Today's Hot Stories - May 07, 2013
10 Headlines for Today(1) Defence ministry locks horns with MHA over ITBP reins
(2) Chit fund collapse: Deaths due to aftermath on a rise
(3) N Korea removes missiles from launch site: Officials
(4) No immediate cut in lending rates: SBI
(5) Investments in realty sector fall over 55%: Assocham
(6) US continuing to recover from the worst recession: White House
(7) Miller takes KXIP to an improbable win
(8) Football: Messi edges Barcelona closer to title
(9) Golf: Rookie Ernst wins Wells Fargo in playoff
(10) India tops global list of 1st-day deaths of infants
5 Stories for Today
(1) It did not occur to us to inform court of changes: CBI chief
(2) China's cyber spying targets US government: Pentagon
(3) DLF to sell 81 million shares, ropes in eight banks
(4) Warren Buffett defends choice of son as successor
(5) RBI to use all means to manage liquidity: Subbarao
(1) It did not occur to us to inform court of changes: CBI chief
The CBI Director claimed in the Supreme Court on Monday that it did not occur to the agency to bring it to the notice of the court that the draft status report had been shared with the Law Minister and officials in the PMO and Coal Ministry as there was no specific direction to this effect.
In his affidavit, the Director said: “It was our honest and bona fide belief that there was no specific direction on this issue by the court.” It claimed that the Attorney General saw PE 2 and PE4 (preliminary enquiries dealing with coal allocations between 1993 and 2005). Coal and PMO officials also went through them and suggested some amendments. The affidavit, however, backed the Attorney General saying “the AG neither asked for nor was given a copy of the final status reports” but admitted he made “minor changes” in status report of PE2.
The CBI Director admitted that the issue of status report was first discussed with the Law Minister in the first week of February, when a meeting was held in the Minister’s chamber. It clarified that this meeting was not called at the request of the CBI.
During the March 6 meeting with the Law Minister, the AG was also present. The AG glanced through the portions of the status reports of PE2 and PE4 and he made certain observations which were explained to him.
On the court’s query whether or not the CBI Manual empowered the CBI to share the status reports with the Law Minister, the CBI Director said: “There is nothing in the CBI (Crime) Manual to guide whether status reports in respect of on-going investigation in a sub judice matter were to be shared with others. The departmental circulars and government instructions are also silent on this point. In our institutional memory too, no such general guidelines could be located,” it said.
On the court’s query whether the status reports were shown to any one other than those mentioned in the affidavit, such as the Law Minister and the officials in the PMO and the Coal Ministry, the affidavit said that the draft report was not shown to others. “Sharing of status reports (with Law Minister and officials in PMO and Coal Ministry) and the consequent changes therein have neither altered the central theme of the report nor shifted the focus of enquiries or investigations in any manner. No names of suspect or accused were removed from the status reports and also that no suspect or accused were let off in the process.”
While sharing the details of the officers investigating the case (in a sealed cover), the CBI Director extended unconditional apology for any inadvertent omission or commission on his part and assured the court that enquiries and investigations were being conducted independently by a team of officers with utmost sincerity and professionalism and would continue with the same zeal and purpose.
Source: The Hindu
(2) China's cyber spying targets US government: Pentagon
China has engaged in widespread cyber espionage in a bid to extract information about the US government's foreign policy and military plans, said a Pentagon report issued Monday.
China kept up a steady campaign of hacking in 2012 that included attempts to target US government computer networks, which could provide Beijing a better insight into America's policy deliberations and military capabilities, according to the Pentagon's annual assessment of China's military.
"China is using its computer network exploitation (CNE) capability to support intelligence collection against the US diplomatic, economic, and defense industrial base sectors that support US national defense programs," said the report to Congress.
"In 2012, numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the US government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military," it said.
The report marked the most explicit statement yet from the United States that it believes China's cyber spying is focused on the US government, as well as American corporations.
Although President Barack Obama's administration has demanded China stop widespread cyber theft, officials have tended to focus their public comments on the hacking of private business networks and not US government agencies.
The information targeted by the cyber spying could possibly benefit China's arms and technology sectors, as well policymakers interested in US leaders' thinking on China-related issues, the report said.
The cyber spying could assist Chinese military planners in "building a picture of US network defense networks, logistics, and related military capabilities that could be exploited during a crisis," it said.
US officials have grown alarmed over what they call increasingly brazen hacking from China that has penetrated defense contractors including Lockheed Martin and a host of other organizations and agencies.
The digital espionage was part of a broader industrial espionage effort that seeks to secure military-related US and Western technology, allowing Beijing to scale back its reliance on foreign arms manufacturers.
