Today's Hot Stories - April 27, 2013 - PT education

Today's Hot Stories - April 27, 2013

10 Headlines for Today

(1) Sarabjit in 'deep coma', surgery postponed
(2) Probe report on coal allocation shared with Law Minister & PMO, admits CBI
(3) Serb President apologises for Srebrenica massacre
(4) Panel begins probe into chit fund scam
(5) Tata Tech to buy U.S. firm Cambric Corporation
(6) Samsung profit at record high on smartphone boost
(7) Kolkata Knight Riders snaps losing streak
(8) Sardar to lead India for Netherlands tour
(9) India to host 2014 Thomas, Uber Cup finals
(10) Bangalore blast victims to take CET exam from hospital beds

5 Stories for Today

(1) Azam Khan detention: Akhilesh cancels New York Consulate reception
(2) Second Boston bomber says he and his brother acted alone, wanted to defend Islam (3) Maharashtra drought: NABARD to combine its projects with rural plan
(4) Pharma giant Novartis working on H7N9 vaccine
(5) Sebi may get greater powers to check money-pooling frauds

(1) Azam Khan detention: Akhilesh cancels New York Consulate reception


Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has cancelled a reception to be hosted in his honour by the Indian Consul General in New York on Saturday, even as the Mission said it would strongly take up with the U.S. authorities the issue of his Minister Azam Khan’s detention at the Boston airport.

A communiqué from the Indian Consulate in New York merely stated, “that due to unavoidable circumstances, the reception scheduled to be held in honour of Akhilesh Kumar Yadav, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on April 27 at the Consulate General of India, New York, has been cancelled.”

Neither, Consul General Ambassador Dnyaneshwar Mulay, who took charge on Wednesday after his assignment as Ambassador of Maldives, nor Minister (Press and Information) M. Rajaram were available for any comments to the media on the reason for cancellation of the reception.

This was to be the first official function of the Consulate after Mr. Mulay took charge.

Mr. Yadav, on Friday, had also boycotted the Harvard lecture he was due to deliver in protest against Mr. Khan’s detention.

Invitation to the reception were sent out to all the prominent Indian-Americans, community leaders, elected officials, friends of India in New York and the media two days ago after the Consulate got the confirmation from the office of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mulay told PTI, on Friday night, on the sidelines of a community reception in his honour at the Asia Society in New York that it was unfortunate that a State government minister was treated with disrespect on arrival at Boston Logan International Airport.

He said that his Mission, under whom Boston Logan International Airport falls, would raise the matter at the appropriate level to prevent its recurrence in the future.

Refusing to comment on the cancellation of a reception accorded to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister at the Consulate General of India in New York, he said his Mission would lodge its strongest protest with the State Department and the Homeland Security on the question of disrespect to the Minister as per the guidance of the Government of India.

“I am meeting the Chief Minister who has come to New York on Friday night to get first hand information from him and devise a strategy,” he said.

The Chief Minister is scheduled to leave for India from New York’s JFK Airport on Sunday, while Azam Khan was scheduled to leave today.

Mr. Khan, a senior leader of the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and also the State Urban Development Minister was accompanying Mr. Yadav on the U.S. trip.

Mr. Khan was detained for about 10 minutes at the Boston Logan International Airport for “further questioning” on Wednesday after he landed in a scheduled British Airways flight from India.

Source: The Hindu

(2) Second Boston bomber says he and his brother acted alone, wanted to defend Islam


The wife of the dead Boston Marathon bombing suspect is assisting authorities and in absolute shock that her husband and brother-in-law were accused of the deadly blasts, her lawyer said on Tuesday.

"She cries a lot," attorney Amato DeLuca said of Katherine Russell, 24, an American-born convert to Islam who was married to Tamerlan Tsarnaev in June 2010. "She can't go anywhere. She can't work."

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a shootout with police and younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, lies wounded in a Boston hospital charged with using weapons of mass destruction in the twin blasts that killed three people and wounded 264 near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15.

The two ethnic Chechen brothers remained the only known suspects.

People interviewed by Reuters described Tamerlan Tsarnaev as proud but angry, never quite achieving his own idea of the American dream, and instead finding solace in a radical form of Islam adopted by fighters in his homeland.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's condition improved to "fair" from "serious" on Tuesday as he recovered from gunshot wounds at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where in an impromptu hearing on Monday he was charged with two crimes that could result in the death penalty if he were convicted.

Since recovering enough to communicate by nodding his head and writing, the younger Tsarnaev has also told authorities he and his brother acted alone, learned to build the pressure-cooker bombs over the internet and were motivated by a desire to defend Islam because of "the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," NBC News reported.

NBC cited an unnamed US counterterrorism source who has received multiple briefings on the investigation. Reuters could not confirm the information.

Katherine Russell's lawyer called a news conference to deny that she had any connection to or knowledge of the bombings, saying she was busy caring for the couple's 2-1/2-year-old daughter and working as a home healthcare aide in the time leading up to the blasts.

"She is doing everything she can to assist with the investigation," DeLuca said outside his office in Providence, Rhode Island. "The reports of involvement by her husband and brother-in-law came as an absolute shock to them all."

DeLuca declined to say what law enforcement agencies Russell had spoken with or what they asked her. "It is pretty evident that she didn't know anything," he said.

US prosecutors formally charged the lone surviving suspect with using a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property resulting in death.

Tsarnaev, a naturalized US citizen, was recovering from gunshot wounds suffered during at least one of his two gun battles with police, authorities said. He was captured on Friday night following a massive, daylong manhunt that shut down greater Boston.

Police say the Tsarnaev brothers also killed a university police officer on Thursday night and wounded a transit police officer on Friday morning.

A total of 264 people were injured in the blasts, the Boston public health commission said on Tuesday.

8-year-old victim buried

The family of 8-year-old Martin Richard, the youngest person to die in the attacks, privately buried their son on Tuesday.

"This has been the most difficult week of our lives and we appreciate that our friends and family have given us space to grieve and heal," parents Denise and Bill Richard said in a statement. "We laid our son Martin to rest, and he is now at peace."

The Tsarnaev brothers emigrated to the United States a decade ago from Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim region in Russia's Caucasus. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a legal US resident and his younger brother became a US citizen last year.

Russian authorities flagged the older Tsarnaev in 2011 as a possible Islamist radical, and some lawmakers have accused the FBI of failing to act thoroughly enough after Russia's security services raised their concerns with the United States. The FBI questioned him in 2011.

At a Senate judiciary committee hearing on immigration legislation, Republican senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina asked homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano why the older brother was not questioned upon returning from Russia in 2012.

Napolitano said US customs generated an alert when he left the country but neither Customs nor the Federal Bureau of Investigation was aware of his return six months later.

"The FBI text alert on him at that point was more than a year old and had expired," Napolitano said.

Napolitano also dispelled reports authorities may have lost track of Tamerlan Tsarnaev because his name was spelled differently on an airline manifest.

Source: The Times of India

(3) Maharashtra drought: NABARD to combine its projects with rural plan


In an effort to aid drought relief measures in Maharashtra, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) will converge its watershed development projects with Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS).

The proposed move -- to be implemented during fiscal 2013-14 -- will help fight the drought situation in the State, a NABARD regional office spokesman said, adding the manpower under MNREGS and funds for watershed development together could ensure faster completion of various projects.

He said as part of the NABARD programmes, warehouses and godowns, too, will be set up in rural areas of the State, where over a dozen districts are facing severe water scarcity.

"Lakhs of people in rural areas of the State seeking employment under MNREGS can get jobs in watershed development projects," the official noted.

He said NABARD has also sanctioned projects covering rural connectivity, irrigation and watershed development schemes worth Rs 10,010.63 crore, of which Rs 7,021.51 crore was disbursed during the last financial year (2012-13).

The regional office of the bank has disbursed loans to the tune of Rs 7,348.39 crore for agriculture and rural development across Maharashtra during the last fiscal which was 22 per cent higher as compared to the previous year, the official added.

Last month, the Centre approved a Rs 1,207-crore drought relief package to Maharashtra. Of it, Rs 807 crore will be released under the National Disaster Relief Fund to 3,905 villages where drought has affected rabi crops.

The rest Rs 400 crore will be released under the National Horticulture Mission to 1,100 villages where drought has hit kharif crops.

Buldhana, Latur, Osmanabad, Nanded, Aurangabad, Jalna, Jalgaon, Dhule, Ahmednagar and Satara are some of the worst drought-hit districts in the State.

Source: The Economic Times

(4) Pharma giant Novartis working on H7N9 vaccine


Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis is researching a vaccine for the H7N9 strain of bird flu, its chief executive said on Thursday, amid fears that the disease could mutate into a form that spreads among people.

In an interview with the Swiss daily Tagesanzeiger, Joe Jimenez said

that Novartis had already analysed the virus' genetic codes, which have been published by Chinese authorities.

Jimenez said that Novartis "would today be in a position to develop a vaccine for initial clinical trials within six to eight weeks".

"The need is theoretical for now," he added.

Since the discovery of the first cases several weeks ago in China, a total of 108 people have been confirmed as being infected with the H7N9 virus, of whom 22 have died, marking the first time the strain has claimed human lives.

Officials from the World Health Organisation have underlined that the strain is therefore one of the deadliest of the many forms of flu carried by birds and posing various degrees of risk to humans.

On Wednesday, Taiwan recorded the first case outside China, in a man who had recently returned from working there.

There have been no recorded cases to human-to-human transmission, but the spectre of a form of the virus being able to jump between people has placed global health officials on alert.

Source: Hindustan Times

(5) Sebi may get greater powers to check money-pooling frauds


Market regulator Sebi may get greater powers to check money-pooling frauds by various entities across the country, as the government is considering a major overhaul of regulations governing such schemes.

The proposed critical amendments to the securities laws, would also involve the capital markets regulator getting direct powers for attachment of properties, search and seizure of assets and powers to seek information from any entity in relation to its probes against erring persons and entities.

