India's response to the Rohingya crisis is driven by an 'un-fine' balance

Realist response has taken an upper-hand over a humanitarian response

Myanmar is witnessing a military crackdown against the Rohingya ethnic community. Facing extreme violence, hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas have fled from their homes in Myanmar. It is estimated that more than 300,000 have entered Bangladesh. Even as Bangladesh has been stretched in providing relief to these refugees, the Bangladesh government and activists in India have been pushing the Indian government to admit refugees in India. The Indian government for its part has sent relief assistance to Bangladesh for these refugees but has not agreed to accept more Rohingya refugees in India. What is driving the Indian response to this crisis? What are the factors that make this a complex decision? The author analyses in this Business Standard Special.

‘India remains deeply concerned about the situation in Rakhine State in Myanmar and the outflow of refugees from that region’, began a recent statement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India. The rest of this short 166-word note focused on strongly condemning the ‘terrorist attacks on Myanmar security forces’, reminded us of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent aid commitment to the strife torn region, and urged the powers that be in Myanmar to handle the situation with ‘maturity’, focus on the welfare of both civilians and security forces, and restore normalcy ‘expeditiously’. Soon after, New Delhi launched Operation Insaniyat offering aid to Rohingya refugees pouring into Bangladesh. Both the statement and the aid make for fitting examples of how India balances competing domestic and foreign policy advocacies and priorities....READ MORE

Marshal of IAF Arjan Singh's state funeral today; nation mourns air warrior

The national flag will fly at half-mast on Monday as the funeral is held in Delhi

 

 

 

The funeral procession of the sole Marshal of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Arjan Singh, began on Sunday in the national capital.

The procession was followed by the last rites, which were performed at the Brar Square. The wreath laying ceremony was to take place at 9:00 am.

Though no state mourning was announced, the Home Ministry said the national flag would fly at half-mast on the day of the funeral in Delhi on all buildings where it is flown regularly.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday stated that along with a state funeral and an appropriate gun salute, a flypast might take place, depending on the weather conditions, to honour the contribution of the Air Force Marshal.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday led the nation in mourning the death of Marshal of IAF Arjan Singh.

Remembered for his role in leading the fledgling IAF in the 1965 war with Pakistan, Arjan Singh died in a hospital in New Delhi on Sunday after a massive heart attack. He was 98. (economy today)

His mortal remains were kept at his residence 7A, Kautilya Marg for people to pay respects to the war hero -- the first five-star officer of the IAF.

President Kovind, also the Supreme Commander of Indian Armed Forces, said he was "extremely saddened to learn about the passing of our great and cherished air warrior -- a hero of World War II who won our nation's gratitude for his military leadership in the 1965 War".

Modi, who was in Gujarat to dedicate the Sardar Sarovar Dam to the nation on his birthday, paid tribute to the "brave soldier".

"Even at the age of 98, he would be dressed in uniform. He would come on a wheelchair but whenever he would see me, he would stand. He was a soldier, he never forgot his discipline."

In Delhi, Defence Minister Sitharaman laid a wreath on the air warrior's body on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Three service chiefs -- Admiral Sunil Lanba, General Bipin Rawat and Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa -- also paid their respects.

Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa said Arjan Singh was a philanthropist to the core and always led from the front and brought many innovative reforms to the IAF....READ MORE

Soon, your driver's licence to be linked with Aadhaar

He also said that digital governance is honest, transparent and efficient governance

 

In another move to make India digital, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday asserted that the Government is planning to link the driving licence with the Aadhar card.

Addressing the gathering at the Digital Haryana Summit 2017, Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the Aadhar is a digital, not a physical identity and a digital identity confirms the physical identity.

"We are planning to link the Driving Licence with the Aadhar. I have had a word with Nitin Gadkari regarding this," he said.

He also said that the decision to link the PAN card with the Aadhar was taken to stop money laundering.

Promoting the concept of digital governance, Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the digital governance is 'good governance' and that it ensures fast delivery as well as the welfare of the poor people.

"Digital governance is honest, transparent and efficient governance," Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

"Digital India must lead to digital intrusion; it must lead to a digital society," he added, while appreciating the Indian IT industry.

He further said that the technology must be made available at affordable costs for people.

From defence to bullet train: Where are India-Japan ties heading?

How will Shinzo Abe's two-day visit to India further shape New Delhi's ties with Japan? BS brings you the details

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived this week in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat for what was the tenth meeting between the two leaders since Modi came to power in 2014.

The centrepiece of the visit has been the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project. Modi-Abe laid the foundation stone for the bullet train in Ahmedabad on Thursday, with the former lauding Japan as India's friend for having extended a Rs 88,000 crore loan at just 0.1 per cent interest.

Further cementing their bilateral ties, India and Japan on Thursday also signed 15 memorandums of understanding (MoUs), which dealt with wide-ranging issues such as bilateral relations, defence and security cooperation, and supporting each other for a permanent seat on the United Nations’ expanded Security Council.

It remains to be seen if the bullet train will prove to be economically viable and whether India and Japan's joint front against China will yield any dividends for either of the nations going ahead.

