60% ATMS STILL DON’T HAVE UPGRADED SECURITY FEATURES AS RBI
DEADLINE NEARS
Around six out of 10
automated teller machines (ATMs) in the country are still not upgraded with
higher security features even as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s June
deadline for completing the exercise approaches closer, said banking sources. The
mandated features include an upgradation of software and an overhaul of the
cash-refilling system at ATMs, among other changes. A senior official of a
large private sector bank said there is confusion over the cost-sharing aspect
of the move. Who would bear the cost — the banks or the cash management
companies? Nobody is willing to undertake the responsibility as it is a sunken
one-time cost, said the official. The exercise of upgrading all 2.2 lakh ATMs
would cost about Rs 3,500-4,000 crore for the banking industry, said another
senior executive of a private sector bank on condition of anonymity. So far, a
few banks have paid for the upgradation costs, but there is reluctance on their
part to go the entire distance. This would mean the bottomlines of banks will
be hit once again and lenders are in no mood to indulge in this additional spending
at this point in time, said the first official. Most public sector banks —
barring the State Bank of India — are severely cash-strapped at present with a
pile of non-performing assets. A banking analyst said that a well thought-out
cost formula needs to be put in place to ensure smoother and faster action. The
central bank is now set to extend the deadline for another six months or till
the end of the 2019-20 fiscal, said government and banking sources. The number
of white label ATMs India is still minuscule.
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BANKING OMBUDSMAN RECEIVES 16,000 COMPLAINTS IN FY18 ABOUT
ATMS NOT DISPENSING CASH
Automatic Teller Machines
(ATMs) not dispensing cash even when bank accounts are debited is the most
common grievance among users of the devices. In FY18, 16,000 or 10% of all
customer grievances at the banking ombudsman offices were registered under the
head ‘account debited but cash not dispensed at ATM,’ according to data
released by Reserve Bank of India last week. Data also showed that debit card
and ATM related complaints saw a 50% jump annually Bankers say that the problem
is common enough because of financial inclusion, and that most cases are
resolved satisfactorily. The recent increase in deployment of ATMs in rural
areas after demonetisation and increased customer awareness are reasons behind
the rise in number of complaints, an unnamed private sector banker told the
publication. The rise in complaints is not indicative as it is in proportion
with the increase in ATM networks across the country and the number of
complaints filed in the concerned period, the banker said. ATM manufacturers
say that while the increase in deployment has been a factor, the primary cause
for such grievances are network and power-related failures, especially in rural
ATMs. If your bank does not resolve the issue within the 7-day deadline, you
can register a complaint with RBI at the respective ombudsman office in your
zone within 30 days of the failed transaction.
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MOST CUSTOMERS UPSET OVER SERVICE CHARGES LEVIED BY BANKS: RBI
STUDY
A majority of customers
are upset over the service charges being levied by banks under various
categories. This is one of findings of a pilot study commissioned by the
Reserve Bank of India on charges levied for basic banking services. More than
25 per cent of the respondents expressed their discontent over charges such as
penalty on non-maintenance of minimum balance, cash deposit charges at home and
non-home branches, cheque return charges (deposited by the customers), and for
signature verification. The study revealed that 72 per cent of the respondents
felt the frontline staff of the branch was the main source of information in
this regard. There is a need for greater transparency on the quantum of charges
being levied. More than 30 per cent of the respondents indicated that
information about service charges and fees was not shared by the banks at the
time of opening an account. Any subsequent changes were also not informed to
them. Complaints on ‘non-observance of fair practice code’ continued to account
for the highest share of total complaints received across the country at 22.1
per cent. This, along with other grounds, such as ‘failure to meet commitments’
and ‘non-adherence to BCSBI codes’, constituted 31.3 per cent of the total
complaints. Focussed action by banks is necessary in this regard to ensure that
the staff, especially at customer touch points, are equipped with the requisite
skills and are adequately trained, the RBI said. During 2017-18, public sector
banks and major private sector banks collected nearly ₹6,000
crore as penalty for non-maintenance of minimum balance charges, as per the
data available with banks. If ATM withdrawal charges and cash transaction fees,
among others, are also included, this escalates to an even bigger amount.
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NBFC CRISIS AVERTED, LIQUIDITY ISSUES TO GET RESOLVED: HDFC
BANK'S ADITYA PURI
Troubles among India’s
non-bank financiers will persist for at least a year even if the danger of a
full-blown financial crisis has passed, according to the head of the nation’s most
valuable bank. Tighter regulatory oversight and asset sales have staved off the
worst of the problems afflicting India’s non-bank financial firms following
last year’s defaults by Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd.,
according to Aditya Puri. Even so, it will be another 12 to 18 months before
the liquidity issues in the wider sector are resolved, Puri added. It’s not a
Lehman-like thing that comes and then there is contagion across the system,
Puri said, referring to the US firm that collapsed a decade ago and plunged the
global economy into a downturn. The crisis is over, the problem remains. Shadow
banks are still struggling to raise funds including from the mutual funds which
already hold about $46 billion of the sector’s debt, according to an estimate
by Credit Suisse Group AG. Those that can tap the markets are paying about 30
basis points more than other top-rated corporates, according to data compiled
by Bloomberg. HDFC Bank had an exposure of $7 billion to non-bank finance companies
and related firms as of December, compared with $11 billion for its nearest
private-sector rival ICICI Bank Ltd., filings show. The exposure of the wider
Indian banking industry was about $92 billion in March, according to an
estimate from the ratings firm ICRA Ltd. Puri said HDFC Bank has no exposure to
IL&FS. The banking industry has made substantial progress in dealing with
its non-performing loan problem, Puri said. He pointed to better recognition of
soured debt, closer central bank inspections and more disciplined behavior by
borrowers after the implementation of the nation’s new bankruptcy law. This
gives the government a window to add fresh capital into struggling state-run
banks, Puri said. Government-controlled lenders account for about 90% of bad
debt and Moody’s Investors Service estimates they will probably need some $3.5
billion to bridge capital needs this financial year, on top of the $28 billion
the government has injected over the past two years.
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PMO REVIEWS 59-MINUTE LOAN SCHEME, RS 37,870 CRORE DISBURSED
The Prime Minister's
Office (PMO) this week reviewed the 59-minute loan scheme for micro, small and
medium enterprises (MSMEs) with the Finance Ministry officials and asked them
to increase disbursals. Sources said since November last year, when the scheme
was launched, Rs 37,870-crore loans were disbursed till March 31. The Finance
Ministry is mulling to raise Rs 1-crore cap on 59-minute loans to Rs 3-5 crore
in a gradual manner, they said. During the current month, the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) and the Finance Ministry as well as the banks will be discussing
the risks and the benefits of the scheme which has already drawn a healthy
response from the borrowers, and some public sector banks (PSBs) are now keen
on raising the credit limit. Extending hassle-free loans to such units which
are without any collateral has been a hit on www.psbloansin59minutes.com, as it
has reduced the turnaround time for sanctioning loans from 20-25 days to 59 minutes.
