General Awareness Updates – November 2011
Economy & Business
Meg Whitman is the new CEO of Hewlett-Packard. She succeeds Leo Apotheker.
Thein Sein, the President ofMyanmar Irrawaddy river. The greatest surprise was the president’s rationale for halting the project: the government acted, he said, “according to the desire of the people”.
Raj Rajaratnam, a former billionaire and Galleon Group founder who was the primary target of what prosecutors called the biggest hedge fund insider trading case inU.S.
He was also fined U.S.$10 million. The court concluded that Mr Rajaratnam made well over U.S.$50 million in profits from his illegal trades.
Oswald Grübel has stepped down as the boss of UBS. The decision follows allegations that a rogue trader at the Swiss bank recorded a loss of about U.S.$2.3 billion. He was succeeded by Simon Ermotti.
The Union Cabinet has approved a new policy for acquisition of raw material assets abroad by Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) with a three-year record of profit, vesting more powers with Maharatna and Navratna companies for such buy-outs.Availability of raw material is a prerequisite not only for the growth of the manufacturing sector alone, but for the economy as a whole.
The new policy will pave the way for Navratna firms to invest up to `3,000 crore in such assets without government approval, as against the present limit of `1,000 crore. For Maharatna firms, the limit is `5,000 crore. The policy, which will facilitate the acquisition of coal, iron ore and other assets abroad, will be applicable to CPSEs in the agriculture, mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors having a three-year record of net profits.
A Coordinating Committee of Secretaries (CCoS) headed by the Cabinet Secretary will be formed. The CCoS will examine proposals involving investment beyond the prescribed limits for such acquisitions by CPSEs. The CCoS will facilitate quick and coordinated decision-making, coordinate the grant of concessional credit to foreign enterprises, recommend government funding and decide about the nature of such funding on a case-to-case basis.
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, unveiled the company’s much-anticipated rival to the iPad. The Kindle Fire will sport a seven-inch display, making it about two-thirds the size of Apple’s popular tablet computer. At U.S.$199 it will cost about half as much.
Industrial output remained subdued for the second consecutive month in August, registering growth of just 4.1 per cent, but the Reserve Bank may not pause with its interest rate hike strategy, with inflation ruling much above comfort levels.
The August figure is a tad better than the 3.8 per cent growth recorded in July (revised upward from 3.3 per cent) and 4.5 per cent in the corresponding period last year. Factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), however, stood at 5.6 per cent in the April- August period, as against 8.7 per cent in the same period last year.In August, the manufacturing sector – which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index – grew by 4.5 per cent, as against 4.7 per cent in the same month last year.
However, it is unlikely that the RBI will pause with its rate hike strategy on account of the slowdown in industrial output growth. The RBI has already hiked rates 12 times since March, 2010, to control inflation, which stood at 9.8 per cent in August.
The economic slowdown has impacted countries globally, especially Western nations. ButIndia
Even though there has been a demand slowdown in theU.S. and Europe, India
SAB Miller, one of the world’s biggest brewers, has succeeded in its three-month pursuit ofFoster’s, after the Australian beermaker recommended that shareholders accept a higher takeover offer of U.S.$10.1 billion.
Thein Sein, the President of
Raj Rajaratnam, a former billionaire and Galleon Group founder who was the primary target of what prosecutors called the biggest hedge fund insider trading case in
He was also fined U.S.$10 million. The court concluded that Mr Rajaratnam made well over U.S.$50 million in profits from his illegal trades.
Oswald Grübel has stepped down as the boss of UBS. The decision follows allegations that a rogue trader at the Swiss bank recorded a loss of about U.S.$2.3 billion. He was succeeded by Simon Ermotti.
The Union Cabinet has approved a new policy for acquisition of raw material assets abroad by Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) with a three-year record of profit, vesting more powers with Maharatna and Navratna companies for such buy-outs.Availability of raw material is a prerequisite not only for the growth of the manufacturing sector alone, but for the economy as a whole.
The new policy will pave the way for Navratna firms to invest up to `3,000 crore in such assets without government approval, as against the present limit of `1,000 crore. For Maharatna firms, the limit is `5,000 crore. The policy, which will facilitate the acquisition of coal, iron ore and other assets abroad, will be applicable to CPSEs in the agriculture, mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors having a three-year record of net profits.
A Coordinating Committee of Secretaries (CCoS) headed by the Cabinet Secretary will be formed. The CCoS will examine proposals involving investment beyond the prescribed limits for such acquisitions by CPSEs. The CCoS will facilitate quick and coordinated decision-making, coordinate the grant of concessional credit to foreign enterprises, recommend government funding and decide about the nature of such funding on a case-to-case basis.
Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, unveiled the company’s much-anticipated rival to the iPad. The Kindle Fire will sport a seven-inch display, making it about two-thirds the size of Apple’s popular tablet computer. At U.S.$199 it will cost about half as much.
Industrial output remained subdued for the second consecutive month in August, registering growth of just 4.1 per cent, but the Reserve Bank may not pause with its interest rate hike strategy, with inflation ruling much above comfort levels.
The August figure is a tad better than the 3.8 per cent growth recorded in July (revised upward from 3.3 per cent) and 4.5 per cent in the corresponding period last year. Factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), however, stood at 5.6 per cent in the April- August period, as against 8.7 per cent in the same period last year.In August, the manufacturing sector – which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index – grew by 4.5 per cent, as against 4.7 per cent in the same month last year.
However, it is unlikely that the RBI will pause with its rate hike strategy on account of the slowdown in industrial output growth. The RBI has already hiked rates 12 times since March, 2010, to control inflation, which stood at 9.8 per cent in August.
The economic slowdown has impacted countries globally, especially Western nations. But
Even though there has been a demand slowdown in the
SAB Miller, one of the world’s biggest brewers, has succeeded in its three-month pursuit ofFoster’s, after the Australian beermaker recommended that shareholders accept a higher takeover offer of U.S.$10.1 billion.
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