Jan 24, 2015
[PIB] India and US Sign a Joint Declaration of Intent for Cooperation in the Field of Information & Communications Technology and Electronics (ICTE)
Speaking to news persons, the Secretary, Department of Electronics and IT said that this is likely increase partnership for the ‘Digital India’ programme, electronic manufacturing, cyber security and several other such related fields between two countries. The US ambassador expressing happiness hoped that this declaration before the arrival of the US president on Sunday would further strengthen cooperation between industries of both the countries in the sector. Shri Ram Sevak Sharma said that at the Indo US Joint working Group meeting on ICT held at Washington last week several US companies has expressed interest for their participation in India.
This Joint Declaration of intent made for a period of next five years would help in strengthening industrial, technological, research & innovation and economic cooperation between India and U.S. in the ICTE sector. It would also lead to US companies exploring opportunities for collaboration in India’s ambitious Digital India programme, Electronics manufacturing and Human Resource Development, through cooperation among private and public entities in a focused manner under the umbrella of the ongoing India-US ICT Dialogue.
On this occasion, reference was made to the deliberations at India US ICT Working Group meeting held in Washington, D.C., during January 14-15, 2015. It was agreed at this meeting to continue to explore the opportunities for collaboration on implementing India's ambitious Digital India initiative, with the goal of enhancing digital infrastructure, deploying e-governance and e-services, and expanding the diffusion and use of ICT as a tool to expand economic opportunities, boost productivity, create jobs, and empower citizens. Besides, broad agreement was also reached on the importance of policies that promote innovation in the ICT sector, facilitate the flow of data across borders, and foster the global and open nature of the Internet as a platform for economic growth.
Later speaking to news persons Shri R S Sharma said that VISA issue relating to Indian IT professionals should be treated as an issue relating to trade in services and not as an immigration issue.
Source - PIB
[Eco] Tightening the screws
SEBI’s new rules on insider trading are stringent, but the challenge of proving the crime remains
Punting on privileged information by company insiders strikes at the root of market integrity, which is why SEBI’s dated Prohibition of Insider Trading Regulations, 1992, were badly in need of an overhaul. The redrafted regulations, notified last week, have managed to plug the loopholes exposed by investigations, remove ambiguous provisions, and incorporate learnings from landmark rulings such as the Rajat Gupta case in the US. The result is a fairly watertight law on insider trading that is far more lucid and wider in scope than the 1992 version.
The term ‘insider’, under the new law, sweeps into its ambit not just obvious insiders such as a company’s promoters, directors or employees, but also their relatives and those ‘connected’ to the firm by virtue of associating with it in other capacities. In India, the most blatant cases of illegal insider trading usually relate to events such as results, mergers, acquisitions and restructuring. By the time the official announcement is made, often the stock has already priced in the event, making a sham of the public disclosures. Recognising that such information leaks can originate from merchant bankers, advisors or even public officials who are privy to the transaction, the new law explicitly bars all such entities from sharing unpublished information. Trading on the stock while being in possession of such information, is deemed an offence. SEBI has faced trouble in proving mala fide intent in cases of insider trading in the past. As a result, the new rules presume guilt and place the onus of proving innocence on the insider. Insofar as it stands a basic jurisprudential principle — that one is innocent until proven guilty — on its head, this is an unfortunate approach to the issue. Also, the Indian law is now far more stringent than the US law, which requires proof of actual profiteering from illegal trades.
The redrafted regulations, combined with SEBI’s new powers to access call records of market players, should help improve the regulator’s record (which has so far been indifferent) in securing convictions for insider trading offences. Many of SEBI’s past orders in high-profile cases were overturned by the Securities Appellate Tribunal for lack of clarity on the legal provisions. However, it would be wrong to assume that a well-drafted law and SEBI’s regulatory zeal alone will be sufficient to stamp out the scourge of illegal insider trading in the Indian markets. For this, the stock exchanges, as first-line regulators, will have to take a more pro-active role in bringing dubious trades to the regulator’s attention. More importantly, listed companies need to shed their lax approach to public disclosures of material events. If all significant corporate actions were disclosed to the public at the first instance, there would be hardly any room for insider trading.
Punting on privileged information by company insiders strikes at the root of market integrity, which is why SEBI’s dated Prohibition of Insider Trading Regulations, 1992, were badly in need of an overhaul. The redrafted regulations, notified last week, have managed to plug the loopholes exposed by investigations, remove ambiguous provisions, and incorporate learnings from landmark rulings such as the Rajat Gupta case in the US. The result is a fairly watertight law on insider trading that is far more lucid and wider in scope than the 1992 version.
The term ‘insider’, under the new law, sweeps into its ambit not just obvious insiders such as a company’s promoters, directors or employees, but also their relatives and those ‘connected’ to the firm by virtue of associating with it in other capacities. In India, the most blatant cases of illegal insider trading usually relate to events such as results, mergers, acquisitions and restructuring. By the time the official announcement is made, often the stock has already priced in the event, making a sham of the public disclosures. Recognising that such information leaks can originate from merchant bankers, advisors or even public officials who are privy to the transaction, the new law explicitly bars all such entities from sharing unpublished information. Trading on the stock while being in possession of such information, is deemed an offence. SEBI has faced trouble in proving mala fide intent in cases of insider trading in the past. As a result, the new rules presume guilt and place the onus of proving innocence on the insider. Insofar as it stands a basic jurisprudential principle — that one is innocent until proven guilty — on its head, this is an unfortunate approach to the issue. Also, the Indian law is now far more stringent than the US law, which requires proof of actual profiteering from illegal trades.
