14 MAY 2014

Ø  Actor Kamal Haasan, who is also chairman of FICCI Media and Entertainment Committee — South, will lead the Indian delegation to the 67th Cannes International Film Festival.

Ø  Apart from the $400-million FDI deal by KKR in Hyderabad-based Gland Pharma, the last meeting of the UPA’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) ratified the sale of a 4.66 per cent government stake in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. through a block deal route.

Ø  Indian-American Indira Talwani has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a federal judge in Massachusetts, making her the first Asian Pacific American federal judge in this State.

Ø  The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha has recommended Adarsh Goel, Arun Mishra, Gopal Subramanium and Rohinton Nariman to be appointed apex court judges. This is the first time in the apex court history that two persons from the Bar are being elevated as judges at a stroke.

Ø  U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon named the first ever woman to serve as the head of a U.N. peacekeeping operation. Major General Kristin Lund of Norway (56) will replace outgoing Major General Chao Liu of China in mid-August.

Ø  The panel, headed by ex-Chairman of Axis Bank, P. J. Nayak, said governance at the 26 public sector banks (PSBs) suffered due to several ‘externally imposed constraints’ like dual regulation by the RBI and the Finance Ministry, and external vigilance by agencies such as the CVC and CAG, among others. If the government stake in these banks were to reduce to less than 50 per cent, together with certain other executive measures, all these external constraints would disappear. This would be a beneficial trade-off for the government because it would continue to be the dominant shareholder and, without its control in banks diminishing, it would create the conditions for its banks to compete more successfully.