Sunday, August 31, 2014

Special management team for Japan under PMO: Narendra Modi

TOKYO: Holding that the environment of "disappointment" was over, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday invited Japanese businesses to join India's developmental efforts with a promise of non-discriminatory and speedy clearances and announced setting up of a special management team under PMO to facilitate business from Japan. Addressing top business leaders of Japan and India here, Modi flagged the recent decisions to liberalize FDI policy in the railways, defence and insurance and said rules and laws are being changed in India which would show results in the near future

While wooing Japanese businesses, Modi cited the latest growth figures of 5.7 per cent in the first quarter of this financial year and suggested that the phase of disappointment was over.

"See the work done in 100 days of my government. Earlier, the GDP used to hover around 5-5.4 per cent and led to an environment of disappointment ... But in the first quarter of our government, there has been a growth of 5.7 per cent. It is a big jump. Now there is renewed hope," he said.

Targeting the previous Manmohan Singh government, he said the situation was bad for one decade. He specifically mentioned the UPA government's 'Go, No-Go' policy with regard to environmental clearances and said it would put anybody in a "dilemma" with regard to taking any decision.

He said India, after 30 years, has a government with full majority, which puts increased responsibility on the government to deliver as 125 crore people of the country have an urge to see the quality of life change.

Inviting Japanese businesses, particularly to infrastructure and clean energy sectors, the Prime Minister asked them to keep in mind the Gujarat experience.

He promised single-window clearances, speedy decision-making which is non-discriminatory in nature.lovely samal

PGDM 2ND

Apple said to team up with Visa, MasterCard on iPhone wallet.

New York: Apple Inc. plans to turn its next iPhone into a mobile wallet through a partnership with major payment networks, banks and retailers, according a person familiar with the situation.

The agreement includes Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. and American Express Co. will be unveiled on 9 September along with the next iPhone, said the person who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

The new iPhone will make mobile payment easier by including a near-field communication chip for the first time, the person said. That advancement along with Touch ID, a fingerprint recognition reader that debuted on the most-recent iPhone, will enable consumers to securely pay for items in a store with the touch of a finger.

“While companies including Google Inc. have invested in creating ways for phones to make payments in a physical store, US retailers have been slow to adopt the technology, thus limiting its use by shoppers,” according to Ben Bajarin, an analyst for Creative Strategies LLC in San Jose, California. “That could change with Apple entering the market because iPhones have the largest market share in the US,” he said.

“Love it or hate it, Apple drives a lot of standards in the industry,” Bajarin said in an interview. “They are the mover in these markets. When they do something, the industry seems to follow.”

Trudy Muller, a spokeswoman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, declined to comment, as did Jim Issokson, a spokesman for MasterCard. Representatives from Visa and American Express didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Re/code earlier reported that Apple had reached an agreement with American Express on the payments plan, citing sources familiar with the talks.

“For Apple, the push into creating a mobile wallet is to keep users within its system, thus creating more loyalty to its brand and buying of its products,” Bajarin said.

RANJAY KUMAR,

PGDM 3rd SEM

SOURCE - MINT

Clashes resume in Islamabad as pressure mounts on Nawaz Sharif to resign:

ISLAMABAD: Anti-government protesters armed with rocks and wooden clubs clashed with police in Islamabad on Monday, hours after the powerful army called for a peaceful resolution to the political crisis rocking Pakistan.

Opposition groups marched to the capital on August 15 in a bid to topple Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, triggering a crisis that has raised the spectre of military intervention in a country that has been ruled for half its history by the army.

The army urged the government and protesters to settle their differences peacefully on Sunday night, but warned it was "committed to playing its part in ensuring security of the state", after clashes left three dead.

Violence began on Saturday night when followers of former cricketer Imran Khan and populist cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri tried to storm Sharif's official residence.

Fresh clashes erupted on Monday morning as heavy rain fell on the capital, as more than 3,000 demonstrators again tried to march on the building, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

Protesters pelted riot police with stones and some smashed up motorbikes with wooden clubs. Police tried to respond with teargas but the heavy rain appeared to make it ineffective.

Pakistani protesters help carry their injured colleague to an ambulance during the clash near prime minister's home in Islamabad, Pakistan.

