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The Hindu- March 19, 2019 Thousands of students and doctors rallied in Algiers on Tuesday calling for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to quit, and a new group headed by activists and opposition figures told the army not to interfere. In the first direct message to the army from leaders emerging from nearly a month of mass protests against Bouteflika, the National Coordination for Change said the military should “play its constitutional role without interfering in the people's choice”. Mr. Bouteflika, who has ruled for 20 years, bowed to the protesters last week by announcing he would not stand for another term. But he stopped short of stepping down immediately and said he would stay in office until a new constitution is adopted, effectively extending his present term. His moves have done nothing to halt demonstrations, which peaked on Friday with hundreds of thousands of protesters on the streets of Algiers. On Tuesday, students massed in the centre of the capi...

The Hindu- March 19, 2019 With the announcement of general elections on March 10, at least two important Groups of Ministers (GoMs) constituted by the Centre last year to suggest measures on anti-lynching and prevention of sexual harassment of women at workplace have been put in the cold storage. Till the next government is sworn in during May-June, the government cannot bring in changes in law on the two subjects. A top source in the Ministry of Women and Child Development said the government’s attempt to address sexual harassment at workplace in the aftermath of the MeToo movement by revisiting the law and suggesting ways to improve the response mechanism of organisations is now “on hold.” “The GoM is on hold because we are now on election track. It is now up to the next government (to take a decision),” the source said. The government had set up a four-member GoM in October last year and gave it three months to give its recommendations. Groups of Ministers ...

The Hindu- March 19, 2019 India’s crop productivity and labour efficiency are at stake due to climate change, finds a study conducted by researchers at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. The research findings that were made public on Tuesday said that though the cropping season in India is increasing, it cannot be directly correlated to the increase in crop production as the temperature is increasing rapidly. The study conducted by research scholar Vinnarasi Rajendran and Professor of the Department of Civil Engineering, Dhanya C.T., said that their research finds that summer season is encroaching into winter season, resulting in a drastic reduction in the length of pleasant comfortable days (thermal comfort) especially over the northeast and southern India (warm-humid) regions. Threat to cultivation “The drastic and joint increase in the day and night temperatures will be a major threat to crop cultivation in India. Especially, the largest wheat production state...

The Hindu, March 20, 2019 The country Human Rights reports for 2018 were released last week as part of an annual exercise in which the U.S. State Department submits its assessment of such rights as per the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international agreements to the U.S. Congress. The 2018 India report covers a range of issues including press and media freedoms, forced disappearances, custodial deaths and the NGO clampdown — which became an issue between the U.S. and India, after the NDA government cancelled licenses of some 15,000 NGOs under the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act. In 2016, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had taken up the issue of the Christian charity, Compassion International, with Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj. “The government imposed restrictions on foreign funding of some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including those with views the government stated were not in the ‘national interest’, thereby curtail...

BY ET BUREAU | UPDATED: MAR 19, 2019, Mindtree promoters said that they oppose the hostile takeover bid of the IT services by engineering giant Larsen and Toubro.  On Monday, L&T signed a deal to acquire 20.3% shares of its lead investor V G Siddhartha and plans to increase stake to 66.3% through a combination of open offer and buying shares in the market. L&T is offering Rs 980 per share. On Wednesday, Mindtree board is expected to announce a share buyback.  Here is the promoters’ statement that outlines potential negative consequences to corporate culture, client relationships, employee retention. "The promoters of Mindtree, a global technology services and Digital transformation company, today said they would unconditionally oppose the reported hostile takeover bid by Larsen and Toubro Ltd. The promoters, including Krishnakumar Natarajan (executive chairman), Subroto Bagchi (co-founder), Rostow Ravanan (CEO) and Parthasarathy N.S. (executive vice chair...

BY , ET NOW | UPDATED: MAR 19, 2019, Etihad has flexed its muscle and told lenders of bankrupt Jet Airways to rework the resolution plan for the bankrupt airline, failing which it will press to exit the joint venture. Sources tell ET Now that Etihad has communicated this to lenders, and added that it will not infuse emergency funds of Rs 750 crore till the resolution plan is acceptable to it. Etihad currently has a 24% stake in the airline. This may leave the lenders with no choice but to invoke insolvency and take Jet to the NCLT. Etihad did not respond to all the queries sent by ET Now but did send this statement as a response: “As a minority shareholder, Etihad is working closely with Indian lenders, the company and key stakeholders to facilitate a solution for Jet Airways." Jet still has not reverted, or answered any of the queries sent by ET Now. The breakdown in talks is also demonstrated by Jet cancelling all flights to and from Abu Dhabi, which is the headquarters of...

