Finance
1. Jean Tirole wins 2014 Nobel Prize for
Economics
Economics
- ·
French economist Jean Tirole won the 2014 Nobel Prize for economics for
his work that has shed light on how governments should regulate powerful
companies that dominate markets, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on
Monday. - ·
“Jean Tirole is one of the most influential economists of our time,’’
the academy said. “Most of all, he has clarified how to understand and regulate
industries with a few powerful firms.’’ - ·
The economist will receive an 8 million Swedish crown ($1.1 million)
prize. - ·
Mr. Tirole’s research showed that market regulations should be carefully
adapted to the conditions of specific industries, rather than general
regulations such as price caps which can do more harm than good, the academy
said. - ·
“This year’s prize in economic sciences is about taming powerful
firms,’’ Staffan Normark, Permanent Secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of
Sciences, told a news conference. - ·
The economics prize, officially called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in
Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was established in 1968. It was
not part of the original group of awards set out in 1895 will of Nobel, the
inventor of dynamite. - ·
Mr. Tirole, 61, works at the Toulouse School of Economics in France, and
has a Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. - ·
Left unregulated, industries that are dominated by a few single firms
can produce undesirable results, such as unnecessarily high prices or
unproductive companies blocking new firms from entering the market. From the
mid-1980s, Mr. Tirole “breathed new life into research on such market
failures,” the academy said, adding his work has strong bearing on how
governments deal with mergers or cartels and how they should regulate
monopolies. - ·
It was the first economics prize without an American winner since
1999.
2. Amazon and Future Groups signed deal to
jointly sell goods online
jointly sell goods online
- ·
US Online store Amazon and retailer Future Group on 12 October 2014
signed a deal to jointly sell goods over the internet. - ·
According to deal, Future group’s portfolio of over 40 brands will be
retailed exclusively through Amazon.in platform. The partnership will initially
focus on Future Group’s fashion brands and will subsequently cover all other
categories. - ·
The alliance will leverage strong product knowledge, extensive brand
portfolio and sourcing base of Future Group, and the e-commerce platform,
customer base and reach of Amazon.in. Both the firms will also explore
synergies in areas such as distribution network, customer acquisition and
cross-promotions. - ·
Besides, Amazon and Future will also jointly develop discounting
strategy and price tags on their products won’t be very different from rates at
stores so that both channels don’t end up cannibalizing each other.
3. India reduces hunger, moves up 8 ranks in
global index
global index
- ·
In a pat on the back for the erstwhile UPA Government’s flagship
programmes, the Global Hunger Index 2014 (GHI) has noted a significant
improvement in the levels of hunger in India, especially among children,
between 2005-06 and 2013-14. - ·
Overall, however, two billion people in the developing world are still
under-nourished and suffer from ‘hidden hunger’, with the situation “alarming”
in 14 countries, even as the deadline for the 2015 Millennium Development Goals
nears. - ·
This is despite the level of hunger in developing countries falling by
39 per cent since 1990, says a report released on Monday by the International
Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe, a German non-profit,
and Concern Worldwide, an Irish non-profit. - ·
India has made a marked improvement in the GHI 2014 and no longer ranks
second-to-last in the world on underweight in children. It has moved into the
120th spot among 128 countries, with the prevalence of underweight in children
declining by almost 13 percentage points between 2005-2006 and 2013-2014.
4. At 6.46%, September retail inflation at
near 3-year low
near 3-year low
- ·
Bringing some festive cheer to the aam admi, the consumer price
index-based inflation for September cooled down to 6.46 per cent, aided by
sharp drop in vegetable prices. It was the lowest since India started computing
Consumer Price Index (CPI), in January 2012 - ·
This is the fourth straight month when CPI inflation has been lower than
8 per cent. It has raised hopes that the RBI will be able to meet its January
2015 goal of keeping retail inflation within 8 per cent. - ·
Triggered largely due to the sharp fall in vegetable price inflation,
which lowered significantly to 8.59 per cent as against 15.15 per cent in
August, the overall food inflation came down to 7.67 per cent in September
against 9.42 per cent in the previous month. - ·
Fruit prices also fell, bolstering the downward slide in overall food
inflation. - ·
The retail inflation print for September was much lower than the revised
August 2014 inflation of 7.73 per cent (from 7.8 per cent estimated earlier). - ·
Reacting to the latest CPI number, Anis Chakravarty, Senior Director,
Deloitte in India, said the moderation was primarily food articles driven.
