime lending rates that ranged between 11 and
14 %.
Bank of Rajasthan, a small private bank being acquired by
ICICI Bank, also came out with 8 per cent base rate.
Under the present system, the banks would peg a prudent
PLR but would lend below it if the credit rating of the borrower
is very good. The new system would not allow banks to lend
below the base rate.
������
PSU BANKS ANNOUNCE BASE INTEREST RATES, SBI'SLOWEST AT 7.5%
The banks including public sector, cooperative and regional
rural banks (RRBs), were set a target to lend Rs 3,25,000 crore of
credit to farmers last fiscal. The farm credit was extended to as
many as 4.82 crore farmers last year and banks gave crop loan to
91 lakh new farmers.
According to official data, public sector banks lent Rs
2,75,000 crore of farm credit, while co-operative and RRBs
loaned Rs 58,000 crore and Rs 34,000 crore respectively in 2009-
10. The total farm credit flow in 2009-10 fiscal was higher than
the previous year's Rs 3,02,000 crore, the official said.
Usually, farmers are given credit at an interest rate of seven
per cent per annum. However, in a move to reward those farmers
who make their loan payment on time, the Central Government
reduced their loan interest rate to 6 percent last year and 5 per
cent this year.
The government said that a new
electronic toll collection system that
will do away with the need for
human tax collectors, and help plug
revenue leakages will be put in place
by May 2012.
A committee on electronic toll
collection headed by UIDAI
Chairman Nandan Nilekani, which
is developing the equipment, has
recommended using Radio Frequency Identification technology
for the system, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal
Nath told reporters in New Delhi.
Radio Frequency transmits the identity (in the form of a
unique serial number) of an object or person wirelessly, using
radio waves.
The committee's report has been accepted by the
government, Nath said, adding, "It would be implemented in the
next 18-20 months and with the new systems the government
would be able to check revenue leakages in toll collection."
"The revenue leakage at present is 15 per cent of the toll
collection, which comes to about Rs 300 crore," he said.
Out of the 71,000 km of National Highways in the country,
only 8,500 km is under toll and the government is planning to
increase it to 30,000 km in the next five years.
������
NEW ELECTRONIC TOLL COLLECTION SYSTEM BYMAY 2012: NATH
34 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
As per the RBI, the new regime is aimed at improving
transparency and prevent creation of non-productive assets.
Under the base rate lending mechanism, borrowers will be
charged interest rates over the base rate depending on their
credit profile.
The system, however, will not apply to concessional loans for
agriculture, export and other specified sectors.
Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Communications (RCom)
announced acquisition of Digicable, the
country's largest cable TV service provider, in
an all-stock deal.
The board of RCom approved the proposal for the
acquisition in a meeting held, the company said in a statement,
but did not disclose the value of the deal.
The new entity named “Reliance DigiCom” will integrate
RCom's DTH, IPTV and Retail broadband operations, with
Digicable. The deal would create Asia's largest and the world's
fifth largest entity offering full-suite of Digital TV, ultra high-
speed broadband and voice services.
Commenting on the acquisition, RCom Chairman Anil
Ambani said the Digital TV and broadband space was poised for
similar explosive growth in the years ahead.
“With this game changing move, we hope to lead the next
revolution in digital home entertainment in India, by offering a
world-class TV experience and ultra high speed broadband
capability to a billion people.”
Established in August 2007, Digicable is one of the largest
Cable TV service providers in the country. The company is
promoted by Jagjit Singh Kohli along with Yogesh Shah.
Exports rose by 35.1 per cent in May to $16.1 billion year-on-
year, but the trouble brewing in some European economies may
weigh on future demand.
The seventh straight month of rise was registered on a low
export base of $11.95 billion in May 2009, when shipments had
plunged by over 29% from the previous fiscal under the impact of
the recession in the U.S. and several other advanced economies.
������
������
RCOM ACQUIRES DIGICABLE
EXPORTS JUMP 35% TO $16 BILLION IN MAY
In the first two months of 2010-11,
exports grew 35.7 per cent to $33 billion
against the year-ago period, according to
official data released.
Federation of Indian Export
Organisations President A. Sakthivel
said the crisis in some European
countries was a cause for concern.
“We hope the growth trend will continue but the only
worrying aspect is the crisis in the eruo zone, which is likely to
affect India's exports in that area,” he said.
Of the $176.50 billion exports last fiscal, Europe accounted
for 23 per cent.
Ministry officials said that labour-intensive sectors like
engineering, gems and jewellery, leather and man-made fibres
have registered healthy growth rates in May.
Imports also surged by 38.5 per cent in May to $27.4 per cent,
indicating a rapid pace of domestic economic activity and
leading to a trade gap of $11.29 billion during the month under
review.
Imports during the first two months of this fiscal grew 40.9
per cent to $54.7 billion against $38.85 billion in the same period
last year.
Oil imports in May were valued at $8.8 billion while the non-
oil import bill was about $18.6 billion.
������
The World Bank is committed to
support India's development agenda as
evident from the record annual
lending of $ 9.3 billion for the current
financial year. Roberto Zagha, World
Bank Country Director for India said
this while speaking to the media
persons at New Delhi.
According to the World Bank website, the total expected
lending this year includes $2.6 billion as interest-free credits
from the International Development Association (IDA) and $6.7
billion in the form of long term, low interest loans from
International Bank of Reconstruction and Development
(IBRD).
WORLD BANK LENDS RECORD 9.3 BILLION TO INDIA INFY 10
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 35
David Sohn, a lawyer for the Center for Democracy and
Technology, said, "Without this decision, user-generated
content would dry up and the internet would cease to be a
participatory medium.
However, Laura Martin, an analyst at Needham, said the
battle was not over.
"These issues are really important for content creators to
protect their intellectual property against the usage by online
aggregators. It is really important for content creator to get paid,"
she said.
"This is the beginning, not the end. Sumner (Redstone,
Viacom's Chairman) won't roll over and die on this.”
Leading beverages companies
in India, including Pepsico, Coca-
Cola and Dabur, have come
together to form an industrial
body to address common
concerns faced by the sector.
"Leading Indian companies
with direct and allied interests in
the non-alcoholic beverage industry have come together to form
the Indian Beverage Association (IBA)," a press release issued in
New Delhi said.
Companies that have subscribed to the association include
Dabur India, Red Bull India, Jain Irrigation Systems, Tetra Pak
India, Pearl Drinks, Bengal Beverages, Coca-Cola India and
PepsiCo India Holdings.
The Indian Soft Drinks Manufacturers Association is also a
member of the IBA, the statement said.
"IBA aims to be the national voice for the non-alcoholic
beverage industry and to effectively represent the members'
interests," Indian Beverage Association Secretary General
Arvind Varma said.
The Association will serve as an inter-face between the
industry, the government and the public, besides providing a
unified and focused viewpoint in respect of legislative and
regulatory matters, he added.
������
SOFT DRINK FIRMS FORM COUNTRY'S FIRST BEVERAGEBODY
GOOGLE'S YOUTUBE WINS VIACOM COPYRIGHT CASE
Google has won a landmark ruling as a
judge threw out a $1bn lawsuit brought by
Viacom accusing the internet giant of
allowing copyrighted material on its
YouTube service without permission.
Viacom had accused Google of "massive
intentional copyright infringement".
But the Manhattan judge said Google and YouTube could
not be held liable merely for having a "general awareness" that
videos might be posted illegally.
Media conglomerate Viacom said it planned to appeal
against the decision.
Google called the ruling "an important victory".
Viacom had claimed that "tens of thousands of videos" based
on its copyrighted works had been posted on YouTube, and that
both YouTube and its owner Google had known about it but had
done nothing about it.
South Park Viacom said many shows, including South Park,
had been uploaded illegally
But District Judge Louis Stanton said in his ruling: "Mere
knowledge of prevalence of such activity in general is not
enough. The provider need not monitor or seek out facts
indicating such activity."
Google and YouTube had argued that they were entitled to
"safe harbour" protection under digital copyright law because
they had insufficient notice of particular alleged offences.
Judge Stanton agreed, saying that when "YouTube was given
notices, it removed the material... it is thus protected from
liability" under a provision in the Digital Millennium Copyright
Act.
Viacom called the ruling "fundamentally flawed" and said it
reflected neither Congress's intent behind copyright laws nor
recent Supreme Court decisions.
Google welcomed the ruling. "This is an important victory
not just for us, but also for the billions of people around the
world who use the web to communicate and share experiences
with each other," Google's Kent Walker said on the company's
blog.
36 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
IBA, which will be headquartered at the PHDCCI House in
city, said it will address common concerns pertaining to the
Central and State Governments, various regulatory agencies,
trade associations and other stakeholders and parties.
"It will help facilitate the framing, development and
dissemination of best practices related to environment, quality,
manufacturing, and other relevant areas," it said.
������
Buoyed by the recovery
in the global housing
market, India ranked 13th
across the globe in terms of
price rise in the residential
sector for the year ending
March, said property
consultancy firm Knight
Frank.
The list was topped by neighbouring China, it added. Of the
47 countries surveyed, more than half (53 percent) had
witnessed price increases in the residential property segment.
"Growth has been driven by a confluence of factors: low
interest rates, first-time buyer concessions, strong population
growth and a lagging supply response. However, with interest
rates now rising, the government withdrawing stimulus and the
supply response picking up, we expect house price growth to
slow over the next six to nine months," Knight Frank Head of
Residential Research Liam Bailey said.
India, in the 13th position, recorded a growth of 8.4 percent
in the year ended March 2010 over the year-ago period while
China bagged the first position with a growth of 68 percent.
"A recovery in the global housing market is undoubtedly
underway. In Q1 2009, 33 percent of the countries recorded
positive annual growth. In Q1 2010, this figure was closer to 53
percent but still some way off the figure of 90 percent was
recorded in Q1 2006," Bailey added.
China is followed by Hong Kong (30.6 percent), Singapore
(24.3 percent), Australia (20 percent) and Israel (15.9 percent)
on the list.
The report said that the Asia-Pacific region saw the
strongest growth, with prices increasing by 17.8 percent on an
average.
INDIA RANKS 13TH IN HOUSING PRICE RISE LIST;CHINA TOPS
The top four countries in the list were from the Asia- Pacific
region, with China, Hong Kong and Singapore recording an
annual growth in excess of 24 percent.
The countries that occupied the bottom rungs, with the
annual price falling by more than 30 per cent, were Lithuania
Ukraine and Estonia.
������
������
President Jacob Zuma said the
billions South Africa had spent on the
World Cup had paid off with
improvements to the country's
infrastructure as well as 'priceless'
social benefits.
"Economically, the tournament
has been a success. We can safely say
that we have good returns on our
investment, which includes 33 billion
rand (4.2 billion dollars, 3.4 billion
e u r o s ) s p e n t o n t r a n s p o r t
infrastructure, telecommunications and stadiums," Zuma said.
"The investment in stadiums created an estimated 66,000
new construction jobs. The 1.3 billion rand spent on safety and
security includes a permanent addition of 40,000 new policemen
and women," he told in an investment conference in Cape Town.
Zuma also praised the sense of national unity fostered by the
tournament, which has brought fans of all races to the stadiums,
16 years after the first all-race elections ended white-minority
rule.
"The social benefits are priceless. We have seen remarkable
unity, patriotism and solidarity being displayed by South
Africans, which has never been witnessed before," Zuma said.
"This augurs well for the consolidation of reconciliation and
friendship for this young nation. We intend to build on this
achievement.”
With India's sugar output expected to rebound in the next
crop year, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the
time is now proper for the government to give a serious thought
to decontrolling the sugar industry.
ZUMA SAYS WORLD CUP INVESTMENT PAID OFF
PAWAR ROOTS FOR FREEING SUGAR SECTOR
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 37
Satyam had pleaded that as the CBI probe into the Rs10,000-
crore accounting scam was not yet over, company had only
limited access to vital documents for preparing financial reports.
Since the scam came to light early in January 2009, the CBI and
SFIO had seized all the documents of the company, it said.
Satyam further submitted that CBI is granting only limited
access to the documents, and expressed inability to furnish the
annual financial report till June 30.
Earlier, on October 15, 2009 CLB had given an extension to
Satyam till June 30 to file all the documents, including financial
statements for financial years 2008 and 2009 and quarterly
financial reports-as required under the listing agreements with
the bourses.
Satyam, which was renamed as Mahindra Satyam after its
takeover by Tech Mahindra in April 2009, came under scanner
when its founder Chairman, B Ramalinga Raju, confessed to
indulging in fraud on January 6, 2009.
The scam, biggest in the country's corporate history, is
estimated at over Rs10,000 crore.
China has become the world's third largest stock market, the
country's securities regulator said.
According to the China Securities
Regulatory Commission, the total market
value of the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets
hit 3.07 trillion dollars as of the end of May.
The total market value so far was up 393.76 percent
compared to the 2003 level, Xinhua news agency reports.
The United States has two of the top three exchanges based
on market value.
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the largest
exchange by far with a market value of 9.57 trillion dollars, while
NASDAQ exchange has a market value of 2.77 trillion dollars.
Japan's Tokyo Stock Exchange is the second largest stock
market with a market value of 3.1 trillion dollars.
In Europe, Euronext is the largest with a market value of 2.26
trillion dollars, followed closely by the London Stock Exchange
with a market value of 2.2 trillion dollars.
������
CHINA BECOMES WORLD’S THIRD LARGEST STOCKMARKET
The government controls the sugar sector right from fixing
the support price of cane to the quantity of sweetener to be sold
in the open market every month.
"I honestly feel that the trend which I am observing, I hope
this will continue. If the trend continues, this is the proper time
to create a situation where nobody should come to the food
ministry.
This is a proper time to give a serious thought to withdraw
various types of controls," Pawar said.
The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), the apex body
for private sugar mills, has been demanding the decontrol of the
sector for some years now.
Pawar also said the government plans to impose a tax on
white sugar imports in the new season that starts in October, but
it will wait until it gets a clear picture of the cane crop in the next
two months.
The government allowed taxfree imports of sugar last year to
calm soaring prices and overcome a domestic shortfall as
farmers had reduced cane planting and the crop was damaged by
a severe drought.
The government said that the
scam-hit Satyam can be given more
time to file its financial reports.
Tech Mahindra, which took over
Satyam Computers in April 2009
after its founder Chairman B
Ramalinga Raju confessed to fraud,
is currently fighting the case in the
Company Law Board (CLB).
The company is seeking time till September 30 to file its
financial reports and other regulatory filings.
Satyam has to submit various documents, besides data on
annual returns, required by the statutory authorities.
Earlier, on June 15 CLB had directed the Corporate Affairs
Ministry to give its reply to the plea of Satyam seeking time
within 15 days.
Satyam had moved the CLB in first week of June, seeking
time till September 30 to file its financial statements.
������
SATYAM CAN BE GIVEN MORE TIME: GOVT
38 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world. At
the same time, the country is also home to almost one fifth
of the total world population. With such a huge chunk of the
world population and growth rate of the economy hovering
around 8 to 9 per cent per annum for last five years, the demand
for petroleum products is expectedly high. Keeping the social
and economic ramifications in mind, the government has always
remained involved with the pricing and supply of these products.
The UPA government finally bit the bullet and moved to
decontrol the administered prices of key oil products at an
EGoM on June 25, 2010.
