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The Hindu Business Line,  Mumbai, May 07, 2018,  Reuters The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant a stay on a Delhi High Court ruling that the US company Monsanto cannot claim patents on its GM cottonseeds, but the world’s largest seed maker said it is “confident on the merits” of its case. The Delhi High Court last month concurred with Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd, which argued that India’s Patent Act does not allow Monsanto patent cover for its genetically modified (GM) cotton seeds. The case is being submitted for an expedited preliminary hearing on July 18, said a Monsanto India spokesman. “We remain confident on the merits of the case. India has been issuing patents on man-made biotech products for more than 15 years, as is done widely across the globe,” the Monsanto India spokesman said. The Centre approved Monsanto’s GM cottonseed trait, the only lab-altered crop allowed in India, in 2003 and an upgraded variety in 2006. The approvals helped turn the country ...

The Hindu Business Line, May 07, 2018 The Narendra Modi government approaches its fourth anniversary on a distinctly inauspicious note, with crude oil prices touching a four-year high and the rupee sinking to below 67 to a dollar. This is likely to lead to higher inflation and a further hardening of interest rates. The deepening economic crisis in Venezuela and suspense over the US decision regarding sanctions on Iran fuelled a rally in Brent crude oil futures on Monday. It opened at $75 a barrel and hit $75.95, its highest since November 2014. This movement will affect the price at which Indian refiners buy their crude. The Indian basket of crude oil represents a derived package, comprising Sour grade (Oman & Dubai average) and Sweet grade (Brent Dated) crude oil processed in Indian refineries in the ratio of 72.38:27.62. Coupled with the rise in crude prices, the rupee dipped to a new 15-month low. It closed at 67.13/14 against the US dollar. The markets expect the ru...

Dawn.com, By Reuters, May 06, 2018 Seven Indian engineers and an Afghan national working for a power plant in northern Baghlan province of Afghanistan were kidnapped on Sunday, officials said. Zabihullah Shuja, spokesperson for Baghlan police, said the engineers were travelling to a government-run power station in a minibus when unknown gunmen abducted them and their Afghan driver. Two officials at the Indian embassy in Kabul confirmed the kidnapping of the engineers, all working for the Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) that operates power generating stations. A senior Indian embassy official said over 150 Indian engineers and technical experts are currently working across Afghanistan on large infrastructure projects. “We are working out ways to ensure the release of our engineers,” an official said. It is not known who is responsible for the kidnapping or whether a ransom has been sought for their release. Kidnapping of locals for extortions are comm...

The Hindu, MAY 06, 2018 Tanker carrying 131 from the island nation was believed to be headed for Australia and New Zealand Malaysian police have intercepted a tanker with 131 Sri Lankans believed bound for Australia and New Zealand, smashing a large human smuggling ring that has been operating for over a year. Authorities halted the modified tanker on Tuesday off the coast of southern Johor state, national police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a statement on Saturday. Police also raided a fishing boat used to transport the migrants to the vessel and detained three Indonesians and four Malaysians on board, he said. Another five Malaysians were nabbed for suspected involving in the smuggling syndicate. Global connections “This syndicate has been operating since mid-2017 and has international connections across Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Malaysia,” Fuzi said. A total of 127 Sri Lankans will be charged for entering Malaysia illegally whil...

The Hindu, May 07, 2018 Saudi Arabia has detained thousands of people for years without trial, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Sunday, slamming the country’s powerful crown prince for the “arbitrary detentions”. Official data from the Interior Ministry, analysed by the HRW, showed that authorities had detained 2,305 people for more than six months without referring them to court. More than 1,870 had been held for more than a year and 251 for more than three years with their cases still “under investigation,” HRW said, citing the Ministry database. One person has been held for over a decade in what the HRW said was a case of “documented arbitrary detention”. The ultraconservative kingdom, an absolute monarchy, has introduced a string of reforms in past months, spearheaded by the country’s unchallenged Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, dubbed “MBS”, who was appointed heir to the throne in June 2017. Yet, arbitrary detention appears to have “increased dramat...

