CA December 20

TELANGANA GETS RS 450 CRORE CENTRAL AID FOR BACKWARD DISTRICTS        

The Centre has released a special assistance of 450 crore rupees to Telangana this fiscal for development of backward areas in terms of provisions under Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.

An official release said, the backward districts which are being supported are Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Medak, Mahbubnagar, Rangareddy, Nalgoda and Khammam.

These additional resources from the Central Government would enable the State to devise and implement schemes best suited for mitigation of backwardness and alleviation of poverty.

The developmental activities will improve the physical and social infrastructure bringing these districts at par with the more developed districts of the state.

The Centre has so far provided 900 crore rupees to the State for this purpose.

 LPG SUBSIDY: I-T TO SHARE DATA OF TAXPAYER WHO EARN OVER RS 10 LAKH

In an attempt to check pilferage of subsidy on cooking gas by the higher income groups, the Income Tax department will soon begin sharing with the Petroleum and Oil Ministry details of all individual taxpayers whose annual income exceeds 10 lakh rupees.

The tax department, apart from sharing the names of such people, will also share personal details of a taxpayer like Permanent Account Number (PAN), date of birth, gender, all available addresses in the I-T database, email id and the residential phone and mobile numbers.

The move has been approved by the policy-making body of the department, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), in the backdrop of government’s decision which had said that tax payers with annual income of more than 10 lakh rupees will not get subsidised cooking gas (LPG).

The government has already asked well-off people to voluntarily give up using subsidised LPG and instead buy cooking fuel at market price.

DECLARE AREA AROUND CORBETT, PARKS ECO-SENSITIVE ZONE: HC TO CENTRE          

The Nainital High Court has directed the Union Government to declare 10 km of area around the Jim Corbett National Park and other parks and sanctuaries in Uttarakhand as eco-sensitive zone within six months. The Court also ordered the State government not to declare any wild animals as man-eaters. AIR correspondent reports that hearing a petition on forest fire in Uttarakhand, the Court yesterday gave extensive directions for the protection and conservation of forests and wildlife.

While hearing a Suo moto writ petition on forest fire in Uttarakhand the divison bench of Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Alok Singh of the High Court, gave extensive directions for the protection and conservation of wildlife in Uttrakhand. In separate directives to the Union and State governments the court directed to impose a ban on fresh construction within the radius of 10 kms around the parks.

The court also directed the state government not to declare wild animals, including, tigers, leopards, etc, as man-eaters. Instead it had ordered to constitute a committee under the Principal Secretary, Forest, to decide upon the matter of wild animals causing threat to human beings. Issuing directions to the state government for taking measures against forest fires, the court ordered for appointing at least 10,000 fire watchers to detect and contain fire. It also ordered the eviction of van gujjars, from the forest land, within one year. Sanjeev Sundriyal ,Air news, Dehradun

GOVT LAUNCHES GARV-II APP TO MONITOR RURAL ELECTRIFICATION DATA      

The government has launched Grameen Vidyutikaran mobile application GARV-II in New Delhi today.

Launching the application, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said, GARV-II which is an upgraded version of its earlier version, hosts village-wise, habitation wise baseline data on household electrification on all states.

The Minister said, Power Ministry has set target of making 100 percent rural electrification by covering the uncovered 4 to 5 lakh habitations by 2019.

More than eleven thousand villages have already been electrified with the active support from state governments, REC, Discoms and Grameen Vidyut Abhiyanths.

Mr Goyal said, his Ministry is indebted to those five crore households which are yet to receive electricity in their homes. He said, every student, kisan, old aged, women should get electricity for India to become digital.

A Citizen Engagement Window ‘SAMVAD’has also been provided in the App to enhance public participation.

GOA SHIPYARD TO BEGIN WORK ON DEVELOPING MCMVS IN MID-2017: PARRIKAR    

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said, the work on building and designing ambitious Mine Countermeasures Vessels will begin in Goa Shipyard Limited by May-June next year. Addressing BJP’s Vijay Sankalp rally yesterday evening in Dabolim constituency, Mr Parrikar said, Goa Shipyard Limited, GSL has been given orders worth 36,000 crore rupees by the Defence Ministry.

