Monday, June 21, 2010

FIFA World Cup Best 11 (group stage)

It has been 10 days since the World Cup started and its time for the Knock outs now. But before that here's my pick for the World Cup best 11 so far.

Forward
David Villa(Spain): Nicknamed El Guaje, has been the best player on view of Spain so far. After the shocking first round loss to Switzerland, Villa was instrumental in lifting Spain, in the process he netted 3 goals in 3 games, including a brace against Hondorous. It won't be a surprise if Villa ends up winning the Golden Boot. But for that to happen Spain need to go the distance. With a clash against Portugal all eyes will be on Villa to send Spain through to the Quarter Finals.

Lionel Messi(Argentina): Messi, considered one of the best football players of his generation, didn't disappoint anyone at all. But he was easily one of the most unluckiest players so far, had the most shots on target, missed a few by wisker, but the goal always eluded him. Despite that was the best Argentine player on show. With Argentina up against Mexico next, expect Messi to end the goal drought.

Asamoah Gyan(Ghana): Was the inspiration behind the dream enjoyed by Ghana. Scoring in both their victories, he showed his class. With Ghana being the only African nation in the next round, entire Africa would be praying for some Gyan magic for atleast a few more matches.

Mid Fielder
Landon Donovan(USA): What Gyan did for Ghana, Donovan did for USA, he was a class apart from his teammates, scored 2 goals in group stages, with Ghana next he would be looking to add to that tally.

Wesley Sneijder(Netherlands): In the absence of Robben, all eyes were on Sneijder, and how well he responded was something remarkable. He scored the lone goal against Japan which booked the ticket for the next round. With Robben returing , both will make quite a handy combo.

Steven Gerrard(England): What has been quite a disappointing start for England, their captain stood head and shoulders above the others. He scored the first goal for England at WC inside 4 minutes, but thanks to a goal keeping blunder USA drew level.

Bastian SCHWEINSTEIGER(Germany): Germany were handed a body blow just before the World Cup when Ballack was ruled out, but that has inspired players like Schweinsteiger to raise the bar. He has been wonderful in the midfield setting up goal opportunities for Klose and Podolski.

Defenders
Maicon(Brazil): If Fabiano and Robinho were the stars for Brazil upfront, Maicon was the heart of their defence. And who could forget his goal against North Korea from such an acute angle.

Gary MEDEL(Chile): At 22 years of age, Gary Medel is already one of the most high-profile players in South American football, displaying the maturity of a veteran. Nicknamed ‘El Pitbull’, he has been inspirational and instrumental in getting Chile home for the next round. However he faces a stern test against the inform Brazil next.

Sergio Ramos(Spain):Sergio Ramos's performances exude determination and commitment. Versatile enough to have played as a centre-back as well as a holding midfielder, Ramos appears to have finally settled in the right full-back role with Spain and his performance in the world cup has been truly wonderful.

Goal Keeper
Edurado(Portugal): He was the only Goal Keeper in this world cup to have a clean sheet in all three matches, Protugal will look up to him to do the same against Spain and if that happens it would mean a certain Quarter Final birth for Portugal.

Substitutes:
Robert VITTEK(Slovakia)
Cristian RIVEROS(Paraguay)
Philipp LAHM (Germany)
Eiji KAWASHIMA(Japan)

Friday, June 11, 2010

FIFA WORLD CUP

Its that time again where the whole world, and yes the whole world is gripped by the soccer fever. For the record it is the 19th FIFA World Cup and it has been organised for the first time in Africa. Since its inception in 1930,FIFA World Cup has been a place where promising players achieve greatness and great players achieve immortality. Such is the charm of the FIFA World Cup that 204 countries participated in the qualifying in the end only 32 had the opportunity to showcase their skills in the biggest single sporting spectacle in the world.

