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The Economic Times April 08, 2019 Deadly, untreatable fungi have emerged as a new threat. One making news is Candida auris, immune to commonly used antifungal drugs and treatments for human and animal health care, crop protection, antifouling coatings and timber preservation. Urgent action is required to safeguard health and food security, via stewardship of the use of existing chemicals, discovery and development of new antifungal agents, both natural and synthetic, and of alternative ways to deal with fungi. Since its emergence in 2009, multiple cases of Candida auris have been reported from 23 countries across the globe. The Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta has add it to a list of germs deemed ‘urgent threats’. It is worrisome because of its ability to undermine otherwise functional healthcare systems — it adversely affects people with weakened immune systems and can survive normal hospital decontamination protocols. The rising levels of resistance to treatment for fu...

Firstpost April 08, 2019 PTI Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has received market regulator SEBI's approval to raise up to Rs 25,000 crore through rights issue, according to sources. The board of the company had approved the rights issue proposal in February. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has given green signal to the rights issue of Airtel, the sources said. When contacted, Bharti Airtel spokesperson said, "the company is in process of obtaining requisite approvals and shall make necessary announcements at an appropriate time". Bharti Airtel gets SEBI approval to raise up to Rs 25,000 crore through rights issue.The board has earlier approved the rights issue to raise up to Rs 25,000 crore through issuance of fully paid up shares at a price of Rs 220 per share, and an additional Rs 7,000 crore via foreign currency perpetual bond issue. The company had said the capital infusion will help it continue investments in future rollouts...

Firstpost April 08,2019 S. Muralidharan The American morbid fascination for monetising just about everything is perhaps the zenith of financial engineering. Mortgage companies sell off their receivables maturing over a leisurely period spanning on an average 15 to 20 years to a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) at a discount so it can issue bonds on the strength of such post-dated receivables. Unlocking the value of illiquid or dormant assets is the pithy description given for such transactions with the title for the entire convoluted process being securitisation. The 2008 financial crisis having its epicenter in the US mortgage market for securitisation that rocked the entire world for a very long time with its aftershocks still being heard has had something to do with this brinkmanship. The lengths to which the securitisation process goes is amazing and mind-numbing. A power producer can securitise all its future earnings spanning, say 30 years and raise enough money. There is a...

The Quint April 08, 2019 The SP, BSP and RLD held a rally in Deoband on Sunday, 7 April, where, despite long-standing differences between BSP supremo Mayawati and Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Aazad, his supporters made an appearance. They shouted slogans and waved banners in support of party chief Chandrashekhar Aazad. The Bhim Army is not a part of the coalition that was holding the rally. In fact, Mayawati has vehemently opposed Aazad and even attacked his decision to contest from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat. She said that his move would benefit the BJP by dividing the Dalit vote. However, Aazad has refrained from reacting to her attack, instead sending his supporters to the Mayawati-Akhilesh rally, who pledged their support to her. The Quint spoke to Aazad's supporters at the rally, who said that the leader had explained the situation to them and sent them there. They also said that they would support Mayawati despite her opposition to them. They said that Aazad had ...

The Money Control April 08, 2019 PTI The Reserve Bank of India Monday came out with guidelines for banks to set up new currency chests, which include minimum area of 1,500 square feet for strong room. "Area of the strong room/ vault of at least 1,500 sq ft. For those situated in hilly/ inaccessible places, the strong room/ vault area of at least 600 sq ft," the RBI said while specifying minimum standards for setting up new currency chests. Besides, the new chests should have a processing capacity of 6.6 lakh pieces of banknotes per day.For those situated in the hilly/ inaccessible places, capacity of 2.1 lakh pieces of banknotes per day.Earlier, a RBI appointed committee had recommended that the apex bank should encourage banks to open large currency chests with modern facilities and Chest Balance Limit (CBL) of at least Rs 1,000 crore. The central bank further said the currency chests should have CBL of Rs 1,000 crore, subject to ground realities and reasonab...

Economic Times April 08, 2019 PTI   China on Monday refuted criticism that the USD 60 billion CPEC has intensified Pakistan's economic risks, saying that less than 20 per cent of the current projects under the initiative are using Chinese loans. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which connects Gwadar Port in Balochistan with China's Xinjiang province, is the flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). As China pressed ahead with the BRI, it drew strong criticism that Chinese projects are being built with heavy interest rates and without due diligence studies about their viability, leaving the smaller countries in heavy debt. Refernce:  https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/business/china-denies-cpec-intensified-pakistans-economic-risks/articleshow/68779043.cms