He said, the GSL is currently creating infrastructure required to take up such a huge contract. He said, for next ten years, they will have a turnover of 3,600 crore rupees annually. Mr Parrikar said, their capacity is of 1,200 crore rupees so they will have to outsource the work. He said, around 8,000-10,000 employment oppurtunities will be created through Goa Shipyard Limit

LIFESTYLE DISEASES DEVELOPING IN AFRICAN NATIONS: WHO

African nations are developing lifestyle diseases, according to World Health Organisation (WHO)

Mainly due to city life and its modern trappings which have brought bad habits like smoking, harmful use of alcohol, a poor diet and low levels of physical activity

Lifestyle diseases are defined as diseases linked unhealthy lifestyle of people

Diseases that impact lifestyle are heart disease, stroke, obesity and type II diabetes

More people die of chronic lifestyle diseases than infectious diseases by 2030

Estimated that 46% of Africans suffer high blood pressure, the highest worldwide

Averages of 35% of people were overweight and that the average time spent in moderate or high intensity physical activity is less

FOLK CRAFTS FESTIVAL OF INDIA-NEPAL STARTS IN KATHMANDU

India-Nepal Folk Crafts Festival, the five day festival (INCF-2016) begins in Kathmandu, Nepal

To promote crafts based bilateral relations and enhance cultural exchanges between the artisans of India and Nepal

More than 70 theme based pavilion with focus on folk crafts of India and Nepal

Sponsored by Indian Union Ministry of Textiles

Organised by South Asia Foundation and SAF-Nepal in association with Council of Handicrafts Development Corporations (COHANDS)

EARLY PRINTED BENGALI BOOKS TO BE DIGITIZED BY THE BRITISH LIBRARY

The British Library is planned to digitise 4,000 early printed Bengali books as a part of a project under the UK India Year of Culture plans for 2017

It is a part of “Two Centuries of Indian Print” project, an International partnership between India and UK

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and the second largest library in the world

The books span at least 22 South Asian languages

The project has received funding of nearly 500,000 pounds from the Newton Fund

This project will make South Asia’s rich and vibrant printed heritage accessible to everyone

JET AIRWAYS ANNOUNCES A THREE-DAY SALE ON DOMESTIC FLIGHTS

Jet AirwaysBSE -1.85 % has announced a three-day sale on domestic flights for tickets booked for three days starting December 20, 2016.

“Tickets must be purchased between December 20, 2016 and December 23, 2016. The travel validity for the fares will be effective January 4, 2017 onwards with 15 days advance purchase restrictions,” the airline has said in an email to travel agents.

The airline said that these offers will be on select domestic routes. While other airlines have not yet responded to it yet but the airlines are likely to launch discounted fares too.

BANKS COULD GAINS RS 38K CR DUE TO DROP IN BOND YIELDS

Indian banks could collectively gain a total of Rs 38,200 crore in the current fiscal year from potential treasury gains due to the sharp drop in government bond yields because of the momentous liquidity with banks after the withdrawal of high denominated currency notes, India Ratings & Research said in a report on Tuesday.

“The Rs 38,200 crore worth of potential treasury gains are significantly large, considering the banking sector reported an Rs 23,600 crore profit for FY16 (public sector banks (PSBs) reported INR 177 billion in loss),” India Ratings associate director Soumyajit Niyogi said in a report.

Banks have been awash with unprecedented liquidity after the government pulled out the high denomination Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes from circulation on November 8. People have deposited Rs 12.44 lakh crore of old high denominated notes until December 10.

The benchmark ten year bond yield has dropped to 6.48% after starting the fiscal year at 7.46% mainly because the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced its benchmark repo rate by 50 basis points to 6.25% from 6.75% in this period. It has reduced its rate by 175 basis points since January 2015. One basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

However the fall has been steep since the surplus liquidity due to the withdrawal of high denominated notes as the yield has dropped more than 30 basis points to 6.48% from 6.80% in the last one-and-a-half months.

AIR INDIA JOINING UDAN PARTY TO TAKE LONGER ON DORNIER APPROVAL TIME

With the government preparing for the take off of UDAN, Air India might take longer to play an active part in the ambitious scheme as regulatory approval for the 19-seater Dornier aircraft is likely to happen only by July next year.

The national carrier is expected to be a vital clog in the government’s efforts to make flying more affordable by connecting unserved and under-served airports as well as capping fares for one-hour flights at Rs 2,500 under UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik).

To be part of the scheme, Air India is mulling induction of around 10 to 12 Dornier aircraft by its wholly-owned subsidiary Alliance Air.

Dornier planes, made by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), are yet to be utilised for general passenger services and hence would require relevant approval from aviation regulator DGCA.

A senior Air India official said a committee has already submitted its report that examined feasibility of inducting Dornier planes into Alliance Air fleet.

While a final decision on the report and further moves are expected soon, the official said around 10-12 such aircraft are likely to be inducted.

GM INDIA TO HIKE PRICES BY UP TO RS 30,000 FROM JANUARY

General Motors India today said it will hike prices of its vehicles by up to Rs 30,000 from next month to offset rise in inputs costs and adverse impact of foreign exchange fluctuation.

