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INTERNATIONAL NOIDA/DELHI 14 THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015 TWO JAPANESE JOURNALISTS UNDER THREAT IS demands $200-million ransom to free hostages Tokyo vows not to give in; since August, IS has murdered three Americans and two Britons Educated women face IS threat GENEVA: The U.N. on Tuesday decried numerous executions of civilians in Iraq by the Islamic State group, warning that educated women appeared to be especially at risk. The jihadist group is showing a “monstrous disregard for human life” in the areas it controls in Iraq, the U.N. human rights office said. The group, which controls large swathes of territory in Iraq and in neighbouring war-ravaged Syria, last week published pictures of the “crucifixions” of two men accused of being bandits, and of a woman being stoned to death, allegedly for adultery. — AFP BEIRUT: The Islamic State (IS) group threatened in a video on Tuesday to kill two Japanese hostages within 72 hours unless it receives a $200 million ransom, but Tokyo vowed it would not bow to “terrorism”. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in Jerusalem on the latest leg of a Middle East tour, demanded the jihadists immediately free the two hostages unharmed. He flew home several hours earlier than planned to take charge of the crisis after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, who condemned the threat against the abductees as “despicable”. IS has murdered five Western hostages since August last year, but it is the first time that the extremist group — which has seized swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq — has threatened Japanese captives. In footage posted on jihadist websites, a black-clad militant brandishing a knife addresses the camera in English, standing between hostages Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa who are wearing orange jumpsuits. “You now have 72 hours to pressure your government into making a wise decision by paying the $200 million to save the lives of your citizens,” he says. The militant says that the ransom demand is to compensate for non-military aid that the Japanese Prime Minister pledged to support countries affected by IS violence at the start of his Middle East tour. Would not bow: Abe But Mr. Abe said Japan would not bow to extremism and pledged to honour his promise of aid. “I strongly demand that they not be harmed and that they be immediately released,” he told a news conference in Jerusalem. “The international community will not give in to any form of terrorism and we have to make sure that we work together.” Mr. Abe said the aid he had A television screen with news reports about the two Japanese men kidnapped by the IS. — PHOTO: AFP promised in Cairo on Saturday was to help the displaced and those made homeless by the conflict in Iraq and Syria. “This position is unshakable,” he said, describing the assistance as “absolutely necessary” for the survival of people who have fled fighting. Since August, IS has murdered three Americans and two Britons, posting grisly video footage of their executions. The militant who appeared in the video threatening the Japanese hostages spoke with a very similar southern English accent to the militant who appeared in the footage posted of the executions of the Britons and Americans. Mr. Goto is a freelance journalist, born in 1967, who set up a video production company, named Independent Press in Tokyo in 1996, feeding video documentaries on the Middle East and other regions to Japanese television networks, including public broadcaster NHK. He had been out of contact since late October after telling family that he intended to return to Japan, NHK reported. Mr. Yukawa is a 42-year-old widower who reportedly has a history of attempted suicide and self-mutilation after his military goods business went bankrupt and his wife died of cancer. He came to widespread attention in Japan when he appeared in footage posted last August in which he was shown being roughly interrogated by his captors.He offered brief responses to questions posed in English about why he was in Syria and the reason he was carrying a gun. He replied in stilted English that he was a “photographer” and a “journalist, half doctor”. — AFP Yemen: President’s residence seized SANA’A: Shia militia fighters attacked Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi’s residence and seized the LAGOS: Nigeria was on Tuesday awarded $8.1 million in funding for a final push to eradicate polio, as it nears six months without a case of the disease. Nigeria is one of three countries worldwide where polio is considered endemic. The two others are Pakistan and presidential palace on Tuesday in what officials said was a bid to overthrow his embattled government. As the U.N. Security Council began an emergency meeting over the unrest, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was “gravely concerned” and called for an immediate halt to the fighting. — AFP Nigeria: six months without polio case MOSCOW: Two Russian performance artists were jailed for 10 