After an emergency meeting of top brass in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, the army voiced support for democracy — but also stressed its own role in maintaining security.

"While reaffirming support to democracy, the conference reviewed with serious concern, the existing political crisis and the violent turn it has taken, resulting in large scale injuries and loss of lives," the military said in a statement.

"It was once again reiterated that the situation should be resolved politically without wasting any time and without recourse to violent means."

They added: "(The) army remains committed to playing its part in ensuring security of the state and will never fall short of meeting national aspirations."

The statement opened with a backing for the government but ended on a hawkish note — which a senior government official said reflected differing views within the army's top brass.

A Pakistani protester throws tear gas shell back towards police during a protest in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Pakistan's last period of military rule ended in 2008. But the official said another coup remained "less likely".

"We have travelled this road for seven to eight years, so things have been tested the institutions are much stronger," he said.

"I hope and pray the system survives. There will be some losses but they will be recovered," he added, referring to the significant concessions that observers say the government will need to give the army if it is to survive.

The protest leaders claim the 2013 election which swept Sharif to power was rigged, though local and foreign observers rated the polls as relatively fair and credible.

Speaking from the roof of a shipping container Sunday, Khan vowed to continue his protest "until our last breath", adding he would file murder charges against the prime minister over the violence.

The weekend clashes left nearly 500 people injured, including some children and nearly 100 police officers.

The protest leaders have drawn thousands to the streets of Islamabad, but their call has not mobilised mass support in a country of 180 million people.

Pakistani protesters climb on shipping containers to march toward prime minister's home in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Akanksha Shanu.

PGDM- 3RD SEM

Nalanda University reopens

1/9/2014

The ancient Nalanda University (NU), which attracted students from the world over, has risen again on Monday, as classes began at its newly established campus at Rajgir.

The event marked the fruition of the idea proposed by former President APJ Abdul Kalam while addressing a joint session of Bihar legislative assembly and legislative council way back in 2006.

"We will have a low-key launch with classes for the School of Ecology and Environmental Studies and the School of Historical Studies beginning at 9am. Right now there are 15 students and 11 faculty members at the campus," NU Vice-Chancellor Gopa Sabharwnal said earlier.

Sabharwal said there were two reasons for startig on a small note as she wanted the students and teachers to settle down, and that Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj would be visiting on September 14.

"We have decided to have a big function when Swaraj visits NU on September 14. By that time things will settle down and the media glare will also decrease to some extent," Sabharwal added.

The university on Sunday completed the three-day orientation programme of the students.

The University of Nalanda (File Photo)

"More than a thousand students from various countries across the globe had applied for the seven schools on different subjects that will function at the university, of which only 15, including one each from Japan and Bhutan, were selected," said the VC.

At the time when Kalam mooted NU, Singapore government had also proposed revival of the university having international character, but suitable to the modern times.

Former Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar also showed a keen interest in it and the work on the concept began soon after.

The NU came into existence by the Nalanda University Act passed by Parliament. Economist Amartya Sen is the Chairman of the Governing Body of the university, while renowned teachers from various countries are its members.

Former Singapore foreign minister George Yeo and ministry of external affairs secretary Anil Wadhwa are also part of the governing body. AJAY SINGH THAKUR PGDM 3rd sems

Narendra Modi’s 100 days in office—Hits, misses and promises to be kept.

Narendra Modi’s 100 days in office—Hits, misses and promises to be kept

New Delhi: Far-right economists, some of whom appear on Mint’s opinion pages, had one view. Subsidies would go. State-owned firms would be sold to the highest bidder. Labour and tax laws would be reformed.

Growth would return. Left-leaning liberals, who too find a place in Mint, had another. History would be rewritten. Forests would be despoiled. The media would be muzzled. 2014 would become 1984—George Orwell’s version of it.

