Daily News (In Short)-25-August-2015

#* Sensex recovers, up by over 300 points as regional markets rebound

The BSE benchmark Sensex recovered in early trade on Tuesday, up by 383.27 points while the Nifty was up by over 80 points after India’s share markets sank nearly 6% on Monday, the most in seven years, rattled by a wobbly Chinese economy that has sparked a global rout and raising concerns about costlier imports and other policy dilemmas for the government and Reserve Bank of India.
Indian shares rose more than one percent as regional markets rebounded despite continued fears that China's economy was risking a hard landing.

The broader NSE index gained 1.11% after slumping nearly 6% and hitting its lowest intraday level since October 2014 on Monday.

The benchmark BSE index rose 1.2% after hitting its lowest intraday level since August 2014 on Monday.

On Tuesday, most Asian markets opened marginally positive, bourses in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia were trading cautiously up though Shanghai stocks tumbled 6.41% at the open, extending the previous day's plunge on mounting worries over China's faltering economy and its impact on global growth.

The rupee also made a recovery on Tuesday by 26 paise to 66.39 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange in early trade today on fresh selling of the US currency by banks and exporters.
 
Dealers said fresh selling of the US currency by exporters and banks, and weakening of dollar overseas supported the domestic currency.
     
Gains in stock markets also helped rupee strengthen against the dollar, they added.
     
The rupee had tumbled sharply by 82 paise, its biggest single day fall this year, to settle at 66.65 against the dollar on Monday as global meltdown fears remained unabated.

In India, strategists say the Chinese depreciation of its currency yuan could likely trigger further depreciation in the emerging market currency basket including those that have high intensity of commodity exports and those that run high trade deficit with China.

“India runs a trade deficit of about $50bn with China and the total trade to China is near 10% of India’s total trade,” said Dhananjay Sinha, institutional research head at Emkay Global Financial Services.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1.6% in Hong Kong, while the S&P ASX 200 Index was up 2.4% in intra day trade.

“We expect markets to remain volatile in the coming trading sessions led by the negative global cues and the upcoming F and O (futures and options) expiry,” said Angel Broking chairman Dinesh Thakkar.

“However, fundamentals of the Indian economy remain intact. The markets would offer strong buying opportunities for long term investors to enter at attractive valuations. Once the selling from FIIs abate, investors could look towards export-driven sectors such as IT / pharma and quality names across private banks, auto and infrastructure,” he added

#* Patels' mega rally seeking reservations begins in Ahmedabad with 17,000 cops watching

Ahmedabad: The Patel community, which is demanding reservations under the OBC quota, today began its show of strength with an ambitious mega-rally here on Tuesday.
Patel leaders' call for bandh on Tuesday, and the police's decision to declare some of the main roads as no-go areas and request to the people not to leave house unless in the case of emergency, are likely to bring the commercial capital of Gujarat to a grinding halt.
According to the convener of `Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti' Hardik Patel who is leading the agitation, a `Maha-Kranti Rally' will be organised after a mass gathering at GMDC ground.
PTI imagePTI image
"To avoid inconvenience to the locals we have called for a complete bandh in the city as well as in Gujarat. I appeal the authorities to close schools, colleges and other businesses tomorrow," he said.
Patels are unrelenting even though the Chief Minister Anandiben Patel yesterday expressed inability to include the community in the OBC category and requested the leaders to end the agitation and come forward for negotiations. Her video message was constantly aired on local TV channels today.
Security has been beefed up for the public meeting and the rally for which police gave permission today.
Police commissioner Shivanand Jha said foolproof security arrangements have been made, and more than 17,000 police personnel -- including 20 superintendents of police, 62 deputy SPs, 244 inspectors, 504 sub-inspectors, 13,000 constables and head-constables and 817 policewomen -- would be deployed.
Thousands of Patel community members have already landed here from many parts of the state.
"We also request the citizens not to leave their homes unless there is emergency. In case of emergency, people can contact police and we will do the needful."
"28 companies of State Reserve Police, two units of Chetak commandos (total 150 personnel), four companies of the Rapid Action force and 21 Quick Response Teams will also be deployed," the police commissioner said.
"We will also conduct aerial survey by using four `Netras' (unmanned aerial vehicles). One will be used exclusively for traffic, two will be placed at the rally venue and the fourth will monitor the situation in the city," said Jha.
"Six Command and Control Vehicles with CCTV cameras will be used at the rally. A total of 600 CCTV cameras have been installed in the city. We will also place 11 'Varun' water cannons at strategic positions and 35 units of 'Vajra' tear gas vehicles.
"We will also deploy 20 Bomb Disposal and Detection Squads at the rally," he said, adding all the armoured vehicles from across the state have been brought here.
As many as 1,838 persons were put into preventive detention by the city police from August 11 to 22.
"We have also conducted Mohalla Sabhas especially in communally sensitive areas and held meeting with the leaders of various communities," he said.
"We have also told hospitals to be prepared if any untoward incident takes place. Police have checked various hotels and other places where terrorists are suspected to take shelter. All such places are being checked," Jha said.
The commissioner warned people against spreading rumours through mobile phone messages, Whatsapp or Internet. Those spreading rumour would face action, he said.