Read our entire coverage below:

Japanese firms to invest Rs 5 lakh crore in India

While no figure was released on how much Japanese companies planned to invest in India, some sources said it would be around Rs 5 lakh crore, including the flagship bullet train project. One of the more import MoUs was on civil aviation cooperation and open skies. (Read all the details here)

Apart from fresh investment proposals at the summit, Modi claimed Japan’s foreign direct investment (FDI) to India had actually trebled in the past few years, a testimony to the growing economic ties. So far, around $25.7 billion has flown in as FDI from Japan; the plan now is to double this by 2019....Read More 

Can't keep changing fuel prices on knee-jerk basis: Pradhan

Said shifting to GST regime will be the only way to have a transparent tax structure on fuel items

Share prices of the three government-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) fell on Wednesday on pricing worries, which the government later said were baseless.

Reports suggested the three -- Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) -- might be asked to absorb the recent global hike in crude oil prices. As a result, their share prices fell 6.2%, 5.1% and 4.3%, respectively, on the BSE exchange.

The markets were worried on whether the government was going back to the regulated pricing era. However, after trading hours, petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the government would not ask state-run companies to absorb the price rise in petrol and diesel and would stay to market-driven pricing.

He added that a shift to the goods and services tax (GST) regime was the only way to have a transparent tax structure on fuel items.

"The government has no business to interfere in the day-to-day affairs of companies. We have linked product prices to the market and will stick to that," said Pradhan. The minister added that global prices would ease very soon.

"A knee-jerk reaction is not required when we are following a formula. We expect prices to come down soon. This increase is mainly because of the cyclones that hit the US, which resulted in a decline of refining capacity by 13% and an increase in diesel prices by 20% and petrol by 18% in the past three months," he added....READ MORE

Full coverage: Modi, Abe kick off India's first bullet train but several hurdles remain

Is the bullet train financially viable? BS decodes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Thursday laid the foundation stone for the proposed Ahmedabad-Mumbai High-Speed Rail Network, commonly known as the bullet train, in the Gujarat city.

"My good friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a far-sighted leader. He took a decision two years ago to bring high-speed train in India and to create a new India," he said.

"I hope to enjoy the beautiful scenery of India through the windows of the bullet train when I come back here in a few years," said Shinzo Abe after laying the foundation stone.

Around Rs 1.10 lakh crore will be spent on the project that is being partially funded by Japan. Out of the Rs 1,10,000 crore, Japan is giving a loan of Rs 88,000 crore. The interest on this loan is minimal at 0.1 per cent and it is to be repaid in 50 years, with a grace period of 15 years.

The train will stop at each of the 12 railway stations on the route, but only for 165 seconds. A 21-km-long tunnel will be dug between Boisar and BKC in Mumbai, of which seven km will be under water

35 trains a day: India to get its first bullet train by 2022

The Centre is confident of starting the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train on August 15, 2022, to commemorate the 75th year of India's Independence, a year ahead of its schedule.Initially, the route is expected to have 35 trains per day. This might increase to 105 by 2050.... Read all the details here. 

Full coverage: Apple iPhone X, iPhone 8 & 8 Plus, new Apple Watch, and more

Apple on September 12 unveiled the anniversary-edition iPhone X, besides the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, Apple Watch Series 3, new Apple TV K4, among other devices. Read full coverage here

 

US-based global technology major Apple, in arguably the biggest tech event of the year, on September 12 unveiled a series of devices -- from the much-anticipated anniversary-edition Apple iPhone X with facial recognition technology and augmented reality geatures, to iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, the new Series 3 of Apple Watch, and the next-generation Apple TV K4.

The company, celebrating a decade of innovation in telephony hardware through the iPhone devices, has brought the iPhone X, where the Roman X stands for 10, denoting 10 years, which is seen by tech experts as a leap towards what will be "future of iPhones.

To be available from November 3 (pre-bookings start from October 27), the Apple iPhone X is going to cost Rs 89,000 in India, while both iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are estimated to be priced at Rs 64,000 for the base variant with 64 GB internal memory.

Key things to know about the historic Apple event and the devices unveiled:

Stronger than ever: Apple CEO Tim Cook said at the event that the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, made of aerospace-grade aluminium, are 50% stronger than the previous-generation iPhones. Here is a chronicle of everything said, revealed and unveiled at the Apple event.

Apple unveils iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, anniversary-edition iPhone X

Features of the iPhone X: The iPhone X, which will come with storage of 64GB and 256GB will start at $999, boasts augmented reality features and other new technology, besides edge-to-edge display and no home button. “With expected innovations around AR, wireless charging, viewable screen size, OLED, and more, the next iPhone is clearly poised for its largest upgrade cycle yet,” wrote Ben Schachter, an analyst at Macquarie Securities USA Inc, in a note...Read More 

Apple's iPhone 8 will cost Rs 64,000; iPhone X starting price is Rs 89,000

iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will be available at Apple authorised resellers from September 29

Apple enthusiasts in India will be able to buy the latest iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X, at a price starting from Rs 64,000 within days of availability of the smartphones in the US and other markets.

The new lineup, announced late last night in the US, will compete with flagship devices from the stables of Samsung, LG and other players in India.

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus will be available in 64GB and 256GB variants, priced at Rs 64,000. These will be available at Apple authorised resellers from September 29, Apple India said in a statement.

The iPhone X, which is being launched to mark the 10th anniversary of the launch of the first iPhone, includes features like face recognition and super retina display. To be available from November 3 in 64GB and 256GB variants, the iPhone X will be priced Rs 89,000 onwards.

The Mac and iPad maker has sold over 1.2 billion iPhones till date.

Apple -- the world's second largest handset maker -- is bullish and optimistic about India, a key growth market where it is bringing all of its "energies" to expand footprint.