The Hindu Business Line,  INDORE, MAY 4, 2018 Majority of pulse seeds traded higher amid declining arrival with masur (bold) rising to  ₹ 3,450-3,475 a quintal, while masur (Madhya Pradesh) ruled at  ₹ 3,200. Besides, declining stock of imported masur on Mumbai port and rise in buying support in chana at MSP levels, have added to the uptrend in pulses, said Prakash Vora, a trader. Masur dal (medium) was at  ₹ 4,600-4,700, while masur dal (bold) ruled at  ₹ 4,800-4,900 a quintal respectively. Urad (bold) rose to  ₹ 3,400-3,600, while urad (medium) ruled at  ₹ 2,800. Chana (kanta) fetched  ₹ 3,525, while chana (desi) ruled at  ₹ 3,400. Moong (bold) was steady at  ₹ 5,000-5,100 , while moong (medium) ruled at  ₹ 4,500. Link- https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/poor-arrivals-lift-pulses/article23774703.ece

The Indian Express, Written by Khushboo Narayan | Mumbai |  May 7, 2018  An investment fund registered in the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao has emerged as a common thread in at least four high-profile cases of allegedly fradulent financial transactions, including Nirav Modi’s, that are at the centre of investigations carried out by the Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW), the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The Indian Express has learnt that the role of Curaçao-based Enterprise Emerging Markets Fund B.V. (EEMF), an open-ended investment vehicle controlled by Amicorp Group, a global corporate formation intermediary, has allegedly surfaced in the case of the Rs 13,400 crore fraud involving fraudulent letters of undertakings (LoUs) issued to Nirav Modi’s firms; the Rs 812 crore foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB) fraud at Geodesic Ltd; the alleged Rs 2,600 crore overvaluation of power e...

The Economic Times, May 03,2018 Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation accused Facebook and Google of "anti-competitive practices" in one of dozens of submissions to a probe of the tech giants released today by Australia's competition watchdog.  A total of 57 media companies, advertisers and journalist groups put forward their cases for changes in the operations of the internet titans, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reported.  News Corp, the country's main newspaper group, its main competitor Fairfax Media and commercial broadcasters led the charge in arguing that Facebook and Google's dominance of digital advertising significantly undermined the news industry.  "A number of digital platforms possess substantial market power and are engaging in anti-competitive practices that prevent publishers such as News Corp Australia from competing on the merits," the company said in a 144-page submission.  ...

Business Standard, Bloomberg, May 08, 2018 China’s $42 trillion financial sector is set to open up to the world like never before. To deliver on longstanding pledges and help stave off the threat of tariffs from US President Donald Trump, Chinese officials have set a June 30 deadline to ease ownership and business restrictions for banks, securities firms, asset managers and life insurers. Securities firms like Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS Group AG have an opportunity to boost their share five fold as they take more direct control of joint ventures, projections by Bloomberg Intelligence show. Insurers including AIA Group Ltd. are set to cash in on their already healthy presence, while banks like HSBC Holdings Plc and Citigroup Inc. face a steeper road ahead to build market share, but will reap juicy profits as they do so. Much as World Trade Organization entry in 2001 revolutionized the manufacturing industry, opening the financial ...

Livemint, May 08, 2018, London Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya lost a UK lawsuit filed by Indian banks seeking to collect more than £1.15 billion ($1.55 billion) amid allegations that he committed massive fraud. Judge Andrew Henshaw in London on Tuesday said the lenders, including IDBI Bank Ltd., can enforce an Indian court ruling that relates to allegations that Mallya willfully defaulted on about $1.4 billion in debt for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. Henshaw also refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya’s assets. The 62-year-old is fighting numerous lawsuits in the UK and his native country over fraud and money-laundering allegations. He was arrested in London more than a year ago and is waging another fight to block extradition in a different court about three miles across town. Lawyers for Mallya declined to comment after the hearing. Henshaw refused permission to appeal Tuesday’s ruling, meaning his attorneys will have to directly petition the Cour...

Tribune, By Reuters, May 05, 2018, NEW DELHI/MUMBAI A month after India’s central bank barred regulated lenders from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions, trading volumes have surged dramatically alongside a sharp rally in prices. Exchange operators, investors, and analysts say people are rushing to take advantage of a three-month window the Reserve Bank of India has given banks to sever ties with cryptocurrency traders and exchanges. Getting in now enables investors to convert rupees into cryptocurrencies, which they can later swap for other coins via private trading platforms even after the central bank’s rules take hold. “There is a positive sentiment in the industry that the government will not ban trading in cryptocurrencies, and even if formal banking channels cannot be used, people can move to crypto-crypto trading platforms,” Shivam Thakral, chief executive of BuyUcoin, a cryptocurrency exchange. “New investors are coming to our exchanges while existin...

