29 JANUARY UPDATES

1) 8% is the new Repo Rate after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan on 28 January 2014 increased it by 0.25% under RBI’s third quarter monetary policy review.

This move is expected to translate into higher EMIs and push up the cost of borrowing for corporates. Consequently, the Reverse Repo Rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) will be revised to 7% and the marginal standing facility rate and bank rate to 9%. However, the RBI kept the cash reserve ratio (CRR) unchanged at 4% as liquidity seems to be comfortable.

2) In back-to-back moves to try resolving the ongoing Ukrainian political crisis, the prime minister Mykola Azarov submitted his resignation on 28 January 2014 and the Parliament repealed anti-protest laws that had set off violent clashes between protesters and police. 

Azarov was one of the government figures most disliked by opposition supporters. The twin moves were significant concessions to the protesters who have occupied the capital’s main square for two months and fought sporadically with police for the last 10 days)

3) Dhruva-3 is the name of the high performance computing system of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which was unveiled on 28 January 2014.Dhruva-3--> developed by the Advanced Numerical Research & Analysis Wing (ANURAG), Hyderabad,will be useful for the design of advanced aircrafts like the AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft), where analysis of aerodynamics at high speeds under different conditions is required. It will be deployed to solving mission critical Defence R&D applications).

4) Raymond Weil, who passed away on 27 January 2013, was a renowned pioneer of Watch-making.He was the founder of the watch brand of the same name (Raymond Weil) and is considered one of the great innovators of the Swiss watch industry. Born in Geneva in 1926, Weil first made his foray into the watch industry at Camy Watch, of which he soon took the reins. In 1976, in the midst of an industry-wide crisis, he decided to go it alone and created his own company focused on putting into practice his vision that timepieces should be high-quality and with superior design, but at affordable prices)