195_CH_18_July_2016

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CITY HILIGHTS Vol 1, Issue 194 `.1.00/- Saturday, July 16, 2016 www.ibcworldnews.com www.cityhilights.news English Daily 6 BUSINESS SPORTS PAKISTAN CRICKET BOARD BUYS BULLET PROOF BUSES TO WOO BACK VISITING TEAMS The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has bought four bulletproof buses in its effort to try and convince other international teams to shed their security apprehensions and visit the country. Pakistan has largely been shunned by teams since 2009 when gunmen attacked a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers, injuring six players and killing six security personnel and two civilians. The incident has forced Pakistan to play their ‘home’ matches at the United Arab Emirates and the country has since remained starved of international cricket at home, barring Zimbabwe’s limited-overs tour in 2015. “We have bought these four Coaster buses as part of our efforts to revive international cricket in the country,” said a PCB spokesman. “There will be high expectations from teams willing to visit Pakistan and we want to ensure that we provide them with the best possible arrangements. “Having these bulletproof vehicles would play a major part in convincing teams.” The spokesman said PCB wanted to host the final of the Pakistan Super League, the inaugural edition of which was held in UAE earlier this year. “We have to have discussions with the (overseas) players about their safety and security and I think this new addition in our security facilities will definitely give us an edge,” the spokesman said. “Our ultimate goal is to revive international cricket, and we are doing our best to make sure we can.” JOHN TERRY WILL CONTINUE AS CHELSEA CAPTAIN: MANAGER ANTONIO CONTE Long-serving defender John Terry will remain Chelsea’s captain in the coming season, new manager Antonio Conte said on Thursday at his first news conference since joining the Premier League club. Terry, 35, signed a new one-year contract at Stamford Bridge in May to end speculation that he was going to leave the London club after more than 700 appearances. He remains a firm favourite with the club’s fans. “John Terry is captain of this team. He is a great player with a great personality and charisma. He knows the club. We take all decisions together with the club and I am very happy John signed,” Conte said. Conte, who guided Juventus to three successive Serie A titles from 2012 to 2014 before becoming the Italian national team coach, has replaced interim manager Guus Hiddink. Known for his motivational powers and fiery touchline presence, the Italian said the team would need to emulate his work ethic to get back to winning ways after missing out on qualification for European football. “When I was in Italy I liked to say the coach is like a tailor, who must make the best dress for the team,” Conte said. “Every manager has his own idea of football and I want to transfer my ideas to the players. I have great passion for football, for my team and my work,” he explained. “It’s important to have players who are ready to fight, play good football and transfer our passion and emotion to the fans. I am a worker. I suffer during the game. I want my players and the fans to see this.” Chelsea, the 2014-15 Premier League champions, finished only 10th in the table last season and parted company with manager Jose Mourinho midway through the campaign. “Last season was a bad season,” Conte said. “We must fight for the title, we belong in the Champions League and we must stay there. “This league is very difficult. There are six or seven teams that can win the title. This situation excites me.” Conte is the fifth Italian to manage Chelsea, following in the footsteps of GianlucaVialli, Claudio Ranieri, Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Di Matteo. He begins his tenure in England with a London derby at home to West Ham United on 15 August. REUTERS SAINA NEHWAL AIMS FOR GOLD AT RIO OLYMPICS Bolstered by Australian Open triumph, India ace shuttler- SainaNehwal says she is now working on her half smashes under the watchful eyes of coach Vimal Kumar to get closer to the goal of winning a gold medal at next month’s Rio Olympics. “The victory in Australia came at just the right time. I was really looking forward for some change and nothing boosts confidence like winning. I needed a win to keep believing that I am on the right track,” the 26-year-old told media. “I am working hard on my half smashes to get closer to my goals. It is wonderful to win Australian Open prior to the Olympics. It is very satisfying to beat two world champions and a junior world champion in one tournament,” added the girl from Hyderabad who clinched the Australian title last month. Set to play in her third Olympics, Saina said she is completely fit and the key will be to “reach the peak” in that particular week. “I take each tournament