Daily News (In Short)-19-August-2015

#* Midnight crackdown: Five FTII students arrested after 'gherao' against director, charged with rioting

Pune: In a post-midnight swoop, Maharashtra police arrested five students of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) from the campus for rioting, damaging properties and other charges.
The arrests came after a group of striking students confined FTII Director Prashant Pathrabe and other staffers in his office for eight hours, and vandalised office furniture and fittings on Monday.
Image courtesy: FacebookImage courtesy: Facebook
The students, numbering more than two dozen, were protesting against what they alleged was "irrational and unjustified" pro-rata course project assessment of the 2008 batch.
According to a Facebook post by FTII students, a warrant was issued issued against Ranjith Nair, Vikas Urs, Ajayan Adat and other members involved in the strike, out of which five were taken into custody.
"The students shouted slogans in his office, physically prevented him and other staffers from leaving the office, snapped communication lines and damaged office computers. They demanded that he should immediately cancel the project assessment or they would not release them," an official said on Wednesday.
The students also formed a human chain to stop Pathrabe from stepping out, threw rapid fire questions at him repeatedly, shouted slogans like "PM Narendra Modi & Arun Jaitley murdabad" and caused mental torture to the officials.
Following the incident, Pathrabe lodged a complaint with Deccan Police Station late Tuesday.
The police swung into action by registering a FIR against 15 students and sent teams to the campus at around 12.45 a.m.
In the action, at least five were picked up and arrested on various charges, including rioting under the Indian Penal Code, and other non-bailable offences, around 2 a.m., the police official said.
They will be produced before a magistrate later today.
Police teams are on the lookout for the others, including at least three women, who they believe maybe hiding in or around the FTII campus.
The police crackdown caps the 72 day old agitation in which a section of the students are opposing the appointment of BJP member and TV actor Gajendra Chauhan as FTII chairman.
Last week Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi visited the FTII and expressed solidarity with the students.

#* 10 dead, 15 injured after landslide in Himachal Pradesh

As many as 10 pilgrims were killed and 15 others were injured when heavy boulders fell on a Sikh shrine in Manikaran, 45 km from the district headquarters Kullu on Tuesday afternoon.
"The incident took place around 2 pm when boulders fell on the shrine building. Ten bodies have been retrieved from the rubble. Fifteen injured have been admitted to the regional hospital. The rescue operation is still on to locate others," Kullu Deputy Commissioner, Rakesh Kanwar told Mail Today.
A major landslide was reported at the famous Sikh shrine Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday.
According to locals, six people are still trapped inside the parking building. The deputy commissioner said that nearly 200 rescuers including 40 NDRF personnel, 84 SSB, 28 ITBP besides the police jawans are doing the rescue operation. He said that the exact number of pilgrims is not known as the Gurudwara administration is not able to confirm the exact number of pilgrims.

#* A major landslide was reported at the famous Sikh shrine Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday

Jaisalmer, India: More than two years after the completion of a new $17 million (Rs 111 crore at 1 dollar = 65.31 rupees) terminal building, the airport in Jaisalmer, the remote desert city in Rajasthan, stands empty.

Not a single passenger has passed through the gates of an airport big enough to handle more than 300,000 travellers a year, with parking bays for three 180-seater narrow-body jets.

India has spent more than $50 million or Rs 326 crore since 2009 on eight airports that do not receive scheduled flights - white elephants that are a reminder of the pitfalls for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he bets on an infrastructure drive to fuel growth."They (the government) need to realise it's not a case of 'build the airport and we will come'," said Sanjiv Kapoor, chief operating officer at SpiceJet Ltd. The private sector airline last year ceased flying to a new airport in the southern Indian city of Mysore because of insufficient demand.

India's ghost terminals were built largely by the previous Congress-led government, which planned 200 'no frills' airports, encouraged by rising air travel and the need to connect far-flung regions.

But the empty check-in desks and cavernous baggage halls highlight the risks for PM Modi, too, of catering to powerful regional bosses and spending without a unifying strategy.

Across India, more than half of the 100-odd domestic-only airports operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) have not seen a scheduled flight this year, official data shows, though some are older airports designed primarily for chartered planes.

The AAI did not respond to requests for comment.

The Civil Aviation Ministry declined to comment on whether Mr Modi's government will stick with the 200 airport growth plan. But the incentive to grow in less-developed regions remains: on Tuesday, Modi pledged Rs 2,700 crore ($413 million) for four new airports in the state of Bihar, which holds elections this year.