"China continues to leverage foreign investments, commercial joint ventures, academic exchanges, the experience of repatriated Chinese students and researchers, and state-sponsored industrial and technical espionage to increase the level of technologies and expertise available to support military research, development, and acquisition," the report said.
Apart from describing the Chinese military's focus on cyber warfare, the Pentagon report portrayed a steady build-up of Beijing's armed forces, with investments in anti-ship missiles, space satellites, a new aircraft carrier and stealth fighter jets.
China in March announced a 10.7 per cent increase in its annual defense spending, with a budget of $114 billion.
But the report estimated China's total military spending for 2012 was much higher, between $135 billion and $215 billion.
Although China's top strategic concern remained Taiwan, its "military modernization has begun to focus to an increasing extent on capabilities and mission sets that extend beyond immediate territorial concerns," David Helvey, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, told reporters.
The report said much of China's investments are concentrated on missiles and other weaponry to attack "military forces that might deploy or operate within the western Pacific," where Beijing stakes territorial claim to an arc of disputed islands.
The Pentagon has been particularly concerned about the DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile, as well as air defenses and other weapons that could hit destroyers or aircraft carriers from a long distance.
"Obviously, something that can hold at risk large surface ships, including aircraft carriers, is something we pay attention to," Helvey said.
But the report stressed "positive momentum" in military relations between the United States and China, citing more high-level contacts and a joint counter-piracy exercise in the Gulf of Aden last year.
Source: The Times of India
(3) DLF to sell 81 million shares, ropes in eight banks
India's DLF Ltd is planning to sell up to 81 million shares and has mandated eight banks for the institutional placement sale, according to a term sheet.
The price range and size are yet to be determined, according to the term sheet, which also did not specify the timeframe.
DLF picked Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and Standard Chartered, along with CLSA, HSBC, Kotak, and UBS to handle the sale, according to the term sheet.
Kushal Pal Singh or K.P. Singh is the chairman and CEO of DLF Limited.
Source: The Indian Express
(4) Warren Buffett defends choice of son as successor
Warren Buffett on Saturday gave the most extensive comments to date about the future of Berkshire Hathaway Inc after he is gone, saying he still expects the conglomerate to be a partner of choice for distressed companies.
Buffett, 82, also defended his plan to install his son,
Howard, who has little investing experience, as nonexecutive chairman, saying the younger man's role would be to ensure that Berkshire had the right CEO in place.
During the financial crisis and its immediate aftermath, Berkshire helped prop up a number of companies, among them blue-chips such as General Electric and Goldman Sachs.
Buffett's investments were viewed by many shareholders as a seal of approval from one of the world's most respected businessmen.
Short-seller Doug Kass, invited by Buffett to Berkshire's annual meeting on Saturday to offer contrarian points of view, asked whether a successor would have the same heft. Buffett said it would not matter.
"Berkshire is the 800 number when there is really some panic in the markets, and people really need significant capital," Buffett said.
"If you come to a day when the Dow has fallen 1,000 points a day for a few days and the tide has gone out and you find some naked swimmers, those naked swimmers ... will call Berkshire," he added.
Whoever ultimately takes over Berkshire will run a conglomerate that employs more than 280,000 people in dozens of businesses worldwide, covering everything from ice cream to insurance and retail to railroads.
Kass later asked what qualified Howard Buffett, a 58-year-old farmer and philanthropist, to step in as Berkshire's non-executive chairman when his father is gone. The elder Buffett insisted his son was ideal for the task at hand.
"He has no illusions at all of running the business. He won't get paid for running the business," Warren Buffett said.
"He'll only have to think about whether the board ... needs to change the CEO."
As in the past, Buffett talked about his successor as CEO without actually identifying him. Speculation usually focuses on a small group of top Berkshire executives, among them insurance boss Ajit Jain and railroad leader Matt Rose.
One long-time Buffett-watcher said the legendary investor seemed to handle the pressure from Kass and others well.
"Buffett hasn't broken much new ground, but he's handled Doug's question well ... and, as always, reinforced the Berkshire culture every chance he's had," said Jeff Matthews, founder of hedge fund Ram Partners LP and a Buffett biographer.
Economic indicator
Berkshire's breadth means that its performance is seen as a barometer for the broader economy.
On Saturday, Buffett said he still stands by the actions taken by the US Federal Reserve to stimulate the economy, even as he cautioned that the program could be "very inflationary."
"This is like watching a good movie, and I do not know the end," he said.
