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The Economic Times January 23, 2018  If businesses invest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and human-machine collaboration at the same rate as top-notch companies, they could boost revenues by 38 per cent by 2022 and raise employment levels by 10 per cent, a new report said on Tuesday.  Collectively, this would lift profits by $4.8 trillion globally over the same period, said the Accenture Strategy report released here during the world Economic Forum (WEF).  "For the average S&P500 company, this equates to $7.5 billion of revenues and a $880 million lift to profitability," the report noted.  Seventy two percent of the 1,200 senior executives surveyed said intelligent technology will be critical to their organisation's market differentiation and 61 per cent noted that the share of roles requiring collaboration with AI will rise in the next three years.  "To achieve higher rates of growth in the age of AI, companies need to invest more i...

The Economic Times January 23, 2018 Japanese investments into India have risen manifold in the last ten years to reach USD 4,709 million in FY2017, says a Ficci report.  The FDI inflow from the island nation was at USD 84.74 million in the fiscal 2006-07, the report titled 'India Japan Roadmap Towards Realising Vision 2025' said.  The report was released here today in the presence of Japanese ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu, India-Japan Business Cooperation Committee (IJBCC) Chairman Onkar S Kanwar, Ficci Secretary General Sanjaya Baru and other delegates from both the sides.  Hiramatsu said the growth potential lies with the sectors like textile, infrastructure and medical in India.  "There are about 1,309 Japanese companies in India and number is growing steadily. It will grow in the years to come," the ambassador told on the sidelines of the event.  He further said that he would like to congratulate the Indian government for "r...

The Economic Times January 23, 2018 India's hordes of business graduates — many of whom have reached the top at American multinationals such as Sunder Pichai at Google and Satya Nadella at Microsoft — are of no use to the country if it does not create its own multinationals, unlike China.  "Observers who are interested in comparing the growth prospects of China and India often cite the large pool of MBA talent as one of India's major strengths, but the jobs these graduates do ironically reflects the weakness of the economy," says an article in state-run Chinese news outlet Global Times.  It says it is disturbing to think that so many high-level technical and management staff are working and creating great value for foreign companies.  And that's not how India would be able to match or overtake China in economic growth. India needs its own multinationals driven by talented Indian managers. "To accelerate its economic growth, India needs its...

The Economic Times January 23, 2018  The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought to know if the Aadhar scheme were to be declared legal can it be used for all purposes or only for limited purposes. "Even if it is valid, can it be used for everything or only for limited purposes," said Justice A K Skiri, who is part of a five-judge bench examining the legality of the all-pervasive Aadhaar scheme. Senior advocate Shyam Divan, who is representing some of those who have challenged the legality of scheme, said the whole Aadhaar network was to be used for everything and everybody.  He pointed out that in a democratic framework governed by the Constitution, a citizen should have the option of protecting himself by refusing to share crucial information about himself with anybody and everybody. "A citizen should have the choice of providing alternative means of identification," he said, especially if spread of the information exposes him and makes him vulnerable.  ...

The Economic Times January 23, 2018 President Donald Trump's washer tariffs have a rather fuzzy logic.  The George W Bush administration slapped safeguard duties on cotton trousers, shirts and underwear imported from China in 2005. Barack Obama singled out Chinese-made car tires for similar punitive tariffs in September 2009. What makes Trump's action against imported solar panels and washing machines unusual is that it isn't aimed at a particular country: It's a global measure.  The last time the US used this drastic anti-trade device was 16 years ago. In March 2002, Bush imposed additional levies of up to 30 percent on some imported steel products for three years.  The World Trade Organization held America's action to be illegal. While the European Union was threatening to retaliate across a wide range of goods, including photocopiers and motorboats, it was probably orange juice that got Bush to back down in late 2003. As he prepared for his ...

The Economic Times January 23, 2018 In a relief for thousands of Indian workers forced to illegally extend their stay in Kuwait due to non-payment of salaries, the Kuwaiti government on Tuesday announced that it won't impose any penalty on them.  The amnesty has been granted from January 29 to February 22.  "This comes as a great relief for the Indian workers," said social worker Shaheen Sayyed who had taken up their cause. A worker, Naresh Naidu, who was employed with Kharifi National and had extended his stay to demand his salary dues, is one among those keen to make use of the amnesty.  Naidu, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, told TOI that he went to the Indian Embassy in Kuwait today and submitted his details so that he could return home. "I found many workers from Telugu states eager to return home," he said.  The penalty for overstaying in Kuwait is two Kuwaiti Dinars, i.e. Rs 424, per day. The unpaid workers, who had overstayed...

The Indian Express Jan 24, 2018 Amid an in-principle decision by the government against introduction of a cervical cancer vaccine in the national immunisation programme, the international organisation that was to have funded the initial rollout has stressed the safety and efficacy of the vaccine while being in no position to influence the government decision-making process. Even as the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation is in the process of deliberating on the recommendation of a subcommittee in favour of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine, the health ministry has made it clear that HPV is not among its immediate priorities. The revelation by a top ministry functionary came days after the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, economic wing of the RSS, wrote to Prime Minister  Narendra Modi  against HPV in the national programme citing cost and safety concerns. The initial rollout was to have been funded by GAVI, the international vaccine alliance. “We know that im...

