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The Hindu October 29, 2019 The Federal Communications Commission also plans to propose requiring those carriers to remove and replace equipment from such designated companies The U.S. telecommunications regulator plans to vote in November to designate China’s Huawei and ZTE as national security risks, barring their U.S. rural carrier customers from tapping an $8.5 billion government fund to purchase equipment or services. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also plans to propose requiring those carriers to remove and replace equipment from such designated companies, FCC officials said on Monday. At a meeting set for November 19, the FCC said it plans to vote to ask carriers how much it would cost to remove and replace Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and ZTE Corp from existing networks and to establish a reimbursement program to offset the costs of removing the equipment. “When it comes to 5G and America’s security, we can’t afford to take a risk and hope for th...

Money Control October 29, 2019 Amazon is investing Rs 4,472.50 crore ($630 million) in three of its Indian businesses, Amazon Pay, Amazon Retail and Amazon Sellers, according to Paper.vc, a Bengaluru-based business insights platform. The largest chunk of investment of Rs 3,400 crore will go into Amazon Seller Services, which runs the marketplace business, and is the biggest cash guzzler due to deep discounting, promotions and marketing. Amazon Pay India, which competes with Flipkart’s PhonePe, Paytm, Google Pay among others, will get Rs 900 crore to continue funding cashbacks, marketing and adding more merchants. The remaining Rs 172.50 crore will be ploughed into Amazon Retail, the food business that will competewith Flipkart’s Farmermart. Amazon Retail will operate as a full-fledged food retail business, including its own label and grocery supply chain. The investment comes at a time when Flipkart has decided to take a food licence and invest close to Rs 2,500 c...

Science Alert October 30, 2019 Government red tape and vocal opposition to a genetically modified strain of rice has led to millions of unnecessary deaths and blindness in impoverished children, according to science writer Ed Regis, who details the plight of Golden Rice in a new book. Golden Rice was genetically engineered to include beta-carotene, a chemical that our bodies can use to produce vitamin A. Deficiency in this vitamin is a leading cause of preventable childhood blindness worldwide, with up to 500,000 children becoming blind every year. Lacking vitamin A can increase the risk of death from childhood illnesses and infections, too. The problem is prevalent in more than half of all the world's countries, especially in Africa and South-East Asia, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). While supplements can go a long way in dealing with this harrowing problem, the WHO notes that food fortification is one method for addressing the issue in the lon...

The Economic Times October 29, 2019 India’s severe drubbing at the hands of Democrats last week over the Kashmir situation was a wake-up call. It should encourage a rethink of approach, a rebooting of effort, even a re-imagination of how to engage Capitol Hill. If you have doubts, listen to what a Congressional staffer told me snarkily, “The Indians thought they owned the US Congress. They don’t. They have a problem here.” Of course. That’s not rocket science. But how India got here, and what should be done to address the problem is a more relevant question. A draft resolution by Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal is now in the works. Can India’s friends be roused to take a stand and prevent further embarrassment for New Delhi? The Congressional hearing was bad enough. Congressman Brad Sherman, chairman of the Asia subcommittee, didn’t even pretend to be impartial. Reasons for his displeasure are murky. But he is believed to be upset over the way his request to sp...

Livmint October 28, 2019 The Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of ₹35 lakh on Tamilnad Mercantile Bank for violating norms on frauds classification and notification. The central bank imposed the fine via an order dated 24 October, 2019. The bank has been penalised for "non-compliance with certain provisions of directions issued by RBI on frauds classification and reporting by commercial banks and select FIs directions 2016," the RBI said in a release on October 25. "This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers," the central bank said. The RBI had conducted a statutory inspection of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank on its financial position as on 31 March, 2017, based on which a show cause notice was issued to the bank as to why penalty should not be imposed for non-compliance with the directions. After...

Livmint October 28, 2019 Concern about SoftBank Group Corp.’s massive debt load has reared its head again after the company unveiled a $9.5 billion bailout for WeWork last week, hurting its shares and bonds. While the price tag for SoftBank to rescue the debt-riddled US shared-office startup isn’t seen as big relative to its total investment portfolio, concern is growing about the impact on its leverage. Analysts expect its loan-to-value ratio, a key metric looking at its net interest-bearing debt against the value of investments, to rise as a result of the WeWork acquisition, though they generally see it staying below the company’s target. “This announcement is a fundamental credit negative for SoftBank Group," wrote Mary Pollock, a senior analyst at CreditSights, in a report. She said the deal will increase SoftBank’s LTV to 22.8%. Son has said he wants to keep that gauge below 25%. The gauge was at 18% as of Friday. SoftBank spokeswoman Hiroe Kotera said, “O...

The Economic Times,  October 28, 2019 Billionaire Mukesh Ambani moved a step closer to creating an e-commerce giant for India, unveiling plans to set up a $24 billion digital-services holding company that would become the main vehicle in his ambition to dominate the country’s internet shopping space. The board of Ambani’s Reliance IndustriesNSE -0.57 % Ltd. approved a proposal to plow 1.08 trillion rupees ($15 billion) into the fully owned subsidiary, which will in turn invest that amount in Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., the conglomerate’s telecommunications venture. A series of capital transfers would make Jio, which already has capital of 650 billion rupees, almost debt free by March 2020, the parent said Oct. 25. The move by Asia’s richest man is the latest sign of the oil-to-petrochemicals group’s pivot toward data and digital services for future growth, as it builds an online platform to take on the likes of Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.‘s Flipkart Online Serv...