India
5. Navy launches recon aircraft from INS
Rajali for damage assessment
Rajali for damage assessment
- ·
The Navy on Monday morning launched a P8-I long range maritime
reconnaissance aircraft from INS Rajali at Arakkonam morning to gauge the
magnitude of damage caused by the cyclone Hudhud in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. - ·
A Dornier aircraft got airborne from the restored runway of INS Dega in
Vizag to join in the effort. Naval assets would be deployed for rescue and
relief operations on the basis of the assessment, said a Navy spokesperson. - ·
The rescue and relief efforts would be led by the Navy under ‘Operation
Lehar’. - ·
Naval personnel at Vizag were working to get the naval base back to
being operational. Damage to the Naval Dockyard was minimal thanks to proactive
and preventive measures undertaken ahead of the cyclone. The airfield at INS
Dega was flooded and damage was reported to almost all structures. Naval
aircraft, however, remained unharmed, said an official. - ·
The Navy was able to get the two runways at naval air station Dega fit
to conduct flying operations on Monday morning itself. Almost all roads in the
naval area remained blocked with uprooted trees lying all over. Power supply to
the base, disrupted owing to damage to transmission lines, was yet to be
restored. Only the Maritime Operations Centre in Vizag had a communication link
with Delhi, as BSNL lines, naval satellite Rukmani and INMARSAT were all down.
6. Expert group to examine methods to curb
sex determination
sex determination
- ·
To step up efforts to curb sex determination and female foeticide, the
Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has decided to set up an expert group
to identify the newer methods being used for gender determination that bypass
the existing regulation of ultra sound machines. - ·
Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan on Monday while addressing
members of the reconstituted Central Supervisory Board, the highest body
overseeing the implementation of the Pre Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic
Techniques Act, 1994 (PC&PNDTAct), here said: “While misuse of ultra sound
machines is still prevalent because it is cheap, newer medical technologies are
increasingly being used in the name of ‘genetic testing’.” - ·
The Minister remarked that he is disturbed by the introduction of new
technologies, some of which are non-invasive, for the purpose of determining
the gender of the foetus. The use of simple blood tests that determine the sex
of the foetus represents a new dimension to gender-specific foeticide, he said.
At IVF-ART clinics couples are given the option of accepting or rejecting a
foetus depending on the sex, he added. - ·
Taking cognisance of the rules being flouted, the Minister has decided
to form an expert group to identify the approaches and formulate responses in
the form of an Amendment to the Act.
7. India signed the Minamata Convention on
Mercury
Mercury
- ·
India on 30 September 2014 signed the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
The convention is named after the Japanese city Minamata that has become
synonymous with deadly mercury contamination since 1950. - ·
The Minamata Convention gives five years time to India to control and
reduce emissions from new power plants and 10 years time for the already existing
power plants. - ·
The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a global treaty to protect human
health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. It was agreed
at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in Geneva, Switzerland
on 19 January 2013.
The Minamata
Convention is part of a cluster of agreements that include:
Convention is part of a cluster of agreements that include:
• Basel Convention on the control of transboundary
movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal.
movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal.
• Rotterdam Convention for managing
international trade in hazardous chemicals and pesticides.
international trade in hazardous chemicals and pesticides.
• Stockholm Convention on the restriction and
elimination of the production and use of persistent organic pollutants.
elimination of the production and use of persistent organic pollutants.
International
8. Gaza reconstruction
conference opens in Cairo
conference opens in Cairo
- ·
An international donors’ conference to help
Gaza rebuild after the devastating, 50-day Israel-Hamas war this summer has
opened in Cairo with participants expected to pledge hundreds of millions of
dollars. - ·
Egyptian leader Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi kicked
off the one-day gathering Sunday involving envoys such as U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry. Egypt’s government negotiated a cease-fire that ended the
fighting on Aug. 27. - ·
In his address, Mr. Sissi said the
reconstruction of Gaza hinged on a “permanent calm” between Hamas and Israel.
He said it also required the exercise of “full authority” by the Palestinian
Authority, led by Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas. - ·
The latest Hamas-Israel was the most ruinous
of three wars between Hamas and Israel since 2008, leaving more than 2,000
Palestinians, mostly civilians killed. Another 10,000 were wounded, and some
100,000 people remain homeless.
