UK, EU leaders set to clash over financial regulation

BRUSSELS : The extent to which British regulators can write their own banking rules remains a stumbling block ahead of a summit of European Union leaders on Thursday that will try to thrash out a deal to keep Britain in the bloc.
The latest draft seen by Reuters of Britain's "new settlement" with the EU shows disagreement over the conditions for granting leeway to national regulators whose currencies are outside the euro zone.
Where negotiators had hoped to settle issues of economic governance before the summit, the final draft leaves a key section on financial regulation in square brackets, indicating it will be thrashed out at the top political level.
Britain plans to hold a referendum, probably in June, on whether to stay a member of the EU and the draft, which maps out a new deal with the EU, is aimed at persuading Britons to stay in the 28-country bloc.

The draft says regulators outside the euro zone, such as the Bank of England in London, are responsible for supervision of their own banks and markets when it comes to preserving financial stability.
But this is subject to two conditions which lawmakers in Britain have said negates the freedom being offered.

The latest draft still says that a regulator such as the BoE must take into account the "requirements of group supervision" - a reference to the European Central Bank, which is the group supervisor for the euro zone's top lenders which have operations in London.
Secondly, "this is without prejudice to the development of the single rulebook" and to "the existing powers of the Union institutions and relevant Union bodies to take action that is necessary to respond to threats to financial stability," the draft text says.

The ECB would be included in a list of relevant union bodies, adding to concerns over the scope for the BoE to regulate its own markets.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Keith Weir)

India launches website of Maritime India Summit 2016

Shri Nitin Gadkari,  Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways launched the Website for Maritime India Summit 2016 www.maritimeinvest.in at the Ports and Shipping seminar at Make in India (MII) Summit today. The Maritime India Summit is scheduled to be  held in Mumbai in April this year.  The user friendly website launched today will facilitate investors and participants to access detailed information about the summit, including registrations. Launching the website Shri Gadkari said, “A strong maritime sector will create economic growth and jobs.  Realizing this potential is duty towards the nation. I am committed to bring the sector into focus; to achieve our goal of port led economic development”

Maritime India Summit 2016 (MIS 2016), is the maiden global summit being organised by the Ministry of Shipping in April,  to unleash the potential of Indian Maritime Sector. The summit will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 14 April 2016 at the Bombay Convention and Exhibition Centre in Mumbai. MIS 2016 will comprise of an Investors’ Summit on 14–15 April 2016 , along with exhibition and demo sessions spread over three days. The Republic of Korea is the partner country for the MIS 2016 and will be represented by a high level ministerial and business delegation. More than 50 other maritime nations have also been invited to attend the Summit

 

 As a precursor to the MIS 2016 roadshows have been organised in Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. The next roadshow is scheduled in Ahmedabad on 23 February 2016. The Ministry of Shipping showcased the potential of growth in the maritime sector at Make in India Week. The launch of the website at MII Summit witnessed an enthusiastic participation by policy-makers, industry experts, corporate captains and Ministry of Shipping officials. Shri Gadkari has urged the potential participants/exhibitors to register themselves online and avail the early bird discount till 10^th of March 2016.

 

About Maritime India Summit 2016:

 

 This flagship  initiative of the Shipping Ministry  aims to provide a unique platform for participants to explore potential business opportunities. It  will showcase exciting investment opportunities in the maritime sector including Shipbuilding, Ship Repair and Ship Recycling, Port Modernization and New Port Development, Port-based Industrial Development, Port-based Smart Cities and Maritime Cluster Development, Hinterland Connectivity Projects and Multi-Modal Logistics Hubs, Inland Waterways and Coastal Shipping for Cargo and Passenger movement, Dredging, Lighthouse Tourism and Cruise Shipping and Renewable Energy Projects in Ports. An exhibition along with exclusive demo sessions will showcase the latest technology, products and services as well as help disseminate knowledge about the latest development in Maritime Sector. It will provide a platform to interact closely with leading global Maritime oganisations to explore business opportunities and create awareness amongst stakeholders about the emerging trends and opportunities in Maritime Sector.

Agreement in the area of Traditional Medicine between Ministry of AYUSH and the World Health Organization

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to the Agreement for collaborative activities to be signed in the area of Traditional Medicine between Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India and the World Health Organization, Geneva.

