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Business Standard Dated May 14,2019 Neha Dasgupta India fears China could soon start flooding excess steel into its market after the United States raised tariffs on Chinese products due to the escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies, according to three government sources and four industry officials. As a result, the Indian steel industry has asked the government to put in so-called safeguard duties of as much as 25 per cent to protect it from growing imports. These would be imposed on steel that the government determines has been dumped in India at prices below the cost of production. Since last year, China and the United States have been locked in a trade conflict as Washington seeks to fix the trade balance, currently tilted in favour of Beijing. The two nations have raised or threatened to raise tariffs on each other's goods, moves that could re-draw trade flows and that have threatened to derail the global economy. "China has exce

The Hindu Dated May 14,2019 K P Shashidharan The Supreme Court’s observations in connection with the Rafale fighter aircraft deal by citing the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s (CAG’s) report on redacted pricing, and subsequent media reports and the controversy over “stolen files” brought back into the spotlight the role of the supreme audit institution of India. Many questions arise before the stakeholders: What is redactive pricing? Does the constitutional mandate provide redactive pricing to be included in the CAG’s audit reports submitted to the President to be placed before Parliament? Do any supreme audit institutions (SAIs) such as the National Audit Office, the Government Accountability Office or Commonwealth countries follow redactive pricing in audit reports? Redaction is the selection or adaption by ‘obscuring or removing sensitive information’ from a document prior to publication. The CAG is mandated to audit all receipts and expenditures of the three-t

Bussiness Standard May 14,2019 Iran may quit the nuclear deal it clinched with major world powers in 2015 if the case is sent back to the UN Security Council, an Iranian official has said. Iran has a host of different measures to take, including withdrawal from the nuclear accord, if its nuclear case is sent back to the UN Security Council, Xinhua quoted Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, as saying to Press TV on Monday. "If Iran's case is sent to the UN Security Council, the deal will be ruined ... and will not be alive anymore," he explained. Last week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced his country's withdrawal from complying with the restrictions set by the nuke accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on Iran's enriched uranium reserves and heavy water supplies. Rouhani also set a 60-day deadline for the remaining parties to the deal to fulfil their obligations,

US RTK Dated May 13,2019 Carey Gillam After less than two full days of deliberations, a California jury ordered Monsanto to pay just over $2 billion in punitive and compensatory damages to a married couple who both developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma they say was caused by their many years of using Roundup products. After listening to 17 days of trial testimony, jurors said Monsanto must pay $1 billion to Alberta Pilliod, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma brain cancer  in 2015, and another $1 billion to her husband Alva Pilliod, who was diagnosed in 2011 with non-Hodgkin lymphoma that spread from his bones to his pelvis and spine. The couple, who are both in their 70s,  started using Roundup in the 1970s and continued using the herbicide until only a few years ago. The jury also awarded the couple a total of $55 million in damages for past and future medical bills and other losses. In ordering punitive damages, the jury had to find that Monsanto “engaged in conduct with

The Express Tribune  Dated May 14,2019 Irshad Ansari ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has requested Turkey to provide data of people and companies involved in tax evasion, however, Turkey has excused from providing this on the pretext that the information provided to them was incomplete. Turkey has asked the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for more information, including verification of FBR DG International Taxes Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmad’s authority to send such requests. According to a document available with The Express Tribune, Ministry of Treasury and Finance Presidency of Revenue Administration Group Head Ahmed Yaldram wrote a letter to the FBR under article 24 of Double Taxation Agreement between the two countries saying that Ashfaq’s name is not included in the list of authorised officers to ask information. His name is also not included in the list for tax purposes maintained by transparency and exchange of information’s international forum. The letter from Turkey further says that

Financial Express Dated May 14,2019 HUMA SIDDIQUI The ties between the two countries have grown significantly, especially after India was accorded major defence partner status by the US government in 2016, followed by the first 2+2 Dialogue Ministerial (Defence and Foreign Ministry level) in September 2018 which opened new avenues for defence cooperation between the two sides. In an effort to further consolidate bilateral naval relations between India and the US and also to explore new avenues for naval cooperation, Admiral John Michael Richardson, Chief of Naval Operations, US Navy, has arrived on a three-day visit to India. This is US admiral’s second visit to India as the chief of the US Naval Operations from May 12-14. The ties between the two countries have grown significantly, especially after India was accorded major defence partner status by the US government in 2016, followed by the first 2+2 Dialogue Ministerial (Defence and Foreign Ministry level) in September 201

