NEWS UPDATE

Cognizant Beats Estimates, Peers

IT firm cognizant posted September quarter revenues of $2.31 billion, up 6.7% sequentially and 21.9% year over year. The profit stood at $319.6 million, up 15.4% compared to $ 276.9 million earned in the last quarter.

Cognizant president, Gordon Coburn, who was interviewed by The Economic Times, says demand revival appears sustainable as clients spend on cost reduction and innovation. Cognizant plans a slew of promotions as well as bonuses well in excess of 100% of variable pay. Cognizant has over 1.66 lakh employees with about 75% of them based in the country.

World Chess Championship: Fourth day, same show

The fourth day game between Vishwanathan Anand and Norwegian Magnus Carlsen ended with a draw again. The scores are now tied at 1-1 after four games and there are 8 more games to go under Classical time control in this Rs 14 crore prize money championship.

Super Typhoon Haiyan Batters Central Phillippines

Typhoon Haiyan, potentially the world’s most powerful storm ever recorded, has killed at least 10,000 people in central Phillippines and is now heading west towards Vietnam.

Ruhani Says Iran Will Not Abandon Its Nuclear Rights

President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that Iran will not abandon its nuclear rights, including uranium enrichment. Hopes had soared after top word diplomats rushed to Geneva to join talks, then faded as cracks began to appear among world powers as France raised concerns. The P5+1 group in the talks- Britain, China, Russia, France and the United States plus Germany- suspects that Iran’s atomic ambitions are aimed at developing nuclear weapons.

Toxic Tsunami Junk from Japan Floating Towards US

An enormous floating island of debris from Japan’s 2011 tsunami is drifting towards the coast of America, bringing with it one million tons of junk that would cover the size of Texas.

The most concentrated stretch dubbed the “toxic monster” by Fox News is now 1, 7000 miles off the coast, sitting between Hawaii and California, but several million tones of additional debris remains scattered across the Pacific.

Gandhi’s Iconic ‘Charkha’ Fetches Record 110,000 Pounds

Mahatama Gandhi’s iconic ‘Charkha’, which symbolized his non- violent struggle for India’s independence, fetched a record 110.000 pounds at an auction in England. Gandhi had used the charkha during his years in Pune’s Yerwada jail and had given it to the American Free Methodist missionary Rev Dr Floyd A Puffer for his contribution to Indian educational and industrial co-operatives.

Agatha Christie Novel Voted Best Whodunit

An Agatha Christie novel from the golden age of English crime fiction has been voted the best whodunit novel ever written. The survey of members of Crime Writer’s Association (CWA) of professional novelists, concluded that Christie’s 1926 mystery ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’ was the finest example of genre ever penned.

NEWS UPDATE

At Whitehouse, Diwali with A Touch Of Bollywood

It was a different kind of Diwali, a little Americanized and a trifle Bollywoodized. In a growing recognition of American diversity including Indian- American cultural and religious expression in the United states, the White House continued its annual celebration of Indian festival of lights, with the first lady, Michelle Obama lighting the diya, the traditional lamp.

China Focuses On Economic Fissures

Mismatch in skills and expectations of youth had been the top agenda for the Third Plenum meeting at Beijing, a meeting that is expected to set the tone for Chinese economic and political party making for the next five years.

Bloomberg Exits after 12 Years, New York Elects New Mayor

Voters in New York picked Bill de Blasio to be the city’s first Democratic mayor. Bill De Blasio defeated Republican candidate Joe Lhota to succeed Michael Bloomberg as the 109th mayor of New York.

Quit Smoking If You Want Job

Those aspiring for Rajasthan government jobs will now have to give an undertaking that they would neither smoke nor consume gutka while in government service.

When Mariachi Met Gidda

A fusion of Mexican folk music and, mariachi and Punjab’s gidda will bring together not just two continents but civilizations at Amritsar on Monday. Also binding them together will be the power of women as mariachi will be performed by Flor de Toloache, New York’s first all women mariachi band and gidda will be performed by the girls of Amritsar’s Khalsa college for women.

World Cup Heads to India

India will be hosting the men’s Hockey World Cup for the third time in 2018, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) said. India first hosted the showpiece event in 1982 in Bombay where Pakistan emerged as the champion. The 2010 World Cup was also hosted by India which was won by Australia. The women’s event will be hosted by England, scheduled to take place from July 7-21 in 2018. Men’s event being hosted by India will be held later that year, December 1-16

Twitter IPO Makes a Splash on NYSE

Eighteen months after market signaled a “like” for Facebook’s Initial Public Offering (IPO), pumping it out to a $100-billion company, Twitter, its contemporary, made a splash in New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) racking up a $25 billion market cap within an hour of opening on Thursday. Twitter shares nearly doubled to $50 on Thursday from its IPO price of $26, making it the world’s biggest technology debut since Facebook.

NEWS UPDATE

UK PM Seeks To Boost Great Ties during India Trip

British Prime Minister David Cameron has described his country’s relation with India as “the greatest partnership of the 21st century” and said that UK needs to “continue doing everything” to further build it. He said he was looking forward to his third visit to India.

Germany Says No To Visa Or Asylum For Snowden

Germany has ruled out granting a visa or asylum to CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden over concerns that it could worsen the already serious diplomatic row with the United States. Snowden, a former NSA contractor has been staying in Moscow after fleeing from the US.

Yassar Arafat Died Of Poisoning

Samples taken from Yassar Arafat’s body contained at least 18 times the normal levels of polonium, suggesting the Palestinian icon was poisoned with radioactive material.

Lady Gaga Set To Be the First Singer to Perform In Space

Lady Gaga plans a one month vocal training to perform in early 2015 aboard the Virgin Galactica, the passenger spaceplane being launched by British billionaire Richard Branson to popularize space tourism.

