• Vishal Sikka former chief technology officer and member of executive board at enterprise software maker SAP, is Infy’s first non-founder CEO.Sikka will formally take over the mantle of CEO & MD from S D Shibulal on August 1 2014. 

• Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the lone Indian sportsman to figure on Forbes' list of world's 100 highest paid athletes. The list is topped by American boxer Floyd Mayweather and includes golfer Tiger Woods and tennis stars Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Dhoni is ranked 22nd on the list with total earnings of $30 million and endorsements worth $26 million. 

June 9 - Tidbits

National:

RBI tells banks to keep 60% liquidity coverage ratio from January 2015 

In a move aimed at creating liquidity buffers in banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mandated the lenders to maintain 60 per cent liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) from January 1, 2015. Also, the central bank suggested a phased manner in which the ratio will have to increase to 100 per cent by January 1, 2019. Equal quantum of increase has been suggested for every year, till 2019 i.e, the liquidity coverage ratio would be on Indian banks from January 1, 2015 and it would be 60% for the entire 2015. Banks will have to raise the level to 70% from January 2016, to 80% from January 2017, to 90% from January 2018 and to 100% from January 2019. 

BrahMos missile successfully test-fired 

BrahMos missile successfully test-fired from India's largest indigenous warship INS Kolkata

India today successfully test-fired the 290 km-range BrahMos supersonic anti-ship cruise missile from the country's largest indigenous warship INS Kolkata off the coast of Karwar in Karnataka. 

INS Kolkata is the first of its class of warships in the country and is undergoing extensive trials before its planned induction into the Navy in July. The missile has also been inducted into the Army and the Air Force and is being readied for firing from a Su-30MKI combat aircraft. 

NABARD reduces rate of refinance to promote agri investment 
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has reduced the rate of interest by 0.2 per cent on its long-term refinance facility to banks to help promote farm sector investments. 
"Rates of refinance will now be 9.5 per cent for five years and above and 9.7 per cent for three to five years period, banks availing more than Rs 500 crore in a single drawl will further be incentivised by 10 basis points," according to a finance ministry statement quoting NABARD Chairman Harsh Kumar Bhanwala. 

Kotak Mahindra Bank sets up ATMs at Mumbai Metro stations 

The private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank  said it has set up a total of 24 ATMs across the 12 stations of the city's newly launched Metro.The Metro services on the 11.4 km-long Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar section started.The bank has installed 2 ATMs at every station. 

CanaraBank - Project Shikhar

Bangalore-based public sector lender Canara Bank aims to transform at least 600 branches to 5-star category by upgrading them to meet international standards. These branches will offer customers all the banking products under one roof and provide greater access to a wide range of services.

International:

Getting India Back On Track:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday  8  June released a book Getting India Back on Track: An Action Agenda For Reform'' edited by Bibek Debroy, Ashley J. Tellis & Reece Trevor. The book has been published by Carnegie Endowment For International Peace. The book’s foreword is written by Ratan N. Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts, who is a member of Carnegie’s board of trustees and it contains insightful essays by eminent academicians and public policy experts.

Rolls-Royce to open luxury car showroom in Cambodia

Fabled luxury car maker Rolls-Royce will soon be marketing its goods in one of the world's poorest countries.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars announced that it has joined with a Cambodian business partner to open a showroom in the Cambodian capital next month.

EROS to acquire TECHZONE

This is probably the first instance where a content owner is acquiring a content aggregator in the country: Eros International Plc has announced that it has signed a term sheet to acquire a controlling stake in the mobile value added service provider Techzone (Universal Power Systems Private Limited) for an undisclosed amount.

Techzone currently delivers content through caller ring-back tones (CRBT), mobile radio, short message service (SMS), wireless application protocol (WAP) and interactive voice response (IVR). It also owns a mobile shortcode 56060.

June 8 - Tidbits

National:

Chandrababu Naidu takes oath as first CM of new Andhra Pradesh:

Chandrababu Naidu takes oath as first CM of new Andhra Pradesh

Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu was sworn in as the first chief minister of new Andhra Pradesh at a function at Nagarjuna Nagar, 18 kms from Vijaywada on Sunday.

Governor E S L Narasimhan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Chandrababu Naidu.

Several Union ministers, chief ministers of various states and senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party attended the swearing-in ceremony. Naidu took oath in the name of God in Telugu amidst thunderous cheers by party workers.19 cabinet ministers, including three women, were also sworn in on the occasion.