The amendments could be made to a host of regulations, including the Sebi Act, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act and the Depositories Act, a senior official said. As a result, Sebi could be given powers for overall regulation and oversight of all kinds of money-pooling activities and the definition of Collective Investment Schemes would be expanded to include all kinds of activities involving collection of Rs 100 crore or more public money, he added.

While CIS operations already come under Sebi's jurisdiction, many companies try to challenge the regulator's actions taking advantage of loopholes in the existing norms and on the grounds of multiplicity of regulators.

The official said that Sebi has been given assurance by the government that the regulations would be amended soon. While proposals to these effects are being pursued by Sebi for almost four years now, a strong need to push with these changes has been felt in the recent months in the wake of a long-running tussle between Sebi and Sahara group.

The recent developments involving an alleged defrauding of lakhs of investors by West Bengal-based Saradha group and other entities in the state have further underscored the need to change the regulations to give greater powers to Sebi.

Sebi was earlier of the view that a separate regulator should be considered for all kinds of public money-pooling activities by non-listed entities under a separate act. Alternatively, Sebi has been seeking amendment to the Sebi Act to widen the scope of CIS definition to include all kinds of money collection schemes.As per the proposed changes, any pooling of funds under an investment scheme involving a collective amount of Rs 100 crore and above should be considered CIS activity, while Sebi would be empowered to specify the parameters for determining as to what constitutes pooling of funds from the public for the purpose of treating them as CIS operations.

Sebi had first proposed an overhaul of securities laws way back in June 2009, but the establishment of Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) later led to the Finance Ministry asking Sebi to pursue only critical changes.

The Commission was asked to rewrite and harmonise the entire set of financial sector laws in the country, including those involving Sebi and the capital markets. Later in June 2011, Sebi proposed only critical amendments to the securities laws that it felt were necessary and could not wait for the FSLRC recommendations.

The capital markets watchdog again took up the matter with the Centre in November 2012, pursuant to which the FinanceMinistry sought some clarifications and a revised set of proposals was sent again by Sebi earlier this year. In the meantime, FSLRC has submitted its recommendations, but the government has decided to move ahead with Sebi's proposals with regard to critical amendments in the securitieslaws as various steps suggested by the Commission need more deliberations and might take time, the official said.

The suggestions made by Sebi include powers similar to the Income Tax department for recovery of monetary penalties and setting up of special courts to deal with criminal prosecution for violation of securities laws. The proposals were sent toFinance Ministry for necessary amendments to relevant securities laws, after being discussed by Sebi board.

The amendments have been sought in view of the challenges faced by Sebi in areas such as the recovery and realisation of monetary penalties and regulation of pooling of monies from public by schemes, including those in the nature of collective investments, among others.

Sebi has been facing major impediments on its investigation and enforcement powers with regard to protecting investments by attachment of assets. It has also faced challenges to enforcement and implementation of its orders.

Besides, it has been feeling restrained in taking actions against erring entities, as it lacks an effective power of search and seizure and powers to call for information from any person in relation to enquiry or investigation.

Sebi has also sough direct powers to attach/sell movable and immovable properties without recourse to court of law, in order to take effective enforcement action if the concerned entity has either disappeared, or raised money in violation of securities laws, or has fraudulently diverted public money.

These would help Sebi enforce compliance with its orders for refund of public monies collected through illegal means. Regarding search and seizure powers, Sebi has said it can carry out such operations presently only after the approval

from the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate.

However, this requirement renders the power ineffective due to the confidential nature of investigation and delays involved in obtaining such approvals, Sebi has said, while seeking direct search and seizure powers. Sebi has also said that it should be expressly empowered to obtain necessary information from other regulators and the entities not directly linked to capital markets.

While conducting market surveillance and investigations, Sebi often requires information from persons and companies who are not directly under its jurisdiction, but may have information that is crucial for its investigations.

The regulator said it has come across many cases where money trail of investigation transaction is traced involving mprivate banks/NBFCs/ private lenders and so on. Further, in many cases, it becomes almost impossible to identify the insider/fraudster syndicate as information flow is through phone/cell phone provided by private telecom companies, Sebi has said. On being requisitioned for desired information, they plead lack of Sebi jurisdiction and withhold the same. "Due to such inhibitions, Sebi's cases are weakened as circumstantial evidences may not be sufficient to establish desired preponderance of probability," Sebi said, while seeking necessary powers to allow it to seek information fromany person in the process of investigation.

It has also sought establishment of special Courts to deal with criminal prosecution for violation of securities laws in view of the large pendency of prosecution cases, and has suggested that counsels representing Sebi may be deemed to be public prosecutors.

Source: The Indian Express

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

Today's Hot Stories - April 25, 2013 - PT education

Today's Hot Stories - April 25, 2013

10 Headlines for Today

(1) Green tribunal orders de-concretisation of trees in Delhi
(2) Police bank on forensic evidence in child rape case
(3) Abdul Hamid sworn in as Bangladesh President
(4) Archana Bhargava is new CMD of United Bank
(5) Maruti to consider merger of seven arms with itself
(6) Etihad to co-pilot Jet Airways
(7) Top athletes to compete in Jamaica meet
(8) Sunrisers aim to shine against CSK
(9) Indian squash players not to play in Pakistan
(10) Iconic work by Indian artists up for sale in New York

5 Stories for Today

(1) Chit fund scam accused blames Trinamool MPs
(2) Umayyad mosque, a Unesco world heritage site, falls amid battles in Syria
(3) RIL in cable pact with Bharti for 4G services
(4) UK to learn if it has entered 'triple-dip' recession
(5) Private life insurers join hands to fight phony investment fraud

(1) Chit fund scam accused blames Trinamool MPs


The promoter of a collapsed chit fund that has bankrupted small depositors in West Bengal and generated a swirling political controversy of potentially national proportions has alleged in a letter to the CBI that two Trinamool Congress MPs took vast sums from him on various occasions and later forced him to transfer the ownership of various media organisations at throwaway prices.

In an 18-page letter, dated April 6, Sudipta Sen, Chairman and Managing Director of the Saradha Group, accuses the two Trinamool leaders, Kunal Ghosh and Srinjay Bose, of approaching him, citing their close links to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He also alleges that Nalini Chidambaram, wife of Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who was Union Home Minister at the time, sought his help for the establishment of a television channel in north-east India. The letter accuses other businesspersons and politicians of putting pressure on the fund to lend money for various projects.

None of the individuals named in the letter was available for comment at the time of going to press.

Mr. Sen’s letter, written in rambling and ungrammatical prose, gives a detailed account of the activities of the Saradha Group, the setting up of some of its subsidiaries and its acquisition of television channels and newspapers. He states that he entered the media industry in order to combat “attacks” from the media against his company.

“…Kunal Ghosh [who later became Trinamool Congress MP] led the attack dangerously. He attended the meeting with the then Finance Minister, Asim Dasgupta, and started campaigning against Saradha as I found that very helpless to combat the media attack. I thought I must enter the media business,” Mr. Sen writes.

He then describes acquiring the Bengali news network Channel 10 for Rs. 24 crore, which got operational after he spent “not less than Rs. 50 crore” in branding, advertising, infrastructure and operational costs.

He also alleges that he met Mr. Ghosh and Mr. Bose (who is also now a Trinamool Congress MP) as representatives of the Bengali newspaper Pratidin, and it was agreed that the paper would be paid Rs. 60 lakh a month. Mr. Ghosh was appointed CEO of the channel at a salary of Rs. 15 lakh, he adds.

Assurance

The agreement assured him that “they will protect my business from the government [both State and Centre]” and “a smooth passage,” the letter states adding that “they assured me that they have close connection with the present Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee.”

In his letter, Mr. Sen threatens that he may commit suicide “because I am feeling helpless” and cannot refund the “entire public money which has been collected in my name” that was put at risk by “unscrupulous persons and cheats in society.”

“My overall business [failed] due to the media entry, extortion from the above named persons [the letter mentions several other names] and blackmailed my own staff and executives (sic),” it adds.

Source: The Hindu

(2) Umayyad mosque, a Unesco world heritage site, falls amid battles in Syria


The 11th-century minaret of a famed mosque that towered over the narrow stone alleyways of Aleppo's old quarter collapsed on Wednesday as rebels and government troops fought pitched battles in the streets around it, depriving the ancient Syrian city of one of its most important landmarks.

President Bashar Assad's government and the rebels trying to overthrow him traded blame over the destruction to the Umayyad Mosque, a UNESCO world heritage site and centerpiece of Aleppo's walled Old City.

"This is like blowing up the Taj Mahal or destroying the Acropolis in Athens. This mosque is a living sanctuary," said Helga Seeden, a professor of archaeology at the American University of Beirut. "This is a disaster. In terms of heritage, this is the worst I've seen in Syria. I'm horrified."

Aleppo, Syria's largest city and a commercial hub, emerged as a key battleground in the nation's civil war after rebels launched an offensive there last summer. Since then, the fighting has carved the city into rebel- and regime-held zones, killed thousands of people, forced thousands more to flee their homes and laid waste to entire neighborhoods.

The Umayyad Mosque complex, which dates mostly from the 12th century, suffered extensive damage in October as both sides fought to control the walled compound in the heart of the old city. The fighting left the mosque burned, scarred by bullets and trashed. Two weeks earlier, the nearby medieval covered market, or souk, was gutted by a fire sparked by fighting.

With thousands of years of written history, Syria is home to archaeological treasures that date back to biblical times, including the desert oasis of Palmyra, a cultural center of the ancient world. The nation's capital, Damascus, is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world.

At least five of Syria's six World Heritage sites have been damaged in the fighting, according to UNESCO, the U.N.'s cultural agency. Looters have broken into one of the world's best-preserved Crusader castles, Crac des Chevaliers, and ruins in the ancient city of Palmyra were damaged. Both rebel and regime forces have set up bases in some of Syria's significant historic sites, including citadels and Turkish bath houses, while thieves have stolen artifacts from museums.

