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10 August 2017,     David Hambling. Reports of satellite navigation problems in the Black Sea suggest that Russia may be testing a new system for spoofing GPS, New Scientist has learned. This could be the first hint of a new form of electronic warfare available to everyone from rogue nation states to petty criminals. On 22 June, the US Maritime Administration filed a seemingly bland incident report. The master of a ship off the Russian port of Novorossiysk had discovered his GPS put him in the wrong spot – more than 32 kilometres inland, at Gelendzhik Airport. After checking the navigation equipment was working properly, the captain contacted other nearby ships. Their AIS traces – signals from the automatic identification system used to track vessels – placed them all at the same airport. At least 20 ships were affected. While the incident is not yet confirmed, experts think this is the first documented use of GPS misdirection – a spoofing attack that has long been warned

Aug 12, 2017 - PTI A high-level Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Wang Yang will visit Pakistan to take part in the country's Independence Day celebrations, officials said today.  The foreign ministry said Wang's two-day visit from August 13 comes on the "directions of President Xi Jinping as a special gesture" for Pakistan's 70th Independence Day on August 14.  As a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Wang is among the top leaders in China.  "His visit on this important milestone for Pakistan is a reflection of the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between Pakistan and China," the ministry said.  Wang will attend the flag-hoisting ceremony on August 14 as a "special guest", and call on Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain. He will also call on the new Prime Minister, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, according to a statement from the ministry.  He will then participate in the inaugu

August 12, 2017, PTI The Centre is looking at doubling the nuclear power generation capacity to about 14,000 MW,Union minister Piyush Goyal said today even as he ruled out its becoming the main source of energy for the country. At present, India generates about 6,800 MW of nuclear energy. “We have recently embarked on a plan to expand it by about 7,000 MW more and this will be through indigenously manufactured equipment. So, 10 units of 700 MW each we have proposed and we shall be investing in and we will start on that,” the power and coal minister said at an event here. The Union Cabinet in May had already approved the setting up of 10 indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) for nuclear power generation. “But, nuclear power will never ever become the main source of energy for India because it is very expensive. It has its own benefits. It is quite free of carbon, it does not pollute the environment and therefore, our government is encouraging it. We do need clean r

August 11, 2017,  Business Line Bureau Excess deposits in the range of ₹2.8-4.3 lakh crore accrued to the banking system during the demonetisation period, with unusual cash deposits in specific accounts, which were usually less active, estimated to be in the range of ₹1.6-1.7 lakh crore, according to a study conducted by Reserve Bank of India staff. On November 8, 2016, currency notes of ₹1,000 and ₹500 denominations (specified bank notes or SBNs), valued at ₹15.4 lakh crore and constituting 86.9 per cent of the value of total notes in circulation were demonetised. The SBNs were demonetised (between November 9 and December 30, 2016) in a bid to fight corruption, black money, money laundering, financing of terrorists, and counterfeit notes. Before discontinuation of the over-the-counter exchange facility at bank branches on November 25, 2016, about ₹37,000 crore of SBNs were tendered, according to a study by Bhupal Singh (Director,Monetary Policy Department) and Indraj

Aug 10, 2017, Source:  Moneycontrol.com For decades, print publications—newspapers and magazines—were the go-to destination for companies to advertise their products and services. The logic: more people were reading print publications than online content. The trend, however, is fast reversing. Advertisers are now flocking in droves to the online platforms to tell the world about their wares as more and more Indians adopt digital as a way of daily life. According to data analytics firm Statista, there were 220 million (18 percent of the population) smartphone users in India in 2016. This is estimated to rise 340 million (28 percent) in 2017. There are about 150 million feature phone users who are eligible for an upgrade to a smartphone. Social-media friendly smart phones, which bring the browsing power of the Net to your palmtop, can be bought for as low as Rs 5,000. The relationship between this rapid rise in mobile phone sales and change in media consumption habits is

August 12, 2017, The Financial Express Whether or not the Supreme Court reverses its stand and concludes privacy is a fundamental right remains to be seen, but in either event it is critical to secure the data being given to a plethora of organisations like Apple, Google and Facebook and countless apps, and not just to Aadhaar though the public imagination seems to have got fixated with it. Recognising this, SC has tasked the Justice BN Srikrishna panel with recommending a framework for data protection. Against such a backdrop, a discussion paper by the Bengaluru-based Takshashila Institution lends some perspective on how such a legal framework should look like. The paper posits that the present ‘consent model’—one in which the data controller is free to collect, process and use the data once a user has given her consent—doesn’t offer complete, or even adequate, data protection. This could be because the user doesn’t always understand what she is giving her ‘consent’ to or the ‘c

