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Business Standard June 26, 2019 India on Wednesday told the  United States  that it will go by its national interest on  S-400  missile deal with sanctions-hit Russia, even as  New Delhi  and  Washington  vowed to work their way through it as also other prickly issues, including those related to trade, to take the bilateral ties to new levels.  India's strong stance on the   S-400   deal was conveyed by External Affairs Minister  S Jaishankar  to his American counterpart Mike Pompeo during their wide-ranging meeting, the first high-level interaction between the two countries after return of the Modi government to power last month.  The two leaders held talks in one-on-one and delegation-level formats followed by working lunch and resolved to deepen Indo- US  cooperation in combating terrorism, including by strengthening intelligence-sharing. Later at a joint press interaction, Pompeo and Jaishanka...

Financial Express June 26, 2019 Sunil Jain There can be little doubt that farmers sowing GM seeds – both Herbicide Tolerant (HT) cotton as well as Bt Brinjal – under the umbrella of the Shetkari Sangathana are breaking the law since, as of now, these have not been approved of by the government. But, while the state police departments have been quick to register FIRs against some farmers – based on a complaint made by the central government’s environment ministry – the central government needs to think about its own role in this sordid tale and how it has prevented Indian farmers from getting cutting-edge technology that farmers in other countries have access to; if farmers then chose to break the law to draw attention to their plight, they are not the only ones to blame. The important thing to keep in mind is that this is not just a case of farmers – or those associated with the Shetkari Sangathana – being unreasonable while the government is in the right. In the case of Bt...

Business Standard June 27, 2019 Bitcoin  jumped to an 18-month high on Wednesday, as investors looked for safety in alternative investments amid geopolitical tension, and cheered prospects that Facebook Inc's  Libra  token could push cryptocurrencies into the mainstream. The world's biggest  cryptocurrency  has surged in value since April and on Wednesday hit a peak of $13,666.02 on the Bitstamp exchange, the highest level since January 2018. So far this year,  bitcoin  has risen more than 260%, although it remains below its all-time high of nearly $20,000 hit in December 2017.  Bitcoin  last traded up 14.7 per cent at $13,475. Investors have flocked back in to digital currencies after a bruising 2018. Bitcoin has risen for eight consecutive days. And now Facebook has said it would offer its own cryptocurrency, the  Libra  coin, by end of June 2020. Analysts say Facebook's announcement this month has revived interest in ...

Business Standard June 27, 2019 Shifting the major chunk of rice production to India’s central and eastern states like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, while encouraging wheat cultivation through sustainable  irrigation  in the rice-growing regions of Punjab and Haryana, could help India prevent an impending water crisis by 2030, according to a 2018  study  by the  National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development ( NABARD ) and Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations ( ICRIER ). Water deman d by 2030 is projected to be twice the available supply, a WaterAid India   report   from March 2019 showed. Inefficient cropping patterns have impacted groundwater reserves, that have provided for roughly 84% of the irrigated area added in the last four decades, said the NABARD and ICRIER study titled ‘Water Productivity Mapping of Major Indian Crops’. Rice and wheat, two of India’s most important food crops, are also the most wate...

The Hindu June 26, 2019 The ongoing U.S.-China trade war escalation could knock off 0.4 percentage points from world GDP growth by 2020, and possibly lead to the lowest growth since 2009, according to Fitch Ratings. “The imposition by the U.S. of 25% tariffs on the remaining $300 billion of imports from China would reduce world economic output by 0.4 percentage points in 2020,” Fitch Ratings said in a report. “Global GDP growth would slow to 2.7% this year and 2.4% next year, compared with our latest ‘Global Economic Outlook’ baseline forecasts of 2.8% and 2.7% respectively. China’s growth rate is expected to be reduced by 0.6 percentage points, and U.S. growth by 0.4 percentage points in 2020. Import tariffs: Fitch has assumed a scenario in which the U.S. imposes import tariffs at 25% on $300 billion of goods from China and China retaliates by imposing a 25% tariff on $20 billion of U.S. imports untouched by the trade war so far, and by raising the tariff rate on $1...