The destruction of the minaret - which dated to 1090 and was the oldest surviving part of the Umayyad Mosque - brought outrage and grief.

"What is happening is a big shame," said Imad a-Khal, a 59-year-old Christian businessman in Aleppo. "Thousands of tourists used to visit this site. Every day is a black day for Syrians."

The main Western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, accused the government of intentionally committing "a crime against civilization and humanity" by destroying the minaret.

"The regime has done all it can to tear apart the Syrian social fabric," the Coalition said in a statement. "By its killings and destruction of heritage, it is planting bitterness in the hearts of the people that will be difficult to erase for a long time to come."

There were conflicting accounts about what leveled the minaret, leaving the once-soaring stone tower a pile of rubble and twisted metal scattered in the mosque's tiled courtyard.

Syria's state news agency said rebels from the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra group blew it up, while Aleppo-based activist Mohammed al-Khatib said a Syrian army tank fired a shell that "totally destroyed" the minaret.

The mosque fell into rebel hands earlier this year after heavy fighting but the area around the compound remains contested, with Syrian troops just some 200 yards (meters) away.

An amateur video posted online by the anti-government Aleppo Media Center showed the mosque's vaulted archways charred from earlier fighting and a pile of rubble where the minaret used to be.

Standing inside the mosque courtyard, a man who appeared to be a rebel fighter, said regime forces recently fired seven shells at the minaret but failed to knock it down. On Wednesday, the tank rounds struck their target, he said.

"We were standing here today and suddenly shells started hitting the minaret," the man said. The army "then tried to storm the mosque but we pushed them back."

The video appeared genuine and corresponded to other Associated Press reporting.

The destruction in Aleppo follows the collapse a week earlier of the minaret of the historic Omari Mosque in the southern city of Daraa. The Daraa mosque was built during the Islamic conquest of Syria in the days of Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab in the seventh century.

In that instance as well, the opposition and regime blamed each other. The state news agency accused Jabhat al-Nusra of positioning cameras around the area to record the event.

Whether the destruction is targeted or not, the damage highlights the difficulties of protecting a nation's cultural heritage in wartime.

"Culture can only really be protected in peace time. When you have open warfare, it is impossible," said Seeden, the archaeology professor in Beirut. "When buildings are under fire, you cannot protect the buildings. You can't protect what's in it, if they are mosaics, wall paintings, architectural details that are part of the building - there's no way you can protect them."

After the Umayyad Mosque was first damaged last year, Assad issued a presidential decree to form a committee to repair it by the end of 2013, although it's not clear what such a body could do amid a raging civil war. The mosque's last renovations began about 20 years ago and were completed in 2006.

The damage in Aleppo is just part of the wider devastation caused by the country's conflict, which began more than two years ago with largely peaceful protests but morphed into a civil war as the opposition took up arms in the face of a withering government crackdown. The fighting has exacted a huge toll, killing more than 70,000 people, leaving cities, towns and villages in ruins and forcing more than a million people to flee their homes and seek refuge abroad.

Also Wednesday, Syrian church officials said the whereabouts of two bishops kidnapped in northern Syria remain unknown, a day after telling reporters the priests had been released.

Gunmen pulled Bishop Boulos Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church and Bishop John Ibrahim of the Assyrian Orthodox Church from their car and killed their driver on Monday while they were traveling outside Aleppo. It was not clear who abducted the priests.

But Bishop Tony Yazigi of the Damascus-based Greek Orthodox Church said the gunmen are believed to be Chechen fighters from Jabhat al-Nusra. Yazigi declined to say what made it appear that the Nusra Front was involved.

That account corresponded with one provided by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said foreign fighters had abducted the bishops near a checkpoint outside Aleppo. Director Rami Abdul-Rahman said activists in the area said the gunmen were foreign fighters from the Caucuses.

However, the main opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, condemned the kidnapping and blamed Assad's regime.

In Rome, Pope Francis called for the rapid release of the two bishops. In his appeal Tuesday, the pontiff called the abduction "a dramatic confirmation of the tragic situation in which the Syrian population and its Christian community are living."

There has been a spike in kidnappings in northern Syria, much of which is controlled by the rebels, and around Damascus in recent months. Residents blame criminal groups that have ties to both the regime and the rebels for the abductions of wealthy residents traveling to Syria from neighboring Turkey and Lebanon.

Source: The Times of India

(3) RIL in cable pact with Bharti for 4G services


Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Tuesday signed a deal for using the 'i2i' undersea cable network of Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel between India and Singapore, for RIL's proposed 4G services.

Though the two companies did not announce the deal-size, sources said

it was worth about Rs. 110 crore.

Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJI), the subsidiary of RIL, had earlier this month signed an agreement with Reliance Communications (RCOM) for using the latter's optic fibre network for inter-city connectivity.

On Tuesday's deal, a statement by RJI said: "The high speed link will enable RJI to extend its network and service reach to customers across Asia Pacific region. It will connect RJI directly to the world's major business hubs and ISPs, thereby helping the operator meet bandwidth demand and provide ultra-fast data experience to customers."

The statement said the two companies are exploring other mutual areas of cooperation and development, indicating that more deals may emerge in the future.

The i2i cable's landing points are at Chennai in India and Tuas in Singapore. "Reliance Jio will utilise a dedicated fibre pair on i2i. The high speed link will enable Reliance Jio to extend its network and service reach to customers across Asia Pacific region," the statement said.

RJI is rolling out a pan-India 4G network, and plans to set up one of the largest optical fibre cable (OFC) telecom networks at about 1.5 lakh route kilometres. The company has has 20 MHz of spectrum in the 2300 MHz band.

RJI and RCOM are also likely to sign another deal for infrastructure in the telecom business within a fortnight. Sources say the two companies are in the final stages of negotiations for an agreement under which RIL will lease RCOM's towers for its 4G services.

Source: Hindustan Times

(4) UK to learn if it has entered 'triple-dip' recession


Britain finds out on Thursday if its stagnant economy has slipped back into recession, a week after the International Monetary Fund urged finance minister George Osborne to consider scaling back his austerity programme.

Economists estimate that Britain's $2.4 trillion economy eked out growth of 0.1 per cent in the first three months to March, according to a Reuters poll.

That would avoid a second quarter of contraction - the definition of a recession - after it shrank by 0.3 per cent in the last three months of 2012.

But with a margin this slim, the Office for National Statistics could easily report a negative number in its initial estimate of gross domestic product data at 0830 GMT, tipping the country into its third recession in under five years.

A "triple-dip recession" would come at an awkward time for Osborne, just days after ratings agency Fitch stripped Britain of its top-notch credit rating and plans to help homeowners in last month's budget came under fire from legislators.

Osborne has stuck to his commitment to eliminate Britain's underlying budget deficit in five years, despite consistently disappointing economic growth figures that have led to mounting calls for him to relent.

The IMF - previously supportive of Britain's approach to deficit reduction - thinks some cuts may need to be deferred given the weakness in demand. An IMF mission visits Britain next month for an assessment of the country's economy that could include recommendations for a change of course.

While the difference between growth or contraction of 0.1 per cent is statistically small, analysts warn of a broader problem of stagnation and a risk of a Japanese-style 'lost decade' of near-zero growth.

"The chance that you see a small contraction ... is pretty big," said Berenberg Bank economist Rob Wood, who forecasts zero growth on the quarter. "But I don't think this would change the underlying picture of an economy that has gone nowhere for 18 months and is struggling with some big headwinds," he added.

Britain has been much slower to recover from the financial crisis than most other big economies. At the end of 2012 its GDP was still nearly 3 per cent smaller than before the crisis.

Weak demand from a recession-hit euro zone, a drag from the government's deficit-reduction measures and high inflation eating into meagre wage rises are all to blame.

Furthermore, the global economy is weakening and there are signs of slowing growth in the United States and China.

Adding to the pressure on Osborne, influential academic research that helped underpin his case for the need for rapid deficit reduction has recently been challenged.

He has announced plans for mortgage guarantees and shared equity loans for homebuyers to jump start the housing market, but members of parliament's cross party Treasury Committee said on Saturday the proposals were vague, had unclear costs and might not succeed in increasing the supply of housing.

In another effort to boost the economy, the finance ministry and Bank of England expanded a scheme on Wednesday which aims to boost bank lending.

The performance of the economy in the first quarter hinges largely on whether Britain's dominant services sector - which had a strong January - was hit hard by rare March snow. Industrial output is expected to have been broadly flat, while the small construction sector is likely to have contracted.

Source: The Economic Times

(5) Private life insurers join hands to fight phony investment fraud


Amid a continuing Sebi probe into a phony investment syndicate active in the national capital region, six private life insurers have joined hands to fight the menace of mis-selling of insurance products through spurious calls made by fraudulent agents.

Capital markets regulator Sebi earlier this month unearthed a syndicate of fraudulent gents operating in the

national capital, wherein a large number of people could have been defrauded in the name of mutual fund and insurance products purchased by their deceased family members.

Sebi widened its probe after preliminary investigations, conducted with the assistance of the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police, indicated an organized attempt by several people to defraud the gullible investors.

As Sebi is continuing its probe, six private insurers – Reliance Life Insurance, ICICI Prudential, HDFC Life, Birla Sun Life, SBI Life and Aegon Religare - have formally filed a complaint with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), seeking its help to act against the spurious callers, sources said. Sensing a large-scale fraud, the insurers and their regulator IRDA have also begun sensitizing the public on the matter though emails and SMSes on a regular basis. According to Reliance Life Insurance CEO Anup Rau, there are strict compliance policy and processes to help identify and act against spurious callers trying to mislead customers.

"We have been regularly alerting our customers through SMS and emails against falling prey to any person or entity making superficial offers of high returns, loans, bonus or gains," he said.