days on Tuesday after throwing holy water at the Lenin Mausoleum on Red Square and shouting, “Rise up and leave!” The men were sentenced to 10 days in police cells for petty hooliganism after the protest they carried out on Monday, an Afghanistan. The last case of the polio virus in Nigeria was on July 24 in the northern State of Kano. Last year, the country recorded a total of six cases, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. That compares with 53 in 2013, the group said. — AFP 2 jailed for desecrating Lenin Mausoleum Orthodox holiday, a member of their art group, Irina Dumitskaya told AFP. The two men, Oleg Basov, a dance teacher, and Yevgeny Avilov, a computer programmer, are members of an antiestablishment art group called Blue Rider, Ms. Dumitskaya said. — AFP Following Maoist-led strike, Constituent Assembly meeting adjourned Will implement 13th Amendment within a unitary state: Ranil Atul Aneja BEIJING: The change of guard in Sri Lanka has triggered a debate in China that despite its economic heft, the country may still be lacking in diplomatic power to influence smaller countries when it really counts. An editorial in the Global Times, usually a bellweather of the mood within the Communist Party of China (CPC), cautions that it would be premature to conclude that the exit of Mahinda Rajapaksa, and the arrival of Maithripala Sirisena as the President of Sri Lanka, is a blow to China’s interests in the strategically located island nation. Yet it signalled that uncertainties had crept in, and the new dispensation in Colombo was sending mixed signals. The article pointed out that last week, Sri Lanka had stated that “it would review the construction of a Chinese-backed port close to Colombo, citing issues over transparency in the contract and environmental reasons”. “But the new government also said the reassessment does not indicate a cancellation of the project, and construction can resume if the review finds no fault.” On Friday, the Sri Lankan government declared that the $1.5 billion Hambantota port deal with China Communication Construction Co. Ltd. would be reviewed over concerns that the Chinese company was getting freehold land in a high-security Damakant Jayshi Transition triggers introspection zone. The commentary pointed out that the Chinese side would suffer heavy financial losses if the project was halted — a situation similar to that in Myanmar, where projects were being stalled. On Colombo-Delhi ties The editorial recognised India’s traditional ties with Sri Lanka, but stressed that competition between Beijing and New Delhi in Sri Lanka is “not exclusive” or confrontational. It also focused on the complementarities in the relationship, stressing that China was an “irreplaceable’ partner” to address Sri Lanka’s “urgent need of comprehensive economic development”. Nepalese supporters of the 30-party alliance, led by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), demonstrate during the general strike in Kathmandu on Tuesday. — PHOTO: AFP Meera Srinivasan COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government will implement the 13th Amendment to its Constitution within a unitary state, Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe has said. Implementation of the 13th Amendment — born out of the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 — has remained a longpending demand of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the main party representing the island’s Northern Tamils. The Amendment envisages substantive devolution of political powers to the provinces. In his first parliamentary address after assuming charge as Prime Minister — following the Sri Lanka’s January 8 presidential elections — Mr. Wickramasinghe said: “We will implement the 13th Amendment within a unitary state.” Given that the TNA backed KATHMANDU: Opposition parties continued their protests on Tuesday inside the Constituent Assembly (CA) as well outside to prevent the ruling parties from adopting the procedure to discuss the new Constitution. The nationwide bandh (general strike) called by the alliance of Opposition parties led by UCPN (Maoist) turned violent in several parts of the country while their MPs shouted slogans inside the Assembly to prevent CA Chairman Subas Nembang from entering the process of voting. Mr. Nembang adjourned the CA meeting until 11 a.m. on Wednesday after nearly two hours of slogan-shouting by Opposition lawmakers. In the wee hour of Tuesday, they attacked some UML leaders, and CA chairman, forcing another adjournment. Prime Minister Sushil Koirala termed Tuesday’s attack inside the CA as “conspiracy” to prevent the CA from writing the Constitution. “It did not turn nastier due to patience exercised by the ruling parties,” he said. “The UCPN (Maoist) leaders are expert at changing their words.” The deadline to promulgate the new statute which the parties set themselves is just two Ranil Wickramasinghe President Sirisena in the elections, the Northern Tamils — who voted against President Rajapaksa in large numbers — would expect the new government to be sensitive to