Tuesday 17 October 2017

Madrid HC: NBW to Jordi Sanchez,Jordi Cuixart,

Spanish court in its  ordered the detention of two key members of the Catalan independence movement as the rift between central government and separatist campaigners widens.
Leaders of two key Catalan separatist groups allegedly obstructed police investigations into this month’s referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain.
The referendum took place in the northeastern region on October 1st despite a suspension order from Spain’s Constitutional Court. Catalan authorities say voters overwhelmingly supported secession.
Madrid’s High Court ordered on Monday the detention without bail of Jordi Sanchez, head of the Catalan National Assembly, and Omnium leader Jordi Cuixart, while under investigation for alleged sedition.
Spanish authorities are investigating the roles of the 2 men in organizing pro-independence protests in Barcelona last month. Reuters says police officers investigating the referendum were trapped inside a Catalan regional government building during the protest.
Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont expressed his opposition to the detentions, tweeting that Spain jails Catalonia’s civil society leaders for organizing peaceful demonstrations.
Last week, Puigdemont delayed a formal declaration of independence and sought talks with Spain. The Spanish government ruled out such talks and gave Puigdemont until Thursday to back down.

Two car bombs in SW Afghanistan

A suicide and gun attack on a police training centre in southeast Afghanistan on Tuesday has killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 40, a hospital official said.
The victims include “women, students and police”, Hedayatullah Hamidi, public health director in Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, told AFP.
The Taliban claimed responsibility in a tweet for the attack at the centre in Gardiz, capital of Paktia province, which borders Pakistan.
“At first a suicide bomber detonated a car filled with explosives near the training centre, making way for a number of attackers to start their assault”, the interior ministry said in a statement.
A battle between the attackers, armed with guns and suicide vests, and security forces was under way inside the centre which is located near the Paktia police headquarters, according to the interior ministry statement.
A local official said two car bombs blew up near the compound that also houses the provincial headquarters of the national police, border police and Afghan National Army.
“A group of gunmen have entered the compound and fighting is ongoing,” Allah Mir Bahram, a member of the Paktia provincial council, told media

Ophelia, the largest hurricane hit Ireland to hit UK next

Britain’s Met Office issued amber severe weather warnings for Northern Ireland, Wales, and southern Scotland, saying power cuts, transport disruption, flying debris and large waves were likely.
“This leads to the potential for injuries and danger to life,” the national weather service said.
The fringes of the storm turned the hitherto sunny afternoon skies over London a murky shade of brown-orange, due to the southerly warm winds bringing dust from the Sahara Desert.
Ireland was hit by an “unprecedented storm” on Monday that left three people dead, more than 300,000 customers without power and shut down schools and government offices.
A police spokesman said one woman in her 50s was killed outside the village of Aglish, near the south coast, by a tree falling on her car. A female passenger in her 70s suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
One man died in an accident while he was clearing a fallen tree with a chainsaw near the town of Cahir, about 35 kilometres further inland.
And a second man was killed on the roads by a falling tree north of Dundalk in the northeast, close to the border with Northern Ireland, police said in a statement.
Ophelia, the largest hurricane ever recorded so far east in the Atlantic Ocean and the furthest north since 1939, was downgraded to a storm before it hit the Irish coast but nonetheless wrought havoc.
“It will bring further violent and destructive winds for a time,” Met Eireann, the Irish National Meteorological Service, said.
Flooding was also expected “due to either heavy thundery downpours or storm surges in coastal areas,” the service said after issuing a red alert for the whole country.
Winds reached 191 kilometres per hour at Fastnet Rock, Ireland’s southernmost point, while the strongest winds recorded onshore were 156 kph at the entrance to Cork Harbour in the southwest.
Seventeen millimetres of rain fell at Valentia on the southwest coast, including nine millimetres in one hour.
The Electricity Supply Board said 360,000 customers were without power, due to more than 3,200 individual faults on the network.
“All customers impacted by outages should prepare to be without electricity for a number of days,” it said. “Five to 10 percent of this number will be without power for up to 10 days.”
Dublin Airport scrapped 180 flights while Cork Airport cancelled most flights in what it said was the worst storm seen in its 56-year history. Meanwhile several services to and from Shannon, the third-biggest airport, were also grounded.
“Stay indoors wherever you are until the storm has passed,” Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told reporters.
“I don’t want anyone to think that this is anything other than a national emergency and a red alert.”
The Department of Education closed all schools, colleges and other educational institutions on Monday due to the “unprecedented storm”, with minister Richard Burton saying schools would remain closed on Tuesday.
Government offices were also shut. Ireland’s top football team Cork City were hit when their stadium roof collapsed, the day before they hoped to seal the league title at their Turners Cross ground.
The eye of the storm is forecast to track across Northern Ireland and then Scotland.Though it will weaken as it goes, gusts are expected to reach 80 mph in the UK.

