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News of the world says 'THANK YOU &
GOODBYE'
New Delhi/Britain (11 Jul ,2011),(News
Sources). After startling, entertaining and tantalizing millions
of readers for 168 years through 8,674 editions, the world’s
largest selling Sunday tabloid, News of the World (NoTW), bid
a final farewell today. The final edition that went to print
late Saturday night, on a double than usual print order of five
million copies, had its characteristic screaming front page,
but simply said, ‘Thank you& Goodbye.’
The sudden demise of one of the world
most controversial tabloids came after being hit by a serious
phone hacking scandal that, for a good part of this month, had
rocked the British parliament, Prime Minister’s office
and the metropolitan police.
NoTW was published by media baron Rupert
Murdoch-controlled News International, that now has three nameplates
left in its portfolio— daily tabloid The Sun, daily broadsheet
The Times and The Sunday Times.
A full-page editorial in the paper today
said, “Quite simply, we lost our way. Phones were hacked
and for that this newspaper is truly sorry. There is no justification
for this appalling wrongdoing. No justification for the pain
caused to victims, nor for the deep stain it has left on a great
history.”
The paper’s critics, who expected
an explicit apology on the front page instead of a simple goodbye,
expressed their disappointment.
The group has promised to start a consultative
process with employees to decide on their fate and final compensation.
Some reports in the local media said journalists with the paper
might go to court, seeking compensation up to£70,000 each.
As promised in James Murdoch’s final
letter to his colleagues, the paper today carried no commercial
advertisements. It had over a dozen charity ads and revenues
from the sale of the final edition was to be given to charity.
Meanwhile, newspaper vendors were told
in advance by the paper’s sales team that extra copies
would be supplied, as readers were expected to be keen to get
copies of the last edition. Vendors also reported two-three
times the usual sales, with copies disappearing from stands
within minutes after arrival.
The group’s other tabloid, The Sun,
is expected to take NoTW’s place with a Sunday edition.
This was neither confirmed nor denied by News International.
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| Nepal arrests kingpin of fake Indian currency
racket
Kathmandu, Jul 11, 2011(PTI)
In a major catch, Nepalese police have arrested Iltaf Hussain Ansari,
alleged kingpin of fake Indian currency smuggling racket, from Kalimati
on the outskirts of the capital.
A special team of police from Central Investigation
Bureau arrested the notorious smuggler, alleged to be running
the smuggling racket for over a decade, CIB chief Rajendra Singh
Bhandari said.
He described Ansari's arrest as the completion
of a decade-long mission of Nepal Police.
"He is perhaps the cleverest criminal
ever seen in the smuggling arena here, he said.
Ansari hails from Prastuka village of Bara
district near Nepal-India border and whenever the police reaches
his birthplace, the villagers helped him to escape, according
to the policemen involved in his arrest.
Ansari has been a friend-turned-rival of
Yunus Ansari who was arrested in January 2010 following seizure
of fake Indian notes and brown sugar from his driver.
After Yunus's arrest, Ansari is considered
to have operated the entire smuggling racket almost single-handedly
until his arrest last week.
It is believed that he has also operated
illegal arms trade along the open border between Nepal and India.
India has from time to time drawn the attention
of Nepal government over growing fake Indian currency racket being
carried out in the Nepalese territory.
At many instances fake Indian bank notes
have been smuggled into Nepal from Pakistan on their way to India.
During his visit to Nepal few months ago,
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna raised the issue of fake
currency racket with Nepal government.
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FAO draws up USD 50 mn agri plan for South
Sudan
New Delhi, Jul 11, 2011(PTI)
The United Nations body FAO has drawn up a USD 50 million assistance
plan for the agriculture sector of the world's newest nation South
Sudan, which has been recognised by India among others countries.
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
has drawn up a USD 50 million Interim Assistance Plan (IAP) for
the agriculture sector of South Sudan which celebrated its independence
on July 9 last, a FAO statement said.
The interim plan includes establishment
of a seed production sector and an urban and peri-urban agriculture
component, the statement added.
IAP will contribute to the new government's
overall development plan for South Sudan, which split away from
Khartoum-ruled north after decades of brutal war that claimed
nearly 2 million lives.
India was one of the first nations to accord
diplomatic recognition to South Sudan which is 193rd country to
be recognised by the UN and the 54th member state from Africa.
FAO will be discussing its USD 50 million
IAP for the agricultural sector with donars in August in the hope
of securing funding to this important programme, the statement
said.