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REPO RATE CUT TRANSMISSION YET TO HAPPEN: FINANCE MINISTRY
REPORT
Though easing of monetary
policy has the potential to support growth the recent cuts in repo rate are yet
to transmit to weighted average lending rate of banks, thus the effects of the
easing on investment activity are yet to manifest, said the monthly report of
March of the Finance Ministry. Credit growth could have been challenged by
continuous tightening of bank liquidity causing the call money market rates to
trend up since Q1; however, some respite is evident in Q4, added the March
economic report. Nominal exchange rate has been appreciating in Q3 of 2018-19,
yet the net flow of portfolio investment remained negative, the report said
while stating the real effective exchange rate has been appreciating in Q3 of
2018-19, which may have impacted growth of exports towards the end of the year.
Foreign Exchange Reserves in terms of months of import cover have fallen from
14 months from April 2016 to 9 months in October 2018. However, the import
cover has been increasing since then, it noted. Not only do fuel and food
inflation directly drive the CPI headline inflation, they do so indirectly as
well by spilling over into other sectors of the economy as captured by core
inflation, said the March monthly economic report.
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MAHARASHTRA IS FAVOURITE DESTINATION FOR FDIS BY NRIS
Maharashtra has emerged as
the favourite destination for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) by NRIs in the
last four financial years (2014-15- 2017-18) attracting ₹1,454
crore, which is 30 per cent of the total NRI investments of ₹4,820
crore in the country. Kerala and Gujarat received ₹902
crore and ₹515 crore respectively during the same period. The Government
has put in place a liberal and transparent policy, wherein most of the sectors
are open to FDI under the automatic route. The Government reviews the FDI
policy on an ongoing basis and makes significant changes from time to time, to
ensure that India remains attractive and investor-friendly destination. FDI
policy is an enabling policy which is uniformly applicable in the country the
Ministry said. Goa (with ₹2.85 crore), Madhya Pradesh (₹1.02 crore), Daman &
Diu (₹1 crore), Chhattisgarh (₹0.13 crore) and Punjab (₹0.05
crore) are at the bottom of the chart of NRI investment flows.
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UK TOP CHOICE FOR INDIAN INVESTORS WITH RECORD INVESTMENTS IN
2018: REPORT
London emerged as the top
choice for Indian investors ahead of other cities such as Dubai and Singapore,
with investments by Indian companies in the British capital reaching an
all-time high last year, according to a new analysis. The UK emerged as the top
most country to attract Indian FDI with 52 projects, ahead of the US (51) and
the UAE (32), in 2018, said London & Partners (L&P), the Mayor of
London's promotional agency, in the new analysis released on Friday. Indian
companies choosing to invest and expand in London reached an all-time high last
year, with 32 investment projects a giant leap from the previous year, it said.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from India into London increased by 255 per
cent from 2017 to 2018. And, investment into the UK from India grew by over 100
per cent compared with the previous year, with London accounting for over 60
per cent of all Indian investment into the UK in 2018, notes the analysis,
based on fDi Markets and fDi Intelligence data. We're delighted that a record
number of Indian businesses have chosen London as a base for their
international expansion and we look forward to welcoming more ambitious
companies to our city, said Laura Citron. Our upcoming trade mission will
provide a great opportunity for us to explore how London can increase
collaboration with some of India's leading business hubs in areas such as
fintech and enterprise technology, she said. The L&P's trade delegation,
comprising some of London's fastest growing fintech and enterprise tech companies,
will cover Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai as part of the Mayor of London's
International Business Programme.
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ELECTION COMMISSION CLEARS HIRING OF 6,000 UNIVERSITY TEACHERS
The Election Commission
has cleared the decks for recruitment of over 6,000 teachers across all Central
universities. These appointments have been held up since March 2018 owing to
the long litigation in Supreme Court over the changed formula for SC/ST quota
implementation. However, the EC has directed the human resource development
ministry to announce the list of final appointees only after the Lok Sabha
elections are completed. The EC has said that while it has no objection to the
starting of recruitment process’, from the Model Code of Conduct point of view,
this approval is subject to the condition that declaration of result and
appointments shall be done after completion of election process. Court orders
had struck down the University Grants Commission’s reservation formula for SC/ST/OBC
faculty recruitment -- an issue that had sparked a major political controversy
in 2018 and led to a complete freeze in teacher hirings across all Central
universities in 2018-19. The Modi government even filed a review petition in
the Supreme Court to restore the old quota formula but it was dismissed by the
apex court.
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AIRTEL-TATA TELE MERGER: TDSAT STAYS DOT CALL FOR RS 9K CRORE
GUARANTEES
An appellate tribunal has
stayed the telecom department’s demand for dues of over Rs 9,000 crore from
Bharti Airtel as a precondition for approving its acquisition of Tata
Teleservices’ consumer mobility division, and directed that the deal be
cleared, paving the way for the closure of the sector’s last major M&A pact
18 months after it was announced. We direct the concerned authorities of the
Union of India to take the merger of the two companies and the license on
record, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) ruled in
an interim order on Thursday. In its order, the TDSAT stayed the government’s
demand for about Rs 8,000 crore in bank guarantees for one-time spectrum
charges (OTSC), saying that similar demands have been stayed in other cases by
courts, including the Bombay High Court. The TDSAT also stayed a demand for
bank guarantees worth Rs 1,287.97 crore that the Department of Telecom (DoT)
had raised towards pending OTSC dues related to the merger of the erstwhile
Chennai circle with Tamil Nadu in 2007, but with a rider. This demand which appears
as part of condition which requires its immediate payment before approval,
shall remain stayed until further orders, provided the petitioner furnishes
with the registry of this tribunal bank guarantees for 50% of the said demand
within four weeks, the TDSAT said in its order.
