LINKAGE OF PAN WITH AADHAAR IS MANDATORY FOR FILING ITR:
SUPREME COURT
The Supreme Court has said
that linkage of PAN with Aadhaar is mandatory for filing of Income Tax returns
A bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer said the top court has
already decided the matter and upheld the section 139AA of the Income Tax Act.
The court's direction came on an appeal filed by the Centre against a Delhi
High Court order allowing two persons, Shreya Sen and Jayshree Satpute, to file
Income Tax returns for 2018-19 without linking their Aadhaar and PAN numbers.
"The aforesaid order was passed by the High Court having regard to the
fact that the matter was pending consideration in this Court. Thereafter, this
Court has decided the matter and upheld the vires of section 139AA of the
Income Tax Act. In view thereof, linkage of PAN with Aadhaar is
mandatory," the bench said. The top court noted that with regard to
Assessment Year 2018-19, it has been informed that the two petitioners had
filed the Income Tax returns in terms of the orders of the High Court and the
assessment has also been completed. "We therefore make it clear that for
the assessment year 2019-20, the income tax return shall be filed in terms of
the judgment passed by this court. The special leave petition is disposed of in
the above terms," the bench said in an order on Monday. The petitioners
had told the High Court that "despite orders, and multiple attempts they
have not been able to file their ITR, since there is no available option to
opt-out of providing an Aadhaar or Aadhaar Enrolment number during e-filing, on
the website"
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NEW PIT DISPUTES SEE A DROP
While the government’s
stated policy is to reduce tax disputes/litigation this wasn’t percolated into
the level of assessing officers, who continued to make high-pitched demands
(direct tax disputes that are 1-2 years old saw an 18-fold jump to Rs 3,13,387
crore between FY08 and FY18). The latest data, as revealed in Friday’s interim
Budget, however, seem to suggest either a drop in new claims or withdrawal of
cases made in the area of personal income tax (PIT). PIT disputes of 1-2 years
old dropped a steep 48% from Rs 1,78,937 crore for reporting year 2016-17 to Rs
93,648 crore in 2017-18. The tax department in July last year announced a
decision to revise thresholds for appeals to various forums (tribunals/courts),
in a bid to reduce the mass of tax litigation. These revisions were expected to
reduce the number of direct tax cases by 41% and indirect tax disputes by 18%. There
was also a deceleration in the growth in total amount under dispute — both
direct and indirect taxes — in 2017-18 (the disputed amount stood at 8.99 lakh
crore in 2017-18, just 3% more than in FY17, the year which saw a 12%
increase). While these could be early signs of the taxman becoming less
aggressive, unless clear-cut guidelines are in place for tax officers at the
field level and greater convergence among tribunal rulings is achieved, the
proposed technology-intensive system, which will obviate without human
interface, could have the unintended consequence of catalysing a surge in new
disputes. This is because such systems relying on artificial intelligence will
likely use each ruling to build a knowledge repository allowing them to be
mindlessly replicated.
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AIIB, NDB AND EBRD NOT TO BE TREATED FOREIGN SOURCE UNDER FCRA
In exercise of the power
conferred by sub-clause (ii) of clause (j) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of
the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (42 of 2010), the Central
Government hereby specifies that the following international organisations
shall not be treated as ‘foreign source’ for the purposes of the said Act,
namely:—
(i) Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB)
(ii) New Development Bank
(NDB)
(iii) European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
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ICAI WARNS ABOUT A FAKE WEBSITE CREATED USING THE ICAI NAME
ICAI has warned its
members and students and public at large that a fake website namely
www.icaitestseries.com has been created by an unidentified person by using the
ICAI name. In the advisory, it has been stated that through the said website,
TEST SERIES Scandal/Scam purportedly in the name of online TEST SERIES for
CA/IPCC/INTER & FINAL is being run by the imposter(s). According to the
ICAI, the use of words ‘ICAI’ in the said website is misleading as it give
impression to the members, students and public at large that the TEST SERIES
for CA/IPCC/INTER & FINAL is being offered by ICAI or the owner of this
website is somehow associated/affiliated or authorized by the Institute. It has
made clear that the alleged online TEST SERIES through the said fake website
are being offered without the knowledge and authority of the ICAI and it has no
connection with ICAI in any manner and accordingly, it has been advised that
one must not get misled and confused by it. Further, ICAI is seized of the
matter and appropriate action has been initiated. All the members, students of
ICAI and public at large are hereby advised not to deal with the said website
www.icaitestseries.com.
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KERALA HIGH COURT DISMISSES 3,250 PETITIONS CHALLENGING VAT
ASSESSMENTS POST GST
The Kerala High Court had dismissed
3,250 petitions challenging the validity of the assessments under the earlier
VAT regime after the GST rollout after September 16, 2017. The petitioners
contended that the state government has been denuded of its legislative power
to enact the Kerala State Goods and Services Act, 2017. As Kerala State GST Act
came into being as a consequence of the constitutional amendment for GST, the
provisions of other state legislation that existed earlier are no more valid,
they had contended. The saving mechanism regarding transactions before
September 16, 2017 crumbles, it was contended. Dismissing the petitions,
Justice Dama Seshadri Naidu ruled against the contention of the petitioners
that the state government lacked the power to add a Repeal and Saving provision
(section 174) to Kerala State Goods and Services Act, 2017. Through the said
provision, the government had specified that the change in law will not affect
any tax, surcharge, penalty, or fine due. The Court observed that both the
central and state governments have powers to legislate on GST, the court’s
judgment said, “I am afraid it is a fallacy on the petitioners’ part to contend
that the State lacks the legislative power to enact Section 174 of the KGST
Act. Article 246A is the special provision on the Goods and Services Tax. It
empowers, as rightly contended by Shri Venkataraman, for the first time, both
the Union and the State have been conferred simultaneous – not concurrent –
powers to legislate on certain items. Indeed, concurrency yields to the
doctrine of repugnancy, but simultaneous legislative power does not. That is,
both the legislatures, say one from the Union and the other from the State,
coexist-operate in the same sphere subject to other constitutional safeguards.”
The petition (WP-C No. 11335/2018) that was considered as the lead case in the
judgment, was represented by Senior Counsel N. Venkataraman, Advocate K.P.
Abdul Azeez and Advocate Akhil Suresh.