The rush to build comes as passenger numbers grow 20 per cent a year, to 38.8 million in the first half of 2015, leaving India's major airports, which account for four-fifths of traffic, saturated.

Plans for a second hub in financial capital Mumbai are years behind schedule while the government has struggled to privatise four large airports to fund their expansion.
© Thomson Reuters 2015

#* Indian e-commerce industry's funds may disappear in a flash

Hong Kong Snapdeal's latest fundraising reveals how the cash pouring into India's e-commerce industry will disappear in a flash.

The online marketplace is raising $500 million from investors led by China's Alibaba and a Hong Kong-listed unit of Taiwan's Foxconn at a valuation of almost $5 billion. Securing more big-name backers is a coup for the Indian start-up. But the cost of luring buyers and sellers to its platform means the new funds won't last long.

The investment provides a rare insight into how quickly the industry that includes Amazon and Flipkart, which is backed by the Qatar Investment Authority, is burning through cash. The Foxconn subsidiary's filing shows that losses at Jasper Infotech, the company that owns and operates Snapdeal, ballooned to $206 million in the year that ended in March, up from $41 million a year earlier. Given the fierce battle for market share among online retailers, there's every reason to believe that losses are still rising.

The cost of offering promotions to web shoppers is at least partly to blame. India's online marketplaces are not legally allowed to fix prices. Instead they encourage sellers to cut prices by waiving commissions, or give customers instant cash-back or credit. In a recent two-day sale, Snapdeal offered discounts of up to 70% on electronics. The arms race shows no sign of easing up. UBS reckons it will take until 2020 for the industry to be profitable.

Alibaba and Foxconn are investing at a time when others are turning cautious or cashing out. SoftBank president Nikesh Arora recently warned that start-up valuations in India had raced far ahead of where they were a few years ago. Snapdeal's valuation has more than doubled since October when the Japanese group invested $627 million for a roughly 30% stake. It was a much smaller investor in Snapdeal's latest round.

Meanwhile, US e-commerce player eBay sold down part of its shareholding.

For Snapdeal, the investment helps it keep up with rivals and gives it more deep-pocketed backers to turn to when it goes shopping for its next cash call. On current evidence, that might be sooner than later.

#* FE exclusive: World Bank-supported fund in the making for Indian Railways

In search of funds from the external sources to meet its huge investment requirements, the Indian Railways (IR) has initiated a process to set up a World Bank-supported fund to attract both domestic and foreign institutions to invest in its projects.
A senior ministry of railways official told The Financial Express that the basic idea behind the creation of this fund is to ensure security to the investment made by the investors, especially  foreign pension funds and also others with the World Bank acting as the anchor investor. “According to the plan, the World Bank would be giving us the seed capital and Indian Railways will be putting in money, periodically,” said the official, adding that the fund-supported investments would obviously be tied up with the revenue-generating projects.
The Indian Railways official said that the ministry of finance has already taken up the feasibility study with the World Bank for setting up this fund, which is expected to be complete in three months, after which a final call will be taken by the government. Sources said that other institutions like ADB and International Finance Corporation have also shown interest in getting associated with the fund.
The Indian Railways has projected an investment need of Rs 8.56 lakh crore over the next five years. Out of which, Rs 2.56 lakh crore has to come from the Gross Budgetary Support, Rs 1 lakh crore from internal resource generation, Rs 1.2 lakh crore from the state joint ventures, Rs 1.3 lakh crore from the PPP mode, Rs 2.5 lakh crore from borrowing, another Rs 1 lakh crore from rolling stock lease and rest Rs 1.5 lakh crore from institutional financing.
As a big boost to this exercise, LIC has already committed Rs 1.5 lakh crore over five years and the Indian Railways has planned to draw Rs 17,000 crore from this in the current financial year, which, the officials say, can be increased if there is a need. The talks are also on with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) but the problem in getting funds from the EPFO is that it will come at a higher interest rate than that from LIC which is at around 8%, said an official, and added that the discussions are going on to find a working mechanism.
A number of foreign pension funds have evinced interest in investing in the Indian Railways but one of the first concrete deliberations is expected to happen with the Canadian funds in October and if the World Bank-supported fund takes shape quickly, it will certainly address the concerns of the institutional investors with regard to the security and repayment facility. The exact shape and whether projects would also be financed through this window will be decided once there is a final decision on setting up the fund.