U.S. and DPRK no nuclear war

North Korea’s deputy UN ambassador has warned the UN General Assembly that the crisis on the Korean Peninsula “has reached the touch-and-go point and a nuclear war may break out any moment.”
Kim In-ryong said North Korea is the only country in the world subjected to “such an extreme and direct nuclear threat” by the US, AP reports.
He accused Washington of hatching a “secret operation aimed at the removal of our supreme leadership” and defended his country’s nuclear arsenal, at the heart of the crisis, as being for self-defense.
Speaking to the UN General Assembly’s disarmament committee, he insisted that nukes are Pyongyang’s “precious strategic asset that cannot be reversed or bartered for anything,” a line that other North Korean officials have voiced almost word-for-word before.
North Korea has been enhanced both its technical capabilities and its anti-American rhetoric and is not going to have any iota of negotiations with US.
KNCA website, The Trump administration of the U.S. is reported to mull introducing smaller tactical nuclear weapons in a bid to destroy the nuclear facilities of the DPRK.
What matters is that such scheme is under consideration when the U.S. is going to stage a high-intensity joint drill in the East Sea of Korea with mobilization of a strike group involving nuclear carrier Ronald Reagan, Aegis destroyer, missile cruiser and Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarine carrying nuclear missiles.
This sheds light on the sinister scenario to provoke a nuclear war by all means so as to totally destroy the DPRK and exterminate the population of the north.
Now, the Korean Peninsula is on the threshold of a nuclear disaster and no one knows at what time a thermonuclear war will break out.
The Trump group should think twice about what terrible consequences the U.S. will face due to its scheme for a nuclear attack on the DPRK.
The status of force between the DPRK and U.S. at present is fundamentally different from what was in the past Korean War in the 1950s.
The U.S. reckless military gambling against the DPRK may lead to its total destruction.As the U.S. denies even the existence of the DPRK and tries to topple it by force, the latter’s counteractions will be inevitable.
The DPRK is ready to counter the war of aggression with a war of justice and cope with the enemy’s dagger with a sword and his rifle with an artillery piece. It is the invariable stand of the Korean army and people and their permanent mode of counteraction.
Despite intensifying gestures and remarks between the US, North Korea and the countries’ leaders, US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday, “We eventually don’t rule out the possibility of direct talks,” media reported. Sullivan had just wrapped up a meeting in Tokyo with Japanese Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Shinsuke Sugiyama.
US diplomat will travel next to Seoul where he will also visit the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
US President Donald Trump’s first trip to South Korea is scheduled for next month, when he will meet with President Moon Jae-in. Diplomatic channels an imperative to get  the countries to resorts to deliberations, talks, to avoid any nuke blasts exchange in any manner.