The long-term collaboration with WHO would help in improving International acceptability and branding of Ayush systems, facilitate awareness generation regarding AYUSH systems of Medicine by means of education, skill development, workshops, publications and exchange programs between AYUSH and WHO for capacity building, facilitate advocacy and dissemination of information on AYUSH systems amongst the Member States; collaboration with third Parties for creating synergies in implementation of WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014-2023 particularly in the context of AYUSH systems.

The expenditure for carrying out collaborative activities will be met from the allocated budget under the existing plan schemes of Ministry of AYUSH.

The activities will start subsequent to the signing of agreements by the two parties as per terms of reference mutually decided. As a first step in the long-term collaboration, India would assign to WHO activities for development of the following WHO technical documents/publications which will help in better international acceptability of Indian Systems:

i. Benchmarks for training in Yoga;

ii. Benchmarks for practice in Ayurveda;

iii. Benchmarks for practice in Unani Medicine; and

iv. Benchmarks for practice in Panchakarma

Under the long-term collaboration, AYUSH and WHO would subsequently take up other mutually agreed activities and initiatives that could encompass multilateral collaboration for promotion of Traditional and Complementary Medicine/Systems (T&CM) including development of the WHO publication on the Basic terminologies for T&CM; establishment of a database for global T & CM practitioners; establishment of a network of international regulatory cooperation for T&CM practice.

The agreement between WHO and AYUSH is expected to benefit the practitioners of AYUSH systems.

Background

Ministry of AYUSH having the mandate to promote, propagate and globalize the recognized Traditional and Complementary Systems of Medicine (T&CM) including Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homeopathy, proposes to collaborate and cooperate with the World Health Organization. Within the United Nations framework, World Health Organization is the directing and coordinating authority for health. It provides leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.

During the presentation of Ministry of AYUSH before the Hon’ble PM on 3rd July 2014, Hon’ble PM desired that the Ministry needs to seize the opportunities for taking a lead in the world at a time when holistic health care has gained currency. India should strive to compete with China, when it comes to export of herbal medicine. It was emphasized that roadmap be prepared to establish India’s credentials in holistic health-care, including preparation of authoritative and credible literature.

Given the strategic importance of collaboration between India and WHO for enhancing global positioning and acceptability of Traditional Systems of Medicine recognized in India (including Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Yoga & Naturopathy, Sowa-Rigpa and Homeopathy), Ministry of AYUSH and WHO should foster a long-term relationship.

India's target to import GMO-free corn

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE | By Mayank Bhardwaj and Naveen Thukral : As India prepares to import corn for the first time in 16 years, at least one stipulation in its international tender has become much tougher to meet - that shipments of the crop are completely free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
The Asian country of 1.2 billion people does not allow cultivation of any genetically modified food, and has rules that are supposed to ensure that imports contain no trace of GMOs.But an explosion in the use of GM crops worldwide means that purity grade has become harder to attain and, with a growing risk of the supply chain being contaminated, underlines the vulnerabilities faced by countries trying to stay GM free.
Even a shipment containing a handful of genetically altered seeds could cross pollinate with local varieties and mean that in India's case farmers end up illegally growing GM crops.
"They can buy non-GMO corn, especially out of the Black sea region, but I doubt anybody can offer shipments with zero presence of GMOs," James Dunsterville, an agricultural commodities analyst at Geneva-based commodities information platform AgFlow.
South Korea's Daewoo International won the tender to ship 250,000 tonnes of non-GM corn to India from Ukraine, but two international traders in Singapore and an exporter in Kiev said Ukraine could at best guarantee 99.1 percent non-GM corn.
"The biggest risk of accepting anything less than 99, or 100, percent is that the imported GM corn may eventually get mixed with conventional seeds that farmers sow in India," said an Indian government scientist.
"If, God forbid, any GM seed gets mixed here, it'll spoil the entire Indian agriculture," added the scientist, who asked not to be named since he was not authorised to talk to media.
Daewoo declined to comment but two sources close to the company said it would be able to meet the requirements and that it was aware of the conditions in last month's tender issued by Indian state-run firm PEC.


RISKS OF CONTAMINATION
Shrinking arable land, volatile weather and a world population tipped to top 9 billion by 2050 are increasing pressures to plant GM crops to boost yields and protect from pests.
Much of the corn in major producers such as the United States, Brazil and Argentina is GM, helping production hit record levels in recent years and keeping a lid on food prices.
Global corn prices have recovered about 13 percent after hitting a 5-year low in 2014 but are still more than 50 percent below a record price of $8.49 a bushel in 2012.

