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The Financial Express: Prasanta Sahu & Prabhudatta Mishra: August 07, 2019 After reining in the subsidy outgo on domestic cooking gas via direct benefit transfer (DBT) and trying the model for PDS for food as well, the Centre is now set to make fertiliser subsidy disbursal more targetted. Two models of DBT are being considered. Under the first, a ‘wallet’ will be created for each farmer where the subsidy amount will be deposited for release to the manufacturer or trader (in case of imported fertilisers) at the time of actual purchase. The other option is the farmer will pay the market price upfront and promptly receive the subsidy amount in his/her Aadhaar-linked bank account. According to a paper floated by the department of fertilisers for inter-ministerial consultation, a ceiling will be put on the subsidised fertiliser a farmer could get for each hectare of land. Also, urea price (MRP) will be decontrolled, by keeping the the subsidy component fixed. So, the...

The Economic Times:  Sutanuka Ghosal: August 07, 2019 Kolkata: Organised jewellery chains in Kerala claim gold smuggling is on the rise in the state after a recent import duty increase, and small traders are offering customers substantial discounts to the official retail price.  Last month, the budget proposed an increase in the customs duty to 12.5% from 10% earlier. Kerala is the top gold consumer, with the per capita expenditure on the precious metal at ₹208.55 in rural areas and ₹189.95 in urban areas.  The southern state is also far ahead of the others in the top six — Goa, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, and Punjab.  “Entry of gold through the illegal route is increasing. The marriage season is set to begin in Kerala, which has further accelerated the entry of smuggled gold,” said Joy Alukkas, chairman of jewellery retailer Joyalukkas.  Some small jewellery stores in Kerala source gold from smugglers and se...

The Indian Express: August 07, 2019 Posters demanding central rule surfaced in the hills of Darjeeling in West Bengal on Monday. Both Bimal Gurung and his rival, Binay Tamang, echoed the demand. Hours after the BJP-led government at the Centre carved out Ladakh from Jammu & Kashmir and granted it Union Territory status with no legislature, posters demanding the same surfaced in the hills of Darjeeling in West Bengal on Monday. “BJP and its allies should make it public what they meant by a ‘permanent political solution’ for Darjeeling during the Lok Sabha elections. If the Regional Autonomy status of  Ladakh could be upgraded to Union Territory then why not in Darjeeling?” one of the posters read. BJP’s Raju Bista had won from Darjeeling in the last Lok Sabha election held in May this year. Bimal Gurung, the former president of the undivided Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), who backed the BJP candidate during the Lok Sabha polls also demanded the same. In a s...

Indian Express: August 07, 2019 The Pakistan Prime Minister also accused India of "planning to change the demographics of Kashmir in violation of the Geneva Convention". A day after India abrogated a section of Article 370, which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan told the joint sitting of Parliament that Islamabad is considering approaching the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) over the Kashmir issue. The joint sitting of Pakistan Parliament was called to discuss the country’s future course of action after India revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. “We will fight it at every forum. We’re thinking how we can take it to International Court (of Justice)… to the United Nations Security Council,” Khan said in an address to Pakistan’s parliament on Tuesday. The Indian government on Monday revoked some provisions of the Article 370 to take away Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, and proposed bifurcation of ...

Indian Express: August 07, 2019 The net revenue of the portfolio in 2018-19 was around Rs 630 crore and on completion of construction, the enterprise value of the portfolio is estimated at Rs 22,500 crore, the release said. Affiliates of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC will invest up to Rs 4,400 crore in road assets of IRB Infrastructure Development. Nine of IRB’s build-operate-transfer (BOT) assets will be transferred to a private infrastructure investment trust (InVIT) in which it will hold a 51 per cent controlling stake, the firm said in a press release. The net revenue of the portfolio in 2018-19 was around Rs 630 crore and on completion of construction, the enterprise value of the portfolio is estimated at Rs 22,500 crore, the release said. The portfolio spans across around 1,200 km across Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Three of the nine projects are operational and the remaining six are at various stages of construction. Fiv...