Monday, June 7, 2010

General Awareness UNITED INSURANCE AO 2010

1.Acid rain occurs due to ?
2.Islam started in- 7 AD
3.UID new name - Aadhar
4.Jawahar Lal Nehru solar mission by the end of which plan- 13th
5.Who rang the bell at nasdaq, time square-Shahrukh khan and Kajol
6.who invented video tape: may be Charles Ginsburg
7.Largest Highway NH7-varanasi to kanyakumari
8.River city combination
hungari budapest-denube
berlin germany-spree
9.16 yard hit is related to? Hockey
10.lake Superior is in -Canada
11.17th saarc summit to be held in - Maldives
12.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s rank in Time magazine- ?
13.GARC – global automotive research centre
14.Majuli island is in - Assam
15.Author of the book Speaking for Myself - Cherie Blair
16.Arundhati Roy’s book Inheritance of loss is related to- Gorkhaland Movement
17.Which factor of blood helps in clotting - Platelets
18.Which body part gets affected first by radiation- Skin
19.Ultrasonic rays can be heard by which animal- Bat
20. ?

Friday, June 4, 2010

Terms From The ECONOMIST

OECD: It was formed in 1961,the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a Paris-based club for industrialised countries, building on the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), which had been established under the MARSHALL PLAN. By 2003, its membership had risen to 30 countries, from an original 20. Together, OECD countries produce two-thirds of the world’s goods and services.

Okun's law: A description of what happens to unemployment when the rate of growth of GDP changes, based on empirical research by Arthur Okun (1928–80). It predicts that if GDP grows at around 3% a year, the jobless rate will be unchanged.

Oligopoly: When a few firms dominate a market. Often they can together behave as if they were a single monopoly, perhaps by forming a cartel.

OPEC: The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, a cartel set up in 1960 that wrought havoc in industrialised countries during the 1970s and early 1980s by forcing up oil prices.

Open economy: An economy that allows the unrestricted flow of people, capital, goods and services across its borders.

Open-market operations: Central Banks buying and selling securities in the open market, as a way of controlling interest rates or the growth of the money supply. By selling more securities, they can mop up surplus money; buying securities adds to the money supply. The securities traded by central banks are mostly Government Bonds and Treasury Bills, although they sometimes buy or sell commercial securities.

Opportunity cost: The true cost of something is what you give up to get it. This includes not only the money spent in buying the something, but also the economic benefits that you did without because you bought.

Outsourcing: Shifting activities that used to be done inside a firm to an outside company, which can do them more cost-effectively.

Paris club: The name given to the arrangements through which countries reschedule their official debt; that is, money borrowed from other governments rather than banks or private firms.

Perfect competition: The most competitive market imaginable. Perfect COMPETITION is rare and may not even exist. It is so competitive that any individual buyer or seller has a negligible impact on the market price. Products are homogeneous. Information is perfect. Everybody is a price taker. Firms earn only normal profit, the bare minimum profit necessary to keep them in business. If firms earn more than that the absence of barriers to entry means that other firms will enter the market and drive the price level down until there are only normal profits to be made. Output will be maximised and price minimised.

Plaza accord: On September 22nd 1985, finance ministers from the world's five biggest economies - the United States, Japan, West Germany, France and the UK - announced the Plaza Accord at the eponymous New York hotel. Each country made specific promises on economic policy: the United States pledged to cut the federal deficit, Japan promised a looser monetary policy and a range of financial-sector reforms, and Germany proposed tax cuts. All countries agreed to intervene in currency markets as necessary to get the dollar down.

Positive economics: Economics that describes the world as it is, rather than trying to change it. The opposite of Normative Economics, which suggests policies for increasing economic welfare.

Price elasticity: A measure of the responsiveness of demand to a change in price. If demand changes by more than the price has changed, the good is price-elastic. If demand changes by less than the price, it is price-inelastic.

Probability: How likely something is to happen, usually expressed as the ratio of the number of ways the outcome may occur to the number of total possible outcomes for the event.

Profit: In economic theory, profit is the reward for risk taken by enterprise, the fourth of the factors of production – what is left after all other costs, including rent, wages and interest. Put simply, profit is a firm’s total revenue minus total cost.

Protectionism: Opposition to free trade. Although intended to protect a country’s economy from foreign competitors, it usually makes the protected country worse off than if it allowed international trade to proceed without hindrance from trade barriers such as quotas and tariffs.