During the company's earnings call last month, CEO Tim Cook had said Apple is investing in India.

It has set up an app accelerator centre in India and is working with channel partners and expanding its go-to-market roadmap in the country....READ MORE

Berkeley speech: Rahul concedes Cong became arrogant, hits out at note ban

Gandhi hit out at Modi govt's demonetisation drive and said India could not afford to grow at its current pace

 

Arrogance crept into the Congress party around the year 2012 and we stopped interacting with people, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi conceded in his address to students of the University of California, Berkeley on Tuesday. He was speaking on 'India at 70: Reflections on the Path Forward'.

Further, commenting on the present Naional Democratic Alliance (NDA) government's economic policies, Gandhi said the November 2016 decision to demonetise high-value currency notes and the hastily rolled out Goods and Services Tax (GST) had put a great pressure on India's economy. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation drive had led to a decline in the country's economic growth.

"Millions of small businesses were simply wiped out as a result of demonetisation. Farmers and manual labourers who used cash were hit extremely hard. Agriculture is in deep distress and farmer suicides have skyrocketed across the country. A completely self-inflicted wound, demonetisation caused an approximate two per cent loss in GDP growth," Gandhi said...READ MORE

35 trains a day: India to get first Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train by 2022

The train, to run between Ahmedabad and Mumbai, will be commissioned a year before the original deadline of December 2023

 

 

India's first bullet train from Ahmedabad and Mumbais likely to be completed by 2022, the year marking 75 years of India's Independence.

Railway Minster Piyush Goyal told the media on Monday that the project would be completed by 2022, much before the earlier deadline of December 2023. The foundation stone of the project, which will get a soft loan of Rs 88,000 crore from Japan, will be laid on September 14 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.(economy news)

The first tranche of the loan, Rs 6,000 crore, will be released immediately, while the remaining tranches will come after the completion of land acquisition. Japan is providing the loan at a minuscule interest rate of 0.1 per cent, and the repayment will begin only after 15 years. The interest on the entire loan will be Rs 7-8 crore a month.

"The initial tranche of Rs 6,000 crore will mainly be for the dedicated high-speed rail training institute and for building the Sabarmati station. We are confident about completing the acquisition of 825 hectares of land within a year," said an official close to the development.

Initially, the route is expected to have 35 trains per day. This might increase to 105 by 2050. The trains are set to run at a speed of 320-350 kilometres per hour and will cover 12 stations -- Bandra Kurla Complex, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.

GST cess hike on cars from today: Luxury, large cars, SUVs get expensive

Auto companies may pass on impact of cess increase to buyers

 

The increased Goods and Services (GST) cess on mid- sized, luxury and SUV cars will come into effect on Monday.

The GST Council on September 9 decided to hike cess on mid-sized cars by 2 per cent, taking the effective GST rate to 45 per cent.

Also, cess on large cars has been hiked by 5 per cent, taking the total GST incidence to 48 per cent while that of SUVs by 7 per cent to 50 per cent.

"Notification regarding increase in the effective rates of the Compensation Cess on specified motor vehicles will be issued on September 11, 2017, effective from 00 hours the same day," the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) tweeted.

After the GST Council meet on Saturday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that in large vehicles where affordability of consumers is high, the cess has been increased.

"The pre-GST rate has not been restored... Even though we had a headspace of hiking cess by 10 per cent, it has been hiked by up to 7 per cent," Jaitley had said.

Cess on small petrol and diesel cars, hybrid cars and those carrying up to 13 passengers has not been hiked.

Car prices had dropped by up to Rs 3 lakh as the tax rates fixed under the GST, which came into effect from July 1, were lower than the combined central and state taxes in pre-GST days.

To fix this anomaly, the Council raised the cess.

Under the GST regime, cars attract the highest tax slab of 28 per cent and on top of that, a cess is levied....READ MORE

Boycott fake babas like Ram Rahim, Asaram, Radhe Maa: Hindu sadhus' body

This comes after Dera Sacha Sauda chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim, was convicted in two rapes cases of 2002

Welcoming the list of "fake babas" by the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, Swami Hardayal Shastri, the astrologer in Shanidhaam temple of Ayodhya, on Monday called for a social boycott of those listed.

The monk informed that a 'Parishad' had been made for the convenience of the administration and it serves as a medium through which the government provides land and other amenities to the country's ascetics.

These councils are, however, exploited by people like Asaram Bapu and Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, he further informed.

"They are not connected with these 'akharas', but through money, they exploit these akharas' to acquire lands and set up camps. This is wrong," Swami Hardayal told ANI.

Besides the legal action taken on such fake saints as Ram Rahim and Asaram Bapu, the monk also called for their social boycott.

"We have the rule of social punishment in Hinduism, but no one has control over society now, and no one is in the control of society either. Hence, after legal boycott they should also be socially boycotted," opined Swami Hardayal.

On Sunday, the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, in its committee, issued a list of "fake babas" where the names of Asaram Bapu, Radhe Maa, recently convicted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Nirmal Baba were mentioned.

The list was curated after the whole Sadhu community came together to talk about the issue of fake saints bringing disrepute to the community.khil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, on Sunday in its committee, issued a list of "fake babas" where the names of Asaram Bapu, Radhe Maa, recently convicted Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Nirmal Baba have been mentioned....Read more

Rising food cost may push August retail inflation to 5-month high: Reuters poll

 But rising price to complicate RBI's policy path as economic growth cooled to a three-year low in Q2

 

India's retail inflation is expected to have picked up to a five-month high in August, largely driven by higher food costs, a Reuters poll showed, easing pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut interest rates again after poor growth data.