The Quint Dated May 14,2019 Aditi Parida Union Minister and BJP leader Nitin Gadkari gave an exclusive interview to Karan Thapar with  Tiranga TV  on Monday, 13 May. Halfway through the interview, Thapar asked him about the government’s claims that in price terms, the deal that they had negotiated was better than the deal UPA negotiated. He further probed that if that was the case, then why the government did not buy all 126 jets. In response to this specific question being asked on the Rafale deal, Gadkari responded: “How can you advise me that you can take 100 planes? At least we need that much money to spend them, so it is depending upon the government’s financial position to purchase 36.” He answered the question by talking about the “financial availability” of the government of India. He also added, “Anything, anywhere you purchase, you take first phase, second phase, third phase and then you increase. Suppose, after 36 planes, if there is an avail

The Print Dated May 13, 2019 Michelle Jamrisko The 2020s a re set to be the Asian decade, with the continent dominating an exclusive list of economies expected to sustain growth rates of around 7%. India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Myanmar and the Philippines should all meet that benchmark, according to a research note Sunday from Madhur Jha, Standard Chartered’s India-based head of thematic research, and Global Chief Economist David Mann. Ethiopia and Côte d’Ivoire are also likely to reach the 7% growth pace, which typically means a doubling of gross domestic product every 10 years. That’ll be a boon to per-capita incomes, with Vietnam’s soaring to $10,400 in 2030 from about $2,500 last year, they estimate. The South Asian members of the group should be GDP standouts as they’ll together account for about one-fifth of the world’s population by 2030, Standard Chartered reckons. The demographic dividend will be a boon for India, while Bangladesh’s investments in health and educa

Firstpost Dated May 14,2019 Uber Technologies Inc's shares fell 12 percent on Monday, more than doubling their losses since the ride-hailing giant's poorly received market debut, and its chief executive officer said he expected the stock to remain under pressure in the coming months. The fall in shares comes against the backdrop of a global stock market selloff sparked by renewed trade tensions between the United States and China. The stock hit a low of $36.58, valuing the company at about $14 billion less than the IPO price of $45. Shares of smaller rival Lyft Inc, which went public at $72 a share on 29 March, were down 7.3 percent at $47.38. Uber's stock "did not trade as well as we had hoped post-IPO", Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in a memo to employees that was seen by  Reuters . "Sentiment does not change overnight, and I expect some tough public market times over the coming months. But we have all the capital we need to demonstrate

Firstpost Dated May 14,2019 New Delhi:  NBCC on Monday decided against diluting certain conditions, including exemption from tax liability, in its revised offer for debt-laden Jaypee Infratech even as lenders have flagged serious concerns about the state-owned firm's conditional bid, sources said. The NBCC's revised bid to acquire Jaypee Infratech and complete the work of over 20,000 flats would be discussed on 14 May by the Committee of Creditors (CoC), they added. On Friday, lenders wrote to the NBCC seeking clarifications on certain relief and concessions put forward by the public sector firm in its resolution plan. According to sources, NBCC has decided not to dilute the conditions of exemption from income tax liability as well as from taking consent of development authorities for transfer of businesses. It has also not agreed to change its proposal that lenders should take unsold flats in case state-owned firm fails to sell them in the market. To make

Dawn Dated May 14,2019 KARACHI: The  latest IMF programme  has given some in industry circles significant grounds for anxiety while others, mostly from big business, are taking heart that in the longer run the programme could help rectify some long-standing imbalances in the economy. Meanwhile, economists say the details will reveal far more than just the scale of the adjustment that the government has committed to, since the language of the press release issued by the IMF, which is the only official communication on the matter thus far, contains a lot of loaded language. “What does it mean when the fund says that the programme will be implemented only after confirmation of international partners’ financial commitments” asks Dr Hafeez Pasha, former finance minister who was pulled into the talks with the Fund briefly right before the delegation led by Asad Umar departed for Washington DC for the Spring Meetings, where he led the last round of the talks before being ousted as fina