Today's Hot Stories - March 29, 2013 - PT education

Today's Hot Stories - March 29, 2013

10 Headlines for Today

(1) Tension grips Bhiwandi over ‘provocative’ post
(2) PM seeks joint mechanism to monitor dam work in Tibet
(3) U.S. forms commission to recommend on electoral reforms
(4) Nokia India's Shivakumar disconnects
(5) Debashis Mitra quits Mercedes Benz India
(6) Cyprus banks reopen with limits on transactions
(7) At 101, marathon runner Fauja Singh calls it a day
(8) AFI shifts Indian GP, Federation Cup
(9) Punjab posts crucial win against Bengal
(10) Over 8,000 captive baby tortoises die

5 Stories for Today

(1) No need for panic over Saudi law: Ravi
(2) Iran, N Korea block UN weapons treaty
(3) Sebi slaps Rs.36 lakh fine on 4 entities for insider trading
(4) Pfizer gets new rebuff from UK cost body for cancer drug
(5) Cabinet Committee on Investment pushes projects worth Rs.74,000 crore hit by delays

(1) No need for panic over Saudi law: Ravi


Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi on Thursday said there was no reason to panic over the “Nitaqat law” being implemented by the Saudi Arabian government. The deadline for implementing the new labour law — which seeks to reserve 10 per cent jobs for locals -- ended on Wednesday.

The law is to be implemented mostly in small and medium industrial establishments.

Mr. Ravi said he had asked the Ambassador to Saudi Arabia to take up the issue with Riyadh and its Labour Ministry and ensure that there would be no job loss for Indians on a mass scale.

He pointed out that some companies in Saudi Arabia had informed the non-local employees about the plans to implement Nitaqat as early as three months back.

“Our aim is to protect the employment of the Indian expatriates there and we will do everything possible in this regard,” Mr. Ravi said, adding that so far no one had approached the Indian embassy in that country about losing their job.

Among the Indians working in the Kingdom, most of whom are low- and semi-skilled labourers, at least 5.7 lakh are believed to be from Kerala.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy too has requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to urge Saudi Arabia to take a liberal approach in its implementation of the law.

In his letter to Dr. Singh, Mr. Chandy said that if the Saudi authorities could be persuaded to postpone the enforcement of Nitaqat, it would give expatriates some breathing space and avoid immediate repercussions.

Keywords: Indian jobs, Saudi law, Labour Ministry’s Nitaqat system, Arab Spring, Indian expatriates, job loss, overseas employment, Vayalar Ravi

Source: The Hindu

(2) Iran, N Korea block UN weapons treaty


Iran and North Korea blocked agreement on Thursday on the first treaty over the $80 billion a year conventional arms trade, forcing last-ditch talks to save the UN-brokered accord.

Diplomats from the two isolated states raised flags of objection on the last day of the final session of the seven-year-old negotiating process, just as the conference chairman was about to declare the treaty sealed.

Syria also protested over the final treaty text but said it would not block the accord, which has been at the center of intense diplomatic efforts to get the United States, Russia, China and other major arms producers to agree.

The draft treaty would cover tanks, armored combat vehicles, large-caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles and missile launchers, as well as small arms and light arms.

The UN estimates that 500,000 people are killed in armed violence each year and rights groups blame the uncontrolled flow of weapons for many of the deaths.

Iran and North Korea said there were too many restrictions, however.

"The inherent right of states to self-defense, to defend against aggression and preserve its territorial integrity is not addressed," Iran's UN Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee told the conference.

A North Korean diplomat said the proposed treaty was a "risky draft which can be politically manipulated by major arms exporters." He also complained that it undermined the rights of arms importers.

Conference chairman Peter Woolcott of Australia had been just about to bring the gavel down to announce the accord when the two states acted. Woolcott suspended the meeting for behind-the-scenes talks.

If there is no accord by 0400 GMT on Friday, the whole negotiations will collapse. A previous attempt to agree on an accord in July also ended in failure and the UN general assembly ruled that this would be the last attempt.

But supporters of the treaty could seek a vote next week in the full General Assembly. A two-thirds majority of the 193 members would be required for adoption.

The treaty, if passed, would be the most important weapons accord since the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

The UN general assembly passed a vote in 2006 calling for a treaty on the unregulated trade in conventional weapons.

The draft negotiated since would aim to force countries to assess whether the sale of a weapon could be used for genocide, war crimes or by terrorists or organized crime gangs.

Woolcott handed out what he called a "take it or leave it" text to UN states on Wednesday and gave them 24 hours to consider their response.

Diplomats said they did not expect the major arms producers to block the treaty.

The United States opposes ammunition coming under the full controls imposed by the treaty. Ammunition has, however, been left in an annex that does not impose compulsory monitoring of trade in bullets, for which the United States is the biggest producer.

Some diplomats said Russia could still refuse to sign the accord, which could weaken its application.

"Moscow believes the text is not strong enough on arms trafficking and that it should explicitly mention 'non-state actors,'" such as the Syrian and Chechen rebels, said one European negotiator.

China and Russia also had concerns about the reporting of arms sales.

The latest text says that "reports may exclude commercially sensitive or national security information."

Source: The Times of India

(3) Sebi slaps Rs. 36 lakh fine on 4 entities for insider trading


Market regulator Sebi on Thursday slapped a total fine of Rs. 36 lakh on three individuals and Radhe Developers (India) Ltd for violating insider trading norms.

The case relates to a sharp rally in the scrip of Radhe Developers (India) Ltd during March-May, 2008. It was

observed that the price of the scrip opened at Rs. 47.25 on March 27, 2008 and touched a high of Rs. 165.35 on May 7 before closing at Rs. 157.70.

Sebi, through two separate orders, has imposed a penalty of Rs. 21 lakh on Ashish Patel, Managing Director and promoter of Radhe Developers for trading in the company's scrip, while possessing un-published price sensitive information related to its quarterly earnings as well as not complying with model code of conduct.

Besides, Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has slapped a fine of Rs. 5 lakh each on the company and its two directors -- Praful Patel and Milan Patel for failing to adopt the model code of conduct as required under prohibition of Insider Trading Regulations.

According to Sebi, Ashish purchased shares from April 3, 2008 onwards and bought shares even on the day of the Board meeting (April 30, 2008) and immediately sold the scrips after the company's quarterly financial results was announced on May, 2008.

He purchased 25,885 shares of the company after April 23, 2008 and sold 6,300 shares after the announcement making a gain of Rs. 4.66 lakh through these trades.

Sebi said: " Patels were present in the meeting in the year 2003 when the model code of conduct was adopted by the company...the company and its BoDs (Milan, Ashish and Praful) responsible for setting forth the model code of conduct in absolute incongruity with the one prescribed under the PIT Regulations, which are not in terms of the spirit of the Regulation."

Noting about Ashish Patel, Sebi said he was "an insider of the Company had the access to unpublished price-sensitive information and traded in the scrip of Radhe".

Source: Hindustan Times

(4) Pfizer gets new rebuff from UK cost body for cancer drug


Pfizer suffered a second rejection in two days from Britain's health cost watchdog NICE as its new kidney cancer drug Inlyta was turned down for use on the state health service.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said on Thursday the new treatment was not a cost-effective use of National Health Service resources.

The decision follows a similar rebuff for Pfizer's lung cancer drug Xalkori on Wednesday.

In both cases, the NICE recommendations are preliminary and subject to further consultation.

Source: The Indian Express

(5) Cabinet Committee on Investment pushes projects worth Rs 74,000 crore hit by delays


Giving a major push to infrastructure and energy sector, the government in the past two months has given nod to projects worth Rs 74,000 crore which were stuck for years due to lack of various clearances.

The impetus came soon after the formation of the Cabinet Committee on Investment in January amid concerns in the government over the prolonged delays in projects ranging from oil exploration to building roads.

A key beneficiary of the CCI impetus has been the petroleum sector, where investments worth USD 13.42 billion for exploration and production activities in 40 oil blocks were held up because of objections raised by the Defence Ministry on account of security concerns.

The CCI, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on March 20, approved the conditional clearance given to five blocks, where investments to the tune of Rs 52,921 crore have already been made.

The CCI decision has paved the way for investments worth Rs 1,566 crore, an official statement said.

The processes of granting environment and forest clearances for mega projects have also been streamlined and made easier in cases such as renewal of mining leases.

"It has also been decided that no fresh Environment Clearance (EC) shall be required for a mining project at the time of renewal of mining lease, if EC was obtained under the EIA Notification of 2006," it said.

For one time capacity expansion of 25 per cent or less, coal mining projects have now been exempted from public hearing provided that it had taken place at the time of obtaining the existing EC and the mining is confined to the existing lease area, the statement said.

Source: The Economic Times

Disclaimer: All news stories and content sourced from freely available material on the internet. All sources are acknowledged.

Today's Hot Stories - March 22, 2013 - PT education

Today's Hot Stories - March 22, 2013

10 Headlines for Today

(1) Marines issue: Diplomacy is at work, says Khurshid
(2) Kerala seeks Rs.7, 888-crore drought relief
(3) U.S welcomes passage of UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka
(4) Chakrabarty pooh-poohs money laundering charge
(5) ONGC to revamp 48 aging platforms
(6) Google chairman hints at new revenue models for news organisations
(7) Serena Williams advances at Key Biscayne
(8) Australia reaches 94 for 2 at lunch
(9) Webber fastest in first Malaysian Grand Prix practice
(10) Abel Prize for Belgian Pierre Deligne

5 Stories for Today

(1) Apex court confirms death sentence for Yakub Memon
(2) Barack Obama tries schmoozing in Holy Land
(3) Penal action against 578 companies in 3 yrs for accounting errors
(4) Let 10,000 start-ups boom: Nasscom, Google, MS team up
(5) ICICI, HDFC Banks get strict on money laundering; offer immunity to staff who exposes wrongdoings

(1) Apex court confirms death sentence for Yakub Memon


The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed the death sentence awarded to Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, the main accused (A-1), and brother of Tiger Memon (the mastermind and absconding key conspirator), holding him guilty of being the “driving spirit” in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts that killed 257 people.