Consumer prices were forecast up at 3.20 per cent in August from a year ago, jumping from July's 2.36 per cent, according to the poll taken September 5-8 of nearly 40 economists.

Forecasts for the data, scheduled to be released on September 12 at 1200 GMT, ranged from 2.50 per cent to 3.55 per cent.(economy news)

If the consensus is met, it would be the highest since April, but below the RBI's medium-term target of 4.0 per cent for the tenth consecutive month.

Tushar Arora, economist at HDFC Bank, said food prices continue to rise in August, mainly driven up by "unfavorable weather conditions and supply chain constraints."

Food and beverage inflation, which accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the consumer price index basket was expected to have rebounded in August after prices fell in the three previous months .

Monsoon rains this year have caused damages to crops of some perishable food items and hindered movement of goods.

The resulting hit from a shortage of production and supply of vegetables such as tomatoes and onions - which are basic ingredients in Indian kitchens - suggests inflation will be elevated in coming months....READ MORE

SIM cards not linked to Aadhaar may be deactivated after Feb 2018

Unlinked phones will be deactivated after February 2018: Source

 

 

The government is moving ahead with linking Aadhaar with mobile SIM cards and all unlinked phones will be deactivated after February 2018, said informed sources.

The sources said Aadhaar mobile linkage is being done as per the orders of Supreme Court passed in February this year in Lokniti foundation case and all SIM cards have to be verified with Aadhaar within a year from the date of judgement, with all unlinked phones to be deactivated after February next year, so criminals, fraudsters and terrorists cannot use the issued SIMs.

The sources said that biometrics cannot be stored by the mobile operators nor they have access to any of the other personal data.

They said biometrics collected should be encrypted by telecom company and sent to UIDAI at that moment itself and any storage of biometric by a service provider is a criminal offence punishable with up to three years of imprisonment under the Aadhaar Act 2016.

The Central government had told the Supreme Court in February that it would put in place, within a year, an effective mechanism for the verification of pre-paid mobile users who constitute 90 per cent of the total subscribers.

Asking the government to put in place the mechanism for the verification of existing pre-paid mobile connection holders "as early as possible", the court disposed of the petition by Lokniti Foundation seeking the scrutiny of the subscribers so that those having pre-paid mobile connections on fake identities are weeded out.

Gauri Lankesh murder: The dangerous life of scribes in Indian cinema

A cult classic and a nearly forgotten film remind us how precarious journalistic work can be

The assassination of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh at her home in Bengaluru on Tuesday yet again reminds us how fragile the glorified ideals of freedom of press and speech really are in our country. According to various news reports, at least five journalists were murdered in India last year. On the Impunity Index of the Committee to Protect Journalists, which ranks nations according to the number of murder cases of scribes without conviction, India is a dismal 14 (Pakistan is nine, Bangladesh 12). And, on the World Press Freedom Index 2017, India ranks a pathetic 136 out of 180 nations.

Perhaps the finest film ever on the hazards of journalistic work — leaving aside war movies — is All the President’s Men (1976). Adapted from the eponymous 1974 non-fiction book by The Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, the film narrates the investigation carried out by the two journalists into the Watergate case, which — thanks partly to their work — turned out to be the biggest political scandal in the US, leading to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. With Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman playing Woodward and Bernstein, respectively, the film was the final of director Allan J Pakula’s “paranoia trilogy”.

The brazen murder of a colleague for honestly doing her job would be enough to inspire some paranoia in any journalist: Worse still, the gloating over it on social media by some supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party, not only justifying a crime but celebrating it; worse still, Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to follow some of these online trolls on Twitter. On a personal note, it was difficult for me to think of any films I could discuss in this dark, dark hour, till I remembered two from the 1980s. The first, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), is a cult classic, enjoying a re-release in 2012; the second is almost forgotten — the Shashi Kapoor- and Sharmila Tagore-starrer New Delhi Times (1986). Separated by only a few years, they depicted the last gasp of pre-Liberalisation India. As we shall see, things might seem different now, but are they really?...READ MORE

Trump ends DACA: All you need to know about it and how Indians are impacted

Move likely to impact 800,000 undocumented workers, including more than 20,000 Indian-Americans

 

With President Donald Trump’s reversal of an Obama-era executive order known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), worst fears of young immigrants seem to be coming true.
The historic move is likely to impact 800,000 undocumented workers, including more than 20,000 Indian-Americans who trusted the US government with their fingerprints and other personal information when they applied for DACA.

Most of the immigrants protected by DACA, dubbed 'Dreamers', came from Mexico and other Latin American countries.

What is DACA?

DACA The DACA programme granted the undocumented youth temporary reprieve from deportation and the ability to legally apply for a job or get admission to educational institutions.
The programme grants them a two-year reprieve that can be extended by issuing them identity papers like driver’s licences, work permit and a social security number.

However, DACA does not provide beneficiaries legal residency in US.

How could one enrol under the programme?

An immigrant was required to be at 15 years of age when applying for DACA. They were to submit proof that they were brought to the US before they turned 16 and were under 31 when the programme was launched.

The application cost was nearly $500 and permits needed to be renewed every two years. The application and renewal process took several weeks.

What about Indians living in US?