Business Line June 26, 2019 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties worth  ₹ 9,778 crore in a case of cheating and bank fraud committed by Sterling Biotech Ltd (SBL) and the Sandesara Group. This includes four oil rigs and the oilfield OML 143 located in Nigeria,held by Sterling Energy Exploration Pvt Co Ltd (SEEPCO). The main promoters of the company — Nitin Sandesara, Chetan Sandesara and Deepti Sandesara — have been accused of siphoning bank loans for personal purposes, diverting them to their oil business in Nigeria and violating RBI rules, said an ED statement. Ships registered in Panama and held in the name of Atlantic Blue Water Services, a business jet registered in the US and held by SAIB LLC, and a residential flat in London have also been attached.  Last year, the ED had attached   ₹ 4,730-crore worth of properties after a case was registered by the CBI in 2017 for cheating and bank fraud to the tune of   ₹ 5,383 crore against ...

Hindustan times June 26, 2019 One of India’s largest cities, Chennai, is dealing with a crippling crisis: It has run out of water. In the middle of a particularly hot summer, the four lakes that supply the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu have dried up; together they contain just 1% of the volume they did last year. Residents don’t have enough water to drink, bathe or wash clothes. People are working from home; malls have closed their bathrooms; and restaurants have shut their doors. The natural instinct is to blame the situation on climate change and, indeed, the last monsoon’s rains were especially weak. While that’s certainly played a role, however, Chennai’s is largely a man-made disaster – one that more Indian metropolises are soon to suffer no matter the weather. According to a study by the federal government think tank NITI Aayog, 21 Indian cities will run out of groundwater by next year, including the capital New Delhi and the information technology...

Hindustan times June 26, 2019 Alcohol and tobacco can be more harmful to individuals and the society than recreational drugs like cannabis and ecstasy that are governed by disproportionately strict regulations, according to a report released by the Global Commission on Drug Policy on Tuesday. Of the four psychoactive substances -- alcohol, heroin, crack cocaine, methamphetamine -- that cause the highest levels of harm, two are regulated as the most dangerous substance, one as moderately dangerous. Alcohol is not subject to any international regulation. Of the four substances with lowest levels of harm, two were regulated as most dangerous, too, according to the report. This skewed regulatory framework leads to economic losses with a high number of people incarcerated and people in need not having access to opioids. “I see the number of people locked in prison because of drug use or possession and that is not how people need to be treated. When I see people without acce...

Business Standard June 26, 2019 Currency notes in circulation stood at Rs 21.71 trillion at May-end 2019, showing an increase of more than 22 per cent over the pre- demonetisation  level. According to a written reply given by  Finance Minister  Nirmala Sitharaman  in the  Rajya Sabha  on Tuesday, the notes in circulation as of November 4, 2016, were Rs 17,74,187 crore, which have now increased to Rs 21,71,385 crore as of May 31, 2019. The government had decided to demonetise old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8, 2016. Sitharaman said the notes in circulation had grown at an average growth rate of 14.51 per cent year-on-year since October 2014. "As actual notes in circulation on May 31, 2019 are only Rs 21,713.85 billion, the demonetisation, followed by  digitalisation  and reduction of cash use in  informal economy  has succeeded in reducing the notes in circulation by as much as Rs 3,408.68...

Dawn June 26, 2019 KARACHI: The United Kingdom has increased its funding support to Pakistan from £400 million pounds to £1 billion and this is an important statement of our confidence and commitment for trade with Pakistan, said Simon Penney, Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner (HMTC) for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The words reiterate a commitment made between Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi last week in which the UK agreed “to double the available support for exports to Pakistan”.  “What this means in practice is that part of that money can be used to help UK companies reduce the risk of doing business in other countries. From Pakistan’s point of view, the most important feature of it is the money the UK will make available to Pakistani companies and projects,” said Penney, currently on his first visit to Pakistan, during a meeting with journalists at the British High Commission. He was accompanied by UK Deputy High...