The Times of India,  By  Vishwa Mohan |  TNN  |  May 8, 2018 Seeking to introduce GMO labelling for the first time in India, the country’s food regulator has proposed all packaged food products containing genetically modified (GM) ingredients must clearly state it on their labels.  The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) also suggests mandatory declaration by packaged food manufacturers about nutritional information such as calories, total fat, trans fat, sugar and salt per serve on the front of the pack.  Since the country has no provision for GM labelling in its regulatory mechanism presently, consumers are clueless whether packaged food items they buy have genetically engineered (GE) ingredients amid ‘unproven’ concerns in certain quarters about adverse affects such transgenic food can have on human health.  The FSSAI had last month released a 42-page draft notice - Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Displ...

The  Hindu, May 07, 2018 To improve nutritional status of 10 cr persons across 315 districts India on Monday signed an agreement with the World Bank for a $200 million loan for implementing the National Nutrition Mission across 315 districts of the country. Approved by the Union Cabinet last year, the mission aims at reaching 10 crore beneficiaries, mainly children upto the age of six years, pregnant women and lactating mothers and adolescent girls. The programme will be implemented in three phases between 2017 and 2020 across all districts of the country. Targeted reductions The mission targets a 2% reduction in both under-nutrition and low birth weight per annum. It also aims to bring down anaemia among young children, women and adolescent girls by 3% per year until 2020. The government will also strive to reduce the prevalence of stunting from the current level of 38.4% (as per the National Family Health Survey 4) to 25% by 2022. The National Nutrit...

The Hindu Business Line, May 07, 2018 The first consignment of poultry from the US arrived in India last month after import restrictions on American chicken were eased, but Washington is yet to withdraw its case in the WTO seeking $450 million annually as damages. “Since India did not have a sequencing agreement with the US in the poultry dispute it lost, the Americans have an upper hand over us and are exploiting it by allowing the retaliation panel case to continue. The US wants to take its time in ensuring that everything is in order before withdrawing the case,” the official said. The Centre is trying to convince Washington to withdraw the case before July 20, which is the date that the two had negotiated to keep the proceedings of the retaliatory panel on hold. “After July 20, the retaliatory panel can act on the US plea and give its verdict. We are hoping that we can convince the US to withdraw its complaint before that as we have not only respected the judgement passed...

The Hindu Business Line, Hyderabad, May 07, 2018 The Free Software Movement of India (FSMI) has expressed serious concerns on the safety of users’ Aadhaar data. The association has written a letter to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on YouTube videos that demonstrate methods to bypass security layers in Aadhaar enrolment. “There are WhatsApp messages circulating about a patched version of the Enrolment Client Management Platform (ECMP) software being used for offline Aadhaar enrolment. This can potentially be used to bypass geo-location and biometrics, and also change the mapping between the personal data of Aadhaar holders and their biometric data,” the FSMI has said in the letter. It sought to know what steps the UIDAI is taking to make the Aadhaar system safe, as the security problems seemed to emanate from inherent design flaws in Aadhaar’s client server architecture. “These videos claim that new Aadhaar enrolments can be made without any verification...

The Hindu,  NEEMUCH  07 MAY 2018  The agitated farmers in Malwa, the largest garlic producing region in the State, are also blaming the demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for their plight. Garlic farmers in Madhya Pradesh are on a protest path, saying they are being forced to throw away the produce instead of selling it due to a sharp plunge in wholesale prices to as low as ₹1 per kg. Some blame the crash in prices to “a bumper crop” this season, coupled with limited buying interest from traders due to lack of liquid money available with them. The agitated farmers in Malwa, the largest garlic producing region in the State where Assembly Polls are due later this year, are also blaming the demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for their plight. They protested at the Shamgarh vegetable market in the neighbouring Mandsaur district on Sunday over the plunging prices of garlic. MP is one of the leading producers of the key...