Daily News (In Short)-1-September-2015

#* 3 killed, lawmakers under attack: Why is Manipur burning?

Three people were killed and 14 were injured in protests that erupted in Churachandpur district of Manipur on Monday over three bills -- the Protection of Manipur People Bill, the Manipur Land Revenue and Land Reforms (Seventh amendment) Bill, and the Manipur Shops and Establishments (Second Amendment) Bill -- passed by the state assembly to protect indigenous people. A mob also set on fire the homes of a minister and three legislators.
The bills were the result of nearly two months of protests by several organisations demanding implementation of the 142-year-old inner line permit (ILP) system. This is all you need to know about the latest flare-up:
 
What is ILP?

Inner line permit (ILP), a British-era law first introduced in the then Naga Hills in 1873 to restrict the entry and movement of people from the plains. Now in force in Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, it is a travel document required to enter these states. The system's detractors say it hampers economic development and investments.
 
Why Manipur wants ILP?

Several organisations of the state, particularly in the four valley districts, are demanding stringent measures to control the influx of “outsiders”, a generic term used to describe all migrants including those who enter the country illegally from Bangladesh and even the rest of India. There are fears that the influx of outsiders is affecting the socio-economic and cultural balance of the state.
 
Why are tribals wary?

Three tribal groups, which have called a shutdown in the hill districts on Tuesday, are apprehensive that the bills will be used to take away their rights. Recently, some groups demanding ILP had allegedly termed the Kukis as “foreigners”.  
 
Hill-plains divide

While the Hindu Meiteis are in a majority in Manipur’s plains, the hill population includes several tribes including Nagas and Kukis.
 
Latest flash-point

The three bills were passed after nearly two months of agitation, which had turned violent at times, by Meitei groups demanding introduction of the ILP. Tribal activists torched several houses of MLAs and MPs to protest the bills. The bills will be sent to the state governor for approval.
 
What the bills envisage

# Passes for non-Manipuris travelling to the state
# Non-Manipuri tenants will have to registers their names with govt
# Identity cards for employees in shops to keep tab on non-Manipuri workers
# Non-Manipuris will have to take govt permission to by land

#* June quarter GDP data out: Here's what the numbers tell us

Is economic growth in the April-June quarter higher than in the January-March quarter? Well, that depends. 

It depends on whether you prefer to look at gross domestic product (GDP) growth at market prices or at gross value-added (GVA). Taking GDP growth at market prices (at constant prices), the April-June 2015 quarter saw growth at 7%, lower than the 7.5% notched up during the previous quarter. In other words, the economy is decelerating.

If your preferred yardstick is growth in GVA instead, on the grounds that the GDP at market prices is distorted by indirect taxes and subsidies, then economic growth has perked up very sharply, from 6.1% in the January-March 2015 quarter to 7.1% in the April-June quarter. In other words, the economy is accelerating.

The markets, policymakers and the Reserve Bank of India, or RBI, can choose whichever yardstick they prefer.