Household budget faced a fresh squeeze as the UPA
government, raised the prices of petrol by nearly Rs 4 per litre,
diesel by over Rs 2, kerosene by Rs 3 and cooking gas by Rs 35 per
cylinder.
The price of petrol may go up further from time to time as
the government announced to do away with the administered
price mechanism (APM). Now on, the oil marketing companies
(OMCs) are free to fix the retail price on a day-to-day basis,
aligning it with global crude oil rates.
The price may go up or come down, depending on the
movement of international crude price. In the foreseeable
future, consumers can expect the price to actually move up as
the crude price has been going up significantly in recent
months.
The government also announced its intentions to free diesel
pricing from APM in the near future, though it announced a
regulated increase of Rs 2 (Delhi price). The decontrol of diesel
price would be worked out by the OMCs in consultations with
the government. When this happens, the price of diesel may go
up further as, according to the government, there is still a
significant subsidy element in the price even after the Rs 2 per
litre increase. However, kerosene and LPG prices would still be
decided by the government, not by market forces alone, from
time to time.
The government move followed a decision by an Empowered
Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee, which was mandated to take a final call on
the Kirit Parekh Committee report. The report by the
government-appointed panel had recommended decontrolling
fuel prices to reduce fiscal deficit on account of a huge fuel
subsidy burden.
The decision was expected for some time as the government
was repeatedly deferring a final call on the issue due to
differences among UPA's coalition partners. Apparently, all
coalition partners of the Congress were onboard on June 25.
“The price hike is minimum...we didn't have a choice,”
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, who has been advocating the
changes for some time, told newsmen following the EGoM
decision.
The Parekh panel had recommended decontrolling auto fuel
prices and hiking the cost of kerosene by Rs 6 per litre and that of
an LPG cylinder by Rs 100 to save the OMCs.
As per the decision, though the OMCs would have full
freedom to determine the petrol pricing to start with on a day-to-
day basis, the price revision would be done periodically, like once
in a fortnight, Petroleum Secretary S Sundareshan said.
However, the government reserved for itself the right to
intervene when required. On the eve of the 2004 parliamentary
Fuel prices decontrolled
����� ��� ���
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 39
Industry experts said the government move is also a "game
changer" in the oil sector as it is expected to help private
companies like Reliance Industries and Essar, who had shut
down their oil retailing outlets given the price difference
between their selling price and that of state-run oil marketing
companies.
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, said that the
deregulation of petrol prices was a much needed reform, and
suggested that a similar exercise could be considered for the
prices of kerosene and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) with
adjustment.
"This was all necessary, considering the very high amount of
subsidy that is implicit in the pricing structure of kerosene and
LPG. We have taken due care to ensure that the poorer sections
are affected to the least possible extent, and that is why, the
attempt to keep under regulation the prices of kerosene and
LPG," Singh said.
The most immediate beneficiaries of
the move will be the state-run oil-marketing
companies, which can finally break out of
the vicious cycle of under-recoveries. That
is good for the companies' bottom line and
for their minority shareholders, who bore
the brunt of the long period of losses these
companies had to face. It is also good news
for private sector companies that wish to
enter the retail business in petroleum
products – it was not possible for them to
exist in a market where firms could only survive on the back of
government subsidies.
The government will, of course, be relieved of a huge subsidy
burden that has been an unnecessary strain on the fiscal deficit.
In the end, fiscal concerns may have forced the government's
hand on decontrol. Now, the government can justly claim credit
for radical reform of both the fertiliser and oil subsidy regimes.
It has sent out a strong signal on its commitment to fiscal
restraint.
Of course, middle-class consumers are unlikely to be
pleased at the sudden upward revision in prices but their
consumption choices will now be more rationally guided by
market prices rather than artificially subsidised prices. That will
be a great boon for India's climate change mitigation efforts as
well.
���������������������
� ��������
elections, the then NDA government undid its decontrol regime
to give itself a chance to win that election.
Sundareshan said that in the event the global crude oil prices
going up to a “abnormally high level”, the government could
intervene. But, “no price band has been fixed for government
intervention,” he added.
EGoM decision was timed appropriately to take advantage of
the relatively low global crude price, now hovering around $77 a
barrel. The OMCs and oil exploring firms are likely to benefit
from the price hike, though it might shoot up prices of essential
commodities like vegetables and food grain.
According to Sundareshan, despite the rise, the OMCs
would still incur a revenue loss of Rs 53,000 crore in the current
fiscal, presuming the average global crude oil price remained at
$75 per barrel.
“The modalities for compensating the OMCs will be worked
out by the Petroleum Ministr y in
consultation with the Finance Ministry,” he
said
The government's decision to decontrol
petrol price and hike that of other fuels has
evoked mixed reaction from the industry,
which although sees sound economic
reason behind the move, feels it will not
spare the already crippled economy unless
some adequate policy measures are taken.
T h e A s s o c i a t e d C h a m b e r s o f
Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM), reacting to the move,
said that the government had no option but to increase the prices
of petroleum products in view of rising crude oil prices which
have already put margins of oil companies in the downstream
sector in the red.
ASSOCHAM President, Swati Piramal, added said that the
increase in prices of petroleum products will further fuel the
inflation, especially the food inflation as prices of all essential
commodities including food grains will further go up.
Reacting to the oil price hike, Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) termed it as a
positive move as it would help the government to minimize, at
least in the short run, any impact of a spike in global crude
prices. More such measures should be taken in the interest of
the ultimate consumers
������������������������
40 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
Accenture is a global technology services, outsourcing,
and management consulting company. Almost 80
percent of Fortune 100’s companies work with
Accenture. Accenture is one of the Big Four firms with its
presence felt in fifty countries. Among its multiple strengths
Accenture is committed to offer broad and evolving services.
Business transformation outsourcing is another asset of this
prestigious Big 4 firm.
Initially called Andersen Consulting, Accenture was formally
established in 1989 when a group of partners from the
Consulting division of the various Arthur Andersen firms
around the world formed a new organization focused on
consulting and technology services related to managing large-
scale systems integration and enhancing business processes.
During its first 10 years, Accenture evolved from a systems
integrator to a global management consulting and technology
services company, providing the full range of consulting,
outsourcing and related technology services.
In 1991, Accenture began work on one of its first major
outsourcing arrangements when the company started managing
British Petroleum Exploration’s accounting, finance and
support functions from a special center that it established in
Aberdeen, Scotland. In 1994, the company established the
Accenture Technology Labs–then known as Centers for
Strategic Technology–in Palo Alto, California, and Sophia
Antipolis, France. As the technology R&D organization within
Accenture, the Accenture Technology Labs create a vision of
how technology will shape the future and invent the next wave of
cutting-edge business solutions.
By 2000, Accenture had achieved more than a decade of
tremendous growth, with net revenues exceeding US$9.5 billion
and more than 75,000 professionals in 47 countries delivering to
clients a broad range of consulting, technology and outsourcing
services and solutions.
On Jan.1, 2001, the company changed its name to Accenture
(from Andersen Consulting) as the result of an arbitrator’s
decision in August 2000 that severed the contractual ties
between Accenture and Andersen Worldwide Société
Coopérative (AWSC). Accenture then launched one of the
largest and most successful re-branding campaigns in corporate
history. The new name reinforced Accenture’s new positioning
and reflected the organization’s further growth and broadened
set of capabilities.
By 2001, it became apparent to Accenture’s partners that
maintaining the organization’s existing structure – since its
inception in 1989, Accenture had operated as a group of locally
owned independent partnerships or other entities in more than
40 countries – would limit the company’s ability to continue its
growth. Therefore, the partners decided to transition to
corporate form, enabling Accenture to build and acquire the
necessary capital to remain competitive and fuel its growth.
In April 2001, Accenture’s partners voted overwhelmingly to
pursue an initial public offering, and Accenture became a public
company on July 19, 2001, when it listed on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol ACN.
Today Accenture is a global management consulting,
technology services and outsourcing company, identifying new
business and technology trends and developing solutions to help
clients around the world enter new markets, increase revenues
in existing markets, improve operational performance, and
deliver their products and services more effectively and
efficiently. The six core values of Accenture are Client Value
Creation, Best People, Respect for the Individual, Integrity, One
Global Network and Stewardship.
Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates
with its clients to help them become high-performance
businesses and governments. With deep industry and business
process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track
record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills, and
technologies to help clients improve their performance.
Accenture
����� ����
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 41
models. Client engagement teams typically consist of industry
experts, capability specialists and professionals with local
market knowledge. The client teams are complemented by
professionals in the delivery centers, who capture replicable
components of methodologies and technologies to create client
solutions quickly, predictably and cost-effectively.
Research and innovation have been major factors in its
success, as approximately $250 million each year are spent on
research and development. The investment in research is used
to help create, commercialize and disseminate innovative
business strategies and technology to develop market-ready
solutions for the clients. Accenture’s research and innovation
program is designed to generate early insights into how
knowledge can be harnessed to create innovative business
solutions for its clients and to develop business strategies with
significant value.
Accenture’s business is structured around five operating
groups, which together comprise 18 industry groups serving
clients in every major industry. Its industry focus gives it an
understanding of industry evolution, business issues and
applicable technologies, enabling it to deliver innovative
solutions tailored to each client or, as appropriate, more-
standardized capabilities that are offered to multiple clients.
Accenture’s two capability groups, Business Consulting and
Technology & Outsourcing, develop a full spectrum of services
and solutions that address business opportunities and
challenges common across industries. The subject matter
experts within the capability groups support the industry
experts working within the operating groups. The business
process outsourcing (BPO) businesses provide function-
specific and/or industry-specific business services to multiple
clients on an outsourced basis through standard operating
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42 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
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Wimbledon 2010 Winners
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 43
FISH! is a philosophy that people around the world are
implementing in workplaces and educational
institutions to help foster fun and teamwork in their
business. This philosophy is interesting and has been
successful. It was conceived one happy day when on a visit to
Seattle, a man by the name of John Christensen observed how
positive and enthusiastic the employees of a run down fish
market were. Here the fishmongers spent stinky, grueling 12
hour shifts stocking, packing and selling fish, in an environment
that would have made even the most tolerant of us squirm.
Yet in an unlikely
manner, these workers
carried out orders by
flinging fish at each other
and to the customers - which
kept the employees on their
toes and the customers
e n t e r t a i n e d . T h e
fishmongers gave their full
attention to each customer
and made sure that they were
involved and walked away from the shop feeling positive about
the experience. Christensen, as a new witness to this unique
workplace, realised that not only were the workers making their
own day fly by, but they were also selling a great deal of fish!! This
philosophy has lead to improved morale and productivity in work
places across the world.
It has been studied that remarkable results can occur when
workers accept the invitation to:
First,
be there for co-workers. The biggest way to do this is by smiling
and acknowledging people while walking by them. Say hello,
converse with co-workers, be friendly and help co-workers
laugh. Take the time to listen to people around the workplace.
When seeing a co-worker not happy, go up to them and give them
a pat on the back and a compliment. Make an effort and try to get
to know everyone. Show up for work to help the team. A team is
not a team with people missing. These are all some of the things
we can do to be there for co-workers. These strategies are used
worldwide and seem to help,
1. Be there for their co-workers and customers:
2. Play:
3. Make someone’s day:
4. Choose their attitude about how they show up for
work:
The second strategy is to play at work. Playing helps
energize the workplace. Some examples of play are telling jokes
to co-workers, maybe even pass around appropriate jokes (no
personal jokes), saying things throughout the day to help people
laugh. Have theme days where everybody dresses up differently.
Having office parties helps unite play and team because
everyone gets together. Create bulletin boards and decorate the
office with fun stuff ensuring everyone’s involvement. Making
work fun helps work done and makes people want to participate
in a team.
This is easy to do and makes the
team run smoother. Several ways to make someone’s day are as
easy as saying hello, complimenting their looks, bringing baked
goods to work, having a candy bowl out for others to enjoy,
thanking people for the small and often overlooked things they
do for us, acknowledging others’ accomplishments, being nice,
and by simply volunteering our time. When working as a team it
is very important to remember team means “we” not “I”, that is
why it is so important to help the team work easier.
Attitude plays an important role in teamwork as well. The
good thing about attitude is you can choose a new one. Some
ways to keep a positive attitude and help support the team are:
start each day with a personal positive thought, go to work with a
positive attitude, put on a smile, start the day with a laugh or by
being helpful, think positive. If you feel yourself getting a bad
attitude change it so it does not affect others, be pleasant even if
your day is not going well, speak to co-workers and wish them a
good day.
Today the Fish! Philosophy has flourished among corporate
and educational markets throughout the world. Successful
teams all over the world are using these strategies and making
them work. Some of these teams are Ford Motor Company, Wells
Fargo, Sprint, the U.S. Army, the May O Clinic, Harley-Davison,
the National Weather Service and Verizon Wireless.
These are just some of the many successful companies
using the Fish! Principles and this philosophy continues to
grow. Teamwork is a vital part of life and we apply it everyday. We
use it all over the place, why not have fun while doing it.!
FISH PHILOSOPHY
�� ��������
44 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
PayPal is an online payments and money transfer service
that allows you to send money via email, phone, text
message or Skype. They offer products to both
individuals and businesses alike, including online vendors,
auction sites and corporate users. PayPal connects effortlessly to
bank accounts and credit cards. PayPal Mobile is one of PayPal’s
newest products. It allows you to send payments by text message
or by using PayPal’s mobile browser.
The current incarnation of PayPal is the result of a March
2000 merger between Confinity and X.com. Confinity was
founded in December 1998 by Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, and
Luke Nosek, initially as a Palm Pilot payments and cryptography
company. X.com was founded by Elon Musk in March 1999,
initially as an Internet financial services company. Both
Confinity and X.com launched their websites in late 1999. Both
companies were located on University Avenue in Palo Alto.
Confinity’s website was initially focused on reconciling beamed
payments from Palm Pilots with email payments as a feature and
X.com’s website initially included financial services with email
payments as a feature.
To block potentially fraudulent access by automated
systems, PayPal devised a system (see CAPTCHA) of making
the user enter numbers from a blurry picture, which they coined
the Gausebeck-Levchin test. According to Eric M. Jackson,
author of the book The PayPal Wars, PayPal invented this system
now in common use; however, there is evidence AltaVista used a
CAPTCHA as early as 1997, before PayPal existed. The
neutrality of The PayPal Wars, which was self-published by Eric
Jackson through his company World Ahead Publishing, funded
in part by Peter Thiel, is disputed. In either case, the PayPal
CAPTCHA has been proven insecure.
When eBay acquired PayPal in October 2002, eBay already
had an online payment system of choice called Billpoint.
Billpoint was quickly phased out due to PayPal’s popularity,
branding and technology. PayPal’s main competitor is Google
Checkout. PayPal Mobile competitors include obopay,
TextPayMe and KushCash.
PayPal enables any business or consumer with an email
address to securely, conveniently, and cost-effectively send and
receive payments online. Paypal's network builds on the existing
financial infrastructure of bank accounts and credit cards to
create a global, real-time payment solution. Paypal delivers a
product ideally suited for small businesses, online merchants,
individuals and others currently underserved by traditional
payment mechanisms.