The redrafted regulations, combined with SEBI’s new powers to access call records of market players, should help improve the regulator’s record (which has so far been indifferent) in securing convictions for insider trading offences. Many of SEBI’s past orders in high-profile cases were overturned by the Securities Appellate Tribunal for lack of clarity on the legal provisions. However, it would be wrong to assume that a well-drafted law and SEBI’s regulatory zeal alone will be sufficient to stamp out the scourge of illegal insider trading in the Indian markets. For this, the stock exchanges, as first-line regulators, will have to take a more pro-active role in bringing dubious trades to the regulator’s attention. More importantly, listed companies need to shed their lax approach to public disclosures of material events. If all significant corporate actions were disclosed to the public at the first instance, there would be hardly any room for insider trading.
Source - Business Line
Nadia emerges as a model for sanitation
Every Monday, all schoolchildren in Nadia district of West Bengal take a pledge in their schools to use toilets and help to end open defecation.
This is part of a project taken up by the district administration to ensure toilets for all.
At a time when the Union government is pushing the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a mission to modernise sanitation within five years, Nadia has quietly emerged as a model for sanitation, with the toilet cover jumping from 40 per cent to 95 per cent in just 18 months.
“The pledge administered in all 4,220 schools of the district has proved to be the game changer,” District Magistrate P.B. Salim told The Hindu.
On Wednesday, Mr. Salim met thousands of teachers and impressed upon them the need to continue administering the pledge in the schools.
Encouraged by the students driving the campaign, the district administration has drafted religious leaders for a similar exercise. “We will ensure that there is no open defecation and 100 per cent toilet cover by March this year,” Mr. Salim said.
The district administration has been short-listed for the prestigious United Nation’s Award for Public Service.
“I have visited the district twice. I am happy the administration has made a dramatic improvement in ensuring toilets for all,” M. Asadur Rahman, who heads the Unicef Field Office in West Bengal, told The Hindu.
‘Shobar Sauchagaar,’ or Toilet for All, is executed by tapping into the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).
As funds under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan were not sufficient for executing the project, the district administration utilised the job guarantee scheme for paying wages to those building toilets.
Self-help groups
It used the NRLM funds to train self-help groups and non-governmental organisations in spreading awareness of the scheme.
“‘Shobar Souchagaar’ started on July 15, 2013, in just 17 gram panchayats; by January this year, we have extended it to 95 per cent [of the district],” Mr. Salim said.
This is part of a project taken up by the district administration to ensure toilets for all.
At a time when the Union government is pushing the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a mission to modernise sanitation within five years, Nadia has quietly emerged as a model for sanitation, with the toilet cover jumping from 40 per cent to 95 per cent in just 18 months.
“The pledge administered in all 4,220 schools of the district has proved to be the game changer,” District Magistrate P.B. Salim told The Hindu.
On Wednesday, Mr. Salim met thousands of teachers and impressed upon them the need to continue administering the pledge in the schools.
Encouraged by the students driving the campaign, the district administration has drafted religious leaders for a similar exercise. “We will ensure that there is no open defecation and 100 per cent toilet cover by March this year,” Mr. Salim said.
The district administration has been short-listed for the prestigious United Nation’s Award for Public Service.
“I have visited the district twice. I am happy the administration has made a dramatic improvement in ensuring toilets for all,” M. Asadur Rahman, who heads the Unicef Field Office in West Bengal, told The Hindu.
‘Shobar Sauchagaar,’ or Toilet for All, is executed by tapping into the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).
As funds under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan were not sufficient for executing the project, the district administration utilised the job guarantee scheme for paying wages to those building toilets.
Self-help groups
It used the NRLM funds to train self-help groups and non-governmental organisations in spreading awareness of the scheme.
“‘Shobar Souchagaar’ started on July 15, 2013, in just 17 gram panchayats; by January this year, we have extended it to 95 per cent [of the district],” Mr. Salim said.
Source - The Hindu
Direct Tax collections up 13% in April-Dec
Gross direct tax collections – including tax on personal and corporate incomes – from April to December of financial year 2014-15 are up by 12.93 per cent at Rs. 5,46,661 crore as against Rs. 4,84,063 crore collected during the same period in 2014.
The rate of growth of the collections is just a tad short of the 15-per cent target the Finance Ministry set in the Budget for the whole year.
However, the growth rate of net direct tax collections was nearly half at 7.41 per cent, according to an official release issued on Friday. Net collections during the period from April to December of financial year 2014-15 were Rs. 4, 48,401 crore against Rs. 4,17,477 crore in the same period in the last fiscal.
Gross collection of corporate tax rose 12.79 per cent to Rs. 3, 50,494 crore against Rs. 3, 10,754 crore collected during the same period last year. Gross collection of personal income tax is up 12.62 per cent to Rs.1,90,391 crore against Rs.1,69,059 crore. Collection of the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) at Rs. 4940 crore grew 43.44 per cent.
Advance tax collection growth was 13.15 per cent against 8.76 per cent. Growth in the Tax Deducted at Source was 7.84 per cent as against 16.73 per cent in the same period last year.
Self-assessment tax grew 22.20 per cent against 11.86 per cent. Regular tax growth was 33.03 against 15.60 per cent.
The rate of growth of the collections is just a tad short of the 15-per cent target the Finance Ministry set in the Budget for the whole year.
However, the growth rate of net direct tax collections was nearly half at 7.41 per cent, according to an official release issued on Friday. Net collections during the period from April to December of financial year 2014-15 were Rs. 4, 48,401 crore against Rs. 4,17,477 crore in the same period in the last fiscal.
Gross collection of corporate tax rose 12.79 per cent to Rs. 3, 50,494 crore against Rs. 3, 10,754 crore collected during the same period last year. Gross collection of personal income tax is up 12.62 per cent to Rs.1,90,391 crore against Rs.1,69,059 crore. Collection of the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) at Rs. 4940 crore grew 43.44 per cent.
