Father of Malaysian Hockey Sultan Azlan Shah passes away

1.    Father of Malaysian Hockey Sultan Azlan Shah passes away

i. International hockey suffered a big setback today as the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah passed away in Kuala Lumpur. He was 86.
ii. Sultan Azlan Shah was known as the Father of Malaysian Hockey for his colossal contribution to the sport for over 41 years -- both as a player and an administrator.

iii. His remains will be taken to the palace in Kuala Kangsar tomorrow morning and buried at the royal mausoleum after mid-afternoon prayers.He started Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in 1983.
iv. Under his stewardship, Malaysia hosted two hockey World Cups -- 1975 and 2002 editions. In 1997, Sultan Azlan Shah was elected as the president of the Asian Hockey Federation and he held the post until his demise.

2.    Sachin Tendulkar to be goodwill ambassador for national games

i. The 35 National Games to be held in seven cities in the State early next year will have cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar as its goodwill ambassador.

ii. The idea was mooted by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy during his meeting with Mr. Tendulkar on Tuesday and responding to it, the cricketer was quick to nod his approval.

3.    India among top 10 global markets for Australian biz

i. India has figured among the top 10 markets for the international business community, according to Australia’s International Business Survey.

ii. India has also emerged as the most challenging of the top 10 countries to do business with.

iii. AIBS 2014, a comprehensive study of Australian companies involved in international business, was released recently.

iv. It found that India ranked as the ninth important market currently. The country was also seen as the third important future market, with respondents saying they were planning on doing business in/within the next two years.

v. China and the US continue to be front and centre. More companies (19 per cent) identify China as their top target market than any other country,” the survey said.

4.    India most loved market in Asia: HSBC

i. Foreign institutional investors continued to focus on Indian equities as the markets have seen net inflow of $2.3 billion in May, taking the total to $7.8 billion so far this year, says an HSBC report.

ii. “India still the most loved market in the region; Malaysia the least loved market,” HSBC said in a research note.

iii. According to the global financial services major, FII flows in May were mixed, with investors being more selective.

iv. In the Asia region, investors bought India, preferred Korea over Taiwan and sold Thai equities.

v. Overall, foreign investors have bought $18.8 billion worth of equities till January to May 26 in Asia excluding Japan. Out of this India received $7.8 billion, followed by Taiwan $6.3 billion and Indonesia $3.6 billion respectively.