Today's GK

BJP chief Rajnath Singh has stirred up a huge controversy with his comment that English has caused a great loss to India by eroding its cultural values and stymieing the growth of Sanskrit in the country. The comment was greeted with derision by intellectuals and political leaders on Friday.
Anybody who thinks that the growth of English has been a bane for India is seriously out of touch with reality. In the era of globalization, it is one of the critical advantages India has vis-a-vis countries like China. Indeed, China has itself recognized this and is seeking to catch up in a hurry. In any case, to blame one language or culture for the sorry state of another language is to miss the point. There is no contradiction between the growth of English and the thriving of native cultures. English represents, for most Indians, the language of opportunity, while their mother tongues are often the language of expression. The BJP chief should see English as cause for celebration rather than mourning.

PM Manmohan Singh said on Friday that RBI, which raised short-term interest rates to curb volatility in the foreign exchange market, may consider reversing the measures once the pressure eases. Speaking at the AGM of Assocham, Singh said the government was committed to bringing the current account deficit down and vowed to script a strong economic recovery.
"The Reserve Bank has done its bit to stabilize market expectations. Initially it injected dollars into the market. This helped to some extent. More recently, it took additional steps to raise short term interest rates," Singh told some of the country's leading businessmen. "These steps are not meant to signal an increase in the long-term interest rates. They are designed to contain speculative pressure on the currency. Once these short-term pressures have been contained, as I expect they will be, RBI can even consider reversing these pressures."

Export-Import Bank of India (Exim) has extended an additional line of credit of dollar 19.50 million to the Vietnam government for financing two projects."Exim Bank has, at the behest of Government of India, extended an additional LOC (line of credit) of dollar 19.50 million to the Vietnam government, for financing two projects in Vietnam," an Exim

LIC Housing Finance is looking to raise Rs 28,000 crore this fiscal as against Rs 23,000 crore last year. "The majority of the fund raising (70%) would be through NCDs ( non convertible debentures) with bank borrowings accounting for the remainder," VK Sharma, managing director and CEO, LIC Housing Finance.LIC Housing Finance is also in the process of creating a SPV (special purpose vehicle) which would exclusively cater to the home loan requirements of people in the north eastern region.

With several product launches on the anvil, TVS Motor, the country's fourth largest two-wheeler maker, expects to get back on track, both in India and the overseas markets.
The company, which has been facing tough times in the market of late, will launch six products, including a three-wheeler before December 2014, the company's chairman and managing director, Venu Srinivasan said at the company's 21st Annual General Meeting at Chennai.

The Israel Antiquities Authorities on 18 July 2013 announced that during a joint excavation programme led by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, two of the largest structures from the Kingdom of Judea was uncovered. Kingdom of Judah was a state established during the iron age in the Southern Levant.

Former Union Minister Khurshed Alam Khan died at the age of 95 on 20 July 2013. He as the father of Union External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.

Oil Industry Safety Awards for the year 2011-12 were presented by Union Minister of Petroleum Minister Petroleum & Natural Gas, Veerappa Moily and , Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Panabaaka Lakshmi on 19 July 2013. The award was given to the Chief Executives of Winning Oil & Gas organizations in a ceremony organised by Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD) at New Delhi.