India GDP to grow faster in FY18 at 7.5%: Moody’s

Moody’s said the inflation rate in India has steadily declined to 3 per cent as of April

The Indian economy will grow at 7.5 per cent in the current fiscal, which rate will accelerate to 8 per cent in about four years, US rating agency Moody’s said on Wednesday ahead of the release of GDP figures for 2016-17 later in the day.

“We expect marginally faster growth in India. According to our forecast the economy will grow 7.5 per cent in fiscal year 2017 (2017-18) and 7.7 per cent in fiscal year 2018 (2018-19),” Moody’s Investors Service said in its Global Macro Outlook.

“Overall, we continue to believe that economic growth will gradually accelerate to around 8 per cent over the next three to four years,” it said,

The American agency also said that the negative impact of the November 8 demonetisation of high-value currency on the economy was limited in size and duration.

“The ruling BJP’s victory in the Uttar Pradesh state elections indicates that the government has remained politically popular despite the demonetisation exercise,” the report said.

The government has pushed through major reforms like further liberalising foreign direct investment (FDI) rules in a number of key sectors, the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme for food, fertiliser and kerosene subsidies, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and a National Bankruptcy Code.

“Together, these will help reduce inefficiencies and improve trend growth over the long run,” Moody’s said.

The rating agency, however, cautioned that “persistent banking sector weakness from a high proportion of delinquent loans on bank balance sheets will weigh on growth, if not resolved, by constraining credit for investment-related activity”.

“Private sector investment has remained weak despite progress on reforms, suggesting that some hurdles to investment remain binding in many cases.”

Moody’s said the inflation rate in India has steadily declined to 3 per cent as of April, owing to weaker food price inflation.

“We believe that the inflation rate will rise to around 5 per cent by the end of this year, once the effect of this temporary factor fades,” it said. | READMORE…

Protestors challenge cow rakshaks by openly eating beef in Chennai

Attack on IIT's PhD scholar by students allegedly affiliated with Right wing bodies led to protest

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras on Wednesday witnessed protests against the attack on an institution's research scholar who participated in the beef fest on the campus on Sunday. A group of protestors challenged cow rakshaks (vigilantes) by openly eating beef during the protest.

Various students of Revolutionary Student Youth Front (RSYF), Students Federation of India (SFI), Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC), and activists of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) protested near IIT-Madras gate against attack on an IIT Madras research scholar by some Right wing students for participating in beef fest.

Sooraj R- a PhD scholar and a member of Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle (APSC) was allegedly attacked on Tuesday by some students, who are allegedly affiliated with Right wing student bodies.

However, the police detained the protestors before they could enter the Campus.

While other student bodies raised slogans against Narendra Modi led Union Government's order and demanded arrest of the students who allegedly attacked Sooraj, activists of the TPDK went a step ahead and openly ate beef during the protest.

A TPDK protestor told ANI that "Students wings affiliated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have brutally beaten one of the students of this institution. We condemn this dastardly act. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is indulging in terrorist act and the attackers must be booked under Goonda act."

He added that 'beef eating act' was a way to put forward their demand.

"Eating beef is tradition of Tamil people and nobody can change this. Therefore, we demand the revocation of Centre's ruling on the sale of cattle ban."

Other protestor alleged that the police were unleashing violence against the protestors.

"Police have unleashed violence against protesters. They are beating us mercilessly. Is this a democracy? Do we not have right to speak, right to protest?

He also equated drinking cow urine practice with the practice of beef eating in Tamil Nadu.

"With regard to consumption of  beef  as the union government headed by BJP believes in drinking of urine, in the same lines, slaughtering cow and eating its beef is our tradition. We may eat beef or we eat something else, who are these people to stop or question us?"

(READ MORE)

Xiaomi Redmi 4 sale begins on Amazon: All you need to know about the device

The Redmi 4 is a capable smartphone with a perfect screen size and resolution. Watch hands-on review

Xiaomi's latest budget offering, the Xiaomi Redmi 4, went on sale at 12 noon on Tuesday, exclusively on Amazon India. In the first flash sale that had taken place on May 23, the smartphone had seen a huge interest from buyers and registered a record sales number of a whopping 250,000 units within the first eight minutes.