The court also upheld the conviction of actor Sanjay Dutt in the case, but reduced to five years the six-year jail term awarded to him by a designated TADA court in 2006 for illegal possession a 9 mm pistol and an AK-56 rifle, which was part of the consignment of weapons and explosives brought for the serial blasts. The apex court ruled out his release on probation because the “nature” of his offence was “serious.” Mr. Dutt (53), son of Bollywood couple late Sunil Dutt and Nargis, had spent one-and-half years in jail and was out on bail.

A Bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and B.S. Chauhan, however, commuted the death sentence awarded to 10 persons by the TADA court, into life imprisonment till their death. These appellants parked explosive-filled vehicles in the respective destinations.

Making it clear that the sentence would be subject to the power of remission, the Bench said the executive should give due consideration to judicial reasoning before it exercised the remission power.

The Bench maintained that Pakistan had a major part in the blasts. “A careful reading of the confessional statements of the convicted accused exposes that a large number of the accused, including the absconders, received training in [the] making of bombs by using RDX and other explosives” in Pakistan, it said.

Writing the judgment, Justice Sathasivam said: “The confessional statements of various co-accused make a mention that Tiger Memon, the mastermind of the whole conspiracy, instructed the other appellants to stay in touch with A-1 for further instruction. … A-1 assumed the role of Tiger Memon in India during his absence. As an outcome, Tiger Memon gave the commands to A-1, who in turn passed them on to the other accused… Essentially, A-1’s deeds can’t be viewed distinct from the act of Tiger Memon, hence both owe an equivalent responsibility for the blasts. They were the architects of the blasts, without whom the plan would have never seen the daylight.”

The Bench said:

“From this conduct, it is not a hyperbole to state that he was one of the ‘driving spirit’ behind the plan…, whereas the other appellants played a far lesser role and thus [made] a lesser contribution to the crimes resulting from this plan. To be clearer on the dominant position, the blasts on March 12, 1993, was at the discretion of the masterminds, meaning… they had the effective control over the incident.

“It is this effective control… which is absent in the role played by the rest of the appellants. It is difficult to rule out with certainty that if the absconding accused were to be brought to trial, they might have thrown further light on the role played by A-1. If we say it in a metaphoric style, A-1 and all the absconding accused were the archers, whereas the rest of the appellants were the arrows in their hands.

“Taking into account… the totality of A-1’s culpability and all the particular circumstances of the case, we concur with the decision of the designated court and confirm the sentence of capital punishment [awarded] to A-1.”

The Bench upheld the life sentence awarded to 23 others, including police and Customs officers; Yakub Memon’s brother Essa Memon who was found guilty of conspiracy and allowing the use of his flat at Al-Hussaini building at Mahim for meetings to plan the blasts and storing arms and ammunition; and Yakub’s sister-in-law Rubina Memon, who arranged finances through her bank account and allowed her car to be used by terrorists for carrying co-conspirators, arms, ammunition and explosives.

Source: The Hindu

(2) Barack Obama tries schmoozing in Holy Land


From old-fashioned schmoozing to "I feel your pain" appeals, President Barack Obama is wading into Middle East diplomacy with a personal touch he has rarely displayed on the world stage.

It is the kind of charm offensive he has been trying to pull off - with decidedly mixed results - with political opponents back home and which he now hopes will help advance peace prospects in a region mostly devoid of them.

Even though scepticism runs as deep as the distrust between Israelis and Palestinians over Obama's latest effort, he was intent on testing the waters anyway in his first official trip this week to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

After all, his biggest risk is nothing more than failure - but that's something almost every recent U.S. president has experienced in Middle East peacemaking.

The upside is clear for a second-term president who will never again have to face an election: a potential boon to his presidential legacy.

For now, though, Obama is moving cautiously, with soothing rhetoric, friendly pressure and popular outreach marking his visits to Jerusalem and Ramallah this week.

American journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, an authority on the Middle East, described it as "Operation Desert Schmooze."

CHUMMY WITH NETANYAHU

Obama started out cozying up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - politically weakened by January's election and looking for a boost from Israel's superpower ally - as soon as he hit the tarmac at Ben-Gurion Airport on Wednesday.

The cool, detached president, not known to enjoy glad-handing, was suddenly on a first-name basis with "Bibi," the prime minister's childhood nickname. Seemingly forgiven, Netanyahu's support for Obama's Republican rival, Mitt Romney, in the November election, was evident. But the visit hit its peak with Obama's keynote speech on Thursday at Jerusalem's convention center. There he was given a rousing reception by university students - though his call for a more conciliatory approach to the Palestinians drew a much more divided response outside the conference hall.

Obama, known for his following among America's youth, is using a U.S.-tested strategy in the long-running Middle East conflict.

Trying a new tack after his first-term peace overtures flopped, Obama met leaders on both sides and also went over their heads. He appealed to young Israelis in particular to press their government to drop hidebound positions and embrace compromise.

"Speaking as a politician, I can promise you this: political leaders will not take risks if the people do not demand that they do," he exhorted young Israelis. He asked them to "put yourself in their (the Palestinians') shoes" and imagine what life is like living under the occupation of a foreign army.

"He is a rock star," gushed Gur Wallner, a 25-year-old media student, showing that Obama may have broken down some of the suspicions ordinary Israelis harbored toward him.

Tal Ginzberg, 25, said Obama had expressed "a lot of unrealistic optimism."

"The Palestinians deserve their own state but he ignores the fact that they are led by terrorist groups," she said.

On the Palestinian side, where disillusionment over Obama's failure to make progress on statehood is almost palpable, Obama faced deeper pessimism - especially after he told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to drop his demand for a freeze on Israeli settlement activity before peace talks can resume. "U.S. policy is biased toward the Israeli position," Tayseer Khaled of the PLO's executive committee said.

BACKSLAPPING WITH "BIBI"

With Netanyahu, Obama used old-fashioned backslapping to try to move past their confrontational past.

On Thursday night, the president sat side-by-side with Netanyahu at dinner at the residence of Israeli President Shimon Peres, and the two of them could be seen whispering to each other like old school chums.

On his visit, Obama may not have won the hearts of Israelis like former President Bill Clinton did in the 1990s, but he appeared to make a big dent in their suspicions about him ever since his 2009 speech to Muslim world in Cairo. On top of that, it was a chance to counter U.S. opposition Republican critics who have accused him of "throwing Israel under the bus" by being too soft on Iran and not supportive enough of the Jewish state.

Obama spent part of last year campaigning for re-election by engaging in "retail politics," spending face-time with voters - which was never his strong suit but ultimately helped him win.

This was part of what he practiced in Israel and the West Bank this week, appealing directly to the leaders and public alike to at least try to talk out their decades-old differences.

With the Israelis, he seemed to take advantage of the desire of many for outside acceptance at a time when the Jewish state faces growing international isolation.

"A bit of informality, a joke or a gentle tease, a few words in Hebrew, and we are immediately filled with great love for the man," Sima Kadmon, a political commentator for Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, wrote with more than a hint of sarcasm. But the Palestinians may be a harder sell.

At a Ramallah youth center, Obama nodded his head and clapped to the beat as young girls in traditional costumes danced before him. He even tried out a little Arabic on them.

But that was in stark contrast to a joint news conference earlier with Abbas at Palestinian Authority headquarters, where ministers said mostly stone-faced as Obama spoke at the podium beneath an image of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Source: The Indian Express

(3) Penal action against 578 companies in 3 yrs for accounting errors


Penal action has been taken against 578 companies in the last three years for irregularities in their balance sheets, government said today.

Prosecutions were filed against 54 companies and their officers in the year 2011-12, Minister of Corporate Affairs Sachin Pilot informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

Besides, penal action was taken against 278 and 246 firms in 2010-11 and 2009-10 respectively, he said.

"This ministry has inspected/examined the books of accounts of various companies where violations...of the Companies Act, 1956 were noticed in the balance sheets," Pilot said.

"Based on the findings, penal action has been taken against the erring companies and their officers in default," he added.

Last week, the minister informed the lower house that a total of 7,167 cases have been filed for failure by companies to submit balance sheets and profit and loss account statements, in the last three years.

Source: The Economic Times

(4) Let 10,000 start-ups boom: Nasscom, Google, MS team up


The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) on Wednesday announced a programme to incubate, fund and support 10,000 technology start-ups in India over the next ten years partnered by Indian Angel Network and supported by Google, Microsoft and Verisign. Experts see

the move as a clear sign of India’s emergence as a major destination for software development as cloud and mobile computing become more mainstream platforms in mass computing technology usage.

“The programme (10,000 start-ups) aims to catalyse the technology start-up ecosystem by 5X and create a significant national impact on employment, GDP, innovation and entrepreneurship indices. This is one of the largest initiatives that NASSCOM is undertaking and will be vital to realise the industry vision of $300 billion by 2020,” said Som Mittal, president NASSCOM.

The current size of India’s software industry, which fuels aspirations among millions of middle-class Indians, is at an estimated $100 billion (R5.5 lakh crore).

Source: Hindustan Times

(5) ICICI, HDFC Banks get strict on money laundering; offer immunity to staff who exposes wrongdoings


Chief executives at ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have offered immunity to staff who exposes unfair practices and violation of guidelines by colleagues, even as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has dismissed money-laundering allegations made about these banks by a sting operation.

Chanda Kochhar of ICICI Bank, Aditya Puri of HDFC Bank, and Shikha Sharma of Axis Bank have conveyed their displeasure at some of their employees being caught on camera advising clients on avoiding taxes. They have uniformly said there is zero tolerance for such acts.