#* Indian consumers offer a ray of hope after glum economic data

The rescue of India’s economy may come down to the spending power of people like 26-year-old Avni Rambhiya.
A financial analyst, she recently received a pay rise, is eating out more often and has stopped bringing home-cooked meals to the office in a tiffin, the traditional Indian lunchbox.
“Our salary increases have been on an average 10 to 12 percent…,” the 26-year-old said. “I am left with some additional money in my hand even after saving, so I spend it in eating out more frequently, travelling, buying dresses.”
“Now four days a week I eat out either by ordering food or go out for dinner with friends. Even six months back I used to carry a tiffin to the office and eat out once in a quarter.”
People like Rambhiya offer a glimmer of hope for the Indian economy, which grew at a slower-than-expected annual rate of 7 percent in the June quarter.
The economic data, released on Monday, showed a weakening services sector, consistent with a pattern of subdued consumption over the past two years, but some leading indicators have already begun to tell a different story.
From rising retail loans to a pick-up in movie ticket sales, there are early signs of a recovery in spending in Asia’s third-largest economy.
“The headwinds of 2013 that pushed down consumer spending have turned positive now,” said Siddhartha Sanyal, India economist at Barclays in Mumbai.
“Prices of commodities, interest rates, inflation are easing, growth sentiment which affects consumer behaviour is better, and the rupee is also relatively stable.”
Consumers have a strong influence on the Indian economy, but their confidence has been undermined by two straight years of sub-5 percent economic growth – far too slow to generate enough jobs for an ever-expanding workforce.
Economists say consumption is finally picking up, thanks to a plunge in oil prices, record low inflation and interest rate cuts totalling three quarters of a percentage point this year.
Now with India’s festive season starting this month, with the first of a series of religious holidays, economists say the time is ripe for Indians to spend more freely.
India has no reliable indicator on retail sales because a lot of transactions are carried out in the black economy and are never reported to authorities, but retail loans – a proxy indicator – grew 15.3 percent in June from a year earlier, outpacing overall credit growth of 12.8 percent.
Indian production of consumer goods grew 6.6 percent in the same month, the strongest growth since October 2012, according to official industrial production data.
A survey by the central bank showed more than 87 percent of consumers spent more in the June quarter than in the previous quarter and 86 percent expected to spend more in the year ahead.
Adding to the optimism, the government is expected to announce this year salary hikes for more than 10 million state employees and pensioners.
Still, the early signs of a pick-up in consumption are restricted to the small, impulse purchases of daily life, from movie tickets and eating out to travelling and hair salons.
Indian households are still cautious about bigger purchases, such as expensive large home appliances and cars.
Makers of autos or refrigerators saw June quarter earnings fall 30.3 percent from a year earlier, according to consumer discretionary data by Thomson Reuters.
By contrast, cinema operator PVR Ltd enjoyed its best-ever month in July with 7.5 million spectators. And to take advantage of increasing concession stands, it has for the first time hired corporate chefs to expand its menu offerings to items such as pasta, grilled chicken, and gourmet coffee.
“People are opening up their pocketbooks and enjoying more films and eating more,” said PVR Cinemas chief executive Gautam Dutta.

#* Kalburgi murder case: Karnataka govt to hand over probe to CBI

Bengaluru/Dharwad: The Karnataka government on Monday decided to hand over to CBI the probe into the murder of noted Kannada progressive thinker and scholar M M Kalburgi even as his body was laid to rest with full state honours.

The state Cabinet took the decision to refer the case to the central agency, a day after the 77-year-old vocal and outspoken rationalist fell to the bullets of two unidentified men at his residence at Dharwad in north Karnataka, considered the state’s cultural capital.

“We have decided along with handing over the case to CID, also to refer it to CBI,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra told reporters in Bengaluru after a Cabinet meeting. “CID will immediately start the investigation, we will also write to CBI. CBI can take over any time...,” he said hours after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced that the murder case would be probed by CID.

Holding that there were no proper updates from CBI on cases handed over to it earlier by the state government, Jayachandra said, “In such cases we will have to work immediately, we cannot wait for CBI. For immediate action CID will probing. “There are some doubts and smell that is emerging, so investigation has to start immediately,” he added.

Siddaramaiah had earlier said, “We have decided to hand over the case to CID...This incident should not have happened. It is highly condemnable. “Whoever is behind this, we will catch them and punish according to law,” said the Chief Minister, who visited Dharwad to pay last respects to Kalburgi on Sunday. Home Minister K J George said, “It will be investigated from all angles.”

As the murder shook the Kannada literary world, Dharwad saw hundreds of admirers, students and citizens pay their last respect to Kalburgi before his body was taken in a procession, with many litterateurs and religious and political leaders paying homage. The body was laid to rest with state honours in Dharwad as per the custom of the Lingayat community.

The murder of Kalburgi has prompted the state police to The murder of Kalburgi has prompted the state police to provide security to some noted litterateurs, including Jnanpeeth award winner Girish Karnad and S L Byrappa, who have often faced the anger of some groups for their views on different issues.

