STARTUPS GET ANGEL TAX BREATHER: 277 STARTUPS SECURE ALL-CLEAR
FROM INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT
As many as 277 startups
have got an all clear certificate from income tax department, shielding them
from the what has been popularly dubbed as the angel tax, as the government
gets cracking with the implementation of the new startup framework. A total of
302 entities had applied for it, said a government official privy to the
development. The move comes after the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and
the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) amended the
startup framework in February to ring-fence them from ‘angel tax’. Startups can
apply to the DPIIT for approval and recognition under the new framework, which
is then vetted by the CBDT. Our team has started informing the 25 about the
discrepancy and all discrepancies will be shared with them by today so that
they can reapply, the official said. Startups can submit this certificate to
income tax authorities locally and get relief. The CBDT has already directed
its field officials to promptly act in these cases.
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NO ADVANCE RULING FOR SUBSIDIARIES IN INDIA?
In an application filed
recently by a ‘resident taxpayer’ (which was a subsidiary company in India) for
seeking an advance ruling the income tax (I-T) department has contested that tax
residents of India are not eligible for this option However, the department has
approached the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), seeking a clarification.
The reason for such a stand by the tax department is a change in numbering of
the relevant section of the I-T Act, by the Finance Act, 2017. Yet another
challenge from the I-T department is that the applicant seeking an advance
ruling can do so only for a single transaction and not multiple transactions.
Given that the objective of the government was to mitigate tax litigation, this
spanner in the works has shocked I-T professionals and corporates. Under the
I-T Act, subsidiaries of MNCs operating in India are resident taxpayers as
these companies are registered here. Overseas entities set up by
India-headquartered companies could be considered as resident taxpayers if
their place of effective management (where key decisions are made) is in India.
As the ruling given is binding on both the taxpayer and the tax department, in
respect of the transaction covered, it results in certainty and avoids
litigation at a later stage. If the advance ruling mechanism is not available
to resident taxpayers, it will shake confidence. It will also add to the
litigation backlog, says a chartered accountant. A senior official of the I-T
department had some days ago written to the CBDT, seeking a clarification on
whether resident taxpayers should continue to be allowed to apply for advance
rulings The I-T department is waiting for a clarification, until which time it
is likely that applications filed by resident taxpayers will continue to be
challenged. To cut down on litigation, the doors of the AAR were thrown open to
tax residents of India since late 2014. A notification issued by the CBDT on
November 28, 2014, expanded the definition of the applicant seeking a ruling.
It now included: A tax resident of India, in relation to his tax liability
arising out of one or more transactions valuing Rs 100 crore or more in total.
Since then, several subsidiaries have benefited. Given the high threshold, it
was unlikely that resident individuals could opt for this mechanism. The letter
dated March 31 addressed to the CBDT by the senior I-T official points out that
this notification is no longer applicable. After an amendment by the Finance
Act, 2017, section 245N(b)(iia) under which it was issued no longer exists in
the I-T Act. Tax experts point out that a similar section 245N(b)(A)(III) was
introduced.
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LONG-TERM EMPLOYEES BENEFITS DEDUCTIBLE WHILE COMPUTING BOOK
PROFIT: ITAT
The Kolkata bench of the
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has held that the long term employees
benefits such as gratuity, leave encashment, ex-gratia & bonus etc., are deductible
while assessing the book profit under Section 115JB of the Income Tax Act,
1961. The appellant had provided for the long term employees benefits inter
alia including provision for gratuity, bonus and leave encashment etc.
according to the mandatory Accounting Standards -15 issued by the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). From the Notes forming part of the
Annual Financial Statements for the relevant FY 2011-12, it is observed that
provision for employee benefits have been provided on a scientific and
systematic basis. Actuarial valuation reports were obtained to determine the
said liability; copies of which have been placed in the paper book as well. The
AO without assigning any reason added back these provisions to the computation
of book profit u/s 115JB. On appeal, the Ld. CIT(A) also confirmed the above
additions. Allowing relief to the assessee, the Tribunal observed that the
provisions in respect of gratuity, leave encashment, ex-gratia & bonus were
created on an actuarial basis and had been estimated with reasonable certainty.
Accordingly such provisions cannot be said to be provisions of unascertained
liabilities so to add it back under clause (c) of the Explanation to section
115JB(2). Since these provisions are in the nature of ascertained liabilities,
I am of the considered view that the same is allowable while computing book
profit u/s 115JB of the I.T. Act. Relying on the Tribunal decision in the case
of Eastern Power Distribution Co. of AP Ltd Vs ACIT, the Tribunal directed the
AO to delete the additions made in respect of the provisions for gratuity,
leave encashment, ex-gratia & bonus in the computation of book profit under
section 115JB.
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IND-AS 116 NORMS COULD IMPACT PROFITS OF MULTIPLEXES, AIRLINES
Companies with assetlight
business models and high offbalance sheet obligations are likely to be impacted
by the new accounting standard on leases — which came into effect from April 1,
said brokerages. According to Edelweiss, profits and return ratios of companies
with asset-light business models such as retail, multiplex, airlines, and
logistics and warehousing sectors would be impacted the most. Telecom, hotels,
and hospital sector companies will also be affected by the accounting change as
they have high off-balance sheet lease obligations, Edelweiss said. Ind-AS 116
sets out principles for recognition, presentation and disclosure of leases. The
new accounting norms have been notified by the corporate affairs ministry. The
key change that has been introduced is the elimination of classification
between operating and finance leases, which means that all leases on a lessee’s
balance sheet will be recognised. The balance sheet of asset-light companies will
expand sharply as a result, the brokerages said. Most aviation companies
acquire aircraft via lease while retail and multiplex companies in the
organised space operate mainly from leased premises, the analysts said.
Healthcare sector companies such as hospitals and diagnostic service providers
acquire equipments on lease. Similarly, hotels acquire immovable properties and
vehicles on operating lease. Telecom companies will have to recognise
agreements for sharing passive infrastructure in balance sheet, which were till
not kept offbalance sheet, said analysts. Motilal Oswal said the accounting
change should not bring any change in overall valuations but multiples of
companies are likely to change materially with the change in the key financial
metrics.
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ICAI ISSUES FAQS ON UDIN FOR GST AND TAX AUDIT
The Institute of Chartered
Accountants of India has issued a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on
the application of UDIN on the GST and Tax Audits Recently, the ICAI’s 379th
Council Meeting held on 17th and 18th December 2018 made UDIN mandatory for all
Tax Audit Reports issued under IT Act, 1961 and GST Audit Reports issued under
CGST Act, 2017 with effect from 1st April 2019. The detail FAQs on GST &
Tax Audit released by the UDIN Monitoring Group of ICAI said that all
Practicing CAs having full-time Certificate of Practice (CoP) can only register
on the UDIN portal to generate UDIN and it is not required for certified true
copies. Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) is 18-Digits system
generated a unique number for every document certified/attested by Practicing
Chartered Accountants It has been noticed that financial documents/
certificates attested by third person misrepresenting themselves as CA Members
are misleading the Authorities and Stakeholders. ICAI is also receiving a
number of complaints of signatures of CAs being forged by non-CAs. To curb such
malpractices, the Professional Development Committee of ICAI has come out with
an innovative concept of UDIN i.e. Unique Document Identification Number which
is being implemented in a phased manner. It will secure the certificates
attested/certified by practising CAs. This will also enable the
Regulators/Banks/Third parties to check the authenticity of the documents, it
said. UDIN is to be generated once only for Original Certificates. In case, a
duplicate certificate is being issued on the request of the client, the same
UDIN is to be mentioned. According to the document, UDIN can be revoked by mentioning
the reason. Further, there is no time limit for allowing revocation. It further
said that any Financial Figure and its particular from the document such as
Turnover, Net worth etc. for which UDIN is being generated is to be mentioned
under Financial Figures and Particulars. The particular is to be filled between
10 to 50 characters. Two Financial Figures are mandatory out of three fields.
In case, there is no financial figure in the certificate being certified, 0 is
to be mentioned in Financial Figure and in its particular please mention There
is no Financial Figure in Certificate.
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ALLANA GROUP EVADED RS 2,000 CRORE INCOME-TAX
Almost three months after
the Income-Tax (I-T) department surveyed Allana group, tax officials have found
that India’s largest buffalo meat exporter has allegedly evaded paying Rs 2,000
crore worth of tax two persons aware of the development told. The alleged
evasion was done by under-invoicing exports and inflating expenses, said one of
the persons. The findings will now be shared with the assessment wing of the
income-tax department that will serve notices on the company. The tax
department will then issue an order based on its findings. Earlier in January,
the Mumbai wing of the I-T department had surveyed around 50 premises of the
group companies. The survey action was carried under section 133 (A) of the
Income Tax Act that empowers the agency to conduct surveys and inspect books of
accounts and other documents. Accordingly, a report has been prepared and the
findings will be shared with the assessment wing, said one of the officials
cited above. Based on the findings, the company will be served a notice by the
assessment wing to explain its case and the assessment officer will conduct a
probe and issue the order, the official said. The company has the option to
appeal against the order.