#* Google launches new 'smart' WiFi router for $199​

Google has unveiled a new WiFi router that is aimed at increasing the ease and speed at which people's increasingly indispensable smartphones and tablets connect with its services at home.The Internet giant has billed OnHub, manufactured in partnership with networking product major TP-LINK, as a "different kind of router for a new way to WiFi." OnHub is supposed to be easy to set up and manage, have high performance, and be able to tie together smart home accessories.

"Instead of headaches and spotty connections, OnHub gives you Wi-Fi that's fast, secure, and easy to use," Google said in a blog post.

OnHub's key selling point seems to be that it's easy to set up and painless to troubleshoot. It connects to iOS and Android phones through what appears to be a clean and stylish app that tells owners how many devices are connected to OnHub and what speeds they're getting.

According to Google, the router's circular design should allow it to have better penetration throughout a home (OnHub has 13 antennas inside). The router will automatically detect the best channel to broadcast on and includes support for 802.11ac and 5GHz Wi-Fi.

Google has promised to bring new features to the OnHub over time.

Unlike existing home routers, OnHub is expected to handle firmware updates automatically, similar to over-the-air updates on smartphones. The router does not have any other unique software features now, but Google may add other experimental features like integration with smart home devices.

Among the more interesting features that Google mentions in the blog is that OnHub supports Bluetooth LE and Weave - Google's new smart home language – which could eventually allow the router to serve as a smart home hub.

Smart devices – from heating and cooling system regulators to fire and security alarms – are a booming business. Google last year bought Nest, a smart home device maker for more than $3 billion.

OnHub is priced at $199 for online pre-orders and will go on sale in stores in the US and Canada from August 31.

#* Modi's Rs 1.25 lakh cr bonanza for Bihar: A hard act for Nitish, Lalu to follow

On his third visit to Bihar in under a month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears to have turned into a benevolent monarch.  He promised to shower the state with goodies worth Rs 1.65  lakh crore — an unheard of figure in the context of development funds.
“I am offering a package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore. I have to change the fate of Bihar. I need your blessings for developing the state,” said Modi in Arrah. He went on to detail how an additional Rs 40,000 crore worth of recently-started projects could be added to that. An hour later in Saharsa, he repeated the same thing, but laid emphasis on the why the people need to rid the state of an arrogant ruler (Nitish) in this election.
The political significance of the Bihar election for the BJP is apparent from the fact that Modi held rallies in Arrah and Saharsa mere hours after his return from a hectic two-day visit to the UAE. He narrated how he overruled the apprehensions of his officers to come to Bihar. Arrah, a sleepy district town near Patna, has lived on the century-and-a-half-old nostalgia of Veer Kunwar Singh's valour, and Saharsa across the Kosi river is a Yadav, who lives on hypothetical pride, according to the prime minister. “Rome Pope ka, Saharsa Gope (Yadav) ka”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Saharsa: @ANI_NewsPrime Minister Narendra Modi in Arrah: @ANI_News
While the delivery of the pre-election bonanza will depend on the outcome of the October-November state Assembly elections, the fact remains that even the most bitter critics of Modi, like Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his alliance partner Lalu Prasad Yadav had not anticipated such a magnanimous package.
Flanked by nine union ministers from Bihar, Modi didn’t stop there.
He went on to play on Bihar’s pride by repeatedly referring to how Nitish let down state “swabhimaan” (honour) when after “an act of betrayal by dumping the BJP, he went to Delhi desperately pleading, prodding and begging” for money but settled for a package worth only Rs 12,000 crore from the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government at the Centre. Successive JD(U) governments — headed by Jitan Ram Manjhi and Nitish — could not spend that amount and around Rs 8,000 crore are still unspent.
Nitish’s government is now surviving on the support of the Congress and RJD in the state and at the Centre, the JD(U) is backing Rahul and Sonia Gandhi's every move, including the stalling of Parliament.
Modi is hitting Nitish hard where it could hurt the latter most — his arrogance and betrayal. He also challenges Nitish’s credentials as Sushashan Babu (good governance man) on two accounts: The dependence on Lalu for survival and personal arrogance. In his first rally, where a series of developmental schemes and a special package for Bihar was announced, Modi lauched an offensive against Nitish on the 'Bimaru' issue (a classification of poor states: Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh). "The chief minister is very angry about the Bimaru issue. It's good news if he is right in his claims that Bihar has come out of the Bimaru category. But if that is the case, why does he go on asking for help?" asked Modi.
Nitish’s eagerness to ally with the Congress was also used as ammunition by Modi to corner the chief minister. How could the JD(U) leader align with killers of Jaiprakash Narayan, asked the prime minister. Indira Gandhi had jailed Narayan during the Emergency, and his health deteriorated. Nitish and Lalu are products of the JP movement.  So are the BJP’s Sushil Kumar Modi, and Ravi Shankar Prasad. When Nitish had staked a claim to the legacy of JP and Ram Manohar Lohia earlier, the NDA leaders had reminded him through an open letter that the two political icons laid down their lives fighting against the Congress.
Modi has also not forgotten Nitish’s decision in 2009 to return the Gujarat government's contribution for relief and rehabilitation of flood-affected people in the Kosi region. Nitish’s decision taken in the aftermath of that infamous cancellation of dinner to Modi was widely criticised, but the former stood by his actions. On arrival in Saharsa to campaign for his party and the NDA, it was time for Modi to recall that incident. Saharasa region was the worst hit by the Kosi floods in 2008. “Kosi ke log marein toh marein, hum apna ahankar nahi chhod sakte. Aise ahankari (Nitish) ko janata ko chhodna chahiye ki nahi ('If the people of the Kosi die, so be it, I will cannot abandon my arrogance'. Shouldn't the people abandon such an arrogant person?)”, Modi asked, reminding them how it was the prime minister who promptly took action when threat of the Kosi flood loomed large yet again in August 2014.
By speaking at length on issues of pride and prejudice, Modi has provided some additional fodder to the Mahagathban (Nitish-Lalu-Rahul-Sonia) to retaliate in their proposed Swabhimaan rally at Patna Gandhi Maidan on 29 August. Modi will return to Bihar in the communally-sensitive Bhagalpur on 1 September with his response.