9. US promises $212
million in new Gaza aid
million in new Gaza aid
- ·
The United States promised $212 million in
immediate assistance to the devastated Gaza Strip on Sunday yet urged
Palestinians and Israelis to return to peace negotiations to break a cycle of
violence that has yielded three wars in six years. - ·
People in Gaza “need our help desperately not
tomorrow, not next week, but they need it now,” U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry said at an international donor conference. He said more than 20,000 homes
need to be rebuilt and 100,000 people remain displaced with winter fast
approaching. - ·
The Palestinians are seeking $4 billion in
aid from donors at a conference in Cairo to rebuild Gaza after this summer’s
50-day war between Hamas and Israel. - ·
Mr. Kerry said the new U.S. money, which
takes American aid to the Palestinians to more than $400 million this year,
would go to security, economic development, food and medicine, shelter and
water and sanitation projects. - ·
Six months after the collapse of his
Israeli-Palestinian mediation effort, the latest U.S. move at forging a Mideast
peace accord, Mr. Kerry renewed his call for a return to negotiations. - ·
Mr. Kerry praised Egypt for organizing the
conference, Israel for pledging to facilitate greater Palestinian economic
opportunities and the U.N. for creating a monitoring system so that aid to Gaza
isn’t plundered by the militant group Hamas or used to threaten the Jewish
state’s security.
9. NASA successfully
installed its first Earth-observing instrument ISS-RapidScat on the ISS
installed its first Earth-observing instrument ISS-RapidScat on the ISS
- ·
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) on 21 September 2014 successfully
installed and activated its first Earth-observing instrument ISS-RapidScat (ISS
Rapid Scatterometer) on the International Space Station (ISS). It was launched aboard during the SpaceX
CRS-4 mission. - ·
The ISS-RapidScat will monitor ocean winds
for climate research as well as weather predictions and hurricane monitoring. - ·
It has a different orbit than other Earth
remote sensing platforms. It is closer to Earth and it sees Earth at different
times of the day with a different schedule. - ·
The first image from ISS-RapidScat was
released by NASA on 6 October 2014 which depicts preliminary measurements of
global ocean near-surface wind speeds and directions.
10. Tatas’ Land Rover
only Indian-owned brand in world’s top 100
only Indian-owned brand in world’s top 100
- ·
Tata group’s Land Rover has forayed into an
elite club of world’s 100 most valuable brands as the only Indian-owned entity,
while iconic Apple has retained its top slot with nearly USD 119 billion
valuation. - ·
Land Rover, an iconic British car brand owned
by Indian conglomerate Tatas, has been ranked 91st with a brand value of USD
4.47 billion and is one of the five new entrants on this annual list compiled
by leading brand consultancy Interbrand. - ·
Apple — maker of iPhone mobiles, Mac
computers, iPad tablets and iPod music players among others — is followed by
Google on the second position (USD 107 billion). These are the only two with
brand values in excess of USD 100 billion. - ·
While Land Rover is the only Indian-owned
entity on the list, there are at least six other brands ranked among top 100
that are part of the entities run by Indian-origin CEOs. - ·
These include Satya Nadella-led Microsoft
(5th with brand value of USD 61 billion), Indra Nooyi-led Pepsi (24th; USD 19
billion), Shantanu Narayen-led Adobe (77th; USD 5.3 billion) and Ajay Banga-led
MasterCard (88th; USD 4.7 billion). - ·
Ivan Menezes-led British drinks giant Diageo,
which also owns majority stake in India’s largest alcoholic beverage
manufacturer United Spirits, also has two portfolio brands — Smirnoff (34th;
USD 13 billion) and Johnnie Walker (86th; USD 4.8 billion) — on the top 100
list.
11. Typhoon Vongfong
hits southern Japan, moves to main island
hits southern Japan, moves to main island
- ·
Typhoon Vongfong hit Japan’s southern island
Kyushu earlier on Monday and was expected to bear down on the main island
Honshu later in the day, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights,
Japan’s NHK broadcaster said. - ·
The strongest storm to hit Japan this year
has forced the evacuation of about 450,000 people on the islands of Kyushu and
Shikoku, as well as Okinawa which was hit by Vongfong on Sunday, according to
NHK. - ·
Vongfong battered the southern Japanese
island of Okinawa, 600 km south of Tokyo, as well as Kyushu and Shikoku
islands, injuring 52 people, NHK said. - ·
On Sunday, wind-speeds weakened significantly
on Saturday’s peak of 234 kmh hour, which had made Vongfong into a “super
typhoon”. - ·
Japan Airlines Co spokesman said 92 flights
connecting Japan’s western cities and the eastern cities of Osaka and Tokyo had
been cancelled.
12. China reopens
embassy in Mogadishu after 23 years
embassy in Mogadishu after 23 years
- ·
China has officially reopened its embassy in
Somalia and accredited a new ambassador to the horn of Africa country recovering
from years of conflict. - ·
China, like other nations, closed its embassy
and relocated its staff after the breakout of civil war in Somalia in 1991 when
the country descended into a chaos and lawlessness that lasted during the next
23 years. - ·
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud and
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Ming announced the official reopening of
the embassy in a ceremony in the capital Mogadishu on Sunday, Xinhua reported. - ·
Somalia and China established diplomatic
relations soon after the horn of Africa nation gained independence from Italy
in 1960, and Somalia was among African countries that lobbied for a UN seat for
China.