Putin to meet Frank Walter Steinmeier

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov invited the President of Germany’sSteinmeier to visit Russia, while addressing at the opening of the 14th Conference of the partner cities of Russia and Germany. Minister said, that Russia will invariably build relations with Germany on the basis of mutual interests and equality. As per Lavrov, history shows that a departure from these principles seriously damages “both our countries and the progressive development of the European continent as a whole.”
He further added, Lavrov added that Moscow is open to cooperation with international partners to strengthen European security.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov invited FRG President Frank Walter Steinmeier to visit Russia, RIA Novosti reported .
He said this, speaking at the opening of the 14th Conference of the partner cities of Russia and Germany.
“We will be happy to welcome the President of the FRG, Mr. Frank Walter Steinmeier, to Russia. He has an appropriate invitation, “Lavrov said.
On October 25, Vladimir Putin will meet with Federal President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who will be in Moscow on a working visit at the invitation of the Russian President.

US:Venezuelan elections,neither free nor fair


Nicolas Maduro’s government has won a majority of governorship in Venezuela’s regional election on Sunday. Electoral board president Tibisay Lucena said the ruling Socialist Party took 17 governorship, versus five for the opposition Democratic Unity coalition.
But the Washington refuses to recognize the outcome of Venezuela’s gubernatorial elections, accusing the of President Nicolas Maduro of acting like an “authoritarian dictatorship.”
“We condemn the lack of free and fair elections yesterday in Venezuela. The voice of the Venezuelan people was not heard,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Monday, adding that the US will “bring the full weight of American economic and diplomatic power to bear in support of the Venezuelan people as they seek to restore their democracy.”
Though the opposition expected to win the Sunday vote, the government swept 17 out of 23 state governorships.

THE WORLD FOOD INDIA 2017

No Participation Fee however pre-registration is must
TO PARTICIPATE AT THE WORLD FOOD INDIA 2017
A gateway to the Indian food economy and an opportunity to showcase, connect, and collaborate

Dear Sir / Madam,

INVITATION TO ATTEND BUSINESS CONFERENCES
AT
WORLD FOOD INDIA
3-5 November 2017 : New Delhi

We are pleased to inform you that Ministry of Food Processing and Industries, Government of India jointly with Confederation of Indian (CII) is organizing ‘World Food India’ from 3-5 November 2017 at New Delhi.

Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India has kindly consented to be the Chief Guest and Inaugurate the World Food India on 3rd November.

World Food India is an International Event comprising series of Sectoral Conferences along with Exhibition and vibrant Food Street. The Exhibition will have a large component of Digital and Multimedia display where Food Street would be showcasing the Indian Cuisines and Ingredients amenable for processing and exports. It will also provide a platform to Foreign Cuisines to be tasted on the Indian palate before they could be manufactured in India.

Key Highlights of World Food India:

40,000
sq. mt. Exhibition Space
3Days Event9Sectoral Conferences2000+Participants400+Exhibitors20+Countries Participating26Indian States Participating50+Global CEOs Participants

We are writing to cordially invite you and your colleagues to attend the Business Conferences at the World Food India from 3-5 November 2017 as per your interest.

May we kindly request you to Register to attend the Business Conferences by using the link https://www.worldfoodindia.in/conference#regconferences

All Business Conferences of World Food India are being organised at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi while the Exhibition will be held at C-Hexagon, India Gate, New Delhi.

For any query related to Business Conferences at the World Food India, your office may contact Ms Anjali Chauhan at anjali.chauhan@cii.in

Below for your reference is also an e-flyer giving details about Business Conferences at World Food India. For more details about World Food India, please visit www.worldfoodindia.in

We look forward to receiving your confirmation.

Regards,

Conference Team – World Food India
New Delhi
T: +91-11-49816411 / 49816423 / 49816418 / 49816414 / 49816421

CSE, WRI LATE, Incompetent Response – DMRC Fare Increase

CSE, WRI LATE, Incompetent Response – DMRC Fare Increase
October16, 2017 (C) Ravinder Singh progressindia2015@gmail.com
CSE & WRI NGOs are pack of Extreme Dullards – it was horrendous of them to report average DMRC Commute is 15.7 km when 99% of times I don’t go beyond 10 km.

