1)

The Indian bourses recorded their best ever performance in 2009. Sensex registered an increase of a

whopping 81.03 % ( to close at 17465 points ), the 4th best in the world behind Sri Lankas CSE(125 %) , Indonesias Jakarta composite ( 87 %) and Brazils Bovespa ( 82 % ) . This is the highest increase in Sensex since 1991 when it recorded 82.1 %. This is indeed an extraordinary turnaround after the fall of 52 % in recession hit 2008. The turnaround was driven by FIIs amounting to US $ 17.46 billion just $ 300 million short of the highest ever FII of $17.78 recorded in 2007. The top 5 gainers were Oracle Financial (406 %),Tata motors ( 398.%),Sesa Goa (379%) ,Jindal Steel and Power (363 %) and Mphsis ( 363 % ).Metals , Auto ,IT, Capital goods and Consumer Durables were the top 5 sect oral gainers. Tata Communications and Reliance Comm were amongst the top 5 losers. . The National Stock Exchange (NIFTY) was not far behind and rose by 76 % in 2009 to close at 5209 points. 2) The public sector Container Corporation of India has a new MD in Anil K Gupta . He was previously the Director ( Domestic Division ) 3) Rakesh Kumar Budhiraja is the new CEO of tyre manufacturer Dunlop India Ltd. 4) RK Kaul has taken over as CMD of Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. 5) M Ramdoss has taken over as the CMD of New India Assurance Company . 6) Mobile Number Portability ( MNP ) which was to have taken off on 31st Dec 09 in the metros has been set a revised deadline of 31st March 2010. It is expected that the facility will be available all over India and not merely in the metros as a first step as was originally planned. 7) The 13th Finance Commission headed by Vijay Kelkar has presented its report to the President . He was Finance Secretary to Govt. of India in 1998-99 and ED of IMF from 1999-2002. The other members were BK Chaturvedi , Indira Rajaraman , Atul Sarma And Sanjiv Misra . The report is for the 5 year period commencing April 2010. The Commission was set up in November 2007 by the President under article 280 of the Constitution to make recommendations on revenue sharing between Centre and States. The report will be made public in Feb 2010. 8) Shibu Soren has been sworn in as the chief minister of Jharkhand at the head of a coalition with BJP support. This is the 3rd time he is becoming the CM. The state had been under Presidents rule for a year. 9) In a judgment that will have far reaching implications , a division bench of the Mumbai High Court has ruled that habitual absenteeism from work without prior sanctioned leave or prior intimation amounts to misconduct and is liable for dismissal. 10) The ultra deep sea drilling for hydrocarbon deposits off the coast of Kochi undertaken by ONGC a few months back has been called off after the analysis of samples collected showed negative results. 11) Indian PM has very categorically told the visiting Japanese PM , Yukio Hatoyama , that while India stands by its unilateral and voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing , a formal signing of the Comprehensive Nuclear

Test Ban treaty will have to wait till UASs and Chinas ratification. This clears the air about recent misapprehensions that India may succumb to US pressure. 12) 3G spectrum allocation auction may be delayed further and may now take place in May 2010. 13) India Inc is all set to raise a record Rs. 1,50,000 crores through share sales in this year. 14) The Centre is sitting on cash reserves of Rs. 48,000 crores due to buoyant advance tax collections. The reserves parked with RBI may lead to an early withdrawal of the stimulus package. 15) According to data available with the 15 offices of the banking ombudsman commission through out the country , PSU banks scored over private sector banks in customer care. PSU banks had a market share of 74 % but lesser customer complaints in proportion. The Banking Ombudsman Commission enables a speedy and cost effective platform for bank customers for resolution of complaints relating to certain services rendered by banks. The Banking Ombudsman Scheme was introduced by RBI in 1995 under Section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 . 16) General Motors has sold 50 % of its Indian operation to Chinas Shanghai Automotive Corporation Group ( SAIC ) for a consideration of Rs. 2350 crores . The new JVC will manufacture cars for both Indian and export markets. 17) Iran has stepped up its crackdown on dissidents by arresting the sister of Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi The dissidents are protesting against the lack of a fairness of the recent presidential elections. Shirin Ebadi is a 1947 born Iranian and the first Muslim woman in the world to win the Nobel peace prize . She was awarded the prize in 2003. 18) Reena Kaushal Dharmashaktu created history by being the first Indian woman to ski to the South Pole. She was part of an all woman team drawn from various other countries that skied for almost 9 hours everyday for 40 days to finally reach their destination. 19) For the first time in 13 months , exports turned positive in November 09 by registering an increase of 18.2 % compared with exports of a $ 11.16 billion in November last year 20) In a phenomenal achievement , the financially beleaguered Air India has reduced its cost by Rs.600 crores in the 3 months since the management put in place cost cutting initiatives to help the a ailing airline turn around. 21) The code of conduct promulgated by the Medical Council of India ( MCI ) prohibiting doctors from accepting gifts and other favors has been criticized by doctors since it does not impose any penalty/punishment for violation . 22) The 5th one day match between India and Sri-Lanka had to be called off after 23 overs were bowled due to unplayable ground conditions at Ferozeshah Kotla pitch in Delhi. The venue faces the possibility of a ban for 1 year. 1. In a further positive development in the Dubai crisis, UAE Central Bank has declared that they will stand behind the countrys local & foreign banks that may face possible losses from Dubai Worlds likely default. They will set

