Today's Hot Stories - February 24, 2014
10 Headlines for Today(1) Centre’s reply sought on AAP plea against President Rule in Delhi
(2) Jail authorities seize mobile phone from Tejpal's cell
(3) Ukraine President Yanukovych seen in Crimea, says reports
(4) SpiceJet slashes fares
(5) Ruchi Soya forms joint venture to step up seed yield
(6) Nokia goes full Android, launches first ever Android range of phones
(7) Steyn leads South Africa to a crushing win
(8) Somdev Devvarman sinks Nedovyesov to win Delhi Open
(9) Sri Lanka beats Bangladesh by 6 wickets
(10) 'Avatar' actor arrested in NYC
5 Stories for Today
(1) Modi bubble will be punctured soon: man who threw shoe at Chidambaram
(2) Uganda's president to sign anti-gay bill on Monday
(3) The arrival of a brand new vector of e-commerce
(4) Emirates set to get more flying rights
(5) Beyond the interim budget
(1) Modi bubble will be punctured soon: man who threw shoe at Chidambaram
As the AAP candidate from West Delhi parliamentary constituency, the task is cut out for journalist-turned-politician Jarnail Singh.
Singh had garnered attention in April 2009 when he hurled a shoe at the then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to protest the latter’s remark in connection with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases. He then wrote three books on the subject.
“I was never interested in politics as such. But after interacting with Arvindji and other AAP leaders, I felt that the politics done in this manner (AAP’s politics) can also be a way of fighting against the injustice. There are scores of people who have several grievances,” Singh told HT.
Currently held by Mahabal Mishra of the Congress, the West Delhi seat, after de-limitation in 2008, has a large chunk of Poorvanchali voters apart from the traditional Sikh, Punjabi and Jats.
In the 2013 assembly polls, AAP won Madipur, Vikaspuri, Hari Nagar and Tilak Nagar, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept Janakpuri, Dwarka, Matiala, Najafgarh and Uttam Nagar seats.
The Akali Dal won the Rajouri Garden seat, all part of the West Delhi Parliamentary seat. Simply put, the Sikh activist also has to tide over the large tracts of rural areas and the Modi-wave ahead of the Lok Sabha poll.
Terming the ‘Modi wave’ akin to the ‘Feel Good’ factor during the ‘India Shining’ campaign in 2004, he said, “People are desperate for a change. This wave will be punctured soon.”
“We are overwhelmed by the support that we are getting from all areas, be it rural areas or be it Poorvanchali-dominated areas. Those who suppor ted BJP during the assembly elections were not sure about AAP then. Now they too are with us. Also, where AAP did not win, such as Matiala, our candidates were close second,” Singh said.
He has already held meetings with volunteers from the 10 assembly constituencies falling under his Parliamentary constituency. “Today I also addressed general meetings at Tilak Nagar and Ashok Nagar. The official campaign will soon be launched,” he said.
But isn’t the AAP playing the Sikh card in the constituency with dominant Sikh population? “Not at all. Now I want to fight for all Indians.”
Source: Hindustan Times
(2) Uganda's president to sign anti-gay bill on Monday
Despite appeals from South Africa’s retired Archbishop and Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu and U.S. President Barack Obama, Uganda’s president is expected to sign a controversial anti-gay bill that allows harsh penalties for homosexual offenses.
The Uganda Media Center said that President Yoweri Museveni will sign the bill on Monday at 11 a.m. local time (0800 GMT) at his official residence.
The bill is popular in Uganda, but rights groups have condemned it as draconian in a country where homosexuality is already illegal.
The law punishes first-time offenders with 14 years in jail. It also sets life imprisonment as the penalty for acts of “aggravated homosexuality.” The bill originally proposed the death penalty for some homosexual acts, but that was later removed amid international criticism.
Earlier reports:
U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Mr. Museveni not to sign the bill, saying doing so would “complicate” the east African country’s relationship with Washington.