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DOT SEEKS GST, NETWORK GEAR IMPORT DUTIES SOPS
The Department of
Telecommunications (DoT) has asked the finance ministry to offer some
GST-related relief to telcos and to bring down import duties of network
equipment, but the ministry is not considering any other company-specific
relief measures, as sought by Vodafone Idea. Aruna Sundararajan on Tuesday said
the industry needs to speak in a cohesive voice while seeking further financial
relief. “COAI was asking on behalf of some operators and this is not an
industry-wide issue. We have given them some relief and told them unless they
are able to convince the government that it is a industry-wide issue, we can’t
make a concession for one operator,” Sundararajan said. “Two of their demands
have been positively recommended to the finance ministry that include bringing down
import duties and GST relief,” she added. The industry had also called for a
rollback of basic customs duty increase on some equipment in October 2018, and
duties imposed on printed circuit boards used in them, in a bid to curb
non-essential imports and address its current account deficit as well as
encourage the Make in India initiative.
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TAX DEPARTMENT SENDS NOTICES TO WAKF BOARDS FOR NOT PAYING
SERVICE TAX, GST
Tax officials have started
sending out notices to various Wakf boards for not paying service tax and GST
on rent received from properties being used for non-religious and
non-charitable purposes, a source said. Out of the 30 Wakf boards in the
country, only two -- Kerala State Wakf Board and Dawoodi Bohra Wakf, Mumbai --
are registered under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. The Department
has started sending show cause notices to the Wakf boards for default in
payment of erstwhile service tax which was required to be paid on rental income
from leasing of properties for commercial purpose. The same is applicable under
GST, a source told PTI. The source, further said, that Wakf boards collectively
are the largest owner of immovable property after defence and railways and the
estimated tax revenue that could accrue to the exchequer could be around Rs 100
crore annually. Although the income of the Wakf boards is exempt from Income
Tax, it is not the case with regard to GST and the erstwhile service tax levy.
As per the service tax and GST laws, revenue generated from leasing of
properties by Wakf boards for commercial purposes are liable to be taxed. According
to sources, as per the established law, the tax has to be levied on income
unless they are specifically exempt. The exemption would be available on
revenue generated from premises rented for specific charitable and religious
purposes.
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WIN FOR GOVERNMENT IN WAR ON BLACK MONEY AS SWITZERLAND SET TO
SHARE HSBC ACCOUNT DETAILS
Switzerland is set to
transfer details of the Indian account holders in HSBC (Suisse). The account
holders have received a communication from the Swiss Federal Tax Administration
(FTA) to provide their written consent and a Swiss address to receive notices,
the report added. Nearly six weeks back, FTA sent communication to the
individual Indian account holders that the Indian request for banking details
meets the requirements specified in the DTA (double taxation agreement) signed
by the two countries. In the request dated 31 October 2018, the Indian
competent authority requested information related to you we therefore requested
HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) to provide us with the information requested by the
competent authority from the time period starting from April 1, 2011 if you
would like to take part in the Swiss procedure for administrative assistance
you are requested to designate a representative to receive service in
Switzerland or provide us with your current address in Switzerland, the
communication said. The French authorities had in 2011 submitted a list of 628
Indians to India who held accounts in HSBC Private Bank (Suisse). In 2015,
Swiss Leaks, an investigation done by The Indian Express with the International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists and French newspaper Le Monde had
revealed. Meanwhile, in less than two months after a UK court on Sunday ordered
fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya’s extradition to India, British Home
Secretary Sajid Javid signed the order for completing the process. The
62-year-old, owner of the defunct Kingfisher Airlines, is wanted in India for
wilful default of over Rs 9,000 crore loans from Indian banks.
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LEVYING OF SERVICE CHARGES DESPITE GST
Charging of Service Tax is
not valid The Government in April 2017 issued guidelines on fair trade
practices related to charging of Service Charge from consumer by
hotel/restaurants. As per these guidelines, Service Charge is optional and
payment of it depends entirely upon the discretion of the consumers. An aggrieved
consumer can approach a consumer forum of appropriate jurisdiction for redressal
of his grievance related to charging of service charges by hotels and
restaurants.
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GUJARAT HC STRIKES DOWN RESTRICTIVE PROVISION FOR EXPORT SOPS
UNDER GST
In a major relief for
exporters, the Gujarat high court has struck down the constitutional validity
of a provision under the goods and services tax (GST) that restricts
utilisation of advance authorisation licenses These licenses entitle the
holders to import goods duty free for the purpose of exports. This is a big
relief for the exporters as the condition was creating huge problems and was
difficult to comply in various cases, Abhishek Rastogi, said. Petitioners said
they will continue to challenge the constitutional validity of the government's
move in other high courts. We will use the Gujarat high court judgement to
bolster our arguments in these courts, Rastogi said. Rastogi said, The high
court has struck down the condition as arbitrary, ultra vires and violative of
the Constitution.
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EXPORTERS TO CLAIM TAX EXEMPTION ON IMPORTED RAW MATERIALS
EVEN IF FINISHED PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN SHIPPED: GUJARAT HC
In a landmark decision,
the Gujarat High Court has allowed exporters to claim tax exemption on imported
raw material even if the finished products have already been shipped out. Under
the pre-GST regime, exporters were allowed to claim tax exemption on imported
raw material but post-GST regime, the pre-import condition has been imposed to
be followed by exporters holding advance authorisation licences. Because of
this, exporters importing duty-free items under Advance Authorization Licences
have been going through unfair and undue hardships The CBIC notification dated
October 13, 2017 prescribed certain conditions, which denied benefits to
exporters who import input goods after their finished products are exported.
This notification was challenged in the High Court. Giving the verdict in the
favour of exporters, Gujarat High Court struck down the October 2017
notifications of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Custom (CBIC) and
correspondingly by the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) prescribing
pre-import conditions to avail IGST (Integrated Goods and Services Tax)
exemption for imports under Advance Authorisation. The court struck down the
‘pre-import’ condition on Monday, said Abhishek A Rastogi. Though, the Finance
Ministry had issue another notification in January this year to remove
pre-import condition and include specified deemed export supplies for exemption
from integrated tax and compensation cess for materials imported against
Advance Authorisations and Advance Authorisations for Annual Requirement. However,
this relief was given prospectively while demand was to allow relief from
October 2017 itself. The petitioner continued challenging the issue in high
court and Gujarat High Court declared that the exporters are allowed to claim
tax exemption on imported raw material even if the finished products have
already been shipped out.
