The Competition Master

Narendra Modi's Rs 78,000 cr hi-tech city GIFT to try new concepts; may shape future city technologies

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">  Narendra Modi would not have thought of Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) as the test-bed for future city technologies, but his dream project in Gandhinagar may well have this interesting spillover. Work on the proposed Rs 78,000-crore nano city has now started, and the first occupant may move in by March.  
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> By the time the first phase is completed in three-and-a-half years, this special economic zone (SEZ) would have tried out, on a small scale, some contemporary urban design ideas. 
        
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> GIFT would have a command and control centre to monitor the IT infrastructure and respond quickly during emergencies (a fire anywhere, for example, will trigger an automatic response). The city will use the energy-efficient district cooling system instead of air-conditioning. It will also use an automated waste collection system that sucks away garbage from buildings at high speed. 
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Narendra Modi's Rs 78,000 cr hi-tech city GIFT to try new concepts; may shape future city technologies

Narendra Modi would not have thought of Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) as the test-bed for future city technologies, but ...

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Banks to operate one-man branch in rural areas

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;"> The finance ministry will treat a bank representative offering basic services in villages using a Net-enabled laptop as a branch, widening the reach of the government's financial inclusion plan and doing away with the need to spend on infrastructure.  
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The ministry directive comes at a time when banks have raised questions about the viability of setting up brick-and-mortar branches in rural areas. At present, only about 5% of India's 6 lakh villages have bank branches. There are 296 under-banked districts in states with below-par banking services. Under the financial inclusion plan, the government aims to provide banking services to 73,000 villages, each having population of 2,000 during the next three months.  
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> "The purpose is to minimise the cost of financial inclusion and see that the cost has a relationship to the growth in business. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The representative, or "business correspondent", will work from this "ultra small branch", which will be of the size of a 100-200-sq-ft room. The correspondent, who will be appointed by the bank, will deal with all cash transactions and other routine work in that area. Abank officer will visit this ultra small branch once a week and connect this business correspondent to the banks' core banking solution (CBS) through a secured network enabling data access and transfer between the small branch and the bank.    
          
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> "This bank officer will clear applications for new account openings, loans, recovery follow-up and other business development on the spot 
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Banks to operate one-man branch in rural areas

The finance ministry will treat a bank representative offering basic services in villages using a Net-enabled laptop as a branch, widenin...

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NABARD to raise atleast 2 billion rupees in bond

NABARD to raise atleast 2 billion rupees in bond

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development ( NABARD) plans to raise atleast 2 billion rupees ($37.9 million) through three-year ...

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First Four Exoplanets of 2012 Discovered

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="5530" style="display: block;"> <ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> Most  recent discovery doesn't come from NASA's Kepler space telescope team or any other space telescope, it comes from a ground-based telescope system maintained by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. 
 
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<li> The Hungarian-made Automated Telescope Network (HATNet) Project consists of six small (11-cm diameter), wide-field automated telescopes based at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Arizona and The Submillimeter Array atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii. 
 
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<li> Follow-up observations were made by Keck Observatory (also on Mauna Kea), the KeplerCam CCD camera (at FLWO) and Faulkes Telescope North at Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii. 
 
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<li> The HATNet telescopes were established in 2003, and the system announced their first exoplanet discovery in 2006 (called HAT-P-1b). Now they have another four exoplanets, orbiting four different stars, to add to their growing list. 
 
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<li> HAT-P-34b, HAT-P-35b, HAT-P-36b and HAT-P-37b have very tight orbits around their stars, completing a "year" in only 5.5-, 3.6-, 1.3- and 2.8-days respectively. Remember, the Earth orbits the sun every 365 days. 
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First Four Exoplanets of 2012 Discovered

Most recent discovery doesn't come from NASA's Kepler space telescope team or any othe...

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ICICI Bank to join Facebook bandwagon

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="5531" style="display: block;"> <ul><li> <div style="text-align: justify;">The country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank will soon join social media platform Facebook, where it plans to allow its customers to access their bank accounts, among other services.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> "... ICICI Bank will soon be present on Facebook. The ICICI Bank page (on the social media website) will include a one-of-its kind 'Your Bank Account' app through which you can access your bank account information while on Facebook. 
 
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<li style="text-align: justify;"> The bank is planning to join Facebook as part of its efforts to continue to provide "superior banking services" in 2012, in line with its 'Khayaal Aapka' (Your Care) philosophy. 
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ICICI Bank to join Facebook bandwagon

The country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank will soon join social media platform...