Indicating the difficulty of keeping GM free, Greenpeace said that Chinese farmers were illegally growing GM corn, despite an official ban on cultivating GM varieties or other staple food crops.
The environmental group said almost all samples taken from cornfields in some parts of the north-east, China's breadbasket, tested positive for GMO. China has not directly commented on the report, though officials have issued warnings to seed dealers and farmers not to use unapproved GM seeds.
Some farm economists have said India should speed up efforts to embrace GM foods after China took a step towards this with its bid for Swiss transgenic seed developer Syngenta.
But public and political opposition in India remains strong amid fears they could compromise food safety and biodiversity. GM advocates say such fears are not scientifically proven.
"India must reject cargoes from suppliers who promise to provide corn that is only 99.1 percent free of GM organisms,” said Devinder Sharma, an independent food and trade policy analyst based in Chandigarh, highlighting a risk of contamination.

However, Sharma said that it had become standard global practice for GM-free buyers to settle for crops that were up to 99 percent GM free.
A source at trader PEC said India's condition that the imports were non-GM was sacrosanct.
PEC received 15 bids from global traders including Daewoo, Noble, Cargill and Agro Corp to supply corn mainly to be used as animal feed for India's poultry industry.
But Singapore-based traders said there could have been more participants in the tender but for the non-GM restriction.
Though Ukraine and growers in Europe, such as France, do produce non-GMO corn, suppliers may not be able to guarantee supplies are completely free of gene-altered grains because of common bulk handling systems, said a trading manager with an international trading company.
"It could be a dirty truck or a dirty conveyor belt. It only takes one seed to get a GMO positive result."

(Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in KIEV; Editing by Ed Davies)

NRDC inks MoA with Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Kolkatta on Technology Transfer

National Research Development Corporation, an Enterprise of Department of Scientific& Industrial Research, Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, New Delhi (NRDC) has entered into Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Kolkatta for commercialisation of technologies/ intellectual properties developed at IACS.  NRDC shall also provide its services in IP Evaluation/Valuation in terms of their commercial potential.

 

Chairman Managing Director of NRDC Dr. H. Purushotham and Director, IACS Professor Santanu Bhattacharya exchanged the Memorandum of Agreement.

 

 

NRDC has been working for more than six decades in development, promotion and commercialisation of technologies emanating from R&D organization and academia. It has so far licensed technologies to more than 4800 enterpreneurs/ companies in the country in almost all sector of industry.

 

The Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) is an autonomous and oldest research institute in India. The institute is devoted to the pursuit of fundamental research in the frontier areas of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Energy, Polymer and Materials. In each field, IACS nurtures young and innovative research fellows in their R&D programs. Professor Santanu Bhattacharya, Director, IACS, Kolkatta hoped that the partnership between IACS and NRDC would lead to successful commercialization of Technologies developed at IACS.

Tremendous Potential in NE States for Development of the Horticulture Sector says Radha Mohan Singh

Consultative Committee of Ministry of Agriculture on Horticulture Development

in India held in Shillong

Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh has said that there exists tremendous potential in NE states for development of the horticulture sector and we need to ensure focused attention for harnessing available potential through scaling up ongoing interventions under various schemes. Addressing the meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Horticulture Development in India held in Shillong today he said the challenge is to complement the sector with food processing, agro logistics, agri-business, input related services and agricultural lending. Referring to the challenges faced by horticulture crops the Minister suggested that grower associations and farmer producer organisations should also be taken on board,from planting material to post harvest management and issues of logistics and price discovery.

The Minister said setting up of market infrastructure has been linked with reforms in APMC act for permitting direct marketing of horticulture produce. Shri Singh said,“ Although we have achieved a substantial breakthrough in production, the challenge lies in converting this into gains for farmer. We still have a long way to go in establishing a robust cold chain system from farm to fork. Creation of infrastructure for post harvest management and value addition therefore are a high priority area with focus on creating cold chain networks”. He said horticulture mechanization is being promoted to bring in efficiency in horticulture production and harvesting operations.

The meeting was also attended by Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Shri MohanbhaiKundariya, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and six Members of Parliament besides the Director of ICAR NEH Region Dr.SV Ngachan.

Earlier the Minister visited the ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region andinaugurated the FATE (Facility for Air Temperature Enhancement) and CTGC (Carbon dioxide Thermal Growth Chamber) at the Complex and also interacted with 250 farmers on the occasion.

