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Economic Times Times Now Oct 31, 2017 In another major UPA era scam that has come to light now, corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar is under the Income Tax Department's lens for receiving kickbacks worth around Rs 1,000 crores.  A Times Now investigation has found that Talwar, who is active in the aviation sector and is known for brokering telecom and aviation deals, had bribed officials during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime to secure various favours for his clients.  According to tax sleuths, Talwar was also instrumental in securing approvals for foreign airlines.  Sources said the lobbyist, who was raided by the I-T department in June 2016, maintained close relations with senior UPA functionaries. Talwar reportedly received the kickbacks during 2008-09.  The corporate lobbyist had hit the headlines when it was revealed that he had visited the official residence of former CBI director Ranjit Sinha at least 63 times

CNBC By Yen Nee Lee 31 Oct 2017 The U.S. Treasury said in an October report that it will closely monitor India's currency practices after noticing an increase in the "scale and persistence" of the country's net foreign exchange purchases India has been buying the U.S. dollar in exchange for the rupee to keep its domestic currency from surging to economically harmful levels Analysts said being singled out in the report may limit India's options in managing the rupee                        India's persistent buying of the U.S. dollar to keep its local currency cheap has caught the attention of the U.S. Treasury, increasing the risk that Asia's third-largest economy could soon face the ill effects of a "currency manipulator" branding.India came under the spotlight after an increase in the "scale and persistence" of its buying up other nations' money, the Treasury said in an October report outlining the foreign exchange poli

Economic Times IANS:  By Jai K. Verma  Oct 31, 2017, 11.29  The 2017 report of the Fragile States Index places Pakistan among the first 20 failed countries, which should be worrisome for Islamabad. Instead of continuing with the low intensity war against its neighbours, Pakistan should make efforts to implement reforms in diverse fields.  Pakistan was carved out of India on the basis of the two-nation theory broadly intended to foster separation and hatred. This philosophy persists today, with greater vengeance.  With its vicious policies, Pakistan has antagonised another neighbour, Afghanistan, on its Western front while Shia Iran can never trust Sunni Pakistan, helping terrorist outfits on behalf of Wahabi Saudi Arabia. Iran recently threatened Pakistan with stringent action if it did not control non-state actors who were fomenting terror.  Pakistan earlier had cordial relations with Afghanistan and Iran. In the India-Pakistan war of 1965 & 1971, Pakist

Rediff.com October 31, 2017 08:50 'In a complex conflict like Kashmir, you can't just ignore the militants when you talk of a permanent solution.' Two decades after she held office as the first United States assistant secretary of state for South Asia and Central Asia affairs, Robin Raphel perhaps remains the most disliked American diplomat at India's ministry of external affairs. Indian diplomats thought Raphel meddled excessively in Kashmir and believed she was pro-Pakistan. Raphel -- who also served as an advisor to then secretary of state Hillary Clinton -- spoke to Pervez Majeed in Washington, DC in an exclusive and rare interview. The final section of a three-part interview. Part 1 of the Robin Raphel interview: 'India and Pakistan need to get along' Part 2 of the Robin Raphel interview: 'Delhi must take the first step for a solution in Kashmir' Do you think the Government of India, besides having a dialogue with political dis

Rediff.com Reuters October 31, 2017 10:26 Indoor air pollution caused 1.24 lakh premature deaths in India in 2015, more than the emissions from coal power plants or other industrial sources, a report published in Lancet (external link), a noted medical journal, has said. The findings establish what experts have been saying for long -- that air quality in Indian households, especially in the rural areas, is lethal due to use of wood or cow dung as cooking fuel coupled with poor ventilation. The report states that while the country recorded 524,680 premature deaths in 2015 due to air pollution caused by the presence of ultrafine particulate matter PM2.5, “the biggest contributor was household air pollution, which was responsible for 124,207 premature deaths per million people.” 5,24,680 Premature deaths in 2015 due to air pollution In May last year, the Indian government had embarked on a drive to provide free cooking gas connections to five crore women from poo

