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Business Line, PTI, October 28, 2017 Around 2.9 million children in India do not get vaccinated against measles, a highly contagious viral disease that claims nearly 90,000 lives globally every year, a new report published today by leading health organisations said. The world is still far from reaching regional measles elimination goals as around 20.8 million children are still missing their first measles vaccine dose, it said. More than half of these unvaccinated children live in six countries — Nigeria (3.3 million), India (2.9 million), Pakistan (2.0 million), Indonesia (1.2 million), Ethiopia (0.9 million) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (0.7 million), the report said. In 2016, an estimated 90 000 people died from measles, recording an 84 per cent drop from more than 550,000 deaths in 2000. “Saving an average of 1.3 million lives per year through measles vaccine is an incredible achievement and makes a world free of measles seem possible, even probable, in ou...

ET BUREAU, October 28, 2017 MUMBAI: CLSA and Goldman Sachs have cheered the government's Rs 2 lakh-crore recapitalisation package for public sector banks.  CLSA's chief strategist Christopher Wood has increased the weightage on India in the firm's Asia Pacific ex-Japan relative return portfolio by two percentage points by reducing weightage on South Korea.  Reaffirming an overweight stance on India, Goldman Sachs has raised its Nifty target to 11,600 by the end of 2018 from 10,900 by the September 2018 it had forecast earlier.  "The failure to address the banking sector issue more proactively has been the one major piece of unfinished business in the Narendra Modi administration...That vacuum should now be filled, which means it is now realistic to look forward to a new credit and investment cycle...," said Wood in his weekly newsletter `Greed and Fear'.  The increase in weightage brings India back to the "structural three times o...

The Hindu, Suhasini Haider, Arun S, October 29, 2017 It will occupy the 100th position in World Bank assessment of 190 nations India will leapfrog 30 places to the 100th position out of 190 countries in the World Bank's Doing Business Report, high-level sources have confirmed to The Hindu. According to a source involved in the exercise — the report is expected to be released on October 31 — “India will hit a century.” This huge jump in the country's ranking is thanks to reforms in areas such as ‘starting a business’, ‘dealing with construction permits’, and ‘resolving insolvency’, where it was placed a lowly 155, 185 and 136 respectively last year. The source said, “The low rank last year galvanised India to act. There was an explicit order from the PM (Narendra Modi) to ensure faster reforms to improve India’s rankings.” India was ranked a poor 130 overall last year, up by just one place from 131 the previous year. On the future prospects for India, the sou...

Dipanjan Roy Choudhury, October 30, 2017 EW DELHI: Shinzo Abe’s re-election in Japan will not only ensure continuity in India-Japan strategic and economic partnerships that have been on an upswing, but also boost New Delhi’s Indo-Pacific outreach stretching from the Pacific region to the coast of Eastern Africa in the backdrop of China’s expansionist strategy.  Japan, trying to develop as a “normal” nation under Abe by reorienting its pacifist constitution, is emerging as Delhi’s partner in the Indo-Pacific region under its own ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy’, aiming to provide a viable alternative to China's One Belt and One Road (OBOR) initiative that has been marked by expansionist and non-transparent goals. India’s Act East Policy could synergise with Japan’s strategy to stabilise the vast Indo-Pacific region.  A key takeaway from Abe’s visit for the 12th Indo-Japan annual Summit in Gandhinagar ahead of the snap polls in Japan was a memorandum of unde...

The Hindu Business Line,  NAYANIMA BASU,   NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 25, 2017 Eyeing India’s $10-billion single-engine fighter jet deal, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pushed for the sale of F-16 and F-18 warplanes with the government, while India raised the issue of H-1B visas and conclusion of the totalisation agreement. During his meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Tillerson is believed to have highlighted the sale of these fighter jets as his topmost agenda, sources told   BusinessLine . Tillerson’s visit comes at a time when India is looking to issue a revised request for information (RFI) to procure about 200-300 warplanes for the Air Force superseding the RFI that was issued last year. “We are willing to provide advanced technologies for its military modernisation efforts. This includes ambitious offers from American companies for F-16 and F-18 figh...

By Divya Rajgopal  ,ET Bureau,Economic Times, Oct 26, 2017       One of India’s largest seed company Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco) said that it is planning to take its new technology including genetically modified (GM) seeds to other South Asian and African countries as stringent regulations and non-clarity in India regarding trial and commercialisation of GM crops has derailed its India plans.  Mahyco said it has reduced its research in GM crops in India and its research team which has been working on various solutions of insect and drought resistance to crops like cotton and rice, among others is looking to move to countries like Vietnam, Tanzania and Zimbabwe to introduce its new seeds. Mahyco, which has a joint venture with US drug giant Monsanto (which was acquired by Bayer last year), said that the government at the highest level is positive on technology, science and innovation but when it comes to implement...

rediff.com, Dilip Kumar Jha, Business Standard, October 25,2017 Vegetables have started slipping out of consumers’ plates due to a sharp increase in their prices over the past month, on reduced supply following extended rain delaying the harvesting of the new season’s crop. Green vegetables have become costlier by up to 100 per cent during the last four weeks in both wholesale and retail markets. Not only primary vegetables, but also additives like garlic, ginger and chilly have recorded a sharp increase in prices, which has destabilised the common man’s kitchen budget. Onion has hit its highest in two years and is trading currently (October 23) at Rs 28 a kg in Asia’s largest mandi, Lasalgaon. While the price increase this time around is not new, such a sharp increase has not been seen in recent memory. Taking advantage of the situation, doorstep hawkers are selling cauliflower at Rs 120-140 a kg despite its price hovering around Rs 60 a kg in the wholesale mandi nea...

Rediff.com, October 25,2017 The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday claimed Syed Shahid Yousuf, son of globally-wanted terrorist and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin, had admitted he received funds for subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley. Yousuf, who was sent to seven days of custody to the agency for further questioning, had also given the names of overseas Hizbul Mujahideen members involved in fund-raising for the terror outfit, an NIA spokesman said. The 42-year-old Yousuf, who works in the agricultural department of the Jammu and Kashmir government, was arrested in New Delhi on Tuesday. The NIA claimed during questioning he 'admitted to having received funds from cadres of the Hizbul Mujahideen on the direction of his father, Mohammed Yusuf Shah alias Syed Salahuddin, for fomenting terrorist activities in the Valley'. The NIA said he also 'revealed the names of his associa...

The Hindu Business Line,  PTI, New Delhi, October 25, 2017 The hike in minimum support prices of rabi crops is a prudent policy response and should keep food price inflation contained in the near term, says a Nomura report. The government yesterday hiked the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat by Rs 110 to Rs 1,735 a quintal and of pulses by up to Rs 400 per quintal to encourage farmers to boost the area and production of these crops. MSP is the rate at which government buys the grain from farmers. According to the Japanese financial services major, the MSP increase is largely similar to the hike announced last year, although larger than the rise during 2013-14 to 2015-16. “In the context of the upcoming elections and reports of farm distress, we view these hikes as a prudent policy response,” Nomura said. It further said “this (MSP price hike) should keep food price inflation contained in the near term as MSPs typically set the floor for market prices, especially ...