Currently, PayPal operates in 190 markets; it manages over 15
million registered users, including more than 2.2 million
business accounts. PayPal allows customers to send, receive, and
hold funds in 19 currencies worldwide. These currencies are the
U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, Euro, Pound
sterling, Japanese yen, Chinese renminbi, Czech Koruna,
Danish krone, Hong Kong dollar, Hungarian forint, Israeli new
sheqel, Mexican pesos, New Zealand dollar, Norwegian krone,
Polish zloty, Singapore dollar, Swedish krona, and Swiss franc.
PayPal operates locally in 13 countries. Paypal's account base is
growing by an average of 18,000 accounts per day, with virtually
no traditional sales or marketing.
The size of Paypal's network and widening acceptance of
Paypal's product has helped Paypal become the leading payment
network for online auction websites, including eBay. PayPal is
also being increasingly used at other e-commerce sites, for the
sale of goods such as electronics and household items, the sale of
services such as web design and travel, and the sale of digital
content. Offline businesses, including lawyers, contractors and
physicians, have increasingly begun to receive payments online
through PayPal. PayPal's service, which lets users send payments
for free, can be used from PCs or Web-enabled mobile phones.
Although PayPal’s corporate headquarters are located in San
Jose, PayPal’s operations center is located near Omaha,
Nebraska, where the company employs more than 2,000 people
as of 2007. PayPal’s international headquarters is located in
Dublin, Ireland. The company also recently opened a technology
center in Scottsdale, Arizona. PayPal was a Webby Award
nominee in both 2000 and 2001, and was named a Forbes
Favorite Website in the magazine’s May 2001 "Best of the Web"
issue.
PayPal
Brand icon
Safer way to send money
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 45
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All the moons of the are named after
and mythology, except the moons of Uranus,
which are named after Shakespearean characters.
In 1959, the Soviet space probe became the
first manmade object to reach the moon as it crashed onto
the lunar surface.
In 1968, the first manned Apollo mission,
was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton
Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard.
Jupiter's moon is the largest moon in the Solar
System, and is larger than the planets Mercury and Pluto.
on Mars is the largest volcano in our solar
system.
On a clear night in the Northern Hemisphere the naked eye
can discern some .
On February 7, 1969 a weighing over 1 ton fell in
Chihuahua, Mexico.
a scientist and holder of 214 patents
fired the first rocket using liquid propellant in 1926.
July 20, 1969, was the first man
to walk on the moon, Edwin Aldrin was the second. They
were members of Apollo 11, and landed in the Sea of
Tranquility. The Lunar Excursion Module was named the
Michael Collins stayed onboard the mother ship,
The plaque left on the Moon says, "Here men
from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July
1969, A.D. / WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL
MANKIND.”
The first American satellite in orbit, , was
launched on February 1, 1958.
The first man-made object to circle the earth was
launched in 1957.
Solar System Greek
Roman
"Luna Two"
"Apollo Seven,"
Ganymede
Olympus Mons
5000 stars
meteorite
Robert Goddard
Sunday, Neil Armstrong
"Eagle."
"Columbia.”
Apollo 11
Explorer I
Sputnik
I,
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The weighs about 500 tons
and is the same size as a football field.
The three most recently discovered planets were
in 1781, in 1846, and in 1930.
is the only planet that on its side.
What we call the sky is merely the limit of our vision into the
atmosphere. , like the horizon, is always as far away
as one can see.
The planet does not tilt as it goes around the Sun, so
consequently, it has no seasons.
The planet is named after the Roman Goddess of
The pressure at the center of the is 27,000 tons per
square inch.
The pressure at the center of the is about 700 million
tons per square inch. Enough to smash atoms, expose the
inner nuclei, and allow them to smash into each other,
interact, and produce the radiation that gives off light and
warmth.
The is on the Moon. It's not a real sea,
but a maria, one of the regions on the Moon that appear
dark when looking at it.
The seventh planet from the is tipped on its
side so that at any moment one pole is pointed at the Sun.
The polar regions are warmer than the equator. At the
poles, a day lasts for , followed by an equally
long night.
A is the amount of time it takes the Sun to
revolve around the center of the , about 225
million years.
A day on the planet is twice as long as its year.
rotates very slowly but revolves around the Sun in
slightly less than 88 days.
International Space Station
Uranus
Neptune Pluto
Uranus rotates
The sky
Venus
Venus
love.
Earth
Sun
Sea of Tranquility
Sun, Uranus,
42 Earth years
cosmic year
Milky Way
Mercury
Mercury
Trivia about space &the universe
46 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
Saina Nehwal, the poster girl of Indian badminton, dazzled
at the Djarum Indonesia Open Super Series, retained the
crown on 27th June, 2010 and landed her third title in the
last 19 days.
Saina Nehwal is one of the best known Indian Badminton
players, and arguably the most promising female Indian
Badminton player at the moment. Apart from upsetting some of
the top seeded players in World Badminton, Saina has to her
credit the achievement of being the first Indian woman to have
entered the Quarter Final round of Badminton event at the
Olympic Games.
She was born on the 17th of March 1990 at Hisar, Haryana.
Both her father, Dr. Harvir Singh and mother Usha Rani were
former State Badminton Champions in Haryana, so she got the
game of Badminton in her genes. Dr. Harvir Singh, a scientist at
the Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad encouraged
her to pick up the game of Badminton, and took her to Nani
Prasad, the Badminton Coach at the Lal Bahadur Stadium in
Hyderabad in the year 1998.
Dr. Harvir Singh and Saina Nehwal who was 8 yrs old at the
time, would wake up at 6 every morning and head to the stadium
which was 20 km away. After two hours of practice, Singh would
drop Saina to school on his way to work. Saina Nehwal would
often fall asleep on these journeys which prompted her mother
to accompany them for the next three months. Traveling nearly
50 km a day in order to accommodate the training schedule,
Singh eventually decided to move closer to the stadium in 1999.
This however didn't end the traveling ordeal as Saina Nehwal
was asked to attend evening training sessions as well. With the
extra training sessions, traveling expenditure rose
phenomenally. Added to the cost of equipment including
shuttles, rackets, shoes, gutting and expenses rose to over Rs.
12,000 per month. In order to keep up with the rising cost of her
training, Saina Nehwal's father withdrew money from his
savings and provident fund. The tight-rope walk continued until
2002, when sports brand Yonex offered to sponsor Saina's kit. As
her status and rankings improved, the sponsorships increased.
In 2004, BPCL signed the rising star onto their payroll, and in
2005 she was spotted by the Mittal Champions Trust.
Nehwal became the National
Junior Champion in the year 2004,
and won the title again in the year
2005. She was a runner up in the
National Senior Championship
2005, and won the title in the year
2006, repeating the victory in the
year 2007 again. Apart from these,
she has won the All India Jr. Ranking Tournaments of the year
2005 held at Chennai, Cochin, Bangalore and Pune. She further
won the All India Senior Ranking Tournament 2005 held at
Mumbai, and also emerged as the winner at the National Games
held at Guwahati.
Saina made her International Debut in the year 2003 at the
India Satellite tournament where she reached the top-16 round.
The same year, she won the Junior Czech Open tournament.
Further, she reached the Quarter Final at the Cheers Asian
Satellite tournament 2004 held at Singapore. She got her first
International success at the India Satellite tournament 2005
where she emerged as the winner of the tournament. After this,
she also claimed the Bingo Bonanza Philippines Open title in
the year 2006, and the India Satellite tournament 2006. She
played at the All England Open 2007, and reached the Pre-
Quarter Final round where she lost to World No. 3 player from
China. She also reached the Quarter Final rounds at the Macau
Open tournament 2007 and the Dutch Open tournament 2007.
In the year 2008, Saina won the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix
Gold tournament, and reached the Semi Final round of the LI
NING China Masters Super Series tournament also. The same
year, she created a history of the sorts when she became the First
Indian Woman ever to reach the Quarter Final round of the
Badminton event at the Olympic Games. At the Beijing Olympic
Games 2008, Saina faced the 4th seeded player and the World
No. 6 Wang Chen from Hong Kong in the Pre-Quarter-Final
match. Although in the Quarter Final match, she lost to Maria
Kristin Yulianti of Indonesia by 28-26, 14-21, 15-21.
Throughout her Badminton career so far, Saina has been
able to topple some of the top Badminton players of the world in
her tournaments. These players include Huaiwen XU, Julia Xian
Pei of Malaysia, and the World No. 6 Wang Chen of Hong Kong.
Saina Nehwal
Profile
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 47
For the first time in history, Australia now has its first
female Prime Minister after a surprise leadership vote in
which Julia Gillard was voted in to replace Prime
Minister Kevin Rudd. The new Prime Minister, Julia Gillard,
was the former Deputy Prime Minister and has promised to
forge ahead and pull the Labor Party out of the difficulties it has
recently found itself in: "I came to the view that a good
government was losing its way. “I too believe that have a
responsibility to make sure that at the next election Labor is
there at its strongest.”
The leadership ballot took place after the Labor Party
suffered a massive drop in the public opinion according to polls.
Kevin Rudd took over from Liberal Prime Minister, John
Howard in November 2007 in a landslide victory and everything
seemed to go well for a while. Then in April this year, the voters
began to lose confidence in him following policy failures.
Gillard, admired for her plain-speaking, was the obvious choice
to take over and, following the ballot in which Kevin Rudd did not
take part, she was revealed to be unopposed. Her Deputy will be
former Finance Minister, Wayne Swan.
Julia Gillard was born on 29 September 1961 in Barry Island
in Wales, UK, before she immigrated to Australia with the rest of
her family at the age of four. As a baby she contracted a severe
lung infection and spent weeks in a oxygen tent in hospital,
prompting her parents, Moira and John, to look for warmer
climes.
They decided to join the thousands of other “Ten Pound
Poms” moving to Australia, and arrived in Adelaide in 1966. Her
father worked as a nurse and her mother cooked at a refuge for
women. At high school, Gillard was a high achiever and was not
afraid to stand up to men in authority - at one point she
lambasted her Physics teacher for favouring male students.
Her family was poor, but through hard work, her father
managed to buy a house and Gillard eventually went to
University of Adelaide to study law and arts and became a
prominent figure in campus politics and was appointed
President of the Australian Union of Students in 1983.
She became a partner in a law
firm that specialises in class actions
and personal injury cases before
working as a political adviser. In 1998,
she was elected to Parliament for the
first time and quickly began to rise up
the ranks of the Labor Party,
becoming Shadow Health Minister
and then Deputy Prime Minister, in
return for backing Kevin Rudd as
Prime Minister. One conservative
lawmaker claimed she would be unfit
to govern because she was unmarried and had no children,
although he later apologised for the comment.
Moving into politics, she became the Chief of Staff to
Victoria state opposition leader, John Brumby, and then won a
seat in parliament in 1998. Mr Rudd entered parliament at the
same time as Ms Gillard and they formed an alliance in 2006.
While in the Rudd government, she held several portfolios,
including minister for employment and workplace relations,
minister for education, and minister for social inclusion - as well
as her Deputy Prime Minister post. The 48-year-old remained
loyal to Mr Rudd, even in recent months as he began to lose
support. Her popularity fared better than his and her supporters
highlighted her association with education reform and fair pay
for workers.
She has been described as a good negotiator and a consensus
politician - a sharp contrast with Mr Rudd, who was criticised by
some for his top-down style of leadership.
Referred to as 'an old-school Labor leader', Ms Gillard is
considered to be an excellent negotiator - just as well as global
miners are threatening to pull a huge sum of investment in
Australia unless the 40% mine-profits tax. Gillard has already
refused to drop the level of the tax, but she is prepared to
negotiate: "Today, I am throwing open the government's door to
the mining industry and in return I ask the mining industry to
open its mind." She also has a huge fight on her hands to ensure
that the reputation of the Labor Party doesn't drop any further.
Julia Gillard
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48 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
My dear wife had accompanied me for one of my
lectures. I believe it was on ‘Six Thinking Hats’. I (as
usual) thought that the session had gone of well
enough but (just to fish for a compliment) asked her feedback
while driving back. Shouldn’t have! For there she smashed my
pride!! “Well, you worked hard but it was rather cheap with all
those examples from Bollywood and, of course, your passion,
Cricket!”
I was crashed!! If she could not find a complimentary word,
she should not have been negative, at least! She could even have
been right but did she have to speak up then and there? I should
have been allowed the elation for some time and, later, she could
have introduced me to the reality.
Now that I have had the courage of sharing my
embarrassment, here is the background as to why do I use these
examples.
I feel honestly that the best teaching is the one which links
the subject to reality, when the student can visualize in his/her
mind’s eye the concept, the issue, the difficulty, whatever. This
linking could be with a person, object, event, or anything. I
believe that the best way to drive home a point is a story, anecdote
or a simile but then you don’t find a story or anecdote for every
point you present. So, examples around us, even if from Cricket
or Bollywood, should do the trick.
Hence, I spend a lot of time and effort in finding suitable
examples of persons, events etc. connecting the issues. Here
comes the hitch. The events/persons/characters must be
known/seen by majority of the audience. One example here how
the lack of (assumed) knowledge could backfire.
I was conducting an extempore in a management institution.
Subjects were written on chits and the individuals were to pick
up one from the lot. One student who got the subject, “Whether
NCC is helping the youth?”, went up the stage, just mumbled a
couple of words and returned! I was unpleasantly surprised as he
did not have any difficulty in communication and was confident
enough. When enquired, he blurted that he had never heard of
NCC (National Cadet Corps)! I could never imagine that any
student would be blank about it.
As I speak mostly to the young students, I must take into
account what are they exposed to today! Which pages of the
newspapers would they look up everyday? Sports? Fashion?
Films?
Even in films, one has to be cautious. Listen to my other
‘flop-show’. I was deliberating on being proactive and gave the
example of the character played by Amjad Khan in the movie
‘Mukkaddar Ka Sikandar’, one who takes pride through this
dialogue “Pulis ne hamen kabhi nahin pakada, ham he har bar
gunah ke bad pulis ke pas khud gaya!” I expected chuckles
around from youth but what I got was expressionless faces! I
realized then that none of them had seen Amitabh’s this block
buster of my time!
Any other example of business, businessmen, politics,
politician (barring Laluji) could also fall flat, as the youth may
not be reading these subjects (to be honest, I also do not read it
in details and, thus, Bollywood and Cricket suits me!).
I assume that you have agreed to the principle of ‘relating to
life’ while imparting knowledge. Now the question. How can I
make them ‘see’ it without these ‘cheap’ examples?
Suppose I am taking a class on personality, teaching about
submissive, assertive and aggressive personalities. The
examples of respective Indian Cricket team captains, Rahul
Dravid, Kumble and Kapil Dev respectiveley, could be given
(apologies to them). Can I afford to give examples of my uncles,
aunts, etc. ? How would the students relate to them?
Dear Third Umpire.....
I have been a teacher for some time now. Fairly good one. Well, as far as I grade myself. And, surely, not a bad one
(I hope!) if the students grade me. Here I would like to share an incident which punctured my ‘king-sized’ ego,
then would give you the reasons for my ‘estyle’ and finally would ask you to sit on the judge’s chair, be the third
umpire and decide whether I or my wife is right. Here I go.
Lt. Col P. Deogirikar (Retd.)
Guestroom
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 49
I also know that the fight is always between the equals. In the
private sector, most of the discussions on the issues disliked by
the employees are concluded with a dialogue (accompanied by a
deep sigh) “Are, malik ka malik kaun!” But ‘malik ki malkin ho
sakti hai!’ Hence, I would always be the poor second when it is,
between me and HER but I would still like to know the judge’s
verdict.