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NO CORRUPTION IN PUTTING MONEY IN OWN DORMANT BANK A/C: HC
Gujarat high court has
quashed cheating and corruption charges levelled by the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) against a gold trader after he deposited huge amount in his
own dormant bank accounts post-demonetization. While trashing an FIR, Justice A
P Thaker made it clear, By mere deposit of huge amount in his dormant account
cannot be termed as cheating or any offence under the Indian Penal Code or
under the Prevention of Corruption Act. In this case, Viral Shah deposited
total Rs 4.2 crore in his two dormant accounts after the central government
demonetized high-value currency notes in November 2016. The limits given to
banks by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to accept amount up to Rs 50,000
without seeking any explanation from the depositors. Since, Shah deposited a
huge amount in his accounts in UCO bank, he was booked for cheating and
corruption along with the then bank manager by the CBI. The probe agency
charged Shah because he deposited a big amount in his accounts which were last
operated in 2013. The bank manager transferred the amount through RTGS after
Shah deposited the amount in old notes in his accounts. Shah approached the
high court through advocate Chetan Pandya, who argued that there was no case of
cheating made out, if a person deposits money in his own bank account. The lawyer
submitted that Shah sold gold and accepted money in old demonetized currency
and deposited the notes in bank in the 50-day period the government granted
people for exchange. There was no question of cheating and corruption. The high
court accepted that there was no case of cheating or corruption. It said that
by depositing the huge amount in his bank accounts, Shah exposed himself and if
the government finds that he had not paid due taxes, the government can recover
taxes and impose penalty. But this is definitely not a case of cheating and
corruption.
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CBI SEARCHES 6 LOCATIONS IN MUMBAI IN RS 1400-CRORE LOAN
DEFAULT CASE
The CBI has carried out searches
at six locations in Mumbai in connection with a Rs 1,400-crore loan default
allegedly by an aluminium foil manufacturing firm, officials said Thursday. The
premises of Kamlesh Kanungo group, Kirti Kedia Group and JK Shah group were
searched by the CBI officials as the Parekh Alumumium allegedly diverted to
these firms a sizeable portion of Rs 1,400 crore loan taken from 22 banks.
Officials said the Parekh Alumumium availed of the loan from the 22 banks
between 2004-12 and diverted a major portion of the fund to the three groups.
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APPROVED ITS LOGO, NOT NAMO TV CONTENT: DELHI POLL BODY TELLS
EC
Delhi Chief Electoral
office had approved the logo of NaMo TV, which the BJP said is a part of NaMo
app owned by it, but did not certify the content since it contained old
speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials said. The Election
Commission on Tuesday had asked the CEO's office to inform whether the
political contents were at anytime cleared by the certification committee. The
BJP has said that NaMo TV is part of NaMo app, which is a digital property
owned and run by it, according to the party's IT Cell head Amit Malviya. In its
reply to the EC, the CEO office said they had received a request from the BJP
to pre-certify the content. The Delhi poll body approved the logo of NaMo TV
but the content that was submitted for certification had old speeches of the
prime minister and it was felt that since they have already been aired, they
did not require pre-certification, an official, privy to the development, said.
The reply of the Delhi CEO office is centred around these points, he said,
adding the decision on NaMo TV by the EC is expected on Thursday.
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NAMO FOODS PACKETS SERVED TO COPS ON POLL DUTY IN NOIDA FROM
'LOCAL SHOP'
Some policemen on election
duty were served meals in packets labelled Namo Foods following which officials
clarified that those were procured from Namo Food Shop and not from any political
party. The food packets, brought in the boot of a hatchback car, were
distributed around 9.30 am among personnel deployed in Sector 15A, the
officials said. Misinformation is being spread that some policemen have been
distributed food from a political party. This is absolutely wrong. At local
level, some food packets were procured from Namo Food Shop and not from any
political party, Vaibhav Krishna said. Some people are spreading wrong and
politically motivated rumour. There is no official order to procure food from
any particular food outlet, he said, and appealed to people not to pay heed to
rumours being spread via social media.
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NO SECURITY THREAT, 'LASER' AIMED AT RAHUL GANDHI WAS MOBILE
LIGHT: GOVT
A green 'laser' light
pointed at Rahul Gandhi during his roadshow in Amethi on Wednesday created a
scare, but the Home Ministry said there was no threat to his life. When
contacted, a home ministry spokesperson said as soon as the ministry's
attention was drawn to reports about the incident, the director (Special
Protection Group) was asked to verify the factual position. Director (SPG) has
informed MHA that they have gone through the video clipping of the incident
very closely. The 'green light' shown in the clipping was found to be that of a
mobile phone used by the AICC photographer, who was videographing the impromptu
press interaction of Rahul Gandhi near the collectorate at Amethi.
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SONIA GANDHI HAS RS 60,000 IN CASH, OVER RS 2.4 CRORE IN
SHARES
United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Thursday filed her nomination from
the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha Constituency. As per the affidavit filed by Gandhi
during submitting her nomination, she only has Rs 60,000 in cash and fixed
deposits to the tune of Rs 16.59 lakh. She has invested a total of Rs
2,44,96,405 in shares, including in Reliance Hybrid Bond G, and has tax-free
bonds worth Rs 28,533. Gandhi has also disclosed investments worth Rs 72,25,414
in postal savings, insurance policies and National Savings Scheme (NSS). Gandhi
owns agricultural land in Deramandi village in New Delhi valued at Rs
7,29,61,793. She also has a share in an inherited property in Italy worth Rs
7,52,81,903. As per the affidavit, she has taken a personal loan of Rs 5 lakh
from her son Rahul Gandhi. The UPA Chairperson also has jewellery worth Rs
59,97,211, including 88 kg of silver.
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SMRITI IRANI HAS ASSETS OVER RS 4.71 CR
Union minister and BJP's
candidate for the Amethi Lok Sabha seat Smriti Irani Thursday declared assets
worth over Rs 4.71 crore In her affidavit, Irani has declared movable property
worth over Rs 1.75 crore. Her immovable assets are worth about Rs 2.96 crore,
which include an agricultural land valued at over Rs 1.45 crore and a
residential building of Rs 1.50 crore. In the movable category, Irani has cash
in hand till March 31 totalling about Rs 6.24 lakh besides over Rs 89 lakh in
bank accounts. She also has over Rs 18 lakh in NSS and postal savings insurance
and another Rs 1.05 lakh in other investments. Irani, who is contesting against
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, has vehicles valued at Rs 13.14 lakh and
jewellery worth Rs 21 lakh. There is no FIR pending against her and she has not
taken any loan. According to her affidavit, Irani passed secondary school
examination in 1991, senior secondary school examination in 1993 and Bachelor
of Commerce (Part-I) -- a three-year degree course, which she did not complete
-- from Delhi University's School of Open Learning in 1994. Her husband Zubin
has movable property of more than Rs 1.69 crore and immovable property worth Rs
2.97 crore.
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FORGERY CASE: CBI RAIDS SIX LOCATIONS IN CITY LINKED TO PAREKH
ALUMINEX
The Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) on Thursday raided six locations linked to Parekh Aluminex
in Mumbai in connection with its probe into allegations that the manufacturer
of basic precious and non-ferrous metals had forged financial information to
take Rs 1,446 crore of loans. According to the CBI’s case, the company borrowed
the loans from a consortium of nine banks between 2011 and 2014 by submitting
false and fabricated financial data including forged balance sheets. The funds
were then allegedly diverted through shell companies into the accounts of
certain individuals and their associate companies, people in the know told. The
company has since defaulted on repayments, they said. While three premises of
Parekh Aluminex were raided, the other offices were of the Kamlesh Kanungo
Group, Kirti Kedia Group and JK Shah Group, which were allegedly used for
diverting the money, the people added. One of them said: Rs 468 crore was
diverted into the Kamlesh Kanungo Group for payment towards machinery and raw
material which never existed; Rs 513 crore was paid to the Kirti Kedia Group
for construction purposes and Rs 110 crore was paid to JK Shah towards
financial brokerages. Probe has revealed that none of these activities were
carried out.
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BJP LAWMAKER FILES PETITION AGAINST RAHUL GANDHI OVER REMARKS
ON PM MODI
BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi has
filed a case of contempt against Congress President Rahul Gandhi over his
remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Rafale case judgement
was pronounced by the Supreme court on Wednesday. The Supreme Court has made it
clear that Chowkidarji has committed theft, the court has talked about justice,
said Rahul Gandhi while filing his nomination papers in Amethi on 10 April. In
the press conference held at the BJP headquarters, Defence Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman had rebuked the comments made by Rahul Gandhi and remarked that the
Congress leader is misquoting the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court shall hear
the contempt petition against Rahul Gandhi on 15 April.
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PAKISTAN CONTINUES DELAYING STRATEGY, ADDS MORE QUESTIONS TO
PULWAMA DOSSIER
Pakistan on Thursday said
that it has handed over more questions to India on its dossier on
Jaish-e-Mohammed's involvement in the dastardly Pulwama attack and claimed that
New Delhi has not provided any actionable evidence on the terror attack.
