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August 19, 2017 Times of India-NewspointApp WASHINGTON: US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has formally initiated an investigation of China's intellectual property practices under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which will seek to determine if America's largest trading partner has been engaging in unfair practices. "After consulting with stakeholders and other government agencies, I have determined that these critical issues merit a thorough investigation. I notified the President that today I am beginning an investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974," Lighthizer said. China is America's largest trading partner, with annual trade in goods and services worth about US$ 663 billion. In a memorandum on August 14, President Donald Trump had directed the USTR to do so. The memorandum had emphasised that "the US is a world leader in research-and-development-intensive, high-technology goods," and that "vio...

A ugust 21, 2017 Sumeet Chatterjee, Swati Pandey-Reuters HONG KONG/SYDNEY (Reuters) - A money laundering probe at Commonwealth Bank of Australia is the latest in a slew of scandals denting the reputation of Australian banks as simple, reliable lenders at the forefront in the battle against financial crime. Australian banks have lagged their global peers in both their spending and their approach on anti-money laundering and know-your-customer systems as they pursued rapid growth in customer deposits, some banking officials and experts say. "In the last few years, regulators and banks have been focused on changing the whole bank culture to get all levels of staff taking compliance seriously," said Philippa Allen, CEO of ComplianceAsia, which advices on compliance issues. "That is not as widespread yet in Australia," she said. "Australian banks have not had the big fines imposed on them like their global peers have." Know-your-customer...

August 22, 2017 Deborshi Chaki-Mint Mumbai:  The shareholders of Gland Pharma Ltd, including buyout firm KKR and Co., are considering selling a stake of up to 74% under the automatic approval route to China’s Fosun International after failing to secure government approval for an 86% stake sale so far, two people aware of the discussions said. The new structure is being considered as an alternative, in case approval for the deal, pending before the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) for three months, does not come through. “Both sides have extended the exclusivity period to conclude the deal to end of September,” the people said, requesting anonymity. Hong Kong-listed Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd agreed to acquire approximately 86% in Gland Pharma for $1.3 billion in July 2016. The deal was cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in March, while the Competition Commission of India approved it earlier in December 2016. FIPB refe...

August 21, 2017 Sandip Das-Financial Express In a bid to curb pilferage of food grains and rising food subsidy budget, all the 36 states and Union Territories (UTs) should move to direct benefit transfer (DBT) in the public distribution system (PDS) by 2022. In a bid to curb pilferage of food grains and rising food subsidy budget, all the 36 states and Union Territories (UTs) should move to direct benefit transfer (DBT) in the public distribution system (PDS) by 2022, where beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) could receive market prices of grains in their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts instead of physical delivery of rice and wheat, a research paper by ICRIER, Indian food and welfare schemes: scope for digitisation towards cash transfers, has said. ICRIER has proposed four-phase rollout of DBT in PDS, with six states/UTs — Punjab, Goa, Delhi, Daman and Diu, Chandigarh and Puducherry — shifting to the DBT within one year. In the second phase, the ICRI...

August 21, 2017 Banikinkar Pattanayak -Financial Express After a gap of more than two years, India and Canada will resume formal negotiations this week for a free trade agreement (FTA) in goods and services, while talks on a bilateral investment agreement are being handled separately, sources told FE. After a gap of more than two years, India and Canada will resume formal negotiations this week for a free trade agreement (FTA) in goods and services, while talks on a bilateral investment agreement are being handled separately, sources told FE. The tenth round of negotiations for the FTA, known as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), will start on Monday. The move signals an intense engagement at a time when bilateral trade is running below potential and several Canadian companies, including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, have either announced multi-billion dollar investments in India or stepped up focus on the country. The talks on the FTA include ...

August 21, 2017 Santosh Singh-The Indian Express An investigation by The Indian Express shows that at the heart of the scam is Srijan founder Manorama Devi, who allegedly operated right under the government’s nose, sharing the stage with ministers and flaunting her links with senior bureaucrats, businessmen and politicians. FOUR years before the Bihar government finally ordered a probe into the Rs 700-crore Srijan scam, suspected to involve several high-ranking officials, a chartered accountant based in Godda, Jharkhand, had raised red flags about the money making its way into the accounts of the cooperative society. In emails he sent to the Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, the state Cooperative Department, and to then Union finance minister, P Chidambaram, Sanjit Kumar asked how a government cheque of Rs 7.32 crore had been deposited with the Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti Limited, a Bhagalpur-based registered society, when it was neither authorised to function a...