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ECONOMIC GROWTH MAY HAVE SLOWED IN 2018-19: FINMIN
The Indian economy appears
to have slowed down in 2018-19 due to lower private consumption, tepid growth
in fixed investment and muted exports, a finance ministry report has said. The
Central Statistics Office (CSO), which released the national account data for
the third quarter, had in February revised downwards the growth estimate for
2018-19 to 7% from 7.2%. The 7% growth is the lowest in five years. In its
monthly economic report for March, the finance ministry said monetary policy
attempted to provide a fillip to the growth impulse through cuts in repo rate
and easing of bank liquidity. India's economy appears to have slowed down slightly
in 2018-19. The proximate factors responsible for this slowdown include
declining growth of private consumption, tepid increase in fixed investment,
and muted exports, it said. The ministry, however, said India continued to
remain the fastest-growing major economy and was projected to grow faster in
the coming years. Talking of challenges, the ministry highlighted that growth
in the agriculture sector needed to be reversed. The real effective exchange
rate appreciated in Q4 (January-March) of 2018-19 and could pose challenges to
the revival of exports in the near future, it said. On the external front,
current account deficit as a ratio to the GDP is set to fall in Q4
(January-March) of 2018-19, which will limit the leakage of growth impulse from
the economy. The fiscal deficit of the central government has been gliding down
to the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) target. The 2018-19
GDP growth of 7% is the lowest in five years. In 2013-14, the growth was 6.4%,
7.4% in in 2014-15, 8.2% in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and 7.2% in 2017-18. The
ministry said the room for monetary easing by the RBI was created due to low
inflation in 2018-19, although it started to inch up in the last few months of
the year.
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FINANCE MINISTRY CONFIRMS SLOWDOWN FEARS; GROWTH MAY EASE TO
6.5% IN JANUARY-APRIL
The GDP growth may have touched
6.5% in the March quarter, against 6.6% in the previous quarter, and the
slowdown in the economy in FY19 has been caused by declining growth of private
consumption, tepid increase in fixed investment and muted exports, according to
the latest monthly report of the finance ministry. Current account deficit
(CAD) situation may have improved in the last quarter of FY19 from 2.5% in the
December quarter, as dip in imports has improved the merchandise trade deficit.
The second advance estimate of the Central Statistics Organisation has pegged
FY19 GDP growth at 7%, down from 7.2% in FY18 and 8.2% in the year before. On
the supply side, the challenge is to reverse the slowdown in growth of the
agriculture sector and sustain the growth in industry. On the external front,
current account deficit as ratio to GDP is set to fall in Q4 of 2018-19, which
will limit the leakage of growth impulse from the economy, the report by the
department of economic affairs said. Credit growth could have been challenged
by continuous tightening of bank liquidity, causing the call money market rates
to trend up since Q1 (FY19); however, some respite is evident in Q4, said the
report for March. The real effective exchange rate has appreciated in the March
quarter and could pose challenges to the revival of exports in the near future.
However, increase in foreign exchange reserves in the last quarter of FY19 on
account of improvement in trade balance has increased the import cover for the
economy, it added. The report said the expected firming up of government
consumption expenditure in Q4 of FY19 is on course as growth in cumulative
revenue expenditure of the central government has been higher in recent months.
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JET COLLAPSE: PILOTS ASK PM TO PROBE ETIHAD’S ‘ROLE’
The Jet Airways pilots’
union has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order a probe if Etihad
Airways, the strategic investor in Jet Airways, and another private Indian
carrier had any role in the collapse of the airline. This is the first time
that Etihad’s role has come under question. Citing similar patterns of closure
of Etihad-invested airlines such as AirBerlin, Alitalia and Jet Airways, the
letter said, What we don’t know is the extent of the role played by Etihad in
the events leading to the complete collapse of Jet Airways. We urge you to intervene
in the matter and order a probe to establish whether a larger conspiracy was at
play, or of any collusion between State Bank of India (SBI) and Etihad, as the
only one decimated here are Jet Airways employees and Jet Airways, the letter
signed by Captain Karan Chopra, said.
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LIABILITIES BIGGEST HURDLE TO JET AIRWAYS SALE, SAYS SBI
The top lender of ailing
Jet Airways India Ltd said the burden of reversing the grounded carrier’s
negative net worth before it can fly again is the biggest challenge for any
potential investor. Liabilities and losses are considerable, Rajnish Kumar,
said. All these past liabilities and then, profitably, can they fly in future?
These are some of the considerations which are weighing upon the minds of the
potential investors. Creditors led by State Bank of India have put Jet Airways
up for sale after the carrier failed to pay back debt. Once India’s biggest
airline by market value, Jet Airways has been a victim of a budget airline boom
in the fiercely competitive market in the South Asian nation, where carriers
offer base fare of as low as 1 cent to lure first time flyers. The airline,
which stopped all flights last month, has made losses in nine of the past 11
years. Jet Airways has seen lessors taking away its aircraft while rivals start
services on routes it previously operated. The deadline for submission of
binding bids to take over control and ownership of Jet Airways is 10 May, Kumar
said. The lenders, to which the airline owes more than $1 billion, have yet to
take a call on how much debt will be forgiven, he said.
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AIR INDIA CAUTIONS STAFF: INTERACT WITH MEDIA ONLY AFTER PRIOR
APPROVAL OF CMD
Air India has cautioned
its employees of appropriate action if they interact with the media without
prior authorisation in writing from the airline chief, according to a
communication. In the communication dated April 30, the airline said there have
been instances where employees have interacted with the media or posted videos
in uniform in Air India aircraft, aired their views on electronic or social
media portraying the company in bad light despite instructions against doing
so. This is to reiterate that no employee(s) in individual capacity or on
behalf of a group or union or association of employees shall issue statements
in print, electronic or social media or post videos on any matter related to
the company without prior authorisation in writing by the CMD, it said. The
communication signed by Director Personnel Amrita Sharan also said that the
employees have to make a request through proper channel and then obtain
explicit approval of the chairman and managing director (CMD). Any violation of
the above will be viewed very seriously and appropriate action as per applicable
service regulations/ instructions would be taken against those found violating
the same, the order said. The communication also comes against the backdrop of
instances where representatives of some Air India unions publicly criticised
efforts to privatise the loss-making airline.
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CEA SUBRAMANIAN SAYS, MUTUAL FUNDS RESPONSIBLE FOR DEBT
CRISIS; GOVT NOT TO STEP IN UNLESS SYSTEMIC RISK
Even as the debt fund
crisis continues to make investors jittery, the government may not intervene
unless there is a systemic risk said Chief Economic Advisor (CEA). The recent
turmoil in the debt market has been caused by the ‘irrational exuberance’ of
the mutual funds and NBFCs, said Krishnmurthy Subramanian, adding non-banking
entities must properly evaluate the lending quality. Even though mutual funds
and NBFCs can’t act like banks, they were pushed towards lending as banks failed
to do their duty he also told. The asset-liability mismatch in the financial
sector must be closely supervised, he noted. Furthermore, there is a need to
improve the disclosure framework for defaults, as embattled non-banking
financial companies (NBFCs) face a liquidity squeeze and rating downgrades, he
added. There is also a need to share timely information on defaults as lack of
it puts ratings agencies on a weak footing, he said. The market only gets to
know about the impending crisis when the borrower defaults, he added. Even
though mandating disclosure of even a single-day default may be too harsh, a
system could be put in place wherein information on defaults gets shared if a
repayment is missed for seven days.