Karanjit Singh, ET Bureau, March 19, 2019 ArcelorMittal moved a step closer to acquiring Essar Steel with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) allowing the implementation of its Rs 42,000 crore resolution plan for the debt-laden steel company, pending its final ruling. It asked ArcelorMittal to deposit Rs 42,000 crore with the committee of creditors (CoC), which may disburse funds but the distribution will be subject to the tribunal’s ultimate decision. “We are not going to interfere with the resolution plan. We have not passed a stay order,” said the two-member bench led by justice SJ Mukhopahdyaya on Monday. “We are looking into the question of apportionment to creditors.” This means that ArcelorMittal’s resolution plan approved by the Ahmedabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) can proceed. The lenders of Essar Steel are likely to soon receive payments toward their dues in accordance with the plan but subject to any changes in case NCLAT modifies...

By:  FE Bureau  |  Published: March 19, 2019 The authority for advance ruling (AAR) in Tamil Nadu has ruled that a firm would have to reverse the input tax credit (ITC) proportionate to the post-purchase discount extended by a supplier even if the buyer has paid full GST on the transaction. This is contrary to the prevalent industry practice, tax experts said. To extend discounts after the supply has been made, various companies currently issue a commercial credit note (a credit note without adjustment of GST) for price adjustments in scenarios like post-supply discounts. The buyer pays GST on the full value of supply and doesn’t usually claim a reduction of GST of the amount relating to the reduction in value. However, AAR has ruled that even though GST is paid on the full value, proportionate credit (as much pertains to the GST applicable on the value of commercial credit note) would not be available to the recipient of supply. Abhishek Jain, tax partner at ...

DailyHunt, Monday, 18 Mar, 2019 India on Monday sent a note verbale to Pakistan following reports of harassment of Indian diplomats, asking Islamabad to not only investigate the matter but also share the results. Listing instances from the month of March, India highlighted to the Pakistan Foreign Ministry how two Pakistan agency personnel were seen following Indian High Commission's car on a daily basis. The current instance of harassment of Indian diplomats took place from March 8 to March 11, in which they were not only aggressively followed by Pakistan security personnel but constant surveillance was kept on them. Pakistani security agency personnel have been seen approaching local security guards at officers residence and pressurising them to divulge information. On March 8, First Secretary was aggressively tailed by Pakistan security agencies while going to the bank. On the same day itself, Indian Naval Advisor was tailed in the bike while going from...

18-03-2019, Daily O In the backdrop of India and Pakistan’s simmering tension, India’s decision to deploy a buildup comprising aircraft carrier  INS Vikramaditya  and nuclear submarine  INS Chakra  in the northern Arabian sea — off the Pakistan coast — conveys significant messages. These are as follows. The naval assets were part of a major defence exercise held in the Indian Ocean region recently. The exercise was to end on March 10. But, before its formal conclusion, these assets were redeployed reportedly as per certain exigencies. This announcement and the message of war-preparedness came on Sunday.  Following the release of IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman earlier this month, the tension between the two nuclear-powered countries seemingly de-escalated. The focus shifted to China obstinately vetoing India’s bid to blacklist Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror chief Masood Azhar in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Alongside, a ...

Beijing, Mar 19 China said it had arrested about 13,000 "terrorists" in a massive crackdown against militants in the volatile Uygur Muslim-majority Xinjiang region since 2014, denying criticism that Beijing is "buying" silence of the Muslim world with heavy investments in Pakistan and other Islamic countries. China has faced mounting criticism for the detention of thousands of Uygur Muslims in massive "education camps". "Since 2014, Xinjiang has destroyed 1,588 violent and terrorist gangs, arrested 12,995 terrorists, seized 2,052 explosive devices, punished 30,645 people for 4,858 illegal religious activities, and confiscated 345,229 copies of illegal religious materials," a white paper released Monday said. It said that some areas in Xinjiang were severely disturbed by terrorism and the infiltration of religious extremism. Tens of thousands of Chinese Uighur Muslim families are being torn apart in a crackdown that's see...

By EP News Bureau on March 18, 2019 Pharmaceutical packaging company Schott Kaisha successfully concluded its five-city roadshow recently, bringing together industry experts, R&D specialists, business and sales leaders for discussions on latest technological advancements and best practices that lead to drug safety. Held over two weeks in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Mumbai, the events gave participants a clear understanding on the importance of conversion process in tubular glass manufacturing, and showcased Schott Kaisha’s upcoming product portfolio, tailor-made design and development capabilities. Rishad Dadachanji, Director, Schott Kaisha, shared, “The Indian packaging industry is undergoing rapid growth and we have always been committed to address the demands and challenges of our customers. Hence, we always work together with our partners to deliver better integrated lines of solutions and services. We are extremely happy with the response at the r...