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Business Standard March 07, 2019 Business organisations using Aadhaar services will now have to pay Rs 20 for each customer verification and 50 paise for authentication of each transaction carried out by the entities, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said Thursday. "Aadhaar authentication services shall be charged at the rate of Rs 20 (including taxes) for each e-KYC transaction and Rs 0.50 (including taxes) for each Yes and No authentication transaction from requesting entities," a notification by the UIDAI said. The gazette notification, the Aadhaar (Pricing of Aadhaar Authentication Services) Regulations 2019, however, exempts government entities and the Department of Posts from authentication transaction charges. "The entities have been incurring a cost of Rs 150-200 per KYC sans Aadhaar. They have been demanding to use Aadhaar-based authentication and KYC services on account of these being convenient to them and their customer...

News18 March 06, 2019 European countries will urge Saudi Arabia this week to release detained activists and cooperate with a U.N.-led probe into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in the first rebuke of the kingdom at the Human Rights Council, diplomats and campaigners said. The joint statement, due to be read out on Thursday, comes amid growing concern about the fate of detainees, identified by watchdog groups as women's rights activists after the public prosecutor was reported to be preparing their trials. Iceland has led the initiative, winning support from European countries and possibly delegations from other regions for the criticism of Saudi Arabia, a member of the 47-nation forum, activists said. "We believe that members of the Council have a particular responsibility to lead by example and put on the Council's agenda human rights issues that warrant our collective attention," an Icelandic diplomat told Reuters on Tuesday, adding rig...

Hindustan Times March 08, 2019 India and Israel should strengthen their partnership to define the digital world’s new norms, the president of a leading trade association of Indian IT companies has said in Jerusalem. NASSCOM President Debjani Ghosh said that collaboration, being integral to the DNA of India and Israel, has inspired innovation. “My trip to Israel has convinced me that innovation is not something that you do. Innovation is about how you think. I think there is a huge difference there. There is a huge difference between what we see in Israel and what we see pretty much elsewhere in the world,” Ghosh said after interacting with the leading Israeli IT companies as part of the India-Israel Innovation Week. Touching upon the history of Israel’s establishment, she noted that for the “immigrant society here assembled from various parts of the world, collaboration was very much in the DNA which inspired innovation”. Ghosh noted that the Indian IT sector ...

Hindustan Times March 08, 2019 India is on course to lease out a second Akula-II nuclear-powered attack submarine from Russia with the two countries hammering out a deal worth almost $3 billion on Thursday, two officials said on the condition of anonymity. The Indian Navy currently operates one Akula-II attack submarine, called Chakra II, leased from Russia in 2012 for 10 years. The second Akula-II being leased is likely to join the Navy in five to six years and will be called Chakra-III, the officials said. It will be the third Russian submarine to be leased to the Indian Navy. Defence ministry spokesman Colonel Aman Anand refused to comment on the deal. “If a second nuclear-powered attack submarine is leased, it would significantly add to the Navy’s underwater domain capability. It will also take us ahead on the operational, tactical and technical as well as eventual indigenisation curves,” said military affairs expert Rear Admiral Sudarshan Shrikhande (retd). ...

The Economic Times March 06, 2019 Vedanta Ltd Wednesday said legal processes are in progress through state courts for reopening SterliteNSE 2.49 % Copper plant in Tuticorin. The Tamil Nadu government had in May last year ordered the state pollution control board to seal and "permanently" close the mining group's copper plant following violent protests over pollution concerns.  "At Sterlite Copper, legal processes are underway through the state courts to re-open this plant," the company said in an investor's brief.  In the alumina vertical, the company said, it has seen increase in volumes, decrease in costs and margin improvements as a result.  "In fact, several new performance records have been set," it said.  Within six months of acquisition, Electrosteels Ltd has turned around to achieve a run rate of 1.5 million tonne per annum (MTPA) with healthy EBITDA margins, largely as a result of cost and volume improvements, Ved...

The Hindu March, 2019 “We are receiving reports that indicate increasing harassment and targeting of minorities — in particular Muslims and people from historically disadvantaged and marginalised groups, such as Dalits and Adivasis,” she said. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Michelle Bachelet has pointed out that divisive politics will ultimately hurt India’s growth potential. Addressing a meeting of the 40th Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday, Ms. Bachelet also argued in favour of an end to the conflict in Kashmir. “We are receiving reports that indicate increasing harassment and targeting of minorities — in particular Muslims and people from historically disadvantaged and marginalised groups, such as Dalits and Adivasis,” she said. The High Commissioner picked up “hate speech” as one of the focus areas. Her observations on India were a part of her speech that looked at some of the most serious reports of rights abuses at...

The Hindu March 06, 2019 Cotton deposited in Multi Commodity Exchange accredited warehouse soared to all-time high of 1.81 lakh bales and surged by 56 per cent on Tuesday compared to 1.16 lakh bales logged in the same period last year. The cotton contract continue to attract increased traction from ginners, traders, farmers and corporates among other stakeholders. Besides, cotton futures contract recorded second highest intra-day volume of 3.70 lb valued at about ₹764 crore on February 22 with an open interest of 4.30 lb. With an internationally accepted technical specifications, MCX’s cotton contract caters to over 75 per cent of cotton grown in the country. So far, about 9.77 lb of cotton has been delivered on the exchange platform. BS Rajpal, Vice President, Cotton Association of India and Director, Manjeet Cotton said the exchange’s cotton futures has been servicing the price risk management needs of market participants such as producers, ginners, millers, y...