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50K JOBLESS YOUTH TO GET RS 1 LAKH EACH, MAMATA GOVT ANNOUNCES
IN BUDGET
Mamata Banerjee-led West
Bengal government in its Budget announcement on Monday declared annual
financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh each for 50,000 unemployed youth in the state
for their self-employment. The state also claimed to have created over 900,000
jobs in FY19. Amit Mitra presented the Budget with a nearly 11 per cent
increase in budgetary allocation for FY20 at Rs 237,964 crore, and a deficit of
Rs 9 crore. The government exceeded the target for the state’s own tax revenue
collection for 2018-19 by nearly 9 per cent. For FY19, the state’s tax revenue
stood at Rs 60,079 crore as per revised estimate, against about Rs 55,201 crore
in the budget estimate. The share of state goods and services tax (SGST) stood
at Rs 27,173 crore in FY19, against Rs 23,060 crore in FY18, a rise of about 18
per cent. The total revenue receipt for 2018-19 (revised) stood at about Rs
152,625 crore, against a budget estimate of about Rs 146,748 crore for the
year.
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₹2.26 LAKH CR- INTERIM BUDGET PRESENTED IN AP
ASSEMBLY
Andhra Pradesh Finance
Minister Y Ramakrishnudu presented an interim (vote-on-account) budget for
2019-20 in the State Assembly on Tuesday, with emphasis on welfare schemes. The
minister presented the Rs 2,26,117.53 crore-budget with a deficit of Rs
32,390.68 crores. The revenue expenditure amounted to Rs 1,80,369.33 crore and
the capital expenditure Rs 29,596.33 crores. In the budget, a new scheme for
farmers - Annadata Sukhibhava, which literally means Let the food-giver be
blessed - was introduced with an allocation of Rs 5,000 crores. It envisages
transferring a certain amount of money into the accounts of farmers, along the
lines of the scheme announced in the Union Budget - but the details would have
to be worked out yet. Pensions for the aged and widows have been enhanced from
the present Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000, with an allocation of Rs 10,401 crores. Allowances
for the educated unemployed youth under the Yuvanestam scheme have been
enhanced from Rs 1,000 per month to Rs 2,000, with an allocation of Rs 1,200 crores.
The allocation for Anna canteens where meals are provided for Rs 5 has been
pegged at Rs 300 crores. For another major welfare scheme - Pasupu-kumkuma - an
allocation of Rs 8,604 crores was recently made by the state government in the
budget. An additional financial assistance of Rs 10,000 would be given to each
member of the women's self-help groups in the State in three instalments during
the next three months. Several new BC corporations were announced in the budget
and also a few for the upper castes such as Kshatriyas. For the Kapu
corporation an allocation of Rs 1,000 crores was made, for the BC Corporation
Rs 3,000 crores, for the Brahmin Corporation Rs 100 crores, for the Kshatriya
Corporation Rs 50 crores and for the Vysya Corporation Rs 50 crores. For
industries, an allocation of Rs 4,114.92 crores was made, with an additional
allocation of Rs 400 crores for MSMEs, and for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA) Rs 1,000 crores. An allocation of Rs
1,006.81 crores was made for the IT and communications sector. For market
intervention a fund of Rs 1,000 crores was set apart. The Finance Minister
informed the House that the ruling party, Telugu Desam Party, had promised in
2014 that farm loans would be waived off in the State and true to our promise
we spent Rs 16,000 crores for the purpose since 2014. The remaining two
instalments (roughly Rs 8,000 crores) would be adjusted soon in the coming
weeks. The total amount would be roughly Rs 24,000 crores.
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ED SEIZURES OF ALLEGED MONEY LAUNDERERS' ASSETS TO REMAIN
VALID FOR 1 YEAR
Seizure of assets of
alleged money launderers confiscated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), could
remain valid for up to one year, according to a new provision proposed for the
Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). On February 1, the interim Budget
for 2019-20 proposed an increase in the time period of confiscation or
attachment of assets to 365 days from 90 days at present. The move will provide
probe agencies such as the ED more time to collect evidence and establish the
crime against the offenders. The rule will be applicable to the fugitive
economic offenders as well, said an ED official. Currently, the enforcement
officers are making seizures of assets directly and indirectly connected to
offenders, including jewelers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi in the Punjab
National Bank fraud and Vijay Mallya in the Rs 9,000-crore IDBI loan case.
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti are also under the ED
scanner in the INX Media case. Karti Chidambaram’s assets have been recently
attached.
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BANKS CAN SELL MALLYA'S ASSETS: ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE
The Enforcement
Directorate (ED) told a special court in Mumbai on Tuesday that it had no
objection to liquidation of Vijay Mallya’s confiscated assets by a consortium
of banks led by State Bank of India which is seeking to recover more than Rs
9,000 crore from the fugitive businessman. While leaving the decision of
restoration and sale of the assets to the discretion of the court, the central
anti-money laundering agency, which had attached Mallya’s assets, asked the
court to seek a guarantee from the lenders that they would return the money to
the court or the ED “in the unlikely event” of the accused winning the criminal
trial. Replying to an application filed by the lenders in the special
Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai, the agency said “the
complainant (ED) leaves it to the best judgement of this honourable court to
grant the prayer”. ED further said, “However, in case the court deems it fit to
allow the application, it shall take an undertaking from the applicant to
return the said amount with interest in case the court at any point in time
deem it fit and appropriate, in the interest of justice to deposit the said
amount to the court or the complainant without any delay.” The court adjourned
the matter till March 13.
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LAND SCAM: MEHUL CHOKSI, AIDES BOUGHT 25 ACRES FOR DIAMOND SEZ
THAT NEVER TOOK OFF
Diamantaire Mehul Choksi's
name has cr-opped up in suspicious land deals dating back to 2008 for a
Panvel-based gems and jewellery special economic zone that never got off the
ground. Records show Choksi bought land for a diamond SEZ in his own name and a
few of his associates, and not in his company's, in violation of SEZ
regulations. Choksi and aides own 25 acres in Panvel worth Rs 300 crore at
current market prices. His company, Gitanjali Gems Ltd (GGL), was to buy the
land in two Panvel villages that fell in the green zone then, with the stated
purpose of setting up an SEZ. The Panvel tehsildar's office is investigating
this case. Documents, copies, show that GGL had applied for the SEZ on 25 acres
of land before Malini Shankar, the then development commissioner (industries),
in Chirvat and Sangurli villages in 2008 under Mumbai Tenancy and Agricultural
Land Act 1948. The two villages then fell in the green zone. The order came
with three riders. One, GGL had to obtain permission from the planning
department and MMRDA to convert the green zone land in the two villages for
bona fide industrial use. Accordingly, GGL had submitted an affidavit for the
green zone permission. Two, the land was to be purchased within two years, and
three, put to industrial use within five years from the order date, March 31,
2008. Else, the land owners would have the right to repurchase the land at the
same purchase price. The land is yet to be returned to the original owners,
though. On May 4, 2017, Vikas Jain, the then development commissioner
(industries), cancelled the purchase order, citing that the government had
withdrawn the permission granted for the SEZ using the sunset clause. GGL twice
represented the case before the development commissioner (industries) on April
15 and 24, 2017. Lack of progress in submissions, though, finally led to
cancellation of the land purchase order. Panvel tehsildar office senior clerk,
said: "The SEZ land purchase and cancellation orders have been received
from the Raigad collector. The land details are being checked. Nowhere is GGL
mentioned or represented by Choksi in the 7/12 land extracts." A 7/12
document is an extract from the land register which gives details about a plot.