Around 20,000 people from India who arrived in the US illegally as children are fearing deportation, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) said.

"Over 27,000 Asian-Americans, including 5,500 Indians and Pakistanis, have already received DACA. An additional estimated 17,000 individuals from India and 6,000 from Pakistan are eligible for DACA, placing India among the top ten countries for DACA eligibility," SAALT said.

With the termination of DACA, these individuals could face deportation at the discretion of the administration....read more

Trump ends 'Dreamer' immigration programme, 800,000 face unsure future

The action was announced not by Trump but by Jeff Sessions

 

President Donald Trump on Tuesday scrapped an Obama-era programme that protects from deportation immigrants brought illegally into the United States as children, delaying implementation until March and giving a gridlocked Congress six months to decide the fate of almost 800,000 young people.

As the so-called Dreamers who have benefited from the five-year-old programme were plunged into uncertainty, business and religious leaders, mayors, governors, Democratic lawmakers, unions, civil liberties advocates and former Democratic President Barack Obama all condemned Trump’s move.

The action was announced not by Trump but by Jeff Sessions, his attorney general, who called the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme an unconstitutional overreach by Obama. There will be an “orderly, lawful wind-down,” Sessions said.

Trump later issued a written statement saying that “I do not favour punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents. But we must also recognise that we are (a) nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws.”

He denounced Obama’s programme as an “amnesty-first approach” toward illegal immigrants and pressed his nationalist “America First” message, saying that despite concerns voiced by his critics about the fate of the Dreamers, “Above all else, we must remember that young Americans have dreams too.”

On Tuesday evening, the Republican president tweeted that lawmakers now had six months to “legalize DACA” and that if they did not, he would “revisit this issue!”

Obama issued his own statement calling Trump’s action a political decision, defending DACA’s legality and urging Congress to protect Dreamers....(Read More)

Gauri Lankesh: A firebrand journalist vocal on secularism and Dalit rights

Best quality in Gauri was one could always argue with her, dispute her and tell her she was wrong

 

“Be careful about what you post on social media. We live in dangerous times,” I told Gauri Lankesh last week. She replied saying “We can’t be so dead. It is human to express and react. What we feel impulsively is usually our most honest response.”

On Tuesday night, she was shot and killed in cold blood. The killing was not impulsive. It was well thought and carefully planned, like the murders in Maharashtra and Karnataka of the rationalists and thinkers Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M.M. Kalburgi that she had herself condemned and protested.

I grew up in a family of writers. My father, K. Marulasiddappa, and P Lankesh, Gauri’s father, were colleagues and close friends. Lankesh was an English lecturer. My father taught Kannada.
We lived in the same neighbourhood. My mother often left me in the care of the Lankesh household. Whenever I argued with Gauri, she used to joke saying “Magane (child), I used to babysit you before you learned how to speak.”

But the best quality in Gauri was that one could always argue with her, dispute her and tell her she was wrong. And no matter how fierce our arguments, she respected our right to say what we did. We were close friends because we could disagree. It was a quality that she inherited from her father...read more

20,000 Indian immigrants in US fear deportation as Trump repeals DACA

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions yesterday announced the rescinding of the DACA

 

Thousands of people from India, who arrived in the US illegally as children, are fearing deportation after President Donald Trump's decision to repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) programme, a South Asian Advocacy group has said.

The number of such people from India, could be more than 20,000, according to an estimate carried out by South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT).

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions yesterday announced the rescinding of the Deferred Action for Children Arrival (DACA), an Obama-era amnesty programme that granted work permits to immigrants who arrived in the country illegally as children.

The announcement, which was anticipated for the past few days, was greeted with protests from across the country.

"Over 27,000 Asian Americans, including 5,500 Indians and Pakistanis, have already received DACA. An additional estimated 17,000 individuals from India and 6,000 Pakistan respectively are eligible for DACA, placing India in the top ten countries for DACA eligibility," SAALT said.

With the termination of DACA, these individuals could face deportation at the discretion of the administration, it said.(economy news)

"The President's decision to terminate DACA puts 800,000 individuals at risk of deportation from the only country they've ever called home. Ending DACA is the latest evidence of this administration's utter lack of commitment to our nation's founding values of equality and fairness," Suman Raghunathan, executive director of SAALT, said.

"Our current patchwork of immigration policies and programs is broken, and we demand the Congress does its job to craft a commonsense immigration process that creates a road- map to citizenship for aspiring new Americans.

"This is the only way to align our immigration laws with the values Americans hold dear," she said.

In a statement, South Asian Bar Association (SABA) president Rishi Bagga said "DREAMERS" were brought to the US by their parents in hopes of a better life.

"As children, they did not choose to break the law. Most of these young men and women have never returned to the countries of their birth, and many do not even speak the language of their native countries. Rescinding DACA effectually takes away these young people's right to live in the only country they have ever known,"Bagga said....(Read More)

Highlights of BRICS 2017 summit: From naming LeT, JeM to Xi-Modi meet

PM Modi and Xi Jinping will hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit on Tuesday

economy news: In what is being seen as a big victory for India's campaign against Pakistan-based terrorist groups, BRICS on Monday named Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in their joint declaration while calling for a comprehensive approach to combating terrorism.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had arrived at the Chinese city of Xiamen on Sunday and attended the BRICS Summit on Monday. According to agency reports, PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit on Tuesday.