South Africa’s retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Sunday made an impassioned plea to Uganda’s President not to sign into law a harsh Anti-Homosexuality Bill that calls for a life sentence for some same-sex relations.
Mr. Tutu, a Nobel peace prize winner, said in a statement that Mr. Museveni a month ago had pledged not to allow the anti-gay legislation to become law in Uganda. But last week Mr. Museveni said he had reconsidered and would consult scientists on whether homosexuality is determined by genetics or by a person’s choice.
Mr. Tutu said he is “disheartened” by Mr. Museveni’s new position because there is “no scientific basis or genetic rationale for love ... There is no scientific justification for prejudice and discrimination, ever.”
Mr. Tutu urged Mr. Museveni to strengthen Uganda’s “culture of human rights and justice.”
Uganda’s controversial anti-gay bill was passed by the country’s parliament in December. It must be signed by Mr. Museveni to become law.
Originally the bill called for the death penalty for some homosexual acts but the maximum penalty was changed to life imprisonment for repeat offenders. The penalty for first time offenders is 14 years in jail.
Mr. Tutu said human beings are diverse and this requires tolerance, compassion and respect for one another.
Mr. Tutu called on Mr. Museveni to change course and instead concentrate on legislation against rape and sex with children. Mr. Tutu said that would provide more protection for children and families than criminalizing “acts of love between consenting adults.”
In a statement released on Friday, Mr. Museveni said Uganda’s scientists had reviewed studies and agreed that no single gene could be identified as a trigger for homosexuality. They suggested it is learned behaviour that could be unlearned. Mr. Museveni said he asked the scientists if it was possible that a combination of genes could be responsible. If the scientists report back that they can find no genetic determination for homosexual behaviour, Mr. Museveni said he would sign the bill into law.
Mr. Museveni said he is open to debate about homosexuality and he encouraged “the U.S. government to help us by working with our scientists to study whether, indeed, there are people who are born homosexual. When that is proved, we can review this legislation.”
Source: The Hindu
(3) The arrival of a brand new vector of e-commerce
The $19 billion price tag is a perfect microcosm to describe how technology is aiding ever-expanding wealth inequality
Nineteen billion dollars. A figure, high as it is, that has left market analysts gasping, investors beaming, and entrepreneurs hopeful. When news of Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp broke, the comparisons and judgments were, perhaps, inevitable.
It’s a tech bubble, cried many. Others quoted the now infamous, and clichéd, Dutch tulip bubble. And, a few tech pundits pointed out that $19 billion was a little higher than the GDP of a hundred different countries.
Even if one chooses to ignore the fact that a lion’s share of the money is being paid in Facebook stock, the deal illustrates how the consumer technology industry has very little to do with the rest of the corporate world.
Put simply, it’s becoming harder and harder to guess which technology company is going to bite the bullet next. It isn’t quite a game of Russian roulette yet — there are broad signs, of course —but with the kind of cash floating around in the technology space, it might as well be.
Indiscernible factor
Firstly, the framework through which technology businesses operate is becoming an indiscernible factor. Before the advent of the Internet, the humble telephone was the WhatsApp of the time. It allowed real-time communication at a much greater rate of efficiency and less hassle, which lead to telecom companies ruling the roost.
This started changing with the PC revolution and the invention of the Internet — which allowed real-time communication over geographical boundaries for a fraction of the price of the telephone. Telecom companies gradually become dumb, utility beasts, and were replaced (in the pecking order) by IBM, HP, Dell, Microsoft and Google.
The lines further blurred, when computers jumped from the desk to the pocket. IBM, HP and Dell were replaced by Apple and Samsung —which took the Internet and Web everywhere. But even with the initial coming of the smartphone, communication was passive, at best. After sending an e-mail or a Facebook inbox message, for instance, one had to wait for the other party to sign into the service, check notifications and so on.