their demands. Civilian Governor In a gesture that sections perceive as President Maithripala Sirisena’s willingness days away. Leaders from the Nepali Congress, the CPN- UML and the UCPN (Maoist) have been saying that the Constitution would be passed once they reached consensus. In that event, the likely step would be to suspend all regulations and processes and adopt the draft of the Constitution to be promulgated at a later date. With the parties failing to reach consensus or agreeing on a compromise despite many rounds of bilateral and multi-party discussions, the deadline of January 22 is likely to be missed, several leaders from various political parties have been saying. State restructuring has appeared to be the most difficult issue. The NC and the UML want no more than six or seven States and mostly drawn on the bases of economic viability, geography and culture. They also want the names of the new States to be decided by elected state assemblies. The UCPN (Maoist) and Madhes-based parties want between eight and 10 States, one, or at the most two, States in Tarai and are in favour of to engage with the Tamils’ demands, he recently replaced the former Northern Province Governor, a military man, with a seasoned diplomat. It is also learnt that orders have been passed to transfer the Chief Secretary of the Province who was on a collision course with Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran. Mr. Wickramasinghe also outlined the newly-formed government’s plan for the first 100 days. The government would set up independent commissions to run the police, the public service, the judiciary and the elections department, he said. The new government had presented its 100-day plan ahead of the elections promising a host of measures, including the abolition of executive presidency, which former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s critics saw as being a huge impediment to democracy during his two terms. Mr. Wickramasinghe, appointed Prime Minister by President Sirisena, said the new government would also pass a Right to Information Act. Rajapaksa’s home raided Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday asked the new government to stop “revenge”, a day after police raided his country-side home in the southern district of Hambantota. “Our family has been in politics since 1931. But never our homes came to be searched. I ask them to stop this political revenge,” local media quoted Mr. Rajapaksa as saying. The police were reportedly looking for a Lamborghini sports car and launched a raid following a court warrant, but the search drew a blank. the states being carved and named mainly on single ethnic identity. With discussions yielding no result, the NC and the UML suggested that the disputes be decided by adopting the CA procedure which the parties — including the UCPN (Maoist) and Madhes-based ones — had agreed to in March last year. The ruling parties have more than the required two-thirds majority to get the Constitution passed if voting is adopted. The Opposition has insisted on “consensus only” approach. Meanwhile, responding to the situation in Nepal, Spokesperson of from Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi said, “It is our expectation that all Nepalese leaders will work together in the final stage of the peace process, in drawing up a Constitution that honours past agreements and understandings as well as the mandate of the CA elections.” ‘AirAsia jet climbed fast, then stalled’ JAKARTA: An AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea last month with 162 people on board climbed faster than normal and then stalled, the Indonesian Transport Minister said on Tuesday. Flight QZ8501 went down on December 28 in stormy weather, during what was supposed to be a short trip from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. Indonesia’s meteorological agency has said bad weather may have caused the crash, and investigators are analysing the data from the jet’s black boxes before releasing a preliminary report. Indonesian Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan, citing radar data, said “the plane suddenly went up at a speed above the normal limit that it was able to climb to. Then it stalled.” — AFP China steps up drive to integrate Africa into Silk Road Atul Aneja BEIJING: China has accelerated its drive to draw Africa into the Maritime Silk Road — Beijing’s ambitious transcontinental initiative — following the visit to the continent by Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Among the several themes covered during Mr. Wang’s five-nation visit, the push for speedy construction of a modern standard-gauge rail link between Nairobi and Mombasa was one of the star highlights. Nairobi to Mombasa The project to linkup the capital of Kenya and the country’s well-established port has much larger implications. Once it is through, the rail corridor will help connect the vast hinterland of East Africa with the Indian Ocean, making it a salient strategic project, which will add one more layer to the CM YK Apart from building railroads, highways and