In a recent public notice, IRDA also warned customers against fake entities calling on behalf of insurers. The country's biggest insurer, state-run LIC has also warned its customers and the general public about fraudulent agents, through newspapers and other channels.

In their complaints with the EOW, the private life insurance companies have sought action against offenders who make spurious calls to customers with false promises on loans or other investment products to dupe them.

Their modus operandi typically involves the customers being asked to surrender their existing insurance policies and shift to some new products for better returns. The agents, in the process, earn hefty commissions or at times dupe the investors of their entire investment values.

When contacted, Reliance Life Insurance confirmed the development and said that the insurance companies have given presentations to EOW about the modus operandi of fake callers. As per their presentations, these fraudsters are operating from make-shift call centres in the Delhi NCR.

The preliminary investigations by the insurers also found that some of these persons were previously associated with insurance companies, directly or indirectly. Typically, these persons use pre-paid mobile numbers or calling cards to contact gullible investors, while some people operate as field staff to collect documents and cheques.

Source: The Indian Express

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

Today's Hot Stories - April 17, 2013 - PT education

Today's Hot Stories - April 17, 2013

10 Headlines for Today

(1) Supreme Court gives Sanjay Dutt four more weeks to surrender
(2) Bomb blast near BJP office in Bangalore, several injured
(3) Indian techies welcome US immigration bill
(4) Airlines may get direct subsidy
(5) India, EU fail to clinch trade deal
(6) Post appraisal, Cognizant asks underperformers to go
(7) Golf: Masters victory lifts Scott to third place
(8) SFL: Pokam, Schneider win titles
(9) Dimitrov beats Janko in Monte Carlo
(10) Nizam's pink diamond smashes records, sells for Rs.200 crore

5 Stories for Today

(1) PM: India to double renewable energy capacity by 2017
(2) Boston Marathon bombs made from pressure cookers
(3) Rural India turns good hiring ground: Report
(4) Tesco quits US as profits fall for first time in 20 years
(5) IMF cuts world growth forecast for 2013

(1) PM: India to double renewable energy capacity by 2017


Voicing concern over “painfully slow” progress in climate talks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the goal of stabilising global temperatures was “nowhere in sight” and pitched for individual countries to take action to increase energy efficiency.

Dr. Singh also made it clear that rich nations, who were responsible for a bulk of greenhouse gas emissions, were best placed to provide workable solutions to mitigate climate change.

They (industrialised nations) also have high per capita incomes, which gives them the highest capacity to bear the burden. They are technically most advanced, and to that extent best placed to provide workable solutions not only for themselves but for the whole world,” he said.

“Unfortunately, progress in these negotiations is painfully slow. The goal of stabilising global temperatures at acceptable levels is nowhere in sight,” he told Energy Ministers of 20 leading economies gathered in Delhi to discuss speedy transition to a global clean energy economy.

Dr. Singh said while it must be ensured that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change process reaches some acceptable outcome, individual countries have to take action to increase energy efficiency and also to promote clean energy.

The Prime Minister said India was taking steps to exploit non-conventional clean energy sources like solar and wind power and has proposed to double renewable energy capacity in the country from 25,000 MW in 2012 to 55,000 MW by 2017.

Source: The Hindu

(2) Boston Marathon bombs made from pressure cookers


American confidence about having staved off a terror attack on mainland USA after 9/11 was dented on Monday following blasts that killed three people and injured close to 150, 17 of them critically, near the finish of the iconic Boston marathon. Among the victims was an eight-year-old boy who was watching his father run the race.

Nearly 24 hours after the bloody incident, it was still not clear if the attack came from the domestic disgruntled or foreign elements. President Barack Obama called for avoiding a rush to judgment while pledging the perpetrators would be brought to justice. Authorities said late Tuesday that the two bombs were built using pressure cookers and were packed with gunpowder and ball bearings.

Obama did not use the word "terror" or "terrorism" in his initial remarks, but administration officials left little doubt that whether domestic or foreign, this was a terror attack different from the school shootings and other random gun violence endemic in the US.

But on Tuesday morning, some 24 hours later, the President said "given what we now know about what took place, the FBI is investigating it as an act of terrorism."

"Any time bombs are used to target innocent civilians it is an act of terror," Obama said in a statement, adding, "What we don't yet know, however, is who carried out this attack, or why; whether it was planned and executed by a terrorist organization, foreign or domestic, or was the act of a malevolent individual." He said authorities were at the beginning of the investigations.

There were reports of a 20-year Saudi student being questioned even as the Saudi foreign minister was in the US Capital, but the initial finger of suspicion pointed to a home-grown, lone-person attack given the relative crudeness of the explosives despite its lethal nature.

Still, the debate was between whether it was an "Eric Rudolph-like case or a Faisal Shahzad operation." Rudolph was an anti-gay, anti-abortion wingnut who undertook the Atlanta Olympics bombing; Shahzad was a Pakistan-American responsible for the Times Square bombing.

In either case, it was the first successful terror strike of this kind on mainland USA after the 9/11 attack. The incident brought to mind dozens of such strikes that have occurred in India over the years.

Indeed, one of the witnesses interviewed on television recalled the Mumbai carnage that took place when she was visiting. Incidentally, there were no Indians reported among the victims although Boston has a significant population from the sub-continent because of its reputation as a center of learning and technology hub.

But on a beautiful spring day, it was the historic marathon, which has been held since 1897, that was the target of the horrific bombing. Hundreds of runners were converging on the finish line when the two explosions, about 12 seconds apart, went off.

The race clock showed a little past 4 hours and nine minutes, which means the top class runners, who typically finish in less than two and half hours, had already finished the race. It was the middle-rangers who were converging on the finish.

The bombs stunned the runners, many of whom ran helter-skelter or turned around to run back. But there was also the incredible scene of 78-year old Bill Iffrig, who was knocked down by the explosion some 15 feet before the tape, but after being helped up to his feet by a race official, ran the remaining length to finish the race. He later said he wasn't going to give up after running 26 miles.

A similar resilience marked the approach of grim-faced law enforcement authorities as they set about the investigation even as the administration promised to bring the culprits to book. Time and again, there were exhortations not to rush to conclusions like it happened with the Atlanta Olympic Park bombing when a security guard who helped find a bomb was considered a suspect after initially being hailed a hero. It was months before he was exonerated and Rudolph was tracked down.

"We still do not know who did this or why," President Obama said at a White House briefing, cautioning people against jumping to conclusions because of such errors. "But make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this, and we will find out who did this, we'll find out why they did this."

Source: The Times of India

(3) Rural India turns good hiring ground: Report


Companies across sectors are positive about business and recruitment in the first half of this fiscal year and the smaller cities will face the greener side of hiring, staffing solutions company TeamLease Services said today.

According to the TeamLease Services April-September FY'14 Employment Outlook Report, there is a 4 per cent rise in the employment outlook index to 79 when compared to the previous half year (October 2012 to March 2013), when it stood at 75.

The net employment outlook is the difference in the proportion of respondents reporting an increase in hiring needs and those reporting a decrease.

Commenting on the report, TeamLease Services Senior Vice- President & Co-Founder Sangeeta Lala said: "It is surprising that despite the economic downturn, the job market this half year shows a positive outlook in almost all the major sectors."

The business outlook too has grown by 2 per cent when compared to the previous half year (October-March 2013).

Hiring in Tier-I cities will see a marginal increase of 1 per cent in the April-September period, while recruitment for Tier II & III cities, are likely to register a 4 per cent rise, the report said.

"Tier-II cities are emerging as hiring grounds for cost effective talent, giving the mid level companies an opportunity to boost their employee base. Companies will also

face new challenges for retaining the top level talent and calibrating the wrongly hired talent in the past," Lala said.

The report further noted rural BPOs that have emerged at locations such as Hosur, Kochi, Udupi, Falda and Chindwara are a good ground for hiring cost-effective support staff.

Hiring at middle and junior levels is set to be more popular in the April-September period, and in terms of functional areas, blue collar and engineering are far ahead of the rest, the report said. In terms of employment and business outlook, ITeS and healthcare were the front runners. While, retail is projected to rise by 5 percentage points in employment outlook, the business outlook for the infrastructure sector is weak.

City trends point to Mumbai as the leader. The other gainers include Bangalore and Delhi.

The TeamLease Employment Outlook Report, which covered 614 companies in the latest round, focuses on the employment growth potential, the business outlook and hiring forecasts with relation to the location and the company profile.

Source: The Indian Express

(4) Tesco quits US as profits fall for first time in 20 years


Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, will exit its loss-making business in the United States, taking a $1.5 billion writeoff that caused its annual profit to fall for the first time in 20 years.

The group also wrote down the value of its property in Britain by 800 million pounds and its businesses in Poland, Czech Republic and Turkey by half a billion pounds and said growth in its core home market had slowed despite huge investment.

Shares in the group were down 2.8 percent in early trade giving the group a market valuation of 30.3 billion pounds.

The announcements were designed to signal a turning point in the fightback for what was once one of Britain's most consistently performing companies - the world's third largest retailer after Wal-Mart and Carrefour.

"The announcements made today are natural consequences of the strategic changes we first began over a year ago and which conclude today," Chief Executive Philip Clarke said.

"I've been working for Tesco for nearly 40 years and I can tell you this - it already looks, feels and acts like a different and a better business."

It made a pretax profit of 1.96 billion pounds in the year to Feb. 13, down 51.5 percent. It also reported a 14.5 percent fall in underlying full-year profit, largely reflecting the cost of a turnaround plan for its home market, launched after a shock profit warning in January last year.

Despite the heavy investment, the group said fourth quarter sales at British stores open over a year, excluding fuel and VAT sales tax, grew 0.5 percent - a slowdown from growth of 1.8 percent in the six weeks to Jan. 5.