Judgement, your honour?
And I am not ‘inventing’ anything. There has been a ‘Lagaan’
professor from IIM. IIM has also been working on 3 Idiots. Even
foreign universities prescribe movies in their syllabuses. Of
course, they may not be doing it for Cricket as many countries do
not play this game.
I have put forward the reasons for my being ‘cheap’, as
observed by my wife.
With over 110 years of success under its belt, Wm.
Wrigley Jr. Company operates as the largest chewing
gum manufacturer in the world, supplying nearly half
of all chewing gum sold in the United States. The firm is a
market leader in Europe as well, securing almost 50 percent of
the continent's gum profits. Wrigley dominates the gum
industry with well known brands, including Juicy Fruit,
Doublemint, Big Red, and Wrigley's Spearmint gum.
Other brands sold worldwide include Airwaves, Alpine,
Eclipse, Extra, Freedent, Hubba Bubba, Orbit, P.K., and
Winterfresh. Subsidiary Amurol Confections Company also
manufacturers chewing gum and confectionary products for
adults and youths under such names as Big League Chew,
Bubble Tape, Hubba Bubba Sweet Roll, Squeeze Pop, and
Velamints. Fourth generation William Wrigley Jr. heads up the
company as the President and CEO.
William Wrigley Jr. came to Chicago from Philadelphia in the
spring of 1891. He was 29 years old, had $32 in his pocket and
unlimited enthusiasm and energy. He also had great talent as a
salesman.
His father was a soap manufacturer and, at the start of his
new business from Chicago, Mr. Wrigley sold Wrigley's Scouring
Soap. As an extra incentive to merchants, Mr. Wrigley offered
premiums. He knew his customers would be more likely to carry
Wrigley's soap if they received a little "something for nothing".
One of these premiums was baking powder. When baking
powder proved to be more popular than soap, he switched over to
the baking powder business.
Then one day from 1892, Mr. Wrigley got the idea of offering
two packages of chewing gum using each can of baking powder.
The offer was a big success. Once again the premium - chewing
gum this time - seemed more promising than the product it was
supposed to promote.
At that time, there were at least a dozen chewing gum
companies from the United States, but the industry was
relatively undeveloped. Mr. Wrigley decided that chewing gum
was the product using the potential he had been looking for, so
he began marketing it under his own name. As soon as 1893,
William Wrigley Jr. had developed the classic chewing gum
brand Juicy Fruit, which would soon become the most popular
variety of chewing gum from North America. Wrigley's
Spearmint gum would follow from the same year, and from 1914,
Doublemint - both of which have also developed into genuine
classics that are enjoyed all over the world.
Getting a foothold from the chewing gum business was not
easy. Several times the young company was on the verge of going
under, but hard work overcame the difficulties, and the business
forged ahead.
In the very early days, William Wrigley Jr. personally did
much of the selling to the trade. He had a gift for seeing his
customers' point of view and accommodating himself to their
needs. As the company grew, Mr. Wrigley showed an unusual
knack for inspiring enthusiasm from the people who worked
using him.
Mr. Wrigley was also one of the pioneers from the use of
advertising to promote the sale of branded merchandise. He saw
that consumer acceptance of Wrigley's gum could be built faster
by telling people about the benefits of the product through
newspaper and magazine ads, outdoor posters and other forms
of advertising. Then, as more and more consumers began to ask
for and buy Wrigley's chewing gum from the stores, the
storekeeper would naturally want to keep enough stock of
Wrigley brands on hand.
As the company continued to grow, it steadfastly applied this
basic principle: Even from a little thing like a stick of gum,
quality is important.
William Wrigley Jr.Business legand
50 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
S“EVERY” AND “EACH”
“BETWEEN EACH”
ince English is not our mother tongue, most of us make
mistakes while speaking and writing the language. This
article identifies the most common mistakes people make
and shows you how to avoid them. It will help you speak and write
better – permanently. Some of them are listed below.
The main thing to remember is that these are singular
words, and it is a very common mistake to treat them as plurals.
“I was most impressed by the reasonable prices and
agreeable designs of everything on sale.”
“Everything on sale” is singular, meaning each object, and
each object had its own price and own design. The sentence
should thus be:
“I was most impressed by the reasonable prices and
agreeable design of everything on sale.”
“There are carpets in every room.” This type of sentence is
often heard. Each room may have more than one carpet , but the
writer probably means that there is no room without a carpet.
There are two correct ways of expressing the meaning:
“There is a carpet in every room.”
“There are carpets in all the rooms.”
Each is similarly maltreated and the following are examples
of common mistakes:
The hotel issues free guide books to each guest. (Wrong)
The hotel issues a free guide book to each guest. (Right) OR
The hotel issues free guide books to all guests. (Right)
It is indeed strange – in fact it is incomprehensible – that one
of the commonest mistake is also one of the most obvious. Too
often we read this kind of thing:
“Sow the plants in rows, with at least two feet between each
row.”
“The buttonholes should next be cut, with six inches
between each.”
It should be clear to anyone that the preposition between
cannot exist with one singular word, and “between each” is
incorrect. Correct versions of the foregoing sentences would be:
Consider this example:
“Sow the plants in rows, with at least two feet between
adjacent rows,” or …….. with at least two feet between each pair
of rows,” or “Sow the plants in rows, the rows being at least two
feet apart.”
“The buttonholes should next be cut, six inches apart.”
This common error seems to be on the increase among
writers and public speakers. You must never say “those kind” of
anything. You can say “those kinds “, “these kinds”, “this kind”
or “that kind”. But to say “those kind” is to apply a plural
adjective to a singular noun.
“I shall expect you about five o’ clock.”
“I shall expect you at about five o’ clock.”
Which of these is correct?
Strictly at applies to a definite time; about applies to an
approximate time. Therefore, at about is a confusion of two
unlikes , and should be avoided.
“He used to live in Delhi” means “He formerly lived in
Delhi” or “He once lived in Delhi.”
That is understood. But neither the past tense nor the
negative is generally understood, and we hear constructions like
these:
“THOSE KIND”
“AT ABOUT”
“USED TO”
COMMON MISTAKES IN ENGLISH
English grammar
Common mistakes
eng
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 51
THE USE OF ADJECTIVES AS ADVERBS
“PARALLEL WITH”
“DIFFERENT FROM’’
“Do it quick” is wrong. Quick is an adjective, and the verb do
demands an adverb. The correct version is Do it quickly.
Similarly, Drive slow should be Drive slowly.
While it is colloquial to say “Walk quicker “and “Drive
slower”, the correct forms are “Walk more quickly” and “Drive
more slowly.”
Fast, on the other hand, is both an adjective and adverb.
Another curious inconsistency concerns wrong and right. We
say, “He did his sums wrongly” but “He did his sums right.” Yet
if both terms are used together we say “Rightly or wrongly.”
We speak of a tradition or convention as ‘dying hard,’
meaning that the tradition or convention finds it hard to die. It
would seem strange to say “die hardly,”as hardly means scarcely
or nearly.
Well is the adverb corresponding with the adjective good.
Thus, we say “She is a good singer” or “She sings well. “Some
people think it sounds polite to use well when they mean good,
and frequently we hear. “It looks well on her, doesn’t it?”
This construction is wrong. The word well is not associated
with the word looks but with the pronoun it, so that the adjective
good should be used. The correct form of the sentence, in the
sense meant by the polite speaker is:” It looks good on her.
Doesn’t it?” The same speaker would have no doubts at all about
saying, correctly, “It looks splendid “or “It looks horrible or “It
looks old-fashioned.”Literally, “It looks well” means that it
performs the act of looking well. Well is also an adjective
meaning healthy, and although “He looks well” usually means
that he looks healthy, it could also mean that he is a good
performer in the act of looking.
Two lines can be parallel with one another or each other, not
parallel to one another. The preposition ‘to’ signifies approach,
and the moment the lines start approaching each other they
cease to be parallel.
In spite of various feeble attempts at defence, “different to’ is
wrong simply because it is illogical. Nobody would dream of
saying “similar from’. It is most unfortunate that ‘different to’
has penetrated such respectable quarters such as Parliament,
literature and the Press, for in matters of English many people
accept the guidance of these mentors. They are even guilty of
using “different than”, which is meaningless rather than
illogical.
“He didn’t use to live in Delhi.”
‘Did he use to live in Delhi?’
“Used to” is itself a peculiar idiom, but there is no point in
making its variations even more peculiar. The correct versions of
the two examples are:
“He used not to live in Delhi.”
“Used he to live in Delhi?’
Who is subjective, whom is objective.
“Who shall I give it to”? is wrong because the question is
another form of “ I shall give it to whom?” or “ To whom shall I
give it ?” The subject is I, and a preposition- in this case ‘to’ –is
followed by the objective.
‘Whom shall I take with me?” is right. ‘Who shall I take with
me?” is wrong. I am taking someone with me, so that I is the
subject, the someone is the object, and the someone in the
question is the unknown whom.
Who, as the subject, is correct in such questions as the
following:
“Who goes home?”
“Who is coming with me?”
“Who did it?’
When who is used as a simple relative pronoun it is
immaterial whether its governing noun or pronoun is the
subject or the object, and both the following sentences are
correct:
‘The lady who dealt with the enquiry is away.” (“The lady” is
the subject)
“I saw the man who did it.”(“The man” is the object)
We could also say, correctly: “The lady who is loved by all is
away.”
Yet who would be changed to whom in the following kinds of
construction:
“The lady whom nothing could upset is away.”
Either is generally correctly used, neither is often abused.
Here is an example:
“One can expect an immediate reaction from the Anti- Noise
League, but neither the Clerk to the Magistrates nor the
transport association’s solicitor know of any regulations
forbidding such cacophony.
As Clerk is singular, and solicitor is singular, know should be
knows. Know would have been correct if both had been plural, as
in :
Neither the Clerks nor the solicitors know.
“WHO” AND “WHOM”
“EITHER” AND “NEITHER”
52 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
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Wimpy
Eddie Gold
J. Wellington Wimpy
Scuderia Ferrari
Formula One
Cisco
B. F. Goodrich
Maureen Wadia, Gladrags
Cargill
BiOH polyols
Maruti 800 Alto SS80
is the brand name of a chain of hamburger
restaurants based in the UK. The brand was created by
of Chicago in the 1930s. The name Wimpy was
inspired by the character of from the
Popeye cartoons created by Elzie Crisler Segar.
is the racing team division of the Ferrari
automobile company. The team currently only races in
but has competed in numerous classes of
motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar
racing.
entered the consumer electronics business with the
Linksys (wireless and Ethernet networking) acquisition in
2003, Sipura Technology (maker of Net phone products)
and Kiss Technology (maker of network-based DVD and
DVR players) in 2005, and Scientific-Atlanta (a cable set-
top box maker) in 2006. In India, Cisco has made strategic
investments in gaming companies such as TerraPlay,
IndiaGames, Exent and Emergent & has acquired Mobile
WiMAX Company Navini Networks. Cisco has introduced
its TelePresence technology for holding virtual meetings
around the world.
The Company coined the name Zipper in
1923 for the line of rubber overshoes that it made using the
fastener. The name slowly came to be associated with the
fastener itself, and eventually acquired generic status.
who heads Magazine, is one
of the forces behind the Miss India beauty pageant.
US agrochemicals giant helped manufacturers of
flexible foam for the furniture industry with a bio-based
alternative to polyurethane materials. It invented a new
alternative ingredient for polyurethane foams made from
soybean oil. Cargill helped develop the ,
which leave a smaller environmental footprint and save
nearly 2,200 barrels of crude oil for every million pounds of
BiOH polyol produced.
The was based on Suzuki car model .
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Brand Hijack
Alex
Wipperfurth
PP Chhabria Finolex
group
John McCain
“Success Built to Last”,
Ram Charan
'Every Business is
a Growth Business'
Bacardi Carta Blanca
Eristoff vodka
NCR
John H Patterson
“the Cash”.
Thomson Corporation
“three
minutes”
PASHA Pakistan Software Houses
Association
is the act of commandeering a brand from
marketing professionals and driving its evolution. The term
comes from the book of the same title written by
.
, the founder of the Rs 3,000-crore
, had no formal education. He worked as a domestic
helper with a Pune money lender when he was 17;
subsequently he peddled electrical supplies door to door
and, along with his brother, set up his first unit in a cowshed
in the early 1950s for a defence contract.
Senator who was the Republican Party
candidate for the US Presidency wrote the foreword for the
book by Jerry Porras, Stewart
Emery and Mark Thompson.
is the world-famous consultant and
management guru who started his career with Usha Sewing
Machines. His best seller on the topic,
, is still considered a bible by many
CEOs.
brand portfolio in India includes
white rum, , Bacardi Breezer RTD, Grey
Goose vodka, Bombay Sapphire gin, 42 Below vodka and
Dewar's 12 year-old scotch.
(The National Cash Register) company, founded in
1884 by , started its business in the mid-
1880s, was often called
, a leading global provider of
integrated information-based solutions to business and
professional customers, deploys an approach called
. It combines observation with detailed
interviews to learn what end users are doing three minutes
before they use a product and three minutes after.
stands for
– Pakistan's only IT body with over 360
companies as members.
Business Trivia
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 53
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PostScript,
Adobe
BlackBerry
'trackwheel'
'trackball'
John Battelle
Wired' The Industry Standard'
‘Super Smash Bros. Brawl’ Nintendo's
FLOSS
Temporary Internet Files'
Cache'
Amazon
Giver' Grapevine' on
MiCoach'
Wii Fit'
Nintendo
‘Morph’
Flickr.com
Neverending’
Facebook's
a page description language and programming
language used primarily in the electronic and desktop
publishing areas, was developed by in 1985.
The Pearl 8100 was the first BlackBerry to do
way with the that was replaced by a miniature
.
is a journalist who has authored 'The Search'
about Google and was a co-founder of the magazines
' and ' .
is game for the
Wii video game console where many of its popular
characters are pitted against each other in frenetic free-for-
all action.
in IT parlance stands for Free Libre Open Source
Software.
IE uses the term ' while Firefox
uses the term '
Cyber-giant has launched applications called
' and ' Facebook.
Samsung and Adidas have tied up to launch a fitness phone
called ' .
The ' is physical fitness product launched by
.
is a nanotechnology concept developed jointly by
Nokia Research Centre and the University of Cambridge.
Photo-sharing Website came from tools
originally created for Ludicorp's Game ‘ .
Beacon was 'controversial' ads system that
collected and published activities of its users from external
Web sites.
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Danone Volvic water
“1 litre for 10 litres”,
UNICEF.
Daniel Lyons American writer
Forbes magazine
Newsweek Fake Steve Jobs
launched brand in Germany a few
years ago and the campaign promised to supply 10 litres of
drinking water to African countries for every litre of Volvic
bought. The brand used the slogan
accompanied by a logo of
(born 1960) is an . He was
a senior editor at and is now a writer at
. Lyons began blogging as in
2006.
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Anupam Mittal
Pogo Beyblades
Blazing YoYos
Boothnath
Nebula Celesté collection
‘Russi Mody – The man who also made steel’
Sundar Raman
Indian Premier League
Galla Amara Raja Group
'Yeh hain
Hindustan meri jaan'
'Yeh hai Youngistan meri jaan'.