up an additional funding facility linked to such banks current accounts at the Central Bank. It will be made available at 50 base points over the 3 month UAE inter bank offered rate. Dubai World has started talks with creditors for rescheduling US $ 26 bn of debt including US $ 4 bn of Nakheel (out of the total debt of US $ 80 bn) . They have confirmed that the remaining debt is on a sound footing. However cost of credit for Indian Companies with business interests in Middle East may go up. Credit risk spreads or credit default swap spreads (representing Premiums Companys have to pay over bench mark lending rates for obtaining credit) have registered an increase of 10 to 18 %. 2. Japans Yukiya Amano has taken over as the chief of IAEA from Mohamad ElBaraadei 3. Surpassing market expectations, Indias GDP in Q II was 7.9 % up from 6.1 % in Q I. The sectors that gained were -- Mining & Quarrying recorded 9.5 %, Manufacturing 9.2 %, Electricity / Gas/ Power 7.4 %, Transport & Communication 8.5 %, Finance/insurance, Business services 7.7 % & Community/Social/Personal services12.7 %. They helped in making up for the disappointing growth of less than 1 % in Agriculture. This GDP growth rate has fuelled speculation that the GOI may exit the stimulus package in Q III itself & not wait till next fiscal as announced by the FM earlier. 4. RIL has surpassed ONGC as the largest gas producer in India. Production in KG D-6 touched 50.15 mscmd per day on 29th November as against 49.6 of ONGC. At peak production, RIL is expected t o produce 80 mscmd per day. 5. 1st December was observed as Worlds AIDS day. 6. In a survey conducted by the prestigious research firm IMRB on behalf of Brand Equity, Vodafone emerged as the most admired marketer in India followed by HUL. 7. Indias trade deficit has dropped to US $ 57.3 ban in H I this fiscal as against US $ 87.5 ban last fiscal. In this fiscal, exports were US $ 91 bn and imports were US $ 148 bn (Out of which oil imports were US $ 41 bn) 8. As a fall out of the global financial crisis, FII registrations with SEBI has declined 70 % in this calendar year. Only 111 FIIs have registered this year as against 375 last year. 9. Car sales surged with a 67 % increase in November fuelled by fears of an imminent price increase and production cut backs due to non-availability of spares.

10. VP Ishwardas has taken over as MD & CEO Catholic Syrian Bank. 11. As promised in May 09, Pension Fund & Regulatory Development Authority unveiled a Tier II savings account based pension scheme where pensioners can enter & exit at will. He can do this only after subscribing to the prescribed limits in Tier 1 where one can avail the benefits only on reaching the age of 60. 12. Food inflation has touched 17.47 % for the week ended 21 st November and is reaching worrisome proportions. One may see RBI hiking the interest rates to rein in inflation. The food inflation rate for the same period last year was 10.75 %. 13. 22 developing and poor countries have agreed to cut tariffs by at least 20 % on about 70 % of all products in the WTO meeting held in Geneva. This agreement will only cover these 22 countries and is not connected with the broader Doha round of negotiations which aims at across the board global reductions in tariffs. 14. Mukesh Ambani has brought in an expatriate to revive the sagging fortunes of his retail venture. 47 year old Gwyn Sundhagul has been brought in as CEO of Reliance value retail formats which sells household goods and contributes 70% of the Retail division turnover. Prior to joining Reliance he was the chief marketing officer and Director of Tesco, Thailand. 15. Live TV on mobile phones have become a reality with the announcement by Tata Teleservices , Indias 6th largest mobile company , that its customers using its high speed wireless broadband services called Photon Plus can now access live TV feed. 16. Deepak Parekh, the legend credited with making housing loans easily available to all is stepping down as Chairman and CEO of HDFC on 31st Dec 09 after 31 years with the Company out of which 16 years were as Chairman. Koki M Mistry, currently the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director will re designated as ViceChairman and CEO while Renu Sud Karnad currently the Joint Managing Director will be re designated as Managing Director. 17. Two of Indias most wanted terrorists, the chief of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) Arbinda Rajkhowa and Raju Barua, the self-styled deputy commander in chief of ULFA are in Indian custody. They were captured by Bangladesh security forces and handed over to Indian security agencies. This is a positive development in India-Bangladesh relationship as the 2 countries do not have an extradition treaty. 18. Italy won the world cup of golf by winning a 3 way contest with Ireland & Sweden held in Shenzhen