The UN body is currently managing a USD
61 million emergency rehabilitation programme in South Sudan that
has already helped 2,50,000 returnees and internally displaced
households who fled their farms during the conflict return to
agriculture as well as vulnerable households who are hosting the
returnees, the statement added.
FAO recently carried out an extensive satellite
land cover survey that showed just 4.5 per cent of the available
land was currently under cultivation.
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Dubai 9th in list of world's top
10 business destinations
Dubai, July 21,2011 (PTI)
Dubai figures among
the top 10 most popular business locations in the world, with
almost 56 per cent of the world's largest companies operating
in the emirate, a new report has revealed.
According to CB Richard Ellis (CBRE),
of the companies profiled, over half (56.1 per cent) have
an office presence in Dubai, ranking it ninth overall in
the list of the most popular business destinations, the
real estate services firm said in a new report.
CBRE's report,'Business Footprints
- Global Office Locations', mapped the global office footprint
of 280 major international companies across 101 countries
and 232 cities.
Hong Kong, which is home to 68.2
per cent of the companies surveyed, was ranked the world's
number one business location, followed by Singapore (67.5
per cent) and Tokyo (63.9 per cent) London was ranked the
fourth most popular business location in the world (63.2
per cent), while Shanghai (61.4 per cent) came in fifth.
In the industrial goods and services
sector, Dubai was ranked seventh globally, with 23 (70 per
cent) of the companies surveyed present.
Dubai has emerged as a"gateway"city
between Europe and the Far East and as a base for conducting
business in places such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
The CBRE report found a number of
cities in less developed emerging markets have become home
to a significant proportion of international companies.
Nick Maclean, Managing Director,
CB Richard Ellis Middle East, said the continuing trend
to offshore parts of a business could distribute corporate
activities more widely and reduce the degree of sector concentration
for some cities.
"Dubai has a relatively balanced
tenant mix. Over the past 10 years, the city has been designed
and constructed with the specific intention of attracting
major international firms from a broad range of sectors,"he
said.
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How to make money online using platforms like
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, 31 Oct, 2011, 03.42AM IST,
You never had it so good. Access
to a client list that runs into hundreds of millions, a reach that spreads
across the world, hardly any infrastructure cost, and no need to impress
anyone with a wall full of framed qualifications. Welcome to the virtual
bazaar, a marketplace that encompasses the world while shrinking it to
a small screen.
The biggest shopping mall, where everything is
on sale, from technical advice to tattered childhood comics. A region
where every boundary is blurred; no one cares about your age, no one
is interested in your race or religion, and no one needs to know whether
you live in the boondocks or a plush penthouse. The anonymity that the
virtual world provides has been the biggest boost to equality for small
entrepreneurs and job hunters across the globe.
It's a treasure trove full of opportunities for
anyone with guts and gumption. If no publisher is interested in your
writing, pen a blog or publish an e-book. If you can't afford to rent
a shop, sell online. You will need less space than the local kirana
store and reach a wider customer base than the brick-and-mortar mall
near your house.
The World Wide Web has a solution for everything,
and for everything, a customer. All you need to do in order to step
into this vast land of fortune is to get a computer and a broadband
connection. If you don't know where to start, do so by joining a popular
network.
Let the numbers convince you: a staggering 150
million users on Facebook and 200 million on Twitter. Each and everyone
is a potential customer for anything that you have to sell: your skills,
your thoughts or even your junk.
We take you through a list of professions that
you can venture into and introduce you to people who have leveraged
the Net to earn a comfortable income. By no means is this a comprehensive
list. In fact, it is not even an indicative one since the virtual world
is continuously evolving and new opportunities are cropping up every
day. After all, some of the biggest platforms that people use currently
didn't even exist a decade ago-Facebook was launched in 2004, YouTube
in 2005, and Twitter in 2006.
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Google searches for talent in Jammu & Kashmir,
31 Oct, 2011, 12.12AM IST, Masood Hussain
SRINAGAR: Google is flying an
8-member team to Jammu and Kashmir in its attempt to help local talent
become part of the surging knowledge economy.
"The team led by Ms Mary Himminkool, the
head of Google's global entrepreneurship outreach division is landing
here on Monday," Usman Ahmad, the head of American charity Mercy
Corps's Srinagar operations head said in a statement in Srinagar on
Sunday.
"The team will have members from California
based Google's software development team and new business development
as well from Youtube." Mercy Corps is the partner of the event
and the two have had similar exercises in the past as well.
The team will have a series of interactive sessions
with the potential entrepreneurs, students, businessmen, marketers,
techies, developers, publishers, content owners, and internet enthusiasts.
