Ratan Tata gets one of Britain's highest awards
1.Ratan Tata, former chairman of the Tata Group that has a large presence in Britain, is to be honoured by Queen Elizabeth with a GBE (Knight Grand Cross), which is one of the highest civilian honours in Britain, it was announced on Thursday.
2.Official sources said that Tata, who was honoured with a KBE (Knight Commander) in 2009, is to be honoured during this year for his “services to UK/India relations, inward investment to the UK and philanthropy”.
3.Tata is one of five foreign nationals to be honoured by Queen Elizabeth during 2014.
RBI to banks: Follow norms on sale/ purchase of real estate overseas
1.The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday said banks should ensure that all future transactions relating to purchase/sale of real estate as well as acquiring /letting out property on lease/rental basis at overseas centres are undertaken in accordance with the board-approved policy.
2.This directive has been issued after it came to the central bank’s notice that some Indian banks have committed certain lapses in purchase/sale of real estate as well as in acquiring/ letting out property on lease/rental basis abroad.
3.In order to avoid such lapses in future it is advised that boards of directors of banks should lay down policies and formulate detailed operational guidelines to protect the interest of their respective banks.
4.The policy/guidelines should be compliant with the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and other relevant Indian laws,” said a RBI circular to banks.
World Bank projects 5.7% growth for India in FY 2015
1.The World Bank today projected an economic growth rate of 5.7 per cent in 2014-15 for India on the back of a more competitive exchange rate and many large investments going forward.
2.Bolstered by permanently more competitive exchange rate and progress towards clearance of important investment projects, India may see an acceleration of growth (factor costs)in FY 2014 to 4.8 per cent, further increase to 5.7 per cent in FY 2015," the World Bank said in its latest edition of 'South Asia Economic Focus'.
3.Another multilateral agency IMF had yesterday forecast that Indian economy would recover from 4.4 per cent growth in 2013 to 5.4 per cent in 2014. The estimate triggered a rally on Indian bourses, with BSE benchmark Sensex surging close to 360 points to all-time closing high of 22,702.34.
4.The Indian rupee, which plunged to all-time low of 68.85 in August last year, has since then recovered to trade in 60-levels against the US dollar. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had also cited export competitiveness as a reason for possible growth recovery.
HDFC’s Deepak Parekh appointed special advisor to Gavaskar
1.The Interim president of BCCI-IPL Sunil Gavaskar on Friday appointed Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) chairman Deepak Parekh as his special advisor for the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League.
2.Parekh will be a special invitee during the IPL governing council meeting as his vast expertise in financial affairs will enable Gavaskar to ensure smooth functioning of IPL affairs for the next two months.
3.In a BCCI media release, Parekh has been dubbed as “unofficial crisis consultant of the Government. His role as Special Director on the Satyam Board in 2009, to revive the company and restore the confidence in the Indian IT industry, was greatly acknowledged.”
State Bank mops up record $1.25bn in overseas bond sale
1.Nation’s largest lender State Bank of India has mopped up $1.25 billion in overseas debt sale through a dual tranche bond programme, making it the largest ever offering from a domestic issuer.
2.The bank raised $750 million in 5-year money at US treasury interest rate plus 205 basis points, while it priced the 10-year $500 million issue at 225 bps over the treasury, one of the merchant bankers told PTI.
3.The programme was completed late on Thursday night, said the source.
4.SBI has broken the record set by Oil India earlier this week by raising 25 per cent more than the oil explorer.
Infosys on the hunt for new CEO
1.The Nominations Committee of the company’s Board of Directors has begun the search to select the successor to Mr. S.D. Shibulal, CEO and MD.”
2.It added that Mr. Shibulal has expressed his desire to retire as the CEO and MD of the company and as a member of the Board of Directors either on the date of the last board meeting before his superannuation - January 9, 2015 - or when his successor is ready to assume office, whichever date is earlier.
3.The Nominations Committee, Infosys said, will shortlist and evaluate an internal slate of candidates with the assistance of Development Dimensions International (DDI), a company specialising in corporate executive evaluations.
4.The Board has also appointed Egon Zehnder, an executive search firm, to assist the Nominations Committee in identifying an external slate of candidates.
Deadly ‘Heartbleed’ virus arrives in Indian cyberspace
1.Indian cyber security sleuths have alerted Internet users against a “highly severe” virus named ‘Heartbleed’, which has set alarm bells ringing across the globe for fear of exposing millions of passwords, credit card numbers and other sensitive information to hackers.
2.The virus prowling in the domestic arena, authorities said, attacks the openSSL of an online system which is the most essential protocol which encrypts information and data transfer over the Internet.
3.The Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In), the nodal agency to combat hacking, phishing and to fortify security-related defences of the country’s Internet domain, fears it could compromise personal data and passwords of a user.
4.A vulnerability (heartbleed) has been reported in OpenSSL, which could be exploited by a remote attacker to disclose potentially sensitive information. The vulnerability is due to improper bounds checking while handling TLS/DTLS heartbeat extension packets.
Indian companies not taking advantage of China opportunities: Ratan Tata
1.Indian companies have generally failed to take advantages of the technologies and opportunities offered by the China market, Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group, has said.
2.Mr. Tata, in an address to a high-powered gathering of Chinese politicians and business leaders, said he believed there was “great potential” for Chinese companies to invest in infrastructure in India but projects “have not happened”.
3.The former Tata Sons chairman was invited to speak at an annual event known as “China's Davos” in Boao, in the southern island province of Hainan. The Chinese government-backed Boao Forum has become Beijing's most high-profile annual gathering, bringing together Chinese and international political and business elite.
4.Mr. Tata was, this week, honoured by becoming the only Indian to be inducted into the forum's 15 member board. Others on the board include the former Communist Party of China Politburo member Zeng Peiyan, retired Chinese Ambassador to the United States Zhou Wenzhong, former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, the former Prime Minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong, and the retired United States Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
Stuart Parkin awarded prestigious Millennium technology prize
1.British scientist Prof Stuart Parkin has won the 2014 Millennium technology prize worth €1m (£824,400) for research that has led to a phenomenal increase in the storage capacity of digital devices and heralded the era of cloud computing.
2.The Watford-born physicist told the Guardian he planned to use the money to buy a house in Halle, Germany, but was aiming for a low-key celebration.
3.I will celebrate the award by inviting my fiancée to the Vendôme restaurant in Schloss Bensberg, one of our favourite restaurants in Germany for very special occasions.
4.The physicist joins past winners including the inventor of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Linux creator Linus Torvalds and pioneer of dye-sensitised solar cells Michael Grätzel.
5.Launched in 2004 and presented every two years, the Millennium technology prize is awarded by Technology Academy Finland and is backed by Finnish industry and the Finnish state. This year's ceremony takes place in Helsinki on 7 May.
Sachin Tendulkar adorns cover of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
1.Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, who quit international cricket last year after an illustrious 24-year long career, adorned the covers of the 151st edition of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
2.The 40-year-old cricketer is the first Indian to feature on the cover of the Almanack. He was earlier chosen to feature on the cover of the second edition of the Wisden India Almanack.
3.The yellow page shows Tendulkar walking out of the Wankhede stadium after playing his last innings against the West Indies in November last year. The photograph captured Tendulkar acknowledging the crowd with his bat raised.
4.Sachin simply picks himself," said Lawrence Booth, the Wisden editor. "His status and influence on the game are beyond question. Wisden is delighted to add its own tribute to an exceptional career in this year's Almanack."
5.The 2014 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack will be published in London
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