Meanwhile, a Bajrang Dal local activist was today arrested by Bantwal police in Dakshina Kannada district for allegedly posting remarks on Twitter threatening writer K S Bhagwan for his ‘derogatory’ remarks on the Bhagavad Gita. Bajrang Dal co-convener Bhuvith Shetty was arrested after a case was registered against him, police said.

Bhagwan had drawn the wrath of right-wing activists after he allegedly disparaged the Bhagawad Gita while speaking at a programme in Mysuru in February this year. The Mysuru police had strengthened security outside the residence of Bhagwan in Kuvempunagar.

Shetty’s tweet targeting Bhagwan for making “fun” of Hinduism had gone viral after it was circulated through Whatsapp. Shetty later deleted the post but screen shots of the tweet had already been circulated. Superintendent of Police S D Sharanappa said a suo motu case had been registered under section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and section 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC.

Kalburgi was an associate of rationalist Govind Pansare of Kolhapur in Maharashtra, who also fell victim in similar circumstances in February, and had drawn the ire of some right-wing Hindu outfits like VHP and Bajrang Dal with his remarks about idol worship by Hindus. He had often spoken against superstitions and courted controversies with his outspoken stand.

On Sunday, the attackers had knocked at the door of Kalburgi’s house claiming to be his students and as it was opened, they pumped bullets into his forehead and chest and fled. He died in a hospital.

Kalburgi had raised the hackles of right-wing outfits when he made certain remarks about idol worship by Hindus that were considered “derogatory” and “blasphemous” and also led to protests by them. A winner of central and state “Sahitya Akademi” awards, he had also suggested the need for a better state anthem.

Part of his works on “Vachana”(verses)” literature had also come under criticism of the state’s majority “Veerashaiva” (Lingayat) community, a liberal Shaivism founded by 12th century philosopher, poet and social reformer Basaveshwara.

#* Google Pairs With Sanofi to Move Diabetes Patients to Cloud

Google Inc.’s life science unit is still seeking a name but it already has a foe: diabetes.
The U.S. Internet giant on Monday agreed to work with French drugmaker Sanofi to devise new ways of managing a disease that afflicts 382 million people worldwide, adding to recent deals with Novartis AG and DexCom Inc. The companies didn’t disclose financial details of the agreement.
Andy Conrad, the head of Google’s life science team, said diabetes is precisely the kind of disease in which technology can help patients, whose bodies can’t manage sugar, by keeping track of their blood and insulin measurements -- and avoiding discomforts that range from daily finger pricks to more gruesome limb amputations.
“Diabetics are far more likely to have heart attacks, they’re far more likely to have cancer, and they’re 15 times more likely to have their foot cut off because of vascular issues,” Conrad said in an interview. “If we could prevent strong and profound fluctuations in the levels of blood sugar, we could prevent most of the problems associated with diabetes.”
Google last year agreed to work with Novartis to develop contact lenses that use tiny sensors to read blood-sugar levels from tears. Tests on that product will begin next year, Conrad said. This month, Google also said it would work with DexCom on a bandage-sized sensor connected to the cloud. Sanofi, the maker of Lantus, the world’s best-selling insulin, will work on new ways of delivering the hormone, such as Bluetooth-enabled pens that let a physician monitor how much insulin their patient is using, and when.
“That’s the system that we’re endeavoring to build: smart insulin delivery devices, smart measurement devices, and an interface and an integrating platform that helps physicians and patients see how they’re doing,” said Conrad, whose division will be renamed in the coming months as a unit of Google’s new holding company, Alphabet Inc.
Sanofi fell 0.4 percent to 88.13 euros as of 3:45 p.m. in Paris. Google rose less than 0.1 percent to $630.55.
Diabetes, which will affect an estimated 600 million people by 2035, costs about $245 billion a year in the U.S. alone in health-care resources and lost productivity, according to the American Diabetes Association.
Google and Sanofi will develop ways to store and analyze glucose levels in real time, enabling patients and their doctors to respond more quickly to peaks and troughs in blood sugar and avoid long-term complications associated with poor management of the disease, which include heart attacks and cancer.
“The cost of diabetes is the cost of complications of diabetes, which is often not treated well enough and early enough,” said Pascale Witz, the head of Sanofi’s newly-created diabetes and cardiovascular-care unit.
Sanofi last year signed a memorandum of understanding to work with Medtronic Inc. on developing devices for diabetes, but Witz said the Paris-based company will no longer pursue that partnership because "we did not feel that it was going far enough."
Patients monitor their blood sugar several times a day by pricking a finger with a needle and dabbing a drop of blood onto a strip that’s inserted into a meter that computes the level of glucose -- or sugar. Patients also need to monitor their diet and exercise regimes and calculate how much insulin they need, a combination of tasks that means more than half of patients miss their target levels, according to a 2013 study.
Devices that continuously monitor glucose, and upload that data to the cloud, will enable physicians and patients “to move away from the reactive and episodic towards the proactive and preventative,” Conrad said. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