NGOs led by Incompetent Sunita Narayan made MEGA Blunders in this DELAYED & CORRUPTED study i.e. 51% Cycle Rickshaws at Metros. I had last week reported –

[For same population & income levels Delhi Has FOUR TIMES More Vehicles than Mumbai, Burn 4 Times More Imported PETROLEUM Emitting 4 Times More GHG.

Public Transport for Local Area up to 8 km should be Cheaper to Attract Local Population – DMRC Fare Rs.30 for 5-12 km is Lunatic. For 1-5 km Running Cost of 2-Wheeler is Rs.10, small Cars Rs.20 for DMRC Slab.]

1.   Average Commute by Delhi resident ought to be the BASE of the study. Average
commute could be just 1-5 kilometer. [Schools, Shops & Grocery Stores, Public Offices, Food Outlets, Clubs-Playground, Theaters etc]

2.   SUSTRANS reported India spend Rs.960 Cr MORE/Day [Rs.3,50,000 Cr Per
Year] on Fuels Due to Bad Roads & Slow Traffic. But didn’t report 1,50,000 Deaths, 0.5m Major Accidents, 9-10m Minor accidents, GDP loss of 8%, Life Lost in Commuting, and Delhi Automobiles Contaminating air.

3.   It reported SUV Fuel consumption on Expressway is 40gm/km, Congested
Expressway 95gm/km, Highway 137gm/km.

4.   SUSTRANS didn’t report Roadway Buses consume just 4 gm/P/Km. DTC
Marcopolo Buses – 10gm of CNG per km in city conditions.

5.    Delhi need well designed Electric Vehicles like in THAILAND which are open
from Three Sides carry 6-10 Passengers for sub 2 km commute.

6.   DMRC Parking should be used for Parking-Charging of Electric Vehicles.

7.   DMRC PARTIALLY serve DELHI POPULATION – Fare for 0-2 km commute is
Rs.10 when Mumbai Suburban fare Rs.5 for 60 km for monthly pass.

8.   PUBLIC SERVICES ARE POPULAR WHEN STARTING SLAB IS SUBSIDISED
BASED ON AFFORDABILITY – like Mumbai Locals, Electricity, Water, PDS FOODS, TAXES etc. A Person Traveling from Rajiv Chowk to HUDA Center could pay Rs.50 than Rs.30, but DMRC charging Rs.20 for 4 km is LUNATIC.

9.   SUSTRANS didn’t recommend – Shift in Commute Profile – Admitting
Children to Local Schools, Evenly Distribute Call Centers, Wholesale Markets through NCR, Abolish Rent Laws for Quick relocation.
Ravinder Singh, Inventor & Consultant, INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND PROJECTS
Y-77, Hauz Khas, ND -110016, India. Ph: 091- 8826415770 [4G]9871056471, 9718280435,
Ravinder Singh* is a WIPO awarded inventor specializing in Power, Transportation,
Smart Cities, Water, Energy Saving, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Technologies and Projects

The Milk Crises in India: The Story Behind the Numbers 

This past two years has witnessed farmers across India demonstrating for their livelihoods: a hike in milk procurement prices has featured as a key demand. Their demand reflects  a grave crisis underway in the Indian milk market , which is threatening to undermine the multifunctional role of livestock and the way of life of entire communities. 

Small and marginal farmers, the backbone of the Indian milk market, have been hardest hit by a price war waged by dairy processors (companies), beginning January 2015. Faced with mounting stocks of unexportable milk powder, brought on by a slump in global milk powder prices, some of the big domestic dairy players began to flood the domestic market with cheaply priced milk for  consumers. At the same time they were lowering the prices at which they were procuring milk from  farmers. This was severely affecting small farmers and has also impacted the peoples’ milk market, commonly referred to as the “informal” or “unorganised” milk market. 

