Thomas Malthu : Forecast of Human Population & Food Production Growth

Thomas Malthus, who made the dire but fortunately erroneous forecast that the human race would proliferate faster than food production can grow.

Nobel Prize

It's said that the day when the arms dealer Alfred Nobel picked up his newspaper and was shocked to find an obituary calling him a "merchant of death," he decided to dedicate the rest of his life to supporting peace and prosperity. Hence the Nobel Prize

origami

the Japanese art of creating three-dimensional sculptures from sheets of paper

Credit Report / Credit Bureau

A credit rating estimates the credit worthiness of an individual, corporation, or even a country. It is an evaluation made by credit bureaus of a borrower’s overall credit history. A credit rating is also known as an evaluation of a potential borrower's ability to repay debt, prepared by a credit bureau at the request of the lender . Credit ratings are calculated from financial history and current assets and liabilities. Typically, a credit rating tells a lender or investor the probability of the subject being able to pay back a loan. However, in recent years, credit ratings have also been used to adjust insurance premiums, determine employment eligibility, and establish the amount of a utility or leasing deposit.
A poor credit rating indicates a high risk of defaulting on a loan, and thus leads to high interest rates, or the refusal of a loan by the creditor.

Credit scores for individuals are assigned by credit bureaus (US; UK: credit reference agencies). Credit ratings for corporations and sovereign debt are assigned by credit rating agencies.

US
The main credit bureaus are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. A relatively new credit bureau in the US is Innovis.

UK
the main credit reference agencies for individuals are Experian, Equifax, and Callcredit.

Canada
the main credit bureaus for individuals are Equifax, TransUnion and Northern Credit Bureaus/ Experian.

India
commercial credit rating agencies include CRISIL, CARE, ICRA and Brickwork Ratings. The credit bureaus for individuals in India are Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL) and Credit Registration Office (CRO).


The largest commercial credit rating agencies (which tend to operate worldwide) are Dun & Bradstreet, Moody's, Standard and Poor's and Fitch Ratings.

BATA : Company Profile

Bata Shoes (Czech: Baťa or Baťovy závody) is a large, family owned shoe company based in Bermuda but currently headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The company was founded in 1894 Zlín (then Austro-Hungarian Empire, today the Czech Republic) by Tomáš Baťa (Czech pronunciation: [ˈtomaːʃ ˈbaca]), whose family had been cobblers for generations. A large order from the army, military shoes and rising demand for them, during World War I started rapid growth and small manufacture turned into modern industrial concern, one of the first mass producers of shoes.
Tomáš Baťa was recognized for his social conscience, establishing housing, cinemas and advancement programmes for his employees. The phrase "work collectively, live individually" is one of his sayings. Baťa recognized the potential of large-scale production, and was often called the "Henry Ford of Eastern Europe". He saw technology as a means of progress, and wanted to make the shoes as cheaply as possible so that the greatest number of people could access them
In 1932 Tomáš died in a plane crash at the Zlín airport (attempting to take-off under bad weather conditions) and his half-brother Jan Antonín Baťa became head of the company.
At the time of Tomáš's death, the Baťa company employed 16,560 people, maintained 1,645 shops and 25 enterprises. Most of what Tomáš had built was centralized in Bohemia-Moravia (15,770 employees, 1,500 shops, 25 enterprises) and Slovakia (250 employees and 2 enterprises). The total international contribution to the Baťa organization at the time of Tomas's death consisted of 20 international enterprises, 132 shops, and 790 employees.

COLGATE : Company History

1806: Company is founded by William Colgate in New York to make starch, soap, and candles.
1857: After founder's death, company becomes known as Colgate & Company.
1873: Toothpaste is first marketed.

Address: 
300 Park Avenue 
New York, New York 10022-7499 
U.S.A. 

Snooker vs Pool

SNOOKER IS PLAYED ON A LARGE TABLE (6x12 FEET) WITH 22 BALLS. POOL IS PLAYED ON A SMALLER TABLE (4½x9 FEET USUALLY), WITH A SET OF 16 BALLS.

If some of the balls on the table are striped, it is a game of pool. Snooker has only solid-coloured balls

SNOOKER: Invented by Neville Chamberlain, not the British premier but an army officer. It is rumoured he was posted in India where the game first became popular. It is played on big tables measuring 6x12 feet with 22 balls: 15 red, one each of yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black; and a white cue ball. The winner is determined by a point system. Red balls are all worth a point and coloured balls are worth their face value. Players alternate between hitting the red and coloured balls. Red balls stay in the pockets, but the six coloured ones come back to their starting positions on the table till all the red balls are ‘potted’. According to an old tradition, you are expected to dress up for the game, preferably in a dinner suit.

POOL: Supposedly christened thus because of the venues where it first became popular: ‘pool rooms’. Gamblers gathered there to bet on horse races and pursue other, unarchived, co-curricular activities. American bars made it popular among youngsters who played it on 4½x9 feet tables. Pool balls come in sets of 16, seven solid-colour balls, seven striped balls, an eight-ball and a cue ball. The most popular games are 8-ball and 9-ball. In the former, you must sink all striped or all solid balls before sinking the 8-ball. The 9-ball is played with balls numbered one to nine. The first player to sink the 9-ball wins. 

Chinese whispers

When a story is told from person to person, especially if it is gossip or scandal, it inevitably gets distorted and exaggerated. This process is called Chinese whispers

World's Largest Defence Firms

1) BAE Systems - UK
2) Lockheed Martin - US
3) Boeing - US

Indian firms in defence Industry via global tie-ups :
1) M&M: JV with the UK-based BAE Systems for making specialised mine-protected vehicles, light vehicles and artillery guns.
2) LARSEN & TOUBRO: JV with EADS cleared by government. Will make electronic warfare systems, graph radar instruments, avionics and mobile systems .
3) TATA: Signed an agreement with Lockheed Martin to build aerostructures for the C-130J aircraft at the facility in Hyderabad
4) QUEST GLOBAL: Joint venture with Magellan Aerospace to provide approved aerospace surface treatments
5) DYNAMATIC: Contract with Boeing for manufacture of cabinets that house critical power and mission equipment for the P8i maritime patrol aircraft

Ramon Magsaysay Award

The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in government, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award is often considered Asia's Nobel Prize.

The prize was established in April 1957 by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund based in New York City with the concurrence of the Philippine government.

Every year the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation grants the prize to Asian individuals and organizations for achieving excellence in their respective fields. The awards are given in six categories:
Government Service
Public Service
Community Leadership
Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts
Peace and International Understanding
Emergent Leadership

Infosys : its founders and founding

Infosys was founded on 2 July 1981 by seven entrepreneurs,
1)N.R. Narayana Murthy,
2)Nandan Nilekani,
3)Kris Gopalakrishnan,
4)S. D. Shibulal,
5)Ashok Arora,
6)K Dinesh and with
7) N. S. Raghavan officially being the first employee of the company.

The founders started the company with an initial investment of INR 10,000. The company was incorporated as "Infosys Consultants Pvt Ltd." in Model Colony, Pune as the registered office.

World's largest Tobacoo company

1) Philip Morris - Largest Tobacco company
2) British American Tobacco - Second Largest Company

Core Banking Solutions / Packages from Indian IT companies

Finacle                : Infosys
TCS BaNCS      : TCS
Flexcube             : ( I Flex ) Oracle Financial Services
Intellect Core      : Polaris