airports, Beijing is developing 12 deep water ports, seven of which are along the African coastline realisation of President Xi Jinping’s dream of establishing a 21st century Maritime Silk Road (MSR). If plans materialise, Mombasa would be eventually linked with Malaba in west Kenya and then Kampala, Kigali and Juba — capitals of Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan respectively. The Chinese undertook the project, clearly aware of the larger regional opportunities that it presented. Symbolically, this was evident when the leaders from Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan stood aside with visiting Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang in Nairobi, along with representatives from Tanzania, Burundi and the African Development Bank, to sign a deal on the project. As concrete steps are taken on ground, it has become apparent that Africa is becoming one of the pillars of the MSR project. Apart from building railroads, highways and airports, the Chinese are developing 12 deep water ports, seven of which are along the African coastline. These are: Djibouti, Dares Salaam, Maputo, Libreville (Gabon), Tema (Ghana), Dakar (Senegal), Bizerte (Tunisia). In turn, these ports connect with the MSR, as they are meant to serve large commercial ships coming from Asia, laden with food and industrial products, and return with raw materials from Africa. Africa connects well with one of the major spurs of the MSR — the Chinese province of Yunnan, which shares borders with Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos, with Thailand further to the south. Bypassing Malacca Hoping to avoid the vulnerable Malacca strait, the Chinese are building rail corridors from Kunming, Yunnan’s capital, to Myanmar and Thailand via landlocked Laos. China has signed an agreement to build a rail corridor that will connect Yunnan with Myanmar’s port city of Kyaukphyu on the Bay of Bengal, thus bypassing Malacca straits. Kyaukphyu is also the starting point of the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline, and enters China at the city of Ruili With Laos, the China- Vientiane railroad project is expected to be completed by 2018. China has recently approved a $23 billion project, which includes a high-speed link between Chaing Khong, just south of the Laos’ capital Vientiane, and Ban Phachi in Thailand. Some analysts are of the view that China and Thailand are taking the lead in building the MSR’s connection with Africa. The website East by Southeast reported that last year, Chinese and Thai officials formed investment vehicles for the construction of the seven strategic ports on the African coastlines. Thai rice exporters are likely to be one of the main beneficiaries of the Asia- Africa link under the MSR plan. Already 60 per cent of Thai rice exports in 2013 headed for Africa, and consumption trend was even higher last year. Iran: a memorial for Jewish martyrs Members of Iran’s Jewish community pray for a relative who recently passed away at a new memorial for Jewish people. — PHOTO: AFP TEHRAN: It seems incongruous in Iran, where politicians chant “Death to Israel” and the Israeli flag is often burned, but a new memorial in Tehran is bringing recognition to the country’s “Jewish martyrs”. The memorial has been raised in the three-hectare (eight-acre) Jewish cemetery in south Tehran — a striking reminder of a minority faith whose more than 1,000-year heritage in Iran dwarfs the comparably short 35 years of the Islamic republic. For leaders of Iran’s small Jewish community, the memorial is a welcome sign of openness from authorities despite continued concerns over discrimination. “When someone looks at this monument, they will think about the sacrifices that were made by these martyrs,” said the head of Tehran’s Jewish community, Homayoun Sameyah Najaf Abadi. The names of 10 people have been etched in stone in the memorial, erected in December at the cemetery where thousands of Jews are buried. Five of them died fighting in the 1980-88 war against Iraq; three were killed by Saddam Hussein’s bombing of Tehran during the war; and the other two died in the tumultuous early days of the 1979 revolution that ended the rule of the Iranian Shah. Construction of the Jewish monument and the restoration of the 10 tombs of the dead was funded by a foundation that helps families of soldiers killed or wounded in the Iran-Iraq war. Iran had between 80,000 and 100,000 Jews before the revolution but most have since fled, mainly to the United States, Israel and Europe. There are now only about 8,500, mostly in Tehran but also in Isfahan and Shiraz, major cities south of the capital. — AFP ND-ND
NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015 15 BUSINESS BRIEFLY SEBI orders broker to refund money MUMBAI: Cracking down on an illegal money pooling activity running into an estimated Rs.5,000 crore, the Securities and Exchange Board of India on Tuesday barred an individual broker from mobilising funds from the public while asking him to refund investors money within seven days. Sameer S. Joshi, a subbroker with trade name Shreesurya Investments, has also been restrained from dealing in the securities market, till further directions. Shreesurya Investments has allegedly cornered more than Rs.5,000 crore from 6,000 investors. — PTI Vikram Pandit, others invest $75 m in Bitcoin firm Coinbase NEW DELHI: Noted Indiaorigin banker Vikram Pandit along with the New York Stock Exchange and other investors have pumped in $75 million into U.S.-based Coinbase in what is billed as one of the biggest publicly disclosed funding for a Bitcoin company. The investment by marquee investors in a Bitcoin company comes at a time when the popular online cryptocurrency turned out to be one of the worst investments in 2014 as its value plummeted by about 50 per cent. One Bitcoin is now valued at $206, about one-sixth of its peak price of about $1,200 apiece in 2013. — PTI Xiaomi to launch Mi4 on Jan. 28 NEW DELHI: Chinese handset maker Xiaomi is expected to launch its latest 4G device Mi4 in India later this month as it looks to strengthen its position in the booming domestic smartphone market. The company, which entered the Indian market last year, has launched three devices here so far — Redmi 1S, Redmi Note and Mi3 — in partnership with e-commerce major Flipkart. “You are invited to a frontrow view on January 28...Mi hits a 4 and a 6,” Xiaomi said in an invitation. — PTI Virgin Atlantic picks TCS for digital transformation CHENNAI: Tata Consultancy Services has been selected by Virgin Atlantic Airways (VAA) of the U.K. to help the latter’s digital transformation programme. It will set up a private cloud for VAA and provide services including infrastructure-as-a-service, end-user services and application support services, according to a release from TCS. – Special Correspondent EXCHANGE RATES Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit except yen at 4 p.m on January 20 Currencies TT TT Buying Selling U.S. Dollar 61.49 61.81 Euro 71.16 71.53 Pound Sterling 93.13 93.62 Jap Yen (100 Units) 51.82 52.09 Chinese Yuan 9.89 9.95 Swiss Franc 70.20 70.61 Singapore Dollar 45.96 46.22 Australian Dollar 50.42 50.68 Canadian Dollar 51.29 51.57 Swedish Kroner 7.55 7.59 Danish Kroner 9.57 9.62 New Zealand Dollar 47.47 47.76 Hongkong Dollar 7.93 7.97 Malaysian Ringitt 17.04 17.13 Kuwaiti Dinar 208.61 210.55 UAE Dirham 16.74 16.83 Bahraini Dinar 163.08 163.95 Qatari Riyal 16.95 16.95 Saudi Riyal 16.43 16.43 Omani Riyal 159.69 160.55 Source: Indian Bank BULLION RATES January 20 rates in rupees with previous rates in brackets Chennai Bar Silver (1 kg) 39,855 (39,500) Retail (1 g) 42.60 (42.30) 24 ct gold (10 g) 28,480 (28,150) 22 ct gold (1 g) 2,663 (2,632) Delhi Silver 39,200 (39,100) Standard gold 28,180 (28,080) Sovereign 24,000 (23,900) CM YK Gilead licenses Strides to make, distribute AIDS drug in 112 countries Strides will be able to launch its product by mid-2016 Ramnath Subbu MUMBAI: U.S. pharmaceutical major Gilead Sciences has signed a licensing agreement with Bengaluru-based Strides Arcolab, under which Gilead has extended non-exclusive rights to Strides to make and distribute Tenofovir Alafenamide (TAF), both as a single agent product and in combination with other drugs. This is seen as a goodwill creation exercise by sections of the Indian pharmaceutical industry as multinationals have been increasingly viewed with scepticism in developing markets. TAF is a novel nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor used in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients in the treatment of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). TAF is awaiting U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, and is expected to go to market by year-end. A statement from Strides said the licence extends to 112 countries, which together account for more than 30 million people living with HIV. Strides will receive a technology transfer from Gilead, enabling it to make low-cost versions of TAF for developing countries. Strides will be able to launch its product by mid-2016. TAF has demonstrated high antiviral efficacy at a dose 10 times lower than Gilead’s Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), as well as an improved renal and bone safety profile, the statement said. Different model for developing markets Gilead pursuing different model for developing markets Today’s announcement Varroc Engineering inks pact with Scorpion of U.K. Ramnath Subbu MUMBAI: Varroc Engineering, the flagship company of leading auto component manufacturer Varroc group, on Tuesday signed a technology licence agreement with U.K.- based Scorpion Automotive to exclusively design, manufacture and sell licensed security products to two-wheeler and four-wheeler vehicle manufacturers in India. The collaboration will introduce innovative products for the two-wheeler sector in India such as alarms, heated grips, throttle locks and the like. “We have a strong relationship with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in India and this partnership will help us enhance our already diverse product portfolio for them,’’ Varroc Group President (Technology and Strategy) Ravi Damodaran told The Hindu. “This is part of our electrical business growth plan, and the need for these products has not been adequately addressed here.’’ “We are targeting two and three-wheelers, which have a market of around three million units in India, and can reach five million units in 2020 by which time we want a 25 per cent share,’’ he said. Its three business divisions of polymers, electrical and metallic contribute equally to the turnover. With revenues ● The move is seen as a goodwill creation exercise by pharma units as MNCs have been viewed with scepticism in developing markets. follows last week’s rejection of Gilead’s patent application for its blockbuster drug sofosbuvir by the Indian patent office. Sofosbuvir is considered a breakthrough drug in the treatment of Hepatitis C and Gilead’s application covered the metabolites of sofosbuvir. The main patent application for the product is still pending and Gilead is to appeal against the decision. In September, 2014, Gilead signed agreements with seven Indian generic drug manufacturers licensing them to make sofosbuvir to supply it to 90 countries. Sofosbuvir is priced at $84,000 per patient in the U.S., and the effective price for generic version is of Rs.6,900 crore, about 90 per cent of Varroc’s business is from two-wheelers, and it plans to bring this down to 75 per cent by 2020 with the rest from passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Mr. Damodaran said the company was looking at possible acquisitions in Russia and Brazil. . “There are no immediate plans for an IPO or fund-raising. We re-invest around Rs. 450 crore in the business annually,’’ he said. Varroc invested Rs. 20 crore in a polymer products plant in Chennai, and expects revenues of Rs.100 crore in two years from the unit. It is setting up a similar Rs.25 crore unit in Gujarat. around $900 and a 10 per cent royalty. “Gilead’s chosen voluntary licensing model is refreshing, and will certainly earn it goodwill. It ensures protection of intellectual property (IP) and simultaneously ensures access to medicines,’’ D. G. Shah, Secretary-General, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), told The Hindu. “Today, its TAF licensing announcement is just an extension of its existing model for developing markets. ’’ Other multinational pharmaceutical giants such as GSK opt for a price differentiated model for developing markets mainly for their older products, which Merck uses the discounted model, pricing its drugs at 75 per cent of U.S. prices. “Pharmaceutical multinational prefer Indian manufacturers over other generic manufacturing destinations like South Africa and Brazil because India is already supplying generics to 200 countries and has proven capability, cost-effectiveness and quality,’’ Mr. Shah said. West Bengal zeroes in on bidders for privatising five loss-making tea gardens Indrani Dutta KOLKATA: The Mamata Banerjee Government has finalised two industry groups for privatising five tea gardens owned by the West Bengal Tea Development Corporation Ltd. While the Ambootia group is set to gain control of three gardens in Darjeeling, Malnady Tea Private Ltd. is likely to be given two estates in Dooars in North Bengal. The entire process was monitored by KPMG, and the two groups have emerged as the highest financial bidders, two sources connected with the process told The Hindu. There were at least three other companies in the fray for these operational gardens. Yuthika Bhargava NEW DELHI: Marking its first acquisition in India, microblogging site Twitter, on Tuesday, announced the acquisition of Bengaluru-based mobile marketing start-up ZipDial. “India is one of the fastest growing countries for us, and this acquisition is an important signal to how serious we are about this market. Our number one objective in the country has been to grow our user base. This acquisition will dramatically increase our ability to drive this growth,” Twitter Market Director (India and Southeast Asia) Rishi Jaitly told The Hindu. It is learnt that the ailing gardens had defaulted on Rs.30 lakh gratuity payments as also rations and firewood allowances to their employees for six months. Other payments were also in arrears. Twitter acquires ZipDial Rishi Jaitly Services on offer ZipDial offers services such as missed calls for user verification, alerts and other use cases. While the deal size was not disclosed, according to reports, it is pegged at about $30 million. It employs about 50 people in India, all of whom will be now part of Twitter. This acquisition will also bring Twitter a new engineering office in Bengaluru. “We have an office in Bengaluru, which will become the base of Twitter’s research and ● According to reports, the deal size is pegged at about $30 million. development in India,” Zip- Dial Valerie Wagoner, Founder and CEO, ZipDial said. On the acquisition, she added, “Indian users behave differently from those in the U.S. For example, an Indian user uses 60 MB of mobile data on an average, which is 4.5 per cent of the data which a U.S. user using monthly... Our platform will help Twitter engage