Advance tax collection growth was 13.15 per cent against 8.76 per cent. Growth in the Tax Deducted at Source was 7.84 per cent as against 16.73 per cent in the same period last year.
Self-assessment tax grew 22.20 per cent against 11.86 per cent. Regular tax growth was 33.03 against 15.60 per cent.
Source - The Hindu
Forex reserves hit all-time high
Foreign exchange reserves jumped by a massive $2.66 billion to touch an all-time high of $322.135 billion in the week ended January 16, on account of surge in foreign currency assets, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday. The reserves had surged by $236.4 million to $319.475 billion in the previous week. The previous life-time high for the reserves was $320.79 billion, way back in the week to September 2, 2011. The foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major constituent of overall reserves, jumped $2.685 billion to $297.53 billion in the reporting week, as per the RBI data.
Source - The Hindu
Myanmar becomes battleground of growing China-U.S. rivalry
China’s focus on deepening ties with Latin America has impacted U.S. engagement with Myanmar
China is feeling the heat in Myanmar — a country which is central to Beijing’s energy security and Silk Road plans — following Washington’s push to entrench itself in Nay Pyi Daw.
The website Duowei run by overseas Chinese is reporting that China’s focus on deepening ties with Latin American countries, in Washington’s backyard, has impacted on the decision by the United States to energise its engagement with Myanmar.
Analysts say Yunnan — China’s strategic province, which is one of the starting points of President Xi Jinping’s 21st century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) project — could be the ultimate target of American inroads in Myanmar. Yunnan is China’s gateway to Southeast Asia, sharing common borders with Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.
The contest for influence seems to be peaking in the run-up to the October elections in Myanmar, whose results are likely to define the country’s geopolitical gradient.
According to Duowei, talks on human rights between the U.S. and Myanmar took place between January 11 and 15. But apart from the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour Tom Malinowski, who headed the delegation, two senior officials from the U.S. Pacific Command — Lieutenant General Anthony Crutchfield, as well as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for East Asia, David F. Helvey also joined the dialogue. Gen. Crutchfield also paid a visit to Myitkyina in Kachin state, the region embroiled in a civil war. A Chinese consular delegation is currently visiting Myitkyina, to ascertain whether some Chinese citizens were trapped in the Kachin state amid armed clashes.
Observers say that any deterioration of the situation following an intensification of fighting between the Myanmar’s government forces and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) should worry China, as it could trigger a flood of refugees towards Yunnan, which is not far from that zone.
The website Sina Military Network is reporting that should Myanmar’s army attack Pharkant, one of the main Kachin bases, which is close to the Chinese border, it could trigger refugee flows into Yunnan, a situation similar to 2009, when there was an outpouring of refugees, following an attack by government troops in the Kokang Special Region, which borders Yunnan.
Any refugee exodus can flare social tensions as the Kachin people belong to the same ethnic group as the Jingpo people who reside in the Yunnan province, and would be naturally empathetic to those displaced across the border. Instability in northern Myanmar also has economic implications as China is a major market for jade, gemstones and teak, which originates in the Kachin hills.
For China, a loss of turf in Myanmar can remove one of the hinges of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the MSR — both essential to integrate the economies of Asia and Europe, with China as the hub. China has signed an agreement to build a railroad from Myanmar’s port of Kyaukpyu on the Bay of Bengal to its Yunnan province. But the implementation of the project, which would help China to evade the Malacca straits — an international trade artery in waters dominated by the U.S. — is encountering serious difficulties. These obstructions could multiply if a pro-Washington government takes charge in Nay Pyi Daw, following the elections.
Kyaukpyu is also the starting point of a gas and oil pipeline that heads towards Yunnan. Analysts say that Beijing is already wary of local protests against the project, which could multiply if an unfriendly government takes charge in Myanmar.
China is feeling the heat in Myanmar — a country which is central to Beijing’s energy security and Silk Road plans — following Washington’s push to entrench itself in Nay Pyi Daw.
The website Duowei run by overseas Chinese is reporting that China’s focus on deepening ties with Latin American countries, in Washington’s backyard, has impacted on the decision by the United States to energise its engagement with Myanmar.
Analysts say Yunnan — China’s strategic province, which is one of the starting points of President Xi Jinping’s 21st century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) project — could be the ultimate target of American inroads in Myanmar. Yunnan is China’s gateway to Southeast Asia, sharing common borders with Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.
The contest for influence seems to be peaking in the run-up to the October elections in Myanmar, whose results are likely to define the country’s geopolitical gradient.
According to Duowei, talks on human rights between the U.S. and Myanmar took place between January 11 and 15. But apart from the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour Tom Malinowski, who headed the delegation, two senior officials from the U.S. Pacific Command — Lieutenant General Anthony Crutchfield, as well as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for East Asia, David F. Helvey also joined the dialogue. Gen. Crutchfield also paid a visit to Myitkyina in Kachin state, the region embroiled in a civil war. A Chinese consular delegation is currently visiting Myitkyina, to ascertain whether some Chinese citizens were trapped in the Kachin state amid armed clashes.
Observers say that any deterioration of the situation following an intensification of fighting between the Myanmar’s government forces and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) should worry China, as it could trigger a flood of refugees towards Yunnan, which is not far from that zone.
The website Sina Military Network is reporting that should Myanmar’s army attack Pharkant, one of the main Kachin bases, which is close to the Chinese border, it could trigger refugee flows into Yunnan, a situation similar to 2009, when there was an outpouring of refugees, following an attack by government troops in the Kokang Special Region, which borders Yunnan.
Any refugee exodus can flare social tensions as the Kachin people belong to the same ethnic group as the Jingpo people who reside in the Yunnan province, and would be naturally empathetic to those displaced across the border. Instability in northern Myanmar also has economic implications as China is a major market for jade, gemstones and teak, which originates in the Kachin hills.
