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The Economic Times By  Rajshekhar Jha December 27, 2017 Was Delhi's top gangster Neeraj Bawana plotting to eliminate underworld don Chhota Rajan inside Tihar jail at the instance of the D company ? Intelligence shared with Tihar authorities two weeks ago strongly pointed to the possibility, leading to a review of Rajan's security in the high-profile prison.  According to the inputs, the latest D company bid to target Rajan got busted after one of Bawana's aides boasted about the plot to another associate during what was described as drunken banter. This was picked up by the agencies which brought it to the notice of all stakeholders involved in Rajan's security.  Bawana also gave feelers about the plot during a meeting with a mulaqati (visitor), a source said. Incidentally, Rajan and Bawana are lodged in the same jail (no. 2) but have different cells. After the alert, Bawana has been shifted to an isolated cell.  A few days before he was moved, mob

The Economic Times December 27, 2017 New Delhi Over 3,200 people booked by CBI for their alleged involvement in corruption were acquitted by courts in the last four years, the government said today.  A total of 755 persons were acquitted by courts in 184 corruption cases during 2017 (till November), Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.  As many as 944 people were acquitted in 2016, 821 in 2015 and 748 in 2014, he said.  These people were acquitted in various cases probed by the CBI in the past three years.  In another query, Singh said a total of 3,617 people were convicted by the courts in 1,800 corruption cases booked by the CBI.  Of these, 741 people were convicted by the courts this year (till November 30), the minister said.  In 2016, 1,005 people were convicted in 503 corruption cases. A total of 878 (in 434 cases) and 993 people (509 cases) were convicted in 2015 and 2014 respectively.  "The central

The Economic times By Reena Zachariah December 27, 2017 The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has asked Axis BankBSE -0.74 %, India's fourth-biggest private-sector lender by market capitalization, to strengthen its internal processes and systems after the regulator noticed leakage of price-sensitive information relating to financial results on WhatsApp groups before they were officially announced on stock exchanges.  The regulator on Wednesday asked Axis Bank to conduct an internal inquiry on those involved in the preparation of board notes and presentations, with information access and engaged in the consolidation of figures and dissemination of information relating to financial results in the public domain.  SEBI has also sought an inquiry on all the members of committees involved in generation of the original data for the purpose of determining key ratios, such as Gross non-performing assets (GNPA), net non performing assets (NNPA), net interest m

The Economic Times December 27, 2017 Hyderabad Big Indian information technology companies have formed a cartel to keep salary of entry-level engineers low, alleged IT industry veteran TV Mohandas Pai, raising a strong pitch for a better deal for freshers.  He agreed with InfosysBSE -0.12 % Co-founder N R Narayana Murthy, who said that in the last seven years, the salaries of freshers in the software industry have stayed stagnant, while the same for senior-level employees have grown multi-fold.  Pai, a former CFO of Infosys, said these companies are taking advantage of "over-supply" of engineers and seeking to command the market, terming this trend "totally wrong".  "There is a cartel...there has been a cartel, there is no doubt. They (big IT companies) talk to each other, sometimes tell each other not to increase, that's been there for a long time," Pai told PTI.  "I know that people (of big IT companies) used to get toget

The Economics Times December 27, 2017 New Delhi The fall of Reliance Communications is part of the long decline at the Reliance Group. Personal fortunes of Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani too have shrunk ever since he and his elder brother, Mukesh Ambani, split the family business in 2006.  In 2007, Anil Ambani had a net worth of $45 billion, according to the Forbes Rich List. His biggest asset was a 66% stake in telecom venture Reliance Communications. Elder brother Mukesh had a net worth of $49 billion. In the 2017 Forbes Rich List, Anil's net worth had shrunk to just $3.15 billion while Mukesh's was $38 billion.  The group companies too reflected this trend. The 10-year compounded annual growth rates (CAGRs) of Mukesh's Reliance industries have been 11.2 (sales), 9.4% (profit) and 17.8% (returns), according to a Bloomberg report. The same rates for Anil's Reliance Group have been 9.4%, -12.6% and -1.7%. The gap in market value of both the