13. World’s biggest cave
discovered in China
discovered in China
- ·
Explorers have discovered the world’s largest
cave by volume in China. Researchers have found that Miao Room Chamber in China
is the largest in the world with a volume measured as 10.78 million cubic
metres. This is approximately 10 per cent larger than Sarawak Chamber in Malaysia,
the previous record holder. - ·
However, the Malaysian cavern is still the
world’s largest by surface area, with some 1.66 million square feet of expanse. - ·
The Miao Room cave was scanned as part of a
2013 expedition co-led by Richard Walters from Penrith-based company Commendium
Ltd. - ·
The scan data was provided to engineers at Lancaster
University, who used this raw data to make calculations on the area, volume and
other values of the underground spaces. - ·
In addition, engineers at Lancaster Product
Development Unit were able to use its suite of additive manufacturing resources
to produce a scaled model of the inside of the cave.
Sports
14. ICC banned Zimbabwe
bowler Prosper Utseya and Bangladeshi bowler Sohag Gazi for illegal action
bowler Prosper Utseya and Bangladeshi bowler Sohag Gazi for illegal action
- ·
International Cricket Council (ICC) on 8
October 2014 banned the Zimbabwe bowler Prosper Utseya and Bangladeshi bowler
Sohag Gazi from bowling in international cricket. They were banned after ICC
found that both the off-spinners exceeded the 15 degree limit of arm extension
in their bowling action. - ·
In August 2014, Utseya was reported for a
suspect bowling action following the third ODI against South Africa in
Bulawayo. - ·
Earlier, ICC had banned three other
off-spinners. These were: Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan, Sachithra Senanayake of Sri
Lanka and Kane Williamson of New Zealand. - ·
Although all the players suspended from bowling
by the ICC are permitted to apply for reassessment after modifying their
actions.
15. Roger Federer won
Shanghai Masters trophy of Tennis
Shanghai Masters trophy of Tennis
- ·
In Tennis, the 17-time Grand Slam winner
Roger Federer won his maiden ATP Shanghai Masters trophy. In the title clash
played on 12 October 2014, Switzerland’s Federer defeated Frenchman Gilles
Simon, 7-6, 7-6. - ·
In 2010, Federer lost in the finals of the Shanghai
Masters to Briton Andy Murray.
16. Lewis Hamilton wins
inaugural Russian GP
inaugural Russian GP
- ·
Lewis Hamilton cruised to victory in the
inaugural Russian Grand Prix on Sunday, leading a 1-2 finish for Mercedes that
clinched its first Formula One constructors’ title. - ·
Nico Rosberg placed second despite having to
pit early in the race but now trails his teammate by 17 points in the drivers’
standings, with three races remaining.
17. Mahesh Mangaonkar
wins JSW PSA Challenger Tour
wins JSW PSA Challenger Tour
- ·
Mahesh Mangaonkar, ranked World No. 56, won a
rare first home professional circuit event when he defeated the top seed and
World No. 45 from Egypt, Zahed Mohamed, in the final of the JSW PSA Challenger
Tour 10 squash event at the Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana here on Sunday. - ·
The 20-year-old local champion won the
52-minute final 14-12, 15-13, 11-4; it was his second PSA title this year and
fourth since he turned professional four years ago. - ·
Competing against the Egyptian for the first
time in a PSA event, Mangaonkar picked up three vital points at 11-all to win
the pulsating opening game in 20 minutes. He then showed his resilience to
level scores at 10, rallying from a 0-6 deficit and clinch the second in 24
minutes. He broke away from 3-all in the third game and finished it in eight
minutes.
18. India to host first
leg of Asia Cup Archery Tournament in Delhi in January 2015
leg of Asia Cup Archery Tournament in Delhi in January 2015
- ·
India will host first leg of Asia Cup Archery
Tournament in Delhi in January 2015. The announcement was made on 12 October
2014 by Archery Association India (AAI). - ·
The Asia Cup will be held on the format of
the annual World Cups. Asia Cup will replace the Asian GP. - ·
The first leg will be conducted in Delhi in
January 2015 while the second and third legs was allotted to Bangkok and
Tehran. - ·
Second leg will be held in March 2015 and the
third leg will be held in June 2015.
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This post was last modified on November 27, 2017 9:04 am