"The bank lays very strong emphasis on ethical behaviour and has zero-tolerance policy with violation in this regard," Kochhar wrote in an email to ICICI Bank staff. "Any breach in this regard will not be tolerated," she wrote.

The message from her competitors Puri and Sharma were similar.

An Axis Bank spokesperson said, "The bank maintains highest standards of corporate governance, transparency and ethics in the conduct of its business. It has put in place robust systems and procedures that are fully compliant with extant regulations. The bank has always followed a zero-tolerance policy in regard to the adherence of prescribed rules and regulations in the conduct of its business."

Reviews, audits on at banks

The operating staff is fully conversant with the value system adopted and the high standards set by the bank and these standards are reiterated at regular intervals to the staff at all levels," Axis Bank added.

The top three private sector lenders are dousing the fire lit by a sting operation by Cobrapost.com, an online news provider, that showed staff at these banks offering potential customers advice on tax evasion, money laundering and conversion of black money into well-accounted wealth. The Cobrapost.com website has scores of clips showing bank executives eagerly compromising on established practices, though no transaction took place.

"There is no scam (that) has happened... as no transaction has taken place," said KC Chakrabarty, deputy governor at the Reserve Bank.

Government agencies and RBI have begun investigating these banks for allegedly promoting money laundering.

Based on the preliminary enquiry, ICICI Bank informed its employees that no actual transactions were found to have taken place in respect of the specific instances reported in the sting operation by Cobrapost.com.

A review of the relevant systems and processes is being undertaken. An audit of some of the branches and the corresponding back-end processes is also being undertaken.

HDFC Bank's Puri, who appointed consultant Deloitte and law firm Amarchand Mangaldas to plug the gaps, if any, encouraged staff to focus on business and not let the event consume their energy.

Source: The Times of India

Disclaimer: All news stories and content sourced from freely available material on the internet. All sources are acknowledged.

Today's Hot Stories - March 12, 2013 - PT education

Today's Hot Stories - March 12, 2013

10 Headlines for Today

(1) May back UPA, won’t support 'communal' NDA: Jagan's mom
(2) Raghav is Biti, confirm Rajasthan police
(3) Iran, Pakistan ignore U.S., launch gas pipeline project
(4) Govt gets just Rs 3,639cr from CDMA auction
(5) Telcos fined Rs 2,800cr for issuing 'fake' SIMs
(6) TV content fast getting globalised, Viacom CEO Robert Bakish says
(7) Federer in fourth round at Indian Wells
(8) NBA: Spurs rebound from loss to top Thunder
(9) Deborah bags silver in Asian Cycling Championship
(10) Steven Spielberg plans film based on India-Pakistan border

5 Stories for Today

(1) Anti-rape bill deferred over differences within cabinet
(2) Papal Conclave to begin on Tuesday
(3) Microfinance pays penalty to insurance regulator IRDA
(4) Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's hiring practices questioned by staff
(5) SEZs back on govt radar after exports’ uptick

(1) Anti-rape bill deferred over differences within cabinet


The anti-rape bill was today deferred after difference of opinions over it within the cabinet. The criminal amendement bill has been referred to Group of Ministers. According to the reports, there was no consensus on voyeurism, stalking, age of consent and the definition of term rape

within the cabinet.

Punishment for false complaints and evidences reportedly, emerged as sticking points in the cabinet meeting that met on Tuedsay to deliberate over the bill.

This bill will replace the ordinance on crimes against women promulgated last month which had prescribed life imprisonment as the maximum punishment for those committing rape.

It will also replace the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012 introduced in the Lok Sabha in December last. Earlier finance minister P Chidambaram, who heads the Group of Ministers on media, had also dismissed reports about differences in the government over the bill and said there are different points expressed by different people with some suggesting that the word sexual assault must be retained while others favour the term rape.

Source: The Hindustan Times

(2) Papal Conclave to begin on Tuesday


Cardinals, after a week-long meeting, set Tuesday as the start date for the conclave to elect the next Pope. Tuesday will begin with a morning Mass and the first and only round of secret balloting in the afternoon.

If there is no immediate victor, the cardinals will retire for the day to return on Wednesday for two rounds of balloting in the morning, two rounds in the afternoon until a Pope has been chosen. In the past 100 years, no conclave has lasted longer than five days. A Tuesday start date could be read as something of a compromise.

Monday had been seen as an obvious choice to start the conclave to ensure a Pope would be elected and installed by Sunday, March 17 — the last Sunday before Holy Week begins.

American and some German cardinals had argued that the time for discernment should come during the pre-conclave meetings, when there is more time for discussion and information-gathering.

Some Italian media have speculated that with governance such a key issue in this conclave, the cardinals might also be considering an informal Pope-secretary of state “ticket”,a papal appointment responsible for running the Holy See.

That formality brings the number of cardinal electors to 115; two thirds of which or 77 votes is required for victory.

Source: The Hindu

(3) Microfinance pays penalty to insurance regulator IRDA


SKS Microfinance said it has paid Rs 50 lakh as penalty imposed by insurance regulator IRDA along with a request to file a review petition to drop the charge made against the company.

"The company has paid Rs 50 lakh to IRDA with a request to permit it to file a review petition to drop the said charge," SKS said in a filing to bourses.

The insurance watchdog last month imposed Rs 50 lakh penalty on the SKS Microfinance which had collected extra funds, apart from the premium, as a corporate insurance agent without proper disclosure to policy-holders.

As per the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) order, a microfinance institution (MFI), which also operates as a corporate insurance agent, cannot collect more than the premium amount charged for the policy on behalf of an insurance company.

It held the company which acted as a corporate agent of Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company, guilty on that score and charged a penalty.

Meanwhile, the company in a separate statement said that it has appointed Ranjana Kumar, former vigilance commissioner with Central Vigilance Commission, as an Independent Director on its Board.

The company's shares closed today at Rs 140, down 2.32 per cent on the BSE.

Source: The Indian Express

(4) Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's hiring practices questioned by staff


Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer was asked at an all-staff meeting several weeks ago whether her rigorous hiring practices had caused the company to miss out on top engineering talent in Silicon Valley's hyper-competitive job market.

Mayer dismissed the complaint that she had refused good candidates because they did not have degrees from prestigious universities, and instead she challenged her staff to get better at recruiting, according to an employee who was at the meeting.

"Why can't we just be good at hiring?" Mayer said, playing off a line from what she called one of her favourite movies, 1989's "Say Anything", according to the employee. He did not want to be identified because he was not authorised to discuss Yahoo's internal matters.

The question, according to Yahoo insiders, reflects wider concerns among hiring managers and rank-and-file employees over the way Mayer has tightened hiring practices since becoming CEO last July, as part of an effort to transform Yahoo's workforce and culture.

Mayer insists on personally reviewing every new recruit, a practice that supporters say brings needed discipline to the company. Critics, however, say her high standards are hampering Yahoo's already challenged ability to fill vacancies.

Even before Mayer's now-famous ban on working from home drew controversy last month, Yahoo was struggling with the perception that its best days are behind it, according to recruiting consultants. The company also faces fierce competition for talent in Silicon Valley, where Google and Facebook hold more prestige, while start-ups offer the lure of shares in an eventual IPO.

Rick Girard at Stride Professional Search, who specializes in placing engineers with start-ups, said a Yahoo job offer was still viewed as a "back-up" option by many of his clients.

"We only had one person who ended up taking the job at Yahoo. I think it was because she wanted to be at a larger company," he said.

Yahoo declined to comment for this story or to make Mayer available for an interview. The CEO told investors in January that Yahoo was seeing a marked increased in the volume and quality of job applicants, and that attrition among "highest-performing talent" was significantly lower than in the past.

Still, Yahoo has almost 900 jobs open, representing nearly 8 percent of its workforce of 11,500, according to its website. Some of the openings are months-old. In comparison, Google has almost 1,000 open jobs, but that is just 2 percent of a workforce that is more than four times the size of Yahoo's.

Google's playbook

Mayer joined Yahoo after a 13-year stint at Google, during which she helped develop its flagship search product. She is the third CEO in about a year to lead Yahoo, whose revenue had stagnated amid competition from Google, Facebook and other web companies, an exodus of senior executives, and an internal reorganisation that eliminated thousands of jobs.

Mayer quickly nabbed two high-profile executives to join her team: chief financial officer Ken Goldman, who has three decades of experience at leading software and Internet companies, and chief operating oOfficer Henrique De Castro, a former Google colleague. She also quickly won favour with Wall Street - Yahoo's shares have risen about 47 percent since she joined.

"Stopping the hemorrhaging is job one and I think she's accomplished that almost by virtue of her presence," said Neil Sims, a managing director with executive recruiting firm Boyden.

Job two is to modernise Yahoo's dated consumer web products and services, which have an impressive audience of roughly 700 million people, but have not kept up with trends in mobile computing and social networking. Hiring new talent is critical to that success, analysts said.

"They have a lot of people who create the products that Yahoo is known for, but it's not the same products that Yahoo needs to offer if it's to have the same scale in five years that it has today," said Ken Sena, an analyst with Evercore Partners.

To make Yahoo a more attractive place to work, Mayer has borrowed from the Google playbook and provides employees with free food and the latest smartphones.

But she has also firmly stated at a staff meeting that one Google policy she will not be importing is its famous decree that employees get to spend a fifth of their time on personal projects, according to people who were at the meeting.

It's clear that Mayer wants to impose more discipline on Yahoo's workforce after years of management turmoil.

"From the time she got there, she was kind of shocked by the culture, by the fact that so many people were working from home that you couldn't even have a Friday staff meeting," said another person familiar with Mayer's thinking.