Today’s telephone is, therefore, the messaging service — be it WhatsApp, Line, Hike, WeChat — where the communication is constant, never-ending, and strong. A messaging application consumes the maximum attention of the customer — and, therefore, allows for a brand new vector of commerce itself.
The act of buying or purchasing an item is usually a purposeful and burdensome task. One has to get into a car, drive to the store, spend time, and engage in idle chat with the cashier and so on. Even e-commerce doesn’t solve this — the store is replaced by the desktop PC and the idle chat is replaced by fumbling for credit card details. With a messaging application and a smartphone, the divisions between the channels of communication (which includes a friend’s recommendation) and purchasing become quite small indeed.
Consider, for instance, a futuristic example. Person A sends Person B a restaurant recommendation through a smartphone, through a service like Yelp, and via a messaging application. Person B then, of course, doesn’t receive a URL string full of numbers and letters — he gets an interactive mini-version of the restaurant’s website. Person B can then choose to peruse through the menu, make a booking, choose what kind of table he wants and also pay for the meal in advance. Person B then sends his booking order as a party invitation to six of his closest friends.
What type of applications was Person B using? An app? A widget? Some new software? It doesn’t quite matter, because the whole experience is seamless, with the power of physical retail and e-commerce being greatly magnified as purchasing and communication become one and the same.
Framework of the future
This is, in essence, the framework of the future — a blank canvass that merges communication and commerce and that will be powered, in some small way, by messaging applications like WhatsApp and Line.
Sure, the $19 billion price tag is a perfect microcosm to describe how technology is aiding ever-expanding wealth inequality. Today, companies that are two years old and have only 50 employees can be worth $19 billion. A few decades ago, it would have taken a company over 30 years to do the same — and, in the process, give jobs to thousands of people, pay suppliers, provide pensions and the like.
But $19 billion isn’t overly unreasonable if it’s a shot at the blank canvas of the future. While PCs sparked a wave of business and productivity, they now sit at the bottom of the pyramid. Smartphones are the current platform — and it is on top of this that social commerce will be built. Every technology company will have to understand how to tap into the topmost layer — if only to avoid the fall to the inevitable bottom.
Source: The Economic Times
(4) Emirates set to get more flying rights
In a farewell 'gift' to Gulf carriers at the cost of desi airlines, the aviation ministry is set to grant Dubai additional flying rights of 10,000 seats a week — up almost 20% from the current capacity of 55,000 seats. Dubai-based Emirates, which is known as India's de facto national airline due to its numero uno share in international traffic to and from the country (if Air India subsidiaries are not clubbed with AI), has for long been asking for more flying rights or bilaterals.
"The inter-ministerial group on the issue will meet soon. Dubai has been asking for more bilaterals as the current entitlement on both sides has been fully used up. They were last given flying rights in 2008 and have been asking for an increase for a long time," aviation minister Ajit Singh said. Dubai wanted a hike of at least 20,000 seats and is likely to get half of that. Indian carriers have almost fully utilized their share of 55,000 seats too. This will be the second hike to Gulf carriers after the ministry's largesse to Abu Dhabi last year. Emirates had linked flying the Airbus A380 to India to get more bilaterals. The airline had reasoned that it did not make sense to introduce the A380 here by reducing existing frequency of flights. The Dubai-based mega airline wanted its frequency of flights to stay and get an A380 over and above them
National carrier Air India is not in favour of giving more flying rights to the Gulf, especially Dubai as Emirates is giving it sleepless nights. AI was hoping that Emirates deploys its A380s by cutting frequency and then it would have added flights at the times vacated by Emirates.
The aviation ministry was criticized last year when it increased the weekly flying rights of Abu Dhabi nearly four times by allowing their airlines to add 36,670 seats over three years, taking the number to almost 50,000 from the then capacity of 13,000 seats per week.
Almost every Gulf state wants more bilaterals. Qatar wanted more too but the aviation ministry declined that request — which was backed by the PMO — on grounds that Indian carriers were not using even a quarter of their flying rights to Qatar.