That was during the elections, once it became clear the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would form India’s next government. Three months and a bit later, neither scenario has panned out entirely, although bits of both have

it is entirely possible that with time, one or the other may indeed come true. Tuesday marks the 100th day since Narendra Damodardas Modi was sworn in as India’s 14th Prime Minister. There have been a rash of analyses to

commemorate the event. Sure, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ruled India for 13 days, and then 13 months, both starting in 1998, and then again, for five years between 1999 and 2004, but the Modi government is India’s first, true BJP government. The performance of a government and a man, both just getting started—many say,

perhaps rightly, that Modi is the NDA and the NDA is Modi—can’t really be assessed in 100 days. Still, 100 days is enough time to try and understand both man and machine. The NDA took charge on 26 May, India’s strongest

government in nearly three decades. Its dominant constituent, the BJP itself, won 282 seats, well over the 272 needed for a simple majority in the Lok Sabha. The new government inherited considerable problems, mostly to do with governance or the lack of it, in the second half of the United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) 10-year tenure.

The sense of drift was most palpable in the economic arena, where there were issues related to structure, sentiment and administration. Through an acronym- and platitude-rich campaign that resonated with the masses,

Modi may have given off the impression that he could wave a wand and sort out the fiscal mess, stare inflation into submission, and put his shoulder (sitting atop a 56” chest) to the economy to get it moving again, but everyone, including the man, knew that was not going to be the case. Modi and the BJP would have also known that it was not really going to be possible to push through all the radical reforms they wanted to. Despite its majority in the Lok Sabha, the NDA is in the minority in the Rajya Sabha. There have been enough points of data in these 100 days to help

understand what Modi the Prime Minister, and his new government, stands for. The piece that follows may merit revision after another 100 days because in the days and weeks that come, with the first session of Parliament over, Modi is

certain to induct more ministers, shuffle portfolios, create the new Planning Commission alternative he has spoken of, and get a little more radical and imaginative. There may be yet another revision called for after coming state elections that the BJP wants to win, especially in Maharashtra and Haryana, that will necessarily entail populist measures but for now, this is what we know (and what we don’t). In keeping with the spirit of the times, with a nod to both Modi and
Buzzfeed, let’s look at 11 things we now understand about India’s new government and its leader. 1) The new NDA government is as flat an organization as it gets. There is one leader and that’s it. This is a significant change from the UPA where Congress president Sonia Gandhi was the political leader of the alliance that governed India; Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the administrative head of the government; and most senior ministers saw themselves as

leaders in their own right. 2) Modi believes more in hard work and administrative efficiency than big ideas. This is actually a good thing because, as Mint’s Anil Padmanabhan pointed out in a recent article for Mint Asia, the need of the hour is to fix governance and that is all about operational effectiveness (or OE as it is called in management lingo), not strategy. 3) Modi will tolerate cantankerous fringe elements, although he may not really subscribe to their extreme views. Will he act on their wishes and views? We don’t know. 4) The new government lacks bench strength and governance

experience. It can’t really be faulted for either—both are built by being in power, and the party hasn’t been in power for a decade. Still, it won’t do to have one minister handle several important portfolios. The lack of governance experience also means some ministers are working on the basis of their understanding of what will please the boss—not exactly the best way to go about nation-building. 5) The environment and environmental issues are secondary to growth, at

least for now. 6) Modi doesn’t forget; nor does he forgive. He runs a tight ship and appears to be keeping a close eye on what each of his ministers is up to. 7) Like many governments that came before it, the NDA doesn’t really believe there is any pressing need to communicate (which has surprised people who were swayed by Modi’s campaign into believing the man would over-communicate once in power). If anything, the only change has been the attempt to

the lack of real communication through an overdose of banal news releases. 8) We do not know if Modi trusts external advisers (he did, during the campaign that brought him to power, but it isn’t clear if he does so now). 9) Modi is truly business-friendly, but he also wants to send out a strong message that his government doesn’t indulge in crony

capitalism. That fits in well with the emphasis on OE and the intent to move more government processes online—where things work on the basis of rules, not exceptions. 10) The NDA’s values are those of Middle India. This is not a liberal government. 11) As the whole WTO (World Trade Organization) issue showed, Modi’s belief in free markets doesn’t necessarily mean he leans to the right on issues such as subsidies—the bugbear of all right-leaning economists.

