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By: FE Bureau | Published: January 29, 2020 Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), an RSS-affiliated trade union, on Tuesday slammed the Centre’s plan to privatise Air India. It urged the government to think “a hundred times” before going for privatisation of the airline. “While calculating profit and loss of Air India, we need to think of the fact that Air India has been operating many of the low-profit or loss-making routes only to serve the passenger and connecting people with one another, promoting national unity; no private player will operate like that. Privatisation of AI can have a cascading impact; like many of those airports which would lose flights may face further crises; many of the emerging cities may face the crisis of connectivity, etc,” BMS said in a statement. The Centre on Monday sweetened its offer for the sale of the debt-laden carrier. The government now intends to offload its 100% stake from 76% proposed in a 2018 attempt. Apart from retaining a large part

By: Uttam Gupta | Updated: January 29, 2020 If the government wants to restrict subsidised supply only to small and marginal farmers having landholding size <2 hectares, this will require two streams of supplies in the distribution channels viz. Reportedly, the government is likely to fix nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) rate for urea before rolling out the direct cash transfer (DCT) of urea subsidy to farmers’ accounts. The subsidy, expressed as rupees per hectare, will be based on soil health, and size of landholding. The idea of NBS for urea is not new. It was recommended, in 2012, by a committee under the chairmanship of then agriculture minister Sharad Pawar in the follow-up to a similar scheme for non-urea, or phosphate (P) and potash (K) fertilisers introduced in April 2010. After dilly-dallying for close to a decade, it has been resurrected. The Union government controls the maximum retail price (MRP) of urea at a low level, unrelated to the cost of production

By: Bloomberg | Published: January 29, 2020 The breach “ranks among the largest payment card breaches of 2019, and of all time” because it potentially affected 850 stores and 30 million payment records, Gemini Advisory said in a report on Tuesday. Credit and debit card information from customers of the food and gasoline chain WaWa Inc. is being sold online, according to the fraud intelligence company Gemini Advisory. The breach “ranks among the largest payment card breaches of 2019, and of all time” because it potentially affected 850 stores and 30 million payment records, Gemini Advisory said in a report on Tuesday. The news follows WaWa’s announcement in December that payment processors in its stores had been compromised. Gemini discovered that data from cards used at WaWa — many of which belong to U.S. financial institutions — is available for sale on Joker’s Stash, a notorious online marketplace where credit and debit card information is bought and sold. Data

Written by Sun Weidong | Updated: January 29, 2020 China has written into its constitution the principle of adhering to the path of peaceful development and the win-win strategy of opening up. No matter which stage of development we reach, we will never seek hegemony, expansion or spheres of influence. History has just started on the third decade of the 21st century. There is a mixture of anticipation and confusion about the future. We live in an era full of opportunities and challenges. The dawn of the fourth industrial revolution illuminates the way forward for human progress, with the collective rise of emerging countries improving the lives of billions of people. At the same time, however, the international order and system on which all countries depend for their survival and development have been undermined. Unilateralism, hegemonism and power politics still haunt us. Some countries still take military risks in international relations, and the Sword of Damocles of wa

Written by Nushaiba Iqbal | New Delhi | Updated: January 29, 2020  While curbing oil imports has been under discussion since the Budget presented in July 2019, the move has been construed as retaliation against Malaysia’s PM, who has criticised India’s internal policy decisions. India has cut import duty on crude palm oil (CPO) and refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm oil, and also moved RBD oil from the “free” to the “restricted” list of imports. While curbing oil imports has been under discussion since the Budget presented in July 2019, the move has been construed as retaliation against Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, who has criticised India’s internal policy decisions such as the revocation of the special status for Jammu and Kashmir and the new citizenship Act. Malaysia has also been sheltering since 2017 the Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, who is wanted by India on charges of money laundering, hate speech, and links to terror. Has India banne