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TRAI TO ASK BHARTI AIRTEL TO FURNISH DETAILS OF SEGMENTED
OFFERS IN 'STIPULATED FORMAT'
Regulator TRAI plans to
ask telecom operator Bharti Airtel to cough up additional details on segmented
or concessional offerings it made to customers and will insist that information
furnished adheres to its 'prescribed format' a source said. The Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI) had last month asked operators to submit information
on concessional offers dished out between April 2018 and March 2019, and while
Bharti Airtel has shared some details, Vodafone Idea sought two more weeks to
submit the same. A TRAI official privy to the development said Bharti Airtel
has merely mentioned the number of segmented offers given in a month, but added
that the regulator wants the information segregated circle-wise and co-related
with the existing plans. Also, Bharti Airtel has furnished the details for
December 2018 onwards, while TRAI has sought details of such concessions over a
longer period, the official noted. Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea has sought two more
weeks to submit the required information citing its recent merger and the
amount of information involved. The source further said TRAI would like to have
access to information on concessions being given to subscribers by operators,
for its record. The operators are not putting it (segmented offer details) in
public domain, nor are they filing those offers so they have to tell us, in
each plan how many segmented offers have been made, the official said.
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36 POSTS OF PSB DIRECTORS LYING VACANT: AIBEA
Thirty six posts of
directors in public sector banks (PSB) haven't been filled for a long time said
a top leader of a major bank union. According to C.H.Venkatachalam, General
Secretary, All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA), the Bank
Nationalisation Act/Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of
Undertakings) Act provides for appointment of a workman employee representative
and an officer employee representative as directors on the Boards of all the
PSBs. None of the 18 PSBs have a workmen employee representative and an officer
representative as a director on their Boards. In all 36 posts for bank
directors are lying vacant for a long time, said Venkatachalam on Wednesday. He
said that there were 18 PSBs each with a Board strength ranging between 7-14
directors, including the Chairman, Managing Director(s), Executive Directors,
nominees of the RBI and the Central government.
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FACING STAFF CRUNCH, FIU TO HIRE ANALYSTS ON CONTRACT
Grappling with 'serious'
manpower shortage, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has decided to hire
analysts on contract basis to further its effort in checking tax evasion,
terror financing and other such wrong doings, according to an official order. A
proposal seeking engagement of the analysts has been shared by the FIU with the
Personnel Ministry which has in turn forwarded it to all central government
organisations. Superannuated employees of the central government of a
particular pay-band are eligible to apply, the official order said. The FIU,
the country's elite financial intelligence agency, has been hiring services of
retired government employees as consultants depending on exigencies of
workloads. As many as five posts of consultants (analysts) will be filled up on
contract basis. The move assumes significance as the FIU is grappling with a
serious problem of manpower shortage.
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POWER PRODUCERS RED FLAG ANDHRA PRADESH'S ENERGY STORAGE
PROJECT
The renewable energy
industry has raised concerns about how an Andhra Pradesh power distribution
company is setting up India’s largest energy storage project. In a letter to
the Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Ltd (APTransco), the Independent
Power Producers Association of India (IPPAI) has asked why APTransco is setting
up the project without completing a detailed project report or encouraging a
transparent bidding mechanism among players. APTransco is looking to build
India’s largest energy shifting project of 400-MW capacity with eight hours of
daily discharge (that is, 3,200 megawatt hour or MWHr capacity), the country's
first large-scale grid-connected energy storage project. An energy shifting
solution is a storage solution that will shift energy from one time to another
for peak load management during the day. However, on 12 February, APTransco
invited expressions of interest for a 400-MW system where the developer would
be selected directly (under Section 62 of The Electricity Act 2003) instead of
a competitive bidding process. In its letter, the IPPAI said it could lead to
the discovery of sub-optimal tariffs.
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PMI: EXPORTS IMPROVE IN EMERGING NATIONS, INCLUDING INDIA, BUT
WILL IT SUSTAIN?
Business activity in
India’s manufacturing sector further slowed down in April, but remained in the
expansion zone. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)
declined from 52.6 in March to 51.8 in April. A reading above 50 indicates
expansion. However, one bright spot in the April PMI reading was exports, which
expanded at a slightly quicker pace than in March. Not just in India, exports
have shown improvement, although moderately, in other emerging nations as well.
According to the PMI survey, South East Asian companies saw the improvement in
new export sales for the first time since July 2018. David Owen, economist at
IHS Markit, which compiles the survey, said: New export orders rose for the
first time since last July, albeit at only a fractional pace. This supported
the quickest increase in total new orders for seven months, lending some
optimism to manufacturers that have been noticeably affected by the ongoing
trade war. ASEAN is an acronym for Association of South East Asian Nations. It
includes Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore among others. For these
countries, the future output sub index — a gauge of business expectations for
the coming 12 months improved from 65.4 in March to 66.6 April. While this is a
positive sentiment, sustenance here is key. Global growth is softening, which
could weigh on new export orders. Also, uncertainties on the trade war front
still remain. It should be noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
recently downgraded its outlook on the global economy for the third time since
October. It anticipates the global economy to likely grow by 3.3% this year,
the slowest since 2016. Also, the current forecast is a 0.2 percentage point
cut from its earlier estimate released in January. On the other hand, optimism
about business outlook among Indian manufacturers contracted. The future output
index fell from 60.3 in March to 56.6 in April. According to Pollyanna De Lima,
Although remaining inside the expansion territory, growth continued to soften
and the fact that employment increased at the weakest pace for over a year
suggests that producers are hardly gearing up for a rebound. When looking at
reasons provided by surveyed companies for the slowdown, disruptions arising
from the elections was a key theme. Also, firms seem to have adopted a
wait-and-see approach on their plans until public policies become clearer upon
the formation of a government, she added.
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FSSAI ASKS FOOD COS TO RELABEL 'ATTA', 'MAIDA'; GIVES TIME
TILL JULY 31
Food business operators
have been given three more months till July 31, to change labels of their food
products to include English nomenclature for 'atta' and 'maida' as wheat flour
and refined wheat flour, respectively, according to the food safety regulator
FSSAI. The deadline to comply with the order expired on April 30. Further
extension has been given following a representation by the industry, the Food
Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said in its latest order. The
order had to be issued because the food business operators were using the term
'wheat flour' as English nomenclature for 'maida' on the label of the food
products which does not convey the exact nature of ingredient used for
manufacturing of various food items to the consumers as well as enforcement
officials. However, in the latest order, the FSSAI has not only given three
months' extension for compliance, but also tweaked the order slightly to allow
usage of the term 'atta' as wheat flour instead whole wheat flour. In case the
labels are in Devanagiri script, the businesses are allowed to use the Hindi
nomenclature 'atta' and maida' for wheat flour and refined wheat flour,
respectively.
