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Business Line July 16, 2019 Goal is to root out terror; won’t look at religion of the accused, assures Amit Shah After a heated debate between Home Minister Amit Shah and several Opposition MPs, the Lok Sabha on Monday passed a Bill to strengthen the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in probing cyber crimes and human trafficking cases. The Opposition accused the government of using central investigating agencies to target political opponents and minorities. Shah, on his part, said the government’s only objective is to combat terrorism ‘regardless of religion’. He targeted the Congress for repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) for ‘vote-bank purposes’. During the debate, Congress’ Manish Tiwari and Asaduddin Owaisi of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) questioned the Constitutional validity of the amendments with the latter accusing the Government of using the law selectively. “I would like to ask the government about the profession...

The Business Line July 15, 2019 By Maitre Porecha Japan-based Takeda, a global biopharmaceutical company that specialises in drugs for rare diseases, announced on Monday that it is introducing in India three therapies — Velaglucerase Alfa for treatment of Gaucher, Agalsidase Alfa for Fabry, and Idursulfase for Hunter Syndrome. It has taken 9-13 years for these crucial drugs to reach the Indian market since their launch in other global markets. But the launch means little, if the government, which is re-drafting its Rare Disease Policy, does not include these costly drugs in their access programmes, said experts. “As of now, the government is not providing access to patients. The launch means that the drugs will now be available in the Indian market, while earlier, patients could import them individually,” said Prasanna Shirol, co-founder and director, Organization for Rare Diseases, India. Access to life-saving drugs While the government earlier said that a ₹100-crore fund ...

The Business Line July 15, 2019 Rutam Bora As yields plummet experts emphasis use of New Gen seeds, better farm practices urged Pest menace and poor farm management, coupled with water scarcity and lack of push for new seed varieties are reducing cotton yields, thereby threatening the future of the country’s cotton production. Repeated pest attacks, including pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella), spotted bollworm (Earias insulana) and American bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera), and other climatic diseases affect cotton fields across India.Experts have voiced concern over the future of cotton production in the country. India’s per hectare productivity of cotton during 2018-19 works out to merely 420.72 kg per hectare or (2.47 bales per hectare), the Cotton Association of India (CAI) has said. Cotton crop is estimated to be the lowest in more than a decade at 312 lakh bales (each of 170 kg) for the 2018-19 season. “Cotton productivity in India this year is the lowest in a d...

Economic Times July 16, 2019 Manu Pubby Swiss firm Pilatus, which has supplied the bulk of trainer aircraft currently in operation with the air force, has been banned for at least one year by the defence ministry, following the registration of formal cases by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into charges that corrupt practices were used by the company to bag the Rs 2,800 crore deal in 2012. The ban, which strictly prohibits any business dealings with the Swiss firm, will mean that the air force needs to find alternate sources for spares and parts for the existing fleet of basic trainers that are used for the initial stage training of its pilots. The air force operates 75 of the Pilatus PC 7 Mk1 aircraft. “Business dealings with the firm will remain suspended for a period of one year for violation of article 6.6 of the PCIP (Pre Contract Integrity Pact) and ongoing investigation by CBI, Delhi Police, ED and Income Tax Department into corrupt practices, unfair means and...

The Hindu July 14, 2019 By AFP Globally, losses from malicious software rose by 60% last year to $8 bn, according to latest data Services in the U.S. cities of Baltimore and Maryland were paralysed earlier this year when a ransomware attack locked up computer networks and made it impossible for residents to make property transactions or pay their municipal bills. Officials refused to meet hacker demands for a ransom of $76,000 to unlock the systems, but have been saddled with an estimated $18 million in costs of restoring and rebuilding the city’s computer networks. The dilemma in such cases highlight tough choices faced by cities, hospitals and corporations hit by ransomware. Two Florida cities reportedly paid a total of $1 million in ransom this year, after which a new attack by the same group hit the State court system in Georgia. Globally, losses from ransomware rose by 60% last year to $8 billion, according to data compiled by the Internet Society’s O...

Business Standard July 15, 2019 By PTI International drug syndicates orchestrated Sri Lanka's deadly Easter Sunday bombings, the country's leader claimed Monday, despite earlier blaming the attacks on Islamists. The statement comes amid a nationwide narcotics crackdown, with President Maithripala Sirisena aiming to reintroduce capital punishment for drug offences. Authorities have said local jihadist group National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ) were responsible for the suicide bombings in churches and hotels that killed at least 258 people in April. The attacks were later claimed by the Islamic State group. Sirisena's office said the day after the bombings that local terrorists and international terror groups were responsible for the attacks. But in a statement issued by his office Monday, Sirisena said the attacks "were the work of international drug dealers". "Drug barons carried out this attack to discredit me and discourage my an...