 First session of Telangana Assembly commences today 

The first session of the Telangana Legislative Assembly commences in Hyderabad on Monday as Chief Minister of the new state, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, extended a hand of friendship to his counterpart in the residuary Andhra Pradesh, N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Protem Speaker K Jana Reddy, who has also been elected as Leader of Congress Legislature Party recently, would administer the oath to the members. Speaker's election is slated to be held on June 10.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has a strength of 63 in the 119-member Assembly. 


Uday Kotak wins EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award

Kotak Mahindra Bank executive vice-chairman and managing director Uday Kotak has become the second Indian entrepreneur to win the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award after 11 years.

Infosys Ltd co-founder and chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy was the first from India to win this prestigious award in 2003.

A 10-member global jury named Kotak the winner from among 60 finalists from 51 countries at an award ceremony held at Salle des Etoiles in Monaco

Kotak set up Kotak Capital Management Finance Ltd in 1985 and the company became the first non-banking finance company in India’s corporate history to be converted into a bank in 2003. It has progressed from a seed capital of less than $250,000 to an international group with $2.8 billion in revenues at present.

Why is EY Entrepreneur Of The Year so special:

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world's most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The unique award makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential and recognizes the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement.As the first and only truly global award of its kind, Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognizing them through regional, national and global awards programs in 145 cities in 60 countries.

ICICI Bank overtakes HDFC Bank as top private bank employer 

     With addition of over 10,000 jobs last fiscal,ICICI Bank has overtaken rival HDFC Bank as the biggest employer in the private banking space with more than 72,000 employees. 

Incidentally, HDFC Bank saw its employee headcount decline by 900 during the fiscal ended March 31, 2014, while at least five other major private sector banks saw their workforces grow during the year. 

ICICI Bank has also recorded higher total income and profits than HDFC Bank in the latest fiscal year. 

These five lenders - ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank -saw their employee strength rise by over 20,000 in 2013-14.  

Sourav Ganguly to join Mudgal probe panel

 Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has been inducted into the Mudgal panel which is probing into the IPL spot-fixing and betting issues.

The Supreme Court last month appointed Justice Mudgal to probe into the findings against 13 people whose names were mentioned in a sealed envelope.

The panel is headed by retd. Justice Mukul Mudgal and includes advocates L. Nageswara Rao, Niloy Dutta and senior IPS officer B.B. Mishra.

The apex court has already barred N Srinivasan to function as the BCCI president pending inquiry.

The expose led to arrests of former Chennai Super Kings team principal Gurunath Meiyappan as well as India discard S Sreesanth, first-class cricketers Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila along with Bollywood actor Vindoo Dara Singh to name a few.

FDI in services sector drops 54% in 2013-14 

Foreign direct investment in the services sector declined by about 54 per cent year-on-year to $2.22 billion last fiscal, according to data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. 
The services sector, which includes banking, insurance, outsourcing, R&D, courier and technology testing, had received FDI worth $4.83 billion during 2012-13. 
The services sector accounts for over 60 per cent to India's GDP. 
FDI inflows have also declined in sectors including construction development and hotel and tourism. 
Foreign investments are considered crucial for India, which needs about $1 trillion in the 5-year Plan period ending March 2017 to overhaul infrastructure such as ports, airports and highways and boost growth. 
The decline in foreign investments could affect the country's balance of payments and the rupee. 
Overall foreign inflows into the country grew by 8 per cent to $24.29 in the last fiscal as against $22.42 billion in 2012-13. 
To further attract foreign inflows, the government is planning to relax FDI policy in sectors such as defence, railways and construction activities. 

International:

India's trade deficit with China mounts to $9 bn in January-April

China's trade with South Asian nations including India has touched a whopping $100 billion even as the deficit in trade between the two countries neared $nine billion in the first four months of this year. 

Trade volume between China and South Asian nations jumped from $35 billion in 2006 to about $100 billion in 2013, but the fast growth features a rising trade imbalance with China exporting more, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. 

The India-China trade topped much of the $100 billion as the bilateral trade totalled $65.47 billion in 2013 with trade deficit mounting to $31.42 billion. 

The huge trade deficit figured high on  talks between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in New Delhi. Wang arrived in India on a two-day visit to establish first contacts with the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 
The two leaders discussed ways to increase Chinese investments in India through setting up industrial parks and infrastructure projects. They also discussed ways to address India's concern of huge trade deficit of nearly $ 40 billion.