FBI Hunts For Hacker Who Trapped Cheating Couples

Carlos Enrique Perez Melara,33, features in the FBI’s ‘most wanted’ list. He developed a programme dubbed ‘Loverspy’ and ‘ Email PI’ to catch a cheating lover.

US Woman Runs Over Boyfriend for Not Stopping at Mc Donald’s

A woman in the United States ran over her boyfriend thrice with a pick-up truck because he refused to take her to McDonald’s.

Tarla Dalal, India’s 1st Food Celeb, Dead

Celebrated chef and cookbook author Tarla Dalal (77) passed away on Wednesday, 6 November at her South Mumbai residence. A Padma Shri awardee, she leaves three children and a legacy of over 100 cookbooks and thousands of recipes.

Venezula’s Gabriela Isler is Miss Universe 2013

Gabriela Isler, a 25 year old television presenter and accomplished flamenco dancer from Venezula has been crowned Miss Universe 2013. This is the third win for Venezula in the last six Miss Universe pageants. The last time an Indian won Miss Universe title was Bollywood actress Lara Dutta in 2000.

Afghan Sisters Keep Punjabi alive in Europe

Two Afghan Sikh sisters who fled their homeland to escape extremists years back and made Switzerland their home, have today become the saviors of Punjabi language in Switzerland. Gurmit Kaur and Amarjit Kaur have vowed to teach Punjabi language to the next generation of Sikhs and Punjabis living in Switzerland. Their classes are held every Sunday at the country’s only Gurudwara in Langenthal since 2009 attended by children from across Germany and Switzerland.

Canada to Issue Stamp on Komagata Maru

Komagatu Maru, a Japanese steamship hired by influential Sikh Baba Gurdit Singh, was boarded by 376 Indians and set sail for Canada in 1914. The Indians were not allowed to disembark at Vancouver city in Canada and the ship was sent back. On reaching India, the British government ordered police to open fire on the passengers as the ship entered the Budge Budge port near Kolkata.

Canada Post issued a press release on October 31 announcing the issuance of a postal stamp in the memory of who died in the firing as part of its 2014 stamp programme.

PM World’s Most Powerful Sikh

PM Manmohan Singh has been listed as the world’s most powerful, influential and contemporary Sikh in the first edition of annual ‘Sikh 100’ published in London.

Centre for Non-Survey Route to Decide Jat Quota

The centre is likely to lobby against a fresh survey to decide the backward status for the Jat community, worried that it could delay the issue beyond the time line it has set to woo the community in political battles.

Maldives SC defers re-poll

Maldives Supreme Court ordered the suspension of Sunday’s run-off for the controversy-ridden presidential re-vote, prolonging the political turmoil in the country amid mounting international concern.

Going abroad? Buy your own Insurance

Buying international plane tickets for family members online is a breeze, but buying overseas medi-claim cover for others requires advance planning with insurance companies insisting that electronic payment for policies must come from the policyholder’s own account.

M-cap of Top nine companies tanks Rs. 58,987 cr.

Amid a weak stock market, top-nine sensex companies saw a cumulative loss of Rs. 58,987 cr. in market capitalization (M-cap) last week, with energy majors-RIL and ONGC- taking the steepest hit among the blue chips.

Bayern up for fresh challenge

European champions Bayern Munich set a new Bundesliga record of 37 games without defeat.

Punjab most well off, Haryana third

Maharashtra has the highest per capita income, but when it comes to prosperity, Punjab tops the chart with Madhya Pradesh at the very bottom. In terms of equity, Kerala pips Punjab to the top slot, while Andhra Pradesh has the highest levels of disparity, says a new study that ranks states based on pattern of ownership of consumer goods.

Haqqani chief’s son killed in Pak

Nasiruddin Haqqani, eldest son of the chief of the Haqqani network that has been blamed for attacks on the US forces and Indian Embassy in Kabul, has been gunned down on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital.

Vodafone against Spectrum Resale in 900MHz Band

Ahead of expiry of its licenses in key circles of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, Vodafone has come out against resale of its airwaves in the 900 MHz band, saying its ready to pay market linked prices for them, indexed to the prices discovered in 1800 MHz band auction.

300 kg Thai Gold to Plate Gaya Temple

Two dozen commandos from Thailand are guarding 300 kg gold in 13 boxes in Bihar’s Gaya town as work began to cover the dome of 1,500 year old Mahabodhi temple in glitter.

Bhagat Statue to Dot Cuba Skyline: Punjab Martyr Held in High Esteem in Island Nation

Punjab’s great revolutionary leader Shaheed Bhagat Singh, who was the icon of Indian freedom struggle to end British rule, still generates awe and respect in Fiedal Castro’s Cuba.

RBI pegs CAD at $56 billion

Seeking to claim currency markets, RBI chief Raghuram Rajan on Wednesday said the CAD in 2013-2014 will be USD 56 billion- lower than what was projected earlier.

Painting auctioned for Record $140.4 million

A 1969 painting by British artist Francis Bacon set a world record for the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction and a sculpture by Jeff Koon’s broke a world auction record for a living artist at a Manhatten scale. “Three Studies of Lucian Freud” was purchased for $142.4 million at Christie’s postwar and contemporary art sale on Tuesday, 12 November. Koon’s “Balloon Dog” was sold for $58.4 million.

Trams may Trundle on Shimla Roads

The Queen of Hills is a step closer to getting a light rail transit system (tramway), with the technical team of French Embassy on Thursday giving a green signal to the feasibility.

Sensex up 205 points as Fed Taper fears recede

US fights poaching, to destroy six tons of confiscated ivory

US officials are destroying more than 6 tons of confiscated ivory tusks, carvings and jewellery, to support the fight against $10 billion global trades that slaughters thousands of elephants each year.