The Competition Master

Sri Lanka-Pakistan sign pacts for co-op in trade & education

Sri Lanka-Pakistan sign pacts for co-op in trade & education

Pakistan and Sri Lanka have signed three agreements to promote cooperation in trade‚ technical edu...

US diplomat meets key leaders in Maldives

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div id="5967" style="display: block;">                                          <ul><li style="text-align: justify;">The United States has joined India in helping to reduce the political crisis in the Maldives. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Robert Blake held  talks with ousted President Mohammed Nasheed and his successor Mohammed  Waheed Hassan in Male today on Feb 11 on the political developments.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The discussion, which lasted for half an hour, comes four days after  Nasheed was forced to step down. Later, Blake met new President Hassan. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The meetings comes a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's  special envoy M. Ganapathi conveyed to both the leaders India's  willingness to assist in early installation of a national unity  government in the Indian Ocean atoll. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Hassan is understood to have assured India that he would not indulge  in a witch-hunt while dealing with Nasheed, who was the first  democratically-elected President of Maldives. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Robert Blake arrived there this morning to clarify on the power  transfer from former President Mohamed Nasheed to his vice president.  Blake's visit to the Indian Ocean archipelago comes after criticism by  former president Nasheed who expressed concern over U.S. recognition of  new Maldivian administration.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Nasheed insisted his resignation was the result of a coup  orchestrated by opposition leaders and the former regime backed by the  security forces and Waheed's government.  </li>
</ul><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">Nasheed earlier said the U.S. move will  only serve to inflame tensions in the Maldives, which was rocked by  several days of violent protests following Nasheed's ouster on Feb 7.</li>
</ul></div></div>

US diplomat meets key leaders in Maldives

The United States has joined India in helping to reduce the political crisis in the Maldives. US ...

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Govt nod to 20 FDI plans of 1,033 cr

Govt nod to 20 FDI plans of 1,033 cr

The Government today on Feb 11 approved 20 foreign direct investment proposals amounting to around Rs 1,034 crore. The proposals were clea...

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Greece okays fresh austerity measures

Greece okays fresh austerity measures

Greece's cabinet has approved fresh austerity measures demanded by the eurozone and IMF in return for a 130 billion Euro bailout. Th...

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Amendments to Lokpal Bill being considered: Govt

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">The government is committed to a strong  Lokpal Bill and is looking at amendments suggested by its allies as  well as the opposition parties on the legislation, Minister of State in  the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy said.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The amendments to the Lokpal bill had been moved in the Rajya Sabha  during the debate on the bill by Trinamool Congress, a constituent of  the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), apart from the opposition  parties. Samajwadi Party, which extends supports from outside, had also  moved amendments.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The house was adjourned without voting on the bill, which has already been passed by the Lok Sabha.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>According to an official release, the minister also said the  Congress-led central government was taking pro-active steps to curb  corruption and no one facing allegations of graft had been protected.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>He said the Right to Information Act, the whistleblowers protection  bill, the judicial accountability bill, citizens' grievance redressal  bill and reforms in procurement and mining were among the key  anti-corruption initiatives taken by the UPA governments headed by  Manmohan Singh since 2004.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The UPA government has removed the discretionary quota of the union  ministers so that there is no room left for corruption, Narayansamy said  adding that a Group of Ministers (GoM) was constituted in January 2011  to consider measures that can be taken by the government to tackle  corruption.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The GoM had submitted its first report which has already been  accepted by the government with some minor modifications and action had  been initiated to implement the recommendations, he added.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The government had notified a policy of reviewing performance of  Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers at 15 years and 25 years of  their career to identify and remove non-performers.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>He said sanction for prosecution against the officers who are facing  corruption charges will be given in three months and departmental  inquiry would have to completed within a year of filing of complaint.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Referring to the measures to strengthen the Central Bureau of  Investigation, the minister said it had been decided to set up 71  additional special courts for CBI in various states to expedite  adjudication of the pending cases. He said 51 courts have already been  sanctioned. </li>
</ul></div>

Amendments to Lokpal Bill being considered: Govt

The government is committed to a strong Lokpal Bill and is looking at amendments suggested by its allies as well as the opposition parties...

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'Indo-Pak trade could touch $15 billion a year'

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">As India and Pakistan are on the verge  of opening their bilateral trade in a big way, discussions are on for  giving multiple entry visas to their businessmen. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>This was stated by Pakistan's Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim,  while inaugurating the largest ever India-specific trade exhibition in  Lahore today. Mr. Fahim said both the countries are determined to  normalise trade and economic ties and the exhibition is part of efforts  to achieve this. He said Pakistani traders will soon go to India to  organise a Made in Pakistan show.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Fahim acknowledged that the present infrastructure at the Wagah  border is inadequate for handling even the current volume of trade but  said things are improving. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal said both the countries  have the potential to boost bilateral trade to $15 billion a year. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The opening of the exhibition comes two days ahead of Indian  Commerce Minister Anand Sharma's visit to Lahore. He will be accompanied  by a large business delegation for talks aimed at normalising trade  relations between the two countries. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Close to 200 Indian exhibitors are participating in the three-day  India Show organised at the Lahore Expo Centre. A wide range of products  from gems to heavy machinery are being showcased. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The Commerce Secretary-level talks have already led to the approval  of several steps by both countries to dismantle hurdles in the way of  increasing official trade to $6 billion by 2014. Pakistan government has  said it intends to give India Most Favoured Nation-status by the end of  the year. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Direct trade between India and Pakistan constitutes less than one  per cent of their respective global trade. India exported goods worth  $2.33 billion to Pakistan last year while its imports were a mere $330  million.</li>
</ul></div>