"We have benefited significantly, and the country has benefited significantly, by what the Fed has done."
Buffett also endorsed the last four years of deficit spending by President Barack Obama's administration, saying it is a problem to get off that program but much less of a problem than if the government had followed a strict austerity program instead.
"We are seeing some recovery in housing prices which has psychological effects," he said.
"(By the next annual meeting) I think we will have moved forward ... I don't think there will be a surge of any sort, but I don't think we will stall."
Earlier Saturday, one of Buffett's top lieutenants said things were picking up but could improve further.
"It feels like a 2% economy. If we want to see GDP click up to 3.5%, 4%, you need to see more consumption," said Rose, CEO of the railroad Burlington Northern, in an interview.
Rose said Burlington Northern was seeing "across the board" increases in demand to ship things like concrete, roofing tiles and cars.
No Twitter, thank you
Buffett may be optimistic about the economy, but he is decidedly more cautious about technology.
Earlier this week he joined Twitter, taking the handle @WarrenBuffett - but insisted he only knew enough about it to press a button when told to.
On Saturday he said he disagreed with the recent guidance from the US Securities & Exchange Commission that lets companies release material information on Twitter. Some see that as a threat to Berkshire's press release service, Business Wire.
"The key to disclosure is accuracy and simultaneity ... I do not want it, if I am buying Wells Fargo, to keep hitting up their web page and hoping I'm not 10 seconds behind someone else for some important announcement," he said.
He also stuck by one of Berkshire's more controversial investments, its recent acquisition of a number of newspapers. The annual meeting crowd applauded when CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin asked a critical question about the stable of papers.
"It's not going to move the needle in Berkshire ... we are buying the papers at very, very low prices with (regard to) current earnings," Buffett said, adding that he expected to meet or beat a 10% rate of return, after-tax.
Yet as much as investors want to hear about Berkshire's growth potential and the state of the economy, some also attend the meeting just for a good laugh.
The meeting opened, as it does every year, with a video montage. This year's included a duet between Buffett and singer Jon Bon Jovi and a take-off on the TV series Breaking Bad.
Some of the best comedy, though, usually comes in the verbal sparring between Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger over the course of the day. The two are close - they shared an oversize box of peanut brittle during the meeting - but Munger's acerbic tongue pops out from time to time.
"I come to see Charlie Munger needle Warren Buffett - only he can," said Sherman Silber, a doctor and shareholder.
Source: Hindustan Times
(5) RBI to use all means to manage liquidity: Subbarao
Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao on Monday said the Reserve Bank of India will consider all options available, including reducing the cash reserve ratio (CRR), to manage liquidity in the system.
"The assumption that OMOs will be the preferred tool is wrong. Don't go with that assumption. We will use all options available to us depending on the liquidity situation... it could be OMOs, it could be CRR (cut) or it could be something else...," Subbarao told analysts during the customary post-policy conference call. Stating that liquidity squeeze is likely to be "less uncomfortable" in the coming months as the government starts spending, he said: "Our objective is to maintain liquidity at plus or minus 1 per cent of NDTL. We have actively managed liquidity conditions....and it should be less uncomfortable going forward. We have also indicated that we will actively manage liquidity. Consistent with that policy, we have announced an OMO of Rs 10,000 crore on Friday."
Banks are borrowing close to Rs 90,000 crore from the RBI through the overnight window, which is above the central bank's comfortable level of 1% of NDTL (net demand and time liabilities) at Rs 60,000 crore.
The tight liquidity condition will ease further as and when the difference between deposit and credit growth rates reduces, he said. Despite the high liquidity deficit, the RBI kept the CRR — the portion of deposits that banks keep with RBI — unchanged at the annual policy announcement on Friday, saying the liquidity shortage was not a structural issue.
It had also said that it would actively manage liquidity to ensure adequate credit to the productive sector. Referring to the proposal to auction government cash balances to banks, Subbarao said RBI is in discussion with the government on this. But he was quick to add that the proposal, if implemented, will not change the overall liquidity situation. Earlier, there were reports that the government might auction its cash balance, which is close to Rs 1 lakh crore, to banks.
Subbarao also said economic growth, which is likely to be modest in the first half, could pick up in the second half. To a question on the rising house prices, the governor said: "There is no housing price bubble building up in the country." Referring to monetary policy transmission, Subbarao said the RBI expects base rates of banks to come down in the coming months, adding that as yields on government securities come down, money will be cheaper to that extent for corporates.
Source: The Economic Times
Disclaimer: All news stories and content sourced from freely available material on the internet. All sources are acknowledged.
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