That was however at the top end of a range of forecasts of 0 to 0.5 percent and the strongest quarterly growth for three years, the company said.

Tesco's 1 billion pound fightback plan for Britain focused on more staff, refurbished stores, revamped food ranges and price initiatives - all aimed at reversing years of underinvestment and halting a loss of market share to rivals like J Sainsbury and Asda.

As it reviewed the British business, it also took a writedown of 804 million pounds on its property investments. The writedown on the operations in Poland, Czech Republic and Turkey hit half a billion pounds.

Tesco also said it had increased its provision to cover the possible miss-selling of insurance products at its Tesco Bank to 115 million pounds.

The group's earnings have also been hit by restrictions on store opening times in South Korea.

Back on track?

Following the retrenchment in the U.S., it now expects to deliver mid single digit trading profit growth, a return on capital employed within a range of 12 to 15 percent and dividend growth broadly in line with underlying earnings.

"Tesco's ignominious exit from the US will grab all the headlines but the truth is that even without the Fresh & Easy debacle the supermarket would probably still have seen its profits fall for the first time in 20 years," said Phil Dorrell, director of retail consultants, Retail Remedy.

"Slowly, things are getting back on track in the UK. The question now is can Tesco sustain its newfound momentum and increase profits in a still challenging global climate? 2013 is shaping up to be a critical year."

In the United States, it has decided to cut its losses and exit altogether.

Source: The Economic Times

(5) IMF cuts world growth forecast for 2013


The IMF cut its world growth forecast for 2013 on Tuesday as the eurozone recession continued to drag, but predicted growth overall would pick up in the second half of the year.

In its newest assessment of the global economy, the International Monetary Fund said world output would expand by 3.3% in 2013, compared to the 3.5% it predicted in January.

That left the pace of the world economic expansion virtually flat from 2012's 3.2%, with slower-than-expected growth in the United States and prolonged stagnation in the euro area the key reasons behind the downgrade.

Despite some promising signs, though, the IMF expressed concerns over a global fragmentation between the dynamism of the emerging countries, the United States just puttering along in second gear, and the eurozone stagnating.

"We are in a better place but... we're not out of the woods," said Olivier Blanchard, IMF chief economist, at a news conference.

The global crisis lender said that short-term risks still loomed especially in the eurozone, where Cyprus's fresh bailout and Italy's weaknesses could still spark fresh setbacks.

"The slump in the eurozone is worrisome," said Blanchard.

But the IMF also saw growth slower in large emerging economies like Russia, China, Brazil and India, underscoring the global sense of economic weakness.

"Global prospects have improved again but the road to recovery in the advanced economies will remain bumpy," the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook report.

"In the medium term, the key risks relate to adjustment fatigue, insufficient institutional reform, and prolonged stagnation in the euro area as well as high fiscal deficits and debt in the United States and Japan.

"In this setting, policymakers cannot afford to relax their efforts."

With immediate crises out of the way, the Fund stuck close to its previous estimate for global growth in 2014, predicting a 4.0% expansion, "assuming that policymakers avoid setbacks and deliver on their commitments."

Generally prospects were better since last year after two of the largest short-term threats to the global recovery were defused: the threat of a breakup of the eurozone and a potentially sharp contraction in the United States driven by extreme budget cuts and tax hikes.

Even so, the two giant economies continue to drag. US growth was forecast at 1.9% this year, due to larger-than-expected government spending cuts, and the eurozone was expected to contract 0.3%.

Even in Europe's powerhouse Germany, growth is forecast at less than 1% in 2013.

Although markets are giving struggling eurozone governments better terms for financing, that improvement is not passing through to businesses and households, mainly because banks remain hobbled by bad debt and weak capital, the Fund said.

The immediate threat, though, remains "uncertainty about the fallout from events in Cyprus and politics in Italy as well as vulnerabilities in the periphery."

The IMF upped its growth forecast for long-stagnant Japan, to 1.6% from 1.2%, as the Bank of Japan launches an ambitious stimulus plan to reflate the economy.

But that also promised to elevate further Tokyo's massive debt load, which the IMF says is an important point of concern without a medium-term plan to reduce its debt.

Among emerging economies, the IMF lowered its 2013 forecast for China's growth by 0.1% point to 8.0% - still better than 2012's pace - and Brazil by 0.5% points to 3.0%.

On Monday, Beijing said growth in the first quarter ran a lower-than-expected pace of 7.7% fueling fears that a rebound in the world's number-two economy is faltering on weak overseas demand.

The IMF said that Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa remain supported by resilient domestic consumer demand, and should improve if growth in the eurozone, US and other advanced economies picks up.

But the Middle East-North Africa region is still struggling with political reforms, and inflation and foreign exchange market pressures are setting tough challenges in some Latin American countries.

The IMF said the "bumpy" progress of the advanced economies was making it difficult for developing countries themselves to get traction as well as to manage gushes of capital and upward pressure on currencies.

Although worldwide inflation was generally under control, it warned advanced-economy central banks stoking their markets with liquidity to remain on guard for a change in price expectations.

However, it said, growing complaints about competitive exchange rate devaluations "appear overblown."

"The US dollar and the euro appear moderately overvalued and the renminbi moderately undervalued. The evidence on valuation of the yen is mixed."

"The challenge for recipient countries is to accommodate the underlying trends while reducing the volatility of the flows when they threaten macro or financial stability."

Source: Hindustan Times

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

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

Today's Hot Stories - April 12, 2013

10 Headlines for Today

(1) Supreme Court rejects Bhullar’s mercy plea
(2) Away from home, PM admits to gender insecurity in India
(3) Kerry in South Korea amid tensions with North
(4) M&M losses mount as strike enters Day 4
(5) 3G case: Centre directed not to take steps against Vodafone, Idea
(6) Honda Amazes with diesel debut
(7) Finch, Uthappa set up Pune Warriors’ victory
(8) Tamil Nadu and Railways clinch titles
(9) Aisam wants to play in Bhupathi’s ITPL
(10) Facebook users could swing Lok Sabha results

5 Stories for Today

(1) Anti-Sikh riots were sponsored by Cong, BJP says
(2) Gun control bill clears its first hurdle in Senate
(3) Weak growth: Infosys outlook disappoints, shares plunge 20%
(4) Yuan speculators muddle China's exports, complicating reform
(5) Be part of India story: Manmohan Singh tells Germany

(1) Anti-Sikh riots were sponsored by Cong, BJP says


Opposition BJP on Thursday attacked Congress and alleged that the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in which JagdishTytler is facing charges were "sponsored" by the ruling party at the behest of the Gandhi family and sought to know why the party was silent on the issue for the last 28 years.

The main opposition also said there were no similarities between the 1984 "massacre" and the 2002 post-Godhra riots and claimed that prompt action was taken by the Gujarat government in the latter case.

"We welcome the court decision to reopen the case against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre. He is a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee and even contested the 2004 elections. The riots were actually a Congress-sponsored massacre of Sikhs," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters. She claimed that the riots, allegedly involving some Congress leaders including Tytler, had the support of then PM Rajiv Gandhi and his family.

"Rajiv Gandhi had said (after Indira Gandhi's assassination) that when a big tree falls the earth shakes. No statement has come from the family even after 28 years. Why are they silent? If there had been any sensitivity in the family, they would have apologized," she said.

Other than Tytler, Congress leaders H K L Bhagat, Dharam Das Shastri, Sajjan Kumar and Kamal Nath have been named by various committees which have probed the 1984 riots, the BJP claimed.

The party insisted that the anti-Sikh riots could not be compared to the 2002 Gujarat riots. "In 2002, it was a riot. I would not justify it for even a minute. But the administration responded by calling in the Army. In 1984, it was a one-sided massacre. People were not allowed to lodge an FIR. Army was deployed in Delhi only on the third day and in other places only on the fourth day," Sitharaman said.

Sitharaman quoted from various commissions and committees which had probed the 1984 riots and claimed that Congress leaders and workers had incited or helped mobs in attacking Sikhs.

"Even as the news of the unfortunate death of the prime minister (Indira Gandhi) spread, Congress leaders were distributing voters' list and ration cards among themselves to single out Sikhs," she said, adding that houses were branded as was done by Nazi forces against Jews during the World War.

She said the government of the day was so "insensitive" that small businessmen whose property was damaged in the riots were not given insurance cover. "Nanavati Commission has observed that despite the curfew, mobs indulging in violence were moving freely and committing acts of looting and killing," Sitharaman said.

Source: The Times of India

(2) Gun control bill clears its first hurdle in Senate


Congress' most serious gun-control effort in years cleared its first hurdle Thursday as the Senate pushed past conservatives' attempted blockade under the teary gaze of families of victims of December's Connecticut school shootings.

The bipartisan 68-31 vote rebuffed an effort to keep debate from even starting, giving an early victory - and perhaps political momentum - to President Barack Obama and his gun control allies.

Four months after 20 first-graders and six staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown were killed; relatives watching the vote from a gallery overlooking the Senate floor dabbed at tears and clasped hands, some seeming to pray.

Even so, few supporters of the legislation are confident of victory. Several weeks of emotional, unpredictable Senate debate lie ahead, and a mix of gun-rights amendments, opposition from the National Rifle Association and skepticism from House Republican leaders leave big questions about what will emerge from Congress. Foes of the proposed new restrictions say they would penalize law-abiding citizens and do nothing to curb gun violence. Senators of both parties had a rare joint luncheon to honor Arizona Sen. John McCain, the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee, on the 40th anniversary of his release from a North Vietnamese prison.

Hoping to bring pressure on Congress to act on gun control, supporters of new restrictions have been demonstrating in Washington. They have erected a mock graveyard with thousands of crosses on the National Mall, symbolizing victims of gun violence.

The Senate's firearms bill would subject nearly all gun buyers to background checks, add muscle to federal laws barring illicit firearm sales and provide slightly more money for school safety measures.