Indian Express: August 07, 2019 The proposed NSE IFSC-SGX Connect aims to bring together the trading of Nifty products in GIFT-City and create a larger pool of liquidity comprising international and home market participants, NSE said. Both exchanges are also working to discontinue related arbitration proceedings, NSE added. Bringing an end to the dispute over Nifty trading in Singapore, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) have received approval from their respective regulators — Monetary Authority of Singapore and Sebi — for their international financial services centre (IFSC) for trading in Nifty products on the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City). The proposed NSE IFSC-SGX Connect aims to bring together the trading of Nifty products in GIFT-City and create a larger pool of liquidity comprising international and home market participants, NSE said. Both exchanges are also working to discontinue related arbitration proceedings,...

Indian Express: August 07, 2019 As China expressed “serious concern” at India’s decision to revoke the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and bifurcate the state into two Union Territories, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan voiced apprehension that Pulwama-like attacks could follow the Centre’s move, which could even trigger a conventional war between Pakistan and India. Responding to China’s statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that “India does not comment on the internal affairs of other countries and similarly expects other countries to do likewise”. This comes ahead of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to China on August 11. China, with which India shares a contested border, said that “the parties concerned should exercise restraint and act with caution, especially to avoid actions that unilaterally change the status quo and exacerbate the tension”. On the day Lok Sabha passed The Jammu and Kashmir Reorgan...

Economic Times: PTI: August 06, 2019 Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi last week wrote a letter to the UN in which it warned that India was "preparing ground" to withdraw the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the Foreign Office has said.  The Foreign Office on Monday night issued the text of the letter Qureshi sent on August 1 to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, President of the UN Security Council and President of the UN General Assembly.  Qureshi in the letter highlighted the "deteriorating" human rights situation in Kashmir, alleged violation of ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) and India ending Kashmir's special constitutional status.  "India is preparing ground to abolish Article 35-A of its Constitution as a first step, followed by the revocation of Article 370," he wrote.  The Indian government on Monday revoked Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The Rajya Sabha approve...

Economic Times: Reuters: August 07, 2019 NEW DELHI: China has told India not to block its Huawei Technologies from doing business in the country, warning there could be consequences for Indian firms operating in China, sources with knowledge of the matter said.  India is due to hold trials for installing a next-generation 5G cellular network in the next few months, but has not yet taken a call on whether it would invite the Chinese telecoms equipment maker to take part, telecoms minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said.  Huawei, the world's biggest maker of such gear, is at the centre of a geopolitical tug-of-war between China & the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration put the company on a blacklist in May, citing national security concerns. It has asked its allies not to use Huawei equipment, which it says China could exploit for spying.  Two sources privy to internal discussions in New Delhi said India's ambassador in Beijing,...

Firstpost: PTI: August 06, 2019 New Delhi: Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC will invest up to Rs 4,400 crore in the road assets of IRB Infrastructure Developers, according to a company statement. As part of the transaction, IRB will transfer 9 of its BOT (build, operate and transfer) assets into a private infrastructure investment trust in which IRB will hold a controlling stake of 51 percent, IRB said on Tuesday. The deal was approved by the board following which IRB has signed binding definitive agreements with GIC for a total investment of up to Rs 4,400 crore, including the funding of future construction costs. "IRB Infrastructure Developers today announced the investment by affiliates of GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, in its road platform...The portfolio spans across 1,200 km in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka," IRB said in a statement.  Singapores GIC to invest up to Rs 4,400 cr in road...

F.: Reuters: August 06, 2019 Bengaluru: India Inc has turned in its most disappointing quarterly numbers in at least three years and analysts warn hopes for any festive season cheer are likely to be dashed by a slowing economy. More than 60 percent of 125 firms that have reported so far, and are tracked by analysts, missed profit forecasts for the June quarter, the most since at least 2016, Refinitiv data shows. India’s biggest lenders and automakers have all sounded warning bells over the slower growth in demand and consumption.“It’s going to be a gloomy Diwali. Things are not going to change immediately in the next two or three months,” said Umesh Mehta, head of research at Samco Securities. The Indian festive season, which starts in September and runs through the end of the year, is the biggest sales season for companies. It typically peaks around Diwali, or the festival of lights, in October. But this time, the outlook for the period is subdued after India’s e...