For China, a loss of turf in Myanmar can remove one of the hinges of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the MSR — both essential to integrate the economies of Asia and Europe, with China as the hub. China has signed an agreement to build a railroad from Myanmar’s port of Kyaukpyu on the Bay of Bengal to its Yunnan province. But the implementation of the project, which would help China to evade the Malacca straits — an international trade artery in waters dominated by the U.S. — is encountering serious difficulties. These obstructions could multiply if a pro-Washington government takes charge in Nay Pyi Daw, following the elections.
Kyaukpyu is also the starting point of a gas and oil pipeline that heads towards Yunnan. Analysts say that Beijing is already wary of local protests against the project, which could multiply if an unfriendly government takes charge in Myanmar.
Source - The Hindu
The strength of Netaji’s resolve
The Hindu’s archives record how Madras city witnessed the freedom fighter in his element when he made a brief visit in 1939. Having resigned from the Congress over differences with the party’s high command, and with the unravelling of the Second World War on the international front, it was a climate of political uncertainty that Bose reflected upon in his address.
Speaking to a large crowd at Triplicane beach, with his voice booming over the loudspeakers, Bose said, “I have just heard that Great Britain has declared war. We are passing through critical times. I once more appeal to Gandhiji to not make any compromise with British imperialism, and to see that Indian men, money, resources are not exploited.”
He went on to argue that if Britain found it necessary to go to Poland’s rescue, the colonial power should feel equally obligated to grant freedom to four hundred million Indians. He said, “We have no enmity against the British people. I have many friends among them. But I am a sworn enemy of British imperialism.”
Srinivasa Iyengar, who presided the meeting, disclosed that, though he did not always see eye-to-eye with Bose, he had to grant that Bose’s commitment to the nation was unparalleled.
He said, “There is no man more fit to be honoured than Mr. Bose. Whether he has a place in Congress or not, he has a place in our hearts, which is far more important than being a four anna member of the Congress. It is a tragedy that a person who was elected twice as president should have suddenly lost his title to popularity and affection.”
In a couple of years, Bose was faced with more turbulent times. Compelled to leave the country for his radical politics, his address in Madras, in retrospect, appears to be almost prophetic. In his concluding remarks, he had stated, “Let us take a vow to do our utmost and undergo any sacrifice and suffering. Let us prepare to die if necessary so that India may live.” And sacrifice he did.
Source - The Hindu
Fishermen protest against deep sea fishing policy
Stayed away from sea and resorted to agitation seeking withdrawal of proposals
Strictly opposing the proposed move of Union Government for promotion of deep water fishing, several thousand fishermen in Puducherry on Friday stayed away from the sea and resorted to a massive demonstration to push for the withdrawal of the proposals.
Assembling at the Thengaithittu fishing harbour, the fishermen and their family members voiced their objections to the recommendations of the expert committee headed by Dr.B. Meenakumari, Deputy Director General (Fisheries) that reviewed India’s existing guidelines for deep-sea fishing in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Foreign trawlers
They also opposed the recent decision by the Union government to permit foreign trawlers to operate in Indian waters.
The seven-member team was appointed soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an appeal for a “Blue Revolution” at the Foundation Day address in Indian Council for Agricultural Research last July.
According to the fishermen, following the submission of the report by the panel, the Union Government recently issued a notification for inviting proposal from multinational companies.
On Friday, fishermen and their families from 18 coastal villages in Puducherry assembled before the Thengaithittu Fishing Harbour.
Small fishing boats, mechanised boats and fibre boats did not venture into sea for fishing.
The fishermen and their family members including scores of women raised slogans against the Union government and burnt the copies of the committee’s report.
P. Puthupattan, president of fishermen village panchayat, Vambakeerapalayam said, “The report of Dr.Meenakumari was prepared without consulting the fishermen and suggestions in the report formulated without taking into account the views of the stakeholders in the marine fishing sector.
The Union government should therefore reject the report.”
Livelihood affected
M.Veeramani, a struggle committee member said, “The report and the subsequent decision of the Union government will deprive thousands of fishermen of livelihood. We consider the decision is an attempt to sell India’s fisheries resources to big foreign vessel operators, corporate sector and multi national companies.”
Large fishing boat owners, fish vendors and several others related to fishing activities also participated in the protest.
Strictly opposing the proposed move of Union Government for promotion of deep water fishing, several thousand fishermen in Puducherry on Friday stayed away from the sea and resorted to a massive demonstration to push for the withdrawal of the proposals.
Assembling at the Thengaithittu fishing harbour, the fishermen and their family members voiced their objections to the recommendations of the expert committee headed by Dr.B. Meenakumari, Deputy Director General (Fisheries) that reviewed India’s existing guidelines for deep-sea fishing in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Foreign trawlers
They also opposed the recent decision by the Union government to permit foreign trawlers to operate in Indian waters.
The seven-member team was appointed soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an appeal for a “Blue Revolution” at the Foundation Day address in Indian Council for Agricultural Research last July.
According to the fishermen, following the submission of the report by the panel, the Union Government recently issued a notification for inviting proposal from multinational companies.
On Friday, fishermen and their families from 18 coastal villages in Puducherry assembled before the Thengaithittu Fishing Harbour.
Small fishing boats, mechanised boats and fibre boats did not venture into sea for fishing.
The fishermen and their family members including scores of women raised slogans against the Union government and burnt the copies of the committee’s report.
P. Puthupattan, president of fishermen village panchayat, Vambakeerapalayam said, “The report of Dr.Meenakumari was prepared without consulting the fishermen and suggestions in the report formulated without taking into account the views of the stakeholders in the marine fishing sector.
The Union government should therefore reject the report.”