According to Amazon.in, the Xiaomi Redmi 4 had recorded more than 10 million hits per minute on the site, after having received some 2.3 million ‘notify me’ alerts from customers since the launch announcement on May 16.

The dual-sim budget smartphone with VoLTE capabilities is the latest offering from Xiaomi and offers an all-round performance. The Xiaomi Redmi 4 smartphone is available in three storage and RAM options – 16GB/2GB, 32GB/3GB and 64GB/4GB -- which makes it a perfect smartphone option for people moving from feature phones to smartphones or those preferring budget smartphones with ample storage and RAM.

The key features that make the Xiaomi Redmi 4 a steal at its Rs 6,999 price tag:

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 Octa-core processor
• 4100mAh battery that can last for 2 days under regular usage
• 13MP PDAF (phase detection autofocus) camera, 5MP, f/2.0 front with Beautify mode
• 5-inch HD display
• Metal body with fingerprint sensor. 2.5D curved glass
• Dual SIM (3-choose-2 hybrid SIM tray)
• LTE and VoLTE support
• Three variants: 2GB RAM + 16GB Flash, 3GB + 32GB, and 4GB + 64GB
• Up to 128GB microSD expandable storage
• Available in Black and Gold colours
• MIUI 8 based on Android 6.0
  Design
  The Xiaomi Redmi 4 is clearly one of the best budget smartphones in the market. The smartphone takes cues from its elder sibling – the Redmi Note 4 – and the design similarities are striking. The smartphone is light, proportionate and easy to hold. The small metal built of the Redmi 4 is what we liked the most about the phone. | READ MORE..

Strike today: Chemists down shutters across India, protest e-platform plan

Their angst: uploading details of drugs traded on the portal and fee for keeping it running

Breaking news| Over 800,000 chemists across the country have decided to shut shop on Tuesday to protest against the government's e-platform plan to regulate the sale of drugs.

The platform is being set up to ensure supply of quality drugs and curb anti-microbial resistance, but chemists are opposing the move. Under the plan chemists will have to upload details of all medicines purchased and sold on the e-platform and will have to pay a transaction fee to support cost of running the system.

All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) president Jagannath Shinde claimed that the strike has hundred per cent support from members across India and all stores except those in hospitals and day-and-night outlets will remain closed.

MedPlus, which runs 1,400 outlets in southern and eastern India, has said it will not participate in the strike and "will try and keep all stores open."

There are other indications too the strike may not get full support. Around 600 chemist store owners in Tamil Nadu will wear black bands in protest but will keep their outlets open.

Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration commissioner Harshdeep Kamble said he expects 4,000 stores out of a total of 45,000 in the state to remain open. "I am not saying there will be no problem but we are prepared to tackle it. Instructions are being issued to 24-hour chemists to keep them open. Assistant commissioners in each district will be monitoring the situation," he said.| READ MORE...

Smartron srt.phone: A fine deal if you are a die-hard Sachin Tendulkar fan

Powerful innards of Smartron's 'all-rounder' smartphone are failed by its many software glitches

 

Domestic information technology (IT) start-up Smartron, which counts Indian cricket legend Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and former Motorola Mobility Chief Executive Sanjay Jha among its investors, recently launched the srt.phone smartphone, “inspired by the dependable traits of Tendulkar”.

At the launch of srt.phone, the company claimed that the smartphone used the best antennas and other security features that made it an all-rounder. Indeed, Smartron has pleased investors with its manoeuvres to deliver solutions ranging from internet of things (IoT) to smartphones built specifically for Indian consumers. But how does the srt.phone fare against the claims of dependability and the inspiration it apparently draws from one of the tallest role models for India in recent times? Read More

 

Sachin: A Billion Dreams: A glorified account of an over-glorified celeb

Like his book, Tendulkar’s biopic is a nostalgic cruise through his career

As I walked out of the cinema hall after watching Sachin: A Billion Dreams, I wondered: Would I have thought differently of this biopic had I not known anything about the person it is based on? James Erskine’s documentary on one of the most celebrated cricketers in the world – one who has achieved a near-deific status in India – went along expected lines.