Times of India January 23, 2018 For the emir of Qatar, there has been little that money can't buy. As a teenager he dreamed of becoming the Boris Becker of the Arab world, so his parents flew the German tennis star to Qatar to give their son lessons. A lifelong sports fanatic, he later bought a French soccer team, Paris St-Germain, which last summer paid $263 million for a Brazilian striker — the highest transfer fee in the history of the game. He helped bring the 2022 World Cup to Qatar at an estimated cost of $200 billion, a major coup for a country that had never qualified for the tournament. Now at age 37, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has run into a problem that money alone cannot solve. Since June, tiny Qatar has been the target of a punishing air and sea boycott led by its largest neighbors, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Overnight, airplanes and cargo ships bound for Qatar were forced to change course,diplomatic ties were severed+ , an...

Dawn Jan 24, 2018 The US State department designated on Tuesday an Indian-origin militant and a Belgian citizen of Moroccan origin as global terrorists. Siddhartha Dhar, born in Britain, was a leading member of now-defunct terrorist organisation Al-Muhaj­ir­o­un. In late 2014, Dhar left the United Kingdom to travel to Syria to join the militant Islamic State group. He is considered to have replaced IS executioner Mohammad Emwazi, also known as “Jihadi John”. The State Department said that Dhar was the masked leader who appeared in a January 2016 IS video, which showed the execution of several IS prisoners accused of spying for the UK. The department also said that Belgian-Moroccan citizen Abdelatif Gaini was fighting for IS in the Middle East. Gaini is connected to UK-based IS sympathisers Mohamad Ali Ahmed and Humza Ali, who were convicted in the UK in 2016 of terrorism offences. Besides the confiscating their properties, the designation prohibits US citize...

Live Mint Jan 24, 2018 India is likely to produce 96.1 million tonnes (mt) of wheat in 2017-18, about 2% lower than the year before, while prices of major crops will continue to be flat or in their lower ranges in the months ahead, National Collateral Management Services Ltd said (NCML) on Tuesday. A lower wheat crop will be against the government’s expectations of production crossing 100 million tonnes, NCML said, adding the dip is due to lower area planted by farmers. NCML is a private company providing post-harvest management services like warehousing for agricultural commodities. In its crop estimates and price outlook for 2018, NCML forecasts that prices of key commodities are likely to remain flat or ‘around the lower ranges... due to higher stock to use ratios of most commodities.’ While wheat prices are likely between Rs1,630 and Rs1,705 per quintal for most of the year, prices for chana, a major winter crop, could touch lows of Rs3,300 per quintal following...

The Hindu Jan 24, 2018 A scholarship scheme managed by the Centre’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) to help young, talented scientists embark on independent research careers at Indian labs is drawing flak with complaints of harassment, tardy fund disbursal and concerns that the scheme hasn’t catalysed enough jobs. The INSPIRE (Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research) Faculty scheme, as it’s called, selects promising research scholars under 32 and offers them a salary of ₹80,000 a month as well as an annual research grant worth ₹7 lakh to work at a university of their choice for five years. It was conceived in 2008 amid concerns that not enough talented students were opting for research careers in basic sciences and were being lured away by higher salaries in banking, information technology and management. Positioned as an “Assured Opportunity for Research Career,” the INSPIRE Faculty scheme envisioned that given 5 years of financial security a...

The Economic Times Jan 24, 2018 Novelis, the American subisidiary of Aditya Birla Group flagship HindalcoBSE -1.19 %, on Tuesday announced that it will invest around $300 million in an automotive aluminium sheet manufacturing facility in Guthrie, Kentucky, as part of its plans to expand manufacturing for automotive purposes to meet rising demand.  The announcement is in line with Hindalco's commitment to grow Novelis' auto shipments to 25% of total production capacity. The project is expected to get commissioned by 2020 and will have a capacity of 200,000 tonnes to prepare aluminium for vehicle parts.  ET had reported in September last year that Hindalco was expected to invest in expanding its auto offerings in the US and Chinese markets through its subsidiary Novelis.  "Today's announcement by Novelis to expand capabilities in North America is a strategic decision fully supported by the Aditya Birla Group to maintain the group's leadership posi...

the Guardian Jan 23, 20018 The firm at the heart of the Paradise Papers leak provided offshore services to a bank accused of facilitating terrorist financing, transnational organised crime and the Syrian government’s chemical weapons programme. Appleby represented the Cayman Islands holding company of FBME Bank for at least a year after the US Treasury published an extraordinary roster of allegations against the bank, and acted as its agent for more than a decade beforehand. FBME, which was banned from the US financial system last year, denies all the allegations against it. It said Appleby regularly carried out full compliance checks on FBME Ltd, which it took on as a client in 2004. Revelations from Appleby’s internal files, obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, were exposed in the Paradise Papers investigation last year. The investigation was praised by politici...

The Guardian Jan 23, 2018 Hackers stole a total of £130bn from consumers in 2017, including £4.6bn from British internet users, according to a new report from cybersecurity firm Norton. More than 17 million Brits were hit by cybercrime in the past year, meaning the nation, which accounts for less than 1% of the global population, makes up almost 2% of the 978 million global victims of cybercrime and almost 4% of the global losses. The losses were more than just financial. Each victim of cybercrime spent, on average, nearly two working days dealing with the aftermath of the attack. The most common crimes were generally low-tech, such as attempts to trick individuals into revealing their personal information through bogus emails with generally low costs to victims. Other forms of cybercrime were more expensive: the typical victim found that a technical support scam cost them £44, a ransomware attack £111, and a fraudulent purchase online costing as much as £166. B...