Livelihood affected
M.Veeramani, a struggle committee member said, “The report and the subsequent decision of the Union government will deprive thousands of fishermen of livelihood. We consider the decision is an attempt to sell India’s fisheries resources to big foreign vessel operators, corporate sector and multi national companies.”
Large fishing boat owners, fish vendors and several others related to fishing activities also participated in the protest.
Source - The Hindu
No way forward on climate fund, H1B visas, IPR issues
Despite the optimism being generated ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit, The Hindu has learnt that “breakthroughs” on several key agreements are being held back because of domestic politics in both New Delhi and Washington.
“We are looking to increase our cooperation in pursuit of developing clean energy, but also pursuing a successful and ambitious round of climate negotiations this year leading into Paris,” U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes had told journalists on a teleconference this week, although it is unclear how they would proceed, given President Obama’s difficulties with the UN Climate fund already.
A senior official told The Hindu that a multi-billion dollar renewable energy fund due to be announced during the visit has run into rough weather over President Obama’s inability to clear a $3 billion commitment announced for the UN Climate Change Green fund
Row over H1B visas
Similiarly, Indian officials doubt that President Obama will be able to announce the Bilateral Totalisation agreement and the liberalisation of H1B visas, as India has been demanding during this visit. In his State of the Union address this week, Mr. Obama made it clear that he would stick to the Democrat line on protecting American businesses and American labour, committing “to protect American workers, with strong new trade deals from Asia to Europe that aren’t just free, but fair.”
“Signing the Totalisation agreement, that would free up about $ 3 billion Indian money that is tied up in U.S. Social security is high on our agenda, as well as the H1B issue for Indians working in the U.S.,” said Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, speaking at the Indian Today Conclave on Friday. Acknowledging that the “ordinance route” for insurance FDI, GST , and other issues could only be temporary, Mr. Sinha said the government was “exploring several alternatives” from reaching out to opposition parties in both houses to clear the ordinances, to holding a joint session of parliament where the reforms could pass muster.
Rajya Sabha hurdle
In a recent interview to the Financial Times, Mr. Sinha said the change in numbers in the Rajya Sabha, that would allow the NDA to push such legislation through “could take a couple of years”.
The numbers in upper house of Parliament are also holding up the government on the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal being implemented, something both Mr Modi and Mr Obama committed to when they met in Washington. Nuclear negotiators have met three times since December, in Delhi, Vienna and London to try and find a way out of the impasse over India’s supplier liability law, disclosed External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin on Thursday. “What is being discussed is how within the four walls of our legal framework, our legislation, we can provide assurances to our partners in the United States of any concerns that they may have either through their vendors or their lawyers.
Source - The Hindu
Senators ask Obama to discuss India FDI laws
On Friday Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas and Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, wrote a letter to the President urging him to “actively encourage” Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his administration to liberalise FDI restrictions in the e-commerce sector in particular.
“Currently, India prohibits foreign businesses from selling items directly to Indian consumers over the Internet, which means that U.S. businesses cannot sell products online directly to Indian consumers without involving a middle man,” they argued.
They added that liberalisation of FDI restrictions also would help to “further your goal of doubling U.S. exports, [leading to] more competitive prices, U.S. exporters will also benefit from access to new markets.”
The Senators, who are co-Chairs of the congressional India Caucus, said that if the prohibition were lifted, many U.S. businesses would have greater access to India’s $4.9 trillion economy and a growing middle class.
They also focused on the job-creation potential of such liberalisation, they said, noting, “It also has the potential to increase competition in India by providing less expensive goods and creating 250,000 jobs directly, with the potential for more than 1 million jobs in customer service, IT, logistics, transportation, and administration by 2021.”
The Indian e-commerce market currently stands at nearly $3.5 billion and is expected to increase to $6 billion in 2016, significantly due to the growing penetration of low-cost smart phones and mobile broadband in rural and semi-rural areas, where consumers could access goods and services through retailers without brick-and-mortar locations.
“Specifically, we ask that you request Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to liberalise current FDI restrictions in the business-to-consumer e-commerce sector,” the Senators said to Mr. Obama.
While economic ties are the cornerstone of the U.S.-India relationship under the leadership of Mr. Obama and Mr. Modi, the American side has consistently focused upon a list of issues requiring the attention of the Indian government, including the need for liberalisation in specific sectors, the reform of the intellectual property regime in the country and the need to press forward with negotiations for a Bilateral Investment Treaty.
New Delhi has however pushed back with its own list of concerns in the economic sphere, including demands that Washington loosen restrictions and reduce costs faced by skilled Indian personnel seeking the H-1B visa, resolve the long-standing totalisation conundrum, and avoid protectionist barriers impeding the free flow of investment funds to Indian shores.
Source - The Hindu
‘Pakistan proceeding against all terror outfits’
Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit said here on Friday that Islamabad “is now moving ahead without any distinction when it comes to terrorism.
Mr. Basit was speaking at the “India Today global round table.”
“We are proceeding against all organisations which come within the purview of the resolution,” he said.
Refusing to comment on what actions were taken recently against terror groups, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam denied that action was being taken under U.S. pressure after Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Pakistan.
Replying to a question from journalist Karan Thapar on whether Pakistan was under pressure from the U.K. and the U.S. to hand over Lashkar-e-Taiba leader and 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi either to India or to them, Mr. Basit termed the media reports incorrect.
Claiming that Pakistan was ready to hold talks with India, the envoy said that for Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir remained the core issue that needs to be resolved. “Jammu and Kashmir is not a territorial matter. It is about the people of J&K,” he said.
Mr. Basit was speaking at the “India Today global round table.”
“We are proceeding against all organisations which come within the purview of the resolution,” he said.
Refusing to comment on what actions were taken recently against terror groups, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam denied that action was being taken under U.S. pressure after Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Pakistan.