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SC ISSUES CONTEMPT NOTICE TO ADVOCATE PRASHANT BHUSHAN OVER
CBI TWEETS
The Supreme Court on
Wednesday sought a response from activist and lawyer Prashant Bhushan on
contempt pleas by Attorney General K K Venugopal and the Centre for his tweets allegedly
criticising the court on the appointment of M Nageswara Rao as interim CBI
director. Bhushan was given three weeks to reply. A bench of Justices Arun
Mishra and Naveen Sinha said it would deal with the larger question of whether
it is open for lawyers or any other person to criticise the court in a sub
judice matter which would lead to influencing public opinion. The bench added
that criticising the court may also lead to interference in the course of
justice. "This issue required to be heard in length, notice issued,"
the bench said. The bench listed the matter for further hearing on March 7.
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UP recommends withdrawal
of 38 Muzaffarnagar cases
The Yogi Adityanath
government has recommended withdrawal of 38 criminal cases against more than
100 individuals who were charged in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. The 2013 riot
cases deal with charges of dacoity, use of fire and explosive substances and defiling
places of worship and outraging religious feelings. Another case pertaining to
obstruction to work with criminal intent and injury by a man under Section 7 of
Criminal Law Amendment Act will also be withdrawn. The state government gave
its sanction for withdrawal on January 10 and the note was sent on January 29.
The government had sought an opinion on withdrawals of at least 119 riot FIRs
filed at six police stations in 2013 including Fugana, Bhaurkala, Jansath and
others. “After evaluating the facts and available correspondence and documents,
it has been decided after careful consideration, that the cases against accused
must be withdrawn by presenting the approval before the district court,"
the recommendation note said. The recommendation note has also cited approval
of UP governor Ram Naik in the cases. It has also cited CrPC Section 321, which
allows withdrawal from prosecution, with consent of court at any time before
the judgment is pronounced or withdraw from the prosecution of any person in
any offence.
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KOLKATA TOP COP MUST MEET CBI, CANNOT BE ARRESTED: SC
The sombre note struck by
the Supreme Court on Tuesday in directing Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev
Kumar to cooperate with the CBI in its probe into the Saradha chit-fund scam
did not prevent the stand-off between the Centre and the West Bengal government
from evolving into a full-blown confrontation. Smriti Irani dubbed the Supreme
Court order directing Kolkata’s top cop to cooperate with the CBI as “egg on
Mamata’s face”, the West Bengal CM termed it as a “moral victory” for herself.
The apex court, while asking the Kolkata police chief to cooperate with the
CBI, simultaneously restrained the central investigating agency from taking any
coercive steps against him, including arrest.
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NO OBJECTION TO RESTORATION OF VIJAY MALLYA'S PROPERTIES TO
BANKS: ED
The Enforcement
Directorate (ED) told a special court on Tuesday that it had no objection to
restoration of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya's properties to a consortium
of banks, but the banks should give an undertaking to return the amount claimed
by them to the court in the future. The central probe agency submitted its
affidavit in response to an application filed by the consortium of banks, led
by the State Bank of India (SBI), seeking restoration of properties of Mallya,
who is accused of defaulting on loans worth over Rs 9,000 crore. According to
the consortium, the amount claimed by the banks was around Rs 6,200 crore In
its affidavit filed before special PMLA judge M S Azmi, the ED said it had left
the matter to the best judgement of the court to grant the prayer made by the
applicant (consortium of banks). However, in case the court deems it fit to
allow the application it shall take an undertaking from them (consortium of
banks) to return the said amount with interest, in case the court at any point
deems 'fit and appropriate' in the 'interest of justice' to deposit the amount before
it or to the complainant without delay, the affidavit said. The agency further
said that since all the applicants, except one, were public banks, the money
sought to be recovered was public money restoration of assets in their favour
was in public interest. In light of these facts and circumstances, it is prayed
that the court may graciously be pleased to allow the instant application in
the interest of justice and/or pass any such order that it deems fit in the
interest of justice, the ED submitted.
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ONE MORE STEP CLEARED TO EXTRADITE MALLYA: ARUN JAITLEY
With the UK government
ordering extradition of Vijay Mallya, Union minister Arun Jaitley on Monday
said the Modi government has cleared one more step to get the embattled liquor
baron back UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid has ordered the extradition of Mallya
on charges of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering offences, the British
Home Office said in London.
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FORMER NSEL DIRECTOR JOSEPH MASSEY'S POLICE CUSTODY EXTENDED
BY TWO DAYS
A special court on Tuesday
extended police custody of Joseph Massey, a former director of the scam hit
National Spot Exchange Ltd, by two days Massey was arrested by the Economic
Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police on January 27 and sent to police
custody till February 5. While Massey was previously named as a witness by the
EOW in its previous chargesheets, the EOW claimed to have found link of
Massey's involvement as an accused in the conspiracy of Rs 5,600 crore NSEL
scam that surfaced in 2013.
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OPPOSITION WORKING ON A COMMON ECONOMIC PLAN: N CHANDRABABU
NAIDU
An alliance of regional
parties in India is working on a combined economic plan Andhra Pradesh Chief
Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said, in the latest sign that Prime Minister
Narendra Modi faces an increasingly united opposition in the upcoming general
election. That plan is likely to include a landmark policy floated by India’s
main opposition Congress party to provide the poor with a minimum income if it
wins polls due by May, N Chandrababu Naidu, the politician who helped forge the
common front, told. The alliance consisting of 23 parties that came together in
a giant rally in Kolkata last month would focus on poverty eradication,
agriculture, employment and a minimum income for every family, he added. So
many political parties are working (on a) consensus. The farmers’ crisis is the
biggest issue, unemployment is the biggest issue, Naidu said. The economy (is
where) you have to concentrate.
