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Special Correspondent, The Telegraph India, December 29, 2017 The government is going ahead with the strategic sale of the Dredging Corporation of India by seeking bids for a legal adviser, unperturbed by the protests of workers against the move. The government's entire 73.47 per cent stake sale could fetch about Rs 1,400 crore to the exchequer. The total turnover of the company in 2016-17 was Rs 599.69 crore. The net worth of the company by the end of the September quarter was Rs 1,547.57 crore. The department of investment and public asset management (Dipam) has sought bids from legal firms with experience and expertise in mergers and acquisitionsakeovers/strategic divestment to act as legal adviser and assist the government in the process. It had earlier sought bids from firms to value the assets of the Visakhapatnam-based company. "The government is considering a strategic divestment of 100 per cent paid-up equity capital of the government in DCI (at presen...

Special Correspondent, Telegraph India, December 29, 2017 The government on Thursday introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to amend the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to bar willful defaulters and promoters with dubious antecedents from bidding for stressed. The bill, which was introduced by finance minister Arun Jaitley, brings greater clarity on who are eligible for the auction of stressed assets for resolution under IBC. The bill gives defaulting promoters a chance to bid if they are able to clear their loans within a month. It has also permitted asset reconstruction companies, alternate investment funds and banks to participate in the bidding. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill 2017 replaces an ordinance brought last month to plug the legal loopholes. According to the statement of objectives, the bill was being introduced as the original act did not bar anyone from participating in the bidding or resolution of a company being sold off because its...

Sonal Arora, Financial Express, December 29, 2017 Last month saw the first trade union from the Indian information technology (IT) industry getting registered in Tamil Nadu. This got many worried, lest it open the floodgates with more trade unions coming up, leading to a possibility of unionism or collective bargaining or industrial unrest in an industry that was so far away from such contentious phenomenon. While there is nothing wrong with trade unions as such, most employers and industry bodies view them with suspicion because, unfortunately, trade unions in India have always made ‘job protection’ as their primary agenda. It is important to recognise that, unlike some developed economies, India does not have a ‘jobs problem’—our unemployment rate is 5%—but a ‘wages problem.’ Almost everyone in India who wants a job can get one, just not at the salary they want. It is also important to recognise that higher wages or value that people demand can only be provided by formal sector...

Reuters, December 29, 2017 Venezuela’s cryptocurrency will launch within days and be backed by 5.3 billion barrels of oil worth $267 billion, in a bid to offset a deep financial crisis, the socialist government said on Thursday. President Nicolas Maduro surprised many earlier this month when he announced the “petro” cryptocurrency, to be backed by OPEC member Venezuela’s oil, gas, gold and diamond reserves. Despite the scepticism of cryptocurrency experts who do not think Venezuela has the wherewithal to pull it off, communications minister Jorge Rodriguez said the first petro offering would come within days. “Camp one of the Ayacucho block will form the initial backing of this cryptocurrency,” Rodriguez told reporters, referring to part of Venezuela’s southern Orinoco Belt. “It contains 5.342 billion certified barrels of oil. We’re talking about backing of $267 billion,” said Rodriguez, adding that that differentiated the petro from other cryptocurrencies such as Bi...

AFP, APP, December 29, 2017 The United States is prepared to partner with Pakistan to defeat terrorist organisations seeking safe havens, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson wrote in an op-ed published in the New York Times on Wednesday. In an opinion piece titled 'I Am Proud of Our Diplomacy', the US's top diplomat said Pakistan "must demonstrate its desire to partner with us" to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for terrorists. "Pakistan must contribute by combating terrorist groups on its own soil," he wrote, adding that a commitment to stopping terrorism and extremism had motivated the Trump administration to unveil a new South Asia strategy, which focuses on Afghanistan. “That country [Afghanistan] cannot become a safe haven for terrorists, as it was in the days before the Sept 11 attacks.” Read: 'Trump has put Pakistan on notice,' US VP Pence warns in surprise Kabul visit Tillerson defended his country...