Live Mint December 27, 2017 Oil traded near the highest close in more than two years after an explosion at a pipeline carrying crude to Libya’s biggest export terminal curbed the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) nation’s production.  Futures were little changed in New York after rising 2.6% on Tuesday and breaching $60 a barrel for the first time since June 2015. A pipeline run by Waha Oil Co. that carries crude to Libya’s Es Sider terminal exploded Tuesday, reducing output by 70,000-100,000 barrels a day. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is said to expect oil revenue to jump about 80% by 2023 to help the kingdom record its first budget surplus in a decade. Oil is heading for a second yearly advance as Opec and its allies including Russia prolong supply curbs through the end of 2018. Prices gained this month after a separate pipe in the UK—one of the most important conduits in the world—was shut because of a crack. Partial flows have now restarted at the

The Times of India Reuters   December 27, 2017 India is set to surpass China as the biggest importer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) this month as a drive to replace wood and animal dung fires+ for cooking boosts consumption. Shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon shows LPG shipments to India will reach 2.4 million tonnes in December, pushing it ahead of top importer China, on 2.3 million tonnes, for the first time. India's LPG purchases have surged from just 1 million tonnes a month in early 2015 on the back of a government programme to bring energy to millions of poor households relying on open fires.  "The growth in India is amazing. The fact that they have grown from 140 million subsidized household connections in 2015 to 181 million now is very impressive," Ted Young, chief financial officer at Dorian LPG told Reuters.With a fleet of 22 tankers, US-based Dorian is one of the world's biggest LPG shippers. LPG, a mixture of propane and butane,

The Guardian December 27, 2017 What would you do if you had $86m? It’s a welcome dilemma for some of bitcoin’s early adopters thanks to the cryptocurrency’s meteoric rise, from less than $1,000 last year to a peak of almost $20,000 in December. One generous bitcoiner has decided to follow the lead of Bill Gates and establish a philanthropic purse, the Pineapple Fund, because “once you have enough money, money doesn’t matter,” they say. The founder, known only as Pine, declared in mid December “I’m donating 5,057 BTC to charitable causes!” and since then has given away $7,550,000 in bitcoin to charities and causes around the world, with a view to dispersing the remaining bitcoin over the next several months. “I’m happy that I can help change the world for the better,” Pine says in a phone conversation on condition of anonymity. “I have a great deal of faith in humanity, but I wish more people could live with love and respect for each other. Early adopters of the

News 18 Eram Agha December 27, 2017  The letter acknowledges the complaint received by SJM, stating: “The outfit has asked for stoppage of introduction of HPV vaccine as it has highest rate of adverse effect among all vaccine in use for cervical cancer as per the World Health Organization report. Taking note of grievances aired by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch on an alleged attempt to introduce the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine for cervical cancer in India, the Prime Minister Office shot a letter to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.  The letter acknowledged the complaint received by SJM, an RSS affiliate, and stated: “The outfit has asked for stoppage of introduction of HPV vaccine as it has highest rate of adverse effect among all vaccine in use for cervical cancer as per the World Health Organization report.” Reacting to the development, the national co-convener of Swadeshi Jagran Manch, Ashwani Mahajan, said that the 72nd report by th

DAWN December 27, 2017 On April 10, the sensational story of the Indian spy that began in March 2016 and witnessed several twists, climaxed when a Field General Court Martial in Pakistan sentenced Kulbashan Jadhav to death over charges of espionage and terrorism. The death sentence was announced after a trial was conducted by the military tribunal. The lack of transparency in Jadhav's trial in Pakistan, however, raised questions across the border. In Pakistan, Jadhav's confession of carrying out terrorist acts in the country and the sentence against him were seen as proof of Indian interference in domestic affairs. In India, it was seen as an act of premeditated murder and roughly a month after the sentence was announced, India moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Pakistan, accusing the latter of violating the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. India maintained that Pakistan, despite repeated requests, had denied consular access to Ja