Replying to a question from journalist Karan Thapar on whether Pakistan was under pressure from the U.K. and the U.S. to hand over Lashkar-e-Taiba leader and 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi either to India or to them, Mr. Basit termed the media reports incorrect.
Claiming that Pakistan was ready to hold talks with India, the envoy said that for Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir remained the core issue that needs to be resolved. “Jammu and Kashmir is not a territorial matter. It is about the people of J&K,” he said.
Source - The Hindu
Irom Sharmila arrested again
A day after being released from jail, rights activist Irom Chanu Sharmila was arrested once again on Friday under the same charge of attempt to commit suicide by continuing her indefinite fast.
Imphal West Superintendent of Police Jhaljit told PTI that Ms. Sharmila was arrested under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code. “She has been arrested for the same crime, but it is a different case,” he said.
14-year fight
Imphal East district chief judicial magistrate on Thursday rejected charges of attempt to suicide against the 42-year-old, who is on an indefinite fast for 14 years demanding the repeal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
She is in a government hospital under police custody, where she is force-fed through the nose.
Source - The Hindu
Shutdown in Valley over cartoons
The call for protest was given by Hurriyat leaders
Government offices, businesses and public transport were shut down in the Valley on Friday as a mark of protest against the publication of cartoons of Prophet Muhammad by French magazine Charlie Hebdo and several other Western publications.
The call for the shutdown was given by senior Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chairman Yasin Malik.
The State administration responded to the call by beefing up security and imposing unannounced curfew at several places. The police detained Mr. Malik on Thursday night, while Mr. Geelani is under house arrest.
Senior Hurriyat leaders told The Hindu that Muslims consider any representation of Prophet Muhammad blasphemous and said freedom of expression did not give anyone the right to hurt the beliefs and sentiments of billions of people.
The shutdown was supported by young students and professionals across the Valley who too believed that the cartoons were not only an attack on their faith but also on their political identity.
“This is Western hegemony and nothing else, where only the West will choose what can be lampooned and what cannot be touched. While they can make a satire and caricaturise our Prophet, the Holocaust is considered sacred and even to touch it gets you branded anti-Semitic,” said Asif Ahmad, a student.
Government offices, businesses and public transport were shut down in the Valley on Friday as a mark of protest against the publication of cartoons of Prophet Muhammad by French magazine Charlie Hebdo and several other Western publications.
The call for the shutdown was given by senior Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chairman Yasin Malik.
The State administration responded to the call by beefing up security and imposing unannounced curfew at several places. The police detained Mr. Malik on Thursday night, while Mr. Geelani is under house arrest.
Senior Hurriyat leaders told The Hindu that Muslims consider any representation of Prophet Muhammad blasphemous and said freedom of expression did not give anyone the right to hurt the beliefs and sentiments of billions of people.
The shutdown was supported by young students and professionals across the Valley who too believed that the cartoons were not only an attack on their faith but also on their political identity.
“This is Western hegemony and nothing else, where only the West will choose what can be lampooned and what cannot be touched. While they can make a satire and caricaturise our Prophet, the Holocaust is considered sacred and even to touch it gets you branded anti-Semitic,” said Asif Ahmad, a student.
Source - The Hindu
[Eco] Eurozone nations face stronger pressures to lift economies
The central banks’ plan calls for buying €60 billion ($69 billion) of government bonds and other debt each month. It is the kind of aggressive action that leaders in weaker eurozone countries have long wanted and that Germany has tried to block.
Syriza, the leftist party expected to win the Greek elections this weekend, on Thursday called the bond purchase programme an important decision which the next Greek government will use for the benefit of the country.
The central bank, though, is stretching the limits of its power. And if it is not enough to address what ails Europe, any further stimulus efforts would fall to national leaders.
Such steps would involve the sort of extensive government spending that many countries, including Germany, have been reluctant to pursue, hewing, instead, to a philosophy of budget discipline that has acquired the shorthand label of austerity.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, on Thursday warned her peers not to waste the breathing space given them by the central bank. We should not become diverted from the fact that we as politicians need to put a framework for recovery in place, Ms Merkel said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, minutes before the ECB announced its decision in Frankfurt.
The central banks’ plan is aimed at easing the burden on national governments by pumping at least at least 1.1 trillion euros into the system. The increased demand from the ECB should raise bond prices and push down yields. If the tactic works, it would ripple through financial markets, pulling down the interest rates on other types of debt, like business loans.
— New York Times News Service
Source - The Hindu
[Ed] Carbon tax to meet climate concerns
Oil prices have plummeted since June 2014 by almost 60 per cent. This has obviously proved to be a bonanza for oil-importing countries like India just as it has seriously hurt oil-producing nations like Russia and Iran. The fall has been unexpected and what has added to the mystery is the behaviour of Saudi Arabia, the traditional “swing producer” in OPEC which has chosen not to cut production in order to boost prices.
The main reason now being adduced for the oil price decline is the re-emergence of the U.S. as a major hydrocarbon producer because of exploitation of its substantial shale deposits. Lower than anticipated demand, especially from countries like China, and anaemic economic growth in Europe have added to the pressure. As to the response of Saudi Arabia, the best guess is that it does not want to lose market share like it did the last time when it cut output to keep prices up. There are, of course, the usual conspiracy theories — that the Americans have put pressure on major OPEC oil producers not to cut output so that Russia could get hurt from falling prices. Another Byzantine view is that Saudi Arabia is not too unhappy with these prices since its arch-rival Iran is getting hurt and because over the medium-term it would discourage the development of new sources of supply that would threaten the Saudi position.