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Krishna leaves for Israel, Palestine

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> In a delicate balancing act, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna starts a three-day visit to Israel and Palestine that is expected to enhance India's strategic and economic ties with Tel Aviv and also underline enduring commitment to the Palestine cause. 
 
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<li> This will be the first visit by an Indian External Affairs Minister to Israel in 11 years. 
 
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<li> In Tel Aviv, Krishna will call on Israeli President Simon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hold extensive talks with Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Avigdor LiebermaThe focus will be on expanding strategic, defence and economic ties between the two countrie. 
 
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<li> The two countries are expected to sign an extradition treaty and an agreement on transfer of sentenced persons during Krishna's visit that occurs in the 20th year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Tel Aviv. 
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Krishna leaves for Israel, Palestine

In a delicate balancing act, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna starts a three-day visit to Israel and Palestine that is expected to en...

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Meira Kumar to represent India at CSPOC

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar will represent India at the 21st Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) to be held in Port of Spain from January 7 to 12.  
 
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<li>  She will also participate in a workshop there on the topic, "Emerging New Challenges for Speakers: Multi-party Chambers and Minority and Coalition Governments. 
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</ul> <ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> she will attend the final plenary of the conference based on the theme "Reconnecting Parliament with the Public: The Role of Speakers and Presiding Officers".  
 
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<li> Before the opening ceremony, the Lok Sabha Speaker will attend the meeting of the Standing Committee of the CSPOC, of which she is the an ex-officio member "in her capacity as the immediate past host and as a Regional Representative from the India Region.  
 
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<li> Kumar will be accompanied by Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan, Lok Sabha Secretary General T K Viswanathan and Dr V K Agnihotri, Secretary General of Rajya Sabha. 
 
 
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<li> The CSPOC, which was established in 1969, brings together the Speakers and Presiding Officers of Parliaments of the Commonwealth countries. India had hosted the 20th conference in New Delhi in January, 2010. 
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Meira Kumar to represent India at CSPOC

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar will represent India at the 21st Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) ...

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IAF officer from Arunachal denied visa by China

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="5534" style="display: block;"><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li><div style="text-align: justify;">In an unpleasant development, China has denied visa to a senior IAF officer hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, who was to be part of the team scheduled to travel to Beijing from January 10.</div></li>
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</tbody> </table><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> Group Captain Panging, based in Northeast, was refused visa by the Chinese embassy without being given any reasons, 
 
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<li> The officer who was to be part of the Integrated Defence Staff team travelling to China on a four-day visit under a bilateral defence exchange programme.  
 
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<li> The 30-member tri-Service Indian delegation, being led by an Air Vice Marshal-rank officer, will visit Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai there.  
 
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<li> China, which lays claim over Arunachal Pradesh, has often denied visa to those hailing from the state despite protests by India.  
 
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<li> Relations between India and China had soured in 2010 when the then Northern Army Commander Lt Gen BS Jaswal was denied visa as he was serving in Jammu and Kashmir, inferring that it questioned the status of the state. 
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IAF officer from Arunachal denied visa by China

In an unpleasant development, China has denied visa to a senior IAF officer hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, who was to be part of the team...

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Simpson Miller sworn in 2nd time as Jamaica PM

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="5535" style="display: block;"> <ul style="text-align: justify;"><li> Portia Simpson Miller was sworn in for the second time as Jamaica's Prime Minister pledging to ease its deep poverty, boost the sputtering economy, heal political divisions and sever colonial-era links with Britain.     
             
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<li> Simpson Miller, whose 1½-year-long first stint in office ended in 2007, took the oath of office before roughly 10,000 guests on the grounds of the rambling, colonial-style mansion that is the official residence of the governor-general.    
              
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<li> The 66-year-old politician scored a dramatic victory in last week's national elections, leading her slightly left-leaning People's National Party to a 2-to-1 margin in Parliament over the center-right Jamaica Labor Party. Her opposition faction won a dominating 42 seats in the 63-seat legislature, leaving the incumbent party with 21. 
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Simpson Miller sworn in 2nd time as Jamaica PM

Portia Simpson Miller was sworn in for the second time as Jamaica's Prime Minister pledging...

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Iran to hold new naval exercises

Iran to hold new naval exercises

Iran's Revolutionary Guards will hold new naval exercises in the strategic Strait of Hormuz i...

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