#* Flipkart Customers to Now Get Refunds Within 24 Hours

E-commerce major Flipkart on Monday launched its instant refund mechanism facility, a move that will help its customers get refunds as early as within 24 hours of returning the product. Previously, the refund process used to take three to five business days.

"Continuing the innovation journey by announcing this newly launched payment mechanism, Flipkart aims to ensure that refunds for Cash on Deliver (CoD) orders are credited back to customers instantly, as soon as the product reaches the Flipkart hub," Flipkart said in a statement.

The instant refund will be completed using Immediate Payments System (IMPS) transfers, it said adding that the CoD IMPS return facility is currently active for banks having IMPS transaction capability.

Entitled customers will be regularly notified about the status of their refund via SMS and emails, it said.

"Our return procedure is already one of the fastest in the country. In the last two months, we have extended this further by piloting the IMPS refunds programme, which has seen positive adoption and traction from our end users," Flipkart Chief Product Officer Punit Soni said.

An instant, hassle-free refund experience, combined with consistent and accurate communication to the customer is definitely going to be a breakthrough, and a way forward for all future payment innovations, he added.

"We strongly feel that enabling our fast-growing product IMPS with Flipkart's quicker refund strategy will create a benchmark experience to customers," National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) COO Dilip Asbe said.

Transactions on IMPS can be accessed and initiated across different channels like mobile phones, PCs, NUUP, ATM and at bank branches.

More than 12 million successful transactions are been processed every month, Asbe said.

#* India Advocates More Female Participation in Parliamentary Committees

UNITED NATIONS:  India has called on the parliaments across the world to ensure more participation by women in parliamentary committees and that they are allotted more time in the House to have debates on gender equality.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, participating in the Tenth Meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament at the United Nations, said the organisation should ensure that more and more women become participative in parliamentary committees and are appointed to positions of effective leadership in parliamentary structures.

Addressing parliamentarians at the meeting attended by her fellow Speakers from around the world, Ms Mahajan yesterday spoke on 'Development: Innovating for Financing for Gender Equality' and urged them to be vocal about focal issues of women at local and global levels.

She called for allocation of more time in the House to debate gender equality, a release from her office said.

Observing that gender equality connotes fairness and justice in distribution of opportunities, Mahajan spoke of India's long tradition of women empowerment, stressing that equal access to resources is not new to India.

She emphasised that women Speakers of parliaments have a particularly major role to play and ensure that gender dimension is highlighted in local and international issues as well as in all aspects of the parliamentary work.

At the closed-door meeting, Ms Mahajan shared with the global parliamentarians Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiative of 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao', saying the ambitious programme addresses not only declining child sex-ratio but also discrimination against women in a life cycle continuum.

Ms Mahajan pointed out that the Gender Budgeting process in India has been institutionalised by forming 'Gender Budgeting Cells (GBCs)' in 57 ministries and departments.

To facilitate the integration of gender analysis into government budget, a 'Gender Budget Charter' has also been drawn for guidance and implementation.

She urged the gathering to encourage women participation in decision-making at various levels, referring to a provision in India for at least one woman director included in the new Companies Act, 2013.

India has reserved 33 per cent seats for women in local governance and "encouraged by this," some state governments in India have raised the reservation level up to 50 per cent, the release said.

Ms Mahajan also listed government initiatives to promote gender equality through financial inclusion in India. The Bhartiya Mahila Bank was formed with a vision of economic empowerment for women.

#* Hours before retirement, Rajiv Mehrishi replaces LC Goyal as Union Home Secretary

New Delhi: Union Home Secretary LC Goyal was on Monday replaced after only seven months in office following reported differences with the government and another senior IAS officer Rajiv Mehrishi was appointed in his place on the day of his superannuation.
Rajiv Mehrishi. Image Courtesy: PIBRajiv Mehrishi. Image Courtesy: PIB
A sudden announcement said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approved the appointment of Mehrishi, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, who was due to retire hours later, as Home Secretary for a period of two years.
A statement by the PMO also said that the Prime Minister had also approved the request of Goyal, a 1979-batch IAS officer, whose two-year tenure was till February, 2017, seeking voluntary retirement "due to personal reasons with immediate effect".
Later in the day, these decisions were attributed to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), which consists of the Prime Minister and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
In the evening, another official announcement said that Modi had approved the appointment of Goyal as Chairman and Managing Director of India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO).
Amid reports that Goyal had differences with the government on certain key issues including the recent Naga accord, the officer maintained that he was not upset with the government and that his decision to take voluntary retirement was personal.
"It was my own decision," Goyal said, adding that any other reason being mentioned was "factually incorrect".
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However, the change of the Home Secretary comes against the backdrop of controversies involving the home ministry with regard to denial of security clearance to SUN TV owned by the Maran group, issues related to an NGO headed by activist Teesta Setalvad and the Naga accord.
Goyal had taken over as Home Secretary nearly seven months ago on February 5 when the then incumbent Anil Goswami was virtually sacked after he allegedly tried to prevent CBI from arresting former Union Minister Matang Sinh in connection with Saradha chit fund scam case.
This is the third exit of a top bureaucrat much before the end of tenure. Apart from Goswami, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh was eased out of her office in January, six months before the completion of her two-year fixed tenure.
The post of Union Home Secretary has a fixed tenure of two years.