Source: The Times of India
(5) Beyond the interim budget
Days after the interim budget, there have been question marks over the accuracy of its key numbers. For instance, the fiscal deficit numbers, both for the current year (2013-14) and the next year (2014-15) at 4.6 per cent and 4.1 per cent, respectively, are, in the eyes of rating agencies and brokerages suspect. Fiscal consolidation might well take place this year, in fact, the deficit is expected to be even better than the “red line: of 4.8 per cent (of GDP) which the Finance Minister had promised will not be breached.
The scepticism is on two counts: (a) that a fair bit of window dressing — subsidies getting rolled over into next year and taking credit for dividends that would normally accrue next year — have improved public finance for this year but correspondingly made the task of the next finance minister that much more difficult, (b) more substantial is the criticism that the deficit has been pegged down by cutting down on productive capital expenditure even while leaving the subsidies untouched.
While fiscal consolidation is not the only point on which the interim budget is faulted, it occurs that the whole exercise of dissecting the budget numbers is futile. This has been a vote on account to enable the government to carry on with its ongoing activities until a new government takes office after the elections.
The usual hype that surrounds a full year’s budget is simply not on and fortunately has been much less this time.
Neither the allocations to various expenditure heads nor the revenue estimations are sacrosanct. A new government even one formed by the present coalition is not bound by these. Besides, any tinkering in the direct taxes can happen only after the new government presents its budget sometime in June-July.
Mission statement
Therefore, what is more important than the budget numbers is the vision statement that forms part of the Finance Minister’s speech.
Most of the ten-odd items are not new but progress on these has been in fits and starts. These items should be non-controversial and above any narrow political considerations.
Fiscal consolidation naturally figures high up — the target is to bring down deficit to 3 per cent of GDP by 2016-17. A new government will pay at least lip service even if it does not stick to a rigid schedule of reduction.
Not fixing public finance can have major negative consequences among other areas on the current account, which is likely to be in deficit in the foreseeable future.
The current account deficit (CAD) now appears manageable. Due to some tight controls on gold imports and spurt in exports, the CAD is expected to be contained at $45 billion around half of what it was last year.
However, no government can afford to rest on its laurels. Gold imports might have come down but the underground trade is flourishing.
Ideally, both exports and imports must continue to grow. Lower imports are not a healthy sign as it correlates with economic slowdown. Sharp reduction in iron ore exports and increases in coal imports reflect policy logjam in these areas and put pressure on the CAD.
RBI’s role
A balance between price stability and growth is necessary. The government as much as the RBI should strive towards a proper balance.
While stating this as a priority item, the Finance Minister is asking for a higher level of coordination with the RBI. Given that the central bank is preparing to focus on inflation as its primary goal, analysts see a continuation of differences between the two in this key area.
Financial sector reforms are another key area. The budget speaks of the need to press ahead the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission’s recommendations. The new Lok Sabha will also have to pass several key bills — relating to insurance, SEBI, that unfortunately could not be enacted now.
Infrastructure development will naturally figure in any vision statement. The subject is vast and unfortunately progress here has been tardy.
Manufacturing ought to be given its due, especially if it is for exports. The Finance Minister has suggested that all taxes, Central and State, that go into an exported product should be waived or rebated.
He also recommended a certain minimum tariff protection for manufacturing. All these, of course, deserve consideration even in the larger context of Centre-State finances and WTO rules.
The budget also suggests that with improving finances, States should be able to beat a portion of costs of implementing flagship programmes so that the Centre can allocate more resources for subjects such as defence and railways that are its exclusive responsibility.
Mr. Chidambaram’s vision statement also covers other subjects — subsidies and urbanisation. In a sense, the statement has become even more relevant because no government, including the present coalition, has come to grips with it.
At the same time, no government can afford not to strive towards achieving these.
Source: The Indian Express
Disclaimer: All news stories and content sourced from freely available material on the internet. All sources are acknowledged.
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