#* New Windows 10 Preview Build Released With Memory Improvements, More

What's new in Windows 10? Just ask any Windows Insider user. Microsoft has made available a new preview build of its latest desktop operating system to beta testers. Dubbed 10525, the new Windows 10 build comes with a number of interesting changes that users had requested from the company. The update is already available for Windows Insider users on the "Fast ring" lane.

The company says that it has received plenty of feedback over the colour options for Windows 10. In the new build, it said, it is giving users more flexibility in choosing the UI colour. You can be find the option in Settings > Personalisation > Colors, and by selecting Show color on Start, task bar, and action center. The colour now also reflects on the title bar of applications.

Microsoft says that it is also testing out memory improvements in Windows, which could reduce the amount of memory used by a process. This would allow the operating system to store more applications on physical memory (which significantly improves the speed) resulting in improved user experience. If this works, we might see fewer modern applications resuming after being left idle for a few minutes.

Readers should note there are some glitches in the new build. The built-in mobile hotspot feature, for instance, doesn't work on this build, and the Movies & TV application requires an update to patch the video playback issue. Also if you use optional languages, those will need to be re-installed manually on your computer.

What to expect next? These features will eventually arrive for Windows Insider users in "Slow ring" lane. And if users like these changes, Microsoft will likely introduce it to regular Windows 10 users in an upcoming update. The company says that it plans to test support for extensions in its Edge browser, and a new Messaging application in a coming build.

#* Forget egos, sign peace deal — Uganda tells South Sudan leaders

KAMPALA: Uganda told South Sudan’s warring factions on Tuesday to put their egos aside and make peace, a day after President Salva Kiir refused to sign a deal to end a 20-month-old conflict.

The blunt words from a regional power underlined growing exasperation among African and global leaders over a string of broken ceasefires and accords in the world’s newest nation. Washington has threatened sanctions if no deal is reached.

Kiir asked for another 15 days of discussions, shrugging off pressure from regional mediators to meet a Monday deadline for a deal. His spokesman told journalists in Juba on Tuesday the pact on the table had been a “sell-out”, without going into details.

A procession of African leaders flew in to join the negotiations in Addis Ababa and press for an agreement, including Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who at one stage stormed out of the venue.

“The Ugandan government knows how strenuous it is to achieve peace between belligerents, especially when the belligerents have big egos and when those belligerents put their personal egos above national interests,” Ugandan government spokesman Shaban Bantariza said in Kampala.

“We can only continue to mediate, to encourage every side to realize that their country is superior to every one of them individually.”

South Sudan, an oil producer which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, descended into chaos in December 2013 when a political dispute between Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar spiraled into armed conflict that reopened ethnic fault lines.