Building on research in the Indian States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the Food Sovereignty Alliance (FSA) shows how this crisis extends well beyond the small farmers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh State in South India. It affects  small farmers nationally as well as globally. This book tells the story of how global trends including the onging threats of multilateral trade agreements such as the EU-India Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Pact (RCEP)are driving countless small dairy farmers into debt and ultimately out of farming. It calls for a solution, based on nurturing the resilience of the small, localised networks of milk producers, cooperatives and consumers. 

The authors provide clear evidence that the only hope for the future lies in localised peoples’ milk markets based on agro-ecological livestock cultures: cultures where livestock are reared, not as machines to produce single commodities, but as sentient beings playing a multifaceted role in food farming production systems.

This report authored by the Dairy Working Group of the Food Sovereignty Alliance, will be of interest to farmers’ movements, Dairy Cooperatives, Students, Researchers, Policy framers and anybody who is interested in understanding what it takes to bring them their daily glass of milk! 

The Dairy Working Group, Food Sovereignty Alliance, India
Adinarayana N, Apparao.S, Charanya R, Murugamma V, Dr. Radha Gopalan, Dr. Sagari R Ramdas, Srikrupa R, and Yadgiri G. 

RBI issues directions

RBI issues directions related to risk management and inter-bank dealings – Facilities for hedging trade exposures invoiced in Indian Rupees
Attention of Authorized Dealers Category – I (AD Category – I) banks has been invited to the Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Exchange Derivative Contracts) Regulations, 2000 dated May 3, 2000 (Notification No. FEMA. 25/RB-2000 dated May 3, 2000) and Master Directions on Risk Management and Inter-Bank Dealings dated July 5, 2016 as amended from time to time.
In terms of para 6 under Section II (Facilities for Persons Residents outside India) of the aforementioned master direction, non-residents are permitted to hedge the currency risk arising out of INR invoiced exports from and imports to India with AD Category I banks in India. On a review of this facility, it has been decided to permit the central treasury (of the group and being a group entity) of such non-residents to undertake hedges for and behalf of such non-residents with AD Category I banks in India as per the existing Model I and Model II.
Facilities for Hedging Trade Exposures, invoiced in Indian Rupees in India
Purpose: To hedge the currency risk arising out of genuine trade transactions involving exports from and imports to India, invoiced in Indian Rupees, with AD Category I banks in India.
Products: Forward foreign exchange contracts with rupee as one of the currencies, foreign currency-INR options.
Operational Guidelines, Terms and Conditions: The AD Category I banks can opt for either Model I or Model II as given below:
Model I : Non-resident exporter / importer or its central treasury (of the group and being a group entity) dealing through their overseas bank (including overseas branches of AD banks in India)
i. Non-resident exporter / importer, or its central treasury approaches his banker overseas with appropriate documents with a request for hedging their Rupee exposure arising out of a confirmed import or export order invoiced in Rupees.
ii. The overseas bank in turn approaches its correspondent in India (i.e. the AD bank in India) for a price to hedge the exposure of its customer along with documentation furnished by the customer that will enable the AD bank in India to satisfy itself that there is an underlying trade transaction (scanned copies would be acceptable). The following undertakings also need to be taken from the customer:
· That the same underlying exposure has not been hedged with any other AD Category I bank/s in India
· If the underlying exposure is cancelled, the customer will cancel the hedge contract immediately
· In case of a central treasury, an authorization from the entity having INR exposure to hedge on its behalf
iii. A certification on the end client KYC may also be taken as a one-time document from the overseas bank by the AD bank in India.
iv. The AD bank in India based on documents received from the overseas correspondent should satisfy itself about the existence of the underlying trade transaction and offer a forward price (no two-way quotes should be given) to the overseas bank who, in turn, will offer the same to its customer. The AD bank, therefore, will ‘not be’ dealing directly with the overseas importer / exporter.
v. The amount and tenor of the hedge should not exceed that of the underlying transaction and should be in consonance with the extant regulations regarding tenor of payment / realization of the proceeds.