The team will also meet telecom operators, IT faculties of various institutions
and internet service providers to understand the systems in place.
"The response was great. We are booked to
capacity," Usman said. "There are hundreds of youth who want
to be part of the session but we lack the capacity now." All seats
were booked on line on a first-come-first-served basis. There is no
fee.
The event, Google site g-Kashmir says, will equip
participants with tips, tricks and tools to win digitally. Apart from
providing training on using digital tools to spur technology innovation,
business and entrepreneurship, Google experts will advice Youtube enthusiasts
on how to create and market content. Participants will be encouraged
to present business ideas and seek help in taking them forward.
"It is a chance to engage directly with
the latest and the greatest from Google," Usman asserts. In J&K,
Mercy Corps is engaged in encouraging social entrepreneurship.
In the last couple of years, the group has contributed
significantly in commercial propagation of best varieties of potatoes
and honey and is in the process of managing forward linkages to agri
start-ups. Apart from helping in extension of various state-run developmental
plans to the field, the NGO was instrumental in helping local techies
to become a cohesive institution.
Getting Google to Srinagar is part of the American
charity's ideas of helping people suffering from natural disasters,
conflict or poverty to identify opportunities, promote technology for
entrepreneurship and manage the knowledge deficit.
With Google, it is already running a similar
programme in Palestine to support and boost the IT sector. Usman said
the visit to the state is part of the Google's own commitment to this
part of the globe.
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Indian companies in China sore over new tax,
31 Oct, 2011, 04.27AM IST, TNN
BEIJING: Indian businesses operating
in China are upset by China's decision to impose social security obligations
on foreign employees, which will push up the wage bill by over 40%. It
has affected expansion plans of some companies as new investors may have
to reconsider their plans.
"It will upset our cost calculations and
affect business prospects . This will be on top of our existing expense
on medical insurance," M V Rabade, chief executive officer of Adani
Power China, said.
China has extended the social security system
to cover foreign companies and their employees. Under the law, employers
are expected to contribute 37% of salary and employees 11% into the
social security pool. The maximum amount to be paid per month varies
between 9,000 yuan and 11,600 yuan ($1,415 to $1,837) in various cities.
The plan has several components with employers
and employees expected to contribute towards pension and insurance for
medical, unemployment, maternity and work-related injury.
"Indian companies will think twice before
bringing in more personnel at senior levels. This will affect knowledge
transfer between both Indian and Chinese staff," E B Rajesh, head
of China office of the Confederation of Indian Industry, said.
The increase in cost is both sudden and sharp.
It will force companies to rework their budget outlays, he said.
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Expect Asia to outperform in case of recession
in Europe: UBS Wealth Management, 3 Nov, 2011, 03.25PM IST,
In an interview with ET
Now, Yonghao Pu, Chief Investment Strategist, UBS Wealth Management,
talks about the European debt crisis and its impact on Asian equities.
Excerpts:
ET Now: Is all the bad news from the Europe
in the price and what kind of data points from Europe or the US
do you believe could dent investor sentiment over the next 6 months?
Yonghao Pu: I do not think all the bad
news has been priced in. I do think that Europe remains a source
of the risk. You just heard that Greece is going to announce kind
of the referendum confidence vote. So, this all kind of uncertainty
for the financial market could trigger more volatility in the
near term, but I would like to also say that we do see a positive
development.
A month ago, financial markets were surprising,
a kind of three-way scenario. One, US double dip; secondly, China
hard lending; and thirdly, debt crisis. Now looks like at least
the first 2 risks have been reduced, if we do not say completely
gone away, but at least the first 2 risks have been reduced. So
now only Europe remains a major source of risk.
ET Now: So where do you see Asian equities
headed between now and the end of the year?
Yonghao Pu: It is a tricky question. If
the global environment remains relatively orderly calm and only
have a mild recession in Europe, then Asia could easily outperform
because we have decent growth, our valuation is cheap and also
our fundamental is good.
So, Asia should be able to outperform,
but one exception Asia could underperform again is because a scenario
of the wide kind of financial crisis or Europe's debt crisis is
worsening, then people will start to continue to take money off
the table, the so-called risk off trade, then Asia could be a
victim again.
So, we are hoping that gradually we see
the financial market or the European debt crisis going to be a
more orderly process, then Asia could set a stage to outperform.
So, still have uncertainties, but we see a very strong case for
Asia to outperform going forward as soon as the global environment
becomes a little bit stable.
ET Now: Give us an indication as to what
your outlook is for the dollar index given the kind of strength
that it has seen recently.