Machar, who signed the deal, accused government troops of launching attacks on opposition forces’ positions just hours after Kiir snubbed the peace deal. “The regime in Juba rejected to sign the peace agreement because it has chosen war over peace,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

The government rejected those assertions, instead accusing the rebel forces of starting the clashes.

“These are lies. It is the rebels that have attacked Pageri town this morning at 10 a.m. The rebels set fire to civilian houses and left many casualties,” Philip Aguer, spokesman for the military, said.

He said an assessment of the damage and casualties caused by the fighting in Pageri was being carried out by the military.

Rights groups have accused both sides of abuses in clashes and raids often pitting Machar’s Nuer group against Kiir’s Dinkas. Fighting has killed more than 10,000 people and
forced more than 2 million to flee their homes.

A member of the mediation team from regional bloc IGAD told Reuters that Kiir, who only initialed the deal, rather than signing it as Machar did, had reservations about a provision in the plan to demilitarize the capital, Juba.

Kiir had sought to scrap a provision that called for consultations with Machar on “powers, functions and responsibilities” he would exercise in any future administration, the official said.

“We strongly believe that (the deal) cannot serve the people of South Sudan. It is a sell-out and we will not accept that,” Kiir spokesman and South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth said on Tuesday.

Western diplomats urged Kiir to accept the deal swiftly.

“After 20 months of fighting, and with 2 million displaced from their homes, further delay beyond the 17 August deadline is completely unacceptable,” Britain’s minister for Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, Tobias Ellwood, said in a statement. 

#* Thai police suspect 'foreigner' involved in Bangkok bomb blast

dnesday they were looking for accomplices of the chief suspect for the Bangkok shrine bomb blast that killed 22 people, a man who was captured on closed-circuit television (CCTV) dumping a backpack and walking away.

"We suspect he is the bomber," national police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said, referring to the man in a yellow T-shirt in a grainy video that has gone viral on social media.

"We are also looking for other suspects in connection with the blast. These types of attacks are not usually planned by one person alone," he added.The government said Monday evening's attack at the popular Erawan shrine in the heart of Bangkok was aimed at wrecking the economy, which depends heavily on tourism.

No one has claimed responsibility for the blast, which killed 22 people - nearly half of them foreigners from several Asian countries - and wounded more than 120.Deputy police chief Jaktip Chaijinda said that, based on the footage, investigators "believe the man's physical appearance resembles more that of a foreigner than a Thai."

Jangling nerves in the city on Tuesday, a small explosive was thrown from a bridge towards a river pier, sending a plume of water into the air, but no one was hurt.

A spokesman for the government, Werachon Sukhontapatipak, said there were "patterns" linking the two bombs in that both used TNT but no direct connection had been established as yet.

Police Major General Pornchai Suteerakune, commander of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, said the bodies of almost all the dead at the shrine were wounded by silver ball bearings that were packed into the bomb.

The shrine, a blood-spattered scene of charred motorbikes and debris after the blast, was reopened on Wednesday.

The footage of the young man with shaggy dark hair shows him entering the shrine compound with a backpack on, sitting down against a railing and then slipping out of the bag's straps.

He then stands up and walks out apparently holding a mobile phone, leaving the bag by the fence as tourists mill about.

Police have not ruled out any group, including elements opposed to the military government, for the attack though they say it did not match the tactics of Muslim insurgents in the south or 'red shirt' supporters of the previous administration.

"The attack did not bear the hallmarks of either southern Muslim separatists or red-shirt militants," said Angel Rabasa, an expert on Islamist militancy at the RAND Corporation.

"Both groups have carried out terrorist attacks in the past, but not on this scale in terms of loss of life."

He said the attack could be the work of Islamic State, which has been expanding its reach in Southeast Asia, or an al Qaeda-related or independent jihadist group. However, such groups usually claim responsibility for their attacks.

Police said they were also considering the possibility that ethnic Uighurs were behind the bombing.

Thailand forcibly returned 109 Uighurs to China last month.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of members of the Turkic-speaking and largely Muslim minority have fled unrest in China's western Xinjiang region, where hundreds of people have been killed, prompting a crackdown by Chinese authorities. Many Uighurs have traveled through Southeast Asia to Turkey.

The blast comes at a sensitive time for Thailand, which has been riven for a decade by a sometimes-violent struggle for power between political factions in Bangkok.

A parliament hand-picked by a junta that seized power in a 2014 coup is due to vote on a draft constitution next month. Critics say the draft is undemocratic and intended to help the army secure power and curb the influence of elected politicians.

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