vi. On due date, settlement is to be done through the correspondent bank’s Vostro or the AD bank’s Nostro accounts.
vii. The contracts, once cancelled, cannot be rebooked.
viii. The contracts may, however, be rolled over on or before maturity subject to maturity of the underlying exposure.
ix. On cancellation of the contracts, gains may be passed on to the customer subject to the customer providing a declaration that he is not going to rebook the contract or that the contract has been cancelled on account of cancellation of the underlying exposure.
x. In case the underlying trade transaction is extended, rollover can be permitted once based on the extension of the underlying trade transaction for which suitable documentation is to be provided by the overseas bank and the same procedure followed as in case of the original contract.
Model II : Non-resident exporter / importer or its central treasury (of the group and being a group entity) dealing directly with the AD bank in India.
i. The overseas exporter / importer or its central treasury approaches the AD bank in India with a request for forward cover in respect of underlying transaction for which he furnishes appropriate documentation (scanned copies would be acceptable), on a pre-deal basis to enable the AD bank in India to satisfy itself that there is an underlying trade transaction, and details of his overseas banker, address etc. The following undertakings also need to be taken from the customer
· That the same underlying exposure has not been hedged with any other AD Category I bank/s in India.
· If the underlying exposure is cancelled, the customer will cancel the hedge contract immediately.
· In case of a central treasury, an authorization from the entity having INR exposure to hedge on its behalf
ii. The AD bank may obtain certification of KYC/AML in the format in Annex XVIII. The format can be obtained through the overseas correspondent / bank through SWIFT authenticated message. In case the AD bank has a presence outside India, the AD may take care of the KYC/AML through its bank’s offshore branch.
iii. AD banks should evolve appropriate arrangements to mitigate credit risk. Credit limits can be granted based on the credit analysis done by self / the overseas branch.
iv. The amount and tenor of the hedge should not exceed that of the underlying transaction and should be in consonance with the extant regulations regarding tenor of payment / realization of the proceeds.
v. On due date, settlement is to be done through the correspondent bank’s Vostro or the AD bank’s Nostro accounts. AD banks in India may release funds to the beneficiaries only after sighting funds in Nostro / Vostro accounts.
vi. The contracts, once cancelled, cannot be rebooked.
vii. The contracts may, however, be rolled over on or before maturity subject to maturity of the underlying exposure.
viii. On cancellation of the contracts, gains may be passed on to the customer subject to the customer providing a declaration that he is not going to rebook the contract or that the contract has been cancelled on account of cancellation of the underlying exposure.
ix. In case the underlying trade transaction is extended, rollover can be permitted once based on the extension of the underlying trade transaction for which suitable documentation is to be provided by the overseas bank and the same procedure followed as in case of the original contract.
x. AD banks shall report hedge contracts booked under this facility to CCIL’s trade repository with a special identification tag.

SAIL supplied special grade steel for INS Kiltan

Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh has congratulated SAIL
New Delhi, 16th October, 2017
Partnering nation’s ‘Make in India’ drive, Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) has supplied defence grade DMR 249A steel plates for the indigenous built Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) stealth corvette INS – Kiltan which was commissioned today into Indian Navy. It is the third of the four indigenous built AWS stealth corvettes under project 28 (Kamorta class) to join Indian Navy after sister ships INS Kamorta and INS Kadmatt.
SAIL’s integrated functioning across all its Plants has again successfully supplied the required quantity of steel for this significant project. Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh has congratulated SAIL for this feat.
DMR 249A is a low carbon micro-alloyed grade of steel with stringent toughness requirement at sub-zero temperature. SAIL developed this warship grade steel Plates for Indian Navy in collaboration with Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad.
SAIL has been supplying steel for Defence sector for a long time and its steel has been used in various other prestigious ship building projects. So far SAIL has supplied more than 50000 Metric Tonnes of DMR 249A defence grade steel for Naval Ships against various requirements.

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