'Indo-Pak trade could touch $15 billion a year'

As India and Pakistan are on the verge of opening their bilateral trade in a big way, discussions are on for giving multiple entry visas t...

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Iran cuts off access to Internet, fearing protests

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">Iran has reportedly cut off access to the Internet, leaving millions of people without e-mail and social networks.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The shutdown comes as people prepare to celebrate the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.  </li>
</ul><table align="right" height="260"><tbody>
<tr> <td><ins><ins id="aswift_1_anchor"></ins></ins></td> </tr>
</tbody> </table><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Services like Gmail, Google and Yahoo are all thought to have been  restricted, and users have been unable to log in to their online  banking.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>According to The Daily Mail, some Internet users are accessing the web by using proxy servers over VPN connections.  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>An Iranian contacted by CNET said that ‘when asked, the government denies the fact that all these services are all blocked.’  </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>“I don't know the infrastructure that they will use but I don’t  think we have a way out of that one. We are getting closer and closer to  North Korea,” the unnamed source added.  </li>
</ul><div class="hideout" id="relatehere" style="text-align: justify;"> <div class="rgt-prt-cntr-lft" id="stytable"> <div class="tp-add-bg-3"> <ul><li>Last month, Iran’s Information Minister announced plans for a  government-run Intranet, giving the state the upper hand in its  cyber-battle with opponents. </li>
</ul></div></div></div></div>

Iran cuts off access to Internet, fearing protests

Iran has reportedly cut off access to the Internet, leaving millions of people without e-mail and social networks. The shutdown comes as p...

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'Indians among world's happiest people'

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">Despite economic woes, wars, conflicts  and natural disasters the world is a happier place today than it was  four years ago and Indonesians, Indians and Mexicans seem to be the most  contented people on the planet. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>More than three-quarters of people around the globe who were  questioned in an international poll said they were happy with their  lives and nearly a quarter described themselves as very happy. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>"The world is a happier place today and we can actually measure it  because we have been tracking it," said John Wright, senior vice  president of Ipsos Global, which has surveyed the happiness of more than  18,000 people in 24 countries since 2007. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Brazil and Turkey rounded out the top five happiest nations, while  Hungary, South Korea, Russia, Spain and Italy had the fewest number of  happy people. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Perhaps proving that money can't buy happiness, residents of some of  the world biggest economic powers, including the United States, Canada  and Britain, fell in the middle of the happiness scale. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>"There is a pattern that suggests that there are many other factors  beyond the economy that make people happy, so it does provide one  element but it is not the whole story," said Wright. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Regionally Latin America had the highest number of happy people,  followed by North America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and Africa.  Only 15 percent of Europeans said they were very happy. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>On a more personal note married couples tended to be happier than  singles but men seemed to be as content as women. Education and age also  had an impact with more people under 35 saying they are very happy than  25-49 year olds. Higher education also equated with higher happiness.</li>
</ul></div>

'Indians among world's happiest people'

Despite economic woes, wars, conflicts and natural disasters the world is a happier place today than it was four years ago and Indonesians...

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National Competition Policy to be in place by March end

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">Corporate Affairs Minister M Veerappa  Moily said the National Competition Policy would be in place by next  month-end. Speaking at a function in New Delhi, Moily said he would soon  move the Cabinet and the country would have the National Competition  Policy by March. The Minister said he expected this policy to trigger  the second generation of reforms after 1991. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Making a strong pitch for the policy, he said the advantages were  plenty and, in fact, after such an initiative was introduced in the US,  prices of petroleum products came down by 50 per cent. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Moily said the policy can trigger 4 to 5 per cent more GDP growth in  the country and attack inflationary trends. The policy is a tool to  unleash economic growth and create jobs. He also said his Ministry  planed to come out with a national corporate governance policy. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>The minister said his ministry would consult corporate leaders to  select a figure to draft this proposed national corporate governance  policy. He said this policy would set standards. </li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>He emphasised that the proposed policy would spell out risk factors,  on innovative steps to be taken by corporates and stress on dynamic and  inclusive growth.</li>
</ul></div>

National Competition Policy to be in place by March end

Corporate Affairs Minister M Veerappa Moily said the National Competition Policy would be in place by next month-end. Speaking at a functi...

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RAPID GK SERIES 46

RAPID GK SERIES 46

1. What is an aardvark 2. This is the element which has the highest boiling point 3. The Ratio of speed of the body to the speed of sound ...

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