FIIs pump Rs 20,000 cr in debt market

The net inflow last month came after Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) had pulled out net amount of about Rs 9,200 crore in April.

According to market experts, FIIs have pumped in huge investments in the Indian debt market on hopes that the new government will take steps to revive the economy and a favourable interest rate scenario.

As per data compiled by capital markets regulator Sebi, FIIs were gross buyers of debt securities worth Rs 40,478 crore in May, while they sold bonds to the tune of Rs 20,706 crore during the same time. This translates to a net inflow of Rs 19,772 crore ($3.35 billion) for the month.This was the highest monthly net inflow since December 2011, when FIIs had made a net investment of Rs 21,774 crore in the debt market.

 Rafael Nadal wins ninth French Open, 14th Grand Slam

The world number one also became the first man to win five Roland Garros crowns in succession as the 28-year-old took his record at the tournament to 66 wins against just one defeat. 
His tally of 14 majors equals the mark of Pete Sampras and puts him just three behind the all time record of Roger Federer who is almost five years older. 
Defeat was cruel for world number two Djokovic, the 2012 runner-up, who still needs a French Open title to become just the eighth man  to complete the career Grand Slam. 

Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai lift Paris doubles crown

Hsieh, of Taiwan, and China's Peng, both 28 and born four days apart, extended their win-loss record to 12-0 in doubles finals with their victory on the Paris clay, building on the Wimbledon title they lifted last year.

The Italian pairing, seeded second, had won four of the last eight grand slams, including the 2012 Roland Garros crown and this year's Australian Open.

Andy Murray has appointed former Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo as his new coach 

Murray split with Ivan Lendl in March after a successful partnership that saw the Scot win an Olympic gold medal, the US Open and Wimbledon.

The former women's world No.1 has previous experience of coaching a man, having worked with compatriot Michael Llodra over the 2010 grass-court season when he won the Eastbourne ATP event.

Mauresmo also acted as coach to Marion Bartoli when she won Wimbledon in 2013 - the first Frenchwoman to do so since Mauresmo herself in 2006.

Women coaching men in professional tennis is not unknown. Denis Istomin, of Uzbekistan, is coached by his mother, while Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin, the world No.54, is coached by his wife.

Murray himself has previously been coached by his mother, Judy, during his younger days before he turned professional.

Sources:ESPN,,ET,Hindu,WSJ

June 7 - Tidbits

National:

Kundankulam Nuclear plant generates 1,000 MW of power:

Unit one of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant (KNPP) reached its full capacity generation of 1000MW on Saturday. 

The Russian-designed Voda Voda Energo Reactor (VVER) achieved the final milestone nearly eight months after power generated at the plant was connected to the grid. The unit will continue to generate 1000MW for at least a day. Subsequently, we will scale down generation to 900MW as per the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) stipulations.

This is the first nuclear power plant in the country to touch 1000MW of power generation.

Power produced from Unit 1 is shared amongst Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Puducherry.

Ranjit Kumar appointed Solicitor General:

Senior Supreme Court advocate Ranjit Kumar was appointed the Solicitor General (SG) of India. He replaces senior advocate Mohan Parasaran, who had tendered his resignation after the formation of a new government at the Centre.

HSAMB smartcards to be launched in Haryana , targets to prevent exploitation of farmers

Official channels for crop remuneration will finally open for farmers in Haryana in the upcoming rabi season. The Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board's (HSAMB) smartcard is targeting to do away with exploitation of farmers at the hands of commission agents, private and public authorities. The scheme comes before the paddy season and will cover rice-sellers and private purchasers. Replete with ATM card features, the smartcard will also store details of commodity, quantity and sale. Punjab National Bank , Canara Bank,Axis Bank, Union Bank and ICICI Bank will set up dispenser machines at the gates of 100-odd mandis across the state. 

Once in possession of the smartcard, a farmer will have to swipe while entering the mandi. After the sale, farmers will be able to withdraw from any of the 22 nationalised banks or regional rural banks in the state. The banks will bear the fee of Rs 4 per transaction. 

A pilot scheme has already been run in mandis of Karnal, Hisar and Sirsa. 

Experimental mission of GSLV Mark III in July/August

 Indian Space Research Organisation is likely to launch its experimental mission of GSLV Mark III with passive cryogenic stage in the last week of July or the first week of August.After the successful launch of GSLV, ISRO is focusing on the development of GSLV Mark III, which if succeeded is likely to bring millions of dollars as foreign exchange.