PT Jyothi Datta  | Updated on January 28, 2020  Instead of culling animals once there is an outbreak, the more civilised thing to do is to examine the trade It was on an uninvited visit to a slaughterhouse many years ago, that a disturbing truth was revealed. That humans working and living in these areas lived in as despicable a condition as they kept the animals. The unmistakable stale stench that hung oppressively, the wet boggy ground and the lack of medical officers to check if the animals being brought in were sick or diseased. It was a classic recipe for disaster. The message from these squalor-filled human and animal co-habitations was ominous. Ensure hygiene and better farm practices in the meat industry, if you don’t want to have disease-ridden meat coming to your table or viruses jumping species and mutating dangerously to infect and kill humans. This grim truth has reared its head again as the international scientific community now investigates the source o

Our Bureau  New Delhi | Updated on January 27, 2020 Horticulture output to touch 313 mt The days of onion crisis seem to be over. According to the first advance estimates released by the Agriculture Ministry on Monday, onion production in the current crop year is projected to be 24.45 million tonnes (mt), nearly 7 per cent more than 22.82 mt produced in the 2018-19 crop year. India’s crop year runs from July to June. Apart from onions, most major vegetables, including potato and tomato, are expected to have higher output than last year, pushing the total vegetable production to 188 mt, against 183 mt in 2018-19. Fruit production, on the other hand, is expected to slide by 2.27 per cent to 95.74 mt from 97.97 mt. Vegetable production The bumper vegetable production is expected to push up the total horticulture production to 313.35 mt, about 1 per cent higher than the 310.74 mt projected in the final estimates for 2018-19. The Ministry announced the final estimates for

Amiti Sen  New Delhi | Updated on January 28, 2020 Decision on procedures needs to be expedited to prevent domestic prices from spiralling To enable shipments of refined palm oil to come in from countries such as Nepal and Indonesia following the government’s decision to place the commodity in the restricted import list, the Centre is working on licensing norms for its imports. “An inter-Ministerial group comprising senior officials from Ministries and Departments including Food and Consumer Affairs will decide on the licensing norms. They will try to ensure that exporters from countries such as Nepal and Indonesia are not unnecessarily hassled,” a government official said. Price rise fears The Centre, however, needs to act fast on the matter as delay in firming up the licensing procedures could fuel an increase in prices of edible oil in the domestic market due to a shortfall in import of refined palm oil and an increase in import prices of crude palm oil, the of

PTI Brussels | Updated on January 28, 2020  The EU will not ban Chinese telecom giant Huawei in Europe, a top official said on Tuesday, despite intense pressure from Washington to shun the company over spying fears. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, will officially unveil its recommendations on Wednesday, but commissioner Thierry Breton told MEPs that Brussels will choose tight scrutiny over any blanket ban. “It is not a question of discrimination it is a question of laying down rules. They will be strict, they will be demanding and of course we will welcome in Europe all operators who are willing to apply them,” he said. Reference https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/world/eu-will-not-ban-huawei-but-impose-strict-5g-rules/article30674575.ece

Maitri Porecha  New Delhi | Updated on January 28, 2020 ‘Despite the job scheme’s success in boosting disposal income in rural areas, government intentionally ignoring it’ With Central funds for paying workers under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) drying up, wage dues are accumulating, Public Financial Management System (PFMS) data accessed from the Ministry of Rural Development’s NREGS portal show. As on January 27, 91 per cent of wages, involving 2.03 crore transactions running to ₹2,802.59 crore, were pending for the current month. In December, 53.87 per cent was pending, involving 1.3 crore transactions, running to ₹1,765.78 crore. In October and November, the pendency hovered between 29 and 32 per cent. “Every financial year, from the third quarter onwards, funds for NREGA dry up. As a result, work slows down and delays in wage payments escalate. Every year, about 20 per cent of the NREGS budget is used to clear arrears. This cycle continue