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SUPREME COURT DIRECTS KOLKATA POLICE CHIEF TO COOPERATE WITH
CBI
The Supreme Court on
Tuesday directed Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar to make himself available
before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and faithfully cooperate with
the agency in investigation of cases arising out of the Saradha chit fund scam
probe. The apex court said Kumar will appear before the CBI for investigation
at Shillong, Meghalaya and no coercive steps, including the arrest of the
Kolkata Police chief, will take place during the course of the probe. A bench
headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi also issued a notice to Kumar and
sought his response before February 20, the next date of hearing on the
allegations by the CBI that he was tampering with electronic evidence and the
SIT headed by him provided the agency with doctored materials. The apex court
also directed the West Bengal chief secretary, the director general of police
(DGP) and the Kolkata Police commissioner to file replies on the contempt pleas
filed against them by the CBI on or before February 18. The apex court’s
secretary general will inform them on February 19 whether they are required to
be present before the apex court on February 20, the bench said.
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NO THREAT TO GOVERNMENT: KUMARASWAMY
With reports of the BJP’s
plans to move a no-confidence motion during the Budget session doing the
rounds, HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday claimed that his coalition partner, the
Congress, was backing him completely. Kumaraswamy said that he was confident of
retaining power. He also said that his government will fulfill the ₹46,000-crore
loan waiver commitment made to farmers in the government’s second Budget, which
he is scheduled to present on February 8. He claimed that he faced no threat to
his government and that he had ‘friends’ in the BJP too, who would help him
whenever his government faces a crisis. The Congress MLAs are most happy with
me. I am sure all their MLAs will attend the Budget session, he claimed. The
government will survive before and after the Lok Sabha polls. My government is
stable. It will complete the remaining four years, he said.
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MAMATA'S DHARNA AN OVER-REACTION; OPPN FORMING KLEPTOCRAT'S
CLUB: JAITLEY
Arun Jaitley on Tuesday
termed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's protest against CBI as a disproportionate
over-reaction and said opposition leaders supporting her is like a kleptocrat's
club aspiring to capture the reigns of power in the country. Jaitley said the
West Bengal chit fund fraud was unearthed in 2012-13 and its investigations
were handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the Supreme
Court. The court-monitored these investigations. The CBI has interrogated and
even arrested some people. Many have been granted bail. If a police officer is
also required to be interrogated, how does it become a super emergency, assault
on federalism, or destruction of institutions? Jaitley questioned. The minister
said the CBI was being brutally prevented by physical force from investigating
a crime which is legally within its jurisdiction. It is a textbook illustration
of a state government assaulting federalism, said Jaitley, who is in the US for
medical treatment. Stating that it would be a gross error to assume that
Banerjee did this because of a routine investigation involving a police
officer, Jaitley said She did it to defocus from other opposition aspirants for
the highest office and to project herself as the nucleus of India's opposition.
Most of the opposition leaders or their affiliates, supporting Banerjee, are
today being investigated, prosecuted and in some cases have also been convicted
for crimes of corruption, Jaitley said. Jaitley said those who have lent
support to the West Bengal dharna are those who are battling serious
allegations of economic improprieties, criminal misconduct and even corruption.
Mamata Banerjee's latest acrobatics are the best evidence of the kind of
governance India's opposition can provide, Jaitley said.
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INDIA AMONG COUNTRIES TO BENEFIT FROM US-CHINA TRADE WAR: UN
India is among the several
countries that stand to benefit from the ongoing trade tensions between the
world's top two economies — the US and China, the UN has said in its latest
report. The US and China are locked in a trade war since President Donald Trump
imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium items in March last year,
a move that sparked fears of a global trade war. In response, China imposed
tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars worth of American imports. The
United Nations experts said on Monday that the tit-for-tat trade dispute
between China and the United States may do little to protect domestic producers
in either country and could have massive implications on the global economy
unless it is resolved. Of the $250 billion in Chinese exports that are subject
to US tariffs, only about six per cent will be picked up by firms in the US,
according to a report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). And
of the approximately $85 billion in US exports that are subject to China's
tariffs, only about five per cent of this will be taken up by Chinese firms,
according to the UN research. In a bid to meet the US' demand of bringing down
the $375 billion bilateral trade deficit, China has pledged to take measures to
step up American imports and investments. March 1, 2019 is the deadline for
implementing the measures. Unless the US and China agree to drop their tariff
dispute by March 1, duty on each country's products will rise to 25 per cent,
up from the current 10 per cent level, the UN said. Countries that are expected
to benefit the most from the trade war are the EU members as exports in the
bloc are likely to grow by $70 billion. Japan and Canada will see exports
increase by more than $20 billion each, it said. Other countries set to benefit
from the trade tensions include Australia, with 4.6 per cent export gains,
Brazil (3.8) India (3.5), Philippines (3.2) and Vietnam (5), the study said.
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DELHI COURT RAPS POLICE ON KANHAIYA'S PROSECUTION, GIVES FEB
28 DEADLINE
A Delhi court on Wednesday
gave Delhi Police time till February 28 to procure the sanctions needed to
prosecute former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya
Kumar and others in a 2016 sedition case. The court told the police to ask the
authorities concerned to expedite the sanctions The police told the court that
the sanctions are pending with the Delhi government and are expected in a
matter of days. "Authorities can't sit on file for indefinite
period," the court said. The court had earlier questioned Delhi Police for
filing a chargesheet against Kumar and others without procuring the requisite
sanctions and granted time till February 6.
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SABARIMALA VERDICT: 5-JUDGE SC BENCH COMMENCES HEARING ON
REVIEW PETITION
The Supreme Court
Wednesday commenced hearing on pleas seeking review of its verdict which had
allowed women of all ages entry into Kerala's Sabarimala temple. K Prasaran,
appearing for Nair Service Society, opened the arguments before a five-judge
bench and sought setting aside of the verdict The review petitions are being
heard by a Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan
Gogoi and justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu
Malhotra. There are 64 cases being heard in total, out of which some are review
petitions and some transfer petitions.