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CJI APPEARS BEFORE PANEL PROBING SEXUAL HARASSMENT CHARGE
Ranjan Gogoi has appeared
before the Justice S.A. Bobde in-house inquiry committee examining the sexual
harassment allegation levelled against him by a former Supreme Court employee. A
letter of request was issued to the CJI and he responded to it and met the
panel, a highly-placed source told. High constitutional office-holders like the
CJI are not issued summons as is the usual case. They are sent a 'letter of
request' to participate in the proceedings.
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NARENDRA MODI’S BIOPIC TO RELEASE ON MAY 24
'PM Narendra Modi', the
biopic on the Prime Minister starring Vivek Oberoi, will now arrive in theatres
on 24 May, 2019, a day after the announcement of the Lok Sabha election
results. As responsible citizens, we respect the law of the country. After a
lot of discussions and keeping the curiosity and excitement about the film in
mind we have decided to release it immediately after the Lok Sabha election
results. I hope now nobody has any problem with the film and we are hoping for
a smooth release this time, producer Sandip Singh said in a statement.
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NO CHILD’S PLAY: EXPERTS FUME AS BABY CARE COMPANIES SEEK
KIDS’ DATA
Online retailers of baby
care products that seek information about children from their parents could run
afoul of India’s proposed data protection law, according to privacy experts.
Ecommerce giant Amazon and digital parenting networks First-Cry and Parentlane
as well as Johnson & Johnson’s BabyCenter are among companies that offer services
such as age-based content, recommendations or discount coupons to parents who
share specific information about their children. Children are particularly
vulnerable and require heightened privacy protection. Amazon, Parentlane and
FirstCry must clarify and inform parents what (they) intend to do with the data
being gathered, said Apar Gupta, director at Internet Freedom Foundation, a
digital rights advocacy group. India is currently debating the contours of a
proposed law on data protection based on recommendations by the Justice BN
Srikrishna committee. The draft legislation suggests barring companies from
profiling, tracking or targeting children with advertisements. It proposes
strict restrictions on guardian data fiduciaries — companies that operate commercial
websites or online services directed at children or process large volumes of
personal data related to children. We collect data from parents to make
personalised recommendations. Our service is only for parents and, therefore,
we do not target children. We are fully compliant with the draft privacy law in
its current form but will have to wait for the final policy to comment on it,
said Supam Maheshwari.
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INDIA'S LPG USE TO SURGE FROM RECORD AS GOVERNMENT PROMOTES
CLEANER FUEL
India's demand for
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rose to a record in the fiscal year ended in
March amid government measures to provide cleaner cooking fuel to rural
households, and analysts expect consumption to keep rising. About two-thirds of
India's population live in rural areas, typically using firewood, coal or dried
dung cakes for cooking. India consumed a record 24.9 million tonnes of LPG in
the financial year 2018/19, 53 percent higher than five years ago, and 6.9
percent higher than the previous year. The boost follows a social welfare
programme, known as the Ujjwala scheme, launched by the government in 2016 that
has provided about 72 million new LPG connections to households in 714
districts, according to official data. Supported by government policies, mainly
through the 'Ujjwala Scheme' and a rising middle class population, LPG
penetration in Indian rural areas has been extremely robust, Sri
Paravaikkarasu, said in an email. Amid the Ujjwala programme, close to 80 percent
of Indian households have access to LPG as of the end of 2018, up from 56
percent in 2016, according to FGE. Favourable government policies will support
LPG demand to increase strongly in coming years, said Paravaikkarasu, adding
her consulting firm expects LPG demand grow by 8 percent in 2019 and 6.7
percent in 2020. India imported 13.2 million tonnes of LPG in the year to March
2019, a record high and more than double the import volumes in the 2013/14
financial year. Imports were 15.9 percent higher than the previous year. The
phenomenal growth in LPG usage will reduce India's self-sufficiency of LPG to
42 percent in 2025 from about 70 percent in 2013, said Aman Verma. An
additional 5 million tonnes per annum of import terminal capacity is being
built and supposed to be completed by FY 2020-21 in order to meet the demand,
Verma added. Indian consumers have used the LPG to erode kerosene's role as a
cooking fuel in the country. India's kerosene sales plunged 10 percent during
2018/19 to 3.5 million tonnes, less than half of the 7.2 million tonnes sold in
2013/14.
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LADAKH AND ANANTNAG PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCIES IN J&K TO
GO TO POLLSIN PHASE V OF GENERAL ELECTIONS 2019
In the Fifth phase of
General Elections 2019, Ladakh Parliamentary Constituency (PC) in Jammu &
Kashmir, along with the 3rd part of Anantnag PC,would be going to polls on 6th
May. Kargil and Leh districts would be covered in Ladakh (PC No. 4), along with
Shopian and Pulwamain Anantnag (PC No. 3). All the PC seats in Ladakh and
Anantnag PC belong to the General category. As per the data sourced from CEO
(Jammu & Kashmir) website, there are a total of 6,93,692 general electors
in the two PCs, out of which 3,57,879 are general male electors,3,35,799 general
female electorsand 14 third gender electors. There are 3,806 service electors
and 4,388 persons with disabilities (PWD) electors in Phase V. The data sourced
from ECI website shows that in General Election 2014, there were a total of
1,66,763 electors in the Ladakh PC. This number has grown to 1,71,819 during
General Elections 2019, which is an increase of 5,056 (3.03%) electors since
last General Elections.
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INDIA MAY WITNESS HIGHEST VOTING TURNOUT SINCE 1947: SBI STUDY
India may witness the
highest ever voter turnout since Independence in the ongoing elections, if
there is a marginal increase in voting during the remaining three phases, a
research report by country's largest bank SBI said Thursday. About 900 million
are expected to cast their votes in the ongoing seven-phase general elections
to be completed on May 19. After four phases of elections, the voting
percentage is 67 per cent, comparable to 67.6 per cent in 2014, said SBI
Ecowrap report. We believe that if the current trend continues, this year's
turnout rate may cross the previous turnout, it may, in fact, be the highest
since independence. Hence a 1 per cent incremental turnout from current trend
of 67 per cent after 4 phases could make it the largest turnout since 1947, the
report said. It further said the 2019 general elections are unique in many
aspects. This particularly suggests that now citizens are more aware about
their rights and responsibility, thanks to relentless campaign by multiple stakeholders
starting from election commission to civil societies who are encouraging all to
cast their vote, said Ecowrap. The SBI's research report also notes that young,
elderly and women all seems to taking part in Indian elections. Improvement in
women voter turnout could be attributed to measures like Jan-Dhan, Mudra,
Ujjwala schemes which lead to women empowerment, it added.
