“Cyber warfare [may be used] to disable a country’s infrastructure, meddle with the integrity of another country’s internal military data, try to confuse its financial transactions or to accomplish any number of other possibly crippling aims,”
One of the most notorious cyber warfare offensives to date took place in Estonia in 2007 when more than a million computers were used to jam government, business and media websites. The attacks, widely believed to have originated in Russia, coincided with a period of heightened bilateral political tension. They inflicted damage estimated in tens of millions of euros.
China last week accused the Obama administration of waging “online warfare” against Iran by recruiting a “hacker brigade” and manipulating social media such as Twitter and YouTube to stir up anti-government agitation.
The U.S. Department of Defence’s quadrennial defence review, published this week, also highlighted the threat posed by cyber warfare on space-based surveillance and communications systems.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Kirti parekh committee
If the Kirit Parikh panel has its way, petrol and diesel prices would go up by between Rs.3 and Rs.4 a litre immediately, wiping out “the under recoveries” of public sector oil companies and substantially reducing the level of government subsidies. For the cooking fuels — kerosene and LPG — it calls for a nuanced approach but even here an immediate price rice of about Rs.100 for an LPG cylinder and Rs.6 for a litre of kerosene sold through the public distribution system (PDS) is suggested. The expert group charged with the task of devising “a viable and sustainable system of pricing of petroleum products” has had to come up with a methodology of minimising, if not avoiding altogether, the burden of subsidies. The three major public sector companies are expected to end this year with a total of Rs.45,500 crore as “under recoveries,” with kerosene accounting for about Rs.17,420 crore and LPG Rs.14,152 crore.
Finance
Strong criticism about carry trade
Foreign exchange carry trades — where speculators borrow in a low interest rate currency and then lend or invest in another currency for profit — are increasingly being seen to pose a major risk to international financial stability.
UK Financial Services Authority chairman Lord Turner has, of late, articulated the need to crack down on this activity since he feels it hardly serves any useful social or economic purpose. He has further suggested that bank capital adequacy standards and liquidity requirements need to be tweaked higher to factor such activity.
It is common knowledge that the Yen carry trade and more recently, the dollar carry trade have helped speculators create asset bubbles, especially in the developing world.
Some of the excellent recommendations made by the 13th Finance Commission that are worth studying:
The commission has dumped numerical targets in favour of qualitative ones for the fiscal and revenue deficits. The deficits are to go up in the downswing of a business cycle and come down on the upswing — all the way to a surplus in the case of the revenue deficit — with a council of wise mean moderating any inclination on the part of the government of the day to declare a downswing when there is only an election on the horizon.
The commission has focused on the government’s liabilities as a proportion of GDP.
VIX rises: India’s Volatility index, VIX, which reflects investors’ perception about market risk, rose to 30.07, its highest since September 14. A rising VIX suggests increased risk aversion to stocks.
Foreign exchange carry trades — where speculators borrow in a low interest rate currency and then lend or invest in another currency for profit — are increasingly being seen to pose a major risk to international financial stability.
UK Financial Services Authority chairman Lord Turner has, of late, articulated the need to crack down on this activity since he feels it hardly serves any useful social or economic purpose. He has further suggested that bank capital adequacy standards and liquidity requirements need to be tweaked higher to factor such activity.
It is common knowledge that the Yen carry trade and more recently, the dollar carry trade have helped speculators create asset bubbles, especially in the developing world.
Some of the excellent recommendations made by the 13th Finance Commission that are worth studying:
The commission has dumped numerical targets in favour of qualitative ones for the fiscal and revenue deficits. The deficits are to go up in the downswing of a business cycle and come down on the upswing — all the way to a surplus in the case of the revenue deficit — with a council of wise mean moderating any inclination on the part of the government of the day to declare a downswing when there is only an election on the horizon.
The commission has focused on the government’s liabilities as a proportion of GDP.
VIX rises: India’s Volatility index, VIX, which reflects investors’ perception about market risk, rose to 30.07, its highest since September 14. A rising VIX suggests increased risk aversion to stocks.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
questions
what changes u would make ?
ans-whats the prob identify....> then solution (i ma goal oriented person)
why u have changed so many jobs?
Ans-
mission and vision of company?
Q-Recent example of ur manegerial ability?
“The best definition I’ve come across is that success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal.”
ans-whats the prob identify....> then solution (i ma goal oriented person)
why u have changed so many jobs?
Ans-
mission and vision of company?
Q-Recent example of ur manegerial ability?
“The best definition I’ve come across is that success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal.”
interview
What was the toughest challenge you’ve ever faced?
TRAPS: Being unprepared or citing an example from so early in your life that it doesn’t
score many points for you at this stage of your career.
BEST ANSWER: This is an easy question if you’re prepared. Have a recent example
ready that demonstrates either:
1. A quality most important to the job at hand; or
2. A quality that is always in demand, such as leadership, initiative, managerial skill,
persuasiveness, courage, persistence, intelligence, etc.
TRAPS: Being unprepared or citing an example from so early in your life that it doesn’t
score many points for you at this stage of your career.
BEST ANSWER: This is an easy question if you’re prepared. Have a recent example
ready that demonstrates either:
1. A quality most important to the job at hand; or
2. A quality that is always in demand, such as leadership, initiative, managerial skill,
persuasiveness, courage, persistence, intelligence, etc.
PUBAD
An institutional mechanism for two way flow of information between Centre and States will be evolved for transfer of technology. Briefing the press about the outcome of first day deliberations during the two-day Chief Secretaries Conference, Shri Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences said that this is the first ever Chief Secretaries conference called by centre and efforts will be made to hold it annually on regular basis. Elaborating the themes discussed, he informed that the deliberations focussed on science and technology, climate change, national security, naxalism, major global changes and unique identification number. With the holding of this conference it has emerged that there should be willingness from centre and states to develop a relationship for transfer of technology up to the end users. Shri Chavan pointed out that hurdles coming in the way of free flow of information can be removed by state level awareness and required intervention to be made at policy makers’ level. It is for the states to share information about the problems being faced by them so that area specific technologies may be developed at the top level scientific institutions
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