1. The prestigious Agni Pariksha , the much hyped launching of the surface to surface Inter Continental Ballistic Missile ( ICBM ) Agni from the Integrated test range at Orrissa failed just before the 11nd stage separation. There was some cause for cheer , though , as this was the first time a missile was launched in the night. 2. E-Mail forwarders better watch out : Amendments to certain sections of Information Technology Act has made forwarding of offensive e-mails or those with sexual content punishable by prison terms ranging from 2 to 10 yrs or a fine upto Rs. 10 lacs or both. 3.The Babri Masjid demolition has once again been pitch forked into the centre stage of the Indian political firmament . Almost 17 years after the incident , the report of the Liberhan commission which was constituted by GOI immediately after the incident was tabled in the parliament on 24th. The report indicts the top BJP leadership for its failure to protect the structure. 4.In a shocking incident , the Acting chief of Company Law Board , Vasudevan was caught red handed taking a bribe of Rs. 7 lacs from a Company Secretary whose case was being heard by him. 5.Food inflation has risen to 15.58 % in the second week of November mainly because of increases in the price of potatoes , pulses & onion. 6. Just as everyone was heaving a sigh of relief that the worst of the economic crisis was behind them , came the shocker from Dubai. Dubai World , a state owned investment arm of Dubai Govt ( and owner of Nakheel , the real estate firm behind such iconic developments such as Palm Islands , the World etc ) has asked for a stand still agreement on paying back its US $ 60 Bn debt at least until 30th May 2010.Dubai World manages a portfolio of businesses and projects for the Dubai Govt. Dubai has been in the throes of a meltdown ever since the sub-prime mortgage started ripping the world economy to shreds. Despite this , the developments in Dubai has taken the world by surprise To tide over their economic woes , Abu Dhabi , one of the 7 constituents of UAR , of which Dubai forms a part , had committed US $ 20 Bn to them . Out of this Dubai had only drawn US $ 10 Bn. In this background , the request to ask for a stand still agreement for US $ 4 Bn bonds of Nakheel which was due for redemption on 14 th December( the immediate liability ) has baffled everybody when the balance US $ 10 Bn of Abu Dhabi commitment was yet to be availed.. Perhaps to unravel this mystery we will have to wait for some middle east bigwig to write his autobiography / biography. Such bonds are in the nature of Bullet Repayment. This means that unlike an EMI which we pay for housing/car loans , in Bullet repayment scheme only interest is paid over the life of the loan and the principal amount is paid in one lump sum on the maturity date. Since the amounts are large , normally refinancing is required for meeting repayment obligations either from existing investors or new investors or both. The present crisis is something similar to the Tokyo property collapse of 1988 and quite unlike the 1997 South-East Asia crisis or the 1991 Argentina crisis which were marked by capital outflows , bank collapses and currency devaluation. The exposure of Indian banks to Dubai World is between Rs.5000 to Rs.6500 crores . Indian banks have , however , confirmed that there have been no interest payment defaults so far. Indian infrastructural

companies have also exposure in Dubai although they have been trimming their exposure in the aftermath of the financial meltdown last year. DP World , the port arm of Dubai World , runs 5 container terminals in India ( including Kochi ) contributing to 49 % of Indias container traffic. Although early indications are that the debts of DP World is not part of the stand still request the overall position is unclear and fall out is difficult to predict. Let us hope it is not Lehman Brothers all over again. 8. In an international Country Brand Index survey conducted by FutureBrand , an international brand consultancy , India has been ranked No 1 country brand for value for money and second in Art/Culture & history. 9. Indias core sector comprising 6 key infrastructure industries grew by 3.5 % in October compared to 4.1 % in September. 10. Tata Steel has reported a higher than expected consolidated net loss of Rs. 2710 crores for the Q II this fiscal as against a net profit of Rs.47770 crores for the same period last year . Weak prices and lower Corus numbers have adversely impacted profitability. Tata Motors , on the other hand , has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs. 22 cr. For Q II compared to net loss of Rs. 941 cr for the corresponding period last year. 11. SMS is the new arena for the telecom turf war . RCoM has introduced SMS at 1 paise both for Pre-paid & Post-paid provided the subscriber pays a mminmum of Rs.11 /- per month. The turf war has played havoc with the bottom lines of Telecom companies. 12. Tritium , a radio active substance was found in a cooling water tower in Kaiga nuclear power station. It is suspected to be an act of sabotage and has raised security concerns. 13.Hong Kong teenager Ng On Yee won the world womans snooker championship and Alfa Burden of England the mens singles title in the championships held at Hyderabad. 14.India recorded their 100th test win 77 years of test cricket and 432 tests by beating Sri Lanka by an innings and 144 runs ( The 3 rd biggest victory margin ) in the 2nd test at Kanpur , thereby taking a 1-0 lead in the 3 test series. With this win India joins South Africa at the top of ICC test rankings. 1.The US trio of Elizabeth Blackburn , Carol Greider and Jack Szostak have won the Nobel prize for medicine for their research on cellular aging. 2.India has slipped to the 134th position from out of 182 countries surveyed in the UN human development index of UNDP from 126 last year .. 3 In a move that will gladden the hearts of consumers , TRAI has made per-second tariff compulsory for all operators 4.Natarajan Chandrasekhar has taken over from the iconic S Ramadorai as the head of TCS. 5.3 Americans , Charles K Kao , Willards S Boyle & George E Smith have been jointly awarded the Nobel prize for Physics for the year 2009 for their work on digital technology. 6. India cheered , although by default , as Tamil Nadu born American scientist Venkatraman Ramakrishnan was awarded the Nobel prize for chemistry for the year 2009 . He shared the prize with fellow-Americans Thomas A