Revisiting an old idea
Whatever be its backdrop, the current oil price scenario offers the right moment for the international community as well as for major carbon emitter nations to revisit an old idea that has been around for quite some time as a way of dealing with the challenge of climate change — and this is a carbon tax. Economists mostly agree that such a carbon tax is the way to go, but it has faced tremendous political resistance, especially in the U.S.A couple of days ago, however, the influential economist Larry Summers, who has been a close adviser to both President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton, came out publicly in its favour, pointing out that a tax of $25 per tonne of carbon would add just 25 cents to the price of gasoline. There have been other intellectually weighty voices in the past who have advocated a carbon tax, William Nordhaus being perhaps the most prominent amongst them.
It is the political resistance to any form of taxation (what the late Sukhamoy Chakravarty, the distinguished Indian planner, had called the emerging fiscal sociology) that has led to systems of cap-and-trade being adopted to deal with the emissions problem. The EU has such a system, the Chinese have seven pilots and have announced a national initiative beginning next year, and the Americans too are putting it in place for carbon emissions from power plants. A cap-and-trade system puts a cap on the quantity of emissions (which is flexible) and the “rights” to emit are then traded for a price among classes of consumers. It has considerable appeal since it is “market-based” and it has actually been used very effectively to deal with the consequences of sulphur dioxide emissions from power plants in the U.S. (the “acid rain” problem as it is usually called). The cap-and-trade system does provide incentives for emission levels to decline. On the other hand, a carbon tax is much simpler and straightforward to design and administer since it does not involve fixing emission “quotas” for each emitting industry, which is technically very cumbersome.
“A carbon tax is simple to administer since it does not involve fixing emission 'quotas' for each emitting industry, which is technically very cumbersome”
William Nordhaus himself in his classic “The Climate Casino,” after an elaborate analysis of the two approaches, writes: “If I were put on the rack and forced to choose, I would admit that the economic arguments for carbon taxation are compelling, particularly those relating to revenues, volatility, transparency and predictability. So if a country is genuinely unsure, I would recommend it use the carbon tax approach.” Dale Jorgenson, one of the pre-eminent economists of our times, has taken the Nordhaus approach and asked the question: how to make it politically acceptable? In “Double Dividend: Environmental Taxes and Fiscal Reforms in the United States,” Mr. Jorgenson and his colleagues make out a persuasive case for a carbon tax in the U.S., but with a twist: that the revenues be used for a capital tax reduction with other countries free to recycle revenues in the matter they deem fit.
Actually, India has a carbon tax of sorts. It is not called as such but the United Progressive Alliance government’s budget of 2010-11 introduced a cess of Rs. 50 per tonne of both domestically produced and imported coal. Last year, this was doubled. However, the idea of this cess, it must be admitted, was less to curb carbon emissions but more to raise revenues for the National Clean Energy Fund. Of course, the Fund itself could well support carbon mitigation initiatives but its take-off has been slow so far since Finance Ministers see it as a source of mitigating not carbon but the fiscal deficit. The Fund has close to Rs. 15,000 crore already accumulated in it and this will grow rapidly as coal consumption increases. But the important point is that India already has an important half-step, even though its version of a carbon tax is not economy-wide and it is far below the levels that are generally accepted as being desirable (around $20-25 per tonne of carbon).
Mr. Summers’ plea comes with a catch: he wants the U.S. to impose a carbon tax on its own as well as a tax on the carbon tax on its imports, in order to goad other countries to adopt the carbon tax route. Perhaps he has China in mind since it has been estimated that at least a fifth of China’s emissions are because of its export sector. He seems to think that this will be World Trade Organization-compatible. But it will pose a huge threat to the world trading system which has produced tangible benefits for those who have harnessed its potential — like China and India — if it were to be used to meet climate policy objectives.
Requiring a different response
Some years ago, drawing inspiration from no less a person than Lord Keynes himself, the Nobel Laureate James Tobin proposed a tax on short-term currency transactions. This was later expanded to cover all short-term financial transactions and is widely known as the Tobin Tax. But it remains on paper as to which periodic obeisance is paid. The carbon tax is a similar development deity but it is an idea whose time has undoubtedly come given the current and expected oil price situation. In the past, oil prices have declined as they have in recent months; the commitment of countries to make the transition away from fossil fuels has perceptibly wavered. This time around, however, given the climate change imperative, our response has to be dramatically different. A carbon tax imposed on all fossil fuels in proportion to carbon dioxide emissions would signal that transformed thinking. It would generate the needed resources for low-carbon investments in a manner that does not add to the fiscal deficit and provide the impetus to a meaningful global agreement in Paris later this year in December. This could well be India’s moment of bold leadership.
(Jairam Ramesh was Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Environment and Forests, 2009-2011).
Source - The Hindu
[Ed] Another Ebola battle won
On January 18, the World Health Organization and the Malian government declared Mali free of the Ebola virus disease. Mali is the third country after Nigeria and Senegal to become free of the deadly disease. A country should have had no new cases of Ebola for a continuous period of 42 days, which is a cycle of two incubation periods of 21 days, for it to be declared free of the virus. This is a particularly remarkable achievement for Mali, given the fact that it shares a porous, 800-km-long border with Guinea. After all, on December 26, 2013, the first case of Ebola virus that led to the unprecedented crisis in West Africa was found in a remote village in Guinea. Also, Mali became the sixth West African country to record a case of Ebola when a two-year-old girl with symptoms arrived from Guinea in October last year. Even in this moment of victory, Mali has to remember that it has now only won a battle. As long as the war against Ebola remains unfinished in West Africa as a whole, Mali must not lower its guard as new cases can always come up. After all, the country once experienced a similar situation in November 2014 when it came so close to being declared free of the Ebola virus, before a “second wave” of infections delayed such a declaration. The good news is that there has been a “turning point” in the Ebola crisis with the number of new cases reported in the three worst-affected countries — Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea — falling in recent weeks. According to the WHO, as on January 21, 2015 all of 8,683 people have died of Ebola, and the number of cases so far is more than 21,759.
