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In response to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Octopus has created an army of top-secret intelligence agencies, analysts, specialists, and building complexes—phalanxes, really—devoted to identifying, spying on and rooting out terrorists both domestically and around the world. A large majority of this homeland security and intelligence apparatus actually comprises individuals who do not work for the US government directly. They are employees of private sector companies who are hired by the government to do these jobs, and are known as “contractors.” Many of these individuals and organisations claim that they are not officially lobbying, like think tanks, public relations agencies and political action committees (PACs). Or they claim they are not really lobbyists because they avoid direct contact with the lawmakers. Instead, they send their subordinates to Capitol Hill to do the heavy lifting— the cajoling of members of Congress and their s...

October 03, 2017 New Delhi : Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who is wanted in India for defaulting on loans worth Rs 9,000 crore, was arrested in London on Tuesday but was granted bail soon after. Mallya was arrested after the Enforcement Directorate presented fresh documents. Earlier, in April 2017, he was apprehended on the basis of an FIR filed by CBI. He was released on bail immediately.  With this arrest, both the cases are now officially part of the proceedings in UK court. The ED had, in March 2016, registered a money-laundering case against Vijay Mallya, and the then CFO of Kingfisher Airlines A. Raghunathan in connection with the CBI’s investigation into the alleged corruption and default of Rs. 900-crore loan in collusion with IDBI officials.  The ED case is under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to trace the transactions pertaining to a suspected diversion of funds. ED had registered the case after receiving case details from CBI regarding ...

By T K Arun, ET Bureau | Oct 03, 2017, Not so long ago, people worried about the rapid loss in the value of the rupee; the boot pinches on the other foot now (see the rise in the value of the rupee's exchange rate against a basket of currencies, after taking out the effect of inflation, the so-called Real Effective Exchange Rate, in the graphic below). The rupee is strong and its strength hurts India's exports and thus overall growth and job creation. Why is the rupee kept strong and who gains from it?  Those with large external borrowings gain from keeping the rupee strong. It helps the government manage inflation and its budget. Domestic producers who have large imported inputs would also gain from a strong rupee. However, exporters, workers looking for jobs and overall economic growth lose out from a strong rupee.  The stock market gains from the rupee's strength. It keeps foreign funds coming in, mostly into debt these days, and the additional liquidity ke...

October 03, 2017 NEW DELHI: In yet another crackdown on the shell companies+ , the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) has disqualified over two lakh directors within a span of 15 days for not filing their financial statements or annual returns for two consecutive years in violation of the provisions of Companies Act, 2013.  After the recent crackdown, the total number of directors disqualified by the ministry has reached 3,00,000. According to the ministry officials, a total of 3,19,637 directors were disqualified, while 2,17,239 companies were deregistered.  A senior official of the department said that this data is only from five banks, and the number is expected to go up, once they receive data from 30 banks. "The number we have got from banks is very surprising," the official said adding that one shell company has been found to have as many as 2,100 bank accounts.  Without naming the company, he revealed that there are about 50 companies which had multi...

IANS|Oct 03, 2017 An investigation by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has alleged that the Adani Group's Australian operations have "previously unknown tax haven ties in the British Virgin Islands".  ABC's 'Four Corners' programme has uncovered the British Virgin Islands links of Gautam Adani's Australian ventures.  The Adani Group has promised a $22 billion windfall in taxes and mining royalty payments for Australia over the life of the Carmichael coal mine it has been given approval to build in Queensland. ABC quoted experts as saying that the "opaque web of companies and trusts" behind Adani's Australian assets gives it ample opportunity to minimise the tax it pays.  "Absolutely, Adani has put in place multiple ways in which they can minimise the amount of tax they pay in Australia, and maximise the amount of profits if they choose in Caribbean tax havens," Adam Walters, research director at the co...

October 03,2017 MUMBAI: On the back of a 6 per cent demand growth, India will surpass China as the fastest-growing Asian market for  petroleum  products in 2018, says a report. This is possible as Chinese demand growth is seen halving to 2.5-3 per cent in 2017-18 from a higher 6 per cent in 2016-17.   ] Despite the weakening growth numbers in both these countries, China and India will continue to be the key growth engines for the sector in Asia, representing over 80 per cent of the expected growth in 2018, says a report by  Moody's . Quoting the American energy information administration projections, the report said the demand for petroleum products in the Asia Pacific will rise a modest 2 per cent or 0.7 million barrels per day in to 34.6 million bpd in 2018. "Given the  oil  sector's reliance on China and increasingly India, we believe demand would face considerable risks if economic growth weakens materially below our expectatio...

October 03,2017 BEIJING: China's Zhejiang Electric Power Company today said the construction recently began on a giant power supply pylon, believed to be the world's tallest, in the country's east Zhejiang Province.  The 380-metre tall pylon will be four times the height of London's iconic Big Ben, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.  The pylon will carry power cables between Zhoushan's Jintang and Cezi islands, a distance of 2,656 metres, the power company's Zhoushan branch said in the announcement.  It is set to break the world record for the tallest power pylon currently held by China's Damaoshan pylon which stands at 370 meters, also in Zhoushan.  The pylon is a part of a new ultra-high voltage power line project between cities of Zhoushan and Ningbo.  The project is expected to completed by the end of 2018, and will be put into use in 2019, Xinhua said.  Reference: http://economictimes.indiatimes...

Updated: October 3, 2017 | Our Bureau Tepid growth in minimum support prices (MSP) of different agricultural products since the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government took over was one of the major reasons for the current farm distress, according to an independent research report released on Tuesday. “While the average annual growth [in MSP] between agriculture year 2009 and 2013 was 19.3 per cent, it was only 3.6 per cent between 2014 and 2017,” said a research report published by rating agency Crisil. It added that limited support from the floor price has further depressed market prices. The falling profitability would continue to distress farmers. Global supply glut Other factors that contributed to the slump in the prices of farm products were global supply glut and demonetisation. While record production of most foodgrain crops – on account of good monsoon last year helped tame food inflation – the fall in prices caused a decline in profitability for m...

October  03,2017 Suspected fidayeen attacked the Border Security Force (BSF) 182nd Battalion camp near the Srinagar International Airport in the early hours of Tuesday. An Assistant Sub-Inspector was killed and four security personnel injured in the attack. Forces gunned down three militants as well. The Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Pakistan-based militant outfit, claimed responsibility for the attack, news agency PTI reported. The airport, which was initially cordoned off, was re-opened for civilians flying out of Srinagar. Flight services resumed as well. Schools in the vicinity, however, will remain closed on Tuesday. BSF camp attack highlights: 3.30 pm:  The operation has come to an end as all the three militants have been neutralised. 2.45 pm:  In a joint press conference in Srinagar, security forces confirmed that the attack at the BSF camp was carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammad militant outfit. The militants entered the camp by cutting the fence between Def...