“Effective from January 1, 2017, the estimated price increase on all the Chevrolet cars will range between 1 per cent to 3 per cent depending on the product and variant which will make vehicles approximately Rs 30,000 higher in 2017,” the company said in a statement.

Commenting on the development, GM India Vice President of Sales & Network Hardeep Brar said: “In the adverse market conditions, the price hike is necessitated on account of higher manufacturing cost as the input prices surge year-on-year.”

He further said, “In line with the industry practice and rising manufacturing and other administrative cost, we proposed a price increase across our product line in India.”

With the increase in Foreign Exchange rates and high inflationary cost, there has been a considerable increase in raw material pricing leading to higher manufacturing cost in the sector, which is the primary reason for the price hike, he added.

GM India sells a range of vehicles from the hatchback Beat at a starting price of Rs 3.95 lakh to SUV Trailblazer tagged at Rs 24.37 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Already companies, including Hyundai Motor India, Tata Motors, Toyota, Nissan, Renault and Mercedes-Benz have announced that they would hike prices of their vehicles from January.

JUBILANT LIFE SCIENCES ANNOUNCES PRICE HIKE OF UP TO 15%

Jubilant Life SciencesBSE -3.90 %, a global leader in the pyridine, picolines and nutrition industry, today announced a price increase of up to 15 per cent for its select products.

“We have increased price up to 15 per cent for Beta Picoline, 3-Cyanopyridine and Vitamin B3 (Niacin & Niacinamide) with immediate effect, for non-contract customers and wherever existing contracts permit,” a company statement said here.

Jubilant Life Sciences is engaged in pharmaceuticals, life science ingredients and drug discovery solutions.

The pharmaceuticals segment, through its wholly owned subsidiary Jubilant Pharma, is engaged in manufacture and supply of APIsBSE 0.00 %, solid dosage formulations, radio-pharmaceuticals, allergy therapy products and contract manufacturing of sterile and non-sterile products through 6 USFDA approved manufacturing facilities in India, USA and Canada.

CYRUS MISTRY RESIGNS AS DIRECTOR: TATA POWER

Tata PowerBSE -0.71 % today said that Cyrus Mistry has resigned as director of the company with immediate effect, ahead of the extraordinary general meeting next week for his removal from the board.

“… Cyrus Mistry has resigned as Director of the company with immediate effect,” Tata Power said in a BSE filing today, citing a communication sent by him to the company on December 19.

After an eight-week bitter boardroom battle, ousted Tata Group Chairman Cyrus P Mistry has quit from the boards of six listed companies including Tata MotorsBSE 0.23 % and Indian Hotels yesterday.

In a two-page statement and a recorded video message, Mistry, who was unceremoniously removed as Chairman of Tata Sons on October 24, said the objective of effective reform and best interests of employees, shareholders and other stakeholders of the Tata Group “would be better served by moving away from the forum of the extraordinary general meetings”.

Earlier, Tata Power had informed the BSE about holding an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Monday in Mumbai to consider the resolution for removal of Mistry as director of the firm.

Tata Consultancy ServicesBSE 2.12 % has already voted to remove Mistry from the board, while two unlisted firms including Tata Industries too have removed him.

In separate regulatory filings yesterday, operating companies, including India Hotels, Tata Motors and Tata SteelBSE -1.73 % said Mistry has resigned from their respective boards with immediate effect.

Even though being replaced as chairman of Tata Sons on October 24, Mistry continued to be on board of the operating companies, including heading some of them. Following his refusal to step down from the board of operating companies, Tata Sons had asked the operating companies to call for EGM.

UNITED BANK OF INDIA GAINS IN RECOVERY FRONT AFTER DEMONETISATION

The demonetisation move is indirectly helping United Bank of India in meeting its high recovery objective during third quarter- observed top brasses in the bank, known for its very strong presence in cash prone rural Eastern Indian region.

To cope with the post-demonetisation scenario, the Kolkata based bank has also started taking innovative projects including launching mobile ATM counters for the remote tea gardens that don’t have easy access to banks or ATMs.

“Though demonetisation has put all of us under extra work load, it is also imparting a positive effect on our recovery rate. Since the announcement on 8th November, many of our customers are depositing money in their loan accounts. Our H O is tabulating the figures and keeping eyes on the trend of recovery in the NPA accounts too,” Mr. Pawan Kumar Bajaj, MD & CEO of United Bank of India told ET during his recent visit to northern part of West Bengal.