Here are 10 things to know about India's participation at the BRICS summit

1) Modi lists out 'Ten Noble Commitments' for BRICS: On Tuesday, ahead of his meeting with Xi, PM Modi laid down a roadmap for development as he delivered his statement during the Dialogue of Emerging Markets and Developing Countries at the BRICS summit.

According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of External affairs, speaking at the session, PM Modi said that BRICS leadership for global transformation could be achieved through "Ten Noble Commitments" creating a safer world, creating a greener world, creating an enabled world, creating an inclusive world, creating a digital world, creating a skilled world, creating a healthier world, creating an equitable world, creating a connected world, and creating harmonious world.

PM Modi said that India had recently completed its first voluntary review of sustainable development goals (SDGs). The Prime Minister said that the bedrock of India's development agenda was based on the notion of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas”.

PM Modi also spoke of India's "long tradition" of partnering with "fellow developing countries" and mentioned the South Asia Satellite initiative. He added that India's development partnerships projects were providing water, electricity, roads, healthcare, tele-medicine, and basic infrastructure in dozens of countries.

"Our no strings attached model of cooperation is driven purely by the requirements and priorities of our partner countries," the Prime Minister said.

2) First Modi-Xi meet post Doklam: PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday will hold their first substantive bilateral meeting after the Doklam standoff, which had put ties between the two countries under strain, according to agency reports....read more

Bitcoin tumbles as PBOC declares initial coin offerings illegal

Bitcoin tumbled as much as 11.%, the most since July, to $4,326.75

Bitcoin tumbled the most since July after China’s central bank said initial coin offerings are illegal and asked all related fundraising activity to be halted immediately, issuing the strongest regulatory challenge so far to the burgeoning market for digital token sales.

The People’s Bank of China said on its website Monday that it had completed investigations into ICOs, and will strictly punish offerings in the future while penalising legal violations in ones already completed. The regulator said that those who have already raised money must provide refunds, though it didn’t specify how the money would be paid back to investors.

It also said digital token financing and trading platforms are prohibited from doing conversions of coins with fiat currencies. Digital tokens can’t be used as currency on the market and banks are forbidden from offering services to initial coin offerings.

“This is somewhat in step with, maybe not to the same extent, what we’re starting to see in other jurisdictions —the short story is we all know regulations are coming,” said Jehan Chu, managing partner at Kenetic Capital in Hong Kong, which invests in and advises on token sales. “China, due to its size and as one of the most speculative IPO markets, needed to take a firmer action.”

Bitcoin tumbled as much as 11.4 percent, the most since July, to $4,326.75. The ethereum cryptocurrency was down more than 16 per cent Monday, according to data from Coindesk.

ICOs are digital token sales that have seen unchecked growth over the past year, raising $1.6 billion. They have been deemed a threat to China’s financial market stability as authorities struggle to tame financing channels that sprawl beyond the traditional banking system.

North Korea is 'begging for war'; strongest measures needed: US to UNSC

North Korea on Sunday announced that it has successfully conducted a test of a hydrogen bomb

 

 

The United States' top UN representative has said that North Korea is "begging for war" and urged the UN Security Council to impose "the strongest possible measures" on Pyongyang over its sixth and largest nuclear test.

"To the members of the UN Security Council, I must say - enough is enough.The time for half-measures in the Security Council is over. We must now adopt the strongest possible measures", Sputnik quoted US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley as saying during an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the recent hydrogen bomb test by North Korea.

"Kim Jong-un's abusive use of missiles and his nuclear threats show that he is begging for war. War is never something the United States wants. We don't want it now. But our country's patience is not unlimited," she added.

United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman dubbed North Korea's nuclear tests as a dangerous provocation and said that Pyongyang has undermined the international non-proliferation efforts.

"We are alarmed by this dangerous provocation. The secretary-general condemns the underground nuclear test announced by the DPRK. This act is yet another serious breach of the DPRK's international obligations and undermines international non-proliferation and disarmament efforts," he said.

Japan's UN Ambassador Koro Bessho called for UNSC to adopt swiftly a new resolution with further robust sanction measures against Pyongyang.

He said UNSC must act to stop North Korea from continuing such actions and should put maximum pressure to change its policy.

He further said that North Korea's nuclear test was an outrageous and unacceptable challenge to the security and safety of the world.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump on Sunday termed North Korea a "rogue nation" for conducting nuclear tests and said that its "actions continue to be very dangerous to the Washington."

In a series of tweets, Trump further said that North Korea has become a great threat and embarrassment to China.

North Korea has conducted a major Nuclear Test. Their words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2017

..North Korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2017

South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!.....Read More

IPL media rights: Winner Star TV will now have monopoly over cricket

Star walked away with all the rights and full honors, laying claim to 300 days of cricket over 5 years, at a price tag about Rs. 54.5 crore a match

The CEO of the BCCI, Rahul Johri, had predicted before the IPL media auction that the rights would fetch Rs 18,000 crore. He was not far wrong. The winner, Star TV, on Monday picked up the 5-years broadcast and digital rights for an eye-popping Rs16,348 crore to stump out incumbents Sony who held the rights of the IPL since its very inception 10 years ago, having bid Rs 8,200 crore in 2008.