#* Bank of Japan Should Consider Acting if Yen Rises Sharply, Abe Adviser Says
TOKYO—A close adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday that the Bank of Japan should consider additional monetary easing if the yen rises sharply, threatening the “Abenomics” growth plan.

“Japan doesn’t need to react to every change in stock prices, but if this turmoil causes the yen to strengthen sharply, it probably should consider taking monetary policy measures,” Koichi Hamada, a Yale University professor emeritus, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview. He declined to say at what yen level the BOJ should act.

Mr. Hamada’s remarks indicate a shift in Japan’s policy debate. Until a few weeks ago advisers to Mr. Abe were expressing worries that additional easing might weaken the yen too much, causing more pain for low-income households and pensioners by making imported food and necessities more expensive.

But the mood changed this week as global markets plummeted. Finance Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday described the yen’s rise as “rough.”

The Japanese currency soared Monday after a China-induced global stock-market rout led investors to cover short positions in the yen and seek refuge in the currency, which is considered a haven. At one point, the dollar traded at ¥116.15, its weakest level in seven months. The greenback recovered Tuesday and was at ¥119.80 around 0200 GMT.A stronger yen could hurt Japanese exporters, which have enjoyed record profits in the past two-plus years as the currency has weakened dramatically. That would deal an extra blow to Japan’s economy, which shrank in the three months through June and has struggled to gain traction due to lackluster exports and consumption. The weak yen is seen as a main achievement of Abenomics, a combination of aggressive monetary easing, flexible fiscal spending and planned structural overhauls.

Mr. Hamada said the BOJ would have good reason to act if China tries to further undercut its currency, the yuan, through more monetary easing.

“When there is concern that monetary policy elsewhere could add an extra burden on the Japanese economy by causing the yen to strengthen sharply, it is fine for the Bank of Japan to ease its policy aggressively,” Mr. Hamada said.

A drop in China’s currency would put Japanese exporters at a disadvantage against their Chinese competitors, he said.

Mr. Hamada said the BOJ doesn’t need to act if the yen doesn’t rise rapidly, even if a long slide in global oil prices to multi-year lows threatens to further delay achievement of the central bank’s inflation target. He is optimistic about Japan’s economic conditions, with corporate profits rising and employment “very strong,” he said.

He was, however, concerned about China, the second-largest importer of Japanese products. “I think the turbulence in the Chinese stock markets reflects real economic problems, rather than just speculation in the markets,” he said. “And the size of China’s economy is so big that we should seriously be concerned about the effects of Chinese stock-market weakness.”

On the question of Japanese families suffering from a weaker yen, Mr. Hamada said scaling back monetary easing to stem the yen’s downtrend wouldn’t be appropriate.

“It is essential for the government to, at least, make tax policy changes, such as refunding the sales tax or exempting food from the tax” for those in the lowest income brackets, he said.

