Business & Economy Current Affairs , November 11-18, 2009
Chairman of the IIT council & Minister of HRD Kapil Sibal, says that government would set up an accreditation agency by introducing a bill in the Parliament soon. At present, the National Board of Accreditation, an organisation under the All India Council of Technical Education — the apex body to standardise technical education in the country — evaluates the quality of programmes offered by engineering educational institutions from diploma to PG levels. IITs would like to be accredited by a statutory body and not by the National Board of Accreditation.
The ministry has drafted the bill for creation of the national accreditation agency. The accreditation norms and standards will be laid down by the proposed National Commission for Higher Education and Research.
November 13, 2009: MTNL launches pre-paid broadband service in Mumbai
MTNL , in partnership with Sterlite Technologies has launched pre-paid broadband services for its subscribers in Mumbai .
November 13, 2009: Columbia University to Study Indian Economy:
A $3.5 million grant to establish a research programme on Indian economic policy has been given to the Columbia Business School’s Chazen Institute of International Business at New York’s Columbia University. It will study the transition of Indian economy from the conventional economic reforms to second generation reforms.
What are second generation reforms?
The term second generation reforms was coined by IMF. The term not only envisages the Globalisation and Industrial liberalization but supplement basic reform structured on the achievement of balance of payments viability, reduction of government deficits, trade liberalisation and a reduction of the role of the state. According to IMF the first generation reforms are not enough either to accelerate social progress sufficiently or to allow countries to compete more successfully in global markets.
The name of the programme is ” India n Economic Policies: Free Trade, Democracy and Entrepreneurial Development” which has been launched recognising the rising importance of India in the global economy.
The research by the Columbia University will include subjects like poverty, equality, and democracy; specific economic sectors like trade and agriculture; macroeconomic problems, ranging from deficits and debt to capital convertibility; social policy, especially health and education; and economic policy-making among the Indian states.
November 13, 2009: Infosys emphasizes on Technical Skills: iRace is the new Strategy
Infosys which employs more than 1,00,000 (with more than 94,000 software professionals) people had began a process approximately one and half years back which emphasizes on technological skills of the employees.
This strategy has been named iRace. The fresh employees in the company will have to compulsorily stay focused on technology for the first six years of their career. After this, they will have to choose to either grow vertically as a techie or take up managerial responsibilities.
iRace’, aims to re-map the technology skills of its software professionals and offer them roles based on their current level of experience and technological know-how.
Why iRace?
Because of the high growth in the industry, people were being given managerial responsibilities within three to four years, making clients return to the company and complain about the lack of their technology skills.The company has now re-mapped the efficiency of its employees, as a result of which some high performers have been mapped upwards, while others have stayed in their previous positions.
Further, Infosys has created 25 career streams. An employee who does not wish to take up managerial roles but stay focused on technology has to identify positions like technical architect and technical lead till he goes up the ladder to become the unit technology manager, a position the company has created now. Henceforth, all 13 business units of the company will have UTOs, who will directly report to the chief technology officer of the company.
November 17, 2009: H K Dua & A K Ganguly nominated to Rajya Sabha
A K Ganguly former chairman of Hindustan Lever Limited & HK Dua an eminent journalist (Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune) have been nominated by the government to the Rajya Sabha.
November 18, 2009: India Canada MOUs
India and Canada have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and another MoU on Energy Cooperation. The two MoUs were signed in the presence of Dr Singh and Harper by International Trade Minister Stockwell Day and Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma.
Please note that India and Canada have not yet signed the Nuclear Agreement so far. Canada and India have concluded negotiations on a nuclear cooperation agreement. Canada and India will now take the necessary steps to prepare the agreement for final signature and implementation.
November 18, 2009: Indian firms in 2009 Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings
2009 Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings which included 55 companies from Asia has been released by Platts, a global provider of energy and commodities information.. In this list 5 Indian Companies Reliance Industries Ltd, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation, NTPC Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corporation are among the top 15 Asian energy companies. China has three companies. In total, nine Indian companies have featured in the Top 250 list.
November 18, 2009: $700-mn loan to India for Second India Infrastructure Project Financing Facility
ADB will provide $700 million (around Rs 3,360 crore) loan to India for accelerating infrastructure projects through public-private partnership initiatives for her Second India Infrastructure Project Financing Facility. This loan will be disbursed in five years to India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd. (IIFCL), and is a follow-on of the first-stage facility of 500 million dollar, approved in 2007.
November 18, 2009: ‘India Corporate Week’ Third week of every December
From this year onwards, India’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs will observe the third week of the month every year as “India Corporate Week”.
What will happen in India Corporate Week?
The ministry will join hands with national and state-level industry associations to propagate the importance of being “corporate”, including the onus on companies to fulfill their societal obligations and further inclusive growth.
Theme for this year’s India Corporate Week: It will be “corporate sector and inclusive growth”, which the ministry expects to be reaffirmed by India Inc.
November 18, 2009: Some figures on per capita Expenditure
The all state per capita expenditure been Rs. 3,049 for Year 2004-5, Rs. 3826 for 2006-7 and Rs. 4,208 for 2007-08. Bihar has shown the lowest per capita expenditures for all of these periods. during 2008-09 and Rs 16,000 crore (Rs 160 billion) in 2009-10.
