Daily News Mail - News of 27/06/2015

India ranked best for investment
In the profitability index, the country is way ahead of China, U.S. In the 2014 index, India was at the sixth position
A ranking of destinations for attractiveness to foreign investors has placed India at the top among 110 countries. In the 2014 index, India was at the sixth position and Hong Kong was number one.

About the index :
The ranking is based on an index for baseline profitability that assumes that three factors affect the ultimate success of a foreign investment:

1. How much the value of an asset grows.
2. The preservation of that value while the asset is owned.
3. The ease of repatriation of proceeds from selling the asset.

The index combines measures for each of these factors into a summary statistic that conveys a country’s basic attractiveness for investment.

The index compares how local policies and conditions affect the same investment in different countries. Or how the value of the principal and the return will change depending only on where the investment is made.

Other detail:

• China has secured the 65th position and the U.S. is at the 50th. In the 2014 index, India was at the sixth position and Hong Kong was number one.
• A high ranking indicates high returns and improving economic institutions.
• India came first in the Baseline Profitability Index helped by its improved ranking in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index — in 2014, the country was at the 85th position out of 175 countries as compared to its ranking of 94 out of 177 countries in 2013.
• Baseline Profitability Index (BPI) calculation also uses an index of investor protection compiled by the World Bank. In 2014, the average BPI score across all countries was 0.99; this year it is 1.03 — meaning the expected returns over the next five years are about three-quarters of a per cent higher a year.

Satnam Singh Bhamara becomes first Indian-origin player to be drafted into NBA

Satnam Singh Bhamara has scripted history by becoming the first Indian basketball player to be drafted in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the US.

This is the first time since the 2005 NBA Draft that a player entered the draft without playing in college, abroad professionally, or in the NBA development league.

About Satnam

1. He hails from Ballo Ke village near Ludhiana in Punjab.
2. He hails from a family of farmers.
3. He went to the US in September 2010, as part of a scholarship programme between IMG and Reliance.
4. Canadian-born Gursimran ‘Sim’ Bhullar was the first player of Indian origin to play in the NBA.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is men’s professional basketball league in North America, and is widely considered to be the premier men’s professional basketball league in the world. The NBA is one of the four major North American professional sports leagues. NBA players are the world’s best paid sportsmen, by average annual salary per player.

Satnam Singh Bhamara

Railyatri/Upbhokta Pakhwada

The historical country-wide massive public outreach event under the name “Railyatri/Upbhokta Pakhwada” (Passenger and customer Facilitation fortnight) organized all over Indian Railways was recently concluded.

Aim of the programme:

This fortnight long programme was primarily directed towards improvement of passenger amenities and services, customer care, participation of passenger and railway staff in various activities and for creating awareness amongst the public about Railway’s initiatives and achievements.

Themes of the programme:

The fortnight long Railyatri Upbhokta ‘Pakhwada’ was based on the themes of SEVA (Service), SAMAPRAN (Dedication), SAHYOG (Cooperation/participation), SANKALP(Commitment) and SAMPARK (Outreach).

The events undertaken during this fortnight long programme included:

• Inauguration/launching of completed projects.
• Signing of MoUs with Railways PSUs for upgrading passenger amenities in certain identified stations.
• Formation of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) with the State Governments for joint development of Infrastructure.
• Road Shows & Interaction by GMs and DRMs with passengers and other customers by visiting stations and by traveling with public in suburban and other passenger trains.
• Interaction with State Government Authorities, interaction with public seeking their support for Railway’s Cleanliness Campaign and Safety Awareness Campaign at unmanned level crossings.
• Inspection of Railway Stations.
• Drive about courtesy programme for the front line staff.
• Health check-up camps, intensive drive to check catering services, vigilance checks, intensive ticket checking drive, drive against touts etc.