as it comes. Rio Olympics will also be like any other games. My approach to the game is very positive and I would like to keep it like that and focus on my game. I feel that on the day that I am 100 percent fit, I have the potential to defeat anyone,” said the London Olympics bronze medallist. “I feel I am fit. I am running nicely. At the end of the day, it’s important that you reach the peak and play your best during that particular week. That’s what will count ultimately and will be the key.” It has been a year and a half that Saina has been training under Vimal Kumar in Bangalore and she said the former national coach was the one who made her believe that she can be a champion. “Vimal Sir’s influence is the biggest change. I really want to thank him for making me believe every day that I am a champion, I can be number one. Vimal Sir is helping me work on my half smashes and get closer to my goals,” said Saina, who had reached the World No. 1 under Vimal’s guidance last year. “It’s not easy to play at the highest level. I would like to give my best and like all the players my goal is also to come back with a gold medal. It’s a big contingent going from India this time, so we hope to have a triumphant return with lots of medals. FORMER ENGLAND BATSMAN MICHAEL CARBERRY DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER Former England batsman Michael Carberry has been diagnosed with a cancerous tumour, Hampshire county cricket club said on Thursday. The 35-year-old lefthander saw a specialist on Tuesday after missing a championship match against Warwickshire because he had felt unwell. Hampshire said in a statement that following the diagnosis “further tests would be undertaken before the relevant treatment commences. “Michael Carberry has been part of the Hampshire Cricket family for 10 years and on behalf of everyone at and associated with the club, I would like to send him and his family our very best wishes at this very difficult time,” said chairman Rod Bransgrove. “‘Carbs’ has taken on and beaten serious illness before and we will be doing all we can to make sure he does the same again this time.” Carberry has previously suffered from blood clots on the lung, missing the start of the 2011 season. The batsman played for England at test, oneday and Twenty20 with his last appearance in a one-day series against Sri Lanka in May 2014. F.SPORTS DAVIS CUP: RAMKUMAR RAMANATHAN MAKES WINNING DEBUT AS INDIA TAKES 1-0 LEAD VS SOUTH KOREA Youngster Ramkumar Ramanathan made a winning Davis Cup debut with a hard-fought victory over Seong Chan Hong in the opening singles as India took a 1-0 lead in the Asia/Oceania Group-I tie at Chandigarh on Friday. After battling for two hours and 36 minutes, the 21-year-old Ramkumar, ranked 217 in ATP singles list, was serving for the match when Hong suffered a thigh injury and conceded the match. Ramkumar was leading 6-3,2-6,6-3,6-5 (15- 15) when Hong suddenly clenched his right thigh, grimacing in pain. It brought a sudden end to the match, taking a bit of sheen out of Ramkumar’s victory at the Chandigarh Club. MANNY PACQUIAO DROPS BIG HINT OVER BOXING RETURN Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao has hinted that he may come out of retirement, insisting that he is still physically fit to return to the ring. The 37-year-old boxer-turned-politician maintained that his top priority was his political career but expressed that his passion for the sport had not diminished, Sport24 reported. The hot and humid conditions coupled with a tough surface took a toll on the Korean. Saketh Myneni will now play against Yong-Kyu Lim in the second singles. The persistent showers that lashed the city also affected the grass courts as it was a bit soggy from the outset. It was dry but dead at the centre court where the ball hardly rose above knee level. It prevented the match from rising to a quality level. There was no pace at all and mere keeping the ball in the court was a struggle for the players. The sun was not exactly blazing but the humidity made the playing conditions more challenging and the Korean was clearly wilting. Ramkumar, who relied mostly on backhand slice, was also struggling but he broke the Korean in the seventh game when Hong netted a backhand and the Indian converted the breakpoint with a trademark inside out forehand winner. The 21-year old Indian tried to up pace with Earlier, Bob Arum, who has promoted Pacquiao since 2005, stated that the boxer has given his nod to look for a venue as well as an opponent to fight in Las Vegas later this year. According to the promoter, they have been trying to find a suitable date that wouldn’t interfere with the boxer’s senatorial responsibilities and his ability to train. However, the boxing’s only eight-division titleholder said in a statement that he had neither made such plans nor discussed arrangements with Arum while dropping a big hint of a potential comeback. Pacquiao