Stoltz & Ada Yonath for their work on mapping of ribosoms , the protein producing units inside cells at the atomic level. 7. Sam Pitroda , the IT czar has been appointed as advisor to the Prime Minister on infrastructure , innovation & information . He will have cabinet rank. He will integrate information and communication technology in infrastructure ,,justice , health and information. 8. British author Hilary Mantel has won the Booker prize for 2009 for her book Wolf Hall . This is a historical novel on Henry VIIIs advisor Thomas Cromwell. 9. In a Diwali gift to its shareholders Mukesh Ambani controlled RIL has announced a 1 : 1 bonus share and a dividend of 130 %. RIL now owns almost 25 % of the worlds refining capacity. 10. October 8th was observed as World Sight Day. 11. Banco Santander ( Brazil ) SA , the Brazilian arm of a Spanish bank raised US $ 8 bn in the worlds biggest ever IPO. It surpassed the previous highest of US $ 7.3 bn raised by the China State Construction Company in July 09. 12. The longest rail bridge in India was completed at Kochi.. This is the 4.62 km long rail bridge connecting the 9 km rail line between Vallarpadam International Container terminal and Edapally.The current longest rail bridge is the Nehru Setu rail bridge across river Sone near Dehri in Bihar. 10 Rumanian born German author Herta Muller has won the Nobel prize for literature for 2009.The book that made her famous was Passport about the travails of people living in a repressive regime. 11.In a decision that has surprised many , President Barak Obama has been awarded the Nobel peace prize for the year 2009. 12. NASA has crashed LCROSS satellite on to the moon surface on 9th October in a bid to establish the presence of water in the moon consequent to the analysis of pictures taken by Chandrayan II which indicated such a possibility. 13. American scientists at the university of Wisconsin-Madison have achieved a major scientific breakthrough by producing liver cells from patients skin cells , thereby paving the way for the treatment of a wide range of liver diseases. 14.Australia have won the ICC Champions trophy by beating New Zealand by 6 wickets in the finals at Centurian in South Africa. 1. To protect the interests of shareholders, Ministry of Corporate Affairs has directed the Registrar of Companies to conduct a quarterly review of the end use of funds raised through IPO and check if there is any mismatch with the prospectus. 2. Teledensity of mobiles in the 4 metros has crossed the 100 % mark. This means that there are more mobiles than residents with some individuals having more than 1 mobile.

3. With the withdrawal of the former foreign minister of Afghanistan Abdullah from the run-off election for the Presidency in Afghanistan scheduled for 7th Nov, the incumbent President Hamid Karzai has been declared the winner. 4. Surgeons in London have successfully carried out the worlds first heart surgery using radiation. The technique uses a radiation scalpel called Cyberknife. 5. In another major bank bankruptcy in USA, CIT Group has declared itself bankrupt. This has raised fears that recovery signs shown by the US economy are based on shaky foundations. CIT operates in 50 countries and is a major lender to small firms. 6. In a buying spree, GOI has bought 200 tons of gold valued at $ 6.7 billion out of the 400 tons offered by IMF in an attempt to diversify its foreign exchange holdings. With this purchase RBI has the 10th largest gold holdings amongst Central Banks across the world. 7. Exports declined by 13.6 % to $ 13.6 billion in September compared to the same month last month. This is the 12th consecutive month of decline. 8. Land Rover India has made available its latest 2010 Range Rover in India .It is priced at a whopping Rs.98.5 lacs Ex-Mumbai. 9. Pranav Mistry an Indian researcher at MIT,USA has applied for a patent in the USA for a device that he calls SixthSense . It is a device that can be worn on any part of the human body, say, the left wrist and use the right hand to draw a watch like circle. Which then gets converted into a visual display by merging the physical and digital data. It thus enables the user to explore digital data in off line transactions. 10. In a dramatic announcement Justice RV Raveendran of the Supreme Court who was hearing Ambani brothers gas pricing case has withdrawn from the case citing conflict of interest since his daughter works for a solicitor company advising Mukesh Ambanis RIL on other global projects. 11.Wipro has acquired Yardleys business in Asia , West Asia ,Australasia ,and certain African markets from the UK based Lornamead Group for Rs.210 crores.This buy out is expected to give a boost to their consumer care and lighting business which currently contributes 9 % to its turn over. Yardley is a niche brand in fragrance bath & shower, skin care consumer segment and owns famous brands like Lavender & Red Rose in the perfume segment. 12. In an epoch making decision, GOI has decided to disinvest 10 % of its holding in PSU companies both listed and unlisted. which registered net profits for the last 3 years. Of the 242 PSUs only 46 are listed. Some of the major unlisted PSUs are BSNL , Coal India etc. About 100 PSUs will fulfill the profit criteria. The expected revenue will be Rs. 60,000 crores which will be used for capital expenditure in social sector schemes. This will greatly help the GOI in reining in the projected fiscal deficit of 6.8% for 2009-10. In the annual budget disinvestment proceeds were pegged at Rs.1120/- crores only which was the lowest in 5 years. 13. After 3 consecutive qtrs of net losses, the worlds largest auto maker Toyota registered a net profit of US $ 242 Million for the qtr July-September 09. 14. India and European Union have signed a civilian nuclear deal to promote collaborative research.

