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.