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
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