Nifty ends 2.6 percent higher, led by banks

The NSE Nifty jumped more than 2.6 percent on Monday, its biggest daily percentage gain in more than a year, encouraged by strong trading in shares of banks and miners after a selloff last week.
The broader Nifty ended at 7,162.95, while the benchmark BSE Sensex gained 2.47 percent to close at 23,554.12.
Among gainers, State Bank of India (SBI.NS) soared 9 percent on value-buying after the stock fell as much last week. India's biggest lender on Friday reported the biggest fall in its quarterly profit in nearly five years as bad loan provisions jumped.

Construction and engineering stocks also surged. Industrial group Larsen & Toubro (LART.NS) jumped 9.1 percent.



(Reporting by Aastha Agnihotri; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)

India's wholesale prices fall for 15th straight month in January

  

A vendor takes notes of a sale at a wholesale fruit market in Bengaluru, India, October 15, 2015.

Reuters/Abhishek N. Chinnappa/Files

NEW DELHI Wholesale prices fell for a 15th straight month in January, declining an annual 0.90 percent, driven down by tumbling oil prices, government data showed on Monday.
The pace of fall, however, was slower than a 0.15 percent annual decline forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. In December, the index fell a provisional 0.73 percent.
The wholesale fuel prices dropped 9.21 percent from a year ago in January, while prices of manufactured goods declined 1.17 percent year on year.

Food prices last month, however, gained 6.02 percent year-on-year, compared with a provisional 8.17 percent gain in December.



(Reporting by Manoj Kumar; Editing by Malini Menon)

SAG :Indian won Gold in Triathlon Mix Relay

In Triathlon Mix Relay, India won Gold in 12th SAG today. Indian team led by Pallavi Retiwala, Dilip Kumar, Sorojini Devi Thoudam and Dhiraj Sawant covered their destination in 1:24:31:00 hrs and won the Gold medal. Nepalese team comprising Yem Kumari Ghale, Himal Tamata, Roza K.C and Rudra Katuwal clinched the Silver medal in 1:31:35:00 hrs. Bronze medal won by Sri Lankan Team led by Gayani Dasanayake, Lakruwan Wijesiri, Dinusha De Silva and Nuwan Kumara in 1:32:05:00.

Indian Team won Gold in 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men shooting also. Chain Singh, Gagan Narang and Surendra Singh Rathod won Gold for India. W.K.Y. Krisantha, S.M.M. Samarkoon and H.D.P. Kumara of Sri Lanka won Silver medal while Golam Saifuddin Siplu, Md. Yusuf Ali and Md. Ramjan Ali of Bangladesh won the Bronze medal.

Afghanistan’s Mahmood Haidari won the Men under 58kg Taekwondo in Shillong. Gajendra Parihar of India won Silver medal and Sunil Poudel of Nepal won Bronze medal.

12th SAG: Indian Men & Women aim Gold in shooting

Indian men and women shooters Team won the 10m Air Pistol Men, 25m Pistol Women and 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women at 12th SAG in Guwahati today. Indian shooters Omker Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Jitendra Vibhute won Gold medal in the 10m Air Pistol Men Team. Kalimullah Khan, Kaleem Ullah and Muhammad Shehzad Akhtar of Pakistan won Silver Medal while Sri Lanka’s S. Fernandoo, M.P. Pathirana and D.M.S.M. Disanayake won Bronze medal.

In 25m Pistol Women Team, Rahi Sarnobat, Anisa Sayyed and Annuraj Singh of India won Gold medal and A.I.D.A. Kulathunga, K.S.C.G. Kendawala and W.A.N.M. Weerakkodi of Sri Lanka won Silver medal while Pakistan’s Lubina Amin, Farhat Nasreen and Tazeem Akhtar won Bronze medal.

Indian Women Team, Anjum Moudgil, Elizabeth Susan Koshy and Lajja Gauswami won Gold medal in 50m Rifle 3 Positions and W.M.S.Y. Perera, K.K.G. Perera and G.G.U.N. Ruparathna of Sri Lanka won Silver Medal. Pakistan’s Nazish Khan, Nadia Rashid and Nadira Raees won Bronze Medal.


SAG Triathlon: Gold and Silver for India


Indian athletes won gold medal Triathlon in 12th SAG here today. Indian Men squad comprising Dilip Kumar and Guru Datt bagged Gold and Silver medals respectively while Sri Lankan Nuwan Kumara could manage Bronze medal. In woman section, Pallavi Retiwala and Pooja Chaurushi were declared first and second while Nepal’s K. C. Roja bagged Bronze medal for her country.