#* UN chief Ban Ki-moon appalled by Islamic State's 'barbaric' attacks in Palmyra

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday he was appalled by reports that Islamic State militants had demolished a temple in Syria's ancient Palmyra.
IS fighters packed explosives in the Baal Shamin temple and blew up the shrine on Sunday, Syria's antiquities chief said.
File photo of Palmyra . AFPFile photo of Palmyra . AFP
Ban also voiced outrage over the murder of Khaled al-Assaad, the retired chief archeologist at Palmyra whose body was mutilated after he was beheaded on 18 August.
"These barbaric acts of terror join a long list of crimes committed over the past four years in Syria against its civilian population and heritage," Ban said in a statement.
Palmyra is listed as a world heritage site by the UN cultural body UNESCO, and Ban recalled that destroying world cultural sites was a war crime.
The UN chief called on world governments to "unite and act swiftly to put a stop to this terrorist activity."

#* Raghuram Rajan tries to talk up Rupee, but experts see further fall

It was a Manic Monday. As rupee slid in tandem with the stock market, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan put up a brave front, trying to talk up the currency. But experts feel that the rupee's further fall cannot be discounted.

State-owned banks continued to sell dollars through the day, but could not prevent the rupee's fall. It finally closed at Rs 66.66 to dollar, 82 paise lower from the previous day's close, as the Chinese economy sent jitters among global investors who withdrew from all emerging markets. Foreign institutions sold stocks in Indian stock market, adding to the acute dollar shortage in the market.

#* 'Historic moment' as Britain reopens embassy in Iran after four years

Tehran: In a significant development that marks immense improvement in Iran-West relations, United Kingdom on Sunday reopened embassy in Tehran.
The embassy was closed in 2011 after hardliners angry over imposition of sanctions had stormed the compound, smashing windows and burning British flags.

To mark the reopening of the UK embassy, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond arrived in Tehran with Iranian diplomats and called it a historic moment in UK-Iran relations as it is the first British Ministerial visit since 2003.
Britain has had no diplomatic presence in Tehran since hard-liners protesting the imposition of international sanctions stormed it in November 2011, but the election of President Hassan Rouhani and the recent nuclear deal between Iran and world powers have brought about a significant diplomatic thaw.
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B2vLkO9ma4eRRUdBWm01Um5sb2c
"Four years on from an attack on the British Embassy, I am today re-opening it," Hammond said in a prepared statement. "Our relationship has improved since 2011. President Rouhani's election and last month's nuclear agreement were important milestones. I believe that we have the potential to go much further."

Terrorism, regional stability and the spread of the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq are among the challenges Britain and Iran should be prepared to work together on, Hammond said.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif welcomed the reopening of the British Embassy, saying it showed Iran's regional and global significance.

"The world has realized Iran's constructive role in the region and the globe," state TV quoted Zarif as saying Sunday. "Of course, we have differences with some European countries but that can be negotiated through interaction, open eyes and a realistic approach."

Hammond and the new British charge d'affaires, Ajay Sharma, were attending the embassy reopening ceremony together with representatives of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Office said.

Hammond was also accompanied by a small British trade delegation to discuss possible future trade opportunities following last month's nuclear deal, the ministry added.

The British Embassy would initially have a small number of staff with limited consular services, but officials expect to upgrade its leadership to full ambassador status in coming months.

#* Chief executives of two start-ups acquired by Flipkart resign

Bengaluru: The chief executive officers (CEOs) of two start-ups bought by Flipkart Ltd have quit, less than six months after India’s largest e-commerce firm struck these deals.

Anurag Dod, head of advertising technology firm AdIQuity Technologies Pvt. Ltd, and Tanuj Mendiratta, head of mobile marketing firm Appiterate, have left Flipkart, four people familiar with the matter said.

The acquisitions of AdIQuity and Appiterate by Flipkart were seen as acqui-hires.

Acqui-hiring is the strategy of buying a company at a very low price, primarily in order to hire its employees.

The departures of Dod and Mendiratta were unexpected. The employees of AdIQuity and Appiterate remain at Flipkart.

A Flipkart spokesperson confirmed the departures of Dod and Mendiratta.

Flipkart announced the acqui-hires of AdIQuity in March and Appiterate in late April to boost its push into advertising and mobile commerce, respectively. CEO Sachin Bansal is leading a push into ads to boost the company’s margins and reduce dependence on discounting to drive sales. AdIQuity’s Dod was expected to help Bansal build the ads business.