In all, if only eight cases and six deaths occurred in Mali, which are fewer than Nigeria with 20 cases and eight deaths, the reason for that is the unprecedented efforts to contain the disease from the very beginning. Starting with tracing every person who had come in contact with the sick girl on her journey from Guinea and, at one point, placing nearly 600 people under daily observation, the government, health workers and citizens acted aggressively to stamp out the disease before it turned into a crisis situation. The massive public awareness campaign, monitoring along the border, a fully geared public health system and precautions taken by people on their own helped Mali to stamp out the virus. Of course, the sombre awareness of the crisis playing out in the three worst-affected countries had a major role to play in this process. India has a lesson to learn from the way Nigeria and Mali have handled the Ebola outbreaks. Though some vital precautionary steps were taken, the small number of centres that are capable of testing for the virus and the lack of quarantine facilities at major airports indicate a low level of preparedness to counter the virus.
In all, if only eight cases and six deaths occurred in Mali, which are fewer than Nigeria with 20 cases and eight deaths, the reason for that is the unprecedented efforts to contain the disease from the very beginning. Starting with tracing every person who had come in contact with the sick girl on her journey from Guinea and, at one point, placing nearly 600 people under daily observation, the government, health workers and citizens acted aggressively to stamp out the disease before it turned into a crisis situation. The massive public awareness campaign, monitoring along the border, a fully geared public health system and precautions taken by people on their own helped Mali to stamp out the virus. Of course, the sombre awareness of the crisis playing out in the three worst-affected countries had a major role to play in this process. India has a lesson to learn from the way Nigeria and Mali have handled the Ebola outbreaks. Though some vital precautionary steps were taken, the small number of centres that are capable of testing for the virus and the lack of quarantine facilities at major airports indicate a low level of preparedness to counter the virus.
Source - The Hindu
Lodha promises fair play
"Transparency will be the rule," the former Chief Justice of India said.
The former Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha, chairperson of the three-member committee appointed by the Supreme Court to clean up the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said on Friday that the panel would ensure that transparency and accountability was the rule and not exception in the administration of cricket in India.
“One of the tasks given to us is to ensure there is transparency and accountability in the game. We know there is huge public expectation resting on us. We will ensure the game is played in its best spirits. We will do our best,” Justice Lodha toldThe Hindu on the phone.
“We will complete all our assigned tasks within the six months given to us,” he said. The panel members are the former Supreme Court judges Ashok Bhan and R.V. Raveendran.
'Verdict signals an evolution of public law'
The former Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha, chairperson of the three-member committee appointed by the Supreme Court to clean up the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said on Friday that the panel would ensure that transparency and accountability was the rule and not exception in the administration of cricket in India.
“One of the tasks given to us is to ensure there is transparency and accountability in the game. We know there is huge public expectation resting on us. We will ensure the game is played in its best spirits. We will do our best,” Justice Lodha toldThe Hindu on the phone.
“We will complete all our assigned tasks within the six months given to us,” he said. The panel members are the former Supreme Court judges Ashok Bhan and R.V. Raveendran.
'Verdict signals an evolution of public law'
The former Chief Justice of India said that the BCCI judgment delivered by a Bench of Justices T.S. Thakur and Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla signalled an evolution in public law and was intended to preserve the purity of the game.
“When the Supreme Court decides, it will be in the best traditions of constitutional principles and always an advancement in law. Public law evolves with every SC decision,” Justice Lodha said.
The SC had noted that the panel represented “outstanding judicial minds and men with impeccable credentials,” who would give the public confidence in the objectivity and transparency of the inquiry and re-hauling of the BCCI structure.
The need for this committee was expressed in the court’s concern that the BCCI should gain institutional integrity or an impression would gather among the public that “What goes on in the name of the game is no more than a farce.”
Giving wide powers to the Justice Lodha committee, the court asked it to evolve a mechanism to define and deal with conflict of interest situations and recommend measures to streamline BCCI elections, eligibility of candidates and criteria for disqualification.
The committee has been given further powers to bring in any recommen-dations it sees fit in the BCCI functioning. Any decision taken by this committee will be “final and binding on the BCCI.” The committee would also decide the quantum of punishment for team officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra, found guilty of betting, and IPL franchisees Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings.
Acknowledging that he was a “passionate cricket lover,” Justice Lodha said, “Who is not in this country.”
Justice Mukul Mudgal, who headed the Supreme Court-appointed probe committee, told the media that “Justice Lodha, as the chairman of the new panel to prescribe punishment, is a good choice. He will consider all aspects and weigh all options.”
“When the Supreme Court decides, it will be in the best traditions of constitutional principles and always an advancement in law. Public law evolves with every SC decision,” Justice Lodha said.
The SC had noted that the panel represented “outstanding judicial minds and men with impeccable credentials,” who would give the public confidence in the objectivity and transparency of the inquiry and re-hauling of the BCCI structure.
The need for this committee was expressed in the court’s concern that the BCCI should gain institutional integrity or an impression would gather among the public that “What goes on in the name of the game is no more than a farce.”
Giving wide powers to the Justice Lodha committee, the court asked it to evolve a mechanism to define and deal with conflict of interest situations and recommend measures to streamline BCCI elections, eligibility of candidates and criteria for disqualification.
The committee has been given further powers to bring in any recommen-dations it sees fit in the BCCI functioning. Any decision taken by this committee will be “final and binding on the BCCI.” The committee would also decide the quantum of punishment for team officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra, found guilty of betting, and IPL franchisees Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings.
Acknowledging that he was a “passionate cricket lover,” Justice Lodha said, “Who is not in this country.”
Justice Mukul Mudgal, who headed the Supreme Court-appointed probe committee, told the media that “Justice Lodha, as the chairman of the new panel to prescribe punishment, is a good choice. He will consider all aspects and weigh all options.”
Source- The Hindu
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