Mayer has more than a dozen ideas to make the organisation more efficient and orderly, the person said, adding, "You're going to continue to see important and sometimes controversial and tough moves made."

Discipline needed

The controversy has caused consternation in the administrative assistant ranks as well as the professionals.

Mayer has brought Google's high recruiting standards to Yahoo, in particular its focus on academic credentials, according to current and former Yahoo employees. High grades from top-rated schools such as Stanford University, where Mayer earned her masters in computer science, are important. A computer science degree is much more valued than others, even the electrical engineering degree that Yahoo co-founder David Filo earned, these people said.

Yahoo said in January that it added 120 employees with computer science degrees in the fourth quarter. It is not known how many employees quit that quarter, but two former executives said Yahoo's attrition rate averaged at 20 percent historically.

Mayer's focus on academics extends to existing staff as well. For instance, some administrative assistants were recently informed that they had to take a modified version of the law school admissions test, for reasons not fully explained. The demand sparked consternation and Yahoo later backed off, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who said it was unclear how widespread the requirement was intended to be.

Another Google practice that Mayer has adopted at Yahoo is to personally review and sign off on every hire, which inevitably slows down recruiting.

Job applicants often go through the interview process, then "wait and wait," said one executive who recently left Yahoo. "One person we wanted waited eight weeks, then they inevitably got another offer."

While some may think Mayer's recruiting practices overly rigid, others say they are necessary.

"Adding a little more friction in a process that needs improvement can help you identify how the system is working in order to improve it," said Brad Garlinghouse, a former Yahoo executive whose famous 2006 "Peanut Butter" memo warned that the company was losing its focus and spreading itself too thin.

Hiring the right people is the foundation on which great products are built, said Garlinghouse who is now the chief executive of online file-sharing service YouSendIt. But he noted that focusing too much on academics was not the most effective way to find the right employees.

"Some of the best people I've ever worked with didn't necessarily get the best GPA or go to Stanford," he said.

Headcount constraints

Yahoo ended 2012 with 11,500 full-time employees. Facebook, whose $5 billion revenue in 2012 is level with Yahoo's, employed just 4,619 at year's end.

"Hiring is only being done to replace some of the attrition, but no hiring that would grow the headcount," said the former executive, who added that top managers were given 2013 budgets that called for headcount to remain flat versus 2012.

Mayer is taking a hard look at staffing levels in some of Yahoo's outposts, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter, particularly its more than 2,000-person operation in Bangalore, India. It is Yahoo's largest engineering center outside its Sunnyvale, California headquarters.

Mayer is weighing bringing certain jobs in India back to Sunnyvale to unite more of Yahoo's product development at the home base, said one of the sources.

Several recruiters said Yahoo's vast audience of 700 million unique visitors is appealing to engineers. But with so many attractive opportunities at startups and successful internet companies, the lure of Yahoo is not as strong as it could be.

Mayer has brought some buzz back to the company, said one former Yahoo engineer. But working at a "hot" start-up such as Dropbox or AirBnB "looks much stronger on your resume than being an employee at Yahoo," said the engineer, who turned down an offer to return to Yahoo.

"We don't typically run into Yahoo," said Alan Shapiro, the owner of San Jose-based Technology Search International which specialises in finding jobs for software engineers. "When we represent a candidate, we'll ask who else they're talking to. Yahoo is not a name that's frequently mentioned."

Source: The Times of India

(5) SEZs back on govt radar after exports’ uptick


Special economic zones that had slipped down the government's priority list are back in favour as desperate government looks for ways to revive exports. The upcoming foreign trade policy is likely to extend sops such as focus market scheme and focus product scheme to make SEZs attractive.

So far, these incentives were available only to domestic tariff areas or DTA, an area outside the SEZs.

SEZs back on govt radar after exports’ uptick

"SEZs are generally not a part of the foreign trade policy. However, in these times of sagging exports we are planning to announce a set of incentives like extending focus market scheme and focus product scheme to boost exports and make SEZs attractive," said a commerce ministry official.

Focus market scheme helps offset high freight cost and other externalities to select international markets to enhance India's export competitiveness in these markets.

The objective of the focus product scheme is to promote products that have high export intensity / employment potential, to offset infrastructural inefficiencies and other associated costs involved in marketing these products. Focus markets scheme covers Africa, Latin America and large parts of Oceania and there are over 1,000 focus products.

Industry has also been demanding abolition of Minimum Alternate Tax levied on SEZs. "SEZs have become unviable due to minimum alternate tax and dividend distribution tax, so we have requested the government to incentivize these by extending the FMS and FPS to them and also cut Minimum Alternate Tax /Dividend Distribution Tax," said Sanjay Budhia, chairman, CII export chairman, CII National Committee on Exports.

The government was of the view that SEZs already get tax benefits, unlike the domestic tariff areas, said Ajay Sahai, director general and CEO of Federation of Indian Exports Organization. "Also there were budget constraints. However this time, the finance minister has indicated full support to the commerce ministry," he added.

Sahai also said there may be investment-linked I-T deduction for SEZs. "It may also form a part of the FTP announcement for 2013-14", he said. In his budget speech, finance minister P Chidambaram had said, "I look forward to the changes that will be made to the Foreign Trade Policy next month and I assure my support to measures that will be taken to boost exports of goods and services."

Interest subsidies allotted for export promotion is 1,200 crore for 2013-14, against 1,000 crore last fiscal, a 20% increase. According to a study by Federation of Indian Exports Organization in 2009, overall export compound annual growth rate or CAGR was at 20% whereas for the focused markets it stood at 36%. Similarly, the CAGR for exports before the announcement of the scheme stood at 16%, which increased to 36% post scheme.

Last year, the commerce ministry had discussion paper on SEZ reforms had noted that SEZs are less viable compared with DTAs, as benefits such as Focus Product Scheme, Focus Market Scheme, Duty Drawback, etc. were unavailable to SEZ units.

Source: The Economic Times

Disclaimer: All news stories and content sourced from freely available material on the internet. All sources are acknowledged.

Today's Hot Stories - March 05, 2013 - PT education

Today's Hot Stories - March 05, 2013

10 Headlines for Today

(1) Wharton backs Modi invite cancellation
(2) Manik Sarkar invited to form government
(3) China’s new leadership hikes defence budget by 10.7%
(4) Bharti to raise $500mn through overseas bond market
(5) Banks in race to woo depositors
(6) Nasscom sets $300 billion target by 2020
(7) India beat Australia by an innings and 135 runs
(8) Nadal blasts past Ferrer to win Mexican Open
(9) Saina to lead Indian challenge at All England Open
(10) Megalithic stone circles found on Male Mahadeshwara Hills

5 Stories for Today

(1) Rahul Gandhi likely to visit Uttarakhand
(2) Polls open in Kenya elections after gun attacks
(3) Unclaimed, Rs 22,636 crore in dormant provident fund accounts
(4) Microsoft launches latest version of Office 365
(5) Service sector growth falls sharply in February: Poll

(1) Rahul Gandhi likely to visit Uttarakhand


Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit the city on March 8 to take stock of party affairs in the state.

It will be Rahul's first visit to Uttarakhand after he assumed a larger role in the party earlier this year.

He is likely to come here on March 8 and return to New Delhi the same day, Uttarakhand PCC president Yashpal Arya said.

The young leader's visit is being seen as an exercise aimed at preparing the party in view of the forthcoming civic body polls in the state and 2014 general elections.

He is likely to interact with party workers here and issue necessary guidelines to them in view of the coming elections.

Source: The Indian Express

(2) Polls open in Kenya elections after gun attacks


Long lines of Kenyans queued from far before dawn as polls opened on Monday for hard-fought elections, hours after several policemen were killed in an ambush in the port city of Mombasa.

The elections are the first since bloody post-poll violence five years ago in which over 1,100 people were killed, and observers have repeatedly warned of the risk of renewed conflict.

However, voters stood in line several hundreds of metres long – and several people thick – crowded peacefully outside polling stations including in the capital Nairobi, the port city of Mombasa and the western town of Kisumu.

People started lining up outside polling stations from as early as 4.00am to cast their vote in the historic election, with polls officially opening at 6.00am (0300GMT), although there were short delays reported in some areas.

Voters packed side streets as they queued in long lines in Mombasa, despite the gun attacks hours earlier blamed on a coastal separatist movement in which several police officers had been killed.

Kenyan police chief David Kimaiyo said there had been "casualties from both sides" when an armed gang ambushed police officers in Kenya's second city.

"There was a clash between people we suspect are MRC attackers," Kimaiyo said, referring to the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), a group seeking the secession of the popular tourist coastal region.

Police sources said at least five officers had been killed, but officials could not immediately confirm the toll.

In Nairobi's shanty town Kibera, scene of some of the worst ethnic clashes during the heavily contested 2007 elections, thousands waited to vote.

"I got here at 3.45am, I came so early as I wanted to avoid the long queues," said Denis Kaene, 34 years, an unemployed resident of Kibera.

"It's a very good day, because we are looking for a change. It will be a very calm day, I want peaceful elections."

"We have been waiting for this moment for five years. It is time for new leaders," said 38-year old high school teacher Timothy Njogu outside the Ngara polling station in Nairobi's Starehe constituency.

Source: The Hindustan Times

(3) Unclaimed, Rs 22,636 crore in dormant provident fund accounts


If you thought every rupee was valued in these days of rising prices, think again. A huge sum of Rs 22,636 crore is lying in inoperative accounts with the Employee Provident Fund Organization (EFPO).

These funds are linked to accounts that are lying dormant for more than 36 months and are earning no interest for their account holders. Largely, this is because employees holding these accounts have moved on to new jobs and have not transferred their EPF accounts to that of the new employment.

Earlier, even if an account was not active, interest at the applicable rate accrued on the funds lying in such accounts. (The interest rate fluctuates from year to year; for the current financial year, it will be 8.5 per cent.) However, owing to an amendment, which came into effect from April 1, 2011, no interest is credited to the account of an EPF member from the date on which it becomes an inoperative account.