In the past, Flipkart has had success with acqui-hires. Two senior tech leaders—Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari—joined Flipkart as part of an acqui-hire after the online retailer bought their digital media distribution firm, MIME360, in 2011.

Though MIME360’s product Flyte (Flipkart’s online music store) closed later, Nigam and Chari became senior tech leaders at the company. Nigam rose to the position of senior vice-president (engineering) before quitting Flipkart last month.

“Appiterate and AdIQuity teams are now well integrated into Flipkart, and senior leadership talent from both companies have taken significant roles at Flipkart,” a Flipkart spokesperson said by email. “Attracting top-notch talent is core to Flipkart’s acquisition philosophy, and we have an integration team to ensure that senior talent getting acquired into Flipkart can create significant impact. We can confirm that Anurag Dod and Tanuj Mendiratta have left Flipkart to pursue other external opportunities, and we wish them the best.”

Flipkart is looking at a mix of acquisitions and acqui-hires in mobile technology, supply chain and logistics to add millions of users, improve its mobile offering and establish a reputation as a technology powerhouse.

The Bengaluru-based company has been snapping up several start-ups over the past nine months in small deals.

Separately, Ravi Vora, CEO of strategic brands group at Flipkart, has also left the firm. Vora was Flipkart’s marketing head for more than three years before being shifted to a new role.

Vora, whose exit was reported earlier by online news portal Medianama, is the latest senior leader to leave Flipkart. Last month, the company’s top tech leaders—chief technology officer Amod Malviya and Nigam—resigned after the company hired a new tech leadership team from Google Inc.

Vaibhav Gupta, senior vice-president of finance, is also on sabbatical for an unspecified period of time.

The departures of all these executives follow those of Saran Chatterjee, former product head, in June, and Sujeet Kumar, who led WS Retail Pvt. Ltd, a key seller on Flipkart’s online marketplace and its logistics provider, in May.

#* HT Poll | Will privatisation make Indian Railways safer?

The train accident in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur on Monday morning, which killed five people including a Karnataka legislator and injured at least 25 others, was the second fatal railway accident this month.

The accident occurred when a granite-laden truck rammed into an express train at a level crossing.

Earlier this month, at least 35 people were killed when two trains derailed within minutes of each other while crossing a small bridge near Harda town in Madhya Pradesh.

In 2012, a government report said almost 15,000 people were killed every year on the railways, describing the deaths as an annual “massacre” due mainly to poor safety standards.

The Indian Railways is the fourth largest railway network in the world ferrying more than 23 million passengers every day. Arguments have been consistently made demanding the its privatisation. Critics of the state-owned railways have maintained that the infrastructure is poorly maintained by the government and needs an overhaul.

#* From FTII to Presidency College: Students should be cautious of 'sympathetic' politicians