15. Australia has established a 3-2 lead in the 7 match one-day series with India being played in India. 16. Sachin Tendulkar , the highest one-day run getter in ODI , reached another personal milestone by crossing 17, 000 runs with his centaury in the 5th ODI against Australia. 1.US duo of Elinor Ostrom & Dilver Williamson have been awarded the Nobel prize for Economics for the year 2009 for their work on economic governance. Elinor Ostrom is the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Economics. 2 .Boyzone singer Stephen Gately died while on a holiday in a Spanish island. He created a sensation when he publicly declared that he was gay and married Andy Cowles in a civil partnership ceremony in London in 2006. 3. 2 nuclear capable Prithvi 2 surface to surface missile with range of 350 km was test fired from the test range at Chandipur. 4. Advanced Systems Laboratory in Hyderabad , the organization which develops Indias long range nuclear capped missiles has drastically increased the range of Agni 5 by making it road mobile. With this India has attained near global reach for Agni except for North & South America. 5. Indian Industrial Output grew by 10.4 % in August , the highest in 22 months. 6. A special auditor of TRAI , has reported that Reliance Communications has under reported gross wireless revenues in fiscal 2006-07 & 2007 & 08. 7. Indian Bank has been awarded the Golden Peacock National training award for the year 2009.The bank has an academy at Cennai Indian Bank Management Academy for Growth & Excellence. 8. Tata Motors , Indias 3rd largest auto-maker has launched a new entry level sedan Manza to replace its existing model Indigo. The ex-showroom price is 4.8 lacs. 9. The news and data provider Bloomberg LP will buy McGraw Hills Business Week as part of its strategy to reach out to a wider audience. 10. Customers will now be able to obtain Universal Life Policies ( ULP ) with IRDA approving the proposal of two Life Insurance companies . In ULPs the policy does not lapse even if you dont pay the premium and the lapsed premium is not made good..The policy will be kept alive .However the sum assured will get reduced commensurate with reduced total premium paid. 11. CK Prahlad , the world renowned NRI management guru , has been voted the most influential management thinker in biennial ranking of business gurus called The Thinkers . TIME , the US magazine works with London Business Schools management lab & IE Business school in Madrid to compile this list. CK Prahlad has originated the concept of Core Competency in management. 12. India has signed a nuclear deal with Argentina for developing nuclear energy for civilian purposes. 13. Nokia has reported a loss of US $ 8.4 million for the quarter ended September 09 , the first time ever since 1996.Nokai had been encountering problems associated with declining demand.

14. Mukesh Ambani will take a pay cut of close to 70 % to lead the way for right sizing of CEO remuneration at RIL. Probably in response to GOI calls to shun the practice of vulgar executive compensation. 15. GOI has lifted the FDI cap on companies offering teleconferencing & web conferencing services , a sub sector within the telecommunication industry. FDI was pegged at 74 % so far. 16. The worlds first underwater cabinet meeting was held by the Maldivian government on 17th . They scuba dived into the sea and held the meeting in tables immersed in the sea. The meeting lasted 45 minutes and ended with an SOS to global leaders to save their island from extinction because sea erosion due to global warming. 17. Microsoft has introduced windows 7 in the market 18. Congress has retained power in the assembly elections in the states of Maharashtra , Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh.with incumbent chief ministers Ashok Chavan , Hooda & Dorji Khandu retained as the chief ministers respectively. 19. GOI has decided to release Wholesale Price Index on monthly basis instead of weekly and also link it to base year 2004 instead of 1993-94. 20 Runoff elections will be held in Afghanistan on the 7th November because Hamid Karzaias win with over 50 % majority in the earlier election was disallowed after allegations of fraud were found to be true in an UN investigation. 21. The legendary singer of yesteryears , Manna Dey has won the Dada Sahab Phalke award for 2009. Dada Sahab Phadke ( 18701944 ) is known as father of Indian cinema. He produced Indias first silent movie Raja Harishchandra in 1913. This is an annual award given by GOI for life time contribution to Indian cinema 22. NR Narayana Moorthy of Infosys will set up a venture capital fund that will invest mainly in India. To raise capital , he has sold 8,00,000 lac shares of Infosys. 23.Four activists (Alwyn Wre of New Zealand, David Suzuki of Canada, Catheline Hamlin of Australia and Rene Ngongo of DRC) were named co-winners of the 2009 Right Livelihood Awards (popularly known as alternate Nobel award) fro their work in campaigning against nuclear weapons, protecting the rain forests of Congo, raising awareness about climate change and campaigning for womens health. This award was created in 1980 by Jakob von Uexkul. Mrs.Krishnammal Jagannathan of Tamilnadu was the winner in 2008.She is a Sarvodaya activist championing the cause of the marginalized. She is the founder of Land for the Tillers freedom India. 24.The 16-digit Unique Identification number that the government proposes to give you could become mandatory in the future for opening a bank account, getting your passport or even your driving licence, among others.The Unique Identification Number (UID) scheme, which is expected to roll out the first number in 12-18 months, however, will not confer on anyone any rights, including citizenship. (Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is Nandan Nilekani who was earlier co-Chairman of Infosys) 25. Ghana became the first African country to win the under 20 world cup football title by defeating 4 time champions .Brazil in a penalty shoot out in the finals played at Cairo. 26.Jenson Button of England has won 2009 Formula 1 world motor racing championship.

