Today's Hot Stories - February 26, 2014 - PT education

Today's Hot Stories - February 26, 2014

10 Headlines for Today

(1) Smoke on INS Sindhuratna; 5 sailors airlifted
(2) Cross LoC trade resumes on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route 7
(3) Obama tells Pentagon to plan for Afghan pullout
(4) Panel on new bank licences submits report
(5) SEBI proposes Monitoring Agency to oversee IPO funds usage
(6) Massive recall of GM cars with ignition switch problems
(7) Asia Cup: India wins toss; elects to bowl
(8) Champions League: Meltdown for United in Greece, romp for Dortmund in Russia
(9) Malinga’s five-for scuppers Pakistan
(10) 800 turtles dead in Nellore

5 Stories for Today

(1) 11 parties form ‘alternative’ to defeat Cong, BJP
(2) Gunshots rattle Thai capital as PM flies out
(3) New norms proposed for listed firms divesting stake in units
(4) Microsoft needs to get back to innovation roots, says CEO Satya Nadella
(5) High exports, farm output improve business confidence: NCAER

(1) 11 parties form ‘alternative’ to defeat Cong, BJP


The attempt to capture the non-Congress, non-BJP electoral space in the country began in right earnest on Tuesday with leaders of seven regional parties joining the Left in issuing a joint declaration that offers a ``democratic, secular, federal and pro-people development agenda’’ to the electorate.

Though leaders of only nine of the 11 parties which formed a separate bloc in Parliament earlier this month were present at the meeting here, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat said the two parties which did not have representation at Tuesday’s meeting – Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) – were on board.

``They were consulted at every stage of drafting the joint declaration,’’ Mr. Karat said, adding that AGP president Prafulla Kumar Mahanta could not come because his mother was critically ill and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of the BJD had a prior commitment.

As for the name of the alternative and its prime ministerial candidate, the refrain of Mr. Karat and Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav was that these would be decided after the elections as has been the case with earlier incarnations of such a grouping which, this time round, is again minus the Telugu Desam Party.

One of the reasons for leaving the decision for post-poll resolution is to keep the doors open for other parties to join. ``We do not want to fore-close that possibility by finalising a name and the prime ministerial candidate,’’ said one leader. Indicating the possibility of more parties joining, Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said: ``This is just the beginning.’’

On election strategy, Mr. Karat explained that since most of the parties did not have an all-India presence they were free to stitch up alliances as they deemed fit. ``We are planning to pool our resources at the national level,’’ he said, explaining that the focus would be on picking up as many seats as possible.’’

While he remained non-committal on this group extending support to the Congress or taking support from it as was the case in 1996, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said there was no question of the JD(U) returning to the BJP fold under any circumstances. He was replying to a question on whether the JD(U) would reconsider its decision to leave the BJP if the party dropped Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate.

Describing the Congress and the BJP as two sides of the same coin, the joint declaration resolves to end corruption and ensure accountability in government, establish a secular order that recognises the plurality and diversity in Indian society, provide a people-oriented developmental path which addresses concerns of all marginalised sections, and reverse the centralising mode to create a truly federal system so that all States’ rights are assured including special category status for those which deserve it.

Besides SP, CPI(M), JD(U), BJD and AGP, the other signatories to the declaration are the All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Janata Dal (Secular), Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, CPI, All India Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party.

Many of these parties had been part of a similar attempt ahead of the 2009 elections to forge a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative but that experiment was later dubbed a failure by the CPI(M) as the call was for forming a government. This time, the party – which has spearheaded this initiative – has, therefore, confined the agenda to providing an electoral alternative.

Source: The Hindu

(2) Gunshots rattle Thai capital as PM flies out


Gunmen opened fire near several opposition protest sites in Bangkok Wednesday, stoking tensions in the capital as Thailand's embattled prime minister flew to her political stronghold in the north.

Street violence, often targeting protesters, has become a near-daily feature of the almost four-month-long crisis gripping Thailand, with the toll standing at 22 dead and hundreds wounded.

Police said unknown gunmen fired sporadically early Wednesday for around an hour in three areas of Bangkok where demonstrators are camped out alongside upscale shopping malls and luxury hotels. Nobody was wounded.

"We don't know which side fired the shots, but the aim of the gunmen is to intimidate," deputy national police spokesman Anucha Romyanan told AFP.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is under intense pressure to step down with the protesters calling for an unelected "people's council" to tackle corruption and a culture of money politics.

Her supporters say they will not accept the removal of an elected government by the protesters, military or the courts, raising fears of a protracted standoff.

Yingluck has been summoned by an anti-graft panel on Thursday to hear charges of neglect of duty in connection with a rice subsidy scheme that the opposition says is rife with corruption.

If found guilty she could be removed from office and face a five-year ban from politics.

Yingluck flew to the northern city of Chiang Rai on Wednesday to inspect government-backed projects, saying she might not attend the National Anti-Corruption Commission hearing.

"I have not yet made up my mind," Yingluck told reporters when asked if she would face the panel.

But a government official who did not want to be named said Yingluck was expected to stay in northern Thailand until Friday.

Officials denied the premier was on the run from protesters, who have vowed to pursue her wherever she goes and have besieged state buildings where she has held cabinet meetings since the occupation of her headquarters in December.

"She is not avoiding the political situation in Bangkok," said Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt.

Children among victims

More than 700 people have been wounded in street violence since demonstrators took to the streets in late October seeking to curb the political dominance of Yingluck's billionaire family.

The opposition blames Yingluck's followers for the violence, while government supporters accuse the demonstrators of trying to incite the military to step in.

Four children were among the victims of two separate grenade and gun attacks on opposition rallies in Bangkok and eastern Thailand over the weekend, drawing widespread condemnation.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the police headquarters in Bangkok on Wednesday demanding justice for the slain children.

Protesters have occupied several key intersections in the Thai capital with guards -- many wearing body armour -- searching cars and pedestrians at road blocks made from tyres and sandbags.

It is the country's deadliest political unrest since 2010, prompting warnings from the army chief that Thailand risks sinking into civil war unless the two sides pull back.

Thailand has been scored by deep divisions since a bloodless coup by the military in 2006 ousted Yingluck's elder brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, as prime minister.

The latest political violence is the worst since more than 90 people died during protests by pro-Thaksin "Red Shirts" in 2010 that sparked street clashes and a bloody military crackdown.

Yingluck swept to power in 2011 on a wave of support in the rural north and northeast, helped by the flagship rice policy paying farmers up to 50 percent above market rates for their crop.

But the scheme has left the kingdom with stockpiles of unsold rice after Thailand lost its rank as the world's top rice exporter.

The government, left with limited powers since the dissolution of parliament in December, owes farmers an estimated $3.5 billion but has struggled to raise funds to settle its bill, prompting hundreds of farmers to demonstrate for payment in Bangkok.

A general election held on February 2 failed to calm the crisis after protesters obstructed the vote in many opposition strongholds.

Election re-runs are due to be held on March 2 in five of the affected provinces but further disruption appears likely, particularly after a recent court decision restricted the use of force by the authorities to deal with the protests.

Source: The Times of India

(3) New norms proposed for listed firms divesting stake in units


Listed companies will soon have to seek the approval of shareholders to divest shares in subsidiaries that bring in more than one-fifth of annual consolidated income.

Market regulator SEBI’s proposal is part of efforts to strengthen corporate governance and curb misdoings at the management level.

The proposal to make it mandatory for listed companies to get shareholder approval for divestment in key subsidiaries also comes in the backdrop of ownership of subsidiaries being transferred to controlling stakeholders without keeping others in the loop.

Under existing rules, divestment in major subsidiaries does not require the approval of shareholders.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has recommended that all listed companies should have a policy to determine material subsidiaries and they should be disclosed to the stock exchanges.

The Primary Market Advisory Committee (PMAC) is also of the view that a special resolution should be moved to get shareholders’ nod.

A subsidiary shall be considered “material” if the investment of the company in the unit exceeds 20 per cent of its consolidated net worth as per the audited balance sheet of the previous financial year.

The classification would also be applicable if the subsidiary generated 20 per cent of the consolidated income of the company during the previous financial year.

The requirement is expected to be part of SEBI’s new set of corporate governance norms for listed companies that would come into effect from October 1.

In their suggestions on the matter, various stakeholders had said that major subsidiaries should be defined and should include Indian, foreign and step-down units.