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TAJ MAHAL, QUTUB MINAR AMONG TOP 10 REVENUE-GENERATING
MONUMENTS: GOVT
The top revenue-generating
monuments during 2015-18 include Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Qutub Minar, Red Fort
and Humayun's Tomb, Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma informed Parliament on
Tuesday. Responding to a query in the Rajya Sabha, he said along with these
monuments the others in the top 10 include Sun Temple Konark, group of
monuments in Mamallapuram, Ellora caves, group of monuments in Khajuraho, and
the Ajanta caves in Aurangabad. He also said the Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI) spent Rs 2,37,46 lakh in 2015-16 for the conservation of protected
monuments, while Rs 3,11,76 lakh was spent in 2016-17 and Rs 4,10,76 lakh in
2017-2018 for the purpose.
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CENTRE TO LAUNCH INFRA PROJECTS WORTH RS 5,000 CRORE IN
AYODHYA
The Centre will launch
half a dozen highway and infrastructure projects worth Rs 5,300 crore in
Ayodhya on Friday including the improvement of "84 Kosi Parikrama
Marg" and the Ram Van Gaman Marg. The two projects have religious
significance particularly for pilgrims who visit the holy city in Uttar
Pradesh. The foundation stone for all the projects will be laid by highways
minister Nitin Gadkari and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Though
the projects were planned earlier in 2015, the government is kick starting
construction just before the poll dates are announced and also at a time when
the Ram Mandir issue has become the talk of the nation. According to highway
ministry officials, in the first phase, about 91 km of the 84 Kosi Parikrama
Marg (250 km) will be expanded to four lanes with an investment of nearly Rs
896 crore. Huge number of pilgrims take the route to complete the tour around
the city. This stretch will be developed as a national highway. Another
significant project is the construction of around 48 km stretch of
Ayodhya-Chitrakoot of the Ram Van Gaman Marg. The road provides connectivity to
Janakpur in Nepal. According to the epic, after their marriage, Lord Ram and
Sita took this route from Janakpur to Ayodhya.
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INDIA'S 40TH COMMUNICATION SATELLITE GSAT-31 LAUNCHED
SUCCESSFULLY
India's 40th communication
satelliteGSAT-31 was successfully placed in orbit on Wednesday by an Ariane5
rocket from French Guiana. The satellite will cover both the mainland and
islands of the country and provide communication services such as DTH, ATMs
connectivity and emergency communication, etc. The rocket, which carried the
2,535-kg satellite, blasted off from the spaceport in French Guiana at 02:31 am
(IST) as scheduled. GSAT-31 is India's 40th communication satellite, which is
configured based on the Indian Space Research Organisation's (Isro's) enhanced
I-2K Bus. It utilises the maximum bus capabilities of this type. It has 19
Ku-band transponders, with flexible frequency segment and flexible coverage
providing effective communication in varied topology and remote areas of the
country. It will also provide continuity to the INSAT 4CR and 4A. It will also
provide wide-beam coverage to facilitate communication over large oceanic
regions, comprising large parts of the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the
Indian Ocean, using a wide-band transponder.
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GOVERNMENT IS COMMITTED TO PROVIDING GREATER ACCESS TO RURAL
MILK PRODUCERS BY STRENGTHENING DAIRY INFRASTRUCTURE
Radha Mohan Singh has said
that government is committed to doubling farmers’ income by 2022 by providing
greater access to rural milk producers by strengthening dairy infrastructure in
order to help generate year round income and gainful employment. He said that
the government is making efforts to strengthen infrastructure for production of
quality milk, procurement, processing and marketing of milk and milk products
through various Dairy Development Schemes namely National Programme for Dairy
Development (NPDD), National Dairy Plan Phase-I (NDP-I) and Dairy
Entrepreneurship Development Scheme (DEDS). Further, Dairy Processing &
Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) has been set up with a corpus of Rs 8004
crore for setting up of chilling infrastructure & installation of
electronic milk adulteration testing equipment at village level and creation/
modernisation/ expansion of processing infrastructure and manufacturing
facilities for Value Added Products. The Minister informed that the government
is also formulating plans for creation of dairy infrastructure besides
implementing the ongoing schemes for dairy development. The National Action
Plan (NAP) for Dairy Development envisages increasing milk production to 254.5
Million MT by 2021-22 requiring an annual growth rate of 8.56% which would lead
to increase in per capita availability of milk to 515 grams per day by 2021-22
addressing the nutritional requirement of the growing population. He added that
to do this, it has been targeted to increase the organised milk handling from
present 21% to 41% by March 2022 while increasing cooperative share from
present 10% to 20%. India ranks first among the world’s milk producing nations
achieving an annual production of 176.35 million tonnes during 2017-18 with an
annual growth rate of 6.62%. The per capita availability of milk has reached a
level of 375 grams per day during 2017-18, which is more than the world average
of around 294.2 grams per day. Growth in milk production is 23.8% during
2014-18 as compared to 2010-14.
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RS 8,500 CRORE INVESTMENT LINED UP FOR ETHANOL; TWO-THIRDS BY
SUGAR MILLS
Amid the growing clamour
to insulate the Rs 1 trillion domestic sugar economy from market volatility by
diversifying the sugarcane value chain, the country’s sugar mills have lined up
fresh investment to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore to upgrade for producing ethanol
from sugarcane. Apart from this, Indian Oil and Sunflag are also foraying into
ethanol production with over Rs.2500 cr green field investment. These are
announced investment figures and many more private sugar mills and cooperatives
will also follow suit to address the issue of excess sugar production. UP government
is investing Rs 100 crore to upgrade cooperative sugar mills to produce ethanol
along with sugar. Sugar mills in the top sugar producing states viz.
Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are projected to account for 40% and 30% of the
fresh ethanol capacity addition, according to Care Ratings deputy general
manager (corporate rating) Gaurav Dixit. While, Maharashtra based mills are
likely to invest Rs 2,250 crore, UP mills would incur Rs 1,500 crore towards
such capital expenditure, thus totalling Rs 3,750 crore for the two states.
Currently, 4-5% of ethanol is mixed with petrol as against the federal target
of 10% blending with biofuel by 2022, which is lower than 25% mandated ethanol
mixing in Brazil. Even for 10% blending, there is a requirement of 3.3 billion
litres of ethanol, which indicates the enormous economic opportunities for
Indian sugar mills. Currently, USA is the world’s biggest producer and consumer
of bioethanol, accounting for 57% of global production in 2015, followed by
South America at 28%.
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STRAY COWS ADD TO NARENDRA MODI'S FARMER WOES AS ELECTION
LOOMS
As night fell on the
bucolic northern Indian hamlet of Mahaban, Gopi Chand Yadav gathered blankets
and a flashlight to spend the night sitting on a wooden platform in his field.