The Hindu March 06, 2019 PET bottles imported for processing in SEZs had increased substantially. The government has plugged a loophole that allowed the import of plastic waste into India for processing. “…Solid plastic waste has been prohibited from import into the country including in Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and by Export Oriented Units (EOU),” the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) said in an order made public on Wednesday. The change in law was part of the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management & Transboundary Movement) Amendment Rules, 2019. The Hindu had reported on January 21 that India, in spite of having a significant plastic pollution load of its own, and a ban on plastic waste imports, imported PET bottles from abroad for processing in Special Economic Zones (SEZ). The influx of PET bottles has quadrupled from 2017 to 2018, the Delhi-based environmentalist organisation, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Smriti Manch (PDUSM) h...

Hindustan Times March 07, 2019 The UN Security Council has turned down the request of Hafiz Saeed, the founder and leader of Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba, to remove him from the world body’s list of sanctioned terrorists, as the wait continues to add Jaish-e-Mohammad’s Masood Azhar to that group. Saeed and his counsel were formally informed in Pakistan Wednesday that his request had been rejected by the ombudsman of the UNSC body that lists terrorists under Resolution 1267, more than two years after they petitioned for delisting, according to people familiar with the process. India, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Afghanistan had opposed Saeed’s delisting in separate submissions. Pakistan, where Saeed lives and operates freely, had sent no submissions, either in support of his petition or in opposition, and had refused to cooperate with the Ombudsman’s office. Islamabad also refused to grant visas to UN officials to travel to Pak...

Hindustan Times March 07, 2019 In a major move, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman has approved the first batch of reforms in the Army which include relocation of 229 officers from the Army headquarters, creation of a new post of deputy chief for military operations and strategic planning, and setting up new wings for vigilance and human rights issues, official sources said on Thursday. Finalised after 12 independent studies, the transformative reforms in the Army are being implemented to make the 1.3 million-strong force leaner and meaner as well as to enhance its combat capabilities. The defence minister has approved the first batch of long-pending reform measures in the Army, the sources said. They said the number of officers being moved out is 20 per cent of the total officers in the Army headquarters in the national capital, and they be deployed in forward locations along the borders with China and Pakistan. They said the post of Deputy Chief of the Army Staff Str...

The Hindu March 07, 2019 Italian officials said Mr. Xi was due to visit Italy from March 22-24, and would spend at least one day in Palermo. Italy is negotiating a preliminary deal to become a part of China's giant “Belt and Road” infrastructure plan to boost trade, a government official said on Wednesday, in a move that could upset the United States. Junior Industry Minister Michele Geraci said that if Italy did sign an accord when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the country later this month, it would be non-binding and just “an initial framework”. However, in a sign there is no government unity on the issue, another junior minister cautioned against any such move, saying more thought had to be given about national security. “At this moment, I do not think we should proceed with the signature,” Foreign Ministry undersecretary Guglielmo Picchi wrote on Twitter. Both Mr. Picchi and Mr. Geraci represent the coalition, far-right League party. The Be...

The Hindu March 06, 2019 The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and the National Health Authority (NHA) have formed a working group on the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). The joint working group, to be chaired by Dinesh Arora, Deputy CEO of NHA, will have 10 members from both the organisations. In six months, it will submit a report on how to detect and deter fraud through a common repository and capacity-building. It will develop standards for field verifications and investigations besides guidelines to “name and shame” fraudsters. As part of Network Hospitals Management, the working group will define hospital infrastructure and facility audits, and develop a roadmap to get a common list of accredited hospitals for the industry. It will also take up a comparative study of packages and their rates, besides defining standards. Additionally, it will suggest common IT infrastructure for health insuranc...

The Telegraph March 06, 2019 China announced a robust annual economic growth target and a 7.5 percent rise in military spending Tuesday as it convened an annual legislative session overshadowed by a tariff war with Washington. Seeking to defuse US and European complaints the Chinese system is rigged against foreign companies, Premier Li Keqiang promised in a speech to the National People's Congress they will be "treated as equals" with their Chinese competitors. Li, the country's top economic official, set this year's growth target at 6 to 6.5 percent, reflecting a determination to shore up a cooling, state-dominated economy and prevent politically dangerous job losses. Slightly below last year's 6.6 percent growth, a three-decade low, it would be among the world's strongest if achieved. The premier promised to "promote China-US trade negotiations," but gave no details of talks aimed at ending the fight with President Donald T...

The Hindu March 06, 2019 India’s most recent encounter with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) bears an uncanny resemblance to India’s failed attempt to gain entry to the inaugural session of the same grouping held in Rabat, Morocco, in 1969 and for much the same reasons. In the earlier episode New Delhi lobbied fiercely to wangle an invitation to the meeting. However, on Pakistan’s insistence the invitation that had been extended was withdrawn and India was denied membership of the OIC despite its insistence that as the country with the third largest Muslim population in the world it deserved a seat at the “Islamic” table. Contrary to secularism I remember writing an oped at the time that New Delhi’s bid for membership of the OIC was both morally wrong and politically futile. As a country whose foundational philosophy was based on secularism, it was inappropriate for India to join an organisation whose defining criterion was shared religious identity. In Ind...