He also added, “In general, our recovery rate remained in good swing since the beginning of third quarter. In October itself, it was around 200 crore. But now, after all these new developments also, recoveries are coming in even better rate. We expect it to cross our objective of Rs 600-700 crore by the end of December.”

The bank with around 2000 branches and total business of around 2 lakh crore had a recovery of around 400 crores in 2nd quarter while its profit declined for 29.6 percent to Rs 43.5 crore from Rs 61.8 crore in same period last year. The slippage was assessed as impacted by higher provisions for bad loans and declined net interest income. Following that, the bank took up many measures including increasing recovery.

HPL ELETRIC & POWER BAGS RS 100 CRORE ORDERS

Electric equipment maker HPL Electric & Power Ltd has bagged orders worth Rs 100 crore.

The orders include Rs 70 crore order for Bhopal Smart City Lighting project and Rs 33 crore for supplying energy meters from Southern Power Distribution.

HPL Electric & Power Ltd joint managing director Gautam Seth said, “At HPL, we have fully dedicated teams working on the advancement of street lighting system that help in energy efficiency. Adding to our order book, we have also received a Rs. 33 crore order for Energy Meters from Southern Power Distribution.”

FUTURE ENTERPRISES TO SELL 16% STAKE IN FUTURE LIFESTYLE

The home grown retail major Future Enterprises (FEL) will be selling 16% stake in Future Lifestyle for Rs 380 crore, a notice to the stock exchanges on Tuesday said. FEL owns the physical assets or the store formats and infrastructure assets in the stores of Future RetailBSE 2.10 % and Bharti retail.

Future Enterprises was carved out of restructuring of Kishor Biyani led Future group. The erstwhile Future Retail Limited (E-FRL), the flagship company of the Future Group was split into two separate entities including Future Retail and FEL. As per the arrangement, Future Retail is involved in carrying out retail trade whereas all infrastructure assets are owned by FEL.

Valued at around Rs 800 crore at the current market price, FEL generates over Rs 1000 crore EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortisation) from its real-estate and rental logistic business. FEL has over Rs 4500 crore worth of investments and a debt of equal amount. Market analysts said the company plans to monetize all its investments over the years.

SCIENTISTS DEVELOP NEW BIRD-LIKE DRONE WITH FEATHERS

Scientists have developed a new bird-like drone equipped with feathers which is capable of changing its wingspan, flying at high speed and moving through tight spaces.

Birds alter the configuration of their wings, when they need to change direction, increase their speed or counter headwinds.

To steer, they spread one wing and slightly retract the other. By adjusting their wingspan in this way, they create a calculated imbalance that causes them to turn.

SCIENTISTS DISCOVER JET STREAM IN EARTH’S CORE THROUGH SATELLITE X-RAY SCANNING

Using the latest satellite data that helps create an ‘x-ray’ view of the planet, scientists discovered a jet stream within the Earth’s molten iron core.

“The European Space Agency’s Swarm satellites are providing our sharpest x-ray image yet of the core.

We’ve not only seen this jet stream clearly for the first time, but we understand why it’s there,” said lead researcher Phil Livermore from the University of Leeds in Britain.

“We can explain it as an accelerating band of molten iron circling the North Pole, like the jet stream in the atmosphere.

EU LAUNCHES ITS OWN GALILEO NAVIGATION SYSTEM

Eight years late and billions over budget, European officials flipped the switch Thursday on a satellite navigation system meant to rival the U.S.-made GPS service that’s become a staple feature of smartphones and cars worldwide.

The Galileo system, named after the Italian engineer and astronomer, is designed to provide commercial and government customers with more precise location data than GPS.

Being able to pinpoint a position is critical to a growing range of products and systems, including real-time logistics, self-driving cars and drone delivery services.

INDIA LAUNCHES FIRST SURVEY ON RARE EARTH METALS TO REDUCE DEPENDENCY ON CHINA

India has invited companies to participate in a three-year survey for its deposits of rare earth minerals.

The aero geophysical exercise will be conducted over three years for collecting baseline magnetic and spectrometric data.

The government will soon finalize the global firm that will conduct the survey over 800,000 sq. km area at a cost of $ 210 million.

INDIA OUTPACED CHINA IN NAVAL PATROLLING OF INDIAN OCEAN

Despite China’s deep pockets, India has undertaken more patrols in the Indian Ocean.

The increased activity may give India some sense of satisfaction but Chinese Navy’s coziness in east and west coast remains a security question.

could be proof of a shift in India’s strategic policy, New Delhi has outpaced China in naval patrolling of Indian Ocean Region.

India’s naval voyages across Indian Ocean have almost doubled in the first nine months of 2016.