boasts an his serve but that resulted in four double faults. Despite so many errors, Ramkumar managed to hold and broke Hong in the next game to sit pretty at 5-3. Ramkumar hardly approached the net and kept hitting backhand slices for his returns from the back of the court. Hong capitalized a bit on that by hitting a few unreachable drop volleys but could not stop Ramkumar from serving out the set in the ninth game. The Korean fared better in the second set, well aided by Ramukmar’s unrelenting unforced errors. A double break — first and fifth games — put Hong ahead 4-1. In a jiffy, the second set was over with the two player’s level 1-1. The heat and humidity was testing the two players now. Hong looked better prepared for the surface than the Indian as the Korean moved well on the court and set up a few points easily. Ramkumar faced another break chance in the third game of the third set but came out serving well to thwart the danger. It was now Hong’s turn to face breakpoints in the next game and he only helped Ramkumar by serving a double fault on the second.As the set enviable record of 58 wins in his 66 professional fights. His last defeat was against Floyd Mayweather during a heavily anticipated bout last year. The boxing legend, progressed, the weather became cooler but the threat of rain was looming large. Ramkumar served with a lot of authority in the seventh to make it 5-2 in his favour. Ramkumar had two chances to close the set in the next game but the Korean saved both set points. In the ninth game though, he did not give any chance to the Korean, serving out the set comfortably with a volley winner. The Indian attacked Hong with aggressive strokes, pinning him to baseline and enticed a forehand error on the breakpoint. A break in the very first game of the fourth set Ramkumar up nicely for the win.He smelt victory and started to play aggressively and the resultant errors meant he lost his serve twice after that to stand 3-3 with the Korean. At 5-5, Ramkumar broke Hong again. He earned the break point with a backhand volley winner and converted that when Hong’s backhand sailed over the baseline. Ramkumar was serving for the match when Korean suffered a thigh injury and had to be lifted out of court, bringing an anti-climactic finish to the match. (PTI) who called curtains on his illustrious career after beating Timothy Bradley by unanimous decision in April, was elected to the Philippines senate a month later. (ANI)
CITY HILIGHTS Vol 1, Issue 194 `.1.00/- Saturday, July 16, 2016 www.ibcworldnews.com www.cityhilights.news English Daily 7 BUSINESS RAJAN’S FORMIDABLE REPUTATION HELPED STABILISE RUPEE: SUBBARAO Former Reserve Bank Governor Duvvuri Subbarao has credited his successor Raghuram Rajan’s “formidable reputation” for bringing sanity to the forex market when the rupee had lost nearly 25 per cent amid ‘taper tantrums’ in the summer of 2013. He has also blamed then then Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s reluctance to accept that the rupee was bleeding more because of domestic issues and less due to external factors like the taper tantrums - a reference to the US Fed’s gradual withdrawal of stimulus measures for the American economy following the global financial crisis of 2008. “I had several conversations with Chidambaram on this, but found him reluctant to face up to this inconvenient truth. He is too intelligent not to have seen the point; I suspect he found it politically convenient to point to an external scapegoat rather than call attention to domestic structural factors,” Subbarao, the bureaucrat-turned central banker, has written in a book. He has also blamed Chidambaram who “wholeheartedly supported his appointment” to the Mint Road for undermining the autonomy of RBI and putting pressure on him to cut interest rates. WORKING TO HAVE A DEEMED UNIVERSITY STATUS FOR FDDI: GOVT Government is working on granting deemed university status to Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) whose students have been demanding they be awarded degrees instead of diplomas. Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said talks are on with Human Resource Development Ministry and advice has been sought from Prime Minister’s Office on the issue. “I want this issue to get a fair solution, student should not be put to difficulties, but this is an inherited problem... we are working to have a deemed university status for them,” she told the media. The minister said the rules governing the status and “everything about who can qualify for deemed university is being looked into by HRD ministry. They are guiding us... so work is happening”. Keen to resolve the issue, Sitharaman had conducted about a dozen consultation meetings with the concerned ministries, departments, students and their parents. Around 200 students of FDDI in Noida went on a rampage last month, ransacking the premises and damaging two buses, in protest