As an inoperative account is defined as one in which no contribution has been made for at least 36 months, from the 37th month onwards no interest is credited by the EPFO against funds in such accounts. Maharashtra with a sum of Rs 7,427 crore lying in inoperative accounts tops this list, followed by Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh with funds aggregating to Rs 2,433 crore and Rs 1,797 crore.

These details, based on the unaudited accounts of the EPFO for the year ended March 31, 2012, were made available to Parliament during the last winter session. In addition to this figure, several large corporate groups in India have their own provident fund trusts, which are not administered by the EPFO. Many such companies also admit to having inoperative accounts, even as they periodically follow up with their ex-employees or their legal heirs.

"On changing a job, the employee should file Form 13 with the new employer. On receipt of a complete and correct form by the EPF authorities, the funds ought to be transferred from the PF account maintained by the old employer to that of the new employer within thirty days. However, many employees fail to follow this process and over a period of time the EPF accounts set up while in their previous employment become inoperative," explains Yatin Pathak, a chartered accountant.

"A large chunk of these inoperative accounts have minuscule deposits of Rs 5,000 or less. Since the employee has already left that particular company, no administrative fee can even be collected from the company concerned. It is the EPFO which has to bear the administrative costs," states an official attached to the ministry of labour. This was perhaps one of the reasons for withdrawing the accrual of interest on inoperative accounts, he adds.

The mandate given to EPF offices across India is to clear applications for transfer within 30 days. However, HR practitioners admit that employees face delays and hassles in transferring their accounts.

Source: The Economic Times

(4) Microsoft launches latest version of Office 365


Software giant Microsoft, on Monday, launched the latest version of its Office 365 solution for businesses in India, which will enable them to access emails and other productivity tools from a variety of devices.

“The new Microsoft Office 365 is a comprehensive suite with Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote and Access. It provides seamless sharing of data across multiple devices like desktops, laptops, mobiles and tablet PCs and since the solution is cloud-based, users can access their mails and files while on the move,” Microsoft Corporation India Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik told reporters here. The service would allow businesses as well as individuals to take full advantage of the cloud , he added

The solution also includes the updated Microsoft Lync Online, Exchange Online and Yammer, which Microsoft acquired last year. Office 365 can be installed on up to five devices for a single user under the Office 365 licensing guidelines. Microsoft Office 365 is a subscription-based software service.

It is priced at Rs. 4,199 per year for an individual user, while enterprise users will need to shell out between $6- $22 per month, depending on what solutions the organisation opts for.

“Office 365 is one of our fastest growing businesses globally. It was launched in mid-2011 and now every fifth Microsoft enterprise customer globally uses Office 365 The number of small and medium businesses has grown by over 150 per cent year-on-year," Microsoft Corporation India GM (Office Division) Ramkumar Pichai said.

Source: The Hindu

(5) Service sector growth falls sharply in February: Poll


Indian services growth eased off the accelerator last month as new orders failed to keep up with January's blistering pace, a business survey showed on Tuesday, although companies remained optimistic about future business.

The HSBC services Purchasing Managers' Index, based on a survey of around 400 companies, fell to 54.2 in February from a one-year high of 57.5 in January. It was the biggest one-month fall in nearly a year.

While the February PMI fell for the first time since November, it has held above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction since late 2011.

Services make up nearly 60 percent of India's output and have been the lone bright spot in an otherwise sluggish economy that grew at its slowest pace in December in more than a decade.

New orders flooded in at their fastest rate in 18 months during January but the survey showed the pace tailed off last month, with the sub-index dropping to 55.4 from 58.3.

Prices rose at a faster pace than in January and with costs also rising for manufacturers, that will keep upward pressure on inflation.

"Activity in the services sector grew at a slower clip led by a deceleration in new business," said Leif Eskesen, economist at survey sponsor HSBC, in a release.

After cutting the repo rate for the first time in nine months in January to 7.75 percent, the Reserve Bank of India warned any monetary easing would depend on how quickly a high current account deficit and inflation could be reined in.

The wholesale price index, which is the main index gauge, has declined in recent months, most recently at 6.62 percent in January. But it is still above the central bank's perceived comfort level of around five percent.

The economy grew just 4.5 percent from a year earlier in the quarter to December, government data showed last week, extending a slowdown that began at the start of 2012 and cementing expectations for decade-low growth in the current fiscal year.

In January the RBI cut its GDP growth forecast to 5.5 percent from 5.8 percent for the fiscal year ending in March.

While there is strong overseas demand for Indian services, renewed fears over the euro zone debt crisis after inconclusive Italian elections could put the brakes on exports and slow new outsourced deals for Indian software companies.

Still, firms were just as optimistic last month as they were in January.

Source: The Times of India

Disclaimer: All news stories and content sourced from freely available material on the internet. All sources are acknowledged.

Today's Hot Stories - March 04, 2013 - PT education

Today's Hot Stories - March 04, 2013

10 Headlines for Today

(1) Deputy SP's murder: UP minister Raja Bhaiya resigns
(2) ‘Power-full’ Gujarat gives 24-hour electricity
(3) Bangladesh: Khaleda Zia calls off meeting with Pranab
(4) Jet Airways seeks aviation ministry nod to buy 6 Kingfisher slots
(5) IT dept's intel unit to track evaders
(6) Cut in US spend may trip FII flows
(7) India 400/3 at lunch, lead by 163 runs
(8) Unmukt helps Delhi lift Hazare Trophy
(9) Football: Bale helps Spurs beat Arsenal 2-1
(10) In medical first, scientists say baby born with HIV apparently cured

5 Stories for Today

(1) Shivraj Singh Chouhan holds up MP too as model
(2) Kerry’s terms puts Morsy in a tough spot
(3) Budget 2013 Impact: Reserve Bank of India may cut rates, banks unlikely to follow
(4) Swiss overwhelmingly vote for golden parachute ban: Projection
(5) A quiet focus on financial sector

(1) Shivraj Singh Chouhan holds up MP too as model


Even as Narendra Modi stole the show at the BJP national council meeting on Sunday, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan provided the contrast, countering Modi's flamboyance with his bottom-up approach to development and his earthy lines to reach out to people in the state which will go for assembly polls later this year.

If Chouhan wins the Madhya Pradesh polls for which he and his party look confident, it would be his third consecutive term in office and put him in the same league as Modi.

If Modi's theme was growth and governance, Chouhan's mantra was 'Antyoday', or reaching out to the last man in the social pyramid - the poor, the farmer, women, daily wage labourers and senior citizens.

Chouhan rattled off the successful schemes that he had started and which were adopted at the national level and by other states including Congress-ruled states like the 'Ladli Laxmi Yojna'. He kept comparing the success stories of his state with that of Gujarat and said, "The examples of good governance that BJP is providing is certainly there in Gujarat, but they are also there in other BJP ruled states."

Chouhan referred to himself as the father, brother, uncle, son to different sections of the electorate, relating to them as one of their family. In contrast, Modi is a distant leader whose enigma adds to his charisma. Both Chouhan and Modi will be inducted into the BJP's parliamentary board soon.

The mild-mannered Chouhan reached out to the people including his electorate by saying, "We are in politics to create better polity and serve the people, mostly the downtrodden who cannot help themselves. The aim is not to get to the chair but to serve the last man standing."

He stood out in his humility as opposed to the high-profile, flamboyant and aggressive Modi who scored by hitting out at rival Congress and went without naming any BJP leader sharing the stage with him. Chouhan, on the contrary, addressed each of the leaders respectfully by name and did not forget to mention Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

As he gave out the growth figures of Madhya Pradesh and details of how the state had been pulled out of BIMARU status, Chouhan said, "Madhya Pradesh is my temple, its people are my god and I am the pujari (priest) at the temple.

Source: The Times of India

(2) Kerry’s terms puts Morsy in a tough spot


The U.S. has offered support for embattled President Mohamed Morsy, provided Egypt falls in line and follows the tough economic prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made it plain during his visit to Cairo that Egypt would have to agree to painful IMF conditions if it is to avail itself a life-saving $4.8 billion loan.

“It is paramount, essential, urgent that the Egyptian economy get stronger, that it gets back on its feet,” said Mr. Kerry during a meeting with Egyptian and U.S. business executives. “It’s clear to us that the IMF arrangement needs to be reached.”

With little room for manoeuvre, Mr. Morsy has found himself in a tight corner. In case he accepts the harsh loan conditions — slashing of energy subsidies and a steep hike in taxes — the President risks deepening social unrest among his people, who are looking for economic relief, two years after a turbulent revolution. Conversely, if he doesn’t accept the debt, he risks collapse of the economy. Analysts point out that once the IMF loan is through, Egypt could raise bilateral loans from U.S. and Europe, but this could, conversely, lure Egypt into a debt trap.

By way of political incentive, Mr. Kerry backed Mr. Morsy’s controversial call for fresh parliamentary elections, slated to begin on April 22.

Retrial of Mubarak

A decision taken on Sunday by an Egyptian appeals court for the retrial for former President Hosni Mubarak on April 13 — nine days ahead of the polls — is likely to impact the elections. Mr. Mubarak faces charges of corruption and conspiracy to kill protesters during the 2011 uprising that led to his fall.

The retrial has been ordered after a court had earlier accepted Mr. Mubarak’s appeal against the life sentence that he is serving following his conviction last June.

Others who will face re-trial include former interior minister Habib al-Adly, who was sentenced for life for his role in the killing of dissidents. The former President’s sons, Alaa and Gamal, who were acquitted in June, will now be retried on corruption charges.