India’s patrolling is approximately 300% than that of China in world’s third largest ocean.

INDIA’S HOME-GROWN CRUISE MISSILE NIRBHAY LIKELY TO BE TESTED TODAY FROM ODISHA

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is all set to go for a fresh trial of the home-grown cruise missile Nirbhay from a defense base off Odisha coast on Tuesday.

The indigenously developed surface-to-surface sub-sonic missile, which is compared with America’s Tomahawk missile, is likely to be test-fired from the launching complex-III of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur-on-sea.

A few scientists involved with the project have, however, expressed concern as the missile is being pushed for trials despite shortcomings in it.

“The snags in the flight control and navigation software have not been sorted out. Strangely, the authorities are pinning illogical hopes on its success.

MAHARASHTRA CHIEF MINISTER, ISRO CHIEF KIRAN KUMAR GET KANCHI SEER MEMORIAL AWARDS

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar and two others were conferred the prestigious SIES-Kanchi Seer awards in different fields at a function in Mumbai on Sunday night, an official said.

They were selected for the awards in Public Leadership and Science & Technology respectively.

The other two recipients were eminent UK-based Tamil, Sanskrit and Telugu scholar-cum-musician John Ralston Marr and Hari Katha exponent from Tamil Nadu Kamala Murthy.

MISS WORLD 2016: PUERTO RICO’S STEPHANIE DEL VALLE TAKES THE CROWN

Stephanie Del Valle from Puerto Rico was crowned the Miss World 2016 here, with representatives from Dominican Republic and Indonesia as runners-up. India’s Priyadarshini Chatterjee only made it to the top 20.

Miss World 2015 Mireia Lalaguna Royo crowned the 19-year-old Stephanie — the second Puerto Rican to hold the title after Wilnelia Merced won it in 1975 — at the event’s grand finale held at the MGM National Harbor here on Sunday. The winner was ecstatic as she sat down to be crowned.

The event was aired live on Zee Cafe.

Stephanie pipped the other top four finalists from Kenya, Indonesia, Dominican Republic and Philippines to win the title.

UJJAIN CLINCHES ‘CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT AWARD’

Ujjain bagged the most innovative Citizen Engagement Award on Monday at a function held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi under Digital India Awards (formerly Web Ratna Awards).

Ex-Simhastha fair officer Avinash Lawaaniya and his deputy Sujan Singh Rawat received the prestigious award for the city from Union information and technology minister Ravishankar Prasad.

During Simhastha many new technologies were used to provide necessary information to crores of devotees like GIS application, mobile applications and website for Simhastha, call centre, display system, social media presence and many more.

BRONZE FOR INDIAN CAGERS

The Indian senior men’s basketball team claimed the bronze medal at the 21st Best Mart 360° Super Kung Sheung Cup International Basketball Invitation Championship here on Sunday.India comfortably saw off local team Eastern Long Lions 90-60, with as many as four players scoring in double digits.The third-placed finish will come as consolation for India after having suffered an agonising 89-93 defeat in the semifinals late on Saturday.Captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi’s 35 points went in vain as India lost to Southern California Fukienese Association (USA), the eventual champion.

ANAND SCORES OVER TOPALOV

Viswanathan Anand scored a win over Veselin Topalov in the eighth and penultimate round of the London Chess Classic here on Saturday.Anand, playing black, surprised Topalov with his 12th move — a pawn-push on the queen’s side in the Queen’s Gambit Declined encounter involving former World champions. Topalov defended the position well, but later committed two back-to-back blunders and lost in 34 moves.The victory took Anand’s tally to 4.5 points and kept him in the joint-third spot with Vladimir Kramnik and Hikaru Nakamura.Wesley So (5.5), who drew with second-placed Fabiano Caruana (5), took his half-a-point lead into the final round.

ABHINAV TO LEAD TAMIL NADU

Abhinav Mukund will lead the Tamil Nadu team against Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals scheduled in Visakhapatnam from December 23 to 27.Meanwhile, the chairman of State selection panel S. Sharath said, “Both M. Vijay and R. Ashwin are available for this match and so we have picked them. Both are keen to play for Tamil Nadu.”Pace bowler L. Vignesh and opening batsman Washington Sundar have been left out.Earlier, former BCCI president and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association supremo N. Srinivasan had made it clear that he would like Ashwin and Vijay to play for the State during their upcoming Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Karnataka.We want them to play and they are both keen to play, said Srinivasan on the sidelines of the fifth Test.However, Vijay’s shoulder injury sustained while fielding during the current Test match meant that he could not open the batting alongside Rahul. Srinivasan also wanted Vijay to prove his fitness before the domestic game.