Latest News Headlines Wed Jul 18 00:00:42 IST 2018

2. Vehicle tracking systems, FASTags a must for CVs seeking national permit
3. 3 held, stolen property worth Rs 6 lakh recovered
4. Police today arrested three people on charges of theft and recovered stolen property worth Rs 6 lakh from their possession, an official said.
5. Monsoon finally arrives in the country
6. Woman, small child found dead in deflated dinghy off Libya
7. Rescuers operating off the coast of Libya discovered the bodies of a small child and woman in a deflated dinghy today, while a second woman was found alive but suffering from hypothermia and shock.
8. Afghan officials: IS bomber kills 20, Taliban kill 9 police
9. An Islamic State suicide bomber killed 20 people in northern Afghanistan today, including a Taliban commander, while in southern Helmand province, a government commando unit freed 54 people from a Taliban-run jail, officials said.
10. Iran 'preparing' to enrich if nuclear deal fails: official
11. Iran is ready to boost its uranium enrichment to higher levels if talks fail with Europe on salvaging the nuclear deal, a top official said today.
12. Gold drops more than 1 percent as dollar strengthens during Fed testimony
13. Goldman Sachs pressed on strategy as new CEO confirmed
14. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta Fires Tycoon Chris Kirubi From Plum Job
15. Channel - Block D - Billionaires - blog - Position 5 - Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta Fires Tycoon Chris Kirubi From Plum Job
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28. THE commemoration could have been a great and solemn moment of truth, a time to reflect on the passage from one era of Russia’s tragic history to another.
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36. MENSTRUATION AND ATTITUDE OF SOCIETY TOWARDS IT
37. To revive mythological river, religion and technology go together for Haryana
38. Gujarat government announces health check-up plan for elderly
39. Become a doctor in one second, know what your doctor will not tell you
40. Become a doctor in one second, know what your doctor will...
41. Smoking during pregnancy can cause hearing loss in baby
42. Jackie Shroff urges young couples to be aware of thalassemia
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47. France Overpower Croatia 4-2 in FIFA World Cup Final
48. 118 gender bias charges against Microsoft in 7 years
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50. Karnataka Sets a Year’s Deadline to Complete Highway Projects
51. Android devices being shipped with pre-installed malware
52. Twitter asks all users to change password!
53. Apurva Asrani’s face restored to near normal
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60. US trade war finds unlikely winner: Bollywood
61. Sufism spreads peace and can end terrorism: Naqvi
62. Women's Reservation Bill: BJP puts onus on Cong
63. RBI okays Chaturvedi as ICICI's non-exec chairman
64. Growth rises in eastern parts for auto companies
65. New paper on whether to regulate apps in the works, says Trai Chairman RS Sharma
66. Farmer protests have been a challenge. A bad monsoon will worsen farmer sentiment and alienate them from govt.
67. Caravela Beach Resort Goa
68. If we feel that telecom sector requires additional rules, then we may issue another consultation paper and make a recommendation to the gov...
69. Ad: Health News 24/7
70. Rate of two-wheeler, cars, SUVs sales growth double in eastern states than that in all of India
71. Availing funds from banks a challenge after PNB scam: Jewellers
72. US trade war has an unlikely winner: Bollywood
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74. West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Jharkhand along with the seven northeastern states account for 15% of total passenger vehicles, including two wheelers, sold in India.
75. If we feel that telecom sector requires additional rules, then we may issue another consultation paper and make a recommendation to the government," says Sharma.
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79. Carnoustie, one of the toughest golf courses in the world, will host the Open Championship this week.
81. Current top earners Dybala and Higuain earn €7-7.5m per year after tax, while Ronaldo will reportedly be paid €30m.
82. Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on his first visit to the state post the accusation of Bhushan Steel.
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85. US trade war finds unlikely winner: BollywoodIndian films are a big draw due to cultural similarities. 'Dangal' raked in nearly $196 mn at the Chinese box office
86. Monsoon may play spoilsport for Modi in 2018Farmer protests have been a challenge. A bad monsoon will worsen farmer sentiment and alienate them from govt.