But was that because I, like many Indians and cricket followers around the world, already knew so much about Sachin Tendulkar? How would someone living under a rock for the last quarter of a century, and did not know who Tendulkar was, have liked it?

Sachin: A Billion Dreams starts off rather nicely, showing us a naughty curly-haired boy of seven or eight years living in Mumbai’s Bandra suburb, getting up to the usual seven-or-eight-year-old boy things like annoying his neighbours with pranks. The boy then receives a cricket bat as a gift from his elder sister, and this is where the story that most Indians and cricket followers already know begins.

The same old path

Sachin: A Billion Dreams goes down the same path as the two other biopics on Indian cricketers that were released in the last year – MS Dhoni: An Untold Story, and Azhar. The only difference is that Sachin is a documentary which features the cricketer himself – he is not played by actors. Obviously backed by Tendulkar, just like the two other biopics were supported by the cricketers they were based on, Sachin: A Billion Dreams is a glorified account of an already over-glorified celebrity.

All in all, this biopic is a celluloid version of Tendulkar’s autobiography, Playing It My Way. What was one of the most awaited sports autobiographies of all time, the book turned out to be a damp squib. It just about managed to tell you a few stories you did not already know about India’s most popular cricketer, it briefly touched upon his personal relationships with his family and friends, but otherwise read like a recital of scorecards of the matches he played, and refrained from going too deep into controversial subjects.

Politically correct

Tendulkar has been so overtly politically correct throughout his public life that is was quite surprising to see him criticise the Indian cricket board in the movie for the way it handled his captaincy. “You can take my captaincy away, but you can’t take cricket away from me,” he says, adding to the many fluffy quotes dished out throughout the movie, not just by him but also some others who have been interviewed. Among the sappiest was commentator Harsha Bhogle saying something along the lines of: Sunil Gavaskar came from a fixed-deposit generation, but Sachin’s generation believed in investing in equity.

The two individuals who have been singled out for some criticism in the movie are former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin, and Greg Chappell, who had a rather forgettable tenure as India coach. But then, Tendulkar had always made his views on Chappell clear much before the movie was released. Azharuddin, on the other hand, was criticised not for his embroilment in the match-fixing scandal, but because Tendulkar felt the Hyderabadi did not take his being appointed captain too well. |READMORE…

Modi govt's new restrictions on cattle slaughter will hurt farmers the most

The government's move will lead to an explosion in the number of 'stray' cattle

Gazette No. 396, issued by the Government of India on May 23 and titled the ‘Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017’, promises to be the final death knell of cattle and buffaloes in India, and along with them, the destruction of what little remains of a dignified life and livelihood for farmers.

This completely innocuous sounding amendment, issued under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act – a Central law – imposes in section 22 a set of ‘Restrictions on sale of cattle’. These require the owner of cattle being brought to the market for sale, in other words the farmer, to produce and submit to the Animal Market Committee a written declaration stating that “the cattle has not been brought to the market for sale for slaughter”. In turn, the buyer of the animal has to undertake “that the animal is being bought for agriculture purposes and not slaughter”

The committee will further keep records of the sale of animals to ensure they are not resold within six months of purchase. They will also keep ID records of the buyer, seller and animal.

The rules defines ‘cattle’ to mean “cow, calf, bull, bullock, buffalo, heifer, steer and camel”.

By equating ‘slaughter’ with cruelty and criminalising the trade and transportation of animals for slaughter at animal markets as an act of cruelty, the Central government has effectively enforced a country-wide ban on the slaughter of buffaloes and cattle, and the consumption of beef, despite statements of denial from the environment minister.