The U.S. support for the polls was a wrap on knuckles of the National Salvation Front — the opposition conglomerate that has decided to boycott the parliamentary poll. Mr. Kerry held separate talks with opposition leaders, which included a meeting with former presidential hopeful Amr Moussa, to reinforce his message of support for the polls.

He also had a telephonic conversation with Mohamed ElBaradei, another political heavyweight, who has become Mr. Morsy’s visceral critic. Hamdeen Sabbahi, who stood third in the presidential race, chose not to attend the group meeting with Mr. Kerry.

There were small but colourful street protests against Mr. Kerry, perceived by some of having a soft-corner for the Islamist president, and the Muslim Brotherhood, Mr. Morsy’s parent organisation. Mr. Kerry’s pictures were set alight by a group of anti-Morsy demonstrators who had assembled on Saturday outside the Foreign Ministry building, where the top American diplomat was to meet Kamel Amr, the Egyptian Foreign Minister.

Reuters reported that the demonstrators had earlier marched from Tahrir Square, holding up cartoons of Mr. Kerry sporting an Islamic beard. Placards bearing Mr. Morsy’s pictures showed him sporting a similar moustache to that of Adolf Hitler.

As Mr. Kerry held talks in Cairo, there was seething turmoil in some Egyptian cities. Protests broke out in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, after an armoured police vehicle ran over and killed a demonstrator. There was violence in the Suez Canal city of Port Said, where protesters burned down a police station, state media reported.

Source: The Hindu

(3) Budget 2013 Impact: Reserve Bank of India may cut rates, banks unlikely to follow


The Reserve Bank of India governor, Duvvuri Subbarao, may oblige Finance Minister P Chidambaram with an interest rate cut on March 19 impressed by the tight fiscal ship that is being run, but the markets may defy lower rates for a longer period. Tight liquidity, slump in deposit growth, and banks' desperation to match their assets and liabilities may keep interest rates higher.

"Interest rates will continue to be high till March even if the RBI cuts rates; it may even climb," said BA Prabhakar, chairman and managing director, Andhra BankBSE -1.60 %.

"There is a chance that from April, rates may come down, but I doubt it would fall substantially." State Bank of IndiaBSE 0.17 %, Punjab National BankBSE -1.01 %, Karnataka BankBSE -2.64 % and others raised term deposit rates by as much as 1.25 per cent last week. This, amid finance minister's calls for lowering of interest rates, is making economists and traders sceptical about the market interest rates easing even if the RBI lowers repo rate, the rate at which it lends to banks.

Tight liquidity, slump in deposit growth, and banks’ desperation to match their assets and liabilities may keep interest rates higher.

Advance tax payments and the scramble by banks to raise funds to meet redemption of bulk deposits could add pressure on short-term interest rates. "Banks are de-risking themselves from bulk deposits and, for now, banks may have to keep retail deposit rates attractive," said Phani Shankar, head -treasury at ING Vysya Bank. PNB raised term deposit rates by 1.25 per cent to 8.75 per cent for deposits less than Rs 1 crore for maturities between six months and less than a year, while Karnataka Bank also raised deposit rates from 9 per cent to 9.25 per cent for the one and two-year deposit buckets.

"I am sure the RBI governor has taken note of all that I have said in the Budget speech, all that we have done in terms of budgeting, the fact that we have contained fiscal deficit to 5.2 per cent and the fact that I am pretty confident I will be able to contain fiscal deficit to below 4.8 per cent next year," Chidambaram told ET NOW in an interview.

"Reduction in interest rates will certainly help get us to 6.5 per cent growth, from the 5 per cent forecast for the current fiscal." By keeping fiscal deficit at 5.2 per cent of the gross domestic product this fiscal, Chidambaram beat his earlier estimates of 5.3 per cent. It is forecast to be 4.8 per cent next fiscal. Tight liquidity at a time when the government and the corporate world are seeking lower rates could throw a spanner in the works. Liquidity may not ease even if the RBI buys bonds from the market, since bank deposit growth rate has slumped to a near-decade low.

Banks, which have to redeem certificate of deposits of more than Rs 1 lakh crore, have borrowed an average of Rs 1.13 lakh crore from the central bank in the repo, signalling tight liquidity. Deposit growth is at 13.2 per cent, a near-decade low, and demand for loans is at 16.4 per cent. The incremental credit-to-deposit ratio is at 73.78 per cent against 68.4 per cent in January 2012, reflecting a tighter liquidity in the banking system.

Deposits have slowed due to a negative real interest rate due to high inflation. "Deposit rates will not soften before April or May," said Ashwani Kumar, CMD, Dena BankBSE -1.22 %. "Lower deposit mobilisation by banks is largely because existing interest rate is very low and investors have better channels for investments."

Source: The Economic Times

(4) Swiss overwhelmingly vote for golden parachute ban: Projection


A large majority of Swiss voted on Sunday to rein in executive pay and force business leaders to give up golden parachutes, according to early results and projections.

Official first results of the popular vote showed that in Geneva, where polling ended at noon (1100 GMT), 67.7 per cent voted in favour of the initiative, with similar numbers in the canton of Vaud and Fribourg.

And projections from Switzerland's financial capital Zurich, where voting will continue until 6:30 pm, showed 71 per cent of voters want the so-called Minder Initiative, after its sponsor businessman and senator Thomas Minder, passed into law.

"The people have decided to send a strong signal to boards, the Federal Council (Swiss government) and the parliament," Minder himself told public broadcaster RTS, adding he was not surprised by the projected results.

The draft law set down by his initiative - one of several initiatives being voted on at both national and local levels today - only covers Swiss companies listed on Swiss or foreign stock exchanges.

It would limit the mandate of board members to one year, and would ban certain kinds of compensation, including the so-called golden handshakes or golden parachutes given to executives when they leave a company.

In addition, it would ban the bonuses received for takeovers, or when a company sells off part of its business.

While Switzerland has avoided the level of economic crisis seen in the European Union, which surrounds the Alpine nation, public anger has risen there as elsewhere over what is deemed abusive levels of pay and bonuses for top bosses.

Source: The Times of India

(5) A quiet focus on financial sector


Describing the financial sector as “the heart of the economy”, the Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, in his budget speech, announced 17 measures across banking, insurance and capital market. Almost all of them do not involve any financial outlays.

Among the few exceptions are the capital infusion to 13 public sector banks (PSBs) aggregating Rs.12,517 crore before March 31 this year, and an additional Rs.40,000 crore next year. Such a large capital infusion is needed to enable the banks to meet the enhanced capital adequacy requirements, as they migrate to the Basel-III norms from April 1.

Capital infusion by the government to buttress the PSBs’ capital is not new and arises from the fact that the government does not, on principle, want to let go the majority equity stake in them, and lose control. The irony is that all PSBs are listed, and their shares, in varying degrees, are faring well. Some of the stronger ones like State Bank of India can easily fund their capital requirements by accessing the capital market but are not allowed to do so. Perhaps, in the not distant future, it should be possible for the government to permit a dilution of its stake to below 51 per cent without letting the banks divest their public sector character. This is a reform measure for long talked about with very little follow-up action.

Regulatory aspects

Regulatory aspects of the financial sector get a look in. The report of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission due shortly will be acted upon. Also in the regulatory category is the proposal to constitute a Standing Council of Experts in the Ministry of Finance to analyse the international competitiveness of the Indian financial sector, periodically examine the transaction costs of doing business in India, and provide inputs to the government. These two measures are very relevant. In the present Indian context, supervision of financial conglomerates is a big issue. The latest guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for licensing new banks have drawn attention to it in a big way. Since India is fast integrating with the rest of the world, it is necessary to keep an informed watch on the competitiveness of Indian financial sector.

Keeping in view the policy goal of financial inclusion, the budget claims that all scheduled commercial banks and all RRBs (regional rural banks) are on core banking solution.

This and the related assurance that all PSBs will have an ATM at all their branches by March 31, 2014, sounds too good to be true but then we have the Finance Minister’s word for it.

Furthering financial inclusion is the buzzword in insurance also. Insurance companies will be allowed to open branches in smaller cities and towns without the permission of the regulator, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). All towns, with a population of 10,000 or more, will have an office of LIC and an office of one public sector insurance company. The stress on the public sector is important. Only they can be directed. But what such forcible branch expansion does to their profitability is a different issue. Besides, can’t technology be used to increase market coverage as is being done by banks?

In a welcome move, it has been decided that the KYC of banks will be sufficient to acquire insurance policies. It must be ensured that this decision is implemented on the ground without any hassles. Also, getting a KYC from a bank itself is not the easiest of tasks.

Concerns

Permitting banks to act as insurance brokers is an attractive idea, but for various reasons banking and insurance do not mix well. Among the concerns have been lack of familiarity of insurance products and possible conflict of interest arising out of the fact that at the most basic level both chase a potential customer’s money.

Speeding up third-party motor settlement claims, which are now clogging courts through adalats, is a good idea but where is the infrastructure or for that matter expertise without which alternative dispute settlements such as adalats will not succeed.

Finally, selling micro-insurance products through banking correspondents is a good idea.

It will, however, have a greater chance of success if the products on offer are standardised and made simple and both the correspondent and the potential customers are sufficiently educated.

Source: The Hindu

Disclaimer: All news stories and content sourced from freely available material on the internet. All sources are acknowledged.