Mohammad Faisal during his media briefing said that the reply to previous
questions was also not given by India so far. Pakistan has handed over further
questions to the Indian High Commissioner on the Pulwama dossier, Faisal said.
We await the Indian response to questions shared with them. The spokesperson
claimed that India has so far not provided any actionable intelligence related
to the terror attack in Pulwama in Kashmir on February 14 in which 40 CRPF
personnel were killed. He claimed that Pakistan has credible intelligence that
India could launch a misadventure against Pakistan this month. Pakistan will
respond decisively if its resolve is tested by India, he said. India handed
over the dossier to Pakistan on February 27 with specific details of JeM's
complicity in the Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed and
presence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in Pakistan.
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SC GIVES CBI MONTH TO REPLY ON MUALAYAM'S DA CASE
The Supreme Court on
Friday gave four weeks time to the CBI to file a reply in the Mulayam Singh
Yadav disproportionate assets (DA) case. Following the apex court's direction,
a preliminary enquiry was instituted into the Samajwadi Party patriarch's
alleged disproportionate assets. The enquiry was closed in 2013. The Solicitor
General told the court that the agency closed the preliminary inquiry in 2013
as it did not find any conclusive evidence. The Supreme Court asked the Central
Bureau of Investigation to file a detailed response in the DA case against
Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son. The next hearing in the matter will come up in
July. The elections will already be over then. Mulayam Singh Yadav had
complained to the Supreme Court that the petition filed on election-eve was
politically motivated.
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I-T RAID POLITICALLY MOTIVATED, MADHYA PRADESH CM'S OSD TELLS
HC
Kapil Sibal argued before
the Madhya Pradesh High Court here Thursday that the income tax raid against
the officer on special duty (OSD) to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath
was politically motivated and without jurisdiction Kakkar has moved the Indore
bench of the high court seeking that the I-T department's action against him be
declared as illegal. The hearing before a bench of Justices Prakash Shrivastava
and Vivek Rusia lasted for nearly four hours. Sibal said the raid by the Delhi
unit of the Income Tax Department on Kakkar's premises here was politically
motivated, and it harmed Kakkar's reputation. Further, the Delhi unit had no
jurisdiction to conduct a raid in Indore, Sibal said.
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INFILTRATORS ARE TERMITES, WILL THROW THEM OUT: AMIT SHAH
Referring to illegal
migrants from Bangladesh as termites, BJP president Amit Shah on April 11 said
his party will throw them out after coming to power at the Centre for a second
term. He alleged that the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government in
West Bengal was only interested in appeasing minorities. The illegal immigrants
are like termites. They are eating the grain that should go to the poor, they
are taking our jobs. The T of TMC stands for Tushtikaran, (appeasement), M for
Mafia and C for Chitfunds, Mr. Shah said. After coming to power again, the BJP
would find these termites and throw them out, he asserted, adding that
citizenship would, however, be granted to every Hindu and Buddhist refugee.
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464 MORE BOOTHS IN TN LABELLED ‘VULNERABLE AND CRITICAL’: CEO
SATYABRATA SAHOO
The number of vulnerable
and critical polling booths in the 39 parliamentary constituencies of the State
is 7,780, registering an increase of 464 booths in the last one month, ahead of
the Lok Sabha elections 2019. Satyabrata Sahoo said these polling booths would
be monitored by micro observers, webcasts, video surveillance and additional
central paramilitary personnel. Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, 5.98 crore voters
are on the electoral rolls in the 39 parliamentary constituencies of the State,
said Mr.Sahoo. Women have outnumbered men on the electoral rolls in the State.
A total of 2.95 crore men, 3.02 crore women and 5790 transgenders are on the
electoral rolls. In the last two months, 14.10 lakh EPICs have been issued to
electors who have been included on the electoral rolls recently in the State,
he said. The EPIC coverage in the State is 100%. As many 19.17 lakh electors
have received voters slip in the last 10 days. The election officials will take
action against those distributing cash for votes ahead of the polls, he said. A
total of ₹127.66 crore cash has been seized in the State by election
flying squad and static surveillance teams. The Income Tax Department, with the
support of election officials, have also seized another ₹50
crore cash. The Income tax Department have also seized ₹37.78
crore during this period without support from election officials. The election
officials have returned ₹62.24 crore. Precious metals worth ₹284
crore have also been seized ahead of the elections in the State. A total of 989
kg of gold and 594 kg of silver has also been seized. Speaking about the
arrangements made for the polls on April 18 in the State, Mr. Sahoo said
1,50,302 ballot units, 89,160 control units and 94,653 VVPAT have been readied
for elections in the State. Arrangements in 67,720 polling stations have been
made including one all woman polling station for each constituency. The
election officials have issued postal ballots to 4.08 lakh civilian officials
and 87,867 police officials in the State, said Mr. Sahoo.
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LOK SABHA ELECTION PHASE 1: 39 COMPLAINTS FROM CONGRESS TO EC
OF EVM GLITCHES AT POLL BOOTHS
The Congress on Thursday sent
39 complaints to the Election Commission (EC) about glitches in the functioning
of EVMs at some booths in six Lok Sabha seats of Maharashtra where polling was
underway, the party said. The state Congress in statement said it made 12
complaints to the EC via e-mail, pointing out glitches in the electronic voting
machines (EVMs) at some booths in Nagpur, followed by eight such complaints in
Chandrapur, six in Wardha and five in Ramtek. The party also sent four
complaints each of such snags in Yavatmal-Washim and Gadchiroli-Chimur seats,
it said. Besides these six constituencies, polling was also underway on
Thursday in Bhandara-Gondiya seat in Vidarbha region during the first phase of
Lok Sabha polls. In a separate letter to the state’s chief election officer
about improper functioning of EVM at a booth in Nagpur constituency, the
Congress said the act was an interference in the conduct of free and fair
polls.
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DELHI HC SETS ASIDE ORDER SUSPENDING PASSPORT OF DRUG LORD
IQBAL MIRCHI’S SON IN MONEY LAUNDERING CASE
The Delhi High Court has
set aside the Centre’s order suspending the passport of the son of
International drug smuggler Iqbal Mirchi for not joining the ED’s investigation
in a money laundering case. The court said the passport of Junaid Iqbal
Mohammed Memon, a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) who has been residing permanently
in UAE since 1993, could not have been suspended in public interest. It noted
that the Memon had voluntarily agreed to appear by tele-conferencing and to
make arrangements for it but that was not accepted by the agency. It was
observed that Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) did not entail custodial
interrogation and, therefore, a request for an alternate mode of examination by
video conferencing ought not to be shrugged aside. This court is of the view
that the controversy involved in the present petition is covered by the
decision of the division bench in Lalit Kumar Modi (supra) and the petitioner’s
(Memon) passport could not be suspended in public interest, the judge said. The
ED had alleged that Memon has been involved in money laundering and has
transferred the sale proceeds of assets in India, belonging to his late father
to foreign countries. Pursuant to these allegations, certain directives were
issued to him by the agency and summons were issued asking him to appear in
person. The authorities also contended that section 3 of the FEMA covers
resident, non-resident and foreign nationals and various regulations of the Act
are also applicable to NRIs. He was called to furnish information in relation
to four companies – Vantage Enterprises Pvt Ltd, Rock Stone Reality &
Hotels Pvt Ltd, Realtors Hotels Projects Pvt Ltd and Horizon Estate
Constructors Pvt Ltd. Though he had responded to ED’s letters and also supplied
the required documents, he failed to appear before it in person.
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CASH SEIZURE IN GUJARAT JUMPS 260% OVER 2017
Seizure of unaccounted
cash in the state since Model Code of Conduct came into force on March 10 by
Income-Tax authorities touched Rs 4.66 crore on Tuesday, which was nearly 260%
higher than the cash seizure of Rs 1.30 crore made during the 2017 assembly
elections. State's Chief Electoral Officer S Murali Krishna told that I-T authorities
had seized Rs 77 lakh worth of unaccounted jewellery, and cash of Rs 3.52 crore
in the state as of April 8. The figure of cash seized went up to Rs 4.66 crore
with seizure of Rs 1.14 crore from an angadia firm and a cash handler in Rajkot
on Tuesday. Pankaj Srivastava, said that cash and jewellery worth Rs 44 lakh
were seized in the first week of announcement of polls, Rs 65.84 lakh in the
second, Rs 2.25 crore in the third, Rs 1 crore in the fourth, and Rs 1.19 crore
in the fifth. Krishna said that Rs 500 crore worth of drugs, and Rs 9.03 crore
worth of liquor had also been seized in the state so far. The CEO also said
that 101 complaints regarding model code of conduct violation had been received
so far. He said that 650 complaints received on cVigil had been disposed of.
More than 98,500 posters, banners, wall writings, and flags had been removed
from government buildings and 18,582 from private buildings since MCC came into
force.