The initial tender documents had been picked up by 24 entities: Star India Pvt. Ltd., Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd., Followon Interactive Media Pvt. Ltd., Taj TV India Pvt. Ltd., Sony Pictures Networks Pvt. Ltd., Times Internet Ltd., Supersport International (Pty) Ltd., Reliance Jio Digital Services Pvt. Ltd., Gulf DTH FZ LLC, GroupM Media India Pvt. Ltd., beIN IP Ltd., Econet Media Ltd., SKY UK Ltd., ESPN Digital Media (India) Pvt. Ltd, BTG Legal Services, BT PLC, Twitter Inc., Facebook Inc., DAZN / Perform Group, Discovery, Yupp TV, Airtel and BAM Tech and Oath (Yahoo). Of these, only 14 showed up yesterday at the auction. Prominent amongst those missing were e-commerce giant Amazon and microblogging site Twitter. Also missing from the lineup were Discovery, Yahoo and ESPN Digital. Group M, the media buying company, who were expected to bid on behalf of a consortium of clients, gave it a miss.

The highest bid for the broadcast rights came from Sony Pictures Network. They bid Rs 11,050 crore. The highest bid for digital rights came from none else but Facebook who placed an offer of Rs 3,900 crore. Telecom operators Airtel and Reliance Jio were not far behind Facebook, bidding Rs 3,280 crore and Rs 3,075 crore, respectively. Star actually lagged in each category bid, offering Rs 6,196 crore for broadcast rights and a mere Rs 1,443 crore for digital rights. But eventually, Star proved to be the smartest bidder, and a winner, with a global bid of Rs 16,348 crore that beat the sum of the highest bids in individual categories which totaled Rs 15,820 crore. Star walked away with all the rights and full honors, laying claim to 300 days of cricket over 5 years, at a price tag about Rs 54.5 crore a match.

This includes 1a. Indian Sub-continent Broadcast (TV) rights

1b. Indian Sub-continent Digital rights. And Rest of World (ROW) media and digital rights for 1. Middle East 2. Africa 3. Europe 4. USA 5. Australia and New Zealand.

Compared to the Rs 43 crore per match that it currently pays to the BCCI for India’s international matches in India, this is a 20% increase, which on the face of it is not such a major issue perhaps. But the sheer size and scale of the overall Rs 16,348 crore bid have left many media watchers gasping for breath.

What are the key issues with the Star bid?
1. Did Star pay over the top?
2. Will Star now have a monopoly over cricket?
3. Will the market support the increased prices for advertising?
4. Are digital rights as valuable?
5. Are ROW markets as monetisable?
6. Will the game of cricket gain from this hyper bidding?
Let us address each of these issues one by one.

1. Did Star pay over the top?
Star bid Rs16,348 crore against the Rs15,820 crore sum that was the total for the highest bids in individual categories. This consolidated Star global bid was just a teeny-weeny 3% higher but sufficient for Star to pip Sony, Facebook, Airtel, Jio and other smaller players to the post. Star’s bidding strategy was flawless. And bang-on. ...(Read more)

 

Note ban effect: Currency printing cost more than doubles to Rs 7,965 crore

Of Rs 15.44 lakh cr demonetised currency in circulation, about 99% came back to RBI as on June 30

1.  

 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) spent Rs 7,965 crore on printing currency notes between July 2016 and June 2017, compared to Rs 3,420 crore in 2015-16, an increase of 133%, according to RBI’s annual report 2016-17.

This was highest over the last 17 years, Bloomberg reported on August 30, 2017.

The rise in expenditure was attributed to newly designed notes of higher denominations and the need to replace demonetised currency, the RBI report said. Banknotes were often airlifted from the presses to RBI offices across the country to ensure currency was available after demonetisation, adding to the cost of distribution.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, 2016 announced the withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes–which constituted 85% of cash in circulation–in a move to fight corruption, black money, money laundering, terrorism and financing of terrorists as well as counterfeit notes, a narrative that kept changing, as IndiaSpend reported on December 5, 2017.

Of Rs 15.44 lakh crore demonetised currency in circulation, about 99% or Rs 15.28 lakh crore came back to the central bank as on June 30, 2017, the annual report said.

After demonetisation, the Reserve Bank injected 23.8 billion pieces of banknotes into circulation, valued at Rs 5.54 lakh crore, between November 9 and December 31, 2016. About 74% fewer notes were in circulation on March 31, 2017, compared to November 4, 2016.(economy news)

Circulation of banknotes in terms of value declined by 20% to Rs 13.10 lakh crore ending March 2017, over the preceding year while the volume of notes increased by 11%, due to “higher infusion” of notes of lower denomination, post demonetisation.

The share of Rs 500 and higher denominations stood at 73% of the total value of notes in circulation at end-March 2017, as against 86% at end-March 2016. And, the share of new Rs 2,000 notes was reported 50% at end-March 2017.

Detection of counterfeit notes up 20% in 2016-17, from 6% in 2015-16

In 2016-17, 762,072 counterfeit notes were detected, of which 96% were detected by commercial banks. Detection of counterfeit currency notes by banks increased 20% in 2016-17, of which 42% were old Rs 500 notes.

Similarly, there was a 79% increase in the detection of Rs 1,000 counterfeit currency notes, from 143,099 in 2015-16 to 256,324 in 2016-17....(Read Full story)

Star India wins IPL global media rights for Rs 16,347 cr

Among all the individual bids, the highest sum was Rs 15,819 cr

 

 

Star India placed the winning bid for the media rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the next five years. The consolidated global bid for the IPL media rights placed by Murdoch's India subsidiary was Rs 16,347 crore, exceeding the sum of the individual bids, which was Rs 15,819 crore.