against alleged failure of the institute to give them degrees, instead of diplomas. FDDI had signed an MoU with Mewar University in 2012 for awarding degrees. But last year, UGC had termed the MoU as illegal, triggering protests by students. From 2012 to 2014, around 3,609 students had taken admission in the institute. Sitharaman had said the matter is an “issue in legacy. We inherited something which was not of our making.” The issue cropped up after the University Grants Commission (UGC) declared that Mewar University cannot award degrees to FDDI students. INFOSYS RELAUNCHES ESOPS TO REIN IN ATTRITION Infosys has relaunched its employee stock option plan (ESOP) for junior to middle level management staff as it looks to rein in rising attrition that stood at 21% in the April-June 2016 quarter. However, the company is not “unduly concerned” about the jump in attrition, which read 17.3% in the March quarter and 19.2% in the year-ago period. “Today, we relaunched our ESOP programme after a gap of 10-years plus, after about 13 years. We are rewarding about 7,500 of our employees from junior to middle level management with restricted stock options and we will extend it to middle management to senior leaders and title holders subsequently,” Infosys Chief Operating Officer U B Pravin Rao said. He added that the company continues to focus on reskilling employees and has also revamped its leadership development programmes. ESOPs allow employees to own equity in the company, which is seen as a morale booster for them. Infosys added 13,268 (gross) and 3,006 (net) people in the said quarter, taking its headcount to 1, 97,050 at the end of June 2016. Elaborating on the higher rate of attrition, Rao said one of the reasons is “seasonality because typically in Q1, we have higher exits due to higher studies”. He added that while the attrition levels have shot up, Infosys has been able to retain “high performers”. “We are really encouraged, we also track high performers’ attrition, which has come down. Earlier last quarter, it was 13.4% and this quarter, it has come down to 11.2%, so we are encouraged by that,” he said. Rao said Infosys will “watch out”, but at this stage, it is “not unduly concerned” and continues to focus on employee experience and engagement. This year, Infosys has given wage hikes of 6-12% to its employees in India and about 2% to onsite workers, apart from offering equity to incentivise top performers. On the impact of the appointment of Raghuram Rajan as the new Governor on stabilising the rupee, Subbarao says “the scheduled leadership change at the Reserve Bank and the formidable reputation of my successor, Raghuram Rajan, helped restore confidence in the Indian markets”. The book ‘Who Moved My Interest Rates- Leading the Reserve Bank of India through Five Turbulent Years’ is a tell-tale 352 page memoir by Subbarao. It hit the stands today and will be formally launched next month. It is published by Penguin Random House. The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IG- NOU) used to grant degrees for all courses at the institute, but it discontinued the same in 2012 academic session, even as 1,250 students were enrolled for various graduate and post-graduate programmes. FDDI roped in Mewar University of Rajasthan to Infosys, which is undergoing a turnaround under Sikka’s leadership, has been witnessing a string of senior leaders quitting the firm. These exits include high-profile names like former chief financial officer Rajiv Bansal, head of manufacturing and EVP (Executive Vice-President) Sanjay Jalona, Infosys BPO head and EVP Gautam Thakkar, “In fact, as chief economic adviser to the government, Raghu was on board all through the exchange rate turmoil and was more actively involved in all the decisions after he was named in early August as my successor,” he notes in the book, which he began penning in the middle of last year. On the radical measures that Rajan announced on assuming charge, Subbarao says soon after Rajan came to RBI as an OSD, they both had agreed on those steps like raising forex through NRI deposits. “Raghu was kind enough to offer that I announce these measures before signing off. But I thought that the measures would be more effective if he announced them as the incoming governor. At least on this issue, my judgement worked!” he says in a chapter titled ‘Rupee Tantrums 137’.