Animal markets are crucial nuclei of the production cycle of animals, through which animals pass from farmers to others and vice-versa. These new rules effectively choke the free movement of animals via the market space and, more critically, completely undermine the freedom and rights of farmers, traders and all others whose livelihoods are linked to this production cycle, which ultimately is what sustains cattle and buffaloes of this country.

The right of farmers to life and livelihood is at stake: their dairy livelihoods and bullock-based agricultural livelihoods stand to be completely destroyed with this cruel law – cruel for farmers and cruel for animals.| READ MORE....

 

You don’t have to be a cricket fan to love ‘Sachin: A Billion Dreams’

Tendulkar comes across in the film as guileless and driven

There is something about Sachin Tendulkar, something so correct and so innocent you want him to win in life even when you know he is no more the ‘God’ of the cricket field.

The rousing farewell speech that Sachin gives at the end of this astutely emotional journey into the heart and mind of India’s most celebrated Bat Man, left me dewy-eyed. This, when I know zilch about cricket and practically nothing about Sachin’s exploits on the field. What I do know “and what this film is able to tell us in comprehensive strokes of revelation” is that greatness is not thrust on the great by chance.

One has to break bones and crack ribs to get there.

“Sachin: A Billion Dreams” is the story of a national hero who sails through every crisis with his simple philosophy of good existence and hard work. Sachin’s life is blameless. He has never been in any controversy and he doesn’t incite scandalous thoughts. This film could’ve easily been the opposite of what the Sanjay Dutt biography would be, given the man’s colourful lifescape. Instead the director unfolds a treasury of memories and anecdotes in which the aroma of ambition is mingled with the flavour of yearnings.

Sachin Tendulkar’s wife talks about how he would clam up after every defeat on the field. Does that make him a difficult man to live with? She doesn’t say. Dissent is not an option that people close to Tendulkar would want to exercise. What I gathered after watching Tendulkar’s tale being tossed into a cauldron of exploratory channels all leading to a glorious exposition on heroism,is that every great life has a very strong support system behind it. ReadMore…

IT’s past, present and future: Industry and people will always be important

Layoffs have nothing to do with Trump’s visa stance; its impact will show after rules are framed

There has recently been a lot of angst about the Indian IT industry (IT LAYOFFS). The anxiety has mainly centered around two themes. First: Is the $150-billion industry, which is about 7 per cent of Indian GDP, now heading for a period of stagnation? And second: The impact of the above and other global developments such as visa restrictions on the job market for IT professionals, considering that the industry employs 4 million professionals and indirectly generates many more jobs.

The anxiety tends to breed cynicism, as witnessed by the response to a question in the Economic Times of May 15 “Are laid-off techies paying the price for IT cos’ inability to foresee the future?” A resounding 78 per cent replied “Yes”.

Even more surprising is a mast head quote in the Business Standard of May 19 from Rajat Gupta, the former head of McKinsey: “The Indian infotech industry ‘rightly’ should be in ‘panic’ mode, as it has not kept pace with rapid innovation. Code writing-testing is the most inefficient industry that existed.”

I consider both the question and response to the ET question cynical because the persons who have been let go constitute mostly between 0.5 and 1 per cent of the workforce of the larger companies, and only in the case of Cognizant it is 2-4 per cent. All these numbers are within the range of annual “weeding out” to continuously improve the quality of talent.

Rajat Gupta, for whom I otherwise have the highest regard, in my view should have known that the IT industry moved beyond cost arbitrage at the turn of the century and has progressively embraced solutions around the latest technologies. This is reflected in the fact that Indian IT industry has continued to gain market share. Here we have decline in growth, whereas some of the global leaders have had decline in revenue for multiple quarters. |READMORE…

PM Modi inaugurates India's longest bridge in Assam as his govt turns 3

The project cost around 10 billion rupees and has taken about six years to complete

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Dhola-Sadiya Bridge, the nation's longest bridge that straddles the River Brahmaputra, on Friday.

Earlier, in a series of tweets, he described the Dhola-Sadiya Bridge as one of the most important infrastructure projects to be undertaken in India.

