Frauds caused Rs 6,600 cr loss to Indian Economy

As per the first edition of Ernst & Young’s Fraud Indicators in India, different types of frauds may have caused Rs 6,600 crore loss to Indian economy in the last fiscal and banks were the most common victim in scamming cases.

BCCI awards 2011-12

BCCI will  honor Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli with Polly Umrigar Award at its Annual Awards ceremony to be held on November 21, 2013 in Mumbai.

Sachin will be honored for his 100^th century while Virat will awarded for being India’s top international cricketer of 2011-12.

Former India captain  Sunil  Gavaskar will be receiving the prestigious  Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award.

“Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters” French honor to Aishwarya Rai

the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans  l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres). The coveted honor was given in recognition of her invaluable contribution to the world of cinema and the development of Indo-French cooperation in cinema, art, and culture.

Earlier Indian recipients include Shahrukh Khan, Raghu Rai, Nandita Das, late Habib Tanvir, and Upamanyu Chatterjee.

Gulzar honored with Indira Gandhi National Integration award

Famous lyricist, poet and film director, Gulzar has been conferred with the Indira Gandhi National Integration Award. The award was given to mark the 28^th death anniversary of the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Apex court asks CMC to address issues raised by TN and Karnataka

The Supreme Court asked the Cauvery Monitoring Committee (CMC)to examine all the issues b/w Tamil Nadu and Karnataka regardingCauvery water sharing dispute b/w the two states. Karnataka has assured that it will comply with the CMC’s recommendations.

Indian Women Cricket Team lifts ACC T20 Asia Cup 2012

The Indian women’s cricket team is the winner of first Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) Twenty20 Asia Cup 2012.

§  They beat Pakistan in the final match held in Guangzhou city of People’s Republic of China.

§  Harmanpreet Kaur played the role of skipper in the absence of Mithali Raj. 

 

“European Golden Boot” to Lionel Messi

Star footballer of Barcelona, Lionel Messi, bagged  European Golden Boot Award. The award has been given to him in recognition to his record 50 goals scored in the Europe’s domestic football league.

§  It is the second Golden Boot award for Messi.

“Ocean-grabbing” a danger to world’s fisheries: UN

As per a UN expert on right to food, ‘Ocean-grabbing’ is as serious a threat as ‘land-grabbing’. 

What is “Ocean-grabbing”?

§  An aggressive industrial fishing by foreign fleets.

How and to whom is it threatening?

§  Ocean grabbing is mainly concerned with the interest of smaller fishermen, local communities and sustainable fishing.

§  It is a threat to food security in developing nations

§  Excessive and aggressive fishing threatens the fish ecosystem and makes this practice unsustainable.

§  It depletes the fishing zones at a faster rate.

Sistema issue: India hopes agreeable solution

In reply to Russia’s comment to take the cancellation of 2G license of Sistema for international arbitration if it is not resolved in Indian courts, India has said that the matter is commercial and all parties are free to take legal recourse that they deem appropriate to meet their commercial goal.

Australian schools to teach Hindi

Announcing that Asia’s rise is“unstoppable”, Australia brought out a challenging plan aimed at fortifying its links with India and other booming economies of the Asian region. The Australian plan includes teaching languages like Hindi and Mandarin in its schools. All Australian schools will engage with at least one school in Asia to support the teaching of a priority Asian language — Mandarin, Hindi, Indonesian or Japanese. Australia also released ‘Asian Century White Paper’ with an aim to extend and strengthen it links with Asia.

    For know more about ‘Asian Century White Paper’  click here

Superstorm Sandy

Superstorm Sandy batters New Jersey coast of US

§  Hurricane Sandy (also referred to as Superstorm Sandy) a tropical cyclone that severely affected portions of the Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States in late October 2012.

Japan honors DMRC with 2012 JICA President Award

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)  President Award for 2012  was given to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for the outstanding role it played in the development of human resources, society and economy of India and also for encouraging mutual understanding b/w India and Japan.

Persons in News:Joshna Chinappa

Indian squash player Joshna Chinappa won the IJM Land Penang Open title 2012 after vanquishing top most squash player Siti Munirah Jusoh of Malaysia. In 2003, Joshna became the first Indian girl to win British Squash Championship title in the under 19 category.

Persons in News: Silvio Berlusconi

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to 4 years in jail and suspended him from public service for 3 years for tax fraud.

What are the charges against Berlusconi?

Berlusconi and other people involved in the case were accused of buying US film rights at inflated prices via two offshore companies under his control. As per the prosecutors, that part of the money declared for the purchase of film rights was skimmed off to make illegal slush funds, cutting down tax liabilities for Berlusconi’s  Mediaset  group. Now all the convicts in the case must deposit into a fund as appeals which could take many years in proceedings.

 

Rail Radar

Railways launched online application provides exact geographical location of trains.

Railways launched online application Rail Radar, which can provide exact geographical location of about 9,700 trains on a Google map on real time basis.

§  There is a colour code method which highlights a train in Blue if it is running on time and Red if it running late or behind schedule.

§  The map shows the exact route of a train including all the stoppages and the current location of the train on the real time basis.

Rail Radar is developed by the collaborative efforts of Indian Railways Centre for Railways Information System (CRIS) and RailYatri.in.

 

Planning Commission's Environmental Performance Index released

Planning Commission's Environmental Performance Index (EPI) has placed the Uttarakhand as a best-performing States and Union territory in terms of environmental well-being.

Uttarakhand is followed by Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Sikkim, and Andhra Pradesh. Environmental well-being is one of the considerations for devolution of funds to the States under the Gadgil formula.