The NDA government is a centrist one that leans marginally to the right. It was always clear, even before he came to power, that Modi would not be a prime minister in the Nehruvian mould. Many analysts, including several who supported him, believed he would be more like Margaret Thatcher (and then expressed disappointment when he didn’t go down

that road). Based on the 11 points above, it is clear that India’s new Prime Minister believes more in the Lee Kuan Yew school of managing a country, as astutely pointed out by economist Sanjeev Sanyal in a column last month. That kind of micro-management, attention to detail, and emphasis on execution will not work in India, we’ve always been told. Can Modi prove that wrong?

Rahul kumar Gupta
IIMT College of management
PGDM, 3rd Sem

Modi in Japan: PM woos business leaders, promises better investment environment

Express News Service | September 1, 2014 11:28 am

Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets business leaders after giving a speech and returning to his seat as Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Akio Mimura. (Source: AP)

Summary

Modi on Monday announced to set up a special team to facilitate Japanese investments in India.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced to set up a special team to facilitate Japanese investments in India.
Addressing business leaders in Japan, Modi sought help from Japan in skill development and even in research. The Prime Minister also invited Japanese investments as he promised better investment environment and speedy decisions.
“India-Japan have a responsibility beyond that of bilateral relations. Indian and Japanese businessmen can give a direction to the world economy,” said Modi who is on a five-day visit to Japan.
He further said: “Rules and laws are being changed which will show results in the near future.”
The Prime Minister also declared to be replicating Japanese efficiency in PMO.
Earlier on Monday, on the third day of his trip, Modi visited a 136-year-old school as a “student” to understand the academic system of Japan which could be replicated back home.
On his third day, Modi is scheduled to hold summit talks to conclude the civilian nuclear deal. While officials were tightlipped on a breakthrough in the nuclear deal, they confirmed that apart from it, defence, infrastructure and trade will be high on the summit agenda
Apart from the bilateral talks with Abe, Modi is scheduled to meet Japanese Cabinet ministers in separate one-on-one meetings, including Kishida, Deputy PM and Finance Minister Taro Aso, Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister for Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Akihiro Ohta, and Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera.

SHYAM KISHORE SINGH
PGDM - 3rd sem..

US and Iran are unlikely allies in battle for Iraqi town:

BAGHDAD: With American bombs raining down from the sky, Shiite militia fighters aligned with Iran battled Sunni extremists over the weekend, punching through their defenses to break the weekslong siege of Amerli, a cluster of farming villages whose Shiite residents faced possible slaughter.

The fight in northern Iraq appeared to be the first time American warplanes and militias backed by Iran had worked with a common purpose on a battlefield against militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, even though the Obama administration said there was no direct coordination with the militias.

Should such military actions continue, they could signal a dramatic shift for the United States and Iran, which have long vied for control in Iraq. They could also align the interests of the Americans with their longtime sworn enemies in the Shiite militias, whose fighters killed many United States soldiers during the long occupation of Iraq.

The latest expansion of American military operations reflects how seriously Iraq has deteriorated since the withdrawal of American forces in 2011. But any decision to support the Shiite militias, who have proven more adept than the American-trained Iraqi Army, would come with its own set of challenges.

The militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria were able to storm into Iraq in recent months in part because Sunnis felt so disenfranchised by the Shiite-led government of former Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. If the United States is seen to be strengthening the hand of militias that terrorized Sunnis during the sectarian war of 2006 and 2007, the minority Sunnis might balk at participating in America's long-term goal of a unity government.

A child cries in a military helicopter after being evacuated by Iraqi forces from Amerli, north of Baghdad. (Reuters Photo)

Or, in a worst-case scenario, more Sunnis could align with ISIS fighters.

David Petraeus, a former top American military commander in Iraq who led the United States troop surge in 2007, months ago warned against such possibilities as the Obama administration, reeling from the fall of Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, weighed military action against ISIS.

"This cannot be the United States being the air force for Shia militias or a Shia-on-Sunni Arab fight," he said at a security conference in London in June. "It has to be a fight of all of Iraq against extremists, who do happen to be Sunni Arabs."

The United States was careful to note on Sunday that it was working on Amerli with its allies: regular Iraqi Army units and Kurdish security forces, which the United States has been supporting with air power since President Obama authorized air strikes several weeks ago.

Gauri Kesarwani.