87. Farmer protests have been a challenge. A bad monsoon will worsen farmer sentiment and alienate them from govt.
88. NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump’s trade war with China would mean potential financial losses and job cuts in the Hollywood industry as China might retaliate by curbing Hollywood films, says a Newsweek report citing industry experts. China's state-controlled news outlet Global Times says this would present an opportunity for Indian cinema."Hollywood movies are part of the services trade, and the impact of the current trade tension will go beyond goods to other areas," Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times. "Given the US-China trade friction and Chinese audience's aesthetic fatigue toward American films, the Indian film industry will have greater opportunities," Tian Guangqiang, assistant research fellow with the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Global Times. "Indian films should take advantage of the US-China trade tension to appeal to Chinese audiences and cash in."Beijing allows screening of 34 Hollywood films in China per year. The number becomes significant if growth in Chinese movie ticket sales is taken into account. The sales grew by 22.3 per cent last year totaling $8.6 billion, according to the Newsweek report. China's box office also passed North America's to become the world's biggest in the first quarter of 2018. The report says even films that perform poorly in the US have a chance of making up the difference in China. For example, half of the $433 million overall global box office earnings of the 2016 fantasy film 'Warcraft' were made in China. In the US, the film flopped, only raking in $47 million.This indicates how big an opportunity US-China trade war can offer to Indian film industry. From 2016 to 2018, India exported just eight movies to China while the US exported 156, including those co-produced with other countries, according to data by entertainment industry information provider EntGroup Inc.Indian films are a big draw in China due to cultural similarities. Aamir Khan's 'Dangal' raked in nearly 1.3 billion yuan ($196 million) at the Chinese box office in 2017, according to the Xinhua news agency. Another Indian movie, 'Secret Superstar', topped the Chinese box office in the week ending January 28. In the past three years, Indian films have made a total of 2.79 billion yuan in China, according to EntGroup data. "Given China's huge market potential and the box office success of previous Indian films, the Indian movie industry will pay more attention to the Chinese market, and will expand its presence through a variety of ways like co-productions," Tian told Global Times.
89. NEW DELHI: Welfare schemes, alliances and publicity blitz are not all that BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to bank on for winning the Lok Sabha election again next year. Something entirely out of his control will play a significant role in his electoral performanceâ€"it's the monsoon. A good monsoon can push Modi ahead while a bad monsoon will hit his chances. Let's see how:Farmer troubleProtests by farmers in several states have flagged a challenge. A bad monsoon will worsen farmer sentiment and alienate them from the government. Agriculture in India is totally dependent on monsoon as it constitutes nearly 70 per cent of total rainfall in the country. Monsoon fills reservoirs and recharges ground water. The farm sector employs more than 50 per cent of India's work force so any farm distress directly impacts so many voters. InflationRBI's monetary policy too depends on monsoon. Since food comprises nearly 50 percent of consumer price index, it plays a big role in inflation. A good monsoon leading to bumper crops keeps food prices and thus inflation low which prevents RBI from raising interest rates. A bad monsoon leading to a drought will require the government to import food leading to higher inflation. Since a good monsoon means more water in reservoirs, it also brings down consumption of diesel used to pump out ground water for irrigation.Fiscal space A drought or below-normal monsoon will require the government to support farmers in various ways, such as loan waivers and food import, which cramps its fiscal space. A good monsoon spares the government these expenses and it can spend the money on other welfare activities. Businesses A good monsoon lifts businesses. Bigger farm output leads to stronger consumer demand. The companies that sell products in rural areas such as those making tractors, pesticides and FMCG benefit from a good monsoon. A good monsoon means more income for people in rural areas which gives them more spending power. Companies catering to the rural sector doing well spread the positive effect throughout the economy.Economic growthThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut India’s economic growth forecast by 10 basis points to 7.3% for the current year and by 30 basis points to 7.5% for 2019, citing faster-than-anticipated monetary tightening and higher crude prices. A good monsoon that spurs activity in agricultural as well as private business is needed to sustain the growth momentum. A bad monsoon will drag the GDP growth down. What is a normal monsoon?India Meteorological Department classifies a normal or average monsoon as total rainfall between 96 per cent and 104 per cent of a 50-year average of 89 cm (35 inches) during the four-month monsoon season from June. Rainfall below 90 per cent of the average is classified as a drought. Above 110 per cent is more rainfall than required destroys crops and may lead to floods.So will monsoon help BJP?India Meteorological Department says monsoon is likely to be 97 per cent of the average which means it will be normal. During the week ending 11 July, rainfall in the country as a whole was below average by 14%. The sowing of the summer crops, Kharif, has been impacted by deficient monsoon. However, the shortfall is likely to be covered. A normal monsoon will buoy the sentiment in farms as well as markets which will lead to higher economic growth. Modi will certainly benefit from normal monsoon.
90. NEW DELHI: ICICI Bank today said RBI has approved the appointment of Girish Chandra Chaturvedi as non-executive (part time) Chairman of the bank till June 30, 2021.The private lender had appointed the former petroleum secretary as the company's non-executive chairman on June 29."We wish to inform you that RBI ..has approved the appointment of Girish Chandra Chaturvedi as Non-executive (part time) Chairman of the bank effective today till June 30, 2021," ICICI Bank said in a regulatory filing.ICICI Bank is under the scanner of various regulatory agencies for alleged conflict of interest involving its CEO Chanda Kochhar and her family members in extending loans to some corporates, including the Videocon Group.Last month, ICICI Bank announced that Kochhar has decided to go on leave till the completion of an external enquiry into the matter.
91. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) plans to still bring out a separate consultation paper on whether to regulate over-the-top (OTT) players, or apps, as the recommendations on data protection - which has also sought to regulate them - had a different context. Speaking to ET, Chairman RS Sharma stressed that Trai has jurisdiction to tackle data protection under consumer interest. He added that, for now, devices, apps, browsers, operating systems (OS) that feed of telecom networks should follow data protection rules of Indian authorities, just like they obey rules overseas such as EU’s GDPR. Edited excerpts:What was at the heart of the recommendations?About 5-6 years ago, telecom was essentially voice, today it has become massive data pipes. India is today consuming and transporting data which is more than US and China networks combined. The per capita data consumption is the highest in the world and overall quantum is highest. Therefore, it raises the issue of storage, transmission, treatment and security of that data, we had to examine these very important elements and the framework around it. We have telecom licenses â€" which lay down the rules for protecting the rights of the consumers â€" and the IT Act, even though we don’t have an overarching data protection law. But over the last decade or so, smartphone proliferation has increased, and going at 45 million per quarter, and the data related to my transactions on a telecom network is now being stored by telcos, operating systems, browsers and applications and put on the cloud, which means a large number of players or faucets for accessing the pipe. Therefore, it is necessary to come up with a framework on the treatment of that data. The conclusion after consultation was that users have primary right on the data, the rest are only custodians.Why go about it in a piecemeal manner?While this is restricted to telecom space, because that’s the broad mandate, there are some general principles like principle of notice, privacy by design, sharing data breaches and empowering the users with the data. Architecture similar to the financial sector maybe created here as well. India has developed a national standard of the electronic consent framework under Meity, where data can be used for my own benefit. Similar framework can be notified in the telecom space, because in many countries in Africa, a telecom transaction data, like recharge data, is being used by people to get micro loans.Could the recommendations have come in a bit earlier, giving time for Justice BN Krishna committee to pore over them?We will send these recommendations to the committee, but we did not time it to coincide. We’re not dependent on the committee and we had issued this suo moto, since we felt the need to rigorously deliberate on the issue.We have also said that we may revisit them later, once there is a general data protection law. If we feel that telecom sector requires more protection or additional rules, then we may issue another consultation paper and make a recommendation to the government to make necessary changes. There could be sector specific laws within the general data protection framework for the telecom sector.Now that Trai has suggested that apps be regulated under telecom sector rules, is there any need to have another separate consultation on regulating them, especially communication apps?It will be brought out in a separate consultation paper, as and when we can, but I can’t give a timeline. These recommendations are in a different context, for instance, some apps are asking for permissions which they don’t need for working of that particular app. Why would a torchlight app need access to your contacts?Device makers say they do not use data but are only platform providers for apps that use consumer data, so they should not be brought under the proposed regulation. Your comments.As long as the data resides on the device, does not go on any cloud or storage space, they have no responsibility and I can’t cast any responsibility on them. No one is asking them to be brought under regulation, but we’re certainly saying that they have to follow basic rules of data protection, similar rules that have been put on telcos as license conditions. You can’t have a situation where you follow rules prescribed under GDPR and not follow those prescribed by Indian authorities.Critics say Trai does not have the jurisdiction to propose such over-arching rules. Your views.Do I not have the jurisdiction to protect the interest of consumers in the telecom sector? I have that. And data protection of consumers in the telecom sector is an issue which is certainly related to the interest of consumers. I’m not saying that bring all those entities under my jurisdiction. All I’m saying is that you already have a framework, a law, rules for telecom service providers, and till you have a general data protection law which will take care of many of the issues, you please ensure that these rules also start to apply on devices, OS, browsers and apps. We’re saying that there’s regulatory imbalance because these entities are not following any law, so the government can come up with a broad framework but till that time let the telecom rules apply on them too.Does DoT have the powers to create rules or regulations encompassing all that is proposed by Trai?We’ve given recommendations to the government and DoT is a government department. The government has all the powers and it is for the government to decide on who will look into it. It is not our mandate to suggest who should look into them.Trai has stayed away from recommending any penal actions, why?That’s for the government to decide. It has to bring all entities under the framework, after which the government can decide on penalties. Also, the general data protection law will also bring about issues relate to penalty. This is one of the issues that we’ve not deliberated about, including others like rights and responsibilities of data controllers, technology enabled audit of personal data use, measures to encourage creation of data based businesses, data sand box, legitimate exceptions to privacy regulations and cross-border data flow.Some say that the recommendations are more to do with privacy than protection.Privacy and protection are two different things, certainly, but unless you have security, you can’t ensure privacy. We’re talking about protecting customer data and that data could be misused for some other purpose which is violating customer privacy. The underlying premise is that data use by the controllers and taking the user into confidence before controllers decide to use that data for anything, that’s the broad principle.
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