#* Grenade explodes during Ukraine clashes; one officer killed

Kiev: As lawmakers took up a measure to give greater powers to separatists in eastern Ukraine, nationalist protesters clashed with police outside parliament on Monday, and the Interior Ministry said one officer was killed in a grenade blast and more than 100 were wounded.
It was the worst violence in the capital since the government took power in February 2014.
A grenade exploded during a clash between protesters and police outside the Parliament in Kiev. APA grenade exploded during a clash between protesters and police outside the Parliament in Kiev. AP
The decentralization of power was a condition demanded by Russia for a truce signed in Minsk in February aimed at ending the fighting between Ukrainian government troops and Russia-backed separatists that has left more than 6,800 dead since April 2014.
But Ukrainian nationalists strongly oppose changing the constitution, saying that would threaten the country's sovereignty and independence.
In a televised address, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called decentralization "a difficult but a logical step toward peace," and insisted that it would not grant autonomy to the rebels in Donetsk and Luhansk.
The measure won preliminary approval on Monday with 265 deputies in the 450-seat parliament voting for it.
But three parties that are part of the majority coalition in parliament refused to give their support, showing the difficulty that Poroshenko faces even within his own pro-Western camp in fulfilling the peace agreement.
When the decentralization bill comes up for final approval, he will need to get at least 300 votes as required for amending the constitution.
"This is not a road to peace and not a road to decentralization," said the leader of one of those dissenting parties, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. "This is the diametrically opposite process, which will lead to the loss of new territories."
The officer who was killed in the clashes on Monday was a 25-year-old conscript, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov told reporters. He said 122 people were hospitalized — most of them officers, but also some Ukrainian journalists and two French reporters.
No injuries were reported among the several hundred protesters, including 100 die-hard activists, most of whom are members of Svoboda, a nationalist party that holds only a handful of seats in parliament. The protesters were carrying sticks and truncheons. Some of them were masked.
Avakov said that about 30 people have been detained, including the protester who threw the grenade, who he identified as a Svoboda member who fought in the east in one of the volunteer battalions that are loosely controlled by the government.
Poroshenko described the violence outside parliament as a "stab in the back" and pledged to prosecute "all political leaders" who were behind the clashes.
He said Monday's vote confirmed Ukraine's "position as a trusted partner which fulfills its international obligations" and said the country risks losing the support of the West and being left "alone with the aggressor" if it fails to meet the conditions of the truce.
The Minsk peace agreement was negotiated with the leaders of Germany and France, as well as with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While Ukrainian nationalists fear the decentralization bill would incite separatism, Moscow and the Russia-backed rebels say it doesn't give the regions sufficient powers and falls short of the pledges Kiev made in Minsk.
A final vote on the constitutional changes will be held during parliament's fall session, which begins on Tuesday. No specific date has yet been set.
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, in a live address on television, denounced the violence, saying the right-wing protesters were "worse" than the separatist rebels because they were destroying the country from within "under the guise of patriotism." He called for life imprisonment for the protester who threw the grenade.
"The cynicism of this crime lies in the fact that, while the Russian federation and its bandits are trying and failing to destroy the Ukrainian state on the eastern front, the so-called pro-Ukrainian political forces are trying to open another front in the country's midst."
He called on all Ukrainian political parties to rally around the government and to condemn the violence.
Avakov blamed the clashes on the Svoboda party, which polled less than 5 percent in last year's parliamentary election, and its leader, Oleg Tyahnybok, who stood side by side with the interior minister during the anti-government protests that toppled then-president Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.
"No political differences can justify what you did outside the Rada today," Avakov said, referring to the parliament.
Svoboda blamed the government, saying that it "provoked Ukrainians to protest" by presenting a bill that it called tantamount to "capitulation to the Kremlin."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments to Russian news agencies, voiced Moscow's concern about the clashes in Kiev, but wouldn't comment on the bill.
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called the clashes "worrying" and said the vote "will facilitate the implementation of the Minsk agreements."
In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she's open to holding a new summit with the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and France on the settlement in eastern Ukraine.

#* Google misusing search dominance in India, says DG report to CCI

Anti-trust watchdog CCI will soon begin final hearings into alleged anti-competitive practices of Google, which has been accused of abusing its market dominance in ranking its Internet search results.
While CCI would take a final decision after hearing Google and other parties in the case, including the complainants, the probe report of the watchdog’s investigative arm, Director General, is believed to have found Google in violation of certain competition regulations.
While there was no official word on the content of the probe report, Google said it is reviewing the report from the CCI’s ongoing investigation. As per the norms, DG’s report is not binding on the CCI and a final decision in this long-running case would be taken by the seven-member Commission headed by Chairman Ashok Chawla.

The DG report is believed to contain comments and inputs from a host of entities present in the Internet business including some well-known e-commerce firms and web portals. While submissions from some of them appear to suggest violations on part of Google, others have sided with the US-based global giant.
When contacted, a Google spokesperson said it was closely working with the CCI on the matter. “We are currently reviewing this report from the CCI’s ongoing investigation. We continue to work closely with the CCI and remain confident that we comply fully with India’s competition laws,” the spokesperson said.
It has been alleged that Google manipulated its search results apart from imposing discriminatory conditions on advertisers, among others. Entities that submitted their views on the matter include Cleartrip, Rediff, MakeMyTrip, Media2Win and GroupM.
Earlier this month, Chawla had said the Commission would take sometime before a final decision is taken. “The process is fairly lengthy, it is a quasi judicial process. We have to hear the parties involved and then decide. It will take quite sometime,” he had said.
CCI, which first received a complaint against Google back in 2011, has been looking into allegations that the company abused its dominant position in the search engine space for well over three years.

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