Excluded and facing near-certain defeat in upcoming votes were proposals to ban military-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines - factors in the Newtown killings some other recent mass shootings. But keeping those provisions out of the current legislation did not mollify critics.

Opponents said the remaining proposals were unwarranted intrusions on the Second Amendment right to bear arms, would be ignored by criminals and would do little to prevent future Newtowns. Obama's plans have received scant support from Republicans and many moderate Democrats, with many saying they prefer improvements in dealing with the mentally ill and stronger enforcement of existing laws.

"I'm not interested in a symbolic gesture which would offer the families of the Sandy Hook shootings no real solutions that they seek," said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the Senate's No. 2 Republican.

Congress hasn't approved major gun restrictions since enacting an assault weapons ban 19 years ago, a prohibition that lawmakers let lapse after a decade.

Some potential amendments could broaden gun rights and weaken supporters' backing for the overall bill.

One proposal is by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Mark Begich, D-Alaska, who say it would improve how the federal background check system blocks weapons from going to people with certain mental problems, though critics say it would make it harder in some cases to do so. Another possible amendment would require states to recognize permits for carrying concealed weapons issued by other states.

"The hard work starts now," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who brought the legislation to the floor for debate.

Still, in a Congress marked by a notable lack of cooperation between Democrats and Republicans, Thursday's vote was one of several displays of unusual rapport across party lines. In other examples not connected to the issue of guns:

Negotiators for the two parties said they had reached agreement on the major elements of a Senate immigration bill they're expected to unveil next week.

The top Republican in government, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, publicly disagreed with his party campaign chairman's criticism of Obama's budget proposal to trim future Social Security and Medicare benefits. Wednesday night, GOP senators left a White House dinner praising Obama for reaching out to them on his budget. In Thursday's vote, 50 Democrats and 2 Democratic-leaning independents were joined by 16 Republicans in voting to begin debate on the legislation. Twenty-nine Republicans and two Democrats facing re-election next year in GOP-leaning states voted "no" - Alaska's Begich and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.

After the roll call, Obama spoke by phone with some Newtown families and said he would "keep fighting for the votes they deserve," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

The Senate plans to debate an amendment Tuesday expanding background checks less broadly than the overall legislation would. Broadening the system to cover more transactions is the heart of the current effort on guns.

That amendment, a compromise between Sens. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., would subject buyers in commercial settings like gun shows and the Internet to the checks but exempt non-commercial transactions like sales between friends and relatives.

That accord, unveiled Wednesday, was designed to build bipartisan support for the legislation and seemed likely to do so. Toomey and Manchin are among the most conservative members of their parties and are both gun owners with NRA ratings of "A."

Toomey said Thursday he believes supporters of his compromise with Manchin would be able to beat back any filibuster attempt.

"Beyond that, I just don't know yet," he said on "CBS This Morning."

Gun-control groups have embraced the Manchin-Toomey compromise with varying degrees of enthusiasm, and they continued to applaud it on Thursday - while also expressing concerns about some provisions.

Besides the exemption for private sales, gun control advocates expressed displeasure with language letting gun dealers sell handguns to out-of-state customers, exempting some holders of permits for concealed weapons from background checks and shielding individuals who sell guns from some negligence lawsuits.

"We are optimistic that this bill will make a dramatic difference in reducing gun violence," said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. The NRA said it opposed the Manchin-Toomey compromise and warned senators that it would count votes on provisions it opposes in its evaluation of candidates that it provides its members, who the organization says number nearly 5 million.

Source: The Indian Express

(3) Weak growth: Infosys outlook disappoints, shares plunge 20%


"Global economic uncertainties remain challenging for the IT industry," Infosys CEO and managing director SD Shibulal said, adding "We are making all the investments necessary to differentiate ourselves in the market place while positioning ourselves as a partner of choice for our clients."

The company said it expects revenue to grow by 6-10% in the current fiscal, which is lower than Nasscom's estimate.

In February this year, software industry body Nasscom said information technology and IT-enabled services sectors are expected to grow 12-14% in 2013-14 fiscal.

Reacting to the results, shares of Infosys plunged 18.47% to Rs. 2,379 apiece in early trade on the BSE.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs. 2,316 crore for the January-March quarter of the previous fiscal (2011-12).

The Bangalore-based firm's consolidated net profit for the 2012-13 fiscal rose by 13.3 to Rs. 9,421 crore against Rs. 8,316 crore in the previous financial year.

Its revenues were up by 19.6% to Rs. 40,352 crore in the last fiscal from Rs. 33,734 crore in 2011-12 fiscal.

"The global currency market continues to be volatile reflecting the uncertain economic environment. Our hedging strategy helps us to minimise the volatility impact. We have a healthy balance sheet with our cash and cash equivalents at USD 4.4 billion," Infosys chief financial officer Rajiv Bansal said.

In dollar terms, profits dipped by 4.1% to USD 444 million in the January-March quarter, but revenues were up by 9% to USD 1.93 billion in the quarter under review.

During the quarter, Infosys added 8,990 (gross) and 1,059 (net) employees taking the total headcount to 1,56,688.

Infy slumps 20% on weak revenue outlook

Shares of Infosys on Friday fell sharply by nearly 20%, wiping off Rs. 30,943 crore from its market value, as investor sentiment turned bearish on lower-than-expected revenue growth for the current fiscal.

After making a weak opening from the previous close, shares of the company further tanked 19.8% to Rs. 2,340 on the BSE.

Similar was the trend at the NSE, where the stock crashed by 19.86% to Rs. 2,337.35.

Led by the sharp decline in the share price, the market value of the company tumbled by Rs. 30,943 crore to Rs. 1,36,610 crore.

"Weak revenue guidance and below-expectation numbers dragged down the company's shares. Street had estimated that Infosys would set a target for revenue growth of as much as 12 per cent," said Ashika Stock Brokers, Head Research, Paras Bothra.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs. 2,316 crore for the January-March quarter of the previous fiscal (2011-12).

The company said it expects revenue to grow by 6-10% in the current fiscal, which is lower than Nasscom's estimate.

In February this year, software industry body Nasscom said information technology and IT-enabled services sectors are expected to grow 12-14% in 2013-14 fiscal.

The revenues for the reported quarter were up 18.09% to Rs. 10,454 crore from Rs. 8,852 crore in the year-ago period, Infosys said in a filing to the BSE.

Weakness was also seen in other IT stocks where TCS was trading lower by 2.81%, Wipro (5.26%) and HCL Tech (2.63%).

Tracking weakness in these blue-chip scrips, the BSE IT index plunged 9.43 per cent to 6,153.38 and was the biggest loser among the 13 sectoral indices.

Fall in Infosys' stock which has the second highest weight on the Sensex was instrumental in sending the benchmark index down by 224.41 points to 18,317.79 in the first half of trade.

Source: Hindustan Times

(4) Yuan speculators muddle China's exports, complicating reform


Companies gambling on yuan appreciation are distorting Chinese trade statistics, creating a monetary policy headache for Beijing officials and complicating government plans to liberalise the capital account.

Speculative inflows disguised as trade are causing concern because they aggravate a recent trend - the sudden resurgence of hot money inflows. Some $125 billion poured into China in January and February after nine consecutive months of outflows, exclusive of hot money masquerading as trade.

Companies that cannot legally move money into the country for the purpose of currency speculation often try to circumvent China's capital controls by overstating trade invoices, thereby disguising investment funds as payments for goods and services sold overseas, according to economists.

These firms are betting on an extended rally of China's currency, which has gained more than 3 per cent against the dollar since the third quarter of 2012 to hit a record high on Friday morning. Now that is even distorting trade data.

To keep the exchange rate from appreciating too quickly in the face of such bullishness, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) has stepped up its meddling in the domestic forex market, despite repeated public promises from regulators to stay on the sidelines.

This intervention has caused Chinese foreign exchange reserves to rise by over $128 billion in the first quarter of 2013, compared with $130 billion for all of 2012, by extension pouring a tide of yuan into China's interbank market and applying downward pressure to short-term interest rates.

The central bank, aiming to keep rates under control, has been forced to adapt the way it manages liquidity, which has rattled the country's equity and money markets.

"If this trend is sustained, it complicates monetary policy; it adds liquidity to the economy which then inflates money and credit growth and property," said Robert Subbaraman, economist at Nomura in Hong Kong.

"The risks are that it might get authorities to think twice about how fast they open up the capital account."

Camouflaged investment

Official trade data on Wednesday showed that China's exports grew by an annual 10 per cent in March, appearing to stabilise after two months of strong performance, but economists were quick to question the credibility of the figures.

"Compared to the rest of Asia, China stood out like a sore thumb," said Subbaraman. He said that while East Asian countries' exports usually rise and fall at similar rates, in recent months China's 10 per cent annual growth rate far exceeded neighbours such as Taiwan (3.3 per cent) and South Korea (0.3 per cent).

Most sceptics took particular note of the apparent explosive growth (over 90 per cent) in exports to Hong Kong and 300-plus per cent growth to bonded customs zones, despite the fact that export demand from the United States and Europe - ordinarily the ultimate destination for such exports - remained tepid.

Statistics from Hong Kong and Chinese customs have also fallen out of sync, with Chinese customs reporting more exports to Hong Kong than Hong Kong customs is reporting imports from China.

Lu Ting, economist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, pointed out in a research note distributed to clients that the growth of exports in high-value integrated circuits was particularly suspicious since such products are cheap to ship and their value is "easily manipulated".

"There are no exogenous factors that help to explain why the fluctuations have been so large in China-Hong Kong trade in February and March," said Fredrik Erixon, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy, a think-tank in Brussels.

"The transactions between China and Hong Kong are just the symptom of a larger problem."

Zheng Yuesheng, spokesman of China's General Administration of Customs, said officials were investigating "abnormal trade growth with Hong Kong" and would take regulatory steps if needed.