Star India was the only bidder to place a global bid. Sony Pictures Network India, the incumbent television rights holder, bid for the India TV rights for Rs 11,500 crore. This was the highest individual bid in any category.

The sum of all the rights bids in case of Star India was Rs 7,882.47 crore. However, this time, the BCCI had allowed companies to put in one composite bid for global TV and digital rights, which could be different from the sum of the individual bids the company has made.

Suresh Prabhu as commerce minister: Infra man has to kick-start industrial growth

On agenda will be at least 16 free trade agreements that India is negotiating with nations

 

 

Suresh Prabhu, who offered to resign as Railway Minister following a spate of accidents, has perhaps been given the benefit of doubt for his sterling record as power minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

The Rajya Sabha member of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh, who has been given charge of the commerce and industry portfolio, will now have to play a key role in using exports as an engine for growth and come up with a new industrial policy that will offer a road map and practical solutions to the industrial sector that is reeling under the impact of demonetisation.

The challenges are many as the previous commerce and industry minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, who has moved on to defence, has had an indifferent track record. The three years of her tenure at the commerce and industry ministry saw merchandise exports fall to $274 billion in 2016-17, after reaching $310 billion in 2014-15 and $262 billion in 2015-16.

“Every responsibility of the government is important and this is my ninth Cabinet-level position,” Prabhu said after Sunday’s reshuffle. His new task would be to ensure rapid economic growth of the country, he said.

Officials point to a slowdown in the global trade growth, apart from a crash in prices of raw materials like processed petroleum, industrial metals and meat, which India exports heavily. Domestic exporters, however, say the issue of falling competitiveness, loss of foreign market for strong sectors like apparel and engineering goods and a growing trade gap with China are more serious concerns. (Read more)

BRICS Summit kicks off: Xi, Modi display bonhomie ahead of restricted meet

PM Modi is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday

 

 

The BRICS Summit began here on Monday with a group photograph of leaders of the five countries and was preceded by a warm handshake between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who received the leaders of Brazil, Russia, and South Africa ahead of the restricted meeting of the grouping.

Modi was the third leader to reach the convention centre, which is the venue of the 9th BRICS Summit in this Chinese port city, followed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Xi on Tuesday.

The Summit will be the first gathering when the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will meet after New Delhi and Beijing decided on "expeditious disengagement" of their border troops in the disputed Dokalam area on August 28 after more than a two month-long standoff between them.

Apart from the restricted meeting, the leaders will participate in the plenary during which they will explore ways to enhance cooperation within the members of the grouping in key areas. They will also deliberate on international issues of significance, including global economy and challenges.

The Summit will end with the adoption of a Xiamen declaration, which will capture the essence of the deliberations and future road map.

Modi shuffles Cabinet: Sitharaman new defence minister; Goyal gets railways

Sitharaman became the second woman to head the Defence Ministry after Indira Gandhi

 

 

Nirmala Sitharaman was on Sunday promoted and appointed as India's Defence Minister in a surprise move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who elevated three others to the Cabinet and brought in nine new faces, including four former bureaucrats, in a reshuffle-cum-expansion of his ministry based on performance.

 

Power Minister Piyush Goyal, also promoted from Minister of State with independent charge to the Cabinet, got the railways portfolio, from which Suresh Prabhu was shifted to Commerce and Industry that was with Sitharaman. Prabhu had offered to quit after a major rail accident in Uttar Pradesh claimed 23 lives last month.(economy news)

The promoted ministers and the new faces were administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a 35-minute ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, attended among others by new Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and family members of some of the new ministers.

Sitharaman became the second woman to head the Defence Ministry after Indira Gandhi when she was Prime Minister. The Defence Ministry was with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

ALSO READ: Rise of Nirmala Sitharaman: From spokesperson to defence minister

Reacting to her appointment, Sithraman said she felt very humbled and that she could not describe her recognition in words.

"The party and the Prime Minister have been very supportive. As an ordinary worker from the south (India), it's a recognition by the party which overwhelms me," she said.

In the third reshuffle of the ministry in three years, Nitin Gadkari, who held Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, also got the Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Ministry that was taken away from Uma Bharti, who moved to Drinking Water and Sanitation. Earlier, there was speculation that Uma Bharti could be dropped. (READ MORE)

Why Modi is keen on 3rd & 'final' cabinet reshuffle before 2019 polls

Performers among MoS, including those with independent charges, are set to be promoted

 

 

 

The long awaited cabinet reshuffle of the Narendra Modi government, its third and possibly its final before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, is set to take place by Sunday afternoon.

Laggards among the ministers are being dropped. Performers among ministers of state, including those with independent charges, are set to be promoted. Some of the leaders who have excelled in organisational work will be included in the council of ministers, and some ministers asked to return to party work.

New ally Janata Dal (United) will get representation. Existing allies, who need to be placated in the run up to the 2019 polls, could get more ministerial berths. There is still no clarity on whether AIADMK might be included in the cabinet.

However, the shape of the forthcoming expansion and reshuffle would highlight the failures of the Modi government on some of its key promises – job growth and skill development, improvements promised in the farm sector and Ganga rejuvenation.

In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised 20 million jobs a year if voted to power. However, job growth has been abysmal, and significantly lower than the last three years of the UPA 2 government. The PM and BJP chief Amit Shah have argued how the MUDRA Scheme has provided loans to over 80 million people, which in turn has provided employment in the informal sector.(READ MORE)