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RAGHURAM RAJAN SUGGESTS MIDDLE PATH FOR COMPANIES: IDENTIFY
FOUR KEY STAKEHOLDERS
Once again, we’re debating
the purpose of corporations. On one side, progressives such as Sen. Elizabeth
Warren argue that companies — given broad rights in court decisions such as
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission — must also accept broad social
responsibilities such as paying attractive wages and protecting the
environment. On the other side are many corporate leaders and business school
professors (who train future leaders), who continue to believe in the Business
Roundtable’s position in 1997 that the principal objective of a business
enterprise is to generate economic returns to its owners. Such views echo
free-market economist Milton Friedman, who emphasized nearly half a century ago
that a business has only one responsibility, to maximize shareholder value.
Exhortations for corporations to do much more will get louder in advance of the
2020 presidential election, and the silent resistance will increase
proportionately. I believe there’s a middle path. While corporations cannot,
and should not, take on responsibilities that are properly those of the
government or the local community, they can do better for themselves and for
society by explicitly identifying core stakeholders — financial investors, no
doubt, but also workers, customers and suppliers who make significant
investments in the business — and publicly committing to enhance their
collective value. There’s merit still in many of Friedman’s concerns. At the
time, he was particularly outraged at the growing clamor in the U.S. for corporations
to forgo raising prices as part of their supposed national duty to help fight
inflation. He rightly didn’t believe it was the job, or even within the
abilities, of companies to control inflation. Moreover, price-fixing would
prevent the free market from sending the right signals about shortages.
Friedman also deemed the push for new corporate social responsibilities
profoundly undemocratic Activists who could not get laws passed in Congress
were using the bully-pulpit instead to shame corporations into changing
behavior. His critics today complain that decisions by a corporate management
focused solely on profits are harsh, give the corporation too short a time
horizon, and favor an overly narrow group, the shareholders. The first two
don’t hold up to scrutiny. The private corporation’s fundamental contribution
to society is to make products efficiently and offer consumers affordable
choice. In a competitive market, profits show how well it does this. Share
prices reflect the value of profits over time. Since companies looking to
maximize the value of their shares will care about profits over the long-term,
most will train workers where needed and foster lasting customer relationships
instead of ripping off employees or customers. Put differently, even if CEOs do
focus primarily on share prices, that doesn’t mean the market only rewards
actions that boost this quarter’s earnings. Public companies such as Amazon.com
Inc. have thrived despite investing in their businesses without showing much in
the way of profits. At the extreme end, pharmaceutical companies and aircraft
manufacturers take investment bets that won’t pay off for decades. Critics are
right, however, in asking why management should maximize only shareholder
value. Friedman’s theoretical rationale was that shareholders get what is left
over after fixed claimants such as debt holders and workers are paid. By
maximizing shareholders’ residual claim, management maximizes the overall
corporate pie, since the rest are fixed claims on that pie. In practice,
though, many of what are thought of as fixed claims are actually variable over
time. Long-term employees, for instance, invest in developing firm-specific
skills. This means they are no longer commodity labor, paid a wage determined
in a competitive market. Instead, they get a negotiated wage which fluctuates
with the company’s fortunes. No less than shareholders then, such workers
become residual claimants on the firm’s value. Companies that are dependent
primarily on them — think of an accounting or consulting firm — often recognize
this by making their employees equity partners. Corporations will still have to
take tough decisions from time to time, including letting workers go when
absolutely necessary. But job cuts that boost shareholder value aren’t
warranted if they reduce the value of other core stakeholders more. Some
critics worry that if boards start focusing on goals other than maximizing
shareholder value, it will be hard to monitor and control their performance.
Yet U.S. courts have repeatedly decided not to second guess the business
judgment of boards, thus protecting them from shareholder review except for the
most egregious failures. Moreover, a majority of states have passed
constituency statutes that allow board directors to consider the interests of
non-shareholder constituents such as creditors or workers. Given the
considerable leeway corporate boards already have, it would be a step in the
right direction for them to specify whose interests, including workers’, they
are protecting. That would allow investors to better gauge the trade-offs a
board will make. It would also give core stakeholders greater confidence to
invest in the corporation. Most important in these populist times, corporate
boards can also then avoid unnecessary political flak by identifying their core
stakeholders — those who make financial or other long-term real investments in
the firm. That would not just circumvent progressive critics, it would also be
the right thing to do.
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AIR TRAFFIC GROWTH HITS 5-YR LOW IN FY19 AT 11.6%; CARGO AT 6%
The pace of growth in air
traffic hit a five-year low, pulled down by low growth of 3.9 percent in the
March quarter as against a healthy 14.9 percent in the first three quarters. Cargo
traffic growth also moderated in the year to 6 percent, as against
double-digits growth witnessed over the past two years. According to Icra,
domestic passenger traffic declined by 1.1 percent in March, overall traffic
saw a de-growth of 0.1 percent in the month as international aircraft movement
dipped by 1 percent while domestic aircraft movement was flat. The passenger
traffic movement at the four key airports reported a sharp decline in March as
travel demand in the Delhi and Mumbai airports de-grew 9.4 percent and 16.2
percent, respectively. Similarly, Chennai saw a 7.4 percent de-growth and Kochi
degrew by 11.3 percent in March. After years of strong growth, air traffic
growth has hit a low with passenger traffic declining by 1.1 percent in March.
This has dragged down the full year passenger traffic growth to 11.6 percent,
making it the lowest in the past five years, Icra said. Overall aircraft
movement grew by 12.1 percent, while cargo traffic increased by 6 percent in
the year.
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CYCLONE FANI: SURESH PRABHU ASKS AIRPORT AUTHORITIES TO STAY
ALERT
All authorities concerned
have been alerted so that they are ready to deal with cyclone Fani, Suresh
Prabhu said Thursday. Fani is expected to hit the Odisha coast on Friday. Other
states on the eastern coast, such as West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
are also expected to be affected by it. Alerted all concerned to be ready to
deal with Cyclone Fani. Airport Authority of India issued alert to all coastal airports
to ensure all precautions, SOPs (standard operating procedures) put in place
immediately, Prabhu tweeted. Prabhu said the situation would be monitored at
highest level. Airlines and all others to be fully ready, he added.