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EU GIVES PM MAY LIFELINE, EXTENDS BREXIT DEADLINE TO OCTOBER
31
European Union leaders
gave Theresa May a new Brexit deadline of Oct. 31, four months longer than the
prime minister asked for, in a move the EU summit chair said would let Britain
resolve its domestic deadlock on the issue.EU27/UK have agreed a flexible
extension until 31 October, European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted
after eight hours of talks that went into the early hours of Thursday. This
means (an) additional six months for the UK to find the best possible solution,
Tusk added on the eve of what would otherwise have been the day Britain crashed
out of the bloc with no deal to smooth the departure for businesses and
citizens. Britain, he stressed, could still leave earlier if May secures
parliamentary backing for her Brexit treaty, or it could amend what it wants
from a future trade pact. Until the end of this period, the UK will also have
the possibility to cancel Brexit altogether, Tusk added. The agreement gives
May more than the three months to June 30 that she asked for to build a
parliamentary majority behind the withdrawal treaty she negotiated with the EU
last year. But she insisted Britain could still secure a deal and leave before
Britons would have to vote in a May 23-26 election to the European Parliament
-- a condition for the country to remain a member of the bloc beyond June 1
under the EU's accord. Many leaders had wanted a much longer extension, to the
end of the year or even next March, but French President Emmanuel Macron
mounted stiff resistance throughout the evening, eventually forcing the
compromise. Macron questioned May's ability to persuade parliament to her
treaty, EU officials said, and said that a tighter deadline would focus British
minds. Others argued that an even longer extension could spook May's pro-Brexit
critics into backing her deal for fear Brexit might stall. Leaving at midnight
on Oct. 31 -- Halloween, as social media commentators were quick to note --
would correspond with the end of the mandate of the present EU executive
Commission. Leaders would assess the situation again when they meet for a
regular summit on June 20-21. Britain could have left by then if May succeeds
in building a coalition for her deal with the Labour opposition -- though there
is no sign of agreement yet. In order to continue as an EU member beyond June,
May has agreed to organise British elections to the European Parliament, though
it is still unclear if that vote will go ahead and how far it might turn into a
virtual second referendum on EU membership that some hope could mean Britain
cancelling Brexit. The other 27 had all but ruled out pitching Britain, and
parts of the EU economy, into chaos on Friday. But a drive by Macron to keep
London on a tight leash saw the emergency summit bogged down in late-night
wrangling as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others argued the merits of a
longer lag. As at a summit last month, which put back Brexit for two weeks,
several EU diplomats said May failed to persuade her peers that she could
definitely break the paralysis of repeated failures to ratify the treaty within
the coming months. French officials said the EU faced blackmail by hardline
pro-Brexit potential successors to May, such as Boris Johnson. They might try
to sabotage decision-making, they said.
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'FAKE NEWS': FRENCH ENVOY SAYS NO PAKISTANI PILOTS WERE
TRAINED ON RAFALE FIGHTER JETS
France's Ambassador to
India, Alexandre Ziegler, has shot down a media report that French fighter jet
manufacturer Dassault has not trained Pakistani Air Force pilots in the Rafale.
He termed the report as 'fake news', in a bid to put out the controversy that
the report had caused. Ziegler tweeted in response to the controversy with
brevity, saying, I can confirm that it is fake news. The article was not
focussed on the training of the Pakistani pilots per se, but was a general
report on the handover of the Rafale omnirole fighter jets to Qatar. The
mention of Pakistani pilots was incidental to the intent of the report.
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COMPANIES PROVIDING SERVICE EXPECTED TO BE UNDERSTANDING,
RATHER THAN ENGAGE IN LEGAL BATTLES
Service providing
companies are expected to be sympathetic and understanding and to make an
honest effort to recompense consumers, rather than engaging in legal battles
with them, the apex consumer court has observed. The National Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission (NCDRC) made the observations while dismissing a revision
petition filed by Hyundai Motor India Ltd against the order of a consumer fora
directing it to replace a defective car supplied to a consumer or to return the
entire amount paid. The Commission said that when a company moves against the
order of the district forum, subsequently filing an appeal against it with a
delay of more than a month, it reeks of deficiency, arrogance and callousness
all along. The tribunal said that it can only expect that the company would do
better to spend all this energy in improving its services to the consumer. The
complainant -- Raipur resident Suresh Kumar Sharma, had bought a Elantra car
for Rs 15,84,104 from Hyundai Motors India Ltd, which according to him
displayed defects in the steering wheel. When a person spends over Rs 15 lakh
to purchase a car, and that too from a company of repute such as Hyundai Motor
India Ltd., he expects defect free service for many years. He certainly does
not expect to visit the garage the number of times that he had to in the
instant case, the presiding member Anup K Thakur said. Everyone wants a
hassle-free car. When it is not so, it is expected that the service providing
companies are sympathetic and understanding and make an honest effort to
understand and recompense the consumer complainant, rather than engage in legal
battles, the tribunal said.
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OFFICE LEASING, PRE-COMMITMENT ACTIVITY AT A HIGH
Demand for commercial real
estate continues to be robust, led by rising occupancy levels in both core
office markets, including business districts as well as upcoming growth
corridors. Total gross leasing volume in India touched almost 13 million sq ft
during the first quarter of 2019, which is 1.45 times higher than the
corresponding quarter of last year, showed data from Cushman & Wakefield
India. Apart from robust leasing, top commercial property markets are also
experiencing strong pre-commitment activity. During the quarter, nearly 1.8
million sq ft of office space was pre-committed. A robust business ecosystem
has been supporting the expansionary activity of occupiers, with
pre-commitments made towards upcoming office space supply, especially in cities
like Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru where vacancies continue to remain tight and
in single digits. With a strong start across markets in 2019, the leasing
activity this year is expected to gain momentum with the already high demand
for quality office spaces. Demand activity is expected to heighten, with the
pre-commitment activity as well as increase in net absorption levels seen in
key markets this quarter, said Anshul Jain. Interestingly, the Delhi-NCR region
saw the second highest pre-commitment activity during the quarter despite 26.1%
vacancy level with almost 1.7 million sq ft being vacated by occupiers as part
of their relocation and consolidation plans. Strong pre-commitment activity in
this market region also resonates with robust leasing activity of 2.8 million
sq ft during the quarter, an 82% on-year growth. According to Jain, captive
centres will be a game changer in 2019, with multiple outsourcing contracts
worth around $51 billion, or Rs 355,192 crore, up for renewal across the
country. Going forward in 2019, flexible space operators continue to move
forward with their expansion plans, IT-BPM and captive centres are also
expected to drive demand for large spaces in the market. Co-working operators
can look forward to a promising 2019, by profiting from the growing interest of
occupiers from across the world, and from the inclination towards a mixed
portfolio strategy. Cities like Bengaluru, Pune, and Hyderabad continue to
witness single digit vacancies, leading to faster rental growth in key office
markets. Net absorption almost doubled during the quarter from a year ago due
to high supply. Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Bengaluru recorded almost a 3-time jump
in net absorption levels. This strong growth demand is led by rapid expansion
by occupiers in the technology and IT-BPM space, ramp-up by co-working players,
and investments of companies in global capability centres.
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ASTRONOMERS UNVEIL THE FIRST PHOTO OF A BLACK HOLE
Astronomers on Wednesday unveiled
the first photo of a black hole one of the star-devouring monsters scattered
throughout the Universe and obscured by impenetrable shields of gravity. The image
of a dark core encircled by a flame-orange halo of white-hot gas and plasma
looks like any number of artists’ renderings over the last 30 years. But this
time, it’s the real deal. Scientists have been puzzling over invisible dark
stars since the 18th century, but never has one been spied by a telescope, much
less photographed. The supermassive black hole now immortalised by a far-flung
network of radio telescopes is 50 million lightyears away in a galaxy known as
M87. It’s a distance that we could have barely imagined, Frederic Gueth, an
astronomer at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and
co-author of studies detailing the findings, told AFP. Most speculation had
centred on the other candidate targeted by the Event Horizon Telescope --
Sagittarius A, the black hole at the centre of our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
Locking down an image of M87’s supermassive black hole at such distance is
comparable to photographing a pebble on the Moon.
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RAHUL SLAMS PM, SAYS MODI RAN GOVERNMENT FOR HIS 15 FRIENDS
Rahul Gandhi Friday
slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging he ran his government for 15 of
his friends and he wondered why no big-ticket defaulters of bank loans like
Vijay Mallya were not in jail. The Congress chief said the ones like Nirav Modi
and Vijay Mallya, after taking bank loans, failed to return it and ran away
from the country. Not even a single one is in jail, he added. Gandhi said when
his party is voted to power, no farmer is going to be put in jail for not
paying back his bank loan, it is not fair that the richest people do not go to
jail but farmers go to jail for the same offence. He alleged the Prime Minister
gave Rs 35,0000 crore to Nirav Modi, Rs 35,000 crore to Mehul Choksi and Rs
10,000 crore to Vijay Mallya. During the last five years, Modi ran a government
for 15 people and you know the names, he said. These are Anil Ambani, Mehul
Choksi, Nirav Modi and they are Modi's friends, he said addressing a poll rally
here. Focusing on his party's Minimum Income Support Scheme 'Nyay,' he said it
would give purchasing power to the people and that in turn would propel
factories in Tamil Nadu and the overall economy.
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HOW MUCH EDUCATED IS YOUR LOK SABHA CANDIDATE?