PGDM- 3rd (sem)

Narendra Modi’s 100 days in office—Hits, misses and promises to be kept Read more at: http://www.livemint.com/Politics/rWnRarrD1nbkdakBx1ZqRN/Narendra-Modis-100-days-in-officeHits-misses-and-promises.html?utm_source=copy

Narendra Modi’s 100 days in office—Hits, misses and promises to be kept

Read more at: http://www.livemint.com/Politics/rWnRarrD1nbkdakBx1ZqRN/Narendra-Modis-100-days-in-officeHits-misses-and-promises.html?utm_source=copy

New Delhi: Far-right economists, some of whom appear on Mint’s opinion pages, had one view. Subsidies would go. State-owned firms would be sold to the highest bidder. Labour and tax laws would be reformed. Growth would return.

Read more at: http://www.livemint.com/Politics/rWnRarrD1nbkdakBx1ZqRN/Narendra-Modis-100-days-in-officeHits-misses-and-promises.html?utm_source=copy

Narendra Modi’s 100 days in office—Hits, misses and promises to be kept Read more at: http://www.livemint.com/Politics/rWnRarrD1nbkdakBx1ZqRN/Narendra-Modis-100-days-in-officeHits-misses-and-promises.html?utm_source=copy

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched his government's mega scheme 'Jan Dhan Yojana', declaring that it was aimed at eradicating financial untouchability by providing bank accounts to the poor.

On the inaugural day, a record 1.5 crore bank accounts were opened across the country, the largest such exercise on a single day possibly anywhere in the world.

Unveiling the scheme within 100 days of forming the new government, Modi said, it will cover 7.5 crore people by January 26, 2015, who will be provided zero-balance bank account with RuPay debit card, life insurance cover of Rs 30,000 in addition to accidental insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh.

Later the account holders will be provided an overdraft facility of up to Rs 5,000.

"If Mahatma Gandhi worked to remove social untouchability, if we want to get rid of poverty, then we have to first get rid of financial untouchability. We have to connect every person with the financial system. And for that this programme has been given impetus," he said, adding, "when a bank account is opened, it's a step towards joining economic mainstream."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi felicitating a beneficiary couple at the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana in New Delhi on Thursday. (PTI photo)
Modi recalled the bank nationalization of 1969 with the avowed objective of spreading the reach of financial system to the doorsteps of poor. "But I regret to say that after 68 years of independence, not even 68 per cent of population is covered by the banking system," he said.

The scheme was simultaneously launched at multiple places by 20 chief ministers, several Union ministers, including information minister Prakash Javadekar at Pune, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad at Chennai, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj at Bhopal, home minister Rajnath Singh at Lucknow and HRD minister Smriti Irani at Surat.

There were in all 600 programmes and 77,852 camps on the opening day to open bank accounts.
Modi said history has been created in the banking system with opening of over 1.5 crore account in a day. Besides, a record has been created by providing 1.5 crore accidental insurance covers of Rs 1 lakh.

The Prime Minister described the occasion as a festival to celebrate the liberation of the poor from a poisonous cycle ("Vish-chakra se gareebon ki aazaadi ka parv").

"Banks have assured me they will do this work before January 26. Those who oppen accounts by January 26, 2015 over and above the the Rs 1 lakh accident, they will be given life insurance cover of Rs 30,000. This will help the poor family," he said.

In the third phase, he said, these account holders would also be provided micro-pension facility.

"I believe when a person opens a bank account then he or she takes the first step to get connected with the economic system. Today the 1.5 crore family who got connected with the economic system this will give a boost to the economy," he said.

Going forward, he can avail Rs 5,000 loan from the bank, the Prime Minister said, adding, this facility would be available after six months of opening of the bank account.

Expressing satisfaction at a number of records being broken today, the Prime Minister said the nationwide success of the enrolment drive today would give confidence not just to the officials of the department of financial services and banking sectors, but also to officers across the Union government, that they can successfully achieve the goals that they set for themselves.

"Never before would insurance companies have issued 1.5 lakh accident insurance policies in a single day. Never before in economic history would 1.5 lakh bank accounts have been opened in a single day.

"Never before has the government of India organized a programme of such scale — over 77,000 locations — with the participation of so many chief ministers, Union ministers, government and bank officials," the Prime Minister said.

NARESH KUMAR PG 2 SEM
IIMT BCOLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT