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

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