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GOAIR WAIVES CANCELLATIONS/CHANGE FEE DUE TO CYCLONE FANI
GoAir Thursday said it
will not charge any fee for a rescheduling or cancellations for its flights to
and from Bhubaneswar, Kolkata and Ranchi between May 2 and May 5, due to the
cyclone Fani, which is likely to hit Odisha coast Friday. The operations of
various domestic airlines have already been affected due to the oncoming
cyclone. GoAir is waiving cancellation and change fees for Bhubaneswar, Kolkata
and Ranchi flights for travel between May 2 and May 5, the airline said in a
statement. It also said the passengers can re-book their flights within seven
days of scheduled departure of the flight.
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PEPSI WITHDRAWS LAWSUIT AGAINST 4 INDIAN POTATO FARMERS:
SPOKESMAN
PepsiCo Inc said on
Thursday it will withdraw its lawsuit against four Indian potato farmers
accused of infringing its patent, a PepsiCo India spokesman said. After
discussions with the government, the company has agreed to withdraw the cases
against the farmers, said the spokesman.
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PRIME MINISTER SHRI NARENDRA MODI TOOK HIGH LEVEL MEETING ON
CYCLONE ‘FANI’
The Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi took a high level meeting to review the preparedness of State and
Central Ministries/Agencies concerned to deal with the situation arising out of
Cyclone ‘FANI’. India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed that Cyclone
‘FANI’ is expected to touch Odisha coast south of Puri in the forenoon of 3rd
May with the wind speed ranging up to 180 kmph. It is likely to cause heavy rainfall
in the coastal districts of Odisha including Ganjam, Gajapati, Khurda, Puri and
Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Balasore. In West Bengal,
districts of East & West Medinipur, South & North 24 Parganas, Howrah,
Hoogly, Jhargram and Kolkata alongwith Srikakulam, Vijayanagram and
Visakhapatnam districts of Andhra Pradesh are also likely to be affected. IMD
also warned of storm surge of about 1.5 meter height which may inundate low
lying coastal areas of Ganjam, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts of
Odisha at the time of landfall. IMD has been issuing three hourly bulletins
since 24th April and hourly bulletin from today with latest forecast to all the
concerned States. Cabinet Secretary is holding daily meetings of the National
Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) since 29th April, 2019 to review the
preparedness of the State and Central Agencies. Odisha is in the process of
evacuating about 7.5 lakh persons and has kept ready around 900 cyclone
shelters to house the evacuees. As directed by the Cabinet Secretary, all
Central Ministries/Agencies have taken all necessary measures to deal with the
situation arising out of the Cyclone FANI. MHA has already released in advance
Rs. 1086 crore to four states likely to be affected. NDRF has pre-positioned 54
teams which are equipped with boats, tree-cutters, telecom equipments etc. in
five States and has kept 31 teams on standby. After review, the Prime Minister
directed senior officers to take every possible measure to ensure that people
are safely evacuated by the State Governments and to ensure maintenance of all
essential services such as Power, Telecommunications, health, drinking water
etc. and are restored immediately in the event of damages caused to them. He
also directed for 24×7 functioning of control rooms.
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HYDERABAD'S HERITAGE CHARMINAR DAMAGED AS CHUNK OF MINARET
FALLS
In what seems to be a major
damage to the 428-year-old Charminar, a huge chunk of lime-plaster from its
south-west minaret broke and fell to the ground late on Wednesday night. Pictures
from the site showed that the lime-plaster comprising eight flower-petals,
sized about 2.5 meters/0.8 meters, came-off the minaret. The Archaeological
Survey of India (ASI), the monument's custodian, is likely to undertake repairs
soon after assessing the damage. ASI's superintending archaeologist, Milan
Kumar Chauley, said that the damage has taken place due to the monument's
erosion over a period of time and that nobody in particular can be blamed for
it. The plastering on the monument is not original, as it was redone in 1924 by
the Nizam (seventh, Mir Osman Ali Khan, the Asaf Jahi monarch of the erstwhile
state of Hyderabad). About two decades ago, a similar incident took place on
another minaret. I have also been asking the Greater Hyderabad Municipal
Corporation (GHMC) to not undertake any heavy machinery work. But I've learnt
that they used it to demolish a building a few days ago, Chauley told.
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RANSOMWARE’ ATTACK ON WEBSITES OF A.P., TS POWER UTILITIES
A day ahead of the safety
week observed by power utilities from May 1 to 7, the websites of two power
distribution companies each of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were hacked which
resulted in their computer-based applications coming to a standstill for over
three days. It was on Tuesday evening that the websites were hacked of southern
and northern power distribution companies of Telangana at Hyderabad and Warangal
respectively and southern and eastern power distribution companies of Andhra
Pradesh at Tirupati and Visakhapatnam respectively. All of them were maintained
by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in Hyderabad, sources said. The chairman and
managing director of transmission and generation corporations of Telangana D.
Prabhakar Rao said the entire computerised data of power utilities was safe as
it had a backup mechanism. Except payments made by the corporations by ATM
mode, their routine functions remained unaffected. Meanwhile, TCS was on the
job to restore functioning of the websites and recover the stolen data on
Thursday evening. The officials of Southern Power Distribution Company lodged a
complaint with Cyber Crime Police Station in Hyderabad that its website was
frozen by culprits by Ransomware virus with the aim to pilfering data from the
server. Sources added that the hackers were in possession of data base of two
crore power consumers in the two States. A number of files were also damaged in
the process. As the websites did not open, the online payments by power
consumers were affected. However, the bill payments by consumers at Electricity
Revenue Offices and Mee-Seva were unaffected. The officials prima facie suspect
that the hackers of Air India and Andhra Bank websites in the past may have
resorted to the act to access information about online payments to power
utilities. They also suspected that the hackers might have targeted information
about payments by distribution companies in Telangana and AP which are to the
tune of ₹30,000 crore per annum. They did not rule out attempts by
hackers to divert the funds. They tried to detect the originating point of
hacking. It was said that the ethical hackers had warned about the
vulnerability of the websites of power utilities to hacking with criminal
intent. There was no damage to the websites of transmission and generation
corporations of Telangana.
