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The Times of India June 14, 2019 In what could be India's most ambitious digital initiative, the Modi government is planning the largest-ever auction of telecom spectrum - at an estimated value of Rs 6 lakh crore - that will enable introduction of affordable 5G services, including fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) internet in rural areas. The plan was cleared by the Digital Communications Commission (DCC) - the highest decision-making body on telecom matters - and will see the government auction nearly 8,600MHz of mobile airwaves, most likely before the end of this year. This would include spectrum for the current bouquet of telecom services, and also for new-age 5G services. Telecom secretary and DCC chairperson Aruna Sundararajan told TOI that even if all the spectrum is sold at the reserve price, the government will net at least Rs 5.8 lakh crore. However, the government's idea is not to maximise revenue but to ensure that telecom services become more inclusive, the t

RT June 13, 2019 The Environmental Working Group has released findings of research showing “troubling levels of glyphosate, the cancer-causing ingredient in the herbicide Roundup” in food products including children’s breakfast cereals. The Washington, DC-based advocacy group said in a statement released June 12 that the chemical, was detected “in all 21 oat-based cereal and snack products sampled in a new round of testing.” Furthermore, all of the products but four were found to contain levels higher than EWG’s safety threshold for child consumption, which is 160 parts per billion (ppb). The products “Cheerios” and “Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch” were found with the highest glyphosate levels with 729 ppb and 833 ppb respectively. The findings follow two previous research studies conducted with independent labs conducted last year. Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, was acquired by the German agro-chemical giant Bayer in 2018. “The glyphosate levels in this rep

Daily Hunt June 13, 2019 IMA has surfaced as one of the hideous scams that have ruined the lives of many. With their vast ventures, including bullion trading, jewellery, infrastructure development, educational institutions and hospitals, running as a legitimate front for the dubious scam people were easily lured into it. The duped investors who had gathered around IMA jewels after the release of the alleged audio clip by the group's owner and managing director Mohammed Mansoor Khanstill had some hope left in them due to their bling trust and faith over their beloved "Mansoor Saab". However, all the institutions under IMA have been shut down except for the Frontline hospital at Venkataswamy Naidu Road in Shivajinagar. Even though the hospital is working some of the people inside the hospital has claimed that Frontline has no connection with IMA or Mansoor Khan and is a separate body. The hospital, which had a board saying "IMA initiative", was q

The Indian Express June 13, 2019 India will not sign off on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious project, the Belt and Road Initiative, though the rest of the leaders at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit will “reaffirm their support” for the project in the Bishkek declaration, The Indian Express has learnt. The declaration will be issued on Friday evening. Sources told The Indian Express that Delhi has once again decided to stay away from endorsing the One Belt One Road project. “All other SCO members have supported the BRI. They recently attended the second Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in Beijing in April. But we will not sign off on BRI at the summit,” a top source said. India had refused to sign off on the BRI last year at the SCO summit in Qingdao, China, but New Delhi had not issued any statement opposing BRI this year when the second Belt and Road Forum met in April. In 2017, when the first Belt and Road Forum took place in May, India had issued

Business Standard June 13, 2019 China-led Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) may soon dominate the space of 'development projects financing' in Asia surpassing the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as the major financier, feel Indian experts observing the changing contours of Asia's finance. With China continuing its financial assertiveness across the globe through its various infrastructure projects like the One Belt One Road (OBOR) strategic initiative, the AIIB funding is the logical next step for them, the experts opined. The OBOR focuses on improving connectivity and cooperation among Asian countries, Africa, China and Europe with the emphasis on enhancing land as well as maritime routes. The experts feel that the smaller nations approaching the AIIB for development projects loans need to ensure that they don't get into any debt trap and are capable of paying back the amount. Currently India has 7.65 per cent vote share in the AIIB while

The Economic Times June 13, 2019 India has been lauded by a high-level panel on digital cooperation launched by UN chief General Antonio Guterres for undertaking revolutionary digital initiatives to ensure economic inclusion for its 1.3 billion citizens.  Launched in July last year by the UN Secretary General, the 20-member panel, co-chaired by billionaire philanthropist Melinda Gates and Alibaba founder Jack Ma, in its report recognised the consequential role played by new digital ecosystem 'India Stack' in helping the government agencies and entrepreneurs achieve economic inclusion in India.  IndiaStack is a set of Application Programming Interface that allows governments, businesses, startups and developers to utilise a unique digital infrastructure to solve India's hard problems towards presence-less, paperless and cashless service delivery, its website said.  The panel, tasked to map the trends in digital technologies, identify gaps and opportuniti

Economic Times January 26, 2019 The soft patch in earnings over the last decade has resulted in steady deterioration in the corporate profit-to-GDP ratio. India’s corporate profit-to-GDP ratio for companies on the the Nifty 500 index dropped to a 15-year low of 2.8 per cent in FY18 from 5.5 per cent in FY08 , according to a study by Motilal Oswal NSE -3.34 % Financial Services.  For all companies including those of unlisted companies, corporate profit to GDP ratio declined from 7.8 per cent to 3 per cent between FY08 and FY18. The ratio has consistently declined since 2010 and is also below the long-period average of 3.9 per cent (2003-2018), the study said.  Profits of companies on the Nifty-500 have remained stagnant at Rs 4-4.8 trillion over the last five years, even as nominal GDP has continued to grow steadily, according to Motilal Oswal study.  The study shows the corporate profit to GDP ratio doubled from 2.8 per cent to 5.5 per cent over 2003-08, with Nifty-

The Economic Times June 13, 2019 Farmers will have to contribute Rs 100 per month under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Pension Yojana that seeks to provide minimum fixed monthly pension of Rs 3,000 on attainment of 60 years, according to the government.  The central government will also contribute an equal amount to the pension fund to be managed by the LIC, which will be responsible for the pension payout, it said.  The Modi 2.0 government in its first cabinet meeting had approved a separate pension scheme for farmers with an aim to cover 5 crore beneficiaries in the first three years, which would cost the exchequer Rs 10,774.5 crore per annum.  Discussing the new scheme with state agriculture ministers through a video conference, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar urged all states and union territories to roll out the programme at the earliest.  Tomar urged the states to start enrolling farmers in the age group of 18-40 years besides taking measures to

The Indian Express June 14, 2019 With the financial sector roiling under a spate of defaults and rating downgrades, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Thursday asked credit rating agencies (CRAs) to start disclosing a probability of default (PD) benchmark for the companies rated by them. The regulator has also directed CRAs to disclose sensitive factors that could potentially impact the rating of the instruments which include financials and sector specific information. In a circular issued on Thursday, the regulator said CRAs, in consultation with Sebi, should prepare and disclose standardised and uniform PD benchmarks for each rating category on their website for 1-year, 2-year and 3-year cumulative default rates, both for short-run and long-run. The Sebi’s directive follows a series of defaults involving IL&FS and Jet Airways in last few months. Rating agencies had given AAA rating to IL&FS at a time when the firm was in dire financial condit