27.New South Wales won the T-20 Champions league trophy by beating the dark horse Trinidad and Tobago by 41 runs in the finals at Hyderabad. 1. Angela Merkel has been re-elected Chancellor of Germany for a second consecutive term and will be the head of a new coalition government 2. Defying international pressure , Iran test fired a long range missile that will bring arch enemy Israel and parts of Europe within its range. 3. World Heart day was observed on the 27th September 4 In yet another positive economic trend , India Inc s order book has more than doubled to Rs. 73320 crores in Q 2 this fiscal compared to Q1. Capital goods , engineering & engineering sectors led the rally bagging almost 90 % of the new orders. Order backlog status was also quite impressive indicative of strong revenue streams in the next couple of years. 5. Speaking at an international conference on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy , Dr. Manmohan Singh strongly called for non-discriminatory nonproliferation regime in which countries with huge stock piles of nuclear arsenal must also agree for elimination of weapons of mass destruction. At present USA, Russia , France , UK & China are exempt from signing the Nuclear proliferation treaty ( NPT ) since they are accepted as nuclear powers . His statement comes days after a UN Security Council resolution sponsored by President Obama urging all countries to sign NPT. India ,Pakistan ,Israel and North Korea are not a signatory to the NPT and are ostracized by other countries . India also was a nuclear social outcast till the signing of the Indo US nuclear deal in 2008 amidst a lot of controversy within India. 6. GOI has finally decided to close the Bofors case by telling the Supreme Court that it has decided to withdraw the case against the Italian businessman Ottavi Quuattrocchi , the main accused in the case. 7. IAEA chief Mohamad Elbaradoi has been awarded the Indira Ghandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament & Development. He is to step down on 30th Nov 09. 8. In an acknowledgement of the greatness of Mahatma Gandhi ,the famous pen manufacturer Mont Blanc has brought out a Rs.14 lac pen to commemorate his 1930 Dandi march. 9. It seems to have been a week of natural disasters across the world.. -- A tsunami hit the South Pacific Samoan islands on 30th Sept following an earthquake that measured 8.3 on the Ritcher scale.Around 100 people have died , thousands have been injured and there has been huge destruction of property. -- An earthquake hit Indonesian island of Sumatra on the 1st Oct leaving around 1000 dead. -- Typhoon Ketsana which vent its fury on Philippines last week continued to do so in South East Asia on 29th Sept leaving behind a trail of destruction of property and loss of life.

-- Closer home in India , unprecedented rains on the 1st/2nd of October have resulted in the worst ever floods in AP, Karnataka and Maharashtra causing hundreds of deaths and loss of property . A typical case of poverty in the midst of plenty -- some areas in India are reeling from drought. 10 Sensex crossed the psychological barrier of 17,000 on 1st Oct and ended at 17124 , the highest since May 2008. 11. Indias fiscal deficit stood at 45.5 % of the estimate for the full year at the end of August 09. Seems to be par for the course after 5 months. 12. Bharati Airtel has called off its talks with MTN of South Africa for amalgamation into a single entity over the issue of dual listing as wanted by South African Govt . A dual-listed company ( DLC ) is a company that is listed ( in other words traded ) in more than one stock exchange In the instant case , SA Govt wanted the merged entity to be listed in SA bourses ( Bourses is another term for a stock exchange ) as well apart from Indian. This would have meant that the merged entity would have had 2 different sets of shareholders owning the same operational assets and sharing the risk/rewards arising out of the same operational assets. A famous example is Unilever Brothers which is listed in UK & Netherlands. If the deal had gone through the merged entity would have been the 3rd largest mobile service provider in the world. ( As budding managers , it is enough if you know what dual listing means . Dont clutter your mind about the legal issues involved in dual listing ) 13. Air India pilots have called of their stir after an almost week long stand off. 14. From 1st October , gifts in kind of the value of Rs.50,000or above will attract income tax. Hitherto , only gifts in cash of Rs.50,000/ and above were subject to income tax. 15. On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti , GOI has renamed its flagship programme NREGA as Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act ( MGREGA ) 16. Vijendar Singh , our Olympic bronze medal winning boxer did us proud again by gaining the world no.1 spot in the 75 kg category in the latest rankings released by the International Boxing Association. 17.India has been knocked out of the Champions cricket trophy at the league stage itself 18.Indian cricketers won several awards in ICC annual cricket awards.