The Dawn July 16, 2019 Staff Reporter KARACHI: The foreign direct investment (FDI) dipped 50 per cent to hit a four-year low as inflows from Beijing dried out after completion of the first phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Data published by the State Bank of Pakistan revealed that FDI halved to $1.737 billion from $3.471 same period last year. The bleak figures come at a time when the government is struggling to contain significant economic challenges on the back of large fiscal and financial needs and weak and unbalanced growth. Inflows from China, leading investor in the country, during FY19 fell to $540 million compared to $2bn during FY18 as the CPEC enters into the second phase. On the other hand, data showed that US, with inflows of $155m during FY18, reported outflows of $575m during FY19 as relations between Islamabad and Washington have worsened in the last year. Inflows from UK during the period under review remained almost unchanged at $230...

First Post July 15, 2019 By: Praveen Swami Four weeks after his body had been blown apart by a Hellfire missile, Al-Qaeda third-in-command Mustafa Abu al-Yazid delivered his last testament. “I bring you good tidings,” his voice declared, through a tape posted online in the summer of 2010. “Last February’s India operation was against a Jewish locale in the west of the Indian capital, in the area of the German bakeries—a fact that the enemy tried to hide—and close to 20 Jews were killed”. Few Indian counter-terrorism analysts believed the speech made sense: indeed, it was wrong on every significant detail, bar the fact that Pune’s Germany Bakery had indeed been bombed. That operation, though, was known to have been conducted by the Indian Mujahideen’s Mohammed Ahmed Siddibappa, also known as Yasin Bhatkal—with no known connections to Al-Qaeda. Now, it’s clear India should have listened harder. The speech in fact described the first meetings between Indian jihadists an...

First Post July 16, 2019 Jatin Singh The month of July started well in terms of good rainfall across the country. The Southwest Monsoon was very active in central, east and North East India during the first ten days of the month. But, there was a drop of about two to three percent every day in the countrywide rainfall deficiency. If we look at the rainfall data available from 1 June to 13 July, there was 246.3 millimetres of rain in the country against the normal of 279.8 millimetres. This means the cumulative shortfall (countrywide rainfall deficiency) dropped to settle at 12 percent, from 33 percent on 30 June. This is clearly an outcome of some good rains in the first 10 days of July. Below is the latest subdivision wise rainfall deficiency in the country: Subdivisions Rainfall deficiency (1 June-13 July) East and North East India -11% Northwest India -9% Central India -6% Southern peninsula -28% Country -12% However, the situation will change now. As reiterated ...

First Post July 16, 2019 Press Trust of India The government is considering to split state-run gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd by hiving off its pipeline business into a separate entity and selling it off to strategic investors, sources privy to the development said. GAIL is India's biggest natural gas marketing and trading firm and owns more than two-thirds of the country's 16,234-km pipeline network, giving it a stranglehold on the market. Users of natural gas have often complained about not getting access to GAIL's 11,551-km pipeline network to transport their own fuel. The sources said that to resolve the conflict arising out of the same entity owning the two jobs, bifurcating GAIL is being considered. While previously selling of the marketing business, possibly to another state-owned firm, was being considered, the government is now mulling on hiving off the pipelines into a separate entity and selling off a majority stake in it, they said. GAIL has multiple ...

The Week  July 15, 2019 By Lakshmi Subramanian The arrests were made after continuous searches and raids in TN in the past month The National Investigation Agency arrested 14 people on suspicion of having links to ISIS in different parts of Tamil Nadu. The 14 suspects are expected to be taken to Delhi for questioning on Monday. The arrests have been made after continuous searches and raids in Tamil Nadu in the past one month. In Coimbatore, a total of seven persons with suspected links to ISIS have been arrested. They allegedly had plans to carry out suicide attacks, which were averted. In Chennai, four people have been arrested, who were allegedly having attack plans. The other accused were arrested from Madurai, Theni and Nagapattinam. Sources claimed that the inmates of Puzhal Prison in Chennai are also being probed in this regard. In June, the NIA had conducted raids in several places in Coimbatore to ascertain links to the group that carried out the suicide bomb a...

