Happy Media

 Oct 10, 2017, 03.06 PM IST India Inc is preparing plans for mega investments for the electric vehicle mission including charging infrastructure worth thousands of crores in cities, batteries and purchase of three-wheelers and cars. Government officials said they have held extensive discussions with more than 50 companies, domestic and foreign, for setting up charging infrastructure – a vital requirement of the country’s ambitious e-vehicle plan. Ola and several local taxi aggregators are also considering bulk purchases of electric three-wheelers and e-rickshaws and lease them, industry executives and officials said. A top official involved in the government’s e-vehicle’s programme said Tata PowerBSE -0.67 %, ABB, ACME Cleantech, and few Dutch firms are actively considering setting up vehicle charging stations, while ExideBSE -2.12 % Industries, Amron Batteries and Microtek have held discussions with officials about supplying batteries and setting up bulk shops for motori...

The Times Of India,  TNN  |  Oct 10, 2017,  NEW DELHI: India may believe its relationship with Europe is on an upswing, but Germany says India and Europe have "failed" to realise their potential. Addressing journalists in an annual India-Germany media dialogue, Martin Ney, German ambassador expressed his disappointment. "India and EU have many reasons to increase their cooperation but I am sorry to say we have failed to live up to the potential. So far, there is no decision to resume negotiations for free trade and investments protection agreements." In an official statement later in the day, the ambassador was quoted as saying, "On the EU-India summit, there is no decision to resume negotiations on a free trade agreement including investment protection, despite the possibility being at hand. There was no such decision taken at the last EU-India summit in March 2016. EU and Indian leaders did not take such a decision during the summit two days ago...

The Times Of India, Tushar Pawar |  TNN  |  Oct 10, 2017, NASHIK: Onion prices continue to soar in the country's largest wholesale market at Lasalgaon in Nashik, with wholesale traders saying that the prices could rise further during Diwali. Wholesale onion traders of the Lasalgaon Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) said the widening gap between the demand and supply had pushed up the prices. The average wholesale onion prices have increased by 80% in the past 10 days at the APMC, with Monday, when the market reopened after the weekend, recording an increase of 21.33%. The average price of onions was Rs 2,451 per quintal on Monday as against Rs 2,020 on Friday. APMC sources said the rise in wholesale onion prices was expected to get reflected in retail prices in the next few days. The retail price has already increased to over Rs 30 per kg in Nashik and may go up to Rs 35 per kg in the next few days. Elsewhere in the country, the retail price coul...

The Times of India, Jaideep Shenoy |  TNN  |  Updated: Oct 9, 2017, MANGALURU: Be it decorative items like lights, gift items, lamps and wall hangings or other products, the sale of Chinese goods may decline by 40-45 per cent this Diwali as compared to last year, according to a survey by Assocham-Social Development Foundation (ASDF). The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India survey said, there seems to be a decline of about 40-45 per cent in consumption of Chinese products on this Diwali in comparison to last year.  Chinese products had recorded a 30 per cent decline in sales last year on Diwali. Some of the Chinese items that are most bought on Diwali are: fancy lights, lampshades, Ganesha and Laxmi idols, rangolis and crackers etc. As per the findings, this Diwali, people are preferring Indian products over Chinese goods. There has been a 40-45 per cent impact on goods like decorative lights, which record huge sales during Diwali, whe...