Controlling speculation

What those measures might be is an open question. Historically, regulators have struggled to prevent the opening of China's capital account from becoming a channel for exchange rate speculation. Destabilising speculative flows would put China's macroeconomic stability at risk and discourage the increased usage of the yuan in trade, a key policy goal.

"If RMB is accepted in international transactions due to reasons which are not related with speculation and arbitrage, the internationalization of the RMB should be welcome," said Yu Yongding, an economist at the China Academy of Social Sciences, in an email to Reuters.

"Otherwise, the internationalization is false, is something else, and is not sustainable. As soon as expectations change, unwinding will begin."

In Hong Kong, offshore yuan (CNH) continues to trade at a premium to the onshore spot market, implying offshore investors expect it to keep rising. But dealers in China's interbank market question the sustainability of those expectations, given the country's economic recovery remains tenuous, being very dependent on a sustained recovery in genuine export demand.

Several money dealers in Shanghai, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media, told Reuters they are already seeing signs that speculative inflows are slowing.

"The more money can come in, the more it can go out as well," said Subbaraman of Nomura.

"If China slows down more than people expect, it could cause capital flight."

Source: The Economic Times

(5) Be part of India story: Manmohan Singh tells Germany


Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday invited Germany to participate in India’s rapid economic growth and the government’s plans to modernise and upgrade the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.

“Our infrastructure plans entail investment of a $ 1 trillion in the next five years. I also sought continuing openness and support to growing Indian presence in Germany, including in the services sector,” Dr. Singh said in a statement after the conclusion of the second India-German Governmental Consultation here .

He also felt that the agreement signed on Thursday on scientific collaboration on technologies for civilian security added a new dimension to the growing security cooperation. The Prime Minister was of the view that the Joint Declaration of Intent for Development of Green Energy Corridors in India could be a milestone in the shared commitment to address challenges.

“Our relationship draws strategic strength from our shared values, sensitivity to each other’s aspirations and interests, a comprehensive bilateral relationship and growing international engagement. The high level of bilateral engagement in recent years has substantially and tangibly raised the quality of our cooperation across a broad range of areas,” Dr. Singh said.

Pointing out that the scale of deep and closer cooperation between India and Germany increased steadily in the last few years, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany was keen to intensify cooperation in the agriculture and health sectors and added that Indian students were welcome to come and study in Germany.

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 - April 11, 2013 - PT education

Today's Hot Stories - April 11, 2013

10 Headlines for Today

(1) Trinamool goons ransack historic Presidency University lab to avenge Delhi attack (2) JD(U) set to put BJP on notice over Modi-for-PM
(3) NKorea 'skating very close to dangerous line': US
(4) Car sales expected to grow 3-5% in 2013-14
(5) Ambani brothers set to ink tower-sharing deal
(6) Scandal-hit Hollande vows to 'eradicate' tax havens
(7) Pedro fires nervy Barca into CL semis
(8) Chennai win battle of Kings at Mohali
(9) Petra Kvitova leads Czechs against Italy
(10) Pioneer of test tube baby, Robert Edwards, dies

5 Stories for Today

(1) Star power, numerology hold netas in spell in Karnataka
(2) US allocates $14.6 billion for military intelligence
(3) Sahara chief Subrata Roy appears before SEBI
(4) ADB asks Nepal to create political stability for growth
(5) Global trade may expand 3.3% in ’13: WTO

(1) Star power, numerology hold netas in spell in Karnataka


They sign their nomination papers stark naked; wear undergarments of a particular colour; they get abused, spat on, and even get slapped by slippers. This is no tantrik's diary, but what our political candidates are ready to do to woo Lady Luck.

Filing nomination papers being the first stage, candidates don't want to take any chances. They're flocking to astrologers for divine advice. And the stars have this to say: between April 10 and 17, candidates have to decide on two days - Monday and Wednesday. With Wednesday being the last day, they don't want to court risk, and most of them have decided to file their papers on Monday.

It's not just candidates, even top leaders of all parties are a superstitious lot. All the three major ones - Congress, JD(S) and BJP - released their first list of candidates on April 5, because the day and date were considered auspicious.

JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda was particular that he released the names of 122 candidates. "It's because of numerology alone. Someone advised him that number 5 (1+2+2) brings good luck to the party," said a party functionary.

Many a time, the extent of superstition among candidates has shocked even astrologers. "Many politicians have extreme superstitions. It's tough to advise them," said astrologer Daivagna KN Somayaji.

Several precautions are taken before filling up and filing nomination papers. Some believe signing them naked will bring them luck. The pen used (ball point or ink), colour of the ink (blue, green or black) and the direction towards which the papers should be kept before signing, is of importance too.

The number of clothes they are wearing, and their colour, are important. Depending on the Nakshatra (star), it varies from three to six garments. As most politicians wear white khadi shirts and trousers or dhotis, they change the colour of their undergarments, based on astrological advice.

Before coming out of their homes to file nominations, candidates want people they consider lucky to come in from the opposite direction.

Superstitious candidates believe the red traffic signal is inauspicious for them. "Before filling up the nomination form, they salute the pen. They strike an understanding with police personnel to ensure they don't stop at red signals till they reach the returning officer's office," Somayaji pointed out.

Many candidates seek to ward off ill-luck (Dosha Parihara). Getting abused, spat on and hit by sandals are among the most common ways of beating back bad luck.

Source: The Times of India

(2) US allocates $14.6 billion for military intelligence


The Pentagon has said its military intelligence budget for the fiscal 2014 is USD 14.6 billion.

This is for the second year in succession that the Pentagon has released the amount of military intelligence budget but has refrained from going into the details.The total Military Intelligence Program (MIP) has requested for USD 14.6 billion in 2014 fiscal year, it said yesterday.

"The department determined that releasing this figure does not jeopardize any classified activities within the MIP," said Department of Defence.

"No other figures of MIP budget or program details will be released, as they remain classified for national security reasons," it said, adding the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding request for the MIP in 2014 will be submitted at

a later date. Last year, USD 21.5 billion were allocated for both MIP and OCO.

Source: The Indian Express

(3) Sahara chief Subrata Roy appears before SEBI


Sahara India Chairman Subrata Roy on Wednesday appeared before the stock market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), in connection with the case relating to the refund of Rs. 24,000 crore to investors in two Sahara group companies.

On March 26, SEBI whole-time member Prashant Saran served summons on Mr. Roy and three directors of Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd. and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd. for personal appearance to answer questions about Mr. Roy’s personal assets and investments and also those of his group companies.

The directors, Ashok Roy Choudhury, Ravi Shankar Dubey and Vandana Bhargava, also presented themselves before SEBI.

Blames it on SEBI

Emerging from the hour-long appearance, Mr. Roy told journalists that SEBI was delaying refund to investors of the Rs.5,120 crore deposited with it by Sahara based on a Supreme Court direction. “I asked them in the last seven months why they had not taken any initiative to refund the money. They had no answer. I requested them to verify and pay back the investors. Until the verification is complete, our money is stuck,” Mr. Roy said.

He said SEBI asked him if he owned any assets other than what was already disclosed. Speaking in Hindi, Mr. Roy said: “SEBI was worried about my personal assets. I have gold worth Rs.3 crore, cash in hand of Rs.34 lakh and fixed deposits of Rs.1.59 crore. I have taken an advance of Rs. 11 crore for buying sugar mills and I own no immovable property.”

Mr. Roy insisted that Sahara had already repaid the entire liability to its investors before the Supreme Court judgment of August 31, 2012, except the Rs.5,120 crore deposited with SEBI. He denied that some of the investors were fictitious.

SEBI has been acting as per the orders of the Supreme Court which has directed the two companies to deposit over Rs. 24,000 crore with the regulator which would, in turn, identify the investors and pay them back with a 15 per cent interest.

Mr. Roy, who drove down to SEBI’s office along with a posse of bodyguards toting automatic weapons, lamented that he was not offered even a cup of tea, despite bills for all expenses regarding the investigation being raised on Sahara as per the Supreme Court’s order.

Source: The Hindu

(4) ADB asks Nepal to create political stability for growth


Asian Development Bank has asked Nepal to create enabling business environment and political stability in the country as they are key to improving economic performance. Releasing the 'Asian Development Outlook 2013', Kenichi Yokoyama, the country director of ADB, Nepal, said, "We all

agree Nepal has huge potential for growth, but there are also substantial hurdles to overcome in triggering the high growth process."

In its annual report, Manila-based ADB has projected Nepal's gross domestic product growth to slow to 3.5% in the fiscal year 2013 due to shortage of fertilizers, poor monsoon season, low investor confidence and the lack of a full budget, which is also causing funding shortages for ongoing development activities.

Business confidence is lowering mainly due to political instability, policy inconsistency and power outage in the country, said ADB's assistance economic officer Chandan Sapkota.

Despite inflation maintained by the developing Asia at 4% Nepal is experiencing more than double the rate with 8.5% inflation mainly due to high prices for domestic products fuelled by low agricultural production and high fuel prices, ADB report said.

India's 7.5% inflation in the recent period is also contributing to the growing influence facing Nepalese economy, said Sapkota. ADB also advises to control money supply for checking inflation rates.

"While the recent regulatory and monitoring directives by the Central Bank to deal with banking sector issues are steps in the right direction to handle the sector's immediate problems, the report states that much more needs to be done if Nepal is to address structural changes required to shield the banking sector and the economy from internal and external shocks," the report pointed out.

Developing Asia needs to get more engaged with countries like China and India for greater economic growth by looking beyond US, Europe and Japan for growth, said the report.

The ADB also stresses on the need to focus on sustainable development of energy and stresses to make energy clean, accessible and affordable for the general public for supporting growth.

Source: Hindustan Times

(5) Global trade may expand 3.3% in ’13: WTO


The recovery in global trade is not likely to be as strong as initially estimated, the World Trade Organisation said in a report released on Wednesday.