Yonghao Pu: Yes, dollar is going to be
again, it is a reflection of the risk. If risk rises, dollar will
be a beneficiary. If risk comes down, then dollar will be sold
off. The major risk is still from Europe. We still see the euro
has more downside risk because even let's say the financial debt
crisis is going to be stabilised that still Europe is likely to
go into a recession. So in that case, euro is too high. ECB needs
to cut rate soon and maybe engage a kind of quantitative easing.
As a consequence, probably euro is going to see more downside
which will reflect into US dollar should have some more upside
because the euro is going to weaken further and most likely.
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Greece crisis: Greek government on brink
of collapse, 3 Nov, 2011, 04.01PM IST, Reuters
ATHENS: The Greek government
teetered on the brink of collapse on Thursday over plans for a referendum
on a euro zone bailout, with ruling party defections casting grave
doubt on whether Prime Minister George Papandreou can survive a
confidence vote.
"I don't think the government will
last until tonight," said Costas Panagopoulos, Managing Director
of pollsters ALCO.
Even Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos
broke ranks with Papandreou, coming out against holding the referendum
after a bruising meeting with the German and French leaders who
made clear Greece faced ejection from the euro zone if the nation
rejected the 130 billion-euro rescue.
"The referendum is dead," ruling
party lawmaker Nikos Salayannis said on state radio.
Another lawmaker of Prime Minister George
Papandreou's socialist party PASOK said she would not support
the government in a parliamentary vote of confidence on Friday,
cutting its majority for the vote to just one. Snap elections
would probably follow if Papandreou's majority vanished.
PASOK was in turmoil on Thursday, with
one senior lawmaker calling for a government of national unity
following Papandreou's shock call for the referendum, and another
saying he should resign.
Venizelos, one of the most powerful men
in the PASOK government, originally supported Papandreou's plan.
His change of mind came after he and Papandreou attended an emergency
summit in Cannes on Wednesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel
and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
A finance ministry source told Reuters
on condition of anonymity that Venizelos believed the vote on
the bailout, agreed by euro zone leaders only last week, should
not be held while immediate funding to keep Greece afloat still
had to be secured.
A VERY DIFFICULT MEETING
"Under these conditions a referendum
is exactly what the country does not need. He would not have objections
if all our pending issues such as the loan instalment and the
completion of the bailout plan had been sorted out," the
source said after the meeting with Merkel and Sarkozy.
"It was a very difficult meeting,"
the source added. Papandreou's bombshell announcement on Monday
of the referendum and parliamentary vote of confidence plunged
Greece into a political as well as an economic crisis.
Papandreou's once-comfortable majority
has dwindled to almost nothing. On Thursday PASOK lawmaker Eva
Kaili announced she would stay in the party but refused to support
the government in the crucial vote expected late on Friday.
"Herewith I inform you that I am not
resigning as an elected representative of my fellow citizens and
my generation, but in Friday's vote I will not cast a vote of
confidence in your government," she said in a letter to the
speaker of parliament, a fellow PASOK member.
Kaili published the letter on her Facebook
page. This left Papandreou with the support of just 151 deputies
out of 300 for Friday's vote.
PASOK lawmaker Costas Gitonas also said
the referendum should not take place. "No, by no means,"
he told Mega TV. "It's a madhouse."
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Growth In The U.S Manufacturing Sector
Decelerates In October (03-Nov-2011)
Latest economic data in
US showed that growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector decelerated
in October as production and inventories declined. The Institute
for Supply Management said its manufacturing gauge dropped to 50.8%
last month, just slightly above a 2011 low, from 51.6% in September.
Market had expected the index to rise to 52.1%. Reading over 50%
indicate more manufacturers are expanding instead of shrinking.
The decline in the index dovetails with
other economic reports showing that the manufacturing industry
has cooled off after an extended period of rapid growth. Political
turmoil in Washington and a debt crisis in Europe have contributed
to the slowdown.
The small drop in the U.S. ISM index stemmed
mainly from declining production and inventory levels. Production
dipped to 50.1% from 51.2% while inventories sank 5.3 percentage
points to 46.7%, the lowest level since June 2010.
Only eight of the 18 U.S. industries reported
growth in October, down from 12 in the prior month. Yet manufacturers
continued to experience solid demand, aided by strong exports.
The new orders index - a signal of future demand - rose to 52.4%
from 51.2%.
Prices paid for raw materials and supplies
plunged 15 percentage points to 41.0%, the lowest point since
April 2009. Continued moderation in the prices paid component
indicates reduced input cost pressures on businesses and is a
welcome sign of reduced inflation pressures at the wholesale level.
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