RC Acharya, December 29, 2017 What appears as a tiny red dot on the southern tip of Malaysia on most of the world maps is the city-state of Singapore, a pocket-size economic superpower. With a population of about 5.7 million and just under 720 sq km of landmass, it packs a mighty economic punch, much above its size, with a GDP of $90,000 per capita and an unemployment rate of just 1.7%. Consequent to attaining independence from the British in 1963 as a part of Malaysia, two years later it opted out of the uneasy alliance as it became an independent state, and since then it has never looked back. In 1960 itself, it had set its sights on making itself an economic powerhouse when the government decided to set up an industrial estate at an investment of $46 million, a princely sum those days, in the mangrove swamps of Jurong, southwest part of the main island of Singapore. As later on admitted by Goh Keng Swee who was then the finance minister in the government of Singapore, it could...

ET Bureau, December 28, 2017 Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom arm of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) has inked a definitive agreement to buy the wireless infrastructure assets of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications and its affiliates in an all-cash deal.  Market circles are pegging the deal size at roughly Rs 24,000 crore, but this could not be confirmed from either Jio or RCom.  Consequent to the agreement, "Jio or its nominees will acquire assets under four categories - towers, optic fibre cable network, spectrum and media convergence nodes (MCNs) from RCom and its affiliates, the telecom unit of RIL said in a media statement Thursday.  These assets, Jio said, "are strategic in nature and expected to contribute significantly to the large-scale rollout of wireless and fibre-to-home services by the company".  Jio was advised on this transaction by Goldman Sachs, Citigroup Global Markets, JM Financial, Davis Polk & Wardwe...

THE HINDU Amitangshu Acharya & Sunderrajan Krishnan December 28, 2017 When Sri Lankan cricketers trooped out wearing pollution masks in the middle of a Test match at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi, it heralded a new low for the city. The desolation of smog plays out every year with immaculate regularity. Anti-corruption rallies in 2011 and the brutal rape of ‘Nirbhaya’ in 2012 may have brought thousands of people out on the streets of Delhi but anti-pollution activism has largely been home-based. WhatsApp has been preferred over popular venues like Ramlila Maidan or Jantar Mantar. People have, indeed, thronged the streets, but it was either for the Delhi marathon or to watch the Test match against the Lankans. Delhi has proved time and again — either by damaging the Yamuna floodplain to host a World Culture Festival, or bursting crackers in Diwali even after a court ban on its sale — entertainment comes first. Significant sections of recent reportage on Delhi’s ...

The Hindu  Dinakar Peri December 28, 2017 In its National Security Strategy (NSS), the U.S. has called China a “challenger” and “rival” while welcoming India’s emergence as a “leading global power and stronger strategic and defence partner”, and declared that it seeks to increase ‘Quadrilateral’ cooperation with Japan, Australia, and India. The NSS also states that the U.S. would support India’s growing relationships throughout the region. While the broader emphasis on improving the partnership is welcome, policy-makers in New Delhi should be cautious on two counts. One, India should be wary of any attempts at being pitted as a front in the U.S.’s efforts to check China’s rise. Two, while the notion of the Indo-Pacific sounds grandiose and enticing, India must not forget that its primary area of concern is the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Securing its position here is vital before venturing elsewhere. More importantly, it would not be an exaggeration to say that India h...

The Hindu Srinivasan Ramani December 28, 2017 In less than a year, the Donald Trump presidency in the U.S. has administered quite a few body blows to many a signature achievement of his predecessor Barack Obama — for instance, the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate pact. Another addition to this list must be the decision by the government agency, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to remove regulations that have disallowed Internet service providers (ISPs) in the U.S. from throttling, blocking or speeding up Internet content for firms that pay for faster access for customers. The FCC’s decision was made possible by a 3-2 vote on party lines, with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a Trump appointee and a Republican, clinching it. This is a major blow to “net neutrality” in the U.S. Net neutrality is at the core of an open Internet that does not allow for content discrimination by ISPs. This principle has allowed the burgeoning of the Internet, from one as a means of ...