Global trade is estimated to expand by 3.3% in 2013, lower than 4.5% estimated earlier, the WTO said. World trade expanded only 2% in 2012.

The slower rise in world trade is bad news for India, which need to increase exports to bridge the large trade deficit, which contributed massively to the record high current account deficit of 6.7% of GDP in October-December quarter.

India's exports declined 4% in the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2012-13, on account of slowdown in demand from US and EU. India could not meet the 2011-12 export level of $306 billion .

"The events of 2012 should serve as a reminder that the structural flaws in economies that were revealed by the economic crisis have not been fully addressed, despite important progress in some areas", said WTO director-general Pascal Lamy. Repairing these fissures needs to be the priority for 2013, he said.

The US and EU account for 30% of India's exports. The report said that the improved economic prospects for the United States in 2013 should only partly offset the continued weakness in the European Union, whose economy is expected to remain flat or even contract slightly this year according to consensus estimates.

Accelerated fiscal consolidation in the US could also undermine the forecast if brinksmanship over budget negotiations between the executive and legislative branches leads to miscalculation, the report warned. Unexpected events such as geopolitical tensions and natural disasters could also intrude to disrupt trade. However it noted that, some factors that held back trade growth in 2012 may subside in 2013, including the recent territorial dispute that soured trade relations between Japan and China. Lamy's term will end in August this year. As long as global economic weakness persists, protectionist pressure will build and could eventually become overwhelming, Lamy warned.

"The threat of protectionism may be greater now than at any time since the start of the crisis, since other polices to restore growth have been tried and found wanting", he said. This may further jeopardize the multilateral trade negotiations.WTO started the Doha talks in 2001 for achieving a global trade deal, however has been unsuccessful till now. The next round of ministerial talks will be in Bali in December this year.

"To prevent a self-destructive lapse into economic nationalism, countries need to refocus their attention on reinforcing the multilateral trading system", said Lamy. He added that trade can once again be an engine of growth and a source of strength for the global economy rather than a barometer of instability. "The way is before us, we only need to find the will".

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 - April 08, 2013 - PT education

Today's Hot Stories - April 08, 2013

10 Headlines for Today

(1) Rajiv Gandhi was ‘entrepreneur’ for Swedish jet, U.S. cable says
(2) Fernandes ‘sought CIA funding’ during Emergency
(3) WHO discusses bird flu outbreak with China
(4) FD rates will dip from May, IDBI chief says
(5) RCOM to sell arm to Batelco for Rs.6,000 crore
(6) US jobless claims at four-month high, cast shadow over labor market
(7) Sunrisers Hyderabad win in Super Over
(8) Serena rallies to claim 49th WTA title
(9) Golf: Laird earns Masters' spot with Texas
(10) Red meat boosts gut bacteria that raise heart disease risk

5 Stories for Today

(1) No separate trial against Amit Shah in Tulsiram Prajapati murder case: SC
(2) U.K. immigration norms kick in
(3) Auto cos may be in trouble for unfair practices
(4) Foreign investors to Xi Jinping: Cut the red tape
(5) FinMin mulls new intel wing to check service tax evasion

(1) No separate trial against Amit Shah in Tulsiram Prajapati murder case: SC


In a big relief for BJP general secretary Amit Shah, the SC on Monday quashed FIR against him in the Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter case.

Amit Shah, a close aide of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who is out on bail after spending three months in jail in the Soharabuddin case, was again facing the threat of being arrested by CBI in the Prajapati murder case in which the agency had filed a separate chargesheet against him.

The apex court criticised the CBI for registering a separate FIR and filing chargesheet in the Tulsiram killing case despite its repeated stand that it was part and parcel of the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.

The SC directed that the chargesheet in the Tulsiram Prajapati case would now be treated as supplementary chargesheet in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.

The apex court said that the CBI can not be allowed to violate its own stand and the order of the apex court accepting that the two encounters were part and parcel of the same conspiracy.

A bench of Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan said the CBI can not be allowed to register multiple FIRs for the same conspiracy to harass accused persons.

Tulsiram was the accomplice of history-sheeter Sohrabuddin Sheikh, who was gunned down in a fake encounter in 2005. Tulsiram was killed in a similar operation in 2006. In both the encounters, the Gujarat and Rajasthan police acted in tandem.

The investigation was handed over to the CBI by the apex court on April 8, 2011.

Source: The Times of India

(2) U.K. immigration norms kick in


This will benefit high-skilled workers and bright students

Immigration rules that would benefit high-skilled foreign workers and “exceptionally bright’’ students came into force on Saturday amid growing pressure from businesses and universities who complained that the current harsh visa regime was hurting them.

The new rules would also make inter-company transfers easier — a long-standing demand of foreign investors, including Indian companies. However, the existing limit on not allowing more than 20,700 foreign workers to come to Britain over the next two years would remain.

“Intra-company transferees (ICT) who are paid more than £152,100 will no longer need to take an English test if they want to extend their leave in the U.K. To simplify the system even more, the government is also reducing the number of documents that need to be shown by ICTs to prove they have worked for the company for more than a year,’’ the Home Office said.

Foreign MBA students graduating from British universities would be allowed to stay on for up to a year after graduating as part of the expanded graduate entrepreneur scheme. Up to 1000 will be able to stay to develop their own business idea or work in a start up after which they can apply to stay as a skilled worker or entrepreneur.

Additionally, the changes would allow PhD students to stay on after their studies for up to a year and work, without having to switch courses.

“These changes expand the existing options for international students to stay and work after their studies. There is no limit on the number who can obtain a Tier 2 visa to stay and work, providing they can get a graduate-level job paying £20,300 [a year] or more,” the Home Office said in a statement.

Immigration Minister Mark Harper said the changes were aimed at attracting the “best and the brightest global talent” to Britain.

"We are building an immigration system which works in the national interest — supporting the U.K. economy by continuing to attract the brightest and the best global talent, at the same time as protecting our public services and taking a robust approach against those who want to come to the U.K. simply to exploit our welfare system," he said.

Source: The Hindu

(3) Auto cos may be in trouble for unfair practices


Competition Commission of India, which is examining whether automobile majors have indulged in any unfair play by selling spares only at authorised showrooms, giving little flexibility to customers, is likely to come up with its verdict in the next few weeks.

"Currently, investigations are underway, no way can we come to a conclusion at this point," said Ashok Chawla, chairman, CCI.

Chawla said the matter would be looked into in detail to ensure consumers are not affected in any way. "However, the matter is nowhere near completion."

If auto majors are found guilty, CCI would decide on the fine, which could be a maximum of 10% of the annual turnover.

Automobile majors refused to comment on the matter.

Source: Hindustan Times

(4) Foreign investors to Xi Jinping: Cut the red tape


Major multinational companies are appealing to Chinese President Xi Jinping to reduce barriers to doing business in China's heavily government-directed economy.

In a rare audience with the head of the Communist Party, executives from Pepsico, Samsung Group, Volvo Group and more than a dozen other companies _ from agri-businesses to finance _ traded handshakes with Xi on Monday while carefully broaching the problems that have bedeviled business success in the world's second largest economy.

They complained about red tape and restrictions on investment that favor Chinese state firms and outright discrimination because of political problems.

Pepsico president Zein Abdalla called for fairer treatment and decried limits on investing in agriculture, which Pepsi wants for its Lays potato chips and Quaker Oats products. He said continued investment by the thousands of American companies would depend on Beijing's pushing ahead with market reforms.

Source: The Economic Times

(5) FinMin mulls new intel wing to check service tax evasion


Concerned over mounting cases of service tax evasion, the Government is mulling to create a separate intelligence unit to check the menace and stop leakage of revenue.

The proposed Directorate of Anti Evasion to check service tax evasion is likely to be set up by the Finance Ministry close on the lines of two other intelligence agencies under it--Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), official sources said.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has detected service tax evasion of Rs 9,800 crore during April-December period of the last fiscal (2012-13) against Rs 5,000-6,000 crore in the same period of 2011-12.

The move to form a new directorate came after rise in the number of services under the service tax ambit, they said.

"The number of services under service tax has increased significantly. There is a need to strengthen anti-evasion activities in service tax to ensure proper compliance from service tax assessees. A separate Directorate of Anti Evasion on the lines of DRI and DGCEI for service tax may serve the purpose," according to an official note by the Ministry.

At present, DGCEI is entrusted with the responsibilities for collecting intelligence and acting against both the central excise and service tax evaders.

Whereas, the DRI is mandated to check customs duty evasion and collection of intelligence about smuggling of contraband goods, narcotics and under-invoicing among others.

Sources said the DGCEI and DRI have been actively catching service tax, excise and customs duty evaders. However, a separate directorate may help in ensuring strict check on service tax evasion, they said. There are more than 100 services including air travel, eating out at restaurants, staying in hotels, clubs or guest houses, renting of immovable property, rent a cab, health and fitness clubs and outdoor catering among others mandated to pay service tax at the rate of 12 per cent.

Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose had early this year given a stern warning to excise, customs and service tax evaders to either pay dues on time or face penal action which could include arrest, prosecution and property attachment.

Following this, government has realised Rs 10,453 crore service tax during February, 44 per cent more than collections in the previous month. About Rs 7,255 crore was collected as service tax in January.

The service tax collection during April-February of financial year 2012-13 was Rs 1.13 lakh crore, while customs duty mop up was Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Indirect tax collections registered 20 per cent growth at Rs 4.17 lakh crore in April-February period of last fiscal, according to government's estimate.

As per the revised estimate, the government aims to collect Rs 4.69 lakh crore from indirect taxes, comprising customs, excise and service tax.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram had also in his budgetary speech for 2013-14 highlighted that only seven lakh out of nearly 17 lakh registered service tax assessees were filing returns.

Sources said the government was taking other measures to check service tax, excise and custom duty evaders and working on measures to strengthen anti-evasion mechanism.

Source: The Indian Express

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