The bridge has been constructed across the Rivers Brahmaputra and Lohit and connects Dhola with Sadiya in upper Assam's Tinsukia district.

Construction of the bridge began in 2011 under the aegis of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in public-private partnership (PPP) with Navayuga Engineering Company Limited.

The bridge was scheduled to become operational from December 2015, but end of construction works was delayed. The project cost around 10 billion rupees and has taken about six years to complete.

It is 3.kilometres or 2.21 miles longer than the Bandra Worli Sea Link in Mumbai, making it the longest bridge in India above water.

The construction expert team for the bridge was led by B. Surya Raju, chief project manager, and was under the supervision of K. Jagadishwara Rao, Director, Navayuga Engineering Company Limited, Hyderabad.

The bridge is a 12.9-metre-wide or 42 feet external post-tensioned one with 183 spans each of 50 meters or 160 feet) along with a two-lane connecting road from Dhola Bazaar to Islampur Tiniali.

According to reports, to cross over to Sadiya near the Lohit border in Arunachal, will take 30-minutes, reducing the travel time by four hours.

The benefits of the bridge are as follows:

• The bridge will be one of the vital links in this region which will not only give a relief to the existing transport network but also invites various developmental activities. Increased developmental activities will increase the vehicular movement.

• Any investment in this area is extremely desirable after qualifying the judgment criteria for social opportunity cost.

• Better supply chain management by keeping supply price controlled and ensuring the timely distribution.(read more)

UK attack: 19 dead after explosion at Ariana Grande concert in Manchester

The blasts reportedly went off at the end of the concert near the box office area of the venue

At least 19 people have been killed and 50 injured in an explosion which is treated as a “terrorist incident”, at a pop concert by US star Ariana Grande in the Manchester city in the UK Attack , police said today.

“Police were called to reports of an explosion at Manchester Arena. So far 19 people have been confirmed dead with around 50 others injured,” Greater Manchester Police said in a statement.

“This is currently being treated as a terrorist incident until police know otherwise,” the statement said.

Eyewitnesses reported hearing a loud “bang” from inside the venue, which was playing host to a concert by American pop star Ariana Grande. Video footage from the scene showed bloodied victims being helped by emergency services.

Also Read : Manchester blast: Singer Ariana Grande tweets she is ‘broken’ and sorry

Grande is safe, her spokesperson said.

“It was one bang and essentially everyone from the other side of the arena where the bang was heard from suddenly came running towards us,” an eyewitness said.

The blasts reportedly went off at the end of the concert near the box office area of the venue. readmore……..

Watch: Aftermath of blast at Ariana Grande’s UK concert

At least 19 people have been killed and 50 injured in an explosion at a pop concert by US star Ariana Grande in the Manchester city in the UK, police said on Tuesday. The explosion is being treated as a “terrorist incident”.

“Police were called to reports of an explosion at Manchester Arena. So far, 19 people have been confirmed dead with around 50 others injured,” Greater Manchester Police said in a statement.

“This is currently being treated as a terrorist incident until police know otherwise,” the statement added. Click Here

Shatrughan Sinha supports Arvind Kejriwal, Lalu Prasad; Twitter war erupts

Individually I hold Arvind Kejriwal, in high esteem for his credibility, struggle: Shatrughan Sinha

A Twitter war erupted between actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha and his BJP party colleague Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday when the former tweeted in favour of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying “enough of negative politics and mudslinging”.

Modi, responding to Sinha’s tweet, demanded that the “enemies of the party” (Sinha) must be “removed” at the earliest.

Sinha also said he hoped and wished that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President Amit Shah take “notice of such unparliamentary utterances of some of our party people – that too against a senior party colleague & a staunch party loyalist”.

In reaction, Sinha accused Sushil Modi for the party’s loss in the 2015 Bihar assembly polls saying that “those responsible for party’s debacle are crying hoarse”.

“Some people who are wholly and solely responsible for our party’s debacle in Bihar are today crying hoarse, hoping to regain their lost image at the cost of some senior and popular colleagues who have an impeccable image,” Sinha said taking a jibe at the former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister.