FedEx
“Silicon Bluff ”
“Look Behind The
Label”
Jon Wilkins Naked
Communications
Email bankruptcy
'Menlow'
-led People Group's dating and social
networking site fropper.com shares half of its ad revenues
with bloggers who click on the ads on its web pages.
Channel is famous for toys like and
(supported by a programme on Pogo called
Blazing Teens) and has launched toys called Bucchki that
also features in B.R. Chopra's film .
Titan Industries' has three
models – Iris, Andromeda and Serendipity – price range Rs
6 lakh–Rs 12 lakh.
is Mody's
authorised biography by Partha Mukherjee and Jyoti
Sabharwal.
was roped in by the Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI) as the Chief Operating Officer of
.
Foods is a part of the .
Sprite, a Coca-Cola brand, launched its
advertising campaign to counter
Pepsi's
US courier giant has think tank labs that are known
as the for its cliff top location in Memphis,
USA.
UK's Marks & Spencer launched
campaign, which focuses on the company's ethical
sourcing and production practices.
is the founding partner of
– which gives communication
consultancy to Coca-Cola, Nestle and Nokia.
is the term used for the decision to
close an e-mail account due to excess garbage messages as
compared to legitimate ones.
is the codename for Intel's first low-power
processor and chipset platform designed for mobile
Internet devices.
�
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Dynabook Equium Libretto
Magnavox Odyssey'
, and are laptop brands from
Toshiba.
, released in 1972, is the world's first
video game console.
54 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
1. The Tata Group's Nano car project is located in
(1) Nandigram
(2) Sanand
(3) Ahmedabad
(4) Delhi
2. Which one of the following is not a drug/pharma company?
(1) Chevron
(2) Nicholas Piramal
(3) Pfizer
(4) Zydus Cadila
3. What is RuBisCO?
(1) A Sugar
(2) An Enzyme
(3) A Fat
(4) A Carbohydrate
4. The Red color of Red wine is mainly because of .?
(1) Chemicals in Wine
(2) Pigments
(3) Color blended
(4) Ageing
5. The story of Alibaba & 40 thieves is related to which of the
following Caliphate era?
(1) Fatimid Caliphate
(2) Umayyad Caliphate
(3) Abbasid Caliphate
(4) Rashidun Caliphate
6. In the Indian mythology, who sung Shiva Tandava Stotra?
(1) Ravana
(2) Rama
(3) Kuber
(4) Indra
7. San Cristobel oil field is in
(1) Argentina
(2) Venezuela
(3) Brazil
(4) Chile
8. Which among the following is not a Euro zone country?
(1) Netherlands
(2) Estonia
(3) Austria
(4) Portugal
9. Which among the following is a Public Sector Travel and
Tours Company?
(1) Travel Corporation of India Ltd
(2) Cox & Kings
(3) Balmer & Lawrie Company Ltd
(4) Thomas Cook India Ltd
10. Khasi and Garo languages are mostly spoken in which of
the following states of India?
(1) Madhya Pradesh
(2) Nagaland
(3) Meghalaya
(4) Tripura
11. In which year, Dakshin Gangotri, India's first settlement in
Antarctica got buried in Ice?
(1) 1986 (2) 1989
(3) 1990 (4) 1991
12. In which year, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was
awarded Nobel Prize for Raman effect?
(1) 1926 (2) 1927
(3) 1928 (4) 1930
13. The nationwide ban on smoking in public places comes
into force on
(1) Jan 2008
(2) Jan 2008
(3) 14th Nov 2008
(4) 2nd October 2008
14. Daiichi Sankyo is the famous drug company of
(1) U.S.
(2) U.K.
(3) Japan
(4) Russia
1st
30th
General knowledge
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 55
23. Where are the Saline Lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys
situated?
(1) Africa
(2) North America
(3) Europe
(4) Antarctica
24. To integrate cultural leaders into its meetings, which one of
the following gives Crystal Award?
(1) Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
(2) International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development
(3) World Health Organization
(4) World Economic Forum
25. Consider the following statements:
1. MMTC Limited is India's largest international
trading organisation.
2. Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited has been set up by
MMTC jointly with the Government of Orissa.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(1) 1 only
(2) 2 only
(3) Both 1 and 2
(4) Neither 1 nor 2
26. Where is the famous Virupaksha temple located?
(1) Bhadrachalam
(2) Chidambaram
(3) Hampi
(4) Srikalahasti
27. Other than Venezuela, which one among the following from
South America is a member of OPEC?
(1) Argentina
(2) Brazil
(3) Ecuador
(4) Bolivia
28. Under the administration of which one of the following is
the Department of Atomic Energy?
(1) Prime Minister's Office
(2) Cabinet Secretariat
(3) Ministry of Power
(4) Ministry of Science and Technology
29. Consider the following pairs
1. ABN AmroBank : USA
2. Barclays Bank : UK
3. Kookmin Bank : Japan
Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?
(1) 1 only (2) 2 only
(3) 1 and 2 (4) 2 and 3
Bank Country of origin
15. Which of the following U.S. President was involved in the
Watergate scandal ?
(1) Bill Clinton
(2) Richard Nixon
(3) George Washington
(4) John F. Kennedy
16. Who is the author of Identity and Violence: The Illusion of
Destiny ?
(1) Robert Solow
(2) Amartya Sen
(3) Robert Mundell
(4) Gary Becker
17. On which date, World Forestry Day is observed?
(1) March 20
(2) March 21
(3) March 22
(4) March 23
18. In which year the Central Industrial Security Force was
made an armed force of the Union of India?
(1) 1969
(2) 1972
(3) 1982
(4) 1983
19. Which among the following is the first private company of
India to get protection from the Central Industrial Security
Force (CISF)?
(1) Tata Motors
(2) Reliance Industries
(3) Infosys Technologies
(4) Wipro
20. Fatehpur Sikri was founded during the period of
(1) Akbar
(2) Shahjahan
(3) Iltutmish
(4) Razia Begum
21. Which of the following organ in human body produces
albumin, one of the major components of blood serum?
(1) Bone Marrow
(2) Liver
(3) Pancreas
(4) Spleen
22. Which among the following is the main constituent of
vegetable oil and animal fats?
(1) Glycogen
(2) Triglyceride
(3) Galactose
(4) Diglyceride
56 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
30. Mundar river is in
(1) Andhra Pradesh
(2) Arunachal Pradesh
(3) Kerela
(4) Karnataka
31. Elephant Pass is mentioned in the context of the affairs of
which one of the following?
(1) Bangladesh
(2) India
(3) Nepal
(4) Sri Lanka
32. Consider the following countries:
1. Brunei Darussalam S
2. East Timor
3. Laos
Which of the above is/are member/s of ASEAN?
(1) 1 only
(2) 2 and 3 only
(3) 1 and 3 only
(4) 1, 2 and 3
33. Rudrasagar Lake is in
(1) Uttar Pradesh
(2) Madhya Pradesh
(3) Himachal Pradesh
(4) Andhra Pradesh
34. Consider the following countries
(1) Australia
(2) Namibia
(3) Brazil
(4) Chile
Through which of the above does the Tropic of Capricorn
pass?
(1) 1 only
(2) 2, 3 and 4
(3) 1, 2 and 3
(4) 1, 2, 3 and 4
35. In the structure of planet earth, below the mantle, the core
is mainly made of which one of the following?
(1) Aluminium
(2) Chromium
(3) Iron
(4) Silicon
36. Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched?
(1) Berlin Rhine
(2) London Thames
(3) New York Hudson
(4) Vienna Danube
City River
37. Shackleton crater is in the
(1) Earth (2) Mars
(3) Moon (4) Venus
38. First Indian built space craft to leave Earth s gravity is
(1) CARTOSAT - 2
(2) CARTOSAT - 2A
(3) Chandrayana - I
(4) ANURAG
39. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer
using the code given below the lists:
A. Great Victoria Desert i. Australia
B. Grand Canyon ii. Canada
C. Lake Winnipeg iii. New Zealand
D. Southern Alps iv. USA
A B C D
(1) i ii iv iii
(2) i iv ii iii
(3) iii ii iv i
(4) iii iv ii i
40. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer
using the code given below the lists:
A. Vidyashankara temple i. Andhra Pradesh
B. Rajarani temple ii. Karnataka
C. Kandariya Mahadeo temple iii. Madhya Pradesh
D. Bhimesvara temple iv. Orissa
A B C D
(1) ii iv iii i
(2) ii iii iv i
(3) i i v iii ii
(4) i iii iv ii
41. Which one of the following rivers does not originate in
India?
(1) Beas (2) Chenab
(3) Ravi (4) Sutlej
42. Cape Canaveral, the site from which space shuttles are
launched is located on the coast of
(1) Florida
(2) Virginia
(3) North Carolina
(4) South Carolina
43. Parabati Valley project is in
(1) Arunachal Pradesh
(2) Andhra Pradesh
(3) Himachal Pradesh
(4) Uttar Pradesh
Country
Famous Temple State
Geographic feature
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 57
51. Who among the following Prime Ministers sent Cripps
Mission to India?
(1) James Ramsay MacDonald
(2) Stanley Baldwin
(3) Neville Chamberlain
(4) Winston Churchill
53. Who among the following is the author of a collection of
poems called "Golden Threshold ?
(1) Aruna Asaf Ali
(2) Annie Besant
(3) Sarojini Naidu
(4) Vijayalakshmi Pandit
54. During the Indian Freedom Struggle, why did Rowlatt Act
arouse popular indignation?
(1) It curtailed the freedom of religion
(2) It suppressed the Indian traditional education
(3) It authorized the government to imprison people
without trial
(4) It curbed the trade union activities
55. Which one of the following began with the Dandi March?
(1) Home Rule Movement
(2) Non-Cooperation Movement
(3) Civil Disobedience Movement
(4) Quit India Movement
56. Anekantavada is a core theory and philosophy of which one
of the following?
(1) Buddhism
(2) Jainism
(3) Sikhism
(4) Vaishnavism
57. With which one of the following movements is the slogan
"Do or die" associated?
(1) Swadeshi Movement
(2) Non-Cooperation Movement
(3) Civil Disobedience Movement
(4) Quit India Movement
58. Who among the following founded the Ahmedabad Textile
Labour Association ?
(1) Mahatma Gandhi
(2) Sardar Vallabhhhai Patel
(3) N.M. Joshi
(4) J.B. Kripalani
52. Kol Dam project is undertaken by
(1) Cairn
(2) Enron
(3) Reliance Energy Ltd
(4) SHELL
44. Who of the following scientists proved that the stars with
mass less than 1-44 times the mass of the Sun end up as
White Dwarfs when they die?
(1) Edwin Hubble
(2) S. Chandrasekhar
(3) Stephen Hawking
(4) Steven Weinberg
45. Which one of the following brings out the publication
called "Energy Statistics" from time to time?
(1) Central Power Research Institute
(2) Planning Commission
(3) Power Finance Corporation Ltd.
(4) Central Statistical Organization
46. Consider the, following statements:
1. India does not have any deposits of Thorium.
2. Kerala's monazite sands contain Uranium.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(1) 1 only
(2) 2 only
(3) Both 1 and 2
(4) Neither 1 nor 2
47. Which one among the following South Asian countries has
the highest population density?
(1) India
(2) Nepal
(3) Pakistan
(4) Sri Lanka
48. Consider the following:
1. Fringe Benefit Tax
2. Interest Tax
3. Securities Transaction Tax
Which of the above is/are Direct Tax/Taxes?
(1) 1 only
(2) 1 and 3 only
(3) 2 and 3 only
(4) 1, 2 and 3
49. In India, who is the Chairman of the National Water
Resources Council?
(1) Prime Minister
(2) Minister of Water Resources
(3) Minister of Environment and Forests
(4) Minister of Science and Technology
50. In collaboration with David Hare and Alexander Duff, who
of the following established Hindu College at Calcutta?
(1) Henry Louis Vivian Derozio
(2) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
(3) Keshab Chandra Sen
(4) Raja Rammohan Roy
58 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
59. In the context of the Indian freedom struggle, 16th October
1905 is well known for which one of the following reasons?
(1) The formal proclamation of Swadeshi Movement was
made in Calcutta town hall
(2) Partition of Bengal took effect
(3) Dadabhai Naoroji declared that the goal of Indian
National Congress was Swaraj
(4) Lokmanya Tilak started Swadeshi Movement in
Poona
60. In the 'Individual Satyagraha', Vinoba Bhave was chosen as
the first Satyagrahi. Who was the second?
(1) Dr. Rajendra Prasad
(2) Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
(3) C. Rajagopalachari
(4) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
61. During the freedom struggle, Aruna Asaf Ali was a major
woman organizer of underground activity in
(1) Civil Disobedience Movement
(2) Non-Cooperation Movement
(3) Quit India Movement
(4) Swadeshi Movement
62. With whose permission did the English set up their first
factory in Surat?
(1) Akbar
(2) Jahangir
(3) Shahjahan
(4) Aurangzeb
63. In a dry cell (battery), which of the following are used as
electrolytes?
(1) Ammonium chloride and Zinc chloride
(2) Sodium chloride and Calcium chloride
(3) Magnesium chloride and Zinc chloride
(4) Ammonium chloride and Calcium chloride
64. Which one of the following planets has the largest number
of natural satellites or moons?
(1) Jupiter
(2) Mars
(3) Saturn
(4) Venus
65. Six persons A, B, C, D, E and F are standing in a row. C and
D are standing close to each other alongside E. B is
standing beside A only. A is fourth from F. Who are standing
on the extremes?
(1) A and F
(2) B and D
(3) B and F
(4) None of the above
66. Which one of the following types of waves are used in a
night vision apparatus?
(1) Radio waves
(2) Microwaves
(3) Infra-red waves
(4) Nona of the above
67. Which one of the following is used as an explosive?
(1) Phosphorus trichloridc
(2) Mercuric oxide
(3) Graphite
(4) Nitroglycerine
68. Consider the following :
1. Camphor
2. Chicory
3. Vanilla
Which of the above is/are plant product(s)?
(1) 1 and 2 only
(2) 3 only
(3) 1 and 3 only
(4) 1, 2 and 3
69. In the context of Indian wild life, the flying fox is a
(1) Bat
(2) Kite
(3) Stork
(4) Vulture
70. During which five Year Plan was the Emergency clamped,
new elections took place and the Janata Party was elected?
(1) Third
(2) Fourth
(3) Fifth
(4) Sixth
71. If a Panchayat is dissolved, elections are to be held within
(1) 1 month
(2) 3 months
(3) 6 months
(4) 1 year
72. Consider the following pairs:
1. Asian Development Bank Tokyo
2. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Singapore
3. Association of South East Asian Nations Bangkok
Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?
(1) 1 and 2 only
(2) 2 only
(3) 2 and 3 only
(4) 3 only
Organization Headquarters
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 59
79. Consider the following statements:
1. The first telegraph line in India was laid between
Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and Diamond Harbour.
2. The first Export Processing Zone in India was set up
in Kandla.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(1) 1 only
(2) 2 only
(3) Both 1 and 2
(4) Neither 1 nor 2
80. Where is the headquarters of Animal Welfare Board of India
located?
(1) Ahmedabad
(2) Chennai
(3) Hyderabad
(4) Kolkata
81. Consider the following statements:
1. The National School of Drama was set up by Sangeet
Natak Akademi in 1959.