(PTI) offer degree programmes from academic session 2012. However, UGC in September 2014, questioned the MoU between FDDI and Mewar University for grant of degree to FDDI students registered for 2012, 2013 and 2014 in light of the AICTEs non-recognition of these degrees. (PTI) and Infosys EdgeVerve head and EVP Michael Reh. The most recent exit was that of Samson David, Infosys’ head of cloud, infrastructure and security business. David, who had joined Infosys as a trainee software engineer in 1992, had been recently tasked by Sikka to spearhead the company’s flagship artificial intelligence platform. (PTI) MFG ELECTRIC VEHICLES CAN MITIGATE COST: SECRETARY Challenges posed by high cost in popularising hybrid and electric vehicles in India can be overcome with a focus on manufacturing components and the vehicles in India, a senior government official said. “The biggest challenge is cost and all of us would have to work on it so that people can afford and easily adopt this new technology. To make it cheaper, we would have to work for Make-in-India and (that) is the solution for making electric vehicle affordable,” said Girish Shankar, Secretary, Ministry of the Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. He was addressing the National Workshop & Exhibition of FAME India. Assuring the gathering the government’s commitment towards electric mobility under its FAME India scheme, he sought feedback from the industry, saying it would help them create market and a self-sustainable model. “There are complexities and challenges, but still we can address them... In this, not just the government, but OEMs would have to come up with firm plans,” he said, adding that he expects forums including the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) to play a crucial role in it. FAME India - Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles in India - is part of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan. The scheme envisages Rs 795 crore support in the first two fiscals that started last year. According to Shankar, globally, hybrid models are being accepted and consumers are now able to afford it. In Europe, two lakh hybrid vehicles are self-sustainable without any government’s support. He cited China as a good example of “shifting very fast to hybrid and now moving towards electric mobility”. “It’s a very good example for us to follow,” he said. In Japan, there are more charging stations than petrol pumps, Shankar added. “Apart from technology, we should take examples from other countries, and let us leapfrog and take advantage of available technology and guidelines from other experiences where we can move much faster than others,” he said(PTI) PRADHAN PROMISES MORE EASE IN DOING BIZ WITH INDIA Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday promised a “transparent regulatory regime” and greater ease in doing business with India as he promoted auctioning of 46 discovered oil and gas fields in a roadshow. These fields, discovered by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) and Oil India LTD (OIL), are envisaged to be put on production through expeditious efforts. As many as 50 international oil related companies, including Magna Energy, BP, IHS Energy, Texas Oil & Gas Technology, Nabors, McDermott, Reliance Exploration and Production DMCC, KPMG, Halliburton, Joshi Technologies International, Vega Energy, Schlumberger attended the roadshow in Houston. The Houston roadshow comprised extensive and detailed presentations and one-on-one meetings with the companies. Companies such as BG, Cairn Energy, ONGC, RIL shared their successful experience of working in the Indian exploration and production (E&P) sector. Promising a “transparent regulatory regime” and greater ease of doing business, the minister in his plenary address said that, “we recognise that the need of the hour is to increase the domestic energy production by unlocking India’s hydrocarbon potential.” Easy regulatory administration, pricing freedom for crude oil and natural gas produced from new fields in a transparent manner to further promote oil and gas assets across the country, he said. In fact, the current bid round is also being held under revised set of industry friendly bid guidelines and processes with the Discovered Small Fields Policy acting as the regulatory framework. Under the bid round, 67 fields in 46 contract areas, across 9 sedimentary basins are being offered to potential investors through International Competitive Bidding in the oil and gas producing basins. Of these 67 fields, 36 are located in offshore areas and 31 fields are in on land basins. The fields have estimated 625 Million Barrels of Oil and Oil Equivalent Gas in-place volumes, and are spread over 1500 square kilometers in 26 on land, 18 shallow water and 2 deep water areas. vAssuring the packed hall of attendees, that included heads of major energy companies, think tanks, analysts, Indian Americans with interest, oil lobbyist, diplomats and various technologists, Pradhan promised all possible support from his Ministry and the Government of India in fructifying investors endeavours. “The bid timelines are stringent and my team is geared to ensure a smooth process. I look forward to an encouraging participation in the bidding from you all. We have also setup a facilitation cell for assisting you throughout the bid process,” he concluded his speech amidst loud cheers and applause. (PTI)
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