Today's Hot Stories - March 02, 2013 - PT education

Today's Hot Stories - March 02, 2013

10 Headlines for Today

(1) Rahul’s stern message: no more rubber-stamping
(2) Babli verdict: Andhra Pradesh to ?le review petition in SC if farmers suffer loss
(3) Obama signs order to begin spending cuts
(4) Petrol price hiked by Rs. 1.40 per litre
(5) ED summons Bharti Wal-Mart officials
(6) Apollo Munich set to break-even this year
(7) Bhuvneshwar triple strike rattles Australia
(8) Kerala downs Haryana, makes it to semifinals
(9) Azlan Shah hockey tournament: Indian team pull-out averted
(10) Four-wheeler taxis set to give Kochi auto-rickshaws a run for their money

5 Stories for Today

(1) Pranab will not engage in political negotiations
(2) Khaleda pleads for Jamaat; extra cover for Hindus
(3) Impose limit on global transactions of cards, RBI tells banks
(4) Unitech tries to add Libor rigging to Deutsche Bank row
(5) Gross market borrowing at Rs. 5.79 lakh cr: FinMin

(1) Pranab will not engage in political negotiations


Pranab’s visit to Bangladesh begins tomorrow; underlines India’s commitment to settle unresolved issues

India’s commitment to settle unresolved issues with its eastern neighbour will be underlined as President Pranab Mukherjee makes Bangladesh his first foreign destination after assuming office last year.

Even though Mr. Mukherjee’s three-day visit to Bangladesh, packed with a host of ceremonial occasions — Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai emphasised on Friday — “is not designed to engage in political negotiations… the President will convey to the top Bangladesh leadership the Indian government’s commitment to take bilateral relations to a higher level and resolve unresolved issues.” The visit is “reflective of the highest importance attached by India to its relations with Bangladesh,” he added in his briefing.

During his stay, starting March 3, Mr. Mukherjee will call on Bangladesh President Mohammad Zillur Rahman. He will also meet Bangladesh Prime Sheikh Hasina, Leader of the Opposition and Chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party Begum Khaleda Zia, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith.

To a question whether it would be prudent for the President to visit Bangladesh at a time when the country is seeing widespread violence in the wake of the death sentence awarded to a top Jamaat-e-Islami leader there, Mr. Mathai said: “We have done a great deal of preparation for the visit. We feel it would be appropriate to carry on with the visit.” The situation in Dhaka, he said, is “calm and we are looking forward to a productive visit.”

Asked to comment on India’s position on the momentous events in Bangladesh, the Foreign Secretary said he had nothing to add to what Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid had articulated a few days ago.

“We are looking at the situation [in Bangladesh] as arising out of a legal process as also in the backdrop of an upsurge in Bangladesh,” he said.

Jamaat violence

In recent weeks, Bangladesh has been rocked by violence unleashed by activists of the Jamaat and its militant student wing, Islamic Chhatra Shivir, and huge demonstrations in Dhaka, largely by students, who have been demanding the death penalty for Jamaat leaders who had collaborated with occupation Pakistani troops during the liberation war in 1971.

Mr. Mukherjee, will be accompanied by wife Suvra Mukherjee, Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, four MPs and senior officials. The MPs are the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Sitaram Yechury, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Chandan Mitra, the Congress’ Bhuvaneshwar Kalita and the Trinamool Congress’ Mukul Roy.

Source: The Hindu

(2) Khaleda pleads for Jamaat; extra cover for Hindus


The number of people killed in clashes in Bangladesh over the conviction of Islamist leaders for war crimes rose to 53 on Friday as fresh violence erupted in the Muslim-majority nation.

Two people were killed when hundreds of pro-government supporters and followers of the rival Jamaat-e-Islami party battled each other with sticks in two northern districts of Gaibandha and Chapainawabganj , police chiefs said.

Meanwhile, in the capital Dhaka, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to break up Jamaat protests after the Islamists tried to stage marches following weekly prayers, leaving several people injured, police said. Three policemen were also hurt in a homemade bomb attack by Jamaat student activists in the port city of Chittagong , deputy police chief Bonaj Kumar said. On Thursday, violence flared across Bangladesh after Jamaat's vice-president , Delwar Hossain Sayedee, was sentenced to death for murder, religious persecution and rape during the 1971 independence war.

The 73-year-old firebrand preacher was the third person to be convicted by a war crimes tribunal whose verdicts have been met by outrage from Islamists, who say the process is more about settling scores than delivering justice. At least 35 people were killed in Thursday's unrest. Jamaat said its "innocent" supporters were shot dead by police who "hunted them like birds".

According to Sultana Kamal , head of rights group Ain O Salish Kendra, it was the deadliest day of political violence since Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan in 1971. Friday's killings brought the total number killed since the tribunal delivered its first verdict on January 21 to at least 53, according to AFP tally and police.

The leader of the main opposition and two-time ex prime minister, Khaleda Zia, appealed to the government to stop the "genocide" of Jamaat supporters, accusing police of brutality toward the Islamists. Jamaat is a key ally of Zia's party, two of whose leaders are also on trial for war crimes. The opposition has called a three-day nationwide strike from Sunday to protest against the violence and the trials.

Neither police nor the government has commented on the opposition's charges of excessive force, but rights group chief Kamal accused Jamaat supporters of "terror" attacks on police.

Security was tightened around thousands of mosques for Friday prayers. Police have banned a number of demonstrations at several trouble spots. Security was also stepped up in Hindu villages and temples after Islamists torched and vandalized homes and places of worships in Noakhali and Chittagong districts, killing one Hindu man, police said.

Source: The Times of India

(3) Impose limit on global transactions of cards, RBI tells banks


In order to check frauds, the RBI has asked banks to impose monetary limit for international transactions on credit and debit cards and refrain from issuing cards with global access unless specifically sought by the customer.

The Reserve Bank said that a monetary limit of USD 500 be imposed by issuing bank on all global cards which has not been used in the past.

"All the active magstripe international cards issued by banks should have threshold limit for international usage. The threshold should be determined by the banks based on the risk profile of the customer and accepted by the customer by June 30," it said.

Till the time of completion of the process a threshold limit not exceeding USD 500 may be put in place for all debit cards and all credit cards that have not been used for international transactions in the past, it said.

The notification has been issued following cyber attacks, which according to RBI has become "more unpredictable and electronic payment systems becoming vulnerable to new types of misuse, it is imperative that banks introduce certain minimum checks and balances to minimise the impact of such attacks and to arrest or minimise the damage."

Besides introducing additional security features in the card, the bank would also be required to put in place a real time fraud monitoring system and a mechanism to ensure that cards can be blocked through an SMS by the cardholder.

These initiatives, RBI said are needed to ensures that transactions effected through such channels are safe and secure and not easily amenable to fraudulent usage.

The announcement come in the backdrop of a slew of card frauds that has taken place in the recent past leading to unauthorised withdrawal of sums by unscrupulous agents.

Source: The Economic Times

(4) Unitech tries to add Libor rigging to Deutsche Bank row


Real estate developer Unitech wants to add allegations linked to the manipulation of Libor to an existing dispute with Deutsche Bank, in a move that could set a precedent for cases against other banks. Unitech is involved in a legal dispute with Deutsche Bank over a $150 million loan and related interest rate swap agreed in 2007 and which Deutsche Bank alleges it did not pay back.

It has tried to amend its counter-claims against Deutsche's allegation in light of revelations about Libor rigging since the suit was launched in March 2012, legal documents show. Unitech has sought to argue that the loan and swap agreements were invalid because they were tied to Libor when it was being manipulated, although so far the court has not allowed it to add that argument to its counter-claim .

Unitech initially argued it was an unsophisticated investor mis-sold complex financial products by the German bank. Deutsche Bank is under investigation by German financial services watchdog BaFin over alleged Libor manipulation. It suspended two traders last year for Libor-related misconduct.

If successful, Unitech's attempt to use the scandal to bolster its position in the Deutsche lawsuit could be a worrying sign of things to come for other banks involved in rigging Libor. Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS have already been fined over their role in fixing Libor. A number of other banks in several countries are under investigation. Unitech's move comes after news that Guardian Care Homes, a residential care home operator in England , was suing Barclays for up to 37 million pounds in a claim that it was mis-sold interest rate hedging products based on Libor..

Source: The Times of India

(5) Gross market borrowing at Rs. 5.79 lakh cr: FinMin


Net borrowings next fiscal will be about Rs.17,000 crore higher than revised estimates

A day after the Budget presentation, the Finance Ministry, on Friday, reiterated that the government’s gross borrowing for 2013-14 is pegged — as contained in the Budget document — at Rs.5.79 lakh crore while the net borrowings for the new fiscal year will be Rs.4.84 lakh crore.

At this level, the net borrowings next fiscal will be about Rs.17,000 crore higher than the revised estimates (RE) for 2012-13 as the government borrowed Rs.4.67 lakh crore from the market during the fiscal year.

If the repayment amounts during 2012-13 and 2013-14 are taken into account, the gross market borrowing proposed for the next fiscal is pegged at Rs. 5.79 lakh crore as per budget estimates (BE), which is Rs.9,393 crore higher than the BE of this fiscal at Rs.5.70 lakh crore.

The official reiteration, ostensibly, has come in the wake of concerns in the bourses that the higher market borrowing during the new fiscal would have an adverse impact.

Seeking to allay investor concerns in this regard in view of the higher borrowing may have on the targeted fiscal deficit at 4.8 per cent of the GDP (gross domestic product) in 2013-14, the Finance Ministry, in a statement, said: “The gross borrowing for 2013-14 is Rs.5.79 lakh crore only. As per earlier practice, the calendar of borrowing will be issued for this amount only.”

The statement noted that a provision of Rs.1.45 lakh crore in budget estimate 2013-14 towards repayment of market loans includes Rs.50,000 crore for buyback/switching operations during the fiscal year. This, it said, has been done for active debt management as buyback/switching operations are proposed for easing of redemption pressure for the fiscal years 2015-16 to 2017-18 as part of a medium-term consolidation process.

“Since the transaction will impact this year fiscal only to the extent of premium/discount, a provision of Rs.2,000 crore has been made in interest payments in the Budget for 2013-14 ,” it said.

Source: The Hindu

Disclaimer: All news stories and content sourced from freely available material on the internet. All sources are acknowledged.