users offline and help bridge the gap between online and offline world.” After India, Mr. Jaitly said the platform would be applied to other emerging economies such as Indonesia and Brazil. Total workforce at the five estates is estimated at 4,211, and the government is believed to have put in a condition on employment-protection by the new owner. The tea estates are located on 1,069 hectares, of which 679 hectares are in Darjeeling. The government had invited bids in two packages, one for Darjeeling and another for Dooars in the Himalayan foothills last year. The government had announced its intent to sell these two gardens two years ago. Sources said that absence of critical inputs, on the one hand, and lack of marketing skills (especially in overseas markets), on the other, had spelt doom for these stateowned gardens, which were languishing for nearly a decade. “Although they produce quality teas even now, their productivity has dwindled to around seven lakh tonnes now from nine lakh tonnes in 2006,” a source said. Staff Reporter Sensex vaults 523 points on hopes of fresh reform measures Special Correspondent Mahindra, Peugeot complete deal Special Correspondent CHENNAI: Mahindra Two Wheelers Ltd (MTWL) and Peugeot Motocycles (PMTC), part of the France-based Euro 54 billion PSA Group, on Tuesday, announced that they had completed the necessary formalities for former’s acquisition of major stake in latter. MTWL has infused euro 15 million into PMTC to finance projects implemented through the strategic partnership and has also bought shares held by PSA which would allow MTWL to take a 51 per cent stake in PMTC. Now, new Board has been constituted for PMTC. “This partnership would enable both MTWL and Capgemini to increase headcount in India Aruna Jayanthi BENGALURU: French IT service company Capgemini is planning to strengthen its presence in India by adding another 20,000 people in two years. The company, which employs more than 50,000 people, is planning to take the total employee strength to 70,000 by the end of 2016. “India is the largest centre for us, and with the way we are growing here, our ambition is to take the total team strength to around 70,000 in 2016. With the kind of growth and expansion in the country, we believe we will be able to achieve it,” said Capgemini India Chief Executive Officer Aruna Jayanthi. With a presence in nine locations across India, Bengaluru is the company’s largest centre in India. The company employs around 18,000 people across its four centres in the city. “The expansion of teams doesn’t mean it will happen in MUMBAI: The benchmark stock indices surged to record highs on Tuesday as the market participants expect that many more reform measureswould be unveiled by the Narendra Modi Government in the forthcoming Union Budget. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 30-share Sensitive Index (Sensex) moved up by 522.66 points or 1.85 per cent to close at 28784.67 points. It touched a high of 28829.29 intra-day. Among the broader indices, BSE-100 gained 1.42 per cent, BSE-200 was up by 1.29 per cent and BSE-500 surged 1.22 per cent. The mid-cap stocks were up by 0.44 per cent and small-cap ones gained 0.41 per cent. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), a broader 50- share closed at 8695.60 with a gain of 144.90 points or 1.69 per cent. “While some analysts expected that the RBI’s surprise 25 basis points cut in policy rate last week was factored in completely, with some even theorising that a correction might be in place — the markets clearly felt otherwise,” said Raghu Kumar, Co-Founder, RKSV, a leading broking firm. Although all sectors — including banking, metals, oil & gas, FMCG, and Realty — registered gains by more than one per cent, metal stocks led the way with a gain of 3.03 per cent. According to Mr. Kumar, the BSE Metal Index, which makes up 10 of the biggest heavyweights within the sector, went up more than three per cent. “Metal stocks rallied with the news that China’s GDP came in better than expected. China, being India's largest metals consumer, posted a 7.3 per cent GDP growth, beating analyst expectations.” “The repo rate cut, combined with an infusion of consumer and investor optimism, will make ways for the government to execute many of its intended reforms EU lifts ban on Indian mangoes Parvathi Menon LONDON: The seven-month ban on Indian mangoes, imposed last year by the European Union, has been lifted well in advance of the deadline set for the ban, which was originally till December 2015. This came after an audit by the EU last September showed “significant improvements in the phytosanitary export certification system,” says an EC release. Shipments of mangoes from India, including the premium Alphonso mangoes, had been stopped last year after inspections found some consignments infested with fruit flies. The proposal by the European Commission to lift the ban on mango imports received the endorsement of experts at a Member State meeting, the EU said. However, the ban has been lifted only on mangoes. Ban on taro, bitter gourd, snake gourd and