2. The highest honour conferred by the Sahitya
Akademi on a writer is by electing him its Fellow.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(1) 1 only
(2) 2 only
(3) Both 1 and 2
(4) Neither 1 nor 2
82. How many numbers lie between 300 and 500 in which 4
comes only once?
(1) 99
(2) 100
(3) 110
(4) 120
83. How many times are an hour hand and a minute hand of a
clock at right angles during their motion from 1.00 p.m. to
10.00 p.m.?
(1) 9
(2) 10
(3) 18
(4) 20
84. Consider the following pairs:
1. Ashok Leyland : Hinduja Group
2. Hindalco : A.V. Birla Group Industries
3. Suzlon Energy : Punj Lloyd Group
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
(1) 1 and 2 only
(2) 2 only
(3) 1 and 3 only.
(4) 1, 2 and 3
73. With reference to the United Nations, consider the
following statements
1. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of
UN consists of 24 member States.
2. It is elected by a 2/3rd majority of the General
Assembly for a 3-year term.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(1) 1 only
(2) 2 only
(3) Both I and 2
(4) Neither 1 nor 2
74. In which one of the following places is the Shompen tribe
found?
(1) Nilgiri Hills
(2) Nicobar Islands
(3) Spiti Valley
(4) Lakshadweep Islands
75. In India, the first Municipal Corporation was set up in
which one among the following?
(1) Calcutta
(2) Madras
(3) Bombay
(4) Delhi
76. With reference to Lok Adalat, consider the following
statements:
1. An award made by a Lok Adalat is deemed to be a
decree of a civil court and no appeal lies against
thereto before any court.
2. Matrimonial/Family disputes are not covered under
Lok Adalat.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(1) 1 only
(2) 2 only
(3) Both I and 2
(4) Neither 1 nor 2
77. Which one of the following Constitutional Amendments
states that the total number of Ministers, including the
Prime Minister, in the Council of Ministers shall not
exceed fifteen percent of the total number of members of
the House of the People?
(1) 90th
(2) 91st
(3) 92nd
(4) 93rd
78. How many letters of the English alphabet (capitals) appear
same when looked at in a mirror?
(1) 9 (2) 10
(3) 11 (4) 12
60 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
85. Who among the following is the founder of World
Economic Forum?
(1) Klaus Schwab
(2) John Kenneth Galbraith
(3) Robert Zoellick
(4) Paul Krugman
86. The Security Council of' UN consists of 5 permanent
members, and the remaining 10 members are elected by
the General Assembly for a term of
(1) 1 year
(2) 2 years
(3) 3 years
(4) 5 years
87. From which one of the following did Kosovo declare its
independence?
(1) Bulgaria
(2) Croatia
(3) Macedonia
(4) Serbia
88. Which one of the following pairs of countries fought wars
over a region called Ogaden?
(1) Eritrea and Sudan
(2) Ethiopia and Somalia
(3) Kenya and Somalia
(4) Ethiopia and Sudan
89. In the middle of the year 2008, the Parliament of which one
of the following countries became the first in the world to
enact a Climate Act by passing "The Climate Change
Accountability Bill ?
(1) Australia
(2) Canada
(3) Germany
(4) Japan
90. Which one among the following has the highest energy?
(1) Blue light (2) Green light
(3) Red light (4) Yellow light
92. In the context of independent India's economy, which one
of the following was the earliest event to take place?
(1) Nationalisation of Insurance companies
(2) Nationalisation of State Bank of India
(3) Enactment of Banking Regulation Act
(4) Introduction of First Five-Year Plan
91. Among the following, which one is not a football club?
(1) Arsenal
(2) Aston Villa
(3) Chelsea
(4) Monte Carlo
93. Consider the following pairs :
1. BMW AG USA
2. Daimler AG Sweden
3. Renault S.A. Franco
4. Volkswagen AG Germany
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
(1) 1, 2 and 3
(2) 3 and 4
(3) 4 only
(4) 1, 2 and 4
94. Who of the following is the author of the book "The
Audacity of Hope ?
(1) Al Gore
(2) Barack Obama
(3) Bill Clinton
(4) Hillary Clinton
95. A present group of nations known as -G-8 started first as
G-7. Which one among the following was not one of them?
(1) Canada
(2) Italy
(3) Japan
(4) Russia
96. Consider the following statements:
1. The Baglihar Power Project had been constructed
within the parameters of the Indus Water Treaty.
2. The project was completely built by the Union
Government with loans from Japan and the World
Bank.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(1) 1 only
(2) 2 only
(3) Both 1 and 2
(4) Neither 1 nor 2
97. What is MCX-SX?
(1) A kind of supercomputer
(2) Title of Moon Impact Probe
(3) Stock exchange
(4) Nuclear-powered submarine
98. Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched?
(1) Barbora Spotakova Javelin throw
(2) Pamela Jelimo Weightlifting
(3) Sanya Richards Sprint
(4) Yelena Isinbayeva Pole Vault
99. Who of the following is a football player?
(1) Fernando Alonso
(2) Kimi Raikkonen
(3) Lewis Hamilton
(4) Nicolas Anelka
Manufacturer Headquarters
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 61
107. In the context of alternative sources of energy, ethanol as a
viable bio-fuel can be obtained from
(1) Potato
(2) Rice
(3) Sugarcane
(4) Wheat
108. Match List I with List II and select the correct answer
using the code given below the lists :
Persons in news Countries they belong to
A. Luisa Dias Diogo 1. Kenya
B. Mwai Kibaki 2. Mozambique
C. Rupiah Banda 3. Zambia
4. Zimbabwe
A B C
(1) 1 2 3
(2) 2 1 3
(3) 2 1 4
(4) 1 2 4
109. Consider the following regions
1. Eastern Himalayas
2. Eastern Mediterranean region
3. North-western Australia
Which of the above is/are Biodiversity Hotspot(s) ?
(1) 1 only
(2) 1 and 2 only
(3) 2 and 3 only
(4) 1, 2 and 3
110. With reference to the evolution of living organisms, which
one of the following sequences is correct?
(1) Octopus Dolphin Shark
(2) Pangolin Tortoise Hawk
(3) Salamander Python Kangaroo
(4) Frog Crab Prawn
111. The Panda belongs to the same family as that of
(1) Bear
(2) Cat
(3) Dog
(4) Rabbit
112. Find out the correct statement
1. Aditya is an ISRO satellite to study sun
2. It will be launched in the year 2012
3. The launch of Aditya will coincide with a solar
Maxima
4. It carries the Payload solar coronagraph
(1) 1,2,3
(2) 1,3,4
(3) 1,2,3,4
(4) None
100. Consider the following pairs
Famous place Country
1. Cannes France
2. Davos Denmark
3. Roland Garros Netherlands
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
(1) 1 only
(2) 1 and 2 only
(3) 2 and 3 only
(4) 1, 2 and 3
101. The Dul Hasti Power Station is based on which one of the
following rivers?
(1) Beas
(2) Chenab
(3) Ravi
(4) Sutlej
102. Which one of the following is the country's administrative
capital/new federal administrative centre of Malaysia?
(1) Kota Bharu
(2) Kuala Terengganu
(3) Putrajaya
(4) Taiping
103. In the context of Indian defence, consider the following
statements:
1. The Shourya missile flies with a speed of more than 8
Mach.
2. The range of Shourya missile is more than 1900 km.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
(1) 1 only
(2) 2 only
(3) Both 1 and 2
(4) Neither 1 nor 2
104. WiMAX is related to which one of the following?
(1) Biotechnology
(2) Space technology
(3) Missile technology
(4) Communication technology
105. For outstanding contribution to which one of the following
fields is Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize given?
(1) Literature
(2) Performing Arts
(3) Science
(4) Social Service
106. In making the saffron spice, which one of the following
parts of the plant is used?
(1) Leaf (2) Petal
(3) Sepal (4) Stigma
62 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
113. The Indian Maritime University is inaugurated in
(1) Vishakapatnam
(2) Cochin
(3) Chennai
(4) Mumbai
114. Mahendragiri is in
(1) Kerala (2) Tamil Nadu
(3) Andhra Pradesh (4) Karnataka
115. Unlawful Activities prevention Act was passed is
(1) 1966 (2) 1967
(3) 1968 (4) 1969
116. Operation Tornodo is the Anti terror operation of Indian
government during
(1) Kargil intrusion
(2) Parliament attack
(3) Mumbai Taj hotel attack
(4) Akshardam Temple Issue
117. Nowgam railway station is in
(1) Sikkim
(2) Jammu & Kashmir
(3) Arunachal Pradesh
(4) Nagaland
118. Find out the wrong statement
(1) Teesta Barrage Assam
(2) Sahapur Kandi Project Punjab
(3) Bursar Project Jammu & Kashmir
(4) UJH Project Jammu & Kashmir
119. Which of the following freedom fighters was called by
Gandhi as 'Abhay Sadhak' (fearless seeker of truth)?
(1) Rajaji
(2) Nehru
(3) Bose
(4) Muralidhar Devidas Amte
120. Who among the following got Jawaharlal Nehru award for
International Understanding for 2008?
(1) Wangeri Mathai
(2) Hosni Mubarak
(3) Maha Chikri Srindhom
(4) Desmand Tutu
121. Golden Jubilee rail line will connect Hashimara (West
Bengal) with
(1) Bhutan
(2) Nepal
(3) China
(4) Bangladesh
122. The best known of the compilation of the compositions of
Kabir are known as ?
(1) Shatapadi
(2) Dohavali,
(3) Bijak
(4) Kavitavali
123. Which of the following variety of Marble is found in India?
(1) Makrana
(2) Bhainslana
(3) Phrygia
(4) Carrara
124. Where is Nirmal Hridaya ?
(1) Bangalore
(2) New Delhi
(3) Kolkata
(4) Varanasi
125. How many members of the United Nations can exercise
the Veto Power?
(1) 5
(2) 8
(3) 10
(4) 11
126. What is the reason of Venus being the hottest planet of the
Solar system?
(1) Proximity to Sun
(2) Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
(3) High speed of Rotation
(4) Presence of powerful magnetic field
127. What name was given to the first assault launched in the
world's highest battlefield, Siachen Glacier by the Indian
Armed Forces in 1984?
(1) Operation Vijay
(2) Operation Meghdoot
(3) Operation Black Sky
(4) Operation Storm
128. Which of the following celebration is observed by
worshipping tools?
(1) Mahatma Jyotoiba Phule Jayanati
(2) Vishwakarma Jayanti
(3) Parashurama Jayanti
(4) Prajapati Jayanti
129. Damodar - Sone river valley and Rajmahal hills in the
eastern India are depository of the .?
(1) Cuddappa System Rocks
(2) Dharwar System Rocks
(3) Gondwana System Rocks
(4) Vindhyan System Rocks
located
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 63
137. A person travels 12 km due North, then 15 km due East,
after that 15 km due West and then 18 km due South. How
far is he from the starting point?
(1) 6 km (2) 12 km
(3) 33 km (4) 60 km
138. In the context of global economy, which one of the following
pairs is not correctly matched?
(1) JP Morgan Chase: Financial Services
(2) Roche Holding: Financial Services
(3) WL Ross & Company: Private Equity Firm
(4) Warburg Pincus: Private Equity Firm
139. The concept of carbon credit originated from which one of
the following?
(1) Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro
(2) Kyoto Protocol
(3) Montreal Protocol
(4) G-8 Summit, Heiligendamm
140. Which among the following is not correctly matched?
(Location of some countries)
(1) Benin - Western Africa
(2) Botswana -Southern Africa
(3) Uganda - Eastern Africa
(4) Togo -Central Africa
141. Who among the following is the only Finance Minister of
India who is known to have tabled the Union budget twice
on his birthday?
(1) T. T. Krishnamachari
(2) Morarji Desai
(3) Yashwantrao Chavan
(4) P Chidambaram
142. Which of the following Gurudwara in India is the site where
the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded on
the orders of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1675 A.D?
(1) Gurdwara Moti Bagh Sahib
(2) Gurdwara Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib
(3) Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib
(4) Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib
143. What is Carbamide?
(1) A Pesticide
(2) A Fertilizer
(3) A Textile Dye
(4) An Explosive
144. Bring out the incorrect usage:
(1) Heavy water - Moderator
(2) DDT - Insecticide
(3) Methyl Alcohol Beverage
(4) Liquid Ammonia - Refrigerant
130. Which is the most urbanized country from the given
options?
(1) India (2) Pakistan
(3) Burma (4) Nepal
131. Which of the following African Country is also known
sometimes as Ngwane?
(1) Mozambique
(2) Swaziland
(3) Nigeria
(4) Niger
132. Which among the following Island countries is the only
country in the world to be a member of African Union,
Francophonie, Organization of the Islamic Conference,
Arab League and Indian Ocean Commission ?
(1) Comoros
(2) Mauritius
(3) Bahrain
(4) Indonesia
133. Which of the following part of the body stores Vitamin A,
Vitamin D as well as Vitamin B12?
(1) Brain
(2) Liver
(3) Pancreas
(4) Red Blood Cells
134. World renowned Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, is
famous for being the
(1) Founder of the Human Development Report
(2) Nobel Prize winner
(3) Former Chairman of World Bank
(4) Former Chairman of United Nations Commission on
Human Rights
135. Which of the following countries was annexed into Greater
Germany by Nazi regime through Anschluss?
(1) Austria
(2) Poland
(3) Italy
(4) Liechtenstein
136. In the context of genetic disorders, consider the following:
A woman suffers from colour blindness while her husband
does not suffer from it. They have a son and a daughter. In
this context, which one of the following statements is most
probably correct?
(1) Both children suffer from colour blindness.
(2) Daughter suffers from colour blindness while son
does not suffer from it.
(3) Both children do not suffer from colour blindness.
(4) Son suffers from colour blindness while daughter
does not suffer from it.
64 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
145. Where is the Central Institute of Psychiatry, India's premier
Central Govt. Institute of mental health located?
(1) Mumbai
(2) Pune
(3) Ranchi
(4) New Delhi
146. Where is the Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical
Education(LNIPE)located?
(1) Jhansi
(2) Gwalior
(3) Datia
(4) Indore
147. Great Purge, a series of campaigns of political repression
and persecution is related to which of the following
countries?
(1) China
(2) Russia
(3) Germany
(4) France
148. Which among the following is a geology award given
annually by Indian Geophysical Union?
(1) Dr. B. C. Roy Award
(2) Siva Prasad Barooah National Award
(3) M. S. Krishanan Award
(4) Karmaveer Puraskaar
149. By what popular name do we better know the international
criminal police commission?
(1) Cia
(2) Interpol
(3) KGB
(4) Mi6
150. Karsanbhai Patel is the promoter and Chairman of a well-
known company, Name the company.