The importance of
education for someone who represents a large number of people in Parliament
cannot be overemphasised. About 75 per cent of MPs in the Lok Sabha have at
least a graduate degree while 10 per cent are only matriculates, according to a
report. Interestingly, the percentage of MPs elected in the 2014 general
elections who do not have a matriculate degree is significantly higher (13 per
cent) in comparison to the 15th Lok Sabha (3 per cent). The current Lok Sabha
has only one illiterate MP a member of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). BJP has a
few fifth and eighth pass MPs, 2 per cent each. The Congress has none. 10 per
cent of the BJP's MPs are 10th pass. Only 2 per cent of the Congress MPs have
that level of education. However, the Congress has more 12th pass MPs (16 per
cent) than the BJP (10 per cent). When it comes to graduates, the BJP beats the
Congress. 23 per cent of the BJP MPs are graduate while the number for the
Congress is only 14 per cent. The Congress has more graduate professionals such
as lawyers, chartered accountants and doctors than the BJP — 25 per cent
against 19 per cent. The Congress also has more postgraduate MPs (34 per cent)
than the BJP (25 per cent).
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NAVY WANTS LOCAL INPUTS FOR RS 40,000 CRORE SUBMARINES PROJECT
The navy wants Indian
steel, missiles, torpedoes and an indigenously developed air independent
propulsion system for its Rs 40,000-crore project to construct six new
submarines domestically, one of the largest ‘Make in India’ military orders
currently being processed by the government. The project, which has been moving
faster than another mega plan to build 110 fighter jets in India, has been
taken forward with the navy sharing its draft requirements with foreign players
who are to share technology with Indian partners to produce the next generation
of submarines. The requirements, which will be finalised in the coming months
before being formally issued to all competitors, make a strong case for Indian
systems to be fitted on the submarines with at least 45% indigenisation
content. The new technology that will differentiate these submarines is Air
Independent Propulsion (AIP), a technology that enables the boats to stay
underwater for weeks, unlike earlier models where they have to surface after a
few days to recharge batteries and take in oxygen. As per the draft
requirements, foreign players have to certify that they will integrate a
‘proven indigenous AIP’ if required by the navy. This would be a reference to
an AIP that is currently under development by DRDO and is being shore tested as
of now. The navy has also stated that it wants to utilise indigenously
developed steel for the construction of the submarines as far as possible. In fact,
the navy will include special incentives in the programme for foreign players
that use Indian steel for the programme. The project is currently being
undertaken by DRDO that has already supplied such torpedoes for warships and is
working on a submarine launched version as well.
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DELHI, AND NOT BENGALURU, IS THE PLACE TO BE FOR GIG ECONOMY
WORKERS
Delhi has emerged as the
top destination for migrant workers joining India’s tech-enabled gig economy,
pushing startup capital Bengaluru to a distant second spot. The capital city
added 560,600 people to its gig economy in the six months ended 31 March, an
88% jump from the 298,000 people it attracted in the first half of the last
fiscal, data from human resource firm TeamLease Services shows. Meanwhile, the
number of migrant workers joining Bengaluru’s gig economy rose a moderate 29%
to around 252,300 in the second half from 194,400 in the previous six months.
The gig economy, led by food delivery firms Swiggy and Zomato, and ride hailing
firms Uber and Ola, thrives largely unregulated, even as drivers and delivery
boys work with little job security and few benefits. In fact, we can see that
Delhi has some 1.3 million Ola and Uber drivers. It took eight years for Ola and
Uber to do this, while the entire Indian IT industry employs around 4 million
people, added Srinivasan. In total, around 1.3 million Indians migrated to five
cities—Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai—in the six months to 31
March, TeamLease said, registering a 60% growth in migration compared to the
six-month period ended 30 September. An estimated 56% of new employment in
India is being generated by the gig economy companies across both the
blue-collar and white-collar workforce, according to Rituparna.
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NGT FORMS CENTRAL MONITORING COMMITTEE TO PREPARE NATIONAL
PLAN FOR POLLUTED RIVERS
The NGT has formed a
Central Monitoring Committee to prepare and enforce a national plan to make
over 350 river stretches across the country pollution free as it has caused
serious threat to safety of water and environment. A bench headed by Nation
Green Tribunal (NGT) Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said the committee
would comprise a representative of NITI Aayog; secretaries of Ministry of Water
Resources, Ministry of Urban Development and Ministry of Environment; the
director general of National Mission for Clean Ganga and the Central Pollution
Control Board chairman. The Central Monitoring Committee will also co-ordinate
with the River Rejuvenation Committees of the states and oversee the execution
of the action plans, taking into account the timelines, budgetary mechanism and
other factors. Chief secretaries of states will be the nodal agency at state
level. The chief secretaries of the states may undertake review of progress of
RRCs by involving concerned secretaries of Department of Urban Development,
Environment, Industries, Irrigation and Public Health, Health etc, the bench
said. The tribunal also directed the Ministry of Environment to consider a
policy for giving environmental awards to outstanding persons (natural and
juristic) and institutions or states and introducing dis-incentives for non
compliant states and asked it to frame such scheme before June 30. First
meeting of the Central Monitoring Committee may be held by June 30. The Central
Monitoring Committee may consider identifying experts, best practices and
models for use of treated water, including plan to supply untreated sewage for
a price or otherwise so that the concerned needy party can treat and utilise
such water as is reportedly being done at Surat in Gujarat, Nagpur in
Maharashtra and Bhilwada in Rajasthan or any other place, it said. According to
the news item, 351 polluted river stretches have been noted by the CPCB and 117
such stretches are in the states of Assam, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. The CPCB
has apprised the concerned states of the extent of pollution in the rivers.
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AMAZON TO KEEP SELLING ILLEGAL MOBILE SIGNAL BOOSTERS DESPITE
TELCOS' APPEAL
Amazon has scuttled a
request from telecom service providers to stop the sale of illegal mobile
signal boosters on its platform at a time when consumers are grappling with
poor quality of wireless services. Its rivals, Walmart-Flipkart and Snapdeal,
have removed these products from their websites. Amazon contended that it is
merely an intermediary between the buyer and the seller and should not be held
responsible to comply with laws applicable to the respective products. The
US-based online marketplace’s stance has dampened the efforts of telecom
operators to crack down on the sale of mobile signal boosters, which they
believe are responsible for network interference. Last month, the Cellular Operators
Association of India (COAI) had written to e-commerce majors such as Amazon,
Flipkart, and Snapdeal, asking them to immediately stop the sale of the
devices, as it was illegal to sell them without a licence from the government.
This equipment, COAI said, cause network interference and impact the quality of
service to end users. However, Amazon, in its reply to COAI, said that it was
not clear on the legal rationale of the request to take down these products.
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NCDRC DIRECTS AIR INDIA TO PAY ₹2 LAKH TO COUPLE FOR DELAY
IN FLIGHT
The apex consumer
commission has directed national carrier Air India to pay ₹2
lakh compensation to a couple for the delay in its scheduled service from
Kolkata to Delhi, due to which they missed their flight to New York. The
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) directed the airlines
to pay the amount, along with interest, to West Bengal-resident Banibrata
Poddar and his wife for not accommodating them in an alternative flight from
Kolkata to enable them to reach New Delhi in time to catch the connecting
flight to New York.
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345 MILLION VIEWERS WATCHED IPL IN FIRST TWO WEEKS, SAYS STAR
A total of 345 million
viewers watched the 12th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) in the first
two weeks since the tournament started on 23 March. The viewership witnessed a
jump of 14% over last year, for the same period claimed league’s official
broadcast partner Star India quoting data from Broadcasting Audience Research
Agency or BARC. The network said that television viewership delivered 29.8
million average impressions for the first two weeks, registering a growth of
21%. As per the weekly (30 March to 5 April) BARC data, Star Sports Hindi
emerged as the most watched channel across genres with 1.11 million
impressions. Impressions refer to the number of individuals in thousands of a
target audience who viewed an event, averaged across minutes. The data includes
television viewership both at home and out-of-home. Star said that its regional
broadcast push has further fuelled IPL viewership growth with Hindi speaking
markets (HSM) growing by 24% and South growing by 15% over 2018. As a part to
enhance the regional viewership, the network is telecasting matches in eight
languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali as well as
Marathi and Malayalam on Sundays. Female viewership - above 15 years - also
witnessed an upswing, growing at 21% to reach 10.6 million impressions while
male viewership grew at 17% to account for 14.4 million impressions.
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BAN ON PUBG NOT AN ISSUE OF ‘PUBLIC INTEREST’: GUJARAT HIGH
COURT
The Gujarat High Court on
Thursday rejected a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Internet Freedom
Foundation (IFF) seeking the court’s intervention against the ban imposed on
playing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, or PUBG, by authorities in several
cities across the state. The division bench of Acting Chief Justice AS Dave and
Justice Biren Vaishnav, during the hearing, said the petitioner-organisation
should not waste the court’s time and remarked that the issue cannot be termed
as a PIL. Whether the ban is for public good, or not, is for the authorities to
decide. The ban does not violate any fundamental rights of people. We are not
inclined to entertain the petition as we are not satisfied. If you want, you
can approach the authorities and request them to lift the ban, the court said.