The Quint July 13, 2019 By PTI Four senior executives of IndiGo airline were issued show cause notices on Friday, 12 July, by the DGCA after a special audit team of the aviation regulator found safety lapses, according to sources privy to the development. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) carried out the audit at the IndiGo office in Gurgaon on 8 and 9 July, the sources said. "Captain Sanjiv Bhalla, the head of training; Captain Hemant Kumar, the chief of flight safety; Captain Ashim Mitra, the senior vice-president - operations; Captain Rakesh Srivastava, the QA (Quality Assurance) and Ops Safety, have been issued show cause notices today," a source told PTI. The DGCA is conducting special audit of all airlines and airports which are in monsoon-affected areas in the wake of multiple landing incidents across the country. DGCA Gives 15 Days to 4 Officials to Respond The regulator has given 15 days to the four executives to respond t...

First Post July 15, 2019 Bikram Vohra The most profitable carrier in the country, if not the only one, is flying straight into clear-air turbulence (CAT) and could well shake itself up. The thing with CAT is no one sees it coming. A cloudless sky and suddenly everyone is being tossed around. The conflict between Indigo's  two partners, Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal, also came as a shock. It has been brewing for the past one year but no one thought it would reach the level of a legal confrontation. While experts feel that the arbitration option, whether through Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) or any other body, is the sanest and safest course and better than the hostile conflict; they also acknowledge that the two partners are not buddies anymore and this schism could rent asunder a perfectly sculpted 13-years of success. The spectre of Jet Airways and its recent demise with no one to pick up the pieces is a scary example of what could be if these tw...

Financial Express July 16, 2019 As legal experts have pointed out, Section 30(2)(b) clearly says that as long as the operational creditor gets a minimum of liquidation value, the Committee of Creditors (CoC) can decide on the amount to be distributed. The recent ruling by the NCLAT, or the appellate tribunal, in the Essar Steel case—it directed lenders to disburse a bigger share of the recoveries to operational creditors than they are entitled to—puts banks in jeopardy and threatens to erode the sanctity of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Indeed, the ruling smacks of socialist thinking, displays little concern for commercial and business ethics, and puts at risk the well-being of the country’s banking system. It is all very well to want to be fair to all creditors—secured and unsecured—but basic business practices must be respected. That secured creditors rank well ahead of unsecured creditors in the repayment hierarchy is acknowledged the world over as it is in the ...

Business Line July 14, 2019 Bloomberg Bond traders appear certain that the Federal Reserve is on the brink of its first rate cut since 2008. The biggest question is: what comes next? Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell last week opened the door to a July cut, stressing a cooling global economy and trade friction as drivers. That leaves investors monitoring US retail sales figures this week and the latest economic data out of Europe and Asia to fine-tune wagers on the extent of cuts for the rest of 2019. Futures imply a quarter-point July Fed cut and a total of almost 70 basis points of easing for all of 2019. Last week showed how shifting expectations for the Fed’s path amid thin summer trading can jolt markets: The yield curve from two to 10 years steepened the most since October as rate-cut bets gained momentum, while June inflation data beat forecasts. “Global growth and domestic inflation is really the key for the Fed now,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, a senior US rates s...

Times of India July 14, 2019 PTI NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will come out with a mobile application to help visually challenged people in identifying currency notes as cash still remains a dominant mode of transaction.  At present, banknotes in the denominations of Rs 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 2,000 are in circulation, besides Re 1 notes issued by the Centre. The RBI said that identification of banknote denomination is key to successful completion of cash-based transactions by visually impaired persons.  Intaglio printing based identification marks for helping the visually challenged in identification of banknotes denomination are present in the notes of Rs 100 and above.  After demonetisation of old Rs 500/1,000 notes in November 2016, new banknotes in design and sizes have been put in circulation. "The Reserve Bank of India has been sensitive to the challenges faced by the visually challenged in conducting their day to day busines...

The Tribune July 14, 2019 ISLAMABAD:  Prime Minister Imran Khan has issued orders for the formation of a commission to investigate and fix responsibility for the massive $6 billion penalty imposed on Pakistan by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in the Reko Diq case. The premier’s directives were communicated in a statement issued by the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Office on Sunday. The statement is the first official response to the $5.976 billion penalty imposed on Pakistan by the ICSID. The ICSID penalty comes weeks after PM Imran secured a $6 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund, amid devaluations of the rupee and soaring inflation. “The prime minister has directed formation of a commission to investigate into the reasons as to how Pakistan ended up in this predicament; who were responsible for making the country suffer such a loss and what are the lessons learnt, so that mistakes made are not repeated in t...