Indian Express By Deepak Patel   October 31, 2017 While the government has set the divestment target of Rs 72, 500 crore for fiscal 2017-18, it has been able to earn only Rs 19,759 crore through proceeds by October 4. At a time when the Centre seems far from reaching its divestment target for 2017-18, three central public sector units (CPSUs) operating in hydro sector — THDC India Limited, North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) Limited and SJVN Limited — listed their divestment issues before Union Power Minister R K Singh last month. In two of these three companies, certain matters are pending with the state governments that are stakeholders in the respective companies. In the third company, merchant bankers have not shown any interest in conducting the divestment process as yet. While the government has set the divestment target of Rs 72, 500 crore for fiscal 2017-18, it has been able to earn only Rs 19,759 crore through proceeds by October 4. Singh took charge as the

Financial Express, FE Bureau, October 31, 2017 A panel of ministers under finance minister Arun Jaitley will monitor consolidation in the public-sector banking space. he government on Monday formed a panel of ministers under finance minister  Arun Jaitley to monitor consolidation in the public-sector banking space. In a tweet, financial services secretary Rajeev Kumar said: “Govt walks the talk on banking reforms; constitutes Alternative Mechanism for PSBs consolidation; Finance Minister to head.” The panel also includes defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and railway and coal minister Piyush Goyal. The Cabinet had in August approved the “alternative mechanism” to oversee the merger of public-sector banks (PSBs). Jaitley had said the proposals for amalgamation would come from the boards of the relevant PSBs and any merger would be based on commercial considerations. Last week, the government announced the ambitious `2.11-lakh crore recapitalisation plan for the PSBs and

Financial Express, PTI, October 31, 2017 India topped the list of seven countries, accounting for 64 per cent of the 10.4 million new  tuberculosis,  (TB) cases worldwide in 2016, according to a new report by the World Health Organisation. India topped the list of seven countries, accounting for 64 per cent of the 10.4 million new tuberculosis (TB) cases worldwide in 2016, according to a new report by the World Health Organisation. India was followed by Indonesia, China, Philippines, Pakistan, Nigeria and South Africa, according to a Global TB Report 2017 released by the WHO. An estimated 1.7 million people died from TB in 2016, including nearly 400,000 people who were co-infected with HIV, recording a drop by 4 per cent as compared to 2015, the report said. Also, India along with China and the Russia accounted for almost of half of the 490,000, multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) cases registered in 2016. “Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) remains a public health crisis and a heal

Financial Expert, PTI, October 31, 2017 India can contribute to the international coalition against the Islamic State in its fight against terrorism, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said. India can contribute to the international coalition against the Islamic State in its fight against terrorism, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said. India is important for maintaining stability “in this region” that faces the menace of terrorism and nuclear threats from North Korea, Gentoloni said at event organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF). India is not part of the international coalition against the Islamic State. But it has made an “extraordinary” contribution to the fight against terrorism, he said. India is important to “promote and maintain stability in this region in which European interests are directly involved”, he said. He said India and Italy can work together for the UN commission on terrorism and in Afghanistan. In his lecture on “Italy, the

The Economic Times, Prachi Verma, October 31, 2017 Facing a scarcity of cybersecurity professionals, especially at the leadership level, has increased salaries offered for such roles by 25-35% over the past year.  Hacking and cyberattacks are compelling firms to hire talent at a premium, with compensation packages for top roles at upwards of Rs 2 crore, and in some instances, close to Rs 4 crore, inclusive of variables. In addition, last year’s demonetisation and the government’s push for Digital India have pushed demand for cybersecurity talent.  Given the gravity of the job, top cybersecurity executives are now even reporting to their company boards instead of chief executive officers. Search firms including Hunt Partners and Transearch said the boards of most of their clients have formed committees for cybersecurity in the past year.  Till 18 months ago, cybersecurity was looked at as managing IT services risk, but now this has reached the company boards as the ent

The Economics Time, Sugata Ghosh, October 31, 2017 Many individuals and small businesses could now find the tax office raking up old wounds and chasing tax demands they believed had been long forgiven. To minimise feuds between the income-tax (I-T) department and small taxpayers, the revenue authorities had in the past decided that for tax demands below certain limits, the department would not wage legal battles to recover dues. These limits were fixed in February 2011 and were raised in December 2015.  recent Supreme Court ruling will now change this for many. The apex court has ruled that “the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) cannot issue any circular having retrospective operation.”  Who all will the ruling impact?  “Many small taxpayers who had earlier faced tax demands of between Rs 4-10 lakh may be impacted. These cases, which were dismissed by the tax tribunal, may now be revived and referred back to the tribunal. This will increase litigation and assess