Government starts revival of Talcher fertiliser plant in Odisha

Talcher Fertilizer Unit is located about 126 kms away from Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa State and in the district of Angul. The government has started work on reviving Talcher fertiliser plant  by putting a brand new factory, for which old redundant plant with obsolete machineries is being disposed off.  

Deepika Padukone brand ambassador of Axis Bank

Axis Bank,  India’s  third largest private sector Bank,  announced

the launch of the third phase of its advertising campaign around its brand philosophy of

‘Badhti ka naam zindagi…’ or ‘Progress On’. with a new cut on the philosophy articulated

as ‘Badhne ke kai naam hai…’,the bank, for the first time in its evolution is also getting

associated with a celebrity and announces ‘Deepika Padukone’ as it brand ambassador

to take its brand philosophy ahead.

Litchi syndrome- named after a fruit of which Maldaha is a major producer. West Bengal's Maldaha district is hit by a viral outbreak. Suspected to have caused by a virus spread by a fruit Lichi .Muzaffarpur district of Bihar, another major Litchi producing region had badly suffered with the same disease in 2012 during Litchi harvesting season April to June. The chemicals and substances that the fruit Litchi carry are similar to those found in Jamacian fruit, Ackee. Ackee is the cause of a childhood (under 15) acute encephalopathy disease called Jamaican vomiting sickness (JVS). 

International:

          

The UN General Assembly has established an award in the honour of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela to pay tribute to his achievements and contributions of the late South African leader who inspired not only his own country but the rest of the world . 

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in remarks to the Assembly, following the adoption by consensus of the resolution establishing the 'United Nations Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize'. 

Ladakh International Film Festival to open with Kamal Swaroop's 'Rangbhoomi'

The theme for LIFF 2014 is 'Spirituality & Camaraderie' and the festival will conclude with the special preaching (kaalchakra) by Tibetan spiritual guru Dalai Lama. The third edition of the Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) will open at Leh on June 27 with Kamal Swaroop's 'Rangbhoomi'.The event will be held for three days starting from Jun 27-Jun 29.  

Besides, a special retrospective on legendary film director Akiro Kurosawa and Anurag Kashyap's 'Ugly' will be showcased at the Green Carpet premiere at the three-day event.

About LIFF:

The Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) is an international film festival that is held annually in the Ladakh region in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Inaugurated in 2012, it is the first international film festival to be held in Ladakh.

 A major theme of the festival is wildlife conservation.In partnership with the Snow Leopard Conservancy India Trust, the festival offers the Snow Leopard Trophy for the most educational or inspiring film about an endangered species.

 

Petro Poroshenko took the oath of office as Ukraine's president who won the presidential election with 54.7 percent vote.

He is  Ukrainian billionaire businessman and the fifth President of Ukraine.

His business success in the confectionery industry earned him the nickname "Chocolate King".

Humanoid robot 'Pepper' set for sale in Japan next year

A cooing, gesturing humanoid on wheels that can decipher emotions has been unveiled in Japan by billionaire Masayoshi Son who says robots should be tender and make people smile. The machine, which has no legs but has gently gesticulating hands appeared on a stage in a Tokyo suburb, cooing and humming. Son's mobile phone company Softbank said Thursday that the robot it has dubbed Pepper will go on sale in Japan in February for 198,000 yen ($1,900).

Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep

Maria Sharapova fought back to defeat Simona Halep  to win her second clay title of the season at the Madrid Open.

Maria Shar

apova won her second French Open title in three years at Roland Garros .

Sharapova will rise to seventh in the rankings as a result of her 31st career trophy. It is Sharapova’s fifth career Grand Slam championship, but for the first time has won the same major twice. She has more victories at the French Open (50) than at the other three Grand Slam tournaments.

  18th SAARC summit  venu shifted from Pokhara to Kathmandu

Nepal has decided to shift the venue of the 18th SAARC summit in November from its famous tourist destination of Pokhara to Kathmandu due to lack of infrastructure. 

Mahendra Pandey, Minister for Foreign Affairs while talking to a team of artists in Kathmandu, underlined the need for an anthem to connect the people of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations. He has said that the song has to be presented formally in the upcoming SAARC summit before it is approved unanimously as the formal SAARC anthem.

Rating agency Standard & Poor's confirms negative outlook for Italy 

Rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has confirmed the BBB rating for Italy, and maintained a negative outlook, citing weak growth prospects for the third-largest economy in the euro zone.