Besides, it was suggested that certain minimum amount of information about proposed disinvestment in subsidiaries, including financial details for the past three years, the consideration as well as reasons, should be disclosed in the notice for the meeting to seek shareholder approval for the resolution.

However, there were opinions against the proposal, saying the requirement would be onerous.

Source: The Economic Times

(4) Microsoft needs to get back to innovation roots, says CEO Satya Nadella


Microsoft's new chief executive India-born Satya Nadella says the tech giant needs to start thinking like a startup again if it wants to move ahead in the new technology landscape.

"Culturally, I think we have operated as if we had the formula figured out, and it was all about optimising, in its various constituent parts, the formula," Nadella said in an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday.

"We've had great successes, but our future is not about our past success. It's going to be about whether we will invent things that are really going to drive our future." Nadella, who was named earlier this month to succeed Steve Ballmer at the helm of the tech titan, said Microsoft needs to move faster in innovation.

"Everything now is going to have to be much more compressed in terms of both cycle times and response times," he said.

"You have to be able to sense those early indicators of success, and the leadership has to really lean in and not let things die on the vine," he added.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/popup/2014/2/gfx-indian-ceos.jpg

Nadella's appointment coincides with Microsoft founder Bill Gates stepping back in as a "technology advisor," giving up his title of chairman.

The Indian-born CEO said Gates's role will not really be new.

Read: Nadella is CEO, but is Microsoft just playing safe?

"The outside world looks at it and says, 'Whoa, this is some new thing.' But we've worked closely for about nine years now," he said.

"So I'm very comfortable with this, and I asked for a real allocation of his time. He is in fact making some pretty hard trade-offs. And one of the fantastic things that only Bill can do inside this campus is to get everybody energised to bring their 'A' game. It's just a gift."

Source: Hindustan Times

(5) Economic growth in India likely slowed to near decade-low of 4.9%: poll


Economic growth in India likely slowed to a near decade-low at the end of last year as high interest rates hit factory activity, according to economists polled by Reuters who don't expect a pickup in investment before May Lok Sabha elections.

The poll of 36 economists, conducted Feb 19-25, predicted Asia's third-largest economy grew 4.9 percent over a year ago in the three months to December, similar to the 4.8 percent rate in the previous quarter.

That is a shadow of the close-to-double-digit growth rates in recent years and is a signal of the problems gripping Indian factories, which are weighed down by both high interest rates and diminishing consumer demand.

Industrial output contracted in each of the last three months of 2013, led by steep falls in capital and consumer goods production.

"High borrowing costs necessitated by elevated inflation, coupled with subdued demand, have kept manufacturing and investment interest on the back foot," said Radhika Rao, economist at DBS.

A stalled investment cycle due to uncertainty over government policy has also pushed many infrastructure projects onto the back burner in recent years.

That situation is unlikely to improve soon and all 22 economists who answered an extra question said they didn't expect any substantial improvement in investment before general elections in May.

Elevated borrowing costs have added to manufacturers' woes after the Reserve Bank of India hiked interest rates three times between September and January to curb stubborn inflation which showed no signs of easing even as growth tumbled.

While wholesale inflation did slow to an eight-month low in January, the fall was driven by softer food and vegetable prices which are considered volatile and could head higher again.

Still, economists have mostly predicted the RBI will pause its rate hike spree, especially after the central bank said it did not foresee further near-term tightening if consumer price inflation eased as projected.

India's retail inflation slowed to a two-year low of 8.79 percent in January.

The poll also showed economists were split down the middle on whether Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's estimate of containing the fiscal deficit at 4.6 percent of gross domestic product was achievable.

While 11 of 22 said Chidambaram's estimate is 'about right', an equal number said he was being optimistic.

The concern, though, is on the roll-over of subsidies.

"The deficit of 4.6 percent will be achieved artificially through pushing the energy subsidy payments into the next fiscal year and through the one-time non-tax revenue from wireless spectrum sale and special dividends from state-owned corporations," said Hanna Luchnikava, economist at IHS Global Insight.

"Without these measures, the deficit is estimated to have reached around 5.2 percent of GDP."

Economists in the poll predicted the economy would grow 5.1 percent in the first quarter of 2014.

Source: The Indian Express

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