Gautam Gambir Test player of the year MS Dhoni ODI team. - ODI player of the year . He was also named the captain of the ICC World Test Team &

1. 21st September was observed as World Alzheimers day. 2 Dell has agreed to buy Perot Sustems Corpn for US $ 3.9 bn. This is their biggest ever purchase . This all cash deal will significantly boost their capability to compete with HP & IBM. 3. 13 year old Lucknow girl Yugratna Srivastava addressed the UN Conference on climate change on 22nd Sept in New York. She was the first Indian girl and only the 2nd girl in the World after Severine Suzuky in 1992 to address the distinguished gathering of over 100 world leaders including President Obama.

4. SEBI has decided to reserve 30 % retail quota for anchor investors in IDRs. Anchor investors cannot be Promoters of the issuing Company. This quota will be made available from the existing quota of 60 % reserved for QII.

5. In an acknowledgement of the resilience of the Indian economy ADB has revised Indias growth forecast for fiscal 2009-10 to 7 %. despite global meltdown. 6. In another signal that the Indian economy is on the road to recovery , advance tax collection increased by 13 % in the Q II quarter . Advance tax was due on 15th Sept. 7. Revival expectations received another boost after Indias Core Sectors registered a growth of 7.1 % in August against 2.1 % for August last year. 8. Excise collections in August increased by 22 % over the previous month. 9. ISRO successfully launched Oceansat 2 satellite on 23rd Sept. to provide weather forecasts , details of climate change through oceanographic studies etc . Its life is expected to be 5 years. 10. WB has approved a US $ 4.3 bn loan for India for economic stimulus and infrastructure projects 11. Images taken by Indian made Moon Impact Probe ( MIP ) on board Chandrayan 2 with the help of NASAs Moon Mineralogy Mapper and analyzed by NASA has confirmed the presence of water on the moon leading to speculation about existence of life on the moon. This is a giant step for space travel for moving from fiction to reality.

12. Unilever will buy Sara Lee soaps for US $ 1.88 bn in an all cash deal in their biggest acquisition in 9 years. In India Godrej has a 49:51 JV with Sara Lee .The JV owns brands like Cinthol , Godrej No. 1 , Sara Lee etc.

13,Activist Ruchira Gupta has won the 3rd annual Clinton Global Citizens award for work against human trafficking 14.Twitter was valued at US $ 1 bn despite having no revenue. It is all set to raise funding of US $ 100 million which has valued the Company at US $ 1bn. This is double the market capitalization of Dominos Pizza which had sales of US $ 1.4 bn last year. Twitter was started about 3 and half years ago.

15.India has qualified for the Davis Cup World Group after a 11 year gap their last appearance being in 1998.. India defeated South Africa 4-1 in the qualifier at Johannsberg. 16. Leander Paes and his partner Cara Black lost to the American pair Travis Parott and Carly Gullickson in the mixed doubles finals in the US open 17.Haryana wrestler Ramesh Kumar won a bronze medal in the World Wrestling Championships in the 70 kgs freestyle category at Denmark , the first Indian in 42 years to win a medal at the Championship.

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER FOR THE WEEK ENDED 16th JANUARY 10 1) Sheik Hasina , the PM of Bangladesh has been awarded the Indira Gandhi peace prize for the year 2009. 2) In a historic judgment , the Delhi High Court , has ruled that the office of the Chief Justice of India comes under the purview of the RTI act . They took the stand that judicial independence is not a personal privilege but arises because of the responsibilities cast upon the person by virtue of his position.. 3) Infosys , Indias 2nd largest IT company , saw its Q III 09 net profit decline by 3.7 % to Rs.1582

crores. The decline was due to a higher wage bill for the quarter but surpassed market expectations. 4) Industrial output was up by 11.7 % in November 09 , the highest in 2 years and rode on the back of a growth rate 12.08 % in the manufacturing sector compared to 2.7 % for the same period last year. 5) China has ended the century old world dominance of the US automobile industry, by selling 13.4

million automobiles( cars, buses, trucks )in 2009 as against 10.4 million in USA. 6) Loan demand by corporates was at a low ebb in Q III.Banks will have to lend an additional Rs

3,00,000 crores to meet target credit growth of 18 % for the fiscal 2009-10. RBI has expressed concern over this trend as Corporates will resort to non-banking channels , like commercial paper , for their requirements , thereby, bypassing the controls set in place by RBI for banking channels. 7) CK Prahlads theory of There is money to be made at the bottom of the pyramid ( BOP ) seems to have caught the fancy of India Inc. A lot of well known Indian companies are eyeing this market segment which is estimated to be around 350 million families , with about 40 million families moving into this segment from Below poverty line every year. Marketers are no longer looking at small pack sizes to entice this segment. Glaxo Smith Kline has Asha , a milk food drink like Horlicks , Nestle has Maggie noodles at Rs.4/- and seasoning at Rs.2/- , Coco Cola has a power based beverage Vitingo selling at Rs.2.50 selling across villages in Orrisa. Other companies are expected to follow suit and grab a piece of the action. 8) To protect market share , Maruti Susuki is introducing stepped down models of its best selling models like Alto , Wagon R and Swift in its battle with global giants like Toyota , Honda , Volkswagon etc. The new models will be cheaper by anything between Rs. 30,000/- to Rs. 50,000/9) SEBI has asked the US Securities Exchange Commission not to take action against Satyam since it will mean punishing Satyam shareholders twice. The shareholders have already lost out with falling share