Today's Hot Stories - March 01, 2013 - PT education

Today's Hot Stories - March 01, 2013

10 Headlines for Today

(1) Anti-prohibition drive takes anti-Lankan turn in TN
(2) NE elections: No blaming Rio, same govt back
(3) Bangladesh rioting over court verdict kills 42
(4) Montek Singh: A well-balanced budget
(5) SUVs to become dearer
(6) Groupon ousts CEO Andrew Mason
(7) Federer storms into Dubai Open semis
(8) Woods, four shots back of early lead
(9) Mark puts Red Bull on top in Barcelona
(10) Over 50 cows rescued by PFA and Ahimsa activists

5 Stories for Today

(1) Northeast results bring some cheer in Congress camp
(2) Russia backs France’s Syria plans
(3) Budget 2013: Commodity punters will be forced to switch from gold to farm bets
(4) Link patented drug prices to per capita income: Panel
(5) PC effect, long live the grey market

(1) Northeast results bring some cheer in Congress camp


On Budget day, results to three state assemblies provided some cheer to Congress with the party retaining power in Meghalaya.

The good news from Meghalaya was offset by status quo prevailing in Tripura with Left Front returning to power and the regional outfit Nagaland People's Front (NPF) displaying tenacity having been in power since March, 2008.

In Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) wrested the Moga assembly seat from Congress.

Congress fell just two short of a majority in Meghalaya, but should have no problem in crossing the half way mark since 13 independents have been elected. The results mark a gratifying victory for Congress as former Speaker PA Sangma's outfit lost comprehensively.

CM Mukul Sangma was able to brush aside P A Sangma's National People's Party (NPP) that got just two seats, staying afloat in the Garo Hills. PA Sangma's former party NCP won two seats.

United Democratic Party (UDP), which was a key Congress ally for the past three years, retained eight of 11 seats it had won in 2008.

In Nagaland, CM Neiphiu Rio was able to beat back the Congress challenge, winning convincingly with 37 seats of the 59 contested. BJP won one, NCP (4), JD(U) (1) and independents (8). The win means that the apparent lack of progress on Naga talks has not affected Rio, while Congress has not been able to get the better of the regional leader.

After being dismissed from office when the President's rule was imposed in Nagaland in January, 2008 Rio won the next election. He had previously been CM from March, 2006. The gambit of unseating him before the election in 2008 backfired on Congress and the party has not regained any ground.

The Left Front retained power in Tripura, with CPM winning 49 of 60 seats and Congress having to make do with 10. CPI won one seat.

Source: The Times of India

(2) Russia backs France’s Syria plans


Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said he backed “new proposals” on resolving the Syrian conflict that French President Francois Holland put forward during his ongoing visit to Russia.

“Mr. President has formulated some new proposals that we need to discuss with other partners and try to implement,” Mr. Putin said at a joint press conference with Mr. Holland after their talks at the Kremlin on Thursday.

Neither the Russian President nor his French counterpart gave any details of the new proposals, but Mr. Holland said that they had discussed ways of launching a “political dialogue that would involve all sides in the conflict.”

Mr. Putin hinted at some progress in bridging the positions of Russia and France on Syria.

Source: The Hindu

(3) Budget 2013: Commodity punters will be forced to switch from gold to farm bets


Investors and punters in commodities will be forced to exit the futures market in droves or shift part of their funds to agri commodity futures since the government has introduced a widely-expected commodity transaction tax (CTT) on non-farm futures, which will increase trading costs substantially.

Once the Finance Bill 2013 comes into force, CTT of Rs 10 per lakh, or 0.01%, will be imposed on sellers of non-farm commodities such as gold and silver, which some market experts said could lead to a 30-40% decline in commodity futures volumes.

The FM also cut STT on equity futures to Rs 10 per lakh from Rs 17 earlier, which is expected to boost speculative volumes but is unlikely to drive punters, who have tasted the lure of commodities, to stocks. The revised STT rates will be effective from June this year. Besides raising trading costs, CTT is seen to be most detrimental for MCX, the country's largest commodity futures bourse with an 80% market share.

However, the stock gained 2.4% to close at Rs 1,145 on Thursday. Currently, to trade in gold futures contracts, a trader pays a turnover tax of around Rs 2 per lakh. From April, if she were to sell this contract, her cost would rise to Rs 12 per lakh, or by six times. Analysts claim this would puncture volumes as 50-60% of liquidity in the commodity futures market is contributed by retailers who trade on wafer-thin margins.

"My guess is volumes could be dented by 30-40% within weeks of CTT's implementation," said Naveen Mathur, associate director (commodities), Angel Commodities.

The higher cost of trading in non-farm commodities could cause a shift of speculative funds to agri commodities. However, Ani l Mishra , CEO of plantat ions bour s e NMCE, feels this is unlikely to happen on a large scale as agri products have price bands beyond which they cannot be traded on a given day. This, unlike internationally referenced commodities like gold, restricts volatility. ShreekantJavalgekar, MD & CEO, MCX, said the levy would on an average raise trading cost by 300% and would drive the Indian industry towards dabba trading or international markets.

"With respect to CTT, the discrimination is glaring between agri and non-agri commodities, which is not the case as regards STT (sic). This treatment is like having STT on shares of 'Company A' and no STT on 'Company B'. Further, currency markets are 500% bigger than commodities markets, yet there is no transaction tax levied on them, which is again discriminatory. Gold ETFs too have been charged at 0.001% as against 0.01% for gold futures traded on commodity futures markets. Gold ETFs are 100% backed by physical gold," said Javalgekar.

In an attempt to soften the blow, the finance minister has allowed CTT paid in a particular year to be deducted from business income in the next year if the assessee shows her income as business gains. The move is expected to encourage hedgers, but analysts say it may not be enough to offset the negative impact of CTT.

Mishra believes this will only marginally offset the CTT impact. For instance, if a company pays a CTT of Rs 10 in a financial year and earns income of Rs 100 in the next fiscal, the tax benefit will only be to the extent of Rs 3 and not Rs 10 . Also, though the FM said in his speech that business gains or losses could be set off against losses or gains in commodity futures trading, not the case currently, this found no mention in the Budget memorandum.

Source: The Economic Times

(4) Link patented drug prices to per capita income: Panel


A government panel has proposed that prices of patented medicines be based on the country's per capita income, a move that would substantially reduce prices of costly drugs made by global pharmaceutical firms.

The proposal, which seeks the input of other government agencies as well as industry groups, could provoke the ire of Big Pharma, which has clashed with India over protection of intellectual property, price regulations for generic drugs, and compulsory licenses for costly medicines.

A panel formed under the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers has recommended setting up a committee to negotiate with drugmakers to fix prices of costly drugs used to treat deadly diseases such as cancer, HIV and hepatitis.

The proposal is the latest in a series of measures taken by India to make medicines more affordable for the country's 1.2 billion population.

"If we compare the per capita income with the prices of patented medicines in countries like Australia or France, prices in India are comparatively high and hence, they need to be regulated," a senior ministry official told Reuters, declining to be identified because he was not authorized to speak with media.

Generic medicines account for more than 90% of India's $13 billion pharmaceuticals market. US-based Abbott Laboratories has the largest share of the overall Indian drug market followed by Cipla.

The proposal, posted late on Monday on the ministry website, cites as an example the lung-cancer drug erlotinib HCL, sold by Roche Holding as Tarceva. In India, it costs Rs 35,450 for a month's course of 100 mg tablets, equivalent to Rs 1,21,085 in France and Rs 1,21,650 in Australia.

Based on per capita gross national incomes, if the drug costs Rs 35,450 in India, its respective cost would be just Rs 11,643 in France and Rs 10,309 in Australia based on per capita income in the respective countries, the report said.

The Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India, which represents foreign drugmakers in India, did not reply to questions from Reuters.

"If stringent price regulations are enforced then latest drugs will not be made available in India," said Ameet Hariani, managing partner at Hariani & Co, a Mumbai-based law firm that advises drugmakers and other companies.

Source: The Times of India

(5) PC effect, long live the grey market


Trying very hard to not rock the boat translates into making at least one or two boo-boos along the way. In his bid to widen the tax net by targeting affluent individuals, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has unwittingly hit the middle class the hardest with the increase in excise duty on mobile phones.

Ironically, the affluent will escape unscathed. Individuals looking to buy the flagship models, the iPhones, Galaxies and Lumias, will still purchase without worry. An extra thousand or two thousand rupees shouldn’t make too much of a difference.

Where the hammer will fall the hardest, however, is on the low-cost feature phone segment— a segment that has been created entirely by the middle-class looking to get the absolute best bang for the buck. Bear in mind, these phones (the Ashas, Micromaxs, Lavas) are looked at with an almost shrew-like mentality. The typical range is from Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 12,000, wherein the price tags, even decimal points matter.

According to the Indian Cellular Association, a typical 3G phone that comes at a price of Rs. 8,000 would cost around Rs. 400-500 more. So, where does the customer turn to in troubled times? An altogether different type of market – one the average Indian needs no introduction to— one that has a grey tinge.

The absence of a carrier-bundled system, that subsidises the cost of the handset, has made it such that phones sold in India are already more expensive than those their American counterparts. A further hike will only result in a red carpet being laid out for the grey market to make deep inroads into the system.

What is further contradictory, however, is how this move negates the Government’s goal of connecting its citizens to the Internet. Indeed, a free Wi-Fi system on select trains was proposed just days ago in the Railway Budget. How does reducing the ability to purchase Internet-accessing devices gel with the aims of the National Telecom Policy? Nevertheless, the bottom line is that mid-range mobile phones need to stop being categorized as luxury items. Its economic-booster effect alone disqualifies such labelling. In the meanwhile, the outlook brightens for the grey market.

Source: The Hindu

Disclaimer: All news stories and content sourced from freely available material on the internet. All sources are acknowledged.