The Telegraph: August 06, 2019 The Sensex on Monday touched a five-month low and the Nifty gave up all its gains of 2019 as investor sentiment was hit by the Centre’s move to abrogate Article 370 for Jammu & Kashmir. The political development came amid other headwinds such as the trade war between the US and China and poor corporate earnings. In a surprise move, the central government proposed to abolish Article 370 that gave a special status to Jammu & Kashmir. The Centre moved a separate bill to bifurcate the state into two separate union territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The step led to concerns that the political situation in the state could worsen. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had on Sunday said that the situation in Kashmir had the potential to blow up into a regional crisis. For the investor, the development comes at a time equities have fallen sharply over the past few weeks. While foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have been net...

The Print: SAURAV JHA: August 05, 2019 The Indian Navy’s decision to transfer one of its Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines, INS Sindhuvir, to Myanmar hopes to limit Chinese military influence and aid Myanmar in its emerging naval competition with Bangladesh. On its part, Myanmar helps India secure its own maritime interests in the Bay of Bengal region. Myanmar Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing had visited Delhi last month, during which India and Myanmar signed a defence cooperation agreement. India’s willingness to transfer a frontline submarine when it is facing a shortage of such platforms reveals a desire on New Delhi’s part to consolidate the growing convergence in security interests with Myanmar. Gone is the time when there were fears of Myanmar offering a ‘second coast’ to China. Instead, the Indian Navy and the Myanmar Navy today conduct institutionalised joint patrols, and India is constructing connectivity corridors of its own in Myanmar i...

The Print: NEETI NAIR: August 06, 2019 Kashmir is in lockdown. The special status of Jammu and Kashmir has been ‘scrapped’ as though it were a mere doodle, and not the only semblance of legal fiction that continues to tie India to Kashmir. To be fair to the Bharatiya Janata Party, this had always been on its agenda. Writing in The Illustrated Weekly of India in June 1993, then-BJP vice-president and spokesperson K.R. Malkani had outlined his party’s solution for the Kashmir problem. Article 370 was “temporary and transitional” and “must go. But it can go only when there is a two-thirds majority for it in Parliament. That is going to take some time. And the BJP would avail of this time to convince everybody, and particularly the Kashmiris, that Article 370 is not good for anybody. It has only acted as a cover for corruption and irresponsibility. Once it is gone, Kashmir will have the same rights and responsibilities as Punjab and Bengal.” Twenty-six years later, the BJ...

The Print: AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA: August 05, 2019 New Delhi: There are sufficient troops stationed at the India-Pakistan international border and the Line of Control to thwart any challenge from the neighbouring country, senior Army sources told ThePrint Monday. The sources said the seasonal deployment of additional security forces made during the Amarnath Yatra — including the Army and Central Armed Police Forces — will remain in place for the time being. The clarification comes amid the rumoured possibility of Pakistan redeploying its troops from the border with Afghanistan to the Indian side, in the wake of the Narendra Modi government’s move to scrap Article 370 and bifurcate the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — J&K and Ladakh. Sources said any redeployment from Pakistan would be nothing more than political posturing — it would be Pakistan’s way of showing the US that as a result of a rise in tensions with India, the peace process with ...

The Print: DAVID STRINGER: August 04, 2019 Melbourne: It’s just a marketing gimmick. But it casts a spell. A pale orange-and-gold sunset bathes the macadamia plantations and avocado orchards that sweep down to Australia’s Byron Bay. The coming dusk is a cue for two sleek Tesla battery packs in the garage at Amileka, a secluded holiday villa nearby. They stir silently into action—powering the appliances in the five-bedroom home’s twin kitchens, recharging a $100,000-plus Model X SUV, driving a filter pump for an 18-meter swimming pool sparkling in the shade of a century-old native black bean tree. From first light on this Southern Hemisphere autumn day, a bank of 33 rooftop solar panels has been capturing the sun’s energy. At times, the electricity is directed back to the local grid. But mostly it’s funneled into the garage and stored in Powerwall units, in the same type of rechargeable cells that fuel the automaker’s vehicles. The batteries—as tall as refrigerators,...