While advocate for the organisation, Asim Pandya, argued that the ban imposed
by the authorities under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is a
classic example of abuse of power and violates the fundamental rights of
people, the bench straightaway rejected the same. The petitioner had questioned
how can people be harassed by authorities for playing a game, when the ban on
it is in clear violation of Article 14 (equality before the law), 19 (freedom of
speech), and 21 (deprivation from life and liberty) of the Constitution. It
also challenged the arrests of around 21 persons in the state, mostly
youngsters, after the ban was implemented.
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CHINESE COMPANY UNDER FIRE FOR CLAIMING BLACK HOLE 'COPYRIGHT'
A Chinese online image
provider has been criticised for claiming copyright over the photo of the black
hole by flashing it on their website with their logo, according to a media
report. Just after the black hole image was released on Wednesday by
astronomers, the website of Visual China Group carried the image with its logo,
hinting that payment is required to use the image, state-run China Daily
reported on Friday. The company released a statement on Thursday claiming that
it had gained copyright of the image from the Event Horizon Telescope for use
in media and not for commercial use such as advertisements. Materials from the
websites of scientific authorities such as the European Southern Observatory
(ESO) and NASA are available free, so long as users clearly credit the source.
The ESO has said Visual China Group has not made contact about the black hole
image and it is illegal for it to claim copyright, the Daily report said.
Chinese firms over the decades had acquired notoriety in claiming domestic copy
rights over the logos of global brands, prompting many international firms to
file lawsuits in China to protect their identities. The copy right protection
formed part of the current trade talks between US and China to end the trade
war. US President Donald Trump is demanding China to reduce the USD 375 billion
trade deficit and protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and
technology transfer.
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JAPANESE F-35 FIGHTER CRASHES OVER PACIFIC OCEAN, PILOT GOES
MISSING
Search and rescue teams
found wreckage from a Japanese F-35 stealth fighter that crashed over the
Pacific Ocean close to northern Japan, but the pilot remains missing,
authorities said on Wednesday. The aircraft, less than one-year-old, was the
first F-35 to be assembled in Japan and was only in the air for 28 minutes on
Tuesday, a defence official said. It is only the second F-35 to crash in the
two-decades it has been flying. The advanced, single-seat jet was flying about
135 km (84 miles) east of the Misawa air base in Aomori Prefecture at about
7:27 p.m. (1027 GMT) on Tuesday when it disappeared from radar, the Air Self
Defense Force said. We recovered the wreckage and determined it was from the
F-35, a spokesman for the Air Self Defence Force (ASDF) said, adding that the
pilot of the aircraft was still missing. The aircraft had been in the air for
28 minutes when contact was lost, the official said. The pilot had 3,200 hours
of flight time, with 60 hours on the F-35, the official said. The aircraft
crashed in waters that reach a depth of around 1,500 metres, making recovery
difficult, the official said. The aircraft was less than a year old and was
delivered to the ASDF in May last year, the ASDF spokesman said. Japan's first
squadron of F-35s has just become operational at Misawa and the government
plans to buy 87 of the stealth fighters to modernise its air defences as
China's military power grows.
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TRANSACTIONS WITH VENEZUELA WHILE LEADERSHIP IN DOUBT: IMF
The International Monetary
Fund will not have any contact with Venezuela, nor allow the country to access
its reserves held by the institution, until the international community
recognises a government in Caracas, an IMF spokesman has said. The country's
leadership has been in question since late January when national assembly
leader Juan Guaido challenged embattled President Nicolas Maduro as the
country's acute economic crisis worsened. Any IMF engagement with Venezuela,
including responding to potential financial transaction requests, is predicated
on the issue of government recognition being clarified, an IMF spokesman told
AFP on Wednesday. We are guided by our membership on that issue, and at this
point, this determination has not been made.
The United States is among
some 50 countries that recognize Guaido, the opposition leader who declared
himself interim president in late January in a bid to replace Maduro. Guaido
has branded Maduro's rule illegitimate because of what Guaido calls fraudulent
elections last year in which Maduro won another term in office. Maduro, who is
backed by Russia and China, is under increasing pressure as the economy
implodes and the exodus of Venezuelans continues amid a worsening humanitarian
crisis. The IMF has previously said it is awaiting a decision by its members on
recognition of a government in Caracas, which would take a majority of the
voting shares on the fund's executive board. All of the 189 members of the
global crisis lender are required to keep a minimum level of foreign currency
reserves on deposit at the IMF, but because of the limbo in Caracas neither
Maduro nor Guaido could have access to those funds.
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CHINA PUT HUMAN BRAIN GENES IN MONKEYS TO STUDY INTELLIGENCE EVOLUTION
Chinese scientists have
implanted human brain genes into monkeys, in a study intended to provide
insights into the unique evolution of human intelligence Researchers inserted
human versions of MCPH1, a gene that scientists believe plays a role in the
development of the human brain, into 11 rhesus monkeys. They found the monkeys'
brains -- like those of humans -- took longer to develop, and the animals
performed better in tests of short-term memory as well as reaction time
compared to wild monkeys. However, the monkeys did not grow bigger brains than
the control group. The test, the latest in a series of biomedical experiments
in China to have fuelled medical ethics debates, has already drawn ethical
concerns, and comparisons with dystopian sci-fi Planet of the Apes. It was
conducted by researchers at the Kunming Institute of Zoology and the Chinese
Academy of Sciences, working with US researchers at the University of North
Carolina. Our findings demonstrated that transgenic nonhuman primates
(excluding ape species) have the potential to provide important -- and
potentially unique -- insights into basic questions of what actually makes
human unique, the authors wrote. To humanise them is to cause harm. Where would
they live and what would they do? Do not create a being that can't have a
meaningful life in any context, she told MIT Technology Review.
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EC SENDS NOTICE TO YOGI, MAYAWATI FOR VIOLATION OF MODEL CODE
OF CONDUCT
Election Commission of
India (ECI) on Thursday sent notices to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief
Mayawati and UP CM Yogi Adityanath over their speeches delivered in Deoband in
Saharanpur on April 7 and 9 respectively, which allegedly violated the Model
Code of Conduct Both the leaders have been asked to submit their response
within 24 hours. The two leaders have been issued notice under Sub-Section (3)
of Section 123 of the Representation of the People's Act. The commission in its
notice to them also reminded that the Supreme Court through a judgement in 2017
had ordered that religion and caste cannot be used by anyone while making any
statement during electioneering or otherwise. The EC is prima facie of the
opinion that you have violated the aforesaid provisions of the MCC and also
wilfully disobeyed the order of the Supreme Court by making impugned
statements, the Commission said in the notice issued to both the leaders. Mayawati
while addressing a rally in Deoband on April 7 had said, I want to say to the
people of the Muslim community that you should not distribute your votes in the
name of relations and friendship. If you want to defeat the BJP in UP, then you
should not let your votes get divided. Instead, vote for the grand-alliance
candidates in a consolidated manner. This is my request, especially to the
people of the Muslim community. Replying to Mayawati, Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath while addressing a rally in Meerut said, You would have heard
Mayawati's speech day before yesterday. She said that if she gets only Muslim
votes, then grand-alliance doesn't need the votes of others. I also want to
tell you that if Congress, Samajwadi Party, BSP have faith in Ali, then we have
faith in Bajrangbali. They have accepted that followers of Bajrangbali will
never tolerate them. That is why by shouting 'Ali-Ali' from stages, they want
to spread a green virus to bite this country, the Chief Minister had added.
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WIKILEAKS CO-FOUNDER ASSANGE ARRESTED FROM ECUADOR EMBASSY
HIDEOUT IN LONDON
Wikileaks co-founder
Julian Assange was on Thursday arrested from his Ecuador Embassy hideout in
London after the South American country withdrew the asylum granted to him.
Scotland Yard confirmed the arrest and said its officers had executed a warrant
against Assange dating back to June 2012 for breach of bail conditions. The
47-year-old Australian national has been holed up in a back room of the Ecuador
embassy in central London for nearly seven years now for fear of being
extradited to the US, where he faces a possible death sentence or torture for
Wikileaks' alleged leak of secrets. He (Assange) has been taken into custody at
a central London police station where he will remain, before being presented
before Westminster Magistrates' Court as soon as is possible, a Metropolitan
Police statement said, adding that Assange had been arrested on a warrant
issued by the same court on June 29 2012, for failing to surrender to the
court. The MPS (Met Police Service) had a duty to execute the warrant, on
behalf of Westminster Magistrates' Court, and was invited into the embassy by
the Ambassador, following the Ecuadorian government's withdrawal of asylum, the
statement said.
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RUSSIA MOVES TO EXPAND GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF INTERNET
The lower house of the
Russian parliament has passed a second reading of a bill that would expand
government authority over the Internet but whose opponents fear heralds
widespread censorship. The bill, which passed 322-15, would install equipment
to route Russian internet traffic through servers in the country. That would
increase the powers of state agencies and make it harder for users to circumvent
any government restrictions. The proposed move sparked protests of several
thousand people in Moscow in March. Opponents argue it would allow the state to
control the flow of information and enforce blocks on messaging applications
which refuse to hand over data. Advocates say the bill is intended to address
concerns that Russia could be cut off if the United States engages in a
cybersecurity offensive.