Purchasing Power Parity: A method for calculating the correct value of a currency, which may differ from its current market value. It is helpful when comparing living standards in different countries, as it indicates the appropriate exchange rate to use when expressing incomes and prices in different countries in a common currency. PPP is the exchange rate that equates the price of a basket of identical traded goods and services in two countries.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Terms From The ECONOMIST

Nafta: Stands for North American Free-Trade Agreement. In 1993, the United States, Mexico and Canada agreed to lower the barriers to trade among the three economies.

Nash Equilibrium: An important concept in GAME THEORY, a Nash equilibrium occurs when each player is pursuing their best possible strategy in the full knowledge of the strategies of all other players. Once a Nash equilibrium is reached, nobody has any incentive to change their strategy. It is named after John Nash, a mathematician and Nobel prize-winning economist.

National Debt: The national debt is a total of all the money ever raised by a government that has yet to be paid off or the total outstanding borrowing of a country’s Government; this is very different from an annual public-sector budget deficit.

National Income: Everything that is produced, earned or spent in a country.

Nationalisation: When a Government takes ownership of a private-sector business. State-owned businesses often enjoy a legally protected monopoly, and the lack of competition means the firms face little pressure to be efficient.

Neo-Classical Economics: The school of economics that developed the free-market ideas of classical economics into a full-scale model of how an economy works. The best-known neo-classical economist was Alfred Marshall, the father of marginal analysis. Neo-classical thinking, which mostly assumes that markets tend towards equilibrium, was attacked by Keynes and became unfashionable during the Keynesian-dominated decades after the second world war.

Net Present Value: A measure used to help decide whether or not to proceed with an investment. Net means that both the costs and benefits of the investment are included.

Network effect: When the value of a good to a consumer changes because the number of people using it changes.

Nominal value: The value of anything expressed simply in the money of the day. Since inflation means that money can lose its value over time, nominal figures can be misleading when used to compare values in different periods. It is better to compare their real value, by adjusting the nominal figures to remove the inflationary distortions.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Terms From The ECONOMIST

Macroeconomics: It is the big picture, i.e. analysing economy-wide phenomena such as growth, inflation and unemployment.

Market Capitalisation: The market value of a company’s shares the quoted share price multiplied by the total number of shares that the company has issued.

Marshall Plan: It was named after General George Marshall, an American secretary of state, who at the end of the second world war proposed giving aid to Western Europe to rebuild its war-torn economies.

Karl Marx: He was a German economist. His two best-known works were the Communist Manifesto, written in 1848 with Friedrich Engels, and Das Kapital, in four volumes published between 1867 and 1910. Most of his economic assumptions were drawn from orthodox classical economics.

Mergers and Acquisitions: When two businesses join together, either by merging or by one company taking over the other.

Microeconomics: The study of the individual pieces that together make an economy. It is the study of the behaviour of individual markets, workers, households and firms.

Misery Index: The sum of a country’s inflation and unemployment rates. The higher the score, the greater is the economic misery.

Mixed Economy:
A market economy in which both private-sector firms and firms owned by Government take part in economic activity.

Monetary policy: What a Central Bank does to control the money supply, and thereby manage demand. Monetary policy involves open market operations, reserve requirements and changing the short-term rate of interest. It is one of the two main tools of Macroeconomic Policy, the side-kick of Fiscal Policy.

Money: Makes the world go round and comes in many forms, from shells and beads to GOLD coins to plastic or paper. It is better than barter in enabling an economy’s scarce resources to be allocated efficiently. Money has three main qualities:
• as a medium of exchange, buyers can give it to sellers to pay for goods and services;
• as a unit of account, it can be used to add up apples and oranges in some common value;
• as a store of value, it can be used to transfer purchasing power into the future.

Money Illusion: When people are misled by inflation into thinking that they are getting richer, when in fact the value of money is declining.

Monopoly: When the production of a good or service with no close substitutes is carried out by a single firm with the market power to decide the price of its output.