Today's GK(18-9-13)

Malala receives top Amnesty award

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen activist shot in the head last year by the Taliban for campaigning for girls’ education, has received the highest honour conferred by rights group Amnesty International.

Ms. Yousafzai received the 2013 Ambassador of Conscience Award on along with American singer and human rights activist Harry Belafonte at a ceremony in Dublin.

“I’ve written a short speech, because I had to finish my homework,” the 16-year-old schoolgirl told the gathering at Mansion House in Dublin.

“With this powerful weapon of knowledge and education, we can fight against wars, terrorism, child labour and inequality. The only tools that are needed are a pen and a book to get us on our way to an enlightened future for one and all,” she said, after receiving the award from Irish rock singer and human rights activist Bono.

Referring to children suffering due to war and child trafficking, she said, “You may be asking yourselves — ‘what is the solution?’ I believe the only solution is education, education, education.”

Ms. Yousafzai, determined not to miss even a day of school, flew back to Birmingham, where she now lives with her family, soon after the ceremony.

Ms. Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban on a school bus in October 2012, an attack that drew worldwide condemnation. She was flown to Britain for surgery for her head injuries and returned to school in Birmingham in March.

“Harry and Malala are truly Ambassadors of Conscience, speaking up for universal rights, justice, and human dignity and inspiring others to follow their example,” Amnesty’s Secretary-General Salil Shetty said in a statement.

Previous recipients of the award include South African leader Nelson Mandela and Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The award was inspired by a poem written for Amnesty by the late Seamus Heaney, called ‘From the Republic of Conscience’, and it aims to promote London-based Amnesty’s work by association with the life, work and example of its ambassadors.

The Nobel laureate, who died last month, wished to attend the ceremony and read the poem.

Infosys launches new version of Finacle

Infosys, country’s second largest software services exporter, on Wednesday launched a new version of its banking solution Finacle, aimed at making deeper inroads into the international markets.

“With Finacle 11E, we have taken a component approach to help banks of all sizes to rapidly modernise their operations in a phased manner, while minimising the risks. It will enhance banks’ efficiency and improve customer experience across all channels,” Infosys senior vice—president and global head for Finacle M Haragopal said.

Finacle today powers 168 banks across 81 countries and about 14 per cent of the global banked population are serviced by it, he added.

Banking and financial services accounted for 27 per cent of Infosys’ revenue of Rs 11,267 crore in the June quarter.

“The offering is futuristic and resonates strongly with the impending trends in the banking space globally. This new solution is a key to Finacle’s growth globally, especially in the advanced markets of the US and Europe,” Mr Haragopal said.

In the domestic market, over 50 per cent of the public and private sector banks and eight foreign banks are powered by Finacle, thus serving about 40 per cent of the banked population in the country.

“Factors like macroeconomic uncertainty, regulatory upheaval, and changing customer preferences are leading banks to transform their businesses rapidly. However, such large-scale transformation projects are often too expensive or too complex for these banks to take on,” he said.

Finacle 11E will allow banks to take on transformation projects in bite-size pieces, increasing agility, minimising customer disruption and reducing risk, Mr Haragopal added.

Afghanistan first time directly sent Afghan dry fruits to India

Afghanistan in the month of September 2013, for the first time directly sent Afghan dry fruits to India using the Chabahar port .Before this, Afghanistan used to send their goods using Karachi port of Pakistan.

Because of the political restrictions and high storage cost, Afghanistan was facing problems in exporting their goods to India. To overcome this problem the Indian embassies in Kabul and Tehran had been working closely with the Governments of Afghanistan and Iran for the past few months to ensure that the shipment goes through the Iranian Chabahar port.

India officially confirmed participation in the Chabahar port project in May 2013, when External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid visited Tehran for the 17th meeting of the India-Iran Joint Commission.

About Chabahar port

• Chabahar port is a sea port in Chah  Bahar in southeastern Iran.
• It is located between Indian Ocean and Omen Sea.
• The port was partially funded by India.

India-Iran Joint Commission

India and Iran hold regular bilateral discussions on economic and trade related issues within the framework of India-Iran Joint Commission. The 17th India-Iran Joint Commission meeting was held from 3-5 May 2013 in Tehran.

NSEL Appointed Saji Cherian as New CEO and MD

The National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) on 16 September 2013 appointed Saji Cherian as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company.

Saji Cherian was previously the head of Listing Issuer Services at MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SX). He had also worked with Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) as General Manager and at Madras Stock Exchange and Cochin Stock Exchange as Executive Director.

About National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL)

• National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) is the national level, institutionalized, electronic, transparent spot trading platform for commodities.
• It is a structured market place, set-up to transform the commodity market by way of reducing the cost of intermediation and thereby improving marketing efficiency. Its state-of-the-art technology facilitates risk free and hassle free purchase and sale of various commodities.
• NSEL provides customized solution to farmers, traders, processors, exporters, importers, arbitrageurs, investors and other stakeholders pertaining to commodity procurement, storage, marketing, warehouse receipt financing, etc.
• NSEL commenced Live trading on 15 October 2008. At present, NSEL is operational in 16 States in India, providing delivery-based spot trading in 52 commodities.

SEBI Signed MoU with Argentina for Information Exchange on Securities Markets

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 16 September 2013 signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Comisión Nacional de Valores, (CNV) Argentina to promote mutual assistance and exchange information related to securities markets in both the countries.

The MoU was signed by U.K. Sinha, Chairman, SEBI and Alejandro Vanoli, Chairman, Comisión Nacional de Valores, Argentina during the 38th IOSCO annual conference being held in Luxembourg.

The MoU between SEBI and CNV seeks to promote mutual assistance and exchange of information with a view to facilitate the development of deeper and broader capital market, enhance greater cross-border activities and attain closer regulatory co-operation between two jurisdictions in a mutually beneficial manner.

The MoU also seeks to establish and implement technical assistance and training program, for an effective development of regulatory framework for securities markets in the two jurisdictions.

About CNV

Comisión Nacional de Valores, (National Securities Commission) (CNV) is an independent agency of Argentina with jurisdiction throughout the Republic.

CNV aimed to provide the public offer by ensuring the transparency of markets and the correct formation of prices in them, and the protection of investors. CNV's action is projected on companies issuing securities to be publicly placed on secondary markets and securities intermediaries in these markets. CNV's action also projected on the public offering of forward contracts, futures and options on their markets and clearing houses, and their intermediaries.