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HAVE TO ELIMINATE NAXALISM BY 2022, WILL GO EXTRA MILE TO HELP
CM, SAYS RAJNATH SINGH
Rajnath Singh virtually
put Chhattisgarh’s new Congress government on notice, saying he was
disappointed by the latest Maoist attack in the state in which a BJP MLA and
four policemen were killed. On Thursday, Singh addressed a BJP rally at Kanker,
about 50 kms from the site of the attack. People here thought it has been 15
years (under BJP rule in the state), so they chose a new government. The
government should run properly. See what has happened now. A BJP MLA and four
policemen were killed by Naxals two days ago, the minister said. I was very
disappointed when I heard this. I have told the CM (Bhupesh Baghel) plainly to
take visible and strict action against Naxalites. Singh drove under tight
security for 3 kms to the rally venue from a helipad. Local BJP leaders in
Kanker complained to Singh of increased activity of Left wing extremists in the
area lately. Suspected Maoists felled trees on two roads leading to the rally
venue the previous night. Singh said he had promised full cooperation to the CM
to fight the Maoists. I urged him that your and my parties may be different,
but I will always be two steps ahead to help you fight Naxals. We have to
eliminate Naxalism by 2022, Singh said in Bhilai.
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INDIA COULD SOON BECOME A 'NATO ALLY'AS US LAWMAKERS INTRODUCE
A NEW BILL
A bipartisan group
comprising half a dozen influential American lawmakers has reintroduced a key
legislation in the House of Representatives which seeks to advance the US-India
strategic relationship, a news report said Friday. If enacted, the legislation
would ensure that the US State Department treat India as a NATO ally for the
purposes of the Arms Export Control Act. It seeks to send a powerful signal
that defence sales to India should be prioritised according to US-India
Strategic Partnership Forum, which had worked on this important legislation.
The bill HR 2123 was introduced this week by Congressman Joe Wilson, a senior
member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a PTI report from Washington
said.
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INDIA COUNTERS ‘TARIFF KING’ TAG AS US MOVES TO END IMPORT SOPS
New Delhi on Thursday
countered US President Donald Trump’s allegations of India being a tariff king
by highlighting that the US itself charges high tariffs on several items,
including tobacco, peanuts, and footwear. They charge us 100% tariffs on goods.
So, they send a motorcycle—and they make a lot of them—Indian cycles. They send
them to our country. We charge them nothing. We send a Harley Davidson to India
and they charge us 100%. Not fair, okay. Not reciprocal. It’s not fair, Trump
had said, misrepresenting India’s current tariff rates on premium bikes.
Trump’s repeated tirades against high Indian tariffs on premium bikes had
forced India to reduce the duty on completely built units from 75% to 50% last
year. Most countries have a reason for charging high tariffs on a few items,
said a senior commerce ministry official on condition of anonymity. Japan may
like to protect its rice farmers, the US its tobacco farmers, and India its
growing wine industry. High tariff items do not represent the tariffs at which
actual trade happens for most items. Average tariff and weighted tariff better
represent a country’s tariff profile, the official said. The counter to Trump’s
allegation by Indian officials holds significance as the US is set to formally
withdraw zero duty benefits under the generalized system of preferences (GSP)
to India from 4 May, even as India has once again deferred to 2 May its
previously announced retaliatory tariffs against an unilateral hike in steel
and aluminium duties by the US government. India fears that implementing the
retaliatory tariffs may be viewed by the US as a counter to the withdrawal of
GSP benefits. India imposes high duties on several items such as whiskey and
wines (150%), automobiles (60-100%), mango juices (50%), and marble blocks
(40%). The highest tariffs imposed by Japan (736%), South Korea (807%), the US
(350%), and Australia (163%) are much higher than that of India (150%), the
commerce ministry official said quoting the World Tariff Profiles 2018,
published by the World Trade Organization (WTO). India’s average tariff at
13.8%, maybe higher than that of the US’s 3.4%, but is almost at par with South
Korea’s (13.7%). Trump should have talked about the prevailing average tariffs.
However, that would not have much news value because of the low number. The
‘tariff king’ label for India does not stick as most countries, including the
US, levy higher duties on some products, the official added.
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KIM JONG UN CONSOLIDATES POWER AS NORTH KOREA SHUFFLES
LEADERSHIP
In one of the biggest
leadership shake-ups in years, North Korea named a new nominal head of state
and a new premier, and gave leader Kim Jong Un a new title, state media
reported on Friday, moves analysts said solidify Kim's grip on power. In an
expected move, Kim Jong Un was re-elected as chairman of the State Affairs
Commission at a session of North Korea's rubber-stamp legislature that took
place on Thursday, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. For the first time,
however, state media referred to Kim as supreme representative of all the
Korean people. That title was approved by special decree in February, according
to the Associated Press, but has not been used publicly until Friday. It's
unclear whether the changes will be codified in the constitution, but analysts
said the shake-up shows Kim has fully come into his own, eight years after he
inherited rule from his father, Kim Jong Il. The person holding that position
is constitutionally considered North Korea's head of state and usually represents
the country at diplomatic events, though experts say real power remains
concentrated in Kim Jong Un's hands.
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IMRAN KHAN'S ATTEMPT TO WOO WESTERN AUDIENCE TO BOOST ECONOMY
IN DESPAIR
Imran Khan's peace missive
suggesting PM Narendra Modi as the best bet is an outreach to the Western
audience and big powers amid the precarious state of the country’s economy. The
Imran Khan government faces an uphill task in repairing the economy, with the
country fearing being blacklisted by inter-governmental institution Financial
Action Task Force (FATF) and finding it difficult to seek IMF bailout amid
opposition from US lawmakers. Financial support from traditional partners in
Gulf has not been adequate to tide over economic crisis and balance of payments
issue. Khan is making desperate attempts at image makeover in order to gain
Western support to boost the economy even as China remains a close political
and economic ally. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday revised
downwards its growth projections for Pakistan to 2.8 per cent for 2018-19 and
2.9 per cent for 2019-20. It cited ongoing macroeconomic adjustment challenges
for its revised projections. In Pakistan, in the absence of further adjustment
policies, growth is projected to remain subdued at about 2.5 percent, with
continued external and fiscal imbalances weighing on confidence. Pakistan’s
rising fuel import bill following a devaluation of the Pakistani rupee and a
downgrading in the sovereign rating by rating agencies have only added to its
economic woes. FATF Grey Listing has prevented fresh flow of foreign funds as
well as investments. Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves stood at more than $8
billion in February 2019 — just enough to service around two months of imports
— as against over $12 billion just a year ago. The Pakistani rupee has also
depreciated nearly 40 per cent against the dollar in the last two years. The
IMF said the expected budget deficit of the country is likely to be 7.2
percent, which is feared to increase next year. It said inflation in Pakistan
would remain 7.6 percent, despite a projected 6 percent.
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AFTER US- CHINA TRADE WAR COOLS, JAPAN BRACES FOR ITS CLASH
WITH TRUMP
The world’s third-biggest
economy has a lot at stake in the talks which are expected to start next week
in Washington just as the U.S.’s negotiations with China appear to be winding
down. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is desperate to avoid tariffs or quotas on
lucrative auto exports, while Trump wants to crack open Japan’s agricultural
market and reduce a $60 billion trade deficit. Abe has poured energy into
courting Trump to maintain a strategic relationship that secures his country
against potential threats from North Korea and China. But that doesn’t mean
Japan will roll over on trade: Abe’s government is determined to avoid giving
the U.S. a better two-way deal than the multilateral pacts he’s negotiated with
Europe and Pacific Rim nations. It’s the U.S. who asked for these bilateral
negotiations, said Ichiro Fujisaki, a former Japanese ambassador to the U.S.,
who’s now president of the Nakasone Peace Institute. So, it’s the U.S. who
should put to us what they want, rather than us offering this and that before
being asked. The talks add to worries among investors as Trump turns his gaze
from China to trade grudges elsewhere. The U.S. leader, who will face questions
on his success in rebalancing America’s trade relationships in next year’s
presidential campaign, has signaled a willingness to continue market-disrupting
tariff threats despite growing economic concerns. Abe only agreed to bilateral
talks after Trump hit Japan’s steel and aluminum exports with punitive tariffs
last year and later threatened to impose levies of as much as 25 percent on all
imported cars, including those made in Japan. Trump faces a decision in May on
how to proceed with the auto tariffs. Japan is now negotiating, Trump told
reporters last month. They haven’t wanted to negotiate for many years, but now
they’re negotiating. It’s called ‘tariffs.’ Still, Abe’s economy minister,
Toshimitsu Motegi, has been able to observe the Trump administration’s previous
battles with South Korea, Canada, Mexico and China before sitting down next
week with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. In each fight, the U.S.
adopted extreme positions that threatened to upend economic ties only to drift
toward more modest changes. Abe has also fortified Japan’s position by sealing
trade pacts with the European Union and 10 other partners jilted by Trump when
he abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership shortly after taking office. Those
deals have left U.S. farmers, including beef and pork producers, at risk of
losing their 22 percent share of Japan’s food import market to rivals with
lower tariffs. For Japan, the government has no reason to hasten, to quickly
wrap up the negotiations, said Junji Nakagawa, a professor who researches trade
issues at Chuogakuin University in Chiba prefecture near Tokyo. The impetus for
wrapping up negotiations quickly comes from the U.S. side, especially
agricultural lobbyists. The scope of talks will be key. If the U.S. can accept
parity with Europe and TPP nations on agriculture — as the two sides suggested
in a Sept. 26 joint statement — Abe might settle quickly. Trump is expected to
visit Tokyo next month for a state visit with the incoming emperor, Crown
Prince Naruhito, and Japan doesn’t want trade disputes marring the pageantry.