Ashwini Phadnis  New Delhi | Updated on January 28, 2020 The government’s move to divest stake in Air India seems to have evoked a lukewarm response from the global airline majors. While the Dubai-based Emirates said that it does not intend to acquire equity in Air India, Singapore Airlines said that it does not comment on any “specific investment opportunities including India.” A spokesperson for Air France KLM refused to comment on the airline’s position and on Monday evening. Ronojoy Dutta, Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo said “No comments” when asked whether IndiGo will participate in Air India’s divestment. These responses come less than 24 hours after the government released the Preliminary Information Memorandum inviting entities to acquire a 100 per cent stake in Air India and Air India Express and a 50 per cent stake in Air India SATS Airport Services Private Limited. “We do not intend to acquire equity in Air India as we are currently focused on our own

Suresh P Iyengar  Mumbai, Updated on January 28, 2020 Categorises commodities based on their realised volatility SEBI has further tightened norms for commodity futures trading by categorising commodities based on its volatility and imposing identical margins across exchanges. Due to wide variation in liquidity and volatility among different commodity derivatives, SEBI has categorised commodities as per their realised volatility and has prescribed floor values of initial margin and IMPOR (initial margin period of risk) depending upon their categories. Clearing Corporation of the particular exchange will be entirely responsible for addressing risk and fixing the margins. Sanjit Prasad, Managing Director, ICEX, said the risk management tools of securities markets cannot be superimposed on commodity derivatives market in totality. The latest SEBI addresses the challenges of risk emerging from the underlying commodities market, he added. Commodity with realised annua

PTI Updated on January 28, 2020 Over 1,000 companies from nearly 70 countries will take part in the biggest-ever DefExpo to be held in Lucknow from February 5-9, the Defence Ministry said. The number of foreign companies participating in the expo has also increased to 165 from 160 previously. In the earlier edition of the DefExpo held in Chennai, 702 companies had participated. Defence ministers and service chiefs of 35 countries have confirmed their participation for the event, the ministry said in a statement. It said a substantial number of Memorandum of Undertaking (MoUs) are expected to be inked during the Expo that will help in new business collaborations. The event is themed ‘India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub’ and it will focus on bringing leading technologies in the defence sector under one roof and provide myriad opportunities for the government, private manufactures and start-ups. It will cover the entire spectrum of aerospace, defence an

Sun 26 Jan 2020 Worldwide health challenges serve as a grave warning to those who would bury their heads in isolationism The world’s most populous country yesterday celebrated the lunar new year, usually a time of family reunion and joyful celebration. For many Chinese people who have moved away from their place of birth, it is the one time of year they get to visit their familiesThis year the coronavirus outbreak has profoundly muted the celebrations in China, with several cities in lockdown, the imposition of quarantine measures unprecedented in their scale, and many citizens anxious about their own health and that of their families. The Chinese have borne the brunt of the outbreak so far: coronavirus is known to have killed more than 40 people, and infected another 1,300. But the first cases have already been recorded in the US, Australia, and – on Friday – in Europe. Like Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome, also a coronavirus), bird flu and Ebola, this coro

FP Staff Jan 28, 2020 On Monday, a special court set up under the PMLA in Mumbai remanded Kapil in the ED custody till 29 January The ED alleged Kapil later amalgamated the five dubious companies with Sunblink Real Estate to cover alleged diversion of loans acquired from DHFL The agency claims in 2010, the Wadhawans, using Sunblink Real Estate as a front, executed a deal with Iqbal Mirchi to purchase the three properties owned by Mirchi for a sum of Rs 225 crore Dewan Housing Finance Ltd CMD Kapil Wadhawan, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday on money laundering charges, allegedly siphoned off funds to the tune of over Rs 2,100 crore about nine years ago using shell companies, according to news reports. On Monday, a special court set up under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Mumbai remanded Wadhawan in ED custody till 29 January. The court accepted the agency's arguments for his remand, reported PTI. In 2010, Kapil Wadh