His task: to use bamboo sticks to ward off stray cattle from intruding and
eating a maturing mustard crop. Like Yadav, many thousands of farmers stay
awake to guard their farms over a cold winter or face losing their crops to the
cattle - a double whammy for growers already reeling from a plunge in Indian
crop prices. While stray cows ambling around towns and villages have always
been a feature of life in rural India, farmers say their number has increased
sharply in recent years to the extent that they have become a menace, and blame
the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government.
Protecting cows was one of the measures meant to shore up support in the
heavily populated, Hindi-speaking belt across northern India that has been a
heartland of the ruling BJP. Instead, it is creating a backlash, even among
Hindu farmers. "We already had enough problems and now the government has
created one more," said octogenarian farmer Baburao Saini from Kakripur
village, about 85 kilometres (50 miles) from New Delhi. "For the first
time, we've been forced to stay in the fields to protect our crops." More
than 50 farmers Reuters spoke to in Mahaban and nine other villages in Uttar
Pradesh state said they would think twice before voting for Modi's BJP in the
next general election, due by May. The cattle issue and low farm prices are
major reasons behind their disillusionment with a party that most say they
voted for in the last election in 2014. Modi swept Uttar Pradesh at that poll,
winning 73 of 80 seats in India's most populous state, with rural voters swayed
by a promise of higher crop prices, and as Hindu farmers supported the BJP amid
tensions with the minority Muslim community. Indian farmers keep cows to produce
milk, cheese and butter, but to harm or kill a cow, especially for food, is
considered taboo by most Hindus. Most states in India have long outlawed cow
slaughter, but after coming to power in 2014 the BJP ratcheted up its distaste
for trade in cattle, launching a crackdown on unlicensed abattoirs in Uttar
Pradesh and on cattle smuggling nationwide. "The government has only
enforced the laws by closing down unlicensed abattoirs and cracking down on
cattle smuggling," said BJP spokesman Gopal Krishna Agarwal, who added
that he runs a cow shelter of 1,300 cattle. "We're not trying to hurt
either any community or the rural economy."
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HOW JEFF BEZOS LOST OUT TO BILLIONAIRE MUKESH AMBANI IN
POLL-BOUND INDIA
Amazon.com and Walmart
Inc.’s plans to dominate India’s online retail landscape have been ambushed by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political priorities heading into a tightening
election The vote, which must be held by May, has increased the influence of local
retailers that lobbied for growth-crimping curbs on the U.S. giants. On cue,
India this month rolled out constraints on foreign e-commerce players including
Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, which together control 70 per cent of its
online shopping. The tighter rules, aimed at protecting small traders, may end
up benefiting the country’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, who is building a
home-grown competitor. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is still licking its
wounds after being trounced in three key recent state polls and a year ago
fighting an unexpectedly close contest in Gujarat — Modi’s home state. Among
small businesses, which are a traditional support base, the government’s
popularity has been eroded by 2016’s surprise cash ban and the subsequent chaotic
roll out of a new sales tax. The rules now bar Amazon and Flipkart Online
Services Pvt. Ltd. from owning inventory, and require them to treat all vendors
equally, throttling discounts and exclusives — a huge advantage to homegrown
companies including Ambani’s new venture. His Reliance Industries Ltd., which
owns India’s largest retail chain and third-biggest telecom network, has the
potential to evolve into a local version of Amazon or Alibaba Group Holding
Ltd., UBS AG said last month. Whether serendipitous or not, India’s tightened
regulatory regime for online retailers is a huge win for Reliance with its new
retail ambitions, said Sanchit Vir Gogia. This could be a field leveler for
them. He’s fresh from disrupting the nation’s telecom sector, which he entered
in 2016 with services so cheap that rivals have quit, merged or gone bankrupt,
including a carrier controlled by his younger brother.
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80% SMARTPHONE SALES WILL BE IN ABOVE ₹10,000 SEGMENT: REPORT
According to market
research firm techArc’s India Smartphone Segment Sales Forecast 2019, 149
million smartphones are expected to be sold over the year and 80% of the sales
will be of smartphones above ₹10,000, while the share of budget smartphones will decline.
Mid-segment which includes phones in the range of ₹10,001
to ₹25,000 such as Redmi Note 6 and Nokia 7.1, will account for
51% of sales, compared to 46% in 2018. The premium segment which includes
phones in the range of ₹25,001 to ₹50,000 such as OnePlus 6T, Samsung Galaxy A9 and Huawei V20,
will make up for 20% of the market, compared to 18% in 2018. The Luxe segment
which comprises of more premium smartphones such as Apple iPhone Xs, Google
Pixel 3 and Samsung Galaxy S9 will grow from last year’s 8% to 9% in 2019.
According to techArc’s founder and chief analyst Faisal Kawoosa, this shift in
consumer behaviour is driven by the aspiration to upgrade to a better
smartphone for an improved experience. The report attributes the shift to
availability of faster 4G speeds on smartphones, as it introduced users in
India to experiences like HD video streaming and online gaming that were not
possible earlier. The demand for entry level segment which comprise smartphones
in ₹5,001 to ₹10,000 is expected to shrink from 20 to 15% while basic
smartphones under ₹5,000 will fall from 8% to 5%.
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FINANCIAL SERVICES ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS TO DRIVE SIGNIFICANT
TECH GROWTH: DELOITTE
India will see significant
growth in technology coming from financial services sector in 2019 as increasing
number of users prefer digital channels for financial investments and wealth
management, said Deloitte in its Technology, Media & Telecommunications
(TMT) predictions. Deloitte India, said in its predictions that wealth
management in the country would see a continuous and significant shift towards
investment through mobile or web applications. Deloitte has estimated that
digitally invested assets under management (AUM) are likely to grow by nearly
80% from Rs 250 billion in 2018 to Rs 450 billion in 2019. At the same time,
according to the predictions, overall retail Assets Under Management (AUM) is
expected to grow by 37%. If the projected growth for 2019 continues beyond as
well, the AUM for individual investments in mutual funds invested digitally
will cross Rs 1 trillion by 2021; FDs booked through digital channels will
exceed 50% of all FDs booked by 2022; and 1 in every 2 retail investors will
use a digital platform to buy or sell equities by 2025, said Deloitte. While
some components of financial investment services were so far restricted to high
net-worth individuals; emergence of more direct-to-consumer digital platforms
have enabled access to such services for a wider gamut of people. Initiatives
by the government, the private sector, and academic institutions are aimed
towards bridging this gap.