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PEPSICO LAYS DOWN ARMS AGAINST FARMERS
PepsiCo India will withdraw
its case against farmers in Gujarat after a social media backlash and attacks
by political parties that led to pressure from its New York and Dubai offices
to resolve the issue quickly. The move followed discussions with the government,
it said. The company had sued nine farmers in Gujarat for alleged intellectual
property rights infringement on grounds that they illegally grew its registered
potato variety used to make Lay’s chips. PepsiCo’s statement said it was
compelled to take judicial recourse to protect its registered variety and that
from the very start it had offered an amicable settlement to the farmers. The
statement added that the company remains deeply committed to the thousands of
farmers it works with across the country, and toward ensuring adoption of best
farming practices. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress leaders had
tweeted last weekend against the company’s decision to sue the farmers. I am
giving an ultimatum to Pepsi India to withdraw cases against Indian farmers in
the next 72 hours otherwise we will start a campaign to boycott all PepsiCo
products in India, Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, spokesperson of the Delhi unit of
the BJP had tweeted. Ahmed Patel tweeted: Pepsi’s decision to take Gujarat’s
potato grower farmers to court is ill-advised and brazenly wrong. It is in
violation of the farmer’s rights under the PPVFR Act. Patel’s tweet added that
the state government shouldn’t keep its eyes shut, adding: Corporate interest
cannot dictate what our farmers must or mustn’t cultivate.
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GOVT FIXES HIGH OMS PRICE FOR WHEAT TO FORCE PRIVATE TRADERS
TO BUY FROM FARMERS
The food ministry has fixed
the reserve price of wheat under open market sale from official stock at `2,080/quintal,
much higher than MSP, during the procurement period April-June and announced
55/quintal increase in each of the subsequent quarters. This is seen as a move
to force private traders to buy from the mandis now instead of entirely
depending on the government sale in off season as the bulging stocks put
pressure on the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to cut purchase. The reserve
price of wheat is 240 more than its minimum support price of 1,840/quintal. If
traders know that they will have to pay such high price later, they may be
tempted to buy at MSP and keep the grains with them, officials said. The
reserve price is valid for Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. For other
states, FCI will add railway freight (ex-Ludhiana) and road transport costs to
nearest depot in the reserve price. A total quantity of 10 million tonne has
been approved for the open market sale scheme (OMSS) during 2019-20, but the
government is ready to release more if demand is there, the officials said. The
FCI had 16.99 million tonne of wheat in its reserve as on April 1, more than
double of 7.46 million tonne buffer norm. The Centre has set a target of buying
35.7 million tonne this year as the country is expected to have a record 99.12
million tonne production in 2018-19 crop year (July-June). The food ministry
has also approved sale of 5 million tonne of rice under OMSS from the stocks
held by FCI during FY20. The reserve price of rice has been fixed at
2,785/quintal until September 30, 2019. The price may be increased from October
1, if the paddy MSP is increased during 2019-20 crop year (July-June). The rice
stock with FCI was 39.82 million tonne as of April 1, as against 13.58 million
tonne buffer norm.
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SINGING, SHOUTING, MIMICRY IN PUBLIC AMONG ACTS BANNED IN
AHMEDABAD
Singing, shouting and
mimicry are among the acts that when conducted in public could violate security
and result in toppling the state, believes the Ahmedabad police. The police
commissioner of the city has banned these activities in Ahmedabad from May 7 to
May 21. Other acts that have been prohibited include carrying firearms, batons,
daggers, explosives, swords, knives of Rampuri-style. The notification dated
May 2 also prohibits playing instruments, carrying effigies, shouting, singing,
and delivering stylish speeches. The ban is also on
preparing/exhibiting/disseminating drawings, signs, advertisements or
substances that the concerned officers feel can violate the state’s security
and result in toppling the state. The notification, however, also gives
circumstances when some of the banned activities are permitted.
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GODREJ PROPERTIES BUYS RK STUDIOS FOR AN UNDISCLOSED SUM
Godrej Properties on
Friday said it has bought the iconic R K Studios in Chembur area of Mumbai for
an undisclosed sum. It is the same studio where late Raj Kapoor's films were
shot. Spread across 2.2 acres, the developer can build approximately 33,000
square meters (approximately 0.35 million square feet) of saleable area. The
Mumbai-based real estate developer plans to build a mixed-use project with
modern residences and luxury retail. The plot is located strategically on the
main Sion-Panvel Road and the Kapoor family was in talks with many interested parties,
sources said.
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CENTRE SCRIPTS DRAFT RULES FOR BETTER POULTRY FARMING
PRACTICES
Poultry farms in the
country may be forced to give a space of not less than 550 sq cm and cannot put
more than 6-8 birds in a cage, according to draft rules released by the
government recently. The Ministry of Agriculture, acting on an order given by
the Delhi High Court, came out with a set of rules called Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals (Egg-laying Hens) Rules, 2019 to ensure better conditions for the
birds. According to the notification, the rules are expected to come into force
next January, even though existing farms may get time till 2025 to switch over
to the new guidelines. The policy also bars feeding hens with the remains of
dead chicks, thereby preventing diseases to the hens and also benefiting
healthy commercial egg production in the country. The Bench said the onus of
maintaining healthy housing density and keeping records of the total floor area
available to hens has been put on the farm owner/operator and said their
licences can be cancelled or revoked if satisfactory action was not taken when
deficiencies were pointed out. The rules also called for regular inspection of
poultry farms by authorised personnel, who should follow proper bio-security
protocols. No inspector will visit more than one farm within a period of 72
hours for bio-security concerns to prevent the spread of infection, the rules
said.
__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
DELHI HC BEGINS PROCESS TO COMPENSATE VICTIMS OF J&J'S
FAULTY HIP IMPLANTS
The Delhi High Court (HC)
on Thursday set the ball rolling on payment of compensation to victims of
Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J’s) articular surface replacement (ASR) implant
by asking the company to pay Rs 25 lakh for now to four patients The Central
Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) had last month asked the company to
pay Rs 65 lakh, Rs 74 lakh, Rs 1 crore, and Rs 90 lakh, respectively, to the
four patients. Hearing a plea moved by J&J challenging CDSCO orders to pay
the said compensation to these patients, a single-judge Bench of Justice Vibhu
Bakhru on Thursday said the company must pay these four patients the money
before the next date of hearing on May 29.
__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
APPLE MAY TWEAK INDIA STRATEGY IN BID TO INCREASE MARKET SHARE
Apple Inc. is likely to
make some adjustments to its India strategy to improve its market share in the
world’s second-largest market for mobile phones. As part of the strategy, the iPhone
maker is expected to boost its manufacturing capacity and open branded retail
stores. After announcing its fiscal-second-quarter earnings on Tuesday, chief
executive Tim Cook told analysts that Apple, which only assembles the iPhone 7
in India, will increase local manufacturing, Press Trust of India reported. According
to Cook, a temporary 22% drop in price for the iPhone XR in April taught Apple
something, as it helped the company increase sales. Apple iPhones account for
less than 1% of the Indian smartphone market, largely dominated by vendors such
as Samsung and Xiaomi. The slowdown in the Chinese market is yet another reason
for Apple’s renewed interest in India.
#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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