values . Satyam faces a series of class action suits in US Courts which if decided against the company can lead to huge penalties. A class action suit is filed by a group of people who feel aggrieved by the decisions/ actions of a Company. In a class action suit , the individual forfeits the right to sue the company as an individual 10) In good news for local talent , FMCGs are recruiting local people to push sales since they believe that locals know the local language and culture. 11) 2 more Astra missile have been successfully test fired.. They are Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missiles . It will be carried by Sukhoi 30 , MIG 29 and LCV Tejas. 12) A high intensity earthquake hit the Haiti capital Port-Au-Prince which has flattened almost 50 % 0f the capital city. The death toll is very high and may be around a lac. 13) It has been reported that Pakistan Taliban Chief , Mehsud , has been killed in a US Drone attack. 14) In a landmark decision , the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Central Pollution Control Board has decide not to give environmental clearance to development projects in critically polluted industrial clusters till August 2010.Greter Cochin projects will be affected. 15) Faced with imminent bankruptcy , Japan Airlines ( JAL ) has appointed Kazoo Inamori ( The founder of the electronics maker Kyocera Corp ) as its CEO. 16) Sanjay Kapoor has been appointed as the new CEO of Bharati Airtel for India and South Asia. 17) Google has threatened to pull out of China after local people hacked into their system to unearth emails of Chinese environmental activists located in the US. Google has now said that they will not subject themselves to censorship rules of China which was a pre-condition for their entry into China . Let us wait and watch as to whether business will win or business ethics will . If Google exits China , it will be good for India. 18) The global slow down has hit India Incs overseas investments . It was down by 16 % in AprilSeptember 2009 compared to the same period last year. 19) Indian Banks Association has mooted a GMAT model across the board for PSU Bank recruitments. If accepted , aspiring bank employees will have to write just one exam for various banks.

20) Eschewing their earlier plan to rebrand Air Alliance as a regional airline , Air India has now decided to convert it as a cargo airline. 21) The Dubai crisis has hit Indian educational institutions who had set up shop there. Enrollments have dipped by 15 % to 60 %. Some of the most famous are IMT , BITS and SP Jain. 22) In a blow to RILs attempts to buy the ailing chemical agent Lyondell Basel , the companys unsecured creditors have approached the courts to appoint a valuer to examine RILs offer. 23) Tata Nano will be launched in the US at a cost of US $ 2500/24) Adventure sports enthusiasts now need not be concerned about their insurance cover. ICICI and Bajaj Alliance have forayed into this market segment. 25) Inflation as measured by WPI reached a year high of 7.31 % in December 09.Food was the culprit. 26) Millenniums longest solar eclipse occurred on the 15th January 10. 27) Eight new Governors have been appointed. They are : NAME Shivraj Patil Shekhar Dutt Mohsina Kidwai Prabhu Rau K Sankaranarayan Urmilaben Patel ESL Narasihman MK Narayan # STATE Punjab Chattisgarh Jharkhand Rajastan. Maharashtra Himachal Pradesh Andhra Pradesh West Bengal

# MK Narayan was the National Security Advisor. 28) Eric Simmons , a former medium pacer from South Africa , was appointed Indias bowling coach. He had coached the South African team from 2002 to 2004. Mike Young of Australia was appointed the fielding coach . The appointments follow the sacking of Venketesh Prasad & Robin Singh as the bowling and fielding coach respectively following Indias dismal performance in T20 world cup and Champions trophy.

29) Michael Schumacher , the 7 time F1 winner who had retired in 2006, will make his comeback with GP 2 test drive at Jerez , Spain. 30) Croatias Marin Cilic won mens singles title in the Chennai Open for the 2nd year running. He beat Stanislas Warwinka of Sweden.. Marcos Granollers & Santiago Ventura of Spain took the doubles title. 31) India lost the tri-nation one day cricket tournament in Bangladesh by going down to Sri Lanka in the finals , thereby , once again reinforcing the impression that Indians are chokers when it comes to the crunch time. 32) Mumbai won the Ranji trophy for the year 2009 by the skin of their teeth by defeating Karnataka by 6 runs in the finals at Mysore. This is the 39th time they are winning the Ranji Tropohy . 33) Indian hockey players have resumed their training for the World Cup after Sahara promised a sponsorship of Rs.1 crore and MS Gill assured the players that all issues will be sorted after the World Cup. Following this revolt , the President of Hockey , MattooIndia has resigned. 34) The revolt by the Indian Hockey players has encouraged Abhinav Bindra , Indias lone Olympic Gold Medal winner, to fire a salvo at the National Rifle Association. The bone of contention is Bindras demand that his performance in international tournaments should be considered for selection to the Indian team for the Commnenwealth games . Bindra was not selected for the Commonwealth games because he did not participate in national selection trials.