DAWN December 27, 2017 The year 2017 will be remembered for a number of legal cases that held the country's attention captive, but none as much as the Panama Papers case that started in November 2016. The first verdict, split 3-2 among the five-judge bench, was announced on April 30 and led to the formation of a joint investigation team (JIT). Later on July 28, the bench announced its second and final unanimous verdict in the Panama Papers case: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could no longer hold public office. The bench — headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa — sent the premier packing under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution. The court observed that Nawaz had failed to declare an iqama [UAE visa] and a salary of 10,000 dirhams from his son's company in the United Arab Emirates and therefore, was no longer sadiq [truthful] and ameen [trustworthy]. The verdict, a first of its kind, did not go down well with the ruling PML-N and its supporters. Question

Financial Express December 27, 2017 India suffers from ‘over-medicalisation’—augment training for nurses, ANMs & rural doctors, rethink education. Given the small proportion of India’s GDP that is spent on health, the standard response for improving healthcare is increasing government spending. While that is a good thing, as leading health practioners like Devi Shetty of Narayana Hrudalaya and Srinath Reddy of Public Health Foundation of India argue, India’s bigger problem is ‘over-medicalisation’, and that is what needs to be fixed. Nurses in India, to give one example, spend the most time looking after patients but they have no real career path—they are not even allowed to prescribe a painkiller whereas, as Devi Shetty puts it, “even in litigation-happy US, 67% of anaesthesia is given by nurses, not doctors”; which is why, Shetty points out, while India has a shortage of 2.5 million nurses, admissions to nursing colleges have dropped and the number of nurses has fal

Financial Express December 27, 2017 Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Tuesday said its building and factories business has won orders totalling Rs 3,355 crore. This includes three prominent projects. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Tuesday said its building and factories business has won orders totalling Rs 3,355 crore. This includes three prominent projects. The first is an order from India International Convention & Exhibition Centre to design and construct an international convention and expo centre (IICC) over 89 hectares in Dwarka, New Delhi. The centre will feature world-class infrastructure facilities like exhibition spaces, convention areas, hotels, commercial offices, retail spaces and a 20,000 capacity multi-purpose arena. The second project entails construction of a large retail development in Navi Mumbai for IKEA, the Swedish home furnishings retailer. The project, construction for which is slated to start in early 2018, will offer two levels of parking,

News 18 December 26,2017 The UN's two-year budget is roughly $5.5 billion, and the total US contribution to the UN is more than any other nation. Haley's statement did not mention how or if the US contribution will be altered. US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Sunday touted a quarter billion dollar cut to the UN's annual budget, capping off a contentious year between the Trump administration and the international body. "We will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked," Haley said in a statement. Haley said the US had negotiated a $285 million reduction of the UN budget for 2018-2019 compared to the budget for 2016-2017.  Her announced total was $85 million more than the $200 million cut that a UN news article said UN Secretary General António Guterres backed in October. The UN's two-year budget is roughly $5.5 billion, and the total US contribution to the UN is more t

 Anandi Chandrashekhar, ET Bureau, December 16, 2017 City-based optical retail chain Specsmakers Opticians has raised $10 million (about Rs 64 crore) in funding led by Eight Roads Ventures India. Fulcrum Venture has made a partial exit with this deal.  The funding round saw participation from existing investor Atma Ram Family Office and other individual investors. However, the terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.  The company said the funds will be used for expanding operations in other cities and developing the optical chain into a national brand.  "This investment will allow the company to replicate its successful strategy for Chennai and Bengaluru in other key cities, and become a national brand with deep store penetration," said Pratik Shah, CEO, Specsmakers.  Incorporated in 2011, Specsmakers is an optical retail chain with over 110 company-owned stores across Chennai, Bengaluru and Madurai. The company retails eyewear products primar