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US OFFICIALS MADE 'FAKE' FACEBOOK PROFILES TO NAB INDIANS
Facebook has said that the
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violated its guidelines by
creating fake profiles on its platform tied to the University of Farmington --
a sham institution that left over 600 students, 90% of them Indians, in
detention. The Facebook profiles were allegedly created by the ICE's Homeland
Security Investigations (HSI) division, the Guardian reported on Thursday. Law
enforcement authorities, like everyone else, are required to use their real
names on Facebook and we make this policy clear on our public-facing Law
Enforcement Guidelines' page, a Facebook representative told the daily.
Operating fake accounts is not allowed, and we will act on any violating
accounts.
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US-CHINA TRADE WAR IS REROUTING US IMPORT FLOWS: REPORT
Donald Trump’s trade war
with China has US companies shifting purchases of tariff-targeted products like
furniture, refrigerators and car tires to countries such as Vietnam, South Korea,
Taiwan and Mexico, according to a new analysis released on Wednesday. Trump’s
decision to slap tariffs of 10 to 25 per cent on about $250 billion of Chinese
goods has roiled US retailers and manufacturers, who are scrambling to avoid
potentially crippling cost increases. Overall US imports of containerized
freight from China fell 6.4 per cent during the first quarter as buyers worked
off product stockpiled ahead of tariff increases and rerouted orders to
lower-cost countries, S&P Global Market Intelligence’s trade data firm
Panjiva said in the report. US imports of Chinese-made furniture by retailers
such as IKEA, Home Depot, Target Corp and Room to Go fell 13.5 per cent in the
first quarter. That was partly offset by a 37.2 per cent rise in shipments from
Vietnam and a 19.3 per cent increase in imports from Taiwan, Panjiva said. The
change also affected home appliances. Imports of Chinese refrigerators fell
24.1 per cent during the quarter, when shipments from South Korea and Mexico
jumped 31.8 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively. A major factor in that
shift has been a rearrangement in supply chains by Samsung Electronics and LG
Electronics, Panjiva said in the report. The auto industry has also been
rethinking trade routes. Tire imports from China slumped 28.6 per cent during
the first three months of the year. At the same time, US seaports saw a 141.7
surge in product from Vietnam and an 11.1 per cent increase in tire shipments
from South Korea. Hankook Tire and Nexen are among the suppliers picking up the
new business, Panjiva said. US companies are also shifting factory investments
in the wake of the China trade tiff, which a trio of economists estimate has
already cost US consumers and companies $19.2 billion.
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US JUDGE HALTS TRUMP POLICY OF RETURNING ASYLUM SEEKERS TO
MEXICO
A U.S. judge on Monday
halted the Trump administration's policy of sending some asylum seekers back
across the southern border to wait out their cases in Mexico, stopping a program
the government planned to expand to stem a recent flood of migrants. The ruling
is slated to take effect on Friday, according to the order by U.S. District
Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco. The preliminary injunction will apply
nationwide. The program was launched in January and was one of many policies
aimed at slowing rising numbers of immigrants arriving at the border, many of
them families from Central America, that swelled last month to the highest
level in a decade. Because of limits on how long children are legally allowed
to be held in detention, many of the families are released to await U.S.
immigration court hearings, a process that can take years because of ballooning
backlogs. The Trump administration said last week it planned to expand the
program of sending some migrants to wait out their U.S. court dates in Mexican
border cities under a policy known as Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP. The
government argued MPP was needed because so many asylum seekers spend years
living in the United States and never appear for their court hearings before
their claim is denied and an immigration judge orders them to be deported.
Seeborg said that the Immigration and Nationalization Act does not authorize
the government to return asylum seekers to Mexico the way the government has
applied it, however. He also said the policy lacks safeguards toprotect
refugees from threats to their life or freedom. Justice Department data show
that while the percentage of immigration court cases completed in absentia -
when the foreign citizen fails to show - has risen in recent years, the
majority of immigrants show up for their hearings. A Mexican foreign ministry
spokesman said the ministry considered the ruling an internal decision of the
United States. Seeborg said the government shall permit the 11 plaintiffs in
the case to enter the United States beginning on Sunday. He said the government
still retained the right to detain the asylum-seekers pending the outcome of
their case. The ruling can be appealed, and the government could seek a stay of
the injunction until the appeals process runs its course. Still, lawyers for
migrants were gratified by the decision. This is a great ruling, said Judy
Rabinovitz, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which was one of
the groups that brought the case. This is what they were planning on
implementing on a large scale. That would have been a complete game changer in
the way our asylum system works, she said.
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CARLOS GHOSN, SUFFERING FROM KIDNEY FAILURE, WAS ARRESTED
ILLEGALLY: REPORT
Carlos Ghosn's illegal
arrest has interrupted his care for chronic kidney failure, which the former
Nissan Motor boss suffers from as a result of treatment for high cholesterol,
his defence alleged in documents seen by Reuters on Thursday. The documents,
prepared by Ghosn's defence team after he was arrested for the fourth time by
Tokyo prosecutors last week and the details of which have not been previously
reported, allege his arrest was designed to halt the defence's preparation and
force a confession. The prosecutors re-arrested last Thursday Ghosn at his
Tokyo residence where he had been staying following his release on a $9 million
bail. He has since been returned to a detention centre where he previously
spent more than 100 days. Prosecutors arrested him on suspicion of enriching
himself at a cost of $5 million to Nissan. Ghosn has denied all allegations
against him and said he is the victim of a boardroom coup. This arrest is
illegal, the defence said in one of the documents, dated April 5, the day after
he was re-arrested. Ghosn has high cholesterol and, as a result of treatment,
suffers from chronic kidney failure and rhabdomyolysis, the defence said.
Rhabdomyolysis is a syndrome where muscle fibres release their contents into
the blood stream.
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WHATSAPP PAY NEEDS FIVE MONTHS TO GO LOCAL & LIVE
Instant messaging service
WhatsApp may take up to five months to fully localise its payments data in
India and go live, said two bankers in the know of the matter, after a test
launch of its payments service among a limited number of users faced stiff opposition
from competitors last year. Currently, WhatsApp has been permitted to beta-test
its payments product within a limited user base of 10 lakh and has been allowed
only small-value transactions by the National Payments Corporation of India,
which runs the Unified Payments Interface railroad. The company does not share
details of the exact number of users on its platform, but sources said it may
be in the range of 7 lakh. The Facebook-owned Whatsapp uses UPI for
facilitating payments in India. WhatsApp may have started working on creating
provisions to store payments data within the country, but to finish the
third-party audit and to comply with all technical requirements, it will easily
take time till August or September, said one of the bankers. WhatsApp said it
was working closely with banks, NPCI, the government and other payment service
providers to support India’s digitisation agenda
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79% INDIAN FIRMS LACK HACKING RESPONSE PLAN: IBM
Nearly 79 per cent of
Indian firms do not have a computer security incident response plan (CSIRP) in
place that is applied consistently across operations, a new IBM-Ponemon
Institute study said on Thursday. In the past two years, 51 per cent of Indian
organisations surveyed experienced a data breach and 56 per cent experienced a
cyber security incident, revealed the study conducted by US-based Ponemon
Institute on behalf of IBM Security. Of the organisations that do have a CSIRP
in place, 57 per cent do not test plans regularly or at all Only 23 per cent
reported using automation significantly in their organisation, the findings
showed. In India, Incident Response (IR) strategy is at a nascent stage and
organisations are beginning to conceive this as an integral part of risk
mitigation and resilience plan, said Vaidyanathan Iyer, Security Software
Leader, IBM India/South Asia. Considering the lack of a well-developed and
tested IR in an organisation's cyber resiliency strategy, enterprises need to
evaluate and implement the right tools at the earliest, Iyer added. The
IBM-Ponemon study found that globally, 77 per cent of respondents indicated
they do not have a cybersecurity incident response plan applied consistently
across the enterprise. Studies show that companies who respond quickly and
efficiently to contain a cyberattack within 30 days save over $1 million on the
total cost of a data breach on average. Failing to plan is a plan to fail when
it comes to responding to a cybersecurity incident. These plans need to be stress
tested regularly and need full support from the board to invest in the
necessary people, processes and technologies to sustain such a programme,
expressed Ted Julian.
#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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