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CRYPTO-EXCHANGE CEO DIES IN INDIA, PLATFORM CAN’T PAY
INVESTORS AS HE HAD THE PASSWORDS
A Canadian cryptocurrency
exchange said it could not repay at least $250 million to clients after its
chief executive died suddenly while visiting India. The company, QuadrigaCX,
said in court filings that the CEO, Gerald Cotten, was the only person who knew
the security keys and passwords needed to access the funds. The Supreme Court
of Nova Scotia on Tuesday approved the company’s request for protection against
creditors for 30 days and the appointment of accounting firm Ernst & Young
to sort out Quadriga’s finances and explore a possible sale. The company’s
inability to release its clients’ money has created an uproar among angry — and
highly suspicious — investors. In an affidavit, his widow, Jennifer Robertson,
wrote that her husband had run the business from an encrypted laptop, working
mostly out of their home in Fall River, Nova Scotia. Robertson did not know the
password or recovery key and could not find them written down anywhere “despite
repeated and diligent searches,” she wrote. Robertson said she also hired an
expert to find the cryptocurrency in “cold wallets” stored offline, with little
success. While other crypto exchanges have lost their clients’ money, this
appears to be the first one that has said it actually lost the keys to its
accounts. Quadriga’s platform went offline Jan. 28, and frustrated investors
have taken to Reddit and Twitter to discuss their investigations into the
company’s claims and potential lawsuits. Some questioned whether Cotten had
indeed died — or whether, perhaps, he had faked his death to pull off what is
known as an exit scam. “The death came at a very odd time in the history of
that company,” said Emin Gün Sirer. He noted that various online sleuths had
been searching the blockchain, a ledger that can be updated by decentralized
networks, for evidence of where Quadriga had stored its assets, but had found
none, which raised red flags. When it shut down, Quadriga’s platform had
363,000 users, and 115,000 of them had balances in their accounts: about $180
million in cryptocurrency and $70 million in Canadian currency, the court
documents state. The exchange enabled trades of bitcoin, Litecoin and Ether,
plus other types of cryptocurrency. The largest user claim was valued at about
$70 million. On Tuesday afternoon, the news site CoinDesk posted what it said
was a death certificate for Cotten from the government of Rajasthan’s
Directorate of Economics and Statistics. (Earlier, the police in Jaipur and
several large hospitals in the region had told The Times they had no information
about Cotten’s death.)
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DISCUSSION ON WITH GOVERNMENT ON 'BIAS' ALLEGATIONS: TWITTER
INDIA
After a parliamentary
panel summoned Twitter for alleged bias against "right-wing" accounts
as general elections loom, the micro-blogging platform on Wednesday said it is
in touch with the Indian government on the issue. "Discussions with the
government on this issue are currently on and nothing further can be commented
at the moment till further clarity," a Twitter India spokesperson told
IANS. It was still unclear who will represent Twitter in the February 11
meeting. The Parliament's standing committee on information technology, headed
by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Anurag Thakur, summoned Twitter India along
with representatives from Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
(Meity) for alleged bias against "nationalist" accounts. The panel
will examine the issue of "Safeguarding citizens rights on social
media/online news platforms" in its meeting on February 11 in Parliament
complex, Thakur tweeted on Tuesday.
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FACEBOOK TAKES DOWN 783 PAGES, GROUPS AND ACCOUNTS FOR VAST
IRAN-LED MANIPULATION CAMPAIGN
Facebook said Thursday it took
down hundreds of accounts from Iran that were part of a vast manipulation
campaign operating in more than 20 countries. The world's biggest social
network said it removed 783 pages, groups and accounts for engaging in
coordinated inauthentic behaviour tied to Iran. The pages were part of a
campaign to promote Iranian interests in various countries by creating fake
Facebook or Instagram identities as residents of those nations, according to a
statement by Nathaniel Gleicher. We can prove that this is content emanating from
Iran; controlled by actors in Iran, and most of the content is reposted from
Iran state media, Gleicher said during a press briefing. But, we are not in
position to directly assert who the actor is in this case. The announcement was
the latest by Facebook as it seeks to stamp out efforts by state actors and
others to manipulate the social network using fraudulent accounts. We are
constantly working to detect and stop this type of activity because we don't
want our services to be used to manipulate people, Gleicher said. About two
million users followed at least one of these pages, about 1,600 accounts joined
at least one of these groups. More than 254,000 accounts followed at least one
of these Instagram accounts.
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US-CHINA TARIFF HIKE WOULD TRIGGER DOWNTURN, TRADE DIVERSION:
UN
A US plan to hike tariffs
on China next month could trigger an economic downturn and let other countries
take over about $200 billion of China’s exports, a study by the U.N. trade and development
agency UNCTAD said on Monday. The United States levied additional duties of
between 10 percent and 25 percent on $250 billion of Chinese goods last year as
punishment for what it called unfair trade practices, and the 10 percent
tariffs are set to climb to 25 percent unless there is significant headway on a
trade deal by March 1. The implications are going to be massive, Pamela
Coke-Hamilton, told. The implications for the entire international trading
system will be significantly negative. She said the US tariff hike and a
retaliatory move by China would trigger an economic downturn due to instability
in commodities and financial markets, while company moves to adapt would put
pressure on global growth. There’ll be currency wars and devaluation,
stagflation leading to job losses and higher unemployment and more importantly,
the possibility of a contagion effect, or what we call a reactionary effect,
leading to a cascade of other trade distortionary measures. Smaller and poorer
countries would struggle to cope with such external shocks, she said. The
higher cost of US-China trade would prompt companies to shift away from current
east Asian supply chains, but the impact of the tariffs would not primarily
benefit US firms. US companies would capture only 6 percent of the $250 billion
of the affected Chinese exports, while Chinese firms would retain 12 percent,
despite the higher cost of trade, the study said.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
NISSAN TAPS NEW RENAULT BOSS TO REPLACE GHOSN ON BOARD
Japan’s Nissan said on
Tuesday that its board has nominated the new boss of Renault to replace Carlos
Ghosn, who is in detention facing charges of financial misconduct The decision
to turn over Ghosn’s board seat to Jean-Dominique Senard must still be ratified
by shareholders, and the company said it had set an April 8 date for an
extraordinary shareholders’ meeting. Nissan said the shareholder meeting would
be limited to discussion of Senard’s nomination and the official removal of
Ghosn and his right-hand man Greg Kelly from the board. The Japanese firms
jettisoned Ghosn almost immediately but Renault waited much longer and the
tycoon eventually resigned as chairman and CEO.
#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
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