Daily Beast, October 28, 2019 U.S. Special Operations Forces cornered Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a nighttime raid in Syria early Sunday morning before the Islamic State leader took his own life after triggering an explosive suicide vest he was wearing. Despite the carnage, the White House announced that American commandos quickly confirmed Baghdadi’s identity by combining facial-recognition technology and fast DNA analysis.  The near-instant forensic analysis appears to be a dramatic demonstration of new capabilities U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) developed in part to address ambiguities that resulted from the commando raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. Most importantly, a new, smaller and much faster DNA-reader that troops can haul into combat aboard their helicopters and use while the smoke from combat is still clearing. Acting on fresh intelligence regarding Baghdadi’s whereabouts, U.S. forces based in northern Iraqi p...

The Express Tribune, October 28, 2019 ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday termed the recent government decision to ban Jamaat-e-Ulema-i-Islami-Fazl (Fazl) subordinate organisation Ansarul Islam infructuous. The single-judge bench presided by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, while hearing a petition challenging Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s decision, summoned the interior ministry to explain how the federal government could ban an organisation that does not exist on paper. JUI-F counsel Kamran Murtaza informed the high court that while JUI-F was registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as a political party, Ansarul Islam was not a ‘private militia’ as stated by the government but a subordinate of Jamaat-e-Ulema-Islami (JUI) that has been operating since the era of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Justice Minallah said if the Ansarul Islam workers were members of a political party then the notification to ban them was inf...

Dawn October 28, 2019 WASHINGTON: Anonymous shell companies are one of the most widely used methods for laundering the proceeds of crime and corruption, says the latest report by the Paris-based international financial agency Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Its latest report identifies “best practices” to help countries “get rid of the cloak of secrecy” concerning the ultimate owner of a company, foundation, association or any other legal person, and prevent their misuse for crime and terrorism. “Transparency of beneficial ownership is essential to prevent the misuse of companies, associations or other entities for money laundering or terrorist financing,” the report says. A beneficial owner is a legal term to describe a person who enjoys the benefits of ownership even though the title to that property or business is in another name. FATF recommendations require countries to ensure that authorities can obtain up-to-date and accurate information about the per...

The Express Tribune, October 28, 2019 ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to waive income tax and duties for those investing in Eurobonds and Sukuk as per its medium-term note programme (MTN). The finance ministry has already sent a summary to the government for the exemptions citing that the Income Tax Ordinance 2001 had a provision for it in its schedule II. As per clause 75 of the schedule, any international government institution, private company, firm, association of persons or resident could be given tax exemption on income or interest against any loan agreement, foreign currency instrument, government scheme or treasury receipts. However, as per the Rules of Business 1973, the federal government must be served with a formal request for the exemptions. After the federal government’s approval, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) will issue a formal notification for the exemptions permitted, according to finance ministry sources. Rs200b Sukuk issued t...

The Hindustan Times, October 27, 2019 The government has already spent nearly 80% of its full-year budget for the flagship rural job guarantee programme, top officials said on Friday, and is staring at a situation where it has to infuse more money into it to revive a stuttering rural economy in the face of a potential cash crunch. As demand for work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has surged, which analysts said pointed to a worsening of rural distress amid an economic slowdown, the job programme has already generated 150 crore persondays of employment in the fiscal year as of October 25. That compares with 268 crore persondays in the entire last financial year, official data showed. Many analysts have underlined that the BJP’s below-par performance in the Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections reflected concern, among other factors, about the economy, which slumped to a growth rate of 6% in the three months to June 30, the ...

The Hindustan Times,  October 28, 2019 India has taken up Pakistan’s denial of use of its airspace to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flight with the International Civil Aviation Organisation, government sources said on Monday. Modi is travelling to Saudi Arabia later in the day on a bilateral visit. India has sought overflight clearance from Pakistan for the prime minister’s aircraft to go to Saudi Arabia. Sources said India regrets Pakistan’s decision to yet again deny overflight clearance for the VVIP special flight which is otherwise granted routinely by any normal country. India has taken up the issue of denial of overflight clearance with the relevant international civil aviation body, they said. “Overflight clearances are sought, and granted by other countries as per prescribed ICAO guidelines,” said a source. India will continue to seek such overflight clearances, sources said. Citing alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakis...

The Economic Times, October 28, 2019 In a move which will make treatment of tuberculosis (TB) simpler, accessible and affordable, global non-profit drug developer TB Alliance has tied up with domestic company Macleods Pharmaceuticals to develop and commercialise its ‘breakthrough’ drug Pretomanid in high-burden countries, including India. Pretomanid is an important drug for the treatment of highly drug-resistant TB (DR-TB), if taken along with other TB medicines. It is also the third new anti-TB drug approved by USFDA in over 40 years. Significantly, Macleods has now become the second generic manufacturer for the drug, globally, after the TB Alliance earlier granted rights to US drug maker Mylan in August this year. Drug resistance is a major public health crisis thwarting the effective treatment of tuberculosis and India has the highest number of TB and DR-TB patients in the world. The licence granted to the Mumbai-based company puts to rest doubts about the access...

The Economic Times, October 28, 2019 Transactions using India’s own domestic payments platform—Unified Payments Interface (UPI)—hit a landmark of one billion in October, three years after its launch. The UPI also recently crossed 100 million users, making it the fastest adoption of any payments system anywhere in the world. Having achieved this double milestone, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates the UPI platform, aims to take the network global by enabling acceptance of UPI in Singapore and the UAE. The UPI platform, which was launched before demonetisation in 2016, enables users to send money from their account to any account without entering bank details by using an email-like handle or scanning a QR code. The NPCI, which launched the Ru-Pay network, had launched this to promote digital payments by harnessing the ubiquitousness of smartphones. “The UPI has had the fastest acceptance not just in payments but among other platfor...