August 12, 2017, Nanda Kasabe With the start of the festive season, some sections of the trader community have begun raising concerns over the possibility of shortage of sugar during the peak festive season. The Indian Suagr Mills Association (ISMA) however maintains that there are sufficient stocks to take the country to the next sugar season with the crushing season likely to commence in October in most cane growing states. Sugar prices on Friday in Vashi ranged between Rs 3,700-3,825 per quintal plus GST for small grade and Rs 3,030 to Rs 4,020 per quintal in addition to 5% GST. Traders expect the movement to pick up during the Ganesh festival and after this period when peak festive season begins in the country. Senior officials of the Bombay Sugar Merchants Association say that 3-5 lakh tonnes of sugar imports could ease the pressure that may be caused because some pockets of the country such as Tamil Nadu may not have sugar at this point. However, ISMA says that there is

August 12, 2017, FE Bureau Clearing a major hurdle in the potential Tata Steel-Thyssenkrupp tie-up for their European steel businesses, Tata Steel said on Friday that it has signed a regulated apportionment agreement (RAA) with the Trustees of British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) to separate the pension scheme from its UK business. A statement from Tata Steel Europe said, “When the RAA takes effect the British Steel Pension Scheme will be separated from Tata Steel UK and a number of affiliated companies”. The company said that the Pensions Regulator has issued a clearance statement in response to Tata Steel’s application for clearance and approval in respect of the RAA. The Pension Protection Fund has also issued confirmation of non-objection to the RAA on Friday. On May 16, Tata Steel announced that the key commercial terms of a RAA had been agreed in principle between Tata Steel UK and the Trustee of BSPS. It was noted at that time that the RAA remained subject to the ag

August 12, 2017 , Indu Bhan In a big relief to Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo, the Supreme Court on Friday asked former Ranbaxy promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh to maintain the status quo with regard to their stake in Fortis Healthcare. A bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi while issuing notice to 11 respondents, including the Singh brothers, Oscar Investments and RHC Holdings, also in effect blocked the two Fortis promoters from selling their stakes in the hospital chain till further orders. The order came on a petition filed by Daiichi against the Delhi High Court’s June order that cleared the way for Singhs to potentially sell a stake in Fortis Healthcare. The Singhs control RHC and Oscar, which jointly own Fortis Healthcare Holding — the company that holds their stake in the hospital group. RHC Holdings has an 80.67% in Fortis Healthcare Holding while Oscar Investment holds the remaining 19.33%. Fortis Healthcare Holdings in turn has a 52.5% stake in Fortis

August 11, 2017, Jayanta Roy Chowdhury and R. Suryamurthy India's growth juggernaut has started to lose steam.In the mid-year Economic Survey, chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian flagged big risks to economic growth and fiscal targets while asserting that the country had entered a "new phase of relatively low, possibly very low, inflation". In the first volume of the survey published in January, the government had forecast GDP growth in the range of 6.75 to 7.5 per cent in 2017-18. Today, the second volume of the survey said there was a downside risk to that forecast stemming from several factors: the farm loan waiver, challenges in implementing the goods and services tax (GST), real exchange rate appreciation, increasing pressure on corporate balance sheets in power and telecommunications and agriculture stress. The combination of these factors would impart a deflationary bias to activity, the survey said. "The deflationary impact this year could

K V Kurmanath,  August 9, 2017  With the country witnessing a digital payments revolution, the DSCI, an arm of Nasscom, is building a common platform for all the players in the digital payments ecosystem. The Digital Payments Security Alliance forum, which will have traditional banks, payment banks, mobile wallets and the IT Ministry as members, will have its first meeting in September. Promoted by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the alliance will be anchored by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI). It will bring the stakeholders onto a single platform to discuss the issues and challenges faced by the digital payments ecosystem. “The first meeting of the forum is going to happen next month. There might be difference of opinion among the stakeholders but we will have a common platform to deliberate on the issues,” Rama Vedashree, Chief Executive Officer of DSCI, has said. The forum will also act as a industry body to represent to the r