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.
(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.
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