Just when you think it could not get weirder, it does.
The Trinamool Congress announced over the weekend that it will send a fact-finding team to Pune to express solidarity with the striking students.
Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien, the party’s youth wing chief Abhishek Banerjee and its actor-turned-MP Satabdi Roy form the Trinamool delegation and prepare a "ground report". "The students want to know whether Mamata di would be coming," said Derek O’Brien to the media.
Didi is not coming but Mamata Banerjee tweeted out her support in a three-part tweet.
"The Central Govt must resolve the prevailing unrest situation at #FTII Pune. They must take students and teachers into confidence."
"Political purpose should not stand in the way; institutions are above everything."
"Since I was associated with student movements in the past, I respect student movement. I support their genuine cause always."
Apart from the fact that college student Mamata Banerjee became famous for jumping up and down on the bonnet of Jayaprakash Narayan's car, the real irony is even as Didi was tweeting out her support for far away Pune, she was being booed in her own backyard on the hallowed grounds of Presidency University. Protesters greeted her with black flags, slogans and graffiti that said she was not welcome. Mamata who had come bearing gifts – checks for the University – protested “There is no reason everyone should like me. But why won’t I come?”
Classroom at FTII, Pune after students boycotted classes. Reuters image.Classroom at FTII, Pune after students boycotted classes. Reuters image.
But the other questions is given all the campus heat she is facing at home, why would Didi want to possibly burn her fingers in Pune?
When FTII director Prashant Pathrabe called police into the campus after he was confined to his cabin by protesters, media in Kolkata wrote about the shadow of Kolkata’s Jadavpur University on Pune. In September 2015, Jadavpur University vice-chancellor was gheraoed in his office and called the police who resorted to a late night lathicharge. Protests picked up steam and eventually the JU vice-chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti stepped down. At the behest of Mamata Banerjee, it is true, but not until a long bitter and acrimonious stand-off between the students and the administration had played out in the media with the Left Front stoking the flames.
Presidency, Jadavpur, FTII all have different back stories. Even if the basic demands sometimes sound the same – the vice chancellor should resign – the nuances are different. In Presidency, one point of contention is a probe into a 2013 ransack of the heritage Baker Laboratory. At FTII, it’s the qualifications of its new anointed head. At Jadavpur, it was the probe into a molestation incident that was not making headway. But all had wheels within wheels. At FTII there are issues about old batches who have not graduated yet but should have. At JU there is a struggle between old Communist affiliated unions and a Trinamool backed one trying to make headway. Presidency has had a problem retaining its staff. But it also boils down to different political factions trying to exert or retain control over the campus.
All stories are playing out differently in the media, due in part to the personalities of the heads of the institution. Gajendra Chauhan, thanks to his less than stellar resume, has a few sympathizers even among those who think the students are just troublemakers who need to be taught a lesson. Presidency’s vice-chancellor, an academic named Anuradha Lohia gets a much more sympathetic reception because she is described as “mild-mannered”. The students sound very much like the outlaws here. One local report about the protests begins by setting the scene thus:
Feet stretched on the conference table, cigarette smoke wafting in the air, earphones plugged in and eyes glued to Facebook.
Another national daily headlined their front-page report as, “Presi shamed as protesters boo CM, gherao and abuse VC".

#* MoEF has approved 176 ESZ approvals: Prakash Javadekar

In an effort to showcase the fast pace of work in environment ministry under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), environment minister Prakash Javadekar said on Monday that his ministry is in the process of declaring eco-sensitive zones (ESZ) of 176 protected areas across the country. Mocking the functioning of the environment ministry under United Progressive Alliance, Javadekar said, “Ever after the Supreme Court asked for declaration of ESZ’s in 2006, the UPA managed to notify only 15 of them till 2014. On the other hand, I have approved 176 proposals.”  In a 2006 ruling, the SC had said that until Centre declared ESZ’s, an area of 10kms from the PA’s would be considered as the ESZ.
ESZ’s are declared around protected areas to regulate activity in and around them and to maintain their ecological sanctity. In the case of several protected areas and tiger reserves, the ESZ's are as important as they nurture a similar habitat and witness regular movement of wildlife. ESZ's are also crucial in the case of urban protected areas as pressures of development are manifold. 

According to the ministry's data, India has a total of 624 protected areas (PA) such as national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves and proposals for 445 ESZ proposals have been submitted. Out of these 445, total of 156 proposals are still under scrutiny and 113 are under process in the ministry.

The minister also clarified that besides the 176 proposals, draft notification was already issues for 31 PA’s while a final notification was issued for 32 PA’s.  The ministry completed the process of declaring ESZ’s only in Sikkim and Goa till now. Even as the minister played up the pace of work in declaring ESZ’s, there was no mention of on what scientific basis ESZ’s were demarcated and reduced. In fact, regarding the recent controversial notification declaring an ESZ of only 1.27 kms around Okhla bird sanctuary, the minister did not specify as to how errant builders were penalized. 

Conservationists said that the ministry is only in a hurry to declare ESZ’s without paying attention to demarcation, commercial activities carried out around PA’s and implementation. “The ministry has done precious little to implement existing ESZ’s such as the Mandakani basin ESZ in Uttarakhand. With regards to demarcation of boundaries, it is not clear what science has been followed and commercial activities are guiding ESZ declarations.

Also, there is an overlap of buffer zones and ESZ’s,” said Sanjay Upadhyay, environmental lawyer and former member of standing committee, National Board for Wildlife .

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