He also said that positive criticism shouldn’t be taken as a rebellion.

“Positive and constructive criticism should not be taken as rebellion. Instead, it should ignite a debate within the party,” he said in another tweet.

“Wouldn’t like to comment on utterances out of frustration and desperation made against me by some vested interests and spoilers of inner party democracy,” Sinha, BJP MP from Patna Sahib, said.

He also said that sycophants criticise for the sake of criticism and get low and personal. “I pray that God should spare them for they know not what they speak,” he said.

He has backed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Kejriwal on several occasions. |READMORE…

Windows smashed! Tejas Express vandalised one day before launch

According to reports, ahead of its launch on Monday, a window on the express was broken

A broken and damaged window on the new Tejas Express. Photo: Twitter (@ANI_news)

The Railways swanky Tejas Express was on Monday flagged off by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu from Chatrapati Shivaji Station in Mumbai. However, even before the country's first high-speed and feature rich train was launched, reports emerged that it had been damaged while it was traveling from Delhi to Mumbai on Saturday. 

This is just one more incident that raises the same old question: do we Indians really deserve world-class public facilities, given that we can't seem to help ourselves when it comes to somehow blemishing them (spitting, breaking, vandalising etc.)?

According to the Financial Express, a window of the Tejas express was found to be smashed on Saturday.The incident, according to India Today, took place after the new train left the Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala on Thursday. 

Speaking to India Times on Sunday, DK Sharma, general manager, Central Railways, said, "We came to know that a few glasses were damaged, but it is not a serious issue. We will correct it."

ALSO READ: Shatrughan Sinha supports Arvind Kejriwal, Lalu Prasad; Twitter war erupts

"The train is expected to reach Mumbai on Saturday. Once it arrives, we will inspect it and make the necessary repairs," Sharma added. 

Here are the luxuries Tejas offers.

As reported earlier, the 20-coach modern train has one executive air conditioned (AC) chair car with 56 seats and 12 AC chair cars with 78 seats in each coach.

tejas A look at the swanky interiors of the Tejas Express. Photo: Twitter (@sureshpprabhu)

The coaches will have tea and coffee vending machines, magazines and snacks tables. The Tejas Express is also equipped with close circuit television cameras and fire and smoke detection facilities for the security of passengers.| Read More...

 

 

Real ‘Airlift’ hero Matthunny Mathews dies in Kuwait

During the 1990 Gulf war Mathews had helped thousands of Indians to flee the gulf nation

Prominent Indian businessman in Kuwait, Matthunny Mathews, who was instrumental in the safe evacuation of stranded Indians during the Iraqi invasion in 1990, passed away in Kuwait.

81-year-old Mathews, who hailed from Kumbanad in Pathnamthitta district, was ailing for some time and passed away yesterday, media reports here said.

Expressing his condolence, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Sunday that during the 1990 Gulf war Mathews had helped thousands of Indians to flee the gulf nation and his services would always be remembered.

By not taking efforts to save his own life and property, Mathews had done yeoman service to bring his countrymen, who had lost everything in the war, safely back, Vijayan said.

“He provided food and drinking water to the stranded Indians and we remember it with gratitude,” Vijayan said.

The V P Singh government had in 1990 carried out the biggest evacuationduring the gulf war when over 1.50 lakh standard Indians had been safely brought back by flight. At that time Mathews had functioned as the Central Government’s “unofficial representative” in Kuwait to coordinate the evacuation process, the Chief Minister said. Popularly known as ‘Toyota Sunny’, Mathunny Mathews was said to be the inspiration of Akshay Kumar’s character in Bollywood film ‘Airlift’.

“Extremely sad news, was an honour to portray him on screen. Thoughts and prayers with his family”, Akshay Kumar said in a tweet.

Mathews, left for Kuwait 1956 at the age of 20 in search of job. He joined as a typist in the Toyota company and rose to become its Managing Director when he retired in 1989. (readmore…)