(1) Cavin Kare
(2) Paras Pharma
(3) Nicolas Piramal
(4) Nirma
Answers to General knowledge
101. Ans.(2)
102. Ans.(3)
103. Ans.(4)
104. Ans.(4)
105. Ans.(3)
106. Ans.(4)
107. Ans.(3)
108. Ans.(2)
109. Ans.(2)
110. Ans.(3)
111. Ans.(1)
112. Ans.(3)
113. Ans.(3)
114. Ans.(2)
115. Ans.(2)
116. Ans.(3)
117. Ans.(2)
118. Ans.(1)
119. Ans.(4)
120. Ans.(2)
121. Ans.(1)
122. Ans.(3)
123. Ans.(1)
124. Ans.(3)
125. Ans.(1)
1. Ans.(2)
2. Ans.(1)
3. Ans.(2)
4. Ans.(2)
5. Ans.(3)
6. Ans.(1)
7. Ans.(2)
8. Ans.(2)
9. Ans.(3)
10. Ans.(3)
11. Ans.(2)
12. Ans.(4)
13. Ans.(4)
14. Ans.(3)
15. Ans.(2)
16. Ans.(2)
17. Ans.(2)
18. Ans.(4)
19. Ans.(3)
20. Ans.(1)
21. Ans.(2)
22. Ans.(2)
23. Ans.(4)
24. Ans.(4)
25. Ans.(3)
26. Ans.(3)
27. Ans.(3)
28. Ans.(1)
29. Ans.(2)
30. Ans.(3)
31. Ans.(4)
32. Ans.(3)
33. Ans.(2)
34. Ans.(4)
35. Ans.(3)
36. Ans.(1)
37. Ans.(3)
38. Ans.(3)
39. Ans.(2)
40. Ans.(1)
41. Ans.(4)
42. Ans.(1)
43. Ans.(3)
44. Ans.(2)
45. Ans.(4)
46. Ans.(2)
47. Ans.(1)
48. Ans.(4)
49. Ans.(1)
50. Ans.(4)
51. Ans.(4)
52. Ans.(3)
53. Ans.(3)
54. Ans.(3)
55. Ans.(3)
56. Ans.(2)
57. Ans.(4)
58. Ans.(1)
59. Ans.(2)
60. Ans.(2)
61. Ans.(3)
62. Ans.(2)
63. Ans.(1)
64. Ans.(1)
65. Ans.(3)
66. Ans.(3)
67. Ans.(4)
68. Ans.(4)
69. Ans.(1)
70. Ans.(3)
71. Ans.(3)
72. Ans.(2)
73. Ans.(2)
74. Ans.(2)
75. Ans.(2)
76. Ans.(1)
77. Ans.(2)
78. Ans.(3)
79. Ans.(3)
80. Ans.(2)
81. Ans.(3)
82. Ans.(1)
83. Ans.(3)
84. Ans.(1)
85. Ans.(1)
86. Ans.(2)
87. Ans.(4)
88. Ans.(2)
89. Ans.(2)
90. Ans.(1)
91. Ans.(4)
92. Ans.(3)
93. Ans.(2)
94. Ans.(2)
95. Ans.(4)
96. Ans.(1)
97. Ans.(3)
98. Ans.(2)
99. Ans.(4)
100. Ans.(1)
126. Ans.(2)
127. Ans.(2)
128. Ans.(2)
129. Ans.(3)
130. Ans.(2)
131. Ans.(2)
132. Ans.(1)
133. Ans.(2)
134. Ans.(1)
135. Ans.(1)
136. Ans.(4)
137. Ans.(2)
138. Ans.(2)
139. Ans.(2)
140. Ans.(4)
141. Ans.(2)
142. Ans.(3)
143. Ans.(2)
144. Ans.(3)
145. Ans.(3)
146. Ans.(2)
147. Ans.(2)
148. Ans.(3)
149. Ans.(2)
150. Ans.(4)
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 65
The Mercedes-Benz was formed by the merger of two car
companies – DMG (Daimler-Motored-Gesellschaft, founded
by Gottlieb Daimler) and Benz & Cie, founded by Karl Benz.
Both the companies were similar in their work and were situated
in close proximity.
It was after the World War I, when the German economy was
shattered, that both these companies decided to form a
syndicate in 1924, and then finally merge in 1926, called
Diamler-Benz.
After Daimler's death, his
partner, Wilhelm Maybach, took over
the company and sold many Daimler
cars with the help of Emile Jellinek.
Following the success of Daimler cars
a m o n g J e l l i n e k ' s w e a l t h y
acquaintances, Jellinek suggested
Maybach to create light, lower and
more powerful cars which he named
after his elder daughter, Mercedes.
That's how the Mercedes logo got its
name.
After the merger with Benz &
Cie., the Mercedes logo was
introduced with an addition of the
Benz laurel wreath in 1926 to signify
the union of the two firms.
In 1902, the logo for Mercedes
was nothing more than the simple
company name. However, it was
changed to a 3 pointed star in 1909.
The origin of this star came from a
postcard by Diamler, where he had
drawn a 3 pointed star which
represented 'making vehicles in land
water and sky'.
After 1926, a new symbol for
Mercedes-Benz came into picture,
where the original logo of both the
companies was merged into one. It
combined the 3 pointed stars of
Mercedes and the laurel wreath of
Benz.
The Mercedes Benz logo was
originally created by Gottlieb Daimler
and was featured in 1909. The
Mercedes Benz logo consists of a
simple depiction of a three-pointed
star that represents 'its domination of
the land, the sea, and the air'.
Since then, the Mercedes Benz
logo has been the brands corporate
identity and can widely be seen all over
the world. The Mercedes Benz logo
has become synonymous with high
class and speedy automobiles.
Over the years, the symbol has
been improved vastly in design and
simplicity. It has been recognized as a
symbol representing luxury and top
tier cars.
The Mercedes Benz logo has now
become one of the world's most
recognized brands that symbolizes
class, style and personality.
Mercedes-Benz Logo
Dabur India Ltd., India’s leading home and personal
care company, has announced the launch of its all new Odonil
electric air freshener (pluggy). The new pluggy will be
available in four natural fragrances – Exotic Rose, Fresh
Lavender, Mystic Jasmine and Floral Fusion.
The device just uses 5.3 Watt of electricity, hence is very
economical in usage. Odonil Pluggy is far superior as it gives
consistent fragrance for longer periods and beautifies your
surroundings. The product would last well over 60 days
giving a consistent bouquet of scents for more than 8 hours
per day”.
66 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
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The Union Cabinet accepted all 22 recommendations by
the on the
These include enhanced compensation of Rs 1,265.56
crores, extradition of former Union Carbide CEO,
and filling a curative petition in the Supreme
Court.
and agreed to narrow their differences and
take more confidence-building measures on issues ranging
from terrorism, humanitarian matters and Jammu and
Kashmir in an effort to bridge the
Karnataka Lokayukta
resigned from his post complaining that
he did not have adequate powers to take
to their logical conclusion cases pursued
by his agency.
Ahead of the
Games this October, the Relay crossed
over from Pakistan into India amidst the tightest security
arrangements ever witnessed at the Attari-Wagah Border –
the only official road crossing along the 553km border
separating the two Punjabs since the Partition of 1947.
Focusing on providing skills to the unemployed rural youth,
the government is all set to bury the unproductive
(SGSY),
replacing it with the
(NRLM). The Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs (CCEA) is likely to approve the revamped NRLM.
On the 25th anniversary of the , Prime
Minister Dr Manmohan Singh termed the incident as a
“ . The Prime Minister stated that
terrorism must be fought and eliminated with
determination and joint action.
Railway Minister and Trinamul Congress President,
appears to have landed in major trouble
over an advertisement in which she is shown for
a particular brand of (hawai chappals).
Group of Ministers Bhopal gas tragedy.
Warren
Anderson
India Pakistan
“trust deficit”.
Santosh Hegde
19th Commonwealth
Queen's Baton
Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana
National Rural Livelihoods
Mission
Kanishka bombing
most barbarous act”
Mamata Banerjee
modelling
rubber slippers
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Hitting out at Bihar Chief Minister
for his move to return
the aid for Kosi floods victim given by
-led Gujarat
government, RJD supremo
said the move is just a
“stunt” and has damaged the image
of Bihar.
The oldest submarine in service with the Indian Navy –
–decommissioned after a whopping 37 years of service
on June 25 at Vizag. The INS Vela is a
submarine and was commissioned in 1973. It is a “foxtrot
class submarine”.
The , the official residence of the
President of India, may get an certification soon
as the team of international auditors from Bureau Veritas
(BVQI) start audit.
The has reportedly
received total 175 complaints from different medical
colleges in the country, from which former Chairman of the
Medical Council of India (MCI), and his
team members allegedly demanded bribe for granting
permission to continue the courses.
In the age of and advanced technology,
the Supreme Court in an important judgment has adopted a
cautious approach on the admissibility of
dying declaration of a murder victim to prevent its misuse
and put the onus entirely on prosecution to prove its
authenticity independently.
After making changes in the law to re-enforce strength in
the , the government has launched a scheme
for its state boards, which can stop rampant encroachment
of across the country.
industrialist, philanthropist and patron of
the arts, passed away in after a prolonged illness.
He was 85, and is survived by two sons and three daughters.
Nitish Kumar
Narendra Modi
Lalu
Prasad Yadav
INS
Vela
Russian-origin
Rashtrapati Bhavan
ISO: 14001
Central Bureau of Investigation
Ketan Desai
“sting operations”
“extra judicial”
Waqf Act 1995
Waqf properties
P. Obul Reddy,
Chennai
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India
News in brief
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 67
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In a bid to resolve the Unit Linked Insurance policy (Ulip)
row between Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority and the Security and Exchange Board of
India over jurisdictional issues, the government is
set to bring an ordinance and constitute a
to be headed by Finance Minister to look into
the matter.
The , probing the ,
has been given a further extension and has now been asked
to submit its report by . This is the
14th extension that the commission has sought.
The issued notice to
Rural Development Minister,
and Election Commission on an
appeal by BJP MLA from Rajasthan on
the issue of 'tender” votes ordered to
be counted by the state high court on
Mr Joshi's election petition on his one-
vote defeat in the 2008 Assembly polls.
The government came on the backfoot
and issued orders to remove as member of
grievance redressal authority (Madhya Pradesh Narmada
projects) after the media questioned his post retirement
appointment pointing out that he was the Bhopal
superintendent of police and had driven former Union
Carbide Chief to the airport in an
official car and made good his escape in the state
government aircraft in December 1984.
Government employees earning Rs 10,000 a month, people
with electricity and water connections, bank accounts and
LIC policies and those paying income-tax will be
automatically excluded from the list of
under new methodology for the .
The government has offered to release water
from for crops and other purposes in
Andhra Pradesh “in time”, that is after the kharif season
begins, if Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra allow it to
increase the dam height to 524 metres.
The government banned Short
Message Service ( ) in the Kashmir Valley as tempers
are running high over the killing of eight persons in little
over two weeks, allegedly at the hands of the police and the
CRPF.
The (CCEA)
cleared a proposal to set up 107 new
(Central schools) in the remaining part of the 11th Plan
period.
(IRDA)
(SEBI)
permanent joint
mechanism
Nanavati Commission Gujarat riots
December 31, 2010
Supreme Court
C.P.
Joshi
Madhya Pradesh
Swaraj Puri
Warren Anderson
poor persons
2010 BPL census
Karnataka
Alamatti dam
Jammu and Kashmir
SMS
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
Kendriya Vidyalayas
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An official of the
(DGCA) has criticised the state-run
(AAI) for not informing the DGCA in time of
equipment that is being installed at airports in the country.
The DGCA's Director of Operations, A.K. Bharadwaj has
written a letter taking the AAI to task on this issue.
The is working on plans to
acquire 17 Advanced Jet Trainers
(AJTs) of British company
which will be manufactured under
licence by the state-owned
. (HAL), even as the
Army is likely to acquire DRDO-
developed Akash surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) to shore
up its air defence wing.
After making its presence felt in urban areas, the
is returning to the to
consolidate its vote base amongst its traditional voters.
According to party sources, the BSP leadership is
concerned about the erosion in its dalit vote base and wants
to assuage their feelings before the next Assembly elections
in the state.
In a major step towards furthering the education reforms
agenda of the the Centre's proposal to set up
, an overarching body in higher education,
received support of state governments at the Central
Advisory Board of Education (CABE) meeting.
Dozens of pro-independence
(JKLF) activists, led by its Chairman
Muhammad , courted arrest to protest against
what it alleged, increasing human rights violations by
Indian security forces.
Eminent lawyer, ,
87, managed to get elected to the Rajya
Sabha from Rajasthan easily with 41
first preference votes despite a lot of
speculation that he could face trouble
from BJP MLAs said to be opposed to
his candidature. Industrialist,
has also made it to the
Rajya Sabha along with
and of the Bharatiya Janata
Party and of the Congress party.
The 7th Battalion of the
(ITBP), which claimed to have rediscovered a lost trekking
stretch connected to the pilgrimage
route, released a book which includes all the information of
the ancient pilgrimage stretch.
Directorate General of Civil Aviation
Airports Authority of
India
Indian Navy
Hawk
BAE systems
Hindustan
Aeronautics Ltd
Bahujan
Samaj Party rural interiors
UPA–II,
NCHER
Jammu Kashmiri
Liberation Front
Yasin Malik
Ram Jethmalani
Dr
Vijay Mallya
M. Venkaiah
Naidu Aayanur Manjunath
Oscar Fernandes
Indo-Tibetan-Border-Police
Kailash Mansarovar
68 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
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Pablo Picasso's Angel
Fernandez de Soto
A.R. Rahman
“Jai Ho Concert: The Journey
Home World Tour”
Michael Jackson's Blue
Eye
“King of Pop”.
Arno Bani
Invincible
Kanishka tragedy
Stephen Harper
institutional failings
nuclear reactors
totally consistent
Sri Lanka
country's civil war
Portrait of
, a work from the
painter's Blue Period, has sold for
nearly £35 million at a London
auction. The winning bid of
£34,761,250, from an anonymous
bidder at an auction at Christie's was
in the middle of the estimated sale
price of £30 millions to £40 millions,
the auctioneer said.
Music maestro has cancelled the North
American leg of his
after a lighting rig collapsed in
Detroit before the show.
A rare 1999 photograph, entitled
, is set to go under the hammer later in 2010 along with
11 other pictures of the The never-before-
seen picture was shot by French photographer
in 1999 as one of the options for the cover shot of Jackson's
tenth and final studio album released in 2001.
Twenty-five years after the that claimed
329 lives, Canadian Premier, apologised
for the “ ” that led to the Air India
bombing and took the first step towards providing
compensation to the victims' families.
China said its proposed two new for
Pakistan are “ ” with its international
obligations and safeguards of the IAEA, but remained mum
on whether it would formally inform the NSG about its
decision.
In a defiant stance, said it
will not allow a UN panel to enter the
country to investigate alleged human
rights abuses during the last stages of
the , which
could put the countr y in a
confrontation course with the world
body.
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Russian Pres ident
perched briefly at
headquarters as he began
courting the micro-blogging
sensation and other US Internet
stars for a Moscow version of
Silicon Valley. Twitter employees
packed into a sixth-floor cafeteria
where co-founders Ev Williams and
Biz Stone gave Mr Medvedev a
crash course in the service, which lets people share
messages of 140 characters and Web links.
returned to for the first
time in 33 years with bookmakers offering odds of 12-1 that
she would be confronted by a streaker on Centre Court.
has enriched 17 kg of to 20 per cent purity, a
top official said, underscoring Tehran's determination to
push ahead with its nuclear programme despite new
international sanctions. Iran's enrichment activities are at
the heart of its standoff with the West which fears it is
seeking nuclear weapons capability.
A group of introduced a legislation in the
Senate to brand the Pakistani Taliban, linked to the botched
Times Square bombing attempt, as a foreign terrorist
organisation. (TTP) is so
far not listed as a terror group by the US state department.