The Hindu Business Line, Updated: October 9, 2017  State-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) held foodgrain stock of 46 million tonnes as on October 1, which is 53 per cent higher than the buffer norm. According to the buffer norm, the FCI was required to keep a stock of 30.77 mt of foodgrain. FCI’s latest data shows the corporation held 27.86 mt wheat and 18.18 mt rice, taking the total grain stock to about 46 mt as on October 1 of this year. The stock, however, is higher than the year-ago period and also the actual buffer requirement for running the Public Distribution System (PDS), welfare schemes and other exigencies. The corporation also sells surplus stock in the open market in times of a price rise or tight supply situation. The FCI purchases the grain at the minimum support price directly from farmers. Link-http://m.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/fci-foodgrain-stock/article9894576.ece

The Hindu Business Line, Updated: October 9, 2017  Intel India has trained 9,500 developers, students, professors in 90 organisations over the past six months as part of the cloud developer programme involving artificial intelligence. Prakash Mallya, managing director for sales & marketing at Intel India, said “In April this year, we made a commitment at the India AI day, to democratise AI here by training 15,000 developers. Already as of today we have trained 9500 developers, students, and professors, across 90 organisations to ensure that India is not only AI ready but already delivering results.” He was addressing the cloud developer day today in Bangalore organised by the the largest chip maker which was attended by more than 400 developers. Link- http://m.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/intel-india-trains-9500-developers-in-ai-technology/article9895527.ece

Khushboo Narayan, The Indian Express, Mumbai,  Updated: October 9, 2017  A PROBE by the government’s Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has alleged that Kingfisher Airlines understated losses to the extent of Rs 7,151.18 crore for financial years 2008-09 to 2011-12 by changing accounting practices, some of which were in violation of Accounting Standards. By presenting better than actual financials, Kingfisher was able to obtain higher bank loans, some of which were used to meet continuing cash losses, the report alleged. The government agency, which probes financial fraud, has stated in the report that the airline changed its accounting policy after consulting professors from the Indian Institutes of Management, Bangalore and Calcutta, instead of the apex accounting body, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in India (ICAI). The SFIO report has listed a couple of areas where the airlines changed accounting methods. ...

The Indian Express, George Mathew | Mumbai |  Updated: October 9, 2017  A SERIES of surveys undertaken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have indicated that more people see consumer confidence declining, business sentiment in manufacturing dipping, inflation on the rise and growth sliding. The findings are in sync with the RBI’s position in its monetary policy review on October 4, which slashed growth forecast from 7.3 per cent to 6.7 per cent for fiscal 2017-18. The current perceptions of households on the general economic situation remained in the pessimistic zone for four successive quarters, with the outlook worsening, the RBI said. The Consumer Confidence Survey, released by the RBI on October 4 soon after it unveiled the bi-monthly monetary policy, says the response for the current perception on the general economic situation showed 34.6 per cent saying “improved” as of September 2017, down from 44.6 per cent in September 2016. According to the survey, ...

News 18, PTI, October 9, 2017 Washington:  Donald Trump has proposed a merit-based immigration system that could benefit highly-skilled Indian workers but prevents them from sponsoring their extended families, as part-of an aggressive plan which the US president said will serve national interest. However, there was no reference to the H-1B visas, the most sought after by Indian IT professionals, in the proposal which Trump sent to Congress on Sunday. Besides overhauling the country's green-card system, the Trump administration's wish list also includes the funding of a controversial border wall along the US-Mexico border and a crackdown on unaccompanied minors entering the country. The move to establish a merit-based immigration system could benefit highly-skilled Indian immigrants especially those from the IT sector. However, the new policies would badly impact those thousands of Indian-Americans who want to bring in their family members to the US particu...

Devina Sengupta  |  ET Bureau  |  Updated: October 09, 2017,  MUMBAI: Tata Teleservices (TTSL), the telecom unit of Tata Sons, is preparing an exit plan for most of its 5,000-odd employees, which includes a notice of three to six months, severance packages for those willing to leave earlier, a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for elders, while transferring only a small part of its employees to other group companies. Company executives and industry insiders said the debt-laden telecom company, which will shut its operations soon, had last month asked circle heads to leave by March 31, 2018. "The Tata Group has always taken care of its people, but very few will get absorbed in other group companies. It is unfair to saddle other Tata companies with employees of TTSL," said a senior official, who did not wish to be identified. The transfer may only happen if there’s a niche set of skills needed in other firms that may match with those of employees in ...