eggplant remains in force. The mango import season begins in April and lasts till June. Following the ban last year, British-Indian members of Parliament led by Keith Vaz campaigned hard to get it lifted. “The EU ban was due to remain until December 2015 but today’s [Tuesday’s] vote shows that the hard work of the Indian authorities has paid off,” Britain’s Environment Minister Lord de Mauley said in a statement. Small traders and importers of the fruit in the United Kingdom were hit last year. Welcoming the decision, Seema Malhotra, Labour MP, said, “We are delighted that the government and the EU have listened to us at last. Now everyone in Britain can enjoy delicious Indian mangoes once again.” Yuthika Bhargava reports from New Delhi: The EU accounts for more than 50 per cent of total exports of fruits and vegetables from India. PMTC to speed up their international expansion by driving synergies and leveraging respective strengths. It is our intention to work closely to enable a win-win for both partners,” said Dr Pawan Goenka, Executive Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd in a statement. Peugeot Scooters, one of the oldest two wheeler brands in the world, offers a comprehensive range of scooters and mopeds, from 50cc to 400cc. The acquisition is expected to establish Mahindras as a serious player in two wheelers. It intends to sell Mahindra brand of two wheelers to mass segment buyers, while Peugeot brand would cater to premium segment. Bengaluru alone. It will be across all our nine locations,’’ she added. When asked about the attrition rate of the company, she said, “In the last eight months, the attrition number has spiked across the board. We want to bring our attrition numbers down. Our numbers is less than 20 per cent.” As part of the expansion plans, the company opened a new centre, spread across 4.60 lakh sq. ft., in Whitefield near here. The new centre will offer services such as application development and management, BPO and consulting services to customers based in the U.S. and Europe. Capgemini said it would add 5,000 more people in its new facility. in the upcoming budget,” said Mr. Kumar. PTI reports Asian markets ended higher after China reported its economy had not slowed as far as many had feared. Key indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan finished higher by 0.80-2.07 per cent. “The IMF’s optimistic forecast on India’s expected growth rate till 2016 was another shot in the arm, as was the prediction that India’s growth rate may exceed China’s after a long time,” said Jayant Manglik, President, Retail Distribution, Religare Securities. Rupee gains further MUMBAI: The rupee on Tuesday gained further by two paise against the dollar at 61.69 with banks and exporters selling the U.S. currency amid sustained capital inflows The rupee resumed lower at 61.82 a dollar as against Monday’s closing level of 61.71 at the inter-bank foreign exchange (Forex) market on initial dollar demand. The Indian currency however staged a comebackand finally ended the day’s trade at 61.69, showing a marginal gain of two paise from its previous close. The U.K. is the main destination, followed by the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Reacting to the decision, M. Rafeeque Ahmed, president of exporters body FIEO, complimented the Commerce Ministry for resolving the issue in record time. “The imposition of ban on mangoes did affect India’s exports of fresh fruits which declined from $ 307.38 million in April-November 2013 to $ 291.43 million in April-November 2014. Mango exports to EU suffered a major dent and went down from $ 8.9 million in 2013-14 to $ 1.07 million in 2014-15 [April-September period],” he said. SIB Q3 profit at Rs. 88 crore Special Correspondent South Indian Bank 40 35 30 25 20 15 Rs.29.30 Jan 20, 14 Jan 20, 15 KOCHI: South Indian Bank declared a net profit of Rs. 87.93 crore for the three months ended on December 31, 2014, against Rs. 141.31 crore in the same period in the previous year. The profit for the nine months ended December 31, 2014, was Rs. 290.88 crore against Rs. 382.90 crore in the year-ago period. Total income grew in the quarter by 9.92 per cent to touch Rs. 1,467.13 crore against Rs.1,334.74 crore for the same period in 2013-14. Total income grew by 8.90 per cent for the nine months ended December 31, 2014 at Rs. 4,338.92 crore against Rs. 3,984.35 crore in the same period last year. Gross NPA stood at 1.80 per cent of gross advances and net NPA stood at 1.04 per cent of net advances. The capital adequacy ratio under Basel 3 guidelines stays at 11.38 per cent. Total business Total business of the bank rose to Rs. 85,457 crore as on December 31, 2014, registering growth of 9.04 per cent over the business last year. Deposits grew by 8.54 per cent year-on-year basis to touch Rs.48,459 crore, while current and savings account grew by 10.33 per cent to touch Rs. 10,424 crore. Total advances registered increase of 9.71 per cent to touch Rs. 36,998 crore against Rs.33,724 crore last year, the release said. ND-ND
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