Just three places below has been
ranked the most failed state in the 2010 Failed
released by the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine.
The list is topped by Somalia, followed by Zimbabwe,
Sudan, and Chad.
Dmitr y
Medvedev
Queen Elizabeth Wimbledon
Iran uranium
US senators
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
Afghanistan, Pakistan
10th State
Index
� Austrian
Egyptian city Avaris
Hyksos
archaeologists have located an underground
which they believe to be , the capital
used by the who ruled 3,600 years ago, the culture
ministry said. The Austrian mission carried out a
geophysical survey of the area allowing them to identify
parts of Avaris in the Nile Delta near the modern town of Tal
al-Dabaa, northeast of Cairo.
World
News in brief
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 69
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Pakistan President, – who is also the Co-
Chairman of the ruling Pakistan People's party (PPP) – has
collected resignations from all the PPP parliamentarians in
the centre and the provinces as a sign of '
', political source said.
Nobel literature prize winner,
, who left his native
after arguing with his countr y 's
government, has died at the age of 87.
A life-size statue of
was inaugurated in the Canadian Museum
of Human Rights in Winnipeg.( the capital of Manitoba
province). The local Indian-origin cardiologist Naranjan
Dhalla of Friends of the Canadian Museum of Human
Rights had requested the Indian government to donate the
statue to the museum in 2004.
President of (BSO-
NA), met US Vice-President Joe Biden
to draw his attention to the ongoing military operation and
enforced involuntary disappearances in Pakistani and
Iranian occupied Balochistan.
While briefing about U.S. President Barack
Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh's bilateral meeting on the sidelines of
the G20 summit in Toronto, Foreign
Secretary, informed that
India and the United States want Islamabad
to take the information emerging from the
interrogation of David Headley seriously.
Faced with losing its licence to operate in , Internet
giant appeared to soften its stand in its censorship
row with the government, stopping its practice of
redirecting internet users to its uncensored Hong Kong-
based website.
More than 90 per cent of voters backed radical
changes from a presidential to a parliamentary form of
government even as Russia warned the reform could trigger
the country's collapse. In a referendum, 91 per cent of
voters approved the new Constitution of Kyrgyzstan, the
country's election commission said after counting votes
from 90 per cent of the polling stations.
experienced the first anti-government
countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal enforced by the main
opposition BNP partially affecting major cities including
Dhaka. The former Premier, Khaleda Zia, called the
shutdown to protest against the government's failure to
resolve gas, electricity and water crises.
Asif Ali Zardari
loyalty
certificate
Jose
Saramago Portugal
Mahatma Gandhi
Baloch Society of North America
Dr. Wahid Baloch
Nirupama Rao
China
Kyrgyz
Bangladesh
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Spanish Dictator,
had reportedly ordered his
provincial governors to compile a list of
Jews, which could have sent thousands to
their deaths in the extermination camps
run by
US special representative for and
Richard said
that Pakistan should not rush into any gas project with Iran.
“Pakistan is a sovereign country. It can take its own
decisions but the anticipated US sanctions on Iran could hit
the Pakistani companies if they continue with the (gas)
project with Iran,” Mr Holbrooke told reporters.
Afghan President, earns just
, has less than $20,000 in the bank and owns no land
or property, according to a declaration of his assets by an
anti-graft body.
Influential Indian-origin Labour
has raised concerns over the David
Cameron government making it mandatory
for Indian and other non-EU spouses to have
sufficient
before coming to the UK.
A has been fatally shot, allegedly by his
uncle. The Kuwaiti ruler's court has said the country was
“mourning the demise of Sheikh Basel Salem Sabah Al
Salem Al Sabah, who passed away at the age of 52,” without
giving details of what caused his death.
The retention of an essential capability is a
for Pakistan because of the growing
imbalance created by India's massive military build-up and
“assertive posturing”, a top Pakistani military commander
has said. General Tariq Majid, the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff Committee, made the remarks while
addressing a convocation ceremony at the National Defence
University.
General Francisco
Franco
Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.
Pakistan
Afghanistan, Holbrooke
Hamid Karzai $525 a
month
MP Keith
Vaz
English language requirements
Kuwaiti prince
nuclear
“compulsion”
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Britain's austerity
Budget
Jamaat-e-Islami
Khaleda Zia
coalition government presented its
in Parliament by increasing value-added tax and
slashing welfare and benefits to cut public spending by £17
billion.
Top leaders, including its Chief Motiur
Rahman, Nizami and Secretary-General Ali Ahsan
Mohammad Mojaheed, were arrested in Dhaka. Both
Nizami and Mojaheed were senior Ministers in the
previous government's Cabinet (2001-2006)
and key leaders of the opposition BNP-led four-party
alliance.
70 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
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Anshu Jain
Kalanithi Maran
SpiceJet
Tata Steel Corus
Mr Kirby Adams
Hindustan Copper Limited
Chile Namibia
G M R
Male International
Airport Maldives
Shriram Group,
Food inflation June 12
, 47-year-old Jaipur-born
financier and cricket buff who till recently
owned 10 per cent of the Mumbai Indians
IPL team, is being tipped to become the
bank's (Deutsche Bank) high-profile
CEO after having been appointed head of
its most powerful and profitable
corporate and investment banking
division.
Media magnate entered into an
agreement to acquire 37 per cent stake in low cost carrier
, sources representing the airline have confirmed.
-owned , which was forced to partially-
mothball Teesside plant at Redcar in northern England this
February, will have a new leader from October this year as
the Chief Executive, , has decided to
resign and return to Australia.
(HCL) is in talks to acquire
mining assets in and , its Chairman and
MD, Mr Shakeel Ahmed, said. “We have had preliminary
discussions in Chile, Namibia and we will keep any such
opportunity in any country abroad on our radar to acquire
copper deposits,” he said.
I n f r a s t r u c t u re - l e d
consortium won a bid to build,
operate, modernise and expand
the
(MIA) in the .
The contract will be for 25 years.
Chennai-based which has a presence in
vehicle finance, engineering and insurance, could apply for
a banking license in July. The Reserve Bank of India is
expected to come out with eligibility norms for new banking
licenses by that time.
shot-up to 16.90 per cent as of on
higher prices of pulses, vegetables and milk, but any
immediate tightening of money supply by the RBI to arrest
the rate or price rise appears unlikely.
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Piramal Healthcare,
Abbott Labs
Satyam Maytas Mr
Ramalinga Raju,
Ketan
Parekh
Dr C. Rangarajan,
Nissan
Micra
Saudi BinLadin group IL&FS
which recently sold its domestic
formulations business to for about Rs 18,000
crore, has announced a bonus payment of up to six months'
salary to its employees.
and , the two companies promoted by
may have caused losses to thousands of
investors, but have still proven lucky for a few. IL&FS
Infrastructure, the largest shareholder in Maytas, is sitting
on a notional profit of Rs 250 crore on the 2.2 crore shares of
Maytas that it owns. Larsen & Toubro, which had been one
of the contenders for Satyam, and still owns a substantial
chunk, has also managed to make some money from its
investment.
The government has received reports
that tainted stock broker
, who was barred from the
capital markets till 2017 over a
securities scam, is still active and has
taken positions in oil PSUs like ONGC
and HPCL.
The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council
Chairman, said that inflation level has
reached an uncomfortable level and the RBI need to step in
to prevent it from further rising.
Japanese car major said it will launch its much-
awaited small car in India in July, and the base model
could cost less than Rs four lakh.
The along with has made
an open offer for 1.54 crore shares of Maytas Infrastructure
at a price of Rs 195.72. These shares will account for 20 per
cent of the voting capital of Maytas. Mumbai based
Edelweiss is the manager to the offer. Total value of the offer
works out to Rs 301.8 crore. The offer opens on August 12
and closes on August 31.
� Punjab National Bank
Mr K.R. Kamath
(PNB) is looking beyond the
Indian borders for growth opportunities. It is targeting 100
per cent growth in overseas revenues in the next three years,
Chairman and Managing Director, said.
Business and economy
News in brief
PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010 71
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Private lender, said that
has been appointed as
its Executive Director. The decision was
taken after the resignation of ICICI Bank
Executive Director, Sonjoy Chatterjee.
Sabharwal was heading the retail banking
operations.
Central transmission utility would invest
Rs 58,000 crore for setting up network to facilitate evacuation
of electricity from power surplus states to others. The
company would execute nine high-capacity transmission
corridors, which would transfer power from the hydro power
projects in the North-east and thermal power projects in the
Northern region to power deficient states.
said it has appointed
as an additional Director on its
board of directors.
global car production zoomed 27 percent in May
as Japanese automakers benefit from improving demand in
Asia and the U.S. Toyota Motor Corp., the world's No. 1
automaker, which makes the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury
model, said it produced 637,675 vehicles worldwide in May.
The first phase of Dubai World Central-
(DWC), which is touted to become the
world's largest airport, opened for cargo flights. Inaugural
flights operated by Rus Aviation, Skyline and Aerospace
Consortium landed at the airport, airport management
company Dubai Airports said in a statement.
State-owned
approved the allotment of industrial plots for
25 new units being set up by firms like Jaguar & Co, Nippon
Paint and Shakti Bhog foods, which have committed to
invest Rs 3,500 crore in the state.
For attracting investors to ,
units in these areas should be given investment-linked tax
benefits in the Direct Taxes Code, which is expected to
replace the Income Tax Act from the next fiscal. "SEZ is
specifically mentioned in the Twelfth Schedule of the Draft
Direct Taxes Code for the purpose of investment-linked
deduction.
The (TRAI)
recommended that the foreign investment limit for
broadcast carriage services such as DTH, IPTV, Mobile TV,
HITS, Teleport and MSOs, which are upgrading to digital
and addressable environment, may be raised to 74 %. The
existing limit for most of these services is 49 %.
ICICI Bank
Rajiv Sabharwal
PowerGrid Corp
Neyveli Lignite Corporation
Sanjay Govind Dhande
Toyota's
Al Maktoum
International
Haryana Industrial and Investment
Corporation
Special Economic Zones
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India�
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India may yet again miss power capacity addition target for a
Plan period as the country is likely to add around
of generation capacity against the targeted 62,000 MW
in the (2007-12). This is mainly due
to cancellation of some coal blocks for power projects on
environmental grounds and delay in equipment supply.
The insurance regulator is planning to come out with
new norms for unit-linked insurance products (Ulips) after
the government decided that the Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority (IRDA) would have jurisdiction
over Ulips.
Chennai-based
says it has put its
electric vehicles production
plans on hold due to lukewarm
response from the market. The
company has shelved plans to
launch electric three-wheelers and stopped production of
battery powered Scooty
has launched its fourth and Land
dealership in the country in Hyderabad in
association with Inline4 Motor. There are two outlets in
Mumbai and one in New Delhi. India's luxury car market is
still small with annual sales of 12,000, but growing at a fast
pace.
The 27-nation European Union has banned imports of
, alleging that consignments of the natural
nectar from the country are contaminated with lead. The
commerce secretary, Mr Rahul Khullar, said the
government was looking at ways to resolve the issue of
import ban.
Two Indian women – and –
have been listed among Forbes magazine's list of “a breed of
heiresses who choose to live a lower-key life ... and working
to make a difference behind the scenes.”
The said the 12th Plan is likely to
retain the farm growth target at 4 per cent, as the previous
two Plans failed to achieve it. “The 4-per cent agriculture
growth is a good target for the 12th Plan (2012-17), which
could not be achieved so far, as envisaged in the 11th Plan
(2007-12),” the planning commission Deputy Chairman,
Dr , said.
After telecom, Mr Mukesh Ambani-led
(RIL) is looking to enter the
sector and may bid for the ultra mega
power projects in Chhattisgarh and Orissa.
55,000
MW
11th Five-Year Plan
IRDA
TVS Motor
Company
Teenz scooter.
Tata Motors Jaguar
Rover
Indian honey
Roshni Nadar Nisa Godrej
Planning Commission
Montek Singh Ahluwalia
Reliance
Industries Ltd thermal
power projects
72 PT’s PrepTalk – July 2010
With one of the highest GDP growth rates in the world
and an array of recent achievements in technology,
industry and entrepreneurship, India strides
confidently towards the future. But, in the world’s largest
democracy, not everyone is equally fortunate. More than 300
million Indians are still prey to hunger, illiteracy and disease,
and 51 per cent of India’s children are still undernourished.
What will it take for India to bridge this great divide? When will
the fruits of development reach the poorest of the poor, and wipe
the tears from the eyes of every man, woman and child, as
Mahatma Gandhi had dreamt? And how should this, our
greatest challenge ever, be negotiated? In this extraordinarily
inspiring and visionary book, N.R. Narayana Murthy, who
pioneered, designed and executed the Global Delivery Model
that has become the cornerstone of India’s success in
information technology services outsourcing, shows us that a
society working for the greatest welfare of the greatest number
,must focus on two simple things: values and good leadership.
Drawing on the remarkable Infosys story and the lessons learnt
from the two decades of post-reform India, Narayana Murthy
lays down the ground rules that must be followed if future
generations are to inherit a truly progressive nation. Built on
Narayana Murthy’s lectures delivered around the world, A
Better India: A Better World is a manifesto for the youth, the
architects of the future, and a compelling argument for why a
better India holds the key to a better world.
This book is a collection of lectures delivered by the author
on special occasions, in India and abroad.
These cover various topics. Introduction points out the
rapid progress of India, in spite of several tragedies and
problems. There have been achievements in many fields e.g. IT,
telecom, technology, space, sports, music etc. but the fruits of
such achievements have not reached the masses. Narrating the
background of his initial days, around the time of starting of
Infosys, the author shares his views and experience. Technology
has to play a big role in improvement. Full literacy is necessary.
Challenges faced by us have to be met, and success can be
achieved with hard work, commitment, focus and confidence of
everybody, with faith in the youth of the country. A company can
survive for a long time, when it lives in harmony with society.
Globalization is helpful to improve the lives of the people.
Culling out experiences from
his life, the book is a journey not
only of Infosys, but also a personal
narrative of how this country could
and should surge ahead. Key
questions, such as why India does
not boast of any product of
international class and recognition
are addressed.
The book is dedicated to
several special persons and
organizations. Acknowledgements
cover a wide spectrum of persons
from family life, work life, others
and publications. Generally the speeches are simple in ideas and
expression. These suggest some solutions for the problems.
These speeches serve to motivate the young to find solutions,
work hard and make the world a better place.
This book from an iconic entrepreneur, Mr. N.R. Narayana
Murthy (NRN), is simple and straightforward. It is lucid,
powerful, stimulating and full of candid wisdom. There is
honesty in his understandable anxiety to convey his ideas to
young minds with a firm zeal that they will create a better India
and so a better world. The complexity called India is well
articulated in the book, when he says “our politicians,
bureaucrats, and the elite have to straddle multiple worlds –
urban and the rural, the rich and the poor, the educated and the
not-so-well-educated”. He goes on to write “They have to
juxtapose the two realities of India to understand and appreciate
the complexities and challenges of their task, and create
appropriate policies that enhance the hope and confidence of
these multiple worlds that make up India”.
Again sample this – “ It is very important to remember that a
few million English-speaking Indians do not make up India”.
Such impressions cannot be conveyed so convincingly without
firsthand experience of what the real India is all about.
The thought provoking articles in the book exhort student
audience to execute ideas rather just articulate them.
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